Top 5 - Career changes

After calculating my carbon footprint recently (pleased to announce Im well under the national average), the website I was using told me that I could offset my emmissions by paying for trees to be planted by a Bill Oddie approved group.

"Bill Oddie?" Thinks I, "the hairy dude from The Goodies?"

Well, it seems ol' Bill has become something of a conservationist here in the UK, making quite a change from the weird, hairy, drum-playing guy from the BBC show from the early 1980's.

This got me thinking, what are some of the better career changes that I know of, and here are the answers:
5) Bill Oddie
As above. He went from this:











To this:











Goes to show you that the environmentalists were fairly easy when it came to picking spokesmen back then.

4) Peter Garrett
Following on the environmental theme, Peter went from being the front man of Australian band 'Midnight Oil' to The Australian Federal Minister for the Environment.

Here is is in his heyday, and here he is today:















It turns out Peter may not be that awesome at his job, with the Labour government taking away a number of his powers, but they obviously arent going to mess around too much with someone who dances as crazy as Pete.

3) Madonna
From this, to an author of childrens story books.










2) Dexter Holland
Continuing on the musical theme, Dexter went from doing his PhD in molecular biology to the lead singer of a commercial punk-rock band. I guess it has something to do with self-esteem...

1) Albert Einstein



















Scientists are people I generally classify as 'clever', and Albert Einstein was recently voted the most clever of all of them in the 20th Century, thats pretty good for someone who started out as a patents clerk.

Super Powers revisited

A while ago I was wondering about everyday 'Super powers' that people have, inspired largely by Gervoramas' ability to recognise quasi-TV celebrities from the late 1990's.

Since then, Ive been asking people about their own 'Super powers' and come back with some interesting results, such as:

• Public speaking;
• Knowing the price of every item in the supermarket;
• Cathing / reaction time; and
• Sense of smell (though I think this could really work against you too).

For myself, Ive discovered that Im adequate to good at a number of things (e.g. playing piano, writing cricket match summaries and procrastinating) but yet to find my own 'Super power'. It was suggested that it could be Bravado, but I dont think anything that leads to needless injury (such as testing the strength of fish and chip shop windows by being pushed into/through them) counts.

The search continues.

Overheard conversation of the day

Person 1: "You know Craig, dont you?"
Person 2: "I dont think so"
Person 1: "Yeah you do, he was at that party"
Person 2: "Oh, was he the first person you poured cornflakes on?"
Person 1: "That's right"

Thought of the Day: Food maketh the day

ANZAC day was celebrated recently, I did my own bit by baking ANZAC biscuits, respecting the fallen through the medium of baked snacks. But aside from satisfying my appetite, it made me think; how powerful is food as a tool in making a day memorable?

Almost all major celebrations have some sort of associated food-type, think Thanksgiving (turkey), Easter (chocolate eggs), Birthdays (cake) etc.

So is this the 'spin'? And if so, does it take away from the celebration at all? Would your birthday be any less a day without cake or some sort of cake?

Does this mean that the power now lays in the hands of the cooks and bakers? As if celebrity chefs done have enough power, now they have the ability to define what we feel is important! The lesson here is obvious; if you see Jamie Oliver coming - run.

Cleaner living? Give me worms

Being always on the lookout for ways to clean up my act, think locally / act globally, reduce my carbon footprint etc, I recently stumbled upon Hackey City Councils new approach to reducing food waste: worms.

It seems that the council is pushing for people to install worm nests in their homes to assist in reducing the amount of waste produced. I have my doubts, but am willing to give it a go. The main obstacle will be getting the green light from the minister of the interior, who is still coming to terms with other unwanted pets (see earlier posts on mice).

More information on the scheme here and updates to follow.

Top 5 Underrated Countries - Updated (Iceland)

A new addition to my underrated countries: Iceland.
"Iceland?" I hear you ask, "Is that even a place?"

Why yes, it is. It was first inhabited by Irish monks who thought that medievil Ireland wasnt a remote enough place, so took off there. Not a great start as an advertisement for a place, but it gets better.

After the Irish monks came the Nordic Vikings, who convinced the Irish that the party was over and it was time to move on. The Nordics used the place as some sort of 'Thunderdome', with the place seemingly being populated mostly by outcasts and those exiled from society. What better way to make someone feel bad about what they did in a cold country populated by Vikings but send them to a cold country populated by lawless Vikings?

Eventually the Norwegians thought that they should take control of the place, so they did, but then decided it wasnt a good idea and put it on the market (like in Monopoly) where it was bought by Denmark (who also had Pall Mall and Mayfair).

A couple of hundred rolls later the Germans were buying up (or taking) everything, so Iceland bought itself off Denmark while the Danes were busy working out whether they should pay flat income tax or $2,000.

Since then, they have continued living on the edge of the arctic circle as some of the happiest people on earth. Whats more, they have developed a sense of humour unheard of in other Nordic countries (e.g. "Dont like the weather, wait 5 minutes, it gets worse"). I attribute that to the Irish.

Today its a prosperous enough place, with a quaint mix of environmental destruction, environmental preservation, outdoor sports and great food. Also has a thriving cafe scene despite being the size of Albury-Wodonga.