My Grandparents Rock

Many of you have probably had to sit through my waffling on about how cool my grandparents are... well I'm at it again, but it only goes for 40 seconds, so deal. This:



is my 100-year-old tennis-playing polar-bear-chasing sharp-as-a-tack grandmother Alice and her 90-year-old started-painting-at-65-and-now-hes_really_good husband George, being used in a commercial about retirement funds and planning to live forever. I think they're awesome, and I hope they do.

Two weeks till Eurovision!

Oh Lordi.

Yes, it's tacky season again. I'm looking forward to formula songs, wooden dance moves and bad costumes. All that bad can turn out something good. Well, maybe not but it's fun to sit in front of the tv and heckle.

There shall be a gathering at my place for the semi-finals. Have your score sheets ready.

I am a complete pollock

The house trashing party P,F&N's house.

Considering the number of small children, the trashing was limited to painting the walls. The lads were a little dissappointed that sledgehammers weren't allowed but they did get to smash a few bricks in the garage to dislodge some decorative grills that one of the grandmas wanted to souvenir.


My artistic attempt above, created by flinging paint at the walls from the tubes. I like it... needs a little more red though.

The kids were quite civilised with their painting, sticking to the brush techniques and sometimes hands. I think they had lots of fun. The adults did too. There were some nice patterns on the ceiling painted later.

Aveline memorial plague bunny launch

After a highly successful day on the battlefield (war day on Sunday had results that were a little on-sided) as predicted by Nw who read the entrails of the sacrificial rabbit earlier that day, it was time to unleash the plague bunnies upon the populace. Destructomeg had found the best bunnies for the purpose. They were fluffy and had a little pouch in them, containing chocolate easter eggs. Of course these were plague bunnies and therefore had to deliver a plague in each one. Stig helped us come up with enough plagues so that each of the six were different. After the preparation work, it was off to find some victims. The world was our oyster!Right-o. Time to unleash some doom!
Prepare to eat plague fluffy bunny!

And you!
Prepare to receive fire!
Ah so cute and so plaguey.
This last shot into St Florians was the best by far (on the second time around). Although it worked well in rehearsal we had a little difficulty in delivering some of those bunnies but it was well worth it. It was a hoot and I think a fitting tribute. Would be fun to do again, except for the dragging the ballista around part of it.

Understandable error

Sorry, guys.
In my last post I suggested that it was my sister's birthday.
This is not the case.

I was, naturally enough, confusing her with the comedian and actor Dudley Moore



Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Mystery Solved

How do you make someone this photogenic...




...look crap.

Well, it's surprisingly easy.
Just get me to take the photo.


They wouldn't have needed to doctor Marton Bryant's eyes to make him look weird - they should have let me just have a bash.

Happy Birthday, Dumbgirl.

Mardi Gras Mishap

It was a battle for honour and glory.
It was a clash of cultures.
It was an epic struggle between age-old enemies who could not be reconciled. Which IS better for Mardi Gras: Leather or Gold Lame?
Leonidas and the lads from the "Hairy is SO Very" float were firmly of the leather posing pouch camp, so to speak:

But Xerxes knew that it was all about bangles and gold sequins for his budgee-smuggler, and he had the float to prove it:

But what was this? That hairy greased-up band in their capes had stolen the coveted spot at the head of the parade!


Xerxes: Dahling, the janitors sweep up at the _back_ of the parade; move ya buns.





Leonidas: Shan't, sparkly boy, and you can't make me.


There was shoving, and shouting, and kicking, but Leonidas would not budge.




Xerxes: Oooh! You dirty little man! You make me SO angry! Golumn, send in the Ninja Clown Orcs!



NCOs: Rar!


But eventually they hugged and made up, and Mardi Gras found room for Leather AND Lame, together at last.

Gamer Geeks vs. Tolkien

Precious to me... yessss.... a 20! (Click an image to lose the rest of your morning to fits of laughter. Helps if you've ever known gaming geeks.)

Easter means...

the Show! it's all about the Show!

I love the Royal Easter Show. oooh, how I love it. everyone has a memory of the Show, even if it's about whingeing long enough to be allowed a Cheese On A Stick and then throwing up on the rides later...

this year I had the absolute pleasure and sterling excuse (not that I needed one) to take The Dinghy for his first trip to the Show.

they've moved the Animal Nursery close to the main gates, presumably for better access. that's great... but it's gone from a wonderfully spacious, well-ventilated, purpose-built shed to a tent - with queueing in full sun. not a scrap of shade. and no room for strollers, you had to leave them outside and cart wee ones through on the hip. I'm hoping it's just temporary, because it all looked pretty stupid. no thanks.

just as well they had a few animals outside - Saanen goats, uber-fluffy Bantams, the squealiest pigs in the universe, a Clydesdale, some donkeys, and an imperious baby camel.

then we went through the displays, stopping to buy the 70th anniversary CWA cookbook and some jam. because you have to, you know. I believe the judges of the district displays got it right this year, Northern Districts was fab.

the butterfly wings went up and down ever so slowly. extra points for technology! :-)

one of my traditions is to find the judging results scattered through the pavilions. I have a weakness for the ribbons. they're always folded, rolled or furled so beautifully.

I like a good ribbon, and I like a stalk of sorghum with me pulses.

next up was one of the most important things about the Show... the Rich Fruit Cake Competition. I believe wars have been started over lesser matters.

you can't see it here, but the heading on the display case read, "Non-Perishable".

enough said.

we waded through the arts section, which as usual varied...

from the sublime... to the ridiculous. and a little cuteness in between :-)

while The Dinghy was asleep, I nicked into the Showbag Hall of Infinite Mysteries and was about 9 again. except with more money. but also more discipline! strange how that works.

and anyway, there was no Little Miss Naughty or Powerpuff Girl showbags this year. curses.

left to right - The Dinghy's First Showbags (Bananas in Pyjamas and Play School), the Back To One's Childhood Traditional Junk Bags (Darrell Lea Licorice, Sunnyboys, Bertie Beetle), Seniors Card bag (a freebie for The Delightful Nanna), the ABC Organic Gardeners Bag (for the Speedboat). in front - the King Island Cheese bag, the CWA cookbook and jars of jam. the Grapefruit and Ginger Marmalade is a corker.

the best showbag item? has to be this -

don't want our children choking on their cups now, do we?

after a spot of lunch we ended the visit with a look into the Clydesdale stable. The Dinghy decided that horses were the most hilarious thing in the world. he doesn't want a pony, he wants a workhorse. maybe when you're a little older, my love. then we'll talk about a Percheron.

and finally, we got matching tatts -


bcos Aunty is Teh Coolness.

The bunny sacrifices

The sacrifice was prepared.
Note the gag so he can't scream.

The ritual was completed

The verdict was
"There will be a crushing"
(Most likely us but maybe the other lot)

May The Happy Easter Hamster Tickle Thou Knees

All you lucky bastards happy souls at Rowany, have a beer for me, if ya are not there have a beer for me anyways. I'll be having one for you.

Nothing like a hamster's butt to cheer your day

A guilty rant.

I went flat out on thesis for a couple of months, I couldn't keep up the pace in March, and it is still dragging its heels because my brain is exhausted and can't take another step.
So tired.
But i feel guilty if i'm taking a break so i don't really recharge any batteries.
Can't sleep in cos i feel guilty about not working. Can't work cos i'm so brain dead, and then i feel guilty about not being sensibly rested and wasting precious time. But i feel too guilty about it to actually be able to get rest. WTF?!
Pointless? Hell yes. It got me thinking...


Guilt is the most pointless emotion of the lot - either you regret what you've done or you don't.

Guilt just confuses the issue. It's a mess of what you expect, what other people expect, what you believe other people to expect, and what you think they ought to expect. It makes you feel uneasy about things that you ought not to regret, but can't add anything to things that you genuinely do regret.


There was a study that featured in one of those opinion articles that make it into SMH and the Age showing that females, by and large the more guilt-ridden of the sexes, get a mere 10 minutes elation from a pleasurable indulgence before guilt kicks in and robs us of any benefit, where as guys can ride the high for hours.
Stupid?! Hell yes! But i guess it is par for the course, since females get the responsibility gene too.
You know,
the mentality of "Can't spend money on anything that is not a necessity to ensure they'll be plenty for the bills, next month's insurance, and in case i suddenly need $3000 worth of dental work,"
as opposed to the mentality of "It's my money, i'll spend it how i want, and i'll worry about it when i run out." As my cousin's husband once said, "It's only money - i'll go out tomorrow and make some more."
I wish I could think like that.*
I'd be a lot happier for a start.


*That is not to say that i agree at all with the Sydney trend of taking out the largest loan that they could possibly imagine being able to sustain in order to pay too much for a house. Oh, and then whinging every time the interest rates go up, or the property market falls, or they lose their job, or something other than the perfect home-owning circumstances occur.
I mean, there is guilt, and then there is plain stupidity. I know it is the bank's fault (loans used to be maxed to 70% of the property value with repayments no more than 30% or your income, but that got raised to 100% of the value and 40% of income)** but people still have to wear the consequences of their own actions and cries of "It's not fair" fall on my very deaf ears.

** don't quote me on those numbers - i'm repeating the essence of something i heard.

Once was a tablecloth...

Finding myself in the unusual position of being ready for Festival garb wise (it probably helps that I'm only going for market day, and not camping) I decided to make something for Gemma to wear. Some of you may recognise this as a former tablecloth, but fear not, I have only cut it down to fit the new table (sort of) and used the excess to make this mostly unmedjeval dress for Gemma. As she was asleep at the time, I thought I'd cleverly cut a pattern from clothes she wore and then try the finished product on her when she woke up. Like all cunning plans it went horribly wrong. I first realised that it wasn't going to work when I tried to get the bodice over her head, and it wouldn't fit. Oh crap, I thought, when did she get this big?


So then we got the under arm 'gores' or hastily sewn in bits of material so it will actually go around her.











This is the 'oh crap this material is too stiff to gather and I'm not going to do it by hand' pleat.












This is the 'oh crap it's not going to meet across the back' add in with the eye bits from a hook and eye set.

The ribbon is from a chemise whose sleeves I finally got around to cutting down, as is the incredibly dodgy baby chemise. I think if there was a prize for the most badly constructed baby outfit in the Laurel Prize tourney, I would be a shoo in.

Hit the nail on the head.

And another funny one, just to keep my average up. Two Chinese folks lived in the house on the left for 3 years without leaving, because the moment they did some bulldozer finished turning it into the hole on the right.

Now the story itself could be terrifying or poignant or stupid depending on your point of view, but the picture is awesome.

Fuckers

And on a less fun note, the feds are playing silly buggers with the election rules again. Please all of you make sure you're registered to vote at your current place of residence - theres an on-line check at the AEC website. We need all the smart people voting we can get.

Geek Sanctuary

This looks like good geeky butt kicking for goodness fun (click the image for their home page.) The entire show is being filmed in greenscreen so they can go mad with digital effects, its going to be available only on the web, and the first few episodes will be free so I'll definitely check it out. Have a look at the trailers on their site - it looks pretty flash.

The Cunning Plan - progress report

I got all the bits out to show off the other day. So we arranged them in order and you can see how far we have come. 18 letters and 1 fill square completed out of the total 30 required.

So if you see a hole where your piece should go....

I realise nothing is going to happen before festival, but since the sewing machine is out, I may actually start joining pieces together soon after. Then I'll really start guilt-tripping people to get stuff finished.

Randall Munroe is a Genius

I don´t think I can say that enough.

He´s my latest favourite thing on the electronic surf-enabled info grid array

We need more satire

ZHANG!

Although she should have dropped the last paragraph. I blame a sub editor.