Weather Forecasting…

While reading the BBC site at lunchtime, I came across an interesting worldly experiment in progress. Oxford Uni is studying climate changes from 1920 through to 2080 to see how angry Mother Nature is going to get in the years to come. Its the usual deal of downloading a screensaver which does some calculations while you do your normal computer activities.

So if you aren't doing anything, and have about 30 days of computing time to give, I think its worth a go. The initial results come out on May 1st. Stay tuned.

>> Find all the info here

Spring

In perfect alignment with the changing over to daylight savings, the spring rain and warmer weather has arrived. The heaters are off and we are busy finding some accomodation for our road trip around Ireland next month. Last time, I saw everything from a tour bus, this time I'm playing tour guide. Also marking the start of Spring is the new non-smoking law in Scotland. No more smokey pubs, restaurants, bus stops etc. Funnily enough you are still allowed to smoke in police interview rooms.

Ice Blink

“My sleep is totally confused. Last night it got dark for the first time in weeks. I lay in my bunk happily sleepless, imagining people in the real world and listening to the sea snoring.This morning, I saw a seal out of my porthole – flopped on the pack ice, woken by the ship.”

I checked out a local gallery on the weekend, in search of some photography inspiration. I found a combination of line drawings and bizarre movies. The exhibition called Ice Blink follows one Brit down to the south pole and back on a research mission. He drew child like pics on his PDA and sent them back along with a daily diary. A interesting experience to follow to a place of isolation, wonder and cold beyond cold. Its somewhere I would love to visit for the sheer wonder of it all.

Check out the slide show (nav on bottom left) and diary writings. Enjoy.

Foreign Twins

In my travels away from NZ, I’ve noticed that in many different countries I would be walking along the street and think “that person looks just like my friend…”. This has happened many tiny and I’ve come up with a theory about it:

I believe that in a country somewhere in the world, every person has a foreign twin. This is someone who looks very similar, and is possibly the result of the other life that they could have been born into. Possibly like a second choice of existance. These twins can be older or young versions, respectively glimpsing into the future or past. It always seems to happen in a crowded place too, where you can quickly observe but never get a photo, only a story to retell back home.

Goverment Budget

Reading the Metro on the way to work, I found out that the Budget “Blueprint” was announced yesterday. While it doesn’t really effect me, and although I’m not really into politics, it did have one thing that I fully support:

“Vehicle tax will now be based on carbon dioxide emissions. The least-polluting vehicles pay nothing (e.g. electric, LPG); cars with low emissions pay £40; and the most-polluting pay £210.”

A good start for the future. Its maybe something that NZ should start thinking about and implement quickly. A change like this might help free up Auckland’s 4×4 traffic problem a little

Evil Spirits

Every day I have the pleasure of working in a Corporate office. In a company with a well defined and efficient structure, there requiring a team for everything, lots of paperwork and frequenet communication between employees. My “office” is a floor of row after row of teams, computers, management speak, ringing phones, rustling, and chattering. It looks like a victorian factory, with each worker assigned to their machine, head down, keep working, no complaining.

Having just come through winter, there is a lot of associated sneezing and coughing all around. But I’ve noticed a clear difference between the two. If you start coughing or clearing your throat, other people will glare at you indicating you better not make them sick, that you should get something for that cough, or be sent home. However, if people start sneezing then a chorus of “Bless You” erupts from the office, followed by the occassional “Bless Me” from the sneezer themselves. With this happening daily, I’ve decided to explore this weird little custom of human society

• At one time people believed a man’s soul could be inadvertently thrust from his body by an explosive sneeze, thus “Bless you!” was a protective oath uttered to safeguard the temporarily expelled and vulnerable soul from being snatched up by Satan.
• The sneeze itself was the expulsion of a demon or evil spirit which had taken up residence in a person. “Bless you!” is said as a protective charm to ward off the re-entry of the evil spirit.
• The heart was believed to momentarily stop during a sneeze (it doesn’t), thus the “Bless you!” was uttered either as a supplication for life to return or as a congratulation upon its successful restart.
• Others claim an association of the practice with particular dire diseases (most often the bubonic plague) They say an infected person’s sneeze was sure sign he’d soon be pushing up daisies. This is recorded back as far as ancient Greece.

Wave Machines

This is right up there with solar power, using ocean waves to generate a reusable power source. Many cool possiblities, especially for us from the South Pacific…

Click here for the article

Confusion

After the blizzard on the weekend, we are still receiving more snow this week. I think its natures way of laughing at those who thought winter was ending and there are sunny days ahead. The days are slowly getting lighter, with the stories from the locals that in summer, the sun sets around 11pm. I’m waiting for that one.

Throughout the week I’ve woken up confused, with light pouring through my window at 6:45am. Each day I think its the weekend, celebrate in my mind for a moment, and then actually realise that I have to head to work. This has been happening each day this week. Maybe its time for a few days off… 

 

Highland Rollercoaster

Once again we ventured out into the winter weather. This time, on a quick tour of the highlands. We had a car rented for the day, and a destination in mind – Pitlochry. Just far enough to be in the highlands, but not too far into isolation. As we drove, the city streets blended into the countryside and the falling snow enriched the landscape. After a hearty country pub lunch by a warming fire, we traded comfort for the cold, and continued on our way up to the nearest distillery for a quick whisky education, and some free samples (except for me since I was driving).

Giving up the idea of wandering around the tourist shops of the small town, we decided to drive as much as we could. Straying off the main road, we started on one road, heading back south, and kept on going. The journey was a rollercoaster through rain drenched forests, with hidden stone houses and babbling creeks; rising up into above the snowline into a new world of near monochrone, trees iced with snow, and matted lochs coated with ice. We continued for many miles; rising and falling between the two scenes; through forests; around lochs; over the barren hills dotted with electrical towers; spotting highland cattle, deer and sheep, and passing summer caravan parks (which minic the good ol’ trailer parks in North America).

Eventually we slowly merge back into civilisation, spotting castles, palaces, craft shops, historic villages lined with pubs and the local craft shops/galleries. The light and scenes slowly fade as the day ends, and the rest of the time is spent on a busy motorway with flashbacks to driving to work back in Auckland. The thing in Scotland you realise, is how quickly you can be surrounded by city life, and quickly transported into an back country road feeling isolated from everything. It seems you can choose a mood and surround yourself with it – from a sunny beach, to a deserted highland valley. All that has to wait until the next public holidays though. We have a 3 day journey planned for easter, so stay tuned

The City of Lights

Braving the winter, we headed to Paris for the weekend on the first excursion in a while. Who can argue with return flights for £25. Ryanair did manage to pick the most remote airports possible. like “Paris Beauvais”, which is actually a town called Beauvais, 80km from Paris and only accessible by a single bus. A free trip to the countryside – all good.

Last time I was in Paris was for a very quick two days, a whirlwind bus tour heading to Paris and EuroDisney. The main purpose was for my South African friends to get a visa for a trip to Sweden. I just went along for the ride. So, this time I got to see more than just a glimpse at night - the Arc, the Tower, the Louvre, Gothic Graveyards, Notre Dame, and so on. Its always cool to see things that are so famous, it gives you a sense of slight awe to see them in person – like standing under the huge Eiffel Tower, or staring at the smiley Mona Lisa (through layers of thick glass). It also makes the world a bit smaller in realising how accessible everything realy is if you want it to be.

Wandering through the Lourve was a cool experience. It is enormous. Think it is quoted as 9 months to see everything in there. There is no time for reading, just wandering along, with paintings and sculptures just catching your eye. Endless images of ancient beliefs, royalty, other cultures and other times. The medieval carvings from the 12th century were the most interesting, without the precision and splendor of the greek times, and before art become mainstream (like the days of mona lisa etc). Just a simple view into life in those times and what was respect and revered, and I actually doubt if this will be repeated in the future.

Getting away from the museums, we wandered the streets, looking in all directions taking in the surrounding signs, window displays, fashion, and tourists in matching clothing. Somehow sticking out from the crowd (maybe it was the camera in hand, the backpack, or last years fashion), a chinese lady and her friend, both carrying large shopping bags approached us. “Do you speak english?”. “Yes” I replied, expecting to be asked directions. “Are you able to do us a favour? There is a barrier against Chinese people buying designer good in France. Can I give you some money and you buy some items from Louis Vuitton for me?”. We quickly said “no”, suspecting some kind of scam. I doubt France is limiting the amount of designer goods you have, unless its like some addiction protection, and you should know your limit. We concluded there was some counterfiet notes going around here. That way, if it works, you get free stuff. If not, it doesn’t cost you anything – especially if you target some dumb tourist.

The cool thing in Paris, is you can just keep walking and exploring. All the districts have many shops, busy alleys, main streets, endless cafe’s, art deco buildings, crazy traffic, cafe’s and people everywhere. There are always tourists but similarly you see locals all the time, living day to day, carrying baguettes on their way home, interacting between themselves, and asking nothing of the tourists the way cities like prague do (with its endless tourist shops). There is always a place to eat, drink, relax and explore; day or night.

Definitely a place to come back to in another time