Going to See La Nieta

I'm going to see La Nieta this weekend. I'm spending a quick overnight visit in Canberra so I can see the little dickens, and then it's back home. I will provide photographic evidence.

I should point out that my Mother, upon finding out that her newest Great Grandaughter was a girl (and yes, I realise that is slightly redundant) immediately went out to buy clothing in shades of pink. In fact, a few weeks before the wee one was born, my mother said "Tell her I WANT TO BUY DRESSES!!"

My poor, long suffering Mother had one girl (me - and you know how I turned out), three boys, one Grandaughter and then FIVE GRANDSONS IN A ROW. Not that she's bitter, but she loves nothing more than buying stuff with frills on it. And I am not exactly frilly.

As you know.

Anyway, should be fun. I shall update in due course.

The World Series Is Over

I'm a little bit bummed about that. I've actually almost followed baseball this year and I admit that I have really enjoyed it. On ESPN International we get pretty much a game per day, and although it is HEAVILY based on East Coast teams (undoubtedly because of the time zone) I ended up enjoying it more than I have in years (Spring Training notwithstanding as that is always fun).

I actually bet on the Yankees a couple of times over the last few days as I thought they would clinch in Game 5 (and the odds were super great in that way because the game was half over with a big Philly lead when I placed my bet) but they didn't, so I put a bit of money on the Yanquis in Game Seex. I won a whole $6 dollars. I've been studiously avoiding reading any news reports so I didn't know who won, but when Matsui drove in six runs you knew it was inevitable.

Since the Kiwi has been away, I have been watching many American type sports. I am fully into football season now (College and NFL). In fact, I am planning to take Super Bowl Sunday (Monday here) off so I can watch the entire spectacle complete with beer and bad food. I don't care if I watch it alone, although a couple of years ago I watched it with my American boss and we had a great day (the Kiwi made us lots of nice food and we sat there and drank and ate and yelled at the TV).

Have I mentioned how much I love cable TV with recording capabilities? I rarely ever watch live TV now - I record everything and watch at my leisure. They are just now introducing TIVO here but I predict they are a few years late and more than a dollar short on that one - after all, there are only about 6 free to air tv stations in the whole country, and why would you buy a TIVO set, and a FREEVIEW set (to see more than four) just to record a few crappy stations? I digress.

However, we do have new seasons (for us) of Top Chef (love that Padma) and Hell's Kitchen. Still waiting to see all of season five of Entourage (guilty pleasure). And with the 70th Anniversary of WWII, I am ALL OVER the History Channel and all those great docos.

Wow - you know way more about my viewing habits than should be spoken about in polite company.

Las Abuelas

We became Grandmothers tonight.

The Kiwi's daughter had a girl. I started to write baby girl but to have a full grown one would require our own National Geographic Special. Actually, when "I" had her she was already 12 so I kinda did, in my own, inimitable way.

Details? We ain't got none at the moment other than "Mother and daughter are well". The Kiwi (as we speak) is probably arriving at the hospital to find out all of the details. She flew to Canberra to see the new 'un. We're going over again in November - this trip was a last minute thing since the whole pregnancy went over by nine days. I only hope they don't complain she was over cooked at Judge's Table.

In some ways, I think text messages are the telegrams of the New Millenium.

Granddaughter born (stop) All well (stop) More to follow (stop).

What About Bob?

My oldest, dearest friend's Dad died last week. He rocked. He said such funny stuff when we were in High School and Beyond. Here's a laundry list of things he used to say:

Whore's Ovaries - Hours' dourves (I still call them that)
When he liked a drink, he would say "Necatarine of the Gods" with a huge smile on his face.

He thought everyone on TV looked like Laverne from "Laverne and Shirley". He would say "Hey! Doesn't that look like Laverne?" About EVERYONE.

He used to make me drink Coors Light and give me food (mostly salami) every time I showed up at his house (which was often, come to think about it). "Hey Lea, have something to eat!" He was so Italian. In the best way. I think it was because I was the only one of his son's friends that actually drank.

He played golf. I would have loved to have played golf with him, but I took it up too late. He drove like the flaming demons of hell. In a totally good way, but he was a two-footed driver, back from his days in Michigan. You know, the snow and all.

He claims to have received a Purple Heart during WWII, for being hit by a peach can while loading a truck. As far as I can tell, he would have been about 14. But that was how he was, totally funny and always ready to make you laugh. Maybe he just aged gracefully, I can't tell.

When he went to bed, he would say "I'm going to bed to rest my eyes" which meant he was going to watch the Playboy Channel in bed. But I don't actually believe he subscribed, I think that was his way of leaving us kids to make stupid faux Olivia Newton John videos in his living room.

He showed me how to play bocce ball in his in-laws back yard.

Mostly, I never remember him being grumpy or angry, just a good time guy who loved his family. Vaya con Dios, Roberto.

Administrivia

Various things I wanted to pass comment on.

I've seen a few movies over the last few weeks/months that I thought deserved a mention:

"Things We Lost in the Fire". A really interesting and moving film.

"The Boat That Rocked". About a pirate radio station in the North Sea in the early 60's. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Bill Nighy are in it, as well as a lot of other people you've seen in lots of Brit films. The story is great and the music awesome. A fun movie.

I finally saw "Shaun of the Dead". How funny is that?

I recently sent PGL a NZ music cd featuring some good NZ songwriters. My top ten from the disc:

1. Welcome Home - Dave Dobbyn. The song was written by him in response to some backlash about immigrants to NZ a few years ago. I get verklemt every time I hear it.
2. Sinner - Neil Finn. I listen to this one over and over. I love Neil.
3. Arithmetic - Brooke Fraser. Such a pretty song.
4. No Ordinary Thing - Opshop.
5. Venus - The Feelers. This song was on the radio the first summer I spent in NZ. I will always remember getting to know my new family with this song in the background.
6. Better Be Home Soon - Crowded House. I don't actually know how they were able to pick just one Crowded House song.
7. Drive - Bic Runga. Love this song.
8. Not Many - Scribe. Hometown homeboy from Christchurch.
9. Swing - Savage. My nephews liked it so much they put it on their iPods immediately.
10. Give it a Whirl - Split Enz.

Honorable Mentions:
It's too Late - Evermore
Damn the River - The Phoenix Foundation. Love it for the blatant rip off of Dire Straits.
Sophie - Goodshirt
Wandering Eye - Fat Freddy's Drop.
Whaling - DD Smash
Why Does Love Do this To Me? - The Exponents

The funny thing about this CD is that some artists are represented multiple times. For example, DD Smash, Dave Dobbyn, The Exponents, Dave Dobbyn and Herbs are all featuring Dave Dobbyn. Same with Split Enz and Neil Finn, and Crowded House. Not to mention Tim and Liam Finn (Tim is the brother of Neil and founder of Split Enz, while Liam is either Tim or Neil's son. Liam also has a band called Betchadupa which isn't represented here). Bic Runga has a sister (Boh) who is the lead singer for Stellar*. So, the gist is that NZ is musically quite incestuous.

The other thing that's funny about it is that so many of the songs have been used as commercials. I listened to the CD the first time and said to myself "that's the ferry commercial", "that's the KMart commercial", "oh, THAT'S a KMart commercial too", "hey! the margerine commercial!" etc.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it. Listen for a while. It grows on you.

It's a Jolly Holiday

So, I had my whirlwind holiday with my family in Lake Tahoe. Overall, it was fun if overwhelming. My family is loud in a Big Fat Greek Wedding sort of way, without the lamb. I have five (count 'em) nephews between the ages of six and thirteen (well, nearly thirteen). They are actually hilarious and were very well behaved. We all got to see a bear getting into the dumpsters on the first night, which meant that the rest of the week the boys stood bear watch each night. We never saw the bear again but it was pretty exciting all the same.

I taught the nephews to play blackjack under the pretense of it being a "counting" game. The Kiwi feels that there are other more suitable counting games to teach young children, but then the Kiwi doesn't like to gamble. Anyway, the boys rocked at blackjack. The six year old is one of the faster ones to count up his cards. I also taught them to say "Winner, winner, chicken dinner" whenever they win a hand. We covered basic strategy and I felt enormous pride when I said "and why don't we take insurance?" and they all yelled "BECAUSE IT'S A SUCKER BET!!!".

So, I had a lot of bonding time with the nephews and a bit with my niece, who is also pregnant (she's nearly 24 and married). We saw some old family friends and I got to play golf with my brothers as well as go shopping and lunching with my sisters-in-law (two thirds of them anyway). All in all, a good trip. I was happy to get home though.

And now I'm heading to Auckland tomorrow to see the Kiwi, whom I haven't seen in nearly a month.

I'll post a link to a Flickr feed once I've got it set up - I have heaps of pics of my family and a lengthy photo expose on short sheeting a bed, which the boys apparently thought would be a good thing to capture with my camera.

There's the short and the long of it.

Best Concerts I've Seen

I was thinking about this the other day. It's one of my strategies for going back to sleep when I wake at 3 AM and start thinking of work (my other one is trying to recall the video of Susan Boyle singing "I Dreamed a Dream" on Britain's Got Talent or whatever that show is. I always get the song mixed up with one from Barbra Streisand's "Broadway Album" and it takes me a while to get the tune into my head, usually by then I've fallen back to sleep. Usually.).

So. Anyway. Great concerts I've attended. Hard to pick a fave, but here goes.
1. REM at some refurbished theater in Phoenix, back in the early 80's. I think they were supporting the album containing "Radio Free Europe" (Murmur?). Small venue, I was up front directly in front of a speaker, I blame my hearing loss partially on that concert. I may get REM hearing aids. Can't recall the opening act. Does it matter?

2. U2 at Compton Terrace, again early 80's. They were supporting "The Unforgettable Fire". It was one of the first concerts held at the 'new' Compton Terrace (out by Firebird Lake). Partially notable for the amount of time it took to exit the parking lot (3 hours) and the six pack of warm Budweiser that we found on the bumper of the car and drank while waiting. It was around all the hullabaloo about the MLK day in Arizona as I recall so it had special significance.

3. Dan Fogelberg and the Fool's Gold Band, Hoffheinz Pavillion, Houston, Texas, around 1976. It was the very first concert I was allowed to go to without "an adult". I was about 14 and went with the girl who kept her horse in the stall next to mine. I don't remember her name but her horse's name was Chico, he was a dressage horse and his trick was to drink a can of root beer. She would put the can in his mouth and he would throw his head back and drink the whole thing. I think the Fool's Gold Band opened for Dan. I LOVED Dan anyway and thought I was really grown up. I was allowed to go to the concert because I had gone to the Royal Lippazaner Stallion show with this same girl a few months prior and didn't get arrested or came home on drugs.

-3. In the category of "Concerts I DIDN'T get to see, The Eagles farewell tour in Houston about one year later. Apparently my friends were less responsible than Chico's mistress. I'm still a little bitter about that.

4. Shawn Colvin supported by Bruce Cockburn at Wolf Trap, VA around 1987 ish. Steady On was the album, and it was the first time I was able to really hear her play the guitar. I've had a thing for her since way back.

5. The Concerts for the Verde Valley School in Sedona at Red Rock Amphitheatre, various years late 80's and/or early 90's. The Verde Valley School is a private high school with a lot of international students. It's probably really expensive. The headmaster at the time was a friend of Jackson Browne and he (JB) would do a fund raising concert for their Native American Scholarship Program each year. They were totally laid back yet kick ass concerts. They all sort of run into each other for me (I think I went three times over four years), but the overriding vibe was acoustic performances by a mix of artists out in the freaking gorgeous red rocks. I can't tell you who did what show, but I can tell you that I've seen Timbuk Three, John Trudell recite his poetry with his band (if you've ever seen "Thunderheart" with Val Kilmer and Graham Greene, John Trudell played Jimmy Looks Twice, a character loosely based on Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement activist who is in prison for allegedly killing two FBI agents on the Oglala Reservation many years ago, but I digress), The Indigo Girls, Bruce Cockburn, Shawn Colvin (when she was a baby - well very new anyway), Keb Mo, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Bonnie Raitt and of course Jackson Browne always closed the show. I can't tell you how freaking gorgeous (again with the freaking gorgeous) it was to be at these concerts - a natural amphitheatre, RED rocks, early October so it's cold at night and warm during the day, small crowd, mostly old like me and very, very mellow. You would get there early, stake your claim with your blanket and just lie around all day, eating burritos and applying the free sunscreen. How good is that?

6. The Smiths, Mesa Amphitheatre sometime (you guessed it) in the 80's. I think they were supporting "Meat is Murder" and the opening act was Simple Minds (in their "Don't You Forget About Me" era). It's also technically the only concert I've ever attended with my niece, now 23 and married. She was in her mother's womb at the time, but that is merely a technicality.

7. REM again. Mesa Amphitheatre. I just remember the pouring rain and all the little goth kids with their mascara running. And they must have been supporting "Life's Rich Pageant" because they sang "Superman" and that was my favourite unlisted song on the album (it still is one of my most fave REM songs) and I recall being freezing cold, soaking wet and completely rapt that they did the song. Then we repaired to the hottest nightclub in Tempe at the time, Graffittis, and danced in the gay corner all night. Which is what one did back in the day.

8. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, with Crash Test Dummies as the opener. It's the only time I've seen Elvis and I loved the concert. I love Elvis. Hard to say which album he was supporting but then, does it really matter? Mesa Amphitheatre.

9. Kenny Loggins at the OLD Compton Terrace (next to Frontier Village - remember that?). There are three things I remember about this concert in the early 80s'. One, I was hanging out with about 20 people who were going to the concert, and in order to get everyone to my house on time to do the caravan to the show, I had to give each of them a different arrival time, as they all had varying amounts of lateness. Two, the power went out halfway through the concert, so Kenny came out and sat on the edge of the stage and sang an acoustic version of "House at Pooh Corner" in the dark and generally entertained everyone until the power came back on. Three, I think it was my 20th birthday.

10. The Pretenders supporting "Learning to Crawl" at some theatre in Tucson. Iggy Pop was the opening act. As my brother says, you have to love a woman who you know can kick your ass. Word.

11. Lyle Lovett. I've seen him three times I think - in Tucson, in Scottsdale at the Centre for the Arts Amphitheatre and at that big concert venue in West Phoenix near ASU West (or as I think of it, East Blythe). He is the funniest, most genuine performer I've ever seen. I think I've written in the past about his tribute to Jerry Garcia after JG's death (singing "Friend of the Devil"). I will walk through fire to see him, he is that good (well, I guess as long as I don't get any on me). I can't believe that he played at a work user group conference and I didn't get to go. Still bitter.

12. Elton John, Canberra, Australia, 2007. It rains about 10 times a year in Canberra. Well, hard rain, anyway. It was an outdoor venue (Stage 80 I think they call it, across the artificial lake from Parliment). It was just Elton, with a totally forgettable opening act. About 10 minutes before Elton went on stage, it started raining. It's late October, so it's pretty warm (spring) and sort of like Arizona - it goes from winter to the flaming bowels of hell in about sixty seconds. So, it starts raining a bit. I'm happy because I've got my 1 litre milk carton full of cheap wine (hey, it's Australia) and we put our cardboard picnic boxes over our heads to keep the rain off, thinking that it's a passing shower. By the time Elton comes out, it's raining pretty good and all the old folks around us (let's face it, the wild child of the 70's is just slightly younger than my parents - and I include me and the Kiwi in the old folk category) are starting to laugh because it's actually raining. So Elton opens the show with "Madman Across the Water" and by the time he sings the lyrics "You'd better get your coat, dear, it looks like rain" it is pissing down with rain. And the crowd reacts appropriately. It continued to rain so much the animals started to pair up, and Elton sang every single song that I think I (and he) could think of that referred to water or rain, because it kept raining harder and harder. Then the thunder and lightning started. It rained so hard it was comical. He played for 2.5 hours because everyone sat out in the pouring rain to listen to him, I heard that he normally only plays for about 90 minutes in those type of concerts. It was an awesome show, everyone sang along because after a while, you couldn't get much wetter, your feet were already covered with water and you were drunk, so there was nothing to do but sing really loud.

Honorable mentions and general fondness:

Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter, The Greek Theatre, LA, about 1999 - again, my birthday. The Kiwi and I went from Tucson to LA to see the show, had one of our first fights because we got lost, the Kiwi couldn't read the map and I rudely grabbed it out of her hands.

Cher's 1589th farewell tour, Christchurch, NZ. I DO be-lieeve in life after love. I do. I love hur.

k.d. lang, Wellington, NZ, 2000 whatever. The woman is a goddess. And all the girls know it.

Dwight Yoakum with Emmylou Harris as opening act, Tucson Convention Center 1987ish. The concert was great. I love me some D-wight. I have a friend who went to someplace like Bali back around that time. The local people they were hanging out with sang some lovely Balinese (or whereever they were) song to them, and my friend Chuckles and his friend could only think of one American song, by Dwight - "It won't hurt, when I fall down off this barstool". Now THAT'S American music.

Oh God it's incredibly late. I must stop my reminiscing. (Thank God I've never seen "The Little River Band"...).

The Week the 70s Died

What can I say? The demise of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett AND Michael Jackson make me thoughtful. It's like most of the 70s died this week. Can you feel it? The mortality of our youth? BK may not be quite as sensitive (after all, he probably only knows Michael Jackson from the Thriller years, not from the Tito and Jermaine years - anyone for the Osmond Show? Anyone?) but I know that PGL is feelin' it, aren't you dawg? I too appreciated Farrah's poster, I just didn't realise why until much later. And of course I went through the whole wings thing with my hair - who didn't? With all due respect to Jack Nicholson in "The Shining", no one says "Heeeeeere's JOHNNY!" like old Ed did.

RIP.

Social Networking ...

Someone I went to high school with found me on Facebook through another person with whom we attended high school. Fine, whatever, it's bound to happen. I'm one of the few females my age who still has the same name as thirty years ago (did I just type that?). But then she starts scanning and posting photos of me from HS, including my graduation photo. First of all, there is twice as much of me as there was then. Secondly, I had pretty much every dire hairstyle invented in the 70s in those photos.

Then two other people whose names I recognize but am fairly sure I could not pick out of a lineup immediately commented on the photos and about me in particular. Apparently I was popular with that small ecosystem of choir and drama nerds. Apparently.

So I'm talking about it at work (I have to admit, the photos threw me so hard into the wayback machine that I have bruises) and someone I work with (who is the approximate age of the Kiwi's daughter) found me and sent me a friend request. And now, my work colleagues will likely see these dire photos. Which I don't really care so much about, but I reflect on the insidiousness of it all.

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

BK and PGL, thanks for the Bday wishes. I had a nice birthday, although I did get a nasty cold. Luckily, the Kiwi was home and took care of me. It was nice to not have to chop wood when you feel like crap. There are some nasty cold and flu viruses going around at work (flying pig flu - "Doctor, when I cough I smell bacon!"). Rimshot!

Anyway, I haven't posted for a while. I've been pretty busy at work. I have been annointed project manager of our system upgrade, and I have spent the last few weeks trying to convince people to come work with us, doing interviews, and the like. I've actually had two people quit their full time permanent jobs to come work with us. And the other consultant has turned down work to wait to work on our project. It must be my natural charisma.

The project officially starts in July, although it started for me in February. The moment the funding was approved for the project, people immediately started freaking out because we hadn't done anything yet. It was bizzare. So, I'm going to have to do a lot of edumacating about how projects work. Fun stuff.

I'm half excited, half freaked out about the whole thing. I mean, I've been doing projects for years, and I know how they work, and what to do, but it is a little disconcerting to actually have to be in charge of a group of burning monkeys running toward a cliff. Not unlike riding shotgun down the avalanche (thanks Shawn Colvin). When we first talked about me being the PM, I was initially reluctant to do it, until the Kiwi pointed out that I was being a big chicken. Which I was. So now when I start to get freaked out about something, I have to remember that I've done it all before, except for the Excel part. I now know exponentially more about office furniture and the space charges for the building we're going to use than I ever dreamt was possible.

We're going to have 12 people on the project including me. It runs for a year and I have the best consultant in Australasia to do the hardest part of the implementation. He and I became good friends on the last project and he was more than happy to work with me again. He's fabulous and I'm sure he will save my bacon on more than one occasion.

Egads, this is a boring post. Enough.

New Template

I have to admit, I picked it because of the name...tequila.

Readers? How do you like it? I felt the need to update since members of my blogosphere have done the same.

Music I Love: Covers

Ok, cover tunes may be my fave genre. There is nothing I love more than an homage to a favorite/favourite tune. In no particular order:

1. Friend of the Devil - Lyle Lovett: It's a Grateful Dead tune. Right after Jerry Garcia died, I saw Lyle Lovett at some venue in West Phx (sort of near ASU West. Anyone? Anyone? Buehler?) I think Bruce Hornsby opened for him. Anyway, Lyle came out on the stage after the opening act but before his set, with his guitar and a cello as I recall (he had a cello player, he didn't play both), and sang "Friend of the Devil" (his version is on Dedicated, a tribute album to the Grateful Dead - now out of print but worth looking for - which has covers of Truckin' by Dwight Yoakum, Wharf Rat by Midnight Oil - stellar stuff). There was literally not a dry eye in the house. He just came out on a dark stage with a spotlight, sang the song and left. It was very affecting. Even now.

2. Party Doll, recorded by Mary Chapin Carpenter on her Party Doll album originally by the Rolling Stones (or Mick, I can't remember). It is a slowed down, beautiful song.

3. Four Seasons in one Day - Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin, originally recorded by Crowded House. The boys from Te Awamutu (from whence the Finn Brothers hail - and can I tell you how stoked I was when I made the connection between them and Te Awamutu in one of their songs - damn, I felt like a New Zealander because I had been there!) is one of the few songs I got offa certain file sharing service before it met its untimely commercial demise (I have like two files from the era, really!). For one thing, you can understand all the lyrics without the big NZ accents.

4. Sweet Jane by Cowboy Junkies (on an Out Magazine compilation CD we have), the original by Lou Reed. You know how good it is? It sounds like a Cowboy Junkies song!!

5. Every Little Thing (He) Does is Magic by Shawn Colvin off "Cover Girl". It's nearly as good as Sting's. Nearly.

6. Baby Got Back by Jonathan Coulton. It's a folk/pop version of the Sir Mix a Lot song (read his liner notes - it talks about why Sir Mix a Lot is not really royalty). First, you understand the lyrics. Secondly, his loping lyrical singing makes it funny.

7. Straight Out Of Compton - Nina Gordon. It is obscene, it is funny, and the melody is beautiful in the way she does it.

8. Gin and Juice - The Gourds. The Snoop Dogg must be loving this. This bluegrass version (Ver SAILS?) is so funny that I never skip by it when it comes up on the shuffle. Never. Even a little homage to "Walk on the Wild Side" in there. Classic.

9. Refugee by Melissa Etheridge. Now, I love Meliss, but I can only take her in small doses, because she has that Indigo Girls like earnestness that makes me a little sick feeling in my stomach. However, she has done some good songs, such as "You Can Sleep While I Drive". There's not a 'that way inclined' girl out there that doesn't totally identify with this song, even though that unless you time travel (or go through Area 51), there is no 'direct' way to go from Tucson up to Santa Fe. Ask the girls. They'll tell you. You have to totally go through Flagstaff or Las Cruces or something. Again, I digress. Her cover of the Tom Petty Song is pretty freaking great.

10. Breathless by X. It's a Otis Blackwell song, for those of you that are totally young (yes you, BK). Excene Cervenka sang it and it was such an awesome cover (from More Fun in the New World).

I could go on, but I'm tired. I may pick this up later, or I may do MUSICALS next!!!

Music I Like: Folk

I started working on a Desert Island Discs list a while back, but I've been inspired to work with genres instead of a top ten list. I just feel like namin some names of the music I like. Let's start with folk!! (Hey! Is everybody ready to hear some folk music?? Bonus points to you who know what that refers to.) I'll follow up in a follow up post.

I love folk music, in part because it is often so depressing. It drives the Kiwi batty I think because she doesn't get how such an optimistic person can love such depressing music. I say the depressing songs are often the best. For example, "I Can't Make You Love Me" recorded by Bonnie Raitt on "Luck of the Draw" makes me choke up. Every time I hear it. I have it on my iPod Shuffle (yes, I drank the Kool Aid, but only a little bit) but I always have to skip over it. A sixteen year old sang it on American Idol tonight and I got all verklempt.

I love the harmony, I love the sad lyrics, I love the plaintive melodies. I love the word play. For example, in Shawn Colvin's "Shotgun Down the Avalanche" how can you not love the lyrics "I'm riding shotgun down the avalanche" (talk about out of control - sort of like a reorg at work!) or "When we met each other, we stopped on a dime" from "Stranded". Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" is a classic although it did cross over to the pop charts in a big way. Suzanne Vega was really a good folkie back in the day "Marlene on the Wall"? Get outta here!! I do have a really soft spot for Shawn Colvin - I can't hate anything she does. She's my Joan Armatrading of the 90's and beyond. Speaking of SAINT JOAN - "The Weakness in Me" - "Show Some Emotion" - "Down To Zero" - "Willow"? Ok not technically folk but we'll split the difference.

David Willcox is pretty great - "New World" is a really good song. Loving Gillian Welch - she has such an unusual voice. Mary Chapin Carpenter is really great although she's not technically folk, more country. But I've seen her do some really good folk music. 10,000 Miles is a great rendition. She has that folky storytelling vibe (ala "This Shirt" which actually gets on my nerves if I hear it too much. But her cover of "Party Doll" by the Rolling Stones is gorgeous). The Story was originally kind of a folk group, although I think that truthfully, Jennifer Kimball has better folk chops than Jonatha Brooke (whom I totally love).

Indigo Girls have gorgeous harmonies but their lyrics are so sincere that they give me a cramp. Crosby Stills and Nash (and sometimes Y, I mean Young) can be very folky - "Helplessly Hoping" is a wonderful song. In my alternative High School (alternative in that most of the teachers were hippies or ex hippies - and I came from an uptight HS in Texas) my English teacher (70's Folk Musician in her own right, but that's probably another post, if only for the connection that I had to her from my previous HS and my University days) used the song to teach alliteration. (Use it with the kids, they will totally get it.)

I AM the queen of digression. If only it made me lose weight. But hey, I digress.

Cowboy Junkies are pretty folkie, and I love them. Natalie Merchant (of 10,000 Maniacs) totally has the whole folk thing down pat. Lilith Fair? Saw the tour TWICE. Hell, I even liked Jewel!!

I may have a part two of this one. I'll get back to ya.

Lively Up Yourselves

Our very own micro blogosphere has been pretty downbeat lately (BK's birthday and donuts notwithstanding) so I thought I'd try to lighten the mood with some positive things.

1. Our business case for my upcoming project went over its first (and most major) hurdle. The Vice Chancellor approved it (which usually means that it will get approved the rest of the way since his support is crucial). He also said that we have set the standard for future business cases at the University. I contributed in a small way with some heart wrenching prose about why our solution was better and all the rest sucked.

2. I won $35 in Powerball last weekend. I'm going to Disneyland!

3. We're going to be Grandmas! The Kiwi's youngest (daughter) is having a baby with her partner in September I think (that is to say, I think that's the due date. I know about the baby part). I refuse to be called granny or nana or any of those other old lady names. I am leaning towards Abuela. The Kiwi (ever the linguist) pointed out that young children cannot pronounce words that start with a vowel and I said "Dude, tell that to the five billion Spanish speakers!!!" I reckon to be one of the first people in Australia OR NZ to be called Abuela. (Now I just need to learn to make tortillas). (Which I would TOTALLY love to learn).

4. I booked a trip to the USA to visit my family in July. The Kiwi can't go (mostly because she's having a grandchild, see number 3 above) and because the Masters degree takes precedence, but I'm going. I'm spending a week in Tahoe with MY ENTIRE FANDAMILY. This is something I haven't done since I was 21 and we went to Hawaii. I'm only a little scared. After all, I now have five nephews.

5. I got the moving company to pay for a damaged art work, even though it was less than the insurance excess. The movers, through gross negligence, shattered the glass on one of our only art pieces. I wrote a strongly worded letter (an homage to Titanic) to the moving company complaining about the poor customer service and incompetence of the moving team in Australia, and they agreed to refund the money for the repairs. Someday I may do a post on my success with strongly worded letters.

There! In one post we have a professional success, a financial windfall, the miracle of life, a family bonding experience and a moral victory.

How good is that?

Date Issues

Currently, I have issues with dates. Not romantic type dates (got that covered), but scheduling dates. The Kiwi has a number of flights booked to come home over the next few months. So, there's those dates floating around. Then, there are the dates for the project that I'm doing but hasn't been approved yet (yet another set of dates). THEN there's the dates that I am going to go the States for a flying visit (as they say here - a.k.a. a quick visit). My Mother says "the only dates we are booked is when the family goes to Tahoe, which is July 18-26". Wanna guess which dates I booked my flight for? July 16-25. They looked really good when I was booking them. Normally I would have obsessively compared all of the dates that may come into play but this time I totally didn't do that. I even had a conversation with the Kiwi this morning about why those dates weren't the best (because, at the end of that same week that I return, I go to Auckland for a visit with said Kiwi).

So, I have a dilemma. Do I keep the dates I have and try to work it out with my family? On one hand it would be easy to go with them, as they will all be there in one place, saving us thousands of miles in the car travelling all over Phoenix. And, the weather in Tahoe in July will be definitely better to the weather in Phoenix in July. On the other hand, it may be a logistical nightmare trying to get myself from LAX to PHX to RNO to Tahoe. On the other hand, I do have all those miles I still haven't used for Delta and United. I could change the flights to August which would probably be better work-wise.

My brain is full.

You Know Why Working at a University Rocks?

Because you not only get Good Friday and Easter Monday off, you get Easter Tuesday off as well. How can you not love that?

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors (and old fences make my neighbor a pain in the ass)

We have an old house. Pretty much everything around it is old, too. We have an old, old fence between us and our newer neighbor (newer in the sense that he hasn't lived there as long as we have lived in our house and newer in that he has a new-ish house in contrast to most of them on our street). Anyway, he's been trying for two years to get us to replace the fence between our houses. He first brought it up to us before we went to Australia and we put him off. Then he started on about it to the property manager when we were still in Australia, and we said we would deal with it when we got back.

About two weeks after we got back, he started in on it. He wanted to put up a metal (as in corrugated iron) fence, which we didn't want. He also wanted us to pay for all the materials and he would do the work. We tried to put him off but he's been such a pain that we finally said, ok let's do it. He keeps trying to get us to buy materials I'm sure have fallen off the back of a truck from his cash-only mates, which I've resisted as I don't really agree with it and I kind of don't trust him to give him cash and expect him to turn up with what we need. Anyway, we've bought the palings for the fence and he's got the rails and the bolts.

A lot of preparatory work has to be done in our yard to enable this to happen. So, the Kiwi and I spent the entire Easter weekend (four days) cutting down trees, digging out old rose bushes and dismantling part of the fence. We got part of it down yesterday and today when we went out to start taking down the rest, the aforementioned pain in the ass neighbor - known to all as Mr. Ride On due to his ride on mower - other people in our town are Mr. Poos (the septic tank guy) and Madame Pavlova (the queen of the town or so she thinks)- comes out to "help" us. Now, the Kiwi and I have a way of working - mostly I do what the Kiwi says, but we are able to read each other and work out how we are going to do something before we do it - we're not so much into the rip shit and bust school of work. However, now that there's a man on the scene (no offense, BK), he immediately takes charge of the entire operation. Now, on the best of days this guy annoys the hell out of me, but today he got to the Kiwi too. We just get so irritated with his constant suggestions for how we do everything. We keep trying to tell him that we are very busy people with jobs that require lots of hours (and in the case of the Kiwi, a different city to work in) and that we have limited capacity to do things on his timetable. He, being retired, has nothing but time to not only do projects but also to meddle in other peoples bidness. And, because we clearly are incapable of doing things ourselves (such a pity, no men folk to be found) he feels it is somehow his male, I grew up in the 40s mentality right, nay, obligation to take over whenever we are outside doing something. Someday he is going to get an earful from me because I got no time for his crap. None. Nada.

So, anyhow, we got half the old fence down today and did a bit more to prepare the area. He's going to pick up the palings tomorrow and then the building will commence. He's already started putting up the rails. I've got stain for the fence as soon as it goes up (again it was his helpful suggestion that I paint the boards before they get put up because he doesn't think I'll do it once the fence is up. Luckily he floated this to the Kiwi and she suggested that I will do it later as I don't have time to do it prior to him putting up the fence - my explanation would have been slightly more colorful). He's also notified the local digger operator (soon to be known as Mr. Digger, I'm sure) that the ladies next door will be calling him to dig out the stumps of the trees we cut down over the weekend. Makes me want to dig the damn things out myself. Suffice it to say that the sooner the freaking fence goes up, the better. Then we won't have any business with the guy.

I don't really know where I was going with this, but the fence (and the Kiwi's departure back to Auckland for three weeks) has made me cranky tonight. I've got the Sunday Night Baseball Game on ESPN on in the other room and that's not working for me either. At least now you know the story of the fence.

What? We Weren't Included?

I, for one, would like an investigation!

http://www.vfdaily.com/culture/2008/blogopticon/index.html

Bloody Hell

My faithful readers (well, PGL anyway) know that I have lived down under nearly ten years now, and although I disagree that I have an "accent", I will admit to using a few choice Kiwi (well, generally down under-ish) phrases. Generally I feel that it's a horrible affectation to move here and immediately sound like I just fell out of some bad British TV show (not that Kiwis sound like that). I don't say "cheers" (not even in e-mails) because, well, I just don't think it's necessary to toast people every time they do something for you. I'll only say "cheers" with a drink in my hand (and even then, I often say "skol" instead). Likewise, I don't say "ta" instead of thanks because, frankly, I just don't get why they say that at all. I don't say "no worries" because that immediately makes me think of "Hakuna Matata" from "The Lion King" and EVERYONE says it. I generally lapse into California surfer dude talk depending on my audience ("Duuuude, that's just not gonna work!") although I don't say "Bro" because that's another word that is used quite often. (For a funny video that was apparently made by Australians to mock the NZ accent - yes, there are distinct differences - check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdVHZwI8pcA - apologies for the lack of html - it's not working for some reason).

But the phrase that I do use quite often is "Bloody hell" or its slightly less naughty counterpart "Bloody Nora". I use those in situations where the F Word just isn't appropriate (we won't digress into a discussion about whether using the F Word is ever appropriate, but I would argue that it is). But Bloody Hell/Nora are quite effective in everyday conversation.
It can convey dismay "BLOODY Hell!" or disappointment "Oh, bloody Nora" and even works when you hit your thumb with a hammer "BLOODY F-IN HELL!!!!!" I do also admit to occasionally saying "bugger" although it it just another euphamism for the F Word (when you are particularly tired you refer to yourself as "buggered"). I do try not to sound like Hugh Grant in "Four Weddings and a Funeral", however.

There, words you'll never see on Word of the Day.

Things I'll Miss From Here

To give some equal time to my home of the last two years, some things I'll miss.

1. The birds. They are spectacular. Parrots and all kinds of strange (well for me) birds. They rock.

2. Not having a car. I know it sounds strange, but there is a certain freedom (financial and otherwise) in not having a car. You never have to worry about breaking down or paying registration or insurance, and you only need someone sober enough to figure out how to get everyone home.

3. The campus. The campus at this University is gorgeous. It sits at the base of a mountain (unfortunately with a big tower on it) which is a mountain sacred to the Ngunnawal people, the Aboriginal people of the Canberra area. There are lots of open spaces on campus and gorgeous trees, a lake, a stream and lots of ducks. I've also seen bunnies and foxes run across campus in the early mornings and evenings.

4. The beauty of Australia. The land itself is really beautiful, sort of in the way the desert is beautiful. Rugged and desolate in places, with unexpected things like a little forest in the middle of nowhere.

5. Kangaroos. I still get excited when I see them. Except when they're dead along the side of the road. I've actually had more than one conversation about what we would do if we hit a kangaroo but didn't kill it. It's a concern. (Also, a tip for the intrepid traveler here - when you rent a car, make sure you get the full insurance coverage. The cheaper coverage does not include coverage if you hit a kangaroo - as though you would do it on purpose.) Also, I'd like to go on record as saying that I have not eaten kangaroo, even though it may be tasty and eco friendly. Remember, people consider them pests here.

If I think of other things, I'll post them too. But that's enough for right now.

Things I Missed From Home While I've Been Away

Ok, this one is for PGL, who is bored and snowed in or iced over or whatever.

Things I missed from home (did I say 9 days and a wake up yet?):

1. Mowing the lawns (PGL may recall why lawns is plural) and then sitting in the yard, drinking a beer, admiring the results. The way that the neighbors refer to the patch of grass across the road, which is actually leased by a farmer but he lets the neighbors do what we want with it) as "Basiljaz's cricket pitch" because I tamed it from waist high weeds to a well manicured (well, mostly) lawn. And now I'll have to start over.

2. Chopping wood for the wood burner in winter (except in the dark, holding a flashlight between your knees because you forgot to do it in the morning).

3. Hearing the cows/sheep/horses making their respective noises in the area.

4. The way our neighbor forgets the dog's name (she hears us calling him "Jaz Man" and thinks his name is Jasmine).

5. Fritz's Weiners http://www.fritzswieners.co.nz/products.html. Spicy Bratwurst, baby. I order 30 at a time and keep them in the freezer. They taste especially good at the Showgrounds with a beer.

6. Seeing the snow on the mountains in winter.

7. Walking over to the store for dinner and not having to drive home.

8. Going to Leeston to buy a roast, which the butcher cuts to order, ties up with string and makes suggestions about how to cook it.

9. Spring lambs while they're alive. (You may know them as wrapped in shrinkwrap for $14.99 a pound - but I knew them when they "were this big"! And ALIVE). There are hundreds of them in the area (pretty much everywhere we go) in late winter, early spring and sometimes I stop on the side of the road to watch them. And every time we see them in winter, the Kiwi says "God, they are lambing so much earlier than they used to".

10. Weather reports in winter that include warning about moving stock to lower elevations.

11. No matter how hot it may get during the day, it almost always cools down to a comfortable temperature at night.

12. The way we can see our breath inside the house first thing on a winter's morning (We See Dead People).

13. The 2:30 am train, and how everyone makes a comment if it was late this morning (the strange thing about living so close to a train track is that trains don't bother you or wake you unless it is late.

14. That Jaz Man/Jasmine has his own room with a futon to stay in during the day.

15. How the firewood smells when it gets delivered and dumped in front of the woodshed. You can smell it in the house.

I've remembered these things fondly while I've been away. I'm reasonably sure I'm going to curse them when I get home. And I'm thinking fondly of winter because it's so frickin' hot here right now.

Happy New Year

Ok, bk has shamed me into doing another post with his proliferation of holiday entries. So, to please my fans in this menage a bloggers, I will make a brief re-appearance. However, don't expect any coherent thoughts.

1. Down under on the change of year.
First, it's kind of fun to be a day ahead of everybody in North America (hell, the whole Northern Hemisphere). For example, when we were in the throes of the Year 2000, I was able to report that the toaster still worked on New Years Day, before anyone in the US was able to verify. (And we were the SECOND place to welcome the Millenium - the first being a small Pacific nation (Micronesia I think) that likes to complicate things by being fifteen minutes ahead of NZ. Try Hards.) That gave me a scoop on everybody else. Call me "Cub Reporter". However, that doesn't seem to help me stay up until Midnight. Last night we were asleep by 10:30 PM. It's hell being old.

2. New Years Resolutions.
I don't make them. No sense in setting myself up for failure, I say. I will say that I am pretty happy with my life right now, although I need to do some of the basics better (exercise more, eat and drink less, etc.), but I'm not going to resolve to do them. I did take the dog for an hour's walk this morning at 7:30 am so I guess that's as good a start as I can get.

3. What I'm happy about.
We're going home to NZ in 36 days. That makes me really happy. It will be a helluva lot of work, and we are going to live without a lot of creature comforts (like a bed and a couch) for a month or so while our stuff is in transit (well, we have to buy a lot of stuff when we get back to NZ), but we will be in our own home again. The Kiwi and I have been living in the same country(ies) for ten years now (well, we are in our tenth year), and that's something to be happy about. We had two of the three kids with us for Christmas (along with assorted partners) and that was good too. I'm getting random text messages from my friends wishing me a happy New Year. It's not unbearably hot today. The Christmas Tree hasn't completely become tinder yet (we bought a dead/live one this year - first tree in two years - and it still smells like a Christmas tree).

4. Summernats.
We live a couple of blocks from what can be compared to an American fairground - you know, where they hold the county fair. They have the usual exhibition halls where on any given weekend you can go to a computer sale, or buy Oriental rugs, or Oakley sunglasses - all a greatly reduced prices. They also normally hold a farmer's market on Saturday mornings. We watch the mass migration of many octegenarians pushing their little collapsable trolleys through our neighborhood to buy their weekly fruit and veg (although I think it's more of a social event for them really). We go on the odd weekend and have a good coffee and buy some stuff, and maybe have a bacon and egg roll or sausage roll for breakfast. Anyway, on the first weekend of the new year they have an event called "Summernats" (and no, I have no idea why they call it that). Summernats is a petrol head car show, where they have burnout competitions, car shows, a big car parade through town and other events such as the "Miss Jack Daniels Competition" or something like that. Most people camp at the show grounds and this is their New Year entertainment. What it means for our neighborhood is four days of revving engines and the smell of burning rubber when the wind is going the right direction, as well as a dearth of certain products at our local supermarket, most notably, bread, eggs, bacon, beer and RTDs (do you call them RTDs? I mean cans of Jack Daniels and cola or Vodka and lemon, etc.). People in the neighborhood complain about it a lot but I think it's a point of pride to complain about it, really. There are fireworks shows every night which we can watch from our front porch (and often we can hear the bands playing at night too). Anyway, people complain a lot about Summernats (some actually plan to be out of town during the event) but I think it's kind of cool.

Happy New Year, my two readers. I hope everyone is happy both collectively and separately.