Memey from Cheshire via Angriest

Mutterings continued.

Thanks to Chesh and Ang.


1. Have you ever been searched by the cops?
No; I have been stopped twice by traffic cops - once for speeding and once for not turning a corner correctly. Got let off both times.

2. Do you close your eyes on roller coasters?
I have not and never will go on a roller coaster. I am a BIG wuss.

3. When's the last time you've been sledding?
I've only ever seen snow once and it was only large enough to fit in my hands. Def. not sledding conditions.

4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone?
Def. alone. Or with a cat or two..

5. Do you believe in ghosts?
Nope.

6. Do you consider yourself creative?
Yep; I quite enjoy writing and one needs to be creative when one is a Props Diva.

7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife?
Probably.

8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie?
Neither.

9. Do you stay friends with your ex's?
God no!

10. Do you know how to play poker?
Yes, but I'm much better at Blackjack.

11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?
Flew from Perth after getting up at 6am to Singapore, had 8 hours there, flew to Paris, took 12 hours (can't sleep on planes), arrived at 7am, went to bed at 10pm. What does that add up to? I think I was awake about 53 hours; by the middle of the afternoon I was holding onto the walls as the floor kept moving under me.

12. What's your favorite commercial?
The beer one with all the guys singing and the car one wiv all the bits.

13. What are you allergic to?
Boots anaelgesic jelly - violent, immediate and damned itchy.

14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around do you run red lights?
Nope.

15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you?
I'm the rightful heir to the thone of England. Damn!!

16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees?
It's spelt 'socks'.

17. Have you ever been Ice Skating?
Yes, once, knackered my knees.

18. How often do you remember your dreams?
I remember fragments most night. Ditto. I dream in colour and am able to smell odours (I know this as I once dreamt I met Derek Jacobi and could smell his aftershave).

19. When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried?
It was a few weeks back during a very funny scene in MST3K - the glasses cleaning scene that went on and on and on.... squee squee

20. Can you name 5 songs by The Beatles?
Yes.

21. What's the one thing on your mind now?
I am a woman - I have more than one thing on my mind.

22. Do you know who Ghetto-ass barbie is?
Christ no!

23. Do you always wear your seat belt?
Oh yes!

24. What cell service do you use?
Telstra.

25. Do you like Sushi?
No.

26. Have you ever narrowly avoided a fatal accident?
I don't think so (you'd think I'd remember something like that).

27. What do you wear to bed?
Not telling.

28. Been caught stealing?
Nope. I'd have to start stealing first.

29. what shoe size do you have?
8

30. Do you truly hate anyone?
No, I just don't think about them.

31. Classic Rock or Rap?
All rap sounds the same, so def. Classic Rock (partic. from the 60s).

32. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be?
That's my secret!

33. Favorite Song?
Too many. Living in the Past immediately comes to mind.

34. Have you sung in front of the mirror?
No.

35. What food do you find disgusting?
Brains!!! Brains!!!

36. Do you sing in the shower?
No, though I do hum.

37. Did you ever play, "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours"?
No, no one has ever wanted to see mine.

38. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back?
Possibly when I very young, but I was brought up to be a very polite child, so possibly not.

39. Have you ever stood up for someone you hardly knew?
Yep. I stood in front of a woman and her child who were being chased down the street by her husband wielding a a metal bar. I didn't know her at all.

40. Have you ever been punched in the face?
Only by myself.

Headin' towards the weekend

Mutterings continued.

A rather overcast and not terribly warm Thursday, during which I had lunch at the cafe with Kim and took a visiting keeper to the airport. And found a card from the Post Office in my mailbox telling me that something is waiting for me. I have three parcels on their way from Cafe Press so it could be one of those.

Dinner with TUS last night was good - Maureen and I both had the Betty burger, however hers was served, and eaten, more delicately than mine. Hers came on pitta bread and was eaten with cutlery, mine onna bun, that wasn't.

My right eyebrow has developed, or rather redeveloped, a very annoying twitch. I Googled 'twitching eyebrows' to see what disease or syndrome I've come down with and found a forum of women of a certain age all describing the same thing. They also thought they'd developed something lethal and were relieved to discover it's "just" another symptom of perimenopause. Seems the twitching isn't confined to the eyebrows, as one woman reported on her twitching butt cheek. As if the vagueness, thinning hair and receding eyesight aren't enough. Fuck!

Parrots of the Carob Bean Too is due for release in Perth on 6 July. Huzzah!

Wild and Woolly Tuesday

Mutterings continued.

Windy weather tends to send my cats a little loopy. Milo was running in and out of the verandah door, making peculiar yowling noises, and generally being a nuisance. He also ran over Gus.

No mail and no parcels from Cafe Press today. *sigh*

I called into the Zoo Shop this afternoon and picked up some birthday stuff for my sister-in-law and Mam2 in the UK. I spotted some great elephant paintings on canvas - one on black with yellow and gold paint that the bull had done particularly took my eye, however at $365 it was a little beyond the budget.

Had lunch at the cafe - chicken and avacado and cashew and carrot and other stuff starting with C sandwich and a large coffee. Took a stroll back to the office past the baboon boys who were playing. When I say 'playing' I mean wrestling, biting, scratching...the usual boy stuff. Taye was pulling on the tail of one of the females; not sure if it was his mum or a particularly tolerant auntie. His mane is starting to grow - there's a definite ruff forming at the back of his head and around his shoulders. This is a male at Singapore Zoo.

Monday, Monday

Mutterings continued.

We had a drop of rain overnight. Nice. More is forecast for tomorrow, possibly culminating in a thunderstorm. We shall see.

My Death on Stage t shirt arrived from Cafe Press this afternoon - one down, three to go.

The production committee for Hedda Gabler has found a props person (hurrah!); she sent me the props list today and there are some interesting items on it. 8-0 I've made a few suggestions as to where she could buy/make some of the things.

The Oxford Dictionary's Word a Year is interesting. "Susie Dent selects a single word to represent each of the last hundred years. Can you guess what the word of the year for 2005 is?" The year I was born, it was the Pill. Hmmm....

Slack Sunday

Mutterings continued.

Another sunny, warm day. Will it never end??

Great night last night; L and R came for dinner. They prepared turkey mole nachos and I made choc fudge sundae (just to keep with the chocolate theme. I made them with stawberries, bananas and passionfruit, which as enny fule no, balances out the chocolate fudge. And the ice cream was low fat.).

We watched the glorious Mirrormask, I was particularly taken with the sphinx, of course. Don't let them know that you're afraid. And we watched an entertaining Space:1999 in which a man was haunted by his future self. And then a diabolical Sandy Frank mish-mash Mighty Jack. It was only my choc fudge sundae and the collapsing coffee pot (eh, Rob?) in the middle of the movie that saved us from having our brains turned to mush.

All together now!

ALL: Oh! Slow the plot down, laddie,
Slow the plot down.
Way-hey! Slow the plot down.
We'll scuttle the story and run 'er a-ground.
We'll try so hard to slow the plot down.

ALL: Oh! Slow the plot down, laddie,
Slow the plot down.
Way-hey! Slow the plot down
With German, Italian and Japanese clowns.
We'll try so hard to slow the plot down.


ALL: Oh! We'll make you a movie
That's long and immense.
Way-hey! Slow the plot down.
Just give us a script that makes
No friggin' sense!
We'll try so hard to slow the plot down!

ALL: Slow the plot down, laddie,
Slow the plot down.
Way-hey! Slow the plot down.
Just scuttle the story and run 'er a-ground.
We'll try so hard to slow the plot down!

Arrrrr!!!

And today has been spent doing dishes, tidying up, visiting Bunnings for potting mix, pots and straweberry plants and popping into Britannia or lunch. Well, that was plan, however it was packed with diners so I just got some takeaway and a Toffee Crisp bar.

Another sunny Saturday

Mutterings continued.

Another gloriously sunny day: cold overnight, clear blue skies and 22c.

Did the usual grocery and stuff shopping this morning and housework this arvo. I'm listening to the 80s channel on Foxtel - they played one of my all time favourite (amongst others) songs a little earlier - Golden Brown by the Stranglers.

Hmmm...."Warner Brothers to help save devil

Efforts to save the tasmanian devil from a devastating disease could soon get help from a US movie studio.

It is expected Warner Brothers will this week announce it will contribute money to save the devil.

The studio owns the rights to the cartoon character Taz, which brought the animal worldwide recognition.

The character's real life counterpart is being threatened by a facial tumour disease and was last week formally listed as a vulnerable species.

The Tasmanian Government has been in negotiations with Warner Brothers for some time to try to secure further funding."

On a more productive note, "Cassowary habitats mapped for protection plan

The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service is developing a new recovery plan for the endangered cassowary in the state's north.

Only about 1,500 of the big birds are thought to be left in an area that stretches from south of Cooktown to the north-west of Townsville.

For the first time, cassowary habitats have been mapped and will be used to develop a five-year strategic plan to boost the birds' numbers.

Wildlife service spokesman Peter Latch says the plan will include recovery strategies after cyclone Larry devastated habitats in Mission Beach.

"That would look at any issues to do with habitat loss ... loss of corridors," he said.

"How we might go about monitoring habitat, how we might go about monitoring recovery of habitat.

"How we might implement monitoring of the population at a local level and determine how effective the population was." " Cassowaries are very cool birds.

Even more memes

Mutterings continued.

This is from Martin L:

Go to http://www.google.com

1. Type your first name and the word "needs", all in inverted commas (eg "PossNeeds") in the search box
   
2. Click Google Search
   
3. Pick out the best results

Here are mine:

Poss needs to pony up details on her ethics finding
Poss needs to release key information on her Texas Ethics Commission imbroglio (oooh, I've got an imbroglio. I think that's a type of pasta...)
Poss needs service
Poss needs a quick edit
POSS needs to be bonded to alter the thermodynamics sufficiently to induce compatibility (Yes, but bonded to what?)
POSS needs to move to a (higher) subject position
Poss needs to cobble together disparate constituencies with vastly different agendas (Don't we all?)
Poss needs new head
Poss needs a lil more tidying up (this is getting rather insulting!)
Poss needs stiffer springs in front
Poss needs to be a little to the right (no thanks; I'm perfectly happy over here on the left)
Poss needs to leave town (Right! I'm outa here!)

A rather pleasant Friday

Mutterings continued.

in which I put the rest of the library to rights and ate and drank coffee with boon companions.

I finally got the rest of 591.5 to 591.994 back into their correct places on the shelves. As always happens when putting things back together, I ended up with more bits than I started with - in this case it was half a dozen books that weren't registered on the database and didn't have call numbers. And three of them were in Estonian. Oh, and one was in Swedish. Bork, bork, bork.

Had a loooong lunch with friends Genette and Pat at the Book Caffe - we all had the Caesar salad, mine had chicken in it. And then we had to have dessert; they had the lemon baked cheesecake, I had the lemon meringue. And more coffee. Lemon meringue is my all-time favourite and according to the meme, it means "Lemon Meringue... Smooth, sexy, & artistic with your hands, you are an excellent after-dinner speaker and a good teacher. But don't try to walk and chew gum at the same time as you have a problem with coordination." Who says I'm dumb?

I had to buy a book while waiting - Edward Rutherfurd's London.

Another meme, this time courtesy of a Black Smilie Kitty:

List seven songs you are into right now.
No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good,
but they must be songs you're really enjoying now.

1. My Body May Die - from Randall and Hopkirk
2. Let Me Entertain You - Robbie Williams
3. Millenium - RW
4. No Time - the Monkees
5. Why Aye Man - Mark Knopfler
6. A Place Where We Used to Live - MK
7. Theme from The Professionals - it's my mobile phone ring tone.

As next year is A Special Year, birthdays-wise, I've decided to treat myself to a trip to the UK. I have enough frequent flyer points for a return trip to London; I just have to save the spending and accommodation money. That said, I have three parcels from Cafe Press winging their way towards me, so I'm obviously not being careful with the credit card.

Wednesday/Thursday

Mutterings continued.

Had dinner last night with TUS. Leece and I had nachos - too many nachos. Retro Betty's juicer had broken down, so I couldn't have a Cosmos (watermelon and...other stuff) and they'd run out of bread so Maureen couldn't have a toasted ham, cheese and tomato sandwich. Conversations were wide-ranging and varied and included ponderings on the possibilities of birds with venomous beaks (if varanid lizards - that's your monitors, dragons, etc - can have venomous fangs (and not just disgusting breath and toxic teeth from too little flossing), and your bird is a descendent of similar critters ... All I'm saying is, your budgie may not be as innocent as it looks.

My leggies hurt. I discovered this morning that the carpet layers had done a shit job of putting all the library books back in order, so I've spent most of the day kneeling down, standing up, kneeling down, etc etc putting things to rights. Still not finished - most of 591.51 etc are still on the floor. I've decided that Dewey must have been taking the piss when setting up his decimal system. I mean, is it really necessary to cross reference a book to 10 decimal places??

Non-human primate news:

From Scientific American - Foraging Monkeys Make Use of Meteorology

Apparently humans aren't the only primates that plan outdoor events based on weather.

Gray-cheeked mangabey monkeys rely on recent trends in temperature and solar radiation to forage for figs and insect larvae, report Karline Janmaat and her colleagues of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. The results support a lesser-studied notion that primate cognition evolved to solve problems rooted in ecology--such as foraging--instead of the more favored viewpoint, that cognition evolved as a way to cope within a complex society.

The findings, published today in Current Biology, come from field studies conducted for 210 days in the Kibale National Park of Uganda, where Janmaat mapped out the locations of 80 fig trees, noting whether the trees contained ripe fruit, unripe fruit or no fruit at all. Next, her team followed a group of mangabey monkeys from dawn to dusk, recording their position every 10 minutes using global positioning system (GPS) satellite technology, and observing whether the animals revisited or bypassed fig trees visited earlier. The researchers also recorded the maximum and minimum daily temperatures, as well as the percentage of high-level solar radiation.

They found that if the weather had been warm and sunny--as opposed to cool and cloudy--for a period of about five days, the monkeys were more likely to revisit a fruiting tree. "During the rainy season, the fruit takes really long to ripen--up to two months before they are finally ripe," Janmaat says. "In some periods when it's sunny, it can be in one week. There are big variations. Maybe it's worthwhile for the monkeys to know that."

Sunny weather also increases the likelihood of finding tasty weevil larvae--which infest unripe fruit and develop faster when temperatures are higher. "The monkeys pick the fruit and then they suck the larvae out," Janmaat explains.

In a place where fruit ripens intermittently and often in widely disparate locations, a strategy for efficient foraging could mean the difference between life and death.

From the sublime to the gorblimey - thanks to Fiona for this gem.

Monkey gangs steal England flags

A safari park in Merseyside is urging patriotic football fans to remove England flags from their vehicles to stop gangs of baboons pinching them.

Bosses at Knowsley Safari Park say the 120-strong troop of baboons usually swipe windscreen wipers but have turned to stealing World Cup flags instead.

Safari Park general manager David Ross said: "Many people are wisely removing them before going on the safari drive.

"If they forget the baboons usually take them."

According to Mr Ross, the baboons have built up quite a stash.

He added: "Visitors are certainly enjoying their antics with the flags as it does look like they are showing their support for the efforts of the England team.

"The baboons have always been great fun but they are the vandals of the animal world.

"Our advice to England fans is to remove their flags before they arrive or to use the alternative car-friendly route around the outside of the monkey jungle."

Not so whiffy today

Mutterings continued.

We had some nice rain overnight and today - not enough, but. A few more showers are forecast for tomorrow and then it fines up to around 23c for the next few days.

Had two walks across the Zoo today; once in the morning to attend a meeting with the boss to go through our contribution to the Annual Report and again at lunch time. We huddled around the heater in the cafe as it was a might chilly.

There's been some cool stuff in the post over the last couple of days. Yesterday it was the Callan DVD I'd ordered and today it was the goodies from the RSC (program for Much Ado with the Lovely Tamsin Greig, a Complete Works pencil case and box of coloured pencils and the script for Sejanus:His Fall by Ben Johnson.

The RSC is presenting the complete works over the next 12 months, including a play I'd never heard of but has obviously been declared part of the canon - it's called Cardenio and is his second last play, coming between Two Noble Gentlemen and Henry VIII. From The Shakespeare Apocrypha, "More properly a lost play than an apocryphal one, Cardenio was entered in the Stationers' Register in 1653, as being by Shakespeare and Fletcher. Contemporary documents indicate that there was such a play, and it existed around the time when Shakespeare was writing, and indeed collaborating with Fletcher.

In the 18th century, Theobald claimed to have revised and adapted the play as Double Falsehood; this was initially regarded quite sceptically, but is now being looked on more favourably following recent analysis and research, beginning with Stefan Kukowski in 1991. Certainty is not possible, but it looks likely that Theobald had at least something in which both Shakespeare and Fletcher had had a hand when he began work on 'adapting' it into Double Falsehood.

Charles Hamilton claimed in 1994 that another play, The Second Maiden's Tragedy, was the lost Cardenio. This is thought by most to be by Thomas Middleton, and the fact that it is entered separately in Stationers' Register at the same time as Cardenio argues against the identification.

Attribution to Shakespeare: Entry in Stationers' Register and contemporary accounts.
Modern edition: None
Public Access Online edition: None
Trivia: Cardenio is a character in Don Quixote; the author of which, Cervantes, died on the same date as Shakespeare."

Interestingly, they're not doing Edward III, which recently added to the canon; they have done productions in 1999 and 2002.

I smell

Mutterings continued.

of elephants. This is not a bad thing as I love the smell of hoofstock. The boss and I were showing someone around the Zoo this afternoon and she got to feed one of the eles. I was standing next to her, scratching her ears (I'm talking about the elephant here) when I felt this rather damp and sandy trunk on my left knee. I ended up with elephant dribble and sand up and down both legs and on my shoes.

It was a rather soggy tour as the rain came in around 2pm and the flaps on the side of the zebra car we were tootling around in were rolled up. Still, the rain was nice and it was great to get out of the office and into the exhibits.

I've been downloading some interesting MST3K goodies from YouTube, including the opening sequence from the very first series.

Shiny Sunday

Mutterings continued.

Blue skies, sunshine and a touch of smog about the horizon. From BOM:
Forecast for Monday
Showers developing in the afternoon with the chance of a thunderstorm. N/NW winds freshening during the morning and becoming fresh to strong W'ly late afternoon.
Precis: Afternoon showers, possible storm.
City: Min 4 Max 22


L and R public transported over last night for dins and DVDs. I made beef, beer and borlotti bean casserole (also has button mushrooms), mashed spud and steamed tarragon carrots and broccoli. L and R provided evil dessert - a wonderful raspberry tea cake, jammie shortbread and a pastry with fruit (so it's healthy) and custard.


And we watched Space:1999, Kolchak and a Mystied War of the Colossal Beast (a why did they bother sequel to the Colossal Man).


Forgot to tell Leece that I ordered one of her beta black T shirts with a P for Pegasus stained glass motif on the front.


Today has been spent tootling about and Doing Things. Went to Gosnells Markets this morning and bought a second-hand book and some cinnamon buns. Had lunch at the Britannia Coffee Lounge (roast, vegies, Yorkshire Pud and a pot of tea). Worked off my dinner by washing the car at the Champagne car wash and then a walk around Bunnings to buy more plants - sage, majoram, thyme and lavender.



And now, just for the sake of silliness, the above put through the Blogger spillchucker:

Blue skies, sunshine and a touch of smog about the horizon. From BON:
Forecast for Monday
Showers developing in the afternoon with the chance of a thunderstorm. N/NW
winds freshening during the morning and becoming fresh to strong wily late
afternoon.

precise: Afternoon showers, possible storm.
City: Min 4 Max 22

L and R public transported over last night for ding and DVD's. I made beef, beer and broiled bean casserole (also has button mushrooms), mashed spud and steamed Tarzan carrots and broccoli. L and R provided evil dessert - a wonderful raspberry tea cake, Jimmie shortbread and a pastry with fruit (so it's healthy) and custard.

And we watched Space:1999, kolkhoz and a misted War of the Colossal Beast (a why did they bother sequel to the Colossal Man).



Forgot to tell leech that I ordered one of her beta black T shirts with a P for Pegasus stained glass motif on the front.



Today has been spent totaling about and Doing Things. Went to Gosnells Markets this morning and bought a second-hand book and some cinnamon buns. Had lunch at the Britain Coffee Lounge (roast, vexes, Yorkshire put and a pot of tea). Worked off my dinner by washing the car at the Champagne car wash and then a walk around bunion's to buy more plants - sage, macrame, thyme and lavender.

Another shiny day.

Mutterings continued.

*sigh* The usual grocery shopping this morning (gods! I wish the supermarkets would reinstate night packers. I'm fed up of having to work my way around spotty herberts and their wayward trolleys and empty boxes in the ever narrowing aisles!), followed by clothes and underwear shopping (K Mart) and luvverly smelly stuff shopping (Lush).

I love these people. This is such a fun place and I want to visit, and bow down before, Karl. 21 June is Talk in a Fake Accent day.

Very amusing episode of the Drew Carey Show last night. Mr Carey is a huge Babylon 5 fan and it showed. Lewis went to a B5 convention as G'Kar, where he met up with a woman dressed as Delenn. I'm sure the costumes were authentic - there were a lot of Narns in the full prosthetics and the woman was wearing Delenn's purple frock. Both were Warner Brothers' productions so I'm guessing the DCS had access to the wardrobe.

Another sunny day

Mutterings continued.

These mild days and cold nights are all very well but a bit of rain wouldn't go astray. We wuz promised it over the weekend but it never happened.

Took a stroll past the eles at lunch time. The bull was munching his way through some browse, making sure he had some for later by tucking branches of it into his tusks.

Can't recall if I've mentioned this, and am too lazy to do a search, but Mission:Impossible, the tv series, is finally being released on DVD.

Leece alerted me to a very funny t shirt design on Cafe Press, which I've had to buy.

Famous last words and all that.

Mutterings continued.

You know what I was saying the other day about feeling better? That the lurgi hadn't gone to my chest?? Spoke too soon, din I? *sigh* Woke up yesterday morning feeling like I'd been run over by something very heavy that operates on steam and rolls things. I had aches in very odd places - like a bit of my wrist, not the whole wrist or hand, and the knobbly bit of one of my ankles. And a headache that four Panamax wouldn't shift. So I spend the day inside, drinking cups of tea and watching the telly and generally feeling miserable.

Today was a little better - I feel not too shabby but I sound dreadful and at least half a dozen people told me to go home. Leece came into the Zoo for lunch and to give some money to Sponsorship from the sales of some of her designs. We had a bit of a wander and I showed her where the new Painted Dogs exhibit is. Baboon brothers, Taye and Chad, were fighting over a pink straw that Taye had fished out of the moat. He deliberately sat next to Chad with it to tease him. Chad, of course, wanted it and the resulting scuffle saw them rolling over and over, with Chad screaming until one of the females chase Taye off. Chad, however, was the victor and Possessor of the Pink Straw.

Time Team last night was about the Liberty Prints 'factory'. "From the late 1800s, the Liberty works on this site produced thousands of yards of hand-printed silks that made Liberty a household name. The Arts and Crafts movement rejected the new mechanised techniques that were revolutionising the industry and pioneered a return to quality hand-made objects." This is the store - it's gorgeous. I didn't go inside as I was feeling pooped. I will next time. Next week's Time Team is in Bath. Been there.

Kerpow!* Splat!!**

Mutterings continued.

*Back from seeing X Men3 at Glod Class with L and R. I enjoyed it. A Lot. Lots of whizz bangs and flashes, things blowing up and flying through the air. And that's just the mutants. What a better way of spending a sunny Sunday than inside, in the dark, watching a movie? There was a trailer for Parrots of the Carob Bean 2. Looks amusing; will ignore Orlando Bloody Bloom.


**We went to the 1pm session, so we ordered lunch. I had fish and wedges and a choc sundae (hence the splat).

Enjoyable night's dining and DVD watching last night. We started with Kolchak (cool story about an Indian bear god that got a hospital built on top of it. It all ended in tears, of course.); Space:1999 (ep 17 entitled War Games with the lovely Anthony "Toby Meres" Valentine; part of Stargate Atlantis (DVD wasn't well and we didn't get to see the end of it) and a Roger Corman beauty called The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Sea Serpent (or words to that effect). "I'm a prince!" pouted the less-than-masculine son of the chief baddie. No, you're a queen, I replied. Well, somebody had to.

Hooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnkkkkkkkk.

Mutterings continued.

Despite having a nose that alternates between running like the proverbial and being stuff up, I'm actually feeling better. The lurgi hasn't gone to my chest; this is a good thing as I'm asthmatic.

The day has been spent shopping (no shiny thing purchase - just groceries, vacuum cleaner bags and drugs) and houseworking. It's come over cloudy and the temp has dropped.

And L and R are coming for dinner - hurray! We're having Red Rock noodles.

On in the background is a doco on the history channel about the making of the St Valentines Day Massacre. A greatt film; I didn't realise it was directed by Roger Corman. And I've never seen Mr C before - what a pleasant looking chap he is. He's just turned 80.

Waaaaaah-Chooooooooooooo.....sniff

Mutterings continued.

Well, the general blurghy feeling has morphed into a fully-fledged head cold. Runny nose that is in danger of dripping at embarassing moments, sore throat and a head that feels like it's been stuffed with inferior cotton wool. But apart from feeling a little sorry for myself, it's not that bad. And I'm hoping L and R are well enough for dins and DVDs tomorrow night. Want company!!

GRADS committee meeting last night - some of us got there are the right time of 6pm, the rest thought the meeting started at 7pm (those who didn't think it was on Tuesday, that is). You Know Who You Are! Hedda is coming along - all parts now filled and a production committee is forming. The question of props wrangler was brought up, complete with significant looks in my direction. No, I haven't caved in, though I have volunteered for a couple of nights ushering.

Del-Boy update:

Voyage Around My Father, Donmar Warehouse

John Mortimer's autobiographical play is the affectionate portrait of a son's relationship with his father. Growing up in the shadow of the brilliant barrister, who adored his garden and hated visitors, and whose blindness was never mentioned, the son continually yearns for his father's love and respect.

John Mortimer – barrister, playwright, novelist and raconteur – is best known for his 'Rumpole of the Bailey' stories. He is also the author of numerous film scripts including Cider With Rosie and Zeffirelli's Tea With Mussolini.

Author: John Mortimer; Director: Thea Sharrock; Producer: The Donmar Warehouse;
Cast includes: Derek Jacobi

Blurgh.

Mutterings continued.

Bin feelin' most off today - headachey, hot, achey in the arms, sore-ish throat. Just generally blurgh. Or indeed, blah.

Busy couple of days past, couple more ahead.

Just to cheer me up - there was a parcel on the doorstep and a card in the letterbox telling me another parcel was waiting for me at the post office. Vol. 7 of the B5 scripts and a mug with "You'll excuse me but I'm in the middle of 15 different things, all of them annoying" have turned up. I plan to take the mug into work.

Last night's Time Team dig for Greenwich Palace and the associated jousting yards was interesting. Grand Designs, also on last night, was fascinating. Young couple with absolutely no architectural or general building experience, took on a disused, crumbling tatty waterworks and turned it into a fabulous home.

Snorgle.

Mutterings continued.

Been sneezin' most of the day. Don't think I've got a cold coming on, though I do feel a little headachey.

A slack kind of a day - did the dishes, tidied up a bit, visited Bunnings and bought a longer planter and some more herbs (coriander and Lad's Love, a lovely silvery fronded insect repellant). After I've rabbitted on here, I shall go outside and plant out the herbs.

Watched 50 First Dates last night; it wasn't bad. I think it's probably the first Adam Sandler movie I've ever watched (and I usually run a mile from anything that Rob Schneider is associated with - Deuce Bigalo, anyone?? Thought not.). My favourite characters were the sea lions and the penguin (think it was a Rockhopper). I don't normally hold with animals being taught cutesy tricks, and the scene of the sea lions kissing at the end WAS cute, but I guess it wasn't too bad.

The sun it shineth every day

Mutterings continued.

to paraphrase the Bard. Will it never rain?? These shiny days are all well and good but we need the rain, dammit.

Leece, being the kind and generous person she is, has passed her lurgie onto Rob, so they won't be coming for dins tonight. I'm hoping he'll be well enough to see X Men at Glod Class (TM) tomorrow.

Finally got some books together to take to the Last Hurrah at the Stock Road Markets. Didn't get much for them; it was, however, a lot more than had I just left them in the spare room gathering dust bunnies and hair. And in return I got Horse Nonsense by Sellar and Yeatman (authors of 1066 and All That); Plays Before Shakespeare (1924); Stories by Oscar Wilde (includes the Happy Prince and Other Stories); Let Your Mind Alone! and other More or Less Inspirational Pieces, by Thurber (1937); and another Dalziel and Pascoe, Good Morning, Midnight. All for $12.

Visited Bunnings in Spearwood, which is just around the corner from the Markets and made some herby purchases: more cat grass for G and M; a cardamon bush; lemon balm; and purple sage.

Saw a lovely doco on World Movies last night - Etre et Avoir (To Be and To Have). From IMDB: "How do we learn to live with others and their wishes? Director Nicolas Philibert poses this question in a village schoolhouse in Auvergne, where Georges Lopez teaches 13 children, ages ranging from about four to 12. Against a landscape of mountains and farmland, from driving snow to rain to sun, the children gather in Lopez's warm and colorful classroom, to read, write dictation, cook, and sort things out. At home, the older ones do homework with parents after their chores. At year's end, they look ahead to the next, visiting the middle school and meeting the little ones coming in the fall. As they learn sums and adjectives, with Lopez's help, they also learn to live side by side." The school is in the tiny village of Saint-Etienne-sur-Usson in central France. The village has a population of 228, which probably explains why they only need one teacher.

Third day of winter?

Mutterings continued.

Do me a lemon! Cold-ish this morning but warmed up nicely. So much so, I had to put the fan on in the car.

Boring old grocery shopping this morning followed by not-so-boring clothes shopping. Went to JB's in Cannington for a mooch but couldn't find anything to spend my hard-earned on. Followed this up with lunch at the Brittania - roast beef (heaps!) and Yorkshire pud (2), carrots, baked potato, cabbage, mashed spud (unusual in a baked dinner but welcome) and lashings of gravy ('lashings' being the official descriptor of gravy volume). And a pot of tea. Only thing missing was a slice of bread to mop up the aforementioned gravy. They probably would have supplied it had I asked. The meal was $11.95 - bargain.

Resubscribing to Showtime has meant that I've been able to catch up on some movies that I didn't particularly want to pay to see at the cinema but are of interest nonetheless. One of these is I Heart Huckabees, which I found intriguing. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a rating of 51% Rotten which means it must have divided the critics. X Men 3 is 55% Rotten. Still want to see it, but.

I've recorded Twelve Monkeys which I must get around to seeing this weekend.

Not all graphic novels are good graphic novels.

Mutterings continued.

It's goddamn Batman and Dick Grayson (aged twelve).

The long weekend looms

Mutterings continued.

Another three day weekend ahead. Yippeee. Last one 'til September. Monday is Foundation Day.

Not sure what the weekend holds - L and R are off gaming tomorrow and fishing on Sunday so we might have fish for dins on Sunday night.

Lunch at the cafe today and then a stroll through the African Savannah. The nice weather appears to have made some of the critters frisky as the Painted Dogs were all wrestling (a couple were being dragged around by ears by their siblings) and the rhinos were huffing at each other.

The Prisoners news from the Unmutual website:

DOCTOR WHO AS NUMBER SIX?
UPDATED

On 4th May 2006, "Prisoner" fans around the world awoke to news that, according to a SKY press release covered by Broadcast, the BBC, and several national newspapers, the Granada "Prisoner" remake will be going ahead - scheduled for completion in 2007. Director of programmes Richard Woolfe, despite axing SKY One flagship dramas "Hex" and "Dream Team", remains committed to new drama and promised a "thrilling reinvention.....If Doctor Who set the standard, The Prisoner raises the bar". Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston (left) was incorreectly reported by several sources to be in discussions about the lead role. The location of The Village is yet to be decided, although Portmeirion has been ruled out.

During the weekend of 6th May, sources close to Christopher Eccleston reported that he has totally denied any approach or discussions related to playing Number Six, describing the press reports as "nonsense". Eccleston's management agency has also since denied that Eccleston will be playing the character, stating "Sky appear to have got their facts slightly wrong. In a word it's untrue. Chris has not been approached [and] is not in talks. In other words it's all balderdash. Sorry - but that's the truth."

The proposed new series of 6x60-minute episodes is set to cost £8m, making it SKY's most expensive production to date. To be written by Bill Gallagher ("Clocking Off", "Conviction"). Executive producer Damien Timmer said "The Prisoner is like Pandora's box - it's the ultimate conspiracy thriller......Like 24, the new series will entrap you from the opening scene. We hope it will tap into this iconic show's existing cult following, whilst creating a whole new generation of fans."

Radio and TV stations in the UK have also been covering the news, with BBC News 24 mentioning the re-make, and Rick Davy of this very website interviewed live on air by BBC Southern Counties Radio. We will bring more news if and when more announcements are made. For previous reports on the "new series" visit our News Archive.

1/6/6 UPDATE: According to the 3-9 June issue of "Radio Times", the new series re-make will be entitled "Number Six" and not "The Prisoner".

Another stunner

Mutterings continued.

'nother gorgeous day - off to a cold start, but the skies were clear and temp warmed up eventually.

Went walkies at lunch time and had a squizz at the bub pygmy marmosets - they were squeaking very loudly, crawling all over mum and generally making a very cute nuisance of themselves. Walked past the orangs to see how the young 'un was getting on. He was on one tower and his mother, Sekara, was on the other and he was trying to get back to her. It was great watching him try to work out strategies for getting from where he was to where she was. She had her back to him and was enjoying a bit of peace. I think he gave up in the end and she went over to him.

And we called by orangs Utama and Temara who were enjoying themselves in the sunshine. Utama came up to the window to see what we had and was disappointed that we didn't have a handbag for her to look in. She loves handbags. Temara came over to annoy her and was sitting with Utama's finger in her mouth. Utama had to bare her teeth at Temara to make her stop.