I'm not talking about illicit narcotics here.
Advertising and spin have a strange effect on me. I'm simultaneously intrigued and disgusted. Companies spending mega bucks on continuing to increase their ever swelling massive profit margins, the consumer being hoodwinked into handing over their hard earned, simple truths ignored for gimmicky tricks. All of which play into some seriously vague and unattainable vision of what We ( as humans, Australians, women/men etc) are SUPPOSED to be.
And I say this as a reformed advertiser myself.
I left the ad world for teaching, and have never regretted it. I loved the people I worked with, especially those that loved their job, but I thought it was a sad indictment on the society we live in that the most creative minds we have, the most talented artists, writers, photographers, use their talents to persuade people to buy shit they don't need. Instead of just art for art's sake.
Ah, crap. I really don't mean to sound like Judgy McJudge. This really isn't what this rant was MEANT to be about.
Advertising HAS brought some more golden gems into my life - as well as my pals from the agency lunch table. Gruen. 30 Seconds. Mad Men (HOLY CRAP!! Just realised I have written NOTHING on Mad Men!!! How is this possible??!?!). This Old Spice ad.
I try to remember some of these good things when I get a boiling ad rant going...
But...
Have you seen these?
All these photos via Coca Cola Australia's FB page
As if the whole thing wasn't pissing me off enough already, some clown needs to bring the toxicity of Twilight into the equation
Notice anything?
Where is the representation of multicultural Australia? Where is Phu? Karma? Tamieka? Wallid? Teik Kim? At what point did the Brand Manager of Coke say "Yep. Our market here in Australia is all whitey white. Let's make them feel special about that."
And OK, my sample is not wide here. The bottles stocked in the West Bubblefuck servo may well be especially selected for our arch- Anglo demographic. Yes you CAN order your own custom bottle or can from the FB page, but they have to make choices about the ones they send to the supermarket shelves, right? Perhaps they corner shops in Cabbramatta and Lygon St are more reflective of the rich depth of cultures that we have in this country.
The first home I can remember was in Manly. Well, Fairlight to be more precise. And returning to it today was a true assault to the memory. The Corso smells the same. The Esplanade has the same wind whipped sensation. The bus stop mirrors the past perfectly, I could almost see my friends huddled in wait for a late night bus, after we had played a sweaty, smoky game of laser tag, and eaten our own body weight in Royal Copenhagen ice-cream.
And to make matters even more comfortable, the whole place is draped in maroon and white, anticipating a great Sea Eagles victory on Grand Final Day this Sunday. I spend a fair bit of my life at The Boy Factory, and in various watering holes across QLD & NSW defending my love of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. There are not many of us out there that are true believers in the Silver Tails. As HG Nelson said "Everybody hates Manly. Except a few people who grew up in the Brookvale area."
But I love them. And most of the people I went to school with love them too.
My first proper boyfriend busted out the smooth moves at Brookvale Oval. Or perhaps I played the damsel-in-distress My Hands Are Cold card... Anyway, we ended up holding hands. I didn't mind much that Cronulla beat us that night. I was too busy swooning.
Brookvale Oval was a very great place for a date in the following years. Cheap, seeing as Dad snuck me a $4 entry players card from when he was coaching the school team. And demonstrating me to be the kind of chick that likes football, that isn't afraid to sit on a hill, that doesn't need the cliche girly treatment.
I understand the hatred from the other clubs. I understand the perception of the Silvertails from the fancypants Northern Beaches, in the working class game of Rugby League. Incidentally, the docoThe Fibros and The Silvertails is a brilliant film for looking at sports, journalism and identity with junior students. Works wonders with Year 8. But I digress...
Last night, my friend Jase used my love of Manly as a kickstarter for conversation at the pub. The aghast looks I received I found laughable. I was with a hard core St George supporter, a Souths player and a Queenslander. Not much support for Sea Eagles there.
So after swanning about with the lahdidah set in the city's east, I now feel a little more at home. Seeing palm trees wound with my team colours, and the wings of a spread eagle snapping on flags atop awnings and car rooves is comforting beyond belief.
Term 3 is notoriously hectic. Near hellish, really. Shunting Yr12 out the gates in a fitting celebration, with minimal casualties. Cranking Yr11 up into their HSC year. Trialling Yr10 in the last school certain ever. Mania is a word that begins to cover it.
So now I have escaped West Bubblefuck to the increasingly unfamiliar sites of The Big Smoke. Considering I grew up here, moved back here and lived here for most of my adult life, I am somewhat surprised by how much of a tourist I am here now. The fact that I am staying in the uber-alienating leafy Woollhara, with the Yummy Mummy set and gentlemen who punctuate their sentences with "dahling" and the sound of them kissing their own teeth... Is is any wonder I am feeling a tad of an Outsider??
In West Bubblefuck, I think the Locals tend to consider ME out there. Latte sipping (even though my addiction is soley The Flat White), lefty, trendy tshirt wearing, artsy and a bit too opinionated for a chick. The fact that I refer to my "home"town as West Bubblefuck may indeed suggest that I feel like I am living somewhere not as progressive as I might like. But here I am not ENOUGH of a lefty/fashionista/trendy/out there human.
I'm sure it's just the hipster suburbs I've been floating in. Woollhara. Paddington. Surry Hills. This afternoon will be Bondi Beach. Maybe I should stop being such a posuer.
This arvo I have been totally Teacher Geeking out. Trawling twitter for teachers to follow. Discovering blogs. Finding resources. Signing up to edmodo.com.
And rediscovering Wordle!!
Here is my current Wordle for The Mixed Metaphor!! I wonder what it will look like in a year's time? A month? A week?
When Trial time comes around, Year 12 kiddies freak out a little (if they give a crap) about a simulation of the HSC experience.
And some teachers bauk at the amount of work that involves for us. Set the exam, copy the exam, check the exam, supervise, collect... and MARK.
There is a certain amount of envy I have for elective teachers. Art has 10 students. Geography has 5. Granted, those teachers need to mark all sections of that one paper.
I still have fifteen essays to go.
In 2 weeks I have marked 95 essays.
A total of 110.
There is only so many times you can write You have some interesting observations of the text here, but you need to work on your essay structure. Greater focus is required on techniques and how meaning is created. Always ensure you include a direct quote from the text to support your ideas.
HSC students, let that piece of information be a guide to all essays you write for English. I may well just get it tatooed on my arm. Nah, probably not, it is permanently etched on my brain as it is.
I did once, and it turned out to be my most popular post ever. Which is getting WAY more hits now than it ever did. Not that it is the meaty, political contents of my Q&Aloving brain. If you didn't read it, I am basically comparing Tony Abbot (Or Mr Rabbit as careless/amused journos are liable to call him) to Bert of Bert & Ernie fame. Yeah, not the biteyest of satire, or the most profound of observations.
And the reasons I don't rant politics much is because of my job. Being an English teacher, we are often painted as radical lefties trying to brainwash the younger generations into joining our unions, saving our planet, and closing the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in this country. I know. We're outrageous. Just ask Miranda Devine. (Her going back to the Daily Tele has totally reduced my paper-reading anger levels...)
But I have to be very careful NOT to try to saturate my students with the contents of my own brain. I need to teach them HOW to think, not WHAT to think.
But.
(There is always a But.)
Today I went to a "rally" that was "organised" by Get-Up, the lefty-left-left-left advocacy group who want things like basic human rights, equal rights for genders and sexual preferences, a sustainable future for our country and planet, and other unreasonable demands. This "rally" was a Say Yes To Carbon Pricing, an attempt to show support for the "tax" and generally try to indicate that here in West Bubblefuck, we are not actually a bunch of red-neck bible bashers who want to mine and pollute to our hearts content.
Except it seems we are.
I reckon there were only about 60 people there. Granted, I am pretty rubbish at estimating numbers, so there might have been anywhere from 50-100, but to my dodgy eye, it looked a bit like 2 classes worth of greying hippies. But it was a pretty insignificant number, in this city of about 50,000 that we live in. Hence the sarcasmo "inverted commas" when I mention the term "rally."
Here in West Bubblefuck, our local member is Tony Windsor, one of the most powerful men in the country, holding the balance of power in his brown, leathery farmer hands. He was a National Party Member, until they screwed him and his seat over a few too many times, and he went Independent.
And while he is not a hard core, global warming advocate, he holds the belief that most people do. If the actions of humans are in any way impacting the climate of our globe, then we should change our behaviour. And if there is a chance that our actions are NOT affecting the climate, then what have we got to lose by NOT pumping pollution into the air/water/ground?
This is what irks me about climate change Deniers. (Which does include some of my nearest and dearest. And most of my students.) Approximately 97% of SCIENTISTS believe that humans are changing the climate of the earth. But Deniers have read something that someone said about people not having any impact on the climate of this planet, and because it was more safe and comfortable and status quo, they chose to believe THAT person.
Not the economists. Not the experts. Not the resounding majority of the scientific community. But the person with the vested interest in mining/coal burning/deforestation.
So when 3 of these 60 people started ARGUING with the speakers at this "rally" I realised that not all of these 60 people were believers, some of them were shit stirrers who wanted to pick a fight. Yes, shouty man next to me, it is a PROVEN SCIENTIFIC FACT that Australia is the BIGGEST polluter per capita. Lots of space/mines/machines/cars? Not many people? BINGO!! Yes, China DOES pollute more than us. But here is the thing about the phrase "per capita" - it means per head of population? And yes, we make more than them in that particular ratio...
And I also know that the term "carbon" is all wrong, especially when discussing emissions and taxes etc. What with us being carbon based life forms. And carbon being a kind of essential thing for us all to get by. But they had to pick an element to fixate on, and some of the others already have too many connotations. And the fact is that listing all the pollutants on the name of the tax is just not feasible.
The Daily Tele/my students/my BF/my aunt/my mother's aunts/talk back radio hosts and listeners may all believe that Ms Gillard is charging us "another big tax" but I hope nobody crumbles. I hope Mr Windsor realises that there are more than 60 people in his electorate who believe in him. Put the price on. Pay the $10 a week. Get the rebates back. Let the government put some more money into research of power sources that don't involve pumping toxins into everything.
How about we stop treating the planet like we, in this generation, in this century, in this species, in this country, in this economic climate.... like we are not the be all and end all of this planet.
Wednesday.
6 hours again.
4 periods again.
Piecing together emotional boys and refereeing minor conflicts.
2 hours rehearsal for closer pending play.
2 hours reports.
Thursday.
6 hours school.
Cancelled soccer training - one hour of Me time to chase the B Team before their player numbers increase.
3 hours duty.
2 hours report writing.
Friday.
4 hours of class.
2 hours of soccer training, but not my team.
1 hour of game, U14s vs the Privos from Up The Hill.
5 hours of watching/supervising football in various codes.
On morning TV
A giggly blonde woman said
That if you work more than 11 hours a day,
you are 64% more likely to have a heart attack.
As opposed to my Reading Resolutions, discussed here.
Each new year, I try to nail down 5 promises to myself to make my life better. Five, because if I accomplish 3 then I am going pretty well. The 5 resolutions need to be realistic, achievable, quantifyable and positive. I also try to have them nailed down by the 5th of Jan, but I am running a little behind schedule.
So here goes:
1. Do not buy any more shoes in 2011. The year '11 may be the year of the legs, according to bingo, but my collection of footwear is vast and varied. Especially when it comes to red mary-janes. So I promise myself, and my wallet, and the corner of my bedroom where the shoes get chucked (and all the other corners where they invariably end up) that I will not NOT purchase a new pair - unless one of the Essentials On High Rotation gets broken and needs replacing. This means no browsing in shoe shops, no gravitational pull to the shoe section of department stores. No shoes in 2011.
2. Write 52 blog entries for 2011. An average of 1 a week. Last year, being the first year of Mum to 110 meant that This Here Record Of Ramblings was somewhat ignored, especially towards the end of the year. And writing feels good. Not just teaching people about writing, but clarifying my own opinions into the crystal clarity of words on a screen. Edging out my own little dialogue with the e-ther. Plus, as KidsTheseDays put it, it is good for a teacher to be a practitioner - to practise what I am preaching. Of course, this year I am already off to a good start, and holiday times should help my averages!
3. Sweat an average of 3 times a week. Not really for weight loss, more because my brain, my body and my emotions are always much more rational when getting a regular sweat on. Gym, swim, bball with The Flames. I reckon I can get 3 times a week of getting my heart rate up to sweating.
4. Get my spots checked. This should only take a moment, or half an hour at max, but checking that my skin is cancer free, for someone as dotty as me, is actually really important. I just have to face my boy-like fear of the medical potential for Nasty Truth and get someone to examine my skin.
5. $100 a week in savings. Living at The Boy Factory should allow me to save more cash than I do. So it is time to make a concerted effort. I set up a savings account last year, and it is really time for me to use it.
I will have to try to do an assessment of progress throughout the year, but now it has been written, it cannot be escaped! The pressure of the internet compels me to try!
This has been a pretty roller-coaster kind of year. In the style of ACA, lets have a look, shall we?
January - 2 weddings in the sun, and a few weeks in Bondi. My relationship with Sparky was just new, and exciting and full of promise. The Festival, otherwise known as the West Bubblefuck Country Music Festival was full of dancefloor fun, and far too many bottles of Pure Blonde to be healthy. The Basics, Bob Evans and The Bushwhackers were highlights. The lack of school for the month was also a sparkling gem. Won the Guess the Hottest 100 comp at Sparky's Hottest 100 party. Competitive? Moi?
February - Possibly worked the hardest in this month. New Year 7s asking fifteen bajillion questions, and constant supervision, distraction and conversation for Boys away from Home, finding their feet at The Factory. Got incredibly sick in Week 4, followed by year 7 camp in Week 5. Tried to compete in Oscarsfest, but failed rather dismally (still blaming West Bubblefuck cinema for being so crap). Joined a basketball team, The Flames, in C grade of the West Bubblefuck Basketball comp, kind of made me feel like a local?
March - Slightly less manic than the first half of the term. Got my PERMANENT JOB!! Feeling very validated and grown up, and a little bit like all my hard work had paid off. Bought my couch, my first piece of proper real grown up furniture. Took an hour and a half for the delivery guys to get it into my lounge room. Neglected to tell them that I had negotiated for free delivery... The start of my beloved Couch Time. Cruised on in to Easter. The start of football try outs, the debating team kick off - or the Boy Factory First IV. Won most of the games with The Flames.
April - Turned 30. Felt exceptionally good about it. All grown up (new permanent job), all loved up, and all liquored up. Fantastic party at The Coast House, with a dozen or so of my closest friends converging for a BBQ and prawns, and a few frosty beverages. The night before party of curry, carrot cake and 30 year old port was also a blast. Sprained my ankle with The Flames - changed direction without telling my feet I was going to do so. Trip 1 to Melbourne for The Comedy Festival, slightly more hobbly than wandery due to ankle injury.
May - Slightly swamped at The Factory again. So much so that I have little memory of May at all. A weekend in Sydney. More basketball, more Sparky time, more Couchtime. The Mighty U14s kicked into gear and started playing like a team of teammates, which is just what a Supercoach wants. Games of local rugby in the freezing cold
June - The World Cup, and the ensuing sleep deprivation that goes along with it. A lot of bandwagon jumpers to the round ball game, and overnight experts in team configeration. Henry broke down in the drive thru of Oporto. The Flames won the C grade basketball grand final, but I damaged my rotator cuff in the semis.
July - More delicious school holidays. A trip to Sydney to celebrate the success/birthday/bon voyage of good friends. Read the Chaos Walking trilogy, and excellent book decision. Became addicted to MasterChef, despite my own desire not to. The Flames were promoted to B Grade, but I wasn't playing due to my body falling apart. More football Supercoaching, more rugby games.
August - Got to see my favourite Shakespeare play performed by my favourite Shakespeare company playing at the West Bubblefuck theatre - and love it. Got flooded in at The Boy Factory as the drought of the past 10 years decided to break with great vengance. More football. Started a list of 100 things that make me smile. Finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy, and wished it was more than 3 books, a la Douglas Adams.
September - Supervised 2 dances in one week. No-one busted drinking on my watch. Saw my cousin get married, and nearly cried making a speech. Finished writing the list of 100 things that make me smile (100 is a big number! It took some time!). Got to hang out with The B team. Made a return to the court with The Flames, but tentatively - fitness an issue, and plagued by injuries. Mighty U14s narrowly lost GF, 1-0. A sad but proud Supercoach, here. Powderfinger, superb Aussie band, started their farewell tour, including a brilliant night in West Bubblefuck, despite what the cynical locals say. Brought to tears by Bernard and the boys. Drowned a little in report writing. End of Term 3 insanity with Year 12, including the Annual Staff v Students Soccer Match and the Formal. Big month.
October - Marking marking marking of Year 10 trial exams. Sheesh. Almost total holiday wastage. Brilliant few days for Trip 2 to Melbourne with Little Red, with the excuse of seeing Tim Burton's exhibition at the ACMI. 80s dress up party for by boss' 40th. I looked AWESOME as Dana from Ghostbusters. Year 11 Leadership Camp. More report writing.
November - Not one single blogpost. Drowning in report writing. HP7 came out. Road trip with The O Team to see the Ultimate Powderfinger concert in Brisbane. Informed that I would FINALLY be teaching a DRAMA CLASS in '11, tres excitement. Quick trip to Sydney under the guise of learning to be an English teacher. Also a brilliant excuse for tax deductable flights to a Mad Men party - the birthdays of several excellent friends. Took Year 7 camping - like PROPER camping, in tents and stuff - by the side of the river.
December - River we were camping beside flooded, camp moved at midnight on day 2 and evacuated on day 3. High stress situation. Grandfather died. Took year 7 on tour to Dubbo, which was flooded. Sparky's mum died. Got close enough to a giraffe to touch it (but didn't because it was against the rules) but patted a wombat. Came home from Dubbo early due to flooding/weather. Fardy's funeral. Family friend died. Sparky's mum's funeral. Wagged presentation day. Family friend's funeral. One year anniversary understandibly ignored/forgotten. Well earned holidays. Caught up with friends who flitted home from OS, including engagement party. Enormous Christmas with Paternal Tribe. New Year's Eve long weekend with burgeoning Chosen West Bubblefuck Tribe.
Sometimes I link to this blog on my stalkbook page. Sometimes I link to it from my twitter. Occasionally I will include the longwinded address as my own personal URL. Mostly to increase traffic to this site.
But I don't really know why I am writing it. Writing this blog (as can be seen in the list of how many entries have been made in the last 6 months) often gets relegated if I am too busy or too brain-fried to find the words. There are umpteen posts written in my brain about books I have read, and films I have seen, and records I have heard. But getting the fingers to do the tapping before my witty and insightful commentary has evaporated from my brainbox is a dilemma I have been trying to deal with.
And I don't really know who I have got reading it, and whether or not I am writing it to be read, or writing it to see my own words in pixels on the screen, some kind of narcissistic public navel gazing. But I do like to think that there is someone out there reading my whimsy.
So if you do read here occasionally, feel free to share your opinion of my own unsolicited opinion. Feel free to tell me that I am way off the mark in my appraisal of all things Sherlock, or overthinking Harry Potter way too much. Or that my fixation with Mr Darcy and his recurrence in all modern pop culture is purely in my imagination. Or maybe you DO agree that all television, cinema, literature and trash needs to be pulled apart, and my assertions are right on the money? I guess I am looking for an answer to all of this opinion that I am hurling into the gorge of cyber-space, rather than just getting a hollow echo of my own words bouncing back at me.
The sequel to the epic and incredibly self-indulgent list of things that make me happy. Written entirely to pull me out of the doldrums, in cases of emergency.
51. My terrible cake decorating - Famous on Facebook. Blogged about here. My shame is mixed inextricably with my own self-deprecating pisstaking disgust at myself.
Eg:
52. Being called a Bitch - But only by a select number of people. My head teacher, for example. In a way that only he can get away with. You know you're boss respects you and likes you when he can call you a bitch and nobody gets hurt.
53. Crouching 80s Hidden Acronym - A random name for a ragtag collection of incredibly talented musos. This band is fronted by my brother, a nauseatingly brilliant human who has the Midas touch, but in a good way. With incredibly high energy and volume, they carve up each tiny stage they play on, tearing the venue and the crowd apart with their guitar riffs, erratic bass lines, screaming sax, tiny hunchy keyboard and harmonised vocals. Most of the stuff they do is original, but I love the fact that the bulk of their covers were originally released before they were born. Crowd favourite is Bowie's 'Let's Dance', and it is oh so amusing to see and hear a bunch of screamy teenyboppers go nuts over a song that is almost as old as I am! You can check them out on the unearthed site and at live.fm too.
54. Use of the word SOLEMNISE - Which of course sounds like 'Sodomise'. An amusing addition to any wedding ceremony, of course.
55. This photo:
Taken at sunrise, at the top of Arthur's Seat, overlooking the bay in Edinburgh. Sleep deprived and fueled almost entirely with vodka, this night/morning goes down as one of the best moments of the tour. Plus the fact that Simon (pictured) is only moments away from being punched in the makes it infinitely more amusing!
56. Winning at Trivia - Back in The Big Smoke, weekly pub trivia was just that... weekly. The Paddington Darts and (insert topical/amusing statement here) team were pretty gun. My competitive spirit got a weekly outlet. And I usually got to be scribe, but that was mostly because my voice is too loud, so even when I whispered answers, it would come out as a bellow. Now, triv is only something I get to dabble in when I get down to The Big Smoke for a holiday.
57. The big speech from The Witches - Back in my thespian days, I got to play The Grand High Witch in a production of Roald Dahl's The Witches. And I still know most of her epic speech by heart. Which impressed/frightened my year 7 class last year!
58. Pretty much everything Tim Burton does - Maybe it appeals to the emo in me. Wait, it probably pre-dates emo, so I am going to have to say it appeals to the goth in me. Like the aforementioned stripey socks. I love TB's aesthetic, with its twisty curled branches and slightly skewed framing. Of course, the inclusion of Johnny Depp, doesn't hurt either...
59. Q'est que cest that bird? - freaky suspended scare crows do wonders for the ambiance of a wedding, right?
60. Wearing brooches - especially when they are particularly random. My favourite is a little Lego pirate I bought at the Glebe markets. The Boys at The Factory cannot cope with such randomness.
"Miss, why are you wearing a Lego man?"
Gotta keep them guessing!
61. Ellen Page - She is just so goddam cute. Plus she is in Juno. And Whip It.
62. Knitting - I haven't done much this winter. And it really is a winter sport. West Bubblefuck in Summer is NOT friends with knitting. But there is a cupboard full of un-knitted yarn that I really should get my needles into. Best way to turn my brain off, kind of like constructive meditation.
63. Dirty sign language - Did you know that the signs for Vagina and Samosa are very similar. Sign language is ingenious in the way it turns words into actions. Watching Adam Hills' DVDs is great for my love of this, as he often has a signing interpreter... and he exploits them outrageously.
64. The fight scene in High Fidelity - I have been trying to find a still of the scene, right where Tim Robbins gets smashed in the teeth with the telephone. But it won't be found. A simple piece of slapstick that really shouldn't appeal to me, but it gets me everytime.
65. The Banjo Diva - I won't post the video of her playing. For fear of humiliation, though that would not be the purpose of posting it. My darling aunt learned to play 'Happy Birthday' for her mother's 80th birthday. The fact that my nauseatingly talented brother outplayed her was not very gracious of him, but it made for some hilarious times. And thus she became The Banjo Diva. I'm hoping she'll learn how to play 'Here Comes The Bride' before Scott & Rose's wedding!
66. Pyjamas - I have actually banned myself from buying any more. I am a big fan of flannies, and I love the fact that getting into PJs is almost like putting a full stop on the day. There will be no more trawling the halls of The Boy Factory if the jarmies are on!
67. Being a ranga - even though Gem says I am not allowed to call myself that. Originally I died it as a way of taking control of my life while living at home with my parents as I fast approached the ripe old age of 30. But I have been back again and again to the rouge, the rust, the roux, the ranga.... But only a ginger can call another ginger ginger.
68. The fact that DVDs are tax deductable - because there really does need to be some perks to being a teacher.
69. Any time this number us written anywhere - because really I am a puerile, juvenile, immature monkey who giggles at just about anything. My school friend Adam used to call it a "Danne-ism". Sparky today called me a "Smut". Smut as a proper noun? I like it!
70. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Why aren't I in charge of the world? Or at least in charge of world wide television programming...?
Aaron Sorkin is a genius scriptwriter. Tommy Schlamme can direct for TV. In this, the golden era of the TV series, they created a golden crusted gem of a series. That only lasted for 1 season.
Set in the hectic insanity of the creation of a weekly live comedy sketch show a-la Saturday Night Live. But the show is more about the drama behind the scenes that the comedy in front of the camera. Matthew Perry doesn't stretch too far from Friends's Chandler. Bradley Whitford isn't sketched too far from The West Wing's Josh Lyman. But there is merit in almost recreating these well loved characters in a new context.
While the fact that this show was bitterly brief makes me want to wobble my bottom lip. But the fact that there are 22 beautifully crafted episodes to go back to is surely a reason to smile.
71. Frankie magazine -
[voice over in the style of a blockbuster film]
In a world where retouching and eating disorder are all too powerful.
In an industry where diets and weight loss plans are used to get titles off the shelves.
In a nation where celebrity is king, and obsession with fame is choking us all
Comes a magazine that is so refreshing, so charming, so self-referential and based on the [shock horror] the ARTICLES (and not in Playboy kind of way).
Craft, life, cute brooches and tshirts. Art, music and other miscellany. A good read every 2 months!
73. Licking the bowl clean - Almost the best thing about baking is licking the spoon and bowl. Of course, having tasty tasty brownies is fantastic, but the juvenile joy of getting that gooey mixture everywhere is so sweet!
78. When someone I teach decides they want to be a teacher - I am not saying it is ME that is the reason. I just like it when someone else recognises what an amazing opportunity teaching is. And as much as it is hard work, and as much as putting up with teenagers being total douchebags, and with mammoth amounts of paperwork, and with total bullshit hoops to jump through, it is a really rewarding and enjoyable career.
79. My father's beard - The status quo for me is a Bearded Father. When all three of us were babies, when he was beardless, we would treat him like a stranger. His beard matches his personality, his body and his face. It is a pretty identifiable feature that easily says "Hey, I'm Chopper"
I work with Dad at The Boy Factory. Every 12 months or so, he ditches the facial follicles. Gives his baby-face a breather.
And I love how seriously everybody else takes this. His beard is so much a part of the culture of the school, that everybody feels like they have a claim of ownership. They all ask me "What do you think about your dad's beard?" I just think it is hysterical that everyone thinks they get a say!
78. X-Men - I used to love the cartoon. I LOVE the films, especially the first 2. I have almost finished reading the epic and wrist breaking X-Men 1, the compiled original comic books - described by my head teacher as the "nerdiest thing you have ever done". I can't WAIT for the next movies - there are FOUR in pre-production! Once again, my incredible capacity to geek shines through!
Because I hate Twilight so much. And I don't much like hairless cats either. Unless it is Mr Bigglesworth...
80. This girl:
The Darby Monster is a total joy. Even when she is cranky pants. She almost has my birthday, and already I can see we like all the same stuff. Must be that early April thing. Three Cheese Omelette at the Toothie. Bacon. Birds on tshirts. Coffee (well, she digs babycinos more). MaryJane shoes. Twirling around for no apparent reason (I don't make time for that anymore... Note to self: make some twirling time).
This blonde bombshell is kinda the first of the next gen. The B Team (B by name, not order of awesomeness) were the first of my inner circle to build a baby, and what a babe she is!!
81. Eggs on the weekend - hungover or not, it just seems not like the weekend, unless there is eggs in the morning. Apparently the Heart Foundation just increased the number of recommended eggs for human consumption from 2 per week to 6. This makes me happy.
82. Yoga - I didn't want to like Yoga. My mum likes Yoga. But despite my desire to not like it, I really do. Except I don't much like the sitting still and breathing for an hour yoga. I like the moving around kinda stuff. Perhaps it is my supreme impatience, or my inability to sit still, or the fact that the whole navel gazing introspective thing makes me a little uncomfortable (even that admission feels a little bit too much like naval gazing to me...) But a few good warrior poses and downward dogs, with just a tiny bit of falling asleep at the end makes me get that still, contented smile.
83. Pancakes - Not the fluffy batter gently fried into cakey circles. But the alcoholic beverage kind. A lick of sugar, a shot of Frangelico, and a suck of a slice of lemon. Tastes exactly like a pancake with lemon and sugar on top. It creates a god-awful mess on benchtops of houseparties. And because Frangelico isn't a kick you in the back of the head percentage of alcohol like say, tequila, it seems to mix OK with beer, or wine, or whatever beverage of choice is that evening, without the excruciating headache the morning after. Well... mostly.
84. James McEvoy
Recently I have heard him being accused of being too thin to be hot. This is a blatant lie. Sure his face is not the usual chiseled and jutting structure that is generally required for hot. He is an unlikely thief. And unlikely action star. A very likely dorky university student. A very fitting wrongly accused gardener. A perfectly formed faun. And even more exciting - and by exciting I mean I am having a physiological response here - McAvoy is named to play Francis Xavier in X-Men: First Class. So much anticipation!!!!!
85. Shots of London in films - especially stuff around the South Bank. The Eye. Waterloo Bridge. Hungerford Foot Bridge. The Tate. Love Actually was actually shot when I was living there in Waterloo, just down from the OXO Tower. We used to sit on the bench that Liam Neeson sat on. Some of the cast came in for post-work drinks. Including the very scrummy Andrew Lincoln ("Egg is in our pub!! Egg!!!!") (Hear that name? Just dropped it...). Shots in Edinburgh and Sydney make me grin too, but what with London being one of the most exciting cities in the world... it tends to turn up in quite a few more films than my other beloved cities.
86. That Girls - There once was a road trip, in the midst of the 21st season - that time when almost every weekend for the duration of 2 years in which the prime social real estate of Friday and Saturday nights were occupied by a 21st birthday. Or several. The road trip ones were for the truly committed. This particular one was up the coast at Woopi.
And it was on said road trip that the That Girls were formed. We were all That Girls in the car. The kind of girls that Aren't Well Liked. And it the unity makes us stronger!
87. Spies - Really great spy shows and spy films are spectacular. Last night I reminded my mother of James Bond and his Christmas Jones jokes. Gold. Sidney Bristow and her brilliance in a wig is unsurpassed (though I think Channel 7 is just about to attempt to launch something to compete... doesn't quite look as good though). Chuck kicks arse. Bourne rocks. All manner of acronyms - the CIA, MI5, KGB... ASIO doesn't quite have the same ring to it. I wonder if there is much of a call for English teachers to join ASIO... Probably not, huh?
88. Waking up WITHOUT a headache - especially when you have been sick for a while. Of course, being in the Germ Factory - oops, I mean The Boy Factory - I am living in a bit of a petri dish. And what with my completely decimated immune system (thanks Baxter College), if there is some kind of lurgy going around, chances are my sinuses and my tonsils will take that ball and run with it. There's a mixed metaphor, from petri dish to ball running in 2 lines!!
89. Waking up WITHOUT an alarm clock - The moment of joy that there was nothing that woke me up except a fullness of sleep. Ah, bliss.
90. Dystopian Young Adult Fiction - especially The Hunger Games and Chaos Walking. Just bought Hunger Games 3 this arvo! Am trying SO hard not to read it right now, because then it will be over!! I have harped on about this one already, over here.
92. Afros with specs - and the fact that every time I see a guy with a fro and glasses, I think of Moss. Seriously, it happened in downtown West Bubblefuck last week!
The IT Crowd is just further evidence that Channel 4 are doing the greatest things in TV in the world.
93. All of Monty Python - even though now they are all a bunch of sexist, too rich to be funny, old men. But in their day... Well, they were a bunch of puerile, rediculous, sexist young men. But funny as hell.
94. The book of metal pages that holds all the wisdom of the sea - On the end of the promenade at Bondi Beach is a tombstone. An epitaph. An empty plinth to remind us of the Book of Metal Pages That Holds All The Wisdom Of The Sea. It is no longer there. But its wisdom is not forgotten.
"Some eat leftovers"
95. The Chaser - Undergraduate, private school boy humour it might be. But I miss them railing against everything in their War. I was delighted to see them back in The Great Indecision of 2010 in Yes We Canberra. Being media whores is not endearing to them really. They work much better together as a team.
96. This video:
The only thing this is missing is Joany and her awesome curves!
97. Scrabble - All new addiction on my BFF, oops I mean my iPhone. I say all new, but this has been going on for at least 7 weeks. And is isn't Scrabble (c), like proper brand name Scrabble. It's actually called Words with Friends. It has become somewhat of an addiction - I can play it with peeps all over the world!
Scrabble is always the opportunity for less-than-clean word usage. A dinner party with The A-Team in Edinburgh resulted in this:
The sad part of the story is that the BEST words have been cut out of frame, in a tragedy of drunken photography.
98. The ocean - Being in it. Watching it. Listening to it. There is something about the sea that reduces problems to insignificance. How can something be big in comparison to the ocean?
99. Free stuff - like getting given a free chocolate mousse when all you really feel like doing is bursting in to tears. Sure fire cheer-upper-er
100. This list - Having 100 things that make me smile makes me a pretty lucky human. There are more than this list can name. But these are the ones that come to my without trying very hard.
I am a lucky girl. I'm pretty fun. I have great friends, and they show me everyday that I am loved. No matter what happens, I am lucky to be this happy.
This be my 100th post. One Hundred opinions, rants and observations!! (NB - had to split it in to 2 posts. Turns out 100 is a big number!)
So here is my list of 100 things that do not fail to make me smile. This list was started a little while ago, in a Top 6 style post. So here are the other 94. Feel free not to read at all, if indeed anyone is reading this at all... I thought it a fitting way to celebrate my longevity as a blogger! From the inane to the profound, the tasty to the tasteless.
Make no mistake, I am not really expecting anybody to read all this. I am writing it for myself (which is really the reason I blog in the first place), and so I have an easy reference point when shit goes down (and I am expecting a shit storm soon. the shit weatherman has told me so) and I really need to crack a smile.
1. Peeling the top off the butter - Simple joys. A bit like peeling off a label from a beer bottle, but more satisfying. And I can't really explain why...?
2. The change of tempo in Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" - (previously blogged about here) This part of this song will always always always result in the stereo or headphones being cranked right up high, and I usually make the white man's overbite with unbridled joy. Such joy!!!
3. Clean pyjamas in clean sheets - When bedtime is just awesome, in a clean, non-entendre kind of way.
4. The bell on Friday at 3.15pm - This means that there are hours of time with diminished Boy Factory influence. Of course, there is no off position on the English Teacher switch. There is not really a bottom of the pile of things to do. But at least on the weekends, procrastination is just a little more guilt-free. Except in football season, when of course all attention goes to the Mighty U-14s...
5. Michael Cera's face
Double-dare-physical-challenge not to giggle at that mug!
6. My dog realising I am holding the lead and leaping into the air with joy - Because he is a bit of a stupid dog. He does do stupid things. Like bang his head every time he walks past his kennel. Which might explain why he is so stupid... But he understands the signifyer of a human bending down to pick up his lead. It's WALKING TIME!!! Of course being a lazy lab, he gets about half way through the walk and wants to go home to his food bowl and his cushion...
7. Bad Puns - If the green pea rolls of the plate, it is an Escapee. If there are 2 old wooden buckets in a glass cabinet in a museum, they are Pails in Comparison.
A meal of roast lamb will no doubt result in comments of "feeling sheepish, aren't ewe?"
I have heard that the pun is meant to be the lowest form of humour. I wholeheartedly disagree. That honour lies with Two and a Half Men.
8. The Mysterious Ticking Noise - This video:
Catchy use of a metronome. Combination of Harry Potter characters AND puppets???! Gets me every time!
9. Red Mary-Janes - I know, I know, it is such a cliche for a girl to like shoes. But as far as addictions go, I am sure that this is slightly less expensive than cocaine. And perhaps a little better for the structural integrity of my nostrils. I mean, how many pairs is too many pairs? These ones I bought today:
10. The Mighty U-14s - Like the Mighty U-13s before them, I put a great deal of energy into these kiddies. Training once a week. A few hours on the weekends. I go in to battle to reclaim points that should never have been stolen. I organise extra matches against snooty private schools. I am somewhat vocal in my encouragement and instructions on the sideline... this sentence may be a slight understatement. I have been known to lose my voice due to this coaching style. I have been known to theatrically collapse onto my back when a well crafted attack fails at the last moment. When these kids try, they make me laugh and smile and giggle. They don't even need to win, they just need to give it a red hot go.
11. Mondegreens - Someone getting the lyrics wrong to a song is a delight. Especially when they are totally sure of themselves. Some of my favourites include:
"I've got no towel! But I've got undies on! You're never gonna keep me down!", made famous by one-hit-wonder of the 90s, Chumbawamba. Apparently, all the rest of their songs are anarchist anthems...? (this one courtesy of a friend of Sparky's)
"And I sold my soul with my cigarettes, to the black marching band" from Australia's favourite drinking song (from one of brightest yr 12 kiddies at The Boy Factory)
"But to shower you with visits, would do you no good at all", which would make no sense from Powderfinger at all! (thanks little bro!)
And while I was actually writing this blog entry my little bro has struck again with this golden gem:
For more of these little gems, look to kissthisguy.com, named after Jimi Hendrix... who was actually asking to be excused so he could "kiss the sky"...
12. Spaced - The greatest TV show ever created. Previously blogged about here. Also publicly loved by this lovely lass here. Launchpad to fame for director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim etc), funny men Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Comedy gold, with a homage-a-meter!!
13. My girls - I have previously mentioned that many moons ago I directed a play called The Women. All female cast and crew, a labour of love that was so much hard work, and so much joy, that has continued through many many years. If I need a grin, these lasses will provide, no questions asked!!
14. Tshirts - I like to wear my sense of humour on my sleeve. Or on my heart and belly, really. Threadless is based in Chicago, and is a user-based internet success story. Any punter can be a member. Any member can submit a design, and fellow members rate the design out of 5. The highest rated get printed! There's two different kinds of designs, really. The arty ones that are aesthetic and fine - I think of them as the feathery ones. And the cartoony ones that are usually a visual pun, with more simplistic lines and colours. I like the latter better. JD wears Threadless tees on Scrubs. Todd sports them on The Gruen Transfer. I get a threadless-length tan line in summer. My favourite ones are:
The Communist Party (Karl Marx is my favourite) and 99 Luftbalons. I am on my second tshirt for both of these designs, having worn them til they disintegrated!
15. Tina Fey - I have a massive girl crush. Funniest chicka in the world. 30 Rock = comedy gold, and the moment when Sarah Palin was named as running for VP of the USA, she just must have rubbed her hands together with glee. "I can see Russia from my house!"
16. Blacks and Cans - yes, yes, I am a Drama Queen. T even bought me a mug that says so. I tend to lead a fairly dramatic life, and tend to overreact to things a little bit. And when I first got bitten by the theatre bug, it was all about being in the limelight, the centre of attention. All about the glory. But when I was about 15 I tried my hand at Stage Management. And have hardly looked back at all. From the first little hit of the production meetings and casting process, to hunting down a cheap crystal whiskey decanter. Mixing the poster glue. Burning the candle at both ends with mega-hours put in at bump in. Pandering to childish whims of actors. Giving notes that contradict the director. Handing out flyers in a foreign city. Grinning from ear to ear as the lights go down and the applause comes up. It is stressful and hectic and time consuming and not very glorious. But that little spark of knowledge that there is no way it could have been done without me is my own little moment of glory.
17. Personalised coffee art - The Toothie does the best coffee in West Bubblefuck. I have been a most loyal customer since I first returned back to town, based on their expert use of the oh so tasty Merlo beans. And when my doubleshot flat white is delivered with the spectacular coffee art by one Samantha Kelly, who wouldn't smile like a goose!
2340, 15 White Street, Tamworth NSW 2340
18. Brendon Burns - Australian comedian in exile. Yes, he is offensive. Yes, he is self-indulgent. But he remains my most favoured stand up comedian, which remains my most favoured art-form. Previously blogged about here, and now seen... seven times live? Wow. Groupie much?
19. The photo at the top of this blog - and the fact that the cloud looks like a racing snail, zooming across the sky! And the fact that I changed the photo from an image of the Glebe Point Bridge (representative of all things urban) to this whimsical rural road trip shot. Symbolic of my acceptance of my not-so-new life in West Bubblefuck.
20. Couch time - Living in my own little corner of the Boy Factory, surrounded by the noise of their shenanigans. There is one place within my lovely little flat where the noise, the rascalling and the minor riots do not affect me.
My comfy, cushiony couch time is so so sweet. Plus purchasing this baby felt like a milestone, like it was further evidence of me being a grown up.
21. The A-Ha moment - and not the 80s one-hit-wonder with the brilliant animated music video. Being a teacher, especially an English teacher in the Boy Factory, I have to attempt to impart some pretty complex concepts. Like irony. Or perspective. Or implied information. But that moment when a kid gets it, the moment when he uses a hardcore analytical term CORRECTLY in conversation or discussion, the unbridled joy in too much to contain. I have been known to punch the air, face twisted in ecstasy, resembling something like a straight haired Elaine from Seinfeld. When one particular kid, who never really showed much affection for the mother tongue,correctly used "it's ironic, isn't it" in a PUB conversation (the year after he graduated, nothing untoward here!) I nearly fell off my barstool!
22. British Chocolate - It is difficult to explain, but chocolate from the British Isles tastes so much better than the Aussie stuff. Sure Cadbury has got their act together recently, with their new recipe and their new Fair Trade angle. But UK chockie is just creamier and meltier and so so sweet. Galaxy Bars can be sent to me, via The Boy Factory at any stage. Feel free.
23. Getting a follower for this here blog - I only have 2. My 2nd arrived today. *HI*!!! I don't know how many people read my less than coherent rangings, but I am a little bit of a sucker for some positive reinforcement...
24. Soda Stream - Making my own soda water does wonders for my life.
a) I don't create so much waste - 7 PET bottles a week was getting a little unruly
b) I get a little bit of fluoride for my teeth
c) I get to make that awesome PSSSSSST noise when I loosen the bottle from the shiny red machine (Red? Moi?)
25. The Gene Genie - In Life on Mars and later Ashes to Ashes, the shining light, the beacon, the blazing flame of resplendent awesomeness is Gene Hunt. Sexist, racist, bigoted, slightly corrupt, alcoholic. As I have previously said, I think he is the petrolhead, cop version of Mr Darcy. Insensitive, proud and sexy as hell.
26. Florence - The singer. As in 'And the Machine'. Not the city. Though the city was fun, with its Piazza del Nudie Rudie, and the Arno River - cause there Are No fish in it (see 7. Bad Puns). But the singer - with the porcelain skin, the flaming red hair and the voice of a dead set angel, who has been smoking a pack a day and drinks Irish whiskey, neat. Lungs is a brilliant album. Great music for any occasion.
27. Wearing stripey socks - Dunno why. I've always liked it. Don't like it so much when The Jealous Bitch (Sparky's dog) chews them up!!!!!! And even though the emo kids have kind have taken over a little bit, I don't care. I still love them!
28. The Oscars - Some divine friends of mine and I have developed a tradition. Each Oscars season, we try to watch as many nominated films as possible. Preparations start in November, as the field starts to take shape. Summer heat can be escaped in the overly cool air conditioned cinema.
Two awards are given - Most Films Seen and Most Films Picked in the tipping comp. Of course, being based in West Bubblefuck leaves me at a distinct disadvantage, what with out much maligned cinema being tres lame.
But of course it lights my ever-so-slightly competitive nature. And despite the fact that the Nine Network have been messing with the scheduling and the editing, I am still pretty enamoured with the whole Oscars Fest season.
29. References to The Wizard of Oz in The Simpsons - arguably the most referenced text in the incredibly awesome pomo animation. And everytime, it cracks me up!
30. Sparky - I guess at this point, representing my current age, and the party that he was instrumental in assisting me with, it might be a good time to mention the bf that makes me laugh. Even when the Boy Factory is getting me down. Even when I'm cranky pants, hungry, tired, disillusioned or feeling beige. Morning, evening, afternoon or wee small hours, this fella is truly a comedian and it was the very first thing that made me feel that first spark. Thanks, gorgeous! (OK, schmultzy part done!)
31. Stationery - Possibly the reason I became an English teacher. Do you know all my over-sized paperclips and teeny weeny staplers are tax deductible? Every trip to The Big Smoke involves a sneaky visit to BOTH kikki-k and Smiggle. And I cannot WAIT until West Bubblefuck gets an Officeworks!! Ah, it truly is the little things, right?
32. The Flames - Up until earlier this year, it had been some time since I had graced the boards of a basketball court. But based on a passing conversation and a loose commitment of "yeah, that sounds like fun!", The Flames were born! Sometimes referred to as The Boy Factory WAGS, this ragtag bunch of enthusiastic players range from the novice to the guru, the PE teacher to the gaspingly unfit. Last season we were PREMIERS... of C Division. We have been promoted and this season so far we are undefeated... But there has been some close calls. It feels great to be back in a team, back in a situation where I can find an outlet for my outrageously competitive nature. And the fact that a few of my team mates have grace, skill and the ability to shoot allows me to hide behind my defensive skills!
33. Fat babies - because skinny ones just aren't as cute. Don't get me wrong, I have seen some bloody GORGEOUS skinny infants, but studies show that fat ones actually make me much cluckier.*
*actual data not available
34. All of Harry Potter except the epilogue at the end of Book 7 - My brother's friend (Hi Dean!) is planning a walk-out at the end of Deathly Hallows Part II so as to avoid seeing that bitterly disappointing epilogue. But all of the rest of it is well constructed narrative, beautifully drawn characters and page-turning writing. Even Chamber of Secrets!
35 The dancing scene out of Little Miss Sunshine -
This scene doesn't just make me grin a little bit. It makes me laugh so hard that I cry. Even when I have seen it about a million times. Even when I am sitting at home alone watching it through my incredibly slow regional wireless internet (no comment Mr Rabbit). Without fail. Brilliant film.
36. Shameless namedropping - CLUNK Did you just hear that? It was the sound of me dropping another name. Like that time that Elle McPherson borrowed my hairbrush? Like that time I was in a lock in with Claire Danes in an enormous argument about the pronunciation of 'foyer' with a lovely Kiwi and a bunch of poms. Like the times I see my uni mates get beaten up or totally naked on Underbelly... It is pretty shameless and narcissistic. But I don't care!
38. Long beaded necklaces, combined with the phrase "La Douche" - I don't quite remember how these got from innocent to entirely filthy in one single conversation in a kitchen in Paddington. But now I cannot see nor hear these things without corpsing like mad.
39. Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars - I have committed to only buying these oh-so-comfy sneakers when they are on sale. Retail price Chucks are for chumps. I have been a bit smitten with this flat footwear for about 17 years now, through all of its incarnations of cool since the mid-90s. Grunge. Stage managing. The emo resurgence. Currently I have only a few in rotation... light blue, navy, red lace-less and ladybug pattern!
40. Squinty McPout - I love the fact that if Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johannson had a daughter, she might look like Renee Zelweger. And she would be known as Squinty McPout
41. Every time Vampire Bill says "Sookie" - it sounds like Sucky. Nothing like a Brit playing an American Vampire from the deep south!
42. Oporto - Fast food done so so well. The day one opened in town I was so so excited. A double fillet Bondi meal with extra extra chilli (when I was in the Big Smoke, it was only extra chilli, but it turns out in West Bubblefuck, the chilli dosage is lower), layered with some chips. There are a few boys from The Factory that work there, and they make it the best. Sometimes when it comes out, the wrapper says "Miss Chop". It's like I am some kind of celebrity
43. Sunsets - West Bubblefuck gets some stunning sunsets. Way better than The Big Smoke. Bigger, more colours, longer time... Though the 360 degree ones at Bondi were pretty fantastic too, I guess!
44. The drum solo in "Laid" - A song that is a favourite with trivia masters everywhere. And the drum break is best played on a steering wheel, with the stereo cranked, on a road trip somewhere.
45. Photo-Leg - The phenomenon of the female form being twisted slightly, front leg raised slightly to rest on the toe, chest thrust out. The kind of pose that chicks think makes them look skinnier. The kind of pose that makes them seem like a vacuous bint, and worthy of ridicule!
46. My espresso machine - As a part of the campaign of I'm A Grown Up Now, So I Need To Spend Money And Buy Stuff, my beautiful little robot was purchased. Gone are the days of plunger coffee and instant crap. When I used to get my fix on the commute, when I live AND work at The Boy Factory, I thought this little toy an entirely necessary gadget for my tiny tiny galley kitchen. My morning saviour... Ah, spoken like a true addict.
47. This photo -
48. Astolat Dayz - Nostalgia has a bad rep. Sentimental, living in the past... Whatever neg you want to throw at it, it has been slung before. I have done more than my fair share of share housing, on both sides of the globe. But my first share house was the best. Me and three fellas from Baxter managed to snaffle a big brick house in a quiet cul de sac, filled with found furniture and cheap crockery. We held cracking parties, did lots of shouting at the television and had epic games of Mortal Kombat. The house had a few different line-ups, and each had its merits. But as usual the original was the best. These boys all have wives now, increasing the pressure for me to find my own wife... In fact, they are the same girls they were together with when we lived together. We are now sprinkled all over the globe. We have only been completely re-united a few times in the last 10 years, but when it happens, it is a little bit like regression and a little bit like perfection. I love those dudes!
49. Frank Gallagher -
Toxic father. Brilliant character. Shameless is yet further evidence as to why the Brits make the best TV in the world.
50. S.T.A.M.P.S. Watches - Having an enormous watch face has an added bonus as a teacher. I can glance at it without giving it away to the Boys at The Factory. But I also like wearing a little bit of art on my wrist. I have 3 - a Barcelona Chair design, a Russian Soviet flag design and the record one pictured below!
