Southern Star

After a couple of years of delays, Melbourne's own Southern Star Observation Wheel opened yesterday to mixed reviews.

Community Service

After allowing the mail to pile up for the past three weeks, I finally opened up the post box this evening to retrieve the bills, junk mail, and other assorted items. The most interesting discovery was a flyer from a concerned citizen calling the attention of the community to an alleged illegal brothel in our midst - in fact, just a 100 metres down the road from us. Apparently, someone at 392 Church Street offers "Oriental Relax - Massage". Not sure what that is exactly, but there appear to be at least a few folks in the community that disapprove of such relaxation. I walk past said house at least twice a day and have never noticed a thing, nor has anyone ever offered me relaxation. But one can rest assured that I'll be more attentive in the future. . .

Seattle & The Everglades

I was away for a while, back to the good ol' USA for a quick publicity tour. I started off dropping in on Seattle, visiting some folks at the University of Washington and basking in the cold, dreary, rainy weather for which the region is famous. I did manage to find some time to check out the Underground Tour, which provided a bit of history about the development of Seattle while demonstrating that with the right angle, one can turn a hole in the ground into a tourist attraction.

PB160011
Originally uploaded by BLP

I subsequently left Seattle for the more sunny Florida landscape, dropping in for a night at home in Atlanta before arriving in Miami to meet up with my Aussie companions who accompanied me on the rest of my tour. After a night in Miami, we headed through the Everglades, stopping at Wooten's Airboats to do a bit of airboating with Captain Scott.

We moved on with new found knowledge about the wildlife of the 'glades (including the proliferation of Burmese pythons and a recipe for venison burgers that was mouthwatering), spending a night in Naples before arriving in St. Petersburg to attend the Coastal Cities Summit. I, however, had to depart from the conference a bit early in order to make the long journey back to Melbourne and then on to Mildura to attend the 10th annual Mildura Gasshuku.

Closed for Business

In a bizarre blow to Australian tourism, the Simpson Desert has been closed for the summer, due to forecasts of extreme temperatures in excess of 50C. Apparently, the government has decided that conditions are just too dangerous and doesn't want to be in the position of having to fetch more than the usual allotment of corpses from the desert sands.

However, given that high temperatures are nothing new to the Australian landscape, others have proposed alternative explanations for the closure. Adelaide's newspaper, The Advertiser, for example, stoked the rumour mill which is abuzz with whispers about aliens being discovered in the park.

Crocs Back in the Spotlight

Australia's grumpiest animal icon is back in the media...

First, stories are pouring in from Magnetic Island off the coast of Townsville in Queensland, where a 2.5 metre croc has taken up residence and in so doing has single-handedly destroyed the island's economy. As stated by one dive operator: "Sharks we can handle, but you just don't know what one of these things might do." Well, I guess that settles the question of which species is more feared.

Meanwhile, Time magazine has this story about the more humane treatment that crocs receive these days from humans. After the recent disappearance of a fisherman in Queensland, wildlife officials rounded up the usual croc suspects. But instead of dispatching the animals, they were given x-rays and endoscopies to check for any remnant human remains. The gentle treatment is apparently due to the perception by some officials that crocs over 13 feet are "icons".

Bloc Party & Death Cab for Cutie

Bloc Party is poised to release there third album, with the first single sounding, well, a lot like Bloc Party (not that that's a bad thing).

Meanwhile, I picked up a copy of Death Cab for Cutie's latest album a couple of weeks back, and have enjoyed it immensely - chock full of hits as they say.

Trick-or-Treat

I know what you're thinking - all those tacky costumes - must be Halloween. But no, it's just spring carnival - the annual celebration where horse racing and "fashion" mix, with sometimes disastrous results.

The Tourism Wars

There is nothing Australia's media likes more than fueling social debate over issues about which Australian society could really care less. So it is with Tourism Australia's latest campaign. In 2006, the powers that be rolled out the marketing gem below, which caught bloody hell from all sorts of folks, because it featured profanity (never mind that the word "bloody" is only considered profanity in a few very tiny markets - in the US, it's simply a word to describe how you'd like your steak prepared) and a young woman in a bikini, in addition to a mosaic of a broad range of Australian icons and attractions. Now anyone who has ever actually been to Australia knows that the word "bloody" is so pedestrian and ubiquitous that to call it profanity is a bit of a stretch. Similarly, bikinis are also ubiquitous and, in fact, one of the primary reasons why people flock to Australia from the northern hemisphere is so that they can wear a bikini while baking themselves silly on the nation's beaches. So, while perhaps being every so slightly cheeky, the campaign in question was a fairly accurate representation of the nation's mood and amenities.

Fast forward a couple of years, and witness below Australia's attempts to take their marketing campaign up-market. They've brought in Baz Luhrmann to lend a hand, which cleverly leverages his soon-to-be-released epic film, Australia. The message - all you workaholics suffering through the financial crisis can find respite in the heart of Australia. So are Australians happy? According to the media, the answer is "no". The complaints are that the ad is too "white collar" (why isn't anyone using words like "bloody", the way normal Australians communicate) and doesn't feature Australia's beaches (where are all those girls in bikinis).

So at this point, I'm fairly convinced that there isn't a tourism campaign that exists that the media won't find a way of criticising. But to be fair, it's hard to come up with material to fill newspapers day-in and day-out in a country where not too much happens and most folks are pretty pleased with their lives.

Meat Wagon

Apparently, there is a mobile meat pie business in Sydney that's been in continual operation for 70 years. And yes indeed, it has its own website: Harry's Cafe de Wheels.

Dream Festival

We strolled through the first annual Dream Festival this afternoon - caught some odd looking inflatable art and ate some snacks.

Photos here

Glimpses of the Past

The New South Wales State Library has digitised a number of photographs in its collection and posted them online for public viewing via Flickr.

Another reason why Melbourne is better than Sydney. . .

A national survey of Australian attitudes toward diversity has identified New South Wales as the most "racist" of the nation's states and territories. Forty-six per cent of survey respondents stated some ethnic groups "should not be in the country." But only about 10 percent of Australians went as far as to say that different ethnic groups shouldn't inter-marry or that certain ethnic groups are inferior. So I guess that means half of Australians are racist, but only 10% are REALLY racist. Well, that's a relief. . .

Australia Does Epcot

Apparently, visitor's to Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival can now get a taste of Melbourne's famous laneways and cuisine. Tourism Victoria managed to land Melbourne a spot at the famous food gig (not that anyone in America actually knows where Melbourne is). For some, it may provide some incentive to make the great trip down under. But for most, I reckon Epcot is as close as they'll get to the sunburned country.

All Victoria Grand Final

Another year, another footy Grand Final. I've decided that there is no greater spectacle in Victoria than the Grand Final. Melbourne Cup is a close second, but horse racing just doesn't have the mass appeal to all ages as footy. As great as the World Series, the Superbowl and March Madness might be, I'm not even sure they can compare. After all, any town that can support nine professional teams in the same freakin' sport is going to be tough to beat when it comes to fanaticism.

In any case, this year's Grand Final came down to a clash between the defending champs, Geelong, and Hawthorn in front of a crowd of 100,012. We had to pull for Hawthorn, because you've got to go for the underdog and because we've been to Geelong (aesthetically, it leaves something to be desired, and we can't pronounce the city correctly anyway). A Grand Final is not something to be watched alone, so we experienced the festivities at Ernie and Lisa's new penthouse flat. And fortunately, but surprisingly, the Hawks broke loose after half time and cruised to victory. This was followed by lots of fist pumping and ass slapping by the victors.

The Grates - Burn Bridges

The Grates have a new album out and you know what that means - a whole suite of catchy new tunes and a few very odd videos. . .

Cousin Ralf

We spent the evening with Cousin Ralf last night, who was in town for the weekend on one of his routine tours of the region. We took Ralf for dinner at Hairy Canary, followed by a quick drink at The Birdcage.

Finally!

At long last, our asses can enjoy the comfort to which they are entitled. After 9 months of pain and suffering, delays and frustration, the sofas we ordered at the beginning of the year have arrived and have been installed in Casa de Preston.
Although it took a bit of sweat to get them into our apartment (suggestion for furniture delivery companies - probably not wise to hire 16 year old boys that weigh 40 kilos to deliver furniture), our abode is now filled with the fine smell of rich Chinese leather.

Now, however, it has become apparent that the new sofas are far finer than most of the other stuff that exists in our home, so we may have simply doomed ourselves to a long-term series of furnishing upgrades.

The old sofas (and all their history) have moved down the road to the house of young Master Julian. Hopefully they will prove kind to his bum.

Physics Rap?

Newley tipped me off to this little gem. . .a "rap" on the Large Hydron Collider

New Governor General

Australia will be swearing in a new governor general today. Quentin Bryce, the former governor of Queensland will be the 25th GG, and the nations' first female to hold the office.

If you're wondering what the GG does, here's the official word:

A Governor-General appointed by the Queen shall be Her Majesty’s representative in the Commonwealth, and shall have and may exercise in the Commonwealth during the Queen’s pleasure, but subject to this Constitution, such powers and functions of the Queen as Her Majesty may be pleased to assign to him [emphasis added to reflect the fact that they may need to update the Constitution to make it more reflective of the 21st century].

Based upon the above, and the general hands-off approach of the Queen with respect to the Commonwealth, I think it is fair to say that the GG is symbol of Australia's relationship with the UK, but not much else. And given the constant debate over Australia becoming a republic, I reckon the days of the office are numbered.

Coffee

The Backpacker had a bit at The Age online about the quality of coffee around the world. Apparently, some of the better nations for getting a decent cup of Joe include Italy as well as a few spots in Southeast Asia (Vietnam and Malaysia) and South America (Argentina). Those nations more notorious for coffee include the UK and, of course, the good ol' USA (although in defence of the USA, what it lacks in quality, it makes up in quantity).

The single best place (allegedly) for coffee in the world: Melbourne, Australia. But this is coming from an Aussie, and if you're looking for a coffee snob, you'll be guaranteed to find one in Melbourne.

America

I like to be in America!
O.K. by me in America!
Ev'rything free in America
For a small fee in America!

After spending a couple of months in the US and Europe, I checked back in on Australia for a few weeks only to head back to the states for a more formal holiday. We arrived in an America struggling through high fuel prices, absorbed by the Olympics (Go Phelps!), dodging tropical cyclones, and with presidential campaigns well underway.


First stop - Madison, Wisconsin (via Chicago)

I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Via Chicago

We dropped in on the family in Madison, which in winter is one of the last places on the planet you want to be. In summer, however, this progressive college town is quite pleasant. As our first port of call, jet lag was an issue, but Uta at least overcame her sleepiness with Olympics fever, staying up to the wee hours of the morning watching Michael Phelps and underage Chinese gymnasts do their thing. We spent a day at the outlet mall in the Dells buying everything they had (and laughing hysterically over how cheap everything was). We also made the mandatory stroll down State Street and sat out in the sun at The Terrace.


Second Stop - Atlanta, Georgia

Welcome to Atlanta where the playas play
And we ride on them things like every day
Big beats, hit streets, see gangsta's roamin'
And parties dont stop til' eight in the mornin'

Home sweet home. We spent ten days in Atlanta, hooking up with many friends and loved ones and continued our binge shopping which necessitated the acquisition of an additional suitcase. We arrived just in time for me to catch the 11th annual South Atlantic Karate Association summer training camp and for us to participate in the 2nd annual cornhole tournament (we were eliminated in the first round). We also hit Midtown's Cypress Street Pint and Plate, the Midcity Cafe, Rosa Mexicana at Atlantic Station, and the old favourites of Fellini's and Moe's and Joe's (which has gone a bit up-market since being bought out, but still has pitchers of PBR for $3.25 on Tuesdays). A highlight for Uta was a visit to Friedman's, where shoes can be found in absurd sizes - I bought a pair of sneakers while Uta got to see how her feet measure up to Shaq's (who reportedly is a size 24). I also dropped in on a few folks at Ga Tech and spent a morning tyring to inspire a few young minds over at Fernbank Science Center. We topped off our stay in the ATL by peeking in on a real estate development where we discovered that for the price of our little two bedroom apartment in Melbourne, we could have one of these brand new monsters in Atlanta. Food for thought. . .


Third Stop - New York, New York

New york, lookin down on central park
Where they say you should not wander after dark

Despite Uta's many trips to NYC over the years, my experience with the city consists of only one prior trip which occurred during the early 80's. If things have changed since then, I don't remember. We checked in at the SoHotel (which is actually more in Little Italy than in SoHo, but that's marketing for you). Our first night, we hooked up with the SoHo Swede for dinner, and then rested up for what would prove to be a 15k forced march on Monday, from SoHo to Central Park (stopping in at the Empire State Building) and then back. Tuesday, we headed to Flushing Meadows to witness Day 2 of the U.S. Open, where we saw Haas triumph over Gasquet, Robredo nail down the lid of Zverev's coffin and where some clown mistook me for James Blake's brother, Thomas. Wednesday it was more tourist stuff - Chinatown, St. Pauls and the WTC site, Wall Street, Battery Park and the Staten Island Ferry. We met up with B-Rob and Trey for dinner, followed by drinks at the requisite hip cocktail lounge. Thursday we walked through the West Village, did some shopping in SoHo (including the cleverly named stores "Shoe" and "Bag") and then wrapped up the day and the trip by catching Rent on Broadway (in it's last week).

I'll be heading back to the US in November (Florida) and January (Phoenix). In the meantime, if you're dying from visions of the silly land, go here.

Look at Them Wheels!

This article in The Age reports on the world's rapidly expanding love affair with the observation wheel. Melbourne's own version is due to open later this year (with commanding views of the port), and I'm a bit disappointed to discover its size is rather tame in comparison to the behemoths being erected in Beijing and Singapore. But, as with all things Australian, I'm sure it'll be big enough for the city to boast that it's wheel is "the largest in the Southern Hemisphere."

Starbucks

The coffee giant, Starbucks appears to be losing the coffee wars in the Antipodes, with the hot beverage retailer announcing the closure of 61 of its stores in Australia. Outlets in Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra will evaporate, leaving only Melbourne and Sydney to hold the line.

SPO

On the return from the UK, I dropped in with mom on the in-laws in St. Peter-Ording, Germany. It's just not summer without a trip to the coast, a bit of unpredictable weather, and some tasty German cuisine. The trip offered the opportunity to see the results of the renovations that were underway in Bad during our visit last year, including the new Gosch (which proved quite tasty). I also got to take the new Dittmer family Smart car for a spin around town and managed to squeeze in a bit of golf (a challenging endeavor in the face of North Sea winds). The sadness associated with having to leave was offset slightly but the upgrade to business class on the return home. Sweet!

Around Nofolk

After mother was safely shepherded out to Norwich, we did spend at least one day out and about in the countryside. We rented a smart looking Peugeot, which was marginally drivable due to the rather small space available for a driver's feet (apparently Frenchmen have wee feet). We took the Peugeot out to Blickling Hall, a Jacobean estate first constructed in 1620 and subsequently occupied and renovated up until 1940 when it was turned over the National Trust. This was followed by a jaunt over to the newer, but still impressive Sandringham Estate of the Windsor Family ("the Norfolk retreat of the Queen"). While the several houses of the room were viewable by the public were chockers with twee stuff, I found the collection of family photographs in the museum out back the most interesting.

London

What better place to spend the Fourth of July than London. . .I spent three nights there over the revolutionary weekend, meeting up with ex-pat friends of various nationalities and picking up mother so that she could enjoy bit of a European vacation. Due to stereotypical London weather, we did some stereotypical tourist stuff, catching all the sites as it were - from Harrods to Westminster to the Tower of London to Greenich.

Norwich

Norwich, UK - the town where medieval cathedrals are as thick as coffee shops in Seattle. If one's looking for untouched country, this is the wrong place. It's pretty hard to step anywhere without stumbling upon something from at least the 11th century. Claims to fame include the Norwich Market, the Norwich Castle, and of course Norwich Cathedral (that's the big one).

Despite being a relatively small nations, the UK can be a bit of a challenges to get around in. It took me the same amount of time to get from Heathrow to Norwich as it did to get from Washington, DC to Heathrow. Apparently, the folks at Paddington Station sent me to Kings Cross rather than Liverpool Street. Hence, I had to change trains in the less than quaint village of Peterborough and was forced to spend quite a bit of time hanging out there.

So, I'm here in Norwich for at total of four weeks, hanging out at the University of East Anglia as a "Visiting Fellow". In addition, I'm working out a couple of times a week with the Eastern Shotokan Association, and keeping up with the European Cup 2008. I've already traveled up to Newcastle to visit the University there and will be celebrating the Fourth of July in London next week.

I've enjoyed uncharacteristically pleasant weather - not like that Washington, DC place which was stinking hot. Sure, the rains roll in now and then, but I've managed to dodge the worst of it. The harder thing to dodge is the exceedingly large number of pensioners cruising around town in their little electric scooters. They're everywhere - the health service must subsidise them. Also, it's interesting to be in a town where the bicycle really is a core method of transport for everyone.

Back in the US

I managed to spend the first two weeks of June in Australia's official capital of Washington, DC, where I attended the American Meteorological Society's summer policy colloquium. This in an of itself was quite a treat - 10 rather intense days of digging into policy for science and science for policy, with access to some fairly senior members of the federal government. And subsequent to this, I had some free time which allowed me to pay a visit to my old stomping ground.

Meanwhile, I'd forgotten what a hot and sticky place the U.S. east coast can be. My first week there, temperatures soared up to the high 90s. Now that in an of itself is nothing by Australian standards, but throw in some God-awful humidity and being outside was rather unpleasant. Contrast this with the other thing I'd forgotten about the U.S. - the ever present chill of air conditioning. Not sure who decided 65 was a comfortable temperature. Other things I noticed about America:

1) they like plaid
2) but not as much as khaki
3) which is second only to baseball caps in terms of fashion significance
4) stuff is cheap (but they think they pay a lot for gasoline)
5) they love trucks (but not as much as they used to as a result of #4)
6) they like to talk to strangers (or yell random stuff at them)
7) the nation hasn't managed to sort out its health care woes in my absence
8) cable news has morphed into an unintelligible mess of rubbish
9) God hates the Midwest (or maybe he just likes testing its faith)

Of course, I managed to catch up with various friends and loved ones - the boys from W&M, the ATL ex-pats, former students, work colleagues, etc. Also worked out with the Washington DC Shotokan Karate Club, and even toured Mount Vernon (something I never did when I actually lived in the area).

Australia's Top 50

The Age recently conducted an exercise to attempt to compile a list of Australia's top 50 albums (of all time, of course). Some are predictable, some I'm vaguely aware of through having learned a bit about Australia music culture, others remain complete enigmas. The results:

THE TOP FIFTY
1 10-1 - Midnight Oil (1981)
2 Radios Appear - Radio Birdman (1977)
3 Living in the 70s - -Skyhooks (1974)
4 Hi Fi Way - You Am I (1995)
5 Stoneage Romeos - Hoodoo Gurus (1984)
6 Gossip - Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls (1986)
7 (I'm) Stranded - the Saints (1977)
8 Kick - INXS (1987)
9 Diesel and Dust - Midnight Oil (1987)
10 Back in Black - AC/DC (1980)
11 Magic Box - Loved Ones (1967)
12 Easy - the Easybeats (1965)
13 Born Sandy Devotional - the Triffids (1986)
14 Crowded House - Crowded House (1986)
15 Human Frailty - Hunters and Collectors (1986)
16 High Voltage - AC/DC (1976)
17 Sunnyboys - Sunnyboys (1981)
18 Wait Long By The River and the Bodies of Your Enemies will Float By - the Drones (2005)
19 16 Lovers Lane - Go-Betweens (1988)
20 Prehistoric Sounds - the Saints (1988)
21 Circus Animals - Cold Chisel (1980)
22 Hourly, Daily - You Am I (1996)
23 East - Cold Chisel (1980)
24 Doughboy Hollow Died Pretty (1991)
25 Goodbye Tiger Richard Clapton (1977)
26 Daddy Who - Daddy Cool (1971)
27 Prayers on Fire - the Birthday Party (1981)
28 Charcoal Lane - Archie Roach (1992)
29 Rose Tattoo - Rose Tattoo (1978)
30 Less is More - Even (1996)
31 Let There Be Rock - AC/DC (1977)
32 Since I Left You - the Avalanches (2001)
33 Icehouse - Flowers (1980)
34 Toward the Blues - Chain (1971)
35 Anthology - the Easybeats (2000)
36 The Good Son - Nick Cave (1990)
37 Highway to Hell - AC/DC (1979)
38 The Low Road - Beasts of Bourbon (1991)
39 The Swing - INXS (1984)
40 Lovetown - Stephen Cummings (1988)
41 Face to Face - the Angels (1978)
42 Post - Paul Kelly (1985)
43 Woodface - Crowded house (1991)
44 Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express - Go-Betweens (1986)
45 Tu Plang - Regurgitator (1996)
46 Eternal Nightcap - The Whitlams (1997)
47 Diorama - Silverchair (2002)
48 Starfish - The Church (1988)
49 A Toast to Panama - Red Masters' Apprentices (1972)
50 Get Born - Jet (2003)

Snow Anyone

As we head into the start of Australia's ski season, there appears to be just one problem. Notice anything missing? While last year was a big season which lifted the spirits of the nation's ski industry, this year is off to a slow start. Not only has there been little snow to speak of, it's even been too warm for snow making.

Heavyweight Champion of the World

Australia has finally made its international mark, with a new report declaring Australia the most obese nation in the world, thicker around the middle than even their American allies.

Australia: The Motion Picture

A trailer for the epic film, Australia, has been released. It would seem there are hopes in some circles that this will become Australia's Gone with the Wind - a legendary tale of the coming of age of a nation (although this seems unlikely to displace classics such as Gallipoli or The Lighthorsemen). Most troubling for me is the fact that this is one of those trailers that communicates themes (e.g., love, war, hardship, sweat, dirt, landscapes, etc.) but no plot. For the life of me, I've got no clue what this film is actually about, so despite the big names (e.g., Jackman and Kidman)I'm predicting a flop. Not to mention, any film that appears to take itself this seriously is markedly un-Australian.

Run, Uta, Run

Once again, Uta has opted to use her feet to cover expansive distances that most of us would only consider traversing with a car or maybe even an aircraft of some sort. This time it was the Great Ocean Road half-marathon. What's the best way to follow-up an early morning start featuring cold, rain and darkness? Well, Uta thinks running 23 kilometres is a good way to stay warm, so she headed out from Kennett River at 8:00 am, arriving at the finish at Apollo Bay shortly after 10:00 in the morning. More importantly, she completed her run a good 20 minutes before the first marathon runner crossed the line (but then they did start a little bit further up the road).

We also managed to finally take a look at Erskine Falls, and enjoyed the hospitality of the Around About Lorne B&B - highly recommend for anyone heading down the GOR.

Some photos here

On the Air

A podcast interview discussing my work recent work on assessing climate change vulnerability in the Sydney, Australia region is now available here.

Diplomacy, Australian Style

In most countries one might expect some manner of civility and political correctness when it comes to public statements by government officials. But this is Australia.

In response to recent ad campaigns in Sydney by Adelaide and Canberra that target disgruntled Sydneysiders, fed-up with hairy commutes and the high cost-of-living, the New South Wales Transportation Minister had the following choice words:

"anyone that ... has been to Adelaide knows it is a pretty boring place, and it just can't compare to Sydney. Anyone who goes to Canberra knows Canberra is even more boring than Adelaide, and Sydney is the greatest city in the country."

Tell us how you really feel.

Tournament Photos

I finally paid the extortionist prices to obtain a few snapshots of my "performance" at the JKA Nationals tournament at the end of March. Available here at Flickr, they document my first round victory, but unfortunately (or fortunately) there weren't too many good shots of my second round defeat (only a few picture of me looking fierce followed by shots of my feet up in the air after having them taken out from under me - I opted out of paying for those).

East Meets West

It's 5:30am in the Brisbane airport. I arrived here from my hotel after a 20 minute taxi ride during which my driver provided me with endless entertainment. A Malaysian native, he was thrilled to hear I was an American - he'd visited the US three times (once to LA, twice to NYC) and loved it. So much so, he said he lamented the fact that he chose to migrate to Australia rather than the US. So what made America superior in his eyes: plenty of jobs, coupons, and black women (due to their large rear ends, unlike the Australian variety of female which is apparently less well-endowed). Not necessarily things that Lonely Planet would point out as being critical components of American culture, but as far as lists of reasons to visit the US go, this seems just as good as any other.

East Meets West

It's 5:30am in the Brisbane airport. I arrived here from my hotel after a

Tesla Roadster

Tesla Motors has begun production on the Tesla Roadster, a high performance electric car. Though pricey at just over $100,000, it remains a much more affordable option that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, which have yet to move beyond prototype phase and which require significant infrastructure to fuel. The Tesla - just plug it in. . .

Love/Hate

Ben, The Backpacker, Groundwater had a recent entry on the U.S. - much criticised, often avoided, but, he argues, with many underrated charms. More interesting, however, are the comments of those who wrote in to respond, many of whom agree.

Carbon and Methane in '07

Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere continued their upward march last year, and methane showed new signs of life, with concentrations rising for the first time since 1998. This should serve as a reminder that the atmosphere is rather oblivious to all the talk about greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

Dare Gallery Furniture

Dare Gallery Furniture has entered voluntary administration, appointing Deloitte to handle company finances and rescue it from what one must assume is a sorry financial state. Now normally I wouldn't bother writing about such trivial business dealings, except for the fact that said company has over a grand of our money. We ordered new sofas from Dare back in January. Their delivery was delayed, and we've spent the past month trying to get some kind of information from them as to what's up. Finally we discovered the company has essentially gone bottom-up. Our sofas are sitting in a container in Shanghai, but it remains to be seen whether we'll ever see them, or the money we put down as a deposit. Worst of all, this might mean that we have to go shopping - again. . .

Burn Baby, Burn

The Olympic Torch is currently in Australia, with runners carrying the flame through the streets of Canberra. To no surprise, there is no shortage of protesters, although things appear to be much tamer than what's transpired in other nations. Some possible explanations:

1) It's Australia (no one can be bothered)
2) It's Canberra (no one's there)
3) Maybe there's a higher percentage of people in Australia that recognise the torch as a symbol of unity, independent of China and its actions on human rights. Hence, if one seeks to protest the actions of the Chinese government, there are more direct symbols to target that don't cast shadows over the Olympics themselves and their intent.

Hit Me Baby One More Time

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issues its first assessment report in 1990. Subsequent efforts have been released every 5 to 6 years for the past two decades, culminating in 2007's Fourth Assessment Report. And now the IPCC has indicated (through its report on the Future of the IPCC from the recent 28th meeting in Budapest) that the crowd has called out for more. The Fifth Assessment Report is to be rolled out between 2013 and 2014. That's still a long way off, but I foresee the AR5 going the way of the AR4: slightly wider ranges of uncertainty with respect to climate projections (part of the persistent trend toward increasing uncertainty associated with IPCC work), but no fundamental shift or ground-breaking discovery that would cause us to look at the issue and its challenges in a new light. This makes be wonder what benefits various nations see in continung such reporting over such short time intervals (i.e., there appears to be absolutely no correlation between scientific evidence and willingness of nations to pursue greenhouse gas emissions reductions) and will a time ever come when the IPCC publishes a report that says "well, six years have past and we don't really have anything new to say - see you next time".

There's Gold in Them Thar Icebergs

While the environmental implications of climate change n the Arctic have received significant attention in recent years, only now are folks starting to focus on the economic implications. Hugo Miller recently reported on the gold rush taking place in the far north as global warming increases access to some of the last great untapped mineral deposits on the planet. The irony of the situation appears lost on the mining and petroleum industries.

2020

The nation is abuzz with talk of Kevin Rudd's Australia 2020 Summit (not to be confused with Twenty20)- designed to be an assembly of Australia's best and brightest and an opportunity to develop new ideas for Australia's future.

Everyone appears to have an opinion on this thing. It's difficult to see what 1000 people can accomplish in a day and a half, but the idea of citizen committees (even if many of those ordinary citizens are members of the elite) seems like a step forward in the democratic process. Given there were over 7000 nominations(including myself) for those 1000 spots, there are undoubtedly a large number of disgruntled people who were snubbed and therefore feel free to throw rocks at the process (some of us met for dinner last night and chucked a few stones ourselves). Yet, it should be noted that anyone was allowed to submit submissions to the process electronically. Despite criticism, living in a country where the government provides the entire nation with an opportunity to submit ideas is quite brave and refreshing.

Interestingly, in small public opinion poll prior to the summit, the biggest issue flagged as being "the most important problem facing the country" was the environment.

Kilikiti

[www.police.govt.nz]

Rod Curtis recently published this article on Somoa's national sport of kilikiti - a variation on the game of cricket, which was introduced by missionaries in the early 19th century but then allowed to evolve independent of British influence.

New Publication: Climate Change and Australian Runoff

Preston, B.L. and Jones, R.N. (2008) Evaluating sources ofuncertainty in Australian runoff projections. Advances in Water Resources Volume 31, Issue 5, Pages 758-775.

Abstract
Generating estimates of the future impacts of climate change on human and natural systems is confounded by cascading uncertainties which propagate through the impact assessment. Here, a simple stochastic rainfall–runoff model representing 238 river basins on the Australian continent was used to assess the sensitivity of the risk of runoff changes to various sources of uncertainty. Uncertainties included global mean temperature change, greenhouse gas stabilisation targets, catchment sensitivities to climatic change, and the seasonality of runoff, rainfall, and evaporation. Model simulations provided estimates of the first-order risk of climate change to Australian catchments, with several regions having high likelihoods of experiencing significant reductions in future runoff. Climate uncertainty (at global and regional scales) was identified as the dominant driving force in hydrological risk assessments. Uncertainties in catchment sensitivities to climatic changes also influenced risk, provided they were sufficiently large, whereas structural assumptions of the model were generally negligible. Collectively, these results indicate that rigorous assessment of climate risk to water resources over relatively long time-scales is largely a function of adequately exploring the uncertainty space of future climate changes.

Slave to the Grind

It's been a busy couple of weeks. I did a sting on the lecture circuit, giving talks at a workshop on urban water systems, one on climate change and social justice, one on climate adaptation in local government, and finished off talking to secondary school students (pictured here) about success and how to achieve it.

Not-so-big Rig

Joshua Dowling from the Sydney Morning Herald writes about his experience driving a new Smart Fortwo across the great continent of Australia.

First Compton, Now NYC

The escotereic sport of cricket continues to make inroads in America. First, the Compton Cricket Club hit the news and now word that a junior cricket league has been launched in New York.

Victoria Leads

Victoria has been in the spotlight as of late when it comes to taking on climate change. Recent initiatives include:

1) Opening of the Otway Project - the world’s largest research and carbon geosequestration demonstration project.

2) A $72 million increase in investment for the state's renewable energy projects.

3) A partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative to explore clean, renewable energy projects in the state.

2008 Nationals

From 23-29 March, Melbourne hosted the 27th JKA Australia Nationals, with ~250 Aussies and Kiwis coming together to train and compete. It was a pretty awesome sight to see that number of people training in sync (under the guidance of some of Japan's most accomplished instructors) and to see the camaraderie among those that have invested blood sweat and tears in the pursuit of karate.

See here for a recap of the week and here for the tournament victors.

Australia's Old South

Speaking of the Old South, reports suggest Australia's looking a bit Jim Crow as of late, with relatively affluent whites shifting their kids out of public schools into more elite private schools. One of the alleged impetuses - the influx of refugees from overseas into Australia's suburbs and public education systems. Funny how Australia strives to be seen as a worldly entity worthy of the a place on the global main stage, yet it's people seem to have a fairly narrow comfort range for those other people with whom they share the planet.

Free Speech under Fire in the U.S.'s Former Capital

Williamsburg, Virginia was once the heart of America, the capital of Britain's colony across the Atlantic, and one of the key birthplaces of the American revolution that established the United States as an independent nation governed under the world's longest lasting Constitution.

The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg is the second oldest university in the nation. It's educated a plethora of American greats including many of the nation's so-called fore-fathers (Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Richard Bland, Peyton Randolph, Edmund Randolph, Benjamin Harrison, John Marshall and John Tyler), with George Washington serving as the university's first chancellor. In the modern era, folks such as the current U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Glenn Close and John Stewart, as well as many offspring of Washington players have attended. And then there are clowns such as myself (class of '96).

Despite this illustrious history of progressive education and leadership, the latest President of the university, Gene Nichol, was recently ousted, allegedly due to his liberal leanings which led to his attempts to make the campus chapel more open to multiple faiths, expand a program to enable low-income state residents attend university without being burned by debt, and (the final straw) permitting the student body association to allow the Sex Workers' Art Show to perform on campus. Nichols (a constitutional lawyer) defended his actions on the ground of free speech, separation of church and state, and the responsibilities of a public university. These acts were generally supported by the campus community, and by all accounts Nichol was well-loved. However, the Board of Visitors appears to be a lot cut from a different cloth, viewing the values of the Old South (and conservatives throughout the nation) as more important than the values of the university.

Melbourne Rules (sort of)!

Interesting polling results shed some new insight into the age old Melbourne and Sydney rivalry.

"The survey of 1,327 respondents, and based on the quality of life
attainable in Australian cities, found 29 per cent would prefer to work in Brisbane or on the Gold Coast, 26.2 per cent liked the look of Melbourne, while only 18.2 per cent backed Sydney."

While the press have played this up as Melbourne beating out Sydney, it's worth noting that southeast Queensland beats them both.

Garnaut & Carbon Trading

Against the appropriate back-drop of a record heat wavee in southern Australia (in March of all months, with Adelaide experiencing 15 consecutive days>35 degrees)Ross Garnaut released another interim report. This one, with thoughts on emissions trading, broke the news that carbon trading would bring higher energy prices (duh!, after all that's the point right). However, he also indicated that the big emitters and energy utilities shouldn't receive a free lunch in the way of carbon permit hand-outs (as suggested by the last government).

Stuff White People Like

So true. . .

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/

Let the Games Begin

The South Australia Supreme Court has fired an opening volley in what is likely to be come a common legal battleground in coming years: what are local governments legally entitled (or obligated) to do to control coastal development in light of climate change and sea-level rise?

"'The rejection of a subdivision on Yorke Peninsula, west of Adelaide, is likely to be repeated across the country as councils progressively write climate change provisions into their planning regulations. The South Australian Supreme Court cited local sea level rises of 30cm over the next 50 years in ruling yesterday against Northcape Properties' plans for 80 holiday homes at Marion Bay, 150km west of Adelaide. The changes - which the court ruled was expected, not merely a probability - would encroach on the proposal's "erosion buffer and coastal reserve'."

This decision represents one of the first of its kind in Australia, but certainly not the last.

Will Comply

Today's Australian has a write-up of Wilco and their up-coming return to Australia. While capturing some of the more pedestrian history of the band, the article has some amusing quotes from Jeff Tweedy on Billy Bragg and the Mermaid Avenue affair as well as the growth in Internet-based music sharing.

Beyond Kyoto, Oi, Oi, Oi

Climate change policy in Australia continues to be led from the bottom-up with the latest polling from the Climate Institute indicating 73% of Australians are ready to move beyond Kyoto Protocol commitments for greenhouse gas emissions reductions. However, those 73% weren't asked how much they'd be wiling to pay for those reductions. In fact, when asked whether they'd support action even if people's jobs were on the line, the number dropped to 38%. So as with most purchasing decisions, there is a difference between what people want and what they think they can afford. . .

Return to Wilson's Promontory

We were there in 2007, but this past weekend, we took advantage of the Labour Day holiday to take the Dittmer elders to Wilson's Promontory. The traffic getting out of Melbourne was wilder than anything we saw at the Prom, although we did have to contend with the usual assortment of precocious wombats, possums and seagulls.

We lounged on the beach at Tidal River, climbed Mt Bishop, met some nice Gippsland boys at the barbie, and caught what can only be described as a chick flick at the outdoor cinema (where the wombats come around at intermission to nibble on your shoelaces). The highlight was the opportunity to get out from behind the wheel of the Getz for a weekend and cruise around in the relative luxury of a Nissan X-Trail. The low point was the weather change that rolled in around 3am Monday morning, bringing hot northerly winds that turned an otherwise pleasant night into a sweltering, and at times hair-raising, ordeal.

Photos here.

Taronga Zoo

Some scenes from a trip over the weekend to Sydney's Taronga Zoo are posted here.

Red Dragon Fury

At long last, the fabled Red Dragon Fury has finally made it to Australia. The hottest cocktail to hit the USA in years, RDF was recently introduced down under as amateur mixologists David and Mike made an Australian tour.

The boys briefed bartenders in both Melbourne (e.g., The Bar with No Name) and Sydney (e.g., Ravesi’s at Bondi Beach) on the appropriate preparation of RDF. There were some hiccups due to lack of appropriate components in some venues, but I'm sure they'll get it sorted as RDF fever spreads throughout the nation.

Phillip Island 2008

Check out the write-up on last month's 10th annual Phillip Island Instructor's Gasshuku.

The Good Life

Lot's of stuff on the quality of life in Australian cities lately:

Sydney apparently rules the world, declared the best city on Earth for the second year running (Melbourne came in sixth). . .

However, not all who live in Sydney are convinced, with approximately one-in-five contemplating a move elsewhere (probably similar to the rate for every other city in the world). . .

But among Asian ex-pats, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra are tops for quality of life (given the nod for Canberra, clearly this subpopulation isn't too informed - maybe they just mean better than where they came from). . .

From Melbourne to Atlanta

International fugitive Nai Yin Xue, made infamous in Australia for abandoning his daughter at Melbourne's Southern Cross Station after allegedly murdering is wife in New Zealand, was finally apprehended in my hometown of Atlanta. Nai Yin Xue was taken into custody after being captured and restrained by five Chinese nationals doing their "duty".

As the write-up in the Sydney Morning Herald reported,

"Police were not too concerned at establishing how much force had been used to put him face down with hands and feet bound".

Deep Thought

According to MxNews (Melbourne's highest quality 'news' publication):

"An eight-year experiment to discover the secret of life collapsed yesterday.

A $30 million computer capable of a trillion calculations a second has finally conceded it is stumped.

Edinburgh University physicists said they had been trying to confirm the Standard Model Theory to explain the behaviour of all matter and energy but failed to incorporate the law of gravity into it.

The plan echoes 'The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy', in which a computer found the answer to "Life, the Universe, and Everything" is 42."

Garnaut Review: Coming Attraction

Prof Garnaut let some early bits of thinking out of the bag last week with an interim report on his review of the costs and benefits of greenhouse gas mitigation in Australia.

Once you read through the thirty odd pages that dance around the specifics and glance at the various illustrative figures that lack any numbers on the axes, one finds the punchline in the way of recommendations:

"First, Australia should be committing within the timetable of the Bali roadmap to emissions reductions for 2020 and 2050 that are fully comparable in terms of adjustment effort to commitments being made by other developed countries. The State and Commonwealth Government commitments to 60 per cent reduction in year 2000 emissions by 2050, with corresponding interim targets, may be shown to be appropriate in that context. Second, the recent developments in the science summarised earlier in this Interim Report, and the work of the Review on current and prospective emissions scenarios in the absence of major policy changes, suggests that ambitions for mitigation will need to rise way beyond those embodied in the Bali roadmap if high probabilities of damaging climate change are to be avoided."

Well, that's a pretty clear preview of what the final report is likely to communicate. Now if folks can figure out how to actually pull off such reductions. . .

Sorry

It was an historic day in Australia, as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued an apology on behalf of the Australian government to the nation's stolen generation. The U.S. is still trying to come to terms with its own shady history regarding native Americans and slavery (both causes championed by Senator Brownback). But apparently such things are quite politically controversial.

Case-in-point, the response of Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson to Rudd's apology, which basically amounted to the diplomatic equivalent of "wasn't me" and/or "hey, we meant well". Needless to say, his comments were not well-received.

London

I spent the end of last week in London attending the Adaptation 2008 conference. I stuck around over the weekend to hang out with the Strachan family. Dropped in on St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tate Modern (and it's signature crack). We also took in a play at the National Theatre - entitled The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, it was a something equivalent to theatrical waterboarding. For amusing reviews, check out this or this.

On the long flights to and from, I managed to catch-up on my movie watching, cruising through the followng:

Beowulf
Elizabeth: The Global Age
Superbad
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Brave One
The Assassination of Jesse James
3:10 to Yuma
Invasion
Blues Brothers
The Jammed
In the Valley of Elah
Michael Clayton

Oh, and just for the heck of it, check out this list of songs about London - impressive.

The Lost Photos of the Australian Open

After several weeks, the many photos obtained at the Australian Open have surfaced including on-court action as well as some of Uta's glimpses behind the scenes (if you look hard, you'll find some poorly lit, dodgy photos of Novak Djokovic).