Swandives

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070427/ap_en_mu/obit_pickett

Bobby Pickett, the guy who sang The Monster Mash, has died.

I love the Monster Mash, and according to the article above, even Bob Dylan is a fan. So it’s more than just my schlock music love.

Hahaha…I’m sorry. I’m watching the finale of the The Biggest Loser and I kid you not, they just introduced and applauded the scales!

ROFL!

That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen in ages.

Ah, those Chaser boys - you can’t take them anywhere

Spent today in a fascinating seminar about collaborative initiatives in education. Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales, gave the keynote speech and there was a lot to like about the entire day. But it was the Chaser’s Ten Questions directed at Mr Wales that really stole the show:

1. How are you enjoying Australia?
2. How do our computers compare to the ones in America?
3. Why does everyone in IT look so nerdy and yet you look like a daytime soap star?
4. Mac or PC? Do you really give a shit?
5. There are 1.7 million articles on Wikipedia. How long did it take you to write them all?
6. Craig Reucassel is a bit unhappy with the photo on his page. Could you upload, maybe, a better one for him?
7. My dog, he’s got this little scabs [? couldn't hear this] under his chin. I don’t know if you could recommend the number of the local vet?
8. Jessica Rowe and Peter Overton. Will it last?
9. Cracked pepper?
10. How do you feel about the fact that when I looked you up on Wikipedia this morning, I changed your page to say that you were a teenage drug lord from Malaysia?

It was funny because Jimmy was just about the only person who didn’t recognise Andrew Hansen so everybody cheered and applauded at the end, and poor Mr Wales thought we were all mad. I have a suspicion he thinks Aussies really are from another planet, because they also showed the classic advertisement about the rabbits in China which he didn’t get and had to have explained to him. I didn’t realise it was a cultural thing until today, although it’s fairly obvious when you think about it.
All that malarky overshadowed what was a really interesting presentation. And I found out that Wikia (the relatively new for-profit Wiki venture) has more than 12,000 articles about the Muppets! Now there’s a project after my own heart.

I notice the SMH has an article about the Chaser gag online at the moment. Boy, they’re the flavour of the month aren’t they? It’s great to see an ABC show getting that kinda attention.

Apart from being the world’s dumbest moniker evar, Web 2.0 has people buzzing around the web likes bees on speed.

Everybody’s trying to get in on the next-best Web 2.0 application, thereby proving (supposedly) that they’re hip and with it and ahead of the curve. I’ve been sucked into it all over the last few days and I have to say, I am over it. Big time. And the worse bit is how insidiously you can be taken in. So far I have:

• Finally bowed to pressure and signed up to Linked In.
• Downloaded a Firefox plugin called ScribeFire so I can supposedly cut and paste things to post here. Having used it, I can say it’s just as easy to open a new window or tab, and post that way.
• Joined in on a blogging experiment at work (I don’t have the heart to tell them that blogging is already passe). I am using a newer version of WordPress tho, which is kinda cool.
• Purposely NOT signed up for Twitter, coz I think it’s a dumb idea for people with too much time on their hands. But man, it has some serious buzz going on right now.
• Claimed this blog on Technorati.

I think that’s quite enough for now; I’m crawling back into my hole to scowl at the world.

But before I do, here are some things I am loving (no, it’s not all moan, moan, moan):

• The new Silverchair album, which is AWESOME, and more than a bit Splitenz.
• The new QOTSA album, in which Mark Lanegan from The Screaming Trees does vocals for at least one track.
• The Gretski show (aka Big Brother) is back on the tele! More on this later.

The Sydney Harbour Tunnel will become cashless on July 8.

That’s it. I’m getting an e-tag. We drove through the cross city tunnel for the first time last week (or was it the week before?). Hadn’t done it before for two reasons:

• Hadn’t needed to
• Bit scared coz didn’t have an e-tag

I’ve been yammering about an getting e-tag for a while now. So now I’ll probably do it. Although, some perverse part of me hates being forced to do so, and I’m beginning to wonder if I should just take a stance.

Incidentally, I’m also fiddling with some Firefox blogging plugin. Personally, I think it’s all a waste of time, but hey, you can’t diss it til ya try it. And it could end up like this blogging malarky, where I start off all bitter and twisted and actually find the whole process frees me up as a writer and provides a much needed outlet for venting.

Powered by ScribeFire.

In the past four days, I have run 27 kms. I’m rather proud of myself, truth be told. And while today’s sojourn was a more tortoise than hare, yesterday’s run was one of my best: I ran 10.15 km in 76 mins 47 seconds! Sometimes it just all comes together.

Plus, it helps when your husband is pushing you; he made me run my 9th km in 6.5 min, which is practically a sprint for me. Actually, I’m surprised I’m not sprawled on the floor in a jellified heap. I must be getting fit or something.

OK, so it doesn’t actually work, but hey, I got Yoda. And it only took me three attempts;-)

Last year, I wrote briefly about the brillance of Kate Miller-Heidke and the very, very funny Australian Idol song. Well, she performed it on RockWiz and it’s on YouTube! Gosh, I love YouTube.

Yay! I have been industriously adding to my blogroll for a while now and I’d like to welcome the following lovely people.

Marrickville Princess
and
Linda and Mark

Some time ago I also added Dietgirl to the list. She’s a bit of a blogging legend and I don’t know her, but her blog is simply awesome and she’s a lovely writer. I can’t recommend the site highly enough. Aussie girl living in Scotland and, as the name suggests, the blog is all about losing weight and lifestyle. I have never met Shauna, but her blog entries are so funny (and true!) that I kinda feel we could be friends if we ever met (which, now that I look at it, sounds a bit weird and stalkerish but is not what I meant at all…just that it’s a rare, rare thing on the internet these days, with the growing undercurrent (or should I say torrent) of flaming and hatred). Anyhoo, I’ve been meaning to post about it since I added the link, and have only just got around to it.

Just a quick note to say that Lou Rhodes was wonderful last night. A unique voice. Her new songs are delicate and gorgeous. And she did an acoustic version of my favourite song, Gabriel. Ahhhh.

She performed at The Factory in Enmore, which is a great venue if you ever get a chance to go there. Everybody sat on couches or the floor, a few of us stood up towards the back. Very laid back and chilled and civilised.