That little minx, Lara, seems to have forgotten to invite me to her birthday party which I assume she had on Saturday. Sad what old age and dementia can do to a person, isn’t it? :p

That’s right, my little chickadees, this week I’m working days. I completely screwed up my sleeping patterns this weekend for nothing. It wasn’t all a waste, however:

Friday was the 24-marathon everyone had almost forgotten how to do. Well, that wasn’t how it started … Leyton had his exam, and was getting a little off-balance when he called asking if I could pick him up from the uni pub. Blacky and I had been playing a few games of pool at the pub next door, when we discovered 5 drinks for $5 between 4pm and 6pm. I had one beer before Leyton called, and then switched to Coke while finishing our games so I could go pick him up. These 5 drinks for $5 were already paid for, so by the time I left, Blacky had drunk about 4, with 4 tokens still remaining. He was a man on a mission.

So I got Leyton, and we went to his house for him to pick up some stuff. What this turned into was me getting berated by Leyton’s mum for taking him out when he should be studying. Jeebers. He’s a grown lad capable of making his own decisions, right? Wrong, apparently.

Anyway, that took YEARS because Leyton always seems to need to burn CDs whenever he has to leave his house. Eventually, he came outside and we could go.

Meanwhile, Blacky had finished his remaining drinks and had fallen over in the hallway back at home. He rang to tell us this, and also to ask us to please get some food. Done, we said.

Also found out that the bottleshop next door had some new crap mixers - 4 for $5. Leyton bought an ass-load of these and we got down to scoffing KFC and drinking crappy mixers like they were going out of style.

Bek rocked up … eventually - she’d blown us off for some freaks we knew at highschool - and the 24 got underway. 2 episodes later, Bek went home, Blacky went to bed, and Leyton and I watched some Scrubs. Leyton has been trying to get me into this series for AGES, and I succumbed and watched a couple. The shame of it is that I’m quite happy bagging out a telelvision show if I haven’t seen the first episode, and therefore don’t know any of the characters, but now, if it’s on, I’ll watch it. Goddammit.

Saturday was a weary start. Monopoly: Stock Exchange was played … Bryce got exceedingly lucky and inherited a FORTUNE from Free Parking, and used that to secure his posistion. I was on my way out, when everyone had to leave.

Mucked about … Leyton came over just as we’d both gone to sleep, so we stayed up, watched the first half of Jackass and then the grand final of Late Night Poker. It was Peter “Silver Fox” Costa, which pleased me as he was my pick to win the series. Ooh yeah.

Sunday, woke up late … went to M&Ds, fended off sleep. Went home, ate dinner and had John over for a couple of episodes of The Sopranos on DVD. Ate icecream, went to bed.

Oh, the Magnums completed this weekend: Wood Choc (a chocolate icecream with white and milk chocolate … a little uninspired), Chocwork Orange (chocolate icecream, orange chocolate … boring) and Peace Mango (mango icecream and mango/vanilla icecream … excellent). One to go … Guava Lamp … and then I’ll have tried them all. I’ve saved 7 sticks already, so after two more (Guava Lamp, and for old time’s sake, a Candy Warhol) and I’ll send off to get my t-shirt.

So to all the suckers at work who read this today, I just have to say this: I’ve already finished for the week, and I’m already asleep to prepare to party hearty. Please don’t ring me and wake me up. I didn’t mean to rub it in your face …

Ok, so Thursday nights are usually a reasonably full-on affair, what with the indoor soccer that I don’t go to, people I don’t see, and so forth, but last night was an exception to the rule. The one that the dark lord calls “Bek” had asked me around to her new abode to interview potential flat mates - so I of course obliged. I can’t go into too much detail - as they say in Russia, the walls have mice and the mice have ears - and I wouldn’t want anything that was said (in confidence) about these lovely freaks haunting Bek forever. Relax, I’m kidding. They were all quite nice. But, just to be sure, I did make sure that I took a bottle of wine along to make the process more … delicious.

But here’s the truly amazing part - I am starting to develop a taste for white wine in summer. I know, I know … this coming from someone who deemed it as poison, far more times than I now care to admit. But now, a nice chardy really seems to mellow out the evening. Will wonders never cease?

A new Magnum - John Lemon got a working over in the car on the way from Bek’s to work. Umm …. boring. Don’t buy it - you’ll be sorry - and this coming from someone who up until now has liked all lemon-flavoured things. What a disappointing record to break. Seriously, folks, there are far better in the 60s-9 range. FAAAAAAAR better.

I’ve had quite a busy week at work all things considered. There’s fun on the cards tomorrow - and me with a bunch of wine left. Ooh - I’m going to organize another poker night, and this time everyone will have to play a character until it gets boring. Maybe costumes and funny hats. It’ll be great - can’t you just imagine it?

America is now more and more planned. It is unlikely that I will be based in California. It is unlikely that I will be based anywhere at all. Things that are definite are that may trip will include Utah, Texas and Ohio. My trip almost certainly will not include Hawaii, Canada, Illinois, New York/Jersey. That only leaves like, 43 states or something to rule out or include, right?

Another new Magnum bites the dust … Cherry Guevara. It’s like a frozen Cherry Ripe, and quite delicious. I also introduced Rob to the wonder that is Candy Warhol. He agrees that it is quite sumptuous, although after the lion’s share of 2 bottles of the vino, he may’ve had what some would call a “heightened reaction” to the pop rocks.

Here’s the gig, see - Rob rings me on Monday and says, “Mate, my wife is out of town for a week, so it’s Blackjack and Hookers to the extreme!”

Now, I wouldn’t say that I’m a dodgy person per cais, but I do know that both of those things take a lot of effort, so instead we went out for Indian food.

We had to meet up with a friend of Rob’s for drinkies first, but after that we proceded post-haste to the Indian joint. I haven’t feasted on such wonderous delights for quite some time, so sinking my teeth into a naan dipped in pickle was all-the-more awesome. The feast of Chicken Makhani (Butter Chicken to the masses, although here’s a tip for you: it’s cooked in Ghee (sp?) which is clarified butter, but not butter as we know it. ok?) was a thing of beauty, and it was good fun to spend an evening with Rob. Topping it off with a new Magnum was the perfect way to finish an Indian meal. Oh, if you order a Falooda from an Indian place, please make an effort to say it like an old-fashioned car horn. For me. Fa - loooooo - da.

So then I went home and killed some time until work started. I should’ve taken a little nap, but Law & Order was on (and you know how I feel about missing an episode of Law & Order - especially Blacky), and then I checked my email, and then Futurama was on, and then I watched The Simpsons that I missed but taped earlier in the night … blah blah blah, a lot of TV, no sleep, blah blah blah.

Perhaps another dance with my good friend caffiene?

Oh, and two other quickies:
1. Who wants to see MGF live at the arena? I know I do.
2. Who wants a 24-a-thon sometime this week? Send me mail.

I stopped over at Leyton’s today and further improved my Magnum 60’s 9-flavour experience with a Jami Hendrix. I like this one … probably my favourite so far, dare I say it. Perhaps I’ll need to try another Candy Warhol before I make that call, official and all.

If you read it here, you can believe it’s true: I’m actually updating my blog from home today. Will wonders never cease?

I saw Bek’s new place last night - it’s quite nice, and she’s super excited to be able to paint and decorate and stuff, so good for her. Interviewing her potential new flatmate, watching TSLOU and bagging out the Oscars were the activities planned, and I even brought dinner - that’s the kind-of great houseguest I am. And, because she doesn’t have a fridge, Blacky and I brought drinks, too.
And personal note to Bek: http://www.chuckler.org/archives/000001.html Get a fridge already. :p

That’s it. Oh, yeah … I’m working nights again, which is why I’m updating from home - I just woke up. Niiiice.

So the Academy Awards were shown last night. Now, I’m one of those people that profess no interest in the Oscars, and probably even believe myself while doing so. But when it comes to the crunch, I want to know who won, who didn’t, who said what, wore what, the whole shebang - and I think the only reason I want to know all this is so that I can have something to say to other people at work.

Anyway, as far as Oscars go, last night was interesting simply because of the speeches about the war. There were some great moments from Pedro Almodovar, Adrien Brody and, of course, Michael Moore - all of whom broke at least one of the stupid rules the Academy tries to impose on their winners (thank no more than 5 people, no pre-written speeches, don’t say what you believe or you’ll get booed etc.).

While writing this, I’ve had a few ideas for top 5 lists (top 5 ways to improve the Oscars, top 5 most offensive things to say at the Oscars etc), but I think that’s just because I’ve been reading High Fidelity. Now, if any of you are interested in how selfish, shallow, insecure, stubborn and pathetic post-adolescent males are, especially ones that love britpop, this is your guidebook.
About a Boy has some pretty good insights too - but make sure you read the book rather than watching the movie. Movies, by their nature, tend to float fairly quickly over ideas, actiona and words that would sit in your stomach uneasily if you had to read them. That was self-indulgent enough so I’ll end it there.

In other news, a colleague of mine thought it would be funny (and it will be, once I get over it) to send people a message like this:

Miller

Could you please call me urgently on 3852 0555.

To find out why he thought it would be funny, ring the number. Go on, you know you want to…..

Heyas. I was reasonably sick on Friday, yeah, so when Edward needed a lift to the airport on Friday afternoon, I took the opportunity to not go back to work, and instead headed out to M&D’s for lunch. The Powells were visiting (Gary had volunteered to help Callun fit his new tacho in his car - turns out it was much tougher than expected, and will need an autoelectrician to complete), and they were coming back for dinner after running a few errands. Carmen joined us a little later, and a good time was had by all. Until I had to go back to work, that is.

Saturday was market-day, and I had possibly the most self-indulgent markets ever. I mean, I usually go to the markets with intention of buying some silly things, but this week was unprecedented. My normal tomato guy wasn’t there, but I’d heard good things about the Jaguar-award winning tomato stand, so I bought some from there. I’ll keep you appraised.

Now, I had felt pretty good that morning. So when it was time to help Bek move, I was all ready and raring. Unfortunately, by lunch-time, I was feeling so sick that I had to call it a day and go back to bed. I got home, drank about 2 and a half liters of water and immediately fell asleep. Woke up feeling a whole lot better. Blacky and I went to the cinemas to see Gangs of New York which I really enjoyed. Daniel Day-Lewis was brilliant, and I have these observations. When he tapped his glass eye with a knife, he looked really evil. Big mustaches are cool, especially when worn with top-hats. They all looked really tall, due mostly to the type of pants they were wearing, I think. Go see it.

Sunday I was an early riser, feeling pretty good, so I took a magazine and headed over to the pub for Brekkie. Went home, but Blacky was still asleep so I went to the movies again to see Knockaround Guys. Pretty good, not as good as I expected, but alright. Played a few games of pool with Bryce before heading back home for a snooze before the cricket and Formula 1 started. The cricket was AWESOME and I’m glad I stayed up until the first rain break to see it. Fantastic. And to clear up any misconceptions amongst certain friends of mine, I want to make it clear that just because Blacky now lives at my place, does NOT mean that I stay up all night watching Formula 1, alright? I’m no Ferrari fanboi.

I’m a little better today, so much so that I’ve actually come in to work to see how it works out, although I expect to be going home this afternoon, if the way I feel now is any indicator.

Spent a god-awful boring day in bed yesterday - lucky there were two episodes of Law & Order to keep my company.

My dates for America are confirmed at 30th April - 30th May.

Well foliks, today’s entry comes at you from live im my bed. I’m off work with a case of general stay-in-bed-sickness, but I still had to drag my cordless keyboard to bed so I could tell you all not to worry - there’ll be a (brief) update today, already.

Ooh. So dizzy from the effort of typing …