GM Foods

No I am not talking about general motors foods, I am talking about genetically modified foods. This appears to be quite an issue at the moment due to food safety concerns about GM foods. Japan has even asked Australia to not use GM foods. Even the TV was bombarded with anti GM food advertising. This is short sighted I feel. Genetically modifying foods is something we have been doing for a long time. When we splice genes together of different wheats to get a new variety of wheat it is the same as getting two different genes from plants to boost drought resistance. In principal it is the same, and GM foods do need to go through a rigorous safety screening.

Now I admit nothing is fool proof and mistakes may happen yet I feel the risks associated with GM foods are outweighed by the benefits. Some of the existing benefits include increasing vitamin/ mineral content of foods and higher yielding crops. Presently, I am working on Agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and methane and nitrous oxides are big problems less focussed on in the context of climate change. I feel that GM technology really can help with cutting back these gas emissions. Perhaps scientists can make crops less nitrogen dependent, rice that emits less methane when growing, and my personal favourite cows that fart less.

The economist this week presented the map below showing the top 10 producers (by million hectares [1 hectare = 1000 m2]) of GM foods worldwide and countries that have adopted them. As the accompanying story suggests, Europe may no longer be able to keep out GM foods as trade regulations are forcing changes.

You tube

You tube sucks. I am annoyed that I can no longer watch UEFA CL videos there.

Better late than never.

It has been a tough season and possible the drama off the pitch is contributing to a lack lustre year. As a fan it has led me to many ups and downs. Liverpool has watched themselves lose any chances at winning the Premier League, and on Saturday after an embarrassing loss to Barnsley, the FA Cup. Liverpool has struggled in the FA Cup and this latest loss, just allows them to focus on the only trophy they can win this year, The Champions League.

I think it is the only club trophy worthwhile as well. Club champions of Europe really does have a nice sound to it. Last night the Champions League resumed, and Liverpool was playing the other Milan at home.

They showed some spirit in the game last night and eventually broke through the 10 man defence of Serie A leaders Inter Milan to score a 2 goal win at Anfield, both goals scored in the last 5 minutes. I now feel the tension building as Liverpool march on to the finals once again.

Censorship is pointless

I have been overwhelmed by a particular TV channel continuously advertising a new underworld drama – something like an Australian version of The Sopranos, based on the criminal underworld in Melbourne. As appealing as it sounds to watch, it did one day come a little to close to home. While I was living in Melbourne in 2004, about four blocks from my house a gangster was shot. I remember walking past that restaurant all the time. The restaurant looked like a little family affair with the oversized wine glasses on tables dressed in white cloths, and the aroma of pizza filling the air. A Chinese restaurant resides in the building now which seems out of place in the Italian quarter.

It looks like the show won’t be shown in Melbourne due to outstanding court cases. Yet, I have no concern as I can download it from the web within 1 hour of it screening in Sydney.

Tet 08

The lunar new year is celebrated in many countries. In some you get holidays like China, Vietnam, and Indonesia, while others is just noted on the calendar like Australia. However, there is a large Chinese community in Australia consisting of students and migrants so there tend to be many celebrations. I don’t recall ever going to one before I went to Vietnam, yet now I know that this is a special time for me, as I had spent lots of quality time with my friends. So this Tet I was concerned that I might not see anything when my friend from work suggested that we go to the Crown Casino to take a look at the celebrations.

I went by his place just after midday and it was unusually warm and sunny in Melbourne. This I thought was a good sign. We had to walk through Chinatown to get to the casino and it looked like it was buzzing. The first sounds of Chinese music graced my ears as we approached the corner where Chinatown meets Greek town and a crowd of people just appeared. I was surprised that so many people could fit into such a small area. On stage there were some graceful dancers swaying in time to the music which I found to be enchanting to watch. Suddenly I was startled as a burst of noise crackled behind me and smoke rose from the leftover shells of firecrackers. We decided that the show behind us was more entertaining so we moved towards it. Alas, so did all of Melbourne it seemed as I was pushed in every direction and motionless all at once. I was a statue in the street next to the dragons guarding the entrance to Chinatown. Eventually we got through the crowd and decided that we should go to the casino.

I found the air was quite festive as people where moving around chattering and laughing. Little children were building conical hats out of cardboard, painting faces, and building lanterns. As we got deeper into the festive zone, the smell of food reminded me that I was hungry. As we walked along I was looking for Vietnamese food, yet I could see Thai, Korean, Singaporean, Chinese, yet no Vietnamese. I decided that the Thai food looked the best, with my friend assuring me that this choice would not go wrong. We ate a papaya salad, similar to the green mango salad served in Vietnam. I felt it was close enough to the feeling I was searching for and dug in. I thought that I was celebrating Tet, at a Chinese festival, eating Thai food. We went back for the main course spicy basil chicken and green curry. Delicious, and was washed down with a Thai milk tea, think tea with milk and you would have got the taste .

To digest the food we went down the promenade and came across a little stage. I enjoyed watching the juggler, as he juggled balls and bottles. However, he blew me away when he was balancing and flipping a bottle and wooden spoon. I wonder how he did that. Next on show was an orchestra of Chinese instruments. I was moved by the music which had titles like peace and sounded very traditional to me.

The girl was singing was not Chinese yet her Chinese must have been good as at intervals in the song the Chinese parts of the audience would break into applause to show their admiration of her Chinese skills.

Next we watched a Chinese chef make 4096 noodles. I really enjoyed this presentation as both the mc and chef were cracking jokes everywhere.

Finally, I heard that there were going to be Vietnamese dance performance thought back to all the performances I had seen in Long Xuyen, wondering if they would be the same. I thought they were and I really was impressed with their costumes. I hadn’t seen an ao dai for so long and forgot how beautiful they are. The dancers performed a variety of songs, both traditional and modern. After the show, which I felt was too short, we went inside the casino to escape the heat and down a cold beer. Afterwards, we went browsing through the shopping corner and decided to go home. A different experience from the last few yet really enjoyable all the same.

The worm

There once was a man who had decided that alcohol was evil, pure evil, and he wanted to make a point and tell the world. So he organised a meeting and invited all the townsfolk. In this big hall, the sounds of chairs grinding on the floor and low level chatter echoed throughout. The man cleared his throat and the noise faded and he began. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have come before you here today to tell you of a great evil that is killing our society”.

Everybody’s attention was hanging on the words that were filling the hall. He continued “Alcohol is a terrible evil, responsible for the degradation of society, and our moral values”. He produced in his left hand a glass full of clear liquid and placed it on the table for all to see. Then he produced another and placed it on the table next to the first glass.

Everybody was silent waiting to see what would happen when he started again. “To show you how evil alcohol is I have two glasses one filled with wholesome water and the other pure evil – 100% alcohol. He took a worm out of a box from his pocket and placed it in the first glass. The worm coughed and spluttered as it swam to the side of the glass then with all its effort it climbed out of the glass and rested on the table. The man, smiling with joy from the way this first part went, said “water is great”. He then picked up the worm and placed it in the second glass, and everybody watched as the worm melted in the alcohol.

Beaming with pride from how well the experiment went, the slowly looked up at the audience and said “As you saw the moral of the story is quite clear. Someone can you tell me what the moral of the story is” The audience broke into a little noise as they talked to the people around them about what they saw. Then a man in the middle of the hall stood up, and after the hall hushed the man on stage said “Kind sir, what is the moral of the story” in which the audience member replied “If you drink alcohol you never have to worry about worms”.

The humble plastic bag is headed for extinction!

Anyone who has spent some time in Vn will have seen something similar to the picture here, an old woman collecting plastic bags and I assume selling them on in some kind of recycling process.

I have become quite disturbed lately as there seems to be a trend, well two countries at least (China and Australia), which want to do away with plastic bags. I ask why?

The plastic bag is a very useful device. It can be used to do so many things and it was the backbone to many fun times in Long Xuyen. I recall a discussion about 50 cent rice wine coming in a plastic bag rather than a can or bottle. What better way is there to serve it? And definitely a conversation starter. Yet the plastic bag has such an important place in the world I think banning it is short sighted and unacceptable. I think we should start a trend by joining as many Facebook groups as possible with the word plastic in them.

TGiF

This has been an interesting week. It started with a holiday which was fantastic. The remainder of the week has been high pressure. I have been trying to clean some really messy data so that it can be useable. This task is quite draining. The procedure is something like a sudoku puzzle in the sense that you have a set of numbers which add up to some theoretical number, which I must find the particular combinations. It is a backward and forward procedure which is exhausting.

So yesterday afternoon, I finished off my work and sent it off to the bosses and was eagerly anticipating getting my salsa fix. I find that as you move higher and acquire more skills, like the 200 million turn repertoires, that they spend less time on the timing of moves to the music. Also, the other thing I have found is that the more you move up there are less partners to dance with. Last night I found myself learning the new moves without a partner then being pushed to use them to music. I felt rushed and like nothing sank in.

Well after class, I saw my friend outside and went to meet him. I must have been daydreaming because I walked right into a glass wall. I would like to say that this was a quiet matter however there was this huge thud filling the silent night. I must have hit it pretty hard because I kind remember being a tad disoriented and spinning about 270 degrees. When I came to, so to speak, I realised everyone was trying not to laugh. I was hoping then that a big hole would open up in front of me so I could just dive in and forget about the previous minute. I went out talked to my friend, copped a bit of a ribbing about my glasses, finished my beer and ran off home.

Today is Friday and I can't wait to finish tonight. Becuase I am singing, Come Mr tally mon, tally me banana, daylight come and me wan go home. I just can’t wait to see what next week has in store.