Pigeon Impossible

 
Pigeon: Impossible is the tale of Walter a rookie secret agent faced with a problem seldom covered in basic training: what to do when a curious pigeon gets trapped inside your multi-million dollar, government-issued nuclear briefcase.

Vegetarian Spider

The only known vegetarian spider in the world, is called Bagheera kiplingi, and prefers to eat the leaf-tips of an acacia plant in Central America, instantly making it the black sheep among the 40,000 known spider species, most of which are strictly predators, feeding on insects and other animals. B. kiplingi is about the size of a person's pinky nail.

Source
Video

Simon Sayz....

One smart dog who understands the rules of Simon Says.

My mom in Australia (2009)

Soon after we took Oliver Jack home my mom flew over from the Netherlands.
She stayed with us for 2 weeks and had a great time. Because Oliver was still very young we did not dare take him out yet. So one day I took my mom out to the city. It was going to be a full day. First we took the bus to Abbotsford and the Ferry to Circular Quay. I don't think there is a better way to enter Sydney CBD.
It was a nice day not too warm and not too cold but enough to get sunburnt. We then had a stroll around the Opera House and through the Royal Botanical Gardens.The fruitbats were all flying about. Which was great. Never seen so many fly around during the day other than at dusk. And of course, my mom had camera issues...something to do with the batteries. Fortunately we managed to work it out.
Then we walked back to the Opera House and I treated my mom to a glass of sparkling at the Opera Bar.

For some reason I did not think I would ever be there with her, showing her the restaurants Caroline and I have been to around Circular Quay, Aria, Cafe Sydney, Wildfire, Ocean Room to name a few. I would have liked to show her where we lived down Martin Place but knew we would not have the time. Maybe next time she comes back. Then we jumped back on the ferry and off to Darling Harbour. We walked around a bit and we sat outside for lunch at the Watershed Hotel and watched the world go by. And from there we went to the Sydney Wildlife World and Sydney Aquarium. This way she could at least encounter some of the exotic wildlife we have here in Australia before she had to go back home again.

Sydney Dust Storm

Because we now have Oliver who wakes us up at times normally foreign to us.We woke up quite unexpectandly in the middle of a dust storm on the 23rd of September. It was the worst dust storm to hit Australia in 70 years. It was strange waking up that morning and have this weird orange light filtering in through the blinds and windows. It was quite a surprise looking out of the bedroom window.

Only later these pictures emerged, showing how close we came to disaster....

After a Very Long Wait....

After a very long wait ...
 

Oliver Jack Thoma
"the Pea"

...entered our lives

and we can't wait to tell you a little bit more about him...

He was born:
17th of September 2009
At:18.15
Weighing: 4.585Kg / 10.11 Lbs
Measuring: 53.5 Cm

More after the jump

Pea Wk34

Today we went to the hospital for another look at Pea. This was mainly to see if the placenta had moved up as it was low-lying on our previous scans. Normally it will move up over time, but until it does, you don't know. If it had not moved on this scan Caroline would have needed bedrest until his birth.
Fortunately for her it is not low-lying and the Pea has grown alot since our last scan. Pea has grown so much that for the untrained eye, you could hardly see what you were looking at on the screen. He filled up so much of the screen. (This is why we dont have any new photos to show off.) All seemed well, all the measurements and things they check seemed to be okay. And again he would not show his face... Caroline also had a little shock, our little Pea is not soo little afterall. Apparently he is already quite a big boy. At the moment his weight is estimated to be around 3Kg!!! So he is doing well but so is Caroline. She has little discomforts here and there but overall she is doing great.

Now if you will excuse me I have 6 more weeks to get through.....

Instructions for the new Dad

Simon's Cat "Fly Cat"

A hungry cat resorts to increasingly desperate measures to catch a housefly.

We Choose to go to the Moon

The Apollo 11 Mission happened 40 years ago!
And for those who were not there you can follow it in REAL TIME 16-20 July on this great website.

Right Here

Vivid Sydney

Earlier this month we went to see Vivid Sydney, a new free public festival with art installations from Circular Quay to the Rocks and the Sydney Observatory.
The most stunning of all the exhibits was the Sydney Opera House. Every few minutes the image projected on it changed as if it was a giant chameleon. Created by Brian Eno.

Café Serré

This funny animated movie created by Vincent E Sousa, Bertrand Avril, Yann de Préval and Denis Bouyer only took four weeks to make. It was made using 3dsMax, Photoshop and After Effects. It features a bumbling police officer cartoon who is eating happily in a diner when a clueless robber enters...

Sydney Wildlife World

Over the last few weeks as you can tell from the lack of posts I've been very busy during the weekend with my TAFE course. But this particular weekend we went out to Sydney Wildlife World in Darling Harbour.

Death Adder and Tiger Snake (who is that in the background?)

Sydney Wildlife World provides you with a quick tour of the Australian wildlife in the heart of the city.

Koala

Koalas are the highlight for most, but for Caroline obviously the wombat so when she goes on maternity leave and the Pea is born I think I know where I can find them.

Wombat and Rock Wallaby, Grey Kangaroo

Left Right Left Right Left (Coldplay)

Coldplay is offering their new live album Left Right Left Right Left for free, download it directly from their website. For a link to the album click here.

The Goat Man

A few weeks ago on the bus on my way home from work I saw a man walking his dog .....and 2 goats near the shopping center at Broadway. And it's one of those things when you say it to people that haven't seen it, they look at you funny and start asking you what you have been drinking this time?

Anyhoo I have proof now. I saw him again a few days ago near my TAFE college in Ultimo where I go for my evening classes. And only because I wasn't on a moving bus and had the present of mind to take my phone out and take 2 quick pictures. You would think it might be some nutter that walks his goats, but the man actually looked quite decent.

And the other day I also spotted Bill Granger in the ABC Building in Ultimo. I always go through it because it is a short cut from Central to TAFE as I come off the train from work. Quite amazing really because normally I wouldn't recognise a famous person even if I would trip over him/her.

Star Trek XI

Not sure what William Shatner (Kirk)made of the latest Star Trek movie, but we really liked it. I had my hesitations it being a prequel and all, but we can't wait for any new movie that may follow.
Again a Gold Class ticket for us, they are devilishly comfortable seats with a waiter that brings your (ordered) refreshments halfway through, so even Caroline can have an evening off.

Easter weekend (April)

The Big Banana
synonymous with Coffs Harbour

For our long Easter weekend in April we drove up to Coffs Harbour. Only 8 hours of driving away and we were still in New South Wales. It was Good Friday and we made quick progress. We got out of Sydney without any trouble and didn't get into heavy traffic until we were well after Newcastle and it was only due to road works. Needless to say we didn't take the 14h 19 min Quick 2 option.

Needless to say we didn't take the 14h 19 min Quick 2 option.
Are they driving off with the big banana?

Coffs Harbour's economy is mainly based on bananas and it should be no surprise then that Coffs Harbour has the Big Banana.
The Big Banana is the first Big THING that has since sprouted all over Australia.

We spent our first day going to the beaches that are around Coffs. Always looking for a rockpool to explore. And I would have jumped in them, if someone did not forgot to pack our swimmers. Just kidding, honey. Our biggest trip was climbing Mutton Bird Island. It is quite imposing from ground level, but once you are up there it is not too bad. Unfortunately the Mutton Birds had just fledged. I was eager to see one as I was privileged to have the opportunity to eat one in Tasmania 5 yrs ago. I have heard how they hatched in burrows and it was nice to see those burrows for myself now.

The next day we decided to visit the biggest rainforest in NSW Dorrigo National Park a World Heritage listed site. Worth the long drive in itself. We decided to do a short walk and most of the time we had the place to ourselves. We enjoyed our leisurely stroll and it wasn't until we headed back that the leeches came out. Caroline had 2 in the end and I had 4!!! Woohoo I won!!! =) Luckily, we got them all off before they sank their jaws into us. The nice thing is when you see leeches crawling on you that even several hours later every little itch you feel you think its a leech. Aaaah!

Our main objective really was to see a waterfall an hour into the forest. Due to the recent flooding in the area we were not able to walk the full circuit as parts of the path had washed away, but we didn't mind. We had a nice walk obviously with Caroline being pregnant now a bit slower, but we were on holiday and we had the whole day. On our way to the waterfall I caught this GIANT land snail, it nearly escaped me everyone knows how fast they are. It was huge!!!

On our way back we walked passed a place we just passed minutes previously near the waterfall. I spotted from the corner of my eye a red-bellied black snake. It just stopped in its track and retreated a little bit. With little kids approaching and Caroline pregnant I didn't get that close to it. Two families with young children were approaching so we stayed and pointed it out to them and when they left we moved on as well. Funnily enough when we got to the tourist centre the mum asked if I had stumbled upon any other snakes.

The way back home was a long one. It took us 10 hours all together. We planned to stop along the road on our way down at scenic places but unfortunately it rained all the way down for the full 10 hours.

The Financial Crisis

The financial crisis is not all bad news.
To stimulate the Australian economy most Australian taxpayers received a tax bonus.

The Economic Stimulus Plan.
Who knew you could be happy with a letter from the Tax Office.
And of course it went all straight to Caro..... no the Pea! =)

What are you doing?

Heal

The Gloaming

The Gloaming takes office space to an eerie dimension following the misfortune of a worker ensnared by his cubicle and haunted by sinister visitors during the nightshift. A tale of macabre absurdity, The Gloaming plunges this unwitting protagonist into a cycle of nightmares.

Speed Cooking

A Chinese cooking competition.
These cooks are cooking so fast you wonder if they forgot something?
(not for the squeamish)

The Pea 20wk

Yesterday we had another look at our Pea.
Because Pea is a very naughty pea, he was not in the right spot for the scan apparently.
And now we have to come back next week, hooray for another scan. Hopefully he will be well behaved then.

Foot and leg

Caroline is doing well as her tummy grows bigger and bigger. Pea what are you doing to your mother? Fortunately she has not had any discomfort with morning sickness or any other ailments. The only thing she does notice now is that she is a lot more tired in the evenings and that she is growing out of her clothes.

Spine and arm

Luckily for us I had my memory stick with me because the photo printer wasn't working at the RPA, I was able to download these onto it.

Update: The Pea was fine all fine at the 21 Week scan, unfortunately no other pictures from what we already had.