A quick recovery is a good recovery

Father's Day chocolate mousse eclair from Dobinsons Bakery, Belconnen. Photograph by Gary Lum.
Water hen. Photograph by Gary Lum.
Birds of Lake Ginninderra

A quick recovery is a good recovery.

So last week I mentioned I was feeling like a human bag of snot. I had a head cold. Was it Man Flu? Probably not, it was basically a headache, sore throat, runny nose, and a barking cough. There was no fatigue, no fever, and no muscle or joint aches and pains. My cognitive abilities were also not inhibited.
Continue reading “A quick recovery is a good recovery”

There’s always something to write about

Cow of Lake Ginninderra with a filling udder.

Monday dinner. Roast chicken thigh with fennel and pomegranate salad with some Australian finger lime caviar plus avocado and feta cheese. I 💚 lime flavours so much. I cooked the chicken at 250 °C/480 °F for 30 minutes.
Monday dinner. Roast chicken thigh with fennel and pomegranate salad with some Australian finger lime caviar plus avocado and feta cheese. I 💚 lime flavours so much. I cooked the chicken at 250 °C/480 °F for 30 minutes.

There’s always something to write about

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There really isn’t too much to write about this week. I’ve been quite focused on work and really haven’t spent much time online on social media and surprisingly, I didn’t even think of what I might write this week until I sat down now to start. In a lot of ways, I like weeks like this when my entire focus is on work-related matters. That said, it is unusual not to at least start planning what I will write every weekend sometime during the week.

Continue reading “There’s always something to write about”

Planetary health

A screenshot of a Tweet responding to Yummy Lummy sous vide kangaroo recipe blog post

A screenshot of a Tweet responding to Yummy Lummy sous vide kangaroo recipe blog post
A screenshot of a Tweet responding to Yummy Lummy sous vide kangaroo recipe blog post

Planetary Health

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On Tuesday night I attended a lecture on planetary health. Part of the emphasis was on the move out of the Holocene epoch into the Anthropocene epoch. The Anthropocene geological age is dominated by humanity and its role in earth’s climate and the environment.

It was a very interesting lecture that considered the role of human endeavour on the climatic and environmental changes occurring on our planet.

One of the points raised pricked my ears. Our diet may need to change to be higher in vegetable content with a better and more sustainable source of animal protein. Kangaroo meat was suggested as a good source of protein. On hearing this I murmured that that was all very well but kangaroo can taste disgusting if it’s not cooked properly. There was an immediate response from those seated near me. They all seemed to think kangaroo meat is delicious and healthful. I think it tastes gamey and unless it’s cooked carefully it can be awfully tough. There is also a risk of parasitic infestation associated with poorly processed and cooked macropod meat.

I had an epiphany. With my current sous vide cooking endeavours, I thought kangaroo meat would be perfect for sous vide cooking. So on Friday night, I cooked kangaroo for the first time. It was surprisingly good.

The other interesting thing was the feedback I received on Twitter. The people who didn’t like my sous vide kangaroo post were interested in not killing kangaroos because kangaroos are native fauna. Some also claimed some species of kangaroo are bordering on extinction. I saw some posts which also mentioned cruelty in the kangaroo culling business. For example, there was a comment about joeys of shot kangaroos being clubbed to death. I assume it’s safer for the shooter and observers to do that than shoot joeys at close range. I would have thought a quick neck twist and break would work just as well, just like the way I’ve killed chickens before plucking them.

This is a gallery of screenshots. Click on one and scroll through them.

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I’ve embedded some of the tweets at the end of this post.

I certainly appreciate the feedback and I appreciate that people have different perspectives. Life, and our human existence is so exquisitely complex. I eat meat and I will try almost any food, and at the same time I respect that people don’t agree and will demonstrate that by not eating meat and/or take the time and effort to live according to their own ethical standards. One of the good things about public discourse on social media is the ability for people to express themselves freely, and even, to proselytise. I think one of the drawbacks is when people lose respect for another’s expression. I like receiving direct feedback, what I find curious is when people will try to shut something down indirectly. Going behind someone’s back reflects more on the ethical and moral position of the ‘dobber’.

It’s as unAustralian as tampering with a cricket ball during a game of cricket. It’s as unAustralian as conspiring to cheat. For those who don’t get what I’m referring to, news broke this weekend that the Australian cricket team has been exposed for ball tampering during a test match with the Republic of South Africa and that the Australian captain was part of the planning for this cheating.

In days gone by, Australian cricket captains were revered with an honoured status in our society. This episode is a shameful blight on our country. In my opinion, the team should be sacked, they should all be fined, and they should all return the match fees from the last two seasons. The captain should also be banned from all forms of cricket for five seasons and he should not be allowed to profit from cricket. No more appearances for money on TV, no writing deals and no more endorsements, not that any company should want to use a disgraced Australian captain to endorse a product. I know I sound harsh, but Australians pride themselves on fair play and a fair go.

If someone doesn’t like what I say or write, tell me straight, don’t go behind my back and conspire to cause disruption and chaos.

Cows and clouds of Lake Ginninderra

It’s been a while since I walked around Lake Ginninderra and shot some photographs. This morning was a little cloudy and a little cool. The cows of Lake Ginninderra were out and about.

This is a gallery. Click on a photograph and scroll through them.

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Scathing reviews

A friend in the Canberra Food Bloggers Facebook Group shared an ABC news story this week which was a warning about how people should be careful when reviewing restaurants, hotels and other products.

I’ve always tried to be careful when I write a review of a product. I am honest and if the restaurant or product isn’t to my liking I’ll make that clear but I won’t go over the top and exaggerate for effect.

Apart from Yummy Lummy, I enjoy writing short reviews on Google Maps and in the past, I’ve written reviews on Trip Advisor.

This week in Canberra there was a little social media excitement when a popular food establishment in a very trendy and hip part of Canberra received some negative feedback. The interchange between the shop manager and various people using Instagram and Facebook was interesting. I’ve noted there are now reviews in Trip Advisor and other review platforms trying to express a strong opinion about this particular food establishment. The cause for the vigorous discourse was the availability of options for people with food intolerances and food allergies. While plenty of people certainly eschew types of food for personal, health and ‘lifestyle’ reasons. Many people in our society have fair dinkum health problems with some food elements and components. It’s really important for sellers to make it clear if their product contains certain food elements and components and if the seller purports to sell a special product or service for those who make a choice or who are afflicted, the labelling needs to be very clear. That said, I don’t believe, a seller or purveyor of a food product must provide options for people who desire their food not to contain certain elements and components. If they state up front they don’t offer such an option, I think that is fair enough. Others disagree, and some believe that options must be available. It’s a business decision for the business owner. If I decided to open a cafe (not that I ever would), I would want to accommodate customers’ desires within reason. But if someone came in asking for raw (unpasteurised) milk products, I’d just say no, I would not make such products available. If I lost business because of that, so be it.

Being an observer to this reminded me and I’m guessing some other Canberra food bloggers of the importance of careful and considered thought when we write reviews of products and services.

What I ate this week

It’s been a bit of a disruptive week. On returning from Brisbane, I weighed myself on Monday morning and was 1.6 kg heavier than when I weighed myself on Friday morning.

Tuesday evening I went out to that lecture so dinner was not very appropriate.
Let’s hope the coming week sees a little more discipline in my eating and sleeping.

This is a gallery. Click on a photograph and scroll through them.

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Podcast link love

No such thing as a fish
Mouthy Broadcast NSFW
Mission Log Podcast
Dork Trek NSFW
The Random Yummy
Zombie Anonymous NSFW
EFTM NSFW
The Peta Pixel Photography Podcast
The No Name Photo Podcast
Hilah’s Happy Hour NSFW
Keep it quirky

Tweets reacting to my sous vide kangaroo post

These are some of the replies to the tweets I sent about my sous vide kangaroo meal. You can click on them and see more of the tweet.

There are more, but I think you get the gist.

Final thoughts

Next weekend is Easter. On Good Friday I’m planning on cooking beef short ribs if I can find some. I did this last year and broke a tooth. I hope this year I will be more careful tearing meat from the rib bones.

I hope you have a good week. Take care and enjoy life in infinite diversity in infinite combinations (IDIC) 🖖

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Here are a video and infographic about planetary health.

Read the full Lancet Commission:
The Lancet: Safeguarding human health in the Anthropocene epoch: report of The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on planetary health

A fish out of water

A fish out of water, carp by Lake Ginninderra Gary Lum

I was walking around Lake Ginninderra this morning listening to one of my favourite podcasts, viz., “No such thing as a fish” by the QI Elves. I’d like to mention that my favourite Elf is Anna. She is the funniest and wittiest of the group.

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So as I was walking and listening I came across a fish. I’m assuming it’s a carp. The lake apparently has perch and cod in it and for all the fishers I see angling, I’ve only ever seen them catch carp.

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A fish out of water, carp by Lake Ginninderra Gary Lum
A fish out of water, carp by Lake Ginninderra

Carp are an introduced species into Australia. They are vermin of the fresh aquatic waters of Australia. They stir up the mud and make the artificial lakes of Canberra unsightly. When caught, they are not allowed to be released, they must be killed. I’m guessing like other fish, they would make reasonable fertiliser. If I owned land, I’d catch carp and put them in holes in the ground and then plant a tree on top.

A fish out of water, carp by Lake Ginninderra Gary Lum
A fish out of water, carp by Lake Ginninderra

Screenshot Lake Ginninderra map Gary Lum carp

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What have you done this weekend?

Yesterday I had a personal matter that was troubling but I managed to do some walking and housework but not a lot of cooking.

Today I continue with the troubling personal matter which I won’t divulge here suffice to say, I hope the situation improves. I managed a walk around Lake Ginninderra and I recorded a podcast.

 

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YouTube

In the southern hemisphere, we’re now getting close to the start of winter and the end of autumn. I shot some photographs which show the beauty of the change of seasons in Canberra.

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Photograph gallery

For some photographs from the weekend, click on one and scroll through in the pop-up lightbox.

I hope the coming week will be good for you

What are you up to in the coming week? For me, I’m going to be busy at work. I also have a day in Melbourne for a meeting which I hope will go well.

Have a good week my friends

Gary Lum QR Code

Would you like to read more from My Thoughts and Stuff?

My warped and twisted mind | Best sleep ever | An embarrassing story of racism

Reflections on Lake Ginninderra and Beyond

Yellow buoys and seagulls on Lake Ginninderra Reflections Gary Lum

Reflections on still water on cool still days are a highlight of living in Canberra with this incredibly bright and blue autumn days.

As I walked around Lake Ginninderra, I reflected myself again on living in Canberra.

Physical reflections

The water was still, the sky was bright and blue and the reflections in the water were exquisite this morning. The autumn colours of the leaves on the deciduous trees augmented the naturally saturated vision that is Lake Ginninderra shortly after sunrise.

Click on one of the images and you’ll be able to see a gallery with larger photographs in better detail.

Let me know what you think about these photographs. They were all shot with a Sony α7ii with a 24–240 mm f/3.5–6.3 lens at f/8 and 1/1000 seconds with ISO set to auto. I processed all the photographs in Adobe Lightroom and used Luminar and Aurora HDR to make the colours more vivid.

Weekend highlight

Last night I made spam of asparagus spicy soup. If you like soup check out the blog post and video.

This week ahead

On Tuesday, it is Anzac Day. The day that Australians and people from New Zealand remember those brave warfighters who fought and fell so that we can live in freedom and enjoy democracy. While I support anything to keep the peace, I’m grateful for the soldiers, sailors and air people who are willing to sacrifice themselves for our safety.

 

Easter Saturday on Lake Ginninderra

Buoys on Lake Ginninderra Easter Saturday Gary Lum

Easter Saturday on Lake Ginninderra on a dull and overcast day but with some lovely colourful sights in terms of cows, birds, and buoys.

After breakfast at Everbean Espresso Bar and grocery shopping, I went for a walk around Lake Ginninderra. The skies were grey but the grass green and the fauna quite delightful.

Easter Saturday photographs

Buoys on Lake Ginninderra Easter Saturday Gary Lum
Buoys on Lake Ginninderra

Earth moving equipment on Lake Ginninderra Easter Saturday Gary Lum
Earth moving equipment on Lake Ginninderra

Flying fox on Lake Ginninderra Easter Saturday Gary Lum
Flying fox on Lake Ginninderra

Cows on Lake Ginninderra Easter Saturday Gary Lum
Cows on Lake Ginninderra

Is this a Rosella on Lake Ginninderra Easter Saturday Gary Lum
Is this a Rosella on Lake Ginninderra

This afternoon I replaced my wi-fi router with a new one hoping that a new one would offer improved speed over the original one I’ve had since 2010. Sadly, I can’t appreciate any discernible improvement. I’m guessing the limiting factor is the ADSL2 service I’m receiving. I wish I had the National Broadband Network where I live. I was hoping upload speeds would be improved. I find it really frustrating uploading photographs and videos. It can take all day.

For dinner tonight I made a bacon and chicken spicy congee with quinoa. I was nearly late. I was planning to use my pressure cooker but I couldn’t find the safety valve. I finally found it in a drawer.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and I plan to eat quite a lot of chocolate.

Easter chocolate goodies. More workplace generosity. Easter Saturday Gary Lum
Easter chocolate goodies. More workplace generosity.

For those interested, I shot the Easter Saturday Lake Ginninderra photographs with a Sony α7ii with a 24–240 mm lens. I edited the photographs in Adobe Lightroom and Luminar. I really like oversaturating the colours, depressing the highlights and enhancing the shadows while keeping the blacks intact. I shot these images mostly at f/8 aperture and 1/1000 second shutter speed. I had the ISO set to AUTO.

Social media

I’d love it if you followed me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Best sleep ever

Cow grazing near Lake Ginninderra Gary Lum Sleep

Last night I had the best sleep in I don’t know how many years. I slept for just about 10 hours. That is unheard of for me.

I average about 6 hours a night. Even though I go to bed at about 8.30 I’m usually not asleep until about 10 or 11 and then I wake quite a few times during the night and get out of bed at 5.

Poor sleep last week

It must have been the really interesting week I’ve had and all that goes into hosting a meeting with delegates from around the world. Sleep has not been the best quality during the week, and Friday at the hospital was also full on. I had a marvellous afternoon with some scholars who wanted to know more about what happens in a microbiology laboratory. In fact, one of them was a colleague from my main job and she’s also the person who inspired me to start my podcast, viz., Medical Fun Facts.

After such a good sleep, I sprang out of bed, did the shopping and then enjoyed a nice walk around Lake Ginninderra.

photographs of Lake Ginninderra

Daylight saving ends tonight

I just realised this is a bonus weekend too. Daylight saving ends tonight. Yipee! I’m not a fan. We should be like Queensland in Canberra and stay on Australian Eastern Standard Time.

It will be good to be back in the same time zone as my daughters. Telephone calls and text messaging will be much easier.

Sleep will be something I hope to improve upon over winter. It is so important, I wish I did it better.

How do you sleep?

Are you a good sleeper? How many hours do you sleep? Are you a morning person like me or a night owl? Feel free to leave a comment.

Have a good one.

Strange things you see while walking around Belconnen

A couch on the sidewalk while you buy an apartment Gary Lum

And no, I’m not talking about shopping trolleys.

The weather in Canberra today was surprisingly good. It wasn’t cold and it wasn’t too warm. It was overcast with a hint of humidity. My skin didn’t feel too dry. It was the sort of day that I would have expected a lot of people to be out walking around Lake Ginninderra.

Barren playgrounds

Instead, it was pretty barren. I saw a few familiar faces, the regulars who I see when I’m on a morning walk.

More often than not, the play areas are occupied with children and their parents. Today, though, the playground and the climbing equipment were bare.

Empty playground on Lake Ginninderra Gary Lum
Empty playground on Lake Ginninderra

Hard rubbish

Even in a city like Canberra, people just dump old furniture on the sidewalk assuming someone will take it and keep it, or the city council authorities will pick it up for disposal. When that happens, taxpayers and rates payers end up footing the bill.

I this was a nice juxtaposition, though. You can attend an inspection and have a sit-down and discussion while you’re at it.

A couch on the sidewalk while you buy an apartment Gary Lum
A couch on the sidewalk while you buy an apartment

Hairy melons

Do you like your melons hairy? The mind boggles. I’m not sure I want to eat a hairy melon! 😳😂🤣

Hairy melons Gary Lum
Hairy melons

 

My short story

Last week, I mentioned I was thinking about writing a short story. I’ve started. That’s about all I can say.

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A new thought walking around Lake Ginninderra

Lake Ginninderra from the south-east Ginninderra Drive bridge. HDR post processing. Gary Lum

I’m going to have a go writing a short story

As I walked around Lake Ginninderra this morning I pondered a thought about a short story I thought I might write.

From time to time I mentally jot down ideas for works of fiction. I’ve never written a short story before but I follow enough blogs to admire people who can and do write short works of fiction. Whether I can or not is another thing altogether. I’ve never thought of myself as a good writer. I think I do a satisfactory job for my work, but creative writing is not something I feel comfortable with.

I’m not sure when I’ll make a start or when it might be finished, but I know the trigger for the story and I’m fleshing it out in my mind.

For now, enjoy a couple of photographs I shot this morning. I used a Sony α7ii with a 24–240 mm variable aperture lens. Each photograph represents three frames at three different exposures. I used Adobe Lightroom and Aurora HDR software to merge the images and edit them. I hope you like them.

Buoys on Yerra Beach, Lake Ginninderra Gary Lum
Buoys on Yerra Beach, Lake Ginninderra

Lake Ginninderra from the south-east Ginninderra Drive bridge. HDR post processing. Gary Lum
Lake Ginninderra from the south-east Ginninderra Drive bridge. HDR post processing.

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