chip

party pics

If anyone has pictures from the weekend in August could you please email them to me. I didin't have a camera that weekend and I am trying to put an album together, muchos gracias.Gobx

A night of Wonder!

Just to let you know...

STEVIE WONDER WAS UNREAL.

Mum & I saw Stevie last weekend. Bit of a slow start (> 30 mins late starting) but he undoubtedly compensated for it with a fantastic set. Lots of fun, he got the crowd chanting bits and pieces a lot. As soon as we were immersed in whatever round he had started, he would launch(with gusto) into some absolute classic and everyone went bezerk. I can't remember the set list, but he covered a lot of ground with all the classics(superstition, higher ground, master blaster, living for the city, sir duke, isn't she lovely, you get the idea) a cover of Marvin Gaye and another artist I didn't know. Chopping and changing was no problem, even when he stopped midway in a song, the energy in the crowd simply propelled the tune along.

I don't think the acoustics of the Brisbane entertainment centre did him justice, but it was still an unbelievable experience! I didn't quite realise the superhuman extent of his vocal ability before the concert either! He readily jumped from one tune to the next, spontaneously added little rhythms here and there and generally surprised the crowd. I don't know if he expended more energy on the songs, or on keeping control of himself. Otherwise I'm sure the phrase "out of his skin" was written specifically about the guy.




Check out the video so you know what you missed out on!

Thanks Nicola!

Ps: You've converted mum.








(Of course dodgy little videos are nothing exiting but it's nice proof that it wasn't just a dream...)

Life In sunny St kilda

Ella is rehearsing to be in The Nutcracker at The National Theatre on December 6, 7, 8. She is going to be a soldier.
She is going well at piano, tonight having her first go at Cockles and Mussels. She can read music for simple compositions such as this (and she didn't already know the tune which makes it way too easy).
Her guitar playing has pretty much stalled, no teacher.

The two spare rooms are occupied with 25 year old girls until December, one a Columbian Christian (who reads the Bible in bed and wouldn't dream of stealing my beer) and the other a pole dancer from Daylesford who seems to have equally pristine habits.
I don't think they have revealed their personal policies to one another as yet, I hope Im around when they do.

Ella and I went to the Royal Melbourne Show. What a disappointment! No more grand parade, no stables to wander through and pat the beauteous beasts, show bags are $25 and it is a total trap of amusements and boguns.There is a little Art and Craft area, a remnant of days gone by, but in a new awful building, and a fairly low standard. Now I know Im really old.......

Car now running on LPG is a joy. I can drive anywhere and everywhere for zip.A relief as petrol is now about $1.55 a litre!
In the school holidays we saw High School Musical at the cinema, went to the Deco show at the NGV, had a few days at Daylesford and a few days at the farm.

These pics I am going to frame for Patch and Dave to try and compete with the incredible photo of Didi and Marly Martin presented to them.

Nothing ever happens, or at least not that we know of!

I can't wait until Anzac Day, so I'll point out to those who might read this blog (anyone out there) that the last post was over two months ago. Since then there've been many many kilometrs travelled, quite a few meals shared, several thousand photos taken, a number of very significant birthdays celebrated, and nothing written.

I don't claim to have any creative ability, my role is as facilitator rather than entertainer. But if no-one else will post then you'll have to suffer my banal prose and pedestrian observations!

Nicola's birthday party was in Melbourne on the 1st August. Fifty bloody years old (or young). I have no photos to post, but someone else might have. My camera is buggered! (and its way younger than Nick) but that's another story that I'll bore you with another time.

Gabrielle kindly provided the venue for Nick to host her friends and family. She declined to give a speech when she had the perfect opportunity. A captive appreciative audience - a missed opportunity she may well come to regret!

3rd August was David (and Pat)'s 75th birthday party. David's actual birthday and less officially a celebration of Pat's birthday given that they would be overseas on the 25th (her actual birthday) I'm just quoting dates to demonstrate that I actually know and remember their birthdays - not like some people who shall remain nameless.

In order of seniority (importance is a matter I will not comment on) Christophe, Julie, Nicola, Martin, Nico, Alex, Leo, Phoebe and Raph graced us Melbournians with their presence and made life more exciting for a week or so. My mundane command of the written word doesn't really allow me to convey all the complex reactions to having all these people and all these events crammed into a short period - but I liked it. It reminds me that I'm lucky to come from a big family, that humanity is wonderfully diverse species and that, try as I might, I can never fully understand how everybody thinks and that the best way to treat them is to respect them for their individuality and love them for what they are. And never, ever try to change them because that is an utterly hopeless quest!

So life has returned ptretty much to normal and all the travellers have returned whence they came. Who knows when we'll all be together again? Someting to look forward to, without investing too much expectation. It will happen sometime.

Melbourne is showing signs of spring (bliss!) and the bitterly cold weather seems to be slipping away. It will get cold again before it gets warmer but it has been an especially cold winter. I blame global warming.

If you like my inane ramblings, continue to not post! If not, get off your arses!

Fun on Halong Bay

Last weekend we went to Halong bay and spent one night on a junk with all the Tonkin staffs and our families.
It was lots and lots of fun!!

test

Vez in Sydney

G'day,

For anybody interested Vez moved up to Sydney last week. We got shafted by the removalist company but hopefully our stuff will arrive soon. I'm looking forward to my 4 boxes of books. ;)

I made a new showreel for work if anybody wants to see a few of the things i did while working for VHQ Malaysia. The url is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO4I82VfSjM

Apart from that i've been working lots, going to melbourne lots and not much else really. Our internet is being connected at home this week so i'm set to become even more of a computer geek.

Catch
Jimmy J

for anyone who cares.....

check this out,

http://www.unchainstkilda.org/smilovic.html


I agree with George, do you?

(No Comment on legal advice)

I have changed the settings to prevent malicious idiots or bots from posting comments. All comments will now be moderated - i.e. they will have to be approved by me before they will appear as comments to the blog. I can't find a way (atm) of removing the comments posted to date so please do not click on any of the links in comments that are posted by people you don't know!

Only registered users can post comments now. If you want to be invited to become a contributor contact me and I'll get an invitation issued asap. If you don't know how to contact me you probably shouldn't expect to become a contributor.

Singapore TVC

ON february 26 I went to Singapore to do a job for Singtel. As you can see it was typical local talent, there is also a mandarin version if anyone is interested. We had two weeks to do the job, and normally a TVC takes about a month so it was go go go.
On the one day I had free I played with Nicola and we did more in 36 hours than most people do over their whole summer holidays. Not much sleeping in there though.
Hopefully there is more where that came from, In fact some enquiries today as to my availability for some more jobs to be done in Singapore, for Vietnam!!
Now Im happy to be home with Ella
Gobx

the young ones

Ella and Arlen enjoyed a sweet summer holiday, a lot of it spent by the creek at the farm.
Little darlings.......sigh
Ella has finally gotten over her disappointment in 'Arl" being a boy. Shge reckons he's ok, and the feeling is mutual by the look of it.

Celebrating International Womens DaySaturday8/3

Hey there to all the amazing and wonderful (international) women in our family, happiness, power , prosperity and longevity to all of us.

In order to avoid more snaps I will post...

G'day team,

I have moved to Sydney to start my new job and so far boytown is not too bad.

I have a place in Surry Hills living with 1 guy and 1 girl who are both mildly entertaining. I'm enjoying my new job - the people that work here are cool and I haven't really done too much work so far so it's been fairly cruisy.

I went up to Byron Bay for the weekend last month to catch up with some buddies that were doing a road trip. Basically it involved swimming and drinking so good times all around.

I spent the weekend just gone down at Cobram playing golf with all my mates on the annual golf trip (or GT as it is affectionately known). I played disgracefully, but beat a few of my mates so wasn't too upset.

Well i have clients with me so i better bail.

Catch
Jimmy J

Boring lot you all are!

anybody out there?

Byron bay Christmas hospital rain a New Year

6am in downtown Coorparoo.No daylight saving, it's been light since 4.30.Done the rowing run, Al will be out on the Brisbane river, maybe tipping himself out of the scull, as he did yesterday. Nico hasn't been seen for days, he's out in the wilds of BP park (everywhere has a BP park) at Samford, helping on a Venturer leadership camp,(can you do Venturers as a career?, Nico would like that). It's muggy and overcast, we slept with the aircon on, and I dreamed guiltily of global warming.But Raphie and Phoebe are blissfully asleep, and the aircon has saved us from crappy holiday cartoons, as they sleep through the first 3 hours of Qld daylight.

• ......but backtracking, school finished with Nico doing well in Chemistry and art for part A) of year 12, Alex socialized(and rowed a bit), Phoebe danced 3 concerts over an intense driving , makeup , and tutu weekend, and Raphie cut pasted glued and generally created,happily and creatively leaving mayhem in every indoor and outdoor space. Phoebe and I saw 'The Nutcracker" by the Qld ballet in the gala opening, as our Chrissy present, and the next morning we headed south for 2 excellent weeks at my real home, Clarkes Beach. Flash new luxurious cabin, great sunny showery windy surfing walking reading kiteflying sleeping weather. Al tried to boing out his left eye with an occa strap hook as we packed to come home, and we saw the inside of the ambulance, BB hospital, and now know the eye clinic in Bris intimately. But he is a very lucky boy, and still has 2 good eyes.

Just the 5 of us saw in the soggy New year on the deck, as Bris has had rain and cool, after years of hot and drought, and now we are travelling through sleepy January into my birthday tomorrow, then finding booklists, covering school books, etc. etc. and our new exciting year.

Amazing sights & sounds from the French countryside

In the summer, this paddock (left) is covered with tall grass and you have to hack a path to the river for a swim... on Christmas Day it was a sheet of ice, thick enough to walk across and the edges of the river had slowed to a slurry of crystals...


the local lama, with pretty blue eyes that don't show in the photo...











and my boyfriend with big muscles...