It is always funny how you assume certain things based on past experiences. When we arrived after driving all day we assumed we would easily be able to get into somewhere to celebrate our anniversary, but we quickly realised that even mid-week a walk-up was not a guarantee. After wandering the streets for a while we stumbled upon the Public House. It is funny how with all the searching online, serendipity still has a place. The place pleased all, with my wife and I sharing a mini cocktail or two, while our children loved colouring in the children’s menus and completing the various activities provided. Oh, and the food was great.
We chose to stay in Albury as it not only provided a range of activities, but a great launching spot for the wider area. One place we were keen to visit was Beechworth. I always find it interesting to visit a place twice. Sometimes the memory does not necessarily match with how it actually is. I have some history with the area, with my wife and I having in Beechworth in 2009, while I also went on school camp there many years ago.
Visiting with our children, we went to Beechworth Honey, where the girls got to taste different types of honey and learn about the process involved in producing them. We then went to the original Beechworth Bakery and had a pie and a bee sting. After that we walked across town to Billson Brewery. Not sure I remember visiting this space in the past. It was a good place to visit with the children as they got to try the various flavours of cordial, while my wife and I were able to try the various gins and liqueurs. It was also nice to buy some bottles of Chilli Punch Cordial, although I now realise that I could have ordered them from Billson online, it just never occurred to me. On our way back to Albury we took a detour and climbed to the top of Mt Pilot. A reminder I should do more bush walks with my children.
For diner we went back to Public House for 2 for 1 pizzas. Funny thing was that we got rained on as the retractable roof was left open.
On Friday, we explored Albury. This included spending time at the children’s garden in the Albury Botanical Garden. We then visited the Murray Art Museum Albury. A couple of highlights were Stephen Bush’s Babar inspired The Lure of Paris #35, Kevin Gilbert’s Colonising Species and the kids space.
Sadly the night ended on a sour note as we were evacuated from our hotel at 3am in the morning. Thankfully it was not raining outside as we wait to be told we could return to our rooms. I guess it could have been worse, we could have been evacuated due to flooding or worse, because we were under attack. Not sure our children saw it.
For our last full day away, we decided to go driving to Corowa / Rutherglen region. It was fascinating to see the Murray in flood. When I lived in Swan Hill for a few years, the river was relatively low, but there were always remnants and markers to remind you that it was and is not always that way.
In our travels, we visited Corowa Distilery (and Chocolate), Campbells Winery, All Saints Winery, Gooramadda Olives, and Earthcare Farm. We visited the area in the past, however having children with us definitely provided a different perspective. It was a good time to do it as it seemed that many were off watching the grand final.
One of the interesting things to come up through the conversations was the experience of living on the state border during the COVID lockdowns. One person explained to us how different teams were cycled through the various border crossings with little to no knowledge of the area. It was eye-opening and really provided a different perspective.
On our way home on Sunday, we detoured via Milawa Cheese and the Ned Kelly show in Glenrowan. It was fascinating to see the investment into Glenrowan, I was expecting it to be dead, but there had clearly been investment in the town and its history. Only a few minutes off the freeway, I think that I would stop there in the future, especially after purchasing the biggest bee sting in my life from the bakery.
We spent some time around Albury over the weekend. It was fascinating to see so much water. It was a contrast to the river I experienced while living in Swan Hill a few years ago when it was quite low.
Also on:
Another month and another change to the team at work. Why is it that everyone seems to have had such amazing lives? The new manager at work ran a 10 hour charity music conference in his spare time. I am often happy if I have done the washing and got food on the table, I clearly need to work harder on my pitch.
On the family front, we went on our first holiday post-COVID to country Victoria. It was interesting returning to various places with children. I think it is fair to say wine tasting and children do not always match.
Personally, I finally got around to loading Linux on my old Macbook Pro and Chromebook. Other than the ability to run music applications, I am pretty happy and not missing a think. I continued my dive back into books listening to Thomas More’s Utopia, Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. I also nostalgically binged The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. (Was this really made for children?) In regards to music, Montaigne’s Making It has been on repeat.
Here then are some of the other dots that have had me thinking:
Education
The Tricky Ethics of Being a Teacher on TikTok
Amelia Tate considers the place of TikTok in the classroom. She discusses the trend of content created about and even with students.
The Enduring Allure of Choose Your Own Adventure Books
Leslie Jamison dives back into the world of the Choose Your Own Adventure book series.
Unbeaching the whale – The education revolution failed — and so did its way of thinking
Dean Ashenden reflects on the failure of Gonski and the education revolution.
Timetable Absurdity
Cameron Paterson discusses the way in which schools are still held hostage by the timetable.
I want, I wish, I hope, I dream
David Truss shares an activity where he creates a portrait wall with a want, a wish, a hope or a dream underneath it.
Technology
After Self-Hosting My Email for Twenty-Three Years, I have Thrown In the Towel. The Oligopoloy has Won.
Carlos Fenollosa reflects on the demise of self-hosted email. One of the main reasons he argues for the failure is the crude blacklisting of large swaths of email, rather than a penalty process.
We Spoke With the Last Person Standing in the Floppy Disk Business
Niek Hilkmann and Thomas Walskaar interview Tom Persky about the dying art of maintaining floppy disks.
Interoperable Facebook
Cory Doctorow unpacks how an interoperable Facebook might work.
Tech Fear-Mongering Isn’t New—But It’s Time to Break the Cycle
Jason Feifer provides insight into Amy Orben’s four-step Sisyphean cycle of technology panics.
We need to deal with data privacy in our classrooms
Bonnie Stewart reflects upon the online learning with the return to the classroom in a post-COVID world.
AI’s dark arts come into their own
Alex Hern discusses the dark-side to the magic of artificial intelligence.
General
Electric Bike, Stupid Love of My Life
Craig Mod shares his passion for electric bikes.
After Queen Elizabeth II’s death, Indigenous Australia can’t be expected to shut up. Our sorry business is without end
With the passing of Queen Elizabeth, Stan Grant considers legacy of colonisation for indigenous people around the world.
Music on the brain: Listening can influence our brain’s activity
Abdullah Iqbal unpacks some of the research into the benefits of music on the brain.
Ark Head
In order to survived the battered psyche, Venkatesh Rao explains that way have resorted to the ‘ark head’ mental model. This involves giving up on solving the world’s ills and simply hiding in our ark.
The credibility of science is damaged when universities brag about themselves
Adrian Lenardic and Johnny Seales argue that the rewarding of attention economy has corrupted scientific research.
Florence Nightingale Was Born 197 Years Ago, and Her Infographics Were Better Than Most of the Internet’s
Celebrating the birth of , Cara Giaimo discusses Florence Nightingale’s impact in regards to the spread of ideas, not just as the ‘Lady with the Lamp’.
Read Write Respond #080
So that was September for me, how about you? As always, hope you are safe and well.
Image by Bryan Mathers