Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Not much to report over the last couple of days. Victoria went to the paedetrician (spelling?) yesterday to get Joseph checked out and everything is fine which is good news. Otherwise, just been catching up at work after the quiet week last week.Monday, April 28, 2003
When you're too tired to read, this is quite a good site that is a portal for photo blogs around the world. Some of the pictures are amazing and put out humble efforts to shame. Hurray for digital cameras.
MrT 4/30/2003 12:16:00 pm [+] : Feedback!
Back to work, which is a bit of a shame, as I was getting used to a three day week. Spent ANZAC day with Mark and Aleta and then had a relaxing weekend. Joseph was pretty good over the weekend and so we mostly ate, drank, watched video's and of course surfed the Internet. We're just wondering at the moment whether to move house when the lease expires here. If we do, then we might move back into an apartment where there is a gym and swimming pool. It would be nice for Vic or me to steal down for an hour in the evening or at the weekend for a quick "workout" ( i.e. laze around in the jacuzzi and have a quick shower! ).Friday, April 25, 2003
Check out this apartment just up the road. Includes plasma TV and spa bath - could be going a bit far.
MrT 4/28/2003 11:10:00 am [+] : Feedback!
Joseph says "Hello to eveyone!".
MrT 4/25/2003 12:14:00 pm [+] : Feedback!
OZ Icons: Part 2 - The ANZACs
On ANZAC day, I thought it would be appropriate that Part 2 in my OZ Icons series should aim to find out a little more about the ANZACs. The verse on the main memorial in St Martin's place in the city reads....
"They shall not grow old,
As we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, And in the morning. We will remember them."
This website probably gives the most accurate account of the recruitment of the ANZacs and their part in the landing at Gallipoli. Many other accounts exaggerate the losses suffered ( although substantial enough in reality ) and also the relationship between the ANZ, British and French forces. Those still opposed to the British imply that the ANZ forces were used as canon fodder and their placement was not sufficiently planned. Whilst the latter seems true, this seems more by ineptitude than design, and in reality many more British and French soldiers were killed than ANZACs.
The words of Australian prime minister at the time, Joseph Cook gives a more accurate view of the sentiment at the time...
"If the Old Country is at war, so are we."
and
"Our duty is quite clear - to gird up our loins and remember that we are Britons."
I'm not quite sure what girding up your loins actually entails, but it sounds brave and in population percentage terms, the level of support the ANZACS gave to the war effort certainly justifies this day of commeroration.
MrT 4/25/2003 01:13:00 am [+] : Feedback!
Holiday ProgramThursday, April 24, 2003
Reading Lucy's website reminds me how lucky we are to be in Sydney. Yes, we've been to most of those places apart from Otto's which was just out of our price range! As you know, we live in the middle of Paddington, and Oxford Street is our main local high street. A bit dangerous with all of those classy clothes and shoe shops! Although Vic, has been very restrained so far, although that might be party due to her pregnant state over the last nine months.
Paddington Market is also on this stretch, and this is where I came up with yet another of my money making schemes. Paddington is quite a trendy and yuppieish type of area - and also has quite a high concentration of ex-pats. One thing it lacks is a good old fashioned English Indian ( if you know what I mean. ). I thought that I could make some homemade curries, chutneys etc , package them up and then sell them at Paddington Market. I bet they would go down like a storm, just like the ones used to York Farmers market in Parliament Square. Apparently though, it's pretty difficult to get a store and even harder to get a store selling food. Still, a good idea for someone with a bit more time on their hands.
We might be going down to Wollamaloo today for the ANZAC celebrations, it sounds like they were staying at Hotel W which is the new hotel they built on the finger wharf. It's where most of the movie celebs and music stars stay and it's v. posh. Craig David has just finished on tour and he stayed there and Russell Crowe's house is in this area too.
MrT 4/25/2003 12:50:00 am [+] : Feedback!
Birthday GreetingsWednesday, April 23, 2003
Happy Birthday Andy! Hope you have a great day and weekend, buy yourself something nice and treat yourself to a few Paul Weller's from me.
MrT 4/24/2003 12:08:00 pm [+] : Feedback!
Why you should never admit to Morris Dancing on your CVMonday, April 21, 2003
Got a letter from the Inland Revenue a couple of days ago confirming that they owe me 2,000. I think I will get it framed.
Have been interviewing at work for a replacement for the technical support person in Melbourne, as Symon who has the role currently is moving to France in a couple of month's time. So far, there have been over 70 applicants and so I am busy wading through CVs. There have some quite unusual ones. One chap's first line read.
"Employ me and you won't be dissipated".
Well I certainly don't want to be dissipated, but I wonder if he meant disappointed.
Someone's CV was 37 pages and he had only just left University. He put down every course, the tutor, a summary of each lecture and his final marks. Another CV read....
"I am looking forward to a successful career in the Biochemistry industry."
It would almost be worth employing him, to see how long it would take him to find out that Xpedite is in fact a messaging company rather than a Biotech company.
In actual fact, the reality is that you only spend about 30-60 seconds on each CV, I look for qualifications, experience, personality and maybe the X-factor which could be charity work, mastery of a musical instrument, foreign language or academic achievement. I tend to automatically avoid anything that sounds a "bit weird" such as awards for morris dancing or annual pilgramages to Isreal. Just thought you should know, in case you were planning on applying for a job at Xpedite in the near future.
MrT 4/23/2003 11:40:00 am [+] : Feedback!
Patterns of SleepSaturday, April 19, 2003
Being a bit of a scientist, I have been trying to determine Joseph's patterns of sleep or at least restfulness. This has been harder than expected, and I don't think I have cracked the formula - yet. Today, we went up to Oxford Street to take the weekend DVDs back and he slept through all of the hustle and bustle. We even got to stop for some lunch and a coffee at FOTO. Joseph slept through it all, a busy coffee shop with people pushing past the pushchair all the time.
And yet....
In the quiet of the night, when there are really no distractions, the slightest noise will wake him. Turning over in bed, the low murmer of a far off fog horn in the harbour, a late night taxi passing over a speed bump outside.
Ah well, I'm not complaing, over the last week or so, he has settled into much more of a routine and every day we can see him growing and becoming more and more interested in his surroundings.
On saturday, we had our first trip to David Jones in town to get some warmer clothers and bedding as there was a sale on. It all went pretty smoothly, so that's given us a bit more confidence to venture out a bit more often.
It's been nice having these four days off, it makes the weekend a lot more civilized knowing that you don't have to go to work on Monday. We've got this Friday off too this week, as it's ANZAC day - I wonder if we will find anywhere to play 2-uppies this year.
MrT 4/21/2003 11:42:00 am [+] : Feedback!
By popular request, have added a few more photographs. Click on "Photo Album" above to view them.Thursday, April 17, 2003
MrT 4/19/2003 12:11:00 pm [+] : Feedback!
OZ Icons: Part 1 - Victoria BitterWednesday, April 16, 2003
I thought perhaps I should start to record some of things that we have picked up about the Australian lifestyle and so evey so often I'll pick something that I think is unique about living in Sydney or in Australia.
What better way to start than Victoria Beer. Typically Australian lager is very much stronger than our equivalent with most beers weighing in at 5-6%. Despite this the lagers are very light and quaffable provided they are served at exteremely cold temperatures. In most pubs, the pumps are covered in about 1cm of ice as the beer is cooled to such a low temperature. Beer is normally served in two sizes, the schooner and the midi. The former is just over half a pint, the latter just under - both are highly convenient sizes for a sly drink if one has ten minutes to kill whilst waiting for a pizza for instance.Victoria Bitter has been Australia's favourite full strength beer brand for many years. VB, as it is widely known, was launched in the 1890s and since then has developed a reputation as a great beer with a tradition of rewarding Australians who work and play hard.
Ironically what we might consider as Australian lagers such as Fosters and XXXX are barely found and where they do appear are generally shunned by the locals.
The VB advert is classic Australian - you can listen to it here.
MrT 4/17/2003 12:31:00 pm [+] : Feedback!
We've enjoyed watching River Cottage Forever, a telecast which we can pick up on the Lifestyle channel over here. I'm sorry, but you can keep Jamie Oliver - this just seems more real and honest. I know he is probably stinking rich and it's all probably filmed in a set in West London, but the programs are somehow old fashioned and re-assuring, and have taken over from Bargain Hunt as our essential weekly viewing.Tuesday, April 15, 2003
I will have to watch my growing cynism, I do still feel a bit guilty about acusing Stuart Hughes of "faking it". Even I have to admit that the pictures of the stump and the artificial limb are quite convincing!
We received a small package from Sarah and Peter this morning, some designer shoes no less, Joseph will have no problems picking up the chicks on his next visit to the Royal.
The news channels here are now of course talking up Australia's part in the liberaton of Iraq. Although during the war, they had a daily news story on how they had flown over ( at great expense ) a group of trained dolphins to search for mines underwater. Every day, they would interview the trainer who would say how intelligent these animals were. Anyway, they finally got round to releasing them and only one of the four dolphins returned. The others no doubt sailing off into the sunset - thinking sod that for a game of soldiers.
The next day, the Australian officer gave a classic quote. "Well at the end of the day, they are just fish."
MrT 4/16/2003 12:29:00 pm [+] : Feedback!
Joseph a bit unsettled today....looking forward to Easter break.Monday, April 14, 2003
MrT 4/15/2003 02:32:00 pm [+] : Feedback!
Had a relaxing weekend and we even managed to sit down and watch Ya Ya Sisterhood video, which was a bit girly but quite good. I listened to some of the director's commentary on DVD, you don't realise how much work actually goes into the smallest musical or visual detail.Friday, April 11, 2003
After talking to Mum on the phone, I re-read Stuart Hughes Blogspot. I was getting mixed up - I don't think this one was a fake at all, it was a completely different site that I had read about that had been exposed.
Joseph made his first appearance on WebTV last night and seemed to enjoy the limelight - perhaps he has a future in broadcasting.
Long Easter weekend, and then Anzac day next Friday - is it a year since we were playing 2 uppies?
MrT 4/14/2003 01:11:00 pm [+] : Feedback!
MrT 4/11/2003 11:51:00 am [+] : Feedback!
Thursday, April 10, 2003
MrT 4/11/2003 11:41:00 am [+] : Feedback!
Looks like Joe isn't allergic to chocolate after all, rather the mixture of anti-biotics that Vic was prescribed. Anyway, the course has finished and now he is sleeping and settling a lot lot better. Another package waiting at the post office - this is better than christmas!Tuesday, April 08, 2003
MrT 4/10/2003 11:09:00 am [+] : Feedback!
Most mornings,it's a toss-up between walking a short way up a very steep hill to get the bus, or walking a longer distance over a less steep hill to get the train. Most days I plump for the train, I get the train from Edgecliff station into the city - it takes about ten minutes. Anyway, no matter what time I am at the station, there's a busker who sings a few classics with a guitar powering out the ballads. He's actually got a pretty good voice and I often drop a dollar in if it's a song I know on my way past. When I walked past this morning, the guy in front of me dropped in a "Buy 1 Big Mac, Get 1 free voucher", which I thought was a bit cheap.Monday, April 07, 2003
More lovely clothes arrived from the Colliers this morning and Anne and Geoff, Joseph definately has a bigger wardrobe than me now, although he does get through a few changes a day when he spills his favourite aftershave, L`eau de wee all over them.
MrT 4/08/2003 12:15:00 pm [+] : Feedback!
First day back at work (again) today, which actually wasn't too bad, apart from the predictable backlog of e-mails (1,121) even though I had my vacation mailer on.Sunday, April 06, 2003
Joe was a bit unsettled today, and Vic thinks she has made the link with her consuming chocolate and Joe being unsettled. I hope this is not true - for his sake.
Heard a good joke from Lenny Henry ( via the television, not in person ), it went something like this. A man goes into one of those new digital photographic labs and he hands the attendant a photograph. He said,
"Can you make an exact copy of that photograph, apart from in the copy can you remove my father's bowler hat?"
The attendant said,
"Sure, I just need to know which way your father parts his hair"
To which the man replied,
"You'll find that out when you remove the bowler hat."
Get it?
The Melbourne comedy festival has been on this week, and some of the stand-up comics have been quite funny, I liked an Irish guy called Jimeoin, you can hear some of his clips here.
MrT 4/07/2003 02:00:00 pm [+] : Feedback!
Saturday, April 05, 2003
Here's a quick picture of Joe on his second birthday ( second week that is ), sorry there haven't been too many photos recently. Vic keeps telling me off for getting up close and flashing him with the camera whilst he's trying to get some sleep. All is well here, although it's back to work tommorrow. Last night, we watched Goldmember and I cooked toad in the hole, the Yorkshires, sausages and gravy were perfect, but the mash and the brocolli was a bit of a write off. Ahh well.
This is quite an interesting weblog written by one of the journalists holed up in Northern Iraq, on blogger as well.
MrT 4/06/2003 04:34:00 am [+] : Feedback!
