“The Australian opposition has widened its lead over Prime Minister John Howard’s conservative government, opinion polls suggest.
“We are in the fight of our political lives,” Mr Howard told party colleagues” (BBC)
Eat dirt, loser.

Since my visit I’m happy for Melbourne to be our little secret because I want it to be just as good when I eventually move back there, but I’ve been sorting out the piles of ripped out articles in my room so excuse my sentimentality.
Sydney makes more noise, but for culture and nightlife Melbourne is the place to be. “Melbourne is the nation’s arts capital with the finest galleries and museums, classic and innovative theatre, a variety of festivals and the country’s own national film and multimedia centre, … fantastic public parks, from the traditional (Royal Botanic Gardens) to the cutting edge (Birrarung Marr), and hosts international sporting events, bringing in big name stars and big crowds”. Awww.
And Terry Durack: “An accident of birth made me the obsessive eater that I am. I was born in a city that puts food up there with art, music and football. By 10, I knew all about Greek, Cantonese, Jewish and Hungarian food, then followed it with years of study in fine French, Chinese and Thai restaurants. By the time I learnt to cook as well as eat, I was buying German leberkase, Spanish sobrasada sausage and Vietnamese glutinous rice. This does not make me unusual. It just makes me Melburnian.” (Independent)

The real day after tomorrow, courtesy Greenpeace.

I never blogged it but I ended up buying the Casio Exilim EX-Z4U. It has the same lens as the Pentax, but a bigger screen than comparable models.
Thanks to the lovely Miss Jo, I’m seeing PJ Harvey in July. Can’t wait!

I’m going to yoga for the first time in years tonight. I’m enjoying being back at the gym, the changing rooms are such a good perve at the moment.
While I’m being trivial, I dreamt about Gordon Ramsay last night. He was mean to everyone (including Dreeny) but nice to me. Too nice. Scarily nice.
In actual news, I’m reading 1421: the year China discovered the world. (Sold as ‘the year China discovered America’ in the US.) It presents lots of evidence that Chinese fleets discovered Australia, North and South America and pretty much everywhere else, and it’s also a bit of a ripping yarn.
Or you could learn how to migrate
Access data to the Oracle Database on Linux using open-source tools.

I worry about myself sometimes. Min has to source a real horse to film an autopsy, but I suggested she use a pantomime horse instead. Can you imagine the doctors’ surprise when they find two people inside the horse?
Saw 28 Days Later and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind inbetween various BBQs and parties. ESotSM was really, really good. I even forgive them for sucking me into their moral message.

“Massachusetts has become the first US state to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples.” (BBC)

Things I have learnt this week: not all English tabloid newspapers have pictures of breasts or amusingly bad stories. And porter is a kind of beer, not a wine.
Also, I’ve decided we need some modern superheroes. For example, a masked avenger who rides around on a bicycle squirting with a water pistol people who sit at the lights or park on residential streets with music blasting out their car window.

Gorgeous Flash site about a Persian manuscript on Love and Yearning: Mystical and Moral Themes in Persian Poetry and Painting.
2,500 lines of code later, I think I’m coming to the end of a big project. Just in time to start the next one.

“The secret of a long and happy marriage appears to be not to expect too much from it.
US researchers say that, unless you have superior relationship skills, your hopes of cosy coupledom are likely to be dashed.
Far better, they say, to aim low to ensure you are not disappointed.” (BBC) I don’t know if that’s encouraging or depressing.