manah manah

• Wednesday 21 February 2007 - This is me...


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This is the pile of stuff that I got together, supposedly to represent me. I was just going to show you my phone (with the cutest little baby pen phone danglies), but then I got carried away.  So... I guess this just about sums me up.




What about you guys? I'd love to see how you would all define yourselves. Any takers?


Comments (4)|::Post A Comment!::

• Wednesday 21 February 2007 - Maybe or maybe not

Posted by cherylgraham2
I will think about it and let you know.

Yours is very interesting though, a wide variety of bits and pieces :-)

Apparently I come across as an outdoor dunny :-P

Hang on where's the camera? Oh that's right it is attached to your face - I remember now :-P

Smiles Tina,
Chezza <:-)

Edited by cherylgraham2 on Tuesday 20 February 2007 at 7:39 PMPermanent Link

• Wednesday 21 February 2007 - That's right, Chezza. :o)

Posted by tinacee
Hence the lens cap... it was the only loose part that i could find to put in the pic.
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• Thursday 22 February 2007 - I posted mine before

Posted by TheKittycatGirl06
Well, of Paul, anyway. He's just been too lazy to do me. My stuff is all back in Aus anyway.
I like the pussy cat. And the pliers/wirecutters. Permanent Link

• Wednesday 28 February 2007 - Paul's was my inspiration. :o)

Posted by tinacee
You like the kitten? They're going cheap if you want one... very cheap. ;o)

As for the pliars... and the brush... and the sandpaper... all things that I use for my rock fetish. I use them to shape and polish small rocks and stones. I couldn't forget them. There's also pens and pencils to represent my stationary fetish. The batteries... alternate energy source, of course. The keyboard... we all love them, don't we? And of course, there's my phone... can't go anywhere without that... and did I mention my cute little mini pen phone danglies? They're just sooo cool.
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• Monday 12 February 2007 - Good morning, everybody...


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... and welcome to the Shrek in the swamp karaoke dance party...

What? That's not your speed? Well, let's try something just a little bit different, shall we?...
Kataklysm Shrek (give it time to download, it's cool)


Comments (0)|::Post A Comment!::

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - Everything I do reminds me of you...


Posted in Photos n stuff
Permanent Link
Well, I think I'm officially a WhitePage (Bugger... BlogNow) addict. Just lately I've been seeing lots of things that remind me of you guys. It makes me feel all soppy inside, so I thought I'd share...


For Aries67...
We saw this little guy on a tree at Blackdown Tablelands. He's a leaf-tailed gekko, one of our native species, I believe... and that's about all I know about them. Please feel free to correct me and/or expand on my knowledge.





... and just because I was so unthinking towards your occupational feelings the other day, Gabby, you get two pics. How about another goanna shot? I think this one is one of the best. You tell me that these guys aren't descended from dinosaurs. Is that a velociraptor??...





For Rinny...
I couldn't resist taking this shot for you. It's a street sign in Comet (I think, I may have to correct that), which is a tiny town in CQ... so small that you don't yawn on the way through or you'll miss it. I'm still searching for Cleatus St.





For Blackrose...
I don't know why I thought of you Carole. I've wanted to stop and take a photo of this driveway for some time now. I have a question that you may be able to answer for me... what's the significance of the cactus sculptures out the front? I didn't think there'd be too many of those in Canada... I tend to picture them in the desert, not cold and snow.





For Heather...
Bloody tree-hugging hippies...





For Tracy...
That's not a cactus... this is a cactus. Prickly Pear, in fact. Did you know that they flower red, then produce an edible purple fruit, which Gryph assures me is quite tasty?





For Plonka...
It was nice of them to show God this piece of marble, wasn't it? I mean, it's not as if he ever saw it before...





And just to show that I'm not prejudiced...

For AngelaJames...
A pretty little church for you. I like taking photos of churches because the architecture can be pretty cool. I don't like the big, pretentious ones (I'll show you some doozies one day), but this one's cute.





For Snowy...
Now, the quality is not great on this one (I tried for a better one, but alas...)
"Look, it's John Howard and George Bush!"





For Chica...
Some more Australiana. This shot was taken from the window of the truck as it hurtled down the road at 110k, somewhere between here and Emerald. Once again... please excuse the quality.





For cc...
The light on this particular morning was pretty crappy, so only a few out of the 20-odd pics that I'd taken actually worked. This was the closest I could get to a bird on a stick.




For Kitty and Paul...
You guys get two pics too, but you have to share them. The first is more for the stoner with no muffler. I came across this drink the other day in a shop in Emerald. It's an energy drink (similar to Red Bull, etc) that contains guarana and taurine... and all that other good energy making stuff. I'm fairly addicted to energy drinks, despite the taste... but I quite like this one. Now to find a local outlet to buy it from.





And Kitty, I think you'll appreciate this one... just a thought...





And last, but most definately (correction: definitely... yes dear) not least...

For Gryphonn...
I've worked it out... it's ancient sign language... and it says "I Love You."





Comments (14)|::Post A Comment!::

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - But those are horse's arses, Tina.

Posted by snowy
Oh, I see....

Thanks for thinking of me. Hmmm ;o)

Edited by snowy on Wednesday 24 January 2007 at 5:04 PMPermanent Link

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - Aww, I've come over all mushy

Posted by TheKittycatGirl06
Thank you, sweetie. I liked all of those pics, not just mine. You've gotten to know everybody's personalities pretty well. And BlogNow is not a bad thing to be addicted to.
*Raises hand high* "Hi, I'm Kitty and I am also addicted". Permanent Link

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - pics

Posted by Paul
You nailed it on the head, although I never considered hemp as a stimulant, wait, never mind. Permanent Link

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - Hilarious

Posted by hjanderson
Dave and I resemble that remark! Permanent Link

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - Thanks Tina

Posted by plonka
Thanks for thinking of me Tina and very nicely put...;)

It was only granite until MAN polished it...:)

That last one's reminded me though, how's Russell Coit's thumb coming along?

Edited by plonka on Wednesday 24 January 2007 at 5:59 PM Permanent Link

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - Fabulous reptile pics!

Posted by aries67
What a cool view of the monitor (and yes he is sooo dinosaur!) I've never seen a leaf-tailed gecko before and I'm impressed that you even found one! I go riding around the beach front and see the odd bobbie (had to save one from a stupid dog owner's dog) but when I actually go looking for reptiles I never see them. Using my camera eyes instead of my reptile eyes! ;oP Can I borrow your pics for work pretty please?

Edited by aries67 on Wednesday 24 January 2007 at 7:15 PM Permanent Link

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by cc1804
Ahhh Tina, that is definitely a bird on a stick - literally.:)
PMSL @ the lubricant place....that is bulk lubricant by the look of it *grins*
When is the next meeting of BA to convene??
Methinks this could be the start of a challenge you know...how many of us can find things that represent others.....got me thinking :) Permanent Link

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - I just luff you guyss...

Posted by tinacee
Snowy... I searched high and low for this one. Do you know how hard it is to find two horses in close proximity to each other that are both facing the other way? After I took this one I was hoping to find a shetland next to a normal-sized horse, but...

Kitty... mushy... ?? ... I think love's affected your head, girl. However, this is, as cc thought, a bulk supplier. I can hook you up if you like *nudge, wink*

Paul... I doubt you need stimulants of this type... from what I've heard at least... ;o)

Heather... there were heaps of these at Blackdown Tablelands... and even massiver ones too. You'd both love it there, I'm sure. But... wait until it's a bit wetter. Otherwise you're in for a 2k walk to the bottom of the falls... and then back up.

Ted... Ohhhh! And Russell's doing fine. In typical blokey style he refused to let me take him to the doc's... nonetheless, it's scabbed up quite nicely now. But, as he says, it looks worse than it is. There's only one big cut...

Gabby... thanks. Feel free to use the pics. I took a heap, particularly of the goannas, and I have some little bearded dragons and water dragons too. I'll go through them and send you some more.

Cath... to be fair, Bloggers Anonymous was Plonka's baby. He'll have to organise the meetings. :o) As for the challenge... what a good idea. We could even do one where everyone shows something that they think represents themselves... the possibilities are endless, really. Ok then, anyone who's interested... off you go. I can't wait. I'll be watching out for them.


PS) Have another look at Gryph's pic... right over to the left...
ar-ar-ar


Edited by tinacee on Thursday 25 January 2007 at 12:04 AM Permanent Link

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - :-D

Posted by Rinny
Lerlene's always lamenting over my choice of blog moniker for her. I'm sure she'll be more obliging when I tell her there's a street named after her. What a lovely entry! Love your work, as always. Permanent Link

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - LOL

Posted by cc1804
@ Gryphh's picture..had only noticed the hands before....HAHA Permanent Link

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - Happy Australia Day Weekend

Posted by deena
HI… JUST DROPPED BY TO RETURN THAT ‘$100” THAT YOU LENT ME THE OTHER DAY. SORRY I DIDN’T CATCH YOU AT HOME, BUT I KNOCKED (COUGH COUGH), REAL LOUDLY (COUGH SPLUTTER), BUT NO-ONE ANSWERED. HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT AUSTRALIA DAY LONG WEEKEND. I KNOW I WILL… NOW… SMILE DEE Permanent Link

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - A Challenge?

Posted by deena
Just saw the 'challenge' posted on CC's blog.

I think its a great idea!
Havent yet.. but was intending on visiting an exhibit (in Melbourne) entitled "Objectification". B/W photography showing celebrities who are asked to hold/show one object with them in the photo shoot that they think best represents themselves.

I think your idea.. and what you've posted is fantastic. I'll see what I can find - it'll keep the doldrums at bay for a while.
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• Saturday 27 January 2007 - Fuzzy feeling

Posted by AngelaJames
I feel flattered you thought of me! But the whole collection is awesome. Permanent Link

• Thursday 1 February 2007 - Aw Gee

Posted by chica
You just made my day - I have been off-line a lot recently - I miss you too! I wish I was living in a little humpy like that right now. Permanent Link

• Tuesday 23 January 2007 - Good-bye advertisements.


Posted in What I think
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You might have noticed... or not... that the ads are now gone from my blog. I never really liked the idea in the first place, only agreeing to display them on the promise of making my fortune without having to do all the hard work. But... the whole $9 something that I've raked in since the ads first appeared on my blog just doesn't seem to make up for the mess that my blog was. (Last month's takings amounted to a whole 18c... so far this month... zilch).

So... good-bye to commercialism... good-bye to capitalism... and all hail the return of anarchy and not selling out. I hope the page looks a bit neater now, at least.


Comments (8)|::Post A Comment!::

• Wednesday 24 January 2007 - Good for you Tina...

Posted by chica
....I get sick of them all, not yours in particular. I have been getting a rash of those weird emails lately - I wonder do they have anything to do with my inadvertently opening some of the new adver-blogs? The Guru would know, for sure - but the timing is suspicious. I wish we could be rid of them - this morning all ten recently updated blogs are cons. Permanent Link

• Wednesday 24 January 2007 - Yes, the spam could be linked to their sites.

Posted by tinacee
Support is trying to get rid of these spammers, but it is very time consuming. And when one is deleted they just set up another one. It's very hard to police when there's not too many people doing it. There is only so many hours in a day. But... just a thought... some of you are online a fair bit, especially in the mornings. Why don't you offer support some help? If you were shown how to delete these blogs you could get rid of them when you see them. If their ads are being deleted as soon as they're up it might prove to be too much hassle for them to continue. There are certain of us who would be trustworthy enough to do this little job, I'm sure. Do you think that'd work? Permanent Link

• Wednesday 24 January 2007 - The thought ran through my mind also, Tina.

Posted by snowy
And nothing would give me more pleasure than zapping them. I doubt that blognow would give us that privilege, but I'll think about it further. I have been reposting my blogs every time I see the spam in an attempt to drive them off the bottom. The problem with this is there are other bloggers sandwiched in between the spam who I don't want to get rid of.

Beats me why the spammers persevere. I wouldn't have thought the revenue they get from blognow hits would amount to much.


Edited by snowy on Tuesday 23 January 2007 at 2:56 PM Permanent Link

• Wednesday 24 January 2007 - Considering how busy they are...

Posted by tinacee
and how many bloggers must be complaining, it might be worth a try. You can only offer anyway. Permanent Link

• Wednesday 24 January 2007 - Blognow offered me admin rights

Posted by TheKittycatGirl06
But only for the support of the bloggers meeting in March. If they tell me how to do it, I could spend the early hours happily deleting in the States until then at least.
(By the way, still happening, just still waiting on them to keep coming through) Permanent Link

• Wednesday 24 January 2007 - I sent a PM to Marcel

Posted by snowy
So, we'll see what happens. In the meantime Kitty, Marcel may be happy for you to do it. Appropriate really. After all, it's coming from your side of town...;o) Permanent Link

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - Update

Posted by snowy
Marcel has replied that it is not possible to give me the access to the system to zap spammers, which I fully expected. He says that it may be possible to incorporate this facility in the future, but no promises.

Worth a try, anyway. Permanent Link

• Thursday 25 January 2007 - Yep, worth a try...

Posted by tinacee
... and now you might get them thinking. It would be a useful tool in the hands of someone responsible. And if support could be assured that the responsible blogger were not going to just delete blogs willy-nilly it could be very useful to them too... not to mention time-saving...

It might be worth a bit of thought guys...
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• Tuesday 23 January 2007 - Who's that... in the bushes? Steve Irwin? Russell Coight? No... it's Goannaman!


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We escaped over the weekend... went to Blackdown Tablelands with the kids (well, minus one who couldn't get the time off work). It's one of those lovely lost and leafy spots that I've wanted to visit for so long... but more about the place some other post. This one is specifically to point out that some people can be rather silly... even without the aid of alcohol.

We returned from a morning hike to find our rubbish had been raided. There were bits of plastic and paper strewn around, and it didn't take us long to discover the culprits... Goannas... three of them.

"Ooh, they're cute," gushed Miss 14 (or should I say 15thisyear), "can we take one home?" (Miss 14 is a reptile freak, and has been hassling us for a snake (or lizard if we won't let her have a snake) for several years now).
"No, you can NOT!" replied the mother (such a meanie). "Apart from the fact that you can't just keep a native species... reptile or not... the bastards have big claws and sharp teeth. They'll climb up your leg if they get a fright, and rip it to shreds in the process... and besides, their mouths are disgusting. If it bites you, you'll get septicemia, or something."

This led into a long ranting (but informative) story of how I learnt to shoot at the age of around 6 or 7. At the time we lived on a cattle station in west Qld, and it was my job to look after the chooks. This meant collecting the eggs, feeding the chooks, keeping the predators out, and patching up the fence when they did get in. About the only predators we really had to worry about were foxes and goannas... neither of which are very pleasant if you come face to face with them. Hence, I learnt to shoot at a relatively young age. The foxes were easy, it was the goannas that proved a challenge. Their skin is tough and wrinkled, which would bounce the bullets off... leaving them slightly annoyed... if that happens, RUN... they know who did it... and they're quick. The trick to killing them was to get them in the soft spot just behind their ear, aiming into the skull towards the brain... and that's today's lesson.

No, it's not... today's lesson is on listening to others... and thinking carefully before acting.

SOMEONE... we won't say who... decided that he should show the kids how to feed a goanna. Hmmm... isn't that a bit silly, dear? Didn't you hear what I just said?? About the teeth and the septicemia??? It's probably not the best thing to show the kids, don't you think???? But no... Crocodile Dundee here just HAD to have a go... so despite the idea not being the best (in my books, at least) I grabbed the camera. I certainly wasn't going to miss out on this opportunity. I'll admit, it looked really cool the first time...





Even the second and third... keep those fingers tucked away now...





And then he decided to offer the beast the little bit of meat that had stuck to his thumb. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Or... as he puts it (after the fact though, mind you)... he just wanted to show the kids that goannas really do have teeth... and they're sharp. What better lesson could they get? Good idea, baby... what a brainwave!



So far so good with the septicemia thing...



Comments (11)|::Post A Comment!::

• Tuesday 23 January 2007 - For the greater good!

Posted by TheKittycatGirl06
I love the hindsight wisdom, trying frantically to save face.
I remember reading about a woman doing that sort of thing here in the States so she could get a good picture. She smeared honey on her baby's hand so that a bear would lick it off for that cutesy-poo factor. The bear, failing to understand this, ate the baby's whole hand. Permanent Link

• Tuesday 23 January 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by hjanderson
nasty... but nice looking goanna :o) Permanent Link

• Tuesday 23 January 2007 - "I'll be careful... I promise."

Posted by tinacee
Once the blood flow was curbed... and there was a lot... I laughed at his un-thinking-ness. There's nothing quite like someone else's stupidity to make one feel superior. Imagine the ribbing...

"Oh, you KNOW I'm going to blog about this one! hee hee hee"

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• Tuesday 23 January 2007 - I guess it just looked like another sausage to the goanna.

Posted by snowy
Always did wonder about that gryphonn... Permanent Link

• Tuesday 23 January 2007 - Just a chance to have another dig...

Posted by tinacee
Looks like a sausage... smells like a sausage... SNAP... yep, it tastes pretty much like a sausage too.
:o)
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• Tuesday 23 January 2007 - Could have been worse, I guess

Posted by snowy
;o) Permanent Link

• Tuesday 23 January 2007 - Aries67@work

Posted by reptiletrader
Firstly - really great photos!
Secondly - let Miss 15thisyear have a snake, they make great pets!
Thirdly - I nearly died when you told me how to shoot one! I have to sell them as pets on a daily basis here!
Fourthly - Sorry Gryph, but don't put your fingers in their mouth!!!
And...
This might give you some food for thought re the septicemia thing...
http://www.upn29.com/news/story.asp?1650459 Permanent Link

• Tuesday 23 January 2007 - Pets, Gabby???

Posted by tinacee
Really? Goannas? Apart from my inbred dislike for the creatures... wouldn't they be too big and difficult to house? I've never heard of anyone having a pet one before. Now, don't get me wrong, I like lizards... I'm just not all that impressed with the ones that could disembowel a child with ease. Apart from this episode, I have seen what a goanna can do. Their claws alone can cut down to the bone. Imagine the pressure needed to climb a tree as quickly as they do. Add the fact that I've seen them 3 or 4 metres long and the damage can triple. I've seen a leg literally ripped to shreds because one thought it was a tree.

As for the snake... the answer was yes years ago... providing she buys the licence and cage (the more she wants one, the more likely she is to get a job to pay for it). It's a pretty expensive pastime when all is taken into account. Having said that... my niece has a couple of pairs of snakes and is just waiting for them to mature a bit more before breeding them. She's promised my daughter one for her 18th birthday... cage (which she builds) and all. All that's left to pay for will be the licence. She's rapt.

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• Tuesday 23 January 2007 - We have about 5 species that can be kept as pets in WA

Posted by aries67
Including the giant Gould's Monitor!
You should have a chat to TheBat45, she breeds Merton's Monitors I think and her female is called Princess Diana!
Captive bred make great pets! I even heard of one being walked on a lead in Kalgoorlie! We have a smaller species, a ridge-tailed monitor who is an ambassador on our school incursions called Princess who really seems to like human company! Everyone wants to take her home! I guess it depends which side of the fence you experience them from first!

Edited by aries67 on Tuesday 23 January 2007 at 4:47 AM Permanent Link

• Wednesday 24 January 2007 - I knew they were intelligent...

Posted by tinacee
some might put them on the same level as dogs. And these ones certainly didn't mind humans. They hung around the camp for a while and they didn't really hassle anyone too much. They could have attacked us if they wanted to, but they were happy just to hope for something to eat. I think they're pretty well fed too. A couple of them had old injuries to their tails (I'll show you sometime), which told me that they might have annoyed the wrong people at some time. That gave me the shits... because despite my dislike they are just animals and deserve to be left alone.

Anyway... for those who are interested... here's his take...
http://www.blognow.com.au/GDS/46083/Why_is_everyone_laughing_at_me.html

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• Thursday 25 January 2007 - Miners

Posted by aries67
We get a lot of miners that tell us stories about the monitors hanging around camp kitchens for food. They even know to come at meal times. Not touchable but not touchy either! Permanent Link

• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - Nuclear? I spit on you.


Posted in What I think
Permanent Link
I thought hard about posting this one today. Before I start... Snowy, I would hate you to think that I'm having a go... I hate to disagree with you, my friend. (technicallly I'm not disagreeing with all you've said, but overall...) Anyway, this IS an important issue and I'd just like to spread the word. Just the other day I was thinking that it was about time to stir up the energy debate again, given our idiot government and current social climate. Now, I think we all know how I feel about nuclear energy and the possibility that we might be saddled with reactors dotted across our country. And you also know how I feel about the impact of the mighty dollar on big business and corporate decisions. They will try and push the populace into backing nuclear reactors... it's in all their best interests to do so. Independant statements like Snowy's (god forbid), are working in their favour... and Johnny and his boys are rubbing their hands together in glee. Here is some of the best free advertising that they could ask for. (Yes, I can hear Snowy gagging in his weet-bix as I type) 

Anyway, click here to read Snowy's entry. My comment on his blog is below (it's kind of a long one). Let me know what you think... then lobby the government. Lift your voices and be heard. Power to the people.


Never say never, Snowy
Once upon a time we thought it was impossible to fly... 50 years ago we thought that reaching the moon was unattainable... 25 years ago mobile phones were the size of bricks, and today it's common to see them the size of a credit card... who knows what will happen in the next 10 years? Do you think we should all be defeatest and give up on trying to find an alternative? What was it that Albert Einstein said?... "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"

Wouldn't it be a shame if we spent all those millions on building nuclear reactors only to find that in another 20 years we could store a year's worth of solar power in one battery pack? And if we built all of those nuclear reactors? How much energy do you think would go into developing a safer alternative... really? What would happen to all of that research that has already been done? Would they try as hard, do you think... or would it come back to the amount of money that the govt has spent on bringing in nuclear energy. You know as well as I do that the almighty dollar rules when it comes to both governments and businesses.

Now, I also know that solar power stations (to run big businesses, etc) do not currently have the ability to work as effectively as coal-burning stations. But a station is not the only way to deliver power to the masses... if it could be augmented by personal home solar systems much of the country could manage quite well. I've seen solar power work on a home scale... a couple of solar panels and some batteries to store the excess. It does work on a single household scale... fairly well, actually... and that's without extra power being obtained from the grid. If every house had one and didn't need to drain the grid, wouldn't there be a hell of a lot more power to go around?

I don't know exactly  how much power the country needs, but if that's still not enough, augment the solar power with conventional power until a better technology is born. Yes, coal is dirty but at least it's relatively safe. Safe enough, at least, to be used as a part-time thing... sort of a transition period until safe power alternatives can be developed properly.

NUCLEAR SHOULD NOT EVEN BE CONSIDERED... shame, Snowy.

Oh, by the way, I've seen generators run by solar (Ok, I don't know the size or scale that you're talking about). I've also seen things such as those big wood saws (that slice trees into planks), water pumps, pressure pumps, spotlights (and many more things) run by solar power... a home system. And yes, technology has improved  majorly just in the last couple of years. Should we give up on solar power now, after all the work and effort that's been put into it? That's like giving up on a baby that's just learning to crawl... it doesn't make sense.

And one final point... you said...
"wishing isn't going to deliver. It never did, and never will."
Well, once upon a time someone wished that they could fly... then they went out and thought of a way that it could be done. Sometimes wishing is the push that you need to make something deliver the desired results. It's a dangerous thing to tell the masses that something can't be done... especially when it comes to something as important as this. If everyone were to believe that, who would be left to do the research? Who would even want to try?

NO NUCLEAR POWER. IT IS NOT THE ANSWER.





Comments (25)|::Post A Comment!::

• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - Nobody's saying to give up on renewable energy.

Posted by snowy
Just be realistic about what it is capable of now. And it is not capable of providing for our energy needs now, no matter how much wishing is done. It MAY be possible in the distant future. In the meantime we need to look at using a combination of renewable energy and clean coal, if it is technically possible to do so. If this is not possible then we are going to have to weigh the pros and cons of using nuclear to reduce greenhouse gases. And there are a LOT of cons to be considered.

I'm no advocate of nuclear, but it could also be argued that giving up on it now is also defeatist, as future research MAY show it to be a safe energy source, and waste disposal problems MAY be overcome.

As an aside, we saw a number of nuclear power stations in France, as well as a number of wind farms throughout Europe. So what does that prove? Nothing really, except that someone has decided that both forms of energy are viable for them. Time alone will tell if they were right.

Good renewable energy blog.
http://www.blognow.com.au/renewableenergy/



Edited by snowy on Tuesday 16 January 2007 at 5:39 PMPermanent Link

• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - Why I'm against the Nuclear option

Posted by petermcc
With the current untrustworthy Government, I feel that we need to kick back hard on nuclear. To my way of thinking, you have to be able to deal with the waste before you start generating it.

The UK were just dumping 44 gallon drums in the North Sea under Thatcher and in a manner that made it impossible to recover once the problems started to emerge. No doubt they were saying they had waste under contriol.

The US has been stockpiling waste for 30 years and don't seem to be predicting a solution any time soon.

This is an area that involves lots of money and Pollies. Not the sort of combination I want to risk the environment on.
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• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - Uranium...

Posted by plonka
Nice one Tina, but I think there's more to it.

There's another aspect to this that never gets press. Does anyone know how much uranium we think we actually have? From what I can find, which isn't much, I'll grant you, it seems that if we ramp up with the nuclear power thing the way the likes of Johnny wants to (remember, America also wants to, so does China, so does Iran and the list goes on and they'll need our minerals), in about 20 years time we'll be running out of that too. Uranium is a rare mineral, yet we have it in "abundance"? No-one else has quite what we do and when you get down to tin tacks, we really don't have that much, geolically speaking.

So why does Johnny like it so much? Seems to me it might make us quite a bit of cash in the short term. That's the scary thing about this governemnt. Johnny'd sell his wife if he though it'd turn a quick buck.... Permanent Link

• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - But what I want to know, is what we are for?

Posted by snowy
To me, the debate is about clean coal or nuclear, both supplemented by renewable energy. I go for clean coal provided the technology to reduce greenhouse gases proves feasible. If it doesn't, and we are serious about reducing greenhouse gases, then nuclear is an option that has to be considered.

It's all very well to say we are against something, but if we are to say that, then we must have a realistic alternative that we are for. Note the word, "realistic". There's no point banging on about renewable energy if it just isn't capable of replacing coal as a reliable supply. And it isn't.

So, are we for clean coal or aren't we?




Edited by snowy on Tuesday 16 January 2007 at 8:41 PM Permanent Link

• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - Clean...

Posted by tinacee
Yes, clean coal would be much preferable to nuclear. Even coal power as it stands is preferable to nuclear. Someone fanning you with a piece of paper would be preferable to nuclear power. It's an unnecessary waste of money (money that is just going to go into some rich guy's coffer anyway), time and resources. And it's infinitely dangerous. A monster in a cage... but if you make even one little mistake that monster will escape and kill potentially millions. How would you feel if your son or daughter was one of them? Would you say "Oh well, at least we still have the lights on?"

Snowy, I do agree that at this point in time there would have to be some kind of amalgamation of differing power supplies. I would support using coal to suplement alternative sources, but I will never agree that nuclear energy is suitable. I campaigned against it in the 80's and I'm seriously considering running off to protest it again now. It worries me that we've come this far towards turning Aus into another nuclear power.

Plonka, I agree with you. People don't realise that this is also a finite source of power. They are touting it as a wonderful source of energy... but then they did that with fossil fuels too. How long will it be before they decide that they have to look for something else to drain from the earth, I have to wonder?
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• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - And if clean coal isn't attainable?

Posted by snowy
What do we do then? Permanent Link

• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - Clean coal?

Posted by plonka
Where? There's no such thing! It does and always will produce the same amount of CO2 when you burn it. So what do we do with the tons of CO2 we sequester? Where do we store that or how do we dispose of it? Will we dig a hole and store it in YOUR back yard? We can't let it out so it's just another monster in a cage, as you put it Tina. Not quite so deadly in the short term, I'll grant you, but we don't know about the long term yet... "Here be dragons...." springs to mind...

Still, coal is preferable to nucular (that's my George impression...:)). How about hydrogen? Just a thought..... Permanent Link

• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - So, if clean coal is out.

Posted by snowy
Do we just keep using dirty coal?

Or go nuclear?

Or use hydrogen?

And if we are going to use hydrogen, where do we get it from? Permanent Link

• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - Where?

Posted by plonka
CIG...:) Seriously though, water. It's really quite cheap if you don't need better than 95% pure and that's good enough to burn. The 99.95% pure required for fuel cells is ridiculously expensive however.

Point is that ALL coal is dirty. There is no such thing as clean coal. All "clean coal" is, is a mechanism to seperate the resultant gasses after burning and store the CO2. It's an "after" process. The best place to store CO2 however, is in coal, various other hydocarbons or trees. Permanent Link

• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - So it looks like dirty coal.

Posted by snowy
And that's not acceptable because of greenhouse emissions. You won't maintain present living standards or employment with renewable energy. You need energy to separate hydrogen from water, so that's a dog chasing its tail. Maybe we can use up all the natural gas to keep us going for a while.

The purpose of the execise is to show that there are no simple answers, no matter what the greenies may tell you. Somewhere along the line there is going to have to be compromise. I think we'll be going nuclear, or going back to living in caves.

Maybe both.

Correction: You will. Sometimes there's something to be said for being old. Not much, I grant you...





Edited by snowy on Wednesday 17 January 2007 at 2:00 AM Permanent Link

• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - Snowy. You think we shouldn't persue alternatives?

Posted by petermcc
Am I reading you right Snowy? Are you suggesting we shouldn't persue the alternatives?

Surely we should keep as many irons in the fire as we can. Howard is prepared to pour huge amounts of dollars into Nuclear but has effectively strangled renewables with the trailing off of subsidies on that 10 year plan.

Now if he could stand up and talk honestly and intelligently about why he has done this then I would be happy to listen, but it's simply not the case. It stinks to high heaven of the typical back room deals that we have had to suffer under current policy.

It's no good him calling on Ziggy for support. Zed has already blown his cred when he lied about Telstra profits to keep Howard happy.

I still don't understand why this idea of total replacement keeps popping up. If you ease the pressure on the domestic side of things and leave coal for the heavy duty stuff, surely that has great merit. Permanent Link

• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - Thank you, Peter

Posted by tinacee
You've hit the nail on the head... it doesn't have to be all or nothing, does it? What is wrong with the idea of doing what we currently can to relieve some of the burden? Just using SOME solar power, perhaps coupled with SOME wind power and/or hydro-generated power would have to make a difference, wouldn't it? If we all took a greater responsibility for our own usage according to need and viability (eg, solar is not viable in rainy climes... tidal power is not viable in the desert, etc) it WOULD cut down the amount of coal we would need to burn. Then using coal for the bigger jobs wouldn't leave such a bad taste in our mouths. It may not be a good long-term solution, but it's a start. And technology WILL only improve. That's as sure as death and taxes.

And... how much does the govt want to spend on these nuclear reactors, anyway? Why not take that money and offer a subsidy for switching to solar to the average household? How many solar panels would all of those billions buy? And just how much pressure would that take off the grid? I'm not sure of the answers to any of this, but I'd be curious to know.

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• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - two cents please?

Posted by gryphonn
Okely dokely,

How about this...considering that millions (billions) has been spent researching power sources that will make a profit for someone (coal, uranium, gas etc), how about (and I just have a strange feeling this won't happen) our govt and private enterprise starts spending some REAL money on renewable energy research and refinement of current renewable technologies. It has taken far too long to refine solar cells due to a lack of any real funding.
Coal Resources recently built the second largest dragline in the world out near Emerald. The cost is in the hundreds of millions. An electricity guzzling beast to dig the coal to boil the water to run the generators that provide its power. Imagine what could be discovered/developed if that sort of money were used in research and development of alt. energy sources. This sort of thing can happen in a very short time. Look at flight. In under a hundred years we went from a 20 odd metre flight to landing on the moon...because flight was found to be convenient and profitable.

Find a way to make renewable energy profitable and we'll all be hippies in under ten years.
:o) Permanent Link

• Wednesday 17 January 2007 - Sorry, but I'm getting a little tired of repeating myself

Posted by snowy
I haven't said that we should give up on renewables. I haven't said that we must go nuclear. I haven't said that we must go dirty coal. I haven't said that we must do anything. I have tried to identify alternatives, and form an opinion on whether those alternatives are viable or not.

I have said that there are immense energy and greenhouse gas problems confronting us. I do not know the answers. I have tried to stimulate discussion in an attempt to arrive at those answers.

Now we can try to educate ourselves on the alternatives so that we can arrive at an informed opinion, or we can just cling to preconceived notions according to our prejudices. That is up to us.

And that is all I want to say.



Edited by snowy on Wednesday 17 January 2007 at 4:38 AM Permanent Link

• Thursday 18 January 2007 - And thank you for trying, Snowy.

Posted by tinacee
As you said on your own blog, substantially we do agree.
Forgive me if I'm taking liberties... but this is what I see.

Solar on it's own is not viable for the entire country (I'll concede that point)... at the moment. We also agree that we have to do something about our current power usage and where it comes from... and soon. We should bring in some type of renewable energy (or energies) to supplement our current form of generating power. That nuclear power is not the best option... but that in the end we probably will have to accept it. And we also agree that with our current government it's highly unlikely that any 'green' energy will be widely accepted in the near future unless (as Gryph pointed out) it can be made profitable.

What I don't like is the idea that our fellow Aussies are being pushed blindfolded into something that the majority really have no idea about. Worse is the idea that they may just concede defeat and accept this horrible power alternative, just because they think that their voices might not be heard. It frustrates me no end... kinda like the way you felt at the time of the 'no' vote, I imagine.

I don't know what our few little words can do to change the direction of the tide, but I do believe that we need to try. And I believe discussion between friends who don't completely agree is the best way to come to any solution. Like you, I was also hoping that we could generate some discussion on the subject. That we could not only pass some ideas between ourselves, but the rest of the community too. I must admit that I wonder whether those who have read this entry will think a little harder about my tack on the subject. Then the vain part of me wonders how much of an impact my words have made. I'd like to think that people have taken the discussion further than their computer screens... discussing it with friends at the pub, or with family around the dining table, for instance. Judging by the amount of hits that I received on my blog yesterday (much higher than usual), we've been successful in generating some interest on the subject... at least a little bit.

Ok, so we might not have come up with a good solution in the last 24 hours, but a few of us have had a bit of a rant and a bit of a think... and with any luck we've made a few others think too. Wouldn't it be good if something either of us said could change the tide? We'd be heroes.

There goes the head, swelling up like a balloon... I think I need a lie down now.

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• Thursday 18 January 2007 - I'd still like to run with clean coal. if it is at all possible.

Posted by snowy
If for no other reason than the economic impact of closing all our coal mines would be devastating to a lot of people. Little people. And they're the ones I care about.

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• Thursday 18 January 2007 - Clean coal...

Posted by plonka
Unfortunately Snowy, it's not possible. Sure, you can clean the exhaust created by burning the coal, but you can't have clean coal.

I agree that it takes energy to create hydrogen, but then it takes a lot more energy and a hell of a lot more man power and infratructure to get coal out of the ground. Dogs have their day Snowy, but dogs with no tails have weak-ends...

That said however, I'm not really trying to poo-poo the whole "clean" idea, just the slant that Johnny likes to put on it that it seems a lot of people like to agree with. I do agree that it's a better solution than the dirty processes we currently use, but I also have to agree with Tina. Many years ago, we set fire to gas to make light, now we set fire to gas to make electricity to make light. I have faith that a solution will be found. In the mean time? Well I guess I'll side with Snowy and say lets burn that filthy coal, but spend the extra money cleaning the exhaust and finding somehow and somewhere to store the resultant CO2... Permanent Link

• Thursday 18 January 2007 - Clean coal

Posted by snowy
I just read this, plonka,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storage

and am not very optimistic about it as a solution, either.

I don't know where we go from here. I really don't.
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• Thursday 18 January 2007 - Energy...

Posted by plonka
Yep. It also requires more energy which means more money...... Hadn't got that far. I'm still trying to convince people that "clean coal" doesn't mean that coal is clean...

There's no doubt, it's a conundrum of the highest order. Still, like I said, I have faith that a solution will be found. We're a tenacious bunch and if we keep the topic alive, well....

There's a group in Melbourne who say they've come up with a very cheap and efficient way to make hydrogen (saw it on Sunrise a few weeks back), but I can't find a link...Damn... So at this stage, I can't say that hydrogen's a viable answer either.....

I don't think anyone knows where to go with it at this stage Snowy, that's why we need to keep having these debates. Besides, they're fun...:) Permanent Link

• Thursday 18 January 2007 - Clean coal

Posted by snowy
I always understood that clean coal was more than washing the coal, Plonka. I guess I have to still pin my hopes on it. Otherwise, I can't see any alternative to nuclear, and that depresses me.

I just read the following in Crikey. I don't know if he knows what he's talking about, or not:

Mike Martin writes: Richard Farmer might explain that the hydrogen economy is not a "vision thing" but a "mirage thing" (yesterday, item 11). Yes, hydrogen gas is a clean fuel, but it is expensive to store and transport and, more importantly, it does not exist on Earth. It has to be manufactured. The most cost-effective method currently is by steam reforming of methane (from natural gas). This process liberates the carbon dioxide that would be produced if the gas were otherwise burned, and wastes about a third of the gas's energy content. Hydrogen can also be produced (far more expensively) by decomposition of water, using electricity generated by wind farms or other renewable energy sources. It may, in the long term, be a viable intermediate form of energy storage for vehicles, but it is not obviously superior to biodiesel or ethanol manufactured from crops. But this won't stop the Prime Minister. He will be ready, when the truth eventually emerges, to swear that, "I wasn't told".


Edited by snowy on Wednesday 17 January 2007 at 9:17 PM Permanent Link

• Thursday 18 January 2007 - Standard Fare

Posted by tinacee
We'd expect that from Little Johnny though, wouldn't we? Even if we sent him a personal e-mail outlining all of it, he 'wouldn't see it'. It's what he does best... not knowing things.

Why do we (not me... just clarifying that) keep voting for a man who thinks he can treat us like idiots? Isn't it his job to find these things out? Shouldn't we insist that he make a truly informed decision on such important issues as this? But he doesn't... he only moves because of someone behind the scenes pulling his strings. And when people ask him to explain himself, why does he refuse to defend his own decisions? "Oooh, that wasn't my fault, I didn't know about that," seems to be his favourite saying. How hard is it to do a little research? (Can you spell G-O-O-G-L-E, Mr Howard?) Does he really prefer to be known as an uninformed idiot? Is that the kind of person we want to make our decisions for us? It doesn't make me feel any confidence towards the government. I don't want to trust my children's health, wealth and security to the fools that are in office. And I certainly don't want him to make any decisions on what is or is not safe, either. As a general rule... if he thinks it's a good idea, it's crap!

Isn't it about time that we Australians kick this government out and find ourselves a bunch of people who are prepared to stand up and explain their decisions... and someone who has the balls to stand up to all of those big businesses that would gain by introducing nuclear. After all... there really are only two reasons to want it here now... money and political backing. It's all about what they believe is best for the small (and rich) minority (many of them multi-national) rather than real Australians. It should be about what WE, the majority want, should it not?

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• Thursday 18 January 2007 - Research...

Posted by plonka
Ah, but Johnny has done his research. He's obviously spent quite some time reading Machiavelli and Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu was very clever. If you can find "The Art Of War" (no, you can't have my copy) have a look at a little thing called "deniable accountability". You will also find it in "The Prince" (Machiavelli). It's almost spooky. Half of Johnny's rhetoric comes straight from those chapters...

What you do is, you ask your aids nothing. They will come to you and say that they've discovered something and explain just exactly what it is they've discovered or learned and exactly how it works and what it means. Then they ask you if you want to know about it. If you say "yes", then you've officially been iformed. If you say "no", then you haven't.

He's not just treating us like idiots Tina, it's much worse than that. He's playing us for the idiots we are.......:(

Thanks to this little discussion though, I had to go brush up on my hydrogen production stuff. I have to say first though, that I understand completely what you're saying Snowy. I would be surprised, shocked even, given your background, if you didn't know a thing or two about burning coal and generating energy. You've already set me straight once (thermal generators) remember...:)

Now, to hydrogen. This one's a Powerpoint presentation, sorry about that but it's a good presentation that shows the pros and cons quite well I thought...

http://www.greenfleet.com.au/uploads/pdfs/DMF%20Presentation%20-%20M%20Kentzler.pdf

Now, if you need something to lull you off to sleep tonight, here's a paper from CSIRO that really is quite good. It discusses how to use sunlight to make hydrogen and make it commercially viable at the same time. It even gets into the type of solar array you need. Good stuff.

(ooooops... ummm here's the link...)

http://www.tip.csiro.au/IMP/EnergySustain/HydrogenProduction/papers/Glasscocketal2005.pdf

But hydrogen production has only been being researched since the 70's. More time is what's required, that's all......(says he hoping fervently...:))


Edited by plonka on Thursday 18 January 2007 at 12:54 AM Permanent Link

• Thursday 18 January 2007 - The profit motive

Posted by snowy
I've been thinking about that, gryphonn. It seems to me that if the renewable options were attainable, then some venture capitalist would have jumped on the renewable band wagon ages ago. While they might not be environmentalists, they do understand profit, and the rewards would be massive for someone who could deliver the goods. Finally, the world has come to accept that global warming is a fact, so there is a massive pot of gold waiting there for someone who can deliver an environmentally acceptable energy solution.

The same applies to the incentive to overcome the coal and nuclear problems, although if the energy entrepeneurs think they can still maximise profits by doing nothing, then that is exactly what they will do.

I'm feeling rather despondent about the outcome at the moment, and fear that it will be nuclear. And yes, Tina, a change of government may help, although I'm not even convinced of that, even with current ALP policy. Unless there is a breakthrough with clean coal, then I think it will have to be nuclear, which I agree is a very dangerous path to go down. And if little lapdog Johnny wants to build one in his backyard, then that just may be poetic justice if it ever spews radioactive poison back at him.

Unless Plonka can invent something with hydrogen. So stop wasting time on whitepage, and get cracking!!!!

And roll on, Friday night....


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• Thursday 18 January 2007 - Goodness Me...

Posted by chica
...hard to get a word in edgewise here, I fear. But I did hear one quite enlightened comment - not sure who from - along the lines of: " We should hope that when 1.5bn Chinese people come home at night and turn on the lights, that they are not using power that is coal generated". Visit China and that will swim into perspective. But the answer is - buggered if I know! Permanent Link

• Tuesday 22 January 2008 - Clean Coal v Nuclear v something a lot better

Posted by Strangely Perfect
The thing is that there is plenty of readily available energy for everyone in the world to share. 92 million miles away there's a continuous H-bomb going off which plasters the earth with the stuff. The laws of thermodynamics say that energy is neither created or destroyed - it's converted from one form to another.
Nature has done half the job for us in that it makes waves and wind from the energy of the sun's H-bomb. We can extract that energy and also, if we wanted, we could collect the spare heat with heat collectors and the spare light with photocells using current technologies. The economies of scale would see the unit cost for world-wide implementation plummet.
For transport we should use energy derived from but not necessarily using, electricity. Batteries and fuel cells are dangerous red herrings also. In fact, if people set their minds to converting all the suns energy to electricity instead of looking at the other red herrings of biofuels, coal,nuclear etc which are all temporary fixes, then we'd be a lot better off. The use of fuel from human food should be especially discouraged. The mere concept of it is bad,bad,bad.
Electricity has three benefits:
We've been handling it for over 100 years.
It's easily transportable with wires.
We can make anything from electricity...think about it.... gold, diamonds, computers, cars, food, bricks, pottery, ....

For portable energy (transport) we need to convert electricity into something. I like the air-powered car idea (look it up with the name Guy Negre). Also, hydrogen can be made from electricity and water etc. Although compressed tanks of the stuff seem a bit dodgy and metal hydride technology is overkill for a simple problem.

How to store all the electricity that will be needed? Simple; pump water up a hill and store the water in reservoirs. This is tried and tested technology. We just need to make a lot more. For the UK, at current energy consumption we'd need about three times as many. When electricity is needed, let it out, just like now, through generators. It'll go along the wires to where it's needed with minimum interaction (it's called a switch ;-) )

In short, the sooner we start doing these things and try to save our precious chemical feed-stocks for non-energy and non-transport uses, the better. After all, it took about 300 million years of sunlight to make all our fossil fuels. To burn them up in 300 years is foolish in the extreme. Permanent Link

• Friday 12 January 2007 - Some fun...


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The weather around here has been ludicrous since christmas. We've had a number of days in the high 30's, and a couple that I was sure had creeped up over the 40 mark... although the weather men didn't agree with me. The kids were complaining, so we laid down a tarp and made them a make-shift water slide. Needless to say, everyone had a ball.

My son, being 16 and a massive big show-off probably got the best use out of the tarp... once he got the hang of it. Big boys, eh? You know the saying, don't you?





He and Miss 18 decided to race...





Then they discovered dwarf bowling. "A bit more shampoo on the tarp please." I don't think Miss 8 minded too much at all.





Look at this! How did he not snap that ankle? He's lucky the ground was so wet, I think.





Comments (2)|::Post A Comment!::

• Friday 12 January 2007 - Oh Yeah

Posted by hjanderson
What wonderful action pics of your kids and what fun! I had a massive flash back about boozed up bbq males and a long piece of plastic (off the back of a truck) and that went so fast up the slide that his foot got stuck in a bessar brick wall and snapped his ankle... mwahahahaha.. He didnt feel much of it at the time because of the analgesic alcohol which was probably a good thing mwahahahaha happy days to you Permanent Link

• Friday 12 January 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by catdog
great great pics. Permanent Link

• Friday 12 January 2007 - Dwarf Bowling (take two)


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There's not really a lot to say, is there? Wheeeee.........



eeeeeeeeeeeeeee...............



eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!












Comments (1)|::Post A Comment!::

• Friday 12 January 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous
love the gecko! Permanent Link

• Wednesday 10 January 2007 - Everyday Stuff


Posted in Photos n stuff
Permanent Link
Ok guys, here it is... or they... some photos for you. I told you I'd get there, didn't I? I have so many that I wanted to show you, and I had a bit of a hard time deciding where to start (Please feel free to make suggestions as to what you'd like to see). I thought and thought until the wheels almost rusted, and then eventually I just copped out and decided to go with some of the latest lot. So... here's just a smidgeon of what we've seen of late.

This little guy has taken a shine to our tent (I think I told you that we're living in Tent City at the moment, didn't I?) and takes shelter in the narrow space between the actual tent and the fly. He's about 4 cm long... max. You can see how small he is in comparison to the weave of the tent. I tried to get a pic with an ant in it to show the size difference, but they weren't feeling very helpful that day.






This is one of K's cats. I love this shot, but don't let his peaceful appearance fool you. He's one of the biggest cats that I've ever seen and his tolerance level is pretty low. When he's had enough he can deliver an impressive bite. Young Haydn's found this out the hard way. And one day after Gryph had been patting him for a while, he bit his hand because he stopped... and drew blood. I think he's half panther.





This cheeky young fella was one of a few honeyeaters that were hanging around at Haydn's 2nd birthday party. After lunch they scavenged what they could and left. They were quite tame too... but then... we were in the BBQ area of the local pool.





I spotted this falcon at the local dump. If they weren't so grotty, the dump might make for a good place to photograph birds. I don't know how many types of birds I saw there... heaps.





Comments (2)|::Post A Comment!::

• Wednesday 10 January 2007 - Aw...

Posted by Rinny
They're all great but I especially love the cat shot. So cute! Permanent Link

• Thursday 11 January 2007 - very clever

Posted by jd
shot of the lizard. Well done.

Bite the hand that stops patting, very reasonable from the cat's point of view. Mine doesn't bite but will make it clear you stop when she says and not before. Permanent Link

• Tuesday 9 January 2007 - Oh... errr... ummm..... TAG!!


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Well, there I was this morning, walking into the computer room with every intention of finding some photos to post on my blog for a change. "But I might just have a quick look around first... read some friends' blogs... catch up on some stuff... ya know...??" So I sat down and started reading. Snowy's blog mentioned somewhere about a game of tag bouncing around. Snowy's blog led me to Deenas, then plonka's, then cc's... and hers led me to AngelaJames' (and no doubt there are others out there... sorry if I haven't found yours yet). "Cool..." I thought... "It's a reading tag... I can handle that. I like books. And it'll be interesting to see what everyone else is reading at the moment... you can tell a lot about people by the books that they're reading. Count me in... I'm jumping on the end of this conga line." It looked like a bit of fun... the photos could wait for a bit longer...

You see, the last time I was tagged (by plonka), I didn't have the time to really sit down and respond. At that time we barely read our friends' blogs more than a couple of times a week... forget the actual posting. But, I was disappointed that I hadn't responded properly (sorry about that, Ted), so I had to put my hand up for this one. I was about to find a book to quote from when I stopped to think. "Now, should I use the closest book, or something that I'm reading now? And which book should I use?" (You see, I rarely read one publication at a time... usually just little snippets out of sometimes up to a dozen things at a time... and this may include books, mags, journals, info stuff, etc. What can I say... I get bored easily.) So I had a better look at the rules. The rules said...


These are the rules:

Find the nearest book.-
Name the book and the author.-
Turn to page 123.-
Go to the fifth sentence on the page.-
Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.-
Tag three more folks.





"All right... literally... the NEAREST book... let's see..." *looks around* "... here, on the computer desk... a copy of the Australian Readers' Digest... Jan 2007 issue. Ok then... let's see... page 123, eh??... Hang on. Oh... that's not fair. There on pages 122 and 123 is a photo of Todd Russell and Brant Webb peering out through a tiny hole in black rock. There's barely any words, just the article intro..."

BONUS READ
BURIED ALIVE
They were trapped 925m underground in the dangerous depths of Tasmania's Beaconsfield goldmine. Few people believed Todd Russell and Brant Webb would make it out alive
BY TONY WRIGHT
Left: In the worde of russell, he and Webb were "buried in a black space"
Photo: courtesy of Brant Webb and Todd Russell
123

"What!!!? That's it?? Oh, come on." (I now feel a sense of anti-climax.) "That's not fair. Fine, then. I'll go and find something else! I wasn't even reading the smelly old Reader's Digest anyway." I get up to go looking for some of the literature that I HAVE actually read lately... and I resolve to make another cup of coffee while I'm there.

So, upon returning to the computer room armed with coffee and with several of my recent (albeit short) literary journeys under my arm, I sit down to see what I've got to deal with. We don't have a lot of stuff here, and the only things I've read lately have been the odd book that I've plucked off the bookshelf when I was bored. I discarded the idea of using the mags and newspaper that I was browsing this morning. They don't count anyway... they don't even have 123 pages... and at least one mag would've had a hard time squeezing 8 sentences on one page... in between all of the pretty pictures. So I've settled on a few that I think are pretty cool. On top of the pile is the novel that we gave Miss 18 for christmas. I was going to wait until she's finished, but I have been sneaking the odd quick peek... shhh, don't tell her...


Lisey's Story by Stephen King.
"Page 123... let's see... fifth sentence, wasn't it? Yep, there it is... now the next three..."
"...Some sort of smile, anyway.
     'Wait,' he said.
     'Wait?'


Hmm... doesn't that make you wonder what's going on? I've only just started this book and I haven't read that far yet... I might focus on this one a bit more, I think. I need to know what's going on now. But, that still didn't satisfy my need to type some random crap. There's no use doing things by halves, is there? "Ok then, let's have a look what else we've got...


Guide to places of the World, eh? Another Reader's Digest publication... oh shit..." *grunts*... "this thing weighs a ton." Oh well, shouldn't have too many problems finding what I'm looking for here... there's heaps of pages... and sentences. "Page 123?... Hmmm, Cameroon (in Africa)" Sentences 6, 7 and 8 say...
      Starting in the north, it ranges from low-lying lands on the southern shores of Lake CHAD, through the semidesert SAHEL to dramatic mountain peaks (the Kapsiki mountains north of Garoua). Then come grassy savannahs, rolling uplands (the ADOUMAOUA MASSIF), steaming tropical forests, and neat coffee, cocoa, rubber, banana and hardwood plantations. Finally, there are rain-drenched volcanoes - the highest active cone is Mount CAMEROON (4095 m, 13 435 ft) - and palm-fringed beaches at Kribi and LIMBE.


*phew*
Now that was more like it... worth the effort, at least. There's lots of impressive words to type there... and it sounds nice too, doesn't it? Apart from the heat... and the lions... and rampaging elephants... and the possibility of being buried alive by molten lava... and the tsetze flies...
"Ok, let's try something fun... Heh heh heh, this should be good..."


The Dinkum Dictionary
A ripper guide to Aussie English by Lenie (Midge) Johansen.

"Heh heh, sounds like something I could send my new friend Paul. He might actually be able to make real sense of Kitty if he had one of these." I opened up to page 123 (after losing track of what I was doing a couple of times... *giggle* *chortle* ... we ARE incredibly funny, we aussies, aren't we?)... Now, being that this is a dictionary and doesn't have sentences, as such, I've decided that each word entry should be about the equivalent of one sentence, there's not much for each one... alright then, that's settled. Down we go... past fancypants, fandangle, fandangled thing, fandangs and fanging for a feed... there...

fangs
teeth.
see also:
put the fangs in.

fanny
woman's vagina; female genitals, pudendum.
see also:
sweet Fanny Adams
flash fanny at the Fowlers

fantabulous/fantasmogorical/fantastic
wonderful; excellent; marvellous.


Well, I never... there's not much more to say, is there? Except...

TAG!!! YOU'RE IT!!!!!!

*runs away laughing like a loon*



Comments (5)|::Post A Comment!::

• Tuesday 9 January 2007 - Thanks

Posted by Worker
Your good at this game Permanent Link

• Tuesday 9 January 2007 - You are so amusing!

Posted by TheKittycatGirl06
Okay, as that entry was CLEARLY directed at me, I take up the gauntlet. Paul can too. Why does everybody like him better than me? Waaaah!

(Lisey's Story is actually really good and a wonderful love story. I enjoyed it much more than a lot of his recent novels.) Permanent Link

• Tuesday 9 January 2007 - He he he

Posted by AJ @ work
Yours was much more interesting. But I must say Readers Digest doesn't count as a book.

I think I cheated as well. The closest book was about 25 years of portfolio theory and the next one was Free to Choose which is a bit wanky... not that a book about English Literature is that much better. Permanent Link

• Tuesday 9 January 2007 - I woz tagged

Posted by hjanderson
http://www.blognow.com.au/muse/43947/I_am_apparently_IT_thanks_Tina.html Permanent Link

• Wednesday 10 January 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by TheKittycatGirl06
http://www.blognow.com.au/kittywalker/44035/That_book_thing.html Permanent Link


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