The right to vote, informal

I have been watching with increasing unease the responses to the Australian election. The #qanda tweets, and the #ausvotes statements have spent a large proportion of their efforts chastising those who voted informally.

In Blaxland, the informal vote was 14% out of less than 73,000 votes. The average swing of the informal vote was (nation-wide) over 5%, and over 5% in NSW. Where I live (ACT) the average informal vote was only 3%. Perhaps this is due to the difference in job, and education.

Several statements I have seen have said something to the effect "you $%^$ people who voted informal, look what you've done" as if, had all the informal voters voted formally, their votes would not have distributed in the same manner as everyone else's. And the fact that a hung parliament is somehow
(a) a bad thing or
(b) in any way anyone within a 5% margin's fault

I did not vote informally, I think doing so is odd, if not down-right silly. But I also believe voting above the line in the senate - and thereby allowing some unknown party official to select who gets my real vote - is also stupid. And I think that voting for One Nation or Family First is stupid - all of which just goes to show that what I think is stupid is not a measure of what should (or should not) be permitted.

Nonetheless, to vote informally is my right. Should I wish to go to the polling booth and draw on it, or write a poem on it, or simply leave it blank, then that is my right. There seem to be several arguments against this, and I'd like to address some of the popular ones

Why I'm voting for the NBN

I started to write this as I grew progressively more tired listening to arguments against the NBN. The first version (being that I was angry and such) became rather a rant. This, hopefully, is closer to objectivity.

First. Allow me to direct you to Mike Quigley CEO NBN Co's speech from Aug 18, on why it is better to invest $27b rather than spend $6b. I highly commend it. So there would seem to be a few arguments to draw..

Corin Forest

Lilly has been intermittently watching the tobogganing luge from the winter Olympics, with across-the-lounge room commentary I can do that! And so, in a coincidence reminiscent of a Muppet movie, Saturday saw us ballet dance classing, and then off to Corin Forest.

It was a nice day trip (about 45 minutes from Belconnen). The GPS said the coordinates are E149 4' 39.362" and S35 27' 11.922" (since the map location didn't show up in the search list.) Google maps has a great satellite view

Better Place Australia announces Canberra as starting point of national roll-out of electric vehicle

Better Place Australia, (an electric vehicle infrastructure provider) announced in Jul 2009 that it will use Canberra as the first site in Australia for the roll-out of EV-infrastructure. The roll-out is expected to be in place from 2011, and active in 2012.
more info from the press release

What the?! It's 10 days since Christmas, leave off the Easter Buns already!

So it's not enough that I'm back at work less than two weeks after Christmas, or that we've all managed to catch a cold in the middle of summer, but today, we walked into the local supermarket at Kippax, and they are selling [are you ready for this?] Hot Cross Buns. Hot, freaking cross buns and the first weak of the year isn't even half over.

I kid you not. Seriously, they were so in-your-face out front I didn't even notice until Flavia pointed them out. I know people often complain that the hot cross buns are out a few days after Christmas or even in Jan but I'd always taken that as a bit of an exaggeration.

I understand that as a card-carrying pagan I have no call being upset about anyone selling me sugary bread with sultanas in on any day of the year, I just wish the local commercial operators wouldn't be so blatant in their lack of imagination when it comes to ripping me off. Because it's January 5th, and Easter is only well.... the next food-based holiday to cash in on. I haven't spotted Easter eggs yet.....

Post-script Jan 7: Easter Eggs. Here is what I will be eating until April

Painting Gabriel's room

Last week we began to move Gabriel into his own room. He'd had a random selection of rooms through the holidays, hotels, Nanna's... and so the dislocation was less substantial. Just one more move (or so we kept telling ourselves...)

Flavia and I had talked about jungles, pictures of smiling lions or big trees or something. But we couldn't agree on scale - was it going to be wall-paper sized stick-on animals or a big tree, or lots of thin ones? In the end, our trip North for Christmas decided it: it turns out Gabriel loves wheels, cars and mechanical stuff in general. So we painted hills (see pictures). And a road, for some wooden cars we'd found. The cars are glued directly to the wall: it is my philosophy that should anyone ever buy this house, they'll be welcome to take the kids wall decorations off with a chisel.

Of course, Miss 3 assisted with the rollers (green), and some sponges on the road. Then she decided that stacking the paint tins, and painting on paper on the floor was much better than keeping within the lines on the wall. Small dude was ever present... surely, if Dad and Miss 3 were getting messy with green paint, he'd be allowed too..... he particularly liked the acoustics - empty wooden room, big echoes, lots of "Aahh!     aah? Aah!"

It's now a whole 24 hours since we finished, and both Miss 3 and Small dude are asleep in their respective rooms. Our bedroom feels oddly empty....

Dear Santa; All I want for Christmas is to orbit the moon.

Dear Santa, for a cool hundred million US, yes, US$100,000,000 I can buy a space flight and orbit the moon, International Space Station lay-over included and return. So far I don't seem to be able to actually walk on the moon, but hey, would you buy a ticket on the only ever Russian rocket to attempt a moon landing?

So, Santa, I've been reasonably well behaved, and if you were to say, tax everyone (else's) toys in only Australia by about $6 each, I'd be able to see myself clear to a modest holiday on board the ISS. I'd be ever so completely grateful.

I know, you're probably thinking it sounds like a lot of money, but these guys reckon it only takes 4 years to raise 100mill. And this beach umbrella is apparently worth $34mil, so I'd say putting me within apple-throwing distance of the moon for a few weeks is totally worth it.

And anyway, I just want to be the guy who rings up the (online) Adrenalin store, hands over 100 million in (what would it even be, government bonds? Swiss bankers? Who'd be mad enough to use a credit card with a 100mil limit on it? On the internet!??! ), anyway, hands over 100million in a very tightly secured bank vault in a tax-free, but unlikely to have a military coup this week, Pacific island, and says "Hi, I'd like the moon package please."

So, Santa, how about it eh?
Yours in anticipation