All you geekazoid sysadmin types, there's a neat little (read: rare) interview with a sysadmin at the Sydney Morning Herald. A very rare thing indeed. Being an INTP (bordering on INFP), I mostly agree with his description of 'us'.

The hidden Will Ferrell iPod ad.

OK! Some good news and I get to relax a little after a month of nail biting. I know when the shipment will arrive. The shippers say the vessel will arrive in Sydney harbour on Jan. 13 and they gave me the name of the local company who will be delivering it (and the agent and his number). Well, they gave me the name of the ship but it was too complicated. heh If I need it I can call them back.

Yes it's still like 3 weeks off, but at least we have some concrete information and I'm not making up worst-case scenarios in my head. Now, the lessons learned are:

1)Get the quote solid and everything paid for before you leave. Don't give them a chance to gouge (and, more annoyingly, delay) you later when you're 12,000 km away. I kind of got caught in a situation where this became unavoidable (due to a clueless pickup driver), but I think I would have just made him wait, in hindsight.

2)Ship by air. It's a shitload faster. And find out who the actual shipper is before they show up. Often you're dealing with a sales agent and the actual shipping company will be someone else. And sales people don't give a hoot about you once the deal is done. Make sure you can contact the shipper directly.

Santa is set to embrace Linux. Why not? He's been giving holiday cheer and toys for free [beer*] for ages. Read Santa's side of the story.

*If you don't get this, don't sweat it. It's super nerdy.

While I'm normally more inclined to talk about Chuck Taylor(s) than Chuck Norris, I wanted to point out some things. First off I should note that 'Walker: Texas Ranger' is on TV.
(This is a long post. Click through and skip down to the horizontal break if you wanna move right on to the Sydney bit.)

1)Chuck Norris is an asshat. To whit, he sings the theme for the show. And it's dreadful.

2)Walker et al go on holiday. Walker and buds go 'extreme' mountain biking and race macho-ly down a big hill. Walker's girlfriend goes to buy frilly clothes [and shows her ass to the camera a few times as she tries it all on]. 'Oooo wookit da pwetty fwilly cwothes for me! I can wear dem for de burly menfolk!'

3)Walker just has to win said down-hill bike race. Can't have the 20-somethings beating Chuck-O's old ass.

4)Walker faces down Randall (Tex) Cobb in a bar. Tex Cobb would eat Walker like a burrito. If you can't conjure Mr. Cobb in your mind's eye, he was Leonard Smalls (the demonic biker) in 'Raising Arizona'. Again... like a burrito.

5)Finally, I just really came to terms with how much I dislike Chuck Norris. He's just a clown. He can have a 'strong woman' character on his show... as long as she's a Barbie doll at all other times and she's "merely" a lawyer. He can have strong men in his 'posse' as long as he never loses to them. (Tex just punched Barbie doll in the gut. hehe While this is supposed to make us see how bad he is... I just giggled. What can I say. heh)

6)Burrito.

So what's new besides my renewed hatred of Chuck? Well, we went to Darling Harbour in Sydney yesterday. Oh... dear... god... I walked around with my jaw scraping the ground for the first hour. It's so incredibly cool and beautiful and... brilliant. Pics soon, I swear. Still waiting on broadband to get installed. But I'll try to give you an idea.

Portlanders, imagine those beautiful July days downtown. Imagine Waterfront Park was 4 times as big. Imagine adding a harbour complete with soaring bridges and cruise ships and a monorail, pedal boats, restaurants, water taxis, a huge aquarium, chinese gardens, the saturday market and IMAX in the middle of it all and shops and little trains and ducks and kids chasing ducks... It's one of the most amazing places on Earth. It's like an amusement park and theme park and park park in the city and it's always there. It never goes away. And the best bit? We didn't even see it all. We didn't go to the Powerhouse Museum (Star Wars: Power of Myth thingy is there now), we didn't go to the Opera House and and and...

I've been wondering how I really feel about Australia and I haven't come up with an answer yet (I'm not ready... I'm still experiencing), but I can tell you that seeing Darling Harbour has made a huge impact on my feelings about Sydney. Sydney is magical. Sydney is beautiful. Sydney is what everyone wishes their city could be. Yes, even Portland. I love Portland and Oregon is quite possibly the most beautiful place in America, but Sydeny is mythic. It's really unfair to place other places up for comparison. I can't wait to see more.

Oh, we saw the Haunted Castle 3D at the IMAX theatre (Oh and do not give me any shit. I have always spelled 'theatre' that way. I also spell 'louvre' correctly, dammit. It has nothign to do with living here.). It was really well done technically. The story was a pretty slim like a computer game story line (*hears "he was a drifter... moving from town to town..." from The 7th Guest *), but it wasn't about story, now was it? It was about seeing cool 3-D imagery. The 3-D was extremely good and they had the full-sized IR goggles so it was fairly immersive. They're also showing Santa Versus The Snowmen 3-D as well as Spacestation 3-D which we plan on going back to see soon.

I'm working on a catalog of Australian morphology, too. hehe It's sort of a personal observation set. So far I'm working on the 4 prime types. Everything afterwards will be derivative of those 4.

Umm, I should be in bed. hehe

PS - My girlfriend is so pretty... looks never entered into our courtship, and in my mind I'm in love with the person who lives behind those beautiful eyes, but god is she ever pretty... and she puts up with me. Even when I'm a complete bitch (and boy can I ever be a bitch...). Anyway, that's all. hehe

I walked about 4km today. I went out to look at one of the Apple dealers nearby. In particular to see what software they had. Not much, it turns out (I'm gonna go to the one in the 'Gong tomorrow anyway so it's no big deal). Hef and I were gonna play something online if I could find something. All my software is in the shipping boxes (me so dumb...). So anyway, I just started walking back towards Miranda (it is an incredibly beautiful day) and just... kept going til I got home. :) I try to walk at least a little each day cuz I really need to lose some weight. I didn't think to take my camera. Dammit.

OK, I can take a shower now that Brum is over. hehe Me and Sarah are goin Christmas shopping tonight. Oh, I didn't explain this bit. Shops here usually close around 5 or 5:30 each day. That's right, America, you can't shop past 5:30 (unless you're going to the grocery which is usually open til 7:00). However, Thrusday is late shopping day and most shops stay open later (some til 7:00, most majors stay open til 9:00). So, it's late shopping day so we're going to Miranda Fair to shop shop shop. =)

PS - Yes, I reactivated the comments links on the front page (they were always available if you clicked "All"). So feel free to comment if you'd like. Patti says it's because I got tired of emails from her each time I posted. hehe

PPS - Dammit. I just noticed the time is off on my blog. Add one hour to the time of older entries up until late November.

OK, so there's this unidentified channel we pick up on TV. According to the free-to-air guides it would have to be "31" but this channel does not show what's listed as playing on "31". It's like a Twilight Zone channel. That channel you shouldn't pick up that will at some point play video from dead relatives or messages from the devil or maybe tomorrow's headlines.

Sometimes at night is plays these bizarre (and I do not use the term lightly) video vignettes which were obviously edited by someone with an old but functional professional Beta deck. Last night there was footage of Dave Brubeck from some club which was probably originally shot on film. It was grainy and very very old. And it was also amazing. God. He was freaking amazing. And then suddenly there's footage of [fat] Elvis in concert with some stutters and rewinds. Then bits from a 50s drug film and... it went on and on. And I was mesmerised by it.

All I could think was, "If JohnnyK had a Beta deck and a room full of archival footage, which this person obviously had oodles of, he would make the same thing". Right now there's some guy talking in a language I can't identify. If it is Armenian then it must be channel 31... but this would be the first time the listing was right.

I think I'll just continue to imagine it's something from the Twilight Zone.

PS - I don't just sit around and watch TV, it's just been on my mind. Especially the bit where I admit I like shows for pre-school kids. Scary.

UPDATE: It is indeed Channel 31 although sometimes the listing doesn't seem to line up with Ebroadcast's program guide. Love that Hotmail email addy. hehehe All class! It's basically the equivalent of public access.

I'm obsessed with children's television shows. In particular I'm obsessed with Brum and today I gained another; Hamilton Mattress (JohnM, I think you might dig this). It's about 'the first aardvark to ever do anything interesting'. ;)

[singing]Everybody loves a Hamilton Mattress...[/singing]

While I've got your attention, you should be readin Wil. All the time. Obey!

Uncle Willy am de man.

(You can also use this pic to drag onto your browser bar for cool slickness in super happy browsing!)

Let's see...
Yesterday (and today for those of you in the US) was my birthday. Nice. :) Got a cool-ass watch from my sweety. Got lots of well wishes from people all over. You're all so sweet! :) Mom called yesterday to beat the rush (heh) and said dad might not be able to call (ice storm, etc.) and I told her to let him know I understood.

No you may not ask how old I am. hehe Estimates have ranged from 28 - 40. :)

Sarah and I went to see The Banger Sisters tonight. It exceeded my expectations in all respects. But I still think Susan Sarandon is funny looking. Goldie Hawn looks amazing for her age. My girlfriend is so incredibly funny. =)

OK, nothing real interesting today. Sorry. I'm gonna go molest my wonderful girlfriend. Ta!

Today's Quote:
"The key to the Macintosh experience has always been taking for granted basic technologies that cause other people to say 'Gee, I wish my computer did it that way'." - Andy Ihnatko

Sleepy... this will be short. Sorry.

Last night (Friday) Sarah and Hef and I went up to Sydney to Star City Casino. Was heaps of fun and we'll have to go back (it's more than just a casino). Played mostly the 1 and 2 cent pokies and I played one of the dollar ones once. None of us are really interested in gambling, per se, so we just played casually. Sarah and I did win a few bucks (like 10 or 15 I think). The Astral Bar on top is wonderful. We were all quite taken with it. You can look out over the city and part of the harbour. It's really quite somehting to see.

Today we trekked down to Wollongong since Sarah had to vote. Her mum picked us up at the train station and we went to her place. They voted and then I met some more of her family. Her mum and Ian and Chloe bought me brithday presents. :) We had dinner (tea) at her mums. Very very tasty. Her mum's a good cook. :) Then... cheesecake. Sorry mom... I blew the diet tonight. hehe They drove us home and we're both pretty tired (me mostly, I think).

Gotta run up to Australia Post tomorrow and send off some money to the bandits who are holding my shit hostage (please see me for recommendations on who 'not' to ship with overseas, k?). Then we need to get a power cable for Sarah's iMac (which we brought up with us tonight).

l4t3r sk8tr

Beet Root
OK 'Mericans. Get this. You know "beets"? Like you might find sliced for you by your grandma at Thanksgiving? Beets. Reddish, sorta tart sorta sweet. Well they have these big beets here that slice up pretty large. And... they serve them up on burgers. You can go to Maca's (McDonalds) and get what amounts to a Big Mac with a slice of beetroot (or beet root) on it. It's more common than not. If you go to a shop that sells burgers and order a burger of some sort it will 'most likely' have beetroot on it. (This will help explain a scene in "The Nugget" if you happen to catch it some time. Funny movie. Eric Bana is a deadset legend. hehe But he'll suck as The Hulk, mark my words.)

Hilari-ass
"It is the Lord! It is the Messiah of all belly whackers!" - Lano and Woodley
(Woodley after witnessing a belly whakcer/belly flop from the 3rd platform of a diving tower.)

PS - John Howard is so far up George Bush's ass it's a wonder he hasn't come out the other end.

PPS - Parliament is funny. In a ludicrous/surreal sort of way. The things they say to each other... *shakes head*

PPSS - The view from our veranda.

How excellent... not.

The shipper is clearly trying to screw me. To the tune of an additional $475 USD.
Suddenly my little 4'x4'x4' shipment has become 200 cubic feet. So they insist I pay an extra $300 for 'spillage' of 50 cu. ft. and $175 for 'documentation'. Right. They didn't even know what to document. I had to tell them, show them and hand it all to them already completed.

I hate people. Again.

It was definitely an Australian day yesterday. Hot. Bush fires. Cicada as big as my thumb on the door. The bush fires were actually rather close. As dusk approached the sunlight got orange and you could see the huge smoke cloud to the north and south. It was at least as close as Heathcote. The winds today are surely not helping. 20 homes were lost last night. But, to quell any fears, we're in no immediate danger and they may have the majority under something resembling control today. *crossing fingers*

Hef came over yesterday. We went shopping as he wanted to pick up some DVDs/Games. I picked up a Mario Sunshine Gamecube set and Super Monkey Ball and a wireless controller (a planned purchase, I assure you heh). We came back and played a LOT of Super Monkey Ball. Hef mostly kicked my ass, but I started getting good at the Target game. Mario Sunshine looks to be the sort of game to eat up lots of my life. hehe

Casino this weekend, I think, with H3ff0r. My sweety is looking forward to the weekend. I'm looking forward to spending some time with her. :) She doesn't get home til around 6:30 and is usually ready to crash by 10 or so. Poor thing. :) But she's still getting back in work mode. Gonna go write her a mushy email now.

H3ff0rz h0ws3
Mucho fun had at Hef's Friday night. We ended up leaving early as Sarah was feeling pretty bad, but we had a bang up time. Hef's BBQ skills and kicking-my-ass-at-halo skills are without equal. heh And a big bonus, finally meeting Fink(0r). They're both just as damned funny as you would expect. They took us to the train station and I laughed my ass off (about so many things and I can't recall half of them). Can't wait to do it again when we hang out longer. (For the record, Sarah's doing better. Still a little sick, but better. She had her first day back at work today.) Oh, I levitated for Fink. Apparently it's still freaking him out. hehe

IMPs
Saturday we spent a quiet evening with the IMPs. heheh OK, it wasn't quiet. We trained down to the Gong and Adam and Robobbie picked us up. We met up with everyone at Monsoon. I met Sarg and Feen and Krisfeena and Spygirl and Cleoschmeo (I'd already met Fink and Robobbie as previously reported). Food was great. Went to the bottlo with Robobbie for beerage prior to the gorging. Afterwards we retired to Chez Tang. I'd like to [also] state that his flat is the shiznit. I'm totally envious. It's... it's just cool. Spiral staircase, rooftop veranda (overlooking the Quik-E Mart hehe), etc. Righteous. We then headed off to Cooney's and Fink beganm hugging people... randomly. hehe It was hilarious when one of Tang's friends came up and Fink decided "he needs a hug" and proceeded to administer it. hehe The guy was stupified like a bad actor in a silent movie. hehe It was great fun and I felt so at ease with them all. Oh! And Robobbie demonstrated gibberish speech. It was... disturbing. hehe Lots of hugs from Fink (and his apparent approval of me as Teqqy's misses) made for a happy Tank. Teqqy's mom's boyfriend took us home. Nice of him.

Ph0n0r
My new mobile phone rules. God the US is SOOOO behind in mobile technology. I have a Samsung R220 GSM phone (SIM, WAP, SMS, pictures, etc.). It r0x0rz my s0x0rz.

Furnishings
The bed, TV/DVD/etc stand and coffee table came Sunday. Yay! And the couch/lounge came today. It's soooooooooo nice to have a real bed and a couch again. :) That's all the big stuff except a dining set. We're in no rush for that. Housewarming soon, methinks.

Br0s
Met Teqqy's brother and his girlfriend.

Tell-i (Tang, Fink and Teq will get it)
So I watched an interesting show tonight, 'Bad Cop, Bad Cop'. Kind of a cross between LAPD Blue and Pulp Fiction (if you can imagine that). It had Michael Caton (Darryl in 'The Castle'). Anywhoey... it was on broadcast TV and... well, let's just say that LAPD Blue ain't got nothin on this show [or Aussie TV] as far as boldness goes. About halfway through there was a "fu***** pu*****" [I did that for the benfit of you people at work] and "shit" was relatively common. hehe Chew on that Tipper Gore. ;)