End of January?? What??

How is that possible? Too busy, that's the bloody problem, and this week was no exception. It was Jack's birthday on Wednesday, so we went over for dinner and cake and all that. His real birthday party isn't until this weekend, and it's featuring a special surprise from me and Maria. More on that next week! As for Wednesday, for an impromptu party there sure were plenty of kids in attendance. Christ. Girls, boys, babies - every age bracket was accounted for. There really was nowhere to hide. So i made the best of it and stuck with the ones i knew and loved.

Christian, Raffael and me

In fact, it wasn't just Jack's birthday - it was his cousin William's too. Which is why there were about a billion kids - double the festivities. William was turning two, so still slightly overwhelmed by it all. But turning three, Jack had a better idea of what birthdays are all about - presents. And lets be honest - the kid threw aside anything that wasn't a toy or DVD. Little shit.

Birthday cakes!

Happy birthday to me!

William cuts the cake with his mama

Kid heaven

By the time Friday rolled around, i was ready for a drink. Alas for me and everyone around me, because drink i did. A good friend from work was leaving (she's travelling the world for 6 months, lucky bugger), so we decided heading to the pub early was in order. First bottle of wine was consumed by 4.30 in the afternoon, and Lord knows that happened after that. I know i got home past midnight - which means we basically drank for a full working day. Which is a phenomenal effort, and i applaud it, and i was punished for it on Saturday BELIEVE ME. My body can no longer cope with all-night benders. Am i getting old??? How did i manage that sort of drinking TWICE every weekend a mere few years ago?? Vague snippets of the night are coming back to me as the days pass (like demanding someone go and get me a burger - and actually, i think someone did), which is always funny. Its like you're in a half-dream - did that really happen, or am i imagining it? Good times.

Me and Wing-Sze, world traveller extraordinaire, who i will MISS!!

George, me and WS - i can't believe our trio has been so rudely split. Bah. Bah!

On the other hand, waking up early the next day to meet Maria in Newtown and look for wedding favours was NOT a happy moment. Really. Was. Not.

I was parched, for starters, and no amount of water would quench my thirst. Second, it was like a hundred degrees outside, so all i did for three hours was sweat out everything I'd consumed the night before. Thirdly, we were supposed to meet for breakfast, but Maria was late, so i had to eat alone like a loser, AND, i really wanted greasy bacon and eggs for breakfast, but I've vowed off eating pork, so i had to have mushrooms instead. Not the fat factor i was after. And it was one of those situations where I'd asked for two menus because i thought there would be two of us. So the waiter brings two menus and two water glasses and two sets of cutlery. And then Maria doesn't show, which is OK, but to the waiter, it looked like I'd been totally ditched, probably by a guy. "My cousin's running really late..." i told him feebly when i went to pay. And he gives me this sympathetic look like "Yeah, sure. See it all the time. But OK, you're cousin's late, whatevs..."

To top it off, we ended up sitting for what felt like an eternity with this lady talking about wedding favours when all i wanted to do was go to the toilet. When i finally couldn't hold it any more, i asked whether there was one available even though i could see there wasn't. She said she had one out the back, but that it was a bit "rustic". HA! Rustic?? Rustic means CHARMING, lady! Not pitch-black, spider-infested, outback dunny with mouldy toilet paper and a yellow-stained floor. But i was busting so i had to go, i had to. And really, after that, all i wanted to do was go back home and go to bed. Thank goodness I actually found some favours i liked after all that, so it was kind of worth it, just.

By Sunday i was buggered, but it was a beautiful day and we were heading off for a BBQ with my cousins. They have three little kids who are a hoot, and we love seeing them, so it was a nice afternoon.

Raffael and Christian with their vegetable garden

Fish on the barbie for lunch, DELICIOUS.

Jo, Raffy and Christian reading books

Later that afternoon, Jo and my Dad were headed off to the cricket, so Mum and I decided to go to the movies to see Black Swan. Obviously it's been getting a lot of buzz, so we were interested to see whether it would live up to the hype.

Which it kind of did. I'm not sure what i expected from it in hindsight actually. It's hard to put it in a genre category, but i guess you could call it part thriller, part horror. Natalie Portman plays Nina, a ballerina who's waiting for her big moment - and it comes when she wins the lead in Swan Lake. Her nervous and unsure personality is evident from the start, but once the pressure of the role sets in, and we learn more about her home life, the cracks in her mental state begin to show. From there, the audience is left to guess what's real and what isn't. We see it all through Nina's eyes, and that's what i liked best about the movie - i felt like i understood her paranoia and delusions because i was seeing them for myself, i thought they were real too. When it turned out they weren't, i felt her confusion because it was also my own. I was definitely on the edge of my seat for the whole movie. On the other hand. It was so intense and confronting in its realism that I was almost uncomfortable watching it. And i am no prude by any means, but there were some scenes where i was like "Geez. That's...weird..." So I'm not sure its for everyone. From an artistic perspective, it's beautifully staged and shot. But it's very dark, and its MA rating is appropriate. I'm still feeling a little unnerved and disturbed by it, even a couple of days later.

Public holiday tomorrow, so no work for me! I'll keep you posted on how my Australia Day turns out - most likely i will sleep, eat, watch trash TV with the aircon on high, sleep, attend a BBQ, then sleep. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Back to work. Again.

We're all officially back at work after the holiday season. And there's really not a whole lot more i wanna say about that (cause it SUCKS!). Up until now though, we've had many pleasant distractions.





We've bowled, for example. I'm not usually one for sports, but bowling - i can handle that *winks* And we've seen a few movies. Little Fockers was OK, overall - same jokes, same laughs. You know what you're going to get, and you get it.




The Kings Speech on the other hand was, as all reviews will tell you, excellent. Highly recommended if you have the inclination for that sort of thing. And you won't often find three finer actors in one film either - Colin, Geoffrey AND Helena? That's a trifecta. It traces King George VI's quest to overcome his stammer with the help of his unconventional speech therapist, Lional Logue (played rather brilliantly by Geoffrey Rush if you ask me). Covering the pesky abdication that landed him in the job in the first place and the early years of the second World War, the film builds up to that one big speech that's got to inspire the nation once war is declared - and he can't very well stammer through it. Anyway. Just go see it.




And just the other night, we saw Morning Glory. I admit, i picked that one. And i admit, Harrison Ford makes the movie. But honestly, sometimes you just want to see a bit of fluff, you know? It's by no means deep and meaningful, but i wanted something silly and lighthearted, and. Well. That's what i got. Ford plays a professional news journalist who's relegated, much to his disgust, to morning television. Chirpy Rachel McAdams plays the up and coming young producer who has to make him see the error of his ways if she has any hope of saving the program from inevitable demise. And that's about the whole storyline right there. But it's cute enough. Maybe save it for a rainy day DVD.




In other news, we were thrilled to attend our very first Greek wedding on Saturday. You may hear the term big fat Greek wedding and think it's an exaggeration, to which i say HA! The alcohol and the dancing and the 'opa!'s' flowed all night, and when the music finally came to an end, the disgruntled shouts of 'Just one more!!" could be heard from the next suburb over, I'm sure of it. We had a ball, and must say thanks to our friends Con and Melissa for letting us share their special day - CONGRATULATIONS to you both, you crazy kids. Here are some picture highlights:

Jo and I outside the church



Turnsie pulling the same moronic face he does in every photo




The bride and groom!

Kama and Tony, who was one of the groomsmen

Dancing!

Kama and I (who enjoyed our champagne all night, let me tell you)

Con and Melissa cut their cake (what's with the dominating hand placement there Con...rack off and let the woman cut her cake.)

Awww, spesh.

Zorba!

A very happy Tony (whisky does that) and I

Of course, the last week has been spent staring in shock at images on our televisions of a flood-ravaged Queensland. 75% of the state has been declared a disaster zone, thousands and thousands of homes have been destroyed or badly damaged, many are dead or missing or homeless - and it's bizarre to see the Brisbane CBD half under water.

What HAS been pretty amazing is the attitudes of the people up there, who've just been so darn AUSSIE in their response to this whole mess. They've banded together and got on with things, and hardly any person has complained. Many have watched their houses slowly disappear under water with a beer in their hand and a shrug of the shoulders because hey, it could be worse. Or they're in their tinnies and kayaks with the dogs or on their surfboards or just plain swimming through the mud to get to their houses and take stock. Or taking care of strangers, or filling bags with sand through the night, or painting kids faces down in the evacuation centres, or giving the camera a big smile and saying "she'll be right", even though everything in they own is gone or ruined. We've seen all those traits that make us great - generosity and friendship, strength and humour - and I've no doubt that despite how bad things are, those Queenslanders are going to bounce back in no time, because in this country, we all actually give a crap about each other. Bless! And yeah. Makes me proud to be Australian.

Random ramblings

Alright, down to business. Gotta start by saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jo's mum Dawn! Hope you had a great day today!!




Its been one of those weeks. For some reason there's been this underlying sense of anxiety sitting in my stomach for days. I hate when this happens, because I'm not settled and i sleep badly and everything just feels kind of blah. I mean i know I'm a natural worrier. If i have nothing to worry about, don't worry - I'll find something. Its not one of my prettier traits, and i pity the fools around me who have to pat me kindly on the hand and say "there there" while rolling their eyes in the other direction (Its OK, I'd do the same thing.)




Still, we did get up to a few bits and pieces - like going to see Inception at Imax with some friends. It was an impressive movie - great acting, great special effects, a storyline that leaves you debating long after the credits roll - but was it worth the hype? Cause there was a lot of hype. I mean people have been calling it the next Matrix. I would say...tentatively...yes, it just about lived up to the hype. Somethings holding me back from being as enthusiastic as Jo is about it - he loved it. I can't put my finger on what though. But it's solid, insightful storytelling, even if Ellen Page really annoyed me the whole time. She's looks too young i think, and i didn't buy her in the role.




What else. I've just finished reading, finally, the biggest thing to come out of Sweden since Ikea - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. EVERYONE is reading and loving this trilogy, and has been for the last year. So I'm late on the bandwagon. Some scattered points from me - firstly, the writing is crap. Or maybe its the translation that's crap, but whatever. Its very functional. By that i mean, its just a tool to tell a story. It's obvious that writing isn't a craft to the author, though storytelling maybe is - the story itself is very addictive. I was totally sucked in, and finished the book in 5 days. It's an oxymoron - i didn't enjoy the writing, but i couldn't put it down. I liken this to the Dan Brown craze - he has great stories, but his writing sucks. There's no pleasure in the reading of it at all, even though the story is very entertaining. Know what i mean? Secondly, this dude Larsson (unfortunately he passed away before the books were published) had a seriously sick imagination. It's almost TOO over the top. Rape, murder, incest, torture, sex, Nazis, affairs, secrets...this book has it all, the very worst of society is on display. Which i think was the authors point when writing it, but still. It was weird. Then again, part of what makes you race through it is the fact that it's so sordid. Thirdly, for all this social commentary on how women are treated like crap by their male counterparts, his main male character really is a classic womaniser. Classic because he typically thinks there's nothing at all wrong with his behaviour. Worse, most of the females he sleeps with ALSO don't think there's anything at all wrong with his behaviour. In fact, they all seem to be falling over themselves to have sex with him. Just sex, mind you. Nobody in this book seems to want to have a relationship with anyone else. Just sex. But at the end of it all, everyone certainly hopes they can "still be friends" They're all "very fond of each other." I mean, really? Is this just a Swedish thing? *shrugs*, maybe it is. Still, like i said, i couldn't stop reading, and it's a good whodunnit. There are plenty of twists and turns and my friends and I have been talking about it all week. I'm into the second one now, which is similar in style. That was a really long rant about one book. Sorry non-readers. Moving right along.




There really is nothing like a good meat pie and mash. See below if you don't believe me. I had one of these baby's yesterday, and God it was good. No nutritional value whatsoever, obviously. But it's winter. No one cares what they eat in winter, as long as its making you feel good.










We went yesterday to see our wedding reception venue actually set up for an actual wedding, so we'd get an idea of how it would look with all the tables in there, and a dance floor etc. I'm glad we went, because i was panicking slightly about whether it would look empty-ish - the venue itself is a heritage-listed converted wharf warehouse, and even though the dark wood and beams are lovely, i thought it had the potential to look bare. I think it was the high ceilings that had me worried. But once it's filled with tables and chairs and all that, it didn't look at all empty like i pictured, which was good. We're also trying to finalise the guest list, an exercise i can best describe as painful and frustrating. Don't try it at home kids.




We headed over to Daniel and Romina's afterwards to see the baby, since naturally we don't care about them much at all any more. How could we, when their very entertaining munchkin steals the limelight these days. 2 points about Luca - one, he has a high-pitched shriek that rivals Mariah Carey, and two, his name should actually be Puker, because he spent most of the afternoon spewing. Not that i held it against him. Better out than in and all that.

Luca looking over at his mother pleadingly - "Ma, for reals, get me off her. She's crazy man. Crazy."

Luca and I


Rom and Luca

On a final note, hands up if you know what a flogging is?

To flog: Definition - to beat harshly. As in, Australia was flogged by New Zealand in last nights game. Bah. BAH. I blame the ref. Yellow cards, red cards, penalties every two minutes...it was ridiculous. But it didn't stop Adrian from bringing out the yellow jumpsuit in support of the Aussies (you got one free with every jug of bundy rum and coke last night. I mean that's value.) And what a fashion statement it was. I'm sorry i don't have one in my wardrobe for just these occasions.

Jo, Adrian and Fe's hand. I particularly love the pulled up socks with this look. Its special.

Back to the Future is on, so i gotta go. Any movie with a flux capacitor gets a thumbs up from me.