More Dragons in the Sky

It seems to be the season for seeing dragons in the sky. Here are two having fun on Saturn, complete with sparkly-bally-thing.

What happens when you let pinheads run a country

Our Story:
For those who came in late, or at least aren't part of a certain F1 tipping competition, here is a little rant I spat out this morning, on hearing the official news that there will be an F1 car driving around the Harbour Bridge on Sunday morning, but due to a massive attack of beaurocracy, no-one will get to actually see it. Thank you, the litigious scum that make up most of Australia's popuation. Anyway, on with the rant before this turns into another...

For those in Sydney, we all get to sleep in Sunday morning thanks to typical Australian ingenuity and know-how. Or should that be no-how?

The bridge is closed for Mark Webber to drive his Williams across it, and you would expect the pedestrian walkway to be packed out, right? No. That's closed, because it is DANGEROUS. Mark's car will be limited to lightly touching the clutch in 1st gear - 90km/h, because it's DANGEROUS.

Anyone who has walked across the Bridge will have noticed that trucks seem to barrel across the Cahill at or around 90km/h? No-one closes the bridge because they are DANGEROUS, especially when over-loaded, poorly maintained and driven by gorillas smashed out of their skulls on effedrine. Not even the security guard would be able to help you there. There's a point - if the Bridge is closed to all people, that means the security guards won't be there! The Bridge is WIDE OPEN to TERROR ATTACKS! DON'T PANIC! DON'T PANIC!
Some other mighty-pissed-off punter phoned the radio this morning to point out that a similar event in London took place through streets packed with spectators, seperated from these DANGEROUS machines by a rope. Not steel fences, rope. While Britain might be being run by a Government that is a tad screwed in the head, at least they aren't being run by LAWYERS.

Rant over, nothing to see here, these aren't the droids you are looking for, you can go about your business, move along, move along.

空气龙 - Or Silly Westerner Stares At Clouds

I saw three dragons on the way home today.

The first was from the bus, to the east over the harbour. It was large, probably a few kilometres long.

The second two were from Crows Nest, to the south-west and smaller and higher.

They were not the unwieldy Western dragons that religious figures kill to prove Mankind's mastery over nature and heathens; they were the graceful dancing dragons of the East. The first one was all by itself, without even the sparky-flaming ball thingy. The second two were flying together, having fun. I guess all three were having fun.

Not being an expert on such things, I think they were 空气龙 (or kongqi-long for those without Eastern fonts), which is my own translation and probably very wide of the mark.

Of course, they were clouds that looked a lot like dragons. It got me thinking though that I was most likely the only one to see them, due to the angles of late afternoon sunlight - they would have looked different from other directions - and the odds of other people staring aimlessly into the sky and trying to see shapes in clouds. I think these days, in Sydney, the odds of that are about 1 in 10^6 given a population of about 3x10^6 - I know of only two other people likely to do such frivolous things.

I would expect these days there are not lessons in lying on your back staring at clouds, unless it was to spot useful things like Share Transaction Statements, All-Wheel-Drive-Soft-Roaders, or the latest info on the property market. It's probably the kind of passtime that will get you labled as 'terrorist' or 'illegal foreigner', and likely to get you locked up and ignored or tortured for six months.

So from spotting dragons we get to the state of contemporary Sydney lifestyles.

Sydney - 2 : Corinoco - 1 (one point for seeing dragons)

The Cuddly Menace

The Cuddly Menace

We are under attack.

Be vigilant.

They are everywhere.

Tetsuya's - The Drawings

As mentioned, last weekend Syn, Bear & I had dinner at Tetsuya's on the occasion of Syn becoming older than she was on the previous day.

It was Syn's intention to take photos of the meal, but due to reluctance of Bear to photograph High Art, and my usual forgetfulness (brought on by my horribly shabby Pulsar's doors being opened by a squad of tuxedo-wearing ninjas) we didn't take photos of the meal. When we got home, we were however inspired to draw the meal. We didn't draw all the dishes, and I cannot remember the exact wording or ingredients of some of them either. The missing dish is Slow Roasted De-Boned Rack of Lamb with White Miso & Smoked Eggplant, which was our least favourite dish. Mind you, just this dish alone would still qualify as Top Nosh anywhere else; it was our least favourite of the ten courses.

The other missing dish is the Strawberry Shortcake Desert that you drink out of a shotglass.

Enough talk.

Hors d'oeuvres (bloody hell that was hard to spell check! Horse Devour? Thanks, Word!) The small ramekin contains truffle & cheese butter, composed of Tetsuya's Truffle Salsa; this is actually more addictive than crack cocaine. The small round thing with dots was a Blessed Caviar & Egg Sandwich Of Disproportionate Taste-To-Size Ratio +5.


Carpaccio of Beetroot with Tonburi & Caviar


Gazpacho with Spiced Tomato Sorbet, Tuna Sashimi and Something Else


Marinated NZ Scampi with Foie Gras & Walnut (I swooned with this one)


Confit of Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Konbu, Daikon & Rocket


Spatchcock on Soybeans (has a better name, which I have forgotten)


Ravioli of Lobster with Scallop and Tarragon Mousse, Tomato & Basil


Cherries, that I wouldn't normally eat but did this time because they were so yummy (again, I have forgotten the full name, and I don't usually eat cherries due to repressed trauma)


Chocolate Terrine with Mascarpone and Cognac Anglaise (we thought this was the strongest chocolate ever until the next dish turned up)


From L to R: World's Most Evil Chocolate Sorbet, some other sorbet cowering in fear, World's Most Chocolate Flourless Cake, a Candle for Suyin's Birthday (inedible)


The result - Bear managed to smuggle out some treaties for Kimi & Linus, making them now the Official World's Best-Fed Ratties. rumor has it they now demand truffles and M.Cluziel chocolate for dinner.



Verdict: So far the best meal I have eaten. Ever.
"You mean we're not dead?"
"Dead, Sir? No, Sir. Sir is most evidently alive, otherwise I would not attempt to serve Sir. If you would care to take drinks in the bar, and then I will accompany you to your table, and afterwards the Universe will explode for your pleasure."
"Wow, what sort of drinks do you serve here?"
"Ah, I think perhaps Sir has misunderstood me."
"Oh, I hope not!"

The drinks in question actually were Pan-Galactic-Gargle-Blasters, well at about $2,500 a bottle I hoped they were. Surprisingly though, the Universe did explode for our pleasure; shortly after tasting the Chocolate Sorbet.

Cricket Hurt / Tetsuya's Not Here

I played cricket today. I have never actually played in a organised game of cricket with proper equipment (like real cricket balls, and thus full pads, etc) in my life. I have seen plenty of them before though, so how hard could it be?

I have a new apppreciation for test level players who do this for five days. OK, well two-and-a-half days if they are Australian or facing Australia.


The other bit of news is that last week I had dinner at Tetsuya's; I was asked by Bear & Syn to celebrate Syn's most recent birthday. Lucky the cricket was a week after; it was a seriously good meal, and I really could only sit down on Sunday and wonder in awe at the lingering tastes.

Syn wanted to take photos os the meal; Bear was a bit wary of such an idea. I was neutral, so I brought my camera. Which we left in the car. As it turned out, the table next to us brought their camera and had their photos taken (most likely with big smiles on their faces) so it would not have been a problem. Anyway, when we got back to my place, we all drew pictures of the courses. I scanned them, and I was meant to put them on the web today, but I am too sore from cricket to do it. Only my fingers will move, and only enough to type this post.

Tetsuya's drawings tomorrow, I promise.

'Zero intelligence' trading closely mimics stock market

"A model that assumes stock market traders have zero intelligence has been found to mimic the behaviour of the London Stock Exchange very closely."

Yes, I know, this is ever-so-slightly out of context. I couldn't resist it though; it sums up my views of the so-called 'science' of Economics quite nicely. No wonder Astrology is so useful for predicting economics. I should also think chicken entrails, tossing coins, hacking off your feet with a blunt axe, and wearing business suits are all about as useful too.

No wonder I want to sell these people Audiophile-Grade Organic Vibration Differential Cross-Modulators!