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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

mmmm.... CAKE, my fav!

My Christmas present for this year is coming next year. Cake (the band) is releasing their new album, 'Showroom of Compassion' on January 11 (Happy Birthday Jeff!).
My pre-order went in as soon as it was available, which means my Vinyl LP copy will be SIGNED BY THE BAND!!!!

This album's been a long time coming: Cake's last release was the "B-sides and Rarities" compilation in 2007. The last new music album was "Pressure Chief" in 2004 (when they toured Australia and I saw them LIVE). Last year they re-released their first album, "Motorcade of Generosity", digitally remastered & beautiful.

Here's the band talking about the Showroom of Compassion and the first official music video from it (Sick of You):


From the Archives: Party time!

Do you know what makes a good party?
This 1950 Coronet Instructional Film can help both host and guest!




from Archive.org

Saturday, December 18, 2010

See? Drunk tourists are good for something!

Look out sharks! Drunk Serbs are around!

Basically, a shark was eating people, so this drunk tourist jumped on its head, killing it.
He was hospitalised... for ALCOHOL POISONING!!

Hit the link for the Mina news article: MINA Breaking News


Friday, December 17, 2010

A Christmas Wish List

I'm not expecting anything on this list to appear under my tree this year, but one of the fun things about Christmas is sending Santa your wish-list! If you know someone like me, here are some ideas!


iPad: If you don't know why someone like me would want one of these, you either don't really know someone like me, or you need to learn more about what an ipad is!

Cr-48: I don't really need one, and I'm know there are better notebooks around, but the Cr-48 is exclusive! And it's perfect for the OS tinkering I like to do- nothing fancy, just trying out different distro's of Linux.

Saddleback Leather Co Bag: The manliest man-bags around!

A tailored suit: A man's gotta look sharp!

Camping gear: Since coming to Broken HIll, I've been on a few creek-bed sleep-outs. I'd love to get my own gear to head off for a weekend every now and then. Oh yeah, Tab likes camping too.

Tools: Tab and I have some tools, but there are a few that would be handy and others that make my toolbox frequently inadequate! Top of the list includes: a drill bit set, a jigsaw and my circular saw could use a new blade. A router would be awesome, as would a Dremel set.

Timber/building supplies: Honestly, some planks of Australian hardwood would make an awesome present, even just sticks of pine would be useful! Timber is expensive, so getting some as a gift would enable me to build an assortment of projects- shelves, cabinets, a larger chook pen..

Cigars/pipe: I know, smoking is bad for you- really bad, but I currently don't smoke at all, and would only like to take it up as a luxury (once or twice a week at most). Like coffee, I enjoy the ritual and 'earthy manliness' more than the taste etc- hence cigarettes are not very appealing to me.

A bottle of Port: Who doesn't love to sit down at the end of the day to admire his handiwork with his pipe/cigar in one hand and a glass of port in the other?

Well, that's my brief list! Of course, there are a plethora of other things I'd love, but just haven't thought of them right now- also, often the best gifts are ones the person didn't even know they liked!


Wednesday, December 15, 2010

5 Cool Games- name your price!

Follow the link below to humblebundle.com! For 6 more days, you can buy a bundle of 5 great games by indie developers that are compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux!!
The best part? You decide what the bundle is worth to you!
That's right: YOU decide what you're going to pay!!!!!1!!11!!

Also great: part of the payment goes to charity!
Exclamation marks!!!!

The Humble Indie Bundle #2

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Google's plans- creepy, but helpful

Cool, but a bit big-brotherly creepy (and I don't mean my siblings)- using your location and what you are doing atm, google wants to send you info before you ask for it!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

NASA=excitement fail

A good summary (comixed.memebase.com)

I don't know if the Australian mainstream media got wind of NASA's announcement about arsenic-based life last week or not (I heard from everyone's fav nerd news aggregator, slashdot.org), so here's the rub:

29 Nov: NASA releases this media alert, making it sound like they found something really awesome!

2 Dec: NASA Press conference/release explains that a bacteria in some lake in California apparently is using arsenic in a way the rest of life uses phosphorus.
The world is disappointed- the internets cry "Come on, NASA! :| Bacteria? On Earth? Surely you could do better" (just check out the comments on the slashdot page).

Now, the latest is a whole bunch of people are saying the study is crap! A good summary of criticisms can be found in this 7 Dec article from Slate.com.

Way to go NASA! Freaking awesome! First, you make us think you've found ET, then tell us it's only bacteria - and you didn't even leave the country?!? On top of that it was a really poor study?
Just go back to getting us on mars, ok?
BTW, where's my moon-city? It's late.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

NMovember/early December 2010

Movember is over and Christmas is upon us! 
So far, the counted donations for our Movember Team have reached $730!! About $200 more is expected to clear the bank soon too. This is a great result. Thanks to all who donated! 
Not only did my team raise such a great figure, but almost all the information leaflets we made available have gone! The guide to what works for depression was the most popular, having only 10 copies they disappeared fast. Also going quick were the Beyond Blue flyers for Depression in Men.

My goatee is coming back well. I'll try and find some pics from Movember to post this week.

Study:
My Spring Semester uni results were released this week! I'm happy with the marks. For the 3 units I did, my marks were 72-73-73, all credits. Not too bad, since I felt like I bombed the exam for the 72 mark. This makes my GPA so far 5.333, which is just above a credit (4=pass, 5=credit, 6=distinction, 7=high distinction).
I hope I can keep it up- I've got chemistry this semester, which I've heard lots of people say is hard :( 
The other subjects I'm enrolled in for Autumn are Epidemiology and Science in Society, which look interesting.

That's all for now,
Andrew

Friday, December 10, 2010

Saturday, October 23, 2010

September, October, Movember!

I've decided to participate in Movember this year.
If you aren't familiar with Movember here are the basics:
  • People sign up to participate
  • On November 1, all the guys shave their facial hair off
  • For the month of November, men grow moustaches
  • While doing this, everyone raises awareness and funds for men's health issues (especially prostate cancer and male depression).

I like my facial hair as it is, but this issue is important to me, so I'm doing it. I'm hoping to get a few guys to join me as a team. I'd like to have my team raise a few hundred dollars over the month. 

According to the Movember website, 3300 men will die from prostate cancer this year. That's tragic.
1 in 8 men will experience depression in their lifetime. Help is available. 

According to Lifeline Australia, suicide is the leading cause of death for people under 44 in Australia. That's unacceptable.

I urge you to participate. Do something. Anything to help.

You can donate through my 'mospace' page, or directly to The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Beyond Blue or Lifeline.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Know Your Cuts: Beef

Last week I found some cool old books and recipe cards at the tip. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of the posters, cards and ads from them all. 
To start, we have some posters that came with a recipe card set from the Australian Cookery Club. The set seems to be from around the mid-70s and is in quite good condition. 
Click for a closer look!


From The Australian Cookery Club circa 1976

Friday, October 8, 2010

Odds, ends and very odds...

I've been a bit busy over the last while, with assignments and trips to Sydney and what-not. Here's a rapid-fire of the posts I forgot to post:

1. Neat finds at the tip!
8mm film projector in excellent condition, with original box!

8mm film camera with original box, instructions and carry-case all in excellent condition too!!

The front of the projector.

2. We saw our baby (the other one)!
It's a girl, but no name yet.

3. I had a birthday!


4. I got my full licence!


5. Addie turned 1!
We had a party and presents and stuff.
Presents!

"Don't you love the big pink cake I made you, Addie? Addie?"

How about a very hungry caterpillar cake?
6. We went to Sydney!
Due to the distance Addie spent a lot of time in her car seat:
Asleep on the way home.

While we were there I decided to test my morning manliness capabilities:
Manliness: oozing from every pore!

...and Addie stuffed herself with cake and sweets where ever we went (Grandparents don't help):


7. We returned to peas!
Our pea plants were covered in ripe peas when we returned, and heaps of flowers had blossomed too!
Freshly picked

Those that made it to the bowl after being shelled.

8. Last but not least, Tab's looking Fab!
What a beauty!

Catch you all soon!



Friday, August 20, 2010

Happy Election Day!

Well, by Sunday we should know who the Prime Minister is for the next while.
Last time, I did an informal vote on purpose. I didn't know much about the different parties and didn't really have definite views anyway.
I was on team that year and we were asked to hand out flyers for the CDP at one of the local voting places for an hour or two. When I got there, I found the flyers called for a total stop to Muslim immigration- something that sounds rather discriminatory for a secular society like Australia. So, I didn't hand them out very enthusiastically.
This election, I've reviewed a lot of parties' policies (ALP, Lib, Greens, LDPCDP, Family First, The Sex Party and The Secular Party -even Senator Online [which I find ridiculous as it would be totally dominated by trolls]) and controversially (among Christian circles, at least) I've decided to mostly go Green.
I don't agree with all their policies (notably the abortion and gay marriage issues), but i do agree with most of them and their general ethos. The "Christian" parties (CDP and FF) make me cringe and the "Anti-Christian" parties (Sex and Secular Parties) go too far in the other direction. The two major parties don't seem to make a hard stand on issues that actually matter to me (like climate change) and I don't want to throw my vote away again.
I encourage every one to go check out the different parties, make up your own mind, put together your preferences and vote like you mean it!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

It's My Birthday!

Today marks my 26th birthday.
I feel the past couple of years have seen me grow a lot.
Getting married and having a child has made me really think about the kind of man I am and the kind I want to be. It's amazing how these kinds of life events change your perspective.
3 years ago I would have thought the idea of committing to a 4 year (at 3-quarter pace) degree was horrible, but now I've committed myself to a lifetime with Tab and Addie (and more soon) so 4 years to be able to better provide for us all doesn't seem too big a deal.
Previously, I had struggled to make a 5-year plan. Now 5-years seems rather short-term.

Today I read this article from NYTimes about "emerging adulthood". Seems rather appropriate.
Here's a quote:

During the period he calls emerging adulthood [roughly 18-30 years old -A. S], Arnett says that young men and women are more self-focused than at any other time of life, less certain about the future and yet also more optimistic, no matter what their economic background. (p4.)
Apparently this is revolutionary stuff for the field- to establish a new 'age group', just as it was when we first started talking about adolescence as a separate time of life to childhood and adulthood.

I found some of the quotes from young people echoed what I felt/thought just a few years ago:

 “It’s somewhat terrifying,” writes a 25-year-old named Jennifer, “to think about all the things I’m supposed to be doing in order to ‘get somewhere’ successful: ‘Follow your passions, live your dreams, take risks, network with the right people, find mentors, be financially responsible, volunteer, work, think about or go to grad school, fall in love and maintain personal well-being, mental health and nutrition.’ When is there time to just be and enjoy?” Adds a 24-year-old from Virginia: “There is pressure to make decisions that will form the foundation for the rest of your life in your 20s. It’s almost as if having a range of limited options would be easier.” (p.6)
Julie, a 23-year-old New Yorker and contributor to “20 Something Manifesto,” is apparently aware of this. She was coddled her whole life, treated to French horn lessons and summer camp, told she could do anything. “It is a double-edged sword,” she writes, “because on the one hand I am so blessed with my experiences and endless options, but on the other hand, I still feel like a child. (p. 7)
Today, on my 26th birthday, I really feel like I have grown out of this stage and further toward a man than an "emerging adult".

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Create more, Consume less...

A blog I love to read is The Art of Manliness. They just launched The Trunk and The Library of Random Man-Knowledge and have a great repository of articles in the archive. In April, Brett (&Kate) McKay, who runs the site, posted an article titled "Creating and Consuming: How to be Mature". The main motto of the article is "create more, consume less".
What a great motto!

Give it a read sometime.

I do think that there needs to be a balance between our consumption and creation, but in today's western culture there is a great need to be careful what we consume. Often people go a long time without any thought as to what it is that they are consuming from other sources- TV, radio, music, movies, books, the internets....
Much of what is out there is not wholesome (to say the least) and is unhelpful for a healthy, godly or peaceful life.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Some pics of Addie

Here's some shots of Addie from the last week or so!
It's nearly her 1st birthday!
Exclamation mark!



Gimme the camera!
Under the table at a party

Banana!


Look at those teeth (between the banana).

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

I haven't forgotten to blog...

I haven't I swear. Ok, maybe I did.
A quick update:
- I went on a Desert Camp to Sturt Meadows and Mutawintgee National Park
- Tab had a scan and the new bub is good.
- We just got a Digital Set-top box.
- I'm back at uni for the spring semester.
- We've ordered cool new stuff for our computers: The Mac box set and Office 2008.
- Addie's in her own room (my study is now in our bedroom)

That's all for now. More soon.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Breakfast: The Most Important Meal

As we all know, a good breakfast can set you up for a great day. Even Adelaide (not yet 10 months old!) knows the importance of this meal and has been making her views abundantly clear to all those nearby in the mornings.
The offending bowl
Addie has been having 'wheat biscuits' for brekkie and every time she reaches the end of the bowl, she howls. The past couple of days we've even given her a bit more to eat, but the result is the same.
This morning there were really sad tears. You would have been forgiven for thinking I had pinched her and eaten her brekkie in front of her (I didn't!). I haven't seen her that sad for a while.

So make sure you have a good breakfast. But don't feel you have to cry when it's over.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Caught 2nd Handed



Broken Hill has a great second hand market. There are community markets often, garage sales every weekend, op-shops, 2nd hand furniture and bric-a-brac stores and the town tip even resells stuff tossed in (relatively) good condition. Tab and I love to find the treasures hidden in these places.
Over the past 3 days, I have made 4 trips to the tip shop (making a purchase every time!), plus 1 trip to the Lifeline yard (where they sell 2nd hand stuff other than clothes- which go to the Lifeline op-shop).
Tab accompanied me on 3 out of the 5 trips.
Here's our haul:
Bird Cage, mini sewing machine, drink cooler, toolbox, portable turntable, sewing machine, sprinkler, steriliser and typewriter
The best finds of the lot are definitely the typewriter (which Tab has already written several letters on) and the stereo. Tab's research makes us think the typewriter is from the 1920s! Although we're not expecting the stereo to work, we think it may be repairable (a practice that we are becoming increasingly proficient in). Even if we can't repair it, we think it's nice and would make a great show-piece in a shed/garage/workroom.
Here's the two in all their glory:
Typewriter: $2
Sanyo portable record player/radio: $5
Bonus round:
In the bag for the mini-sewing machine, Tab found an extra little prize!
Finding a needle in the bag: priceless
Tab theorises that some little old lady with diabetes left in there. I'm more suspicious- I think it was robot ninjas injecting themselves with space-age nanotech biotronic laser powers while they sewed new ninja masks to disguise their grotesque robot faces. Naturally, they needed to use a mini sewing machine to be more discrete about their plans to destroy mankind. 


Thursday, June 10, 2010

Dad Songs

As a young father, I see it as my pleasure duty to occasionally act the fool. Please don't misunderstand, I definitely do not believe this to be the only role for the modern day Dad. But, showing/teaching kids 'fun' is also important. I find one of the best ways to do this with Addie, or to just entertain her, is with 'Dad songs'.
Dad songs are kid's songs or nursury rhymes with words changed to be a little bit rude/funny.
Here are some of my favorites:

To the tune of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star':
Twinkle, twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Daddy says you're a ball of gas,
Mummy says that he's an ass.
Twinkle, twinkle Little star,
How I wonder what you are!

also,
Tinkle, tinkle in the bath,
Make your brothers and sisters laugh!
When the water turns to brown,
That's right when they'll all frown.
Tinkle tinkle in the bath,
Make your brothers and sisters laugh!


To the tune of 'Hey, diddle, diddle':
Hey diddle, diddle,
The cat did a piddle,
In the middle of the kitchen floor!
The little dog laughed to see such fun,
So the cat did a little bit more!


To no tune in particular:
(My Dad taught me this one when I was a kid)
Ask your Mother for sixpence,
To see the big Giraffe.
With freckles on whiskers,
And Pimples on his...
Ask you mother for sixpence,
To see the big Giraffe (continue repeating ad nauseam)



Wednesday, June 9, 2010

El Jacketeet-o

For a while I've been drooling over the custom odd-jackets/sport-coats at A Tailored Suit. Currently these are out of my price range, but op shops are just right. The other day we were at St James' op shop down in South Broken Hill, next door to Patton Park. While Tab looked at everything else, I looked at the small men's section in the corner and found some jackets.
Unfortunately, my eye for sizing is not very good, so when Tab was nearly done, I enlisted her to find the larger ones for me to try on. We picked this nice jacket from the back and I'm looking forward to the next opportunity to wear it.
I love the 'aged' look on photos

For more info on odd-jackets, sport-jackets and men's fashion, consult A Tailored Suit's Style Guide and Art of Manliness' Dress and Grooming section.

Dress sharp Gents.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Build her a cake or something...

Tab and Addie went away for about 10 days last week. While they were gone, I thought I should do something for them when they got back, so I got my bake on.
I picked out a cookbook that looked pretty simple and found the cakes section. I picked the "French Coffee Cake" recipie becasue I like coffee and it looked easy.
My first attempt was a flop. It didn't rise, was really crumbly and just didn't have that "cake" goodness.
My second attempt was awesome!
These were the first cakes I'd made since home-economics in junior high-school, hence the pride.
Here's some pics of the cakey-goodness:



It was pretty tasty too!

Monday, June 7, 2010

*drool* Saddleback Leather Co.

There are some things that are just cool. There are some things that seem to manly without trying (but could be used by a woman without her looking too masculine). There are some things that scream 'rugged' and 'style' all at once.
Just about anything from the Saddleback Leather Company fills all these criteria.
My latest drool-fest is over their Medium 'Dark Coffee Brown' Travel Case.
Medium Dark Coffee Brown
...and yes, that is awesome
 I think Dave (the guy behind Saddleback) nicely summarises what it is and what it's for:
I set out to make a great toiletry bag, but ended up using it for my tools, then my hot wife commandeered the small one for her makeup.  I've heard it's "perfect" for lunches, first aid, sewing, ammunition, organizing desks and trucks and for all that medicine old people have to take.
 Personally, I really like the idea of having one of these as my toiletry bag, and a small one for ammo when I'm out hunting wabbits (when I eventually get a licence & gun).
There are two sizes (Small and Medium) and four colours available (Tobacco, Carbon Black, Dark Coffee Brown and Chestnut). Prices are US$164 for medium and US$147 for small. As the site quotes Pasquale: "Buy the best: Cry once"

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Funny blog: Dads Being Funny

As a Dad, I see it as my duty to say/act stupid sometimes. Most people call these 'moments' Dad-jokes. Well, I stumbled upon a blog completely made up of photos of Dads in the middle of Dad-jokes.
Go to dadsbeingfunny.com to enjoy the hilarity (or maybe pick up some ideas for your next opportunity.
Sample:
Wugga Wugga: I'm a bushman
My head's in a circle! 
Call the game warden!
If you have any photos of Dad's being funny, please submit them to the blog at dadsbeingfunny.gmail.com . 

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Repost: Open Dictionary

I must admit, I use the dictionary built into OS X a lot. Whether to choose the right word or to understand one, it's a handy tool. But as always, internet-land has some tricks. You won't always find the right meaning of a word in common parlance online in a regular dictionary-
For example, this is the entry for 'leet' in the Oxford Dictionary that the Mac app uses:
Not exactly what I think H0m13_d4wg_1998 meant on the forum.
Urbandictionary.com has been the go-to guy for this problem, with questionable results.
The great thing about urbandictionary.com is that every-day interweb users can post their own definition of any word. That means that H0m13_d4wg_1998 can tell me exactly what he means when he says 'leet', in his own words.
The problem is that definitions may be offensive, irrelevant or just plain wrong (look at the list of definitions for leet as an example).
Macmillan Dictionary has an answer: Open Dictionary. Basically, the concept is still one of user-submitted definitions, but now instead of being voted up and down the page by other users, the good people at Macmillan do the editing, adding the definition to their mainstream dictionary when appropriate.

Open Dictionary by Macmillan Dictionary via LifeHacker

Repost: Wind Farms

If you ever wondered how wind power works, or what those giant fans do?
Here's a great summary from fakescience.tumblr.com.

Introducing My Family

As it says in the About page, I am married with (currently) one child. My wife, Tab runs the blog Small Things. She is lovely. She is a very good cook, crafter, mother, blogger, seamstress and wife. She does other stuff good too. I think she looks pretty darn good too.


Adelaide was born in September last year. She's a great crawler. Addie only started crawling a few weeks ago, but she gets around rather quick now. I think her favourite toys at the moment are her toy phone and wooden spoon. Addie really likes being upside-down. Tab's blog has some great pics of both of them (and some good reading too).

Both Tab and I like 1950s/60s era stuff- be it music, advertising or furniture. I came to the 1950s interest by listening to a "hits of the 60s" cd set my Mum bought from Danoz direct or something. Tab (I think) got right into it when she worked at Bell's Milkbar in South Broken Hill. It was while she was working there that we began to court (but that's another story).

Sunday, May 16, 2010

With Two Legs

Hi y'all!
Allow me to introduce With Two Legs. This blog is a place for me to share my life experiences. My main aim is to share with you and remind myself of the things that make me feel alive- be it pain, joy, people, places, ideas, nature, whatever.
The name -with two legs- comes from the G. K. Chesterton book Man Alive. The book starts with a young man recounting how he had received a telegram from an old school friend which showed the past acquaintance to be quite mad. The telegram read:
Man found alive with two legs.
The rest of the story is quite intriguing. It details how this man brings apparent schoolboy madness to the house. It is the same kind of madness (but brought about in a very different way) as conjured by Mary Poppins in that great Disney film.  I like to think quietly to myself that the madman Innocent Smith in Chesterton's novel may indeed be the father in Mary Poppins reincarnate (after he came back from his frolic with the kites- he was much too stuffy beforehand).
I have chosen this name because it is this infatuation with life that is so profuse that it is mistaken for madness which I desire to portray in my life. This blog is (hopefully) my record of my journey to achieve this as a father, son, brother, husband, student, worker, man, believer, person.
Of course, the reality is that this blog will probably be a lot less noble than all that. You'll see reposts of stuff I think is cool, photos and stories from my life and home and hopefully some stuff that is helpful to you.
If you ever have a suggestion for the blog in general or a post, go ahead and post it in the comments, or (when I get to putting it up) use the contact form.

Hope you enjoy it (with two legs)!