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. . .