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29th of July, 2009

01:23 am - Continuum-Edition tour of Old Melbourne Gaol A private Continuum-Edition tour has been arranged of the award winning Old Melbourne Gaol, led by con-goer and sometime Victorian-era Executioner Extraordinaire, Heath Miller. This is a unique opportunity to explore the imposing interior of the Old Melbourne Gaol at night, when it would normally be left to the restless souls inside. The performance is a creative blend of theatre and historical storytelling, bringing the forbidden secrets of the Gaol to life by candlelight. Duration: 90 minutes When: Thursday 13th August, 8.00pm sharp (Otherwise known as The Night Before the Convention) Where: Russell Street, between Victoria and La Trobe Streets. Cost: $20 per person (not recommended for under-12s) To reserve your spot on the tour please email gaoltour@continuum.org.au Places on this tour are strictly limited. First in best-haunted. More information on the Old Melbourne Gaol. Current Mood: nervous Tags: continuum, history, socialising

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5th of July, 2008

08:53 pm - The trivia KING! I got lured to MSFC last night with the promise of some interesting archaeology text books and that it was their monthly trivia night. Having not been along to nerd-trivia for a while I thought it would be good to go along. My team consisted of myself mortonhall and occasional assistance from dcrisp on the Tripods books. Most other teams had four people and one had six. And still we won :-) *does victory dance* Yes I am a font of useless knowledge. And in other unrelated news Pringles are officially not a "potato snack" Current Mood: blah Tags: geek, non-virtual life, socialising, weird shit

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24th of March, 2007

06:08 am - Weird Al concert Actually participated in some social activity this evening. This was the second time "Weird Al" Yankovic has been to Australia. Sad to think the last one was three years ago! The night was fantastic though the hour delay on getting the show started due to a faulty media server was begrudgingly by the audience. Play list: Polkarama Canadian Idiot Close but No Cigar Bob It's All About The Pentiums You're Pitiful Wanna B UR Lovr Couch Potato Do I Creep You Out? I'm In Love with The Skipper Mmmm Mmmm (with lyrics redone to be about Britney Spears) Confessions Part III A Complicated song Ebay Bedrock Anthem Spiderman Pretty Fly For A Rabbi Trapped In The Drive-Thru Gump Eat It I'll Sue Ya The Saga Begins Yoda Weasle Stomping Day Smells Like Nirvana Amish Paradise Fat White & Nerdy With the encore being "We've All Got Cell Phones" (a reference to one of the earlier interviews) and Albuquerque. Not bad when your encore song is 11 minutes! With "Al TV" interviews featuring: Jessica Simpson Mariah Carey Celene Dion Eminem Mich Jagger Keith Richards Paul McCartney Kevin Federline (best interview to date) and others I was even able to stick around to get an autograph after the show this time. W00t!!!!! Current Mood: Stoked Tags: non-virtual life, socialising

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9th of October, 2006

01:50 am - Weekend shennanigans Friday was MSFC's Trivia Night and I had been drafted in a Quiz Master at relatively short notice. However a large chunk of the questions had been sent inso my work was hugely difficult. I shall post the questions later. Winner on the night was king_espresso who is a big nerd. Saturday spent with the Jobhunt and sent off various "pick me" applications. Got tangentially into the idea of wanting make myself a diary/organiser for next year but to personalise it a little more. Started hunting the web figuring there should be some sort of template that could be customised to my heart's content. Alas no luck. Got an SMS at about 7:30 that jolted me out of my focus and made me realise how late it was. By this time I felt it rather late to be braving the PT system into the Eastern Suburbs to get to dcrip's party. So no party for me. Though the advice on the PT was something I should have kept in mind for today. The plan was to make my way out to the boonies raven_'s but after I: missed the train I wanted; had the next train cancelled; then discovered that buses were operating between Box Hill and Ringwood, I was beginning to wish I had stayed home and slept. I've become rather jaded with second-hand clothing. There's usually a tonne of blouses, dresses, skirts and bags but rarely much in the way of men's wear and even less that fits the *sturdier* gentleman. I was mainly going out for some socialising as I hadn't seen them in ages, so it was with much surprise that raven_ produced a vintage pair of trousers that not only fit round the middle but didn't need altering for length! Lovely dark grey/black with a shot light grey thread running through them. Nice heavy fabric with a button fly. Bargain! Special thanks also to bar_bar_ella and kits_the_dm for giving me a lift home and saving me from the PT return journey. I have a list of phone calls to make tomorrow so hopefully something will come from that. Current Mood: chipper Tags: books, costuming, job hunt, socialising, writing

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4th of November, 2002

12:35 am - Busy Weekend Saturday smonster and I went down to Bunnings and bought some plants and bits in preparation for Sunday. Headed off to purples' birthday party. smonster and I had already planned on going to a friend's Halloween party that night but as it was just around the corner I said we would drop into the birthday first. Arrived wearing half the costume for the next party (high boots pants and t-shirt) only to realise that it was a *significant* event. Catering and the string quartet sort of gave it away :-) So I felt decidedly underdressed and a little embarrased! I've twisted her arm into catching up for lunch sometime soon though. The costume party was quite fun and caught up with some friends from South Australia who I haven't seen for ages. Had a long catch up with Katrine as to what had been happening over the last 2 or so years. I think something will have to be done about George's taste in music though. I mean if he was a twelve year old girl I could understand it but I was getting sick of Britney. At least they weren't playing Spice Girls all night! Sunday Mum & Chris came over to help get the garden into some shape. We cut back a few trees, pruned others, planted some nice flowers and discovered a set of steps in the garden buried under weeds and overhang! Did another trip to Bunnings to get some mulch and more potting mix as well as a couple more plants for the front porch. Managed to get myself a brazier for $10! Yay me! Thankfully no broken nails but lots of scratches though. going to hit the sticky weed with Roundup today. Die bastards! Watched my newly arrived copy of Wizards with smonster. It hasn't aged well in some places (notably the music) but there's still some genuine laughs - even from those who've never seen it before :-) Current Mood: exhausted Tags: costuming, dvds, gardening, socialising

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13th of October, 2002

11:22 pm - Update It's been a busy few days. I think I need some time just to relax. I've been a bit short with people over the past few days and my apologies to any I may have upset. Thursday I caught up with my friend Mike. I haven't seen him in a while and it was good to just catch up and talk. Not about anything in particular but just to talk. We'll have to do it again soon. Friday night K & I saw Shimmy Shimmy Bang Bang, one of the shows that was part of the Melbourne Fringe. Lots of Belly dancing in this one and it was quite fun. Yesterday went off to help celebrate a friend's birthday. Mostly it was watching the video of the kareoki night we had made for her birthday last year. Had to leave before any of my songs were reached on the tape (which was probably just as well) although George tells me our rendition of I Think I'm A Clone Now was actually quite good. He was drunk at the time though. From there smonster & I headed off to the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Westgarth with missmargaret & thebaronmk1. I hadn't planned on going myself but ended up enjoying myself all the same. Today went along to the rehersals for the next Swinburne parade. Left from there and went home. Just find I'm needing some replenishing time of my own. I think I might have to cut down on some of the social activities. Or at least make it a first-come-first-served sort of thing. What Is Your True Aura Colour? brought to you by Quizilla Current Mood: blah Tags: non-virtual life, quizes & memes, socialising

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29th of September, 2002

09:45 pm - Veeeery busy weekend. Friday night went to Psychonaut for the very first time and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The fact that a large number of my friends were also there contributed to that as well but I think it's certainly a venue I could return to. Looks like it used to be an old bank exchange or something - old bank vault doors at the end of most rooms :-) After dragging myself into bed and on very little sleep it was up again Saturday morning to catch the train down to Mum's. Mum's been researching her family history for years. I've been wanting to put togther a pictorial family tree for myself so I organised to head down and scan in some of the photos she has. All went well and I have some pics that I have to clean up and can then start putting together. We went through several very old albums that she has and I started matching up photos. I suppose I need to explain that most of the pictures in these three albums are from the turn of last century or late in the 19th. The problems is that there are NO NAMES listed on any of the photos!!!! We've been able to work out who some of them are from other photos we have that we know who the people are. Others in the books I'm making an educated guess at because of other people they are in the same photo with. The remainders are a complete mystery. There are a few that by looking I can tell that they're brothers. What I don't know is whether the photo places next to them is of a sister or a wife. They're all placed below shots of my Great Great Great Grandparents and I can guess at the identities. But no-one alove today can verify them. I picked up very early on in my childhood about labeling photos :-) There's photos of my grandparents with other people. I don't know who the other people in the photos may have been in relation to them (friends, workmates, airforce buddies) but at least they usually have names. Also discovered the diaries of my Great Great Grandfather, Isaac Edward Dyason, are actually part of the State Library manuscript collection. 42 volumes!! Supposedly some of it is written in Africaan so that will make life difficult but I think I'll have to stop over to read some of them. Might prove quite interesting. Current Mood: productive Tags: clubbing, history, socialising

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23rd of September, 2002

02:45 pm - Busy weekend What a busy weekend. Saturday we dropped the sewing machines and the overlocker in to get serviced. Mine was completely jammed. The service guy looked at it and gave it the whole "Hmmmm" thing. I hope it's not too bad. Had three parties I was supposed to go to on the weekend. Some DVDs around at wolfye's. Got to see Tortoro and the Blair Thumb Project. Very strange. Off to Lilly's birthday after that. "Pyjama Ninjas" theme. Had quite a good time their. Getting to know a lot more of the Swinburne Students too :-) Didn't make it to the third party that night and I'll have to send an apology. If you're reading this Sorry Chris! Sunday I wen to the Royal Melbourne Show with smonster, Dannielle and another Chris. Had a fun day. Bought the Yellowbrick Road showbag and wandered all over the show finding the goodies to put into it. Had my dagwood dog (tradishional show food) and a chat to some of the guys from the SES. I wanted to stay for the fireworks but my feet wouldn't have held out. We all headed back to our place and watched some video stuff. C & D left and we settled down to watch the last episode of the Edwardian Country House. Very cool. I have really enjoyed this series. I hope they bring out a book for it. Current Mood: sleepy Tags: socialising, tv

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6th of September, 2002

06:59 pm - Parties and clubs Another working week draws to close. Went off to Danielle's birthday party last night and many comments about age (and or lack/excess of it) were made by all. After events I shall not repeat due to the embarrasment they may bring to others :-) Had a nice lunch with icemaiden and we said we need to catch up with a lot more of the people we know. Everyone seems very busy recently (yes I have been one of them). To that end I'm heading off to Bloo Velvet tonight at least for a while. Won't be going along to Abyss. Maybe next month. But I feel like doing a bit of socialising and BV has no cover charge. Maybe see you there? Current Mood: bouncy Tags: clubbing, socialising

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3rd of August, 2002

01:20 pm - Last Abyss at the Hi-Fi Bar The last Abyss at the Hi-Fi bar. Absolute fabbo. Last night was great fun. Caught up with heaps of people, danced, drank and came home nearly unable to talk. I'd gone round to missmargaret's before hand just about scaring the crap out of her in the process (people will leave their front door unlocked). So her, Andreas, Daniel, Amanda and I headed off to Abyss and went from there. Staggered in at about 5 this morning. Out to dinner tonight with a whole bunch of other friends. Should be good. Pizza and good conversation. At some stage this weekend I'll put up the new photos on the website of costuming things. But right now I should get out and do some whipper-snipping before it starts raining. Current Mood: calm Tags: clubbing, gardening, socialising

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28th of July, 2002

10:53 pm - Men in Black II Went and saw Men In Black 2 this afternoon as a guest of purples (K and I were helping hand out tickets for a work function). It was a fun film but not as good as the first one I thought. Got to meet dominicalis ever so briefly too :-) Friday night we bought a DVD player to replace the one that got stolen. All very funky and it has a zoom function which should be handy for costuming references. Last night I went off to my friend Charlie's 40th birthday party. So she had a 40's theme for the party. If I'd had a german uniform I would have worn it but sadly that one costume that's a long way off. K retailered an 80's pattern into a 40's 2-piece and I dug out the black suit and made myself a fez. Not bad for a do-it-yourself hat. It's scarey to think that I've known Charlie nearly 20 years. we met through an old roleplaying group The Wizards Council. We haven't done any roleplaying in years but some of the people I met through that group are still people I call very close friends. Makes me get all nostalgic and stuff. Even Kerri & George have been together nearly 10 years. I just think back to where I was 10 years ago and look at how much things have changed. Usually I think it's for the better but sometimes I wonder about the choices I've made. Current Mood: contemplative Tags: costuming, movies, socialising

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24th of July, 2002

09:21 am - Update Been finding myself rather scatterbrained of late. All things going in different directions. Had a big house clean up over the last few days. We've got a house inspection on Friday so we've been tidying things up. We haven't really unpacked anything new but did find homes for a lot of things that had just been left on the floor. Glenn came round Saturday with the rapier and main gauche. The rapier is a lot heavier than I had been expecting. I assume as my arm strength increases it will become more manageable but until then it seems rather awkward. We've been talking about starting some sort of renaissance re-enactment group. The Routiers in Melbourne seem to have dissolved but there are a few people who are still interested in doing rapier work. My friend Charlie is having her 40th birthday party and is having a 1940's theme. I dug out the old fez from the costume cupboard but it seems in need of being retired. We were going to reline the inside but it may be easier to put together a felt facsimilie. It will look good enough for a costume. And I'm quite enjoying the PBM Castle Falkenstein game. I miss the real time interaction of a live group but it will suffice. Anything happening with that Cthulhu game yet ikonoklast? Current Mood: busy Tags: costuming, gaming, non-virtual life, re-enacting, socialising

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10th of July, 2002

08:57 am - English Country Dance Went off to a Country Dancing group last night and my legs are reminding me that they exist this morning. It was good fun. It's "English Country dancing" not "Country & Western" in case people are wondering :-) Did a dance called Bevan's Maggot that was re-popularised in the Pride & Prejudice series a few years ago. I remembered it from the regency dinner I went to. It seems good fun. It's certainly more fun than going to a gym. Current Mood: sore Tags: history, re-enacting, socialising

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6th of July, 2002

12:31 pm - Socialising Had a great night last night. Finally put a face to ikonoklast. Caught up with patchworkkid, delwyn, andricongirl, pureanimosity, Dave, Paul, Tim, Alison, wibble, Glenn, Lorenzo and it was good to see qamar back in the country. It took me nearly two hours to get from the short stairs at the top to the large stairs going down to the next level because I kept seeing people I knew who I hadn't seen in ages. I really think I need to get out more often. Watched most of the Snog performance from the upstairs windows. They sounded great and looked to be in fine form. Current Mood: hungry Tags: clubbing, socialising

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3rd of July, 2002

12:47 pm - Sydney touring Well Saturday night's dinner in New Town was fabulous. Some very nice food and some great new people. On to Kontrol which was not too bad a club. I didn't hear anything that inspired me to dance but the music itself was okay. I'm far more of a social animal anyway :-) Arrived back to the unit in Darlinghurst only to realise I didn't have the house keys on me anymore!! Searched around the car with no luck. Only other option - drive back to New Town and hope that they dropped out of my pocker when I took out the car keys. Found the parking spot again - no keys! K suggested I may have taken the keys out of my pocket before I got to the car. Looked around the corner on the footpath and there they were just lying there! Phew! Headed back to K's parents on Sunday morning and filled Volvomort with all manner of crap valuable items K had sorted from things stored at her old home. The drive back (with a stop at Wagga) was quite good. Didn't really feel tired at any stage which was good. It was nice to see the kitties again and I thinked they missed us too. Got up for work yesterday and it almost hadn't felt like I'd been away. Oh well Current Mood: blah Tags: car, socialising

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29th of June, 2002

01:23 am - Driving in Sydney Fuck!!! No Right Turn! No Left Turn! One way (no not that way idiot)! Trying to navigate our way to Crow's Nest this evening proved to be rather an exercise in orienteering. K was in charge of the map and I tried to navigate Sydney drivers who think indicaters are optional and goddamnedtaxis. Briefly drove up a one-way street because it changed its "way" as I was driving along it "...all these cars are parked the wrong way..." *swerve* I figure seeing as I'm now driving a Volvo (The Car Who Shall Not Be Named) and I'm on Victorian plates that pretty much means I can do what I like. Anyway got to this pub to see the band. Jayne had rung earlier and been told they were on at 9. Arrived there about 8:45 and by 11:30 they still hadn't started. What a crock. At about 10:30 I had asked one of the roadies what time the band was supposed to be on. He said 11. We gave up in the end. What a waste of a night. Current Mood: annoyed Tags: car, socialising

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26th of June, 2002

09:53 am - More Sydney Caught up with Sevare last night. It was good to see her again. We just ended up having a drink in at Parramatta shopping centre. she was a little bit tired but that was okay. Got back home and K continued going through the stuff she's wanting to bring back. Doesn't look like it's going to be more than can fit in the car at this stage :-) Feeling very tired. Kept having bad dreams last night. Not good. Which Angel would you be? By Angel Falls Current Mood: sleepy Tags: socialising

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24th of June, 2002

09:06 pm - Relatives of a sort Well last night was fun. Went off to dinner with K's brother and sister-in-law as well as her friends Matt & Nerelie (sp?). Barbara (the s-i-l) is more boring and conservative than I had originally thought. Matt & Nerelie were fantastic though. I hit it off quite well with them both and after dinner well all went back to their place. We discussed movies and geek stuff and gaming (Matt is sadly a Warty4 wargamer) and left there around 2 in the morning. Didn't catch up with Severe today. She was working pretty solid and was going to be tired by the end of her experiments. Will try again tomorrow :-) Current Mood: relaxed Tags: socialising

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23rd of June, 2002

12:38 am - Drunk philosophy What kind of clothes should I be wearing? by Evelyn Jesus my head hurts... Not because of the quantities of alcohol but because after consuming said quantities of alcohol I get into a coversation with K's dad and brother (her dad is working on his second bottle of red) which goes through astronomy, quantum theory, concept of time as a dimension and the concept of conciousness and how this may relate to artificial intelligence. Geez. The drive up from Melbourne to Wagga was good and caught up with iq2hi4u who gave K her old SLR camera which was a fantastic offer. Thanks so much! The drive from Wagga to Sydney today seemed to take ages. Had to start playing "I Spy" to stay awake :-) Had dinner with K's parents (as already mentioned) and got to meet her brother and sister-in-law and the baby. They seem okay but it's still early and I've had a lot to drink. Current Mood: drunk Tags: socialising

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21st of June, 2002

01:40 pm - Forward march! Well I'm heading off to Wagga tonight. Supposed to be meeting with iq2hi4uok and finally putting a face to the name :-) Seems that the boyfriend of one of my Sydney friend's housemates is heading off to Mexico and we've been offered the use of his place in Darlinghurst if we want. That would be good. At least we wouldn't be sleeping on a matress in the lounge :-) Tags: car, socialising

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11th of June, 2002

12:18 am - Social calander Well the weekend's over and it's back to work tomorrow. It's been a strange weekend though. Thursday afternoon I went home early from work feeling rather ill and still felt like crap Friday morning so I stayed in bed. Friday evening had most of the people over who are doing the group costume entry for this years Costumers' Ball. I ended up mostly talking about other people's costumes and helping them rather than working on ideas for my own. I was intending to head out to Abyss after everybody left but was overcome with an attack of apathy. Sadly I missed out on what sounds like was a good night - at least socially. Saturday went off and did some shopping while K went hunting for more fabric samples for her assignment. It's all due in the morning (Tuesday) and as I speak the computer is halfway through a 250 page printout. The poor printer hasn't worked so hard in it's life. Saturday night went to Brendan & Josella's engagement party but didn't stay long. We had already been invited ages ago to Briar's birthday party and K didn't seem to be having too much fun out anyway. Very stressed over said assignment. Went off to Briar's party which was in a city nightclub with very loud, crap music and we all piked by midnight. K was supposed to go off to Rocky Horror but wasn't feeling up to it. Sunday Mel was supposed to be coming over for lunch but didn't turn up. I tried ringing but haven't heard back from her yet. Dropped K off to Glenroy library to get stuff from a book that was only for reference. Spent the evening researching stuff for the Falkenstein PBM game I've joined. Today was very quiet. K has been on the pooter nearly all day. I've done some reading, watched some crap telly and done some more reading. Watched Buffy and then was able to get my hands on the pooter! Mmmmm. Not that addicted or anything :-) I would have liked to go to Convergence. Cam seemed to be enjoying himself but sadly I couldn't justify the $165 membership. I can't say there was anyone there I desperately wanted to meet anyway. But it could have been fun. Current Mood: tired Tags: clubbing, geek, socialising, tv

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2nd of June, 2002

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19th of May, 2002

06:26 pm - The Hollow Crown and updates Well It's been a good weekend. I saw The Hollow Crown at Her Majesty's Theatre on Saturday. It absolutely rocked!! I think I'm going to have nightmare's about Derek Jacobi's rendition of Horace Walpole. I think he may have been channeling Kenneth Williams! Ian Richardson was sensational, Donald Sinden far funnier than I had expected and Dianna Rigg just superb. I loved her rendition of Jane Austen's history essay. I even hung around the stage door afterward and managed to get all the cast to sign my programme. Very happ Baralier. Saturday K & I went round to Dave's for his birthday. The new flat's a bit small but it'd nice and cosy. Pazuzu has grown quite a bit too. Today had a nice sleep in and then busied myself with tidying the house: putting away scrap fabric, washing dishes, cloths, vacuming. All that domestic stuff. We've also discovered that it IS possible to open deadlocks from the inside without actually unlocking them. That would explain how the backdoor got opened when we were burgled. I think I'll have to chat with the agent about getting new locks fitted. find your element at mutedfaith.com. <º> Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: Strauss - Tales from the Vienna Woods Tags: reviews, socialising

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12th of May, 2002

10:39 am - Sewing and socialising Well had a pretty good day yesterday. Finished the twoil on the costume and It looks like it will be hanging properly. Today I'll be cutting it out and sewing it up. Went off to a friend's housewarming last night. All the way out in the boonies but she has a really nice house. Caught up with some friends and had a good night. I saw Durfin's brother Sebastian and he's quite a big cat. Poor little Durf's still little! Current Mood: sleepy Current Music: Placebo - Slave to the Wage Tags: costuming, kitty, socialising

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