Paper Terror

Some people have been asking about my avatar, asking why I'm trying the terrorist look, especially in this climate about global terrorism, Bali and the works. It was taken a few years ago after September 11 and just before the first Bali bombings. Sure, the U.S. had been bombed, but nothing had happened to Australia. It seemed the bombings had been half a world away. Anyway, I was cooking up some dinner with my brother and cousin. Old-style sausages and steak, with a few kebabs. Roaring fire and plenty of oil over a grill. We soon encountered a problem. The fire was so hot, that we could only dart in for a few seconds before our face would start burning and air would be sucked out of our lungs to fuel the raging inferno.

Now we could have easily waited a bit for the fire to calm down, but that's the easy way. And we wanted dinner now. We weren't the only ones. Most of our family and friends were indulging in late night fishing (I say late but it was like 7pm) and they would want dinner when they got back. So we upped the fire and wrapped paper towels around our face to prevent it from burning up. The rest was history. Also it was the only photo that I had my face covered. I didn't want everyone on the net looking at my face. My friends will probably identify me, no sweat though.