The big union march.

Two things to note: Julie's smiling and the baby isn't crying.

I'm taking bids on this photo.

Dancing Lessons with Lisa.

My fellow paparazzi, Flowers.

SPUNKS!!!

"Do you think she has the camera pointed at us?"

What are these two up to?

Having a laugh in Catani Gardens, St Kilda.

"If one more person takes a photo of us..."

The twins. (I don't know, that's what they call themselves.)

Kate, Cat and me!

Meanwhile, I don't know who the intended subject of this photo was.

" If I stand completely still, maybe she won't see me..."

A Night at the Star Hotel.

Who's that gigolo on the street?

Cassie the Invisible is captured with 2/3rds of The A-Team.

Smile, Lisa!

February Birthday Shout-outs!

Feel free to comment if I've missed anyone... Anyone that I know, that is.

Udi de Waard (2nd)

Ari Missikos (8th... Come on!)

Kristine Bartmanovich MacDonald (10th)

Deborah Milne (14th)

Simone Gallo (15th)

Kelly Lynch (16th)

Corrie Brooker (18th... where are you?!?)

Thom Jef Garcia (18th)

Shelley Semken-Clarke (24th)

Yvette Walker (24th)

Mel Fitzpatrick (27th)

Nat MacFinn (29th... My first leap year baby friend! I think I just made up your surname)

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Happy Chinese New Year.

Can blogging get you evicted? Part 2.

This morning, I opened Outlook and found an e-mail from my property manager.

They haven't changed their mind about the kitten but my landlord now wants to know if I'd like additional powerpoints installed in my apartment for all my 'appliances' (ie. DJ gear).

I read this as my landlord being worried that I'll move out now that I've been denied George. J1 raised the possibility that they want to see if I've gone ahead and acquired George anyway.

*hmph*

I'm a geek. I'm not going to rebel against the no pets policy. That doesn't mean I won't move out though.

*shakes fist*

Can blogging get you evicted?

Several weeks after my initial request, as well as subsequent reminders of said original request, I have just been informed by my Property Manager that I am not allowed to have George.

As it turns out, my stupid bastard Body Corporate (trust me, I've spoken to him) and landlord (who's not so bad) both vetoed the idea.

I guess I can get that new couch after all. At least the couch won't claw my eyes out in my sleep.

I also guess that for the time being, I'll just have to keep blogging photos of other peoples' pets. Beware Ollie & Stanley Jarrett, Joktan Mastrosavas and Tiger Corlass!

Birthday shout-outs - January

Happy Birthday to the following people:

Michael Olsen (Jan 14th)

Kate Jarrett (Jan 17th)

Jane Tsai (Jan 18th) - Even though it doesn't feel like your birthday :(

Al Magno (Jan 17th/19th)

Sebastien Yi-Ling Tsai (Jan 21th)

Rebecca Fairey (Jan 22nd)

Audrey Hoarau (Jan 22nd)

Kevin 'Kevwinna Lammykins' Lam (Jan 26th)Julie Jong (Jan 27th)

Katie Collins (Jan 28th)

Dolly (Jan 28th)

Clare Hews (Jan 30th)

Sophie Johnston (Jan 31st)

The Tsais.

Farewell, An-ma

YU SUN TSAI (nee SY)

In loving memory.

August 19, 1910 - January 14, 2006

Touchdown.

J2 just confirmed the arrival of Father Bear in Winnipeg.

The eagle has landed (apparently).

Dad left for Winnipeg first thing Tuesday morning (Sydney time) and wasn't due in to Winnipeg until about 7pm Tuesday evening(Winnipeg time).

The good news is, he was able to cut out his 7 hr stopover in Vancouver and catch the next flight directly to Winnipeg. Somehow that means he should be there now. Now being 3pm on Tuesday in Winnipeg but 8am on Wednesday in Sydney/Melbourne.

I say somehow because that doesn't at all compute in my head, even with change of timezones, etc. but now's not the time to worry about stupid things like that.

That's all for now.

First birthday shout-out for 2006

Happy Birthday, Mandy!

Yay!

The 'hood is mine... All mine...

Yesterday morning, I completed Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

It was a long, hard fought battle but in the end, I killed Smoke and destroyed his crack empire, then I chased Officer Tenpenny, the most corrupt cop in the history of video gaming, to his death. It was all rather convenient that the overpass he took a dive off of was the one that crosses over Grove Street, which is my 'hood.

Anyway, I won't bore you with all the details of the last few missions - even though I got to fly a hover plane and had to catch Sweet in my convertible as he hung from the ladder of a firetruck. I can keep playing and try to finish the game 100% which includes completing some home invasions, dating more girls, helping that geek Zero, taking over other gang-run neighbourhoods. I'll do all that eventually.

What I really want to do is find out how I can buy the car import/export business in San Fierro so that I can actually do the car-stealing that this game is named after.

*tsai* So much to do once you've finished the game.

Once upon a time...

The great eBay letdown of 2005.

Late last year, some of you may recall that I was overjoyed about finding a pair of the following Acupunctures on eBay and that I purchased said shoes (along with two other pairs).


Having arrived home from the airport after coming back from Sydney (where I was ripped off by the dodgy cab driver - but that's another story), I found a parcel post collection card in my letterbox. So I walked to the post office in scorching heat and picked up what was surely going to be my black & white Acupunctures.

Upon arriving at home, I tore open the bag... only to discover these:

I love white shoes. These are some bizarro shoe colour. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing with the seller, I decided that I would just keep these and use them as my 'crap' shoes (i.e. for moving, painting, any sort of physical labour).

Anyway... I'm still going to use eBay. I just might take a while to get over these shoes.

Christmas 1973

January 2nd, 2006.

After a bender of a NYD, we decided that Bloody Marys were in order for January 2nd. We decided to go to the Union but were dismayed to discover that they weren't open yet.

Off we headed to the Napier where we were given very spicy Bloody Marys... And they didn't have any straws. More to the point 'We don't do straws' was what the bartender said when asked.

After several mouthfuls of freshly ground black pepper, we decided to move on. Plus the goat or yak head in the main bar wasn't the desired decor for the day.

So we walked past the Union again only to discover that they wouldn't be open all day. Crikey.

Off we troddled to Smith Street thinking that *something* would be open. Finally we found a cafe that was working with skeleton staff. We downed another Bloody Mary and then decided to head over to the Marquis.

After a while, Jelkie ventured off to work and Tikva and I continued our pinball challenge - I sucked. All my NYD luck had run out and order was restored and Tikva was the Pinball Wizard once again.


Eventually we decided that some food or at least a snack would be a good idea. I was getting that vomituous feeling that only pizza could fix. After our snack, we collected Jelkie from work and headed into the city for karaoke. There's this great venue where you're given a private booth for karaoke and you get drinks via an intercom system. It's all very Tokyo.

Sadly though, the karaoke bar closed up at 1am and it was all over red rover. Seeing as we all averaged about 6 hours sleep over 3 days, we decided to call it quits.

If I never drink again in 2006, I really don't think I'd mind very much.

NYD 2006: Fashions on the Field

After nearly dying on NYE, NYD was our day to play. So I went over to the girls' place and that's where our adventure started.

Our intention was to go to karaoke in the city but unfortunately, they were closed. So then we wandered in the rain, looking for somewhere to get a drink because we were very thirsty by then. Then, as a collective, we decided to go bowling at Crown Casino. If this dial-up connection wasn't killing me, I'd put more photos up but you'll have to wait.

After two rivetting games, we decided to move onto the next venue. Unfortunately, the next 3 places we tried were closed. Meh. Then we found a pool hall in Fitzroy complete with pinball machines. At some point, we practiced our Responsible Serving of Alcohol and sent ourselves packing.

Then we sat up all night chatting and watching bad black & white movies on ABC. We also had a brief moment of dress-ups. And yes, it's still considered dress-ups if all you put on is a hat.

Funniest gift ever!

Special thanks goes out to Claire for sending this little pearler to me. That's right... It's the 'JUDE! Homme' giftpack with aftershave balsam and eau de toilette!

GOLD!

Christmas 2005

Well, Christmas has come and gone. Actually, so has 2005. I am now only just settling back in Melbourne having gone to Sydney for 5 days. Well, 5 1/2 days. Or something like that. Here is a brief rundown on my trip:

23rd December: I left for Sydney in the evening. There was a lot of grief concerning my flight and the fact that they cancelled it while I was AT the airport and didn't tell me until 15 minutes before it was scheduled to leave and three other flights had left for Sydney... all of which I could have been placed on seeing as I was at the airport 3 hours early. But I managed to contain my crankypants by the time J1 picked me up as I was seated next to the most unfortunate man in the world, who was married to the most annoying woman in the world. Having to listen to that woman's dribble for 55 minutes was enough to make me realise that I didn't really have that much to be angry about.

24th December: The traditional Christmas Eve dinner at the folks' place. All the usual suspects were there. Lots of food was consumed. That evening, J1 and I tag-team slept as our snoring was keeping each other awake. Finally, J1 bailed and slept on the couch. Point: Jude.

25th December: J2 calls and spends a good amount of time laughing at my faux-Australian accent. Makes me say 'Frodo Baggins' purely for her entertainment. Christmas morning service, followed by lunch with the folks and J1. J1 heads off to Medowie. I, unfortunately, have woken up with 'sinusitis' (thanks SAHM) as well as a crick in my neck. Mental note: Do not leave multi-vitamins and glucosamine at home next year. Spend a bit of time with the folks but then we all fell asleep in different parts of the house. Had dinner together and then I passed out again.

Sidebar: For Christmas this year, I received Eye-Toy Kinetic, some funky pajamas, a great t-shirt, shoes, stacks of DVDs, a scarf, an elephant, cash, but alas, still no partridge in a pear tree.

26th December: Uncle Joseph takes us out for lunch. Boxing Day Test begins. Cricket 101 lessons for mum and dad also begin. Dad has retained most of what I explained last year. Mum just doesn't get cricket. Jane and Tarnia pick me up and it's back to Redfern.

27th December: A day out with the girls. Jane, Tarnia and I go bowling at Fox Studios. We're pretty much the only ones there and manage to make a considerable amount of noise. Afternoon snack in Newtown. We also have dinner in Newtown. That night, I run into a couple of Melbourne girls. Typical.

28th December: Still haven't gone to the driving range but it's been stinking hot and I don't particularly want to die on the driving range. That and my back is broken from sleeping on the incredibly shrinking mattress. Hahaha... I'm only joking! The mattress wasn't actually that bad. I learned to 'surf' it while sleeping and move the air around. Had yum cha with the folks and Jane and said goodbye to mum and dad for another year.

29th December: Back to Melbourne I go.

Big thank yous to J1, Tarnia, Shadow, Puppy and of course, Mum and Dad for having me at Christmas.

I love yous all!

I'm leaving... on a jet plane...

In 10 hours, I should be on an airplane to Sydney to spend a few days with the family for Christmas.

Hopefully, the battery on my camera will last for the duration of the trip as I'm not very keen on taking my entire docking station to Sydney. Oh well, it should last until Monday, at least. I just won't shoot any videos of J1 snoring.

So, there's going to be very little blogging over the next week, but I should have photos of the family up here by the end of next week and then NYE photos (I'll try and take pictures of people other than the usual suspects).

Oh, and look for candid J1 photos. Especially around January 18th.

Happy Days!

Merry Christmas!

Happy New Year!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

George, Part i.

Yesterday, I decided that I want a pet. Seeing as having a dog in my apartment would be very cruel, I decided that I might get a kitten. More specifically, I want a ginger tabby male whom I can call George (but I also decided that the kitten doesn't have to be a male to be 'George').

So today, I put the wheels in motion and sent an e-mail to my property manager asking her to get my landlord's permission on whether or not I can have a kitten.

I hope she says yes.

I'll keep you updated. :o)

GTA Progress Report #7

Thought I'd given up, did you? Or maybe you hoped I did.

I decided to stop playing for a while in hope that, like with previous missions, if I took a small break, I'd be able to complete the the pain in the butt flying mission on my first attempt back in the game. And I did!

In this particular flying mission, I had to fly across town at tree top level and make a drop off. This was very frustrating but finally, I managed to do it without crashing or being detected. Yay!

This opened another mission where I had to ride a motorcycle up a ramp and onto a plane about to take-off. The trick is, you have to avoid the barrels being offloaded at the same time. Sort of like Donkey Kong but you can't jump the barrels on your motorcycle. I kept falling off my bike the first few times I tried this but I did manage to board the plane, kill all the agents, steal a parachute and plant a bomb. Then I jumped out of the plane. The only downside to this mission was that I deployed my parachute *way* too early and had to float to the ground very, very slowly.

Anyway, it ended up taking about 10 minutes real time to hit the ground - good thing there was cricket on so that I could flick back and forth while floating.

Finally, the ground came into sight...and I landed on my face. You'd think that after all that time in the air, I could have worked out how to land on my feet or at least on my backside.

What the...?

On Friday evening, I ventured to my local bottle shop to purchase some wine. As I was standing at the counter, I was bombarded by offensive Christmas music. I asked the salesperson if the music playing was 'Hi-5 Christmas Carols' and she said, 'Yes. It's either this or The Wiggles.'

Maybe it's just me but I think there's something really wrong about having Hi-5 or The Wiggles playing in a liquor store.

A very rare occasion.

You can lead us to water...

But you can't make us drink it!

'Tis the season to be jolly...

One of these kids is not drinking tequila,
Can you guess which kid is not the same?

Team Awesome

in a comment on J1's blog, Middlechild alerted us to the existence of Team Awesome.

Naturally, I had to join. I'm Member No. 3042.

http://www.teamawesome.ca/roster.php?s=2860&np=149

Happy Birthday, Gracie!!!

In case you were wondering, these are the Pinkies.

Are you stalking me, stalker?

After receiving my pair of 'Kunst' the other day, I found these babies on eBay and decided to buy them too. I can't remember what these ones are called but they're similar to the 'Pinkies' that I used to own.

And these... these are the pair that J1 decided she wanted. AND she almost bought another pair as well.

You'd better not get the same Mooks jacket as me!!! ( I know you still look, even though you bought 3 jackets last winter and didn't wear *any* of them.)

*shakes fist*

People make me angry.

And I'm not talking about the idiotic Sydneysiders who have decided that race riots are a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon, either.

Today, the people who make me angry are the morons who were at the Japanese take-away place that I went to at lunch time. First of all, they held up the line for 5 minutes while they ordered by ingredient, rather than by using the menu (yes, everything they ordered was on the menu in succinct titles such as 'chicken teriyaki' or 'beef sukiyaki').

But that's ok, I should be more patient.

What aggravated me the most was when the woman was calling out their orders - using said succinct titles, mind you - the neanderthal that was part of the group screamed at her, 'CAN'T YOU SAY IT IN ENGLISH?!?!'

You're at a Japanese restaurant. Go back to McDonalds, you tool. I should have taken his picture.

Sheriff, when he was a lidl fella.

Lisa's pooch.

An ad for sunglasses.

Jess and Lisa, looking mighty fine.

(It really is an ad for sunglasses, too!)

A gift to myself.

About 6 years ago, I developed a fetish for white shoes. Since then, I've predominantly only bought white shoes (except for my work shoes, of course).

My all-time favourite shoes were my Acupuncture 'Pinkies'. Unfortunately, in a moment of temporary insanity in 2001, I gave them away. 2001 was a year when I did a lot of crazy things, some of which I'm still paying for. But I digress...

Finally, after a few years of searching, I stumbled across these little beauties on eBay. After much deliberation (and driving J1 crazy with my indecisiveness and inability to ascertain my UK shoe size), I bought them and lo and behold, I picked them up from the Post Office this morning.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my Acupuncture 'Kunst'.

You heard me.

J1's favourite Froggy photo.

Only 12 more payments...

This is the infamous car that many have heard about but not seen.

I came across this photo while looking through photos of Froggy.

'Get angry about it, Jude!'

Once upon a time, I had a puppy named Froggy...

I was feeling a little nostalgic this weekend after I became a little bit intoxicated and tried to abduct someone else's puppy on my way home.
So anyway, this is Froggy, a.k.a. Lidl Legs.

It's starting to lose its meaning... not really. :o)

Happy Birthday goes out to:

• Kerrie 'Choker' Campbell
• Lanie Hynninen; and
• Helen 'Volleyball Mother' Tighe

Woohoo! Yippee! Yay!

As Jimmy would say... 'RUINED!!!'

Last night, Carol gave me the photos from my birthday and there are some golden moments captured on film (yes, old skool photos!).

I've since made a couple of attempts at scanning the 'better' photos in order to blog them for a laugh. Alas, the scanner only does black and white and there's no point.

Sucks to be me.

Strike up the band!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Rozane!

Hope you enjoyed your day...

She never used to be pointy.

(I make me laugh.)

Birthday shout-outs!

Big big Happy Birthday to:

Kate Monroe

Bobby Bartley

YAY!

The freaks come out.

Last night as I walked home from the tram stop, I saw a dodgy couple walking towards me. Being streetwise (and also recognising them from a previous encounter I had with them over a year ago*), I secured my bag and put on my 'I'm not looking at you' face.

Nevertheless, the female walked right into my path yelling 'EXCUSE ME! EXCUSE ME!'. Yes, I had my Shuffle on and had no intention of stopping for her, but she really got up and in my face so I slowed down and pulled out an earphone. She didn't take this as a cue to stop yelling though. Anyway, she started to tell me how she needed to get home to Pascoe Vale and did I have any spare change for her. I had spare change, just none for her. So I said, 'Sorry' shook my head and walked off. (Btw, I was rather frustrated with myself that i *apologised* for not giving them any change... Why should I have to apologise? Dumb jerks.)

This is the second time in a fortnight where I've been asked for change within 1 block of my home and I don't like it one bit. Last Sunday, I went to 7-11 to get a newspaper and there was a lady parked right outside the door asking for spare change. And a couple of weeks back, Jimmy was over and I busted some dude casing her car.

It's not that I don't feel safe, I just hate randoms talking to me. Not fond of randoms, whatsoever.

* My previous experience with this couple was when I used to walk through the oval on my way home. They stopped me to ask for the time and before I stopped to fish out my phone to look at the time, I noticed the guy was wearing a watch, holding a mobile phone, and they had a great view of the Richmond Town Hall Clocktower. Dodgy mofo.

A new dawn.

I've started playing a new game now. GTA San Andreas just isn't doing it for me anymore but that's mainly my own fault because I can't progress any further in the game.

So I decided to play Medal of Honor: Rising Sun. Joyce bought this for me for Christmas last year. I've played it before but only in multi-player mode with Di and she killed me, and killed me good. Then I never played it again. Now it's time to try again.

I managed to pass two missions last night and without using cheats! Now I'm trying to Save The Philippines and I really can't be bothered. Also, the controls are all weird and for some reason, when I point down, my guy looks up. And that's just stupid when you're trying to aim your gun. I know it's just a learning curve but how will it affect my GTA game when I go back to it?

Anyway, the premise of this game is to re-enact the whole Pearl Harbour thing. I think. That's what the first mission looked like.

I'll let you know how I go.

The A Team (again)

Hardly ever seen in the same place at once... or maybe I'm never around when they're all together.

Actually, that's a lie because they were out on Friday night. I just didn't have my camera. Foiled again!

One day I'll get them all at once... and maybe they'll be in uniform!