You could be forgiven if you thought this post was about horse racing and betting, hence the title, but it’s not. It does make you wonder though if bookies would carry a bag full of money out of the racecourse these days. Unlikely. Nor is it about Hedgewars, a turn based strategy, action and comedyContinue reading “39. Hedge your bets”
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38. Toad’s tool, part 2
Forget infantile jokes about how the fairy became pregnant. This is a serious post. Toad’s Tool is the first, and only, graphically oriented Super Mario 64 level editor. Does that mean anything to you? Me neither. An acclaimed scientific journal claims that ‘mankind has hankered after a tool that can detect impending seismic activity’. ItContinue reading “38. Toad’s tool, part 2”
37. Stinkhorn
This is not stinkhorn, of course, that comes later, but it’s very colourful. It has been raining for a week. The forecast for this coming week? More of the same, as much as 50cm in a day. That’s a lot of rain, but nature needs rain as well as sun, of which Australia generally hasContinue reading “37. Stinkhorn”
36. Four years on
Four years on from what? In March 2020 Madame and I were living in rural SW France, in the Pays Basque, where little occurred to disturb the calm of rural life. Millions of lives were then turned upside down when the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced a nationwide lockdown, or confinement. Covid 19 had arrived.Continue reading “36. Four years on”
35. Toby’s return
This post has nothing to do with the stout, jovial man holding a mug of beer and wearing 18th-century attire, a long coat and a tricorn hat. It was the picture that was appealing. There was a time when no British antique shop would have been complete without a Toby jug, but this concerns aContinue reading “35. Toby’s return”
34. Riding the Waves
As our Boeing Dreamliner from the Middle East started its descent you could, with a little imagination, make out moving bodies on the waves far below. This was February two years ago; summer here, but a cold grey winter in the Pays Basque that we had left behind. Biarritz had been our nearest seaside resortContinue reading “34. Riding the Waves”
33. Pride
What does Pride mean to you? The 2023 Mardi Gras Parade? Maybe it’s the 2014 film Pride, when a group of LGSM activists raised money to help families affected by the British miners’ strike in 1984. But why the red carnation? Because it’s a symbol of pride. I say a symbol because the few readersContinue reading “33. Pride”
32. Tattoos
Don’t you think that shopping malls have a ‘sameness’ about them? Our local Westfield probably has a similar layout to those in New Jersey or the Netherlands or the other 32 sites worldwide. One shop that has opened in the mall near us is, as you have guessed, for removing tattoos. Why have them doneContinue reading “32. Tattoos”
31. Home sweet home
I’m on my wayI’m on my wayHome sweet homeYeah, I’m on my wayJust set me freeHome sweet home Have you heard of Mötley Crüe? Maybe not. They’re an American heavy metal band who’ve been around for four decades and who will be touring Australia from November. Why choose them? It was the logo that wasContinue reading “31. Home sweet home”
30. Whither the Weather?
Don’t be put off by the title. It just happens to be the heading of a report produced last year by a meteorological office. Loosely translated it could mean ‘where is the weather going?’ Or, to put it more directly, what on earth is happening to the weather? Today, in rural NSW, the temperature startedContinue reading “30. Whither the Weather?”
Another Down Under diary 