Attention: Horde

What are you doing here, when you could be here?

..and five thousand trillion fish come jumping out the top..

Oh the joy that is French and Saunders!

Get your CrankyPants now!

Yes it is about time you all stopped talking about it and actually had cranky pants.

If you don't believe me that these are absolutely necessary, here is a sample:

In your face.

I'm not a Facebook user, but I think some of you are. If so, you may want to start screaming at them now; a new policy allows them to post the details of all of your online transactions to other Facebook users, unless you specifically opt out every time you make a purchase. This is essentially for the purposes of marketing - they'll build a profile of your purchases and farm it out to advertisers - but its also a really great high-tech solution to that nasty problem of actually being surprised by gifts...

I should have listened to my shopping muse.

While shopping with the kids last week I saw a handbag, on sale, in a style very much like one I had previously admired which belonged to a friend. Nice choice of colours, attractive price, everything you could wish for. I almost bought it, but decided at the last minute that I didn't really need one, my current bag was fine. Today, while out getting lunch, the strap broke on my handbag. Of course the one I saw was in Canberra, on sale. It's probably sold out by now.

I know I'm getting all political on your arse...

but if you can't throw back your head and crow at the dawn of a new beginning, when do you get to crow?

I heart Keating.



It was tempting to quote the whole article but I'll just give you the tastiest bit -


He said Mr Howard's social agenda had damaged the country, and he had mis-stated his government's economic performance.

"Saturday night's victory was not just a victory for the Labor Party; it was also a victory for those Liberals like Malcolm Fraser, Petro Georgiou and Judi Moylan, who stood against the pernicious erosion of decent standards in our public affairs," Mr Keating wrote.

"The Liberal Party of John Howard, Philip Ruddock, Alexander Downer and Peter Costello is now a party of privilege and punishments. One that lacks that most basic of wellsprings: charity."

Mr Keating said Mr Howard had not taken advantage of the economy's growth or the improvement in relations with country's like Indonesia.

"In the end, Howard didn't understand how great his opportunity was and how it could not be advanced by regressive and reactionary policies fuelled by social exclusion and division," Mr Keating said.

"Let us hope the Liberal Party purges itself of its reactionary majority, for Australia cannot afford another prime minister like John Howard."

The day that was turkey-riffic!

The appearance this morning of the turkey care package from CoznOb reminded me that I was going to impress you all with the wonders that was Turkey Day 07 (aka the-bastards have-left-us- and-gone-overseas-but-we-shall-still-eat -our-own-body-weight-in-turkey day)
I'm distcinctly bad at writing in full senstences so all I shall say is

there was enough Turkey to feed a small army

There were a billion children running up and down the hallway

There was election watching

There was mashed potatoe and corn and salad and everything...all to justify the meal as healthy and distract others from the amount of turkey you had on your plate.

There was Chardonnay being sipped

There were desserts and cupcakes.

There was the talking to Coz n Ob using the magic of the interwebs...made the day seem a bit nicer to be able to chat to them or hear their voices drift in from the other room.

There was much fun and frivolity and It always makes me kinda thankful I have such triffic friends.

oh and there was Team Turkey!!



(blame Snerg for the shirts)

















(lots and lots and lots of thanks to megzz and snerg for letting me have this huuuge 'cunning plan' at their house and the getting of the turkeys and the having to deal with the mess and everything! The turkey gods smile upon you)

because Antony Green is NEVER wrong!

as much as it's possible to have a crush on a Political Analysist...

I heart Antony Green.



to quote the ABC website -

Antony has worked on ABC election coverages for 18 years. He has worked on every federal, state and territory election since his first election with the ABC in Queensland in 1989. He has appeared regularly on camera since the 1993 Federal election, when he was the first to call the return of the Keating government. In all Antony has covered almost 40 election nights with the ABC. The 2007 federal election will be the seventh he has covered.

Antony has a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and computing, and a Bachelor of Economics with honours in politics. Before joining the ABC he worked as a data analyst in the computing industry, and for a polling company. Antony designed the ABC's current election night computer system, which has set new benchmarks in the speed and accuracy of result calls.

go Team Nerd!

that is all.

Postscript: apparently he was at the same school as a few of ForBattle! people. go Team Uber Nerd!

I love Despair

The junk mail they sent me this morning made me smile.

" Yes, you read it correctly. Despair is offering all U.S. customers a chance to purchase anything and everything their hearts desire without having to pay a shipping fee- provided you spend at least $20 dollars on your order. Just use the coupon code "freeshipping" on any order placed between now and the end of November. (International customers are being afforded a separate and exciting money-saving opportunity, detailed at the end of this promotion...)"

And at the end of the mail...

" ** International customers- fear not! - Though we're not extending this particular promotion to those living outside the United States, we've nevertheless engineered- with the help of the Federal Reserve and the profligate deficit spending of the US Government - an exciting discount opportunity! For the foreseeable future, we've arranged for your foreign currencies to be greatly inflated in purchasing power against the US Dollar! That's right, no matter whether you hold Euros, Canadian Dollars, Kiwis, Rubles or even the wimpy little Slovakian koruna- you can buy unprecedented amounts of American made junk, thanks to the amazing benefits of the Henry Poulson's Flaccid Dollar Policy. So go ahead, indulge to your heart's content- knowing all the while that you're saving a fortune, even while those of us in the states are hoarding food, gold and lead and preparing ourselves for hyperinflation! Like we didn't have enough to worry about! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! "

I also like the new slogan.... "We're not satisfied unless you're not satisfied."

www.despair.com I think they are terrific.

Those Wacky Laws

Just read an article on the ABC site about the most ridiculous British laws, which lists some very amusing ones. My favourite, simply for the way it is phrased is number 8:
"It is illegal to avoid telling the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing ". Although the next time I am in Scotland I might randomly ask to use someone's bathroom and see what happens.

I know we have some strange ones as well, like a pub is obliged to feed and stable your horse, and it is legal to urinate in public on the left rear wheel of your car (one presumes men only, although... ). Sydney University used to have a bylaw that if you turned up to exams with your sword (and possibly spurs) you they were obliged to provide you with a pint of ale during the exam. This got repealed when someone tried it.

What are the other strange laws we have that are still hanging around? I'm tempted to say "like prohibiting gay marriage" but I'm sure we are all getting enough political toing and froing this week.

Kevin Rudd - Chinese Propaganda Video

I'm posting this because I think it's funny, but based on the comments on the youtube site on this vid, I'm worried that there will be lame comments. Nonetheless I thought it is worth sharing anyway.

Getting Into The Turkey Day Mood

Appeasing the Turkey God with canned foods. He even went 'Gobble Gobble' when wing flap was lifted. Now you know why I love this country.


Found in Mum-In-Laws pantry. Could be 2 years old, could be 50. Rob is cooking it now, I can smell it as I type.
Damn shame I didn't see this before I sent the care package...which probably hasn't arrived yet so shhhhhh....
It's meant to be a surprise for Turkey Day.

Your own how-to-vote card

The year long election campaign is almost at an end, and shall be celebrated in style with the over-consumption of Turkey. However, before the turkey consumption we must all front up to our local polling place of choice, make some marks on a piece of paper, put it in a box and trust in the process of democracy to give us the government that we want.

Unfortunately it can be hard to determine, with all the political spin, towing of the party line soundbites and media manipulation, which government is the one you want. More importantly, in a democracy based on electorates you are really voting for your local candidate, no matter how much the two major parties are trying to convince you that this is a presidential style election.

So, how do you sort out your extreme left candidate, from your save the children and families christian candidate, and what do they really think about nuclear power, spending on education, and the state of health care? Bring on a brilliant idea by Get Up! the "How should I vote?" page. You answer 20 questions about various issues. They have rung your local candiates with the same 20 questions. This then generates a list of the candidates that share your views on those issues. Maybe, one day, we might get better representative democracy. This can only be a good step in that direction.

Justice!

The idiot US judge - who in earlier years made a bit of a name for himself for railing about pointless lawsuits in America - and who himself tried to sue his drycleaners for 54 million in damages for losing his trousers - lost his lawsuit and his job. To be honest, I would have preferred a little flaming sword action, but I'll take it.

Extrapolation of the Babbage Engine

What the laptop might have looked like if it was invented in the early 1900s:
http://www.datamancer.net/steampunklaptop/steampunklaptop.htm

I want my laptop to start with a key!

No participation while NOT under the influence...

This is classic.

My-Robot

Remember Will Smith in I-Robot? Well, at least, remember the robot?

I bought the video when I was wandering past the Samsung TV shop in Burwood Westfields. They were playing the final cool battle scene on a giant TV and I was so inspired I nipped across to the video store opposite and bought a copy. As an aside I also did the same thing when the Samsung store was playing the final battle scene from Narnia. I mentioned this to the guy in the video store and he told me they provided the Samsung store the videos they played free of charge (but I digress).

Anyway, I figured the I-Robot story was just science fiction and I'd never see commercialy available humanoid robots in my life time. Then I saw this:



Honda has gotten to this from nothing in 20 years. I expect I'll be alive in another 20 years so maybe I will own a household robot one day.

For a more detailed look at Asimo's abilities, check this out.

Nearly there

Woo as they say Hoo

this -


plus this -



plus this -

The idea is those with the money or connections can access this secret highly illegal facility where they can basically fulfill their greatest fantasies. Most people assume that means sex—and on an occasion it does, because that is a lot of people's fantasies—but it's basically scenarios. They can basically reenact scenarios of romance, adventure or anything perfectly, because they become the person that you want them to be—they become that person. They don't act like that person, they are not a robot pretending, they become that person, and then they forget all about it. The problem is the character of Echo, Eliza Dushku's character, stops forgetting. She doesn't completely remember, but she does realize she is a person, and that she might have been a person before she did this, and she doesn't know what that is.


equals Harry wetting himself.*


it's called Dollhouse.

there's also a post and thread on Whedonesque.

you know it's going to be good, so you know it's going to be canned, but at least there's going to be seven episodes. seven! that's almost whole DVDs-worth! ForBattle will never leave the house!



* and I mean that in a caring, supportive way.
probably more supportive once he's changed his pants.

POST 666

Very fitting for some Halloween pictures I took last night. I got home at 7pm from work after getting up at 4:30am so was very tired and not really in the Halloween spirit. But did mange to drag myself out with Rob and co. My costume was dog drool covered cargo pants and a pop lid plastic bottle of white wine.

There’s nothing quite like a last minute invite...

AJ is turning 3 - so come and celebrate with us this Saturday, November 3, at Ryan Park, Stanmore (Sydney, yes Sydney). Bring picnic stuff for a relaxed afternoon of frolicking squealage and nasty blue birthday cake.

We’ll kick off around 11am continuing through until nap time (2ish)

And even though it’s gruesomely late notice we would be completely stoked to see you……

If you feel the urge to buy a present: AJ likes sparkling whites, crisp chardies and Versace. Or planes, trains, automobiles, Bob the builder, Fireman Sam, Postman Pat or any other bloke with a job.