The Emerald Buddha

The biggest thing in Kalgoorlie-Boulder is The Super Pit. This open cut gold mine is 3.5km long, 1.5km wide and 360m deep [wikipedia]. It looks such an alien landscape. It’s very impressive to see.

The Super Pit website

I spent four or five weeks in Kalgoorlie-Boulder for work just recently. I saw a lot of red earth, high fences, old pubs, big meals and skimpies. Some evidence of this below.

It was interesting to see a part of the mining boom that is keeping the economy going. Certainly didn’t realise the huge scale of the mining industry until I got to Western Australia.

Thanks to the good exchange rate, there was a party in Las Vegas earlier this year. It was three nights of mayhem and a fourth night of significantly less intensity at the end.

We stayed at The Cosmopolitan which was quite swanky, here’s a view from our balcony and some video of the Bellagio fountains in action.

It was pretty epic, but since no one got arrested, there were no apparent permanent disabilities, and no morning after annulments, I don’t think we pushed hard enough. Maybe next time.

An afternoon departure between rolling showers.

I ate fugu in Japan last year. After the two old Japanese patrons ordered it and didn’t keel over, I was somewhat confident that I would be OK too.

I saw the display below at an aquarium last weekend, and spun the roller. I rolled the one in ten death option. I suppose that means I can eat it again with impunity.

Seen in San Francisco a few weeks ago. If only I had a dog at the time to treat it to some pastry delights.

Below are a couple of photos from January this year, taken at St Kilda Beach, when I was working in Melbourne.

I’ve worked in a few places this year now, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra/Goulburn. Yesterday I arrived in Perth, with upcoming works in Kalgoorlie. Apparently, warm and sunny is what passes for winter weather here, as you can from the below photo I took yesterday at City Beach.

Now to find the good food here…

Whilst passing some time recently in Canberra I came across a lovliness of ladybugs. Or ladybirds, if you fancy.

Without a doubt, beyond comparison, the best icecream in the universe is from Japan. Two pancakes, with icecream and maple syrup between.

I happily challenge you to find a tastier dessert.

It snowed all night last night and then all morning. It was great! My legs are aching though.

I started yesterday with a breakfast of pastries which were delish. This morning I had pancakes with blueberries, ricotta and beet syrup which may well have been even better.

All the food isn’t lending itself to improving my snowboarding. Im still rubbish, but at least I’m not alone here with my ineptitude – there were one or two other kids on the beginner slopes who’ll be sporting bruises tonight too.

I got to Sapporo-Chitose Airport yesterday afternoon feeling pretty bloody tired. Which was great, as it meant that I was far away from Sydney.

New Chitose Airport

There was snow on the tarmac at the airport, and drifts piled up between planes. I was hoping this was a good omen of things to come.

I got to Niseko a few hours later, where it was damn cold but with a light sprinkling of what was suspiciously like un-frozen water. Not too heavy, but the evidence that the day (and likely day previous) had been above zero degrees was apparent with the slush on the sidewalks and the fine ice covering the snow. But it isnt all bad at all, there is heaps of snow already. As can be seen (kind of) from the window of the guesthouse.

I got some hot ramen and an early night, I have a big day ahead trying to look remotely as if I have some competency with a snowboard.

I love aeroplanes. I can’t help but be impressed by them. Heavier-than-air flight on such a large scale seems so marvellously absurd. I think thats because it’s hard to visualise lift: air flowing over an aerofoil certainly isn’t all that dramatic when compared to the apparent energy of rocket engine for example.

Below is a rather neat video plotting air traffic across the world over 24 hours. It’s quite mesmerising.

via Cool Infographics [link]

Last Sunday afternoon I was pandering to a mighty hangover by wrapping myself in a warm blanket, watching an old war movie and paying lots of attention to my new dog, Jimmy, who was settling in to his new home having only arrived the day before. The hangover noticed, and was thankful for, a swift dimming of the light coming in through the windows, coinciding with some rumbling thunder and the odd flash of lightening. I don’t know if there is any better weather event for a hangover than a thunderstorm, so I got a little excited at my good fortune to have a storm this particular afternoon.

I heard the raindrops hitting the roof hard, and I looked outside to see the raindrops bouncing off the ground. It took a little time for my fuzzy brain to work out why this didn’t seem normal. But once I realised it was hailing, I went to observe more closely through the window. It was a gentle start to the hail, but it quickly intensified. It begun to accumulate outside impressively, so I got my camera and took some evidence.

You can see that the hail was not like its usual solid form, but was softer and more like snow.

My little car got a dusting too. I was most relieved that there weren’t large hailstones coming down and tarnishing my clean, albeit fledgeling, insurance history.

I even made a snowman. Though my lack of experience at creating snowmen is immediately apparent – living in a coastal, sub-tropical clime left me unprepared and unpracticed.

On my way to work the next day, all down the street the lawns were still white and there were fine examples of snowmen on display. It was a bit surreal.

June 30, 1908, 7.17 am. Possibly either a disintegrating meteor or comet exploded over the Tunguska River in Russia, knocking down some 80 million trees across 2,150 square kilometres.

There is an article on Wired about the Tunguska Event, and it ends with a bit of trivia that got me thinking:

“…had the Tunguska meteorite struck 4 hours, 47 minutes later, it would have obliterated St. Petersburg, then the capital of imperial Russia. Given the events that would shortly torment that nation — and all of Europe — for the better part of the 20th century, one is left to wonder how history might have changed in those circumstances.” (Wired article)

Hi-larious. I know this requires some social commentary, but I’d rather just leave it be.

The overall poor quality of the first gallery creation finally broke me down and so I had to destroy it. Happily, there is an infinitely more manageable and functional replacement up and running. Alex, Brett & Joe’s photos that I had are up, and I am uploading mine right this very instant. And for quite a lot of the follow up instances too, there are lots of files.

Steer yourself to: japan.theemeraldbuddha.com to peruse the quality photos taken by others, and a surprisingly large selection of blurred images taken by me.

Of course, I do think I got the Photo of the Trip with this bad-boy, taken in a store selling retro Nintendo everything in Akihabara.

Take a tour of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Or rather, be informed about its purpose by viewing this interesting video.

Thanks Jake!

Seeing is believing, apparently. A fine example of where this is not the case came to my attention a few days ago. Frankly, it still causes serious breakdowns along a number of neural pathways each time I try to grasp it. Let me share my frustration.

In the spiral below, the green and blue bands on the spiral arms are actually the same colour. Check it out using a colour editor for confirmation.

[via The List Universe]

I was stepping around the various accumulations on my floor, and in one of the cleared spaces for my feet lay a small cutting. Clearly it was wanting a wider audience for its message. And I was wanting to clear some floor space.

The cutting is a review I tore from a Perth street press, circa 2001, of the TISM album De RigueurMortis. I think it’s awesome in its brevity.

To close off, some social commentary from the band’s track guide to the album:

Reality TV is a fantastic concept. Once all the nobodies prepared to debase themselves in the latest Darwinian TV turdfest replace the last of the TV celebrities, we’ll actually have TV full of nobodies, and real life full of celebrities.

Here is a collection of contemporary electronic music. The kids seem to enjoy it.

1. Hanayo – Joe Le Taxi
2. Infusion – Girls Can Be Cruel (King Unique Remix)
3. Gossip – Standing In The Way Of Control (Tronik Youth Remix)
4. MSTRKRFT – Street Justice (MSTRKRFT Remix)
5. Fox ‘n Wolf – Youth Alcoholic (Etienne de Crécy Remix)
6. The World Domination vs. Adam Sky – Galactic Lover (Version 1)
7. VHS Or Beta – Night On Fire (Tommie Sunshine’s “Brooklyn Fire” Retouch)
8. Digitalism – Zdarlight
9. LCD Soundsystem – Tribulations (Tiga’s Out Of The Trance Closet Mix)
10. Riot In Belgium – La Musique (Adam Sky Remix)
11. The Rapture – W.A.Y.U.H. (Whoo! Alright – Yeah … Uh Huh) People Don’t Dance No More (Simian Mobile Disco Hip House Remix)
12. The Sounds – Tony The Beat (Rex The Dog Disco Mix)
13. Yelle – A Cause Des Garçons (Tepr Remix)
14. Kiko and S. Deschezeaux – Video Clash
15. Depeche Mode – World In My Eyes (Cicada Remix)
16. Drama Society feat. Turner – Crying Hero (Tiga Remix)
17. Surkin – Ghetto Obsession 2006
18. The Presets – I Go Hard, I Go Home (Club Mix)
19. Justice – D.A.N.C.E. (MSTRKRFT Remix)
20. Mylène Farmer – Je T’Aime Mélancolie (Remixed By Felix Da Housecat)
21. CSS – Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above (Calvin Harris Remix)

Love your plans that come to nought
Love the baggage that you brought
Love the milk that you spilt
Love the windmills at which you tilt
Love your flights of adolescence
Love your cruise to obsolescence

Fieri facias is a writ to a sheriff for executing a judgement.

Recently there have been photos run in the Sydney Morning Herald and elsewhere showing the staff of the Auschwitz camp at leisure during the Second World War. There was some displeasure expressed about how the staff dared to look jovial and well fed in the photos, which seems a rather jejune argument. Perhaps the tragedy of the camp was too great to allow any individualising thoughts about those who oversaw its operation.

The above picture reminds me of a line in Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson where he reflects if whether at the end of the war the Germans should have been forced to put down their accordions as well as their arms.

The photos belong to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s collection Auschwitz through the lens of the SS: Photos of Nazi leadership at the camp, and can be viewed online at their website. :Link:

Because not many of us get the chance to watch passing weather fronts these days, it is a job now for the cameras to record it so that we can watch it later; preferably time-lapsed.

I wonder how often watching the weather time-lapsed is as interesting as this clip showing wave patterns rolling through the clouds.

raconteur (noun)

(feminine raconteuse)

a skilful teller of anecdotes.

ORIGIN
   C19: French, from raconter ‘relate, recount’.

(From the Concise Oxford English Dictionary)