Sick as a bloody dog

[insert here sniffles and sneezes]

Here I am, sitting all rugged up under our lovely new thick doona, too awake to sleep and too sick to do anything. In other words a perfect opportunity for whinging on my blog. Especially since I already got told off for being so bloody slack lately...

*sniffles*

I got sick yesterday and had to leave work early. I crawled straight into bed and disappeared under the doona to get some well needed rest.

Deviant got home some time after me. He was ranting on the phone to one of his fishing club mates, obviously too distracted to notice my bags on the floor or me in the bed. '...yeh I have a few hours work to do for the club tonite... ...nah mate, I'm all prepared this time: I bought her a pair of pearl earrings... ...that's it mate, I can just bribe her off when she starts carrying on!'

Right. Now just hand me the bloody earrings, or do I need to start carrying on first?

It takes a man to nearly stuff up such a beautiful gesture. I mean, what could be more romantic than a surprise pressie?

Despite the minor glitch in the delivery, I do love my beautiful new pearl earrings! The man had them specially made for me by my favourite jeweller and they match my gorgeous pearl necklace perfectly. I will have to post a picture when I get well enough to leave the house and get a chance to wear them for the first time.

*sniffles*

Luckily I have all three seasons of Black Books & two seasons of The L Word to keep me company.

Now excuse me while I crawl into a corner and die.

Mondays, bloody Mondays...

Is any of you bunnies familiar with the movie Noise?

The clue being that car alarms going off accidentally is so fucken common nowadays, that no one pays any attention to them anymore. So instead of doing their job, they're just adding to the endless cacophony and making our lives that little bit more miserable.

There's a fucken car alarm just going off on my street and I feel a little rectifier waking up inside me.

***

Don't you hate waking up on those mornings when you just feel like you need another 9 hrs of sleep before you could even consider facing the world?

And when you've actually gone to bed in time and slept for a healthy 7.5 hrs, and still wake up feeling like shit, its just not fair.

Why is it that sometimes the same amount of sleep is just not enough? Who the fuck stole my precious rest?

***

Coffee. And Spirulina. Maybe I should mix the two together to get the maximum result?

Grah.

In an attempt to find a less homicidal me

The management team attended our company's 10th bday recently, and on their return this Monday they also delivered a whole load of gossip and anecdotes. I particularly enjoyed the stories about a batshit crazy creative director with *very* limited spoken English and who thought that the answer to everything was yoga.

Nicely timed, I was about to start my first ever yoga class yesterday.

***

I entered the school despite my intense dislike of stinky hippies (I still think someone should tell them the crystals don't work) and ascended the staircase towards the incense and trippy music.

The first thing I see is this drop dead gorgeous bundle of lean muscle approach me with a somewhat stoned smile. He asks me if I was there for the beginners class - tho all I could hear was 'tantric sex' - and I get directed towards the office while praying that the drooling isn't quite as apparent as I feared.

Bunnies, you can't imagine the relief when I heard that he was not our teacher! At least now I had a slight chance of being able to concentrate on what I was doing...

I was early, so I spent about half an hour sitting on the floor mesmerised by the lean muscle and sheer strength at work as the more experienced yoga practicers did their thing at the other end of the room. So beautiful, so impressive, and so often manhandled by the two sex on legs yoga teachers. 

Clearly yoga WAS the answer to everything! 

No pain, no gain

You know how it is - you want to travel? You need to cram yourself in to a friggen plane. Full stop.

And the further you want to go, the longer the pain lasts. Unless you're a fan of sleeping pills, you just need to take it like a man and bitch all you can.

I've come to believe in the power of a well planned liquid diet while on board one of these wonderful airlines. And by well planned I'm referring to the quantity than quality; the more the better. The alcohol is free for a reason you know.

A good indicator of the optimal pace in alcohol intake is that the on board flight entertainment system quality seems almost bearable, yet you still have enough common sense left not to kill the kid kicking the back of your seat.

Not that I'm about to fly anywhere in the near future, I just thought I'd share this little piece of wisdom with you bunnies. So there you go.

Gigging again

Such a rare treat to spend a weekend in Sydney nowadays. Deviant and I spend all our time running up and down the coast and never really get to enjoy the city life anymore.

Well, this long weekend was a refreshing change.

We went to see a joined album launch gig by The Snowdroppers and Nici Blue Eyes on Saturday. And I have to say, it was one of the most enjoyable gig nights out I've ever experienced.

The Snowdroppers are a very cool good ole times blues band in 20's sorta working class getups.

"The Snowdroppers are an old style good time family fun band, whose feel good tunes harken from a more innocent era. From the days when jitterbugging, speak easys and contracting cholera was all the rage. They tackle issues such as substance dependancy, spousal abuse, homocide and good old fashioned misogyny."

Nici Blue Eyes is an adorable lil vintage chicky with a guitar.

"Melbourne-based Nici Blue Eyes and her band have won over the most unlikely of fans over the last year with their very own brand of original sassy, foot-tapping country with a twist. Their simple, stripped back sound is a perfect accompaniment to the sweet, breathy, broad ranging vocals of their rockin' front woman - the inimitable Nici."

Of course we ended up getting trollied and the next morning wasn't so much fun, but hey, that's what painkillers and nausea drugs are for, right? Who gives a fuck about car sickness anyway...

The Snowdroppers (from the gig)


Nici Blue Eyes

Spoiled rotten

What a wonderful man I have!

Deviant announced that he's got a treat planned for me today. He told me to write him a shopping list so that he can drop me off to get a massage while he'll do the shopping for me. How sexy is that?

Not only is it wonderful that he's shouting me a massage, but he hates grocery shopping and he's still offering to do it alone while I am getting pampered!

He's so my perfect tall, dark and handsome knight in the shining armour!

***

And here's a treat for you bunnies: Nine Inch Nails put out a new single the other day and what's really cool about it is that Trent made 'Discipline' available for free download on nin.com!

Just like fishing with Deviant!

What makes this so funny is the fact that its all so very true!

Mine all mine!

FINALLY I had a chance to visit Jason's shop and pick up this gorgeous necklace I've been dreaming of for ages!

Home Sweet Home?

Sunrise at Iluka on the first morning

Back in Sydney and time to face the real world again. *sigh*

Had an awesome time on the road, despite the weather not being the best possible for the most of it. The first few days in Iluka were absolutely beautiful and I got to do some serious work on my tan. The rest of the week was quite patchy and rainy. Not so much fun.

Brekky at Byron Bay

***

I got an inspiration for a new project which is quite different from anything that I've done before, so I'll see if that takes off and turns into something or not.

***

As Sam already commented on my earlier post, my new baby managed to attract itself a buyer, so that's something I need to sort out too.

I don't want to sell it for money, but I reckon I'll swap a copy for a nice pair of heels.


Running around Woody Head camping ground working on my tan


Awww... look at him giggle with his beer. Deviant is such a happy drunk.


I guess this is supposed to be an awkward fising gear pose or something...


The fisherman and his dog in Iluka at sunrise. Can I haz a puppy? Please?


...and a dramatic sunrise it was


This is where we fished


No. Its not a bait. That's what he actually caught. An eye. No sign of the poor fish who it used to belong to. Just a friggen eye. Funny shit.

Stinky hippies and buff surfer boys

Just a quick note from the road. 

We spent the first three days fishing in Iluka and surprisingly had an absolute ball. The weather was fantastic, fish aplenty and we managed to find the perfect lil camping ground with ocean-views and all. Bonus.

Now we've been spending the last couple of days around Byron Bay sussing out the area. Not such a big fan of any of the coastal towns to be honest. Too touristy, too many hippies and too strong surfing culture. Just not my thing.

On the other hand, Bangalow area up the hills was perfect. Once I grow up and get old, I want to get a lil house on top of a hill, miles away from anyone, with a dozen dogs and kazillion chooks running around the property and a shotgun to keep the neighbours away. Yes. I could definitely do that.

Today we are planning to drive across the bridge from Tweed Heads to Coolangatta - just so Deviant can say he's been in Queensland.

Also, I need to do some shopping. I must find the ultimate pair of heels as a continuation to my latest video work. But more on that when I get the idea shaped up a bit more...

Roadtrip here we come!

Deviant has handled the packing. As the piccie no doubt illustrates, all the essentials are there:

A bottle of tequila and... that's it. A few empty containers and a bottle of tequila. Should I be scared?

We're heading up the coast for a week long road trip. I reckon we end up driving roughly 800km north and hang around Byron Bay/Ballina/Lennox Head area. Which should be very much fun. Its just incredibly beautiful up there.

I only hope the weather will be kind to us and I reckon this trip will be a ball and a biscuit.

See you in a week and a bit bunnehs!

Oh no, not you too James. Hasn't this fad gone far enough already?

'I used to have a soul, now I have shoes' (2008)

Grah

Bunnies, realising that you've ran out of coffee is NOT a good way to start a day.

*grumble*

Did you read about that 16 yo surfer kid who got chomped up the coast? Well, that's exactly where we're heading for a road trip next week. And if that wasn't enough, the weather forecast spells torrential fucken downpours for the next week.

There's nothing quite like closed beaches and torrential downpour to make your holiday...

And there was shoes...

Bring on tomorrow night's opening!

Finally finished my video AND was able to export it in a format that didn't screw with the frame rate once burned onto a DVD. Judging by the pile of fucked up DVDs on my desk it took just as many goes as it felt like.

Just got back from the gallery and was lucky enough to pick a choice monitor for myself too. Can't wait to see my latest baby up and running.

Its been ages since any of my videos have been exhibited (yes, I'm well aware what a lazy old cunt I am) and now I'm quite excited to see people reacting to my work after such a long break.

Especially since this new work is quite different to my old pieces in the sense that it contains no sexual references or pornographic material what so ever...

Its a very small world

Excitement!

I ordered my lil mineral foundation pampering pack on Thursday last week. Now its Monday lunch time and it *just* arrived. How bloody quick was that?

Now I can't wait to get home to have a lil play!

Perty scenery

Bunnies, I just LOVE to get away from Sydney on weekends.

Its awesome to drive a few hours up or down the coast and just spend a weekend camping by the sea, enjoying the sun and spotting the OZ wildlife all around us.

You can't really enjoy sunset properly on the east coast of Australia, but the sunrises are absolutely stunning. Now there's one good thing about getting your arse out of bed at ungawdly hours.

South coast scenery a little after sunrise. I just can't get over how beautiful those rocks are.

***

Reality check: Its Monday morning. I'm sitting in front of my laptop in Sydney. Its absolutely pissing down outside. AND I need to be in the office in an hour.

*Sigh*

Monday's are evil.

Gorgeous jewellery

Bunnies, I just have to share this one with you.

I was chatting with this brilliant jeweller last week and thought this Latitude & Longitude ring idea was particularly awesome:

What he does is ask for the client's favourite place on earth and then stamps the latitude & longitude of the place on a gorgeous chunky handmade ring. And how beautiful are they?

I thought the idea was absolutely brilliant and what could be a more romantic gift than the l&l of the place where you met that someone special? Or how cool is this one with the latitude & longitude of the place where the pearl was found?

I absolutely love Jason's jewellery in general and every time I visit his shop I just want to buy everything.

At the moment I've got my eye on this beauty and I will have to go and get it as soon as I get paid...

>> jasonmoss

Seriously doubting personal mental health

Bunnies, there must be something severely wrong with me. In fact, this could be fatal.

How can it be, that New Kids On The Block looks absolutely edible? Have I finally lost it for good? Am I blind? Who am I?

Meow.

Superficial update: foundation

Now that my nail polish issues have been solved I can focus to the next problem area in my cosmetics routine: foundation.

See, my previously problem free Scandinavian skin doesn't appreciate the Australian climate quite as much as my soul does.

My skin can't really handle sweating in the humid environment and I get instant issues if I even show any other products than Aesop's Oil Free Facial Hydrating Serum to my face.

***

Make-up-wise this is not such an issue, as I don't like wearing foundation unless I absolutely have to... though I would like to be able to doll up full on glam without having to deal with the consequences for the next week or so!

However, where this sensitivity does create a major problem is sun protection. I don't even want to think what would happen if I'd apply sun lotion on my face. That'd be a full blown drama!

So this far I've been forced to go without any foundation or sun protection what so ever. Which is really not kosher.

***

Lately a few of my friends have been raving on about mineral foundations, and that made me curious if it could solve my issue.

I stumbled into an article about i.d. Bare Escentials products and based on what I've read so far, they seem to be Rolls Royce of mineral make-up.

Not only is their mineral foundation free of preservatives, oil, fragrance, binders, talc and other chemicals, but its also SPF15! Bonus.

I couldn't find any stockists in Sydney who still had the starter kit left in store, so I just had my colour tested and found the same package from an online store that delivers to Australia. Now I'm just eagerly waiting for my parcel to arrive.

I will keep you posted once I get to try the product in action.

***

Since I wasn't able to find the special promotion I was after from any Sydney store, I had to pamper myself with something... right?

So I found this cute lil Smoky Eyes make-up set by the same brand. The consistency is absolutely weightless and it feels like I've got nothing on! The colour just seems to blend with my skin seamlessly and looks so very soft, natural and sexy. Love it!

Now who's going to treat me like a princess if I won't do it myself? I do love my guilty little pleasures...

Something you don't see everyday...

Such a good girl

Bunnies, I showed an incredible degree of backbone yesterday and turned down a piss-up to finish my latest video.

I was invited to go and see an exclusive live showcase of two VERY cool oz bands (plus a blonde Swedish skanky flashback from the 90's) with my workmates and I reckon it would have been a ball and a biscuit.

Unfortunately I had some work left on my video and as the opening is next Wednesday and I'm planning to go away for the w/e, it really had to be done.

I hope my workmates drank for me too, cause I have a feeling they had a blast.

Oh well, I'll just have to wait for the next time and make up for it...

Note to self: Multiple Tequila shots while cooking dinner are not necessarily such a good idea.

The Presets - Apocalypso

From Bush Barbie to Bait Bitch

Right. I guess it was only a matter of time.

Deviant had already successfully trained me into a Bush Barbie[tm] and with the introduction of a pink fishing rod, he has managed to turn me into a Bait Bitch[tm] as well.

But isn't it perty? And its not just one of those kiddies plastic shit things that every store sells for $10. My Ugly Stik Pink is a REAL fishing rod & reel combo. Just in perty pink. I luvs it and it luvs me.

We went up the coast for a two day fishing & training mission. Which was actually a blast. The weather was great and the scenery stunning. Couldn't have asked for more. By the second day I was kicking the boys arses in bait fishing and Deviant's bait pool was chock-a-bloc.


I just love the NSW coastline. So perty.


Cheese!


Jungle Hammock rock big time!


Ready to head down to the ledge.


How cute is my lil pack?


Does it look like I know what I'm doing?


Pink magic in action and the Bait Bitch[tm] was unstoppable!
(Notice the matching pink rag?)


My first victim, about to head out to face its impending doom!


Meet Mr. Impending Doom, also known as Dinner.
(How cool is my pink rod?!?)


Drukn and happy about to feast on our catch. It was all good.
(See, even my sunshirt is pale raspberry pink to compliment my lovely rod & reel combo...)

I had an absolute ball and can't wait to go again!

And now for something completely different...

The Blue Screen of Death[tm]... ON A MAC?!?

And I'm not even running Leopard.

Never thought I'd see the day...

So busy its not fun!

Grah. No time to blog, too much shit going on!

We've been going away every w/e, seeing gigs on school nights, doing this and that and basically just running around like madmen lately!

Currently I'm supposed to be packing my gear for another night away camping and I'm getting bad looks for delaying our departure by blogging...

Here's a few piccies while I'm gone.

Superficial update: nail polish

Ooh... I found the nail polish of all nail polishes!

ElePhantastic Pink & Get Me to the Taj on Time
from the O•P•I India Collection

No wonder ppl had been ranting on about O•P•I! This stuff is absolutely fantastic! The only thing I don't understand is why the fuck have I not tried this shit before?

The colours are fantastic. Lasts for ages and doesn't chip. Its an absolute pleasure to use and the consistency is perfect. Best nail polish I've ever used. By far!

This ElePhantastic Pink is just unreal. Makes my toes look like candy. I likes!

No other brand no longer exists for me. Full stop.

HIM was awesomeness!

Bunnies, the gig was awesome! Ville Valo was a true sex god and rocked Sydney like a world class rock star!

I was jumping up and down so much my feet are broken, and I screamed my little heart out yelling lewdities at him in Finnish. Did get a few funny looks at that, but I guess that was part of the fun.

The only disappointment was that Ville kept his shirt on for the whole gig.

Too bloody hectic!

Bunnies, I feel like I haven't had a chance to just sit down and catch my breath for a week!

***

The blues gig last Thursday was fantastic! One of the coolest gigs I've ever seen.

First Keb' Mo' did the uber-charming black man with his guitar thing for about an hour and then Buddy Guy (in his bloody 70s!!!) absolutely rocked the house! His energy was just unbelievable and from the word go, he owned the crowd and kept everyone mesmerised all the way through.

The icing on the cake was when Keb' Mo' joined him on stage for the rest of the gig.

Awesomeness.

***

We spent last w/e up the coast at Forster enjoying the fantastic weather as well as the beautiful scenery. Deviant somehow convinced me on joining him fishing on Sunday and was able to drag me out of bed at 4am. It did pay off tho as we enjoyed a show of dozens of dolphins passing by all day long.

Right before we were about to leave about a dozen dolphins appeared right in front of us and spent about a quarter of an hour just playing around and performing just a few meters from us. It was incredible and definitely made my day worth the early wake up.

***

Last night was Ozzy. Which was fucken hilarious.

I swear, the place was bogan-ville galore! Everyone was severely style challenged, overweight, unattractive and not quite there upstairs.

It made me all sentimental about the years I spent in Penriff... How I miss those muffin tops and the teen mums with their screaming double prams. Those were the days. *sigh*

Ozzy was an endearing and entertaining geriatric old fart with manboobs and a beer gut. The real cock on stage was Zakk. No doubt about it. He's a certified Sex God[tm].

***

Tomorrow we're heading up the coast again to Newcastle for an Easter bender. Bring it on.

Excitement over live blues!

Bunnies, do yourself a favour and give Keb' Mo's music a go.

Deviant introduced me to Keb' Mo' right in the early days and I fell in love with his love rat blues tunes straight away. He did a gig at Basement two years ago, but we missed out on tickets.

A week or so ago I was waiting to walk into a client meeting at a music related company, and I passed the time browsing a local free paper. Lucky I did, because I saw an advert about Keb' Mo' doing a joined gig with Buddy Guy in Sydney!

As soon as we got back to the office I went online to see if they had any tickets left and luckily enough I was not too late.

The gig is tonight and I can't wait!

Shoot - done!

Feel like such a good girl! Finally was able to arrange the shoot for my new video work and so far I'm very pleased with the outcome.

The only problem is, that I just realised that I don't have the tools for editing my video. I was sort of hoping I could use iMovie to throw the stills together, but the bloody thing has very limited options as far as photos or stills go.

Crap.

Do I need to get Final Cut Pro, or is there any other Mac video tools out there that would be great for animating stills?

Hectic

You know its not good when your work 'to do' list reaches a point where it requires colour coding...

Roisin Murphy - You Know Me

I just found out that Roisin Murphy has got a new single/video out. Not sure what I think of it to be honest. It's quite poppy and bland and not as quirky as her previous stuff.

I don't think I'm too impressed? Although I do like the video.

Please don't sell out on me Roisin.

Roisin Murphy - You Know Me

New office heels

Aren't they gorgeous?

A workmate of mine tipped me off to a good pair of black office heels by Nine West, but I never made it that far. See, there's a Mollini store on the way...

This cute and playfully feminine pair of chunky heels was whispering my name all the way from the door, and they were so incredibly comfy that I couldn't leave them there.

...can't you just hear them screaming out for a pair of white knee high socks and a school girl skirt?

March is the month of live music

There was a bit of it happening in January with Bjork, Iiro Rantala New Trio & Kimmo Pohjola. But its really kicking up a gear this month.

And I have to say that the lineup is not entirely straight forward.

Tonight we're hitting Future Music 2008 festival (yehyeh I hate festivals, but we got tickets for free through Deviant's fishing buddy) and plans are to go and see Datarock, Sven Vath, Chemical Brothers and Chicks on Speed. So all electronic and shit with drugged up kiddies running amok all around us. Awesomeness.

Next week we're going to see Buddy Guy and Keb' Mo' play live at the Enmore, which should be fucken awesome. I absolutely adore Keb' Mo' and have wanted to see him live for ages. I find that black love rat of a man plaing his guitar and whinging about his heartaches shit just totally irresistible. Besides, Enmore is a great venue, so I have a feeling we'll really enjoy this one.

Then as a payback from me dragging him to see Bjork, Deviant is dragging me to see Ozzy Osbourne, which should be interesting to say the least. As a bonus tho, he'll have Zakk Wylde playing guitar. So at least someone the stage will have a pulse...

As the icing on the cake tho, we've got tickets to see HIM in Sydney. Which is awesome! I've wanted to see them live for ages, now that I'm actually into their music.

I saw them back in 1997 when they were warming up for Prodigy, but that was just wrong. I mean, I went in to hear Keith do Breathe and Smack My Bitch Up, not hear Ville do his cover of Wicked Game. So I hated it.

Even since I left Finland I've been getting more into Finnish music. I suppose its for the novelty factor and because its not in my face all the time. But I'm very excited to hear HIM perform their new much heavier shit on stage. I can't wait!

So yeh, there's everything from electronic to blues to metal and gothic cock rock. Should be interesting.

K-Klass - Let Me Show You

OMG does anyone else remember this pearl from the early 90s? I reckon this would have to be one of my all time favourite tracks!

Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I-V

ghosts.nin.com
Official Torrent: Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I (2008)

I know relationships aren't supposed to be easy, but I hope things never have to get this difficult again.

The problem with growing closer together with another person is that we both come complete with history. Not only does it provide us with scars and fears aplenty, but sometimes the past can find very unpleasant ways of colliding with the present day.

I can honestly say that the last couple of weeks have been the hardest in my life.

Sometimes the most painful and treacherous path is the only way forward. The thicker the walls and defenses surrounding the fragile core are, the more drastic measures are required to infiltrate through. The price of an open, honest and healing conversation can be almost unbearable.

My heart bares fresh new scars that will hopefully heal one day, even though I doubt the trauma will ever be forgotten. The healing process is starting with very small steps and even though the vicious knot of pain is still ever present, there is a flickering hope it will eventually start fading away.

The dearer the villain, the deeper the cuts. And still, some things are worth fighting for, even if it feels like it will kill you.

An explanation?

...maybe my heart knew it was broken before I did?

Monday-itis

Tired as all hell.

Slept really badly due to dumb cunts making a racket on my street and ended up having some fucked up hybrid nightmares.

The worst nightmares are the ones you actually physically feel instead of just dreaming it. Its bizarre how your body can memorise an event and then call upon it in the middle of a nightmare.

I swear my body replayed the insanely bizarre CT scan hot flush perfectly. Only, it wasn't in a hospital environment, but a totally different scene, which made it all even more fucked up. The sensation was so strong it woke me up.

The fact that Monday is bottle collection day doesn't help either. At 5:30am it begins and goes on for eternity. I can tell you that the endless sound of breaking glass is not a pleasant beginning for a week.

Sigh.

A clear case of Monday-itis if I've ever seen one.

***

On a slightly more positive note, I feel sore from yesterday's workout.

It must be a specific sort of masochism, but I just love the feeling of having sore muscles the day after a good workout.

Not so much sore legs, cause its kinda uncomfortable to walk around in heels with stiff legs, but sore core and upper back muscles make me feel like I've done something good for myself.

Oh so much better

I'm such an endorphin junkie. No matter how shit I feel beforehand, a good run or a workout at the gym fixes me every time.

Today I did a 5k run along the water on my way to the gym, and then spent about an hour doing weight training followed by a good stretching session.

I really quite enjoy the Body Program mode in my F55. I always keep forgetting movements and I hate dragging a piece of paper with me. The fact that the program is inbuilt to my heart rate monitor makes is so convenient to use and I love the fact that I can edit the program repetition and weight –wise as I go. And next time my lovely little red personal trainer remembers the added weights and I don't have to try to keep up on whether it was 10kg or 12.5kg bar that I used.

Love it.

***

I hate grocery shopping. It's expensive as all hell, you need to deal with a shop loaded full of cunts AND you always forget that one thing.

Lucky I'm the queen of whipping delicious meals out of an empty fridge.

Today's wonder concoction was a delicious couscous thingie with veggies, boiled egg and tuna. So very yummy.

Oh, and shitloads of raw garlic. I'm determined to destroy this bloody cold. I tried killing the germs by marinating myself in alcohol. Plan B is garlic breath galore.

Poor Deviant. Lucky he's fishing.

HIM does Sydney again!

I've prolly raved on about this ages ago, but I absolutely adore HIM. For those who are not familiar with the band, HIM's an awesome Finnish rock band fronted by the oh so edible Ville Valo.

They did a gig in Sydney in early 2006 right when I had first met Deviant, but the tickets had been sold out before I was cashed up enough to get my hands on them. Man did being a povo art student suck!

Despite the cheesy goth lyrics and a tad too poppy flavour, Razorblade Romance still does it for me. I can't help but love it.

However, their latest album is fucken fantastic. Much darker, less tacky and oh so much better! Ballsy guitars, dark vocals and so very rock. Love it! In fact its one of my favourite albums at the moment.

I can't even begin to describe the joygasm of finding out they're doing a gig in Syd next month! I got tickets for Deviant, Daddy-oh and myself and I can't wait!

HIM - Bleed Well

Too much drama

Grah. This week has been such a waste of time. 

Monday I had the bloody chest pain so I couldn't go to the gym even tho I really wanted to.

Tuesday was spent at the emergency as a surrogate voodoo doll pin cushion. 

Wednesday was recovering from Tuesday's horrors. [insert here shudders]

Thursday went by catching up with a friend as well as catching a fucken flu. 

Friday I was off me titties due to office drinkies.

Saturday I was hung over as all hell.

...now its Sunday and I feel like outside work I haven't achieved anything all week.

I've started the day with repentance exercises such as tidying up the place, making the bed, doing laundry and baking bread. Next on the list is gym. A good ole endorphin rush should do the trick.

The Dude abides

Mutts goes Big Lebowski. Awesomeness.

Feb 4, Feb 5, Feb 6, Feb 7, Feb 8, Feb 9

The only shame is that - for obvious reasons - they steered way clear of the juicier quotes like 'This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass!'

Please return

Excuse me, but have you seen my brain?

It's about yay big [insert here descriptive hand movements], sorta gray-ish, and despite the age in pristine condition (well preserved due to lack of use).

Last seen in the vicinity of my senses, which coincidentally went missing around the same time... which may have been somewhere between the fifth and sixth drinks, but the poor thing may have tried to keep up as far as the tenth. However, it is quite clear neither were no longer present by the time I filled the first dozen.

Needed back as soon as possible, as my communicational skills have been reduced to that of a pink block of play-doh. Apart from the occasional bursts of Norwegian that is.

Keming: A new typography term

keming. (kěm'-ĭng).
n. The result of improper kerning.

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What a drama I was having!

Right. Yesterday was one of those days. Actually, prolly the worst of those days. Ever.

It started with innocent chest pain on Monday. At first I thought it was heartburn but ruled that out as Zantac did fuck all.

The steady series of knives remained on Tuesday so I thought I'd discuss it with Deviant. He decided to consult his doctor about the symptoms and promised to call me back.

Well, two minutes later Deviant calls back saying 'Pack your stuff, I'll pick you up and take you straight to the emergency'. Fucking great.

On arrival to the emergency, instead of the usual several hours of waiting, Nurse Sour has me strapped to an ECG sooner than I could spell 'chest pains'.

Enter Male Nurse Evil - a funny young dyslexic guy with a very strong Irish accent and sadistic tendencies. Things start turning from bad to worse when the nurse announces that he'll have to do a blood test.

--
Bunnies, at this point I feel I should share with you the fact that I'm needle phobic. And by that I don't mean that I find vaccinations and blood-works unpleasant and don't like to get them done. By needle phobic I mean that I was the kid who bit the doctor and had several nurses and a very pissed off mother chasing me down the hospital corridors for every shot... and not much has changed since.
--

Male Nurse Evil returns with the dreadful blood-works kit and I announce on spot that I'm severely needle phobic. He kindly reassures me with the words 'oh don't you worry... I've read the book so I should know how to do this.' Fantastic. How come I always score the sadistic hospital comedians?

Deviant is sitting on a chair next to my bed and I try to relax and focus on him. I concentrate on my breathing and try to calm myself down.

I'm in a party, there's groovy tunes in the background. Having a great time. All my mates are there and someone hands me a drink... no?

I open my eyes and stare straight into Deviant's face and he looks like he's about to shit himself. He's holding my head in his arms and I remember that we're at the hospital. I still have no fucken idea what has happened so I ask. Then I hear Male Nurse Evil chuckling in the background and respond 'Guess...' I remember the blood test and realise that I must have once again fainted. 'Fuck'

Deviant keeps staring at me like he's seen a ghost and later on tells me that I had fainted full on Exorcist style - gone all yellow, eyes rolling back in my head accompanied by muscle spasms and twitches. Great.

And this was only the beginning.

I had a free ride all through the torture chamber and collected enough material for a lifetime of hospital related nightmares.

I can safely say that having a cannula put it and getting hooked into 'the injector' [insert here shudders] in order to have a CT scan done (to rule out blood clots in my lungs) was the most traumatising event of my fucken life so far. I am aware of how piss weak that sounds, but my needle phobia really is THAT bad.

My heart is peachy, my lungs clot free, blood pressure too low if anything - in short: I'm healthy as a fucken horse, just happen to have a freak chest pain.

The doctor felt sorry for me in the end and told me that I 'must have had a very traumatising night. In our books you're healthy as can be. Go home and have a glass of wine. Looks like you could use it.'

Gee, thanks. Now what do I do with these track marks? I'd pass for a professional junkie.

Finnish pronounciation and The Unknown Soldier

Awww... sometimes they're just so very cute.

I bought Deviant a translated copy of Väinö Linna's 'The Unknown Soldier' on my last trip back home. He's reading it now and while he really seems to enjoy the book, he is struggling with the names a bit.

Last night he began asking me how to pronounce the names.

We went through what he had read page by page, and I taught him how to pronounce the different 'weird Finnish names'. 'Rokka' and 'Koskela' are his favourite characters, because they're the easiest ones for him to pronounce. Heh.

Because of his NZ background and knowing a bit of Maori, he knows how to roll his 'r's properly and every r-letter is pronounced with such vigour, he's got a definite Tampere accent coming through. Hilarious!

I taught him how to pronounce Finnish vovels: the difference between 'a' - 'ä', 'o' - 'ö' 'e' - 'i' and the most challenging one: 'u' - 'y' - and I even taught him how to try to break the words into syllables so that they're easier to read.

And I have to say, he did incredibly well! At the end of it he was able to read whole new long names on his own and get them right on the first go. I was very impressed.

I went to bed and he continued reading on the balcony. It was so difficult not to crack up when I heard his mumble from outside. 'RRROKKA!' 'Hei...He... Hi? Hie- Hie-tanen Hietanen' 'O... Hon-ka-jo-ki Honkajoki' 'RRROKKA!' 'KOSKELA' 'Van-ha-la Vanhala' 'RRROKKA!'

As the next step he asked me to start labeling things around the house so he can learn a few everyday words.

So very cute. He cracks me up

The pain of inspiration

Oh gawd. That time is starting again. The frustration of the moment before the beginning of the creative process is stepping aside and the pain of inspiration is kicking in.

It started last night. I went to bed normally, but instead of falling asleep instantly as I usually do, I was lying wide awake staring at the ceiling coming up with ideas.

As always, it started with a title. And after that it just escalated. I came up with the idea for the whole video, how to film it, edit it, the lot, all while I was supposed to be sleeping.

It got so bad I had to get up just to write it all down so I wouldn't forget it. Now I can't shake it out of my mind.

The creative process has started and I can't wait to begin the actual production.

No porn this time tho bunnies... this video will be an honest confession without the aid of pornographic material.

Mac OS X compatible software needed for Polar products!

In fact, I thought I might shout this out a bit louder, just in case someone happens to be listening:

Polar is producing excellent heart rate monitors with only one flaw: the lack of Mac OS X compatible versions of up-link and web-link programs!

Shame on you Polar! Shame on you for not keeping up with the times. PCs are the ugly and clunky dinosaurs of the past and Macs are the way forward.

Bring out OS X versions of the up-link and web-link software and redeem yourself!

Gadget-holics Anonymous

Hello everyone, my name is T.P. and I'm a gadget-holic.

I really can't help it. It must be the inner geek in me, but I just find gadgets totally irresistible. Especially when I can justify that this particular gadget is good for me somehow.

Exercise aid gadgets would be the category I enjoy most. I've got a lovely little new iPod Nano with a Nike+ running system on it, and it makes my morning runs oh so much better.

The Nike+ running system is great, but its not accurate by any means. It's all based on averages and estimates. Great for running, but offers you absolutely nothing in the gym as soon as you step off the treadmill.

My all time favourite gadget would have to be a Polar heart rate monitor. I had a Polar M21 for years and years and it was my trustworthy training partner on every exercise I embarked on.

If I remember correctly it was one of the first - if not the first - Polar models made specifically for weight management and when I first bought it, it did make a major impact on my workout routine and the results really showed. I absolutely luveded it.

Unfortunately my baby broke early last year... I thought it had ran out of batteries, but a new set of batteries would not bring it back. Exercising just hasn't been the same since.

Yesterday, I finally replaced my baby with a perty bright red Polar F55 model.

I didn't see any reason for sticking with a weight management model, since it's not losing kilos I'm after, but improving my level of fitness. F55 is the best one out of the fitness models Polar offers, and therefore contains more goodies than the other models in the series. Much more sophisticated than my old simple M21, it'll take a while for me to learn all the features.

A fantastic aid in weight training, this baby stores a customisable workout program that even comes with a starting recommendation of repetitions and weights based on my gender, age, weight and height. How awesome is that?

I took it for a test run at the gym last night and I love it! On top of the body program, it's got everything that a fitness fanatic might wish for. I can strongly recommend this to any lil fitness bunny out there.

In fact the only thing I see worthy of bitching about is that its not Mac OS X compatible. Shame on you Polar! Shame on you for not keeping up with the times. Bring out OS X versions of the up-link and web-link software and redeem yourself!

Apart from the lack of compatible software I am very impressed with my new training buddy, and I dare say it will be much more cost effective than hiring a personal trainer. Besides, its red. All things red are good. Oh, and also, Polar is a Finnish company. That's always a bonus.

I do love my gadgets.