Man, I would so be up for a World Series of Knitting! Only it would need to be re-thought a little bit, as the author of that article clearly knows nothing about the craft. (Crochet, cross-stitch, and quilting are entirely separate disciplines.) Now, would I compete for Australia or America? I think about things too much. (Link courtesy of Max.)

Oh, but before I forget, wasn’t Australian Idol such a shocker tonight!? I can’t believe Ricki-Lee is gone. I had picked her to win. She was my second favorite after Marty (who I voted for and thus can claim to have saved this week). I really, really thought it would be Chanel. The Snook and I were cooking dinner and I was like, “Man, the hippies are having it rough! First Latham and now Chanel.” And then two minutes later the verdict was announced and immediately Amy rang – for the second time during the show – and we were both like, “Oh. My. God!” Why can’t Hayley be gone already? How much money can I afford to keep Marty in the competition? And is this thing now firmly within Anthony’s hands? And holy crap, are we going to leave before this thing is finished??

“Can you smell the Firefox all over this post? That’s because I have to post it from Snookums’s crap-ass computer.”

Actually that was just sarcastically dictated by the Snook himself. My iBook went off to the shop today for a monitor and hard drive replacement so I’m forced to share his Linux machine. Sheesh, between this and waiting for the telly to be repaired, it’s like living in the Stone Age, you know? We’ve also just realized that we leave for our trip to the US in, oh, FIVE WEEKS, and there’s craploads of stuff to do before we go. AND we’re throwing a Halloween party in three weeks, AND we’re having two sales and a relocation at work. So there may be some radio silence from my end for a few days…

Real Embarrassing Photos: The Coolest 3-Year-Old in Town
You know what the coolest part of this photo is? It’s not my sweet Wonder Woman Underoos. It’s not my stylin’ Powder Puff Big Wheel with the ribbon streamers. It’s not my stick-straight bowl-cut bangs. It’s not even my so-retro-it-hurts white knee socks. You know what it is? It’s the approximately 53 yards of woolen lanyard plant holders hanging in the background. The 70’s were a bad time for interior design, yo.

…And just like that, the evening turns to SUCK. John Howard has just won a historic fourth term as Australian Prime Minister. The conservatives increased their numbers in the government. Latham has conceded. Catboy’s going to become a Kiwi. Everything’s turning to crap. Dammit, I’ve already emigrated from one country with an asshole for a leader; I don’t want to do it again! Please, please, please let Bush lose next month… or I think we may have to move to Sealand.

Kick. Ass. REM has extended their current tour to Australia! The relevant dates are here. They’re coming to Sydney on March 31. Since I’m a member of their “Online Community”, I can register to buy tickets early in a pre-sale! The store opens in four hours. I’m excited. I’ve only seen them play once before and it was from way, far away.

Update: We’ve got tickets! “Gold reserved” seating. Hopefully that doesn’t suck.

The Vending Machine Prizes Spectacular! The biggest highlight for me in the whole (pretty hilarious) article was reading the guy’s ode to the Chicken Machine. You know, the one with the brown chicken that turned around and clucked and dropped you an egg. I loved the Chicken Machine.

Kevin’s posted an excellent review of REM’s new album. He makes it sound pretty downbeat. Crud. My fandom has really never recovered from shelling out for the “deluxe” CD edition of Up only to discover that I couldn’t tell when one depressing song ended and another depressing song began. (Not to mention the fact that it was advertised as coming with a “poster” which actually consisted of the pages of the lyrics booklet, which you were supposed to disassemble and tape together or something.) I didn’t even bother getting the Greatest Hits CD, though I suppose I will if I decide to get the new album. My obsessive-compulsiveness wouldn’t be able to stand having a hole in the chronology of my REM catalog…

Richard Stallman’s over here bitching about Linux again. How can a guy that claims not to have had a job in decades afford to fly to Australia?