Category Archives: Uncategorized

Not just Pemberley, but Jupiter

I’ve previously written about how Charles Austen, Jane Austen’s brother was buried at Trincomalee. Given that we half intend to go back for a second journey next year, I thought I’d research the grave location – a suitably morbid thing … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

From Pemberley to Trincomalee …

It is truth universally acknowledged that the past can sometimes produce seemingly bizarre connections. One is that Jane Austen’s brother Charles, who had a long and distinguished naval career, died in Burma during the second Burmese war and is buried … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Beth Ellis …

Last year I blogged about Beth Ellis’s An English Girl’s First Impressions of Burmah. At the time I had two mysteries, who exactly was Beth Ellis, and why did Beth refer to Maymyo as Remyo? Well last night I got … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Sri Lanka trip – part 1

Indirectly, it was Peter Kurvita’s fault. For those of you who don’t know, Peter Kuruvita is a TV chef who presented a cooking show about Sri Lanka on SBS. We’d been stunned by the beauty of the place and put … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Poson Poya, Dansalas, and biking in Sri Lanka

We were in Sri Lanka, in Habarana, over Poson Poya. Poyas are Buddist full moon day festivals and Poson Poya is a big event celebrating the introduction of Buddism into Sri Lanka, and is especially celebrated in the Ancient Cities … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Light and data in Sri Lanka

I’ve just come back from an enjoyable three weeks in Sri Lanka. If you’ve been following this blog you will know that we’ve previously been planning to go to Myanmar and ride the Trans-Siberian. Projects and life got in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

dm Yunupingu

 Yunupingu, the former frontman of Yothu Yindi, has died. I met him once, at a conference in Darwin about plans to create a project to record and digitize Aboriginal culture. The Aboriginal peoples of Australia may have had a culture … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Well that’s three years of my life then ….

Suddenly, in the weird way that projects finish, the project I’ve spent three years on is done. Actually it’s not done, the final reports need to be formally accepted, and the final invoices issued, but it’s over. No more documentation, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Buying books

A long time ago, I did a simple analysis of the cost of buying books in Canberra versus buying them online – either as secondhand or new. Since then I’ve moved over almost exclusively to the Kindle for my recreational … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Romans, poo and toilets

A few weeks ago we had the Roman toilet paper meme and the use, or not, of pessoi. That seemed to have died down until a recent post by Caroline Lawrence set it going again. Well I’m not an expert … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment