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Life goes on...oh so quickly!

2011-09-06T16:23:00.002+10:00

So, it has been a very long time since I wrote a post for this blog. But I am going to strive to bring it back to life. At the moment I am undergoing my final semester of a degree in Ancient History. As such, the workload is seeming insurmountable. I don't know about you, but I am of the type who all but shuts down when I have a lot of work to do. My skills in distracting myself are most proficient (hence the blog being reforged).

However, I feel that this may be a good way to get some of my thoughts about life on paper so that I can knuckle down on the here and now at uni more efficiently.

So, what's going on? One of my subjects is a lot of fun - Astronomy! Nothing to do with Ancient History, but still awesome. We are currently having to do a 'moon practical' for this. Which basically involves heading outside at the same time for about 5 nights over two weeks to plot the phase and position of the moon in the night sky. It is proving to be a challenge. I am busy most evenings and am realising that I will just have to be disciplined in dropping everything at the same time each night and running outside to get this observation done! Hopefully that works...thank goodness for phone calender alarms! Without that, I would have no hope!!

Oh, best thing ever last Wednesday night! One. "One Saviour. One Life. One Night. Don't Miss it!" This was a conference run by Katoomba Christian Conventions at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. 10,000 Christians from Sydney and beyond together, in one room, for one evening. We heard from John Lennox and John Piper about God, and life. both Johns were absolutely amazing. I was challenged so much over the evening. I will post more about these as I feel so inclined, but for now I will let you know the biggest challenge for me - to get out of Virtual Reality and into the Real World, and to spend as much time in God's word as I spend doing other things. So as much time as I spend on uni work, or on Sci-Fi, or reading, or whatever it is I do; needs to be spent in God's word so I can continue in my life-long aim of becoming more Christ-like. Epic challenges. Lennox's final words were absolutely heart wrenching as well. I can't remember the wording, and without that it just wouldn't be the same, so when I get hold of the mp3s and listen again I will post on it!

Next year. So, I finish uni in less than three months. Crazy! And next year I will, God-willing, be starting a Ministry Apprenticeship; spending two-and-a-half days with the Christian group on my university campus, and two-and-a-half days with my church doing different ministry things. That will be under the umbrella of MTS. I am looking forward to this so very much! I simply cannot wait! Oh, and in the meantime I have amazing things to look forward to. Gran visiting from WA, the wedding of two of my best friends, National Training Event (Epic-ness incarnate!), and Beach Mission. It is going to be a super-Jesus-fueled few months! And I am so keen for it!

Anyway, I suppose that I should get back to work, especially since probably no one will read this! lol! I have a night of rpg gaming tonight (but with dice, not consoles) and need to get more done before I can head there with a clear conscience!

Crocodile Fever

2010-11-07T22:34:00.002+11:00

So, I have been reading a lot lately, pretty much every spare minute I have...whether it be sitting at traffic lights, at work, walking anywhere, powerpoint during music practice at church, pretty much any time I have a second and there is enough light (or even if I can barely make out the words). In the course of this I have read probably about 10 books in the last couple of weeks (no that is not an exaggeration - I can list them all easily).

The book that I finished this evening once I got home from was called "Crocodile Fever" (Also published as "River of Eyes"). It is a book written by Lawrence Earl about the life of a Crocodile Hunter who was born in South Africa and hunted in various places in the late 1940s-50s (I think...)

There has been very little information available on him apart from in this book. I have, so far found one article that refers to him in Time Magazine, which claims he is/was somewhere on Lake Nyasa, and a comment from a Reader of Time in which this is rebutted, and the hunter is claimed to be Paul Poxous. Apart from this, I can find no information about the elusive Bryan Howard Dempster.

I have just found a site on which his granddaughter may be posting, but have no way of knowing if she is whom she claims to be. I will keep you posted...

Historians Admit to Inventing the Ancient Greeks...

2010-10-14T11:11:00.005+11:00

Well, Hello all and firstly thanks to the people whom I 'inspire' with my 'updated content' and whatever...lol! Yes I am so dedicated to writing on this all the time, am I not!

But never fear! Here is a new post! the first since March 2009 (wow, I didn't realise that it was so long ago!!) This is an article that I was sent by a friend from uni. (I am studying ancient History there) and this has destroyed my career plans really...=D

well here it is...

Historians Admit To Inventing Ancient Greeks

October 7, 2010 | ISSUE 46•40

http://www.theonion.com/articles/historians-admit-to-inventing-ancient-greeks,18209/?utm_source=recentnews

Scholars apologize for attributing Western democracy to a make-believe civilization.

WASHINGTON—A group of leading historians held a press conference Monday at the National Geographic Society to announce they had "entirely fabricated" ancient Greece, a culture long thought to be the intellectual basis of Western civilization.

The group acknowledged that the idea of a sophisticated, flourishing society existing in Greece more than two millennia ago was a complete fiction created by a team of some two dozen historians, anthropologists, and classicists who worked nonstop between 1971 and 1974 to forge "Greek" documents and artifacts.

"Honestly, we never meant for things to go this far," said Professor Gene Haddlebury, who has offered to resign his position as chair of Hellenic Studies at Georgetown University. "We were young and trying to advance our careers, so we just started making things up: Homer, Aristotle, Socrates, Hippocrates, the lever and fulcrum, rhetoric, ethics, all the different kinds of columns—everything."

Just one of the "ancient" artifacts dreamed up in a basement in Somerville, MA.

"Way more stuff than any one civilization could have come up with, obviously," he added.

According to Haddlebury, the idea of inventing a wholly fraudulent ancient culture came about when he and other scholars realized they had no idea what had actually happened in Europe during the 800-year period before the Christian era.

Frustrated by the gap in the record, and finding archaeologists to be "not much help at all," they took the problem to colleagues who were then scrambling to find a way to explain where things such as astronomy, cartography, and democracy had come from.

Within hours the greatest and most influential civilization of all time was born.

"One night someone made a joke about just taking all these ideas, lumping them together, and saying the Greeks had done it all 2,000 years ago," Haddlebury said. "One thing led to another, and before you know it, we're coming up with everything from the golden ratio to the Iliad."

"That was a bitch to write, by the way," he continued, referring to the epic poem believed to have laid the foundation for the Western literary tradition. "But it seemed to catch on."

Around the same time, a curator at the Smithsonian reportedly asked for Haddlebury's help: The museum had received a sizeable donation to create an exhibit on the ancient world but "really didn't have a whole lot to put in there." The historians immediately set to work, hastily falsifying evidence of a civilization that— complete with its own poets and philosophers, gods and heroes—would eventually become the centerpiece of schoolbooks, college educations, and the entire field of the humanities.

Emily Nguyen-Whiteman, one of the young academics who "pulled a month's worth of all-nighters" working on the project, explained that the whole of ancient Greek architecture was based on buildings in Washington, D.C., including a bank across the street from the coffee shop where they met to "bat around ideas about mythology or whatever."

"We picked Greece because we figured nobody would ever go there to check it out," Nguyen-Whiteman said. "Have you ever seen the place? It's a dump. It's like an abandoned gravel pit infested with cats."

She added, "Inevitably, though, people started looking around for some of this 'ancient' stuff, and next thing I know I'm stuck in Athens all summer building a goddamn Parthenon just to cover our tracks."

Nguyen-Whiteman acknowledged she was also tasked with altering documents ranging from early Bibles to the writings of Thomas Jefferson to reflect a "Classical Greek" influence—a task that also included the creation, from scratch, of a language based on modern Greek that could pass as its ancient precursor.

Historians told reporters that some of the so-called Greek ideas were in fact borrowed from the Romans, stripped to their fundamentals, and then attributed to fictional Greek predecessors. But others they claimed as their own.

"Geometry? That was all Kevin," said Haddlebury, referring to former graduate student Kevin Davenport. "Man, that kid was on fire in those days. They teach Davenportian geometry in high schools now, though of course they call it Euclidean."

Sources confirmed that long hours and lack of sleep took their toll on Davenport, and after the lukewarm reception of his work on homoeroticism in Spartan military, he left the group.

In a statement expressing their "profound apologies" for misleading the world on the subject of antiquity for almost 40 years, the historians expressed hope that their work would survive on its own merits.

"It would be a shame to see humanity abandon achievements such as heliocentrism and the plays of Aeschylus just because of their origin," the statement read in part. "Moreover, we have some rather disappointing things to tell you about the pyramids, the works of Leonardo da Vinci, penicillin, the Internet, the scientific method, movies, and dogs."

Yes indeed. And there goes my ancient history degree...

I sent it to one of my lecturers at uni, and this is his response below: (the names have been changed in order to preserve anonymity)

Dear Zedbelkan,
gasp! They completely fooled me! Now I feel really silly. I must have been one of the first people that got fed all this at school! My career is in ruins (well, it always was anyway), but they're fake ruins! And I've passed it all on to you, and Athos and the others as if it were all true...
John
______________

Dr. John D'Artagnan
Senior Lecturer,
Department of Ancient History and Clever Second-Hand Forgeries

Bad Brains

2009-03-24T09:01:00.005+11:00

By Helen

One wet Friday, the 13th to be exact, Xenia and Anvita had to walk through a deserted shopping centre because the road was closed. They had to do this yesterday too.

Xenia suddenly stopped and said "Where is that shop from?" True enough there was a shop. It's sign read:

Madame Brane's New & Used Brains

The handwriting was like the Old English Text in Ami Pro. Anvita answered "I don't know but lets check it out anyway." So in Anvita and Xenia went.

"Well Hello my dears." a lady said. "You look thin. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"Sure." Anvita and Xenia agreed, licking their lips.

They found out her name was Jelena Brane, Madame Brane's daughter. "If my mother found out that you were here, she would, she would." Jelena shivered

"She would what Jelena?" Asked Anvita.

"She would boil you, after removing your brains and change my brain with one of your brains!" She shuddered again.

"Ugh, yuck!" said Xenia. "You must be scared."

"I am," trembled Jelena.

Just then, another lady, called Sabrina, came into the room and said with mock surprise "Who are your friends Jelena? I thought you'd disobey mum one day. Wait till she hears!"

"Oh...... please don't tell mum! Please!" Pleaded Jelena.

"All right just this once, as long as they go now and never come back, except for business, of course."

"We agree." Anvita and Xenia reluctantly answered.

At that moment Madame Brane came back. To keep Jelena, and herself out of trouble, Sabrina said to her "Here's dinner mum!"

"Good girls!" Madame Brane (Nell) said.

"How do you want them? Boiled, baked or fried. Or there's scrambled too."

"Ummm, maybe scrambled today." said Sabrina.

"Which one?" asked Nell.

"That one." said Sabrina pointing to Xenia.

"Why me?!" Wailed Xenia.

"Then that one instead." said Sabrina pointing to Anvita.

"Bye Xenia." Anvita said as she hugged Xenia.

"Let's fatten them up first and in a few weeks they should be really fat," suggested Jelena thinking that she might be able to set them free.

"Good idea Jelena. We'll do that. But I shall hide them so no one can find them.
Not even you two." said Nell.

So Anvita and Xenia were fattened up and scrambled the next week.

They were served with eggs, bacon, potatoes, corn, rice, Coke, Lemonade, Lift, Pepsi and vegetables at a dinner party for witches, for Madame Brane was a fully qualified witch.

At the dinner party, all the witches boasted of their best tricks, argued about who's trick was best and killed each other.

Since Anvita and Xenia had been scrambled and fattened by magic, they turned back into their old selves and their mum adopted Jelena and Sabrina.

They all lived happily ever after.

This was written when I was in year 6...if you think it is terrible check out some of the others written by my classmates! lol!

http://www.brookvaleps.nsw.edu.au/Kids_Work/classes99/5_6T/Fri13.html

Which Star Trek Characters Should Be In Barack Obama's Cabinet?

2009-02-09T08:49:00.001+11:00

By Tommy Christopher
Nov 19th 2008 8:07AM

Filed Under: Democrats, Barack Obama, 2008 President, Humor, Obama Administration

With the release of the newest trailer to the upcoming 11th Star Trek movie, entitled Trek (not to be confused with the forthcoming musical, Trek!), it became obvious to me that as soon as the Starship Enterprise arrives here in May, Barack Obama will be forced to dump his entire cabinet in favor of the far superior candidates who populate that fair vessel.

Ever the helpful former cadet (I was drummed out of Starfleet Academy for constantly setting my phaser on "strip"), I have compiled a list of appointments for Senator Obama, to help speed the transition.

James T. Kirk: Initially, I favored Secretary of State for Kirk, but it occurred to me that his diplomatic skills could be compromised if he ever encountered a foreign leader with a green wife. A more prudent post that makes use of his skills would be Secretary of Defense.

Mr. Spock: With his signature mantra of "Live long and prosper," I was tempted to give him Treasury and Health and Human Services (although it'd be nice to have a human in that post). With his ability to mindmeld, however, Spock is a natural to head the Justice Department as Attorney General. Do you need a warrant for a mindmeld?

Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy: The obvious choice here is Health and Human Services. Still, I think I'd rather see McCoy as Secretary of State, just so that whenever Obama asks him for advice, he can say, "Dammit, Barack, I'm a doctor, not a diplomat!"

Montgomery "Scotty" Scott: Easy. Secretary of the Treasury. How much could President Bush have used somebody to say, "The economy can't take much more of this! She'll break apart!"

Hikaru "Sulu" Sulu: I could never figure out if Sulu was a navigator, or a helmsman. In much the same way, Homeland Security seems to be a department in search of an identity, with wide-ranging responsibilities and myriad agencies. Let them find themselves together.

Pavel Chekhov: That guy never did much of anything, but Vice President is already taken. It might be fun to have a Secretary of Education who thinks that everything comes from Russia. I never got that. There's world peace in the 23rd century, but Soviet propaganda endures?

Nyota Uhura: While not technically a cabinet position, Uhura would be a natural for White House Communications Director. Barack would just have to get used to the fact that, no matter what type of physical trauma she endures, Uhura only feels pain in her neck.

Khan Noonian Singh: In keeping with Obama's Lincolnian strategy of appointing rivals, Khan is a natural for a prominent post. His superhuman strength, superior intellect, and single-mindedness of purpose suit him well to the position of Secretary of the Interior.

In an effort at bipartisanship, Obama could round out his cabinet with characters from Star Wars. But that's another story.

http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/11/19/which-star-trek-characters-should-be-in-barack-obamas-cabinet/

The Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States!

2009-01-22T00:02:00.007+11:00

Well, yesterday saw the role of 'President' filled here in Washington...And I have been most fortunate to have had the opportunity to see history come into our future!

Here is the tale of an Outsider's inside view of the Inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama, 44th President of the United States of America.

It all began on the 19th for the Hoare kids. Dad decided that we should experience some of the 'ambience' of Washington near the Aussie Embassy - at Dupont Circle. So they dropped us off there while the APs went to get some salad for our bison burgers (that is fair dinkum!!). We were real excited until we discovered that it was not a 'Yay for Inauguration' gathering but a 'Impeach Bush' event...complete with a giant blow-up Bush doll - and people throwing shoes at him...

So we left that pretty quickly...and proceeded to walk back along Massachussetts Avenue, North West towards home. We got a short way and then, lo and behold! there were police men stopping the traffic.
We asked "Hey, what's happening?" and recieved the reply:
"There is a VIP coming along this route so please stay on the sidewalk. You may walk up this or this street, but do not cross this road here." [please read this in an American accent...for example route is pronounced rowte (as in row fight not row a boat) also insert hand motions indicating which streets we could have walked along]

SO we, being good, and curious Australian citizens stayed on the corner. As we waited we heard the random musings of the policemen. They were growing increasingly [insert a word a little less strong than frustrated...] with the fact that the 'VIP' had not yet arrived...they had pretty much blocked every route in, or out of Washington towards Georgetown area! The green shows what we could see blocked from where we were...on Florida and Massachussetts (blue X)

So we hung around for a while, then one of the policemen decided to talk to us and the others waiting on the street corner. I am going to recount his speech in the manner of Herodotus, the father of history, who believed that the words did not matter so long as the gist of what was said gets across...

"Well everybody. by tomorrow every policeman in washington will be totally tired out. we didn't sleep last night, and it looks to be that we won't be sleeping tonight. So tomorrow at the inauguration if you ask a policeman for directions or something, and he turns aroung and says ARGH! [here he yelled quite loud and long] then you will know what's wrong with them and maybe give them some understanding."

A woman near us replied with "so long as you don't draw your firearms I will be happy."

The policeman then said "We'll be too tired to."

OK well that was obviously funnier at the time...I have to figure out some way to make dialogue interesting...

but anywho, we then were thinking it was taking too long so were contemplating leaving. We made a deal that if the VIP had not come before five minutes were up we would just head home. Then it happened...

We saw headlights on the deadened street ahead (22nd St NW) and along came a motorcade with not one, not two but 15 motorbikes, as well as several police cars, and a couple of limosines. We were quite excited and asked the policemen who it was, and it was...

BARACK OBAMA!~ So here he is ladies and gentlemen! A photo of Barack Obama from less than 5 metres away!

We then walked home in the nice warm negative degrees and were excited!

Now for the 20th. The auspicious day that saw the dreams of Martin Luther King become Reality.

My original plan was to awaken from my slumber at 2am, saunter on down to the National Mall and be in there amongst the throng. Fate, however, conspired against me, with no one willing to wake up then, let alone face the -10 degrees promised to us. So instead we all woke up at 7:15 and sauntered on down to the Lincoln Memorial...in a much warmer -7 degrees. We were going to try to get a bit closer, but the lincoln part (a few miles from the Capitol) was already pretty substantially packed. And Mum and Dad needed to return to watch the Inauguration from a neighbours house. So we used our better judgement and decided that seeing it from Georgetown would be just as cool! (There were no TV screens around the Lincoln Memorial so we would have just had to listen...)

The wind was bitterly cold heading back to Georgetown, but we made it in the end and watched the inauguration from our (albeit slightly) warmer family room...

I think Obama is great! His speech was engaging...AND despite how it seemed, Obama actually corrected the guy who was telling him the oath! I know a few people who have thought Obama got it wrong but no, it was the Chief Justice who initially fumbled the words...admittedly, Obama came in half way through the first line, but the incorrect word order is what threw the 'flow' out of sync.

From the Huffington Post

"Initially, Obama interrupted Roberts midway through the opening line, in which the president repeats his name and solemnly swears.

Next in the oath is the phrase "that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States" But Roberts rearranged the order of the words, not saying "faithfully" until after "president of the United States.""

So yeah. There was an error that Obama made during his speech though... He stated that "Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath." In actuality it was fourty-three. Although Obama is the 44th President, Grover Cleveland holds both the 22nd and 24th presidency. Because he was elected twice but not consecutively, he is counted twice but he was still one man.

Anyhow, if you have any questions, please ask and I will be glad to answer them from my outsider's inside view perspective.

God Bless America!

=D

Photos courtesy of E.A. Hoare, photographer extraordinaire!

Tagged!

2008-12-12T08:28:00.006+11:00

Well, Kate tagged me...so I guess I should fill out the stuff...so here goes!

Here's the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself. (See below)
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. (See further below...)
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

1. Done.

2. Complete.

3. This should be interesting...hopefully...

a) I am a trekkie - Love Star Trek...I am watching it through from beginning to end at the moment - right now I have finished all of them up to and including Star Trek The Next Generation Season 4, disc 4
That being said, I am also in that minority of people who believe that Star Wars and Star Trek can co-exist harmoniously...Just for the record!

b) I have my very own Jedi cloak, which I wear around sometimes...wow...just realised that this blog has no pics of it! I will post one at the end of this. I also have a green lightsaber - the hilt is a modified WWII sniper scope.

c) My family has quite an interesting history. You can read all about it in Samuel Hoare, the 2nd Baronet and Viscount Templewood of Chelsea's book, The Unbroken Thread. See here if you don't believe me...

hmmm...can't think of anything...let's see...I'll have a shower and come back...so about 6 hours later, back to work

d) I delight in random things, and scheming wonderful, and impossible, eventualities! For example, my brother and I spent a fair bit of time this morning planning the marketability of site to site transporters and this afternoon was occupied by the practicalities of travelling from Sydney to Washington by car and kayak. The first aided only by imagination, the latter aided by google maps. It would take approximately 56 days and 4 hours and involve a stopover in Japan. Google does add:

"These directions are for planning purposes only. You may find that construction projects, traffic, weather, or other events may cause conditions to differ from the map results, and you should plan your route accordingly. You must obey all signs or notices regarding your route."

Construction projects should be quite bothersome in the few kayak trips over the Pacific Ocean...fyi, the directions actually state things like:

step 49.

Kayak across the Pacific Ocean

Entering Japan

5,404 km

e) As many of you will know, I listen to the same music over and over and over and over and over again - this consists of Elvis, The Beatles, Select Weird Al Yankovic songs, Abba, Disney and Shrek. I also know most of the lyrics to many of these songs...

f) I am going to squeeze two entirely unrelated ones into here: I love eating frozen peas! Also, I am an alien from Pluto. My real name is Zedbelkan and in my language Pluto is called Zedballyching. If you doubt me, I would be happy to convince you through any means possible...now, just look deep into my eyes...deeper...deeper...

1. Manda
2. Em
3. Pete
4. Bec
5. Doug
6. and I have run out of people so will follow Kate's idea of opening it as a free for all. If anyone has a blog who wants to fill this out, feel free and I will insert your name here!

Also, most of the blog links I have are undergoing a period of dormancy so no fruit may come from this tag...here is hoping!

So I guess that concludes my post...I haven't been on much as we have been trying to restore order to the chaos that is my home - it runs in the family, I guess!

Oh right, Jedi Photo...

Farewell! May the force be with you!

Police...at my door!?

2008-12-11T04:50:00.003+11:00

Well, today - since the last post - I have had my first run-in with the Washington, D.C. Police! But let me start from the beginning...

So, just after my last post the power went out. Not just a blown fuse power outage but a full-scale no fridge, no toaster, no computer and no tv type power cut. So we went out to CBS pharmacy to get James his photos for work, and lo and behold! They couldn't be bothered doing them because they were 'too busy'...so we went to fed ex and got 6 passport photos for $25! What a rip-off! anyhow, besides the point. But we got home and after a little while, the power came back on...and we had a message from Mum that Jim's job was given away...4 hours before he was due to start...because he was under 16...so anyway, not home alone anymore! yay~

but anyway, back to policeman...well the power came on, and James went for his driving lesson, leaving both the front doors open...without my knowing it!

SO I turned on James Bond: From Russia With Love (review may come later) and sat down sorting out mum's stack of business cards.

Then the doorbell rang...I got up and went out to check who it was and it was a policeman - standing just outside the open doors! I was slightly surprised and said hi...and he notified me that an alarm had gone off at the police station! so then He asked whether I was the owner...and I had to find an envelope with the name of my parents and our address to prove that my family lived here...since I only have Aussie ID!

So there you have it...my run in with the Georgetown police.

Bye now. YAY!! no being home alone all day! woot!

well, well, well. Three holes in the ground

2008-12-11T01:37:00.002+11:00

Hello.

I am just writing to notify you all of my predicament. My mother, father and brother all have full time jobs for the holidays. I don't. There is a slight possibility of gaining a job when my work authorisation card comes through - which could take another 4-5 months. I am therefore going to be at home, alone. I have, it is true, borrowed a couple of movies. and Star Trek, TNG Season 4 disc 3. and the first two seasons of M.A.S.H. and the first season of Zorro. Should last me a day or two. Therefore be prepared for more movie and episode reviews.

Alternatively, I could go out and explore Washington. By myself. Alone. But then I would catch a taxi and be murdered or something...who knows. It is America. Then again, if I stay at home murder is just as likely...what colour is my house? let me check...lucky! It is a really weird grey/brownie colour...therefore too unusual to be targeted by a serial killer!

Nah, Star Trek sounds good. But if you so desire, feel free to alleviate my solitude with emails. Or writing on my wall. Or comments. Or tell me where your blog is. Or something. Who knows what else you can come up with! Skype, for example! =D

For now, farewell. I am off to buy an American SIM card for my phone...to ring up...noone...how sad...

of planes and movies...

2008-12-10T02:12:00.006+11:00

Why hello! Here I am in Washington, D.C. and all that I really have to tell you about is movies...

so on the first plane flight from Sydney to London Heathrow I was reading Les Miserables and watched a few movies on the side (NB: it must be here reminded that I don't really sleep on planes so on this 23 hr flight I got just about 2 hours sleep max...plenty of time for books and movies as a result! This also meant that by the time I got to sleep in England, I had had about 2 hours in the previous 50+ hours...):

Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

*potential spoiler warning*
This was just as an Indiana Jones should be - action, weirdness and he gets the girl (lol!) There were a couple of things I liked about it a lot - the fact that Indy actually managed to pull it off despite his age (though it must be said, not quite so spectacularly as in his youth - his half smile is pretty much gone *sniff sniff*) and the fact that it was entirely for amusement's sake! My one dislike was that idiot guy who kept switching sides but was evil - Indy shouldn't have trusted him but obviously old age made him stupid...

Get Smart

Great film - absolutely ridiculous but it totally worked! It made me want to watch the old ones!~ I loved the twist at the end, but will say no more!

Step Brothers

This was absolutely stupid - worth a few laughs but definitely not on the list of movies that I desire to watch again...

Don't Mess With the Zohan

I watched the first ten minutes of the movie. That was too much. If I could find a way to reclaim that time, I would.

Wall-E

I love this film! I am so going to add it to my DVD collection when prices go down a bit and I get back to Aus! Quality film - it encompasses anything you could possibly desire from a cartoon: original story of a Sci Fi nature, cool talking robots, fat people, space, action, suspense, and of course, a happily ever after! The biblical connotations in this story are not to be sneezed at either :)

Wanted

Truth be told, this movie was cut off when we were landing with less than half an hour that I had not watched. I will here talk of the whole movie though. An interesting idea, lots of action, and honour given back to some of the bad guys. It is easy to spoiler this movie as it has a couple of twists so I will just go general: Ok film, not too good ending... Yeah worth watching once, maybe twice but not one for the shelf!

I did watch another movie, but can't for the life of me recall what it was...it obviously made a deep impression on me! lol!

Well then, that covers the way to London...I guess I should say what we did in England...so then, we got off the plane, caught a train to terminals 1, 2 and 3 and then bought bus tickets to Woking. We got on the bus quarter of an hour later and arrived at Woking to watch the train we were meant to be on arrive and leave the station while we were still in the line. Typical! lol! So, unperturbed, I went to Barclays bank to close down my English bank accounts which were just eathing my money and withdrew my last 18 pounds and 37 pence and shut them down with the help of a nice lady from WA. I then walked back to the station and my brother James, buying some 'Steak bake's on the way - they were great! Kinda like flat pies with really nice pastry and steak and gravy inside! So anyway, we then got on the train and caught it to Yeovil Junction where we met Grandpa. Then follows some interesting days...

Firstly, it must be said that Grandpa and Moya are Quakers. They are used to silence...and lots of it. Secondly it must be said that they do not cook, but eat pre-prepared meals from Marks and Spencers. Though these are nice, the soup that they eat for lunch leaves much to be desired (especially the mushroom soup - it has rekindled my absolute dislike of fungus). Anyhow, we all somehow got through the weekend and made a good impression, with frequent walks in the nice, brisk English air to give them both some peace and quiet and much time spent sorting out their computer. Got through quite a bit of Les Mis there!

So anyhow, we then went back to the airport the same way as we had come and were pleasantly surprised when we were let off the bus at terminal 5 instead of having to go to terminals 1,2 and 3 again and catch the train to terminal 5. Oh yes, and we enjoyed real foor for lunch, in the form of...you guessed it! Steak Bakes! Another exciting thing is that in the UK you can check in online for domestic flights and just shove your bags in when you get to the airport and not have to queue for so long! YAY!

SO we got on the plane to Washington and I watched a few more movies, No Les Mis on this flight, I was kinda not in a reading book mood...

Firstly, I finished the last half hour or so of Wanted, as I said earlier, the ending was slightly disappointing but, hey!

Hell Boy II

This was great - as ridiculous as the first, but good fun! I thought a couple of events were just too 'convenient' but apart from that, a pleasing prospect! I would watch it again definitely *hint to Amanda to get the second one when its cheaper* ;)

Journey to the Centre of the Earth

This was a great film! I don't know whether I was just tired, but although the story line left much to be desired, it was a heaps fun film! It really made me want to read the book! It would have been improved with some more time, but a really good kids film!

Mamma Mia

I thought it was OK the first time I watched it and I felt like listening to Abba so I watched it. I don't know if I could cope with watching it a third time. It is a fun movie - Pierce Brosnan singing Abba is, however something I still can't get used to - but it just kinda annoys me. I hate the way that whats-her-name the main character moves when she sings - most noticeably in Mamma Mia and Dancing Queen...It also really annoys me how Colin Firth is gay. and how they all lose their shirts at the end...at least Kirk loses his shirt in times of grave danger and battle - these guys are just stupid!

I also watched an episode of Friends...funny but not much more.

Well, we then arrived in Washington and waited for mum to come puck us up...she didn't realise the time lol then she got lost...but we got home in the end and ate omelette and went to bed!

Okies, well that is my holidays so far, so fare thee well!

Cheerio ^.^

MYC banner

2008-11-04T20:48:00.002+11:00

2008-10-22T09:11:00.001+11:00

2008-08-12T20:25:00.003+10:00

Harrods hires security snake

2007-09-12T21:07:00.000+10:00

Harrods worker Maggie Bartram watches Cedric, a highly aggressive and deadly Egyptian Cobra, which was brought in to guard a precious Rene Caovilla sandal.

September 12, 2007

A London department store went to great lengths to protect a luxury shoe collection - with the help of a live cobra.

The slippery security guard was on duty for yesterday's launch of exclusive footwear including a $152,000 pair of ruby, sapphire, and diamond encrusted Rene Caovilla sandals.

Whether hiring a poisonous snake is, strictly speaking, the most effective means of guarding haute couture shoes might be a moot point with security experts.

But it makes for an effective photo opportunity.

A spokeswoman for Harrods admitted that the cobra had been hired strictly for yesterday's launch.

"The snake has now been returned to its owner," she said.

So no need to fear snake bites at the shoe counter, then.

"Not unless you're a burglar."

AFP

The Return of the Alien Song...

2007-06-08T16:23:00.000+10:00

I love procrastination... thanks Kathryn!

The Plural of...

2007-05-16T18:19:00.001+10:00

Platypus.

Not
Platypuses.

Not
Platypi

But
Platypodes!

It is derived from two greek words meaning 'flat' πλατι and 'foot' πους.

Huzzah for knowledge!

Fate is Conspiring against Us...

2007-04-28T10:25:00.000+10:00

Japanese fleeced in poodle scam

2007-04-28T10:14:00.001+10:00

Sydney Morning Herald April 26, 2007 - 8:43PM

Thousands of Japanese have been swindled in a scam in which they were sold Australian and British sheep and told they were poodles, The Sun newspaper reported today.

Flocks of sheep were imported to Japan and then sold by a company called Poodles as Pets, marketed as fashionable accessories, available at $1,600 each.

That is a snip compared to a real poodle which retails for twice that much in Japan.

The scam was uncovered when Japanese moviestar Maiko Kawamaki went on a talk-show and wondered why her new pet would not bark or eat dog food.

She was crestfallen when told it was a sheep.

Then hundreds of other women got in touch with police to say they feared their new "poodle" was also a sheep.

One couple said they became suspicious when they took their "dog" to have its claws trimmed and were told it had hooves.

Japanese police believe there could be 2,000 people affected by the scam, which operated in Sapporo and capitalised on the fact that sheep are rare in Japan, so many do not know what they look like.

"We launched an investigation after we were made aware that a company were selling sheep as poodles," Japanese police said, the The Sun reported.

"Sadly we think there is more than one company operating in this way.

"The sheep are believed to have been imported from overseas - Britain, Australia."

Many of the sheep have now been donated to zoos and farms.

AAP

βαλλε εις κορακας!

2007-04-23T20:11:00.000+10:00

Heya everyone! Here is a post about the coolest saying in the world! βαλλε εις κορακας! It basically means 'go to the crows' and is similar to 'jump off a cliff''. Metaphorically speaking it means that you should die and have the crows pick at your flesh... lol! How awesome is that!

It is pronounced baller eis korakas... yayness!

Another coolness saying: ωοπ οπ which is kinda like 'heave ho' it is pronounces oh-op op... lol! The keleusta used to chant it so that the people rowing the triremes would pull in time!

Yay there is the end of the coolest history lesson ever!

Janken Pon

2007-04-12T18:57:00.000+10:00

the game starts by both players chanting "saisho wa Guu!" (最初はぐう！) ("starting with the stone!") while pumping their fists to synchronize the moves. They repeat the same pumping while chanting "jan ken pon!". On "pon", the players show a fist for "rock" (Guu/ぐう^?), index and middle fingers extended in a V for "scissors" (Choki/ちょき^?), or all fingers extended for "paper" (Paa/ぱあ^?).

Ties are broken by repeated plays, either accompanied by two more fist pumps with "aiko desho!" (あいこでしょ！^?) ("isn't that a tie!") or the more rapid single-pump with "pon!".

Congrats Manda, but remember that in English, it is I who is the Reigning Champion!

2007-03-19T22:40:00.000+11:00

I was planning on posting about the Murder Mystery - but after Kate's wonderful rendition, how could I, a lowly Ancient Historian who has mortal enemies, compete with such a literary masterpiece? I was honoured to have Professor Adcock so eager to end my existance then and there - Lady Murtos was later quite disappointed that it had not come to pass!

hopefully we can implement Doug's suggestion to make some serious money for these things (Hopefully Kate and Bec won't mind writing one every week! muahaha!)

Also please remember the trials I was submitted to to take a half decent photo of you all! Some people never learn *ahempeteanddoughemhem* not to mention any names of course!

Toad-in-the-Gloop

2007-03-07T20:03:00.000+11:00

Aim: To make a delicious Toad-in-the-Gloop

Equipment: 1 lb sausages ¼ cup flour

1 egg 1 cup milk

Salt Dripping (butter works)

1 tblspn iced water baking dish or casserole dish

Large mixing bowl

Method:

The flour and milk were measured out and combined with the salt and egg in the mixing bowl. A pinch of salt was added. The mixture was then left to stand until it had reached room temperature. Enough dripping or butter was then heated to cover the bottom of the casserole dish, and the sausages were lightly cooked. The water was then added to the mixture and the mixture was then poured over the sausages. It was then baked in a hot oven for thirty minutes. It was served immediately.

Conclusion: Toad-in-the-Gloop was made successfully.

The Quote of the Sister

2007-03-06T22:58:00.001+11:00

Well, tonight we were cleaning up after dinner when Kate asked;

"Where does this go??" holding up the one-armed-bandit for all to see
"In with the Condiments" said Emily
"Why don't you just call it 'spread'" said I in my infinite wisdom
"no! Condiments includes sauce" replied Emily
"sauce spreads!" Kate interjected at this point
Emily snaps back: "so do bush fires but you don't keep them in the cupboard!!!"

hehehe - go to bed Em!!!