Happy Birthday in Litchfield Park

HAPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!....For half a month ago!

It was Gideon's 30th birthday on the 11th of Feb. It was a bit of a quiet affair given we don't know a heap of people here. The night before we went back to Discovery nightclub for some dancing. It was a mixed bag. The previous time we had gone it was Australia Day, so they had guest DJ's who played dance music all night. This time they played a mix of R&B and dance, and it wasn't necessarily all good dance. We did stay out till about 3.30 or 4 though.

We started off Saturday with me making sausage rolls while Gideon spent about an hour following a very painful path of clues to find his presents (if any of you visit, you may get to see them :P). Not sure if he enjoyed it, but there were word finds, computer spreadsheets and all!

Then we headed off for a day trip to Litchfield National Park. Very beautiful. It was a touch hot, but luckily there were some waterfalls at the end of the drive.

Gideon & I cool down at Buley Rockhole.

Florence Falls

Wangi Falls
Unfortunately because of Wet season, Wangi falls were closed off for swiming due to strong currents and potential for crocs.

For you gamers out there, here's a fun link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxSdKF5Fd38

On the workfront: Still unemployed :( I seriously thought it would be easier than this. Did finally get some temp work for a few days which is at least something. Ironically I was sitting in on job interviews and taking notes for a government department. I don't know how much they really needed me, and they let me take the work home to type up a report - very trusting and very Government I think! Am also coming to the conclusion that employment consultants are a little on the incompetent side. One forgot to tell me what time an interview I had was and then what time to turn up at the Govt job to start work (she said she would e-mail the details), she also didn't tell me that I would need to get my supervisor to sign my timesheet, so I had to go back today. Another consultant lined up an interview for me which I as a little dubious about (the company would provide training even though I would only be there for 6 months), and as I was walking out the door to go the interview, I got a phone call telling me the interview was cancelled because they wanted someone long term. She also never calls me, so I have to keep following up with her. Oh well. On the upside, I've met with TIO (Territory Insurance Office) who said they would contact me if any project work comes up, and yesterday I went to a "job interview" with a financial planner who was really nice and said, we are not going to hire you (you are over qualified and we want someone long term), but he is going to pass on my details to other firms. So cross fingers something comes of it all. In the meantime, I guess I'm just going to have to join as many temp agencies as possible.

Happy belated Valentine's to you all as well! We celebrated on the weekend after. Gideon got me some lovely roses, and took me out for a sushi train lunch. Then for dinner he made me close my eyes so that he could take me to a secret spot. After 15mins of driving around we ended up at my favourite Vietnamese place down the road (3min drive!).

Other than that, not much going on besides the job hunting. Gideon is cramming in some (manual) driving lessons, so that I can drive the mini while he is away. He is going to be away for almost a four weeks (with a 1 day return in the middle). :~( So you guys are going to have to write and keep me occupied!

And the after that I'll be back in Melbourne! I touch down on the morning of Sat 24th March and leave on the evening of Mon 2nd April. I hope to catch up with all of you! There will definitely be a pubnight and some salsa (I'm hoping to try and combine the two), plus some other dinners and brunches hopefully.

In farewell - a couple of sunset shots from our balcony (excuse the power lines) and the usual movie reviews. :)

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Movie Reviews
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Stranger than Fiction: 3.75/5

Cast: Will Ferrell (Old School), Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie), Emma Thompson (Sense & Sensibility), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Secretary)

In a nutshell: Very good, in the vein of Eternal Sunshine, but not quite there.

Brief Synopsis: A tax accountant starts to hear a voice in his head narrating his life, when she lets slip that he is going to die, he endeavours to stop his death.

This sort of movie is right slap bang near the top of my taste meter - I love quirky movies. Think Kaufman. Ferrell is not "feral" to quote Margaret Pomeranz, he is very restrained and you don't feel the need to slap him like you normally do in his movies. Hoffman and Thompson are class acts, as always. There is so much originality, freshness, suspense and human emotion in this, it is a pleasure to watch.


Music & Lyrics: 2.5/5

Cast: Hugh Grant (About a Boy), Drew Barrymore (E.T.)

In a nutshell: A bit more chemistry than he had with Sandra Bullock, and maybe a bit more fun, but really not much more.

Synopsis: An ageing popstar must write a song in order to resurrect his career, but he hasn't written in over 10 years.

This is paint by numbers for Hugh Grant... the dude has great comic timing. The plot starts off well, good basis for some good laughs and a little sprinkling of romance, but it just doesn't go anywhere particularly exciting. There's little or no sexual tension between the characters, and I blame that more on the script rather than the actors, and what is a good rom com without some sexual tension? Drew is a little underused, or her character is just rather lame - both probably apply. It's still watchable, and fun, but most of the laughs come from Hugh Grant's dodgey dancing, and we've already seen that in Love Actually.


The Inconvenient Truth: 4/5

Cast: Al Gore

In a nutshell: Everyone should watch this

Brief Synopsis: Documentary about Al Gore and his passion for the global warming issue

How Al Gore lost the US Presidential Election to George Bush Jnr will remain a mysterious phenomenon for all time. Watching someone who is a charasmatic speaker, talk about something that he is tremendously passionate about and back it up with cold hard facts (and beautiful graphs!! hehe) is inspirational. It made me cry, it made me laugh, it made me feel ashamed, astonished and outraged. Most fictional movies won't do that for you.


The Devil Wears Prada: 3/5

Cast: Anne Hathaway (The princess diaries), Meryl Streep (Death becomes her), Stanley Tucci (Road to Perdition)

In a nutshell: I'm sure I have seen this one before, naive young person tries to make good in the big city but not before overcoming an adversary and sorting out their own issues.

Brief Synopsis: Budding journalist with no dress sense goes to work at a fashion magazine for the editor from hell.

I am not sure why there was so much hype surrounding this movie. It just seemed like many other movies I've seen before, I could not see anything special about it. It is not bad, by all means, both Streep and Hathaway give decent performances, but I probably enjoyed Stanley Tucci's performance the most. The pretense is vaguely amusing, but in the end, it follows a very old formula. There are no suprises here. Possibly the best bits were the fashion and the fact that Ugly Betty has hit our screens (surely it is based on the movie/book?).