Archive for January 2009
The cost of the inauguration
On Inauguration Day one of my oldest friends asked on Facebook quite innocently "[I] just read that this inauguration cost 170 MILLION dollars… Wow… Don't care who's going in to office… did we really need to spend that much at this time?" With all the respect that's due someone I've known for 20+ years, I…
Read MoreHow To Build A Cold Frame To Start Your Seedlings
God knows I’m a complete punter when it comes to building anything in my workshop, but I’m even worse at growing things, so when there’s work to be done on the house or in the yard, I’m the guy that uses the power tool to build things or (intentionally) kill things. Given that our yard…
Read More“Falling Off The Edge: Travels Through The Dark Heart Of Globalization”, by Alex Perry
So I’ve been to some crazy places in this world (Cuba without a visa, Northwest Frontier of Pakistan with minimal bodyguards) but I’ve got nothing on a war correspondant like Alex Perry. His book, “Falling Off The Edge: Travels Through The Dark Heart Of Globalization” is not the anti-globalization screed you might expect it to…
Read MoreEmbrace change
My first day in the office of the new year is also the day I hung up my favorite art: a woodblock print of turbulent sea. It's very much in the tradition of The Great Wave Off Kanagawa by Hokusai. In fact, it may be by Hokusai [Amazon link to book of his work], but…
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