Dallin's Musings

I'm back...

2009-02-20T11:46:39Z

... and while my body is sighing the biggest sigh of relief I think it ever has, a part of my mind is still clinging to what was. I came home to a seemingly endless pile of phone messages, text messages, instant messages, email, snail mail, phone bills, rego bills, NRMA bills... for someone who's been living life at an average of about 18km/h for the last month, it was like I was thrown into the front seat of a car doing 250km/h and my brain didn't like it. I just wanted to tell everyone to fuck off and leave me alone until, I dunno, 2015 or so.

But things have slowed down a bit now, and I'm seeing that not all I found was lost the moment I stepped into the plane to come back to Brisbane. Certainly I have some catching up to do, some of which will no doubt frustrate me (read: problem phone bills) and I've got the root canal tomorrow, but there still is peace, even here in this now strange-seeming land where everyone is climbing over the top of each other to reach the top of something I don't really think I care about anymore... maybe this is just readjustment to the "real world", or as I hope, perhaps it's something more permanent.

I have a lot to say about the ride... once I work out how to get my journal off my phone I'll post it all up here, but for now it'll have to rest. I'm interested to see how many pages it will make in total *grins*

But yes, I'm back, alive (for the most part) and kicking (with one leg anyway, and not very high ;) ) And I don't look like Igor anymore *chuckles* (yes, between the swollen face from the gum infection, the limp and a crinked neck, there was a resemblance there!)

A REAL UPDATE!!!

2009-02-18T08:37:18Z

Well, I return from the wild! Not from Tasmania (not till Friday) but I'm back in the relative civilisation that is Hobart.

I can't remember where I was when I last updated... Deloraine I think. Wow, long time ago. Internet's not such a big thing out there.

From Deloraine, my stops have been:

Gowrie Park
Cradle Mountain (woot! Much updatage when I get back about this!)
Rosebery
Strahan
Queenstown
Lake St. Claire
Miena
Bothwell
Mt. Field National Park
Strathgordon
Mt. Field National Park (again, because there's only the one road leading to Strathgordon)
Hobart (didn't have time to update - sorry!)
Tahune Forest
Hobart: tonight and tomorrow night.

All up I've covered around 1,700km so far. I've got a hurt ankle (not too bad) two very sore legs (that will survive) and a gum infection (yay! I've been on painkillers and antibiotics for the past week! And what's better, I get to have root canal therapy on my birthday!!! (for the record, I wish the Gods would listen more carefully when I give them my birthday wishes!!!)) Fortunately, I haven't needed painkillers since this morning, although the area between my lip and my eye is a bit swollen... yeah, fun.

Medical problems aside, it's been an amazing ride, possibly even better than I'd hoped.

Tomorrow, as the big finale, I tackle Mt. Wellington. At 1270m, this is gonna be a bitch... I've already ridden up the first 430m on my way through to the Huon Valley (going to the Tahune Forest) and while it was a long, slow ride up there it was certainly not unrideable, but the real mountain doesn't start until after that... yeah, it's gonna be a bitch. But I'm planning an early start, I'm only taking some warm clothes and some walking shoes (and a whole heap of water and snacks!) and worst case scenario, it's about 12.5km from Fern Tree (where I rode to before) to the top, and I walk at about 5km/h... so even walking the entire way up, it's 2 1/2 hours. I'm planning on riding at least some of it though ;)

And then Friday I fly out. Plane is booked, picked up a bike box today, found out the deal with the shuttle bus out to the airport... really not much left to do.

Well, time to go find some dinner! There will be a HUGE series of updates when I get back (and can finally get them all off my phone!)... it's going to make quite a book, I think *grins*

Very briefly...

2009-02-09T05:54:38Z

(only 10 minutes online)

I'm in Queenstown, just arrived from Strahan via the scenic railway - they carried my bike on the return bus. No, I don't count that in the mileage I've done :p

Off into the wild again tomorrow... Lake St. Claire. Gonna be a huge day, 95km with a whole heap of uphill. Early start for me *rolls eyes*

I probably won't be online again until late this week/early next week... I don't think they believe in computers out there.

See you soon!

Birthdays and mountains!

2009-02-07T06:42:36Z

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRACIE!!!

I didn't think I'd be able to get on to wish you a happy birthday, but as fate would have it I have a (very, very slow) net connection! Woohoo! Happy birthday, m'dear *hugs* I hope you have a good one :)

I survived Cradle Mountain! Spent the night before last up there, went for a walk around Dove Lake in the afternoon after riding up from Gowrie Park in the morning. Big hills!!!

Cradle Mountain was awesome - it was one of the big things I wanted to see in Tasmania and I wasn't disappointed in the slightest.

Now in Strahan, going on a cruise up the Gordon River tomorrow and catching the scenic railway to Queenstown on Monday.

Today was wet. Very wet.

Okay gotta go! I hate not being able to update properly - my mobile's got page-long entries for every day - but unfortunately that's how it must be for now.

All the best, all of you :) I'll try to do more of an update in Queenstown!

Just uploading some photos...

2009-02-03T03:58:43Z

In Deloraine tonight. Seems like a nice town :) Small, with a smell of history about it.

Uploading some photos. Nowhere near all that I've taken, but the net connection's too slow to upload them all right now.

Tomorrow will hopefully involve a bit of a side trip to go see some caves... then on thursday I will ride up Cradle Mountain... dun DUN. I had to book a cabin because the hostel was all full... $150 (ouch!) but it's the one place in Tassie I'm not game to wing it and just plan on camping somewhere. Ah well, it's not like there's a choice in the matter - I NEED to see Cradle Mountain, and it's the only choice for it.

Anyway not sure how long this net connection's going to hold out for, so I'm out of here!

In Launceston

2009-02-02T05:30:14Z

Well I'm in Launceston today. Arrived last night, having a day off today and leaving to head... west, somewhere... tomorrow. Haven't quite worked out where yet, but I doubt it will be much of a ride.

The mobile problem has been solved!!! Well actually it's been botch-fixed because of the FUCKNUCKLES at Crazy Johns... their "national roaming" actually only works in two places in Tasmania. Fuckers... I'm really pissed off about this. When I originally signed up I told them outright that I was planning a trip to Tassie and that this phone was being chosen specially for it, and the only reason I agreed to sign up was that I was assured that for an extra cost, I'd have full access to the Telstra network. Then it's only once I get down here that I find that's not the case at all. Anyway what I've done is bought a telstra pre-paid card. This comes with a new phone number: 0458 182 635. I will be using my normal number until I leave tomorrow, then will be using this until I reach Hobart.

Also got my bike fixed today - woohoo! One new brake disc, plus a couple of new spokes. God damn Tassie's a bitch as far as spare parts for bikes go - I've only found a real bike store in Hobart and Launceston. Let's hope everything's mechanically settled down now...

I can't work out how to transfer my updates from my phone to the PC (grrrr!) so I'll just have to summarise. Also because this net cafe SUCKS they won't let me upload photos.

Okay, the route so far has been:

Day 1: Brisbane to Hobart
Day 2: Hobart (no riding)
Day 3: Hobart to Eaglehawk Neck
Day 4: Eaglehawk Neck through to Port Arthur, round and back to Eaglehawk Neck again
Day 5: Eaglehawk Neck to Orford
Day 6: Orford to Coles Bay
Day 7: Coles Bay (16km of riding plus a 2 1/2-hour walk to Wineglass Bay)
Day 8: Coles Bay to St Mary's
Day 9: St Mary's to St Helen's (plus a 24km ride to Binalong Bay and back)
Day 10: St Helen's to Scottsdale
Day 11: Scottsdale to Launceston
Day 12: Launceston

All up I think I'm up to around 550-600km so far.

Have booked my plane ticket for the 20th, so it's settled now. I just hope I can get everything I want done (haha, okay well the bits I REALLY want anyway ;) ) before then. The plan is to head from here out to Cradle Mountain, through to Strahan, then back towards Hobart, heading first a bit north to the Great Lake and then west out to Strathgordon before returning to Hobart. Then if time permits I'd like to go down to the Huon Valley for a couple of days, plus of course the second-last day for Mt Wellington (and hope like hell the weather's good).

It's gonna be tough to fit it all in, but I'm trying!

On a side note, does anyone (mainly Jen here, not sure if anyone else knows her) know Tatia's (Garnet Winddancer) current email address? I tried emailing her for her birthday and the email bounced :(

Well, gotta go! Time's nearly up!

Another half-update...

2009-01-30T06:52:00Z

... because again, I'm not at a computer where I can upload photos, and I've only got a few minutes left.

So I'm in St Helen's tonight. Everything's been going pretty well, the ankle's still holding up... today was boiling hot (think I heard something about being in the low 40's???) to the point where the tarmac was melting on the road in a few places. But lots of water, lots of energy.

One thing that HAS gone wrong is that I found out that the reason my roaming on my phone isn't working is because there are only two places in Tasmania that it works. NOT happy... basically I'm only going to have signal in Launceston and Hobart, maybe one or two other places. So don't trust text messages to get to me *sighs* Should have gone Telstra... I'm going to have a big shit-fight when I get back and try to get out of my contract. Arseholes.

But apart from that, all's relatively good. Planning on being in Launceston in two days.

More then! Hope everyone's well!

Only 4 minute of net time left

2009-01-28T00:05:11Z

so i'll be brief.

* In Coles Bay at the moment, got here yesterday. 115km into screaming headwind - ouch! Going to Wineglass Bay this afternoon, ride out tomorrow.

* Have a hurt ankle, but think it's getting better - using an ankle brace. Apart from that and an accute lack of fitness, I'm surviving okay.

* Have no mobile reception at the moment, carrier roaming isn't working for some reason. Going to try to sort that out today.

* Having fun, but have moments where I think I'm crazy and just... well, yeah.

Okay, gotta go!

A HUGE update! (public post)

2009-01-23T05:13:37Z

Firstly:

This is Squeaky Squirrel. No, I am not sane... yes, I am straight. He causes more arguments than he settles... and yet I can't help but grin when I squeak him :D

At the Brisbane airport:

I'm freaking out here. Nothing major's gone wrong, just a whole lot of little things. The cab took longer than it should have (after getting there early and the driver knocking on my door while I was still brushing my teeth) then the baggage check-in for the bike took FOREVER (like really)... then security got upset that I had a med kit with a pair of scissors in it (how these could have been used as a weapon is beyond me - we're talking something that's about 2" long with rounded tips)... anyway they finally realised just how silly it was and let me through. So now I sit here waiting...

... nervous much? Fuck yes. But the beauty of throwing yourself headlong at life is that often by the time you have regrets about it, there's nothing you can do about it anyway ;)

At the Hobart YHA, last night:

Well that was one hell of a first day. After all the small drama leading up to the flight (and there was quite a bit, but nothing really worth mentioning) things just got more interesting from then on. The flight itself was pretty uneventful until the end, where the "we may experience some turbulence" that the pilot had foretold turned out to be the bumpiest ride I've ever been on. Not that rough flights bother me much though... and it was worth it to hear the four (?) year-old in the seat behind me scream, laughing, "we're all going to die!!!" I also had a bit of a chuckle at the way the hostess said in reference to the emergency exit (naturally, I go for the emergency exit isles) "but only open it if the crew screams at you to." Somehow I don't think the word "scream" is a wise word to use... but I thought it was pretty frikkin funny anyway :D

Anyhow, we finally touched down in Hobart. One of the hostesses advised us that we would all have to exit via the front door, as they were unable to open the back door due to the wind. Hullo.

And it was pretty damn wild out there. I knew from the moment I stepped out of the plane that the 20km ride into Hobart would be an issue, but hoped like hell that the wind would be behind me.

It wasn't.

But before that there was the issue of having not a touring bicycle but a box, a $2 luggage bag and a pannier bag.

DIY cycle touring, now available in kit form.

An hour and a bit later, it looked more like this:

No longer boxed...

Bike box and the luggage bag went in the bin... I nearly took off when the wind caught the bike box :D A very steep learning curve ensued in which aerodynamics of boxes were analysed to avoid repetition of this.

I also made the mistake of thinking (briefly, before I silenced myself) well at least the weather won't get any worse than this. I thought this briefly just before it started raining.

The first two minutes of the ride were awesome. The wind was behind me, strong enough that I honestly think I could have taken off from a stop without pedaling.

Then I turned the first corner, and it all went downhill (on the flat ;) ) from there.

Man... that was one hell of a ride. The first kilometer was straight into the wind, slogging along in a direction that apparently the Gods didn't want me to go in. Then I finally turned a bit away from it, which was even worse as the wind was constantly trying to knock me off my bike. I got to the point where I would feel a gust of wind come up and throw myself against it to stay upright... it was all I could do. And I swear it was tracking me as well - there's no way that should have been a headwind the whole way, but it was.

And then this came into view:

The bridge from hell (actually from the other side, as I wasn't feeling very photographic at the time. This was taken the next day.)

I had a moment where I thought, oh fuck, I can't do this. To ride over that bridge in a wind like that would have been suicide - a gust of wind at the wrong time would have sent me under a car wheel. I pulled over to the side of the road, wondering what the hell I would do and checking the few maps I'd grabbed from tourist brochures at the airport for alternate routes. Luckily, some guy came walking past and I found out from him that there WAS actually a footbridge going across on either side... it just wasn't obviously visible from where we were. I rode a bit further and sure enough, there was the entrance to it (whew!) Even this was a challenge though, as the walkway was only a meter and a half wide - not enough to ride across with winds like that. I ended up walking across, and was glad of it - there were a few times where I was literally pinned to the railing - not just buffeted but pinned. There's no way I could have stayed upright through that on a bike.

I finally got to the other side and headed towards the city proper... and had a tail wind!!! The 12-13km/h I'd been struggling to manage suddenly turned into a very easy 30. After what I'd been going through, this was heaven.

It was just after this that I decided to turn on my GPS... and found out I'd gone the wrong way as I turned off the bridge *grins* I'm sure someone up there was having a good old laugh at me... anyway backtracking wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be - I think the brief moment of tail wind gave me, well, a second wind.

And for the record: GPS on bike = fucking awesome. Most impressed at how well it worked. It's not something I want to use all the time (it drains the batteries something fierce) but I knew I was going to have access to a power point tonight so it wasn't an issue.

Finally got to the hostel... found that my booking didn't go through for some reason. It was at about this stage that I realised I'd called the second hostel on the page instead of the first one because I couldn't get through. Yup, I is smrt. But the girl at the reception called the other hostel, and transferred my booking across. Just as well someone takes pity on us poor idiots *grins*

So now things are better. I'm sitting here writing this while I wait for my phone to recharge... just spend half an hour or so talking to my roommate, a packpacker from Switzerland who seems like a really nice guy. Also I guy from Adelaide... another older guy from Germany... a family from Melbourne... I love hostels (except the one in New Farm.) You meet such a great bunch of people there... it's awesome.

Well, my battery's finally charged and I'm out of things to say :D More as it happens!

(man I write a lot... this wireless keyboard rocks! :D)

And at the net cafe, today:
Well, I'm now fully stocked up with everything I'll need for the ride, at least to start with. Today's been a pretty cruisy day, looking around Hobart, doing a bit of shopping, talking to people at the YHA... it's all good.

The wind has died down a bit today, and it's sunny... the better weather conditions have brought on a better spirit - I no longer think I'm completely screwed like I did yesterday :D Mount Wellington, shadowing Hobart, still looks very ominous though:

Mount Wellington, in the background. In the time I've been here I have yet to see it without clouds around its tip.

I've planned tomorrow's ride: Hobart to Port Arthur - about 95km. Hoping like hell that if the wind is still there that it'll be in the same direction: I'm going back the way I came from yesterday.

The day after will be back to Eaglehawk Neck... straight-line distance would only be 20km or so, but I'm going the long way around the penninsula. At a guess I'm thinking it will be about 80km... but I can adjust that as I see fit.

After that, it's off to Orford - about 75km, 40km of which will be interesting as it's apparently on quite challenging dirt.

After that... well, ask me that in a couple of days.

Squeaky Squirrel* says, "what the fuck are you doing???" (public post)

2009-01-22T08:31:36Z

* For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, a picture says a thousand words... which will have to wait, as I forgot to bring the USB cable for my phone/camera.

Well, I'm in Hobart.

I have two things to say:

There is wind here that is probably stronger than I've ever experienced in Brisbane. I don't think I've ever ridden in winds as strong as I did today.
There was rain, and dust. By the time I got to Hobart my teeth tasted like dirt.

My first reaction was to second Squeaky's "what the fuck are you doing???"... it was one hell of a first day. But tomorrow will be spent looking around Hobart, and hopefully by Saturday the wind will have died off a bit.

More tomorrow, with photos!

T minus 8 hours... (public post)

2009-01-21T14:45:00Z

Well, I fly out tomorrow at 8:30am. The first two nights are at the YHA in Hobart, while I gather the last few things I need and do a bit of sight-seeing around the place... then I head off.

Today has been a bit of a mess. I took no less than five runs down to various shops for things like brake pads, bubble wrap for the bike on the road down, packing tape, cable ties... serviced my bike, caught up with Morri... everything's done. My home for the next month is packed in a cardboard box and two $2 luggage bags from Crazy Clarks (which will be discarded when I reach Hobart).

Of all the things I could forget, I came so close to forgetting my cycling shoes *shakes head in wonder* When I was packing things, I set aside my riding clothes (which would obviously not be packed while riding). From there, everything got packed apart from my cycling shoes which hadn't been anywhere near the pile of stuff. Well at least I got them... of all the things to forget, they would have certainly been one of the harder ones to do without as they were imported specially for my size, and my pedals are only suitable for cycling shoes.

I took some photos of the loaded bike but it's too late for me to be motivated to put them up now (I need to be up in 5 hours). I'll upload them when I'm in Hobart.

Well, this is finally happening! Wish me luck!!!

T minus 16 days: preparation I (public entry)

2009-01-06T13:09:07Z

So I bought my ticket yesterday. The date has been set: 22/1... 16 days. I haven't bought a return ticket. I'm waiting until I'm down there and I know when I'm going to be back in Hobart/Launceston before I book that, so I leave my options open. Plus I keep hoping that something will happen and I'll either keep on going or stay there :D

Most of the prep work has been done. Over the past few weeks, I've bought some front pannier bags, a suitable pair of tires, a new cycling jacket with windproof lining, and various "technology stuff" including a bluetooth keyboard for my phone for email/journalling and a solar phone charger (that has yet to be modified so it works with my phone). All of the big stuff I already had from my last trip: a tent, -10-degree-rated sleeping bag, portable burner, etc.

Tires I bought yesterday, after careful consideration. Tires are one of the most influential choices you have to make for a trip like this... a set of knobblies will be great on off-road but are SO slow on tarmac (on a heavily-laden bike you're probably talking 6km/h difference when you're averaging 22-24km/h)... a pair of slicks are so much faster on the road and not too useless on dirt, but the moment you hit sand (again, moreso with a heavily laden bike - we're talking between 30 and 40kg plus your own weight) it's literally impossible to control. Last time I ended up having a 20km walk because I simply could NOT ride it through the sand - every time I tried the front wheel would dig in and it would all be over. I ended up settling for, as you do, a compromise between the two: a pair of Geax Evolutions. Look something like this:

The idea is that on road it rides on the ridge so you don't get drag, but in something soft like sand as it sinks in it gets some grip and hopefully doesn't make the bike act like a horse that wants to roll over without letting you off first.

Another difference in strategy I'm trying this time is using front panniers as well as rears. The idea here is to keep the weight down low, which makes the bike a lot easier to handle, especially when walking it. I found that out the hard way last time, when I lifted the front wheel off the ground and suddenly the bike was upside down, with a large piece of skin from my ankle on one of the pedals. Not so much fun. When there's 15kg of weight over your back wheel, it's very difficult to stop this! And having the front panniers also makes it SO much easier to pack everything - I'll actually have excess room, which means I'll be able to carry extra food when required.

Those Space Bags you see advertised on TV are a wonderful thing for touring. There's a version that doesn't require a vacuum cleaner, but you just roll it and squeeze the air out. These are awesome because not only do they make your clothes fit in a much smaller space, but they're also 100% waterproof. (Hmmm, I might even see if I can pack my sleeping bag in one... *ponders*)

So yeah. Most of it's done now... I still need to buy a folding chair (my last one broke - these things fold up into nearly nothing), a few more drink bottles (I need to be able to carry about 7-8 litres of water), some new cycling gear, a new set of riding gloves... I've arranged to borrow some rear panniers from one of the guys at work which is awesome (will save me about $300-400).

Well, that's it for now... more later.

First draft

2008-08-24T12:54:32Z

This is what I believe. I write this to hopefully leave some mark on the world after I leave it - let's face it, we will all die.

I plan to add to and change this as my understanding of life changes.

Well, here goes...

I guess the biggest thing I can say is don't be afraid.

A friend of mine once told me "a rose risks nothing by opening". It took me a long time to work it out, but eventually I realised the logic behind this. If the purpose of a rose is to open, then to not open is to go against that purpose - to go against its purpose for existing.

If our purpose for being here is to live, does the same thing not apply? Does fear not stop us from living? And if we are not living, how can we fear anything worse?

Letting go of that fear means we can be honest with ourselves. Both ego and a lack of self-confidence are responses to fear which stop us from doing so... and my experience is that both of these are what causes hurt, both to ourselves and others. Cheesy as it sounds, I truly believe that the truth does set us free.

ABBEYPICS!

2008-08-22T13:43:54Z

That's right, you heard me:

ABBEYPICS!!!

I finally finished all the processing of them and they're now all online here.

Here's a couple of my favourites:

I apologise for the mess this leaves your friends' pages in... but this is such a big event for me that I think it deserves its space. And trust me, I'm holding back on the favourites ;) Go look!

A more useful meme, perhaps?

2008-08-15T03:02:52Z

At the concert last night Ronan said that if he was to get hit by a truck tomorrow, that the song Perpetual contained everything he wants to say to the world (if you're a VNV fan and don't know these lyrics, look them up! Or if you're not a fan for that matter ;) )

It got me thinking: why should we not do the same thing? Have some record of what we really want to say to the world, so when eventually we die - be it today or fifty years from now - we won't have to worry about not having said it. I find the concept of my last thoughts being that I failed to convey my deepest beliefs quite scary.

SO, A CHALLENGE FOR YOU ALL:

Write a post, showing your deepest beliefs of life. How you want to do this is up to you, all I ask is that you write it, and that you put a link to it in your links section of your LJ. Read over it every now and then... change it as you come to understand things more clearly. So when you leave, you don't just leave memories: you leave knowledge. You leave hope. Me personally, what I come up with is something that I'd like read at my funeral. I've seen too many funerals where people grasp for what little tangible knowledge they've really been able to gain from the one they've lost. I'm sure it would be such a comfort to be able to give them something that, while it won't have everything, has at least something for them to work from.

THE shot

2008-07-15T14:00:26Z

As seems to be something of a tradition with me, each year at the Abbey I take one shot that immediately stands out as being THE shot of the tournament... not necessarily my best shot, but the one I remember the year by.

This year, it was this shot. I was hanging around the gypsy encampment when these two started playing with the quoit. I knelt down to take a shot, and just as I was about to the girl saw me, grabbed her brother (?) and pulled him around to face the camera. It was one of those spontaneous portraits that as a photographer I always hope for, but seldom get.

Come here and smile

Yeah okay, just one more

2008-06-24T09:12:34Z

This was another one from the Baal Vs Angelspit concert at the Globe... I didn't upload it earlier because I was trying to get rid of the ISO grain. NeatImage works wonders for this, btw ;) I'm quite pleased with how this one came out though :)

Yet more photography... this from the Roots, Rap & Reggae festival at the Globe last night.

2008-06-22T04:20:23Z

I've kept the image sizes down for your viewing pleasure, but there are links to the bigger images in my dA gallery.

All up, I took about 300 shots over the two nights... I'm pretty pleased with that. Sure, 95% of them didn't come out, but that's just a matter of experience - the Globe lighting's pretty difficult at the best of times, and I'm still learning to use my flash properly (and my camera, for that matter *grins*) But it feels good to be putting the effort in for a change.

Fun with strobe lighting

2008-06-21T00:51:26Z

Ah, lighting at the Globe gives some weird effects *grins* This one was taken with a strobe light.

More shots from the weekend so far...

2008-06-08T09:19:37Z

Click any of the images for a larger version at my deviantART page.

One of my best portraits to date

2008-06-07T08:09:23Z

GPKISM from their gig at the Globe.

Clicky for make bigger.

There's not many photos I take that I'm immediately happy with... this is one exception. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's good enough for me. For now.

EDIT: a 16-year old girl commented on my dA page saying that she (the lead singer) was the only one moving... I wonder whether it's wise to say that it was actually a guy *chuckles*

HOMEWORK!?

2008-04-19T04:43:47Z

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

Okay, so I just finished watching American Beauty, and it's got me thinking.

Find something beautiful, and post it here. It can be a photo, a drawing, a piece of writing or poetry... anything.

And extra credit if you think outside what you would normally consider beautiful.

Photos! (public post)

2007-07-27T09:59:32Z

Because I've been slack, and a couple of people have been asking about them...

From the Abbey:

And something different:

A real nerdy question... (public post)

2007-06-12T13:12:12Z

Has anyone had much to do with Google Desktop?

Because of my involvement with the Globe I need to use the Google Calendar, and by far the easiest way to do that is using Google Desktop. All well and good, it seems like a pretty kick-ass program.

The second thing that comes to mind though is the potential security issues involved with the indexing it does, and doing a net search on it shows that there were security issues in the past... but that Google has supposedly fixed them. After that I haven't found any mention of problems, but that isn't to say they're not out there.

Does anyone know whether it's a real risk using it? I'm guessing it's not bad, otherwise there'd be recent articles all over the net on it, and I've switched on the "encrypt index" feature, but still...

Yeah I'm paranoid. *decides to take word documents off the index*

Now THIS guy's thinking outside the box :) (public post)

2007-05-28T13:18:11Z

Max Whisson is the inventor of the Whisson windmill, an invention that can extract water from the air and potentially provide enormous relief to farmers in drought-stricken areas.

Max explains his invention to 666 ABC Canberra.

"Well it's an idea that gradually evolved, I suppose over the last three-years or so. The windmill is part of the system, but essentially it's an arrangement whereby wind blows into a chamber and the wind has two things: it has energy and it has water in it and the system just condenses the water."

Max's invention effectively uses the energy of the wind to power a refrigeration unit that condenses the water, very similar to what you might see dripping from the back of an air conditioner.

"It's very, very similar.... But it doesn't use fossil fuels or external energy, in fact it could output a little bit of electricity and that could be useful in some areas... but that's a secondary matter at this point."

Max says that most people are unaware of the water that can be found in the air around us.

"It's very, very dilute. It's only about 10 or 15 grams per cubic metre, a few litres in the room you're sitting in I suppose."

"If you calculate the amount people breathe out it works out at more than is used in the whole world for agriculture and drinking... 10,000 billion litres in the bottom one kilometre of air around the world, which is replaced every few hours so the whole world could use only water from the air without depleting the environment at all."

Max says that humidity is a factor, but the unit will continue trap and condense water even when it is hot and dry.

"The absolute humidity is the important thing and it can feel dry when the temperature is up a bit because the air can hold so much water when it's hot, but the absolute humidity is not normally quoted by weather people and it's usually about 10 grams per cubic metre or say 10 litres per thousand cubic metres and you can easily collect a million cubic metres in a small roof-top device, in a gentle breeze."

That equates to 10,000 litres of water a day or as Max says "enough to feed a few chooks".

It seems too good to be true and that is what Max says has been his major obstacle so far,

"Yes, that's a problem I've had... people do say that. We haven't pushed this concept in a huge way; I've been too busy thinking it out really."

At present Max's invention is commercial in confidence, but he has managed to get a few investors on board. He says cash flow is an issue but they are currently producing Whisson windmill prototypes with scrap metal in a shed in Subiaco, Perth.

"We are very restricted for working capital, we could move much faster and get this thing out in much better form, more quickly with just a bit more capital... we've advertised for grants and I've spoken to the former Premier in Western Australia and other representatives in government without any... I don't want to be too negative, but I think the situation is that politicians can't go for anything new until the public demands it, they sort of feel that they might be accused of backing something that's too good to be true."

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/canberra/stories/s1837203.htm?backyard

Whether it's actually practical or not has yet to be seen, but it's a damn good concept. I saw this on Catalyst (?) on the weekend... this is the kind of thinking that really solves problems.

Edit: I wonder... from what I've seen/read about this idea, there's no mention of solar power involved with it. I wonder whether using solar power to aid the condenser would help, using a system like THIS... hmmm...