Great Australia Travel Book

[sr71plt]

For anyone traveling to Australia, I highly recommend Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country. It was recommended to me by an Aussie Lit. author (Sabb). I'm reading it as I travel the Australia Southeast coast, and Bryson always has something hilarious to say about something I've just experienced while here--and his discussion is exactly what I'd have said if I'd thought of it first.

 

[jomar]

Ho[e you have a good trip. And say "Hey" to Starrkers for me.

 

[trysail]

I first stumbled on Bill Bryson because of his book on walking the Appalachian Trail, A Walk In The Woods ( over the course of my life I've hiked most of it ). Even though I found that work enjoyable and entertaining, I still chalked him up as a lightweight. Having sampled him, I eventually picked up Notes From A Small Island which I also found good reading and pleasant but still didn't qualify him in my mind as anything out of the ordinary.

It wasn't until I read his A Short History of Nearly Everything and Shakespeare: The World As Stage that I came to appreciate Bryson as an author of substance. I've also enjoyed I'm A Stranger Here Myself and Bill Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words.
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http://forum.literotica.com/showpost.php?p=29202632&postcount=71

"William Shakespeare was born into a world that was short of people and struggled to keep those it had. In 1564 England had a population of between three million and five million— much less than three hundred years earlier, when plague began to take a continuous, heavy toll. Now the number of living Britons was actually in retreat. The previous decade had seen a fall in population nationally of about 6 percent. In London, as many as a quarter of the citizenry may have perished.

But plague was only the beginning of England's deathly woes. The embattled populace faced constant danger from tuberculosis, measles, rickets, scurvy, two types of smallpox (confluent and hemorrhagic), scrofula, dysentery, and a vast amorphous array of fluxes and fevers— tertian fever, quartian fever, puerperal fever, ship's fever, quotidian fever, spotted fever— as well as 'frenzies,' 'foul evils,' and other peculiar maladies of vague and numerous types. These were, of course, no respecters of rank. Queen Elizabeth herself was nearly carried off by smallpox in 1562, two years before William Shakespeare was born.

Even comparatively minor conditions— a kidney stone, an infected wound, a difficult childbirth— could quickly turn lethal. Almost as dangerous as the ailments were the treatments meted out. Victims were purged with gusto and bled till they fainted— hardly the sort of handling that would help a weakened constitution. In such an age it was a rare child that knew all four of its grandparents.

Many of the exotic-sounding diseases of Shakespeare's time are known to us by other names (their ship's fever is our typhus, for instance), but some were mysteriously specific to the age. One such was the 'English sweat,' which had only recently abated after several murderous outbreaks. It was called the 'scourge without dread' because it was so startlingly swift: Victims often sickened and died on the same day. Fortunately many survived, and gradually the population acquired a collective immunity that drove the disease to extinction by the 1550s. Leprosy, one of the great dreads of the Middle Ages, had likewise mercifully abated in recent years, never to return with vigor. But no sooner had these perils vanished than another virulent fever, called 'the new sickness,' swept through the country, killing tens of thousands in a series of outbreaks between 1556 and 1559. Worse, these coincided with calamitous, starving harvests in 1555 and 1556. It was a literally dreadful age.

Plague, however, remained the darkest scourge. Just under three months after William's birth, the burials section of the parish register of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford bears the ominous words Hic incepit pestis (Here plague begins), beside the name of a boy named Oliver Gunne. The outbreak of 1564 was a vicious one. At least two hundred people died in Stratford, about ten times the normal rate. Even in nonplague years 16 percent of infants perished in England; in this year nearly two thirds did. (One neighbor of the Shakespeare's lost four children.) In a sense William Shakespeare's greatest achievement in life wasn't writing Hamlet or the sonnets but just surviving his first year."


-Bill Bryson
Shakespeare: The World As Stage
New York, 2007.


Bill Bryson on William Shakespeare— simply delightful! Bryson dispells some myths and diligently distinguishes between the little that is truly known about Shakespeare's life and that which has become commonly accepted (much of which is unproven and unprovable). As to the book—there are far worse ways to spend time!


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http://forum.literotica.com/showpost.php?p=21427422&postcount=258

"Asteroids as most people know, are rocky objects orbiting in loose formation in a belt between Mars and Jupiter. In illustrations they are always shown as existing in a jumble, but in fact the solar system is quite a roomy place and the average asteroid actually will be about a million miles from its nearest neighbor. Nobody knows even approximately how many asteroids there are tumbling through space, but the number is thought to be probably not less than a billion. They are presumed to be planets that never quite made it, owing to the unsettling gravitational pull of Jupiter, which kept- and keeps- them from coalescing.

When asteroids were first detected in the 1800s- the very first was discovered on the first day of the century by a Sicilian named Giuseppi Piazzi- they were thought to be planets, and the first two were named Ceres and Pallas. It took some inspired deductions by the astronomer William Herschel to work out that they were nowhere near planet sized but much smaller. He called them asteroids- Latin for 'starlike'- which was slightly unfortunate as they are not like stars at all. Sometimes now they are more accurately called planetoids.

Finding asteroids became a popular activity in the 1800s, and by the end of the century about a thousand were known. The problem was that no one was systematically recording them. By the early 1900s, it had often become impossible to know whether an asteroid that popped into view was new or simply one that had been noted earlier and then lost track of. By this time, too, astrophysics had moved on so much that few astronomers wanted to devote their lives to anything as mundane as rocky planetoids. Only a few astronomers, notably Gerard Kuiper, the Dutch-born astronomer for whom the Kuiper belt of comets is named, took any interest in the solar system at all. Thanks to his work at the McDonald Observatory in Texas, followed by work done by others at the Minor Planet Center in Cincinnati and the Spacewatch project in Arizona, a long list of lost asteroids was gradually whittled down until by the close of the twentieth century only one known asteroid was unaccounted for- an object called 719 Albert. Last seen in October, 1911, it was finally tracked down in 2000 after being missing for eighty-nine years.

So, from a point of view of asteroid research the twentieth century was essentially just a long exercise in bookkeeping. It is really only in the last few years that astronomers have begun to count and keep an eye on the rest of the asteroid community. As of July 2001, twenty-six thousand asteroids had been named and identified- half in just the previous two years. With up to a billion to identify, the count has barely begun.

In a sense it hardly matters. Identifying an asteroid doesn't make it safe. Even if every asteroid in the solar system had a name and known orbit, no one could say what perturbations might send any of them hurtling toward us. We can't forecast rock disturbances on our own surface. Put them adrift in space and what they might do is beyond guessing. Any asteroid out there that has our name on it is very likely to have no other.

Think of the earth's orbit as a kind of freeway on which we are the only vehicle, but which is crossed regularly by pedestrians who don't know enough to look before stepping off the curb. At least 90 percent of these pedestrians are quite unknown to us. We don't know where they live, what sort of hours they keep, how often they come our way. All we know is that at some point, at uncertain intervals, they trundle across the road down which we are cruising at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour. As Steven Ostro of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has put it, 'Suppose that there was a button you could push and you could light up all the Earth-crossing asteroids larger than about ten meters, there would be over 100 million of these objects in the sky.' In short, you would see not a couple of thousand distant twinkling stars, but millions upon millions of nearer, randomly moving objects- 'all of which are capable of colliding with the Earth and all of which are moving on slightly different courses through the sky at different rates. It would be deeply unnerving.' Well, be unnerved because it is there. We just can't see it."

-Bill Bryson
A Short History of Nearly Everything
New York, 2003


This is an excellent book. Bryson takes the reader through a large part of the history of man's discoveries in physics, chemistry, geology, and biology in very readable prose. I first encountered Bryson when A Walk In The Woods appeared, the account of his effort to walk The Appalachian Trail. Over the years, I have walked a very goodly portion of it and was curious. I mentally marked Bryson down as a one-time, "flash in the pan" best selling author until I further sampled his wares, particularly his Notes from a Small Island, I'm A Stranger Here Myself, and Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words.

By the way, notwithstanding Hollywood's periodic efforts to assure us that superheroes and methods exist to protect us from the danger of an asteroid collision, the peril is quite real. Assuming (an assumption that is, in itself, unlikely) that we were able to identify a potential collision, we no longer have a rocket booster powerful enough to intercept an asteroid's path. Not only that- according to Bryson- we actually destroyed the plans for the only rocket that we did have (the Saturn V booster) that was powerful enough to reach an asteroid! This is a problem that requires the Maid of Marvel's immediate attention!

Recall the fate of the dinosaurs?

 

[sr71plt]

Ho[e you have a good trip. And say "Hey" to Starrkers for me.

Thanks. The trip has been great--sail soon for a cruise around New Zealand as well. If I recall correctly, starrkers is quite far away from anywhere I have been/will be. I did, however, drive within 12 kilometers of the home of my writing partner (whom I've never met face to face) without knowing the tour I was taking would come anywhere close to him.

 

[starrkers]

If you stayed on the coast, you missed me by several hours' drive.

 

[redpaint]

Thanks Australia is on m list of places to see before I die. I will have to check this book out.

Have a greast time on your trip.

 

[sr71plt]

If you stayed on the coast, you missed me by several hours' drive.

The lower Hunter Valley is as far inland as I'm going to get.

Chancing the crowds in Sydney's Darling Harbor today.

Happy Australia Day.

 

[Elianna]

I was wondering where you'd gone. Sounds like you're having a great trip. Yeah. I'd like to go to Australia and New Zealand, too.

 

[starrkers]

Darling Harbour will be a nightmare today!

If you get a chance check out a winery called "Little's" - very small, cellar door or mail order only. They had some lovely wines last time I was there, and a fabulous vintage port.

Aussie celebrations a bit different to July 4?

 

[sr71plt]

Darling Harbour will be a nightmare today!

If you get a chance check out a winery called "Little's" - very small, cellar door or mail order only. They had some lovely wines last time I was there, and a fabulous vintage port.

Aussie celebrations a bit different to July 4?

I was taken to Lindemans--which was OK. Not really interested in the wineries on this trip. I live in the middle of 13 of them in Virginia. I do drink Yellowtail Shiraz, though, as it's very cheap in the States and goes down well.

I guess we shouldn't have left Darling Harbor for last on our Sydney visit. But I'm assuming the Circular Quay and the Rocks will be just as crowded today--and I was told they were more worthwhile to see.

I'm sure the Aussie celebrations couldn't possibly be anywhere as close to as sedate as July 4th has become in the States. I was bowled over by the European football club atmosphere at the Australian Tennis Open. The U.S. Open might be moving in that direction, but as I remember Wimbledon and the French Open, half of those I saw in action at the Australian Open this year would have been tossed out on their ears.

 

[jomar]

Thanks. The trip has been great--sail soon for a cruise around New Zealand as well. If I recall correctly, starrkers is quite far away from anywhere I have been/will be. I did, however, drive within 12 kilometers of the home of my writing partner (whom I've never met face to face) without knowing the tour I was taking would come anywhere close to him.

Pretty cool. Too bad you didn't have time to stop by for a quick Foster's.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Thanks. The trip has been great--sail soon for a cruise around New Zealand as well. If I recall correctly, starrkers is quite far away from anywhere I have been/will be. I did, however, drive within 12 kilometers of the home of my writing partner (whom I've never met face to face) without knowing the tour I was taking would come anywhere close to him.

Did you wave?

It's all of -11 here today... wish I could go to Australia!

Have fun!

 

[playwithlezli]

Did you wave?

It's all of -11 here today... wish I could go to Australia!

Have fun!

-25 here, I'll join you!


I read "In a Sunburned Country" on the flight over last year. Laughed out loud several times.

Have fun enjoying down under.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

-25 here, I'll join you!

Eek!

You win!

 

[playwithlezli]

Eek!

You win!

You definately don't want to know that the wind has come up a little so it is now the equivalent of -36.

Luckily there are some very fun ways to keep warm

 

[sr71plt]

Did you wave?

It's all of -11 here today... wish I could go to Australia!

Have fun!

Yes, I waved.

Still drizzling here after raining on Australia Day in Darling Harbor.

Embarking in a couple of hours for a cruise around New Zealand--However just noticed that the first day of the cruise is port side in Sydney--so may get in some more city walking and gawking tomorrow.

(Clear the decks--there will be three or four more e-book manuscripts in your in basket as soon as I hit the States again--you can put out a cover call for the next four on my annual list. )

 

[Selena_Kitt]

(Clear the decks--there will be three or four more e-book manuscripts in your in basket as soon as I hit the States again--you can put out a cover call for the next four on my annual list. )

I'm a bad publisher and have misplaced that %*$&# email... I've looked for it everywhere! (I feel like Uncle Billy in It's A Wonderful Life lately, I swear...) Honestly, I think Yahoo ate it.

But I like your cover art request forms anyway...

 

[starrkers]

It rained? Damn, wish it'd do that here!

In my small corner of the wide sunburnt land, it's 106 degrees today. And expected to get hotter for the rest of the week.

 

[sr71plt]

I'm a bad publisher and have misplaced that %*$&# email... I've looked for it everywhere! (I feel like Uncle Billy in It's A Wonderful Life lately, I swear...) Honestly, I think Yahoo ate it.

But I like your cover art request forms anyway...

I'm on the ship's Internet now, so can't resend that e-mail. Sabb has it, I'm sure--but it all can probably wait until I get back to LA at least.

 

[sr71plt]

It rained? Damn, wish it'd do that here!

In my small corner of the wide sunburnt land, it's 106 degrees today. And expected to get hotter for the rest of the week.

Sun's back out in Sydney today. Our ship is docked directly across Circular Quay from the opera house, and we're in a topside suite, so have been sitting and sipping wine and watching the "sails" (which apparently were meant to be a study in sphere sections) change colors in the different light. Shove for for New Zealand in three hours.

Australia is super nice.

 

[starrkers]

Sun's back out in Sydney today. Our ship is docked directly across Circular Quay from the opera house, and we're in a topside suite, so have been sitting and sipping wine and watching the "sails" (which apparently were meant to be a study in sphere sections) change colors in the different light. Shove for for New Zealand in three hours.

Australia is super nice.

Only the best people live here