Nine minutes of free Serenity

So here's an interesting marketing strategy. Universal, the film company behind Serenity, have made available the opening sequence of the film, which you can stream and watch for free. Not a bad idea I'm thinking. While the opening sequence is far from the best moment in the film (er, when is it ever?) it does have its moments and mayhaps provide enough enticement for people to go "ooh, I have to know what happens next!" Or, people might watch it and go "well that one's not for me" which is okay too - but how nice of Universal to give people that opportunity for free.

And yes, granted, it's all one big marketing ploy - however, it strikes me as one of the few that is actually good for (potential) consumers!

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Tomorrow is Serenity Day!

Tomorrow is Serenity Day. What are you doing reading my blog? Go see the big damn movie. Showing at all super cool cinemas near you. And probably at the not so cool ones too.

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Here's looking at you, baby girl!

Time for a "Proud Aunty" blog post! Those of you who have already popped by Ben's blog today will know that Ben and his lovely wife welcomed their first baby *girl* into the family this morning. Yes, little Emma arrived just after 4am.

Dad and I headed up to Caboolture Hospital late this morning to meet Emma and check on her Mum (who looked so well it was hard to believe she'd given birth earlier today!) and naturally to take some happy snaps of Emma's first day out 'n about in this great wide world. She was a very sleepy little lass, but oh-so-beautiful and contented. And she has gingery coloured hair! Not sure where that comes from.. but it seems to match my current (dyed) hair colour. Ha! As always, click on thumbnails to see full photo. The first two are just of Emma, the third is Emma with delighted Aunty MuzeKez. A niece!! A niece I tells ya! :-)

Welcome to the world, Emma! Congratulations bro, sis-in-law and nephews! What an adorable and most welcome addition to the family. :-)

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Body-Hugging Super Suits

Thankyou Greater Union / Birch Carroll & Coyle Cinemas for once again realising that you overcharge and taking baby steps to rectify this problem by bringing back "Five Buck Tuesday" throughout the month of August!

Not one to squander an opportunity for a cheap flick, I took myself along this past Tuesday to see Fantastic Four. Now, I could write a review, but there are a squillion of those already available on the internet. Suffice to say that this one is squarely aimed at the teenage male demographic. There's plenty of eye-popping whiz-bangery (or is that whiz-bang eye-poppery?), and a scene with a blondified Jessica Alba in pretty pink underwear is a dead giveaway regarding the target market. Despite being a far cry from this target demographic, I thought the movie was humourous, silly (in a good way) and a good, clean, fun way to pass a couple of hours on a cloudy Tuesday afternoon.

(Plus, of course, there was Ioan. *swoon*)

But yes, rather than write a review, I decided that following the positive feedback concerning my previous post about strange musings brought on by a Star Wars viewing, I'd share some further strange musings, this time brought on by a Fantastic Four viewing. Eagle-eyed readers may already have an inkling of what I plan to discuss, having divulged the source of my musings in this post's title...

...that's right. I've been pondering body-hugging superhero outfits! And who hasn't, really?

Now, three of the four members of the Fantastic Four wear body-hugging outfits. One of them can pull it off. (She would be the solitary female in the troupe.) The other two look really, really, *really* silly. There's just a huge ridiculous factor going on when grown men wear full-body, figure-hugging suits. And it's so awkward to look at! One's eyes wage a war with each other as they battle the overwhelming and slightly perverse urge to ogle the, *ahem*, nether regions of said man wearing full-body, figure-hugging suit, while also trying desperately to look away! Look away right now!!

Of course, as I pondered this strange dichotomy (I have no idea if I'm using this big scary word appropriately) I realised that the full-body, figure-hugging suit really works for Spidey. How can this be, that one superhero can pull it off while countless others look like mooks? And, in a moment of clarity, it dawned on me that it works for Spidey because he also covers his head/face! "Ahhh!" you say, "that makes perfect sense!" because, as those who have seen Spidey 2 will tell you, when Spidey is unmasked, suddenly *poof!* the full-body, figure-hugging suit looks really, really, *really* silly!

Mmmmhmm!

All this musing led me to issue a challenge to those of you with artistic ability (and oodles of free time) - I challenge someone, anyone, to redesign some comic superhero outfits: moving away from the spandex into a more breathable and flowing cotton, per say. Yes! You could work with Spidey's suit, or Mr. Fantastic's, or even Superman! Post your fabulous designs in the comments section and I'll topple off my chair with surprise that anyone bothered to take up my challenge. Woohoo!

(But nobody touch Batman's outfit because he is uber-cool as is.)

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giant lizards are cool

Oh look, I still have a blog! And it's taken Star Wars, of all things, to lure me out of my blogblock. Yes, you heard me right gentle readers, Star Wars!

So I saw the Sith movie yesterday. It's still at the cinema, which surprised me because hasn't it been out forever? Maybe I'm just losing track of time. Anywho, a friend of mine wanted to see it on the big screen and invited me along, and despite my lack of enthusiasm for all things Star Wars (I haven't even seen episode 2 yet) I thought, heck, why not? (Been too long since I've had a movie outing, desperation can do funny things to a person.) If nothing else, I figured I would be entertained by the FX.

And entertained I was! Sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a not-so-good way (ie. irresistable urge to giggle everytime Ewan McGregor disrobed, revealing his tan coloured, skirt-ish tunic - Ewan in skirt = laughable!) but at least it managed to sustain my interest for the duration. There were the expected moments of annoyance (no more talkie! whip out those lightsabers and dance monkeys!) but also some unexpected perks (why Anakin, you are so very pretty! until you get messed up by lava and look hideous of course), the biggest of which was Obi-Wan's giant lizard! Ohhh, where can I get me a giant lizard? That thing was awesome, although the sound guys did a crap job of giving it a voice, but that's a teeny complaint.

It got me thinking, as Obi-Wan was bumping along on his super cool giant lizard, that the world would be a much better place if all our automobiles were replaced by giant lizards! Those things sure can motor, they don't require petrol (though I'm sure some form of sustenance would be needed) and how much cooler would road rage be? Some moron cuts you off at the lights on his giant lizard, so you get your giant lizard to chomp him! Ha! Oh, I just realised I answered my own ponderings of potential sustenance. Plenty of morons on the road, I know my giant lizard would be well fed. And then of course, I could form my own army of giant lizards (after disposing of their moronic riders) and have a glorious escort everywhere I went. Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

Yes indeed, giant lizards are cool.

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life's impossibilities

#367: attempting to write a "statement of reflection" when one is not feeling even remotely reflective

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hooray for animation!

One of the coolest things about studying a subject like 3D Animation is that during the lectures, rather than sitting, bored, listening to a talking head down the front of the lecture theatre, we get to watch lots of great animation examples! For inspiration, ya know? Anyway, I was particularly taken with one we watched recently, simply called "Bert". Thus, I'm spreading the joy - clickie clickie clickie!

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well, I never!

I can no longer suffer the guilt, having been gently cajoled into completing this chain mail/meme thingamajig by Casyn last week. (Plus, I am engaged in some serious assignment procrastination this morning!) Incidentally, I've never done any of Casyn's "nevers" either, bar worked in retail for a three month period in my teens. But, I've attempted to come up with my own list of "nevers" - some are "never nevers!" (never have done, never will do) while others are "never say nevers!" (have not yet done, but, see title) and I'll leave it for people to ponder over which is which. So, in no particular order..

I have never:

1. owned either of those most common pets: dog or cat


2. been to a costume/mask party


3. had a go at karaoke


4. auditioned for any television reality or game show


5. subjected my body to any kind of "fad" diet


6. reached the magical one-year anniversary mark in a relationship


7. permanently tattooed any part of my skin


8. flown in a helicopter


9. taken so much as a single puff from a cigarette


10. snuggled up to a slithering snake *hisssss*

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the perfect gift..

..for the one you love ....to hate! Give 'em syphilis! (Go on and click, it's cute and amusing, not at all gross and icky!)

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bite me!

My Mother reckons bearded dragons will bite ya if you tick them off. Do you reckon the guy below looks like he's fixin' to chomp on my finger? ...maybe I should give up on my quest to hand feed a full grown bearded dragon and just stick with hand feeding the little guys, like so:

Dandelion flowers.. yum! Sad to say, this little guy, who had in recent times called our front garden home, seems to have moved on as I haven't seen him since taking this picture a few weeks ago. Farewell little buddy!

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a happy photographic accident

So little time, so much to do - but I had to pause in my assignment work to share a couple of photographs I took at a local park yesterday (click for enlarged view):

The photograph on the left, I accidentally forgot to turn off the flash (probably blinded the poor lizard, *gulp*) - but was delighted to find when I looked at the pic at home, my accident had resulted in a spiffy photograph! The photograph on the right is, of course, minus flash.

Anyway, I think bearded dragons are so cool, and this guy was patient enough to allow me to photograph him numerous times, so naturally I had to share his glorious self for others to admire! I attempted to hand-feed him some bread (which I had been feeding to the ducks, until I noticed this guy nibbling after some) and he let me get close enough to tickle his nose with it, but that made him shy away. Alas! So I dropped it in front of him and he gobbled it up happily after I had moved away. His reward for being such a well-behaved photographic subject. :-)

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libra odd spots

This post falls under the "too good not to share" category. I recently switched brands of sanitary liners (no, that's not the bit I simply *had* to share), and discovered that, according to Libra, sanitary liners are a perfect place to impart useless trivia/facts. What fun! Now when I make a trip to the Ladies, I can have a giggle at the stuff printed on the adhesive backing strip, and the women in the other cubicles can wonder at my sanity. I scanned a couple of these backing strips to share the fun, so go ahead and click on the sample provided (my favourite "odd spot").

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anime, anime, anime.. and more!

Poor neglected blog! *pats it on the head* I wonder if anyone is still stopping by here, or whether people have just given up on me ever posting again. Naturally, the latter option seems more likely considering the complete lack of postage lately. I'm going to squarely lump the blame on university. Three weeks back to the grind, and not only have the lecturers/tutors piled on the work and assignments, but they're making me BLOG! For uni! GAH! Trust the university to jump all over trends, thus turning something that was a pleasure into a chore. Boohoo. :-( Woe is me!

Er, yes, and in actual fact I am enjoying being back at uni. I've got some interesting subjects happening this semester that see me studying and creating 3D animation, temporal media and interaction designs. (Yeah, I don't really know what the heck all those words mean either -except 3D animation, which is blatantly obvious- but I'm learning.. sloooowly.)

But to the topic - anime! I spent a good portion of my summer break becoming acquainted with the wonderful world of anime. For some reason I'd resisted most anime up until I attended Supanova (1) (2) last year, despite the fact the bro' has had a number of anime flicks in his video/DVD collection for years. I think I had an aversion to the mere thought of R-rated cartoons. Ignorant me! However, at Supanova, watching the Cosplayers and Kamehameha Blast-Off'ers, I realised that anime fans are like their own wacky fun society that I had to learn more about. And thus began the Great Anime Quest of Summer '04/'05..

..it all started with a raiding of the bro's anime collection. That introduced me to the thoroughly entertaining "Gunsmith Cats" and "Read or Die", the weirdness of "Akira", and the very cool character Jubei, of "Ninja Scroll". When I grow up I wanna be just like him! Make of that what you will... Also at this time, I worked my way through the local Blockbuster's modest anime collection, checking out a small number of movies, most of which fascinated me to varying degrees (except a film called "X" - it was pretty lame).

Unfortunately, this was simply not enough to satiate my growing obsession with the art form. Alas! It was time to make a few choice investments and begin my own anime collection. Much to my frustration, I discovered that, like fantasy novels (another obsession), anime titles rarely seem to be on sale. You can shop around, and shop around some more, and the prices only drop below recommended retail by a couple of dollars or so. Phooey! To date I have controlled my spending to three volumes of "GetBackers" (all that's available here in Oz so far) - a highly entertaining action/comedy TV series about a couple of dudes who run a recovery service, ie. they 'get back' stuff. It has great comedic moments and some sweet action scenes. More recently I purchased the thirteen episode series "Please Teacher" - a pretty neat drama series about a 15 year (who is technically 18) old marrying his teacher (an alien). There's a vague "erk!" factor to parts of it but otherwise it's a charmer.

Then there's my latest acquisition - volume 1 of "Azumanga Daioh". Like Seinfeld, it's a comedy show about nothing, but beyond that it defies description. Suffice to say it had me quite literally rolling with laughter at times. Detachable pig-tails will do that to ya!

So the point of this post was really a roundabout way of explaining that if it's the last you see appear on this blog in a while, it's because I'm busy with uni.. or watching anime. 'cause obsessions are good for the soul. :-P

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the joys of nature (part II)

Pop quiz!

This morning I was woken (or should that be awoken?) at 5:30am by:
(a) the sweet and pleasant melodic stylings of a pair of magpies, filtering peacefully and tunefully through my window, or
(b) the raucous screechings of a pair of psychotic pink galahs, sharing their domestic woes with the neighbourhood from the neighbour's palm tree.

.....

If you answered (a), you are WRONG! wrong, wroNG, WRONG! To the bottom of the class with you! Did you not pick up on the sarcastic tone of the title? Should I have put inverted commas around the word "joys"? If, however, you answered (b), you are absolutely, one-hundred percent on the money! And a good morning to you too!

So yes, this morning a couple of pink galahs decided to act like, well, like a pair of galahs! I have never heard such hideous screechings emitted by pink galahs. At first, as I lay groggily in bed, I wondered if it was a cranky possum. You see, I could hear the local mickey bird mafia taking offence to some poor critter stumbling into their territory, and as I've experienced their treatment of possums before, this seemed a definite possibility. But as the ruckus continued, I decided it had to be some kind of bird. I could also hear a few rainbow lorikeets combining their piercing squawks with the mickey bird mafia, which is not a common occurrence.

So! I dragged myself up to a sitting position and opened my blind, and there in the neighbour's palm tree, level with my eyeline, saw two pink galahs. One was sitting quietly and hunched up at the time, while the other was extending its wings and repeatedly launching ear-piercing screeches at the lorikeets and mickeys flapping around. Then it would screech at the other galah, which would wake it from its stupor and make it screech right back! UGH! I watched this behaviour for a few minutes, trying to determine what the heck was going on. Was this some kind of bizarre galah mating ritual? Because I'm thinking, buddy, if that's how you attempt to win a girlie galah over, it's no wonder you're single! And if so, what did the other birds have to do with proceedings?

Knowing this was too blogworthy a moment to pass up, I jumped out of bed to grab my camera. Alas, the galahs, damn 'em, decided to fly away just as I returned to the window to snap their picture! No photographic evidence! It's probably just as well though, because if I had snapped a picture, you'd probably look at it and react with "aww, look at the pretty pink birdies!", which is not the sentiment I'm aiming for here.

As Alf Stewart* would say.. flamin' galahs!

*Far be it from me to willingly quote Home and Away characters, but Alf Stewart is an institution unto himself. There's even a T-shirt!

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the joys of nature

While on a (semi-daily) walk with my Mum yesterday, I felt something land in my hair, right by my ear. Exploring the ear area returned nothing, but running my fingers through my hair I discovered an object caught up in tangles. Dragging it out, I looked into my hand and saw, to my horror, a stink bug! There followed a period of frantic hand-shaking and exclamations of "Ugh, stink bug!" until my Mum calmly assured me that it had flown merrily away, seemingly no worse for our encounter. Unlike my traumatised self!

Still, I like to think that somewhere, in a place and time not far from here, a stink bug is blogging on the stinkernet about his frightening collision with a big, hairy human head, and his incredible luck in escaping his predicament relatively unscathed.

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the price is right!

Woohoo! Greater Union/Birch Carroll and Coyle have dropped the Tuesday ticket price to a meagre $5 (for a limited time). Now, this certainly makes me one happy camper, as my uni timetable has me finishing at 1pm on Tuesdays so I'll be able to take advantage of this el cheapo price over the next few weeks. And it comes just in time for a number of light, fun-lookin' flicks due for release: Bride & Prejudice, In Good Company, and Hitch. I'd say the price is just right for some light entertainment.

Meanwhile, this is definitely a step in the right direction for GU/BCC. Now, if they would just rethink their decision to ban movie munchies other than their own....

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meh!

When, oh when, is my blogblock going to pass? So many things to post, so little enthusiasm.

I could blog about...

* my brief sojourn to the lovely Outrigger Mooloolaba, right on the beachfront. I even took pictures for the specific purpose of blogging, but they'll keep, I guess.

* the number of itty bitty geckos currently sharing our residence. Highest gecko count of late: five in one night.

* the fact that it's a great time to be a Jude Law fan. I've recently enjoyed his star turns in "Closer" and "Alfie", and his voice work in the "Lemony Snicket" film. On the viewing agenda are "Sky Captain etc.." and "The Aviator" (yeah, he's in that too apparently). Also, I think the Mr. Ripley flick is on the box later this week.

* the wasted brilliance of Joss Whedon's "Firefly" concept - one season wasn't even close to enough!

* my new penchant for ankle-length, crushed cotton, Gypsy-ish skirts. I can't get enough of 'em (though I only own two) - they are ridiculously comfortable to wear and look soooo pretty.

... but I won't.

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bookfest!

Today is the final day of the Lifeline Bookfest, so if you're in Brisbane and you like books, better scurry along to the Convention Centre and check it out! I popped by the 'fest yesterday and to my great delight discovered, besides the books and other paraphernalia, an impressive number of pre-loved soft toys up for grabs! Ahhh! Yes, that's right, I went to the Bookfest and bought a big... stuffed... DUCK! :-) How could I resist such a beautiful creature, abandoned by his previous owner? I simply had to give him a new home. Here he is pictured with his new buddy, li'l Quacker.

Too cute! Anyway, I did also pick up just a couple of books. Alas, these sort of events always seem to be light-on in the fantasy department. I don't know why that is, although I suspect it may be because fantasy enthusiasts tend to hoard their books (I know I do) and don't part with 'em for anything! So I purchased a classic, Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" (also includes "The Chimes"), and a novel that caught my eye, "Basilica" by William D. Montalbano. The blurb reads:

In the black of a Roman night, a lone priest is pushed to his death from the dome gallery of St Peter's basilica. It's a murder that challenges the spiritual and physical resources of two men shaped and scarred by a stormy past. One of them is the charismatic new Pope himself, an unconventional Latin-American with many hidden enemies. The other, Brother Paul, is a former Miami homicide cop brought to the Vatican as unofficial papal investigator. Now, as threats against each of them multiply, ghosts from their common past stalk the holy city's ancient streets and circle ever closer...

Sounds intriguing, no? Meanwhile, two books for a buck and an eight dollar duck - can't complain about that!

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cakes and the queensland heat

Yesterday was my Mother's birthday, so in honour of the occasion I baked a chocolate cake. Much of it was devoured for afternoon tea, but we left the remaining quarter in a container on the kitchen bench. This morning when I rose, groggy and sleep-deprived due to an unpleasant hot and humid Queensland summer night, Mum greeted me with a solemn face and told me there had been a "cake accident" overnight. Despite taking extra care to ensure the icing was nice 'n solid so it wouldn't liquify, well, see for yourself what happened!

Evidently cake icing doesn't cope too well with Queensland heat and humidity! Either that or the darn stuff came ALIVE and is trying to escape being eaten!

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let's go bowling now!

Yesterday I enjoyed a pleasant afternoon in the company of delightful former bloggers Pickwick and Verbs, engaging in a few rounds of ten-pin bowling. As I remain the only active blogger of the group, it falls to me to report on the afternoon! Naturally, this means I get to make it all about ME. Yes indeed.

Now, I am a former bowler of some renown *cough*, a fact that I had partially shared with Verbs but kept from Pickwick.. until yesterday. That's right, I was once a league bowler. For two (non-consecutive) years I was a member of two different leagues, the first being a rather casual (yet still competitive) under-25s league and the second being a far more serious group, in which the team I was in finished the season in Second place. I suppose I should confess that if not for me, the team would have finished... First. Yup, I was the weakest link.

*sigh* League bowling experience should count for something, but I'm really a pretty ordinary bowler. I had hoped the mere title of "former league bowler" would strike (ha!) fear into the hearts of my opponents, but my first few bowls yesterday put an end to that notion. In my defence, three years have passed since I last bowled and I was therefore well and truly out of condition (a fact which numerous aching muscles are reminding me of this morning!), but still, my opening bowls (all sprayed to the right) of gutter ball - 1 pin - gutter ball - gutter ball - gutter ball were nothing short of humiliating!

Quite amazing then that I managed to score 104 in that first game. I also improved by 1 pin in the second game so the afternoon wasn't a complete embarrassment. Add to that the fact that I didn't lose either game and it was quite a good showing really.

Of course, nor did I win either game! To be honest, I was just a sideshow to the ridiculously competitive, ongoing Verbs/Pickwick Bowling Challenge. They have previously played a five game marathon and after yesterday's two games I believe Pickwick remains in front by one game. Honours were shared yesterday, with Pickwick taking out the first game and Verbs winning the second. Verbs was keen for a third game yesterday (determined to even the score!) but my arm threatened to detach itself from my body and scamper away if I entertained such a notion, and Pickwick was sympathetic. (In truth, I know she just wanted to hold onto her teensy lead!)

We obtained a print-out of the scorecard which I have dutifully scanned and uploaded.

Verbs/Kez/Piwi Bowling Scorecard

Just to confirm the difficult to read final scores:
Game 1
Verbs: 96
Kez: 104
Piwi: 132*
Game 2
Verbs: 122
Kez: 105
Piwi: 92
* a personal best for Pickwick.

The Verbs/Pickwick Bowling Challenge will resume next time Pickwick is in Brisbane, and I shall go along to make sure things don't get out of hand! (And also because their lack of blogs means they need a third party to attend and compose an eye-witness report.)

PS. Cheers for a lovely afternoon folks. :-)

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feeling: [ like my muscles need a soothing soak in a hot tub ]
groovin' to: "Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer" - Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum & Patrick Wilson
last movie viewing: "Vampire Hunter D" [DVD]
bookworm currently enjoying: "The House of Gaian" - Anne Bishop
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a duck and a pirate ship

(and a super poseable wall-crawling Gollum, but more about him later.)

I know it sounds like the title of a warped children's story, but these are actually a few of the very groovy Christmas '04 gifts I received. Arr, that be right, me hearties, me very own pirate ship! (courtesy of me brother, me sister-in-law, and me nephews - worthy land lubbers, the lot of 'em) Here be a snapshot or two of me sea-farin' vessel - the Saucy Skull 'n Sword - set sail on the skirts of the deep blue sea. Arrr!

For the life of me I can't figure out why that lobster is hitching a ride on the front of the ship. My eldest nephew tried to convince me that it was not a lobster but actually a scorpion. As I told him though, scorpions can't swim! Later it did occur to me that there was my very plausible explanation as to why the mysterious red critter would be hitching a ride. Still, I remain unsure. Perhaps an unofficial poll is in order - just reply to this post with either "lobster" or "scorpion" and we'll get the matter sorted.

Now, here be a close-up snapshot of me pirate self, scurvy sea dog that I am! Arr! (Not quite as fetching as my earlier pirate portrait, but suitably scary nonetheless, particularly when you notice that this here pirate is far too cool for a squawking parrot and has a vampire bat instead! So appropriate for my pirate self. Ha!)

Next we have this cute little quacker (courtesy of my dear friend Amanda).
This gift encompasses three of my great loves: (1) cricket, (2) soft toys, and (3) ducks! Amanda said she simply couldn't go past it, as it is pretty much the perfect give for me. I don't know how it is that I've never come across these little guys before, but no matter, because now I have one! Aside from the fact that he's just so darn cute, he comes with the added bonus of a built-in quacking noise when you give his belly a gentle squeeze. Quacker has been enjoying watching the cricket on the TV with me, and has already had a handful of opportunities to let rip with his quacking to accompany batsmen who've gotten out for a duck! (I do not tell a lie, I really have made him quack during the recent Test matches.)

Last, but not least, is the super poseable Gollum with crawling action. When they say super poseable, they mean it! Talk about flexible. Anyway, he came with a wall that you can make him crawl up (or perhaps "shimmy" would be a more appropriate term). To be honest though, there is only so much entertainment value to be had in making him crawl up and down the wall over and over. What I have found to be more amusing is to combine super poseable Gollum with some of my other Lord of the Rings collectibles, like so:

As you can see, here I have created a physical representation of the Gollum personality taunting the Smeagol personality.
Gollum: "Oooh, that fish looks juicy sweet and we wantssss it, precioussss!"
Smeagol: *whipping around with Gollum clinging to back* "Who said that, precious?"

I've also unleashed Gollumzilla on Minas Tirith.
Denethor: *too small to see* "We're all going to die! Where is my oil?"
Gollumzilla: *in loud scary resonating voice* "I'll take Minas Tirith for meeeee!"

Hours of fun! This gift was also from my brother and his family - they are wonderful for keeping my inner child on the outer! Woohoo! :-)

As an aside, I took a peek under super poseable Gollum's loincloth (because I'm a filthy toy pervert) and the poor fellow is completely lacking. I think that explains a lot, you know?

'twas a merry, merry Christmas. As previously posted by my brother on this here blog, the most exciting gift of all on Christmas Day was the news that I shall have another nephew, or my first niece, arriving around August/September. Now there's a gift that's impossible to top. :-)

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farewell, dear friends

Irregular Muzings is currently observing a period of mourning for the demise of its dear fellow blogs, "I'm Afraid...I'm Human" and "The Imperfect Pedant". They were much loved and will be remembered fondly for the numerous thoughtful, witty and delightful observations they shared.

Yes indeed, farewell dear friends!

Regular (or rather irregular!) Muzings programming will resume sometime in the foreseeable future.. as soon as that lazy MuzeKez gets her lazy butt out o' the beanbag in front of the tele!

MuzeKez: hey, I'm right here, punk!

PS. Happy New Year, lads and lasses!

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