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Topic X - the grand ingredient of blogger's paradise... is it the technology and the process that has eveyone rivetted, or the pearls of wisdom in regular blogs?

Adelaide is an education and does exhibit some small evidences of sentient life

Adelaide is an education and does exhibit some small evidences of sentient life

I wonder where this will go????

Tuesday, Feb 11th, 2003

Mmm...just figured out that the latest entry in the blog should really go at the top of the page...I wonder if I'll ever get into the habit of writing worthwhile things here on a regular basis??

Can I insert text here?

Adelaide's weather is stuck in one of its holding patterns, and this is a good one. Days of 28-30 and cool nights. Mid-February and still no savage heat waves in this part of the country. A bit gloomy to be back at work. Everyone is on about the usual back to work stuff - principally budget cuts. There was a little relief from this analysis of the TAFE system called the Kirby Report which told us what we all knew (we kind of felt for a short time that it wasn't our fault). The organisation has been badly mismanaged and squeezed at the same time by a government that was more intent on divesting itself of ownership of, and responsibility towards, public services. Things may improve in the next budget but in the meantime the belts are tightened. No matter whose fault it may be, economic hard times at work are ahead.

Highlight of my day? A wonderful walk along Semaphore beach on my way home from work. Saw these 2 guys kite surfing (is that what it's called?) and it looked exhilarating.

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Thursday, February 6th, 2003

With all the best will in the world I haven't been here for months. Too many other things to do, and summer to be enjoyed. Still, here I am. I'm back at work (I've been made permanent!) and I'm hoping to win a Flexible Learning Leaders scholarship this year looking into the use of voice online. If I'm successful this will mean a wonderful year of travel and lots of hard work.

I guess the highlight of my summer was a week over on the West Coast of South Australia reliving old haunts with my brother, and visiting lots of places we frequented as kids. We got as far as the legendary Cactus, headed back down that superb coast via Elliston to Port Lincoln, and back to searing hot Adelaide. In the background all summer was talk of war with Irag, and it is still on the horizon. We've got to somehow stop this happening......

First Entry

To blog or not to blog? Well the time has come. I am going to give it a try.
I don't promise any great literature, but it seems everyone is doing it. Well
a lot of people are. And I am interested to see if I can maintain this on a
regular basis, and to see if anyone reads it, and whether anyone will contribute.

Blogs do seem a viable alternative to email listservs, and in some cases may
even function much the same way as websites do.

Today I've been down the coast south of Adelaide. It was a superb spring day
and I had a wonderful walk along the beach at Moana
before going to visit my friend Mark
and his partner Sue. Mark has recently become a full time employee of WebCT,
and Sue looks after the Adelaide Theatre
Guide website, for which I write occasional reviews.

Song #20.1 Down by the Sea

DOWN BY THE SEA

Chorus

See no reason to leave peace by the sea

See no reason to leave down by the sea

 

Daughter of Hitler’s land

You showed me the rocky path

Down to the sea

You brought peace to me

Down by the sea

Chorus

Lady from a forest home

Who knows the joy of touching skin

Your man there with the always grin

Smilin’ so easily

Down by the sea

 

Chorus

And those from the midnight sun

Mid-life crisis just begun

Young suitors in tow

Down by the sea

 

See no reason to leave down by the sea

See no reason to leave down by the sea

We’ll all meet again some day

Maybe under a southern sky

In the Antipodes

Down by the sea

 

And those who call this island home

Turn to wine to help them through

Too many foreign mouths to feed

Sweet bitterness

Down by the sea

 

Chorus

 

Patmos 1981

 

Commentary

Observations of various people met on Patmos. I remember playing around with this while sitting on the sand right at the water’s edge at night. The sound of the gentle lapping of waves made the perfect accompaniment to the soft moody feeling of the song. Any recording would need to include such a sound effect!