Election Called

It's been a couple of days since I last blogged. I saw a play 'Riflemind' on Friday night which I totally loathed - perhaps the worst piece of theatre I've seen in the last 10 years - a complete waste of $70. The play had no structure, was lethargic, the actors had nothing to work with despite being an A Grade cast. What made it a special event was attending the Sydney Theatre Company's launch - I got to speak to John Doyle (AKA Roy Slaven), Jonathan Biggins, David Berthold & Jackie Weaver - all really nice actors. I think I spotted Eddie Perfect in the crowd, too - he's an artist I've recently become interested in especially with his cabaret - I must buy the 'Angry Eddie" CD one of these days - it's supposed to be quite good.

Yesterday I went to John Miller's Gallery and had a look at Kerrie Cole's work which surprised me as she doesn't usually work in oils - I've only really seen her pastel and watercolour works before. These new works were interesting - scenes of Newcastle Beach from surrounding buildings. In several of her pieces I appreciated her composition and thought overall her works were a success.

I also had a look at the new JB Hi-Fi store at Westfield Kotara where I expected to pick up Six Feet Under: S5 on DVD, only to find it wasn't on special (the special only applied to S1 & S2). Hopefully next week I'll have more time to look around the store - I'm after some foreign movies at the moment 'Eyes Without A Face', 'And Your Mother Too' etc.

Today Prime Minister John Winston Howard called a Federal Election for 24 November. It's good the phoney election campaign is now over and the respective parties can advertise their election policies to the Australian voters. I think people have become annoyed with all the political ads on television from both sides of politics (I know I have) and hopefully during the six week period we might see some solid policies emerge hopefully from both sides.

Tonight I am going to see Susie Porter in 'The Caterpillar Wish'. I hope I enjoy the movie.

Apply away!

Tomorrow will be a busy day for me as I start voluntary work in the Archives unit at the University of Newcastle on the photographic scanning / metadata project. I will be putting in a good six hours, or as long as the unit needs me for.

Other plans for tomorrow include making a start on the four library applications that close on Friday. I think I'll probably have most success with the casual library assistant position with Lake Macquarie City Library, though will also put in an application for the two library technician positions; the final position is of General Library Assistant at the university - I don't think I have much chance of getting than one, so if will apply for it last. If I find I'm running out of time, I'll ditch it, but I want try at least submitting all four, or three of the four at best.

I had a day inside today, I just didn't feel like going out, and really had no need as TAFE hasn't called me in for quite sometime. I'm hoping eventually the university will call me - I unfortunately didn't make the cut for the exam invigilator's position, but perhaps it was for the best as I'm intending to enrol as a student at the university next year and would have had to surrender the position anyway. I can't really see a lot of money coming from it - less than $500, but work is work I guess and I can't be picky - a couple of hundred dollars here and there would really help me out.

Thankfully no more houses have caught alight, but I am really worried by the situation with two houses so close to me now thoroughly destroyed. It was difficult to get to sleep last night and I'm not sure if it will be possible to sleep for the next fortnight, wondering if my house will be next. I will have to be positive and turn my attention to reading and listen to my Paul Mauriat collection, as a way of finding inner solace.

Firebug

I am particularly worried that two houses the street next to mine have been burnt down. I am across from the house that burnt down several weeks ago, the other is at the top of the hill. If these firebug incidents continue then my house could be next.

I do not know why people burn other people's property down, but I can tell you it is a very distressing experience for the people's whose property is extensively damaged and who have to start again, but also equally distressing for the people who wonder if their properties will be the next to go up in smoke. I intend updating both CD & DVD inventory lists and submitting with insurance company ASAP.

Last night, I was busy watching television shows. I watched Masters of Science Fiction which had well-seasoned actors of the likes of Sam Waterson, Judy Davis, John Hurt etc but I am not sure I really liked how the stories were filmed. The original short science fiction stories they were based on looked interesting enough. After watching these, I watched several episodes of the original Twilight Zone series, which I enjoyed. Eventually, I'd like to buy the complete original series on DVD, but money is a bit scarce at the moment.

This afternoon I am finally meeting Terena for our delayed coffee session. It will be good to catch up on library news. Tonight 'Prison Break' & 'Heroes' is on - Tuesday's tend to be very relaxing television nights for me.

Lazy Sunday

Not much to report for today. A social day doing the galleries and having lunch at Longbench Cafe with a really good friend of mine.

Wanted: New Computer NOW!

It's been pretty much a non-eventful day today, probably the highlight of the day was finding out the JB Hi-Fi outlet at Westfield Kotara opens next Thursday and they have Six Feet Under Season Five for a nicely priced $24.95 - I don't have much money at the moment, so I'll probably charge it.

Late in the afternoon my computer was most unfortunate to experience 'the blue screen of death'. The HD is obviously on its way out, despite the recovery check I executed via the recovery console suite, saying the disc was fine. Thankfully after this check everything performed normally, or as normally as my drive will allow - it comes up with a 'Master File Table is corrupt' error a thousand times. When I eventually get some more solid work the first thing I'm going to do is buy the new Dell $3000 secret beast featured in this month's PC Authority - it's supposed to be an exceptional beast, and I might buy a $4000 monitor to go with it - why not blow some money to get a good system - it's definitely worth it.

Next computer purchase I'm avoiding supermarket ALDI PC specials and getting something decent again. The Medion died a tragic half-death around this time last year and has morphed into a now half-working machine since the HD is on its way out, hence why I rely on my external HD (perhaps the most intelligent purchase I made this year seeing I almost lost 2000 emails).

Mind you if anyone can help me out with a new replacement beast to ensure computer reliability until then, I won't say no :)

A Supernatural Television Event

I had a marathon television watching session this afternoon with 'Pushing Daisies', 'Chuck' & 'Supernatural'. Now I wouldn't say that 'Supernatural' is really all that good but I mainly watch it for its dark, scarey atmosphere. 'Chuck' was a little different but had an interesting story; it is obviously aimed at the older teenage market. 'Pushing Daisies' was a little too weird for me - the narrative was clever but I didn't feel everything was equal to the sum of its parts.

Tomorrow I am going shopping at 7.30am and hopefully having coffee by 8.30am at my favourite coffee haunt 'Jamaica Blue'. I feel like acquiring a new DVD so might buy myself a nice treat like 'Pulp Fiction' or 'The Queen'. I tend to be very price sensitive with how much I'll pay for a DVD - these days I usually wait for them to come down to $12-13 and make a list of the movies I want.

On Sunday I hope to meet Terena for coffee as we didn't get to our coffee session after the Charlestown Library Information Session last night. Then in the evening it is off to the Newcastle Film Society to see the movie of the week. So all in all, it should be a fun weekend. I hope to report more over the weekend.

The Raymond Chandler Puzzle

This morning I booked a ticket to go and see Sydney Theatre Company's 'Riflemind' for next Friday. This production stars Susie Porter, Hugo Weaving, Jeremy Sims, Marton Csokas, Ewen Leslie, Susan Prior, Steve Rodgers, and is being directed by Philip Hoffmann Seymour. I've decided to arrive two hours earlier so I can attend STC's 2008 theatre launch which details the new productions for the coming year.

I'm thinking I might start reading Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep" as this is the book for discussion on ABC television's next 'First Tuesday Bookclub of the Month" to screen the second week in November. I am a big fan of this movie as it is film noir, but I have yet to read the book. Chandler was once asked to describe his story and basically said it was indescribable. So maybe I'm looking at a challenge, who knows? This will be my first Raymond Chandler novel.

Tonight I am meeting Terena for the library info session at Charlestown Library. I will give a report later on how this session went and if coffee was an enjoyable experience.

Sticky Rice

Had an excellent day today! The filing project for James Fletcher Mental Hospital is going exceedingly well. I have actually almost completed the first project and will soon be on to the second which entails some cataloguing.

I decided to have lunch at Monet's Cafe which is situated on the hospital grounds. I ate a delicious red beef curry served on a bed of jasmine rice, a very tasty treat indeed. The weather today was 36 degrees, and while I wasn't outside for long, I actually enjoyed being in the fresh air.

Dinner at Lan's Vietnamese Restaurant in Darby Street, with family was a delicious treat. I ordered the Curry Chicken dish in a nice creamy coconut sauce. The accompanying bowl of sticky rice was very nice when mixed in with the curry and devoured. Drink wise I decided to stick with a Jacob's Creek Dry Chardonnay, and while it wasn't the best chardonnay I've tried, it really hit the spot.

Tomorrow I am going to a library information session for a casual library assistant's position at Lake Macquarie City Library. The session for me is more about meeting the people from the library, than receiving actual details which I earlier received over the phone. I am mainly going to support my best library friend Terena as she is interested in applying too, and then after we've having coffee at Charlestown Square.

Library Planning

Received project details from the university's archives department for the three projects they are willing to offer me; I personally prefer the photo digitisation project but would like to work towards indexing UniNews and photocopying text of past student handbooks for archival purposes. All projects are appropriate for my library technician skills. I think I will enjoy volunteering my time in this department of the library.

Other news:

I had coffee today at my usually coffee haunt 'Jamaica Blue' at Westfield Kotara. They do a really good job, and the pear and raspberry bread was excellent. It was nice getting out of the house for a couple of hours.

I haven't heard yet if I've got on as an exam supervisor at the university - if I don't hear within two weeks I know I've been unsuccessful. I must go to the TAFE and pick up an application kit to apply to be an exam supervisor over there.

Tomorrow I undertake my massive filing job at James Fletcher Mental Hospital and plan to leave an hour earlier than usual - I'm going to Lan's Vietnamese Restaurant with my parents and brother. The food is really nice there - I promise to give an account tomorrow of how I find it.

Dollar Dazzlers

Well, the once little Aussie battler that was struggling at a gravely depreciated 47 US cents in 2001, has recovered its losses from the fall-out of the US sub-prime credit crunch, and is now hovering around the respectable 89.12 US cents mark. I believe the Aussie will reach parity with the greenback before January 1 2008.

A couple of things which I predict may affect the Aussie's appreciation. It is my belief that Israel, the United States, England, France & possibly Australia will launch a military strike on Iran before the end of the year or possibly in 2008. Diplomacy appears to have failed with the Iranians not ceding an inch - what do you do when a rogue state won't give up their atomic powers? Iran with nuclear warheads is a dangerous threat to the wider world. I believe any military action will have adverse consequences for the whole world and therefore could affect the $A value quite significantly. It is my hope the once Aussie battler will achieve parity with the greenback before these unfortunate events unfold.

I'm in a really lazy mood right now. It looks like I'll be happy with watching TV downloads and doing not much else with it being a NSW public Labour Day holiday and all. I really don't feel like composing much right now. I'll write some more tonight and report on the latest 'Desperate Housewives' series, as well as anything else I can muster up from the deep caverns of my mind.

Update: Desperate Housewives season opening seemed a bit flat and not very interesting; this television show had so much spark in Season One, but lost it in Season Two, to partly regain it in Season Three. Season Four appears like it could be a repeat of Season Three all over again. So in conclusion this series has lost much of its originality but I'll keep watching but am not expecting anything majorly groundbreaking to occur throughout this series. Also I forgot being a long weekend 'Kath & Kim' wasn't screened on Sunday as this was the NRL rugby league grand final - so now I have to wait a whole week to see Episode Seven.