Saturday, January 31, 2004
Fantastic day today.
Taught some basic accounting skills to a chap and his eldest son who we are helping get started in business.
It's great when you can see the light go on in their eyes when they figure it out.
Then I played with Erin - made her some butterfly wings. Here's some pics.
After lunch we watched the womans final of the Australian Open.
Kim Clijsters got beaten in a fascinating match where she fought valiantly but Justine Henin-Hardenne was too good for her in the end. The intensity level of both players went up several times.
Following that we went off to the local beach - a man made lagoon at the real beach - where I went nuts with the camera.
Check all the pictures here.
Had a thought about Paris Hilton yesterday. There have been any number of spam emails rocking into my inbox telling me I can see a home video of Paris with her boyfriend a la Pamela Anderson. Having never heard of anybody who has actually seen this supposed footage, and not seeing any news items about the Hiltons sueing the purveyors of such dubious material I had thought it must just be more XXX spam using a celebrity figure. However a recent TV ad on here in Australia starts off with (not quoted correctly but close enough) "Want to see Paris in a position she's never been in before?" The ad is actually an ad for a new reality TV show due to air here soon called the simple life where Paris and some other girl called Nicole (who are both obviously ditzy spoilt brats) are sent to work on a real farm.
So my thought was (having never heard of Paris Hilton before the spam emails started turning up) that maybe the whole big thing about the home video was just a publicity stunt to get her name into the limelight before the TV show. Maybe I'm just too cynical...
Taught some basic accounting skills to a chap and his eldest son who we are helping get started in business.
It's great when you can see the light go on in their eyes when they figure it out.
Then I played with Erin - made her some butterfly wings. Here's some pics.
After lunch we watched the womans final of the Australian Open.
Kim Clijsters got beaten in a fascinating match where she fought valiantly but Justine Henin-Hardenne was too good for her in the end. The intensity level of both players went up several times.
Following that we went off to the local beach - a man made lagoon at the real beach - where I went nuts with the camera.
Check all the pictures here.
Had a thought about Paris Hilton yesterday. There have been any number of spam emails rocking into my inbox telling me I can see a home video of Paris with her boyfriend a la Pamela Anderson. Having never heard of anybody who has actually seen this supposed footage, and not seeing any news items about the Hiltons sueing the purveyors of such dubious material I had thought it must just be more XXX spam using a celebrity figure. However a recent TV ad on here in Australia starts off with (not quoted correctly but close enough) "Want to see Paris in a position she's never been in before?" The ad is actually an ad for a new reality TV show due to air here soon called the simple life where Paris and some other girl called Nicole (who are both obviously ditzy spoilt brats) are sent to work on a real farm.
So my thought was (having never heard of Paris Hilton before the spam emails started turning up) that maybe the whole big thing about the home video was just a publicity stunt to get her name into the limelight before the TV show. Maybe I'm just too cynical...
Friday, January 30, 2004
Ok here are some diverse web sites I've cruised thru lately.
Save the Hubble
Check out this WILD sound installation in a vehicle. Follow the links for more photos.
Cadence Ambulance
Rupert Sheldrake
Cool Wallpaper
Save the Hubble
Check out this WILD sound installation in a vehicle. Follow the links for more photos.
Cadence Ambulance
Rupert Sheldrake
Cool Wallpaper
What a great day!
The kids are fantastic today. They woke up in a great mood and have played well and consequently Judith is happy - happy wife = happy life!
They are making me a fantastic dinner - can't wait.
Will post more exciting stuff later tonight.
The kids are fantastic today. They woke up in a great mood and have played well and consequently Judith is happy - happy wife = happy life!
They are making me a fantastic dinner - can't wait.
Will post more exciting stuff later tonight.
Thursday, January 29, 2004
I've really stuffed up my predictions on this side of the draw. Andre Agassai just got beaten by Marat Safin in a 5 set thriller.
Awesome game!
Awesome game!
What a fun night!
I got home last night around 6 to find trhe power had been out since about 5pm and the UPS which powers the server had run out of battery. It usually is fine for a 5-10 minute outage which is the norm but this time apprently trees on the lines meant a longer delay than normal. According to the news reports 90,000 homes were without power. So we have been using candles, torches and a lantern. We even used a gas cooker to boil water for a cuppa!.
I got home last night around 6 to find trhe power had been out since about 5pm and the UPS which powers the server had run out of battery. It usually is fine for a 5-10 minute outage which is the norm but this time apprently trees on the lines meant a longer delay than normal. According to the news reports 90,000 homes were without power. So we have been using candles, torches and a lantern. We even used a gas cooker to boil water for a cuppa!.
Back online at last!
12 hours of blackout - due to trees fallen on power lines in a local thunderstorm
Sorry about the interruption to service!
More later
12 hours of blackout - due to trees fallen on power lines in a local thunderstorm
Sorry about the interruption to service!
More later
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Wow - what a game. I must say I certainly didn't expect this match to go against my prediction. This was I thought one of my safer bets. A couple of unforced errors in the 5th set handed the match to Safin. After Andy won the tiebreak to take the 4th set to tie it at 2-2 I thought he had the momentum he neeeded to take it all the way - but not to be. So Safin is in and through to the semi Vs Agassai. I still pick Agassai to win though.
Agassai won - so I've got one right so far
Roddick is down at the moment - but I reckon he will get there.
Tiebreaker in the 4th set and he needs to win to take it to the 5th set
Go Andy!
Roddick is down at the moment - but I reckon he will get there.
Tiebreaker in the 4th set and he needs to win to take it to the 5th set
Go Andy!
Monday, January 26, 2004
Lleyton lost - an awesome match though. The score was 4-6 6-3 6-0 6-4
Can't wait for the quarter finals now. Now the Australians are gone I really hope that Agassai can make it through to the final. It would be great if he could win too.
I am going to make a call on the match results from here on
Quarters
Roddick in Roddick Vs Safin
Agassai in Agassai Vs Grosjean
Ferrero in Arazi Vs Ferrero
Federer in Nalbandian Vs Federer
Semis
Agassai in Roddick Vs Agassai
Federer in Ferrero Vs Federer
Final
Agassai to beat Federer
Post your comments on my predictions - add yours if you dare!
Can't wait for the quarter finals now. Now the Australians are gone I really hope that Agassai can make it through to the final. It would be great if he could win too.
I am going to make a call on the match results from here on
Quarters
Roddick in Roddick Vs Safin
Agassai in Agassai Vs Grosjean
Ferrero in Arazi Vs Ferrero
Federer in Nalbandian Vs Federer
Semis
Agassai in Roddick Vs Agassai
Federer in Ferrero Vs Federer
Final
Agassai to beat Federer
Post your comments on my predictions - add yours if you dare!
This is an awesome mind puzzle game. Try the hard one - go on I dare ya!
Light Brigade
Hewitt is serving at deuce - 2 games each in the 4th set - 2 sets to 1 to Federer. Go Lleyton!
Light Brigade
Hewitt is serving at deuce - 2 games each in the 4th set - 2 sets to 1 to Federer. Go Lleyton!
I am watching the Tennis - Federer Vs Hewitt.
At the same time I am using my laptop to remotely control my pc, check and write emails and news posts, update web pages and chat to my developer online.
Current score is Hewitt-Federer 6-4, 3-6, 0-3 with Federer serving 40-40
It is an awesome game
[Now Playing: Claude Challe - Mambo Craze (de-phazz feat. pat appleton) (04:20)]
This weeks Blogger Idol theme is FreedomBefore I wrote my post I viewed the others that were there, in total 16. I especially liked John Carnes and Tim's at Challies.com simply because I agree with them.
I enjoyed Amanda at Lypton Village's Photo Journal as well. Very Aussie and very good photography. I have to give marks for the novel concept behind Al at Shouting into the Void for his very well written piece of fiction. Some deep thoughts there.
Heres my go. I am going to take two approaches. Mostly because I have the freedom to take as many approaches as I like as this is my blog and you are only reading it!. In fact if I take more than two approaches I can not be held irresponsible. In fact I shall take as many approaches as I choose, or don't choose. In fact now I think about it I don't think theres going to be any approach, just a big bang! How the hell was a plane crashing into a building an attack on my ability to write this - or any of the other bloggers mentioned above and on the blogger idol page, to write what they have chosen. Of course if they had been in the tower at the point of impact then it might have made it a bit tricky. Now before you get all shirty remember a couple of things. 1) I have the freedom to write what I like here and 2) I in no way mean any disrespect to the memory of those who perished in the attack on the twin towers of the WTC on 11/9/2001. (Yes I live in Australia and I have the freedom to write my dates round the right way! Or the way we do over here anyway.) Back to the attack. I may be out on a limb here but I don't ascribe to the rhetoric that "Freedom" was attacked. Sure America was attacked - and people lost lives, but how can you attack freedom? Freedom is an abstract concept. It exists in the mind. It may be regulated in legal process as some of the other blogger's post have testified using the concept that rules that define boundaries can create a freedom of sorts as existing within those boundaries. An anarchist would probably define freedom as the absence of all boundaries and rules. I don't know for sure having never yet met an anarchist who was a "pure" anarchist. Meaning some one who really believed that last statement and practised it.
Lets go another direction for a minute. Imagine you are in an infinite vacuum. You have the ability to travel on any vector for an infinite amount of time and change vector an inifinte number of times. Are you free? Completely? I don't know the answer - maybe there's an abstract mathematician out there who can answer that one.
Now this is starting to get past the point of where I was going. But I have the freedom to do that to.
You also have the freedom to reply and comment (sorry no comments set up yet - am exploring how to do that at the moment) so email me and I will post your email and my response - I shall not edit it so feel free to express yourself how you like!
Here is a series of pictures of my littlest one, Erin, playing in the dog's water bucket.
At nearly 2 1/4 she is such a precocious kid. She just knows how funny she looks squashed into the bucket and with the water splashing on her so she hams it up for the camera no end.
She is nearly out of the tantrums - due to the ignore them process we have studiously followed. It can be hard sometimes but about two months ago she suddenly got the message that screaming got her nowhere. Suddenly her vocabulary is starting to extend also. She is now capable of asking for stuff and being understood most of the time. Her standard response of NO to everything is slowly decreasing as she starts to realise she can communicate by actually saying other things. Of course being 2 this doesn't happen all the time and her emotions often get the best of her.
On another note, man am I blessed having a wife who is a fantastic cook!
At nearly 2 1/4 she is such a precocious kid. She just knows how funny she looks squashed into the bucket and with the water splashing on her so she hams it up for the camera no end.
She is nearly out of the tantrums - due to the ignore them process we have studiously followed. It can be hard sometimes but about two months ago she suddenly got the message that screaming got her nowhere. Suddenly her vocabulary is starting to extend also. She is now capable of asking for stuff and being understood most of the time. Her standard response of NO to everything is slowly decreasing as she starts to realise she can communicate by actually saying other things. Of course being 2 this doesn't happen all the time and her emotions often get the best of her.
On another note, man am I blessed having a wife who is a fantastic cook!
Interview a blogger!
The Blog Interview Rules
1 Leave me a comment asking to be interviewed.
2 I'll respond, asking you five questions.
3 Update your blog with my five questions and your answers.
4 Include this explanation.
5 Ask other people your own five questions if requested.
I asked Al at Shouting into the Void to send me 5 questions and he has.
Here are the 5 questions he sent me and my answers.
1. You wake up and realize you've swapped brains with your pet for a day (or
child / friend if you have no pet). What do you do? What does your pet do?
Hi Reginald here. Where has my master been - how come I've been put outside in this big old bird aviary. Sure its a big improvement on the cage he had me in before and I can't crap on his kitchen floor anymore but I miss him. He used to take me out and play with me most days and now he only comes by to change my food and water when he remembers. We used to cuddle under his shirt and we used to get drunk together - but then he stopped drinking and started being more responsible and slowly he played with me less and less. - WELL now the tables are turned and I'm the one outside the cage! I'm going to give him this piece of fruit - 1 day before it goes mouldy - and whistle at him and see how it feels like to not be able to understand me when I tell him I love him at the top of my voice and can you please come and play with me.
(For the record Reginald is my Nanday Conure.)
For my part I would have just picked a fight with the budgie in the same aviary, shat on the floor, cracked some seeds and then whistled loudly enough to upset the neighbours!
2. As a child you are frequently asked what you want to be when you grow up.
Given unlimited means, would you choose to do that job/fantasy now? Why or
why not?
I would definitely be a deep sea diver - using a bathyscape - to explore the ocean depths and find new creatures way down at the bottom of the deepest parts of the ocean. I remember reading with great fascination the story of a diver who descended to the deepest part of the ocean - after several attempts - and I re-read this story over and over. I also remember reading a story about undersea dwellings - similar to the movie the abyss - where people live at extreme depth for periods of time and even try breathing liquid. I think I would develop that city under the sea with unlimited resources at my disposal.
3. If you lived the story of Peter Pan, which character would you be and
why?
I can honestly say I have never read the story of Peter Pan or seen the movie. I know there is a Pirate named Captain Hook and a fairy called Peter Pan who doesn't want to grow up and another fairy called Twinkletoes or something.
I cant say as I would want to be any of them.
4. You can choose one power: being able to fly, hold your breath
indefinately, or lift amazing amounts of weight. Which is your choice, why,
and what do you do with your new power?
I am tempted to say hold my breath indefinately because that would help the answer to question 2 out. However my real answer is to be able to fly - I presume this is unassisted by mechanical or other means. From my earliest memories I have had dreams of flying - sometimes just hovering above my house or out in the street or over my school etc, sometimes falling, sometimes just being able to fly. Mostly however the dreams are about having to fly to escape something and the panic in the dream as you can't figure out how to fly and then - sometimes after waking up in a cold sweat - the repeat of the dream where this time - just like in Douglas Adam's A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - something just catches your attention at the right moment and distracts you and the next thing you know you are flying. That used to happen to me long before I read that book - weird huh! If I could fly now I would keep the power secret and use it to find out stuff in secret government installations and write conspiracy theories with dodgy black and white grainy photos and sell them to all the suckers in the world who believe that the governments are covering up alien conspiracies.
5. You actually get to be the preverbial fly-on-the-wall. Choose any place
and time (current or historical). What wall do you choose, and what do you
see and hear that nobody knew about that event until you spilled the beans
about it?
I would like to have been hiding in the house on the night Dr David Kelly went for his "walk" and committed suicide. Of course I would have found that his walk was assisted by the black suits carrying his already dead body killed with the secret drug that breaks down into water in the body after death. I would have either revealed this information to the Mossad and then changed names and identities or else printed it a la Salmon Rushdie and gone into hiding but too publicly to be quietly killed off - don't forget I could change back into a fly when the black suits came to visit me!
Ask me to send you questions and I will post a link to your blog here when you post the answers up.
The Blog Interview Rules
1 Leave me a comment asking to be interviewed.
2 I'll respond, asking you five questions.
3 Update your blog with my five questions and your answers.
4 Include this explanation.
5 Ask other people your own five questions if requested.
I asked Al at Shouting into the Void to send me 5 questions and he has.
Here are the 5 questions he sent me and my answers.
1. You wake up and realize you've swapped brains with your pet for a day (or
child / friend if you have no pet). What do you do? What does your pet do?
Hi Reginald here. Where has my master been - how come I've been put outside in this big old bird aviary. Sure its a big improvement on the cage he had me in before and I can't crap on his kitchen floor anymore but I miss him. He used to take me out and play with me most days and now he only comes by to change my food and water when he remembers. We used to cuddle under his shirt and we used to get drunk together - but then he stopped drinking and started being more responsible and slowly he played with me less and less. - WELL now the tables are turned and I'm the one outside the cage! I'm going to give him this piece of fruit - 1 day before it goes mouldy - and whistle at him and see how it feels like to not be able to understand me when I tell him I love him at the top of my voice and can you please come and play with me.
(For the record Reginald is my Nanday Conure.)
For my part I would have just picked a fight with the budgie in the same aviary, shat on the floor, cracked some seeds and then whistled loudly enough to upset the neighbours!
2. As a child you are frequently asked what you want to be when you grow up.
Given unlimited means, would you choose to do that job/fantasy now? Why or
why not?
I would definitely be a deep sea diver - using a bathyscape - to explore the ocean depths and find new creatures way down at the bottom of the deepest parts of the ocean. I remember reading with great fascination the story of a diver who descended to the deepest part of the ocean - after several attempts - and I re-read this story over and over. I also remember reading a story about undersea dwellings - similar to the movie the abyss - where people live at extreme depth for periods of time and even try breathing liquid. I think I would develop that city under the sea with unlimited resources at my disposal.
3. If you lived the story of Peter Pan, which character would you be and
why?
I can honestly say I have never read the story of Peter Pan or seen the movie. I know there is a Pirate named Captain Hook and a fairy called Peter Pan who doesn't want to grow up and another fairy called Twinkletoes or something.
I cant say as I would want to be any of them.
4. You can choose one power: being able to fly, hold your breath
indefinately, or lift amazing amounts of weight. Which is your choice, why,
and what do you do with your new power?
I am tempted to say hold my breath indefinately because that would help the answer to question 2 out. However my real answer is to be able to fly - I presume this is unassisted by mechanical or other means. From my earliest memories I have had dreams of flying - sometimes just hovering above my house or out in the street or over my school etc, sometimes falling, sometimes just being able to fly. Mostly however the dreams are about having to fly to escape something and the panic in the dream as you can't figure out how to fly and then - sometimes after waking up in a cold sweat - the repeat of the dream where this time - just like in Douglas Adam's A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - something just catches your attention at the right moment and distracts you and the next thing you know you are flying. That used to happen to me long before I read that book - weird huh! If I could fly now I would keep the power secret and use it to find out stuff in secret government installations and write conspiracy theories with dodgy black and white grainy photos and sell them to all the suckers in the world who believe that the governments are covering up alien conspiracies.
5. You actually get to be the preverbial fly-on-the-wall. Choose any place
and time (current or historical). What wall do you choose, and what do you
see and hear that nobody knew about that event until you spilled the beans
about it?
I would like to have been hiding in the house on the night Dr David Kelly went for his "walk" and committed suicide. Of course I would have found that his walk was assisted by the black suits carrying his already dead body killed with the secret drug that breaks down into water in the body after death. I would have either revealed this information to the Mossad and then changed names and identities or else printed it a la Salmon Rushdie and gone into hiding but too publicly to be quietly killed off - don't forget I could change back into a fly when the black suits came to visit me!
Ask me to send you questions and I will post a link to your blog here when you post the answers up.
In the 80's
In the 80's I finished school, started a degree, failed law, economics and organisation management, learnt to play basketball, got into the sub 20 minutes for 5km runs, grew my hair long enough to perm!, started drinking, got a drivers licence and my first 2 cars, crashed them both and also my parents car once, started racing mountain bikes, moved to a city (from a country town), had several girlfriends, started my triathlon career, passed grade 8 in classical violin studies, started a full time job and was terminated from the same job, first started using excel, first went to the movies, first listened to rock music and was hooked on Dire Straits, U2 and Sky, learnt to play squash, learnt to sail a flying Dutchman, preached in a church, learnt to program a computer, nearly went hang gliding and bungee jumping, went flatting for the first time, sold herbalife and ate mexcian food for the first time.
I have great stories about all these events - ask me if you are interested.
This post has been created for blogger idol
In the 80's I finished school, started a degree, failed law, economics and organisation management, learnt to play basketball, got into the sub 20 minutes for 5km runs, grew my hair long enough to perm!, started drinking, got a drivers licence and my first 2 cars, crashed them both and also my parents car once, started racing mountain bikes, moved to a city (from a country town), had several girlfriends, started my triathlon career, passed grade 8 in classical violin studies, started a full time job and was terminated from the same job, first started using excel, first went to the movies, first listened to rock music and was hooked on Dire Straits, U2 and Sky, learnt to play squash, learnt to sail a flying Dutchman, preached in a church, learnt to program a computer, nearly went hang gliding and bungee jumping, went flatting for the first time, sold herbalife and ate mexcian food for the first time.
I have great stories about all these events - ask me if you are interested.
This post has been created for blogger idol
[Now Playing: John Digweed - Live From Massive Utrecht (01:05:07)]
LivingRoom >> A space for Life: Blogger Idol - Week 1 This is an interesting idea.
Check it out
I shall post my week 1 soon.
Check it out
I shall post my week 1 soon.
Sunday, January 25, 2004
Interestingly enough a search on Google for Tramol finds this web site as the 7th listed site out of 95.
They are certainly the best pain killers I have ever taken - with the possible exception of pethidine (sp?).
However Google gets some interesting results
I notice that if you go to www.google.com address that it resolves the country you are in. If you then click "go to google.com" you get the whole world and the link becomes go to "Google Australia" for me. So for those of you who didn't get the same results as I did I now understand why.
Here are the less interesting results.
If I search the whole web for "spy journal" I can't find it
If I search from the Australian google.com I can't find it.
If I search from the Australian google.com and choose web pages in Australia I find it listed at the top of the "Society > Government > Intelligence" section!
If I go to the Canada site (I don't know how to select that but I can go from a link to it) then I can't find it.
Anyway that's all very narcissistic!
What's of more interest is my fascination with blogs! Since starting this on the 23/11/03 I have read a lot of other blogs. There are political commentaries, war journals etc, personal stuff, community groups etc.
I found a history of web blogs at Rebecca Blood's site and another at blockstar.
So what category does my blog fall into? I don't know yet as it is still being shaped. As the title suggests it's a journal, and a secret look into my life. As the sub title suggests it's not actually secret due to being posted on the public internet. Perhaps most importantly as the subtitle explicitly states this is about my fantastic days. I believe in positive thinking and the power of uplifting ideas. While enjoy the sarcasm and rants and raves some other blogs provide, my intention is to (mostly) show the positive side to life as I experience it. I try and find good in all things, the funny and humorous side to tragedy (without downplaying the reality of it) and have a good laugh at life and my part in it! As with anything else in life that is growing and learning, the blog will develop over time as I develop and learn more.
So I guess this has come across as a very introspective post today - but thas my prerogative I guess. Don't read it if you don't like it!
They are certainly the best pain killers I have ever taken - with the possible exception of pethidine (sp?).
However Google gets some interesting results
I notice that if you go to www.google.com address that it resolves the country you are in. If you then click "go to google.com" you get the whole world and the link becomes go to "Google Australia" for me. So for those of you who didn't get the same results as I did I now understand why.
Here are the less interesting results.
If I search the whole web for "spy journal" I can't find it
If I search from the Australian google.com I can't find it.
If I search from the Australian google.com and choose web pages in Australia I find it listed at the top of the "Society > Government > Intelligence" section!
If I go to the Canada site (I don't know how to select that but I can go from a link to it) then I can't find it.
Anyway that's all very narcissistic!
What's of more interest is my fascination with blogs! Since starting this on the 23/11/03 I have read a lot of other blogs. There are political commentaries, war journals etc, personal stuff, community groups etc.
I found a history of web blogs at Rebecca Blood's site and another at blockstar.
So what category does my blog fall into? I don't know yet as it is still being shaped. As the title suggests it's a journal, and a secret look into my life. As the sub title suggests it's not actually secret due to being posted on the public internet. Perhaps most importantly as the subtitle explicitly states this is about my fantastic days. I believe in positive thinking and the power of uplifting ideas. While enjoy the sarcasm and rants and raves some other blogs provide, my intention is to (mostly) show the positive side to life as I experience it. I try and find good in all things, the funny and humorous side to tragedy (without downplaying the reality of it) and have a good laugh at life and my part in it! As with anything else in life that is growing and learning, the blog will develop over time as I develop and learn more.
So I guess this has come across as a very introspective post today - but thas my prerogative I guess. Don't read it if you don't like it!
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