Graeme

The problem is that there isn't an official definition of an island vs a continent. Australia is right in the middle of the two in size, so is it an island, a continent, or an island-continent? I tend to go with the later.... For example, http://www.graphicmaps.com/aatlas/infopage/islands.htm lists Greenland as the largest island, but then concedes in the note that Australia is an island and is larger. http://geography.about.com/library/faq/blqzlargeisland.htm also says that Greenland is the largest, and argues that Australia is large enough to be a continent, but they don't indicate how they picked "large enough". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_by_area has it both ways -- saying that Australia is a continent, but is sometimes called "The Island Continent". To summarise, the general consensus is that Greenland is the largest island and Australia is the smallest continent, but since there are no formal definition of what distinguishing an island from a continent, I'm going with Australia as The Island Continent, and graciously allow Greenland to be the largest island that isn't also a continent...

It's impossible to have a worldwide chat without inconveniencing people. The best you can do is to schedule things to make it easy for the majority. That usually means the Americas, Europe and Africa. With my current company's worldwide sessions, they are usually around 2am, Melbourne time. I haven't been on any, so far...

You obviously misunderstand the African proverb I've quoted. It is aimed at YOU to tell you that just because Mauritius is small, you can still make a difference. Australia knows we're the world's largest island, so we don't have a problem. We're also the world's smallest continent, but we KNOW we can make a difference -- even if it's only on the sporting field I've voted

I'm not sure, but if we link to this thread in other places, Google is more likely to report C James as The Queen Of The Evilest Cliffhangers. I'm going to edit my signature accordingly. I believe it appears in one or two other threads...

My boys were told about Halloween at school yesterday. When I picked them up, they wanted to go trick-and-treating. I asked them why. "Because we get free chocolates and lollies and toys!" I didn't let them go -- they didn't have costumes and it really isn't celebrated around here. For a few minutes, I thought I was going to have a rebellion on my hands....

Happy 21st Birthday! I hope today finds you happy and healthy. Wishing you all the best for the future.

I think the ceremony should involve the abdicating king, Shadowgod, passing on the royal sceptre. We'll have to explain to CJ ahead of time that the sceptre is not edible, but I think we could make the royal bouquet very tasty to make up for that. What's the state flower of Arizona? Oh. and we have to include pineapple in there somewhere.... Maybe pizza with a pineapple topping for the reception afterwards? Given the number of times he's mentioned that, I have to believe it's one of his favourite meals. I certainly hope so. We've been going to a lot of effort for him.

You're not getting an argument from me on the subject.... But I honestly understand why some places don't have it. For example, in Perth, where most of the Western Australian population is located, it is already light until late at night. If they introduced daylight saving, it would light until 10pm at night. It doesn't make sense. Similarly for places in the tropics -- Queensland and Northern Territory. You're just jealous that our island is bigger than your island

A minor statistical anomaly. Probably some anti-monarchist who has objected to CJ having the title of Queen of the Evilest Cliffhangers on principle....

Sorry, Jack, Halloween isn't really celebrated here.... I had intended to post a Happy Halloween to all the people who celebrate it, but I was away at a customer site first thing this morning and you've beaten me to it! So, instead, I'll do a shameless plug for my latest short story: Horror Movie -- A Halloween Story Happy Halloween, everyone!

A couple of Aussie movies: The Sum of Us (comedy about a father and son, both looking for love -- one of each sex, featuring a young Russell Crowe) and Head On (A 19 year old Greek boy coming to terms with his sexual identity, featuring the very sexy Alex Dimitriades). I've seen the former but not the later.

As a side comment, homosexuality was only decriminalised in Tasmania (one of the states of Australia) ten years ago. Now, they are one of the most supportive of states for gay rights.

I've been out at a customer site, so I'm late signing in today. Since Daylight Saving has been discussed, I thought I'd educate everyone on the ridiculious situation we have in Australia. Consider the map below: We normally have three timezones: GMT-10 The east coast (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and (not shown) the Australian Capital Territory) GMT-9:30 The middle of Australia (South Australia and the Northern Territory) GMT-8 The west coast (Western Australia) However, when daylight saving starts, three don't join in: Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. This means we end up with five timezones: GMT-11 The south-east corner (New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory) GMT-10:30 South Australia GMT-10 Queensland GMT-9:30 Northern Territory GMT-8 Western Australia Yes, South Australia is actually 30 minutes ahead of Queensland during our Summer.... Airline schedules are a nightmare around this time of the year.

You mean as in Queen of the Evilest Cliffhangers?

I agree -- there's no harm in mentioning it a few times...

Turn-offs: Stories whose formatting makes it hard to read. This includes extremely long paragraphs, odd fonts, paragraphs that aren't spaced apart and poor background/foreground contrast. Please note that some of these apply online only -- they don't apply to a printed story. What am I looking for? An early indication of a plot. I want something interesting to be happening. If I've read the first page and it appears like another "let me introduce myself" or "it's another day in the life of your average person" story, then I will often stop reading. I'm happy for the plot to develop slowly, but I need something early on to make the story interesting. A story where nothing much happens for the first five pages is unlikely to find me still reading by page six. Apart from that major point, I want a story that I can read without having the mechanics being obvious. By that, I mean I'm not being distracted by trying to sort out what the author is trying to say. If I keep being jarred out of my involvement by issues with the writing itself, I'm not likely to continue. After that, I just want it to seem believable. I'm pretty tolerant in what constitutes believable, but, as was once pointed out to me about an early draft of my own first story, teenagers don't talk like they have PhDs. My goal is to find myself 'inside' the story, not observing cynically from the outside. If what I read seems natural/realistic, then I'll keep reading. That applies to fantasy & science fiction, too. It is the characters, more than anything else, that makes a story feel real, and if I think they are acting the way I think they should act, then I'm happy. If they act in ways I don't expect and there doesn't appear to be a possible explanation, then I'm likely to stop reading.

Do you think anyone would actually search for that? CJ pointed out that searching for King of EC's brought up a thread in Shadowgod's forum, and tried to use it as evidence that Shadowgod WAS the King of EC's. So, at least one person did that particular search....

Welcome and congratulations! You did that twenty years earlier than I did

Sorry, Emoe... I'm guessing you'll do the same on my Saturday when it's only your Friday

True, though I may be in trouble for aiding and abetting... Just to let people know, PART of the goal for this thread is so that a Google search on :king: :king: The Queen Of The Evilest Cliffhangers :king: :king: will bring it up at the top of the list. That means we need a few more mentions of C James as :king: :king: The Queen Of The Evilest Cliffhangers :king: :king: so the search engine can find it.... Oh, and it's still 100% "Yes" so for

I haven't been there enough to form a personal opinion. While I've been through Changi Airport many times on my way to/from London, I've only stayed there for a grand total of five nights. However, the comments I've heard agree with yours.

I agree. Singapore is held up as a very successful country in the Asian region, and I'm including Australia in that region, even though some other countries may disagree with that. It is, however, recognised as having a very strict government -- though not everyone thinks that is necessarily a bad thing.

If you like, I can send you my secret recipe for scones (I found it on the internet). However, you'll need to find the gentlemen yourself

To C James: :king: :king: The Queen Of The Evilest Cliffhangers :king: :king:

Thanks, Ieshwar! I've just come across this article from The Telegraph in the UK: Goat survived by kid... and human husband My condolences to the husband and kid