a day off work

So... the lunch I mentioned below was a bit bigger than it should have been. I haven't been to a buffet for a long time and forgot that you're supposed to stop eating once you've had enough. We both overdid it a bit and were uncomfortable for hours afterwards.

After a walk around the Yarra to get rid of some of the pain, we found ourselves at a playground. As it wasn't school holidays and Docklands is dead at the best of times, we had the place to ourselves. With that huge lunch inside, these spinning things wreaked havoc on our insides, but it was good fun anyway.
After leaving behind a ring that I found lying around, we went to the Da Vinci machines exhibition. That guy was pretty clued up (and had quite a fixation on weapons and war).


To finish the day off, we went and saw Sione's Wedding. I wasn't expecting anything great, so was pleased to discover a nice non-offensive Kiwi(/Samoan) film. The story was totally predictable, but seeing it through the eyes of a group of Samoans gave it a different enough spin to make it enjoyable.

cabinet part vi

Had a day off work today to spend some time in the city with Deb but without the weeked crowds. Before going in though, I was granted a couple hours to myself, so I ended up downstairs. I think it was about 6° and since I don't have a large wardrobe I don't have an old jumper to wear...tshirt only. So anyway, yeah it was cold.
I think the cold must have affected me a bit, because I had to measure things half a dozen times before I was comfortable that the dimensions were right.
Anyway, here's the resulting main bottom panels (there's two of them, but they're so perfectly cut you can't tell :)


If you can't remember how it's going to look, take a look here.
Now I'm off to town for a nice relaxing lunch then off to see a Da Vinci machines exhibition.

blast from the past

As I was pretty much incapacitated on Saturday, it was mainly spent sitting around reading or watching telly. By pure chance, I turned on a channel that I never watch (Lifestyle or some crap) and saw a program called Gadget World. It looked like it was a couple of years old, but there was nothing else on so I kept watching. They had an article about the Joystick Junkies retro games night, which set a few bells ringing. I called Deb into the lounge just in time to see Leigh, an old mate from London being interviewed. What are the chances of that?

verdict: coincidence?

cabinet part v

On Sunday,  measured up and got cutting. As there's no power downstairs, I had to hang an extension cord out of the top window, but as long as it didn't rain I would be fine. Naturally, not long after I got started, hailstones the size of marbles started falling from the sky. I sat those out hoping it wouldn't rain, which didn't happen until the light got too low to work in.

The jigsaw took a little getting used to (and probably wasn't the perfect tool for the job) but I've got the two top side panels cut out and I think the rest will be a lot faster. (note the dustmask. mdf dust is a killer) After tidying up, I came inside to sit around and listen to the rain. As our garage has a couple of small leaks, after half an hour I thought I'd pop down and make sure everything was ok. I'm pleased I did, because water had come in over a metre past the edge of the door, getting everything wet. I can't imagine mdf being very forgiving when it comes to water, so hopefully I got to it soon enough and it won't be to damaged.

It's still winter here, so the sun starts going down around 4pm. By the time I get home from work, it's pretty much black, so I won't be able to do anything again until Saturday! At least now I know what to expect and have everything at my disposal so I can make some real progress. I'd like to be able to start putting things together next Sunday.

verdict: this thing is going to be as heavy as a motherfucker

dp awards

I had my divisional awards night on Friday night. It was a 70s theme, so I tracked down a safari suit, polyester shirt and afro for the occasion. Considering it was a work function it was actually quite a fun night, helped - I guess - by the fact that my team of 4 won the team of the year award. I think this means a trip to Sydney on company money to attend the Personal Insurance awards night.

Afterwards a couple of us went to the Purple Emerald for some jazz and more booze. I discovered there that mojitos are actually stronger than they appear and rocked home at a gentlemanly 3am (I was quite proud of that, until I remembered that in my heyday 3am was when the night was still getting started!)
If you look really closely, you may be able to tell which photo was taken at the start of the night and which was taken at the end.

google earth sees all

I was about to hit the sack when I found out that Google Earth now has Dunedin in it's sights!



If you have Google Earth, download the kmz files and have a nosey.
Parents
Goobs

UPDATE: I took the Google Earth files down as I couldn't be bothered updating them when we changed ISP.

cabinet part iv

Right, I've definitely spent enough for now. I ordered a few extras today that will give things a nice finish.
The trackball will be great for games like Missile Command and Centipede as well as acting as a mouse for the PC functions. Also, no games cabinet is ever going to feel authentic unless you can fill the bugger with 20 cent pieces (which will actually register the coins and add credits accordingly)

Deb must be one of the most patient people I know

that guy who dances on the internet

I've been drinking, so you probably won't find this as funny as I have:
A guy travelled around the world and filmed himself dancing. Simple concept, but I think it turned out pretty cool.
See the video here

distracted

So, it's going to be a really long week. Now that I have everything I need except the wood, I'm impatient to get started and am finding it hard to concentrate at work. I realise it's dumb to be so excited about playing Asteroids in the lounge, but it's been over three months since I decided to make this thing and finally being this close is distracting.
That's why I'm writing this at work.

I found a program that acts as a front end for the games. Instead of selecting from a list, you walk around an arcade to find the game you want. You can display the cabinets as they originally appeared with all the side art and marquees as well as showing either screenshots or short videos on the screens:

It does seem a bit intense to render a big 3D environment just so you can play pacman, but it's pretty cool and adds a new element to the system.

I've also decided to use a 21" computer monitor instead of a TV for the screen. It will look slightly less authentic than a TV would, but it also means I'll be able to use it as a computer as well.

cabinet part iii

The plan was to wait until the weather cleared up enough so I could work on the terrace. It turns out I have the patience of a fruitfly, so I went to Bunnings on Friday (a day off work) , ordered the wood and bought a bunch of other stuff to go into or onto it.
Naturally I didn't notice until I got home that one of the router pieces I bought was missing some parts, so I'll be back in tomorrow.
$1000 spent and counting. Luckily half of that was on tools, so if I decide to make another one, it won't cost anywhere near as much.

If all goes well, next Sunday will be the first cut, so fingers crossed that I still have fingers to cross by the end of the day.

Edit 16.07.06: Went back to Bunnings and exchanged the router bit. Turns out I got the wrong jigsaw blades too, so I swapped those as well. Since I was there, it seemed a waste to walk out with nothing new, so I added a bunch of bolts for the joysticks and some primer and enamel paint for the cabinet. I decided that laminate would:

1. Be too expensive
2. Be too hard to work with
3. Add yet more weight to the behemoth. It's going to be ridiculous as it is.

elephants leg

There used to be a fish 'n' chip shop in Camberwell. It wasn't bad, but nothing amazing and they closed down about 6 months ago. Every day since then, I've been wishing that someone opened a kebab shop in that location because there isn't one near enough to our flat when we're pissed. It's one of the first shops I see when I get off the train late on a Friday night and about 15 seconds walk from the local pub.
I guess all of that wishing payed off, cos a kebab shop opened up in that very shop a week or so ago.
Deb and I went to the Palace (our local pub) tonight to put the kebabs to the test. We figured, if we could get really drunk, have a kebab and not regret it 5 minutes later, it would get the seal of approval.
The lesson for this week is check the open hours of places you plan on visiting. Maybe it'll be kebabs next week instead

futurama

I just read that Futurama is being resurrected! 13 new epidodes are being made for Comedy Central.
When will Fox learn?

filler

It's been a while since I said anything worthwhile, and even longer since I've said anything interesting. With the number of times I've been drunk the last few weeks, you think there'd at least be a rant or two, maybe a treatise on the evil of 4 wheel drives, or a rambling tale of lust and perversion at the expense of the young catering students that have to walk past my office in the morning.

Nope.

Apathy is the catchword for this week.

I'm sure I'll get over it, but I don't really care either way at the moment :P

stadium arcadium

It's been four years or so since the Chili Peppers released By the Way. Like all of their past albums, it had a sound of it's own, but was a fairly predictable follow up to Californication (which took a while to grow on me, but is now part of my regular playlist).
Stadium Arcadium feels almost like a look to their past through older eyes. The energy they used to have is starting to wane, but in it's place is a comfortable, tight sound. Blood Sugar will always be my favourite album, but Stadium is not to be sniffed at. Tracks like the funky Hump de Bump, Warlock and Tell Me Baby are highlights, with Dani California, She's Only 18 and Turn Me On showing off John Frusciante's incredible guitar work. As they move away towards a more mellow style though, Flea doesn't get to spread his wings as much, being left to fill out the sound rather than lead it like he used to in tracks like If You Have to Ask and Suck My Kiss.

Overall, Stadium Arcadium is going to appeal more to new fans than old, but it's going to do well and deservedly so. The Red Hot Chili Peppers can still knock over the competition when they aren't even trying. If they tried just a little harder to funk it up, they could once again achieve greatness.

Verdict: Pretty damn good, but not life changing

halls gap

Deb's parents and her grandmother were over here for a holiday a few weeks ago. They went for a trip down the Great Ocean Road and then to Hall's Gap in the Grampians. I missed the first part of the trip, but met them in Hall's Gap after 4 or 5 days:

• 5.45am wake up at alarm to catch 8.15 train from Spencer st
• 7.30am wake up again without alarm
• 7.35am leave the house after brushing teeth, using loo and dressing simultaneously
• 7.42am catch a cab from Camberwell Station
• 7.58am arrive at Spencer St
• 8.01am buy ticket
• 8.25am find that the train to Ararat is delayed
• 9.10am leave Melbourne after standing on the platform for an hour
• 11.00am train terminates at Ballarat instead of going through to Ararat due to an accident the day before
• 11.10am manage to find the replacement coach that is going to Stawell
• 11.45am coach driver announces that VLine is paying for a cab to get me to Hall's Gap because the late train made me miss my bus
• 11.58am arrive in Stawell on the coach from Ballarat
• 12.45pm cab drops me off at the nearest pub to Hall's Gap
• 1.03pm my seafood basket arrives
• 2.20pm time to get to the accommodation as Deb is running late and won't be there for a few more hours
• 3.30pm find that the pub nearest to Hall's Gap was actually 4.5km from where we're staying, and I looked stupid walking around carrying a small suitcase
• 4.00pm Deb and co arrive. Long bloody day I tell you

Anyway, there were bushfires in the region earlier in the year, so everywhere you look are burnt trees and stumps. It's starting to regenerate though, so it looks pretty cool.
The attached photos are:
"Lake" Lonsdale
Burnt trees new growth
The Grampians from above
Some kind of flower. Apparently you can live on it, but it tastes like shit
Bottles in the Seppelt drives
A ladder under the old entry point for the drives
Some of the local wildlife
Deb at dinner on her folk's anniversary

lucky he wasn't drunk

Or he'd be legless as well
Armless Man Caught Speeding

iron man

We finally replace our crappy, leaking, hot and cold iron yesterday. Sick of leaving puddles on my work shirts, and tired of kneeling on the floor to iron them, we bought a new super iron and full sized ironing board. The tabletop board will be destroyed beyond repair shortly, but it was the iron's turn today.



Verdict: Fuck you iron

aac day

The Allowable Annual Cut is the volume of timber that may be harvested from a particular part of forest in any one year. It's a shame that the acronym was already taken, otherwise the organisers of the dawn service in Melbourne would have used it for their own purpose. They managed to remove New Zealand from everything but the word ANZAC, concentrating entirely on Australian soldiers.
I totally understand that I am a Kiwi living in Australia, so naturally there are bound to be some differences to how I see the world compared with Joe Ocker. I'm comfortable being mocked because of where I'm from, it's part of the territory, but to have my country's sacrifice completely ignored is really disappointing. Every other day of the year, fine, but on a day that is supposed to honour the bravery and loss of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp, to not even hear the words New Zealand spoken aloud is almost offensive.

Lest we forget huh?

cabinet part ii

I couldn't help myself. I had to rig up a basic cardboard control panel to make sure everything worked properly. It did.



Verdict: peow peow

cabinet part i

Last week, I came across some great plans for a home arcade machine. This happened around the same time that I downloaded MAME and a bunch of old arcade games (Pacman, Streetfighter, Double Dragon etc). I figured that I need to have a project at home that doesn't involve beer, but does make me use my hands. Enter my Mame cabinet. It's essentially a computer set up to look like an arcade machine, except instead of just playing one game, it will be able to play ALL OF THEM.
This is close to what it's going to look like eventually:

I'm going to make it a kiwi theme, and put the silver fern down the side along with some other stuff that I haven't thought of yet. Actually, hang on, I'll stick the fern on there now.

I knew that if I looked into this project too much, I'd be put off by either the cost or the time invoved, or the fact that I don't have a workshop, so I went out to a warehouse in the middle of nowhere on Saturday and put things in motion. A few hundred dollars later, I'm in possession of two joysticks, a few dozen buttons and a circuit board which is basically an interface for everything.
My toolbox currently consists of a set of screwdrivers and a pair of pliers that Dad gave me the last time they were here, a Leatherman™, an old hacksaw and a hammer. Not really a big enough range of gear to make something 6 feet tall out of wood. Unless it was popsicle sticks...
Anyway, I went to a hardware shop today to start buying a few extras. Not being a fan of cheap and nasty, I came away with a trade quality drill and jigsaw. I'm sure the old man will be happy knowing that I bought Makita and not some knock off.
The next part is to sit down and actually design everything. The last time I worked with wood, I think I made a hand mirror at school when I was 11, so i's going to be a pretty steep learning curve. Luckily we live in the age of Google, so whatever I don't t know today, I will know by this time tomorrow, in seven languages, one of them probably Klingon (groan).

I figured this blog (geez, I hate that word!) would be the best way for me to keep track of how long I'm taking, and what I was thinking at certain points along the way. Looking back, I'll be able to pinpoint the exact day that I lost the tip of my finger in a routing accident, and how happy Deb was that I managed to get black paint all over her azaleas.

It's going to be an interesting journey.

my friend meloney

I thought it would be funny to see if we could grow a watermelon in a pot (from seed). We've done radishes and capsicums, but this is a bit different. The seed was planted a few months ago and now we have a vine that stretches at least 3 metres end to end (that's close to 10 feet in ye olde measurements).
Flowers have come and gone without bearing fruit, so I thought it was sterile, but this morning we noticed otherwise:

It's only as wide as a fingernail at the moment, but at least we now have a real, homegrown watermelon. The weather's turned crap, so it probably won't get much bigger, but I'm happy.

Verdict: nice melons

slaps

I recently created a database for my department that monitors peoples' productivity as well as having the ability to track turnaround times for various pieces of work. I managed to roll it out as the "Service Level Agreement & Productivity System" without noticing that the acronym was SLAPS. It’s too late to change now, so that’s how it’s going to stay.

Sweet

(P.S. I should also add that it wasn't my idea for the database. Where I work, people are rewarded for high productivity, and there had to be a fair way of measuring it)

it's a sign

I saw a sign on a shop door yesterday: “Back in 20 minutes”.

Seriously, what fucking use is that? What time did you leave? When should we send out the search party.

Idiot

the games

It seems odd that we booked our Commonwealth Games tickets almost a year ago, and now it's here! Well, it's half past here at the moment and I'm only just posting about the opening ceremony now. Perhaps I'll bullet point things, it'll be easier to write.

• The seats were great! We sat facing the ramp that all the atheletes came down
• There was a flying tram with wings... and other flying stuff...
  
• Something about a child's imagination, and a duck
• There were koalas there as well
• The Queen gave a speech
• atheletes
• fireworks
• ...
  

Anyway, I remember being impressed by it, but my memories fade pretty quicky. That's why I keep digital memories like these:


We also went to the womens gymnastics on Saturday, which would have been cool, but no one seemed able to stay on their feet! I caught a few of the offenders in action:


Next stop will be some athletics finals on Saturday back at the MCG. It's supposed to be a hot day, so fingers crossed for a nice evening.

god save the swagman

It was discovered last week (or thereabouts) that organisers of the Commonwealth Games wouldn't be playing God Save the Queen at the opening ceremony. What the hell? It's the COMMONWEALTH games and the QUEEN is going to be there who, like it or not, is Australia's head of state.

If I went out and mugged someone because I didn't see the relevance of police in a modern society, I'd be locked up. Even though I don't believe in the rules, I still need to live by them. Laws are put in place by politicians who are elected into that role by the people. The majority of people, which brings me to my next point:

In 1999, Australians had the choice to abandon the Queen in favour of a President, but this was rejected. Does this not mean that the majority of Australians like the idea of the monarchy? I agree that the concept is pretty outdated and can't see it surviving the next referendum, but at the moment that's the regime. Surely with the huge international profile that the games will have, Australia should be wary of how this will be viewed by the rest of the world, so far they're coming off as ill-mannered and disrespectful.

rain

There was a bit of rain here on Saturday.

"a bit of" = a hell of a lot of
"rain" = most of the world's water supply falling from the sky

It managed to force it's way in through the wall behind the oven, the top of the window frame in the bathroom and the ceiling in the lounge. No damage to our stuff though, so all is good.
I took this video outside from under an umbrella. If you listen at around 0.28 secs, there's a cool clap of thunder.


That is all

pump some iron

2 years, 3 months and 7 days... that's how much time had passed since I'd done any exercise that didn't involve carrying my washing machine up and down stairs. I realised this when me and Deb were putting together a photo album that included some taken of me in the midst of my clubbing career in London. I think if I tried doing an 8 hour doof session now, I'd either die of a heart attack, or my man boobs would jerk so hard they'd tear off from my neck down.
Which is why I've joined the gym. No more bitch tits, no more mono-ab, pack your bags fellas, you're off.
I've only been to 3 sessions so far, but I feel really good about it. The first few weeks are supposed to be the hardest, but this time around, I can't wait to get back. A few sore muscles here and there, but they disappear as soon as I walk through the door.
One thing I'd change though is the communal shower. The last time I showered with other guys was probably at intermediate, so it'll be a few more weeks before I forget that my junk is on show. Most people are obviously more than used to it, which is fine, but some of them stay in the shower for close to 20 minutes. If they aren't clean by that time, they aren't going to get clean. They're either there to perv at everyone, or to wave their third leg around. Surely there are places you can go to that specialise in that kind of thing?

stuff on the walls

After talking about it for ages, putting it off and changing our minds, we finally have a bit of colour on the walls here. It's nice to have something to break up the big blank spaces, especially knowing that they're both "original works".

The canvas print we ordered arrived last week. The lower right corner is a bit dark, but that's my fault for not setting up my monitor properly.



We have a bunch of photos that would look good on display, but didn't like any of the pre made photo frames that you can get, so we had one custom made. The photo doesn't do it justice, but the frame is matte black, with a canvas textured black photo mat with a white inner border. There's also a black mat without the border tucked away, so we can customise how it looks depending on what photo is in there. Wow, I didn't realise how boring that sounded until I read it again. I really need to get out more!
That said, something else I want to get done in the future is a set of four frames to hold some photos from my failed Monopoly™ project.

The original plan was to take photos of everything on the original Monopoly board and make my own board with photos. I managed to get about 9 pieces done before it was time to leave the country. Oh well.
Tune in next week for more exciting adventures.

storm in a teacup

stuff

When you don't have anything to say, it's nice to let the internet do the talking:

I love the idea of my wife
Beer Bot
Unintentionally sexual comic book covers
Blair & Bush at the Gay Bar

new year

A quick recap:
Went home for Christmas to visit the folks. A bit of rain, a bit of sun, your standard Dunedin summer holiday :)

New Years in Melbourne was hot. 43° hot. We sat around for the day, trying to keep cool and then went out for dinner. I think the heat must have been a bit much for us, because after two drinks, we were both feeling seedy enough to just go home. We got off the train at Camberwell just in time or see the fireworks in the city. They were pretty far away by that point, but at least we were a part of it :)

I've got a short term role as a team manager at work which is pretty cool. It's only for a month before I move into my new role as a continuous improvement...guy. It's basically going to involve designing and implementing a workflow and reporting database. It's going to be challenging because I've only done it on a small scale before, not one that will be used by 70-80 people! I'm gong to have to hone the old Access skills a bit, but at least the money will be a bit better.

..what else? It's time to spruce up the flat a bit. I'm getting a canvas print done of the london eye. The photo has been chunkified so it's more an arty kind of thing:


It looks pretty cool printed on photo paper, but it may look different on a 12" by 18" canvas. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

the cold little toe of new zealand

Me & Debs are off to Dunedin on Friday to see our families for Christmas. I'm looking forward to getting away from work for a week, where I can relax without having to fix spreadsheets or databases. The only technology I'll be using will be my ipod, and the only spreadsheet will be the one pulled up to my chin before I go to sleep.

sydney

I must be doing something right at work, because I got to go to Sydney on company money. Sure, I had to attend a day long CEO forum that was drier than a truckful of flour, but they put me up at the Hilton, so all is forgiven. The 43rd floor is pretty cool, unless you get the elevator all to yourself, with no stops on the way up. With the hangover that I had after my first night there, it was hard work dealing with the pressure change.

(based on my two days there) Sydney seems to have a lot going for it. It doesn't feel like it's trying a hard as Melbourne to be cool. A lot of Melbournians will talk your ear off telling you everything that's so great about their home, to the point that it all just becomes white noise. Sydney(ers, ites?) don't have the same affliction. They aren't as friendly, but at least they know how to keep the noise down a little. Maybe I'm getting old, but why does every second person I meet have their volume knob stuck on obnoxious prick? My guess is the large Greek/Italian influence, where members of a 12 strong catholic family had to yell to be heard when they were kids. I swear, it's like I'm at a club where everyone but me can hear the music and feels they have to shout their conversation.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Sydney is cool, but the weather was average. Here's a few pics of the bridge and opera house on an overcast day:

wine = good

We hired a car a few weekends ago to sort out some errands that are hard to do on foot. Apart from being able to hoon from place to place without waiting 20 minutes for a bloody train, we were able to pick up loads of heavy groceries, ceramic pots (for plants) and a barbeque:
We've since used it most nights to cook up some awesome steaks, chicken kebabs and a
couple of token vegetables. The neighbourhood cat can smell raw steak from 500m, so we've only managed to eat outside once without being bothered. Every other meal is spent being glared at through the screen door. I swear this cat was human in a past life because it really knows how to make you feel uncomfortable.

Anyway, we still had the car on the Sunday, so went down the Mornington Peninsula. As well as tracking down a cheese shop in the middle of the bush and going to a boutique chocolate shop in the middle of nowhere, we visited a couple of vineyards.

We managed to blow our budget and spend a couple of hundred dollars, but it was well worth it. We got 7 great bottles of wine, including the best shiraz I've had to date. There's only one of the shiraz left now and I'm trying really hard to keep it for a special occasion. Everyday things seem to have become more special lately. I can't say if it's related.

november already?

So this has turned out to be a bit of a joke. Whenever something interesting happens in my life, I'm too busy actually doing it instead of writing about it. Once things have died down again, my memories are so vague that I can't recall enough detail to write anything.
Today, I might just leave a few key points so I can look back in a year's time and remember what I was doing at the time:

Next week, I'm going to Sydney for work. I get to meet a bunch of people who I've only ever spoken to over the last 18 months and spend the night at the Hilton. The next day is a CEO forum where the bigwigs give presentations and ask us (the plebs) where we think the company is headed. It's really just a reward for a select few achievers so they feel better about the average salary. They'll see through me eventually, but until that day, I'm more than happy to take their fancy hotels :)

My parents tried to get me to play an instrument when I was younger, knowing full well how happy it would make me. Piano lessons, trumpet lessons (and one evening of violin) just didn't agree with me at the time. Now that I'm older and full of regret, I'm going to try again. This time with the saxomophone. It's always been one of those instruments that's been pretty cool in my eyes, and I've found a place that rents new ones pretty cheap. After a year, if you want to buy it, they will put all the rental money towards the cost. You can't beat that deal!
Anna, if you've got any tips can you let me know? I realise that I'll probably have to ditch the tongue stud, but we've all got to make sacrifices.

I'm getting a new tattoo in six months or so. I haven't got the design totally figured out, but if anyone knows the tattoo that Seth from Dusk till Dawn has, it's pretty close. I want it to start at the top of my tricep, climb up over my shoulder and stick slightly out of my collar. Mum has already freaked out at the idea, so I know I must be on the right track. The problem is, I have almost no muscle mass and therefore bugger all shoulder to tattoo. I guess it would be cheaper having to use less ink, but I'm joining my work gym next month to bulk up instead. Should be fun.

A man goes to the zoo. When he arrives, there is just a dog sat in a cage.

It was a Shitzu.

(Thanks Anna!)

all the small things

Wow, I haven't checked in here since August. Sorry to anyone who actually reads this thing! (and by that I mean "Hi Mum!")

I spend my days at work ranting to people. My old Channel 4 crew can vouch for that, and I thank them for their saintly tolerance. The problem is, when I get home, I'm all ranted out. I suppose I could write about my day, but that is boring to write as it would be to read (again, my mum is probably an exception)

As my creative side is having the evening off, I'd like to take the time to acknowledge everything that makes life great. I'm not on anything that I know of, but some things just need to be noted:

Pickled Onion Flavoured Monster Munch
The English are a funny bunch. They eat jellied eels, read News of the World and have a different accent for every postcode. They also invented Pickled Onion Monster Munch. Please note the capitalisation, it was earned. I'm lucky to have found a shop in Melbourne that imports UK foods, so I can see many of my hard earned Australian dollars being spent on this most savoury of snacks.

Hellman's Mayonnaise
Have you ever had chips with tomato sauce and thought there was something missing?
There is.

Red Wine
I'm by no means a connoisseur, but give me a bottle of Pinot or Cab Sav and I'm sorted. Deb and I went to a Riedel master class a few days ago to get a set of wine glasses and to see if wine really did taste better out of custom shaped glasses. I always thought it was a con when people said that each variety of wine needs a different shaped glass, but I'm happy to say I was totally wrong and will never drink out of the wrong glass again.

Home Grown Anything
I planted some radish seeds in a planter a few weeks ago, not really thinking anything would happen. It's now three weeks later and I feel like an expecting father! We'll get enough for a couple of salads, so long as the possums don't figure out that they're food.

Meat
I realise the world's people are slowly turning vegetarian. More power to them ...as long as no one tries indoctrinating me. I can put up with the tree hugging and the hemp jeans, but if you hippies try making me drink my wine with some kind of tofu meat replacement, you'll want to be wearing your best running sandals.

There's more than those few things that make me tick, can you guess any others?
Answers, please, on the back of a postcard...

just a quickie

No updates really.
Went to Bar Open in Brunswick last weekend for a mates birthday. A "live big-band, hip-hop" group was playing (called Morph I think). It was the kind of music that makes you wonder why the band isn't famous and how also long it would take you to learn the flute. It was made up of a drummer, keyboard player, synth player and a frontman that played the flute, clarinet and saxophone (of course all at different times)

This Friday gone, I went to another bar north of the city (Lomond) to see a mate's band play. They were really good as well, but a slightly more laid back sound, and they can jam like noone else I've ever heard. They managed to build entire songs, with lyrics and all totally from scratch. Very cool.
I then managed to get home, after paying almost $30 for a taxi. It really makes you wish the trains ran 24-7

and more booze

After work on Friday, a few of us went out for some much needed beer. We got a seat beside a stained glass window and settled in for a session of jugs, bourbon and general messiness.
A few hours later, it was revealed that the pub we were in used to host... err... female entertainment of some variety. If I had any doubt about that, it was removed when someone showed me details of the window we were sitting beside:

Verdict: Boobies

happy birthday old chap

It's dad's birthday today, so in case you're checking in Dad, Happy Birthday!

booze

The best argument I have in my favour is that alcoholics go to meetings. I don't go to any AA gatherings, and couldn't name any of their famous "12 steps", therefore I can't be an alcoholic.
Yeah, I like to have a couple of glasses of wine over dinner, but that's not every night. It's also true that I've got a bourbon beside me as I write this, but it's purely medicinal. Some people take valium, others count sheep. I have bourbon with a drop of Coke™ to help me close my eyes at the end of the day.
It's not like I need to have it, but people don't need to have the latest fashion either. You try telling that to your average Melbourne pretty-fucker and you're likely to get swatted with an oversized pair of sunglasses. My point is, everyone has their own little obsession, but some of those are judged more harshly by society than others. Don't tell me that I drink too much, because you're the dickhead sitting in your Chapel Street flat, freezing, because you blew your money on a new pair of shoes instead of paying your heating bill.
Who's going to be worse off huh?