http://www.circlemakers.org/

koogee beach apparition. stupidest ever
oh mother mary! blah blah

Cronulla Beach and random shots are up. You can view all my pics from my pages on mac.com.

Hey, Joe! shirts and Buccaneer Bears are up at the I Monkey store. Once all the I, Monkey stuff goes up, the pirate stuff will move to BootyShoppe. It's there for filler now.

You gotta admit... a pirate bear is a great gift. ;)
Wait'll you see the monkeys! My girlfriend is a genius! A genius, I tell you!

Wouldn't it be hilarious if the prolific downloader that a judge has ordered Verizon to identify for the RIAA turned out to be the company RIAA members hire to saturate and dilute the peer-to-peer networks?

The ludicrous bit is that, by hiring this company, they've tainted all the numbers they have claimed to show how P2P hurts them. I'm not a proponent of people ripping off anyone's art or intellectual property, I just believe that it should be fought fairly. Monkeying with the data is not fair.

WIll you patch your crappy servers already!

MS SQL Server exploit used by low-lifes... again
I've removed my vitriolic rant because it was not suitable for some who might come here and I felt a bit silly after re-reading it. But I still maintain that anyone who got caught in this got what they deserve. You knew for 6 months. How much time do you need? You know that MS has a long history of security holes. Yet you still couldn't be bothered to close this hole. Just plain irresponsible. I'd fire you if I ruled the world.

On a brighter not, this is funny as hell! Super-Villain Switch ad.

I finally got some pics uploaded and stuff. They're from a trip to Darling Harbour last month. A couple of thumbnails need to be fixed, but here ya go:
UPDATE: New link -- Darling Harbour With Maggie and Sarah.

So this whole immigration thing keeps getting more and more expensive. Today the post brought a new bill for $500 worth of charges for quarantine, customs and terminal charges. On the bright side, it should arrive by Jan. 31st. Then there's the $2100 for various immigration fees. My insurance payment is due (they're out of my pocket now, not Intel's). You get the picture, right? So I've decided I'm not too proud to beg! :)

Would you like to make a donation to the "Keep Sarah and Maggie Together" fund? Now you can! That little button down below works for anyone with a Visa, MasterCard or Paypal account. It's simple as cake! (Sorry, I just watched 2010 again other night... "Easy as PIE! PIE!") I've not requested shipping addresses in the form, but if you do add your address in the comments we'll send you a nifty postcard next month.

End blatant groveling. Unless you are my parents. In which case you have my bank account info and this is redundant. ;)

So with an article in the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday talking about Microsoft's new phone already having 2 published exploits and possible other problems, this article (the BMW part, specifically) brings it all home. Bottom line folks: If we buy this shit we're just asking for more of the same. Except, it's usually no big deal when your PC crashes downloading pr0n, but when your car crashes or someone hacks your phone... well, that's a different story, now isn't it?

Don't encourage them... and, yes, by them I do mean Microsoft... Let someone who HAS shown a regard for security and your best interests handle things like this. Microsoft has a track record of failing to deliver and delivering below expected standards. Don't encourage them to let that sub-standard care creep into your house, car, etc.

On the plus side, SMH reports that DVRs/PVRs (think Tivo) are starting to show up in the Australian market. Yay! I miss Tivo so much. :)

Happy birthday (again) Hef.

I woke up yesterday with a couple of mosquito bites. First time I've been bitten since I arrived. Not too shabby since Jennie says she gets eaten alive. I killed a cockroach the size of a Toyota Celica last night. Freaky.
Therefore, today is Bug Day (+1). No sightings today. This is good.

I went heaving through the meandering herd of humanity at Westfield today. I had to fax something to the removalist who is removing my shit from the wharf to here very soon [knock wood]. I gave up on the NewsAgency when the woman couldn't understand what the hell a cover page is. I found that the color photocopy guy upstairs was much more fax savvy and we briefly discussed the Spruce Goose (a minor obsession of mine) as I saw he had a picture of it hanging up.

I was also pleased yesterday (Bug Day) to note the police parked out on The Kingsway (our street/highway) nabbing speeders. It's become a pet peeve of mine because... Ohhhh. I dunno. Maybe I hate the sound of motorcycles and hopped up Nissans screaming by. Anywhoey, there sat John Law out front in his crouching high-performance car. Nothing like the sedans back home, I should point out. Fast, low-slung Holdens with purring racing-grade engines. It was quite fun to watch. You see, ordinarily when they do this they park [hidden] in front of a van that's usually here. But yesterday it was out doing something van-oriented. So instead of a zoom+siren it was as if some localised gravitational phenomenon existed in front of our house. Cars would come roaring down the road and suddenly their speed would drop as this anomaly of physics pulled them into its influence. I swear, it was if they were suddenly fighting some sort of gravity well. hahaha! I laughed. Much like that.

What else... Tidbits: Aussies love ABBA. They reallllly love ABBA, on the whole. Fries are nearly ubiquitous. You get them not only at McDonalds and Happy Jacks [Burger King], but at Taco Bell and Pizza Hut and KFC. I don't like cricket. There are generally 5 (sometimes 6 if you're lucky) over-the-air TV stations. They are repeated (and sometimes localised) around the country. They are: ABC, SBS, 7, 9 and 10. We also get NBN/RTC. And the stations are not fixed-frequency. You gotta tune your TV set. After 30-something years of U.S. TV this was something of a singularity to me when I was shown. I expected it in Great Britain because, well, you'd been told to expect it, but I wasn't thinking it would be the same here. It's interesting...

OK, time to start dinner. Later!

Help! US folks. Porltand folks in particular.

Do any of you know who did the Bob Barker remix? It's a mix with a bunch of Bob sound clips ("the big kaHUNA!" "on the drum set!" "spin the wheel!" etc.).
I'm in desperate need of it! hehe

Was it Squid from KNRK? Or was it from somewhere else? Help! I can't get it out of my head!

So, Joe Strummer died on Dec. 23rd. For those of you who don't find this name ringing a bell, Joe Strummer was the creative mind behind The Clash and, along with co-writer Mick Jones, brought a ragga-flavored punk sound to the world of music in the 80s. Just think of the song "London Calling". That raspy, breathy voice is Joe. I just wanted to say that I'll never forget him, what he said and what he represented. He was so incredibly unique as a writer and musician and singer. There was and never will be anyone like Joe again. Moby said that if he could write Joe's epitaph it would say:

'here lies joe strummer, he was a compassionate and wonderful man, he wrote some of the most important music of the 20th century, and his presence here made the world a better place.'

I like that. :) Bye, Joe.

"Ragga, Bhangra, Two-Step Tanga, Mini-Cab Radio, Music On The Go! Surfbeat, Backbeat, Frontbeat, Backseat, There's A Bunch Of Players And They're Really Letting Go!" - 'Bhindi Bhagee' off 'Global A Go-Go'

Everything here is "mega". Mega Mart, Mega Meal, Mega Sale. I guess in the States it's "super", but "mega" just really stands out to my ear.

Went to the fireworks at Darling Harbour on New Years eve with my sweety, Hef and the Finks.

If I can go to Darling Harbour often, I will love this place. Oddly, I'm still mostly ambivalent about my feelings towards The Lucky Country. It's beautiful and all, but I dunno. Of course, I've still only been here a couple of months. :) But god do I love Darling Harbour. I want to live there. hehe But I digress (as usual). The fireworks were wonderful and we could also see the ones at Sydney Harbour and the quay from where we were. *gush* We all crashed at our place and they headed back to the 'Gong late this afternoon. Much fun. I really love spending time with them. (Sorry I fell asleep this afternoon guys)

We watched the Simpsons episode where Lisa becomes a vegetarian tonight. To commemorate we had a meat-covered pizza for dinner. :) Sarah has to go back to work tomorrow. *sigh* We're watching The Big Chill on 10. Sings that 'memories' song. I'll probably watch some Dr. Who or sumpin. Hope my dad's package (mail) comes tomorrow. It's been ages. Oh! Marc sent us an awesome gift! It's a panoramic shot of Mariner's Stadium from when we went with him and Steve. It's put together from many many pics that he and I and Steve took. It's amazing! Thanks Trep!

Later y'all.

PS - Just think. If I live here the rest of my life, I will have "lost" a [calendar] day. hehe Funny. :)

So I gotta lotta catchin up to do...

Christmas & Boxing Day & Stuff

Christmas in July
OK. Christmas in 34 degree weather is fine. When it's 30 degrees fahrenheit. ;) Nah. Thankfully it wasn't too hot Xmas day. It was actually rather cool, or so everyone said. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The night before we stayed up and opened our presents around 12 or 12:30am. It was very nice. I know this will cause some rolling of eyes, but I enjoy her company so much... Just being in the same room with her is good enough to make me happy. She's so good for me. I hope the same holds true for her. Anywhoey, we opened our pressies and giggled like ijits. :) Sarah got me... BRUM! She got me a brum plushy and a DVD (that I didn't even know of!). She also got me 3 Dr. Who movies (RAH!!!!), the Patricia Cornwell book I've been lusting over and she also bought me a book at the Star Wars exhibit at Powerhouse (more about that later).

Xmas morn we got up and got ready around 8:30 or 9 and Sarah's brother picked us up around 10:30. I was fairly nervous about meeting the rest of the family and didn't wanna look like the big dyke I've turned into lately so I bought a couple of nice new tops the other day. We had a nice ride up with her bro and his girlfriend (who looks like Kylie -- no lie). Got to nan and pop's house at noon.

Her grandparents were really nice and seemed at ease with us and me. We ate a nice lunch and then opened presents. We made out like bandits; Wok (electric -- our stove is the flat ceramic type so we can't use a traditional wok), nice sandwich press, toaster over and some very nice towels. Bro and g/f had brought champagne (a nice one at that) and... yeah. A nice day. Teq's pop asked me how I liked Australia and how I should try to see some more of it and we talked about the things that were different (geographical and botanical mostly).

Teq's little sister is a sweety. I really like her and I love how she comes up and hugs me. It makes me feel "in". Her mom gave me a big kiss when we arrived, as well. I feel very welcome in the family. Well, her mom's side. I haven't met her dad's side.

We went to her Aunt Di's later for more food. LOL I had met most everyone there already and Di and Tam (Di's duaghter) have already given me their seal of approval. hehe Tam says I'm good for Sarah. :) It was really hot inside so I spent a while outside and that's where we were when Hef came by.
"Ahh, I see. Don't want to be seen with me."
hahahaha =D God love you. You're a funny man, Mr. Gargit.
He had on his HefCorp Intl. Army shirt. hehehe He brought us our xmas present (Tony Hawk for Gamecube: r0x0r!) and got me Australian Monopoly for my birthday (you shouldn't have, ya big lug!). We got him Gotham Racing for xbox.

We ended up walking back to Sarah's mum's house to walk off some food and then went back when her bro called to say he'd pick us up. We got home... late-ish (10? 11?) and crashed.

Boxing Day - What the Hell?
OK, so the day after Xmas is Boxing Day. It apparently stems from the day when servants would get a box of stuff and be allowed to leave and see their family and/or based on the opening of the 'poor box' to the poor. I talked to my parents and wished them a Merry Christmas (remember, they're a day behind us). They survived another family get-together series.

We decided to pick up tickets for the Boxing Day movie marathon (both Lord of the Rings movies) We came back and sorta kinda took naps to prepare. I think I slept 2 or 3 hours. Sarah? I dunno. She couldn't have slept much. Around 10 we got up and got ready. The movies started [supposedly] at 11:45. We got there with plenty of time to spare only to find that they hadn't seated any of the marathons (there were like 4 different ones). FINALLY around 11:50 we saw people going into cinema 5 (ours) and pushed through and got seats (only to find the damned theatre was already nearly full). ANYway. We had pillows and tons of junk food. heh

Sarah made it through tthe first movie but started to fade when The Two Towers got going. I'll skip to the rating: It was great. Peter Jackson really understands what the hell he's doing and knows how to do this whole back-to-back filming. They flowed right together. I give both films 4.5 stars. Oh, and Golem was brilliant. Best CG character ever.