moon phases

Started this before change to "New Blogger", as backup in case of trouble with digiphoto blog "In a Small Dark Room", or rants & links blog "Hello Cruel World" . Useful - at one stage Dark Room was there, but like the astrophysical Dark Matter, we could't see it ... better now, but kept Just In Case.

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There is nothing. There is no God and no universe, there is only empty space, and in it a lost and homeless and wandering and companionless and indestructible Thought. And I am that thought. And God, and the Universe, and Time, and Life, and Death, and Joy and Sorrow and Pain only a grotesque and brutal dream, evolved from the frantic imagination of that same Thought.
Mark Twain (letter to Joseph Twichell after his wife's death)
[me, on a bad day]

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(and my Wish List)

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Pre-Emptive Apology  
I've added in a player from La Cieca at Parterre to the sidebar, that will let you play some nice operatic music (Unnatural Acts of Opera), and posted my video of the New Year's Eve fireworks.

Unfortunately, these both seem to start playing when you arrive on the page. I'd much prefer they awaited your click to start. Certainly, if I was visiting another page with them on (in?) it, that's what I'd like as a visitor. If your connection is slow, it may delay things very much. Even getting to the stage where you can click on a 'pause' button might take a while. This is not what I am trying to achieve!

UPDATE: I think the video autoplay problem seems to have been fixed. I hope you enjoy the music. If I get negative feedback, I'll change that too.

I can't quite understand what the problem is with the video link, because I've seen plenty of pages where there's just a still that you click on to start the player. If my fiddling with the code doesn't stop it, I may just leave a bare link.

And I've always disliked pages that start blaring sounds at you when you arrive — altho a subtle atmospheric background or short not-too-offensive introductory noise of some kind can be a pleasant experience. Shorewalker used to have the sound of surf on the beach, just at a low level, on the first page, which I liked.

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 4:37 pm

 
Sydney 2007 New Year's Eve Fireworks by Mez  
The sights and sounds of midnight fireworks over Sydney Harbour for New Year's Eve (2006/2007). Centrepoint (Sydney Tower) is near the top left at the start of each shot. Seen from the roof of a block of units in Surry Hills, close to the party scene around Oxford Street and Taylor Square, and with lots of other blocks of flats around, nearly all with parties of people on their balconies. Rather dark & blurry picture, I'm afraid, but I like the atmosphere. Taken with a Canon A80 (original size 320 x 240).

The still photo below shows almost exactly the same scene as the start of the video, and was taken with the same camera. The Canon Powershot A80 does very good photos. Its video is not as good, but the separate video we'd borrowed & set up failed to work.

(Google Video version)

Midnight fireworks over Sydney harbour for New Year's Eve (2006/2007).

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 4:40 pm

 
Happy New Year 2007 from Sydney!  

Part of my view of the midnight fireworks in Sydney. Centrepoint (Sydney Tower), Australia Square and city buildings.
The forecast for New Years Eve was possible rain & storms. Although it was cool & overcast, there was no rain. We've had fortunate weather for Christmas & New Year, if damp. The crowd around the harbour and in the city nearby was huge. I didn't feel up to dealing with that, so my friends & I had a walk through Moore Park & a quiet part of Centennial Park & went for dinner to their place, nearby mine. Then we went back to my flat, watched the late fireworks with admiration (Excellent Work), and had a Greek celebration bread with '2007' on the top. I got the coin in my slice!

I was thinking that the flats I'm staying at would be crowded with the other residents and their guests, but there were only a few people.

There didn't seem to be noisy parties in the building either — which was rather surprising, because there's often quite a bit of noise & excitement around the building. Perhaps the party types were out somewhere more exciting. Certainly there was a lot of activity around some of the main venues, Oxford Street & so on. The sirens, voices, etc were busy for hours. Despite this, I probably would have slept OK except that something made me ill and that kept me up for quite a while longer. Despite that, a happy time overall.
My friend from Christmas is now visiting friends in Canberra, and sent a few SMS during the afternoon telling us about the hailstorm there.


More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 11:18 am

 
Bethlem Royal Hospital Archives and Museum  
Bethlem Royal Hospital Archives and Museum:

"The Bethlem Royal Hospital Archives and Museum records the lives and experience and celebrates the achievements of people with mental health problems"

Originally St Mary of Bethlehem, now officially Bethlem, the common name for this place was Bedlam. It has become, of course, a word in itself with its own meaning.

It's also the ‘place of deposit’ for the archives of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust and its predecessors, including the records of Bethlem, the Maudsley, and Warlingham Park Hospitals, and the joint records of Bridewell and Bethlem.

Through the information that they contain, archives can help us to understand the past and show us how the past has shaped our own lives, our institutions, and our environment. Most people think of archives as 'very old'. Some are, but they can also be quite recent: and the records which we create today will become tomorrow's archives, enabling future generations to learn about how we lived and worked.

The Way Things Go: A classic piece that's inspired many similar short films.

More ... [permalink] posted by Mez at 10:48 am