WHIPPING HORSES TO SPEED them up is an age-old tradition, but its effectiveness is in doubt, according to new research from the University of Sydney.
Condoned by racing bodies the world over, whippng is believed to spur acceleration in horses in the final stages of races. But a new report, authored by two veterinarians and funded by the RSPCA, shows that whipping “did not significantly affect velocity…enough to change the likelihood of being placed in the first three.”
It’s taken me thirty-and-a-bit years to get back, but here I finally am. I am now a resident of Sydney.
It’s sweltering. The streets are dirty. Suits are everywhere. Chinatown is perfectly stinky. Bondi is crammed with ugly architecture and beautiful bodies. The McMansions of the outer West are a long way off from the trifecta vista of Harbour, Bridge and House known so well the world over. I hope to dip more than a toe into Sydney’s offerings and so I find myself sitting in the NSW State Library, surrounded by students, whilst trying to absorb inspiration from the stuff that surrounds me. Strip lighting, orange formica-esque tables and drug awareness notices, then. It’s pretty hopeless, although the adjoining Mitchell Library is as close to an Oxford library as you’ll get in this neck of the woods.
Much better to hit the streets and start my time in Sydney with a bowl of steaming pho. This isn’t the first time I have oozed over the artistry of a bowl of pho and, no doubt, nor will it be the last. For pure inspiration value, though, a punch from chili, lime, fish sauce, mint and star anise on a 40C day is unbeatable, in a sweaty kind of a way.
AS SHOCKED QUEENSLANDERS PULL together to cope with the aftermath of last week’s floods, many of the State capital’s museums and libraries are breathing a sigh of relief after only minimal interruptions to usual summer business. For an unlucky few, however, the big clean up involves salvaging some precious and unwieldy exhibits.
There was a big, expensive, ad in today’s The Australian. Funded by a who’s who of Queensland’s big business, its message is simple: in a time of need, Queenslanders have risen and united and for that we salute and thank you.
It falls way short, however, by including this little beauty: “We have quite simply shown that our human nature will always be far more powerful than mother nature.”
Prior to white man’s occupation of Australia 223 years ago, this land saw tsunamis surge down its east coast, a fire that burned from coast to coast, a drought that lasted 400 years and floods powerful enough to change the face of the land.
‘Mother nature’ – or natural science, or geography, or God, for that matter – will be here a long, long time after we have left.
daisydumas.com 