Author: Stilgherrian

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Dawn Chorus, 18 March 2007

Here’s what dawn sounded like this morning (1.3MB MP3), or at least a minute and a half of it. There’s quite a few different kinds of birds. Unfortunately there’s a slight whine in the right channel — a bad microphone cable, that’ll have to be replaced! And the thumping sounds toward the end are one of the cats walking across the wooden deck, too close to the mic stands. But it’s a suitable test of my recording set-up, which hasn’t been used in ages.

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My new long-distance love

Photo of Greenwich foot tunnel, by Dave Gorman

Thanks to UK comedian Dave Gorman and the BBC Magazine’s Alternative tourist map of Britain, I’ve fallen in love with the Greenwich foot tunnel (pictured).

Look further! It has a dome at each end, almost infinite length and endless fascinating perspectives.

Opened in 1902, the tunnel runs 370m under the River Thames and is lined with white tiles — though the section in the photo has a thick steel and concrete inner lining to repair World War II bomb damage. You can see that more clearly in the Dave Gorman’s larger photo.

Perhaps it’s unpatriotic to lust after a very English tunnel on the 75th birthday of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but somehow this tunnel intrigues me. I suspect that once I see it “in the flesh” I’ll love it as much as ’Pong loves the Newtown railway underpass.

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Paul Keating ringtone: desiccated coconut

Thanks to Crikey and Red Symons, you can now download a free ringtone of Paul Keating calling John Howard “a little desiccated coconut”.

To download the ringtone, right-click on the link and then select “Save target as…” (for Internet Explorer) or “Save link as…” (for Firefox) and save it to your desktop or music library. Then follow the instructions for your particular handset to transfer it to your phone.

Since Symons currently presents the breakfast program on ABC Local Radio in Melbourne, I wonder if he’ll get in trouble with the ABC’s Howard-stacked Board?