Has Sydney's Air Become Cleaner?

Over the last few weeks I've often seen the Blue Mountains from places near my flat in Crows Nest, such as the Harbour Bridge and the Pacific Highway. They're at least 50km away (80km for some of the higher ridges) but can be clearly seen on a majority of cloudless days.

I recall this happening only occasionally back in the late 90s; most days there was too much haze to see any part of the Blue Mountains. I don't know what it is (old sooty cars being taken off the road? fewer home fireplaces as people renovate?) but particulate emissions in the Sydney basin seem to be way down.

Unexpected Accuracy in a Blockbuster Movie

I saw the movie "Iron Man" this afternoon, and thought it was a pretty good superhero movie, even if the plot wasn't particularly original. While there was some dodgy science (to be expected in this sort of movie), I was pleased to see the writers get one big thing right and add one small detail.

Big thing: the power source was the critical component of the Iron Man suit, which only the genius Tony Stark could invent. In real life energy storage is a major limiting factor in a number of technologies e.g. electric cars or the conversion of power grids to solar generators.

Small detail: James Rhodes, Tony's air force liaison, is clearly wearing an MIT class ring in some scenes. It's a cute touch that only MIT alumni would even notice.

Unexpected Benefits of Glasses

I started to wear glasses a couple of months ago, after the lenses inside my eyes became less flexible with age and lost the ability to focus on distant objects. My distance vision was probably deteriorating for a year or two before that and probably affected my perception of England. I thought the English landscape was soft and blurry, which I attributed at the time to the abundant vegetation and persistent drizzle. Now I think it was just out of focus!

My specs have given me a much sharper view of useful things like stars and street signs, but they're also proving useful as shields. Last weekend at a party I stood near a fire, and some smoke that blew in my direction hurt my eyes much less than I expected. This evening I sliced some onions while making dinner, and found that I didn't need to submerge them to stop my eyes watering. Four eyes are actually better than two.

One final point: I know some of my relatives have taken digital photos of me in the last couple of months. Could someone send me one of these recent photos to use as an accurate profile picture?

Another Limerick

Back on April Fool's Day I demonstrated some rhymes for "orange" and "Australia." Tonight I cram both difficult words into one lame poem.

A limerick that rhymes on Australia
Must employ verbal paraphernalia,
Then when you add orange
The rhymes become quite strange,
But it's still a success, not a failure.

War On ...

I was irked by Time magazine's cover this week, "How to Win the War on Global Warming." The phrase "War on [problem]" was bad enough when applied to drugs or terror, but at least those crises could be blamed on small groups of "enemies." There was a clear analogy to a military campaign.

In contrast, global warming is caused by everyone on the planet, and averting that catastrophe will be very different to warfare. Many aspects of our society (energy generation, transport, manufacturing, etc.) will have to change in order to avoid global warming; the appropriate image would be revolution, or maybe renaissance. The combat metaphor doesn't make sense, and encouraging a martial mindset doesn't help.

Could we all declare a ceasefire on emotive misuse of language?

Rugby League Heritage

Yesterday I went to my first rugby league game since the 90s, watching the Tigers hammer the Rabbitohs at the Sydney Cricket Ground. My cousin Jeff was going with some friends, and it was a good chance to catch up with him. The SCG used to host the big football games before newer, purpose-built football grounds were built in the last few decades. This game was played at the historic ground as part of the "heritage round" celebrating the centenary of Australian rugby league, and we were even allowed to wander out on the ground after the match.

Jeff and I had a good chat, discussing work, travel plans, family news etc. I found that a footy crowd isn't the best place for a conversation; my voice got a bit strained from talking over the general noise. Still a good afternoon overall.

Some of Jeff's friends knew my brother Joseph and were able to see the family resemblance. They said it was much stronger when I took my glasses off, one person even comparing the effect to recognising Clark Kent's true identity when he removes his specs. I'm sure Joseph will be pleased to learn that we no longer look as similar now that I wear glasses, and particularly gratified that he gets the Superman half of the analogy.

Mmmmm, Shark

Tonight I tried out the local fish and chips shop, and found that they do a excellent, greasy job of frying up their wares. I also appreciated the chance to eat shark, which is the default fish in Sydney if you don't ask for something more expensive. I can tell that shark has a slightly bitter and unpleasant taste compared to other white fish such as cod, but that's what I grew up eating and that's what fish should taste like. Plus, there's no chance of stray bones surviving the filleting process.