David 的个人资料The Extraordinary Touris...照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
Too much sex will kill you.Too much sex will kill you - or so I've heard. However if you're not dead yet then you probably have nothing to worry about. Well, okay, maybe you've still got the worry of whether you're getting enough sex, given that the amount you're getting hasn't killed you (or even left you on life support). If this is the case then be comforted by the fact that it's 'quality' not 'quantity' that counts. Now that I've said that you're probably wondering about the quality you're getting. As a guide, remember, you get what you pay for. Don't complain if all you ever try is freebies. However free sex can be improved with a little work so try taking out the garbage or washing the dishes before hand - nothing like a bit of dirty foreplay - make it really special by doing the laundry too. If you're one of the unfortunate few who get very little sex then help is at hand - well, really, it's just your hand but I'm told it can help. I expect they mean you can use your hand to wave people over that you'd be interested in getting to know more personally. Do this often enough and your sex life is bound to improve. It's a numbers thing. For those of you getting no sex at all and are just dying to have sex, well the hand method might be good for you also? The idea of no sex killing you is even more worrying than too much sex achieving the same result. Better to die with a smile on your face than a pained look of desperation. A not so LIVE space.It's been over a year since I posted to this blog. Back then it wasn't called a 'Windows Live Space' it was just an 'MSN Space'. Some where in the past year everything went 'live' except me...apparently. To be fair to MSN (there's a sentence that you don't see too often) I did get the emails about the changes. However the whole idea of a 'Windows Live' space didn't seem all that exciting, especially if you didn't at least have Windows XP and Explorer 7 (neither of which I have because I can't afford to upgrade to XP and Explorer 7 doesn't work with Windows ME). So I'm looking at this space with Firefox 2.0 and beyond a change in heading and maybe a few tweaks to the layout it all looks the same. Can't really see what all the fuss was about? Maybe I need to click the 'What's New' link I can see in the upper right hand corner. In the mean time, if you want to read my words of ...hmmmm... well my words anyway... why not visit my main blog at: http://www.extraordinarytourist.com/blog.html Dog Magnet, a stranger walking with me.I'm a dog magnet. Whatever crosses your mind about that statement rest assured I'm talking about the four legged variety, usually with a tail (though I'm certainly not excluding those without).
Let me explain. This morning my partner and I went out very early for a brisk walk - something we've started doing to keep fit. We were doing nothing more than walking, eyes set firmly straight ahead, when suddenly this brown dog comes charging from behind, runs straight between us and keeps going for about 5-6 metres then stops and looks back at us.
Straight away I knew this dog, which was a very young kelpie (I think), had decided we were taking it for a walk. Both of us looked around in hope that someone would appear to claim the dog but no luck. We tried simply to continue on but the dog just followed us.
The dog was very friendly (and smelly!). It would run off a short distance, sniff around a bit, look back to check on us and occasionally come back to jump up excitedly before heading off again.
We passed a couple of other walkers, whom the dog greeted enthusiastically but didn't decide to follow (having found us). I even held our newly aquired walking partner while a couple of girls (mother daughter team I think) desperately tried to get passed without losing control of their own dogs - both dogs looked like they were in more of a fighting, rather than welcoming mood.
Eventually I suggested to my partner that she should continue home so as not to be late for work whilst I worked out how to shake the dog. I headed back the way we came and my partner headed on. Of course the dog stayed with me (as I stated at the outset, I'm a dog magnet. This is the third time a stray dog has chosen me to be its walking partner).
The dog had a collar but not tag or any sign of a home address. Walking back I observed it's behaviour to see if it would gravitate to any particular house. Unfortunately it didn't. I did notice that it was very wary of cars. It would often come straight back to me at the sound of a car and sit quietly, keeping a close eye on each vehicle until it was out of sight.
I hung around in a nearby vacant block, hoping the dog would decide I was boring - no such luck. At one point it stepped on a three corner jack prickle that lodged in its back paw. Noticing the dog wouldn't put it's foot down I took a closer look and removed the offending prickle.
Anyway as luck would have it a female jogger came along, who was obviously more fun to the dog, because this was the exact exchange of dialogue I had as I headed her way and the dog spotted her and went bounding up to greet her.
Girl: "Friendly dog"
Me: "Yes, you don't happen to know anyone who owns a dog like this? It's not mine it's just attached its self to me".
Girl: (without breaking her jogging pace) "No. It'll probably attach its self to me now."
You know, she was right. As she continued the dog ran on ahead of her and kept ahead of her until both were out of view. Yes!!!
I went in the opposite direction heading for home.
The moral of this story is...if you own a dog. Care enough about it to put a tag with your contact details (or better yet your home address). People like me don't want the hassle of turning your dog into the proper authority (and if I did, it costs an arm and a leg to get your dog out of the pound) but if you at least tagged it properly I would make sure it found its way home.
As a footnote I have two cats at home so I can't take your dog home with me for safe keeping. I also don't see why me and my cats should be put out because of your stupidity. I really don't care if your dog ends up dead from a car that didn't stop fast enough 'cause your dog doesn't have any road sense - just so long as the dog doesn't get its self killed in sight or sound of me. (Rough I know but your fault it happened since the dog shouldn't be roaming free in the first place).
TET, March 10, 2006
Well, maybe this blog has a purpose after all.I had thought that since introducing a blog to my web site that this blog/space would slowly pale into insignificance but no. It occurs to me that maybe I can still write the odd bit of info that doesn't really fit with the rest of my site here...well that's the plan. We'll see if it flies...
- TET, March 10, 2006
Did you miss me, while I was away......did you hang my picture on your wall? Yes well it's hard to like such a good lyric from a fallen seventies rocker. Especially one who's fallen so far. Well, I digress because this entry is about me and not aging, pervy rock has beens.
You may have noticed I haven't posted anything for a while, or at least I've noticed that you don't come around anymore (perhaps it's because I haven't added anything new?). Well I haven't forgotten about this blog. I'm still here, just busy with other things.
Writing is like everything else. Sometimes you're inspired to do lots and sometimes other things take priority. One of those things is my web site. Even if the words aren't flowing here, you can still count on my web site being updated every month with new artwork, new products and new ebay bargains.
So if you're ever wondering what I'm up to, visit my web site.
- TET, December 1, 2005
The Danger of Meeting Monotany - Part IIIContinuing my series of observations on lengthy Local Council meetings...
The Danger of Meeting Monotany - Part III
The Councilor.
Quite suddenly an astute member of the public gallery
called for the eternal damnation of the councilor who's
persistant questioning of every speaker was just cause
for his demise.
Unfortunately, on this occasion, the call fell unheard
except by the gallery and the sitting members.
Failing the anticipated bolt of lightening the member
of the public gallery was left with no choice but to be seated.
Whilst the meeting continued, the councilor, who had been the
target of the strangely absent awakening, noted that
he had been dutifully warned.
- TET, December 1, 2005
Specialist Kitchen Appliances.In today's modern kitchen there is an appliance for almost everything. Breadmakers, toasters, grillers, sandwhich makers, electric fry pans, the list goes on.
The main thing about each of these items is that they're really good at just one thing. For example, a toaster is really good at making...you guessed it...toast.
Our kitchen bench tops are becoming more and more crowded with specialist appliances. Not to mention the lack of power outlets available to run them all.
I'm waiting for the day someone will invent a kitchen applicance that will merge all these cooking appliances into one unit and call it a 'stove'.
- TET, 23 Oct 2005
Abstract Expresionism - Who's holding it back?Art is very much about personal
expression, especially when it comes to visual arts such as painting.
However the decision to exhibit work publically is one that can attract
much criticism of how you express yourself. This is especially true of artists who identify themselves as abstract expresionists. The important feature of their work is a lack of any recognisable subject matter. To understand abstract expresionist artwork you need to learn how to read colour, marks, brush strokes, textures, paint runs, spacial relationships, shapes, forms etc. etc. For example the way paint has been applied to a surface can have meaning. Has it been applied slowly with careful consideration or has it been applied agressively in a violent explosive fashion? The former may suggest a calmer work while the latter could be indicative of anger, rapid movement or excitement in the work. Many Abstract Expresionists see their work as 'pushing the boundries of art'. Hence, some people look at this kind of art and say 'Wow! that's incredible, what a great artwork' without a second thought. Then there is another group of people who say 'What utter rubblish' and dismiss it without a second thought. It is this second group that are the harshest critics of abstract expresionism (and many other art forms too). If you're going to push the boundries you have to be prepared for the good and the bad. Especially the bad. Boundries rarely change without education. You can't be precious about you're art and dismiss people simply because they don't understand what you're trying to say. You can't blame society for not understanding how you express yourself if you haven't taken the time to teach them your language. I think there is a lot to admire about abstract expresionism despite not understanding much of the work that is exhibited. It's very hard, from my point of view, to create this kind of work. I imagine those artists that do this art well must find it challenging and creatively satisfying. Unfortunately trying to learn about this art directly from the artist is like walking on egg shells. You can't say exactly what you think for fear of causing offense. You have to be mindful that the work may be very personal or have significant meaning to the artist. You also have to be careful that you don't say something stupid that clearly demonstrates you have no idea about art and sets you apart as a prime example of what is wrong with society and its attitude to art. It leaves me wondering...is society really holding this artform back or is it the artists themselves? - TET, 12th October 2005 http://www.extraordinarytourist.com/ The Danger of Meeting Monotany, Part IIPublic meetings are part of life as an elected member of
local government however they're plagued by endless numbers of people
who aren't professional speakers. This gives rise to...
The Danger of Meeting Monotany, Part II
The lengthy Public Meeting was needlessly interupted when one councilor,
in a move that would later be described as 'inspired',
leapt up and throttled the final speaker.
While the councilor's action was considered highly inappropriate,
the remaining attendees appreciated that they made it home
in time for an early supper.
- TET, 6th October 2005
Blogging for the very first time.http://www.extraordinarytourist.com/
http://www.extraordinarytourist.com/ The Rubber Band Broke...It's not often, with technology failures, you get to say 'the rubber band broke'. So when the opportunity arises it's best not to let it pass unnoticed.
Admittedly a radio cassette player is relatively old technology but still, it's one of the great survivors in the CD/DVD revolution. Along with VCR players it's managed to hang in there, filling the gap between the old and the new.
A couple of weeks back my cassette player just stopped. One minute it was happily playing classic nineties, alternative rock, the next nothing. No amount of button pressing would coax a sound out of it.
Today, on closer inspection, I discovered the spindle that winds the tape wasn't turning for anything. Not 'play', not 'fast forward' and, most certainly not 'rewind'. Dead as. No more music except for whatever I could find on the radio.
Thinking maybe it was just a jam of some sort, I took a chance, pulled apart the cassette player, only to discover a mysterious piece of rubber string. Then it dawned on me - the rubber band broke. Specifically the rubber band that goes from the motor to the drive system for the cassette spindles.
Thankfully in just this situation an ordinary, household rubber band (the kind you get in one of those rubber band variety packs), was an ideal substitute. A few minutes later and the radio cassette player was back together and playing my favourite sounds once again.
As I said at the start, in these modern times, it's not often you can attribute technological failure to a simple rubber band. So when it happens be sure it doesn't go unnoticed.
The Adelaide, Myer Lego Show.Yesterday I took some time off to journey into Adelaide (South Australia) and visit the Myer Lego show. Having heard advertisements on the radio for it and, having attended many Lego exhibitions in my childhood, I was expecting to see some pretty impressive constructions.
What a let down to discover that most of the exhibits were a collection of existing Lego sets brought together to create a display advertising those products. Far from my memories of touring Lego exhibitions where entire worlds were created - beyond what any average collector could hope to construct - that would inspire ideas and fuel creativity for weeks on end.
This show had a few large models...a child size construction of Harry Potter and Boba Fett and one really large model of some kind of spider but these failed to impress. The spider, in particular was simply a scaled up version of something you could build with the individual scaled up bricks they had reproduced.
Probably the most impressive display was the Lego city which recreated iconic buildings from various places around the world including the Sydney Opera House and the Great Wall of China. However all the buildings were small in scale and well within the reach of any home Lego builder.
The only innovation in this show was the use of mini DVD player screens to show short movies along with each exhibit. I thought that was a nice touch. Not original but the first time I'd seen it used in a Lego exhibition.
Aside from that there were only the anecdotal snippets of information about the history of the Lego company that held my interest for very long. The whole exhibition was geared towards selling Lego product - all of the stores Lego sets lined the walls surrounding the exhibition - well within reach.
For the little kids there were also plenty of Lego 'play centres' for them to sit and build at but not much for the adults to get excited about (sorry but little models of existing sets just don't cut it).
Overall it was a let down. I probably spent twenty minutes at the most viewing the exhibition which means I spent more time on public transport, getting to and from the exhibition, than I actually spent at the display its self.
One to miss, unless you happen to be in the city for another reason. A special trip isn't worth your time.
- TET, Sept 30th 2005
More Robot PhotosFor those of you interested in 'real world' robots (as opposed to fictional robots) I've added quite a number of new photos to my 'Robots' album.
Included are robots that can help you learn to dance, medical 'dummy' robots that simulate real patients, TV presenter robots, Sony's Abio, and my personal favourite, Sony's little dancing humanoid. There are one or two others as well. See if you can discover their names, who made them etc.
- TET, Sept 28th, 2005
Time for a new look...again.Some time back I discovered that I was really good at 'looking lost'. People would come up to me and say "you look a little lost?"
It happened a few times when I first started a new job. I'd be sitting at my desk, contemplating nothing in particular. From out of nowhere would come a voice "You look at little lost?".
I wasn't of course but the fact that it happened on several occasions lead me to believe I must be good at 'looking lost' - even when I wasn't.
Lately I've been told I 'look tired'.
"Are you okay, you look tired?"
Maybe I was tired at the time but no one really wants to be told they look tired.
It seems I've even developed a voice to go with my look. I've answered the phone the first thing people say is "sorry, did I wake you?"
This is most disconcerting because usually I've been awake for hours - who assumes you must have been sleeping at two in the afternoon?
'Looking tired' is not a good look at all. It's time I got a new look.
I think 'dumbfounded' would be a great look.
People would look at me and say "Oh no, did I do something wrong!"
-TET 22nd Sept 2005
The Little Things...It is said that life is too short to worry about the little things that get you down. But it's not that easy to ignore a whole pile of 'little things'.
For example, I'm not exactly a neat freak but I do know how annoying it can be for other people to have to constantly put up with your mess. You know that little trail of untidyness most people leave in the process of living their lives. People like me do it too but only when we know it won't affect anyone else - like when we live by ourselves!
It may be leaving crumbs on a counter after making a snack, or leaving a bit of excess toothpaste on the side of the sink because it never made it to your mouth. Little things.
Imagine you're like me and you share a house with people who think nothing of these little things. They don't realise that their combined effort at creating tiny amounts of mess is a continuing source of annoyance. Collectively they make a whole pile of 'little things'.
All of these things are just too petty to complain about and, if you did, you would spend much of your time in a bad mood, bitching about every little thing.
So you do your best to ignore these little things because life is indeed too short to spend much of it in a bad mood. No one else you live with seems to care about these little things, or even a pile of little things. Yet in some small way you wonder if they even care that they're annoying you.
-TET 21st Sept 2005
Kids today have no idea...When I was a teenager I had no idea that one day my youth would be refered to as 'the olden days'. Or that I would ever be considered too old for anything.
I never thought I would complain about the 'crap' music young people listen to.
I certainly couldn't have forseen that I'd be annoyed by the way SMSing, chat and the Internet have mangled written English, to the point where I'm sure young people must struggle reading words that are actually spelt correctly and constructed in sentences with proper grammer.
I never thought I'd be thinking 'when I was young we...'
There are many things I've learnt as I've grown. The main one being that 'there is no such thing as a mature adult'.
Most of the time adults are people who either 'never grew up' or they spend their time 'trying to feel younger'. Either way most adults don't usually claim to feel their actual age. Young people seem to be in a hurry to grow up not knowing that they'll spend the rest of their lives trying to feel or stay as young as their age will allow.
The one thing that I'd never thought I'd do is the one thing we all find ourselves doing, like a right of passage or a sudden awakening. That one thing is to think or say those immortal words handed down from generation to generation...
'Kids today have no idea...'
And they don't - just like we didn't and our parents before us. Kids today are no smarter now than we were then. They know 'everything' just like we did at that age.
- TET, 16th Sept 2005
Real World RobotsSomething I've had an interest in for a while is robotics and the dream of creating a 'human-like' robot. Unlike their fictional counterparts humanoid robots are very difficult to create. It's only been very recently that the achievement of making a robot that can walk kind of like a human has become possible.
Then there is the whole issue of AI (Artificial Intelligence). We can simulate AI up to a point but we're a long way off from a robot that can truely think for its self. Present AI seems to react to the environment rather than initiate lines of thought and response independent of its surroundings (if that makes sense).
Anyhow I won't get all deep or technical, this entry is really to alert you to the fact that I've started a photo album of real world robots.
The first two photos are of Mitsubishi's Internet linked robot 'Wakamaru'. Designed as a home assistant (I guess that's an apt description) Wakamaru can recognise up to ten people and call them by name in a friendly female voice. 'She' can greet you when you come home, alert you to phone and email messages and she can wake you in the morning with news headlines etc.
She can keep track of appointments, help you exercise and be used as a remote video survalence security system for your home.
At one metre tall she can also amuse you by giving you the opportunity to rattle off as many short jokes as you can think of without causing offense and, because her hands don't appear to work, it's safe to assume she won't pick up a gun and plan world domination any time soon.
What a lovely little tacker she is!
For more info here's the link to Yahoo's news item:
I'll add more robot photos as I happen to find them. Feel free to alert me to any that you see.
- TET, 16 Sept 2005
The Web Cam Monologue...Being someone who lives in their head quite a lot speaking to a web cam is not something that comes naturally. This week I wanted to send a video message to my Dad for Father's Day. I don't have a video camera so the next best thing is a web cam.
I set my web cam up in my art studio. Set up an interesting background with one of my artworks. Wired myself for sound. Sat down in front of the camera and....nothing. Could not think of anything to say after 'Hi Dad'.
It's not that I didn't have things to tell him. Quite a lot has happened since I last saw him. Speaking to a web cam makes me incredibly self concious. My head starts thinking 'how is this looking, 'do I sound good', 'will this be interesting' etc. etc. By the time I've said 'Hi Dad' my head is so filled with other worries I've forgotten what I wanted to say. Pregnant pause 'oh my god, I'm going to look like a pratt!!' Stop filming, start again.
Several attempts, no luck. A few days later I give it another try. A couple of false starts and then I think 'Stuff it I'm just going to ramble on and not care about how it looks!'
Twenty seven minutes later my video message is done. I watch it back and I sound a bit tired, maybe a bit bored, I'm figitting a lot, looking down a lot, looking off camera a lot but hey - that's me.
Few people ever really like how they look on video or how their voice sounds. There's always something they'd like to improve. I'm no exception.
No doubt my Dad will think 'That's how David is all the time' (which means I'm very 'natural' on camera!)
That's TET - keeping it real!
- TET, September 2005
The Danger of Meeting MonotanyBeing an Elected member in Local Government means you attend a lot of meetings and are subject to all kinds of presentations about projects in the community. Below is my immediate response to one such presentation.
The project being described was fantastic and had obviously been worked on very hard by all involved. Unfortunately the presentation...well I think this sums it up:
The Danger of Meeting Monotany
In a freak stationery accident,
the councillor involuntarily stabbed
a pen through his own eye, causing
the meeting to be adjourned.
Whilst the rest of the sitting members
were concerned for the well being of
their colleague, never-the-less they
appreciated his adverse reaction to
the seemingly endless monotany.
- TET, Aug 1, 2005
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