Month: August 2007

Have patience my son

Even for me, who is usually pretty good at taking the long view (reference how long it took me to get into med), this has been quite an effort.

Last year I decided that I wanted a digital SLR.

I wanted a Canon.

I liked the 30D, which had been out for a year or so but there were a few features that it didn’t have that I wanted (Dust reduction being the prime one). They’ll release a successor with that feature soon I thought to myself. Won’t they? Surely??

Almost 15 months of “maybe they’ll release it soon” later they’ve finally released the 40D, which has all the extra features I wanted, plus several that I wasn’t looking for, but which were cool anyway.

Now all I have to do is figure when is going to be the best time to buy one (duty free in NZ maybe?).

Stubbornness wins again!

Are you doing your part for your Country?

Over dinner this evening, while my thoughts were running on a tangent I came up with a little idea that has subsequently rather amused me.

Currently politicians all over the world love to wax lyrically about carbon offset trading schemes as a way to save the country from the scourge of global warming.

Given that another issue that concerns our politicians is the fact that Australians are not breeding rapidly enough to replace the population, and people with higher levels of education are even less likely to have more than 2 children, I feel that an opportunity exists for some pro-active government policy to reverse this problem. To be specific, I propose we establish a

Bogan offset trading scheme!!!

People who are above average education or intelligence but who don’t want kinds could subsidise other intelligent people who are inclined to have more than two kids to do so.

This way we could both encourage population growth, and increase the reproductive output of the  intellectual elite of the nation, to offset the thousands of poor bogan babies born annually to people who cannot figure how to use a condom, let alone raise a child.

It’s win win!!

(and this is the point where I stand back and prepare to receive the avalances of “You can’t say that!!!” emails from people who didn’t get the joke)

A correspondence

Simone rather likes two series of mystery books by an Australian author by the Name of Kerry Greenwood. The first is the Phryne Fisher series, based around the exploits of a socialite and amateur sleuth in 1920s Melbourne and greater victoria. The second is the Corinna Chapman series, base around a Baker who finds her self unintentionally solving crimes.

I haven’t read any of either of them, but Simone has read them all, and owns most of them. She frequently complains about the fact that she’s read them all and thinks that Kerry should get busy and write some more. I told her she should write to Kerry and tell her this, and eventually that is exactly what Simone did.

And wouldn’t you know it, Kerry wrote back!!

Just because I find the whole thing so amusing, below are the two emails.  This should also serve s a handy hint for some good presents for Simone for christmas (hint hint) 🙂

Dear Kerry,
I have read all your Phyrne Fisher and Corinna Chapman books and enjoyed them immensley.  In fact I have read them all several times and was wondering when the next are due out.  Will there be anymore Phyrne Fisher books now that she has reached the end of 1928?
Looking forward to some new adventures for Corinna and Phyrne.
Kind regards,
Simone Ramsay
Dear Simone
Thank you very much! New Corinna Trick or treat in Septmeber, new Phryne for Christmas.
You keep reading them, I’ll keep writing them, deal?
Cordially
Kerry

Night sky

Last night I stumbles onto a rather neat little online tutorial for orienting yourself to the (admittedly northern hemisphere) night sky. It’s simple, and quite fun.

http://www.quietbay.net/Science/astronomy/nightsky/

Progress

And just to prove the it’s not the entirety of the catholic church which is stuck in the dark ages (merely the pope), an italian Jesuit magazine recently ran an article about how virtual online worlds should be considered “mission worlds”, in as much as that there are people in them who may wish for some spiritual input, and the church and it’s followers should consider entering them to provide for the spiritual needs of the inhabitants. I imagine it would work better in Second life than it would in world of warcraft, but I can still image the possibility…

Coming soon to a MMOPG world near you: Virtual god botherers (“I’d like to trade you for that +3 Battle Axe,  oh, and can I talk to you about Jesus?…” 🙂 )

Noteable

 I saw a sticker on the back windows of a ute the other day which made me laugh, and read:

Eat Moose – 10,000 wolves can’t be wrong