Goodbye my Love

Well It's over. The affair that started the whole damn thing. It started flirtatiously, got steamy, bumpy and at times, even a little greasy. There was stubborness, obstinence, loyalty, downright disrespect, embarrassment, joy, tears and above all, sweet sweet convenience. We partied, we chilled, we overheated, we broke the limits society tried to impose on us. My heart lays shattered on the ground as I reflect on what was but is now gone, and what could have been. I so often dreamt of getting away together - long drives in the autumn sunshine, holidays on the coast - just the two of us. But alas it was not to be. She needed more than I could give her. She needed me to take care of her, be there for her, put the effort into our relationship, and in the end we grew apart. I can only blame myself, my career was more important to me than her, and I let our love wither and die. Now I am but a shell of a man, and every bus and train I ride is a deafening reminder of my love...lost


(well, sold, technically).


Goodbye my sweet.

Ahhhh, happier times.

My SFF

As I have now got SFF FEVER I thought I’d share my realistic (as opposed to idealistic, which would involve me being unemployed, single, unhygienic and wealthy) wish list with you. There is one I'll miss and think someone else should see on my behalf, but ignoring that, I want these:

Fri June 6 at 9:10pm – Choke (State Theatre)
Tues June 10 at 8:45pm - A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (Greater Union George)
Wed June 11 at 6:30pm – Tokyo Sonata (State Theatre)
Thurs June 12 at 6:30pm - Lake Tahoe (State Theatre)
Fri June 13 at 6:30pm - Stop Loss (State Theatre)
Sun June 15 at 3:15pm – The Band’s Visit (State Theatre)
Fri June 20 at 9:30pm – American Teen (Greater Union George)
Sat June 21 at 3:45pm – Up the Yangtze (Dendy Opera Quays)
Sun June 22 at 4:30pm – A Page of Madness (State Theatre)
Sun June 22 at 9:15pm – Married Life (State Theatre)

Let me know if you’d like to see any and we can make an evening of it/them.

The 'no contact' theme continues...

I can't say this is going to be the most interesting post but hey ho...

The main plan for this w'end is to continue the resurrection and bonding with my bike. The bonding bit might seem a bit strange to you all but having bought this bike 2nd hand I've never really felt 'at one' with it. So a couple of weeks ago I started a rebuild which entails taking all the bits off it, cleaning them, taking some of them to the bike shop where the assistant invariably laughs and says something like - "oh, we've not seen that style of X in a long time, they don't manufacter that anymore, you'll have to change it to Y instead". Y being a whole crap load more expensive of course. As part of this mission I've turned the "shoe room", sorry "sun room" into a bike maintenance shed, complete with cogs, oily chains and an upside down bike. So that's mission number 1. Mission number 2 may or may not happen and involves me getting a train up to Waitara or somewhere like it on Sunday morning and having a pleasant ride back via anything but the main roads. This is basically what my bike looks like (except this one has slightly different parts on it)....



Other than that I'm planning on some pretty serious COD4 multi-player time and maybe a bit of Rugby thrown in for good measure, sounds good to me.

While the cat's away....

Yes that's right, my wife is leaving me for the entire weekend - she won't be at home for a single part of it, as she's leaving noon Friday and returning early Monday morning. Leaving ME - for SICK FAMILY! It's an outrage.
Well, I plan to get my own back for this marital sabotage by having a wild and crazy weekend being really wild and crazy, and doing really wild and crazy things. You know what they say: "While the cat's away, the mouse can play." And I'm going to mouse it up big time. Mouse to the MAXX.
The part they don't really mention is that mostly the mice tend to play with pens and books, preparing for another approaching season of exams. It's true, I've read about it.
So just picture this: I'll be swinging from light fittings wild-eyed, notes in hand. I'll be downing pint after pint of cordial - and perhaps having a few shots of tea. I'll be sitting at the computer like a raving loon, furiously taking notes and learning like a wild man. Wooo!
And of course I still have my usual Sunday morning shift at the pharmacy in Crows Nest - after all, everyone needs a chillout recovery session after a night like that. Oh yeah.
I know you all want in on this obscene orgy of pharmacy practice, I can hear the cries from here. But sorry guys - you're just not cool enough. This par-tay is invite only.

No contact weekend - my bit

Well I may have screwed this up a bit

Friday night is Volunteer information night at Dendy

Saturday day I'm hanging out the front of the State Theatre and giving their passes.

Then i screwed it all up, I'm meeting Mattwa and some Crusaders supports to watch the Super 14 final.

Sunday we work - 7 days to go aaarrrrggghhhh

My Contribution....

mmm...no contact weekend. Interesting. I believe we're booked in for a very sober and sensible evening on Friday with a certain Jim Smith and Nero. I am still staying strong on the no alcohol month, so this may seriously test my resolve.

Since this week has been ridiculously hectic and promises to remain so for the next three days at the annual ARCS conference (Association of Regulatory and Clinical Scientists - what a hoot that will be!). I'll be on my best behaviour and all suited up, with a voice that is threatening to dessert me I'm in for one helluva week. Hence the "no contact" weekend may be just what I need to recover and regain some solitude in my life.

I may do brunch.

I may also get my nails done.

Damn I lead an exciting and break necked paced (no pun intended lady) existence.

"No contact" weekend

According to the infamous graffiti in my diary, this weekend is “no contact” weekend for the SRF. This is a lucky thing because I am making a last minute dash up to Brisbane to spend the weekend with my Mum – she’s a little frayed around the edges with her mum in Perth (92yrs old) in isolation with a super staph infection and broken wrist. Oh, and there was my Dad being found bloody and unconscious on the footpath on Saturday afternoon by a passer-by, 4 meters in front of his bike. That also panicked Mum– waiting for results of the scans on neck and brain that turned out to be ok. He did get 4 stitches in his forehead, a splint on his left pinkie finger and has broken his right elbow quite intricately. But after surgery last night to have hardware fitted, I hear he’s quite perky. He may even be out of hospital by the time I get there on Friday.

Yes, so on my “no contact” weekend I’m leaving poor Noodle to fend for himself AND I’m missing a hockey game, to weekend with the wounded and bewildered in Brisbane.

In the interests of a lost and lonely blog, why not take a couple of minutes out and give us a quick post with YOUR plans for the “no contact” weekend ahead, hmmm?

Next SRF Event

Opening Gala!

...and this

And here is slightly zoomed out version where you can see the full ridiculousness of it compared to the relative soberness of the other girl's outfits...talk about a scene stealer!

For Mattwa

HOC festivities

So since Sarah decides all these things I said I would post it up.

Really I think it's her way of legitimatising her renegade functions

So this Friday night Games night at the HOC.

On offer we have Sceneit?, Scrabble, Movie(somethingorotherthat i can't read from my chair) and Trivial Pursuit.

From there, there is a sleep over in Bron's room or camping in the back yard for the less adventurous.

Saturday morning - Sarah's making Waffles! (Donkey Voice)


That is all

Anzac Camping LWE Pt I

On April 25, 1915 the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps made their bloody WWI debut on the beaches of Galipoli where they would struggle, fight and die.

On April 25, 2008 we thought a befitting tribute to those and subsequent Aussie war sacrifices would be to laze by a river with beer, fire and marshmellows.

Noodle and I set out at a reasonable hour on Anzac Day with blue skies and sparse traffic. We happily caught up with Prince William and his cargo at Goulburn where the slick sophisticated city set were DISGUSTED by the cheap decore and humdrum fare offered at the Goulburn Bakehouse. But not to worry, some chocolate cookies and another two hours down the road brought us in to the authentic and pleasing territory of the dog on the tucker box and on to the farm at Gocup.

Prince William with Flit, Mattwa and Gretta at Gundagai.

There at the scene of the 2007 Fricholson hoe-down we met the Victorian contingent, comprised of Noodle's best man Jimmi Z, his groomsman NTC with wife Marta, John's usher buddy Pearcy and his 'lady friend' Dewi.



We kicked off with a wood gathering frenzy, then while the ladies made a supply trip to Tumut, the manly men folk busily set-to errecting a fine camp ground before opening some fine beers.


Camp

The Bush Tucker Man saves the day with a shovel

Mattwa was put in charge of keys, clutches, trailers, utes and driving in general.


With the housekeeping done, we all settled in with beers and wines, to admire the fire and ignore the pressing issue of meal cooking.


Nick and Marti with their 'rurosexual' picnic chairs.

Except Pearcy, who set to making his much maligned damper.

Dark fell and we started to consider our catering options.

And Pearcy's damper prevailed at last!

Mattwa's self catering efforts come up short.But eventually we all got fed. The meal slowly materialised and BBQ 'degustation' was served over the course of the next few hours, starting with Pearcy's damper Pt II (wrapped in foil) and ending with Jimmi's charred potatos.

After dinner we settled back to play that eternal game withourselves, of trying to find the right position where a burning face and cold bumb would find perfect balance and cancel each other out.

Then, in the usual way of people throughout the ages left to their own devices for entertainment under the stars, a series of performances began, not least of which was the magnificently orchestrated spoken word peice "Meat" written by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, featuring Mattwa on lead vocals, NCT on demonic backing vocals, Jimmi on guitar (with the Deadwood theme music) and my good self conducting, with the use of a mac torch.

Twas a drunken bunch that turned in for the night, with heads filled with the tunes of yore, wrapped tightly in sleeping bags and scarves against the cold Tumut night.

Anzac Camping LWE Pt II

The usual camping activities of food and fire served to occupy much of our time - gathering wood, stoking, boiling, ferreting through all Pearcy's excellent supplies and washing up in rivier water.

But we did find ourselves faced with some real quandries, such as what to do with last night's left over sausages?

Luckily Mattwa brought along his potato gun!


Loading the ammo

Ready

Aim



Campers, we have a problem.

The sausage surplus went unpropelled through the air at great speed due to mechanical failure...

The wood gathering missions became more intensive as the weekend drew on, with a ute ride to the main paddock.

where we caused a stampede of hungry steaks, hoping we were delivering them some juicy hay.

There were disappointed by what they found on the back of the ute:


Wood was not going to be a problem. We seemed to get that sorted out.

So there were other finds, like the controvertial fox/cat/carniverous rabbit that Gretta made friends with.

And other excitements, like upgrading Dewi from sitting in the excavator bucket of the 16t Hyundai down on the river flat that was "o mi gawd o mi gawd o mi gawd" to the operators seat of the 19t Hyundai excavator up at he sheds. Then it was "O MI GAWD O MI GAWD O MI GAWD!!!!"
SO to wrap it up, I'll quote from any good school newsletter and say

A good time was had by all.

SRF (et al.) Event

"A Night of Glamour"

What: Nicolai's Glamorous 30th
When: Tonight!
When then? 7:30pm
Where: Dome - Upstairs at the Crown Hotel
Why: Help Nicolai feel better about loosing his youth to the relentless mistress of time
Wear: Your interpretation of 'Glamour'

Happy Birthday Bertie!

Full name: Princess Bertie Bluebell the First (full-length naming duties carried out by Sarah).
Arrived 8th May, 2008 at 12:40pm; 1260kg.


In other news:
RIP our old Vectra.

Happy 30th Birthday Nicolai!

We still think you're hot and underground, even if you are OLD.

Canadian Update

It continues

The response from Mark our Web co-ordinator and supplier of most of my joy at work.

"Hi Julie, The Sydney Film Festival is in Sydney, which is were I'm based.
Mark"

Jules still had questions

"That's fine but are you based in Sydney or Montreal..."

At this point i thought i would lay it out for our Canadian Friend

"Hi Julie, The Sydney Film Festival takes place in Sydney, Australia. We are based in Surry Hills, which is 2km south of the CBD. We used to be based in Glebe but we moved. Our festival director does travel to the Toronto Film Festival yearly, is that near Montreal?

Jules still hasn't answered my question?!?