HEREIN

Friday, January 27, 2006

'Tis the season... for barbecues.

That's right. So many beautiful barbecues in this extraordinarily hot summer.
Kellie and Luke's Welcome Home BBQ was well attended and it was great to catch up with our intrepid traveling friends... The DVD of photos was hilarious and excellently put together!!

This was shortly followed by Jen's bbq (the day after!) with a much needed swim in Jen's Ool. Please note, there is/was no P is Jen's Ool. She likes to keep it that way...

Yesterday saw Eug's Australia Day / JJJ Hottest 100 BBQ. A fantastic time was had by all, with singing, counting down, pictionary and balderdash playing featuring prominently.

When looking through my dictionary several minutes ago (as I have wont to do...), I found the best anagram I think I've ever seen. Mind you, it's in Latin (which perhaps adds to the appeal):

Quid est veritas? (What is truth?)
Vir est qui adest. (It is the man before you.)

Hope you're staying cool in this heat.
I'm trying to.... phew....

posted by AJ | 3:53 PM |

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Observations (aka The Seinfeld blog)

- Currently listening to Madonna's Confessions on a Dancefloor. It's fantastic. Very dancy and boppy. Like cranberry juice, it'll grow on you [not literally].

- Do you think those passengers who (need to) take up two seats on public transport, or a plane, should have to buy two tickets? I do. It's only fair.

- Currently reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. As Hooch told me, the book is different to the film. The first half is the same in both. Then it gets different. Hooch, the book is different THAN the movie ;)

Pretty tired. Wanted to blog.
Forgive the randomness of this entry.
And what's with marine biologists (the sea was angry that day, friends), puffy shirts (I don't wanna be a pirate!) and the Latvian Orthodox church (Kavorka!) anyway?

- Did you know that the writer of the Seinfeld episode The Conversion intended to make-up a religion (the Latvian Orthodox church) to use in an episode where George converts so that he can date his girlfriend at the time? The writer revealed later that he was unaware of the religion while writing the episode and later received several thank-you letters from the Church for bringing attention to the religion.

- Did you know that everytime I hear the Seinfeld theme, especially the secondary music towards the end of the theme, I get Bobby Brown's My Prerogative in my head?? And no, not the Britney version...

Not that there's anything wrong with that...!

posted by AJ | 7:23 PM |

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day.

Firstly, let me please ask you to scroll several posts down to see the NYE images I have now added to the blog entitled "Happy New Year 20-06!... Thank you.

As mentioned earlier, I had been wanting to put up a picture of Jaffa and Gus on this blog for some time. Gus is the white dog and Jaffa has his arm lovingly over Gus, protecting him. They're both sleepy. Is it not the cutest photo you've ever seen?

I should also mention (because I wanna...) that Sim and I had a spontaneous and beautiful Chinese banquet last weekend, at a local and (now) very much recommended Chinese restaurant. It was Cantonese food and I particularly enjoyed the bird's nest made of potato strips which one of the main meals was served in. The waitress elegantly broke up the tasty morsels and deposited them into our respective bowls, with one hand mind you. Very talented, indeed!!

The heading for this blog is a quote from a very funny movie that I went to see at Moonlight Cinemas with Erica, Rob, Eug, Dayna, and Imogen On Friday night. I considered the quote "Do the chickens have large talons?", or even "floating, weightless in an ocean filled with tiny, little seahorses", but stuck with the one above, primarily due to the fact that it was extremely funny when it was said in the movie, and also because Erica told me her sisters quote it to her all the time, which I find perhaps even funnier, if not more bizarre.

The name of the movie is Napoleon Dynamite and while waiting for the gang to arrive - to meet them for dinner and the movie - I was standing at the water wall of the National Gallery of Victoria. It was a very good place to go people-watching, you see, and also a prime position to meet friends. I happened upon a French couple with a penchant for photographie... The man jumped from one rectangular platform at the entrance to the NGV to the other, while the lady photographed him. I imagined that they were French art/photography students, on exchange and in love, using black and white film 'cos it's more French, tres chic. I know that they were definitely French - I could hear them talking. After the platform experience and a brief debrief, the man then took his turn to photograph the lady. She elegantly removed her spectacles, stood with one shoulder almost touching the wall of water, turned her other shoulder so that she was looking half behind her and posed - 3-2-1... It was quite lovely.

I also saw someone else I know sneak a romantic moment and a brief embrace at the entrance to the NGV...

Then it was on to meeting up with the gang (after a frustratingly looooooooong change of lights at that pesky Southbank Blvd.), before we briefly ducked into the Arts Centre where we looked at the Archibald Prize finalists. They were very, very good. Only got a partial way through the portraits before bumping into my ex-primary school Principal and his wife, who happen to be parents of former work colleagues... (say THAT 10 times fast...) It was great to catch up, among the massive, beautifully rendered faces. At the Arts Centre, I saw Deni Hines, who was perhaps there for preparations for the evening show of Dusty: The Musical.

On to dinner at Blue Train Cafe and a sun-dried tomato ravioli meal later, we headed over to the Royal Botanic Gardens for the movie. Thanks to pre-booking (and planning/preparation, people!) we were able to skip the enormous queue and pick up tickets and enter the gardens. What a divine setting for a movie! I commented that I forgot why we were actually at the Botanic Gardens, as we all chatted and dived into yummy treats - fruit, minties, jam and coconut drops...

Speaking of Minties, Dee commented about the hilarious jokes that appear on Mintie* wrappers... While the cartoons were very funny, unfortunately they must've changed the design as the only text on the Minty wrapper now read "Soy lecithin is used to assist in processing". Laura, one of Imogen's friends who accompanied us to see the movie found this misunderstanding particularly funny and exclaimed that it was not a joke, but a warning. Laughter is contagious and soon, too, I was laughing uncontrollably with a Minty stuck in my teeth... The cartoons really are good, aren't they?

As the sun set and the movie credits rolled, the Botanic's bats flew overhead. It really was special. The movie was very funny and bizarre and I enjoyed it.

We got to see Erica's bright 'n' shiny new car as we pulled into her court. It was lovely. R.I.P. Shaagen Waagen. I have fond memories of being driven in you, with Erica playing Bic Runga or The Corrs or Natalie Imbruglia on your CD player. I remember Erica driving me in you for the first time from Zagame's in Boronia to my home. Several swerves and near hits to the curve later, we arrived safely. I remember seeing you parked at various of my friend's houses, knowing Erica was inside and that we were set for a good time...

Saturday night was a very special dinner party with Sim, Emma and Chris. It was nouveau cuisine at its finest. Let me attempt to do justice, in words, to what my palate experienced:
- entree of golden, puffed pustry laden with field mushrooms, slivers of parmesan and a generous portion of rocket and balsamic vinegar;
- main of oven-baked baby flake, served with a crisp, roast pumpkin and pinenut, rocket and baby spinach salad and accompanied with a parcel of beans and asparagus, delicately wrapped in a ribbon of prusciutto;
- dessert: chocolate espresso cake, elegantly presented with bacio ice cream.

It was amazing. As I said, nouveau cuisine at its finest. Thank you, Emma and Chris. It was so beautiful and Sim and I had a great night with you. Thanks for showing your fantastic honeymoon photos. Scandanavia is so breathtaking. Your commentary of the photos was much appreciated. It gave life to what were already dynamic images. Just remember the tiny, little seahorses...

Sim and I went for a drive to the country this afternoon. Can you call it the country? I think so. We headed out to Leongatha, Mirboo North and Moe, which Erica jokingly said stood for Mocassions for Everyone.... It was beautiful. Nice and random and very much appreciated. :) :) :)

Well I think that's it for me, for now. See you all soon!

*Is the singular of Minties Minty? Speaking of which, how do you pronounce Mentos (men-toes, or men-toss?)and what is the plural form? Mentosses? Mentoes? (!!)

posted by AJ | 7:03 PM |

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Dotpoints

- Currently listening to the Backstreet Boys. The songs are so deliciously predictable, with their harmonies and the way that you know the song is going to slow down somewhat, quieten, before returning with a poptastic burst of energy and a return to three serves of the chorus we've already heard twice before. It's fantastic!

- Speaking of "delicious", Simon and I went to see a beautiful film at Kino Dendy on Friday night, entitled Mrs. Henderson Presents. After a great dinner at Automatic in Southbank (AJ - the pumpkin risotto and Simon - the seafood linguini), it was such a lovely movie and a great start to the weekend. The eponymous Mrs. Henderson said 'delicious' a number of times in the movie and I stronly recommend you to give it a look. I has a huge smile on my face the entire time and particularly loved the concept of the movie - the show must go on, but the clothes must come off! Delicious!

- On the train home recently and out-and-about generally, I've heard the most interesting/peculiar ringtones! One was the two-toned phone alert as heard in 24, another a VB ad (!??!), another the opening music to The Prodigy's Breathe and that hip-hop song that goes "There's just one thing that's got me trippin'".

- Students came into my workplace the other day and they were completing a Scavenger Hunt. This was no ordinary scavenger hunt, mind you. As they were US students, it was an 'Intro to Melbourne' info hunt - and they weren't just confined to Uni of Melb, oh no... They had to travel to St. Kilda (Luna Park), Collins St, Fed Square, indeed all over Melbourne to find their information. They took the easy way out, as students have wont to do, and enquired at their local Information Centre for, well..., information! And they were provided with it. Among my favourite of their questions were "What is a .... [with hesitation] tim-tam?" I laughed and explained what it was. They jotted it down. "And what is a ... [same hesitation] lamington?". Short laugh again and then explanation. They said both sounded nice. They actually had to buy some of these items and eat it as one of the criterion of the hunt. They thanked me and my colleague very much for the information and were on their way. Several hours later and after what I'm sure was several kilometres of "scavenging", they returned, tim-tim packet in hand to thank us. I took one most graciously and it was a great encounter. They were very nice :)

posted by AJ | 7:11 PM |

Monday, January 09, 2006

The words that you forget to blog...

As mentioned over at the onlycoolppl blog, I had a few issues with blogging my last post. I was able to reconstruct most of my blog, however it was not exactly the same and this troubled me. You see, to me, I feel my blog is like an electronic scrapbook which recounts what I have done and examines how I have felt about what I have done, with all information correct at the time of printing.

Each blog says quite a bit about my state of mind and not being able to commit my NYE blog precisely to the archive that is my blog worried me somewhat. Not majorly or anything. I just thought it could make another good blogging topic... :)

Here is at least one thing that I forgot to mention my last blog (I think there are more, but I've forgotten what I have forgotten. Hmmmm...):

On NYE, I played several songs from the soundtrack to Dawson's Creek Volume 1 (I have the sheet music) while Erica sang along. I had not touched this music in months, yet I think a few "brewskis*" in me meant that I was more relaxed and did not care so much about hitting the correct note, but concentrated more on playing the song right through. This, like thinking/being able to speak Chinese (Sat May 24 2003) and/or German (Thu Dec 18 2003) better is quite interesting, no?

In going through my blog to find the above two posts (which I knew were there somewhere!), I was at the same time going through music that I know I was listening to at that time. One of them was John Mayer's Love Song For No One. I don't know how/why I happened upon John Mayer and this track - I don't have any of his CDs or anything - yet I think his music and indeed this song in particular is beautiful. Especially because what he sang about happened and that I found my Sim.

Staying home alone on a Friday
Flat on the floor looking back
On old love, or lack thereof
After all the crushes are faded
And all my wishful thinking was wrong
I’m jaded, I hate it

CHORUS
I’m tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here
So tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here

Searching all my days just to find you
I’m not sure who I’m looking for
I’ll know it when I see you

Until then, I’ll hide in my bedroom
Staying up all night just to write
A love song for no one

CHORUS

BRIDGE
I could have met you in a sandbox
I could have passed you on the sidewalk
Could I have missed my chance
And watched you walk away?

REPEAT BRIDGE

CHORUS
You’ll be so good
You’ll be so good for me

And the lyrics can now read:
You ARE so good
You ARE so good for me

Thanks to Hooch over at Onlycoolppl who gets much priase for her use of "oh six" (and not "two-thousand-and-six"). I did not realise that Channel Ten, too, were using the "oh six" format in their summer advertisements. They even have it written on screen as "oh six". I remember that as we entered twenty oh three, I was encouraging all you out there to call it "oh three". Read on... (Tue Dec 31 2002)

Erica has created an hilarious post over at her blog, in regards to things she has never done and not having an oh six Resolution

This is what I say to ye:

"Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. To-day, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient short comings considerably shorter than ever. We shall also reflect pleasantly upon how we did the same old thing last year about this time. However, go in, community. New Year's is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls, and humbug resolutions, and we wish you to enjoy it with a looseness suited to the greatness of the occasion."[reprinted in The Works of Mark Twain; Early Tales & Sketches, Vol. 1 1851-1864, (Univ. of California Press, 1979), p. 180.]

Four days after I made my last post, my brother and his girlfriend acquired a friend for Jaffa. He is a Maltese cross Bichon and they named him Gus. I tried uploading a photo of them, but blogger would not cooperate. I will try another time....

* - Does the term "brewsky" (pl. brewskis) apply only to beer, or can it also be applied to alcohol in general? Discuss.

posted by AJ | 6:50 PM |

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Happy New Year 20-06*!

Wow. First post of 20-06. Welcome.
Welcome, too, to recent invitees of HEREIN: Emma and Chris. I hope you enjoy your visits and some of my insights and commentary.

Well... I had a very enjoyable break off work, which I can tell you, was MUCH needed. Only when you are having a break do you realise how much you require time away from work to place things into perspective, and often when around loved ones, family and friends does this happen.

To the right is a Samarian Sunset that I concocted. It was lovely.

My break was quite full and involved a (now) Christmas Eve Eve tradition of dinner and frivolity at Sim's apartment, beautiful celebrations of Christmas at Sim's parents on Christmas morning and with my Aunty's family on Christmas Day and night (poker and table tennis featured heavily), a trip to the country (Seymour) to visit family and have a Boxing Day Christmas, finding post-Christmas bargains while wearing jeans (blahck!) in 30+ heat, a pool party in Glen Waverley, which involved eating, swimming and playing cards/crosswords/cryptic crosswords and preparing for a fantastic New Year's Eve.

My New Year's Eve was spent with Sim, Erica, Emma and Chris at my humble abode where we made a lively time of it. From a few rounds of Quickdraw** to a quick game of Cluedo (it was Mrs. Peacock whodidit in case you were wondering and I was just scribbling who/what/whichroom Erica was asking about on my pad, Sim, Emma and Chris...) to sipping Cin Gins, swallowing Singapore Sling-style cocktails and Samarian Sunsets, and downing a few Cowboys, everyone had a great time. I just re-read that sentence and realised that "downing a few Cowboys" could be construed as not quite above-board! :) Mmmm, butterscotch and Baileys.

Here is AJ, Erica and Sim dancing up a treat... Note Erica's magnificent cocktail dress and AJ's embarassing dancing.

It was the first time Erica, Emma and Chris had met Jaffa - my brother's and girlfriend's Pomeranian cross something beauty of a dog. It was so hot that day that poor Jaffa was struggling in the heat, but enjoyed everyone's company and doing his own little doggie dance when we were all boogying to the DVD of Chartbusting 80s in the evening.

To the left is Emma, on a footstool, doing a Hawaiian dance. At least it looks like this is the case... You decide!

Actually heading into 20-06, the five of us resembled a Zulu tribe as we held each other (yet in a straight line) and jumped up and down to the beat of Madonna's Hung Up (it was our choice of song to enter into 20-06). 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

As Fry would say, "Here's to another lousy Millennium!" :)

It was a great evening of good company, and just chilling out on a REALLY hot night. The drinks were a feature and thanks to Erica for bringing everything from bitters to cinnamon sticks to a blender and the lovely handmade chocolates and pudding that you made especially for my and Sim's lovely Christmas present. It was fantastic, thank you.

Speaking of which, you should all head over to Erica's blog and listen to her and Nafyn's rendition of Something Cool.

The holiday season is always good to hire a few DVDs and without exception, I hired Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Cowboys & Angels, OutFoxed and Sideways. I am not a lover of wine, but have to admit that Miles' insight below about pinot noir is beautiful:

"it's a hard grape to grow ... it's thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early ... it's not a survivor like cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and thrive even when it's neglected. No, pinot needs constant care and attention ... it can only grow in these really specific, little, tucked- away corners of the world. And only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it, really. Only somebody who really takes the time to understand pinot's potential can then coax it into its fullest expression."

May 20-06 (and the 11 other months) be all that you wish it/them to be.

*It shall herewith be referred to as "twenty-oh-six" as opposed to "two-thousand and six"
**Alias has been used to protect identity of this card game

posted by AJ | 10:19 PM |