Oops, I seem to have suddenly turned 30!

I am Sailing!
Originally uploaded by LinsB.

Thirty, flirty and thriving. Yes, that is now me. I must say it suits me. Not only have I suddenly become thirty but since doing so I have also become a very good windsurfer and an excellent driver. I am very excited to see what other things I have also suddenly become good at.

I discovered my ability to be good at windsurfing when Toby bought me a beautiful brand new Starboard Go and a gorgeous sail, which just happens to be the same colour as the board: A girl has to look good when she's out on the water. Somehow, I just seem able to sail this board and I'm confident that in no time at all I'll be bumping and jumping (just as soon as I find out what that actually means). See, I even have photographic evidence!

I am having a great birthday. I say "having" because I just know it isn't over yet. On my fourth day I acquired a box of Roses and a Pet Rock (1975 fad) which I have named Rosa as the original rocks were Rosarita Beach stones. I spent the afternoon trying to train her. Like the original rocks Rosa is very good at sitting and staying but she won't come when I call her and she's no rolling stone. I tried to give her a helping hand at rolling over but her eye fell off which distressed her no end. Luckily I managed to fix her up with some blu-tak and now she looks much cleverer than she did before. It is now the 7th day of my birthday and yesterday I received a fun "snow scene" photo frame with photos from our camping trip to Swanage in August and an Aussie-style rubber duck from Cheryl and Scotty. I haven't named the duck yet.

I had a great birthday out on the water with my beautiful new board. Then I grabbed a few bits n pieces for my 1975 party on Saturday night before heading out for dinner with Toby at a lovely place right on the bend of the river, called Picnic on the Rocks. After torrential rains on Thursday and continuous raining on Friday it wasn't possible to sit outside and enjoy the sunset as we'd hoped. It wasn't even possible to see the sunset. Which saved me from being mercilessly attacked by evil mosquitos. Every cloud and all that.

Anna came to visit me on Saturday and, poor girl, if she'd been hoping for a relaxing weekend in Queensland she sure didn't get it. I immediately put her to work moving furniture, then Toby got her peeling potatoes. She kept trying to escape to the shops but she didn't know where they were so couldn't. Eventually we got everything sorted out and meandered down to the beach with a box of toys for the start of the party.

We spent the next few hours drinking champers, swimming, sunbaking, playing beach cricket, frisbee and some crazy velcro ball thing and building sandcastles as the first of my guests started to arrive.

Eventually we dragged ourselves back to the house just as the second set of guests started to arrive. I switched on the groovy disco music and flashy lights, threw the chilli on the stove and then ran off to get showered and into my groovy disco gear. When I emerged 15 minutes later I didn't recognise my own house. It was absolutely full of people wishing me Happy Birthday, thrusting gifts into my hands and asking me where they could cool their drinks. The whole evening is a blur, the main memories of which are fighting my guests to get from the kitchen to the dining room and back again (why is it that people love to stand in doorways at partys?), dancing to mad 1975 music, blowing bubbles with Zoe (who was hilarious when she gave me my birthday present as she insisted on unwrapping it for me), losing my drink repeatedly, saying hello to people, saying goodbye to people, getting a surprise birthday cake (beautifully decorated by Toby's mum) and making a crap speech demanding that everyone dance despite the ever-present danger of losing one's hand to the low ceiling fan that was spinning around like a ballerina on speed.

We had some great efforts at the 1975 theme. We had some hippie chicks, some groovy gals, disco divas, drag disco divas, a couple of romans with MCMLXXV across their chests, Bjorn Borg, a hooker who charges $19.75, a Jaws theme (with, sadly, half-eaten teddy bears stuck to their t-shirts) and the Black Knight from Monty Python's The Search for the Holy Grail, whom everyone thought was Ned Kelly and who insisted he couldn't help serve the food, although he'd love to, as he only had one arm, having lost the other in a fight with a guest who insisted on passing from the dining room to the kitchen despite the knight's cries of "None Shall Pass!".

I have to thank all my lovely Australian friends for making it such an amazing birthday and ensuring that I didn't get homesick at all. It was great. And thanks to all my wonderful friends and family overseas, whom I miss dearly, for remembering me, sending me cards, gifts and text messages and for making my birthday last almost a week (and still going!)

The party (and some more windsurf) photos are on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/79031873@N00/sets/1281005/ If anyone wants a full size quality image just send me an email and I'll mail as large a size as I can.

I'm off to Christchurch in New Zealand next week for a conference so I may be a bit quiet for a little while. I'll fill you in on what's happening down-under just as soon as I can.

The Proof of the Permanent Residency Visa...

Copy of PB150211
Originally uploaded by LinsB.

... is in the passport!

This picture was taken last Tuesday after my return from Brisbane to collect my boxes and my visa. That's a mini bottle of champagne in the stubby cooler. Actually, Brent gave me that last Christmas and I deliberately put it away to open when my residency was granted. Thanks Brent.

I have now unpacked four of the five boxes and it's amazing how easily everything has been absorbed into the house. The only things sticking out like a sore thumb are my books because I still don't have bookshelves but we're hoping to make some temporary ones this weekend. I was very excited to get the stereo up and running and now just have to get the FM arial sorted out and we'll have radio again. It's lovely to be surrounded by so many familiar things and Jingles is very pleased to be in Australia. He's thinking of becoming a citizen and thinks stubby coolers are an excellent invention.

Australia Through to World Cup!

This one's for the Brits.

I witnessed something quite spectacular last night. Australia beat Uruguay in an unbelievably intense game to make it through to the World Cup. That in itself wasn't spectacular, although it was a great game which went through to extra time and then penalties. I couldn't help but get caught up in the thrill of the moment as I remembered with horror some of the worst moments in English football history when we lost in penalty shoot-outs. My theory that the first team to lose a penalty loses the game proved correct when Australia's giant of a goalie, Mark Schwarzer courageously saved the first Uruguayan penalty. The fact that the Aussie captain Viduka shot his penalty wide (at least I think it was him - I'm still not quite sure who is who in Aussie football) and missed didn't even matter when the Aussie goalie made another good save of Uruguay's fourth attempt. Oh the tension! Now knowing that if Australia scored their next penalty they were through. And they did it.

Yes, it was a good game but what was really spectacular was the response. Honestly! You'd have thought they'd won the World Cup itself. Everyone was so excited. I've never seen such a big fuss. I got quite into it myself, I have to admit. It made me a little homesick to think I'll be missing all the big England games but the atmosphere last night was just amazing. The commentators reminded me a bit of English commentators as they kept going on about 31 years of shame.

It's great to see the Aussies getting so into a real sport for once (usually it's all about picking up squashed balls and running in games I can't quite tell the difference between - expect AFL players wear skimpier clothing) but the country partied on into the night to celebrate their World Cup entry. Personally, I'm just happy to be on the side of the winning team of a penalty shoot-out for once. And it is refreshing to see how happy everyone is - in England we see it as a right to be in the World Cup and the fans seem to do nothing but whinge about the performance of the team and pick up on the mistakes, such as missed penalties. (Incidentally I have so far read no mention of the missed penalty!) Perhaps this is the crucial difference between Australia and England... the arrogance of the Aussies when it comes to sport, and their ungraciousness in defeat (and I'm talking about the media here, not the sportsmen themselves) really bugs me, but at least they focus on the positive and it seems to get them results.

I feel like I have witnessed a great moment in Australian sporting history and I'm looking forward to the excitement of the World Cup next year - although I'm a little nervous that I'm going to be surrounded by so many Aussies backing their own team. It'll be great to be a part of but I do wish I could come home and watch the England games with the usual crowd (you know who you are). Now I just have to get them all calling it by it's proper name instead of the poncey word "soccer" which they insist on using.

Camping on Moreton Island

As always I had an absolutely brilliant weekend on Moreton Island. Moreton is such a beautiful place and there's something about camping, getting away from it all, especially somewhere like Moreton which is pretty rugged and not too developed, that really allows you to chill out and forget about the stresses of every day life.

We left on Thursday afternoon to hop on board the 5pm Resort ferry. I had argued against getting this ferry as the Resort is a good kilometre or two from the campsite which basically meant we had to trudge down the beach with all our stuff. But the lads went ahead and booked it anyway. To be fair to them (because I've given them grief about this for the last week and I'm getting over it now) they had intended on hanging round at the resort to watch Mindi record the dolphin's vocalisations and behaviour during the provision feeding that the resort does at 6.30pm every day. That didn't happen but on disembarking the ferry we were lucky enough to see a mother and calf who had arrived early and who were playing around the jetty. The calf was very excited and was swimming really quickly, flipping his tail up and cruising on his back. It was amazing to get so close and see them so clearly.

The Resort ferry is expensive but quick. The walk down the beach was exhausting (well, actually I was already exhausted as I hadn't slept well the past few nights - must be that Ross River fever. I obviously need to eat more miracle toothpaste) and seemed to take a long time. Guy kept trying to persuade us all to get a room in the resort but thankfully we ignored him. We eventually arrived and set up camp (in the dark). We pooled culinary resources and had a yummy meal of Vegetable Stuff with Salt and Rice. Yum! Mindi and Nobina wandered down from the resort and had a couple of drinks with us. Just after they left, around 10.30pm, it started to rain. Then it began to chuck it down until there was nothing to do but retreat to our tents for shelter. By this time my feet were all sandy and I HATE having sand in my bed so I spent the first 20 minutes with my feet sticking out of the tent until Toby let me wipe them with his towel.

We had a fantastic night's sleep on our inflatable mattress. I could have slept for longer but had to get up to go to the toilet. On my return to our site Toby insisted that he'd found a better camping spot - not surprising given that we'd arrived in the dark - and that we should move. So we picked up the tents (literally - with everything still inside them) and everything else and moved to a spot further up the beach. This camping spot was much better - we had a massive communal area and two separate bedrooms!

Mark headed off to spend the morning on the boat with Mindi and Nobina, observing dolpin behaviour, recording their vocalisations and photographing their dorsal fins for identification. Mark was photographer and Mindi tried to get most of us out on the boat but unfortunately the day I went (Saturday afternoon) the resort was so busy with tourists that they couldn't spare us a driver. Very disappointing, especially as I'd trudged all the way up the beach and then hung around in the heat of the day waiting to find this out when I could have been off snorkelling the wrecks. Oh well!

After Mark left we jumped into the bay to cool off. We didn't quite realise it at the time but we were really lucky to have the area of the bay out the front of our campsite to ourselves. We threw a frisbee around for a bit and then another mother and calf dolphin pair came past. They seemed to check us out for a while and it looked like the baby wanted to hang around and play but Mum was obviously busy and they headed on up the beach. It was amazing to be so close to them.

By this time Guy had recovered from his shock of awaking to find the campsite being removed from around him and he joined us for frisbee. Soon we were joined by another dolphin, a young one who was obviously quite interested in us. He toyed with us for a while, swimming away when we followed him and then coming back when we gave up. Then he started a slow journey up the beach so we grabbed our snorkels and masks and ran after him. We must have swum around with this one dolphin for a good half hour. Mark and Mindi came past on the boat and I think they got some photographs of us though I haven't seen them yet. The boys were faster than me in the water and got close enough to see the dolphin underwater. Each time I caught up the dolphin had swum away. On the way back down the beach the boys walked and I swam. I don't know if it was my indifference or lack of agression but the dolphin seemed to grow more curious when I was in the water alone and it came within a few metres of me. I still couldn't quite see it underwater but it was very special anyway. This was without a doubt the highlight of the trip and a morning I will remember for ever.

The rest of the trip was the usual Moreton stuff only we didn't have cars so there was none of the stress of organising trips to the other side of the island for a surf. We just hung out at the campsite and snorkelled. Jim arrived on Friday morning and Scooby and Denise on Saturday. The snorkelling was fantastic, as always. There is so much to see at Moreton. The sheer numbers of fish never cease to amaze me and I love just settling myself on the surface of the water to be surrounded by butter bream in seconds. I saw moon wrasse, parrot fish, humbug damsels, scores of cute little blue and yellow damsel fish flitting in and out of the coral, flathead, goby, boxfish (or was it a toadfish?), many different butterfly fish and angel fish, pairs of moorish idols, a fish with strange sucker-type things along its caudal peduncle (that's the bit just before the tail but I used its official name because peduncle is such a cool word) which I think may have been a sawtail, lots of very long thin fish hanging about just below the surface which I have been unable to identify but could be a crocodile longtom (or a garfish) and that's all I'm going to tell you about because this list is getting long and boring.


Hanging with the butter bream and humbugs 

By Saturday afternoon the 50-100 metre swim to and from the wrecks was becoming quite perilous as more and more weekenders arrived with their boats and their jetskis, mooring their craft to the wrecks (can't imagine this is a particularly safe thing to do) and generally drifting around all over the place. The beautiful bay we'd played frisbee in the previous day was unrecognisable as it was now full of boats, and our "cricket pitch" between our camp and the water had been taken over by a bunch of 15 year old rugby players full of clever comments such as "alright luv?". No chance of swimming with dolphins now. That evening we went to watch the provision feeding of the dolphins up at the resort. The place was packed and so many tourists queued up to pay to feed the dolphins that I was wondering whether the dolphins would feel bloated and yucky afterwards. I spent some time listening to Mindi's hydrophone but could only hear shrimp snapping their claws as the dolphins had calmed down now that they were being fed. Another dolphin came to check out what was going on but didn't hang around and I heard that one echo-locating which was cool. I have been lucky enough to hear that before. One morning last year Toby and I were doing yoga on the beach when we saw dolphins swim past. We jumped in the water and stuck our heads below the surface where we could hear them clicking and whistling. Very special.

There is so much more I could write, about the boys' night snorkel whilst Denise and I got chatted up by the coach of the 15 year olds' rugby team, getting refused beer service after 6pm in the resort and being treated like the filthy camping scum that we were by the manager, and the wonderful camp meals we had of chicken burritos one night followed by a curry buffet the next. But I will stop there as this post is long enough and has taken me about 5 days to write.

There are lots of pictures of the Moreton weekend on Flickr at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79031873@N00/sets/1303386/

I've also added a link to Jim's photos (hope you don't mind, Jim) because he has some great underwater shots (including the one above of me with the butter bream) - I haven't quite sorted out my underwater casing yet.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55338186@N00/sets/1319109/

Important Announcement: Buckle can stay!

I have finally been granted permanent residency. The very nice gentleman at the Department of Immigration, Multi-cultural and Indigenous Affairs (I still struggle to see the connection between immigrants and indigenous peoples but such is the logic of the Australian government) handled my application with the utmost efficiency and called me today to let me know. What wonderful personalised service, thank you Mr Stephen Maclean.

I can now get a credit card and a new job if I so desire, and I no longer have to work in IT. Oh, the sweet taste of freedom.

So, next Tuesday I am off on a little adventure to the city where I shall be collecting a visa for my passport and 180kg worth of useless yet nostalgic items from the UK that I've decided I just can't live without.

(Don't cry, Bootsie, they can't make me stay if I don't want to!)

TIP: How to put on trousers when your feet are dirty

Have you ever been in a situation where your feet are completely scruffy and you need to put on a pair of trousers but really don't want to get the inside of your trousers dirty because then your legs will get filthy too and if your feet are covered in sand it would also feel quite irritating? For the majority of you I expect the answer is probably no. But for those of you who are crying out "yes! that's me! I have frequently found myself in exactly that situation" then this is the post for you.

The following is a technique which I have developed over my years of camping on sandy beaches because I hate having sand in my trousers as much as I hate having it in my bikini bottoms or my bed. And that's a lot.

The first thing you need to do is from the body of the trousers reach inside and grab the bottom of one trouser leg. Pull it up inside itself until the bottom sticks out of the top (see figure 1). Do not pull it fully inside out.


Figure 1.

Next, place your foot inside the inside-out trouser leg so that it is in fact only touching the outside of the trouser leg (which is of course now inside the trouser!). See figure 2.


Figure 2.

If you're still following me (and it's probably easiest if you try as you read) then the next step is really simple. Pull the trouser leg up (see Figure 3).


Figure 3.

From the bottom of the trouser leg you can now pull down the section which is rolled up inside (Figure 4).


Figure 4.

Et voila! You should now have one sand-free leg fully inside the trousers (Figure 5).


Figure 5.

Repeat with the other leg and you should find yourself wearing a non-sandy (on the inside) pair of trousers (Figure 6).


Figure 6.

This technique also works with cropped trousers and long shorts. It is generally unnecessary with shorter items of clothing (such as short shorts and undies) as the leg hole is wider but feel free to experiment. It is also a useful method to employ when finding oneself in a public swimming pool with a wet floor.

By the way, these pictures were taken on a recent trip to Moreton Island. Check the blog later for more info and a link to photographs of the weekend.

TIP: How to get back to main site after leaving a comment

For those of you who leave comments you might be interested to know that you can get back to the home page of my blog by clicking on the name of the site at the top of the page where it says "Post a comment on: Random Thoughts of a Geordie Down-Under".

The cleverer amongst you have probably already figured this out but it isn't obvious and it's been driving me balmy for the last month. After annoyingly clicking the back button or re-loading the whole site every time I'd viewed a comment for the last few weeks, finally today I thought in exasperation "there must be an easier way. Why isn't there a link?" and I looked very hard and found it.

By the way, does anyone know whether "cleverer" is really a word?

Request for Comments on Site Feed

Could those of you (if any) who read my site in a news reader provide some feedback on the use of the shortened feed, please. Let me know if a full feed would be preferred. I am still undecided personally.

Thanks.

Ross River, Mozzie Bites and a Grand Consignment of Goodies - A General and Rambling Update

I don't have any pearls of wisdom this week (although I might think of a Something of the Month for tomorrow... I'm thinking maybe CDs but there are so many good ones to choose from) so I'll just give you a quick update on the happenings in my life of late. Welcome to the first actual rambling random thoughts post. It's long so I've broken it into manageable chunks.

No visitors for Buckle :-(
Well, no one has excitedly emailed to say that they're coming to visit but it was worth a try. Meanwhile, I'm keeping a close eye on prices of flights with a view to possibly coming home next Christmas. Please note that I said possibly and not definitely and I don't know what the plans are yet but I'm sure many a blog over the next 12 months will discuss various possibilities in detail.

Ross River Virus
I haven't been feeling too well and am a little frustrated that some niggling virus appears to be coming and going for an extended period of time, making me tired, giving me a sore throat and sinusitus - yuk! The doctor said there was no point in giving me a blood test as none of those Yukky Viruses, such as Glandular Fever or Ross River Virus, can actually be cured and you just have to let your body get over it in its own time (great!). A guy at work (Matt) reckons that I've got Ross River Fever and he's had it before so he ought to know. He tested me by seeing how long I could hold a heavy boring IT book above my head. When he muttered "That was as long as I could manage" and I was still triumphantly holding the book aloft (although my arm was aching a bit) I thought "Yippee! I'm cured. Or perhaps never had the disease in the first place" but then Peter came in and said "I had Ross River Fever and didn't even know it!". I did some research and discovered that the symptoms are about as varied in severity as the individuals suffering them so who knows? And given the amount of mosquito bites I get ... (it's a blood borne illness spread by mosquitos the horrible, useless things they are).

Mosquito Bite Experiment Update
Speaking of mosquito bites, some of you may be aware that I suffer incredible allergic reactions at the probiscus of the mosquito and that I get bitten frequently, rose-skinned and fresh-smelling pom that I am. Well, I have another bite and it's horribly itchy but so far has refrained from transforming my foot-shaped foot into a balloon-shaped foot. Recently I have been taking Vitamin B1 (which is supposed to help) plus a multi-vitamin (to enable the body to absorb the B1) so maybe that's it. Or perhaps its the Miracle Aloe-Based Gel I got from Toby's aunt who markets Mannatech products which apparently restore our missing sugars (or something). But I actually suspect it could be the Miracle Toothpaste I purchased from the markets last week which is made in Malaysia from natural ingrediants and cures all manner of known illnesses. I'm thinking of presenting it to the APEC meeting in Brisbane to see if they've considered it as a cure for Bird Flu. And I'm quietly confident that if I eat it, it will cure my Ross River Virus.


A Grand Consignment of Goodies
When I was in the UK a few months back I spent many hours in my parents' loft sorting through the few humble belongings I have, wondering whether there might be one or two items I may wish to bring back to Australia with me, or perhaps enough to ship a box over. Well, much to our surprise Toby and I managed to find 180kg worth of items, mainly books (plus my Jamie Oliver pestle and mortar which probably weighs about 20kg alone but which no kitchen should be without and I just can't wait to start pounding the herbs from our glorious veggie garden) which we thought might be fun to have with us here. They've finally arrived and I am just waiting for them to clear customs. It's very exciting. Now we have to solve the logistical mystery of how to actually get them from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast as the six boxes they're packed into are too big for our little Subaru. Perhaps Toby's Dad and his trusty Millenium (oops I mean Ford) Falcon and the Shiney Green Trailer can help us out. And then I have to find places to put everything. Ohmigod!

The New Blog on the Block
A while back some colleagues of mine decided it would be a fun ruse if they all resigned and went to work for RMIT in Melbourne, fools that they are. Of course, the pull of the cosmopolitan culture-vulture Melb had more to do with the rather attractive contracting fees they were being offered than the actual cool-dudeness of the city itself and I can tell they're hankering to get back to the Coast to surround themselves with the likes of people like my humble self once more. In fact, they think I'm so cool and they were so impressed with my blog that they've started one of their own. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so naturally I'm touched. And it's rather good too. And they've linked to my blog (wow! my first link - I'm going up in the blogging world). And they've crowned me the blog Queen, which may be slightly more than I'm due but I shan't protest. Seriously though, I do miss them and the random conversations we used to have, putting the world to rights and discussing the serious issues (such as whether onions, cheese and sauerkraut are too much topping for a hotdog, and is "zshoozsh" really a word, and if so how is it spelt, and why are government forms so hard to fill in anyway?).

Warning! The next paragraph has a swear-word in it. Please ensure the eyes of any small children or easily-offended adults (particularly parents and grandparents) are averted. Teenagers and lager-louts, please read on.

So if you know them check out their blog at Praj and Brent's Half Arsed Blog (excuse the language. Sadie, please forgive me but I am merely reporting the name of the blog and do not wish to offend anyone, especially someone's parents or defile the innocent eyes of small children) and if you don't know them then why not check out the blog anyway and get to know them. They're good blokes.

Weeds Are Good
I've just remembered that I do have one pearl of wisdom and that is that I have just found out that apparently weeds are good for you! Check out Middle Path. But be warned, the site doesn't work too well in Firefox (won't let you scroll down the page - very annoying) so you might need that View In IE extension Praj mentions in his blog, if you use Firefox that is.

Wrap-up
Well, I think that's about it for now. We're off to Moreton Island this weekend so hopefully I'll have lots of lovely stories of lazing in the sun and snorkelling (have to relax and get rid of this Ross River Virus, you see) and maybe even some pics. Which reminds me, if I can figure out how to do it I'm going to add a photo of Toby's niece on the beach near our house at the weekend.


Zoe on Buddina Beach

Cheap Flights To Australia

Anyone fancy coming to visit me at the start of next year? I have just discovered a great deal with Austrian Airlines. Flights from London to Sydney for $1099 + taxes. That's about ₤600 including taxes. Bargain! Of course then you'd have to pay for your flight from Sydney (check out Virgin Blue and JetStar for cheap flights) but it wouldn't cost too much. You have to be quick though - the offer ends on October 31st. Go on! Be spontaneous.

See http://www.bestflights.com.au/cgi-bin/210/flights?maindetails=3073 for more details.

By the way, Easter is a beautiful time to visit.

Use a Site Reader to read my blog

If you like catching up with my blog but hate the fact that my posts are so random (the clue is in the name) then you could try using a site reader.

For those of you who don't know what a site reader is:
What is a site reader? I hear you ask, or at least I imagine I do. A site reader (or news feeder, news reader, rss aggregator) is a one-stop shop for updates to all of the websites you read regularly. So, for example, instead of getting on the web and firstly checking out the BBC news site, followed by some entertainment news on MSN, followed by more specific industry websites (for me it would be something like silicon.com), you log onto one website, or open an application on your computer, and all the recent updates to all the sites you are interested in are there in one place. It's also useful for keeping an eye on things such as cheap flights as who really wants to go to an online travel agent every day?

I prefer an online site reader because I can use it anywhere but an offline one which you download and install onto your PC will allow you to log on to the internet, download your feeds, then read them offline. It's personal preference really and I've added a few links to readers at the end of this post.

Most websites these days have a link to some kind of feed, either RSS or Atom. RSS stands for Rich Site Summary and provides a summary of the site updates in a format readable by the readers. Atom is a newer technology and readers are being updated to read this too.

So, to read this site in a news reader the first thing you need to do is choose a reader. I use Newsgator but Google have just released one that is still in its infancy and will probably improve over time.

Once you've chosen your reader you need to figure out how to add feeds. With Newsgator it's pretty simple. You click on the Add Feeds link and then you can either browse or search feeds or, you can click on URL & Import to either add a specific URL or import an OPML file. (OPML means Outline Processor Markup Language and it allows you to add lists of feeds to your reader, and import/export lists between readers. You don't really need to know about all that right now so I'll shut up and stop confusing you.) In this case you're going to add the URL specified in the next paragraph. When you click on Newsgator online all my recent posts should be listed under the My Feeds section. You can add as many feeds as you like and organise them into folders but I'll let you figure that bit out for yourself.

For those of you who already use a site reader and just want to know what my feed URL is:
The feed URL is http://feeds.feedburner.com/RandomThoughtsOfAGeordieDown-under.
This link is also in the left-hand panel of this blog under Site Feed.

Further information
For more information on site readers and RSS see:
http://www.codeproject.com/soap/rssandblogs.asp
http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/aboutrss
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/43990.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_aggregator

For a comprehensive list of site readers see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_news_aggregators
If this page is a bit overwhelming for you then just scroll down to Free Online News Aggregators.

The last film I saw at the cinema: The Proposition

Firstly, apologies to the British crew if I lapse into the Americanism "movies". That is the correct terminology down under and it makes much more sense than "pictures" if you ask me, given that they are actually moving.

The Proposition is a British made film set in Australia and written by Nick Cave. Which is pretty much the only reason we ended up seeing it. Basically a mate of mine thinks Nick Cave is pretty cool and digs his music and mentioned that he was going to see this movie on Tight-Arse Tuesday (i.e. cheap night) and did we want to go? So, obviously we asked what it was about. "It's a western" was about all we got, meaning The Wild West of America. Which goes to show how much he knew about it. He also told us that Nick Cave had directed the film but in fact that accolade goes to a fellow by the name of John Hillcoat. I went because another thing my friend knew about the film (and was right about) was that Guy Pearce was in it and I'm a bit of a fan.

It's actually set in the Australian outback of Queensland back in the early days of settlement. The basic gist is that it's a pretty lawless environment and a new police captain from England is determined so sort all this out. The film concentrates on his attempts to curtail the horrific activities of the Burns brothers by arresting a couple of them and threatening to hang the young, simple one, if the elder of the two doesn't murder the oldest most evil brother. It's basically an incredibly violent and blood-thirsty film from beginning to end.

The cinematography is beautiful, powerful and purely Australian. The music is pretty cool. The whole thing is very dramatic. I was pleased to see that Ray Winstone and Emily Watson were both in it, Watson putting on a good show as always even if her character is somewhat simpering, but then weren't all women in those days? Unfortunately it doesn't really do justice to Guy Pearce's great talents as an actor. His character is the moody silent type and probably could have been played by anyone who can vaguely attempt an Irish accent.

The highlight (and almost worth watching the film for in itself, if you can cope with the gore) is the performance by John Hurt who plays a drunken English treasure hunter. Downright hilarious and most excellent. A week later I still think back to some of his lines, partly because he is outraged by Darwin's suggestion that white man and aboriginal man are related and are both descended from apes and I'm currently reading a book by Darwin called "The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals" (very interesting). Sadly, Hurt is only in two scenes.

I think a lot of the film was lost on me. I did find myself a little confused every now and again. But it did transport me back to that time, highlighting the racism of the white man and the battles between the English and the aboriginals, how tough life must have been for people in the barren outback, how they thought nothing of watching a man being publicly and violently flogged almost to death and how goddamn hot they must have been in those ridiculous Victorian costumes.

I think a lot of people would enjoy the film but it would probably be just a little too violent for most. So there's my tuppence-worth. I never did claim to be a film critic but I hope you found this interesting anyway. For a more educated viewpoint see these ABC and MSN reviews.

Book of the Month: The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay

I have decided that Wednesday (which is also pay day and hence already a good day, except for every other Wednesday which isn't pay day and thus a slightly disappointing day) should be Something of the Month Day and to start with I've chosen Books.

I am currently reading The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay, a very popular Aussie novelist. A few people had recommended The Power of One to me over the last couple of years and then last week I was dropping some books off in the library when I stopped at some comfy chairs to put on some insect repellant before heading for the bus. Nearby was a shelf titled Recommended and on that shelf, lo and behold, sat the Power of One beckoning to me. Now, this was quite a find as the University library, much to my disappointment, does not have much of a literature section. I grabbed the book and almost missed the bus trying to get the librarian to find the books I'd just returned and check them back in so that I could check this one out.

It has had me in its grips ever since. It's about a young boy growing up in South Africa who, after a period of intense bullying at boarding school rather fortuitously meets an inspiring young boxer who insists the boy will one day be Welterweight Champion of the World. The story (which I am now about halfway through) follows the boy's efforts to recover from his traumatic boarding school days by educating his mind and spirit and learning to box. The descriptions of South Africa made me curious as to Courtenay's background and, having found no useful biography in the book, other than a few sentences on where he lives (a farm in New South Wales) and which books he has written (many), I checked out his website. It seems that this book is semi-autobiographical which only makes it all the more amazing. His ability to write about disturbing and taboo subjects, such as abuse, eating disorders, racism and alcoholism with a cheeky sense of child-like humour is both endearing and entertaining.

My only complaint is that so far twice in the book characters have said something along the lines of "should of" which is a real grammatical pet-hate of mine (I believe it should be "should have"). I've noticed this to be quite a common verbal mistake amongst Australians and so I'm unsure as to whether the mistake in the book is deliberate, or whether it is part of the Australian version of English. I should just remember that I'm in a different country and just because they speak the mother-tongue, it does not mean that all the same grammatical rules apply. Whaddaya reckon, Sheila?

For those of you who don't read books, I hear there is also a rather good film out by the same name. There is even a children's version. Courtenay is an extremely popular best-selling author over here and fortunately has written almost 20 books. He has spent over forty years in Australia and has written a number of books set over here, so I'm looking forward to checking out some of them next. Perhaps one of them will make another Book of the Month blog some day.

Hopefully the first of many

I've decided to create a blog! Well, I guess that much is obvious. The bigger question is why. Why? Well, because I'm miles away from everyone (apart from the people that live over here, obviously) and I'm finding it very hard to keep in touch with you all. And because when I left I said I'd only be gone a year or two, which is kind of true since I did come back for five weeks, and because the website I lovingly updated as regularly as I could be bothered has disappeared from the face of the earth and I can't bear to start another one. A blog seemed much easier.

So this is the first entry. And it's mainly just a ramble for my own use whilst I feel my way around and come up with a look and feel. I'm going to try not to ramble on too much and make it boring. I'll try and update it once every few days and pick a topic of the day.

Today's topic, or rather news, is that I posted my application for permanent residency on Saturday. It was a big deal for Toby and I as I have worked towards this for about a year now. Firstly I spent a number of weeks researching all the different types of permanent visas and analysing which ones I was eligible for. I then spent aaaaaaaaaaages reading all the blurb on each one, working out how much it would cost and finally choosing one to apply for.

I chose to apply for the Employer Nomination Scheme, which means the University nominates me as someone they want to employ on a permanent basis. It's a great option for me as once I have my residency I have no ties to the uni but they have to offer me full-time employment for a minimum of three years. Unlike the spouse visa, I become a permanent resident immediately, rather than after two years, and unlike the Skilled Migration Visa, things seem to get sorted out a bit more quickly and you don't have to have a skills assessment.

At least you didn't until April this year, just after the uni had their nomination approved. So I spent about three months preparing to have my skills assessed by the Australian Computer Society, sending my Dad into the loft to grab various certificates and documents to post and thenphotocopying them and plonking them on a colleague's desk for him to put his Justice of the Peace stamp on. When I returned from the UK they sent me a letter basically saying it's cool, I can obviously do a bit of IT. Then I ran around Nambour (which was an experience in itself) having medicals, x-rays and blood tests. So far no one has contacted me to tell me I have a horrible blood disease or TB so that's looking good too. Great! I am a disease-free IT person!

During all this, particularly the skills assessment where I had to transport myself back in time to 1997 and re-immerse myself in all the stuff I was doing after I graduated, and then travel forward in time to now, documenting everything I'd ever done work-wise along the way, Toby was an absolute rock. I retired from the majority of my household duties, most particularly as cook, choosing to spend the little spare time I had making jewellery for Clare's bridesmaids. He made sure that I was properly fed and watered and he even cleaned parts of the house on occasion.

And now it's all over, and all I have to do is sit and wait for the decision, I hardly know what to do with myself. So I applied for a couple of jobs at the uni and now I'm crapping myself about being interviewed by people I already know. Too weird.