(insert cool name here)

Review: Balibo

2012-02-15T21:47:00.001-08:00

Balibo by Jill Jolliffe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Probably more 3.5 stars than 4. This is a really detailed book. Amazingly well researched by someone very familiar with the case. My complaints would be that I think the author is too close to the subject.
She was in Timor at the time of the first killing (nearly went to Balibo with the victims) as well as the murder of Roger East. She is obviously very upset and angry at what happened, rightly so of course, and while I don't doubt her facts I found her obvious passion a little jarring.
If this had been a memoir her emotional attachment to the case would have been great but this is meant to be an exposé and emotion should be put aside. I also think for a book originally called Cover Up (this version was added to, renamed & released to coincide with the movie) she didn't spend a lot of time proving the Australian government's complicity.

I would still recommend it and the movie.

View all my reviews

Bye, bye, Qantas

2011-10-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Another political post! I swear next time I'll post kittens doing something cute.

I have flown Qantas a lot in my life. Its pretty much always been a pleasant experience, the staff a friendly and I don't want to get all soppy but there is something about flying home with them. It may have been a while since you've heard an Australian accent, and you finally feel that energy and can read Australian newspapers and see Australian news and I would be lying if I told you I'd never teared up at that stupid video with the kids singing (and by never I mean every single time, and by tear up I mean cry like a baby).

I am flying home for a wedding mid-November, I have exactly a week, I leave Friday evening and get back Sunday. I work as a nanny so when I need time off the baby's parents need to take time off or fine other arrangements for her, its not something I can just call in sick on or change on a whim. Other people depend on me so I depend on whatever airline I choose to fly with. I understand delays and I add enough padding in my transferring flights to accommodate them.

I have been watching the recent industrial action with interest obviously. I think the Unions are not entierly in the right. I think Qantas should stay on Australian shores but the Unions need to make compromises. Plane travel has changed, the cheaper carriers have changed the way people fly. They can see that they will get them where they need to be (except for Tiger of course). When I fly I don't go to Qantas' website to pick flights anymore. I go to a site that consolodates lots of airlines, put in my infromation & pick the cheapest one that fits my schedule. I believe most people pick their flights like this and Qantas needs to be able to compete with other airlines. If that means they have to make structual changes then so be it. Although its hard to believe that the company is in dire financial straits when they report record profits and the CEO gets a massive pay rise, if things were really that bad wouldn't it be showing in the bottom line?

The actions taken by Alan Joyce on Saturday have completely destroyed my faith in Qantas. Yes Union industrial action caused flight cancellations, but they gave warning, they did not completely shut down the company. People could still fly. That a CEO would make a decision to ground the entire fleet on a Saturday morning then let people go to the airport, let people get on the first leg of their trips then screw them is not something I can trust. I have read stories of people taxiing in the runway and being turned back, people stuck in Hong Kong after a layover, doctors stuck at a conference in Alice Springs. He didn't even give the Government enough warning to get leaders from CHOGM out of Perth. He did not have to shut down the airline, he could have just asked FWA to arbitrate the dispute, everyone knew there was a problem, he didn't need to screw people over in order to ask for what he wanted.

I cannot trust my travel plans to a company who's CEO will ground all planes on a whim. What if this had happened the day of my trip? I could have gotten a refund (and by refund I mean credit to use with Qantas within a year, not actual money). But who would have told my 89-year-old grandmother that all her grandchildren won't be there for my cousin's wedding? What if I got stuck in Australia? Am I meant to tell my employers "Sorry, I know you made a big effort to make sure I could make it to this event even though it was inconvenient for you but you need to take more time off."

For at least until Alan Joyce is gone I will not be flying Qantas if I have another option. I will probably fly Air New Zealand for my trips back to Australia. Saying goodbye to Qantas is not something that makes me happy, like I said there is (or was) something special about getting on board, like the planes were an extension of Australia. But that sense of warmth can not come at the cost of actually getting to my destination.

Occupy Oakland Protests 2011

2011-10-26T21:10:00.000-07:00

I am not anti police. I'm pretty pro police. When the riots after the Oscar grant trial happened I was on their side. I think it started out as a peaceful demonstration then as the night went on people lost sight of that and started destroying property and looting. I think in instances like that police do have a right and a duty to respond with force to get rid of the crowd and protect the people who live and work in the city. Of course this view is framed in the context of how I grew up. I went to a private school and while I didn't grow up wealthy my family has money. I've never been arrested. I don't fear police. I'm also white which makes a huge difference. My interactions with police have all been positive. I've never felt threatened by them and I don't know anyone who has ever been a victim of police brutality.

I'm not 100% behind the Occupy Movement. I went to the march in Oakland on Saturday because I think banks need to be better regulated in this country, that people who broke the law should be punished, they government is too close to wall st and that the Bush tax cuts need to be repealed. Other people are at occupy for those reasons, some are there for other reasons and some don't know why they are there, they just feel that there is something wrong with the system. I think what the movement has done so far is great. It was a genuine grass roots expression of dissatisfaction and angry. It tapped into the same feeling as the tea party but unlike tea partiers it is not backed by billionaires.

I think it is now time to create a list of demands. I understand the argument that demands isn't what the movement is about, that it's strength is in it's diversity of message, that demands will alienate people etc etc but I think that's bollocks. If we want actual change we need to give people in power something to work with. The lack of demands, the lack of cohesion is no longer an asset it has become an excuse for politicians and the media to ignore the people.

I was at the plaza on Saturday it was not smelly or dirty I saw no rats. I also did not see a concerted effort to make a visible show of cleaning. I think the city may have had some legitimate concerns about cleanliness that could have been better dealt with by the protesters, after all Occupy Wall St managed to keep clean up crews from Zuccotti Park by making it absolutely obvious they were cleaning. Keeping in mind however that the plaza is usually full of homeless people who have never been raided by riot police.

What the City of Oakland and the Oakland Police Department did to clear the camp was a major overreaction. Around 600 police stormed the camp at around 5am. They claim they tried to enter peacefully and ask people to leave and were hit with objects thrown at them. The media have reported this as fact when the police provided no evidence to back up this claim. Multiple reports, videos and pictures show the police to be lying. There is video of police knocking over rubbish bins and throwing garbage onto the plaza. People have provided statements of people being beaten and refused medical aid. 75 people were arrested, many for loitering or remaining at the location of a riot.

Last night a large group of people, between 500 and over 1000 met at the library with the goal or retaking the plaza. The media either ignored it or used loaded terms like that protesters had "clashed" with police and that there was a "stand off" these terms assume a certain level of equality that there was not. I was not there last night I revived my news from twitter as well as local news websites. I did not rely on people just in my feed, instead using the search term #occupyoakland. I didn't want to just see what people I liked were saying since they may have been biased.
By all accounts protesters were relatively peaceful. Reporters on the ground kept saying this, you could tell they were kind of disappointed though.

There was a report of one car on fire, and one smashed police car. There was also a report of a protester trying to kick a police car and being held back by other people in the crowd. I saw pictures of one or two officers with paint on them, presumably thrown by protesters. There were also reports of other items being thrown. On my twitter feed there were widespread reports of fellow protesters chanting "don't throw shit" every time some one did throw something.
Things I saw on my twitter feed but not on the media were a US navy vet in uniform standing at the front of the barricade holding a copy of the constitution (presumably open to the 1st amendment). Police claim no injuries although there are pictures of people with wounds from rubber bullets and bean bags 1, 2. The OPD claim they did not use rubber bullets or bean bags (here are some pictures of some fired at protesters) they are "investigating" if other police did (why did they not tell the reinforcements they called in not to bring the bullets?)
US Marine vet Scott Olsen was shot in the head by some sort of projectile, here is a statement from Veterans for Peace, Here is a video of people attempting to help him and having flash bang grenades thrown at them (for the record the OPD claims they did not use them, that they were fireworks thrown by protesters)*. There are pictures of a woman in a wheelchair being helped out of a cloud of tear gas after her battery died. Here is a video of tear gas being thrown as well as what appear to be flash bang grenades (the ones the police didn't throw) appearing to come from behind the barricade. You can also see protesters throwing tear gas canisters back at the lines.

Keep in mind this was no a riot. There was no looting. This was a police response to health and fire code violations. Agree or disagree with the protesters there is a right to peaceful assembly in this country. Can you really be comfortable with police tear gassing people for protesting? The specific issue they are protesting is not the issue, if the police get away with responding like this to this group what stops them from responding like that to an issue you care about?

As I write this, Frank Ogawa Plaza (which the protesters renamed Oscar Grand Plaza) is open again, the grass had been fenced off but the group pulled down the fence. There appear to be no or few police. Although apparently they are only allowed to remain there until 10pm. We will see what happens. The best course of action for the police is probably to just let them stay, there are apparently several thousand people there.

*When I first wrote this the story had not fully broken, now it appears to have exploded, there is a lot more information about this man I'd encourage you to read The Daily Kos or http://oaklandnorth.net/ for updates. It looks like he's going to be ok but this appears to be turning into a big story.

Prepare Your Best Pearls For Clutching

2011-10-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

Did you know The Queen was in Australia? I did not, granted I don't live there anymore but most of the people I'm friends with on Facebook do and a fair amount of my twitter followers are Australian. Exactly none of them mentioned her visit that I saw. The reason I found out is that for some reason Google News still thinks I live in Australia and gives me the Australian news page.

That's not really what I want to talk about although I find it interesting that the articles I read talked about how much Australia loves the Monarchy and how another referendum on the Republic is years away. How everyone is obsessed with William & Kate and yet no one was talking about the visit at all. Either my friends are not a good cross section of society (probably true of my twitter friends who tend to be more progressive, but I think my FB friends have a fair range of views) or the media is making up that we are in love with The Queen when in reality we just don't give a flying fuck either way.

What I wanted to talk about was the faux outrage about Julia Gillard not curtsying Her Majesty. Gillard, a Republican* greeted The Queen with the Governor General. Ms Gillard did not curtsy. She does not have to, it is a matter of personal choice for Australians how they greet Her Majesty. Gillard shook her hand and gave a slight bow (although she could just be leaning down to speak to The Queen who is shorter than her). Of course this was a big deal. Fainting couches were dusted of as The Media decided this was the biggest thing going on in the world ever, Gillard was disrespectful, she should have kept her personal feelings about the Monarchy to herself. However when Opposition Leader Tony Abbott met The Queen he did not bow, he gave a "little head nod", apparently after shaking her hand, Gillard, at least at their second meeting, bowed, walked to Her Majesty, bowed again then shook hands.

Something about the coverage bothered me. I tried to chalk it up to the fact that Gillard is exceptionally unpopular at the moment and every move she makes is criticized. There was probably no way she could have greeted The Queen correctly in people's view. But I feel like there is something deeper going on. Some how it is ok for Abbott not to bow but its not ok for Gillard to bow. Is it because she is the Prime Minister? Or is it because she is a woman, a woman who is already subverting norms by not getting married (she lives with her male partner) and not having children? She cannot greet The Queen with a handshake and a bow, she must curtsy because Curtsying Is What Women Do.

Am I reading too much into this? I have trouble some time recognizing the difference between shitty journalism and misogynistic journalism. Thoughts?

*For my American friends, for the purposes of this post Republican means someone who thinks The Queen should no longer be Australia's head of state. They are generally politically leftist although I am sure there is a lot of crossover. To confuse things further Tony Abbott who I will talk about later is the leader of the Liberal party which is Australia's right wing party.
So its:
Julia Gillard: Prime Minister/Republican/Labor Party - left of centre
Tony Abbott: Opposition Leader/Monarchist/Liberal Party - right of centre

To all new parents: Calm down, you're doing fine.

2011-09-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know I'm a nanny, the new family I work for have a 5 month old who is not a good sleeper. She has short naps and fights them until the last second and she's not sleeping through the night and is taking a long time getting back to sleep when she wakes.

Because of this I've been looking through what resources I have and looking at some new ones about sleeping. And what has struck me is just how judgmental they are. The message is "all the other techniques will cause your child to become a serial killer. Only my way will get them to grow up without major psychological damage." this is the theme that runs through most of the child development literature. Parents are given the message that unless they do everything right they are failure and their child will hate them and never achieve anything ever.

Here's my message. STOP STRESSING. Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't learn about how a child's brain works and how to help them get a good start in life. Neither am I saying that this isn't an important time in your child's life because it is. What I am saying is give yourself a break.

You are doing fine. Is your child happy a fair amount of the time? Do you tell them you love them? Do you show them you care by spending time with them and interacting with them? Are they healthy? Then you are being a good parent.

Does it make a difference if you let your child cry it out it if you comfort them every time they cry? I don't know there is evidence both ways. Does it make a difference in 20years? Who knows, I haven't found any studies comparing college admissions to infant sleep techniques. It probably doesn't matter in the long run. Here's what matters. What can you as a parent handle right now?

Is having to wake up 4 times a night driving you insane? Then try letting your child cry and settle themselves. Is the thought of hearing your baby cry and not comforting them the worst thing you can imagine? Then pick them up and rock them to sleep. What matters now is your sanity. And guess what. It's ok to change your mind. Maybe you try controlled crying and you spend a week sobbing in the corner. Maybe you are determined to go to your baby every time she cries but there's a point where you just can't function anymore. THAT'S OK. You haven't failed you have to do what works for you.

The most important thing you can give your child is love. So read all the books you want or read none but remember don't stress yourself out more than necessary. Each child is different each family is different. Find something that works for you and who cares what other people say. Are you happy? is your baby happy? Then you are being a great parent.

Review: The Book on the Bookshelf

2011-09-02T18:06:00.003-07:00

The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. One of the most enjoyable I've read all year. The beginning is better than the end probably because the development of book storage into what we would be familiar with is more interesting than the relatively minor changes he deals with towards the end. Fact of the book for me? It is only recently that books have been stored with their spines facing outwards, which just sounds insane to me but makes perfect sense when you know the history.
I probably would have given this book 4 stars because it can be a bit dry and engineery but I was reading it on my ipod touch so I gave it an extra star for the irony.

View all my reviews

Play Streamers Tutorial

2011-04-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

The little girl I used to nanny for is turning 2 soon and I wanted to make her something fun for her birthday, I had made her some streamers when I was working with her and she loves them but they are sticks and as she gets more enthusiastic about swinging them I foresee more being whacked in the face for her and her parents. So I made these, they are really simple, cost less than $10 and take like half an hour.

Here's what you need.

Round bag handles or something similar, I'd have preferred smooth plastic ones but they only had the bamboo.
Ribbon, I bought 2.5 yards each or green, yellow, blue and red ribbon but you can use as much or as little as you like and what colours you like. It would make a good ribbon stash buster.
Glue gun.
Scissors.
Lighter for heat sealing ends.
Tape measure if you want specific lengths.

Cut ribbon to desired length. I didn't measure just laid different lengths over the hoop and figured out what I wanted. I wanted them both to be the same so I cut the ribbon in half and then in half again but you could mix it up if you wanted.

Just remember you'll need about an inch extra to secure the ribbon so if you want a 10 inch long ribbon at the end you need to cut 11 inches. My ribbons ended up at around 24 inches I wouldn't recommend making them much longer unless you are making them just for grown ups, you don't want the children tripping over them!

Heat seal the ends of your ribbon to stop fraying. If you don't know how to do this don't be afraid its really easy. Cut off any fraying that has occurred. Pass the ribbon over the flame of the lighter, you only need to wave it through you will see the ribbon melting and sealing the ends. You can also use a match or a candle. You shouldn't have any problems with most kinds of ribbon although I'm not sure about sheers.

Fold over about half an inch and pin the ribbons.

Now is a good time to see if you like the placement and length of the ribbon. Pick it up from the table and wave it around, see if you like the way it moves and looks.

Now comes the fiddly part.

Unpin one ribbon at a time. I found when I unpinned they slipped off the table so I needed to weigh down the long end with a pair of scissors.

Add some glue along the width of the ribbon on the short end. Make sure you cover the who width or the edges won't stick together which might cause them to come undone later.

Quickly but carefully fold the short end onto the long end and press down. Be careful the glue is hot and I ALWAYS burn myself using a glue gun usually by touching the end to see if its on because I'm not very bright.

Keep going until they are all attached.

Do the same thing with the next one, if you want to make 2. If you just make one you won't be able to join in the play later.

Once the glue is dry you can tug pretty hard on the ribbon without it coming off but like all children's toys you should examine it occasionally to make sure everything is still ok.

And that's it! These are great for music and dancing and learning about movement and colour. Also they are heaps of fun to wave around even for grownups.

This is my first tutorial so I'd really like to hear feedback from you about if you liked it. I have some more I'm thinking about posting. If you make one take pictures and send them to me, I'd love to see what you do!

Help Rhian meet her idol

2011-03-25T00:09:00.000-07:00

Someone pretty amazing needs help meeting her idol. And no its not me but if you know Samantha Power I am totally open to that. Its Rhian from Smoke and Mirrors, Tilted Halo Podcast and Audiobuzzed. Her idol is Stevie Nicks, she wrote more about it here. Now Oprah is running a contest for Stevie Nicks to meet her number one fan and she wants us to help. I say bollocks to that. I say we need to get Stevie Nicks to meet Rhian because, well because Rhian is amazing and everyone should meet her. So you can tweet Oprah at @theoprahshow and mention @rhian73 and her story. Rhian is an amazing and inspirational person and she deserves to meet someone who has been an inspiration to her and Stevie Nicks and Oprah deserve to have their lives brightened.

Also, Oprah, if you're reading this, do this and I will forgive you for that whole Australia/McCafe thing.

New Podcast, by me.

2011-03-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, remember when I had that history podcast? Yeah probably not it was 4years ago which is an eternity in the intertubes. Well its back.

http://tyrannyoftimepodcast.blogspot.com/2011/03/uluru.html

And the first episode is about Uluru. Go download it and listen.

Hipster Locke is the greatest.

2011-03-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

There have been a series of Hipster (Blanks) roaming the internets lately but the best so far is Hipster Locke.

Enjoy dear friends.

Dear America,

2011-02-28T16:52:00.000-08:00

You guys are adorable, you know most countries don't need warning labels on their champagne bottles to tell them not to open them into their faces right? I know its probably a way for the company to cover its asses in law suits but it does make you look a teensy bit special. I mean Special Olympics special not American Exceptionalism special.

Books I've Read in 2011 (so far)

2011-02-14T10:32:00.000-08:00

Here is the list of books I've read in 2011. I'm going to try to keep track of them all on my Listography and maybe on here. If you want to check them out use the Amazon Associates link (if you buy the book through there I get monies which I can use for more books).

The Shringley Abduction
Lois Wilson Story - finished in 2011
Engines of War
Parasite Rex -finished in 2011
Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes
The Finger: A Handbook
Women in the Middle Ages: The Lives of Real Women in a Vibrant Age of Transition

http://listography.com/5318588472/books/books_ive_read_in_2011

A history of the world in 100 Stolen objects

2011-02-12T21:37:00.000-08:00

The Standard of Ur.

I'm nearly halfway through a podcast series from the BBC called "A History of the World in 100 Objects" it looks at the world through the stories of 100 items in the British Museum and its hosted by the Director of the Museum Neil MacGregor and it is amazing. Seriously I am really enjoying it and I'd like you to keep that in mind while you read the rest of this post. I don't want to turn you off it, I really think everyone on earth should listen to this. Go download it now, I'll wait.

Now to completely contradict what I just said.

As much as I'm enjoying the series it does make me uncomfortable. See most of the objects were stolen from the cultures they were made by. Some were bought from collectors who may have discovered them themselves, or stole them or bought them from people who had no concept of their value. This is not a new issue, its an issue as old as the ancient objects we are discussing and it is an issue with a lot of grey areas.

The Rosetta Stone.

There really is no argument that in many cases the acquisition of these objects by British (and lets focus on the British Museum specifically since that's where the series is from although all museums are guilty of this) explorers and archaeologists in nearly all cases saved them from destruction. The important objects, the objects that tell us the most about our history as a species aren't necessarily obvious. And their possession by Britain, a remarkably stable society has allowed them to survive intact and preserved for hundreds of years. The Elgin Marbles almost certainly would have been destroyed or stolen by people seeking to sell of bits and pieces to private collectors had they remained in Greece. Having these objects kept safe and in an environment where they are protected and preserved is of vital importance. Imagine what the damage would have been to our understanding of the past if something like the Rosetta Stone had been lost? We may never have been able to understand Egyptian hieroglyphs and one of the great cultures would have been a mystery to us.

Having the objects in one place also allows millions more people to view them than if they were scattered around the world. They have been open to scholars and the general public for hundreds of years and many more people have seen them than if they were in their original locations, locations which were and remain in politically volatile areas (how many of us would go to Iran just to see the Standard of Ur?). The collection, one of, if not the, largest in the world also allows people to experience the history of the entire world for at one time. And for free since the British Museum charges no admission fee (just like all museums should in my opinion).

So the weight of the amazing work done by the Museum over the centuries, against the fact that they never should have had them in the first place. Not only were the cultures that were taken from damaged merely by the removal of their priceless artifacts and the fact that the discovery of their history was placed in the hands of a foreign culture, but the spirit and attitude they were taken, the 18th and 19th Century British attitude of racial and cultural superiority sounded the death knell to cultures around the world.

The Destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan.

However the argument of "We know how to take care of these things better than you", makes me exceptionally uncomfortable. People should have the right to the control of their own histories it seems strange that the people of Greece should have to travel to London to see their history written through the eyes of others (or The Other if you are reading this with some knowledge of Post-Colonial theory). On the other hand the argument that these items are safer in the British Museum is hard to argue with when we look at them in the context of the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan, the looting of the Baghdad Museum and riots in Egypt of the last week or so, although it seems the original reports of damage to relics may have been an exaggeration. However the argument is weaker when it comes to the objects that come from places like Greece, China and Australia.

Perhaps the discomfort is a good thing. Maybe it is best for the World as a whole that these items remain where they are but I think they should make us feel uncomfortable. I think the feeling that we get when we are faced with the bad aspects of something that we benefited from (and I assume most of you reading this were beneficiaries of the colonial system) is the correct response. Yes we should be filled with awe at these remarkable objects, and learn all we can about them and what they say about us as a culture, but we should also come face to face with the fact that our education and wonderment comes at a cost, a cost to the cultures the items were taken from and the cost to their descendants of not being in control of their own History.

Edward Gibbon Wakefield, kidnapper & father of South Australia

2011-02-07T11:08:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading a book called The Shrigley Abduction I found out about on one of my Wikipedia spirals a few months ago, you know where you start out reading one article and end up a thousand miles away. I bought the book because I thought the story was interesting and wanted to know more.

Here's the story in brief, in 1827 Edward Gibbon Wakefield, 30, tricks Ellen Turner, 15, into leaving her school with a story about her mother being ill. Instead of taking her to her mother he takes her towards the Scottish border and tells her that her father's business will fail and he will go to jail if she doesn't marry Wakefield. The girl agrees and they marry in Scotland where marriages under 21 are legal without parental consent. The couple then travel to London, then to France. The hope is that the girl's parents will accept the marriage to avoid a scandal (because of course Ellen has been in the presence of a man for a week and will be unmarriable, they haven't had sex, Wakefield even signs an affidavit to this effect but the hint that they may have would taint her reputation), and Wakefield would be heir to the Turner estate. Instead of agreeing Ellen's father goes to the police and has Wakefield charged with abduction, the girl is returned to her parents, Wakefield goes to jail and the marriage is annulled. Ellen goes on to make a good marriage at the age of 16 and dies in childbirth at 19. Wakefield uses his time in prison to write "A View of the Art of Colonization" which is an amazingly influential book that pathed the way for the end of convict transportation and the founding of South Australia...

Wait, what?

Well South Australia, unlike the other colonies was founded by free settlers who bought land in England then sailed to South Australia to found the settlement.

Yeah I know that.

So it was this guy's idea, the idea that since the other colonies were struggling to find labor there needed to be another way of doing it, he didn't have a lot to do with the actual planning but it was essentially his plan.

So, Wakefield Street, Port Wakefield, the Electoral division Wakefield all named after this guy?

Well some of them may have been named after each other but yeah. He then went on to found the New Zealand Company and his brother organized the purchase of the area that is now Wellington from the Maoris.

His brother who helped him kidnap the girl and also went to prison.

The very same. So William went on to be one of the main driving forces behind the settlement of Wellington and Edward eventually moved to New Zealand and became an MP there.

I have a degree in Australian Studies and History.

Yeah I know that, I am you weirdo.

So how the hell am I just learning about this now?

What do you mean?

You don't think that the fact that the guy who thought up South Australia, where I grew up, where I studied history and Australian Studies in high school and university, was a kidnapper and a rapist is an interesting tidbit of information?

Well he wasn't a rapist, they never had sex, he just tricked her into marriage then took her to a foreign country trying to steal her fortune.

Sorry, not a rapist. My point is that this story seems pretty interesting. And being that Australian history gets accused of being boring, especially by the 16yr olds forced to study it especially those in South Australia where the settlement story actually IS boring, you'd think that maybe this would be a story that is more widely known.

Hmm, yeah, like maybe it would be more famous than having to find out about it in an obscure and frankly kind of badly written book?

Exactly.

Links to interesting stuff

2011-01-31T19:54:00.000-08:00

50 "You're Doing it Wrong" Infomercial set ups.

Homemade Stargate!

Terry Pratchett who wasn't awesome enough for writing amazing books or handling early onset Alzheimer's with grace and poise and copious amounts of booze decided when he was knighted to make his own sword. By make I mean smelt the iron, and hammer it out himself. Oh and he added meteorites.

16 entertainers who died in the act.

Hurley from Lost shows you the right way to eat a cupcake.

Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the world yet?

Gay Teen Suicides

2011-01-24T10:24:00.000-08:00

There have been a series of stories in the news lately about young gay people committing suicide, it has sparked a lot of attention and begun the marvelous It Gets Better Project started by Dan Savage. The project is videos posted by LGBT (and straight) adults who are telling what its like to be an out adult and trying to show them that once they get through high school they will go on to live full lives and leave the bullies behind. I have watched a few of them I would love to watch all of them but they usually leave me a blubbering mess, especially Tim Gunn's video.

I'm not gay but I have struggled with depression and thought about suicide and did not particularly enjoy high school. A few days before I heard Dan talk about the Project on his podcast I had given a friend who is 16 the same advice. Just put up with the rest of high school, once you get out into the real world you will be able to meet all kinds of new and interesting people, people who you choose to associate with.

Now here's the other part and tell me if this makes me a horrible person. If I had a teenager and they told me they were gay and we lived somewhere other than the Bay Area I would probably tell them NOT to come out at school. That is not to say that I would tell them not to come out at all, I honestly believe that being gay or transgendered isn't a choice its how you were made. I think that homosexual people should have exactly the same rights as straight people and the in the future people will look back at us and study our debates about gay marriage the same way the study the civil rights movement and wonder how we could believe that anything other than equality was a logical position to take. I think teenagers who come out and campaign for fairness and equality are genuine heroes of our age, but for every teen that is able to rise above the discrimination they receive there are others who can't and it destroys them. I would want my child to live a full and happy life, and live with honesty and integrity in their affairs, be out at work, college and find their path in the world just not in high school. High school is hard enough and teenagers are little shits and can be cruel and horrible to people who's differences are less obvious.

Does that make me a bad person, to tell my child to keep their true self hidden and live a lie even if its only for a couple of years? I've heard how much damage being in the closet causes to people and I wouldn't want that for my child but I also don't want them to end up on the growing list of teenagers who can't handle the bullying and take their own lives. Maybe the answer is to pack up and move, if I lived in the bible belt and had a teen tell me they were gay and wanted to live as an open homosexual person maybe that's what we would have to do. Move to a bigger city, where they could go to a school with a large LGBT population where they may still get bullied but there would be a support system around them to help them deal with it.

I hope that by the time I have kids, if I ever do, I won't have to deal with these problems. By the time my imaginary child is an imaginary teen there won't be these problems. Shut up, I can live in a nice pretty fantasy world, where in 20years we will be as anti-homophobic as we are anti-racist...
...
Really? Racially segregated proms?
...
But that's from like the 70s right?
...
No?
...
Is this from the Onion or something?
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No?
...
Fuck me we suck as a species.

It Gets Better: Google employees
It Gets Better: Etsy employees
It Gets Better: Pixar employees

All moved in.

2011-01-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

I know its been a while but too be fair I've had other things going on. But I'm all moved in to my new house, I am writing this sitting on my balcony, that's right I have a balcony, it has a view of the next door apartment but its the only one in the building and it came with plants. Plants that will surely die under my care but hey, plants.

I have a new car too which works, I know that's probably redundant but there was a brief period two days after I bought it when this wasn't the case. See the little girl I nanny for shoved a plastic key in the ignition, and while I eventually got the key out my key wouldn't turn. I had to call AAA to tow it but the guy was able to fix it by literally putting the key in the ignition and banging on it with a wrench. You know how in the Sims that's how the characters fix things and it looks ridiculous? That is what he did. But it worked and I was unspeakably happy.

I still don't have a new job but this week begins the full time, aggressive job hunting which will be fun. Yeah right, looking for work sucks, I hate selling myself especially in written form. Ugh.

My etsy store is back up and running with some new items in it and I have A LOT of fabric so expect even more new things soon.

I think that's about it, I'm working on a couple of posts that should be coming up soon.

Moving sale at my Etsy Store; Carolyn's Collection

2010-11-23T19:20:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be putting my store on Vacation mode soon so I can start packing since I'll be moving at the end of December. But before I do that I'm going to give you one last opportunity to buy some of my lovely wares. Here's the deal from the date of this posting until the store goes on vacation mode I will give you a 50% off your order using Etsy's new coupon codes.

Once you put an item in your cart you will see a section for "Shop Coupon Code" on the right hand side. Type in the code "Moving" and your discount will be applied automatically!

Go and buy something, not only will you get something good I will have less stuff to pack. Its win win!

You can have these. Original price $4, but with the discount code you get them for $2.

Or this super cute bag. Which you could get for $7.50.

Or this small quilt for $20!

Finding a notebook, part 2

2010-11-23T18:52:00.000-08:00

Back in July I posted about my crazy ass looking for a notebook and how weirdly specific I am about it.

Original choice.

Shortly after posting that I found leslie hollins designs on etsy. I had a little bit of a chat to her about my insanity and bought one of her notebooks.

Now a few months later I've placed an order for two more.

Remember my list from the original post?

~~Small, maybe 10-12 lines.~~
~~Spiral bound.~~
Lined.
~~Not ugly.~~
~~Hard covered.~~
Thick but not too thick paper.

~~Not too expensive.~~

New notebook 1

Its not lined which it turns out isn't as big a deal as I thought and the paper is a bit too thick for perfection but the think paper has other benefits like durability because I am not gentle with it. Now as long as she swears not to ever shut down her store I should be ok.

New notebook 2

I thought I'd update you all because I know you were stressing about this constantly.

Popcorn on the cob

2010-11-21T20:20:00.000-08:00

Every week the little girl I nanny for and I go to Ardenwood to help Ranger Ira feed the sheep or goats, our reward is a piece of popcorn on the cob. Ranger Ira said we could take the kernels off and pop it in oil or an air popper but we could also pop it in the microwave right off the cob. I decided to try it and here's what happened. And how you can do it.

This only works with popcorn, other types of corn don't pop. Amazon sells some popcorn cobs but you may also be able to buy them at farmers markets. Or get them from Ranger Ira.

Place the ear of corn in a paper bag, this is a simple paper sandwich bag. And fold down the top a few times.

Place the bag in the microwave, set the timer for 2 minutes. It will take a little while for the popping to start but once it does the bag will start expanding. Keep an eye on it and listen. When it stops popping pull the bag out even if there is time left.

Open the bag CAREFULLY, it will be hot and steam may come out when you open it. You probably want to have a look and see what happened but don't put your face over the bag when you open it. That would be pretty stupid, I know because I did it the first time I made it.

Tip the bag into a big bowl, there will be a bunch of kernels and your cob, it will make a pretty big bowl of popcorn.

Your ear of corn will look like this. Be careful when you pick it up it will still be pretty hot. Most of the popcorn has come off but there is still some popped corn on the cob.

Add the topping of your choice. This time we used some agave nectar and kept some wipes handy for sticky hands.

Very delicious and depending on what you put on the popcorn very healthy too. Plus we get to help feed the animals.

Button Porn

2010-11-15T06:29:00.000-08:00

My friend Chase (she of Oh The Cuteness) told me about a button store in El Cerrito which I decided to go and find last Saturday. Its called Exclusive Buttons (but the sign on the building just says Buttons).

What I found was a tiny little shop that is only open Fridays and Saturdays run by a nice old lady. She sells no plastic buttons and most of them are still on their original cards (sadly the no longer actually cost 25c). Her husband sold buttons when he was alive and she is just running the store until she runs out of buttons (the only new buttons are the beautiful crystal ones from Europe). Its not as if there are just a couple left there are thousands of buttons in this teeny tiny store. It really reminded me of those pokey second hand bookstores run by slightly crazy old men, replace the books with buttons and the man with a woman and you have this store.

I've read on Yelp that the owner will help you if you are looking for something specific but as I wasn't and since I like mystery I picked the box of mixed buttons for $7.99. Wanna see what's inside?

That's a lot of buttons!

Whoa!

Some big ones.

Pink ones.

A whole lot of black ones.

A whole lot of white ones.

There were some matching ones, but I got bored of sorting them into colours after about 4 colours. There were a whole lot of them and I will look forward to using them.

On a side note if there actually is such a thing as button porn do me a favor and don't tell me about it because I don't want to know.

Bush decided he was pro-life when his mother showed him a fetus in a jar.

2010-11-08T21:54:00.000-08:00

That's the gist of the headlines I read this morning. Headlines that made me hope against hope that someone was making a very bad joke.

But nope:

The most startling anecdote he shared was the story of his mother's miscarriage during his teenage years, when he says he drove Barbara to the hospital while she held her unborn fetus in a jar.
Bush says he included the story "to show how my mom and I developed a relationship," but admits the jarring experience had a lifelong impact on his political beliefs.
"She says to her teenage kid, 'Here's a fetus,'" the pro-life President recounted to Lauer. "No question it — that affected me — my philosophy that we should respect life...There was a human life, a little brother or sister."

George W Bush said that about his mother. Barbara Bush. The former First Lady and who I had thought of until now as a nice old lady. There are so many many things wrong with this story, lets make a list shall we?

"Hello Deary, I've made you some raspberry jam."

Barbara Bush had a miscarriage and asked her teenage son to drive her to the hospital instead of calling for an ambulance. This is actually the least odd part.
She put the fetus in a jar.
She put it in a clear jar, who the fuck wants to look at that?
She says to her son "Here's a fetus", lets hope he's paraphasing here and what she actually said was more like "Oh my God George, I just miscarried, the doctor says I have to bring it with me, I'm so devastaed, please help me, your father isn't here and I really need someone to help me right now."
That made him pro-life. What? It didn't make him feel ill? It didn't make him feel like maybe his mother was unbalanced? Google image search "dead fetus" and tell me if the first thing you think of is "wow, that's a human life". People shouldn't have abortions because you saw your dead baby brother/sister in a jar? That makes absolutely no sense although it is quite possibly the most original argument against abortion I've heard.
He says he put it in the book to show how he and his mother developed a relationship. I can kind of see that, him and his mother shared something, he helped her in her hour of need and it created a bond between them that no one else shared. And maybe that should have been kept private, but I assume it is written in more detail and if it is a defining moment in his life it should be included in a memoir. But, but, but do not use it when you are launching your book tour. That is just disgusting. He took something that was probably very painful to his mother and uses it when he launched his book tour. And don't try to tell me that crack journalist Matt Lauer hounded him for answers. Him or his people told him that this would get him a lot of press and sell more books. Abortion is quite possibly the most divisive issue in the US and he knew this would sell more books which quite possibly the most disgusting thing about it.

What Australia can learn about Elections from the USA

2010-11-04T17:20:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I voted for the first time in person in the USA having only voted postally before. And there is one thing and one thing only that Australia can take from the way the United States runs elections.

Stickers.

You vote, you get a sticker, everyone likes stickers and you get to show off to the world that you voted.

That is all. The rest of the system is broken. But stickers, yes.

Tampons around the world.

2010-10-30T16:13:00.000-07:00

Greetings internet!

I posted something on twitter this morning which apparently has people wondering. I posted the simple fact that when I see my mother after Christmas I will be asking her to bring me tampons from Australia.

Yes, I know they make and sell such things here in the USA. Yes, I am aware of the fact that the Walgreens is down the street and my mother is 13,000 miles away and thus a tad more convenient.

But I just don't like them. Why not? I don't really know they just aren't the same. Its not a brand thing, the same brands are available in both countries. My personal brand only just became available over here and I was excited until I found they come with an applicator and further saddened when I tried them and found them to be not the same. I'm not crazy, many expats feel the same way. The Aussie Products Store in San Jose has had requests to stock tampons, others get family to send them and others just shut up and deal with it.

So there it is. Tampons are different in different countries. Bet you didn't know that. I didn't know that a year ago. Take this new found knowledge to your Halloween party and wow the crowds with your knowledge.

(Picture from http://www.tamponcrafts.com/halloween.html)

Does my inagural address have to be more than 140 characters?

2010-10-11T22:59:00.000-07:00

I recently went to see The Social Network which is a great movie and I recommend it, I wasn't going to see it but I kept hearing how good it was and it is directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin. But I don't want to review the movie I want to talk about something else.

One day we will have a president who had a Facebook and a Twitter and a whatever the next thing is. Now I know that Obama has these things but I'm not talking about established politicians using new media to connect to people. I'm talking about people who have grown up with these things. Who posted stuff when they were 14 when they weren't thinking about their future.

Here's Obama's latest Facebook update:

I congratulate Peter Diamond and Dale Mortensen on winning the Nobel Prize in Economics for their groundbreaking economic research that has applications in areas, like unemployment and housing, where we need our best and brightest minds.

And here is something from Lamebook:

There is a generation of people growing up to whom posting their thoughts as they think them is not a big deal.
A recent article reported that 92% of American 2yr-olds have an online presence. The presidential races of the future are going to include everything. Was your mother wondering if she would keep you or have an abortion? Well if she posted it on Facebook it will be achieved somewhere and a journalist will find it.
Did you send your boyfriend a picture of your tits? Guess what they're probably floating on the Internet somewhere and they might be on the front page of the newspaper the night before the Iowa Caucus.

There has already been a lot written and said about this, about what problems teenagers and young adults of today may have when they are looking for jobs or running for office and every dumb thought they had is able to be found easily by anyone. And I'm sure the first presidential candidate to have pictures of herself swigging from a vodka bottle she posted on her own page with the caption "Totally me lolz" will be a big deal, but what happens at the next election.

What happens at the election where everyone has done that? What happens when all candidates had a youtube channel where they sung shitty songs and cried about how their parents hated them? Where every candidate has posted about their poos and journalists can find it archived at the Library of Congress (that's for real by the way the LOC archives every public tweet)? Will it still be a big deal? Will it become a nonissue when no candidate can take the high road? Or will we as a society still want to hear all the juicy details and make moral judgements about these people?

"Well Candidate A posted that her friend was a whore when she was 17 but Candidate B talked about his shits constantly throughout college, I just don't know which one is better?"