The Rules of Acquisition.

I could have easily used the title "Rules of Engagement" but it have made several hearts jump with meaning that.. well.. I won't go into that...

My cousin in Vancouver recently emailed me. There's a special on where a Canon 300D kit (camera + lens + battery grip) is $CDN1099. This works out to be about 470 pounds. Local price is around 799 pounds. For those mathematically challenged thats around half price. Not a bad deal at all.

I want this camera.

Well, more correctly I wanted that camera. Since a new model - the Canon 20D - came out, and after playing with it (my Canadian cousin coincidently has one) I want, read need, that model more. As good and tempting as that price is, I would rather the 20D.

The problem?

Lulu.

Umm.. I better re-phrase that.

Lulu has my best interests at heart and laid down the Rules of Acquisition out as follows:

1. I need to find a job first
2. Use the camera to generate income

Fair enough I suppose. In a last line of defense: She's my girlfriend, not my wife!

Australia Day in London

What's an Australian supposed to do when Australia Day comes around in a foreign city?

Go to the Fosters Bondi Beach at Trafalgar Square thats what! We were promised tonnes of sand, meat pies, sausage rolls and zinc on the nose. What we got was this:



Thats not how I remember Bondi Beach. Needless to say I was rather disappointed and ended up roaming the streets looking for good bookshops until I got to Chinatown to get more emergency supplies of Char Sew and Nissan Noodles.

Nissan Noodles
Food of the Gods.
Eaten by the people.
Feed the masses.

Not all UK TV is crappy.

True, its true, most UK TV is crap, atleast on the free to air channels.

But not all.... these just happen to be the US ones... and maybe the odd BBC comedy.

The One That Got Away is one such show that I know that Lulu would like. Lu loves reality TV shows: The Bachelor, Bacheloress, Big Brother... The twist with The One That Got Away is that the guy gets to romance his ex-girlfriends. Relive the memories! Relive the pain! Relive that first kiss!! Its all there. Only if Lulu didn't work during the day she could watch it.

Or perhaps I should just buy a VCR.... hmm.. this could be a good bargaining point to get that new digital SLR I want... mwoa mwoahahaa... MWOAHAHHHAAHA

Whats wrong with this picture?

On Burrrrppps...

In conclusion to the question posed in this blog entry about me burping, I now have the answer. It came to me in a moment of inspiration while talking to a mate of mine online:

Mate: I now have 3 more sga (for the uninitialed thats Stargate: Atlantis) eps to go.
Denzil: :) Have you finished getting the stargate secrets show yet?
Mate: Hi Lu
...

Perhaps I type with a distinctive feminene touch. Or perhaps... oh heck, I don't know why he suddenly thought I was Lulu, but it seems obvious to me that before I was a bloke I was Lulu.

Cirque Du Soleil - Dralion

This is my 3rd Cirque du Soleil production I've seen (Saltimbanco, Alegria and now Dralion). Of all of them Saltimbanco has been my favourite and Dralion has been a hot 2nd. A Sunday afternoon could not have been better spent!

As a travelling show, they can play at some of the most beautiful venues in the world. I believe Royal Albert Hall is the amongest the best places for a show such as this to perform. Its a beautiful theatre and on the outside looks like a gorgeous round cake.

To say the least Dralion is magnificent! Clowns entertain the crowds with their wonderful banter (ok so it wasn't in English but who needs to talk the same language to communcate anyway??). Lavish costomes, amazing singing and ofcourse the acrobatics, astound!

Lu loved the single performer Marie-Ève Bisson dance in, through and around in her Aerial Hoop high above the stage floor.

I liked the grace and beauty of the Aerial Pas de Deux, a dance, a ballet of lovers flying through the air on ribbons of cloth. Equally entralling where the scores of men launching themselves in Hoop Diving.

As a juggler I would have liked to have seen the Juggling. Not all the acts perform at each show. This allows the performers to have time off. I think thats twice I've missed the juggling in a Cirque Du Soleil performance!!

If your unlucky and no Cirque Du Soleil show is showing where you live then you might want to check out your local IMAX where Journey of Man might be playing. It's not as good as the real thing but its enough to wet the appetite!.

If you can't win, its not really a game.

Had quite an interesting relevation while talking with a close friend of mine after she read how I got used by Lulu to do her homework for her while she watched TV (UK Celebrity Big Brother followed by a marathon run of 3 episodes of Desparate Housewives):

....
Friend: you can't win (when dealing with women).
Denzil: then its not really a game. By definition a game has winners and losers. If I can't win there's no game.
....

[My fellow (male) comrades, do not be fooled. Do not be lured by the idea of the game. It does not exist. It is but an illusion. A mind game they play. We can not win. The rules are flexible, constantly change and never the same.]

And I thought London weather is bad!

Its rather amusing that no matter how much I bag out London weather its currently better than the weather in Sydney (check out the weather report on Steph and Eva's All my friends have been complaining about being woken up by thunder.

I can't believe she did that to me!

Lulu started a new job November last year and is currently attending the induction and training for her new position. Apparently she needed my help with her homework, so I helped her. I helped her really well I think. I did it all for her while she watched Big Brother.

Its now after midnight and she's still watching TV.

I feel so used.

Oh Gawd!

The last entry would only be funny to Geeks.

Sorry...

No, I mean, if you can't understand the quote, sorry your not 1337 enough. Thus you are not worthy.

QOTD - Quote of the Day

This quoted from Quote Database Home which is a web site of IRC quotes:

#448637 +(89)- [X]

<@KrayWolf> Microsoft Windows: A thirty-two bit extension and graphical shell to a sixteen-bit patch to an eight-bit operating system originally coded for a four-bit microprocessor which was written by a two-bit company that can't stand one bit of competition.

Burrpppp!!

This is not a regular conversation between Lu and I:

Denzil: BURRRRPPPPP!!!
Lulu: DENZZZZZ!! Your becoming a bloke!!!
Denzil: Great so what was I before?!?!

hmmm... Maybe I don't want to know the answer to that... but the term metrosexual comes to mind again...

Lobster!

I've probably blogged the fact that Lulu's Uncle Raymond is my favourite (chinese) chef in Hobart if not all over the world. My favourite dish of his is his Lobster with ginger and shallots. Now he hasn't taught me to cook it his style but I found this recipe on the net that sounds pretty close.

(since seafood isn't so good here in London - infact food in general isn't good - I might try this first with prawns)

Next time you meet Uncle Raymond don't tell him he's my favourite because the last time I did so he felt lots of pressure to cook something nice for me!

Cantonese Lobster

On the Job Hunt: Its not a hard question... really!

Today I got a call from an employment agency:

Agency: How do you feel about working in Brighton?
Denzil: Never really thought about it. Tell me more!
Agency: Java development position for a small company blah... blah... blah
Denzil: How long has position been posted/advertised for?
Agency: [silence]... About a month.
Denzil: Is the position a junior placement, mid-level or more senior / team leader role?
Agency: [silence]... I'm looking at your CV and on second thoughts your not appropriate for this position, goodbye....

Hmmm... I don't think my questions were hard/difficult, just trying to get a better feel for the position, so why do I feel they turned the agency off. It certainly felt like the agency couldn't answer the questions or didn't want to give the answers. Weird.

Vancouver

[10 - 15th January in Vancouver]
Thank you to all my relatives in Vancouver who took time out of their busy schedules to show Lulu and I around, and especially to accommodate us in their homes! We so very much appreciate it! Can't begin to tell you how great it was to see you all again after more than 20 years!

Lulu and I in Stanley Park with West Vancouver in the far shore		Lulu and my Uncle Donovan, again in Stanley Park.
Like father, like daughter.		The Cousins. Stanley, Lulu, Denzil and Brian at Yum Cha (aka Dim Sum in London and Vancouver).
Stanley took this photo of me as I sat and enjoyed a coffee and the afternoon sun.		Another photo by Stanley. He certainly has a good eye, some might say two. This is certainly my favourite photo from the last few weeks!

Hawaii

[8 - 10th January 2005 in Hawaii]

On the only full day in Hawaii the weather decided to be cool and overcast. Just our luck :(		Look its the sun! Isn't it just the way that as soon as we leave its sunny!

Andrew and Kathleen's Wedding

[2nd January 2005]
Congratuations to Kathleen and Andrew. May your days of love turn into months, your months years, and your years lifetimes together.

[Click me to see more pictures of the wedding]

Here comes the Bride, all dressed in white...		"You may now kiss the bride...
... and she couldn't be happier, this her wedding day.		The Rings
That one cake was enough to feed the masses!!!		Aww shucks Kathleen. You know I'd do it all the same again and not change a thing.

Home for Christmas 2004

[22 December 2004 - 9th January 2005 in Sydney and Hobart]

Boxing Day Birthdays. Bianca and Mum both have their birthdays on Boxing Day!		Best part of being home for Christmas was being able to play with my nieces! They're so cute!
Boy or Girl. Bianca certainly has her father's looks if they comb hair the same way!		Kaitlyn can walk now. She races around everywhere like a woman with a mission (to shop if Lulu has anything to do with it!)