On the move

Awfully sorry for my lack of blogging (although I'm sure no one else is). I've been preoccupied with a) the decision to sell my home, b) the near concrete decision to move to the country, and c) the mess, hassle and stresses of getting my place ready for sale, plus moving to temporary accommodation so the place can always look great for viewing. This last one means I'll have even less opportunity to blog as my access to the internet will be somewhat minimized... and slowed (eek).

I am quite looking forward to the changes coming up. Is exciting and a little bit nerve-wracking to be moving so far away but I am hoping to finally fulfill my dream of living in the countryside, surrounded by trees and the bliss of nature - somewhere with more trees than people! Ideally I will have a modernly-equipped cottage on large parcel of land with verandahs for me to enjoy the beautiful views of greenery (and to spot a killer bushfire before it hits me......). It's unlikely that I'll get this, but I'm going to keep dreaming and aim for as close as I can get. If not the countryside at least in the country town (am thinking Margaret River if you're interested) and perhaps within walking distance of the shops, cafes, pub, restaurants and some local artisans.

Anyway, we will see what life brings my way. I aim to dream but also to keep an open mind. Am going to do what feels right. Have realised lately that life is too short. I've had this dream for about a dozen years so I might as well give it a go.

Let me know what you think and what dreams you've chased after or are still planning to... and what is stopping you if you haven't gone after them yet.

Look out, I think he's got pocket rockets!*

* (for those unfamiliar with poker, this means one has a pair of aces in one's hand or 'pocket')

In the past few months I have discovered the joys and woes of online poker. Now, these woes, you might be assuming, are the losses of vast sums of money that prevent me from living the meagre lifestyle I've grown accustomed to. But no. I play at the play money tables which means the woes are less harsh and include, a) losing, b) putting up with other losers, tools, major male egos, etc.

Fortunately the latter can, not only be annoying, but occasionally entertaining. This phenomenon occurs when said ego-driven male espies a pretty female at his table. Now, I would usually be an object of such lascivious attentions due to a) I am female, and b) I am a living female; however, I present at the tables in such a way as most would infer that I am male (eg. I had a chat with a Texan gentleman once who was imbibing vast quantities of whiskey, had fought in Vietnam and known some Aussie soldiers (yes, he confirmed, they could drink a lot of beer) and called me sir). I do not have a picture in my little circle icon, but if I did it would likely be a sepia of an 80 year old gent in a top hat.

I have seen the astounding wisdom of my decision not to have my name as Flirty73 or EleanorXXX with a photo of me smiling/winking/slyly-pouting, etc. You see, when a player of the female persuasion turns up - ie. has a photo of a female residing in her disc-like form at the cyber table - there is suddenly a pause of the game and even at times a sound-devouring hush as all males take a moment to lean closer to their screen in aim of discovering their answer to the age old question of whether one would "chuck her out of" one's bed. Meanwhile, I'm scantily clad and already in bed and waiting for Sixpack69 to hurry up and call or fold or whatever!

The desperation of some men amazes me. Sometimes the chick they're chatting up is on the same continent at least. I can recall one occasion where Studman007 and Frenchy21 were flirting like mad, it was putting me off my game. The guy was quite the macho male and even abused little ol' me as a way of persuading her of his astoundingly masculine charms. I just tried to stop rolling my eyes long enough so I could click the 'block chat' button to find some relief for the ever increasing nausea I was suffering. Ugh. He had all the charm of week-old road kill.

At least those two were on the same continent. Another time it was Iceman76 from a South American country hounding after Mudriska33 from some Slavic nation.
'me no girlfirend'
'you boyfirend?'
'give me your number' was the extent of his wooing.
She politely responded even though he was on the other side of the world with a stupid name and only a grey emptiness on his representative disc: 'Are you on facebook?'
But it seemed he wasn't as he kept trying to get her number or address. I was laughing quite hard at this stage but managed to type:
'maybe if you gave her some of your chips'.
Iceman76: OK!!!
But, soon he was leaving and so just gave her his phone number, all several hundred international codes and all. Of course, when I say gave her his number I mean gave us all his number. How tempted was I to call it and pretend to be Mudriska33, proposing marriage and asking what his relationship was like with his mother.

Some of the comments are classic. It's amazing how much you can tell about a person just from some quickly typed comments during a poker game. a) whether english is their first language, b) how desperate they are, and c) how ridiculously, insane and desperate they are.

See example below. liz&bob is from Melbourne, hamaav from Birmingham. Let me just set it up for you. Before hamaav arrives at the table I have already figured out that it is liz, not bob, playing as whenever liz&bob wins a big hand they type 'sorry' in the chat box. We are happily playing away, all minding our own business only interrupted by the occasional 'nh' (nice hand) or apologies from liz&bob. Then hamaav arrives in the empty 'seat' between me and liz&bob. This is a direct copy of the conversation:

hamaav: cna ask u how old? bob
liz&bob: its liz 27
hamaav: good
Dealer: lefa240, it's your turn. You have 8 seconds to act
hamaav: and u spek engshe?
liz&bob: yep
Dealer: liz&bob has a flush, Ace high
Dealer: Game #3357312295: liz&bob wins side pot (700) with a flush, Ace high
Dealer: Game #3357312295: liz&bob wins main pot (3,070) with a flush, Ace high
hamaav: waht yop?
liz&bob: yes
hamaav: ok
hamaav: wear u from??
liz&bob: australia
hamaav: nice
hamaav: i ilk
Dealer: Game #3357345009: liz&bob wins pot (210)
hamaav: wat swer nem?*
hamaav: why u not come to uk?
liz&bob: been there
hamaav: wen
liz&bob: 3years
hamaav: lettl?**
…[she leaves table]
hamaav: cna ask u email adras?
…[he leaves table]
[player that is me is rolling on the floor laughing her behind off]

* I belatedly realised this must have been ‘what surname?’.
** I even more belatedly translated this as 'lately?'

Surprising she resisted his charms, especially with that particularly hip intro of (an albeit slightly abstract) 'what up?'.

Ah, she must be dedicated to dear ol' Bob.

If only they were at the one venue

Under Music, Concerts - Perth, AU on my iGoogle page today:

Megadeth at Challenge Stadium

Today @ 7:00 PM

I'm going - I want to go I'm going (remove) I want to go (remove)

- Find Tickets

Slayer at Challenge Stadium

Today @ 7:15 PM

I'm going - I want to go I'm going (remove) I want to go (remove)

- Find Tickets

John Peter Farnham at Burswood Entertainmen...

Today @ 8:00 PM

I'm going - I want to go I'm going (remove) I want to go (remove)

- Find Tickets

Where the real information lies

Just reading (yes, more reading!) a crap packet of biscuits.

There's three headings:

Ingredients

Nutrition Information

Contact Us!

Noticing the hyperbole of 'Contact Us!' I can see such an exercise promises greater excitement than the contents of their biscuits.

To do list

The work of the artist Alicia Martin, in Schaurausch, Austria.

“Alicia Martin: Biografias—Cascade of books” by

Monika Bargmann

I'm finally getting around to consuming books I've been meaning to read for years.

Am currently reading Zadie Smith's 'White Teeth' and enjoying it,
and just finished Virginia Woolf's 'Orlando' and absolutely adored it.
I now consider it an old friend; a keeper that one!

Docu-drama - the plot thickens alright!

I've always said Aussie tv shows are not of the highest standard. But, after reading this news article, the lack of good drama in our dramas doesn't seem nearly so dramatic an issue...

Accused Brazil TV host 'missing'
By Gary Duffy
BBC News, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Police in Brazil say a TV crime show host accused of ordering killings to boost his ratings has gone missing after his arrest warrant was issued.

Wallace Souza, also a local congressman, had enjoyed parliamentary immunity until last week when the Amazonas state assembly expelled him.

A search is under way, with airports and roads from the city of Manaus in the Amazon region being monitored.
Mr Souza has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing.

The case made headlines around the world when the police accused Mr Souza of being involved in drug trafficking and ordering killings to increase the popularity of his TV programme.

Smear campaign

As well as being a former TV presenter, Mr Souza was a popular politician elected to the assembly in the state of Amazonas with a large majority.
However, his expulsion following a vote last week meant he lost his parliamentary immunity and now it appears he is on the run, after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

The authorities in Amazonas claim he ordered several killings in order to get rid of his rivals, while afterwards TV crews from his programme would mysteriously arrive at the crime scenes before the police, enabling them to secure graphic footage.

Mr Souza who has not been charged in connection with any killings, denies the accusations, and says they are part of a smear campaign by his political opponents.
However, the police say they have been unable to find the former crime show presenter despite searching a number of locations where he could have been.

It is a scene which in the past might well have made a dramatic sequence on Mr Souza's own crime show.

Women, as Women

by photographer Sam Haskins, 'Cowboy Kate'.
and, from “Five Girls.”:

Andreas Feininger, writing in the photography journal Infinity in 1963, noted that “Haskins is fully aware of the importance of face and expression upon the effect of a nude and shows the faces of his models. Whether smiling quietly, laughing in exuberant joie de vivre or seriously looking into space, they appear completely unconscious of their nudity. It seems to me it is precisely this frankness—those large clear eyes candidly looking at me—that gives Haskins nudes and semi-nudes their bewitching quality, that indescribable mixture of sheer physical beauty a sensuality and honesty which, no matter how provocative their apparel or pose, makes these girls appear as natural and as much part of the universe, as a tree or the sea or the sky.”

This ties in nicely with what I have been pondering upon lately.

You know those ads on late at night where they show girls, both singularly and in groups, variously unclad in bikinis or lingerie, and you're encouraged to text "buff" or "tits" or something? I only tend to see them when I've taped a late movie and so they're in fast forward, but I never see them as sexy. They just look like a bunch of girls casually (very casually) hanging out.

"these girls appear as natural and as much part of the universe, as a tree or the sea or the sky."

Why does such as this need to be pointed out? I know why, specifically in it's context above, but in considering the bigger picture... I'm annoyed that women's bodies are so constantly considered sexually. We are bombarded with images sexualising women so that it has been considered normal, for ages now, accepted as a part of society, that women are sexual objects. (Most definitely in Berluscoli's Italy at least!)

Yes, we all have bodies. We're born that way. And whether others see it as sexy or not, it's just our body. It doesn't have to be seen as something sexual. Yes, they, our bodies, are just "part of the universe", and their existence is reason for our existence: our bodies are here because we would not exist without them! They are us. They are not here to provide sexual entertainment. Their predominant use is existence. I mean, my body has breasts but there's no reason I should look at my tits and think, 'Gee, I'd better have some sex soon and make the most of these, after all, that's what they're there for!'. They're just a part of my body, and they're always there whether I'm having sex or not (most of the time I'm not - of course, no one is having sex most of the time).

And a final point. All the sexualising of women dominating our society... it just cheapens it. Not just cheapens women, it cheapens the moments when it is wonderful to be sexy, to feel sexy. We should be able to enjoy feeling sexy when appropriate, when we want to and how we want to, without concern that we'll be considered a whore or a piece of meat made for the benefit of men's entertainment.



I'll give Sam Haskins the last word:

Do you miss the way it was in the 1960s?

Sam Haskins: "Absolutely, yes I do. And I miss the type of nudes that master photographers like Penn and Aveon used to do. The mass, over-the-top nudes that you see in mens magazine these days are so boring it`s unbelievable, anything goes, and they are just hyperboring, big breast, blatant nudity, nothing refined or with any finesse anymore. It`s a different world".