Nobody expects the...etc etc

Mutterings continued.

Reading this Guardian article about a Monty Python fan convention put me in mind of a very silly conversation my boss and I had the other day. We were working on the wording of one of the landing pages for the new Zoo website (which can be seen here) and were trying to put, succinctly, why we breed animals. It sort of went, "There are numerous reasons why we breed animals..one, for education, two, as part of captive breeding programs...there are two reasons...1, education, 2, captive breeding, 3. an almost fanatical devotion to conservation..three..there are three reasons..." and so on.

Busy day

Mutterings continued.

Busy, busy day. I'm currently doing three jobs, with bits of a fourth added on. I spent all of it inside in the office and the temp had dropped to a very manageable 23c by the time I left work.

More coolness from Google Earth - the Gombe Chimpanzee blog by the Jane Goodall Institute.

The Trocs - lovely interview with the Trocadero dance troupe.

Must remember to go to work tomorrow

Mutterings continued.

It feels like a Friday. For the next couple or so weeks from tomorrow I'll be acting PA to the CEO, which means moving temporarily to an office on t'other side of the Zoo. This afternoon I packed up my desk, put the phone through to my new extension and sent out a message telling everyone where I'd be and to help themselves to the stationery (silly move, I know) and now I feel like I've gone on holidays. The PA I'm replacing, on the other hand, has gone on holidays - she's flying to China tomorrow afternoon.

Long weekend coming up. Woo hoo. I'm not going to Fandomedia, but I am going to L and R's hotel room on Sunday for dins, DVDs, etc.

Latest weird purchase - four horseshoes from Ebay. I have no idea why, I just wanted them. I've volunteered to be Props Diva for Henry V and they might come in handy for set dressing - the Dauphin does go on about his horse a bit.

Gus is standing in the kitchen doing her 'waiting for the mothership' routine.

And will someone please remind me to buy matches the next time I'm in the supermarket. Thank you.

Bugger #2.

Mutterings continued.

One of my favourite places to visit in London is the Theatre Museum in Covent Garden. It's a fascinating place, with a wealth of theatrical history. And now it's closing. Bugger. The Museum has a vast collection of videotaped performances that people can view (much the same as the Shakespeare Library in Stratford-upon-Avon) - where else could you watch Ian McKellen's Richard III; Derek Jacobi's Don Carlos; the Tempest at the Globe (a glorious stage); or Branagh's Hamlet at the Barbican for free and without having to listen to people around you cough, suck sweets or kick the back of your chair?

I love the internet - it takes you to the most interesting places. I was asked by one of the keepers to track down a journal article on Ant-hill Pythons (Antaresia perthensis) by a herpetologist called Raymond Hoser. My researches took me to a herp site which took me to another site, Quintessence of the Loon, and then to here - Full Canvas Jacket, Noteworthy Unhinged Lunatic Rants. I have no desire to comment on Mr Hoser, I just love the way you sometimes end up in the most interesting places serendipitously.

Da Vinci was a clever chap and no mistake. "New Look at Mona Lisa Yields New Secrets". They still haven't worked out how he put some of the paint on the canvas - there are no brushstrokes or fingerprints to suggest he used his fingers.

Grim

Mutterings continued.

It's been a depressing and eventful day. I've spent the last couple of days researching into the palm oil crisis and the devastation rampant conversion of endemic rainforest to palm oil plantations is having in Malaysia and Indonesia. Friends of the Earth research has concluded that if things continue unchecked, orangs will be extinct in the wild within 12 years. Read this, and this and do this :

Here are some suggested actions you can take to help protect the orangutan's habitat.

* Write to your Federal Member of Parliament and demand that the Federal Government legislate to make Palm Oil labelling compulsory.
* Write to the Malaysian and Indonesian Embassies and ask what their Governments are doing to stop the establishment of Palm Oil plantations in Orangutan habitat.
* Write to any food supplier that lists VEGETABLE OIL as an ingredient and ask them if they use Palm Oil. If so what are they doing to ensure that it doesn't affect Orangutans habitat. Please send GRASP copies of any replies that you receive.

I've finally finished our directorate's contribution to the ARAZPA (Australasian Region Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria) newsletter. Ten pages of contribution plus photos.

Is this a pint I see before me?

"Can it be true that Shakespeare often wrote with a hangover? Some experts think so. It would certainly explain why he penned some of the clumsiest lines in English literature, says John Sutherland."

But why pink?? 3 year old boy buys car on Ebay using his parent's account.

Another cool word from Wordsmith:

prelapsarian (pree-lap-SAYR-ee-uhn) adjective
 Relating to any innocent or carefree period in the past.

Another month goes whizzing by.

Mutterings continued.

This time next week it will be October. Where has the year gone? There was a letter from the Health Dept in my mailbox telling me it was time for my next mammogram. But I've just had one! No, I had one two years ago.

We had fun at the Genghis Con's quiz arvo yesterday. Our table was leading for most of the rounds but we was done in by the music round. As much as we like Weird Al, we couldn't actually get many of his polka-ated songs. Still, we came equal third and there was booty (I got issue 7 of Borderlands) and much fun.

Leece, Rob and I stayed on for dinner in the bisto and watched the hordes traipsing in for another quiz night in the big function room. It looked as though it was a fundraiser for a play. And then we all came back here for coffee and MST3K - a rather sad affair called When Moons Attack. Or something. It was a cobbled together tv series which kept going to black for the advertisement inserts.

Today was very busy - lots of phone calls, reports to do, newsletters to write. Most interesting was speaking to a chap who works for a company that's erecting some units near the Mill Pt Road freeway on-ramp. They have a pair of Ospreys that keeps building a nest on the top of one of their cranes. He wanted confirmation that they were Ospreys (he said that he'd been told by CALM that ospreys and sea eagles are the same thing. Not quite. Same family, different genus and species.), which they were. Gorgeous they are too.

Bugger.

Mutterings continued.

Received this from Ezydvd:

"Hi Pamela,

Thank you for ordering Mission - Impossible (1966): Complete TV Season 1 (7 Disc Box Set) from EzyDVD!

We would like to inform you that Paramount have changed the release date for this title to Thursday, 30 November.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused."  Ah well.  Gives the old credit card a bit of a breather.

Shiny Thing Purchases:

Shiny Thing not yet paid for - got a phone call from the lovely Brad, one of the Ed Officers I worked with last year (he's a fellow geek), who said, "You can say no but I found Darth Tater and Spud Trooper in a tin box in K Mart. Do you want it?"  Of course I wanted it!!  And here they are:

I don't know what it is, but the thought of Darth Vader as a Mr Potato Head, or vice versa, is screamingly funny. I once had some Darth Vader bubble bath. That's merchandising taken to a very silly degree.

Other Shiny Things: Had another mooch around Spotlight and came away with some fixin's for Xmas presents.

From the "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you" file: about a month ago I bought a Virgin sim card for my spare phone. Last week there was a message left on my answering machine from Telstra asking if I wanted to bring all my mobile phone numbers under Telstra. How did they know I had one that wasn't??

Further to my comment yesterday about British stagings of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, is this paragraph: "Great care should be taken over the very important Australian accent. It is not an easy one to assimilate, and must be watched in order that it does not tip in "American" on the one hand, or Cockney on the other. The former, in particular, is a danger, increased by some of the phonetic spelling in the script. English audiences are very much less accustomed to Australian drama than to American, and it is therefore the more important to fix the story firmly in its proper locale. Societies fortunate enough to possess an Australian member would find any time given to cajoling constant coaching would be well spent." Amateur Stage, Vol. XV No.8, August, 1960.

It's a step back in time looking at the ads in Amateur Stage as so many of them don't have phone numbers. Today's ads, of course, come complete with phone, fax, mobile phone, email and website address. This, for Clarvies Booksellers - 1 Greenwood Gardens, London, N.13. That's it. And the phone numbers that are included are so quaint - Grosvenor 5333, Temple Bar 5568. The ad for Charles H Fox, Ltd (Costumes and wigs for hire) also has a telegram address: Theatricals, Westcent, London.

Just think, there are people out there who don't even know what a telegram is.

Nice Friday

Mutterings continued.

Spent most of the morning with the new rep from the hardware company with whome we have a (mandatory) contract discussing hose cocks and screws.

I had lunch with friends old and new and some in between. I had the very healthy cus cus with vegetables, followed by also healthy (ahem) carrot cake. We had a long natter, mostly about the stage and horticulture. And travel.

And then I had a mooch around Spotlight and Bunnings.

It's been a good day.

The weekend is looking interesting also. I'm attempting fresh spring rolls and...something...for dinner tomorrow. Sunday is the Genghis Con (I think) quiz afternoon at the Hyde Park Hotel. If anyone out there is thinking of going, I wouldn't bother as we won two years in a row. (Famous last words, and all that).

One of the volumes of Amateur Stage I bought last week has instructions for staging Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. I wouldn't have thought such an Australian play would translate to Britain.

And now, a plug for the Hayman Theatre Company. We go to their panto every Christmas; sadly, this year's is the last under Tony Nicholls.

Coming soon.......

Cinderella

a new version of the old legend

Written by Tony Nicholls

Our favourite rags to riches story is Cinderella. It’s a triumph of love and goodness over greed and cruelty.

And it’s the stuff that dreams, fairytales and pantomimes are made of!

Hayman Theatre’s 2006 pantomime Cinderella is an entertainment for the whole family, created by Tony Nicholls and based on the fairytale known and loved around the world.

It’s a new version of the old legend.

Will the power-hungry Count Dandini get his hands on the Kingdom of Cornucopia? Will the ugly step-sisters, Swot and Hetty, get their feet in the glass slipper and their hands on the Prince? Will the verbally challenged wicked stepmother, Lady Halfcock, ever get her hands on a dictionary? And will Cinderella ever find her Prince Charming and live happily ever after?

With all the traditional trappings of a pantomime - music, jokes, topical references, a feisty dame, colourful costumes and a large talented cast, it’s fast-moving fun. And to find out how we get to the “happily ever after” bit, you’ll have to see the show!

November 29 - December 9

Performance times TBA

Subiaco Arts Centre

Aarrrgh!

Mutterings continued.

A couple of weeks ago I changed from Eudora to Thunderbird on the recommendation of several people. Today I opened Thunderbird and it was completely blank, with a message box asking me to set up a new account. Where's my existing account? More importantly, where are all the message I've received over the last couple of weeks gone??

It's ok, found them. The Inbox was buried deep here - C:\Documents and Settings\ExpoDemo\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\4g5yvl99.default\Mail. I've had to reimport all my settings, address books and folders. I can't work out how to import messages from the Inbox into the new account I've had to create. Nor can I work out how to separate out the second mail account (for GRADS) from the main Possbert account. I used to have two separate folders - Possbert and Gradssec - with their own in and out boxes. Now everything is jumbled up and I can't work out how to separate them.

This is so fucking annoying.

Right, after much moving, deleting and cursing, I think I've got everything back where it's supposed to be. Grrrrr.

On a happier note - this. "The new series of Extras has started on BBC2 - Thurdays at 9pm...
but don't worry if you've missed it - each episode is available online in the UK for a week after it first goes out. Get episode 1 here now."

I prefer Extras to The Office for, while Gervais's character Andy is still a dick, somehow he's a much more sympathetic character. He's also very funny - and you're laughing with him, not at him as with David Brent.

It's been a funny day, weather-wise. Some rain, some sunshine, lots of wind. The orangs were all wrapped up in their hessian sacks to keep out the wind. Most use the sacks as blankets; one, however, gets inside hers and has been spotted climbing up the tower with the sack on her head. Dunno how she can see where she's going but she does.

I've done my back in again and have been in a fair bit of pain today. Woke up with it and have no idea what I could have done during the night. Now, now...minds out of the gutter, please.

I had lunch with Kim today - she had roti with chicken curry, I had beef rendang with steamed rice. Mmmm....

And tomorrow is Friday and I have the afternoon off. Am lunching with ladies at the Caffee Bookshop in Sth Perth.

Full!

Mutterings continued.

Just back from the Thaimarind restaurant in Leederville, replete with yummy food. We had the banquet for four which included prawn blanket, chicken satay, spring rolls for entree, followed by chef's special lamb (or lump, as we read it), chicken with cashews, beef and prawns with basil. Followed by steamed banana with ice cream. I love Thai food - it's not hot, just nicely spicy.

The staff coped with a busy restaurant really well - there was one waitress and the chef.

Interesting interview with Derek Jacobi in the Guardian - 'I already knew I was a tetchy beast'

Patrick Stewart is on Extras tonight. He's written a screenplay in which he has mental powers to control things (like Prof. Xavier but in the real world). This power seems mainly to cause ladies clothes to fall off.

On the Telly

Mutterings continued.

Before I forget, this is on ABC Digital 2 tomorrow night - Good Game - 8:30pm
Tuesday, September 19, 2006

"It's game on with ABC2's premiere episode of the exclusive series GOOD GAME; the program for gamers by gamers with it's entertaining and informative look at the Australian gaming scene.

In the first episode, hosts Junglist and Kapowski meet the developer of Australia's most successful game to date. We take a master class with a top World of Warcraft player, our Tech expert Dr Daneel passes on tips to boost our gaming machine and Team Good Game takes on one of the country's best at the world's most popular online game, CounterStrike: Source. The results aren't pretty."

I had a phone call from the ABC's Can We Help? researcher this morning asking for the pronunciation of a New Guinea bird. I get asked all sorts of interesting things.

Last night's Worst Jobs in History was amusing. And really disgusting.

Nice Day.

Mutterings continued.

20c, overcast but with some sunshine. Rain is forecast, which is nice, and the temps are staying moderate for the next couple of days.

Yesterday, as I was doing the weekly (boring) grocery shopping in Coles, I thought to myself that the Xmas stuff will be in the supermarkets soon. Walked into K Mart and was accosted by a line of Xmas trees at the entrance. *sigh* Still, I suppose it IS only 3 months and a few days until Xmas.

Last night L and R made stir fry beef noodles with orange for dinner using a recipe out of the Wagamama cookbook. A def. keeper. Next week I'll be making the fresh spring rolls - I have the vermicelli noodles and rice paper, just need the other fixin's which include prawns and carrots. The Wagamama cookbook has proved to be a boon. I made dessert; when I say 'made', I mean assembled. I bought a really nice sugar pineapple, which I destroyed with my new pineapple corer. It works - it just works better if you keep the thing straight instead of at an angle. Added some huuuge strawberries and really nice Carnarvon bananas and topped it with cream and plum gelati.

Last night's viewing consisted of ep 3 of Fruits Basket; Space:1999 (in which nobody died! Not even the expendable guest stars!!); Dr Who (Love and Monsters, an interesting episode written by Russell T Davies that some people hate but which we enjoyed. I especially liked the silly slapstick chasing/being chased by the alien but then I'm a sucker for a sight gag.); and finally, MST3K's The beatnik's, which had no beatnik's in it at all, just some over-age juvenile delinquents. The head 'beatnik' wore a suit and tie and sang Perry Como type ballads. Not a reefer, bongo or goatee in sight. Or Maynard G Crebbs, come to think of it.

Speaking of Dr Who, and David Tennant in particular, did you know that Tennant isn't DT's real name? It's McDonald but there was already a David McDonald on Equity's books, so he chose Tennant after Neil T in the Pet Shop Boys.

Today I visited Stock Road Markets and found some booty in the second-hand book shop. While perusing the Drama section, I saw three near identical books on top of the shelves. Dragged them down, blew off the dust (literally) and discovered they were bound copies of Amateur Stage from 1957, 1960 and 1961. There are some great photos of amateur productions (to paraphrase The Course Art of Acting, "If your production photos look like this, it's a Course Production.") as well as timeless articles (costume and wig hire companies complaining that amateur companies don't look after the gear and don't they know how hard it is to get rubber fixative out of a human hair wig??). Bought some vegies and then tootled to Britannia Cafe to see if they were busy; they weren't so I had a roast and a pot of tea for breakfast/lunch. Me full.

I cut my fingers on my hair again this morning. It's bizarre! I didn't touch anything sharp prior to pulling back the shower curtain and turning on the taps. Ran my hands over my hair to get it wet, felt pain in both index fingers and looked down to see blood coming out of the right one. The left one just has a cut in it, no blood.

Earworm: forgot to mention that I also visited Bunnings. As I pulled into the car park, I switched onto ABC FM who were playing the soundtrack of a movie. They were playing the instrumental version of the theme song and it was driving me mad because I couldn't identify it. I could get some of the words: " Can you....my...?". It was starting to look as though I'd have to stay in the car until they announced what the soundtrack was when it finally hit me. Theme from Superman. The music is now stuck in my head. Thanks Aunty!

Before I tackle the housework

Mutterings continued.

Back from grocery and other stuff shopping. I bought a few shiny things this morning, including a pineapple corer and Vols. IV and V of the original Star Wars trilogy. They were going for $19.99 each at K Mart, which is a bargain I think as the disks have both the original (yay!) theatrical release as well as the remastered (boo!) release. I didn't buy Vol. VI (aka Return of the Muppets) as there are many things about it I can't stand.

Stephen Lee and David Meadows get Bare Naked.

Bare Naked theatre is pleased to announce their 2006 Spring Season with performances around the South West of Shakespeare’s As You Like It and Romeo & Juliet. Using just the bare essentials, Bare Naked is a professional theatre company presenting wonderful storytelling in a highly entertaining fashion!

There are night time performances:

Bare Naked Theatre presents Shakespeare’s AS YOU LIKE IT
Venue: The Goose Café Restaurant
Contact Details: Contact Details: Russell@barenakedtheatre.com.au

Venue Address: Geographe Bay Road, Busselton

Performance Time: 7.30pm (Doors open from 6.30pm)

Show Type: Reserved cabaret style tables. Ticket price includes food. The menu for the evening will be a selection of light tapas dishes brought to your table before the performance and during interval. Beverages can be purchased from the bar. Strictly no BYO.

Ticket Prices: $65.00 per person

Tickets on sale at the Busselton and Dunsborough Visitor Centres. Ph: Busselton 9752 1288 or Dunsborough 9755 3299 Also available through BOCS and all BOCS outlets. Ph: 1800 193 300 or 9484 1133 or visit www.bocsticketing.com.au

and

Venue: Bunbury Regional Art Galleries

Contact Details: Contact Details: Russell@barenakedtheatre.com.au

Venue Address: Wittenoom Street, Bunbury

Performance Time: 7.45pm (Doors open from 7.15pm)

Show Type: General Admission

Ticket Prices: $22.50 per person

Tickets on sale at the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries Ph: 9721 8616"

as well as day time:

Date: Saturday 7th October 2006 2006

Venue: The courtyard at ArtGeo Courthouse in Busselton

Contact Details: Contact: Russell@barenakedtheatre.com.au

Venue Address: 6 Queen Street, Busselton

Performance Time: 1pm (Admission from 12pm)

Show Type: Outdoor theatre, bring a blanket and picnic or pre-order picnic hampers from the Goose Café on 9754 7700 or email enquiry@thegoose.com.au

Happs wine will be available to purchase during the performance. Strictly no BYO Ticket Prices: $35.00 (adult) $22.50 (concession). Group offers also available.

Deterministic Nomenclature strikes again

Mutterings continued.

These are from the latest Reproduction, Fertility and Development Journal:

Variation of sperm head shape and tail length in a species of Australian hydromyine rodent: the spinifex hopping mouse, Notomys alexis M. Bauer and W. G. Breed

- Appropriate name for someone working in the field of reproduction.

Similarities between female meadow voles mating during post-partum oestrus and raising two concurrent litters and females raising only one litter Javier delBarco-Trillo and Michael H. Ferkin

- As is this (snigger)

Note for Leece and Rob: url for the theatre blogs, including the incomparable Eliot McCann.

I've got the Men in White on in the background. They were asked to invent something that would quickly and without fuss paint a room. They came up with a paint bomb a la Mr Bean (that managed to paint the floor and not the walls) and a rotating paint disperser that they worked out would probably take 40 years to paint the walls.

Foxtel will be screening the Christopher Eccleston Dr Who eps from 1 October - that's double the Dr Whoey goodness of a weekend.

Warm day

Mutterings continued.

5:47pm and it's 24c. Hmmm....not happy. It bodes ill. Actually, today was really pleasant. Caroline and I went to the lunch bar opposite Wesley College for dins - I had intentions of getting something healthy, along the lines of chicken, avocado, tomato and cheese and ended up buying a bacon and egg roll. It did have salad, but!



The sky is a lovely lavender colour at the moment.

Dinner and company last night was wonderful. We went to Cafe Villa in Leederville where Leece and I had lightly crumbed chicken breast stuffed with smoky bacon and Camembert. We didn't really have room for dessert but we had it anyway.

And speaking of desserts - food cam!


Much scrumpiousness courtesy of L and R last Saturday.

Four seasons in one day

Mutterings continued

Ok, two seasons. Lots of rain overnight and this morning, fined up to a nice sunny afternoon. We had lunch at the cafe and sat in the sun for a while to get our levels of vitamin D up. Then took a stroll back through the Savannah, where lions Alistair and Manzi were having a roaring competition.

I've finished writing Thespis and have sent it to the editor for proofing. That's a fancy way of saying that I sent it Pat to look at before we get it copied 50 odd times by Office Works. In black and white.

Casting for Cosi is complete and rehearsals have begun. There are a few old faces including Scott Sheridan and Eliot "soupy twist" McCann, and some new 'uns - hello Sonia!

From the Guardian on-line: "Funny, ha ha. To celebrate a golden age for British comedy, we asked a few famous faces to help us recreate a few famous images ..."

Icky.

24c, thunderstorms forecast - means only one thing. Humid!!

Last night's noodle dish turned out very well, even if I do say so myself. And I realise that self praise is no recommendation, as my mother used to say. I doubled the ingredients, which meant I doubled the amount of red curry paste, which meant that it was bordering on the
too warm for this wuss. However Leece and Rob didn't mind as they live by the credo "You can never have too much chilli or too much caffeine."

The evening's viewing was a mixed bag: The Curse of the Claw, a Ripping Yarn; episode 2 of Eureka (a very good 'ghost' story); part 2 of Dr Who (The Satan Pit, for real this time); Stargate:Atlantis (complete with telepathic whale); and Stargate:SG1 series 9, first
episode (following shortly thereafter by the second episode. And in the spirit of "We can stop any time we like", we did. The story is in three parts, dammit!).

Wikipedia goodness - Prisoner references in popular culture. Also Prisoner related: The Times and I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape.

Rain!

 We wuz promised a thunderstorm yesterday and I don't think it eventuated.  It's just started raining, however, which is nice.  The city is obscured which means it must be nice and heavy.  And now it's stopped.

Sendit.com have opened an anime arcade and have some interesting things going out (reasonably) cheap, including volume 1 of Miyu and Magical Shopping Arcade for 8 and 5 quid respectively. 

I never got to try Wagamama noodles when I was in the UK, but I've bought their recipe book and there are some very tasty looking dishes.  So tonight I'm making stir fry chicken noodles.

Thursday goes too slow

Mutterings continued.

I've got Friday on my mind.

And I've got a runny nose. *sniff*

I had a quick look at Google News Archive earlier - it could prove to be very addictive. It's a good thing most of the news articles are pay per view as I think I could easily spend a lot of time in the past. Could be useful for future productions.

More Google goodness - Google Video, much like Youtube.

What a couple of days!

Mutterings continued.

I've been feeling fluey and odd for the last week or so - hot and cold, achey bits, etc and yesterday when I woke up I thought that the lurgi had finally hit. Spent the morning in bed and then had to go to Garden City to pick up my asthma prevention medication. I shop there every Saturday, so I took up the chemist's offer to look after my scripts for me. Theoretically, all I have to do is let them know the day before and then go in and pick the drugs up without waiting. I say 'theoretically' - it works only when you actually remember to go and get the stuff. *sigh*

It was a good thing I was home as, at around noon I heard some strange gurglings coming from the shower - went into the bathroom to discover a geyser of not very nice water gushing up through the shower drain. Seems the chap upstairs had a bit of a blockage so he fixed it. Unfortunately, the blockage only made it as far as below my drains, so I got all his shower water. The plumber turned up about 3ish and left at 8pm with a promise to return the next day to finally fix it. I got home home today to a rather grotty shower recess and soggy towels. *another sigh*

On the lighter side - the water running down the drain in the loo brought one of Gus's ping pong balls to the surface - she chases them into the loo and then loses them down the drain. I heard the tell-tale sounds of bouncing ping pong ball, which stopped after a little while. I've just checked and there were two balls down there. And the open cupboardy thing in the kitchen that houses the pipes also piqued Gus's interest and she spent some time staring down the gap.

Tonight I'm off to Greco's in Nedlands for dinner/GRADS meeting.

Weekend drawing to a close

Mutterings continued.

No wonder we're near the end of the year at the rate the days go by.

L and R made nachos for dinner last night (mmm...nachos...) and I provided the lemon tarts/apple parcels/marshmallowie thingie with eyes on it that kept following Rob around the room. The eyes, not the marshmallow.

Evening's viewing was a little disjointed - we started watching the pilot of Eureka, stopped it part way through to watch Dr Who, then watched the end. It has a lot of promise and some very funny writing. The Dr Who ep, BTW, was The Satan Pit, which featured some close rellies of the Pak'Ma'Ra. Looking forward to the conclusion next week. Here can be found a Dr Who ebook by Mark Gatiss. Somewhere in the viewing were Mystie's Tormented and episode 2 of Fruits Basket.

Saturday! Saturday!!

Mutterings continued.

Thank you Elton.

Nice day - not too cold, not too warm and I think there was a drop of rain overnight.

Did the usual boring grocery shopping this morning and the only shiny thing purchased was a Virgin SIM for my spare phone. I got a phone call from Telstra this afternoon - the young chap was most surprised that I don't use my land line very often. Or my mobile, for that matter. So he gave me 125 free SMSs a month. Which is good as I use SMSs a lot more than anything else. I think it's because I can read better than I can hear.

The cast for Cosi is almost set - Grant was seeking one more cast member, one who can act and play the piano. He has approached someone who has tentatively accepted the role. More later when it's definite.

Speaking of great casts, I watched Peter's Friends this arvo. While not being perfect, it has some great performances from the likes of Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Phillida Law and Imelda Staunton. Those last three, by the by, would star in the story of my life. Ms Thompson will play me (of course); Imelda Staunton my friend Ashley, and Ms Law as Ash's mother, aka Mam2.

Sent by a friend at work, supposed Out of Office Assistant messages:

1. I am currently out at a job interview and will reply to you if I fail to get the position. Be prepared for my mood.

2. You are receiving this automatic notification because I am out of the office. If I was in, chances are you wouldn't have received anything at all.

3. I will be unable to delete all the unread, worthless emails you send me until I return from holiday on 4 April. Please be patient and your mail will be deleted in the order it was received.

4. Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged $5.99 for the first ten words and $1.99 for each additional word in your message.

5. The e-mail server is unable to verify your server connection and is unable to deliver this message. Please restart your computer and try sending again.'

6. Thank you for your message, which has been added to a queuing system. You are currently in 352nd place, and can expect to receive a reply in approximately 19 weeks.

7. I've run away to join a different circus.

8. I will be out of the office for the next 2 weeks for medical reasons. When I return, please refer to me as ' Margaret ' instead of 'Steve'.

Friday at last

Mutterings continued.

Been a long week, it has. A lovely drop of rain this morning, followed by some pretty harsh sunshine at lunch time. We had lunch at the cafe and had to move under an umbrella as we were getting too hot. And I was starting to go pink.

Sendit.com have got a Studio Ghibli sale - 2 DVDs for 15 quid. Even with postage, they're still cheaper than Ezydvd.

And speaking of Ezydvd, I've just pre-ordered X Men 3 (in a collector's tin) and Firefly (ditto).

Ooooh....pretty!