Oh Brother ... Oh Bother!!!

Ok .. Good News Everyone!!! I am now the proud owner of this nifty little sewing machine that does 27 stitches and has a self threading needle ... its is the PS55 peops .... say it with me ... the PS55!!!

Thank you sooo much M. Twas not the way I intended celebrating our 16 years ... but I guess we got alot of issues out into the open ... and as they say ... better out than in. We can only grow from this ... I hope.

Now much as I LOVE my little brosew55 (my name) ... the pressure is now on!!! OMG ... the ukelele and guitar have both ended up in an elephant's graveyard (if you do cryptic crosswords .. you'll get this) ... this cannot go the same way ... happily I have already attended a Pattern Making course with J (well it was really only a one-dayer, and if J wasn't there to help me, I would have have been completely lost) .. so I have made a start. But, I think that shirt-making is a little too advanced (for which I did a pattern in the course) ... I might start with making a bag ... a pretty bag ... and completely bedazzled of course ... or I could attempt to change the zip on some of my cardies .... is that a little too ambitious my faithful reader(s)??? I haven't even fully threaded the damn thing ... although i did get a kick out of spooling thread onto the bobbin!!! Like OMG ... totally!!

And now for some random observations:

Milo Ventimiglia as Peter Petrelli in Heroes

How fucking awesome is HEROES ... it just gets better and better ... and Peter Petrelli ... if they show one more close up of those peepers of yours ... I swear I'm going to have a cardiac arrest ... and I am soooooo jealous of that fringe of yours ... and I totally dig your twisted mouth ... and ooh I feel all of 14 again!!!

And I can't get that damn Fratellis song out of my head .... Aaarrrrrgghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Glass of Apple Juice

Ok ... apparently my health is only worth the price of a glass of Apple Juice ... admittedly its the Rolls Royce of apple juice in terms of supermarket pricing ... but still its only a glass ....


I don't really want to go into details about this as its too depressing. Suffice it to say, it involves M, and to top it all off he forgot what day it is today (ed- no he did not!!!! See later post chookers!!!) ... now ordinarily I don't really bother about these sorts of things ... its a day ... like whatever .... but if I say I don't care ... at what point DO I stop caring?? If I'm sooo scared of letting go emotionally beacuse I'm such a cockhead of a control freak ... then am I really experiencing all I possibly can in a relationship? I'm so tempted to say "Who Cares" at this point .. which is exactly THE point. Oh friends, life is hard enough without all the additional and cumbersome emotional baggage ... why can't we all just get along *makes pageant pout face*.
 
On a lighter note ... maybe a heavier note for some people looking at this pic:

I have a friend called M2 who has a body pretty much exactly like the one in the pic above ... perhaps a tad slimmer, but abs for days nonetheless ... was chatting to him online last night as he lives half the world away from me ... lets just say we both share similar tastes in partners ... as he is younger than me ... he still sees this common predilection of ours as a fetish ... I just see it as being non-judgemental coloured with a tinge of magnaminity .... As I get older ... these things are meant to matter less ... the age gap should shorten as it were .... but somehow the gap seems to be widening in some unexpected ways .... most significantly in our energy levels .... and also in how we've compromised on priorities ... M2 just wants to be used and abused so he's well and truly being satisfied in that respect ... and what do I want??? I guess I want protection ... thats the bottom line ... Between you and me .. I think M2 has a thing for me ... but that in itself is sooo depressing because I'm no longer the twink-chasee ... I'm now the twink-chaser (well in reverse ... anyway you get the drift)!!! I must admit I have given M2 a cheerful eyeful before (do not ask me to elaborate!!) and believe me you would look twice if M2 walked past you on the street ... but hey ... there's no chemistry ... there was none back then, and now I'm taken ...

And finally, I must give shout outs and props to PT (I know he at least reads this) for helping me with html:

 
Its amazing how lines of code convert to images on the screen ... I mean it all boils down to semantics doesn't it ... i guess its cuneiform in the true sense ... because writing in this case is symbolised by what we are perceiving optically ... so I might be looking at the screen ... but underlying that could be random (well maybe not that random) lines of letters and numbers and punctuation ... Oh Wow *rolls eyes*!!


Anyway thanks PT ... I want to html everything in sight now!!!

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Comments:

Danise wrote:

yah good for you and your html.. sigh.. d x

28 Mar.

Vinyl Nest Egg

Ok ... so my mind started to wander at work ... as per ush!!


I know I have 2 collectables in my music collection:

(i) Picture sleeve UK 7" of Kate Bush Wuthering Heights - which I believe is worth round about 20 pounds ... not much you say?? Considering I only paid S$4.00 ... I believe that is a considerable return on my investment

(ii) Postcard of Super Trouper album sleeve signed by all 4 members of ABBA (in ballpoint) - kept the envelope that it came in too!!! - not sure how much this is worth ... but its priceless to me

I'm sure there are more hidden treasure lurking particularly in my vinyl collection ... but who knows whats of value and whats not in this digital age ...

Maybe my Animal Nightlife double gatefold 12" may be worth a mint one day ... haha ... NOT likely ... but I'm sure we'll have a Strawberry Switchblade resurgence one day and my Korova label original vinyl may very well pay off the mortgage ...

But that got me thinking about Record fairs and also op shops ... not just for perhaps one day finding an obscure and highly desirable pressing for $1 ... but also of discovering music consigned to the sale bins that may provide some real gems and be a welcome addition to any respectable music fan's collection ...

To this day I regret with my heart of hearts on not purchasing the 10" vinyl editions of The Smiths albums that were going out for a song at $10 each!!! But I was a poor student then ... I did score mint condition vinyl copies of the Talking Heads albums at $2 (I kid you not) each ... but these aren't original pressings ...

But that got me thinking about turntables ... call me irresolutely old fashioned ... but turntables still bring out the sex in me ... there's nothing more sensually tactile then plopping a record onto the turntable mat ... and hearing the needle drop as that sexy black vinyl starts rotating with its glossy sheen .. then hearing the warm tones emenate from your speakers ...
 
So as a temporary measure, I looked up turntables online ... and immediately found 2 gorgeous examples to add to my ever increasing wishlist along with a valve amplifier and add-on speakers ... they cost the same as a small japanese car ... but I still so want !!!
 

simon yorke designed series 9

for further info: http://www.stereophile.com/turntables/1207sim/
 
There's not much you can say about this apart from ... rip my clothes off and shag me senseless right now!!!

 
Then to be absolutely parochial, here's and Aussie contribution (don't knock local product ... I have Counterpoint speakers and they are da bomb-diddy-bomb-diddy-bomb-bomb)
 

once analog turntable - here's pricing - deep breaths before clicking on the link: http://www.onceanalog.com.au/once_analog_how_to_buy.html
 
And as with online porn ... nothing beats the real thing!!!


(ok anyone up for some vinyl shopping ... we'll raid the $1.00 bins and pick up anything that looks mildly interesting ... never know what you'll end up with)

DIY Weekend

Ok ... so this is a little sad ... but M had to pull half of our shower frame apart to tighten the screws holding one bracket against the wall. The shower door has been catching because of this and we needed to lift the frame to gain a bit more height. Anyhoo ... M introduced me to his lovely Pop Rivet Gun (... no funny jokes here of the wink wink nudge nudge variety please ...). I refer you to the pic attached in case you're not quite following me .. (oh and btw, u can find anything on Google images ... and please note that I chose a pink handled one!!!) Its the niftiest thing ever ... you find the right nut for the size pin you need ... stick the pin in, line it up with the hole, squeeze the lever and the gun pops the rivet in and cuts the pin which then just falls into the cavity ... simple .. 1,2,3 and hey presto ... you have a shower screen!!! ... ok maybe not ... but if u know how clueless I am with all this handyman shit, you'll understand how exciting this all is (well ... when I can be bothered with it, its exciting ... otherwise its a total yawn-making bore of bores!!)


Now I have a comment to make on msn messaging ... I find myself accepting practically all requests for people to be added to my msn ... I have people at work on here because it can be handy as a work tool ... particularly if you work in a large building and your office space is well and truly spaced out or over a number of floors ... and you really hate the phones ... and people really hate answering them ... but its the "others" that I am contemplating ... the ones you don't really know ... or they maybe friends of friends... sometimes you may not have even met them ... yet you're investing time sending and responding to messages from people who frankly are sooooo random, that if we were talking about mobile phone numbers ... there's no way you'd be giving your number out. So why do we do it??? I mean its been around long enough to have lost its novelty value (altho I am enjoying my webcam chats!!) ... maybe we crave contact of any kind sooo much ... that random chats with random peops are preferable sometimes to real chats with real people that can be terribly exhausting. Plus if you've never met them, they can't judge you on what you really look like, how you dress .. your mannerisms when you talk ... etc. Then again, this could be just my experience ... my own embarassing little foible ...

Finally a word on the weekend just gone ... went to B & A's for a bbq to celebrate A's official acceptance into the general population and B's impending contribution to the general population ... It was Baby City!!! Me and M were prolly the only childless couple that wasn't expecting ... I kinda like babies ... most of them get me and if they don't ... they just ignore me ... they don't talk about me in spite with other people ... or try to manouvre around the room so that they're not stuck in some corner not talking to me ... but these things come into fruition soon enough ... once they start talking and going to school and playing with friends .... and all the other social nasties that I was never ever good at when I was that age ... Oops sorry ... nothing worse than having to read someone else's self pity while grappling with one's own ... ok but its nice to know that there are people more pathetic than you ... n'est pa? (and more pretensious!?!)

Ok one week till the oldies come ... thats just great!!

American Doll Posse

Ok ... well we've all heard about the new Tori Amos Cd thats due out May 1st called American Doll Posse. (if you haven't, just nod your head .. it doesn't really matter)

So pictures of the "posse" have been filtering through on the web ... but what really gets to me is that she has names for each of them ... i mean c'mon!!! Names???? How self-indulgent is that? And from the track list, it looks like a double cd??? Again??? Why oh why in this post-itunes-download era, is the record company willing to indulge an artist, who frankly speaking, has not done anything commercially decent since, I dunno, Cornflake Girl??? When was that ... 94??

MEET SANTA, CLYDE, ISABEL, TORI and PIP

Anyhoo ... she's taking her "posse" on tour. She's not having an easter egg hunt, but a posse hunt ... and she wants us to look out for the blogs that her posse girls write .... HELLO DING DING DESSTINATION LOONEY CENTRAL ...



But you know that I will buy it when it comes out in all its limited edition packaged glory ... and then a few months down the track ... I'll be online tracking down the accompanying piano book ... I'm such a Tori loser ... I can't help it ... she wrote Winter for chrissakes!! I'll forgive her "Scarlett's Walk" just on the strength of that song alone.

Well here's the tracklist:

Yo George
Big Wheel
Bouncing off Clouds
Teenage Hustling
Digital Ghost
You Can Bring Your Dog

Mr. Bad Man
Fat Slut
Girl Disappearing
Secret Spell
Devils and Gods
Body and Soul

Father's Son
Programmable Soda
Code Red
Roosterspur Bridge
Beauty of Speed

Almost Rosey
Velvet Revolution
Dark Side of the Sun
Posse Bonus
Smokey Joe
Dragon
 
Go to http://www.toriamos.com/ for more updates ... including the little snippet of Tori introducing the new album.



Lets re-convene on this matter after May 1st ... we can trash the individual tracks then.

Eternal Summer

Ok .... so went to ILMQFF last night and watched Eternal Summer ... a Taiwanese film.

Me and D really got it ... coz there was our upbringing splashed luridly across the screen in gloriously moody blues and greens ... our hopes, our dreams, our desires ... (i know I'm waxing lyrical ... but it was a taiwanese movie ... c'mon ... crank up the schmalz to the max!!!)

And M did not fall asleep ... that was truly an achievement ... the director of this movie should get an award just for that alone!!!!

Haven't worked out what Eternal Summer means in relation to the plot both literally or symbolically ... maybe something's lost in translation.

(read about it: http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/eternal_summer.htm)

CC ... you're so great at organising things ... you have truly chosen a profession that suits your temperament and abilities .... more importantly ... your aptitude!!

Dinner at the Supper Inn was so-so ... I was saying to D at the start that its always been a bit hit and miss there ... but its a melbourne instituition ... it even features in that cool Melbourne city ad with the guy and his imaginary giant traipsing through the city's alleyways! Plus because it used to be the only place open till 3 that served "decent" food, it used to be the place for celebrity spotting ... particularly within the theatre crowd ... you know like Rhonda Buchmore (*cough .. overrated ... cough*) .. etc

Anyways, last night we had:

(i) mixed vegetables in crab meat sauce (great combo if it was mixed vegetables ... it came out from the kitchen with just spinach ... now spinach needs a bit of a kick ... either from a condiment or mixed in with other vegetables like carrot and brocolli ... on its own with the sauce it was simply a bad combo)

(ii) kai-lan with garlic sauce (perfect ... i even had a bit of the sauce just on its own with rice ... )

(iii) suckling pig ... you know ... suckling pig is all about the accompanying sauce ... and the plum was bottle average

(iv) my choice ... steamed minced pork with salted fish ... was good ... but mum does it better (hello! I'm channelling my dad now)

(v) pig intestines (M's fav) ... offal only works for me with strong masking flavours ... this was pretty much fried as is .... with a sweet dipping sauce ... not enough to cover that porky flavour ... so thumbs down for me
 
But still ... you gotta go ... to experience Supper Inn in all its grimy glory .. starting with the dingy alleyway that its situated in ... the nicotine stained walls and curtains ... the crammed in tables and chairs .... and the exceedingly rude (or indifferent) staff ... fun for all the family!!
 


cya chookers!!

Art for Art's Sake

Ok ... so I went to the VCE Art Finals exhibition at Ian Potter ... truly inspiring work ... especially all the collages ... is this making a comeback??? How terribly retro!! But so exciting ... its the only word for it ... I'm still intending to do something with felt ... but for now I'm going to get my trusty scissors out and go through the recycle bin ... (i only pretend ... why couldn't i have been born with a creative streak???)

you have to go ... on at the Ian Potter gallery till June 3rd:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/how-bumping-into-a-stranger-turned-into-prizewinning-art/2007/03/15/1173722655254.html

PS: Monday Morning ... big blue at work first thing ... suicidal!!!!

Never Mind the Buzzcocks

K ... so last night I tried to help G with his puter ... this was just before the rains broke so it was terribly humid and we were both starting to sweat buckets ... our foreheads looked like perforated bladders slowly being squeezed.

G makes me sad. He lives in a nice suburb in one of those rambling houses where rooms seem to branch off in all sorts of directions ... he owns the place and has 2 boarders who pay him rent ... all around G's age and all seemingly alone ... He said to me last night "I came to this country when I was 23 and now 40 years later ... look at what I've become ... but anyway I've had a good life ..."

His puter was dead slow and most of the software had exceeded the trial period so he had no access to any fundamental updates ... i was trying to show him how to right click, save as and then scan before opening any file he's downloaded off the net ... damn his system was slow!
 
I could literally see the despondency creep into his eyes while we sat there waiting for his pc to do something (anything!!)... and for a minute I was staring at my future so I was happy to give up and get out for some fresh air ...
 

 
Now on a less grim note ... how much do I love "Never Mind the Buzzcocks" with Simon Amstell as host!! He is sooo not my type ... all tousled curly hair, pasty pommie skin, skinny legs to match tie ... pretty much le geek c'est chic!!! But I would have his babies let me tell you.

He's one of those pvt school toffs .... you know the kind. He is either totally down with new technology ... u know ... has the latest phone ... the latest iBook ... has had every single gen iPod plus shuffle ... owns a wii ... craps on about how he's lost weight playing the wii .... OR ... he has the world's oldest mobile phone ... which is scratched to the max ... never pays for CDs but seems to have an endless collection which he plays on a shitty bookshelf stereo system ... and catches up with current affairs by skimming through newspapers and mags at the local newstand whilst waiting for the bus.

Anyhoo ... for the uninitiated .. Never Mind the Buzzcocks is what I suspect (since its been running longer) Spicks and Specks / Rockwiz is modelled on ... its a music quiz slash panel show with 2 teams captained by 2 local comedians (you'll prolly only know Bill Bailey from Black Books) ... and with the requisite weekly "celebrity" guests thrown in ...

Most of these "celebrity" guests would be unfamiliar to us ... unless of course you're a composite anglophile (you know who you are ... you're the one with the london accent after having been in the UK for 6 mths max) ... but fuck its funny ... why can't our humour still be as caustic and as side-splittingly irreverant as the Brits?? When did we lose our uniquely Aussie SOH ... hello Graham Kennedy??? ... Its like he never happened ... how did we become so hypocritically polite as the Americans??? Tedious Peops!!! Tedious!!!
 
Anyways ... here are some choice moments from the show. (and don't act like you're not addicted to Youtube!!!)
 
AMY WINEHOUSE - "i don't know if its true ... but I heard that"
 


JOHN BARROWMAN - "lets have a gay-off"



JAMELIA - "she really is a slag"



DONNY TOURETTE - "DONNY: "the only reason I came on this show is because they said you fancied me dude ... " SIMON: "No its because we have trouble booking acts"

Hokkien Mee

Ok ... just a quick one whilst I remember ... this must be my favouritest noodle dish in the world!!! Its called Hokkien Mee and I believe it is uniquely Singaporean, at least in the form that I like. Malaysia has an equivalent, but theirs is darker in colour and flavour as they use dark soy.

Its a noodle dish that is cooked in Prawn stock wth prawns, squid and sometimes sliced pieces of chinese fishcake (not to be confused with the more commonly known Thai variety). Generally two types of noodle are used: yellow egg noodles (hence Hokkien Mee - "Mee" meaning noodles) and laksa noodles ... which look like egg noodles but are made from rice ... so are in fact white in colour. Sometimes the laksa noodles are substituted with thin rice vermicelli (which we call bee hoon, or mee hoon, depending on your dialect). And its usually served with a pungent thick sambal and a squeeze of kalamansi lime to round the flavours off.

Its a dish that is hard to come by in Melbourne - I know of only one place that serves it - Chom Chom in the city - cnr of Bourke and Russell streets. I'm sure there's more, but I haven't looked hard enough or travelled far enough ... well I'm not going all the way to Glen Waverley just to scratch a nostalgic gourmet itch ... ("nice Victorian name like Glen Waverley Kim" ... oh JC ... I do miss u sometimes ... but only just ... u little mofo)

And as to why I just thought of this dish? Well I went for a really big walk with J on the strength of a small ham and cheese sanger ... and walked past all these wonderful fat frying smells ... and cool bars ... and its a rather humid day ... *sigh*)
 
get it. got it. good.

The Express Train

Ok ... two things!!

Firstly i had to PT into work this morning ... first time in ages. I dropped my little pony (mark II) off at the mechanics for its little service. Trekked down the main street to the station and then got very very excited because the next train was express from MP to NM!!! EXPRESS MY ARSE - it only had to skip 3 stations, 2 of which are literally in line of sight of each other, and still it took longer than the normal train!! How does this work peops??? I am constantly asking this question of life! You can take your Sheena Easton's and Harry Connick's and all other Z-grade celebs and blow it our of your Connex Arse!!!

Right ... thats the session for the day .. your hour is up!

Oh before I forget ... Secondly heard this lyric on the radio today ... not sure what the song is or by who (any thoughts add a comment):

"You make friends with ugly people
So you'll stand out in a crowd"

Hhmmm ... i think there's a fair bit in this to muddle over ... don't you agree?

(ps ... had some web cam action last nite ... *wink wink*)

(ed's note: these were not in the original post! But enjoy them nonetheless)

Vale Little Pony!!

OK ... so its final farewells to the little pony ... i am a little choked ... she was my pride and joy amongst the shiny beemers and mercs on Chapelli street ... she was comfort and solace away from the thronging crowds on Public Transport ... she was companion and fellow navigator through strange and unchartered suburban streets ... and most of all ... little pony saw me through a flood!!! I will always love you my dear little four wheeled friend.

(P.S. - more webcam shenanigans last nite ... someone was very obliging!!)
(p.p.s. - oh and saw P this morning ... hello!! I knew he was hot ... but ... hello!!)

The Long Weekend

OK ... well had to do the rellie thing on Sat night .... it was like walking into a time warp for me ... when we first got there we struggled with finding a safe park!! Seriously!! My cousin's house is on the steepest hill and I was shit scared that the hand break would fail in the car, and my little pony (mark II) would go ploughing through the roundabout and straight down the ravine!

Anyways ... we turned the front wheels in ala San Fransisco (good one MW!!!), did the whole "Hi!" "Oh you made it!!" "Hope we're not too late" "blah blah blah" thing, and got directed to the back of the house. Now Picture this: the men were in the lounge room, lounging on couches ... the women were at the dining table with their punch. We got introduced to the men ... BUT not to the women???? How does that work?? Hello peops ... 2007?

I said to M, this is a bit like being in the Twilight Zone ... how does someone who is reasonably a comtemporary of mine have such an antiquated outlook on social interaction?? When they all congegrate in their little churches (yeah ... that kinda crowd!!) do the women sit on one side of the hall, and the men on the other? I think not!!

At the end of it all everyone mingled but thats mainly because the wives had to claim children and hubby so that they could go home. So it was just the rellies left as dregs ... which suited me fine ... nothing like a little bit of familial gossip to round off an evening.

Sunday night was at D's!!!! D must be the most effortless cook I have ever met. He made it all look so matter of fact ...none of that running around in a panic like me and M do before a party ... none of the shouting and screaming and tears while guests wait worriedly at the door ... he just had one thing going on the stove and then when everyone else turned up, he breezed through another 3 dishes without breaking a sweat ... not even a lip tach! And the annoying thing was it all tasted soooo good! This is not how entertaining should be. Where's the drama??? The high tension??? Marriages should be on the brink of divorce and therapy sessions booked when more than 2 people turn up for drinks and a meal!!!
 
Anyhoos ... D if you ever read this ... I had the best time!!! Lets start a restaurant together.

Shadow Dancing

OK ... so last night ... in the park after dark for a lark ....

Takes me back to the old days .... *insert snippet of Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation here*

Resentment

Ok well I was screaming along to Beyonce's Resentment when I was stuck at the railway boomgates this morning. And I realised that underneath my truly irritating propensity to smile alot ... (and I mean ALOT!!), I too, like Beyonce "jennifer hudson stole my fire betch!!!" Knowles, am "full of resentment".

I resent the fact that in the early days of my career, I had to take whatever job I could get while waiting for my PR ... I resent the fact that I was so late getting onto roacutane, that my skin is now irredeemably scarred ... I resent the fact that people do not see my potential becoz I'm not out there waving my own flag ... I resent the fact that friends will and do dissapoint you on ocassion ... and I resent the fact that if you're reading this now ... you are also judging me!!!

Anyway ... just a little snapshot of how I really feel sometimes ... I try not to bear grudges ... I really do!!

Do I Blog?

Forgot that I set this up ... do I blog? Who knows and really who cares!!!

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Comments:

Temasek wrote:


OK Danise!!! we will have no mention of stolen grapes, how guys don't get me, erm ... dodgy housemates who ignore the label on the milk bottle that says Mine!, ... erm well ... coz thats the sort of thing you put in staff emails ... anyhoo ... I love Camille ... she was the vocal on that first big Nouvelle Vague album ... and hate to say this ... but old news love!!! I'm sure David already has a copy .. hehe

9 Mar.

Danise wrote:

Bonjour Mon Ami I shall read as long as there is no dicussion about weight loss, bike riding, grapes, personal despair, and um.... anything to do with previous work spaces/ places. ahahahahahahah. No actually THAT is the only reason to read these um err on line diary things. I LOVE IT. So what's for dinner? Would love to see photos of the Newy's bambino!! Have you heard of Camille? GO and listen.. So French, So Fun. Love ya. xxx

9 Mar.

Random Fandom wrote:

If a tree falls in the woods dand no one is there to hear it, will someone blog about it?
My thoughts are yes.
Welcome to the lame-o world of bloggers in which I (your random blog visitor) is a part.

9 Mar.