October 2002 Archives

I dont take the credit for this.. I just post it..

"Dear Son,

I'm writing this letter slow - because I know you can't read fast.
We don't live where we did when you left home. Your dad read in the newspaper that most accidents happen within 20kms from your home, so we moved. I won't be able to send you the address because the last Tasmanian family that lived here took the house numbers when they moved so that they wouldn't have to change their address.

This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine. I'm not sure it works so well though: last week I put a load in and pulled the chain and haven't seen them since.

The weather isn't bad here. It only rained twice last week; the first time for three days and the second time for four days. About that coat you wanted me to send you, your Uncle Stanley said it would be too heavy to send in the mail with the buttons on, so we cut them off and put them in the pockets.

John locked his keys in the car yesterday. We were really worried because it took him two hours to get me and your father out.

Your sister had a baby this morning; but I haven't found out what it is
yet so I don't know if your an aunt or an uncle. The baby looks just like
your brother.

Uncle Ted fell in a whiskey vat last week. Some men tried to pull him out but he fought them off and drowned. We had him cremated and he burned for three days.

Three of your friends went off a bridge in a ute. Ralph was driving. He rolled down the window and swam to safety. Your other two friends were in the back. They drowned because they couldn't get the tailgate down.

There isn't much more news at this time. Nothing much has happened.

Love, Mum

P.S. I was going to send you some money but I had already sealed the envelope.

Why is it. There are a few other weblogs (blogs) that I read on a regular basis. Now and again I have found that some of them remove most of their entries and then leave one that says "I will be back soon" or "I dont have much to day at the moment".

Whats with that? If you dont have much to say then dont post. There is no need to take your whole damn site down or furthermore post something which says Im not going to post until I post again because I dont have much to day.

I just dont understand. Must be a power thing. Or an inflated ego.

Whats your favourite Fad? Was it the hulla-hoop, or the yo-yo or was it something more recent like "Tickle me Elmo" or hyper coloured t-shirts.

What makes a Fad a Fad? Wanna get rich quick?! Pick - or rather create - the next fad. I wish I could. Instant millionaire. And you know what? Its the fads which define an era. They leave a significant mark on society.

Do Fad's just happen or are they created? I think they are created.. but I think alot of luck is involved - even so that I dont think you can actually predict the next fad. Many people try to create it.. (vanilla coke), but its not going to happen unless the time is right, the right marketing has been applied and the world is ready for it.

I dont know what makes a product "sought" after. I think leaking just the right about of product into the market at the right time and the right amount of publicity can make it or break it. If you over supply, then the fad wont take off.. but if you introduce just enough of the product that makes it hard to obtain.. but not impossible.. then you will be creating the right environment.

But I think the world needs to be ready for it also.. and I think the world is just about ready for it now.. after 911, I think we all need something to escape into..

What will it be? I wish I knew.

I have taken on the habit of shortening words. I do not mean to do this it just happens. Infact I think I have started to develop my own language. Its all in the name of efficiency :) Why say a whole word - or phrase - when you can shorten it and get away with it.. I have developed the following "new" words:

Recordio = short for "Recording Studio"
Scofficer = short for "Senior Case Officer"

Heck there are more but I cant remember them now :) Im sure Annabelle will remind me what they are.

Eiterway I think I do this because I am lazy. I dont mean to do it it just happens. Annabelle thinks I do it because my brain is going by my mouth isnt in gear.

Catch up time.. its been over a week.. why? Busy. When I am busy I dont have time to blog.. and surprisingly I dont have much to blog about. I tend to do most of my thinking when I am not busy.

Last week I spent a night at the hospital with severe pain in my left side. Kidney problems. It was the worst pain I have ever had in my life.

Something which is blogworthy relating to that though is, that I went for a kidney xray, where they inject "a clear dye" into your body. Mind you that clear dye is ratioactive. Anyway, as the dye is being injected the nurse/radiologist says "you will get a metalic taste in your mouth". I did.

But what is a metalic taste. How did someone define it as metalic? Did someone taste a bit of it and go.. hmm that tastes like metal? Who knows what metal tastes like?

Porcupines - from my Mum :)

Take 1 kilo of best mince combine with 1 cup of rice, 1 onion finely chopped with salt and pepper, in a bowl and mix.

Bring 1 large tin of tomato soup and ｽ tin of water to the boil.

Roll mince mixture into small balls (wetting hands now and again).

Add porcupines (mince mixture) to the pot of soup which has boiled and turn down to simmer.

Simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Can be frozen afterwards.

A friend (deb) recently said : Rob, I have an idea for your website. You can set up an area where we can make comments about the differences between the cities. The same word means different things in differnt places etc. For example how would you feel if I called you a minda?

I think a Minda is the same as a bogan which is the same as a westie

Two dyslexic bankrobbers walk into a bank shouting:

"Air in the hands motherstickers, this is a fuckup!"

In the right frame you will fine There Are..

If you want me to include how many days it will be until your birthday or another special event (like x days until your divorce comes thru), then either leave a comment or email me. You must tell me who you are (first name), the date of when the event will happen, and what the event will be.

ie: Fred, 01/01/03 wedding day.

News Flash! Deb meets Morrissey..

Read about the sad story of Deb, who in 1991 won the competition of her life time - to meet her idol Morrissey of Smiths fame - only to have the opportunity ripped out from under her. Morrissey's cancellation of his tour in '91 meant that Deb's once in a life time dream would never be realised..

or would it.. read on..

Saddam Hussein has just won the election in Iraq - again. Something like 99.9% of the voters voted for him.

They must really love him, or maybe its the fact that there was only one name on the ballot paper.

Im not a big reader, I like to read, but its just doesnt happen as much as
it should. I find it hard to stay focused, plus my "reading time" is
usually spent doing something else.. like Tv :) But I am reading at the moment, "Generation X" by Douglas Coupland.

The basis of this blog is this though, Annabelle has 3 books in her bag that she is reading. What?! How does that happen? How can you read three books
at the same time? Is this a girl thing? I can only read one book at a
time and even then there has to be a 6 montn break between books otherwise I get the characters mixed up and they start weaving in and out of the wrong
books! I can imagine it now, Huckleberry Finn on his journey to blow up
the Death Star!

For those of us who have a PDA - I have created a mobile version of this site. Thanks to Meryl Net for the article on how to do it. It's bloody easy if you follow the instructions.

So go and log onto Avantgo and add the Mobile.Shallow.End to your favourites

Sometimes no matter how hard you try the odds are just stacked against you. What you are about to read is a true account of me getting ready for work this morning.

First of all my alarm doesnt go off, so I am running behind already - lets not even mention the difficulty in getting to sleep last night. I keep telling myself I shouldnt drink coke at night.

I jump out of bed, jump into the shower, dont bother shaving because I am behind schedule, dont bother with coffee even (I must really be running late if I dont have a coffee).

Grab a shirt to iron it, just about finish ironing it and realise it has a grease stain on the front of it.. throw it in the washing and grab another shirt, frantically iron that.. just about finish ironing that (Im going to blog a bit later about ironing..) and then realise that it has a button missing. The button is near the top, so I cant hide the fact its missing. Grab another shirt - inspect it closely, decide "we are go" and commence ironing it.. without a hitch (3rd time lucky).

Grab a pair of sox - frantically search for some dark socks.. and then realise.. oh oh.. doesnt look like there are any dark ones available today. Make a mental note to do some bloody washing! Suddenly get a brilliant idea.. Im going to raid my "displaced, missing and odd socks" draw. So I do. After throwing all of my "displaced missing and odd socks" on the bed I find two which match! Its a miracle.

Just about to head out of the door and I remember I need my Smiths Song Book for tonight (we are going to record some smiths tunes).. so I head back to get it.. its in a big box.. heavy as, I manage to get the large box out of the small hole it has been stored in in my cupboard - find the book - rejoice, carefully put the large box back into the small hole in the end of my cupboard - the box is T minus 3 seconds from touch down in the small hole, when ABORT ABORT ABORT.. I drop the box "UPSIDE DOWN" and all of its contents spill into the small hole at the end of my cupboard. Arhhh!!

I make a mental note - why does everything go wrong when you are running late.. I recall blogging about this previously, Mr Fate or whoever is having a grand out chuckle up there this morning.. I even - for a brief second, consider that my life is being filmed by a Cable network as in the Truman Show.

I think.. nothing else can do wrong now.. I head out of the door, and rush for the station. Exactly 1/2 way to the station, my day gets worse.

My shoe lace breaks. No! Come on, stop it.. dont laugh. Of course it breaks. It was always going to break, not yesterday, not tomorrow, but any other day but today. Why today? Because its bad fcuking karma day thats why.

fcuk the shoe lace, fcuk the mass of spilled things in the little hole in the cupboard, fcuk the shirts with the grease stain and the missing button and fcuk all of those socks wherever they are. But most of all fcuk it all!

Taken on a trip to Italy about 6 or 7 years ago.

In what has really be a mega 80's weekend, on Saturday night I managed to catch Psuedo Echo.. come on, you know them.. cast your mind back, if I said "Listening" it may stir some memories, but if I said "Funky Town" Im sure you would rise up.. although I hate the thought that this band are most remembered for the latter song. Not just because they didnt write it (the songs they did write are true pop classics), but mostly because it isnt a true reflection of what the band stands for and represents.

They played at Parramatta, they played well.. as they always do, mostly focusing on the hits (and there were many!) and staying close to their debut electro new romantic album "Autumnal Park". These guys are a keyboard band, even the bass is all synth. The only thing missing from the early 80's is the eyeliner and the frilly shirts.

Check them out!

Annabelle and I have decided to have an 80's party.

- Only 55 days until my brother arrives from Leeds! Thats less then 2 months.

Who : Morrissey
Where : Enmore Theatre Sunday Night
Why : Because is he is the King of Sorrow

As far as I know this is the first time Morrissey has toured Australia. For those of you who dont know who he is, he was the lead singer to the fabbo 80's indi UK pop band The Smiths. Morrissey wrote the often haunting, and always depressing lyrics to Johnny Marrs mesmerising guitar. Morrissey and Marr parted ways, with Marr going on to play with many and varied artists (he is still very much sought after) and Morrissey moving onto a solo career - placing is words to the music of others.

I didnt expect Mr Sadness to play any Smiths songs, so I was somewhat impressed to find him open and close with Smiths tunes, with another thrown in the middle of the set for good measure.

Overall, I was very impressed with the show, I would see him again.. although the chances of doing such are about as likely as the Smiths reforming. Highlights were of course "Everyday is Like Sunday", "November Spawned a Monster" and "There's a Light that Never Goes Out".

Well done you sad arrogant bastard!

Ever wondered how insignificant your life is? Click here.

Thanks to Rusty for bringing the code to my attention.

Taken on Sydney Harbour - late afternoon - about 1 year ago.

Not wanting to start a debate of what is the best song ever written..

I do happen to think that "I dont like Mondays" comes damn close (my previous blog reference to Mr Geldolf reminded me of this)..

Go one debate me.. its all subjective..

Long time no blog I hear you say. First off, H-H-H-Happy Belated Birthday to my brother - Mark - for the 4th October. :)

Housekeeping - MoverableType 2.5 has been released and I will be installing it soon - when I get 2 minutes spare..

Good stuff - Off to see the fine 80's Oz band Pseudo Echo tonight :) Tomorrow night Im off to see Morrissey - as in the singer from the fine 80's UK band the Smiths. So its a weekend of good 80's music.. all we need is Duran Duran and Aztec Camera to tour and our lives will be complete right?!

Speaking of Music, Tullsino's Orb (see previous blogs) has undergone its final mix and is officially completed. Monday night Kev and myself will start on another fine tune (we hope).

Last Thursday night I went Roller Sk8'ing - keeping with the 80's theme of course or is that 70's. I get my decades mixed up.

Bob Geldolf - not be confused with Gandolf - is touring here at the moment, I wouldnt have minded going to see him actually. Did you know that he owns the rights to the Reality TV show Survivor - fancy that! He and a few friends came up with the concept and sold it for what I would expect was a mint!

Teena, my friend from Melbourne is currently overseas in China. She reports:

"I've had an absolute ball in Honkers, I met up with an Irishman and an
American and just got completely silly for a few days. The shopping here has
blown me away, but I am exercising complete self control and have bought
nothing (only because I tell myself I'll be coming back for a shopping
week-end some time soon).

I'm off to south west china in a couple of hours to meet up with Shirli, but unfortunately I'm going by some dodgy airline that was used as a prototype for the planes out of the Flintstones - so I'm crossing my fingers and hopefully I won't get stuck sitting next to a chicken. "

Great to hear you are having a (great) experiance teena.. stay tuned for more..

For a number of years now, I have often wondered - and discussed with a few people - what is worse.. a crash, a smash, a ding or a prang..

But before we tackle that one.. lets ponder this..

If I was to say "That was a good crash!" What does that mean? How is good defined? Is a good crash, one that causes the most damage - as in - shit! that was good.. see that! Or is a good crash, one where not much damage is caused, as in, heck that was good no one was injured.

I think the defining factor directly relates to if you are involved or furthermore, own any property involved. If you own the property involved, then "good" = less, but if you are just a witness to it and have no involvement whatsoever, then "good" = most spectacular.

Ok with that cleared up.. what is the order in which we should define an accident. Smash, Crash, Ding, Prang.. ??

I think Ding comes first, a ding is something where two cars (and lets face it, we are talking about cars here) just touch.. thats a ding.. a ding is the polite coming together of cars. Next I would say is a prang.. a prang is more serious then a ding, but its still not very serious.. "sorry Im late, I had a prang on the way". So usually you can drive away from a prang.

Now here is the biggie.. what comes next, Crash or Smash? I think Crash comes next.. the reason I say this is because I think if you have a smash - then that means everything has gone south! A Smash is completely busted up! A crash you can recover from - the car can be fixed.. you may be able to drive away (on 3 wheels).. but a Smash.. there is no way.. you are lucky you still have a car..

So thats it.. ding - prang - crash - smash. Didnt think we could solve it did you?

I have done some minor updates, the most significant is I have added a list of my current fav. links and my Must Do to to the right frame.

The Current Fav Links, are links I currently think are cool and are checking out. Dont forget about my permanent links that I check daily under "there" in the left menu.

My must do list - is simply that. The things I must do.. what I want to do and want to find time to do. These things will represent my plans for the next weekend, a movie which I want to see, a work in progress or simply something I have always wanted to do and havent found time/got around to doing it yet.

I fancy your feedback.. if there is something you either think I should be doing, or checking out (experiance wise, or link wise) - let me know.. it may find its way onto the current favs or must do lists.