Thursday, October 02, 2003
And now here is the language entry I promised...
I've had a comment or two that some of the Australianisms that I use are confusing. Some people from Australia have never heard my particular Australianisms.
Those internet old timers might have seen the Harvard Dialect Survey.
I participated in it even though I'm not really part of the demographic set they were looking for. It did introduce me to the concept of "whipping shitties" though. They didn't have "circle work" as an option for me to use.
Well now here's something to help bridge the gap for us all. It is the recently released .Macquarie Dictionary Word map
Those who want to know my slang variations should pay particular attention to regions 18 and 23. I was raised in Mildura in the Mallee and have been living pretty much all of my adult life in Melbourne. I will therefore refer to a snot block rather than a pus pie when referring to the delicious vanilla slice. It really only notes the differences in word usage and not sentence structures and the like. For example it doesn't point out the utterly infuriating habit of those north of the tropic of capricorn ending every sentence with the word "Ay". It absolutely gives me the shits. They also dedicate far too much content to differentiations between types of marbles. Does anyone actually play marbles any more? I doubt you could buy them anywhere. Yet the difference between an acker and an olly seems to take the most space in their regionalisation. I use both these terms but not in reference to marbles at all. An acker is a pimple. An olly is a skateboarding trick. I hate myself for knowing the latter of the two. The release of this list comes at a very usefull time for me. I wasn't previously conscious of the fact that I was writing for an audience that was located in all of Australia and may have been guilty of not realising the differences between areas. Not that I'm gunna change anything. But I am certainly going to be more aware of my exclusivity. And possibly revelling in it. Take that you weird talking hicks.
The girls are off to Ness' parents for a few days. We both have stuff on the next two days but Friday and Saturday night are both wide open for us. And we have no idea what we might want to do. Yes I know. We are sad pathetic shells of people who go running back to our cage at the first sign of freedom. I'm sure we'll think of something. Perhaps suggestion may make their way to my inbox. You may note that I now have a mailto in the links section. You can choose pretty much anything @tenpm.com.au except for submit@tenpm.com.au. That's my spam trap address and I am guaranteed not to read that one.
Sleepy time I think. It has been a long day
I've had a comment or two that some of the Australianisms that I use are confusing. Some people from Australia have never heard my particular Australianisms.
Those internet old timers might have seen the Harvard Dialect Survey.
I participated in it even though I'm not really part of the demographic set they were looking for. It did introduce me to the concept of "whipping shitties" though. They didn't have "circle work" as an option for me to use.
Well now here's something to help bridge the gap for us all. It is the recently released .Macquarie Dictionary Word map
Those who want to know my slang variations should pay particular attention to regions 18 and 23. I was raised in Mildura in the Mallee and have been living pretty much all of my adult life in Melbourne. I will therefore refer to a snot block rather than a pus pie when referring to the delicious vanilla slice. It really only notes the differences in word usage and not sentence structures and the like. For example it doesn't point out the utterly infuriating habit of those north of the tropic of capricorn ending every sentence with the word "Ay". It absolutely gives me the shits. They also dedicate far too much content to differentiations between types of marbles. Does anyone actually play marbles any more? I doubt you could buy them anywhere. Yet the difference between an acker and an olly seems to take the most space in their regionalisation. I use both these terms but not in reference to marbles at all. An acker is a pimple. An olly is a skateboarding trick. I hate myself for knowing the latter of the two. The release of this list comes at a very usefull time for me. I wasn't previously conscious of the fact that I was writing for an audience that was located in all of Australia and may have been guilty of not realising the differences between areas. Not that I'm gunna change anything. But I am certainly going to be more aware of my exclusivity. And possibly revelling in it. Take that you weird talking hicks.
The girls are off to Ness' parents for a few days. We both have stuff on the next two days but Friday and Saturday night are both wide open for us. And we have no idea what we might want to do. Yes I know. We are sad pathetic shells of people who go running back to our cage at the first sign of freedom. I'm sure we'll think of something. Perhaps suggestion may make their way to my inbox. You may note that I now have a mailto in the links section. You can choose pretty much anything @tenpm.com.au except for submit@tenpm.com.au. That's my spam trap address and I am guaranteed not to read that one.
Sleepy time I think. It has been a long day
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
SHE RIDES!!!!!!!!
You know what. I did have this really interesting post about language and stuff ready to go for today but I just got a phone call telling me that I am a writer for my best mate's TV show which is signed and sealed for production.
This is the coolest thing ever.
I am going to go out and get exceedingly drunk tonight and hang the consequences.
I may never hear news as exciting as this ever again.
You know what. I did have this really interesting post about language and stuff ready to go for today but I just got a phone call telling me that I am a writer for my best mate's TV show which is signed and sealed for production.
This is the coolest thing ever.
I am going to go out and get exceedingly drunk tonight and hang the consequences.
I may never hear news as exciting as this ever again.
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
I have a confession to make. I love a couple of reality TV programs.
In particular, The Amazing Race and Survivor. The new season of Survivor started last night here in .au and I say glued to the set as always. What really sets this show apart from the others is its' extremely high production values. This is no Mickey-Mouse operation. They put together a great package. I won't go into any actual detail of the show. If you like it then I'm sure you watched it too. Suffice to say that I already have some characters I like and some I don't and there are a couple who didn't get much air time at the start so I am waiting for their story arcs to make an appearance.
While waiting for Survivor to start I also flicked a bit through the debut of Queer Eye for the Straight guy. This is actually a really, really basic makeover style show that gets its' pep up from the characters they have chosen for it. Flaming queens always make good telly. They are always loud and bright and very telegenic. Of all the gay people I know, only one of them could even come close to being as out there as regularly presented TV gay charicitures that we are bombarded with. So whilst they were fairly entertaining the whole show is kinda redundant in the advice they actually hand out. In that light I propose Bruce's Eye for Any Guy. Here are my sure-fire tips for transforming your life. Partially summarised from Queer Eye.
1 - Clean up your residence. Storage solutions like shelves and cupboards can facillitate this.
2 - Get a hair cut.
3 - Spend some money on some nice clothes.
4 - When you meet people, talk to them and listen to what they have to say.
I just gotta turn that into a 5 page treatment and I will have myself a green light in about 30 seconds. My ability to make pithy comments about the subject of my little Pygmallion exercise will no doubt be the sealer of the deal.
In other news, "the world's greatest luddite" has been replaced in the Communications and Arts Ministry by the guy who won the Australian Big Brother of the Year award for his anti-privacy policies. Frying pans and fires.
We replace the man who thinks that broadband==pornography with a QC who believes that IP laws aren't tight enough.
Another bold step forward in Austrlalia's technology future.
Still no sign of a fixture from the VTCA and matches start on Saturday. My cricket stuff will wait until then.
In particular, The Amazing Race and Survivor. The new season of Survivor started last night here in .au and I say glued to the set as always. What really sets this show apart from the others is its' extremely high production values. This is no Mickey-Mouse operation. They put together a great package. I won't go into any actual detail of the show. If you like it then I'm sure you watched it too. Suffice to say that I already have some characters I like and some I don't and there are a couple who didn't get much air time at the start so I am waiting for their story arcs to make an appearance.
While waiting for Survivor to start I also flicked a bit through the debut of Queer Eye for the Straight guy. This is actually a really, really basic makeover style show that gets its' pep up from the characters they have chosen for it. Flaming queens always make good telly. They are always loud and bright and very telegenic. Of all the gay people I know, only one of them could even come close to being as out there as regularly presented TV gay charicitures that we are bombarded with. So whilst they were fairly entertaining the whole show is kinda redundant in the advice they actually hand out. In that light I propose Bruce's Eye for Any Guy. Here are my sure-fire tips for transforming your life. Partially summarised from Queer Eye.
1 - Clean up your residence. Storage solutions like shelves and cupboards can facillitate this.
2 - Get a hair cut.
3 - Spend some money on some nice clothes.
4 - When you meet people, talk to them and listen to what they have to say.
I just gotta turn that into a 5 page treatment and I will have myself a green light in about 30 seconds. My ability to make pithy comments about the subject of my little Pygmallion exercise will no doubt be the sealer of the deal.
In other news, "the world's greatest luddite" has been replaced in the Communications and Arts Ministry by the guy who won the Australian Big Brother of the Year award for his anti-privacy policies. Frying pans and fires.
We replace the man who thinks that broadband==pornography with a QC who believes that IP laws aren't tight enough.
Another bold step forward in Austrlalia's technology future.
Still no sign of a fixture from the VTCA and matches start on Saturday. My cricket stuff will wait until then.
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Ahh.. Sunday evening and another weekend bites the dust.
Yesterday was Grand Final day. The last day of the AFL football season and the official start to the summer BBQ season.
Dailan was our host for this year and it was nice to catch up with him and others. Dailan is one half of The Project and has been busy writing the last 2 weeks with Craig to complete the show's outline. That is now done, they are negotiating delivery dates and the number of writers to be taken on full/part time and it looks pretty much like a done deal. So by April next year my name should be appearing in the credits of a nationally televised TV show. It is super exciting and make me kinda wish I didn't have such deep roots in my current career path. There's no way I could afford to pack in the IT caper and take up writing full time. I am kinda hooked on the regular injections of cash that full time emplyment offers.
More on The Project later.
The Grand Final itself was a bit of a fizzer. A replay of last year's match between Collingwood (Magpies) and Brisbane (Lions). Most football fans would have picked Collingwood to turn the tables this year. I know I did. I was barracking for Brisbane but thinking that it was most likely going to be the Pies. I couldn't bring myself to choose Collingwood. I fuken hate them!! Their supporters had been strutting about the place all week. One bloke from the cricket club was planning how he woudl be celebrating last night so that he could follow the Premiership Cup around and make sure he was going to be able to party with the players. I can't wait to see him again so I can bag him mercilessly. Well done Lions. They humiliated the Pies and showed them up badly to win by 50 points and that was a flattering scoreline with Collingwood getting 3 goals back in junk time when the game was well and truly over.
Other guests at Dailan's yesterday were Dailin's sister and her fella and Nicko (another Project participant) and Pauline and Charlie.
Pauline is Craig's wife and Charlie is their son. I will reserve a long and rambling post about Craig for later. He and Dailan are the two driving forces in The Project and Craig has been my best friend for more than 20 years now.
Other things for the weekend was going shopping with Madeline yesterday. We went to Highpoint and picked up a Yoga DVD and exercise mats as we zero carpet in the house. Madeline is fun sometimes. We lingered over a hot chocolate together (she is already an afficiando of the Melbourne cafe scene) so that she could meet the Barbie and Swan Lake poppet. This girl was the least convincing Barbie impersonator I have ever seen. She was barely even blonde. I would call it perhaps light brown with highlights. Other Barbie traits were absent too. Her waist was thicker than her neck. She had no tits at all and her feet were normal. Her legs were nowhere near the required 60% of her body length. She was close enough for Madeline though.
Up early this morning to grab the in-laws from the train station as they arrived back home from the Gold Coast in Queensland. They had a nice enough time even though they refused to ride a single rollercoaster. I man why even bother if you want to go that far in a fricken train. They weren't enamoured of the journey though and will either choose the plane or not at all for a return visit. I told them that before they left but what do I know.. The city is a fun place to be at 7:00AM on a Sunday. It was clear and bright and almost quiet. A very different place from the one I will journey into in the morning. I really enjoyed the contrast.
Feeling pretty buggered so I think I will attempt my first Yoga session with Ness and then head to bed. My recent injury to my ITB has made me realise that I am getting older and need to really work to maintain my flexibility and avoid injuries now. I am hoping that if I loosen up the torso and hips a bit I might pick up a yard or two of pace and cricket season starts next week. That will be my topic for mid week I think. Remind me if I forget to mention it again. A wise man once said, "we don't like cricket. We love it! Hah!"
I think these early entries will end up long like this. We'll see how long I last.
But while I'm mentioning exercise equipment you might want to check out these items (not while you are at work though). I think these could be dual use items in the house with small children. Bedroom fun at night and easily converted into a cubby house or fort during the day. I love practical products.
Yesterday was Grand Final day. The last day of the AFL football season and the official start to the summer BBQ season.
Dailan was our host for this year and it was nice to catch up with him and others. Dailan is one half of The Project and has been busy writing the last 2 weeks with Craig to complete the show's outline. That is now done, they are negotiating delivery dates and the number of writers to be taken on full/part time and it looks pretty much like a done deal. So by April next year my name should be appearing in the credits of a nationally televised TV show. It is super exciting and make me kinda wish I didn't have such deep roots in my current career path. There's no way I could afford to pack in the IT caper and take up writing full time. I am kinda hooked on the regular injections of cash that full time emplyment offers.
More on The Project later.
The Grand Final itself was a bit of a fizzer. A replay of last year's match between Collingwood (Magpies) and Brisbane (Lions). Most football fans would have picked Collingwood to turn the tables this year. I know I did. I was barracking for Brisbane but thinking that it was most likely going to be the Pies. I couldn't bring myself to choose Collingwood. I fuken hate them!! Their supporters had been strutting about the place all week. One bloke from the cricket club was planning how he woudl be celebrating last night so that he could follow the Premiership Cup around and make sure he was going to be able to party with the players. I can't wait to see him again so I can bag him mercilessly. Well done Lions. They humiliated the Pies and showed them up badly to win by 50 points and that was a flattering scoreline with Collingwood getting 3 goals back in junk time when the game was well and truly over.
Other guests at Dailan's yesterday were Dailin's sister and her fella and Nicko (another Project participant) and Pauline and Charlie.
Pauline is Craig's wife and Charlie is their son. I will reserve a long and rambling post about Craig for later. He and Dailan are the two driving forces in The Project and Craig has been my best friend for more than 20 years now.
Other things for the weekend was going shopping with Madeline yesterday. We went to Highpoint and picked up a Yoga DVD and exercise mats as we zero carpet in the house. Madeline is fun sometimes. We lingered over a hot chocolate together (she is already an afficiando of the Melbourne cafe scene) so that she could meet the Barbie and Swan Lake poppet. This girl was the least convincing Barbie impersonator I have ever seen. She was barely even blonde. I would call it perhaps light brown with highlights. Other Barbie traits were absent too. Her waist was thicker than her neck. She had no tits at all and her feet were normal. Her legs were nowhere near the required 60% of her body length. She was close enough for Madeline though.
Up early this morning to grab the in-laws from the train station as they arrived back home from the Gold Coast in Queensland. They had a nice enough time even though they refused to ride a single rollercoaster. I man why even bother if you want to go that far in a fricken train. They weren't enamoured of the journey though and will either choose the plane or not at all for a return visit. I told them that before they left but what do I know.. The city is a fun place to be at 7:00AM on a Sunday. It was clear and bright and almost quiet. A very different place from the one I will journey into in the morning. I really enjoyed the contrast.
Feeling pretty buggered so I think I will attempt my first Yoga session with Ness and then head to bed. My recent injury to my ITB has made me realise that I am getting older and need to really work to maintain my flexibility and avoid injuries now. I am hoping that if I loosen up the torso and hips a bit I might pick up a yard or two of pace and cricket season starts next week. That will be my topic for mid week I think. Remind me if I forget to mention it again. A wise man once said, "we don't like cricket. We love it! Hah!"
I think these early entries will end up long like this. We'll see how long I last.
But while I'm mentioning exercise equipment you might want to check out these items (not while you are at work though). I think these could be dual use items in the house with small children. Bedroom fun at night and easily converted into a cubby house or fort during the day. I love practical products.
