Tower of London from Tower Bridge

Yet to see the Crown Jewels, but a visit to the Tower is definitely on the list. Just waiting for the crowds to die down a bit, time is a luxury we're fortunate to have. August is the height of the tourist season and summer school holidays in London, so if you don't get there early don't bother going, unless you enjoy queues. The queue outside the nearby London Dungeon was over 100m long, imagine how it'd be if you were in one of those queues with your kids, nightmarish.

Yesterday was spent looking for a self-contained apartment, once we'd walked across the Tower Bridge, after MDR was told his boss' flat in Westminster wouldn't be available. Self-catering holiday flats are as rare as hen's teeth in London, found a few on the web and decided to inspect two properties, one did not seem to have any on-site manager (still waiting for them to return our call too). The other in Southwark was fine, 150 quid per night, but didn't commit to anything and after some more concerted web surfing found a website that let out privately owned apartments in various locations for short terms. Luckily we found one apartment in a street close to Rotherhithe. It's a larger apartment on the Thames, cheaper too and we've been able to book it from next week, hallelujah brudder!

One of our stops in the quest for the SC flat was a visit to the official London Tourist Information Centre in Regent Street, after fighting the wall to wall crowds we finally made it to this centre, which has an accommodation booking service. When we asked for an SC flat, the Lazy Harridan at the counter asserted that London doesn't have this sort of accommodation, as most folks are only here for short stays and hotel rooms are much better. After some prodding she made a phone call and managed to get a quote for a property in Kensington, which surprised her no end. As this was out of the way for us we asked for other options, but that was it, no other SC holiday flats exist. Complete waste of time going there.

On another note London is gearing up for the 10 year anniversary of the death of Princess Di on 31 August. The media are having a field day, newspapers printing 10 page supplements and getting their knickers in a knot over Camilla's decision not attend the memorial service, she's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't.

Serenity meets Industry

Visited Morden Hall Park today, a lovely National Trust property in South London. After the obligatory couple of kilometres being lost we eventually found the entrance, once inside we were in another world of beautiful grounds, babbling brooks and fragrant beds of roses.

Finally saw some other folks eating blackberries today (there are wild blackberries everywhere which seem to be totally ignored by the locals), when we got closer we discovered they were fellow tourists, Japanese to boot.

After walking through the grounds and the small farm of this rural idyll, we exited into an ugly industrial area, quite a rude shock after the serenity of the park.

To get to this property we took the tube from Elephant & Castle Tube Station, which we reached by bus. The area surrounding this station is really reminiscent of a ghetto, lots of grotty buildings with garage doors protecting grimy little shopfronts and lots of guys loping around in hoodys. Don't think we'll be rushing back there anytime soon.

The Beginning of Time

MB has done it again, upsetting her fellow tourists by straddling the GMT Meridian to get this photo, you can just see her volleys at the top of the pic. MB thought the group of Asian tourists standing on the Line were there for a photo, turns out they were queuing up to get a photo in front of the sculpture at the end of the Meridian Line, then MB shambles over and queue jumps to take this shot. MB was duly ticked off by a feisty Irish visitor, however, after jostling the crowds all day MB confesses she was actually pretty pleased with herself, finally getting the upper hand - shocking attitude really...

MB & MDR chose the Sunday of the Bank Holiday weekend to visit the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, along with about half a million others. The observatory overlooks very expansive grounds and some very majestic naval buildings on the Thames waterfront. The grounds were packed with frolicking folk enjoying the late summer sun.

After a powernap on the lawn the duo returned to their hotel via the pedestrian tunnel which goes under the Thames across to the area west of Canary Wharf, from there they walked the Thames path to the wharf and caught a ferry back to their hotel opposite Canary Wharf.

Dinner last night was in Chinatown, this meant a tube trip into Leicester Square. Finding Chinatown from the tube station was a real challenge, ended up in Soho, eventually stumbed onto the entrance to Chinatown before MDR & MB came to blows, both frazzled and hungry by this time. An Asahi beer and an iced green tea in a funkly little Japanese restaurant restored both to good spirits.

Windsor Castle

MDR & MB took the train from Waterloo to Windsor today to visit Queen Elizabeth's Windsor Castle, the longest continuously occupied castle in the world. Needless to say this very imposing castle, which dominates the small village of Windsor, is spectacular, surrounded by beautiful green parklands and containing priceless art and plunder. Yes you read correctly, plunder, from vanquished states, mostly in India. The standout for MB was a massive solid gold Tiger's head.

After touring the castle it was decided to visit the giftshop for some postcards. Airline luggage restrictions preclude the Aussie tourists from buying anything substantial. Inside the giftshop MB took a photo of MDR then was pounced on by a surly sales assistant who demanded immediate deletion of the photo due to copyright restrictions and the fact that it was a charitable organisation, she then flounced off before MB could delete the photo (above).

The very charming small village of Windsor which is so quintessentially English was teeming with tourists, reminded MB of Kuranda. Did a walk through the High Street then down to the Thames River, which is much smaller and calmer by the time it reaches Windsor and very picturesque with the white swans following the tourists for food. Windsor is a great day trip from London, approx. 50 minutes by train, highly recommended.

Bank Holiday Weekend coming up so the roads will be chaos, might be best to hang out in London this weekend.

Living off the Land in Rotherhithe

Free day for MDR as ferry delivery now delayed to 30 August.

Decided to explore the neighbourhood and check out the nearby Brunel Museum. Brunel was the engineer who oversaw the construction of the world's first tunnel under a river bed, the Rotherhithe tunnel under the Thames, in the early 1800's. The museum was very small but lively with a boisterous group of school children on holidays doing some sort of extra-curricular activities. The curator was very friendly in a sort of British boffin way.

From the museum we spotted a very charming pub, the Mayflower. On checking found they had a great lunch menu so we ordered a drink and sat down in our snug. Just wanted a light lunch so ordered sandwiches. MB's roast beef on grain bread turned out to be made with slices over 2cm thick and served with mounds of salad, coleslaw and chips, absolutely massive. The rare roast beef with horseradish was superb.

From the Mayflower we ambled up to the local shops, passed Michael Caine's childhood home too. At the local shopping centre a group of three young girls approached us and asked if we could spare them some change for a drink, a very Dickensian moment.

Then the weather started closing in so it was time get back to the hotel. However with the circuitious streets it was hard to know which ones to take to get back, we saw a little hill so up we went. From there we decided to cut through a remnant of woodland as it seemed to be in the general direction. Luckily we found some volunteers doing some good works, asked them for help but they had to get their guru to give us directions. One bonus of going through the woodland was the blackberries, loads of wild ripe berries growing everywhere, a real treat, could be an option when we run of cash in this very expensive city. Some photos on Flickr

The Eagle has Landed

Landed in London late Monday after a chockfull Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong. Our minicab driver (reminded me of Arthur from Minder) gave us a cooks tour of London on the way to the hotel in the docklands. After some bangers and mash in house and a few lagers for MDR the dynamic duo collapsed in a heap. Time clocks are a bit out of whack, both up before 5am each morning so far. Both had a laugh when reading a welcome email from SB at 5am this morning, when SB expressed the hope that jetlag wasn't too much of a problem.

MB's first day exploring London via Thames Clippers to the Embankment, when disembarking encountered Cleopatra's Needle guarded by two sphinxes (as per photo). MB succumbed to some retail therapy, who could resist the shops in London? Then some culture at the British Museum, going to have to go back a few times to take it all in.

Bargain of the day was some absolutely fabulous fresh strawberries and raspberries for sale at the Embankment Tube station, £2.70 for both. So far the only thing that's cheaper than in OZ.... MDR has a free day today so will be doing the tourist thing today.

The Cult of the Amateur

MB has just read the very thought provoking New Media article from last Sunday's SMH Spectrum supplement. Rather discouraging to a simple blogger, however MB does feel empathy with Andrew Keen. Isn't this just another symptom of the universal "dumbing down" of every facet of our day to day lives?
We are all, generally, enjoying amazing prosperity with the cult of the celebrity seemingly the pinnacle we all aspire to. The raft of so called reality TV programs is one pointer to this. In reality these programs couldn't be further from the truth, composed and edited to suit some mediocre producer, media company as well as the advertisers who are spruiking stuff we don't need.
Our culture seems to have developed to a point where one is not required to take responsibility for one's actions. This has seeped into our education system and many of our young people are graduating basically as "airheads", those folk who believe that if it's on television, the internet, or published in print, it must be true.
On a day to day basis one is confronted with colleagues, public servants, retail staff etc. who have very little understanding of what they're doing and even worse, so oblivious they don't know their shortcomings and their effect on the rest of us.
Amazingly though the airheads stumble along, no matter how inefficient or inept they are, due is no small part, MB feels, to our relative prosperity. Can't wait for the wheel to turn.......

Freaky Fungi

For some unknown reason MB is always fascinated with the fungi that grows on dead trees. She spotted a fallen log this morning at Mt Whitfield that had at least 3 different varieties of fungi growing on it, one colourful variety was nearly as bright as dayglo orange. If only we could grow that other dead wood loving fungus, shiitake, in our climate, alas too hot in FNQ for this delicacy.

Tour de Taste

Luckily someone in the MB household is interested in sport. MDR has been following the Tour de France on our excellent multicultural TV station, SBS. This same network sent Gabriel Gate, one of MB's food heroes, over to France where Gabriel presented regionally themed food segments for each stage of the TDF. Naturally MB missed all of this on the telly but SBS have very thoughtfully published all of the segments on the net. Well worth a look, very comprehensive with vodcasts and recipes.

Highlights of MB's week so far: MB found some Japanese men's deodorant whilst spring cleaning youngest son's abandoned bedroom. This amazing product claims 'sterilization' as one if it's key benefits. Wonder if this is affecting the birth rate in Japan?

Another highlight - only 2 more days to go at work, then two month's holiday. Other good news is that the latest blood test was done at the wrong time of day, MB is getting another test to hopefully eliminate the adrenal issue that MB's GP referred her to a specialist for.

Sunday morning MDR & MB did the Red Arrow walk at Mt Whitfield, then dropped in for another backyard blitz session at FBD's, training her on the whipper snipper, then all hands on deck for some earthworks to convert a disused garden bed back to lawn. So much easier doing these jobs in the relative cool of winter in the Tropics.

Sunday lunch was steak sandwiches with fresh rocket from the garden and caramelised onions. The steak was the tail end of a 6.7kg Teys Bros grain fed rump MB picked up during the week. MDR then succumbed to a snooze session on the sofa.

Otherwise MB is rather preoccupied with planning for a one month stay in London with MDR, who is travelling there to supervise offloading and commissioning of the rivercats on the Thames. It would be very fair to say that MB is tremendously enthusiastic about her first trip to the UK, really her head is spinning with the excitement of it all.

Pork & Lentils Brittany Style

One of our most popular family meals which was passed down to MDR from his Grandmere:

375 Grams Brown Lentils (the French Puy Lentils are the nicest)
500 Grams chopped pork trimmed of all fat (better to use cheaper cuts)
750 ml Tomato puree
1 Large Onion, finely chopped
4 Carrots, peeled and chopped
2-4 Litres Chicken stock
Bouquet Garni - preferably fresh Lemon Thyme/Parsley/Celery leaves
Pepper to taste

Wash the lentils, no need to soak. Melt off some of the pork fat, brown the chopped pork, add chopped onions and carrots, fry until golden.

Add the Stock, Tomato Puree, Bouquet Garni and Lentils and bring to a simmer. Add some pepper to taste.

Simmer and leave covered for around 60-90 minutes adding stock or water as needed to keep it similar to a casserole consistency. Do not add salt until just prior to serving. Ready to serve when the lentils are soft. Bon Appetit.

At last a movie about a Font!

MB heard recently, via an ABC Radio podcast, of a new movie length documentary about the Helvetica font. From the amount of people who use that most ugly of fonts, which is also the default Microsoft font, Times New Roman, MB is fairly certain this new movie is not going to be a blockbuster. It does appear worth a look though even if you're vaguely interested in design and the evolution of typefaces.

Millaa Millaa

Trawling through some recent photos MB rediscovered her shot of "one of the most photographed statues on the entire Tablelands", according to the http://www.athertontablelands.com.au/pages.asp?code=78 website.

Not quite sure what it represents but I guess it gets folks a wondering?

Wacky Wynnum

Mr & Mrs MB spent Easter in the big smoke at Brisvegas, in the lovely bayside environs of Wynnum, home to countless Fish & Chip shops, Op Shops, Real Estate Agencies and Finance Brokers. According to the locals Wynnum also hosts a complex housing de-institutionalised psychiatric patients, perhaps that's why it's still a sleepy, undeveloped backwater? Seriously though the Wynnum area is very charming and relatively quiet, a very nice little getaway, and the weather has been superb, cold nights and fresh sea breezes during the day, perfect walking weather.

The One that got away

The great white hunter, MDR, became the hunted today, set upon by two tiger sharks whilst spearfishing near Arlington Reef off Cairns. More precisely his Fishski was set upon, the Fishski is MDR's floating catch receptacle which must be quite irresistible to the sharks, a mesh bag hanging off a float with gore from dead fish oozing out into the water, just like burley really.
Fortunately the sharks didn't actually attack MDR and he was able to escape unscathed, albeit with a smaller catch and a lower ranking in the spearfishing competition.
MB declared that MDR is grounded from now on, of course MDR is studiously ignoring this plea from his beloved.

Siege Central

MB had a close shave at lunchtime today in the Cairns CBD. At midday she went to a shop in the city mall which is 2 blocks from the office, on the way back she stopped in at Beethoven's in Grafton St for an air dried beef sandwich on rye (best in town).
The street at this stage was blocked off with Police stationed at each intersection, then some ambulances turned up, then more police arrived and started barricading part of the street. A staffmember at Beethoven's told MB there was siege happening over the road.
Just before 1pm MB returned to work, just at the end of the block, but had to walk a long way around as the street was blocked. Not long after this police were fanning out even further and wouldn't allow us to even leave our offices. Two of our staff members at lunch couldn't return so ended up going home.
The guys in the office heard a gunshot while I was out but I missed that. Turned out to be a disgruntled constitutent bailing up a defenceless female staffmember at the Member for Cook's office, the MP happened to be away. The poor woman, must have been unimaginably terrifying for her. The siege lasted approximately 3 hours with the DC giving himself up quietly to the Police.

Success

Phew! The birthday cake turned out pretty good. Ran out of red dye so the red coloured frosting was more like pink, but it was Sunday so no chance to run around finding more dye. MDR was a tremendous help, MB would have been lost without him. He cut the cake to plan and was a gem at doing the licorice outlines. One of the guests at the party was admiring the cake and asked what MB & MDR planned for next year's party, MDR responded with "I'll be in Tassie". Eljay had a ball, but couldn't quite get the hang of the Pass the Parcel game!

Party Flurry

MB managed to escape from the kitchen to report on this weekend's momentous event, the first birthday of the Little Prince Eljay. FBD has organised a beach party on Sunday afternoon at Clifton Beach and requested a Tonka Truck cake from Granny MB. Cool Cat MDR weighed in and drew up an actual size plan, the first version of which would have meant the cake was going to be nearly a metre wide. After some vigorous discussion MDR retreated to draw up second version no wider than his briefcase, Tonka Truck Mark II. All agreed the new version was very nice and perfectly proportioned. Now the challenge is on to cut and decorate the three slabs of cake cooked so far so it does actually look like a truck. Little Eljay of course is completely oblivious to the fact that he is going to be the centre of attention and showered with gifts tomorrow. Party games such as Pass the Parcel are being arranged, FBD is of the opinion that the games should be rigged so each one of the littlies wins a prize. Ruthless MB wants to leave all that to fate and chance. It's been raining all week, hope the weather Gods are kind tomorrow.

The Brains Trust

World's dumbest Phishers:
------------------------------------------------------------

From: Westpack Online

Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 10:37 AM

Subject: Westpack Online Statement Notification

Dear Value Customer,

Westpack Internet Banking, is here by announcing the New Security Upgrade. We've upgraded our new SSL servers to serve our customers for a better and secure banking service,against any fraudulent activities. Due to this recent upgrade, you are requested to update your account information by following the reference below.

Click the link below.*
http://www.http:/ www.westpack.co.nz/secure/update/ssl.cfm
Regards Westpack Bank, N.A. and its affiliates.

Local Councillor Initiative

Just received this in the snail mail post this morning, very proactive of our local Councillor.

PIM Software

MB just has to vent about Outlook, seemingly the world's most used but distressingly unfriendly personal information management software. MB struggles daily with this inflexible, time wasting software at work. Using it for email is fine, but utilising it's other features is ageing MB prematurely, it's a complete WOFTAM. Give me Time and Chaos any day, it's quick, nimble, feature rich, and anyone can learn it in a couple of minutes.

HOT Coffee Please

Two months since the last post... Unforgiveable. MB's only excuse is being too stretched since agreeing to work full time until June and working at a screen all day is not conducive to interacting with the PC after hours.

MB and first born daughter dropped into Target today during their lunch hour to check out what all the fuss was about with the new Stella McCartney fashions in store. Nice gear if you are an anorexic size 8 and 6 feet tall. MB did manage to find a silk scarf as well as a t-shirt that might fit, if it doesn't she can auction it off on Ebay.

After the rummaging amongst the racks a flat white was in order. FBD kindly went to order them so her elderly Mummy could rest. FBD remembered to ask for hot coffee, to which the Crunchie* behind the counter responded with the bleeding obvious "Our coffee is always hot". FBD then asked again if the Crunchie could make sure the coffee was extra-hot, as that's how Mum likes it. The Crunchie replies, "Oh OK, a lot of OLD people ask for that." After all that sparring with the Crunchie the coffee was only just hot.
*Crunchie - Blond on the inside, brown outside.

Colleagues Only

MB's other half, MDR, is commuting to Brisvegas every two weeks or so to supervise a rather large project. He is spending more and more time there so his employer has rented a 2 bedroom apartment in a holiday rental complex for use by MDR and any other staff travelling to Brisbane.
MDR moved in recently and the next day another colleague, Gary, travelled down. Being newly arrived they had to pop out for some supplies and when both colleagues returned to the apartment laden with shopping bags, their neighbour who happened by introduced herself and MDR's first line to the neighbour was "We're Not a Couple!"
MB can just imagine the neighbour cynically thinking "Sure, sure, why be so defensive about it." Whenever MDR & MB see same sex couples in holiday precincts this is honestly the first thing they both think.
PS Just love Blues' comment about regurgitating the MB family, had all of the MBs chuckling merrily away. MB wishes she could be half as witty as him.

Yikes

The MB family were jolted out of their soporific holiday mood today with this gruesome discovery in the backyard. That's right, it's a snake skin draped along the top of the fence, left there courtesy of one quite large python. Brother of MB thinks the skin has been put there to stage this shot. You can rest assured this snake skin has been untouched by human hands and besides it has hordes of green ants swarming all over it, these ants pack a nasty bite.
Just last week our local newspaper featured a story of 3 pythons ravaging a chicken coup, feasting on around 25 chickens over a short period of time. They were caught in the chicken coop after swallowing a few too many chickens, this increased their girth, making them too wide to escape through the hole they made to get in.
The MB family will be making sure the house is in complete lockdown every night with absolutely no chinks for the pythons to slip through.

The Gift that keeps on Giving

MB received her first edition of The New Yorker on 2nd Jan, the Winter Fiction issue. What an absolute delight with it's unique cover art and a veritable feast of reading. MB is very grateful to youngest son for the one year's subscription. She still can't believe she only discovered this wonderful magazine in 2006! Just goes to show there is so much out there still awaiting discovery.

Lazy Days

MB was taken by the fancy to do some swimming today, the last day of 2006. Serious swimming mind you, laps at the local swimming pool. MDR was recruited on the pretext of doing some underwater hockey training and off the pair went, alas the pool was closed. Is New Year's Eve a public holiday?
"Let's go to the Bellevue where we stayed last week, you remember the PIN code for the pool gate don't you?" suggests MDR. MB isn't a fan of furtively using other people's swimming pools and countered with the idea of actually swimming in the ocean at Trinity Beach.
With both agreeing on a swim at the beach, they set off and amazingly found a parking spot just near the stinger net. Understood why when they walked onto the beach, not a soul swimming in the stinger proof enclosure and big signs warning swimming was prohibited as Irukandji jellyfish present!
After some lolling on the sand, the pair did a beach walk up to the Ron McKauge Track and walked around the rocky point. MB did actually get to do some paddling in the shallows and spotted a turtle from the walking track.
Trinity Beach on a late afternoon with a brisk sou-easterly sea breeze is certainly a very nice spot to be.

Christmas Day 2006 Trinity Beach

Christmas Lunch was a triumph, just one small hitch, forgot the peas, however some sauteed broccoli filled in admirably.
The little one was a bit overwhelmed by all the fuss, did lots of climbing on his avalanche of gifts, Mummy, Uncle, doting grand & great grandparents had to help with the unwrapping. Great Grandpa Steve was like a kid in a lolly factory, building a tower taller than himself with every piece of gift baby duplo.
Christmas night saw the MB family challenge MB for the Trivial Pursuit crown. After a long battle with lots of friendly bickering, the yougest son and Nana Anne team emerged victorious.
Holiday apartment was sensational, perched above the beach, each night the MB family was soothed to sleep by the sound of waves lapping the beach, plus some wine and/or beer....

Cynicism to the Fore

Interesting discussion on ABC RN Counterpoint last night about a chap by the name of Dr Kersten who got so sick of the motivational guff and jargon that so many companies insist on forcing on their staff he decided to write his own book, The Art of Demotivation. MB checked out the website and got quite a chuckle from some of the satirical illustrations shown there. Worth a peek if you're jaded with those corporate love-ins and motivational types.

:::::: Mango Season ::::::

Just showing off a fraction of Mr MB's mango harvest from our very own garden.

Christmas at Trinity Beach

Christmas is much on the minds of the MB family at present. The general consensus is for a tradtional home made hot lunch. First Daughter and MB have therefore hatched a plan to celebrate Christmas Day at the Northern Beaches of Cairns. This entails booking an air-conditioned, waterfront apartment so that the traditional hot lunch can be made and enjoyed in relative comfort!
MB's first draft menu follows:

Christmas Lunch Menu
Roasted Turkey, fresh free range from Marsh's Butchers, with sage & onion stuffing.
Roasted Rolled Loin of Pork stuffed with Apples & Wine Soaked Prunes.
Oven Roasted Tablelands' potatoes & pumpkin, kaukau, red onion & carrots. Seasoned with fresh mixed herbs and extra virgin olive oil.

Baby Peas infused with Corinne's home grown Mint.

Mesclun Salad with Vine Ripened Tomatoes and Millaa Millaa Buffalo Milk Bocconcini dressed with Balsamic & Olive Oil.

Traditional Home Made Cognac Steeped Christmas Pudding wrapped in calico accompanied by warm home made Crème Patissiere.

A selection of Ice Cold Drinks including: XXXX Gold & Corona, Trevor Jones Sparkling Shiraz, Dorrien Estate Rosè, Voyager Estate Sauvignon Blanc, Yarra Valley Pinot Noir & Chez Coles Sparkling Mineral Water for those not partaking.

Vale Holly Doggie

The MB family lost their faithful, beloved pooch this week, on Monday 13 November to be precise. Holly entertained, exasperated and looked out for the MB family for nigh on fifteen years. MB is thankful Holly passed away peacefully, due to old age, and did not suffer greatly, in fact she was her usual self more or less right up until the end. Mr MB found her a nice spot in the backyard, under the avocado tree, he's going to carve her name into the avocado trunk. Needless to say the Holly dog is going to be missed in a big way.

First Daughter's Birthday

FD celebrated her birthday yesterday with a mandatory meal at Donnini's. We weren't disappointed either, we all enjoyed a superb lunch. Not dinner as a little too late for the little prince to go out.
TCO got her a birthday card illustrated with Miss Bossy on the front, his message inside was "you can have anything you want today except the password to my computer", when she read this she laughed and confirmed she was going to raise that topic again at lunch!
FD's planned night out clubbing didn't eventuate, maybe next year?

Christmas Wish List 2006:

Subscription to New Yorker Magazine, Showy Lilac Jade pendant - abstract design, Rick Stein's French Odyssey DVD, HDD Recorder with DVD burner and twin HD tuners, a couple of months anywhere in Europe, any book by PG Wodehouse or Elizabeth David (2nd hand is good), Pre-loved Finlandia 1970's "Arabia Ruska" stoneware or Temuka 1980's "Riverstone" stoneware and lastly a custom built, minimalist/shaker fusion design tropical hardwood timber kitchen hutch. Thank you

Siblings & Passwords

Firstborn Daughter (with baby Eljay) is staying in the family home whilst renovations are in progress at her house. FD is staying in her old room which is now MB's office, when baby goes to bed very early in the evenings, the room and computer therein are unavailable. First night FD needed to check her email and do some posts on her blog and tried to use her brother's PC, but was unable to get past the login password, TCO was out so she gave him a call to ask for the password. Fireworks ensured when TCO wouldn't divulge his password.
FD protests; "How can you let him have a computer with a password on it?". "He is entitled to his privacy." responds MB. For the past 3 days, while TCO is at work, FD has been trying to crack the password, unsuccessfully. The password topic has been raised by FD morning and night ever since. MB is finding it really quite amusing watching the interplay between her two "grown-up" kids.

Sunday Lunch on Cairns' Esplanade

Mr MB came second in his spearfishing tournament on Saturday and won a one hundred dollar voucher for a meal at Villa Romana. MB immediately booked in for a late lunch on Sunday. After seeing "The Wind that shakes the Barley", a two hour epic of the brutality of the English occupation of Ireland just prior to the Truce, MDR & MB met the offspring at Villa Romana.
This restaurant is one of those "places to be seen" establishments in a superb location on the strip that is now riddled with tourists and "Made in China" Aussie souvenir shops. Lunch for the four of us was over $200 and honestly was very mediocre. Our meals were reasonable but lacked really fresh ingredients and imagination, the pasta in particular was very disappointing.
Villa Romana looks and feels good but the food is nowhere near the standard of some of the little "value" South Melbourne cafes MB & MDR dined in when last in Melbourne.
MB is pleased to report Baby Eljay was on his best behaviour, he sat up in his high chair as if he belonged there, munching on calamari and bread, and hardly a squeak from him for 2 hours.

Loud Failure

MB received her new super silent power supply during the week and proceeded with immediate installation, which was very straightforward. Once the PC was re-assembled it was switched on and yes it is extremely quiet, however after about 3 minutes the CPU fan started up. MB has now discovered the CPU fan is the main culprit, it can be heard quite clearly even in other rooms. More Googling has turned up some quiet fans which are quite reasonably priced, under $30. However MB has to open the case again to measure the existing fan, for which she is awaiting some more motivation. MB hears the dual core processors don't require cooling devices as they don' t heat up as much, is this a good enough excuse to upgrade?

Silence aint Cheap

MB enjoys quietness and to this end has decided to do something about her very noisy PC which sounds like an aircraft engine. For some unknown reason it becomes even louder the longer it's been running, the noise is due to a cheap power supply which MB's local yokel supplier claimed was very quiet. Google to the rescue, there is actually an American website for quiet pc design, amazing, it's not just MB with a noise problem!
MB has decided on the Seasonic S12, it has a very low Db rating and even uses less power. This is one of the better power supplies that can be bought in Australia (according to MB's research anyway). $199 for a power supply is pretty expensive but after two years of being worn down by the present one MB would pay just about anything for peace. After placing an order online with a pc parts supplier (and paying) MB realised she hadn't checked on Ebay for one, sure enough some of the exact same model (new) for sale in Oz, sellers asking for $221. "Well shopped!" says MB as she contorts herself for a self applied pat on the back.
On a completely different tack; did you know that Mynah birds eat their dead relations? MB discovered a dead Mynah bird in her backyard this morning and is psyching herself up for disposal thereof. She is having evil thoughts about a "gift" for the howling dog next door. All day long other Mynah birds have been dropping in and feasting on their poor, dead relation.
Must go, the lawnmowing beckons....Mr MB, the gun lawn mower is over in London, dammit.

BBQ Sunday

No rest for the wicked.
Two hours after MDR landed at home from his week long Philippines/Brisbane trip, it was off to the local park for a BBQ lunch.
Here he is demonstrating his beer marindade technique.

MUDDY'S MUD CRABS

En route from Townsville back to Cairns, I stopped in for lunch at Muddy's in Cardwell (07 4066 8133, 221 Victoria St. Cardwell Qld 4849). I'd heard good things about this place from MDR and I'm a big fan of crabs so I was really looking forward to a big feed of chilli crab.

The chilli mud crab was priced at around $70 on the menu which seemed a bit toppy. I was pretty hungry, however, so I went ahead and ordered one anyway. Here's a picture of the crab I was served;



Well, I must say, the crab was excellent. Cooked to perfection with just enough chilli so as not to overwhelm the taste of the very fresh crab meat. Was it worth $70? Definitely!

Let them eat Spinach

Monday saw the departure of the MB family from Charters Towers, MDR was pushing everyone along in the morning, much to MB's disgruntlement. The girls managed to get in half an hour's shopping before being hustled back to the car for the return journey to Cairns.

Lunch was just south of Ingham, at one of those roadside rest stops. This one was adjacent to a farm with two very friendly ponys, who watched as the MB family made and ate salad rolls for lunch.
This equine pair's patience was rewarded when MB and Cindy (Son of MB's girlfriend) fed the remainder of the salad spinach to them, which was gobbled up with lots of lip smacking. This was so much fun more treats were offered, two fermenting mandarines and an old baby's rusk which the horses made short of work of as well.

Australian Bank of Commerce

Just one of the beautiful heritage buildings in Charters Towers, this one built in 1891.

Pioneer Cemetery

This large cemetery in Charters Towers contains so many graves of children and adults in the prime of their lives. A poignant reminder of the fortunate times and longevity we enjoy.
Thanks to son of MB for all of the CT photos.

Charters Towers Sunday Sightseeing

Sunday saw the MB family on a whirlwind sightseeing tour of Charters Towers with mother of MB and step-dad, Steve.
Luckily it was the second Sunday of the month and the local markets were being held at the CT showgrounds. Our party swarmed into the markets, scouring the stalls for underpriced treasure. Lots of country style crafts and some nice fresh produce on sale. MDR & MB are honey fans and found some excellent Bloodwood honey being sold by a smiling eyes local honey producer. MB also spotted a couple selling chickens and was able to have an illuminating discussion on the relative merits of the Transylvanian Naked Neck hens, apparently they are very good in the heat as their featherless necks can shed heat quickly. MB harbours a strong desire to establish a chook pen and so have a ready supply of the freshest eggs possible.
After the markets it was a stroll downtown and coffee at the cafe in Australia's first stock exchange. The slowest coffee ever, 50 minutes wait for a lukewarm latte. Charters was once the second largest city in Queensland and has a fine collection of heritage buildings, all in very good shape.
PB treated us with Lunch to go which he picked up from Chez Coq Rouge for a picnic by the Burdekin River Weir (pictured). CT is so well supplied with water that the Qld Govt. wants to pipe their water down to the parched south-east.

Expedition to the Interior

After days of planning and discussions the MB family loaded up the trucksters and hit the road for Charters Towers on Saturday morning, only 35 minutes behind schedule. Not bad for 6 adults and one baby.

At the last planning "meeting" the inland route incorporating a trip to the Undara Lave Tubes was cancelled in favour of the quicker (5.5hrs) coastal route. Amazing how one little baby can have so much influence.
The coastal route took the expedition party Townsville where they turned west to Charters Towers, which is approximately 120klms inland. Townsville has the temerity to proclaim itself the "Capital of North Queensland". This sign at the northern entrance to Townsville did not go unnoticed by some members of the travelling party. MDR feels it's been placed there, rather than on the southern entrance, just to antagonize the folks who live in that verdant jewel of a city 4 hours north of Townsville.

Farewell Winter

MDR & MB's last day in Melbourne happened also to be the last day of winter and reached a high of 24c, perfect for a stroll through the Botanic Gardens and Shrine of Remembrance. Pictured above is the view to the city from the steps of the Shrine.
One last gourmet meal was had at Trotters in Lygon St (recommended by The Age Cheap Eats). The veal and sage sausages were a treat and the service remarkably good.
MB's planned shopping spree was severely curtailed by strict enforcement of baggage restrictions, as it was her baggage was 5kg overweight, but the nice chap at Virgin check-in let it pass.

Stop Press: Keep posted for the next excursion, a road trip to Charters Towers soon to visit mother of MB. This is going to be one of those family vacation type road trips with kids, in-laws, the lot! Should be plenty of sparks flying.

Melbourne HQ

MB dropped into her head office this morning to put some faces to voices on the other end of the 'phone. It's located in a tower in Collins St, what a jaw dropper, the ground level foyer is all marble columns, vaulted ceilings, marble floors and walls, huge sculptures and water features. "Roman Senate" springs to mind when entering this space, truly amazing.
Weather forecast today is a sunny 20c and, not bad for winter. A great day for the gardens.

Melbourne Monday

MB's shopping expedition was cut short with a visit to the irrepressible Halina, who has transformed an apartment on the Eastern edge of the CBD into her own very individual and spectacular grand style. The apartment has picture windows overlooking the exhibition gardens and double glazing, a true haven. After some compulsory computer tweaking, Halina took MB to the Mekong for a truly sublime Vietnamese lunch.

Monday night was dinner at Aunt Monica's with Aunt Norah & Uncle Barry in Monica's new villa. Monica cooked up a storm as usual, Crumbed lamb cutlets with pancetta & cheese, nicola potatoes gratin, gorgonzola & bella donna cheese platter, finished off with a gorgeous quince tart and Caroline's light as air chocolate cupcakes. MDR did some architectural drawing for Monica's patio while we all caught up with the latest family events, latest grandson is Nate, born on 17 August. Twelve of the Breen clan are off to the USA on 11 Sept for a month's holiday, America will never be the same again!

Tuesday morning saw Mr & Mrs MB head into town for more retail therapy and hopefully a visit to the Potter Art Museum at Melbourne Uni. It reputedly has a fine collection of antiquities. Halina's review of the Picasso exhibition was not so wonderful, so still debating whether or not to go.

MDR whipped off his croc skin belt this morning at the handbag repair shop where MB is getting her precious Fendi bag repaired. Another customer was there trying to buy a croc skin belt and couldn't find what he wanted, until he saw MDR's belt. Turns out he'd just returned from a trip to Cairns and forgot to buy one which he'd promised. MB got his email address and will send him some contacts when she gets home. What good Samaritans hey?

Zoo Sunday

A trip to Melbourne doesn't seem complete without a trip to the Zoo. Mr & Mrs MB carefully planned a tram trip to the zoo, using the directions from the Melbourne Zoo brochure. This entailed a walk over the Yarra River footbridge to Flinders St station, then cutting through the underground tunnel to Elizabeth St. At the tram stop there was a sign from 2005 directing zoo visitors to the No. 55 tram in Market St. This is the tram line one block from the timeshare apartment, so much for forward planning.

The animals at the zoo were all a bit slow, must be the chill. The Meerkats were the stars of the zoo, very cute, all standing up on their hind legs, facing the sun. Being Sunday the zoo was overrun with strollers, families and pregnant women, that baby bonus sure is working.

Sunday dinner was a great find, MDR suggested a visit to the Golden House Chinese restaurant just around the corner from the timeshare. MB was a bit indifferent to this suggestion as it was very unchartered territory. The restaurant was filled with Chinese patrons (always a good sign) and specialises in hotpot meals with Peking Duct (looked and tasted like Duck). MDR ordered the combo hotpot, a pot split in two with a mild soup in one side and a super spicy soup in the other loaded with chilies. A plate of very interesting vegies, fungus and some unrecognisable stuff appeared, along with platters of fresh seafood, lamb, beef etc with bowls of sesame dipping sauce. This was the perfect dinner for a cold winter's night in Melbourne, great value too, only $25 per head.

The casino is very close by but still no game of blackjack yet. MDR & MB did a walk through, there must be thousands of people in there at one time. It's a complete assault on the senses, all MB could feel was the faint aura desperation and disconnectedness of the gamblers, they seemed to be in a trance like state. MDR spotted 3 huge screens telecasting horse racing, AFL and NRL side by side. Luckily there was an eatery nearby so it was lunch there while MDR watched the Cowboys thrash the rabbitohs.

Monday will see MB escaping the couple thing to sack the city shops.

Where's the Rugby?

MDR peering into the window of the Maori Chief Hotel in South Melbourne, looking for that elusive televised Rugby Game.

Wagamama No More

Mr & Mrs MB are very happily ensconced in their palatial 2 bedroom timeshare apartment in Melbourne's Southbank, compliments of PB.

The apartment is the only timeshare apartment in this mainly residential building and on arrival the snooty concierge sent the MB's scuttling across the road to some shortstay rental office. After some time studying his computer the receptionist then sent them back across the road. The concierge then asked "Are you the the Americans?" A rather strange question for a couple who are unmistakably Aussie. The concierge warmed up after the "timeshare" expression was mentioned and the apartment keys were made available.

After working out how to turn on the central heating and thawing out MDR was keen for some Wagamama. He'd enjoyed an earlier visit to the Wagamama in St Kilda in April. MB worked out the tram route and the pair set out into the cold winter night to the tram stop 2 blocks from the apartment tower. The tram ended at Fitzroy St in St Kilda but not next to the Wagamama as MB had planned, it was a a further 2 blocks up Fitzroy St. Imagine their disappointment when they arrived to find the Wagamama was closed down and completely empty, even the signage was gone. Plenty of restaurants in the vicinity so MDR & MB settled on a little Italian Cafe and had a some winter warming pasta and risotto respectively. MDR also indulged in a very nice Sticky Date pudding, he declared it to be one of the best he's ever had.

Saturday morning's itinerary was exploring nearby Clarendon St, South Melbourne. This is a great street with lots of interesting shops and restaurants, loads of wine shops, everyone here must drink like fish, MB has caught the bug and picked up a Pinot Rose cleanskin, eat your heart out PB. No hairdryer in the timeshare, MB called the manager asked for one but was told "no hair dryers, they always get nicked". MB found a cheapie in a Clarendon St secondhand, along with a promising Evelyn Waugh book she hasn't read.

South Melbourne market is nearby and is next on the intinerary. Lunch is planned at the Crown complex, MB is even interested in trying her hand at blackjack or "21" as MDR insists on calling it. Could be dangerous....

Priorities

Arrived in Melbourne 01:00am this morning, first night at the Hotel Ibis near the Victoria Markets. Excellent flight down, exit row seats and a flight that wasn't full (a rarity these days). After a very hot bath this morning, in our upgraded suite - lucked out again - ventured out into the cold for a food fix at the markets. Of course had to have a fresh, hot jam doughnut....

Golden Fleece

Mr & Mrs MB hobnobbed it with the arty set last week at the Cairns Regional Gallery for the opening of the annual Cairns Art Show. The local arts fraternity is alive and well, judging by the quality and quantity of work on display at this event, as well as the crowd, it was standing room only. Pictured is the "Unpackers Prize Winner", a real crowd pleaser.

Howling Pest

Living in the suburbs has its high and low points. The MB family has been subjected to a real howler of a dog for quite some time. This ruddy dog hates being left on it's own so when it's owners depart it finds a nice big verandah or car port with lots of hard surfaces to ensure it's howling is magnified and amplified to maximum effect into our bedrooms, day and night, for as long as it's owners are absent.

Mr MB mentioned there is an electronic dog collar available which works by emitting some sort of electronic/audio shock each time they bark. This prompted MB to try some trawling on the net and found this pearler at "Barking Problems - Docteur Meder Behavior Chronicle's Barking problems what can we do?" Excessive vocalizing in dogs constitutes auditory contamination for which there exists no costumbrism, but rather a decrease in auditory capacity, nervousness.....

MB is the none the wiser on what can be done about this pest, apart from sending Mr MB over to menace the howler's owners.

Pleas no Stieling - PLeas be Onest Thank you

Stopped at this wonderfully charming and unique roadside produce stall in Julatten today.

O M G the Eggplant Exploded

Had an overload of home grown eggplant (not from the writer's garden alas) so MB decided to roast them tonight while dinner was cooking and make a baba ghanoush tomorrow. Egyptian best friend has the world's best baba recipe. As the MB family were savouring son's lime & rosemary pork loin chops with fresh tablelands' potato mash there was a loud explosion from the direction of the kitchen, MB ran out to investigate and found epgplant "shrapnel" all through the oven, it actually looked like huge, dripping globules of snot! Truly revolting. Son of MB took a photo but MB doesn't even want to go there.
Luckily two eggplants were still complete, so the baba will still be on tomorrow, albiet a smaller quantity.

Origami Zoo

Just got my home office back today and found this charming origami zoo on my desk, courtesy of Denpa, Shigei and Yama, three japanese visitors who've been occupying my study for the past week. They are school chums of Paul's from when he was on student exchange in Japan.
Such a sweet gesture. Can you imagine a trio of holidaying teenage Aussie boys making an origami zoo for their host?

Another Triumph in the Kitchen

On Sunday night son of MB produced a superb Roast Pork with lovely crackling and all the trimmings. Daughter of MB also contributed a gorgeous steamed plum pudding for dessert. Don't you just love all those heart stopping winter foods.... Tonight it was Burritos, a welcome light change to the rather heavy, but nice, roast dinner the night before.

The Challenge Begins

Son of MB has promised to cook for the family for 7 straight nights in return for his Mumsy mowing the lawn for his sister (the new Mum). Mumsy finds this highly amusing and can't help snickering each time she recalls Son of MB negotiating a deal so he could avoid doing the dreaded lawnmowing.
Last night was the first night with the new chef and a relatively easy meal, home made pizza (including home made yeast dough). The pizzas were very good, but the dough wasn't quite right, not quite sure what went wrong there. The only thing missing was anchovies but Mumsy and MDR were in the minority in that regard.
Looking forward to tonight's dinner, as yet no information to hand on what will be served. Sunday night will be roast night, Mumsy bagged a huge leg of roast pork on Friday at Woolies which nearly gave the the checkout chicklette a hernia.

Ando Comedy Commando

The MB family were treated to some great live Australian stand-up comedy last night with Wil Anderson doing a show in Cairns. Wil, despite having a very nasty flu, had the entire audience laughing more or less continuously during his show. Seeing him live was a real treat, his delivery on stage is a lot punchier than his stuff on The Glasshouse. The MB family even bumped into Wil before the show at the Italian restaurant just down the road from the show venue, but politely him gave him his space and didn't mob him like some empty headed fans would. Looking to forward to seeing him again next year, hopefully at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.

CUBs Reunion in Sydney

Son of MB has decided the extended and far flung family should meet up in Sydney this Christmas. Sydney really is the most wonderful city with the best summer weather in Australia by far. The hunt is now on for a nice big holiday shack somewhere on the North Shore. Here's hoping we'll pass the NSW border security questionnaire. Wonder what the questions will be? Maybe we could grease the palms of a corrupt and greedy border security functionary?

Border Security

Balmy tropical winter days in the deep North mean lots of walking for MB and her hirsute hound, Holly dog. The other half, MDR, accompanied the duo today on a jaunt through the very scenic neighbourhood rainforest reserve, which happens to be a mosquito infested flood plain during the wet season. MDR noted the annual influx of Southern visitors, in particular, motor vehicles with "Mexican" number-plates. This provoked some rather xenophobic comments from him and in the ensuing debate it was decided that the Queensland borders should be manned by security officers who would administer questionnaires to intending visitors. Visitors would have to satisfy the Queensland authorities with their knowledge of Rugby League, Cane Toads, Beer, Bjelke-Petersen and Qantas before being given permission to enter the Smart State. One can imagine the border being choked with mobs of cold mexicans queueing for days to get through.

Move over DINK's

The CUB's (Cashed up Bogans) are now on the ascendant.

I'm Chuffed

MB watched all the business & politics programs this morning on the ABC in order to gloat over the scuttling of the Snowy Hydro sale. Another fact MB has only just gleaned was that the Snowy Hydro sale was going to inject over a billion dollars into this year's NSW state budget, their last one before the next NSW State elections. Would it be cynical of MB to suppose the current NSW Govt. had a very compelling and much shorter term agenda? John Dalla Bosca has the to be the spinmeister extraordinaire, when he was interviewed this morning he managed to duck and weave his way out of any meaningful answers to the interviewer's questions.
On another note Matthew Slatter from Tabcorp could really use a personal stylist, that pinstripe suit with the striped tie was not a good look.

Save the Snowy Hydro

MB is extremely concerned and really quite appalled at the sell off of the Snowy Hydro, with water rights for 72 yrs being handed over to the new owners. The sell-off was announced in January this year and there has been hardly a stir in the media and barely any significant public debate.

This isn't just an electricity company, it controls & owns vast amounts of water. How can the driest continent on earth hand over such a water rich asset to private investors? These water rights really are totally priceless and will be an absolute bargain for the buyers no matter what the Governments sells them for.

The Snowy Hydro may be located in southern NSW and Northern Victoria however all Australians have stake in the Hydro, it supplies electricity to Australia-wide grid and I'm sure once the Snowy is privatised, the cost of that power will increase and we will all feel it next time we get our electricity bill.

The Snowy River has only just started being rehabilitated, with water flows being gradually increased from 1% in 2002. Will the Snowy River continue to be rehabilitated after the NSW, Victorian and Commonwealth Governments sell off the Snowy Hydro?

There are three major issues here: Water, Conservation and Electricity, can we trust the Snowy Hydro Chairman, (who is also chairman of the Sydney Futures Exhange*) to think in the best interests of all Australians rather than in the best interests of private investors seeking quick profits?

Honestly it's like selling your mother to white slavers. Water is such a fundamental issue and control of our water should not be handed over to any minority group be it a business or otherwise. *http://www.iancohen.org.au/mediarelease.aspx?id=144

Online Petitions: http://site.savesnowyhydro.com/ and

http://www.vacantmoments.com/savesnowy/

Mother's Day

The MB family treated their Queenbee (hey that rhymes with MB) to two home cooked meals, which is an all time record. Youngest son was going to get up at 7am and make a crepe breakfast but didn't get up until First born daughter arrived and shook him out of bed at around 9am. Son of MB then made a batch of light as air, melt in the mouth crepes, with chantilly cream, fresh fruit and jam, ensuring the crepes evaporated in a very short time.
That evening Son of MB decided to cook something from MB's new Italian cookbook "Silver Spoon", he found a special recipe for meatballs with a secret ingredient and cooked up a super dinner. A pavlova would have been the "icing on the cake" but it was not to be..... Good thing too, MB really doesn't need all those kilojoules.
First born daughter knows what her Mum likes, an Angus & Robertson gift voucher, so MB can indulge her voracious appetite for a book or two.
By the way, the secret ingredient in the meatballs was mashed potatoes.
MB has been temping at a professional office for the past 3 weeks, mon-fri. Plenty of material there for some blogging so keep posted.

Commercial TV

"Commercial" is certainly the operative word when it comes to free to air television. Most of MB's limited viewing is on the ABC and SBS, with some cable TV thrown in. When the MB family were holidaying in Numurkah, one the commercial TV stations was screening a new Hannibal "movie". Big mistake trying to watch this, the length and frequency of the advertisements was completely overwhelming. The Hannibal program wasn't terribly good and it turned into an endurance test with all of the $%&*(!# advertising.
It gets worse though, the cable TV we subscribed to in 2000, for the Olympics, is also becoming clogged with advertisements. Paying a high monthly fee for this advertising makes MB very steamed up. However MB thinks the folks at the cable TV place are pretty canny, they don't interrupt the sport programs with adverts, so there is no way the male spouse is going to give up the cable TV.

Fireball Incident

Whenever a cyclone threatens Cairns the MB family loves to recount the Fireball Incident. This story has reached mythical proportions but the version herein is the most accurate.

In 2000 Cyclone Steve was on track to pass over Cairns so the MB family made all the usual preparations, storing water, getting candles, making sure there were batteries for torches etc. Late in the afternoon of the day the cyclone was due to hit, MB also picked up some extra bread at the bakery and for a special treat bought 4 jam donuts, one for each member of the family to have after dinner.

MDR put an esky on a towel on the floor in the kitchen in readiness for the usual power failure. Sure enough, the power failed once the wind got stronger, at around 6pm.

MB being the good mother she is lit some candles and started to assemble a small, portable gas lantern in the kitchen to cook some dinner. This particular appliance used a small gas cylinder which you had to punch with the gas lantern top to connect it. MB duly did this but the gas started to escape very rapidly and immediately caught on fire from the candles nearby. The escaping gas turned into a fireball over 2 metres high and completely engulfed and carbonised everything in it's path. The sight of the fireball was really quite breathtaking and the entire MB family was there to witness it, their collective jaws dropping and their eyes wide with wonder and panic.

MDR came to the rescue by grabbing the towel from under the nearby esky and smothering the fire. A dazed MB and kids were still gaping when a neighbour burst through our front door to help douse the fire, he'd witnessed the entire fireball though the kitchen window which overlooks the street. We gingerly lifted the towel, expecting to see a very damaged benchtop but amazingly enough there was no damage whatsoever, the closest thing to the gas bottle when the gas ignited was a paper bag containing the special treat donuts. This was incinerated and all that was lying there were 3 small, round, black things. MB realised that someone had eaten one of the donuts surreptitiously and cast an accusing eye over the assembled family members. Youngest son rather smugly owned up to eating one earlier in the afternoon!

There was no fire damage at all in the kitchen, luckily the ceilings are over 3m high so the fireball didn't reach. MB did get burnt arms though and needed some pretty heavy duty painkillers to get through the night, no scarring fortunately.

In case you're wondering, we disposed of the lantern and the spare cylinders.

The Tide is Turning

MB just discovered adbusters via the weekend papers, they are producing anti-logo sneakers. You may remember MB's laments on this subject in an earlier post. Should MB even be advertising these shoes on this blog? Feels wrong somehow....

Melbourne Comedy Festival

Those Melburnians really know how to stage an event. The MB family got to see two shows on Saturday night, many were sold out so opted to see "Waiting for Compo". A farce incorporating empty VB tins, a tub chair and some bogans from the burbs trying to get publicity by rioting and also claiming compo for their young son who had developed man boobs from being fed exclusively on reject battery hens.
The show was staged in a function room at the Duckboard Lane RSL, off Flinders Lane in Melbourne. The RSL is one of those old clubs full of wartime memorabilia and very atmospheric, we had a beer there before the show.
After that show we decided to go to the Trades Hall where comedy films were being sceened. This was another great venue, again we were funnelled to the show via the bar, which was adorned with lots of union posters and solidarity paraphenalia. We saw Night on Earth by John Jarmusch, made in the early 90's and chock full of famous actors, my favourite was Roberto Benignini playing a crazy Tuscan taxi driver in Rome.
Also screened was an episode of Grommatie High from Japan, one of those wierd Japanese Manga type cartoons.
Planning and booking ahead is going to be a priority for next year's festival, this year's program was amazingly good.

So Many Choices, So Little Time

As expected Melbourne has dazzled the MB family with an overwhelming array of cultural and gourmet opportunities. The 20th Melbourne International Comedy Festival is currently in full swing and there are over 200 comedy shows to see. With only one night left it's so hard to know what to choose...

Feel the Serenity

Thanks Blues for the nudge. The MB family escaped the heat and humidity of NQ last week for some rural therapy in Northern Victoria at PB's country club retreat in Numurkah. Lots of golf, wine, touring and gourmet & not-so-gourmet eating. Yesterday it was roast chook from the Chicken Ranch in downtown Numurkah, the day before it was seared lamb fillet served pink at Oscar W's in Echuca.
MDR was getting a bit edgy in landlocked Numurkah but a day trip to Echuca solved his boat withdrawal symptoms, a trip on a Murray River paddlesteamer perked him up. He was ecstatic when he was served XXXX Gold on tap at Oscar W's. Incidentally MDR keeps pronouncing Echuca "Yu-chewka", oh well can't be perfect at everything.
Pictured is a spectacular skeleton of a gum tree seen at the Kinnaird Wetlands, on the outskirts of Numurkah, MDR & MB were hoping to do some bird spotting but the wetlands were as dry as toast, another victim of the drought no doubt (nice rhyme there).
We head back in the family truckster to the big smoke in Melbourne on Good Friday, MB can't wait to have some fat, juicy scallops which are impossible to get up North, maybe a little shopping too. The boys are looking forward to Coffin Bay oysters which apparently can be found at the Prahran Markets, a few blocks from where we'll be staying. We're not obsessed with food are we?

Cyclone Larry

A rather tardy posting as Cyclone Larry is now old news. However wanted to display this photo of an uprooted tree outside the Cairns City Council. Our city's trees suffered dreadfully during this storm.
Cairns was very fortunate to be on the periphery of this very destructive cyclone, which ravaged the coastal towns about 100klm south of Cairns.

Tea Anyone?

Why photograph a box of tea?

If you read the small print near the base you'll see that it says "Supreme Monkey Pick Oolong Tea".

MB has visions of an exalted monkey picking tea on the verdant hillslopes in Oolong. This monkey could even wear a saffron robe and tell your fortune by reading the tea leaves.

Or is there a labour shortage in China and monkeys are being trained to replace humans? The mind boggles.

The tea is actually very, very good and MB is very fortunate to have the most gorgeous sister-in-law who always remembers to send her gourmet teas.

Politics

Aunty Sue was published in the Melbourne Age for the second time in a few weeks.

Hoping this post will provoke some heated political debate....

North African Travel Plans

MB was rather alarmed to read that the Italian Embassy in Libya was torched by protestors on the pretext that they were upset by those Danish cartoons.
Libya & Tunisia are on the itinerary of the study tour MB was hoping to take later this year. One of the best preserved Roman cities, Leptis Magna, is located on Mediterranean coast of Libya.
MB did a blog search of Leptis Magna and found some great blog posts from bloggers who had visited this amazing site, there are also loads of excellent photos on Flickr. One can certainly travel vicariously using the 'net.
So the jury is still out on whether or not to go....

This Space for Rent

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the amount of advertising on clothing and other objects? MB is a compulsive reader, if she is confronted by any letters or words she must absolutely read them, even the letters on vehicle numberplates. For a long time MB thought everybody was like this but in the course of growing up found that most folks don't have this need to read.
You can imagine MB being worn completely down by the plethora of marketing slogans, logo's and brandnames on clothing, in fact they are not just confined to clothing, they are virtually on every visible object.
MB was heartened to read a few days on a t-shirt being worn by a young Asian looking guy the following; "This Space for Rent". It's so good to see someone else has noticed and has a sense of humour.
MB predicts this blatant form of marketing will cycle eventually and in a few years we'll be back to wearing garments with much more subtle, or even covert, branding.

Breakfast in Rocky

After two weeks at home MB finally got around to doing some filing in her office, where she found a receipt for a breakfast at the Coffee House in Rocky. This reminded MB of the best breakfast to be had on the road between Brisbane and Cairns.
This little gem of a restaurant has the most extensive & wonderful breakfast menu. If you are a foodie check out the link http://www.coffeehouse.com.au/documents/Breakfast.pdf
Definitely a must visit establishment if you are ever in Rockhampton.

Keeping Focussed

Stop Press: MB has finally bought herself an MP3 player.
After extensive market research (and not getting suckered into buying one of those cute looking Ipods) she settled on a Creative 256mb with an FM radio. It's so tiny and can hold more than enough data, truly amazing.
The reason for this purchase is to have something other than the Gym's techno music to listen to while on the X-Trainer and the climbing torture machine that the Gym Maestro has directed MB to work on.
Now MB can download interesting podcasts and listen to them at her leisure, or rather during the monotonous workouts on those damn machines.

Tropical Splendour

Looks great hey?
Notice the inexorable slide back into the NQ vernacular now that MB is back in North Queensland.
This is a shot of the Marina at Mackay, taken last week when we drove through on our way home, stopped there for a fish & chip lunch.
MB has been having a torrid time readjusting to the unremitting heat and humidity which is NQ during the wet season slash summer. Poor MDR was even assailed by a sobbing wreck, last week, begging him to move the household to a more agreeable climate.
There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon for at least a trip to the northern hemisphere at end of Feb. MDR has a conference there he needs to attend. MB is counting the days.....

"Swedish Secret"

The above headlined an article in the motoring section of today's Brisbane Courier-Mail showing photographs of a swedish test vehicle very similar to the one we photographed in Jindabyne (see blog post of 17 Jan 06 below).
These test vehicles were sighted in South Australia and Volvo have confirmed they are indeed testing and photographing their "New Generation S80".
You saw it here first!