Well here we are. It's 1:00 pm on New Year's Eve and we're packing to head off for our big one night camping adventure on Cockatoo Island to see the fireworks. Apart from the camping bit I'm looking forward to it. It has always been a dream to see the wonderful Sydney NYE fireworks up close and personal.
As always it's unbelievable that another year has flown by. I was just reading Heather's thoughts on Dooce.com which made me think how rarely I have time to reflect on my own life... apart from through this blog of course. Life is just too fast and I am grateful that at least I make the time ocassionally to write my musings on life through this little folly.
So let me take a moment to wish all my readers (yes, all three of you!) a happy New Year and all the very best for 2009. May you survive this "credit crunch" [sheesh] with your finances and your sanity intact and may next year bring a little more of what you're wishing for.
I love reading comments, so if you're a regular reader but not much of a comment writer please take a moment here and there to leave one. I really get a thrill from reading them.
Our fellow campers have arrived so better run.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
FUNNY!
Go here NOW.*
Please!
*[Is there anything funnier and more in the spirit of baby Jesus than making fun of organised religion? I guess not.]
Go here NOW.*
Please!
*[Is there anything funnier and more in the spirit of baby Jesus than making fun of organised religion? I guess not.]
Friday, December 19, 2008
Regularly I have an impulse to cancel our Foxtel subscription. Some days go by without us turning it on and I start to wonder whether the $100+ per month we spend on it could be better used on adding to my extensive belly button lint collection. But then....
... I come across a documentary like Strummer: The Future is Unwritten and I think "holy shit, thank goodness this wasn't the week I cancelled Foxtel".
The Clash were such a big part of my young life during the early 80s. Yes, they were past their heyday at that point but I was heavily in the middle of mine. Their songs were a big part of the soundtrack of my life. How many nights did I spend in my room, living my adolescent angst through the words of songs like White Riot, Janie Jones and Straight to Hell?
Watching the story of Joe Strummer last night was amazing and scary. The weight of nostalgia literally pinned me down onto the lounge and I felt the actual heaviness of the lost years as a physical force on my body. This was the first time I had ever experienced it in this way. Before I had felt nostalgia as a lighter thing, something almost funny. Now I felt I had crossed a line. I am not young anymore; the wild, hopeful girl who loved The Clash and listened to their battlecries in the sanctuary of her middle-class suburban room is long gone, no denying it.
Worse still, so much worse, I have become someone who is repulsed by young people like I once was, afraid of them. They look like aliens to me, beamed down from another planet. That part of me is now dead and I think I only just realised that last night.
Joe Strummer is dead. And so is my youth.
Hmmm. To think that I once longed for adulthood because I thought it would mean dying my hair any shade of blue I wanted to without getting into trouble.
... I come across a documentary like Strummer: The Future is Unwritten and I think "holy shit, thank goodness this wasn't the week I cancelled Foxtel".
The Clash were such a big part of my young life during the early 80s. Yes, they were past their heyday at that point but I was heavily in the middle of mine. Their songs were a big part of the soundtrack of my life. How many nights did I spend in my room, living my adolescent angst through the words of songs like White Riot, Janie Jones and Straight to Hell?
Watching the story of Joe Strummer last night was amazing and scary. The weight of nostalgia literally pinned me down onto the lounge and I felt the actual heaviness of the lost years as a physical force on my body. This was the first time I had ever experienced it in this way. Before I had felt nostalgia as a lighter thing, something almost funny. Now I felt I had crossed a line. I am not young anymore; the wild, hopeful girl who loved The Clash and listened to their battlecries in the sanctuary of her middle-class suburban room is long gone, no denying it.
Worse still, so much worse, I have become someone who is repulsed by young people like I once was, afraid of them. They look like aliens to me, beamed down from another planet. That part of me is now dead and I think I only just realised that last night.
Joe Strummer is dead. And so is my youth.
Hmmm. To think that I once longed for adulthood because I thought it would mean dying my hair any shade of blue I wanted to without getting into trouble.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Just in case, like me, you have been wondering about the whys, whats and general whereabouts of Bobby Trendy worry no more and check him out in all his splendidness right HERE.
Monday, December 08, 2008
I can't believe that as of this morning (8 December) I have not only sent out our [personalised] Christmas cards but have also bought, wrapped and hidden pretty much all the pressies. I even mailed the annual family photo book to Jay's grandmother in England last week! This is not like me at all, well not in recent years anyway. I used to be super organised Christmas-wise but the last few years (the "children years" I like to call them) things have slipped somewhat.
But somehow, and really it hasn't been through any super hard trying, I've got my Christmas mojo back. It's such a relief to know I can stop thinking about pressies and throw myself into the next couple of weeks of festivities with a relatively clear, guilt-free mind (just don't mention the ACC newsletter and no-one will get hurt).
Ho ho ho!
But somehow, and really it hasn't been through any super hard trying, I've got my Christmas mojo back. It's such a relief to know I can stop thinking about pressies and throw myself into the next couple of weeks of festivities with a relatively clear, guilt-free mind (just don't mention the ACC newsletter and no-one will get hurt).
Ho ho ho!
It never ceases to amaze me how much bullshit politicians and their henchmen can spout. I mean it really is staggering, isn't it?
On Friday I heard an interview about why they haven't installed mobile phone jamming devices in prisons (after it was discovered a young criminal had been running a huge drug distribution gang from his prison cell via a smuggled mobile phone). Basically the NSW Minister was passing the buck onto the Australian Telecommunications whatever who are in charge of both allowing such things and also letting the equipment be imported into the country.
Apparently they had been trying to get these "allowed" for years but keep going from meeting to meeting to testing to a report to another meeting. Bottom line, nothing has been achieved.
Then the guy from the federal group (as above) rang into the say the ball is in the state's court. Blah blah blah.
The sticking point seems to be that this equipment can "leak" outside of the parameters required (i.e. from the prison onto the streets surrounding it) and cause phone problems for other users. However, in the same conversation we found out that in the US and Europe this equipment is being used in theatres, cinemas (hallelujah, praise the lord) and even hotels (to make clients use the expensive phones provided). A man even rang in and said that Gosford Hospital (right here in NSW) has this equpment working.
Which makes one think that all this political babble is just such a huge steaming pile of SHIT. I mean if one government department can provide this system in a hospital, a large, busy hospital set smack in the middle of a residential area where obviously it isn't jamming local phone services for normal people why can't another government department push the same system into prisons (given the additional fact that most prisons are in fact set further away from residential areas than the previously mentioned hospital).
This is what happens when I actually take a moment to listen to a political interview. My brain starts to hurt and I loose the will to live. I guess that's why I usually avoid listening to such crap. Nothing good can come of it. I just can't believe we're paying these morons with our hard earned tax dollars to behave like this. It's stupid, it's pathetic and it's a downright immoral waste of money which can be better spent in a gazillion other ways.
Don't forget my political "jury style" model. It can't be any worse than this.
On Friday I heard an interview about why they haven't installed mobile phone jamming devices in prisons (after it was discovered a young criminal had been running a huge drug distribution gang from his prison cell via a smuggled mobile phone). Basically the NSW Minister was passing the buck onto the Australian Telecommunications whatever who are in charge of both allowing such things and also letting the equipment be imported into the country.
Apparently they had been trying to get these "allowed" for years but keep going from meeting to meeting to testing to a report to another meeting. Bottom line, nothing has been achieved.
Then the guy from the federal group (as above) rang into the say the ball is in the state's court. Blah blah blah.
The sticking point seems to be that this equipment can "leak" outside of the parameters required (i.e. from the prison onto the streets surrounding it) and cause phone problems for other users. However, in the same conversation we found out that in the US and Europe this equipment is being used in theatres, cinemas (hallelujah, praise the lord) and even hotels (to make clients use the expensive phones provided). A man even rang in and said that Gosford Hospital (right here in NSW) has this equpment working.
Which makes one think that all this political babble is just such a huge steaming pile of SHIT. I mean if one government department can provide this system in a hospital, a large, busy hospital set smack in the middle of a residential area where obviously it isn't jamming local phone services for normal people why can't another government department push the same system into prisons (given the additional fact that most prisons are in fact set further away from residential areas than the previously mentioned hospital).
This is what happens when I actually take a moment to listen to a political interview. My brain starts to hurt and I loose the will to live. I guess that's why I usually avoid listening to such crap. Nothing good can come of it. I just can't believe we're paying these morons with our hard earned tax dollars to behave like this. It's stupid, it's pathetic and it's a downright immoral waste of money which can be better spent in a gazillion other ways.
Don't forget my political "jury style" model. It can't be any worse than this.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
So I'll start with the bad and end with the good.
The John Mellencamp/Day on the Green at the Hunter Valley weekend was both. The "bad" included the late arrival on Friday night (following Will's successful night at DanceFever - his school won 1st place in both categories, not that I like to gloat). I just can't do the late nights anymore, it literally takes me a week to recover.
Also, the Day on the Green event itself. Really for $200 a ticket you may expect a little more, comfort-wise. I certainly didn't expect to park on the side of the road a kilometre away from the venue (the advertised car park being closed for no known reason) and hike the distance in sloshy mud in my new red, patent sandals. I didn't expect to be using disgustingly filthy porta-loos which were also a reasonable up-hill, through-mud hike from our seats. I only half-expected the prices of the over-priced, under-quality food and the enormous queues. Really I guess I just didn't fully expect the level of rip-off and discomfort, all of which totally exceeded my expectations in the negative direction.
If I didn't already hold tickets for Leonard Cohen at a Day on the Green I would certainly not ever be attending another one.
Having said that, let me say this. John Mellencamp was awesome. I wouldn't call myself a huge fan, having always referred to him as Bruce Springsteen-lite. But I love Jack and Diane and happily sing along to I Want A Lover (That Won't Drive Me Crazy) (apparently Australia being the only place that was a hit) and Hurt So Good, among others.
The accoustic version of Lover was terrific, given that he seems happy never to sing that song again as long as he lives. The full-blown, OTT verison of Hurt So Good was amazing. But it was the other songs, the ones I had half-forgotten which blew me away; Paper In Fire, Check It Out, Small Town.
Despite the physical annoyances of the evening, it was a huge night.
PS Sheryl Crow was also great. Again, I'm not a big fan but I love Are You Strong Enough To Be My Man, which sounded great under the setting sun.
The John Mellencamp/Day on the Green at the Hunter Valley weekend was both. The "bad" included the late arrival on Friday night (following Will's successful night at DanceFever - his school won 1st place in both categories, not that I like to gloat). I just can't do the late nights anymore, it literally takes me a week to recover.
Also, the Day on the Green event itself. Really for $200 a ticket you may expect a little more, comfort-wise. I certainly didn't expect to park on the side of the road a kilometre away from the venue (the advertised car park being closed for no known reason) and hike the distance in sloshy mud in my new red, patent sandals. I didn't expect to be using disgustingly filthy porta-loos which were also a reasonable up-hill, through-mud hike from our seats. I only half-expected the prices of the over-priced, under-quality food and the enormous queues. Really I guess I just didn't fully expect the level of rip-off and discomfort, all of which totally exceeded my expectations in the negative direction.
If I didn't already hold tickets for Leonard Cohen at a Day on the Green I would certainly not ever be attending another one.
Having said that, let me say this. John Mellencamp was awesome. I wouldn't call myself a huge fan, having always referred to him as Bruce Springsteen-lite. But I love Jack and Diane and happily sing along to I Want A Lover (That Won't Drive Me Crazy) (apparently Australia being the only place that was a hit) and Hurt So Good, among others.
The accoustic version of Lover was terrific, given that he seems happy never to sing that song again as long as he lives. The full-blown, OTT verison of Hurt So Good was amazing. But it was the other songs, the ones I had half-forgotten which blew me away; Paper In Fire, Check It Out, Small Town.
Despite the physical annoyances of the evening, it was a huge night.
PS Sheryl Crow was also great. Again, I'm not a big fan but I love Are You Strong Enough To Be My Man, which sounded great under the setting sun.
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