Rainbow and Sunset for Michael

 Seen over the Cooks River after hearing that our friend Michael Callaghan passed away on Saturday morning. Too big for one frame, we will miss you.

Beppu Rocks!

I visited Beppu in March 2010 to see Beppu Projects. It was an intense couple days after the week of intensity that was finishing up my residency at Tokyo Wonder Site. I was spat out of Tokyo, being the hopeless packer that I am and found myself in another warmer world. I am looking forward to returning to Beppu. 

The view out the window on the clear day I arrived- for the view in room check the Fuji blog. To summarise, excellent food, climbing mountains (one of the famous 200, not sure if it part of the famous 100), a feeling of what post-war Japan would have been like, old interesting onsen, the scariest onset experience ever- the mud onsen DONT GO THERE!, interesting art, very nice people, Plus the sound scape of many stray cats and a fascinating visit to the Monkey Mountain.

tidied

Ok! So I finally took at look at the new blogger and have revamped my blog.  It really lets you post large images, which makes all the ones I have been posting seem rather small. I guess I could go back and re size things but... I do rather have a more pressing task at the moment. The right hand column is still pretty messy. I'll get around to it, now that I am back to posting after the intensive writing period.

One thing with this new platform is that is seems to have a major glitch with the labels... I have edited so many times only to have them all disappear.

Ibis indicators

A story appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald a while back now that covered some research that has been done on the toxins found in ibis eggs. As ibis eat from rubbish dumps their eggs contain traces of all the toxins that are discarded in the domestic rubbish. 

Researchers from the University of NSW tested ibis eggs in 11 locations across eastern Australia and found that eggs in city-based nests carried seven to nine times as many artificial chemicals as those of country-dwelling birds. Traces of the synthetic pesticide dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, or DDT, were found in some eggs, indicating that the substance is still working its way through the food chain after being banned in Australia in 1987.

More than 20 years latter and the chemicals are still in the food chain. The SMH story has a good short video with Prof Richard Kingsford, an expert on Australian water birds, and the study's author Camila Ridoutt.

new neighbourhood friend

He is not always around but if I walk past his place around 5pm he is usually waiting out the front for his flatmates to come home and get dinner on. I have no idea what his name is but he recognises me and comes when I give my special cat whistle. His fur is now thick for winter. Somehow only today I notice he has a milk moustache and really long whiskers.