. . .

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

I took the Canon Digital IXUS 55 for a test drive at the Melbourne Zoo.



The camera retails for around $300-400 AUD

I am not going to go into specs here - all I wanted to know was...

1. Does it take good pictures?
2. Can you make videos on it?
3. How long does the battery last?
4. Is it easy to use?

The answers, thankfully, were easy.

1. Yes, here is an example of one:



2. Yes, here is a cute one I filmed featuring Fairy Penguins and a cameo by a Gannet:



3. The battery is not the longest lasting in the world, but it lasts for enough time, just remember to turn it off when you're not using it. If you recharge it the morning you are going to use it, you should have no problems.

The screen is clear and easy to use. The size of the screen is a big plus.


My verdict - SUCCESS!!

This would be my choice for a digital camera - easy to use, good photos and with a big enough memory card, good videos as well.

Monday, November 27, 2006

My favourite shampoo used to be Pantene.

I have been using it since it came in the pink, purple and yellow packaging (circa 1980s)

But then they did the unthinkable. They changed the formula. Now it sucks.


Now when I wash my hair with Pantene, it tends to look like this:

As the saying goes, I can't do a thing with it!!

I got a free sample of Sunsilk Super Shine in the mail and decided to use it because
I'd run out of shampoo.


To my amazement my hair came out looking something like this:



It costs $4.99 in the supermarket, compared with the $9-$15 price range of Pantene. And it works.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

I tried walking with hand weights last week and have been doing it ever since. Just me, some running shoes, 2 x 1kg hand weights and off I go.

The 1kg soft hand weights were approximately $30.00, which is at the upper end of the scale.



However, you can find various hand weights at your local sports store for approximately $2.49 - $7.99ea, (0.5kg - 2.0kg) and these will do just as well.



I personally wouldn't recommend walking with 3kg or heavier hand weights but that's me. Some people probably use 5kg! I use it to get my heart rate up, not to get clanging biceps!

I have found that this is the best exercise I have ever done - better than aerobics!!

I used to think that people walking with hand weights looked like dorks. But...after I got over my fear of dorkness, I've never looked back.

Happy Walking!!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Uuhuh uuhn huh!!

Ah....Lorraine. Lorraine Swanson. My favourite character on MADtv.



I found MADtv DVDs from $7.48US ($9.73AUS) at Amazon.com

I am having Mad TV withdrawal symptoms. Thank you, half-arsed Australian television!!! You really know how to program.

Take Mad TV off the air, put on "CSI ...(insert town here)"

Take away Supernatural, put on "20-1 Most Inane Moments in some field nobody cares about"

And sadly, take away the X-Files, put on "The Simpsons 100th episode for the 10,00000th $%@^?&^%@ing time!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I mean what is going on? Is it a conspiracy?

Are we handed crap TV on free-to-air (sheesh! It used to be called just plain old "Television" - I am so sick of weasel words) so we are forced to....

"JOIN US!!!!!" (sinister voice hissing)


...sign up to Foxtel or whatever and pay shitloads of money every month?

I don't know.

To give you an idea why I love MADtv so much, here is one of my favourite Lorraine moments:

Lorraine Buys a Bed

Buy the DVD, watch it on YouTube, however you do it, Lorraine Rocks!!!

Uuuuhh uuuh uhhh uhhh

huh

Monday, November 20, 2006

Congratulations to John Senden, the winner of the 2006 Australian Open at Royal Sydney.



You can find my tips on golf gear here.

The Huntingdale Masters is next, at Huntingdale Golf Course (Melway Ref 69 / H12)
Tickets available online from Ticketmaster.

Thursday 23rd to Sunday 26th November 2006

If you want to go but don't have the cash, bring your Mastercard and you can get free admission to the Masters.

If that's not a saving, I don't know what is!!!

Happy Golfing!!

Thursday, November 16, 2006

The nice people at AdBrite sent me this (click to enlarge):



I Love them again. Giving it another go. They are much nicer than their competitors.

xxoxoxoxoxoxoxxo

Technorati Tags:
Golf! Golf! Golf!



To celebrate the start of the MFS Australian Open at Royal Sydney (16-19 November 11:30am-4:30pm Ch7), I thought I'd explore golf clubs.

I always thought you needed the latest titanium whizz-bang set of clubs to play golf. But if you are just learning how to play, these entry-level clubs will serve you just as well.

Went to Elsternwick Golf Course with the following equipment

PGF Clubs (RRP $30-35 approx)



The Wilson Green Machine Putter (RRP$30-35)



And the trusty Sunday bag (RRP$25)



The bag & clubs were easy to carry without all the clutter.

Saw 2 guys on the next tee with titanium sets, buggies, amazingly expensive equipment, the whole deal.

Still, they both sliced the ball into the trees, hacking their way down the fairway.

Meanwhile, my partner used the PGFs and got 2 pars!!!!

Hehehehe!!

As far as the open goes, I don't really mind who wins. I'm just glad to see golf back on the TV again!!!

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

I bought this comedy video from Amazon.uk - "Father Ted" (Best Of) $39.95



When I first saw this show advertised on Foxtel I thought it was one of those tedious pastoral dramas.

Boy was I wrong!!

I watched an episode on British TV's Top 100 Funniest Moments and I couldn't believe what I was seeing....



I can't even describe it. It was like complete bedlam. Mrs Doyle (the housekeeper) falling off the roof in the background while Father Ted and Father Dougal have a conversation.
A Hamster riding around underfoot, a drunken priest who speaks mainly four words:
FECK, ARSE, DRINK, and GIRRLS.

It reminded me of comedies in the spirit of The Young Ones, or Blackadder, or Red Dwarf. But maybe better. That's saying a lot.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are some famous quotes from the series:

Father Ted (1952-1998)

Ted: I'm not a fascist. I'm a priest. Fascists dress up in black and tell people what to do. Whereas priests...
...More drink!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Father Dougal

Ted: It's not as if everyone's going to go off and join some mad religious cult just because we go off for a picnic for a couple of hours.
Dougal: God, Ted, I heard about those cults. Everyone dressing in black and saying our Lord's gonna come back and judge us all!
Ted: No... No, Dougal, that's us. That's Catholicism.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ted: Maybe he's agoraphobic.
Dougal: Jack? Scared of fighting? I don't think so, Ted!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mrs Doyle

Mrs Doyle:
Won't you have some cake, Father? It's got cocaine in it. Oh no, hang on, it's not cocaine, is it. What do I mean now? - the little things... Raisins!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Father Jack

Jack: Drink! Feck! Arse! Girls!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack:
ARSEBISCUITS!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't know what else to say except go and buy it. You will never look back.

ARSE!!!


Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Oy Veh again.

I have taken all the AdBrite ads off my site. Every time I opened my blog I saw this massive box with "Your Ad Here" glaring back at me.

It told me two things:

1. My site looks unattractive with the massive ad text sticking out
2. Nobody can click on the ads because they aren't there yet

point 2. led me to point 3. I'm not getting paid anything from AdBrite.

Not only that, but due to time limits my previous earnings were disappearing day by day like a wheat field in a locust plague.

Still, AdBrite is the best ad thingy I've used so far. My earnings were 15c from Commission Junction, $2.20 from AdBrite (rapidly decreasing as we speak), and an incredible 1c from Google AdSense (Oops!! listens at door for sound of approaching secret service dudes!)

It's strange, AdBrite used to have ads appear after about 24 hours and then you would always have a full block of ads. But now they have skyscrapers etc. (much like AdSense) but they have rarely been filled with anything except for "YOUR AD HERE" in huge garish letters. I haven't had an ad click since late October 2006.

I'm still researching which are the best ads to use. So far I have found that "click" ads are preferable rather than "click and sign up then buy something then I get paid" ads.

I will put the ads back if I can find out what the problem is. If not, I will continue to search for ads that result in a cheque rather than high blood pressure.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Birthday weekend just gone. Forgotten basic necessities such as sleep, food and exercise.
Unless you count beer as a food group... and count scooting from one pub to the next one "exercise"...

So... it's Sun Chlorella to the rescue!



This stuff works. It definitely does something and makes me feel quite a lot better.

The taste? Hmmm.

If you could only see my expression when I'm trying to munch on these!!



I usually get them from Bionatural because they deliver in record time. Better than buying them on Ebay.

Normally $47.50 for a pack of 300

I'm off to wash my mouth out.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Has this ever happened to you??



I had another dream in html. And it's happened on more than one occasion. Not only is it disturbing but it says something about me. I'm not exactly sure what. The word NERD comes to mind.

I have been using computers since I was 7 years old. And they have never really troubled me that much. Until CSS came along and my head imploded. And HTML still gives me goose bumps.
Don't get me started on Windows XP.

But.... I decided rather than wallow in slash squigglything pointy arrow confusion, I'd get a couple of books from the Technical Book Shop.

CSS Web Design for Dummies by Richard Mansfield (RRP $39.95)




And...

HTML 4 for Dummies by Deborah S. Ray and Eric J. Ray (RRP $23.95)




It's good to have a beginner's mentality when learning, even when you think you know it all. That's why I like "for dummies" as a title.

The reality of these books is that they make sense and are easy to follow. The HTML 4 one in particular is good at de-mystifying the whole deal.

Compare it to say, Microsoft Access - the official "user's guide" that comes with the program.
You might as well try and decode the Rosetta stone. Or find Bigfoot.

It tells you everything you need to know, providing you

1. Know where to look (needle in haystack, perhaps?)
2. Are an expert in Microsoft Access and assisted with the creation and implementation of the program
3. Have enough money to call the Microsoft $$$$$ help line.

After leafing through these dummies books my mind is at rest.
I expect to have < / and { free dreams tonight.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

I went bra shopping last week. I forgot how much I hate bra shopping.

Do not. I repeat. Do not go bra shopping in "boutique" (spew!) shops in places such as Chapel Street and Toorak Road unless you are suicidal and want something to tip you over the edge.

I was "assisted" by a scrawny bag of bones that looked at me like I was something from outer space to be studied and tested.

The anomaly? Er...I have breasts.

And shopping in a bra shop. WHAT NEXT?!?!?!

Her blank blue eyes appraised me coldly. "Well...um. We can perhaps do a fitting for you"

Her saccharine-drenched tones cut through me like glass.

No bloody thank you. I do not want to be subjected to prodding and poking by a Paris Hilton-esque greyhound-shaped, solarium-toughened, over-attentive Y-gen.

She proceeded to hand me the most hideous bras I have ever seen in sizes I had never heard of. Baffled, I checked the bra I was wearing and concluded that the shop must have moved up all the sizes to make people freak out and go on the Atkins diet.

The bra that she handed me looked like a suit of armour. Bright purple with flowers on it.

Seriously. You could have used it for a tent.

The bras in styles that I kind-of liked seemed to be made for 10 year old boys, Paris Hilton and Olive Oyl.

Not that there's anything wrong with small breasts, but if you look more like this:



than this:



then you will probably have a problem finding anything decent in these shops.

I came to the conclusion that the the way to buy bras is to do it the old-fashioned way. Go to the lingerie section at Myer and speak to the nice old ladies in the fitting department.

I think it's much more reassuring to be measured by somebody who has a lot of experience in the quantum physics that is bra fitting.

Personally, I have always liked the Elle Macpherson range. It has some great styles that are beautiful and well designed.

Bendon seems to have a handle on what works and looks good.


And if you get a fitting by someone who knows what they are doing, you can't go wrong.