Flys (Would Make A Great Wallpaper)

Think your tax supports dole bludgers? Think again!

Unless you’re earning at least $1,174 per week, you’re taking more from the tax system than you’re contributing. Or, to use Joe’s terms, at least 60% of Australians are ‘leaners’!

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.glennmurray.com.au/think-your-tax-supports-dole-bludgers-think-again/

If Dr. Who was written by Dr. Seuss

Surf guitar Dr Who theme: The Doctor Dances

Surf guitar meets the Dr Who theme music, who could ask for more?

Spotted Bowerbird Avenue-Bower

Just discovered a avenue-bower of, what I believe is, a Spotted Bowerbird (Chlamydera maculata).  Its just beside the path way to a BBQ area near my Unit.  At first I thought it was just a pile of rubbish but a closer inspection reveals a really nice bower that has obviously been well tended.  Popped out this morning to have another look and I believe I saw a couple of Spotted Bowerbirds in a tree near-bye.  Hope I didn't disturb them!

Well camouflaged, individual Spotted Bowerbirds are sometimes quite difficult to see among the vegetation. They are generally active, and though often shy, they can be quite tame near human habitation. Their presence may be indicated by their distinctive avenue-bower, which is typically built under a shrub and is often decorated with whitish, green, red or shiny objects, including bones, snail shells and berries, often including metallic and glass objects. Unlike some other species, there appears to be no preference for a particular colour when it comes to choosing these decorative objects.

More here:  http://www.graemechapman.com.au/

The Art of Frank Frazetta

This Field in Alberta, Canada Ended Up Looking Just Like The (In)Famous Windows XP Wallpaper

Hey Dad, They Still Make Super Eight Film -A Super 8 Camera For The Digital Age

The Logmar S-8 is a new camera combining classic analog and cutting edge digital technology.  Using Super 8 film, which is still available from Kodak, you can record old-fashioned video.   Digital real time sound recording is done via a SD card.

http://www.rsvlts.com/2014/07/31/logmar-super-8/

One of those waves on one of those days

The Beatles In Washington [1920 x 1080]

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and American Militarism

Back in August 1945, the majority of Americans believed that dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had forced Japan to surrender, thus shortening the war, removing the necessity of an American invasion of Japan, saving hundreds of thousands of American lives, and guaranteeing the security of the United States for the foreseeable future.  Most Americans today probably still believe all but the last.

Few historians would accept any of these propositions without considerable qualification.  The gulf between public belief and the prodigious research and analysis by historians remains wide.  This probably explains why Paul Ham’s Hiroshima Nagasaki: The Real Story of the Atomic Bombings and Their Aftermath is finally getting published in America, three years after its publication in Australia and two years after its British publication.

If this is “revisionism,” then many of the nation’s leading military authorities during and immediately after World War II were also revisionists.  Asked in 1945 for his opinion on dropping the atomic bomb, General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower replied:

“I was against it on two counts. First the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing. Second, I hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon.”

Fleet Admiral William Leahy, chief of staff to both Roosevelt and Truman, flatly declared that:

“The use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender.”

Even the official US Strategic Bombing Survey concluded unequivocally that:

“Japan would have surrendered if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.”  

H. Bruce Franklin on Hiroshima Nagasaki : The Real Story of the Atomic Bombings and Their Aftermath

The Avalanches - 'Since I Left You'

A little more Avalanches magic...

The Avalanches - 'Frontier Psychiatrist'

Ah, a little bit of 90's goodness...

Gramophone Kit

Got given this Gramophone Kit as a present for my Birthday (big shout out to Rosie and Wayne - thanks guys!).  Finally got around to assembling it and giving it a test run.