Backup

Backup - making copies of data so that these additional copies may be used to restore the original after a data loss event.

Hopefully the data loss event will never occur, but given the amount of stuff I now have on my computer, I thought it would be wise to take precautions. In 1997, during a fire at the headquarters of Credit Lyonnais, a Paris bank, system administrators ran into the burning building to rescue backup tapes because they didn't have offsite copies. I could almost see myself doing that - running screaming into the burning house "no, not my photos and music!" The recent data loss experienced by a friend of mine spurred me into action - and really considering how easy and cheap it is ($130 for 320g) I am surprised I didn't do it sooner. I am not sure what to use for an offsite location though - most logical place is work I suppose.

Lars and the Real Girl

While I am on the subject of movies, I'd like to mention another film that I loved. "Lars and the Real Girl":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_and_the_real_girl

There is just something undefinably sweet about this movie, in the same way Amelie was sweet. In some ways they explore a very similar theme – the power of love and acceptance. It was nominated for a whole heap of awards (most of which it didn’t win), and did ok at the Box Office. However I think it deserves more recognition and praise than that, if only for the respect with which it treats its characters. As the NY Post reviewer pointed out it “eschews cheap laughs”, which considering the subject matter would be almost inevitable at the hands of another scriptwriter.

Does anyone else have anything to recommend? I find it very hard to locate DVD that (a) I haven’t seen and (b) would wish to see nowadays.

Vicky Christina Barcelona

saw a good movie which I would like to recommend to everyone - written and directed by Woody Allen, but thankfully doesn't have him acting (I find him rather annoying). It's his third film starring Scarlett Johanssen, after Match Point and Scoop... methinks he must admire her acting skills :)

Despite all appearances to the contrary, it rises above the level of the average chick-flick, probably because it's actually rather funny. Apparently I "laughed like a hyena" during the movie. Anyways, some more info can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicky_Christina_Barcelona

My Russian Pirozhki didn't work :(

I was inspired by Zoya to make them (see links below for recipe and photos). However they came out tasting and looking nothing like hers. I can even pinpoint where the process went wrong - my dough failed to rise. Zoya, any tips? I used the dried sachet yeast, was that wrong? Very disappointing result for a lot of work...


http://fioleta.blogspot.com/2008/10/comfortable-challanges.html

http://alwayswanted4.blogspot.com/2008/11/russian-pirozhki.html

The world

I can't help but put in my two cents worth in regards to the US election: Whoooohoooo! The empire of old white old men and self-righteous scanks has been vanquished. All hail the return of the Jedi!

Without knowing anything about voter turnout or demographics, I am going to put this down to generational change. My baseless assumption that we (meaning myself and my contemporaries) have the power gives me enormous comfort, and leads me to make the equally baseless conclusion that the world is becoming a better place. Yay!

Hair Burn

So I went back to blonde on the weekend. Overall I am very happy with the colour and style, but there is no denying that the condition of my hair went from shiny and smooth to dry and frizzy. Does anyone know a good conditioning treatment for post-peroxide dryness? Or is it something I just have to live with?

JM Coetzee

I know the man won a Nobel Prize and two Bookers, but I don't like his work. Does anyone else find that he is waving his flag of intellectual superiority through his writing? I have to admit I've only read two of his books: Disgrace (just finished it) and Elizabeth Costello, but I haven't enjoyed either. His characters are pretentious, his writing is affected and his tone is moralizing.
This is what Wikipedia says about him:

"Coetzee is a man of almost monkish self-discipline and dedication. He does not drink, smoke or eat meat. He cycles vast distances to keep fit and spends at least an hour at his writing-desk each morning, seven days a week. A colleague who has worked with him for more than a decade claims to have seen him laugh just once. An acquaintance has attended several dinner parties where Coetzee has uttered not a single word."

Which makes perfect sense. What a kill-joy.

Children are cruel

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24439939-661,00.html

http://www.theage.com.au/world/russian-children-bash-kangaroo-to-death-20081024-57ku.html

I never did anything like that when I was a kid. My main occupation was sewing clothes for my dolls. But then my brother was much more destructive (although never with living creatures).

I wonder how my friends who have children (namely Zoya and Denya) feel when they read articles like that. That child must be bad? He/she must have bad parents? He/she didn’t really understand the ramifications of what they were doing?

This is why I feel so lucky to live in Australia

http://www.theage.com.au/national/australia-still-land-of-the-fair-go-20081021-55mv.html

The weekend Highlights

Another nice weekend... Saturday was 29C. I can't wait for summer - it's a health issue really! I am officially very low on my vitamin D (blood test confirmed what I already knew).

Riding our bikes from kensington (where Tim lives) to Oakleigh (where I live)
.. because I forgot something at home. And we wanted to go for a bike ride anyway, so it was killing 2 birds with one stone. I have done the ride once before - with getting lost multiple times along the way it took me 3 hrs. With Tim (and hence without getting lost) it took us 2 hours, and that's with being delayed by Southbank crowds as well! So I think I am definitely getting faster. I wasn't up for a return trip though - we took the train back.

An advance birthday dinner - Shoya

http://www.shoyamelbourne.com/

No Shabu Shabu or Sukiyaki at this place - very modern Japanese degustation menu. Think waggyu beef, sushimi in a bowl of solid ice, grilled eel with salmon caviar topped off with truffle, green tee panacotta with sea urchin cheesecake... you get the idea. The food ranged with outstanding to very good, and we had the place virtually to ourselves, which resulted in great service. Not sure what it would be like on a busy Saturday night.

So, to sum up, the last two "really nice" places I've been too - Rockpool and The Pressclub did not live up to my expectations (which were perahps too high). This place hit the spot.

House De-Anting

for about six months now, my first task upon coming home was to kill ants. Despite repeated assassination attempts, they have refused to leave my kitchen. I guess when you have a large family of 5-6 million, a few thousand brothers and sisters is just collateral damage.

My dad seemed to think that they were only coming in because it was cold and that as soon as the earth warmed up they would go away (???). I didn't think that's how it worked but who was I to dispute him?

The ants knew they were onto a good thing cold or warm, so we ended up having the house and garden professionally sprayed. Seems to be working so far - thank god! As someone who grew up in the roach-infested former Soviet Union buildings, I have an eternal disgust for all creepy-crawly creatures.

Weekday relaxing....

So happy in the last two days - I sneaked off from work at a reasonable time (6-6.30pm). Work & life has been so crazy it has been ages since I was able to just chill for a few hours.

On Monday I started and finished a book (Jane Hamilton "Map of the World"). The book will not be one of my favourites, but it was great having the time to read it.

On Tuesday watched the first episode of Underbelly. For those of you overseas, which seems to be most of you, Underbelly is a TV series based on the gangland war in Melbourne:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underbelly_(TV_series)

It wasn't screening in Victoria because it contained events that were the subject of upcoming criminal trials. Even now some of the series will not show as that wouldn't be fair to the accused. But ofcourse that wouldn’t stop a prolific downloader like myself!

I found it surprisingly good and quite shocking. These people go went to the same places I go (Lygon Street, Errol Street) and do the same things I do (live their life with family and friends). But periodically they bash & kill these friends as well as innocent bystanders. The violence comes as such as shock because this isn't NYPD or something completely removed from me, it's actually happening where I live. It’s this whole “other” side of life to which I am usually completely oblivious. And it's all true. Definitely recommended: www.torrentz.com

The Weekend

This weekend was lovely - 26C on Saturday and 28C on Sunday. It felt so nice to wear just a t-shirt and expose my pallid skin to the elements...

Thai Massage
Last time I had one of these was on an extra-long stopover in Bangkok, where I paid $10 for 1.5 hours. Unfortunately Australian prices are a little different, however I went to a dodgy place which looked like it might be a cover-up for a brothel, so the costs were minimised :) How much you enjoy the experience really depends on your pain tolerance - if you like being treated like a peace of meat being tenderised, then it's just the thing for you. After an hour of gritting my teeth in pain while little Asian girl used her knees & elbows with her full body weight on my back, I feel great!

The Spa Party
The picture really speaks for itself - need I say more? I hope no one in there had any infectious diseases, ‘cos that would suck :) I think I decided to get in when the spa was ALMOST at its fullest, although 3 more people managed to follow in. The record - 17 bodies. At no time was I actually touching the spa itself.

Other
For those of you I haven’t seen for a while, I thought it might be nice to include a picture of what I currently look like. I am not allowed to label the person next to me as they privacy concerns

Pet Peeves 2 – “Dryclean only” tags on clothes

While doing laundry last night I came across a 100% cotton top, which was tagged “dryclean only”. Are you kidding me? Since when did cotton need to be drycleaned? Did the people of India dryclean their cotton garments in 5000 BC (I wiki’ed it)?

The last time I actually believed “the tag” I ended up going to 4 separate dry-cleaners in search of one who would clean my cardi by a “special” process, which is apparently used only on the most delicate garments such as wedding dresses. That’s what the tag said to do, but I couldn’t find anyone willing to take on such risky business. In frustration I chucked it into the washing machine – and guess what? Yep, it was perfectly fine.

Conclusion: Anything that can’t put into the washing machine is not meant to be owned by me.

Pet Peeves 1 – Google

“Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog” … what characteristics may I ask?

What have I done wrong?

Apparently my day of reckoning has come – and so early in my attempt to blog as well! They (the powers that be that is) are well and truly onto me. I can only assume I will find out what golden rule of Google’s I have violated when I get home and check my email. Overall not very encouraging to an amateur blogger…

Is there really any excuse for boring your friends with the mundane details of your life? Especially since their limited free time is probably already pretty well consumed by facebook, email and their own blogs?

To that question my answer has always been a resounding "NO". But lately, ever since I found myself obsessively / compulsively checking my friends' blogs I realised that my answer may have changed to "YES".

My reasons are as follows:
1. I am not that good at keeping up to date with what's happening in people's lives, and appreciate the opportunity to keep informed through blogging. Maybe others feel the same about me?
2. I love checking blogs when at work! I wish more people had blogs / posted on them more often.
3. I am planning to travel and prefer blogging to sending mass emails.

At this point I am not really sure what I’ll be writing about, or how much I want to reveal here. Reading some people’s blogs I feel like they have revealed more than I ever could, whereas with others you don’t get much beyond an “I’ve read this article and it was good” (you know who you are). I probably want to be somewhere in between – so I guess stay tuned…