Binnsy's Hovel

Yesterday I signed up for the local library, an ‘to-do’ item which was long overdue. I managed to uncover a book called Stargate Conspiracy: The Truth about Extraterrestrial Life and the Mysteries of Ancient Egypt, written by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince. These two also wrote The Templar Revelation, one of the main sources of research for Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

As an amateur expert in paranormal phenomenon (ie, an X-Files fan) and a junior Egyptologist, I was drawn to read this book. So far I’ve only gotten as far as halfway through the introduction, but I have no doubt it will be addictive. The introduction introduces (how’s that for word selection) the nine ancient Egyptian gods, and tells us that there is a cult going around that believes that the gods were aliens, and one day these aliens are planning to return and take over the world. Indiana Jones meets Fox Mulder at its very best. Sure, I’m a little skeptical, but I’m not at all doubting the existence of extraterrestrial life. I find it 100% inconceivable that us homo sapiens are the only intelligent species in the universe. Some other Earth-like planet has to have bounced off into space somewhere. The universe is just too big for it not to have happened. Or maybe another species has adapted to different climates or conditions. Who woulda thunk it? Anyhoo, will post more on the book as I read it.

Executive is going great guns. Many people have visited the site and I’ve been trying to get random pilots to sign up. We’ve forged a couple of links with other VA sites and alliances. It’s all going very, very well. My involvement with the VA industry has also encouraged me to think more about what I’d like to do after university. If I were to take the ‘airline’ career track, I’d go to university and do Arts as planned, perhaps an Arts/Science degree. Then I might even consider being a Flight Attendant for a while – to get a feel for the airline industry (and see the world, etc etc). Using the money from that, I’d get flying lessons, grab a license, apply for airline pilot, voila. Simple, really. But then I also might want to be a Journalist, or a Marine Biologist, or something else completely. Meh.

Until next time…

My rebirth in the virtual airline industry has not been without a, what shall I say, rethink of how the whole thing works. I decided the other day to join another virtual airline to see how it feels to be on the other side of the industry, the work force. Thus, in the past few days I’ve flown two flights for Trans Australian Air Express, a freight VA hauling cargo around Australia and NZ. Adding my previous hours to my profile at TAAE, I now have around 17 hours and 45 minutes experience. Nice. I’m also a 2nd Officer, hence the rank slide above.

By doing this I can gauge how it actually feels to be flying around under somebody else’s name. And I must say, it really is quite a lot of fun. I got to see Townsville by night and fly out over the Pacific to fly into Brisbane. Very skeenic.

Check out my TAAE profile page here.

Well, after 18 months of inactivity, I think I can safely say that Executive Airways is well and truly up and running again. I think I’ve gotten everything running a lot smoother this time, so there’s not as much worry about what thing goes where or how this becomes that. Check it out, and if you have FS98 or FS2002, why not fly for us? (SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT)

My illness has not gone away. I’m still coughing like a madman and my nose is running like a tap. Meh, at least it’s the weekend so I’m not missing out on any more schoolwork.

Other than that not much has happened. I best be off and cleaning up the kitchen. Blurgh.

Until next time…

Blurgh. I am at home. Sick. Dying. I have some weird tonsilitis/influenza hybrid and hence have spent yesterday and today home from school. I’ve been sleeping and trying to work ahead with school stuff.

Other than that I’ve been trying to find scenery for the city of Melbourne, and have come across some really good stuff at FSDome.com. The screenshot above is an example of how good this scenery looks. Right down to the goalposts on the MCG, Eastland Shopping Centre, Fountain Gate and just before I closed FS down before, I found the diagonal yellow pole on the Citylink on the way to the airport. Attention to detail is amazing. Fun fun. This scenery works with FS2002 and FS2004.

Until next time…

OH MY GOD. You know how much fun it is to pop bubble wrap? Now you can do it online!

POP AWAY, MY MINIONS!

That is all.

Until next time…

I was amused to hear on the radio this morning that John Howard will be sending 450 Aussie troops over to Iraq to defend the Japanese. Funny… in the 1940’s it was the Japanese that were watching us… and waiting to put a chunk of lead in our heads if we didn’t do as we were told. Like John Howard said, military relations between Japan and Australia have now come full circle. I’d refute that and say that they’ve only come about 180°. Now we’re protecting the Japs, but only as a friendly military companion. Perhaps its a 270°. In that we’re protecting the Japs, but in a non-hostile kind of way. I don’t know. Anyway. I just found it amusing is all.

Also of note was the Queen’s boycotting of the marriage of Charles and Camilla. Mwhoahahahah. Funny stuff. You can just imagine Her Majesty running out of Buckingham Palace with her walking stick and clipping Charlie over those big ears of his. ‘I liked Diana, and you killed her! Now I won’t get to see my own son on the throne! That’s IT! I reject your invitation! And don’t think you’re getting my BLESSING!’ Ah, royal-political satire and sitcom would be so much fun. Where have you gone, the Chaser and Spin City?

As you know I love a bit of history, and the quest to find the HMAS Sydney has piqued my retrospective attention. I’m always amazed to see the irrevocable link between politics and history. In order to bring up the wreck of the ship, the researchers have had to get permission from the Senate, even going so far as to allow the Senate to commission their own little inquiry in 1999. That said, the Senate inquiry did turn up several documents relating to the building of the Sydney and its crew. However, the Senate asked for ‘not only moral support but tangible assistance’ in the form of $2.1 million from the Federal government. The SMH article says that this new ‘Finding Sydney’ organisation has raised $80,000 from tax-deductible donations. History is a very important thing to me and I wish I could contribute, but to those who can, get behind this non-profit organisation helping to rediscover the past without government assistance. The omnipotent government cannot censor what it has no part in. This sounds awfully cynical of me, but so many events, occurrences and examples in the past only support my attitude…

Until next time…

UPDATE: A mate pointed me to this. Highly amusing stuff. Whether or not any of it is authentic remains to be seen, however the mystery keeps some people going. I particularly like the comment: “She was pretty upset about it. It’s one thing to have people looking at your sex tapes, but having people reading your personal e-mails is a real invasion of privacy.” Oh, but of course. Seriously, if this is fake, though, craploads of effort must have gone into it. That said, some people do get very, very bored.

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Coffee. What is it about this strange, slightly odd-looking, exceedingly smooth, occasionally refreshingly bitter beverage that so penetrates the social, cultural and spiritual psyche of the modern world?

You only have to look to your major shopping centres. Even in Australia now there’s a Starbuck’s here, a Gloria Jean’s there. The fast-food-cross-coffee-hybrid phenomenon has come down under. Even I, in the Lions Club speech I had to do last year, could not ignore the effects of the great Starbuck menace on the Australian economy and public mindset. But what of the original beverage? The one treasured by the rich and intelligent for so long?

I borrowed a book, aptly named Coffee from a friend, and was enthralled in the detail of the book. Not only does it contain recipes, tips for brewing, reviews of special equipment and how to use it – it contains a full explanation of the coffee-making process, from bean to brew. Also included is a history of this amazing drink. Of particular note is a quote from Arab Sheikh Ansarl Djerzeri Hanball Abd-Ai-Kadir, who said:

Coffee, you dispel the worries of the great… you are the drink of the friends of God… you are the common man’s gold, and like gold, you bring to every man the feeling of luxury and nobility. You flow through the body as freely as life’s blood, refreshing all that you touch.

Perhaps a slightly over-obsessive commentary, but not unwarranted.

For my personal input, I probably have two to three cups of coffee per day. For those of you who are interested, I take it white, with two sugars. I feel it invigorates me, gives me a kickstart to the day and keeps me going. It also tastes refreshing, which always helps.

Perhaps I will continue this caffeinated commentary another time, but that’ll do for now. Meantime, happy drinking!

Until next time…

And we now see that the rectal yuletide spirit is no more than a wad of belly button fluff sitting at the top-right corner of my desk.

Right. I just needed to get that out of my system. Once again I’m sitting in a study period, bored off my ass. Technically I should be studying, but I did that for an hour and a half lastnight, and I really couldn’t be bothered doing any more.

Ansett Australia. What a grand airline. Shame they folded. I flew Ansett for about six years before their untimely demise. Now I’m stuck on Virgin Blue. Same price as Qantas and Jetstar, but you don’t get food or nice-looking flight attendants for consolation. Meh, never mind. Only one more year of it.

I watched Four Weddings on Saturday night. Funny movie. But after it, there was another movie, Haunted starring Aidan Quinn (of Walton fame in the 90’s remake of Frankenstein). It was a fairly predictable horror movie, but Kate Beckinsale is extremely rather nice looking, so it wasn’t too bad.

Until next time…

UPDATE: Refresh your browser and check out the new header! (c. 10:52PM)

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Well, the shit’s hit the proverbial over at Darp’s place. But judging by the comments I think the bad guys might be a little outnumbered. With you all the way, big fella.

Meantime, Executive Airways has been reopened. Why? I don’t really know. Put it down a little to the fact that I’ve clocked up about 4 hours worth of flying time in the past 6 days. And also that I’m trying to avoid Maths homework (just kidding, got most of it done lastnight – I’m planning a red-eye Melbourne to Sydney trip tonight so I’ll probably finish it off once we’ve levelled out). Listen, if any of you have a flight simulator program and want to fly some trips for Executive Airways, chuck us an email.

Other than that, life proceeds pretty much as normal. I was without Internet connection for about 12 hours up to about 11:30 this morning. We had some pretty bad storms here yesterday so I can only assume that the phone line was knocked out. Meh, everything’s back to normal now.

We had our Swimming Carnival on Friday. An awesome day. Two races I entered – last and second last. Love it. Also lost my voice cheering for the mighty Red House. The Fanatics would’ve been proud. By far the most popular chant of the day was ‘Green’s goin’ home in the back of a divvy van’. The best they could come back with was ‘You suck *clap* *clap*’. Nice.

I’m in the process of setting up a photo album where I can post pics that I take or make. I’ve put a few up so you can take a look. The link will always be over there in the sidebar and I’ll post here when I upload new pics.

It occurred to me that I haven’t been for a bike ride in over a week. Shock horror. The storms yesterday heralded the arrival of the cool front so maybe this afternoon I might head off for a quick journey.

Until next time…

Well stuff me drunk no updates in a week.

SRC Camp was good. Lots of swimming and stuff. Maths test on Wednesday… blurgh. Swimming carnival today – lost voice.

I did actually reinstall FS2002 over the weekend. And have clocked up about 2.5 hrs of flying time again. Downloaded the old Executive Airways 737 for a bit of nostalgia. I also downloaded the Ansett B747. I flew Ansett from 1995 until its demise in 2001. Brilliant airline. RIP. I’ll take some screenshots over the weekend and stick em up here for your perousal.

Sorry it’s been so long between posts. Will endeavour not to do the same again.

Until next time…