Nigerian Hip Hop

On the radio.
Fucken awesome.
I love FBI.
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Tired.

Yergh.
Tired.
Details later.

Late Start.

This morning I couldn't get a lift up to the bus stop with Aaron, so, being a lazy git, I stayed in bed and decided to get a lift with Allan (Leanne's Dad. Yup, Allan and Aaron). Only, Allan isn't working at Pyrmont today, but rather North Sydney, so I only got a lift to the bus stop from him anyway. I knew this fact when I decide NOT to get up at 5:50am, so I'm fully responsible for arriving late today. I usually get in at about 7:15am, but it's now 7:25am as I enter the Lane Cove Tunnel.
I have a meeting with Ron (and another guy today from Premier Illawarra called Stuart). I don't remember what time it was scheduled to start. It won't be before 9am, so I won't be late.
I wanted to shave last night, but ended up watching The Grudge 2 instead (what a mistake THAT was). I also should have showered this morning, but with my sleep-in, I didn't think I had the time.
So I don't feel very presentable. Sorry, Ron.
I leave you now as we exit The Lane Cove Tunnel into the traffic.
Oh wait! Bus lane! Bus lanes are the best thing ever. Ok, not the BEST but you know what I mean; they're a damn good idea.

Listening to: Solaa - Steps in Time (one of the opening bands from Shapeshifter. Totally hot).

PS Crossing the Bridge now. I'll be in before 8am.

PPS Three is being a POC and my email isn't sending.
I originally sent this at 7:40am.
I'm now at Wynyard. I'll try again.
I'm now walking to work. I'll try again.
I'm now at work. I'll try again.
It's been 10 minutes. I'll try again.
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The Grudge 2

I just finished watching The Grudge 2.
I am at a loss for words.
Terrible comes to mind.
Lousy.
Shithouse.
Nonsensical.
Inconsistent.
Baffling.
Stupid.
Horrible.
Lame.
Fucking fucking fucking fucking shit.
Honestly, it is one of the worst movies I have seen in a long, long, long time. Honestly.
And The Grudge was awesome. Creepy, cool, generally awesome.
The Grudge 2 ruined it by changing the story. Suddenly the curse wasn't created because of a violent murder, but because she was possessed as a child.
Stupid.
And to make matters worse, the Grudge 2 actually consists of two stories, set 2 years apart, that don't overlap at all (the only characters that overlapped were the dead woman and her son). Honestly. It seems that they wrote both The Grudge 2 and 3, and then turned them into one movie, running on top of each other. It was fucking terrible.
Fucking terrible.
Fucking terrible.
I wish the person who wrote it was here so I could hit them. Didn't they listen to their teachers at school when they told them that they wrote unoriginal trash?
It was horrible. Terrible. Trash. Shit. Fucking stupid and crap and shit and horrible and I can't express just how bad.
I haven't seen a movie this bad since, since, Click the Calendar Girl Killer. Honestly. It was that fucking bad. It was even worse to watch than Smokin Stogies. Because this cost maybe ten times as much to make.
Who approved this? Why, along the way of bringing this from script to film didn't someone say something? Something? Anything?
Why? WHY? WHY!?
Terrible.
Argh.
Don't ever see this movie.

The Bus is Quicker

The Bus is Quicker
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

I caught a lift with Leanne's Dad this morning. Mainly because Leanne has a job interview at 9:30am, so we all decided to go in together. This meant that Leanne and I could have breakfast together in the city, and I thought that would be really nice. It also meant we could use the T3 lane. So it shouldn't take as long. Of course, it isn't T3 the whole way, so it still isn't as fast as the bus (which takes the M2 and the Lane Cove Tunnel).
But it's free, and it means I get to have breakfast with Leanne - and I like Leanne.
I'll be leaving work late tonight because of this though, so it's not without it's downsides.
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Shapeshifter + Sunday

Shapeshifter were totally cool. Both of the opening bands for them were awesome, too.
They played at The Forum (in the entertainment quarter). Because of this, Leanne and I decided that driving in was the best way to get there. So Leanne drove in via Café de Hong Kong in Carlingford. We bought "Chicken and Chinese Mushroom Hot Pot" and "Chicken and Rice Cake in XO Sauce" for dinner. We also had San Choy Bow for entrée. I was very full. The food was pretty good, but not great. I don't think they were their best dishes.
After dinner we drove straight to Moore Park, and actually found a parking spot nearby fairly quickly, which was nice. We decided to stop by the Fox + Lion and I bought a Jäger and Red Bull (I felt tired and wanted the caffeine to wake me up) and Leanne had a "snickers" cocktail, then we headed over to The Forum.
We arrived during the first band's set. Budspells were their name. They were a dub reggae band from Bondi (I didn't get any photos, but this is not to say that they weren't worth it). They were pretty cool. I will keep my ear out for more by them.
After Budspells, a group called Solaa played. They were an awesome soul hip-hop band. See my flickr photoset for photos of them (and Shapeshifter). I bought their CD Steps in Time (which will be in stores Monday), and it's smooove. Freakin cool. Horn section, female singer, male MC, sampler/keyboard guy, a drummer and a percussionist.
There were a lot of Kiwis in the audience, and a few of them talked to me (a few of them were high at the time, so it made sense). One woman in particular was a little crazy. And annoying. And she wasn't even high. Just drunk. I don't remember her name. But I do remember that I met another Simon (although I didn't/don't believe that was his actual name), a Luke and a Michael (in that order). Michael was happy to tell me that him and his friends were on E and "heaps of K." He was like "look at my friends, we're all so high. We're all falling over. We're fucked." He then grabbed his girlfriend, and was like "this is my girl. Look at her." The girl looked a little uncomfortable, and was like "What?" he just laughed and said "She's so high!"
It was pretty funny. I'm getting ahead of myself; that was at the end of the night.
Leanne and I stood to the side of the mezzanine for Solaa and most of Shapeshifter, so we had a good view of the action, but we were standing under a light. I didn't really notice though. I took some pretty good photos. I'm happy with my camera. I switched it to manual, opened up the aperture (although it only goes to F8.0), and just changed the shutter speed. I didn't need a flash, but the flash was bright enough when I did use it to light up the crowd. The photos turned out pretty well. Check the photoset link I posted earlier in this entry for a selection of the better ones.
Shapeshifter started around about midnight, and they were very cool. Unfortunately, I still felt tired (despite having a second red bull based drink - this time Vodka), so I didn't get into it as well as I would have liked, but every so often I found a burst of energy and was able to funk out - if only for a few minutes.
But they were cool, and I'd like to see them again (when I have a little more energy).
Leanne and I didn't get home until about 3am... and we slept in like crazy this morning/afternoon. I don't think I needed quite that much sleep, but I wanted to keep sleeping, so I did.
We made burritos for lunch (breakfast), and went for a bushwalk in Leanne's local. We took along Leanne's DSLR, and I had a play around with it, as I'm trying to learn how to use it. I'm getting used to it, and the photos I took weren't terrible, but I still need practice, and a read of the manual would be beneficial. I will decide if any are worth uploading, so if you want you can take a look. I'll let you know (on this post) if I upload any.
Sorry that that is such a stark recount of last night's events... but my creativity is pretty low at the moment.

Shapeshifter are Hot!

Shapeshifter are Hot!
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Man. So totally rockin. They're an awesome Kiwi drum n bass band, and what sets them apart from most is that they do everything live.
And that's fucking hot.
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Big Cigar, Big Woman

big cigar big woman
Originally uploaded by occhioxocchio.

She loves the cigar.

Cheap DVDs and a concert

As you can tell from the post below, Leanne and I stayed in last night.
The idea was to buy some wine, cook some dinner and watch a movie.
We decided on burritos. So we went to North Rocks to buy what we needed, and the plan was to go via the video store to pick a movie up for the night.
Well. The video store is moving across the road, and to help with that move, it is currently selling of it's old stock.
So we bought heaps of DVDs.
Such as:
Lost season 1 for $19
Lost season 2 for $20
Bubba Ho-Tep for $4
Beerfest for $11
Sunset Boulevard for $4
Lady in the Water for $11
The Grudge for $4
The Grudge 2 for $12
Kinsey for $4
Spider for $4
The Tick (live action) for $9
Life Aquatic for $4
The Office Season 1 for $17

Fuck yeah, man. Fuck yeah.
So we watched Lady in the Water and The Grudge last night. Awesome and awesomely creepy, in that order.
And tonight is the Shapeshifter concert, which will fucking rock.
Gonna be a cool weekend.

Burrito time!

Leanne and I made burritos last night.
I love burritos.
They were so tasty. But man, they were also so filling. I only had two, and Leanne only had one.
We had nachos for lunch today with the leftovers.

Parliament

I really like Parliament.
I'm listening to the Tear The Roof Off compilation, and it's funking the fuck out of me. Or is it funking the fuck in me? Or into me?
I don't know, and in any case, I like it.

Leftovers

Leftovers
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

See what I mean? So many leftovers. We barely made a dent. Please come and eat them. We need your help.

The Dragon In My Garage

The Dragon In My Garage
A well worded piece about faith and scepticism.

Australia's Biggest Morning Tea

Fwd: Australia's Biggest Morning Tea
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Today was Australia's Biggest Morning Tea(in support of the cancer council) at TC. Oh my God. So much food. I can't believe how much food. Needless to say, we have heaps left over. I think I will bring some home. I'm seeing Mum tonight, so I will bring some to her.
Ergh. So full.

Beer Pong God

http://www.clipaday.com/videos/amazing-beer-pong-shots
This guy is a shiny golden God.
I just hope that the vid is real.
Check it out. Just plain fucken crazy.

More Flickr Photos

I started uploading some older photos to Flickr last night. Not many. Some.
I have also started getting together a list of the events that I want to put up onto Flickr.
There are still more to come, and I still have to put up the high rez Infected Mushroom photos, too.
Take a look. Leave comments. It's fun.
I bet.

Left Behind at the Fishbowl

Left Behind at the Fishbowl
I like this blog, too.
It's stuff that is left behind at the computer room at the University of Michigan (called the Fishbowl). I guess the guy works there.
Anything interesting that he finds, he edits, critiques and posts... and it's funny.
Check it out.

I Will Be A Flash On Tuesday

I Will Be A Flash On Tuesday
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

I don't know what it means, but I liked it. It was a sticker on the window of the train.
I wonder if whoever put it there IS a flash today.
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Moo & Oink

Moo & Oink
I love this video.
Moo & Oink is my favourite store.

Rate Your Students

Rate Your Students: "a public forum where faculty and students can work out the tricky dynamic of the modern classroom."

I really fucking like this blog. Really fucking like it.
It's really just teachers going off at students. It's fantastic.
Great to get an insight into teachers minds, and it makes me want to be a University Professor, or at least meet some of these people.
Anyway. I had to post this because it's full of really interesting rants by teachers.
Check it. I highly recommend it.

Missing badge

Hmmm.
Upon leaving the bus just now, I realised one of the badges on my bag is missing (a little round rust-mark tells me this).
I don't know what one though. Will I miss it?

Listening to: The sounds of the city.
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Wish I could take a photo

There are times when I see something that would make a good photo, but I either don't want to look like a knob when I take my camera out, or I don't think it's a good idea to photograph people I don't know.
I wish I could take those photos, they're often interesting.
Just then for example, there was a group of 4 or 5 people sitting together on the bus, all asleep. It looked awesome. I wanted a photo. But I didn't get one.

Listening to: Traffic Noise (I haven't put my headphones on yet... and probably won't today, coz I don't feel tired, and I want to read)
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Finished Uploading TGE

Finally... geeze take forever.
I finally finished uploading the full rez Great Escape images. Man, I wish there was a way to do a batch replacement. It took me that long to do 45 photos.
I will do Infected Mushroom next (25 photos), and I think that will be the last of the photos that I uploaded at a reduced resolution.

Re-Uploading Some Flickr Photos

I'm spending my time at the moment re-uploading my Great Escape and Infected Mushroom photos onto Flickr. The reason is that when I started on Flickr, I resized my photos to save bandwidth when I uploaded them. Now that I'm a pro user, I figure I might as well upload the full-rez version, as it will come in handy if/when I want to print them later.
So I'm currently doing that, rather than going through the photos on my HDD and uploading some of the best of them.
And I'm a little bored, because there is no way (at the moment) to batch replace photos onto Flickr. Which kind of makes sense, until you search for the function and you find out how many people are in the same boat as me (having uploaded reduced rez images when they were a free user). And seeing as I left the title of the photos as their filename, it wouldn't be hard to implement. Just noone has yet.
Why don't I just batch upload them again, like I did the first time? Because I have already created links for them, and I don't want them to change. I'd also lose their descriptions, comments, geocoding, any groups they were put in, as well as the sets they are in. So yes. A bit of a pain.
When it's done I will start going through my older photos and uploading some of them. Hot.

Possible moblog photo upgrade

Hmmmmmmmm... last night I had an idea.
My phone runs on MMC cards, which are half size SD cards (without the "security")... this means a MMC to SD adaptor is a common piece of equipment (there was one in my bag when it was stolen, and I think Alex has one kicking around... but I might be wrong... because, unfortunately, one of his memory cards was in my bag when it was stolen... and it had photos of his on, too).
Anyway.
Basically, I thought that if I had an MMC to SD adaptor, I could easily pop my phone memory card into my Canon, take a photo, pop in back into my phone and upload it to my blog/flickr. All on the move. Which would yield much nicer pictures than my camera phone does at the moment. Which is handy when your photographing mushroom pies.
Of course there are a few problems.

1. I'm not sure I have (or can get) an adaptor
2. My phone may not look for pictures in the DCIM/Canon1xx folder
   
3. A 2-4MB image will take a lot longer to upload than the 400Kb images I am uploading at the moment
4. Swapping the cards will take time - which may not always be available, and will be fiddly
   
5. I'm about to get a new phone (in a few months) that will take decent images anyway (although not as good as my Canon) - and add GPS data to them.

So I'm not so sure it's worth it.
But because I like geeky things like that, and because I'm bored at work, I thought I'd write about it. I would like to try it anyway.

Once Again; Chicken Burgers

Once Again; Chicken Burgers
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

As I explained earlier, Leanne and I had to go visit West Ryde one more time to mow and garden. Being in such close proximity to The Roaming Bird, we couldn't help but make a visit. No salads today though. Just a big fucken chicken burger with bacon and pineapple (and cheese and mayo and sweet chilli sauce). And chips. Man, they make good chips. And needless to say, their burgers are fantastic.
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China

china
Originally uploaded by Tokyo Girl.

Leanne found this on Flickr, and I had to share it.
This is funnier than the "Nigger Brown" couch.

Part II, Beyond the Wait

I last left you waiting at West Ryde station, eating a Spinach and Cheese Doodad™.
Well, the train arrived on time, and we ended up getting to the Art Gallery at about 12:30pm (which was when we said we'd arrive... after we realised we'd missed the train, we messaged Mickey and told him we'd be late).
Leanne was feeling like cack, but I was doing okay. The meeting went well, and it was good to Mickey and Susan again. We made arrangements to go over to Mickey's that night, too.
After Susan had left (Mickey had left a while before), Leanne and I stayed on the grass in the Domain for a while, enjoying the day (I took some photos), and then decided to go to the Art Gallery. We made it part way through one of the rooms before Leanne's illness became a little too much for her, and we had to go outside again. So we walked toward the train station, but stopped at a grass path to relax for a bit (most of the grossness was coming from lack of sleep). So we did as such. We lay there. We looked at the scenery. We talked. I ate the leftover salad from West Ryde. Leanne took some photos. I took some photos. We decided to leave. We got up. We walked 10m. Leanne told me she was going to spew. She walked over to a tree and spewed:

She spewed on top of a spider. The spider, glistening in the sunlight, crawled away, naturally upset. Unfortunately, by the time Leanne suggested taking a photo of the spew, we'd already walked about 20m away, and by the time we'd returned, the spider had found a new, dry hiding place. It would have been good to get a photo of it.
Leanne felt immediately better, so in celebration we decided to go to Chinatown.
The plan earlier in the day was to go to Yum Cha, but it was getting late, so we just went to that awesome little bakery that Helen and I used to go to. We thought we would get that as a kind of entrée, and then if we felt like more, we could go somewhere else.
We bought a pork bun each, and a little glutinous rice ball each, too. Tasty. I love that place. I wish it was closer to work.
Ultimately unfilled, we decided to walk up the main drag of Chinatown, and if we saw anything good, we'd pop in. We didn't get far before a menu drew us in, and the friendly girl at the door beckoned us in. They had Peking Shredded Beef on the menu, so that was good enough for us.
We made the mistake of also ordering a mixed entrée each... which was a little silly of us. By the time the entrée arrived, last night's lack of sleep had caught up to both of us again, and neither of us were really looking forward to food. The entrée was average, too, which was a shame. The Peking Shredded Beef was tasty (because it's Peking Shredded Beef), but not as good as the one from Beijing Duck Restaurant in North Rocks. So, the meal was a little disappointing - but only a little. The Erhu Plays Your Favourite Love Songs CD created an interesting mood.
We didn't finish our meal. We took the rest home in a container.
We felt seedy. We went to the mall to go the the toilets and then we wanted to go home. We messaged Mickey to tell him that we were too tired/seedy to go to his place that night (a shame), and started to make our way back to Central Station and home.
On the way we were drawn to that awesome cheap-as-fuck book store near Central. We went in and I found some interesting books, including a compendium of the first 13 issues of Colors Magazine for only $8.95! I thought it was just a grouping of the first 13 issues, but it has a bit of background info, too, but it also at times displays on one page a few different pages from an issue, so the print is far too small to read. So that's a bit of a shame. I also found the last two A Series of Unfortunate Events for a total of $10, as well as the Letters To Beatrice companion book for only $2! Yay! Leanne found a novel about a Russian Politician as well as a book called One Hundred Great Books in Haiku, which is what it sounds. It's freakin' great.
Example:

LOLITA
Vladimir Nabokov

Lecherous linguist -
he lays low and is laid low
after laying Lo.

I also found a book on the water crisis in Australia (and it's only from 2005) for $2.95, and a book by Paul Davies (I read his 5th Miracle, which was about the beginnings of life, and how the key to life must be intrinsically written into the laws governing the universe) called The Last Three Minutes which is about the end of the Universe. It was originally published in 1994 though, but reissued in 2000. So it's old, but it should be interesting - I just don't know how far the field has advanced since then. It was $9.95.
So. Happy. Many great books, for not much at all.
After emerging from the book store we felt refreshed, so the journey back to West Ryde Station, and then back to Carlingford was not so bad. We finished the Shredded Beef for dinner. Leanne's Mum had picked up Leanne's new glasses that day, and despite them looking awesome, the lenses are shit house, and straight lines appear bent through them. So we hope to take them back today (if time permits).
I updated my blog, and we went ended up getting to sleep altogether much later than we planned.
It's now Sunday and I'm writing this post. When I'm done, we'll pop over to West Ryde with the trailer, remove the wardrobe, mow the lawns (again) and fix up the gardens. If we have time we'll go over to Castle Hill to fix Leanne's glasses, but tonight I'm taking Mum to see Dog Trumpet play at The Vanguard (with Leanne), so I'm not sure we will have time.
Mum really likes Mental as Anything, and Dog Trumpet have two of their members, including Reg Mombassa of Mambo fame. The Vanguard should be a nice venue, and I booked dinner and a table there, so it has every reason to be a nice event.
Well, let's go!

Balmain, A Hangover, Spinach & Cheese Doodads and a Half Hour Wait .

Balmain, A Hangover, Spinach & Cheese Doodads and a Half Hour Wait .
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Balmain last night was awesome fun. We drank, we talked, we laughed. We are now paying the price - Leanne moreso than I, but dues are being paid.
Leanne wants an ice coffee. Or a water. Whatever is available.
There is no drink machine on this platform. I curse you, West Ryde Station.
We also met up with Denise. Denise is cool.
This morning Leanne and I had to move that stupid fucking wardrobe out of the West Ryde house (we also had to mow the lawns again, but that didn't get done), so we stayed the night on the floor there. Not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be.
We moved the wardrobe out of the house with no problem (it was a lot harder getting it in), but don't have a trailer to move it off of the premises. That will happen later. Today? Tomorrow? Some time soon.
We did what had to be done, and we handed the keys in. I don't know when they'll do the final inspection again.
In an attempt to calm the demons swimming through our veins, Leanne and I went up to the shops and bought chips, a salad and some drinks. This helped a little, but not enough. Especially for Leanne. I'm not doing so bad actually. Although I did fall asleep on the toilet this morning.
A few weeks ago (two, maybe), Mickey contacted Leanne about her formatting his Mother's (Susan) book in InDesign. Leanne had to meet up with Susan today to talk it over with her - she was down in Sydney for Mickey's graduation. She lives in Eumundi, in Qld.
After sitting in the car for some time, wondering if we really had to go back to Carlingford to pick up Susan's manuscript, we decided to call Mickey and find out. Good news; we didn't. So we headed over to West Ryde station to go straight to the Art Gallery to meet Mickey and Susan.
On the way, we stopped at the Lebanese Bakery and bought a Spinach and Cheese Doodad (as they are now known) each from there. So tasty.
Unfortunately, we saw the train leaving the station before we had even made it to the bakery, and upon arrival at the station we found out there was a half hour wait for the next train. Thus this post.
More later.
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Leanne's Wallet

Leanne received a package yesterday (at Carlingford). Within it was her wallet and a "with compliments" slip from Home nightclub.
This is the wallet that she lost at my birthday party... in January. The one we thought was taken from James Squires Brewery.
This is odd for many reasons.

1. We'd been inside Home for all of 1 minute (hadn't even fully left the hallway) when we realised we'd lost the wallet - this is why we assumed it wasn't lost inside of Home.
2. Why did Home take 5 months to send the wallet out? Did they only just find it, or do they have a really bad lost property centre?
3. It's lucky that they sent it to Carlingford because there was a change of address label on the back of her license, and we may never have gotten the wallet back if it was sent to Linton Ave (although we are heading there this afternoon to perform the final clean).
4. How did she get into Home without her ID? This point is a little strange... I think it was because we were with Pete's brother (whose name I don't remember).
   

Of course, the $200 wasn't in it. So we wonder if someone found it on the night, emptied it and threw it somewhere (which could explain why it wasn't found for 5 months), or if someone at Home stole the money when they found the wallet. Either way, it's expected to be emptied.
But I still want to know how it took 5 months to appear. Where was it that it could go unnoticed by the tens of thousands (possibly hundreds of thousands) of people that would have been in that club since January? And what did Home do to reveal it after all this time? Did it fall down the stairs? Behind a speaker? Under a locker?
Whatever happened, we have it back. Within was a cancelled credit card, HCF card and her license. As well as a Linton Ave key and her car keys (of which a spare is now kept in my wallet). Because of her last wallet disappearance (when her glove box swallowed it) Leanne was able to use her old license for the last few months - and as such never cancelled her missing license (coz we were about to move anyway).
So at least now she doesn't have to pay for a new license.

Mushroom and Rice Pie

Mushroom and Rice Pie
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

Every morning that I have caught the bus, I've passed "Zenergy" a vegetarian food store, and I've seen their pies in the window. And because it's raining today, I thought I'd stop in and grab one. I was stuck between the lentil and the mushroom, but at the shopkeeper's recommendation, I settled on the Mushroom.
Oh man. It's tasty. I don't remember exactly what's in it, but there the big, tasty mushrooms and the rice are the most obvious ingredients. There are also finely chopped vegies. Man. It is fucking tasty. I am TOTALLY going back there.
I wish I hadn't just finished it. I want MORE!
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Hmmm... looking at the image on a computer screen now... the camera phone certainly didn't take an appetising photo, did it? I should have taken a photo with my real camera. Darn.
Oh well. Believe me when I said it was delicious, contrary to the evidence.

My Flickr Score

Just a silly little site that generates a Flickr "Score."
I obviously don't have that great a score (997), and the whole "score" idea isn't that interesting, but the site does also show a few cool bits of info on my flickr account that I did find interesting. Mainly the "interesting" photos... I want to know how they gauge that.
JadeMonkee's flickr score

And we're in the Tunnel!

We're in the Lane Cove Tunnel! We stopped at Wynyard today, so now I know the two aren't related. But it doesn't answer my question as to WHY we don't take it every day. Maybe they only take it when traffic is bad? Maybe when they're running late (but of course that doesn't explain Monday)? I don't know. I'm not sure I'll EVER know.
Mysterious mysteries.
Of course, it's now 4:40pm, so there is no chance of me getting to my stop by Monday's 4:25pm anyway, so there are no celebrations for taking the tunnel anyway.

Still listening to: Basement Jaxx - Remedy
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Headphones

I'm listening to Basement Jaxx right now, and I'm missing my old headphones. I want better headphones. I think I should put them on my list of things to get. This time I think I'll try and get a portable pair though.
I also realised that lately I've been neglecting to put my "Listening to" information at the end of my posts. I shall endeavour to remember to put it in from now on (I bet you all missed it!)

Listening to: Basement Jaxx - Remedy (an old favourite of mine. Funktastic)
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Where are the Regulars?

I don't recognise anyone in this bus queue. Wouldn't there be people that catch this bus everyday? So why have I never seen any of these people before?
Odd.
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Tag/Label Cloud

Oooh! Look at that! My "Labels" section is now arranged in cloud form. I did this using these instructions.
Isn't that pretty? As to keep it looking neat, I've set it to only show labels that have more than one entry. Why would you want to see labels with only one entry anyway?
So yes. Enjoy.

New Sopor Aeternus Album

Oooh!
I was paid today, so I bought the new Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows album.
Now... what sucks about Sopor Aeternus, is their CDs are incredibly hard to find in this country... so much so that I just order them from Germany.
Now, what sucks about ordering them from Germany, is the descriptions for the Albums are written in German (while there is an English version of the website available, the descriptions are still written in German), so I can't be sure what super funky special packaging/additions come with the album. And there better be super funky special packaging/additions, coz the CD version of the new album cost AU$100... the vinyl (and it's a double LP) version only cost AU$50, so I guess the CD version has something really special in it. Or at least I fucking hope. Funnily enough, while the CD version is limited to 2000 copies, the vinyl is limited to 900... so why is it half the price? I'll find out in a few weeks when it arrives I guess. Of course, I'm not 100% on the album being limited edition, coz I can't read the site. I did a net translation, and it seemed to say so.
Shipping was about AU$45, too, so I won't be spending too much at the shops tonight (or the rest of this fortnight). I will still be going out to Balmain with Ross on Friday though (it's still on, right?).
You can pick them both up from http://www.infrarot.de/
The official Sopor Aeternus site is http://www.soporaeternus.de/
Just FYI.

del.icio.us bookmark editing

I can't find a good way to edit my bookmarks on del.icio.us. I have to do it one by one. I have to delete/rename/add tags one by one, too. This is a pain. I wish it had an interface like Firefox Bookmark Manager, at least that way I can select multiple entries.
Pain.
By default, the imported bookmarks aren't shared either, so I have to go through and share all the ones that should be shared (which is all but my banking bookmarks, really).
So yes. This is a little annoying... but it now means that I will have a single copy of my bookmarks across my computers, so that's handy.
Of course it also means that I no longer use the bookmarks built into Firefox, which isn't handy at all. At least it seems that way at the moment.
I'm not sure del.icio.us is for me.

The Online Photographer: How To Choose a Digital Point-and-Shoot

The Online Photographer: How To Choose a Digital Point-and-Shoot

Wow. This guy has some opinions...
I'm not sure I agree with "all of them are crap, don't waste your time choosing one," (example my Pentax vs my Canon), but it's an interesting opinion article. If extreme.

"Single Today, Thanks"

So it seems that Hillsbus not only offer weekly tickets with no discount, but also return tickets are discount free. Now I understand buying a rail ticket return for the same price as two single journeys - it's a pain in the arse lining up for rail tickets, and you can miss your train by doing so - but bus tickets? What the hell advantage does it give? Especially when there is the risk of losing the ticket during the day.
This is annoying.
Anyway. Why did I buy a single today? Coz I'm meeting Leanne at West Ryde tonight to finish the cleaning. Fun.
After such, we are going to the shops to pick out a pair of glasses for her (and so I can spend that $100 David Jones gift voucher burning a hole in my pocket... as well as some of my pay).
But will we have time for both? Leanne's Mum (Jenny) wants to go early, so we'll see what happens. It's not like I wasted any money buying a single today, anyway.
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del.icio.us Bookmarks

Hmm... I started a del.icio.us account today, and am trying to get my head around using and organising it all. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to import all of my bookmarks... there was over 1000 of them, and doubtless most of them are crap. So I'm going to figure out the best way to clean them up...
and do they stay in synch with my Firefox bookmarks? Or should I just clean them up on del.icio.us and them import them into Firefox? Or vice versa, maybe?
Such dec.isio.ns...

No Tunnel Today

No tunnel today. What the fuck?!
This sucks.
I'm not happy with the driver's explanation. I want to get to the bottom of this.
At least some guy juts got on in Lane Cove... that makes the journey less superfluous.
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Bus Mystery Solved?

I just asked the driver if this bus goes via the Lane Cove Tunnel (like my Monday bus did) and he said that it depends. The supervisor decides and radios the instructions in.
Odd way to run a bus route, and I don't know how that will affect TC.
So I will find out in about 10 minutes if this will be a quick journey or not.
Also, there are seats to spare today, where yesterday there was standing room only. This is weird.
I might also add that the bus was about 10 minutes late.
I love buses.
We just stopped at Wynyard. I don't know if that's an indicator of an express or not. I also don't know why the bus WOULDN'T take the Lane Cove Tunnel; it's not like there are any stops between the Harbour Bridge and the M2 anyway.
Blargh. Annoying. And confusing.
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Rental Inspection

We heard from the Real Estate today that we didn't do a good enough job cleaning for the final the inspection. Fair enough, we need to wipe down the cornices and skirting boards etc, get a pest exterminator in (coz of Oz...), and a few other minor things.
But some things are stupid.
They complained about the grime in the bath-tub... the grime that is caused by the enamel not being present, the grime that Leanne says was present when we moved in... so I believe that is unfair.
But they also say we have to mow the lawns again... we mowed them last week! How fucking long can they be? They're lawns, they grow! It's not our fucking fault! They said that the quote for someone else to mow them is $360! Wankers! Bollocks! Bullshit!
So I guess we have to do it.
Motherfuckers.

Handed in the "Assignment"

Well, I've handed in the "assignment" but I'm unhappy with the layout and scope.
I'm not done with it. I still have to interview a few more people, and I still have to clean it up and form it into a more logical order... I just hope Jeremy wasn't expecting more progress by now.

New Layout

So I just spent about 3 hours updating my Blog Template so that I could have my details on the left and my links etc on the right.
In the process of this I had to expand the width of my blog, and in the process of that I had to remove the round edges of the header.
Such is life, I suppose.
Now I may just consider getting funky with colours... at least they're easy to change.
Please let me know if this modification caused anything funky to happen when you view my blog.
Cheers

Different Bus on the Way Home, too.

I don't know how I did it, but despite catching the 610 at 4:05pm from the QVB, the bus didn't go via the Lane Cove Tunnel, and took an extra 25 minutes to get to my stop.
Funnily enough, when I looked at the timetable yesterday, it said that it arrived at the M2/Oakes stop at 4:50pm, but I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived there by 4:25pm... but today my bus arrived at 4:50pm after taking a different route home.
In fact, Leanne called me at 4:20pm, and I'd only just crossed the Harbour Bridge... when the day before I was nearly at my stop.
So I need to figure out what happened.
I don't remember if the bus went via Wynyard yesterday... I don't think it did.

Premier Illawarra's Jingle

Is terrible. Painful. Horrible.
And it's in my head.
I've had to call them so often that now, whenever I see the name of their company, the jingle gets stuck in my head.
It's grating. Annoying. Cheesy.
And it's driving me mad.

No Discount

Me (to the driver): "What's the best way to buy tickets?"
Driver: "Whadaya mean?"
Me: "Like, is there a weekly or anything?"
Driver: "Yeah, there's a weekly, but there's no discount."
Me: "Oh."

Ah fuck.
So it's $9.60 a day then. Fun.
Looks like I'll start getting a lift in with Leanne's Dad (and maybe back?) when he returns from his business trip. Of course this means getting in later (and subsequently leaving later), which sucks, coz I really like the early starts/finishes. And it means a potentially awkward commute. As well as no music. Hmmm.
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Got a seat.

Yay!
I got a seat! One of the little dinky disabled seats, but a seat nonetheless!
The bus is packed though. If I were up the back, and were confident that little or no people would see me, I'd take a photo for you.
I look forward to getting my new phone so that the photos not only look better, but they upload quicker (in 3 high speed areas).
Anyway. I'm going to read now.
By gum, I'm hungry.
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Waiting for the bus

Waiting for the bus
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

I'm standing in the middle of the M2 waiting for my bus to arrive. Unfortunately I was 2 minutes later than yesterday, so didn't get the same bus, which sucks because it didn't have many people on it, and a bus to North Sydney just pulled up (not my bus) that was packed. That'll annoy me. Especially as it means I can't read, and a little moreso because I'm enjoying this book so much.

So I continue to wait. It's only been 10 minutes, but it shouldn't be much longer.

I hope.

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Sleepy

Oh man. I'm sleepy. I want to go home and nap. I have to interview people about issues they have come across, but I just want to nap. I've already talked to two people, but still have to talk to the rest of the team. I'm falling asleep at my desk as I type up the info I gained from the last interview.
I have to tackle the bus on my way home now, too; I have to figure out which stand it leaves from.
I also have to find out the cheapest way to buy tickets.
zzzzzZZZZZ

Happy Mothers Day, Mum!

Happy Mothers Day, Mum!
Will be seeing you in a few hours anyway, but thought I'd post a Happy Mother's Day picture for you on my blog.
Nerd.

And here are your flowers:

Done and Dining.

Done and Dining.
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

And we're done.

We were actually by 4pm (as that's when the inspection was meant to be), but I only just now thought of posting to my blog.

It also turns out that one of the Real Estate staff went home sick, so they were so understaffed that they couldn't do the inspection today anyway. They'll do it first thing Monday morning. But we've now handed our keys in and our lease is officially OVER.

A kind of sense of freedom is wafting over me. No rent to pay for some time now. Fantastic.

So Leanne and I have finished our final meal in West Ryde; two salads and chips from The Roaming Bird. Oh man. These guys make the BEST salads. Which is why we stopped in for our final meal.

Yum yum, I'm done.

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And I'm up.

So... 45 minutes of lingering in bed, and I'm (we're) up.
Time to clean and pack!
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Make that...

...7:30am.
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Actually...

Fuck that, I'm setting my alarm for 7am.
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Calling it a night.

I'm fucking buggered. I'm setting my alarm for 6:30am and continuing to pack and clean then; I'm too tired to continue. I've actually been too tired for the last hour now, but I'm only just now getting to bed.
Good night.
See you in the morning.
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Station Announcer

This time it's the announcer on Town Hall Station that is awesome.
He's been here for a few weeks now, but I've not really listened to him before (I usually have my mp3 player in my ears).
He has a calm voice, and after telling everyone that the train is late and to stay behind the yellow lines, he wished all the mothers on the station a happy mothers day this Sunday.
Bless.
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People are fucked

What the HELL is this?

I couldn't even finish watching it. Painful.
I repeat. People are fucked.

NIN Tickets

Ben seemed to believe that the NIN show that was cancelled last night would be rescheduled for Saturday night. Now, Ben couldn't make the Saturday night show, so he went and bought tickets to the Friday show.... and the Friday show has just been cancelled as well. Yikes.
He will be PISSED.
They have also announced the rescheduled show:

"Tickets for Thursday 10 May are now valid for the newly rescheduled date of Saturday 15 September.

Tickets for Friday 11 May are now valid for Sunday 16 September."

So... I guess Ben will refund tonight's tickets, and keep last night's ones.
I haven't yet been able to call him and tell him. He will be PISSED.
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Update: Ben just called... he's pissed. But not angrily so; quietly pissed. He will be refunding tonight's tickets and coming with us on Saturday 15th September. So now I get to see NIN with him! Yay!
But he's still PISSED.

The Machine is Us/ing Us

From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g

I really like this video. It's a good kind of round up on Web 2.0

The Do Not Call Register

The Do Not Call Register
Fantastic idea - a register of phone numbers that telemarketers aren't allowed to call. It's open now, so you should go and put your number on it.
Just hope it works...
The fact that there can be exemptions is a bit worrying though.

Six-String Masterpieces - The Dimebag Darrell Art Tribute

Six-String Masterpieces - The Dimebag Darrell Art Tribute
Holy cow... there are some amazing guitars up for auction here.
I like the ones by Mark Ryden, Paul Booth, and Aaron Cain best, but there are other awesome ones by Sas Christian, Joe Capobianco, Ace Frehley, Filip Leu, Rob Jew, and Jason D'Aquino.
Check them out... they're awesome (the ebay page that they link to has pictures for most of the guitars).

NIN Postponed! NOOOOO!

Oh man! I (or actually, Ben and Ross) just heard on JJJ that the NIN concert I was meant to be going to tonight has been postponed! NOOOOO!!!
And the last NIN concert that I went to was one of the best concerts I've ever been to.
Fuck.
So it looks like I'll be packing tonight. Packing instead of rocking. That sucks.
That REALLY sucks.
On JJJ they also said that there were rumours of a tiff on stage at the concert last night... so I guess that has something to do with the postponement?
Still.
Disappointed.
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Actually. I just checked http://www.theninhotline.net/ and http://www.bigtopsydney.com/ and they both say that it was because of circumstances beyond their control and that tomorrow's show will still be on! How weird is that!?! The Big Top Website also said to hold onto your tickets because the new show will be announced on http://www.chuggentertainment.com/ in the next 24 hours.
Ben is pissed off cause he has to travel down from Newcastle to attend... at least he had training today in Sydney, but it's still a pain in the ass.

Pizza for lunch

Pizza for lunch
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

The TC crew decided to get pizza for lunch.

Good call, TC Crew.

Good call.

Flickr is now Pro

This morning I wasn't able to some of the photos from my weekend up at the Hunter Valley because I exhausted the allocated bandwidth on my free Flickr account... so I took it upon myself to sign up as a Pro now rather than later. Yay, pro!
So now you can see all my photos in their full 7.0 MP glory! Which means you can print them! Or use them as desktop backgrounds (the ones I thought could make good desktop backgrounds are tagged as such). Or order them in an album or a as a calendar or as little schmiko cards or framed or whatever else*. Woohoo!
So now that I am a pro member, I have finished uploading my 24 Hours of Flickr set, and have included the link in the relevant post (as well as above).
I haven't yet submitted my photo to the 24 Hours of Flickr group though (I can only submit one), so if you see one that you think is good/awesome enough, leave a comment (preferably on flickr.com, but if you don't have a flickr login, here will be fine).
Yay! Flickr is FUN!

* not all services available outside of the US.

New assignment at Work

Oooh! I've been given an assignment!
It is now up to me to compile the data capture requirements for TC!
This means talking to the whole GIS team and finding out any issues they've had with the data that PBOs have given them, and compiling a list of these issues, while keeping our known requirements in mind.
This will form a document that will be given to the PBOs so that they a) know exactly what to give us and in what form and b) are able to create their own systems that will synch with ours.
Fun.
I just have to finish QC'ing Carla's work, and then I will start on this assignment. I will liaise with Jeremy (our new boss) and will also have to consult those upstairs in the technical department.
Fun!
And a new (minor) level of responsibility.
I don't know how long it will take.
Fun.

Vicious Delicious

Just to reaffirm my position on the matter: Infected Mushroom's Vicious Delicious is a god damn cool album. I just wanted to make sure you knew this.
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Bloons | AddictingGames

Bloons - Presented by AddictingGames
I've spent most of the day playing this... I'm up to level 44... it's great fun.
Try it.

Tocal Field Day + 24 Hours of Flickr

Edit:
I've now uploaded the photos for my 24 hours of Flickr to a photo set here.
Hope it brings an interesting dimension to my post!
**
As you know, Leanne and I decided to head up to the Hunter for the TOCAL field day.
This seemed a good place to spend the 24 hours of Flickr that I was so willing to participate in, and I wanted to see Pete's college.
It was cool!
Leanne and I headed to Newport in the afternoon/evening to meet Mum for dinner, and to head up to the Hunter with her.
Dinner took ages, and we didn't end up leaving Newport until about 10:30pm, so didn't end up getting to our place in the Hunter until 1am (coz of going the freeway up to Cessnock, and stopping on the way for tea)... so that sucked... but it meant that we could start the 24hours of Flickr at midnight... as will be evidenced in the photo set I shall prepare tonight (I can't do it at work... the Flickr servers are blocked).
Unfortunately we took a lot of long exposure shots in the car, so the batteries died in my camera before I got one of my mailbox bathed in moonlight (although I don't think there was enough moonlight for it to work anyway). We were unsure that we were going to have power when we got home, but thank the gods (and Energy Australia), we had power. So I charged my batteries overnight, ready for a new and exciting day.
We headed off to Tocal later than we should have, and had to register Mum's Volvo on the way, so we didn't get there until 12:30pm... which meant Pete was only free for that quick half hour until he had to work (he was getting surveys from people). A bit of a bummer., coz I would have liked to have spent better time with him. Although he didn't let having to get surveys from people stop him from seeing us; he followed us around most of the day anyway. I met a few of his friends, and ended up going to dinner in Maitland with one of them (Carla?).
The Field Day was fun. There were markets, animals, rides (for the kids...), shows and farm equipment. You know, good ol' country fun. I bought myself some chilli sauces from the Chilli Factory (I bought the Turbo Supercharge, Fiery Frillneck Hiss, and Funnelweb Bite sauces. Fantastic. Ooh, a picture!

Yum yum yum. Unfortunately, they were out of the dragon's Blood sauce (they only brought one box), so I still can't try it on ice cream yet... next time... next time... I'm keen to cook up some chilli recipes now. Or at least some kind of food that I can use the sauces on. A while ago I downloaded the Byron Bay Chilli Co Recipe book (it's 64 pages!), so I'm keen to have a read of that... I want to print it, but feel bad printing 32 pages (double sided) at work. I'll see what happens.
Anyhow. I had a great day. It was really cool to see Pete's college, and it was great to meet some of his friends. I'm meant to be heading up to Scone B&S in a couple of weeks... I don't know what that'll be like... Don't even know where Leanne and I will sleep.
We went to a pub in East Maitland for dinner, and the food was tasty and filling. I had a chicken schnitzel with avocado, bacon and cheese (fat-tastic) and a Toohey's Old (there were some long-exposure, experimental-type photos taken at the table... I like the one with the ghost beer in it - I will link to it when I'm not typing this at work - *edit* here is the link).
The plan was to go down to Sydney Sunday morning, but we decided against it on Saturday, as the Hunter Valley is such a beautiful place. So Saturday night we stayed up late and watched the first disc of Twin Peaks Season 2 (I love Twin Peaks, but season 2 certainly is a little more... strange than season one), and went to bed late.
Woke up moderately late, went out to Cessnock for bacon and egg rolls, fucked around in the Warehouse (was looking for fish food, and didn't find any)... I bought a really cheap toothbrush that broke upon first use, and went to Woolworths for some cream to have with the Christmas Pudding that Mum bought from the markets (which was really average), and then we watched more Twin Peaks Season 2... yeah... weird... but awesome.
So we didn't get back to Newport until past 10pm, and didn't get back to West Ryde until nearly midnight... needless to say Leanne and I went straight to bed.
Because of the continual lack of work at TC, I took yesterday off because I thought my time would be better spent packing up West Ryde in preparation for Saturday's move. We brought a few boxes over to Leanne's house (all her books - which is actually a fuckload) and had some lunch. We had the great idea of heading over to Mum's place and cooking her curry for dinner too, and as Ross hadn't yet seen the place we invited him over too.
We cooked a delicious Pork Red Curry. Awesome.
And yes. We then went home and slept.
I am at work right now, and there has been no work all day - and there probably won't be any tomorrow either. I was meant to call Ron today to see how his work is going, but he isn't in today, so I will have to call him tomorrow.
Well, to say there is no work I guess isn't strictly true anymore; Lex has found some cleaning up work for me to do, so I'd best pop off and do it now (Sorry to cut the detail down for the last few paragraphs).
There will probably be a fair few "I'm bored" posts to come in the following days... be prepared.

Listening to: Infected Mushroom - Vicious Delicious (So god damn cool... sets an awesome stage for my memory of the concert to perform upon... a cool fucking album)

Lunchtime Drinks

Lunchtime Drinks
Originally uploaded by JadeMonkee.

I scoff at the TC policy of no drinks during work hours!

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Second Pint

Fuck you TC! I'm having beer!
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No work at work- bored.

Yeah.
I'm bored at work now.
We are out of work, and probably will be for a little while. I should probably call Ron from Premier Illawarra, but can't really be bothered.
Probably gonna leave a little early today as I'm bored... I just have to call Mum first and find out what time she will be leaving to go up to the Hunter.
Oh yes, Leanne and I have decided to go to the TOCAL field day that Peter invited us to. We will probably be getting a lift with Mum, depending on what time she will be heading back down to Sydney on Sunday - otherwise we will have to drive. If we are getting a lift with her, then Leanne and I will just meet her at Botany, have dinner and head up... of course this complicates packing (as I haven't yet). Anyway. Minor problems, trivial talk. At least the TOCAL field day will be a more interesting event for 24 Hours of Flickr.
I didn't end up making the Chilli Hummingbird Cake for TC morning tea, and didn't do the Caramel Slice either. I ended up making a very simple Hedgehog slice, which was pretty nice. Lex forgot she had to bake today, so she ducked out and bought a Caramel Cheesecake (which was very sweet, and I feel a little oogy because of it... I so don't want lunch right now).
I'm bored.
I'm going to go to the pub and have a beer with Josh.

PS My manager is being a cock about the format of my timesheets. It is annoying.

Listening to: Faith No More - King For a Day, Fool For a Lifetime (Album) - It's been so long! I didn't realise how much I missed you!

My new PC

This is the PC I want.
It'll be around $2,000 (when I add the parts I want), but it's hot and sexy and small and quiet and I want it.
I will need to start saving.
That is all.

The "Janus Project" | mini-itx.com

mini-itx.com - news - The "Janus Project"
Wow. My faith in wireless technology was just obliterated... and the way this article talks about it makes it sound so common place that it can decrypt a wireless network in under 5 minutes.
Scary.

Weekend

Sooo don't know what to do this weekend.
I know the house needs cleaning, or at the least we should move our shit to a storage locker, but Kellie has invited Leanne and I to a picnic at Darling Harbour, followed by seeing 300 at Imax (was considering Spiderman 3 on Friday night, too). Or Pete has invited Leanne and I up to the TOCAL field day (which will be very cool).
So I don't know what to do.
Plus it's 24 hours of Flickr, so I want interesting photos of that (TOCAL will probably provide the best).
I'm considering the Hunter, but it will take up HEAPS of time, and time is what we are short of...
bugger.

You can probably tell that TC has ran out of work for the time being. Bored.

Wasps perform brain surgery

Wasps perform brain surgery
Sorry for all the news posts, but this is awesome!

Parasite makes men dumb, women sexy | smh.com.au

Parasite makes men dumb, women sexy - National - smh.com.au
What the fuck?
This seems far fetched...

LinuxMCE

LinuxMCE
I am overwhelmed at the AWESOMENESS of this product.
A free media centre & home automation operating system (it's actually an add-on for Ubuntu GNU/Linux).
It is fucking amazing what it can do.
You set up a 'core' system (which is the only PC that you have to install anything on), then place 'media directors' around the house (at any TV or stereo), and they run a network boot version of the Linux client, and synch with it. This means that Windows clients only need a reboot to become 'media directors' and then a subsequent reboot to turn back into Windows clients - with no changes to anything on the PC.
These 'media directors' then supply you with all the media you want - music, movies, weather, stock reports, photos of the day (courtesy of flickr) etc etc. Any movies you have downloaded, any music you have, any pictures you have are all made available to them using an easy interface - which is designed for remote control navigation.
Now, what else is awesome is that the 'core' can control your home automation system, so it will be in charge of dimming the lights, closing the blinds, delivering phone calls etc, etc.
Now, it ALSO controls your alarm system (is it good to have this much hooked into it? Well, it doesn't so much control you alarm system, as interface with it... if your core goes down, then the alarm will still be up and running), and you can set it to give you a call if it is tripped.
Now, this is where it gets cool.
If you have a 3g card SIM-card installed in it, it will video call you when the alarm is tripped and show you the security camera feeds throughout your house. Now, because it controls your stereos, when you talk through your phone, it will announce it throughout the house. That's fucken cool (albeit largely useless, but still cool).
Now, in terms of hierarchy there is one more device below the 'media directors,' these are called 'orbiters' and they are basically remote controls.
But they aren't limited to standard remote controls, for instance you can easily make your bluetooth enabled PDA or smart phone a remote control (of which my current and future mobile phones are compatible).
All you have to do is turn bluetooth on and synch it with a 'media director' (your media directors will need bluetooth modules for this to work), this then installs the necessary application on your phone. And because a mobile phone is a unique identifier (you don't share them across family members), the system now knows where you are in the house, and displays your preferences accordingly. This is made possible because of the lack of range bluetooth has (it won't reach across rooms), so if you are in range of a bluetooth module, the 'core' can safely assume that you are in the same room.
So anyway, if you're listening to music, it will follow you through the house. If you are watching a movie, it will follow you through the house. If you want to permanently live in dim lighting, the lights will change when you walk into a room (all of this is assuming that no-one else is in the room). Your mobile phone also allows complete control of the 'media directors' and other devices using an interface on the screen, or on the TV nearest you. For instance, skipping chapters in a DVD, browsing albums/movies/photos, closing the curtains, dimming the lights, dialling numbers (from your phone? No way! - I actually mean from your house/VOIP phone connection), making announcements to other members of the household among many other things.
Amazing. Fucking amazing.
I just wish I lived in a house big enough to benefit from such a system... and had a spare $5k to set up a basic system (or ideally a spare $20k to set up a crazy good system).
Wow. Nerd ramble.
But anyhow. I want to set this motherfucker up. If only as a media centre at the moment. I wanted to set up a NAS along side a HTPC, but the core system works as a NAS anyway, so I might as well just buy a good PC (now that Blue-Steel has died), set that up as a core, and then set up a media director as my HTPC for everday use - and because of the network-boot feature, I can still have windows installed on it, and just boot it LinuxMCE mode when I want to use it as a HTPC... and because the core does most of the work for it, I can use a cheap, quiet, small low-spec PC - which is altogether more suitable as a HTPC anyway. I just wonder if I can use the core to encode my music...
Now, the downside of this plan, is that the core should be a high spec machine. Preferably a full server, with a fast 500+GB of RAID5 storage and one (maybe two) dual-core processors... which is fucking expensive (I'd probably go to an auction to pick up an old corporate server though - they'd only be about a grand)... and then of course I have to tack on the media director PCs - at least these can be cheap. And then there's the cabling... it would be preferential to use gigabit ethernet for all of this - as wireless is too slow, so I'd have to lay all of that (or tuck it away)... expensive.
I at least want to give it a go. If it doesn't work as well as I wanted it, I can just find another use for the HTPC and use the core as my main machine.
Fun.

Black Sheep

Black Sheep - The Movie
This looks fucking awesome.
Totally wanna go see it.

WildRecipes.com - Utterly Outrageous Recipes

WildRecipes.com
Yum!
NOT!

Seriously Spicy

Wow. Just ordered the Spicy Rice from Sweenie's, and as usual I asked for it to be really hot. Only this time it was.
Fantastic.
The back of my throat is burning, which doesn't usually happen.
So I'm sated. My chilli fix has been acheived; I can relax now.

Moving home... not my home though. -200th Post!

Last night it was officially decided that when the lease expires on the 12th May, Leanne and I won't be moving to a new apartment, but rather back to her parent's house.
The primary reason we are doing this is to reduce the financial pressure caused by living out of home, and then we can start looking for apartments when we have money for bond and the first rent payment (and I have reduced my credit card debt).
So. Lack of freedom for a few weeks. Which is ironic because freeing up money should give me freedom. Anyhow.
Was paid today at my new rate! We received a 15% pay rise two weeks ago, and this is the first pay packet I have received at the new rate. It's awesome, I received about $40 more than usual, despite working 8 hours less! How awesome is that?! I now look forward to a week without public holidays so that I can find out what my normal pay shall be! Woohoo!

HEY! Just realised this is my 200th post! Yay! Celebrate!

Fuck you, 131500

Fucken missed my train because 131500 told me it arrived at 4:21pm. Leanne just checked the city rail website and it says it arrived at 4:17pm, and the next was 4:30pm. Of course, I arrived on the platform at like 4:18pm or 4:19pm, too.
Thanks a fucking bunch, as if I wasn't in a shit enough mood.
Is it ironic that I work for 131500, and that my work was what was depressing me, and now it is work that kicked me in the pants one more time? No, not ironic; expected.
I don't think we manage the train timetables though, so I guess it isn't like that in the end anyway.
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Friday Morning Tea

I think this Friday, for TC Morning Tea, I will make caramel slice.
I was going to make cake, and it was going to be this chilli cake, but now I can't be bothered finding all the ingredients, and caramel slice is so easy and tasty anyway, that it doesn't matter. It's just SO sweet!

24 Hours of Flickr will be dull

So this weekend will most likely be spent cleaning the house, and this Saturday is the 24 Hours of Flickr that I was so excited to take part in.
Maybe I'll go out Saturday night and get some decent photos... maybe I'll put off cleaning like I did last week.
No, that won't do. This is the last full weekend before we have our final inspection (which is Saturday 12th). So I guess my 24 Hours of Flickr will involve cleaning the house. I guess the mundanity of everyday tasks will be a better representation of what really goes on in the lives of Flickr users anyway...

Train Announcers

I love it when the announcers on trains actually speak (as opposed to bark, mumble, shout or spew) their announcements. The guy on my train right now didn't say anything more than most people, but he read the list of upcoming stations out with a slow, definite, soothing, almost melodic voice.
It was if the soul of Barry White had entered the Pakistani's body.
Now, this guy doesn't say anything more than he has to, but I REALLY like the announcers that greet you, wish you a safe and enjoyable journey, and hope that our day is going well. Things like that make me happy.
It kinda reminds me of the busker that rides the trains. One time I was sitting on a train when someone in the centre part of the carriage started playing the flute, with an accompanying singer. Now that I reflect on upon it, I can't really remember the instrument... but anyway, live music started drifting through the carriage, and he started moving around. And after he finished the song, he walked around with a hat.
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Oooh! The announcer just announced. So smooth.
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Now, the asking for money afterward marred the moment a touch, but when you frame it in the context of a busker (rather than a spontaneous commuter), then you accept it as part of it all.
Anyway. I really liked that.
Although there was that one time we were sitting in Subway on Broadway when this random guy came in and started singing an Elvis song to us (I wish I could remember which one). He sang for some time, we all clapped, and he noticed we were taking our wallets out, and he simply said "Oh no, no, it's because you're such beautiful people."
That was fucking fantastic.

Listening to: Jamiroquai - Twenty Zero One (my jukebox is on random).
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