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Bangle bling

Posted on June 10, 2012 by John

It’s been a wet Sunday so I decided to do something I’d promised Jan ages ago – turn an ornamental bamboo ladder into a wall-mounted bracelet organiser. I expect many of you are thinking “A bracelet organiser – that’s exactly what I’ve always wanted!”

A few hours later and a little bit of swearing – voila! It’s a little bit zen, a little bit Japanese and yes, a little bit crooked, but that is because bamboo is a natural product and has a slight curve, so there.

*Here’s a little tip for my readers who are handypersons. If you are screwing brackets to a plasterboard wall that encloses a sliding door, pay careful attention to the length of your screws.

It can be unsettling to discover the ensuite sliding door is firmly fixed in the open position.

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Lights, camera, mild action

Posted on May 31, 2012 by John

Jan and Claire in front of a plastic igloo

We went out last night to take a look at Vivid, Sydney’s festival of lights around parts of the harbour. We first went to Rushcutters Bay to collect Claire, a Cambridge colleague of Jan, who is visiting from England. After a meal at Firefly, the tapas bar facing the posh finger wharf apartments on Hickson Road, we wandered past many interesting exhibits along the foreshore all the way around to the Opera House.

There were lots of intriguing artworks. There was a bicycle-powered projector showing a film on a small screen if you pedalled hard enough, there were many installations that reacted to your presence, and amazing projections on the facades of the Museum of Modern Art and Customs House. Plus, more amazing projections onto the sails of the Opera House.

: Jan and Claire by something shiny

One of the best bits was a wall of small flaps with bright lighting behind. If you went up close and screamed at the wall, the flaps would open to reveal the lights. The highest rows of flaps responded to the higher pitches of the screams and vice-versa. Kids loved this!

Particularly loud screams prompted big reactions from the wall – and also from those watching, who applauded them!

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Big cat diary

Posted on May 24, 2012 by John

Ripley the Maine Coon has been recovering well from his mystery illness. With two steroid tablets a day, his limp has disappeared and he seems much more healthy and active. The term “active” means as compared to other cats, of course.

: Hunter and prey

So active that he killed two rats the other day and posed with them for pictures on the lawn. So cats can be useful.

Although if we added up the staggering quantities of cat food consumed + monstrous vet bills, the cost per dead rat would be quite high. It would probably be cheaper to hire a mafia hit man to come and shoot the rats.

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Happy landings

Posted on May 24, 2012 by John

A lovely day of model flying at the weekend. Clear skies and a light breeze, great Sydney autumn weather. I can fly some smooth aerobatics and now the wilder stuff they call 3D flying – that includes end-over-end flips and hovering the plane. My Extra 300 model now has just over 250 flights on it, a record for me!

I’m working on building my 1/4-scale Spitfire, but it is slow going. I’m enjoying the build and taking my time. It has a fibreglass fuselage with built-up balsa and ply wings and tailplane. It is designed for an 80cc petrol engine but I will power it with an electric motor and a big battery pack. If you use a petrol engine you have to cut a hole in the front of the plane to let air in to cool the engine and that doesn’t look very realistic!

Instrument panel

Spitfire fuselage

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Lots of aeroplanes at the Gong Show

Posted on May 6, 2012 by John

A lovely autumn day in Sydney, clear skies and 21 degrees forecast. So we head down to Wollongong for an airshow at Albion Park airfield, the home of the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society. It’s an easy drive, a bit less than two hours and no queues to get into the car park. It’s called Wings Over Illawarra.

Some terrific machines there, including the Lockheed Constellation, Vampire, A37 Dragonfly and Wirraways. The Temora Aviation Museum brought along their Hudson (pictured) Meteor and Wirraway.

The Roulettes RAAF team put on a show of formation aerobatics, graceful but not terribly exciting. Lots of people having a lovely time. I saw a couple of old friends. Joel Haski, the boss of Red Baron flying school, was flying his little jet, the A37, in the show. We bumped into the Temora museum boss, Kenny Love, and had a chat.