I received an email from Dave Allan addressed to Steve confirming that he had loaded the test data files I had delivered and that there were no problems accessing them. I’m off overseas on June 9 and will be kept busy checking and possibly delivering the completed files after I get back in mid July.
Night filming 72 with Mark and Hugh, the last of the season as the nights are now rather cool and fauna activity decidedly less. Nonetheless, towards the end of our walk I filmed a moth that wasn’t a Granny’s Cloak, a spider that wasn’t a Brown Huntsman and the unexpected highlight, a Dwarf Crown snake which was at Mark’s feet when he first noticed it.
I sent out another 16 emails to literary agents, mostly in London, but some in New York. Six of the initial batch (all from London) replied. I emailed 3 submissions and posted 2.
Because of Peter Hall’s work and holiday commitments, he won’t be available until the end of September. He suggested I try and get alternative quotes, which I did. I was given the contact details of a company who would have charged more than double Peter’s quote. After that I asked Steve once more if he knew of any IT expert at Bond University and this time he came up trumps. Following initial email contact and a meeting, I today received a quote from Ben Sinclair, a young computer whiz, which is half that of Peter Hall. What is more he can start the work when I get back from my overseas trip.
My son Simon and his fiancée, Nicole, were married on the 5th anniversary of their first date at a winery at the foot of the mountain, so I did not have far to travel. It was a perfect day, sunny, indeed hot for a while. Bride and groom were radiant, the venue’s lawns and the surrounding countryside were verdant, the food was plentiful and tasty and the mountain provided a spectacular back drop.The speeches were heartfelt, informative and much enjoyed. It was refreshing for me to be socialising with so many young people.
My article ‘Lazy Journalism’ was published today, to which this is the link:
LAZY JOURNALISM
One of George Orwell’s many admirable qualities as a writer was his willingness to delcare his self-interest when expressing his opinions. I consider this a key to his legendary reputation for honesty and a test for anyone who expresses their opinions in writing, whether in an opinion piece or in an article or book supported by exhaustive research. I write this article as someone who is on the political left and shares the view that Tony Abbott is arguably the most right wing leader of a major party in Australia, ever.
The lazy journalism which I have in mind is closely, but not solely linked to Tony Abbott’s potent one-liners which have characterised his leadership of the coalition and refers more to the broadcast than to the print media. Abbott is a master of the gibe, the verbal equivalent of the pugilist’s stinging short arm jab. He formulates his ceaseless criticism of the federal government in easy to understand and damaging phrases which have proved irresistible to news reporters, broadcasters and presenters. Rather than thinking for themselves by using their own… Read Complete Text
Today I received an email from Nigel Fechner, a mycologist at the Queensland Herbarium in Brisbane. Based on my description in the email I sent him, the fungi I filmed on 30 March (see Film Diary below) are Phallus multicolor a close relative of the Crinoline Stinkhorn, Phallus indusiatus. The skirt of P. multicolor is shorter than that of P. indusiatus and is less likely to fully develop and may even appear to be non-existent.
The larva (caterpillar) of the Cyana Meyricki moth builds a stunning cage-like cocoon, a tapered oval in plan, out of its setae or hairs, which are numerous and appropriately long. The larva suspends itself in the cage and emerges as a moth through a gap in the taper. We have seen plenty of cages in a variety of locations, including 11 on the door of the neighbouring garage to the one where I film my moths. I have also filmed a cage in the rainforest at night. A few months ago I was checking some footage of a Wood Duck nestling 10 ducklings when the next sequence grabbed my attention. It was of a caterpillar climbing the wall of the garage where I film my moths. It was covered in long dark hairs and, based on the abandoned exoskeleton of larva in the cage, it was about the right size. So I asked Steve to capture some frames and sent them to Dr David Britton at the Australian Museum in Sydney who is an expert on the moth. Today I received an email from him agreeing that “it is highly likely that this is the larva of the… Read Complete Text
Night filming 70 at the Knoll National Park, with Mark, Dan & Jenny. I filmed a cricket grooming, a native cockroach, a Damsel fly and, for the one and only time, mating Stick insects.
Was told about some strange fungi on a property and having had a look, decided to come back and film them. I took them to be Crinoline Stinkhorns whose skirts had failed to deploy. They were growing in wood mulch. The fungus has a remarkable skirt which descends from the cap to the ground. I also filmed a Case moth larva on the move in the mulch.