Thoughts on Christmas Shopping

Christmas is drawing close - coming up next week to be precise. I recently went Christmas shopping and thought about the annual ritual.

Year after year, I get more possessions thanks to family and friends which makes the list of potential gifts for me decreases - Not a good thing for those that want to show me how much I mean to them with a gift :P

Anyhow I get reading about things - How the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut its rates to help out retailers, how millions of dollars ($400 million at least according to a recent Sydney Morning Herald Article "Millions of gift cards not redeemed" goes unused and that online shopping is killing traditional stores.

Addressing these; Firstly, going off general observation, the number of shoppers in the physical stores does not seem to have decreased, the numbers I believe have either stayed the same as previous years or increased. I dare say stores projected growth and perhaps didn't get it, or got the growth but everyone is spending less than was planned.

In saying this there also seems to be a lot of competition, as I said in a previous blog entry talking about the 'Bridesmaids' movie - If one gift someone was going to get someone else was that film, there are a lot of different ways of obtaining it.

The RBA lowered the interest rate, with the "Big 4" banks passing cuts (eventually). This resulted in news reporters to talk about how those cuts would provide for a better Christmas. Again, I'm not convinced this is the case, sure they save the money...but blowing the savings on Christmas, unlikely if you ask me - A portion of them? Likely. All of the savings? Very doubtful.

And finally the gift cards - Perhaps I've said it on this blog before, perhaps not. I share many a comedians criticism's of gift cards - Essentially money given to retailers in advance (before anything is actually redeemed) so they have credit up their sleeves. And it is like a currency in it's own right...that is only accepted at one particular place. In saying that, most stores offering gift cards have good variety to choose from...and a gift card ensures the recipient buys something 'appropriate' - Perfect for those inclined to buy 'inappropriate' items.

Some readers of my blog were surprised to see my incomplete listing of appliances that make for 'perfect gifts - The things like popcorn and milkshake makers. When a store sells these items for ~$30, are Australians really scrimping for a good Christmas? Those with larger families and kids might feel a squeeze but come on, Christmas only comes around once a year. It couldn't be planned for?

The new-age kitchen

Hello all,

Recently I have been busy (sorry regulars) and haven't created an entry so I made an effort to publish one now. As I'm sure you all know the Christmas season is well upon us, people out shopping, school presentations and performances, the music, movies...the buzz is certainly in the air.

Anyhow I've done well over the years and have pretty much accumulated just about every appliance I could ever want...and a few other bits and pieces too. I must be so hard to buy for :P

So I got talking to someone about how in High School the textbooks in Food Technology talked about how the family kitchen had changed between say the 1960's and say the 90's.

The kitchen is home (or can be) to all sorts of weird, wacky and wonderful pieces of equipment.

Think about it...a 'modern' kitchen can bake fresh bread, make cupcakes/muffins or pancakes or crepes...there are popcorn makers, juice extractors of all sorts and sizes...kettles, toasters, sandwich presses, food 'processors', deep fryers, electric knives, Microwave ovens, convection ovens, pressure cookers, slow cookers, snow cone makers, ice cream makers, pie makers pizza ovens, snack ovens, food dehydrators, electric can openers, coffee makers, milk shake makers, electric beaters...the list goes on.

I dunno about you but when I go out shopping for Christmas and see the shelves lined with all the appliances I think of how much electricity is consumed by all the contraptions....let alone the cache of television sets every electrical appliance store have in stock.

Photograph of a Red Back Spider

Warning to those suffering from a phobia of spiders, perhaps you might want to stop scrolling down now :)

I noticed a number of my loyal followers (deep thanks everyone) area from overseas...me living in Australia. My decision to share a photo I took of an Australian Native...the Kookaburra has been received well.

Sometimes I take for granted that I live in an area where I I see such beautiful native species, I feel in the mood for sharing lately and sharing the enjoyment that it brings.

What I'm sharing now is a photo of an infamous native Australian spider - The Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti). Named for obvious reasons this spider has a striking red marking on its back and its  extremely toxic venom.

...The specimen shown below was captured in my very own backyard area.

Enjoy at your own risk :)

Redback Spider

Photograph of a Kookaburra

And now...for something completely different!

Well I did have a photography blog I made especially for things like this but to be honest I never used that blog much at all, it just never happened.

Here is a picture of the standard I had hoped for a photography blog...It is a Kookaburra - The use of zoom reduced the overall quality a little bit but I think it's still a decent photo.

The Kookaburra is a native bird of Australia and neighboring island's. It is quite an interesting bird...recognized by most for its distinctive 'laughing'. I believe there is a "dream time" story (Aboriginal culture) about how the Kookaburra got its laugh.

Anyhow here is the picture - It was taken by me at a place near where I work. Enjoy :)

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Well I came on to blog about something else (see next entry) and saw I was hosting an ad for the new Zelda game for the Nintendo Wii. I rented this the game and I really enjoyed it, what I played of it anyhow.

I asked a friend who is into gaming what games he was currently playing, Skyward Sword was one of them although he'd only played through the tutorial so far.

I too only got a little bit into the game (only over night rental and I ended up doing something else other than playing it) although I was impressed with what I experienced.

I hope this game is a success for Nintendo, who I hope have more good products up their sleeves.

First YouTube Video

Well, submitted in accordance with revenue making policy. It's the espresso I made during lunch today. I am no expert and don't even know if I'm doing it correctly or not...but what I do know for sure is that introducing a strong coffee into my lunch break has had a noticeable impact on my afternoon productivity :P

Here it is, I'm interested to see how many views it receives as I have never taken too much notice of YouTube statistics before and I'm sure it's interesting to learn...so here goes. Someone give me at least 1 view to start me off :D

The video was recorded with my 2011 generation 'smart' phone.

Out in nature

...of sorts

I have a small little garden area, pretty much inappropriate for successfully growing anything too much. Anyhow I've managed to get catnip to grow from seeds. That plant then went on to produce viable seeds so I collected them earlier this year.

I now have 3 catnip plants growing. I plan on harvesting ~50% of the fragrant leaves on the biggest (mother) plant and perhaps trading it as treats for cats that like to tune out :P

Another thing that is curious about my garden is that each year a bunch of small 'cherry'-like tomato plants spring up out of nowhere. I don't really like these particular tomatoes but I figure this year I will harvest them and offer them to my coworkers.

Here is a picture of my mother catnip plant and some closeups of the tomato plants - I might take more pics as things progress.

Oh and I can't resist showing off my 'Pineapple Sage' plant, the leaves smell like sweet pineapple - I love it :D

Thanks for reading - I plan on growing carrots next, but with a twist...in an old fish tank as a grow box.

The 'Sage Pineapple'

'Mother' Catnip

Green Tomatoes

More Tomatoes to come