Graeme

That's pretty much the same technique that I use. What I tap the egg against to break the shell varies, but once it's broken, I peel the shell off with my fingers.

Photo galleries from the local newspapers: Bushfires across Victoria (The Age Newspaper) Killer Bushfires (Melbourne's Herald Sun)

I'm fine. The closest fire is no longer in our area, though we've sent the boys to stay with their grandmother, just to be safe. There are still a lot of people in danger, though, in other parts of the state.

Just an update: The current death toll is 66, but that's expected to rise. The number of homes destroyed is over 700, and that figure is also expected to rise. The fires are still not under control.

(From The Age Newspaper in Melbourne) We're at the edge of the affect area. One of our neighbours told us a little while ago about someone who lost their two children in the fire at Kinglake. The man had been out fighting the fire, while the children were being looked after by their grandmother. The fire raced through and burnt the house to the ground. There were no survivors....

Welcome to GA, George!

Happy Birthday, Matt!

Are you talking about lemon survivors or human survivors? Given that there were no living humans on the flight just before it crashed, I doubt any of the corpses on board will turn out to be alive

I think this last comment was the point a number of people had made, and was also made in the article. A correlation doesn't mean a causal link. Both items (prostate cancer and frequent masturbation) could stem from the same root cause. There a saying that more men die with prostate cancer than from prostate cancer. While that has an element of truth, there are different forms of the cancer. My eldest brother has recently gone through chemotherapy for prostate cancer, and the doctors said that all his male relations should also be checked. I had mine checked and I currently have no sign of prostate cancer. Don't be sorry. Prostate cancer is something that's not often discussed. My only issue is that the article that started this discussion is probably best left to the medical website, because it is way too early to say if there is an link with masturbation. It reminded me too much of all the scares during the 80s and 90s, where it seemed that almost every week there was another common food or substance that was being reported as causing cancer. However, as a way to start discussing the issue, this thread is great! Thanks, MikeL!

I lived in the UK for twelve months and, naturally, it snowed (the day after Christmas day, though, so we missed out on a white Christmas). One of the locals was fond of telling us Australians that even though it snows every year, Brits don't know how to drive in the snow. It causes disruptions each year as a consequence. Since I was commuting regularly from Birmingham to Southampton for the job I was doing, I got see first hand the difficulties that resulted from icy roads (something I haven't experienced in Australia ) I was living up in the Midlands, though, so I suspect it's different in other parts of the country. Southern England probably doesn't get much snow, but the northern parts get more and more regularly.

The sample size, according to the article, was 890. Not very large and we don't know how representative that group was as far as other factors are concerned. The article also makes the point that they haven't identified a cause-and-effect. They just found a correlation, and it admitted it could be another factor completely that's the cause. eg. It could be that the cause of the increased prostate cancer risk in young men is due to high levels of hormones, and frequent masturbation is a symptom of those hormone levels. In other words, it's an interesting result, but with the small sample size and no solid theory to explain the correlations, there's no need to panic. Graeme PS: I also thought their definition of a frequent masturbator would mean that most young men would be frequent masturbators.

Welcome, Cirrus! A good question. I take a leaf from management books -- praise in public and criticise in private. Unless I'm very confident with the person concerned, I won't criticise in public. I've also learnt that I have to be cautious with praise, too -- some people seem to think that when an established author says something, then that has to be "gospel", which is never the case.

Welcome back, Demic

Happy Birthday!

The Melbourne Pride March tends to be lower key than what I get the impression happens in the USA. As the article I linked pointed out, the Police Commissioner (the state's highest police officer) marched in it! Then again, the Sydney G&L Mardi Gras parade can get quite raunchy, from what I've been told....

* Winning the non-GA story of the year for 2007 in the Reader Choice Awards * A month long family vacation in the USA, with the highlights being: - Johnson Space Center - Kennedy Space Center - Disney World (everyone wants to go back again, one year) - Cocoa Beach, Florida - Washington DC in time for the Cherry Blossom Festival (that was an accident. We only found out about it the day before we arrived) - Catching up with the best man from our wedding in San Francisco * Watching my boys growing up

Melbourne had it's Pride March yesterday. Today, I looked on the local newspaper websites and found exactly one article on the subject (a generally good article), and that was more on the fact that the retiring police commissioner, Christine Nixon, was in the march. I'm still trying to work out whether this lack of media attention was good, because it means that the mainstream media doesn't consider a Pride March to be newsworthy, or bad, because they didn't feel the need to include something like this to counter all the bad news that's around at the moment (bushfires, power supply problems, deaths due to the heatwave, etc). I'm leaning towards it being good, because it is showing that being gay isn't such a big deal, but I would have liked to have seen more coverage to encourage those who are still in the closet, or who feel that they are alone.

Hobart hasn't been as hot as Melbourne, but what the heck are you doing wearing a hoodie? I heard on the TV that Tasmania has just had it's first day of 40+C temperature the other day.... That's 104F for those who use Fahrenheit.

Good luck, Tyler! Don't try to read too much into his behaviour, though. If he really is gay, the next step is up to him and you shouldn't try to push. It could very well be that he's just trying to sort out in his own mind how he can be friends with you, now that he knows you're attracted to him. Your story reminded me a little of something my brother-in-law said. The first time he was hit on by another guy, he was shocked and horrified, but then he realised it was a compliment and he was cool after that point. He's not gay, but it did take him some time to get used to the idea of another guy finding him attractive. Your friend may be going through the same thing. He might be concerned about what's going to happen, and how to make sure that there are lines drawn between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. The fact that he's talking to you about it is a very promising start. It shows that he wants to stay friends, even after his initial negative reaction. Accept him as a friend and let him lead the relationship for a while -- give him space when he seems to want it, but otherwise just be there as you were before. Good luck!

I think it's clear that he wants to be considered to be a serious actor, and not just 'Harry Potter' for the rest of his life. Equus was part of that and this comment is another. A lot of starting actors end up getting stereotyped into roles and he's making a conscious effort to try to avoid that.

I think it's a good idea, up to a point. Having a community of peers to interact with is very useful for those who are uncertain or unsure -- that's true, regardless of what the community is about. It could be a community of model train builders, for example. However, such communities are not always inclusive. For example, the local model train builder community may not be appreciative of those who work with Thomas The Tank Engine trains. Also, outside groups can gain a perception about the total community based on the actions of those that particular community, something which may not be accurate. Communities can become ghettos, and stereotyping ghettos at that. I have been told that the 'gay centre' of Sydney is very much for those who like clubbing and casual hook ups, and there are a lot of gays who are not into that. But that area is also the most visible part of the gay community, and people can get their impression of what gays are like by that community. And that's where the danger in having such communities lie. By their very nature, they only contain a subset of all gays, but they can be taken to represent everyone who is gay. I see the benefit in having gay centres, in that there is somewhere someone can go to learn more about themselves and a place where they can feel comfortable (though not everyone is comfortable in those places). But I can see the downside, too.

If you're using Windows, you can use MS Paint (which comes with the O/S) to resize pictures. Open with Paint, and then from the menu select Images -> Stretch/Skew. In the "Stretch" part of the dialogue box, put in a percentage for the horizontal and vertical stretch, such as 50%. That will reduce the height and width by 50%, for an overall 75% size reduction.

Happy Birthday! Enjoy your last year of teenagerhood....

There's no doubt in my mind that there are some people who write for the feedback. If they don't get feedback, they stop writing. Otherwise write for themselves, and just happen to post their stories publicly so others can enjoy them. I even know of one author who discourages feedback, at least public feedback. In between, you have a whole spectrum of authors. Initially, I was desperate for feedback. Even if I wasn't receiving many comments, I would check view counters to see how many people were looking at the story. Now, I'm confident enough that people are reading and enjoying my stories that I continue to post them even if I get minimal comments. I write for the audience, not myself, but I don't need to know what they are thinking. I like it when I do hear, but it's not a necessity for me.

G'day, Paul! Welcome to GA. Don't hesitate to ask if you've got any question.