‹ 29.2.00 / 0 comment(s) ›
Readers weigh in on the most boring place on Earth. I just love the second-to-last comment (made by an Australian): "I think New Zealand would be pretty boring, but having said that I've never been." Must ... restrain ... sarcastic ... remarks ...
‹ 29.2.00
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And in news just to hand, Tom's a popstar! "Back end of a bus?" Bah!
In NZ we have our very own manufactured-for-TV band called TrueBliss who sprung up in 1999 and, you guessed it, the Aussies are running their own version too. It's a scary scary world.
‹ 29.2.00
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"If you have never 'whimmy-diddled', it is never too late to learn". I think I'll pass, thanks.
‹ 28.2.00
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It's life in the 00s, like it or not, at World Gone Wrong.
‹ 28.2.00
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A good little article on "boy bands and girl vixens" at Slate:
"She [Christina Agriculture] has a huge voice and decent taste. She's already touted as the next Celine Dion (as if the world needs such a thing)." [you've got that right!]
‹ 28.2.00
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Christian Metal Band or Star Trek Episode? (it's worth it just to see the pic of Picard with metal hair).
‹ 28.2.00
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All systems seem to be "go" again ... yesterday's posts (made off-line) are there for the reading.
‹ 28.2.00
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Feeling stumped at some of the idioms you're running into on cortex? This might help.
‹ 27.2.00
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Create your own Prophecy of Doom.
‹ 27.2.00
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Why is my teenager so obsessed with her friends? Because her mother writes stupid questions to Internet advice columns, that's why.
‹ 27.2.00
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I just received a nice message from Ryan of sixfoot6: check out his excellent 'blog and site, it'll be well worth your time!
‹ 27.2.00
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No log entries for yesterday ... I apologise. Growl @ Crosswinds encore.
‹ 27.2.00
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A new post in tales at twoyeartrip: I played savvy net-enabled consumer today and saved myself some pocket money!
‹ 25.2.00
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Hey hey, it's Science Friday! (hang on a minute, I always thought Friday was officially labelled Showtime Day ... hmmm).
‹ 25.2.00
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Prol will be pleased to see another non-US weblogger hit the scene ... and I am too! Introducing Daniel's invigorating DailyBread (via Xenolith).
‹ 25.2.00
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I fell asleep last night watching an interesting item on BBC World about the tender for the UK National Lottery. The interviewer made a good point when talking to Richard Branson (who's one of the contenders): he's become so enmeshed with the public image of Virgin that even if he does do something on a not-for-profit basis without incorporating the Virgin identity, Virgin will still get publicity because of it.
Also on the BBC site, a pretty good Star Trek section.
‹ 25.2.00
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I just got a call from my buddy Blair (whose wedding I'm going to on my way out of NZ), putting in an emergency "I need you as a replacement groomsman" call. Of course, I said yes! On with some wedding-related madness ...
This site is so Martha Stewart, it's not funny ... and if I ever said the following, I'm sure I'd be set upon in an instant:
Bachelor party toast:
"Drink, my buddies, drink with discerning,
Wedlock's a lane where there is no turning;
Never was owl more blind than lover;
Drink and be merry, lads; and think it over."
Gifts for groomsmen? Not in this hemisphere, mister.
</wedding-related madness>
‹ 24.2.00
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Congrats to Zannah at usr/bin/girl: Blogger's blog of the week!
‹ 24.2.00
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Sarah and I did our monthly movie mission last night: this time to American Beauty (yes, I know, we're far behind the civilised world in the quick release department). I really enjoyed it, but it put me in a melancholy mood for the rest of the evening: quite a challenging film (there was a lot of nervous laughter in the audience). It reminded me somewhat of Blue Velvet, ie. lots of symbolism, the seemy side of life in the suburbs, etc.
‹ 24.2.00
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Depressing stuff at Morbid Fact du Jour.
‹ 23.2.00
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I killed a boring lunch-break today by whipping up a Sea-Monkeys™-themed desktop pic to submit to Kaliber10000's on display exhibition. Check it out here (50% of an 800x600, 78K, new window).
‹ 23.2.00
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I've just uploaded the 'freshened' Management Department site: strike another item off the list of things to do! (T-minus seven days of work and counting).
‹ 23.2.00
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"She was so pissed she didn't get nominated for an Oscar for that performance that she had Bob Mackie design her an especially eye-popping wing-ding of a gownless evening strap, resembling a cross between a Mexican ferris wheel and the garment of the Last of the Mohican Liberaces, as an "up yours" statement to an Academy that didn't feel she was a "serious actress." Nobody remembered that she presented the Best Supporting Actor award to poor Don Ameche (for "Cocoon"), but her terrifying outfit lives on in infamy."
- Cintra Wilson on Cher (at Salon).
‹ 23.2.00
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The moment many (including myself) have been waiting for looks as though it's one step closer: the presses are now rolling on the all new Kaliber10000. Excellent. (Update: It's gone live and it's fantastic! Well done toke and mschmidt).
‹ 22.2.00
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I've seen a few personality tests in my time, but never any as strange as this simple little one: personality types by blood type. Maybe it just lost a little something in the translation.
‹ 22.2.00
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Why can't someone make me breakfast like this? Artistic and nutritious!
‹ 22.2.00
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The overseers at Pyra have installed a webcam to show off their wacky antics to the world. The images in the archive make me think of what the Oop! office from Douglas Coupland's "Microserfs" would look like if it suddenly sprang to life (note to self: re-read that book for the hundredth time).
‹ 22.2.00
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Strange dream of the week: I dreamt I went to SXSW last night, which was weird, but then I dreamt that Jason Kottke was making loud noises about putting his face on the Jumbotron for the conference's duration! Now that's "shouldn't have eaten that cheese at the back of the fridge" weird.
‹ 22.2.00
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Truly unfortunate Valentine's Day cards (via Suck).
‹ 21.2.00
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Orientation Week on campus has begun, with thousands of fresh-faced kids streaming through these hallowed halls seeking the all-important signature at the bottom of their course approval forms. And the rest of Dunedin takes the opportunity to hawk and publicise its wares to the captive crowd: from New Testaments to gym passes, wall planners to noisy gigs, student pubs to used golf clubs (and that was just some of what I encountered on my way to get lunch). There's no way it can be seven years since I first arrived here as one of those kids ... but unfortunately, it is. Scary stuff indeed.
‹ 21.2.00
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"Until The End Of The World" screened on Saturday night - an unexpected gem amongst the usual weekend TV dreck. I had it playing in the background while I was html'ing ... the soundtrack is really good too. It's a long dreamy road trip of the type director Wenders is renowned for: a lot of people don't like it at all but it strikes a chord with me for some reason.
twoyeartrip has been noted already ... and I only uploaded it yesterday - gotta love webloggers! (thanks Prol!).
‹ 21.2.00
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I've just uploaded a new site - twoyeartrip - in preparation for my trip to Europe later next month. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
‹ 20.2.00
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Scary find of the day: look who made the first quote on this page. That sort of thing ain't my bag, baby!
Argh. The "Crosswinds vs. me getting more hits" hoodoo struck again - thanks for bearing with me! Maybe I should be touching wood more often or something.
Superstition.com: I'm baffled ... can anyone help?
‹ 20.2.00
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I slept (almost uninterrupted) for twelve hours last night - now that takes me back to those teenage years. Looks like I'm not the only one either.
Useless factoid: My hundredth birthday will be on a Thursday.
Track your favourite planet, today or any day, in Solar System Live.
And continuing the cosmic theme, Terranova has new randomly-generated Earth-like planet every day.
‹ 19.2.00
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At the moment I'm listening to a funky little trance mix: "From Xpander to One" at offitsface.com (which appears to be a laddish sort of site). Just waiting to get to the "Save the Whales" segment (that song kicks proverbial).
Get a bee's eye view on things.
I just got growled at for tying up Department resources: when you're told to print one thousand colour pages, what are you supposed to do them in ... batches of five? (I was only doing fifty at a time). Sheesh.
‹ 18.2.00
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Hey ma, look what I won! I'm as stoked as a stoked thing, but note to self: stop dropping names! (hehe).
‹ 17.2.00
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Do you know your beaks from your spines from your spurs? Counterspace can help.
‹ 17.2.00
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February's Bug Jar entries are classic ... you just can't make that sort of stuff up!
‹ 17.2.00
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I feel really sorry for all those students affected by WINZ's constant cock-ups regarding their loans and allowances. Extremely frustrating for all concerned (and it doesn't help to have the automated phone system from hell, by all accounts).
Meanwhile, in the appropriate logos file, check out the aforementioned department's: is it just me or does it look like someone being held in a headlock?
‹ 17.2.00
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Zannah's disappointed over the lack of Oscar nominations for "The Matrix" and Jason's a little miffed all round, but the best part of this year's list for me was seeing one of the nominations for Best Original Song: "Blame Canada" from "South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut"! I would love to see this perfomed (as they normally do for all the category's songs) but the Oscars are screened the day I'm flying to London so I'll probably miss it ... damn.
‹ 16.2.00
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Apparently, I'm confident, provocative and not afraid to flaunt my sexier side. I also revel in the night and am not afraid to mix it up. Okay. I just thought I was supposed to smell good.
‹ 16.2.00
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One redeeming thing amongst the Valentine's Day schlock ... Garbage e-greetings! Although I'm not too sure what your loved ones would think if you sent them a 'card' entitled "I Think I'm Paranoid".
‹ 16.2.00
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A local TV ad goes, "Nine out of ten nutritionists recommend kids eat Weetbix" (a breakfast cereal), and I'm thinking Sanitarium must have been damn annoyed at having to pay that tenth nutritionist. I'm assuming it wasn't this guy.
It's Zannah's birthday today ... hoppy beeday love!
‹ 16.2.00
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We've just had a good old-fashioned unexpected power cut here at work: every single thing on my list of things-to-do required the PC. Very frustrating. Still, it's nothing compared to Auckland's notorious outage a few years back, as chronicled in Wired's article, "Life in the Dark".
‹ 15.2.00
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Finally, one more work site completed that was beginning to become a bit of an albatross: the Industrial Relations Research Centre.
‹ 15.2.00
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Well, it's that day again and even cheesy commercialism hasn't escaped these fair shores. Seriously though, and in the true spirit of things, lurve to y'all!
First came Elf Bowling, and now there's a new craze sweeping the office: the retro 80s stylings of Simon! Download your own copy here (click on the left-facing rocket to get to the correct page).
The log archive has been activated.
‹ 14.2.00
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Insidious or genuine? You decide.
‹ 14.2.00
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I've opted out of a Risk marathon this evening (now taking place in the living room) ... too much thinking for a Sunday night. Apparently, the game "parallels success in real life" according to this author. I'm not sure about that, but the new PC version looks pretty cool (even though I've always thought that a lot of the game's fun comes from its tactile nature: a computer would basically remove this element, right?).
Some interesting posts recently at Xenolith: Tom, if you're reading this ... drop me a line? (Update: Nix that, we caught up on Mark's site again soon after I posted this!).
‹ 13.2.00
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"Excuse me while I kiss this guy", and other misheard song lyrics.
Pray you never own a cat that looks like Hitler.
Wow! I never knew you could do this with pasta ... I'm leaving for the supermarket right now ...
‹ 12.2.00
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Courtesy of Zannah at usr/bin/girl: Book-A-Minute. The fantasy/science fiction summaries definitely had me laughy-hearty (especially the "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" ones - why the hell did I read those six books when I could have just read that!
‹ 11.2.00
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Mmmm ... beer ...
‹ 11.2.00
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The world's first transsexual Member of Parliament (formerly the world's first transsexual mayor) gave her maiden speech in the House yesterday. Another first for little ole Noo Zeeeland! Best line:
"I was quoted once as saying this is a stallion that became a gelding and now she's a mayor. I do have to say that I've now come full circle and become a member."Today is the big day - time to cash in my savings and buy two thousand British pounds (one more hurdle crossed on the way to getting myself half way around the world ... my passport finally arrived yesterday too so it's all happening around here, I tell ya).
Must remember to rent a copy of Scarfies before I go ... the best NZ film in a long time (plus I'm missing the old neighbourhood already!).
‹ 10.2.00
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I got a bank statement in the mail today and it seems as though The National Bank have invented a new word: "statementing". It's used in the following header: "Account(s) Statementing Today", as in "This account is performing the act of statementing". Weird.
More on anthropomorphism.
‹ 9.2.00
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Damn. Just when I was starting to get a few more hits each day, Crosswinds goes and throws a wobbly. Hopefully things will stay a bit more stable now ... and thanks for bearing with me! (that infamous Mr Murphy strikes again methinks).
‹ 9.2.00
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I bumped into Barbelith's parent while killing time at Riothero (as you do) ... and as he said in his log, I showed him mine (site that is!). Anyway, you rock, Tom! (with or without an email from Powazek). I'll be watching as those redesigns continue ...
‹ 8.2.00
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He's 3/5 my age, with 5/3 my nous: Mark a.k.a. Riothero.
This might solve a few NZ ad-induced musical dilemmas (it's a bit out of date though).
Had a good old natter with Tracy last night, and got a tad more excited about going to the UK in just six weeks time (so much to do, so little time). I've been instructed to send over marshmallow-centred Easter eggs immediately (apparently you can't get them in the mother country ... weird).
‹ 8.2.00
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Well, the long weekend moving game has finally ended - a very frustrating time was had by all. Never mind. It seems as though a few people are shifting house at the moment, or is that just the availability heuristic kicking in? (yep, psychology rears its ugly head here yet again!).
‹ 7.2.00
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Forgive the recent self-referential lapses ... we now return you to our regularly scheduled programming:
I just made a big connection here, and other "bloggers" will be laughing at me for not realising this sooner, but Evan of evhead fame is one of the gurus behind Pyra, who in turn produce Blogger (which in turn powers this page). Evhead is one of my favourite 'logs too which made this little discovery even better ... kudos to one of the true nachos of the business! (for context, see Evan's post: 3.2.00, 1:39AM).
‹ 4.2.00
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Life is hectic right now - I'm moving house this weekend and still have a mammoth amount of packing to do. I've been in my current flat for two years which is a minor achievement around here (after undergoing the annual flat relocation while I was at varsity). Which reminds me, the last flat I was in prior to this one had a site to call its very own (which I've mentioned in cortex's frontal section) - check it out for a few yarns well spun.
‹ 3.2.00
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One of the most inspired marketing ventures of the 20th century ... Sea-Monkeys! I bet they also caused their fair share of tears around the globe when the little buggers finally hatched: "Mum/Mom, these look nothing like the picture! Waaaah ..." (and so on).
‹ 2.2.00
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Most people's mothers told them growing up that "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all", right? Well, the folks behind losers dot org mustn't have had those sorts of mothers. Still, some of the ranked sites (one to four Ls [more Ls = more of a loser]) deserve to be there, politeness issues aside.
Quotable quotes from yesterday:
"So when does your Mini-Me arrive?"
- Steve, on hearing I was being replaced at work.
"They're like Siamese twins joined at their boring personalities."
- Karen Walker (Megan Mullally) on Will and Grace's co-dependence.
More quotes at Eclectic Wisdom.
‹ 1.2.00
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