Hooray (Part Two)

I've just been to see Casino Royale which I've been dying to see since I first heard they were rejigging the franchise. It's a fab movie and such a great version of a James Bond movie. It captures the spirit of Ian Fleming's novels brilliantly. And what can I say about Daniel Craig, but PHWOAR.... He's such a great Bond and definitely captures who James Bond should be, the hardened assasin and not the teflon ladies man he was in previous films. But I think for me (and possibly many others) the best thing about the entire film is this -



Phew.

Hooray! (Part One)

Yesterday I finally sat my test for a restricted license and I passed! Yay! My days of being stuck at home or relying on the kindness of friends and relatives have ended.

I am officially a driver.

:-)

I own a car!!

Today I purchased my very first automobile. Excitement! I almost feel like a proper grown up. It's a 1993 Honda Civic 4 door Sedan in red/plum. It's not quite the hatch that I was dreaming of, but it's a nice little car and in decent nick. Just got to pass that test *touch wood* and I'll be out on the road. Watch out Auckland. Heh.

Spammage!

I want these!

How cool are these Freudian slippers? Teehee.

(Link via Spare Room)

Step back in time

Some of you may already know of my increasing interest in Astrology. Not just your cheesy weekly sun sign horoscopes, mind, but the in depth birth chart stuff. I'm sure you're all thinking bollocks but bear with me.

Anyways Mercury is currently retrograde (going backwards) in my 11th house of friendship. Usually Mercury going retrograde causes all sorts of hassles, snarl ups and problems but unusually for me (and most other Capricorns) this time around having it transit through my 11th house can indicate that old friends and aquaintences pop back into my life at this time. And sure enough since the retrograde period started two weeks ago, people I haven't seen in years (and for the months since I've been back) have been popping out of the wood work. Bumping into my ex at the dairy yesterday just confirmed it for me. There's still one week left before Mercury goes forward again, I wonder who else I will run into before then.

When will I, will I be famous....?

I (along with Tammy's sister Jolene) made the Sunday Star times society pages this week! We got our photo taken last week at the Halloween party we attended in town, not really thinking too much of it. Then I receive a text from Tammy this morning and sure enough there we were on page 15 in our Halloween outfits...



How random!

Weird dreams

Since Carly shared her weird dreams I thought I'd share mine. The other night I had a bizarre dream that I was trying to seduce Brandon Flowers, lead singer from The Killers, despite the fact that a) he's a Morman and b) he's happily married. He didn't have the wispy 'tache going on, thank goodness. He did turn me down eventually but my ego must be pretty healthy as he struggled with the dilemma. Hee.

I'm not quite sure what it means other than possibly I'm really really excited about next's years Big Day Out or even my subconscious thinks I'm a ho!

In an amusing sidenote I was checking out the website Carly linked to and in one of the catagories I read "Cheese dreams" instead of "Chase dreams". I'd love it if they really did have a catagory devoted to the dreams that come with cheese....ooh cheese...

Wild weather

I think I had forgotten exactly how fierce Auckland (or NZ) weather can get. I feel like I'm in the middle of storm at sea. I suppose I almost am. Where did spring go?

Big Day Out 2007

Today was the first annoucement of the intial line up for Big Day Out 2007 and making an appearance are none other than The Killers and..wait for it....

Muse!!!

Oh and there's some band called Tool or something headling

Woohoo!! As you can imagine I'm pretty stoked. It may not be Reading or V Festivals but I'll take that BDO line up, thank you kindly. Roll on January and summer!!

Franz Ferdinand: The New Monkees/Beatles

I've always been one for the old 1960s pop band tv/movies. Help and A Hard Day's Night are classics in my mind and who didn't enjoy the brief Monkees revival of 1994? While watching the free dvd that I got with my new copy of Franz's album "You Could Have It So Much Better" (which I unfortunately left behind in London), I was struck with how Franz would be the perfect band to revive this trend. Not only are they nattily dressed and make kick ass music, as a group they have that sense of whimsy and fun about them. Plus stylistically I suppose they are a bit of a throwback to the 1960s anyway. There are a couple of cool little scenes on the dvd where they are racing around on bicycles and throwing axes at Alex and suchlike.

So I’m holding out hope for an upcoming Franz movie sometime in the future. Although perhaps I shouldn’t hold my breath on that one.

They'll be the Beatles of course, since they are actually talented.

I like that headline

	melanie was crowned as royalty
	After taking over the world and declaring themselves Overlord
'What will your Headline be?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Not entirely sure that I would be up for the deed but it's something to aim for...

This is sad. I don't really watch Top Gear as I can't stand Jeremy Clarkson (the man is an arse) and I'm not much of a driver (yet. But that will soon change!), but I always thought Richard Hammond was such a nice man. Plus he won Heat's ultimate secret crush poll last year! Here's hoping he pulls through okay.

This post has no title

For a while it seemed the days of gratuitous shots of Ewan McGregor's, er, little McGregor were long gone since he is now a certified Hollywood star. In his early films (Trainspotting, Velvet Goldmine, The Pillow Book...etc) you were almost guaranteed a relatively non-essential-to-the-plot Ewan unrobing. But it seemed that Ewan had moved onto more family friendly fare in Star Wars, Moulin Rouge, Big Fish...etc.

So I was pleasantly surprised to discover a relatively recent film of his Young Adam on Rialto channel last night, a film where he once again takes his kit off and gives us the full show. His acting was alright too.

It's nice to see he's going back to his roots. So to speak.

I am so high-brow......Hee.

Best thing I've read all week

"My husband hates Lukas with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. I quote: "Look at him! He looks like something Gary Numan shat out!" Lukas is therefore known in our household as the "The Turd of Gary Numan"."

From Public Address.net

That's Lukas from Rockstar Supernova in case you don't know.

Update: He really didn't deserve to win either.

Thoughts while watching random Brit Indie movie from 1998 on Rialto

1. John Simm is really rather lovely. *sigh*

2 . When are TVNZ gonna get around to playing Life on Mars? That series was ace.

3. I should watch Human Traffic again.

3. Kevin McKidd, aka Tommy from Trainspotting, isn't bad for a ginger.

(Ssh, you didn't hear me say that)

4. Thank god short shift dresses, chunky stack heels and chokers are no longer in fashion.

Words of Wisdom circa 1991

"Pit Bull Terriers - should they be banned. That's the question being asked around New Zealand and Australia. In an attack recently a man had very serious facial injuries. His nose was bitten off and his right ear was ripped away. His plastic surgeon said it was the worst case he had ever treated. I think using a Pitt Bull terrier as a guard dog would be going overboard. My opinion is that Pitt Bull terriers should be banned. The United Kingdom is going to ban Pitt Bull terriers and hopefully New Zealand will."

- Melanie Scott, age 10


"Avalanches happen on mountains. They are caused by lot of heavy snow building on top of each other. Sound - for example shouting, can cause this great snow block to tumble down and bury anyone in its path. If you are trapped there is usually enough air to breathe for several days but you'll freeze to death if you're not found quickly because your blood will gradually drop down until your heart stops beating....Last year in Canada some people (including a New Zealander) were trapped in an avalanche but luckily they were rescued."

- Carly Pannell, age 10

And here's something from another familar face -

"I think of a tornado as a huge leg reaching out of the sky which goes around sucking things up like a vacuum cleaner kicking everything it sees."

- Andrew Bing, age 11

Isn't it nice to see that we started early with the biting editorial opinion and informative journalism. Heh.

Spot The Difference

Peter Jackson

Tyler from the Amazing Race

Geek Alert!

I've just watched the latest (NZ) episode of Doctor Who. It was an alright episode. David Tennant was lovely as always. [insert Tardis inuendo joke here] But I had to laugh - The No-Face Nana (once she got her face back) is none other than the nice/evil little old lady that plays Nanatoo in the Mighty Boosh! And the Doctor was going to get rid of the big bad face sucking TV monster by recording it onto Betamax and taping over it. If that wasn't a Mighty Boosh shout out, I don't know what is.

The Arctic Monkeys - A Slightly More Eloquent Review

I finally managed to finish this review about a month later! Excuse the lateness, I've been a bit slack.

So after literally months of waiting, Artic Monkeys Friday (tm) finally arrived. We went for drinks at the fake English style pub The Playhouse then rocked on up to the St James to catch the Arctic Monkeys. After a few minutes blind panic when I discovered I had no ID and possibly wouldn't even get in (thanks ASB bank!), I was let into the R18 gig by a sympathetic bouncer who could tell my teenage days were obviously long gone. Once inside I rushed immediately to the bar for another drink to calm my frazzled nerves. (I am a nana after all...)

We wandered in to get a spot downstairs with a good view of the stage. Not always possible for short arses like me. After waiting for a few minutes, the support act for the night, Brisbane band The Grates came on stage to decent applause. (Disclaimer - this is where my review gets a bit negative. Not like me I know!) Normally I'm appreciative of support bands, some of them put on a fab show, but I just wasn't impressed with the Grates. Not to say they didn't try. An unusual trio, made up of the female lead singer, female drummer and a solo male guitarist, who looked like they were just out of high school.....in the 1960s. This was partly due to the way they were dressed but also their blindly uncool enthusiasm which to us screamed Born Again Christian. The lead singer bounced around the stage with endless energy which made us feel tired just watching her. The music itself was alright but didn't manage to grab me anyway. By the end of their set, we were gagging for some real rock'n'roll from the Sheffield lads.

They started off slowly with the understated "Riot Van", and then launched into an absolutely blinding show. Seriously one of the best shows I think I've seen in a while. The raw intensity they demonstrate on the album is perfectly captured live. They played pretty much all the album tracks and a couple of new songs from their "Who The Fuck Are the Arctic Monkeys?" Ep. For such a young band, and with the newly aquired bass player, The Artic Monkeys are an extremely tight live act. Their set was only about 45 minutes long from start to finish, but it was packed with energy and every single song rocked. The crowd at the St James managed to match the energy the boys were putting into their performance. Alex even commented on what a great crowd it was. We were all left breathless and wanting more as they disappeared off the stage.

An amusing side note - in year or so since the the Artic Monkeys rose to fame, lead singer Alex Turner seems to have morphed from spotty Northern teenager to swaggering rock star. He had the feather hair and tight indie rock god top and everything. He even seems to have developed biceps! Heh. We all agreed he's heading into Richard Ashcroft territory. Let's hope that doesn't mean rabid egotism and mediocre music several years down the track. (Ooh burn...)

Anyways as I said it was a great show and my first review probably sums up it more accurately.

Oh and if you're wondering, I managed to get my revenge on that crowd surfer with several good kicks after he fell to the ground a little while later.

The Arctic Monkeys at the St James

All I can say right now is -

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!


Oh yeah except for the part where a crowd surfing dickhead fell on me....

Personality Test Spamage

I'm not entirely sure how accurate this is but how much of a typical Capricorn does this sound?

You are gentle, caring, quiet, dutiful, neat, dependable, modest, unassuming, and humble. You can be counted on to make sure everything is in its place, that people are doing what they’re supposed to be doing and all the supplies have been secured.

You prefer to work behind the scenes, driven by a sense of obligation, often overworked for the benefit of others. You prefer tasks that are highly outlined, organized and practical. You fill your life with meaningful activities and schedule any down time. You enjoy helping any friend in need. You have a strong work ethic and can be critical of sloth, laziness and people who have possessions only through extreme indebtedness. All you’d like in return for all of your hard work is recognition and gratitude, neither of which you receive nearly in proportion to the effort and time you exert.

One of your greatest strengths is supporting family or group activities. Your contribution of cooking, cleaning, fixing or constructing is an expression of your love and loyalty to everyone present, and such labor is truly a pleasure for you to fulfill.

You were a model child. Relatively neat, sweet and conscientious, you were the child that every parent thinks they’re going to have. You may have openly disagreed or rebelled but if so it was short-lived and harmless and you were quick to accept the judgment of your parents along with any punishment they deemed reasonable.

You prefer not to make waves or attract too much individual attention. You go by the book and are suspicious of anyone suggesting that tried and true established methods should be revised or ignored.

You have a strong appreciation for antiques, traditions and heirlooms. You have a natural appreciation for and connection with your past and the people in your family tree. You find special joy in guarding old family artifacts regardless of their monetary value.

You put a lot of energy into maintaining your home. You keep things tidy, visually appealing and in working condition. You make sure your home is always well stocked with food and supplies. You take better care of your possessions than most types, cleaning, oiling, maintaining things so that they will always be nice, maintain their value, and function when needed. You want things to be sturdy and may replace something which isn’t broken if, after acquiring it, you realize that it’s of the new, shabbier quality.

You may or may not be a pessimist, but your speech is laced with reminders to realistically expect problems to arise. You are aware of the general dangers of living and are conscious of the fact that other people don’t heed your warnings as often as they should. You are also the first to point out to someone who seems surprised that they should’ve known that setbacks would occur

Anyone interested can take the test here.

Down with da kids...sort of...

I've dipped my toe into the murky waters of My Space but haven't really gotten into it as such. (Yes, I know I only have 6 friends!) I know it's supposed to have launched the Artic Monkeys and other hip new acts but I haven't really got around to checking out the music side of it till now.

The snarky gossip newsletter Popbitch last week linked to this new UK based singer on My Space called Mika. (Not NZ's former cabaret style performer Mika, another one) This Mika is a fabulous mix of operatic rock pop stylings in the vein of Rufus Wainwright, Queen, old skool Elton John...etc. In other words, gay! Oh so gay and oh so brilliant. His song Grace Kelly is a musical ray of sunshine in this dark gloomy winter.

Speaking of Teh Gay, another musical act with a handy My Space page is IAMX. I recently obtained a copy of their album (don't ask how) which is great German electro pop. (And that is not an oxymoron!) From the guy behind the Sneaker Pimps, their music is dark sensual electro which is also Fabulous, but less Elton John and more Ghetto (the club).


So anyways Tom, when do I get my pimpage fee?

Time for a joke

A guy walks into a zoo. Inside there's only one animal...a dog....


It was a shitzu.


Tee hee!!

Fun with HTML

NOEL FIELDING IS ON THE IT CROWD ON TV ONE TONIGHT!!!!


Yes, I am officially a (Boosh) geek....

Contemplation...

I think I am a bit naive sometimes. I have a tendancy to give some people more credit than they are due. But I've realised that no matter what I do or say , some folk just won't listen. Oh well, I just don't think I'll bother next time.

And in other music news

I ♥ Carl Barat!

My Dirty Pretty Things CD arrived yesterday from Amazon. It's absolutely brilliant! I've been listening to it non stop. I loved "Bang Bang You're Dead" when it came out in the UK and all the other songs are just as good. Mr Barat is a musical genius, I tell you. Not to mention he's also pretty easy on the eye.....

Excuse my Mighty Boosh geek out, but on the subject of musical Mr Barratt's, I must share some shocking information I discoved in my internet wanderings. Apparently Noel (yes, that's right, Noel) now has a moustache. Not only that but it's also reported that Julian has shaved his off!!!

Don't believe me? Check this out:



What is the world coming to?

When The Lights Go Out Part 2: Stranger in the Night

On Friday night, as is becoming the norm here in Auckland, we had a powercut. This time it was limited to about ten houses in our street. Thanks Empower. Anyway after an hour or so with no power, we all decided to head to bed. I was in my room getting ready for bed when I heard my sister saying there was someone outside in our backyard. After establishing that it wasn't any of us, everyone raced outside to confront them. Turns out there was a strange guy outside, not far from my bedroom window, sitting in a bush. My dad asked him what he was doing there, and then told him to leave our property. The guy responded saying he was just eating a burger. As he calmly strode around the deck and left via the other side of the house, my mum started swearing at him (nice one Mum) and everyone came back inside before she aggravated him further. It was all drama for the next hour or so. We shut ourselves indoors and phoned the police in case he hadn't actually left. The police soon turned up and searched our property and the neighbours in case he was still around but by then he must have taken off.

Dad speculated that he may have been here before as he seemed to know his way around our massive deck when he went to leave. Scary stuff!

So the current theories are:

a) he is some kind of peeping tom (ack!)
b) he may have been just a very confused/cheeky stoner
c) he was looking to burgle our house since with the power out it looked like no one was home

The postscript to this story is that while I was at Dominos picking up tea the following night, I spotted a guy come into the shop wearing a distinctive woolen sherpa hat similar to the one our prowler wore. Dum, dum, dum......

Glam rock lives!

The new Muse single is awesome, with a capital "O".

That is all

When the lights go out...

So we had a power cut today. The power was out in central Auckland for over four hours. After a few hours hanging around work in the dark trying to read magazines we finally got the okay to go home, which was all well and good. But now I am going to be behind in my work after almost getting on top of everything.

Oh joy.

Four hours to bring the power back and they still didn't get it as far as my office. Ridiculous. Everyone is harking back to the dark days of 1998 when the power was out in the CBD for 52 days. Yes that's right, 52 days.

This friggin city....

Employed!

I have a job! Woohoo! It's in TV too. After loads of interviews I finally got a job offer from my first choice this week. I will be working here entering programme promos into the system and suchlike.

I'm starting on Monday so my four week holiday/unemployment will finally be over.

Sweet.....

Gutted

Not only did Radiohead play their long awaited Hammersmith Apollo gig over the weekend that I couldn't go to because I had to come back here, but apparently the Boosh boys were there as well. Damn you Thom Yorke, why must you frustrate me so! Radiohead had better get their arses down to NZ (or at the very least Oz) sometime soon. That's all I'm saying....

In other news, the girls and I, in our efforts to get out and do something different in order to avoid the inertia/boredom that can set in living in Auckland, decided to accompany my parents (yes I know how sad this sounds) to a lovely semi-local chain pub. It was an interesting experience. I'm sure the regular patrons had never seen the likes of us rock on up there. By which I mean (and I am not being vain saying this) we were the hottest women there. So of course we got hit on about 50 million times by the best dregs of men West Auckland can offer. Those of you from the West will know exactly what I mean. You London types, just think of the American road movies with all sorts of redneck/hillbilly types in and you will sort of understand what I mean. My favourite pickup artist of the night was the bloke and his mates who tried to win us with their extremely drunken dancing then tried to talk to us but his speech was so drunken and garbled we couldn't understand a word he was saying.

It was a strange night to say the least, but we now know for sure not to go to the Cock and Bull Lynfield. I will be sticking to Auckland Central from now on.

Teh Gay

While watching Oliver Stone's epic flop Alexander, my younger brother expressed surprise that he flaunted his interest in boys so openly. I then had to explain to my brother the concept of Greek love.... Heh.

Needless to say he was rather taken aback.

Mmm...creamy....

Old Gregg has been at my parents liquor cabinet....



"Captain Cabinets/trapped in cabinets/can he get out/will he get out/course he can"

And if you don't get that, go watch the Mighty Boosh. Now!

I've just realised it's exactly two weeks since I arrived back on the fair shores of Aotearoa. Here's a breakdown of just exactly what I've achieved since I got back.

1 job offer (Boring Engineering firm so turned down of course)

1 lot of Wendys

1 pair of Converse sneakers

1 top from the House of G (still no 1 NZ shop in my heart, heh)

2 low key nights out (I forgot how expensive it is to drink in town!)

2 CDs (Whoops)

3 days of window (and actual) shopping

3 meat pies

4 interviews (am getting sick of recruitment agencies)

5 lots of takeaways

6 job applications

7 bus rides

15+ hours of Mighty Boosh viewing (Thanks again Sadie!! Daytime television sucks. And the Boosh rule!!)

24+ hours of movie viewing on Sky (As above. Thank goodness for Sky.)

36 hours of internet surfing

100 million card games on SolSuite 2002

As you can see it's been very productive. Heh.

Home Again

Yes, as the title shows I'm back on the fair shores of Aotearoa. I said a sad farewell to London and my awesome London peeps on Sunday and after a marathon 23 hour plus flight via Malaysia I arrived back in Auckland safe and sound four days ago.

It's been great to see my family and stuff. I'm still settling back into West Auckland life but it is eery how little seems to have changed in two years. With the exception of my baby brother who has grown almost a foot since I saw him last. I am now offically the midget of the family!

My next step is to find a proper job to keep me busy. Meanwhile I have changed my blog name to more accurately reflect the current content.

I had an absolutely amazing time in London and I will really miss all my friends back there but I suppose it is now time to get myself sorted and be a proper grown up. Well as much as I will ever be. :P

Booshtastic!!

Last night I finally got to go and see The Mighty Boosh Live and in the flesh at the Carling Academy Brixton! It was amazing, the guys are hilarious! I didn't stop laughing the whole time. All the main characters were in the show - Vince & Howard (of course), Naboo, Bollo, The Hitcher, The Moon, Rudy and Old Greeeeeg and they looked fantastic! Noel was gorgeous in his mirror ball suit and Howard gets down to his undies. Excellent. Also Bollo (the ape) really sounds just like Tem Morrison. I even managed to get some pics.

After the show my flatmate Sadie and I went to the offical aftershow party at Plan B just down the road. Robots in Disguise were playing (the Boosh's offical band, well sorta) and the guys were all there. Robots in Disguise played really good electro pop and Sadie and I indulged in some Boosh watching/gawking. After a bit we slowly infiltrate our way behind the VIP rope to get a better look. We ended up sitting in the exact right spot that the Boosh guys had to push past us to leave the VIP area so Sadie and I both managed to cop a feel of Noel's arse as he went past and I got Julian's thigh!! They were lovely.....*sigh* Also Naboo is really tiny, a good four or five inches shorter than me!

We also drunkenly chatted/rambled to Rich Fulcher (Bob Fossill) and Bollo's alter ego, Dave Brown. Sadie even persuaded Rich to sing the hilarious Rapper with a Baby song from his own show, Snuffbox. (Go here to watch it.)

We also took part in a group congo on the dancefloor with Noel somewhere up the front and us at the back with his girlfriend Sue (from Robots in Disguise) holding onto me! (I didnt tell her I touched his arse, probably wouldnt have gone down well)

All and all it was a fantastic night and a great way to spend one of my last nights in London. *sniff*

Here are the photos from the show. Enjoy!


And that's why I dont like cricket!


I am Electro Boy....


Howard in his undies


Aahhh....when you are de Moon...


I'm Old Greeeeeggggg!

James Blunt is the Anti Christ

Last night while watching The OC, I discovered yet another reason to loathe James Blunt. He murders the memory of the beautiful Crowded House original with his cover of "Fall At Your Feet". Evil, evil little man. I also partly blame Josh Schwartz for encouraging him and playing that song on his show about fifty times.

Ziggy Stardust and the Avian Death Flu

The one of the highlights of my weekend was watching the awesome Ziggy Stardust The Movie on BBC4 on Friday. Filmed in 1973, it's touted as being Bowie's final performance as Ziggy Stardust and for a Bowie fan like me, it was brilliant.

I was subsequently struck down with Avian Death Flu on Saturday so pretty much spent the rest of the weekend tucked up in bed/on the couch, apart from Sunday night where I managed to rally myself to cook dinner for a couple of friends with help from my flatmates.

I'm still battling on but hopefully will be feeling better soon. If you dont hear from me in a while, you'll know I've succumbed.

Party Time

We had our house party on Saturday which what's lots of fun. Everyone (well almost everyone) dressed up and their costumes were fab. Here are a selection of photos from the evening.


The NZ/Canadian contingent.


The Zoffanies


Movie madness




Pimpin'

Ok Go, Ok Yes!

Last night I went along with my flatmate to see the excellent Ok Go. I hadn't really heard much of their stuff beforehand, except for the publicity surrounding their DIY home dancing video for "A Million Ways". Or so I thought.

We cruised along to Scala in Kings Cross, which is a pretty cool and relatively small venue. We were there early enough to catch both the support acts. The first was one guy with a ridiculously long performance name that I can't remember at all. Something Slap....Something Fish? He resembled a better looking Jamie Cullem and played much better acoustic-y pop rock. Also apparently from Essex.

The next band the Bright Space came on to dry ice and the theme from James Bond (You only Live Twice, I think). A slightly poncey start but they proved they had the goods. They were pretty impressive and rocked out the crowd. Although I swear I recognised almost all their guitar riffs from other bands but still they poached from the greats - The Cure, Radiohead etc. Also they seem to specialise in clones - their bassist was the splitting image of a young Alex James (complete with the classic casual side to side head nod) while the actor Alan Davies was on drums.

Then it was onto the main act. Ok Go came onto the Stones "Miss You" and a very groovy wallpaper slideshow. Very cool! I swear they had at least 5 different wallpaper designs from houses I have lived in as a child. Got to love that 70s design.

Anyway the band was amazing! They are very much that American Californian style peppy indie rock. They reminded me of a much happier Weezer. Really up-beat and fun. As they progressed through their excellent set, I realised I actually knew some of their songs. One song “Get Over It” I’m sure I heard on an ad somewhere. At one point, just between songs, my flatmate Liz yelled out “You’re so damn hot” quite loudly. I agreed with her that the lead singer was attractive but possibly not quite that sexy, but then as they launched into the track “You’re So Damn Hot” I realised that I had a) that song on a mix cd and b) really liked that track. So Liz and I had a good boogie to that one.

They ended the night with a rendition of their now famous “Million Ways” dance routine which is absolutely hilarious, as you can see below. Seeing them do it live was even funnier.



It was a wicked night and I am now converted. Ok Go kick ass.

$%£^$£^£@!!

Damn it to hell!!! I've waited two years in the hope I could go and see them while I was here in the UK. And they play the month after I leave. Argh!!

Looking to kill some time?

This site Stuff on my cat is genius. Look at the cats. They all look so disgruntled. Hee.

An oldie but a goodie

The Zoffanies

present

April Fools
A Final Performance

Saturday 1 April from 7.30pm

The Zoffanies are –

Liz “The Lungs” Larvin

Sadie “The Beats” Butler

Mel “The Kiwi” Scott

Featuring special guests
The Highgate Honeys
(Jessica, Lesley & Catherine)

Dress to Impress

Don’t forget it’s Fancy Dress – so come along dressed as your favourite Film, TV or Music star.

Go on, you know you want to……

A Letter from my Liver

Dear Madam,

For many years now you and I have had an unspoken agreement about the terms of our relationship. You indulge fairly occasionally (once or twice a month) giving me plenty of time to recover between drinking sessions while I faithfully process all toxins you feed to me.

But now I find you have broken the terms of our agreement and I must protest.

Three nights in a row of steady drinking is completely unacceptable!! I find no time to recover before you bombard me with yet more alcohol and fatty foods.

This must stop, or else I will be forced to abandon you and find work elsewhere.

You have been warned.

Yours resentfully,

Your Liver

Come with us on a journey through time and space..

Guess where I'm going in the third week of April?

No, not back to good ol' NZ. Well okay technically I am but almost just as exciting. I am going to see The Mighty Boosh. Live! And in the flesh!

I sooo can't wait. Although it does mean I fly out of the country in five days. But still Vince, Howard, Naboo and co! And we can't forget - Old Greeeeggggg!!!

Funky.

I wish I could quit you...

This is soooo cute!! And gay! Hee.

Canadians are weird

Young Canadians prefer 'virtual sex'

(No offence to any of you Canucks or Canuck-lovers out there.)

You can't always get what you want......

Last night me and the flatties went to see the Rolling Stones!!! Well not quite but we got to see these guys, the Counterfeit Stones which is practically the same thing. Liz's mate was in the band so we cruised out to Hammersmith to see them perform. I know it sounds slightly naff going to see a covers band but they were bloody awesome!!

Cruisin' With Lee

I don't mean to bring a downer on one of our nation's more successful Hollywood based directors but the whole Lee Tamahori thing just won't go away.

Now you can have a go at being a transvestite prostitute yourself in this game.

Hours of fun for the family. Or maybe not.

Helen Clark is my mum, apparently

I uploaded my photo to this website, which used face recognition technologies to work out which celebrity you most resemble. According to them I most resemble both Helen Clark AND Kirsten Dunst!! How is that even possible? I'm rather disturbed that they think I look like Helen and also weirded out that they matched me with my Prime Minister. Do you think the NZ beanie gave it away?

Here is a demonstration. See for yourself if I do actually look like Aunty Helen or a young attractive Hollywood actress. Or neither.

Here's me -


Now here's Helen -



And finally, Ms Dunst -

Geek Out Time

We bring you an interruption to the regularly scheduled fodder of silliness and tin-ternet gossip to bring you some intellectual stimulation.

I found these facinating articles on NZ society and culture from Public Address a blogging website featuring Russell Brown of Hard News fame from good ol' 95bfm. Some of them date back 40 or 50 years but still have an amazing relevance to modern NZ society. I particularly liked Keith Sinclair's predictions of the future "Brain Drain" of highly skilled and educated New Zealanders seeking employment overseas way back in 1963!Freaky!

Those of you ex Arts students - go read!

Waitangi Pub Crawl Madness

We survived the chaos that was the Waitangi Day Pub Crawl on Saturday and managed to complete our own personal record of 12 hours on the piss.

I dont think I have ever seen that many Kiwis in one place. Ever! They even had to shut down several tube stations due to the sheer volume of drunken Kiwis. Choice!

The most touching moment for me came as we waited to be let into Notting Hill Gate station, there were whispers from the Underground staff that the station would be closed. The NZ crowd broke into a rousing rendition of God Defend NZ (English and Maori versions) and we were finally ushered through the gates. It almost brought a tear to my eye.

The crawl came to a semi-offical close at 4pm as thousands of Kiwis coverged on Westminster to watch our boys perform a co-ordinated group haka. Unfortunately because of the huge crowds we couldnt actually see the haka but we could hear the roar as they launched into the haka not once, but twice.

I will post my photos eventually but for now this website has pics of the carnage.

Doesn't it make you proud to be a New Zealander?

Oh My

What would Jake the Muss say?

Question:

Are these dudes high?

Random Chuck Norris Facts

Taken from Chuck Norris Fact Generator

Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.

Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

Chuck Norris does not hunt because the word hunting infers the probability of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing.

The Dinosaurs looked at Chuck Norris the wrong way once. ONCE.

Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.

If at first you don't succeed, you're obviously not Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalized, Chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.

When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris you may be only seconds away from death.

Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.

The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.

Chuck Norris has already been to Mars; that's why there are no signs of life there.

When Chuck Norris sends in his taxes, he sends blank forms and includes only a picture of himself, crouched and ready to attack. Chuck Norris has not had to pay taxes ever.

Chuck Norris built a time machine and went back in time to stop the JFK assassination. As Oswald shot, Chuck met all three bullets with his beard, deflecting them. JFK's head exploded out of sheer amazement.


Chuck Norris sleeps with a night light. Not because Chuck Norris is afraid of the dark, but the dark is afraid of Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris' penis is so large that it actually warps the fabric of space-time.
Indeed some physicists now theorise that the passage of time is mearly a byproduct of Norris' colossal erections. This is known as the "Chuck Norris' big cock theory of space-time".


Chuck Norris is not hung like a horse... horses are hung like Chuck Norris


Chuck Norris is like a dog, not only because he can smell fear, but because he can piss on whatever the fuck he wants.

Most reported Bigfoot sightings are just Chuck Norris with his shirt off. Loch Ness sightings, on the other hand, are Chuck with his pants off.

As a teen Chuck Norris impregnated every nun in a convent tucked away in the hills of Tuscany. Nine months later the nuns gave birth to the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only undefeated and untied team in professional football history.

If Chuck Norris is late, time better slow the fuck down.

A blind man once stepped on Chuck Norris' shoe. Chuck replied, "Don't you know who I am? I'm Chuck Norris!" The mere mention of his name cured this man blindness. Sadly the first, last, and only thing this man ever saw, was a fatal roundhouse delivered by Chuck Norris.

Before he forgot a gift for Chuck Norris, Santa Claus was real.

Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

To prove it isn't that big of a deal to beat cancer. Chuck Norris smoked 15 cartons of cigarettes a day for 2 years and aquired 7 different kinds of cancer only to rid them from his body by flexing for 30 minutes. Beat that, Lance Armstrong.

Chuck Norris can touch MC Hammer.

Someone once tried to tell Chuck Norris that roundhouse kicks aren't the best way to kick someone. This has been recorded by historians as the worst mistake anyone has ever made.

A Handicap parking sign does not signify that this spot is for handicapped people.
It is actually in fact a warning, that the spot belongs to Chuck Norris and that you will be handicapped if you park there.

Oxygen requires Chuck Norris to live.

Unclean, unclean...

Alright. I must confess. I am now one of the afflicted.

I too have caught the Celebrity Big Brother bug. It's so sad, I know. I tried so hard to resist but I have been pulled into to it's freakish, dysfunctional web. Queen Bitch Pete, nutjob Michael Barrymore and co are far too absorbing viewing.

There is one nice one among the bunch. The adorable Preston. Yes I do have a wee crush. He is reasonably attractive and on top of that is such a sweetie. If you're curious, here's what he looks like.

Waster

Unemployment is weird. Hopefully I won't be in this state too much longer. I do feel like I should be doing some work or something instead of pottering around and killing time at an internet cafe somewhere in central London.

Hope y'all are up to something much more productive than me.

Photos galore!

I've uploaded a series of photos from my trip to this handy Flicker website.

Look at that lovely summery weather. *sigh* I don't get summer for a whole year!

The legend of the Hot Dog Man

This reminds me of the time we where in Portugal searching desperately for the Hog Dog Man. We were staying in Lagos, Portugal; a lovely little beach town in the Algarve. Arriving into Lagos, we had been told by our Busabout guide about the amazing Hot Dog Man who would show up at night with the yummiest hot dogs ever in the streets of Lagos whereever you had been out drinking.

After a suitably messy night out on the town, we started searching for the Hot Dog Man. Now Lagos is a very small town so we figured we had a decent chance of tracking him down. It turned out to be a wild goose chase that ended up involving us being "chased" by 5 identical Portuguese quintuplets (or so we thought), almost wandering out of the town completely, being photographed next to a motorcycle by some random strangers and other bizarre encounters. In the end there was no sign of the Hot Dog Man, so we had to make do with a fast food outlet instead. Fortunately for us, they sold the best hamburgers in Europe. (well at least the parts of Europe I've been to)

After the madness of our pursuit we were so relieved that, at Lesley's initiation, we all slow clapped as the burgers were delivered to our table.

Aah the memories.

Darren Brown will kill you!

Is it just me or does the guy with the gun in the corner of the "Derailed" movie posters in the tube stations look like Derren Brown?

Look out for it those of you in Londontown.

That Derren Brown, he's a dangerous man, what with his mind tricks and such. And now he's menacing Jennifer Anniston with a gun.

Watch out, he'll kill ya!

Worst day of the year

Today is officially the worst day of the year, according to my one-time temp agency Office Angels. While it does suck being back at work, with only two weeks to go as well, it hasn't been too bad considering. (I say this now and my day will go to hell shortly)

January in London is much less enjoyable than in NZ, despite the fact I do like living here. The profusion of summer BBQs and parties, as well as all those trips to the beach, always make the start of the year so much more fun.

Here in London people stop going out after the excesses of the festive season; plus all we have to look forward to is the weather getting colder. Woo!