Monday, 29 September 2008
Ton up
So I love this little app on my iPhone which simply polls the GPS
satellites to see how fast I (or more precisely the phone) am / is going. So here I am (nice screen grab feature built into the iPhone by the way) on the Heathrow Express doing a quiet and unflustered 100 mph. It really IS an express!
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Bond, beer* and batter
I recall EVERY detail of the moment as though it was just yesterday. Bond had had a few business issues (ahem) since of course, but remains for me an absolute hero. So it was a joy at the (very good) Australian Secondary Principals' Conference to be whisked over to Freemantle - which had become for a while the home of the cup - for an evening out. The AC boats are gone but the boatsheds remain and so after a whopping portion of fish n chips I found myself here in one of the boatsheds (heaven) which is now a brewery (uh oh). Great conference, great company, great boatshed, great beer. Perfick.
* Little Creatures Pale Ale - it's proper yummy!
Saturday, 20 September 2008
relative progress
Some get on, keep walking and make great progress. Others get on and, mistaking their relative progress, stop walking thus holding up everyone behind. Still others keep well away from the "new fangled devices" and walk alongside, but are constantly flustered and exhausted from trying to keep up. A few arrive early, and wait nearby rather than getting on - but then suddenly realise that the moment has passed and miss their flights. Some get on, relax, don't look where they are going and hurtle off in diametrically the wrong direction.
And of course the airports are designed in an entirely new way because the tech solution allows new layouts and approaches. Oh yes, and finally nations are actively competing to produce the best airports partly to attract the new users, but partly because of prestige.
Sounds familiar?
See also the slides I used at ASPA in Perth to illustrate the point
Friday, 12 September 2008
Almost perfect...
Apart from... I now have one enormous rear wheel (the tyres are rather wide) and it won't go in any of the storage space. Cue mysterious polythene sheet which I now realise is designed to go on the passenger seat - where you have to put the wheel. Brilliant - they thought of everything... but where do you put the passenger? In a taxi..
Thursday, 4 September 2008
British tradition (2): the Proms
I started the day with an iChat link-up to policymakers / friends in Tasmania, which was delightful, but sometimes (eg tonight) it really is about being there. I love the theatre of a live orchestra - the doting violins and the trombones watching the clock and dreaming of beer - but with five busy percussionists playing we certainly had the heavy artillery out tonight!
Monday, 1 September 2008
British tradition: beach huts
Mostly these are individually decorated but with common features: a pitched roof, planked walls, a porch.
Brightlingsea has a few hundred of these huts - no overnighting allowed - but a sunny weekend sees families throwing open their doors, getting out the deck chairs and putting the kettle on. Neighbouring families go back generations - the huts rarely change hands. This is our hut with beach in front and boating lake behind. Perfect.