This will hurt me...

Have you checked your manhole today? Long Beach Walkway, Sandy Bay. January 2012. Last week's Top Five involved the bowling line-up of players that I've seen play , so I figure this week's top five six should finish the task. Thus, The Top Five Six Batsmen I've Seen Play Cricket To Be In My Side I Was Picking A Squad To Play A Test Against A Team Of Robots Programmed To Play Cricket Really Very Well! [In Batting Order.] [Note: this team will be playing to the rules of the mid-1980s, so we're allowed plenty of bouncers. Also, the curator has been told to prepare a tasty wicket, so no flat track rubbish that you see nine out of ten in modern tests...] C.G. Greenidge S.M. Gavaskar S.R. Tendulkar I.V.A. Richards S.R. Waugh (*) A.C. Gilchrist (wk) This team is rounded out by Imran Khan, Richard Hadlee, Shane Warne, Malcolm Marshall and Curtley Ambrose. Should be tough to beat on all tracks I reckon. Just missing the cut were Brian Lara, Mohammad Yousuf, Javed Miandad, R...

Metal plus seaside equals corrosion. Little Howrah Beach, October 2011. I've warned Ezra about jumping up and down too vigorously on corroded man personholes, utilising the tried an true 'fear' approach (i.e. there are crocodiles locked up in there). As long time readers will intimately know, I have been a passionate and enthusiastic supporter of manhole protection for many years now.

Metal plus seawater equals rust. Blinking Billy Point, Sandy Bay. September 2011. The Internet can be a wonderful place. The following are some things that I've had a look at in the last few days. I might call this: a Compendium of Click-throughs for Monday Morning ... A fantastic spiced cauliflower soup with yoghurt recipe that I made last night. Well worth the [little] effort. A depressingly familiar tale from Africa, How the teachers of hope I met in the Congo were brutally killed A well researched and written piece on shark nets in Australia . Conclusion? Shark nets are a placebo that happen to be a dangerous one for other wildlife. An interview with Steven Pinker about his new book that explores brutality is waning. A big call, but his thesis is that far from being the bloodiest era in human history, ours is a time when violence has been in steep decline. To end with something lighter, 50 of the World’s Best Breakfasts ! India seems a little off, but I like to the look of Ir...

S-Express? Near ANZAC Park, Lindisfarne. October 2011. Today's Sunday Top Five is another for the etymologists out there. Today I am thinking about My Top Five Words Beginning With The Letter 'S' This Sunday! Succulent , as in "My wife's thighs are indeed succulent ." Scurrilous , as in "You sir must die for the scurrilous filth you have been peddling about my wife!" Sempiternal , as in "Yes, my love for her is sempiternal ." Skullduggery , as in "She may disrobe in front of the window, but that does not justify this kind of skullduggery !" Supercilious , as in "Alas sir, that kind of supercilious display may impress other women, but it will not with my wife."

Mother Nature is trying her level best to claim back this very small patch of land down by the docks. I wonder if the council have fully considered the security implications of their manhole ?