Nobody Important

Saturday Photo Hunt --- Garbage

2009-07-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

PhotoHunt

GARBAGE

This was an ugly sight I saw on our walking group outing yesterday. Click to enlarge.

This view of a little scenic pond, marred by someone carelessly leaving their garbage on the grass. Actually there is no excuse for it whatsoever, since there are garbage cans all along the path.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE

Virtual Law?

2009-07-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

This one is a serious, if not actually hard hat, post that even serious, political type guy, bloggers ought to be able to comment on without embarrassment. Go on boys you know you want to.

Scientific American published an article about Second life in their July issue. Well, to be entirely honest it was not just about SL, it touched on World of Warcraft also.

It was suggesting that maybe real life laws ought to be applied to Second life and similar virtual worlds.

They mentioned an instance where a Chinese guy loaned a virtual sword to someone's avie who promptly sold it for $800. The guy tried to report it in Real Life to the police but they felt unable to deal with it. So he killed the guy instead. In RL that is.

They (Scientific American) quote “If somebody is going to die, and somebody else is going to spend the rest of his life in jail for a virtual crime, then we better take it seriously,”

Excuse me! No way is RL murder a virtual crime. People can even get murdered because other (frankly nutty) people think they looked at them funny. Crazy is crazy. That is a real life crime.

I don't know World of Warcraft but I wonder if the lending of a sword would not be outside the rules of the game. Maybe if it was, a RL contact he needed to have it written down and witnessed/notarised with penalties, surety. Maybe he could have sued the guy then? Or kept the surety.

I guess he must have had some serious gullibility, anger management issues and maybe rationality issues also. The place to have done the killing should have been the virtual world. “Kill” the thief there and take his goods where it is part of the game.

Now it seems to me that a “crime” in, say SL, is not necessarily a crime at all unless it is against the rules. If there are laws in SL or any other virtual world then don't they need to be in-world laws? Not imposed by national courts?

For a start what nation's laws would it be? Where the servers were? Where the players were? And if the players are in several different countries what then?

All this talk of laws is quite relevant just now, as your intrepid feisty reporter, can reveal. The virtual space trading "world" (universe?) Eve has a real crisis just now.

One of the biggest banks in that virtual world just had a run on it. That was caused by one of it's financial controllers embezzling 200 billion Kredits (the in-world currency), converting them into RL £3,115.00 and running for the outback (he is Australian).

The theft happened in June. Eve is based in Iceland.

I figure you do need rules. And for rules read laws. And there should be sanctions against those that break them. You don't need many of them. But there are financial transactions within worlds such as SL and you need some sort of regulation/security.

I do think that RL courts and legislators should keep their hands off/out of the virtual worlds. If laws/rules are needed they should be in-world, and dare I say it as few and as simple as possible.

The Age of Dreaming

2009-07-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

It's quite a while since I've done a book review. Not because I haven't read any books lately, but nothing has stood out as worth mentioning. Until this one: The Age of Dreaming.

Nina Revoyr is a new author to me, although this is her third novel. I picked up the book in the Library, perusing the dust jacket and thinking that sounds interesting. What I did not expect was a book which impressed me so much with the writing that it made the story almost secondary. Well not quite.

Jun Nakayama was an unlikely superstar in the early years of the silent film industry in Hollywood. Unlikely and quite remarkable, in that he was Japanese but filming in the western world with all that entailed. Abruptly he retired in 1922, at the peak of his career and the book finds him in 1964, an elderly man living a very quiet dignified life.

Nick Bellinger, a young writer, seeks him out for an interview, supposedly for an article on the early film industry. However he has written a screen play which he hopes to have made and with Nakayama in mind for the part. Jun's interaction with the young writer brings back a flood of memories of his glory days and the book goes back and forth between the two eras, as Jun recounts the stories of those days and introduces us to the cast of characters with whom he worked. Besides the director who made him a star and who was murdered at that time, Ashley Bennett Tyler, Jun also tells us of the three women, actresses, who dominated his life at the time.

He embarks on the task of seeking out people from his past life, trying to come to terms with those long ago times and events and this leads to some interesting revelations which I shall leave unspoken.

Besides being beautifully written, I found the story of the early days of the silent film industry to be quite fascinating. I think Jun is beautifully portrayed by the author and on the whole I think it a remarkably good book. Here the book has been summed up so much better than I could.

The Age of Dreaming explores the history of Los Angeles, the heady beginnings of the movie industry, and the interplay of race and celebrity. It is part historical novel, part mystery, and part story of unfulfilled love, all told through the voice of a forgotten star who must gradually come to terms with his past.

As one of the best books I have read in the last few years I can highly recommend it.

Saturday Photo Hunt ---- Pink

2009-07-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

PhotoHunt

PINK

This is the second time tnchick has set pink as the theme for Saturday Photo Hunt. Last time I had no hesitation in what I wanted to post. My daughter and I called the occasion the Princess Birthday Party and I was sure that I could not top that one. But this photo of an Astilbe in my front garden is quite pink, in its full glory last week when I took this.

There were bees buzzing around it but I was in a hurry and did not have time to take one of those great insect macro photos that everyone seems to capture. Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Along with Hostas, Astilbes are my very favourite plants which you could tell if you came to see my garden.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE

AND HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY TO THOSE CELEBRATING IT

There's a man in my bed! Eeeak!

2009-07-02T01:21:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a week or so since I last posted. I have been pretty busy, both in Second Life and Real Life. In fact RL has been getting in the way of my visiting SL and blogging. Sigh!

Oh check out my new pic. What do you think?

This post is about Second life and something that creeped me out a bit...

I recently moved to a temporary place (and am now moving again asap, to somewhere with better security).

JMB had popped by to visit with me. I showed her some of my SL art that I had hung on my walls (I like to make things homely)..

Anyway, I had to go do some stuff in RL but JMB stayed to look over my work, here is one of them “Surfer Girl”.

While she was doing that some strange guy just appeared!

On my bed! Definitely uninvited!

I am not sure what I would have done if I had been home. Either run, flipped out and/or attacked him I guess.

I have been hanging out in some rough places lately and at the time I had knives strapped to my arms in quick release holsters, so if I had remembered.... he might have been sorry.

Well it wasn't me but JMB, she confronted him armed with nothing but her indignation (and possibly an umbrella) and saw him off. Yaaay JMB! Apparently he was randomly hopping in on people.

Not a handsomely raffish, masterful but gentlemanly, art thief then... Sigh.

One of the dangers of a world with teleportation and the odd d@#k head I guess.

Citizenship --- in this case, US Citizenship

2009-06-29T23:33:00.000-07:00

In 1980 my daughter left Canada for the United States of America. She already had a Bachelor's and a Master's Degree in 17th Century French Literature from UBC at the tender age of 23, but finally she was ready to leave home to pursue her doctoral studies. From the list of universities which had accepted her into their graduate program she finally chose Stanford University in California.

During her time at Stanford she met an Italian graduate student and when they had both finished, after six long years, they married and settled in the USA, firstly still on student visas and then work visas but eventually they obtained the coveted "green card" as it is commonly known, or Lawful Permanent Residency.

Finally, after 19 years in her case and 20 years in his, her very pragmatic husband thought that it was time for them to become citizens of the USA, so that they could eventually enjoy some of the benefits for which they were paying large amounts of tax but which were available only to citizens. I think my daughter saw the wisdom of this and so the process was started.

After many months and final interviews the process was completed, save for one thing, taking the Oath of Allegiance for Naturalized Citiz ens. At this point, I started to receive frantic telephone calls from her. She did not care for the wording of the oath at all. Not one little bit. Now this child of mine at that point held two citizenships, Canadian and Australian, with passports of both countries. The Americans were aware of that and said she could continue to hold those citizenships.

It seems the USA is a little schizophrenic on the topic of dual citizenship. It used to be the case that US citizens could not hold dual citizenship, except in certain specific cases. However, most of the laws forbidding dual citizenship were struck down by the US Supreme Court in two cases: a 1967 decision, Afroyim v. Rusk, as well as a second ruling in 1980, Vance v. Terrazas.

On the other hand, if an American takes up citizenship in another country, then the US will consider that person to no longer be a citizen. Incidentally, the same is not necessarily true the other way around. If a person of another country becomes a US citizen then, depending upon the laws of the home country, that country may still consider her/him to be a citizen.

However the official US State Department policy on dual citizenship today is that the United States does not favor it as a matter of policy because of various problems they feel it may cause, but the existence of dual citizenship is recognized. But for all intents and purposes dual citizenship is accepted totally now in the USA.

So what was the problem for my daughter? Why was she freaking out about taking the Oath? Well just take a look at the wording.

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

That is pretty strong language indicating that you are certainly renouncing any citizenship you hold when you take the oath, wouldn't you say? She had been frantically looking online to make absolutely sure that she was not giving up her Canadian or her Australian citizenship by swearing this oath. I suggested that the oath was simply anachronistic in light of the fact that dual citizenship for US citizens has been in effect for quite a few years, and that it had not been changed to keep up with these changes. It does seem strange that changes have not been made to it.

Well she did take the oath and she has applied for a US passport and so in the tradition of our immigrant family, another one has officially changed citizenship. But I think, like me, she will retain the strong attachment to the land of her birth. She will always be a Canadian. As I asked in the linked post, where will my granddaughter end up, she of the three citizenships, American, Canadian and Italian. Will she continue our immigrant experience by living elsewhere? Time will tell.

Saturday Photo Hunt --- Flags

2009-06-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

PhotoHunt

FLAGS

Once again I was scratching my head about this one. It seems I don't take photos of flags. But then I suddenly thought of the perfect idea for this theme, although I'm afraid I had to scan in these very old photos (taken in 1984) and they could do with some "editorial" help if only I was good at that.

These photos were taken in Siena at the running of the Palio di Siena which I wrote about so long ago. It is a horse race between the various contrade (zones) of Siena, taking place twice each year since the 1600s and the prize is the Palio, a banner which hangs in the clubrooms of the winner.

Click and you will get a very big view! I forgot to reduce it in size before uploading.

Before the race there is a parade with everyone in period costume, and many carry the flags of their contrada. We have a close friend from Siena and he belongs to the Istrice contrada, or Hedgehog contrada and this is their flag above.

Well this is not exactly a flag but it is flag like and it is the banner which was made for the Palio we attended in 1984.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE

The Belted Galloways --- An Update

2009-06-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

Tuesday is usually a golf day for the Old Scientist but today his partners were not available, so I suggested we go to Steveston for walk on the dyke, followed by lunch on the Steveston wharf.

Along the way we saw my favourite Belted Galloways, enjoying the fresh grass which grows in the tidal marshland adjacent to the dyke road so, as usual, I took a few photos. Yes again. Please endulge me.

There always seem to be birds around these cows, today no different

The Belted Galloways of Steve's farm spend the summer grazing in a paddock fenced off from the rest of the marsh. For the first time I saw a box by the fence which contained pamphlets with information and inviting you to place your orders for frozen beef from these lovely cows. Luckily I am not a farmer else they would all die of old age.

Because it is quite wet in this spot they are rather muddy on their undersides and legs

According to the handout, these cows are pastured on grass during the summer and are fed local hay and ranch alfalfa during the winter, with their diet supplemented by barley mash from the beer brewing process of a nearby brewery. Because of their thick coat of outer hair, these animals have reduced outer body fat and lean tender meat. They are all raised from birth by the Steve family and receive no growth hormones or antibiotics.

This one with the itch was especially muddy

A young one was right by the fence

I counted 21 animals in the field today, at different stages of development. I'm afraid that they have all been sold this year but you can place your order for 2010. A side of beef, approximately 160 lbs, will cost you $800, cut, wrapped and frozen. No I am not a vegetarian and I eat beef, but these animals feel special to me so I won't be placing my order any time soon.

Not all the animals were in the soggy field nearest the river. Some were still in the drier fields on the land side of the dyke, where the herd spends the winter. Click to enlarge the photos to see them more clearly.

Saturday Photo Hunt ---- Creamy

2009-06-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

PhotoHunt

CREAMY

Our hostess, tn chick, is making things more difficult for us each week! Creamy???

I do have a quite charming creamy-white coloured orchid in my house

I did enjoy some of this delicious creamy Pavlova Roll, made by my friend
for a lunch she hosted recently

Well if it wasn't for these animals, in this case Belted Galloway cows, creamy
would not exist in the English lexicon.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE

The Shrinking Woman .... ARRGhhh!

2009-06-18T01:08:00.000-07:00

Recently I was at my annual physical checkup. As usual I had my list of possible concerns and questions which my long-time physician expects and he always insists I go through them all before the examination commences or we get down to specifics.

My mother suffered severely from osteoporosis, being severely bent over for many years before her death at 85. So I assume that is part of my medical legacy and for twenty years I took Hormone Replacement Therapy for bone loss prevention. But two years ago I stopped and so I suggested that perhaps I should have another bone density test, since it is three years since my last.

First of all, let's measure you, was his reply. How tall were you at your tallest? Five foot six inches, I replied. Mmm. Five foot four inches now. Normal, he said. What?????

Yes it is normal to lose two inches of height without necessarily having osteoporosis. The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging found that the cumulative height loss from age 30 to 70 years averaged about 3 cm (1.18 inches) for men and 5 cm (1.97 inches) for women (Sorkin, Muller, & Andres, 1999).

The reason for this is that the discs which cushion and separate the vertebrae of the spine compress, and over time, shrink. This results in what we think of as normal age-related loss in height, which is not likely to be preventable.

However loss of height can be caused by the compression and deterioration of the vertebrae as a result of bone loss which is known as osteoporosis and this latter can be treated and prevented.

So for years, besides the HRT, I have taken calcium and Vitamin D supplements as well as consumed vast amounts of yogurt and dairy products, hoping to avoid my mother's fate. As well I have always done weight bearing exercises which are very helpful in making bones stronger.

Osteoporosis is a serious matter, not only causing loss of height (dowager's hump, although this is a disease which affects both sexes, usually at a later stage in men) but more commonly osteoporotic fractures of the hip, the vertebrae, or the wrist. Hip fractures are especially problematic since they can cause loss of mobility and consequently independence in the elderly. Did you know that 30% of all hip fractures are in men? Not only that, but these result in a 31% mortality rate by one year post-fracture in men, as opposed to a 17% mortality rate for women at the same post-fracture time.

Cutting straight to the chase, my physician recommended a spinal Xray to check if there were any signs of compression fractures, which is a definite sign of osteoporosis. Luckily there were none but now I have to go for bone density studies and depending on those results I might consider taking Fosamax, or alendronate, one of the class of drugs known as bisphosphonates which slow down bone loss in the body. Like every drug, bisphosphonates can have adverse side effects and one must consider those when making the decision to take the drug, as will I, especially if the results of the bone density tests are borderline.

So there I am, the incredible shrinking woman. With my increase in girth as well as my loss of height am I going to be Ms 5 by 5?

Disclaimer: The information contained in this post is not to be considered definitive or all-inclusive, although it is accurate to my knowledge and has been checked. Please consult your physician for information about osteoporosis and bisphosphonates or any tests mentioned.

Now I may be shrinking in real life but in Second Life I am five feet ten inches, over six feet in high heels.

Pretty cute too, even if I say so myself.

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose is a Rose*

2009-06-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

Hot Cocoa in all its glory last summer

In the garden of the first house I inhabited here in Vancouver I carefully nurtured 23 roses, with all that entailed: pruning, spraying, deadheading, etc.

When I moved here more than 30 years ago, the garden was barely established and there were a couple of roses which did not do at all well. Since this house has an east/west location and not really enough hours of sun, especially as the trees grew, it became more of a shade garden. Eventually I reefed out the roses and decided no more.

But last year, on a visit to the nursery, I was tempted again to consider them. After a long conversation with someone I met there who was a member of the Vancouver Rose Society and who assured me they would do very well in containers, I bought two roses: Hot Cocoa (above), a gorgeous floribunda, an All America Rose Selection winner in 2003 and Indian Summer (below), a large flowered hybrid tea rose with a lovely scent.

As you recall we had quite the harsh winter last year and sadly Hot Cocoa succumbed while Indian Summer seems to be made of sterner stuff and is blooming again faithfully as you can see here.

Indian Summer, in all its glory, except for the holes in the leaves!

Now the newer roses are supposedly more resistant to pests and disease. I now take a rather hands off attitude to my roses, since I don't like to use poisons or rather I am too lazy to go to all that fuss. But I would not say that the roses I have at the moment are exactly pest/disease free. In fact quite the opposite.

How ugly are these leaves, for whatever reason

Since I loved the unique colours and the floriferous performance of Hot Cocoa last year I decided to buy another (below). What the heck? As you can clearly see this is marked (well you can if you click on it to enlarge) Hot Cocoa but the rose is white!!!!! Next time I'll wait until there is a flower in bloom before I buy.

Early in the season a friend said to me, "I am going to buy one of the new roses. I don't care what colour it is but it has to be one of those new pest/disease free ones." Great idea. So I bought one too. Carefree Celebration, introduced in 2007 and guaranteed to be very disease resistant. What I did not notice is that it grows rather large in size, not quite suitable for a container. That will teach me to read the whole notice and not get sucked in by the carefree assurance.

Carefree Celebration, flowering quite nicely but a bit chewed too

Oh well, there is always next year.

* A quote from Gertrude Stein (probably her most famous), now part of the lexicon meaning, "things are just what they are".

Saturday Photo Hunt --- Lock

2009-06-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

PhotoHunt

LOCK

tnchick is testing us with these themes lately. A very pedestrian post today I'm afraid.

When I bought my car new, it had this keyless entry system which I had never had previously. I was very suspicious, imagining teenagers playing around and getting into the car and driving off after a mere couple of tries. Although why they would want to steal a Ford Taurus I could not imagine, even though it does have a 3.7 litre engine and is very fast away when the red light changes which I do appreciate.

The other thing was this remote thingy which unlocks all doors plus the trunk which I have loved and is still working after 15 years. All in all, despite being a very pedestrian car, it has been an excellent one and so far no one has cracked the code.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE

Music II. Just when you thought it was safe...

2009-06-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

Inspired by JMB's visit to a concert I thought I would re-visit the top 10 meme I did a post on previously.

Firstly, just to show I am not totally sad, I will mention that the last comparable 'do' to JMB's I went to recently was an IL Divo concert at the O2 Arena. It is a pretty good venue with a huge car park and great public transport connections, one stop down from Canary Wharf and all the facilities there.

It was just marvellous and Il Divo are so great and so cute!

Managed to wangle tickets to a corporate box. Along with arena seats it had a lounge, TV and a bar! How cool is that? Though why you would want a TV at a concert I don't know.

Unlike the Old Scientist's musical tastes mine are pretty catholic. Like I said before, I can think of examples of almost every genre that I do like and enjoy.

So... My 'No hidden messages' Top Ten, for this week is:

Knock you Down – Keri Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo
Remedy – Little Boots
You Please Me – Dragonette
Number One – Tinchey Strider and N-Dubz
Paparazzi – Lady Gaga
Crazier – Taylor Swift
Soon We'll be found – Sia
Sometimes – Matinee Club
Every Word (Wendel Kos Radio edit) Ercola
Everybody but Me – Lykke Li

Bonus track:
The sands of Time – United DJs vs. Pandora

Early Mozart and Prokofiev -- What a Combination!

2009-06-08T02:17:00.000-07:00

Recently the Old Scientist and I were given tickets for a Vancouver Symphony Orchestra concert. As usual he asked suspiciously, What's the program? All I knew was Mozart and Prokofiev. Mmm. This is a man who is not eclectic in his musical taste, in fact if the music is composed after the nineteenth century he does not care for it at all. So the Mozart should be satisfactory but the Prokofiev merely to be endured, well to his mind.

After the disaster of my last visit to the Symphony, when it took me 65 minutes to get from the top of the parking lot to the paybooth at the bottom after the concert, I was determined to be very early, which is highly unusual for me. I had not paid much attention to the location of the seats but to my surprise and a little to my horror we were in the second row of the orchestra and towards the right. In fact we were right opposite the double bases. All seven of them! So we became intimately acquainted with that instrument during this concert and since the double bass is the lowest pitch stringed instrument we listened to this concert with a heavy bass emphasis.

However I did observe some interesting things due to this seating arrangement. There were two different styles of bowing technique used by the players. Some used the "French" or "overhand" bow which is similar in shape and implementation to the bow used on the other members of the string instrument family, while others used the "German" or "Butler" bow which is typically broader and shorter, and is held in a "hand shake" position. I also noted that the double basses all seemed to be rather "worn" with very dull scratched varnish. I wonder if there is a Stradivari of double basses, although a cursory look did not yield anyone.

But what about the music you say? While the conductor was a guest for the evening, he is well known in Vancouver, since he was the orchestra's permanent conductor from 1972 until 1985. He is also the musical director and permanent conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, a post he has held since 1974. Kazuyoshi Akiyama opened the concert with the Overture to the opera Colas Breugnon, written by Dimitri Kabalevsky (1904 -1987). No, I had not heard of him either, although the OS had, despite him not being in the required time frame for his preferred composers. Kabalevsky was a modern Russian composer who managed to retain favour with government officials all his life and this opera had the typical axe to grind, namely unfair oppression of common people by their masters. This piece involved the full orchestra and they performed it vigorously. Enough said there.

Then followed Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 in E -flat Major, performed by the young Israeli pianist Benjamin Hochman and with a much reduced in size orchestra. The concerto was written by Mozart at age 21 and so it was fitting that a young pianist interpreted it for us. Yes, by age 21, Mozart had already written 8 previous piano concertos and went on to write 27 in all. While rarely performed today it was a groundbreaking work in its day and changed the way piano concertos were written by others from then on. It was the first concerto to mount an equal dialogue between piano and orchestra: in fact the soloist begins to play after a very short prelude by the orchestra and the melodies weave back and forth between piano and orchestra for the whole piece. Since it is so highly regarded I wonder that it is not performed in concert more often. Most enjoyable.

The second half of the program consisted of the Symphony No 5 in B-Flat Major, by Sergei Prokofiev, written in 1944 and certainly his best known symphony. The full orchestra was back on the stage and I have to say I think this is a work that the performers must enjoy playing tremendously as they all seem to be involved most of the time. It is quite a grand piece in feeling and the fourth and final movement is a very energetic (I have even seen it described as "frenzied") triumphant conclusion to the whole. I enjoyed it but of course the old scientist was not enamoured of the piece at all. He even emailed his sister afterwards and told her if the opportunity to hear this arose, to give it a miss. Sigh!

Due to my forethought we sailed out of the parking lot after the concert and were home in no time at all for a cup of tea. I still think Mozart and Prokofiev a rather strange combination. Andante, the first movement of the Prokofiev, for your "enjoyment". Just shy of eight minutes.

So, do you agree with the Old Scientist?

Saturday Photo Hunt --- Advertisement

2009-06-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

PhotoHunt

ADVERTISEMENT

I was a bit stumped for this week's theme and I'm sure you all will have some wonderful photos which will make me say, why didn't I think of that? But I'm afraid this is all I could come up with when pressed.

This certainly is a huge advertising banner, inviting you to come right in to the King Tut Exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, which I visited almost two years ago. Click for a better view.

Not only was there a big banner but each riser of the steps into the Institute were covered with a metal image, reproduced from a photo of one of the artifacts and greatly enlarged, which made a truly impressive advertisement for the exhibit which was one of the finest I have ever had the privilege to see.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE

A Walk with Lunch

2009-06-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday our walking group met here, at the Anchor, for our walk along Spanish Banks which form the southern foreshores of the Vancouver Inlet. After the long winter and a rather cold spring it was a beautiful warm day.

We enjoy this is the view across the harbour towards the North Shore mountains when we take this walk. Afterwards we were invited to lunch by one of the members of the group. We were very much looking forward to this as our friend is a very fine cook and in fact teaches at a local cooking school.

She lives in a townhouse with a small patio but manages to grow many of her own herbs to use in her cooking.

Well she does have some flowers too, lovely hydrangeas in containers.

Maybe real men don't eat quiche but they are surely missing something, especially my friend's quiche. It has the most amazing texture and she generously shared her secret with us.

It was accompanied by a simple salad and french bread.

Cheese and crackers followed along with grapes but the pièce de résistance
was the Pavlova Roll below

My friend is a New Zealander and of course both Australians and New Zealanders claim this dessert as their own creation. However the rolled version is slightly different in that the meringue is cooked for a shorter time, since it would be impossible to roll one which had been cooked to the crunchy stage. It is normally filled with whipped cream and fruit, whatever you like, but on this occasion raspberries were the deliciously tart fruit and hazelnuts had been sprinkled on the top to give some added crunch. Even though our servings were very generous we took slow small bites so as to savour every mouthful and make the delicious taste sensation last.

There is nothing better than a good walk on a wonderful day followed by a delicious lunch in the company of good friends.

Round round, I get around

2009-05-31T14:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been slightly at a loss as to what to write about. JMB gave me an idea with her post about sailing, so I am posting on Second Life transport in general. I have included a few pics to make it more interesting...

The title? Well following JMB's lyrical lead, "dock of the bay" I could have paid homage to 2PAC, but the Beach Boys won out, being more of a match. Otherwise I would have used Dragonette's song of that title, one of my current favourites ^_^ maybe more me...

Getting about in SL can mostly be done by walking, running (if you are feeling energetic), flying and teleportation. To some extent other modes of transport are really for fun. Except when limitations are deliberately placed on regions for the sake of realism.

The ocean is a great resource for swimming, jet ski, sailing, lilos and blow up rings. These are great for beach parties. There are also places you can hang out to surf and scuba. They can be great fun. Here I am trying to look sexy by the ocean.

I have been on Tudor wooden sailing ships down at the docks, but only when they were docked.

Also there are balloons and airships from the small, one or two person things, to vast Zeppelin type blimps.

For a while JMB lived on a space station, believe it or not. So I have been on a space station, but I am not sure if that counts as a method of transport.

Up to now I mostly tended to hang out in more old fashioned sims. Mostly Tudor and medieval, low tech.

So I have a lovely horse to get about on when needed, also for fun. Up till now he has been all I really needed.

Those of you being observant will notice in the pic that though I am in a medieval sim with half timbered buildings I am dressed as a squaw. I had just got back and not had time to change. OK?

I have seen a horse drawn cart too and once got to ride a dragon.

Recently, for various reasons I have been mostly hanging out in a more modern urban environment. You can't fly (except in a copter or something) and you can only tp if someone sends you one/invites you, you generally can't do it on your own.

It is what you might call a “dodgy neighbourhood”. Now I can get to and fro to some extent on the bus and subway if I want to chance it.

Apart from police cruisers if people have their own transport it is mostly a “hog” or bike. I wanted to be able to get about and I didn't quite see myself as a 'biker' I like my jeans sexy, maybe tailored, not covered in oil (for the moment anyway), so I went shopping...

I bought myself a cute Vespa scooter clone called a Vezpa. I have it in pink and I get about the city on it in (for example) waist high tailored blue jeans and a pink top with blue trim. I was aiming for cool european retro, I so love that outfit. I got a new hair do, shortish and black too.

I am learning how to handle the scooter, but I guess it is quite realistic in how it handles because it is more difficult to ride than some others I have tried. But I forked out around Linden$600 I had saved up so I am persisting. It came with a nice girly crash helmet.. and a coffee machine... so I can now have a virtual cappuccino.

Someone I know who built their own ( that is I must say easier to ride) said they could have done me one with my own paint job for that price. But by then I had spent the Linden$. Isn't that always the way?

I have crashed it several times and went into the bay twice avoiding parked cars, once I almost lost it avoiding running over a hobo.

One time I had to swim for it when I lost it... and another I was rescued from the ocean by a nice guy ^_^ We went exploring the City after.

The other day I was visiting with someone from the City who right now has their home/business at a small airport outside the city. She has a Priv-Jet and I got to go for a ride in it. That was fun and it seemed quite realistic. I don't know how it compares to flight sims that guys seem to love but I thought it was fun. I got to sit in the co-pilot's seat.

And finally...

A gratuitous pic of me in skimpy cut down jeans looking for my scooter keys in the sand after a beach party... ^_^

Saturday Photo Hunt --- Books

2009-05-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

PhotoHunt

BOOK(S)

My post this week for Photo Hunt is not so much about books themselves but about where books are kept. Libraries. One of my favourite places in New York city is the New York Public Library. I have written about it before, even used these same photos but not for Photo Hunt.

I took this hasty shot of the magnificent reading room as we passed through on a tour. This is but one half of the famous main reading room, with a majestic 78 feet (23.8 m) wide by 297 feet (90.5 m) long, with 52 feet (15.8 m) high ceilings - lined with thousands of reference books on open shelves along the floor level and along the balcony; lit by massive windows and grand chandeliers; furnished with sturdy wood tables, comfortable chairs, and brass lamps.

Yes, there are books there on the shelves, but consistent with this day and age, knowledge is stored not only in books but also in computers and here is a room in the library where you can tap into that vast store of knowledge known at the internet.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE

Fort Denison -- Keeping Sydney Safe?

2009-05-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many times I have passed Fort Denison while on a ferry journey in Sydney Harbour and never really thought much about it. This well known landmark in the harbour is a small island fortress, constructed of beautiful Sydney sandstone and the tides, which are a very important in Sydney, were always measured there and that was the extent of my knowledge of the place.

On our recent visit to Sydney we decided to make a visit to Fort Denison and take a tour of the Martello Tower. After a swift boat ride to the Fort, we met up with our guide, a Park Ranger from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services who have managed the Fort in recent years.

A closer look at the Martello tower

Originally the small island stood 25 metres high and it was used as a place of punishment in the early settlement and prisoners were confined there for a week with meagre rations. As a deterrent, in 1796 a murderer was hanged on a gibbet on the highest point of the island and the body left in place for four years.

After a scare in 1839, when 7 American vessels arrived unannounced in the harbour and it was obvious that the defences of the harbour were inadequate the island was leveled and turned into a gun battery but the British government refused to permit further defence works.

The barracks part of the fort. The beautiful sandstone is typical
of many Sydney buildings

At the outbreak of the Crimean War a review of the defence strategy resulted in a decision to build a fort on Pinchgut, as it was known. 8000 tons of sandstone were brought by barge to the island from the nearby shore and for the next twenty two years the construction of the Martello tower, gun battery and barracks took place.

The circular Martello tower, named so after a similar one used so successfully in the defence of Mortello Bay in Corsica, was one of 200 built around the world. At the bottom of the tower the walls are 4 metres thick and it consists of three levels with the powder kept on the lower, storage in the centre and the three cannons, one eight-inch, one ten-inch and one twelve-inch, were installed in the gun room on the upper level. The three cannons were actually lifted into place and the walls built around them so there they remain today although in actual fact they were obsolete by the time the fort was completed in 1857. The battery itself held nine 32 pounder guns.

The cannons still in place inside the tower

Initially the fort was manned by a volunteer force and Tuesday was practice day for all the forts which had been constructed in the harbour. It took ten men to fire each gun, and in the limited space of the tower only one could be fired at a time. A well trained team took 1.5 minutes to complete a firing and the range was one mile. The cannons on Fort Denison were never fired except in practice.

The one o'clock gun is to the right in this photo of the battery

For a time the British Royal Artillery manned the fort with a garrison of 2 officers and 44 soldiers but by 1870 Fort Denison was no longer a military installation. Later it became a place to measure the tide levels and a navigation aid with an electric fog bell, a navigation light and a gun fired at 1pm for the ships to set their clocks. The one o'clock gun is still fired to this day, albeit electronically since 1986, but now it is just a grand tradition.

The only vegetation on Fort Denison, besides grass is
this fig tree which seems quite healthy if rather small

During the Second World War the Fort was manned again by a military force and Japanese submarines did get into the inner harbour. The USS Chicago fired upon a Japanese submarine however they missed and hit the Martello tower.

As you can see, it would have been difficult to manoevre in this small space
when firing the guns

We found it both an interesting place to visit and the view from the tower was spectacular. Sitting in the cafe which now operates on the island we had a great view of both the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, a triangle of the three icons of Sydney Harbour.

Gone Fishing!

2009-05-25T14:36:00.001-07:00

Not really. Hardly my thing at all.

But I do seem to be rather busy these days with this and that and thus a little neglectful of this blog and my blogging friends.

Recently I have taken on several administrative positions in organizations I belong to and every now and again they demand a lot of attention for a period of time.

The latest of these is Treasurer of the Faculty Women's Club and although I held this position for three years previously and had no qualms about doing it again, the recent transition period was more problematic than it should have been. The previous treasurer did not hand over everything before she left on a trip and I was dealing with the bank regarding signature changes on the account without much current information. We also held a major fund raising event in the middle of all this so I had a lot of cash and cheques to be deposited and a statement to generate.

But all is well now and I think I have covered all the bases for the moment. The amazing thing is that when you are retired you make such a big deal of these things, whereas when you are working you just add them to your to-do list and fit them all in. When I was working fulltime I was the treasurer of another organization for some years and it never phased me in the least.

Well I am sure it will all be fine, fine, fine and I'll be back soon with places I've been, things I've done and books I've read.

Saturday Photo Hunt --- Plastic

2009-05-22T10:21:00.001-07:00

PhotoHunt

PLASTIC

I just noticed that this is my 105th post for Saturday Photo Hunt (which I of course do on Friday, just to confuse you all). May I offer a big thank you to tnchick who started this all in March 2006 and hosts it faithfully week after week.

I remembered we have had this theme before so I am using not the exact same photo but one I took at the same time.

We are very big recyclers of used plastic in Vancouver but recently I read that maybe we should not feel so virtuous about it. In fact it is not really such a green thing to do after all and it certainly does not reduce our carbon footprints.

We take our recycling to the depot or it is collected. At the recycling facility it is sorted and cleaned using various machines, then maybe shipped off to China to be further treated and then shipped somewhere else to be manufactured into something else and finally back to North America to be sold again. All this involves the use of vast quantities of fossil fuel and electricity, contributing to carbon emissions.

It seems there is always a good side and a bad one to everything we do, even recycling our plastic. Sigh.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE

Rottnest Island --- Perth's Little Jewel

2009-05-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

My friend from Perth spoke often of Rottnest Island when she was on sabbatical here in Vancouver last year, so when we went to visit them recently, a visit there was mandatory.

Located a mere 18 km from Perth, this tiny island, a mere 1900 hectares, can be reached by 30 to 45 minute ferry ride on the Rottnest Express or by private boat. Beloved by locals, it also attracts interstate and international visitors, in all around 500,000 each year. Private vehicles are not allowed on the island which is a nature preserve and you can travel its roads on the public bus, popping on and off at various points as you will, or via bicycle which you can hire.

A typical bay with crystal clear beautiful waters, rocky outcrops and scrubby greenery.

There is limited accommodation on Rottnest Island, with one hotel and a lodge, along with various furnished cabins, heritage cottages, bungalows, some of which have spectacular ocean views. There is also some accommodation for backpackers and other places where you can pitch a tent if you desire. So popular is Rottnest as a getaway destination, it is necessary to book a year ahead and during school vacation and public holiday times, accommodation is allocated by ballot.

This area is known as the Basin with a view of Bathurst Lighthouse, one of two on the island

I don't think I have seen more beautiful colours than those of the waters around Rottnest as we travelled via the bus, making several stops at some of the many bays and coves around this tiny island. It's a very popular place for snorkelling and scuba diving, swarming with fish and marine wildlife and most of the activities centre around the ocean. It is quite a barren place really with several large naturally occuring salt lakes in the centre.

Ospreys or sea hawks breed on Rottnest Island during the summer months and here we see one on the very unique nests they build. These nests are a large heap of sticks, driftwood and seaweed usually built in forks of trees, rocky outcrops, utility poles or offshore islets. There are around 15 of these nests on Rottnest and some have been in use for more than 70 years. Click to enlarge for a slightly better view.

Another typical Rottnest Island bay where we stopped to eat lunch and enjoy the view

My friend went for a paddle and inspected one of the huge offshore boulders while the two men went off across the rocks to see what was around the corner.

Apparently there can be snakes lurking in these rocky outcrops so you have to be beware of them. Ugh, I have always hated snakes, since I was a child, although fortunately they mostly get out of your way.

This little creature is a quokka, a small herbivorous marsupial which exists in large number on the island, although rare in nature in general and found only in the small islands around Perth. It is rather like a tiny kangaroo or wallaby and has no fear of humans, who are forbidden to handle the small animals in any way, with threat of a very large fine.

All in all, it was a splendid day, both weather wise and as an occasion for we truly enjoyed the charms of this island getaway. It was wonderful to visit this spot about which we had heard so much previously from our friends who have spent many happy occasions on Perth's little jewel.

My Life as a Model

2009-05-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

Actually this is referring to Second Life of course. Miss Moggs mentioned in her post that I was a model for hats and I thought you might like to see the photo in question. I took it to submit to a Flickr group called Hatpins. The owner of the store saw it, framed it and put it on the wall in her store. Click to enlarge if you wish.

As you know by now, I am very fond of hats and this lady, Miss Reghan Straaf, creates the most gorgeous hats in Second Life. I have a very large collection of her hats in my inventory and without further ado may I present Miss Balogh, suitably outfited for a time gone by.

What it says on the tin

2009-05-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

This post owes it's existence to one at Zaftig. So hat tip there.

Her post got me thinking about how people think about others what they perceive, their expectations and how they judge others.

At the extreme I guess it probably slides into prejudice and racism.

Her post was about Susan Boyle. For those of you who don't know, she is an entrant into a UK TV talent show. She does not have star looks but quite a good voice, enough to stand out amid the other talents on display.

The contrast in, I guess, what people expected, to her actual performance makes her noteworthy.

Not quite what Ruthie was getting at, but what I am posting about.

I have even seen Ads that play on the same thing, people's expectations and perceptions. These Ads were clever in that they presented the apparent expectation and then showed that the situation was opposite to what was expected. Maybe they made people a tiny bit less likely to just assume too.

Put bluntly, why should it be so staggering that Susan Boyle can sing? Or.. Who knows? Maybe paint great art! Or any number of things. How you look is not all that relevant concerning how well you sing.

Or maybe that a blonde should actually be smart instead of dumb. Or an older guy going thin on top and grey can be warm, perceptive, witty and captivate a girl's attention. Or a plain girl on the tubby side be fun and sexy, know fashion and be great company? A guy do ballet, a girl in the marines? A bright black child who wants to study and get on in the inner city...

They may all be, but how often does it get noticed when people have preconceptions about who can do what? Expectations of others can hold people back sometimes too.

How many other Susan Boyles are there out there quietly getting on who no one expects to be able to sing? Or who get a chance? How many other talking horses out there?

That is one thing I do like about Second Life. Ha! You just knew I would have to mention it eventually, I mostly avoided it the last few posts. ^_^

I remember, ages ago now it seems, I was chatting with JMB and telling her about a guy in SL and how I liked him. Well you discuss the pitfalls of the internet and such... Anyway she pointed out he could be a ninety year old for all I knew.

I thought about it and realised even if he was... well he wasn't too, or it was not relevant.

Most of my close friends in SL are young and cute/beautiful. They can be so they are. In fact in sl it is difficult not to be. (If you judge by appearances in sl at all it is more based on how convincingly realistic someone looks.)

They are generally kind, considerate, thoughtful, mature, protective even, yet with a sense of fun, adventure, humour and a lively imagination. Good company. That's what they are consistently like every experience I have of them confirms it.

That is what they are like inside, be they 19, or 90, whatever they look like, and I realised I didn't need, or even care, to know about him or any of my other SL friends.

To be honest I have real difficulty imagining/seeing JMB as past retirement age. Intellectually I know she is, but not really she isn't, to me. She is feisty and striking enough for shots of her to be put in a gallery to model hats.

SL lets us all be Hollywood beautiful, only our imagination limits what we can be. We can dress as we please. Even be another species, or maybe a clockwork robot. When that can happen it is more important what a person is like inside.

Maybe we ought to let a little of that leak over into RL?

Saturday Photo Hunt --- Painted

2009-05-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

PhotoHunt

PAINTED

For some years my son has wanted to buy a hand carved painted Haida cedar mask but he did not seem to be able to make up his mind among the large number of choices for sale in this part of the world. I did not have that trouble when I went into the gift shop at the Vancouver Museum, looking for a birthday present for him. There was only one. I liked it, so I bought it for him.

Luckily he liked it too.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE