Choose Your Own Adventure

You walk into the foyer of your building at work, and see a 3/4 full packet of chewy on the ground. It looks slightly dented, but apparently untainted. Do you:

A. Dionne Warwick it, and Walk On By. You wouldn't stoop so low as to eat some random gum from the ground. Germy. Disgusting. Sneer.

B. Leave it. It doesn't belong to you. The owner might be back to reclaim it.

C. Finders keepers. You look to see if anyone's looking, pick it up and pop in your pocket for safe keeping and latter enjoyment.

The Quiz

1. Carpet or floorboards (sorry, I'm in home renovation mode)
2. One thing you'd add to your daily routine, were time and money no object
3. If I had my way, I'd never....
4. I'm constantly forgetting..
5. Last thing you watched on DVD

Schnitzel Von Krumm

I made some pretty b--chin' chicken schnitzel last night. I watched an episode of Food Safari on Hungarian food, and got the recipe from there. It was not so much the recipe, as the helpful tips that I liked. In a nutshell-

1. Slice your chicken breast length ways (like, with the knife horizontal, parallel to the chopping board). Your knife will need to be pretty sharp. Depending on the size of the breast you might get two, or you might get three. Chop off the tenderloin bit sand use those too (perfect size for the kiddles).

2. Use a meat hammer on just one side of the meat, making it a more even thickness

3. whisk 2 eggs in a wide bowl, and add some water, thinning it out a bit. (That was handy tip #1)

4. Using only one hand (handy tip #2) dip the chicken in the egg mixture, just lightly coating. Then lay it on a plate of breadcrumbs, using your clean hand to put the crumbs over the top side (ht#3)

5. Heat a frying pan with enough oil that you'll be able to submerge the pieces (about 2cm deep). I was a bit nervous, having never really deep fried anything before. But it was fairly painless, and the oil is fine to reuse again for other cooking. And unlike trying to just fry it, you don't set off the smoke alarms, and the coating actually stays on.

6. Dip a tip of a piece in the oil to see if it bubbles, if so it's hot enough. (ht#4) Slip in a few pieces at a time, turning a couple of times after a minute or two. Cook until the coating has gone a bit golden.

7. Prop up cooked ones on their edge (ht#5) on some paper towel to drain off any excess oil.

8. Eat (ht#6)

Introductions

Sarah wants to introduce you.

Go and drop her a line.

Name The Face

Who's this dapper looking fella?

Listening To..

Very Best of Fleetwood Mac











Ultimate Prince

Siiiiiiigh

Life at the moment feels like there's a mountain to climb, and I'm at the bottom. And then at the top of that mountain is the beginning of another one.

And so on and so forth.

It all feels a bit too hard and daunting right now.

I want to track down a sermon I can listen to today while I work, on Matt 11:28, the 'come all you who are weary and burdened' bit. I've never really 'got' that bit, because it sounds comforting, but then Jesus kind of goes on and says to take up His burden, which is easy and light. Which is strange.

Anyway, I think today is a good day for me to understand this.

Thursday Peanuts

Beach House!!!

Last night I went in to the city with a mate to see one of my favourite bands, Beach House, who were playing as part of the Sydney Festival. It was at the Becks Festival Bar at the army barracks there. Nice venue.

It was a great night, and I was so pumped to see them, after obsessing over them the past few months. They played great, and sound great live. Victoria Legrand is awesome.

Australia Day

Australia Day is a funny thing.

It would be nice if my immediate gut reaction to the day wasn't to cringe, because, hey, I live in a beautiful country, and there is so much to be grateful for, and appreciative of. It's okay to celebrate that once a year together. Why not?

But oh man. Do we have to celebrate it like that?

I went into the city last night and had the great fortune of catching the train with multitudinous boganeering teens. They seemed to be on their way somewhere else after a day at Cronulla beach. Flag capes. A lot of nakedness. And drunkenness. And terrible haircuts. And cut off shorts. And southern cross tattoos. And sunburned naked chests, except for- wait for it- white inscriptions of Sutherland Shire postcodes left where they had been written in zinc at the start of the day.

Huh??

So it's hard not to cringe and just be embarrassed of any kind of association with this sort of stomach churning patriotism. But I do wish there was a middle ground. Australia Day shouldn't be just a cringe, or something that I am cynical about. I'd like to be able to celebrate the day, and my country, in a non ironic, non tongue in cheek way.

But they make it hard for me, they really do.

The Quiz

1. It feels inevitable that I'll eventually..
2. You can never have too many..
3. How many books would you read in a year?
4. Realistically, how many would you like to read in a year?
5. I wish I could pull off..

Twinkle Black Sheep Eee Eff Gee

Don't think I'm not on to you, nursery rhyme people.

Twinkle Twinkle?

Baa Baa Black Sheep?

ABCD (aka The Alphabet Song)?

They are all the same song. You totally just reused the exact same tune three times. I just want to know-- Did you think nobody would notice?

Destination In Sight

We get the keys for our new place today!

Tonight we are going to grab some take away and go and eat it there. It'll also be the first time the kids see the place properly. Girls, here's your home for the next couple of decades! I think we are all pretty excited about putting some roots down.

We'll do the (last) big move in a few weeks time.

The Time J-Gill Got All Pro Bono

WorkWorkWork

Must draw, not blog, must draw, not blog, must draw, not blog.

Thursday Peanuts

The Real King's Speech

I found the actual speech of King George VI that is portrayed in the movie, the declaration of war with Germany. Colin Firth was pretty accurate.

It's a great speech too. Have a listen.

The King's Speech

I had a nice night with E last night. We went down to Cronulla, had a drink at a bar, then went to a nice restaurant right on the water called SeaLevel.

We then went and saw The King's Speech. Unfortunately it was a late session, and having been up since 5am, I was ready for bed just as the previews came on. I spent the whole movie literally pinching my arms to keep myself awake.

So, the movie. I enjoyed it, I thought it was really good. If anything though, maybe a smidge underwhelmed after all the hype. I thought it was a good movie, but not really a brilliant movie.

Having a severe stutter myself, it's pretty interesting to see your impediment portrayed on the big screen. It's not as though stuttering main characters pop up every film you see. It was portrayed well, and I think Colin Firth did a good job at getting across the emotion that a stutterer feels- the fear, frustration, anxiety, dread. Especially the dread!

Geoffrey Rush was good as always. I think I found it a little annoying how lots of stuff was brushed over, but not really examined. Rush was supposed to be this speech therapist with 'unorthodox methods', and yet you never really got to see the nuts and bolts of his methods. It was all shown in little montages with swelling music in the background, which to me, made it feel a bit trite.

Other than that, there was lots of good stuff. Helena Bonham Carter was good as his wife, and she reminded me of E in some ways. She was concerned about his speech problems, but loving and supportive no matter what. And she wanted him to improve not out of personal embarrassment, but because she wanted to see him happier, and liberated from this thing restricting him so much.

I could also relate a lot to the fact that he had two small daughters, and his nervousness at how they would perceive him, and then his self worth when he sensed their pride in him at the end. All that stuff rang pretty true.

All in all, a good movie. It's nice to have a movie out there that sheds a bit of light on a problem that not many people know a great deal about, but assume a lot about.

Nine Years

Today is our ninth wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary, E!

A lot has happened in nine years, I can't really imagine my former life without E in it.

Tonight the two of us are going out for some dinner and a movie. We are seeing The King's Speech. I'm very much looking forward to it.

Hello Me, It's Me Calling

I just successfully succeeded in an attempt to blow my own mind. Here's how it happened.

So, as I've previously mentioned (insert link here), I am absolutely rubbish with numbers, and struggle to commit any kind of number combination to memory. It's for that reason that under my list of contacts on my phone, there is "Me", with my own work and mobile number under it.

Getting to the point, I had to write down my mobile number this morning, so was looking it up in my contacts.

When suddenly, the brilliant plan popped into my head (crap with numbers, awesome at concocting brilliant plans). What if, thought I, what if I were to ring my own mobile. From my own mobile.

I know. My head was spinning too. Brilliant plan. Would two me's converge in on themselves, creating a small rip in the space/time continuum? It was hard to say, without trying it. So try it I must.

Beep ....beep. Beep ....beep.

At first I was a little disappointed when the phone was engaged. But then, the truth and enormity of the situation slowly dawned on me, in a way similar to when Albert Einstein discovered that awesome thing that he discovered.

Yes, the phone was engaged. But it was engaged BECAUSE ME WAS CALLING. I couldn't get through to me, BECAUSE ME WAS TRYING TO CALL ME AT EXACTLY THE SAME MOMENT!!!

Ka-Booooom!

It was epic.

The Hobbit

I'm supposed to be reading Jane Eyre (I'm still about half way through- I got bogged down in some long whingey back story that old mate was telling), but I've been reading The Hobbit instead. I'm about half way through that as well.

I read Lord Of The Rings about 20 years ago and enjoyed it, but never got around to The Hobbit. But I started just before Christmas and have been really liking it. It's not as long and drawn out as LOTR. Or Jane Eyre for that matter.

I'm pumped about the impending movie too. Apparently Martin Freeman is slated to be Bilbo Baggins, which is the perfect choice I reckon. He was destined to play the role ever since Garreth called him a 'weird little bloke with Fisher Price hair'.

Anyways, when Bilbo gets back to Bag End, I'll get back to Thornfield Hall.

Don't You Hate It When..

..you accidentally slip into somebody elses accent?

The girl who makes my coffee is a Kiwi, and this morning she goes, 'it's gitting prutty hot, Bin.'

And then without even thinking I go, 'it sure uz'.

I momentarily lost control of my own dialect. How concerning. I then had to concentrate very hard to make sure I walked out of the cafe like an Australian, without inadvertently slipping in to the Haka.

Life is hard when you're so impressionable.

The Quiz

1. Something coming up you're excited about
2. Something coming up you're worried about
3. A flight you'd like to take
4. A road trip you'd like to make
5. If 2001 You looked forward at 2011 You, what would surprise them?

3!

The blog turns 3 today.

I'm pretty proud of it. Speaking a few intelligible words, and toilet trained (mostly). Not too bad for a three year old.

Thanks for reading, y'all. Anyone been here since the beginning?

Coverage

It irks me the way you can almost see the media rubbing their hands together with glee about the floods. News fodder for weeks.

And also the one upping rubbish: 'channel such and such, the ONLY dependable news source for the floods'.

I was watching Channel 7 last night, and the self promotion almost outweighed the actual coverage itself. "Our Channel 7 crew were first on the scene when.... and overhead the Channel 7 chopper exclusively saw... Channel 7 this, Channel 7 that.

Who cares.

Thursday Peanuts

The M.A.H.T.W.A.I.M.E. Award

After some intense market research I have reached the conclusion that Diane Keaton is the winner of the award for Most Annoyingly Hard To Watch Actress In Movies Ever.

Now, Diane only has herself to blame, because I actually used to hold her in high regard, based soley on her performance in the highly awesome Godfather movies.

But alas, even the mighty are prone to fall.

So I nominate her firstly for that movie with Jack Nicholson called Something's Gotta Give (which involves a lot more nudity and Keanu kissing than is in any way, shape or form appropriate).

But I nominate her secondly, finally, and conclusively for a movie I had the severe misfortune of watching on tele the other night, perhaps one of the most physically and emotionally painful movies I have ever seen-- Because I Said So. Hard to know whether it was the beret, the screechy voice, the tinted glasses or the fringe, but I developed hives before the first ad break.

And so to you, Diane, goes the M.A.H.T.W.A.I.M.E.*

*pronounced 'mart-way-me'

Blisdom 101

A watched stat counter never changes.

Unless you yourself hit refresh a bunch of times to boost your apparent street cred.

Away With Gratefulness

You know what word I don't like? 'Gratefulness'.

I don't get why the word exists, when there's a better, nicer to say one that suits the purpose: 'Gratitude'.

Shoot me down if I'm wrong, but don't they mean the same thing? To me 'gratefulness' sounds like a kind of made up word.

Church

Over the break we made a decision about where we are going to go to church. We are going to be at Engadine Anglican, a suburb away from our new digs.

This is a real relief, as we've felt a bit drifty the past few months. Visiting churches, but not knowing where we'd be living. It will be great to have an answer to that question I've heard about seven million times since moving: 'So, have you found a church yet?'

It's been really good to check out a few places, and we are really grateful for the time that people took to welcome us, and have us visit. Really, we were spoilt for choice. There's a lot of good churches.

I hadn't really noticed, but it slowly started to take it's toll on me, being away from a church home. I realised recently how it had led to a few things slipping in my life, and a vague feeling of estrangement from God and His word. there was also a pretty strong feeling of isolation, being without that community, and without that regular contact with people.

So I am very happy, relieved and excited about entering this new chapter of new house, new church. I'll be praying hard that we find our feet relatively quickly and can start building some new friendships.

HoliSnaps II

HoliSnaps

We went away for a few days over the break, with my father in law. We stayed in a beach cabin on Easts Beach (Kiama), which was great. We were right on the edge of the beach, and went for lots of swims. T'was good.

Floods

I've been amazed to see the footage of the Queensland floods. It must be terrifying for the communities up there at the moment, the waters so huge, powerful and unrelenting, people dead, and heaps more missing. Make time to pray for them.

Any readers know anyone affected?

Twilight, Y'all!

So, what happened was this. We went away with a couple of teenagers, and they had Twilight on DVD. We thought, hey, we can finally watch that silly movie everyone babbles about. We watched it, and it was silly, and ridiculous, and I was smirking a lot. But it was fun to watch, and by the end I needed more. It was a bit like McDonald's chips. You know they are kinda nasty, but once you eat three, you crave three hundred more.

So, we got back from hols and I quickly joined a video store and hired New Moon. We enjoyed that one too, and a couple days later hired Eclipse. There were no special features and I felt very sad when it was over, and I had no more to consume. The binge was over.

So, that's it. Yes, I feel somewhat ashamed. A little soiled. But also very alive. My eyes have turned a rich golden brown and my skin shimmers all glittery in the noon day sun.

Anyways, here's a few random thoughts about the three movies. Not sure which point goes with which movie as they all sorta blend together in my mind.

*It was a bit like the love child of Buffy and Bold and The Beautiful. Each movie could have been 45 mins shorter had they trimmed off some of those longing gazes and knowing looks.

* Robert Pattinson was a good choice, and is a bit of a charismatic fella. Kinda James Dean-ish.

*For two people who were supposedly soulmates willing to give up everything for each other, Bella and old mate didn't really spend that much time together. They'd bump in to each other in the school carpark and whatnot, but they were rarely just hanging out. Oh yeah, except for when they were lying in a field of flowers. As you do.

*Those 'badass' group shots of vampires were hilarious. You get about five cool vamps, all standing dynamically spaced like a comic book. Then they just kinda stood there, not doing anything. Funny.

*The werewolf CG was fairly ordinary, but was better by Eclipse

*Jacob looked funny with long hair. Sort of like Sandra Bullock with hormone issues. Consider:

*But he was a good character, especially by the third movie. But the dude needs a t shirt.

*The new Alice, and also Dakota Fanning as the top vampire were unconvincing.

*I loved that bit in the first one where Edward is showing Bella his cool powers, and kind of piggy backs her, running up a mountain in fast motion. Don't carry her cool and romantically, no give her a piggy back and sprint! Comedy gold.

*Bella was annoying. She had one expression through all three films. Frankly I didn't really get what the two fellas were getting all excited about. You never really got to see any of her character or interests other than, 'I'm a troubled youth and the only ones who get me are a werewolf and a vampire'

*That said, I found that I was happy to just watch the three main characters, even if they weren't doing much. whereas I'd switch off a bit when it was the supporting characters, who mostly seemed sort of camp and TVish.

*Can't wait for Breaking Dawn!

Paintings!

A great thing about the hols was I managed to do five new paintings. I only had done three in the past year, so it felt really good. I had a hardcore day last Friday, and did three!

Anyway, go check 'em out..

The Quiz

1. Seriously, how good are holidays? Okay, that was more a rhetorical quiz question, but still.
2. Approximately how disapproving will you be when I tell you I was converted to Twilight over the break?
3. But you'll still be my friend, right?
4. How was your Christmas?
5. How was your Noo Years?

Happy New Year!

Hey friends, I'm back from sabbatical. I had a great three week break, and am back at work this morning.

It hurts.

Still, it's not all bad, and I'm excited about a new year, and all that it may hold. I hope you are all well, and that you've had a nice 'festive season'. I'll probably ease in to the posts a bit slowish, as I'm still a bit in holiday mode...

Oh, and there's that looming deadline that December Ben didn't pay enough attention to.

Quiz coming soon.