Heavenly hash

Heavenly Hash or Five Cup Salad...

A cup of each of these...
Marshmallows 

Coconut

Sour cream

Mandarine

Pineapple

Put it in the fridge overnight.

Eat it.

That's my favorite... but I don't get it often because I moved out of home a very long time ago.

Mum makes it every now and then when the kids go over... but not when I go over... ( Hey! Mum! Adults are people too you know!) ... but she did tonight.  She made an extra batch because some other guests canceled. Bonus. More hash for everyone.

Justify this

This
It costs around $13 to buy a book at the local book shop.
It costs around $16 to buy the same book online at Amazon.

This
It costs around $7 for a small garden salad at the shops.
It costs around $6 for a burger, chips, and drink at McDonald's.

This
It costs about 30% more in usage to have your electricity come from renewable sources.

This
The promotion of waste is played out as a game when a restaurant states "If you can eat this whole meal, it's free!".

This
If someone can afford to pay for more of something, it is cheaper for them. But when someone can only afford a small amount it is more expensive. Like pay by the month v pay by the year insurance.

This
What if the cure for cancer was trapped in the mind of a child who's parents cannot afford to give them a decent education.

Prawns with rum and sugar - 19 December 2005

Prawns with rum and sugar.

What.

• About a kilo or two of big prawns. I don't think it matters what type they are. Just raw.
• Half a cup or so of white rum. Actually, I haven't tried brown rum for this, but I really can't stand Bundy rum, which is brown, that's why I chose Baccardi rum instead.
• A can of sliced pineapple. I suppose that pineapple pieces would be ok too.
• Some juice from the can of pineapples.
• Dessecated coconut.
• A bit of olive oil.
• Wooden skewers that have been soaked in water.
• About half cup of light muscovado sugar. (Maybe less or more. I cant remember.)

How.

• Heat up a saucepan.
• Put a little bit of olive oil into the saucepan. Maybe a tea spoon or table spoon full. But not too much. Heat it up, but not so it smokes.
• Put the rum into the saucepan. Heat it up.
• Slowly put in the sugar a bit at a time, stirring it all in, until its all dissolved. It will be brown and just a little bit thick.
• Take it off the heat and let it cool down.
• Peel the prawns and take the shit out of them too.
• When the sauce is cooler (well, just not hot so you can touch it) poor it all over the prawns in a bucket.
• Swirl it all through with your hands.
• Put some pineapple juice into the mix, just a bit, and swirl it around.
• Put some coconut into the mix and swirl it around.
• Put the prawns and the pineapple pieces on the skewers prawn-pineapple-prawn-pineapple-prawn.
• Put all of these back into the bucket of mix, and let it sit for a little while.
• BBQ them.
• Eat them.

Just a Joke...

... here it is...

When a Jewish atheist heard that the best school in town happened to be Catholic, he enrolled his son. Things were going very well until one day the boy came home and said he had learned all about the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost. His father, barely able to control his rage, seized his son by the shoulders and said: "David, this is very important, so listen carefully. There is only one God—and we don't believe in Him!"

Source: Article by Herb Silverman. http://bit.ly/GQIU2y

But then there's the other side

What's with the pushy old fuckers that not only demand a seat on the bus, but they sprint passed you in the isle and race toward the free seat that they've spotted even before they get on the bus.
Maybe I have issues with people in general.

Do Something

I race IRBs (Inflatable Rescue Boats). It's heaps of fun and it forces you to keep fit. We have the NSW State Championships next weekend. Last week we came back from the NSW Premierships where our 35+ Teams won the Bronze for the 'Teams' event. (Last year we won Silver).

That's me up front.

Stand Up

Every morning on the bus there's the race for a seat. It's always the same people. Always the same tactics. Slip in behind the person on the second ticket box. Always the same people.
The same people that ignore an elderly person standing and not even contemplating the seat offering.
The same people that present the one zone bus tickets going from Maroubra to the city. The same adults with the student concession tickets going to work. The same people with the 'questionable' disable parking permits. The same people with great tax-dodging ideas. The same people that push in line any chance they can get. The same people that don't stop to help a broken down car or someone in else in need. The same people that make their product cheaper for those who can afford more. The same people who charge a late fee to those who already can't afford the payment in the first place. The same people who send desperate people back to their 'own country' to get persecuted because of their religion/belief/colour.
How the hell can we teach our kids empathy, kindness, humanity in an insanely inhumane fucked up world?
Stand up. Let someone else sit down you greedy mother fucker. Stop worrying about your own asshole.


- Posted with headphones on.

Little Wing

The kids are still on holidays. It's much better when they are on holidays. Homework is such a freakin' stress in our house.
I never liked school. Or maybe it was the idea of school. Being at school was alright. Just the actual school work I didn't like very much. The teachers never really liked me much. I was a bit of a slacker. Just passing. Not giving any more them I had to. Hardly turning in any homework. I'm surprised I lasted until year 11.
We smoked lots and lots of pot at school. Don't worry... I've come beyond that in my moving along with life.
Nix brought back the Halo Reach Xbox game from America. Arthur and I were playing it tonight. It's really awesome. Lots of action, great music, guns and stuff, noisy.
Now it's bed time. I'm listening to Little Wing by Jimmy Hendrix. I think it was just the thing that made me want to write this shit down.
I never really liked to read. The only books I've read were the Harry Potter books. I really enjoyed them. Arthur doesn't read much either. He does however read comic books. The New Avengers are his fave.



This is the latest one he's reading. I suppose anything to read is better than Nothing.
We went to Surfers Paradise over the Easter long weekend to spend Pesach (Passover) with the family. It was just an awesome weekend and was so great to spend some time with all the family. Parents, cousins, kids, aunties, uncles, brothers. The best part was having all the kids playing in the pool, in the surf, in the park.
Dynamo Hum. One of Frank Zappas greatest contributions to the planet.
I often forget things. So, I take photos of things I need to remember. We had a heat bottle of red the other night in Queensland. This one...



If you haven't tried this, I recommend that you do.


- Posted with headphones on.

Injured and dazed

Well. At first, They were kind of cool. Euphoric. Light. Then, as necessity grew, they became heavy. Sluggish. Smokey.
Actually I can't wait to rid them. Try something different. Funny thing is, I'm lying in bed not able to sleep, they are sitting next to me and I can't even remember their name. Too slugged out to lift my head and take a look.

We got the letter today that said our new couch is ready for delivery. I can't even get excited about that. It's been three months since we ordered it.

I have a patrol on the weekend and I was seriously considering doing it, until Nix reminded me that I can't stand up for more than 5 minutes. How am I gonna stand up for 5 hours on a beach?

She goes to San Fransisco on Friday. She is freaking out, not about going, but of leaving us for ten days. My back is stuffed, Charlis arm is broken, and Arthur is 12. As you can see, all three of us have some kind of disability.

Endone. That's what those tables are called.

I think we'll be going out for dinner for ten days... last time Nix went away that's what we did.
We ate desert before dinner because we didn't get in trouble for doing so.
We'll play on the Xbox after school. We'll ride our bikes. We'll go to the beach, but I'll sit down rather than patrol. We'll get a cleaner in when we need to. But we will miss Nix terribly.

She's gonna have a ball.

I've been working from home this week and last, and it looks like next week too. It's just too painful to sit on a bus for an hour, walk to the office, find a place to sprawl out on the floor every hour to stretch out my leg. I do find that I'm getting stacks of work done from home with no interruptions.

JP sent a picture of one of his curries that he wizzed up recently. When I saw the picture, it was the first time in two weeks that I felt hungry. Man it looked great.
This is the curry that JP made. Looks yummy hey?!

We had a big curry night a couple of weeks ago. I made two curries that night. One was a recipe from a cookbook that I've had for a while. It's the kids FAVOURITE butter chicken. The other was a lamb and plum korma that I originally got from a TV show I think it was from that pretty Asian chick who was on one of those cooking competition shows then had her own show... Po? Or Pho? Or something like that. Anyway, the lamb plum korma is one of Nixs faves, so I made that one too.
Jo also made two curries that night and they were both really awesome, especially the "different" one. It was green and limey and great.

And now the endone kicks in.

Pink Floyd is playing on my headphones. We went to see the Roger Waters concert a few weeks ago. The Wall. Holy fuck it was brilliant. Nix and I went. I was so amazed and stoked that nix came. She doesn't really like pink Floyd. Although I would say that she likes their music, but just doesn't like listening to it. Anyway. It was a really brilliant show.
They should do something about the crap food that they sell at Acer Arena, or is it calls AllPhones now? Either way, the food their is shocking.

The physio girl last week was going to tape my back to keep it from bending. When she went to put the tape on, she warned me about taking it off too fast would rip my hair off my back. That sounded scary. So I told her not to put it on.

I am still hopeful that I will be able to start training again soon and be able to race this season. I will be extremely disappointed if that is not possible. I still haven't given myself a deadline for decision making, as I don't want to think about not doing it. It will shatter me if I can't.

I hope Nix brings us back some great stuff from America. Maybe some bubble gum or cigars or some new cool technology or Xbox games or all of the above.
Headphones. That's what I want. A really good set. Not earplugs. I've had these ones for about 10 years now. They are great, but I'm sure there is some much better technology out there.

Progress on the house.

This is the new kitchen. It went in today. Glen will come around and fit the oven in properly soon when he comes around to do the other electrical stuff.

The plumber also needs to come to put the sink in, and then we should probably think about getting the walls tiled.

And this is a before shot. Actually, this is the day we settled.

The floors have finally been finished too. We love them.
Also, the feature wall that is now not so noticeable has been semi-rendered. I am not convinced about it yet. Maybe it will grow on me. We have some more render paint if we decide to close the gaps and make it flatter.
Before the kitchen went in this is what the floors looked like.
Arthur and Charli were fighting over who would get to sand the doors. When Charli found out that it was not as easy as it looked, Arthur took over with no more fuss from Charli. Arthur did a great job, especially as it was a scorching hot day.

60 seconds

I forgot I even had this blog.

Since last time....

Charli still has the same unicorn. Simon married Sharon and they had Josh. We bought a house in Hillsdale. Nicole works at the Supa Centre in Dad's shop. I am a life saver at South Maroubra beach. Bissell died a few weeks ago - Picollo is still sad.

Then there's this....

Painting the new house is hard work (so Nicole tells me). Nicole won't let me paint because I suck at it.

So I was charged to rip out the tiles of the kitchen before the new floor goes down.

And the kids spend their time in the garden with their own version of landscaping to keep them occupied. Every now-and-then they will come in a destroy something like the old kitchen, or some old skirtings. It's all in the name of fun and danger!!

Hacking UnifAce

Here's an interesting blog. Hacking UnifAce

For a long time I have been pretty active on the Uniface-L list server (under a secret-hush-hush name ;) ), and there have been a few attempts to take the audience from that list to others. TURF is one of them. (I much prefer the uniface-l list).

Anyway, I was browsing the TURF bulletin board for some reason, and found this link to a page dedicated to hacking Uniface. A similar page called UFO (this, by the way, is why web page builders should NOT use frames!!!) was found at the Professional Uniface Users Universe, but that hasn't been updated in a while.

Some of the things on the Hacking Uniface site are interesting. Some of this stuff is new to me, and I will one day check it out.

For those that are into Uniface, I recommend taking a look at this site.

Last days at work

Friday the 30th of June is my last day at Aurion. It is also my little brothers birthday.

Aurion. That's where I work. Now. But not for long. St. George is where I am going to. In Sydney.

Actually looking forward to it. Change is good.

A bit concerned about how Arthur is going to cope with the move. All his friends are here in Brisbane. Same with Nix. She's a bit nervous about the whole thing.

Charli will be cool with it. As long as unicorn comes for the drive.

We'll go via Coffs Harbour and stay there for two nights. Can't wait for that.

Arthur will start school on the 18th of July. His birthday. South Coogee Public School.

There you go. And there we go too.

Brisbane, thanks for having us.

Roast lamb with garlic bulbs

Nix made this roast the other night. Man! it was brilliant.

We got this garlic that was one clove per bulb. They were roasted in with the potatoes and stuff.

We had to get an extra shank of lamb, because Arthur is now strong enough to put up a good fight for the shank. 

Fishing for a good day.

This is in the inlet / river at Currumbin on the Gold Coast. We didn't catch anything on this day, but it was a good day.
Some days are good days. This was a good day. 

Me with Charli and Arthur.

Nix and Arthur at the resturant with Nan Bard a couple of weeks ago. 

Just medicine? - 22 April 2006

There is a saying (I think it's from India)... "Food without company is just medicine".

Lately I have been getting into cooking. I mean really getting into it. Almost every Saturday or Sunday I am searching through recipe books for something funky to cook for dinner. Debbie, Becs Mum, and Robert, Becs brother, gave us one of the Jamie Oliver cook books last Christmukah. Mum got me the most amazing herb book with all you can ever need to know about so many herbs and spices. Nix got me one of those really big chunky granite motar and pestles for Peaster. It is vurtually impossible to get me out of the kitchen nowadays. I even find myself reading new recipe books on the bus on the way to work. Should I seek help?

Last week I made a Pork dish. I really don't like pork. I love bacon, but I just can't deal with pork. I don't know why. Anyway, the reason I cooked the pork last week was because the sauce looked absolutely awesome. Well, the meal wasn't too bad. Everyone seemed to really love it. I didn't. Never mind.

A few weeks ago I made a simple stir fried garlic prawns for the kids. They absolutely inhaled it. I was so happy. I made it again for them tonight, but tonight I thought I might put a little-bit-of-this and a little-lit-of-that in it. Since I was making the "tom yum goong" from the "fish food" book (on page 135), I thought I better make the kids something they can eat too.

Well. If there was any time in my life that could have been the birthplace of a profund statement, then tonight was the night. I set the table for four... and I don't set tables! I lit the candles. I put the chopsticks out. The kids have those funky little pincher chopsticks, they take them to yum cha when we go. Dinner was ready. It probably took me about an hour, maybe 2, could have been 3 - I lose time in the kitchen. It was my first time with turmeric. (no turning back now) The kitchen was starting to smell like Bugis Junction. Arthur was out the back yard. Charli was getting changed into a lovely blue floral ensemble. Nix was watching a fishing show on TV. We all sat down. We had a french bread stick. It was quite a brady-bunch-dinner moment. One of those moments that you can look at things with absolute clarity and tell yourself "here I am", "this is my life". I was really quite enjoying this moment.

Then. It happenned. We all tried our food. What an absolute disaster! Everything I had served, everything I had made went completely to flop. We all burst out into laughter. Telling each other how "mine is worse than yours", "it cant be. you gotta try this", "Dad! this is DISGUSTING".

After some laughing and some trips back to the kitchen to make some Vegemite toast and crumpets, I thought about that saying. "Food without company is just medicine". I think there is much more to that saying than what it suggests. We ended up enjoying a meal together that was actually quite perfect.

Thing to note 1 : Get the Fish Food book. It really is fantastic.
Thing to note 2 : If you do get the Fish Food book, don't go to page 135. It looks good, and smells amazing, but that's where it ends.
Thing to note 3 : Eat with the kids.
Thing to note 4 : Follow the recipe, but not 100%.
Thing to note 5 : It's fine to fuck up every now and then.
Thing to note 6 : The reason American's don't like Vegemite, is because the nature of the American suggests that they must spread Vegemite like it is peanut butter.

What a difference - 27 February 2006

Whenever we meet new people, we (or maybe its just me) tend to make an impression of them... and, perhaps, vice versa. Quiet. Loud. Proper. Rambunctious. Fun. Conservative. Approachable. Annoying.

I met someone that was quite proper, quiet, conservative.

It's very interesting what a few glasses of wine does to the most conservative of people.

The most pathetic - 22 February 2006

So Charli got a bit sick the other day. She had a bit of a runny nose, and a cough. So did Arthur. A bit fluey. They didn't complain. Theyjust took it in their stride. And Nix. When she gets sick she soldiers on. Breakfasts to make. School trips to run. House to take care of. Family to look after. I got sick on Sunday night. Man! What a pathetic individual I turned out to be. I couldn't get up on Monday. It was like an athletic event to just make a bit of breakfast. I winge. I moan. I'm grumpy. Quite pathetic.
So Nix goes out to some kindy teacher parent night thing, and starts talking with other mums. Apparently it's a common thing for husbands/fathers to be the most pathetic of all family members when it comes to being sick. Why? What makes us like this? I think I have the answer.
You see... it is a matter of design. The strongest link should take the heaviest load. This principal was obviously thought of by g-d when she designed us. Give the father/husband the majority of the sickness so the rest of the family doesn't have to endure it. Quite sensible really. We are like a filter. A force field. Not pathetic at all really, just taking the load off those who would not take it as well as we would.

60. Is that old? - 19 January 2006

My father and my mother will both turn 60 this year. When they were in their prime, I imagine that their world would have looked something like this. I am not quite sure if they were trip victims, but sometimes I think that Mum experimented a little bit at least.
I do know that my father once took something called a 'Green Dragon'. He didn't really elaborate on the effects.

Remember the pain? Remember the love? - 16 January 2006

The Best Wedding
I think that women have more than one child because they don't remember the pain. Someone once told me that. I believed them. I still believe them. It's like the electrified donut that Bart Simpson was trying to take. He tried, then he got shocked. He tried again. He got shocked again. He tried again and again and again. What a schmock.
I think that love is similar. Someone once told me that if the last wedding was not the best wedding that you have been to, then it wasn't a good wedding. For some reason it was true. For me anyway. I didn't understand why it was true, but I think I do now know. You see, I think that love, like pain, is not remembered. I don't mean that you forget it, or forget about it, I just mean that the feeling of love, and pain, can not be remembered in the same way that it was experienced.
Every wedding has love sprawled all over it. Not just for the obvious - bride and groom, but for the whole thing. The joining, the promise, the newness, the hope of begetting and the begotten, the meetings, the re-meetings, the singing, dancing, cuddling, laughing and the love that everyone excretes. There are no hugs at weddings, but there are plenty of cuddles.
When all is over, nothing is forgotten. But, the love that was felt at the day is not fully remembered (unless it was your own wedding of course!)... perhaps felt rather than remembered is the appropriate word. This is why, when it is experienced again at the next wedding, I think that wedding should be the best wedding that one has have ever been to.

Little Plastic Toys - 11 January 2006

Men go on all the time about how they just can't understand women. How women are just these strange beings that quite often make no sense. How little things are huge. I wish I had one of those WUPs (Woman Understanding Pills). Everywhere I go they are sold out.

The mural
Friday night dinners at Boobas was something that has stuck in my mind. When I think of my childhood, I think of Shobbos dinners at Booba and Zidas place in Dover Heights. If we got there early enough we would go for a swim in the pool. They had this really ugly mural on the wall of the backyard. It was like a seen from an island resort. Palm trees, cabana, sunset. When I think back on what it looked like, it was extremely ugly, but I don't remember thinking that it was ugly at the time.

The famous photo
We had a picture taken with all the kids beside the pool. It is quite a famous picture within the family. We (the cousins) were all lined up from youngest to oldest. Karen wasn't born yet. I love that picture.

The onion boat
Booba used to say "What... do you think I just came in on the onion boat?" when we would talk nonsense or try to get something past her. She was always very much on the ball.

It wasn't until I was about 10 when she told me about her coming from England on the boat with the family that I placed the "onion boat" to the boat that she... well... came in on.

Not sure if they all came on the onion boat together, but Booba also brought with her my Aunty Joyce. She was not really my aunty, more of a family friend who sounded a lot like my Booba. They called the accent 'Cockney'. They were from Manchester. My Zidas father went to America during the war (not sure which one). He had 10 kids (maybe eight, or nine... a lot anyway). He didn't know how to spell his name. It did, however, sound like Krite. or Creight. Or anything in between the two.

Funny times
Aunty Joyce had a glass eye. Everyone loved Aunty Joyce. Especially my dad. She had a dog that was called Dildo. She had our fish tank for a little while I think. It shrunk while she had it. It was big, then she had it for a few years, then when we got it back it was small.

They paved paradise
Shobbos at Boobas would bring on average about 20 people every Friday night. That is an average. I absolutely loved it. I really miss it. Dad would make fun of Aunty Joyce, and although she seemed naive to what was going on, I think she new. One night dad was sitting next to her, when he pulled out one of those little plastic eyeballs that you wind up, and it jumps all over the place. Well, he wound it up and it jumped all the way down the table, right passed Aunty Joyce. It was a very funny, and memorable night. She died. Dad was very sad. As was a lot of other people.

My Aunty Sadie was Boobas sister. She was our very own Dolly Parton. She had very large breasts. Big titties. I remember Booba and Aunty Sadie were always together. I think they worked together with something. Not sure what it was though. Something to do with wool... perhaps sheepskin factory - ugg boots, seat covers, etc. Aunty Sadie died of breast cancer a few years ago. Booba was absolutely devastated.

Whenever I go to Aunty Ruth's or Danny's, or Aunty Simone's, or Michelle's, a little bit of those memories of Shobbos at Booba and Zidas come back.

Zeida was really good at drawing. He had a cheesy moustache at times. Not all the time (I think). He was sick for most of my memories of him.

It was only when Booba died that I realised that I hadn't spent much quality time with her.

Other Peoples Photos - 09 January 2006

I would love to be able to take really good photos. I did a film / tv course many years ago, and I managed to make a couple of music videos, and somehow found way into radio interviewing (that can go along with the phrase "you have the perfect face for radio").
Anyway, apart from moving pictures, I would really love to take stills like this guy. There are some brilliant moments that he has managed to capture. I especially like the one titled "balloon".

Losec and the rest of your life
All three doctors that I have seen about my gut have all said that the opperation is something that will be an absolute last resort. They were all perfectl happy for me to tkae Losec for the rest of my life.

DOCTOR: Just take these Losecs.
RONNY: For how long?
D: For the rest of your life.
R: Instead of the opperation?
D: Yep.
R: OK.

I think I am now ready for a fourth oppinion.

Fun stuff
Google has launched a nice little group of packages that I can certainly recommend. All of the stuff in here is really great. I recently installed their image software. Lovely stuff. Just lovely stuff. I wouldnt recommend their news groups site though. It really makes life difficult for other more advanced news readers using the same groups. I use a real news reader. And here is a really good RSS feed reader.

I'm ready for a holiday - 08 January 2006

Shopping
How about hopping into a pot of bowling rusty water? Or diving into a vat of a mixture of maggots and razor blades? Or even worse... going shopping!!? Man. Does it suck? or what?

Went to the Shaws last night. We were gonna go to the drive-in, but we didnt. Not sure why! But had a great night anyway. I think my body is now so used to eating huge meals, that it almost seams wrong for me to have a light snack. I have been trying to get rid of all the left overs from over xmas / new year, but I didnt realize how much food we had. I think we finally killed it last night. We brought it all over to Bec and Jasons, and while the girls didnt really get into it, Jason and I got stuck right into the anchovies, oysters, etc and I would say that we have now seen the last of the holiday food.

TV
We watched a great show at their place last night. One of those American sitcoms. Was pretty good. I wish I had time to watch more tv.

We did a puzzle with the kids this afternoon. I can remember when I was younger I sat down and concentrated on the puzzle until it was finished. Arthur had no intention of doing that. He was a little more interested in taking purple unicorn away from Charli.

I was really wanting to find some kind of boxing instructional video to download, but all I could find was some Tae Bo stuff kind of aerobics thing. I really want Nix and I to beat each other up properly. Maybe we can ask someone to show us??

Oma will be here this week. She is gonna look after the kids while Nix and I go down to Stanthorp for Alex and Mels wedding. We are very excited... for them, and also for us as we havent had a holiday alone for a long while.

It is fantastic having Oma coming over. Nix loves seeing her mum. She misses her lots. And the kids also love it when she is here.

So, I will take Friday off work, and we will come back Sunday arvo.

When you buy a PC with a DVD burner, I would expect that you get the software need to use the f###ing thing. If we were living in a communist world, we wouldn't need to buy addons.

We went to Danny place for Shobbos on Friday night. The kids love going there seeing Billy and Zac. Before Booba died we went there a lot more often. We also had shobbos a lot more often at home before Booba died. I was afraid that this might happen when she died. She was the center of the family. Now there are three centers. I hoped that the three centers didnt spin off away from each other. I dont thinki they have, but I can see how when they die, the rest of the family may spin off, away, seperate. That will be bad. I hope it doesnt happen.

Charli talks with her hands. It is very funny to watch.

Happy happy to you and yours - 03 January 2006

Happy new year. Happy Hanukkah too.

Today I went back to work. Not quite ready though. I'd like a little more time to detox I think.

I went jogging tonight with Jason. I am jogging and excersizing as part of Nicoles new years resolution. I am sure that if my sweat was bottled, you could sell it as a liquor. We drank a hell of a lot over the holidays, and ate a hell of a lot too. I tried to beat up Nicole when I got home tonight after my jog, but I was too buggered. She beat me up instead. It was great.

I couldn't eat. I felt sick after the jog. I think it may have been something to do with the anchovies, chillies, prawns, oysters, and cheese on crackers that I had just before I left to go for my jog. I highly recommend not to eat this sort of stuff before you do excersize.

We went to dreamworld again yesterday. This time the girls came with us. I re-assured Arthur that when we come next time without the girls we can go on the big rides again.

Jason and I went on the ride that drop you down from a very high altitude. It was amazing. I was scared. I cant wait to go again. There are interesting people at such high altitudes.

Have you ever mistaken a Canadian accent for an American accent? I have. Wow. What an insult it must be. I was so appologetic. Imagine. Someone thinks you are American. I would never mean to insult someone like that again. Next time I think I will ask "Are you Canadian?" rather than "Are you American?"

Your real hair colour? - 29 December 2005

Jason and I went looking for a new surfboard for him today. We found a few nice boards. We drove a lot, and my left arm got very burnt from being in the passenger seat.

He didnt buy anything, but we did get a couple of hours in the water at currumbin. Small waves, lots of people in the water, but a shit day surfing is better than a great day working. Actually, it wasnt really shit, it was pretty fun.

Rebecca
Rebecca is not blonde. Let me just repeat that... Rebecca is not blonde. However... She asked Nix "Is that your real hair colour coming up from your roots?" She's funny.

I've grown
The boys went to Dreamworld on Tuesday. We had so much fun. We got three season passes through our reward points. Charli is still young enough to get in free. Arthur and I went on the water slides. He loved them. So did I. But I dont think they are supposed to be used by anyone over about 65 kilos. On both of them (the one you sit in the tube, and the one you slide down on your ass) I went down a little too fast. On the one in the tube, I managed to get airborn about a foot. Not quite high enough to fly over the side, but certainly enough to end up coming back down without a soft tyre tube to cushion my fall. After some hind-sight investigation, it appears that all other over 65kgers also experienced the 'flight of the grown up'.

The one that you slide down on your ass was a different story. I was watching all the kids go down, and I noticed that they actually lay on their backs. I just assumed that you can control yourself more by doing this. I tried it. I went to fast. I found myself airborn for the second time in the same day. I landed flat on my back. That hurt. Apart from the pain, it was huge amounts of fun. I may even do it again (at the end of the day).

The three boys (Arthur, Ben, Jacob) had a ball. I cant wait to go again. Next time we may even take the girls with us.

Experiment at home first - 26 December 2005

Chrismukah day was fantastic. Kids actually slept in a bit I think we got up about 6. Had a coffee, opened presents. I got my darrell lea thing - its not chrismukah without it.

Had a huge breaky - bacon, eggs, fresh bread that we baked over night, and other stuff. Very yummy.

Went to the Shaws place about 10 or 11. Nix misses her family at christmas (I already said that in a previous post, but its very relevant today). It was such a great day with them. Lots of beautiful food, beautiful people, lots to drink and eat. Lots of laughing.

There was lots of prawns and lobster and oysters and stuff for lunch. I made those rum and sugar prawns. THey were great. I experimented with a few prawns too. Instead of rum, I used that orange liquor (I forget the name of it). They weren't very nice. Perhaps it was that I burnt the sauce. Not sure.

For me, christmas is more like pesach than anything else. Although Hanukah falls in the same period, its doesnt really have a similar thing. You know at Peasch when we say that if somebody hasn't got anywhere to go for sedar nights, then we bring them to our place... well...

Jo gave Nix one of those photo boxes. The ones that you put a picture around the outside of the box, and inside are a few loose leaved flappy bits that hang down off little wooden blocks. I think it is fantastic. We are going to fill it today I think.

We were going to get Arthur a bike for chrismukah, but when we notice how much stuff was under the tree for the kids (that all our interstate family sent), and given the fact that the end-of-year sales were going to begin on boxing day, we decided to get it when those sales are on.

He got a microscope for chrissy from noonoo. He loves it. We squashed an ant and looked through the microscope. Funky. He also got one of those huge robots from zid. We had Roelo and Gary over last night for a drink and we found ourselves playing with Arthurs robot. It is a brilliant piece of technology.

Charli just walked over to me and farted. I think that Charli has the smelliest farts in the world.

Nix got some boxing gloves. I cant wait for her to beat me up.

The fishbowl was huge - 23 December 2005

This is great. I can get used to this.
Got to work at 7am.
Did some work.
Left work at 7:15am to have breakfast at La Dolce Vitas. Had eggs benedict. And some other stuff.
Got to work by lunch time.
Went out to lunch at Arrivadercis. Had chicken Kiev.
Got back to work by 1:30. Just in time to play an hour or so of Quake with everyone.
Left work just after 2:30.
Was a good day.

Everone came over tonight for the secret santa. I loved it. I got a lava lamp. The kids loved it too. They ate junk food.

Christmukah is like a fisbowl.
When I was a kid, we had this huge fishtank. There was heaps of huge fish in it too. It was about 2 meters wide, and about 90cm tall.
I didnt look at the fishtank for quite some time. It just sat in the corner near the window at dads place. I think it went to my Aunty Joyce for a few years before I even noticed that it was gone. Even when it came back to our place I didnt really take much notice of it. Then one day, just before I grew up, I noticed that it wasnt really that big. It was about 80cm wide, and roughly 50cm tall.
The next moment, just after I had kids, I noticed that christmukah was also not as big and exciting as I remembered. I hope my kids will be kids for as long as possible, and take notice of things more than I did.

Nix is addicted to downloading music. This is a good thing. She has never really been into music. turn it down ronny!

Dad went into hospital the other day. Then went to work when they let him out. Nix spoke to him. I find it difficult when I speak to him on the phone about going to hospital, and about his health, and stuff that is not good. I am not sure if he is scared. Well... if he isnt, I am.

He was santa clause once (maybe more than once, but at least once that I can remember). That was in Plowman street, Bondi. I had a bed that was like a car. It had a boot where I kept all my junk. We lived next door to a doctor, and a couple of doors up from clowns. The poeple opposite us had a four wheel drive. A real four wheel drive. Before anyone had a four wheel drive. Man. It was a tough car. They were cool.

I had a girl friend who lived around the corner from us. I think I was about 4 or 5 or 6. Her name was Sophia. She had red hair. We got the chicken pox together and invited all the kids from school over for a party so they could all get the chicken pox too. Parents were weird back then. Sophia over dosed a few years ago.

Thursday. Tired. Lotsa food. - 22 December 2005

Nix made heaps of white xmas. Very sweet, but very easy to eat.

Everyone brought something into the office for a morning tea. There was way too much food.

Sweet things must be much easier to make that savoury things!

I was going to go out to have a long lunch, but after all that junk food I just ate, I dont think I can get off my chair.

Roelo is a funny guy. He was very excited about his new range of undies. He was busting to show someone. He showed me. Only problem was... he was wearing them.

Three days until xmas. Hanukkah is in four days. Christmukah is generally a very hot time of the year where we are. We were in Amsterdam at this time in 2001. Man!! that was bloody cold. What a beautiful place though... even after Nicole vomitted her way across the entire city.

There is not much I remember when I was a kid, but one thing I do remember is that we used to go to Bondi beach on christmas day. We lived in north bondi at the time. I learnt to ride a bike there. i remember that. Our neighbour had renovated their driveway and the side of it made a fantastic ramp to jump the bike up. Our dog, Brandy, used to chase the post man.

We're going to Jason and Becs place on xmas day. Nix misses her family around this time of year, and I think it's great that we can go to their place for xmas. We love the Shaws. And we love Krispy Kreme donuts too. We went to their place (the Shaws, not krispy kreme) for dinner last night, and the kids decided to turn feral when I came home.

I had a stack on my skateboard last night. Was pretty embarrassing, even when no one is watching, I still think to myself 'fuck man, what a dick head'... even if no one else is there to think that for me. Last time I stacked was in melbourne going down Alma road. I was in my suit. I was talking on the phone to Nix. man... it really hurt. I am sure some was laughing at the time... and probably still!

Same thing every year - 20 December 2005

All year you get hints and clues as to what to get. You know that you should write them down, but you think to yourself "na man, i'll remember". Never. I never remember. I find myself at the shops with three days until christmas thinking to myslef, "ok. cool. all year I have been given all these hints, so now it's time to remember them.".
I spend about 3 or 4 hours at the shops, wondering around, trying to remember what she told me. What were those hints? Nothing comes to mind. We (Arthur and me) stop for some dinner at about 8:30 with about half hour before the shops close.
We walk around. Still nothing. Then all of a sudden. Bang. There it is. She wants a ######## ### of ###### with some ###### ##### and stuff. "Buy it Dad". "OK". "Can we go home now?"

On a bus in Jerusalem - 19 December 2005

Two Jewish men are riding on a bus in Jerusalem. One young, and one older.The younger man asks, "Excuse me, sir, what time is it?"The older man doesn't answer."Excuse me, sir," the younger man asks again, "what time is it?"The older man looks up at him, but still doesn't answer.The younger man is puzzled, "Sir, forgive me for interrupting you all the time, but I really want to know what time it is. Why won't you answer me?"The older turns toward the young man and says, "Son, the next stop is the last on this route. I don't know you, so you must be a stranger to this land. If I answer you now, according to Jewish tradition, I must invite you to my home. You're handsome and I have a beautiful daughter. You would fall in love with her and you'd want to get married. And tell me, why would I want a son-in-law who can't even afford a fucking watch?"

One week before that very expensive day - 18 December 2005

Wouldnt it be good to have the time to fall asleep in the pool?

Arthur was so brave with his operation on Thurday. It went to plan. Funny how nurses are so different. The day chick was quite the control freak. She freaked out when I wanted to give Arthur ice cream and jelly. I think Nicole was about to bitch slap her. That would have been funny. The night staff were great.

Arthur is doing great now. He loves chewing gum. (they told us that chewy is the best thing to get his throat working again). He is eating anything and everything again - three days late.

The first meal they gave him straight out of surgery was pizza and chips!

Zid was here for the operation. Arthur wanted him to take him into the pre-op room when he got put to sleep. That in itself was really special I think.

Next Friday we have everyone over for chris cringle... you know... where you put everyones name in a hat, and then everyone pulls out a name and they buy a present for that person. I love doing that. I think we'll make it an early night though. Or not. Depends if jack comes out for the night.

We got the bus last week to Arthurs school to watch the fireworks that followed the carols (which we missed). That was a lot of fun. We sung the "hail to the bus driver" song. The one from the Simpsons, not the real one.

BBQs are common again. After next week I have a week off. Its a fun time year.

Google Earth. A little bit addictive - 14 December 2005

You gotta check it out. http://earth.google.com/

This is where we live. (If that didnt work, try this). (You need to download and install Googole Earth first).

Ribs Recipe - 12 December 2005

Pork ribs that Ronny makes.

So good, it may as well be kosher.

Ingredients

• 4 - 6 racks of pork ribs. (the ones that come in racks, not the fatty ones)
• 3 - 4 bottles of Ayam Plum sauce (must be 'Ayam' brand - other brands are really different tasting)
• A little bit of thick soy sauce (a couple of splashes.)
• A little bit of sweet sherry - about 1/3 of an cups full.
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil.
• 1 - 3 cloves of crushed garlic - or one huge heaped teaspoon crushed garlic in a jar.
• 1 teaspoon of crushed ginger from a jar.
• 2 tablespoons of 'hoisin' sauce.

What to do - part 1

• Cut each rib bone into its own piece.
• put cold water into a huge pot.
• put the separated ribs into the pot.
• put the pot on the stove on a really low heat.
• the water should only get very warm - if it is too hot to put your hand in the water, then it is too hot.
• let the ribs SLOWLY SLOWLY SLOWLY cook in the pot and they will remain very soft, but cook all the meat on each bone.
• it is important to keep the ribs meat very soft.
• pour all the plum sauce into a bowl (because it comes out of the bottle too slowly)
• in a smaller saucepan, put in the two oils and let it get really hot.
• then put the garlic and ginger in and stir the sizzling bits.
• put the thick soy sauce in.
• put the sherry in
• stir a bit
• pour all the plum sauce into the saucepan.
• pour the hoisin sauce in
• mix while it boils.
• let it bubble for about 5 minutes while mixing it.
• when the ribs are cooked through (but still very soft) take it off the stove and pour all the water out, but leave the ribs in the pot.
• pour all the hot sauce into the pot and give it a good shaking to get all the ribs covered in sauce.
• leave it for a few hours but every now and then give it another good shaking.

What to do - part 2 (the sequel) cooking time

• before you turn the BBQ on, spray it with canola oil, or ‘Pure And Simple’ because the sauce is very sugary and it will stick to the plates.
• put the BBQ on very very very hot. Let it heat up for a long time.
  put the ribs on the plate side of the BBQ (leaving left over sauce in the pot) to get them to sizzle so the initial drips don’t go into the grills.
• after a minute or so, put the ribs onto the grill, tossing and turning all the time.
• after about 5 - 10 minutes it will start to look a little burnt, but it is not. It is just the sugars in the sauce cooking.
• pour the rest of the sauce onto the cooking ribs and toss and turn like a crazy man. This makes it interesting for the onlookers when the sauce catches on fire. You will look very impressive, and it will prompt someone to bring you a drink. :)
• don’t cook for too long. Remember that the ribs are already cooked, you just want to cook/singe the sauce.

Things to do tomorrow

• The BBQ will be very very dirty after this so need to leave it on for a while to crisp up the sauce remnants.
• Ribs taste even better when left over night in the fridge.
• They are very yummy when cold too.

Jerky, Dating and HR - 12 December 2005

Saturday:
I fell asleep in the pool!. Idiot! I got burnt. Idiot!

Sunday:
Went to city to get some aloe vera for my sunburn.
Sunday night we went to Brad and Janes place to all get ready to go to see the lights in Belmont. The lights were'nt as good as last year.
We forgot to eat so we went passed macdonalds on the way home. I decided to slam my fingers in the car door when the macdonalds drive through check-out-chick dropped my change. Man! that really hurt.... and still does.

Arthur now has tonsilitis so he may not be able to have the surgery on Thursday. Dr said we will have to wait and see how he is by then.

Here it is. The first thing that I've said in here.

Have you seen this new site? http://speedqueen.com.au/ I built it.

And this site? http://choicebeefjerky.com.au/ I built this one too.

I finally got the ReWrite rules working for the SQ site. Took me ages to figure it out.

Arthur goes into hospital to get his tonsils and adnoids out next Thursday (15th Dec 2005). I dont think hes scared. I am a bit scared for him though. He will stay over night apparently. It is on the same day as Charlis kindy christmas concert. Dad will be coming up for a couple of days to help us go here and there while still having someone stay with Arthur while he's in hospital.