Friday, November 03, 2006

How to make a dwagn

Don't you just love those useless, scientifically unsound personality name tests on the internet?!?






How to make a dwagn
Ingredients:

1 part mercy

5 parts brilliance

5 parts energy
Method:
Stir together in a glass tumbler with a salted rim. Add lustfulness to taste! Do not overindulge!




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I'd like to think...

I'd like to think that I'm a photographer, but after looking at this series of pictures I just know I don't have what it takes!

Click here.

... I think Prince said it best: "perhaps I'm like my father too bold old..." or perhaps I'm just too sane.

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Thursday, November 02, 2006

Stonehenge

Scientists haven't really discovered how our forefathers have created such engineering marvels like Stonehenge or the pyramids in Egypt. But this guy has discovered methods so simple that they might have been used to construct these marvels.





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Friday, October 13, 2006

Blender Beautiful.


Yum is the word I think of when I think of my little magic bullet.

Rewind...

Back in January I remember sitting in a hotel room in Hawaii watching the infomercials about the Magic Bullet Blender. I vowed to own one one day.

Fast forward to the present... (well actually a few weeks ago)

Danoz Direct has them (the original) for over $165 plus $59 postage, and you get one free.

HA! I did better.

Wonderful chinese copies. House of clones. Cheap ass deals. And a visit to Home Art in Hurstville saw me the proud owner of a cheap rip off. $40 was how much I paid for my copy.

So how do you like your smoothies? Personally I like mine with the pulp. Do you? What do you like to put in them?

In the picture above there's oranges, strawberries, pear, carrot and yoghurt. Sure beats going over to Westfield and paying over $5 for one.

Lets see... $40 / $5 = 8. Thus (excluding cost of ingredients) 8 smoothies later I have paid for my magic bullet.

Tags: smoothies, magic bullet


PS. If you look at the Danoz link above, it says you can chop onions in 3 seconds. I tried. I ended up with a onion smoothie. YUK!

Thursday, October 12, 2006

T-Shirt Folding

Ever wanted to know how to fold a shirt like a professional in seconds?

Well this little video shows you how!


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Thursday, October 05, 2006

For the record.

Yes.. I just realised...

the link in the last post about cosmetics goes to a lesbian's website. I happened upon it quite by accident via technorati. *honest*

Though i've always maintained that i'm a lesbian trapped in a man's body but people never believe me, or just laugh.

11% Safe.

Read this about cosmetics.

Apparently only 11% of the chemicals in cosmetics have been tested for safety. What about the remaining 89%? God only knows what the long term effect it has on our health.

Perhaps nothing.

Perhaps in a few generations the toxic buildup with alter out DNA.

Perhaps we'll mutate and get special powers. Personally I want to fly, and have super speed. But then if everyone else has special powers, special powers won't be so special.

Tags: cosmetics.

American Express Call Centres

Dodgey!!!

Yeah.. dodgey alright.

Tonight i get a call from American Express saying there something wrong with my card. Thinking it could be a scam to get credit card details, etc they gave me a (tollfree) callback number to call.

Still not totally convinced even with a callback number to call (because at a quick check I couldnt find it on the amex website), when they asked for verification of my account details I gave some bogus information. Some of it they picked up, but not all. Dodgey!!! Fortunately, for my piece of mind I got them to read out correct details to me. But FFS... they should have picked up on the false information!!!

Guess who's gonna be calling up to make a complaint 2morlo!!

And if anybody asks, yes I believe it was actually an Indian call centre, but that really had nothing to do with it. The gentleman was polite, well spoken and I could understand him perfectly. And thats how a call centre should be.

Compare that to a call i had previously asking for money. As soon as I said no, i'm not going to donate money the woman hung up on me without even a goodbye. She was from Tasmania, Australia.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Is this the latest Telemarketing Scam?!

Bloody hell! They're coming in daily now!

Yesterday I got a telemarketing call. You know the kind, 3 second pause, then the (almost invariably) Indian operator answers. One trick when you realise that the call is a telemarketer (because nobody on the other side says anything) is to not say anything and wait for the telemarketer to talk first.

I did this, and the first thing I asked when they started was to ask whether this is a telemarketing call. The Indian girl said no. Are you trying to sell me something? No. She then said something not worth repeating (mostly because it wasnt worth remembering - and it wasnt swearing) and quickly hangs up. Don't think she was having a good day. No not at all.

Today. Today's call. Apparently we were randomly selected out of the millions of humanoids in our part of the galaxy on planet Earth orbiting the star named Sol to receive a free mobile phone. That much I got out of her. I had bearly said a word. Infact I couldnt. She promptly hung up.

Well!! That was rather rude!!

If we happen to receive said mobile in the mail with some contractual obligation of payment they can go and shove it. Be funny if it came with a if you do not wish to sign up please return this in the free reply paid sachel. Does that mean we can invoice them for the labour costs in handling their mail? hmm.. i might try that for kicks.

What if i ebay the phone and not return any paper work. What if I ebay the phone AND the contract. I wonder if thats legal.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

What I'd Give to partake!

Waaa.. What I'd give to partake in this little photography competition. Unfortunately it takes place in London... hmm.. maybe I can fly there and claim it as a business expense!!!

The next one after the current one is in Brixton. Ah, yes, Brixton. Brixton with its own prison. It used to be an area of high crime in London.

No More Salt Lick!?

Hmmm.. in a wave of perhaps inspiration... the easiest thing to do to avoid Salt Lick Bread is to remove all the salf from the recipe altogether. Easy. Besides the simpliest recipe I've seen for bread is just flour, water and yeast.

Though I'm told that I'm in danger of having bread that tastes just like flour and water.

Yesterday I went around all the local discount shops looking for a set of scales that can weigh small quantities like 5 grams of salt or 7.5 grams of yeast. No why is it that whenever I have an idea of what I want to buy I always end up back at the first place I go? $3.80 later at the Japan Home Centre saw me the proud owner of a cheap set of scales.

In a few hours when I've finished making it (2nd kneading, rising, etc) I hope to have something decent to eat!

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Monday, September 25, 2006

AIYAH! Salt Lick!

Aiyah!

I did it again! I tried making bread. I think my biggest problem is that I have no real way of weighing very small quantities like 5grams of salt or 7 grams of yeast. So invariably I'll put way too much salt and end up with salt lick! arggh!!

Probably didn't help that I added abit too much water and had to add some more flour too. I suspect the little bit of gluten flour I used also made the bread not as soft and white. Oh well. Lessons learnt for next time.

I think my salt bread will be good with bland soups, or curries. hahaa

Tags: bread

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Monday, September 04, 2006

Born on February 22nd, 1962

How do you mourn a man who has given so much of himself to the Australian public and done so much for Australian tourism.


In a freak accident the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin died today from a fatal stingray barb that punctured the left side of his chest at around 11am.


Read the headlines here (news.com.au)   and here (smh.com.au).  Some pictures of here (news.com.au) and more here (smh).


The post of the day I met the man can be found here.



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Thursday, August 03, 2006

Today at school

Today I learn how to harvest tomato. seeds. It's really easy... all you need to do is scrap out the gooey pulp containing the seeds from a fresh tomato and place them in a jar of water. After a few days muck and any dead seeds will start to float to the surface. Good seeds will settle on the bottom.

Tomatoes grown from harvested seeds like this apparently aren't as good as the parent plant though. Still its a fun way to obtain seeds and grow your own :D

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Sunday, July 16, 2006

Friday Night Pics

Lily + Andrew = LandrewEva, Tina and Lulu
Eric, CC, Eva, and TinaVi, Lulu and CC
Steph, and DenzilLulu + Denzil = Lenzil, or Denzil + Lulu = Dulu

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Remind me again...

A mate gave me this link about a Dell laptop containing a hidden key logger.  The scary part is that it is apparently Department of Home Security approved!


Remind me again why I bought a Dell desktop


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No Comment.


No comment. I'm sure Lulu will make enough of them when she sees this one!!


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Saturday, July 08, 2006

Yes I am...

Yes I think I am better off for having read the verbal jousting on this website: how does Superman...


The funny things you find when I follow your own Technorati tags about haircuts...
and if your really interested more about hair.. check this site out


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Friday, July 07, 2006

Should I do it?

Occasionally some of the junk emails I get on hotmail are interesting.  This one is about an attorney changed careers and became a travel photographer.


hmm.. friends of mine will know that I like photography.  I do not think at this stage I have all the required skills to turn pro, but what the hell wouldn't it be fun?


Here's the article: Switching Gears.


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Gone in 0.1 seconds...

Hairdressers...
Barbers...
Manicurist of the most northern lawns...


They weld humming razors, sharp knives and all manner of toxic chemicals around your heads.  If it was the medical profession they'd be fully licensed and have to update their skills yearly.  And yet we give these folk unbridled rein to the tops of our heads.


Perhaps I was scared in childhood.  A flaw in the Chinese way of cutting our kids hair.  Oh yes, I must be traumatised as a child.  I have memories of my father (or even mum) breaking out the scissors, and that awful comb thing with the razor blade in it (yes the very one that Lulu now tells me is damaging to your hair... it gives you split ends). 


But I digress...


My head of unkept lawn had moved on from the beginning stages of a mullet... that fashionable statement made by Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon.  Worse yet the hedges over my ears and my sideburns truly had gone feral.  Perhaps I was waiting for the wildlife to settle in.


So there I thought, perhaps its time... and I found myself at my usual haircut place.  I never have any problems there when the owner cuts my hair.  That should have been the only warning I needed when the lady started hacking at my hedges and sideburns with the hairdressers equivalent of a whippersnipper - the electric shears.


It truly happened in slow motion. Or so it seemed.  A flick of the wrist here, a flick there, and one big one THERE.... and my sideburns, well nothing was left except for the 5 o'clock shadow where they once stood as proudly as Elvis's.  Gone in 0.1 seconds.


Anger... numbness. frustration.


She must have realised what she just did because she quickly went to the other side to even things out.  So I stopped her there to inspect the damage.


I actually let her finish me off.  Why, I don't know.  Except for the sideburns it actually was a pretty decent haircut.  Atleast when I told them I wasn't happy about the sideburns I got it for free.


Ironically Lulu likes it.


Oh.. for my international readers who might not know what a whippersnipper is, its one of those power tools used to trim hedges, etc.  It has blade or nylon cord that spins to cut the grass and is either petrol or electric powered.


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Friday, June 30, 2006

Hello? City Morgue, Can I help you?

Being recently inspired by this article at the SMH about spamming the spammers, and after reading another about Delhi call centers I felt inspired to get my own back at telemarketers from India.


The telephone conversation went something like this:


phone: ring ring ring... [I was already annoyed because most calls i get during the day are wrong numbers and telemarketers]
Denzil: Hello... hello...??
[pause] <-- this is the tell tale signature of a call center... (read the above article)
Denzil: Hello.  City Morgue. Can I help you?
phone: [pause] hello?
Denzil: yeah.. hello.. City Morgue, what can I do for ya?  You got a dead body?
phone: Is that Mr XXXXXX...?
Denzil:  Nah mate.. its Jimbo... at the City Morgue.  We got dead bodies here.  You got a dead one?  Thats our job.
phone: Can I speak to Mr XXXXX??
Denzil: Its the Morgue mate.  Who am I talking to? Whats your name?
phone: I think I have the wrong number...
Denzil: Where are you calling from? You got a dead body? You got a cold one do ya?


The poor guy was totally and utterly confused.  Totally threw him a curve ball that he couldn't recover from. 


I remember reading another one about some guy pretending to be the police.  So when the telemarketer calls they enter a "crime scene" and the call center becomes part of the investigation.  hahaha.


I swear I probably should start recording these...


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Friday, May 26, 2006

Damn you stupid soft!

The Mackintoosh folks over in pony tail hair-do land will lauf hysterically when they learn that my pc was running dog slow because the hard drive was thrashing.  I have 1 gig of ram installed on this little Dell beauty (don't hate me coz I run dell), but my page file was running at 2 gigs!  Internet Exploder/Explorer was taking over 300 megs of memory.  I just happen to also run Firefox, that ran at just under 20 megs.


Grrr... *wild hysterical fist shaking at Stupid Soft*


No, the fact that I have a database installed on this machine, running 2 development IDEs, Outlook, Excel, Internet Exploder, and Firefox did NOT have anything to do with it. Denial (the Nile) is just a river in Egypt after all.


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Do you believe?

Do you believe the world is controlled by secret societies?
This is an interesting watch, even if you don't believe.

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Monday, May 22, 2006

The Weekend

Saturday


Michele, my good friend of many years got married today. We wish her and Andrew the very best in their lives together.


The beautiful couple cutting the cake.

Sunday


Chezza. We caught up with Chezza on Sunday. Chezza is a Kiwi Chic that we met in London. I probably should have said I worked with her in London. Anyhoots we caught up for some grub (food) and for cheap ass bridge climb.
Chezza and Corin about 1/4 way in Cheap Arse Bridge Climb.

More on Pasta

To answer my previous question on the type of flour for pasta, I found this video.  The video is actually about the differences between commercial and home made pasta.


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Its only one step away from Bead Making...

Besides picking up bread making as an interest I've thought about making fresh pasta. Unfortunately that thought didn't come to any sort of tickering in the kitchen (when I can get time in there... and when Lu allows me!).

But today I'm excited. Not because I've found the inspiration. Not because I've found an Italian to teach me the family secrets (and I don't have to marry the daughter to get to them). But because on the SMH website I found this little video.

In it you will find the basics for making pasta. One thing Steve Manfredi (the presenter) doesn't state is what sort of flour to use, I suppose Google is my friend.

hmmm.. I seem to recall as a younger Denzil.. a Denzil with much less wrinkles and greying hair.. that my parents have one of those pasta machines that Steve uses to flatten and cut the dough. Failing that I've Steph's bestest friend in the world!

oh.. and I have some basil growing out in the sun room.. yes.. I think that would be a good addition to my pasta recipe!! mwoahahahaha

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Friday, May 19, 2006

We're on the map!

Google has finally put Australia on Google Maps.  Personally I kinda like Google Earth better for that eye-in-the-sky/big-brother-is-watching-you look.

Check it out here.

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Wish I'd thought of that!


Coming from the wonderful world of Japan comes Fish Footy!! This is a high level contact game where fish the colours of participating countries' colours fight for control over a food laiden ball. Read about it here.



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Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Live in Sydney. Work Google.

Yes folks... the latest news on the wire has it that Google has offically openned show in Sydney, Australia. And from the pics (here) it looks like they are close to Darling Harbour and pretty close to where one of my mates work. Now if your a Pom and are thinking about moving to Sydney... nows your excuse.. Google are hiring!!

So if your looking to move jobs give Google a Go. Now there's a catch phrase they should use in their marketing!

I wonder if they are in need of a Slightly Used Aging Programmer... Me!


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Friday, May 12, 2006

It runs on SSSSHHHHHIIIIITTTTTTTT!!!

It sounds like gold... removing the reliance of modern cars on fossil fuels but a New Zealand company has producing bio-diesel from sewage. The bio-diesel is created biologically using algae and with a by-product being clean water.

I can see the day where I'm sitting at my desk taking a crap to run my computer and to feed my thirsty for clean water.

I hope one day we can totally move to renewable energy sources that produce no harmful by-products, eg green house gases.

Thats one we gotta give to the All-Blacks!


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Move over Ruby on Rails...

This courtesy of Andrew: SQL on Rails.

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When I was a Kid..

The following email is courtesy of Belinda. Oh the memories!!

GROWING UP IN AUSTRALIA

I'm talking about hide and seek in the park.

The corner milk bar, hopscotch, billy carts, cricket in front of the garbage bin and inviting everyone on your street to join in, Skipping, handball, handstands, elastics, bullrush, catch & kiss, footy on the best lawn in the street, slip'n'slide, the trampoline with water on it, hula hoops, stepping in puddles, mud pies and building dams in the gutter.

The smell of the sun and fresh cut grass.

'Big bubbles no troubles' with Hubba Bubba bubble gum. A choc-top. Mr Whippy cone on a warm summer night after you've chased him round the block. 20 cents worth of mixed lollies lasted a week and pretending to smoke "fags" (the lollies) was really cool & Maison would get you pissed! or so we were told. A dollars' worth of chips from the corner take-away fed two people (AND the sauce was free!!).

Being upset when you botched putting on the temporary tattoo from the Bubblegum packet, but still wearing it proudly.

Watching Saturday morning cartoons: 'The Smurfs', 'AstroBoy', 'He-Man','Captain Caveman', 'Archie', 'Jem' (truly outrageous!!), 'The Wizard of Oz', 'Banana Man' and 'Heeeey heeeeey heeeeeeey it's faaaaaaat Albert'. Or staying up late and sneaking a look at the "AO" on the second telly. When 'Monkey Magic' with fish face & pigsy had a cult following. Miraculous Mellops. & who could ever forget DegrassiJnr High?

When around the corner seemed a long way, and going into town seemed like going somewhere. Where running away meant you did laps of the block because you weren't allowed to cross the road??

A million mozzie bites, wasp and bee stings.

Sticky fingers, cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, riding bikes and catching tadpoles.
Marco polo in the neighbours' pool ("fish outta water?!""NOOOO"), drawing all over the road and driveway with chalk. Climbing trees and building cubbies out of every sheet your Mum had in the cupboard.

Walking to school, no matter what the weather.

When writing 'I love .?..' on your pencil case, really did mean it was true love. "heloves me? he loves me not?"

Running till you were out of breath.

Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt.

Pitching the tent in the back/front yard.

Jumping on the bed.

Ghosts stories with the next door neighbours.

Pillowfights, spinning round, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for the giggles.

The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.

Water balloons were the ultimate weapons.

Cricket cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle.

Eating raw jelly, making homemade lemonade and sucking on a Funny Face, Paddle Pop or red IcyPole.

Remember when there were only two types of sneakers - girls and boys.

Dunlop volleys with the green 'n' gold or blue and the only time you wore them at school was for "sports day."

Bloomers in primary school & Scungies under netball skirts.

You knew everyone in your street - and so did your parents!

It wasn't odd to have two or three "best friends" & you would ask them by sending a note asking them to be your best friend.

You didn't sleep a wink on Christmas eve and pretended to sleep for the tooth fairy.

When nobody owned a purebred dog.

When 50c was decent pocket money.

When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for 10c.

When nearly everyone's mum was there when the kids got home from school.

It was magic when dad would "remove" his thumb.

When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at the local Chinese restaurant with your family.

When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed her or use him to carry groceries and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.

When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home. Basically, we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! Some of us are still afraid of them!!!

Remember when decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo" or dib dib's-scissors, paper, rock.

"Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest.

Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in Monopoly".

Terrorism was when the older kids were at the end of your street with pea-shooters waiting to ambush you.

The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was boy/girl germs, and the worst thing in your day was having to sit next to one.

Where bluelight disco's were the equivalent to a Rave, and asking a boy out meant writing a 'polite' note getting them to tick 'yes' or 'no'. When there was always that one 'HOT' guy/girl.
Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot.

Your biggest danger at school was accidentally walking through the middle of a heated game of "brandies".

Nobody was prettier than your Mum.

Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better.

Taking drugs meant scoffing orange-flavoured chewable vitamins Cs, or swallowing half a Panadol.

Ice cream was considered a basic food group.

Going to the beach and catching a wave was a dream come true. If you actually lived there boogie boarding in the white wash made you the next Kelly Slater.

Abilities were discovered because of a 'double-dare".

Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors.

Now, didn't that bring back some fond memories?? If you can remember most of these, you're an Aussie legend!!! Pass this on to another Aussie legend who may need a break from their "grown up" life... I DOUBLE-DARE YA!!!!!

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Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Why I bought Dell.

This is (not) why I bought Dell: Watch Me / View Me / Listen Up Hear
Other disturbing videos you might like are:

This one
Or This
and this is not the same girl
this one's kewl
you've probably seen this one
and perhaps even this one
some crazy rasta

If you have links to other crazy videos please add them to the comments

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Wednesday, May 03, 2006

In case your wondering....

The line in the previous post about being so "cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasal" is a quote from The Black Adder.

More Black Adder quotes can be found here: Favourite Black Adder Quotes

Wonderful stuck British sitcom. Other favourites of mine include 'Allo 'Allo, Faulty Towers, Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister, Open All Hours, Dad's Army, Benny Hill and oh whats that one thats situated inside a department store called "Grace Brothers"?!?! That one had a rather camp guy selling mens wear.... anyone remember it's name?

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Telemarketers

Gawd I hate telemarketers.

They're like used car salemen who are too lazy to sell shit cars to nieve little old ladies, instead they sit behind the safety of their jacked-in headsets at the other end of the telephone line. They'll lie and cheat and sell their own mother's to meet their quotas.

The latest incident, still hot on my (now) grated temper of 5 minutes ago involves a telemarketer who had a strong accent making it difficult to follow what he was saying. He's probably based in some cheap call centre in Bombay, India by his accent.

His pitch was devious, so cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel. Instead of the usual pitch of you can change from your current telecom supplier to us, he started out with "from next week you'll enjoy reduced rates..."

Smelling the fox amongst the chickens I asked him if our service is currrently with him. He decidedly avoided the question and I took him I'm not the account holder. He tried to get me to say I have authority over the account to which I do not. So next he tries to talk to the account holder. I flatly refuse his attempts to circumvent me, so he tool just hangs up.

How bloody rude! I should have gotten his name, and the company and make a formal complaint. I think if he didnt just hang up I wouldn't be so annoyed about it.

Working at home has its draw backs. Actually being home to receive telemarketing calls is one of them. Getting calls to the wrong number because our number is similar to that of a doctor's surgery is another. The rude ones don't say anything and just hang up.

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Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Wrong number

I just love wrong numbers.. apparently i'm the catholic club around the corner.. and i run bingo nites for old ladies with blue rinse thro their hair.

I reckon the catholic club is after the pension cheques Its not an illegal activity.. They provide a service to the community.

If it wasnt for our bingo nites can u imagine all the old ladies running amock in the streets.. we cant have that now can we! they'd be skate boarding down the footpaths and stealing lunch money from the kids. Its just not on!

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

The Geek.

I have a bottle of Coke on my desk. It was at that moment when I looked at it that I realised, Yes I truely am a Geek.

No wait... I did a second take... Bloody hell.. Its friggen Diet Coke!!!

In cyberspace everyone can read your RSS feed.

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Sunday, April 09, 2006

Ruby... I shall smite thee!

What better way to reuse an old computer than to install linux on it and learn ruby. Well, jaikoo suggested installing Ubuntu Linux because it would be the easiest way to install Ruby on Rails. What he failed to mention is that my stool samples have better documentation than Ubuntu.

My first troubles started before I even started installing Ubuntu. The old pc has 2 hard drives in it. After doing some maintenance of moving all the stuff (read crap) I wanted to keep to the second drive I prompting disconnected it to make sure I don't have any accidents. BANG. The system would no longer boot from the drive with the OS installed. I had to reconnect the 2nd drive to get it to boot. Weird shit.

Ubuntu. BANG. There are 2 CD images available for it. A standard one and a live one. Now for some weird reason I could find nowhere on their web site the difference between the two. Fortunately it installs easy.

Ruby. BANG. There are only binaries for Windows and Macs. It would seem the source code will have to smell okay. BANG. Ubuntu does NOT install with a compiler but easily fixed. Ruby Gems. BANG. Missing zlib errors. Google is your friend. zlib fixed.

Continue following the rest of an installation tutorial. How hard can it be to cut and paste? BANG. Still at the end of it I did not have a working demo web application. I had errors. Log files are helpful. Read them. It turns out that the permissions on a directory needed changing and its all happy now. Why that couldn't have been mentioned in the tutorial I don't know. And why did it work for the countless millions before me I don't know either.

Ruby. I smite thee!

Apparently the tutorial should only take 20minutes. My time - ~5 hours. Still with it working I can now learn Ruby in the off moments when I'm not doing Java.

In the UK Ruby programmers are scarce. And that scarcity makes them a highly prized commodity. There just isn't enough of them to go around. I don't think Australia is there yet for Ruby jobs but hopefully it will be in by the time I'm good at it!!! Jaikoo.. when you coming down under again?

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Saturday, April 08, 2006

World's oldest profession

It's said that the world's oldest profession is prostitution... but an article from the BBC might suggest otherwise. Teeth found by researchers in graveyard from 9000 years ago show clear signs that they have been drilled - probably by flint drills. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't flint the same stone they use for making sparks in lighters?

Can you imagine Neoanderthal-Denzil stumbling out of the pub to the Dentist: Doc I've got a toothache can you drill it out *hic*. And then KABOOM as the sparks ignite the alcohol on my breath. hahaha.

I'm just glad I don't have a headache because other research in the UK have uncovered skulls that have been cut open for relief. The practice was believed to release evil spirits. Thank God for aspirin!! What is really interesting is that the skill that it was done with wasn't bettered until 1000 years later by Classical Greek and Roman times!

And as fate would have it, other archaeological digs in North Yorkshire, UK have found the remains of a Roman transvestite. It is said that the find demonstrates how cosmopolition the North of England was at the time. I say they should look at some parts of modern London!!

Other controversies during the week suggest that Judas did not betray Jesus but was acting on his orders. I doubt that the Catholics will welcome that theory with open arms.

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Sunday, April 02, 2006

Its cute. Its pink. Its BarbieOS!

Oh Gawd... Something in me just cringes when I read this. [ 1st April ]

Mattel is releasing a beta copies for BarbieOS, based upon Linux. Think all the benefits of an open source OS (as opposed to Microsoft Windows) but cuti-fied... it "features pink text on a flowered background so as to not intimidate or threaten females, and all windows are circular instead of the usual square, since most females unconsciously associate a circular shape with inclusiveness and the womb"


Arggh!! Why do I keep getting caught by April Fool jokes?? I wasn't expecting hoaxes on the 2nd of April... that's timezones for ya!!!
Other April Fool hoaxes can be found here



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Thursday, March 30, 2006

Mongolia

Wow... I've seen pictures of Mongolia on tv, perhaps even books. But none of that has made me want to visit the place like the pictures from this website: Mongolia 2005. I also want to visit Tibet and visit the monostaries there. Tibet, they call it the roof of the world. An amazing place. Lulu book me 1-way tickets. I think I could spend the rest of my life in one of those monostaries... yes.. me.. .with out internet access.... and no camera... errr.. maybe I need the camera to share pictures with my friends... and the net access so I can email them and update the blog.. oh god.. the rash is beginning already!

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Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Today on the News.

Australian poet Dorothea Mackellar (1885 - 1968) once wrote about Australia:
I love a sunburnt country
A land of sweeping planes
...
She obviously didn't read the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper about modern Australia:
  1. We are still a bloody convict settlement
  2. We have giant waves (though not as big as Hawaii's)
  3. We have killer chooks!
and so like the latest ad for Australia asks: "Where the bloody hell are you?"

Click here for more Australian poetry.

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Thursday, March 16, 2006

Broke. Its all Broke!

GAH!!!!

Just when I am getting into the swing of gyming on a regular basis somebody has already broken the main peice of equipment I use. I mean really. It's only 1 month old ffs! And the spa has been broken for a week too! And come on guys, if something is broken atleast tell the caretaker of the building so he can fix it! I don't blame the caretaker for getting pissed off when he saw the broken gym equipment.

And to make matters worse, my Dell pc has started to randomly reboot! It still has new pc smell ffs!! I suspect though it actually the electricity. Might be some brown outs. Fingers crossed.

And why do I have this sudden craving for Chicken Rice? The kind I had in Singapore. (Chicken rice is rice that has been cooked with chicken so it takes on its flavour... It's so yummy). I think me eating chicken Nissin noodles for dinner was the trigger. Trust me to have food cravings when I'm eating.

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Monday, March 13, 2006

Crikey! That Celebrity nearly got us!

Crikey!! You'd never know who I bumped into on the weekend!!

Lulu and I were at the harbour's edge on Sunday enjoying the blue skies. Annd guess who happened to be strolling along with his Misses and little one? Steve Irwin!!! Australia's favourite son!

Lulu didn't believe me when I casually blurted out "its Steve Irwin!". Perhaps its because I did it so casually that she didn't believe me! But crikey, its Steve Irwin!!! Fortunately Lu had her camera (why the hell didn't I take mine?!?).

And today I saw the queen. No Queen. The Queen arrived today to open a new section of the Opera House and for the Commonwealth Games (to be held in Melbourne). Volunteers passed out Aussie flags to wave feverishly. But the Queenie buzzed past so fast that everyone didn't have time even to wave about! I do hope that her black car had aircon !! It was bit of a disappointment actually. Normally you see her on tv talking and chatting to the crowd, her loyal subjects. I suppose she does have a tight schedule. Funny though - I had to come back to Australia to see the Queen. Don't know why I didn't when I was in London!

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Saturday, March 04, 2006

Get into My Belly!

Gawd! I didn't know how much I missed it until we got there 30minutes late. Korean BBQ. I'm sure there is one in London (SoHo me thinks) but there are so many of them in Sydney, and good ones too. Where else can you get beautifully prepared red meats, chicken and seafood thats all you can eat for $27/head?

The catch? You cook it yourself over hot coals. Nothing is better. About 2 1/2 hours later our party of 8 had probably eaten more than our fair share and we barely (read roll) could walk out the door.

It was a good catch up with Belinda who just arrived back from London last Sunday for good.

Gah... I didnt take any photos!! I know how Jono likes pics of food so sorry mate!! I do have one of prawns that are 23cm long and mighty tastey too!! Try finding prawns (err... shrimp in London/USA) in the UK that size! Go on.. I dares ya!

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Friday, March 03, 2006

Macs - Oldie but a goodie.

Many of my fellow geeks probably would have seen this before. Still its a classic and one of my favourites.

Now I just gotta find that mp3 of the "Lin Line Lin Line Li-nux" skit.

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Nothing But Net

Well I could lie and say this post is all about basketball. But its not. Hell I'm terrible at the sport. The word Shit comes to mind.

This entry is infact about my ADSL connection which is supposed to be live on 7 March 2006. HA I spit on your live date! Because I'm sitting at home using it right now!! They (Optus) thought they had me by sending me my username, but NOT my password. A simple phone call fixed that. Yay for private company efficiency. Hehe.

Go Go Gadget Internet!!!

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Wednesday, March 01, 2006

The first thing.

The first thing that I install on the new pooter is MSN Messenger. The even geekier part is that I blogged about getting my new pooter before I even openned it!!

Gawd I need to get a life!!

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OMG! Its an APPLE!!!

OH MY GAWD!!!

I open the box to the new pooter.... and my jaw drops... the computer is WHITE!!! It's a bloody MAC!!! WTF!!

No wait.. the heart pounds slower. There's a Dell logo on the side. Its ok. Its Not a bloody MAC!

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Can you SMELL that?!?!

10:21am.

Can you smell that??

BLOODY OATH SHEILA!! IT'S NEW COMPUTER SMELL!!!!

Woohoo!!! The Dell just ARRIVED!!!

*denzil dances around the room singing: new computer smell... new computer smell*

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Mt Annan Photography.

Sunday 26 Febrary 2006. A band of desperate photographers with itchy fingers headed down to Mt Annan for a day of macro (close up photography). Chief May, an old - err - young, uni friend of mine was the organiser. Cheers May!

Below are some of my spoils for the day:

All pictures taken with Canon 350D, Sigma 150m macro F2.8 or Canon 100m macro F2.8. Iso 400 or 800.

Postprocessed in Photoshop - level, curves, unsharp mask and cropping.


Saturday, February 25, 2006

Go Go Gadget Internet!!

Yay! Just got an email from Optus saying my ADSL will be connected on the 7 March 2006! Thats almost 1 week after the new pooter will be delivered!! Argh... Why can't they do it earlier?!?!

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Friday, February 24, 2006

More toys for the boys!

Oh God... My friends know I'm into photography and spent much money in upgrading my gear to be fully digital. The unfortunate thing about digital cameras has been the fact that they are much heavier than their film counter parts. That was one issue that has stopped me investing in digital earlier (that and Lulu - oh God.. I dont think this text is small enough for her to not see it!).

I own a Canon Rebel XT, aka Canon 350D. Only have had it for about 6 months. Love it to bits. Its pretty much the entry level DSLR that Canon has, yet it packs a lot of features that I'll never use! Being a DSLR it is more capable of producing artistic shots than the average compact digital. I'm not saying a compact can't produce good shots.. I've taken bloody fine shots with a compact... You just get more artistic freedom with a DSLR!

Two of the major benefits are the fact you get quality pictures even when you increase your ISO really high. Pictures often look grainy and have (digital) noise when using high ISO's with a compact. My Rebel XT produces relatively clean, noise free pictures at even higher ISO's than my little compact (Canon A70 discontinued model).

If you have active kids, pets or like to take pictures of fast action like sports, DSLR's can often take 3 to 5 shots in 1 second so you don't miss the moment. Tip: this is called continuous shooting. Start shooting abit before and continue to abit after the action. You get a series of shots where you can pick the best ones to keep and you increase the chance of getting the perfect shot this way.

Oh I could rant on more about DSLR's and in particular my 350D but I won't bore you with it - I'll leave that and other tips for other posts!!!

Oh yeah.. the reason I started this rant is that Canon has announced a new model in their DSLR range - the Canon 30D. Ooer.. I so want one!! But then again I'm more than happy with my 350D!!! I've taken heaps of pics of my neices since I've been home!!

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How do you....?

How do you make a Geek Boy wet himself with pleasure?

Have Dell call him up on a Friday afternoon to inform him his new pooter will be delivered before lunchtime on the following Wednesday!! Woohoo!

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[I suspect I should check what the tag for wetting returns - but hey I'll live on the edge alittle]

Gosh I feel better now!

I think I haven't exercises properly for about 3 months. No wonder I was feeling rather fat and lathagic! No energy. No enthusiasm. So this morning I got out the old exercise ball and followed up with a swim downstairs in the gym. I rememeber a whole bunch of us all bought one of those balls at a Body, Mind and Spirit Festival ages ago in Darling Harbour, Sydney. This was probably the first time I used it in anger.

Come to think of it... that festival was the first time I came across Reiki (you should try it!), and had my aura photo taken.

Feeling good now! I just now need more sleep. Did 15 hours at the office yesterday so I didn't get to sleep until 3am!!

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We were so lucky!

With 2 years living in London and many airline flights later I reckon Lulu and I were really lucky not to have lost luggage or anything. Come to think of it, we mostly took carry on and didn't have any checkin. That's the trick I think!

Read this article about luggage tampering and peoples' experiences.

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Thursday, February 23, 2006

Nice Shoes.

ee
Bet you thought this would be a post from Lulu.. or from Denzil complaining about Lulu's proliferation of shoes.... But NO!

Check out these night time running shoes... Soooo UberGeek!! They have the means to convert kinetic energy into light!! phwoar how cool is that!!

You now can have self powered shoes that light up at night. I so want a pair.


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Can't Wait!

Oooer... My new pc delivery is expected to be 6 March. I can't wait!!! If I could get out and push the airplane to make it go faster I would!!!

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Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Yo Fat B@stard!

My youngest niece is only a few months old and is always stretching and making noises.. just like any other baby I suppose.

A cute little thing she is and she seems to like her Uncle Denzil. Especially when I talk to her. Unfortunately I've taken the habit of doing the Fat B@stard routine of "I'm higher on the food chain than you! Get into my belly!! Babyback, babyback, babyback ribs!"

And even when I pick her up I can usually get her to stop crying! Maybe she just likes boys! hahaha. No I'm not getting Clucky!! But she is just adorable to hold!! :D And why do I think fresh baby smell is so nice?!?!

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AC/DC: "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap"

Anti Christ / Devil's Children. That's what they were saying about AC/DC in their hayday. This has ofcourse has little relivance to the fact that I have done a dirty deed, and I did it dirty cheap.

It was a nasty business. I bought Dell. I also willingly once signed up with... wait for it... A.O.L. as an ISP (when I was back in the UK). Strip me of my I.T. credentials! It wasn't actually too bad a deal. $AUD1600 gets me a 3.4Ghz P4 with HT, 1 Gb Ram, 250Gb HDD, 19" LCD Ultra Sharp monitor. Delivery within working 10 days. Just in time for Optus ADSL to be connected - 1500kbs... sweet...

Can you hear me rubbing my hands together greedily?!?! hahaahaha.

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Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Typical Conversations.

Typical conversations with my mate goes like this:

mate : bak soon mate.. just popping around a clients office
mate : i.e down the corridor
dwagn: u mean the dunny?
mate : it really is an office
dwagn : like the ??

Ahh.. Them were indeed " Happy Days"!!!

The dream Valentine's Date.

You know you want him...
You know you do...


Aint that a ' song?!?!?


Don't you wish your Boyfriend was hot like me?
Don't you wish your Boyfriend was rawwww like me?!?
Don't cha??


you gotta love him, especially at

Valentines Day

Flowers.
Chocolates.
Love is in the air.

It can only be Valentines Day.

Lulu scores free preview tickets to "Date Movie" (new movie with Sophie Monk.. hot diggetty, shake that bootie). The perfect Valentine's Day movie. It's funny... It's sexy... and worth every cent we paid to watch it - $0.00!!! Even though I enjoyed it... laughed with it... I think its a video rental movie. On second thoughts seeing Sophie Monk in wet in a swimsuit coming out of the pool might just tip the scales! Dang! Seeing Alyson Hannigan's getting "pimp'd" by the West Coast Customs crew was hilarious (if you haven't seen Pimp My Ride its a MUST SEE). Also helps she looks good in a LBD (Little Black Dress).

Dinner. The finest of finest cruisine. Nothing too expensive for this once in a year occasion. And she chooses McDonalds!!! Ok.. We were on a time constraint and couldnt afford the time for a proper (read decent) meal. Perhaps I need more tips from Kathleen about how to talk/treat women!! hahaha.

[trailers: here and here]
[
Pimp My Ride Offical Website]
[McDonalds Website - not sure why you'd want to go here willingly but here you go]

Monday, February 13, 2006

Transformers. More than meets the eye.

Perhaps its another case of science mimicking fiction but check out what the latest Japanese researchers are doing with robots:
Check it out!

*hums the theme music*

Sunday, February 12, 2006

I'm not fat.. but i'm NOT SKINNY!

Friend: even though you're skinny you should stille xercise
Denzil: instead of skinny i prefer the term 'horizontally challeged' myself

Its not my fault I can't put on weight!!!

I remember a time when I used to work at North Sydney. Going home one day some chic handed me a flyer.. I look at it and its a weight loss program. Obviously she doesn't read her own flyers because if she did I wouldn't have been given one.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Use the Force Luke. Science describes the Force from Star Wars.

"The Force is what gives the Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together." [quote from The Tao of Star Wars]

Fantastical Science? Weird Science? But scientists have discovered "the Zero Point Field - an ocean of subatomic vibrations in the space between things - connects everything in the universe, much like the Force in Star Wars". [quote from Shoutwire article]

hmmm.. I just want to start to develop my Force powers. Jump higher. Run faster. Move objects without touching them. Impose my will on the weak. I shall be EMPEROR!! I command thee to OBEY!!! MWOAHAHAHHAA!

Now where did I leave my lightsabre??!?! Will Lulu do the Princess Leia hair buns!?!? And why am I obsessed with them?!?!?

Thursday, February 09, 2006

I'm no gamer...

I like computer games. I admit it. But for some reason I suck terribly with it.

When I was young I never had the money/coinage to play the pinnies, let alone the space invaders, pacman, and frogger games that came out. I suppose I never really developed that level of hand-eye coordination.

Still I like computer games... and being a product of the modern world I also have a short attention span and get fed up with games pretty fast when I can't progress fast enough or get stuff. Perhaps thats why I tend to play games at the easiest level. I suck. I know it. RTS (Real Time Strategy) games are generally what I play these days. They're generally all the same. Some just have prettier graphics. So it surprises me that I haven't gotten bored with the entire genre.

The latest that I've been playing is Age of Empires 3 - AoE3 (published by Microsoft). Like pretty much all games these days, you can save a game to continue playing later. But for the life of me I haven't figured out how to, after loading the save game, to actually continue it. You see after loading the game is paused. Fair enough I say, but for the life of me I can't find/figure out how to resume play!! Its a good thing I tend to only play the single player skirmishes and not the storyline game. Of course I've searched around on the net for hotkeys and found sites like this one ... close but no joy.

AoE3 is a great game which I enjoy. Infact I've enjoyed all of the games in the AoE franchise. The software engine itself was so good that it was used for a Star Wars version - Star Wars : Galactic Battlegrounds. They even had a Clone Campaigns expansion pack. That it truely enjoyed.

I think its the blowing things up with an army (hopefully one thats invincible - and not because of any cheats I've used - I wouldn't do that!)part of RTS games that I enjoy. Weird because I don't actually believe in violence. Perhaps its the animal in me. GRRRR

Unfortunately I'm currently stuck to playing on my laptop. Soon I'm going to get myself a new PC.

Fellow geeks don't laugh. And don't think less of me when I say this. I'm going to get a DELL. YES - this time around I'm not going to build my own. DELL actually does satisfy my needs very well. And I don't want to be wasting time fiddling with homebrewed PC trying to fix bizzare incompatibilities like I have in the past.

So long, fairwell.. you know the rest.

Tuesday was a sad day.

Lulu's flatmate of 3 years moved out!!! (ok I admit Lulu and I were in London for 2 of those years). Winnie is now in Hong Kong with her man enjoying the delights of the "fragrant river". The lights. The shopping. The races. And my personal favourite the food.

Ok ok.. I also admit the shopping is also one of my favourites there.. but I'm talking about MAN shopping... you know the kind... cameras, electronics.. computers... gadgets of all sorts.

*sigh* I guess when Winnie gets married *hint*hint* I'll have to go with an empty suitcase to fill it up!!.

We're missing you already Winnie! Even Lulu's mum was so upset she lost sleep!!

Hoping to have photos from her goodbye dinner/karaoke up soon.

Beam me Scotty.

In a bid to create his dream home Tony Alleyne, 52, has spent $71,000 transforming his home Hinckley, Leicestershire, UK, into a replica of the starship Voyager from the Star Trek franchise.

Some may call him a fan, or even a Fan, I think I'd call him a fanatic myself.

His home is complete with touch screen blue panel lighting, a transporter room, command console and even special lighting to pretend to "beam me up Scotty". (Denzil: ok Trekkies will note that Scotty is from the original series and not Voyager)

2 loans and 14 credit cards his Voyager seems to have left space dock without him and now he's bankrupt with debt totalling almost $400,000. Ouch!

Personally if I were to spend that much on a makeover, I think I'd be more Star Wars inclined. But I think I'd never get that past Lulu!!!

Original article here.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Oh its nice to be Home.

They say home is where you lay your hat. Perhaps.

Home is not just the place you lay your hat, but the people and family around you. And of course the life you create for yourself. Even though Lulu and I called London home for almost 2 years, home has still been Australia where our families are.

Its good to be home to catch up with our families and friends... and we do miss our friends back in London too! After 2 years my nieces are now 2.5 and 2 years old. I'm happy to report back that Kaitlyn (the 2.5 year old) hasn't forgotten me or Lulu!!

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Its a bird! Its a plane.. No its super....

Jaikoo cracks me up... Not just because he loves to do voices, or has a great sense of humour, but also because he looks like Dean Cain (from the "Louis and Clark" Superman TV series). Checking out his latest blog he had this pic from his Flickr album:



If that isn't a superman pose I don't know what is!! hahaha.. Mate hurry to oz. We would love a bit of superhero help in fighting those killer koalas, and boxing kangaroos!!

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Sign of the times...

Its 1am in Hong Kong... and the Melbourne fireworks is already available for download.... hahaha.. Some people need to get out more...

Speaking of which why am I online?!?!?

Oh yeah I know why... We went down to the harbour and waited with the scant few who were there. Not the throngs of people like in Sydney.

Tick tock.. and midnight came.

Blink.

Yes I missed it. Camera ready on tripod. Remote shutter release in hand.

Blink.

I only realise it was after midnight because some people actually noticed one of the buildings on the far side of the harbour had a count down. There were no fireworks. No shazam. No kaboom. No excitement. I suppose Chinese New Year is the one to watch for!.

Damn.. I wont be in HK for that!

Ironically.. 3 hours before we were walking down Mong Kok, I was pricing camera equipment, and the large screen tv's had Sydney's fireworks going on the news reports. hahaha.

*sigh* miss those fireworks.

BTW. I'll blog about our adventures in getting to HK later.