Holiday in Praia da Rocha, Portugal

Asti and I just returned from a few sunny days in Praia da Rocha, Portugal in the Algarve. Great vacation - great sun, great food, great wine. Beautiful place with lovely people.

Click on the photo to see the whole photo collection.

Flood of Spam Comments from China

I've resisted setting a word verification (captcha) on my blog for several years despite the increasing amount of spam posted as comments. In the beginning, the spam were comments with links to commercial sites ie porn, meds, get rich quick however, that's all changed now and for the past year or so the comments posted were solely Chinese ideogram spam. I'm tired of it and there's no other way to stop it than to require all comments be verified.

I hate spam and profoundly loathe its senders.

Speak Out for Freedom of Speech

Overheard in New York - on the subway

Angry commuter on cell phone ...

What the hell do you mean my flight has been cancelled?!?!
What kind of dog and pony show are you running with this airline?!?!
Give me one good reason…… did you just say a cloud of volcanic ash is spreading over Europe… seriously?
Okay, that’s good enough for me! Thanks for your time!

I thought Avatar was crap but this review details it so eloquently ;)

I hate Thunderbird

Curses upon Thunderbird and Mozilla! I hate them both. I wish them and all their minions 1000 years burning in hell. I trusted them when they told me I needed to update Thunderbird today, let Thunderbird update itself - and the bastards lost a mail folder's entire set of subfolders - which were where I stored ALL the emails from family and close friends. Arrrghhhhhh!!!!!They completely deleted them, they are gone, disappeared, not there - and yes, I checked in the application date area where Thunderbird stores mail.

Bastards. I hope they fry in hell.

Mothers Day in the UK

Astrid took me to Bath for a Mothers Day outing on Saturday. It's a 2.5 hour drive each way but we'd never been there before, always wanted to, and it combined 2 of my favorite things - an archeological site and a spa.
The archeological site is interesting - a surprising amount of the Roman baths remains including of course, the natural thermal springs. The modern spa built on part of the old site was an interesting experience but more suited to couples. The lavender steam room was really nice and their "lobster pot" style foot baths were amusing - Asti tried that but I don't know that it was a particular sensation. We didn't linger in any of their pools or whirlpools etc as there was too much couple action going on.

The Oscars

I was genuinely surprised and delighted with the Academy Awards this year. Of course, that's because I agreed with almost all their choices, the exceptions being mild and a "fair enough" imo.

I was hoping the Best Animated Film would go to The Secret of Kells - because I'm utterly smitten with this exquisite film. However, I liked Up and it was a charming film of the big-budget/major studio genre. It's just that The Secret of Kells is in the special and unique/haunts you forever genre.

I'm a fan of Sandra Bullock and consider her a class act all the way. So happy to see her get an Oscar.

And then we get to Best Film & Best Director and that was the big but delightful surprise. Hurt Locker is not and never will be "my sort of film" but it was a worthy film and an impressive and touching film. I watched it when it came out because my friend Bo said it was a must see. I trust his taste in films; he's had an almost 20 year successful run in good recommendations to me and hasn't steered me wrong yet. I agreed with his take on the film. I am just so pleased the film and moreso its director received the Best of award.

And now the time has come for my little reservoir of venom. I loathed Avatar and I am immeasurably pleased that neither the film nor its director won the award. When I watched Avatar I had a niggling feeling that it was somehow familiar, a real deja vu feeling. And I was right, it's a tarted up 3D, high end CGI Ferngully - and I loathed Ferngully when that came out, too. I won't continue because I truly thought this film was a piece of crap and the revenue it earned was just one more proof of H.L. Menkin's immortal words, "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people." Except in this case I would modify it by removing "American" because it applies to all people, everywhere. It was The Emperor's New Clothes. Etc, etc, etc.

Thus ends the lesson.
You may all go.

In other news, my father-in-law is driving down to London at the end of May to spend a few days visiting. We plan to take in a West End musical and have a family dinner somewhere nice afterward. And when he returns home, he will take the coach because he is leaving me his car! Yay! The people rejoice! I will be retiring my little 2 seater Mazda MX5 and driving his Honda from now on. Yay! Comfortable driving. Yay! Easy to get in and out of the car. Yay! It seats 5 in spacious comfort. Yay! It has a truck (boot) that can take an entire major grocery shopping or the normal luggage for 2 people going on a trip (actually it can hold generous amounts of luggage for 4). Yay! It has automatic steering - I'm ok with manual but my daughter only drives auto so finally we can share the driving on our road trips.
Yay!!!!! We can go out and offer friends a lift, we can invite friends to go with us. We can be sociable again.

My little Mazda MX5 is a sweetie. Dependable, thrifty with fuel, pleasant to drive. But we're getting too creaky to climb in and out of its tiny frame. Frankly, it's designed for short people, if you have long legs you are in trouble. And it's a convertible so it leaks a bit in heavy rain and the plastic back window is sort of a dead loss most of the time. I will miss driving with the top down on those rare warm, sunny days but not much else.

Do you speak English?

Exquisite - watch this video immediately!

Words for Women to Live By

1. Aspire to be Barbie - the bitch has everything.

2. If the shoe fits - buy them in every color.

3. Take life with a pinch of salt... A wedge of lime, and a shot of tequila.

4. In need of a support group? - Cocktail hour with the girls!

5. Go on the 30 day diet. (I'm on it and so far I've lost 15 days).

6. When life gets you down - just put on your big girl panties and deal with it.

7. Let your greatest fear be that there is no PMS and this is just your personality.

8. I know I'm in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here.

9. Lead me not into temptation, I can find it myself.

10. Don't get your knickers in a knot; it solves nothing and makes you walk funny.

11. When life gives you lemons in 2009 - turn it into lemonade then mix it with vodka.

12. Remember where ever there is a good looking; sweet, single or married man there is some woman tired of his bullshit!

13. Keep your chin up, only the first 40 years of parenthood are the hardest.

14. If it has Tires or Testicles it's gonna give you trouble.

15. By the time a women realizes her mother was right, she has a daughter who thinks she's wrong.

Australian Bush Poetry

Where the Dead Men Lie
Barcroft Henry Boake

Out on the wastes of the "Never Never,"
That's where the dead men lie,
There where the heat-waves dance forever,
That's where the dead men lie;
That's where the Earth's lov'd sons are keeping
endless tryst - not the west wind sweeping
feverish pinions, can wake their sleeping -
Out where the dead men lie!

Where brown Summer and Death have mated,
That's where the dead men lie,
Loving with fiery lust unsated,
That's where the dead men lie;
Out where the grinning skulls bleach whitely,
Under the saltbush sparkling brightly,
Out where the wild dogs chorus nightly,
That's where the dead men lie.

Deep in the yellow, flowing river,
That's where the dead men lie,
Under the banks where the shadows quiver,
That's where the dead men lie;
Where the platypus twists and doubles,
leaving a trail of tiny bubbles;
Rid at last of their earthly troubles,
That's where the dead men lie.

East and backward pale faces turning,
That's how the dead men lie;
Gaunt arms stretched with a voiceless yearning,
That's how the dead men lie;
Oft in the fragrant hush of nooning,
Hearing again their mother's crooning,
Wrapt for aye in a dreadful swooning,
That's how the dead men lie.

Nought but the hand of Night can free them;
That's when the dead men fly;
Only the frightened cattle see them -
See the dead men go by;
Cloven hoofs beating out one measure,
Bidding the stockman know no leisure,
That's when the dead men take their pleasure,
That's when the dead men fly.

Ask, too, the never-sleeping drover,
He sees the dead pass by,
Hearing them call to their friends - the plover,
Hearing the dead men cry.
Seeing their faces stealing, stealing,
Hearing their laughter pealing, pealing,
Watching their grey forms wheeling, wheeling
Round where the cattle lie.

Strangled by thirst and fierce privation -
That's how the dead men die
Out on "Moneygrub's" furthest station,
That's how the dead men die;
Hardfaced greybeards, youngsters callow,
Some mounds cared for, some left fallow,
Some deep down, yet others shallow,
Some having but the sky.

"Moneygrub" as he sips his claret
Looks with complacent eye
Down at his watch-chain, eighteen-carat,
There in his club hard by:
Recks not that every link is stamped with
Names of the men whose limbs are cramped with
Too long lying in grave-mould, camped with
Death where the dead men lie.

Crazy Cats

Charles Manson was 5'2"
That says so much, explains so much

SysAdmin appreciation day

Brilliant Ad Campaign by Frontier Airlines

Watch them all!!

W8ing4Godot

W8ing4Godot from 15 Second Film Festival on Vimeo.

This is the cutest commercial I've seen in a long time - for Tea

Funniest video I've seen in ages