Category Archives: Travel

I’ve just arrived in the city so good they named it twice, where I’ll be visiting New York University for a month. With a four month old son, we approached the Australia-US flight with some trepidation. But as it turned out, he … Continue reading →

I’ve been showing my in-laws around central and western Tasmania over the past week. It turns out that Optus mobile phones don’t work on the west coast of Tassie, and broadband is still just a name for the all-female singing group … Continue reading →

For anyone who flies regularly, the Economist’s truthful flight safety annoucement is a must-read.

Spent the weekend in South Australia (exciting new slogan: “SA, where less is always more”). I was there first for a labour econometrics workshop (attended by, among others, Derrida Derider, a regular commenter on the Ozblogosphere), and then for a … Continue reading →

To coincide with the Australian census on August 8, the expat organisation Advance is running its own census of Australians abroad. Cleverly, the way they get you to do the census is to join their organisation. To participate, click here. … Continue reading →

Every major city in Ohio (Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Canton) starts with a C. Is there some story behind this?

We started our Arkansas day with (what else) a visit to Bill Clinton’s presidential museum in Little Rock. It’s located in an area of the town that had become pretty run down, and the architecture of the place is quite innovative, … Continue reading →

When we were on our way to catch our flight to Birmingham, Alabama, Gweneth and I got chatting with two local women on their way back. Them: Why would you want to go there? Us: For sightseeing. Them: Really? Us: … Continue reading →

We’re in Coburg, Germany, visting friends for a few days. I was in Germany during the 2002 World Cup, and vividly remember that in the streets of Berlin there were more Turkish flags after a Turkish victory than there were German … Continue reading →

I suspect the Pezzutti-Kelly Italy transcripts will mark the last time that members of parliament release transcripts of their meetings to the public.

A rather odd oped by Khadija Carroll in today’s SMH bemoans the fact that current Aussie students at Harvard aren’t doing sufficiently worthy research. Although I was also a Frank Knox scholar at Harvard, I didn’t overlap with Khadija, but … Continue reading →

When living in the US, I would often describe my academic speciality to Americans, and have them mis-hear me in a very consistent way. But after 10 months back in Australia I’d forgotten how my accent and field interact. Which … Continue reading →

Macgregor and I are doing a four-day roadtrip next week, starting from Salt Lake City. We chose it because neither of us have been to Utah before. Does anyone have any "must sees" in that part of the world?