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Showing posts from 2006

the internet is...

addictive, very addictive. So, guess what I've been doing with my time? Spending alot of it on the internet is the right answer here. It's been a while since I had the time an internet access to get addicted, rather than hurrying through my mail and blogs and occasionally checking my web comics, and I am enjoying it. So here are some tidbits to share with you all. A christmassy game ! This is very cute, it has jumping bunnies and bells. The main site also has a game where you have to be santa delivering presents. A holiday calender ! Which is mean and nasty, in a fun way. Overheard in New York , which is an old site that I posted up on spampage but just rediscovered, and the usual webcomics, some of which I have links to on this blog. Oh, and Alex and Alan have a new blog ! Which I will put up a link to as well. Other than that, I will give a short description for Pun of some of the cooking that's been happening... Sylvia made lavender ice-cream from her mediterranean cook ...

the latest episode

I haven't been spending much time around computers with internet access, being either at home or at work. Which is probably not true. But near enough. Well I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats as to whether I did actually get around to enjoying my day last Monday, and the answer is yes, yes I did. Andrew and I went and saw Children of Men, with one free movie ticket. What an awesome movie! Really, I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet. If it's still out. If not, get it on DVD. Anyway, that kept me on the edge of my seat with the suspense and all. It was very real, but a good fictional story. Well made too, with the camerawork and the characters you cared about and all. It was absorbing, and I couldn't look away, and I was freaked out alot and they created this really believable world (which was kinda scary). This is not the best review, but the point I wanted to make was it that it's a good movie. And I think I've done that. The rest o...

one minute more

So afraid In the spin of the world To fall into another's arms So hold me up Just hold me up And I'll be fine In just a little while I'll stand alone In a little while. The night is dark But I don't want to live By someone else's light So shine softly Guide me gently And I'll walk straight Until I shine In a minute I will shine. If I lose myself Where are we? So I don't need you Just stay here One minute more. I'm better off alone But stay A little longer In a minute I'll be fine.

sandman

What a creepy series of comics these do be. (Or graphic novels, whatever you prefer) I think that Neil Gaiman has a very twisted mind. But intriguing at the same time. I mean, he writes some good stories, particularly in comic book form. I think most of his novels seem a little unfinished somehow when you read them. Or the ones I've read anyway. There are some really great ideas though. 'Neverwhere' had a great premise, for example, based in a subterranean world below London, half real but mostly fantastical, populated by the disspossed and the forgotten of the past, present and myth. But I felt dissatisfied with it in the end. Ultimately it didn't feel whole, as though he'd left bits out, and I don't know how well he communicated the setting. As for the story, it was confusing, and I don't remember it all that well now, which must tell you something, right? I only read it at the end of last year. Not that my memory for details is very good... but my point i...

on verse

I had alot of time to kill on the bus trip back from Canberra, and so I was reading through my English textbook (The Norton Anthology of Poetry, 5th edition, so not too bad at all)for about three hours. This is just so that you understand the cotext in which I came up with the idea for this post. Why do people always associate poetry with rhyme? It doesn't have to be the case. And I think that most people would know that alot of poetry doens't rhyme, or is at least not in rhyming couplets. This is not even a new idea. It's not just these new-fangled poets who dispense with tradition and so rhyme. Old English poetry doesn't rhyme, it alliterates instead. Shakespeare often wrote in blank verse which means NO RHYMING. Robert Browning doesn't always write in rhyme. In short, poetry doesn't necessarily equal rhyme even before the 21st century. Now, I have to confess that I am a bit biased in this as I always thought that rhyming couplets tend to sound silly. And abab...

one crowded hour

by Augie March, I love that song! Sadly I listened to the album yesterday and decided it wasn't worth it, but that one song, man, I really like it. Not sure why but there you go, when was love meant to be logical? Actually I think the song talks about that... So there you go. Now my CD wishlist includes: Fallout Boy- From Under the Cork Tree Blanche- If You Can't Trust the Doctors Triple J Hottest 100 Volume 5 and possibly Live- Throwing Copper. Because all of these are good. Well, at least partially. You see I really feel like buying a new cd at the moment, but then you have to justify the expense and there's no reason really and I haven't even been listening much to the CDs I already have. So I'm just making lists in my mind... And waiting for the new Bright Eyes album to come out. Well, first I have to wait for them to record a new album, so it might be some time, but still I'm excited.

chaucer

Now I want to say something that may stir up controversy but probably won't, knowing the readership of this blog, the general irrelevance to anything whatsoever and the fact that it is clearly and blatantly just my opinion against a world which is against me. But I want it to be known that I think that Chaucer is greater than Shakespeare. Yes indeedy. He wrote with wit and great characterization, he wrote huge amounts of stuff, and unlike Shakespeare his works are actually interesting to read all these years on, EVEN THOUGH Middle English is even harder to understand than Shakespeare. Not that Shakespeare is not good, but I think he's overhyped. Shakespeare is not the greatest thing since sliced bread, given the choice between Hamlet and being easily able to make a slice of toast I will go with the toast any day. Not a problem with Chaucer, whio although admired is alot less overhyped, although I may be going some way to tipping the balance here I think that in the scheme of th...

world cup!

As those of you who have not been living under rocks will realise, the Football World Cup is on again. Started on Friday. And I have been hanging around whining because of my lack of SBS reception. Well today I caved and bought a digital set top box, the only problem being that the decent cheap ones were all sold out (apparently) because of the World Cup, and I felt I could only justify buying a dodgy cheap one. Which, alas, turned out to be incapable of picking up SBS. I'll have to return it tomorrow. Anyway, my hopes were all dashed, and were dashed even further when someone at church said that if I had no SBS reception at all (which I don't) a digital box won't fix the problem. I'm not sure if it's true, but if so then it is very, very sad. On the plus side, I managed to see most of the Serbia and Montenegro vs. Netherlands match tonight, by dint of being out with a group of people from church. It was in an RSL club, there were many tv screens, and some people w...

review: espresso tales

The sequel to '44 Scotland Street' by Alexander McCall Smith (author of the well-known 'No. 1 Ladie's Detective Agency' series). It is really a collection of stories based around a collection of characters, set in Edinburgh and centering on 44 Scotland St. They were both enjoyable books, nothing particularly momentous happens, relationships change, small but life-changing things occur, it is lightly humourous and mildly philosophical. Some of the characters, such as the central character, Pat, the gallery owner Matt, the coffee shop owner Big Lou and Bertie, a six year old boy, are quite likeable. Others, such as the narcisistic Bruce and pushy mother Irene are much less so. It's an effective mix. But there are problems. The sage Domenica, neighbour and friend to Pat, began to really irritate me about halfway through the book, through always being 'right', or apparently so, but since I didn't always agree with her it grated. Also she didn't let a...

feeling the same way all over again

So I'm sitting here in the library, and it's rainy and cold outside but soon I'll have to leave and go to work, and I have Norah Jones stuck in my head (hence the title of this post). But I am happy, because I have a new yellow umbrella! I love yellow umbrellas, they cheer me up when it is grey and wet outside. Also I saw friends today, which is always nice. On the downside, I have to work tonight. Yeah, it's pretty darn tragic I know. Nice weekend, with new pyjamas and Bollywood movies and library visiting. I'm reading 'Espresso Tales' now, the sequel to '44 Scotland Street' by Alexander McCall Smith, which is kind of nice and kind of annoying, but I'll try to write a review of that when I finish.

highlights

Today someone came into my work wearing a Scary Go Round t-shirt! I was so excited. It's nice to recognise a shared interest in someone, like feeling affinity with people reading Terry Pratchett on the train. Even more so with SGR, because a webcomic is a little more obscure. And I always wanted to buy something from there. Anyway, that just made my day. Apart from that, winter is making me a little morbid, bitter and cynical. Which is not a nice thing. Remind me of nice things in the world? Other than webcomics. And the killer sunset that I saw at the bus stop this afternoon. I am also looking forward to going back to uni next semester. :)

clouds of words

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My 'word cloud'. They seem to be all the rage lately. For your own, go to: http://www.snapshirts.com/index.php. I think mine is pretty cool. I also like the way that my name turned up in everybody's. I'm so cool! Also I won an argument at work the other day. Pretty cool no? First I have to say that there are quite alot of Indian guys who work with me. Secondly that we were listening to one of their ipods, and I was flicking through the songs and I recognised 'Chunari Chunari', so I put it on. And to show off my knowledge remarked that it came from the movie Monsoon Wedding. Instantly I had three Indian guys all arguing that this was a lie. Which was confusing, but I knew it was from that movie (I have seen it many times). One of them kept saying that all Indian movie songs might sound kind of the same, but this song was definitely not in Monsoon Wedding. BUT I WON! Cos in the end one of the guys conceeded that it was in the movie, in the scene where they are re...

fragments

Summer creeps up in flat midnights. All around buildings lie heaped in tatters Across the street a silent singer, Moonshine and tree rattle. The lonely groaning of ibises in rain Bus driver on phone Cackles privately Sweat drips down the backs of knees To tickle our ankles I know it now, that some men kill to save and to destroy Fine filigree twigs against the liquid sky, Brittle being in the immutable immortal. Beauty is truth, truth beauty. Imagination is sublime. So I don’t need you. Just stay here A minute more I’m better off alone But stay A little longer- In a minute I’ll be fine. The forgetful splendour of lazy afternoons Lovers lie rumpled on the grass Courting pigeons Red flowers in bloom A tree’s bare branches against the bright blue sky

email and t.v.

I've been feeling kinda sick lately, all flu-y and the like, so have been unable to think of anything to post... Anyone with hotmail and the 'Windows LiveMail' beta? It's currently getting on my nerves a bit, because they promised that there would be mesage viewing windows on the side of the screen, and either there aren't or mine's not working, and, worst of all, there is no button for to jump from message to message, I have to go back to my inbox every time to open the next email. Drives me crazy! Also I think they could have made it easier to give feedback, I mean, it's a beta, that means feedback is good, right? But I did manage to do that today, so that's o.k. Oh well, it has good features, if they iron out the problems I'm sure it will be good. I've been watching a alot of 'Buffy' lately. Mostly season 2. That was a good season, unmarred by Faith (not so bad, but I didn't like her much), Riley (more irritating, I kept thinking s...

here property is transitory

Well is it to him who seeks grace, consolation from the Father in the heavens. A couple of lines from 'The Wanderer', roughly translated. It came to mind this morning at the church service in memory of the old church building. I say old, it was current so recently... One of the good things has been that we were doing a series on Genesis, and the life of Joseph (of technicolor dreamcoat fame), and how God has a plan even through things that seemto be working for the worst. Which seems appropriate. Also the Great Hall (which is where we were today) has a painting of Joseph's reconciliation with his brothers in it. Anyway it all fits together quite nicely. It was a good service, there were tears and rejoicing. There was organ music, and we had 'How Deep the Father's Love', which is a hymn I love. People remembered the church. My mother was there, she went to Barneys when she was uni. Apparently I was (probably) baptised there. I didn't know that, but there you ...

in memoriam

Last night my church, St Barnabas, was burnt down. I couldn't believe it when I first heard it, that just doesn't happen, right? Buildings don't disappear overnight. Anyway, the first things I thought were: where will we go? How is the minister dealing with this right now? We just had the pews replaced with comfy chairs, it was minorly epic because of the possibility that the pews were heritage listed. The building is heritage listed. I was there just last night. Those old plaques on the wall, the ones that commemorate the lives of past members of the church, the stained glass windows, all these testaments to lives lived for God, are gone. It kind of feels as if someone has died. I watched the early morning news shows, to see if they could shed any light on this. It's always frustrating watching the news for information about a particular thing. You have to sit through 'how to save money in the new budget' and reports on how the miners are alive, well, and above...

my review

Of 'About the Looking for and Finding of Love', which is also reviewed on Pun's blog. It was funny because it was so over the top, it used cliches and the characters were kind of real, but not altogether sympathetic. But I dunno, German humour is really weird, or else I can't really get into things with unsympathetic characters. So it was bizarre, good, but not likely to become one of my favourites. I think for most of the first half it seemed lacking in, I dunno, sincerity? The mix of tragic and comic seemed somehow off to me, they weren't blended in the way that can be sublime. It was sad at the end though... I liked the bits that were sad best. The others I was unsure of. It made me doubt love. You know, there are all these grand tragic love stories, or ones with happy endings, and there is this romantic ideal of love, but in reality all you see are these relationships, full of bickering and stupidity and overall mundanity. Love seems to be like angst, if you are...

reviews in the key of sleepiness

Well, what a sucky day it's been. At work, with horrible managers and making mistakes throughout. But now I look forward to it improving, as I'm about to head over to visit Sophie and Nagisa for dinner. Yay! As for reviews... The Deans Watch by Elizabeth Goudge. I really liked this book, it is very nice. Which sounds like damning it with faint praise, when that's not what I mean at all. The characters are not always nice, but they are generally believable, and they all have some good in them. It restores your faith in humanity. It also really emphasised to me the love of God, that is huge and everywhere, and what being Christian is really about. It restores your faith in God. Now, if you are not a Christian, I don't know whether you'll like this book, because the writer obviously is, and the book is suffused by it. Maybe this would annoy you. But it really shouldn't, because it is a beautiful little book. Written in 1960, set in the late 19th century, it is very...

tripping

Yesterday I had a day off. I also had a relatively new book to read. It had a good first page, and I was gripped by the line: "a galaxy of cream unribbons in my coffee cup". Mostly I liked the word 'unribbons', it is what milk or cream does in a coffee cup. I was slightly irritable after my fruitless attempt to track down a missed caller, and I had to buy a train ticket to Canberra. It was such a warm and sunny day, and after buying my ticket I had nothing really to do, and no-one was around, so I spent the day tripping through the city. I wondered. I was caught up in my book and randomly wondering the city, so basically it was an afternoon spent dipping in and out of reality. From Central station, wondered along through the park. The way to the city from the boarding house, when Nagisa, Lanny, Sophie and I would escape the boarding house for the afternoon for a quick visit to Chinatown. It always seemed different approaching from that direction, if you come straight ...

anime and musicals

I decided to watch the dubbed version of Howl's Moving Castle tonight, just to compare it to the subtitles. But a I only got a few scenes in, then I couldn't handle it anymore and switched back to Japanese with subtitles. So to all of you anime watchers out there: you were right. Subtitles beat dubbed versions anyday. There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, the meaning changes. It's hard to tell how far this holds true when you have to rely on translated subtitles anyway, but I watched some in English with the subtitles on and compared. The gist was usually the same, but the sense was different. The dubbed version in places seemed to be trying to sound more hip and modern, which for me spoilt some of the innocent feel to the movie. Maybe 'cos I was brought up reading old fashioned kids books. But the language was borderline inappropriate some of the time. Well, for really young kids that is. Maybe for 4 year olds. The best example of the difference I can give i...

features! [edit]

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Look, I made a feature spot! I don't think it will always be a feature artist, I was just really liking the photos. Do check them out. Here's a sample for you. Or would be if the photo thingy wasn't so slow. Oh well, look them up anyhow. Here it is! I got it! This photo is by hotburrito2 , who was my feature artist. Other than that... I saw Brokeback Mountain today. It was real sad. Warning, there may be minor spoilers in the next paragraph, I don't know what I want to say yet. There was so much sadness in the movie, it left me with a feeling of melancholy. Which was not that bad, but I find it never pays to let these feelings linger. Anyway, I just came out of it thinking that I (and everybody else) am doomed. Because of love. As Vivian pointed out, love is pain, and so the songwriters and movie makers tell us as well. In the moments of happiness it caused me a pang of loneliness, in the moments of sadness I reflected that love always seems to bring pain with it. There...

new web-comic

That's right! My addiction is not getting any better... But go check out scary go round! It's been around since 2003, and I'm only up to September 2004. In some ways similar to Go Girly, but mostly not. They adventure! Yeah! Plus Shelley is kinda me. She's a "oveable, slightly annoying ingenue. Likes things that are fun... accident prone". And she's red-haired! Yeah! Check my sidebar for the link.

darkness

Last night Ang and I were watching a Studio Ghibli movie set in WWII Japan, in which the ghosts of two children looked back at their lives. Very sad, and a little spooky. About half-way through, all the lights went out, the t.v.turned off and generally there was a blackout. Looking out the window, you could see that almost the whole suburb was dark. There were a few lights away off on the other side of the city-west link on the left, but apart from that there were none to be seen anywhere, apart from a glow in the sky from the city lights. We lit candles, and I thought it would be a good idea to go for a walk to see the suburb without lights and how far the blackout had gone. I walked out the front door holding a candle, into the windy night, and held it up in the wind to blow it out. But it kept burning, because of the structure of the candle, and it looked eerie- a glowing candle in the monochromatic street. So Ang and I walked around the block, but hurried back because of the whinin...

To Start With, Quotes

From my little black book. Sign outside Branxton: "Drive carefully, we have two cemetaries, no hospital" Tombstone, Tilba cemetary: "Whiffo gone fishing A free spirited man who is forever in our hearts" "Heinz tomato ketchup makes food taste KETCHUPPY" - tomato sauce bottle "I was just wondering how I ever could have laughed at you" "I hope you'll always laugh at me" The Day Will Dawn, cheesy movie from 1942 "Each man kills the thing he loves" The Ballad of Reading Gaol, Oscar Wilde Ad outside Japanese restaurant in Sydney city "Sexy chicken on rice" "I don't own a house or a car, all I have is a borrowed tv, but that's what you get when you take off and travel." Random bus stop conversation “She had a voice with hormones” ‘A Woman’s Secret’, 1949 movie “Oolong Imperial: A work of tea art” Tea rooms in the city “The burdens and the joys of being chosen to be more than a flu...