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tcpipA distressful event of the week. A old friend of mine has disclosed that she has breast cancer. It has caused me a great deal of sadness, not the least being because she is quite young (<25). Her spirits seem quite positive, so there's been either some positive diagnostics as I think it may be or she is being more courageous than is necessary.
Thanks to the generosity of my new-found employer this post is coming via ADSL. Speaking of which, guess who had to go into the data center of the Australian Stock Exchange this week? Wow, that place is secure. I've also be learning about an amazing little product called Nagios. It makes the life of a sysadmin very happy indeed.
As part of tradition, the summer solstice provides the opportunity to compose and reflect on the events in my life from the past year. 2004: A Year in Review. May I just take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been reading this journal and for all your kind comments.
Here's some good news! Carmela Baronowka won a Wakerly Award for her documentary, Taliban Country!... and some more good news, my old Perth-friend Brian Choo has recently had his amazing art published by Allen and Unwin in
The Big Picture Book.
Another interesting event of the week was meeting KMFDM and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
excessivepurple in real life. I was a bit of a fan of theirs about ten years ago and was pretty happy to see they were still going strong. Picked up their Sturm und Drung DVD and got the band to sign it like a real fan-boy.
Once upon a time, I worked, quite briefly for a certain member of the Victorian Parliament. He proved utterly impossible to work with for a whole variety of reasons and so I resigned and moved on to more sensible position. Some seem to think that he's up to some branch stacking. Some even suggest he's done it before with monies from dubious sources.
Thanks to the generosity of my new-found employer this post is coming via ADSL. Speaking of which, guess who had to go into the data center of the Australian Stock Exchange this week? Wow, that place is secure. I've also be learning about an amazing little product called Nagios. It makes the life of a sysadmin very happy indeed.
As part of tradition, the summer solstice provides the opportunity to compose and reflect on the events in my life from the past year. 2004: A Year in Review. May I just take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been reading this journal and for all your kind comments.
Here's some good news! Carmela Baronowka won a Wakerly Award for her documentary, Taliban Country!... and some more good news, my old Perth-friend Brian Choo has recently had his amazing art published by Allen and Unwin in
The Big Picture Book.
Another interesting event of the week was meeting KMFDM and
excessivepurple in real life. I was a bit of a fan of theirs about ten years ago and was pretty happy to see they were still going strong. Picked up their Sturm und Drung DVD and got the band to sign it like a real fan-boy.Once upon a time, I worked, quite briefly for a certain member of the Victorian Parliament. He proved utterly impossible to work with for a whole variety of reasons and so I resigned and moved on to more sensible position. Some seem to think that he's up to some branch stacking. Some even suggest he's done it before with monies from dubious sources.
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no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 06:44 am (UTC)And of course, all the best to your friend.
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Date: 2004-12-22 10:28 pm (UTC)This is very good news... I'm sure we're going to have a lot to plot about...
Where are you staying?
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Date: 2004-12-22 10:39 pm (UTC)Right now, I've got my eyes on Hote Claremont B&B Guesthouse in South Yarra as they're pretty much the cheapest option available. Do you know of any other hotels?
no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 05:10 am (UTC)State or Federal? I used to work with the state government so I could give you some pointers.
Maybe we can find some time during the weekend
Sure, let's catch up on the Saturday. That would be good.
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Date: 2004-12-23 05:37 am (UTC)Incidentally, I might be driving to the border of Victoria and Western Australia on Saturday. So, once my itinerary is put to bed, we'll figure it out.
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Date: 2004-12-22 07:00 am (UTC)Nice to know that some of the old Marsians are still around. Love his pic of the T-Rex chowing on the "I come in peace alien" in Phantas '93.
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Date: 2004-12-22 10:27 pm (UTC)Brian has always done some spectacular dinosaur-related artwork. He was also very good at doing "it's comes from the sludge". Somewhere about I have his personal site which has more of his recent artistic efforts...
Ahh, Cosmos.. now that takes me back. Theme music was Vangelis' "Heaven and Hell", iirc.
Hey, we may have met in a past life
Date: 2004-12-22 07:24 am (UTC)I _have_ handed out how to votes for the baddy, in my deep and distant past, when I was 16
Re: Hey, we may have met in a past life
Date: 2004-12-22 10:24 pm (UTC)Aha! I know your father from a St Albans branch meeting and from the Mill Park office! Now, if I could just remember his name! (Hey, it's been a couple of years)
I went to the St Albans branch meeting as a representative from Head Office because there'd been a few complaints about the conduct of the meetings. You know, member applications not be accepted because they're from the "wrong side", that sort of thing...
It was the meeting where the chair, when pulled on a matter of standing orders responded "This is not the Australian Labor Party, it's the St Albans Party!".
Seitz really is pretty rotten. I can just imagine what the press is going to be like when he retires from parliament and collects his superannuation and pension. He's been a backbencher since 1982 :/
My brain does work!
Date: 2004-12-24 07:01 am (UTC)Ken H! That's your dad, right?
Re: My brain does work!
Date: 2004-12-24 01:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 07:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 10:18 pm (UTC)*nods*
It's a small wonder that they ever win anything, isn't it?
Thinking about it, Labour party people tend to make a more interesting scandal, more specutaclar reformers and greatest ineptitude probably because they are full of well, "colourful", characters.
Conservative parties tend to be, well, conservative. They are innately less interesting. Not always a bad thing, of course...
no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 08:15 am (UTC)I'm sorry to hear about your friend's news. Best of luck to her. She's lucky to have a good friend in you. That will be so valuable to her as she fights her cancer.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 10:12 pm (UTC)Heheh... Right back at you!
I'm sorry to hear about your friend's news. Best of luck to her. She's lucky to have a good friend in you.
We'd been out of touch for a couple of years until recently. This news has only just been disclosed. Apparently it's been a pretty rough year.
I'll do what I can....
no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 09:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 10:09 pm (UTC)< looks at signed dvd >
OK, I won't tell you then ;-)
That was a cool t-shirt you were reading, btw.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 10:14 pm (UTC)Wearing, not reading. I was reading it, and you were wearing it.
Dammit. Must check what
you areI ameatingwriting before I post.no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 04:49 am (UTC)Say hello next time. :P
Hmm, that can only be one shirt - the Misinformation Society television blueprint I assume?
no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 04:58 am (UTC)I do look like my icon you know ;-)
Say hello next time. :P
OK ;-)
... the Misinformation Society television blueprint I assume?
Yep, that would have been it.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 05:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 09:47 am (UTC)Merry Christmas :)
no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 12:18 am (UTC)Crap.
Friggin' el-jay ate my witty reply.
It was something along the lines of ... is that a annual fee, or per kind comment? After all, there's a glut in the kind comment market this time of year.. All sorts of people wishing one a merry xmas, and in a few days random drunks wishing you a happy new year and trying to pick you up... Just the other day a feral pagan wished me a happy solstice and offered me intravaneous "faery dust"....
*sigh* it was funnier the first time I typed it, I swear..
no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 12:28 am (UTC)Ok, for you, freebie.
I love you long time! (treasure this one, its a kind comment because I just woke up with a massive hangover, ran to get some water, told me flatmate "Uhhuhhhuhhhhuuuuuuuu" and I'm about to pass out again.)
no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 09:53 am (UTC)Also, he lost his virginity in my bed, (though not to me), because I was kind enough to lend it to him. The bastard.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 10:00 pm (UTC)That is a very disturbing icon. I get dizzy just looking at it.
Interesting KMFDM story. Do you think they're going to get bigger?
He didn't "lose" his virginity, he was "liberated" from it.. ;-)
And how the hell did you find this journal? It's a big el-jay land out there!
no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 11:21 pm (UTC)Not sure about KMFDM - never really my kind of thing. I know he got the job as drummer because he'd been in PIG with Raymond Watts, which I believe was some kind of side project. As drummers go, the man's a genius.
But, I much preferred his two previous (very small) bands - Sugar Snatch and Big Boy Tomato - very happy to supply MP3s of both - they were a kind of New Wave of New Wave of British Punk - fast, furious and funny. I suppose the closest I could compare them to is early Green Day.
And finding your journal - I was using the 'friendsfriends' function, (our mutual friend is pftqg), and the KMFDM thing just jumped out at me. Don't worry - no scary stalker tendencies. Well, none that you need worry about....
no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 11:56 pm (UTC)Ahhh! So therein is the link.. That's quite a few kilometers between the pair of you in the real world!
no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 12:05 am (UTC)Damn, pressed reply before I was supposed to...
WRT to industrial music, my tastes are almost entirely based on listening to the various late 80s/early 90s stuff of various bands, such as Front 242, Skinny Puppy, Ministry and so forth... KMFDM has some influence around that time as well.
I really can't say I've been paying much attention since then. Can we count Orbital and Leftfield? Dunno...
no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 12:39 am (UTC)Mission accomplished..uuuhhhh...
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Date: 2004-12-23 08:42 am (UTC)Merry Christmas to you to!
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Date: 2004-12-22 09:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 10:30 pm (UTC)Oh, it wasn't a big deal ;-)
Meeting
Besides, I was only having a go at that theme song of theirs. I really quite like their early stuff (heh, what a cliche!)...
no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 10:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 10:47 pm (UTC)My el-jay spelling is invariably terrible. :/
no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 10:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-26 12:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-27 01:24 am (UTC)I'm glad to hear that I can actually write. I've had plenty of practise at it... ;-)
Quite liked your material as well so I've reciprocated the tag. Besides, I lurve absinthe..