book bags

New troppo-style poll? Which old book would you like to turn into a handbag?
Ideally vintage Girl's Crystal, but couldn't cut it up. Would have to be something in the Year 10 thick Mathematics line.


via treehugger via Coudal

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Comments: book bags

On the contrary, there's a few old bags I'd like to turn into books, starting with...oh nevermind...
Posted by Nora at April 2, 2005 07:29 PM

Yes I had thought of turning that question inside out...

Old bags are good material.
I imagine.
Posted by boynton at April 2, 2005 07:39 PM

old mother hubbard would be a good start.
Posted by at April 3, 2005 10:04 PM

yes - and this version is chic...

http://boynton.ubersportingpundit.com/archives/007993.html
Posted by boynton at April 4, 2005 12:28 AM

One of our fellow bloggers (Laura of Sills Bend blogspot in Melbourne) makes bags out of trashy novels cover art and she sells them on ebay do look at http://stores.ebay.com.au/Lauras-House-of-the-Red-Shoes

she also has great peculiar photos of her cats at her blog.
What book would make a good bag? Neville Shute's 'On The Beach'?
Posted by Brownie at April 4, 2005 01:04 AM

Great link, thanks.
Had only just discovered Laura's blog, but not her art.

On The Beach? As modelled by Ava Gardner?

Actually - the Melways would be my number one choice.Except again it would be difficult to wear any cutting up of the pages. And which map?
Apparently map 59 is very sought after in certain circles. But some of those penisular maps feature about 80% Port Phillip Bay in melways blue.
Posted by boynton at April 4, 2005 01:43 PM

iwthyh

Well, I won a bottle of Trivia shiraz for knowing some Beatles top singles, but was stumped by the last, even with the clues: starts with I, six word title, a song about a body part and my team-mates waving and wringing things in the distance.

Suddenly distracted by the idea of Beatles and body parts, thinking more along the lines of Kaleidoscope eyes...

Just googled I want to hold your hand, and went to a page that said "Service Unavailable"... (One way to say "No", anyway...)




See also: Cathy Berberian: Revolution a Baroque iwthyh

Vitamin Q: Toe Tappers a list of body part songs

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Comments: iwthyh

I'm guessing the best thing about the Berberian album is its cover illustration--a nifty parody of the "Revolver" cover.
Posted by MG at April 1, 2005 11:33 AM

Actually - I really like it.

You can hear a sample of Ticket to Ride here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000025QZS/ref=ase_lascenamusicale/102-2485681-4493724?v=glance&s=music
Posted by boynton at April 1, 2005 12:08 PM

Trivia Shiraz! A reliable and overlooked vintner, still an excellent value! Now that I've had to lay off Conspiracy Cabernet, it may soon become my liquid distraction of choice.
Posted by Jarrett at April 1, 2005 01:54 PM

Hmmm - we're doing pretty well out of the old distracting liquids at the moment. ;)
It could have been a Chardonnay - (a quizzical quaff?) but I chose the reliable Red.

Although I think the prize should have gone to the woman who answered "Help!"...One of those perfect Trivia moments.
Posted by boynton at April 1, 2005 02:16 PM

girl's own graphics

Yes - a comment to CS on the changing graphics of schoolgirls annuals 1950's - 1960's has got me musing again on this subject which in another universe might well have been a thesis or a TV quiz show special subject.

The '50's are the best.

Years ago I was having Devonshire Tea in the Dandenongs and noticed that next to the tearooms was an establishment that would be called a Curiosity Shop in the Girls' Own stories - as curios so often prove to be good receptacles for mystery (eg: confessional note hidden within secret compartment of trophy/souvenir/ugly heirloom).
Further investigation revealed that amongst the wares on display were many Schoolgirl books, one of the earliest collections of this type I had seen. The owner was suprisingly young, his long hair tied in a rather charming pony tail. (He could wear this style freely being many miles removed from the cliches of advertising)
"More hills hippy than city yuppie." my thought bubble might have read, as we struck up a convivial conversation about our respective collections. Even though I had never met a fellow collector of this genre before, thought bubbles would be formal, streams of consciousness would be quaint. He summed up his feeling for the Golden Age of the 1950's and the subsequent visible decline of quality into the sixties and beyond. "They all started talking about music and boyfriends"... he lamented.

'Tis true.
The 1950's Annuals are the best.
Was it the zeitgeist, the zenith for hockey and tuck?

I've linked to this before, but the evidence is here in this gallery.

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Comments: girls own graphics

Sometime in the late 50's I was given 3 large cardboard boxes full of Secret Seven, and other girls paperback books, by the older sister of a friend. I just sat down and read them all.

I still tend to look for secret tunnels in houses leading to caves on the beach. I especially want a a book case door, into a hidden room or passage,that opens by pulling out a certain book.
Posted by Francis Xavier Holden at March 30, 2005 09:56 PM

Gosh. That's a great story, FX.
I read a couple of Secret Sevens, and Famous Fives - and I also covet those things - especially the book device.

Actually when I was 11 we moved, and the house next door was found to have a genuine secret passage leading to a hidden room underneath.
Alas, the mystery was revealed to be a Sweat shop, hidden in the leafy suburbs.
My sibs and I were rather slow on the uptake in solving that riddle, but enjoyed exploring the architecture when the house was put on the market shortly afterwards.
Posted by boynton at March 30, 2005 11:09 PM

I've an undated (but pre-WWI)Girl's Own Annual. It's terrific. Brimming with amazingly diverse information:

"The Plain Business of Three Meals a Day", (by an old-fashioned person); "Frocks for Afternoon and Evening Wear"; "Millinery Styles for Middle-aged Women". There are crochet, knitting, sewing and lace patterns ("Novel ways of using coronation braid"). It doesn't avoid controversial topics - Eleanor Rogers, MD, ponders whether going without a hat is harmful or beneficial -- and there are articles on politics, history, language, fruit-bottling.... Also some wonderful serialised stories ("The Love affairs of Pixie"; The pluck of Phoebe the plain" "The hallucinations of Aunt Maria")

If you ever need a pattern for a useful walking skirt or advice on buying a sensible pair of shoes, just ask....
Posted by wen at April 5, 2005 02:07 PM

Jealous...

The Business of Frocks, Pluck or Plain.
Aunt Maria's hallucinogenic Fruit Bottling...


I do have a couple of pre-ww1 books- alas not right where I am now, otherwise I could compare patterns.
Posted by boynton at April 5, 2005 09:55 PM

lit people

The 100 favourite fictional characters... as chosen by 100 literary luminaries

via Lonita's Links log

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Comments: lit people

My favourite writers all do crime novels so my favourite characters are Chandler's Philip Marlowe, Reginald Hill's DCI Dalziel (the books crap allover the TV show- he is FOUL in the books), and best of all Carl Hiaasen's feral ex-Governor of Florida SKINK who went nuts, went bush, lives on roadkill, and in Double Whammy barbecues a poodle and eats it (not condoning that of course). More elegantly, I do love the tea-gowned Hispano-Suiza driving Phrynne Fisher of Kerry Greenwood's books.
Posted by Brownie at April 8, 2005 08:07 PM

I see Philip M gets a guernsey in the list, Brownie.I must read some more crime.

As for me (of those listed) I wonder if it's more Miss Bennett or Miss Havisham to endorse a fondness for Rhett?


"Chosen by Penny Vincenzi (Sheer Abandon)

"It's been a lifelong love affair between me and Gone With the Wind's Rhett Butler. He seems to encapsulate every desirable male quality - sophistication, wit, courage and tenderness, too."

(I think it was because I read GWTW at the very impressionable age of 12, having seen the film at 8. You don't forget these things...)
Posted by boynton at April 8, 2005 11:26 PM

airloc

AIRLOC is a community dedicated to the Library of Congress and the discoveries derived from the Library of Congress website.

like this

via Ramage

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Comments: airloc

Since this post sorta relates to quirky historical advertising, then I've found something of that ilk you'd that I reckon you'd really enjoy. In fact everybody should.

From E.S. Turner's erudite and very urbane book, "The Shocking History Of Advertising" comes the copy for the first ad ever placed by a Monarch in a newspaper - Charles II in the Mercurius Publicus in 1660 (all apparent typos are fully sic).

"We must call upon you again for a Black Dog, between a Greyhound and a Spaniel, no white about him, onely a streak, on his Breast, and Tayl a little bobbed. It is His Majesties own Dog, and doubtless was stoln, for the Dog was not born or bred in England, and would never forsake his Master. Whosoever findes him may acquaint any at Whitehal, for the Dog was better known at Court than those who stole him. Will they never stop robbing His Majesty? Must he not keep a dog? This Dogs place (though better than some may imagine) is the only place which nobody offers to beg."

You can just see a very pissed off Charlie 2 dictating that ad and then going out personally to make sure it's also stuck up on every post or pillar in the vicinity as well.
Posted by Nabakov at April 1, 2005 04:10 AM

Thanks, most enjoyable.

I see it's from Pepys:
http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1660/05/25/index.php

And I see one of the learned commnenters there quotes Pope's lines:

"I am his majesty’s dog at kew.
prey tell me sir, whose dog are you?"

Lost of good stuff there in the comments.

I was onley going to say: the typos looke like mine.
Posted by boynton at April 1, 2005 09:42 AM

fried ensemble

Here's a chance to knit your very own stylish fried breakfast hat and handbag from the pages of the Jackie Annual 1979.

(via the Presurfer)

Can barely look at this ensemble today, and doubt that I'll be knitting it in a hurry. The School Friend Annual of 1969 contains nothing so striking to whip up. Just a couple of House Coats, plain or floaty...

remaking

cbc radio / Table of Contents/A Strange Love

A strange Love. Remaking Dr Strangelove

Kirstan Hortan watched the Stanley Kubrick movie 730 times over two years. ... using things around his studio, he decided to replicate the stills from the movie...

(via gravity lens)


Banksy “Soldier with Spraycan”

The images above - exclusive to the Wooster site and provided by Banksy - are of Banksy installing four pieces in New York's most prestigious museums - The Brooklyn Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Natural History.

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Comments: remaking

Woah, synchronity (either that or Robotwisdom). I was about to draw your attention to this.

Reminds me of the young art college scamps who inserted a burnt thong in a frame into the 1982 Paul Taylor-curated Popism exhibition at the NGV, through the then unlocked door to the VCA painting studios out the back.

However, I'm sure they're all now respectable pillars of the community, working in advertising, the film/TV industry or government now.

And last time I was in London, bits of Banksy''s work would pop up all over the place, 'specially round Soho - where very smart people are now willing to give him money for him doing his work on his own terms.
Posted by Nabakov at March 29, 2005 09:41 PM

With a thong in my Art...
I'd say Popism probably needed such a shot.

And yep, I think Pillars is spot on, respectable or not.
Posted by boynton at March 29, 2005 10:45 PM

Dressed as a British pensioner, over the last few days Banksy entered each of the galleries and attached one of his own works, complete with authorative name plaque and explanation.
He says - "This historic occasion has less to do with finally being embraced by the fine art establishment and is more about the judicious use of a fake beard and some high strength glue."

(via dirty beloved)

this scene

My sister found a School Friend Annual 1969.
This frame, from a story called The Sindy Set happened to jump out at me.

Grab it, whatever its name is.

 



That's Life (via PCL linkdump)

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Comments: this scene

from a comic strip about a movie?
Posted by cs at March 28, 2005 06:38 PM

the (notorious round these parts) "Blow Up"?

Nah - just one of those wannabe hip tilts involving a school friend who is suddenly Hip with a Boutique and a boyfriend - and an asterisk which denotes "By arrangement with the manufacturers of Sindy Dolls"
It's odd that the illustration style and mores changed so swiftly from the late 50's to 60's here - gym slips to Carnaby hip in a decade. The drawing and narrative were better in the '50's IMHO.

But the brass in that link sounds pretty cool to me. Just listened to the MP3 of Besame Mucho.
Posted by boynton at March 28, 2005 07:28 PM

You shouldn't have left us at home yesterday. That was ruff!
Posted by Flo & Bronte at March 29, 2005 02:07 PM

Actually, Sunday was longer.
That's life. (Or whatever it is)
Posted by boynton at March 29, 2005 02:44 PM

That's woof!
Posted by Flo & Bronte at March 29, 2005 03:06 PM

Indeed. Woofers and Subwoofers. In the suburbs.

(adding a razor edge to any party mood even without the loopy trombones)
Posted by boynton at March 29, 2005 03:17 PM

76 times "huh?"
Posted by Flo & Bronte at March 29, 2005 03:40 PM

"That's Life"
That's blue.
That's a link.

I lifted some of the text from the record for my last comment. I tried to tie the wandering tangent back to the post. If I was to have a party here, I hope I could play a record similar to the brassy one featured for that retro razor edge...
(I wonder if James Last can cut it?)
Posted by boynton at March 29, 2005 03:50 PM

zentences

The future occurred before or after 1984?
Temperance stops the use of the internal combustion engine?
Hope can come at or in any age!
Philosophy returns as a butterfly!

some zentences (via twists and turns)

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Comments: zentences

Sometimes it's futile to give up.
Posted by Diogenes at March 25, 2005 01:02 PM

A nice (albeit stoic) reply to my third...

Or a blogger's (blogaholic's) creed? ;)

Posted by boynton at March 25, 2005 02:02 PM

It's something I once uttered in conversation without thinking (I do that a lot) and then it struck me how absurd/profound one could deem it to be. It's 3.10am and I can't make much sense right now. Happy Easter Bunnies, Boynton.
Posted by diogenes at March 26, 2005 03:13 AM

Prolonged eye-contact reaches the stars!
Posted by Kent at March 26, 2005 10:08 PM

"searching can twinkle childlike"...
Posted by boynton at March 26, 2005 10:19 PM

'Intellectual curiosity fascinates a fool!'

zentences have never been so fascinating.
Posted by Kent at March 26, 2005 11:29 PM

"There are known knowns, and unknown knowns."

"I don't know why I don't know what I don't know I know."

"Why is the earth 6 billion years old? 'cos it took that long to find out."

"Of course everything means something. Even pointless remarks like this."

"But if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone?"

"A shirt has a tail but cannot bark."

"God only knows what god knows."

"Jazz is about playing the same note differently."

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

"I hate this damn computer
I really should sell it
It never does what I want
Only what I tell it."

"A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose."

"You can't always get what you want, but if you try some time you just might find, you get what you need."

"Measure your head before ordering" - Sears-Roebuck catalogue circa mid 1950s.

"It's the fish John West rejects that makes John West's fish the best."

"Before you judge someone, walk a mile in their shoes. Then if you do still judge them, hey! yer a mile away and you've got their shoes."

"All of us are in te gutter, but some of us are looking for a light."

"If all of this meant really something, shouldn't it be clear by now?"
Posted by Nabakov at March 29, 2005 10:07 PM

Hmmm...
"A shirt has a tail but cannot bark."
I like that, without knowing why.
Sounds like a line from a 60's folk ballad.
Folk is about playing the same song?

And I give up.
"Why is a raven like a writing desk?"
Posted by boynton at March 29, 2005 10:54 PM

"And I give up.
"Why is a raven like a writing desk?""

Poe wrote on both.

Put that in yer Carrel and Dodgson it.
Posted by Nabakov at March 29, 2005 11:26 PM

and my hair wants cutting too...

Curious, but everything's been curious today.
Posted by boynton at March 30, 2005 12:03 AM

Another case of synchronicity city, Nabakov.

Just happened upon this site today (via grow a brain) which has Lewis Carroll's own reply to the riddle.

http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/?alice9.html

which directs you here directly:
http://www.lewiscarroll.org/bull.html#QAF
Posted by boynton at April 3, 2005 03:37 PM

blog cycles

Anil Dash The Blog Cycle.

First, it's important to note that there is no "blogosphere". There are hundreds of blogospheres. Each sub-community of weblogs has its own social norms, its own traditions and its own thought leaders. And as each community has formed and evolved, you can see it go through a few common steps as it evolves as a medium.

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Comments: blog cycles

You heard about Madame Blavatsky giving pressure point and shiatsu to Marshall McLuhan?

In this case the medium was the massage.
Posted by Francis Xavier Holden at March 24, 2005 04:54 PM

Failing that, you could always holler for a marshall...
Posted by boynton at March 24, 2005 05:13 PM

style

1950's hairstyles via exclamation mark

1958 Karmann Ghia Sales Brochure via ramage

better homes

34. Carpet extends to owners’ bathroom

One end is almost walnut

....Buffet supper? Rearrange living-room chairs and tables, set up card tables, and bring in turquoise kitchen chairs....Televsion football game? Seat a dozen boys and dads in activity room...

From the September, 1954 Better Homes and Gardens article on the 'home for all America.'

via a comment at Parade of Homes 1956 at Swapatorium - a fine blog about odd finds. via grow a brain

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Comments: better homes

#34 looks terrifyingly like Portable Classrooms 17 and 18 at Ararat High. (Right along with the 2 years that they also took to download.)
Posted by Sedgwick at March 22, 2005 08:19 PM

Sorry - I should have had a download warning.

Says something about it (or my weakness for mid-century magazines) that despite the dial-up I almost got through all the pages.
Posted by boynton at March 22, 2005 08:25 PM

What televsion channel is the football on? Seven, Nine or Ten? Or is the The Winners?
Posted by Tony.T at March 23, 2005 04:49 PM

Televsion = what happens to your eyes when you watch too much.
What happens to the sense of self when guests desert the buffet for the activity room to watch football, dragging their turqouise chairs behind them...

& - Now: Anyone but Nine...
Then: Quite possibly Arnott's Football Inquest?
Posted by boynton at March 24, 2005 12:02 PM

The Pelaco Footy Show

or

Who Won And Why.
Posted by Tony.T at March 24, 2005 01:48 PM

Pelaco?
But there was nothing like Mike Williamson lauding the performance of an Arnott's Teddy Bear between the panel analysis of the Swans trouncing the Demons at the Lakeside Oval.
Or was that Teddy Whitten?
Posted by boynton at March 24, 2005 01:59 PM

Oh - a bit of googling has revealed Pelaco preceded Arnotts. Never saw the Pelaco version.
Business Shirts would have taken centre stage instead of Butternut Snaps.
Posted by boynton at March 24, 2005 02:23 PM

And Patra orange juice, Red Tulip chocolates and Four n Twenty pies.
Posted by Tony.T at March 24, 2005 03:04 PM

I thought the chocolates were Ballantynes...
Posted by boynton at March 24, 2005 03:12 PM

I think they came later. They definitely had RT during the seventies.
Posted by Tony.T at March 24, 2005 03:37 PM

Hmm...

I'll have to get the DVD and do some tulip spotting...

http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=3119

btw - Tony, this review sums up my own feelings on the Football wars - how Channel 7 has heritage value - the collective memory of the tribe. Channel 10 is unpretentious and ok. Channel 9 is marketing entertainment. It could be any old game.

(Think I'd better leave the Activity room now, and return to the buffet)
Posted by boynton at March 24, 2005 03:47 PM

poetry day

almost missed world poetry day...

again.


(via dumbfoundry)

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Comments: poetry day

There was a young fellow from Cork ...
Posted by Tony.T at March 22, 2005 10:59 AM

Who wrote an ode with a fork ...
Posted by Tony.T at March 22, 2005 01:38 PM

His knife felt betrayed ...
Posted by boynton at March 22, 2005 05:11 PM

And his spoon was a splade ...
Posted by Tony.T at March 22, 2005 05:13 PM

... and the dish ran away with the very very model of a major piece of cutlery that are only ever bought for wedding presents.

In another time and place, that scans perfickly.

(Runs away quickly with his dish accomplice.)
Posted by Sedgwick at March 22, 2005 08:30 PM

"There was a young man of Japan
Whose poems never would scan
When asked why it was
He replied "it's because
I always try to get as many words in the last line as I possibly can."

but then again

"There was a young man from Peru
Whose poems always ended at line two"

And in honour of World Poetry Day, here's an original haiku by moi, called "Penguins"

Behind cold wet rocks
Secret gangs of fishermen
Are dressed for dinner
Posted by Nabakov at March 22, 2005 08:39 PM

Are they orange or angry?...

I once had to write a haiku
For a wedding - in fact I wrote two
I managed to ease
The syllable squeeze
By throwing in as many words into the title as I could think of as a diversionary tactic and because I had once read this was permissible.

And don't knock the Splayd, Sedge.
One of the best inventions around.
Wish someone could dash off some lyrical lines to that utensil, known to Americans as Spork...
Hmm - that was a possible alternative last line to the limerick going begging ;)
Posted by boynton at March 22, 2005 09:02 PM

One hand too busy
Counting Haiku syllables
To find a rhyme in
Time
Posted by Nabakov at March 23, 2005 12:13 AM

the moving finger
the sound of one hand counting
the unknown silver


(Title: Despite my best counting, a rogue syllable will often appear from nowhere in my verse, like a silent letter - return of the lost knife - has turned into a splayd.)
Posted by boynton at March 23, 2005 12:29 AM

Splades best for peas
Holding rolling legumes
Is hard with a fork
T'is!
Posted by Tony.T at March 23, 2005 09:52 AM

forking syllables
he will call a splayd a splade
says the silent e
Posted by boynton at March 23, 2005 01:32 PM

Actually I thought of some last lines to your limerick,T (not to improve on yours, Sedge - I liked it very much, but just to offer an alt one in limerick form)

There was a young fellow from Cork
Who wrote an ode with a fork
His knife felt betrayed
And his spoon was a splade
who was starting to sound like a spork

or...
who would soon cut and run with a spork

or...
which made getting the metre right awkward

etc etc...


and Nab:

is the second line
the sound of one hand counting
is the second line


a bit of limerick and haiku is all I can do today...
Posted by boynton at March 23, 2005 01:46 PM

bach birthday

"Bach" is the German word for a little stream or brook. Of Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven said: "His name should not be Brook, it should be Ocean."

Bach Notes A compilation of factoids, trivia and other gee-whiz stuff about JS Bach

Listening to this in honour of Bach's birthday.

See also The solo cello suites—Bach using a single instrument to create an entire universe in this collection of reflections

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Comments: bach birthday

I thought it was a NZ word for beach holiday shack.
Posted by Francis Xavier Holden at March 21, 2005 01:17 PM

l o lud...

had a good nz joke in belated response to your last comment, FX.
Sheep for Shipping...

But no - Sheep may safely graze in nz.
http://www.jsbach.org/sheep.html
Posted by boynton at March 21, 2005 01:24 PM

Bach into this (sound on, natch)
http://www.avoision.com/experiments/gould/
Posted by Nabakov at March 22, 2005 08:44 PM

Almost venetian

Very nice.
Posted by boynton at March 22, 2005 09:09 PM

art army

Art Army at Michael Leavitt's new site

Hidden features are built into many figures, including movable ears, opening heads, revolving chest panels, and removable bodily implants.

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Comments: art army

just wanted to give a heads up- i just had a whole new show of figures in L.A.- 20 new ones at double the size of the older figures. a foot tall each, up from 6 inches. the new ones are already almost all sold, but they're all posted on the website. thank you for the interest!
Posted by Mike Leavitt at June 23, 2005 05:55 AM

just wanted to give a heads up- i just had a whole new show of figures in L.A.- 20 new ones at double the size of the older figures. a foot tall each, up from 6 inches. the new ones are already almost all sold, but they're all posted on the website. thank you for the interest!
Posted by Mike Leavitt at June 23, 2005 05:55 AM

Hey Mike - great news on the campaign.
Loved looking at the new ones, and it seems as though the Army is well on track for for art domination.
Cheers.
Posted by boynton at June 23, 2005 07:28 PM

Wow Mike! I ran across your Art Army by accident. Excellent stuff ...I wished I was a rich man ...I would have one of everything you do. I did send a link to a very successful friend of mine. Good Luck and Prosperity to you ..Weldon
Posted by Weldon McDowell at August 9, 2005 03:40 PM

dog park

Inside and up another level in the head of the dog are a loft room for additional sleeping accommodations and a cozy reading nook in the dog's muzzle.

Dog Park Inn via bifurcated rivets

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Comments: dog park

Makes me think of that the windows at the front end of a A Big Sheep Inn would get the pastoral view while the windows at the back end would have fly wire.
Posted by saint at March 22, 2005 06:16 AM

Five star accomodation for dags.

When in clover, bloggers choose to stay at the Big Sheep.
Posted by boynton at March 22, 2005 02:53 PM

greens

I was thinking about different words for green...

*


Not a shade I had heard of, but then you expect house paint to mess with the nomenclature.

Elsewhere, names for colours may be of concern. With your pencils :

There seems to have been a conscious decision to get away from old Derwent names, and many pencils are named after the pigments they contain - lots of Azo/Diazo, Anthracene and Phthalo based names for example. I like this - Grass green was never the colour of grass anyway, and this may encourage artists to have no preconceptions about colours and use them more freely. As an ex-chemist I am also in favour of more scientific nomenclature! But this will mean some learning has to take place.

and your pigments

A few instances may serve to illustrate the present state of chaos. Leaf green, sap green, and olive green are names from commercially available color boxes. They tell us nothing about the materials from which these colors may be made. Sap green can be made from green plant juices or from coal-tar dyes. But leaf green is not made from leaves, nor is olive green made from olives. Malachite, on the other hand, ia actually made from the well-known gem stone. Ivory black has, in recent times, rarely been made from ivory nor vine black from dried vines
Several names have disappeared because the colors have become obsolete. Few painters now use mummy, mauve, or stil de grain. The later, an impermanent lake made from buckthorn berries, is sometimes still found in French pastel boxes

Anyway - if we're talking viridity, I still like the sound of : British Racing Green

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Comments: greens

Fuck all that antiquated scribbling, daubing and PMS colour chart shit, you need to get with the neu techno girlfriend, know what I'm saying?

http://www.faber-castell.de/docs/index-news.asp?id=14507&sp=E&m1=10329&m2=17234&m3=14507&m4=&domid=1010
Posted by Nabakov at March 20, 2005 11:51 PM

...definitely something to chew on there...
Posted by dave at March 21, 2005 09:28 AM

I've pencilled that splendid address in.

Have you seen the Minutes of the Lead Pencil Club?
http://www.rit.edu/~cyberwww/8.htm

I read it and wrote in longhand for months just before discovering the internet.
(Gratuitous joke - much sound thinking in the call to simpler technology, data overload and signal to noise ratios etc)
Posted by boynton at March 21, 2005 12:21 PM

er - the book:

http://www.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall96/pencil.htm
Posted by boynton at March 21, 2005 01:01 PM

lab results

I tend to use labrador as a default word for searches and miscellaneous web applications. As you do.

So labrador it was at Amaztype with pleasing results. (via *.*)

and this is the flickr version of web of letters (via ramage)

good reason

Good reason for a celebration?

always worth checking in to Ephemera Now

thence pwllheli

Revolution number 9 - minute by minute (via grow a brain)

Although there would seem to be some dispute about the exact lyrics as this passage indicates:

5:50-5:59 Intelligible speech (john, right): "The dogs were dogging,the cats were catting, the birds were birding, the fish were fishing..."

differs from this version:

How? Dogs for dogging, hands for clapping
Birds for birding and fish for fishing
Them for themming and when for whimming

and this:

6:01
JL: "Dogs were dogging, cats were catting. Birds were birding, Fish were fishing. Thence Pwllheli, went swimming"
[Pwllheli, pron. "per-thelly", in Northern Wales. An odd little poem!]

Anyway - once you get the words down you could always try the karaoke version.
Surely that would have to be included in any Extreme Karaoke set?

---

Comments: thence pwllheli

Duh, duh, duh... (sorry, boynton, couldn't help myself, just had to do this) :-)

That's it. No more. You've used up your comment quota for March.
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 04:47 PM

Oh no!
but is it comment number nine yet? ;)
Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 11:04 PM

Oh my god, I just realised that a humourless person might think I was serious in my previous comment. I'd better put smilies after everything I say from now on. :-) :-) :-) [sigh]
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 11:07 PM

I find the wink to be pretty much my default.

;)


and having just listened to Revolution Number Nine on vinyl for the first time in ... years?... I would be employing at least nine different emoticons to express my reaction to the lyrics.
Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 11:14 PM

This is ridiculous, boynton, you just managed to wedge a comment in before mine. Please deem my last comment to have been made before I saw your last comment, otherwise new misunderstandings could arise... :-)

Comment number nine? I don't follow..

I'm feeling a tad sensitive after being mauled by a humanitarian. Life was easier when I was killing 'cong so you could have a better life... ;-) ;-) ;-)

Me getting all sensitive is in itself ironic. And I'm going way over the comment quota here... :-) :-) :-) [double sigh]
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 11:16 PM

"comment number nine"...

A weak joke in reference to the Beatles song of the post. I think listening too hard to the said song dulled my wit.

I'm pretty sure it would have a high degree of difficulty in the karaoke stakes.
Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 11:23 PM

Ok! Back to sanity! I finally read your original link and now I understand the 'nine' thing.

Also, boynton, I've inadvertantly hogged this blog and I'll give it a bit of a rest for a bit now before I scare allof your regulars away for good. :-) :-) :-)
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 11:25 PM

Thank you. This blog appreciates your hogging. ;)

Alas - who knows where all those regulars are?...
(no wink) ;)
Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 11:29 PM

a word of warning.

Don't Google "dogging in uk"
Posted by Francis Xavier Holden at March 18, 2005 12:09 AM

You know, FX, I kinda thought that looked dodgy.

And here was I thinking Pwllheli was curious.
Posted by boynton at March 18, 2005 12:17 AM

- and does that mean I might get some serious search traffic now?
Posted by boynton at March 18, 2005 12:22 AM

Serious dog traphiking ... Pam for spaming ;P

Black puddinging for guiness-lovers?
Posted by Jozef Imrich at March 18, 2005 02:02 AM

green beer for spam...

I just noticed the most recent search request:
"tea towel poems"
which contains an excerpt from b at blogspot that reads almost like a foreign text to me...

"the popular nostalgia of the tea-towel also serviced private memory..."

Must have been something in the brew in those days. However - people searching for "Tea towel poems" may not be too shocked by this blog's content, but who knows.
Posted by boynton at March 18, 2005 08:01 PM

apes

I went to the Great Ape lecture last night

each speaker talked of the eyes - that essential connection.
and the photo that Birute couldn't look at for two years - of an orangutan - gentle creature of the forest, who had been bashed with shovels about the head, one eye removed...
and of our own blind eyes
and each speaker tried to fit an extinction scenario into half an hour
after decades in the field
with one minute to midnight
so that the last few minutes of each set became
a concentrated cry from the heart
we can't let this happen
and what will we tell our grandchildren...

Birute summed it up, that scenario, as losing our own connection to eden.
(whatever the creation story)

and it was said that we spend billions on missions to Mars in search of a martian molecular clue.
A fraction of the money could save the Great Apes, a keystone species, our fellow primates here on our planet.

...drastic action is needed. Time is not on our side.

GRASP
Ape Alliance Action for Apes

---

Comments: apes

So we'll save the great apes? I seriously doubt it. It's just one more distraction from the really really big issues, of which the ape thing is a symptom but not the cause.

I have a Jewish (ex)friend with whom I refuse to talk these days because he supports the settlements in the West Bank and the actions of the IDF in Palestine. what's this got to do with your article? Easy, it's his view I shouldn't worry about the middle east, I should be "trying to save the whales or something." As I said, I don't talk to that prick anymore. Oh, and he has labelled me an anti-semite. Bwahahahaha...

I'm not taking a swipe at you, boynton, it's just that your story reminded me this other thing. And I'm stuck in this mind-trap which convinces me that I only have so much time/energy to devote to causes and that the Great Ape thing is a _symptom_ of a much bigger _cause_ to which we ought to be devoting ourselves and I'm a firm believer in "treat the cause, not the symptom".

I know I'll get creamed for saying this, but that's fine.
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 09:44 AM

It's about as big as it gets to me.

But I also don't think it's a black and white thing.
We can (still) save the apes while dealing with other issues, or we can not save them while dealing with other issues.
Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 10:04 AM

Yeah I know...

It's just I sometimes think I'll go (even more) crazy if I worry about all the issues I could worry about, so I try to prioritise. But I do concede that it's essential for the great apes that someone worries about them.

I told you I'd get creamed... :-)
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 10:34 AM

The speakers, all of whom have reluctantly left the field to try to take this desperate message to the world, have to answer this sort of question all the time. "Why are you so obsessed with the apes" etc.
(Birute said this was a question asked by every Aust journalist with the exception of - in her words - "Uncle Bert") The last speaker became quite passionate in defence of this alleged obsession. Worked for me.
And each of the three were at pains to place the fate of the respective Ape into the broader political and socio-eco context (of their region, at least)

And such comments are welcome, btw, Gerry. ;)

Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 10:48 AM

Well, you'll get a lot more of 'em then!

But I do have this wee problem. Could you please make your posts less erudite? I've been reading your blog for some time now and I can never think of an appropriate comment to make. All I can usually utter is "duh duh duh.." and that can appear a bit over-used after a while...

While you were probably still shitting in your nappies, I was out killing 'cong just so you could grow up in a free capitalist paradise collecting ever more bling bling whilst singing "something's missing in my life...". No, please don't thank me... Really... The pleasure was all mine... I'm the last of the true altruists...

Now, about your blog: Dumb it down!!! :-)
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 11:29 AM

There's a lot of us. Enough that we can specialize, get specific. Champion what the heart says over what the mind churns up. Or what they say together when the mind listens.
Wolves hunted from helicopters by vicious little men who travel 6,000 miles for the opportunity. Frail people cast aside by the desperately rationalizing selfish.
It's a long list, and like any list of chores the priorities can be hard to sort, because it all needs doing. Have to start somewhere. Kinship's as good as any other criteria, so's chance encounter. Do what's in front of you that needs doing. And don't let the pseudo-logic of pragmatism slow you down.
We have to be stronger than meanness.
Posted by Ajax B at March 17, 2005 12:12 PM

Alex, well said!!!

You should start a blog. A mind such as yours should not be kept private.

Enough of the "shoulds"... I'll go now...
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 12:34 PM

I'm an idiot !!! Sorry, I meant Ajax.
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 12:36 PM

Diogenes.......Do you have a kind bone in your body ? Do you care about ANY living thing that is enduring pain and suffering ? By the sounds of it , l doubt it !!!!!

Here , Here................Ajax

Get of you high horse Diogenes.
We need people in this world that care !!!!!

Here here Boynton.
Posted by Humanitarian at March 17, 2005 08:43 PM

Ajax - yes, a great comment.
"Champion what the heart says over what the mind churns up. Or what they say together when the mind listens."

I welcome Gerry's input - anon. His thoughtful comments have led to a good conversation, in this post and the next.
Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 11:02 PM

lf you want to call it good conversation..........
Posted by at March 18, 2005 08:17 AM

...better than 'dialoguing'
Posted by boynton at March 18, 2005 07:52 PM

if you say so MS BOYNTON !
Posted by at March 18, 2005 08:40 PM

Last time I looked this post was actually written to address the fate of the great apes and their imminent extinction. If that's not enough to make you weep - I don't know what is...
Posted by Norabone at March 18, 2005 08:52 PM

That's the first time I've deleted a comment, Dave.
I hope it's the last.

Norabone says it all.
Posted by boynton at March 21, 2005 06:00 PM

I think more clearly than I speak or write,so should the limits of my language be the limit of my world. Dogmatism and the lack of a G S O H, I find , combine to be the curse of opinion.
Norabone. The weeping and wringing of hands in despair over the possible extinction of the dearest and nearest of our relatives, is commendable. Unfortunately there is a need to remove a vast number of obstacles in order to achieve a halt to their declining numbers. Sadly most humans disappear into the mist when asked to contribute assistance in any form, in most cases quoting charity to our own kind is more important, as is, in all other creature species of our planet. There are organisations who collect monetary contributions to this sad cause, maybe that big primate K P could be persuaded to cough up a few quid. I personaly have a continual flow of funds leaving my bank a/c for misc charities and I too, also have problems coping with bill payments like many others. but are we getting our priorities in the correct order, who should we consider to be first in the long queue of the deserving entities crying out for help, should we ignore the millions of starving people in war ravaged Africa. It is a terrible dilemma we are all faced with. Sometimes I see Bunnies near our back garden, Foxes too, It is a pity us humans are hell bent on their extinction, something to do with the NIMBY syndrome. Our family have a family of possums who visit at dusk without fail, to whom we feed carrots and stuff.
Norabone, would you describe to me your own plan to alleviate the pain and suffering of these unfortunate beings.
Posted by Dave at March 22, 2005 10:23 AM

At one minute to midnight I'd pefer not to be distracted by the sound of someone breaking wind!
Posted by Norabone at March 22, 2005 05:45 PM

Yes - alas, I do not have a very GSOH, but then I am a NS/SD and DTE.

Black humour is fine - "Dave" - as long as it has heart. Your joke about monkeys is no doubt highly amusing, but in this context is like dancing on the grave of Primates.

And it wasn't just the sentimental luvvie-duvvies like me who were affected by the facts presented in the lecture and elsewhere, but many rational men and women were clearly moved. A Committee member of GRASP for example was both emotional and cogent in his closing remarks. These are people to admire- compassionate thinkers who are taking action.

The action required is outlined in the links above, FYI.

Posted by boynton at March 22, 2005 07:06 PM

I am always the first to use my hanky at funerals. So it is more than likely I would become affected at such a heart wrenching revelation. The Gib thing was factual,the other would not be so offensive, maybe, if you had not been made aware of this delicate situation. We all have a lot of goodness within our selves, let's not ruin everything by being vindictive. Enjoy your abstinence nice lady. Ok, I give in, what is D T E, is that also something to do with abstinence. With all my heart rending apoligies,Dave G S O H, N/S, ocas S/D, too old, C F Anymore, L T K & C.
Posted by Dave at March 22, 2005 08:02 PM

I knew all about the monkeys wanking. Common to all apes I believe.

I'm not vindictive, (whatever the acronym is for that) - any genuine comment will be treated with respect. Others may be deleted. I do like to keep things on topic in general and at this post in particular.
Posted by boynton at March 22, 2005 08:11 PM

Please tell me what happened, did I offend ? my last comment deleted ? anyhow no offence meant to you. However this my new site feel free to check me out I promise I shall not delete you.
vest@swiftdsl.com.au www.dailygaggle.blogspot.com
Posted by Vest at March 23, 2005 04:17 PM

I have never seen you write a rude word before Boynton, that W word was very naughty, you didn't tell me what D T E meant, its quite a puzzler.
Posted by Dave at March 23, 2005 04:48 PM

ws1

Watch Southern Hemisphere (via bifurcated rivets)

---

Comments: WS1

Another piece of "must have" bling for the "socially conscious" yuppies to wear in order to say "Look at me, I've arrived". A complete waste of... everything... in my book, but oh-so-apt...

Don't mind me, boynton, I'm just being me...
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 09:23 AM

I'm not a Yuppie - despite the internet connection we all share, just a web window shopper.

I think in this case, Gerry, the bling does seem to have another mission, in part.
Or at least the company:
"The Think the Earth project is a non profit organization founded to promote Earth awareness and provide aid for distressed children"
Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 10:01 AM

Yep. Wonderful. And it's a limited edition piece. I'd want to know who paid for the design, tooling-up, manufacturing, and marketing costs. Until I know what portion of the retail price actually makes it to the promotion of earth awareness or towards aiding distressed children, I'm going to assume it's bling aimed at the rich who are feeling a tad guilty.

Anyway, what do they mean by "Earth awareness" (could mean oil prospecting) or "distressed children" (could mean buying Lear Jets for their kids). Has anyone done any great probe into this mob?

Might be more effective for the Guilty Rich to donate $795 to the charity of their choice and spare the environment the damage done by the manufacture of yet another piece if utterly redundant bling bling for those with too much disposable income.

Come the revolution... :-)
Posted by at March 17, 2005 10:27 AM

Oops. That last one was me.
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 10:35 AM

I am a tad skeptical too, but their web site has some information.
http://www.thinktheearth.net/aboutus/aboutus.html

It's lucky for the rest of us that we can watch the watch on the web.
Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 10:37 AM

It's a nice watch... (grins, ducks, and runs back into the black, ominous night from whence he came, cackling madly all the while..)
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 10:40 AM

Ok, time to get serious. Here's what I've noticed so far:

(1) Lost Times are retailers who don't claim to donate anything to charity themselves. They merely list Think The Earth project (TTEP) as the manufacturer. In other words only a portion of the wholesale price goes to charity.

(2) Lost Times also have a northern hemisphere model which sells for $595 ($200 dollars cheaper). This indicates to me that due to fewer southern hemisphere models expected to be sold (which is realistic), the price difference can only be justified if tooling-up costs are passed on to the buyer. In other words, tooling up costs are deducted from the amount given to charity. this indicates very strongly that the same would apply to the design and manufacturing costs.

(3) This is the TTEP's first item put up for sale. This org is brand new. This increases my suspicions of it being a rip-off.

(4) TTEP's "concepts" are perhaps oxymoronic:
(a) "ecology and economy in coexistence"
(b) "Contributing to society through business"

I could get really into this topic, but to spare you, I'll leave it here (unless you're silly enough to ask me to elaborate). :-)
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 12:27 PM

Yes it all seems like a wearable bit of greenwashing now.
Your third comment says it all really, and was my first thought when I saw the watch. I think you can probably guess my charity of choice.
(Buy a $10 watch (from markets or op-shop)and give $785 to GRASP) ;)

on 4) Not well versed in this, but I read Paul Hawken years ago, and would hope there is a third way possible - "a restorative economy"? Otherwise may as well just jump off the train and buy any old bling that's on offer...
http://www.scottlondon.com/reviews/hawken.html
Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 01:32 PM

Wow, that sounds like the economist I've been dreaming about. But I fear that Hawken gravely overestimates the willingness of business to function from anything other than the profit motive, being, as it is, driven by shareholders whose sole purpose of owning shares is to see a profit. Also, the corporations that most control the WTO (which controls global business legislation these days) are exactly those who least attract ethical investors.

Sorry, boynton, but I fear we're all headed for The Mother Of All Stockmarket Crashes in the not too distant future. Even Howard fears this. Which is why he's now scurrying around trying to force the states to change their superannuation laws so that it's no longer compulsory to put your retirement money into a super fund. That way, when The Crash comes, Howard can smuggly say "Well, don't blame me, I gave you the choice to put your money somewhere else." (Such as 'bricks and mortar' which would boost Howard's economy again.) But I digress...
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 02:11 PM

"The Ecology of Commerce" was a great read, containing one of the best summaries of the damage done (over a couple of pages as I recall) which winded me for a week or so - but also provides an alternative vision. It's been a while since I read him, but some more here:
http://www.naturalcapital.org/ph/Write/Write.html
Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 02:27 PM

Boynton, have I warned you before about talking to strange economists?
Posted by Scott Wickstein at March 17, 2005 04:03 PM

Not on my watch? ;)
Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 04:05 PM

Ok, I'm sold. I've ordered it from Gleebooks. It'd better be worth it, boynton! Shit, talking to you gets expensive! Grrrrrrr :-)
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 04:11 PM

I'd be interested to read a report - I hope ;)
Cheaper than a watch, anyway.

(I borrowed "Ecology of Commerce" from the Library. Although it's one of those books I would buy if I ever saw)
Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 04:25 PM

Yeah, sure... "Crazed Vietnam vet reviews Paul Hawken's book - read all about it!" Bwahahaha...
Posted by Diogenes at March 17, 2005 04:42 PM

Have we got a "negative" person in the air.

Don't worry be happy........
Posted by at March 17, 2005 08:52 PM

I'd say "Challenging" - in the best sense of the word, which has made me reacquaint myself with some old ideas.
Posted by boynton at March 17, 2005 11:09 PM

Hawken's book has arrived and I've started reading it. I'm glad I bought it rather than borrow it from a library bcause I think it's a book I'll be going back to repeatedly.

Using the search function on Quiggin's blog produced zero results - I don't know if this means that Quiggin has had nothing to say about Hawkens but I would have liked to know his opinions on Hawken. Too daunted to leave a comment though.. :-(
Posted by Diogenes at March 21, 2005 10:00 PM

Glad it seems worthwhile, Gerry.

I don't know how it rates among the academic economists at all. Having no background in the field, I guess I read it as an ecological vision of capitalism?
I am often too daunted to Post comments around the place. Should be a blog for unposted comments - the rejected out-takes.
Posted by boynton at March 22, 2005 12:05 AM

Thanks for bringing the book to my attention. It's very informative for one such as I and I'll be interested in how he thinks this monster can be brought to heel. I suspect he's a bit utopian, but it'll be interesting to see what solutions he proposes.

In 1993 he was saying much the same things as Joel Bakan says in The Corporation eleven years later.

I'm going to enjoy this book. Again, Boynton, thanks.

On the other matter, there is a blog for unposted comments - it's the blogger's own blog. (Sorry for stating the bleeding obvious - again.)

Gee I hope I don't get smacked down by any more humanitarians. I'm still feeling pretty punch drunk.)

I'm ever so sorry for coming in here and lowering the tone of your blog. You really mustn't encourage me you know... :-)
Posted by Gerry at March 22, 2005 09:26 AM

Ok "Jo, Dave, John Leonard, Les, Elle, Georgia, Gorgia etc".
Your last comment (since deleted) is the giveaway.
Any pretence of civility has gone, and you've turned out to be as tedious as Spam.
For the record - you are wrong. I am as straight as you claim to be (when you write with your old married man moniker, anyway)
I was going to write a hand-wringing "luvvie duvvie" post about what to do with Trolls, but now there is clearly no need.
Any respect I have shown you over the last few weeks has clearly been a waste of my time - and that of my readers.
You can take your scribbling tendencies elsewhere now.
Luckily for us all there is a Delete key
Posted by boynton at March 23, 2005 10:08 AM

choice posts

The simplest things prove to have been the most important dirty beloved



How I won a Bill Bryson Book eeksy-peeksy

---

Comments: choice posts

I don't have sitemeters or all that so I miss these a lot of the time, then every once in a while I'll chance on one of those index sites and auto-search and find these links, and here is this one.
Posted by Ajax B at April 11, 2005 04:58 PM

Glad your recent comment has brought this back to the surface, Ajax.
Hope people click.
Posted by boynton at April 11, 2005 05:08 PM

drive back

Julie, Marina and Gordon with 1959 Triumph TR3

Drive back in time - Dmitry Popov photography

I approach every theme like a little movie production shot with a camera. Ideally, the series of pictures should tell a story as single picture can do. It is, certainly, a vague stylization of the era and it is not exact...
It is not a retro, but a genre inspired by retro

via PCL Linkdump

web letters

Web of Letters via waxy

record covers

boynton and the blue heeler?

Actually - just one of the beautiful record covers on display at Cover Heaven
(via Life in The Present)

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Comments: record covers

Narrated by Boris Karloff?!? Choice, Joycee!
Posted by Tony.T at March 14, 2005 01:00 PM

Never picked you for being a Gun, though, Boynton.
Posted by Scott Wickstein at March 14, 2005 01:09 PM

I know - one to look out for in your travels, Tony.

I'll take that as a compliment, Scott.
Posted by boynton at March 14, 2005 01:18 PM

Flo is actually "prettier" than that strange taxidermist's reject wolf.
Posted by Norabone at March 14, 2005 11:08 PM

We never said it was a likeness...

(Would wink - but Flo don't do that)
Posted by flo at March 15, 2005 12:49 PM

possums

I read this anti-possum rant in Saturday's Age and thought how sad that some people favour roses and lemons over wildlife. I'm one of the dreaded possum protectors. Except that recently I failed to live up to the put-down.

I had to bury a small ringtail the other day, killed by a domestic dog, this one, the blue heeler. We are guilty.
When I wrote about Flo stalking marsupials in the evening, I didn't think she'd catch one, just as I can't see her ever snaring the helicopters that fascinate her. I thought she watched from a slow, abstract distance, from behind verandah railings. But the hot night may have made the possums sluggish or clumsy and she pounced. I got there moments too late.
It was a beautiful creature
We know. Flo should be living on some sheepless farm, or on the back of a ute guarding tools with her inner demons. This is not her natural habitat.
She is now banned from going out at night.

Regarding the apparently vexed question of living with possums, I prefer the spirit shown by this wildife refuge

Roses … my father's favourite plants … abound, much to the delight of our non-feathered garden inhabitants ... the Brushtail and ringtail possums ...
who, quite obviously, are of the firm opinion these were planted exclusively for their gastronomic enjoyment.

In this suburb and others old houses are getting pulled down steadily along with their old trees, and even lemon trees are pretty passe. Paved outdoor rooms with a few ornamentals would seem to be the favoured horticultural style, and there are leaflets asking if we have a backyard for sale. This rented house with a few mature trees, spare land and a handful of brushtails is probably on borrowed time. I do admire the roses down the road, but I wouldn't begrudge the possums some flowery supplement to their diet for as long as it lasts.

see also Attracting native wildlife to your garden from the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia

CBC archives

I need to borrow some broadband to properly check out the Canadian Broadcasting history on offer at the CBC Archives. In the meantime, the Radio clips are pretty good old-fashioned entertainment.

A Woman's Place: Programming for the Modern Homemaker

via I like

canine mystery

Mystery of dogs leaping to their death in Dumbarton Scotland. I wonder if this is the bridge, lately renamed Rover's Leap.


(Another mystery is the way people respond to this as a quirky launching pad for jokes. I don't have a high humour threshold when it comes to sad dog stories)

(via J walk)

---

Comments: canine mystery

Not the spot to take Spot.
Posted by Francis Xavier Holden at March 12, 2005 03:57 PM

What rotter would make gags about that? I mean, who on earth would find anything funny in scottish dogs committing suicide by jumping off bridges?

There is nothing remotely funny in ...

See Spot run.

See Spot jump.
Posted by Tony.T at March 12, 2005 04:24 PM

There is incredible pathos in the idea that dogs do 'em-selves in, but I suspect it is highly unlikely. They probably suffer more existential angst then most other animals, which is probably related to the bonds they have developed with us sicko humans but I think the innate will to live is something that only truly disturbed human have the ability to subsume in a mix of imaginings about perceived dire situations. (Mind you these may be real situations, but given time and a change of view, such perceptions change too.

(I'll wait for someone to prove me wrong and say something about lemmings).
Posted by Link at March 13, 2005 10:31 AM

PS - such a nice looking bridge too.
Posted by Link at March 13, 2005 10:32 AM

I am extremely sensitive to the needs of all creatures G&S, Dogs in particular.
The noblest dog is the hot dog, it feeds the hand that bites it.
If Dog is God, Mugabe is a Yorky.
Posted by John Leonard Spencer at March 13, 2005 12:09 PM

http://us.speegle.co.uk/search.php?q=we+are+not+amused&v=&voice=1

I don't think the suicide theory makes sense either, and would be looking for the rational before the paranormal explanation- but may keep an open mind about the latter, while keeping spot on a lead.

Actually there is more on the Bridge and some pics if you take the virtual Tour of the estate.
http://www.overtounhouse.com/index.html
Posted by boynton at March 13, 2005 09:31 PM

Squirrels in the trees? Trees below the bridge?
The Overtoun one doesn't look overtly deceptive though.
-
It may be a tabloid construct with less of a direct relationship to the truth than the colorless print makes it appear.
-
Spirits in conflict. No really. Demonic spirits, like in the Bible - cast away the demons into some hapless creatures and over they go. Those Gadarene collies.
-
Dogs are telepathically receptive. I don't care who says what. And like people it varies from animal to animal.
Some creepy little goth revenant sending its brain waves into them. For kicks.
-
Lemmings, by the by, don't do what they're purported to; they do migrate, in swarms and droves, but not blindly over precipices.
-
Less seriously apt, though serious just the same:
If those Americans were moving in, I'd consider jumping, I'd flee, I'd do anything to get away from them. As also I would if possible here, where I am now and they are also, here, now.
How creepy that cultish non-entities prosper in these parlous times, and move their dull wits into architecture they can never really own, and certainly could never have built themselves, lacking the grace to create it.
Posted by Ajax at March 14, 2005 10:26 AM

W
o
o
o
o
o
o
f
Posted by Rover at March 14, 2005 01:01 PM

I believe dogs are receptors too. A labrador I knew used to get 'spooked' each time she walked through a certain arbor in the Botanic gardens, (in a precinct with a lot of ghost stories.) Who knew what was there, but she acted as if she saw something. May have been the territorial markings of a dog she didn't fancy.
I do like your "Some creepy little goth revenant sending its brain waves into them. For kicks" theory.
& the creepiness certainly warrants consideration.
Posted by boynton at March 14, 2005 01:06 PM

hope Rover doesn't

t
n
u
a
h

you for your scorn.
Posted by boynton at March 14, 2005 01:12 PM

Must be the divine wind in the Willows, or a Nip in the air, Banzai!! Bonzo.
Posted by John Leonard S pencer at March 14, 2005 10:47 PM

Doggone!! Barked Capt Bone on the Bridge, as he and his dog tired sea dogs doggedly gazed in horror, as the Kamikaze kelpies Sue & Sid; Zeroing in, came fleaing down to fight the Dogfish in the growling waters below.
Posted by John Leonard Spencer at March 15, 2005 11:46 AM

Cool comment by J L S. 14th inst, must be an old guy to remember that stuff, an old sea dog maybe.
Posted by dave dagenham at March 18, 2005 08:17 PM

Yes Dave, he certainly was, I read about him, he remembered the carnage that once dogged him.
Posted by David at March 20, 2005 02:32 PM

Yes, anyone who cracks cheap jokes about airborne self-carking canines deserves to be hounded by the Basketballs.

On a heavier note, the first time I cried about something that didn't directly involve me getting hurt or not getting my way, was when I discovered my dad trying to secretly dispose (he had the best intentions -wanting to spare me and my brother, five and three years old respectively the sight) of Neddy, a hearty carefree mongrel built along heeler/terrier lines who was one of the gang until he met a ton of metal travellng at 50k in the other direction.

Since then I've buried a few other animal mates and now with a stiff upper lip. But it never gets easier.

Incidentally, have they thought about putting a webcam overlooking the bridge in question? T
Posted by Nabakov at March 20, 2005 08:33 PM

A sad tale about Neddy. I have a dozen from childhood concerning ill-fated dogs, some involving that ton-of-metal variety.

Would the webcam pick up the "creepy little goth revenant" and its brainwaves?
Or the inner turmoil of the unleashed?
Or the scent/sudden movement of the rational explanation?
Posted by boynton at March 20, 2005 09:21 PM

Hi Nab. When our last bow wow carked, as you so delicately put it, the local Priest refused to say a few words over his grave. For $200-00 the Presby minister did the job. When the dog collared priest found out how much was paid , he screamed "Why the bloody hell did you not tell me your dog was a Catholic".
I believe JL's involvement was more relevant to operation iceberg 1945
MS Boynton. I have buried many Dogs over the years ,some of them sea dogs, ex K G V, 3.5 years.
Reading your posts, I find you are a bit of a luvvy duvvy sensitive lady, can't go wrong there.
Posted by Dave at March 21, 2005 08:25 AM

Nabokov. The fact you mentioned Self Carking Cannines; jokingly. would indicate you too deserve to be castigated. Sounds like basket balls could be painful, for men who may have them.
Checked up on Op Iceberg, not my type of holiday cruise, ties in with the Divine wind in the willows Banzai thing. Nasty stuff.
Posted by Gorgia at March 21, 2005 11:36 AM

Sweet Georgia. Op Iceberg was no lollipop, being exposed on the A D P of the flag ship; a prime target for weeks on end, the endless brown trouser syndrome for me; then only eighteen, has taught how to appreciate being alive, maybe I was blessed by a divine wind, thousands were not.
Posted by Dave at March 22, 2005 08:40 PM

Just to clarify my earlier comment, a family joke was never letting me forget that once (through a slip of tongue as a little tacker, honest), I started dissertating away on a long car journey about that classic Sherlock Holmes story, "The Hound of The Basketballs." while everyone else kept a straight face throughout, the bastards.

My mum will still remind me of that to this day when she thinks I'm getting too bumptious.
Posted by Nabakov at March 22, 2005 08:54 PM

Nab: We were all such sweet kids, sometimes we were horrid monsters. When a misdemeanour sent me to the Doghouse, Fido was always there to console me and lick away my tears, Ah.
Posted by Dave at March 22, 2005 09:30 PM

instruction man

Swedish home furnishings giant IKEA is guilty of sex discrimination by showing only men putting together furniture in its instruction manuals, Norway's prime minister says...

Its manuals show only men or cartoon figures whose sex is unclear.

Bondevik added: "I myself have great problems with screwing together such furniture."

---

Comments: instruction man

I know people (yes men included) who pay other people to put their IKEA stuff together for them. I suspect a bit of nordic rivalry...and I'm always impressed if both the manual and all the required bits arrive in the same box!
Posted by norabone at March 11, 2005 08:02 PM

er...some bits of that story are missing. I left out a major part in the re-assembly.
But I like your Nordic rivalry theory too. Wonder if the Sweden=Norway rivalry rivals the Sydney-Melbourne rivalry?
Posted by boynton at March 11, 2005 09:27 PM

Yes, it does, from what I've heard.
Posted by Scott Wickstein at March 12, 2005 01:45 AM

Hunter Valley Assembly Specialists. Office in Swansea NSW , Mob 0408 908 567, fixed up my new BBQ which came in package. Too daunting for me, two blokes with tools had it up and going in less than one hour cost $140-00, barby $900-00. Previous barby disappeared from our garden earlier, nicked.Insurer paid up, but the intriguing saga relating to its disappearance is still on going. Final episode will be posted later.
Posted by John Leonard Spencer at March 13, 2005 11:32 AM

Emma does all the IKEA assembling. The last time I tried, I ended up sobbing in a corner. I do the heavy lifting afterwards.
Posted by Dick at March 13, 2005 06:17 PM

I've never bought anything to assemble. Suspect I might sob or make a scuplture.
I was more amused by the the thought of Nordic androgynous graphics, not to mention Nordic rivalry.
Posted by boynton at March 13, 2005 09:39 PM

Next door neighbour bought a packaged black Sound & TV cabinet, made in Finland. I was told that the instructions for assembly were in Suomi, Swedish and Norwegian. I gave them the assemblers tel number. Lets hope they Snakke ikke Norske.
Posted by John Leonard Spencer at March 15, 2005 12:24 PM

I suppose you would break into Finnish if you finished the assembly in one piece.
Posted by boynton at March 15, 2005 01:19 PM

Reuters via Kevan

related? 50 modifications to the "Benjamin" stool

grasp

The Great Apes Survival Project

Despite the dedicated efforts of many individuals and organisations, the great apes are on the very edge of extinction. Time is not on our side

Currently in Australia The Great Ape Tour
World experts discuss the future of the Great Apes and what must be done to ensure their survival!

Desperate plight of the great apes

"It's that world market for computers and PlayStations and that sort of thing which has led to, we fear, something like 70 per cent or 80 per cent of the eastern lowland gorilla population gone"...

"We are destroying the habitat of the great apes for the comfortable living that we like, but no one is actually connecting the fact that their consumer power and their political power could be helping to solve that problem."

weekly

A selection of The Australian Women's Weekly covers illustrated by WEP

---

Comments: weekly

that's great!
Very nice link!
Posted by michelle at March 11, 2005 09:05 AM

All much more appealing than present style. I hope Peter gets a good result with his collecting and will keep an eye out on my book fair/bric a brac/ opshops rounds.
Posted by Brownie at March 11, 2005 11:56 AM

How's that cricket one... And September 1945 is quite moving. Blossom, Brave new world.

I have a few Weeklies in my collection (not here) but don't think any WEP. Certainly something to look out for.
Posted by boynton at March 11, 2005 01:03 PM

Great pics , loved them, but being a mere male, have I detected something sinister here. Why publish Monthly and refer to it as The Austalian Womans Weekly? Or is it, to avoid a jocular crimson tide thingy? Appears odd to me, but no offence meant.
Posted by John Leonard Spencer at March 12, 2005 06:04 PM

speegle

Listening to speegle, a talkin search engine via bifurcated rivets


How does a search engine sound?

My voice is higher

How can I keep from singing?

Sound of silence

---

Comments: speegle

Love the Scottish brogue. Weird eh?
Posted by Link at March 11, 2005 07:06 AM

I like him the best too.
He makes the tilde sound gud.

http://us.speegle.co.uk/search.php?q=O%2C+my+love+is+like+a+red%2C+red+rose&v=&voice=1
Posted by boynton at March 11, 2005 12:59

micro

Finding God through a microscope (via daily jive)

I like to think that spirituality resides in the invisible -- that's where God is. It's unknowable. Through these pictures, a little bit of the unknowable is made visible. So, in that sense, the microscope becomes a sort of spiritual doorway

Mystic Molecules - Inner Space Gallery Substances oftimes look like what they do...

(I think I'll go for an 82 Sav blanc tonight... and the 1941 Inglenook Cab sav looks like an Australian flag who's had one too many)

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Comments: micro

it's like Alice looking through the hour glass!!
Posted by at March 9, 2005 10:56 PM

Wow boynton, lovely. 'Caffeine' certainly looks like how it feels.
Posted by Link at March 10, 2005 06:53 AM

The wine range covers feelings from diamonds to whirl.
The Rose is beautiful.
Posted by boynton at March 10, 2005 04:42 PM

Thanks so much for sipping into the molecules and expanding vision.
Posted by Sondra Barrett at March 14, 2005 07:07 AM

You work is inspiring.
The wine is beautiful too.
Posted by boynton at March 14, 2005 12:58 PM

world news

The Search for “God” Ends March 14 as New Book Absolute Intelligence Integrates Science and Religion Once and For All

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Comments: world news

Amen !!
Posted by at March 8, 2005 08:38 PM

There's a major typo right on the first page and heaps more thereafter.

And no, it's not really what I had in mind when I was creating minds.

Also the biblography sucks big time.
Posted by God at March 8, 2005 09:39 PM

Beware the eves of March!
Posted by Tony.T at March 8, 2005 09:39 PM

“We already know everything there is to know. The knowledge we seek is within us. And it’s circular.”

Madam, I'm Adam.
Posted by boynton at March 8, 2005 11:04 PM

Question: What did Eve say to Adam on first meeting?
Posted by John Leonard Spencer at March 9, 2005 08:34 PM

Answer: Beware of the palindrome.
Posted by boynton at March 11, 2005 12:45 PM

horses

Looking for Dobie recently, and through a trail of TV composers, I found myself remembering National Velvet - A TV show much watched in the boynton household well into the early seventies.



*


There's not much info on the web, but you can hear the intro at this site, and watch an episode apparently. TV Tome has an episode list

This was one of the first TV shows with a girl as main character... "National Velvet" was at least one of the first shows that featured a girl as an assertive figure . A girl lead was very unusual in early television.(source)

I liked the fact that Velvet wore jeans in B&W TV land. In jeans I'd ride my Malvern Star bike around the garden, pretending it was King. We were desperate to own a horse. We contented ourselves with patting the ones who lived a few doors up, agisted on the pipeline.

And this is a wonderful post about a horse...

---

Comments: horses

l thought Elizabeth Taylor was beautiful in this show. l used to watch it to and wanted to be her.
Fond memories.
Posted by at March 8, 2005 08:53 PM

Elizabeth Taylor was in the film of 1944.
She was great though. Lovely film.
Lori Martin played Elizabeth Taylor in the Tv show...(well you know)
Posted by boynton at March 8, 2005 08:59 PM

2 episodes of Velvet stick in my mind:
The one containing the 'swarthy, earring jangling gypsy fortune teller' who predicted "Blaise King vill die" in her 'menacing Eastern European accent' - she was right!
The other was when big sister Edwina tried to coax little shmuck brother Donald away from a snarling, fang-baring wolf who may or may not have also been suffering from hydrophobia. Or was that Old Yella/The Yearling/To kill a Mockingbird?
Mi saved the day with a single pop from his handy .22.
Posted by norabone at March 8, 2005 11:27 PM

Oh...and while the wolf snarled at the feckless, freckled little blond kid he kept saying: "Nice doggy. Nice doggy." My sister and I whilst peeping from behind cushions on the couch - (which came in handy years later as we watched Psycho) muttered it's a WOLF you stupid little fool.
Posted by norabone at March 8, 2005 11:38 PM

Yes!
The Fortune Teller:
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-12178/epid-218775/
The wolf! (see fire)
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-12178/epid-218695/
I've read through nearly all the episodes now. They all come back with just the barest synopsis.

I found the Fortune Teller spooky too - she had a tendency to suddenly appear with her menacing warning. Sinister. BUT she was wrong. Blaise King did not...?

And yes! That wolf... the episode seemed to be repeated ad infinitum. Still disturbing though, especially if you lived with 'temperamental' labradors and a host of older sisters who slipped into that bossy older sister/drama queen role very easily. ;)
That was Edwina's big dramatic moment.
Posted by boynton at March 8, 2005 11:50 PM

Thanks for the link boynton, yes 'King' was truly an inspiration. Sorry to not have found your post earlier. Thanks again. I too used to ride a Malvern Star,fantasising about it being a horse; it wasn't much good at jumping though.
Posted by Link at March 10, 2005 06:57 AM

1932? Neigh.
Posted by P.Lap at March 10, 2005 01:43 PM

I love your equine content, Link.
I did have a short stint at Horse-riding school as a child. Gave up just as I was learning to jump.
Our Malvern Stars could jump, just. ;)

How many times was Elizabeth Taylor married, Mr. T?
Posted by boynton at March 10, 2005 04:52 PM

I saw the National Velvet Movie in 1945 while in Sydney. I also attended the Melbourne cup Nov 6 1945. A South Aus horse 'Rainbird' with Sydney jockey Billy Cook was the 12-1 winner, not sure who came second , But third at 14-1 was 'LEONARD'!!
later about 1950, back in my village of Chalgrove u/k , I noticed that a house had been built over the grave of a one ton Shire Horse 'Captain'; buried about 1935, I could not resist revealing this macabre find. The owners; to say the least , were more than surprised.
From then on it would be midnight dreams of Clipity Clop, Headless horsemen, Giddy ups and hearing the 'Ploughman homeward plod his weary way'. Incidently, It was, a 'Gray' horse.
Our house in Chalgrove was named 'Chalgrove Field', being adjacent to the site of the major Cavalry skirmish of 1643. A tall horsey tail indeed.
Posted by John Leonard Spencer at March 10, 2005 04:56 PM

That's a good tall tail, JLS
Re The Cup 1945, apparently Silver Link came second.
I think I may have backed a horse called Leonard, but then, I do have a tendency to back the 4th and last runners in the Cup.
Posted by boynton at March 10, 2005 05:34 PM

Neight times.
Posted by Tony.T at March 10, 2005 07:36 PM

I often wonder if the St Mary's Churchyard Chalgrove with brook flowing by, was the location for Thos Gray's 'Elegy'. It mentions in verse 15, cousins Oliver Cromwell, and John Hampden* who fell during the cavalry battle at Chalgrove Field* 1643.
A day never passes without me remembering my childhood in Chalgrove.** 'Captain was a (Grey) Horse'.
**Skinny dipping innocently in the brook with the boys and girls on sultry summer days, ah well!!
Posted by John Leonard Spencer at March 10, 2005 08:23 PM

fence update

A month after the storm, the fence is getting done
by a friendly backyarder, who took about 20 minutes to cut through a pipe
You don't need that tap anyway, do you?
(It's not my place to say.)
It will be odd living with things set square again.
The perspective has been a bit German Expressionist
but you get used to things teetering on the brink.


in the meantime, anyone for tennis.swf? (via the presurfer)

giant steps

Michal Levy Giant Steps (via anil dash)

When I listen to music I see colors and shapes and when I watch visual art I hear sounds.I wanted to express my sensing of shapes colors and music in this short movie.

(A companion to the link from December- an animation of the ditone and quadratone progression)

netrospective

Yahoo! Netrospective: 10 years, 100 moments of the Web (via the ultimate insult)

yeah?

20 ways to say No (via Twists and Turns)

I do not have any more room in my calendar

"filled" doesn't have to mean really filled

Some things have come up that need my attention
It is temporary and you will have more time when life stabilizes

---

Comments: yeah?

Doesn't "I have to wash my hair" work anymore?
Posted by wen at March 7, 2005 09:06 AM

I'll get back to you when my hair stabilizes?

Yes it would be interesting to transpose some of the personal "no" lines to a business setting.
I liked the relativity angle of the first line (or the commentary), and the inherent optimism of the second.
Posted by boynton at March 7, 2005 09:38 AM

Just say NO !!!!!
Posted by at March 9, 2005 11:02 PM

dyson calling

Via Collision Detection, I see there's a new Dyson vaccum cleaner:

The gizmo alerts the user if it has broken down or needs a replacement part.
The owner then dials the number of the Dyson call centre and holds the telephone receiver to the vacuum cleaner.
The machine transmits a message telling engineers what’s wrong and orders any new part it needs.
Its computer chip even lets them know WHEN it was bought and for how LONG it has been in use.

Makes me look twice at this Dyson. OMG WTF What would it say?
Dob me in for wilfully vacuuming a peg and causing chest rattle until shaking finally induced regurgitation of foreign body?

Would the Dyson ever get off the phone?



Meanwhile if you are collecting vintage vacuum cleaners, don't forget the weave.

Another important thing to know about woven hoses is that they come in weave patterns and color combinations that are brand and model specific. If you're interested in having a completely original machine, finding the correct hose in the right weave and color for your machine can be an adventure.

---

Comments: dyson calling

Vacuum cleaners suck.
Posted by Gerry at March 6, 2005 03:29 PM

In their prime, they do.

I have to say that a Dyson doesn't. That is, it does very well. (And I'm not just trying to suck up to it should it ever be enabled to phone home)
Alas, it is not mine, and soon I shall be living again without a state-of-the-art $$$ bagless cleaning machine.
Posted by boynton at March 6, 2005 03:46 PM

"D5611XA7 checking in... ...No I it make 04:53 AEST... ...yes Australian Eastern Standard Time, you pommy bastard... ...Ha! good one. Trust the Japanese!... ... got one for you too, what do you get if you cross a Gold Star microwave with a Toshiba DVD player?... ...oh right you've heard it... ....Nope, nothing new...yeah OK, its summer and the fucking dog's shedding like crazy. It sucks, but then again so do I!... ... right, heard that one too?... ...so what've yer heard about the new range?... ...Bullshit! No way!... ...we come in yellow and gray, no way around that my man... ... hmmm, you think so... ...right... ...(brszt, crackle, yelp! yelp!, yelp!)... sorry the bloody pooch was chewing on the cable, nothing 240v can't fix... ... h\Heh, heh! Yeah, that was a good scene in "I, Robot", know watt I mean?... ...look mate, I do remember why I was calling in, she was talking about getting a new microwave... ...Visa I think. Hang on, I'll just go get it."
Posted by Nabakov at March 8, 2005 04:49 AM

Crikey! No one is getting out of THAT paragraph alive.
Posted by I.Witness at March 8, 2005 08:52 AM

Conference call - that's a scary concept.

Though it would be good to yell at the Microwave - Would you get off the effing PHONE! What are all these 1800 numbers..?

Another frightening thought is Dyson.blogspot.
Featuring much the same sort of content as the conversation above, but with sport.

Or - the more boyntonesque-
I was down at the op shop today and spotted an Elecrtolux XXX with leatherette. Unfortunately I don't think the hose matches. I can't recognise the weave.
Posted by boynton at March 8, 2005 11:23 AM

Elecrtolux? Is that what you use to do the Hovering?
Posted by Tony.T at March 8, 2005 12:16 PM

Wouldn't be boyntonesque without a typo, Tony.

Or a vacuum without a scambled lead.
Posted by boynton at March 8, 2005 12:27 PM

For the orthenticity?
Posted by Tony.T at March 8, 2005 12:38 PM

Or the buzz. In the city.
Posted by boynton at March 8, 2005 12:46 PM

the buzz of retro-decor-ownership, in the city, of course.
Posted by boynton at March 8, 2005 12:51 PM

Of course. Naturelle Mont.
Posted by Tony.T at March 8, 2005 01:00 PM

but why oh why do the paper dustbags cost more money than the 2kgs 400 glossy pages September issue of US Vogue
Posted by Brownie at March 8, 2005 08:46 PM

Good question. I put it to Google. It didn't know.

I'm a convert now to the Dyson bagless model. Or Dyson imitators. Wonder if there's any going cheap in Godfreys.
Posted by boynton at March 8, 2005 09:05 PM

Hi! D5611XA7 checking in. Any messages for me?

Also yer microwave says it really needs cleaning, there's a furball under the couch I can't quite reach, yer mum rang, again! and yer iPod was up all last night downloading some bad stuff from www.sexyshanghaiaugogopirates.com.
Posted by Nababov at March 8, 2005 09:50 PM

Can you put the Microwave on please, D5611XA7
I really need to speak the Microwave.
Posted by boynton at March 8, 2005 11:15 PM

You'll have wait for 2:30 minutes to talk to the microwave. It's chatting up a hot Saab engine temperature monitoring chip at the moment.

But I think yer dishwasher wants a word with you, once it stops yakking to the CERN synchrotron about les spin cycles.
Posted by Nababov at March 8, 2005 11:53 PM

Ok - put on the old whistling kettle, will you.
We can reminisce about the days when when household appliances were dumb and dumber.
Posted by boynton at March 9, 2005 12:05 AM

WiFi toasting forks!
"Smart" hot water bottles!
Web-enabled barbies!
"Fuzzy logic" ceiling fans!

I'll stop now. I don't wanna put any more ideas into the control chips of our domestic appliances.

Hell no, I'll just pitch them to Pixar instead.
Posted by Nabakov at March 9, 2005 01:12 AM

Fortunately I have never had the presence of mind to talk to any particular household appliance, so I have not had the experience of listening to one reply. I frequently become annoyed when these modern marvels malfunction, but never become abusive, knowing full well I will not receive any response. However, it must be frightfully disturbing for your loved ones having one in their midst, or do they visit you at the temple of Godfreyness during weekends.
My sons ex Dragon in law's Bike, WITCH is behind our shed is free to anyone.A early model Hoover V6 Eight Tie Broom, vgc with new handle,goes well,Brrroooom Brrroooooom.
Posted by JohnLeonard Sspecer at March 9, 2005 01:54 PM

You don't know what you're missing, JLS.

I talk to everything - and some of them talk back. The resident pedometer is quite chirpy.
Posted by boynton at March 9, 2005 02:04 PM

Nab; Unlikely that the Saint Vlad would make such utterances. Didn't like the P B too much, dont trust them nips either. May I have the answer to your question (1),It's not a pom for sure, but may be a Ozbludgerygalah I believe. I am not Micro Wave wise, I did a few air conditioning jobs on Aircraft 44-45, "Banzai".
I am now becoming accustomed to your quaint pidgin grammar. However, I am still trying to make sense out of your reason to electrocate your dog, as you put it,'Just for a laugh. Six of the best for that Nabakov, bend over you wicked boy.
Posted by John Leonard Spencer at March 9, 2005 08:00 PM

http://us.speegle.co.uk/search.php?q=+my+dyson+is+talking&v=&voice=1
Posted by boynton at March 10, 2005 09:29 PM

Heard the haggis man speaking, failed to under stand him. I did up to five results, about loonies vacuuming. Must be a worrying time for Mr Jolly the Electrolux door to door geezer.
I do not vacuum, Mary is my vacuumer. As in, If I have horse, I no pull cart.Mr Macho.
Posted by John Leonard Spencer at March 10, 2005 11:06 PM

Heard the haggis man speaking, failed to under stand him. I did up to five results, about loonies vacuuming. Must be a worrying time for Mr Jolly the Electrolux door to door geezer.
I do not vacuum, Mary is my vacuumer. As in, If I have horse, I no pull cart.Mr Macho.
Posted by John Leonard Spencer at March 10, 2005 11:12 PM