Reading Log – Shantaram
I'm about a third of the way through Shantaram. Lots of people have told me that I need to read it, and that it'll change my life. I'm always sceptical about bold claims. Especially life-changing ones. But now that I'm a third of the way through, I think that it will...
Emotional Eating
No, not like that. 6 years (and 4 days) ago, my eldest son went into the operating theatre, where the doctors were going to extract about a pint (imperial pint, not a fake South Australian pint) of bone-marrow. They do this with individual five millilitre syringes,...
My Desert Island Discs
I'd heard of Desert Island Discs before, but the most recent episode of No Such Thing As A Fish piqued my interest. Not so much about the programme, but about what eight tracks I would choose to bring along to my unplanned deserted island getaway. And what would be...
Cookbooks
I don't own a lot of cookbooks compared to some. Some dozens, I guess. They're tucked away, in a little Ikea cupboard and they rarely see the light of day. If I want a recipe these days, I tend to reach for my phone rather than casting my eyes over my cookbooks...
Booze
It's coming up to two years since I decided to break up with booze. I remember my last drink very clearly. I was in Apollo Bay, in the Otways in Victoria. Staying at the hostel together with neighbours, old friends, and new friends. We were there for a big birthday...
Street Portrait Cards
With the Fringe starting in Adelaide again, I decided to try my hand at some Street Portraits. I approach a random stranger, and ask if I can take their portrait. Simple, really. I've written a bit about it over on my other blog here. I decided I wanted a way for...
It broke. The ultimate tourer broke.
I was devastated when I realised that my Unit has a crack in the drive-side rear dropout. I was at the beach when it was spotted. I called half a dozen or so frame builders and welders, and so far only one has been willing to have a proper look at it, inside of 5-6...
Kona Unit 2-9, the ultimate tourer?
I've reached D-1. Most people omit half of the answer to the question "how many bikes do I need?", only saying that you need N+1 bikes, where N is the number of bikes you currently have. But the full answer is that you need N+1 bikes until N = D-1 where D is the...
Universal Harvester
I really enjoyed the book, but I don't think I understood what was going on while I was reading it, and probably not after I finished it either. But maybe now, a few weeks after, is it starting to congeal into something resembling an "aah...so that's what was going...
A most unexpected swim
When someone says "English beach" you don't really picture anything that great. Grey skies. Grey sand (at best). Grey water. A lot of people not really dressed for the beach at all. I'd been told that the Jurassic Coast was beautiful, and, along with my preconceived...
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Pre-Spotify Travel
When I was last in Europe music wasn't everywhere - especially not "my" music. We didn't have a stereo in the Volvo 940 we were driving around Europe. I didn't have an iPod. Spotify didn't exist, nor did the ubiquitous internet that's required for a streaming service....