Cousin Jenny posted the second part of her adventure meeting Robert “Undead Hottie” Pattinson in a mall. He totally checked out her boobs.

Eek! ThinkGeek now has a Geek Kids section. Almost makes me wish I had an anklebiter myself!

Huh. Tim Tams will now be sold in the US for the first time ever. Man, there goes what little power I had as the family supplier of Tim Tams from abroad.

George Bush “is a dill”
Is the whole “What’s the G20?” story getting any airplay in the US? Because it has amused me to no end over here. A month ago, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was hosting a dinner party at Kirribilli, when he received a phone call from George Bush. Apparently, at some point during the conversation Rudd mentioned the upcoming G20 Summit, to which Bush replied: “What’s the G20?” A prominent journalist happened to be at the dinner, and soon the story had been leaked to the newspapers. Rudd’s staff says it never happened. The Americans say it never happened. The Federal Opposition say it happened, but that Rudd made it up to impress his dinner guests by making the American President look like an idiot. And oddly enough, Rudd himself has refused to answer the direct question of whether he told his guests about it. These politicians have been spending hours of time in Parliament actually discussing how dumb the American President is, who leaked the news to the press, and whether this revelation will damage US-Australian relations. It’s all pretty hilarious. And this week we’ve all been on tenterhooks to see how Bush would greet Rudd at the big G20 Summit. (Verdict: “frosty”.) Meanwhile, I bet Rudd is feeling sad that his dinner parties next year won’t be enlivened by any calls from Sarah Palin.

Holy crap. They’ve released a promotional video for the Tough Bloke Challenge, the race that me and Snookums and Emily and Clare are doing next month. It’s just… ludicrous really. The whole concept is making me laugh. I can just picture myself right now getting stuck in one of those tubes, or hanging motionless on the monkey bars (like George Michael) over a mud pit. I’m resigned to bringing up the rear. In fact, given that there’s a ten minute penalty for each obstacle you fail to complete, I have a feeling that we could be in the realm of EPIC FAIL here.

My cousin Jenny waited in line all night with a bunch of teenagers to score tickets to see Robert “Cedric Diggory/Edward Cullen” Pattinson at a book signing. Her verdict? “Um, he’s honestly the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen in person.” Yeah. This guy.

The Knitting Robot Strikes Again
It’s really unfair of me to make fun of the Snook for playing his videogame all weekend. The truth is, I spent just as much time sitting on the couch beavering away on my knitting projects. I made a start on the Space Invaders socks I’m knitting for the Colony of Gamers Child’s Play Drive, and I added several inches to the aran jumper I’m knitting for next year’s Easter Show.

I’ve modifed the bmp socks from the originals a little bit. I’m using Easy Care 5ply instead of a traditional sock wool, and I’ve gone up to a 3mm needle. I know from experience that I tend to knit fairisle fairly tight though, so I’m hoping they’ll still fit without much adjustment. As for the aran, it’s my first official Starmore: Na Craga. I’m knitting the front and back at the same time on a long circular, but the pieces are still separate. (Consensus is that the seams will give it some needed stability.) The cable patterns are very simple once you get going and I don’t even need to refer to the charts anymore.

While I was knitting, I also managed to watch all of Seinfeld Season 6 on DVD…

I’d just like to clarify that the World of Warcraft player who reached level 80 in less than a day after the new expansion came out was NOT the Snook. He did play it all weekend, but he’s only at 72.

Idol Sighting!
I went for a run this afternoon and soon found myself waiting for a light to change up near Central Station. As I stood there, I noticed a very familiar-looking Asian guy walking towards me. My first thought was that it was one of the Snook’s co-workers, and I nearly opened my mouth to say “hi.” Then a lightbulb went off over my head: It was Thanh Bui! He stood next to me, waiting at the pedestrian crossing. The light finally changed and we began to walk. I made a snap decision and pulled off my headphones. “Excuse me,” I said, turning to him. “Are you Thanh?” His voice was soft and shy. “Yes, I am,” he said. I gave him a big smile. “You did really great this year!” He said thanks as I sped off into the crowd. Hey, he wasn’t my favorite or anything, but he seemed like a nice guy. He sang ABBA in front of everyone in Australia! That takes some courage. So I was happy to think that maybe my comment lifted him up a bit. (I was also interested to see him sitting in the stands at tonight’s live show!)

As for the Final 3, is there really any doubt? I loved it when Dicko said “Holden hates me anyway” and gave Wes a touchdown. For second place, I’m going to have to go with the shearer. Spano’s good, but I thought he really boned it tonight. His first song was one nobody recognized, and his second one (Santana’s “Smooth”) was one everybody and their mom recognized, but he sounded awful on the low verses. Luke still moves around a little awkwardly, but both of his songs were solid and he deserves to get to go to the big show. But seriously, WES ALL THE WAY. I’m totally voting.