Posted by Jerry on June 26th, 2006 — Posted in Journal, Travel
It began one summer evening, when celebrated semiotician, Jerry, was giving a presentation at a conference in Paris – he even had his Moleskine notebook (standard issue for all celebrated semioticians). That evening the phone went (they’ll pinch anything around here) but actually on further analysis it was only the phone signal. Must buy another recharge card, he thought. He was startled from his reverie by the phone – this time it was ringing with that insistent frog tone that marked his phone from all the other corny ring tones. It was Sharon – something about the Louvre. Jerry headed straight over there, admiring the art nouveau Metro signs at the station.
At the Louvre it didn’t quite add up – who put that ugly glass pyramid in front of this nice building? It was Jerry’s first brush with Modernism. Must have been the Chinese-born American artist Ieoh Ming Pei. He turned, like he had a sour taste in his mouth. Another mystery. There across the river – how did they manage to turn a railway station into the Musee d’Orsay? He headed over to investigate.
Now that was refreshing. His eyes glistened like Monet’s water lillies and he came away with the heady feeling like the world was flowing out of perspective, like Van Gogh’s bedroom – the air conditioning wasn’t working and he decided he was in need of Evian water.
Later, in the parking lot behind the Louvre there was a sign – two signs, connected by some emergency tape. Some random youths were circling on in-line skates. Suddenly one broke free and raced for the tape (this could get ugly) and at the last moment he sprang up over the tape and landed skillfully on his skates. Another, this time on a push bike pedalled furiously while riding on the back wheel – then he lunged forward and coasted for several metres – on the front wheel. The semiotician analysed – what did this mean? And then he had it. “must be French” he muttered – they’re the only ones that skillful. Perhaps they were Templars. No, he decided, they were clearly Hospitallers. It was time to go to the Church of Saint Sulpice.
He found it further up behind the Louvre, on the road towards MontMartre. Not bad as churches go, he thought, but what caught his eye was the antiques market in front of the church – forget the gnomon – and he went to investigate. His gaze was attracted by some white porcelain – perhaps this was an Arzberg teapot? He was, after all, on a quest – and quests give meaning to one’s shopping. Sorely tempted by the antique model steam engine he tried to do a quick calculation of what one hundred and eighty euros was worth in Aussie dollars. He carefully replaced the steam engine – it would keep another day. He admired the traditional market games laid out in front of the church, and smiled.
It wasn’t too far to discover Paris’ true holy relic – Cugnot’s steam carriage, tucked away in the Musee des Arts et Metiers just past the national archive.
Having seen Leonardo’s Mona Lisa some ten years ago, along with the Virgin on the Rocks (sounds like a Richard Branson cocktail drink) he decided it was time to compare the latter with Leonardo’s later version, which hangs in London’s National Gallery. Paris is a place to look up – above the shops are delightful balconies bursting with window boxes of colour. Parisiennes love their flower boxes. And if you don’t see the window boxes, there are always the wonderful baroque architectural details that add visual texture to the streetscape.
To be continued…
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on May 20th, 2006 — Posted in Journal, Travel
Well, it ws a calm day, partly cloudy and time for a flying lesson – something I have wanted to do since I was a kid 🙂 So it was with a tinge of excitement and anticipation that I drove into the airport and parked next to the transportable office with the glass door marked “Brindabella Airlines“. I was quickly introduced to my pilot and he calmly explained the control surfaces and the the three directions of movement provided by the controls. He explained that I would have some good hands-on time when the aircraft would be fully in my control. It all sounded reassuringly straightforward.
The plane is tiny – the size of a small car with wings – and it was reassuringly basic. We started off with a thorough pre-flight inspection – make sure none of the rivets have come loose, or that any of the wire split-pins had come adrift, and that all the control surfaces worked easily, and to check all the leading edges (including the propellor) for any dents or nicks. Then check the undercarriage and the brakes. And then the all important stuff – fuel. This thing runs on 100 octane avgas and it was important to ensure there was plenty of the stuff in the wing tanks, and to check the relief valves and make sure there was no water or grit in the fuel.
The plane is a Cessna 150 which weighs just over 500kg (just twice the weight of my motorbike and lighter than my car) and has a top speed of 202kph (slower by a fair margin than the top speed of the motorbike!) and seats two – a generous assessment.
- Dimensions
- Span : 9.97m (32’9ft)
- Length : 7.34m (24’1ft)
- Height : 2.59m (8’6ft)
- Weight
- empty : 501kg (1,100lb)
- max : 757kg (1,670lb)
- Power Plant : 110hp Avco-Lycoming )-235-N2C
- Performance :
- max speed : 202kmh (125mph)
- ceiling : 14,700ft (4480m)
- range : 1,158km (719m)
The engine – a 110HP horizontally opposed four cylinder air cooled Lycoming motor uses only about 27 litres an hour, so with more than 70 litres of fuel on board we had plenty for my half-hour flight.
The pilot took care of the radio stuff and went through the checklist, and started the ngine, setting the throttle to a bit above idle and got me to feel the brakes and the foot controls. Then with the instruction to taxi following the yellow line he handed over to me. First impression – it feels really counter intuitive to press a right pedal to turn right. So with a real conscious effort I managed to mostly follow the yellow line, and was slightly relieved to find that we would be turning with the ailerons, rather than the rudder. Perhaps it is a car thing – you know, turn right by pushing on the steering wheel with your left hand and pulling with the right – it somehow just felt wrong…
Anyhow from there things got much better very quickly. After waiting for a passenger jet to take off and a Dash-Eight to land, it was our turn to line up on the runway. After clearance from the tower, my pilot took over and opened up the throttle and launched us down the runway.
Once in the air and up to about one thousand feet the pilot handed over and asked me to turn left – just use the ailerons to roll a little (just like a motorcycle) and keep the nose up … “that’s it, now bring it back level – good, so I can relax and go to sleep now?” he said. “Well, maybe in a while” I said – I could feel some mild turbulence, and it took a little while to get used to the feel of the controls – how much movement of the controls produces how much movement of the aircraft. Surprisingly, it didn’t take very long at all before compensating for the small air bumps became fairly straightforward, if not entirely automatic. Soon we turned again and flew over the racecourse, then on to Black Mountain tower – by now we were about three thousand feet. Steering just left of the Tower, we passed over the lake and over Parliament House then another small turn to head towards Woden.
We turned again at Mount Mugga and headed back towards the airport. The airport radioed to let us know there was a Dash Eight making an approach and we could slot in behind for our landing. It didn’t take long to spot the other plane off in the distance at right angles to our path, and we kept going straight in a ‘square pattern’ until the Dash Eight had made its approach, then I turned the plane to line up with the runway as we began our descent. It soon became apparent that the wind was not as calm at our altitude and a 25 kph wind kept making us drift offline. Once I had manoevred us back on track I handed back to the pilot for the landing – and I was glad I did as the approach had a bit of turbulence. But as we levelled out over the runway on our approach the air became smooth again and all too soon we were back on the ground, as I made a rather better fist of taxiing than when we started.
I couldn’t keep the grin off my face as we walked back to to the office and I inquired about what I would need to do to qualify for a basic licence. It actually started to sound quite reasonably priced – and I am very tempted to at least do a follow-up flight very soon 🙂
The folks at Brindabella Airlines are very professional in their approach, and very conscious of safety – I shall certainly fly with them again:-) Thank you Eve – that was a wonderful present!
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on March 22nd, 2006 — Posted in Journal, Technology, Travel
One of the more interesting items on this evening’s Beyond Tomorrow TV program was the air car – two versions: one made in France, the other in Australia.
In Nice in France the air car is about to enter production – capable of up to 110kph, and runs for two hours on AU$2.50 worth of compressed air. So it’s completely non-polluting (at least no more polluting than the electricity grid), exhausting only air back into the atmosphere. You can fill the tanks in about 20 minutes, or four hours using the onboard compressor by plugging it into your domestic power supply.
The Australian air car uses a specially designed rotary engine, rather than the conventional piston engine of the French one, and was designed by Italian-born Australian Angelo DiPietro – a former Mercedes rotary engine designer. His engine is designed for use in buggies, forklifts, and even scooters!
I wonder if by using a variable valve cutoff this could be converted to steam – that way the engine could use the expansive properties of steam to get even more power for the size 🙂
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on February 5th, 2006 — Posted in Journal, Travel
… would you like to go for dinner? With these words, our daughter Eve revealed the birthday gift she had put together for Sharon and I’s combined 50th birthdays. With that, she presented us with a collection of travel brochures for Europe and other parts of the world. To say we were astonished would be an understatement – I was practically in tears!
It seems she had been quietly saving for the past three years for this moment, having come up with the idea the previous year, when she was in Europe herself – backpacking. So for our fiftieth, she is buying airfares and dinner. This gift is doubly amazing when you consider that she earns her living with fire circus performances – it is not an easy way to earn a living.
It’s Sharon’s birthday today, and mine in March, so we have a little time to think about where we would like to go – I suspect that Italy and France are strong possibilities 🙂
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on October 9th, 2005 — Posted in Travel
The cobblestones glistened damply in the morning light as I set off to Covent Garden markets. They had yet to open, but the buildings alone were fascinating. “Here on this site Punch and Judy was first performed in 1648 as witnessed by Samuel Pepys” read one sign. As I approached the market, I noticed a number of bicycles chained to fences. But I knew that Covent garden couldn’t be far away when I saw this two-metre unicycle…
I wish them luck on the cobblestones!
The concert in St Martin in the Fields was breathtaking – a fine complement to the extraordinary architecture.
St Martins-in-the-Fields
The National Gallery has an excellent collection – they were just finishing a Stubbs exhibition – but for me the Canaletto painting from St James Park is always worth a look
London – National Gallery
From Charing Cross it was a quick tube ride to St Paul’s Cathedral – Wren’s crowning achievement after the Great Fire. The dome you see from the outside is only the outermost of three, and was inspired by Bramante’s design for St Peter’s in Rome. The outside one is more cladding than anything, and beneath it is a brick cone that tapers up to support the lantern. Finally there is an inner dome with wonderful frescoes painted by Sir John Thornhill (1716-19) against Sir Christopher Wren’s wishes, that have been newly restored.
St Paul’s Dome
St Pauls inner dome
The whispering gallery (above) actually works – someone across the dome sounds like they are right next to you – a bit disconcerting really! I was treated to a delightful choir practice where the music wafted up into the gallery from the floor below.
It is well worth climbing the 538 steps to the top of the dome – the view is amazing
View from the top of St Pauls Cathedral
Of course London is the place to meet Australians – well blow me kangaroo down sport – if that isn’t Rolf Harris the bloke from Bassendene in Perth Western Australia who made a bit of name for himself with a paintbrush and a wobble board…
Rolf Harris
It seems he was doing a community arts project – Rolf on Art – which involved getting hundreds of people and community groups to paint fragments of famous paintings by numbers – and the result was pieced together in enormous frames in Trafalgar Square. It was a huge event with more than 10,000 people there to see it all come together. It was broadcast by BBC and there were bands and jugglers and demonstrations of Renaissance painting techniques and models of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions and loads more. It was a great atmosphere.
Rolf on Art
The Victoria and Albert Museum has an excellent collection of textiles – including the Jane Bostocke sampler – the oldest dated English embroidery sampler
The Jane Bostock Sampler (1598)
The museum was kind enough to open the musical instruments section just for me after I explained that my hardanger fiddle was modeled on the one they have there, and that I was over for a few days from Australia. I would have been just as happy to come back later when it might have reopened, but the staff were really helpful and gave me a personal tour of that section. They explained that it was closed as they were short of staff that day.
I rounded off the visit with bit of shopping at Harrods. It was the first time I had been to Harrods, even though I had previously lived in London for a year. The decor is, well, a bit over the top… but the staff were very helpful and friendly. And although I expected higher prices, they really weren’t much higher – and the service was excellent. The food hall does spectacular food displays. And if you are from outside of the European Union you can reclaim your VAT on major purchases. This brought the ultimate price of my new mini-disc recorder down to less than I would have paid in Australia.
Harrods
The one place that keeps drawing me back to London is St James’ Park – I love the view from the footbridge towards the Horseguards
And the fact you can walk through the Horseguards to Whitehall – where the Whitehall Cafe serves excellent lunches and a fine pot of tea.
Horseguards, London
All up it was an excellent visit – I’ll post more photos on specific themes later
Cheers
Jerry
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