A lovely weekend

Mutterings continued.

The weather is rather gorgeous - cold at night, 21/22c during the day.

Did the usual boring supermarket shopping in the am yesterday. As I was wheeling the trolley to the car I realised that there actually wasn't anything else I wanted to buy or look at, which meant I got all my shopping done by 8.34am. Woo hoo.

In the arvo I took a trip to Britannia Coffee Lounge in Cannington. The last time I went, I was the only patron in the shop; this time, the place was full of diners, feeding their faces with the most wonderful looking nosh. Shall have to eat there some time - they do curry and chips, the full English brekky, etc. I bought a Cornish pasty, which I've just heated up for my lunch, some Leicestershire pork sausages and another box of Weetabix.

L and R came over last night for dins and DVDs. They provided dins - wonderful RTB and noodles from the Red Rock Noodleshop on Canning Highway. Not sure what RTB stands for - I said Really Tough Beef but I was wrong, it wasn't. And then we had apple strudle, date crumble and ice cream with cinnamon on it. I introduced them to Reeves' and Mortimer's Randall and Hopkirk - I think they liked it. We watched another good Kolchak and then The Amazing Colossal Man, in which we learned that, while plutonium can give you lovely skin, you probably won't live long enough to appreciate it.

I was going to go to the Freo markets this morning, but didn't. Went to Stock Road instead and had a nice long look around the Last Hurrah Book Shop. Purchases: J.M. Barrie's Dear Brutus: A Comedy in Three Acts (which is inscribed on the frontispiece, "To Denis: In the hope that the old fresh, however unworthy, will always retain supremacy over the new. Jim. August 25, 1930.); Famous Plays of 1937 (which includes Turgenev's A Month in the Country and Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L Sayers); Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (which, I'm ashamed to admit, I've never read); and Teach Yourself History of English Literature: To the English Renascence (sic) 500-1650 Vol. 2. Chaper II is English Literature Before the Saxon Conquest; looks like it could be an interesting read.

Oh, and Plays and Players Feb. 1970 and Theatre Quarterly Apr-Jun 1973. All for the princely sum of $19. Bargain!

L and R introduced me to the delights of Cheap Ass Games; Stumled Upon their website and found this amusing:

"New Expansion: Ambivalence Pack! (January 2006)
Can't decide whether to kill Doctor Lucky or save him? Now you can put that choice off until your friends arrive with this unique expansion for both games. The Doctor Lucky Ambivalence Pack contains a new board for Kill Doctor Lucky, set aboard a non-sinking ocean liner, and a new board for Save Doctor Lucky, set inside a burning hotel. You will need the decks and rules for the original games in order to play with the expansion boards, but since they're our best-selling board games, we assume you already do!"

Hurray for weekends.

Mutterings continued.

I do like Friday evenings. Ditto Saturdays.

From the No Shit, Sherlock files: Stars say you're gullible

"IN a finding astrologers should have seen coming, researchers have turned up no evidence to support a link between personality, intelligence and birth dates.

The study of more than 15,000 people found "in no cases did date of birth relate to individual differences in personality or intelligence".

The authors, from universities in Germany and Denmark, wanted to further examine a link between date of birth and popular signs in astrology, but found "no support". "

Eeek, the poltergoose is back! The kettle just made a squeaking noise, the kind it makes when warming up. Thing is, I haven't used it since this morning!

This sounds interesting: "Galactica" Gets A Prequel Spin-Off

The Sci Fi Channel will delve into the backstory of "Battlestar Galactica" with a new spin-off series that looks at the years leading up to humanity's devastation by the Cylons. "Caprica" will be set more than 50 years prior to the events of "Battlestar Galactica". The people of the Twelve Colonies are at peace and living in a society not unlike our own, but where high-technology has changed the lives of virtually everyone for the better. But a startling breakthrough in robotics is about to occur, one that will bring to life the age-old dream of marrying artificial intelligence with a mechanical body to create the first living robot -- a Cylon.

I think it's nearly the end of the week

Mutterings continued.

A confusing week, what with days missing. Dunno how I'll cope with a full five days every week from now until early June.

I've become addicted to grilled fish, which isn't a bad thing. The fish has to be coated with Masterfood's Tuscan Seasoning, a rather nice combination of salt, garlic, pepper, rosemary and parsley. Bought a couple of very nice looking pieces of shark for dins tomorrow.

More new phone silliness - the MST3K option:

ANZAC Day

Mutterings continued.

It's been a very rainy day, which is good in one way but makes it very unpleasant for those in the ANZAC Day marches.

It's a public hol here in Oz. I haven't ventured outside the flat due to the rain and all I've done is a couple of loads of washing, the washing up and watch the Curse of Fatal Death. Oh, and type up the minutes from the GRADS committee meeting held at the beginning of the month.

I'm thinking of moving to Mars. According to the Exploratorium, I'm only 29 Mars years old.

The Mausoleum Club reckons television died in the 80s; I think good music died in the 60s. To prove my point, a comparison:

Top 10 singles of 1969:
1 GET BACK - The Beatles with Billy Preston (got it)
2 HONKY TONK WOMEN - The Rolling Stones
3 SUGAR SUGAR - The Archies (got it *blush*)
4 IN THE YEAR 2525 - Zager and Evans (got it)
5 WHERE DO YOU GO TO (MY LOVELY) - Peter Sarstedt (got it)
6 THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO - The Beatles
7 I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE - Marvin Gaye (got it)
8 AQUARIUS / LET THE SUNSHINE IN - Fifth Dimension (got it)
9 DIZZY - Tommy Roe (got it)
10 SOMETHING / COME TOGETHER - The Beatles (think I've got it on cassette somewhere)

And the top ten from 1979:
1 My Sharona - The Knack (the only good song on the list)
2 Le Freak - Chic
3 Do Ya Think I'm Sexy - Rod Stewart
4 Bad Girls - Donna Summer
5 YMCA - Village People
6 Reunited - Peaches and Herb
7 Ring My Bell - Anita Ward
8 I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
9 Too Much Heaven - Bee Gees
10 Hot Stuff - Donna Summer

Ah, the seventies - the decade that taste forgot. To make myself feel better, herewith the next 20 top singles from '69:

11 STAR CROSSED LOVERS - Neil Sedaka (this isn't a bad song, though I prefer his Wheeling West Viringia)
12 BAD MOON RISING - Creedence Clearwater Revival (got it)
13 EVERYDAY PEOPLE - Sly & the Family Stone
14 SUSPICIOUS MINDS - Elvis Presley
15 IN THE GHETTO - Elvis Presley
16 OB-LA-DI OB-LA-DA - The Beatles
17 WEDDING BELL BLUES - The Fifth Dimension (got it)
18 SOMETHING IN THE AIR - Thunderclap Newman (ditto)
19 I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN - Bobby Gentry
20 HEY JUDE - The Beatles (got it)

21 NA NA HEY HEY KISS HIM GOODBYE - Steam (got it)
22 I CAN'T GET NEXT TO YOU - The Temptations
23 CRIMSON AND CLOVER - Tommy James & Shondells (yup, got it)
24 LOVE THEME FROM "ROMEO AND JULIET" - Henry Mancini & Orchestra
25 THE ISRAELITES - Desmond Dekker (aka My ears are light)
26 OB-LA-DI OB-LA-DA - The Marmalade
27 LEAVING ON A JET PLANE - Peter, Paul & Mary
28 TWO LITTLE BOYS - Rolf Harris
29 SOMEDAY WE'LL BE TOGETHER - Diana Ross & the Supremes
30 THE GIRL THAT I LOVE - Russell Morris (got it)

Ok, so #28 is a bit dodgy, but the others make up for it.

There and back again, again.

Mutterings continued.

Just back from a day trip down to Mandurah. Lovely day, lovely company. And ice cream at Simmo's!!


Ros shows off her new purple hat.


I wuz framed, I tells ya!


Tres artistic.


Awww...


The gang.




Lovely clear green water under the town bridge.


We came across a flock of Corellas having a whale of a time swinging on the fairy lights. Rob got a better pic and will be forwarding it to me.


Ice cream cam! This is a Simmo's sundae with apple and rhubarb, tiramasu and Cointreau strawberry cheesecake. No cream as I'm on a diet, tee hee.


One should never dive or jump into the traffic.


And now for something silly. My new phone has all sorts of photo options. This is but one.

Stolen from a web site...

Mutterings continued.

Got this James S Huggin's Refrigerator Door, a site I Stumbled! upon.

The Best Things in Life

1. Laughing so hard your face hurts.
2. A hot shower.
3. No lines at the Super Wal-Mart. (Or Target, or Bunnings, etc)
4. A special glance.
5. Getting mail.
6. Taking a drive on a pretty road. (Especially when it's unexpected)
7. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.
8. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.
9. Hot towels out of the dryer.
10. Finding the sweater you want is on sale for half price.
11. Chocolate milkshake.
12. A long distance phone call.
13. A bubble bath.
14. Giggling.
15. A good conversation.
16. Finding a $20 bill in your coat from last winter.
17. Laughing at yourself.
18. Midnight phone calls that last for hours.
19. Running through sprinklers.
20. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
21. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.
22. Laughing at an inside joke.
23. Friends.
24. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.
25. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.
26. Your first kiss.
27. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.
28. Playing with a new puppy. (or kitten)
29. Having someone play with your hair.
30. Sweet dreams.
31. Hot chocolate.
32. Road trips with friends.
33. Swinging on swings.
34. Song lyrics printed inside your new CD so you can sing along without feeling stupid. (Trouble with CDs is the lyrics are so damn small!)
35. Going to a really good concert.
36. Winning a really competitive game.
37. Seeing smiles and hearing laughter from your friends.
38. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.
39. Watching the sunrise.

Also Stumbled Upon - the PhotoLondon gallery. And more kitteny hysterics from the Rather Good people - Independent Woman by Elbow.

Shiny thing purchase - a new phone, a Sony Ericsson with video and radio and other bits and pieces. Very shiny.

Half a Friday

Mutterings continued.

A productive day, work-wise and socialize-wise. Got quite a bit of work done before heading off for lunch.

Ladies who lunch.

I can understand the attraction of spending relaxing hours nattering while eating nice food, downing cups of coffee and agonising over the cakes. Lunch became afternoon tea and we finally left the Book Caffee at 3pm.

'ere you go, darlin'

I'd heard there was a British provisions shop on Albany Highway....somewhere.... I found it this afternoon and managed to spend nearly $20 on tea bags, Weetabix and crisps. It could have been a lot more however I resisted the pork pies, haggis and chocs. They sell black pudding but I won't hold that against them.

And to round the afternoon off, I paid a visit to Office Works and bought a pen, a folder and a shiny thing, also known as a flash drive. Somehow, 256mb of stuff can fit onto something 3/4 the length and five times the height of a stick of Wrigleys. It flashes a nice greeny-yellow; the one I have at work flashes a very cool blue.

On Tuesday arvo I felt the need to have a mooch through the local library. I haven't been for a while as I have a stack of books still unread on the coffee table. Came out with Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Illustrated Novels; Gaiman and Amano's Sandman: The Dream Hunters and a vid of Dr Who: The Curse of Fatal Death. I've seen if before, thanks to L and R, and wanted to see it again.

It's been a long week...

Mutterings continued.

all two days of it. Only half a day to go.

Shiny Things Ahoy!

There was a card in the letterbox yesterday from the Post Office - 2 parcels were waiting for me. They turned out to be DVDs ordered from the UK - The Professionals Vols. 5 and 6 from Sendit and Randall and Hopkirk (Decd.) and Revelation (another one for the Derek Jacobi shelf) from Amazon. As can be seen on the IMDB site, Revelation gets a whole 4.7 out of 10 from contributors. Good thing I only paid 3 quid for it.

Awwww......look at the baby goths.

On Monday I discovered where baby goths gather - there was a nest of them outside Wesley Church in the City.

A Wednesday that feels like...dunno really.

Mutterings continued.

Lots of catching up to do today. Oodles of emails landed in my Inbox over Easter and even more oodles of snail mail stuff. Journals to cattledog and zoo magazines to peruse. Cool.

Viann and Phillip, the White-cheeked Gibbons who live near my office, set up a racket this afternoon. Most strange as they usually duet in the morning. They were preceded by another mob of Cockatoos that didn't do too much damage to the tree.

There and back again

Mutterings continued.

Had a lovely stay at the Chifley. This time I booked the chocs and champers with single spa Executive suite offer deal thing.







No trouser press but there are ironing facilities.



Tea and coffee making facilities.



The spa, looking towards the bed.


Looking towards the spa.


The comfy lounge chair.

I had a wander around both Elizabeth's book stores but didn't find what I was looking for. Encountered quite a few tourists who seemed to be puzzled that nothing was open. Except McDonalds, of course. And the odd tacky souvenir shop.

One of the best things about staying in a hotel is room service. For dins I ordered the Gage Roads Battered Shark Bay Whiting with lime and caper aoli, chips and a green salad and Cointreau ice cream sandwich with warm chocolate sauce.


Dinner - before.


And after.





The full breakfast.

I took my mini DVD player, hooked it up to the telly and finally got around to watching Howl's Moving Castle. Loved it.

Got home about 10.30 this morning to find the cats hadn't missed me and were asleep. I took a drive to JB's and made a shiny thing purchase - The Princess Bride for $13.

A Sunday Mooch

Mutterings continued.

I enjoy a good mooch. Supermarkets are not conducive to a good mooch, markets are. Have just returned from the Fremantle Markets with booty.

Mooch #1.

Magpie's Book Shop, now known as Penny Bannister's - a very nice second-hand book shop near the entrance to the Markets. I went looking for Tom's Midnight Garden and came away with J.M. Barrie's The Admirable Crichton (which has very funny character descriptions and stage directions) and Quality Street. Had a nice chat about theatre with the young man behind the till.

Didn't find Tom's Midnight Garden but suspect I will at Elizabeth's. She has two bookshops in Perth, both of which will be open tomorrow.

Mooch #2

The Coffee Connection. This was not so much a mooch, as a direct purchase, as I always get the same thing - Wombah organic beans.

Mooch #3

Corrynne's Soaps. Four for $12 - bargain. And they smell lovely.

Mooch #4

The market Bread Shop. Too much choice! In the end I went for a Spinach and Fetta Damper, two slices of which I've just eaten wrapped around crispy grilled bacon. Mmmmmm....bacon...

And that was about it. I had coffee at a nice place on the Capuccino Strip, wandered into the fairy dust part of town and past The Pickled Fairy, the Arc of Joan, Into Camelot and The Startled Sheep (The Naive Sheep? Something like that...).

Who'da thought it?

Mutterings continued.

I Am A: True Neutral GnomeRanger Bard


Alignment:
True Neutral characters are very rare. They believe that balance is the most important thing, and will not side with any other force. They will do whatever is necessary to preserve that balance, even if it means switching allegiances suddenly.


Race:
Gnomes are also short, like dwarves, but much skinnier. They have no beards, and are very inclined towards technology, although they have been known to dabble in magic, too. They tend to be fun-loving and fond of jokes and humor. Some gnomes live underground, and some live in cities and villages. They are very tolerant of other races, and are generally well-liked, though occasionally considered frivolous.


Primary Class:
Rangers are the defenders of nature and the elements. They are in tune with the Earth, and work to keep it safe and healthy.


Secondary Class:
Bards are the entertainers. They sing, dance, and play instruments to make other people happy, and, frequently, make money. They also tend to dabble in magic a bit.


Deity:
Silvanus is the True Neutral god of nature. He is also known as the Patron of Druids. His followers believe in the perfect balance of nature, and believe that nature's bounty is preferable to any other 'civilizing' method. They wear leather or metallic scale mail, constructed of leaf-shaped scales. Silvanus's symbol is an oak leaf.


Thanks Neppyman.

Funny Photo

Mutterings continued.

Cylon in distress.

A Saturday that feels like a Saturday

Mutterings continued.

Cat food and shiny things

Boring grocery shopping and more interesting ABC Shop shopping this morning. This week's shiny purchase was Ardman's Creature Comforts eps 7 to 13 - on special for $14.95.

No L and R for dins tonight as they have bussed off to the outback for games. Wonder how they'll go without their weekly Bill Bailey fix...


A propos of nothing

Pictures of Gus and Milo.


Milo in sunlight.


Gus says, "What?"


Milo snoozing.

Cute Overload

Look ad da cude liddle hammy inna pipe!

The Thursday that feels like a Friday

Mutterings continued.

and the Friday that feels like a Sunday.

Message to self.

Never run out of bread on a Good Friday, it's nigh on impossible to find. Went looking, came home with a couple of croissants instead. Mmmmm.....croissants with melted cheese....

Yesterday

being the day which felt like a Friday, was so busy it could have been both a Thursday AND a Friday. Booked flights for two to Sydney, found last minute accommodation, did Ministerials, a few letters and generally had a busy time of it. I did find time to have lunch with Kim at Munch...Thingie. Very nice, I had the Mee Goreng (but didn't eat the squiddy/inner tube/white rubbery stuff).

Intriguing

The Found website: "We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework, to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles - anything that gives a glimpse into someone else's life. Anything goes..."

Telly

UKTV is having a "Whodunit" weekend, which means lots of Daziell and Pascoe, Murder Rooms, Frost, Morse, Midsummer and Taggart.

There is such as thing as too much Wagner, or

Make the nasty music go away.

Telly Two

One of issues of Theatre Quarterly (June 1972) I bought last week has a page of Chinese television programs. Appealing to me were:

• Talk: Small factories can also manage big things in carrying out the revolution by self-reliance, by representatives of the Nanking Rubber Wheel Factory;
• Learn from Tachai production brigade to achieve abundant results in agricultural production;
• Albanian Feature Film: Rather Die Than Yield (that sounds a barrel of laughs!);
• Vigorously grasp the fundamental principle of educating people in Mao Tsu-tung thought by Comrade Yao Jui, leading member of party branch in First Shop in Sian Radio Factory.

Citizens lucky enough to own a telly must have longed for Wednesdays to come around. There were no programs on Wednesdays.

A Wednesday Before Easter

Mutterings continued.

during which I took minutes for three hours and had a very nice lunch.

We went to the Book Caffee for lunch to say au revoir and a bientot to a couple of people and happy 50th birthday to another. Boring old me had the bacon and chicken bagel. Mmmm.....bacon....

Series 2, vol. 1 of the new Dr Who is released in the UK on 1 May.

Another Monday, different from the last

Mutterings continued.

during which I worked from a different office and went shopping at lunchtime.

And now it's Tuesday. Not an exciting couple of days, just busy. I'm doing my job as well as acting PA to the CEO.

This, on the other hand, is exciting: Venus Express Launch Successful.

I am sooooo looking forward to my stay at the Chifley on Monday. I emailed Elizabeth's Bookshop to make sure that they were open on Easter Monday - and they are!

A Sunday

Mutterings continued.

During which I surveyed the wreckage of last night's festivities and frivolities, did the washing and visited my favourite second-hand bookshop for booty (and found it).

D'you want silver foil with that?
Picked up some beef parcel thingies from my favourite butcher for dins last night. Very tasty but I must remember to grease the foil before I put the parcels on it and bung them in the oven. It's fun picking silver foil out of your dinner - call it behavioural enrichment. Fortunately, the salad came sans baking products - just a nice baby spinach, teeny yellow tomatoes, fetta cheese and garlic and chilli olives concoction. L and R provided a most delish dessert - fruit salad with lemon and lime sorbet. Sadly, there was no coconut to put with the lime. Or vice versa.

And we watched Kolchak (a ripper about a politician who did a deal with the devil to get ahead - talk about art imitating life! It also had some of the funniest one liners. My favourite was Kolchak's reply to his boss saying that he thought about joining the priesthood - "Then the Inquisition ended and all the fun went out of it."); Space:1999 (also a ripper, this time with Brian "King Richard IV" Blessed); Black Books (in which Manny suffers from Dave's Syndrome) and a Mystied Gamera Vs Gaos.

Just when I get the credit card under control...
The BBC decides to release Maid Marian and Her Merry Men on DVD. Bugger.

Book Bounty

$33 worth of bargains - two issues of Theatre Quarterly from the '70s; Graeme Garden's Compendium of Very Silly Games (and they are!); What Katy Did, a series of books I read as a child (this particular edition was, according to the frontispiece, 'Manufactured in Great Britain' and was presented to Kathleen Stanton, Hope Street Methodist Sunday School); Shakespeare Criticism, a Selection 1623-1840; London Theatre from the Globe to the National; First Plays by A.A. Milne, printed in 1924 and belonging to Marian Dunlop; Christopher Marlow's Tragic Vision, a Study in Damnation.

Amusing Musings

Mutterings continued.

From the Guardian's Culture Vulture: "So the Da Vinci Code trial has finally creaked its way to a conclusion, and the nation - nay, the world - breathes a collective sigh of indifference."

From the Daily Telegraph: "The next most popular Australian program, news and current affairs aside, was The Biggest Loser.

The 1.4 million of you who tuned in may think it is inspirational television, but it is merely a chance to see grossly overweight people complete tasks like circus animals on the verge of a heart attack."

Yet another reason to love Scotland: "The Scottish village of Firhall, on the outskirts of Nairn on the Moray Firth, is spotless and smart, a cluster of detached houses overlooking a lake. There is no fence between me and the deep water, and nothing to divide one garden from the next. There are no skateboards here, either. No footballs. No noise. It takes a while, but the penny drops: Firhall is the first and only village in Britain from which children are banned, and it shows."

A Saturday

Mutterings continued.

during which some shopping was done, no shiny things were purchased, and I received validation for being a fan of the new BSG.

I hate supermarkets.
Supermarkets are up there with vacuum cleaners for being necessary evils. Online grocery shopping doesn't seem to have taken off in this state - I'd be so much happier if the groceries came to me. I'm not an impulse shopper so visiting a supermarket isn't an adventure in what new and exciting stuff I can spend my hard-earned on.

Myers, on the other hand, is much more dangerous, especially when they have a sale.

BSG wins a Peabody (but where's Sherman?)

"Battlestar Galactica SCI FI CHANNEL

A belated, brilliantly re-imagined revival of a so-so 1970s outer-space saga, the series about imperiled survivors of a besieged planet has revitalized sci-fi television with its parallax considerations of politics, religion, sex, even what it means to be "human." NBC Universal Television Studio."

A Friday

Mutterings continued.

during which I got out of the office to attend a sausage sizzle.

In Memory of Noel.

Noel, our friend and colleague who died from MND, specified in will that money should go to his workmates to have a drink on him. This afternoon we had a bbq and drinkies to remember him.

Worse jobs in the world, I suppose.

Mongoose Publishing, responsible for Babylon 5 RPG and wargames, have got a job going for an Exec Assistant. "An exciting opportunity has become available at Mongoose Publishing.

We are currently looking for an Executive Assistant to work alongside one of the Directors of the company. The ideal candidate will be well-educated, motivated and able to use their own initiative on the fly in a hectic environment. You will be responsible for handling projects given to you by the Director, intercepting and fixing problems before they occur, negotiating with representatives of other companies (such as distributors or licence holders), and taking care of the routine operations of the office. Knowledge of games and the games industry would be an advantage, but by no means essential. The successful candidate will, effectively, have the chance to grow the position into what would be the 'second in command' within the company.

Initial salary will be £17-20,000, depending on experience. This will be revised upon completion of a probationary period, based upon the candidate's ability and achievments. This is a chance to get into the gaming and publishing industry at a senior level and become one of the prime motivators within the company.

The position is based in Swindon, Wilts, UK. Help with accomodation is possible." Sounds cool.

The Gospel of Judas.

The National Geographic channel is showing The Lost Gospel of Judas on Sunday night. Looking forward to it.

R and H (D)

Still no word from Sendit as to when they expect to get Series 1 of Randall and Hopkirk in. According to Amazon.uk, they have it in stock, and they're cheaper than Sendit, so I cancelled the order and ordered it through Amazon.

A Thursday

Mutterings continued.

during which I had a nice long walkie at lunchtime and came up with some silly ideas for a Roman epic.

What is this word "walk" of which you speak, earthling?

Kim and I decided to walk to Secret Squirrel for lunch today, which is all fine and good, however there's a bloody great hill twixt me and said restaurant. And it's one of those hills that go up one side and down the other, so you have to walk up it coming AND going. I had the Shepherd's pie for lunch - had five different sorts of potato on me plate. What more could anyone ask?

Hail, Elephas Maximus!

Hail, Struthio Camelus! I've always thought Elephas Maximus would make a great name for a Roman emperor. As I was working through the collection plan today, silly thoughts about One Clavdivs re-done with the names changed to the taxonomic nomenclature of critters popped into my head. And stayed there.

Elephants Got Toes!

Discovered this little factoid a couple of days ago and am still tickled by it. I knew they had toenails but I didn't realise there were toes attached. Elephants got toes they can move - they're not exactly prehensile but they do wiggle. Our lot are given logs they can strip the bark from with their toesies to keep them supple.


Motor Neurone Disease

A couple of weeks ago, we lost a good friend and colleague to MND. Tomorrow is MND Cornflower Blue Day - wear blue and donate.

A Wednesday

Mutterings continued.

during which I didn't get out of the office and talked myself into chilli beef and rice for dins. And stared out the window at some noisy neighbours.

Keep it down out there! Some of us are trying to sleep.

Around 4ish this arvo, a flock of Carnaby's cockatoos landed in the pine tree next to my office and did what cockatoos do best - make a racket. It sounded something like, "Squaaark squaaark munch munch thud!", the thud being the sound pine cones make when dropped from a height onto the metal roof of the meat shed. The birds were still there when I left work.

Yesterday we saw four young corellas in a tree near the Painted Dog exhibit screaming to be fed.


No walkies for you.

Spent the day in front of the computer and the photocopier (not both at the same time though I probably could as both are in my office). It was a nice day outside, too - 23c, which is most civilised. 26c tomorrow, 30 by Saturday. Not tooo bad.

Foooooooddddddd!!!!

Off to Betty's for dins with TUS shortly. Leece had the chilli beef with rice last week and it looked very nice, so I think that's what I'll have.

The first one is always free.

I'm proud to say that I've addicted a Trekkie friend into the ways of Babylon 5. She is ploughing through the disks, extras and all, at a great rate and is up to series 3. A male friend of ours, who has also just discovered B5, is quite enamoured with G'Kar and Cathy took great delight in telling him that there's an episode with G'Kar dressed in a gown split to the waist. Ah, another acolyte of the Church of the Narnly Nightie.

A Tuesday

Mutterings continued.

during which I tempted fate and had a look at some big bugs.

It's behind you!!!!!

A wonderful nature photographer called Jane Davenport is having an exhibition of her insect photos, What's the Buzz, at the Zoo. The photos have been blown up and placed on large boards in the rainforest.

You wouldn't read about it!!

Amongst the books and journals I inherited when the library moved into my office, are over 100 video tapes of all sorts of Zoo-related things. I'd decided to put them into archive boxes and store them with the Records Officer as nobody ever looks at them and I need the shelf space. So what happens this afternoon after I'd carefully packed away Nos. 49 - 113? Fortunately, the two tapes that were requested were right on top of box #2 so I didn't have to unpack everything.

Meetings, meetings...

Just got out of one meeting and I have to go to another one. Off to UWA in a wee while for the GRADS committee meeting. We're meeting in the new University House, which is nice.

A Monday

Mutterings continued.

during which I had a mild panic attack and a close-up look at Simmo the Saltwater Crocodile.

Noooooooo!!!

Today I misread the closing date for a piece of very important paperwork and thought I had to get it into a government agency by this Friday. It's actually not due until May 18. Phew! Still, I've nearly completed it so I should get it in early. Famous last words and all that...


Yessss!

And on the way back from lunch (ham and brie panini, capuccino) we called into the Wetlands to have a look at the penguins, birds and reptiles. Simmo was floating right next to the glass viewing bay with just the top of his head visible. Water refraction made him look about a third his real, enormous, size.

I'm very fond of reptiles, especially crocs and snakes.

Telly.

The small gods of telly programming have conspired against me and decided to put three of my favourite shows on at the same time on a Monday night - SBS and Discovery have Mythbusters and Arena has The Sopranos. Good thing about cable telly is that everything is repeated several times over the coming week so I'll be able to catch up with MB and TS.

Rob, if you're reading this - I'm recording the Underpants Gnomes episode of South Park.

Bounteous Book Booty

Mutterings continued.

Took a quick trip to the Stock Road Markets in Spearwood (the trip would have been quicker if I didn't have to find a petrol station that wasn't full of morons trying to go In the Exit, thereby causing gridlock, or where half the unleaded pumps weren't out of order) to visit my favourite second hand book store.

This is the place where I found a whole mess o' BBC Shakespeares. Today I came away with the 1964 hardback edition of Michael Green's The Art of Coarse Acting (I have the softback updated version but there's something nice about a hardback); the Best One-Act Plays of 1939; the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust Report 1955; and three editions of Encore magazine from 1965 (one of which contains a damning criticism of Franco Zefferelli's Much Ado at the National Theatre. With Prof. Robert "I Clavdivs" Graves as script editor and Robert Stephens starring, you'd think it couldn't go wrong. Apparently it did. Having the actors speak in strong Sicilian actors was only one of (many) things that got up the reviewer's nose).

Had a good evening last night with L and R - tasty chicken and salad dish, followed by dessert-type things from Miss Maud's. Lots of good viewing too, including a French CGI animation film called Kaena (was wonderful and had the voices of Richard Harris, Mike "Office Space; Whose Line" McShane, Dwight "A Team; ST:TNG" Schultz, and the lovely Greg Proops for good measure); Space:1999 and a really, no, I mean, REALLY, bad Japanese tv-series-episodes-strung-together-to-make-a-movie-oh-why-did-they-bother?-movie given the MST3K touch (All together now... "He tried to kill him with a forklift....").

In Get Fuzzy, Bucky the cat has come up with some amusing cross-genre comics - comics and music, for example, gives us Simon and Garfield. Dilbert and Sullivan. Marmaduke Ellington.

Saturday's child works hard for a living

Mutterings continued.

Hmm, not sure about this - I am a public servant after all.

Back from the weekly shopping, sitting down with a cup of coffee and a hot cross bun (pieces of which I'm having to feed to Gus as she is standing - yes, standing - next to me with her paws on my leg, periodically poking me until I shove another bit of bun in her mouth), before I tackle the housework. Housework that hasn't been tackled for about 3 weeks. Oh dear.

Shiny thing purchases - Hairy Pooter and Thing of Thing DVD, rose gold earrings, 10 tins of cat food (not exciting but shiny none-the-less). And a new battery for my smoke detector, because FESA said I should.

Just noticed four planes flying in formation over South Perth - normally the RAAF gives us notice if they are doing that sort of thing in case it scares the animals.