February 25, 2009
Lucy's Musings of Tiredness
This dodgy keyboard of mine turns the word 'blog' into 'bog' if I don't hit the L key hard enough. Is this a reflection of the quality of the vast majority of blogs out there or is it pure coincidence? It reminds me of the Bog of Eternal Stench in Labyrinth, where Bowie wears tights and seems to have put his finger in the power socket. Why is it that British power sockets are so huge, and why do I always forget when I go to plug my cellphone in without the adapter? I'm looking forward to having a new phone, be great to have one that actually has the numbers on the keys. It's lasted a long time though, unlike some socks that I got recently that are already wearing through. It'll be nice to buy some shoes that don't require socks, I'm looking forward to getting some heels, I may turn into a shoe junkie, lots of different colours, I'm already thinking of ones that will go with the awesome black vintage dress I bought yesterday... Vintage clothes are so fun but sooo expensive, should really look at more op shops, really the difference between vintage and secondhand is a 0 on the price tag. I'm really freaking tired, in fact have passed the point of being merely tired, no doubt I'll do what I did last night in a similar state which was start laughing for no particular reason (though maybe it was the word 'rudimentary' - oh dear, there I go giggling again and it makes *someone* think I'm up to something) and wonder if I'm going insane. Yup.Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
January 24, 2009
Test from iPhone
Test post from ibloggerAnother line goes here
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
October 14, 2008
Busy Times
I feel a bit bad for not posting here very often, but I'm so busy with work at the moment that I often don't have the energy and since I'm working practically 7 days a week don't really have anything intetesting to write about either. Work wise I'm looking forward to finishing a couple of big projects and while the hours are long, the end product will pretty be awesome. It's now less then two months till I head to the UK, will be nice to be with my lady again. The English winter less so, but I don't mind. That's all for now.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
August 7, 2008
Ha
And you thought the last post was a hoax, well not quite. I'm not posting details of mu lovely holiday with my equally lovely partner just yet. As I still haven't finishing sorting the photos of us. Been working my arse off in incredible heat over here, tomorrow's forecast is for 38*. Previously, after my holiday but before now, I went to Prato for a day trip. They had a exhibition on sports fabrics, thought it would be a bit different rather than the usual art museums around here. Some of stuff was pretty techie, fabrics that get charged with sweat and draw oxgen into the muscules, solar panel fabrics, knee guards that are soft but become solid if you hit them--I had seen that stuff on Discovery Channel last year, so neat to play with it in person. Haven't been up to too much else interesting, a lot of work recently and its been too damn hot to do anything anyway. Still running in the mornings around 6.30am when it's still cool, and hoping to add one session at the pool each weekend. Being talking to my friend Aeisha about going (she's been a few times already), it's like $15 a time so def only a once a week thing. That is all for now.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
August 5, 2008
Yes, I know...
I be will updating this blog soon, I have almost finished sorting the 1200 odd photos from our holiday and will post here in the next week or so.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
May 12, 2008
I'm Back
Sorry about the long delay, it was partly due to me getting organised in Italy and partly due to my Movable Type (Blog Software) being shagged to the point of being unusable. However both are fixed now, and I'll start posted some interesting stuff again soon.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
March 18, 2008
Burnt Out
The total lack of entries here is mainly due to me having absolutely no time to update this thing at the moment. I've been a little burnt out recently and in the process of trying to do less, so I have some down time, I won't be updating this for at least the next month, possibility longer. Normal service will return once I'm settled in Italy. thanks.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
March 10, 2008
Marmite Recycling
The rummor that I eat a lot of Marmite is completely unfounded, lol.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 1 Fraggles
January 24, 2008
Funny
"Searching for information on something on the Internet and finding that your own blog is in the top 3 results."
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 2 Fraggles
January 17, 2008
Tumble Weeds
Sono davvero spiacente per penuria del notizie. È l'opposto di che cosa potresti pensare, sono stato moltissimo impegnato. Sono anche spiacente per come cattivo il mio italiano è diventato (devo troppo usare del dizionario). Allora, del notizie adesso... Primo, tutti è andando a piano per il mio ritorno in Italia. Al momento il giorno è martedì 08 aprile, arrivando mercoledì 09 aprile a Milano Malpensa. Sarò confermare ne nella settimana prossima o così. Il mio visto lavoro sarà per uno anno, supposizione il governo italiano mi lasciato nuovamente dentro il paese, lol.
Ho molte cose fare primo parto, devo finire il mio software agenzia (la causa principale per la penuria del notizie), è vicino a finito, anche installare Windows 2008 sul server rastrelliero [rack server] (mi piace w2k8 ;-). Sono usare RC1 ora, ma sarà spirare nel giugno quindi devo installato di nuovo primo vado, in più RC1 è beta! Ho un altro triathlon al 23 febbraio in Naiper, ho visitato Napier due weekend fa e il percorso pare bouno, è soprattutto piatto e la nuotata pare ok anche. Sto portando il mio abiti sportivi triathlon, monitor di frequenza cardiaca e cose della nuotata in Italia, ma non la mia bicicletta o tuta subacquea—il logistica di portarle è troppo difficile. Sono stato datare una ragazza buona anche, essere stato un ragazzo impegnato lol ;-)
Ok, tempo di cena! Ciao ciao
The english short version: sorry for the lack of news, currently planning on returning to Italy on the 8th of April, been busy finishing my business software, have another tri on the 23th Feb and have been dating a nice girl!
Great hall locations: Italy , Miscellaneous , Triathlon | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
November 16, 2007
Why HD Rocks
Check out the link below for a comparison of the DVD and BluRay releases of Lord of the Rings. It's a good way to see what all the fuss is about and why I am currently refusing to buy any more movies on DVD. TV Shows are a different story though, since they're usually low-resolution anyway, so DVD is fine for those.
Fellowship of the Ring - HD vs DVD. Mouse over the images to see the HD version, there is some differences in brightness but it's the detail we're talking about here.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
November 14, 2007
New, New And More New
This blog is now running on Movable Type 4.01. I'd been putting off upgrading for some time, however the Mobile Safari version of the MT UI finally convinced me. I have one of the new iPod's with WiFi, so I can now easily blog from home. The site's search functionality (and sidebar categories) are currently broken due to the upgrade, I will fix that when I get a free mo'.
Also, new is my laptop now has a brand new 32GB Samsung solid state hard disk, so things are running significantly faster—Windows boots and applications open 2-3 times faster. The machine now has no moving parts apart from the DVD drive & CPU fan (when required) and most of the time is totally silent. This has taken a little getting used to, as there's no feedback other than the HDD led when it's doing something. At the same time, I also gave in and bought a X-Rite i1 Display 2 hardware screen calibrator, so my laptop's display is looking better than ever!
Been a bit behind to due to the reinstall of Windows and my sister visiting from Melbourne last week. But posts should start appearing on a more frequent basis from the end of this week.
Ciao, ragazzi!
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
October 5, 2007
Hamburglered!
No seriously we were burgled while I was at work yesterday. They ripped open one of the downstairs windows (in my room), tearing the catches completely out of the aluminium frame. The weird thing was they didn't take much, $100 and a rather expensive heart rate monitor from my room and $45 australian in cash from Sean's. However they left his video ipod just a few feet away. Our other flatmate is overseas, so we're not sure if anything is missing from his room.
The ironic thing was I never have cash, it was the first time about 6 months, as I had to pay my Pilates teacher. And I only found out just before class, so had to do the "funny thing about your money" line... Also in the same vein was the front page story in yesterday's Hamilton Press saying "Hamilton has the highest rate of home burglaries in the country"?!
Still slightly annoyed about the heart rate monitor, however it wasn't the designed thing ever, the menus on it were a bit confusing so it's not the end of the world I guess—will buy a Polar one next time. This has really convinced me to move though, it was really the last straw, I'm now actively looking for somewhere else to live.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
September 22, 2007
New Bedding
Over the weekend I've finally found a new duvet cover that I actually like. I'd been looking on and off for some time, but nothing had really appealed; most were either too flowery/girlie looking or too little kid, though I did momentary contemplate the Harry Potter one, lol. Pictured is the duvet cover that I bought from Freedom Furniture, along with 500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets which weren't exactly on the list but I figured what the hell and damn are they nice. I also got new pillows and a mattress underlay. So it's almost like sleeping in a different bed, lol.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
August 27, 2007
Swings & Roundabouts
It's been a mixed week just gone, though fortunately things are settling down now. Last weekend my mum fell ill, and then early monday morning my dad had a heart attack. This was a bit worrying since his father died of a heart attack at about the same age. Luckily the health care system here is pretty on to it and so he was able to have heart surgery on wednesday morning. The operation went well and he was released thursday night—apparently this is normal with the microsurgery they do these days. They stick a tube with tools and mini cameras up a leg artery and work on the heart from the inside. However, he had a regression on saturday and was back in hospital, though it just appears to have been a reaction to the drugs. This morning he seems well, so we'll see how we go.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 1 Fraggles
July 28, 2007
Burn Baby Burn
This is the best news since I found out I hadn't lost my hat, which is another story I'll get to later. Gracing the pages of the NZ Herald and other major newspapers this morning was the headline: "NZ dollar in free fall". The USD/NZD pair has dropped 5 and half cents in the last few days, as investors unwind carry trades big time and this months profits [for me] are looking decidedly better—Made my weekend :-)
NZ dollar in free fall (full story)
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 2 Fraggles
July 13, 2007
Quote Of The Day
That film is a little too Dark Crystal and not enough Labyrinth.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
July 6, 2007
Non Abbiamo Acqua Calda, Di Nuovo
What the?! This is getting old fast, this is my second winter this year after catching the tail end of the European one while in Italy, and what do I wake up to this morning? Six degree weather and no hot water!! Now you may remember this happened when I first arrived in Italy, also in freezing weather. The ironic part is, in both cases the houses had continuous mains gas hot water that isn't meant to run out!! A towel and I are heading to my Dad's place after work where he has good old reliable electric hot water and thank goodness for that!
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
July 5, 2007
Snow Capped Mountains & Secret Bank Accounts
These are the first things that come to mind when you mention Switzerland, well that and blonde girls in a platted pigtails. One of the draw backs I've found of training a lot, while having very little body fat in summer is great, in winter you freeze your arse off! At least when you're not out going for a run that is.
One the things that really annoys me is waking up in the middle of the night with a cold back, something the Swiss in their eternal wisdom (and being surrounded by snow capped mountains probably helps) have come up with the solution for. The pyjamas pictured to the right are the most comfortable and warmest I've ever owned, and they are 100% cotton as well :-) The company is called Gaggohaas, they speak Swiss German over there but the site and staff also speak English. They also seem to do an Amazon with shipping times, delivering in 4 days to New Zealand (rather than the listed 20).
Synthetic fabrics are horrible if you have eczema like I do (from food allergies), and pretty much everything these days is a polyester/cotton mix. This does help the fabric to wash and dry faster but far from ideal for itchy skin.
Winter seems to be the worst, the cold weather and lack of sunlight don't seem to be so good for the skin. And as an added advantage I've found their long pyjamas also help stop you tearing your skin to bits at night (very easy to do) when you have a bad allergy.
On the same topic, one of the things I've heard that helps winter eczema is sunbeds. Apparently the root of the problem is the lack UV exposure. So while it might increase my risk of skin cancer, I'm going to give it a whirl. I've found a gym across town that's just opened, figuring a new machine is probably safer than an old one, and am going in this weekend. Hopefully it helps and a bit of tan wouldn't be bad either! ;-)
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 1 Fraggles
June 24, 2007
Street Lights And Fog
The weather has become increasingly cold here over the last few weeks. My weekly drives to Auckland often being enveloped in a fog that closes around me, as the other cars and world outside disappear. Contrary to many people I don't mind the winter, with it's big coats and long scarves sitting inside warm coffee shops as it rains heavily outside.
I have been quite productive of late, like a woodland animal tucked away from the cold in it's warm burrow. This time of year is good for indoor projects, like finishing long over due business software, without the distractions of summer.
It is also something I want to finish before I head to Europe. Many of my friends are heading that way in the coming months, including my best mate Stoo in August, Ollie in July, and my French Reunion friend Audrey in the Spring, all going well with her exams. So I better get a move along!
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 3 Fraggles
June 6, 2007
Hard Times
As many of you already know, almost all my company's income is remitted in US dollars, as our major clients are in North America. Unfortunately due to high interest rates here and the continual decline of the US dollar, this was the headline I read this morning:
"The local currency climbed to US$0.7639 in late afternoon local trading, the highest since 1982, when the country ran a so-called crawling peg currency. That's also the highest since the kiwi, as the currency is called, was floated in March 1985 at $US0.4440."
Of course, if you're selling US dollars like I am, it's in fact a 25 year low, and the worse exchange rate since 1982. Mind you in 1982 I was just starting school, and had other things on mind. Still, it looks like hard times are ahead.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 2 Fraggles
May 30, 2007
I Had A Dream
It was a few months ago now. I awoke at the presence of a man standing at the end of my bed, I felt an initial shudder of fear as I lay there. He said nothing, I didn't recognise his face but I realised it was my grandfather. He stood there briefly looking at me and then left. Next I am outside, it is summer, somewhere near the coast. The landscape is typical New Zealand, but not present day, like an old film. A car drives, I am looking in from outside, they are going to the beach. My granddad is sitting in the back with two others, he is young, they are happy, talking away, but i hear nothing. He looks at me and smiles, he is happy. My granddad died two years ago this month. I was on the other side of the world at time. I had lost other family members before, but that was the first time I ever really cried.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 3 Fraggles
May 28, 2007
Busy Making Other Plans
...as John Lennon said. While due to the complete lack of entries here you'd think I haven't been up to much, quite the opposite is true. I have been a very busy beaver in recent weeks, far too busy to have time to write about it in fact!
Ok, let's see, I've just gone through the banking spanish inquisition to get second credit card. I don't actually need a second credit card, as the credit limit my on gold card is so high, I'd never be able to afford to pay it back if I actually ever used it all. No this card is my in lieu of an overseas bank account card, as getting a bank account in Italy is a huge pain in the arse, and their fees are really expensive too. It also happens to be from the one Visa card issuer in the country that doesn't charge for overseas cash advances and their currency conversion rate is a mere 1.8% above interbank. So I can use it like a normal debit card and not have to worry about the Italian system at all.
Next, I have been working some crazy hours trying finally to get this Business Manager software my company is developing completed. This project has been in the works for some time, but has always taken second priority to client work and hence is way off schedule. This weekend I managed to get one of the main UI widgets, the list view to code complete stage—finishing all the behind the scenes plumbing that make it actually work.
It was also good to see recently a show on CNN called Global Office that covers current and future business trends in the workplace and technology. The episode covered interestingly from the point of view of my project, Microsoft's technology labs showing a preview of what they're planning 5-10 years out. It was good to see they had come up with some of same ideas I'm rolling into this project, and their take on them—a nice validation in a way.
Next, I have been spending countless hours working on learning Italian. Apart from the Monday night classes in Auckland, I have been working through a book of Verb Drills I got from Amazon and meeting with local Italian's to practice the language. I'm also still reading the Harry Potter series in Italian. In all I'm spending least an hour per day on the language usually more.
I have also been learning to dance, which was initially quite outside my comfort zone. After the first lesson I wanted to quit, but I've stuck with it and it has turned out to be a lot of fun. The class is a diverse range of people in age from about 15 to 60, and you dance with several different people during each class. I've been making steady improvement and can now Cha Cha and Foxtrot with relative confidence!
In addition to all of this, I have still been doing some light training to kept up my fitness and flexibility level over the winter!
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
April 30, 2007
Back To The Grind Again
After being knocked on my arse by the Arabian Flu, which is fairly similar to camels ten-pin bowling in your head while flamingos play xylophones on your teeth, I'm now back at work again. Much to my annoyance the flu wasn't even my fault. I wasn't sick when I was in Italy or on the flight back, however at Dubai this Indian guy sat down beside me, started shivering convulsively and then sneezed all over me—and I felt the droplets land all over my face. Needless to say, 48 hours later I got sick... slightly pissed off wouldn't even start to describe it!
Tonight is also my first night back at Italian classes in Auckland. Petrol has gone though the roof here again, up 20c whilst I was away, so these are unfortunately going to be some very expensive commutes... probably close to a $100/week in petrol, yikes! However, I need to work on my language skills if I want to live in Italy, so it has to be done.
A friend of mine yesterday suggested I talk to owner of a local Italian restaurant who has a friend [he thinks] that does conservation classes here in Hamilton. This is would be really good and I'm planning on following it up this week, because while my written Italian is getting quite good, my spoken Italian, especially listening comprehension really could do with some help! There are weekend conversation classes in Auckland too, but the cost of commuting up twice a week had ruled out attending them.
Other than that not much to report, other than it's raining and my car is running like a piece of shit, but I'm planning on fixing that next weekend—yes, probably with a hammer! hehe.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 2 Fraggles
March 27, 2007
La Famiglia Al Mio Compleanno Trentesimo
Mum, Colin, Me, Rachel, Dad, James, Donna, Michelle e Sonia
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
February 26, 2007
Three Birthdays In One Week
This week my first web server went live, a HP Netserver 1U Rack Server with dual processors and hardware raid 1 with live hot spares. I've been wanting to get my own machine for some time, but the cost of a decent server was an issue. However after considering the processing requirements, I decided a second-hand unit was probably going to be sufficient—this machine has dual 1GHz Pentium III's. I've named the machine Hermione (from Harry Potter, it has a white enclosure so I figured it should have a girls name).
Also this week marks the second birthday of my Blog, Uncle Traveling Matt, which started on this day back in 2005. And this week is also my own birthday as well ;-)
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
February 14, 2007
I Fixed My Window With A Hammer
No, seriously, I did in-fact fix my window with a hammer, well, that was after I broke my window with a hammer... You see the drivers side electric window in my car doesn't work properly, it doesn't go all the way up. It stops about 1cm from the top and starts clicking. The glass doesn't completely line-up with the top of the door, which is main problem. To get the window fully up you must: 1. pull over the car and stop, 2. open the door, 3. set the switch to up, 4. grab the glass by both the inside and outside, 5. pull the window fully up, 6. turn off the switch manually. Now I've being putting up with this for some time, however after being caught on the motorway in torrential rain over weekend, something had to be done!
After completely disassembling the door and finding nothing that could be fixed with minor adjustment, I did what every good mechanic does, got out my hammer and started "adjusting" the door! lol. After some work the glass perfectly fitted into the door frame, however on trying to close the door, the door no longer fitted into the side of the door—damn! Ok, readjustment time (yes more hammering), now the door closes fine, but when the window is up the glass now protrudes right out of the frame! ug...
At this point I decide some new parts are in order, a new motor winder cog and window track, both for $20 from the wreckers. With the new cog, the clicking issue is resolved and the window will go all the way up—out of the door!! Obviously the door needs some realignment, with you guessed it a hammer, lol. About 30 minutes of banging later the window goes up prefectly into the door frame and the door closes. However, after reaseembling the door, the internal door handle doesn't seem to work though—the control rod appears to somehow gotten bent, no idea how that would of happened... :-P
Disassemble, straighten, reassemble, sweet door handle works. As does the electric window, it goes up, it goes down, and the auto switch off even works in both directions too—perfection! Who says you can't fix a window with a hammer! hehe...
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
February 9, 2007
Barry Manilow Listens To Techno
Often it feels like I'm living in the eye of storm, everything in my world is charm, while the lives of everyone around me is chaos. There are a few occasions that do shake my zen like peace and serenity, like last Thursday during my cycle training session. Take the following ingredients: A roundabout, a large amount of broken glass, a truck and me on my bike travelling pretty quick. Shake well and serve.
Riding over broken windshield glass (the small square variety) it turn out is very similar to riding a 10-speed on ice, the bike all of a sudden doesn't want to turn and is really quite keen to lie on its side. I hadn't seen the glass until it was too late, being a little preoccupied with the large truck right behind me. Given that turning around the roundabout at this stage was out of the question, I had two options a) continue the way I was going, and end up sliding over road and glass with the bike on top of me, or b) put my weight to the other-side and hit the curb and trees head on.
Obviously I choose option B, as sliding across broken glass is not on my "fun" list. Astonishingly I came out of this situation fairly unscathed with only a few grazes and two rather sore wrists. The bike on the other-hand didn't come off so well with both wheel rims & tires heavily damaged (the front one irreparably) and both inner tubes blown. As such my training schedule has hit a slight delay as I recover and my bike gets fixed!
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous , Triathlon | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
January 14, 2007
The Many Faces Of Fraggle Rock
After weeks of waiting I have finally received my copy of the US Season 1 of Fraggle Rock —the package was delayed due to Christmas. After watching this, I was a little curious about the other international versions of the show and did a little digging. Below is info on the four main version of the show that had different "outer space" segments and thanks to my new favourite website, YouTube, links to the openning credits for all four! There were many other international versions of Fraggle Rock, but they were just dubbed versions of the US program.
Fraggle Rock – United States
(also Australia & New Zealand)
The series was produced with the intention of being aired in varied forms internationally. The human "wraparound" segments were shot separately for each nation, so that the child viewer could always relate to the world of the program. However, in the Norwegian, Dutch and Australian shows, the American human surroundings were used. The series has appeared now in over ten countries and languages.
Fraggle Rock – England
Fraggle Rock was located on a rock headland or island on a sea coast. There is a lighthouse on the island, the actual location is St Anthony's lighthouse located near Falmouth in Cornwall. The lighthouse was the home of The Captain, a retired sailor and the UK version of the Doc character, played by Fulton MacKay. Sprocket was still his companion, however.
Due to MacKay's death in 1987, The Captain was replaced in the fourth UK season by a younger character known as P.K. (Principal Keeper, the Captain's nephew), played by John Gordon Sinclair and again in the sixth UK season by another character, B.J., played by Simon O'Brien.
The episode order and Captain story-lines were different than the original North American version. One particular difference is that the Captain is a little more harsh towards Sprocket than Doc is.
The UK co-production was the only one to take the series through to the end. France and Germany ended before episode 96.
Fraggle Rock – France
The wraparound segments take place in a former bakery with a chef played by Michel Robin and his dog Croquette (the French name for Sprocket).
The episode order was different from the North American version. Unlike the North American and UK productions, the French series ended before co-producing all 96 episodes.
YouTube: French Opening Credits
Die Fraggles – Germany
Die Fraggles is the German co-production of Fraggle Rock. The segments within the Muppet world of Fraggle Rock were the same as the North American version, but dubbed with German voice actors. The segments from outer space (i.e. the Doc and Sprocket and Traveling Matt segments) were changed to fit the German audience.
The German wraparounds copied the North American Doc's set and script word-for-word (except in German) whereas the UK and French co-productions were completely different. Unlike UK production, the German (and French) series ended before co-producing all 96 episodes from the North America.
YouTube: German Opening Credits
YouTube: Spanish Opening Credits
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
January 12, 2007
There Isn't The Words To Describe It
My car got broken into at training this morning... why does this always happen on a day when it's pissing down with rain, and nothing is ever taken?! I'm really getting sick of these half-arsed car thieves, if you're going to break into someone's car at least have courtesy to either nick the contents, or better yet take the whole bloody car! At least then I could claim insurance, and get some cash for the flying piece of shit that is my car. But no, they just break the window and bugger off, so I'm here in the rain, bolting in new windows instead. Pisses me off.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
December 26, 2006
Christmas 2006
After somewhat wet weather yesterday it was warm and sunny for a change today. Christmas this year was quite good due to the careful dropping of hints (and product catalog numbers, lol) on my part.
On the other side of the equation, I gave my brother a sick Tony Hawk Birdhouse complete skateboard. This is his first skateboard and let's just say teaching a seven year old to skate requires a lot of patience, especially since he'd been up past midnight the night before!
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
December 15, 2006
The Best Part Of Breaking Up
It's been a busy week, weeks actually, especially considering the length of time this post has been sitting in the saved drafts folder. While, the title might suggest otherwise this post isn't actually about relationships, personal ones at least.
I've recently hired someone to help with my business, and I'll be the first to say I've waited far too long. Partly [ok almost completely] because I didn't want to give up control of things, as they say, "if you want it done right, do it yourself"... However, this is changing and I'm learning the joy of delegation and also letting people figure how to go about doing the work. I'm trying my best to put the skills I learnt during the October management course to good use, and so far things have been going really well.
The best part of breaking up? ...Letting go, and it's a good feeling.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
December 2, 2006
Thought Of The Day...
I wish Italian had a direct translation of "nice" in English, so I wouldn't have to figure out which "nice" I mean all the time, especially because the reason I'm usually using "nice" in the first place is because I didn't want to use a more descriptive word!!... ug.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 2 Fraggles
November 16, 2006
Loose Ends
I've had this cold now for almost 2 weeks, yet it shows no sign of going away. I'm slowly working my way through the back log of work that needs to be done. Today I took a brief break from this to upload the photo gallery and expand the entries for Venice—I even captioned the photos! The other entries and photos will have to wait till I have some more free time...
UPDATE: The photo galleries have now been uploaded ;-)
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
October 6, 2006
Reverse Vending Machines
Just off the wire from the people at Springwise:
Reverse vending machines (RVMs) are as the name suggests, vending machines that allow consumers to deposit used beverage containers. Instead of spewing out junk food, the machines invite customers to insert their trash for recycling. Once a customer deposits a used container, the machine sorts it and crushes, compresses or shreds, reading a container's barcode to determine the type of material. Capacity varies per model, but stand alone machines hold 1000 cans and/or PET bottles before needing to be emptied. The machines run on about 40 watts of electricity per day.
Sounds like a really good idea, as recycling can be a hassle—I still have an empty drink bottle sitting on the floor of my office, to take home and put in our recycle crate... and it's been there for 3 weeks now, lol.
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September 24, 2006
Lazy Sundays
Today was the first sunny weekend we've had since last summer. So not to waste this ideal opportunity to increase my risk of skin cancer, we cruised over to Raglan—a small coastal town, famous for its Manu Bay surf break—for a day at the beach. I recently bought a new digital camera that can take DV quality video with sound, a big step up from my previous camera.
Here is a short film I made while testing out the new camera's movie mode ;-) It has been scaled down for posting on the web though. The film is in Windows Media Format, so you'll need a recent version of Windows Media Player to view it. Right-Click on the link below and click "Save As...", enjoy!
Raglan - Sunday Afternoon (Windows Media / 5.3MB)
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous , New Zealand | Talked about by: 1 Fraggles
September 21, 2006
Name Sake
Looks like someone has gone to the effort of posting all of Uncle Traveling Matt's reports of Outer Space on the Internet, complete with pictures from the Fraggle Rock DVD's!
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September 8, 2006
Will The Real Matt Please Stand Up...
If you've ever had the inclination to google me, I'd like to say that 99.99% of the results that match "matt gifford" are not me. The point is further confused because there are several other web developers with the exact same name—yes the world is a strange place, lol.
I would like to state for record that I am in fact not this guy, or this guy or even this guy, or any other Matt Gifford you might find.
I am in fact this guy:
(the pictured sites are my designs)
1996
comp.os.ms-windows.nt.admin.networking
—My first and only ever post on UseNet.
1997
www.chameleon-tours.com
—My first domain, named after the company from The Faceless Ones a 1967 episode of Dr Who. The domain never really had a fully complete site attached to it and always seemed to be a work in progress.
1998
www.houston.co.nz
—My job prior to the ill fated trip to the UK where I got Meningitis and ended up in the Intensive Care ward of a NHS hospital (yes, almost dying kinda sucks, lol). The design on the left was actually completed in 1997 and was my first commercial website project. The 1998 redesign shown on the right was completed with the skilled help of my friend and co-worker Mike Bowie.
1999
www.timeshifting.net
—My first actual website which featured lots of photos, music and miscellaneous stuff. Named after a term mentioned in a 1981 video about making home movies. The address is now no longer used, however I'm holding on to it for future use.
* I drew the Timeshifting logo pictured above ;-)
2000
www.lbc.co.nz
—My last ever job... and thank goodness for that, jobs are evil beasties, lol.
2001
www.gatecrasher.co.uk/connected/events/australia
—A post after an auckland club night.
2002
www.bubblefm.com
—My pirate radio station that ran for about a year until men in black from the government turned up at our door threatening to put us in prison... minor issue about not having paid $250,000 for a commercial radio license, lol.
lists.soekris.com
—Also about this time I was looking into the idea of starting an engine management system business.
2003
www.timeshifting.com
—Finally got the .com version of my domain and launched the first version of my company's website.
2005
www.uncletravelingmatt.com
—Started my blog which you're reading right now.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 1 Fraggles
September 7, 2006
Nightmares
I had the worst night's sleep in the history of the world ever last night... I woke up at 4.30am this morning freezing cold (the duvet had fallen off), after having the scariest dream ever, which was totally arse because, 1. I'm far too old to be having nightmares and 2. I couldn't get back to sleep for ages—and embarrassingly had to close wardrobe door.
I was in this old house with a group of people I didn't know, where years ago these other people had been imprisoned and burnt alive. It was kind of Victorian style and almost completely pitch black inside, velvet curtains, stuffed animals on the walls, and all this gold/silver & jewels that we were told not to touch because it belonged to the aforementioned dead people—the person that told us this then promptly vanished. The light switches were made of carved bone that when switched, didn't turn on lights but made parts of the house move around, as we walked through the house you could feel the chill of things following you, behind, just out of sight...
Within the house people seemed to gain psychic powers, I remember holding out my hand (palm facing out) and moving a pot of Blistex away from me and back across the floor by concentrating really hard and visualising it in my mind—I did however watch a Scrubs episode about Harry Potter last night though, hmmm... This dream seemed to take the scariest parts of every movie I've ever seen and roll it into a one weird juxtaposition.
In the end we went to see this lady, in this dark drawing room that could help us get out of the house but when she turned around, it was the librarian from Ghostbusters! ...it was then with a gasp that I woke up.
(incidentally this librarian also scared the bejesus out of me when I was seven)
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September 3, 2006
Masquerade Ball
Last night I accompanied my baby sister to the Great Race Masquerade Ball at Waikato University with my mum and her partner.
Me con mia mamma e sorella piccola
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Sheep & Starbucks
A Thousand Words
Sheep on a ute, in the middle of the city, right outside Starbucks... and they say Hamilton isn't a hick farming town.
...I rest my case
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous , New Zealand | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
September 2, 2006
Fast Flowing Waters
When I was young, maybe 7 or 8 years old, my dad and I used to go hiking up near the Coromandel, an area that is both beautiful but bears the scars of the 1870's gold rush. Yet at the time it didn't see it like this, the tunnels and discarded equipment in the middle of forest was a source of excitement and adventure for a small child. A few of the rivers and streams are still polluted from the mining, though fortunately there are many that escaped unscathed and our hikes usually ended in lunch and a swim in a nearby stream.
I seem to be doing so much recently, not that I mind being so busy, but at times it feels a lot like it did swimming in those streams; being pulled along swiftly by the current, little feet not always being able to touch the bottom. Most nights I'm not home to 7 or 8, in fact it seems like I'm never home these days, not that I mind that much as this flat is quite damp over winter.
My business is growing which is both exciting and daunting. I guess it's the realisation that most business owners come to when they have to start hiring people. You're no longer responsible for just yourself and as employer as have a obligation to help your staff grow and move forward in all areas of their lives, not just professionally. I like Richard Branson's approach to business that you have to love what you do, in so you'll hopefully create an environment where people enjoy working. In contrast to the television series The Office, which seems like so many companies I've worked at in the past.
At the moment I'm taking courses on management skills and building high performance teams, the non technical skills of running a business and an area that is all too often neglected. It looks like it's going to be a long road ahead and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little scarred. Nevertheless, this path seems right and who knows, the swimming hole at the end of it might be pretty good.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous , New Zealand | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
September 1, 2006
How The War Was Lost
The ants are back, in force. The pre-emptive strike was launched without warning about a week ago. If you're not familiar with this bathroom battle, catch up on the war room chronicles. They must have got spy intelligence that I had bought a new toothbrush, and the prize is oh so sweet this time... as I've upgraded to an electric model! The attack appears to be coming from several vectors now and my previous secret weapon of whitening toothpaste, which the ants seemed to hate, no longer fazes them. I fear this might be one battle I may not win...
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 1 Fraggles
August 15, 2006
Chattering Teeth
You all have no doubt heard about dogs looking like their owners. There was an advertising campaign about it a while ago, which the picture to the left is from. Well, in my case it's my car that is like its owner—we both hate the cold!
Whenever the weather is too cold, apart from not wanting to start in the morning, the speedo starts making a noise like chattering teeth and stops working. Well it does work, it just doesn't tell you the right speed, lol. Apparently I was doing 125km/hr in a residential area this morning, drove right by a cop and he didn't bat an eye! Funny thing was, it didn't seem that fast...
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August 14, 2006
I'm Karma's Bitch
I cancelled my audiologist appointment at short notice this morning (i was going to get some custom earphone molds taken for my shure e3c's), which was kind of mean but I need to stop spending money if I'm going to be able to afford to go to Italy. Last night my flatmate came back from the supermarket with a 4c off voucher for petrol (if you spend over a certain amount at the supermarket, you get a discount on their petrol) which was sweet cos' i needed to fill up this morning.
However in a swift karmatic bitch slap for diss'ing the audiologist, the [automated] petrol station ate my voucher, the lcd started flashing all this code stuff and then all the pumps came up with "out of order"! So not only did I have to pay full price for my fuel, I had to drive out of my way to get it!! grrrrr.....
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August 1, 2006
How Rice Was I?
I have now been in business for myself full-time for three years and things are going really well. However, it's funny to think back to when I first started, when I had no money, about all the rice* things I did to get by... * "rice" here means cheap, since rice is very cheap foodstuff.
- Going to the department store and using the [guys] perfume testers before meeting a girl for coffee [on several occasions] because i couldn't afford to buy it ...Yep
- Paying my rent 2 days late completely with 5 and 10 cent pieces (that's €0.02 and €0.05 coins for my international readers) ...Yep
- Cutting my own hair because the budget shopping mall $5 (€2.50) hair dresser was too expensive ...Yep
- Driving with my car's fuel gauge permanently on empty and only filling up when it started to misfire*...Yep
- and the number times I did actually run out of gas: 6
—The worst of which the car died in the middle of busy bridge at 2am in morning in the pouring rain!!
* Occurs when the fuel injectors start pumping air, because the fuel tank is dry.
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July 8, 2006
My Baby Is Three
My company offically turns three years old today!
Rock On!!
(and no unfortunately the
Great Dane ain't mine, lol)
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
June 27, 2006
Robitussin
After working almost three weeks straight to be able to go on holiday to Australia (i leave next monday), i'm sick as a dog in bed.
I came down with a cold on saturday after working late on friday in our freezing apartment and have been feeling crap ever since. I'm hoping that i'll be well by the time i go, which is only few days away, as you can't go scuba diving with a cold.
Man, I'm sick—literally—of living in this cold damp place, ug. I'm going move flat when I get back...
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
June 7, 2006
System Update
The contact page and commenting system are now working again. I've also updated the design of the Alphabetical Index page to be a photographic index.
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January 31, 2006
Hiatus
I've turned into a workaholic, at least for the next few months,
so uncle traveling matt is on a brief hiatus for a while.
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December 22, 2005
You Know You've Working Too Much When...
You ask a client to hold on a sec while you configure your breakfast! lol.
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November 19, 2005
Nokia Blank Operator Logo
If you'd like to get rid of your network's name/logo covering part of your wallpaper, visit this url from your phone's wap browser: http://www.uncletravelingmatt.com/utm/nokia.php
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November 16, 2005
The Ultima Device / This Message Will Self-Destruct In 5 Seconds...
Banking with one of the world's largest banks has its advantages—easy international banking & advanced Internet Banking functionality (the ability to edit Automatic Payments and Direct Debits), among others.
While HSBC is fairly unknown here in New Zealand, being part of an international banking group with offices in over 84 countries means even small countries like us get benefits the latest banking technology—including the Ultima Device (pictured bottom left)
Ok, well they call it the "Online Security Device", but that sounds nowhere near as interesting. It's a portable ciphering device keyed to your account information that generates a unique code each time the grey button is pressed. Each device uses a different algorithm and the code expires in 60 seconds. The code is used when logging into internet banking and when making transfers, etc.
The advantage of this system is, for example, if you use an internet cafe and someone has installed a key logger, they'll capture your username, password and a set of expired cipher codes. Without the code generator the username and password are useless.
This is better than a TXT message based system like ASB's NetCode, because apart from having to pay for each TXT (there was no charge for the HSBC device), and most people have a different phone number when overseas and it's useless in areas without cell phone coverage (quite common outside of NZ).
ASB have just introducted a similar cipher device, however without the buying power of HSBC, ASB customers will have to pay $1/month for theirs.
Apparently the device also self-destructs if you try to open it, hehe, it's all very James Bond! lol
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
November 14, 2005
Shitty Weather
A thousand words right there, the weather here is crap. I guess it doesn't matter when you're inside coding and there's good tunes on the stereo tho :)
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
November 9, 2005
How The War Was Won
Most of you won't know this, but three days ago ants invaded our bathroom hell-bent on carrying off my toothbrush!
No shit, they'd trekked in through a small gap in the tiles across the floor up the wall, across the counter to where ever I'd left it.
Why? I have no idea — maybe I'd annoyed someone that died and was reincarnated as an ant and they're just f**king with me, I dunno. However, as you may of guessed I wasn't too happy about this carry-on.
Step 1 in the battle plan was to wipe out all visible ants and scrub the floor, walls, counter etc to remove their scent trail; being that's how they find their way around. This I thought worked, but no, the little buggers where back all over my toothbrush yesterday, much to my annoyance.
After that all-out thermonuclear war was declared. Though without any kind of filler on hand to plug the gap, some other dastardly plan had to be devised. The only thing I could lay my hands on was a can of CRC, which was promptly emptied into the opposing army basecamp. There have been no sightings of the ants since, although the bathroom now sinks to high hell of CRC, lol
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
October 5, 2005
I Have The Polish Bird Flu
From the lack of entries here, you'd expect I've been off doing something wonderfully interesting, rather than being suck at home with the Polish Bird Flu. Ok it's not really the Polish Bird Flu, just a bad cold, but telling people that has nowhere near the zing to it. Other than that I've been trying to get [some] of my work out—having no sick leave kinda sucks :(
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
September 13, 2005
Walnuts & Sunshine
I've come up with a plan to deal with the allergies & eczema I've got at the moment. Rather than going for more drugs, I'm going with Walnuts and Sunshine. Yes, some might call me crazy (ok, probably almost all), however there is some logical reasoning behind this hair brain plan.
Walnuts are extremely high in Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, which are especially beneficial to skin function and condition. Exposure to UVA and UVB have been shown as good for controlling and healing eczema; personal experience supports this also, when I'm in very sunny climates I don't get allergies/eczema. Too much UV of course is bad, however according to dermatologists with the fear of cancer most people now don't get enough. We need at least 10min of good quality sunlight on our skin per day to generate enough vitamin D (important for bone strength) and to maintain a healthy immune system.
Sunlight is also free, and free dollars is a good price right now, lol.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
August 11, 2005
Suicidal No More
I'm pleased to say my car's suicidal tendencies have been cured! It no longer wants to die every time I take my foot off the accelerator, thank god! Turns out the battery connections were a bit dodgy, and well the treacle like oil probably didn't help either, lol. Both have now been replaced!
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
July 28, 2005
Lost in Translation
I was thinking, after seeing this film, that it very much sums up my time living the states recently. Being there alone in a different culture, trying to find meaning / figure out my life, and what I want to do with it.
Both are searching for the meaning of their lives, looking at the situation from different points of view. A person's lifetime is filled with self examination. Why am I here? What am I doing? Is this as good as it gets? The plot of this movie is the plot of life. You have a beginning. You're in the middle, and your story hasn't ended yet...
I think I've found a little more meaning, a little more understanding, perhaps. My view of the world and my life has changed so significantly in the last few months, who I was before seems now like a distant memory, a faded photograph in a long forgotten photo album. I'm now happier, more confused and more assured of myself at the same time. It's like you've been travelling on a straight road for some time, years in fact, you come to the bend that's always been on the horizon and finally see what is around the corner. It's not at all what you expected, yet it's not bad either.
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
July 12, 2005
Ah, A Very Good Curry
The compound that makes curry yellow could help fight skin cancer. Researchers in the United States say curcumin, found in turmeric, interferes with melanoma cells. Tests show that curcumin made melanoma skin cancer cells more likely to self-destruct in a process known as apoptosis.
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July 8, 2005
My Baby Is Two!
My company offically turns
two years old today!!
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June 30, 2005
Definition of Ironic
Sprinting a kilometre up hill to catch a bus you decide you won't take once it arrives. ... good exercise though I guess, lol.
Trip update coming soon — I have a stack of photos to process first, and have been busy with work ;)
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June 20, 2005
Damn, I Want One Of These...
Portable Rotary Phone and it's Tri-Band, hehe, link
"It's a GSM cell phone built inside an old rotary phone. You pop your SIM card in, it dials out, rings and acts just like an old fashion phone."
(though txt'ing might be a bit of an issue, hmmm...)
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May 23, 2005
Top 10 Favourite 80's TV Shows
I was surfing the 'net today and saw in someone's blog a list of their top 10 favourite songs. Anyway, it got me thinking... wouldn't it be even cooler to list your top 10 favourite tv shows from when you were a kid?
* By kid here I mean under the age of ten, so no making fun of the entries, k :)
With the help of google, I've compiled the list of my 10 favourite tv shows from when I was little—complete with pictures and my memories of that particular program...
The A-Team
1983-1987
The A-Team was the coolest program ever when I was growing up, with a good deal of gun fire, action and blowing stuff up. They'd often modify vehicles and jimmy stuff up during the episodes, usually involving a lot of welding and shit. The series was on too late for me to watch, since it was after my bedtime which was 8pm if I remember rightly. So my dad's friend would video it for me, (back then we only owned a small 14" TV), and lend us the video machine and the tape once a month so I could watch it. It was seriously ass when he decided not to lend us his video anymore, as I didn't see any more A-Team after that.
CHiPS
1977-1983
"CHiPS," stood for California Highway Patrol, followed two motorcycle cops Poncherello (he had like the coolest name ever) and Baker. This series was the usual TV cops show stuff, nothing particularly special but good entertainment all the same! I used to watch this back when we still lived at our first house on Bremworth Ave over in Dinsdale, back when my little sister had only just been born. We used to ride our bikes around Bremworth Park doing the whole pretending to be on motorcycles thing, one of my friends (I can't remember which now) crashed down a ditch whilst doing this, though he got away with only a sprained wrist. Hehe, good times!
The Dukes of Hazzard
1979-1985
I come from a family who are really into cars, so it's no wonder this show went down well. I sooo wanted a car with a Dukes of Hazzard horn when I grew-up, lol, (oh the shame), and to do all those cool jumps with the car. The closest thing I had though was an orange matchbox General Lee (the Dodge Charger from the series), and we used to make up jumps for it in the drive-way. As an aside, I have in fact done a Dukes of Hazzard style jump in my Familia—got the car about a metre airborne, though it tore the steel rear anti-swaybar mounts in half on landing! Was a lot of fun though, lol :)
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
1972-1984
This show was neat, the opening credits "Hey, Hey, Hey..." was seriously good shit, lol. Back in the very early 80's when I was sporting a big blonde aff, a yellow t-shirt and brown stubbies, hehehe, comon' it was cool back then (wasn't it?). The kid on the show with hat that went right over his head with eye holes, was too cool for skool. I remember seeing a girl on K-Road in recent times with a tattoo of that character on her calf actually.
Fraggle Rock
1983-1987
Of course, Fraggle Rock couldn't be omitted from this list! With it's hellofa catchy theme tune who could resist. This series absolutely rocked, and it's also the reason this site has its title. My sister and I had a whole series of Fraggle Rock books, plus a number of episodes we'd recorded to video—by this time my family had got a VCR. I think one of main things that made this series cool, the range of characters and different areas they had in it—Doc and Sprocket, the Fraggles, the Trash Heap (Marjorie), the Doozers and the Gorgs. This is undoubtedly Jim Henson's finest work.
The Gummi Bears
1985-1991
This show would have to be #10 on the list, and closely squeezed out Battlestar Galactica for this position. Battlestar Galactica was a cool series but I didn't see quite as much of in comparison, and I think I was too young to understand it properly. My little sister used to love the Gummi Bears, and hence I saw quite a bit of it too.
Knight Rider
1982-1986
I think the only reason Knight Rider was cool, was due to the car KITT with its stealth-mode and turbocharger—which in retrospect after having owned/driven several different turbocharged vehicles sounded more like a vacuum cleaner than an actual turbocharger spooling!! But hey, to a 7 year old, it was one seriously cool car! I don't remember much about the series, though I do recall the storylines were often a bit so-so—good thing he moved on to Bay Watch, lol
MacGyver
1985-1992
After the A-Team, MacGyver was my all time favourite TV series. By this time I was old enough to watch it at its regular viewing time, so no problems with VCR's here. I used to like making stuff, so this series really appealed to me—the improvising with stuff just lying around was cool. I really liked the trick he did with the cut-up credit card to change the traffic lights in one episode, though I suspect traffic lights probably don't actually work like that in real-life! lol and the first episode were he slid down the sand dunes on the map. Hehe, I even have a mini Leatherman (kinda like a Swiss Army knife) on my key-ring to pull out MacGyver styles when I'm out and about. The first season was by far the best, since after that one they decided the program was too violent / scary for younger viewers (it totally was not) and toned it back. However the following seasons were no-where near as good.
The Smurfs
1981-1990
For anyone that grew up in the eighties, the Smurfs was an all round favourite. Hehe, and I still say "Are we there yet Papa Smurf" to this day, lol. My sister and I had about a million of the Smurfs figurines when we were little, she had the Smurfette one and I had Papa Smurf, in addition to scores of the standard blue and white ones we had.
Terrahawks
1983-1986
I'd so seriously forgotten about this show when I first did this post, well forgotten it's name to be exact. However, in a moment of enlightenment it just came to me this morning. In the same league as the Thunderbirds, both were made by Gerry Anderson, but way cooler. I had all the Zeroids figurines (the little round silver balls), and they were so cool. I didn't have any of Zelda's corresponding Death Cubes (that fought the Zeroids) so I used to make my own out of white ice cream containers and cellotape, lol. Man I loved this show!
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 2 Fraggles
March 22, 2005
Dichotomy
In a moment of philosophical pondering, I've come to the conclusion there are two types of people in the world, and the difference can be summed up as this: those that drive around in their car with the air-conditioning on and the windows up, and those who have the windows down, regardless of whether they have air-con.
I'm the latter, I can't stand being in a car with the windows up—fresh air is an absolute necessity. Of course, if it's minus 30 out, then the windows stay firmly up, lol.
The image to the right was Google Images first result for "Dichotomy", it's from The American Bear Association, a non-profit organization based in Minnesota promoting the well-being of the black bear and other natural resources. Pay them a visit and make a donation if you can; looks like a worthwhile cause ;)
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 0 Fraggles
March 15, 2005
What Pre-1985 Video Game Character Am I?
While trying my very best to avoid doing any actual work this morning, I came across this site... hehe, amusing ;)
I am Mario.
"I like to jump around, and would lead a fairly serene and aimless existence if it weren't for my friends always getting into trouble. I love to help out, even when it puts me at risk. I seem to make friends with people who just can't stay out of trouble."
What Video Game Character Are You?
Great hall locations: Miscellaneous | Talked about by: 1 Fraggles
February 28, 2005
Raining Cats & Dogs
What's with this weather, it's been hot and sunny for months... as soon as my birthday rolls around, thunderstorms?! Maybe it's a sign the good weather's over and I should move somewhere more tropical—I might just look into that.... Nevertheless, it's not all bad as I've got heaps to do today and it won't be so stinking hot, lol.
Raining Cats & Dogs — "It seems that cats were at one time thought to have influence over storms, especially by sailors, and that dogs were symbols of storms, often accompanying images and descriptions of the Norse storm god Odin. So when some particularly violent tempest appeared, people suggested it was caused by cats (bringing the rain) and dogs (the wind)"
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February 26, 2005
Welcome
Welcome to the new Uncle Traveling Matt site!
Hehe, this layout is so "Indiana Jones" and it's not even finished yet! Still to come are some old map pictures for the background (behind the page) and some antique travel paraphernalia...
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