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Catching up!
Mar. 28th, 2012 02:46 amI saw Duran Duran tonight, thanks to a friend who had a spare ticket, and then Mr B also saw them, thanks to another friend dropping out. Despite having never been a fan, they were ENORMOUS fun, especially since we were at the front side and so could see the bits where Simon Le Bon hid behind the drummer to take a bit of a breather. John Taylor really is as attractive as everyone used to say ... And they are actually really good -- the vocals were strong, drumming and synth brilliant, and the guitar section driving and vigorous. I may have been wrong to ignore pop in the 80s!
A few links for Australian readers including a spidery one for all non-arachnaphobes: If you're wondering about the debate on power costs in this country and want some actual facts to break down the figures,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rdmasters has a masterful post here that explains and illuminates. In short: we will not all be rooned by the Carbon Tax!
On a related topic, don't forget Earth Hour on Saturday night at 8.30pm. Even if you're like Barnaby Joyce and believe that 'humans have never ever affected the weather, that's just absolute rubbish!' despite the fact that sulphate aerosols were shown to be responsible for the brief cooling period in the 1970s*, take an hour to turn off your telly and laptop and take a moonlit picnic in the park, or break out the romance and dine by candlelight -- bespoke candleshops need trade, too!
Did you see these photos of spiders leaving mass webs behind as they flee the floods? AMAZING?
And finally, head over to the House of Representatives Committees pages and take this survey on legislation for Gay Marriage. It won't take long, and asks whether or not you support two proposed pieces of legislation. Both bills are quite similar and call for a basic redrafting of the current law so that marriage is redefined as being between two people, rather than between a man and a woman. If you're happy to take my word for it, you can get away without even downloading the proposals. MOST excitingly, it gives you a lovely long space to talk about your reasons for what you believe.
I left an essay talking about how the lack of such legislation in the past led to generations of children of gay parents -- like me -- who grew up with families able to use our parents' sexuality as a tool for custody disputes driven by prejudice, which was NOT HELPFUL. If you're at all concerned about protecting children and safeguarding the family, the sooner we have gay marriage, the better it will be for everyone.
It's quite a while since I posted, I've been stupidly occupied this month sewing a frock for one friend, knitting socks for another, doing some actual paid work and tidying the house. The frock is A Lot Of Work, with two whole separate gowns combining in layers, but she looks gorgeous in the first layer and will look spiffing when the whole thing comes together.
It's not all been drudgery, I met up twice with the fabbospirillen and we went to see Picasso and then trekked up to the cheap Sydney Harbour Bridge viewing platform ($11.50 to go to the top of the pylon and not have heart failure, versus $200 to go to the top of the span and clutch at your chest in an alarmed fashion.) Then there was the wedding of a dear friend and her lovely lad, for which I baked 72 tarts (half dark chocolate, half white chocolate and raspberry, recipes to come) and failed to take any photos. I briefly considered making another batch to shoot them, but that would involve a. Making more tarts, and b. Eating more tarts. I am trying to get my thighs back to racing size, so they will have to wait until we next have guests.
Mr B and I also went to see the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, who were brill and totally worth choosing over half a banjolele for my birthday (NB I was going to pay for the other half, I was not going to purchase a dissected instrument because THAT would be weird). Apparently Sydney is going ukulele crazy, as the Concert Hall at the Opera House was full, and about a third of the audience was waving ukuleles. I have a dream to get a uke group happening in Erskineville and one of the local bar owners is half convinced by my plans, so you never know, we could be in luck!
And I finally read The Hunger Games books, which were compelling and made me cry a bit, despite having a few flaws, but the sort of flaws that come from writing that's good and errs a little rather than writing that is bad or lazy. And then I read some reports on Republican commitments in their primaries and actions in their states and I realised that clearly there are some people out there who Suzanne Collins needs to visit so that she can carefully explain that Snow is meant to be the Bad Guy. Or, you know, slap them upside the back of the head. That would be fine, too.
LJ et the first version of this post, back when the following was timely, however, since I have also failed to since send any cards or small tokens of my affection, allow me to finish with:
HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAYS MIC, ROMA AND SPIRILLEN!!!! Sorry I'm crap! I make you all look tall!
* Anti-Climate Change activists often point to this period as a. evidence against warming trends through the 20th century, and b. evidence that scientists say the darnedest things. In actual fact, when you factor in the known cooling effects of sulphate aerosols, which we have reasonably accurate readings for through this period, the planet still warmed through these years, and scientists said as much at the time. Journalists largely said 'A New Ice Age Dawns!', while the very small number of scientists who said 'Gosh, it's cold, is that something going on?' went off and researched it and came back with 'Nope, false alarm', which did not make any headlines, but given journalists generally can't tell the difference between sodium and salt, you should take their announcements on scientific matters with a grain of the proverbial.
A few links for Australian readers including a spidery one for all non-arachnaphobes: If you're wondering about the debate on power costs in this country and want some actual facts to break down the figures,
rdmasters has a masterful post here that explains and illuminates. In short: we will not all be rooned by the Carbon Tax!On a related topic, don't forget Earth Hour on Saturday night at 8.30pm. Even if you're like Barnaby Joyce and believe that 'humans have never ever affected the weather, that's just absolute rubbish!' despite the fact that sulphate aerosols were shown to be responsible for the brief cooling period in the 1970s*, take an hour to turn off your telly and laptop and take a moonlit picnic in the park, or break out the romance and dine by candlelight -- bespoke candleshops need trade, too!
Did you see these photos of spiders leaving mass webs behind as they flee the floods? AMAZING?
And finally, head over to the House of Representatives Committees pages and take this survey on legislation for Gay Marriage. It won't take long, and asks whether or not you support two proposed pieces of legislation. Both bills are quite similar and call for a basic redrafting of the current law so that marriage is redefined as being between two people, rather than between a man and a woman. If you're happy to take my word for it, you can get away without even downloading the proposals. MOST excitingly, it gives you a lovely long space to talk about your reasons for what you believe.
I left an essay talking about how the lack of such legislation in the past led to generations of children of gay parents -- like me -- who grew up with families able to use our parents' sexuality as a tool for custody disputes driven by prejudice, which was NOT HELPFUL. If you're at all concerned about protecting children and safeguarding the family, the sooner we have gay marriage, the better it will be for everyone.
It's quite a while since I posted, I've been stupidly occupied this month sewing a frock for one friend, knitting socks for another, doing some actual paid work and tidying the house. The frock is A Lot Of Work, with two whole separate gowns combining in layers, but she looks gorgeous in the first layer and will look spiffing when the whole thing comes together.
It's not all been drudgery, I met up twice with the fabbo
spirillen and we went to see Picasso and then trekked up to the cheap Sydney Harbour Bridge viewing platform ($11.50 to go to the top of the pylon and not have heart failure, versus $200 to go to the top of the span and clutch at your chest in an alarmed fashion.) Then there was the wedding of a dear friend and her lovely lad, for which I baked 72 tarts (half dark chocolate, half white chocolate and raspberry, recipes to come) and failed to take any photos. I briefly considered making another batch to shoot them, but that would involve a. Making more tarts, and b. Eating more tarts. I am trying to get my thighs back to racing size, so they will have to wait until we next have guests.Mr B and I also went to see the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, who were brill and totally worth choosing over half a banjolele for my birthday (NB I was going to pay for the other half, I was not going to purchase a dissected instrument because THAT would be weird). Apparently Sydney is going ukulele crazy, as the Concert Hall at the Opera House was full, and about a third of the audience was waving ukuleles. I have a dream to get a uke group happening in Erskineville and one of the local bar owners is half convinced by my plans, so you never know, we could be in luck!
And I finally read The Hunger Games books, which were compelling and made me cry a bit, despite having a few flaws, but the sort of flaws that come from writing that's good and errs a little rather than writing that is bad or lazy. And then I read some reports on Republican commitments in their primaries and actions in their states and I realised that clearly there are some people out there who Suzanne Collins needs to visit so that she can carefully explain that Snow is meant to be the Bad Guy. Or, you know, slap them upside the back of the head. That would be fine, too.
LJ et the first version of this post, back when the following was timely, however, since I have also failed to since send any cards or small tokens of my affection, allow me to finish with:
HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAYS MIC, ROMA AND SPIRILLEN!!!! Sorry I'm crap! I make you all look tall!
* Anti-Climate Change activists often point to this period as a. evidence against warming trends through the 20th century, and b. evidence that scientists say the darnedest things. In actual fact, when you factor in the known cooling effects of sulphate aerosols, which we have reasonably accurate readings for through this period, the planet still warmed through these years, and scientists said as much at the time. Journalists largely said 'A New Ice Age Dawns!', while the very small number of scientists who said 'Gosh, it's cold, is that something going on?' went off and researched it and came back with 'Nope, false alarm', which did not make any headlines, but given journalists generally can't tell the difference between sodium and salt, you should take their announcements on scientific matters with a grain of the proverbial.
