The Buck and The Hen

Well, this weekend say the great festivities of Mick's Bucks party and Steph's Hens party. Obviously I can only speak in detail about the Bucks as I was not at the hens, but I do know some of the gossip :)

The Bucks started with a beer at Mick's place at 12pm, although Mick and Lambie had been drinking since 11. Then we headed off via tram to The Prince Alfred in port melbourne to begin the days celebration. The crew consisted of about 20, starting off with an even dozen then growing as the day wore on. The pub itself was pretty good, although our attempts to conceal the fact that we were on a bucks turn were quashed when the barman spotted it literally in about 30 seconds. The pub was cool thoguh and were happy to have us, especially since we weren't that rowdy and put nearly $700 over the bar through the day, plus another $300 in food.
It was a good day, got caught up with everyone and managed to finally meet Mick's dad and brothers in law. Funny thing about Mick's dad is that when he was young his best mate was a guy named Arthur Griffin, who I also knew quite well as a kid. When I was growing up my family was involved in the South Morang football and cricket clubs, and we spent a lot of time up there. Among their best friends were Arthur and Marcia griffin, so my brother and I spent a lot of time playing with Craig, Glenn and Jamie Griffin. When Arthur passed away it was very sad for my whole family, and it was really nice to meet someone who had also known him.
For the day we had used Mick's licence photos to make a T-Shirt, an old one on the front from when he had hair, and we used the photo off his new one to cover the back with photos of him in various hairstyles, mainly cheesy ones. We also all wore ID badges made from the "Mick with Hair" collection. :)
The pub was pretty good, and we'll probably head back there again. The Bar staff were cool, willing to put up with us and when it came time for Mick to get thrown out they were very understanding :)

So we drank heavily, mick sang with the band, various members of the team chatted up various members of other teams and then we made a move on to the next pub. The next two pubs were crap, so we grabbed a greasy supper pizza/souvlaki/etc and went back to The Prince Alfred again.

By this stage there was a very cool band playing called The Nudists, a three piece band playing electronic music on analogue instruments. tracks from Groove Armada, basement Jaxx and the like, very cool.

Then we started to head back to Chez Mick then got the call that the girls from Steph's Hens night were at Hubcap, so a slight detour had us arrive there, to do a little dancing, a little more drinking, and a little laughing at how drunk they were. (Not us of course, we were a picture of sobriety)

Steph decided it would be a good idea to get up on the tabel for one of the numbers, and Mick decided that it was his opportinuty for a little striptease. Luckily peer group pressure stopped im in time :)

Anyway, here are a few photos:
One of Mick's challenges was to sing karaoke, but since there wasn't any available he ended up singing a number with the first band that was up. These guys were pretty good and did most of the pub classics and a few newies. They were so good that nobody left when Mick started caterwauling :)

Obviously, you drink all day, you get drunk. I mean it's no big surprise. By the time we met up with the Hens night, we were all pretty hamered and in need of a bit of a boogie.

Of course the girls had been drinking all day too, so it really didn't take much for Steph to get up on the table, followed by Mick. Although to her credit, she was sober enough to stop him taking his pants off. It's possible he was just bluffing but that's a risk none of us wanted to take :)

Another Friday

Another fine friday, drinking down at Yak. In the usual process of a Friday, my 4:30 finish turned into a 6:00pm finish and a strong desire to have a drink. I wasn't drinking to forget, but to remember that I have all of next week off work :)

So a few beverages at Yak, discussing the merits of the weird Asahi beer tap setup that's been temporarily fitted to the bar. As Yak doesn't have any beers on tap it's a bit unusual, and Mark (the owner) is interested to see if it's worth keeping or if the initial high sales are merely due to the novelty factor.

As we were leaving Yak later on, we ran across a group of people looking at some visual art (an alley near work has a piece up where they're projecting video at the end of the alley) and the two girls enticed us to join them, to the chagrin of the two guys trying to pick them up :) Joe continued on with them to Honky Tonks and proceeded to try his best to cut the lunch of the other guys, but Damien and I departed for Subway and our various directions home. It was funny to watch the expressions on the two guys as we agreed to join them, they obviously didn't realise that if the girls they were with were asking other guys to join them, then they weren't interested in the guys they had already :) Joe failed in his lunch cutting endeavors, but it was still funny to have tried :)

I arrived home to find our guests had arrived, Katrina's Cousin Sally, brother Ger (Gerard) and his girlfriend Marnie and their friends Blackie (Adam) and Michelle. Seven People in a two bedroom flat: we all had somewhere to sleep at night, but nowhere to sit during the day :)

Delightful Irony

I just heard that 'You Are My Sunshine' song on TV and it made me smile, as it always does. I find that song very ironic, as it is used heavily to symbolise happines and joy, and it's actually about sadness and loss.


Here's a copy of the lyrics, there are multiple versions, but the full versions all follow this theme:

You Are My Sunshine
Norman Blake

The other night dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
And So I hung my head and I cried.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

I'll always love you and make you happy,
If you will only say the same.
But if you leave me and love another,
You'll regret it all some day:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

You told me once, dear, you really loved me
And no one else could come between.
But not you've left me to love another;
You have shattered all of my dreams:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

In all my dreams, dear, you seem to leave me
When I awake my poor heart pains.
So when you come back and make me happy
I'll forgive you dear, I'll take all the blame.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

As you can see, it's filled with negative imagery and somewhat creepy thoughts. I first came into contact with the actual lyrics of this song back in the late eighties and since then I've been highly amused whenever I see it used in such a positive context. I think that perhaps the Executive Board of Golden Circle might not have heard the full version, that's for sure :)

Music

Forgot to say: Buy the new CD from Infusion
It's very good, and they are very good, and if you buy it you'll be very good, and if you don't then you are a small-minded, petty fool, and you should expect to see you soul shrivel up in the pits of hell (assuming they exist) (assuming the soul exists)
No Pressure :)

Actually, they are a very cool Australian group producing dance music that fits well in anyone's collection that includes Groove Armada or Basement Jaxx, and I would like to see them doing well, so if everyone who reads this buys a copy of the CD then that's at least 4 more CDs they'll sell :)

television inspired thoughts

I love watching those americans and their electoral system. I think it's really important to follow new technology, I mean you can't stay living in the past when you could have punch cards, mechanical tally devices, touch screen polling booths, lever activated polling booths, little curtains to guarantee their privacy, vast advertising campaigns to register to vote, since the percentage of registration is so low. I'm just a bit concerned about the most powerful democracy on the planet, fighting to bring the right to vote to the oppressed nations of the world and yet they seem to have a lot of trouble with one of the relatively minor aspects of the process: COUNTING THE VOTES.

I know you always feel loyal to your own country and stuff, but we just have cardboard booths, cardboard crowd control devices, paper ballots, pencils taped to string, and yet, somehow, through all this antiquated technology, we somehow manage to actually count the actual votes that people make. I know. It's crazy. We must be doing something wrong I'm sure. I hope the free trade agreement lets us buy some new fangled vote-calculator-trope to bring us out of the dark ages ;)

Also, I just had the TV tell me that ballroom dancing was in a revival, because there is a TV show (two actually, but I guess the ABC doesn't count) and a movie with J-Lo, and that the revival started with Strictly Ballroom in 1992. I'm not 100% convinced that a revival we're going through right now can be linked by a cluster of events twelve years after their 'initial' event. Is it just me?

And at the moment the Banks aren't the ones making the beautiful 'embrace life' adverts anymore, now it's beer. Anyone seen the new Crown Lager ad? makes me want to go out and buy insurance or something. ;)

Birthday Bonanza

Two birthday functions last night, both full of friends I hadn't seen in a while and both birthday boys got hammerred. a job well done I say :)

Started at PAs for Mick's birthday, where the Pot, Parma and Perve well all in good order, and everyone seemed to have a very good time chewing the fat and catching up, Managed to catch up with people like Rose, Bec and Shaz D whom I haven't seen in a while. Mick got totaled fairly early and had to be taken home at 10:30 as he seemed to have trouble standing, he did have a big smile on his face all night though, so I think he had a good time :)

Then from PAs we whisked off to Room680 for Paul Meeuwsen's birthday bash. They'd set up in the house room, and only Paul's guests were allowed in, even still it was packed out, which bodes well for young Dutchie.
The night went right off, caught up with Ali, Vlad & Michelle and Boaz, then got down to dancing big time, first to a little hard stuff from Paul's brother then out in the main room for some residents and a special appearance by Nick Warren, which was absolutely tip top!

Of course some sleep would have been nice too, but you can't have everything.

Then popped out with Joe to the Camberwell Geek Fest (Computer Swap Meet) and bought a cool adslmodem/firewall/switch/wireless router combo thingy so that it's easier to connect other machines to the net and especially easy to surf from bed with a laptop from work :)

Now I'm watching Series 2 of The Young Ones, still very very funny after nearly 20 years :)

Yak

Yet another friday mired in Yak bar. I dunno what it is, we just have a hard time leaving the place. I was on call so I couldn't drink too much, which I obviously said too many times because even Baz behind the bar started asking me if I wanted a drink or if I was still on call :) The answer of course was "both" :)

Spent time with some of the people from work we don't normally drink with, Kathryn, Karen and Elise from the Service Desk. I don't know why we don't spend more time drinking with them, I mean they are good people, I had a great night, lots of good conversation and laughs aplenty. I think it just doesn't work out that we're out with them, just one of those things.

Copped a bit of flack from Kathryn as she wants to borrow Wallace&Gromit and I keep forgetting to bring it in (it's only been a few months) and some flack from Karen as she wants a tour of the computer room and I keep forgetting (a few months too) oh well.

Feed

Just for you Richard, I've syndicated, ok? just check the XML icon, RSS and Atom compatible, blah blah blah

Shaun

Went to see Shaun of The Dead tonight, damn good movie. Especially funny for anyone who is a fan of Spaced like me, just laughed myself silly all the way through.
There's something very enjoyable about watching Simon Pegg and his mate Nick Frost smacking Zombies in the head with a cricket bat and shovel.

Anyway, that's all, just go see it before it's too late ;)

Beautiful one day, pissing down the next

So yesterday, great day, very warm, very nice. Spent the evening sitting in Time Out at Fed Square, drinking beer, watching the world go by and listening to the 'Singing in the Square' which was basically Karaoke for large crowds.

Imagine trying to enjoy your conversation and beer when there's a guy on stage 100m from you leading a few hundred people in a round of Advance Australia Fair or INXS' Original Sin and you can imagine our evening :) It was pretty funny actually, listening to individuals singled out for a solo trying to sing well, and not really being able to. I know I can't sing well, so I save my Karaoke for late in the evening when you know everyone is very drunk :)

A very good night indeed, mainly just Joe and I sitting there and surreptitiously perving on all the attractive women walking past :) Not to mention a few sitting nearby ;)
I'm not sure if you know, but it turns out that there are a LOT of really attractive women in Melbourne, and they all like to come out on a warm evening. :) It's good, it's very good.

Then today we had a Melbourne classic, a very wet and rainy day to follow a hot day. Just to cool everything down and let everyone know that it's not time for the 'summer configuration' outfits yet, no shorts and dollar-ninety-eights, although the $1.98's seemed prevalent during winter anyways :) What's the fascination with the old thong? where are the studies showing how bad they are for your posture? I remember being told as a kid that I couldn't wear my thongs all summer because they are bad for you, nobody's telling the fashionistas this, that's for sure.

Although I'm glad to see that the $1.98's are in fact available for $1.98, assuming you're willing to go all the way to Coles and not just walk next door to the surf shop and buy their cheapest $15's, like Mick in Echuca. I mean really, a surf shop in Echuca, you know something's not quite right :) (yes I know it's surf wake and ski, and sells waterskiing gear and surfwear, but it's funnier my way, believe me)

Translation

Ever played the Translation Game?
Take a simple sentence and translate it back and forth and see what you get.
For example, how do you get from:

Hello and welcome to the wonderful world of language translation. remember to check back from time to time to ensure your phrasing hasn't changed.

to:

Hello and welcomes to the wonderful world of language translation do not remember you to examine occasionally back to guarantee your expressing have changed.

or to:

Hello and reception to the wonderful world of the translation of the language remembers to verify behind as of time at the time of assuring his to express has not changed.

Just go Engligh to German to English, or English to Spanish to English. But my favourites are the multiples:

Hallo and the reception in the world admirable remembers to the translation you of the time to the hour of reexamines the return, not to guarantee its to express moved.

(English-German-French-English-Portugese-English)

I know it's an old trick, but it still makes me laugh :)

Democracy, Personality testing

Had some interesting conversations on the weekend about the whole electoral process, and it came to my attention the not everyone knew how the two part preferred system worked (mainly because I explained it to about 200 people (ok, maybe 4))
It makes me wonder about what percentage of people actually understand the system that governs them, and therefore what sort of choices are they making? I learnt all that stuff in school, and I understand a couple of my friends who are recent citizens, but I guess I assume too much when I assume that all schools taught the electoral process.


Checked out a friends blog (you post too much Richard, it's incessant, nobody can write two-three lines a day, you're living in a fantasy world) :) and he had this, check it out, it's cool :)

I am Pacman. I am an aggressive sort of personality, out to get what I can, when I can. I prefer to avoid confrontation, but sometimes when it's called for, I can be a powerful character. I tend to be afflicted with munchies constantly. What Video Game Character Are You?

I'm a bit concerned that I'm PacMan, I don't really like PacMan. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm sure he's a nice guy, he even had a girlfriend (Ms PacMan, she had the same job, I bet their conversations were boring) But I didn't really enjoy playing it. I played my fair share, having grown up in an era where video games were few and far between, you played Space Invaders (Spacies), Asteroid, PacMan, DigDug, Summer Games, Donkey Kong, etc. but some games you liked more than others (Exed Exes, Discs of Tron, Rastan Saga, Spy Hunter, Defender) and you tended to spend your 20c on those rather than the others, so while I'm happy to be PacMan, I wouldn't like to spend time with myself because of it.
I'm also willing to accept the PacMan label because of the saying: If Pacman had affected us as kids we'd be running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive music.

Accents and Elections

Friday was pretty normal, out drinking to excess then eat greasy junk food before going home to bed :)
It started at Velour bar for Kylie's birthday drinks, which was quite enjoyable despite the lack of people in the bar. Normally that place is very busy on Fridays but this time it was pretty dead, with almost every person there being a friend of Kylie's. Had an interesting discussion with some people about accents and behaviours. Diane whose family is originally from Sicily started talking about how people from different areas of Sicily might have dialects so different that they couldn't really understand each other. Then we go on to how the same sort of process goes on everywhere, and even here in Melbourne, there are the beginnings of it. Where similar things have slightly different names, such as children's games, what we called 'Chasey' growing up in Greensborough they called 'Tiggy' in Coburg, and what we called 'Kiss Chasey' was referred to in Canberra as 'Catch and Kiss'. It's a fairly minor thing, but it happens across the language, and if it keeps happening for a few hundred years you would eventually have a completely separate dialect.

Then of course Saturday as the big election day. We all exercised our suffrage and made our choices for the next few years. Also went over to Sean's new place for a bit of a housewarming and managed to catch up with a few key people in my life, which was pretty good. Also got to play with a couple of dogs which was a lot of fun, despite the inevitable dog slobber problem when you're throwing the ball or stick :)

Saturday night was at The Elgin, sitting up on the couches by the fire and having a few friendly beers with a couple of friends, then the rest of our crew showed up after having been at the races all day and we had a few more beers. At one point the 9 of us were getting annoyed by the only two other people in the entire bistro that had turned up the TV very loud to hear the speeches from the politicians. I tried asking if we could turn it right down of turn it off, but they stated very clearly that they wished to view it, despite the fact that they were disturbing 9 other people, they wished to hear the speeches. Not entirely sure who decides to come down to a pub to watch the election and then sits almost all the way across the room and has the TV turned up very loud, but they did seem to be very unwilling to hear the voice of the common man (me). They did state their political preferences, but I won't 'out' them here, suffice it to say they were pompous and annoying, living in hawthorn, and very happy with the results ;)

More stuff

Well, since I've been getting flack from about 50% of my readership to get an update in place (ie.: two people) so here it is :)

Echuca

We've just spent the weekend in Echuca and I have to say it was very relaxing. We'd been up there last year about the same time and had decided that a return visit was essential. Drove up friday afternoon in Steph's new Statesman and spent a very funny friday in a couple of the pubs, namely the Echuca (where we were staying, excellent meals) and the yank (The American, not as good as last year, but a nice loud pub nonetheless).

The drive up and back was scatterred with Utes on the way to and from the annual Deniliquin World Record Ute Muster as well as the inaugural World Record Blue Singlet Muster. You've never seen more Bundy rum and Buffalo Horn stickers in your life. Judging by the amount of utes on the road I suspect they made their 3000 utes to beat their last world record.

It also seems that this weekend was the Footy Trip/Netball Trip weekend of choice, so the city was full of drubken groups of people on matching T-Shirts with humourous nicknames on them. :)

Nonetheless, we had a pretty good time. I'd happily recommend anyone eating a pub meal in Echuca to go to the Echuca hotel on High street, and anyone seeking accommodation that was quite, clean, modern and comfortable to avoid staying over the pub like we did :) Oh, and the beer's pretty good too :)

Anyway, it was a very good weekend, great weather, good food, good beer, and good fun laughing at Ye Olde Pisse Weak World (The Historic Port of Echuca)