My So-Called DeadJournal

Rising back out of the dankness....

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:18:17 GMT

I haven't really posted in a while and I don't know why, really. I would like to hazard a guess that it's because I had too much stuff going on - but at times that's not so true. I think it was just that I have been 'literally' too lazy to post.

I've been up to a lot, you know. Well There have been a lot of things that I have done, though to me at times it seems that I haven't been doing a lot at all. I've fully adopted Facebook as my social 'keep-in-touch' medium (which may have something to do with the lack of LJ-ing) primarily because it's easier to play with calendars and events there. I don't' care what they do with my information, and I have disclaimers which state that they can't use it as a reliable contact medium (or that I don't consider it to be one). At least that shows intent, right? ;)

Well the last 'real' post was when I started here at BT and to date I have been here about 3 months. It seems a lot longer though. The job has been interesting in some ways. And yet really unfulfilling in others. I can feel my IT knowledge drowning in a morass of schlepping PCs about and merely dealing with hardware connectivity issues, and some admin. I'm here until March 20th(?), but I'll be looking around the end of February for something else. If I don't get something more fulfilling I'll stay, but the first more APEC/QANTAS job I find, I am outta here. Seriously, I can do everything I need to in an hour and then I have to look busy. If not they will try to give me 'busy-work' and I made it a point of crossing that out of my contract because I don't do 'work-for-the-sake-of-having-something-to-do-and-has-NOTHING-to-do-with-my-job'. I know others who do, good on you. Me? Not so much ;)

What else happened in the last 3 months? Well, back in October (yes that far back) I did a voice-over for a student ad, which was a fun thing to do and I'm looking forward to doing more, but I must admit that in the back of my mind it kinda made me feel a bit like Krusty The Clown doing his doll voice-overs in the 'Lisa Lionheart' Simpsons episode ;) "Badda-bing badda-boom I'm Outta here." (I was going to try to pop in a "Hey Hey! Here comes Sideshow Mel!... HERE comes Sideshow Mel... SIDEshowMel!" but I chickened out).

I got to see Tony Hadley and Paul Young in concert at the Canterbury RSL with arby_doll and Miss Kate. It was a great show, they played all that I wanted, and a few I struggled to remember. With Tony Hadley I was merely hanging out for the 2-3 songs we all know and love (and should really NOT sing at the top of our voices at Ascension ;) - but I KNOW I still will). With Paul Young I was transported back to wandering in and hearing him doing his sound check in Brisbane about xx years ago ;). Still it was a great show :). Hellfire had it's 17th(?) Anniversary (Gods! It's been THAT long), Black Cherry had it's 2nd Anniversary (which was a great night too). I took pics there - and I really have to remember to get copies of them to Danielle as soon as I see her again.

Got to go to the Rubberball IV last year as well, which was full of people dolled up in their slickest and shiniest finest. Of course I didn't have any latex to wear (possibly due to the cost, and also due to the fact that I don't want to look like a poor man's Bratwurst). arby_doll and I got there thanks to the generosity of Maynard F# Crabbs, and there we ran into many people we both know. The performances were great, but we unfortunately missed Missy's show, which was a great disappointment to me. We did get to chat to her on her way out though. Nice thing is that arby_doll is actually going to be doing her course at iPole in 2009 (ill-health behooves no-one to perform great exercises, I know this from personal experience many years ago on the parallel bars).

I had an arby_doll-arranged Birthday cupcake explosion at The Lewisham Hotel, followed by a very worthwhile dinner out at La Brasserie on the following weekend :). It was a nice thing to have people there who appreciated good food, the restaurant with it's excellent service, and who were there to say "You don't look THAT old" ;) Speaking of good food, the year for barbarianplates was kinda 50/50. This was probably due to the GREAT restaurants we had, along with some near fatalities in choices/re-choices. I think when we choose a restaurant from now on, it needs to be because someone has been there and can heartily recommend it... recently. Anyway, I'll have the schedule out for those monthly outings soon, as that will start again in February with a Chinese New Year Yum-Cha, organised by the erstwhile master_flea.

I got to peruse the Glebe Street-Fair this year, and managed to dodge most of the crappy sales-people. At least I got to chat to the guys from 'The Chaser' about APEC and why I thought what they did was spectacular. The thing I like about Glebe is that it's NOT the Newtown Festival. This year I actually avoided Newtown, because last year it was full to bursting and with so many damned rude people. It's no longer a Neighbourhood Festival, it's got people and stalls from all over, it's cordoned off, and it's lost it's community feel. It's pretty much lost most of it's local colour and flavour. The Newtown Neighbourhood Centre needs to revisit why The Newtown Festival exists, because I am not so sure of it's relevance anymore (if it keeps going the way it's going). Glebe, thankfully, has kept it's flavour and character.

Later in the year there was a Very Maynard Xmas (funny for very many Muppet-related reasons), Billy Joel (who was amazing) & Kylie X (who's show was worth every penny) at Acer Arena. The Canadian Film Festival came and went, Gold-Class movie premieres, getting cast in a TV Series Pilot (yet to start filming), me completing my Marriage Celebrant's course (just waiting on the Attorney General's Office to say I can legally get my licence and marry people) and of course all the usual clubbing and gig-nights. So, really it's been a busy 3 months on this side of the fence.

What has happened on the personal front? For me? arby_doll and I just celebrated our first year J (yeah yeah I know, people said that could never happen ;)) and it's not like it's been uneventfully blissfully 'plain-sailing' (too much of that and you get diabetes ;)) but remember that these things rarely are without their hiccups, especially in an 'alternative' relationship such as this one. There are always things to learn, things to unlearn (old baggage to throw out), and you just go on with what works. It's still open, and still poly, and still working J. OK - I hear you ask what about msqwerty ? She's a VERY happy munchkin at the moment with a boi out west. Still working (YAY!) and still the crazily awesome person she always has been. She's just moved on in another direction is all, and it's fine :). I also get to wave an enthusiastic Kermit-flail to my gorgeous lolife and Rob in the USA :D. They're going great guns and that makes me exceedingly happy :D. As far as other people's lives are concerned? Well, some friends getting themselves together has been good to see. You know, those relationship things. When they work they work, when they don't it's a little... er... sad, but it's always a personal growth thing. I think you get to measure yourself and others on how those things are handled by the persons involved and by others around them. As soon as there's side-taking it's all dumb, and no-one wins. I stuck to my guns of not taking sides in many of those situations and it stood me (mostly) in good stead, this past year. A very few didn't like the "I can be friends with both" point of view, and to be honest that's not my problem. Anyway, other friends bought houses/apartments, some started running clubs ;), some got engaged, some booked overseas trips, some travelled a LOT. I was a little saddened to see some friendships betwixt friends go the way of the Dodo, but these things also happen for the weirdest (IMO) reasons at times.

There are some things I didn't get to go to/do/see this year due to ... well to be honest... an onset of fatigue. People at those events know what I missed out on and (hopefully) should know all the details why. If not - just ask. I'll try to make those things up to others this year - but not in Summer... the heat is not my friend - never has been.

fort_leichhardt is still running great guns. Indy, Wall-ey, Dara and Fi are all fine. As some may know we lost the trees on the street side earlier in the year, which means that the sun is a pain-in-the-nether-regions, but I have one word for you - Gazebo. People come over, the DVD collection is threatening to gain sentience and take over all facets of the house. I threw a lot of stuff out (yes yes, Jow, I really did ;)) and have some room in which to make things nicely in place. Some other things are going out the door quite soon, but nothing which I want to keep will ever be leaving, just the rubbish. Three in the house right now, with the addition of a couple of adoptees ;) (they know who they are). I'm also getting back in contact with a number of people from 'The Old Days' which is a nice thing, it's about time for that methinks. I really MUST do the catching up thing (in person) with a few of them :) People like ginnystubbs know what I mean there. Still, with the monthly Wrestling Pay-Per-Views on, still with the Movie Awards Shows, still with the Annual Spa Party, which celebrates 10 years this coming December, 1999-2009, and still with the enforced no-drama policy :D. The cats like it that way ;) - besides everyone knows that it's Indy and Dara's Party. They tell everyone so.

Finally, what's coming up? Hrm... Hopefully more of the same. eventsinsydney is still going (also coming into it's 10th year in October 2009), more dinners with barbarianplates. More auditions this year, methinks (although if the series works out, I may not have to ;)) and more theatre (although that does take extra monies to do). I will be a formally recognised Marriage Celebrant (as mentioned above) as soon as the Attorney General's Department says I can - I think the delay for that is based on APEC, we get extra scrutiny, I will still be doing Security with Clubs in Sydney, and overall life is here for the living J. I do have a list of things I want to do in the next few years (thanks to Amaya for putting me onto that one a year or so ago) and some I have done - and some I will do, but only because I think they'll be 'neat' to do.

I guess this nutshell brings me back up to now... Sure it was a little longer than I thought I would be jotting down, but I am trying to pop this through email, and thought I would give it another go J - seeing as I realised that most of my 'blogging' couldn't be done via email anymore because many of the blogging sites were out of funds. THAT was rectified quickly enough, but this is the first chance I have really had to get in and give it another go.

A quick end-of-year post

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 08:07:39 GMT

OK - I admit it's hard to type wearing latex gloves ;)

This is a VERY short post - wishing everyone a very safe and Happy New Year.
For those who are heading into the city (as I am with
<http://medicinalminx.livejournal.com/profile>*medicinalminx*<http://medicinalminx.livejournal.com/>,
<http://ctrlshft.livejournal.com/profile>*ctrlshft*<http://ctrlshft.livejournal.com/>,
& <http://doomgurl.livejournal.com/profile>*doomgurl*<http://doomgurl.livejournal.com/>)
to see the fireworks... either at the Harbour or on The Cahill Expressway,
be safe, be sensible, don't pat the puppies ;). Word is that there will be
flying squads going into the venues tonight. So, be smart. As for us
tonight? From the Quay - we're dashing straight off to Black Cherry and/or
Blink (because we won't have time/ability to get all the way back to Dark
Rhapsody :( sorry Reba).

Have the best New Year, I'll see some of you tonight I am sure, and remember
those who can't be with us. I know I will.

Xmas Eve ... and... What am I doing Xmas Day?

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:18:04 GMT

Well - apart from dashing about like a mad person, doing last minute
food-shopping (food is SO expensive!) I then got home - packed it away,
while <http://piratenoir.livejournal.com/profile>*piratenoir*<http://piratenoir.livejournal.com/>hung
the new lights (new 'cause many of the old ones were cactus) I then
lay
down for a moment - and woke up about 10 mins ago... ummm I was
*supposed*to head to The Townie to say Happy Birthday to
<http://frankdog.livejournal.com/profile>
*frankdog* <http://frankdog.livejournal.com/> in person. Blast!
*[sigh]*well it's time for sleep.

Tomorrow? As last year - it will be a day with family (those which are here
anyway) meaning:

Myself, Indy, Dara, Wall-ey & Fi will be watching (not necessarily in this
order)...

*A Muppet Christmas Carol <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104940/>*;
*Jingle All The Way <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116705/>*;
*Shrek The Halls <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0897387/>*;
*National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097958/>
*;
*Christmas With The Kranks <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388419/>*;
*The Worst Christmas Jobs In
History<http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/w/worstjobs/xmas/index.html>
*;
*A Very Special Family Guy Freakin'
Christmas<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0576913/>
*;
*Blackadders' Christmas Carol <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094754/>*;
*Die Hard <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095016/>*;
*Die Hard 2 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099423/>*;
*Bad Santa <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307987/>*;
*The Santa Clause <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111070/>*;
*The Santa Clause 2: The Mrs Clause <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0304669/>*;
*The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0452681/>
*;
*It's A Wonderful Life <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/>*;
*White Christmas <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047673/>*;
*Scrooged <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096061/>*;
*Trading Places <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086465/>*;
*Home Alone <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099785/>*;
*The Nightmare Before Christmas <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107688/>*;
*Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058536/>*;
*Frosty The Snowman <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064349/>*;
*Miracle on 34th Street <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039628/>*;
*Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251640/>*;
*Elf <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319343/>*;

...and apart from unfortunate things like the absence of:
*The Little Drummer Boy <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063230/>*;
*Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066327/>*;
*Dr Suess' How The Grinch Stole Christmas<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060345/>
*;
and other 1960's-1970's Christmas staples... It'll be a GOOD time.

So... in the spirit of season - A Merry Xmas/Happy Kwanza/Happy
Chanuka/Merry Yule to all!!!

May Santa (or whichever of his minions you believe in) bring you all that
you deserve, this year. :)

See some of you in the next couple of days :)
--

Well that was fun.... ?

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 17:40:08 GMT

All OK - just dropped off the face of the planet for over a day. Not only
was there a... biological reason to do that (a sudden attack of fever and
onset flu-like symptoms) - but I slept for well over 18 hours on the wrong
side of the day - all Saturday actually - through until about 2am Sunday
morning. Then awake and back asleep again for another 8 hours (guess I
needed it). Then, no time to grab my loaner phone handset as I dashed to try
to do all the Boxing Day shopping (partial success). Then home to snooze
again and now awake and will force myself asleep so I can so all the things
I need to before Boxing Day.

How weird... never had THAT much sleep thrust upon me before. Damned well
missed an appontment I had on Saturday afternoon, too (and I ain't calling
people at 2am to apologise - even if I DID have the number - instead of it
being trapped on my SIM card in my fakaktah screwy handset. :(
Well, all's better now, feeling a little more chipper and perky - but must
sleep nonetheless. Much to do tomorrow - and no time to do it in.
--

Sunday at the Street Fair

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:44:07 GMT

So, today was a bit of a sleep in and then a trip to The Glebe Street
Fair<http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=4733919730>with Jow. The
day was way too hot (for me), but the vide was good, the
street was packed and Jow had never been to a Glebe Fair before. Saw Rob &
Heather going past (accidentally poking Heather in the arm she had an
injection in - I didn't know, sorry). After that - we wandered up the street
and back seeing all the stands, being leafletted by Political Parties,
buying a teapot (seriously), getting a signed copy of "Grandeur & Grit", the
Glebe History book, checking out the demolition happening to the old
Valhalla/Astor Cinema, spending time listening to King Farook, and then
heading back down the street, to check out more food, talk to the people
selling hammocks (yes I may have one for Boxing Day) and peruse the antique
bookshops.

Then home again to Indian food, and watching some cable, chatting to some
worthy people, missing chatting to others (guess they popped on and then off
again). Muses: Naked Wild
On<http://www.tvsa.co.za/default.asp?blogname=tv&articleid=4801>has
the same annoying sort of narrator as The
Wonderful World Of
Sex<http://www.thecomedychannel.com.au/whatson/detail.aspx?id=25>.That
reminds me - I also have to update EventsInSydney.

Tomorrow - starting the new Project Manager job. At least I get to start a
little later (tomorrow anyway) - though I guess I may get some fallout from
Friday - but at the end of the day, what I wrote last week still stands :)

Birthday things... and other things

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 11:57:02 GMT

You know... I was expecting little (as is the norm) this year. That's not to
say I'm bemoaning anything - just stating fact.

So... what happens?

<http://mslucyblue.livejournal.com/profile>*mslucyblue*<http://mslucyblue.livejournal.com/>makes
a trip to Sydney to see me on the day :D, I get dinner at my favourite
Japanese Restaurant (it may not be the best one on the world, but it is good
and I have great sentimental attachment to Rashai), and from her I got
tickets to *both* nights of *Gigantour <http://www.gigantour.com/>* with
Lacuna Coil, Devil Driver, Static-X and Megadeth; I also got to see my
god-daughter <http://www.bebo.com/blinkmandi>, there (for the first time in
ages) and a lot of other friends from the old days of
*Blink<http://www.clubblink.net/>
*. I mean - this ranks up there with being bought tickets to The Cure a few
years ago :) MUCH of the goodness :) - along with many birthday wishes -
thank you all who did :)

OK - on the job-front... I (happily) finished at Hutchison, and ASG, on
Friday. I was feeling a little weird about the potential of leaving the
contract (a week) early, but a conversation with some other ASG people (from
APEC) confirmed my thoughts. In essence, they had promised work until a date
- and didn't deliver, knowing that I turned down other (more lucrative)
contracts to continue on with ASG. So, as I said to the boss I was working
for: *"Firstly, the job I am going to want me to start on Monday. Secondly,
this company promised me work until the 28th, and then canned it on me. So I
have a choice, working here for a week and losing out on this good job, or
working someone where else for a minimum of 3 months at $10/hr more. It was
a no-brainer."* Seriously, I wasn't being nasty, just pragmatic, *and* I had
informed the agency beforehand. So, next week I start for 3 months at Sydney
University as a Technical Project Manager. Probably having lunch with
<http://grey-evil-twin.livejournal.com/profile>*grey_evil_twin*<http://grey-evil-twin.livejournal.com/>,
and hitting the pool afterwards :) I could get to like this.

Last night was *Hellfire <http://www.hellfiresydney.com/>* and
<http://mslucyblue.livejournal.com/profile>*mslucyblue*<http://mslucyblue.livejournal.com/>and
I went in to see
*Suzy Q <http://www.misssuzieq.com/>* (last seen by me at The Burlesque
Ball), and *Satomi <http://tokyolovedoll.free.fr/>* (whom I last saw at
Le'Erotica). Stayed for a time - met the gorgeous Barbara and the equally
gorgeous Bec. Jow looked stunning in what amounted to nippleshields and a
PVC G-string (and i don't believe that I didn't get a picture of her). It
was a busy night - and Jow left about 45 mins before I did, as she was
feeling like she needed food - Hint: eating lunch & dinner is a smart move
;) Barbara & Bec left, and I did too - after missing
<http://missdissent.livejournal.com/profile>*missdissent*<http://missdissent.livejournal.com/>and
Master Tom (Security said that they had already left). Hey
<http://missdissent.livejournal.com/profile>*missdissent*<http://missdissent.livejournal.com/>,
Jow wants talk to you about work - though she's back off to the Gold Coast
on Monday afternoon, she IS coming back in December :)

So, that is the way things are. Jow may not be going into work tonight, as
she's feeling a little seedy - not from over-indulgence, just (probably) not
eating enough *[chuckles]*. So, we'll see how she feels - though we ARE
going to *The Glebe Street
Fair<http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=4733919730>
* tomorrow.

Anyone want to join us?

Having seen War Of The Worlds...all I need say is..

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 06:46:31 GMT

.

I have found The Book! :D

arradius knows what I mean by - THE BOOK!

It's at JB Hi-Fi. It's $60 cheaper!!!

It's SO mine!!!

Uuuuuuu-Laaaaaaah!

American litigiousness finds it's way here - successfully

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:43:22 GMT

So, in another telling blow for
stupidity everywhere, the restaurant, known as Coco Roco, has won it's
case against Fairfax publishing, for publishing a bad review of their
restaurant.

In a nutshell, the owners sued because of a bad review which (in their
words) defamed them and led to their restaurant closing. It's more than
interesting to note that we have seen no mention of other complaints &
such from past restaurant patrons. It's also a dangerous precedent that
a person employed as a reviewer can be sued (well, their publication
can) for expressing their opinion (which is what a review piece can boil
down to) of a restaurant and it's service.

Yes, there should be some form of checks & balances to stop vengeance
behaviour (the writing bad reviews to exact for some slight unattached
to the restaurant/food/service) but if the review is honest and the
reviewer's bona fides are established, then they are within their right
to say that the food/service is crap.

Does anyone remember the spate of lawsuits from people who simply didn't
take responsibility for their own actions... like walking down a street
and blaming their lack of watching-where-they-were-going on the Council
which had an 'uneven footpath'? The rash of such 'stupid cases' simply
caused The Public Liability insurance premiums to go up and up, finally
causing such idiocy as the cancellation of the 'Festival of The Winds' a
few years ago, due to insurance companies simply being unable to insure
such festivals where someone might slip over and have a boo-boo. Why?
It's because people are becoming too stupid/lazy to take responsibility
for their own actions. You don't like the possibility of kids watching a
certain film, or running across the road? Well then - do your job and
parent them. Look where you are going. Engage brain before speaking.
Sheesh! Is it SO hard?

Here's a hint for Aleksandra and Ljiljana Gacic and Branislav Ciric, the
owners: Unless you did something to royally piss off the reviewer, on a
personal level, your restaurant (that night) probably was
rubbish, and the menu served to the reviewer probably was as
unappealing as pig-swill. You get a bad review... wear it and learn. If
you sue, be damned sure that you can prove (what I will call) malicious
intent. If there isn't, expect a counter-suit from the
publication/reviewer. Also, here's a hint for Matthew Evans from Fairfax
Good Living. Be damned sure of your probity in writing a bad review. If
everything is above-board, you have nothing to worry about -
except people who are more interested in tying up our legal system with
spurious claims based on the US penchant for litigious behaviour for no
good reason except greed.

An eBay Listing...

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 05:11:41 GMT

Yes, folks, I have listed something on eBay.

Details are here

Basically, I'm selling these items because I have 2 sets. I only need
one set :) - Not to mention that (apart from postage) the 'Buy It Now'
option is at Cost.

Listing finishes in 6 days.

First in gets them.

APEC is done

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 02:26:51 GMT

So...

The weekend... it was an interesting day on Friday as the proverbial hit
the fan regarding a televised poke at the PM (who shall forever now be
known as Penfold the
PM). Whilst I PERSONALLY thought the signing was funny and the very
apt, televising it nationally and making the PM look like a
second-bannana (which come to think of it may not be too far from the
public's perception anyway) brought the ca-ca out and flung it in
several people's faces. I, personally, was privately carpeted because of
my personal association with those concerned, but managed to wrangle
another week here, as they had no legal recourse to ask me to walk out.
Sometimes it's good to know people in Unions... see? Unions work.
However, allegedly some were not so lucky and are not here this week
(even though they were apparently going to be here for longer). Funny,
hell yes. If it hadn't been telecast, even moreso. To have it slapped on
National TV (whilst damned funny) holds repercussions (nothing 'formal'
you know) for some people's future employment - that will be a note on
the file somewhere, you know - future Security clearances etc....

Anyway!

The upshot was that I went home on Friday afternoon - and had a quiet
one, though it was possible that I would be going out the Rose to see a
Folk Metal band (yes, you heard me correctly, Folk-Metal). That got
kyboshed by a) my mood and b) the person I was going there with begged
off on account of the flu and them wanting to be well enough to get to
Earthdance with me on Sunday.

Saturday was a day spent dashing about shopping and getting things ready
for the new housemate, whilst one of the old housemates was getting
their stuff together for heading back to Canberra. I also have an order
in with
Solid Grain, for a new bed - though they say they won't have the
model I want ready for a month. Sounds like they're building it from
scratch ;). I was invited out to see a DJ at The Burdekin on Saturday
night (seeing as there was nothing else on) but I wanted to be fine and
dandy for Earthdance, so I didn't. I did some cleaning of the house with
piratenoir though, and picked up a Registered letter from
the Post Office containing my Police tickets ;)

Sunday was Earthdance! :) ctrlshft called around - I was ready and we (ctrlshft, piratenoir and I) were at Sydney Park at
midday (as planned). Spent the day wandering with people and having the
universe come up and say Hello to us. Patted the sniffer dogs, much to
the disgust of the police-handlers ;) saw MANY people - all too many to
be really taggable (though 2 certain people were more the worst for wear
having gone to The Burdekin the night before). I know that Shell took
some worthy pics of the group of us. I found and lost and found and lost
people, which is par for the course, though ctrlshft and I
kept together with piratenoir for the bulk of the day -
$8.50 for a can of Smirnoff Double Black! WTF??. Toward the end, we left
about 7:30pm to beat the crowd-rush - piratenoir was refused
entry into The Townie (she hadn't been drinking) we went to The Bank and
had a meal (which cost an arm and a leg - I guess they have to pay for
the renovations somehow) and piratenoir wandered off. ctrlshft and I cruised back to and through the Townie and then a
cab and dropped her home.

Yesterday I had the day off - and woke up feeling quite presentable
(weirdly enough). Bought things for the house, put together a cat-tree,
cleaned the kitchen for the evening's champagne soiree and that was they
day. Well, then there were The Emmys -
with more people than I expected, though many didn't even answer the
invites. Y'know - I always think that if you get an invitation, it's
polite to even answer 'No'. many don't, which I think is a little rude.
Anyway, be that as it may, we had 6 over for it - xeanalyth,
the lovely Tasha, piratenoir stayed in for it, str8bi & myself. There was to be an illdrinn, but
she was held up at class and by the time she finished, the Awards were
3/4 over, so she missed them. I must say that I liked the stage setup...
BUT it was jarringly like a game-show set. Hence: Ryan Seacrest
hosting... and whilst he was mediocre at best, he was not as good as
David Letterman hosting the Oscars (now think on that). Sally Field was
censored because she said "God", some people were funny, but overall I
think it deserved the low ratings it got. The obvious choices won in the
major categories - and I loved Brian and Stewie doing the opening number
(there MUST be a You Tube link to that somewhere) - I can't find the
number, although here is the Best of The Emmys
2007 - spoiler content unknown. Much champagne, much food, and much
hilarity... Jon, you and Dustin were missed.

Then much sleep.

Now I'm back in the office finalising the cleanup for APEC stuff. The IT
gear will probably mostly go to Auction with Grays Online in a
month-ish. I made a point of eyeballing everyone that I could this
morning to see fallout from Friday - and I could tell by the furtive
glances away from some that they were caught out ;) Like I said earlier
- it's GOOD to know the Union reps.

Tonight... War Of The
Worlds with arradius.

As sent to me this morning from out Media folks

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 01:13:31 GMT

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Mr HARDGRAVE (2.41 pm)-My question is to the Prime Minister.
Would the Prime Minister advise the House how last week's successful
APEC leaders summit in Sydney has advanced Australia's national
interest?

Mr HOWARD-The APEC meeting in Sydney last week was a great
success. It was a good meeting for Australia. It was a meeting that put
the best aspects of our nation on display: our openness, our
friendliness and our modernity. Any of those associated with it-and many
people on both sides of the House were associated with the gathering and
the attendant bilateral visits-would know what a great success it was.

By far the most important statement to come out of the APEC meeting was
the Sydney declaration, which, for the first time, joined China and the
United States-the two major emitters of greenhouse gases-in a commitment
to work towards an aspirational goal to contain the growth of greenhouse
gas emissions. It also contained a quite specific commitment to a 25 per
cent decrease in energy intensity within the APEC area by 2030 and a
20-million-hectare increase in forest cover by 2020. The APEC meeting
also called on those nations who can make the biggest difference to work
towards a successful outcome to the Doha Round and stressed the
importance of reaching agreement on that multilateral trade approach.
There were also some key decisions made regarding the institutional
arrangements within APEC, including a policy support unit and increased
budgetary contributions.

There were a number of very important bilateral visits: from the
President of the United States, the President of the Russian
Federation-the first ever Russian head of state to visit Australia-the
President of China and of course today a bilateral visit to Canberra
from the Prime Minister of Canada. Overall, it was by far the most
important international gathering held in this country. It was a great
success, a reminder that the future of this country lies very much in
the Asia-Pacific region and a thumping endorsement of the capacity of
this country to deal productively, simultaneously and in a very positive
fashion with the great trading and defence powers of the world-the
United States and China-and also with our other neighbours in the
region. Indeed, it was a meeting that did Australia proud and a meeting
that did Sydney proud.

I take this opportunity to thank all members of the APEC Taskforce, led
by Mr Alan Henderson of my department, for their work. I thank the New
South Wales government for its cooperation, and I congratulate the New
South Wales Police on their handling of the security
arrangements.

[HANSARD is the official reporting of all things said in the Parliament,
during session.]

I didn't take the time to read through the rest of the session, though
to be thanked in Parliament (even vicariously) is kinda nice. Of
course, there's no report on what was said at the "'all'-staff thank-you
morning tea" which I have mentioned about earlier (having the people at
the coal-face not able to attend due to being on 'Time-In-Lieu' or
bumping out the venue at the time it was planned for) apart from razorgirl_au getting a DangerMouse-esque autograph by the PM on
National TV. For the PM to ask what "Cripes, Chief!" means (on a
photo of GWB and himself) means he had an inkling, and then to follow up
and say "This will probably come back to bite me..." (or words to
that effect) probably means that his spider-sense was tingling. However,
it would be interesting to hear just what was said at the 'all' staff
gathering - and IF anything was said about those who could not make it
because they were busy doing the work whilst others were schmoozing with
the 'important people'.

Bitter much? Yes, I guess so, but only towards the 'important' people.
Kinda like having a call at 9:45pm last night to go out to an
end-of-project 'party' being thrown by one of the major sponsors. It had
been going on for about 3 hours or so (with an open bar) - and it was
only due to the professionalism/kindness of my boss that I (read: we-the
workers) even knew about it. A further example of: 'those who did the
work not being recognised and/or respected by others'. (I must admit
that I could have gone to the drink-fest at The Cargo Bar on Sunday
night, too, but after getting home I was just not going to leave the
house again; and I could have gotten to the 'All'-Staff thank you, but I
was tired, asleep, and frankly more than peeved at the attitude toward
those who were still working; and I also could have gone out last night
at 10pm to the sponsor's gig, but again it was 10pm and being
told then -on a 'school-night'- and not told beforehand seemed again to
be very much in the same vein. Still, my boss's boss is a nice guy and
for him to call me personally was really quite nice.

Then there's today where we (IT) all received 'Purple Hearts' from out
General Manager for surviving this 'campaign' (he's ex-military, and a
very nice (and frighteningly smart) fellow). He did say that mine was
especially due to surviving my tenure at the Taskforce (see earlier
entry regarding the 4 month security investigation, regarding my
suitability of remaining with the Taskforce [which was brought about due
to overzealousness of 2 people in the Security area, and them being
uncomfortable with the way I am quite happily 'out' at work]). Suffice
to say that my General Manager (and the IT Manager I must add) was the
ones who simply told the 'investigators' to go fornicate themselves and
supported me (here in the office) whilst the crap was being flung. For
the record, there was no real basis for the investigation, they were
'trying to find something on someone who didn't fit their model
of behaviour' - a witch-hunt. However, I survived, and so having the GM
say that was kinda touching too :)

Oh well, back to the grind of bumping out.

Tuesday is my monday...

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:29:34 GMT

So - the upshot of all of this work-thing... as most of you know - it
has been working with APEC (and for those who didn't know... it paid the
rent) ;) Suffice to say that I had nothing to do with policy, and I know
this isn't Nuremburg (a subtle reference for those who care to follow
that line of defence). Anyway, it's almost finished - almost time to
move on to the next Project (thing which pays money and is somewhat
enjoyable).

It's been fun and it's been something which should look good on the
resume, but the weirdest thing... (I digress for a moment, but for a
reason).

I have applied for 15 contracts today. This is actually a good thing. On
top of that, I have received 3 call-backs already with firm offers of
sending the CV on (ROFL!) Yes yes call-backs from Agencies. ANYWAY...
one interview was a face-to-face and these people will probably employ
me if others don't get to me first. They also know what my rate is. The
second Agency offered to put me out for $62.50/hr and that they think I
will want to work in Liverpool... o.0 (You know, for $62.50/hr I WILL
work in Liverpool, if I get the position). The third well-known
Agency asked what this APEC thing was on my CV... Hence the
digression...

We were told that APEC would look good on the CV... that only helps if
the people screening the CVs have a clue, and haven't just started the
job. I had to laugh at them over the phone and mention the large fences,
the security, etc... they said "I thought that was just the usual
thing for when your President visits.". ... o.0 ... Your. President.
Visits. (plural). W.T.F?? Can we please have the general Knowledge Test
added to the 457 Visa Test? These people are trying to get ME work?
Sheesh!

OK - anyway - I am at work and it's all winding down. Leaders went home,
Fireworks and Cake were eaten by the privileged, 88 people were arrested
for wearing prophylactics made of wool (or something like that) as well
as for crossing the road and asking why they were being arrested, no
Police were reprimanded (nor will they be) for removing their name-tags
(which obviously got torn off in the struggle to glare at anyone looking
like a protester (apart from those standing next to the Firemen or
perched on lamp-posts ;))

The comparison will be made between APEC and the Sydney Olympics. My
comparison is simple:

The Olympics disrupted a LOT of people for 2-3 weeks with minimal
disruption to daily life.

Many world leaders travelled to the Sydney Olympics and there were
no issues.

The Sydney Olympics were shared by the populace.

Security for The Sydney Olympics was strong and tight and friendly.

The Olympics painted a Blue Line on the road for the Marathon

APEC disrupted a LOT of people for 10 days with an astonishing
amount of disruption to daily life.

Many world leaders travelled to APEC and there were many issues (not
the fault of the leaders').

APEC was a closed event for the privileged, the populace were not
permitted to be a part of it at all.

Security for APEC was strong and tight and draconian.

APEC built 5km of reinforced steel cages and barriers to keep the
people out.

There was more but others will make those comparisons better than I
could. For my end, I worked with some very good people to put on a
series of events which spanned the country and hosted some of the most
powerful people on the planet. I was kept busy, I expanded my knowledge
of the industries (all 3) I work in, and I enjoyed my time with the
organisation. I find that the Policies behind the event at times were a
little grating, but overall they didn't affect me - except that I was
spat at several times, and was called a Nazi, twice, and was asked
(actually screamed at) if I enjoyed fraternising with
'Bush-The-Baby-Killer'. However, I brushed that off - and only mention
it here because it shows that there are 2 sides to the job. Not
something you normally get with your average events job.

Anyway, leaving that one alone now... I am a little sad to be leaving
here in 2 weeks (post event-blue have set in already, even though it's
still in wrap-up, probably means it will get a little worse when I DO
leave), I am looking forward to having 2 weeks off - doing nothing. I am
looking forward to getting a new job (and paying some taxes - I know I
know it HAS to be done) and continuing on how things have been.

This started out as 5 lines and it grew... I recently lost a couple of
people from reading my LJ because my posts have been long - guess that
means I have a little to say/muse about. :)

It's all me all the time, except when it's not - and even then I'm sure
it might be ;)

Stuff, weekend and ... stuff

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 06:35:48 GMT

Well, WHAT a weekend though at points it was... er... less than
enthralling.

OK - so, Friday evening was finishing work and heading to Ace for a
drink. That in itself wasn't too bad. I think I was there for a short
time, and headed off home with medicinalminx. Off to The Duke for
steaky-goodness (which wasn't as good as I remembered). Back home for
TV, and relaxing before a full-on day. (No, I still can't say much about
work, suffice to say that it's SO busy).

Saturday: Under The Blue Moon 2007. Full day indeed. Many people from
the goth (and various off-shoot scenes) were around most of the day. In
no particular order:

Wake-up dressed and waiting for a 1 hour shower WTF??

landlord in to look at sink NOT repaired by plumber

NOT running late, being in time for everything

Showbags of doom

Bought shiney-ness at The Wild One

Helped them0nster at his stall whilst he was eaten by a
puppet-show

Brunch at The Duke

Found many people up and down the street

So many people have babies now... OMG

Drinks with too many people to tag

Blubloo's set at Buzzzbar with coffee

Lost people as they were whisked away by respective partners

Took part in a parade

Saw an engagement proposal - Yippee!!

Person on street needing attitude adjustment getting shot down by
medicinalminx - yeah!

Bands in churches - excellent

Full Set of 'Charmed' DVDs ('Book of Shadows' version) bought from
Aitken for only $25! - FTW!

Quick trip home to drop stuff off and thence to The Factory

2 x tickets for Dying To Play wasted because of people bailing at
the last minute

MzAnnThropik was pretty darned good!

The Graphics are now on my top 3 bands list - so VERY good

Police walking backstage and gothlings scattering at full run -
amusement factor 10!

Losing people throughout the evening

Missing out on chatting to Ava Jinx because I wasn't sure it was
her

Ascension - VERY good as always, though more stompy than I am used
to

Off home by myself as everyone had scarpered

Re-connecting with some friends

Congratulations all 'round to the organisers! Can we do it again this
weekend?

Monday... eugh

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 04:33:10 GMT

Briefly...

Bloodlust - Win!
Friends who couldn't make it - Damn!
Spending next day with old/new friends - Win!
Following day (ie: today) with work - Boo!
Details? - Nope. (Security and all that stuff. However I DID get to
watch the beginning of the erection of the Great Wall this morning ;))
Tonight - WWE!
Also... a private chat with someone - Concerned.

With increased security...

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:24:36 GMT

...comes increased security...

So, Facebook was (how do I put this delicately?) 'fragmented' at the
office, until yesterday morning. So, too, was MySpace until they
programmed an alias into the server which directs most (not all) 'social
networking' sites to go to 'the organisation's' homepage. This is to
preserve bandwidth for legitimate use during the next 2 weeks. So, what
this inevitably means... is little (virtual) social interaction
throughout the next 2 weeks during office hours - even on your own time.

Just letting you know in case I miss something.

...oh! and (for the record) I AM going to Bloodlust, and so's my...
er... so's Michelle. ;)

2c

...ducks.

This coming weekend...

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 07:33:09 GMT

Just as a note (having just come out of a meeting):

Due to the vagarities of work (and the events attached thereto) I
will be working until later tomorrow evening and
also working on Saturday from 9am, so final shopping ideas for
Saturday evening (for me) will be ... er... marginal at best. I
will have Saturday evening/night and Sunday off, so Bloodlust will still
definitely be happening for me (as will a day of rest the following
day).

[Note: Due to the job, things CAN change with 24 hrs notice - though,
I have put in my fervent request for Saturday evening/Sunday off.]

The 'Hijacked' Rock Eisteddfod...and other stupid Government ideas.

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 06:53:29 GMT

I heard this story the other day - vaguely, whilst in a taxi in the
city.

Apparently, a school in Sydney has chosen a 'political' theme for it's
performance in this year's Rock Eisteddfod. The Federal Education
Minister, Julie Bishop, has decided, in her party-lined political
'wisdom' that because the same school derided the Invasion of Iraq in
2004, that this performance has been hijacked by political activists.
She seems to postulate that it has an anti-Bush-led-Iraq-War theme just
to embarrass Dubya whilst he is in Sydney for the APEC Summit. In
essence, she appears to say that anything which publicly questions the
Government of the day is a bad thing and 'children' should be taught to
blindly accept things in the world and to not question (obviously)
unpopular and bad actions by the Government representing their country.
It'
s an interesting story, and shows just how paranoid this current
Government is.

Another 'sterling' piece of Government activity is the ability for the
ACCC to now have the ability, through the newly introduced Trade
Practices Amendment (Small Business Protection) Bill 2007, to sue people
if (for whatever reason) they mount a protest against a business and
cause that business to lose money. So, if a restaurateur, or an
upholsterer, or any form of business supplies goods &/or services which
are substandard, and you mount a protest against that business,
and it causes the business to lose money (ie: people legitimately voting
with their feet to take their business elsewhere), that
business can now sue you for loss of income. They can provide bad
service and can sue you for saying so.

Not to mention Federal Police desperately seeking legal advice as to
whether Dr Haneef's legal counsel were allowed to release a full
Police interview transcript from which the Federal Immigration
Minister has been quoting out of context. Why out of context?
Apparently to besmirch the bona fides and reputation of the Dr
and to apparently support his own spurious case for removing Dr
Haneef's Working Visa. My fervent hope is that Haneef gets the visa
awarded back to him, whether he returns here or not, so I can just laugh
in Kevin Andrew's face.

Finally, this
story would mean that my world would come to an end... well be a lot
less interesting.

Twas the Thursday before Bloodlust...

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 02:32:00 GMT

Last evening, dinner with medicinalminx, Steel(?)
and electricmercury
at the Ace Place - yes it's not just a bar, the 'pub' food is really not
so bad (although I haven't eaten my way through the entire menu as yet).
Thence home for some kittun-time (though Indy is being a pain-in-the-ass
right now and waking me up 3-4 times a night to get under the covers).
Dammit, Mandor learnt to use his head to nose under the covers... Indy
just paws at your face until you kinda wake up and push him under. Must
stop that unconscious behaviour.

I also ran into an interesting 'argument' last night with a few people.
It all had to do with Bloodlust having halved it's opening hours (from 8
hours to 4[?] hours), the perceived (by some) reduced value of the night
and so forth. I sat down and had a think - and came up with the
following:

If you buy a ticket to The Metro and see a band - for (say) $40, then
you get a 3 hour show with a support and the band you want to see. This
is a Good Thing(TM) and there is no argument. If the support band
changes, there may be some minor grumbling about the change of support,
but there's still no real argument as to the length of the show (which
wouldn't really change) or the unchanging cost. So, in comparison...
Bloodlust is a Club/Show/Performance/Happening (how 60's of me) which
has live music, a minimum of 6-8 performances, DJs etc... it is lasting
(from what I have read) from 9-1 (with the final performance starting at
midnights-ish?), and is costing $25. So, in comparison to my example, it
seems to me that in having the time halved (due to venue licensing
restrictions) people are still getting a 4 hour set of performances, and
a club, at a large venue, all for less cost than an average 3 hour show.
So, whilst not taking sides in the 'argument', I don't understand the
problem here (unless people just wanted to arrive late and are peeved
that they can't ;)) - Meh, at the end of the day, these are simply my
thoughts on the discussions of last evening. Anyway... the important
thing is - it'll be a damned good night, and that's what matters
:)

On the side of the Lenovo-saga... it appears that I get the new N200
laptop on Friday afternoon, sometimes between Midday and 4pm, which is
'nice' seeing as I will have to go back to the office from whatever
venue I am at to sign for it, unpack it, lug it back to the venue. I
mean, c'mon folks, this saga has been going on for 3 weeks now (on a
next-day on-site warranty job). Has anyone else noticed that to 'handle'
people, a lot of phone-operators instantly dismiss the problem as:
"Let's not dwell on what happened in the past, let's just solve the
issue." - in my books, this is simply not addressing the stupidity
of their (or their staff's) actions. Granted, it does focus on
solving the issue, however it just doesn't address the amount of
[insert appropriate anger-based expression here] that the
customer/client legitimately has, it simply gives the impression of 'not
caring' about the problem having existed, and appearing to marginalise
the legitimate complaint. It's being solved, I'm getting an (allegedly)
better laptop out of it, and that's a good thing.

Tonight, it's off to have a few drinks to celebrate broken_daniel's coming
of age, and thence home because of an early start tomorrow.

Weird... I emailed the folks at Xanga to tell them that their email
posting wasn't working as per the directions on their site... and I
still have no response. Pft!

It's Wednesday already?!?

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 05:41:14 GMT

OK - so it's been a little hectic with some bump-ins happening and just
a lot of work on. I kinda like it - as it makes the time fly. Of course,
on the down-side, the faster time flies, the quicker the end of the
contract comes up - and that's a bit of a pain-in-the-posterior. All too
soon it will be the 21st (or 28th) of September, and I will be out of
here. I have decided to take 2 weeks off doing absolutely nothing,
except whatever I want to do. After that, then I will be looking
at a new contract.

We had a visit from one of those IT outsourcing companies this morning
(not an agency per se, but an actual outsourcer who may want to take on
a few of us). They smartly realised that they should take members of an
existing team and keep a few of them together. Smart move - but will
they pay roughly the same. Poor fellow got blindsided when he spent 30
mins talking about his outsourcing company and the overwhelming response
to "Do you have any questions?" was: "To be honest, we don't
really care about the actual company-structure, how much they've grown
in the past 2 years or what their 5-year $200 million plan is. We simply
want to ensure our continuity of pay-rates and income security." He
had no comeback - I wish I'd been the one to say it.

Sheesh! there're a lot of things slated to happen in the weeks coming up
- and really quite a few that I want to do/see (concerts etc...). As it
is I MAY be lucky enough to get off work (this weekend) so that I can
shop for the final bits of my outfit on Saturday (for Bloodlust) and then
attend Bloodlust. Yes, for me - this is the lead-up to the final
big event (of this contract) happening and as such, I MAY have to work
Saturday during the day, but I believe I have Saturday night/Sunday off.
The following week, however, will be OMG horribly busy. At least I was
smart enough to ask for the weekend of Under The Blue Moon off -
which is such a godsend - and then I will have stupid days and
hours until September 10. 10 days after that (or 17 days - they aren't
sure as yet) I finish up here. I wonder if anyone else has had
difficulties with the USync paymanes system for UTBM. I have paid twice
with a new credit card, and appatrently the payment has defaulted to an
old one. It driving me nuts, and the USync people have not returned
emails about it. I wonder of I can book (again) via the phone.

Last 3 days have been quite worthwhile with a quiet homelife, but nicely
seeing worthwhile people on a daily basis (afternoon-wise anyway). You
know that old adage - "Don't take anything for granted..." along
with "Some things are better than you realise..." there's also
"You don't what you've got 'till it's gone..." . Ahhh I love it
when I'm cryptic ;) - ANYWAY... It's been a good week so far - including
the craziness surrounding work. It will be a good weekend as well, with
things on and happening. I have also received a phone-call this
afternoon telling me that my replacement laptop will be arriving on
Friday afternoon, at about 2pm. So I will have the data cleaned off the
old one (old meaning September last year) and the pristine OS loaded
onto it tomorrow night for a Friday replacement. So, at the end of this
saga, I get more RAM, more HDD space, a faster CPU, more memory in the
graphics card (integrated I know), (allegedly) a more robust
manufacture, AND a continuity of my 3 year, on-site,
parts/labour/replacement warranty (which has 2 years to go).

Oh yes, I managed to get a little time to update the upcoming weekend
Events In Sydney post (coming out later tonight/early tomorrow morning)
noting the revised Bloodlust times.

On SMH.com.au

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 03:56:44 GMT

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Under the listing: Relationships...

Is that photo one of <a href=http://missdissent.livejournal.com
<http://missdissent.livejournal.com/> >missdissent</a> and another
well-known Hellfire-attendee?

Front page ;)

At least ONE thing works in my favour

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 03:05:44 GMT

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I have <a href=http://www.homebake.com.au <http://www.homebake.com.au/>
>Homebake</a> tickets!!!

(even though they are not physically obtainable until November - not a
bad anti-scalping move) - [makes sure that Homebake is on Events List
and on Facebook]

I do think that the better idea would be to have a certain amount on
sale and then stagger the releases in tiers. That way, more genuine
attendees have a chance to get them - perhaps also reducing the number
of tickets that one can buy to 4 (at the most) would be a smart move -
although I think this is now the standard. Haven't seen Chrissie
Amphlett perform since she did a Mardi Gras a few years ago and I was
working security there :-) If memory serves, she performed 'Pleasure &
Pain' there. So it will be a buzz seeing her headline the Festival
(first time a female-fronted band has even done so actually ;))

Hellfire was packed on Friday night - it was quite a worthwhile night -
especially with the 2 new players from LA making a return visit. It's a
pleasure to do Security for people who can rivet the audiences attention
- even if their scene takes about 30 mins... very worthwhile indeed -
just like the old days with Snikki / Angee and I. Certain people were
supposed to come along to HF, but didn't and once again some of the
people there, bailed for Arq. Saturday was a day of AFI voting
screenings (which was broken up into a morning session and an evening
session - the evening one I didn't get to as I was having Michelle over
- and going to head out to The Gaelic Club). Of course having Hellfire
the night before meant that in the end, we didn't head out to The
Gaelic, as after watching <a
href=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367027/>Shortbus</a> and <a
href=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165832/>Interstate 60</a>, we just
didn't go. So it was kind of a trashy yet quiet night in. Sunday
afternoon was another AFI Voting Session (which I couldn't get anyone
else into unless they are AFI members) and then home for sleep.

I realise I haven't noted the IBM/Lenovo saga yet... well, 2 weeks ago
my laptop decided to NOT to recognise the Ethernet port so I could only
connect to my ISP through wireless... this is not too bad - as I have a
wireless router as well. However, it got worse and worse and so I
reported it to IBM to get fixed. This meant that they reported it to
Lenovo (as they are now... er... 'separate companies'). OK. So, I
upgraded the warranty so that I would be getting next-day on-site
service for 3 years. This is ALSO a good thing - especially when a
motherboard can cost upward of $600+ and service can cost $180/hour. So,
then the saga started with my warranty being miskeyed into the Lenovo
system in KL, yes Lenovo's Asia-pacific HQ is Malaysia. There is no
Australian HQ. So - fast-forward a week and a half when (after many
complaints and following up from both myself and the original people who
sold me the laptop, they fix the problem and IBM (who are Lenovo's
agents in Australia) despatch a technician, from an outsourced company
(not even IBM themselves). He takes 2 hours to remove the motherboard,
replace it and then snap one of the spacing plates so that the On/Off
button doesn't work properly. Now, that being said, there is also no
sound as I believe he didn't reconnect the sound connection (no I am
positive it is not software related). So, after even more complaints to
the IBM complaint-line - and a letter cc'd to ACA and IBM C-SAT - they
have decided to list the laptop as DOA, and replace it with a newer
model. No cost to me - except the pain-in-the-backside of having to
backup all my files and then reinstall them and the programs and so
forth - AND they seem to want to supply me with Vista Home (or Business)
which means I can't load Doom or SimCity or Civilisation IV onto it
(because they aren't Vista-compatible - although I guess there are
patches available). Anyway, they now state that to replace the machine
will take 4 weeks - because new models aren't available in this country
- so I have given them a further serve (next business-day
repair/replace, my ass) and they are supposed to be getting back to me
today with either a revised date (with a week, thank you) or another
option to be completed by the end of the week.

Supposedly bumping in today - but, well, the power went out on the
building we were bumping in to - and apparently it's an underground line
which they have to trace. So, there'll be no bumping in for us as yet.
However, work is VERY busy right now (yes I understand the irony of
posting from work that work is busy so I can't post) - so I am not sure
how much time I will have to update <a
href=http://eventsinsydney.livejournal.com
<http://eventsinsydney.livejournal.com/> >eventsinsydney</a> today -
perhaps this evening, definitely by tomorrow.

It's that time of year...

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 01:15:03 GMT

So, working crazily on August 6th and missing the initial release of
Linkin Park tickets was a pain-in-the-butt. True. [shrugs] What
can you do? Be peeved and just leave it. Though, vena_trix did say that there
might be another show released. So there was. (I think)
yesterday. Of course I checked this morning because this is the first
chance I had to remind myself... and... yes you guessed it - the second
show is sold out.

In a word...

Bugger.

And so the week begins...

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 01:08:18 GMT

I really have to think up more interesting subject lines (said in a Ron
Wesley-ish voice)

So, it's Monday morning. The weekend seems to have flown somewhat, which
is a nice thuing in a way, but also a crazy thing - as it just means
that I want there to be more of a weekend. Not to mention that things
are gearing up for the movements we're doing at work. I think (at the
moment) we'll all be quitting the Wynyard premises in the next 10 days
or so, and moving to our new digs (which is kinda funny, because the
'new' digs will only last about a month. Then, it's all over red rover).

Weekend was good though.

Thursday was The Cure, but you've heard enough from me about them and
how great the show was. If not, go and re-read ;) Or go and have a read
of all the people on Facebook/MySpace/Vox, etc... Suffice to say that it
was stunning and I hope they come back again (and that we don't have to
wait another 7 years - yes, Kym, it was 7 years ago when we went to
their last show).

Friday was nothing much, apart from work, though other friends of mine
went to The Cure's Friday show, and then again there was Fascination
Street (run by Ash) as the official Cure after-party (sorry I didn't get
to spend too much time there, I was more than tired).

Saturday was a nice fairly quiet day, followed by medicinalminx coming
over with clubbing clothes, followed by a frantic getting ready for the
early-starting Die Maschine with a live gig by Psyche. So, with medicinalminx and piratenoir in tow, we
dashed into town, and was more than happy to see Imogene there as well,
though not as tall as she was last weekend at Ascension (those boots
were HUGE) :) Gig started a little late, but I was more than pleasantly
surprised by the support acts. I had not heard/seen Neuropa before, and I must
admit I very much liked what I heard. I'll be looking into their last 5
CDs, methinks. Somehow, I managed to entirely miss The Inflatable Voodoo Dolls (which
really puzzled me because I was there sitting in the club) unfortunate
because I was looking forward to hearing them [finally]. Still, I must
have been engrossed in chatting to im at the time. Next time Gadget.
Psyche came on also very 80's inspired and (as Im was saying) very Tubeway Army, and
whilst they were good, I think Neuropa were better (perhaps on the
night). I'll have to compare - but I'll be looking out for Neuropa's
gigs now. The rest of the club passed in a rush and then it was back to
The Fortress for geeking and Cable.

Sunday was a small mix-up on dates and times, which was resolved - but a
little weirdly. Cancelled people coming over (but apparently that wasn't
needed - I know cryptic, but still). Long chats with medicinalminx, and then
collapsing (read: sleeping) in the middle of pizza. Tiredness and sleep
(which was slow in coming) coupled with an early wake-up this morning
because of an attack of work.

Nominations for this months barbarianplates are closed
and the voting is open. Members, have a look and have a vote and then
have a feast. Dinner is the last Friday of this month.

Oh yes - I also have Xanga. Kill me now (at least you can post to it via
email).

I must say that 600 thread-count Egyptian sheets, rock my sleep-world,
and all I need are 2 matching Queen-sized black doona-covers (of the
same thread-count ;))

Interesting final paragraph

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 05:44:52 GMT

From SMH Online (emphasis is
mine):

"The Web 2.0 phenomenon which includes sites like MySpace, Facebook
and YouTube has come under increasing fire from government and industry
due to its largely user authored content which is notoriously
difficult to regulate."

Read: '...notoriously difficult for The Government and Industry to
control.'

Control. Of. Information. Is. Power.

Today... is Friday

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 02:57:22 GMT

Well this morning (after having a really nice buzz last night due to a
3-and-a-half-hour stint with Robert Smith and friends at The Cure
concert), things are kinda OK.

I mean sure, the rent MIGHT go up, and sure I have to put in my Tax by
October 31, and sure I am going to The Cure after-party (the official one at Phoenix Bar), and sure I am
seeing Psyche tomorrow at
Die Maschine (with a close friend)...

However, there was something that fell by the wayside, which looks like
it might be getting a new lease on (albeit a short) life - Thanks,
Joss ;)