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Calm Waters

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

The water of the Bay is remarkably calm today, almost glassy in spots. A very rare occurrence.

There was a sailboat fairly close to shore, and I could actually see it’s reflection in the water. It was a very pretty sight.

Unfortunately, the lack of wind that helped calm the waters also calmed the boat’s sails — my joy in the sight of the boat probably suffers in comparison to the curses of the sailboat captain who must now turn on his or her motor in order to continue.

Enough distraction, back to MT.

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Oregon Weather

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Jonathon likes the weather he experienced in Portland Oregon. I lived in Portland for four years, and in Seattle for nine years — after a time the drizzle and overcast can get a bit wearying, especially if you live in the city.

Out of the city, though. That’s where the mist comes into its own.

Cannon Beach, Oregon — one of my favorite places. Grab a slicker and walk the beach during a rain. You’ll have the waterfront to yourself, and the mist combined with the surf is oddly peaceful, tranquil.

Or the San Juan Islands — the mists there are almost a veil, tossed carelessly across the waters and islands. In the winter you can find stretches of area where you’re alone on the water, you, your boat, and maybe, if you’re lucky, a Killer Whale or two.

We don’t have that much drizzle in the San Francisco area, but overcast and rain is pretty common in the Winter. The best, though, is the Summer fogs. Driving along the peninsula you can see the fogs roll in from the ocean, soft, thick, beautiful. I would deliberately wait for days when fog is in to walk along the beach by the Golden Gate Bridge.

The fog cuts off the city and obscures the bridge, and its you, the beach, and pelicans and sea lions hunting fish close to the shore. Out of the mists you can hear the Bridge fog horms, and you can almost feel the large container ships passing along the waterfront beside you.

Nice memories. Thanks for triggering them.

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Krispy Kreme

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

I had this most horrible nightmare last night.

I dreamed that I was on a deserted tropical island, and the only thing I had to eat and drink was blueberry bagels slathered in Vegemite, with room temperature, flat Foster’s to wash them down. And it was in color, too. Shudder What does it mean?

I’ve heard enough about Tim Tams to know that I must try them. I live in one of this country’s most sophisticated and urbane cities; only 8% of the population that live here can afford to live here. Surely there must be some shop somewhere that sells a cooky labeled as “sexy mass-market”. That description fits San Francisco so well!

I kept trying to think if there was a particular food item that has similar universal appeal and fondness in this country. One that can also generate the same wistful thoughts, prolonged discussion, and copious drooling from even the most hardened weblogger. Just before I went to bed last night it came to me: Krispy Kreme.

I have seen weblogs devote an entire week to nothing but postings about a new Krispy Kreme that opened in the neighborhood. Cars can line up for blocks waiting to get into a Krispy Kreme outlet. Little old ladies with blue hair will run people over with their shopping carts in a mad scramble to get the one remaining box of Krispy Kreme’s.

Why, in certain parts of this country, if you come between a Man or a Woman and their Krispy Kreme, they’ll shoot you.

And on that bit of cultural exchange, I think I’ll sign off and get to work for the day. Beautiful clouds across the Bay today, as shown in this photo snapped with my handy Nikon 995 digital.

P.S. Just joking about that shooting part. Really. Honest. Cross my heart.

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Australian Food

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Within comments that arose in the last Blog Party (see previous posting) a little cultural edification:

Tim Tams are a sweet that the Australians seem to universally love, at least from my understanding. I found an excellent write up that says “They’re a sexy mass-market product, available at supermarkets, service stations, convenience stores and corner shops nationwide.”

I’ve not had the privilege of having a Tim Tam — yet — but I have had the next item, Vegemite. What is vegemite? Well, I don’t know. Not sure I want to know, but I do know it’s healthy.

Vegemite is an acquired taste. You can acquire this taste quickly by laying some out on bread with butter, licking your finger, inserting said finger into electrical outlet, and eating the vegemite smeared bread while enjoying the tickling charge of the electrical current. There’s a fun looking site devoted to the stuff.

I jokingly mentioned Foster’s in the comment list, but EVERYONE knows that Australians never drink Foster’s, they leave it for the tourists. I think one of the more colorful descriptions was “piss water”? Is that it? I’ve had Foster’s. I’ve tried muddy water, too, when I was child. The water had more flavor … and more roughage, too. Foster’s web site.

Now, any readers from Oz (JonathonAllan, and Garth) you be sure to correct me if I’m mistaken with any of this.

And that leads us to a new song in BurningBird’s repository — the Vegemite song!

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Speaking of Affordability

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Speaking of affordable living, did you know that the American dollar is worth 1.92 Australian dollars at today’s exchange rate? So, if you have an income from the US and lived in Australia, you could indulge in mighty high living.

What do you think, Australia — would you like more yanks in your neighborhood?

Of course, there’s a few hitches along the way. First, Australia has one of the most restrictive immigration policies in the world. If you read the Sydney Morning Herald, it frequently has stories about the refuge problem in Australia, including this one about refuge children in today’s edition.

For some reason, technology people are particularly interested in moving to Australia. I know I was seriously considering it – until I found out how difficult it is for people to move there, especially in these troubled financial times. If you’re interested, I’ll point you to web sites with information on the topic.

I wonder if techies want to go to Australia because we have this impression that the country is the last frontier, the land of the truly free, where any Joey or Jenny can carve their own niche without government intervention. Wake up, Babees! As you’ll read at Jonathon’s weblog as well as this opinion piece about South Australia’s censorship bill and the impact on P2P technologies I did for O’Reilly Network, Australian has some of the most restrictive laws on acceptable Internet content.

Still, there are all those people with them sexy Australian accents…. growrrrrr!

Update: Thanks to Zem for clarification and additional information on censorship, and to Jonathon on the issue of immigration not being the same as a difficult boat people situation.