web-goddess

Wow, the Snook’s thesis is available on the new Google Scholar! As he says in his best Cartman voice: “I’m a scientist. I’m so kewl.”

I can’t decide what’s funnier: the fact that Dulux actually have a red paint colour called “Redrum,” or that an oblivious Kathleen wanted to use it on their apartment walls! (Sidenote: Andrew’s anecdote reminded me of when Milhouse picked up Bart’s telepathic message “kcip pu trab” in The Simpsons, which in turn led me to this nifty page detailing all the Stanley Kubrick references on the show.)

What Book Are You? Oh good grief; I’m Catch-22. I remember that being one of the hardest books I had to read in college. (Hard in the sense that it took me about five tries to finally get into it, and I still pretty much hated it at the time.) My description: Incredibly witty and funny, you have a taste for irony in all that you see. It seems that life has put you in perpetually untenable situations, and your sense of humor is all that gets you through them. These experiences have also made you an ardent pacifist, though you present your message with tongue sewn into cheek. You could coin a phrase that replaces the word “paradox” for millions of people. Well, I guess that’s flattering in a way, so I’ll accept it. (Link courtesy of Kevin, who is strangely always going on about rabbits…)

Just did some much needed housecleaning of my weblog link list down there… Added a few new ones as well as some Sydney food blogs that I’ve been obsessed with lately.

Speaking not as a Microsoft user but purely as a shallow marketing-driven consumer: Longhorn = great name. Vista = stupid name. I can’t even type it; I keep typing Visa.

As my friend Fiona is always getting to visit me in the shop, today I decided to visit her where she works: the ABC. I’ve been by the Ultimo location several times but I’d never been inside. I was really looking forward to seeing the inner workings of a well-funded, state-sponsored, lefty-leaning broadcast network. (And let’s face it, I’d give my right arm to work for the ABC.) As I waited for her in the lobby, I was amused to see John Doyle (aka Raging Roy Slaven) walk by. Anyway, Fiona’s a designer on Play School, which is a children’s program that runs twice a day here. As I understand it, it’s been running even longer than Sesame Street! Miss Fee was kind enough to give me a tour of her design “dungeon” down in the bowels of the building. It was just wild, like a kid’s dream art cupboard. That’s her in the midst of all the colour and fun. She even opened The Locked Cabinet for me and showed me all the toys! That’s me with Big Ted, Little Ted, and Humpty. Millions of Aussie kids have grown up knowing these toys, and I got to hug them! (Jemima was in the cupboard too, but she was naked and we didn’t want to display her without her dignity.) Even though I haven’t known these characters my whole life, I could still feel how loved and cared-for and played-with they were. Hugging Big Ted is like hugging Grover or Big Bird!

Check it Carlton’s new ad. Pretty cool! Reminds me of something else… Wasn’t it the Rugby World Cup when they had people making a giant player moving across the field? Looks impressive though, and I guess I’ll contribute to their viral marketing campaign… (Link courtesy of Miss Jane.)

Damn. It. I am having weirdo problems all over the place with new computer. Seriously. The first twinge was last Friday when I was trying to burn a CD, and it just refused to write to a blank. (I tested it with a music CD and it played fine; it just didn’t want to burn.) Then a couple days ago I noticed that my iSight camera didn’t start up automatically. I had to unplug it and plug it back in. Tonight I plugged in the iPod for updating… and was informed that it was unreadable and I’d have to restore it to factory settings. So after three hours of headache, it turns out that that wasn’t the problem. It’s the FireWire. The damn thing works perfectly with USB. Didn’t I have this problem before? When the hell is the FireWire on the G5s going to work correctly?

My sister e-mailed to let me know that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (where she works) is auctioning off signed bowling pins to raise money. (Just scroll down to the ones with the charity ribbon icon.) I think I found the Snook’s birthday present! Heh.