trip to cambodia

boat trip back
Originally uploaded by deepwarren

From the 4000 islands we went to the laos border, a 45 min car drive away. There you pay yr special $1 (bribe) and change buses and get driven to the next border.. where you pay for yr Visa ($21 american) and then you go over to the next both were you pay another dollar to the guards and they stamp something and
Bingo!
you're in Cambodia.

Take-away lao style

pork, glorious pork!
Originally uploaded by deepwarren

Street food here so far has been very, very good. Fresh, yummy and very tasty. I've become a fan of the catfish on a stick, which is a local fish that tastes smoked, and very salty. For 10,000 they reheat it on the BBQ and pass it over on a banana leaf.

There is a line of fruit and meat sellers (pork, chicken, and fish - loads of fish) and people roar up on their scooters and motorbikes and buy bits of this and that, and disappear off home. Take away at it's finest. They also sell fermented vegies (okay, but not great) and lots of condiments.. which look fantastic.

I've looked very deeply at the duck eggs with the half embryo, and although it kinda looks better than I thought, i'm still not going there. Saw chicken heads yesterday, and I hope that they have more meat on them than chicken feet , cause they're a little scarier than the feet.

Stuffed toys can be art, right?

Night markets - the toy maker
Originally uploaded by deepwarren

I've been wandering the streets in Leung Prabang in Laos. It's one of the world's beautiful little secrets. Tranquil, relaxed, fabulous architecture.. perfect for a romantic /dirty weekend with that special other. And they have night markets, with a sprinkling of food, but mostly just handicrafts. All the scarves fisherman's pants, bags, more bags and bracelets, jewelry and Buddha's a person could want. Because the goods are sourced from outlying villages there is a lot of similarity in some of the stuff, but also lots of little differences.

You can buy stuffed toys made from old fabrics and bedspreads at a dozen different stores, but the range is slightly different and the pattern that the bunny or chook is made from differs. So when you see something quite different - it sticks out like the proverbial dogs balls.

Wandering the market on night 3 (yep, it's fun and market shopping is just my idea of good time), even when it's raining! We spotted this woman with her collection of misshapen toys, all made from basic fabrics (the stuff that other stalls where using as a base material for their bags) sitting next to one of the many stalls selling bedspreads was this woman with her wonderfully odd collection of stuffed toys. In the photo you can see the ones we didn't buy. I should have taken a photo before we started bargaining, but one moment you're looking at something, and next you involved in a limited but detailed discussion on price. With one mentally trying to work out what these thousands of kip mean at home. After too many zero's my brain turns off, and you just feel like it's all paper money. Not real, and one can just spend and spend and spend.

Anyway, the toys were weird, and loveable. And they seemed to be trying to say something about her (or whoever made them) with their 2 heads, and the dreaming of riding rhino's and everything just that touch wonky. It was maybe naive art, maybe just a local woman selling stuff for her children - but i liked it. It had the sense of dreams.

Tubing on the mighty Zhong

Tubing
Originally uploaded by mic*

The number 1 highlight of traveling through Laos so far been tubing on the mighty Zhong in Vang Vieng, Laos. It's a little side river of the Mekong, and the whole idea is simple - pay the money and take a inner tube and float down river..

It's brilliant - you flat. Get reeled into bamboo bars that are perched up and down the river by 'tourist fishers' who perch on rocks and fling little tubes that you grab, and they pull you in.
There are firefox's and rope swings for the foolhardy and the game. And loads and loads of alcohol. And even happy shakes at the Last Bar. Sun, water and beer - can't go wrong really. Any attention to local rules about not too much flesh are here abandoned, and at least 60% of the female population is wearing a bikini - often in their national colours. the day we went, you could add some mud, and loud Brit house music and you had a scene that made us wish we had our camera's.

In fact, we went back for day 2 - not as many boobs as day 1, but lots of fun. We got to try the bars that we didn't get to on the first go, and had to cope with the shortage of cash disappointment at the last bar - not enough money for happy shakes!

An unnamed member of our group asked: Where do the inner tubes come from? And when told tractor tires - went 'Noooo, i've seen tractor tires, they have bumps on them.' Giggles all round really. Tractors and bus tires would be my guess, and they are guarded by the tubing cartel of Veng Viang with a zealous charging system. $15 if you lost one, $2 if you're returning your tube after 6pm. They also run on a rotation basis in the town, so if one doesn't open for the day, the other tubing place will. It stops competition, and perhaps shares the profits around a bit more.

The odd bit of the tubing scene is the number of girls in bikinis wandering through town afterwards dressed in nothing but their bikini (that, and the drunken teary scenes of girls freaking out cause it's dark and they don't know where such-and-so is..). After doing tubing, you realise the answer is often, sleeping it off in some bar along the way, half way down the river or in the closest pub.

Vietienne, Laos

morning cup of tea
Originally uploaded by Scratchin Dog

Ahhh, money. I find it really hard to mentally change money into real australian dollars in my head.. and here, they will do the US$ into kip, then into baht if you want. Am now carrying 3 types of currency.

10.00 AUD = 74,107.17 LAK (known as the kip)

or approx 150,000 is AU$20.. or 50,000 is AU$6.70

In real terms: 10,000 = 1 longneck of Beer Lao (except for happy hour when it drops to between 6 -8,000 kip)

A dodgy hovel of a hotel room is 50,000 or AU$ 6.70. For that you get a bed, a shower (over the toilet) and no real windows.. and a fan (thank god!).

Off to watch the sun set over the Mekong and eat street food. Whole fried river crabs are crunchy!

Nong Khai

who laughing now?
Originally uploaded by deepwarren

We spent a day at Nong Khai, which is a border town between Laos and Thailand. It was a rather sleepy little scrappy number, but it had very fine food. Lots of river prawns, and seafood cooked on the open grill. Fish cooked in salt (we didn't get time to try that) and this rocking little seafood curry sold in a banana leaf basket for 30 baht. We were recovering from the train ride, so aside from wander about the markets and river side of town, we didn't do too much exploring.

Saw a Buddha! Another one!

I asked these people sitting in the back of the van if I could take their photo- which they thought was just hugely funny. So much so, that I took one fast snap, did the nop (head nod of hello/goodbye/thank you) and bolted embarrassed. Sometimes it happens. I haven't gotten into photographing people this trip. There has been so many tourists about, and the industry is so geared to westerners everywhere, that it seems a little rude to be snapping the people as well.

I'm sure I will get over. It could have been a rocking shot, if I was a little closer, a little steadier and concentrated just a touch. The light was right..

How to catch a taxi in bangkok

taxi number
Originally uploaded by deepwarren

Patience seems important, and so is watching the meter, and not giving in to just blatant demands for more baht. Perhaps it's the fact that there are 75 million! people in larger Bangkok, and who could be expected to know where anything is, or that taxi driving is just a badly paid occupation that attracts men (haven't seen a woman driver yet) who didn't do so well at school. They don't seem to get maps. At all. Checking in the street directory is not an option.

You get to the cab and then you ask if they know where you are going. Repeat as necessary.

Saturday

sketchbook and beer
Originally uploaded by deepwarren

Did a lot of wandering trying to work out some semblance of direction, layout and an idea of how bangkok works street wise. Fantastic pedestrian crossings everywhere that just go up (stairs)and over the roads (more stairs). They also have zebra crossings that don't work.. well they work with motorbikes but the cars don't seem to have quite worked out where the brakes are. You kinda wait for a gap in the traffic and get over as quickly as possible. Lots of cars, way more than I was expecting. They outnumber the motorbikes - around this section of town at least.

Bangkok hasn't quite grabbed my fancy yet, but it's a nice jumble of all things asian, with a large smattering of western thrown in. Everyone more or less speaks a little english, and are more than happy to give directions, or at least say no :) Trying to get into a drawing headspace - it was the plan for this holiday was to do some 'proper' drawings for once - instead of beer scribbles..

Been staying at the Sukhothai hotel which has been all about relaxing and luxury. It's been a first. About to go stay somewhere a little cheaper now. Will report back.

Rounded angel

, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

They have a lot of very bad garden sculpture in bangkok. This one took my fancy. Off to the Forensic Museum today to see the sights - hopefully I''ll have something quite weird to post.

Flash hotel

ross in swishland, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

Made it to bangkok, am now in wish hotel with way expensive wireless. This is a very short post. Off to explore town and buy some thongs. It's hot and steamy here, but a welcome break from the sydney winter. Took over an hour to find Ross at the airport - only found him in the end by getting Information to page 'Loss Rest' over the announcements. DrP - you were right. We should have had a plan, or a semblance of a plan.

Very funny. No bars in Bangkok airport.

Will post with detailed adventures soon.

ross with beer stain art

ross with beer stain art, originally uploaded by Scratchin Dog.

I turned another year older, and it was good. There was good food, nice wine, and presents from Dr P, followed by friends and a lot more wine.

And in a few days I get to fly out of the country and see a whole new slice of SE Asia. Very excited. Found this old shot of Ross in his flickr stream from last 2 summers ago. I'll be drinking yet another beer with you on thurs night. 'til then.

I got my full license

car stencil newtown, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

I went and did the last of my drivers tests - the dreaded DQT, and passed! Yah! I promptly went and and brought a 5year license so i won't have to step foot into the RTA for ages and ages.. and they have given me the very worst photo i've ever seen of me. No retake. Nothing! Even my hair looks bad.
Flat hair.
Funny expression. and about 70yrs old.

But i have my license - i can now drive and drink! Whoot!

*for anyone who wonders what the big deal is - to get your full license in Australia now you have to sit a learners test, followed by a yr drivers test, followed by a hazard perception computer test, a year later, and then another one about 1.5 yrs later - it takes like 3 years to get to the full license, and 2 speeding tickets will demote you back to no license.

I've had one speeding ticket for the last year, so have spent the last 12 months on ONE point.. hoping that I don't hit any strange speeding cameras.

Clutter me dearly

The living room looks like a public library - the centrepiece being a beige filing cabinet, circa 1978. "These are graveyards for paper," Law says, opening one of the drawers stuffed with tax returns, electricity bills and group certificates dating back 10 years. It is known as a "fat" filing cabinet in professional decluttering jargon. "This is among the worst I've seen," she says.

from this Sydney Morning article on clutter in the home and it's flow-on effects to our anxiety.

I'm disturbed 'cause now that i've dropped my belongings to about 1/10th of my stuff - i literally have about 3 baskets of clothes, a computer and a pile of rubble at DrP's house. Nothing! Not like a travelling nothing, but still, controlled stuff Some days I get anxious about how out of control the rubble seems to get..and it's only a bit of a minor scree slope and a coffee table spill. Or maybe I'm just anxious about what needs to be done with the spill - it's DrP's OCD following me about behaviour, him checking that i haven't left a trail of crumbs (or popcorn) from the kitchen to the couch. I recognise the filing cabinet in the article (a close friend used to own one, it was his thesis graveyard), and every time my mind flashes back to the clutter of the last house I shared with Marty, there's a little shiver of horror. Don't agree though about people not seeing one's house - if you really live in it, messy or not, people should be always welcome.

Hey R, regardless of quality - the point of blogging is to blog :)

Yet i still feel the urge to buy and collect stuff.

Almost midnight

Found this funny portfolio site with a little bit of everything - the invisible project is a lovely illustrated poem.

Am
wound
way
too
tight.

Am wound way too tight at work, without any need to be. Way too tired. The easy peas-y workies seems to be a lost dream. Been at the movies a lot.
The nutshell roundup:

• Mongol - excellent. Build up slow, but worth it for the towering steppes, and the beautiful children.
• Bank Job - great dialogue with a nice sideline in 1970s titties.
• Wanted - bad, bad, bad. exploding rats and very shiny special effects
• Batman - so very good. surprisingly good. the flip side..
  

the games have started

, originally uploaded by Kombriesombrae.

Trivia from Jack Marx, unlikely to be true but always funny..

During the time of the ancient Games, just moments before the start of a race, officials would plant hot peppers into sprinters’ rectums, ensuring a more explosive contest. This is why, today, short-distance sprinters are still seen to raise their behinds at the words: “Get set...”

Photo is from a flickr street photo group - somehow this reminds me of an Francis Bacon painting, with it's emphasis on the head, tilted towards curiosity. And i love masks in photos, especially accidental ones.

"Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film." ~Steven Wright

Bout to go to bangkok for a holiday, and hopefully wander through Laos and Cambodia before ending up at Hanoi with 2 of my beastie friends. Beasties are sorta those special friends that also manage to lead one astray more often than not. As DrP gloomily predicts my alcohol intake is about to treble, a prediction that might be actually erring on the side of caution considering I've managed to get it down to one night a week (okay, maybe 2, but it's a gentle 2).

I've also managed to give up smoking for 4 months and it seems quite perverse to go to SE Asia where you can cheaply remove whole afternoons in a blur of alcohol and nicotine. It's a holiday though, and i so need, a good long walk. Having all those overstressed danger signals where you start to think that you might be actually important at work (as opposed to valuable) and the whirly brain of what-do-i do? with said life.

Project 1 for trip is to start on a series of 100 photos of strangers - one per day at the least! It's a flickr group, and i think it will make a great set - complete with their name and their story.

Totally Uncomfortable

Found a great blog from Courthouse confessions
He photographs people as they are coming out of court, and asks them what they did, and then transcribes them on the blog. Here's my pick of a quote:

"Now I've moved on and I've found myself a new apartment so I'm not with her anymore। I found myself a new girl so now I'm good, I'm happy now man. You know. Jail is not a good thing to be man. It is totally uncomfortable. This is my first time and .."

pulp

green, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

After a few dates, though, and before the relationship had really progressed enough to merit the name, she dumped me. She informed me, matter-of-factly, that she was old enough to know the difference between intriguing and fucked up. 'You should go for younger women,' she advised me . "They can't always tell'.

from my latest bath read
'In the woods
by Tara French

Pope Meet Dalai Lama!

Pope Meet Dalai Lama!, originally uploaded by fearlessvk.

I have no idea whether this was part of the Sydney biennale, but i want to believe someone with a quick hand and a marker did them.

There's got to somebody left in sydney with a sense of humour about religion.

the bumps of dignity

Now go and try this out on your loved ones #2, originally uploaded by letslookupandsmile.

I promised you, that I would write a blog entry on the conversion of DrP and I to gym bunnies. It seems hard to picture, I know. We're working towards the bit were we look like confident long-legged gym bunnies, rather than our present more stumpy rabbit in the headlights stare/glare look I've got going. I'm firmly believing that even yr most toned gym bunny had to start from a lesser point. Surely they can't all be genetically gifted! Although watching a young long-legged thing striding around this morning, I did have my doubts. Tried to take comfort in the fact that even her friend thought she was a twat, but it's hard to see that as a downside when she's sporting about 5ft of leg and gazing dramatically into the mirror.

Aside from that, we do get the added fun of taunting Rubbish over his purchase of gym membership, but no actual going to said gym. This taunt appeal to the Scottish blood in DrP who is working on a theory that he'll only feel better about having to shell out money once he gets each visit down under what it would normally cost him. At the moment each visit has cost him $65. He revises this each time.

And everything has been fine so far - it's been just over 2 weeks, and gone about 8 times. DrP has managed to get me to do weights and it's not so bad. Except my legs hurt. In all the strangest places, and I'm not liking it too much. That, and the scientist in DrP wants to map and chart progress, and the like .. and quite frankly, I'm horrified. It seems sensible, but the idea petrifies me.

Anyway Rubbish is coming to watch rugby, and I've gotta go to yoga and shopping. Later Sunshine.

Walks in the country

at the stones, originally uploaded by polaris37.

It's a weekend, and to be honest I haven't really done much. Nor really tried. Yesterday morning's sneaker shopping almost did my head in. Sale time and understaffed at Rebel Sport, somehow the floor manager was doing all the shoe sales, and within about 15mins he's managed to convince me that what i needed was an overly white poofy-puffy wide sneakers that I'm still regarding with horror. But it was way better than the vast numbers of abortion's in buckets that were available. And it was cheap (mainly cause it's white, and lacks a glow-in-the-dark gel sole).

Shoe shopping is a nightmare.

If you're using twitter - strongly recommending twitterfox for Firefox. Easy, simple and no fuss extension.

Without all the fuss

balletbots, originally uploaded by timbuk II.

Found this lovely image while surfing FFFound which is a great site for stumbling across random images.

Tis a beautiful photo, and I love how the shadow becomes a bear, and there's this feel of soviet bear dancing with pseudo Japanese manga culture, what with the rusty dirty green and the masks.

On a side note, housing in sydney. Grrrrr.

Children's stories

Drawing day! , originally uploaded by deepwarren.

Yesterday was International drawing day, and I managed a few scribbles at the pub. About to start a children's book illustration 8 week course, and I have till next wednesday to find an out-of-copyright children's story to use.

Suggestions so far:

• Brother's Grimm (i've always had a thing for the one about the seven swans, but i'm not two good at drawing birds)
• The hunchback horse (Russian, apparently english versions of it have been translated into 'The magic pony')
• The Velveteen Rabbit - not sure this is actually out-of-copyright as i thought velveteen was a new-ish fabric
• Oscar Wilde's - The happy prince, another of his children tales.

If you have any suggestions let know (or email me yr children's story and I'll try to illustrate it!)

Quotes from the floor: bill henson

*from http://www.xerraireart.com/ blog/ 2008/ 05/ 29/ social-freedom/
I love art. In many ways I would like to think that with my watercolors, drawings, and photography, I am an artist. However, I don’t think in the name of Art we have freedoms that overstep that which is moral and decent.

Or you could be a Sunday painter...the thing that drives me wild about this debate is the inane tendency everyone has to have an opinion based on what they don't know bout art.

All kinds of trouble

variations on a theme , originally uploaded by deepwarren.

Have been introduced to the Wet Spots by the virgo - a bawdy American musical group that do sex-positive songs. Very very funny - try Texan Annie.

I may have wandered off on Friday and entered that strange time-warp of the lunchtime drinks - the one where you stay way longer than you should, drink more than you need, and then justify not going back to work with the knee-jerk reaction logic that it's only another 30mins till you finish and it will be easier to deal with the guilt on Monday. I'm thinking total abasement and chocolate cupcakes for morning tea might do the trick. It was a moment of amusement to notice previous PM's taking the attitude of 'you're done it to us, so share it round..'

This weekend I've drawn some coffeecups, and finished ANOTHER bloody epic novel of DrP's that features sword fights somewhere in the future past, with magic rocks and hard men yadda yah .. and it's ended in the horrid feeling that there going to be yet another book in the series that rounds out all the loose ends that I thought where going to be rounded out in this one. It's the bloody 3rd in a yet unspecified series. I would never had started if I'd known.

Me thinks, it's a dirty trick!

The value of a scribble

tv watching, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

There is something very calming about scribbling in front of the tv. You can watch almost any dross without flinching. I sat through 2(!!) episodes of NCIS with the sketchbook. I seem to not really be able to finish sketches at the moment. I get cranky and jsut scribble over them. The boredom of having nothing real to draw, me thinks..

The coolest video I've seen in ages
has been this short film (6mins) called MUTo which just rocks and makes me want to find a can of white paint, and a short blunt burnt stick and go scribble on walls.

international drawing day is coming up on June 7th. I'll be expected you to do a little drawing of whatever you end up doing that day.. and I'm trying to get some practice in now

Skull Popcorn

Skull Popcorn, originally uploaded by jnn_rsmn.

There is something quite weird about personal space. I never seem to realize that I need 'alone' time, till I'm by myself and then I want to go nowhere. Do Nadda. Just read, scrawl a little and play on the 'puter. I thought I'd turn the tv on a lot more now that I have one (in the house), but I still seem quite immune to the lure. Although considering the amount I get to watch at the other house that's possibly denial.

Have made it to Day 12 without even one sneaky puff. DrP has threatened no overseas trip in Aug if he caught me smoking which wasn't quite the positive reinforcement I was going for - but hell, I've made a bet and the payoff is Melbourne. So we'll see. This little bunny will be turning up OS with or without DrP. I don't need protection from the dangers of scratching dog. (*grin) The worst thing is that it's almost two weeks and I STILL keep thinking I want a ciggie.

kitty cat lines

cat, originally uploaded by Joe McLaren.

It's so hard to draw a cat, and then you see someone make it real simple.

How to make a hot toddy

hot toddy, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

I've come down with a cold/flu couresty of DrP. I haven't take a day off work yet - not for any good reason i might add. But it's wednesday and I feel like a hot drink. So I thought the hot toddy might be the answer, and I've never really tried it.

According to the wiki a hot toddy is a cup of tea, with a healthy dose of lemon, honey and whiskey (or some variation of the above).

My recipe was to take a weak(ish) cup of tea (earl grey), plus half a lemon squeezed by hand.
Add 1 teaspoon of proper honey (has to be cold pressed pure honey - extra points for knowing the bees).
Add whiskey to taste..

It was surprising good.

fire it up

The list of people i would like to kill is long. i thought this giving up the nicotine beast would be not too bad, cause i wasn't smoking much, and it's all a mental habit really. isn't it. wanna kill. 12 hrs into the 3rd day. feel like every thought just goes on and and on like a goat track up the Hill.

Trapped making endless edits to jargon heavy business writing. why? why can't we have a story? why can't we be a story? It's would be much more interesting than this. And more useful.

ANZAC long weekend

It's finally sunny here, in the little flat by the sea. I woke up this morning to sunshine across the bed. Between the odd bus I could hear crows and waves crashing. More of a problem was getting out of bed and dressed without the joggers getting a fright. The flatmates still away and it's all very peaceful. Listening to FBI argue about whether Sydney author Steve Toltz is actually funny, (he recently published A fraction of the whole), drinking cups of tea, watching the view over the ocean, listening to the bus.

The bus roars past very, very frequently, it seems. We have a bus stop at the font door. Handy.

I've now managed to cook a meal, and clean the kitchen. It almost feels like a home.

settling down to the basics

working at home today *the boss knows it good for the head

• it's amazing not having any phones ring
• just managed to send twitter to my phone
• messages again - all the way from viet!
• listening to FBI radio
  
• made a logo for frontpage goastray

so what are you doing now?

window box

i used to have a window box that i set up little displays in, as the whim took me/
surprise, surprise. i still miss it.
i got to make little scenes and hide behind a curtain listening to random people/
wander past/
and remark.

anita and david 1963

anita and david 1963, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

cells at arakoon, anita and david had a bit of a moment here once

boys own war

they're spent most of the last 2 days playing "army of two", and uttering that immortal phrase.. just one more?

* except now DrP has realised he no done wash his work pants for monday. ohhh dear. it's a boy thing.

holiday over

newcastle lomo, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

My road trip for one was wildly different than planned (or not planned). I expected lots of time laying around the beach, and while i did quite a bit of that - i discovered that it's not possible for me to do that for more than 3/4 hrs. One can swim for a while, get out and bake for a while.. but without company, it grows tiresome just reading a book.

Found some fantastic beaches - South-west rocks has the tranquil peaceful beach on one side, and the shipwrecks and suba diving/surfing beach on the other side. Where you can also swim, but is far more rippy. It was near Hat head which is a fishing/surfing beach.. very quiet with a camping ground and the local lawn bowls club for entertainment. About 5/6 hrs drive from Sydney, just near Kempsey.

Rain on my parade

Bastards up there somewhere though it would be funny to lower the temperture 10degrees. And make it rain on me.

Get off yr arts

Went to the Uralla Arts festival with L&D. Get off your arts was the festival motto. Had a very drunken funny time while listening to a scottish singer sing protest songs to a small young dancing crowd. It was too cold to sit, so we jumped about with best of them.

Tent

I should have packed the tent. But no, i thought. Who'd be holidaying in April? Won't there be all those cheap places stay?

live and learn.

Wilbert has joined the road trip of 1

News from the roadtrip for one:

• i can't drive and read a roadmap


• i can't drive and roll a smoke


• i have also found that good coffee is hard to find


• and when i'm over driving, i'll pay whatever they want for a bed


• that crime novels are very hard to find in central coast opshops


• but they have plently of baby clothes.

So i've brought myself a friend (i've heard that's what people in the know, do, you know) and his name is Wilfred. He's a very cheeky monkey. He's going to pose, without complaints. Note: Master Woss is alive and well (and online even) in Hanoi! Ad there's a storm coming (here, not there).

Elvis has left the building

I got him to the airport. With passport, bag, ticket and Visa Card. And laptop. My task is complete.

An hour later I get a text from R - he's just been paged by airport security. He'd left his visa card at duty-free! He'll be flying out in about 30mins. With all his stuff. Hopefully. And then he'll be in the somewhat capable care of Nick, who will remember to pick him up at the airport. *she crosses her fingers again

i'm off now to my own road trip for 1, and i've just brought 4 albums to keep me amused

1. Duffy (like Dusty, only younger, and english)
2. Beginners guide to Bollywood music (over 3 hours of hits!)
3. Sleepy jackson (everyone says it's good)
4. Best of Steely Dan (ricky don't lose my number...)

Sculpture at the footy

Dally Messenger III, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

On Saturday me and DrP went to see Cathy unveil the months of hard work recreating Dally Messenger in bronze for the SFG. He's not too bad *wink. Later that night from the balcony, I got to see the young boozled fans of the Roosters wander out the gates stopping to rub the statue (in the way that only males fans can. Cause humping a leg is a man's way of telling ya, that he really, really likes you). That was kinda nice. Public sculpture is meant to be humped. It makes it human (and not scary cyborg hyper-real human that will come alive and kill you if you look at it wrong.

I also saw my first football match in the flesh. Which was quite a different experience to watching it on telly. Lots more space and you can't hear that scary sound of grown men running into each other. Or the thumps. Oh, and they had cheerleaders lost in the big green oval with pom-poms.

It is impossible to love and to be wise.
–Frances Bacon

Bluebird in a palm tree

It has
been
a
very
very
long day.
And
it's not
over
yet.

*i feel slightly-lightly loon-like

relaxed, but comfortable

relaxed, but comfortable, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

Moving. Is there anything more fucked?

Game's almost over. My life now fits in a 1.5m x2.1 meter space somewhere near Padstow. I've colonized a space in P's house as a temporary measure while I wait to move into the Beach house. My colony is about a 3ftx1ft space that is a sea of clothes, and bags, and only 4 or 5 hats.

The scree slope lives! The bare minimum (i've discovered) is about 7 pairs of shoes, 4 bags and a few hats, with a scattering of sketchpads and a vacuum cleaner. Now that's all a girl needs. I had to set free a few things... fly little paintings fly! But Scratchin Dog posed with them happily enough.

Studied Inepitude

It my recently coined word for people who rather than just admit that they simply can't do 'some-things' (technology for example, and there's no shame in that), will battle on (never asking for help, of course) leaving a trail of destruction and poorly thought-out excuses in their wake. The best excuse of course, is 'I didn't'... cause computers are mysterious quirky things who never have fingerprints all over them..it's why we invented user accounts isn't it? To track?

And it gets to the point where you RUSH to do their work for them, cause frankly if you have to hear the internet described as a blocked pipe again, or a folder as being a basket of apples.. you'll simply scream. It's the gibberish that gets me. Listening as they then pile on some more. Like somehow that will help a person who's rung to say 'so that bloody piece of software/server has crashed again, hasn't it?'

There is only two answers. Yes or No.

*image copyrighted to Arthur Tess.

If it's pretty, will they come?

pest, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

I have to write up a mini-speech/presentation for work justifying the use of 'pretty' stuff. Not useability, and not navigation. Just those pretty little icons and pictures and boxes you use on webpages to say Look at ME!

To be honest the nav and useablitity (for better and worse) are already built into the educational LMS we use. Althought we get to modify (a little) and create depth and layers in the site, we don't get to change the basics or build a new (faster, leaner, cleaner, meaner) way. You think it would be obvious, don't you? That pretty pictures make people look. That the webis not meant to be ultalitarian wasteland of text, text and more text with a few baldly presented icons on the page.

Hell, if it was, would porn be soooo popular. Like the campfire, it seems to have been invented to allow men to be able see more bottoms. *parphased from tv sitcom men behaving badly

Pixs, icons, design elements improve readability of the page. They draw attention to the key points of an article simply because they stick out. The trick is to make them look smooth.

So why, when I have a project with an academic do they start with this phrases:

i don't care what it looks like.. colours? .. fonts..*shrug
i have no interest in the design..
you just do what you like..

and yet.. woe betide you if you deliver a badly coloured messy or god help you, dull back in their lap.

*I used the banner/icon above was for a project that would not be seen by anyone but the academic. Relevance to the topic..null. However I knew the moment they looked at the site, cause they emailed back with a quip.

Test lab bunny

Test lab bunny, originally uploaded by Andricongirl.

It's so sweet :)

morning ross

leather, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

morning ross is just about as much fun as morning me.
still on the house hunt search. went and saw a great place (fantastic view) in clovelly, but it's more a mind-the-flat-with-the-old-flatmate for 2-3 months while the real flatmate is OS, and i'm not sure he took to me.

monday blues

house hunting, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

Saw a few flats. Nothing to write home about.

Alex's Goat Curry

Alex made this for dinner the other night and it was fantastic. I'm going to attempt to make it next week. For dinner on Sunday night i'm trying out the world of goat in the slow cooker - with Rogan josh curry!

Curry paste
6cm galangal
3cm turmeric
5cm lemongrass (white part only)
1 onion
4 coriander roots
4 garlic cloves
5 dried small red chillies (soaked in water)
2 tblsp coriander seed
1 tblsp cumin seeds
1 cinnonman stick
2 teasp black-pepper corns
4 teaspns salt

Meat part

2 kilos goat meat - halal butchers on enmore rd does good goat
1 tablsp galangal powder
1.5 tablspn sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
teaspoon of butter
10 fresh curry leaves
2 tablespoon yogurt
250ml chicken stock
250mls milk
540 ml tin of coconut cream
one bunch of rice paddy herbs (garnish)

Fry onion, garlic turmeric lemongrass etc till soften(ed). Add little water while frying.
Remove from heat. Pound into paste with mortar and pestle.
Pound into past, and ADD into the wet paste above. This is the curry paste.

Add goat + 1 teaspn of salt & sugar & galanga power into saucepan
cover with water
Bring to boil and simmer for 45mins
Cover with lid. Strain meat (ditch water).

Take the cooked meat, stock and milk and coconut cream, and add to saucepan
bring to boil the on low heat simmer for 45mins.

Bring to table with jasmine rice and viet ditch weed for garnish.

Back from the hunt

Been house hunting. The size of the shoebox somehow got smaller, while the price just got larger. I'm think Ashfield might soon be on the rader, or there is always Italian-town, and I've never ever wanted to live there.

The boy's rather guarded offer for me to move stuff into storage, and move into his place while *waiting* for a better place to turn up is sounding better and better with each weekend.

Honest. It is that bad. You can't swing a kitten in these places, let alone a cat.

On a more cheery chirpy note: I'm going to do a chuck out and you can look forward to seeing more public showings of art soon. And Cathy is going to be on TV. Ch9 wide world of sports *snort.

Still looking for an indian diner with starTV to watch you guys in your full bollywood glory. will let you know if we succeed. The drawing is from FIH pub on monday night. Henk, who I last drew about 5 years ago. He remembered. He's the same, but slightly older and a bit smaller. Still has a big cock though. Makes all yr efforts at drawing look indecent - like you just couldn't help adding a bit more :)

Friday surfing

Been surfing the land on online volunteers.
This has some interesting projects going.
www.onlinevolunteering.org

Cool wallpaper project going on with the first few free ones up.

http://kitsunenoir.com/blog/2008/03/05/the-desktop-wallpaper-project/

Sitting at work after hours playing with silly icons for next week. It nice here when no one's about. Going flat looking in Sydney's jaded over-priced rental market tomorrow. Wish me luck. Found a 2 bd place in marrickville for $220(!!!) Could it be possible?

The Boy is down the pub watching the rugby and having beers . 'bout to join him. It's all sideways here at work. There are more knives than backs.

The last hurrah

business time, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

Some years ago. 12 in fact. I had an boyfriend who left (as they do) for the home shores of england, meaning with all good intentions to come back, and could I just mind a few rolls of paintings and some other.. stuff. I did till now.

Recently I've had to house hunt again, and Paul's paintings have made their last hurrah in public, rather than be carried about for another 5 years. It seems strange to let them out in public, but a also a lot of fun.

Charts, posters and work

Need to make a poster for work. It has to demonstrate something!? I'd like to make something that shows how Design improves the use of a CE6 site. Like, if it doesn't look like shit..then they want to use it. was looking at the rather beautiful world of charts below
NY times