Posted in Uncategorized on October 31, 2007| 5 Comments »
I read an article in the paper today about a place called Blandville Court. It was named after Australia’s first private physician, William Bland, a bit of a firebrand. He was transferred here after killing the purser in a duel in Bombay. He wasn’t Irish but he did have an interest in inventing things and was at loggerheads with many of the officials in the administration of the colony of New South Wales.
Here is a link to a –
I wonder if PO’B knew about him.
Posted in Uncategorized on October 31, 2007| 8 Comments »
Interesting things that German grannies get up to –
Wool bondage suits an online hit
They got the link wrong in the article –
Maybe the journalist got so excited over the product they got a bit muddled when inserting the text. *g*
Posted in Uncategorized on October 31, 2007| Leave a Comment »
I think I’m over my obsession with Election Porn, the pseudo and real election campaigns have totally exhausted any interest, unlike Catherine Deveney –
Time for a party – just not one of the major ones
Maybe the tipping point into boredom was this cartoon –
Thelma and Louise? Puhlease!
Posted in Uncategorized on October 30, 2007| 5 Comments »
Posted in Uncategorized on October 29, 2007|
Posted in Uncategorized on October 29, 2007| 3 Comments »
I was browsing through the ABC site for the documentary, Captain Cook: Obsession and Discovery that is showing there at the moment –
Very good site with lots of info about the series and Cook and alos his long-suffering wife, Elizabeth as well as the making of the series.
I then went looking for the book that the series was based on, Captain Cook: Obsession and Betrayal in the New World. It was written by the series presenter, Vanessa Collingridge and since it was printed way back in 2002, I went for a search on line to check whether it was still available if I couldn’t get the book through the ABC’s bookshop. I found this little snippet written in a review. Ms Collingridge has an ancestor, George Collingridge (1837 – 1931) who also spent his life researching James Cook. The review quoted a snippet from the book –
Of her ancestor Collingridge observes: “He was eccentric and colorful and too given to whims of fancy and dreadful puns, but the bulk of his [own] research is basically sound.”
I also saw a review in the SMH this morning which really did give a marvellous sense of the effect of the presenter and a very interesting description of the main character –
Narrator and Cook tragic – Vanessa Collingridge manages to draw the viewer into his majestic journey with her bountiful enthusiasm. In fact, in much the same way as David Attenborough got a generation or three intrigued in the natural world, Collingridge could single-handedly do the same for the unheralded work of cartographers. She speaks in raptures about Cook’s “pioneering hydrographic work” and how he was “winning the map war” being waged on the international waters at the time. Who knew map making could be this obsessive?
For Aussies who fancy their heroes as roughand ready raconteurs, there’s not a lot to work with here. Any master of the high seas has to have an inner geek and before too long we see Cook as an obsessive perfectionist with a keen sense of discipline. Not someone you’re going to crack open a tinny with and share a few yarns.
On his side, however is his passion for discovery, his acute sense of the sea that engenders respect from his crew plus his concern for indigenous people and a willingness to learn from the locals – a rare trait in discoverers of the day.
Does remind me of a certain naval captain who has his own inner geek (astronomical observations and the mathematics) as well as having an external geek of heroic proportions to play with. *g*
Posted in Uncategorized on October 29, 2007| 2 Comments »
Oh dear, the rather minor party waving the flag for “Family Values” in the Federal Election has struck problems with one of its members standing in NSW or rather too many people being able to see the member’s member online, not sure whether it was standing or not.
Meet Family First’s Member for Nowhere
I don’t think they need that sort of exposure. Oh what a hypocrite!
Posted in Uncategorized on October 29, 2007| 7 Comments »
Do you know the real meaning of the word, ‘dork’? Well you can find out in the book called –
KamaSEAtra: Secrets of Sex in the Sea
I believe Stephen Maturin would have found the book fascinating, though Jack might be a bit squeamish about it. *g*
Posted in Uncategorized on October 26, 2007| 2 Comments »
Posted in Uncategorized on October 26, 2007| 2 Comments »
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