Ok .. in a few hours it will be 2010, and Melbourne has switched the oven on ... so how do we combat the heat? By cranking up our oven and baking a chorizo cake ... smart .. hey?
We're also charring some eggplant over the open flame of the stove ... oh and cranking up Queen's "A Night at the Opera" on the stereo.
Everybody sing - "Oh Oh People of the Earth, Listen to the Warning, The Prophet he said"!
And what is all this heat generating activity in aid of? Why NY Eve at the H's later tonight. Lets be optimissitic. 2009 was such a fuck up, 2010 can only get better!!
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Comments:
Temasek wrote:
nice ... not absolutely brilliant ... I would add a bit of cheese next time.
4 Jan
dan copewrote:
what did it taste like?
4 Jan
Thursday, 31 December 2009
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Elementary Dr Watson!!
Ok ... only able to get front seats at the 3D Imax Avatar experience, we decided to come back another day for it and opted to give Sherlock Holmes (the guy ritchie rockarolla version) a look in instead.
Can I actually say that Ritchie is the UK's Tarrantino equivalent? Except for maybe the fact that the latter has a better grasp on European cinema in all its forms. But Ritchie can be fun when he's not too bloated with his own laddish self importance. A boast down at your very own pub does not quite translate onto screen no matter what your cub-by mates say.
Thankfully this is for the most part an enjoyable celluloid experience. The look is expensive, the set pieces well choreagraphed and the pace is for the most part competently edited.
Robert Downey Jr is his usual excellent self, but this is not a revelatory performance by any means. But the camaraderie between him and an unusually restrained Jude Law is palpable.
The ubiquitous Rachel McAdams provides the romantic interest but lets face it we really only watched this for Jude Law ... No?? Haters!!!
Can I actually say that Ritchie is the UK's Tarrantino equivalent? Except for maybe the fact that the latter has a better grasp on European cinema in all its forms. But Ritchie can be fun when he's not too bloated with his own laddish self importance. A boast down at your very own pub does not quite translate onto screen no matter what your cub-by mates say.
Thankfully this is for the most part an enjoyable celluloid experience. The look is expensive, the set pieces well choreagraphed and the pace is for the most part competently edited.
Robert Downey Jr is his usual excellent self, but this is not a revelatory performance by any means. But the camaraderie between him and an unusually restrained Jude Law is palpable.
The ubiquitous Rachel McAdams provides the romantic interest but lets face it we really only watched this for Jude Law ... No?? Haters!!!
Shoo Fly don't bother me
Ok ... first something disgusting but extremely gratifying. Here is our Envirosafe fly killer which is certainly doing exactly what it says on the box. In fact I have noticed fewer flies buzzing in the house. We have this problem due to the fact that we have no flyscreens and one window has a permanently locked in gap for the cats.
Gross right? Each sachet is meant to last about 3 weeks, but within a week there's already flies bumping the top of the lid. We're to either bury the resulting effluent or tie it up tight in a bag before disposing of it in the normal bin. The smell when you get close is pretty horrific - do not stand down wind from this - I think that is why we haven't really emptied this as yet. Not something to look forward to.
So lets look at these cuties in the pet shop instead. Its all about balance peops.
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Comments:
dan cope wrote:
yah dead flies.... i love kittens..
7 Jan
Temasek wrote:
what cute the kitties and puppies ... or cute the flies???!!
4 Jan
dan copewrote:
CUTE.. sniff sniff
4 Jan
Gross right? Each sachet is meant to last about 3 weeks, but within a week there's already flies bumping the top of the lid. We're to either bury the resulting effluent or tie it up tight in a bag before disposing of it in the normal bin. The smell when you get close is pretty horrific - do not stand down wind from this - I think that is why we haven't really emptied this as yet. Not something to look forward to.
So lets look at these cuties in the pet shop instead. Its all about balance peops.
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Comments:
dan cope wrote:
yah dead flies.... i love kittens..
7 Jan
Temasek wrote:
what cute the kitties and puppies ... or cute the flies???!!
4 Jan
dan copewrote:
CUTE.. sniff sniff
4 Jan
Sucked in! Big Screen Time
Ok ... living so close to a big name shopping centre, its hard not to feed off the buzz of the post christmas sale, particularly when traffic banks up preventing you from leaving the surrounds of your house with any ease.
Then there are those endless shiny catalogues inundating your postbox with their bold-cap-exclammation-point promises of incredible percentile cuts. What they don't mention is that these are superceded lines, or that technical progress has rendered them almost obsolete, but it does seem as though most of the major brand names have pulled out all the stops as far as the bonus offerings are concerned.
Anyways, we were on a fact finding mission to see if the latest HD PVRs were more affordable during these gift returning times, but sadly the addition of usb porting capabilities not only upped the ante but the cost as well. So we turned our attention to the myriad of HD TVs on sale, and before we knew it, we were pulling into the pick up spot at JBs and loading our entry level full HD Hisense LCD screen into the back of the car.
Now you may have gleaned from these pages that me and M err on the diy side of things normally. So after a bit of online research and a couple of trips to Dick Smiths and Radio Parts, we can now use our SD PVR on an auxillary channel and enjoy the HD signal via the inbuilt tuner on the TV set itself. And we get all the channels, including SBC with an amplified splitter. So we can tape 2 separate channels on the pvr and watch an entirely separate channel on the HD TV. So we may never leave the house!
We pretty much bought this sight unseen, but were informed (suckers that we were) that for an entry level but reasonably big brand TV, the price of $658 was incredible and that the sets were just walkin out the door. In fact we bought the last boxed set that was in the shop. The picture quality is pretty damn good, but the sound leaves alot to be desired. But weighing up the pros and cons, and assuming that it doesn't conk out in the near future, I think this was a pretty sweet buy.
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Comments:
Temasek wrote:
yeah I've been meaning to check out Obama's fav TV show. I'm still stuck into Mad Men, True Blood and Nurse Jackie. Looking forward to the updated V and my guilty pleasure this year just gone ... Glee.
4 Jan
dan cope wrote:
lovely. ohhhh.. you get to record stuff.
Any spares i can watch? I have moved my tv into the bed room. Watch the Wire series. IT's full on. Miss you more. xx
4 Jan
Then there are those endless shiny catalogues inundating your postbox with their bold-cap-exclammation-point promises of incredible percentile cuts. What they don't mention is that these are superceded lines, or that technical progress has rendered them almost obsolete, but it does seem as though most of the major brand names have pulled out all the stops as far as the bonus offerings are concerned.
Anyways, we were on a fact finding mission to see if the latest HD PVRs were more affordable during these gift returning times, but sadly the addition of usb porting capabilities not only upped the ante but the cost as well. So we turned our attention to the myriad of HD TVs on sale, and before we knew it, we were pulling into the pick up spot at JBs and loading our entry level full HD Hisense LCD screen into the back of the car.
Now you may have gleaned from these pages that me and M err on the diy side of things normally. So after a bit of online research and a couple of trips to Dick Smiths and Radio Parts, we can now use our SD PVR on an auxillary channel and enjoy the HD signal via the inbuilt tuner on the TV set itself. And we get all the channels, including SBC with an amplified splitter. So we can tape 2 separate channels on the pvr and watch an entirely separate channel on the HD TV. So we may never leave the house!
We pretty much bought this sight unseen, but were informed (suckers that we were) that for an entry level but reasonably big brand TV, the price of $658 was incredible and that the sets were just walkin out the door. In fact we bought the last boxed set that was in the shop. The picture quality is pretty damn good, but the sound leaves alot to be desired. But weighing up the pros and cons, and assuming that it doesn't conk out in the near future, I think this was a pretty sweet buy.
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Comments:
Temasek wrote:
yeah I've been meaning to check out Obama's fav TV show. I'm still stuck into Mad Men, True Blood and Nurse Jackie. Looking forward to the updated V and my guilty pleasure this year just gone ... Glee.
4 Jan
dan cope wrote:
lovely. ohhhh.. you get to record stuff.
Any spares i can watch? I have moved my tv into the bed room. Watch the Wire series. IT's full on. Miss you more. xx
4 Jan
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Boxing Day at J & CCs - I think its the end!!!
Ok ... I've just removed all things Christmasy off my assorted ipods. So I promise that this is the very last Christmas post. We continued celebrations in the same vein by encouraging our friend's J & CC to host this little soiree on Boxing Day. We all agreed to bring a plate of sorts. I decided to do Kari Kapitan from scratch. M made more of his curry puffs and mini plum puds and D had decided to make homestyle Mee Siam. He threw in a Vegetable curry and some ketupat for good measure!!
What we didn't realise was how many people were turning up, and just how much food there was going to be!! So all of this needed some coordination and naturally (did we really have a choice?) me and D took a firm hand on proceedings, and pretty soon we had rustled most of the dishes out on the serving tables ready for consumption.
I know that we're boasting just a tad, but D's veg curry and mee siam, my kari kapitan, and CC's chicken drumsticks were the highlights!! Shame that no-one really knew what to do with the ketupat, as it was the perfect carrier for all that lemak goodness in the curry.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in conversation and drink. I spent a fair bit of the time on the balcony shortening my life and doing the occasional grazing.
D & C (the landladies downstairs) kindly opened up their pool and some of us took a little dip, and enjoyed the brief hour or so of hot sun, before the melbourne chill set in.
W & K came with their new son L - an absolute adorable chub of a boy that I hung onto as much as I could. One of J's friends actually lived in the very same house with her then boyfriend in the 80s. She had a few stories to trade, although their little emo child was feeling severely out of place. I feel your pain C. We got to see the newly born chook in the chook pen downstairs and I hope to score a Jamaican fish recipe off C at some point. M is now doing D's family tree and K is looking very well all things considered and off for a 2 week yoga and meditation retreat.
As always, me, M, D, and our generous hosts of course were the dregs of the party. We hoed in to a bit more of the food and got quietly sloshed in the breakfast nook and out on the balconey. There was contemplation .. quite a bit of ... laughter ... and a few tears. But it was a great end to the festive season and I can say this with confidence that we're all really looking forward to a fucking awesome year!!! Coz I'm not sure we could handle another bad one.
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Comments:
Temasek wrote:
Gee you've been seriously bored Copey!!! CB! CB! CB! Well its a rice dumpling of sorts and D made it, not me. He sewed up a tea towel and cooked the sticky rice in it, then flattened it into a pan to set, then cut it into cubes. Its the cheats method!
4 Jan
dan cope wrote:
rice dumpling!! yum... did you show the whities how to open it or did you just sit back and chuckle.
You are clever making these. How did it go with the weaving?
sigh. My life is sucking worse every day of 2010.
4 Jan
What we didn't realise was how many people were turning up, and just how much food there was going to be!! So all of this needed some coordination and naturally (did we really have a choice?) me and D took a firm hand on proceedings, and pretty soon we had rustled most of the dishes out on the serving tables ready for consumption.
I know that we're boasting just a tad, but D's veg curry and mee siam, my kari kapitan, and CC's chicken drumsticks were the highlights!! Shame that no-one really knew what to do with the ketupat, as it was the perfect carrier for all that lemak goodness in the curry.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in conversation and drink. I spent a fair bit of the time on the balcony shortening my life and doing the occasional grazing.
D & C (the landladies downstairs) kindly opened up their pool and some of us took a little dip, and enjoyed the brief hour or so of hot sun, before the melbourne chill set in.
W & K came with their new son L - an absolute adorable chub of a boy that I hung onto as much as I could. One of J's friends actually lived in the very same house with her then boyfriend in the 80s. She had a few stories to trade, although their little emo child was feeling severely out of place. I feel your pain C. We got to see the newly born chook in the chook pen downstairs and I hope to score a Jamaican fish recipe off C at some point. M is now doing D's family tree and K is looking very well all things considered and off for a 2 week yoga and meditation retreat.
As always, me, M, D, and our generous hosts of course were the dregs of the party. We hoed in to a bit more of the food and got quietly sloshed in the breakfast nook and out on the balconey. There was contemplation .. quite a bit of ... laughter ... and a few tears. But it was a great end to the festive season and I can say this with confidence that we're all really looking forward to a fucking awesome year!!! Coz I'm not sure we could handle another bad one.
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Comments:
Temasek wrote:
Gee you've been seriously bored Copey!!! CB! CB! CB! Well its a rice dumpling of sorts and D made it, not me. He sewed up a tea towel and cooked the sticky rice in it, then flattened it into a pan to set, then cut it into cubes. Its the cheats method!
4 Jan
dan cope wrote:
rice dumpling!! yum... did you show the whities how to open it or did you just sit back and chuckle.
You are clever making these. How did it go with the weaving?
sigh. My life is sucking worse every day of 2010.
4 Jan
Christmas Day at D's
Ok ... maybe we're overdoing this Christmas malarkey but after a night of gastronomical and cardinal indulgence, we wake up slightly worn but ready for more. Again I maintain that this is the best way to do it, celebrating a heavenly birth and an overwhleming marketing success with friends.
How did we while away the hours? Simply put, with fine wine and spirits and stimulating conversation. If I could I would turn party talk into a lovingly transcribed script to be performed each year at Christmas. But in the interests of privacy I will shorthand this with some lovely photos.
- JQ's hashcake and his fascination with N
- N's Peruvian culinary adventures
- P's fandance, or threat thereof
- why do people try to give you back what you have already gotten rid of?
- N's miscarriage of a contraceptive device
- N's fangs and her lovingly hand sewn brown velour modernist knickerbokers
- P's zipper tattoo
- D's doodle
- J's colours du jour - pink and purple
- J's guide to going to gigs solo
- Lady Gaga (genuine pop star or a karmic joke - discuss)
- female and male responses to obscure european cinema
- children - without shy people where will our creatives be
- TUACA - check it out!
- Sloe Gin Fizzes
- Hendricks - but someone forgot the cucumber
- M's surprise hit with the mini white chocolate puddings
- H's surf sticker fiasco
- the Stephen Fry alarm clock
- And finally, "all I want for christmas is a dalek!"
How did we while away the hours? Simply put, with fine wine and spirits and stimulating conversation. If I could I would turn party talk into a lovingly transcribed script to be performed each year at Christmas. But in the interests of privacy I will shorthand this with some lovely photos.
- JQ's hashcake and his fascination with N
- N's Peruvian culinary adventures
- P's fandance, or threat thereof
- why do people try to give you back what you have already gotten rid of?
- N's miscarriage of a contraceptive device
- N's fangs and her lovingly hand sewn brown velour modernist knickerbokers
- P's zipper tattoo
- D's doodle
- J's colours du jour - pink and purple
- J's guide to going to gigs solo
- Lady Gaga (genuine pop star or a karmic joke - discuss)
- female and male responses to obscure european cinema
- children - without shy people where will our creatives be
- TUACA - check it out!
- Sloe Gin Fizzes
- Hendricks - but someone forgot the cucumber
- M's surprise hit with the mini white chocolate puddings
- H's surf sticker fiasco
- the Stephen Fry alarm clock
- And finally, "all I want for christmas is a dalek!"
Saturday, 26 December 2009
Christmas Eve at the H's
Ok ... what better way to spend Christmas than with good food and good company. Our festivities commenced with dinner at the H's. They pulled out all the culinary stops for this one, dispensed with present opening tradition and galvanised our motley crue out in the icy rain to see the lights at Casa de Tackisimo!!
Our dinner started with a spread of cheese and dip as well as M's curry puffs, which I expect will be as sought after as his guacamole. Having toasted the start of the evening, it was time to open presents (yes it wasn't quite Christmas yet):
Our present to N was a reasonable success. He was more enamoured with the glitzy toy cars at first, and wanted to know what ours was called, but he eventually warmed to its clothe swapping magnetic charm.
His crocodile mask was an instant source of merriment, even amongst some of the, lets say, more experienced amongst us.
The kitchen was soon a hive of activity and it was pretty much all hands on deck.
I hung around "looking pretty" whilst pans stir-fired and pots simmered ...
M and M amused N and kept him occupied in the meantime.
And before we knew it, the duck was ready for carving.
And the rest soon followed suit.
The accompanying watercress stuffing
We were well and trully stuffed by the end of the night and could barely fit in the stewed pears and ice cream. So on hindsight we should be thankful for that bracing walk in the rain to see the Christmas lights at a house round the corner. I have to admit that it was slightly magical. But as an adult all you can think of are the bills and the fact that at some point it all has to come back down.
Anyways, thank you very very much to the H's for their hospitality and for including us in what was really a family affair. It was the best way to see in Christmas.
Our dinner started with a spread of cheese and dip as well as M's curry puffs, which I expect will be as sought after as his guacamole. Having toasted the start of the evening, it was time to open presents (yes it wasn't quite Christmas yet):
KJ looking suitable chuffed
Our present to N was a reasonable success. He was more enamoured with the glitzy toy cars at first, and wanted to know what ours was called, but he eventually warmed to its clothe swapping magnetic charm.
Get out of it Mum, its my present!!
His crocodile mask was an instant source of merriment, even amongst some of the, lets say, more experienced amongst us.
"Never smile at a crocodile ..."
The kitchen was soon a hive of activity and it was pretty much all hands on deck.
A very intense M captaining this hive of industry
I hung around "looking pretty" whilst pans stir-fired and pots simmered ...
Give this dickhead a job or get him out of the kitchen!! - that was a christmas shirt from 1985, by the way!
M and M amused N and kept him occupied in the meantime.
N and his Aunty Emm
N and ... whatever you want to call it
And before we knew it, the duck was ready for carving.
Baked snapper with cranberries
Andrew O Connells duck sitting on its base of stewed cherries
The accompanying watercress stuffing
Artichoke and Potato Salad (tdf!!) and sides of beans and carrots
Anyways, thank you very very much to the H's for their hospitality and for including us in what was really a family affair. It was the best way to see in Christmas.
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Christmas Eve - the madness begins
Ok ... so this is what met me at the door when I got home from work:
Bless M! He's been busy being all Christmassy!! He is a big softie at heart really!!
HOWEVER - the tackometer reached seismic levels when I walked into the living room and found this tasty piece of his yuletidey handiwork:
Complete with presents and plastic pail!!
Dude I soooo love you right now.Oh and the kitchen is drenched in the smells of my cooking spiced cabbage and M's curry puffs! I'm so pumped for Christmas!
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Comments:
Mama T wrote:
Wow, M is totally sweet ... he deserves a big pash for that, and I think he may have just racked up a big bunch of those romantic, spontaneous points my dear! Have a great tomozz and will hopefully see you for a drink next week. xxxooo
24 Dec
Bless M! He's been busy being all Christmassy!! He is a big softie at heart really!!
HOWEVER - the tackometer reached seismic levels when I walked into the living room and found this tasty piece of his yuletidey handiwork:
Complete with presents and plastic pail!!
Dude I soooo love you right now.Oh and the kitchen is drenched in the smells of my cooking spiced cabbage and M's curry puffs! I'm so pumped for Christmas!
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Comments:
Mama T wrote:
Wow, M is totally sweet ... he deserves a big pash for that, and I think he may have just racked up a big bunch of those romantic, spontaneous points my dear! Have a great tomozz and will hopefully see you for a drink next week. xxxooo
24 Dec
Merry Christmasy Yuletide Greetings
Ok ... Merry Christmas Everyone!!! And to all my friends and readers, thank you for your patience and your interest, feigned or otherwise. I trully wish you and yours all the best and a safe new year. See you in 2010.
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
My Summer Gig guide
Ok here's my summer gig guide which is relatively festival free ... whats yours?
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3rd Jan 2010 - The Forum
The Books
15 January 2010 - John Curtin Hotel
Wild Beasts
4th February 2010 - East Brunswick Club
The Pains of being Pure at Heart
18th February 2010 - East Brunswick Club
The Pixies
22nd March 2010 - Festival Hall
PS ... I am now officially broke ... unless of course the Gossip do a sideshow ... oh and to those peops I actually know reading this ... if you are going to the Yeah yeah yeahs at the Forum ... lemme know!!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3rd Jan 2010 - The Forum
The Books
15 January 2010 - John Curtin Hotel
Wild Beasts
4th February 2010 - East Brunswick Club
The Pains of being Pure at Heart
18th February 2010 - East Brunswick Club
The Pixies
22nd March 2010 - Festival Hall
PS ... I am now officially broke ... unless of course the Gossip do a sideshow ... oh and to those peops I actually know reading this ... if you are going to the Yeah yeah yeahs at the Forum ... lemme know!!
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