Laurie Oakes

My view of Laurie Oakes. If not being a tattle-tale at least a childish mischief maker.

What do you think

The Australian Conservation Foundation seems to think the 5% guarantee of Victoria's electricity (see story below) coming from large scale solar power by 2020 is a good thing but, I would have thought 15 0r 20% would have been a better Target. What do you think?

I have been told that if a state the size of Victoria was covered in solar panels it would produce enough electricity to power the world.

My thoughts would be to devide this by the appropriate time zones and spread the fractions around the world so as the solar panels were continually in daylight producing enough electricity. If one country can put man on the moon then 10 countries could easily fund this and make it happen. No more coal burning, no more nuclear power plants. Works for me.

Vic solar guarantee shows way for federal parties

Date: 21-Jul-2010

The Victorian Government guarantee that 5% of the state’s electricity will come from large-scale solar power by 2020 provides a model that parties contesting this year’s federal election should match or beat, the Australian Conservation Foundation said today.

“The Victorian Government is showing how to move forward on clean energy and move away from a pollution dependent economy,” said ACF executive director Don Henry.

“A new national 5% large-scale solar target would result in around 30 solar power stations being built.

“Australia has more sunny days than any other continent; we should be leading the world on solar energy.

“The parties contesting this federal election need to show they have serious plans to put a price on pollution – to level the playing field with dirty energy – and better incentives to encourage the growth of clean energy.

“Australians have been doing a great job putting solar panels on their roofs. What we now need is some big solar power stations to make clean energy cheaper.

“The federal parties should be setting national large-scale solar targets of at least 5% for 2020 and providing better financial support.”

Update 22/7/10

Radicalish











Potentialato










Update 22/7/10

• Planted 2 x rows of Bulls blood Beetroot
  
  
• 2 x rows of dwarf peas
  
  
• Discovered one self starter potato (see above)
  
  
• Growing well - Radish (see above), peas, strawberries spinach and more
  
  
• Chooks; slowing down but still getting a few eggs
  
  
• Wheat; self sown from straw mulch, growing well
  
  
• Weather; frosty mornings but, absolutely magnificent
  
  
• Rainfall; a bit here and there, soil profile is moist :-}
  
  
• Tomorrow?; ah ha ha ha, your just going to have to wait
  

Cheers and have a nice day,

Stewart

Julia Gillard v Little Johnnie

LITTLE JOHNNIE STRIKES AGAIN

Julia Gillard was visiting a primary school where she visited one of the classes. They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asked Julia, the self-avowed saviour of 'working families', if she would like to lead the discussion on the word 'tragedy'.

So Julia (the saviour of 'working families' ) asked the class for an example of a 'tragedy'.

A little boy stood up and offered: 'If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field & a tractor runs over him and kills him. That would be a 'tragedy'.

No, no, no said Julia - that would be an accident.'

A little girl raised her hand: 'If a school bus carrying fifty children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy'

Definitely not, explained Julia, holding her head up and straightening her back that's what we would call “a great loss”.

The room went silent. The remaining children were reluctant to volunteer Julia anxiously searched the room, and eventually she asked, 'Surely there is someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy'?

Finally, at the back of the room, little Johnny raised his hand..

In a quiet voice he said: 'If A plane carrying you and Wayne Swan was struck by a 'friendly fire' missile & blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy.'

'Fantastic!' exclaimed Julia. 'That's a great example. And can you tell me why that would be tragedy?'

'Well,' says little Johnny 'it has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn't be a great loss, and it probably wouldn't be a bloody accident either!'

Plant garlic

All the good folk from www.warmearth.com.au have recommended that it’s not (see below for good advice from the Warm Earth crowd) too late to plant your garlic so if you don’t have yours in yet then maybe it’s time to get crackng.

Plant garlic

There's an old garden tradition that garlic is planted on the shortest day of the year and harvested on the longest, but in actual fact it can go in any time between May and the end of July. Buy seed garlic from your local garden centre or purchase organic, locally-grown garlic bulbs from a farmers' market or greengrocers. Pull the bulbs apart and only plant the fattest outer cloves, as these produce the fattest bulbs. Don't peel off the papery skins. Just poke them in the soil, pointy end facing up, about 5cm deep. Mark the rows so you don't accidentally dig the cloves up again before they've sprouted. Give garlic its own bed and make sure it's weed-free. Mulch after planting and ignore until spring, when you need to regularly water to ensure the bulbs fatten up fast.

All the best and cheers

Stewart

Some plants to plant or sow

In the cooler temperate parts of Oz you could be planting

• Beetroot
• Lettuce
• Cabbage
• Mustard greens
• Peas
• Onion
• Radish
• Shallots
• Snow peas

You'd also be wanting to look at ordering your spuds and Perennial veggies like

• Rhubarb
• Asparagus
• Artichokes
• Horseradish
• etc

Still plenty of time for good soil prep by adding

• Aged animal manures
• Compost
• Blood and bone
• Worm castings if you have them

Good gardening

Stewart

What a prick

I apologize to anyone out side Australia as this will have no meaning to you but this bloke really got under my skin yesterday and I just had to get this off my chest.


Laurie Oakes. What a prick. This bloke goes out of his way to ask a question, in a public forum, about a private and confidential conversation knowing full well she (Prime Minister Julia Gillard) could not answer his question but at the same time firing up a media storm about what happened. My guess is this is nothing more than a game of one upmanship which in many eyes he my have won but leaves me to despise the prick.

Why? Because I think it/he has crossed over the line of basic human decency. What an over self inflated pompous prick.

Half way up or half way down?

So what have I been doing and where have I been? Well let me tell you. No, better still, let me show you.

Ta da



What do you do when your half way up a mountain and you are deciding whether to keep going or to make a strategic retreat? Why, you make a video and sing and dance.


This is the view from not quite half way up Mt. Tibrogargan, part of the Glasshouse Mtns. (http://www.sunshinecoast-australia.com/glass-house-mountains.html) looking westish to Mt. Beerwah (the big one left of screne) plus a few others I've forgotten the names of.
Oh, and um, I did manage about another 50 odd meters up the mtn. but felt I wasn't fit enough to continue and besides that I was shi#%&ng myself.

My 'Take A Walk in South-East Queensland' guide book suggest Mount Tibrogargan is a hard walk, graded (AS Class5). And I'd suggest they have got it right. It goes on to say 'Only confident, experienced scramblers should attempt the steep climb to Mount Tibrogargan's 364 metre summit. It's rated 'hard' because of the precipitous nature of the climb, (the bit I got stuck on) and 'Tibro"has certianly had it's share of fatilities'.

Will I have another go? As the memory of the fear subsides it might become possible. I think I took on way too much in one go so I'm going to try a few smaller and easier mtns. and maybe build up my courage and then decide.

It's no biggie if I don't but I do feel like I've been defeated by my fears, and I'm not fond of that.

Cheers

Stewart

PS
According to Aboriginal legend

According to Aboriginal legend, Tibrogargan (364m high), the father and Beerwah (555m - highest peak) the mother, had a number of children. Coonowrin (377m high - narrowest and most dramatic of all the volcanic plugs) was the eldest, Tunbubudla were the twins (293m and 312m), Coochin (235m), Ngungun (253m), Tibberoowuccum (220m), Miketeebumulgrai (199m) and Elimbah (129m).

The legend tells of Tibrogargan noticing that the sea was rising and calling out to Coonowrin to help his pregnant mother gather the young children together so that the family could flee from the rising sea. Coonowrin ran away in fear and Tibrogargan, incensed by his son's cowardice, followed and hit him so hard with a club that his neck was dislocated. When the seas retreated the family returned to the plains. Conowrin, teased about his crooked neck and ashamed of his behaviour, went to Tibrogargan and asked for forgiveness but the father just wept with shame. Conowrin then approached his brothers and sisters to ask forgiveness but they too could only weep with shame, thus explaining the area's many small streams. Tibrogargan then called Conowrin and asked why he had failed to help Beerwah. He explained that he felt she was big enough to look after herself, though he did not know she was pregnant. Tibrogargan then turned his back on his son and still gazes out to sea today, refusing to look at his son who forever hangs his crooked neck and cries. Beerwah, the mother, is still pregnant, as it takes time to give birth to a mountain.

"Butta Bing Butta Boom"

This will be the third year my Asparagus has been planted so I'm looking for a good and long cropping season. I'm especially anticipating dipping my Asparagus into some fresh soft boiled eggs as well.

So it was, it was, time to do some maintainence on them.

They didn't need much work. I just had to cut the old growth away to ground level, a quick weed, a couple of handfuls of blood and bone, a bucket of compost and a biscuit of straw for mulch and "Butta Bing Butta Boom" and Bob's your uncle, job done.

Now just add water, sit back and wait.














BTW

Q How Do You Catch a Unique Rabbit?
A Unique Up On It.

Q. How Do You Catch a Tame Rabbit?
A Tame Way, Unique Up On It.

Cheers

Stewart

An Aussie Icon

While I was out walking yesterday training for my climb up Mt. Tibrogargen, next Tuesday morning, when I spied this guy/girl. Obviously my camera skills need some polish 'but hey', it'll do for now.

Kookaburra

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Gay your life must be

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gum drops he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
Leave some there for me

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
That's not a monkey that's me

Kookaburra sits on a rusty nail
Gets a boo-boo in his tail
Cry, Kookaburra! Cry, kookaburra!
Oh how life can be

The most splendid of visions

While out dodging dodgy drivers in my Taxi yesterday I had to make a detour and as I came around a corner I spied, possibly, the most florescent camellia I think I have ever seen. And while I was admiring this most splendid of visions it almost turned me into one of the dodgy drivers I was trying to dodge. So today I just had to go back and take a few photos and a Video just so I could show you. It might not be quite as brilliant as yesterday due to today being very overcast but I think you will get the idea.

The flower might not be the showiest going around but the colour and the sheer quantity of flowers sure made this one heck of a shrub to visit.

Cheers

Stewart

Me and uni meeting again.

Yikes, I just rang the Uni of SQ. to find out about my progress in their Tertiary Preparation Program (TPP).

They said I have been accepted and the books are on their way. Mild panic and excitement is setting, again. Lets hope I can stay on my push bike for the whole of the next semester.

Here's a musical treat to me and uni meeting again, or is that Uni and I?