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Can I just say that our “TiFaux” has officially changed my life? Now when I watch TV, I have a whole backlog of shows that I actually want to watch! Time-shifting is the bomb. This allows me to watch a lot more TV in less time, which gives me additional good feelings because I feel, like, efficient. Recent TV thoughts:

• Days of Our Lives – Oh my, could I have picked a better week to re-start watching Days? The Australian version has always been about four years behind the US one, which is convenient since that’s about when I stopped watching. Yet for some reason Channel 9 has decided to fast-forward through, like, 1200 episodes to catch us up to the US timeline. Thus yesterday we had Drake Hogestyn (with some nameless Aussie tart) hosting a special where they filled us in on all the storylines we’ll be missing. It was awesome. Kate married Roman? Austin jilted Sami? John and Marlena and Bo and Hope and Jack and Jen got married again? (Talk about 80’s redux.) Sheesh. At the end they filled us in on the whole “Salem Stalker” storyline that’s been going on for the past year, as well as revealing – dun, dun, dunnn – who the killer is. Shocking! I love it. I’m sad that they killed off some nice characters, but really, Maggie Horton hasn’t done anything but annoy me since Mike left. But hey, what’s up with the new Mickey? And who’s this “Bonnie” that he’s hanging out with? Isn’t she “Adrienne”, who used to play Patch’s sister back in the 80’s? Good grief, I can’t believe I knew that.
• The O.C. – This show is so great. The Snook and I actually high-fived during the big “Luke’s gay dad” reveal. How can they be cramming all the best teen drama cliches into the first year of episodes? Where the hell can they go next? We actually get two episodes this week, which makes me hope that Channel 10 is burning through them in time to get us relatively caught up with the US for the second season. (Secret confession: I prefer Anna to Summer, but I have a sinking feeling that Seth’s going to end up with the hoochie-mama. Smart girls always lose out.)
• Australian Idol – I haven’t really been paying much attention to the show this year but I happened to catch the live show last Sunday. Holy crap, everyone on it is really good! At least last year there were a couple definitively “evil” people to root against (like Cosima and Shannon). This year they’re all really nice and talented! I was actually worried going into last night’s verdict show. My favorite is Marty (for his bald head and geeky song choice) but there aren’t many that I think deserve to leave. Thank God it was Dan. I would have preferred Hayley – who seems a little Cosima-like in her ambition and cool demeanor – but Dan sunk himself when he dared to sing Creed. What was he thinking? Ideally, next to go will be Hayley and then Daniel (the opera minger with chimpanzee hair). Everyone else is too good!

Now I’m off to indulge in yet some more low-brow entertainment. The Snook and I are going to see Dodgeball and we plan to laugh ourselves silly! (Don’t tell the intelligentsia, but we find people getting whacked in the nuts pretty funny.)

Huh. So this is what everybody in Chippendale is going to look like in ten years. Neat.

Oh, Spike. *sob* I feel like Drusilla when she realized how lame you were for liking Buffy.

Kevin pointed me to this excellent review of the new Star Wars original trilogy DVD box set. I especially liked the shots showing exactly what George has changed from the original. Greedo still shoots first (but only barely), Jabba looks better in the new scenes, Ian McDiarmid has been inserted as the emperor, and (yuck) Hayden Christensen appears as Anakin’s ghost. It’s going on the wish list…

Hahaha… Andrew has captured a classic picture of our little family on CouchCam. Nice one, mate!

What a beautiful bright spring day! I headed into the city (after the Snook’s and my customary Sunday brunch of pancakes, bacon, and The Amazing Race) to meet up with the Sydney Stitch and Bitch girls. Eventually there were four of us in all: me, Miss Helen, Katherine, and Belle (who is between blogs at the moment). We chatted about knitting and Australian Idol and Spiderbait and everything else under the sun. Our fabulous knitting skills also seemed to draw a lot of attention from the wandering tourists. (I think next time we should put out a hat for change. Performance knitting!) We also had a couple run-ins with ibis, which scare the crap out of me. I’d trade them for squirrels in a heartbeat!

Miss Helen being menaced by an ibis…

Katherine working on a lovely Zhivago sweater sleeve…

Belle working on a scarf, possibly…

Another evil ibis tried to eat our cookies!

Me!

Congratulations to Hoey and Brigid, who welcomed their new baby daughter Molly last weekend. What a sweetie! I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that a guy who once gave a friend of mine a three-pound salt lick as a gift before a dance now has a child, is an actual parent. What a fun Dad he’s going to be. 🙂

Holy crap! Notre Dame beat Michigan. Oh, how I love typing those words. “Notre Dame students ran out on the field to celebrate the win, turning the field into a sea of green with their green T-shirts.” I know exactly how those students felt. I can still remember how exciting the build-up was for the Michigan game was in 1998. They were the defending National Champs and this was the season opener. I remember buying a bootleg T-shirt to commemorate “The Game” (I passed on the infamous “Muck Fichigan” design). I don’t think I actually believed we’d win. My teams never win. Yet there we were, pulling ahead in the fourth quarter. I remember my friend Bryan turning to look at our group in the stands and announcing, “I’ll meet you guys on the 50-yard-line.” The security guards didn’t even try to stop the flood. I remember hugging and cheering on the grass as photos snapped around us. I remember dancing as we eventually got to march up out of the stadium through the tunnel. I remember students splashing in Stonehenge and singing the fight song. I remember running back to my dorm room to call my Dad and try to explain how momentous everything felt right then. I know that it was just a football game, but it was truly one of the greatest shared experiences of my life. I don’t know that I’ve ever been so sincerely and un-ironically bonded with everyone around me since that day. It was awesome.

And then we lost, like, a week later. Naturally. But I still remember The Game.

If any of you Sydneysiders are up for an outdoor stitch ‘n’ bitch, Miss Helen has arranged (via a Yahoo Group) for a bunch of us to meet up in Hyde Park tomorrow. As long as the rain holds off, I’ll be at the Archibald Fountain around 12:30. See you there!

The new Knitty is here! Things I like: lacy wrap, funky skirt/poncho, ninja turtleneck, awesome pleated skirt, and not martha‘s amazingly cool retro knitted wig. This article on weaving in ends is one of the best I’ve seen on the subject. (I’ll be trying that method on the cardigan I’m working on.) My nose also appreciated this article on knitting-related allergies. Best issue yet, I’d say!