Leviathan

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:09:06 GMT

A really big update this time - in an abbreviated form! As has always been my practice, a book or movie I have previously read or watched is marked with a *.

DVDs/Videos/DVDRs Watched                           Eating Establishments Patronised

300                                                                      Beach Club - Docklands
8 Mile                                                                   Cafe Koula - High St Northcote
*Akira                                                                   CocoInc - High St Northcote
*Blackhawk Down                                             Curry Masala - High St Northcote
*Doctor Who - Castrovalva                               DD's Cafe - High St Reservoir
*Doctor Who - Logopolis                                  Debonair House - High St Northcote
*Drugstore Cowboy                                           Greensborough Hotel Bistro
*Gangs Of New York                                          Halal Kebab - High St Northcote
Ghost Rider                                                         La Piazza - Northland
Hannibal Rising                                                 Mesh - Crown Towers Hotel
Happy Feet                                                          Mikoshi - St. Kilda
Highlander - The Source                                  NiKo - Oakleigh
The Invincible Iron Man                                     Open Studio - High St Northcote
*The Iron Giant                                                    Otsumami - High St Northcote
La Femme Nikita Season Five                      Palomino - High St Northcote
*Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome                    Pancake Parlour - Chadstone
Marie Antionette                                                  Sagi - High St Northcote
Munich                                                                 Summerhill Bistro - Preston
Revelation Of The Daleks                                Topelz - Chapel St
Sacrifice                                                              Wesley Anne - High St Northcote
*Superman Returns
Torchwood Season One
*The Untouchables
Weeds Season Two
Wrestlemania I
Wrestlemanis XXIII

Books Finished:

The Future Eaters by Tim Flannery
Illicit by Moises Naim
The Keys Of This Blood by Malachi Martin
*The King In Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
Licence renewed by John Gardner
Lords Of The Rings by Andrew Jennings
Memoirs - George Kennan
The Prehistory Of European Society by Gordon Childe
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
*They Were White And They Were Slaves by Michael Hoffmann
The Trial Of Socrates by I.F. Stone
The Way Of A Warrior by John F. Gilbey

Plenty of great stuff listed on Ebay.

Music and Culture

Went to see the Moomba fireworks at Birrabongbong Mama (or whatever it is called).
Got dressed up in a silly costume to help kids paint eggs as part of the High St Easter promotion.
Saw Killing Heidi playing a very chilly gig down at Docklands for the launch of the Melbourne-Osaka boat race.
Had a great St. Patrick's Day including a very swank all-we-could-eat seafood buffet at the Crown Towers hotel for the Ebay powersellers' get-together.
Have seen some comedy acts as part of the International Comedy Festival at the Northcote Town Hall.

Bars frequented

303 - 303 High Street Northcote.
Bar Nancy - 61 High Street Westgarth.
Celtic Club - Queen Street Melbourne.
Debonair House - High Street Northcote.
Open Studio - 196 High Street Northcote.
Sagi - 57 High Street Northcote.

Quote:

"Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules, and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting."
George Orwell

2 words: Girlfriend!!!

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 03:50:28 GMT

I made one New Year's Resolution for 2007 - I was going to get a girlfriend this year. And amazingly I have pulled it off. I fully recommend it to every other blogger out there.
Unfortunately she has a real hang-up about me being self reliant. If I want her to be my Mum and wash my clothes and drive me around places, that's fine, or I can choose to be her boyfriend and have plenty of sex. Hard choice really.

My shipment of sheet-music finally arrived, so there are numerous new items (plus other stuff as well listed on Ebay.

Music and Culture

There is a fantastic Thai Buddhist art display at Synergy Gallery at the moment, I attended the opening night and despite the heat it was most enlightening.

I saw the Nervous Pilots play at the Great Britain Hotel over in Richmond last weekend, which was a nice change of pace.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Cafe Ambro - Northland Shopping Center
Cafe Koula - Northcote
Curry Cafe - Westgarth
Curry Masala - Northcote
i Saluti - Northcote
DB Noodle Bar - Melbourne CBD
DD's Cafe - Reservoir
Debonair House - Northcote
Halal Kebab - Northcote
Inthanon Thai - Northcote
Nando's - Northland Shopping Center
Palomino - Northcote
Pizza Mein Liebe - Northcote

Books Finished Recently:

Vale - The Illuminati and it's Plans for the Future by Adrian Krieg.
Mostly a racist rant blaming the Jews for everything from environmentalism to homosexuality, there is a little bit of truth mixed in there somewhere.
Tulia by Nate Blackeslee.
A true-crime story about a crooked undercover policeman who fabricated evidence and had a large proportion of the black population of a small Texas town convicted of cocaine dealing despite a definate lack of evidence and procedural irregularities.
Unholy Messenger by Stephen Singular.
The life and times of the now unmasked Bind Torture Kill serial killer in Kansas. For thirty years he was a dedicated family man, active churchman and involved in local government and scouting, while secretly stalking and horribly mutilating entire families. Deciding to leave a documentary account to be found after his death, he was tripped up by modern technology and caught.
Birth Of The Chess Queen by Marilyn Yalom.
A historical study into how the modern Queen developed to it's current preeminent position on the board, largely through gains made while powerful women held sway in history.
Bobby Fischer Goes To War by xx
xx
The Descent by Jeff Long.
Sci-Fi/Horror novel about the discovery of a huge network of tunnels running deep below the Earth's surface, along with the amazing riches and horrific predators of such a realm.

DVDs/Videos/Div-X's Watched

*Millennium, Season 3
Frank Black wraps up his investigation of the Millennium Group while crossing swords with supernatural serial-killers.
*The Manchurian Candidate
The classic cold-war mind-control movie. A masterpiece.
Cocktail
A Bryan Brown/Tom Cruise romp about two loudmouth bartenders who aim to seduce rich women into marriage.
Steal This Film Part One
Documentary about how a group of extremely spotty Danish teenagers are able to freely help others pirate US movies and music while sheltering behind their sovereign country's antiquated legal code.
Weeds Season One
An impoverished suburban widow becomes a pot dealer among the hippocrits and repressed individuals of a suburban gated community.

Bars Scandalised Recently

303 - 303 High Street Northcote.
Bar Nancy - 61 High Street Westgarth.
Great Britain Hotel - Church Street Richmond.
Lord Barkly Hotel - Burgundy Street Heidelberg.
Northcote Social Club - 301 High Street Northcote.
Open Studio - 196 High Street Northcote.
Peacock Hotel - 200 High Street Northcote.

Quote:

"I don't use drugs; my dreams are frightening enough."

M C Escher

Lots of stuff

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 07:38:36 GMT

I've been busy doing good work to help out the community in my spare time, one or two days a week (which will continue for the next six months). The Collingwood Children's Farm is a pretty neat place, the children are allowed to run wild and the animals come out to watch them. It is next to the Abbotsford Convent Multi-Plex. Some pictures of animals will be spicing up the blog this entry.

Bah, I made my way out to Boronia (by public transport) and managed to make it back (barely) in order to attend the Ebay Power Sellers' monthly get-together. It was a fantastic BBQ, along with some complimentary garlic prawns and a dirty-joke telling session which was simply unbelievably (and unprintably) funny.

I completed a 2-day first aid course in Reservoir, which was interesting in that most of the things they taught us to do were quite different to the first aid course I did last year (everything has been changed apparently).

Ebay has slowed down noticeably, I am waiting on a big shipment to arrive. There are a few nick-nacks however. You can check it out here.

Music and Culture

The Three-Way concert at Sagi bar last Saturday was pretty impressive. Unfortunately I got hit with a case of the miseries (and a slightly upset stomache) and had to leave early.

I also made it to the open mic the week before, which was also pretty good.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Cafe Koula - Northcote
CocoInc - Northcote
Curry Masala - Northcote
i saluti - Northcote
DB Noodle Bar - Melbourne CBD
DD's Cafe - Reservoir
Debonair House - Northcote
Halal Kebab - Northcote
Madeleine's Bakery and Cake Shop - Diamond Creek
Masal Cafe Restaurant - Melbourne CBD
Otsumami - Northcote
Palomino - Northcote
Petty Sessions - Melbourne CBD
Reservoir Deli - Reservoir
Spudatoes - Westgarth
Wild Yak - Northcote

Books Finished Recently:

The Greatest Salesman In The World by Og Mandino.
Corny but popular tract on the way to become incredibly wealthy by giving your profits to charity. No, I don't understand either.
Asia In The Modern World by Claude Bliss.
A good look at the arts, culture and history of the major Asian nations, presented for a 1960s audience.
Sinister Forces 3: The Manson Secret by Peter Levenda.
The final of his epic examination of political witchcraft and occult murders in the modern American body politic. Linking serial killers and bizarre sects to mainstream organisations and individuals using a high level of scholarship and a healthy scepticism of much of the previously published material (much of it published by born-again nuts) these books are essential reading for crypto-historians.
The Irish Game by Matthew Heart.
Fascinating look at two famous art heists in Ireland and England, perpetrated years apart by the same thieves, and which ultimately led to the downfall of Irish gangster Martin 'The General' Cahill.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.
A dreadful 1930s version of Friends. Expatriates loll around drunk in Spain, breaking off engagements and waiting for cheques and wires of funds for some vague employment involving publishing or journalism. And they go to a bullfight.
The Cult Of Ivan The Terrible In Stalin's Russia by Mareen Perry.
The official 'rehabilitation' of certain historical figures, notably Ivan The Terrible and Peter The Great, during the reign of Josef Stalin presented very tricky opportunities to directors, historians and playwrights. While Stalin himself was a fan of both rulers (and modelled his own rule on theirs) everyone was very sensisitve not to make a film, book or play which might be seen as comparing him with these cruel historical tyrants.

Movies Watched

Apocalypto
Mel Gibson's latest homo-erotic epic. A primitive tribe of hunters are attacked, massacred and enslaved by their more 'civilized' neighbours to be used as human sacrifices. Eventually the last one left escapes into the jungle and kills his pursuers off one by one with clever jungle tricks. Very violent and entirely filmed in some ancient lingo, it is also full of images of tattoos, piercings which would make the average Chapel Street queer jealous, body paint and a few token females as well. But we all know what it's really about, don't we?

DVDs/Videos/Div-X's Watched

*Superman Returns
I liked it the second time around, a good trait for a movie.
Syriana
Entirely unremarkable George Clooney vehicle, only of interest due to it's lack of a coherent plot or direction.

Bars Scandalised Recently

303 - 303 High Street Northcote.
Bar Nancy - 61 High Street Westgarth.
Debonair House - High Street Northcote.
Sagi - 59 High Street Northcote.

Quote:

If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.

Muhammad Ali

Rituals of the New Year

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 00:01:01 GMT

So much of our lives are ritual. The secret is to fashion the ritual to benefit you. I have a new ritual - every few days I go down to the Northcote Aquatic Centre. I strip off my dirty, old, torn clothing (which I have plenty of) and throw it away, and when I leave put on something new or at least something clean and wearable. End result - my pile of clothing is becoming a lot smaller and I have been able to house it.

I've also been tidying up my living space. As it looks like I will be living here forever (my last attempt to share a rental house having died in it's sleep) I have been cleaning and tidying, dusting and mopping. Putting up pictures and throwing out dead objects. Soon it should look presentable.

Ebay has slowed down a bit (most of the graphic novels and music books I listed have sold) but when I get around to it I have lots more stuff to list. You can check it out here.

Music and Culture

I got down to see the gypsy band Tzigas on Sunday at 303, and they were really quite enjoyable (even though their fiddlers had all decided not to show). Scored one of their CDs also.

Brilliant art show at Synergy at the moment - comic book style and skateboard art (including some pieces on actual skateboards). Definately worth checking out!

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Curry Masala
Come natural disasters, wars, holidays, tsunamis and alien invasions, Curry Masala will be open and serving their delicious dishes.
Kaki
The frigid airconditioning got me in to the Japanese take-away next door, they do a very impressive bowl of noodles. Unfortunately they didn't provide a spoon so I couldn't finish the broth. But they do try hard.
Spudatoes
The nicest potato and juice bar in Westgarth is always worth a visit, if only to ogle the girls who work there. The food is nice however. I usually go for a vegie burger, but due to a market shortage I decided to have a 'bacon spud'!
Topelz
Nice pizza/pasta restaurant in Chapel Street. I forewent my usual veal schnitzel and had a delicious (small) pepperoni pizza and garlic bread.

Books Finished Recently:

Religion and the Rise of Capitalism by R. H. Tawney.
And interesting look at the struggle with usury from the middle ages until the reformation.
True Story by Michael Finkel.
A dishonest Jewish writer who admits he was caught making up news stories and fabricating tales of African child slaves is sacked by the New York Times. He promptly discovers that a Jehovah's Witness who has lapsed and murdered his family has gone to Mexico and stolen his identity for a week or so of freedom. They then start a correspondance and this book is the result. One for the true-crime fanatics.
*Black Moses by E. David Cronon
The Story of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association, details how the feisty Jamaican orator built a world-wide black liberation movement with huge plans to repatriate the Negros to their homeland, Africa. Fascinating reading.

DVDs/Videos/Div-X's Watched

*The Fellowship Of The Ring (extended)
The first volume of The Trilogy
*The Two Towers (extended)
Number Two.
*The Return Of The King (extended)
The big finale, Number Three.
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Nature documentary about a hippy in San Francisco who cares for the flocks of 'wild' parrots who flock to Telegraph Hill. Best moment - when he tearfully gives one of the birds to be taken to a refuge for birds with 'special needs'.
Mr. And Mrs. Smith
The beautiful people (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) are married in a fairytale relationship except that each is too busy killing for money to notice that the other is doing the same.
Torchwood (episodes 1-7)
This Doctor Who spin-off is definately adults-only. It has a couple of ho-hum episodes (including the first one) but there are some really good horror/sci-fi moments as well.
*Law And Order: Criminal Intent Season Three
Goren and Eames tackle master criminals, murderous doctors, drug-smuggling vets, sleepwalking killers etc. I am waiting eagerly for more seasons to come out on DVD.

Bars Scandalised Recently

303 - 303 High Street Northcote.
Bar Nancy - 61 High Street Westgarth.

Quote:

"I have always been fond of the West African proverb: Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."

Theodore Roosevelt

New Year - 2007

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 08:18:46 GMT

Well the New Year is here. I spend NYE at the Cowboys and Angels themed party down at Bar Nancy in Westgarth, and it was very enjoyable. There was a drinking game beforehand, and come NYE there were women running around grabbing and tongue-kissing anyone fortunate enough to be handy.

Music and Culture

Haven't made it to the movies yet although I was planning to. There doesn't seem too much to inspire me in this most recent batch. The nice artwork I bought from Synergy gallery (Lippozano Horses - an ink sketch) will be handed over on Wednesday which will be nice.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Curry Masala
My New Year's Eve dinner of choice - when I told the girls sitting next to me during the drinking game that I'd had a big dinner of curry during the drinking game, they suddenly stopped awarding me penalty drinks!. And they still have the $4 mixed drink cans on their menu (if you're lucky you get a tall one!)
Halal Kebab
The service there is great and the food is very nice.
Otsumami
Mmmmm delicious and quality Japanese food and the service is fantastic.

Books Finished Recently:

*The Christie File by Stuart Christie.
The memoirs of Britain's most notorious anarchist. Imprisoned in Spain in the 60s for smuggling some fireworks as a gift to General Franco, he later went on to be acquitted as being the ringleader of the so-called 'Angry Brigade' trial in the 70s. Recommended reading.
Fatal Treasure by Jedwin Smith.
A journalist recounts his collaboration with treasure-hunter and showman Mel Fisher diving for Spanish treasure off Florida, including the tragic deaths of several searchers.
The Road To Wigan Pier by George Orwell.
This examination of the miserable conditions of workers and the unemployed in the North of England soon becomes a polemic against the stupidities and ineffectualness of the bourgeoise left.

DVDs/Videos/Div-X's Watched

Superman Returns
I quite liked this film. Kevin Spacey makes a much more believable Lex Luthor than Gene Hackman IMO.
Howl's Moving Castle
Very well made anime, reminiscent of Spirited Away but definately one of the best animated features I've seen in a while.
The Sorceror's Apprentice
This Alfred Hitchcock short shows the gruesome outcome when a scheming wife tries to use an escaped mental patient to murder her husband, a circus magician.
Kung Fu Hustle
When the inhabitants of Pig Sty Alley are threatened by members of the dapper dressing Axe Gang, it is fortunate that several of the residents are retired kung-fu grandmasters.
The Bank
Decent Australian film about a naive mathematician developing software to predict the stock-market for a ruthless bank which is busy foreclosing on people tricked into unsafe loans.
Prince Of Darkness
John Carpenter's classic horror-flick. When an old monk dies, it is discovered that he was the guardian of an ancient secret, a bizarre flask which affects physics and may provide a gateway for the anti-Christ to physically enter the Earth. A group of students set up at the abandoned Church to study the phenomena, but are soon cut off by an army of mindless homeless vagrants and insects.
The Sign Of Four
Sherlock Holmes tackles the puzzling case of a one-legged murderer on the run who is murdering his former collaborators to find the jewels they promised to share with him.
A Study In Scarlet
Sherlock Holmes battles wits with the organiser of a criminal syndicate whose members are being methodically murdered.

Bars Scandalised Recently

303 - 303 High Street Northcote.
Bar Nancy - 61 High Street Westgarth.
Northcote Social Club - 31 High Street Northcote.
Open Studio - 196 High Street Northcote.

Quote:

"Singularity is almost invariably a clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more difficult is it to bring it home."
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Mon, 25 Dec 2006 01:28:19 GMT

Merry Christmas to those who believe in such things. I'm spending this year mostly just watching DVDs.

Music and Culture

There was a brass band playing the other night at Open Studio which was a nice surprise - it is the sort of place where things like that can just happen.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Bedda
Managed to get a table at Bedda for the first time in a while, and I had a delicious fish and couscous dish.
Beker's Steakhouse
Amazingly huge steaks and nice salad bar.
CocoInc
Had some Eggs Benedict for breakfast there yesterday and the service is great.
Curry Masala
Mmmmmmmm. And they still have the $4 mixed drink cans on their menu (if you're lucky you get a tall one!)
Halal Kebab
The service there is great and the food is very nice.
Northcote RSL
The lamb chop with blackcurrant sauce I had there the other day was divine!
Otsumami
Convenience, atmosphere, friendly staff and great food. Just a pity it isn't cheaper.
Wesley Anne
The food is good, unfortunately nowadays the place is always packed full of noisy idiots.

Books Finished Recently:

A General History of the Pyrates by Daniel Defoe (?)
Long attributed to Daniel Defoe, some recent historians have disputed this quite well. Whoever the author was, the accounts of the murderous pirates and buccaneers is a standard reference work to this day.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam
Truly beautiful Persian poetry. I've never understood how verses written in another language then translated still seem to rhyme.
Howard Hughes - The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters by Richard Hack.
Although it seems to have a few minor errors I picked up, with HRH it is always hard to decide who is correct, who has an agenda and who is just making things up.

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

Dressed To Kill
Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes attempts to solve the puzzle of the gang of murderous criminals stealing music-boxes.
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
Transplanted to London during the Blitz, Holmes and Watson must foil evil German spies trying to kidnap a scientist, aided by the immortal Professor Moriaty
The Speckled Band
The classic Sherlock Holmes investigation. The bizarre behaviour of a rich country gentleman frightens his step-daughter into going to the great detective for assistance.
Rich And Strange
Hitchcock 'travel movie' about a married couple who inherit money and decide to go on a cruise, leading to disaster, unfaithfullness and nearly destroying their marriage and happiness.
Unleashed
Bob Hoskins and Jet Li make a great team as the cockney gangster (in Glasgow for some reason) who has raised the young boy into a conditioned attack dog controlled with a collar. But when he meets a blind black piano-tuner (Morgan Freeman) he breaks his conditioning and starts trying to live a normal life.
*Another Day In Paradise
Classic James Wood favourite about a pair of young punks who come under the tutelage of an older, more experienced junkie criminal.
House Of Wax
Good formula horror film. If you fast-forward it to the 65 minute mark, you can watch Paris Hilton do a strip-tease for a black guy and then die horribly at the hands of a maniac.
Terror By Night
Sherlock Holmes flick involving the theft of a diamond on an overnight train, a coffin with a false bottom and the insidious Colonel Moran and his silent but deadly airgun.
The Woman In Green
Sherlock Holmes mystery where the detective is pitted against the evil Professor Moriaty and an equally evil hypnotist involved in a scheme to murder streetwalkers and blackmail a hypnotised lord.
Murder In The Baskervilles
Very unworthy addition to the Holmes Canon, as Holmes and Watson become involved in a near-farcical horse theft before a big race.
The Island
Euan McGregor stars in this futuristic sci-fi thriller about a
The Curse
Christina Ricci goes Werewolf in this B-Grade Horror Flick.
House Of 1000 Corpses
Rather good splatter-horror movie, obviously based on Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 but with a lot more humor.
*King Kong
The Big Ape is a great three hours' entertainment.

Bars Scandalised Recently

303 - 303 High Street Northcote.
Bar Nancy - 61 High Street Westgarth.
Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Northcote RSL - High Street Northcote.
Open Studio - 196 High Street Northcote.
Sagi - 57 High Street Westgarth.

Quote:

"Men of integrity, by their very existence, rekindle the belief that as a people we can live above the level of moral squalor. We need that belief; a cynical community is a corrupt community."
John W. Gardner

New Computer

Mon, 25 Dec 2006 01:02:00 GMT

I have finally got myself a new computer. For those technically minded out there, it is an ASUSmotherboard with a Pentium D 2.8g CPU and 1 Gig of ram plus a 150 Gig HD. It is so much faster than the old machine I can play games I could barely get to run before in the background while I run other applications and flit between them all!

The Ebay auctions have been keeping me busy. I won't be losing my PowerSeller status any time soon.

It has been hot, hot and hotter. Smoke has blanketed Melbourne several times. It's even been on the weather reports. And apparently 80% of the imbeciles calling the fire brigade are calling to let them know that they can see smoke (!).

Being 'that time of the year' I have attended a few BBQs (the local traders had one, some friends had another) and on Saturday (which was about the hottest day in the history of the world) poor Daryl (the minister at the Chalice church a few doors from me) was running their BBQ and getting all sorts of queries about total fire bans etc.

I have also rediscovered the joys of the Northcote Aquatic Centre's Sauna, Spa and Steam Room. An hour is well spent there getting re-energised and cleaned all at the same time.

Have also been playing some chess on gameknot.com - the players there are so weak! My rating is already around 1500.

Music and Culture

Have been pretty darn busy with mail-order fullfillment so I haven't got much. I did purchase a couple of items (a sketch and a nice ring) from the Synergy Gallery members' show. A couple of my daubings are on offer but I'm not expecting too much interest.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Beker's Steakhouse
CocoInc
Limestone has changed name (and maybe management - I'm not sure) but the food is still great and the wine is always well picked.
Had a medium-rare rump steak to help me fight off a minor cold I picked up somewhere.
Curry Masala
Mmmmmmmm. And they still have the $4 mixed drink cans on their menu (if you're lucky you get a tall one!)
Otsumami
Convenience, atmosphere, friendly staff and great food. Just a pity it isn't cheaper.
Palomino
I generally have breakfast here on Sunday mornings, a croissant and some crumpets for instance.
Wild Yak
Their chicken and vegetable soup is divine, the momos are always good and I tried the garlic chicken for the first time - and it won't be the last.

Books Finished Recently:

A General History of the Pyrates by Daniel Defoe (?)
Long attributed to Daniel Defoe, some recent historians have disputed this quite well. Whoever the author was, the accounts of the murderous pirates and buccaneers is a standard reference work to this day.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam
Truly beautiful Persian poetry. I've never understood how verses written in another language then translated still seem to rhyme.
Howard Hughes - The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters by Richard Hack.
Although it seems to have a few minor errors I picked up, with HRH it is always hard to decide who is correct, who has an agenda and who is just making things up.

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

Dressed To Kill
Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes attempts to solve the puzzle of the gang of murderous criminals stealing music-boxes.
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
Transplanted to London during the Blitz, Holmes and Watson must foil evil German spies trying to kidnap a scientist, aided by the immortal Professor Moriaty
The Speckled Band
The classic Sherlock Holmes investigation. The bizarre behaviour of a rich country gentleman frightens his step-daughter into going to the great detective for assistance.
Rich And Strange
Hitchcock 'travel movie' about a married couple who inherit money and decide to go on a cruise, leading to disaster, unfaithfullness and nearly destroying their marriage and happiness.
Unleashed
Bob Hoskins and Jet Li make a great team as the cockney gangster (in Glasgow for some reason) who has raised the young boy into a conditioned attack dog controlled with a collar. But when he meets a blind black piano-tuner (Morgan Freeman) he breaks his conditioning and starts trying to live a normal life.
*Another Day In Paradise
Classic James Wood favourite about a pair of young punks who come under the tutelage of an older, more experienced junkie criminal.
House Of Wax
Good formula horror film. If you fast-forward it to the 65 minute mark, you can watch Paris Hilton do a strip-tease for a black guy and then die horribly at the hands of a maniac.
Terror By Night
Sherlock Holmes flick involving the theft of a diamond on an overnight train, a coffin with a false bottom and the insidious Colonel Moran and his silent but deadly airgun.
The Woman In Green
Sherlock Holmes mystery where the detective is pitted against the evil Professor Moriaty and an equally evil hypnotist involved in a scheme to murder streetwalkers and blackmail a hypnotised lord.
Murder In The Baskervilles
Very unworthy addition to the Holmes Canon, as Holmes and Watson become involved in a near-farcical horse theft before a big race.
The Island
Euan McGregor stars in this futuristic sci-fi thriller about a
The Curse
Christina Ricci goes Werewolf in this B-Grade Horror Flick.
House Of 1000 Corpses
Rather good splatter-horror movie, obviously based on Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 but with a lot more humor.
*King Kong
The Big Ape is a great three hours' entertainment.

Bars Scandalised Recently

303
Bar Nancy - 61 High Street Westgarth.
Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Northcote RSL - High Street Northcote.
Open Studio - 196 High Street Northcote.
Sagi - 57 High Street Westgarth.

Quote:

"Men of integrity, by their very existence, rekindle the belief that as a people we can live above the level of moral squalor. We need that belief; a cynical community is a corrupt community."
John W. Gardner

Divorced!

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 02:05:10 GMT

I have made a momentous decision. I have decided to leave my family. I think the final straw came the other evening when I was having a quiet drink in a city bar and some nutter was trying to start a fight with me. He was staring at me and telling me he could tell I was afraid of him. Meanwhile my idiot father was sitting there barracking for him and buying him drinks, literally too stupid to understand what was happening. I have tried for many years to be polite to him, understanding of his stupidity and ignore the constant mean behaviour and insults he likes to heap on me any time there is a third party present. I don't want him as a father and he obviously doesn't want me as a son. He has one other son left, who he obviously prefers to me even though he is a high school dropout, shiftless scrounger. He doesn't treat him the same way as he chooses to treat me, they deserve each other.

Obviously I won't be going to their family Christmas later this month, I will leave it to my ex-father to explain to my borderline brain-dead mother why I'm not there. I will have to ring my Grandmother I suppose, she is the only member of that family I feel any real attachment to. This came to a head just before my Grandfather passed away a few years ago and I was unable to even talk to him for thirty seconds without my rude little bastard of an (ex) brother interrupting me (a habit he learned from his father), and then my (ex) mother deciding that we would have to return to Melbourne (after coming all the way to Rosebud at great inconvenience) because 'Grandma Can't Cope'. My Grandfather died not long after - without me being able to see him or speak to him. And now she wonders why I won't go all the way down there to visit her (!).

The Ebay auctions are up like rockets. Lots of Graphic Novels and RPG rulebooks.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Beker's Steakhouse
Had a nice big T-bone steak with various meat accoutrements.
Curry Cafe
The tandoori platter is listed as an entree but is one of the best mains they have IMO.
Curry Masala
The Goan Fish Curry always goes down well (and stays down!).
Halal Kebab
Nice little place in Northcote did me a quite respectable mixed grill and the service was very friendly.
Idea
The barramundi was delicious, as was everything else.
Limestone Cafe
It is always hit or miss whether what you want from the menu is available at Limestone, but I was able to get a nice steak even if they were out of oysters.
Otsumami
Have been eating here fairly regularly. A little pricey but very nice.
Palomino
Had a very nice beans on toast with fetta cheese for breakfast.
Pizza Farro
New place in Thornbury. Pizza was nice, decor was interesting but the service could have been more attentive.

Books Finished Recently:

Song Of Cthulhu
An anthology of Mythos fiction involving music or sound. Some better than others.
One Foot In Atlantis: The Secret Occult History of World War II and it's impact on New Age politics by William Henry.
While the Nazi leadership's occult beliefs and practices have been scrutinised to death, this book takes a welcome look at some of the strange beliefs of the Allied governments (which would culminate in a US Government expedition to Mongolia in the 30s attempting to locate the reincarnated Jesus Christ).
The Pirates Lafitte: The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf by William C. Davis
Wonderful account of the historical pirates Jean Lafitte and his older brother Pierre. Skullduggery, double-dealing, oath-breaking, slave-stealing etc. etc. is all documented against the tableu of the early nineteenth century and the slow death of piracy.
Founding Fathers, Secret Societies: Freemasons, Illuminati, Rosicrucians and the decoding of the Great Seal by Robert Hieronimus and Laura Cortner.
Was the Great Seal of the United States designed by occultists as a talisman to bring about the Age of Aquarius, and was the addition of the seal's reverse (the infamous eye-in-the-pyramid) to the back of US currency what caused the new-age movement?
A Pound Of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict by John Baxter.
Very entertaining and readable autobiography about a career and life centered around books and the individuals they attract.
The Perfect Assassin: Lee Harvey Oswald, The CIA and Mind Control by Jerry Leonard.
Was Oswald a programmed killer with multiple opposing personalities which might explain so many of the apparent contradictions in his activities and beliefs? The author seems to think so - apparently the creation of such individuals is the apex of mind control research in the 60s.
Howard Hughes Aviator by George J Marrett.
A fairly uncontroversial book about HRH's flying feats and his numerous innovations and inventions.
Sniper by Sari Horwitz and Michael Ruane.
Formula true crime account of the Washington snipers. Amazing was just how stupid the police and the bystanders were. The first victim was shot dead while mowing the lawn - idiot bystanders called 911 and told them his lawnmover had somehow blown up and killed him. Later a woman reading a magazine on a park bench was shot dead - some old fool rang 911 and told them a woman had just shot herself dead. Eventually they realised that people were being shot at random. When the snipers left a calling card wanting to establish communications (with a view to getting a ransom) and making it clear it wasn't to be shown to the media, it was immediately leaked to the media and they shot a bunch more people out of anger.
The Italian Boy by Sarah Wise.
Great historical true-crime account. The murder by body-snatchers of an 'Italian Boy' - a professional beggar/busker bought as a child from a poor family in Italy and sent to London to earn money for a syndicate - came shortly after the Burke-Hare case in Edinburgh and led to the passage of the Anatomy Act to prevent such outrages.
The Hoax by Clifford Irving
Despicable talentless Jewish hack writer who, disatisfied with his lifestyle of alternating a houseboat in France with a villa in California, decides to swindle his publisher by making the ridiculous claim that Howard Hughes had secretly contacted him and they had written his autobiography. Of course a few words from the great HRH (albeit over a remote control radio linkage) to a panel of journalists was enough to sink his story and send him and his complicit wife (and a fellow conspirator/'researcher') to prison for their fraud.

Music and Culture

My major achievement during this period is being crowned the Paper Aeroplane Champion of Northcote. At the charity trivia night held at the Uniting Church last week I was the winner (of the paper aeroplane throwing contest). I am still waiting for the CNN van to pull up out the front.

Also the Christmas Charity Bells BBQ was good - a few years ago the traders association bought these fibreglass Christmas bells to hang off the power lines. Unfortunately a few came loose and damaged cars underneath, and the killjoys at the council wouldn't let them be hung up any more. So now we (mostly me in fact) dragged them out to area schools and the kiddies decorated them up and brought them back. We drilled holes in them and they are going to be put into shop windows to attract coins from members of the public. The proceeds will go towards buying Christmas hampers for poor families.

Have seen a few bands. Jim Green and friends at 303 were great.

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

My Name Is Earl Season One
I thought this show was hilarious - and very spiritual too (in a very down to earth fashion). I don't know why so many people have told me they couldn't 'get into it' or just didn't like it.
*Blue Murder
The old ABC docu-drama about corrupt police and crooks in NSW.
*Hannibal
One of my all time favourites.
Casino Royale (bootleg)
No wonder they are so angry about this reasonable quality bootleg being available on the net - it shows just how crappy the real thing is. Bond beats up black people for the first half of the movie, then what passes for a plot kicks in and he has to try and out-bluff what passes for a Bond villain (an Eastern-European guy with a scar on his eyebrow who is good at poker). Doesn't seem to have anything to do with the book of the same name or the earlier Casino Royale movie as far as I can tell.

Bars Scandalised Recently

303 - 303 High Street Northcote.
Bar Nancy - 61 High Street Westgarth.
Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Limestone Cafe - High Street Northcote
Northcote Social Club - 301 High Street Northcote.
Open Studio - 196 High Street Northcote.
ReVault - RMIT Swanston Street.
Sagi - 57 High Street Westgarth.

Quote:

"For your benefit, learn from our tragedy. It is not a written law that the next victims must be Jews."

Simon Wiesenthal

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 05:31:10 GMT

(Another) big update here - seem to have worked out my problems with Australia Post thanks to my incredible phone manner and some whopping great lies working really well. I now have a personal contact manager with a nice voice at Australia Post who sends me brochures and invoices.

The Ebay auctions are going gang-bangers. Lots of Graphic Novels and RPG rulebooks.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Curry Masala
Had a very nice Chilli Lamb dish with various accoutrements. The $4 cans of Woodstock Bourbon are pretty good value also. It is hard to eat slowly so you can get plenty of bourbon down before you leave, but I made an effort.
Louis and Franko's.
Had a nice Veal Schnitzel and salad. House wine is always fine.
Otsumami.
Have been eating here fairly regularly. A little pricey but very nice.
Spudatoes.
A nice healthy alternative to the other cafes in Westgarth.
Wild Yak.
When my karma feels a little flat I always head to the Wild Yak.

Books Finished Recently:

On Writing by Stephen King.
The pre-eminent horror writer's very readable part writer's biography and part how to and how not to guide to the fiction writing marketplace.
Tacoma Confidential by Paul LaRosa. The true story of a small town policeman who murdered his wife before committing suicide, and the incompetent and corrupt political system that allowed him to.
Foreign Devils On The Silk Road by Peter Hopkirk.
A look at the nineteenth centuries scholar/explorer/looter fraternity and their activities in China and along the 'Silk Road', where the desert climate has resulted in significant finds of ancient parchements and artifacts as well as sensational numbers of forgeries.
Hells Angel: Howard Hughes by Darwin Porter.
A massive book, detailing HRH's supposed bisexual and kinky activities from childhood to old age.
Stalin's Last Crime by Jonathan Brent, Vladimir Naumov.
This re-examination of the 'Jewish Doctor's Plot' is a good one, not taking for granted that it was mere anti-semitic hysteria but examining a number of suspicious deaths of top Soviet officials under medical care.
The Pirate Hunter: The Real Captain Kidd by Richard Zacks.
Poor Captain Kidd. Just an honest New York Scotsman trying to earn a few pounds for his backers and ending up dangling on a rope in London for the crimes of his crew (according to him).
Art And Beauty in the Middle Ages by Umberto Eco.
An intersting look at the transition from classical beliefs about beauty to more Christian concepts which would rule until the Rennaisance.

Music and Culture

New CDs listened to:
Restrospective: The Best Of Suzanne Vega.

Went to the Open Mic night at Sagi a couple of times - it really varies but there are a few quite good performers.

Open Mic night at Bender Bar has been generally good but it is really unpredicable what sort of crowd will turn up.

Went to The Devil's Workshop comedy night at Bender Bar last Friday - the funniest thing was that I didn't have to pay $5 to get in.

Player some Horror-Clicks at Alternate Worlds - is a very fun game. Unlike other miniatures games there is incentive to get the game moving - victims who run around until your monsters can tag them and 'power up'.

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

*I, Robot.
Will Smith didn't crack too many jokes, saving this sci-fi social introspective.
Zoolander.
Very funny look at the male modelling world and how it's dumbest member is brainwashed by the evil mastermind Mogatu to be a mind-controlled assassin.
*Hamlet (Mel Gibson).
I like this version of Hamlet.
Hamlet (Olivier). A real masterpiece - it still translates well and they all take it so seriously.
*Baron Munchausen.
Terry Gilliam's escapist drama.
*Mission Impossible.
Tom Cruise's action-thriller is still the best of the Mission Impossibles.
*The Inspector General.
Danny Kaye stars in this wonderful comedy about a tramp mistaken for an undercover government official by corrupt provincial officials.
Trojan Warrior.
Small budget Melbourne kung-fu flick works remarkably well. Stan Longinidis rides his motorcycle around and kicks various bad-guys.
Siddhartha.
Fantastic camerawork but the book's message doesn't translate well to screen IMO.
The Brothers Grimm.
Silly horror/action movie starring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger as two crooked treasure-hunters who pretend to defeat supernatural villains but are soon pitted against a real one.
X-Men: The Last Stand.
Bringing more aspects of the X-Men's world to this final in the trilogy becomes awkward but the SFX (which is what we watch these things for) are pretty nifty.

Bars Scandalised Recently

Bar Nancy - 61 High Street Westgarth.
Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Northcote Social Club - 301 High Street Northcote.
Open Studio - 196 High Street Northcote.
Sagi - 57 High Street Westgarth.

Quote:

"Write out of love, write out of instinct, write out of reason. But always for money."

Loius Untermeyer

The Big Update

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 22:07:00 GMT

A big update here - have been having a nervous breakdown due to Australia Post harrassing me about underpaid postal items (alleged). Things are starting to get back on an even keel however.

The Ebay auctions are starting to get interesting.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Curry Masala
Have eaten there a couple of times in the period covered, and they haven't missed a trick.
Fu Tu.
Nice little Chinese in Thornbury. Unfortunately they are more geared to take-aways - which are excellent.
Louis and Franko's.
Delicious pizzas and friendly service.
Northcote Social Club.
Very agreeable and reasonably priced pub food.
Open Studio.
Had a delicious asparagus soup. Recommended for atmosphere and price.
Otsumami.
The new Japanese restaurant a couple of doors South of me is fantastic. Traditional Japanese teas and very nice food, good decor and excellent service. It is a must-visit for gourmets and Nipponophiles.

Books Finished Recently:

Ireland And The British Empire by Kevin Kenny. Interesting series of essays showing the Irish were simultaneously the test-drive for Empire as well as the prime colonialists and Imperial enforcers.
*The Assassination Bureau Ltd. by Jack London. A personal favourite.
Witch by Glen Puit. The 'True Story of Las Vegas' Most Notorious Female Killer' is a fair beat-up. Her witchcraft was a footnote if that (she denied being a witchcraft practioner of any stripe although her father was apparently a practicing Satanic witch). Essentially the story of a woman who stuffed her dead mother in a storage locker and stole her welfare payments.
The Men Behind The Sweaters by Conor Murray. A great biography and chronicle of The Clancy Brothers from their beginnings up to the 1990s.
A Gravity's Rainbow Companion Steven Weisenberger. While aimed partly at people (Americans) who know nothing about London or the 1940s, there are enough interersting twists and interpretations of Pynchon's masterpiece to inspire me to read it (and this book) again in the near future.
Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Over-rated IMO, a bographically-inspired novel of a mentally deluded former prisoner of war who believes he is being abducted by aliens.
A Beautiful Madness by Patty Duke. The US actresses' chronicle of her battle with bi-polar disorder and her varied career and experiences.
Baby Be Mine by Diane Fanning. Shlock true-crime book highlighting the disturbed woman who murdered an online friend and stole her unborn child, claiming it as her own. Padded out with similar accounts from around the US and some unrelated crimes as well.

Music and Culture

New CDs listened to:

Delirium - Capercaillie
Get Out - Capercaillie
Secret People - Capercaillie
Sidewaulk - Capercaillie
30 Songs Of Ireland - The Clancy Brothers
In Play - Liz Carroll & John Doyle

I was lucky to catch Japanese band Tengu give a performance at Open Studio - over here for the Fringe Festival they did a full set for us.

Open Mic at Bender Bar was good. Poor Toni started crying when she told us that she went with her 8 year old cousin to show-and-tell at school. Her little cousin played a song on her harmonica and at playtime the other kids beat her up and split her lip - resulting in all sorts of drama and withdrawing her from the school (tempoarily I think).

Movies Seen Recently:

The Departed. Excellent all-star cast loosely based on the shenanigans of the Boston cops and gangsters of the 1980s and 1990s.

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

Der Ewige Jude. German propoganda film 'The Wandering Jew'. Historical footage and some wickedly hilarious skits.
*The Frighteners. Michael J Fox as haunted ghost-buster.
*Highlander Endgame. Am still waiting for The Source to come out on video, so watched Endgame again.

Bars Scandalised Recently

Bar Nancy - High Street Westgarth.
Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Northcote Social Club - High Street Northcote.
Open Studio - High Street Northcote.

Quote:

"This is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever."

Sigmund Freud about the Irish

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 04:26:01 GMT

Well father has gone to a health retreat out in the country, for the good of his liver. As a result I have been minding the family estate, draining the family cellars etc.

The Ebay auctions are humming along niceley.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Spudatoes
Last Sunday I had a nice chili concarne spud and a juice down in Westgarth.
Northcote Social Club.
I decided to try the Monday special - a burger, chips and pot for $10 and it was most agreeable.
Curry Masala
I decided to try the Mussels Masala with some narn breads and rice to send it down with. They also have a special at the moment - $4 UDL and mixed drink cans!

Books Finished Recently:

The Loneliness Of The Long-Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe.
An excellent set of short stories highlighting the grime and poverty of working-class Britain.

A Pirate Of Exquisite Mind: The Life of William Dampier: Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer by Diana Preston and Michael Preston.
A very interesting book about pirate, explorer and naturalist William Dampier and his various exploits and expeditions.

How Beautiful Are Thy Feet by Alan Marshall.
A follow-up to I Can Jump Puddles, HBATF finds the loosely biographical crippled accountant working in a failing shoe-factory in Collingwood in the 30's.

The Bruneval Raid by George Miller.
A fascinating account of the race between British and German scientists to perfect their radar systems and the commando action taken by the British scientists to snatch a radar station from the French coast.

Music and Culture

Fringe fringe fringe!

I went to see the play Apple + Charlie at Wesley Anne on Thursday night. It was good, they had re-arranged the seating from last year which was a lot more comfortable.

I also saw the play Hunting With The Colonel at the Black Lung Theatre (which is at the back of the Lupa gallery I used to be neighbours with). It was a very funny mostly one-man show about a deranged old digger who hates everyone and wants to murder his grandchildren - his only friends a collection of beer bottles.

I went to the open mic night at Bender Bar and it was very quiet, few of the regulars were there.
I also went to the open mic night at Sagi down in Westgarth, held on Sunday evenings. While it was a little uninspiring I don't contribute so I can't complain.

Movies Seen Recently:

Macbeth. Although a lot of people didn't like this modern gangland version of the Scottish Play, I can't see why. The imagery and acting were stunning. I don't recall there being any sex-orgies in the original but Geoffry Wright put one in anyway - seeing as the three witches were portrayed as three hot schoolgirls who could blame him?

Tsotsi. Good South African movie about an amoral street-kid who jacks a car with a baby in it and decides to try to look after it - as the soon find out he is trying to get a substitute for the childhood he never had.

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

*Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
*Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets
*Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban
*Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire
The Rockford Files season 2. The ex-con con-man PI returns for the second season. Also included was the pilot episode, which was vintage Rockford except that a different actor was playing his dad, Rocky.

Bars Scandalised Recently

Bar 303 - High Street Northcote.
Bar Nancy - High Street Westgarth.
Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Open Studio - High Street Northcote.
Sagi - High Street Westgarth.
Wesley Anne - High Street Northcote.

Quote:
Sympathy constitutes friendship; but in love there is a sort of antipathy, or opposing passion. Each strives to be the other, and both together make up one whole.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Intentionally left blank

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 23:40:30 GMT

The Ebay auctions have picked up thanks to all the new roleplaying books and DVD box sets I have been flogging. At least I made the cut for powerseller for September - and I can even pay my rent this month!

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

BBQ Restaurant
Nice Chinese/Japanese restaurant in Bourke Street. A little cramped (like they all are) but the food was a heck of a lot better than I expected and the service was quite adequate.
Curry Cafe.
After the festival I took what was left of my workforce to Westgarth's best Indian Restaurant. I had my old favourite the Tandoori Mixed Grill with a few narn breads on the side (I had been stuffing myself with food over the course of the festival and wasn't all that hungry).
Open Studio
Open Studio has a light menu, but the split pea soup is delicious.

Books Finished Recently:

Hunters Of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson. The latest Dune novel, and supposedly the penultimate one, was a lot better than I expected. Supposedly based on an 'outline' Frank Herbert left in a bank safety deposit box, the events follow those of Chapterhouse Dune but incorporate elements from the Dune prequel and legends novels. I am looking forward to the next novel, Sandworms of Dune.

Understanding Creativity by John Dacey and Kathleen Lennon. An examination of the stimuli and different theories surrounding creativity and how/whether it is created.

The Real John Wren by Hugh Buggy. An extrordinarily supportive account of Collingwood gambling Tsar John Wren and his long history of helping the working man place bets off-course, charitable endeavours, support for sports and the arts, war service etc. etc.

Music and Culture

The big High Vibes festival was held last Sunday and it was pretty good. A little bit wet and cold early on but by about three o'clock the crowds had built up and the music was booming.

Movies Seen Recently:

*Walk The Line. I rushed home from card night at Alternate Worlds to catch the free screening of Walk The Line at 303. It was as good the second time around as the first (although I still missed the opening sequences!).

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Bizarre account by an American TV game show producer of his double life as a CIA hitman.
La Femme Nikita season 4. Now I have to wait for season 5 to come out on DVD!

Bars Scandalised Recently

Open Studio - High Street Northcote.
Bar 303 - High Street Northcote.
Celtic Club - Queen Street City.
Re-Vault - RMIT.

Quote:
"'Tis an old saying, the Devil lurks behind the cross. All is not gold that glitters. From the tail of the plough, Bamba was made King of Spain; and from his silks and riches was Rodrigo cast to be devoured by the snakes." Miguel de Cervantes

Quiet Before The Scorn

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 01:21:08 GMT

Tomorrow is the big day for our High Vibes street festival (this year the theme is a Sound Safari). So I will do a quick update before I get back to my preparations.

Ebay auctions are fully-loaded with heaps of new RPG books for all you fanboys and fangirls out there.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Only the best restaurant in Ivanhoe, 'Papa's'.

Books Finished Recently:

*Whoever Fights Monsters by Robert K. Ressler and Tom Schachtman. FBI man's memoirs of visiting serial killers in prison which spawned a whole decade of movies, books, comics, TV shows and profiler memoirs.
The Third Man by Graham Greene. Essentially a shooting script, this short presentation is what became the movie.
*Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. I found this new translation quite superior to my old one, however this might just be because of the refreshing feeling of reading a good book a new way.
Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk. An off-beat murder-mystery. A jaded journalist and an unprincipled estate agent discover an ancient magical formula hidden in a children's rhyme book which causes instant death. They embark on a road-trip to vandalise copies of the book in libraries and bookshops across the USA.
Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates by David Cordingly. A look at the real everyday life of pirates, the aspects of popular conception which are untrue (buried treasure, walking the plank) and those which are quite accurate (wooden legs, the Pirate's Code, weapons and clothing).
The Bipolar Advantage by Tom Wootton. A former porn star, former stripper, former stockbroker, former dot-com millionaire etc. has written an interesting 'positive thinking' book for people with bipolar to try and utilise the useful aspects of their illness. Despite his constant reminders of the importance of self-understanding and introspection almost the entire rest of the book is about what a great guy he is.

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

A Day At The Races. Marx Brothers farce about a vet, a jockey and a racetrack scammer trying to save a failing sanitorium owned by a nice lady. Not their best movie but it had it's moments.
*The House Of Flying Daggers. Martial arts love-triangle mayhem, with a beautiful blind dancer being used as a pawn by 2 government agents to uncover the secret leader of the revolutionary army the House of Flying Daggers.

Bars Scandalised Recently

Open Studio - High Street Northcote. Amazing new artist/musician hangout just down from the Peacock.
Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
303 - High Street Northcote.

Quote:
"Just don't quote me!" Queen Elizabeth II

The Big BBQ

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 03:58:28 GMT

Last Thursday I attended Northcote Social Club for the Dandelion Wine concert. The opening act, Winduptoys, (who are apparently well known among electronic music circles in Melbourne) stole the show by one of their members having an apparent heart attack and being rushed out to an ambulance at the front of the Northcote Social Club. I've been informed that while he didn't die he is still very unwell (which proves someone out there reads my blog at least). There are some pictures of Dandelion Wine's show here.

I hosted a big BBQ at my family estate last Monday September 11th afternoon/evening, to commemorate the loss of Democracy in Chile 33 years ago. I invited a couple of dozen close friends and aquaintances, and while I wasn't seriously expecting anyone to come I think they would have enjoyed themselves if they did. One of Dad's friends dropped by for a visit so the three of us ate a couple of steaks each, munched on potato chips and salad and drank beer around the BBQ until it got dark and I decided to stop waiting.

The Ebay auctions have slowed down again, darn it, but I am expecting some new stuff later this month (hopefully in time for our street festival) so keep your eyes peeled.

The newly upgraded Westgarth (pics below) is pretty posh!

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Northcote Social Club
For Father's Day we took Dad to the Northcote Social Club and along with Cordell had a nice hearty dinner and a few drinks to boot.
Wild Yak.
Decided to try one of the momo main dishes (meat dumplings) and it was nice enough. The chicken soup is one of their strengths also.
Beker's.
Northcote's Best Steakhouse served me a delicious medium-rare rump steak and their famous side salad. The consomme soup is to die for as well.
Curry Masala.
The 'local Indian' across the road from me is always a wise choice, and as well as my usual narn breads, main and rice I had a tandoori mixed platter as well (I must have been flush - memories!)

Books Finished Recently:

Howard Hughes: The Untold Story by Peter Brown and Pat Broesky. An interesting addition to my collection of books on HRH. Makes the point often glossed over that much of his bizarre behaviour could be attributed to the large number of head injuries he sustained through his crashing planes, crashing cars and being beaten up by angry husbands and boyfriends.
*Son Of A Grifter by Kent Kimes. One of my true-crime favourites, the amazing story of the youngest son of Sante Kimes, convicted along with her younger son Kenny of murdering an elderly New York widow in an attempt to steal her multi-million dollar apartment building.
The Satan Seller by Mike Warnke. Remarkable book I have had sitting on my shelves for a decade and only just got around to reading. A former youth dropout and Satanic high priest who found Jesus and now operates an anti-Satanic road ministry (he drives around in a painted up van).
In Code by Sarah Flannery. Very accessible book by a young Irish mathematician who acheived world-wide prominence for her work on cryptography. The book's strength, to me, is that while being a very poor calculator I was able to understand much of the material relating to numeric sequences and alternative prime number sets and it's relevance to crypto. Still a bit hazy on this public/private key business.
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution by Nicholas Meyer. A very funny Sherlock Holmes parody. Driven insane due to his cocaine habit, Sherlock Holmes has convinced himself that his former maths tutor, Professor Moriarty, is an international criminal genius who is plotting his murder. Watson takes him to Vienna to be treated by Sigmund Freud, whereupon (and I am a bit hazy on the details still) a kidnapped American heiress and an evil German count with a dueling scar and a private train must be prevented from starting a European armed conflict by the Great Detective.

Music and Culture

Lots.

Saw the Tasmanian/Croatian band Velika Buko in the Uniting Church forecourt for a sausage sizzle. There were dozens of kids underfoot who seemed to think it was better than the Wiggles.

Saw Dandelion Wine (see top paragraph) at the Northcote Social Club.

Went to the opening of the Mosaic Society's art show at Synergy Gallery. There are some really lovely pieces but all, alas, are out of my current price range.

Movies Seen Recently:

Kenny. Highly recommended Australian film, this mocumentary about a humble, average, down-to-Earth porta-loo contractor is a must see. You know it's good when you keep forgetting it's a movie and not a genuine reality show.

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

Catwoman. Poor Halle Berry. It wasn't a bad film, didn't have bad acting, wasn't a bad script but it was just average. Sharon Stone as an evil cosmetically-enhanced super-villain was good, and I did like all the computer-generated cat sequenced.
*The Musketeer. A Chinese action movie style remake of The Three Musketeers. Better than the Hollywood offering a few years back.
The Hard Word. Good Australian drama. Three armed robber brothers have an interesting arrangement with their crooked lawyer and his police allies. They are unofficially released from jail in time to do robberies then the proceeds are split. Of course, someone gets greedy and someone gets shot and you can guess the rest.
*The Good Thief. Nick Nolte stars as an ageing American con-man living in France who is talked into 'one last job', a multi-million franc art heist from a casino on the Riviera. Despite having a good natured but suspicious police detective (Willem Dafoe) dogging his every step.
The Boxer. Daniel Day Lewis vehicle about a political prisoner released into the uneasy peace process in Northern Ireland. Trying to bring the warring communities together with a non-sectarian boxing gym leads to trouble, violence and death.
*Suckers. "The important thing is to %^&% the customer in the @$$! He'll love it! He'll thank you for it!". This drama about an obnoxious group of unethical used car salesmen should be required watching for all sales staff (in my organisation at least).
Millennium Season 3. Frank is firmly out of the Millennium Group and convinced they are hiding behind every murderer, escaped mental patient and conspiracy he comes across. The strange thing is, they may well be.
*Brotherhood Of The Wolf. Just to show off my Dad insists on watching the French version (De Pacte Des Loups) with English subtitles. An amazing film, both cinematically and photographically. The 'wolf' is pretty well done also.

Bars Scandalised Recently

Open Studio - High Street Northcote. Amazing new artist/musician hangout just down from the Peacock.
Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Northcote RSL - High Street Northcote.
Northcote Social Club - High Street Northcote.

Quote:
"Society is one vast conspiracy for carving one into the kind of statue likes, and then placing it in the most convenient niche it has." Randolph Bourne

Sun, 03 Sep 2006 05:48:26 GMT

Lovely weather seems to have increased the volume of shop sales. Which is a pity because it has been perfect weather to close up and go read a book in the park or something similar.

I managed to just scrape in my Powerseller target for August and September is looking good too so be sure to check my Ebay auctions for a bargain.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

I Saluti. One of Northcote's little cafe/restaurants I hadn't been to for a couple of years even though it is just over the road. I had a very tasty chicken risotto and a glass of wine. The service was indifferent and the prices are, to be frank, excessive.
Northcote RSL. I had a nice plate of roast beef and vegetables for dinner there the other night. We were going to do a Father's Day thing there today (Sunday) but realised it was in the afternoon whereas we are doing something in the evening (tonight).

Books Finished Recently:

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. Not much deviation from the movies, which I'd seen a couple of times, but a good novel from before everyone and their sister wrote serial killer novels.
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea by Marcus Rediker. An interesting look at the phenomena of piracy as a form of class struggle and resistance against unfair and brutal maritime conditions.
Rat Bastards by John 'Red' Shea. One of the Winter Hill mobsters who worked as a liutenant to Whitey Bulger has finished his 12 year stretch and has written a bio about how you should never rat out anyone, friend, enemy or stranger.

Music and Culture

We are currently undergoing the Darebin Music Feast. On Friday night I had to pay $5 to get into Bender Bar and for the privilege got to hear 3 bands (all of them pretty average in my opinion) dhb, Liminal and Tempted.

Last Night (Saturday) I went to a Peace Music concert at the Uniting Church Hall. Unfortunately the traffic noise and the constant shouts and screams of hooligans made it a challenge to acheive inner peace via chanting, meditating and music, but there were some very interesting tecniques.

Also last night I caught Fourplay at the Northcote Social Club and they were fantastic. A four-piece string group (3 violins and 1 double bass for most of the time) they play experimental jazz/classical. Hard to describe but they are definately very entertaining.

During the week I went to the launch of a British-Australia Council sponsored art show 'The New Alchemists' at the RMIT gallery. Unfortunately I thought it was rubbish (and my Dad agreed - although I was polite enough not to say so as loud as he). I have nothing against sculpture but I don't think setting a table in the middle of a gallery is art. There were a couple of ok pieces, but it was nothing you couldn't find at any Sunday craft market. Highlight of the night was when the security guard politely came and stood next to us after I accidentally knocked a cheap wineglass off the bench and broke it. FOrtunately it was empty. The adjoining gallery has some mildly interesting scale models of environmentally friendly buildings in Germany which at least made it worth while attending (and the wine wasn't bad either).

Movies Seen Recently:

Silent Hill. Sort of a 'Carrie meets Resident Evil', there are a few very good scenes and the rest is dross. The big 'final battle' scene was good, very Hellraiseresque.

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

The Princess and the Warrior. Interesting German flick. A young psychiatric nurse's life is saved by a young ex-soldier and petty criminal. She becomes obsessed with him and tracks him down, but when a robbery goes wrong he finds himself hiding in the hospital where she works.

Bars Scandalised Recently

Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Northcote RSL - High Street Northcote.
Northcote Social Club - High Street Northcote.

Quote:
"Art is the human disposition of sensible or intelligible matter for an esthetic end." James Joyce

Not much to report

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 06:42:28 GMT

A few things to report this week. My DVD player (a hand-me-down from my Dad) has turned cannibal and is eating DVDs put into it. They play OK but when you hit eject they stay in there, and eventually dislodge themselves somewhere into the casing. Sounds like a job for someone with a phillips head screwdriver and a lot of discretion.

There's a few interesting bargains on my Ebay auctions so please take a look.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Stuzzi. Hadn't been into Northcote's first big-time cafe for a while, and it doesn't seem to have improved. The tee-bone steak I had was nice enough, however they were very stingy with side vegetables. They wouldn't give me a table for one inside, but found me a table for one in the outside smoker's balcony. And the waitress short-changed me when I paid (and I'm usually a good tipper) so I won't be back again for a while.
Some Japanese Place. Didn't catch the name of the Japanese place at the Queen Victoria site, we had an impromptu 2600 get together there on Friday and I sampled the eel and BBQ sauce dish. Hot Gossip - Amy (2600) is planning on getting pregnant - but not until AFTER the RUXCON convention.
Fu Tu. Chinese take-away in Thornbury conveniently close to Bender Bar.
Wild Yak. Once again Northcote's best Tibetan restaurant is treated to a visit by me.
Curry Masala. Standards are dropping a bit - I found a small pebble in my lentil soup, and due to a language problem (possibly mine) I ended up getting an extra main dish to finish. But the food is fantastic as always.

Books Finished Recently:

The Assassination Of Julius Caesar - A People's History of Ancient Rome by Michael Parenti. The author spends as much time lambasting establishment historians of this and past ages for their lack of class awareness (quite a valid criticism in many cases) and casts Caesar as one of many demagogues or would-be reformers who were murdered in the senate or forum by the reactionary senators/landlords.
The Pirate Wars by Peter Earle. Piracy has traditionally flourished during times of war, and this book examines how the end of the European colonial wars of the eighteenth century spelt the end of the pirates of the Americas just as the defeat of the Moslems in Europe marked the end of the power of the Moorish pirates.
The Shadows Of Power - The Council On Foreign Relations and the American Decline by James Perloff. A good primer on the CFR and their nefarious treasons against all nations and none.
Improvised Munitions Handbook (TM31-210) by US Government. A handy primer on how to make your own gunpowder with dirt, make a pistol or rifle with pipes and match heads and how to increase the lethality of your shotgun cartridges with candle wax - plus plenty of other handy tips.
Captain Kidd and the War against The Pirates by Robert Richie. Was Kidd the archetypal pirate and plunderer, or a scape-goat for his influential Whig backers when the latter lost influence in Parliament?
Sepulchre by James Herbert. Horror novel about an elite corporate-protection company hired to protect a major corporation's biggest secret weapon - a supposed psychic who can predict where oil, gold etc. will be found. But the sinister nature of his gift soon becomes apparent.
The Road To Ramadan by Mohamed Heikal. An Egyptian aide to Presidents Nasser and Sadat gives a behind the scenes account of the politicing before the Arab world's almost succesful attack on Israel in their 1967 war.
Ecstasies by Carlo Ginzberg. An interesting look at the different ecstatic cults of the ancient and middle ages, revising Margaret Murray's theories with the existence of Werewolf cults existing seperate from 'traditional' witches groups.

Music and Culture

I had a lot of fun at the Keyhole artshow break-up BBQ last Sunday at Synergy Gallery - there was officially More Food Than We Needed. I polished off most of a bottle of Vodka with some OJ and I think a good time was had by all. I even sprung for a gallery membership.

Everyone enjoyed themselves immensely (myself included) at a very moving concert and spoken word event held at the Northcote Uniting Church by American Indian storyteller Littlehawk. Darebin music feast is coming up so their website (including a link the the program) is worth a look.

Saw the Wayward Fancies at Wesley Anne over the road last week, however they were only on for one set unfortunately. Made it to Bender Bar on Wednesday for the live gig but I was pretty wasted and only stayed an hour or so before I staggered home.

Movies Seen Recently:

The Big Lebowski. Not a bad film but I don't know why it has such a cult status. Seeing Julianne Moore naked (just barely unless my eyes were playing tricks on me) made it all worth while.
*Conan The Barbarian. The old favourite, even if a group of young women insisted on talking to one another and giggling the whole way through (even when I 'shhhd' them).

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

*American Ninja. Michael Dudikoff is THE MAN!
Enterprise Season Two. Lots of in-jokes and one episode where the hot Vulcan science officer goes on heat and starts running round in her underwear covered in oil trying to proposition members of the crew.

Bars Scandalised Recently

303 - High Street Northcote.
Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
ReVault - Swanston Street Melbourne.

Quote:
"The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say, 'We did it ourselves.'" Lao-Tzu

Back to the future

Sat, 19 Aug 2006 01:54:01 GMT

Well I didn't get around to doing an update for about a month, so this one will be a little lengthy (but I hope worth the wait).

I have been working like a slave on my Ebay auctions so please take a look.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Northcote RSL. Tuesdays is $10 set meals night.
Wild Yak. We had the August Victorian Ebay Powersellers' get together at the Wild Yak and it was very successful. A number of new people came including one from out of town. The Tibetan Banquet was nice also, we could barely finish it.
Loui & Frankos. Shared a pizza there with a friend. Sadly Loui's father passed away recently and the funeral was held on the day we had booked for the powerseller event moved to Wild Yak (above).
Northcote Social Club. Definately a viable option for a nice restaurant-quality counter meal.

Books Finished Recently:

Dr Karl's Collection Of Great Australian Facts & Firsts by Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki. A very readable account of Australian scientific inventions down the years.
Bloodlines Of The Illuminati by Fritz Springmier. Springmier exposes the 13 top Illuminati bloodlines, their history and what they are up to now. The book is worth reading for the 100 odd pages on the Rothschild faction.
Howard Hughes: His Life And Madness by Donald L. Barlett & James B. Steele. Engrossing new account of Howard Hughes' life with a good look at his often neglected scams and stock frauds.
A History Of Soviet Russia. An engrossing text following the idealogical power struggles between the personalities and party organs from the revolution up to the mid '70s.
The Flying Carpetbagger by Captain Ike Eisenhower. Personal pilot to arch financier-crook Robert Vesco (last seen on a beach in Cuba) he had the enviable job of flying Vesco's private 747 around the world and dealing with all the fun and games of customs inspections, crooked officials looking for bribes and DOJ agents trying to find Vesco.
Through A Glass Darkly by Donna Leon. The latest Venetian murder-mystery in a series I have been following avidly. When an apparent crackpot night watchman at a glass-making factory on Murano is found dead it could be connected to the complaints he had been making for years about pollution and illegal waste dumping.
The Buccaneers Of America by Alexander O. Exquemelin. This classic true-crime account by a 17th century Dutchman was the subject of a famous libel action by Captain Henry Morgan, who having become respectable and rich was able to have portions of the text dealing with his savagery excised (since restored!)
The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805 by Richard Zacks. A true account of the bizarre rescue mission launched by a handful of United States marines and their mercenary allies to overthrow the king of Libya and free American sailors being held for ransom by the Moslem pirates. While there was far more bribery, betrayal and constant switching of allegiances by all parties than actual combat, the Marine Corps still celebrates the events as their coming of age.

Music and Culture

CDs listened to for the first time:
Wide Open Spaces by the Dixie Chicks
Mercury Falling by Sting
American V: A Hundred Highways by Johnny Cash

Live bands: Saw Pat McKernan play at the Celtic Club, the Lebowskis at 303 and made it to the open mic night at Bender Bar a couple of times. I caught a Wendy Rule convert at 303 also, it was nice and under-crowded which is unusual for her unless she mixes up the publicity material or throws an impromptu concert.

Art Shows: Went to a big show at Synergy Gallery 'Keyhole' themed around elves, gnomes and fairies. Very impressive stuff and they have sold quite a bit of it subsequently.

Movies Seen Recently:

zip

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

Adaptation. Interesting Nic Cage vehicle. Based around a scriptwriter hired to write a movie based around a rare orchid enthusiast, the movie starts slowly and plods along until the writer decides to inject some excitement into his script, and the movie then becomes a thriller.
*Dr. Who Season 1. As we are currently watching season 2, I thought I'd go back through season 1 in a sitting or two.
Trailer Park Boys Season 5. The Boys are out of prison and have hidden their huge dope crop by plastering it down as a driveway for Ricky's Dad's trailer. Highlight of the season is Ricky's Dad getting pulled out of his wheelchair and hauled to prison for compensation fraud after he unwisely appeared (sans wheelchair) in a low-budget porn movie.
*Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Black Pearl. I think I like the original slightly more than the sequel but they are both pretty good.
Alias Season 4. The bizarre office politics take another twist at the start of the season when the regulars are all recruited into an even more super-secret unit of the CIA known as APO (Authorised Personnel Only). From there it is back to season one with the usual missions to snatch computer discs at fashion shows, slide up pipes in revealing underwear etc. Eye Candy but not Mind Candy.
*Kingdom Of Heaven. This Orlando Bloom vehicle is a bit plodding and implausible but the battle scenes are pretty good.

Bars Scandalised Recently

303 - High Street Northcote.
Bar Nancy - High Street Northcote.
Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Celtic Club - Queen Street Melbourne.
Croxton Park Hotel - High Street Thornbury
Northcote RSL - High Street Northcote.
Northcote Social Club - High Street Northcote.
ReVault - Swanston Street Melbourne.

Quote:
"Jealousy is bred in doubts. When those doubts change into certainties, then the passion either ceases or turns absolute madness." La Rochefoucauld.

Well well well

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 05:18:06 GMT

Finally beaten that blasted cold I had, and apparently in time for some nice weather. If I could just find something nice to do outdoors I would be set.

I'm surprised I haven't mentioned this before but my Flickr.com gallery is worth a look, as are thousands and thousands of other image-thieves' pages.

Check out the remarkable bargains on my Ebay auctions.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Kun Ming. A nice little restaurant in Little Bourke St next door to Post Deng. I splashed out and had the mud-crab (cost a small fortune), Peking Duck and sundry other dishes I shared with my awe-struck brother.
Northcote RSL. Had an allegedly-tandoori chicken pie with vegies, was hard to tell under all the gravy but nice nonetheless. The carrot and pumpkin soup was sensational. One strange thing I will be writing to Bruce Ruxton about - they don't carry bread rolls anymore (?).
Loui and Frankos. Thornbury's friendliest Pizzeria served me a delicious Veal Schnitzel.

Books Finished Recently:

Puckoon by Spike Milligan. A very funny book, although like the author far too short.
A Musician's Dictionary by D Barber. Recommended to me by my guitar teacher Con, who doesn't seem to have grasped that rather than being a practical book for musicians it is actually a work of dry comedy.
Understanding Scientific Reasoning by R Giere. A science text which can be summed up with the statement that every scientific belief or fact is actually a theory which cannot be proved beyond a doubt, hence the need for statistics and modelling. Very useful book for the gray matter.
The Demon Lover by Robin Morgan. A feminist screed which blames men for everything bad in the world (including bad women) except the weather (and given the author is a former groupie of the Weathermen this isn't surprising).
Poetical Works by Henry Lawson. Enormously satisfying verse.

Music:

Heard a couple of good local bands. The Wayward Fancies, a Country and Western band plays occasional Sundays at Bender Bar and The Lebowskis jazzed up 303 while I was grooving. Went to see Vicuna Coat at Thang last night but disappointingly they didn't show.

Bought myself a ticket for the Fourplay concert coming up in September at the Northcote Social Club.

Movies Seen Recently:

zip

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

*Girl, Interrupted. Interesting how most of the mental patients in the movie are nowhere near as crazy as some of the few women I've ever known.

*Unbreakable. Bruce Willis stars as an unassuming security guard who slowly discovers, with the help of a crippled genius comic-book collector, that he might be an indestructible super-hero.

Trailer Park Boys season 3. The boys spend this season trying to raise money to go on a cruise without dealing drugs. Such good ideas as running a chop-shop for stolen barbeques and a backyard petrol station for selling the fuel they are siphoning en masse lead them to the usual run-ins with the law and the trailer park's drunken supervisor Jim Lahey and his shirtless assistant Randy.

*Doctor Who Season One. Actually the source of my illegally burned copy only got me 3/4 of the episodes, there is another disk MISSING! HELLO!

Danny Deckchair. Escapist Australian movie about a drongo who decides to escape his girlfriend cheating on him and idiot mates and attaches enough hot air balloons to his deckchair until he floats away to a country town where he is appreciated, finds a new girlfriend a new group of drongo mates.

Bars Scandalised Recently

Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Celtic Club - Queen Street Melbourne.
Northcote RSL - High Street Northcote.
Northcote Social Club - High Street Northcote.
303 - High Street Northcote.
ReVault</> - Swanston Street Melbourne.

Quote:
"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." Paul Boese

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 03:49:04 GMT

Still trying to shake this d**m cold. I am 95% recovered. At least it has given me a chance to watch plenty of DVDs (see below). And when one of the waitresses at the cafe next door was hassling me about whether my diet allowed me to eat chocolate bars, I explained that as I'm sick I'm allowed to eat chocolate, ice-cream, soft drinks etc.

Now this must be the Chinese version of Thornbury-Darebin Secondary College:
A Chinese headmaster, who tried to buy off colleagues by cooking dog meat for them after secretly selling off trees around the school, ended up setting fire to classrooms when the meal burst into flames.

Went to an art show over the road during the week and, lo and behold, I ran into one of my oldest friends who I had been trying to find for donkey's ages. He was pretty surprised to see me also, however as he is moving to NSW in a few weeks it is lucky I found him when I did I guess.

The Uniting Church down the road is holding a Pyjama Party for Peace specifically in East Timor) over 24 hours in August. Might have to get myself some PJs.

I'm surprised I haven't mentioned this before but my Flickr.com gallery is worth a look, as are thousands and thousands of other image-thieves' pages.

Check out the remarkable bargains on my Ebay auctions.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Curry Masala. A simple lamb vindaloo and rice with some narn bread is a very satisfying meal.
Fu Tu. Nice little Chinese restaurant/take away in Thornbury (conveniently close to the Croxton Park hotel). They don't skimp on the Lemon Chicken either.

Books Finished Recently:

The Night Battles: A History Of Witchcraft And Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century by Carlo Ginzburg, John Tedeschi, and Anne C. Tedeschi. An interesting study only recently translated, looking at the existence of a type of 'complementary' witchcraft practiced by peasants who were believed to be able to undo witchcraft's mischiefs and who fought spiritual and physical battles for the health of the harvest.

Lord Of The Four Quarters . A Jungian look at the archetypal god/king in history and how it has been common to many societies in ancient times.

Music:

Too busy playing Sid Meier's Pirates to listen to much.

Movies Seen Recently:

Zero Day. Dreadful mocumentary about two closet-sissy American high school students making a documentary about their plans to massacre their schoolmates. While the acting is good, the big give-away that they aren't real kids filming each other with their camera is the effortless transfers from one to another when it pans between them.

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

Bubba Ho-Tep. Interesting Don Coscorelli cult flick, in a Texas retirement home an elderly Elvis impersonator (who has come to believe he is the real King in hiding) and an old black guy who believes he is JFK with a sand bag in his brain and a dye-job must battle an ancient evil mummy sucking the life from their neighbours.

Finding Neverland. Great movie about J.M. Barrie and how his Peter Pan milieu was inspired by his friendship with a group of children and their widowed mother and the scandal that ensued.

*</>Alias Season Three.</i> Unfortunately this was a rental so there were a few skips and jumps but it was good to see it all in one sitting (so to speak) including the several episodes I had missed or ignored when it was on TV last year.

*The Passion Of The Christ. Mel Gibson's biblical epic doesn't seem to lose much with repeated viewings.

Bars Scandalised Recently

Wesley Anne - High Street Northcote. An open fireplace, friendly staff, what more do we want?
Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.

Quote:
"Communism, like any other revealed religion, is largely made up of prophecies."
H. L. Mencken

Ahhh-Chooo

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 03:10:59 GMT

Have had a bit of a sore throat and runny nose for a few days now. Not enough to leave me bedridden but enough to make me cancel a few plans. It seems to be doing the rounds of my friends and neighbours. (on cue I just heard someone coughing outside).

Check out the remarkable bargains on my Ebay auctions.

Went to a fun games-night/party in Heidelberg last Saturday and met some interesting people there. Didn't stay up with them to watch the soccer but I was there until three am.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Curry Masala. I had a very nice Prawns Madras with rice and some lentil soup as an entree.
Northcote RSL. A Chinese chicken and vegetable soup followed by a Cajun Chicken burger with some salad.
Wesley Anne. It was cold and miserable so I went with the lamb sausages with mash.

Books Finished Recently:

Percival and the Presence of God by Jim Hunter. An existentialist knights of the round table novel. A questing knight starts to doubt the existence of the Holy Grail, then of King Arthur, then of God. Doesn't start doubting his own existence however (that I picked up on).

*Sinister Forces by Peter Levandra. A fascinating book. Peter Levandra, an authority on exorcisms and demonic possession, has written this 'grimoire of American political witchcraft' as the first in a series. Linking everything from ritual cult murders, CIA mind control experiments and Indian rituals to obscure Belgian plays, Wandering Bishops and (of course) the JFK assassination, this book is a must for every cipher-historian.

K2 Quest Of The Gods by Ralph Ellis. An interesting new-age alternative archaeology title a friend asked me to get for him. Ellis' latest theory is that the Great Pyramid is a scale model of the mountain K2 in the Himalayas, and is some sort of pointer to the mountain and it's hidden treasure of knowledge. Alexander The Great had similar beliefs apparently, hence his marching his armies to the ends of the Earth.

*The Witch-Cult In Western Europe by Margaret Murray. Murray's thesis that the witch-trials of the previous centuries exposed the remnants of a pre-Christian religion is interesting for it's data alone. The last time I read this book many years ago I decided to re-read it when I had learned to read French and Latin. Alas I have learned neither so some chunks were largely indecipherable.

Music:

Saw the Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set concert at Northcote Social Club last Sunday - it was excellent. The only complaint I have (as always) is that NSC doesn't have any seating to speak of in the band room and you have to spend hours on your feet.

I came in late to the Acoustic Tuesday at Wesley Anne during the week and it was pretty good. Letitia Maher finished up the set, the standard was very high. And it was very .... intimate (i.e. almost empty) which suits me.

Jazz Masters - Bobby McFerrin. The Don't Worry Be Happy guy has a repertoire that is remarkably similar except that you won't have heard them on the charts. Not much instrumentation that I could detect. Nice background music.

The Essential - Bob Dylan. While I'd heard all the obvious songs, there was a wealth of material I hadn't.

Movies Seen Recently:

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Great movie. Absolutly loved it. Those people who don't like it don't know what they are talking about. Unfortunately the free screening came courtesy of Dell computers, and their idea of refreshments before the screening was to hand us popcorn, cinema ice-creams and bottles of coca-cola on our way in. None of which are permitted under my diet but I decided to have some anyway, it seemed to be Kismet. First full bottle of coke I have had in about 5 years (I occasionally get some when someone brings me a mixed drink can or a barstaff gives me the wrong mixer).

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

XXX The Next Level. Not as good as the original but it does have some very keen stunts, and Ice Cube as a smart-talking N. who recruits his N. buddies to take on an evil general (Willem Dafoe) planning to pull off a coup and blaming it on Samuel L. Jackson. Some very questionable scenes, including one where the N. car-thieves hijack a tank and break it into pieces and a high-speed chase where a super-fast car jumps onto the rails and chases a bullet train sans tyres.

Bars Scandalised Recently

Bar Nancy - High Street Northcote. The tapas menu is quite enticing.
Northcote Social Club - High Street Northcote. Monday is free pool day! And I can go around 45 minutes on the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire game for a $2 investment.
The Celtic Club - Queen Street Melbourne.
Wesley Anne - High Street Northcote. An open fireplace, friendly staff, what more do we want?
Croxton Park Hotel - High Street Thornbury.
Lion's Olde English Tavern - Melbourne Central. Tried to get served at the bar for about fifteen minutes but the staff weren't up to it so we went elsewhere.

Quote:
"The fate of the Free World in the hands of thieves and hustlers!" Ice Cube - XXX The Next Level.

Money makes the world go round

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 15:23:12 GMT

Well a handy couple of investments at the RSL and the Croxton Park Hotel have left me several thousand dollars ahead. Have managed to pay my rent, water rates, huge electric bill, repay a couple of loans and buy myself a few things and still have almost a thousand bucks in the bank. Well done me!

You can always help me get further ahead by buying something on Ebay.

On Tuesday night at Alternate Worlds we tried the new Battlestar Galactica card game - simple enough mechanics, the cards are a funny shape (the edges are cut off) and somehow I don't think it's going to catch on. Not sure what the next big card game is going to be (if there is one) but if someone out there knows please tell me!

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Idea. A fantastic, albeit fairly expensive, Chinese restaurant in Little Bourke St (just North of Russell St). I was supposed to be taking some family members to dinner tonight but they had gotten drunk already and eaten so I treated myself to wonton soup, a crab claw and some delicious scallops and shallots in ginger and garlic with rice, and a nice chardonnay (plus the obligatory tea) to wash it down.

Books Finished Recently:

The Last Mortal Generation by Damien Broderick. An interesting look by an Australian journalist at the potentials for life extension, immortality, and the implications for society and biology.

Tales of Judge Dee by Zhu Xiao Di. The author, a blog contributor, has written a very fine set of Judge Dee mysteries adapted from the same sources as Robert Van Gulik's classic works. Some are as good as Van Gulik, a couple are perhaps better - including some stories reworking elements used by Van Gulik but made more authenticly Chinese.

How Dark Matter Created Dark Energy and the Sun by Jerome Drexler. An interesting hypothesis - that Ultra-High Energy particles (UHE) comprise a stream of invisible particles which have caused the Sun and other bodies to gain mass and perhaps owe their existence to them.

Fantasy Art - The Best In Fantasy and Sci-Fi Art Worldwide by Dick Jude. Interesting study of 9 of the greatest contemporary Sci-Fi and Fantasy artists. Divided into 3 categories, the traditional brush artists, the semi-computerised artists who create models then photograph them and the 100% computer artists. Very interesting stuff, and lots of good illustrations from computer games, trading cards, CD covers etc.

The Private Papers Of A Bankrupt Bookseller by Anonymous. Humorous posthumous notes left by a suicided and ruined bookseller. His neighbour writes that his failure at business was 'Partly due to lack of capital, partly due to lack of knowledge of business and also he had a knock on the head during the war'.

Music:

Caught about half an hour of the Jamie Oehler Quartet (all 5 of them) on Wednesday night at 303 - great Jazz act.

Sporting Paddy was playing at the Celtic Club tonight where I downed a couple of pints of Guinness. Great Celtic band and I got a chance to say hi to Peter O'Shea (ex-Preachers) who I hadn't seen for years.

Movies Seen Recently:

nil

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

The Goonies. Great film, I love the pirate ship at the end. Pity there is so much swearing and childishness, not to mention inuendo (can anyone remember 'One Eyed Willie the Pirate').

Bars Scandalised Recently

Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Bar Nancy - High Street Northcote.
Northcote Social Club - High Street Northcote.
Bar 303. High Street Northcote.
ReVault (RMIT Student Bar) - Swanston Walk Melbourne.
The Celtic Club. Queen Street Melbourne.

Quote:
"Fascism is capitalism in decay." Lenin

July is here at last.

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 04:39:39 GMT

Well things are slightly better than they were. I've managed to pay my Internet bill, thereby forestalling my disconnection from the web, paid my regular phone bill plus bought a recharge for my mobile. I was quite sick for a couple of days and as a result lots of cash accumulated in my account while I couldn't spend it. And I also managed to make a couple of hundred bucks investing at the RSL. Of course my landlady delivered me a slip noting the $400 in water rates I have to pay plus the annual rent increase which has come in. I really hope she isn't in a hurry for that cash.

You can always help my predicament by buying something on Ebay.

Restaurants Patronised Recently:

Wild Yak. When my Mum came to Melbourne bearing my younger brother, they shouted me dinner at Northcote's best Tibetan restaurant.
Spudatoes. Westgarth's spud eatery may have changed hands, as the hot Brazilian girls weren't there the night I visited and a bunch of nice Aussie girls were, but the food was just as good. I usually go for the vegie burger and juice but I hadn't eaten for a while so I had the Chile Con Carne spud.
Palomino. Nice atmosphere, the menu is confusing (they only do hard-boiled eggs, not scrambled or poached) but the muesli with chopped fruit and real milk I had for breakfast this morning was a very nice start to the day.
Northcote Social Club. I had a vegetarian thing with mushrooms done in wine, vegetables, carrots etc. and it was very tasty. Most of the mains are around $12 which is good value in my book.

Books Finished Recently:

The Five Points Of Calvinism: Defined, Defended and Documented. That nice Reverend Phelps on the internet is always recommending this book in his sermons so I now know a lot more than I did about Arminian heresy and the flawed doctrines of Conditional Grace (this is the idea that God chooses people but then changes his mind if they do bad things - God doesn't make mistakes!).

The Nature Of Matter by Otto Frisch. I am working on a scientific essay and I needed to brush up on my basic particle physics (having avoided science subjects at school as much as was possible) and I found this one easy to absorb.

Watership Down by Richard Adams. A great book for all ages, it was remarkable how many people who saw me reading it remarked about how it was a favourite of theirs' and/or that it had really affected them as children. I must look up that animated Watership Down movie.

Music:
Last week I saw the folkie band Lucid at the Northcote Social Club, they were fantastic. The ticket was only $12 as well and it wasn't too crowded for once. I used to see a few bands back in the day which had a couple of the same members, it's nice to see they have moved on to bigger and better things.

On Saturday night I heard Vicuna Coat play as a four piece at Bender Bar. It was very relaxed and relaxing. So relaxing that they told me I was 'too sleepy' to be served any more. This is a good illustration of why it pays not to get the night manager mad at you during the week.

Movies Seen Recently:

Little Fish. Not bad for an Aussie movie and I hadn't seen Dustin Nguyen in anything contemporary for years.

As an aside I so impressed the owner of Bar 303, which shows free movies on Tuesday nights, he has asked for my input on what films to show. I have though up a few good ones (Blues Brothers, Wild Bunch, Brotherhood of the Wolf etc) plus some personal favourites (The Third Man, The Postman, Gangs of New York) and have had a few suggestions from some culture vultures (Steamboy, Fong Sai Yuk etc.).

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

*The Abominable Doctor Phibes. A little-known horror classic, a horribly deformed musical and scientific genius take revenge on the 9 Doctors he blames for his wife's death using the 9 plagues God visited onto the Egyptians. 5 Out of 5.

Tank Girl. Brilliant movie. Wish I had seen it years ago. Never read the original comic strip but I think I understood it all. 5 out of 5.

*Summer Of Sam. Spike Lee's great genre-buster about Italians, punks, homosexuals and disco all thrown into a melting pot around the Son Of Sam murders which terrorised New York in 1977. 5 out of 5.

Number 17. Not Hitchcock's finest but there are some good performances in this tale of undercover crooks and undercover detectives all searching a haunted house for a stolen necklace. 3 out of 5.

*High Crimes. I've seen this movie heaps of times, I just like it. The tale of a hot female attorney (Ashley Judd) defending her husband in a military trial when he is accused of desertion and mass murder in El Salvador years before. Morgan Freeman is good also, it has one of those great twists at the end and you are never sure who is telling the truth. 4 out of 5.

Spooks Season 2. Top flight British spy series, featuring all the usual terrorists, arms smugglers, corrupt government ministers, drug dealers, traitors, anarchists, computer hackers and turncoat spies. 4 out of 5.

Alias Season 2. A Lot of these episodes I hadn't seen on TV, now I am waiting on season 3. 4 out of 5.

Bars Scandalised Recently

Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Bar Nancy - High Street Northcote.
Northcote Social Club - The $2 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' game is a lot of fun when you have a big group of people.
Northcote RSL - They mix a mean G&T.
Bar 303. As aforementioned, free movies on Tuesdays and they have some popular bands other nights.

Quote:
"At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet." Plato

Poverty Cruel Poverty

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 04:39:49 GMT

Poverty poverty noble cruel poverty. I am probably dramatising a bit but I am just not used to operating in debt rather than my usual small surplus. To look on the bright side, when I looked through my stack of overdue bills none of them are disconnection notices. And when my ebay fees bounce from my bank account due to insufficient balance, there should be a small amount left over after the bank penalises me.

You can always help my predicament by buying something on Ebay.

Books finished recently:

The Rise And Fall Of Athens: Nine Greek Lives by Plutarch.
An essential text for the student or enthusiast of the Classical world. Greek legends/history interpreted by a sober Roman historian.
Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went by Galbraith. A very readable and enjoyable look at the beginnings of money up until the recklessness of the Vietnam War and the OPEC oil crisis of the 70s.
This Hollow Earth by Eric Norman. A very rare supressed science book, my only copy is falling apart and I recently mentioned to some friends that I need to have it rebound. One, a librarian, suggested a place in South Melbourne called 'Apollo Moon Bindings'. This just after we had been discussing the faked moon landings! Synchronicity or what?
Beyond Good And Evil by Nietzsche. While a lot of what he says is very self-evident and relevant (even visionary), he sure does have some harsh opinions of women. Women have been cooking for thousands of years but still do not understand food (thereby corrupting and holding back the rest of the human race).

Movies Seen Recently:

Zip

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Not a bad zombie film, not as good as the original but it did have a reasonably original robo-cop zombie anti-hero thrown into the mix.
Dracula 3000. This movie should come with a warning label. 1 out of 5.
The Alamo. Disappointing but not quite as bad as I had heard. Should have been cut shorter. 2 out of 5.
The Librarian: Quest For The Spear. A PG rated Indiana Jones, with a geeky perpetual student turned into the mystical guardian of sacred treasures around the world and companion of beautiful assertive women.

Bars Scandalised Recently

Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Bar Nancy - High Street Northcote.
Northcote Social Club - The $2 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' game is a lot of fun when you have a big group of people.

Quote:
"Only the most acute and active animals are capable of boredom. -- A theme for a great poet would be God's boredom on the seventh day of creation." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 03:05:57 GMT

I am going to try and jazz up this blog with some simple html commands I used to know but am having to relearn.

We had a quite successful (considering how cold it was) art festival along my stretch of High Street last weekend, Northern Exposure. I visited all the galleries and openings with free wine, and several with free food also. There was a fascinating demonstration of chainsaw sculpture.

Recognition of my financial status at last! Well at least I talked the barman at Bender Bar into running me a tab, so expect them to get plenty of good plugs here.

Unfortunately some hoodlums last night stole the barrel planter-box at the front of the shop, which makes I think 5 of the 40 which have gone missing. Perhaps the traders will reconsider my proposal to fit them with barometric balance triggers and anti-personell fletchette grenades concealed in the base.

Books finished recently:

The Liberal Awakening: England 1815-1830 by Halevy. Fascination look at the changes in class struggle (between the landed classes and thew manufacturers) at the start of the industrial age.

On War by Clausewitz. An amazingly relevant book in many fields, not just the battlegrounds of nineteenth century Europe it was written for.

Movies Seen Recently:

Mission Impossible 3. Better than the last one but nowhere near number 1. Plus it has this whole romantic mushy element with Tom Cruise getting married and having to rescue his wife without her figuring out he is a secret agent. One for the video rental crowd. 3 out of 5.

DVDs/Div-Xs Seen Recently:

Trailer Park Boys season 2. Amazingly funny series. 5 out of 5.
*The Third Man. My all time favourite B&W film. I must get around to reading the book. 5 out of 5.
15 Minutes. A Robert De Niro vehicle, this film can't decide if it is an art-house film trying to be mainstream or a mainstream film going art-house. Has some good gratuitous violence and a message which is all but yelled at the viewer. 2 out of 5.
*Miami Blues. One of my favourites, this grungy crime film doesn't have any genius villains or big heists, just Alec Baldwin as an ex-con who goes on a crime spree and drags a dipsy hooker and a homicide cop with false teeth along with him to the predictable end.

Restaurants Patronised Lately

Don't expect to see much here for a while as I am on a very strict lose-weight diet. Much of my food intake consists of apples, muesli bars, lentil soup and brown rolls.

Bars Scandalised Recently

303 - 303 High Street Northcote.
Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Bar Nancy - High Street Northcote. The lovely warm fire gets me in there most nights when I should walk past and go home.
Wesley Anne - High Street Northcote.

Quote:
"Our mind is capable of passing beyond the dividing line we have drawn for it. Beyond the pairs of opposites of which the world consists, other, new insights begin." - Hermann Hesse.

Winter is definately here.

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 05:05:24 GMT

Well the last few days have been cold and quiet, just like me.

Ebay sales are quiet, although I have a massive mountain of stuff to mail out (I have been busily packaging it since ten this morning which is what happens when you don't worry about things for a few days).

Con came by and gave me a guitar lesson the other day. I learned more in thirty minutes with him than I did in two weeks of mucking around by myself. I now have to find time to practice using my fingers to do stuff so I get better at it.

Books finished recently:

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. Quite a masterpiece for a first novel, and sufficiently different to the movie (which was more of a hatchet-job on psychiatry) to make it worth reading.

Movies Seen Recently:

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls. Groovy 60's exploitation movie about a rock band's corruption by LA and the endless parties, drugs and orgies. Climaxes with a bizarre series of murders which would do the Manson Family proud. 3 out of 5.

DVDs/Videos/DivXs Seen Recently

*The Return Of The King. The finale of the trio. 5 out of 5.
Spooks Season 1. Issued in the USA as MI-5 to avoid offending people of colour, this competent British spy-thriller production has only 6 episodes per season but they are all good. 4 out of 5.
*Hudson Hawk. Forget the DaVinci Code or Alias, Bruce Willis did the real expose back in the 80s about the plan of megalomaniac plutocrats and CIA masterminds code-named after chocolate bars to blackmail a New Jersey catburglar into stealing the pieces of his greatest invention hidden inside artworks. 5 out of 5.
*Ripley's Game. Not as good as the first film and not as good on subsequent viewings either. Almost a remake of The American Friend. 3 out of 5.

New Music listened to lately

Home - The Dixie Chicks. Good bluegrass, with a couple of real knock-out tracks. They are no Steve Earles but I think I will be coming back for more.

Restaurants Patronised Lately

Louis and Franko's - The Pizza there is hard to beat and the place looks classy too.

Post-Mao Cafe - Lovely little place at the North end of Little Bourke Street. Nice big posters of the Chairman plus his preferred dishes on a special menu!

Bars Scandalised Recently

303 - 303 High Street Northcote.
Bender Bar - High Street Thornbury.
Re-Vault. The RMIT student bar hosts the Melbourne 2600 meetings on the first Friday of every month. They do a fair plate of Thai rice as well.

Mystery Quote:
"His error is to regard the last two centuries as solely an arm-wrestle between the Marxists and the Jesuits" Anon