Tch, 10.30 at night and we get trick or treaters. Wasn't going to give them anything (we don't do Halloween over here, remember? No matter what the telly tells us) but they were polite and said nice things about my children so I changed my mind. Luckily I'd been to the supermarket earlier, eh? The cubs were thrilled about it all though <rolls eyes> Easily entertained, my two...

Finally got 'round to watching the Dune DVD extended version today. The added prologue does help a little, explaining some of the basic background info but it still doesn't make this a good movie. The SPFX are extremely hokey and with a couple of exceptions the performances are dreadfully overacted or laughably wooden (thereby setting the trend for Kyle McLachlan and Sean Youngs future work). I'll have to watch the original version to confirm but I'm sure the editing on this new version has been butchered further. There's odd pauses and cut-aways and while I didn't watch every minute I'm sure the scene where Baron Harkonnen attacks the young, scared servant was cut. The costumes, sets and some of the spaceship models are gorgeous though! There's some beautiful visuals in this movie and that alone makes it worth another look.

Pooh. Looks like the cubs and I won't be able to go to the Botanic Gardens tomorrow, the bit I want them to see isn't open on Mondays, so we'll go to the Aquarium instead. :) Hee.

Hn, been longer than I thought since I'd updated. It's not that there's nothing much happening in my life, it's just that it's more of the same.
I have finished the final linking AC chapter though (13 pages, woohoo!) which Joules will probly post sometime this weekend.

Oh yes, we had some very strong winds the other day - our back fence blew down. Very exciting. The piggles' cage was out of the way, fortunately. A fence-fixing person came 'round this afternoon to get the details of our landlord. I just hope he (the landlord) doesn't take it into his head, again, to turn up unnanounced to check the damage for himself. Hate it when he does that, it's so intimidating. Of course, it doesn't help that our 'lawn' is hip-height again...

And we've got a four-day weekend coming up: a curriculum day at the cubs' school on Monday and a public holiday (for a horse race) on Tuesday. Planning on doing sod-all Saturday and Sunday, but Monday I thought I might take the cubs to the Botanic Gardens in the city to see the new Children's Garden, and Soulsis suggested a barbecue on Tuesday. Sounds like a plan to me. : )

Heh, advertising works. The past few times the cubs and I have been to the movies there was a 'piracy is stealing' ad being shown. The other day one of my cubs was looking over my shoulder while I was online and noticed what I was doing.
"Isn't that piracy?" he said as I clicked the 'download' button for an mp3.
"Um, technically..." I replied then went on to explain why I downloaded material. Most of the music I hunt up is stuff I've got on vinyl and haven't been able to find on CD, or newer, more obscure tracks I haven't found the CDs of yet. Or it's just copies of things I do have on CD but like to have on the computer. See, only technically piracy - I have every intention of buying the CD versions of things when I can find them. Honest!

(Grrrr... the cubs' father's just come in and told me he saw a movie tonight. Nice for some, being able to go out at the drop of a hat and not have to worry about baby-sitters.
Grumpy? Me? Humph.)

Have you seen the scary 'Wolves at the door' tv ad El Presidente Bush is running? (Yes, even here in the antipodes we've seen it. Probably not surprisingly we're watching the US election closely.)
This is a reply to the ad found on Ghandi's 'Bush Out' blog.

Hn. There's an awful lot of bribery and emotional manipulation on FFnet.

'If I get enough reviews I'll write some more...'

<grumble> Oh please, spare me. It's not as if the standard of writing there is generally worth going back for anyway...
(Yes, I'm a snob but dammit, someone's got to have standards!)

Soulsis sent me the link for this little movie - The Meatrix. It's funny, in a serious sort of way.
Enjoy the beauty that is Moo-pheus... <g>

I was napping on the couch this afternoon and - without prompting - one of my cubs pulled a blanket over me. <soppy g> Moments like that make being a mum worthwhile.

Catalogues are dangerous things. The last DVD volume of Yu Yu Hakusho I bought had a Madman catalogue included. Spotted 'Wolf's Rain', thought it looked kinda interesting and decided to have a look in my fav multi-media store just in case they had it...
<sigh> They did, but only the first volume.
Aside from a couple of niggles I can't quite get my head around I'm enjoying what I've seen of this series so far. Animation is very good (done by the same group that produced Cowboy BeBop, I believe) and I've watched enough nature docos to find the characters' mannerisms wolfy enough to be believable. There's been some intriguing glimpses of the apparently decadent Nobles and clues abound that this is not a happy happy universe. I'm already emotionally involved with the four main charas who - with the exception of the 'leader' - all have well-developed personalities. (I want to smack a couple of them over the head, always a good sign <g> ) Hopefully I won't have to wait too long for the next volume, but I won't be looking for any fanfic just yet. Though I have to admit I'm curious to see if/how yaoi is justified amongst a pack of wolves.

I had kangaroo for dinner tonight. :) It was kind of like beef only more so - very rich. Very filling.
The cubs, naturally, made faces when I asked if they'd like to try it as well...

This was also nicked from Onna's blog: (http://www.thebigview.com/pastlife/)

Your past life diagnosis:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't know how you feel about it, but you were female in your last earthly incarnation.
You were born somewhere in the territory of modern Yukon around the year 950.
Your profession was that of a preacher, publisher or writer of ancient inscriptions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your brief psychological profile in your past life:
Timid, constrained, quiet person. You had creative talents, which waited until this life to be liberated. Sometimes your environment considered you strange.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation:
Your main task is to make the world more beautiful. Physical and spiritual deserts are just waiting for your touch. Keep smiling!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you remember now?

No, that wasn't my last incarnation (which I think was early 20th century, somewhere in Europe being bombed during WWII) and my environment considers me strange this time 'round!
Interesting though.

(nicked from Onna's blog:)


tee hee hee...




You're a SCARY yaoi fangirl.


Are you a yaoi fangirl?
brought to you by Quizilla


Gah, been having problems with the internet, specifically not being able to use the browsers with any consistency. Thought at first it was heavy internet traffic but turns out the cause was the new version of Zone Alarm I downloaded recently. So, after advice given <bows in direction of UK> I've disabled ZA and started using the firewall that came with XP. Feeling a teensy bit vulnerable at the moment...
Anyway, now at least I can read the blogs, and update my own, and catch up on the comics. :)

Finished attaching the quilt borders! Now I can't do anything else until I've got the wadding but that's okay, it's not as if I don't have anything else to get on with.

I did say there was only going to be one more linking AC chapter but in fact there'll be two. I've started the second one and for a wonder it seems to be rolling along nicely, compared to the grinding effort the past several have been.
What has been fun, though, is organising the creative explosion of ideas for another novel. <g> I think this one will be fun to write as well...

The school had a fund-raising thing this afternoon so after lunch the cubs and I trotted off to the Malvern Town Hall for a combined school choir/Stonnington City Brass Band performance.
All of the town halls - in Victoria, at least - seem to be built in the 'Victorian' style, full of marble and gilt and decorative plaster 'accents'. Pretty, in an overblown sort of way though I don't like them very much.
I'm not fond of brass bands, either, and 'middle of the road' music bores me to tears... The afternoon seemed to drag a bit in places and at times the need to hear some Queens of the Stone Age was acute but I survived - and the kids were cute to watch. Only one of my cubs had wanted to join the performance today but judging by the long face and drooping shoulders when he came onstage I guessed he'd decided he didn't want to take part after all but hadn't been given a choice. <rolls eyes>
There were a couple of fun moments though, most notably when the band played a medley of favourite tv themes including the 60's Batman and the Cruella de Ville song from 101 Dalmatians sounds remarkably like a sleazy strip-tease anthem when played by a brass band. <snigger> Kept myself amused for a little while there with some lurid mental images... (Matrix Twins in Dalmatian skin coats? Don't ask... :)
The event wasn't too painful but dang I was glad when it finished. Hope it raised a reasonable amount of cash for the school...

This 'fill-in-the-blanks' idea comes from Onna's blog via Joules':

If I were a month I would be: March (Northern Hemishpere – Spring)
If I were a day of the week I would be: Tuesday
If I were a time of day I would be: twilight
If I were a sea animal I would be: cuttle fish
If I were a direction I would be: up!
If I were a piece of furniture I would be: coffee table
If I were a sin I would be: cowardice
If I were an historical figure I would be: Portia (Caesar’s wife)
If I were a liquid I would be: ginger beer
If I were a stone I would be: clear quartz, with internal fractures that flashed rainbow.
If I were a tree I would be: a willow
If I were a bird I would be: a sparrow
If I were a flower/plant I would be: ivy
If I were a kind of weather I would be: cool yet sunny
If I were a musical instrument I would be: a flute
If I were a colour I would be: purple, or green.
If I were an emotion I would be: pleasure
If I were a vegetable/fruit I would be: lychee
If I were a sound I would be: a happy squeak
If I were an element I would be: iron
If I were a song I would be: Ballroom Blitz (The Sweet)
If I were a number I would be: 12

Heh, Joules says the only one she agrees with is the musical instrument.

The cubs and I have just spent a couple of days with Mum after she came back from Queensland. It was fine, not too energetic (she was tired) and I still managed to spend more money than I'd budgetted for. Ah well - I have some lovely material to add to the stash I was never going to make...
It could simply be a reaction to me not wanting to be where I am at the moment, but over the weekend I found myself thinking it would be kinda nice to live out near my Mum. It's a pretty area, rural with mountains, quiet and relatively cheap. I'd definitely need a car though and I'd have to take the cubs' futures into consideration before I made a decision. There's high youth unemployment in the area and from what I've seen not a great deal for kids to occupy themselves with.
It may not be a practical move - perhaps I'm just yearning for some peace and space?

This would have to be a first. Got myself the Kill Bill Vol 1 soundtrack, and for a wonder it's got all the bits of music on it that I wanted! Happy now.

Had an amazing dream the other night. I'd unknowingly ingested something - a magical substance, I think - that turned you into a were-creature. (I got the impression it was sposed to have been a practical joke.) The form you took echoed your true nature and once the ability to change had been initiated you had it for life. To start with the changes would be unpredictable and uncontrollable but as time went on you'd be able to control them.
What was my form?
<bg> A dragon...
Only human-sized (something to do with weight-to-size ratio) but the prettiest orangey-gold colour, very similar to some breeds of koi carp...
I woke up from the dream thinking 'and this change is a bad thing because...?' :)

Yay! Finally finished the next AC. I figure there only needs to be one more chapter from me linking the two parts then I can get on with some of the later side-stories.
And Joules latest chapter is very sad...

<sigh> Picking mum up from the airport tomorrow, driving her home then staying overnight for a couple of days. I'm going to miss having the use of her car. Oh well...

Now I'm concerned.
Not only have the Liberals been returned to power (with an increased majority, for gods' sake!) but it looks like in conjunction with the National Party and the Family First party they'll have control of the bloody senate! In the past, government policies (especially stupid, dangerous ones that have the potential to infringe people's liberties) which had been passed by the House of Reps were frequently stopped by the Senate. We don't have that safeguard now. Howard has already stated his intention to resurrect policies that 'have been stalled for months'...
Be afraid, be very afraid.

It’s been a very busy weekend… can I stop now?
Yesterday - Saturday – I went and voted in the Federal Election, taking the cubs with me (they were very interested in the process), then we trotted off to the annual Meccano Club exhibition. After 20 minutes I’d reached the limit of my geek/small boy (there’s not a lot of difference) tolerance and was more than ready to leave but the cubs wanted to stay for a bit longer please, mum…
Got home in time to cook their dinner then get myself ready to go out. Hee. Went to see a Kill Bill double at the Astor with Aaron and some of his friends. I’d not seen either of the movies before (I think I was the only one in the audience who hadn’t! Vir-gin! Vir-gin! Anyway…) but thoroughly enjoyed them both. Once again Tarantino left me impressed and tingly. : ) Dang I like his work. He’s got a phenomenal eye for detail and can genre-hop so smoothly you don’t notice he’s mixing his metaphors, so to speak. And his films always have the best soundtracks! Volume 1 and 2 are very different movies but I think 1 is my favourite cos it made me giggle, and the whole Tokyo sequence was just so cool! Absolutely shits on any attempt at coolness the Matrix movies might have been groping for. <g>
Then today, armed only with a sugar hangover (similar symptoms to an alcohol hangover, just the poison is different) I took the cubs to ScienceWorks. It’s odd but in the last quarter of the year, once the weather starts warming up, ScienceWorks tends to be very quiet, getting busy again in the summer holidays. Not that I’m complaining, this place is way more fun the less people in it. Cubs enjoyed themselves, especially as the ‘do it yourself’ weather reporting thingy was fixed. They love seeing footage of themselves, little hams… :)
The new exhibition about sports and athletes was very interesting, had some t’riffic interactive displays to explore, and the High Voltage show was great! It gives some background info about electricity, explaining how it works, then demonstrates a Van der Graff generator and ends with the firing up of a Tesla coil (!!) to simulate lightning! Cooooool! Now that was fun! A very graphic demonstration about why you shouldn’t go golfing when there’s lightning about. <g>
Heh, I’m ready for a rest though, didn’t have a chance to sleep in or nap this weekend…

Hey, Val, I noticed on the news last night (or the night before, can’t remember) that there was some guy in Dunedin found standing naked on his roof, peering through a rolled-up magazine while claiming to be a pirate.
:) You get the more entertaining loonies in NZ, obviously…

Murphy’s Law of on-line auctions: If you find you’ve bid on more items than you can comfortably afford, don’t assume you’ll be outbid on at least some of them (and so can more easily afford your purchases) because you’re going to win every one of them…
(Just stating this is an observation made on previous experiences, not my current situation. :)

Joules has written some Twins lemon! Aya! <big happy grin> Not that I’ve been hanging out for some or anything… <smirk>

<boggling at weather forecast> It’s going to be what tomorrow? 30 degrees is not spring weather, thank you very much, we’re not sposed to get temperatures like that until late November. <grumble>

It's daft but I've been avoiding rewatching Cowboy BeBop cos I knew the Jupiter Jazz eps would make me cry again.
Heh, I was right. <sniffle> Poor Gren, so beautiful, so tragic... (there has to be a Gren/Vicious backstory, I can taste it!)
Ed's still a hoot, though, I like her. : )

And I thought 005 (from Cyborg Soldier 009) sounded familiar: he's voiced by the same guy (English dub) who did Jet Black in BeBop - John Billingslea.

Started attaching the quilt's 3rd border, won't be long now before I have to hunt down some wadding. That's kind of an intimidating thought, actually - there's an awful lot of quilting to be done...

Thanks, Joules, for posting 'Summer' (my latest Dystopia chapter) for me. At 17ish pages it's the longest thing I've done for a while, I can appreciate the time you've spent. : ) On with the next AC, I guess.

<grump> Just cos I don’t like elves doesn’t make me a dwarf.

Power Puff Girls – The Rock Opera…
I loved it!

”Townsville’s, going downsville… tonight! Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!”

<giggling>

As it happened I didn’t spend the last of my holiday money on food (well, not entirely) I picked up vol.6 of Yu Yu Hakusho instead. Mmm… Suzaku, now there’s a bishie demon for you. : )

Yay! Finished the Dystopia chapter! Another linking AC chapter then the next Dys, I think. That should keep me occupied this week.

The cubs are very excited about the upcoming Federal Election this weekend, to the extent they’re cheering when they see Opposition Leader Mark Latham (Aus. Labor) on the telly, and boo-ing when it’s Prime Minister John Howard. <proud grin> That’s my boys. They’re going to be disappointed if the Liberals get voted in again. According to the latest polls it’s going to be very, very close with the Green’s party preferences likely to have a significant impact on the result. Not surprisingly, both the leaders of the two major parties have been courting the ‘green vote’ assiduously. Not that I believe either of them…

Forgot to mention that I didn't find any snowdomes in Warrnambool, though I did get a slidey-pen from Cheese World. : )
And, Soulsis, the name of that Richard Gere movie is Internal Affairs. <g> I was right!

While I was away the cubs' father was introducing them to role-playing games. <g> Apparently they took to the concepts quickly, not even having a problem using percentile dice or deciphering the character sheets. What can I say? Born gamers...

Back. : )
Fun weekend though not long enough. Just started to properly unwind then we had to come home. Ah well.
Took us about 6 leisurely hours to get there, with a few stops, a nice easy, unhurried journey along the coast. The scenery along the way is gorgeous, and I got a squeaky lobster from Apollo Bay!
We stayed at a lovely little caravan park just outside of Warrnambool, essentially next door to a Golden Arches of Doom with a ship-shaped playground. Niki, Soulsis and I shared a really cute little cabin that had a double bed, 2 sets of bunks and a tiny ensuite bathroom. So tiny, in fact, I was concerned about knocking the door open with my arse while brushing my teeth! <g>
It was good catching up with people - been far too long, as usual, between meetings. We didn't have an itinary as such but we managed to meander our way around to a few things, like a fuge antique place (it had a train carriage as part of it's showroom! <big eyes> ), and down to Logan's beach for a spot of whale-watching! That was amazing, the critters were quite close to the shore and wonderfully active. Visited Cheese World 3 times but only because the first 2 times the place was either closing or closed. <g> It had lots of cheese, funnily enough...
Ate a lot, almost giving myself protein poisoning from all the barbecued meat - hee. : )
We came home via the inland route, quicker but not as scenic. Niki and Soulsis dropped me off a little before 6 p.m. The cubs were glad to see me, so was the cat. : ) I managed to come back with some money despite the squeaky lobster, and the squeaky puffer fish, and the chicken-shaped money box, and the fish-shaped paté knife, plus stuff for the cubs. Quite pleased about that, means I can go opp-shopping or even do something sensible like buy food for my cubs.

It's both good and bad that going away for a few days gives me a chance to take stock of my life. It can be unsettling to confront the pile of unpleasant stuff normally concealed by the everyday getting-on-with-it activities...

[<unhappy sigh>... Pointed comments and thwapping over the back of heads with wings doesn't seem to work... I'll try nagging. Back soon, hab'lan...]

Fine dining in a romantic atmosphere… <sigh> I’ll experience that one of these days. The cubs and I went to Smorgy’s for dinner last night. I had wanted to go see the Thunderbirds movie after we’d taken Mum to the airport, but turns out it was only showing earlier in the day. Sooo, Smorgy’s it was…

Yay! New episodes of Ultimate Muscle. Finally I get to see the Chojin tournament!
And the only female Transformer has put in an appearance.
The cubs thought she could’ve sounded ‘tougher’…

Haven’t managed to finish this latest Dystopia chapter yet but the cubs are back at school next week, fingers crossed I can stop faffing about and get on with things. Wasted too much time already this year.

Going away for the weekend (sans cubs) with Soulsis and Niki and Alarice and Peter etc. Along the Great Ocean Road down to Warrnambool and CheeseWorld. : )
I’m looking forward to it, have to admit, even if it does mean I’ll be without my computer for - <counting on fingers> - 55(ish) hours.
Hee, I’m taking the necessaries to start my neko hat though, just in case I find myself with a moment to spare.
Avagoo'weegend!