The Beyjongue Ollompucs (that's Kiwi for 'The Beijing Olympics)

Yes, I have a Flight of the Conchords obsession. :D

Moving on... just bringing this up, since it's meant to be the event which brings us all together.. blah blah blah...

Ok, so my Top 5 highlights so far:

1.) seeing 48kg twigs lift 110kg+ above their scrawny (yet oh so muscley bodies)

2.) Stephanie Rice claiming this Olympics as her very own - as far as Australia is concerned

3.) Phelpsie... could he BE any more gorgeous?!?!?!? Normally I wouldn't cheer for a Yank since they all annoy the crap out of me (no offense my American friends), but he is THE most gorgeous human being of the Olympic Pool!! His smile could melt my heart like cheese at a fondue dinner party, and his humility is quite refreshing to see... from a Yank - (again, no offense my Americano friends!) One Aussie commentator put it nicely on Day 2 of the Games: "if Michael Phelps was a country, he'd be fourth on the medal tally right now!"

4.) our Aussie mens rowing team having a "watercraft malfunction" & veering ever so subtely into other team's lanes. (Not quite sure what happened there, but great to see an Aussie crew pull that one outta their hat.) Well done lads!

and last, but definitely not least...

5.) China... demonstrating in glorious form why they are the single most important environmental problem the world must face (AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT) in future years, second only perhaps to population growth.

Yes indeedy, China are showing the world how heavily industrialised they actually are (as if we didn't already know that), how commerce hungry they are, and how their contribution to the EGE is the most detrimental of all - with no signs of slowing down any time soon. Hopefully this will shed light on the role China plays in climate change... and puts pressure on them to fall into line with the rest of the civilised world in at least making some sort of attempt to at least "appear" to be doing something to help the world avert it's certain impending doom.

On that note: Hoppy Ollompucs Everywun! :D

Introducing Mookie

With Roger (pc) getting on in years, his memory is fading a little & he's starting to act kinda funny sometimes. Add to that the need for a laptop for uni purposes, and you've got the perfect excuse for investing in a MacBook.

Introducing Mookie. Mookie has taken a little while to get used to as he thinks a little differently to Roger, but he definitely makes a lot more sense. And the freedom of being able to take Mookie with me anywhere is pretty cool, as now I'll be able to hoof on over to any library in Brisbane & milk them for all the information I can find, and take my research back home with me for further refinement. Ahhh, the freedom of Mookie.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Another year older? Couldn't be. Indeed.

And what better way to mark the occasion than to have Fish #4 attempt suicide? I can't think of a nicer way to begin my 31st year of existence. In hindsight, it appears I may have filled Fish #4's bowl a little too high with water, enabling him to flip out of his bowl and onto the floor. Oops me.

Not sure how long the poor thing was flipping around in agony for, but he sure wasn't moving much when I found him sunny side up. Scooping him up into a dustpan he spluttered a few last rounds, before I dumped him back in his bowl, hoping for a miracle.

And behold the miracle fish!! He spent a few awkward hours composing himself, but he's as good as new, and has proved to be my new favourite (sorry Foosch) fish.

Jewel - Perfectly Clear

Carrying on with my new tradition of reviewing Jewel's albums, here is my take on Jewel's countrified Perfectly Clear...

Stronger Woman - have listened to this one heaps since it's the single and all. I'm over it. I don't like the holier than thou message of the song. Moving right along to the new stuff! (6/10)

I Do - everyone has been going spastic for this song. I don't get why though. It's poptastic fluff. I'm really hoping for some of those great Jewel lyrics on this album. It's certainly a nice song, but I don't think it deserves the hype some of the fans have been giving it. (8/10)

Love Is A Garden - LOVING it, and have only heard the opening lines. Awww, the chorus is stunning. Yeah!!! This is the sort of country music I love!!! (10/10)

Rosey & Mick - ok, here we go with another much talked about song. To put into context though, it's never been one of my fave Jewel songs, so I don't much care what she does with it (unlike some Kilcherians who think she's ruined it). Soooo.... it's a great country song! I quite like it. And the faster tempo works the chorus really well. (8/10)

Anyone But You - first impressions are that this song would fit in quite well on 4BH. Hahaha! 4BH is an oldies station in Brisbane. And this is such classic 'easy listening'. Mum's around the world will like this song. Yeah, this is the most 'country' of what I've heard so far. (7/10)

Thump Thump - quite looking forward to this. Have only listened to a live version once before. Ooooh, there's some classic Jewel lyrics in there. Here comes the chorus... awww, it's so sweet. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. This is great! <Meg bops along> Ooooh, the chorus again. Yay!! It's still building up. Could this be a bridge? Awwww... happy Kilcherian! This song is so cute! Well done soldier! (10/10)

Two Become One - (pre-thought = do we freaking HAVE to go through this?) Urggh. Has put a dampener on this whole experience after the exhilaration of Thump Thump. If this was the first I'd heard the song, I would probably really like it. But it's NOT the first time I've heard it, is it? No! It's already been on an album. Is Jewel suffering from Alzheimer's? Come on mate... we wait all this time for a new record, and you rehash old 0304 crap AGAIN. Stop it. Stop it now! For the love of music, stop it NOW! Ok, so it's not that bad, but it will forever be an 0304 song to me, and it urks me to have to associate 0304 with Perfectly Clear. (6/10)

Till It Feels Like Cheating - moving on from that little outburst... this one takes the trophy for most country song on PC now. Doesn't really sound like a Jewel song. Not a bad song, mind you, just not completely Jewelish. This is my pick for next single. Country fans will like it. (7/10)

Everything Reminds Me Of You - oooh, I quite like this one. Another 4BH kinda song. And yeah, I like my 4BH these days. Nothing earth shattering, but nice. (8/10)

Loved By You (Cowboy Waltz) - I've loved this song since her Nashville Star performance. I think it was one of her finest live performances actually, so I kinda don't feel the need to hear her attempt to try to improve on it. It's a beautiful song really. Some of the instrumental backing is a little annoying to tell the truth, and not necessary. The vocal is a little too full too. Good song, but I still prefer the Nashville Star performance. (8/10)

Perfectly Clear - Obviously have heard this song before now. LOVING IT!!!! Like REALLY love it! I'm giving it a 10/10 because it's a 10/10, but I'd like to add that I think it's capable of 11/10. Extending the ending of this song, and building the crescendo a bit and a few extra strings could take this song to the skies! Capable of so much more, but still awesome as it is. (10/10)

Wrapping Up... Love Is A Garden, Thump Thump & Perfectly Clear are the standouts for me. Obviously Two Become One is the downer.

Rockin' Rockhampton

Ahhh yeah. What could be better than spending 4 days in Rockhampton going to 12 hours of lab sessions per day and sleeping on a pillow that closely resembles a piece of cardboard?!?

My first residential for uni was a mix of torture & good times. The torture came in the form of piercing migraines while trying make sense of pretty microscopic imagery and sleepless nights, while the good times came from a small group of cool people I met & have kept in contact with.

To be fair, most of the lab sessions were cool, albeit hard to keep up with, but I could really have done without the toads & the wee samples. Looking forward to next semester... plants! Scalpels at the ready!

Steve Poltz @ The Troubadour

Possibly the most exciting event of the year - unless aliens finally visit our fine planet, cause that would be pretty exciting too - is Steve Poltz coming to Brisvegas!!!! <insert hyperventilation here>

I dragged my good mates Shea, Piggy & Jen, Krystal & Kaleena along for the ultimate Poltz experience... watching Poltz up close & personal - the ONLY way to see Poltz!

Steve played a whole bunch of classic Poltz tunes, and a few newies from new cd's Traveling, and Unraveling. Shea was stoked to score a free beer from the man mid-show, and I managed to get a couple of my very own requests played (Tree Hugger & Leavin Again). After the show I was on my way out to go grab some moula from the hole in the wall to buy the new cd's which were on sale BEFORE the US got their grubby little paws on em... when I heard a very deep voice in my ear say "I love your shirt". Looking up, and up, and up (Steve is a very tall man and I am a very short gal) I realised it was none other than his royal highness himself admiring my Steve Poltz Trailer Girl shirt. I'm lucky I didn't pee myself!

As luck would have it, Shea was mates with 'Murray the Sound Guy' which gave us the perfect excuse to hang around with Steve, Milan (promoter extraordinare) & the Dead Letter Chorus (really good support act). Awesome night!!!

Highlights: Chinese Checkers, Light In Your Eyes, Sewing Machine, a very clever conversation Steve had with himself with the help of a pre-recorded mobile message, and lots of Poltz cuddles. He even called me 'sweet cheeks'... swoon!

Bad Blogger! Bad!

I've been a very bad little blogger lately! Very bad indeed. It's more than halfway through the year, and I haven't blogged a single word. Have dated this entry 1/1/08 since that's around about when I abandoned the bloggers world. I'm so bad.

So yeah, I'm going to try to go back through the memory vault, and fish out a few stories for show & tell. (I had to go and mention fish, didn't I?!?!?)

You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it...