But I Still Love Technology
If you love me and/or my husband, download this little game for your fancy-schmancy iPhone. It's the free version. (Though if you like it, buy the real version.) His friends did the game. He did the music. And in the future, you may, just may, see them release a game based on my idea of a mail-order toy company gone wrong.

Out and About
The in-laws have a Dutch backpacker staying with them at the moment. She's cutting her trip short and is going back to Europe soon. So we told her we'd take her out to somewhere that she still wanted to visit on the weekend. Looks like we're off to Byron Bay. My first time! Should be lovely if the thunderstorms stay away.

Gamers and Those Who Love Them
The other day I came across the webcomic The DM of the Rings. It's about a bunch of gamers playing a D&D-style game to the story of Lord of the Rings. After a quick debate about whether to admit how much the geek in me loved this, I feel compelled to say that there are points where I nearly died from laughter. If you or someone you know is into gaming and LOTR, you simply must read this one.

Flower Photos
A couple of weeks ago, we had a picnic at the Botanic Gardens at Mount Coot-tha. It was such a lovely day. (And then we came home to find out about Dixie, so I wasn't really excited about posting the photos.) A sampling of the photos are below. You may click for more.

www.flickr.com
Hmm...
Until this week, I was unaware that "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" was to the tune of "God Save the Queen". Is it wrong to suggest there was some sloppy lyric-writing when it results in "Queen" rhyming with itself FOUR times?

It's Going to be Amazing
I first read about UrbanMAX over at Kris's site. Being an Amazing Race fan myself, I was immediately obsessed with the event coming to Brisbane in October.

The Urban Max is part adventure race, part scavenger hunt with a mix of the amazing race. It is a completely new format of racing that will take teams of two through the heart of the host city. Competitors will get to visit some of the cities [sic] most famous landmarks, as well as suburban areas, while completing a variety of activities along the way.

This event is for all skill and fitness levels, with a number of the activities needing more brainpower than muscle. Speed alone will not get you over the line first!

Hello! Awesome! Registration is open, and we are officially entered. It's a bit pricey at $90/person, but I figure it's a great way to see the city in a way I probably otherwise never would. We're in the Mixed Couple / Social category. Not being in the competitive category will probably prevent our marriage from suffering. (See my previous declaration.)

You Don't Know What You Got 'Til It's Gone
I was given a box of Junior Mints this morning. Junior Mints are not a native candy species. I have been told by people here that they watched Seinfeld and wondered what they were like.

Tweet-a-l33t
Twistori updates with any tweets from Twitter that include the words "I wish", "I love", "I hate", "I believe", "I feel", or "I think". It's nice and pretty. Plus I just saw the funniest one ever. Someone said "I wish my lawn was emo... so it would cut itself." Terrible, but hilarious.

I'm also contemplating the purchase of these Twitter-inspired t-shirts. "That's what she twittered." Ha!

This is Going to be a Problem
Oh dear. LOTRO is probably going to take over my life. It's brilliant. And it doesn't make me carsick. Complete addiction is around the corner.

Weekend Update
Miss Saigon was spectacular. I've had a bit of a theatre void in my life in recent years, so it more than made up for the gap. I think my only disappointment was the helicopter (which was the only scene I remember anyone telling me about) ended up being digital instead of being a massive set piece. So yeah, I knew it wasn't a happy tale, but dang... wasn't quite expecting the end.

The rest of the weekend has gone by in a bit of a blur. A bit of cleaning. A bit of grocery shopping. A bit of laundry. New neighbours have moved in across the street today; I'm anxious about whether to introduce us or just cohabitate on the street until they make a move.

Last night we had the first thunderstorm to speak of for the season. I love thunderstorms... and even more so because here you don't have to worry about an accompanying tornado.

* We are going to a preview of Stardust tomorrow night which opens on Thursday here.

Linky Links
♥ Pixel remix: the Ann-alog: I don't know where I came across this, but I need to put it here to check more later.
♥ Practical Polly: love this girl's creativity. (found via Web-goddess when she linked to the amazingly awesome Wonder Woman Sweater)

Gamer Widow
My husband has downloaded a one-week trial of the Lord of the Rings Online game. Yeah, I don't expect to see him much until next Sunday. (Though we have made a female elf profile for "Kathedral" should I feel compelled to give it a whirl.) :)

Inexplicable
I don't know. Kiwi rappers. Who knew? Saw this video this morning and can't get it out of my head.

A Series of Unfortunate Events
1. Due to circumstances somewhat beyond my control, I have deleted all but a very few MSN contacts. Oops. Come back!

2. I bent my fingernail almost completely backwards yesterday resulting in much ouchiness. I used duct tape to try get it to reattach. No word yet on whether it is working, because I'm afraid the peeling of the tape will also cause another repeeling of the skin.

3. You grow up in a small town, and suddenly after you've left they make the USA Today. I could have written about this yesterday, because my sister was giving me up-to-the-minute reports on the latest happenings. My brother was evacuated. My dad was at the scene. So much excitement.

Today I've been going to all the news outlets I can find. It's weird to see my old neighbor (now fire chief) on television. One of my favourite teachers was on there too.

I particularly liked this article, and more specifically, this quote:

Four and a half hours after the blast, the firefighters put the flames down. Another two hours, and they stopped the rail tanker's leak. The firefighters - SiouxlCenter residents with regular jobs who volunteer to protect their community.

"It's very courageous when you have volunteer firefighters willing to go down and do these sort of of things," Schipper said.

Yeah.

Geekery at its Finest
I got a mobile yesterday. I am finding it hard to believe, but at the same time, I think it will give me a little more peace of mind when out and about on my own.

The one I got, after tons of review reading, is the HTC Touch. So far it is great. Yes, I know it's like the iPhone. But as I'm telling the Mac snobs at work, I'm just going to go ahead and enjoy this phone until your little iPhone gets released here in 2009.

I haven't really had a chance to mess with it much. And I certainly don't have many people to call. And I have no idea what my number is.

But I can say that all the reviews that complain about needing to use the stylus for typing and stuff must come from idiots who have never used a pda phone before. If you wanted a dang number pad, go back to your stupid teenie-bopper Razr and leave the pda's for the adults.

It runs Windows Mobile 6.0... and my, it's PRETTY.

More Geekiness
It's my brother-in-law's birthday, and tonight we're going to High Octane. I'm really nervous in case we're racing against some really hard-core people. But I figure someone has to lose, may as well be me. (I just don't want to crash into people and have them get all mad.) Eeep. But I'm totally excited.

Confessions
♥ I love Tuesday nights, because Time Team is on. I secretly thought I wanted to go into archaeology at one point in my life and even took a couple of medieval archaeology classes during my brief college career. Then I woke up and realized I would have to know dates and timelines and be able to distinguish different rocks and all that. Not to mention the dirt.... under the nails... oh eww. So yeah, it didn't really take. But I love my Tuesday night ritual. I get home, get settled, make my dinner (since Hans is usually at rehearsal), and get to the couch by 6:00 to snuggle in for approximately 50 minutes of history. LOVE IT!

Last week's episode took place in Bridgnorth. Now I want to go there.

♥ Speaking of places I want to go, I have never really thought about going to Greece. At least, I should say, I have a few other places that rank higher on my list of places to get to before I die. That was until I found out about Ikies Traditional Houses. Now I'm obsessed with getting to these Greek Isles and maybe even moving there forever. Gorgeous!

If When we go to the Netherlands in 2010 for SAIL (which I've mentioned a time or two or three), I'm thinking we may need to stop off in Oia!

♥ Oh, and back to speaking of archaeology, Summer 2008 cannot get here fast enough. Lego Indiana Jones: The Videogame. YES!

♣ I hate Lily Allen. There I said it. I always have. (Not just because I'm forced to listen to it at the office.) That whiney "Smile" song makes me want to die. And when I saw the little swear bear being interviewed on some video program, her attitude was just very unattractive. If this were Empire Records, I'd be exercising my veto right now.

psych

1. Why haven't I seen everyone everywhere talking about Psych?
2. Does everyone not know about it's pure unadulterated awesomeness?
3. How can anyone between 28-35 not DIE watching this?
   
4. "Shamon"?! Seriously. Brilliant.

The Pain in My Elbow is Worth It
Pardon me, I'm too busy giving myself an RSI playing Zendoku to talk. (I've never been a Sodoku fanatic, but I've been playing this for two solid days and still haven't managed to beat what I think is the final level with any of my characters.) I must go.

Fall Television
OH MY GOSH... I just found out about Nashville... no, not the city I left my heart in -- I'm talking about the new docu-drama by the makers of Laguna Beach. Ridiculous. And AWESOME! We're so downloadinglthat getting someone to tape that for us.

Video Killed the Blogger
I've spent all my evenings at home working on the vacation video. I don't want to narrate the thing, so we had to do some strategic interview shoots in the backyard that looked slightly rainforest-y. I'm learning Vegas, and it's been working a treat. Though I might end up dumping the footage at work to use a footage stabilizing plug-in, and then everything will look dolly-licious.

And hey, if everything turns out nice, maybe it would be enough to apply for an editor spot at StudioNow.

Poor Little Rapunzel
Yes, Paris is all over the news here too. You can debate all you want about whether she deserves to be there or not, but there is an American in jail who doesn't. Check out FriendsofEricVolz.com.

And in Games...
A new DS game that has been keeping us entertained on the train is Picross. I'm zooming through the puzzles, but it is also fun to play together and online. New York Times Crosswords... mmmm. Also can't wait for Settlers. Thus ends your geekery for the day.

It's freezing today, and I think we're going out to the backyard to fly Hans's Spongebob kite he got in his stocking at Christmas.

Furnishings for Sanity
I have been going mental for the last couple of weeks, because there are items that I know made it back here from the States that have seemingly vanished into thin air. Items like all the paperwork for my new bank account, the decoration from The Iron Gate, and in particular, all the wedding photos I had printed over there.

The ultimate problem is that we live in this cute little house that has no storage whatsoever. No closets. No cupboards except in the kitchen. No nothing. It's driving me crazy. (Bear in mind, in my last townhouse, I even put my dresser INSIDE my closet; it was so big.)

We've done as best we can, but I'm going crazy with the clutter and lack of anything to do with that clutter.

So yesterday, I declared that if Hans is spending the whole weekend with his mistress (read: his video clip), then I want a filing cabinet so I can put some order back into my life. And last night we bought one. Just like that.

We had gone to IKEA last Sunday, and as much as I wanted it to fulfill all of my furniture dreams, it just didn't. The sheer number of people in there made me never to want to ever buy anything from there again. Ever. It made me feel all dirty and trendy.

Last night we went to Freedom, and I fell in love. I want to say it is as close to West Elm as Australia is ever going to get. (As we were jumping from couch to couch, Hans said, "This place makes IKEA look like a cheap whore." So true, my dear. So true.) Not only did we buy a three-drawer filing cabinet on the spot, but we also found the white apothecary cabinet of my dreams. (I'd link to it, but no stores in this country seem to grasp the idea of putting their inventory online, much less making it available to order from this here interweb thing.)

So suddenly we're furnishing our home with real furniture that WE are picking out. It's kind of exciting.

Linky Links
Now Look What You Did: Two great motion graphics pieces that address two of my greatest pet-peeves.

Boomshine: Flash game addiction. Set off chain reactions. I've completed Level 12 twice, but I've never had a boomshine (where you get all the dots).

An Early Conversation
Him: Come ooooon. Geeeeet up. Your coffee is by the bed getting cold.
Me: It's already cold.
Him: I'll even go put it in the microwave. (from the kitchen) But don't think that this is a reward for sleeping in.

I think I'm officially over jetlag, and now this early morning business is getting increasingly difficult.

The Wii vs. PS3 Debate Continues
Hans and his brother have these wacky notions that we're all going to go in together and buy the latest gaming systems to "share". Sure. That's fine. They can plan all they want.

I was a real skeptic when it came to the Wii. I wasn't interested in having to work for my gaming pleasure. Isn't the whole reason you play games so that you can sit around and be lazy? I don't know. But then when I heard about the price difference and after hearing some people get really excited about the Wii, then I have to admit that I got on board and would have supported a Wii purchase.

Then America happened (and we almost bought the Wii accessories there to save money)... and then we sort of fell in love with our DSs and didn't really need another new toy right away.

Then I saw the demo for LittleBigPlanet. Now I'm back in the PS3 camp.

Totally Geeky Voiceover
Eeee... well I just did my voiceover. Turns out that it's for a company called Battlefield Sports, and it is going to be used in a game. Wheee! I got to say six or seven phrases like "No Ammunition", "Reload", "Dead Already", "Casualty", and "Mission Complete". The lady told me my character is a young American fighter. Hehe. I love it.

Anyway... show tonight. I'm tired already. Could be a busy weekend as well. We're going to the Gold Coast on Sunday for the Australian Outback Spectacular. I'm expecting it to be like Pirates... except we get a free hat with our ridiculously-priced admission. Review forthcoming.

Two commands. Watch this. Love them.

That's Entertainment
Now that our flights are booked, I've moved right on to the next important step-- find out what the in-flight entertainment is going to be. This is a crucial step, as Tash will tell you, because otherwise you might accidentally go see Superman 2 with your parents, and then go see it again at the IMAX to be a good friend, and then you might have to be stuck in captivity on an international flight and be forced to watch it yet again. :P (Just kidding, T -- but it really was comical! Hehe!)

So based on the research I've been able to do, these movies should be available for our viewing pleasure:

• Domestic Australia
  Scoop: Now I've never heard of this one, but with Hugh Jackman, it must have some redeeming qualities. (And if we were only flying a few days earlier, it could have been Boytown. Shoot!)
• International
  The Da Vinci Code: Saw this on our honeymoon and don't necessarily feel compelled to see it again, but that's okay.
  Little Miss Sunshine: Saw it. Loved it. Would watch it again in a heartbeat.
  Miami Vice: Sorta wanted to see it, simply because it was done by Michael Mann.
  My Super Ex-Girlfriend: I think Hans wanted to see this, but we never got around to it.
  Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: While we've seen and enjoyed this one already, I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of it in the next couple months, as we're giving it to my nephew, and I have a feeling we'll get a copy as well.
  Scoop: Well if it's good, it might be nice.
  The Wicker Man: Nicholas Cage. Bleh. What a downer to end on, but that should get us to San Fran.
• Domestic US
  Invincible: Never heard of it. I don't think they market football (aka "grid-iron") movies here, because it's simply not a sport Australians relate to.

Firefly: THE GAME!?!
Hans greeted me with this news today: Firefly: Turning MMORPG by '08?. I'm completely geeked out about that, and we are so planning on retiring our social life to be fully-committed to it.