kjp

Yesterday morning I went over to J's (pianist) place to practice Malcolm Arnold Sonatina - a piece that I'm very slowly working on. I've heard a recording of it, but it was the first time I've played it with piano. Fitting it together is a different matter to practicing it. I almost needed to ignore the piano in some sections because of the way that the clarinet and piano parts are independent. I also need to practice the third movement with a metronome: we weren’t gelling as much as we should have: in part because I was (and have been) rushing the triplets – getting to the next bar slightly ahead of the piano, so that we were never accurately in time with each other.

These days I seem to be getting old – physically. Hmmm. In other news I’m planning my birthday happenings: probably just a meal out in the evening. Maybe BBQ / afternoon tea at my place for those that can’t make the dinner.

Last night was pretty good: I made some Indian food: the lamb dish I thought was particularly yummy: it’s good fun to make – grinding up spices: a bit different.

So in three weeks time I *might* be a bit stupid – of the half marathon variety. I’m particularly unfit at the moment… Wednesday I was struggling after 2.5 kms. Three weeks is quite a short time to get ready for a 20km run. Walking it would not be a problem for me at all – 20km is nothing for a walk. But jogging is another matter. There’s a fine line between a stunt just for fun and stupidity… Not sure if I'll do it or not yet: stay tuned. The jog on Wednesday was a run: 4m30s per kilometre (quite fast). On two subsequent jogs I was running at a bit over 5mins per kilometre – a more realistic pace. Run on Wednesday was first in ages – hence the too high speed (unsteady). I’ll start to length the runs, but try to slow down a bit: around 6mins per km (10km/hr).

In a minor storm yesterday, we briefly discussed the estimation of the distance from an observer to a thunderstorm (by estimating the time difference between the flash and the thunder). I'd always been working under the rule of thumb that for every second, it's 1 km... but this seems to be wrong (by a fair bit).

The lightning strike takes place x metres away from you, at time = 0s. Speed of light = sl = 3.0 x 10^8 m/s; speed of sound = ss = 340 m/s (varies a bit, but good enough for approximation). You'll see the flash at time x/sl ~= 0 for anything that's not huge distances. So the time difference (dt) is just the time it takes the sound of the thunder to arrive = x / ss. ie: x = dt * ss = dt (s) * 340 (m/s). I.e.: for every second after the flash, the strike is 340 metres away.

So, approximately for every 3 seconds, the lightning strike is 1 km away.

Last night we (J & J and myself) went to see the Queensland Orchestra - playing a bunch of Russian stuff. The Piano Concerto by Rimsky Korsakov was the highlight for me... of course. Prokofiev Classical Symphony was pretty good too (though unsure about 3rd movement).

If was preceeded by a meal at J&J's apartment at Kangaroo Point - near the Mormon temple incidentally - but great views of the river from the roof of the apartment building..

So, below are a few bits of advice from P and E and smarttraveller.gov.au regarding South America:

* Spending 5 or 6 nights in Galapogas is worth it; but organise a tour before I leave Australia
* Don't get a bus from Lima to Cusco --> long and tiring. Better to go via the Peruvian coast
* Ecuador is good: consider some time in the jungle and the highlands
* But apparently the north of Ecuador is dangerous to visit (too close to Columbia)
* Banos is good - thermal springs; however it's recently been evacuated (volcano
* Cusco is interesting - Spanish and Incan - can spend time there
* Copacobana on Lake Titicaca is good
* La Paz is interesting - could spend a couple of days
* Rurrenabeque in the Bolivian amazon is interesting