Don’t forget to go play a round of “I Never” at Tara D’s Friday Pseudo-Drinking Game. Today’s items are fun…

Often when the Snook and I are in a shop, one of us will spot an item and whisper: “That’s for the Basement.” This refers to a shared dream that we have of one day owning a house with a large furnished basement, which we will decorate with all the nerdiest, coolest retro kitsch we can find. Our Basement is definitely going to have a Tiki Bar. It will have soft-focus 70’s paintings (or possibly needlepoints) of doe-eyed tropical naked women on the walls. It will have shag carpeting. Cocktails will be served in multicolored aluminum drinking cups. And in the corner will sit one of these beauties…

Ooh, you can now input your latitute and longitude on your MetaFilter user page! There are only a couple of us listed in Sydney so far.

To this day, I’m unable to go into a Dunkin’ Donuts without thinking: “Time to make the donuts!” Rest in peace, Fred the Baker.

Zoo pictures are online!
And what did you do for Christmas this year? Me, I patted an albino wallaby! I also drove over six hundred miles, got slobbered on by a giraffe, played a round of Putt-Putt of Death at the crappiest “tourist attraction” in history, and ate my weight in Christmas pudding. Oh, and no sightings of the murderer, though there was a (debatable) avian homicide.

I cancelled my Blogger account way back in 2001, and I’ve resisted the impulse to register again ever since… but as of today I’m back. No, I’m not moving away from my home-grown system; it’s just that I got an invitation to join a new Sydney grogblog* called The Martini Club. So those of you with Blogger sites may notice that my comments are signed differently. Just in case you wonder!

* I just made that up. You read it here first, folks!

Happy Christmas!
Stopped for lunch in Mudgee, the traditional Christmas crackers included. Not a cloud in the sky and merriment abounds. We hope you and yours have a great one too!

Dawn at the Zoo
They opened the zoo today so the weekend isn’t a total loss. No sign of the murderer. We’re off to see the meerkat feeding! And isn’t my hubbie rockin’ that Hawaiian shirt?

Christmas Manhunt
Six hours into the trip and we just got a message that they’ve closed the zoo… because there’s a MURDERER on the loose. Seriously. This will be quite the adventure.

I know a lot of people who are going to be getting a very special cross stitch bookmark for Christmas next year…