Fug in the City

This outfit, case in point for why I hate SJP, and why I think everyone is mental when they rave on about her style. This is clearly fug, which is where I found it, and I think she is far from the style icon she is lauded.
*stomp*

Ryder

Ryder, originally uploaded by dataceptionist.

Oh so cute....

Can you guess????

Can you guess what these are......????
Click here for the horrifying answer.....

Yo, Taxi!~!

Rights and Responsibilities of Taxi Passengers

Your Rights

As a taxi user you have the right to:

• Decide on the route
• See the taxi meter
• Refuse multiple hiring
• Have the air conditioning on
• See the driver's photo identity card

Your driver should:

• Be courteous and helpful
• Know and obey all the traffic laws
• Be neat, clean and tidy
• Be wearing a uniform

Your taxi should be:

• Smoke free
• Clean and tidy
• Well maintained

Your Responsibilities

As a taxi user you must:

• Pay the correct fare, including any tolls and booking fees that apply
• Wear a seat belt at all times
• Not eat, drink or smoke in the taxi
• Not swear or act in an offensive way
• Not ask the driver to stop where it is illegal or unsafe to do so
• Ensure any children under 12 months are secured in an approved child restraint
• Please let the driver know if you need change for $50 or more.
• The driver can refuse to take you if you are likely to cause a nuisance or annoyance, or eating, drinking, smoking or unable to pay the estimated fare.
• If you dirty the taxi, the driver can charge you one hour's waiting fee for the cost of cleaning up

I found this link from the cab-blog I read (aussie) and I thought it was really interesting.
What's your worst taxi experience?

This Ain't a Mixtape....Right?

When I was in high school, a guy I knew and was friend with, made me a CD with all the these great songs of the nineties and older, it was awesome. I lost it for a while but I found it again the other day and I listen to it at work now. When he gave it to me, I was really appreicative, we were friends, not close, but friends. I'd only been to his place say twice, and both times in a group. Essentially I brushed it off, as his dad had the biggest CD collection I've ever seen, imagine a family room type area with floor to ceiling bookshelves full of CD's. It was incredible, his dad apparently wrote a catalogue program to keep track of all of them. He probably has them all as MP3's now, and his physical collection is redundant but it was still a big deal in school. He was a nice guy, typical of the guys I went to school with he was a little nerdy, but genuinely nice when he wasn't blowing shit up (an off shoot of under stimulated minds, even at "smart" schools)
My question now, possibly I'm overthinking it considering the first song is "Always" by Bon Jovi, and has always been a favourite of mine. But was he sweet on me and I've totally missed it until now? It was the equivalent of making a Mix Tape for someone, except its a CD and has 200 songs on it.
I never really thought about it at the time, I just accepted it and loved it. But he sat down and did that, for no return.

Am I only now just realising that I'm a complete moron, as I listen to "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet??

Switchback- Matthew Klein ****

A dark thriller about one man caught in an ever-tightening vice of his own making.
Timothy Van Bender, Yale graduate and hedge fund manager in Palo Alto, lives a magical life: his business mints money; his wife, Katherine, is beautiful and charming; his young sexy secretary, Tricia, greets him each morning with a flirtatious smile.

Then, one, Tuesday, everything changes. Timothy wakes to learn that his hedge fund has lost $24 million on a bad bet against the Japanese Yen. Timothy decides to double down and bet again. But the Yes keeps climbing, and his business investors start asking questions. With his company on the brink of collapse, he gets a call from his wife, who phones to say goodbye, moments before jumping off a cliff at Big Sur to her death. Timothy can't believe it, and nor, for that matter, can the police.

And that's when his troubles start. As the police investigate Timothy, he investigates his dead wife's secrets. But when Tricia shows up on Timothy's doorstep, claiming to be his dead wife, and knowing secrets that only Katherine could know, Timothy's not sure what, or whom, to believe. Has he been given a second chance at happiness or is he being played for a fool in an elaborate scam that may cost him his life?

Very good book, kept guessing until right at the end. Recommend. :)

4 / 5

Bring IT ON

Romance is a fickle beast

Construction Worker Still Hasn't Given Up On True Love

NEW YORK, NY —A hopeless romantic, Barbierri tries to touch upon the individual qualities of each woman he greets, from great legs to visible nipples.

When Larry did Paris

After reading this hilarious blow by blow of the Larry King - Paris Hilton interview, it beggers the question, is that really what it was like? I didn't watch it, or the horrid "highlights reel" they showed on A Current Affair or Today Tonight, {who keeps track of which stories which does, the only lasting memories are the switches between modulated and outraged tones of the presenters}.
Can anyone tell me? Was it really like watching paint dry? Is Larry King the worst interviewer in the world?
The next question I am prompted to ask myself, is why did I read it? Purely for the humour value I knew would be in the piece, or am I simply another Paris info junkie even though I tell myself I couldn't give a flying fug about her....
I guess I'll never know.

I must admit though, I can't stand Paris Hilton, and avoided the whole fiasco if I could (other than thinking the ridiculous American judicial system was shown for all its farcical glory the day they released her early) I did clap with glee when they put her back in and she seemed to be crying.
But another "major" event I also avoided, though not as studiously, and that was all the Diana events. *shrug* I just didn't really care. The thing on Sunday, the concert they showed on Monday, I was just mildly annoyed they yanked CSI off to show it (both nights!).
I did end up watching Brothers and Sisters for the first time on Monday night though, and found it quite an okay little show. Wouldn't not watch CSI for it, but worth a look.

funnies

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

spice up your life

Well you can't say you didn't hear it here first.
Well ok maybe you can, but as I predicted {lol}, THE SPICE GIRLS ARE REUNITING!!!!
And I for one, will be attending the Sydney leg of their tour when they come here.
BRING - IT - ON!

***i do reiterate however that I extremely surprised Posh Spice has agreed to the reunion, not quite like Robbie Williams and Take That (cold day in hell), but she's massive now. My personal theory is that she actually DOES think she can sing, and this is her outlet for that.
I speculate that she will do the tour, and then LEAVE the group, prompting the creation of "Cumin : The Search for the New Spice" the reality TV show where the contestants must create elaborate hairstyles and thigh high boots using nothing but their wits.
You heard it here first-I'm calling it***

Eddie Murphy father of Scary child

Eddie Murphy has apparently been DNA tested for the paternity of Scary Spice's baby daughter, and confirmed that yes, he went there.

In other Spicy news, the 90'd girl group has sparked speculation they will be reforming by calling a press conference next week.

Somehow though I can't imagine "Lady Posh"taking such a backward step as would necessitate her rejoining the group. She has a sweet life now, and everyone knows she was the one who couldn't sing! Although she has apparently recorded a new single.
Listen to a sneak preview HERE. Eek.

Looking at this though, is the world really ready for Spice Girls again?

I wanna really really really wanna zig a zig ahhhh....

Are you kidding me????

Some of you professionals out there will have, like me, a work email address that is your name with your company name as the domain for the email, for example miss.piggy@blondepigsdoitbetter.com.au can you believe in my new job, I getting SPAMMED by our customers to my address? I'm assuming some of them are simply guessing my email, but others, people I've actually given my email address to, send me junk!
And by Junk, I mean those crappy forwards that promise you an iPod if you send this email on, or I got one for a free laptop computer if you sent it on to 30 of your nearest and dearest friends {read: VICTIMS} I'm gobsmacked seriously, how unprofessional!!
Then I got another one that was flogging something like Trendwest. Goddammit!

Tanning beds are the root of all evil.

I've said it before, I'm saying it again, and this time with backup.

Full article here

....Cancer Council Victoria's SunSmart program manager, Kylie Strong, said the ultra-violet light projected by solariums was up to five times as dangerous as Victoria's midday summer sun..... VICTORIA'S booming tanning industry could be subject to government control for the first time as concerns grow over the risks of frequent solarium use.....

.....The current (voluntary) code advises that children under 15 and those with fair skin should be prohibited from using sunbeds, and that parental permission for those under 18 should be obtained. It also recommends users sign a consent form outlining the risks.

The director of the Victorian Melanoma Service at The Alfred hospital, Associate Professor John Kelly, said he was seeing a number of skin cancers for which the argument was persuasive that they were caused by solariums. "It's probably a phenomenon of the last three or four years; before that I had never seen it," he said.

Associate Professor Kelly said he had seen three cases recently that he believed had been caused by solarium light. One involved a 20-year-old woman who had a melanoma in her groin, the other two women had breast melanomas.

"All of the women were partners of solarium owners … they used (a solarium) a hell of a lot and all of them in short order, within a couple of years of doing it, had got melanomas in previous never sun-exposed areas."......

.....research by the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer which has shown that people who regularly use sunbeds before the age of 35 increase their risk of melanoma by as much as 75 per cent......

......The manager of Planet Sun Tanning Studio, who asked to be identified only as Tammy, agrees that some legislation is needed as long as it is "not over the top". She also believes solarium staff need to be properly trained.

"We have our own policy here but a lot of our customers come in and tell us how they've been thrown into hot beds when they have milky white skin and … it hasn't been done properly."

Tammy said tanning at a solarium was safe if it was done responsibly.

"It's really a controlled environment. We recommend using sunscreen and if there are suspicious spots we recommend they see a doctor before coming in and tanning."

SunLounge Port Melbourne's manager, Alfie Pezzi, said turning people off UV exposure was wrong.

He said there were medical benefits of vitamin D absorption through UV exposure.

Of course there are, but not THAT much Vitamin D. Clutching at straws methinks......

*tear* Long live Cassius

As some of you may be aware (not all as I was very slack in reporting this momentus occassion in our life), we became proud parents two weeks ago. We went to the store and instantly became the proud owners of two siamese fighting fish. They look a little like these.

El Salvador
(mine is a little bit greener)

Cassius (mark's)

At least, that's what Cassius looked like. *sniffle* he's dead already. :( And I feel like a terrible parent because I couldn't even care for a fish. I maintain however that he commit suicide as he wasn't eating his food, he simply let it float until it became swollen and sank to the rocks.
*sigh* I'm still sad though. :(

The Poo (NO not THAT Poo!!)

Now stop me if you've heard of this already, oh wait, you can't. Read on then!!

"Our own" Poo (Mark Phillippoussis for those of you playing at home) has somehow gotten himself caught up in a terrible The-Bachelor-Type of reality dating show in the US. You know the ones, hot eligible bachelor lives with 14 nymphs in a luxurious mansion and the female endeavour to win him over whilst scratching the eyes out of every other female contestant. Bachelor picks one, they give it a go for a few weeks before "discovering" that meeting in a fabulous mansion is not a healthy basis for the beginning of a relationship.

I mean how did we go from this

To this?

He looks like a doofus here and what is happening with his right eye? "Eh-baby-wanna-ride-in-my-WRX-ayyyyy????? He looks slightly better in what appears to be the actual promo shot at the show's homepage on NBC.

Somehow he has ended up looking a bit glassy-eyed-insurance-salesman here though...

The actual "twist" of this show is that there's 20-something nymphs and 40-something nymphs looking for a slice of the action, and trying to answer the question "Does Age Matter". I think the real question should be, "Is this what sporting stars are relegated to when they can no longer play their sport?"

Oh Dear...

I'm sorry I've been so lax!!!!
I blame it entirely on falling ill. I got sick a few weeks ago and it knocked me for six a bit. Couldn't muster much enthusiasm for anything really.
So I'm so sorry its taken me so long to post, and I apologise again for not having anything completely riveting to say!

-soon to follow though
- billylou is published! With her permission i will post her wonderful poem that she performed at the Riverside Theatre at Parramatta. :)
- a pic of my cool pink hair
- a pic of Ryder's christening.
Sorry again :)

Digital Fortress - Dan Brown ***/*

When the National Security Agency's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls in its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant, beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage-not by guns or bombs, but by a code so complex that if released would cripple US intelligence.

Caught in an acccelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Flethcher battles to save the agency she beleives in. Betrayed on all sides, she finds herself fighting not onlt for her country but for her life, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves...

Hmm...As with all blurbs it seems, not quite how it all comes about, but I guess its close enough. Good read, not as good as the others, but better than Angels and Demons.

3.5 / 5

The Caller _ Alex Barclay

Unlock the Door to a twisted mind....

My Prison is a tool, a training ground, a stopover. I look at the bars behind me, the space around me, the confinement. I think of where you are and how tragic for you it is that here I am, there you are, but oh so quickly, there I am. Right with you.

Entrance. Exit.

A killer is locked in a dark fantasy world that has come crushing into reality with devastating results...and a rising body count. He targets his victims in their own homes, subjecting them to a terrifying ordeal before leaving their lifeless bodies in their hallway for a loved one to find.

Back on the job after a year out, NYPD Detective Joe Lucchesi becomes the reluctant lead in the high-profile investigation. Battling with physical pain and overwhelmed by friction in the taskforce and at home, he struggles to make progress.

But just when he feels close to making a breakthroughm the investigation is rocked by tragedy and another victim's life is hanging in the balance.

Public Schools up the creek

Articles like this make my blood boil. For the subject matter, not for the existence of the article.
More privelege for the privileged.
Oh makes me so angry.

Your eyes can be so cruel....

Just as I can be so cruel!

As a young thing, my sisters and cousins and I would sit and watch Jareth and Sarah and Ludo for hours, over and over again. I know all the girls somehow felt this alluring pull from Jareth (don't deny it!) and even though he looks ridiculous looking back (umm..pirate ruffles anyone?), there's still a little something there.....
So it was with shock and disbelief that I discovered that
David Bowie turns 60 this year.
He of the Goblin King fame.
*fanning self*

Oh God-I know Bai Ling (sort of)

While some may see it as laziness, I see it as being completely in tune. And also, I don't have the time to devote to research and meaningless surfing for potentially interesting posts.

So ner.

The Fug Girls have found an awesome addendum to my earlier comments about Bai Ling in Cannes. Hilarious. And Riona, I have IMDBed for your convenience- See here for Bai Ling
OMG. Stop the Press.
I have just discovered in my {meagre} research that Bai Ling is actually an actress I know. In the way that you "know" anyone in any of your favorite movies.

Bai Ling is actually the cool Asian girl in The Crow! Sister to the baddie."....I Like the pretty lights....."

Pic from The Crows Loft

Oh God, I'll never look at her the same again now.....

Also from Fug

"And also, can we discuss how scarring it must have been for Mary-Kate Olsen to see her not-technically-identical-but-who-are-we-kidding-they-look-almost-exactly-alike twin sister ranking at No. 37, while she herself was left off entirely?"

Hahahahaha hilarious and well spotted. Fug Shame.

In the news....

Headlines on SMH today :

HICKS ENJOYS AUSTRALIAN BREAKFAST

Ummm....no updates, so let's talk about his breakfast? Hey guys, I had toast this morning, maybe I'm newsworthy now!!!!

SATAN MADE MY HUSBAND MICROWAVE OUR BABY

You can tell there's a problem when you put a baby in a microwave in any instance.

101 Starlicious Makeovers

Oh dear god did anyone else end up watching this drivel on Tv last night? The worst thing about it was Kate Fischer's horrid wooden hosting, closely followed by its redundancy. I didn't realise until I went hunting this morning that it was made in 2004. I realised it was out of date when they got to Anna Nicole Smith and they spoke in the present tense. Other key indicators: not mentioning Britney Spears' spectacular fall from grace and lack of skank talk about the Olsen twins.
Kate Fischer though, was just appalling. She kept sort of tossing her head around, a bit like a horse. And she had this awful hair and this white suit jacket which her breasts seemed determined to spill out of in a most unseemly fashion. Each ad break would yeild this horrible short with her and her arched eyebrows and high hair and ever imposing breasts. Awful.

Cannes Film festival

I think Toni Collette just looked stunning for the opening of Cannes. The colour suited her beautifully, and I was just really pleased to see her looking wonderfully glam. My one criticism is that her gown looks a teensy bit Bridesmaid/Yr 10 Formal, but otherwise, just lovely. I've been looking everywhere for a really GOOD pic, and finally found this.Just stunning. *sigh* I love the boning, very flattering. Weird expression, but we'll gloss over that shall we?

I was firstly very excited to see Bai Ling, of horrid fuggyness, on Channel Seven's news coverage of the event. of the THREE red carpet shots they had of "celebrities" at Cannes, in addition to the actual story of Toni Collette being a judge, they featured Jude Law, someone else, and BAI LING of all people. I actually think this is testament to the fact that they don't actually watch the footage and research it, they simply put it on the TV, assuming I imagine that even though they don't know her, she's on the red carpet, she must be famous. I can only imagine they had her confused with Shu Qi an apprently famous Chinese actress that's actually there for a purpose, or Li Gong who's been is all sorts of things, including Memoirs of a Geisha, and Hannibal Rising.
Seriously though, they must have been really hard up for an MC, they had Diane Kruger doing it. Has she done anything since being the emphatically pathetic Helen in Troy. She wasn't exactly the face that could launch ten ships, let alone ten thousand. IMDB tells me she's done 11 films since then, none of which I know. I rest my case. (I know, the arrogance...)

While on the subject of amazingly gorgeous women however, I had long held that I think Elizabeth Hurley is the most stunning woman in the world. Not a great actress, probably an airhead to boot, but she I think is absolutely the epitome of beauty. Divine. Interestingly as I selected a good pic from Cannes, I realised she is beginning to show her age a little. Not in a bad way, she's just got a couple more lines than when she did that movie where she was the devil with Brendan Fraser. And with Valentino on her arm for the night, who can go wrong...And my second contender, a newer one (I've always loved `Liz) Aishwarya Rai, an Indian Bollywood actress, and incidentally, a advertising lady for Longines watches. (Bit of A&C trivia for you there). She's gorgeous also....

Oh Shappelle Shappelle Shappelle

more at twiigs.com...

Angels and Demons - Dan Brown ***/*

When a world renowned scientist is found brutally murdered, a Harvard professor, Robert Langdon, is summoned to identify the mysterious symbol seared onto the dead man's chest. His conclusion:it is the work of the Illuminati, a secret brotherhood presumed extinct for nearly four hundred years-now reborn to continue their bitter vendetta against their sworn enemy, the Catholic Church.

In Roma, the college of cardinals assembles to elect a new pope. Yet somewhere within the walls of the Vatican, an unstoppable bomb of terrifying power relentlessly counts down to oblivion. While the minutes tick away, Langdon joins forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to decipher the labyrinthine trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome to the long-forgotten Illuminati lair-a secret refuge wherein lies the only hope for the Vatican.

But with each revelation comes another twist, another turn in the plot which leaves LangdonVetra reeling and at the mercy of a seemingly invincible enemy.

Hmm didn't enjoy this as much as Deception Point. It's actually the one book that before reading it had really turned me away from reading the rest of Browns books. Deception point was a breath of fresh air as it had nothing to do with Religion, which I wasn't expecting. Angels and Demons however, as you can assume from the name, ALL about religion, and while it was it;s own story, overall I felt there were too many shades of Da Vinci code and Deception Point to really make it stand out. I only read it over two days because I was sick in bed all day yesterday. Other than that it may not have kept me as interested. Worth a look, but read Deception Point first IMHO.

3.5 / 5

Cold Target - Patricia Potter ***

In the dead of night, Holly Matthews- the wife of a New Orleans senator- takes her son and flees for her life...

At her mother's deathbed, lawyer Meredith Rawson learns that she has a sister- and promises to find her...

As Holly and her son try to start over in Bisbee, Arizona, Meredith begins a desperate search for information on her long lost sister. Almost instantly, her life is threatened and her house ransacked. She finds help - and passion- from an unexpected source. Detective Gage Gaynor is investigating a closed murder case that dead-ends at Meredith's powerful family. As sparks fly between them, they begin to rebuild the past, linking Meredith and Holly in a conspiracy of lies that could shatter their lives- and the dreams they never had a chance to dream....

While the last two lines of the blurb smack of "WTF, where did they pull that from?" this wasn't a bad read. I was very concerned when the recommendation said "Pat Potter writes Romantic Adventure like nobody else" on the back cover, but I actually now think she got a bit of a bad rap. I mean, there's nothing wrong with a little sideline romance thrown into a good thriller or crime fiction, it helps you feel for the character if they're in danger, but to have your romance story, with danger thrown in, that's bad. That's not what this was though, even though the comment tried to make me believe so. The love stories do get a little too saccharine though, so not be read with a weak stomach.
All in all, worth the read, not bad for something someone gave me.

3 /5

Weirdest Dream ever

Had the most bizarre dream last night, full of bugs and creepy crawlies, and also a wedding, and a boating accident. By boating I mean canoeing.
So the fragments I remember, there was an Indian wedding at mum's house, and they were getting married sort of over the pool, and there was a big archway thing and dancing and it was a bit Bollywood, floating things in the pool and people sort of coming over the fence near the clothesline and we were sitting down behind the fence at the corner of the house (weird) where the hotwater system is and I was regretting not having my own wedding over our pool! LOL. But even in my dream state I was like "Oh...but even if we'd had it here, I wouldn't have known how to make it look like this!..." And I kept changing outfits.....

And then later in the dream I was going canoeing with T.o.m and I think I fell in the water or something he found very funny cos he was laughing at me.

Lastly there was this whole sequence of events where my bedroom (not really my room as you imagine, some sort of plantation house, *just finished book set in Louisiana so I'm assuming that where this part is coming from...* and it had snakes all over the ceiling and giant shelled bugs crawling up the walls and Mark was trying to calm me down and say it really wasn't that bad....

Freaky freaky stuff.... *shiver*

It's Official!

Official word today that Oral sex is bad for you and can give you cancer.

The Great Roll Debate

Have you ever stopped to think about why you change it?
Not the obvious reason that it has run out, but why do you change it rather than sneaking away and pretending it wasn't you?
Or if you live with only one other person, is it being polite? Is it being courteous to the other person? Is it Shame? Shame of the other person knowing, when they get there, that it was you. Because pixies don't use your toilet paper to make elaborate headdresses while you're at work, so it must have been you who used it.
Perhaps its simply because that's what you were taught to do.....
hmmm

more at twiigs.com...

Ooh me me me I want it

Ooh I love this dress, I absolutely now wish I owned it, in all it's beautiful fuschia glory!!! GIMME GIMME GIMME!

Random stuff

EW!!!!!

What began as a faint popping noise in a nine-year-old boy's ear - "like Rice Krispies" - ended up as an earache, and the doctor's diagnosis was that a pair of spiders made a home in the ear.

"They were walking on my eardrums," Jesse Courtney of Oregon in the US said.

One of the spiders was still alive after the doctor flushed the fourth-grader's left ear canal.

His mother, Diane Courtney, said her son insisted he kept hearing a faint popping in his ear - "like Rice Krispies".

Dr David Irvine said that, when he examined the boy, it looked as if he had something in his ear.

When he irrigated the ear, the first spider came out, dead.

The other spider took a second dousing before it emerged, still alive. (!) Both were about the size of a pencil eraser.(!!!!)

Jesse was given the spiders - now both dead - as a souvenir. He has taken them to school and his mother has taken them to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Helen Mirren turns down Dinner with the Queen!

"It is unheard of for her majesty to extend a personal invitation to dinner to someone who has portrayed her in a film," it quoted a senior palace official as saying.

"We did not expect to be told that the date is unacceptable."

Mirren told the paper that she was invited to dinner at the palace on May 1 but could not attend because she was filming and could not change her schedule.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Subway worker sacked for sharing complimentary Coke-NZ

Managers had found video footage that appeared to show Lang giving some of her cup of Coke to a friend.

Bill Clark from the AWU said Jackie admitted sharing her drink with a friend, who had come into the workplace upset.

"They are allowed endless amounts of soft drink if they work there. Her friend came in all upset and distressed, so Jackie took a break, poured a drink and sat down with her," he said.

According to reports the video footage shows Lang giving some of her drink to a friend before refilling it and leaving it on the table where her friend sat.

She has been charged with stealing the drinks, valued at $4, and will appear in court later this month.

MTV Fug-Erin McNaught-y

I'm always sort of secretly cheerful when the Fug Girls fug an Australian, or an Australian Event (i'm hoping for some Logies fug in the coming days). And yet I'm sort of surprised we don't hit the radar more often. Sometimes they disappoint me with their particular choice of B-Grade celeb, other times, right on the money-Natalie Bass..etc...

I must say actually, that McNaughty is actually dressed just the same as a number of horrid looking girls at the Fug Hill Rissole on Friday night. I tell you I didn't know where to look, it was a horrible spectacle in front of my eyes, one girl in a particular mustard outfit....

For Logies fug, this is awful. Horrid horrid advertising Mix.

PLAY!

In a most bizarre turn of events at work today, one of the warehouse boys asks if I can find out where an orchestra is playing. I listen to opera most days at work, so it has been assumed I will be able to find this out.
The catch?
The score is the theme songs from video games....how odd I thought, doubting my abilities to find this weirdness.
I punch four words into Google.
symphony
orchestra
video
game ---hoping this will yeild results....and Bingo, it does.
First link listed does the trick.
Its called PLAY! A Video Game Symphony and its playing at the Opera House if you're interested in paying $80 to listen to Zelda and Super Mario Brothers

Deception Point - Dan Brown ****/*

I'm going to do this one around the other way than usual, because the blurb is one of those ones that can potentially ruin the book if you plan to read it. I was recommended this book by my father-in-law, also an avid reader, and I am most glad he did.
Put aside the fact that Brown wrote an incredibly successful and controversial book, and think of this book only as a book. I will admit that while I enjoyed The Da Vinci Code, I certainly wouldn't have rated it as well as this one. So I went in probably expecting it to be not very good, until this tme actually I had gone so far as to shun the other Dan brown books, thinking he was simply cashing in on his success. Having read Deception Point however, i will seek out his other works, and I hope not to be disappointed.
Essentially while you could loosely say of The Da Vinci Code that its set in Paris, and deals a lot with religion, this book could not be further from that subject matter. I had thought for a while, as another of his books is called Angels & Demons, that he wrote primarily in the religious realm. I think now he writes books that while they are fiction, could be real.....
So, of Deception Point, you could loosely say that it is a book set in Washington DC, in the midst of a Presidential election and deals a lot with NASA and a touch of American Intelligence Agencies, plus some time spent in the Arctic. A compelling read, I found it to be one of those books that once you start, you can't put down again and while you're not reading all you want to do is be reading!!!!
Quite the thriller, if you think you might read it, don't read the below blurb....


4.5 / 5







I warned you.......






When a new NASA satellite detects evidence of an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floundering space agency proclaims a much-needed victory....a victory that has profound implications for the U.S. space policy and the impending presidential election.

With the Oval Office in the balance, the President dispatches White House Intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton to the Arctic to verify the authenticity of the find. Accompanied by a team of experts, including the charasmatic Michael Tolland, Rachel discovers the unthinkable- evidence of scientific trickery-a bold deception that threatens to plunge the world into controversy.

But before Rachel can make her findings known, she realises, perhaps too late, that such knowledge puts her and Tolland in deadly jeopardy. Fleeing for their lives in an environment as desolate as it is lethal, they possess only one hope for survival:find out who is behind this masterful ploy. The truth, they will learn, is the most shocking deception of all....

In the Name of Honour - Mukhtar Mai **/*

Mukhtar Mai came to prominence in June 2002, when journalists in Pakistan first learned of her gang rape, punishment for an 'honour crime' allegedly committed by her brother, an offence for which there was never any proof.

After the horrific rape, custom dictated that she would kill herself. But Mai defied custom. In an unprecedented act if courage, she took her rapists to court.

In this rousing and moving account, Mai describes her experiences and readers get a rare look inside a world of ancient tribal justice, rampant illiteracy, poverty, and economic and sexual bondage.

Mukhtar Mai pitted herself against the system with extraordinary courage and strength of purpose. Timely and topical, In the Name of Honour is the inspirational true story of a woman who continues to fight against exceptional odds; since the trial some of the convictions have been overturned, leaving Mai in a decidedly dangerous situation.

Nevertheless, Mukhtar Mai remains in her village where she runs the first ever school for girls- seeded with money awarded to her by the Pakistani government in her historic settlement - and is a eager pupil there herself.

"It is because of the support of the world that I feel brave" Mukhtar Mai

This was good, but not as good as Shame. I feel this is most likely because the story has been verbally passed on, then translated twice whereas Sanghera in Shame was able to write her story herself, as a native English speaker. It lacks the extreme determination and enormously inspirational feeling that Shame had. If I had read them the other way around it may have been different but I would still highly recommend Shame over this.

2.5 / 5

Moronic thought of the year, #472

"I wonder if we'll ever progress to our computers being mini ATM's...... when we do our online banking we could withdraw money from say the disk drive......that would require the machine being filled quite regularly though.....which would mean your computer would have money just sitting in it.....you could just bust it open anytime.....*~*~*~*...... right.......thats why we'll never have ATM's in our homes.....moron...."

We all knew work was bad for us.....

Click on strip to see better

Blog.....

funnies

Corset-ed funness

I disagree with the fug girls on this post in all but one, the bottom of the skirt does look a little like a miniature theatre. BUT I can forgive her for it, as I think she looks great and I love the corset on her. Remembewr when corsets were really in and Neve campbell was really popular and everyone still wore their bra under them, ina constrasting colour?
*sigh* I miss those early nineties.....

weird and wonderful

This thing I think revolutionises travel for women. Its a thing you slide into your fly, and allows you to pee standing up!!! And they're only $20!!!! For more info, WhizBiz.

These X-ray images show the leg of a chair embedded into the eye socket of a Melbourne teenager who miraculously survived a random attack outside a city nightclub earlier this year.

Tell the Truth Telstra.
An interesting venture to promote High speed broadband in Australia. Take a look, I'd recommend it for enlightening reading.

A Fear of Heaven is known as uranophobia.
A fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth is known as arachibutyrophobia.
A fear of knees is known as genuphobia.

Persuader - Lee Child ***/*

Never forgive, Never forget. That's Jack Reacher's standard operating procedure. And Francis Xavier Quinn was the worst guy he had ever met. He had done truly unforgiveable things. So Reacher was glad to know he was dead. Until the day he saw him, alive and well, riding in a limousine outside Boston's Symphony Hall.

Never apologise, Never explain. When Reacher witnesses a brutal attempt to kidnap a terrified young student on a New England campus, he takes the law into his own hands. That's his way, after all. Only this time, a cop dies, and Reacher doesn't stick around to explain. Has he lost his sense of right and right? Just because this time, it's personal?

Lee Child writes good books. I ended up in bed for six hours or something Saturday morning to finish it. I'd recommend reading earlier Reacher stuff first though, this would be a bit of a full on introduction to a good character.

3.5 / 5

New Tolkien? Oh wait.....right.....

'New' Tolkien book hits the market

By Vivien Cuttle. ABC's Articulate.

All those millions of J R R Tolkien fans out there suffering withdrawal symptoms from a lack of new films or books can now breathe easy.

Tolkien, the world-famous author of The Lord of the Rings, may have died more than 30 years ago, but that hasn't stopped his son (who is also his literary executor) from publishing his stories.

Children of Hurin already makes an appearance in The Silmarillion but this version pulls together parts from other, unpublished manuscripts.

The story follows Turin and his sister, Nienor, who are cursed by a dark lord called Morgoth.

It is set long before hobbits walked Middle Earth and is reportedly much darker than any of Tolkien's offerings so far.

I heard this on the radio this morning and had to txt Re to check he was dead. And yes, he is, thoroughly. I don't understand post-humous Publication of books, or release of music. Seems a bit weird.

Gahhhh

So incredibly busy at work atm. Need to decompress~!!!!
We're operating a two man show atm, half capacity, and our system's gone down, our massive shipment arrived (so everyone wanted their stock), just a madhouse I swear.
*breathe*

In other news, I have photos to upload soon, but can't make the cd work so not quite yet, and life is good. Had a good easter, don't think I ate too too much, just some too much. I've walked each work day this week and I was able to load some songs onto my new-ish shuffle so I am more entertained along the way, and I'm trying to get the gym a few days a week still too. I hope it all lasts and doesn't get too boring too soon.....
:(

Salut everyone : )

Soul - Tobsha Learner ***

In 1860, twenty-year-old Lavinia Huntington is transported from her Irish village to start a new life in Mayfair, London, as the wife of a gentleman anthropologist thirty years her senior. One year later she is standing trial for his murder.

In modern-day Los Angeles, forty-year-old Professor Julia Huntington, geneticist, returns from a field trip to Afghanistan. She has received a prestigious commission from the US Defence Department to research a genetic propensity to kill without remorse.

Soul is the story of two women, across two eras, and their struggle with obsessive love and revenge. Part murder mystery, part psychological thriller, part commentary on genetics and human behaviour, sexual jealousy and betrayal, it is both provocative and unputdownable.

Firstly I am going to kick off saying I honestly think unputdownable should be banned from books. It isn't a word. Secondly, this is good, but nothing to write home about. It reads as one 1860 chapter, one modern, and there isn't enough time to really get into either story before it changes again, which makes it difficult to empathise with the characters.

3 / 5

Killing for Pleasure; the definitive story of the Snowtown Serial Murders - Debi Marshall ***/*

"Keep your friends close.

Keep your enemies closer.
A simple philosophy that John Bunting-the sadistic mastermind behind Australia's worst serial killings-used to fool everyone, from his lovers and friends to his victims and police.

Five years in the research, investigative journalist Debi Marshall takes you deep inside thew sinister world of the killers and the veil of secrecy that shrouds Adelaide society. A stark account of the story that would come to be known as the "bodies -in-barrels" murders, Killing for Pleasure presents material never before seen-a harrowing interview with Buntings' last lover and her son, key eye witness Jamie Vlassakis, Marshall's conclusions will haunt you long after you turn the last page. In a subculture where abuse and revenge intertwine, John Bunting and his accomplices were indeed, Killing for Pleasure.

Twelve bodies, three killers, one accomplice and a maniacal murder spree that went undetected for seven years, Killing for Pleasure examines the systematic abuse endured by both victims and killers. It is a chilling tapestry of torture, dismemberment, ritual fantasy and cannibalism, a no-holds barred investigation that asks : Why? And why Adelaide, South Australia once admired as the City of Churches, now known as the City of Corpses? Is twelve the final body count?"

Hmm Creepy. Good, but a bit of a slog if you're not into it, I was into it and it still took me a week. A very interesting look into the fabric of lower class Australia, that I think middle class Oz pretends doesn't exist. That's the feeling I get anyway. Lots of child abuse and paedophilia assosciated with the killers (as young victims) and their victims (at the hands of others). It is almost a way of life in their class. Hmm....

**btw-photo pages in the middle**

3.5 / 5

Environmental Myths *busted*

1. Water from a rainwater tank is not fit to drink
2. I can't go solar because I'm already connected to the electricity grid
3. Recycling is a waste of time
4. I refuse to drink recycled water
5. Conservation is something that should happen only in national parks
6. Calling a product organic means it is organic. Right?
7. Most environmental damage was done by our colonising forebears
8. Our economy was built on the sheep's back
9. You need lots of space to grow food

To read more on each of these points, check out this article in the SMH, the first in a new series called Eco, which I for one, am looking forward to.