My apologises for that last post...

.... I think we can all agree I didn't know WHAT I was thinking!

HOWEVER..... that exhibition has left me wanting an old-skool console game.

I've found some nice looking Super Nintendos, NES Nintendo and some Sega Master Systems on eBay that I'm very tempted about!!

Sat 19th April

Can you BELIEVE that April is ALMOST over??!!
Anyways... I made it home safely.... Don't worry Lyndall, I Bi-cycled home safely!!
To quote Egg-chan.. "It wasn't easy!"


I traversed the bright city lights and rode along Swanston St. PREVIOUSLY we went to check out the computer game exhibition in the city..... and then the BAR crawl....I followed some hippy chick who looked sober enough to navigate the crazy city streets but I had my come back if she decided to "diss" me on my "swervy" riding style.
ATLEAST I HAD MY LIGHTS ON, HIPPY CHICK! (Which she did not and I did).



There was a black hole in my trip where I can't actually remember which way I went but I DO recall passing a fellow bi-cycle rider and I was about to converse with him but he took an abrupt left-hand turn.

But thats OK, course by THAT stage I'd sobered up enough to ENJOY my ride (NOT sober enough to ride home SAFELY or LEGALLY ) but singing the QUEEN Flash Gordon soundtrack out loud certainly helped me get home!!!

I had to drop in to the BP petrol ST to get some Pringles for DINNER where I did CONVERSE with a smacky looking dude also on a bike. We exchanged glances and then shouted out "RIDE SAFE, BROTHER!"
Which, from memory, he gleefully accepted!
And then... and this is the BEST part... I rode round the corner (just moments from home).. and came across another female rider... with a GLEEFUL smile on her face!!!
I was about to greet her with a "RIDE SAFE, SISTER!" when I realised
SHE was MY Ains!!! Come out to meet me on the streets!!



YES!!!!!



How COOL was THAT??!!

Mices

After coming back from Hobart at Easter we were SHOCKED to discover that we had some unwanted MICE squatters in our pad.
We weren't sure how many there were at first, as we only saw one running around our kitchen floor and leaving it's little evidence everywhere.
This was worrying enough, but then I discovered that it'd chewed through the plastic bag of my bread and ate a little bit if about half of the slices. Not only that but it'd also chewed through the metallic foil wrapper of Ains easter egg and had a go at that too!

THESE RODENTS HAD TO BE DESTROYED!

So we bought one of those no-mess traps where the mouse crawls into a trap and it all seals up so you don't have to deal with the blood etc.


But that didn't appear to work so we then escalated the level of hostilities and bought 2 old-skool traps. Baited them with smelly cheese AND smeared them in peanut-butter THEN sticky-taped it so the mouse would have to really work at it.
About midnite we were listening from the bedroom to a mouse trying to have a go. It took about 5 minutes before we heard the SMACK of the trap.

We crept to the kitchen expecting to see a bloodbath or maybe a headless mouse running around the room. But it was a nice clean hit. The bar went right through the mouses neck- behind it's skull. Probally killing it instantly.
I wrapped it all up in newspaper then in a plastic bag and then through it all in the bin.

Humans 1. Rodents 0.

VICTORY!

Or so we thought.....



.... I've gotten bored with this story so I'm going to end it here. The short version is we got one more in the no-mess trap, but because we couldn't SEE inside we weren't sure there was a mouse in there. Until it started to SMELL.
I caught the baby one in a box and released it into the park a few blocks away, next to a cheese factory.


Yes I am a pussy.


THE END.

Making with the funny!

Normally I'm not that good at impressions but about every decade I can channel the spirit of someone and do, from what people tell me, a really good impersonation.

Last decade it was Garth from Waynes World.

This decade it's Gordon Ramsey.

The Frase party Mega mix-master-tape!!

Take your ears on a 1-stop pleasure ride!!!

HERE!

Scotland: The Promised Land

There's a Glaswegian singer being interviewed on the radio right now and I am in love her voice. Not her singing voice but her accent. It's not one of those heavy Scottish accents where you KNOW they're speaking the same language but still you have NO IDEA what they're saying. It's a lovely lilting accent.
It's bringing back memories of my short time in Scotland. When I left Australia in mid 2005 I travelled through America and ended up in London. Even though I had plenty of friends and a very cute lady-friend in London, I was never intending to stay there as I really had my heart on living in a smaller city. I had a job lined up in Glasgow and spent about 2 weeks there and Edinburgh. LOVED IT!
I still remember the first Scottish bartender who served me - I had NO IDEA what he was saying but it sounded awesome! And then there was the cute girl in the bottle shop (Maybe she wasn't THAT cute in hindsight but her accent was awesome) who got me pissed while taste-testing whiskies! In the short time I was there I also made friends with a few local jazz players. Good lads who I saw play in Glasgow and then we hooked up a few days later in Edinburgh. We were watching a Charlie Parker tribute night at a jazz bar in the cellar of a Chinese Restaurant and we went upstairs and had some food in between the sets. It's also the first time I had Chinese beer. I also made friends with a guy in Hungry Jacks one night. He was from Africa (can't remember where abouts specifically) and had been in Edinburgh for a few years. We were talking about what the city was like to live in and the weather compared to where we both came from. The subject got onto music and it turned out he was something of an accomplished jungle DJ. And the best thing was his name was "Tiger".
Anyways I returned back to London with the intention of moving back up there in a month or so when the contract started. But due to some tragic events beyond my control and my own fuck-ups the Glasgow gig fell through.
Despite my best efforts for the last 3 years I have not set foot back in the land of my ancestors. The weather maybe shit up there, but fuck- it'd be worth it to be surrounded by people talking with that accent!

Happy Hallmark Day

Something I've relented to after years and years of bad Valintine's Day is to stop with the moral objections and just go with it. It ends up being much more enjoyable.

So I'm off to the shops to collect the ingredients for a 2 course fresh seafood culinary delight and suitable alcoholic beverages. I might even have a look at the chocolates. Which should be interesting as I don't eat the stuff myself so don't really know what to look for.

So it's my 33rd birthday next week.
It's that milestone age for great people to die.
Even though I think I'm pretty GREAT, I'm not really worried about meeting a fatal ending sometime this year. But lets see how it pans out.

Now I've been thinking about what presents I'd like. I know that some of you readers unfortunatly don't get to see me often- or at all these days due to the tyranny of distance. Hell- some of you guys reading this have NEVER even met me. But thats OK. I'll still graciously accept your birthday gifts. And what a GREAT way to integrate yourselves into my life!
So this is what I want (I've selected dvd's for ease):

Battlestar Gallactica season 3
Entourage Season 3
Six Feet Under Season 5
Walking With Cavemen
BBC Planet Earth
Austin Stevins: Snakemaster

Thats all I can think of at the moment- but surprises are always nice as well!

GAH! More comics talk!

I bought my first comic of the year yesterday.


Scud used to be one of my favourite comics and creator Rob Schrab was a strong influence on my own comic style.
However the series ended abrubtly a few years ago. This new series picks up where it left off and concludes the story in 4 issues. Haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

Also in the dreaded comic store I was pretty tempted to buy the new Groo The Wanderer series- but they didn't have the first issue (of 4). I think I'll wait for the trade.

I REALLY dig Sergio Aregones. Before he made it as a cartoonist he was a singing waiter in a NY resturant. FACT!

Project 02-2008

My next project of 2008 is to try and sell a bunch of comics I don't really want anymore. Good stuff from around 2000-2005.

To that end I've JUST signed up to eBay.
I've never used it buy or sell before so I don't really know how it works.
What I was intending to do was either scan or take photo's of the books and sell them in the series (e.g Green Arrow #1-10 for $20).

Has anyone had any luck selling comics/books on eBay before?
Just WHAT do I need to know??!!

And when it's all up I'll OF COURSE let you guys know where and when so you can get in on the BARGAINS!

Radiohead

I have not liked Radiohead for YEARS!!

However, just to lighten the old-man angst that seems to be a constant theme around here, I have VERY recently begun to ENJOY 2 of their songs.

They are "The Bends" and "Fake Plastic Trees" from the album "The Bends".
I added them to a playlist by random and it's not too bad. Dose not ROCK MY WORLD or anything- but I think thats the point of Radiohead. Pasty whiney Poms don't rock.

Who knows- I MIGHT give the whole album another try!

The following people can kiss my arse:

"Dr" Gillian McKeith.
Ikea.
Cormac McCarthy.


To be cont'd.

Project 01-2008

Today I had to euthanise one of our little fishies as it was taking a long time to die and the other fish were eating it. While it was STILL ALIVE!!!!

But thats OK... because I'm BUILDING a fish EUTOPIA where death and disease and cannibalism do not- nay, CANNOT exist!

2007:2008

As I told Jimmy- my man at the bank today, compared to Melbourne Sydney has crap bars and pubs and you have to try hard before you can get a good meal. Also Sydney-siders are mostly soulless and they'd rather pretend you don't exist rather then chat to you on public transport.

But by god- you can EASILY forgive all of Sydney's faults for just one sunset at Manly looking over the water. Or a day on the Hawksebury River. Or a day on the Harbour. Or an afternoon at Warriwood beach. Or a walk/drive through the green, lush suburbs where you can't see the houses for the trees.



And besides- I don't like talking to strangers on public transport anyways.


With that in mind, we had a pretty ACE Christmas and New Year!
Very jammed packed and tiring- but I came through the other end better for it.

Highlights included:
Catching up with the Fraser clan (even though it made me weary due to my recent hermit ways). It was good to see Ains enjoying their company and getting to know them all better!(I think they're liking HER more over ME!) We even had a meeting of the Parents!

Becoming surprise underdog finalists in the Christmas Table Tennis Comp! Myself and my cousin Tim melded together as 2 mild-mannered silent ping-pong stars and defeated all the professional tennis players in the family. It finally took not one but 2 Newcombe offspring's to defeat us in the grand finals!

Boxing Day- we went out on the Harbour to watch the start of the Sydney to Hobart race. Very exciting amongst the chaos of it all. One minute we were in calm blue waters in between the Heads feeling pretty good to get that fresh sea air in my hung-over lungs and then suddenly the water turned into a washing machine with hundreds of crazy spectator boats, helicopters and yachts! Poor Ainslie got hit by sea-sickness though and swore never again!

Hitting old favourite Warriwood Beach for a late afternoon swim.

A day on the Hawksbury River with the family up at a fantastic spot that hasn't changed in 20 years!

Lots of prawns!

Picking up the big-arse fishtank and driving it back to Melbourne!
We left early New Years Day and spent the next 2 days leisurely cruising south via the coastal road with a night stop over in Merumbulah where we had the most amazing meal at the RSL of all places! SUPERB seafood and cheap Tooheys beer!!

Below: A Frase in his natural habitat- a road trip!

In the afternoon, I choose to drink....

I finished a BIG project over the weekend. It has taken the last 3 months of my life. It was really fun, good pay and while I was pretty happy with the way it turned out- THEY (the clients) were even happier!
So after a few weeks of working til 2.30am in the morning I decided to take it easy today and crack open a beer at Beer O'clock this afternoon (5pm)!
(Amazingly we discovered a bottle shop that not only stocked San Miguel but ALSO Red Stripe- 2 of our favourite beers. Pity the shop is in Richmond!)

The internet is only narrowly saved from my drunk rampaging by my dinner cooking duties.
I'm bbq-ing some lamb, eggplant, capsican and maybe some marinated mushrooms and corn on the cob.

Best present ever?

My very good friend Douglas has returned from a holiday in Europe and he brought me back this present from Rome!

The armour and shield are a little unwieldy while I'm trying to work, but I have not taken the helmet off at all.

Negative cool.

On saturday night while dancing to "Disco Inferno" at a trashy bar I lost my sandal while doing a disco-spin.




NOTHING about that is cool.

I'll turn vegetarian as soon as someone shows me a cow doing something more important than getting barbecued!

It's a very nice afternoon and I don't want to do any work- which is really bad since I've got so much to do. I'm looking like I might slip behind on a deadline and I've just been given 2 other jobs I've gotto do as well.
But all I want to do is sit outside in the sun and drink beer. Or maybe throw the football around.

INSTEAD I shall waste time on the dusty old blog. It's been a bit neglected lately both by myself and YOU! Nobody reads this anymore anyway.
I was just renewing online my library books and thought I'd list the things I've borrowed this year.
Lists are always an easy blog topic. I get to show off my cultural superiority and you, the reader, most luckily come away with nothing but disgust and/or bewilderment with me.

Here we go:

DVD's:
The West Volume 1
The West Volume 2 (Ken Burns doco)
Blues masters Volume 1, The essential history of the blues
Lone wolf and cub 6, White heaven in hell
Red Dwarf 5 : byte two : quarantine
Grizzly man
Vietnam (The Australian tele series with Nicole Kidman)
The crocodile hunter : collision course
The crocodile hunter Volume 2, Steve's scariest moments
Musa the warrior (Korean sword-fest movie)
Six feet under : the complete second season
The Sopranos. The complete fifth season
Six feet under : The complete first season
Eliza Fraser
The Wonderful world of dogs
American splendor
The crocodile hunter. volume three
Last stand at Saber River (average Tom Selleck western based on a Elmore Leonard book)
Walking with dinosaurs/ Walking with monsters
Gladiatrix (doco about a woman wanting to be a gladiator in re creationists historical battles)
BBC Great wildlife moments

Graphic Novels:
Daredevil : the man without fear! : decalogue
Jinx
V for vendetta
War stories
Y the last man : paper dolls
Tank girl
Just a pilgrim : garden of Eden
Planetary : crossing worlds
Small Gods Vol1: Killing Grin
Hawaiian Dick : the last resort
John Constantine, Hellblazer : dangerous habits
Y the last man : kimono dragons
The long haul
De : tales
Battler Britton
Spike vs. Dracula
Eightball: Like a velvet glove cast in iron
Freddy Lombard
Negative burn : the best from 1993-1998

CD's:
All is forgiven - Tex, Don & Charlie
Everyone deserves music -Micheal Frenti
April in Paris- Count Basie
Robert Johnson: the complete recordings
Grace Knight: Stormy weather
Duke Ellington: It don't mean a thing Vol. 2 ; 1930-1934 : classic recordings
Sidney Bechet : great original performances 1924 tp 1938
Sly and the Family Stone: Greatest hits
Best of G. Love and Special Sauce
Tex-Mex: the full enchilada
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: Plastic fang


Bit of a mixed bag up there, but thats whats great about the library. You can try whatever you want without having to invest any money so you can experiment a bit.


I'm not going to tell you the books I've borrowed because honestly it's pretty embarrassing.

The Brigadier Frase

Drenched up from the archival files of that collection of rogues, scoundrels, egomaniacs and raconteurs from The Home for Wayward Children, est. 1907. Courtesy of The Baron Jones XIVth