Monday, April 16, 2007

birfday pic's...

Hi, here's some pic's from me birfday... I had the good camera out & then after a few more champers forgot all about it - doh .. so these are from the phone camera at the restaurant, grainy & tres arty looking...
Criseyde & Helena studying the menu
Marco & dj Hoper
Criseyde looking very Audrey Hepburn
Even more Audrey than before..
moi..

a prayer

miss maddi moo surrounded by things on my bed

HRH Maddi Moo.. (with her map, ready to go..)

Friday, April 06, 2007

M2006 reunion..

I broke one of my rules: I never do reunions.. but life is all about breaking one's own rules and also doing things you say you'll never do. But I went to this about a month ago and had a pretty good time, it was great to see the crew. Thanks Cath Ellis for the pic's..
Meri & Deb Deb (so nice I named her twice)
Tamsin & the fabulous Gerard (note Sierra Leone t-shirt, methinks he had something to do with those 12 Sierra Leone athletes who escaped the village & defected into the wilds of Australia)
laffin'... for 'tis truly an absurd & beautiful life.. xx

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Book: Short Short Stories

I picked this up at Reader's Feast for a tiny $3.95, it's part of Penguin's 70 Year's Birthday celebration series - 70 'novlets' by authors ranging from Chekov to Hunter S. Thompson, all for the wonderfully cheap price. I got Eggers because I've been so inspired by his writing before, he writes so cleanly, clearly and simply. His voice is strong and vibrant and so easy to read. Each story is very short - around 400 words. Here is a link to most of the stories on The Guardian's website in the UK. My favorite one is: Woman, Foghorn which starts off as a story about a woman who lives in a small landlocked town but who yearns for the sound of foghorns so she decides to move - the narrative then morphs into a criticism of the Bush Administration - all in 400 words! Only Eggers can pull something like this off [unfortunately this is the only one I can't find up on the Guardian site, but the rest are up there for your reading enjoyment]. Here is an excerpt from another, Sleep to Dreamier Sleep Be Wed:
"There was a group of people, called the Americans, who once had a very vivid nightmare, simultaneously. The nightmare, which lasted many years, was nightmarish in many ways - but one notable facet was that in this nightmare the vice-president of their country was someone so outwardly and cartoonishly evil that his existence seemed ludicrous and wholly unbelievable, even in a nightmare. In the history of nightmare-villains and movie-villains and villains drawn with crayons by troubled children, this man stood above them all, though he was not very tall. Or maybe he was tall, but it was impossible to tell, given he walked very much like a hunchback, his head set deep into his shoulders and favouring one side. This way of walking seemed suspect, but it was nothing compared with the way he spoke. He spoke out of a small and dark corner of his mouth, in a way that was so comically fiendish that it seemed a put-on. If an improvising actor, asked to conjure a bad man or perhaps a minion of Satan, conceived of such a way of talking, his acting coach would say, "No, no. Pull back. Way back. We're doing the vice-president here - not Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein." But this was indeed the way the vice-president spoke and walked. And his laugh? A mirthless thing, a chilling "Heh heh heh" (again, emitted from a dank corner of his mouth) accompanied by a forced shaking of his round fleshy back." Read the rest here.
I also picked up Hunter S. Thompson: Happy Birthday Jack Nicolson. Great reading for only $3.95 and you cannot beat that folks! ;-)

Sunday, April 01, 2007

When Good Dinner Parties Go BAD

... that's BAD as in the 80's african-american sense, as in "Get busy with yo bad self!" bad - which means very very good in a wicked way... Here are some pic's from a dinner party I went to a few weeks ago at the fabulous Hope Perkins' house. She rocks hard that gal. Everything started off very civilised with some amazing entrees (garlic prawns being a true highlight) and sophisticated conversation and then somehow it all went a bit wildish.. as all good parties are prone to do! - Gawd, I'm such a ham for the camera after a few Pinot Noirs.

We look pretty civilised here.
Marco & Hope
My gawd we are all sooo damn sexy we should have our own sit-com.
Grrr!

Cultural Juggernauts: Buffy


So for some reason (travelling through India & didn't own a TV for a few years) I missed one of the greatest cultural juggernauts of the last 10 years.. yes, I'm talkng about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Thanks to the gorgeous & talented Ms Cobwebsky I've now launched on the Winter Buffy Catch Up program. Last night we watched the first 7 episodes accompanied by genuine French champers & lashings of Turkish Delight ice cream. My Buffy hymen has been well & truly pierced (ew, not sure I like that metaphor but anyhoo)... So here I go diving headlong into the wonderfully written & plotted Buffy-verse. How inspiring to see such a strong female warrior archetype who also just wants to date & do nailpolish.. Loving it. I feel so good to know that a whole generation of women have been influenced by her. ... And better late than never for moi I guess. ;-)

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