New Job - Day 1

Mutterings continued.

It's been a long day. I woke up at the usual time, 4.30ish, then 5.30ish, then 6.00ish and got up at 7am. Did a bit of housework and then to work at noon, finishing about 7.30pm. Normal hours tomorrow.

There looks to be lots and lots of writing and research with this new position. It's all a little mind boggling at the moment; hopefully I'll be able to get up to speed fairly quickly.

Electioneering junk mail update: nothing today. Got a voucher from a beauty salon for $5 off and a survey from Ford asking me about my new car purchase experience. I could win $1000 worth of accessories.

From Agence France Presse: " Trot of bother as pony raids store

SHOPPERS at a British supermarket were astonished to find a pony alongside them browsing the shelves.

Tesco have saddled themselves with the task of working out how the four-legged visitor managed to catch them on the hoof by entering the store." It's not that the story is very interesting, it's just that journalists just can't resist the appalling pun, can they?

From JMS to the b5.moderated newsgroup: "On the subject of the Crusade DVD commentary...I see another fairy tale looming in the future...WB has agreed, after quite a bit of noise, to remove the commentary that I did from all future pressings of the set, since that was the deal that we had made: use it all, including the explanation of what happened,
or use none of it. So those of you who have your DVDs now, and for the next
bit, will have that commentary. Those afterward won't. I don't know when the
next pressing will be, but whenever that is, is when the change takes place." Now I'm torn - do I buy the existing set from Amazon, with commentary, for US$45 (approx. A$58) which is available now, or the set JMS wants me to have, without the commentary, from Sendit of St$27 (approx. A$65) which is due in late March? The one from Amazon, of course!! Apparently JMS, in his commentary, told the whole sorry tale of Crusade's treatment by Warners and it was cut.

And an even hotter Sunday.

Mutterings continued.

2pm and it's about 34c. It was supposed to be 33 today - I want a refund!

Gave Manfred a bath this morning - he needed it. Parking under the shade of a tree may be nice, but when it's a Morten Bay fig, with resident birdies, it gets a little messy.

I'm just back from having lunch with Dad - roast chicken and vegies this week. We were going to Bunnings to have a look at electric mowers but it was too warm, so we'll do that another day. On the way back I stopped into the supermarket to pick up some very exciting ice cream and a newspaper. It's all go in Poss's world.

The spare room is looking like a room again and not a dumping ground for unused, unwanted props. A few months back I replaced all my wire coat hangers with solid plastic jobbies and put them in a bag - I couldn't decide whether to throw them out or hang on to them cos you never know when they'll come in handy (pack rat, I mean props person, that I am). I'm sure the buggers have bred! I don't remember having that many. I think I've made the decision to throw them into the recycling bin. Just watch - Mr Milson will amend the Winter's Tale props list to include 100 old wire coat hangers.

Oooh.....the Covent Garden web cam is really pretty. It's 6:16am, it's dark, it's been raining and all the lights are reflecting like gold on the road surface.

Right, back to the housework. *sigh*

A Warm Saturday

Mutterings continued.

Took myself out to Carousel Shopping Centre this morning for a change. And because Woolworths had Whiskas for 77c a can. And also because I have a $50 gift voucher for any store in the complex. The only problem is, I can't work out what I want to buy with it! Too much choice, I fear. I did buy some props for Winter's Tale - two 12" tapestry frames and lots of calico - from Lincraft.

I saw the advertising blurb for some mascara that made me think it would be uncomfortable to use. Apparently it fans your eyelashes out 360 degrees. They go into your eyes??

Electioneering junk mail update - nothing today.

From the Bad Astronomy site:

"NEWS ALERT! January 21, 2005:
The Bush administration has asked NASA not to service Hubble again, and instead to concentrate on dropping it safely into the Pacific ocean at the end of its lifetime. This may be a political ploy to gain ground later, but it strikes me as having a ring of truth to it. I have mixed emotions, personally: I used Hubble for many, many years, and it has done more to bring the beauty and awe of astronomy to the public than almost anything else. However, a new mission to refurbish it would cost over a billion dollars in real money, and that might be best spent other ways given NASA's limited budget (of course, I think NASA's budget should be doubled, but that is sadly not going to play here). I also fear that this might be another thrust in the "men not machines" debate going on in space circles these days. Either way, we'll have to see how this plays out in the coming few weeks. The national budget (including NASA) will be made public in early February. "

Friday.

Mutterings continued.

Looks like iinet newsgroups are stuffed again. *sigh*

I hope everyone attending GenghisCon has a fabulous time. Having read the scenario of Rob and Leece's game, I think the participants are in for a hoot. And the video stream looks very cool indeed. Lots of good stuff on offer.

I, on the other hand, have another rent inspection next week and will be tackling the tip that is laughingly called the spare room. I expect to find some props in there that I need for Winter's Tale. I think the most challenging item on the props list will be a large egg timer ("the larger the better").

Electioneering junk mail update: nothing today. The only item in the letterbox was the February Foxtel guide.

I spent the day tidying up all the loose ends of my job before starting the new one on Monday. I've left Caroline, my temporary replacement, with running a very large, very important meeting on Wednesday. As she is the one who helped set up the committee in the first place and has forgotten more than I know, I'm sure she'll do fine.

It was back to the Secret Garden for lunch with an old school friend today. Very enjoyable indeed.

Not sure what day it is....

Mutterings continued.

Having a day off in the middle of the week causes much confusion. It sort of felt like a Monday today.

It's been a frustrating couple of days, software wise. My version of Outlook at work has become completely flaky and closes itself down every couple of messages, spitting out 'runtime' and 'visual basic' errors. It looks as though MS Office will have to come off and be reinstalled.

And I've been trying to install Java Runtime so I can look at my favourite webcams - it's taken two days. Bloody frustrating as I think the install has frozen and then another little notch will come up to show it's still working.

The South Perth foreshore was a tip this morning. Friends saw the Mayor of Sth Perth picking his way through the rubbish and shaking his head.

Had a very nice lunch today. Friend and I went to the Secret Garden in Sth Perth; she had tuna patties and I have chicken with vegies. Yum. And I'm off there again tomorrow. Such extravagance.

Yay! Java has finally installed! I can see the Covent Garden webcam again. Covent Garden is very cool. The tube station is gorgeous and the market stalls and Underground Museum are must sees.

No election material in the letterbox today. No junk mail at all!

I got my Winter's Tale props list from Mr Milson the director today. Not tooooo bad, only two pages long. The wheel chair shouldn't be a problem, Dad has one. The baby, on the hand, could be a problem. Anyone got a sprog they could give us for a few weeks? No large unobtainable coloured confetti! Yippeee! At least, not yet....

Oz Day Skyshow

Mutterings continued.

Lord how I hate it! And I think most people living in South Perth and surrounds agree. Half an hour of fireworks results in hours of being kept awake by drunken yobs in cars with blaring sound systems and days of cleaning up by the Council and residents of the debris that gets left behind.

I see dvdsoon.ca has got Sky Captain for sale at CA$22. Cheap, especially for a film that hasn't been shown here yet. And the B5 movies for only CA$42.

Electioneering junk mail update:
Aust. Dems - black print on recycled paper
Libs - all colour glossy
ALP - nothing yet
Independents - nothing yet
Registered loonies (One Nation, etc etc) - nothing yet.

An amusing article on how to beat French waiters at their own game (not easy!).

Damn! I've just discovered I've missed Haggis Hunting season. The Scotsman website has a series of webcams in which it may sometimes be possible to spot a haggis. I captured quite a few the year before last. Unfortunately, haggis season doesn't start until the end of November, a whole 10 months away. I'm a sucker for a web cam, especially those in zoos.

Tuesday before Oz Day.

Mutterings continued.

Public Hol tomorrow.

Electioneering junk mail update: yesterday it was black print on recycled paper from the Democrats. Today it was a full colour glossy pamphlet from the Libs covered in photos of the candidate.

And, other than the local rag, that was all the stuff in the letter box. Most disappointing.

On advice from Leece and Rob I have downloaded Firefox and am giving it a go. Looking pretty good at the moment.

Thanks to Fiona for alerting me to this little time waster. Smack that Penguin! 320 feet is my best so far.

Last night's episode of South Park was incredibly bitchy - Matt and Trey obviously have no qualms about calling Paris Hilton how they see her - a skanky stupid spoiled whore.
" Wendy- I don't get it, what does she do?
Girl- She's totally rich!
Wendy- But what does she do?!" Exactly.

Sticky Mundy

Mutterings continued.

A cooler day today, albeit a little uncomfortable. 16c tonight which is bearable. I'm watching the sillhouette of a bug walk up the curtains in front of me.

Milo Tartkitty has a touch of the mads and is hiding in the clothes horse - he's lying in ambush for Gus who's just staring at him.

Another parcel of goodies was awaiting me on the doorstep when I got home. The Yorkshire tea stuff I'd ordered from Betty's has arrived and I'm enjoying a cup of their Tea Room Blend. The box had been opened, and passed, by AQIS.

The Evil Leece (TM) has been hard at work on a throw pillow (aka cushions) section of her Cafe Press shop. I love the frog!! And the black and white and white and black zebras are divine (that's designer-talk).

Now that the State Election has been called for Feb. 26, we are in for 5 weeks of increased junk mail in the letterbox. The first arrived today - a brochure from the Aus. Democrats.

From The Daily Telegraph:

"MEN frequently despair at women's map-reading skills - or rather their lack of them. Now scientists believe they have pinpointed the reason for this conflict between the sexes. Researchers say it is all down to differences in the reliance of the sexes on either grey matter or white matter in their brains to solve problems." Women can read maps; we just read them differently, is all.

"HE might be little remembered as a sportsman, but 19th century Scottish golfer Jack McCullogh is causing a stir with a novel that appears to eerily predict the modern era, a report said. A previously unknown 1892 novel by McCullogh, which tells the tale of a man who sleeps until 2000, depicts such things as digital watches, bullet trains, televisions and women's equality, the Times newspaper said.

"Being a golfer, McCullogh also paid attention to what he knew, calling the book Golf in the Year 2000, or What We Are Coming To, and predicted the advent of both golf carts and golf professionals.

"Among his predictions - many of them golf-related - were driverless golf carts, professional players and a golf competition between Britain and the United States, much like the Ryder Cup which began in 1927.

<>"Other ideas were the digital watch, high-speed bullet trains, working women who dressed like men and a large glass screen that plays images, much like a television." The manuscript is being auctioned this month - sounds fascinating.

I've just done a spellcheck on the foregoing and Blogger suggested "dirtiest" for Tartkitty. Odd.

Sunday part 2.

Mutterings continued.

By all accounts the Brit concert for the tsunami victims was a huge success, netting over a million quid. The generosity of all involved is touching but I do wonder why Jools Holland chose "Shake, Rattle and Roll" as the finale. Sick sense of humour or just plain insensitivity? You decide.

Mother Goose for Cats (dunno who wrote these but they're amusing):

Pussy Cat, Pussy cat where have you been?
I've been on the counter, and jumped down again.

Pussy cat Pussy cat, What did you there?
I licked up the dishes, and horked up some hair.

Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jumped over the sleeping kit,

Jack be sluggish,
Jack be slow,
the family jewels are the first to go.

Hey diddle diddle,
the cat took a piddle,
it's buried somewhere in the room.

The little dog dashed,
to make a report,
and the cat knocked him flat with a spoon.

Little Jack Horner,
sat in a corner,
eating his turkey pie,

a lightening fast paw,
was the last thing he saw,
and he said "where the HELL is my pie?"

Little Miss Muffet,
sat on her tuffet,
feeding her kitty whey,

Along came a spider,
the kitty cat spied her,
and ate it, thus saving the day.

Hot!

Mutterings continued.

40C today - oog! Fortunately I have aircon in the car and in my flat - not that I'm bragging, it's just such a novelty.

Went to Dad's for lunch; he did roast lamb and vegies. Very nice it was too.

I've just had a whinge on the iinet.general newsgroup: Why Don't Techs Listen to Me?

Tried connecting this afternoon, 3.20ish, and kept getting error messages
saying either the number was busy or the modem on the remote computer was
out of order. Rang Priority Support and was told to restart my computer
that would fix it. Didn't.

Rang again. Aaron got me to remove all modem drivers and reinstall them,
restart the computer, and that would fix it. Didn't. Still getting 777
error messages (ie it's the remote modem).

Rang again, got Simon. Told him it wasn't me, it was them. He said he was
inclined to agree with me as they were starting to get complaints in the
last five minutes. I told him that, by this point, it had been happening
for over half an hour.

Why did the first two guys automatically assume it my problem without
bothering to check that it could have been theirs?

Grrrr.

Had a good night last night. Chicken Mole, evil chocolate icecreamy almond triangle thing and Creature Comforts, the pilot movie of Nightstalker, Stargate Atlantis and Jack Palance sleepwalking (but then, can he act any other way??) through a dire movie entitled Outlaw. Apparently it was based on a series of equally dire books about a planet called Gor. MST3K did their usual amusing take on the dross, the highlight of which, for me, was watching TV's Frank and Dr Forrester dancing. I see Frank leads...

Exciting news! Some of the winners of WA Finlay Drama Awards :

Best Actor - Stephen Lee - The Tempest- GRADS

Best Actress - Shirley Welch - Blood Brother, GRADS

Best other than lead Male - Stephen Whiley, GRADS , Blood Brothers

The Sheila Buchanan award, was awarded to GRADS for a year of excellence in standard of work.

Yay!!!

*hack* *wheeze* Day 4

Mutterings continued.

10.30am and the city is only just starting to emerge from the smoke haze. My flat smells like a burning cigarette butt and I've had to resort to the air freshener. I'd burn some incense if it wasn't so ironic.

Starting the 31st I have a new (temporary) job as the Zoo's Publications and Information Officer. Means a lot more writing, research, stuff I enjoy.

Last night I attended Attic Theatre's production of As You Like It at St George's College in Crawley. Lovely setting, lovely play. I'm not overly struck on Shakespeare's comedies, I'm more your blood and thunder Henry V and Richard III sort of gal, but Stephen Lee's direction and vision made it a very, very funny piece of work. It had your typical Shakespeare ending - obvious that he ran out of ideas or got bored and ties it all up with a "With one bound he was free!" solution. The casting of Touchstone was brilliant.

Time for breakfast and then commence the housework. L and R are coming over for dins and dvds - Chicken Mole by all accounts. Mmmmm....chicken in chocolate....

*hack* *coff* Day 2

Mutterings continued.

The day started pretty badly with a smoke haze once again enveloping the city, however it didn't last as long as yesterday. Things were worse out Dad's way and he had to turn to his nebuliser and Ventolin puffer a few times.

No mail today. There was a card stuck in the door yesterday from the PO - in November I ordered some candles from an online shop in the US. They hadn't turned up by mid Jan so they sent me another parcel. Both deliveries have now turned up! The first was sent November 22 and took nearly 2 months to get here. The second took 8 days.

I've just noticed that there's a cricket walking across the ceiling in the kitchen. It's chirping.

The wankfest that is Dubya's inauguration has begun. Millions are being spent on parties, balls and backslapping. Appalling waste of money.

Much amusement from Rob's Blog:

"1/ Visit http://mappoint.msn.com/DirectionsFind.aspx
2/ Select Norway for the country for both start and end
3/ Start from Haugesund, and end in Trondheim
4/ Click "Get Directions"

Now, try reversing the journey"

I want one of these:

"Mr Potato Head Remodelled as Darth Tater

He looks like a chip off the block - but children's favourite Mr Potato Head
today crossed over to the "dark fried" as he was remodelled as a Star Wars
villain.

Manufacturers have created a new version of the classic toy, launched in
1952, to celebrate the imminent launch of the latest chapter in the sci-fi
film series, Revenge of The Sith." And here he is:


Darth Tater.
From starwars.com.

*hack* *coff*

Mutterings continued.

Most of the Perth metropolitan area today was blanketed by a thick pall of smoke from severe bushfires. Thanks to Rob for posting some before and after pics of what it was like. I don't live very far from the city and couldn't see any of the buildings this morning.

Just returned from dinner with L, M and S and a nice drive through the unknown waste that is North Of The River.

I got a card in the letterbox yesterday advising that a registered letter was waiting for me at the PO - had no idea what it was. Turned out to the be the tickets to Friday's performance of As You Like It. I'd forgotten all about them.

I see on the aus.sf.babylon5 ng that a certain chain of stores (ok, K Mart) is selling series 5 for under $50. Looks like I'll finally end up with the complete set.

I received the cast list and rehearsal schedule for Winter's Tale yesterday. Pleased to see that I'll be working with Stephen Lee, Shirley Welsh and The Lovely Stephen Whiley again.

I saw a piece on the news the other night about the Australian Travel Expo in California. All the Australian celebs were there - Nicole Kidman (born in Hawaii), Mel Gibson (born in New York), Olivia Newton John (born in the UK). Visit the website - you can hear Steve Irwin "talk Australian". *sigh* One thing in Irwin's favour - he's funding the rescue project for Tasmanian Devils.

Cooler Tuesday

Mutterings continued.

Now this is more like it. Nice westerly breeze coming through the window. Much better.

Good news: "On the superhero front, Hugh Jackman has committed to an X-Men 3 and a
spinoff flick with his Wolverine character.

In a recent interview to promote her thriller Hide and Seek, Famke Janssen,
who plays Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix in the X-Men films, confirms Fox is
"developing a script for X-Men 3. It will depend on that script which of the
characters will return."

A very interesting episode of Mythbusters last night. The guys set out to see if it is possible to launch a deckchair into the air with 42 helium filled balloons (it is) and whether eating food with poppyseeds will give you a positive drug reading (it can). In the latter experiment, one guy ate a poppyseed cake, the other three poppyseed bagels. The first tested positive to drugs after only half an hour, and both continued to test positive for up to 18 hours.

Thunder! Lightning!

Mutterings continued.

And just enough rain to use Manfred's windscreen wipers a couple of times. 39c and humid, ick. Tomorrow, however, looks a little bit better at 27c.

Dad's finally home from hospital.

I've been at the online shopping again. A couple of years ago Ash took me to Betty's, a lovely art deco tea shop in York. They have an online shop and I just had to buy some of their Yorkshire tea. And a tea caddy. And a tea drum.

Smoky Sunday

Mutterings continued.

A busy day. Cleaning up the debris from last night (more later), two loads of washing, gave Manfred a bath (more of a shower really), a trip out to Dad's unit to check the mail, etc, then back to Nedlands to visit him in hospital. He's doing much better and eating lots.

Driving out to Kelmscott was an unpleasant experience. There are six out of control bushfires in the south east and the surburbs from Beckenham to Armadale are blanketed in smoke. It's probably a good thing Dad is in hospital as the smoke would do his emphysema no good at all.

Don't know who wrote this but it is the truth:

"In the beginning...

In the beginning, God created cats. And the cats were without abundant scratching posts, litter boxes, or servants. God looked and said, "It is not good that the cats have no scratching posts, litter boxes, or servants."

So God created humans, and the humans filled their houses with furniture and litter boxes, and became servants unto the cats. And God looked and saw that it was good.

Then God did sharpen his claws ... "

Dinner last night went well. My experimental spinach and fetta sausage rolls turned out ok, despite having an ingredient missing and L and R not noticing, as did the Spanish Roast Salad, despite having a couple of ingredients missing and L and R not noticing. Leece opined that I'll be omitting an ingredient a week until all they are given are empty plates.

The evening's viewing consisted of an OTT Glenda "Pirate" Jackson taking over the Muppets, my favourite ep of Stargate, a gripping episode of Stargate Atlantis and an absolutely appalling movie entitled Alien from L.A. given the MST3K treatment. A hell of a lot must have been jetisoned by the Mystie team as the credits include a lot of characters not actually seen by us in the movie. This is, of course, a good thing.

And then I set fire to the kitchen.

And my rubber chicken was a hit.

Last week Cheezles....

Mutterings continued.

...this week coffee. Last week the local ravens were gathered around a discarded/stolen bag of Cheezles. This morning three of them were enjoying what looked like a discarded disposable cup of coffee on Thelma St. Two were drinking up the liquid on the road, one out of the cup itself.

Went shopping in a different supermarket this morning, all because they had cat food on special. Didn't know where anything was and ended up not getting two vital ingredients for tonight's dinner. Hopefully L and R won't notice....

My HHGTTG Tertiary Phase cds have arrived. I'm looking forward to playing them in the car tomorrow.

Visited Dad in hospital today; he chucked a paddy and demanded real food, or at the very least "two plates of sandwiches and two ice creams!" His doctor compromised and said that if he eats the horrible bland liquid stuff they sent up for his lunch, she'll see what she can do. Three days of living on coloured water (soup) and gelatinous green stuff is not doing a lot for his temper.

I rang Ash this morning for a chat. 5.30am my time, 9.30pm hers. She and her mum are off to York in a couple of weeks for the weekend. They're booked into a hotel opposite the Minster. Sounds lovely and I wish I was there.

The poltergoose is back. Two framed posters and the flat cat silhouette over one of the doors this time. I've put the cat back several times, each time with increasingly longer and stronger mounting tape and the bloody poltergoose turfs it off the wall the next day.

I rescued a spider yesterday. It was a Daddy Longlegs, which doesn't count as a spider, that had decided to park itself on the towel I needed to dry myself off with. I scooted him up the wall and he was last seen above the mirror. Keepers at work keep telling me I should go and visit the new Bird Eating Spiders and Sydney Funnel Webs in the Nocturnal House. My shudders are very eloquent.

Friday at the end of another long week.

Mutterings continued.

I had written a post last night but stupid Blogger managed to lose it. *sigh*

A couple of days ago I wrote about the heartwarming stooooory of a hippo that adopted an Aldabran tortoise. Herewith some very appealing photos. (I'm not sure who they belong to but I trust they will advise me if I should take them down. The photos, not the person.)


Hippo1


Hippo2


Hippo3

Got home from visiting Dad yesterday to a card from the Post Office advising that a parcel awaits pickup (hopefully the HHGTTG tapes), and a large box from Cafe Press with Leece goodies inside. One cool cheetah t shirt, All unicorns mug and zebra courier bag.

I received an email yesterday from GRADS asking if I will be Props Manager for the forthcoming Winter's Tale. I'll probably say yes. I always say yes. It's the flattery that gets me in every time. *sigh*

Busy day today. Off shopping (I'm planning to try out the mysterious sausage roll maker and need the fixin's), housework, visit Dad, more housework, then L and R for Muppets, Stargate (I hope to show them my favourite episode of TOS, Window of Opportunity) and MST3K.

Your computer is already assisting in the world wide search for SETI, now you can have: Einstein@Home!!


"Albert Einstein suggested long ago that we are adrift in a universe filled with waves from space. Colliding black holes, collapsing stars, and spinning compact celestial objects such as pulsars create ripples in the fabric of space and time that subtly distort the world around us. These gravitational waves have eluded scientists for nearly a century. Exciting new experiments may let them catch the waves in action and open a whole new window on the universe - but they need your help to do it!

What should you do?
Sign up to be notified when Einstein@Home is ready to go live! We can't send you the screen saver right now - it will be available as part of the World Year of Physics celebration in early 2005. But if you get on the list, you'll be among the first to know when everything is ready. We hope as many as a million people will join the effort, which means we need to compile a list of potential users as soon as possible. Einstein@Home is real - and important - science, at the grassroots level."

I understand absolutely nothing of the physics involved but it looks cool and that's the important thing. Physics? We don' need no stinkin' physics!

1006

Mutterings continued.

The mileage (kilometrage sounds silly) on Manfred's odomoter before I realised. I missed his first 1k kms!

Visited Dad in hospital; he's fasting again as the doc is going to do another endoscope tomorrow to see if they can fix his ulcers. The cardiologist finally came to give him the results of the tests done on Saturday - his heart isn't in too bad a state though it has had some damage.

When I got home from work the front door mat was hiding, not very successfully, a long poster tube. My latest acquisition from All Posters has arrived - not art prints this time, something much sillier. And quite cool. "Have you seen this wizard?"

I'm still waiting on a delivery from Amazon.uk of the Tertiary HHGTTG tapes (they've had to reship) and some goodies from Leece's Cafe Press shop.

998

Mutterings continued.

I was hoping that Manfred was going to click over to 1000km tonight but he's a tad short.

Met TUS at Retro Betty's for nachos and chat. A very nice evening. Leece and I dropped into the Luna Cinema to see when they're screening Shaun of the Dead - seems we've missed by a month or so.

There was a lot of police activity in the carpark at the rear of Oxford St tonight. One booze bus and a lot of boys (and girls) in blue.

It's been a great couple of days for Psitticine spotting. Yesterday it was a couple of large flocks of White-tailed Black cockatoos (not sure if they were Baudins or Carnabys - I always get the two confused) and tonight it was a bunch of Long-billed Corellas.

More HHGTTG casting: "Comic Bill Bailey has joined the cast of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy movie. The comedian and Never Mind the Buzzcocks captain will provide the voice of a sperm whale. Director Garth Jennings confirmed Bailey's involvement in the film - due out in the UK on 6 May - and also that of Alan Rickman, who voices Marvin, the paranoid android. Part of Bailey's recent Part Troll stand-up tour can be seen in a Channel 4 programme on Friday 21 January." I'm a huge Bill Bailey fan - I love his Manny in Black Books. And Alan "Professor Snape" Rickman as the voice of Marvin, eh?

From Ananova: "Filming of the new series of Doctor Who has been hit by a shortage of dwarf actors.

Producers needed them to play little blue aliens in the new BBC sci-fi drama, reports the Mirror.

But most midget actors have already been snapped up for the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie or to play Gringotts Bank staff in the new Harry Potter film."

<>Also from Ananova: "A rock legend who once sold out Madison Square Gardens earned just 14p when he tried his hand at busking.

Rick Wakeman, keyboard player with Yes, busked for half an hour in York city centre, reports the Yorkshire Evening Press.

"I played Madison Square Gardens once and filled it five nights running," he said. "They took a lot more notice than the crowd here." Did you know that Mr Wakeman raises money for the Conservative Party in the UK?

A more profitable, albeit more expensive, day.

Mutterings continued.

Spent most of it at Dad's waiting for the windscreen repair man to come. Turns out I'd advised them of the wrong window and it only cost $184, and not $350, to replace it. In the car park next to Dad's car was an even older Laser, I noticed that it was missing its passenger side quarter window altogether!

I went to Carousel to do a bit of shopping before going to Dad's and was delighted to discover Coles had Whiska's cat food on special for 79c instead of the usual $1.12. Bargain! And I called into one of the jewellers' shops to see if they had any rose gold chains to put Mum's wedding rings on and walked out with a very nice 50cm item for half price.

An unprofitable day.

Mutterings continued.

Drove out to Dad's this morning to discover that the front door key he had cunningly hidden for me had been found by his neighbours who thoughtfully gave it to the Office for safe keeping. Or so the note they left said. So I couldn't get into his place and get the stuff he wanted. And his car has been broken into. Some waste of space has stuck what looks like a screwdriver into the lock and smashed the rear quarter window. The Village has security lights and his car is parked directly in front of four units. I notified the police and will let the office know tomorrow.

I've arranged for a mobile windscreen repair person to go out tomorrow afternoon to fix the window - at a cost of $300!

Went to see Dad in hospital - he's put on four kilos since Thursday and is pleased with himself.

Stephen Lee is directing a production of As You Like It at St George's College, Crawley. A couple of very good reviews on the ITA website. This is on our Want to See list.

Saturday morning.

Mutterings continued.

Shopped (bought an exciting new ironing board and a sausage roll maker), cleaned, vacuumed, washed the floors, etc. This afternoon I'll visit Dad in hospital and make some muffins for tonight's visitors.

As I was walking out to the car this morning I saw a raven stroll by with what looked like a Cheezle in its beak. I then noticed a parliament of its brethren across the road gathered around a mound of Cheezles that had fallen out of a bag. Something to add to the corvid husbandry manual.

Sweet: "Tsunami hippo finds new 'mum'
January 8, 2005

A BABY hippopotamus, swept into the Indian Ocean by the tsunami, is finally coming out of his shell thanks to the love of a 120-year-old tortoise.

Owen, a 300kg, one-year-old hippo, was swept down the Sabaki River, into the ocean and then back to shore when the giant waves struck the Kenyan coast.

The dehydrated hippo was found by wildlife rangers and taken to the Haller Park animal facility in the port city of Mombasa.

Pining for his lost mother, Owen quickly befriended a giant male Aldabran tortoise named Mzee - Swahili for "old man".

Haller Park ecologist Paula Kahumbu said the pair were now inseparable.

<>"It is incredible. A hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a mother," Ms Kahumbu said. "The hippo follows the tortoise the way it follows its mother.

"The hippo was left at a very tender age. Hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years."

Officials are hopeful Owen will befriend a female hippo called Cleo, also a resident at the park."

The Y2K bug finally hits: "Baby accused of theft

A Romanian mayor was shocked when he was asked to investigate a baby accused of theft.

Mayor Ionel Naftanaila, from Albestii de Muscel, Arges county, received the official request from police.

It asked him to help with inquiries into theft allegations involving someone born on February 27, 2004.

The mayor said: "I had a big surprise when I received the piece of paper and at first I didn't know what to believe.

"It was an official document with everything and by which I was being asked to make a social investigation and help police. It was really funny too."

Eventually it turned out the police had written the wrong year on the letter and the suspect was born in 1972, not 2004."

Friday.

Mutterings continued.

Just come back from visiting Dad in hospital. He's been moved to a four bed ward as his single room was needed for a very poorly patient. He's feeling quite well and is eating like a horse. A very small horse. He's on antibiotics for his legs and has had a range of tests done for his ticker, etc. The enterologist is seeing him next week to check out his stomach ulcers and the reason for his vomiting. Which has stopped since he's been in hospital.

I had lunch with my old school buddy, Genette, today. She's moving house and is unearthing all sorts of things, including an old notebook in which she and I wrote some pretty dire poetry. Our only excuse is that we were 14 at the time. Jeez we took ourselves seriously!!

The Evil Leece (TM) has been putting ever more cool stuff on her CafePress site, including some very nice bilbies and Golden-backed tree rats. And the Feather-tailed glider. And the Striped Possum.

I've just had a look at the Fuel Watch site and petrol in my area will be at 89.9c a litre tomorrow. Cheap! Well, comparatively.

It's been a long week.

Mutterings continued.

For a working week that's only three days long, it's been a long 'un.

Went out for lunch today instead of eating it in my office. I had a very nice chicken parmigana at the cafe down the road. Lots of vegies and salad.

Dad's back in hospital and enjoying it this time. He just rang to say that he's been fussed over by nurses and doctors and a lady from The Village rang and chatted for about an hour. Since Mum died he's been missing all the attention.

"Tsunami conspiracy theorists come out
By Neil Western in Hong Kong
January 6, 2005

JUST 11 days after Asia's tsunami disaster, conspiracy theorists are out in force, accusing governments of a cover-up, blaming the military for testing top-secret eco-weapons or aliens trying to correct the Earth's "wobbly" rotation.

In bars and Internet chat rooms around the world questions are being asked, with knowing nods and winks, about who caused the undersea earthquake off Sumatra on December 26, and why governments did not act in the minutes and hours before tsunamis slammed into their shores, killing almost 150,000.

"There's a lot more to this. Why is the US sending a warship? Why is a senior commander who was in Iraq going there?" whispered designer Mark Tyler, drinking a pint of beer at a bar in Hong Kong's Wan Chai district." Mark Tyler is a dickhead.

"Depp Wants Role In Little Britain

Johnny Depp is desperate to play the part of a lay-dee in the BBC1 comedy sensation Little Britain, it was revealed.

The Hollywood hunk has reportedly asked the show's co-creators Matt Lucas and David Walliams if he can guest star." First The Fast Show, now Little Britain. The lad has taste.

Public Service Tuesday.

Mutterings continued.

Dunno why white collar public servants get the day after NY day off. In the bad old days of workplace agreements, we bargained the day, and the one at Easter, away for a pay rise. Also agreed to work more hours.

So, in honour of the day, I went to Carousel to spend some money. I finally found a shop that sold Fiesta dashboard mats - I got the last one. "Huge mat for such a small car!" exclaimed one of the staff. I have to agree - Manfred has a touch of the Tardis about him; he feels bigger on the inside than the Laser did but he's quite a small car. I parked next to a 3 door model in Vitro.

We have commercial sign!!!! I have 10 Gmail email addies going free if anyone would like one. Just email me or leave a comment. Ta.

I forgot to mention that we saw the pilot of Stargate:Atlantis on Sat. night. I enjoyed it a lot, but then I'm something of an SG1 fan. Well, I liked the early eps but got very confused when Daniel died, got replaced by Parker Lewis and then appears to be back again. I've missed a few episodes, which doesn't help. I especially like the episodes written and directed by Peter Delouise (he was always my favourite in 21 Jump Street). They usually have a quirky edge to them and Peter usually makes an appearance.

Things you don't see any more...

Mutterings continued.

Ipana toothpaste
Dutch cakes
Fruit mince slices (the ones with the really healthy dose of sugar on the top)
Ponds beauty cream (or any Ponds product, for that matter)

I went shopping at Garden City this morning. Apparently management was expecting a whole heap o' customers as they were making the staff park at the school across the road and not in their normal parking bays. When I left at 9.30am, however, there were hardly any cars in the carpark at all. K Mart were selling car accessories for 25 and 30% off so Manfred now has seat covers (with cool gold and yellow geckos and footprints on them), a cover for his steering wheel and a metallic blue screen shade.

I noticed some more round things inside Manfred, just above each seat belt. Rob determined that they're something explosive to tighten the seatbelts in the event of an accident. And Leece very helpfully suggested that I have a nice crash to see what happens.

We saw The Incredibles at the MegaHugieBiggiePlex at Innaloo this afternoon. A hoot. Lots of fun. Well worth seeing. It was evident that the session was aimed at the young audience as there was ad after ad after ad for Adventure World, McDonalds, etc. The complex had posters for Sky Captain, which will finally open on Feb 3.

It seems that the HHGTTG Tertiary Phase CD I ordered from Amazon UK has gone astray. I've been in touch with them and they are sending a replacement, no questions asked.

"Snakes leapfrog evolution
By Brian Williams
January 3, 2005

RESEARCHERS believe two species of snake have evolved their body shapes so they can eat cane toads without being killed by the amphibian's poison.

The red-bellied black and golden/green tree snake have developed smaller heads and larger bodies. Snakes with a small head can eat only small toads, therefore ingesting less poison. A larger body also allows better absorbtion of larger doses of poison." Go snakies!!

2005 + 1 (Sunday, in other words)

Mutterings continued. Just come back from visiting with Dad. He was a little better today so we took a drive through the Swan Valley to visit places from his childhood. We were most surprised to see a house he lived in over 60 years ago still standing.

L and R came over for dinner last night - I made noodles, they brought ice cream. Mmm......Rocky Road..... We watched a lovely short film by Makoto Shinkai, "Voices of a Distant Star", a 30 minute anime piece. Followed by an even shorter anime film about a cat and his 'owner'. Very sweet, seen from the cat's perspective. Then Storyteller (which featured Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders as Evil Sisters in a German variation of Cinderella. Dawn F was Princess Bad Sister from Far Away, Daughter of Nobody.). A surprisingly good Muppets Show ep (it had Liza with a Z Minelli, that's what was so surprising) which took the form of a 50's film noir detective story.

And then a so bad that it's.....bad sub-James Bond MST3K. A brief synopsis: "What a great idea: make a James Bon like spy flick that features the people who play M, Moneypenny, Q, the girl from Russia with Love, Largo (aka Number Two) from Thunderball, and that also stars Connery... Neil Connery... Sean’s younger brother........ Okay, maybe it wasn’t such a great idea, but they made the movie anyway. "

Joel as a villain, smooching Crow. Most amusing. As was Torgo's unexpected appearance.

2005

Mutterings continued.

Well, 2004 was bloody awful and I'm not sure 2005 is looking much better.

I was supposed to go to Leece and Rob's (sorry I didn't make it guys) but when I spoke to Dad earlier in the evening, he was very down and I sat by the phone waiting for him to call me back. He didn't. I rang Captain Paul, the Chaplain who lives at The Village, and asked him visit Dad and he spent an hour with him last night.

I saw midnight in but I was in bed listening to the fireworks. Damn tree was in the way and I couldn't see them. Stupid trees. 8-) I spent the evening going through old travel souvenirs, sorting them into categories and cities and filing them away. Sad, isn't it?

And today has been spent cleaning. Vacuuming, washing the floors, that sort of thing. I had to venture forth for victuals for dinner; L and R are coming over for the usual Mystie and I promised dinner. None of the usual supermarkets were open so I had to pay over the odds for stuff from Essentials in South Perth. But they're worth it. Let's just hope I don't drop the chicken on the floor like I did the last time I cooked this dish.

From Ananova: "Led Zeppelin's haunting 1970s classic Stairway To Heaven has been voted the best pop song of all time - just a week after bagging best rock song in another poll.

More than 20,000 music fans voted - and amazingly no Beatles records made the top ten!"

I do like getting emails which say, "We wanted to let you know that your order has been shipped." This is from CafePress - I bought some more Leece goodies, including a messenger bag. Maureen has got one and I want one!