Quick Christmas post

On the CD player now:

Arvo Part's Te Deum - some of the most powerful music I have ever listened to. This is deep emotional music stripped back to its bare essentials, where even the pauses - the short aching silences - grab at my heart.

And when, almost at the end, the choir sings in full voice, accompanied by the full orchestra:

Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos,
quemadmodum speravimus in te.
In te, Dominus, speravi:

The might of the heavens come crashing down on me.

Then that single quiet unaccompanied voice pleadingly sings that line again:

In te, Domine, speravi:

So fragile, so vulnerable.

So utterly alone.

This is awesome music.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

saturday evening music

Going out for dinner tonight with the usual suspects - currently on the playlist:

Love is Like Oxygen Sweet
Big Boss Groove Style Council
Ebeneezer Goode Shaman
Dead eyes Opened (remix) Severed Heads
How Soon is Now The Smiths
Atomic Blondie
Mad Dogs and Englishmen Noel Coward
Down To Mexico Boca 45

Time to get ready for dinner...

Making Sausages

Otto von Bismark once said making legislation was like making sausages - best not watched. Well, I didn't have much choice this week. But seriously, for me, the inner workings of law making is rather fun. I know, I need to get a life. But hey, it's Canberra.

But this week, I managed to get something done that normally takes a couple of months, even here in the ACT territory government. So pretty chuffed. Policy settled in the department and ministerial brief on Thursday; Bill, explanatory statement, presentation speech, Cabinet brief prepared; Human Rights Unit clearance on Friday; Caucus and opposition briefings, possible questions and answers, debate speaking notes, media release prepared Monday; Ministers endorsed Bill on Monday; Bill presented to Assembly on Tuesday; Scrutiny of Bill Committee checked and OK's Bill on Wednesday; debated and passed Thursday. Phew. Good when the boss thanked me for digging the department out of a hole, again. Nice to be needed. Could do with a beer now though.

So yeah, been a bit busy lately.

Cute With Chris

OK,

I've become a huge fan of this guy's little shows on youtube. You might have to watch some of his earlier shows to get some of the jokes. His show "Cute with Chris" usually comes out on youtube each Monday.

Jeez, has it been nearly a month...

...since my last blog post?

And all that time I've been on holiday. Just goes to show how busy I was. Now I'm back at work, I might have a bit more time to write.

Rode the motorbike to Melbourne. Had a ball, those Victorian mountain roads are awesome ! met up with someone I had been chatting to online and we went for a ride through the hills east of Melbourne. We had some fun...

Took plenty of pics in Melbourne, and slowly been processing them. Spent most of the time just walking around enjoying the most amazing city in Australia. Sorry, Sydney doesn't cut it, not by a long shot.



Did discover that at heart I'm probably something of a flaneur. Sort of.



Currently listening to:

Mozart's Requiem (Maunder arrangement);
soundtrack to Koyaanasqatsi (Phillip Glass);
Enjoy the Silence (Tori Amos cover);
Joy (Yuki)

Distracted Part II - another new lens

David, caught unawares at his place on Sunday, taken with the new 7-200mm f/2.8 lens. Nice glass. V. happy with the new lens.



All in all, a good weekend up in Sydney.

distracted...

Been busy of late, playing with my new tilt-shift lens, still experimenting - here I shifted the focus plane from parallel to the sensor plane, to about 80 degrees off parallel.



Tried my hand at lens shifting too - this will come in handy if ever they build any attractive buildings here in Canberra. Good thing I'm heading off to Melbourne soon.



No lens shift. Building shortened and verticals distorted...



...And lens shifted to reduce the converging lines (well, as much as could be done)...Photos taken at the same spot.

nice graphics

Too busy ATM for anything other than this clip - I love animation (of all sorts):



from shirleyheezgay

Loving this new camera

By day this building is huge and totally out of scale with everything around it, but at night, I love how the lights seem to disappear into infinity. Or at least the back walls.

I am over this effing wind

Normally, I like all types of weather - nice crisp winter days with brilliant blue skies, warm late summer evenings (eating outdoors, of course) etc etc. You know the stuff. I can even tolerate those sticky summer nights (more or less).

But we've had four days of gusty westerly and southerly winds here in Canberra. And I hate it. I just don't like windy days.

The dust everywhere, in your eyes and face. In my camera.

How the wind really knocks the poor plants around.

The noise.

How it dries everything out - especially my lips. Hate that !!

The worst thing about windy days ? You got to rug up against the wind, but when it briefly stops, all of a sudden it gets warm and you're suddenly overdressed. And sweating. Arggggggh I hate that !! I want to enjoy this warmth and I can't ! Arggggh !!

Riding the bike is a real bugger too - you end up having to ride on a lean to keep it going straight ahead and you're constantly compensating for the wind's vagaries.

Argggggh!!

Huey*, enough with the wind already !!



And still the trees are bare, although they're getting the first flushes of spring. Here's what it looks like from home at the moment, looking towards town, Saturday arvo.

The clouds are scudding across the sky at a zillion miles an hour.




*Huey - Australian weather god, normally the bringer of storms and big surf

Climate Change

The guys at GetUp are mounting a pre-election campaign arguing for a better approach on climate change. While it makes a plea to all parties, it's particularly scathing of the current Australian federal government, which has seriously let down future generations of Australians:

New camera and Floriade

I'm normally not much of a consumerist, but occasionally I lash out - yesterday was one of those days. I went out and bought one of the new Canon EOS 40D digital SLR cameras and two new lenses - a nice Sigma 12-24mm wide angle lens and a Sigma 30mm fixed lens. Not before spending weeks checking the internet for stuff on different cameras and lenses. I still have to get another zoom - probably the Canon EF 70-200 F4, but not entirely sure yet - still need to do more looking on the 'net.

Today spent the day trying out the camera and lenses at Floriade, Canberra's huge spring festival. Still getting the hang of the camera. Took the shots in RAW format, rather than JPEG, and still getting the hang of getting the most out of the shots.




It was a brilliant day, lovely and clear and perfect temperature - not too cold, not too hot. Thousands of people there today. I must say Andrew Foster and the other gardeners working on Floriade have done a spectacular job this year - the theme was Aussie icons and legends - so there were Hills hoists, Victa lawn mowers, a Holden ute and an outdoor dunny (complete with redback spider), even a floral display of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, complete with cricket pitch.


Seemed like every second person had their camera out, getting pics. Always good to see everyone enjoying themselves. I'm amazed at some of the colours of the tulips and hyacinths, incredibly intense.



Walked home very tired, having spent way more time there than I thought I would.

Look out kid, it's somethin' you did, God knows when, but you're doin' it again...

A rather odd mix on rotation on i-tunes at the moment. Enjoying the lyrics in the Dylan song 'specially.

• Better Off Alone Grinspoon
• Spider Pig The Simpsons Movie Soundtrack
• All I Want Is You U2
• Rock Show Grinspoon
• Black The Sun Alex Lloyd
• Green Alex Lloyd
• Amazing Alex Lloyd
• Subterranean Homesick Blues Bob Dylan
• Love Is Like Oxygen Sweet
• Sunday Bloody Sunday U2
• Dead Eyes Opened Remix Severed Heads
• The Big Boss Groove The Style Council

... the pump don't work, cos the vandals took the handles.

unconscious whatever...

A bit of free association from unconscious mutterings

1. Rita ::
Lovely Rita Meter maid

2. Comedy ::
Hour

3. Polar ::
bear on the Bundaberg Rum bottle

4. Idiots ::
Just smile, but don't encourage them

5. Perception ::
Flawed

6. Infected ::
Horse Flu

7. Fake ::
ID

8. Relating ::
Stories from the past

9. Distraction ::
Hunky men

10. Gamble ::
Lotto

59% of us drink straight from the carton...

This flim clip, from Grinspoon cracks me up. Love their music. And Pat Davern (lead guitar) is a major babe.

Meme - raving, tasty homo

Got this from Monty's blog

A is for age: 44
B is for booze: Just had a glass of Chateau Cardboard (a Yalumba Cab Sav), so "yes".
C is for career: Government Lawyer.
D is for dad's name: Roy.
E is for essential items to bring to a party: Sense of humour.
F is for favorite song at the moment: Full choral version of SpiderPig (from the credits to the Simpsons movie - If you walked out when the credits started, you missed it.)
G is for guy: That would be Guy from Berrima ? He has a cute smile. And rides a bike. Sadly, not interested in me.
H is for hometown: Brisbane Qld (miss it too.)
I is for instruments you play: Pink Oboe. Quite accomplished, I'm told.
J is for jam or jelly you like: Blackcurrant.
K is for kids: None of my own, 5 nieces.
L is for living arrangements: Apartment here in Canberra with a view of Black Mountain and Mt Ainslie, nice and cozy.
M is for mom's name: Julia.
N is for name: "Raving, tasty homo" is an anagram of my full name. Thanks mum, how did you know ?
O is for overnight hospital stays: About 14 years ago when I broke my leg in three places in a motorbike accident. My left leg is now 1 cm shorter than my right. Great scar too.
P is for phobia[s]: None, but don't like sleeping on planes, actually not too keen on heights.
Q is for quote you like: "I laughed till I stopped"
R is for relationship that lasted the longest: 3 years - just ended.
S is for sexual position: 3 B's - in bed, in the bush, on the bike.
U is for unique trait: Errr, "Raving, tasty homo" is an anagram of my full name. That, and I bend down, not up...
V is for vegetable you love: Potato - roasted.
W is for worst trait: Procrastination.
X is for x-rays you've had: Lost count (I glow in the dark) + 4 MRI scans too. The kidney one was real fun - not.
Y is for yummy food you make: Osso Bucco, Lasagna, Rare Beef Fillet and rocket salad with horseradish and creme fraiche sauce.
Z is for zodiac sign: Libra.

Firsts...
First job: Gardener.
First screen name: canberrabiker - nothing, if not consistent.
First funeral: Father's. I was 14. He was 39. I'm now older than he ever was, which feels funny sometimes.
First piercing: None and not a fan of them.
First tattoo: None - just remember what you'll look like at 70.
First credit card: Don't have one - I don't get the whole consumer thing.
First kiss: Monty, I can ace your late start - it was Glen and I was 34. He was the first in another way too.
First enemy: None that I'm aware of. There was that school bully, I guess.
First favorite musician: G Wayne Thomas "Open Up your Heart" - now, what ever happened to him ?

Lasts...
Last car ride: Last Saturday in a friend's car when we went to see the Simpsons Movie.
Last kiss: Do you know, I can't remember !! The relationship wasn't travelling too well for a while :(
Last movie watched: Bedazelled (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore version - a favourite, especially love Raquel Welsh as Loretta Lust, the babe with the bust !)
Last beverage drank: Glass of red wine with dinner.
Last food consumed: Dinner - Spaghetti Bolognese.
Last time showered: This morning.
Last CD played: 10 greatest piano concertos (played Rachmaninoff's second) Or was it Dusty Springfield's greatest hits ? I tend to listen to Itunes compilation on the PC now.
Last website visited: I am so not going to answer this one !

Now...
Sex: Male.
Birthday: I was born 8 days after the great Paddington tram depot fire in Brisbane in 1962. Well the fire was in Brisbane, I was in Patrick White's house, in Sydney.
Sign: Libra already - pay attention !
Siblings: 2 sisters both younger.
Hair color: Reddish blonde.
Eye color: Blue green.
Shoe size: 9 1/2
Height: 5'10.5" (179 cm)
Clothes: Sloppy Joe, red and black flannel shirt (mmmm so stylish), Levi 501s and Timberland boots.
Hair: Just had it cut - short back and sides No 2 clipper, trim on top.
Makeup: As in "kiss and ..." ?
Emotion: Contented (just eaten and had a glass of vino, now eyeing off an orange or two for dessert)
Boyfriend: Looking, as always but seem to scare them off, damn it.

Future...
In an hour: Bed
Tomorrow: Go to the bike store to buy a new helmet.
Next week: Not sure.
Next month: Holidays, hopefully.
Next year: New job.
5 years from now: Back in Brisbane.
10 years from now: Still riding !

What a day in the nation's capital !

It's hard not to be just a little bit interested in politics in Canberra - working with Ministers and their advisers; or just somewhere in administration; the "big house" and the big flagpole dominating the city; glimpses of pollies at restaurants, bars or the airport.

Yesterday was pretty intense - word got around very early about Fox's story about the leadership crisis in the government. Everyone was madly checking the radio, internet sites - would the PM survive the day ? The week ? How did he let things slip so far, so fast ? And what was Costello doing ?

But amazingly when the Ministers "suggested" it was time for the PM to go and he firmly said "no" - they backed off at a great rate of knots.

Shades of Rab Butler in the UK in the 1960's and that great quote from Enoch Powell. Only this time it was the whole Cabinet, not just one minister wimping out.

And NO-ONE is buying that story that the PM agreed to let Alexander Downer "sound out" his fellow Ministers on the leadership last week. That's pure spin...

Fang to Kangaroo Valley

Tried to convince some mates to go riding today and drew a blank - so went solo to the Southern Highlands and Kangaroo Valley. What a great day it turned out to be! Cool, (actually a bit cold, just in leathers and no dryrider jacket over the top) but clear; dry roads except in a few corners.

Left Canberra via Mack's Reef Rd - a nice fang there - did some more low level flying with a couple of other bikers, who shot past me out beyond Bungendore. Passed them at the Loaded Dog Hotel in Tarago (Only because by then they had stopped and were getting off their bikes).

V. quick run up to Goulbourn and then on to Exeter. Stopped and had a chat at the Robertson Pie Shop (just about obligatory if you're on a bike), then tackled Macquaire Pass and back up again. There were a few bikes out, but not as many as I expected.



Snapped a couple of pics of one guy coming over the first railway bridge on the Pass. Got to get better at my action shots, I think.

One of the good things about riding by yourself is you can go where the whim takes you, so I found myself exploring lots of side roads in and around Robertson and Kangaroo Valley too.

The ride down Fitzroy Falls rd to KV was great - absolutely no cars or trucks in the way, had the road to myself. However the traffic coming up the escarpment was very heavy. I sort of hoped it would be gone by the time of my return journey.

I was planning on having a steak at the Friendly Inn in KV, but there was a folk festival on so the town was packed. The pub has great steaks, but it can be slow at the best of times, so I made do with a beef burger at a cafe across the road - as their ad said - the best burger in the business. It was damned good.



Even with the incessant traffic, the Valley was magnificent - lush and green after recent rains, trees and shrubs in bloom, temperature mild - and no flies (yay !!)



Came back via Bundanoon. I've been meaning to spend more time in this town. Took a few photos of the main street and the soldiers memorial hall. Would have liked to have sat for a while and have a coffee, but it was starting to get late and the light was fading - the road from there for the next 50 kms was pretty much straight into the setting sun - even with a tinted visor, that's hard on the eyes.

Things I wanted to photograph but didn't - will have to go back again I suppose:
the escarpment around Kangaroo Valley;
old buildings in Penrose;
line of ghost gums by the road at Wingello, glowing in the late afternoon sunlight;
my shadow racing along beside me, on its own bike.

Took a few shots at the lookout over Lake George, but it was a little later than I hoped, so the light wasn't quite what I was after.



Finally as I rode into Canberra, I saw Vladimir Putin's aircraft (an Ilyushin IL 62, which was stabled at Canberra Airport during APEC) fly overhead - too dark too get a decent shot.

Great day, but now tired - oh damn, got the ironing to do now :(

Those polls and the "misery index"

I've been wondering about the polls recently published in the local newspapers predicting a landslide victory for the Australian Labor Party under Kevin Rudd and equally about much of the commentary written about them.

On the left side of politics, much is made of the lack of trust in the government, while the right-wing commentariat are saying that people will come around to the government when they realise the economy is so great.

I think both positions (or maybe spins) are wrong. And in a perverse way, the government's spin about being good economic managers, is probably working to the ALP's advantage.

Someone once looked back at all the changes in government in Australia in the last 70 years and said there was a common element in all of them. Sometimes referred to as the "misery index." Governments lost elections only when two or more of the following three factors were on the increase:

• a rise in interest rates;
• a rise in the inflation rate; and
• a rise in unemployment.

But surely, I hear you say, they're all low here in Oz. And that's true, if you just look at bare numbers, but once you start thinking about what they really mean to the average person, I'm not so sure the government should be too confident of a recovery in the polls.

Yes, interest rates are low, but the impact on the average person is on their home loan repayments - the numbers mean nothing to them - all they know is that they are pouring huge sums into their mortgage repayments because they paid so much for their homes in the first place.

Inflation rate? The official rate is low, but the cost of the bare essentials - fruit and veg, meat etc is spiraling way ahead of the official inflation rate. Inflation rate is calculated on a range of costs - some of which have declined markedly - LCD TVs are pretty cheap now - but the bare essentials? Nope, they're going up quite rapidly at the moment. And if you're struggling to pay the mortgage, then luxuries are just that - and you notice those food bills rising.

Unemployment rate ? Well, what this really measures is the average person's sense of job security. Yes, we have low unemployment, but the government has well and truly muddied the water with their "Work Choices" legislation which, rightly or wrongly, is perceived as increasing job insecurity.

So on the misery index, I don't think the Government is faring too well - which might just explain why they look like they're going to get trounced. And the Treasurer saying "you've never had it so good" - that might have worked for Harold McMillan in the UK in the late 1950's, but I have a feeling it's rubbing folks in the here and now up the wrong way. Similarly when the average person hears that the Australian economy is fantastic, it's natural for them to ask themselves how it 'feels' to them or their kids - and if they aren't sharing in that supposed prosperity they're hardly going to be supportive.

Oh, and the other interesting thing about the polls is the very low "undecided" response. Normally this far out from an election you can get upwards of 20% of respondents saying they haven't made up their minds yet.

Undecideds are sitting at 10% at the last poll, and has been at that level since May.

Looks like they've made up their minds.

Great day for a bike ride

Spring's here - great weather for a ride. Went out to Uriarra, west of Canberra today. A great road as far as this sign, then the bitumen stops and it's a very rough dirt road through to Tumut. But it's magnificent country around here. Wattle all out in bloom too.

Surprisingly few bikers out though. They didn't know what they were missing !!

My Sunday night play list

Got these songs on rotation at the moment, winding down for another week.

"Enjoy the Silence" Depeche Mode
"You were always on my mind" Elvis Presley
"2+2=5" FourPlay
"Amazing" Alex Lloyd
"Black The Sun" Alex Lloyd
"Telephone Line" ELO
"Heart's a Mess" Gotye
"Cloudbusting" Kate Bush
"Blue Monday" New Order
"Creep" Radiohead
"50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" Paul Simon
"Scarborough Fair" Simon and Garfunkle
"The Boxer" Simon and Garfunkle
"Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me" TISM

time for a steam train clip...

Well, here's where I damage my green credentials - love steam trains, (or at least Queensland steam trains) and here's a great short video (and some great music too) of Queensland Rail's preserved AC16 class loco - Queensland Government acquired these locos from the United States Army in World War II on a "lend lease" arrangement. Yep, truly little wonders.

footprint

I'm trying to do my bit for the environment and get my ecological footprint down. I'm not doing too badly by Australian standards. Tried a few of those ecological footprint calculators.

This one;

or this one;

or this one.

Generally I'm getting a score of about 2.4 or 2.5. Better than the Australian average which is between 5 and 7. But it still means if everyone on the planet used as much as me, we'd need 2.4 planets to survive.

Next big challenge for me is to reduce my red meat consumption, as it's a huge user of water and generator of greenhouse gases.

But how are you all going with your footprints ??

What really worries me is the rampant, swaggering, aggressive, conspicuous consumerism I see around me - ridiculously huge homes, flash cars with stupid accessories, endless gadgets, flash clothes, bling. There was a time when such ostentation was frowned upon as plain bad taste. I still think it is.

I really feel like a fish out of water sometimes.

Riddle me this...

What am I ?

I am a strange creature, for I satisfy women;
I grow very tall, erect in a bed,
I'm hairy underneath. From time to time
A beautiful girl, the brave daughter
Of some fellow dares to hold me
Grips my reddish skin, robs me of my head
And puts me in the pantry. At once that girl
With plaited hair who has confined me
Remembers our meeting. Her eyes moisten.

Was it that long ago ?

Been reminiscing a lot about my first big trip away from home in August 1986. 21 years ago - sheeesh ! I took this pic of South Melbourne Depot - sadly no more, replaced by an incredibly ugly office block.

I love how the incandescent lights in the trams on their timber interiors make them look warm and inviting. No flouro lighting then.

We had the best time ever on that trip. Me and a few mates drove from Brisbane down to Melbourne. Saw lots of towns I'd never seen before - Goodoowindi, Coonabarabran, Dubbo, Parkes, Bendigo, Ballarat and a few more besides. Then finally, Melbourne - it was run down, it was cold, but it had, and still has, TRAMS !!

My first ride on a W class tram was at night - the roads dark and glistening after rain. The driver flew through the empty streets of South Melbourne down to the bay. The connie was real chatty - not surprising as there were only one or two other passengers apart from us tram nuts. And that's what I really remember - how friendly just about everyone was. Tramway folk were pretty much one big family.

I also think trams have a civilising effect on cities. Being electric, when they stop at an intersection or a tram stop, they are absolutely quiet - not like buses that keep chugging. So quiet, you just HAVE to make conversation with total strangers to break the silence ! I love that about Melbourne.

winding down for the night

Here’s what’s on my I-Tunes playlist as I wind down for the evening (not that it's been a wild weekend). Just a big week at work coming up.

“2+2=5” FourPlay
“Allison” Elvis Costello
“Amazing” Alex Lloyd
“Fall At Your Feet” Crowded House
“Heart's a Mess” Gotye
“How Soon Is Now” The Smiths
“Monday, Monday” Mamas and the Papas
“Princess Mononoke” Theme Song (vocal) Utada Hikaru

a nice mix, I reckon.

I am so behind the times

My very own time dilation at work again. Apparently this was quite a hit for TISM last year. I love it and the video.

However, it does not reflect my state of mind. I just like it, OK

Love the line about orb weaver spiders. Thank you Humphrey B Flaubert, Ron Hitler-Barassi and the rest of TISM . A uniquely Australian band.

First time for everything

Ummmm,

testing, testing one, two, three...

Is this thing on ?

Well, been reading other people's blogs and posts for a while now, so will try my hand at it.