random

Listening to some OC Supertones while I be a nerd. I tend to think that OC Supertones are [were] the best ska band. Does anyone care to dispute?

Upgraded my site to WP 2.6 this evening. There’s a couple of cool additions… but nothing substantially awesome. The 2.5 update was the best in my mind - the admin interface was nearly perfect after that upgrade.

But sadly, the WP dashboard don’t work on the iPhone Safari. I’ve been searching for a nice iPhone app or WP plugin to make that happen. I think the answer is definitely here in the WordPress for iPhone app - a native app for the iPhone which you just configure with your blog details. Very cool. But sadly, not released as of yet.

In the meantime, I’ve found WPhone - a WordPress plugin that you install on your server, and then activate. Once activated, when you login from your iPhone, you can just check a box that activates a very cutdown version of the admin pages, and actually works pretty well. I like it so far.

edit: while playing around with WordPress things, I thought a new theme would be fun too. Just need to work out why Twitter isn’t working anymore.

And since I’ve done all that nerdiness tonight, I’m going to have some fun with a meme. It has been a while. Some of the questions are a bit stupid, but still fun.

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page of search results, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into FD’s mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favourite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favourite colour?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favourite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favourite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

meme

I thought last night as I was feeling very sleepy, “tomorrow’s gonna be a good day.” I have no meetings, no massive issues hanging around my customers, and we get to have Pancakes on the Rocks for lunch too! I’m counting down to that one - only an hour away now. Yum.

And speaking of nice places to eat… b and I headed for Chilis in Wenty on Friday night to have some bottomless chips and dip, bottomless drinks, and food too. But it was quite tragic to arrive, find all the lights off, and then a handwritten sign on the door saying “Restaurant closed. For information, contact [accountant's business card].” And Chili’s Australia website is no longer existant either. Gonna miss that place. Many fun times were had there.

I have enjoyed being able to hang out with Debbie a lot lately. I went round to her place on Monday afternoon after work. She cooked a quite awesome Romano Chicken, which I’d never heard of before… but had 3 large servings of it cos it was so good. And then yesterday, a well timed meeting in Belmore finished up at 3:30pm and so I was home just after 4pm. Debs came round again and we headed off to my Mum & Dad’s place for dinner and a game of Taboo, which, despite my debates, Debbie and I suck at. Good times though.

Work has been pretty decent lately. Monday was a very big day, but only cos I made it that. There was a couple of major issues that had been hanging around for far too long, and so I just decided I wanted to get absolutely everything cleaned up on Monday. It meant for a very intense and full on day, but a very satisfying one nonetheless. I also heard good news about new job starting in mid-May for me on Friday. And it’s been planned out very well so that I can handover my current job to someone over a two week period, which will mean it won’t be stressful at all. Love it.

It seems everyone’s getting on twitter now. Even 131500 have a twitter page where they post Cityrail delays and updates. Cool.

And Playjerise are playing a show again… hooray! I wanted to see them in February when they were playing at a pub up in Katoomba… but I ended up going go-karting instead. Looking forward to seeing them - they are an amazing live duo.

That is about all. Hmm, that was a post with a lot of substance. There is a blog I want to write about Fall Out Boy… but I will save that for another time.

Wondering what’s doing tonight. I’m thinking pizza and bludging. Debbie is off dancing the night away in the city at a hens’ night, and two of three of my housemates have already ventured out for the evening.

Had a second visit to Rouse Hill shops this arvo - with Debbie this time. Afterwards, as we just hung out at her place, she napped while I played with yet another new fun mobile phone toy: HTC Touch Dual 850. It’s a pretty sweet phone - quite small for a PDA, and it’s slide out semi-qwerty keyboard. But the coolest bit is it’s nicer touch-screen interface than other Windows Mobile devices - it means you can actually use your fingers to do things and not rely on a stylus. It’s certainly no iPhone, but it’s going to be fun using it next week at work :)

Benny Hinn is a preacher from the US. A preacher who travels to many countries and cities around the world to preach to millions, and heal too. I’ve never read or found out much about Benny Hinn… aside from seeing his TV show on at 5am on TV. But last night I found out that he’d recently been up in Brisbane. And there was an article on smh about the event up there, and one person’s [very unfair] view on the evening.

God, Power and Money.

Certainly on my blog, I am going to choose to not have an opinion on Benny Hinn and that article. Doesn’t stop it being a very interesting read though.

I do want to have an opinion about it, but in my mind, those sorts of discussions ought to be had between me and close, wise Christian friends… and are definitely not something that I, as a Christian, should share in a public forum.

Just wanted to make it clear that I wasn’t chickening out on having an opinion about it. :)

Good News Week returns in less than a week! Very exciting stuff indeed. And it’s excellent that both Paul McDermott and Mikey Robbins returning too :D

It’s almost making me nervous though, having been a huge fan in its final years… cos it has huge potential to dismally fail in every way. Admitedly, there haven’t been a whole lot of Australian TV slaughterings by the commercial networks in the last 12 months or so (nowhere near as many as there were a couple of years ago), but there’s still a chance that if it doesn’t do well in its first two weeks, Channel 10 will send it to the dark depths of 10:30 Thursday night or something.

I am hoping for some cool new things… but that they’d still retain some of the goodness from years gone by - just to satisfy the fans who know it got taken to TV heaven prematurely seven years ago.

My wishlist for old things that might return:

• Buzzers of death. Best. game. ever.
• Mark Trevorrow singing.
• Multiple really good music spots in each episode.
• Sandman and Flacco monologues.
• Big musical cover finale pieces where Paul sings.
• Awesome guests. Rhys Muldoon. Amanda Keller. James O’Loghlin. Natasha Stott-Despoja. But no Rove please.

While I loved GNW when it was around 8 years ago, I never made it along to a recording. And so I am incredibly excited that I get to go see it be recorded on the 15th March. I’m quite jealous that Jen & Howie managed to score tickets to the first episode though…

Howie will be proud.

Today was International Delete Your Myspace Page day. And so I did. With a few minutes to spare. :)

I was trying to work out what I wanted to blog about. I just got home and want to write something… but I don’t know what.

Headed out to Castle Hill tonight with Debbie, Aleesha, Kate and Mark to have coffee and then to see Juno. Still not really sure about that movie… I laughed, it had some cool one-liners, but it was right up there with Napolean Dynamite for the random factor. Except it did have a storyline.

I have enjoyed praying a lot lately. It’s a cool thing to do… and I’ve discovered that just driving and praying, while possibly slightly distracting, is also cool. It’s awesome to just talk out loud to God. At least to anyone on the outside of my car it would just look like I’m singing :)

Ok, there’s two paragraphs… that will do.

I have been thinking a lot lately that, I must have done something right.

I needed a Scrubs fix. And so I thought I’d share.

Thought I’d share with you some of the photos I’ve taken today…

daytime shot of the table at the cafe

twilight shot of the beach steps. I just love the look of these.

twilight/dusk shot of a pair of almost symmetrical palm trees

I love the shots that the camera does in daytime - they’re just fantastic. When you get into the twilight/dusk shots though, you start to notice a little bit of a diminishment in quality. Still, pretty fantastic for a phone.

“Unfortunately, these days, when someone apologises, it is seen as … an admission of guilt.”
[Anil Kumble, Indian cricket team captain - smh]

What a wonderful quote! I’m glad I’ve now learnt that apologising has nothing to do with accepting that you did something wrong.

My Triple J Hottest 100 votes went as follows:

Cat Empire - Fishies
Cat Empire - So Many Nights
Grinspoon - Black Tattoo
Grinspoon - Business=Pleasure
Living End, The - Rising Sun
Missy Higgins - 100 Round The Bends
Missy Higgins - Steer
Missy Higgins - Warm Whispers
My Chemical Romance - Teenagers
Regurgitator - Blood And Spunk

Am I predictable or what?

… we have a handball tournament!

Steve was the champion of the day - he cleaned Rollo and I up with a score of 20 [him] to 10 [Rollo] to 5 [me]. It was quite a bit of fun, and there will almost certainly be rematches… probably this afternoon actually. Rollo and I just needed to warm up. Really.

Booyah for fun with a tennis ball.

The very last season of Scrubs is currently airing in the US. But like many TV shows over there, things stopped happening in the background when this writers’ strike kicked in - no new episodes were getting written, and the episodes that were written stopped being made. Out of the 22 episode season that was commissioned, only 16 have been written… potentially leaving a gaping hole as to how the show will end.

But after some hunting around on Google News, it was good to see that although the episodes still haven’t been written, Bill Lawrence [the show's creator and EP] is going to make sure show finishes:

But rest assured, the series will get its proper farewell, strike or no strike. Bill said they have not yet written the last six, but they’re already outlined, and he knows how it will all play out. “We’re not going to leave a lot of loose ends undone. We’re gonna wrap things up for all the fans that have stuck with us for seven years. I’m going to find a way. I imagine the [final season] DVD would actually sell a lot better if it includes a few unseen episodes. And if it doesn’t make economic sense to do that, we’ll shoot ‘em in my backyard and put ‘em on YouTube.”
E! Online [warning - season 7 spoilers follow]

There is some goodness inamongst the crazyness of the last minute corporate customer requests…

• Purchase of new Veronicas’ album - it seems to be quite catchy.
• Purchase of Spice Girls album - how can you not remember all the words to these songs?! So incredibly 90s and great memories of me growing up.
  (I promise I’m straight)
• And the best bit of all… in a few hours, I will be able to see the amazing Playjerise and Tim Freedman filling my ears with glorious lyrics and smooth tunes.

There’s a good chance this is my favourite Scrubs moment after 6 seasons.
And this whole musical episode of Scrubs is just about one of the best moments in comedy television… ever.

Crazy crazy storm that swept western Sydney tonight. We watched in speechless awe as the incredibly large hailstones fell. It was deafening out the back as the hail hit the carport roof; and out the front it was scary as we watched the massive hailstones hit our cars.

edit: You can see them in my Facebook if you like.

• The following phrase will ring proud in your heart forever: “And the winner is… SYDE-NEY!”
• If you live on the Northern Beaches, crossing the bridge is for special occasions only, and a mission at that.
• Comparatively, Shire-ites experience this feeling in crossing Tom Ugly’s.
• You’ve hugged the “free hugs” guy who spreads the love at Pitt St Mall
• You know the dude who stands at the corner or George and Market Streets outside Myer, pleading for money for his “Supreme Court Trial”.
• You’ve never done bridge climb, and you’re never planning on it.
• “At night, rave near the guard’s compartment, naked with a blue light” means something to you.
• You went on multiple school camps at Narrabeen
• In what could only be described as some form of punishment, you went on a school camp to Canberra, complete with visit to Parliament House and that damn lake with the big fountain. Thanks to this trip, however, we know never to bother going to Canberra AGAIN.
• The best trips were always the school camps to Jindabyne!
• Still on school: you had multiple visits from a giraffe who called himself “Harold”.
• “No hat no play” being drilled into your head made you the UV-aware person that you are today.
• You can understand just what the train guards are saying on the PA announcements (For the record, it’s usually: “Stand clear, doors closing”)
• You haven’t been to the zoo, except on a primary school excursion where you threw stuff at the animals. (or alternatively.. zoo? what zoo?)
• You know that the “Bra Boys” are anything BUT cross-dressers.
• You can pronounce and spell the following: Coogee, Woolloomooloo, Wollongong, Parramatta, Woronora, Warawee, Wahroonga, Waitara, Yagoona
• You know that Turramurra and Tamarama are two different places.
• The sight of drag queens does not phase you.
• If the train is expected in ten minutes or less you figure CityRail is having a good day!
• The beauty of the harbour does not surprise you
• Riding the ferry is not for leisure or pleasure, but a mode of transport.
• However…You don’t even use the ferry as a form of transport because its too slow.
• You know what tzatziki, baklava, hommous, yum-cha, pad thai, dolmades, tabbouleh and pide are and you’ve eaten all of them.
• You know how to say hello (and possibly some swear words) in at least one language other than English. Most likely Croat/Serb/Bosnian/Macedonian, Greek, Arabic and possibly Indonesian or Chinese.
• You see a guy wearing pink, and don’t automatically think he’s gay
• You know straight men can drink soy lattés, too.
• You’ve heard the following uttered from a dog statue: “Hello my name is Ivan, I was once the dog of the great Queen Victoria……..If you toss a coin in I will thank you. Thank you. Woof Woof!”
• You NEVER catch the monorail and think it’s a useless, expensive-to-catch piece of crap. Monorail = so 80s.
• You know it might be quicker to walk from Central to Circular Quay at any given time than catch a bus down George St or a train.
• You’re scared that when you walk past Town Hall steps at any given time, two dozen emo children are going commit mass suicide, declaring “It’s a cruel, cruel world, maaaan.”
• You think: what is it with P-Plated Subaru WRXs on George St Friday and Saturday nights. And Industrie shirts with the collars up.
• Fireworks just don’t get you excited anymore. Here’s a short list of the occasions for which the City of Sydney has/has had fireworks.-Australia Day-Anzac Day-NYE (x2)-The Sydney Harbour Bridge’s birthday-Queen’s Birthday-ANZAC Day-When the QE2 departed Sydney Harbour-The Easter Show… oh not just one night, but each and every night!-Chinese New Year-The Australian Idol Grand Finale (every year!)-Rugby League Games 
• The Easter Show is something that’s only okay to go to until you’re 16, and only after that if you’re taking your OWN kids.
• Following on from the Easter Show, you think Showbags at the Show are a waste of money, but still end up with almost more than you can carry.
• It’s not called the Underground, the metro, the tube or the subway, but it’s just called “the train”.
• You know it’s pronounced Circular “Key” not “Kway”.
• You hate the State Labor Government, but somehow they still keep getting elected. They promise change; it doesn’t come. Then they get re-elected.
• You wear a scarf/gloves/beanie/puffer jacket when the temperature hits below 18 degrees.
• You laugh when people say they’re from “The Shire”. 

Australia’s top five ways to accidentally damage mobile phones.

Whilst I don’t think these stats use the most reliable source (“…According to Telstra customer service consultants…”), it is still quite humourous to read an account of a guy who went back to get his mobile after back burning a sugar cane field - it was just a little burnt. But it still worked! Pic here.

“New mobile phones … are packed with the latest technology so you need to treat them with respect, as you would a computer or a fine bottle of wine.”

Not quite sure how a mobile phone compares to a bottle of wine… but ok. :)

edit: smh article.

Interesting.

Howie posted this today: Kevin 007 - The Man With The Golden Jaw.

He’s from Queensland and he’s here to help. Kevin Rudd meets his old enemy John Howard, star of “Never Say Never Again” and “Lazarus Lives Thrice”.

And I stumbled across this today as well… Have you ever wondered how different 24 would’ve been if it were made 10 years ago? Wonder no more - 24: The Unaired 1994 Pilot.

Steve and I went on a shopping date into Blacktown. I got distracted by Game and ended up buying me a new Xbox game :) I bought Sega Rally… Yep, that game that was so popular at Timezone is now been given a new lease of life on the PS3 and Xbox 360!

If you buy it expecting it to be a simulation rally game, then you’ll be extremely disappointed. But I bought it remembering that Sega Rally was never simulation game, and fully expecting an arcade game. And that it was. It has kept so much of what made Sega Rally fantastic more than 10 years ago… the simple, fast tracks, basic cars, and just straight out racing against other cars. The tracks are slightly different from what I remember, but everything else is basically the same. It’s awesome. Probably a slight pity that it was $100, but still, awesome.

Not only was I flooded with memories of playing Sega Rally in Timezone when I was about 10 or 11, but a few things about it were extremely characteristic of V-Rally… another quality arcade style rally game of the mid-late 90s.

Ahh, amnesia lane.

mine:

• Metella Rd Public School - my primary school
• Toongabbie Baptist Church
• Apostrophe Protection Society - ahhh… people who understand me and don’t think I’m obssessive
• Sydney is better than Melbourne
• Signs of life west of Parramatta
• I grew up in Australia in the 90s
• Official Sydney live music scene
• Anything your PC can do, my Mac can do better
• How to stay classy: things I learnt from Ron Burgundy
• Sydney Christians who know each other because they’re Sydney Christians
• Greystanes High School - Class of ‘02 - my high school year
• ccbaps - Campbelltown Baptist Church… I know so many of these guys I feel like I’m a part of their church
• People who don’t sleep enough because they stay up late for no reason - me all over
• The Boys’ Brigade Australia
• I miss Australia’s Wonderland
• Bring back Captain Planet to stop global warming
• I appreciate Christian pick-up lines
• If you can’t differentiate between “your” and “you’re”, you deserve to die
• Coke good, Pepsi bad
• There’s no one cooler than the oldest sibling
• Sydney
• Blackstump Christian Music and Arts Festival
• You can take the kid outta Blacktown… - “For those who live, have lived, loved or have a connection to this western suburban paradise they’d rather not mention…”