there's something out there for everyone

I haven't shared my stumbling gems in a while- probably because I haven't been stumbling. *gasp* shock horror disbelief I know. I've been too busy to stumble? Dude!

Probably because instead of stumbling I've been making snowflakes. (And I've been ultra-busy with print deadline looming.) I'm totally addicted. I love it. It's weird how there are few things as nice as getting someone replying to your 'flake and saying that it's pretty- it's so warm-fuzzy. So go draw a flake and tell someone you like theirs. Or email someone a flake- thanks Jo! xox

But I'm guessing you guys are still wondering what the kitty pic is for huh? Well it's not a return of the übercutie- this is from www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com. Yup. Cats that look like Hitler. Who'd've thought...

why does it have to be so hard?

I don't know why exactly I'm never happy with my haircuts. Not 100% anyway. I'll be the first to admit that maybe, just maybe I have unrealistic expectations. I have fine überstraight hair and if the 'maintenance' is anything more than combing it when it's wet and drying it in winter so I don't get sick, well it just ain't gonna happen. That does not however stop me looking at other people's hair with longing and thinking, "Sure, mine could do that." Not without some product and a fancy styling brush and at least 20 mins of patience.... Apart from that, I think I want stuff that if blatantly contradictory. I like short choppy cuts but need to have my hair long enough to tie back; I like bits framing my face but then I don't like it when it makes me lose volume from the front of my hair; I want cool funky layers but don't want to lost volume throughout. In fact it's probably all my fault that I'm never totally happy with my hair.

That said, I've had more trouble over here than back home. Back home I was usually 90% happy. Over here it's so bloody expensive that I was going to a place around the corner from work that did £13 Wednesday cuts where I got to have a Russian have-at my hair while little old ladies got their blue and purple set & rinses done. It was usually fine (80% happy) although I could hardly understand her so I’d just ask for 'the same but shorter- tidy it up please'. But this time I decided to try something a bit different so I thought I'd get a person speaking my mother-tongue to cut my hair. She was a lovely girl and we chatted away the whole time and I was so sure she knew exactly what I wanted. We talked layers, we talked length, we talked texture, we talked about dealing with stuff around my face- I really felt we were on the same page. One thing I had been specific about was that I wanted it choppy and textured at the bottom and when she went to whip away my cape with a "how does that feel" I gathered up the courage (she was the one wielding the pointy scissors and this was her creation) to say that I'd like a bit more texture and choppy bits at the bottom- by which I meant any at all because, apart from a couple of layers at the back and stuff framing my face (not as much as I'd asked for) the bottom was COMPLETELY STRAIGHT. And I hatedit. So she started and said, "Like this?" and I said, "Oh hell, go mad. Have at it." And even so, I'm sure there are still nasty, completely straight rigid bits hiding at the back where I can't see them. And how do I feel after all that talking and explaining and correcting? I'll tell you- like I have something the same but shorter. I walked out thinking that I could have got pretty much the same thing for half the price from the Russian. I give up. From now on I'll just wear a hat.

if life were a movie...

In the Metro the other day there was a section where people could write in messages to fellow commuters that they were too shy to talk to themselves. Some of them were kinda cute (I must be in a soppy phase again) and if life were a movie, they'd totally be hooking up. And so I share with you some of my favs:

To the beautiful, tall, slim, dark haired young lady with glasses that catches the Link 2 train at 8am to 8.10am each day and gets off at Maid Marion Way. This is from the blond, short-haired guy who gets on outside Victoria Centre most mornings. I'm wearing earphones and seem oblivious to the world. I'm certainly not oblivious to you. make my day and say hello, I'd certainly say it back...

This is for the shy, beautiful brunette who gets on the 59 bus every day at 8.20am. You usually sit near the back and I would really like to talk to you but I’m too shy to say anything. When you smile at me in the morning you make my day. I would love to talk to you to see how we would get on.

To the lovely lady who gets on the Tube at Clapham South around 7.40am. You're always waiting at the same spot either reading a book or newspaper. It's my favourite spot too. You have long brown curly hair and you always look amazing. When I get off at Bank you remain on the Tube, deep in your reading. It would be nice to get to know you.

I think they appeal because it's just so While You Were Sleeping.

FIRE!

The scrub behind Logan Park is on fire for the second time in about 8 years. Nawti pot-heads dropping their roaches in dry gorse!
Unfortunately it is a really really dry windy day in Dunedin, so there's monsoon bucket galore!

Didn't you totally have another post?

Yes sometimes my boyfriend is nice to me and will buy me daffodils and make me toast that's shaped like a heart.
(well, you know, me lying in bed yelling out to him in the kitchen to make me toast with jam. and then cut it into a heart shape.)
awwwwww

oh the indignity

At lunchtime today I went to the supermarket and along with my tomato soup and hummous, I got 2 bottles of wine which Sarah highly recommends and are on special at the moment and super cheap. But it was not to be. It went a little like this:

me: [smile] hello
checkout dude: hello [looks at my wine, looks at me] do you have ID?
me: [blank look of total surprise] no
checkout dude: I can't sell it to you without ID
me: you're joking! [incredulous look of disbelief on face]
what I want to say: are you f*cking joking me?! I'm TWENTY SEVEN YEARS OLD
what I say: I don't have my passport on me
checkout dude: sorry but I can't sell it
what I want to say: you f*cking retard! Get managment over here. SOMEONE has to think I look older than 18.
what I say: Oh. Well I'll just take the other stuff then.

I just don't bloody believe it. There is no way I am going to carry my passport on me all the time. I don't even carry my NZ driver's licence. Also I buy alcohol at my local Odd Bins and Threshers (franchised liquor stores in the UK) and have never been asked for ID. And I know I should be flattered but frankly, right now I'm just too pissed off.

But something frivolous to cheer me up- singing horses. Or at least horses you can click on to make up different funky tunes. Trés amusing.

AND- here is a site where you can make your own cutout snowflakes. It is superultramegaübercool and I made about 13 today. (Lucky I'm not obsessive compulsive, huh? ;-))

updates

There are several things I've been remiss in not reporting- well maybe not several but definitely two.

Thing 1:I have a new job

Thing 2:I bumped in to Jaap

Thing 1
I mentioned previously that Jon, the designer for DIVE had left. What I neglected to mention was that I applied for his job. This was for a multitude of reasons but basically, I didn't want to jinx it. This was also the reason for my few-and-far-between blogs for a while- I was working more, trying to prove myself to be a multi-tasking Goddess worthy of the job and was also putting together/updating my portfolio. (Which is now done, but not the website, I didn't have time for that.) But to cut a long story short, they gave me the job. Hoorah! [insert appropriate football touchdown victory dance now] Unfortunately I don't get to start until they find a new me so that could be even a month away. Not fair! I want to start now!!! I'm very much looking forward to be back in the design saddle and back on my chosen career path. It only took me a year...

Thing 2
For most people, me bumping into Jaap will mean nothing at all. In fact I think the only person as blown away by it all as me (in fact maybe more) is Julie. Years ago, I did fencing (as did J) and Jaap was a fencing buddy in Chch. I haven't fenced in over 5 years (at least, I refuse to count in case it makes me feel old) and it's been about that long since I've seen Jaap. About three weeks ago (this is how bad I am with updating you folks) I went to the climbing wall for the ladies' climbing evening but no ladies showed so I was hanging around, watching people climb when I turned around and this person waved at me. It was Jaap. Lots of, "Oh my God!" "How surreal!" and "can you freakin' believe this?!!" ensued and I ended up climbing with him and his friends. And now Thursdays are my regular Jaap (and whoever turns up) climbing night. Who would have thought I'd be travelling across the world to go climbing with someone it'd've been surprising/cool enough to bump in to back home?

I do honestly believe that taking up climbing again is the best decision I have made since I've been over here. I love it and it makes me feel great. Even when I don't have a very productive night and feel like I haven't climbed very well, I still come away feeling great and if it's a night like last night, well then I'm floating on a cloud of endorphins all the way home. Last night, with the help of Jaap, I managed to finally get up a climb that I've been popping off for weeks. It is the greatest sense of achievement when you finally get past something you haven't been able to do. And then (because that's not all folks), I climbed my highest grade yet. For those who know anything about climbing grades, here is a link to comparisons for UK/Aus grades. I don't know what I was up to when I last climbed in NZ. I was climbing 14 outdoors and couldn't get up an 18 at the indoor wall but here I can fairly consistently do the equivalent of 16 and last night I did a 6a which is the equivalent of a 22-25 in NZ terms. Call it a 22 or maybe just a 20 to be modest but still, I did it and it's the highest grade I've done yet and I didn't cheat and I am so bloody proud of myself. And this is not a blowing my horn kind of thing, I'm just stoked and want to share. There was also another climb that I did and a lady was doing if after me who was shorter than me (yep, they do exist) so I was fascinated to see how she did it. I watched the beginning and thought she looked really elegant doing it. I then clambered up another route but Jaap, who was belaying me, gpt to watch the whole thing and he said that he thought I did it better. And I said, "But she looked so graceful!" and he said, "She made it look hard." YEAH! So now I know that I don't look like a beached whale scrambling up the wall- a thing that is always nice for a girl to know. Also Jaap is good at climbing so his opinion means something to me. Climbing with him also means that I'm constantly being pushed to try harder stuff and do more which can be exhausting and demoralising but when it works- endorphin central. ;-)

the highlight of my day

http://www.elemanyak.com/chelov.swf
This animation is brilliant. There is so much going on at once that you have to watch it several times. Enjoy! This made my day.

Also, for a fancy look from teh Eiffel Tower, go to http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen/fullscreen32.html

And another interactive portfolio. This one's just pretty, not humourous. click on every red box that comes up.

no more cutiecutie for a while

What is it about black and white line drawings that end in blood that both fascinate and repel me? I mean they start off all humourous and innocuous and then BAM! It's all red all over the place and mayhem and chaos. I'm hooked. This one was entitled 'love your job'.

On to prettier things- go to http://www.jonathanyuen.com/main.html. I'm really in to checking out people's portfolios at the moment (or rather just leaving it up to stumbling upon them because I'm lazy). There are so many cool ideas out there and I really like the ones that use Flash. (FYI that website needs Flashplayer 8. You can upload the latest (9)here if you can't get it from the guy's site.) I look at these sites and dream of the day I have my own computer and Flash (in fact all of Creative Suite- I am afterall in a dream) and will spend my evenings, not in front of the TV but instead infront of the TV with my beloved Macbook perched atop my lap, making me up a new website in Flash but also doing various creative projects I've had kicking around in my head for a while. *sigh*

WARNING- übercutie overload!!!

Sorry. I couldn't resist.







And if that wasn't enough, check out http://www.babyanimalz.com/gallery1.php

a guilty confession...

I have a confession to make. In the weekend I went to a Robbie Williams concert.

I know.

My flatmate Sarah is a huge Robbie fan (everyone has their faults) and has been since the days of Take That. She managed to snaffle 4 tickets to one of his 'London' gigs and since she caught me on one of my 'oh what the Hell, why not, I'll try anything once' days, I said I'd take one.

I neither love nor hate Robbie's music but I do think that he's an excellent performer and he did do a really good show. Any of my residual apathy is probably due to two factors: 1-It turns out that I'm really not a big gig girl 2-It took us 4 1/2 hours to get home. No gig is good enough for a 4 1/2 hour trip home.

The Foo Fighters had been my first big gig- previously the largest one I'd been to was the equivalent of the Dunedin Town Hall. Maybe it's the open air thing. Maybe it's the 60,000 people thing. Who knows. All I know is that a bit of the atmos and intimacy gets lost and I'd rather go to something smaller. Well now I know.

As for the 4 1/2 hours journey home- well... The concert was meant to be at the Wembley Stadium but the builders are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind schedule so it got changed to Milton Keynes (a place I am neverneverneverneverneverneverEVER going again). Getting there was fine. We got a 40min fast train from Euston, arrived early, had lunch and a couple of drinks and got a taxi to the arena. The concert finished at 22:30 at which point 60,000 people tried to leave through 2 exits. Well maybe there were more but there was definitely only 1 you were to go through to get to the train station which is at least a good 30min walk at the best of times (I've been told). Just imagine cramming well over 20,000 people out of one entrance that is about 10 people wide. Nice one. So it was a slow walk and then the queues to the train were formidable and we finally got on one at 00:15. And it was a slow train. And the last tube runs at 00:30. (If it has been at Wembley, we could have tubed it home.) So we had to nightbus it, always an experience and got to Putney which would be a half hour walk home so I paid for a taxi and we were in bed at 3am. That is just WRONG. Luckily we got an Irish taxi driver who was almost impossible to understand but bloody hilarious and it saved the night.

So as you can see, this kinda overshadows Robbie for me. he sung well though and had breaks between sets where he chatted away and when he didn't come across as overbearingly arrogant, he was charming and funny. I'm not buying the CD though.

On to less shamelful things
I stumbled across this website (the image links to the site) and you should check them out. It's my kind of humour (well most of them).












Also, because I enjoy the quirky, why don't you go here and have your personality judged according to how you draw a pig. On the left is my pig. On the right are my results. Go on and have a go. What does your pig say about you? Of course if look at my pig and results first, you can totally cheat to get what you want…





And finally…
Check out http://www.ministry-of-information.co.uk/blog1/keiramanip.htm for a fascinating example of photo retouching using one of my fav actors (dude, I’m being ironic), Keira Knightley. I do not put this up as any kind of bitchyness at all, it’s just amazing what those people can do with Photoshop.

To be known as Morgan-a-tron!

I would like to use this little cranny of the internet to announce the arrival of Charles Morgan Guenther-Leslie, my friends Jess and Bruce's baby boy.
He was delivered almost 2 months premature by c-section because of the onset of pre-eclampsia (a naughty high blood pressure deal which can harm mama and baby).
Both are doing well in Whangarei hospital, and he's weighed in at a big 1750 grams (almost 4pounds), which is massive for a preemie!

Here's a small, grainy pxt of him - doesn't stop the cuteness though! (Breathing apparatus because so young - not infant rigby gear).


aaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwww!

my Parisian adventure

I’m feeling lazy today so I figure the easiest way to do this is photo-essay style so lots of big pics and captions of varying lengths seem the way forwards:


Sacré Coeur. This was the first place we headed after dumping our bags at the hotel and this was my first view of it. (Well my first view this time round. I was there 8 years ago so everything felt like new.) This church just blows me away. Luckily the stairs weren't as bad as I remembered. And there are a LOT.



Me and Kez at the top of the stairs having a Kodak moment.


Kerry's first view of the Eiffel Tower. It looks teeny tiny from so far away but it's still pretty cool.


JJ(left) and Andy(right)having a beer while Kez and I poked around the art market behind Sacré Coeur. This was to be par for the course for the weekend- Kez and I would start out early in the morning and do stuff, the boys would sleep and we'd meet up around lunchtime to do something together and then they'd sit and have a beer while we went off and did more stuff. We were like tourist demons- we packed as much into the 3 days as Philip and I did in 5 last time around. And boy oh boy did we know about it. I think we climbed every stair in Paris.


Me working out where we need to go to get to the Metro to get us to Notre Damme. The nice thing about being in somewhere totally foreign was that I would whip my map out whenever I needed and I didn't care if people knew that I was a tourist. So what? They'd never see me again. I didn't care what they thought. I was like, "Hey look at me in my travel sandals, t-shirt and comfy pants- I'm a tourist. I take time-out to look at maps and I don't care what you think." It was quite liberating.


Me peering through a doorway that leads to be major-domo bell at Notre Damme. God knows how many stairs I climbed. Too freakin' many, that's for sure. I'm not a horribly unfit person but after walking back down those stairs, I was standing in the church itself and my calves were shaking. This was to become a familiar feeling...


One of the gargoyles at Notre Damme. They were amazing. I have a LOT of gargoyle snaps. The building is just incredible with all it's sweeping arches and amazing detail and I am totally in love with it. It looks totally different from every angle and there will always be something new to see there.


Kez, JJ and Andy standing outside Notre Damme. They were meant to be pretending to be gargoyles but Kez is the only one who truly embraced it.


JJ sleeping on the Metro on the way back to the hotel. Considering that he was home between 2-3am on Fri morn and packed (while still drunk) and then was up again at 4:50am (still drunk) and didn't sleep until we were on the train home at 6pm, he did pretty bloody well.


We also walked up the first two levels of the Eiffel Tower. 500 and something steps. Dude. This is the view from the second level (I think) looking up the rest of it. Looks a bit wobbly to me. Kez and Andy are both very not good at heights so it was a slight mission to drag them up as far s you could go. Taking the elevator down was a treat- not just for my legs but because you got to see the building shooting past you and you felt like you were floating down. It was awesome. I love the Eiffel Tower for everything that it is. It was only meant to be up for 2 weeks (I think it was that long, I'm too lazy to check my facts) as part of an exhibition in 1889but who could possibly contemplate taking something like that down? It's huge, it's mechanical, it's ugly and tacky and yet has this beauty to it as well. Seeing it lit up at night was about all I wanted from this trip and I got it (just no pics) but I'd go back to see it at night for longer as well.


View looking down from as high up at you can go.


Me outside the Louvre. Kez and I were getting all jiggy with it as the pools lent themselves to what we thought were incredibly witty photos. See how it looks like I'm walking in the water? Oh we are so clever.


This is the view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe looking down the Champ Elysees. Yet more stairs. Awesome views to be had though. The view of the Eiffel Tower from here at night is my next aim.


More arthouse/witty 'big-smalls' (as I like to call them.)


Yep. You feel pretty silly standing several meters in front of a fountain with your head tipped back as you pose. But hey- if you can't be silly with holiday happy snaps what's the point?

And that’s it from me. Not very eloquent I know but like I said, I’m tired. Sue me.

and because no day is complete without a touch of the surreal

I think some people have way too much spare time on their hands...

What I was going to write about before I got distracted with my anti-hunting rant

I don't know what is up with my stumbling at the moment but yesterday 90% of it involved kittens and this morning my first stumble lead me to this site.

Can you have too many kitten pictures? I don't know- coz just when I think I'm about to go, "Oh God, not another bloody cute picture of a kitten!", I come across the really cute one that makes me go all mooshy and aaaaaaaaaaaw. I want one. I want two. I want them now. I think I'd have to stay away from a tabby for a while because even though it's been almost three years (? really? that long?) since our dear darling Minnie left us, I still get misty eyed at times. Like one of these kitten videos- I had to stop watching it because I was at work and about to cry. (Don't watch these Mum, it'll just make you upset.) All that rubbing of fluffy kitty tummies. I miss my cat.

But for those who like cats and are into schadenfreude, you have to look at these videos. Oh the hilarity. Oh the slapstick. Is there anything funnier than a cat going spastic?

And because this seems to be turning into a total cat-centric blog (I will get around to writing about Paris, I promise!), this is funny too.

HORROR TRAUMA DANGER WARNING TURN BACK NOW FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
I was just exploring links from the link above. Do not, and I repeat do NOT look at this link. That is not unless you want to claw your eyes out... It is described as "BOB'S PAGE
His hysterically funny, light-hearted, multimedia "autobiography." An epic saga of outrageous proportions; you will enjoy each short chapter!" Now my mother brought me up on the philosophy that if you can't say anything good about someone, you shouldn't say anything at all and I don't know Bob and I don't like slating people behind their back- especially when I've never even met them- but if I were to say something to Bob, it would go along the lines of, "Bob. DUDE. That many animated gifs do NOT belong together on one page. N E V E R. Say it with me Bob: less is more." And it gets better- I clicked on his autobiography link and yep, there's an image in the sidebar using comic sans. I knew it. I could smell it.

And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse...
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.... Check out every link. Share my pain. Please.

things that make me go ?¡¥!!!∂ƒØ¡¡?!

I just had a reader call in and tell us about some images she got while on holiday of a caracal. She was all excited because it was a mum and baby and apparently they hadn't been seen in the park for 3 years. Well I didn't know what a caracal was so I googled it after the call and it turns out that I did know what it was, just not by name. But what made me reallyREALLY angry was coming across this picture. I was like- no, he didn't kill it but yes, yes he did. So I had to check out the website. No I haven't checked it out properly- I didn't get any further than the first page, I was that bloody angry. Oh look, they're a 'good' hunting club because they cater for disable hunters and have special ones for people in wheelchairs. Well guess what- I don't give a fuck. Whoopteefuckingdoo. THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO GO AROUND SHOOTING ANIMALS. Yes, I'm a vegetarian (even if slightly hypocritical at times) so may be slightly biased but I hate. And I mean HATE people who think it's a good time to go out and kill some poor animal and then take a picture of themselves beside it and potentially take it home and get it stuffed or worse, chop off its head and stick it on the wall. It's sick. It's wrong. And yes, I know I have friends who hunt and have trophies at home. You know I don't like it. I can condone hunting for pest control purposes and for my friends who go out hunting, you'd better bloody well be taking Bambi home to cook up or at least feed to the dog. As for people who go on safaris to Africa and pack their gun.... "Oh yes look at that amazing specimen in its prime. So majestic, so fierce, so noble.... BANG". Ignorant stupid fuckers all of them. (Sorry for the swearing but I'm on a rant here.) I mean in the wild you wouldn't stand a chance, would you? But tucked up in your 4WD for your speedy getaway with a gun so that you can hit it from a nice safe distance you feel like a God- you absolute cowardly pansy. Take a knife and go hunt it down like a real man and then I might, and I mean might just allow it.

Vote for Handle of the Jandal!

Go to this link and scroll down to find Anji Sami's musicvideo made by Chris Taine (Dags) and the uncredited John Ong, and vote for it!

Please! because then they can win, and become famous movie makers and then I can become a lady of leisure!

down to business

Right, this isn’t gonna be a delicate piece of work but if I don’t blog it now I never will because tomorrow I’m off to Paris for the weekend (because I can) and after that all this will be redundant. I should warn you guys, millions of ‘arty’ pics of the Eiffel Tower will be inflicted upon you.

I don’t really know where to start and due to lack of time I can’t babble on at length and be all D&M about things (so annoying, I hate passing up the chance to think that I’m appearing insightful and knowledgeable. Nope, all you guys get are lots of quirky links and pics. And parenthesis. (There’s nothing like having to negotiate a whitewater of parenthesis to fuck you up when you’re trying to mind your own business and just get through a paragraph.)) so I think I’ll just wade in at the middle and flai around a bit. That’s always fun.

At the weekend Sarah (not my flatmate), Kez and I went to see Superman Returns at the iMax. Dude. Or rather dooooooooooooooode. That thing is just absolutely bloody massive. We were right at the back and I honestly don’t think I could have coped with any closer. I think the big screen made what is probably an average movie seem pretty damn fly. You feel so much sorrier for people when you see their faces 30ft high.* It had 3D bits that I thought worked really well and at times made you want to flinch or reach out and grab stuff. I also thought that they did really well with the whole mood to the Superman thing. I mean Superman is different to other comic characters. He’s the one that dresses down for everyday life. And there just isn’t that Batman WHAM KAPOW element to it. Improbability yes, cheese- not so much. I liked it- but I am totally willing to place 80% of my appreciation on the big screen. I am converted, from now on I shall worship at the temple of iMax whenever possible. I shall leave offerings of popcorn crumbs and empty drinks containers as a sign of my devotion. Oh yeah- and the crazy pics, they are of us modelling the supersexy 3D glasses you get given when you enter. Such a shame you have to hand them back at the end…

In the weekend I also had my first sushi in ages- I don’t tend to buy sushi because it’s expensive and doesn’t taste fresh. But on Saturday I happened to stumble (physically, not cyberly) across a sushi place called Samurai and had to pole my nose in. I was a girl with a craving. I had to post this photo because it was just weird man- they were all individually wrapped and you could buy two for the price of one… But there were lovely Japanese girls at the counter so I gathered up a selection and they boxed it up for me. I found a bench outside and actually quite enjoyed it. (They had me at the fish-shaped soy sauce containers.)

It’s a small world after all
On Monday I went to the climbing wall for women’s climbing evening- except no women turned up. So I had a wander around to try to find them and then watched some impressive lead climbing. Then I turned around and this guy waved at me and I nearly dropped dead from surprise- it was Jaap, a Chch fencer (yep, I seem to choose strange recreational activities: fencing, fire poi/staff, jujitsu, bojitsu, climbing. Normal is so overrated.) that I haven’t seen in like 5 years. It’s be cool enough to bump in to him back home, let alone on the other side of the world. So I ended up climbing with him and his friend and had a really cool evening. It was kinda surreal though. I think the only person who understands the true surreality of this story is my sister.

speaking of surreal…
Anyhue- last night I went climbing with Graeme, who did the beginners course with me, and we had a really productive time. Climbing with Jaap is good because he’s a tonne better than me and can give advise but climbing with Graeme is nice because we’re around the same level and I don’t feel so pants when I can’t do stuff and it’s more of a joint problem-solving thing. The highlight of the night though was to greet me as I walked in to the entrance to Latimer Road Tube Station. This supercutie little guy was sitting in the entrance with a soft toy crocodile sitting in front of him. I was about to take out my camera when this lady sitting outside asked me for the time. She smelt very strongly of cigarettes and she sounded drunk/drug fucked but was nice enough. So I asked her if the dog was hers and if I could take a photo of him. It turns out that Milo (the dog) gets a new soft toy every week because he shags them. Hahahahahahahahahaha. That’s right. That supercutie little dog that you see sitting there so innocently will take that croc home and over the course of a week shag it so much that Mummy has to buy him a new one next week. Things like that will make me smile for days.

THINGS STUMBLED UPON

http://flashface.ctapt.de/
This site is AWESOME. It’s a drawing based one and you can cobble together faces from the different elements. If you’re having a slow day, like I was when I stumbled across this site, the handy hints are:
1- you can click and drag around the various bits when they pop up on the canvas
2- there’s a button down the bottom to scale the features so you can get the style of what you want and then make it fit

http://distractiondomain.com/media/animation/yes_and_no.swf
Animation again, it’s another one that gets better as it goes along.

Is it a dog?

And finally, because you guys deserve nothing less than the truly surreal, you have to check this out. I mean what the f***?!

*I don’t know the actual size of the iMax screen and a quick googling got me nowhere. It’s big I tells ya. B I G.

This one goes out to Holly

This link is for Holly, the only person I know who likes to pop bubble wrap more than me. When I worked with Hamish he would kindly hand over any bubblewrap that came with the books. I didn't even have to ask. It was true love. And then Holly became editor. I wondered why there was no more bubble wrap until one day I heard that sweet satisfying popping sound coming from behind me- she'd taken over my supply! Oh the horror! Oh the trauma! Oh the injustice!

So for fellow poppers out there, go to this site(yes I know I've linked to it for the second time), pump up the sound, click on 'manic mode', have fun and go mad.

Hello Aynia!

I really liked that "After You" animation, I just want to snuggle that turtley looking one up to my face and make annoying baby noises to him!

Checkkidy check out this Hello Kitty paraphanelia - What will they think of next, those crazy Sanrio-ians! (That second one is an exhaust pipe in case you can't tell.

confessions of a stumbler

I can't help it. I think I'm hooked. Instead of using my stolen moments to write instalments of decent blog entries (and I have stuff that I really want to write about as well. Some it light and fluffy, some deep and meaningful.) I find myself opening a new tab in Firefox and clicking 'stumble!'. Today I have been selectively stumbling through animation and drawing sites. It seems like every time I find a good one I want to blog about it saying, "This is the coolest website ever!" And then the next one comes along. Hit pick of the day though, (at least until I next stumble) has to go to http://www.zefrank.com/scribbler/. Basically you use your mouse to scribble a picture, then click on 'done drawing' and this will bring you to your scribble window. If you click on 'scribbler settings' you can choose colour, and line weight which this funky will programme will proceed to redraw your scribble with. It's just waaaaaaaay cool. The red drawing is my initial scribble and the montage below is a timeline thing of what it looked like as it redrew my scribble. Is good ja?


And for the animation of the day, check out http://seneca.rsad.edu/animations/AfterYou.html. It took a wee while to load and I wasn't that sure about it for a while but it salvaged itself beautifully at the end. It's all in the twist folks.

soooooooooooooooooo supercutiepie

I've had a terrible horrible no good very bad day of stress but I stumbled upon this which made me go all ooey-gooey-warm-fuzzy happy. This is the way to end your day.

my new idol

This guy is absolutely bloody amazing. You all HAVE to check out his website. I started off inspired and then realised he was only born in 1983 and is a whopping 4 years younger than me and has done so much more and is so bloody talented. I'd hate him if I weren't totally in love with his website and those supercutie/disturbing animations and cool graffiti. Make sure you click on all the little men that pop up and scroll down the screen to see all his different things. It should interest anyone really but the desi geeks out there should be ultra impressed. And to give props where it's due- this link was sent to me by my Dad. Go Dad. Chur.

Also, check this out. It has a soundtrack. It's from a different guy but it also good for a laugh.

For those who are wondering, these links are c/- my Dad, c/- stumbleupon. You need to be using Explorer (boo hiss) or FIrefox (yay) to download the toolbar and many a happy hour can be wasted finding websites by like-minded people. Or if this blog is your kind of thing, leave it up to me as I hope to have at least one supercool website a day to recommend. They will probably be design related in some way but I have a lot of interests so who knows what will pop up...

One for the Anime Fans

I had an amusing email from my Dad today, my fav of which I am including here. Because I can. I love anime/manga/animation in general (10 months in Japan at the age of 5 would seem to have made quite an impression on me) and so I share some of my geek humour with you....

All I Ever Learned, I Learned from Anime

Smart people wear glasses.

When you die, make a long speech, and don't finish the last sentence.

Teachers have excellent aim with small objects.

The coolest weapon is still the sword.

The hero is never really mad until they hurt his girlfriend.

The green-haired alien girl will always betray her people for the man she loves.

School uniforms are cool only when the collar is open.

You can never have too much hair.

Sweating is a sure sign of stress.

Daydreaming leads to accidents.

No matter how much blood is lost, no one can die by a nosebleed.

(The same theory above applies to vomiting.)

If a sister falls in love with her brother, somewhere down the line you will discover that they're not blood related.

It is possible to incorporate martial arts into any aspect of life.

The oldest sister is the nice one, the youngest sister is the brash one.

All major villains either want to take over the world or blow it up.

No matter how many times you rebuild, Tokyo keeps getting destroyed in a massive fireball.

The martial arts expert is always defenseless against a slap from the girl who loves him.

TAKAHASHI'S LAW 2: The two-foot-tall old geezer is someone to be feared.

The fate of the planet rests in the hands of the seemingly normal high school student.

Any character can make a leap of 300 ft or more if given a good running start.

A samurai sword can cut through anything.

All characters over the age of 60 shrink in height in direct proportion to their age.

Anime villians have the best deaths.

Any truly evil person who changes sides for the woman he loves will die in that episode.

Hair comes in every shade of the rainbow - and we do mean pink, purple, blue, green....

For a complete list, check out:http://www.abcb.com/misc/latt_03.htm

the disappearance of a noever

See what I did there? I did a punne, or play on words using my own name. My e. e. cummings styles leave an ambiguity as to whether I'm talking about a generic Noever or myself, A. Noever. Oh the hilarity! Oh the literary genius! I am wasted on this world. (Never mind that a pedant might point out that this entry is really more the reappearance of a noever as opposed to the disappearance...)

*sigh*

It's been a long couple of weeks. Deadline last week and we're a man-down in the art department with the departure of Jon so it's all hands on board and absolutely no quality blogging time. These are stolen moments folks. If only I could offer you gems as opposed to the slightly incoherent drooling ramblings of a sleep deprived, multi-tasking Goddess wannabe.

A touch of home
The other morning I looked out my kitchen window to be greeted by a sight that made me seriously nostalgic. I mean you practically expect to see this kind of sight on a Sat or Sun morn in Dunedin but in London...? I was grinning every time I looked out the window.I had another moment like that when I was in Edinburgh over the Bank Holiday weekend. It was the last weekend of the Fringe Festival and I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see a road cone on top of a statue and apparently I missed out on one the other day that had been perched atop one that was much higher up and harder to get to. Kudos to the drunken climbers out there. Also the masses of bollards covered in various posters made me think of home as well. I know they're not a Dunedin specific thing (I know this because for every show that Julie does, there is a photo of her beside a bollard pointing to one of her show posters ;-) ) but you don't really see them in London. At least not where I go...

Edinburgh
I flew up to Edinburgh on Friday evening to catch the end of the Fringe Fest and to catch up with Aimee and Reece. I had the best weekend, it was just great. The vibe generated by the festival probably helped but Edinburgh itself just made me smile. It does feel quite reminiscent of Dunedin although of course Edinburgh feels older. There is this delicious contrast between these dark, cold, and looming Gothic buildings and a quite upbeat feeling to the city. It should be miserable, it really should- but it's not. The colourfully painted shop fronts are totally weighed down by the oversized stone structures towering above them and it just feels so heavy at times.But then the sun pops out and you walk down Princes St. (for the Dunedin girl it's hilarious to see so many familiar street names) and everything opens up and you have the park/gardens opposite the castle and it's just beautiful. I'm definitely going back.This was a piece of graffiti I found on the street and had to stop to take a photo. I mean what the f***? ;-) I'm afraid that I don't really have any pics of me from the weekend- me being behind the camera most of the time (as it should be)- so this is the only one I have. Hmm..... Kind insane huh? (And definitely not flattering...)But I have no shame (well not a lot) so I thought I'd slab it in anyway. This is me and Greyfriars Bobby (check out the link, I'm too lazy to explain) and everyone gets their photo taken beside him so why not me and midnight on the way home? I am modelling Reece's jacket which I appropriated because I was cold and it's bloody huge on me and pretty soon he and Aimee were referring to me as the Michelin man. Not that I cared. I was warm.

The Festival itself
In my three days I saw quite a lot of standup comedy, lots of street performances, some exhibitions (oops, forgot to bring my postcards to scan in!) and did a tonne of wondering around. (If indeed wandering can be measured in weight- which I guess it could if you take it as the accumulation of my weight per step I took over the weekend. That must be a tonne. I walked a lot.) This dude was the first item of street performance I caught- Eli the Kid from Adelaide. He did nifty tricks with boxes and wobbled around on the unicycle and was quite amusing.

Both Aimee and Reece were working on Sat and Sun which actually turned out to be quite a good thing for me. Not since Greece have I been somewhere new by myself and it was really nice to be able to just amble around at my own free will and stop if anything seemed interesting and not to have to worry about if the person I was with was interested to or if they wanted to see something else. Nobody else to make decisions with. It was nice. There were lots of juggling and diabolo stuff and sometimes those street performers can be bloody aggressive when it comes to gathering/keeping a crowd. I only caught the end of this act and I'm gutted. They were an Irish couple and seemed absolutely charming. And amazing- she's doing a handstand on his hands folks. For the girl who's still just doing handstands up against a wall (I have a fear of being too enthusiatic and going over backwards), that's bloody impressive.

My fav performance was Albannach. They are a Scottish group with bagpipes (just the one) and a whole lot of drums and as soon as I heard their drums, I'd ditch what I was doing and try to find them. It was this amazing celtic music that has you tapping your feet and wanting to dance but not this airy fairy diddly dee bullshit but this deep primeval rhythm. So incredible. I bought their CD. I will be keeping an eye out for other performances of theirs in the UK. They're about to do a US tour so for the mystery readers of this blog, check out that url and hunt them down. They're awesome.

Right, and now work calls. (The writing of this has been spread out over a couple of lunchtimes...) More about exhibitions I saw at some later date.