Month: December 2003 (page 2 of 10)

Only one hour to go…

Only one hour to go til Return of the King. I think we’re prepared. We’ve eaten Krispy Kremes for long-sustaining energy and we’ve stayed away from excessive liquids (and caffeine). I’ll have a long post about it – and the other four movies we’ve watched so far this break – later today…

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everybody! Unlike many other slack-ass bloggers, I will not be “taking a break” away from the Internet to celebrate. It helps, of course, that my family are all thousands of miles away and it’s way too hot to make a turkey, but there you go. At any rate, you may expect new posts on web-goddess throughout the holiday season. Call it a gift from me to you…

One good turn deserves another, apparently.

I’ve been trying to find a selfless Christmas good deed and I feel a little like Phoebe (in the one where she hates PBS). I decided to make a sock monkey for Dean’s little girl. He tried to pay me for it today but I turned him down. I felt pretty good about helping give a three-year-old a good Christmas. But then tonight, he called me out of the blue as the Snook and I were eating dinner. Turns out he was right around the block and wanted “to give me something”. He showed up five minutes later with a mixed dozen of Krispy Kremes! I was floored; there are only, like, two outlets in Sydney and they’re nowhere near here so he must’ve made a special trip to deliver them. I’ve never even had one before! It was such a sweet gesture. But dammit, now I need to find a new selfless good deed, and tomorrow’s Christmas!

Mad Cow in the US

Hmmm, the US is reporting its first case of mad cow disease. I wonder if this means that they’ll eventually drop the restrictions on donating blood for people who’ve lived in the UK…?

Gendered Gift-Giving

Gendered Gift-Giving
My boss got everybody in our department gifts today. That’s nice. All the boys got bottles of booze and I got a designer sushi plate. That’s not so nice. I mean, the plate itself is pretty and I’ll put candles on it or something, but why the disparity? After a year, does he really know me so little as to think I’d appreciate homewares over a bottle of champagne? He might as well have given the guys Hot Wheels cars and the girls Barbies. I guess I should count myself lucky; it could’ve been worse. I think I saw the girl in the next cubicle opening a shower set.

Happy Festivus!

As it’s still December 23 in most of the world, HAPPY FESTIVUS!

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Thanks to the wonders of eDonkey, the Snook now knows what I mean when I refer to a Charlie Brown tree. You know, I choke up every time when Linus steps out into the spotlight and starts his speech.

Lawyer of the Rings

The Snook has been having a good giggle for the past ten minutes reading this legal analysis of Lord of the Rings. I made the mistake of asking who “Morgoth” was and got a lecture on falling asleep when people are trying to read The Silmarillion to me. Oops. (Link courtesy of John.)

Cupcakes and Monkey

It was a creative kind of night. I finished yet another sock monkey (a Christmas gift for the daughter of co-worker Dean) and a big tray of cupcakes for our Christmas Eve office luncheon. They’re yellow cake mix – from scratch! – with flavored frosting and “hundreds and thousands” on top. (That’s what Aussies call “sprinkles”.) I know the blue isn’t really seasonal, but I ran out of red food colouring during the whole Halloween “bloody cupcake” debacle and I didn’t feel like running out for more. Based on the samples the Snook and I had tonight, they’re pretty darn tasty regardless. Please imagine that if I was next to you right now, I’d be handing one over this instant. Merry Christmas!

Monkey     Cupcakes

Ebert’s Best Films of the Year

Ebert’s posted his list of the Best Films of the Year, which should put some folks’ panties in a twist. He left out Return of the King, for instance, and included Russell Crowe’s movie. Kill Bill is in there, as are both Scarlett Johansson films. He even included two Tupac documentaries. Say what you will about the guy… but he isn’t predictable.

[Note: I noticed that Ebert included Winged Migration, which was called Travelling Birds here. I wonder why it was changed? I think the international title was the better one.]