Sponsorship for my entry in the World’s Greatest Shave has passed the target of $1000, so you’ll be seeing a picture of me sans beard. I’m as much in the dark as anyone regarding how it will look.

There’s still ten days to go, so I’ve decided to get really ambitious and set a target of $5000, with more incentives/gimmicks along the way. I’m lining up a really good one for $2000, and I hope to make an announcement tomorrow. Remember all proceeds go to the Leukemia Foundation, and all donations are tax deductible, so keep the money coming in!

At 5pm Tuesday, the World’s Greatest Shave appeal was up to $695. Only $305 more and all will be revealed!

The World’s Greatest Shave is coming up, and I’ve decided it’s time to put some skin in the game of appealing for charity. So, for the first time in 30 years, I’m going to shave my beard off. The big day is going to be Saturday 17 March. You can visit my profile here to sponsor me.

To encourage contributions, I’m offering an incentive. If I can raise $1000 from sponsorship, I’ll post a picture of the results here on the blog. Otherwise, you’ll just have to rely on your imagination. All proceeds go to the Leukemia Foundation.

Update 5pm Monday We’re already one-third of the way there, with contributions totalling $335:00. I’ll try to give regular updates

Another year is pretty much over, and a new one on the way. I might try a review of 2006 early in the New Year, but for the moment I’ll just give my best wishes to all my readers and commenters for 2007.

I just ate my first banana since cyclone Larry. My intertemporal elasticity of substitution for bananas is too high (at least for time periods of a year) to justify buying them at $12/kg, but the sight of some lovely bananas at $8/kg was too much temptation for me.

This reminds of the story about Evelyn Waugh told (IIRC) by his son Auberon. Bananas had been unobtainable in England during the War, and Auberon and his two siblings had grown up hearing about this marvellous fruit. The first shipment after the War arrived and the government of the day (the only seriously socialist government in British history) decreed that every child in the country should have one. Waugh senior claimed his family’s allocation of three, cashed in the family ration of sugar and cream and ate the lot in front of his children.

An interesting piece by Tim Colebatch about new data on weddings showing that only 40 per cent of weddings are now religious ceremonies. This, rather than answers to Census questions, is probably a good representation of the level of religious belief in Australia. Apart from cases where the parties have strongly conflicting religious beliefs, and choose a civil ceremony as a compromise, it’s hard to imagine a serious religious believer not wanting a religious ceremony for marriage. On the other hand, I doubt that many convinced non-believers these days would go for a church rather than a civil ceremony, given the range of options on offer.

Another interesting feature of the article is the assumption (probably accurate) that this trend is entirely driven by brides – the word “groom” doesn’t even appear.

I’m visiting Canberra for a couple of days and stayed last night at Rydges Lakeside Hotel, which is something of a blast from the past for me. My first job, for six weeks after leaving school, was as a porter at the Lakeside, then brand-new and top-of-the-market. Some decades later, we’re both showing our age, and the upmarket place to stay is the Hotel Canberra, which was massively revamped some time in the 80s. An even sharper indication of age (and inflation) – the bill for one night’s stay is the same as the total amount I earned here.

A more minor temporal warp: the downstairs cafe is a bit of a mishmash in terms of decoration, but the main theme is old ad posters from the 20s and 30s. One set is of stage magicians, notably including Houdini. But there’s a ring-in. The Amazing Randi, scourge of Uri Geller and of alleged psychics in general, has managed to inveigle himself into the scene.

I never win lotteries or raffles (maybe because I study them in my research on uncertainty) so it figures that my first win in decades should be the compulsory door prize at our Seiyushin karate Christmas party. Prize: five rounds with our Kancho (founder) (he’s the one in the picture). I collect on Wednesday night, so don’t expect much in the way of blogging on Thursday.