Monday, March 28, 2011

Denis in Africa: Ode to Walking


Denis in Africa: Ode to Walking: "Rwandans certainly have a culture of walking. They often have little other choice. Primary school pupils regularly walk two hours to come to..."

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Cairns to Karumba Bike Ride 2011


Cairns to Karumba Bike Ride. June 26th - July 2nd, 2011 : Making sure bush kids get a fair go!
The Coast to Coast Bike Ride began through the Cairns School of Distance Education P&C Association in 1996/97 to initially address the need to build a multi purpose activity centre for the school site in Cairns. Early in the life of the event the decision was made to spread the benefits of funds raised to include many communities and organizations across the North Queensland region. The main criteria involved the benefits being focused on supporting and benefiting children who live in the remote rural areas of the region.
Follow this link to find out more:
Cairns to Karumba Bike Ride 2011

Educational Nuclear Video Fukushima

A new way to polish a turd? An educational video for children explaining the the state of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Program for Earth Hour, Cairns


This year, our local traditional Aboriginal owners of this land are guiding us to reconnect to the Earth, to strengthen our spiritual reverence for the Earth and the natural environment on which our long term survival depends.

There will be performing artists including Aboriginal dance performers, various guest speakers and marquees of different community-based organizations, Earth-centered initiatives and projects, musicians, artists and much more. We will have lantern-making workshops and a Lantern Parade for all ages. We are asking people to consider coming by foot, bicycle or bus. We are able to switch off the lights at City Place, and the film HOME will be screened.




Program

9.00am: marquees in City Place

10.00am-5pm: lantern-making workshop at Digger St Artist Collective, 105-107 Diggers St, Nth Cairns

2.00pm: lantern-making workshop at the soundstage City Place

5:30pm: Bicycle rally – assemble at corner Lake St and Lily St, North Cairns (opposite new Tennis Centre). Will proceed down the Esplanade to City Place.

5:30pm City Place Speaker’s Corner – Speakers’ Open Forum – topic ‘Earth Hour’. Poetry reading.

All welcome to speak – gong after two minutes…

Official Opening

6:30pm: MC Carl Fourmile

Welcome to country. Henrietta Marrie

6:35pm: Smoke cleansing. Carl Fourmile

6:45pm: Jeremiah Johnson, singer, songwriter, and Riah Zea with ribbon pois

7:00pm: Guest speaker, Janet Millington, Permaculture, Transition Towns

7:05pm: Guest speaker, George Riley

7:10pm: Singing Bowls, Renee Cashman

7:25pm: Guest speaker, Lory Smith, Community Radio, teacher Trinity Bay High & Colin Ford, WWF

7:35pm: Gutta Klass Enterpizes

7:50pm: Mooroobool Aboriginal Dance Group

8:05pm: Public Address, Mayor Val Schier

8:10pm: Astrid playing harp

8:25pm: Light lanterns, switch out lights, silence

8:30pm: Lone didgeridoo player

8:35pm: Screening of the Movie HOME"

Contact information:

Jeremiah McMahon, Event Manager, Tel: 0410 200 171, Jeremiah_songwriter@hotmail.com

Geoff Holland, Public Liaison, Tel: 0414 062 091, GeoffHolland007@gmail.com

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Denis in Africa: Lake Kivu


Denis in Africa: Lake Kivu: "Most of us are familiar with the Great Rift Valley that runs through the heart of Kenya and Tanzania all the way down to Mozambique and is f..."



Balance (1989)

Balance - Lauenstein (1989)

'The setting is on a floating platform where a group of evenly and carefully placed men live. Each man is aware that the platform is not stable and in order not to fall to their deaths, they maintain a careful balance of weight to prevent the platform from tipping too far. This reasonably harmonious understanding is lost when one man pulls up a heavy trunk. In the ensuing struggle, balance is lost in more than one sense.'

Monday, March 14, 2011

An Interview with Bear Stanley 1995

A rare interview with Bear Stanley. On several occasions Bear graced the studios of former Cairns community radio station 4CCR in the late nineties and was certainly a larger than life character. Bear passed away on the weekend in a tragic car accident on the Kennedy Highway near Mareeba. Here is a rare radio interview conducted with Bear around this time this time (not from 4CCR unfortunately).


Tributes to Bear Stanley

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Tsunami modelling from Japan Earthquake

Information from NOAA Center for Tsunami research Web page:
Tsunami Event - March 11, 2011 Honshu
Main Event Page

The Honshu tsunami was generated by a Mw 8.9 earthquake (38.322°N, 142.369°E ), at 05:46 UTC, 130 km (80 miles) E of Sendai, Honshu, Japan (according to the USGS). In approximately 25 minutes, the tsunami was first recorded at DART® buoy 21418. Forecast results shown below were created with the NOAA forecast method using MOST model with the tsunami source inferred from DART® data.

The graphics display forecast results, showing qualitative and quantitative information about the tsunami, including tsunami wave interaction with ocean floor bathymetric features, and neighboring coastlines. Tsunami model amplitude information is shown color-coded according the scale bar.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Monday, March 7, 2011

Denis in Africa: High Altitude Commuting

Denis in Africa: High Altitude Commuting: "Le Pays des Mille Collines (the land of a thousand hills) is really a tad ungenerous as a description of Rwanda. We live at an altitude of 1..."

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Cassowary Appeal

It has been a bad start to 2011 in this corner of the planet, at least as far as natural disasters are concerned, the latest to the list being the Christchurch earthquake. Up here in the Far North things are getting back to normal and the locals in the area affected by Cyclone Yasi continue to get their lives back together. This isn't going to be helped with the development of another tropical low off the Far North Queensland coast in the next few days.

Among the victims of Yasi are the many species of wildlife dependent on the tropical rainforest in this area. This forest has taken a big hit from the Category 5 cyclonic winds of Yasi and although it will rebound eventually, it has left the wildlife without their food supply.