Indonesia to Thailand - Part 1

East Timor to Indonesia - Part 2

East Timor to Indonesia - Part 1

Melbourne to East Timor - Part 2

Pottery

I did a pottery class in November, and really enjoyed it. There is something calming about playing with clay which enables me to switch off all the other staff in my head. It's a state I never quite manage to do during yoga. However, as a long-term hobby it's a bit too involved for me. Anyway, here are the results.

First attempt: You can see how the clay was way too thin, and the whole thing bent out of shape as soon as I started to handle it. And I didn't fix the "R" properly so it fell off during firing. And the glaze is all uneven.



Second attempt: This time I managed to attach some crude legs and applied the glaze evenly. I also "stamped" the inside. But I forgot to leave enough clay to even out the top, so it had to remain artistically uneven. And also the grooves in the sides were too deep for me to be able to even out - another artistic effect in the making.





Third attempt: Managed to smooth out the sides and the clay was thick enough for me to form free-flowing shapes on top. Also used tracing paper to make the inside more interesting. I was finally feeling like I could produce something useful and then the course was over!

Melbourne to East Timor - Part 1

Cherry Picking = Lots of Cherries = Cherry Pie

Conclusion = don't know, haven't tried it yet because it took 2 hrs to make and by the end I wasn't hungry anymore. I don't think I have the time & energy to make my own dough. Pre-made will do me fine in the future.

Cherry picking

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to wear my brand new, white U2 concert tour tshirt to go cherry picking. The juices squirt everywhere! :)
To make the $7 admission worth it, it seemed like an obvious strategy to eat $7 worth of cherries. Right now I think I am over cherries. But, there are 3 more kilos to get through. Does anyone know a good cherry pie recipe?

U2 - the Kings of Rock

U2 lived up to their reputation as the biggest band in the world last Wednesday. It was the opening night of their 360 Australian tour at Etihad Stadium. The "Claw" stage was an impressive sight, protruding right above the rooftop. If it rained (which it was going to, but at the last minute didn't) the roof couldn't be closed. It takes 5 days and 250 people to assemble the Claw. There are 3 Claws currently traversing the country in a fleet of six 747 jumbo cargo planes. The one for the Brisbane show is being assembled while U2 are still in Melbourne.

I love U2's music, it has so much passion and integrity. I love the fact that they are best mates and do staff together outside of music. I admire Bono's passion for humanitarian causes, his commitment to making a difference and the fact that he is still married to his high school sweetheart. And U2 are the only band that's been around for 30 years with no member changes. It was obvious that they still love what they, love creating music together and giving their best for their audience.

Funny :)

Victorian Election

An interesting, if not entirely unexpected result in the Victorian Election. It's probably the fate of all Governments to run out of steam after 11 years. The collective weight of your past mistakes start to bear down and the continuity makes it difficult to claim that "the other guy did it". And it's undeniable that there have been quite a few issues. So - good luck to the Liberals.

William and Katie, sitting in a tree, K-I-S....

So I open up the paper today and find no less than 5 articles about the upcoming British royal wedding, commenting on everything from Kate's dress style, to the couple's body language during the interview to predictions about their future health and happiness.

What's worse, I can see no end to this drivel for the forceeable future.

Can't they get married tomorrow and save humanity from months and months of interminable, insipid pap masquerading as journalism?

Charlie

So yesterday I found Charlie munching on a bird under the study table. We knew something was up because the previous night we found a bird's nest and some tiny birdies in the backyard, and lots of feathers inside the house.

But I couldn't find where she had stashed the mama bird - not until she took it out for dinner..... eeeuuuuggghhhhh.... the blood... the feathers... Tim cleaning up while I hid out in the bathroom.... grossest pet experience ever.

A beautiful wedding

This weekend we spent in Tasmania, attending a wedding. It was on family property, with home-cooked food and no professional help, and it was absolutely lovely.

Perfect spring day

This is the first day you could get away with just a T-shirt - I LOVED it!

Signs of spring are everywhere now - check out our backyard:







In other news Tim made Charlie a scratching post:





She knows it's hers to sit on and scratch (as is everything else is in house), but how do you communicate to a cat that she should scratch it exclusively? I have no idea....

Obsessed with this song

Once in a while I hear a song that is so unbelievably awesome that I have to compulsively replay over and over and over and over... this is such a song:

Funny Charlie

Don't have to leave the country after all

Well thank God Abbot is not our new Prime Minister, otherwise I think I would have to move. My Ukranian passport arrived a few days ago - could always try it as an alternative... could they have a more credible Government & Opposition? hmmmm




For lack of anything better to do I thought I'd put up some pics of the house. I am aware that I promised to do so ages ago, but never got around to it....

Study

Bedroom





Bathroom

Backyard

Black Lighting

Saw this on friday at the Russian film festival:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/06/30/universal-remaking-russian-flying-car-movie-black-lightning/

The article is right, it's the Russian answer to Ironman and Batman and every other superhero movie... and there is nothing wrong with that, it's not meant to be taken seriously and as entertainment it was very enjoyable :)

But the funniest thing about it was that we saw this in the car park:

There is someone out there for everyone

http://www.watoday.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/the-ugly-truth-about-dating-20100830-145ch.html?from=age_ft

http://www.theuglybugball.net/index.php

...would be interesting to have a scroll through and see whether these people ARE actually ugly, or just have self-esteem and body image issues.

Life-sized mannequins

I was at Myer today, and did a double take when I saw these two mannequins for Berlei:



Something was not right... I stood there looking and trying to understand what was making me look... and then it struck me... they were real-life-woman-sized! Maybe I didn't have to feel fat every time I used the changing rooms anymore?

Put these in the trash I say:

Election 2010

Yesterday started out so positively. For the first time in my life I was in a marginal seat (Melbourne), where my vote could actually make a difference. The flip side of that was the unrelenting barrage of mail, people coming to our door, people at the train station, people at the tram station...

The labour candidate (Cate Bothwell) was at the school where I was voting, doing a meet and greet of the waiting line of people. I avoided eye contact; seeing her in person made me feel bad for not voting for her. Both candidates put a massive effort in, but people vote for the party, and it's not her fault her party ran such a crap campaign.

We invited a few people over the watch the ABC live coverage. It seemed so likely that Labour will scrape in. But they didn't :( Now our fate is in the hands of 5 independents, three of whom are ex-Nationals.