 Daniel Gerber - Drinkthewater | All Comments |
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| 26th October 2009 Drinkthewater | - From: God and country - the deep south, part 3 Hi Dad, I see now that the phrase is ambiguous but even if Sonia Gandhi were to have a sex change she would still not be the grandson of Indira Gandhi, I guess she'd be the son-in-law. The phrase "(the son of Sonia Gandhi, grandson of Indira Gandhi, and therefore no relation to Mohandas Gandhi)" was meant to imply that RAHUL Gandi is the son of Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi *AND* thereby the Grandson of Indira Gandhi (nee Nehru). So I should have written "the son of Sonia Gandhi and grandson of Indira Gandhi" OR "the son of Sonia Gandhi who was the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi". So Rahul Gandhi is the great-grandson of the first Prime Minister of India. Sonia Gandhi is still alive and well on the Indian political scene (I think in a different party from her son Rahul, I'm not sure how that works out for them). I guess I'm picking up Inglish. This Internet cafe bans "porn sights", for example. |
| 26th October 2009 Drinkthewater | - From: God and country - the deep south, part 3 thanks Raj, I stand corrected then I'm sure some Hindu told me that Ganesha was Krishna's son, but I must have had it wrong |
| 25th October 2009 Albrecht | - From: God and country - the deep south, part 3 thanks Daniel for continuing to entertain and educate us about the places you visit and the people you meet. It's all very interesting. But tell me, did Sonia Gandhi travel to Italy to have her sex-change? I wonder why - after she bore two children - she wanted to be turned into the grandSON of Indira Gandhi, as you inform us? |
| 25th October 2009 Raj | A small correction - From: God and country - the deep south, part 3 It was Shiva (not krishna) who cut Ganesha's head (Ganesh is Shiva's and Parvati's Son). Geeat Blog and nice photographs |
| 20th October 2009 Madurai hotels | Madurai hotels - From: God and country - the deep south, part 2 Your blog is very nice... i like your blog .... |
| 7th October 2009 Arvind | - From: God and country - the deep south, part 1 Use of spices in cooking is good for digestion and general health; but spicy food isn't actually good. Too much of any good thing is bad. |
| 7th July 2009 Jo | - From: Archaeology survey, week 1: ah, I'm so jealous. Sounds so good.... |
| 18th June 2009 Albrecht | - From: Turks aren't Arabs! Actually, there were quite a few tyops [!] you didn't notice ;-) The Wikipedia entry for Deissmann is pathetic ... |
| 17th June 2009 Drinkthewater | - From: Turks aren't Arabs! bah, I didn't notice that tyop. I'll change that now! Took too long to upload the photos that I didn't have time to proof-read. I thought Deissmann went by his middle name? Now that he finally has a wikipedia entry I believe that he exists :-) |
| 17th June 2009 Albrecht | - From: Turks aren't Arabs! Thanks, Daniel, for keeping up your blogs. Anatolia ... ah Anatolia, the land of the rising sun (in Greek A. = East). I only wish I could be there with you - specially in Ephesus. Speaking of which, I noticed with glee that you referred to the "20th century classicist Alfred Deissman". Well done! However, his name was actually Gustav Adolf Deissmann (1866-1937), and he wasn't a classicist per se, but rather a theologian who in 1895 became the world-leading expert in the postclassical (koine) Greek language - streets ahead of all classicists. Regarding his role in Ephesus, you are quite right, had he not championed its cause after WW1, much of what one sees there today would have been lost forever - and with it a large chunk of our knowledge of the ancient world and its people. In AD 100 Ephesus had a pop. of some half a million people, no wonder you were awed by its size. You also wrote of the Artemision that in the Apostle Paul’s time "They started changing [!] “Great is Diana ...”, and puzzled over how Diana and Artemis could possibly be the same god. Artemis was the name of the Greek goddess whom the Romans took over and called Diana (talk about plagiarism). Actually, this kind of ‘godnapping’ was nothing unusual in the ancient world. The Christians did the same later with the images and statues of the Roman goddess Isis and her son Horus, by simply renaming them Virgin Mary and her son Jesus. Hey presto - the myth is re-cycled, repackaged and sold to millions as sacred reality. |
| 17th June 2009 Albrecht | - From: Turks aren't Arabs! Thanks, Daniel, for keeping up your blogs. Anatolia ... ah Anatolia, the land of the rising sun (in Greek A. = East). I only wish I could be there with you - specially in Ephesus. Speaking of which, I noticed with glee that you referred to the "20th century classicist Alfred Deissman". Well done! However, his name was actually Gustav Adolf Deissmann (1866-1937), and he wasn't a classicist per se, but rather a theologian who in 1895 became the world-leading expert in the postclassical (koine) Greek language - streets ahead of all classicists. Regarding his role in Ephesus, you are quite right, had he not championed its cause after WW1, much of what one sees there today would have been lost forever - and with it a large chunk of our knowledge of the ancient world and its people. In AD 100 Ephesus had a pop. of some half a million people, no wonder you were awed by its size. You also wrote of the Artemision that in the Apostle Paul’s time "They started changing [!] “Great is Diana ...”, and puzzled over how Diana and Artemis could possibly be the same god. Artemis was the name of the Greek goddess whom the Romans took over and called Diana (talk about plagiarism). Actually, this kind of ‘godnapping’ was nothing unusual in the ancient world. The Christians did the same later with the images and statues of the Roman goddess Isis and her son Horus, by simply renaming them Virgin Mary and her son Jesus. Hey presto - the myth is re-cycled, repackaged and sold to millions as sacred reality. |
| 11th May 2009 Drinkthewater | re: Quanjude and girls... - From: The blog with a boring title, about Beijing. Mark D: your logic is obviously flawed because we know that all axe murderers don't understand probability (I'm ignoring here the fact that you're not an axe murderer). ie you can't ignore the independence of events, that's fundamental to the problem! There might be some biological basis for doing so, in which case you have to say that. I don't think such an effect would be significant. The intuitive answer would be that it would give more girls, which is what the government was of course hoping for. But in theory it's simple. Some people are allowed one child, they have a roughly 50% chance of a boy and a roughly 50% chance of a girl. Some people are allowed to try again, they again have a roughly 50% chance of a boy and a 50% chance of a girl. Yes I think Quanjude in melbourne is probably the same chain, I know they had a branch in LA, which I think closed down, I didn't know they had one in Queen st though, is it good? |
| 11th May 2009 Mark Daly | Quanjude and girls... - From: The blog with a boring title, about Beijing. For what it's worth there's a Quanjude restaurant at the top of Queen Street which, according to their signs, are "genuine Peeking duck specialists".. probably part of the same chain. I think the policy re boys/girls is still flawed (better than the previous one of course) since let's assume there is a 50% chance of a boy or a girl and let's assume there is no stacking of numbers through abortion etc. Those families who have a boy first stop breeding. If they have a girl first then they (let's assume) have another child which statistically would make the next child a boy (I'm ignoring the independence of the events, but relying on the 50% chance thing). What you wind up with in general is that every 2 families produce 3 children... 2 boys and 1 girl. Leaving twice as many boys as girls... Not sure if your graph says anything different, but that's my take on it after limited consideration.... Travel safe and have fun.... Mark |
| 30th April 2009 Norman | nice blog - From: Yogyakarta Daniel, this is an awesome blogs...I enjoy reading your blog specially when your were in my hometown Yogyakarta. I should have give you my home address so you can rest or maybe asked my friends to take you around. Me as Indonesian has not travel to other part of Indonesia, and you have visited the place I haven't been to...enjoy the rest of the trips... |
| 23rd April 2009 Drinkthewater | - From: Hanoi to Yangshuo Thanks NYCKid, but what I meant was that according to Lonely Planet it's a 10 Yuan trip. I'd expect it to go up a bit in the two years since that LP was published, but not by 400%. Remember it's only meant to be a 1-1.5 hour trip. |
| 23rd April 2009 NYCKID | The bus ticket - From: Hanoi to Yangshuo just so you know, those tickets are actually standard Chinese receipts issued by the government for tax purposes. They come in 5yuan, 10yuan, 50yuan...ect. It doesn't mean that the ticket is 10yuan. But 40yuan does seem a little bit expensive for a 2 hr ride though. |
| 10th April 2009 Cathy | - From: East Timor - I was there before it became big. Interesting to read your blog on current situation in ET. I was there in 2005, at a time when all seemed to be positive about the future. I think it will be a long time before ET is fully functioning and independent. |
| 26th March 2009 sam | Chinese Temples - From: A short blog about two temples Wow, i like temples a lot, and like travel too, hope one day i can go that place feel them by myself. If you like temples like me, i have some picture of China on http://www.synotrip.com/photos/jiangsu-province/samantha/temples |
| 26th March 2009 Bijal | i wish i was there.. - From: A short blog about two temples hey Daniel it is really fascinating to read and get insights from you.. esp as i am really interested in visiting the temples.. enjoy bijal |
| 8th March 2009 Mark Daly | Sandals and Fun... - From: Liang Bua and other tourist attractions Sounds like it's all coming together. For what it's worth you'll have no trouble finding someone to make shoes and/or sandals in Kuta when you get to Bali. If you can't find anybody you like then head to Charisma Tailors at the end of Poppies lane 1 (the one with McDonalds on the corner) the last set of actual shops before it hits Legian street. Charisma is next door to a shop which sells T-Shirts for dogs (as opposed to cooking them) and another which sells pirated movies. Ask for Made and tell him that Mr. Mark from the Grand Istana Rama (The friend of Mr. Paul) sent you. He'll look after you and your sandals :) Travel safe! |
| 6th March 2009 Deidree | Congratulations - From: Flores - land of dragons and hobbits Great blog - nearly as good as a postcard!!! I look forward to hearing if you get up close and personal with any hobbits or their habitat . . . |
| 6th March 2009 Dirk | Check with Wiki - From: Man bites dog Hi Daniel, Apparently, the measurement of a coastline is dependant upon the method used for measuring. so "not 100% accurate" is an understatement. However, as per Wiki: "....More concretely, the length of the coastline depends on the method used to measure it. Since a landmass has features at all scales, from hundreds of kilometers in size to tiny fractions of a millimeter and below, there is no obvious limit to the size of the smallest feature that should not be measured around, and hence no single well-defined perimeter to the country. Various approximations exist when specific assumptions are made about minimum feature size. For practical considerations, an appropriate choice of minimum feature size is on the order of the units being used to measure. If a coastline is measured in miles, then small variations much smaller than one mile are easily ignored......" http://wapedia.mobi/en/Coastline_paradox I'd suggest that when you are looking at trying to figure out how far you're are travelling around a country/island (or many islands making up a country) you stick to miles or kilometres. Don't let this paradox send you crazy! Hope your leg is getting better? Your blog is great! Your writing is superb! Keep up the good work and have safe travels! |
| 3rd March 2009 Drinkthewater | Fractal Coastlines - From: Man bites dog Thanks Dirk, If I may respectfully disagree with you ... I don't think that it's just "not 100% accurate". I think it can literally give you any figure you want (above a ridiculously low minimum). It doesn't matter whether you measure it in miles, kilometres, millimetres or stadia, I think that's missing the point. The measurement changes depending on the accuracy with which you measure it, not the units you use. I also think that it doesn't at all give me an idea ... I still don't know if Indonesia has a coastline greater than Tasmania's for example? Also, it's not about circumnavigating the country, which is comprised of thousands of islands, so it would be about circumnavigating each island, but many don't have roads. If you "circunavigate" the actual coastline, then you get back to the core of the problem. If you get a world map and try to measure the circumference of Wilsons Prom, then get an Australia map and try again, then get a survey map of Wilsons Prom and try again, you'll see what I mean. Each one will give you progressively greater measurements, and the more care you take, the higher your measurement will be again. Thanks for the feedback though, it's good to know people are reading. Cheers, Daniel |
| 2nd March 2009 Dirk | Fractal coastlines - From: Man bites dog Hi Daniel, You're right in that coastlines can't be accurately measured as they contain fractal like properties. Each method used to measure a coastline should give different measurements....Can you magine trying to measure in centimetres or less? The smaller the measurement method, the greater the length of the coastline, go figure! I believe that any given coastline is typically measured in miles (or more recently for metric countries - kilometres). But theoretically this is not 100% accurate. I'm sure someone who has a better understanding of mathematics would explain it better, but I have had this discussion before and the Lonely Planet guide is just stating measurements probably in miles to give you an idea of how long it would take to travel around the country, assuming you are circumnavigating the country. |
| 25th February 2009 Drinkthewater | - From: The one where I injure myself, but don't worry I'm OK. Thanks Dirk, by calculations you're saying that there's exactly 2 people in Australia who would eat dog? [ 21000000*(1-0.9999999)=2.1 ] |
| 25th February 2009 Dirk | Go the media - From: The one where I become a millionaire Hi Daniel, I think you should Google a picture of a media pass used by the UN, print it out at the next Internet cafe, and hang it from a shoelace (or string if you have any) around your neck. It should get you into all sorts of place (or trouble) and will make a good blog topic! Hope the leg gets better - you'll notice a vast number of people in SE Asia have scars on their legs in the same place as yours - all from similar bike accidents. You're now almost a local! |
| 25th February 2009 Dirk | Eat the Dog! - From: The one where I injure myself, but don't worry I'm OK. Hi Daniel, a lot of people make these decisions (whether an animal is ok to eat) based on whether it is an animal farmed for food or used as a pet. In Australia 99.99999% of people or more wouldn't eat a dog as they are almost exclusively pets. But you're not in Australia so these rules don't apply. If you're hungry and this is socially acceptable behavior (and not against your high ethical standards, or confusing such as you're in Peru and eating farmed guinea pigs that are also pets!) then eat the dog! Take care! |
| 24th February 2009 Drinkthewater | - From: The one where I become a millionaire Hi Jason, Thanks for the comment, not sure I'll get to try hot dog here anyway, and AFAIK it's not on the menu in the other parts of Indonesia that I'm going to. With the photo thing, if you get 20 kids clamouring around you going "Foto!! Hey Mister, FOTO!!" it's pretty obvious. You can probably see that in the photos I put up in yesterday's blog. With adults if they call "Hey, Foto?" and smile scarily, or gesture and point shyly to the camera, you can pretty much tell. Of course, you raise the camera slowly and and watch their reaction just as confirmation. So far having a digital SLR has been fun. I think in Timor people assumed I was a journalist. It's the only place a taxi driver has ever asked me "Ah, Australian - so are you military or civilian". Cheers, Daniel |
| 24th February 2009 Jason | - From: The one where I become a millionaire Same as with everyone Daniel, love reading your blog first thing in the morning :-) There seem to be a lot of people wanting you take their photo. Just out of interest, how do you know they want you to take their photo if there is a language barrier? PS> I'm going to go against the majority and say don't eat Lassie!! |
| 24th February 2009 Albrecht | fascinating reading - From: The one where I become a millionaire An absolutely super blog, Daniel. I follow it with great interest, and can't wait to read about your next adventure! Tough luck about your leg; I really hope it'll heal up quickly ... Airing it is good. As for eating dog? If you don't try it you'll never be able tell poor Jo what she was missing in China!! |
| 23rd February 2009 Elizabeth | Eat Dog - From: The one where I injure myself, but don't worry I'm OK. Hi Dan, after seeing the picture of that pig on your blog, I think you should give up pork and eat dog. Glad to hear that you were not badly hurt. hows your leg now? |
| 23rd February 2009 Drinkthewater | - From: The one where I injure myself, but don't worry I'm OK. hey Ben, aren't most ethics based on consensus, though? besides, it was more about whether I should blog about it than whether I should do it :-) |
| 23rd February 2009 Drinkthewater | - From: The one where I injure myself, but don't worry I'm OK. thank's David. I a's'sume the 'spelling i's intentional :-) |
| 22nd February 2009 David | Drink the water AND eat the food - From: The one where I injure myself, but don't worry I'm OK. I say when in Rome do as the Roman's do. Or, what happen's on a solo Asain back packing tour, stays on the solo Asain backpacking tour. Just apply either cliche if you feel the need to justify your acions. |
| 22nd February 2009 Ben | to dog or not to dog - From: The one where I injure myself, but don't worry I'm OK. Hey Daniel, I'm amused that you are going to make an ethical decision based on a blog consensus. That said, definitely eat a Daschund. You should be able to eat an entire miniature one. b |
| 22nd February 2009 Jo | go on... - From: The one where I injure myself, but don't worry I'm OK. i reckon you should eat dog. I wanted to when i was in china but we didn't go to any places that served it :(. So do it and tell me what it tastes like. |
| 22nd February 2009 Mark Daly | A vote... - From: The one where I injure myself, but don't worry I'm OK. Much as I like dogs (in an owner/pet kind of way) you can't possibly pass up the opportunity to try it if it's on the menu... I've heard the meat isn't that nice though. Glad you survived your accident and nice work on the blog! Travel safe... |
| 18th February 2009 Elizabeth | Awesome - From: East Timor - I was there before it became big. Loved reading your blog entry, the photos are excellent. Hope you feel better. |
| 16th February 2009 Elizabeth | awesome - From: just a quick note to say I'm in Dili Sounds great, sounds fun. i get the blog updates to my work email |
| 16th February 2009 Mark Daly | Good luck - From: just a quick note to say I'm in Dili Sounds good. Have fun... I'm tracking your blog on RSS feed, so paying attention to what's going on! |
| 11th February 2009 Deidree | too much stuff - From: preparation If you're backpacking, I'd say everywhere you go you'll find people who are flying home and need to get rid of junk. So you might be able to buy the stuff you need cheaply. |
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