Ok, riddle me this. Is the TV game show 'Deal or No Deal' gambling made to look like family entertainment?

Think about it... there's no mental challenge, no physical challenge, and the only way the contestant wins is by picking a random number out of a selection of numbered brief-cases. Aside from the fact that the contestant isn't putting anything at risk (although that could be debated), isn't that what gambling's about? Trying to pick a result from a random process in order to win a prize of greater value than what you wagered? Or is my definition of gambling wrong?

Not that I'm all neo-conservative now, but the question entered my mind when I was at a shopping centre and saw an arcade console game based on Deal or No Deal... I THINK it was free to play, but it offered the player a chance to win $20,000... if it WASN'T free, then in my mind it WOULD be gambling and as such should be subject to all the relevant gaming regulations.

I was left thinking, 'what effect, if any, does this have on the population, particularly the young, and does it contribute in anyway to a rise in gambling addiciton?'

Nothing much...

Wish I was still on holidays though.

56 Weeks since I last updated this journal.
56 Weeks is more than a year. A year is too much to catch up on. So I won't bother. I'm alive, and well. Hope you are too. If you want to know more, talk to me.
It's probably been around 50 weeks since I've looked at the friends page. Everyone has done something during the last year. Don't tell me, I'll take your word for it. Was it good for you? Are we all here?

Or are we all on Facebook now?

Been a while. How y'all doin? Hope yer festive season went well, and (for those who do) the new work year started off smoothly.

It's been a busy time for yours truly. My online time has been fairly minimal the last couple of months, hence no posts to this ye olde journal, so caught up I have been in the day to day happenings of family, relationships, and work.

I guess the place to start with the catch up is the period before Christmas. About 4 months ago, at a family get-together, names were drawn out for Kris Kringle present allocations, with me being given my eldest brother as my 'presentee'. A new rule was made this year however, with the gift being given having to be hand made. No store bought stuff. A nice touch, but it does stretch the imagination a bit, particularly since it has to be something that one is able to make, and in my case, the person has the means, or already has, to get most things they want.

So what the heck was I going to make my brother?

A while ago, the grrl bought me the "Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello Lego Man" box set... (see HERE for a pic) ... Lego men, painted up in the colours of the Ferrari racing team, made to look like the racing drivers of that F1 team. Naturally my brother was interested in them as well, so while in Sydney last year, we bought a box for him as well.

So when I was given his name in which to make something for, the Lego men got me thinking. My brother's favourite racing driver is neither Schumacher or Barrichello, it's David Coulthard. I cannot make little plastic Lego men, as much as I would like to, so I thought up something 2000 times better: a 1:2000 ratio Lego man, made to look like David Coulthard, made with whatever I could work with.



Not an easy task. Standing about 80cm tall, it took many hours of thinking, and three months of construction (note: not in actual man hours spent on it, but the period from date started to date completed), and one sleepless night on Christmas eve. But still, for all the work (and expense), it is, in my opinion, a very good representation and scale model of a Lego man. The arms, legs, head, and hands move, the head and legs can be taken apart, as per the average Lego man.

So that was that. It was fun to see what everyone else managed to make as well... from comic wine bottles, lamps, pop-up books, hand crafts, chocolates... Next year we plan on doing the same, but with names being given early on in the year to give us all more time to work on them. Going to be hard to do one better than the Lego man, but I should be able to think of something.

With work being so busy, I was only able to take a week off between Christmas and New Years, far too short for my liking, but we take what we can get. Much of the time was spent in Wagga Wagga, visiting with the grrl's grandparents, and other family members. Relaxing, but still a five hour drive. Gave me enough time to read in between the visiting, which is good since I haven't had much chance to just sit for a few days reading. Still, an enjoyable trip.

Besides that, movies have been seen, shopping has been partaken in (particularly clothing, although a number of CDs and books have come into my possession), work is work (although we just recently moved office... far nicer offices, but a bit further to drive), friends have been visiting and visited, and exercise has been re-started after the holiday 'break'. Walks to begin with, but squash is on the cards again, and I plan on a few other things as well... as soon as I work out what I want to do at any rate.

Have a number of resolutions to focus on this year... the ever present "have more fun", but also health and friends. Hoping to catch up with more friends this year, people new and those I havn't seen in a while. Thinking also of doing an Open University course... maybe something along the lines of political science or philosophy... haven't looked much into it, so not sure what is on offer, or if I'm too late, but it's in the plans (assuming time is available... not looking promising since I can't even find the time to update an online journal).

An idle mind is a wasted mind. With life being as short as it is, I feel it's important to keep constantly mentally active.

Fin.

So I havn't updated this in a while. Almost 10 weeks. Think that's a bit too much to try to detail all my happenings in that time. A brief over view then:

Six months anniversary reached with the girl.
Went to Wagga Wagga.
Went to my sister's wedding.
Saw the play based on Orson Well's book 1984 at the State Theatre.
Saw David Strassman - The Get Chucked Tour.
Went to see Melbourne Victory play a few times.
Moved in with the girl for a few weeks while Lisa's (flatmate) mother is staying at home.
Confirmed my Atheist beliefs.
Worked on a few projects including the Best XMas Present Evah (tm).
Bought a nice widescreen LCD TV for the living room.
Kept up the exercising, including swimming and squash.
Voted in the state election.
Filled my time in between all that with work, shopping, reading, and DVD's.

Life's going fairly peachy for me to be honest. Not a lot I can, or indeed should, complain about. The end of the year is almost upon us and I can say that I have reached and exceeded my New Year's resolutions. Go me. No idea what I'm going to be trying for next year... maybe try for that world peace thing.

Actually, what I hope to be doing is working out my finances proper like. Better manage them so I have enough for savings, living, and charity. But still, Resolutions are about goals, and I'll have to think of some to set in relation to those things.

I have too many books at the moment. Not because I buy them just because they are there, but I buy them with every intention of reading them, then realising I have others to get through first. There's five of books on my shelf screaming at me to read them, but I have to get through the two I currently have open first. "The Science of God" by Gerald Schroeder and "Writings on an Ethical Life" by Peter Singer. The Peter Singer book is well worth a look at. The other I have only gone through 50 pages or so, and while it has a Christian Intelligent Design slant, I'll reserve judgment until I have finished and thought about it in full. But yeah, Peter Singer makes some good points... from general morality, 'charity works', and what he is probably best known for, animal rights.

Most of my readings of late have been about morality, religion, science, general existence, and Atheism. It's heavy going, and I could spend my entire life trying to read everything about them and only getting through .0000005% of what has been written, but it's enjoyable and opens one's mind to other ideas. Even though I may not agree with some of them, it would be negligent of me to ignore them because of that. Broadening one's knowledge is a worth while cause, one I encourage all to do.

1: Played Mini-golf

As you do. Can't remember the last time I've putted around the lil' putting greens, but well worth going. It has it's own enjoyment factor, which, no doubt, could be enhanced with alcohol.

2: Friends Birthday Party

Bittersweet night, for it's own reasons, of which it is not my place to say, but while the evening was indeed enjoyable, and I met many new people who I hope to see again, the circumstances of the night cast a somewhat 'downcast' shadow over the party.

3: Father's Day

Not that we care about "Father's Day" as such, but it does provide a ready made excuse to get together as a family and talk, eat, be merry. However with the above birthday party the night before, and with us not getting to bed until around 3am, tiredness left me less than jovial, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep on a couch.

The Chris Cringle list was also set up for this years Yuletide festivities. The theme for this year is "Hand made", as in all gifts are to be hand made. None of this consumerism crap for us. Gifts with meaning and all that.

4: Went swimming

So the grrl and I are on the path to a healthier lifestyle, or at least a more active one. Exercise is the name of the game, and swimming is a good part of it.

5: Went to the Ballet

My first forray into the fine dance. The New Zealand Ballet Troupe were doing their thing, with a range of performances. The first set was a more traditional, tutu performance, with a range of group and solo dancers. Set was very sparce, and for me at least none of the dances told a story as say "Swan Lake", but enjoyable. The second set was a fairly modern dance piece. I would describe it as agressive, with the dancers limited to a square area, drums and percussion music (African beats, Japanese music etc), but interacting in a seemingly random but social way. Not sure if it actually was trying to 'say' anything, but it was very interesting, the skill quite good. Probably my favourite part of the evening. The last set was a 'remake' of a 1930's performance, revolving around the story of a wedding and the interactions of the bride, groom, parents, and friends.

As entertainment value goes, it's well worth it. Certainly hope to check out more of it in the future.

6: Bought more DVD's.

With the ballet and dinner out of the way for the night, we decided to hire some movies to finish off the night. Little did I know that the local video store was doing a sale on new and ex-rental dvd's. Never one to pass up a deal, I came away with some choice selections to bolster my already extensive collection. Will have to be the last DVD purchases for a while as it seems I have run out of space to store them all. At least without taking over the remainging shelf filled with books. As cool as it is having a near wall filled with DVDs, books are just as important.

Settled on hiring "Ultraviolet" and "Walk the line" for viewing. Managed the former that night, with the former watched the next day. As for Ultraviolet, what can I say... it must be one the worst movies I have seen a good while, and I enjoy most movies. But even with the additional charm of Milla Jovovich, nothing could save a poorly laid out script, bad acting, and action/cgi orientated 'drama'.

"Walk the line" is the movie on the early life of Johnny Cash, and I must say, if there's one movie to watch this year, this is it. Great story, with Joaquin Phoenix playing the role of Cash. Watching left me with a greater appreciation of his music, if nothing else. Go see it if your into biographic dramas.

7: Walked a lot

Again, a part of exercise regime, the weekend was taken up with walking and a bit of jump rope. Jumping rope is still one of the best exercise to get the heart rate going, providing developments in cardio, muscle, hand/eye co-ordination, and balance training. But the the goal of the day was to get a good walk in, and we managed over an hour before time was getting short.

8: Went to another friend's birthday party

Consisting of dinner at a restaurant and afterwards back to the birthday girl's house for dessert. Chance to meet more people from the MGF, and despite the restaurant being tardy with the meals (due to a kitchen hand not showing up, leaving the chef to cook everything him/her self), a rather nice evening.

9: Worked a lot

Much is going in the working world, and it's all hands on deck as we try and finish everything up. This still leaves as with far more things to do than hours available, but it won't be from lack of trying.

Big things are a-foot. International travel could be involved, money, more employees, and world domination. Would it be too much to ask for a mini-me? At least a white cat...

10: Came up with the BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT EVER.

No, I wont tell you just yet, but when done, I'll be providing a detailed post of what I am building, how I built it, and pics of the project. This is so cool, everyone is going to want one.

11: Signed up for free gym trial. Swam some more.

The universe is a subtle beast. In an evening talking to my brother about the recent exercise goals, he made mention of him and L being recent signed-up members of our local gym. It sounded nice, and local, and I was interested in checking it out.

So I was watching TV (just to show how uber-motivated I was to get fit), and there happened to be a knock on the door. Who should it be but a guy offering a 21 day, no obligation, trial memberships to the very same gym for $10. Acknowledging the slap up-side the head fate just gave me, I chose to get two.

Upon going, the gym itself is nice. Modern, clean, with pool and a whole bunch of classes and equipment that are available to members. However, cost of membership may not be worth the times I would actually go. With other nights spent doing things with the grrl, it may mean going to the gym is limited to once a week. On the flip side, spending that amount of money may just motivate me to go more. But that's the catch word; 'may'.

12: After work friday drinks + failed to go to movie

Every month or so the sister organises Friday arvo drinks. I don't go often, but this time I thought it would be a nice change, and the grrl and I had hoped to go see the movie 'Barnyard', so the two things in the city should have fitted perfectly. Drinks went according to plan, however what we didn't realise was the the movie is only being shown during the day. School holidays and all that. So instead we walked around and window shopped.

13: More walking

A good 3 hours this time, browsing shops etc along Sydney Rd, stopping only for lunch and go through clothes, furniture, and k-mart.

14: Caught up on my clothes washing

So not exactly news-worthy, but still an achievement. 3 loads of clothes, some of which were there since the skiing trip. Rest of the arvo also revolved around house cleaning, getting the vacuum cleaner out, backing-up my laptop, sorting mp3s, and fixing email problems for work.

15: Went to the football (soccer) to see Melbourne kick arse over Central Coast

Last minute idea at the Friday drinks, my brother and I, being fans of the game, decided to catch our team (Melbourne) while they still have games at home. Great game, nice seats however next time we'll try for higher up in the stand. Olympic Park isn't the large, so being further up won't mean that we'll be missing any of the action. Indeed, it will mean we can see more as our seats this day were basically ground level, and the game play was lost once the ball went to the other side of the pitch.

But yes, good game, with our team dominating and winning. The Victory are legit title contenders this year, and although they didn't put all their chance away, the skill and quality is still there. Next big game we want to check out is Melbourne vs Queensland, who are also doing very well, particularly in the goal scoring department.

Once out of the game, we stopped in at the Corner Hotel in Richmond and cought up with some friends who are locals there. Not many drinks as I was driving, but still a nice way to end the day.

16: Went to Corner Hotel to go see The Dresden Dolls

Totally rocked. For a girl on keyboard and guy on drums, they know how to do live gigs. High energy, high quality music. Best band I have seen live so far. I'll be sure to get tickets when/if they tour here again.

Support band "The Red Paintings" were also good, although I only caught their last couple of songs. Was enough to make buy one of their cds. Good Aussie band, violin, chello, base, guitar, drums and vocals mix to create high energy music with depth. One to check out for the future. Good on them for being chosen to tour with Dresden Dolls in the US.

Doesn't cover everything I've done in the last two or so weeks, but them's the highlights. I realise that most of my recent posts have been updates in my life, and while it's good for me to put these things done so I can look back at them and smile, I've always enjoyed doing those long, deep and meaningful posts that I started out with. It's been a while since I've done a philosphical post, and it's not that I havn't thought of anything or I don't want to. It's just that time isn't allowing me the chance to think it through enough to write down. Lately it's been a matter of one thing following the next, with breaks in between for sleep and eating. Hectic, enjoyable, and I wouldn't swap it, but life a more than just play-by-play description of events. It's the lessons we learn, the experiences gained, that are just as important.

Oi, so after my trip from Syndey, I havn't had much time to catch my breath much. Life is moving fairly quickly, and to quote Ferris Bueller, I had better stop and look around once in a while or I'm going to miss it. But I guess the universe has other plans right now, as the coming weeks are looking just as packed.

So as expected, after getting back from Sydney, it took a while to sort out my 2,500+ emails (mostly spam) and go over all that I had missed and what was waiting for me. Returning back on the Thursday at least provided a short two day week before I got to rest up again. The weekend was spent washing and doing pretty much fuck all. I have a vague notion that I did something, but I can't remember what it was. Oh well.

Work started to up the load the following week. Client's. I swear, if it wasn't for the fact we wanted their money, I could do without them. At least the phone calls. The constant phone calls. Has no one heard of emails?!?! "Hi, I have a problem with X. Can you look into it please. Regards, Mr I Want Things Done Yesterday". Easy. But no, phone calls where I have to pretend I am happy they are leeching my life away, partake in mindless chitchat, and explain to them they have to do the equivelent of turning on their computer. This is the reason I would never go into a call centre. Eventually I would just not answer the phone. Give me garbage handling over that any day.

The following weekend found the grrl and I at the Cab Noc 3 year birthday party. Much fun, dancing, drinking, etc was had. Caught up with a few people, joked, conversed, etc, and nodded to other's I know only barely in acknowledgement of their continuing existence. There's a photo floating around the net prooving that we were there. Find it if you dare. Nice photo's BTW Ceph.

The rest of the weekend was rather low key. Caught up with one of the grrl's friends for her birthday on the Sunday, then stayed around at K's place for moral support (read: cook dinner) while she studied and worked on an assignment. And that's about it.

The following week was short, but hectic. Had to cram five days of work into four, visit the folks up Bacchus Marsh way, then prepare for another short trip away. Seems a bit much taking another holiday so soon after the Sydney trip, but unfortunately it's the way it panned out. Yeah, I'm soooo sorry about it. Particularly since the second holiday was a trip to Mt Hotham. Mmmmm, skiing. Snow. Drinking! Skiiing is what you do in between drinks.

So Friday morning we (as in me, my brother and his wife, my sister and her friend) got up way earlier than any sane bird would be and got up on to the mountain by around 2pm. Couple of stops on the way as we weren't in a rush, and we had to stop off at a supermarket to stock up on food and pre-drinks drinks. Checking the snow reports during the week, things were looking rather bleak for snow, but as we worked our way up the mountain, a rather convenient snow storm came over the mountain. I swear I did not use my weather machine to make it happen.

The plan was to get up there, get our boots and skis and lift tickets, hoping to do a bit of skiing that afternoon. What can I say? The long drive and shear laziness got the better of us, and after hiring our gear, we headed to the bar instead. What better way to spend a snowwy afternoon?

Got up, way too early for my liking, the following day, had breaky, and made our way out onto the snow fields. It's surprising that skiing is kinda like riding a bike. Once you learn how, you never forget. Despite the fact I havn't been to the snow for the last 2 or 3 years, it took only one run down the slope to get my ski legs back. We all chipped in for a ski coach that spent the day with us. Beginners began first, then we broke the day of lessons into various skill levels. At least, we did as soon as the two kids (my nephews) had their lesson. I can't see them being avid skiers anytime soon. I don't care that they are 3 and 4 years old. They are SUCH big sooks.

The day, one would have to say, was great. With the exception maybe that it was TOO sunny. Blue skies, warm day (3 degrees C... scorcher). All sounds great, but by the afternoon, the snow has the consistency of porridge. Pure slush. But still, I managed to ski until around 5 (after starting at 9), however with the lessons (where I was learning new techiniques), the slush, and the fact I was getting sunburnt, by the end of the day I was pretty much stuffed. Legs were SO sore; heavy, didn't want to bend at the knees. Spent the night on the couch reading.

The Sunday was fairly lazy. Spent the morning indoors, mainly because by then the wind had picked up into a small gale and the snow hadn't recovered from the previous days sun, as well as my legs still being a tad stiff. After lunch, we decided to get the last afternoon of skiing in, however the conditions proved to be a bit more troublesome than first thought. The slopes were a mix of slush and ice, dotted here and there by patches of ground. High on the summit it was blistering cold. In other areas, snow was quickly disapearing. Areas of the mountain that were normally skiable areas of snow a few years ago were slopes of bushes and grass. Snow levels were not at all good. I shudder at the lack of water that will be flowing into the rivers this year.

As a result, we started drinking earlier than expected, after returning our ski hire. The rest of the night was the typical drunken mayhem of drunk speak, stumbling between pubs, and food. In the end a good way to finish the trip. Coming down the mountain was no problem the next day, cept for the few stops for those suffering car sickness... please note, mountain roads are very windy. Best not to have bacon and eggs for breakfast before hand.

A great weekend away. I have photos somewhere on the camera that I will post at a later date.

Midweek MGF meet-up was on again this Wednesday. Both enjoyable and a little somber with the news a friend had been involved in an accident and was in hospital. Stayed longer than I had planned, but with the expected work load coming, I figured it was a chance to just sit back, relax, and look around. May be a while before I can do so again.

I can make promises to myself, because it's only me I let down when I break them. So when I say I'll make more of an effort to update this L/J, I'm making a promise to myself...

At any rate.

Apparently I was on tv the other night... the 2006 Comedy Festival Great Debate. The one I went to several months ago. Oh yay. I'm so glad I didn't watch it. Actually, I'm not sure if it was shown in Sydney anyway. Either way, it's embarressment via proxy.

Go me.

Go my car. Was a dream to drive to Sydney. The car performed exceedingly well the entire time away, and even survived the night of foreign drivers not changing out of 2nd gear when travelling over 40km/h. Didn't want to say anything as the driver was nervous enough as it was driving someone else's car. No point piling on other concerns, and I knew the car would survive. But other than that I had no problems, good fuel, good traveling.

Good speed.

Good journey. Took us a while to get up there because a: it was only me driving so a stop every two hours was in order, and b: we weren't in that much of a rush, so stopping for an hour each time wasn't so much of a drama. Got to Goulburn around 6:30 where we planned to meet the grrl's parents for dinner. After dinner it was another two hours to their place, so we arrived at our destination about 11ish, and went pretty much straight to bed.

Tired.

On holiday. Well, more like a week spent meeting and greeting. Rather enjoyable to be sure, but a holiday spent doing nothing it wasn't. Parties to attend, people to meet, discovering the outer 'burbs of Sydney, debating the physics of wormholes. The time away was rather full. Enjoyed meeting the 'in-laws'. People who I can see myself getting along with swimmingly. I've been told the feedback about me was all good, so yay for me. I am such a likeable person.

Modesty gets you only so far.

Then there is the rest. The only real 'holidayee' thing we did was go for a bike ride. Seeing Homebush and the Olympic park area for the first time, then riding 15km to somewhere I would get lost trying to drive to, stopping for a drink and toast, then the 15km back to the car. Three or so hours later, I have a sore arse, cramping legs, but a strange desire to go do it again. Plans are now afoot to get my bike in working order, or just buy a new one. Very tempted to do the latter.

I like shiney new things.

Then there's the memories. If nothing else, it was time away from work, but with much joy it can be said it was far more than that. More like a week long drinking session. The wine bought for the birthday boy, and the reason for our many winery outtings over the last month, went down a treat. Not all of it of course. Only about 3 were consumed while we were there. And the birthday party was already catored for. It was just a matter of rocking up, getting drunking, go to bed. Just have to worry about the morning.

Sobering up.

Coming down. Didn't take us so long coming back. 10 hours all up, and that was with adequate stops on the way. Got home about 9:00ish last night after dropping the grrl home. Unpacked what I had to unpack, cleaned my room a bit, then went to bed. Back at work. No rest for the wicked, as they say, but I've been a good boy, so that saying is just full of crap. At least I hope that everyone here at work has a deeper appreaciation for what I have to do and know. Apparently the week for them was just as full.

Surprise, surprise.

I can honestly say that I still don't know much about wine, but at least I have a far greater understanding of what I don't like.

With some of the Yarra Valley wineries visited a month or so ago, last weekend found us sampling the fine produce from the Macedon Ranges area. The weekend began with the grrl and I visiting my family for my sister-in-law's birthday and a night spent of trivia... a fund raiser for my nephew's school. Rather enjoyable night, however it did seem to drag on a bit. Didn't walk away with any prize, but for a table of only 7 (compared to all the other tables of 10-12), we managed a respectable score and just as importantly, we didn't finish last.

So heading out from my brother's place on Sunday, the whole day was spent driving to and fro, finding what wines grow in that part of the state. Quite a nice selection on offer actually, and I found at least wine wine I liked from nearly every place we stopped at. It would be nice to revisit in the spring when the weather is finer. Make a proper visit of the area and see more of the actual towns, rather than just the wineries. Although I grew up in the area and know many of the towns, most of my knowledge has come from driving through them instead of as a tourist.

This weekend we headed down to Mornington Peninsula to check out the vine yards down there. I now have a better understanding of what to expect from 'cooler' and 'warmer' climates since the wines on offer were somewhat different in variety than the west or the Yarra Valley. So many wineries on offer, but our choices were cut by many of them being only open on certain days or by booking. Still, we managed to visit about 8 before we headed home at 4.

It's expensive to get a side mirror replaced on your car, even more expensive to get dints patched.

Wednesday sees us, or more to the point me, driving up to Sydney for a weeks vacation. Long overdue on my part, it's been quite a while since I've had a holiday where I went away from home and didn't do work. One or two days here or there, but for the most part, I've been fairly restrained in my travels.

So to ensure that there'll be no surprises, the last week has been spent getting my car sorted out. Full service was done last week. Because of that I discovered I had better get new tyres. One of the rear wheels had worn down to the wire mesh in side the rubber. Being on the inside of the wheel, my usual visual checks didn't pick them up. So all four wheels were replaced today. And because I hate driving with blindspots... or at least dring long distances with blindspots, I decided to bust open the bank balance and get the side-mirror that was vandalised a while back replaced. Got a couple of dints quoted to be fixed... $1500... that's going to have to wait. My car is now, once again, a dream to drive... smooth, fuel efficient, safe, and clean... well ok, I need to give it a wash, but that's just for looks.

It's all fun and games 'till the ref blows the whistle for a penalty. Fucker.

It was great to see Australia, ranked lowly at number 42 in the world, make it to the round of 16 in the FIFA World Cup... if you havn't heard about the World Cup by now, you need to broaden your horizons. We made our mark, let everyone know that we can play, and made our own history... or in the case of the last game, history was thrust upon us in an undeserving way. We were there, and I have little doubt that we will be making regular appearances from now on. And if Australia manages to get the hosting rights to the 2018 World Cup, I'll ... well, I'll be very, very, VERY happy. Football (soccer) is just as much about history than the game, and this time we have some real history we can be proud of, and other history we can talk about for years to come. The game itself, on average, is not so much about the goals scored but the quality of the performance. A good team is one that can play well... a great team is one that can play well AND score on a regular basis. We played well, but we were not great. For many, the idea of a game where few goals are scored can be off-putting... it makes me wonder about their philosophy... what is more important, what you achieved or the way you played the game?

Licking the fringe

There is much to be said about costumed, or themed, parties. While some may consider it a hassle, I on the other hand enjoy the prospect of putting on a new shell and, visually at least, being a different person. Being the superficial primate that we are, a change of appearance can often be interpreted as a change of personality to those who don't know you well. For one night, in the eyes of others, you are a new person. At least, if you can act the part of the costume anyway. And that's the fun part... not only the imagination to think of a new look, but to then also role-play it. Sure, you don't do it during the entire night, but for those times you do, it can be a source of much amusement. Particularly if you dress up as someone who, stereotypically, has their mother buy all the clothing for you. Not bogan, not mainstream, not... anything. Just sad.

The week begins with a T

Tax is a funny thing... it's never quite as bad as one can make it out to be. Random figures floating in my head doesn't even come close to what I will be paying. Being a sole-trader, I don't have that whole "tax gets deducted from my pay packet" thing... I have to keep track of it myself. Admittedly, I havn't been doing a very good job of it. I put x amount away each week... or more to the point I don't spend x amount each week... and deal with it at financial end of year. Next year will be different. I have plans, I have options, I have Excel.

The middle of the week begins with an M

I do enjoy the MGF Midweek Meetups. A casual environment, music at a level people can converse at, alcohol being consumed but never at a great amount, with people that become familiar everytime you go and new people yet to be met. Tiredness is a curse though, as it limits one's participation. Still, for the time I attended, it was enjoyable. And I was proud to be tag as "the voice of moderation" from a fellow MGF member. But I can certainly appreciate the context it was said in... mayhap a moderation of moderation needs to be applied in certain circumstances. Excess can be enjoyed, and shouldn't be a thing to be avoided all the time. A lesson learned.

Social networking

Doing favours for friends can be a two edged sword. It is not the act of helping, but what the task is that causes a pause in belief that it's a good thing. Networking, ie the act of connecting two computers together via ethernet, wireless etc and/or to the internet, is a hit and miss affair. It goes smoothly, or it doesn't. When it doesn't, it's frustrating, time consuming, and a total brain drain. When doing it for a friend, it's a bit worse because there's that element of expectation and trust. One hates to disapoint, but on the flip side, it gets to a point where you just don't care anymore.

Where things are going

The year is half over, and the promises I made, the resolutions I had, are very much in play. I'm playing the game as I want now, and the rewards are in the outcomes. Addictions have been, or are in the process of being, broken. I am enjoying myself. And far, far more. I shall not reflect on any of this... for there is no reason to doubt it.

Hi, remember me?

So I havn't exactly been keeping this thing up to date like I should. Havn't had the time realy. I'll do better, I promise. I have this plan to warp time/space so we get an extra hour in the day. If everyone wants to help, all they need to do is jump at a given time.

So last weekend was great. The grrl and I decided to take a break from everything and head out of the city for the long weekend. Didn't want to go too far since it wasn't realy a holiday as such, so long distances would have chewed up time that could otherwise be spent relaxing. An hour from Melbourne there's this cute little tourist town called Olinda. Up Mt Dandenong, it's far enough away, pretty enough, and had enough things close by to keep us occupied for the two days we'ld be staying there. Booked into a gorgeous, self contained cottage that had all the pre-requisits... privacy, a kitchen, a fireplace, a couch, and a spa. Very nice, very perfect.

With our base of opperations set, we had the freedom to go explore. Saturday was spent getting up there, getting settled, getting supplies, and exploring Olinda itself. Many cute arts and crafts stores, antiques, and restaurants. For anything more exciting you'll need to go further out. The night was a relatively short one, with me being able to show off my cave man abilities by getting the fire started, having dinner, and watching a part of a video.

Sunday we decided to check out one or two of the wineries in the nearby Yarra Valley. While not that far out, it's still a good half hour drive down the mountain and with it being rainy and foggy, it certainly makes for cautious driving. The first stop was the Lillydale Estate... a well known drop, but with neither of us being avid white wine drinkers, only half of what was on offer was sampled. A breif walk around the wine yard, we headed back to make some purchases. The option was to also have lunch there, with the estate providing a smorgasboard lunch (for a price, naturally), but with breakfast still settling, and the wine mixing in with that, we decided to go check out the next estate.

Five Oaks isn't as well known, at least for me it wasn't, as Lillydale, but again the reds on offer were just as good. We didn't stay long, but again picked up a couple of bottles to take back with us, and by that time we were getting hungry. Unfortunately Five Oaks didn't have meals on offer... or at least, not that I could see, so heading back up the mountain, we stopped off at a little town called Kallista to find food. The Kallista Tea Rooms provided such a place, and very tasty food it was too... some of the best scones I've had in a while. If you get a window seat, you also get a great view of some native birds, as they have built an eating purch that circles the main dinning room. I don't think I have ever seen five Cookaburra's sitting in one place in my life.

The night was spent resting. The idea was to go out for dinner, but for my part once I had settled back in, I had no motivation to go out again in the cold night. Instead we settled for movies, the fire, and the spa bath before heading to bed.

Monday came around, and after packing and breakfast, we made our farewells to Olinda and decided to head back home via the scenic route. By that I mean I decided to go down roads I had no clue about, ignore the map, and in all other respects try and get ourselves lost for a while. Despite my best efforts, we happened to find ourselves at the Eastlands Shopping Centre. Go figure. Of course, the chance to look around at a never before seem shopping place was too good to ignore, so we stopped there for a while to browse and have lunch.

And that's basically where the weekend ended. But not before stopping at a few choice clothing stores where I bought some new outfits.

This weekend was very low key. Friday we headed out to Cab Noc, but didn't stay long. The place seemed good with many people arriving, but the energy drain of the last week got to us and we headed home early. Saturday was spent going around Northlands, trying to find suitabley tragic clothing for ducayne's party next weekend. Mostly successful, but I still need pick up one or two other items. It takes skill and patience to dress badly if you can't do it naturally.

Apart from that it has been spent doing the usual household chores and my tax... I hate tax. Not the idea of it, but having work out mine. Of course I only have myself to blame... if I kept better books, I wouldn't find it so annoying.

Healthwise things seem to be ok. Mum is doing fine, dad was in hospital this weekend, but this was planned so nothing to worry about as such. Parents grow old, and these things one just has to deal with. Kinda become the norm.

This is what I get for going out more, for being social, for being nice. A girlfriend. All I wanted was some beer.

The last three or four weeks have been hectic, to say the least. I'll have to do a wavey screen of reminiscing to work it all out...

Of my mother...

A couple of weeks ago I got a call during work from mum. She was in pain and needed to get rushed off to the hospital. Mum has always been a tough woman, so if she says she's scared and starts crying on the phone to you, we sit up and take notice. But even though she was in obvious discomfort, it was not her that she was scared about. Who was going to take care of dad? While papa isn't an invalid and can take care of himself mostly, the suddeness of this hospital trip meant there was no time to prepare his needs before going... plus the following Monday he had his own appointment with the optometrists for new glasses, and delaying that would mean he would be without reading glasses until they could schedule a new appointment. These were the things still running through mums mind, despite the pain.

Naturally I left work soon after... didn't rush around with my hands in the air... mum was being taken care of by the ambulance and hospital, and dad didn't need immediate assistance, so it was safe to finish a few things first before heading up to ensure dad was ok. Traffic jams and long delays didn't improve the situation, but I managed to get up there regardless. Got dad sorted out, and after arranging plans with my siblings for the coming week, head back home.

Turns out mum had an infected gallstone, hence the pain. Apparently she had made an appointment with the hospital to have it removed the following Wednesday... it had other plans. So she had to stay in hospital all weekend. Pitty it was also the weekend of Mother's Day. There was a hope that the hospital could remove during her stay, but they couldn't find an opening the surgery schedule for her. Stupid thing is that they said, "If it flares up again, come directly to hospital and we'll remove it right away". So Saturday was spent lounging around listening to my brother cough and groan through a suddenly developed cold/flu/whatever... any plans he had of seeing mum in hospital were destroyed but that unexpected occurance. So it was up to me to take the loooooong and lonely trip to Ballarat to see mama in hospital. Nice day for it... wet, cold. I expect nothing less from Ballarat realy. Stayed for about 3 hours with mum, chatting etc. It was probably 2 hours longer than I had planned, but what can you do? I'm a good son, damnit!

Of a night spent with bananas and chocolate...

I had hoped to leave earlier due to the fact I had promised darviz that I would attend his Sunday get-together, and I wanted time to freshen up before I got there and relaxed. No such luck. Mad rush through wind and rain to get home, 15 mintues home, then back out again.

Nice evening though when I finally got there. An evening spent talking, drinking (though not much due to being on the wagon), and tom foolery. Tom wasn't there, but we were still fooling around. Much fun. Those choc-nanas were a treat.

Of olde gaols...

During the week I found myself at the Old Melbourne Goal for one of their 'night ghost tours'. Fascinating stuff that. It was actually classed as a performance tour, with our guide being dressed up in the old gaol outfits, pretending to be one of the prisoners, describing what it was like living in the conditions of gaol life during the 1800-1900's. Fairly gruesome, but hardly scary. Sure, you spend a lot of the time walking in the dark, following a guy with a candle, with the only other light coming from high up windows. Meant to be most haunted place in Melbourne, and considering the horrors that went on there, I wouldn't be surprised.

If you get a chance to go, I recommend it. It's only 50 minutes of tour, and you're given about half an hour to roam about by yourself (with the lights on) after the tour. Much of the gaol is gone, and the only place still open is the the second cell block where the hangings took place, so there isn't a lot to see, but many of the rooms are filled with historical things that tell you more about the history of the gaol and life in early Melbourne.

It you're afraid of the dark though, don't go.

The night was finished off by having a few drinks at the MGF Mid-week Meetup. Always enjoyable. Another fine crowd of drunken revellers...

Let It Be...

The following Tuesday the girl and I decide to go out for dinner and a bit of culture. Let It Be is a concert, more or less, featuring the songs of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, sung by a few well known singers including Leo Sayer, John Waters, Christine Anu & Rick Price. Held at the Arts Centre here in Mlebourne, it was a great night of entertainment, enjoying the classic songs written by the two. One night only type thing, we were fortunate to get seats, as it was a sell out.

Much mirth was when we noticed a Metal Head teenager (looked like one), doing the deep and moody thing. I don't think we saw him smile once, but I guess being stuck seated between your parents at that age may not have been his cup of tea.

Of football...

The Thursday of the same week saw more heading off to the MCG for the soccer match between Australia and Greece. The seats were booked a while ago, thanks to my sister working at Telstra at the time, so we got them before they came out on sale. Ok, so we were on the top level, and pretty much the last row, but the view was still spectacular, and the game was even better. We were also in the area where the ruckus Australian fans were sitting, so now and again we were a part of getting a Mexian Wave going, plus all the usual screaming and shouting.

Despite the warnings and bag checks, flares also made an appearance near the end of the game, but they were limited to the Greek section of the crowd, and far from us, so it didn't impact on our enjoyment of the game. And to top it off Australia won, so we were all farely happy with ourselves by the end of the night. Twas highly amusing after the match when two guys decided to invade the pitch. Seeing them running around being chased by a squad of over weight police was chuckle worthy. Bit rough on the guys when they finally caught them, but nothing too serious. Just the typical arm locks, head locks, and hand cuffing. Took a while to get out of the stadium and get home, but that was mainly due to waiting for trams.

Of calendars...

Friday night we headed out to Cab Noc for the official launch of the MGF Calendar. For those on flist that don't know what I'm talking about, head over to ebay (Calendar on ebay link). Another very enjoyable night, catching up with familiar faces, meeting those faces unfamiliar to me. With the long week I had, I ended up leaving fairly early. tiredness got the better of me, and with lunch planned the following day at 11, I know I needed to get some rest before it.

So that's about it. There's been more, but not as 'big event' like as the above... lunches (managed to catch up with House Reno girl a week or so ago... havn't seen her in ages), dinners, fridge hunting (or at least being the taxi), clothes outfitting (I <3 Anton's. Le sigh), dvd watching/buying... my life is not what it once was, that's for sure.

The following weeks don't look like easing up either.

lucky I don't work from home all the time otherwise I'ld be watching this instead.

Boohbah, ABC 3:00 pm.

http://pbskids.org/boohbah/boohbah.html

http://www.boohbah.com/zone.html

yes, if you thought the Teletubbies were bad, they got nothing on these guys.

It was... mezmerising...

I have a dream...

It has been said that there is no such thing as a new idea, that the great 'leaps' in technology, economics, and so on are not brought about by a single person who does something new, but are the result of a person/group drawing upon the ideas of many, seeing the larger picture, collecting, collating in order to make progress. It is the ability to not only look at all the things within the square, but then fill in the gaps by looking out side it.

It is the idea that all things are evolving, not just existing. We can do more things these days because we know more things. Civilisation has evolved as our knowledge has evolved. WE have evolved as our civilisation has evolved.

All well and good, but what's the point? Well, just as these ideas are good for progress, in developing and makes those necessary leaps in development, they can also be used to look beyond the now. Foresight, one based on predictable factors, the tracking of trends, laboratories, social events and impacts... it's the stuff of think tanks, those that deal in the policies and social implications for the future. It's the way of the futurist.

Evolution Theory + Development Tracking. With it, you can not only predict the future, but control it. You only need to have influence.

What am I without a sense of purpose?

A dream without a plan is a dream without a purpose, without a future, without a reality. And what purpose is there in only looking at the future? Like the crowds at a sporting stadium, a spectator only has so much say over the game. Being there is often important, yes, but the game would go on regardless. So what good is to just look at the future, in hope, living for change for changes sake, regardless of the actual outcome? Not a lot, to be honest, but for some it is enough. There is also that hope that comes with change that some of it may also apply to you, in a positive way for optimism, negative outlook for pessimism.

But the future is not built on hope alone. It requires a plan, action to implement that plan, and commitment to keep that action alive. This is purpose. Civilisation as we know it would not exist if it was only made up of spectators.

The future is also not built by ignoring the past. Without the past, there is no reference by which to determine direction, there is not the ability to analyse previous experiences, previous trends, so as to be able to implement change. You must know what you have now in order to alter it, and the now is a product of what has been, just as the future is the product of what is now. And if the past is ignored, then the mistakes you have made may show up again, for nothing has been learnt from it.

Would I care if there's no tomorrow?

But is it enough? What is purpose without resolution? To strive day in, day out to see a future come into being, but never seeing an end to the struggle seems futile. The journey may be just as important as what you do when you get there, but getting there to begin with is the whole point. At least, if you set that as your goal. If your purpose is a real, physical, final result. Not everyone is cut out for travelling, they'ld much rather experience what is on offer at the end of the road.

It often happens that we do not realise the future we dreamed of. And it may not have been due to the lack of trying, or ability, or a plan. Controlling the future is about influence, and the effect of that influence on certain trends. When we're talking about ourselves, the trends are the habits of the past that need to be overcome. And, as hard as it is to see sometimes, the greatest influence over our habits is ourselves. In the end, the future may not have happened due to a breakdown in the game plan or the abilities of the players, but the influence of the coach during the game.

Date:	2006-04-23 21:08
Subject:	And we laughed 'till we hurt
Security:	Public
Mood:	pleased

Ever get that feeling that you were meant to be somewhere? That happened to me at around 4:00pm. I was happily bumming around the house, spending a lazy day in avoiding the rain and cold. Suddenly, it hit me. I had to be somewhere by 4:30. I don't think I have gotten dressed and ready as quick as I did then. Thank google that I have someone living with me that can drive otherwise I wouldn't have made it.

Boy was I glad. The 17th Annual Comedy Festival Great Debate was not to be missed. So very, very, very... very funny. My jaw is still recovering form the amount of work it had to put in. Think it's funny on t.v., it's even better live. There's so much you don't get to see on the box.

The topic: "That coming first is all that matters"

Moderated by: Corinne Grant

For the affirmative:
Paul McDermott
Jean Kittson
Jason Byrne

For the negative:
Stephen K Amos
Meshel Laurie
Rove McManus

Have to say, the team for the affirmative was by far the funnier, but they were all good. Paul McDermott's antics can be over the top, but when he's on song, he's darn funny. Rove was pretty good as well... despite a technical hitch where he couldn't get a video to play. It wasn't part of the show either, but everyone kept the audience well entertained while they got it going. But the cake would have to go to Jason Byrne, an Irish comedian here for the festival. His antics with a couple of members from the audience was hilarious. Altimately it comes down to who was the more funnier than who made the best points, naturally, but if you're wondering, the negative side won. If you get the chance to catch it on T.V. in a couple of weeks, watch it and be full of mirth.

You may even get to see me. (un?)Fortunately I was sitting in the very first row, beside the isle that the camera crew runs up and down getting snap shots of the audience. My position would have made it hard for them NOT to capture me. Some clever editing is going to be needed to cut me out of all the shots. I found it very hard not be self-conscious and act 'natural' when you have a camera stuck in face for 15 seconds. A couple times I couldn't help but look down that black barrel of a lens.

But it was good when 'unexpected' outtings happen.

Not much else has been happening lately, hence the lack of any real update. Despite it being a long weekend last weekend, I spent all of it working, with the only 'break' to be had was on the Saturday when I helped my brother dig trenches and spread dirt out. Finally got my parents computer online while I was there, so that's one thing I don't have to worry about. I had plans to go out to Golgotha on the Thursday, but made the mistake of meeting up with friends before hand for a 'few drinks'. Went in too hard, too fast, and by midnight I was in bed asleep. Could also have been because of the late hours I spent during that week as well... several days not getting to bed by 4am, waking up at 8 or 9. It gets to you.

Wednesday was the MGF Mid-week meetup. Always enjoyable, and managed to catch up with ingenue, darviz, _zak_, amongst others who are becoming familiar faces. Stayed fairly late since I had set in place the plan to work from home the next day, so I could wake up and not have to worry about getting dressed and dealing with others. Have been working many days from home the past week. It gives me a chance to catch up on projects that get put aside because I'm constantly being called by clients or co-workers asking me questions. Working from home just gives me ... space to get things done. Few distractions.

Tomorrow night will see me at "Undead" @ Insignia (formaly Megabar). Havn't been out to a club type environment for a month or so, and with my working habits of late, I'm taking the night and Anzac day holiday off.

At least, that's the plans for this mice.

Date:	2006-04-07 23:16
Subject:	Date meme - yanked from folterte
Security:	Public

Go to Wikipedia and look up your birth day (excluding the year). List three neat facts, two births and two deaths in your journal, including the year.

April 6th

Facts/Events
- 648 BC - Earliest solar eclipse recorded by the Ancient Greeks.
- 1896 - In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games 1,500 years after being banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I.
- 1938 - Teflon is discovered.

Births
- 1483 - Raphael, Italian painter and architect
- 1820 - Nadar, French photographer

Deaths
- 1199 - King Richard I of England (killed in battle)
- 1520 - Raphael, Italian painter and architect

Bored. You?

Well who cares? Who cares about you?

For a weekend spent fixing a friend's computer, it wasn't so bad. For anyone looking for a backup system for their computer, Maxtor's OneTouch external hard-drive works well. Incrimental backup, and even if your C drive is wiped, it will restore everything, including programs, settings, etc. Thank google we had it or the computer in question wouldn't have been recovered, and my friend's brother (he who caused the computer to be in a bad way to begin with) would have been hurt... badly. Seriously tho, who, upon taking a delivery of a computer NOT their own but they can use, decides it's then ok that this computer can be used as a communal comp for everyone in a share household? Mmmmm, can we say 'Not happy, Jan'?

And I’ve drunk that, I’ve drunk this, I’ve spewed up on a pint of piss

Plenty of alcomahol consumed at least. And isn't that what we are all after? Forget the new car, nice house, riches, and love... deep down, you know you only want to get pissed every night.

so what? so what?

Discovered a cable hanging from my car's engine the other day. I assume it's meant to be there, but bugger me if I can find where the end of it plugs into. Sure, I'm not big into the modern cars, what with all their high tech computer wizardry, but I'm not a total novice when it comes to engines. I have, after all, replaced two Welsh plugs in my time, pulled out and cleaned a 'carby', and 'tinkered'. Engines aren't that complicated. Basic chemistry, physics, and engineering. But this one cable.. defies logic, and probably many other laws of the universe. I'm just hoping that there isn't meant to be another cable attached to the end that plugs into some another part and I have lost that 'in the middle' cable. Car still goes though, so it can't be important. At least, that's what I tell myself to go to sleep.

Daylight savings is officially over here in Oz. Got an extra hours sleep. Guess it just means I'll have to go jogging in the dark now. I no complain. I could be waking up in the dark. Pfft to that.

And I’ve been here, I’ve been there, I’ve been every fucking where

The week ahead... hmmm, nothing major on the radar. Car rego to pay off before Thursday, which considering I have payed my car off entirely means I can afford comfortably this month... which reminds me to book the car in for a service next week. Speaking of Thursday, we have plans to go Golfing at work as reward for working like ants before a storm these past weeks. I shall win. Just because. I refute any unsubstantiated claims that I am in anyway competitive when it comes to sports and similar activities...

Some good times on the social calendar in the next few weeks.. this month I have "The Great Debate" to go to, next month I have the "Australia vs Greece soccer international friendly" played at the MCG, and also the "Ghost Tour of Old Melbourne Gaol"...mmmm spooky... plus some other birthdays etc... and probably a dentist appointment.

It's all fun and games until someone involves a dentist...

I'm undecided on whether the weekend was actually good or not. Friday worked, got home and worked, no sleep. Saturday worked, at night had friend around, stayed up till 2am. Sunday, worked from 12, stayed up all night, worked through Monday, got to bed at 2:30. I'll let someone else do the maths of how much sleep I've had since Thursday night. Sounds like a pretty shitty weekend, and I'm not feeling the best right now, but I'm actually ok with it all. Why? Cos for the first time in a while, I was doing something new, unique, and creative with work. Ok, so call me a geek, nerd, whatever, but I got a kick out of programming something I have never done before and have it work. And work well indeed. Basically it's a website that has a Microsoft Access looking form interface, works like Access forms, and for the most part does what Access forms do; allows you to add/edit/remove records from a database. All built in AJAX (basically advanced javascript) and PHP. So sure, weekend was crap, but I was creative, so it was good.

Last week was pretty good as well. Wednesday night was the MGF Mid-week drinks/forum fundraiser. All fun. Good bands too. Never heard IKON before, but from what I did I liked. Admittedly I was a little too far gone to care by that stage, but oh well. Drank a bit too much me thinks. Many sweaty moments during the night, concentrating on keeping the stomach settled. Succeeded, although it was touch and go for a bit there, but woke up feeling the worse for it all. Managed to struggle through the working day, but it was rough.

Thursday night I found myself at the MCG for a track 'n' field session of the Commonwealth Games. Was given a free ticket, and hey, even tho I wasn't into the games, if yer given free entry, why not go? Rather enjoyable night actually. Definately down to the atmosphere... cheering, the highs and lows of expectations, trying to get your athlete over the line, over the bar, throwing the furthest. Twas a good night for the Ozzie athletes... Jana Pittman won her 400m, the discus guy from the tv ads won. You don't get to these sorts of events often, and it's great to see it all at least once. Took some photos, not as many as I had hoped as I discovered too late that the memory cards were full of other people's pics... and seeing as they are of weddings and stuff, I thought it best not to delete anything. Definately need a new camera though. It's about 3 years old, 3 point something megapixel, but the zoom on it is shit and it's SO slow taking a picture. By the time a picture was taken, the athletes had all done their thing. All those old photos and home movies that we went through at my brother's 'wedding party' has made me want to take more pictures, but I feel limited by the tools I have. The camera is still OK for what it does, but I want options, I want freedom.

I have plans to work exclusively from home for about 2 weeks. At work I have a shit load of stuff to do, things half finished, others not started, but I'm in a situation where I am constantly interupted by phone calls from clients wanting things. We have a new guy there, but he's not up to speed enough to take all the calls. As a result, I spend most of my time being tech support and not enough time being tech development. So two weeks would give me enough time to focus, develop, and get things done. It's all I need. Plus it would give me a chance to do other things... get my car services, go to the doctors and dentists... all things I have been putting off because going into work doesn't allow the opportunity.

Not sure what the coming weekend will offer. Sleep hopefully. A friend has been speaking of a party at her house for a while, and she thought this weekend was going to be it, but heard nothing as of yet. So behind in my Spanish class. No study, no new words learnt, old ones harder to remember. Tomorrow have a plan to cram like crazy. It's all there, in my mind, I just need a refresher course. Hmmm, that could be said for many aspects of my life right now...

Hey, Kids!! Guess what? I'm at work today. Ain't that swell?

So while the rest of this fine state of Victoria is recovering from a collective hang-over, I get to play computers all day. The upside is that since there's no one else working, no clients will be comin-a-callin. W00t for that, ya? And the boss is buying us lunch. Mmmm, food tastes better when it's free, yes sir indeedy. And to make up for it, we're having Friday off. So a day for myself.

Ok, a little hyper. Can't blame me. Been up all night again. I realy, realy, realy.... realy enjoy staying up all night these days. The plan was to go to Golgotha, but there was two things I did not factor in; the heat, and the work load. Combine the effect of the heat on my ability to do said work, and last night ended up a bust. Couldn't even touch my computer for most of the day, and when I did my mind was not in 'work mode v3.1'. Oh, well... next public holiday. Hope those who went had a ball...

Nice weekend otherwise. Friday was spent at the sister's for dinner. The newlyweds came back on Friday, and since the siblings weren't there to shower them with rice and other such wedding nonesense, we had a 'post wedlock' party to celebrate. Typical family affair... food, talk, alcohol etc... HOWEVER, what made this the r0xx0r is that the sister had managed to get Ma & Pa's old home movies on to DVD. Ah huh, home movies!!! And I mean realy old. Our family was one of the lucky ones to have a portable video camera back in the 70's, so Ma & Pa would be always getting the kids etc on film when on holidays. No sound, but memories come with their own commentary. Didn't get through the two DVD's (yeah, piles of old school reels all add up to two DVD's worth), but we're all going to get a copy, dat be f'sure. Even I managed to get on to film, albeit in a pram, but there was one part where it must have been my very first steps as a rug rat. Pitty that particular film was so old that it was all faded and pretty much fucked, but yeah, it was me, and yeah, I was walking. The film making pretty much ended around that time. Yeah, there are reasons... and we'll leave it at that.

As kids we would always moan and be grumpy if mum and dad started to get the projector out to show the home movies. Amazing what a few years will do to us. It's chance to look back with wiser eyes at a time long gone. It's mesmerising. The next part of the family history will be to get all of dad's photoslides on to cd. The problem is is that there's just SO many of them. Times from New Zealand, Papua New Guinnea, family, friends. A good 50 years of photography, I'ld say. Not as prolific a photographer as a pro, but yeah, there's a pile of slides that need to be converted.

It will be a chance to walk down memory lane once more, to meet old friends again, visit places we barely remember. To find ourselves, who we were, and introduce them to person we are today. To discover continuance...

The weekend is over. I can remember it almost as tho it was yesterday... (que flash back music and wavey image).

So yeah, I got over the heat thing on Friday. Ended up sleeping in the living room (sans fan) since my current 'bedroom' was about 5 degrees hotter... plus add another 2 degrees for the bunk being up so high. Smart move, and it meant I woke up early. Well ok, it was still 11am, but that's early for me on the weekend. Had much to do that day, from clothes washing to being devious and drunk.

Having the night before booked a table at the Prince Albert in Port Melbourne for the Surprise Bachelor Party 'o' Fun that night, the rest of the day was spent lieing around, trying not to appear suspicious. I succeeded, hear me well, but more on that in a moment. Made a few last minute calls to interested parties, discovered one drop out, one sick but still able to make it. Little I could do. It was a small group to begin with, and a couple of drop outs, while reducing numbers, weren't a serious issue. As planned, I had one of S's friends come around under the pretense of S and him going out for a casual drink at the local pub. Then, everyone meet there.

So the friend came around, and as the schemer of the scheme, I started to get a little panicky by the fact that S was dawdling outside, sitting on a beer and not making any move to go. The collective consciousness thing seemed to have kicked in, because as I was, un-noticed, in the middle of getting dressed in the bathroom, he knocks on the door telling me that they were leaving for the pub and if I felt like a drink, I could come down too. "Yeah, I'll see how I feel", I replied.

Good thing because with them leaving without me, it gave me a chance to duck down to the bank to get some cash out as I planned to pay for as much as possible that night. Parties should not be spoiled by the hassle of splitting a bill, so to avoid that I figured that I'ld just pay, and those who felt like it could buy me drinks. Already running late, I feared that everyone was going to be there before us. I needn't have worried as everyone else was running late as well. So hear we were, the three of us casually drinking away, and I'm looking out the windows, wondering where the heck everyone was, slowly freaking out. Finally one person rocked up, and although a surprise, didn't in anyway give S a clue into whoelse was happening. As he meantioned later on, he thought that was it for surprises and that we had just decided to invite the first person to rock up to the 'casual drinks' as well. MWAH! Surprise was on him, literaly.

Suffice to say the first part went down well. People arrived soon after, and S getting a good old shock each time. Running a bit late, we didn't spend too much time sitting and drinking, as I had the table booked for dinner at 7:30, so we promptly uped and left. S had resigned himself to the fact that it was going to be more than drinks, and with plastic chain and ball strapped to his ankle, willingly followed with little fuss.

Dinner, part 2, was good, much talk and laughter, stories from growing up, and catching up. The problem was that I didn't expect it to finish so early. We had part 3 planned for 10:30, and we finished by 9. It was at this point that S started to get worried about what part 3 may be. All we said was that we had to go into the city, but being a surprise we couldn't tell him. He thought, "Oh shit, they are taking me to some strip joint". Ok, so it was fun to let him worry for a bit, but we had to be careful incase he suddenly got cold feat and didn't want to go. In the mean time we decided to go back to the original pub to make up the time. Pool, drinking, talk etc.

Seeing as we never told him, naturally S was dressed fairly casually. You CAN'T make this kind of night a surprise by trying to get him to dress up. Just not going to happen. But as we were going into the city, we felt his thongs may have been inappropriate for the place we were going. This naturally got his worry meter even more in the red. But we managed to get shoes on him, and running a little late, again, we made the trip into the city.

Part 3 was the end of the night. With people living in various parts, and us having to be up earlish the next day, we decided from the start that it wasn't going to be a late night. So, the schemers of the Bachelor party and the schemettes of the Hens night thought that to top of a good night, we'ld all meet up at Level 35, Collins Place at the Attrium. On the drive into the city, S was getting even more worried since we were travelling down streets that have various strip joints, but by the time we turned away from those streets and parked, he was so confused that the final meetup was a pleasant surprise. For both of them.

Although we had early stuff to do, we still didn't leave there until 2am. Talk, talk, drink drink. And when we got home, we chilled out the back for an hour enjoying the end of a very lovely night. Sure, it may not be traditional to have the bride and groom meet each other at their parties, but this isn't a traditional wedding, so we felt fully justified in doing so.

And that was the party. Not the typical, but I know my brother, and I know what he would have enjoyed. Strippers or such tom-foolery are just not him, and to be honest, not us either. I knew that to make it a night that he would have remembered and enjoyed the most, it would have had to involve a casual environment, with the chance to drink and talk to friends. Nothing is worse than to throw a surprise party then doing things that the victim is just not going to enjoy.

Sunday

Ended up sleeping on the couch again, and by 10:45am Sunday, I was not feeling the best. I didn't feel all that drunk the night before, but looking back I do realise there wasn't a moment I didn't have a vodka and coke in my hand. My Sunday malaise was to be expected. Unfortunately, I was going out again. In the mood for it? Not a bit. And to top it off, I had enough time to wake up, go to the toilet, and freshen up before the parents knocked on the door. Just what you want when dealing with a hang-over, but seeing as they were going with us, couldn't be avoided. So after a quick bite to eat, we all headed into the city to go to our entertainment for the day.

I have to say, the production of the stage show of "The Lion King" IS VERY GOOD. One may hear talk of the costumes, but to see them live and in action was fantastic. A quality cast, all with great voices, great sets, and a known story line (what, you havn't seen the movie?) makes this show highly recommended. Funny, sad, and for the first time goer, a curiosity to see how they take the scenes from the movie and try to make them live. And you have to say, they did brilliantly. Bunch of clever cookies. Great use of lighting and puppetry also sets this show apart from the rest.

The only thing I would suggest is that you don't sit as far back as we did, as in top level, last row. Don't take me wrong, we could still see everything fine, say true, but the details of the sets and costumes would have been far more noticable if we were a little closer. Nor would you want to be up close. There is too much happening on the stage to have it right in your face... you're bound to miss something.

Other than that, if you get the chance, go see it. While it didn't move me as much as Les Miserables, it's still a great story, with good music (they realy turn on the African beats with this production) to boot. Two thumbs up for this one.

All in all, a great weekend spent with friends and family. This week shall be my week alone. I'm going to enjoy that just as much.