Whistling In The Dark

Fire in the Sky

2012-01-03T19:51:00.000+10:00

I know it's be a little while since I've posted, and a bit longer since it's been an actual REAL post at that, so I decided it was was time to get back to it. In my defence, I have been busy with life; namely the last semester of uni which had a certain subject in it that demanded WAY too much workload for it's level, and I had forgotten to take it earlier, so I did before I forgot again. So, now that that's over with, and my new classes (1, 2, & 3) are much cooler and nowhere NEAR as crazy on the workload, I'm able to come back and write to the wonderful void of Cyberspace.

One of my sisters has a tradition she started...two-ish?... years ago where she has a word for the year. Not really a resolution per se, and that's fine. Now, much like my Dad, I don't really prescribe to the whole - "It's a new year so you need to make New Years Resolutions" way of thinking. I like to think (much to the disagreement of my wife, who believes Mt Kilimanjaro to be more capable, and likely, of changing into a field mouse than I am of changing my 'ways') that I change aspects of me and my life as I need/want to throughout the year.

Whatever the case may be, I decided that maybe I should try something new this year. As such, I have decided that this year, finally, I am going to do something that I have wanted to do my entire life; I am going to learn to be a Blacksmith, and no, I don't mean this kind, either. I mean the soot-breathing, ash & sweat covered, hard-working, hammer swinging kind. I have always been intrigued with it; no, that's not quite right. Fascinated? Yes, well go fascinated, with a side of respect and a dash of wonderment to go please. There's just something... primal, in a good way... about taking fire and using your own strength to beat and shape and coerce metal into wonderful shapes and things, be it tools, weapons, front gates or doorhandles. I'm quite excited about this new project!

Also to go along with it, I have decided that I'm going to join one of the Nordic/Danish clubs in the area. I know that there is one up on the northside around Petrie that have a few acres on the river that make their own armour, weapons, mead, and even built a longhouse and a long boat. I think these might be the guys that I go with... but first things first: I need to learn how to smith.

(I'd like to thank one of my most awesome friends Christine for the unintended inspiration for the perfect song to go with this post.)

TMBG?

2011-10-22T13:37:00.001+10:00

For those of you that have asked, the song that I used for my mate "Dexter"'s theme song in this post is Monster Mouth by 9 Giants. They're an alternative/electro-rock band from Phoenix, AZ. The official video is included below for your audial and visual pleasure. Enjoy.

Music for the Masses

2011-09-12T10:02:00.001+10:00

I went to see these guys on Friday night with one of Cindy's and my friends, Ursula. I had listened to them a little bit before and didn't think they were that bad, but after seeing them live, I have a whole new appreciation for just how much they rock and the overall great musicianship that they have. Thus, I am sharing a song, (the one that has been stuck in my head, actually, but in a good way) with you all. Hope you enjoy... as for myself, I think I'll be buying their CD on the way home...

Free Ride

2011-09-03T16:53:00.000+10:00

Just because I believe this is one of the greatest motorsports in the world, and I also believe he is one of the greatest drivers in the world, I felt that I should share this with everyone. Enjoy.

Good As I Once Was...

2011-08-13T23:55:00.002+10:00

So, it was brought to my attention by a mate of mine last night that I hadn't updated this blog in a little while. I didn't realise that by a little while, it had been two years though. These last two years have been quite interesting. They have seen me learn to ride a bike, buy one, sell it, and now buy another. They have seen me out of my twenties and into my thirties. Some friends have passed by the wayside like so much wasted chaff, whilst others have been found and made.

It is on the subject of two of these 'others', (one of which is the afore mentioned mate who reminded me to update the blog) that I will write about tonight. You see, we went out on the town last night for a bit of a "Guys Night Out'. Now, in years gone past and with other mates, I've gone out on the town. We just went out, got down and funky with the crowds in whatever dives we happened to go to, tried to avoid trouble, and come morning, made our way home doing our best Dawn (or was it Shawn?) of the Dead impressions. Fun was had by all.

Enter 2011. Enter (and the names have been changed to [very loosely and badly] protect their identities) Nick Burns and Dexter. Enter 30 year old me. We decided that it was high-time that we had a guys night out. With this one, however, is that it was quite more enjoyable; to the point that we are considering next time extending it to a road-trip weekend. What was the difference? Why was this night out better than the others I mentioned before? We got a room in the city so that we wouldn't have to worry about getting cab fare back home, or someone to come pick us up at whatever twilight hour it might have been when we had decided that we had had enough. When we wanted to crash, we just walked back to the room and did so. Granted, this is a significant upgrade from the random unplanned chaos-infused night outs that I had been used to, but that in and of itself does not a good night out make.

No, I have thought about this, and have come to the conclusion that it was because of Nick Burns and Dexter. They are my speed and my type of people; quick, sarcastic, intelligent, and sharers in the belief that in the great gene-pool of humanity, someone forgot to put in the chlorine. Couple that with the fact that we have moved into a more 'mature' stage of life, and have the ability to just relax, this all adds up to be quite good value and a great time out all round. Of course, should we feel the need to go out and tie one on, I'm sure we're all as good once as we ever were.

Teaching 4 year olds

2009-09-27T16:22:00.003+10:00

Ok, so it has now been 4 months since I was called to Primary to teach the 4 year olds.

I have my usual 5 or 6 who attend regularly and always ask where I have been and why I wasn't there if for some reason I cannot make it on a Sunday as apparently the relief teachers aren't as fun (or so my class tells me).

Today we had a lot of visitors and I had 10 in my class. Do you know what 10 four year olds in a small and I mean small class room that barely has room to fit that many chairs is like? From the way they were all acting it appeared to me as though they had all gulped a big helping of red cordial (full of sugar) before entering the classroom. They were feral! And why is it only in my class? Right through sharing time they were so quiet, meek and mild, yet as soon as the doors opened and they ran (with me yelling "don't run" pointlessly) all the way to our classroom where they then insisted on jumping on the chairs and asking for a toilet break every 5 mins for the next hour.

My regulars know the routine. I keep it simple. The class is broken down into 4 elements, first is the lesson (10 mins max) then is the games time (usually hang man or something similar that is themed towards the lesson) and then is drawing time. For drawing time before church every Sunday morning I spend 1/2 hour trawling the internet for outline pictures that vaguely match the lesson so they can be tied into the theme. I then use our printer to print out 8-10 copies of the picture for drawing time so they can colour it in. Then after drawing time is closing prayer and the end of primary class, whereby I open the doors and let them loose on the unsuspecting people loitering in the hallways of the chapel.

My regulars know this routine and they favour it. When I try to do anything out of order they let me know or they will ask towards the end of the lesson whether it has been 10 mins yet and how long it is until game time etc.

This week I was out of ink in our printer. I wondered for a moment where I would find ink on a Sunday as shops do not open on Sunday here and then figured drawing time for this week can actually be used for drawing instead of colouring. So I went to the bottom tray of the printer, pulled out 10 blank sheets of paper and took them to church with me. When we got to drawing time I handed out the pieces of paper and explained that today for something different we were going to draw instead of just colour in. As the lesson today was about praying to Heavenly Father I asked them to drawer a picture of themselves praying. Even though I explained this 3 of my regulars asked me where the picture was they were meant to colour in as the page was blank and one of them went really quiet and then burst into tears and when I finally cheered him up enough to tell me what was wrong he said he didn't know what he was meant to be doing because there was nothing on the page like there always was. Did I get these kids too comfortable with a routine? I mean I do not have children but I have always been told that with little kids routine is better as it becomes familiar to them and they can rely on it. Familiar is more comforting for little ones... but now I am worried they are too comfortable? What am I meant to do now? I don't want them bursting into tears everytime something different happens or the routine is not adhered to. I don't have children, I have no idea what I am doing, I am making this up as I go with the only aim being that the children learn the main principle of the lesson whatever that is ie - you can pray to heavenly father no matter what happens. I know I asked for the little ones because I was intimidated by some of the older ones and didn't want the questions and behaviour from some of them but sometimes I feel like I would really rather them as at least then they would understand me shaking up the routine and would be more interactive. Any ideas on what I should do?

Cindy

Play That Funky Music....

2009-09-07T22:07:00.002+10:00

Yes, yes, I know. We haven't posted anything in ages. Not to worry, in the near future, we will post the before, durring, and after pics of the house renovation. For not, please enjoy the accoustic musical stylings of Newton Faulkner (sp?) as seen on tonights episode of GNW.

Calling

2009-05-04T07:26:00.004+10:00

So yesterday morning 2 hours before church started the phone rings and it is the second councillor in our bishopric asking whether both of us could come in for a shared interview.

When Dustin hung up the phone he said it either has to be a joint calling or something important for him that they wanted my support/opinion on.

All the way in Dustin kept saying "I really hope it is not as a primary teacher, I would be happy with anything other than a primary teacher"...

So when we entered the interview room and the first question asked of us was "so, Brother and Sister Hulsey, do you have any children yet?" Dustin and I looked at each other (him with a look of dread and me with a look of serves you right for saying what you did in the car)

We obviously accepted the calling to be joint teachers in primary (we have not been told which class yet.

We have been joking the past 24 hours... Dustin has been saying we got the calling for me to further develop my maternal instincts and experience before we start trying to have children ourselves at the end of the year and I believe it is because he was so strongly against it.

I think it will be fun... Dustin believes I am naive...

Painting the roses red...

2009-04-11T08:48:00.006+10:00

Due to a long story of reliance on others to perform when they said they would... our roof is finally in the first stage of getting fixed from when I fell through it on New Years. The hot breezy drafts that have hit us whilst sitting on the couch for the past four months are now a thing of the past. Dustin asked one of his friends at work (Mike) to come around Thursday night and give us a hand patching it up. After an hour long trip to the local Bunnings (with apparently some not so helpful staff who did not know what gyprock/drywall/plasterboard was), Mike then proceeded to do the whole patch job himself with Dustin and I helping where we could. I learned a lot because the whole way through the patching process Mike was kind enough to take time to teach me how it was done and why things had to be done the way they were so the surface would be smooth and unnoticeable once painted etc. Later on Mike will come back over and sand it down and finish it off. Several days later Dustin and I still walk into our loungeroom and still expect to see a whole in the roof as we had gotten used to it being there. See pictures.

The study house

2009-03-10T20:02:00.003+10:00

Dustin and I celebrate our 5th year wedding anniversary on Thursday and for the first time ever in our relationship we are both studying at the same time (both still working also of course). I am completing my masters in law whilst Dustin is doing his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering.

Whilst I am sitting here on my couch listening to my lecture via podcast, Dustin is in the study doing a group assignment via an internet meeting between the members of his group.

It occurred to me when I logged into my uni website just how far technology has come for me to have a lecture each week that I can download into an ipod and listen to it anywhere anytime and where Dustin can study via distance and for his study group to not only consist of people in other states of Australia but also overseas. - lining up times for his study meetings is going to be interesting with the different time zones.

I know I am not as old as some but I very clearly remember when whiteboards just came in and our school got two, we all wanted to have classes in those rooms because they didn't get chalk dust everywhere and it was easier to read... yet now how far have we come... I don't think I could study without my USB stick and my laptop not to mention my downloadable lectures, online study materials and wireless internet anywhere on our property all at the click of a button... I fear the traditional library research session has become obsolete which is sad really as I do so much love the smell of old books.

If this is how far we have come just in the past 15 years or so... how far are we going to go in the next 15 years and what will people be using for study aides then? I have always looked forward to that downloadable data that I may one day be able to plug straight into my brain... I wonder how far into the future that is?

I Travelled to a Mystical Time Zone....

2009-03-06T06:12:00.007+10:00

I figure that it's about time that I made a musical post again. So, last week I made two cds for my guitar instructor. Just kind of so he got the idea of what type of things I was wanting to learn. One cd was a sampler with some Metallica, AC/DC, Jerry Reed, ect., ect. The other one was all Smiths. For some reason, I don't know if it's all of Australia, or just Brisbane, but it would seem that there is a musical imigration department set up. Only a certain amount of a certain type of music can get through it, the rest are never allowed in. The Smiths are ones of these bands that, unless "smuggled in", no one ever heard of.

Last night, when I went to my guitar lesson, Steve, (my instructor) was sitting in there listening to the Smiths cd, and started going off about how he can't believe that he'd never listened to them, and how awesome they were. Sweet. So we then proceeded to attempt to learn This Charming Man and Ask. I felt better about not having been able to learn them on my own when even he was having a bit of trouble with it, (I emphasize the BIT) and he has dual degrees in guitar from the Conservatory. It turned out to be a good session though; quite enjoyable!

When I got home, Cindy's and my friend Kelly was over. She's come back home from Ireland for a few weeks to visit. When I mentioned what we were doing at guitar, she made the same comment on how she can't believe that she had never heard of The Smiths before she went over there, considering how big they were/Morrissey is. She said her favorite song was Frankly, Mr. Shankly, and as such, That's the video that I have decided to go with this time around. Enjoy.

: Read
Frankly, Mr. Shankly Lyrics
here.

Minimum Wage, Ha!

2009-02-14T07:12:00.002+10:00

So, for those fo you who don't know, or haven't been able to work it out, I got a promotion of sorts at work. Granted, this was first offered to me back at the end of June, but it has taken till now to eventuate, due to circumstances created by other people, or lack thereof.

I am now, according to the signature that was set up on my email, a Technical Sales Representative. This means that instead of being outside in the heat, humidity, grease, dirt, and oil, standing on concrete all day, and lifting heavy things, I now get to wear nicer clothes, sit down in A/C, have a desk and computer, and slightly more flexable work conditions, and the heaviest thing that I have to lift all day is probably a stapler. (no, it's not a red one...)

I've kinda been thrown in the deep end, with a half-eaten life preserver, and told what to do to tread water. What better way to learn! But I am having fun, and most of the guys upstairs are willing to give me a hand when I get questions that I don't know, (which at this point, are most of them!) I answer the phones/faxes/emails that customers give us, wanting to either just buy some fittings or design a whole power system for them. I know it might not sound like much, but I'm enjoying it, and that makes a lot of difference.

If you don't know and want to see what we do, go here: http://www.southcott.com.au/ Ignore the Cycles part. Our branch doesn't really do them, although I CAN get them if requested. That's about it.

Oh, Listen To The Music

2009-02-03T19:44:00.004+10:00

Music has always been a major part of my life. The last few years, however, due to working and other things getting in the way, both my playing of, and listening to, music has fallen a bit on the wayside. For Christmas this year, Cindy got me a new guitar strap, the Best of The Smiths tab book, and 4 lessons to help improve, (or possibly even create) my guitar playing ability. I start these lessons on Thursday night. Also, for our Christmas Eve game this year, we got the Guitar Hero World Tour pack for the XBox. Cindy is surprisingly good at the drums, while I love signing aspect; everything from About A Girl, to Up Around The Bend.

Now, reading my sister Sharon's blog for the last year or so, I've watched her Friday Flashback posts; a lot of times I remember the songs that are there, and sometimes I don't know them at all, but enjoy being exposed to things I would otherwise not have known about. It's not like the radio stations in Brisbane play anything older than about 3 months... and it's all that new crap like the Pussycat Dolls and such, that doesn't have a bit of real music in it. (my opinion, obviously. Sorry to those that actually like that type of stuff) As such, hearing things that I don't know and that actually is music is fantastic.

So what do these two things have to do with each other? Well, I thought that I'd start trying to post on a simi-regular basis, some sort of Ode to Musica post. To start it off, I thought that I'd dedicate this one to Sharon, in thanks for her involvment of music throughout her blog, both posts about it and random, sometimes obscure references to it. As such, the video that I'm posting is of my favorite Smiths song (which I am currently learning to play, btw). If it wasn't for Sharon, I would never have heard the Smiths, James, The Ocean Blue, They Might Be Giants, and so many more.... so, thanks Shaz!

Exchange rate

2009-01-07T14:53:00.005+10:00

As I am off on holidays at the moment I have spent the past two days booking some of our accommodation and looking at some tours for our USA trip in July.

For those who don't know, on average the Australian dollar usually sits roughly between 75 cents and 80 cents US to 1 Australian dollar.

When we first booked our airline tickets in September the US dollar had plummeted and as a result the Australian - US exchange rate was at 97 US cents to 1 Australian dollar (lucky for us!). However, once we started planning what we wanted to do whilst there and then created our budget for this trip back in October so we could save enough in time, the exchange rate had dropped back to 61 US cents to 1 Australian dollar as the US dollar grew in strength again.

So I worked our entire budget on 65 US cents to 1 Australian dollar as I figured it would climb back to at least that by July but just in case the US did enter into a recession I did not want to rely on it climbing much more than that.

Today I looked at the exchange rate and it is sitting at 72 US cents to 1 Australian dollar... meaning if it at least stays where it is, we might have some extra spending money for Dustin to get some new boots whilst there with our current savings plan!

With the present financial situation and the volatility of the exchange rates I find it really difficult to predict how much we will need to save for the trip... I would much prefer going the other way as the price of everything would almost half or at least drop by a quarter compared to us having to double the price of everything!

The joys of international travel!

This may be my financial ignorance showing here but why can't they create a universal currency much along the same lines as the Euro so I do not have to keep adjusting our holiday budget every time the exchange rate changes?

Books books books...

2009-01-03T15:57:00.002+10:00

A love that Dustin and I both share is our love for books and reading.

We can go wandering around the shops all day and not spend any money, but if either of us wander anywhere near a Dymocks, Angus and Robertson or a QBD bookstore we find our bank account quickly diminished and our arms weighed down with hours of reading material. Whilst we both have our differing preferences for fiction novels we have found we both also have a love for non fiction. We have reference books on all sorts of subjects from Astronomy to The Mysteries of the Mind and from Ancient Egypt to the Lipizzan Horses in Austria.

While we both Google to find out modern facts and knowledge we find it is so much more fun sitting down and reading a book about all sorts of things.

When we were first married we found we did not have a book case for the books that we had gathered before we met and so we went to Lifeline and bought a second hand bookcase for $20 that we thought would hold our books and the many more that we would buy during our marriage. As it turns out, we have not been married yet for 5 years and already our bookcase is overflowing and collapsing with our collection. We both hope that one day we will be able to have a library in our house with all the walls full of books with places to sit and enjoy reading them. I guess we will need another bookcase or two before that happens. Whilst we will eventually get more bookcases I don't think we will ever get rid of the first one we bought together even though it is water damaged and only holds half the shelves it is meant to as it holds sentimental value for both of us and symbolising a love and hobby we both share. Does that sound crazy to anyone else or just sappy and sentimental?

A second man hole

2009-01-01T10:43:00.005+10:00

It all started with parents who were nice enough to think of Dustin and I sweltering in the heat and so they bought us insulation for Christmas. You need to have been here in summer to understand our house is like an oven, and all occupants are the turkeys baking away.

Dustin and I got up on New Years Day morning and decided to install it ourselves as that was my first day of leave and we can't afford to have someone else do it.

After two hours of installing with me crawling into all the smaller places where Dustin couldn't get to and him passing me the insulation, we were covered in sweat to the point where we were dripping, my nose was running and full of black stuff from all the dirt and dust etc up there and who wants to know what else... and yet we had only just completed an area the size of what we think was the study (hard to tell in such a small space up there)

We came down for some air, by then my legs were cramping and my vision was blurry as my eyes were full of dust and sweat and alas when we gained enough courage to climb back up the ladder the pictures depict the result of what happened...

I was attempting to pull one of the bags along the roof, lost my balance, went butt first through our roof over our lounge room and ended up half in and half out of the roof hanging between our house and the roof right over our couch in the lounge room. After laughing at my predicament Dustin helped me out of the hole which I became stuck in due to me being bigger than the hole my butt created. The hole was actually a lot messier than it looks now... after laughing at me, my dad came over and cut the hole into a square along the beams so it can be fixed. As my parents started wishing they had bought us something else for Christmas we started working out the cost of fixing the roof and playing eeny meeny miney mo as to who was going back up in the roof to finish the job.

As it had gotten too hot to be in the roof by the time the drama was finished, mum and my sister Sam came around at 5am yesterday morning and helped Dustin and I finish the job. As Dustin is too big to climb around up there mum and I climbed around and laid the insulation and Dustin was passing us up bags, water bottles, towels and tools etc through our newly made manhole. I must say, whilst having a hole in your roof right in the middle of your lounge room is not exactly what we started out to achieve, I must say, it made the insulation installation go a lot faster as everything did not have to be passed through the manhole in the garage and then carried to the other side of the roof and it let in so much more light that we hardly needed torches! Not to mention it is so much cooler in our lounge room now with all the heat escaping though our new manhole... Dustin and I are now thinking that hole is the perfect spot to install a skylight!

Ahh.. the joys of owning your own home... so how did everyone else's holiday period go?

My car

2008-11-27T05:34:00.003+10:00

So I put my car in for a service on Tuesday knowing that the front brakes might need doing as they had told me at my last service that the front brakes were getting low and would need replacing at the next service. Dustin wasn't happy with the job the previous mechanic did where it was serviced last so I took it to "Midas" in Beenleigh. And that is when the drama started...
I dropped it off at 7am on my way to work and had my dad pick me up and take me to the train station, once at work at about 9am I received a phone call saying that not only did the front brakes need replacing but the back cylinders needing replacing as well and also the front bearing. (I had noticed a noise that I asked them to check out and it turned out to be my back brakes) As it was brakes related I didn't argue with them and told them to do what they needed and so that took the total from $230 to $960. At that point I asked them to service it whilst it was there as I was planning on getting it serviced in the next 1,000 km anyway, which then took the total to $1,174. I was merrily working expecting to pick my car up after work when I received a phone call at about 4pm saying they couldn't get the bearing out of the hub because it had heated up that much that it had weilded itself in there and so the whole bearing, hub, cv joint and shaft had to be replaced... basically most of my front suspension... my only hope was if they could somehow get the bearing out of the hub... so it was soaked for a few hours and placed in the press with 50 tonne of pressure placed on it and still wouldn't budge. They took it to a store next to them which had 100 tonne press and it still did not budge... alas it was not budging and they would have to replace more parts.... for this they did not have the parts in store and so there would be a two day wait to fly parts up from Sydney. I caught the bus home and walked in the rain as it stops about 1km from our house and did the same thing the next morning to get to work (still raining). Once at work yesterday I received a call from them saying that the part that had been flown up was the wrong part and Sydney has said it would be a further 3 day wait for the right part. At that point the guys at Midas gave up on the Sydney distribution centre and called every wreckers they knew trying to find a spare part they could recondition. Luckily one was found, alas it was in another kia that had also seized. They collected that part and put it in the press, and it popped straight out so they reconditioned it and put it in my car. Then they replaced my front and back brakes, tightened my handbrake, gave it a service and a tune up and then told me I could pick it up at 5pm yesterday. I asked what the total was, and with the extra running around and second hand parts etc they said the total was now $1,603. I called a friend of mine who was a mechanic (who hates doing drum brakes and hence why I did not give it to him to do) and he said with what had happened that price sounded about right. And as I really need my only car I reluctantly handed over my credit card details and thought to myself there goes my Christmas budget and half my spending money for our trip! But alas I have my car back and I nearly put myself through the windscreen at the intersection on my way home last night because it stopped so hard and fast with new brakes front and back!

So that is the latest dramas of my car... now off to work and then to go to the Thanksgiving dinner tonight... I am not sure what this pumpkin pie thing is all about but I will give it a go!

Also, am trying to do one blog a week to keep you all updated on our lives. Dustin already has two that he wants to do so we will see how we go...

Our boys

2008-09-02T18:54:00.004+10:00

Aslan making room for himself..... Step 1. You push Marley to one side... step 2. make yourself comfortable on your half of a two seater couch that you no longer fit onto together...

Jools from Willitoft Great Danes, Alsan's breeder and a person who has become a good friend of ours, not to mention her invaluable advice on all things Dane, noticed there were no pictures of Aslan on our blog. As she was the 3rd person to say that I thought I would stop being lazy and update everyone with some recent pictures I have taken of our boys in their natural habitat....

Marley will be 2 next month and Aslan has just turned 8 months.

As you can see the matching two seater couches in the study and the garage hardly hold both of them anymore but they still try.. even sleeping on each other in the process! For some reason even though they have their futon which fits both of them with room to spare they still fight over the two seater couches!

Now for the exciting news! Aslan will be participating in his first dog show at Durack on September 11. We will take lots of pictures and will let you know how he goes!

During our routine walk to the off the lead park last Sunday Marley and Aslan were playing with some silky terriers and a lab pup. I was really surprised how gently our pair played with dogs who were smaller than their own heads! I couldn't stop laughing at one point when one of the terriers darted in one direction and then turned suddenly and started in the other direction leaving Aslan paddling at full speed trying to turn to chase it but his growing legs got all tangled and he tripped over himself in the process of trying to turn and landed on his side. I really hope for his sake that when he stops growing he works out where his limbs are and stops tripping over himself, but I must admit it is so funny to watch him attempt to run and turn to chase smaller dogs who are obviously more agile than he currently is.

Well I guess that is enough for now... I will attempt to keep you more updated from now on...

See, it's got raisins in it...... You like raisins.

2008-06-02T21:24:00.003+10:00

So, sometime last year, I think it might have been for Christmas, Cindy got me Trivial Pursuit. I love my trivia games, (as do most of my family) and I thought this was a great present. However, we discovered that she didn't get the current Genius edition, but the DVD Pop Culture one. This is going to be cool, we thought. Little did we know that, pop culture doesn't seem to be that popular here in Australia. Most of the things that it references, never existed Down Under, or weren't widely known. Consequently, it wasn't much fun for Cindy, (and I must admit, there were a vast number that I had no clue about, either!) and so has mostly sat on our shelf next to more used games, such as Tri-Bond, Picture This!, Scattagories, and Scene-It.

We also watch a lot of movies and tv, (mostly shows that we own or have downloaded... such as Star Trek TNG, DS9, and Voyager, MacGyver [Cindy's favourite!!], Smallville, ect...) and as such, are exposed to some pop culture there. After I got Cindy hooked on the Star Treks, which before she had always thought were unintelligent nerd trash, she started seeing a LOT of references to it in other shows, and understanding some more of the jokes and such.

One other show that we like a lot is Family Guy. There is so much mish-mash, random culture and current event references in there it's not even believable! While we were watching an episode a few months back, Peter was riding his maid as a horse, (don't ask...) and pulls up to a set of lights. Two Asian guys in gold suits pull up next to him, and one starts to announce a race in the style of Howard Cosell. I was laughing at this, and Cindy had no clue. I was explaining to her that it was from a movie from the early 80's called Better Off Dead with John Cusack, (which one of my circle of friends really quite liked in high school), but she had never heard of it.

Just a few days ago, I got my bit torrent program working again, and have downloaded a few movies. One of which is Better Off Dead. I have just made Cindy watch it, and while I found it quite funny, I don't think she got it, (or maybe appreciated is the term....?) Evidently I now owe her "big time" for making her "put up with that mindless drivel" for an hour and a half. But you know what? We watched the Family Guy afterward, and she got the reference and laughed this time.... Maybe it's time to break out and dust off that pop culture edition again and see if we do any better now...?

Our House

2008-05-11T18:59:00.008+10:00

Both Tawnya and Mom have asked to see pictures of our house. So here are some before shots taken by the real estate agent before we bought the place. We will put up some after shots as soon as we get a chance to take some so you can see what it looks like being lived in by us.

Yes, the carpets are brown public library carpet, and the walls are pineapple yellow. We think they learned their lesson after painting the toilet as it is the only room in the house with 3 coats and WOW it is bright! We could almost deal with the yellow walls if it wasn't for the ugly brown carpet.
As for the front garden, it has all been ripped out a redone so we will get up some pictures of it soon too. If you want to see anything in particular let us know and we will get make sure we get a shot whilst we have the camera out.

Marley

2008-05-04T20:12:00.000+10:00

We thought we would give you all the chance to meet Marley. He is our 18 month old Great Dane and our baby of sorts... aka spoilt rotten! We adopted him from the Great Dane Rescue Society of Queensland. For those who are wish to know, he is 35 inches at the shoulder and still growing. When we last got him on the scales he was 60 kilos (132 pounds) but that was a few months ago now, he has grown a bit since then.
These are some of the pictures I took of Dustin and Marley playing together yesterday. Marley has a glow in the dark ball which Dustin holds above his head and Marley jumps to get it... but as you can see from some of the pictures on mid leap Marley's head is well and truly higher than Dustin's.
He loves nothing more than playing games and curling up on the couch with us to watch TV.
According to the neighbours he has been starting to whine and carry on during the day whilst we are away at work and so Dustin and I are considering adopting another Dane as a friend for Marley. Besides, we can never have enough pets!

The wide world of blogging...

2008-05-02T20:13:00.000+10:00

Ok, so Dustin thinks blogging is a good way to keep in touch with what friends and family are doing. I agree to a certain extent but I must say I am weary of sharing my life with the wide world web... You could certainly call me a ultraconservativist when it comes to these kind of things... I don't even like giving my credit card details over the net let alone personal details about us and our lives we are living. But I am going to make an effort and try this blogging thing as I have read some of Tawnya's and Sharon's and I must say they bought tears to my eyes I was laughing so much reading some of it. (in a good way I promise) It was like getting a glimpse into the quirky ongoings in their lives... or as much as they are willing to share via the internet anyway... It makes us all seem so much more human... I think I like it...
Now if I could only work out how to post pictures on here so you could all meet Marley and see our house... feel free to give me step by step instructions as I think I am going to need them... otherwise I will be left to my own devises stumbling and whistling in the dark...
Cindy