Tired but Generally Willing

2011

2011-01-05T20:00:00.003+11:00

I didnt like 2010 all that much. Hope you fared better. Hope 2011 fares better.

View via the pinhole that is my blog

2007-08-31T22:07:00.000+10:00

They had a father's day breakfast at the school and any kid who wanted to, could read poems they composed for their dad. So when her turn came, I was thinking, This is going to be cringeworthy, cos the first four girls were quite so. You know, Dad protects me, sheltered me from harm, kept me warm, lovey lovey, kissy kissy etc etc... But it was actually really cool. She wrote about what I wasnt. Not a superhero, not a cook, not a cleaner, and some others which I cannot remember. What I was was that I was her Dad! I felt, relieved, cos it was non-cringey. Good kid.
So what did I do for Fathers day? I cleaned after her, I cooked her bacon and eggs for breakfast, pancakes for dinner and we went bike riding. I dont know where she gets her inspiration for her poems from. *sighs*

I went for one of the many talks they held for the Melbourne Writers Festival. The guy from Boing Boing was one of the people speaking. He is such a well prepared and polished speaker and made the others look quite dull and unfocussed. Very entertaining speaker.
One of the ladies speaking made the unfortunate decision to wear a skirt for the session. Because of the elevated stage, it was like that Sharon Stone interrogation scene from Basic Instinct. It was so distracting. I know, I know. I couldnt bear to watch but cannot look away. What was the talk about, you ask? I dont remember.

Anyway, Susanna had this 80s music lyrics quiz on her facebook which I got a paltry 4/10 and of that, some of them were lucky guesses. Heh. Well, who pays attention to the lyrics anyway but to be honest, I wasnt really listening to that type of music.
So I was dredging my memories back to the 80s as to what I was listening to then. Dont judge me but prominent in my memory was a lot of Windham Hill. Yeah, no lyrics, see. Some Yo Yo Ma, lots of Stevie Wonder (Hotter Than July), some Vangelis, The Police, Pink Floyd's The Wall, Quincy Jones (The Dude), XTC's Skylarking and Michael Jackson. I said, Dont judge me. But most prominent amongst them was Kate Bush. I still think The Dreaming is the most complex and multi-layered album that I've ever come across.
Oh yeah, and this very talented French composer Jean Michel Jarre and the English group Scritti Politti. I liked them both a lot. Ahhh.... the 80s. What?
Now? I've been listening to this Lily Allen song a lot. On repeat. Yes, I admit, not much of a leap there.
And no, I never listened to any Yanni.

OK, I admit it. I considered doing a "Chai has left the building" kind of post. Maybe next month. Till then.

Bending the Truth

2007-07-31T11:57:00.004+10:00

Good lord! I wonder what these guys are like in a social setting. How does one bring up the topic without coming across as being weird? "Hey, you know what would be really fun?".

Speaking of fun, it's funny how some people can affect me. I've had many occasions where I've had to deal with people where each meeting prior, I tell myself I am going to be very very patient and not get riled. But when push comes to shove, I lose control and get visibly irritated.
So if spending time with such a bunch of people, who communicate using endless barbs, where every interaction has some underlying tension even if the topic of conversation may only be the latest episode of Sesame Street, where just purely from the tone used is enough to raise ones anxiety and stress levels no end, affects me so badly, why do I do it? Why indeed?
To those people who have asked me this, I say to them, "Mum, Dad, you are family".
But Kim loved being the centre of attention, getting everything she wanted.

Trip back to M'sia was OK. Wasnt a holiday so much as a trip to visit the olds. Coming back to a house with a temperature of 4C after 16 days of 32C/99% humidity is a little confronting though. Still, I think I prefer the cold.

Each trip home does dredge up lots of almost forgotten memories.
Kid : Who was that guy you were talking to, Dad?
Me : Do you remember me telling you when I was 7, and this bigger kid 6 doors down from where I lived told me that there are some birds which will swoop down on you and pluck out this special hair on top of your head which acts like stopper to keep your soul in? And when this specific hair is pulled out, you suffer great indescribable pain and you die very soon after? And that I didnt dare leave his house for hours until I had to and I sprinted home like I've never done before with my hands on my head, screaming for my mum?
Kid : Yes.
Me : Well, that was him.

And driving past the place where I used to sometimes play table tennis as a kid made me wonder what happened to the guy who used to bully my friend and I? I dont remember his name now, but everyone called him Fei Chee, which when translated means fat pig. I wonder if I can get any compensation for that. I could handle some free money right now.

Anyway, some pics from the trip, in case you had nothing better to do.

Soundtrack to viewing the pics? PSB's Being Boring. Though in reality, listening to this song often makes me feel a little melancholic. Maybe that's why it's the only Pet Shop Boys song I listen to regularly.

Seeing what's not there

2007-06-30T23:40:00.000+10:00

Sheet. I just typed in my name and the word blog and my blog comes up. I was going to write about how my procrastination is costing me money but I recall reading how some employers are using the net to do background checks on prospective employees. So writing about this could be 'detrimental' to any future job applications.

So procrastination is not costing me money. I didnt leave applying for my kid's passport renewal so late as to require the express service and I didnt have to pay an extra $76 for the express service. And I'm pretty sure the apostrophe in kids in correct.

Ah well, the internet remembers all. So they'll now know about my car accident, my run-in with the japanese takeaway etc etc... But do hire me anyway. I work quick and am quite easy to work with! References available. Note that I am not looking for work right now.

Anyways, where was I?
Oh yes, I was saying that I've always been conflicted about eating meat. Sometimes when I chew, I can imagine the muscle and tendons that I am chomping on. And sometimes, the personality of the animal in question. Yes, yes, don't judge me. It's pretty distressing enough but I am too weak to give up meat. My best effort was a meatless 7 weeks about 10 years ago. Anyway, I read recently that some Dutch scientists are making meat in the laboratory. Isn't that cool or what? You could eat anything you like. Chicken, beef, whale, tiger, dodo, eagle, panda, giant tortoises. And all without a single animal being killed. A world without abattoirs. Now that would be worth seeing, no? And no methane problem from the cows too. Cant wait for that day. And then, I'd really go vegetarian. :-) Icky, no?

Anyway, will be eating satays (in M'sia) exclusively the next 2 weeks. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. You cannot get good satays here though this place comes pretty close.
I told the kid I'd take her to see her cousins in the U.S. next year if she'll read 10 books of my choosing. She thought about it for like 5 seconds and said "Dad, I think I'll get to go anyway so I dont think I'll be reading those books". I would have threatened to not take her but I was so flabbergasted by the reply that I just went "Uh, ah, ah, uh...". But she's right. She's going to go anyway. This is the kid who at 4 years of age asked me "When mum goes out, can I be the boss?". What makes her think her mum's the boss and furthermore, what makes her think that when her mum's out, the #2 spot is up for grabs? Creative parenting is hard. Bring back corporal punishment, I say.

*sighs*
And isnt this a pretty song? I'm still puzzled as to what instruments are used in the chorus and how they are arranged. Sufjan is a major talent. He can even make the scales sound really good.

Catch ya later.

Cleanest room in the house

2007-05-20T15:37:00.000+10:00

is now the laundry!

[Update : Bloody blogger. It disabled comments by default! Just noticed.]

And there I was, wondering why this load of washing was taking such a long time. I then waded into the laundry and spent the next hour mopping up the results. Ah well, the mowing will have to wait another week. And it is a 20 y.o. machine. Amazing it lasted this long. But then, it wasnt used very much. :-)

Some joker has been going around and drawing faces on the heads of the figures the council put on the footpaths. Some of them look like Jack, the Pumpkin King. Much appreciated. The kid and I had a good laugh.

Speaking of, snippet of a recent conversation.

[C is doing work on the computer]
F : You know how you dont eat much chocolate anymore, cos if you start, it's really, really hard to stop.
C : Uh huh.
F : And if you've not had chocolate for a long time, you dont even miss it. And it doesnt even cross your mind to long for it?
C : Uh huh. [continues doing work on his computer]
F : And then all of a sudden, someone comes along and offers you tasty, tasty chocolate, which you initially resist but once you give in and you start consuming that sweet, sweet and oh so rich chocolate in large quantities and then just as suddenly, the supply is halted and now, you're in the situation where you lust for lashings of that luscious chocolate, almost all the time?
C: Uh huh.
[silence]
F : I wish I didnt crave now what I didnt crave then.
C: [distractedly] Uh huh.
[heavy silence]
C : [stops typing] Ummm, you're not talking about chocolate, are you?
[dog barks in the distance]
C : *big sigh*

Best song from the album.
Flaming Lips. Well, either this one or "One More Robot", which I hum more often. Mostly cos the ringtone of the reception desk in the front office sounds like the first note of the song, which then leads in to the song in my head. Hope the link still works.

And it seems this blog has lost a lot of momentum. Is there anyone who'd like to write something for it? Me? I guess. But if you would like to, let me know.

Catch you around, soon.

As Strange As You Are

2007-04-30T23:51:00.000+10:00

Awwww crap! Is it already almost May? And April has only 30 days? Since when?
It crossed my mind to do a very terse Sex Pistols "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated" post but that would be cheating, right? After all, the purpose I blog is to treat this as a repository for my memories, which will all be lost, eventually, like footprints in the sand, snowflakes on the sill, tears in the rain.

I started listening to this song again. I think this is best song from the album. Subl may or may not agree. I must have listened to this song at least 500 times, since 1998. Funny how it makes me remember stuff that was happening around then. Personal stuff, not public events.

Anyway, I see Mandy is going to be the Australian ambassador to Italy, land of Versace, Gucci, D&G, Prada etc... Milan fashion will never be the same again. I just hope I dont have to pay another $30000 for more language lessons. That woman amuses me.

Hmmm, this is harder than I thought. And to those vicious anonymous commenters leaving messages like "its almost that time of the month again for Chai...", it does NOT help! And your unique phrasing gives you away, you little witch!

I guess I am scraping the bottom of the barrel here but did you know my mum was a teacher at the primary school I went to? Anyway occasionally, the school held plays, some of which had female characters, which isnt a problem normally except it was an ALL BOYS school. And guess who managed to snag this prized role? I wonder if having to wear my sister's dress in front of the whole frigging school affected my personal development? We will never know.

Das is alles, I'm afraid.

Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Hey, you got a song out of it. Not a whole song? Complain, complain, complain. Leave a comment/email regd this and I'll see what I can do.

Just trying this feature.

Wrong Time, Wrong Place, Wrong Smile

2007-03-24T13:24:00.000+11:00

Speaking of smiles, not that it bothers me in the slightest (what, me shallow?), but has anybody noticed that the presenters on Channel Nine have crooked mouths, namely Ms Fanning (who I think is pretty hot. Whoa... I didnt know she was Bernard's sister.) and their male newsreader who sometimes does the late news, might be Michael Usher.
Or maybe it is just my TV.

On to more sombre matters, I read of this totally disgusting murder. I can completely understand why the Americans are not liked over in Iraq. I wonder about the others that are not reported or caught. Would drive one to be a suicide bomber.

A Current snapshot of my life, a break from all this reminiscing that seems to be going on. So I bare to you (a snippet of) my soul, for all to see. Be kind to my nakedness.

"Meet me at the Moravia. We need to talk." Oh oh.

It's the old, old story. Droid meets droid. Droid becomes chameleon. Droid loses chameleon, chameleon turns into blob, droid gets blob back again, blob meets blob, blob goes off with blob, and droid loses blob, chameleon and droid. How many times have we seen that story?
[Apologies to Red Dwarf]

Same old, same old. I've heard them all.

* I only like you as a friend
* It's not you, it's me.
* I'm getting married in an hour, for God's sake.
* I already have a boyfriend.
* I am leaving the country.
* I need space.
* I am leaving Melbourne.
* My lesbian partner forbids me to see you any more.
* I am not ready for this
* I am married to the sea

And thus I was subjected to what I shall, from this day call the Moravian manoeveur. Ah well.

ps
One of the above reasons is NOT true.

Holy Canelloni

2007-02-28T23:11:00.000+11:00

Doesnt that Mr. Turnbull person seem like such a nice guy? The things that flow from that mouth. I'd lose that smug look if I were him cos it might make some people want to smack him in the face. Mr Abbott should start looking over his shoulder to protect his most-smug-politician position.

Apart from raving about Pan's Labyrinth, I have nothing new to say. Go see it, if you get a chance. It's worth it, even though it is brutally violent in parts and made me look away on more than one occasion (OK, 4!). Admittedly, I am of the queasy variety. Best movie I've seen in a long time.

Am afraid I'll have to dredge something from my unreliable memory for this month's post. So technically, this could have been written ages ago. No timeliness factor here.
[will now need you to imagine the screen dissolving]

"Whoo-hooo". Finally, some real use of my Malaysian passport. No visa required for Czechoslovakia. The consulate in Australia had suggested I get it when I was in Germany. Munich confirmed I needed one but was only open like 2 hours a week and seeing as I was going to be in London. Anyway, when I tried to get one, the London consulate contradicted them. "New law. You dont need one", said London. I'd just saved AUD$60!!! SIXTY buckeroos!

That Saturday, I then drove to the Czech checkpoint at Waldhaus, armed with my visa-less passport. I'll omit the "professional hitchhikers" anecdote for brevity. The guard glanced at my passport and waved me through. Heh. I spent the rest of the day and all my money at Karlovy-Vary. They shot Casino Royale here. Real pretty place.

Anyway, happy and penniless, with my haul of Bohemian crystal, I headed back to Germany. This time, the Czech guard examined my passport, scrutinising every page and then said, "Visum?". Huh? "Visum?!" Holy shit!!! What's he talking about? What visum? Instinctively, I squeaked "Sprechen Sie Inglisch?". I could feel the sweat slide down my armpits. I was alone on this trip and would not be missed at work till Monday. My visions of spending several nights in jail accompanied by snippets of Midnight Express was interrupted by the answer I least wanted to hear. "Nein, nur Deutsch." "Oder Czech.", he helpfully added with what appeared to me to be a menacing grin. [Will need you to imagine subtitles here] Eeek!! I then slowly explained (in pidgin German and in a pitch higher than what I normally use) how the London Consulate assured me I didnt need a visa and if he double checked, he'll discover I didnt need one. Thereafter, I spilled my guts, telling him about my work, my childhood, how that shoplifting incident was really all a misunderstanding. "London give incorrect information", placing his hand on his holster. My bladder contracted.

With 40 kroner left (around AUD$2, give or take), bribery was clearly out of the question and the barricades seemed pretty sturdy, even for a speedy Ford Sierra (black, 2.0L, Stuttgart plates). The other guards had that "Why dont you try it, buddy" look, whilst caressing their automatic weapons. After holding up traffic for a few more minutes, he gave up and grinned "Next time, get a visa".
Yeh, sure, next time. I snatched my passport back while thanking him profusely (and silently prayed that they not shoot me in the back as I drive away) and when he tired of this, I quickly drove off before he could change his mind. You should have seen the other cars overtake me for fear the same thing repeated itself at the German checkpoint, which it didnt. These days, I insist on getting a visa everywhere, regardless of need.

And thus ends this month's entry. Thank you for your indulgence.
Note that the Czech republic is a great place to visit. I'd revisit it in a flash. If you'd like more travel tips, give me a buzz.

191sms

2007-01-28T23:10:00.000+11:00

I was heading to Fitzroy on the very crowded peak hour tram. As I sat in my seat, the pungent aroma of urea wafted in around me. Phooo-eeey... It was hard to determine where the source was. I looked around. No obvious candidates. Very strange.

I gently leaned to my left and took a little whiff. The intensity was even stronger. Echhh. I slowly leaned back but the intensity did not decrease. Very strange indeed. So I tilted my head in the other direction. The intensity still did not decrease. Hmmm, so it's not any weaker on my left nor on my right. This makes no sense. Then a horrible thought popped into my head. "Ohhhhhh no, it's not possible". I started very discreetly sniffing my clothes. Phew, I thought to myself. It's not me. As I looked up, these passengers across from me were looking at me with an expression best described as sour. "No, no, no", I violently shook my head. "It's not me", I assured them. I think my denials must have been quite convincing cos they all quickly looked away. I had to get off the tram soon after and so never got to figure out who or what it was that was the source of the smell. I hope the fact that the smell remained after I got off would have convinced my fellow passengers that it was not me. I hope the smell remained after I got off. I hope.

Ah well. Anyway, was meeting indecisive Simon for dinner. Half way to the pasta place, he reckons he feels like Indian instead. Now I had heard a lot about Indian Chinese food and how great it was. This is the Indianfied version of Chinese food. I've spoken to many many Indians (from India) and they rave about how great it is. Many Indians. One even ventured to opine that if he had to give up Indian or Indian Chinese, he'd give up Indian food. Quite a call. Now after hearing such consistently high praise from so many varied sources was making me really curious about this food. After numerous enquiries, I finally found one place which cooks this so called Indian Chinese food, in Malvern. "I know just the place", I said. Small problem was that I only knew the name of the restaurant but not the address. And then, a lightbulb moment! Telstra offers a service where if you SMS 191SMS with a command like b banjara vic, it will sms you back with business names with the word banjara in it's listings. I've never used this before(*). So I waved goodbye to my 55 cents and lo and behold, it sent me back the address I asked for. I've never been so excited before. Why? Because I sort of worked on the system last year. Boyd did the b(usiness), p(erson) and m(ovies). I did the sn(ow), w(eather) and su(rf). One of the very rare times where something I do at work (or ex-work, in this case) is actually useful in real life. I is happy. I explained all this in great detail to Simon but he didnt seemed all that impressed. Maybe cos he had to concentrate on driving. Anyway, we found the place no problems at all. It's near the train lines, cnr Glenferrie and Dandenong Rd.

Piece of trivia. Did you know that beep when you get receive an SMS is S M S in morse code? You did? Gee, I must have been the only person on earth who didnt know that. Disclaimer : AFAIK, it's like this at least on the Nokia phones.

How was the food, I hear you ask? I'll write a review of the meal at WDCoF soon. When I brush up on my adjectives, that is. Till then. Oh yeah, if any of you would like to be part of the WDCoF motley crew, let me know. We have low (actually, no) standards.

Viral marketing? What's that?

(*) OK, technically I have, in the lab. But I've never paid my own money to use it before.

Let me be wiik

2006-12-30T22:19:00.000+11:00

Crazy weather. One day, I've the air-conditioning on in the room and the next day, I've got the heating on. But with the end of spring (and my hay fever), I've started cycling again. I find riding quite relaxing, but sadly, sometimes I get caught up with secretly racing strangers, and it all goes downhill from there.

The other day, everything was cool and was just cycling casually to work and then noticed this cyclist appearing in my rear mirror. It's a GIRL! She was at my tail and didnt overtake after the customary 50 meters of tailing. So being the fool that I am, I thought, OK lady, you're going to get burnt. *starts humming opening stanza of the James Bond theme*. The ascent up to Anderson St bridge was where I started my attack. A sudden burst of speed (or so it seemed to me). Cyclist kept up, still sitting on my wheel. We did this for about 1.9 kms. Looked at my speedometer, was 32.2 km/h, had a quick look at the mirror and lordy, she wasnt even peddling. Yikes, I thought. I'm about to die. I was going 100% flat stick and was getting really, really puffed, things around me were seeming to get dark. All manner of thoughts raced through my head, along the lines of No point pretending I am fast and What about the loss of face and I am going to pass out. What's that thumping noise? But there was a fork in the road coming up. I glanced in my mirror and thank god, she took the other path and we went our separate ways. Oh sh*t! 100 meters further on, I see her in front of me again, this time with me about 10 meters behind cos I'd slowed right down. She'd followed the paved path and I'd taken the unsurfaced one. I was too knackered to make up any ground up the ascent to Swanston St. But she had to stop at the traffic lights anyway. I pulled up next to her at the lights. She looked at me and grinned. Ooooo, she's pretty. I smiled back and let my tongue hang out (from the exhaustion), Mannn... you're pretty quick, and I, ummm, was secretly racing you. She laughed and confessed that so was she. I dont normally cycle this fast but it was fun. Quite a workout but I'm going to be pretty worn out at work, she added. I looked at her bike and it looked like a fast bike (racer with really cool looking spokes). I only have a hybrid. OK, so maybe I checked out some other bits as well. Women in lycra, there is something special about that. Anyway, it'd be unlikely that I'll ever bump into her ever again as we ride at the same speed. So Ms. cyclist with a Giant roadbike, and a purple and yellow knapsack, I think I'm in love with you.

And I'm glad to report that my bottom dont hurt anymore. But my flanks are sore, from boxing on the Wii.

(*) And dream of sheep.

Pulling the Pin

2006-11-27T23:03:00.000+11:00

Many years ago, I got a job working for a gaming company and started the job on the same day with another guy, Ron. The project was really crap. Proprietary framework, no documentation. Ron left after 1 week. At the time, I thought, "What a heel. Not gutsy enough.". I stayed for 6 months but declined the contract extension when offered.

Anyway, today I would like to announce that I, Chai, am now that heel. I started a new job 2 weeks ago and I've resigned after just 8 days. Friday was my last day at the new (now old) place. It's taken me 2 weeks to realise what Ron could do in a week.
I've NEVER ever done anything like this before.
I have got another new job. It's for less $$$, a shorter contract, and have to bring in my own PC, working at a less convenient location. So this gesture says a lot, I think.

I am confident I could have done the job, but from a quality of life perspective, I dont think I have the stomach for such things, anymore. It sucks, getting old, and soft, and grumpy.

I wonder if anyone will remember gutless me walking out, 10 years from now, like I remember Ron. Matters not I guess, cos I feel very light about my decision, almost unbearably so. It did help that my ex-employers were really understanding about the whole incident. Thank you, ex-employers.

Just sail on without me.

Excess of sorrow laughs. Excess of joy weeps

2006-10-29T20:41:00.000+11:00

I could have sworn I'd already done an October entry. Hmmm. No matter. Lots have happened but somehow, I lack the willpower (amongst other things) to sit down and put it down into words.

I was going to whine about the fact that I've worked a 6 day week (50ish hours) the last 6 weeks out of 8. But then Alex tells me that her contract stipulates a standard 50 hour week and she puts in around 65 hours in general. Ai yai yai... Takes the wind out of my self-pity and I get PAID for my extra day whereas she doesnt.

Anyway, highlights and lowlights of the month.
Played tourist guide though I did nod off on Puffing Billy. No pics of the drool, thankfully.
Kim's 10th(!!) birthday!! It's been 10 years. I still remember that first day, when she started crying that first cry. I was thinking, "It sounds so sweet, almost like music. Maybe babies crying sound different to parents than to outsiders". Fast forward 1 month when her lungs got stronger, I'm cradling her at some ungodly hour, softly going "Shhhhhhhh", fearing the neighbours would knock on the door any minute.
Accidentally sent email to wrong person Major red faces allround. Well, just mine especially since said email contains reference to misdirected recepient.
Won a bottle of wine autographed by Steve Bracks! Yay! It's near worthless to me but have been advised to put it on ebay. Anybody here a politics groupie?
Watched my kid play indoor soccer for the first time Well, it was her first time too. I am glad she's taking up the sport without my prompting cos she is not very receptive to any ideas that originate from me. But apart from this, we have a great relationship.
My current contract expires. Yay. "Why you leave, Chai?", they ask. "Ummmm..., I, ummmm, have to, ummmm, ...., it's hard to get to here from where I live".
I got a new contract starting mid Nov. Yay! The kid can continue her schooling.
A production assistant earns like $7/hour after tax. There goes my alternate career.
Hopefully, my racquetball saga has ended In a nutshell, opposition team argued amongst themselves, walked off in a huff. We got a walkover. There was a tribunal, and they penalised both teams! We replay the round. One of our players not registered correctly. We forfeit all points. Accusations fly. Saga drawn out. Not good.
Got introduced to Aqualung's music. Pretty cool.
Went to see Beauty and the Beast My b'day present for L. It was really good, even more so considering these were amateurs, I think.
Cutting out beef from my diet Cos of this.
Finished a jigsaw. Took me 4 frigging weekends! In the end, it was more of a vendetta than anything.

Hmmm... not much of a life. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

(*) Title is borrowed from William Blake's perception.

20 rats tails and 40 rats eyes

2006-09-26T08:18:00.000+10:00

Am late for work.
Just go here and participate.... humour me.

Absynthe Absence

2006-08-28T23:30:00.000+10:00

Firstly, I always suspected we I.T. people were special. Now the world knows. Heroic. Who would have thought? I like it.

Anyway, was having trouble as to what to blog about in August. I toyed with the idea of writing about blogging tools, how I've started using Sage, a RSS reader plugin for Firefox. It is soooo cool and makes reading blogs and newspapers so easy. Try it. Really easy to install. Once you install it, you can use a sample OPML file I made up, ie. a file which contains a list of RSS feeds. You need to download the OPML file onto your computer, then from your FF browser, when you enable Sage (Tool->Sage), under Options, there is a OPML Import/Export feature. Import this file which you've just saved. I've added all the current reviewers (active and otherwise) from WDCOF, for lack of anything better. Sorry, no adult material. I think. Let me double check. Yup, none. But thought better of it than to blog about this.

Then I thought of something really really amazing and incredibly funny, at which point I fell asleep and now I cannot remember what it was that was so amazing and funny which I should blog about.

So resorting to that last bastion of the infrequent (but regular, at least monthly) blogger, I'm now doing my second MeMe, courtesy of the tattooed Ukulele, she of the Piadana slowfood review fame.

1. Three things that scare me:
Heights (a newly discovered phenomena)
The melting ice shelves
The PM not giving a shit.

2. Three people that make me laugh.
G.O.B. from Arrested Development.
Seinfeld
My smart-ass kid

3. Three things I hate the most
Ignorance
Stupidity
Greed

4. Three things I don't understand
How some people can get re-employed
How can every single one of Howards ministers lack something, compassion, brains, heart. Sort of like the cast of Wizard of Oz.
Israel (I wasnt even tempted to write down 'Women').

5. Three things I'm doing right now
Lying in bed, noting lateness of night.
Making mental note of things I still need to do.
Procrastinating.

6. Three things I want to do before I die.
See the Barrier Reef (I wonder which one will die first)
Go to Legoland.
See my daughter grow up to be a balanced individual (unlike her mother, ok, joke.)

7. Three things I can do
Play racquet sports well.
Flip a coin and catch it behind my back.
Burn food.

8. Three ways to describe my personality
Modesty will not allow me to complete this one.

9. Three things I can't do
Swim
Look more than 3 moves ahead in chess.
Draw legibly.

10. Three things I think you should listen to
Fiona Apple. I am sure subl will agree with me on this one.
Peter Singer
Me

11. Three things you should never listen to
People/Organisations voicing inciting hate/intolerance (Bolt? Zemanek? Jones?).
Newscorp.
The other voices in your head.

12. Three things I'd like to learn
To speak Mandarin
Meditate (and with that the ability to really concentrate)
To swim.

13. Three favourite foods
Sweet and sour pork (childhood affliction)
Indian Dhal curry.
Iranian chicken kebabs.

14. Three beverages I drink regularly
Water
Fruit Juice
Milo

15. Three shows I watched as a kid
Sapphire and Steel
Banana Splits (Siiiiiiiiize of an elephant)
M.A.S.H.

16. Three people I'm tagging (to do this)
Anyone who sees this. OK. Maybe pomgirl, maybe Camera, maybe Husky, maybe Bekk, maybe Bevis, maybe Steph, maybe CB, maybe Justine, maybe Mel, maybe Susanne, maybe YOU!

Here, there, everywhere

2006-07-24T21:01:00.000+10:00

The thing about driving in Kuantan is not that the arrows painted on the lanes at traffic lights are taken as suggestions only eg. 3 lanes in one direction, right most lane says right turn only, middle lane say right and straight, BUT you'll find that traffic in the right most lane does turn right AND also goes straight. If you're in the middle lane wanting to turn right, I suggest that you stay in the right hand lane next time. Well, it's not all that. It's actually the number of motorbikes zipping around you.

It's just that they buzz past you on the left and on the right and through any gap that may be available between you and the next vehicle or wall or whatever. So it's very important you dont do anything unpredictable, like changing lanes.

Admittedly, I used to ride pillion when I was in high school many many years ago. The one prominent memory that sticks out is when I was riding pillion in Penang (the one and only time). It was much like that chase scene in Star Wars #6 where they were on the planet with those annoyingly cute Ewoks. We were zipping and threading in between cars and trucks, through impossible gaps. Truly white knuckle stuff. I was absolutely terrified. I dont remember his name now but I've never ever held another man so closely or tightly before, or since.

Anyway, what I took away from this trip apart from a reminder of the magnitude of dysfunctionality in my family, was finding out about my paternal great-grandfather. I never bothered to ask before and therefore knew nothing prior to this.

Apparently, he was a rice carrier. ie. carried bags of rice, physically and was quite a strong guy. He was a big gambler and successful at it too. From this he bought a fair few properties in Penang. Unfortunately, he also smoked opium and was a womaniser. He supposedly had his own harem. But eventually, he had to sell off the properties one by one to feed his drug addiction, till it was all gone. He eventually ended up living in grandpa's house. Pa remembers great grandfather making the weekly trip to the shophouse only a block away from home, from which the British Government dispensed opium, to collect his weekly 2 vial ration. This wasnt enough and apparently he was shaking from the chills a lot. Pa remembers him scraping the bottom of whatever he used to smoke the opium from, to try to recycle whatever he could. Even worse, he died horribly from some venerial disease. This was pre-penicillin. He was a blind (from the VD) and frightened man when he finally went. Pa remembers GGF urinating but it is a little icky to describe. Good eh? I feel a little sad just describing it, just how he must have suffered. His name, when translated was "Black Boy" (or so my sister says).

I knew my maternal grandfather was a gambler (not successful) but I never knew there were gamblers on my dad's side, until now. My kid likes to play cards. Bummer. Predisposed? I hope not.

Till later.

Pictorial

2006-07-15T13:34:00.000+10:00

Freezing my frames

2006-06-02T23:22:00.000+10:00

Nerves? Man, from minute number 1, I had knots in my stomach. And then these guys got a freekick within like minutes of starting. I could have smacked Bresciano for doing that. I did consider switching off the telly after about 80 mins cos I couldnt invest anymore. Am so glad I didnt. Well done, boys and hopefully, we wont get thrashed by Brazil.

I also had a gentle reminder why I stopped playing pennant sport. My racquetball team got into the grand final and the NERVES are killing me, even if I am only playing in cretin grade. I pre-played the game many many times in my head. For the curious, I lost my match to a very fit nineteen y.o. GIRL! but my team won, so I get this little piece of granite that says "Premiers" and this in my first season, for which I am pleased, I suppose. Note that I've played > 12 seasons of squash and have nothing for it. Zero.

Anyway, have started packing for the trip. 80% of the luggage are little gifts, chocolates, t-shirts. I'm just bringing a couple of shirts and clean underwear for me. Everything else, not mine.

So why am I not looking forward to the trip? Over the past 18 months, I've had many people leave my orbit (geographically and otherwise) and then some more enter (and some intermittently, long story). I've never really thought about all these movements but on reflection, this has been always happening (for everyone too, right?). It's just that there has been many more people leaving than entering this past period. Sad? I'm not sure how I feel about it all. Maybe in the process of insulating myself from all this 'badness', I take away my ability to be really happy as well. Maybe. Just a theory. Anyway, I may have neglected to tell my parents about some of these exits. There never seemed to be a right moment to bring up the topic. There I said it. Hmmm.... that's strange. I dont feel any better.

Till July. In the meantime, have a listen to The Frames. Has the best aural version of fire that I know.

On my best behaviour

2006-05-31T23:46:00.000+10:00

I never realised that it'd be so hard to put up at least 1 blog post per calendar month. This is only here cos tomorrow is June 1. Procrastination, thy name is Chai. I guess it doesnt help that I've a new job, which sucks away the energy.

Let me see, what highlights in May can I write about?
Ahhh... I lost all my credit cards. I was on my daily morning run/sprint and thought I'd expedite the process by removing my train ticket from my wallet while moving at full speed. I suspect it must have fallen out then. I once got fined $150(!) cos I thought I could validate it at the destination. And the guy was a real prick too. A curse on his complexion but I fear I may already be too late. Forced to use cash for everything, I never realised before how much I actually spend. Depressing.

And there is the new job, and the new co-workers. Pretty cool guys. Ugly but cool. Initially, I was put in the nice, clean and modern office. Then they moved all the contractors to the 'other' building, which I dont think is ever vacummed, has drawerless tables and smelt of sour milk. 5 of us in the one room (referred to as 'the box') plus visitors. But we're coping, in our own little ways. Eg. the others wanted all box people to use an Ashley Judd photo as our messenger avatar, which I reluctantly agreed to (they're psychos!). Which they then changed to something else but neglected to tell me. So I was Ashley for a day and a half. Was kind of odd to my other messenger buddies who were not in the know.

Also, for the first time ever, Kim made me lunch! It was the most delicious jam and butter on toast I've ever had. I promptly went out and got her a copy of this recipe book. Admittedly, the motivation was one of selfishness (ie. I want us to progress past toast real quickly). Exciting times beckon.

And I finally got my airline tickets (again, had to return the last set) and booked the hotel rooms. It seems much more real now as it's getting quite close to departure. The last time I was back there was in 2004 for a grand total of 36 hours. Mannn... was that a nightmare. A schoolmate (from wayyyyy back) offered to drive me back to my hometown but I had to make my way from S'pore to M'sia. Easier said than done with peak hour traffic. I had to walk across the causeway with my luggage (long story). It was so friggingly humid. My clothes were soaked, my jeans were clinging on to me from the sweat. It was horrible. Never again. I asked my mum if she wanted anything from here and her answer was Pecans. Huh? What? Weird-O. That's what I'd expect if I was calling from the supermarket. Ah well, lets hope it skips a few generations.

Gawd, this post really sucks. Just like Decoder Ring live sucks. I like their CD a lot though.
And if you have nothing to do, go see these guys. They've got a CD launch at The East Brunswick Club on the 17th June. They dont suck. They're fun. OK, so I work with one of them. Go. Buy some merchandise. CDs, T-shirts (assorted sizes), caps and underwear. Moi? I'm flying that night. Lucky, eh? You can hear them (Des Peres) online here. They're also playing in Canberra and Sydney.

Till later.

Why I Blog

2006-04-11T21:31:00.000+10:00

OK, Rowena posed these questions on her blog. Well, it's her homework and I suspect she's using the power of the internet to do it for her. *winks* :-). Or at least, that's what I'd do if I was her, which I may be, or not, this being the internet.
So Ro, this is for you (sort of, I may be veering off topic, a little).

1. Why do you blog?
2. Blogging v journalism – is blogging the "new" journalism, an adjunct to it, absolutely nothing to do with it? (I’m talking about "current affairs" type blogs here obviously)
3. Do you also write for a living? How do the two co-exist for you? Why do both?
4. Positives and negatives of the blogging experience?
5. Does blogging foster connection and dialogue between people or is it all an illusion? Does blogging matter?

A1. I always saw it as a diary/journal. I know it's not, but that's how it started out for me. I thought it'd be cool for my kid to be able to read it when she was older, trying to figure out her dad. I know I could have used pen/paper instead but I'm an online kind of guy. It'd be so cool if my grandad/great-grandad had kept some sort of journal. Maybe they did, but it doesnt exist now.
These are some comments from my vicious real life 'friends'.
"I think your grandchildren will be very comforted to know that their grandfather was a nerdy loner, spending hours cataloguing his existence on an online blog,rather than actually living ;-)
Ahhh, they dont understand, do they.
The content sort of changed when I realised some people read it (my fault, I should have been anonymous). Which means I dont write stuff which is too personal and as hard as I try to ignore it, stuff which I think is not interesting to others. The latter which I didnt care before. Not that I do now, but it's at the back of my mind.

A2. First, define journalism. I think it's one type of journalism. Maybe a hybrid between a journalist and a writer. What makes something journalism? If one writes for a paper, then it is journalism? If said same writer gets sacked from the paper but continues writing the same thing via a blog, has anything changed? Just the medium. So I think the answer is in the content, rather than the medium used. Similarly, just because it gets published in a paper doesnt make it journalism. The medium used is inconsequential.

A3. Is writing software considered writing? If not, then no. I guess I sometimes write documentation for it, as well as requirements, correspond with customers, which may need use of lots of weasel words. Anyways,...

A4. Positives are that I get to communicate with people with whom I would never have been able to in a real world, cos of geography, different social circles. Just like friends of engineers are mostly other engineers. I assume it's similar of other fields. Plus I get to read some wonderful writers. I think Jay is very talented. And I've actually met people (eg. fluffy, bekk, rachy, tim and a few others who I know are bloggers but not what their blogs are called off the top of my head). This should be under 'Negatives', you say? Yeah, very funny.
Negatives - it is so frigging time consuming. It takes a lot of energy, time and creativity to maintain a constant output, which I dont have and I admire those who actually manage to do this. Chicky and Steph comes immediately to mind.
I am quite surprised that some people still visit here cos I would have thought my irregular posts and uncommentable content would repel all, eventually. :-) Do I care if I get zero visitors? Yes and no. I dont want any readers (I think. Wait! Dont leave), but I would be a little upset, initially. I dont understand either.

A5. For sure (fosters communication). It is just another medium. 100 years ago, people were using the poets corner in the market, now it is this. Nothing has changed except the medium. You still get the odd loony spouting whatever. But the internet gives all a global audience.
And I dont think blogging matters in the whole scheme of things. The internet matters, but not so blogging. If blogs disappeared overnight, I'd have a few hours a week of my life back.

Hope this was of help, Ro. I have opinions on many other matters as well, such as the AWB thingy. Poor Mark Vaile. He can either tell the truth, and get into big trouble or pretend he remembers nothing, and come across as an incompetent buffoon.

Fool on the Hill

2006-03-30T14:52:00.000+11:00

First things first. This is for Rachy.
It's a shout out at the Clyde and it's on THIS Saturday. I may be there with my camera (hidden and otherwise). Actually, just remembered I have the kid that day. I'll see.

Anyway, be there or be talked about.

OK... the following is pretty dull so you have been warned. I treat my blog as a journal for my kid to read to me when I'm in the sanitarium she puts me in.

Anyway, these are the chronicles of my job hunting the past fortnight. The dull starts here. My contract ended here on the 28th Feb and I'd got a job offer from a mob in the building 5 doors down and it was in the building of this girl I knew and that just added to the complexity/excitement/novelty. I dont think she'd have minded but her wife might not have liked it, BUT that's another story. "Start anytime in March", they said. Work wanted a 1 week extension. Sure, I said. Asked the new mob. No problems. Then another week extension. Same thing. Then a third. Emailed the new mob. No reply. Not wanting to seem 'too keen', I rang them up 2 working days later. 'Dont worry. We got someone else.' Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh...... I said. Ahhhhhhhhh, I said again. I was *so* annoyed at myself for not asking for the job offer to be on paper, annoyed at them for not telling me that they werent willing to wait anymore (I'd have ditched the current work) and annoyed at the current work for extending me 1 week at a time (5 times!). Granted, I'm getting a farewell lunch every week but the turnout has been pretty poor lately.

Job interview #2. I'd worked with this person before. Got the job email Thursday night, interview Friday evening. They were desperate. MUST deliver in 4 weeks. It would be stress city. They want me to start Monday morning. Told them I'd need to go back a day or 2 to hand over stuff. They cant allow that, they say. I told them morally (whatever that is), I cannot accept the job then. Immediately after the interview, I rang my current work commiting myself to them for another 2 weeks. 60 seconds later, I get a call from the interviewers. They say, OK, I can go back to hand over stuff if I still want the job. "Dude, you are 60 seconds too late". Crazy really. They get me, they lose 1 day this week. Today is Wednesday, they still havent got anyone, so they have lost 3 days already. Loyalty? Gawd, I hate having it. I dont know if I did the clever thing, but I think I did the right thing. And I'm relieved it worked out this way.

Job interview #3. I found out that the person who would be doing the phone interview was someone I worked with 4 years ago. I will refrain from saying too much cos I remember reading somewhere that employers sometimes do online research on job applicants. So apart from expressing a curiousity as to *why* he would want to interview me and asking you guys what the polite word is for stupid, I will leave it at that. O.K., just this bit then. I got 30 minutes worth of questions like these... "Chai, have you ever been really busy and your colleague asks you for your help. How would you handle this, Chai?" and "Chai, you are behind in your work and your manager hands you even more work. What would you do, Chai?". I was beginning to wonder what sort of technical position I had applied for.

Anyway, I did finally get a job. I start on the 10th April. It's with some people I used to work with. Yes, I know I'm professionally promiscuous. Anyway, the offices are the poshest I've ever seen. The work environment is like a hotel lobby, lots of space. It's really new and really well furnished. No expense spared. It'll be different from what I'm used to. Hope I can wear jeans not have to wear a tie, cos the elastic on my tie is a little frayed, from old age. Bow tie, you say?

Good eh? So have been very busy with work, looking for new work and as usual, preparing my tax for the ATO and trying to fit in a semblance of a social life in there somewhere. Frigging paper work. Next job, I'm going permanent even with all these new IR laws. Just need to work for a company with > 100 employees.

And I lost pennant racquetball to an 18 y.o. GIRL! The guys now want me to wear a skirt next time I play. Sure, no problems, I said. I already do that at home.
Is there no end to my humiliation? But anyway, 2 of the guys on the Australian C'wealth table tennis team, I've beaten before in competition, so there. Nyeh, nyeh. Oh yeah, I may have forgotten to mention the small matter that they were little kids then. Take that, you snotty little 12 y.o. OK, one was 17 and the other 15.

Live On My Mind

2006-03-25T10:41:00.000+11:00

See you standing in the door against the dark
Fireflies around you like a crown of sparks
You blow me a kiss that blurs my vision
Blurs the human condition

You're the ocean ringing in my brain
You are my island ripe with cane
Catch the scent of strange flowers when you pass
Fluid motion like the wind in grass

It's your eyes I want to see
Looking into mine
Got you live on my mind
All the time

Light me like incense in the night
Light me like a candle burning bright
Light me like a searchlight in the sky
Time means nothing when I look in your eyes

It's your eyes I want to see
Looking into mine
Got you live on my mind
All the time

It's your eyes I want to see
Looking into mine
Got you live on my mind
All the time

* I love this song so much right now. Only version I can find is by Elbow though.

Random observations

2006-03-13T10:15:00.000+11:00

As the world turns, (+ other midday TV serial titles), check out my restaurant review.

Here are some non-sequitur bits milling around in my brain (cos there's lots of room there).

* The USA is pushing for US infrastructure to be made US owned only. Implications? I think most of the private electricity companies here are US owned.

* It's better for one to be part of the team in opposition than for the team to be in government but without said one.

* Oil spill in Alaska. Hmmm... maybe I shouldnt have driven in this morning. Didnt feel like riding in the rain and the trains are running on Sunday timetables.

* The Queen is in town. Hmmm, hmmmm and hmmmm again.

* Last week, I saw Jana Pittman when walking in from the train station (near the CAE). She had a half smile on her face but was avoiding eye contact with all. Which got me to thinking, if I wanted to keep a low profile, I shouldnt be wearing a flourescent yellow tracksuit in the city at 9 a.m. in the morning.

* I picked up the plane tickets for the kid and I to visit her grandparents in June. She is really excited. Mine is more a mixture of mild dread and extreme dread.

* I am at work on a public holiday. Which is not that bad as I'm taking Tuesday off instead, to look after the kid.

On a lighter note, check this out dude. My restaurant review. Granted, it was done hurriedly cos I wanted the blog to have a constant flow of 2 reviews a week and the well is dry.

This band is becoming more prominent in my playlist. I should try and find out why the unusual name. Having said that, Steely Dan's Peg is my current ear worm. I think it's the funky rhythm.

Finally, I am happy but I hope the rest of my life is not going to be like this (while maintaining or exceeding my level of happiness, of course).

Point of this post? None.

The Glass Shatters1

2006-02-26T21:33:00.000+11:00

exhales [Note this is not a downer post. It's just a snapshot of my life in February. In the words of Team America, Everything is bon. I am happy'ish. This was added post publishing after seeing the first few comments received. :-) ]

It has been a hectic and horrible month, and thus setting the tone for this post. My contract ends² this Tuesday, on the 28th February and of course, to finish up, I am working like crazy and late (8pm? 9pm?) almost every other night, and that's only because I have the kid over and racquetball on those other nights.
I'd added some new functionality into our system and then it suddenly all stopped working. Eeeek. Indeed. The customer was pretty pissed. Words like lawsuit kept popping up. 8 working days later with 2 of us on the case, it was some stupid obscure configuration problem. Bottom line, the system now works. Yayyyyy! More importantly, it WASNT my fault. What a frigging waste of my life. Almost 2 weeks, pissed down whereever, for nothing, and it was a very tense and stressful 2 weeks. One's self-belief takes a bit of a pounding. And all that hair.

When I was a kid and my Dad was my age, I always got the impression he was so in control, confident and in charge of what he did at work. I wonder now if he was ever semi-hysterical, a blubbering mess and full of self-doubt, just another cog in the wheel of inconsequentiality. I sometimes wonder how I appear to my kid. She thinks I work in a paper clip factory. "Really?", I ask her. "Always have, dude", she says.

I got called in for an interview at a job agency, which is like a frigging waste of time anyway, cos they only want to see you so they can tell the client they actually met with you and that they're not just a resume forwarding service which is what they are anyway. I dont like the idea of them. They take like 20% off the top of what I get, which I think is way too much for the service they provide. Anyway, they asked me if I'd used XYZ before. There was a 2 second window there where I had to decide either to be surly and say things like 'Did you read my resume at all?'. I decided to be nice. It was touch and go there. Apparently, one becomes less patient with age.

I think I need a job like what this lady has. I reckon anyone can do a better job than her. Frigging waste of my tax dollars. How can a person with that attitude and that level of awareness, ever get a job like that? And Mr Costello too? Perhaps it's some clever ploy to distract everyone from the AWB conga dance. We get nothing from them, I feel. Nothing.

Funny how everyone wants something for nothing. My housemate, my employer. Details? Just the usual money thing.

And is it wrong to feel (very) slightly uncomfortable if I were to go see Brokeback Mountain with just a male friend, as opposed to a group of male friends. Maybe I have issues. I do want to go see the movie.

And thus ends this months blog of my life as a dog.

Postscript :
I still have to do my quarterly BAS which is due this Tuesday. Procrastination? I guess this is what this blog entry is all about. I'm off to vacuum now and then change the sheets and about a quarter to midnight, I'll start on the BAS.

¹I have stepped from the virtual and into the real world and have met my first blogger. Feel weird? You betcha. In the sense the depth of the conversation was more than what I..., never mind. Humble apologies for the size of the pic (500kb).

²No need to worry, if you were. There seems to be a bit of work out there. Just a matter of $$$. I've actually got a job offer, 4 buildings down the street, at $X, but I said I wanted $X + $20. No harm in asking, I thought. Lunch money. They were supposed to ring me on Friday, but didnt. Ah well. Sometimes the train leaves without me too. But I'm happy to potter around for a while.

A thousand words

2006-02-18T13:34:00.000+11:00

I have long since given up (*)

2006-02-04T12:15:00.000+11:00

This long forgotten memory popped up while walking home from the train station. It is quite possible that the AWB Iraq can of worms prompted it.

This is slightly complicated to explain but I will try my best.

I was 15 years old when I played in a team table tennis tournament (teams of 4-5 players). The day before the finals, 2 players from a team in the playoff for 1st and 2nd joined my team for lunch. There was a conversation thread which I could not follow clearly. What had transpired was that these 2 players were quite unhappy with their team patron and were willing to lose their matches on purpose in order to spite him (more so his possibly boastful wife).
They were willing to lose their games but not the prize money they would have gotten had they won. They wanted one of our guys to approach the other team.
So it was arranged that they would lose but still get the money. Note that financially, they gained (nor lost) nothing.

What is troubling is that I didnt say anything when I finally understood what was happening. I would like to think that I thought it was wrong but I really dont remember whether there was any outrage on my part then. However, I do remember thinking it wasnt fair to the other 2 unknowing players (one was to become the Mens State champion the year after).
The realisation of how much one would need to hate/dislike their sponsor/patron to have wanted to do this only came later in life. It was a black day for the sport and for me. It still bothers me to this day, 20ish years later, that I remained silent.
What is also troubling is that these guys, some in their late 20s, early 30s would expose a 15 y.o. to such a situation.

I dont remember where my team finished. Lower than 4th I think.

Postscript :
I can only imagine the embarassment of the people who were directly involved when all this was found out a few months later. The tournament was not held the following year. One of the guys is now a locksmith after dropping out of a police cadetship.

Sorry to bore you guys, but this is for my kid, when she is older and finds out, at the lawyers reading of my will that I've spent her inheritance and all I leave her is the URL and password to my blog. Go here instead for superb and entertaining food reviews. BTW, I dont remember ever telling anybody this story. Not even my parents.

(*) but I still think of you often.

Next scheduled blog : 18^th Feb 2006.

It's not you, it's me.

2006-01-23T10:10:00.000+11:00

This sorry saga takes in events spanning 2 nights.¹

Day 1. Friday Night
I'd rung Simon (who sometimes reads my blog. Hi S!) up to see if he wanted go see Good Night, Good Luck.
S : Hello.
Me : The luminuous wind gently shimmers off the jade pagoda. *click*

S was 5 mins late cos he got the time wrong. Then these 2 giggly girls² had the audacity to jump the cinema queue by walking over those zig-zag lines which we (I) was happy to follow. OK, so it was just them and us in the queue, but still. S is such a shameless flirt. They were going for Narnia. Pfft. Kids movie. 1 hour to kill before the movie started so food time³.

Hey! The same girls were there at the restaurant! While they were perusing the menu at the window, we got in and got the last table. Up your nose, girls. Karma sucks! Anyway, I'm glad S declined my offer to invite them over cos when they eventually got seated⁴ next to us, we discovered the quiet one had a voice like nails dragged down a blackboard. S confirmed my observations by clever use of his eyebrows. *shudder*

Conversation after the movie.
S : I did think some of the audience looked a bit young.
Me : Crossed my mind too. I thought Melbourne youth had gone serious.
S : And I did hear you say cinema Five, I just thought you knew where you were going.
Me : Thanks for the confidence. The jade pagoda falleth down the mountain.

[flashback] Conversation in the cinema.
Me : Jeesh, it's taking a long time to start.
[5 mins later]
Me : Shit. It's Narnia. Shit. Have u seen it before? Shit. Shit.⁵
[5 mins later]
S : Can you *stop* swearing now?

And that, is how I saw Narnia for the 2nd time in a space of 10 days. I didnt like it all that much the first time either. 132 minutes.

Day 2. Saturday Night.
Was going to go see The Constant Gardener with Elle before it disappeared from the big screen. Pre-movie dinner review here.

Conversation at the cinema queue.
L : What do you mean there is no booking? I rang at 430? They took my card number.
Usher : Sorry, Miss. The session is sold out.
Me (grimaces) : This is one great weekend for movie outings.⁶ Shit. Shit.

Later, as I was leaving her place.
L : Why do things like this happen to me?
Me (distractedly) : It's not you, it's.... me.

*big sigh* I try again in a fortnight.

¹ I did consider doing this Memento style. Did you know how hard that is?
² an incidental secondary story.
³ I'll eventually do a review at We Do Chew Our Food.
⁴ They actually moved from their original allocated table to the one next to ours. *shrugs*
⁵ Narnia started 15 mins later than GNGL. I estimate we'd already missed about that much, 15 mins of the other movie. Karma does suck.
⁶ Friday the 13th? Pffft...

Under Construction

2006-01-19T23:58:00.000+11:00

Post not ready. Come back Monday.

In the meantime, you may want to read my restaurant review here at We Do Chew Our Food.

A Rush of Blood to the Head

2006-01-12T22:25:00.000+11:00

MG had this cunning plan where we¹ have a food/restaurant review blog collectively.

To be included in this very select group, all you have to do is to just mention the possible existence of this food blog anywhere, in anyones blog and you're in. The key word here is exclusivity.

So far, the (possible) bloggers are elaine and subl.

Some administravia.

The alternatives are :
Using blogger.
Pro :
Easy/familiar to use.
Con :
Hard to maintain.
Hard to organise.
ie. if we use the comments as reviews, comments are not editable after it has been submitted.

Use of a Wiki
Pro :
Easier to organise/manage. The logistics part of it is good.
Con :
Small learning curve involved.

But more importantly, we need to come up with a cool name. Off the top of my little head, I can think of
melb_gourmand
melb_palate

I prefixed it with melb but we dont have to.

My thoughts, we go with blogger cos it's easier to setup initially and see what logistical problems we encounter and I'll migrate it over to a wiki later.

This is roughly how it *may* work (using blogger).
Each blog entry is for a specific restaurant. I guess you might need to be added to list of "bloggers" to be able to edit the entry or add to the entry. I dont see using comments as input to reviews workable as one cannot re-edit comments. Perhaps a prefix of the blog title with the cuisine type, so as to ease searching? Hmmm, or maybe one could post in a comment, then an administrator puts it into the main post? See, I told you it was clunky.

These are just random thoughts, BTW.

What do we get out of this?
I have no idea. Maybe it's a really bad idea.

Our motto? How about "Just because we cant cook doesnt mean we dont know good food". Alright, that's *my* life motto and we dont have to use it. Yes, yes, I know most of you can cook well. I was just referring to self, where each meal is like eating fugu. Anyway, come up with an alternative. I need ideas.

Inspiration? The Superparma site.

Soooo, express your interest and your thoughts and your ideas. Basically, to quote New Order, Express Yourself.

Addendum
The site is currently at http://letmeeatnow.blogspot.com/.

¹Yes, you too.

Filler post

2006-01-04T01:01:00.000+11:00

I have been tagged by that, that, that person¹. Seeing as I have nothing to write about² anyway, I'll resort to the trusty "include song link" and do the meme I found on Melly's blog. It's not what subl asked for but it's a compromise. Life's a compromise.

Rain, beautiful rain, the cool change on that 43C day. Love the smell.

Song : That Was The Worst Christmas Ever by Sufjan Stevens.

Four Jobs you’ve had in your life:
Waiter
University Tutor
Research Assistant
~~Chippendale~~ Programmer

Four movies you could watch over and over:
The Incredibles
Princess Bride
Any PT Anderson movie (esp Punch Drunk Love).
Any Jarmusch movie (my fav is Dead Man but not too sure about repeated viewings of that).

Four places you’ve lived:
Kuantan
Kuala Lumpur
Nuremberg
Hong Kong

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Currently:
Dont watch anything regularly currently

Forever:
Seinfeld
The Simpsons
Firefly
Arrested Development

Four places you’ve been on vacation:
Budapest
Perugia
Cairo
St Louis

Four websites you visit daily:
Slashdot
The Age
Boing Boing
Groklaw

Four of your favorite foods:
Chicken satays (grilled, ones at Satay Bar are quite good)
#22 at Thanh Phong, Richmond.
Sweet Mangoes
Garlic nan with any curry (except lamb)

Four places you’d rather be:
Rome
Istanbul
Germany (Kaiserslautern, Munich, Stuttgart during the World Cup)
Home

Four bestest albums (my enhancement):
Kate Bush - The Dreaming
Fiona Apple - When The Pawn...
~~EBTG - Walking Wounded~~ Garbage - Version 2
Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise

Four bestest books (my addition):
Gabriel Marquez - Love in the Time of Cholera
Robert Butler - A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain
William Goldman - The Princess Bride
Bill Bryson - Neither Here Nor There

That was painless, I think. For me anyway.

I wont tag anybody as I dont like to inflict pain but do do this just so that I'll know what you like and where you've been. That way, I'll get to feel like I know you really well, though the reality is that we're strangers and will probably remain so for all eternity [maniacal laughter in the background]. No pressure though.

¹Substitute with your favourite term of endearment eg. harlot, sod, sausage, witch.
²The kid fell asleep on me and I didnt have the heart to wake her up to go to the fireworks for NYE.

Seasons' Greetings and more

2005-12-18T23:30:00.000+11:00

Admittedly, whenever I see those "[your name] needs" lists, I think "How silly" and condascendingly so. But then I tried it via googlism. Hey, it is kind of fun! Really. You going to try it? What, me hypocrite?

Went for a little stroll with da boys for this rally. There were some initial fears about there being some violence, but we went nevertheless. The only hitch was that Den, who emailed us all about the rally, was at home setting up his stereo. That's right, society is crumbling around him but at least he'll have good sound. OK, I confess I did spend a bit of energy looking around for the other bloggers who said they were going to go. I think she looks like an elaine, her a Lady Cracker, a Cotton, an Outspoken and that one a subl. Well, he *did* look like a girl to me, initially. I was standing next to the guy holding the "Racist Liberals Fascist" placard, for the curious.

The media's role in all this? Check this out, a Today Tonight transcript from July 2005, I think. It is the *only* time in my *whole* life I've ever written in to complain to a TV station.

*sigh* And on the topic of society crumbling, was thinking about how pyramid selling is illegal as a business practice cos it is unsustainable. And yet, the current model that society is based on is this ie. perpetual growth in terms of population, always needing to have more young people than old, business have to grow every year etc... Take this random thought and it's implications as you may. Sound like Eeyore, u say?

Anyway, on Sat, on the way to see Harry Potter, I listened in controlled horror as my kid sounded out her tale about how she had dared her karate instructor to break a piece of wood using the instructor's head for $2. "You what?" and when I better composed my reaction, "Look, I know I often do this to you (ie. offer money for chores⁰) but I dont think it is a good idea for you to dare others for money. I am sorry but I was setting a bad example for you". She seemed to understand, I think¹. Fatherhood is often a series of many tough decisions. "And dont call me Dad in public", I said and clipped her ear as she walked away. I think she'll turn out OK after all.² I didnt dare ask if the practice was now rife in Grade 3.

And on a lighter note, this vodka ad is sort of funny. Uses the Numa Numa (Romanian?) song³ as background music.

My current ear worm? It is this song by The Rosebuds. OK, so it's pop. I'm a shallow guy (but I cast a long shadow).

And finally, have a safe and beery Xmas and a terrific 2006! Joy To the World!⁴

C'ya next year! Ole, ole, ole... On to the world cup.

⁰50 cents per chapter to read me the hobbit.
¹I am not allowed to use words with more than 4 syllables.
²I didnt really clip her ear.
³Was going to put the "images that look like porn but really isnt" link but thought it might be too tacky. Technically work safe but....
⁴version by Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide.

I've made a lot of mistakes

2005-12-15T17:36:00.000+11:00

Stay between the flags.

[Image source unknown]

Text to follow [check again on Monday, if you can be bothered to, or am I being too presumptious?]. Am a little swamped right now *AND* see YOU there at the Bourke St Mall, 5 pm, Friday (16 Dec 2005). And leave the nunchakus at home. I know I am.

I Can Stop ANYTIME I choose

2005-12-01T21:45:00.000+11:00

Well, well, looks like internet addiction is for real after all. The Register says "...as destructive as alcoholism and drug addiction". Good thing I can give this up any time I want.

Blogrolling doesnt seem to be reliable. The list of bloggers on the right is supposed to ordered according to most recently updated. But is it? Sometimes, maybe.

Went to see Jose Gonzales play in Northcote. It was pretty good. I would have liked it better if he spoke to us a bit more though. Otherwise, it's almost like just listening to his CD, except you're standing with 300 other people and it's hot. One person fainted. Heat? Drugs? Who knows?

Also went to see this other piece of theatre called Prodigal Daughter. Had themes of paedophelia. A bit long, acting was pretty good but the subject matter was too heavy for me.

Plus I immediately ran out and got this excellent publication, Poster Magazine when I heard that this talented blogger worked on it. Go get your copy before they run out. Now! Go, I'll wait for you.

Was thinking of Christmas presents. I wonder what one would think of a domain name as a present. Godaddy has them for USD$9/year and that comes with 50Mb disk space. Pretty good deal. I was thinking of getting another one. Cant think of any good names. The current favourite is angstra.com, a telstrafication of my surname plus a bit of my general disposition thrown in. Silly idea? Better name? Please tell.

Am listening to this song by The Shins a lot. Musically, I suspect I may be going through my cowboy hoofty beat phase.

Also I cant help but wonder why they didnt track Van Nguyen instead and catch the next guy in the chain. Mules are so disposable. Drugs should be decriminalised and controlled. *sigh*. Life is so fleeting.
But I guess nothing is forever. In fact, some very important things lasts *only* 1 year. Should be longer. It is so sad.

Man, it is warm tonight.
Addendum.
Went to a concert recital and joined the orchestra for the after performance dinner. On seeing me enter the restaurant, one of the violinists said to her companion, "Yeah, that's him, the guy that was clapping." "Ummm.... no, you must be mistaken. It was probably someone who looked like me", said I, walking away quickly. I dont remember clapping out of turn and the people I knew didnt contradict me. I was too gutless then to confront her to clarify her accusations. Now I shall spend nights awake thinking of what she could have possibly meant.

Thank Guus!

2005-11-19T19:11:00.000+11:00

There are no words that can express my relief at the football results. I was waking up periodically the night after the match, recalled the match result, smiled to myself and went back to sleep. I am not super happy, just super, super relieved. Very weird, you say? I'd like to debate the point, but I cant. You're talking to a person who flew into London, caught a match, and then flew back the next morning (ok, so it was from Germany and not Australia). 3 days later, I still have a buzz from this.

Speaking of flying, there was a fly bugging me on the train to work the other day. When I got into work, there was a fly still bugging me. I suspect it may have been the same creature. It must have followed me the four blocks from Flinders St station and up six flights of stairs! What's the deal, Mr Fly? It was a Thursday too, which meant I had showered. Weird, eh?

Anyway, I have 2 upcoming first-time parent events happening. So I need to think of baby presents. Was thinking of ipod baby clothes but am very open to ideas¹. But the first time parents will probably be so overwhelmed that they wont notice. Maybe some phenol-barbitol instead? Worst case, I'll resort to the trusty teddy bear.

Also, I have a little problem. I find I am spending more time reading blogs than I am with reading other stuff, ie. newspapers, novels, tech books. Not good. New Scientist has an article about gaming fanatics showing hallmarks of drug addiction. I wonder if it carries over to blog readers. Will willpower be enough?

And yet they push for the legislation for sedition. I know we get the Government we deserve but have we really been so bad? The man who trades freedom for security usually ends up with neither - Benjamin Franklin

And what's the deal with Tim Burton? How come his movies have to be prefixed with his name? Anyway, Corpse Bride is really good. Worth a viewing though I thought Nightmare Before Christmas was a superior musical.

Anyway, am listening to Laura Veir's Rapture. Strange song, but I like. I also like that song they play on that Sony commercial, Jose Gonzales' Heartbeats. He's going to be playing at the Northcote Social Club on the 29th. Though Sony are big time bastards! The nerve of them installing software² which spies on you, without any permission. I hope they get their butts seriously kicked.

¹Good ones.
²List of affected CDs listed here.

Oh the pressure, Will Robinson (*)

2005-11-11T12:27:00.000+11:00

Hey! I've installed a blogroll. Am having trouble deciding whether I should classify the bloggers and if so, how.
a) geography (Pollen city, Syd, the rest)
b) gender (Male, Female, Michael Jackson)
c) Life scores (see previous entry)
d) political persuasion (friend, enemy, left, right, extreme left, Tony Abbott).
e) traits (amusing, incoherent, depressing, stimulating, pretentious, bad spellers)

Currently, they're all under Incoherent¹. Send me $$$ if you want to be moved to some other group. ie. the cool group, or added or removed. Actually, just send me $$$.

And did you know you may now be able to patent film storylines? Sounds like a great idea, then the only kind of movies made will be David Lynch and Peter Greenaway movies, ok, Kaufman too, and WKW (cos he uses no script!).

Anyway, looking out the window down onto the 5th level hotel concourse across the road, there is this woman, purple hair, platform shoes, mini-skirt practicing whipping a piece of paper out of a guy's hand (reminds me of Jack Osbourne). And there is this almost grotesquely fat guy lounging just behind with a couple of relatively normal heavily tatooed looking guys. I wonder if they can see me gawking at them. They're probably thinking, "Look at that Batman t-shirt guy, with the headphones and opened mouth across the road. What a freak!" What's the chances Jim Rose is in town. Hmmm.. which one is Mr. Lifto, I wonder. Ouchy.

And it looks like I've found a hobby to while away the Xmas break. Origami!!! or a variant of it. Should be a fun summer. You can join me if you like :-)

ps
we got some new people starting work.
guy #1 is sight impaired... we *all* know what he's been doing, right? *snicker* Yikes, I hope he doesnt read this. And if he does, has a sense of humour or at least not own any firearms. Grow up? What do u mean?
girl #2 starts soon, I think... apparently, she does the shot putt competitively... Will be interesting....
I guess this could sound like it follows on from the Jim Rose thingy above, but it isnt, though it could very well be. I do question my presence here at this workplace though.

^* Squirt = Drip under Pressure.
¹It has just occurred to me that it would have been much more lucrative if I had put everyone under some undesirable category eg. paedophile and then wait for the $$$ to roll in but I didnt think of it in time. I do play fair.

If only I could...

2005-11-05T15:55:00.000+11:00

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	6.2
Mind:	6.6
Body:	7.3
Spirit:	5.5
Friends/Family:	4.4
Love:	0
Finance:	8.8
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

.... I would.

Pathetic? No argument here.

Anyway, other evaluation thingies of interest...

This Values Clarification Exercise is pretty cool, I think. Possibly contentious. Definitely discussion generating.

And ever wondered How Sinful You Were?

While on the topic of sins, thank whoever up there for Barnaby Joyce. A very gutsy guy. One wonders about the other [insert curse word] puppets.

On a lighter note, I wrote a little program that does nothing. It just rearranges the letters in your text, basically to demonstrate that even when misspelt, the human brain still processes it like it was spelt correctly.
Click here to indulge me.

Enjoy.
ps.
Anyone find Joanna Newsom's music as mesmerising as I do? Maybe it's them harps. Does it everytime.

Clown Serial Killer?

2005-10-27T00:12:00.000+10:00

So... who in their right mind would write a melancholic song about a clown serial killer? Sufjan would, that's who. [click on picture to get the song].

Am listening to his album, Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois". I get a really big kick out of discovering a new (to me) artist that I really like. It's like discovering a whole new world. It's a great feeling.

I like most of the songs especially "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get us!" The "John Wayne Gacy Jr" song is also very listenable and quite sad, and yet weird and sick at the same time, as this is about that clown serial killer. He manages to make you feel empathy for him, how skilful is that?

Anyway, went to see this frigging amazing movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark - The Adaptation. The video and audio quality was pretty bad but one gets used to it after a while. A phenomenal effort actually.

Also managed to go see Claire Bowditch. I've only heard the one song by her prior, Hallelujah. I found I quite liked the material she performed. Might have to go get the album now.

Played the songs to my nine year old, but she didnt like it. Maybe it's cos if Dad likes it, it must be bad. She listens to Green Day. "Isnt it a bit loud?", I asked her as I morphed into my _Dad_. When I was 9, I think I was still listening to "Old MacDonald" and his farm animals.

Topical quote.
"""
In one of the earliest critiques of a national ID card proposal (January 1986), Professor Geoffrey de Q Walker, now dean of law at Queensland University, observed:

One of the fundamental contrasts between free democratic societies and totalitarian systems is that the totalitarian government relies on secrecy for the regime but high surveillance and disclosure for all other groups, whereas in the civic culture of liberal democracy, the position is approximately the reverse.
"""
I let you decide which way we are heading. Big sigh.

Parting plagiarised wisdom?
"""
Never get so attached to a poem
you forget truth lacks lyricism;
never draw so close to the heat
that you forget you must eat.
- Joanna Newsom, En Gallop
"""
ps.
I hear The Proposition is up for all these AFI awards. I was told not a cent (unverified) of it was Australian. One wonders what the critirea is. I do recall that French movie, Long Engagement having 50% American money disqualified it from the French awards. 50%!
Also, go see Me, You, Everyone We Know. It is great, though Adrian Martin of the Age hated it. Silly Adrian.

Title? Dont need no stinkin' titles.

2005-10-14T13:15:00.000+10:00

Spring is definitely here. My eyes are a little watery, probably cos of all the pollen I pick up on my ride in the mornings. Also gashed my right knee on the serrated edge of my bike pedal this morning. Ouchy. Have got a 3cm by 1 cm deep wound. Was getting onto the road from the sidewalk and on the 4 inch drop to the road, my foot slipped and the pedal moved up to meet my knee. I spent the next 2 minutes cycling with 1 leg and screaming silently, cos no sound actually came out. I kept thinking "I am bleeding" but did not dare look. The guys at work examined it, "Stop whinging! It looks like nothing". "But it huuuuuurts", I whined. The insensitive clods. Now I know how Nancy Kerrigan felt.

So Fiona Apple's got a new CD out (4th Oct)! Whoo hooo.... So I trudged down to the Target on Bourke St (had a gift voucher) to go buy it and couldnt find it. Trudged down to JB Hifi and was told it is not out in Australia till the 31st! What?!? But, but, but... Hmmm... does that make it OK for me to go download it instead? Sigh. So I ordered it online from o'seas. I'm not going to wait 4 weeks for no rational reason. Also emailed epic records and told them that if the record sales for this album in Australia was ZERO, it's cos we all ordered it from elsewhere cos we couldnt wait. Frigging duffers. I hope the same wont happen with Kate Bush (Nov 7).

I also went to hear Robert Fisk speak. That guy's mind is sharp. He spoke for about an hour and had 1 hour of questions. He seemed to be able to field complex questions on subject of the Middle East, Northern Ireland and the former Yugoslavia with clarity. Very impressive, more so given the murkiness of the subject matter. You might not agree with his opinion but there was no ambiguity as to what he was trying to get across. Basically, Iraq is stuffed.

Also went to see Enron the movie. The greed is breathtaking. This CEO of one of the divisions left with $250M. What can u do with $250M? He is now the 2nd biggest private landowner in Colorado. It is a fantastic story, but I didnt think the doco was as good as it could have been. Granted, it was a very complicated story. 6/10

Asked Mark to go to this music event. It was a bit too avant-garde for Mark and I. I had to apologise to Mark profusely! Ah, well. I guess one has to wade through a lot of "dirt" to find gold (not that this was dirt, it was just I didnt appreciate it). Apologies to the creator. Sono stupido. Sono animale.

Had to laugh at this. BT Labs (UK) has come up with the mp3 breast implant. How cool (and silly) is this? Full article + unavoidable snide references to the click wheel (heh!) can be found at The Register.

Current play list.
Rufus Wainwright - Peach Trees
Frou Frou - Let Go
PJ Harvey - The Mess We're In.
Fiona Apple - Parting Gift
Dandy Warhols - The Dope

Parting words of wisdom.
"""
If you don't have a song to sing you're ok,
You'll know how to get along humming
If you don't have a Date, Celebrate
Go off and sit on the lawn under nothing
'cos its just what you must do and nobody does it anymore
""" - Fiona Apple 'Waltz'

and go watch Firefly, the TV series.

(*) All my ideas and snippets of wisdom are from song lyrics and episodes of the Simpsons and Seinfeld.

Art is the tree of life - Blake

2005-09-27T15:03:00.000+10:00

There is a focus on Jim Jarmusch on at the ACMI. I went for 2, his new one Broken Flowers and Down By Law. BF was OK. Might have to watch it again cos I missed the first 10 minutes. The session was sold out and I had to hang around outside to see if they could round up some spare seats. DbL was great. Made in 1986! I've never seen it before cos I dont think it's on Region 4 DVD (until very recently). Considering that it's a 20 y.o. movie and that JJ is not exactly mainstream, this session too was sold out (seating capacity 180)! Lucky me turned up early so I could get a nice seat, not front row, like the earlier film. Looks like JJ has gone mainstream, at least in Melbourne.

Also went to see a couple of shows at the Fringe festival but nothing to write about.

However, the movie Look Both Ways was really good. One of the better Australian movies I've ever seen (best being Lantana).

Was reading the local papers and I found the following article.

"""
A judge is to stand trial for allegedly masturbating with a "penis pump" during a murder case.

Witnesses claim they could hear the noise coming from beneath the robes of Donald Thompson as he sat on the bench. The judge, 58, had served at Creek County Court, Oklahoma, where he was charged, for 22 years.

The sex toy will be presented as evidence. The court has also permitted testimony that a second pump was seen under Thompson's bench. Thompson faces 10 years in prison and a $20,000 ($A26,000)
fine for each offence of indecent exposure. If convicted he would also have to register as a sex offender when released from prison.

He is accused of using the pump during two murder trials and a civil case in 2003. Jurors claim they heard what sounded like a bicycle pump or blood-pressure pump.

One saw Thompson making some movement "with his upper body and arms", according to documents filed by the state attorney-general in Oklahoma.
"""

You'd have to be pretty determined to want to do this in a public setting *and* you were one of the principals ie. the *judge* in a courtroom.

I've announced to the guys here at work that "From this day henceforth, know now, fellow co-workers that I shall be ignoring all noises for fear of discovering the unknown".

And they were happy with that.

Speaking of adverse working conditions, there I was working away busily, minding my own business, then there is this really odd smell. Sort of like smoked tea-leaves or something dank like that.
Was going to ask "Austin, did you change your brand of cigarettes or something?" but didnt.

Anyway, it appears that another co-worker had taken his shoes off....

Eeeeewwwwww.....

Now, I just need to compose a non-offensive request to put his shoes back on, without causing too much embarassment to all parties concerned.

eg. For the LOVE of GOD, can you PLEASE put your FEKKING shoes back onto your STINKING feet! or something along those lines.

Minimal fuss, minimal embarrassment.

What u think?

* Names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Stuff Happens

2005-08-27T12:46:00.000+10:00

Out of the blue, I get an email from PaulS asking me if I wanted to fill in for racquetball that night itself. I told him he'd have to be *really* desperate cos
* I dont own a racquet (yes, yes, I have ordered 1).
* the last time I played was when I last filled in for him, in 1999. That's right, last millenium!
* I have lost fitness cos I was at the tail end of a cold (was still feeling warm/cold intermittently)

But I'll do it, I said, though a few other voices in my head, the toaster and the microwave did tell me I was being quite stupid.
Anyway, I did end up playing and lost 13, 11 and 4. My quads started cramping up towards the end of the second set and most of the 3rd set. Ah well, could have been much worse, score wise.

The worse was yet to come. The next night, I'd sat in my bean bag watching whatever on TV, and when I tried to get up, I couldnt! My quads were just wasted. I had to roll onto my stomach and use my arms to pull myself up. It couldnt have been very pretty. Sports keep you fit? Doesnt feel like it.

And Today Tonight, tch, tch, tch. How little professional pride you have. I cant say I am disappointed but I am quite saddened. Such corporate irresponsibility. I hope nobody will get physically hurt. Maybe they may get charged for vilification. I felt so strongly about it, I sent them a complaint. I have never done this ever before. Transcript here.

Went to see David Hare's play "Stuff Happens". It was very well acted. The performers had lots of dialogue to get through. Pretty long though. Close to 2 hours? I wonder how I would have reacted to the contents had my politics been right of center. Nevertheless, it was a powerful play. Some reviews (of other performances) found here.

Gotta go psyche myself up for the school father-daughter mini-golf event tomorrow :-)

The Crepes of Wrath

2005-08-07T11:04:00.000+10:00

Apologies to Steinbeck. [Footnote : I've tried reading the book and mannnnn... is it dry. I gave up after a few chapters. Back to Where's Wally books for me.] Well, not so much wrath, but I thought it sounded better if it was wrath. It's more like mirth. I guess Crepes of Mirth doesnt sound too bad either.
KB changed her mind at the last minute and wanted pancakes/crepes (it's the same for me) for breakfast. Being the indulgent parent that I am, I went to the milkbar for fresh milk and got the instruments out. Beatmaster 2000, where are you? So I make like 15 and all she eats is 2! After all that! I could strangle her. Anyway, for reasons of perpetuity (ie. in case I forget again!!), I'm listing my pancake recipe here, cos after much trial and error as well as much opportunistic snide remarks from an 8.5 y.o. ingrate ("I think the packet ones are better, Dad."), I've come up with something that she'll tolerate. Kids, who'd have them? [<-- joke, I love her to bits which is why she gets away with so much. My fault though.]

2 cups of plain flour
3 x eggs
3 cups of milk
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar

This makes about 15 on my Tefal crepe pan, of which she eats like only 2, which means I'll have to eat the rest for b'fast, lunch and dinner cos I dont like to waste. I threw out about half a dozen the last 2 times I made this for her.

Speaking of food, I see they've starved another brain dead person to death. The Age covers it here. So they're pragmatic enough to let her die, but not compassionate enough to help hasten it. Such idiocy! and hypocrisy. Infuriatingly shallow minded.

Speaking of hypocrisy, I see that the USA is not happy that some Chinese company is trying to buy an American energy company. I guess what's good for the goose....,,, right? The NY Times covers it here. Ha ha.... Good thing the Chinese have short memories and dont bear any grudges. :-)

Which brings me onto the Chinese language. It's a little shameful that I dont speak Mandarin, being of Chinese descent and all. I should do a course to learn this. [flashback alert, sounds of helicopters] When I was 15, I was sent interstate for some sporty selection trial. The national chinese daily covered the event and wanted all the kids names. Of course, pumpkinhead here couldnt write his name in Chinese. Teammate tried to and somebody remarked what he had written was 'vegetable'. Forget it, I said. I wrote it down in English. Of course, the papers next day had all the names and guess whose name stuck out cos it wasnt in script like the others? Traumatised? Well, I still remember the incident. BTW, I didnt make selection either. [end]

So language course enrolment time. I looked at the course guide and what do I see. Language classes held in a restaurant and conducted over a meal? Cool. So I promptly enrolled in Italian for beginners. Starts this week and I cant wait. Am already affamato. I've actually enrolled in a 10 week course in the past but had to drop out after 2 cos of work commitments ie. I had to leave the country for a while and no, it wasnt because of any constabulary entanglements. Mandarin, you ask? Maybe next term.

Toasted

2005-07-09T21:52:00.000+10:00

I didnt feel like cooking so thought I'd just have some toast when I got home on Thursday. Popped the bread into the toaster and 3 seconds later, I hear this bzzz-buzzz sound and voila, the house is plunged into complete darkness. Bugger. That's just great. My back was hurting cos I had to carry a desktop computer the 2.5 blocks to the new work building (*dont* ask), I was hungry plus I dont remember where the fuse wires were kept. I sort of felt my way around the house and managed to locate my bike light. Had a peep outside and yes, I was the only house affected. Peeped into the fuse box and phew, it'd had only tripped the safety circuit so no new wire was needed. Am now the owner of a new Kambrook KT97 toaster, as per Choice magazine.

Went for the Sydney Dance Company's performance of Graeme Murphy's Grand on Friday. I found it way exceeded my expectations ie. it was really really good. I normally find the dance stuff a little dull but this kept my attention almost throughout. These guys are elite athletes, in my opinion. It was half ballet and half contemporary. I'd gone to a dance thing a few months ago and at that one, thoughts like "I wonder if they feel silly prancing around like that" or "I wonder if those pants are uncomfortable" often occurred whereas at this one, I was transfixed. Recommended. Very off topic but a Simpsons episode just popped into my head.

Scott: And now over to Kent Brockman for some grim economic news.
Kent: Scott, things aren't as happy as they used to be down here at the unemployment office. Joblessness is no longer just for philosophy majors. _Useful_ people are starting to feel the pinch.
Barney: I haven't been able to find a job in six years.
Kent: Hmph. And what training do you have?
Barney: Five years of modern dance, six years of tap.

Dad stuff

2005-07-07T20:57:00.000+10:00

Had to bribe Kimi to come with me to go see the Ancient Egyptian exhibition at the Melbourne museum. For an 8.5 year old kid, she can sure negotiate. And we're going for *her* benefit anyway.

I'd expected it to be bigger but nevertheless, it was quite interesting. There were lots of exhibits and concepts dealing with death. I hope it didnt affect her badly because we never really discussed this topic very much. She did seem to already know quite a bit about Egpytian mummies and their gods. I found out later that most of it's from that cartoon with the mummy on the ABC. And I did find her trying to write her name using the hieroglyphics. Cute.

We stopped at a bakery in Richmond and she wanted 2 egg tarts (one was for breakfast). She definitely knows what she likes.

Le Lack of Sleep

2005-07-05T20:13:00.000+10:00

Whooo hooo... le Tour de France is on... I've always thought that given a choice of winning any sports event in the world, I'd choose winning the tour over tennis, golf, the nba, FA cup etc... They're showing it nightly, and finishes about 130am. Here we go......

Speaking of which, I was riding to work the other day (it was 11C in the morning, which satisfied my critirea for riding in, ie. double digits temperature :-) ), I spotted this lone rider dawdling about 200 meters ahead. I caught up eventually, and overtook him. As per protocol, one doesnt linger in front of an 'overtakee', so I accelerated a bit after overtaking. Fifty meters on, I peeped behind me and lo and behold, he was on my wheel. Yikes. Of course, I couldnt slow down, could I? (Loss of face etc...) So from the velodrome in East Hawthorn, till about St Kevins College, I was cycling at about 32km/h (which is faster than I normally ride). I was about to pass out when just after St Kevins, he overtook me and made a right turn towards Abbotsford. Thank you buddha. He gave a me a thank you wave as I was his domestique for almost 2kms. Now he'll never find out if I could have kept up that speed for longer. :-)

Bartok? I am not so sure I ....

2005-06-27T22:01:00.000+10:00

"Not Bartok, is it?", was my instinctive response when Liesl asked me to go for her orchestras recital, which was met with evil cackling laughter. Sigh, I guess it is for a good cause (ie. the Children's Hospital). However, it was surprisingly tolerable. Almost pleasant. But I read that he never finished this piece and his ex-student, Tibor something, finished it for him. Maybe that's why.

Anyway, got invited to some dinner party where I had to bring my extra-large rice cooker. So I turn up 20 mins early as rice was fundamental to the success of the night. I still hadnt suspected anything when I was handed an apron on entry. Yes, I was nothing but a glorified kitchen hand. But the girls did really well cooking for 11(!). I liked the beef salad best. Nice and spicy. The host brought out her copy of The Dating Rules. What a hoot. You can sell a million copies writing stuff like this?!? Not sure if people buy them as after dinner entertainment or as a serious piece. I can tell you that it certainly succeeds as the former.

Thought I'd go see Bill Henson's exhibition before it disappears. I hadnt realised that he'd been around for so long, since the mid 70s. Anyway, some of the pieces were brilliant! I especially liked the project commissioned by the Paris Opera House. The use of light reminds me of some of Carravaggio's paintings. But some of them, I think if it was I who took them, they'd be in my junk section. Now, what I need to do is become really famous, and then all my junk photos would be hung in a gallery somewhere with really expensive frames and lighting and you'd get people like me looking at it and going 'What the...'.

Infinite mopishness

2005-06-11T20:37:00.000+10:00

Hah! The community centre rings me to tell me that the twice postponed Indian vegetarian cooking course was going ahead with 36 hours notice, that is if I can get 2 more people to attend. Yikes... Some serious arm twisting may be in order. Good thing they were willing participants otherwise it might have got ugly ('Remember the time you needed a paper-clip?'). The first lesson was reasonably good. I was surprised how most things were pureed, onions, tomatoes, green chillies. In 80 mins, we'd cooked 2 dishes plus some paratha bread. The dough was pre-kneaded, but we got to shape and cook it on the skillet. I was amazed as to how little time it took even considering that all the ingredients were prepared prior to the class. Will try out the chick-pea recipe this week. Yumm.... esp the parathas. Salivatingly so. (Ghee is made of what!?!!). The instructor said she'd never ever eaten meat in her life. Wow!

I'd received some soon-to-expire Target vouchers from my credit card company and seeing that Coldplay has a new album out, I went and got it. Just the usual mopey, melodic stuff. Man, how can someone write such sorrowful lyrics like that? I really like it though. My current favourites are "A Message" and the impossibly despairing "What If". From the cover liner, I think their politics is leftish, just like Green Day, but a bit more subtle. Word of advice, I wouldnt listen to this if I was feeling low. And if you like mopish stuff like this, check out Damien Rice.

I'd bought myself a 256Mb mp3 player and those headphones that come with it are cr*p!

They keep falling out of my ears and when I use my Philips HD850(?), it's like FM v/s AM! I can actually hear the lyrics as well as bits which I never heard using the other headphones. So if you happen to own the same, I suggest investing in some quality headphones and enjoy the music. A pity that the Philips are not very 'portable'. OK... 1 drawback... I can hear every defect in the mp3 conversion process (some clicks and pops). Quite annoying...

Speaking of music, some friends and I went to see International Karate. Was raving about the band to the others. For some reason, they played first though they were slated to come on second. I was such a *big* fan that I didnt realise it was them till the second last song ("Hang on, that's an IK song!"). Embarassing? Maybe for others. Well, a little. My only complaint was that I stunk so strongly of cigarette smoke that I'd put my clothes in the wash first thing when I got home.

The guys at work sent me this link to an online game.... and it *is* addictive... Kitten Cannon. Have fun...

Life in reverse

2005-05-24T21:10:00.000+10:00

I was looking to see how other people did page counters and kept on hitting the "Next Blog" icon. Took me hours cos there were some really "interesting" ones and felt obligated to at least read some of them, seeing as I was pillaging their blog for information. Most of them had lots of angst and pain in them but you get the odd humourous one, like this one http://thedirtylawyer.blogspot.com. It's really quite funny. A bit self-centric (said the kettle) but then, what is a blog supposed to be, eh? Anyway, I got to thinking. These blogs have links to previous blogs but in reverse order, so for me to read one's blog, I was traversing it backwards chronologically. Kind of weird. Would have been a better experience going the other way. Or maybe there is a setting somewhere which I havent figured out yet. Kind of like Memento, the movie.

Speaking of which, I was driving past Ivanhoe and was tempted to stop at one of the 2 local Japanese restaurants which I use to patronise, on a semi-regular basis. I hadnt been there for like almost 10 years. The last time I got stuff there was quite eventful. It was almost 3pm and I hadnt had breakfast nor lunch. So I walked in and ordered the chicken tonkatsu. Lady goes into the kitchen and said very politely, "Sorry, we dont have any more of that", I pointed to another dish, "Sorry again". This was repeated a few times and finally I gave up and said, "What do you have?". She looked really embarassed and said, "My husband (the cook), doesnt want to sell you anything". WHAT!?! WHY?!? "Because he saw you buying sushi from the other Japanese restaurant and he is a very proud man". HOLY COW! Anger, humour, hunger, humiliation and disbelief alternately coarsed through my head. I thought these sort of stuff only happened to stand-up comedians. I didnt know what to do. Laugh, cry, rant. In the end, I just sort of mumbled "Uh, huh" and shuffled out of the place, trying to digest what the schmoook had just taken place. Anyway, I didnt stop and promptly drove past. I wonder if they're still there.

Closer?

2005-05-20T00:10:00.000+10:00

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder", they say. I think there is some truth to this *but* there comes a point in time where the other proverb kicks in, which is "Out of sight, out of mind". When does this take place? I dont know but I hope it's soon (no visions of "Love in the Time of Cholera" happening, in case you were wondering.... heh, heh). I wonder how many adages (is there another word for these?) contradict each other. eg. A rolling stone gathers no moss versus Nothing ventured, nothing gain. Hey.... isnt google wonderful... Lookee here. By the way, they also say 'Sports keep you fit'. So take everything 'they say' with a pinch of salt. "Absinthe makes the mind go yonder". Errr... I made this up all by myself.

Poor Kylie. Hope all will be well soon. I really do. There is a plaque in the local library that said she donated some money to it back in the early 80s. And poor Doug Wood. Sandro reckons that it is a good sign that they shaved his head cos if they wanted to behead him, it would have been easier with hair (ie. something for the executioners to hold on to. Gruesome? I know.) and they know this. Hence, no hair means beheading unlikely. Schappelle? Channel 9 had some TV audience poll and via that worm thingy (viz the federal elections), the audience think she's innocent. They should trial cases like this I reckon. And God, if you're reading this blog, make it rain soon.

I'd borrowed Closer on DVD. What a brutal movie. I felt emotionally quite raw after watching it. It was quite an OK movie but it was pretty savage. All the characters were so deeply flawed, just like in real life. Reminded me a little of The Ice Storm, though it is nothing like it. Probably from the harshness of the potrayals.

Also went for this German movie with Simon called 'The Edukators' at the Como. What a badly laid out building. As the Chinese say, 'Very bad Feng Shui'. The cinema has been recently refurbished. Really posh toilets though. Anyway, in the movie, the female character had a car accident with a Euros$100k Merc and being uninsured, all her waitressing salary goes towards paying off the owner, who has 3 other posh cars. And this brought back some unpleasant memories. In August 2002, travelling on Barkers Rd towards the city, approaching the Barkers and Auburn Road traffic lights, I noticed this car on the perpendicular road to my left gently move. Being green for me, I made no big attempt to slow down and then to my horror, I realised it was not just a slight roll of that car. As it approached me, I decided to accelerate and remember thinking to myself, "I think we'll *just* miss each other". On impact, my Forester did a 180 degree turn and when I stopped I was on the other lane facing the direction I came from. Very luckily there was no traffic, otherwise, it would have been like being in a pinball machine. The front panel, the passenger door and the back passenger side door was damaged. That's right. Smack bang, dead center! I dont see how I could ever have thought we'd miss each other. Anyway, she was a P-plater and she had been on the phone with her mother and being distracted, ran the red light. It was only days later when I realised that if I *hadnt* accelerated when I did, I'd have probably killed her as I'd have hit her Colt side on, on the driver side, at 60km/h. This way, she hit *me* side on, on my passenger side. I still shudder when I think of this. I dont know how I'd have coped if I'd killed someone, and I dont even like the taste of most hard liquors. Kahlua is ok, Baileys? Bottom line, she was uninsured. I dont think her parents were very well off either (I had to give her a lift home as her car was non-functional). AAMI took care of the repairs and as I understand it, it was around $12000. I wonder how long it took her to pay it off.

And in the end, I did get some Tori tickets, off eBay. What a thrill. I think I enjoyed the buying process more than the concert. My adrenalin was still pumping 30 mins after the event. They were pretty good seats, Row C, dress circle. The concert was a little disappointing. It'd have been better if she worked the crowd a bit more. But it was just play the piano, sing, applause, lights on. Liesl reckons it's cos I hadnt been listening to her new album frequently enough. Sigh, maybe she's right, but I dont think so. I did quite liked her version of "Cant Get You Out of My Head". I rate the concert about 75/110. Meaningless, but I thought the Cat Empire concert was more fun.

Adventure? Friend rang me Friday night cos her door lock broke and she had no phone, coins etc.... so had to scoot over there. Man, I was already tired after having just ridden home against a head wind and it was *cold*, temperature wise. Anyway, rang the locksmith and $132! just to get in. A lot I thought, initially. He turned up at 10pm and left at 1130pm!!! Not much finesse, more brute force and he had the Sex and the City theme as his mobile ringtone. Not very macho. He had to break the door handle, left a little damage on the door frame but we got in, eventually. Sigh.

Bis spater.

Da blues

2005-05-07T17:51:00.000+10:00

Hmmm... First Paul Hester, now Rene Rivkin. I dont remember this many high profile suicides so close together. Must have been really disturbed to want to do that, especially with Paul as he had 2 young children. I wonder if one "inspired" the other. It's quite sad. And then, we let the darkness creep in.

Funnily enough, a week after my bicycle "time trial", I am still not fully recovered. My quads feel quite fatigued. It was *really* easy to talk myself into taking the train into work instead for the week. I didnt expect such a level of exhaustion, but it's pretty obvious if I really think about it.

Liesl's talked me into accompanying her to go see Tori Amos. $110 + b/fee!!! For this money, I'm expecting to be let into her dressing room. Good thing I was asked to work this weekend. This will pay for the ticket, just. Now the only other problem is getting some tickets. They're all sold out. Heh.
Am furiously listening to Tori's new album so I will be familiar with the new stuff, in case she plays it. Despite her (Tori's) protestations, some of these songs remind me a lot of Kate Bush. I quite like the title track, "The Beekeeper".

I'd bought a birthday present for a friend. But embarassingly enough, the item has not arrived in time for the event. So it'll have to be a belated birthday present. Just have to stall the presentation. What is it? It's an anagram of "ME PAL PRY 3?". Heh... how appropriate, eh? Intially, I was going for a beanie copter but I had no idea how hard it is to find one in Melbourne. Plus for some unknown reason, she guessed it?!? I dont remember ever telegraphing this information, and she did remark that it wont fit under her motorbike helmet anyway. Which begs the question, why arent there any motorbike helmet copters? I wonder if there is a market for this out there. If anything, it'd be *so* cool.

Ah well... such is life.

April, April

2005-05-01T14:29:00.000+10:00

Funny how so many months names are also contemporary girl's names. April, May, June. Dont know anyone with those names personally but I do know an Augusto.

Anyway, April has been pretty hectic physically and emotionally. Good sleep has not been forthcoming :-( I become conscious at about 5am-530am and there is not enough time to get quality sleep and too much time to just get up and hang around. Maybe that's why my hair is falling out.

I see Schapelle is still knee deep in it. Despite the high profile of this case in the media, I see 9 geniuses decided to try their luck as well.
Quote from http://theage.com.au/articles/2005/04/29/1114635751856.html
"""
Czugaj said he did not know what was in the packages that were strapped to his body. "I didn't have a clue. I had no idea of what it was. They still didn't tell us," he said. "I thought it might have been the ingredients to make drugs or something like that. I didn't think it was heroin. Stupid me."
"""

Stupid? Let's see. Some stranger in a foreign country wants you to strap items around your body in order to conceal it. It might be that I'm paranoid but I would be *freaked* out! Stupid? Moronic, more like. What's more is that they were only paid $5000 + the air tickets. AUD$5000!?!

And what of this "mastermind" the media keeps referring to (one of the 9 arrested). What mastermind would board the same plane as his mules? If I was the mastermind, I would be back in Australia somewhere, untraceable, laughing my head off.

Anyway, locally, have been to a few events.
Shows - Maria Bamford (was ok. Thought it was going to be stand up. Pretty funny still.), Cruel and Tender (too complex for me. Couldnt get into it. Had some extra tickets for some friends but they never showed! Hi M.), Cat Empire (this was fun. Bought their new CD at the venue). Had a spare ticket here but couldnt even give it away.

Movies - The Sea Inside (I liked it), Interpreter (Nicole's hair irritated me to the point of distraction. That woman cannot act. Nice smile though.), Young Adam (was ok, bleak, depressing, futile, like most movies from Scotland, and as in most of his movies, you get to see Ewen's Schwanstuecker.).

Am not normally this active, just an anomaly. Sigh.

Have continued cycling to work. I finally got around to installing the cycle computer I bought. It's a curse. I keep timing myself based on the previous day's ride. My best average speed travelling on the Gardiners Creek bike trail, from Toorak Road, all the way to Swanston St, is 27.8km/h. Try as I may, I cannot break this. I think it's the bike that's holding me back. :-)

Hopefully, May will be kinder to me (and less hectic).

Where did February go?

2005-03-31T13:51:00.000+10:00

I had planned to have at least 1 blog a month but February zipped by without me noticing. Bummer, eh? I thought I better write something before March zipped past. On the flip side, at least it makes coming up with titles easy ie. next month's (ie. tomorrow) blog would have been called 'Where did March go?'. Easy.
I think missing February had to do with me getting a new job. Just too preoccupied with dealing with it.

Speaking of jobs, I read that Kofi Annan's kid has a $260,000 job at 22. Man, I wish my dad was the head of the U.N.

And poor Terry Schiavo, being starved to death. Why couldnt they just give her a shot of morphine and be done with it? What if she can feel pain? and the hunger, oh the hunger.... Funny, but when I feel hungry, I think of these kebabs with orangy coloured sauce (mustard?) that I had in an Iranian restaurant in Frankfurt. Thanks to Hamid who knew how/what to order, in Farsi.

And these guys think the end of the world is near.
Click on 'The end is nigh, scientists warn'. (registration required)
It's probably some weird Christian sect.

Good news? I guess on a micro level, I started riding to work again, even though they dont have showers here. I thought a towel dry will be sufficient. "Eeeewww....", you say? Well, you havent seen the other guys that work here.
I'd bought some reasonably good lights (front and back) and need to make 40 single trips to justify it. The number is 5 as of this morning.

I quite like my new (current job) but they'll probably want to reduce my rate if they found out. So I have to look stressed and concerned at all times, with the occasional series of muttered curses aimed at my computer.

Sigh, I'll have to think of more stuff to write tomorrow (for the April blog).

Talk soon.

Sadness permeates the world...

2005-01-06T10:13:00.000+11:00

Guy sitting across me on train this morning was a "The Big Issue" seller...
He looked like he tried looking presentable, combed hair, clean shaven but he still look quite unkempt...
I bought a copy off him...
Walked from Flinders St train station into work...
There is a lot of sadness around...
Filthy unwashed guy sleeping on bench, and yesterday there was this really old man on the train home, probably homeless, smelt like manure...
It was so bad a bunch of us changed carriages... then there is this tsunami thing..

And Richard Alston is being rewarded for his (in)competence...
Mannnnn... I feel depressed...

Renae and Kitty 5 - the movie

2004-12-10T10:42:00.000+11:00

Went to see movie I helped out on in mid September.
Screening info here
and production info here.

The title has been changed (from Dark Garden). I was really impressed and proud of Ren. She did really well (and I know how hard she worked on this).

I did see a pre-release version of this, which I thought was more scary/spooky but the narrative in the released version was superior and the pacing was tighter.

Hopefully, I'll be getting a authored DVD image to make some DVD copies soon.

And this was on p8 of The Age's A3 section, 9 Dec 2004, where it reviewed the VCA films and it says

"""
The most aesthetically striking of all the works is Renae Wright's "Kitty 5 - Resistance is Fertile", an ambitious fable in which a young girl fights the poisonous "weeds" of doubt that infect her mind and behaviour. Told in a series of chapters, with ultra rapid editing and a barrage of special effects treatments, this little film covers almost as much ground as Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, but is more fun. Wright, too, borrows the attitude and look of punk-influenced aesthetics, while injecting an endearing note of fairy-tale romanticism.
"""

I cant find a link to the article but will post when I do.

Go-go Ren...

Conversations, the Book

2004-10-08T08:32:00.000+10:00

Spring is here, in Melbourne, Australia. Fantastic time of the year, though in Melbourne, it is a little unpredictable. Yesterday evening was wet, windy and frrrreeezingly cold. Pity I suffer from hay fever, which makes reading a little uncomfortable (weepy and itchy eyes).

Anyway, I'm reading this book by Michael Ondaatje (he of English Patient, the book) about some conversations he had with Walter Murch (he of Godfather, the movie). Fascinating read, even with bloodshot eyes. The things he did juxtaposing sound with images is amazing and so manipulative of the audience. And subtle too, in that u'd never have been aware of it but once it is pointed out to you, u go 'Oh yeah...... '.

It's pretty easy to read though I did find some of Michael O's part of the dialogue a little self serving (though I'm sure it was not meant to be).

Will probably finish it by this weekend.

First time blogger

2004-10-03T08:14:00.000+10:00

Man... I always wanted to create a blog.
Now that I have, I discover I have nothing interesting to say.

Ironic, eh?