Flotsam.

Happy third birthday to our niece Katie!

It's Labour Day weekend here. Just like Labor day in the states, it's a three-day weekend at the end of summer. By good fortune, the weather is supposed to be in the 30s (that's a good thing here). We're going to try to hit the beach.

In chess news, I've been playing a guy who's a bit better than me, but who I can beat on a good day. But today I played a guy who just wiped the table with me, two games. A good dose of humility. Part of the reason that chess is fascinating to me is because you can follow all the supposed rules of strategy, and see them work, but then good players are still able to drive in a wedge and crash over you like a wave (to mix a metaphor).

The last great physicist of glory days of the first half of the last century died this week. This was the guy who figured out how the sun shines. I always wanted to meet him.

The Station Agent is a great little movie.

Australian phrases: Australians have colourful ways to say things. This day's example "to spit the dummy" is just another way to say tantrum. "A dummy" is a pacifier in Australia, so "to spit the dummy" is to spit the pacifier, like a baby pitching a fit. I love that expression. Another way to say the same thing is "crack the shits". I'm not really sure how that phrase came to mean what it does. I'm scared to ask.

Melbourne is THE place to be if you are a sports fan in Australia. This week, in our very own neighbourhood, is the Australian Grand Prix. We were expecting the noise from the cars to be a major annoyance this weekend. But really, so far, we haven't heard much at all.
Melbourne is also the home of the Australian Tennis Open, the first cricket match of the season, the AFL championships, and The Melbourne Cup (THE Australian horse race, like the Ascot opening day).
We've been watching some of the television coverage of the Grand Prix, getting a little thrill seeing our neighbourhood on TV. Maybe next year we'll actually go see a race.