star trek the movie...

...absolutely blew my socks off. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

contemplating a move...

... so i've been blogging for oh my god, almost 5 years now. i started on xanga, whose restrictive nature forced me to find refuge elsewhere, and hence i landed on blogger. after four solid years with blogger, i'm feeling the distinct urge to stretch my blogging legs and get my own domain.

i've started shopping for a good web publishing tool - there's always Frontpage, or Dreamweaver, both costing a small fortune. I've also been recommended Wordpress by mchyl, and noticed that a number of blogs I love are also powered by Wordpress.

i'm this close to giving Wordpress a go - is there any other advice out there?

as for hosting services, I'm keen to go with Blue Host.

the man himself, Eric Clapton

Last Wednesday night, Panu and I headed to the Royal Albert Hall to experience the man himself, Eric Clapton, in concert. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect because I’m usually very easily impressed by big sets, big costumes and tacky pyrotechnics and here I was thinking, what’s this guy gonna do with a guitar?

Well, well, well. He put me right back in my box. There is a reason why this guy is in his 60’s and still a certified rock star, the least of which is his out-of-this-world ability to jam that guitar (both acoustic and electric) like he has eight tentacles on each finger... which is all self-taught, by the way. And his voice: sexy and gravelly, dark chocolate smooth, effortless, mesmerising and tantalising. I would be totally turned on if he wasn’t so old.. cos that’s just kinda wrong.

He played all the classics – Layla, I Shot the Sheriff, Wonderful Tonight... but what actually topped my night was his soulful rendition of Somewhere over the Rainbow, which left me a little weepy, though I don’t really know why... it was just brilliant.

Incidentally his band is also just a little bit jaw droppingly phenomenal. These guys could all be superstars in their own right.

a few more piccies here.

2 sleeps til Rome...

... and the world decides to break into swine flu epidemic. so much so that I am even going to go to Boots this afternoon and buy me some hand sanitiser, because god only knows I dont want to be catching no swine flu in Roma.

not making light of a serious situation, but rather discovering an innovative way to support it, designer Irina Blok has come up with some great face masks, proceeds from which go toward fighting the swine flu epidemic.

much a'fuss about twitter

So it seems that in the past month, twitter has gone from big-ish to really big, to an application of gargantuan proportions. I’ve been proud a twitterer since 2007, maybe i’m ahead of the curve, maybe i’m a social networking freak, but this my friends is the future of the internet. I mean guys, Oprah signed up last week. If that isn’t a sign of big things to come, I really don’t know what is.

This is the thing: once upon a time we talked about the Internet. Then we talked about broadband, email, www. Now? We are talking instant updates, instant search, the power of utilising every person on the web as a feed. News gets on twitter faster than it gets to the journalists. This is the power of instant social networks.

I mean, I use my twitter for just talking shite really, but hey, at least I’m using it *grin*

got my little hands on...

this blu ray dvd yesterday...

absolute gold

not sure if you've ever had the urge to scroll down to my reads & links section on the left navigation bar, but if you haven't clicked on Lexxus' blog, you really ought to. not for the uber-conservative, but if you have a sense of humour, you will love him.

i've been a bit behind in reading his blog, but read this post today and proceeded to wet myself laughing, right here at my desk.

the hazards of ironing

so, a couple of weeks ago, i was happily ironing away here at mel & cam's place. as I finished one garment, i propped the iron up on the board and turned around to get the next item of clothing. unfortunately, my fat ass got in the way and bumped the ironing board. the iron went tumbling face first onto the carpet.

instinctively i dived onto the carpet to grab the iron, and burnt a long fat blister on my thumb in the process. but that was not the worst of the damage done. Within seconds, the iron had branded a big fat triangle into this fabulously shithouse acrylic carpet. right in the middle of the floor.

i almost died, seriously, I haven't felt that bad in a long time. and for weeks we've been staring at the brand, and it stares straight back at you, never blinking.

but today, the carpet repairers came... and saved my life. these guys are frickin' brilliant. they cut a square of carpet from the wardrobe and patched the damaged carpet, so skillfully that you can barely see the join... except that the new patch is clean and white.. but we can fix that!

hallelujah!

still in love

did you think i'd forgotten about him already? Hah, not quite!

at the brink of finishing Breaking Dawn, and I'm still magically, breathlessly, tragically in love with edward.

And now, i've found someone else equally obsessed as me. I won't name her, she'll kill me.. but m'dear how glad I am i can share this with you! Can i come over and watch Twilight with you over and over and over and over again??

i'm such a wank

I'm sitting here in Metcentre, an old hang out, waiting for my friend Jo to come meet me for lunch. I'm here, with my beloved Netbook, hooked up to the world wide web with my 3 broadband wireless key, and with my mobiles, both my mobiles sitting next to me.

i do realise that i look like a complete and utter wank.

by the way, i'm now here in Sydney-town, enjoying the unbelievable warmth. It's a little muggy actually but right now, i welcome the underarm squish... yucky I know, but you can blame London for my sudden lack of hygiene!

beta blogger is the devil

Yesterday afternoon i was tinkering around with my blogger template and reading about beta blogger and its supposed benefits. I was just reading i swear, but i inadvertently clicked on something, perhaps it was the ‘switch to beta blogger’ button and suddenly my blog went ballistic.

Its complexion suddenly looked sickly spotty, kind of like measles and i knew, i knew, i had done something stupid. Beta blogger had wiped out all of my customisations and replaced them with ye-standard-olde-template. The dots template, no less. FUCK FUCK FUCK.

I know it may not look like much, but i tinker with the HTML on this blog now and then, and am actually quite proud of what i’ve done! But beta blogger, all high and mighty with its Layout Page, where you can lazily drag and drop page layouts, came and Wiped. Me. Out. It boasts that the new layout ability would save bloggers time... and you know I’m not opposed to saving time, but the depth of what you can do with the layout page is so ridiculously limited.

I gave it a go, since I thought my blog was all but ruined *RUINED! GAH!!!* anyway, i may as well try out beta blogger. but I couldn’t do anything that i wanted. The xhtml was crippling, coding everything to the widget. So painfully stifling, even for a basic html’er like myself.

I was so frustrated. I knew it was salvageable – if i was prepared to start a template from scratch again. But i wasn't. and I wanted to cry. And yell (scratch), i mean email nasty obscenities to blogger, but not surprisingly it’s one of those services where the powers that be are hidden behind a cloak of cyber jumble, letters and numbers continuously dripping like the matrix, to protect these mother f*ckers who only provide FAQs, but no real avenue to vent our frustrations.

anyway, i seethed. And after a few deep breaths and a moment of clarity, turned to my very most trusted advisor, Google. It seemed I wasn’t the first to be conned by beta blogger. One click of a search button provided me with instructions on reverting to classic blogger, and with my fingers and toes crossed... i executed the command.

i closed my eyes...

... and refreshed my blog.

and opened my eyes.

Thank the almighty God of Google. My blog is back, just as it always was.

happy love day

Valentine’s day, a Hallmark day to rival any other. Rather, to stampede on all others. I was once told that florists make more money on Valentine’s day, just this one day, than on every other day of the year combined. I mean, is that just insane? For a completely made up day?

While I’m not a frothing-at-the-mouth anti-Vday lunatic, I do believe that the day was created to take advantage of those blindly in love, laying duty in men’s hearts and desire in women’s, so that gifts are given that day, plus flowers, plus chocolates, plus a prerequisite card. The blindness of love is a Godsend on this day, because without it, you would see that Hallmark had just yanked the biggest leg of all, pocketing billions upon billions, on this one day.

Having said all that, Valentine’s day does bring happiness to a significant number of people in this world, and no one will question that. Couples are loved up, and singles party on, on what is probably the easiest day of the year to spot fellow singles. So I don’t hate, not at all.

In fact I had a good ol’ time on the big V-day. Starting the day with a run at the gym (the nutter that I am), we spent the afternoon wandering around Borough Markets, nibbling on various exotic and organic goodies. Dinner was prime Argentinian steak, courtesy of Gaucho, and we spent the evening, romantically with 20,000 other Londoners at the O2, watching my absolute hands-down favourite, Russell Peters. I laughed til i was in pain... loving, loving not being at an overpriced candle-lit dinner, but instead being with my baby, both streaming tears of laughter.

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day, whatever you did. To each his own, and to each, much love.

mmmm... edward cullen

I know he's a freaky vampire and all that. but i love him. edward, you can immortalise me any day....

incidentally, Quidam was quite disappointing... Varekai blows it out of the universe.

hundreds attend global warming protest

too cute. I couldn't help myself.

it may be war...

we've just moved apartments today... and because it takes up to 10 working days to shift our broadband over, Panu and I are using a wireless dongle in the mean time. One wireless dongle. We have to share the internet.

Brace yourselves...

winter wonderland

On Sunday night, it started snowing here in London, tiny little snowflakes which, based on my experience of ‘snow’ in London, would melt into muddy puddles on the sidewalk. I wasn’t particularly excited, just a little bit cold.

But on Monday morning, we woke up to a rather pleasant surprise. Overnight, the snowfall had been so heavy that by morning, London was covered in snow, 6 inches at least and up to 12 inches in some parts. The ground was white and fluffy, and a continuous stream of fluff kept falling from the sky. It was absolutely surreal, and incredible and beautiful. But there was one downside, if you could even call it that. Due to the “adverse weather conditions”, buses were cancelled, tubes were partially if not completely suspended, and as such, no one could get anywhere. Schools were cancelled, work was cancelled to some degree, and it was a free-for-all day, gratuitous time for us to play in the snow!

And play I did. London was an absolutely ball of fun that day, and this is the first time I have uttered such words about London without sarcasm oozing from my pores. I put on my snow uggs and my hideous but oh-so-warm goose down puffy jacket and off I went. I trudged through the 8-inch deep snow, played with some of the local kids and took a few happy snaps.


Panu, who unfortunately still had to work that day, got home around 5pm and I forced him to pleeease let’s go back outside so we can build a snowman! Dusk was upon us and we had about 3 minutes to build a snowman, so he turned out rather munted, but hey, we still did it.











Best day I’ve had in London yet!

More snow pics here.

current favourite girl

Rosario Dawson. Amazing. Panu doesn't like her... but really, what's not to like???

25 things about me

last week a couple of people tagged me in this facebook app. it's one of those where you write something about yourself and pass it on. normally i dont participate in these things, usually because i can't be bothered thinking about my favourite food, or colour, or the length of floss i use nightly.

but this one's a little different. this one simply asks you to list 25 random things about yourself. which is a hell of a lot more interesting to read than the usual. and much more to write.

here's mine, for those who aren't on my facebook:

1. I've lived in every capital city in Australia (yes this includes Hobart) except Darwin and Adelaide... but I don’t think I want to live there anyway!

2. Catherine Lee is not the name on my birth certificate.

3. I have 110 first (yes, FIRST) cousins. For real.

4. In reference to the above, this is because my dad is one of 14 kids and my mum is one of 11. And one of my aunties on my dad’s side has 18 kids of her own. I know, we are one big creepy family!

5. I have not read one Harry Potter book and will never. However, I DO love to read and always have a book on the go. Last night, just finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Awesome.

6. I am an ice cream freak. I LOVE it, i eat it every day (the rare days I don’t, I have to consciously NOT eat it for health reasons!). No particular favourite flavour (they are like my children – i love them all!) but prefer ice creams and gelatos to sorbets. I’m impartial to chocolate.

7. I have no qualms about doing my business in a hole out in the bush. My dad brought me up to be tough like that :)

8. I named my car (which i sold to move to London) Ribena Berry cos he was small and round and purple. Nickname Bezza.

9. I cannot dance. Nothing which includes proper steps, nothing which includes a partner, nothing choreographed. I’m great with doof doof music though :)

10. I think good pizza should have mountains of topping.. unlike the pizza they have in Italy.

11. I have a blog and I write in it almost every day.. since 2004. It’s like therapy for me.

12. Speaking of therapy, i need a massage frequently and i like them hard. I was once told by a masseuse that he had never used so much pressure on anybody (including men) and here I am, a 5 foot tall little girl.

13. I have a motorbike licence. Haven’t had a bike in years though.

14. I’m a huge dog lover, missing my baby Gizmo in Oz and planning to get one as soon as we’re back home. To me, not loving dogs is totally a breakup-able offence. Totally.

15. I’m addicted to trashy reality tv shows – Survivor (still love Rob & Amber), Amazing Race, Top Model, Project Runway/Catwalk, and yes... even Girlicious. DEAR GOD. I hate Big Brother though. When i feel like being more sensible, I watch 90210 or Californication :) Oh ok ok, when I feel like being really sensible, I watch documentaries, especially ones about history and nature and aliens and all that sort of stuff.

16. I have a boyfriend who I adore to bits, but I constantly have celeb crushes. Most notably, Fernando Torres, Chris Evans, Paul Walker, Josh Hartnett and the unparalleled Mr Johnny Depp.

17. EVERY time i go to the hair dressers i say I want to do something different with my hair. Every time, i swear. And i always look the same. I’ve looked like this since i was 12.

18. Most people think I’m a really nice person. But i think i can be the most super of all bitches. If you want to see that, just piss me off.

19. I am CONVINCED there are creatures deep in the ocean that we haven’t discovered. Big ones. I also believe in alien life.

20. Against what may be popular belief (and what is stereotypically my gender), i don’t like shopping. I can’t just ‘browse’. If i want to get something, i go get it and that’s that.

21. My best friend in uni was Leon, a boy, and we used to hang out all the time, we’d eat each others food and sleep over each others places. Everyone thought we were going out, except we weren’t. We did agree that if we were single at 40, we’d get hitched.. but I told him I’d have to have all my babies before that so I didn’t have to sleep with him. Yep, its that type of relationship :)

22. I never used to cry.. i don’t know why but i went through a great number of years without shedding one tear. And then one day, I cried.. and the flood gates broke. Now i am a frickin’ crier, I cry about everything – happy or sad – and I cant stop it! I cried the whole way through the Sex and the City movie. I mean, seriously?!

23. I’m pretty uncoordinated at computer games.. my brother used to kick my ass and even now I semi suck at Wii. I'm the King of Tetris and Minesweeper tho! :)

24. I’m allergic to Vodka, which bites because most cocktails involve some form of Vodka. But that’s ok, I still looove Chambord, and recently rediscovered Frangelico. Oh and not to forget my friend, Tequila! Speaking of alcohol, I can down quite a number of spirits and be ok, but one glass of wine and I am completely drunk. What’s up with that?

25. Coriander and parsley taste exactly the same to me. And I hate them both.

venting

the incompetence level of the service industry in london is astounding. they should receive a prize, really they should. because how it is that every single facet of the service industry, from utilities to telcos to deliveries, can reduce me to tears of frustration, i dont know. I really dont.

my potty mouth is off the scale today. sorry to the people who sit around me.

ribena berries do good.

so, a whole bottle of "really light" ribena only has 15 calories. this fact took me by utter surprise today. i mean, i also bought a teeny weeeeny bag of grapes, honestly no more than say 15 grapes, and that had 51 calories!

plus it tastes good. plus ribena berries are just so damn cute!

i'm drinking ribena forever!