I was putting our bamboo knitting needles up on the website today when I discovered the English-language home page of Tulip, our Japanese supplier. I was cracking up at the translations, especially their two slogans: “The Needles is Affection” and “Smile of Hand Knitting.” It’s very Mr. Sparkle.

Australian Politics Test – The Snook and I both took it and our scores are pretty funny. We’re pretty solidly Democrat/Green, but we both also oddly rated One Nation and Family First ahead of the Liberal Party. We’re self-hating hippies.

Oh man, the news we have been waiting to hear! The Amazing Race is finally going to have overseas productions, including one “for the Asia-Pacific region”!!! DUDE, WE ARE SO APPLYING. But wait, who will take on the role of Phil? He’s a Kiwi; he should do our show too! (If Eddie McGuire is waiting for me on the mat, he’s going to get a kick in the nuts…)

Lee totally rocked Australian Idol tonight! (Though I did think his punked-up version of “Eye of the Tiger” was a teensy bit too fast). And I was totally laughing when Kyle was talking about how everyone in the country loves Lee and he hasn’t met anyone who hasn’t, and the Snook and I were all, “We have!” The other three guys’ performances were pretty forgettable. I really want to like Dan but he always looks scared to death when he comes out on stage. He doesn’t look like he has any fun. He takes it all too seriously. (Quote the Snook: “He looks like he’s gonna barf.”) Emily was great but she still weirds me out a little bit. (I think it’s the crazy eye makeup.) Kate was good but I was just disappointed that she didn’t do Madonna after teasing us with the awesome netted headband in her segment. As for Anne, I’m a big fan of “Open Arms” and she did a fantastic job, but Holden was right on the money: she oversang the hell out of that song. Interestingly, it really does look like it could come down to Lee and the three chicks! And that would be hilarious. I feel like he knows it’s a piss-take, and I respect the fact that he’s not really “playing the game.” He really does come out every week and just be who he is. (And it’s doubly funny that he gets such props for musical integrity when his preferred genre – lite pop/punk – is just about as trivial as they come.) He just looks like he’s havin’ fun. I also like how he sticks his tongue out when he’s really excited, which makes me think of Muriel…

As I said to the cat afterwards, “I’m off to vote for Lee now because every week he stays in it just annoys the hell out of your Aunty Amy! And that’s never not funny!” 🙂

Man, that sounds like it was hell of a football game! I’m almost glad I didn’t get to hear the fourth quarter; I would’ve been bouncing off the walls. I wonder what this will do to our ranking…

“If I were a rich man…” I’m gonna be singing that for days. I just got back from seeing Topol – honest-to-God Topol! – in the new Sydney production of Fiddler on the Roof. My boss Albert scored some comps and called me up this morning to say they had an extra. How sweet is that? We had excellent seats, right in the center, and I have to say I was pretty impressed with the Capitol Theater. It was very Italian, all marble and niches with faux Classical sculptures. I liked the twinkly star ceiling too. The show itself was excellent. I still cannot get past the fact that it was freakin’ TOPOL up there on stage. You know when he starred in the film version? 1971. THIRTY-FOUR YEARS AGO. And now he’s 70! He’s a little trimmer than before but I was just in awe of the energy and vitality he brought to the stage. I would’ve been panting after three hours of exuberant dancing but he just seemed to feed off every bit of applause (and we gave him plenty). It’s undoubtedly a star vehicle but it’s still well worth seeing. Amongst the other actors I particularly liked Hodel, Perchik, Golde, and the crazy woman playing Fruma Sarah. (“Tevye’s Dream” was awesomely psychedelic for such a sparse production design.) I was actually in Fiddler about ten years ago – man, I feel like Topol! – in a community production. This was my first opportunity to watch the show from the seats and, for the most part, I was just reacting to Topol and appreciating the show from a technical standpoint. Sometime in the second act, though, it started to get to me. During “Far From the Home I Love,” a song I always found boring in our production, I started to well up with tears. There’s just something about following the man you love somewhere far away from your family…

Got up just in time this morning to catch the end of the Pep Rally live on the Internet. Of course, the crappy Windows Media Stream doesn’t like my computer so I don’t have any sound, but it was so cool to suddenly recognize that everyone was moving their arms in sync and to have the 1812 Overture start playing in my head. I haven’t seen any of the rumoured famous people yet. Are they there and I just can’t see them? (Mom’s apparently at the stadium right now so I’m hoping she’ll provide some pictures.)

Update: I just called Mom on her cell as they were leaving the stadium. Oh, so the fat guy was Rudy! I did not get that.

Ooh, Stipey got fugged! As the picture was loading (from the top) I was thinking, “Actually, that isn’t really too bad, even considering the scarf-thing…” and then the boots appeared and I was like, “… OH.”

Check it out! It’s Toast and Sakai! I know somebody who’s met an Iron Chef! (And if you came to our first Halloween party, you know him too! He was the proctologist.)