Tonight I spent a brief time looking at the “one laptop per child”. It’s a quite a nice little machine; just the thing for kids. You don’t get much in the box – in particular no manual to speak of, but what isn’t evident through exploration can be found at…

January 1st 2008 was our 10th anniversary, so Mrs Elbeno and I dropped the small one off at his friend’s house – where he was parked in front of a Dora the Explorer DVD, happy as a dog with two tails – and headed off for lunch and 90 minutes…

Just before Xmas, I wrote a letter to a former teacher thanking him for being excellent. It’s been over 15 years now since I was in his class, but I still remember the passion for learning that his natural enthusiasm instilled in us. I hope his Xmas this year was…

In fact, has been since a little while before Xmas, but I only got around to looking at it today. The King William’s College quiz (PDF). It’s quite tricky. I find it somewhat akin to crossing University Challenge with a cryptic crossword. Have at it. Google won’t help you (until,…

It took us most of the day to get through mini-Elbeno’s haul of gifts. Many books and toys. Big items were a desk for colouring etc, Tonka truck, Fisher Price Learning Zoo, mini-kitchen with play food and pots and pans, and a wooden railway set (Melissa & Doug). The poor…

So, in the wake of the Beatnix’ version of Stairway to Heaven, I discovered Stairways to Heaven. I’ve listened to quite a few of them (or at least the beginnings of quite a few) and so far they roughly fall into the following categories: People mucking about doing something vaguely…

In approximately an hour, the sun will be directly over the Tropic of Capricorn. Mark the southern solstice* as you will, and I wish you a peaceful and prosperous season. * I use this term rather than winter solstice out of a desire to be hemispherically neutral.

I showed The Beatniks (an Aussie tribute band) playing Stairway to Heaven to Mrs Elbeno. She liked it, but remarked: “their Paul plays right handed though.”

This year’s tally was: 38 to the continental US. 23 to the UK. 3 to Australia. 1 to Germany. 1 to Japan.