Phones
Old and busted:
New and shiny:
Sun, 30 Apr 2006
Karaoke
The worst thing about Steph and Eva's karaoke nights is that Kathleen gets to sing one of the Spice Girls songs, and then subjects me to the entire CD the next day.
Wed, 26 Apr 2006
The Thing In The Crib
Wonder whether any of our friends who've recently had kids have had this evil and treacherous encounter:
No matter. My task lay before me. As I had been instructed, I laid a square of clean cotton cloth, nearly as long as the creature itself, just so upon the nearby table. The cloth I anointed with a whitish powder, intended to subdue the reek of the creature and soothe its raw and uncalloused flesh. Easy enough so far; but the true challenge lay in the next step. I took a breath, made my peace with the uncaring universe, reached into the very cage itself, and lifted the nearly inert creature in my sweating, unsteady hands. It immediately began to writhe, as if sensing my doubt, and abruptly it emitted a wail I shall take to my grave.
...
But now my nostrils were assailed anew by the reek of the thing. I had remembered too late the cotton cloth it yet wore, once immaculate and wholesome but now tainted and befouled beyond retribution, the cloth I was to replace!
In my brother-in-law's group of friends, it's obvious when someone is trying to get, or has just become, pregnant, since they stop drinking alcohol. Luckily, Kathleen doesn't drink, so we'll be able to hide it for longer.
Bonus link (especially for those new parents): Relaxation.
Carrot Soup
Poor Kathleen was feeling a little sick with a cold over the weekend. When I'm sick, she normally whips up a quick soup to make me feel better. I thought I'd try and make her feel better by cooking for her for a change.
So, here's the recipe for the carrot soup I made:
Carrot Soup
Ingredients
- 4-5 carrots, chopped into cube size chunks (note to self: Kathleen can be particular about the size and shape of these. Best to get her to check prior to completion of this task)
- 1 onion, cut in half then thinly sliced
- 1 pot of stock. Note this stock came out of the freezer and I'm not sure what's in it. Probably stock of some description
Steps
- Heat the stock in a pot
- When boiling, add everything
- When Kathleen says so, turn the heat down to a lower setting than "hottest"
- Cook for a while
- Done!
Tue, 25 Apr 2006
Beijing Pollution
Kathleen, are you sure you want to go to Beijing? I hope we get lucky, and have a few of those 56 days a year with blue skies...
Sat, 22 Apr 2006
Marble Bar
On Friday, we went into the city after work to catch up with Lu, Denzil, Steph and Eva at the Marble Bar. That place has an amazing interior, and best of all, is now non-smoking. I heard that before the renovation of the Hilton, when smoking was allowed, that the bar would get so thick with smoke that it was almost impossible to see more than two metres on a busy, boozy Friday night.
Thu, 20 Apr 2006
Coffee
After catching up with so many people last weekend in Melbourne, which inevitably involves a lot of coffee, I was hoping to do a bit of a detox, and just go caffeine free.
Unfortunately, most of the work-related meetings I've been having this week have also involved heading to a cafe. Which means that the detox isn't going exactly to plan, unless that plan involves weaning down to only 1 cup a day.
Tue, 18 Apr 2006
Throwing Stones
Got home on Monday to a story in the newspaper about riots in Nepal. It came complete with a picture of one of the rioters throwing stones:
What's the thing that stands out most about that image?
Interesting choice of footwear, that. I can't say I'd feel particularly threatened by someone wearing fluffy pink open-toe shoes, even if they did have a bunch of rocks in their hand!
Mon, 17 Apr 2006
Wed, 12 Apr 2006
*ring ring*
"Hello?""Hey, it's me. Lu got free tickets for the movies tonight, so I'll be home late, around 9."
"You mean I have to cook my own tea?" (Joking!)
"Ha ha. Yes."
Mental note: buy bread on the way home for toast.
"Ok, have fun."
Two minutes later:
*ring ring*
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's me again. Lu's got another free ticket. Did you want to come?"
"Which movie are you going to see?"
"Ah... not sure. It's got Sarah Jessica Parker..."
"No. You have fun though."
"...in it."
Tue, 11 Apr 2006
Humpty
Kathleen always gets a Humpty chocolate easter egg at Easter. It's compulsory. Her mum started buying them for her when she was a little kid, and now I have the responsibility of making sure she's all Humptied up.
On the weekend, I bought two. One for her, one for me.
By Monday evening, we'd eaten one of them.
Tonight, we're halfway through the second.
And it's not even Easter, but we can't resist his chocolatey charms.
Mon, 10 Apr 2006
The Archibalds
On Sunday, we went to see the Archibald Prize finalists.
Finally, after almost three years of being here, we actually went to see it, rather than just reading about it in the papers.
This year, there was a bit of controversy, since the winning entry wasn't a traditional portrait, but more of a surrealist re-making of an existing painting. And it was quite obvious after seeing it and the other finalists that the scale of idea and inspiration that went into it were much more ambitious. It made the other portraits seem bland and boring, no matter the amount of effort that obviously went into some, or the celebrity status of the subject.
The winning entry had a mass of people around it, compared to most of the other finalists that had plenty of space in front of them. It was a pity that there was so much detail involved, and it really demanded close-up inspection!
At the same time, the Art Gallery of NSW is displaying the finalists for the Wynne Prize and the Sulman Prize, which are overshadowed by the Archibalds. It was hard to decide which I liked more for the Wynne Prize. Both the winner, John Beard's The Gap and Chris Langlois' Ocean (violet green) No.81 2006, featured dramatic representations of the ocean. Ocean No.81 had a dull, overcast sky, all greys and whites, over a dark sea with flashes of green amid the whitecaps, and was one of the largest and most visually striking pieces on display.
Considering the amount of effort that goes into the work, and the relatively small amounts of money involved - the Archibald is $35,000 - it's incredible that artists have the persistence to continue. But Australia is the better for them.
Sat, 08 Apr 2006
Autumn
With fresh, crisp air, as well as mornings in the mid-teens, looks like autumn is already here. The hot days have given way to wind that have a refreshing bite to them.
From our kitchen window, we can now see clearly all the way to the Blue Mountains, which, during summer, is almost obscured by Sydney's smog haze. A beautiful city, but sometimes it really puts on it's ugly face.
Winter, though - that's beautiful weather.
Wed, 05 Apr 2006
Skype
Kathleen's friend Emily came over for dinner last night. And managed to find evidence of yet another technological failing of mine: I've never used VoIP.
Emily's got Skype on her computer at home and, since she's got a broadband connection and a headset, she can make free phone calls to other Skype users, or by paying a small surcharge, to a normal land line.
Sounds pretty good. But to me the whole point of going with something like that is that you can switch the land line completely. Which is something that would be pretty handy, what with the $30+/month Telstra leeches out of us in order to have a phone line, which is essential for ADSL.
So I was checking out how to set it all up, but came along a few warning articles about how Skype can saturate your network and system resources. Not sure whether its an actual issue, or whether its an excuse for me to be lazy and not set it up.
Free phone calls would be good, but we'd only know one person (Emily) who uses it. From the sounds of things, it sounds like ICQ circa-1998, where you'd happily chat with people who messaged you out of the blue. In 2006, people you've never met who ring you out of the blue, just because you're online... that's a bit creepy.
(The noodles we had for dinner were pretty good, too. That's because I boiled the water we cooked them in just so.)
Sun, 02 Apr 2006
Lucksmiths
On Kathleen's insistence (and believe me, when Kathleen wants to go to a pub, in Surry Hills of all places, she really wants to go!), we went and saw the Lucksmiths play at the Hopetoun on Saturday night.
I'd been off work crook with the flu or bronchitis or something during the week*, so luckily the Hopetoun is non-smoking. Even better - all the smokers feel their addiction kicking in between bands and pour out for a nicotine rush on the pavement. We got to steal their prime positions at the front, which worked out perfectly for Kathleen, because she's a bit short. Now, instead of watching some tall person's back while listening, she could actually see the band.
The Lucksmiths are a Melbourne band, which means that they don't have the following up here that they do down there. Kathleen had first seen them with Darise and Grrreta last year in Melbourne, and apparently they'd packed a venue three times the size of the Hopetoun with people who knew the words to the songs and everything.
It was still a pretty good gig - most of the songs are catchy pop, and the volume wasn't overwhelming, even standing less than a metre or two away from the band.
They scored an encore, too - and came back to play T-Shirt Weather, which is a great song to finish on a high with.
Unfortunately, Kathleen left the CD she bought at their Melbourne gig at work, so I haven't been able to put it on the stereo today.
* No, I haven't been to the doctor. Real Men don't go to doctors to find out things they already know. "You're sick." "I know."
Sat, 01 Apr 2006
Place Across the Road
One of the apartments in the building opposite us is going up for auction this week, and they had an open house today.
Kathleen loves going to open houses - mostly because she enjoyed house hunting, and I think misses the thrill of finding a place that she likes. Me, I'm a bit more ambivalent, only because you have to give your name and number to the real estate agent, and I'm terrible at lying. I can't give a false name and number, and, when they call a few days later to follow up, I can't lie about why we were there looking at it in the first place.
Hopeless, I know.
Anyway, the building is an 8 storey block on the high side of the street, and it has unobstructed views of the city and harbour, and all the way out to the mountains. In fact, the views alone meant that they were looking for at least $850,000 at auction. The apartment was nice enough, very tidy (elderly owner), but a bit... dated. Elderly decorating, if you know what I mean.
We loved the view, though. It had views north, east and south, plus a lot of light since it was so high up in an area where most apartment blocks are only three storeys. 800 is a bit out of our reach, though.
The listing is on the web, and it looks as though the next door apartment is up for sale, too. At $925,000! That sneaky real estate agent, telling me they were looking for mid-800s! Obviously just a trick to get us to show up to the auction! They'll be looking for mid-9s, for sure.
