See You Next Wednesday

2012-02-20T17:04:00.002+10:00

More Internet fun.

I broke my preferences, but I have many bookmarks so all is not lost.

More actual fun.

Impro courses started again last week, and a new volleyball season starts soon, and any day now Narayan will reanimate his Werewolf game, and there's more Mouse Guard tomorrow.

2012-01-28T09:24:00.002+10:00

Life gets me higher.

I played a lot in January. Due to foreseen absences we have played board games instead of roleplaying games for the last two weeks at Duffy Street. Before that, Oli had a birthday board game celebration. I went to an improvised theatre workshop where a lot of games were played to devise a performance format. I also went to Impro Karaoke where even more games were played. I played beach volleyball - I think we may have even won a set. Later I'm going to go to Cancon where I will probably buy some board games to give away as birthday presents. Tomorrow I will play Mike's Amber game for the last time, Monday is beach volleyball again, and Tuesday is back to Mouse Guard at Duffy Street. What a lot of fun I'm having.

Fabulous people are fabulous.

Danica and Jonno got married. Gosh, how lovely! Congratulations you two fantastic people. Best wishes for your bright and beautiful life together.

2011-12-28T13:19:00.002+10:00

Season's greetings. Feed the world.

I visited my pa for his birthday on 22 December. It rained a lot and we watched Private Schulz. Then we both visited Jo, Koko, Mikey and Nils for Christmas. On the trip we saw a caravan flip over on the freeway. It was sunnier in Sydney than Woy Woy so we ran around in the park a bit. Later we watched some Ripping Y a r n s, Tales from Earthsea and Hercules Returns. On Boxing Day I visited my ma; I filleted a trout and we watched The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe and Red Dog.

My current Internet peeve is search engines which do things such as: when presented with "Four Weddings", return Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer as the most likely candidate and place Four Weddings and a Funeral outside the top five (or, when presented with "news 23 December 2011 caravan F3", return an NSW RTA media release from 2004 about driving safely).

See You Next Wednesday is ten years old today.
(Note to self: post this today.)

2011-12-20T17:36:00.002+10:00

Let’s see if this still works.

On Friday my car had its 200Mm service; it will have to go back in the new year for a “clutch kit”, I am told. The service engine light came back on* about half an hour after I drove away. While my car was being serviced I went to the dentist; I have to go back in the new year to clean up some decay and touch up a couple of fillings. Then I did my Christmas shopping which I managed not to complete despite using a list; some people will be getting new year’s gifts this season. In the evening I went to the Impro ACT end-of-year event. Brad, Dave, Heidi, Marco, Nick, Ruth and I did a long-form format Heidi had developed in our class called Homeward which was great fun. Other people watched and clapped at the end and said it was fun to watch too, which is nice.

On Saturday Alex, Ash, Gavin, James, Morgyn, Shy and Terence helped James move to his recently bought house. There were two trailers and some stuff had been moved already so it was not a lot of work, but it expanded to fill the time available. Once there were two people loading furniture onto a trailer while five people stood in the driveway watching them and a funny person said “Hooray! Teamwork!” James bought pizzas for lunch and Danica bought icy-poles too, which is nice.

On Sunday I got my Heroclix out of the shed but I’m not allowed to play with them until I’ve finished my Christmas gift wrapping, which will probably be in the new year. In the afternoon I played in Mike’s Arthurian Amber game with Chris, Julie, Justin and Shy. Mike runs games differently to how I am used to games being run: players keep their character secrets secret, NPC motivations change as the real world requires, character development is prescribed by the GM. We received experience and although I got the least amount, and I’m not sure how to use it, I am sure I have more than I will need, which is nice.

That was another good day.

* The service engine light has been on constantly since the NRMA replaced the “compressor and lines”, except for an intermittent period over two days after Toyota checked it and determined it was a “stressed sensor”. This time it was a “historical code” and the “buffer was flushed”. Yet it returns...

2011-12-13T22:02:00.002+10:00

Goodbye Uncle Henry.

Uncle Henry died. I think my dad is now the oldest living person in his family. For reasons I'm also not going to write about, it's sadder than I care to write about.

2011-10-30T09:32:00.004+10:00

Goodbye Uncle Davey.

Uncle Davey died. Looking back, I think I learned a lot about courtesy, politeness and tolerance from him. I flew to Melbourne with Ma on Thursday and stayed with Aunty Zibby. Andy flew in Thursday night and stayed with Aunty Nan. Mikey flew in Friday morning for the funeral. Cousin Anna, Ma and Uncle Graeme read the eulogy; cousin Paul and Andy read Bible passages. I met some great-aunts and great-uncles, some old second-cousins and two new ones; Paul and Miranda's daughter Elouise, and Anna and Mick's daughter Mya. I know if you were not there, and Davey had been, then he would have asked how you were. I love my family.

2011-10-04T21:45:00.002+10:00

Meanwhile.

Amongst the things I have done recently are such diverse elements as Belong (excellent), Namatjira (less than excellent), Mike's untitled Amber game, another impro course, and my ma's seventieth birthday celebration at Yeola in Kangaroo Valley over a long weekend.

2011-08-11T17:44:00.002+10:00

Poorly Executed

I saw Julius Caesar. There was very clever staging with nice neat chairs for Rome and messy chairs for the final battles. People would enter and exit the area outlined by the chairs pausing for a beat in synch when scenes changed. That was very effective. There were a couple of microphone stands used for whispered asides and crowd scenes and such. That was good too.

But mostly it was dull. The costumes were black and grey. Anger, grief, love, pride all required shouting and more shouting. A few people hung their head or stared painfully goggle-eyed for a while, but nobody actually cried. Portia died off stage, possible even during the interval.

Also, it was a little confused. Cassius was played by a lady and the pronouns were changed, but not the rest of the script so "she" was still a "man". Portia's "I have a man's will but a woman's might" line was nonsense because at the same time Cassius was orchestrating Caesar's assassination. And at the end an elaborately staged theatrical device suggested Rome was restored, contrary to the battle results.

2011-08-07T09:20:00.003+10:00

Uncharacteristic

I saw Untrained and I think it could have been much better. Without the characters the show is just two men doing dance exercises and two men doing dance exercises poorly. About half way in the characters began to emerge and it began to be interesting, and then it was all over. It didn't need to be longer, it needed to start sooner and not to spend half the show warming up.

Also, it was the first night, so the audience was full of friends of the performers and sections tried valiantly to applaud every action on stage - which didn't help.

2011-07-26T11:55:00.001+10:00

Improvised sleep.

The last day of Improvention was approximately twenty-four hours from "where is coffee?" to "tequila is empty". What fun!

Yesterday, I had a lovely lunch with Emma-Jean and met her new building, visited my ma for tea and computer support, gardened until the bins were full, and played volleyball relatively well.

2011-07-23T23:39:00.003+10:00

Improvised improvisation.

Today's workshop at Improvention examined determining the conclusion of the dialogue and action by resolving the emotional narrative. It was fascinating, like neurological ethics. (In a good way.)

2011-07-23T00:56:00.002+10:00

Improvised Strindberg.

That pretty much sums up today's workshop. This looks like fun in an 'if you are into that sort of thing' way. Also, I'm a bit sleepy now so my judgement may be impaired. Certainly I have failed to adequately communicate the quality of my day. It was a nice day (for want of an adequate communication).

2011-07-22T01:39:00.002+10:00

Improvised interpretive dance.

Today at Improvention I did a "Move & Discover" workshop where the improvisation is informed by the physicality of the scene rather than the other way around blah jargon. Unfortunately I ate poorly for lunch and had to stop being quite so physical while the blood moved back to my brain from the regurgitation centres it was gathering in. It was my own fault for failing to correct the food service provider when she asked "What sauce?" and I said "Tomato, thank you" and she asked "What?" and I said "Tomato" and she put mayonnaise on my lunch.

2011-07-21T00:49:00.000+10:00

Improvised theatrical devices.

Today I did a workshop about how you can improvise an entire long form performance by pretty much doing everything you avoid when you perform short form scenes. There seems to be a lot of 'how to break the rules' going on in the conference sessions and workshops generally.

2011-07-19T18:40:00.000+10:00

Improvised romance.

Today at Improvention I learned about flirting and romantic love. The workshop also had sex on the agenda, but we ran out of time.

2011-07-19T00:01:00.002+10:00

Improvised singing.

Today I went to Improvention. Actually, I'm going to Improvention all week. Today they taught me how to sing. Not only do they not know the rule about Christopher singing (i.e. I'm not allowed to), they're positively against it in concept. Fortunately for everybody it was mostly about bass lines and rhythm rather than notes and lyrics. My brain was full about two thirds of the way through the workshop so the stuff about opera was really just balancing on top of my head and was not assimilated.

2011-06-04T21:41:00.003+10:00

At the theatre.

I saw X-Men: First Class and Thor, but mostly I saw Theatresports and Much Ado About Nothing.

2011-05-23T21:47:00.002+10:00

Muppet typo.

Finical Simplification Project.

2011-05-20T10:44:00.002+10:00

Rebooked.

I have enabled The Facebook again. Mostly because Katey is journalising her European vacation there. Also, people gave me links which I couldn't follow. I shall be calling it The Facebook in a twee attempt to communicate my limited engagement with the medium.

Happy birthday Katey.

2011-05-06T22:48:00.002+10:00

Brilliance.

Tonight I saw Between Breath & Form which was brilliant. If you like modern dance you should see it. If you don't like modern dance you are missing out on something brilliant.

2011-04-15T23:26:00.002+10:00

Facebookless masses.

I have disabled my Facebook account. The noise ratio was too great to bother keeping it up.

Tonight I saw A Commercial Farce. It was okay, the end was written and acted well enough but presented poorly, which let the production down.

2011-03-03T16:00:00.003+10:00

Tree boards.

I saw Little Gem last night; it was very good. Moi fyvorot port woz te oxent.

2011-02-14T21:43:00.002+10:00

Happy Valentine's Day

Ha! Whatever.

2011-01-10T19:37:00.003+10:00

Games

Yesterday I played Alhambra, Ascension and Pandemic. Today I played volleyball. Volleyball was more tiring than all three other games put together, and there was less beer. It was positively sporty.

2010-11-10T16:38:00.002+10:00

Less busy week.

If it wasn't for Matt's birthday picnic I would have had to resort to gatecrashing just to get out of the house on the weekend. Also, last week I went to the dentist. The rain is interfering with the gardening, which is nice. On the other people's hands Dave and Fiona have had an ex utero daughter since Friday and, in unrelated news, Linda's ma is coming on Sunday to visit for ten days.

2010-10-22T22:19:00.003+10:00

Busy week.

On Monday I played volleyball; Wednesday was Twelfth Night; Thursday, my improvisation course; and on Friday I saw Short + Sweet Dance. I hope people feel better soon we can do something on Tuesday's again.

2010-10-20T22:21:00.002+10:00

Shakespeare writes good plays.

I saw Twelfth Night tonight. It reminded me of Much Ado About Nothing, Coriolanus, The Taming of the Shrew and, eventually, the one with Rosalind, As You Like It (not All's Well That Ends Well). While I was trying to remember As You Like It I also recalled Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, King Lear, Troilus and Cressida, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Those are some good plays; there are more, too.

2010-09-21T10:13:00.002+10:00

iMac

My new excuse for not blogging much is because my shiny new puter is a Mac and I haven't used one much since university. I have only just now managed to find my way into my blog account. There are all sorts of obstacles now that I have no preferences recorded: no bookmarks or passwords. Other fun things are keyboard shortcuts which don't do what they're supposed to. Fortunately they mostly do nothing, or beep. I haven't managed to accidentally activate the 'self-destruct' program when trying to 'save' a document. Learning is fun.

Other things I have done since last time include seeing Ben, Cathy, Liz and Rose in short plays; more improvisation games; and volleyball.

2010-08-25T17:46:00.002+10:00

42

I have been having a great birthday season. People have been kind and generous and pleasant and happy - what a lot of nice people everybody is. I had good fun, and frequently tasty food with it. It was grand; I enjoyed myself immensely. I look forward to next year very much.

2010-07-14T21:11:00.002+10:00

Anna married Mick, and it was beautiful.

I went to Melbourne for five days for my cousin's wedding. The event was magnificent despite the weather. I caught up with some rellies, did some jigsaws and crosswords, watched a bit of the World Cup - it was pretty good.

Tonight I saw The Runaways which I enjoyed unexpectedly thanks initially to Emma-Jean and subsequently the soundtrack. Earlier this month I saw Miriam in Jazz Garters at Theatre 3, which was marvellous. I also watched Predators at the cinema, and I stayed awake through it, which was nice.

2010-06-27T00:19:00.002+10:00

More sleeps.

Earlier this month I went to Phenomenon, Supanova and completed my improvisation course.

2010-05-27T17:20:00.001+10:00

Sleepy old blog.

Katey had a birthday. Some of her family came to celebrate, including Polly. Many people celebrated the event by coming together, in various combinations, at different times, for meals at people's homes and cafes like Adore Tea and Hudson's. I didn't go to work from Wednesday to Wednesday - which was nice.

Last night I saw Shorter and Sweeter which was hit and miss in equal proportions.

2010-04-28T18:01:00.002+10:00

Social network singularity.

I can no longer rely on Facebook, G-Mail or other e-mail, the SMS facility on my phone, or Twitter to keep me in timely contact with anybody ever. Just as nobody can rely on my weblog to keep them up to date with my goings on. I wonder what the bang-crunch-bang theory of social universes will throw up next.

Meanwhile I have stopped looking for real estate property to purchase. My theory about a slow period after Christmas was proved wrong by the financial news of various real estate sales records being set in recent months. My new theory is the price of things which meet all other criteria has risen beyond the price criterion. Be that as it may, Shy has changed her mind about things and so now it is over. Also, I found out last week that Linda no longer plans to move in with Anne, so my residential status is quo for the foreseeable future.

Tomorrow I start a nine week improvisation course, which is nice.

2010-04-20T18:15:00.002+10:00

This is the excellent foppery of the world, that, when we are sick in fortune, — often the surfeit of our own behavior, — we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars: as if we were villains by necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and treachers, by spherical predominance; drunkards, liars, and adulterers, by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on: an admirable evasion of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish disposition to the charge of a star! My father compounded with my mother under the dragon's tail; and my nativity was under Ursa Major; so that it follows I am rough and lecherous." Fut! I should have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my bastardizing.
Edmund, "King Lear" Act I, Scene ii

2010-04-07T17:00:00.002+10:00

Easter pentathlon.

Event one: move the boxes of property belonging to Emma-Jean and Gavin from the old place to the new place. All the boxes. Team members Gavin, James and Shy successfully executed the process before the original deadline, negotiating garbage collection vehicles and including lunch. Then the furniture removalists told Gavin they were running four hours late.

Event two: drove Ma and Libby to Sydney. Ma’s late inclusion in the team required a bigger car than mine i.e. hers. I remembered to bring my e-tag for the tollways but the combination of a busy help line and a dysfunctional website meant it didn’t matter; we’ll have to go through the process of transferring the charges to my account after Ma receives the invoices.

Event three: Emma-Jean’s birthday. My clever friend returned from a vacation in the United States of America just in time for Gavin and me to meet her at the airport and celebrate her anniversary. Amongst the revelries were such deeds as eating birthday cake and watching Clash of the Titans. Many happy returns of the day, Emma-Jean.

Event four: tag-team parental units. Ma returned home via the railway station prior to Pa’s arrival (via the same railway station). There was a close encounter with the telephone in the morning but nothing came of it. All in all there were thirteen family members (Andy, Brianna, Chrissy, Frank, Jo, Koko, Leone, Libby, Luke, Mikey, Nils, Sean and Sue) in the house over the weekend – how very ‘last supper’ of us.

Event five: drove Emma-Jean and Gavin back to Canberra, which was nice. Next year I hope to stay in town and conduct a proper* pentathlon. I expect it won't happen.

*Not an Olympic pentathlon, just a five stage event.

2010-03-26T21:32:00.002+10:00

The week is done.

Tomorrow I hope to move furniture.

The next day my sister will visit, which is nice.

2010-03-19T19:09:00.002+10:00

Start again.

On Monday we were all prepared to do it. On Tuesday they told us it had changed. We were supposed to have been be told on Monday - Monday last week, that is. On Wednesday some others spoke to them about the changes to it. On Thursday we were told by the others that it could no longer be done, so they will call it off. Today we are supposed to be working on a different thing because it will be called off, only they haven't actually called it off yet. We should hear something soon - on Monday perhaps.

2010-03-18T22:30:00.002+10:00

Better and less bad.

Mouth is ick-free - but then I ate some of them hot potatoes and now it's tastebud-free. Oops.

2010-03-15T16:46:00.002+10:00

In others' news.

Emma-Jean flew to America. She is visiting some online friends and attending the Emerald City ComiCon before visiting some universities to explore her options for becoming Dr Emma-Jean. In a piece of timing which beggars belief, her real estate agent called after she checked in her luggage and before she went through customs to say she and Gavin were being evicted. I will be helping Gavin pack up their house and move to a new one; hopefully before Emma-Jean returns in three weeks. That would be nice.

Officially not sick.

The ick under my tongue is a virus which causes blisters. It probably has a name, but not one worth mentioning to the patient. (And it's not herpes.) It can extend through the alimentary canal and if my bottom starts bleeding then I will be officially sick - as you would expect, with or without the ick-mouth. But, until that happens, I just have a virus which causes blisters, so it's the rest of the antiviral drugs and plenty more of fluids for me.

2010-03-13T09:15:00.003+10:00

Ick-mouth.

My tongue has about a dozen little blisters on the underside. The doctor knows what it looks like (herpes) but it isn't accompanied by any of the other, usually more common, symptoms (e.g. a cold sore). The tests come back on Monday. Meanwhile it's plenty of fluids and antiviral drugs for me and distant social contact. It feels like I've bitten my tongue quite hard just a few miutes ago.

(Also, it doesn't look like the pictures on the Internet. Take note, Internet dependent self-diagnosticians.)

2010-03-09T17:24:00.003+10:00

Happy times and places.

Friday
At another pub quiz with Bill, Dave, Dave, Dawn, Doris, Gabrielle, John, Lee-Anne and Maryanne we won a lot of hats.

Saturday
I looked at two houses with Shy; still no luck. It seems the period between Christmas and Easter forms a bit of a trough in the real estate market. I have another theory of real estate: houses are built for nuclear families so only one bedroom needs to be large enough to fit a double bed, at least for the specific case of houses which go up for sale. Saturday evening was spent with Emma-Jean, Gavin, Matt and Terence at the Pro Wrestling Alliance National Championship event, which was nice. (The evening could have continued at a nightclub or two but I'd had such a good time so far I didn't want spoil it.)

Sunday
Celebrated young mister Bryce's birthday (eve) at lunch, including delicious caramel birthday cake, with Alex, Angela, Emma-Jean, Gavin, James, Matt, Michael, Morgyn, Shy and Terence. That was followed by birthday singing of Beatles and Queen songs karaoke style with Matt's home entertainment system (and fewer people). Then we ate tasty Turkish birthday dinner; and eventually watched Zoolander (with even fewer people). Good party, Bryce.

Monday
No work today because: we live in Canberra. I watched Alice in Wonderland on the big screen with Narayan, Seema and Shy. Then I was lucky enough to catch up with Emma-Jean and Matt for a game of Bryce's birthday (for reals today) present Ticket to Ride - Märklin. Bryce won but everybody else had a good excuse for why they were fifty or sixty points behind him. No, really, it was just bad luck and not because it was his birthday.

Tuesday
Work today, but I do get to play games with Dave, Emma-Jean, Gavin and Jimbo tonight, which is nice.

2010-03-03T16:36:00.000+10:00

Sleepy-head.

Today, I am a sleepy-head.

2010-03-02T16:08:00.002+10:00

Muppets butt heads.

The writer's meeting gave Fozzie a few pointers and he polished up his routine. At the read-through Gonzo pointed out a spelling error. Fozzie said it didn't matter, it was a read-through.Gonzo pointed out a grammatical error. Fozzie said it was common usage but he would change it if Gonzo insisted. Gonzo didn't insist. Then Gonzo pointed out another spelling error. Fozzie suggested Gonzo should keep the spelling lesson until after the read-through if it wasn't interfering with the readability of the script. Gonzo agreed. Then Gonzo had a problem with Fozzie's golliwog reference because somebody might not think it was a joke. Fozzie suggested if somebody was at a comedy show they would be expecting jokes. Gonzo said the blonde joke and the gay joke might also cause offence (he also found a grammatical error in the blonde joke but said it wasn't important). Fozzie asked Gonzo why he was bringing up these issues at the read-through instead of at the writer's meeting. Gonzo agreed the writer's meeting was the best time to discuss the problems, but that was no reason not to correct them now. Fozzie said Gonzo was a pedantic control-freak and the reason they had the writer's meeting, which Gonzo was at, was to deal with this type of thing so the read-through would go smoothly. Gonzo agreed, then he pointed out Fozzie had used "effect" in an ambiguous way. If he had spelled "affect" incorrectly then it made sense but if he did mean "effect" then it wasn't really humorous. Fozzie called Gonzo a megalomaniac and stormed out of the read-through. Later, Fozzie asked me to proofread his script; and Gonzo asked me what a megalomaniac was.

2010-02-24T17:40:00.002+10:00

Thirty-one million, five hundred and fifty-six thousand, nine hundred and fifty-two seconds.

Sam the Eagle is in charge of editing and publishing the schedule of rehearsals and performances, and the promotional season calendar, amongst other things. He has done the job for over a decade. Today he asked Scooter:
"Can you tell me, please, was 2008 a leap year?"
"Yes."
"And how do you know that?"
"It's divisible by four."
"It's divisible by four. With no remainder."
"Yes."
"So it would have 366 days, not 365."
"Yes."
"Okay, thank you."

How does he not know that?

2010-02-23T15:42:00.004+10:00

Reanalogizing... now!

I was going to redecorate the U.S.S. Swinetrek for the rebooted Pigs in Space, but the costume department hasn't come to a design decision so it's been put off until spring. I was selected because of my experience with redecorating and not my familiarity with the Swinetrek set, so I have been doing a lot of reverse engineering to catch up. Fortunately, this means nobody else's time has been wasted for the last three weeks, just mine.

I will probably be redeployed to Muppet Labs, but meanwhile it's back to the maintenance roster for me. There are problems with the Family Season Tickets, Children's Season Tickets, Adult Concession Season Tickets, Family with Adult Concession Season Tickets, and Resubscription Discount Season Tickets. However there isn't anything wrong with the Single Adult Season Tickets which means each of the ticket problems has to be fixed separately so as not to disturb the small part of the system which works.

In Real Life.

The house market has been very slow since Christmas. I am led to understand a house on land in Canberra is currently overpriced by around fifteen percent, and the local prices will continue to be met by investment buyers because [political rhetoric and individual anecdotes sprinkled with economic jargon], but we should keep looking.

I found a group on the Internet which meets for coffee once a fortnight so I went along to three. About a dozen people showed up each time. The loud people monopolized the conversation with the interesting people leaving the nice people to entertain the dull people, as you might expect, but with twelve people after a while there was some circulation. Sometimes the conversation was interesting - I heard about a pod of orcas which cooperated with the whaling station at Eden on the New South Wales coast; I learned what you can throw in the recycling bin in Canberra; and I was told where lap dogs like to defecate when it's too wet to go outside - sometimes it was not interesting. There were some people who were new to Canberra and felt very welcome, which was nice. On the last occasion, after coffee, I went to see Valentine's Day on the day and I was invited to an English Second Language conversation afternoon which was alleged to have a website I have completely failed to find.

2010-02-22T20:35:00.002+10:00

Phone Phreaking.

(Not as exciting as you might think.)

My phone seems to be using a stockpile of old timestamps on my outgoing messages. On Saturday afternoon I sent seven messages within a few minutes. The first four were a minute or two apart up to 14:42 20/02; the next three were dated 13:41 26/01, 16:33 26/01 and 08:21 27/01. Later on Saturday two messages sent within minutes of each other were dated 12:43 27/01 (inaccurate) and 16:30 20/02 (accurate). Only one of the next twelve messages was correctly dated. Messages sent minutes apart had time gaps of five to seventeen hours. The incorrect dates have been applied in chronological order, progressing from 13:41 26/01 to 21:21 30/01 over the last forty-eight hours. The timestamps on incoming messages are okay, and as far as I know the clock has been correct.

2010-02-21T14:59:00.002+10:00

Emma-Jean victorious.

Emma-Jean went to Melbourne to talk about linguistics and received the necessary and sufficient acclaim to make it impossible for here to deny her cleverness. And she's my friend. She's my clever friend.

Gang a-gley.

Narayan was still in India on Thursday so the consensus was there would be no Werewolf on Saturday. On Friday there was no Vampire due to illness - but nobody told me until Saturday. Even then Shy told me and she doesn't even play in that game, but someone had told her it wasn't on. I was going to see Up at the cinema today because I missed out when it was released - but it turns out it's not on until Sunday 28th... of March.

On the other hand I was free to give Liz a hand wrangling Asher when her horrid fever got the better of her maternal coping powers. We also watched the first season of Venture Brothers on a jolly big television screen, which was nice.

2010-02-18T16:49:00.002+10:00

Muppet epistemology.

"Everyone remembers Galileo as being right; but he wasn't, he just said he was. At the time, all the mathematical studies agreed with an Earth centred universe. It wasn't until more recently that they showed the Earth goes around the Sun and it just happened to agree with Galileo."

(I should analogize these things - someone may recognize themself one day.)

2010-02-17T17:04:00.002+10:00

Blog for Noly.

Today I spent a significant part of my day at work* teaching a new staff member how to use an application I have never used myself. It was my job because I'm his "workplace buddy" and someone (else, higher up) told him he has to use it. (Did I mention I've never had to use it.) Also, the system was slow to the point of timing out - which simply confounded any diagnostic algorithms. And finally his access became denied, and his password was reset, and his new password was too long for the password field.

Fortunately Emma-Jean was visiting my house when I got home so now I feel much better.

*If I tried to make this a Muppet-analogue it would never get posted. The Muppets are ridiculous; this was just stupid.

2010-02-16T16:29:00.002+10:00

Muppetspeak.

Nearby cubicle asks, “Did you hear about the guy who was running around assaulting mothers by rubbing chili powder on their kids’ faces?”
Neighbouring cubicle replies, “Yeah. What kind of person does that sort of thing? You couldn’t call them a pædophile.”
Nearby cubicle says, “No. I would do it to teenagers in the [mall], but not babies.”

2010-02-10T16:06:00.000+10:00

Curse.

Jimbo caught a cold: neither dungeons nor dragons were played.

Bless.

My electronic devices are working properly again. Peace and hugs for everybody.

2010-02-09T17:20:00.002+10:00

Pub Quiz.

I went to a pub quiz I found on the Internet. I met Dave, Dave, Desleigh, Doris, John, Lyn and Mary Anne who organised it. Three of our answers were complete guesses. We tied for first place and won the tie-breaker, which was nice.

Military Christian Fellowship.

No, not really; Multi-Cultural Festival actually. I went along for a few hours and met up with Emma-Jean, Gavin and Shy, then they went home. I also saw Angela, Bela and Mike there. I saw Polynesian dancers, belly dancers, a South American pipe band, African drumming, flamenco dancers and an escape artist. Then I got a bellyache and went home to bed.

Fey blood.

Last week my mobile phone stopped ringing and my (electronic) diary stopped reminding me about appointments. (Some people might think this is a good thing, but if I didn't want to be reminded I wouldn't put them in my diary.) My phone rings for phone calls now, but not SMSs yet, and my diary has resumed reminding me of appointments - but only up to the last one, who knows when it will happen again. Today, at work, my phone calls and e-mails are not being answered. Perhaps I am a hobgoblin.

Games.

Tonight I will probably play Dungeons& Dragons with Dave, Emma-Jean, Gavin, Jimbo and Simon. That should be fun.

2010-02-03T16:09:00.002+10:00

Where did everybody go?

No meeting; no coffee; no game; no movie; no rescheduled meeting. Everyone is busy or just not up to it. That's why this post is all about me (count the 'I's*).

I saw Up In The Air which I liked. I like airports and traveling, and I liked the snappy editing. I think I missed something in the confirmed bachelor's speech to his new brother-in-law, but it served its purpose to mark the turning point in the story anyway. I also saw It's Complicated which was poor. By the end of the movie the three adult children of the 'complicated' relationship are huddled together in bed crying and yet nobody is the bad guy. I thought there was a loathsome, despicable guy; but he was childish and comical, everybody loves him and ultimately he goes unpunished - so the movie didn't think he was a bad guy. I liked the children; I wish they had more story.

Emma-Jean's game of Lexicon (Eternity·8) has made it past Round L which proved to be the final round of the other Lexicon game I played. Hooray! Emma-Jean has the unenviable task of herding the cats playing Eternity·8. Players constantly miss deadlines, turns now take a week, and I don't think there is a single rule which hasn't been broken. I am constantly amazed (well, on a weekly basis at least) that people selected for their creative output, who made an informed decision to participate in the project, can't seem to produce a hundred words in a week. Some Lexicon games have a daily turnaround, or run concurrent rounds. So - you can blame them for making me think I could write in my weblog more often.

*Fourteen.

2010-01-20T18:39:00.002+10:00

Wednesday!

Many happy returns of tomorrow, Chris.

2009-12-17T00:40:00.002+10:00

Oops.

Forgot it was Wednesday. Again. Now it's December. But it doesn't have to be Wednesday* to blog. Hooray!

Last week I saw a poet named Jacinta who recited a neat poem about how November wouldn't leave so December could come around. I don't have that problem so I'd better deliver my seasonal greetings now:
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

I expect my new year's salutation will be tardy; have a good one.

*It's always Wednesday somewhere in the world. Frequently in North America, for example.

2009-11-18T18:23:00.003+10:00

House crawling.

No house yet; but the numbers look okay for the loan, when it is needed.

I am still not inspired to write much.

(See.)

2009-11-11T16:47:00.002+10:00

No buzz today,

my tubes has gone away.
the weblog stands forlorn,
a symbol of the pr0n.
No buzz today,
it seems a common site.
But people surfing by
Cant has teh reason why.

That didn't work as well as it might.

2009-11-04T18:04:00.002+10:00

More buzz.

I'm going to the bank next week to find out how much we can borrow. It creates a highly variable deadline for so many, many other things. It's a new kind of anxiety.

2009-10-28T19:59:00.002+10:00

What's the buzz?

Started looking at houses. There's a long way to go.

(My blog fu is on the wane. You may have noticed.)

2009-10-21T22:44:00.001+10:00

Too slow.

I saw a movie and played some games and nearly forgot to write about it...

2009-10-14T17:42:00.002+10:00

My long weekend.

Last week I went to Armidale to watch Emma-Jean graduate with a Master of Arts degree in Applied Linguistics.
"Emma-Jean is clever,
Emma-Jean is my friend;
She's my clever friend."
On Saturday I saw Whip It with Bob, Bryce, Emma-Jean, Gavin and Mark. On Sunday Connor, Dave, Emma-Jean, Fiona, Gavin, Jacky, Jimbo and I took Simon wine-tasting to celebrate his birthday; which was nice.

2009-10-07T16:27:00.003+10:00

It's not easy yet.

On the weekend I dug up Dan and Kristine's garden with Bryce, James, Narayan, Shy and Terence. Yesterday I played Dungeons & Dragons with Dave, Emma-Jean, Gavin, Jimbo and Simon. Tomorrow I'm going to go to Armidale to see Emma-Jean graduate; she is officially Very Clever. Linda has nearly beaten World of Warcraft. Hoorays for friends!

Also,

Many happy returns of the day, Simon.

2009-10-01T17:52:00.001+10:00

Happy birthday, Ma.

Many happy returns of the day.

2009-09-30T11:31:00.002+10:00

Day off.

I've had all day to write this one.

Happy birthday, Doctor von Thomson.

2009-09-23T17:37:00.003+10:00

The boxes are still here.

I went into the box room the other day and found a computer monitor which was overlooked when I took five computers, four printers, two monitors and a crate of peripherals to the tip. It wasn't a small one either; the box is a fifty centimetre sided cube. I wonder how I missed it - then I reconsider just how much material has been gathered here and despair. It's been rainy so I haven't been in the shed. (It was a bit sunny, but I used that to mow the lawn.)

Generally I have been coasting along on the happiness achieved by lowered expectations; barring crisortunities I can do this for years. One day, soon, I hope, I will do something remarkable. On that day, or shortly after, I will remark upon it here. I'm not holding my breath however, for that way lies disappointment and fainting. If your lungs can't exchange anticipatrons for carbon dioxide I suggest you also keep your diaphragm undulating.

(I have used 'I' too much for my liking, but writing them out would take too long and it would probably never get posted.)

2009-09-19T07:27:00.002+10:00

Someone else said it better.

"It's too late for the government to train me to be a weapon. For someone to approach me on the street, and to tell me I match a certain profile. I probably won't even learn another language well enough to speak it fluently. Giant crazed attack dogs won't ever suddenly act like scared puppies when they see me. I won't ever be a grandmaster of chess, either. I don't think at this stage I can even reasonably expect to make Expert. There are some things I regret as I get older, I guess. There are a ton of traditional ways to be bad-ass, and I missed the boat. But that's okay."
- Joey Comeau

2009-09-16T18:18:00.002+10:00

That time already?

Still vaguely ill; also, melancholic. I have noticed recently that if you tell someone you are feeling better they (may) assume you are completely well again... stuff about people saying "how are you"... dualism ... I'm not going to be able to put this into proper sentences today, but I don't want to delete it now I've started.

Sweet dreams.

2009-09-09T21:52:00.002+10:00

Differently ill.

Doctor said I caught a bacterial chest infection while my immune system was busy with the viral sinus infection. I'm off work until next week which would be useful if I didn't feel so poorly. So it's lots of bedrest, liquids and some antibiotics for me while I'll catch up on some DVDs: United States of Tara, which is nice, and Sarah Jane Adventures, she is tough under pressure*.

*Name that tune.

2009-09-02T22:28:00.003+10:00

Indigestion.

My tummy is funky, and not in a good way. My cooking is not good. My lifestyle is irregular. Usually it's not so bad as to cause tummy upsets, but in the past fortnight I have been trying new recipes, returned to work, and been called pathetic and a liar by a good friend. So now I wake up around four or five o'clock and ruminate about just exactly how I fail. Don't panic (dear reader) I am a happy person, still - I have great resources of happiness to share. I have a happy life with great fortune and many blessings. However, at this point in time (embodied in the hours before dawn) the good things appear vanishingly small next to the rooms full of accumulated junk, incomplete projects, a stalled career etc. Sadd, isn't it?

Also,

This was fun to watch.

2009-08-26T18:05:00.004+10:00

With our very special guest star...

I returned to the Muppet Theatre on Monday. My keys still worked; they hadn't changed the locks. They had, however, moved the company to another site. Eventually the janitors arrived, I was just lucky they were contracted to the building. George had a forwarding address for some dry cleaning which I followed up. Now I travail in a huge tract of open-plan space with an honest to sky-wizard atrium and too many mezzanines to count. Also, in true Muppet style, the stairs don't work so everybody has to use the lifts.

Cowboys believe time changes everything.

I lost no weight (±0.05Kg) in the last six months but my work clothes don't fit. My cooking remains bland and unpalatable to other humans. I still have half a room of boxes and an undiminished garage of tat to evanesce. I need new shoes. I may yoga again soon and I may start planning to run a game, or two. I blog less than weekly yet I still have to flesh it out the prosaic minutiae and vague speculation.

Shuffling dustward.

Many happy returns of the week to Bela, Grey, Jen and Terence; and thank you, everybody, for my own birthday wishes, celebration, cake, treats and gifts.

2009-08-20T00:36:00.002+10:00

Many happy returns of the day.

Have a jolly happy day, everybody. I know I shall, with splendid friends and no work. Stay warm, eat well, sweet dreams.

2009-08-11T14:55:00.002+10:00

Early edition.
Sorry, I've been trying to think of stuff to put here.

2009-07-29T16:39:00.001+10:00

Living next door to Alana.

Brisbane is sunny and warm, remarkably so for July. Catching up with Alana is splendid fun. She is relatively subdued due to a hypothalmic condition which is being treated with medicine and diet, but it's amazing how much of the familiar spirit and energy she still projects. Trying to recall the last time we had seen each other, I reminded her we were at the same table at her 1985 High School Formal, but she had a photo of us (and Michael) at a party in 1989 so she won.

Next week, in contrast to reviving lovely memories, it's time to fill a skip with the detritus of the past seven years.

2009-07-15T21:10:00.002+10:00

My life is a joke, but it's not broken.

I have to be more indifferent and less well organised in my dealings with the great stacks of possessions I have horded over the years. This was made clear to me when I opened up the garage today to remove the unused washing machines and armchairs abandoned by a previous tenant, only to find them inaccessible behind other furniture. There is no room to sort thing out and deal with them efficiently, I will just have to toss stuff in the bin if I am to progress at all.

Now it is bin night so I will fill the bins with whatever can lay my hands on before I put them out - instead of getting distracted by a box of shiny things I used to have plans for and whether or not I could sell it on eBay, and then putting the bins out half full when the truck drives past in the morning.

Anyway, I have to take my car in to be serviced tomorrow so I'll be gone before the garbage truck arrives. My car is due for a service (150Mm) this week, and I'm driving it to Brisbane in ten days so this is a doubly timely event. Hooray!

Pain in the neck (but it's also not broken).

When I woke up this morning my shoulder hurt. It still hurts and my muscles are doing that thing where pain relief for the shoulder induces tension in the neck causing a headache. I shall try to sleep therapeutically tonight.

2009-07-03T12:31:00.002+10:00

...I'd love to contradict you
But my life's a joke...

Sydney was good. I had fun catching up with Mikey, Jo, Nils, Koko and Noly, and saw some Sesame Street (Old School) and Twilight on Thursday before Supanova. At the convention I saw many seminars and two movies with Alex, Emma, Gavin, Gavin, James and Morgyn, Liz, and Mark. All the seminars had their moments, Transformers 2 was horrible, Fanboys was hilarious.

Linda is out of hospital with an ursine sore head and has a follow up appointment in a week or so. She seems to have stopped investigating "subarachnoid hematoma" on the Internet since she found this: up to half of all cases of SAH are fatal and 10–15% die before reaching a hospital, and those who survive often have neurological or cognitive impairment. (Hers is not any of the cases mentioned in that sentence.)

2009-06-20T21:42:00.003+10:00

[Insert disparaging comment about Internet service provision.]

Two weeks ago I went to Phenomenon. It would have been pretty average but I played in a team which made it pretty good fun in the end. I would have written it up but we changed our ISP plan. Which required us to get a cable installed. Which required us to change our phone carrier. (It also required us to bundle our electricity and gas - I don't know why but it did.) Which disabled our Internet account. Which was required to activate the new plan.

Last weekend Linda went to hospital. No fun.

Next weekend I'm going to Supanova. But first I'm going to visit folks in Sydney on Wednesday.

2009-06-03T19:04:00.002+10:00

TW3

Last Wednesday I flew home. I passed over Townsville, twelve kilometres up, at 4:28am on Friday, which the hostesses agreed was pretty cool. When I got back I developed a cold* so mostly I have been fuzzy-headed and listless since then. Fortunately I don't need to feel well to enjoy seeing friends again, which is nice. Also, I have Wrath of the Lich King and a new Wii to play with.

*Not swine flu.

2009-05-26T18:50:00.002+10:00

Bigpond performs poorly.

I logged into my Bigpond e-mail account. While it was loading I checked my Gmail, Facebook, Twitter and wrote this Blogger entry. Twenty-five minutes later Bigpond still hasn't loaded.

The story continues with Bigpond reporting spurious errors (error: this warning has been displayed incorrectly), screens lacking scroll bars and sign out buttons, and so forth. I hope there wasn't anything important being kept from me.

2009-05-26T01:08:00.003+10:00

Backson.

Nearly done here. Tomorrow the cleaning lady comes, so I have to pack everything up and be out of the apartment until six. On Wednesday I fly back to Australia, so I have to pack everything up and be out of the apartment indefinitely.

Libby gave me a cat, called Charlie, for my birthday. He's staying here on her bookcase.

2009-05-19T18:57:00.002+10:00

Vacation level five.

I went to Scotland. Polly came too. There are many photographs displayed here (which Blogger won't upload).

We started in Edinburgh and rode around on bus tours for a while. Then we walked down the Royal Mile and up Radicals Road. We took a five day tour to Oban and Portree. From Oban we visited the islands of Mull, Iona and Staffa. There were puffins at Staffa. At Portree on the Isle of Skye Polly took a day off while the tour went to Neist. Back in Edinburgh there was a mix up with the hotels, which was pleasantly resolved, and we rented a car. We drove to Ullapool where we stayed for two weeks. The first week there was a folk music festival. We also drove down to Inverewe and up to Inverpolly. Libby visited for a weekend in the middle and we climbed Ullapool Hill (300m - nearly a mountain). The second week there was a writing festival. We also drove up to Durness, where there were more puffins. We got the car back to Edinburgh on empty, climbed Scott Monument and the morning before Polly returned home we visited the zoo - which was nice.

2009-04-22T02:36:00.004+10:00

Museum Mile.

Thirteen museums between Euston Road and the Thames River.

(I only went into five, many weren't open.)

I went to the Bankside Gallery with Libby on the weekend and she bought a picture for her bedroom. I also went to another fun science fiction meetup - which was nice. Tomorrow I'm going to a real science meetup.

2009-04-18T02:27:00.004+10:00

A walk in the garden.

I forgot to mention I went to Kew Gardens yesterday.

2009-04-15T20:53:00.004+10:00

Arthur, King of the Britons.

I went to on a tour "In Search of King Arthur" - there isn't a lot of him to find. He was conceived at Tintagel Castle; Camelot was at South Cadbury; the Round Table is at Winchester; and his grave is at Glastonbury. To fill in the rest of the four days we visited:
Avebury - the "superhenge".
Cerne Abbas - to see the Rude Man chalk picture.
Cheddar - to see the gorge, but we missed out on the caves.
Chesil Beach - to see the beach (the Fleet Lagoon).
Dartmoor - to see the tors on the moors.
Dorchester - for lunch one day.
Dorset - to see Thomas Hardy's cottage.
Lyme Regis - to see the port (The Cobb).
Port Isaac - where Doc Martin is filmed.
Postbridge - to see the clapper bridge.
Stonehenge - to see the sheep.
Widecombe - to see the village green (sans fair).

2009-04-10T22:59:00.004+10:00

New Doctor Who tomorrow.

I went to Cardiff and Newport, in Wales.

In my experience hotel's which say "Free Wi-Fi Internet" mean "if you already have an account with the Internet service provider we use then you can use the hotel wi-fi connection at no extra cost". If you don't have an account you can purchase Internet time for £5-£6 per hour (~$1 for five minutes). The clock will start ticking instantly and continue whether or not you are connected. Most cafés with free wi-fi are offering the same deal except you can't purchase an Internet connection, but you can purchase an account with the ISP. Free Internet access at public libraries is filtered so heavily you may not be able to access your e-mail because of other services your e-mail provider has, such as games.

2009-04-06T03:00:00.003+10:00

Lazy Sunday afternoon.

B7 on Friday was good, including beer; Saturday was a bit of a fizzer though. I went to see a debate in Camden, but it didn't happen. So I went to a D&D meetup instead, which did happen but quite poorly unless you were in one of the pre-arranged games. Last night I went to dinner with Libby and her ex-minion Justin in Chinatown; everybody ate too much yummy food.

I've put up photographs from Greenwich and Bristol on Flickr. I finished my laundry this morning. Tomorrow I'm off to Cardiff.

2009-04-03T22:10:00.004+10:00

Happy birthday, Emma-Jean.

I went to Bristol yesterday. It was more interesting than I was lead to believe. If you ever go I suggest staying in Clifton, which is up the hill and has great views, rather than in the city, which is down the hill and has great industrial areas. You can easily get down to the interesting bits of the city, but it's much nicer to eat and sleep in the green space and fresh air (I expect).

I couldn't find the RPG meetup group at the venue, even though ten people attended. I should have better luck tonight as the Blake's 7 meetup has a room booked.

2009-04-01T17:54:00.003+10:00

Still in London.

I have been strolling around looking at famous landmarks:

Some are more famous than others, and rightly so.

Tomorrow: Bristol.

2009-03-29T10:48:00.004+10:00

Springtide.

On Thursday I went to a jazz club with Alix.
On the way home I saw Spider-Man on the Underground.

On Friday I did laundry and then Libby and I had dinner at Ruthy's. Today I watched Libby play hockey, captaining the West Hampstead Ladies Sixes. It was the last game of the season and they won 2-1, doubling their wins for the season. Hooray!

Later I went to the London Sci-Fi/Fantasy meet up. It was well organised and a lot of fun.
The clocks go forward tonight.

2009-03-27T02:19:00.002+10:00

Pay attention.

I saw Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant today. I didn't know they were doing a signing and I only went to The Stamp Centre because Forbidden Planet didn't have any pencil cases. When I got there the signing was over, but they were still scribbling on stuff and talking to some people who had paid attention and got there in time. So I literally saw them, but that was all.

2009-03-26T03:56:00.002+10:00

Greenwich.

I went there, as predicted. It's jolly interesting with the Maritime Museum, the Queen's House, and the Royal Observatory all right there to keep you warm.

It's always Christmas somewhere around the world:

Today I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum. (It was too rainy, so no pictures.) One day I'll go there with someone else. That would be nice.

2009-03-24T19:04:00.003+10:00

Laundry.

On Sunday I went to a philosophy group meetup which was poorly organized, but I enjoyed it, and there was beer, which is nice.

Yesterday I had lunch with Alix and met Emily and Natasha.

Today I'm off to Greenwich.

2009-03-21T08:13:00.010+10:00

Firenze.

Florence is old and dirty and living in the past; particularly the five years in the nineteenth century when it was the capital of Italy. Boy did they go on about that! Generally it is narrow and crowded with tourists including many, many school groups from the U.S.A., Germany, France, Japan, Italy - many school groups.

My favourite bit of Florence was this:

It is a restaurant and a brewery. Manchester United knocked Inter Milan out of the UEFA Champions League the first night we went there so we made it clear we were Australian the second night. It was the only place we went to twice (except for the hotel, but we didn't have a choice about that if wanted our stuff back).

Siena.

After half a day, including a bit when I had to drive on the right, Siena is better than Florence. Another half a day of driving on the right got us to Montepulciano and back again, which was nice.

Siena has many narrow streets and much wider piazzas. It is completely walkaroundable for at least a whole day as long as you can deal with hills - there are seven of them involved in the topography. Hills do make for goodly vistas.

Hills also make for poorly maps. Actually it seems all of Tuscany is poorly mapped, or at least mapped (and signposted) poorly. Roads have names and numbers, either or both may be missing from the map. Intersecting roads and intersecting lines are not necessarily related. Nothing over ten kilometres away is signposted except Roma (or Firenze in the opposite direction). Some things are only signposted from one direction, for example we found Radda in Chianti by turning around and driving back the way we came.

The prize for best castle (and sunniest overexposed pictures) went to Brolio.

Radda in Chianti.

Radda is even cuter than Siena if you aren't hauling luggage, but can be completely walked out in less than half a day. So we went to nearby places to walk. We drove by Poggibonsi, which looked dull, on the way to San Gimignano, which looked interesting.

Next we wanted to go to Volterra for a scenic walk out of the guide book. Unfortunately there was no parking to be had in Volterra. Lots of signs suggested parking might be found, but there where no actual parking lots and the signs eventually directed us out of town.

After spending Tuesday getting the runaround from Italian roadsigns (happy birthday Libby) we decided to try a scenic walk out of the guide book near Radda in Chianti on Wednesday.

This worked out much better* until, four hours into the three and a half hour walk, we took directions from a local and went completely off the track. The next day we went to the market in Monteriggioni but there was no market.

Everybody was friendly and all the food was excellent, all the time. Three stars.
*Relatively speaking.

2009-03-10T03:26:00.003+10:00

I really am in London.

Tomorrow: Italy.

2009-03-08T22:23:00.005+10:00

Down and safe.

Tokyo seems to have a electronical dampening field because not only can my phone find four mobile networks in London as opposed to zero in Tokyo but my camera battery is fully charged. Maybe I offended the Japanese fairy folk. Anyhow, here is a picture of Christmas stalking Libby's fish.

I'm going to have a cup of tea.

2009-03-07T09:03:00.001+10:00

I'M SHOUTING AT YOU FROM TWELVE KILOMETRES ABOVE THE GROUND...

No I'm not, I was tricking. All electronic devices which emit a signal have to be turned off for the duration of the flight.

What would you do if you had a thirty-three hour day? I'm going to sit around a lot, catch up on some reading, maybe watch a movie, take a nap, visit my sister.

Have a nice day at the office-analogue. I'm London bound.

2009-03-06T21:42:00.002+10:00

Three, two, one, zero.

The plane goes at 06:45 so it will board at 06:15; so you need to be booked in by 05:15; which means getting there at 04:15; and add another hour to make sure they are not rushed and can take the time to check your luggage all the way through to London (otherwise you will have to pick it up at the domestic terminal and take it over to the international terminal in Sydney yourself). So 03:15 to 03:30 should be a good time to get to the airport.

Unless the airport doesn't open its doors until 4:45. (Big hugfulls of thanks to Emma-Jean for hanging around until then.)

Lift off, we have a lift off.

There were nine people in the twenty-one JAL Executive Class seats. I had three to myself but unfortunately you can't lift up the armrests and lie down in Executive Class. The seats can be adjusted in four different ways; no combination of which will support my head or prevent the footrest from sticking into the back of my calves.

Fortunately the comfort food was free.

Thirty-two minutes past the hour.

Now I am in Hotel Nikko Narita, where the toilet has a warning about the risk of an electric shock if you "splash water or hot water on the product".

I hope the cable on the desk labelled "Broadband Internet Access Cable" will deliver this to my blog... There we go. (Sorry, no photographs until I can get the battery charger out of my suitcase which has been checked all the way through to London.)

2009-03-05T23:22:00.003+10:00

Change of plan.

Ma hurt her back and cannot travel so I must visit my sister alone. Bother. How tarnished is my buzz. Somewhat less so as Polly can make it to the category five vacation (i.e. the Scottish trip). But still, poor Mama. The week has been spent remaking travel arrangements and tending to a mostly bedridden parental unit. People have said I look tired and less excited than expected in light of my approaching overseas adventure. It is true, I am both.

Emma-Jean gave me a new camera for my birthday (early). She rocks and is awesome. Expect many photographs of foreign parts in the near future.

2009-02-27T21:28:00.002+10:00

kthxbi

I go back to work on Monday 24 August 2009.
That's not for a while yet. :)

2009-02-24T16:02:00.001+10:00

If they did their job, then they wouldn't have to work so hard.

Lubbock Lou called to say he was sorry it has taken so long but they have found out what was wrong with the new side door. Apparently it opens inwards, into the building, instead of outwards as planned. It is a double door and one door bumps up against an internal pillar when it is opened which restricts access from the street near the bus stop. He went on to explain this problem could be fixed by removing the pillar, but as it was a load bearing structure it was beyond the scope of the Jughuggers to take the necessary action. I asked Lou if the Jughuggers could simply get the new side door re-hinged so it opened outwards as intended. Lou will talk to the Jughuggers about my idea - I think they will find it to be significantly easier and more efficient to execute as the new side door still doesn't actually exist. However I don't know what their criteria are; they might see their original plan to pass on the notional responsibility as more attractive than actually resolving the notional problem. (Not to mention the issue of how to re-hinge a door which hasn't initially been hinged.)

2009-02-22T17:42:00.005+10:00

Bluetooth.

My mobile phone and my laptop computer can talk to each other.

My phone told my laptop: