Readers will be happy to know that I am making progress towards the achievement of at least one new years' resolution. The one about eating different types of vegetable. For Christmas dinner (or as part of the salad anyway), I ate a nasturtium flower. See the link below for more detail about this excellent plant:
http://www.gardening.net.au/nasturtium/
Mycroft can also report exposure to Culture over the holiday period, as he entered the world of Art House Cinema for the first time in a little while and saw the movie 'Albert Nobbs'. Readers can inform themselves about 'Albert Nobbs' at the link below:
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/albert-nobbs-20111230-1pf2i.html
They can also read the original short story on which the film is based, as I did. I must confess to not being able to recall many details of the short story, and was perhaps more entertained in a schoolboy kind of way by inventing different possible titles for the character of Albert Nobbs. The character's desire to open a tobacconist offered rich possibilities in this regard, particularly if the character went into partnership with someone. A straw poll of possible naming combinations revealed the following winners:
Nobbs-Handler
Door-Nobbs
Bigge-Nobbs
At which point some other combinations became too rude to appear in a pretentious, pseudo-intellectual blog such as this one.
According to some reviews of the movie, Albert's main problem is being too trusting. I'm not so sure about this. I suspect Albert's main problem was boring everyone in the vicinity into a gold plated, intergalactic-class stupor. That's not to say the film is boring, only that the character Albert seems to have attained a new height in terms of the ability to bore. If one looked up 'bore' in a dictionary there would be a picture of Albert Nobbs. A clear opportunity is missed to link the film to the Sherlock Holmes franchise, by bringing in the great detective to investigate 'The Case of the Missing Personality'. Ah well, one can dream.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Christmas again
What a year it has been. It has to be admitted that I have not blogged as often as I should in 2011. For 2012, it should be a daily event. Mycroft Snooks conquers blogging! Perhaps it won't be as dramatic as that but some progress has to be made.
I've just finished reading Richard Blake's Sword of Damascus. The first of Blake's novels I read was Conspiracies of Rome and they are interesting novels, set in the 600s around a crumbled Rome and struggling Constantinople. There are four novels now, and the anti-hero Aelric is a Flashman-esque character. A cad, man of action, scholar, entrepreneur, jurist, spy! It's a fascinating period of history about which most of us know little, just after the fall of Rome and in the beginning of that shadowy 'dark ages' period.
I've just finished reading Richard Blake's Sword of Damascus. The first of Blake's novels I read was Conspiracies of Rome and they are interesting novels, set in the 600s around a crumbled Rome and struggling Constantinople. There are four novels now, and the anti-hero Aelric is a Flashman-esque character. A cad, man of action, scholar, entrepreneur, jurist, spy! It's a fascinating period of history about which most of us know little, just after the fall of Rome and in the beginning of that shadowy 'dark ages' period.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
New year approaches
In what can only be called a groundswell of popular opinion, there is a universal call that I should blog more in 2012. I am happy to announce that it is a new year resolution that this will happen!
A no less important resolution is to attempt to be more adventurous in trying different foods. Consequently I have resolved to try a different vegetable, or some other different food, each week in 2012. Better to try a new vegetable than encounter them in the street (as in Day of the Triffids...see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids) is Mycroft's view.
A no less important resolution is to attempt to be more adventurous in trying different foods. Consequently I have resolved to try a different vegetable, or some other different food, each week in 2012. Better to try a new vegetable than encounter them in the street (as in Day of the Triffids...see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids) is Mycroft's view.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Catching up on my blogging
I stepped outside the office for a short moment to recharge the batteries of thought leadership* and found that the skies over the Emerald City are looking distinctly grey. More rain on the way I suspect, fortunately today I am prepared with a compact umbrella. What every switched on worker in the city needs. Perhaps also a parasol for those (apparently rare) sunny days.
I was also interested to note (while recharging those thought leadership batteries) the casual attire of some of the customers in the coffee shop. Some, such as cycle couriers, clearly should not have to wear suits (though perhaps they did in the 1920s). Other categories of customers in the shop should also be exempt suits - an indicative list might include landscape gardeners, astronauts, and vikings.
With another big issue of the day handled, time to return to work.....
* Not to be confused with Pink Floyd's 'Thought Control' - which we don't need any of, thank you
I was also interested to note (while recharging those thought leadership batteries) the casual attire of some of the customers in the coffee shop. Some, such as cycle couriers, clearly should not have to wear suits (though perhaps they did in the 1920s). Other categories of customers in the shop should also be exempt suits - an indicative list might include landscape gardeners, astronauts, and vikings.
With another big issue of the day handled, time to return to work.....
It remains another fabulous day in Sydney - for testing wet weather clothing. Sadly it is looking like the set of Blade Runner out there in that it is constantly raining. I'm not sure if this means that eventually a patch of blue sky will open up for a dove to fly towards, though one can only hope. At the moment the dove would fly towards a greyer patch of grey and then smack into the side of a building travelling at high speed (estimated at 30 km/h, allowing for the additional weight of damp feathers).
Experts on the flight speed of doves have cornered me in the hallways of power and suggested that high speed for a dove would be more in the region of 70 km/h - not the 30 km/h I estimated. Naturally my hypothetical dove mentioned earlier was weighed down by damp feathers and would also have been engaged in a nearly vertical climb. I suspect the theoretical maximum speed for a dove would be reached in a shallow dive rather than level flight or a steep climb. Readers of the Richard Bach classic 'Jonathan Livingstone Seagull' will recall Jonathan's efforts to reach record speed for a Seagull (not sure how he measured this but I'm sure there was some explanation in the book) - and that maximum speed was approached in a dive. Supported by all this reasoning, 30 km/h seems a reasonable speed for a soaking wet dove engaged in a steep climb. I think everyone will agree that 30 km/h is quite fast enough to strike a solid object, especially when one is not expecting to do so.
With all that out of the way, it's disappointing to note that the weather has not improved at all. We can only hope that it will improve in time for a weekend of sailing, looking at art, walking dogs, dove speed measurement and all the other jolly things we do here in Sydney.
With all that out of the way, it's disappointing to note that the weather has not improved at all. We can only hope that it will improve in time for a weekend of sailing, looking at art, walking dogs, dove speed measurement and all the other jolly things we do here in Sydney.
* Not to be confused with Pink Floyd's 'Thought Control' - which we don't need any of, thank you
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Puppy point of view
I really must get the camera on a skateboard to see footage of how the world looks to puppy. Skateboards have a fine history in cinema, I am sure that is what the Maximus character played by Russell Crowe is riding on when he takes off for Elysium.
Speaking of such movie heroes, I was fascinated to learn the (alternate) fate of the real El Cid, as opposed to the one played by Charlton Heston. In the El Cid movie, the Cid has to lead the attack on the besieging army while dead. I'm sure he was not the first nor the last leader to put on a motionless performance while the battle sorts itself out but stapling him to a horse for the occasion seems extreme. Indeed, El Cid's activity while dead would put some of the current crop of military leaders (at least in Australia) to shame. It was interesting to read in today's papers that in a couple of years Australia will have one third of an Army battalion permanently at sea. Presumably this means one of the amphibious ships also will be permanently at sea. I would hate to prick this bubble of optimism but suggest this is all fantasy. If you are a betting person, you can probably bet the troops will be 'permanently' embarked once for a few months then everyone will wake up. Even if it was not hideously expensive and beyond Australia's means, can anyone think where this mighty task force would be sailing and for what reason?
Anyway, to return to El Cid, in another version of the story, not filmed, the real El Cid died peacefully after ruling well for some years. Though one web site suggested he carried out the odd naughty political arrest which Charlton never did in the movie.
To return to puppy, though. A video camera strapped to a skateboard should do nicely to capture some motion sequences. Still pictures can be achieved by the simple expedient of lying on the ground.
Mycroft is also considering the question today of what is a Prong? It's a fine word to promote, as it can be used interchangeable with Wanker, Flogbag and Tool. All most useful words. Prong and Tool of course have recognised polite meanings so can be useful when 'Wanker' stands out a bit too strongly. So one might ask "Who is this Prong parked in my driveway?" instead of "Who is this Flogbag from the Planet Zordon etc....?"
I met one of these creatures the other day. She had only parked there 'for a minute' because 'my car did not seem to be coming and going'. Easily explained, because a Prong had parked me in! Ah, language is a wonderful thing.
Speaking of such movie heroes, I was fascinated to learn the (alternate) fate of the real El Cid, as opposed to the one played by Charlton Heston. In the El Cid movie, the Cid has to lead the attack on the besieging army while dead. I'm sure he was not the first nor the last leader to put on a motionless performance while the battle sorts itself out but stapling him to a horse for the occasion seems extreme. Indeed, El Cid's activity while dead would put some of the current crop of military leaders (at least in Australia) to shame. It was interesting to read in today's papers that in a couple of years Australia will have one third of an Army battalion permanently at sea. Presumably this means one of the amphibious ships also will be permanently at sea. I would hate to prick this bubble of optimism but suggest this is all fantasy. If you are a betting person, you can probably bet the troops will be 'permanently' embarked once for a few months then everyone will wake up. Even if it was not hideously expensive and beyond Australia's means, can anyone think where this mighty task force would be sailing and for what reason?
Anyway, to return to El Cid, in another version of the story, not filmed, the real El Cid died peacefully after ruling well for some years. Though one web site suggested he carried out the odd naughty political arrest which Charlton never did in the movie.
To return to puppy, though. A video camera strapped to a skateboard should do nicely to capture some motion sequences. Still pictures can be achieved by the simple expedient of lying on the ground.
Mycroft is also considering the question today of what is a Prong? It's a fine word to promote, as it can be used interchangeable with Wanker, Flogbag and Tool. All most useful words. Prong and Tool of course have recognised polite meanings so can be useful when 'Wanker' stands out a bit too strongly. So one might ask "Who is this Prong parked in my driveway?" instead of "Who is this Flogbag from the Planet Zordon etc....?"
I met one of these creatures the other day. She had only parked there 'for a minute' because 'my car did not seem to be coming and going'. Easily explained, because a Prong had parked me in! Ah, language is a wonderful thing.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
What Mycroft knows this week
Oddly enough Mycroft isn't feeling too wise this week.
Probably wiser than the dude Mycroft and family encountered the other night in a gelato shop. It seemed that the queue we had all got on the end of was going in the wrong direction for Mr Queue Supervisor. I should point out that he was not on the staff, he was just some random punter who wandered in.
At first I thought he was joking when he demanded I move everyone to the other side of the shop. Then I realised he was just an idiot who ought to be ignored until with a bit of luck he goes completely beserk and gets thrown out. It was not clear to me why he approached me, perhaps I looked like a sensitive sort of person who would listen to his ramblings from his dribbling fantasy world.
I think he is sharing the fantasy world with a whole category of numpties who, because this blog aims to be positive, we will not discuss. Tempting as it is, because that guy was a serious prong....
One imagines having a numpty of the week competition, followed at a decent interval (perhaps quarterly) with a sort of award night for numpties. It could be called, 'The Numpties'.
Probably wiser than the dude Mycroft and family encountered the other night in a gelato shop. It seemed that the queue we had all got on the end of was going in the wrong direction for Mr Queue Supervisor. I should point out that he was not on the staff, he was just some random punter who wandered in.
At first I thought he was joking when he demanded I move everyone to the other side of the shop. Then I realised he was just an idiot who ought to be ignored until with a bit of luck he goes completely beserk and gets thrown out. It was not clear to me why he approached me, perhaps I looked like a sensitive sort of person who would listen to his ramblings from his dribbling fantasy world.
I think he is sharing the fantasy world with a whole category of numpties who, because this blog aims to be positive, we will not discuss. Tempting as it is, because that guy was a serious prong....
One imagines having a numpty of the week competition, followed at a decent interval (perhaps quarterly) with a sort of award night for numpties. It could be called, 'The Numpties'.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
TT3D: Closer to the Edge
I saw TT3D: Closer to the Edge this evening. It follows some of the riders at the 2010 Isle of Man motorcycle races. For those of you who have not heard of the races there, the official website offers some introduction:
http://www.iomtt.com/
Suffice to say the island circuit is long, fast and dangerous with, sadly, many deaths over the more than 100 year period the races have been held.
Rider Guy Martin features in the film, and he presents as quite an interesting character. For those of you who plan to see the film I won't reveal how his quest to win one of the several races turns out.
Over the last week I have also been learning about Freelancing, as the time is approaching for Mycroft to launch a new career. I will be attending a session at the Rozelle Community College this weekend. Taught by a freelance film producer, the course contains vast amount of useful information for potential freelancers.
http://www.iomtt.com/
Suffice to say the island circuit is long, fast and dangerous with, sadly, many deaths over the more than 100 year period the races have been held.
Rider Guy Martin features in the film, and he presents as quite an interesting character. For those of you who plan to see the film I won't reveal how his quest to win one of the several races turns out.
Over the last week I have also been learning about Freelancing, as the time is approaching for Mycroft to launch a new career. I will be attending a session at the Rozelle Community College this weekend. Taught by a freelance film producer, the course contains vast amount of useful information for potential freelancers.
Monday, October 10, 2011
The Great Race
No not the film called 'The Great Race' but the Bathurst 1000, on today at Mt Panorama. As it runs all day there is plenty of time to wander the streets, taking the air and finding out what's going on. I must admit there was not that much going on. One of the local churches being repainted was about the biggest news on the streets.
That was Sunday when I started this post. Now it's Monday so Mycroft has been out and about earning a living. Seated on a bus this morning and this evening, I was a witness to strange events. This morning's bus journey was uneventful enough, but this evening strange things were afoot.
There was a man seated a couple of rows up holding a huge ball of newspaper. From the discussion he was having with the man in front of him (in a black leather jacket), it seems Leather Jacket had balled up a page of the Sydney Morning Herald and thrown it to the floor of the bus. Not unreasonably, the first man suggested that Leather Jacket take his rubbish with him. Leather Jacket's 'argument' was that the Herald should be confronted about their paper. Seemingly he did not like the content, well not of part of that particular page as he seemed to be happy to read the rest of his paper. One wonders if he was incensed by only a small part of the page he balled up. Then again the ball was so big I could still read the articles on the outside of it from a few rows back.
I wondered what this episode teaches us. I concluded that it was a good thing Leather Jacket was not reading a tougher book that incensed him, like one of those plastic books that can be read in the bath. Or reading an ipad, or an old fashioned laptop. Balling those things up would have tested him out.
It's also important to remember that Leather Jacket might not have been well: sometimes it's better to leave people alone. In this case, the man might have needed help, not censure. I hope it was not that dramatic. Certainly I was watching to see if Jacket would punch the other gentleman but nothing happened and we all carried on our bus journey. As no doubt commuters will do for another hundred years, oblivious to the miniature drama played out on a Monday evening on Parramatta Road. Sic transit gloria.
That was Sunday when I started this post. Now it's Monday so Mycroft has been out and about earning a living. Seated on a bus this morning and this evening, I was a witness to strange events. This morning's bus journey was uneventful enough, but this evening strange things were afoot.
There was a man seated a couple of rows up holding a huge ball of newspaper. From the discussion he was having with the man in front of him (in a black leather jacket), it seems Leather Jacket had balled up a page of the Sydney Morning Herald and thrown it to the floor of the bus. Not unreasonably, the first man suggested that Leather Jacket take his rubbish with him. Leather Jacket's 'argument' was that the Herald should be confronted about their paper. Seemingly he did not like the content, well not of part of that particular page as he seemed to be happy to read the rest of his paper. One wonders if he was incensed by only a small part of the page he balled up. Then again the ball was so big I could still read the articles on the outside of it from a few rows back.
I wondered what this episode teaches us. I concluded that it was a good thing Leather Jacket was not reading a tougher book that incensed him, like one of those plastic books that can be read in the bath. Or reading an ipad, or an old fashioned laptop. Balling those things up would have tested him out.
It's also important to remember that Leather Jacket might not have been well: sometimes it's better to leave people alone. In this case, the man might have needed help, not censure. I hope it was not that dramatic. Certainly I was watching to see if Jacket would punch the other gentleman but nothing happened and we all carried on our bus journey. As no doubt commuters will do for another hundred years, oblivious to the miniature drama played out on a Monday evening on Parramatta Road. Sic transit gloria.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
You will all be pleased to know that Twitter has proved a valuable source of intelligence about what is going on out there. Through Twitter, I have learned of such weighty matters as the Gasp fashion affair in Melbourne, where apparently someone slapped a shop assistant. 'The Slap' was the cause of a vast number of tweets, letters, emails and indeed blogs such as this.
Speaking of 'The Slap', I've been told that I should read this book so as to offer informed commentary. I'm not sure that being informed, or indeed offering commentary, is a great idea. Thinking about it, on this blog I do both so I may be forced to read 'The Slap'. I wonder if there is a Readers Digest Condensed Book version I can read (any readers know of one?). This would ideally be a one page summary, thus: 'At a barbecue. Person runs amok, someone slaps person, poo hits the fan, no-one is friends anymore.' The condensed TV show would depict a person flinging rotten vegetables at themselves while laughing hysterically (why not, I ask). Probably makes as much sense as the actual show, but would be more interesting.
Speaking of 'The Slap', I've been told that I should read this book so as to offer informed commentary. I'm not sure that being informed, or indeed offering commentary, is a great idea. Thinking about it, on this blog I do both so I may be forced to read 'The Slap'. I wonder if there is a Readers Digest Condensed Book version I can read (any readers know of one?). This would ideally be a one page summary, thus: 'At a barbecue. Person runs amok, someone slaps person, poo hits the fan, no-one is friends anymore.' The condensed TV show would depict a person flinging rotten vegetables at themselves while laughing hysterically (why not, I ask). Probably makes as much sense as the actual show, but would be more interesting.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Puppy's point of view
It's hard to imagine a world where the other beings you interact with are the size of dinosaurs - yet that's how a small dog sees people. A big dog may come up to an adult's waist or above a child's head. To a small dog, even a child is a giant. Imagine the small dog stands 25 cm tall: a 180 cm tall person is over seven times taller. To achieve the same effect for a person, imagine a 180 cm tall adult interacting with a creature 12 metres tall!
It is amazing that little dogs are so fearless in the presence of giants! From time to time the giants even pick up the little creatures and sweep them into the air. Looked at in this way, it's a remarkable reality our little furry friends accept.
One is reminded of the TV show 'Land of the Giants', running from 1968 to 1970 I'm reliably informed. I recall seeing this show, probably in repeats in the mid 1970s. I was probably not the most discerning TV critic but I am sure I recall that this show was not particularly good. Like the immortal 'Space 1999' it contained manay characters whose dramatic range consisted of doing nothing or shouting. A technique I saw recently in episodes of 'Dr Who' which are only a few years old. 'Dr Who', at least, goes through phases or periods of not being rubbish. 'Land of the Giants', unfortunately, seemed to contain more rubbish than a landfill the size of the Grand Canyon. It has to be said, though, that when 'Dr Who' is rubbish it goes all the way. At least there have not been any giants in it for a while so small dogs are safe. Stay tuned for what Mycroft sees, and knows.
It is amazing that little dogs are so fearless in the presence of giants! From time to time the giants even pick up the little creatures and sweep them into the air. Looked at in this way, it's a remarkable reality our little furry friends accept.
One is reminded of the TV show 'Land of the Giants', running from 1968 to 1970 I'm reliably informed. I recall seeing this show, probably in repeats in the mid 1970s. I was probably not the most discerning TV critic but I am sure I recall that this show was not particularly good. Like the immortal 'Space 1999' it contained manay characters whose dramatic range consisted of doing nothing or shouting. A technique I saw recently in episodes of 'Dr Who' which are only a few years old. 'Dr Who', at least, goes through phases or periods of not being rubbish. 'Land of the Giants', unfortunately, seemed to contain more rubbish than a landfill the size of the Grand Canyon. It has to be said, though, that when 'Dr Who' is rubbish it goes all the way. At least there have not been any giants in it for a while so small dogs are safe. Stay tuned for what Mycroft sees, and knows.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Mycroft hears, Mycroft knows
Greetings all, it has been a while since I've taken up the keyboard of creativity. As Mia Freedman said in Sunday Life on 2 October, 'You can edit bad words, but you can't edit no words'. Thus inspired, I decided it was time to write some words. The choice of topics is endless.
I considered the usual suspects: people who walk around my suburb who must think their dogs never 'poo' because the four legged creature is out of their line of sight when it deposits an immense smelly pile in front of someone's house. Then there is the clown trapped in a time warp of the 1970s who thinks it the height of consideration to lean on their car horn to summon their intended passenger from their home. The intended passenger, needless to say, is hard of hearing and appears to have their head thrust into the toilet bowl in order to enjoy the tranquillity. The intended passenger thus does not hear the horn blasting summons and thus the intrepid chariot driver must lean many times on the horn to achieve the intended effect. Sadly the Government has failed us in that satellites have not been diverted to monitor these miscreants and record their identities for public naming, shaming and ridicule.
Such a wealth of material was defeated by the requirement to discuss things that Mycroft hears and Mycroft knows. The impending television event 'The Slap' seemed a good place to start on the list of things that Mycroft knows this week. For those of you who have not caught up, it seems that this is a mini series filmed in real time about the events taking place at the Quintessential Aussie Barbecue. As best I can gather, someone is having a birthday and threatens to slap himself unconscious because of the appalling boredom generated by his friends. An episode is devoted to each of the 75 major characters as the fascinated viewer looks on. I have seen this series trumpeted as 'sure to be controversial' though I suspect 'sure to have a narrative proceeding at sub-glacial pace' is going to be nearer the mark.
I considered the usual suspects: people who walk around my suburb who must think their dogs never 'poo' because the four legged creature is out of their line of sight when it deposits an immense smelly pile in front of someone's house. Then there is the clown trapped in a time warp of the 1970s who thinks it the height of consideration to lean on their car horn to summon their intended passenger from their home. The intended passenger, needless to say, is hard of hearing and appears to have their head thrust into the toilet bowl in order to enjoy the tranquillity. The intended passenger thus does not hear the horn blasting summons and thus the intrepid chariot driver must lean many times on the horn to achieve the intended effect. Sadly the Government has failed us in that satellites have not been diverted to monitor these miscreants and record their identities for public naming, shaming and ridicule.
Such a wealth of material was defeated by the requirement to discuss things that Mycroft hears and Mycroft knows. The impending television event 'The Slap' seemed a good place to start on the list of things that Mycroft knows this week. For those of you who have not caught up, it seems that this is a mini series filmed in real time about the events taking place at the Quintessential Aussie Barbecue. As best I can gather, someone is having a birthday and threatens to slap himself unconscious because of the appalling boredom generated by his friends. An episode is devoted to each of the 75 major characters as the fascinated viewer looks on. I have seen this series trumpeted as 'sure to be controversial' though I suspect 'sure to have a narrative proceeding at sub-glacial pace' is going to be nearer the mark.
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