8º of latitude

November 23, 2015

HECTOR’S DIARY Bali Advertiser, Nov. 25, 2015

His fortnightly diet of worms and other non-religious experiences Blacklisted It’s official. The Diary and Vulcan, god of the underworld and chief patron of volcanic excess, are no longer speaking. Vulcan has been blacklisted. Until further notice, even if we should by chance fly over one of the spectacular mountain vents that lead down to Continue reading

Bali, General Interest

2015 Yak Awards, Alistair Speirs, Australia, Boat Turn-backs, Busy Bees, Gili Trawangan, Kilts, Made Wijaya, Marriage Law, Mike O’Leary, Mt Rinjani, Perth Highland Pipe Band, ROLE Foundation, Royal Visits, Sahid Hotel Jakarta, Sassenachs, Scottish Peccadilloes, St Andrew’s Day, Vulcan, Weddings
November 10, 2015

HECTOR’S DIARY Bali Advertiser, Nov. 11, 2015

His fortnightly diet of worms and other non-religious experiences Eastbourne Option There is a fine line between farce and tragedy in both the thespian tradition and in real life. This is a worldwide phenomenon, granted, but it does seem especially prevalent in Bali and indeed more broadly throughout Indonesia. Witness the recent travels of President Continue reading

Australia, Bali, Books, Bureaucracy, Charity, Economic Development, Environment, Indonesia

Aussie Visas, Censorship, Farce v Tragedy, Fawlty Towers, Melbourne Cup, ROLE Models Dinner, Volcanoes
October 27, 2015

HECTOR’S DIARY Bali Advertiser, Oct. 28, 2015

His fortnightly diet of worms and other non-religious experiences Peace Off There is a debate under way over Bali’s branding as a destination. It’s probably less tiring to whicker about that than to act firmly to curb the growing list of demerits that stand in the way of Bali being any sort of destination: Continue reading

Bali, Books, Bureaucracy, Environment, Food, Indonesia, Politics, Writing

Benoa Bay, Frankfurt Book Fair, Icarus, Janet DeNeefe, Lombok sand, Mangroves, Rugby World Cup, Scotland, Tomy Winata, Tourist slogans, Ubud Food Festival, UWRF, Zainul Majdi
October 13, 2015

HECTOR’S DIARY Bali Advertiser, Oct. 14, 2015

His fortnightly diet of worms and other non-religious experiences Mynah Triumph Like the reports relating to the death of Mark Twain – which the gentleman concerned noted were greatly exaggerated – claims that the endangered Bali Starling is again on the verge of extinction in its natural habitat may lack several crucial grades of Continue reading

Animal Welfare, Bali

Bali Starling, Benoa Bay, Hypocrisy, Lombok sand, Pipe Dreams, Rugby World Cup
September 30, 2015

HECTOR’S DAIRY Bali Advertiser, Sep. 30, 2015

His fortnightly diet of worms and other non-religious experiences Rabid Response An eight-year-old boy from Batur Tengah in Bangli died of rabies in mid-September, and a woman has died in Buleleng from the disease, the latest victims of the seven-year outbreak of the disease in Bali. Their deaths are yet another tragic reminder that the Continue reading

Animal Welfare, Australia, Bali, Festivals, Politics, Rabies

Andrew Robb, Animal Advocacy, Julia Gillard, Julie Bishop, Kevin Rudd, Malcolm Turnbull, Penang, Rabies deaths, Sax Ban, Tony Abbott
September 23, 2015

HECTOR’S DIARY Bali Advertiser, Sep. 16, 2015

His fortnightly diet of worms and other non-religious experiences A Serious Disagreement In the 1992 movie The Last of the Mohicans there’s a lovely standoff between Hawkeye the frontiersman and the rather regimentally doltish British Major Duncan Heyward in which Hawkeye says, “One day, Major, you and I will have a serious disagreement.” It’s a Continue reading

General Interest
September 1, 2015

HECTOR’S DIARY Bali Advertiser, Sep. 2, 2015

His fortnightly diet of worms and other non-religious experiences Heading for the Hills Last year an unavoidable detention in Australia – its cause was medical, not custodial, in case any among the Diary’s more liverish readers might snigger and wonder – meant we were not among the 126, 000-plus attendees reported to have crowded Bali’s Continue reading

Animal Welfare, Art, Bali, Books, Bureaucracy, Charity, Environment, Festivals, Indonesia

Adrian Vickers, Andreas Harsono, Boob Barers, Chigozie Obioma, Christina Lamb, Delphine Robbe, Dog Culling, Emily Britto, Lempad of Bali, Lonely Planet, Man Booker Prize, Michael Chabon, Miles Franklin Award, Moshin Hamid, Mpho Tutu, Pulitzer Prize, Schapelle Corby, Sophie Laguna, Stella Prize, Steve Palmer, UWRF 2015, Waterman’s Awards
August 17, 2015

HECTOR’S DIARY Bali Advertiser, Aug. 19, 2015

His fortnightly diet of worms and other non-religious experiences Let’s Make a Mess of It We do try very hard – really we do – to find little political or bureaucratic triumphs to lighten the load of otherwise observing serial dysfunction and give us something positive to write about that has emerged from government. But Continue reading

Animal Welfare, Art, Bali, Books, Bureaucracy, Economic Development, Economy, Tourism

Adithio Novielo, Alcohol, Ayu Swarie, Beef Bans, Lestari Art Space, Sanur F estival, Volcanoes, Vyt Karazija
August 4, 2015

HECTOR’S DIARY Bali Advertiser, Aug. 5, 2015

His fortnightly diet of worms and other non-religious experiences Poison Chalice Three people died from methanol poisoning in Bali recently. They had all been drinking at a bar in Legian. The name of the establishment is fairly well known and cautions against going there have been privately issued by many people to their friends. Naming Continue reading

Animal Welfare, Australia, Bali, Books, Death Penalty, Foreign Aid, Indonesia, Rabies

Australia, Bali, Bar Luna, Biku, Captive Dolphins, Death Penalty, Foreign Aid, Indonesia, Methanol Deaths, Periplus, Tim Hannigan
July 21, 2015

HECTOR’S DIARY Bali Advertiser, Jul. 22, 2015

His fortnightly diet of worms and other non-religious experiences Hannigan’s Islands The delightful Tim Hannigan, former Surabaya English language teacher and scribbler of note around the archipelago, has written another book: A Brief History of Indonesia. Published by Tuttle in Singapore, it will shortly be on the bookshelves everywhere. His earlier effort, Raffles and the Continue reading

Animal Welfare, Bali, Charity, Environment, History, Indonesia, Rabies

Asri Kerthayasa, Bar Luna, Biku, Pirates, Stamford Raffles, Tim Hannigan, Waterman’s Awards

About Me

Former journalist now confined by age and indolence to blogging about this and that, now from Western Australia, previously from Indonesia (that’s the 8 degrees in the title) and before that, Queensland. I don’t do a newsletter so ignore that prompt below.