Interesting stuff

Got a little bit of time, the glue has me fascinated.

They did glue themselves to the front windows of Blackrock in London, not a bad move. But what about the glue? The kind of fast-dry superglue you'd need to glue yourself to a window I've seen in modelmaking, it's really nasty stuff and typically only sold in 15mL amounts. The other one that I know of that would apply quickly and solidly might be that horrible blue and red stuff for plumbing piping - I wouldn't want that on my hands or near my lungs. You could use that hilarious expanding urethane foam stuff (perfect for letterboxes lol) but I don't think it would stick you.

Are there any tradies out there? What glue would do it?

Next, I'm glad Stu does what he does with the Swellnet forums. Different views, arguments, and amazingly it's still all running.

Weatherzone forums just got shut down, all of it after a decade +, and last couple of weeks the mods gave up. The climate forcing forum descended into chaos before the end. We are seeing a polarisation of views, and views boxing themselves into separate spaces (and less intelligent discourse, or truly new ideas fighting for gaining acceptance) - so well done for keeping Swellnet open. I never posted on WZ but would look in on heat/cold events as they usually kept a pretty good covering of the numbers behind them.

Very disappointing to see WZ close its forums (I was a frequent contributer in the early 00's; Swellnet also shared office space for ten years), but I can completely understand why they shut it down.

Forums are not a revenue source for any business, so it's often hard to justify the cost and constant headache of keeping 'em running, against the desire to build a community and offer a platform for thoughtful discussion.

Thankfully we've been able to straddle the middle ground thus far.

@VJ,

I'm not a tradie or a protestor, however I'll vouch for that nasty superglue you get from Bunnings in the tiny pack. Two weekends back I superglued my fingers together while installing a doggy door so my fuckwit of a dog could relieve himself outside the house.

I squeezed and squeezed with nothing coming out, and it was only that I felt burning on my hand that I realised the pack had a dodgy seal and I'd emptied it all onto my fingers. 

Only just pulled them off the plastic door in time then raced to the shed, trying to prise my forefinger and thumb apart, used my left hand to get the lid off a can of acetone and splashed it around. Had probably been in place 30 seconds and even with acetone it was hard to get them apart. With more time and no solvent they'd have been stuck and I've got no idea how you'd remove it.

Razor blades maybe?

EDIT: And cheers RE moderation. 

Good on you Ben and Stu.

Stu, that's the stuff, it's nearly instant. It's the only thing I can think of that would affix a young Arts undergrad to a financial tower's ground floor window quickly and reliably - but at what cost?! When I get bits of it on my fingers and solvent won't get it off (acetone - hardcore! Go easy on that stuff Stu! I try eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil) I'd use a rasp, modeling knife or just scratch away at it over an afternoon. It's like an instant second fingernail over the one you already have.

And all the different views - what if some combination of all of it is actually correct?

Edit: let's hear it for forums, too. They're one of the last vestiges of Web 1.0 still out there. You know, when you used a PC to access the net, typed html text on a keyboard and the sites didn't hit you with 38 cookies trying to load in. Where people set up sites to show you their hobbies. Before search engines censored out content politically. Before FB/Twitter. I can remember velocitybro typing in on 'bong_sesh' back in the mid 90's, it was novel, and simple and hilarious. If I ever do a website, wonder if I could get away with a Web 1.0 style one today?

Can't recall the specifics, but a few years back someone commented on a post on Swellnet's Facebook page. It was lengthy and insightful, and a fantastic addition to the conversation.

I knew the bloke, so asked him whether he wanted to contribute the same post to the corresponding article on Swellnet.

He replied that "nah, Facebook has a massive audience, so I'd prefer to just stay there where it can be seen by more people".

Which is all well and fine. 

Except... ever tried to find an old discussion on FB? Or anywhere else on social media?

Unless you continue to engage (i.e. comment) in a Facebook thread, it all kinda disappears. Not technically, but finding it again down the track is very hard.

You need to know exactly who started the post (Swellnet? Surfline? WSL? Stab? Davo? Dad?), when it was posted, and preferably a few key words - and even then it may not show up - you may have originally commented on a shared post (which, if deleted by the original poster, removes anything associated with it down the track).

Social Media wasn't designed to be trawled through, or for any kind of historical archiving - it's meant for instant gratification.

And that's where I'm hoping Swellnet will really become valuable over the years.

Sure, the 'value' of a surf report, forecast or surfcam is very short in time.

But, look at the articles or scientific pieces we wrote two, five or ten years ago that still have active comments to this day. They're all building upon the knowledge base of the surf community, and are not only fascinating to read back through, but are also a wealth of information for grommets just starting to understand things.

And that's why I am disappointed WZ has gone. It was an unequalled resource of community knowledge across all weather disiplines. 

Your dog assumed fuckwit status Stu, gee I remember when it was all licks, cuddles and a waging tail and walks in the park with the boys. Must be the head strong poodle DNA coming out, hahaha

It already is valuable Ben. Take for example the marram grass thread; here you have all the coastal dune management of my lifetime turned on its head. And good sandbanks to boot. Also Stu going after the real numbers watching the ASL/WSL, that was real journalism, publish and be damned. The 'Canaries in the Coal mine' thread was good and I was happy to contribute to the Perth/Sandtrax/Leighton thread.

Sometimes it's a little hard to find an old thread on SN, is there the chance of an 'article search' function?

Agree WZ was quite a precious resource, hope someone has archived it all.

Yeah our internal search function needs to be reactivated (it's on the list of things to do) but the site is nicely indexed through Google, you can usully find things pretty quickly there with a couple of search terms. 

It wasn't supposed to be like this, Guy. Good dog and all but he just doesn't give a fuck. Sleeps on the couch, brings his half-chewed bones inside, eats off the bench, ate the whole rotting compost bin the other week.

Other notable things he's eaten:

A 1kg box of dry Weet Bix in one sitting
A tin of Keens Curry Powder

So you can see why I'm not keen on cleaning up his ablutions indoors. 

When I go to spank him he thinks it's a game of chase and bolts up the side of the house, around the back, spins around in a circle a few times, then carts off down the side of the house again while I give chase and the kids egg him on.

Sounds like a normal dog to me.

On content searches...

I recall a few years back when surf websites were beginning to usurp surf magazines and a print journo argued for the timelessness of surf stories in print. To wit, the story is there in your hand, it exists on paper, and not a virtual creation of zeros and ones housed on a server somewhere.

All good, it was a longer and more convincing explanation then I've recollected here, however the argument fell down when you consider how many surfers actually keep their surf mag collections. I'm the only person I know with anything substantial, and even then it's very hard for me to reference certain stories without it all being digitally catalogued.

So yeah, the print stories still exist...somewhere. But good luck trying to reference them.

That’s the joy of having a dog Stu, gotta take the good with the bad.
Have to remember they’re not humans. So don’t expect them to act like one

I feel your pain Stu .... some breeds!!

My mate had a dog that used to seemingly go out of its way to really annoy my mate and anyone else it came in contact with. No amount of training or punishment would stop it from whining in your ear, running away from the car and refusing to come back or dragging your clothes into the mud and then laying on them while we were surfing. It's long dead but decades later it's still universally known as Fucking Jess.

I could have just said my mate once had an Irish Setter and that would have covered it fully I guess.

Stu's comments about "The Australian" ring the bell for me, I really enjoy good insightful, intelligent writing / news.

I don't care about the politics if the writing is great, many people who comment on this forum throw up some great writing time to time some times its just a one off sentence.

I read The Australian most days no longer for the writing (just lacks straight out intelligence) but to see the twisted logic and insane arguments to support a set agenda.

For some one who goes straight to the core publish and be dammed, Michael West still dominates that space I think.

Thanks Blowin.

Just to clarify, my 'valuable' reference wasn't in a monetary way either.

I'm just stoked to enjoy what I do every day.

Social media seems to almost have almost killed website forums off.

IMHO forums help give a website character and make it feel like the website is active, nothing worse than websites with new articles etc that don't have comments or forums. (without naming names some other surf forecast websites seems to lack character in this area)

Swellnet seems to rank very well on google for just about anything surf related even forum topics rank highly.

Obviously many factors that help but IMHO its likely the forums and comments are another tick towards ranking for in googles algorithm (possibly seen as user engagement)

We could even go back further and make Swellnet a bulletin board, so we can talk surf once Skynet takes over...

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/11/the-lost-civiliza...

I love the Swellnet forums- the arguments, the choice little tidbits from people more knowledgeable than me, the dummy spits, the humour, the banality, the compassion, the empathy, the lack of compunction, the sheer idiocy, the camaraderie, the sense of fraternity and the fact that it hasn't gone the way of other sites and turned into an immature slag-fest. Full credit to Ben, Stu and Craig for their efforts. Someone said ages ago that this is the thinking mans surfsite, i'm inclined to agree. I love that it's not too PC either.

Btw, i think my dog thinks its name is 'you stupid dog', lord knows he's heard it often enough. And the other one goes by 'you stinky mongrel' or 'leave the cat alone', whichever comes first.

Guy, the problem with your friends dog wasn't that it was an Irish Setter, it was that its name was Jess.

Irish setters are the Lord of all Dogs, but only if they're given proper names, like Kent.

or Damian...

or Lance?

Anything but Maxy Walker.

@I focus,

Have you seen the latest addition to Michael West's website?

A widget updating the weather in the Cayman Islands.

So I guess Texas Ranger is out too?

ER glue themselves to Blackrock
ER now banned in London
got a bit enthusiastic in their targets

I’ve had dogs all my life, can’t see myself without one. They have all been labs or cross labs. They were all different but always a great mate. The current one is getting on but still is on for a game and loves his daily walk in the bush. Food constantly talks to him so it’s a struggle to keep him lean. The best.

Maybe try a Vizsla next time, Guy. Wonderful dogs, and less keen on food than Labs.

Stu that's hilarious no I hadn't just noticed

BTW Max is just living up to his name, its his job give the boy credit and a big pat from me.

Also what Zen said about the site +1

What a beauty IB

Guy Smiley Labs are the best but agree their stomach is their Achilles heel. Had one a while back. Put a bowl of beer out in the garden the one night to kill the slugs and snails and checked it before going to bed and it was chokkas with slugs. Woke up the next morning and the whole lot was gone – the bowl was shiny and new!!!
He was a black Lab so couldn’t tell if he had turned green but his guts was a shitstorm for a few days after that. Best dog I’ve ever had though.

Ha ha ha...nothing is off limits for a lab.

Awesome looking mutt, IB.

Agree 100% Zen re forums and while we are on dogs, I still cant forget Crypto's meme about the history of dogs domestication- wolf seeing man's fire / "what could go wrong? "/ 5000 years later = inbred pug with silly hat. Sorry cant find it with limited skill set . Would have to be at top of a "Best of Forums " thread.

Here you go...

Ha ha! Classic.

That Vizsla is one regal looking dog IB.

We have a Brittany Spaniel that we rescued after he was dumped (i kinda know why now but we love him and we're stuck with him) and we also have a Mini-Schnauzer who we saved from a puppy farm, won't go into it but she lead a tragic life. Making up for the love she missed out on in the past.

We have four cats too- all strays. They have their own idiosyncrasies.

We also had a big bearded dragon but we donated it to the local zoo for their new reptile display.

Oh dear, I have tears rolling down my face now. Poor Mr Wolf!

Felluhs, I can confirm that IB’s dog is a most excellent hound. He kinda reminds me of Scooby-Do actually.
As for this forum, it’s a winner. Long may it continue.
By the way, Fun fact: my Spud avatar has been around since I first encountered the internet in 1995. The reason for Spuddups is usually because some other fucker has beaten me to it or I’ve forgotten my password. I reckon it’s right up there with the first guy to record their high score on a video game as ASS. That’s some history right there.

Back to Extinction Rebellion.

I'm down with the protest, in principle, but like Blowin I have to wonder what, if any kind of end game vision is in play.

This new development, like many others, is in full swing. That was pasture, trees. It had cows on it but would've supported countless birds, insects, amphibians and small mammals.
Now bulldozed back to bare earth. And, yep, that is red soil. Red soil that will be soon covered by McMansions and two Utes and jet-skis I every garage. Red soil that will n doubt get washed into the ocean when it finally, eventually does rain around here.

I voted Green, we have a Green State MP. Labour Fed MP and the bulldozers keep coming. This is the Extinction process. Death by a thousand cuts. A continuous process of development and de-forestation and massive resource use and fossil fuel dependency. And this is the coast.

Inland, the massive deforestation in North-west NSW is being largely driven bu agribusiness upscaling cattle/sheep grazing and clear felling for cropping: soy, wheat, cotton, barley.
No point tying yourself to posts and going vegan when that is happening in your name.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/oct/17/strip...

What drives the over-development on the coast is pretty easy to understand. The very high rate of population growth. Massive growth in the cities, white flight to the regional and coastal areas= ugly development everywhere.

Surely, a sensible first step in addressing Australia's extinction crisis and ecosystem degradation would be to dial population growth back to the long term average for at least 10 years, preferably 25.
GDP would take a hit and asset holders would see much lower return on property but GDP/capita growth might increase and quality of life/environmental/infrastructure outcomes would definitely improve.

What we have now is madness.
I'm down with ER but I'd love to see them address some of the real drivers of ecological decline in Australia.

Ive had a few different dogs since i was a kid, but my current dog is a Staffy and i don't think i will ever have a different bred now, once out of the puppy stage they are just so easy, they are just super loyal their whole mission in life is just to adore their owner, you have to be a complete dog person though because they will be at your feet 24/7 and need a lot of attention/pats.

Agree in totality FR. Happening here on basalt loams. Madness.

Saw it long ago, family dairy farms bought up by plantation interests who paid twice the going rate, these plantation interests powered by govco super rules, ASX listing and thus awash in cash. Baiting for native critters with ratsak, spraying, such erosion under the monocultures.
The soil underneath them was incredible, too.

I'm totally with FR too, madness the rate of development back home and mostly driven by population growth and white flight. It is death by a thousand cuts but it seems magnified to me as I go back to Oz on average every two years. My cousin and my uncle both dairy farmers driven off the land years ago, screwed by Parmalat or Fonterra or whoever was stealing their milk. They'd have one good year and four bad ones. All their land now, houses. I asked my mum and dad if they'd seen any koalas recently. They used to see wild koalas off our back balcony regularly. They said they haven't seen one in over ten years. Where we grew up was a mixture of bush, small scale sheep and dairy farms and pineapple farms. All gone, rows upon rows of houses, roofs practically touching.

Of course it was inevitable but it saddens me a bit when I see where my bro and I used to camp in our board bags under the Casurinas both up the Sunny Coast and Northern NSW, now just huge houses one after the other. It just never seems to stop.

PS Staffies rock. Great dogs.

Love staffies, same thing happened to our famiy Zen, cane farmers & now it's all houses.

I read FR's article, the tragedy is that the farmers or industrial farmers mainly, clear the land to improve and increase yield/property value, and if they conserve their native veg there's no reward, only burden. If we get back to the Greta stuff and who backs her, if their plans come to fruition there will be carbon sink markets, and the farmers can be credited, maybe receive income for keeping native veg or replanting/regrowing. We're still some way away from that though.

My Ms. family farm, they cleared about 2/3 when it was opened up due to lack of technology (FJ and a tractor joined with chains). Her dad also tended to set it up around contour banks, and they developed an understanding that keeping native veg meant the salt table stayed lower. Some amazing rock formations out there too that would trap water. Later, further clearing needed a permit and it meant that some processes were harder like driving sheep from one corner to the other,,, had to go around multiple paddocks and that can cost lambs or you might have a crop in the way... In the end they were much better off in the condition of the farm.

Loved it, used to fang an old Valiant wreck out there all over the place. Motorbikes and kelpie crosses, great dogs, so brave, would jump off the ute while it was going to chase goats. Used to hit golf balls out into the paddock after harvesting, the border collie cross would try to catch them off the club! One of the ladies got bored, went over to the other farm, came back pregnant and we got a beaut little heeler kelpie cross :) Mum dug a hole underground for the pups, that was spun out. Stuck my arm down underground to pick him up, first human contact, got a little mate for life.

Extinction rebeliion rebelion

https://news.sky.com/story/furious-commuters-drag-extinction-rebellion-p...

couldn't agree more with freeride's argument. It just doesn't seem to be part of the ER argument

their argument is too vague and myopic at the same time

Nice post VJ, I think we can draw some similarities there.

We had a Border Collie Kelpie X as the first pet I can remember. He was a champ.

Freeride has hit the nail on the head. One reason for the development never mentioned, by just about anyone, is profit. The profits are the only reason these ventures get started and it is hard to comprehend just how much can be made. Build it and they will come and we will make a motza.

Don Watsons’ The Bush is a read that puts some of what has happened to the Australian landscape into perspective. Like what has happened in Freerides post only on a grand scale, he describes the absolute carnage of what the early settlers did to the environment.

Fr is that Dr what's his face land along the road at flat rock, skennars...?.......Going to look a treat covered in houses......totally agree with you .

yep, Doc Stewarts land.

iconic view about to be turned into McMansions.

it makes you sick but honestly, what can you do?

keep voting Green?

How many new homes for that stretch ?