Since we don’t live by politix alone (I sincerely hope), what did people get up to this weekend? Join in, share some tales, regulars and lurkers all!
Here’s some photos from my Friday night excursion to West End – heading from the bus stop to Sling where I was meeting some friends for cocktails.
If you’d like to see a high res image, please click on the photos then click on ‘full view’ once you’re inside the gallery.
Boundary Street I by *phenomenologist on deviantART
Boundary Street II by *phenomenologist on deviantART
Hey fellow lunatics, political tragics, mother in law etc.
’twas the last training day at the Dog Obedience school I go to (with Demi, natch
) so we had a short training session and a ‘fun day’
As usual I was there at about 8.00am, to do a few circuits of the grounds to ‘walk the devil out of’ Demi, or at least to try to
By the time that was over the sausages were sizzling on the barbie. Normally I run a mile from a fatty snag on presliced white bread but I was hungry, so grabbed one (and later another
)
Then it was time to do the limbo, with dog! Handler & dog approach the limbo bar (a jump for the rest of the year) handler tells dog to ‘drop’ wriggles under the bar then gets dog to crawl under. Me and Demi were one of three finalists; fukking miracle my fat arse got under there
Next event was a doggy version of musical chairs; dogs and handlers walk in a circle while music plays, when the music stops the last to get their dog to sit is out. This should have been a doddle, and we survived a few rounds, but I think Demi had it by then and when the music stopped she just stayed standing
Good fun. Left at about 12pm, dog and I both pretty much knackered.
Later went to Olivers Garden Centre for some plants, potting mix (for hanging baskets) and a couple bales peastraw. Also got derris dust, a strong organic insecticide. Whatever has been eating my potato plants gonna be sorry!!!
Then on the Marion shopping centre (a horrid, gaudy dump I usually avoid like the plague) where I went to the ABc shop and got a DVD of ‘Old Dogs New Tricks’ which series I rahter enjoyed. Also a SciFi book.
Now recovering with a huge gin and tonic! Bombay ‘blue saphire’ gin of course!
I always enjoy hearing about your dog training adventures, Jovial Monk. Did Demi get any snags?
Another Brisbane social landmark bites the dust.
Friday night was the last screening of a movie at the Dendy in George Street. The foyer apparently hasn’t changed since 1965, when it opened as The (rather rococo) George, after being the Lyceum, which began screening silent films in 1910, and was still in the movie show business till ’64.
I have a bit of a Proust for the George, it was the first ‘Teh Pictures’ I went to in Brisbane, having for some rare reason been allowed out for a day from boarding school. We were forbidden from seeing the apparently outrageously depraved and corrupting Catch 22, naturally that’s what I went to, and promptly got six of the best for it when I got back to school. It was definitely worth it – going to the movies, that moment when the house lights go down still has an element of transgression and decadence for me. Talk about cheap thrills.
The final fillum was Amelie. Perhaps the secret of the secret way in can now be told.
Nope, I ate the snags and she missed out!
Next stage of the adventure is Wed Dec 31st at Gawler: our first trial! (assuming SACA gives me a number so I can lodge an entry.)
I will of course advise Demi’s fans hpw that turns out
We have bombed out of dog training entirely due to the boy’s accident. Missed the trials. But the evil Pugalier has been improving a lot lately (the Kelpie-rottie cross is always good) so in real terms they’re getting to be good obedient dogs, which is the real aim.
Went to see Collapse last night performed on a slipway and in old buildings at Williamstown, including the original morgue! I love urban decay. There is a great hidden-away venue there called the Pirates Tavern which is run by the Game Fishing people. They hire it out for parties.
In an unusual fit of spending, I also pounced on a bargain in a cheapo DVD shop – the Gold boxed set of Twin Peaks. Anyone want to guess what daughter and I will be watching on other Lazy Sundays?
Hmmmm roast duck, hasselback potatoes and dry roasted tomato!
The silly season has started. Drinks with friends on Saturday night at teh Parlour in the renovated Acton Hostel. So many of my friends have birthdays at this time of the year.
Today there was a large gathering at Corroborree Park, Ainslie to officially kick off the silly season of pre-Christmas parties etc.
I am at work fighting with a server upgrade that should have taken only a couple hours but problem after problem means I’m still not done at 6:30pm.
sigh…
Spent the last few hours looking for an anti-virus program for my personal computer. Son advised to get a new computer with software already loaded. Seems drastic! Does anyone have suggestions which doesn’t cost the earth?
@wpd – AVG has a free for personal use version at http://free.avg.com/ which I install on all my families’ computers. It’s pretty reasonable.
There’s also AVAST which has a free for personal use version at http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html – I’ve never used it, but I’m told it’s okay.
I went to a wedding reception last night. It poured rain and blew a gale but after the first two glasses of champers I don’t think anyone cared much. Today I washed the dogs and lazed in front of the cricket.
Thanks for that Quog, but when I click on the links, they don’t work. Does that mean my computer is totally invaded or what? I am a complete novice whan it comes to understanding how all this works.
The Kinglake climb, in preparation for the big ride next weekend.
Scoped out a venue for an LP Christmas grogblog in Melbourne. Stay tuned for more details…
Saw Australia. I didn’t know whether to vomit or fall asleep.
I was minutes away from a kick-arse chili con carne when, while vigourously chopping spinach, I removed a small part of my left thumb (Corner and a bit of nail). And no, I wasn’t drunk (which is the usual cause of my cooking mishaps). I’ve only recently got home from a 3 hour wait at Modbury Hospital for a doctor to tell me it needed dressing (the dozen-or-so bandaids I’d used to staunch the bleeding were a bit lumpy) and for a nurse to do same.
The chili was excellent, by the way.
@wpd: who knows? Try opening a new browser and typing free.avg.com into the location bar.
Here’s a little something I came across trawling the bowels of the science web:
A story on WiredScience about how a bunch of astronomers in France have detected glycolaldehyde molecules -a form of sugar- in a region of The Milky Way about 26,000 light years away. It’s not April Fool’s day, so I suppose it’s kosher:
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/sugar-molecule.html?npu=1&mbid=yhp
The comments section is worth a squiz, too. It’s hilarious, full of musings about this proving the existence of “dark chocloate matter” and the like.
My personal favourite is this little gem, from some wag calling himself LC:
“Besides the sugar, molecules of Bon Jovi and an unidentified female pouring said suger on Bon Jovi were also identified.
*
X-ray emissions from the region were also found and roughly translated:
*
“I’m hot, sticky sweet
From my head to my feet, yeah”
*
Rumors of mullet molecules have been reported but not confirmed as of today.
Have hopefully just completed shittus weekendus.
Friday night I made the unbelievable mistake of getting completely plastered at my office Xmas party. I know, I know. I was sick all Saturday both physically, and psychically as I remembered my previous night’s antics.
Then today, the incredibly sad news that one of my daughter’s friends died last night. Aged 11. A wee little wheelchair bound child with muscular dystrophy. We had just come home from the supermarket where my daughter had just been hassling me to buy a box of chocolates for her friend, as she had drawn her name in their little club’s Kris Kringle amongst a whole number of plans they always have going. This girl was as much a part of their club of seven as any of them, including one boy.
Just devastating for her family even though she had spent much time in hospital and having awful operations. I can only hope that she died peacefully. It’s all happened very quickly as she was at school just on Wednesday. I spoke to the Deputy and the school had already gotten everything arranged for the children in the morning – counselors for the whole week amongst a number of special arrangements. Tonight has been very emotional in between watching the Sunday night movie. Kids are resilient and they also just switch off when they’ve had enough, but this week is going to be a v. sad one for the entire school community.
RIP little one, we’ll miss you. xx
After various carousings on Friday night (including Manhattans which proved to be very deadly!), I slept through most of Saturday, and sadly missed a friend’s birthday dinner – which I shall make up by buying her another dinner next week! – and resurfaced today to start my Advent with my friends by buying a lot of alcohol, putting up a Christmas tree, listening to some new music, eating an excellent sandwich with scrumptious beetroot, introducing the said friends to Rome the series, drinking some Sangiovese, and enjoying a fabulous pumpkin dessert – yayz for vegan cooking! Now at home and have lit my own Advent candles!
Mowed lawns. Did some more desultory gardening that involved hacking overhanging limbs off trees.
Her indoors has been outdoors trying to paint the house (from a nasty yellow colour to a dark blue) but she doesn’t make much progress during the week, toddlers being a big drain on time. Then, to her horror, she found bubbles in the new paint where the sun had been beating on it. Fire up the intarwebs and deduce that we probably shouldn’t be painting dark blue in the hot parts of the day. Much grumbling and sanding later and the bubbly bits are fixed. At this rate, it’ll take us about 2 months to do the house but it’s still better than the $6000 quote we had.
jo’s story is very sad. While there are no good times of the year for that to happen, this must be the worst.
Stupid dog, that’s not what I did! I finished watching that HBO “John Adams” and I recommend it heartily. Less nudity than Rome, more grumpiness and grit. I am ashamed to report that most of my knowledge of the founding fathers comes from a computer game Day of the Tentacle, so the miniseries redressed that somewhat.
Bless you, Mark.
For the rest of you slackers, NOW is the time to get into training for the Christmas break. You know you’re going to be drinking heavily over your holiday or at your work’s end-of-year parties, so there’s no excuse not to be prepared.
Just a few drinks every day, taken regularly, will see you in tip-top condition. If you’re having trouble fitting drugs and alcohol into your schedule, why not try a few of my tips? It’s like exercise, you don’t have to take it seriously, you just have to take it regularly.
- Warm beer with breakfast: it was good in the Middle Ages, it’s just as delicious now.
- Liven up any incidental drinks with a handy hipflask. Make that cup of tea at your desk that much more interesting.
- Arrange with a friend to prepare together. It’s hard to keep to a routine by yourself, but if someone’s depending on you for the next round, you’ll find yourself well motivated.
Quite Saturday, mucking round on the computer, reading Marcus Rediker’s The Slave Ship – A Human Story. Watched Jesus Christ Superstar on DVD. OMG, Arian heresy! Watched The Bill, Sat night, then Tomb raider-Cradle of Life, for the second time. (Didn’t realise I’d already seen it.)
Sunday, woke, etc early. Watched Insiders. As noted on another thread, Piers Akerman was repugnant. Went up town to Sunday Markets, mostly to help staff the Socialist Alliance stall. (Gather I missed you, DR’s Labrador.) We signed up three new members, advertised the screening of Constructing Fear next Wednesday at Wicklow hotel [commences 8 pm. meeting beforehand, 6.30-7.30]Not been able to get a press release published in Independent. Hopefully luckier in Armidale Express today. Insulted by member of passingg public for supporting unions and being a Socialist; not to worry- goes with the territory. bought a Resistance badge to hang on my living room curtain – Unfuck the World. Wandewred round markets briefly looking at bookstalls. Haven’t been up on a Sunday morning for yonks and it appears the quality of the bookstalls has declined considerably to what they used to be.Home by about 2 pm. On computer. Spent some time reading and taking notes from Rediker on the 1785 Liverpool Sailors’ Insurrection. (Did anybody know before that the origin of the term ‘strike’ comes from that one week riot, based on the action of the sailors striking the sails and rigging on the slave-ship Derby when the owners tried to cut their wages from the agreed 20/-?)
Watched ABC Sunday night TV. Excellent program on King Oranatang. The thriller was great too. watched animated DVD of Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly. Enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.Crashed.
In a wonderful mood this morning. Finally received a copy of Peter Oliver’s Origin of the Rebellion after one copy lost in post, and two months of waiting. Really looking forward to reading it.
Paul Burns wrote:
Ordinarily I would have been stumbling around the markets with bored children in tow PB, but you’re observation on the bookstalls (too much tat) is my broad recollection of the whole thing lately. I suppose the recession will really have to kick in properly before all the good stuff comes out
DR,
On the bookstalls at Armidale market. Ah, yes, but will we be able to afford it by then?
“Manhattans”
Mark, how can you bear to drink such a thing. Even El Principe Oscuro (hi DD), agrees that they are a crime against good taste.
I found myself a solid ball of pain all Sunday thanks to a game of cricket out in Daylesford Sat, followed by a raucous party. Lost the cricket, but won the party.
Went with mates to the Wayville Farmers’ Market and bought 800 grams of freshly picked perfect cherries, a bunch of purple lisianthus, and a leg of saltbush-fed hogget from the Mid-North. Drank peppermint tea and did the Crossquiz with mates. Finished (at long last) the last two examiners’ reports for Hons theses. Got cracking on the four novels I have to have read by Wednesday. Played Tetris. Considered carpal tunnel surgery.
Yes indeed, FDBia dolorosa.
The Manhattan is to tasteful drinking as the tartan tie is to fashion, and the picanniny/lawn jockey garden statue is to landscaping; sure, you might see your parents with them in photographs, but some relics of the nineteen sixties deserve to be buried there.
Devil Drink – warm beer is rarely nice – nasty english habit. And its expcially not nice early in morning – an ice cold needle is the go in the am.
I’ll be popping a few of my homebrewed Hoegarden copy in the fridge to settle down for 12 hours before the first proper drink of the batch. Tastings so far are promising.
‘Cocktails [are] made for people who don’t like the taste of alcohol: in a word, children. Want to know a recipe for the perfect cocktail? Take a bottle of spirits (your choice). Pour some in a glass with ice. Drink.’
– Belle de Jour
Not that I agree with her or anything. An unadulterated double Laphroiag is a beautiful thing, but so is a Fluffy Duck.
FXH, we’ll have to agree to disagree on the appeal of a lovely mug of bitter at room temperature. I find it just the thing to wash down a slice or two of buttered toast before a day’s work of tempting and damning. I wish you the best of your Hoegardenclone. Have a couple, with chips and mayonnaise, in memory of me, as the liturgical phrase goes.
Pavlov’s Cat, seems to me that that’s quite typical of Belle de Jour. Overstatement and ennui, intended to shock and always delivered with just a bit too much self-awareness. Not, naturally, that I disagree with her or anything.
“Cocktails [are] made for people who don’t like the taste of alcohol”
Not true of all cocktails – cf the Manhattan. A mixture of two yucky alcohols that manages to taste worse than either.
I just looked up the recipe for a Manhattan, and it sounds disgusting. Nothing more than a waste of perfectly good bourbon.
Ilike the ice-cold one with vermouth and gin. Used to get pissed on it regularly in college.
Martini. Will never drink one again.
Quite right, Caroline. Why anyone would only drink one is beyond me.
I do remember the instructor when I did a wine course a few years ago telling the story of how he and mate, for no better reason to try it, popped a nice bottle of red with breakfast one day. Worked like a charm he reckoned.
So there is another breakfast tipple for you all.
Manhattan is truely disgusting – a martini or two on the other hand is a drink fit for a drinker. Martini are Frank Sinatra and Audrey Hepburn.
Shaken, not stirred I presume.
“Martini are Frank Sinatra and Audrey Hepburn.”
…and Manhattans?
Oliver Reed and Ginger Spice.
I thought Ginger Spice was Old Speckled Hen?
guffaw
Brandy balloon half filled with crushed ice [tea-towel whacked on the bar floor works] liberally covered with cointreau. Bet you can’t have just one!
Many years ago workiong a five star hotel and serving behind of the few cocktails bars in Sidders with a fair amount of more rare US businessmen and US tourists back then, after only a few weeks – I gained a reputation for being able to mix a ‘great martini’ by basically using an atomiser and pointing the noilly pratt cloud a little to the right of the shaker – which was then either stirred or shaken into fine little martini glasses and served with an olive or a twist. There was palpable relief on those mostly craggy middle aged male faces as they watched the vermouth settle in droplets on the bar instead of in their drink.
Dry martini – a big double gin fussed over.
“[tea-towel whacked on the bar floor works]”
OMFG!!! I just did that at kitchen-dancefloor party on Saturday! Had fun working it into my moves, and it worked a treat.
And remember folks – the party ain’t over till there’s only Cinzano left to drink.
“To provoke, or sustain, a reverie in a bar, you have to drink English gin, especially in the form of a martini. To be frank, given the primordial role played in my life by the dry martini, I really think I ought to give it at least a page. Like all cocktails, the martini, composed essentially of gin and a few drops of Noilly Prat, seems to have been an American invention. Connoisseurs who like their martinis very dry suggest simply allowing a ray of sunlight to shine through a bottle of Noilly Prat before it hits the bottle of gin. At a certain period in America it was said that the making of a dry martini should resemble the Immaculate Conception, for, as Saint Thomas Aquinas once noted, the generative powers of the Holy Ghost pierced the virgin’s hymen ‘like a ray of sunlight through a window – leaving it unbroken.’
“Another crucial recommendation is that the ice be so cold and hard that it won’t melt, since nothing’s worse than a watery martini. For those who are still with me, let me give you my personal recipe, the fruit of long experimentation and guaranteed to produce perfect results. The day before your guests arrive, put all the ingredients – glasses, gin, and shaker – in the refrigerator. Use a thermometer to make sure the ice is about twenty degrees below zero (centigrade). Don’t take anything out until your friends arrive; then pour a few drops of Noilly Prat and half a demitasse spoon of Angostura bitters over the ice. Shake it, then pour it out, leaving only the ice, which retains a faint taste of both. Then pour straight gin over the ice, shake it again, and serve.
“(During the 1940s, the director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York taught me a curious variation. Instead of Angostura, he used a dash of Pernod. Frankly, it seemed heretical to me, but apparently it was only a fad.)”
- Luis Bunuel
Ah Boundary St, used to live off it. I’d say it brings back memories but it doesn’t. I was too drunk.
“To provoke, or sustain, a reverie in a bar, you have to drink English gin, especially in the form of a martini.
Thanks Nabs, I’ll remember that.
hey, if you’re in Melbourne – go to the window and check out the moon. Its aligned with Venus and some other galactic light emitter (Mars??, a star?) and looks like a smiley face. Wild!
Lefty E, I saw that too! A friend rang me and told me to go look at the moon. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s a smiley face.
Picture here:
http://inastrangeland.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/celestial-sight/
I saw it, Lefty E, and wondered what the hell that was all about.
Yesterday and Saturday I spent in the Brisbane Ranges , Victoria, camping. I swear a koala waved at me and no drink had passed my lips.
I nearly crapped my pants when at Hanging Rock (already spooked – its a spooky place) and a Koala screamed. It was a terrifying sound, blood-curdling!
“…and looks like a smiley face.”
Yeah! Just took a photo of it hanging over St Kilda in an otherwise starless sky. Talk about shoot the moon.
Apparently the other one’s Jupiter. Venus, Moon, Jupiter.
maybe the moon’s in the seventh house, etc.
The smiley face last night was fab. Just looking at it made me laugh.
Lefty E, you’re not wrong about Hanging Rock. I made a bit of a detour once on the way back to Melbourne from Wagga Wagga (don’t ask) to have a quick look at it from a distance and it frightened the bejesus out of me even from a kilometre away. There’s definitely something strange going on there.
@ Lefty E, it was Jupiter.
David Rubie here,
I have a list of gear. Of interest are:
1 small sony 8 track analog mixing desk.
1 Massive Tascam 24 track mixing desk with matching 8 track thingy/record to downmix to stereo.
1 sony delay fx unit
1 lexicon effects processor
Google is your friend for direct contact (think sheep) I have model numbers and some commentary from the audio geek in charge of getting rid of it.
David – do they have speakers etc? Tigtog is chasing some link
Mindy, they had one pair of shagged studio monitors (not suitable for an auditorium and looked too buggered for personal listening) and the audio nerd there said they had a lot of interest in them + shipping costs to tigtog makes it not worthwhile.
The gear is all studio oriented and not really P/A type gear unfortunately, otherwise I would have been tempted to buy some and donate it to *my* local primary school
I’ve found a page with a piccie of you DR, on an ovine-related site with a generic “infoAT….” address. Would that reach you?
You should have mail now FDB if I got your email address right.
It looks like you didn’t, then.
ADMIN!!! HELP!!!
Or maybe that will work better.
Thanks David.