General Discussion Thread

[Jitter]

Eich!



What strange winds are blowing, and bringing many back to us? Haiz was around just a couple of days ago! Lenny at least we are fortunate enough to see from time to time.

It’s good to see you, and good to see we have managed to keep this a friendly place. We try hard to!

[JoB]

Introducing foreign species causes so much unknown desolation. Especially in australia which has soooo many problems with invasive species.

Len has told me all about the cane toads [...]. Australia has a hard enough time with invasive species already, so best not to add on. ^^'

Speaking of which, those have a tendency not to stay "unknown" forever ...

[Yastreb]

I had occasion to look up the TV Tropes entry on Death Worlds, defined as "a highly dangerous place, where simply going there is considered taking your life into your own hands" (the Trope Namer is Harry Harrison's novel). There are the usual categories such as Video Games, Live-Action Movies, Anime & Manga, Literature, etc, and... Real Life.

The Real Life section has three folders; Australia, The Rest Of Earth, and Other Planets and Time Periods.

As an Australian, I don't know whether to feel honoured or disgusted.

[Jitter]

Honored, definitely! It’s a noble feat that you survive

Some of the “Earth is a Death World” stories* use wording ”Earth is Space Australia”

*often also of “Humans are Space Orcs”

[Keep Looking]

Out here one of the most dangerous is the oomycete Phytophthora cinnamonii which causes dieback in a number of native and cultivated species. Disinfecting boots, tools and vehicle tyres is one way to stop the spread. Sometime when it is not the small hours of the morning I will tell you the horror story of how at least one of the infestations got to Australia.

Yeah, Phytophthora dieback is a big problem over here in Western Australia since it hits Banksia trees especially hard, and we've got areas of Banksia woodlands (as far as I know, banksia woodlands aren't found anywhere else) on the coastal plain that are already threatened by land clearing / the constant expansion of suburban sprawl. Dieback can decimate these important Banksia trees even more. There are roads you're not allowed to go down or places you're not allowed to walk over here in some areas because they're trying to keep dieback from spreading. Banksia trees are especially important as well because their big flower heads are full of pollen and nectar and provide an important food source for many native birds, mammals and insects. (I also think they're really neat and that Banksia woodland has incredible biodiversity - when I've been walking in areas of Banksia woodland in the spring with my girlfriend there are always a multitude of different wildflowers).

[wavewright62]

Wh-wh whole forests of banksia??!  Holeee cats

[dreki]

Banksia trees are especially important as well because their big flower heads are full of pollen and nectar and provide an important food source for many native birds, mammals and insects. (I also think they're really neat and that Banksia woodland has incredible biodiversity - when I've been walking in areas of Banksia woodland in the spring with my girlfriend there are always a multitude of different wildflowers).

I'd imagine the biodiversity is partly from all the pollinators.  We're facing a serious crisis from lack of pollinators in the globe overall.

[JoB]

... are we perfectly sure that there's but one Sleipnope ... ?

[Buteo]

I've always been under the impression that perfection is unattainable...
So, no, we aren't.

[dreki]

... are we perfectly sure that there's but one Sleipnope ... ?

Oh I love it. That was beautiful, thank you for sharing it.  Really well done.  Appreciate that deer that lures wolves into the trap.  That one has survival skills.

It does remind me a lot of SSSS - similar to the Kade, imo.  This was a much more satisfying ending to Adv 2.

Also agreeing that there probably is not just one Sleipnope. 

[wavewright62]

Marking myself as Safe, for the flooding that hit Auckland yesterday - over 200mm fell in parts. 
Both my work and home are several floors up in larger buildings, but I had to essentially wade between the two last night.  My daughter went out to get her prescriptions a little later and the water in the streets around downtown Auckland was up to her thighs.  We're not done yet.
So much for going out to the Auckland Folk Festival like I was planning - the venue is mostly flooded and the roads are closed all around it.

[thorny]

200 mm . . . converter . . . 7.87 inches!!

That is indeed a very great deal of rain for one day. Glad that at least you're safe.

[Yastreb]

Wavewright, that's just shocking. I'm glad you're all right.

I've had an odd pairing of events over the last two days.

Yesterday I was heading home by tram when I chanced to see a young woman who was apparently sitting on a Myki card (our variant of an Oyster card). I asked her if the card was hers and yes, it was, it had fallen from her pocket! So that ended well.

Today I was returning home from a doctor's appointment. I was sitting at the far end of the tram, behind a trio of young students who were talking at length about esoteric subjects (Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle was mentioned, and the discussion turned to the question of making an accurate simulation of the Universe). A few minutes later, after the students had left the tram, I changed seats, and saw a small leather wallet on the seat where the students had been sitting. I picked it up and found that it was crammed with IDs of different kinds; driving licence, student card, Medicare, and others. Thinking that the owner would be panicking when he found out the wallet was missing, I searched through it but found no contact number. I gave it to the tram driver to hand in, but first I took a snap of the licence, and when I got home, I googled for the name, which was an unusual one, and found a Facebook page. So I sent an IM that I'd handed the wallet in and the owner replied promptly expressing his relief.

Losing your ID in these days would be a nightmare; I'm glad I was able to get it back to him quickly.

[Róisín]

Good on you Yastreb! Losing your ID these days is a nightmare. Even establishing your identity - for several things I have been doing lately I have had to come up with multiple proofs that I am me. Irritating!

Wavewright: glad you are surviving the floods! We were worried about you. The last folk festival I went to that flooded was one where my sister and a friend and I had to rescue another friend who was camping near us on a large sports oval at the festival site where we had all set up camp ahead of performing the next day. Around midnight the sudden and unexpected storm hit, and by 0200 there was about 18 inches of water running across the oval, surging quite strongly. The friend we needed to rescue was a disabled man who was normally fine with camping, sleeping in his comfortably padded wheelchair. But the storm had brought his tent down on top of him, so we had to distangle both him and his wheelchair from the sodden collapsed tent, then get him to high ground through fast-running water and deep mud. Difficult, but we coped and still managed our show the next day.

Anent music, this evening past was my monthly music night. We had a wonderful time, good company and an enjoyable meal, even if my cat did manage to break a wineglass and the lid of my cookie jar. Cats!

[wavewright62]

I have not updated until now because - the festival is on!  The Festival committee made the (polarising) decision to carry on.  The fairgrounds have several small buildings, so while marquee events and the vendor stalls were moved into those.  New campers were barred from setting up tents (not that you'd want to!), vehicles were barred from the grass, campers were accommodated in marae-style sleeping in the sheds.  (Yikes to Róisín's rescue story! I have seen one wheelchair user on site, although another stalwart with a fulltime carer is absent.)  Although many of the performers and stalwarts were affected by the closure of the airport and the road carnage, most of them were already on site.  The printed schedule was scrapped and they went back to blackboard postings.  Things ran late on the first day because the normal gaps between performers in the venues for sound checks couldn't happen, and in some cases had to be done on the fly.  And the show is ongoing. 
I have not been camping, but coming home each night has its own challenge - our lift cannot be fixed until the basement is pumped out and dried out, soooo up 6 floors I go each time. Slowly.