Category: Uncategorized

  • Lantern is still broken

    Last night I tried to start up the lantern to show Ed, but once the blow torch was going, and heating up the vaporiser, the cracks in the glass just started to get bigger. I didn’t think it was safe to proceed so I turned off the blowtorch. I’ll be going to the lantern supply…

  • Working pressure lantern

    This is a photo of the lantern working.

  • Post travel depression

    Since we got back, Maissa and I have been wandering around in this kind of post travel depression. I’m not quite sure why we are both feeling it. Maybe it’s a kind of culture shock? or maybe its a combination of jet lag and having to face going back to work and getting back into…

  • I broke my new toy already

    As night fell tonight, I was looking forward to having another go with the pressure lantern. This time, I wanted to try the slow light method, which is supposed to be a little more gentle, and requires less pumping. Basicaly, you fill this special resevoir with metho and light it and let it burn out,…

  • Further reading on pressure lanterns

    This is a cool bit of history about the development of pressure lanterns.

  • My new toy

    When we were in Syria, I saw pressure lanterns for sale and I realised that that is what I needed to make my life complete. So I asked around and they seemed to be going for around AU$20. Maissa was a little surprised that I wanted but insisted I wait until we get back to…

  • Back to life, back to reality

    Got back last night after a fairly grueling flight back. At the moment, I’m finding it hard to come down to reality. I woke up at about 6:30 this morning, made coffee (it was good to finaly have my own coffee again) and sat on the couch wonderng how we are going to get ourselves…

  • The Louvre

    Today we went to the Louvre. The most impressive thing about the Louvre is its size. Its massive. Its quite difficult even to decide what to look at or for. We decided to do the tour, but we had to wait two and a half hours to get on the next tour, so in the…

  • A gadget I would like

    I don’t know why I haven’t seen something like this before, but why not build a book reader into a mobile phone? One takes one’s mobile everywhere with them, and its a lot smaller than some books, so why not build them together? And while your at it, why not make it an mp3 player…

  • A day with old friends

    I cought up with Benoit, a very old friend today. I did a french exchange with him about…. well, a long time ago, when I was around 13. Its been around 12 years since I saw him and his wife Marie, and they have a lovely baby called Zeli. It was great to see them.…