Shane On The Go

My First Father's Day

2011-09-04T17:10:00.002+10:00

I couldn't love this little Princess or her mother any more I think.

Whaddaya mean I'm hoggin' the heater?

2011-08-23T22:45:00.000+10:00

Orto Trading Co

2011-08-13T17:00:00.006+10:00

Orto Trading Co is a funky new restaurant in Surry Hills. Orto is Italian for vegie garden but there isn't particularly Italian about the menu. I'd call it Modern Australian. We sat outside at trestle tables made from the old SCG scoreboard. Very funky. Great food too.

Not a bad spot nestled in the smaller back streets of Surry Hills. Perfect for a mild August day.

Scotch Eggs with house made pork sausage and pear piccalilli.

Can't remember what this was. Pork on witlof with quail eggs and something... else. Quite delicious though.

Georgia enjoyed her little outing even if she was just eating blended up muck.

They had White Rabbit!

Another one I can't recall quite what it was but I think it was lamb done three ways including confit. Very rich.

Salad of radicchio, blood orange, beet root and goats cheese.

Chocolate and pear tart with walnuts.

Man, I should take notes. Here, I think, is their take on the classic trifle.

So this is where old score boards come to die. Neat way to re-cycle the old boards I my humble opinion.

Orto Trading Co is at 38 Waterloo Street Surry Hills.

Swingin' in the park - Georgia's first time on a swing

2011-08-13T16:47:00.002+10:00

Please sir, can I have some more?

2011-08-02T20:14:00.003+10:00

Some more shots of Georgia here.

A new Nixon - Say hello to Lucas

2011-07-30T23:50:00.004+10:00

Georgia has a new cousin. Yesterday, 10 months to the day after Georgy came into the world Lucas Nixon popped out. A reasonably weighted 3470 grams. Lucas is the first Nixon cousin for Georgia and yet another boy cousin joining the the 3 Garoni boys and the Pace boy.
Congratulations Gerard and Jasmine.

Georgia was a bit over it after a while but she was happy to meet the baby

Lucas Oliver Nixon. 1 day old.

PULP

2011-07-27T23:59:00.006+10:00

I've wanted to see PULP for, I dunno, forever. Jarvis toured solo last year but that only whetted the appetite. So it was nice surprise when this current tour was announced. I think the last time they toured Australia was back in 1998. Actually I think the last time they toured at all was 2002. Jarvis proved he was the consummate performer last year and only enhanced his reputation this time around. All the classics were here but it was a pity they couldn't get the Shatner out to do his cover of Common People (see bottom video below - great for Lulz). PULP were in a word awesome. In two words, fucking awesome. Brit pop at its finest.

The Videos

Disco 2000

Common People

Shatner covering Common People

So there's something in there?

2011-07-24T23:54:00.001+10:00

More food porn by Michelle - warning: contains fresh truffles

2011-07-23T23:43:00.002+10:00

To die for cheese stuffed ravioli dripping with a burnt butter and sage sauce liberally sprinkled with fresh truffle shavings. Love truffle season.

Playing with Daddy's glasses while he is out...

2011-07-18T23:36:00.004+10:00

Sophisticated? Moi?

I love my new sexytary too.

Marque Restaurant

2011-07-05T23:20:00.008+10:00

Georgia's grandparents flew up from Melbourne for a couple of days so we thought, fine, you can baby sit while we go out. So we did. To one of Australia's best restaurants - Marque. It has been a while since we've been here, 2009 I think, and it has been 7 months since just the two of us have been out for a meal. There was no way we weren't going to go he whole hog and not have the full degustation menu. Michelle took it easy on the wines but, hey, I'm not breast feeding so I went for the full complement of matching wines too.

Marque, according to Australian Gourmet Traveller, is the number one restaurant in Australia. It is indeed mighty fine. As fine as the delicate and totally scrummy dishes chef Mark Best dishes up. Starting with..

Bonito with Foie Gras & Potato

Almond Jelly with Blue Swimmer Crab, Almond Gazpacho, Sweet Corn & Avruga
2009 Niepoort 'Tiara' Codega/Rabigato/Donzelino, Douro, Portugal

Warm Oyster with Braised Abalone, Citrus Salad & Cocoa
2008 D. de Belliviere, Chenin Blanc, Jasnieres, Loire Valley, France

Poached Calamari with Lardo & Black Radish
Toro Albala, 'Olorosso Viejo' Pedro Ximenez, Montilla-Moriles, Spain

Duck Egg with Globe Artichoke, Mint & Radicchio
2010 Farr Rising 'Saignee' Pinot Noir, Geelong, Vic

Luscious isn't it.

Pigeon with Mullet Roe, Sauteed Lettuce, Cucumber & Dill
2009 Beatrice & Pascal Lambert 'Tradition Graves' Cabernet Franc, Chinon, France

Grain Fed Wagyu Sirloin with Onion, Black Tea & Stem Salad
2008 A.A. E. Piro & Figli, Barbara d'Alba Superiore, Piemont, Italy

We arrived for the final sitting so by the time we finished we were the last ones in the restaurant. It's kind of nice having a restaurant to yourself.

Pre dessert cocktail that for the life of me I can't remember what was in it.

Sauternes Custard served in an egg. One of Mark Best's signature dishes is an amuse bouche, Chaud-Froid Free Range Egg (Alain Passard 1998) - Egg, cream, sherry, maple syrup & grissini for dipping, but when it didn't appear this time I was slightly disappointed. But this custard egg almost made up for it.

Roast Pineapple with Szechuan Pepper & Manjimup Black Truffle
'Greedy Hunter'

Salted Caramel Chocolate, Lemon Drops & Bitter Bon Bons

According to Marque due to environmental concerns Marque no longer use bottled mineral water. They've installed a chilled, filtered, carbonated water system and, as far as water can be, it was delicious. A very light carbonation like the best Italian or French mineral waters. Five bucks a person is a small price to pay for this exquisite water.

Marque Restaurant is at 4/5 355 Crown Street Surry Hills and has been awarded 3 Hats by the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide.

A mild Winter's morning in Redfern

2011-07-02T11:30:00.000+10:00

Damn things actually work...

2011-06-30T19:00:00.000+10:00

Baby Bjorning it.

Pancakes

2011-06-19T17:00:00.000+10:00

Home made wholemeal pancakes with bacon, poached eggs, whipped butter and Canadian maple syrup. Thank you North America for inventing this yummy breakfast (although, we had this for a late lunch).

Pancakes!!!!!11111!11!!

Caturday Wednesday

2011-06-14T17:56:00.000+10:00

El Bulli

2011-06-12T23:00:00.000+10:00

Nah, don't get excited. It isn't that El Bulli. I wish. Just a night out our local tapas joint in Surry Hills. Bastards kicked us out before dessert though. I was so looking forward to churros. Not our fault they didn't give us time to eat a proper meal. What we did have was pretty good though.

Ah, happy times before we were asked to leave

Holy crap! I can make mousse...

2011-06-06T21:37:00.000+10:00

Chocolaty smooth rich mousse. And I did it all by myself. However I did ruin half a kilo of chocolate in the first attempt. No ponies ruined though (obscure Skullcrusher Mountain reference).

Home damned made chocolate mousse.

Georgia planking

2011-06-05T20:08:00.004+10:00

A few more random Georgia pix here (or there will be as soon as I fix the link).

The mean streets of Redfern

2011-06-04T19:26:00.004+10:00

A back alley in Redfern.

Beautiful Burgers

2011-06-04T19:20:00.002+10:00

The name says it all. Beautiful Burgers. Good chips too. We had the Wagyu burger. Juicy as. And only 5 minutes walk from home.

Beautiful Burgers, 5/87-97 Regent Street, Chippendale

Cafe Sicilia in Surry Hills

2011-06-02T19:39:00.002+10:00

A new Sicilian restaurant and cafe has opened in Surry Hills. It's only been there a couple of months. The site was formerly a Thai restaurant. It had always been a Thai restaurant till now. I lived upstairs up until 15 years ago went it was the Thai Orchid. More recently, say the last 10 years or so, it was Yai. Let's just say living over the top of a Thai restaurant has its benefits. And cockroaches. But now it looks to be a fairly decent traditional Sicilian restaurant. The panini are great and so are the brioche, doughnuts and biscotti. Can't wait to have a proper sit down meal there.

Cafe Sicilia, 628 Crown Street, Surry Hills

Cheeky monkey, Georgia, is 5 months old

2011-05-29T19:36:00.002+10:00

Georgia has discovered Copernicus exists...

2011-05-28T17:33:00.003+10:00

And she loves him. She gets very excited when he is nearby. Her little arms and legs flap excitedly and she laughs and laughs. Copernicus? Let's just say he is a little wary.

Georgia's first art work

2011-05-27T23:36:00.006+10:00

Yes, there was mess involved.

Who knows, by the time she is four...

Sopra for lunch

2011-05-27T21:23:00.005+10:00

This is the first time we've been to Cafe Sopra since head chef Andy Bunn had moved on. Thankfully, as far as we mug punters go, you'd be flat out knowing he was gone. Whoever has taken over hasn't fiddled with the menu too much and all the old favourites are still on. Having said that when I saw a new special, fried liver, I had to try it. I used to hate liver as a kid. It was usually foul of taste and had the consistency of rubber. Sorry mum. Back in 2007 I accidentally ordered liver in a restaurant in Lyon. I think it was one of Paul Bocuse's Nordsud Brasseries - Le Nord or Le Sud or L'Este or L'Ouest. My French skills are sorely lacking when it comes to translating menus and I mentioned to Michelle as long as we don't get offal I should be okay. Oops. But the liver dish I got was exquisite so I'm not quite as afraid of being served up liver as I once was. This fried liver, while not the delicate exquisite meal of Paul Bocuse, was pretty bloody good.

Pan fried liver on spuds.

Vitello tonnato.

Bresaola, gala apple, parmesan cheese, green salad.

Eton mess

Creme brulee.

Macaron heaven just down the road from Cafe Sopra at Patisse. Patisse's macarons, especially the salty caramel macarons, are as good as Adriano Zumbo's. Maybe they aren't as adventurous (or weird) as Zumbo as far as flavours go but for straight freshness and taste they're second to none.

Patisse is in the PYD Building 197 Young Street Waterloo.

Cafe Sopra is in Fratelli Fresh 7 Danks Street Waterloo and has been awarded one Chef's Hat by the Good Food Guide.

Blues eyes well and truly gone... Big beautiful brown eyes now.

2011-05-26T17:18:00.004+10:00

148 Days or 21 Weeks and 1 Day

Sometimes a boy needs some attention too...

2011-05-24T23:01:00.000+10:00

Lovin' Ad Hoc At Home & Cuisine du Temps

2011-05-11T22:08:00.006+10:00

We're slowly working our way through Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc At Home. Almost every recipe is easy enough to make at home... Oh.
The buttermilk fried chicken is pretty damn spot on. Best fried chicken I've made. Throw in a home-made coleslaw, a beetroot and orange salad and fried cavalo nero and we don't need to eat out again.

Fried chicken and salad

Jacques Reymond's Cuisine du Temps is also proving doable at home. Modern French Asian Australian fusion it is. Who'd have thought of glazing a lamb rack with oyster sauce and soy sauce? Throw in mint oil and celeriac puree and embeurree of cabbage we have haute cuisine at home. Yet, it was easy... ish. The mint oil was surprisingly easy and delicious.

Lamb rack with mint oil

Ad Hoc and Movida

2011-05-11T21:56:00.005+10:00

I got a little adventurous recently and actually opened a couple of cook books. Since Georgia came along I've been doing a fair bit of the cooking and I have got really good at cooking stews. But even I can get tired of stew so I cracked open Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc At Home and Frank Camorra's Movida Cookbook.

Thomas Keller owns the legendary French Laundry restaurant in California. There's little chance I'd attempt one of his recipes from the French Laundry but Ad Hoc At Home is as it says. A cookbook for the home. Lots of basic but tasty recipes. I've tried his fried chicken recipe and it is sensational. This time though I made his Pan Roasted Duck Breast with Butter Braised Brussel Sprouts, Radishes and Kohlrabi. Before I attempted this I'd never even heard of Kohlrabi. Click here to read up on it. Thankfully are local green grocer, Fratelli Fresh, had it.

The duck breast was fairly easy to prepare. Simply marinated in various herbs then fried and finished off in the oven. The vegies took a little more preparation including cooking the radishes in emulsified butter. Butter emulsification? Hadn't done that before either. Anyway, it all came together reasonably successfully I think. The reason I chose duck is because Michelle loves the duck. Really. Loves the duck. She was even impressed with mine.

Pan Roasted Duck Breast with Butter Braised Brussel Sprouts, Radishes and Kohlrabi

Frank Camorra runs Movida in Melbourne. Movida is a Spanish restaurant cum tapas bar and serves extraordinary tapas and raciones. Best we've had outside of Spain so I was keen to try his pork recipe from the Movida Cookbook.

The pork had to be marinated is all sorts of herbs and liquids including sherry vinegar, white wine and sherry and then cooked in the oven. For something that isn't cooked for very long it comes out soft and succulent. I also felt like patatas bravas - potatoes in a mayonnaise base sauce. And yes, I hand made the mayonnaise. I over did it on the sauce when I mixed it in with the fried potatoes though. Still, it was pretty good. Patatas Bravas recipe here.

Marinated and braised pork with patatas bravas and broccoli

Two fairly involved and complicated, for me, meals in two days. I don't know what I'll try next.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T00:01:00.002+10:00

4 Months

2011-04-29T19:47:00.003+10:00

A couple more new photos here as well.

Yoshii for the ANZAC Day holiday

2011-04-26T19:30:00.008+10:00

Yay! We've finally got to Yoshii again. This is the first time with Georgia in tow. She needed some attention between courses so we took turns at nursing her until she fell to sleep. But on the whole I'd consider it a successful outing at this fabulous 1 Hat Japanese restaurant. Yoshii serves what we consider to be Australia's best sushi. At least as good as the 1 Michelin star sushi bars in Japan we went to.

Kobachi (Seasonal Amuse).

Appetiser. Ocean trout with a passionfruit mayonnaise and duck foie gras wrapped in kelp.

Tuna Sashimi Marinated Soy and Truffle essence sauce.

Black cod marinated in white miso. It came wrapped in some sort of burning papery bark.

Voila! Open the bark parcel and we have the smokey black cod and mushroom. Delicious. Seriously. Delicious.

Daily fresh selected sushi. Being a public holiday Yoshii didn't have the usual variety of assorted sushi but what he did have was a divine as always.

Green tea brulee.

Yoshii Restaurant is at 115 Harrington street Sydney and has 1 Chef's Hat from the SMH Good Food Guide.

Redfern wildlife - possum

2011-04-24T22:05:00.000+10:00

On an evening walk in the park this little fella came down to say hello.

15 April 2011

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T12:01:00.001+10:00

Meat Butterfly

2011-04-23T19:16:00.002+10:00

97 Days

2011-04-05T18:00:00.000+10:00

Just shy of 14 weeks - 13 weeks and 6 days or 97 days in the world.

Arrivederci Casa della famiglia Nixon in North Nowra

2011-04-04T16:34:00.017+10:00

Goodbye to the Nixon family home in North Nowra.

As of today the Nixon's no longer have a presence in Nowra. After almost 30 years of living on the South Coast mum and dad have sold up an moved to Melbourne. Today the contracts were exchanged and the ol' hacienda is no more (as far as we are concerned). Ma and Pop didn't muck around as far as moving goes either. They were in Melbourne yesterday and the truckload of possessions that didn't get sold on eBay, in the garage sale or given away to charity will follow in a couple of days.

Yep, it sold.

For me and my newish family our little holiday home on the South Coast is no more. Dammit, but we'll have to rent somewhere to get away now. Otherwise there'll be no more summer getaways to the beach and no more chillaxing in front of an open fire in the winter. The beach will always be there but god knows where we'll find an open fire to canoodle in front of again. Travelling down the coast and renting for weekends and holidays won't be as onerous as it sounds because we still travel to Myrtleford every so often to do the food and wine trails they have down there now. The old house in Barwidgee Creek even burnt down a couple of years ago so we can't even go down to see that, but we still go.

Ah the fire place. Will miss that.

We moved to Nowra from Myrtleford in Victoria almost 30 years ago. I remember the day exactly because it was my birthday - the 17th December 1981. We'd celebrated my birthday the night before and then saddled up the next day for the long drive to Nowra. Quite a change for a 17 year old - moving from a very small rural country town in the bush where we didn't even live in town to a bigger coastal city. 3,000 people to 30,000. It was like moving to the big smoke. I didn't want to go at first. I had friends and a life in Victoria. In 1982 I'd have to start my final year of high school in a totally different environment to before. In a word it was shit. It was a huge adjustment. But adjust I and we did. For the first year or two though I would've moved back to Victoria if I could. Eventually I finished school and ended up working in Sydney. Now there is very little chance I'd move back to Victoria.

Barry and Marg. Off to the old people's home. Kidding.

Nowra and the Shoalhaven became home. We'd go home on weekends and holidays and after 30 years you get to know a place. Up until last weekend we still came home for weekends. Not as often as in the 80s and some of the 90s but it was still coming home when we could. Nowra finally got some decent fish'n'chips this year for chrisakes. At least we were lucky enough to bring Georgia here the once last week. Poor old Copernicus loved the place as much as any cat could. Unfortunately for him though it almost killed once or twice. It will be kind of weird not having a home away from Sydney any more. But home is wherever the family is and Ma and Pop are in Melbourne now and I have my own little family here in Sydney. As far as the siblings go, Gerard and Jasmine are still here in Sydney, Moira is in Melbourne with her boys and Ben is with Sonja way way off over in Munich, Germany.

Adios 7 Nunkeri Place North Nowra.

After reading over all this again and looking at the pictures I'm pretty bummed. I tell myself when push comes to shove though it was just a place. Filled with memories but just a place. We have to move on. Mum and dad certainly have. They're looking forward to their next stage of life in Melbourne, and they have no regrets. So why should I be so maudlin? I'll miss the place. Like I miss the house at Barwidgee Creek and before that our very first home at Kancoona. Funny thing is I don't miss any of the flats and houses we rented or shared in Sydney. They were pretty cool but I guess they weren't home. Home is where you lay you roots and I suppose and family has much to do with that.

Sashimi time

2011-03-31T22:00:00.001+11:00

No Michelle is not feeding raw fish to Georgia... yet.

Georgia's first (and last) trip to casa Nixon in North Nowra

2011-03-25T22:12:00.002+11:00

Georgia gets her last chance to visit the grandparents in North Nowra before they move to Melbourne.

Luckily they have a boatload of kiddie books.

Ma keeps Georgia amused.

Pa takes a while to get to the punch-line...

But he does.

No baby bathing facilities in North Nowra but we do have a laundry sink.

Big couch for a little girl.

Last waltz around the garden with Pop before we head back to Sydney.

Couldn't resist this one. Ma found her original bridal veil during the packing. There is no truth to the rumour that I referred to her as the Corpse Bride.

Kookaburra

2011-03-17T02:02:00.001+11:00

A fairly frequent visitor to the residence in North Nowra I believe. Sadly we won't be visiting North Nowra as frequently any more. We're here for possibly the last time "helping" mum and dad pack for the move. More on that later. In the meantime laugh kookaburra laugh.

Papilio Aegeus

2011-03-16T19:29:00.000+11:00

According to this page the pretty butterfly pictured below is called Papilio Aegeus (Orchard or Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly) and is a fairly common garden butterfly in Sydney. It is one of the largest butterflies in Sydney too and mostly found on citrus plants. In our case the egg was laid on our cumquat tree on the balcony. I don't recall seeing the caterpillar and I'm sure Copernicus didn't either (it wouldn't have become a butterfly if Perni had seen it) but I did see the pupa at some point and forgot about until this pretty creature appeared. It is probably a female going by the colouring and she had just exited her cocoon. She's been back once or twice since and the last time we did have to save her from Perni.

Best wishes Japan - Saikō no Nippon wa kibō

2011-03-15T01:02:00.017+11:00

A few weeks ago I mentioned that this time last year we were in Japan. Three weeks ago no one knew Japan would be facing a disaster of historic proportions (hey psychics how did you miss this?*).

We couldn't be sadder for the Japanese people. We've travelled all over the world but our holiday to Japan was my favourite, or equal favourite, so far. The Japanese were superb. They have a generosity of spirit and hospitality we'd never encountered before. Time and again we met people that were friendly and helpful that seemed to belie the Japanese reputation for reserve and formality.

I've been shocked by the images coming out of Japan. It is truly heartbreaking.

There couldn't be a better prepared people to deal with such a catastrophe though. Hopefully Japanese stoicism in the face of this crisis will see them through. They must be being pushed to the limit though with an earthquake, tsunami, nuclear meltdown and now possibly the eruption of the volcano Mt Shinoedake on Kyushu. All they need now is Gojira to rear his ugly head above Tokyo Bay to complete a horrifying week.

Our thoughts are with our Japanese friends and we send them our best wishes but sometimes a more tangible gift is more appropriate: Australian Red Cross Japan Disaster Appeal.

Japan in happier times. Michelle in front of Matsumoto Castle, Matsumoto. 9th March 2010.

*Seriously psychics. You missed the 5th biggest recorded earthquake in history, one of the deadliest tsunamis in history and multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns. All on one weekend.

Happy Birthday Copernicus

2011-03-14T20:59:00.004+11:00

12 today. Happy Birthday little mate. Still the best boy in the world.

Georgia's first trip to the pub

2011-03-11T20:06:00.006+11:00

The Erskineville Hotel for fish'n'chips (ordinary - Michelle ended up ditching it and getting a chicken burger) and a steak (okay). At least the company was good (Hi Mark, Sharyn, Gerard and Jasmine).

Georgia's dad spent a lot of time sleeping at pubs too once upon a time.

A French truffle

2011-03-11T16:12:00.004+11:00

Sadly decadence is a much underrated vice. When I saw this little baby (pictured below) on display at Victor Churchill the other day I knew she had to be mine. This is our first French truffle - usually we get the domestic almost as expensive variety. Decadence? Well truffles are an extravagance. It isn't very often you buy something that is in the two to three thousand dollars per kilo range. Luckily they are small and light. This little ball of black beauty was only 18 grams. But oh the flavour and odour. To store it you have to double seal it in a zip lock bag and then in a plastic container because otherwise your milk will have zee stink of zee angels.

The very simplest thing you can do with a truffle is shave some into a basic omelette and then once the omelette is done take the pan and fry up more shavings in some lovely brown burnt butter. We then get a double hit of truffley goodness.

There's still plenty of truffle left for Michelle's Truffle Egg Pasta. Last time it was divine so I have... expectations.

Almost 10 weeks

2011-03-06T20:43:00.004+11:00

More photos for grandparents etc here.

Late night webcam

2011-03-02T01:34:00.006+11:00

If you were able to hack my webcam late at night when Michelle and Georgia are sleeping you might just see just what the boys get up to...

Yes I am wearing shorts.

Porteño or how we got out to a restaurant in the evening with Georgia for the first time

2011-02-28T23:57:00.007+11:00

It can be done. Feed and change Georgia before we leave and choose somewhere nice and close to home. Porteño is only 10 minutes walk away so if we have any disasters it is a short trip home and everything will be hunky dory.
Weeell, sort of. Georgia did get a bit grizzly a few times during the meal but not enough to be major pain. It was only after we'd ordered dessert she needed to be taken outside for some settling. I quickly wolfed down my share of dessert and left the rest for Michelle while I took Georgy outside to chat with the doorman. I settled Georgia, Michelle settled the bill.

We had to take turns nursing and eating a few times. It was worth it to get a decent feed. Last time we were here I raved about the suckling pig. This time, if anything, it was better. The Morcilla, blood sausage, was decadently rich and creamy.

CEVICHE PERUANO
Kingfish Ceviche, corn, cucumber, sweet potato and bottarga

ENSALADA PALERMO VIEJO
BBQ Eggplant, Tahini, Pearl Barley and Preserved Lemon

Spanish cider

CHANCHITO A LA CRUZ
Woodfired Suckling Pig

MORCILLA
Blood Sausage with Red Peppers in Garlic

REPOLLITOS DE BRUSELA FRITO
Crispy Fried Brussel Sprouts with Lentils and Mint

I was wearing my new Grinderman t-shirt and one of the waitresses was a fan (of Grinderman - not just my t-shirt) and she said the night of Grinderman's Sydney gig at the Enmore the band ended up here at Porteño for dinner and drinks. And speaking of celebs. Celebrity patissier Adriano Zumbo was eating here tonight too. Obviously man can not exist on macaron's alone.

So we haven't been totally scared off doing it again. As a matter of fact I can't wait.

Porteño is at 358 Cleveland Street Surry Hills.

Note for Grandparents and interested persons. Click HERE for new Georgia photos.

7 weeks

2011-02-16T21:00:00.002+11:00

This time last year we spent almost seven weeks travelling around Japan. All good holidays seem to fly. The Japan trip was no exception. We could've stayed there for months it went so fast. Now we've just reached the seven week point of Georgia's journey. The last seven weeks haven't flown like a Japanese holiday but neither have they dragged. The first time Georgia smiled it was like every gorgeous sunrise rolled into one magical toothless gummy moment. My heart sang, my spirit soared and my eyes leaked like a sieve. In the week or so since that moment the smiling and grinning have become part of her. She smiles when we say hello when she wakes up. She smiles when we sing. And she smiles when her daddy dribbles any old shit when he is telling a story.

Don't get me wrong it hasn't all been wine and roses. Well, except for Valentine's Day; Michelle bought me a rose. But it has been the most rewarding time of my life so far.

This time last year we were dealing with some of life's challenges. This year we're dealing with the challenge of a new life.

The next time we go on a holiday we'll be taking her and already I know it will be the best holiday ever.

We go out for lunch

2011-02-15T23:32:00.000+11:00

We finally got out for lunch. In a restaurant. This is the first time eating out with Georgia so we went for something pretty relaxed and casual but still with excellent food. Cafe Sopra is above (Sopra means above in Italian) Fratelli Fresh, a fruit and vegie market, not far from our place. It has always had excellent Italian inspired food. Last year it was awarded 1 Chef's Hat by the Good Food Guide.

Sopra is noisy enough to be soporific enough to keep a baby asleep. Until, that is, she needs a feed herself.

Luckily Michelle ordered cold dishes - vitello tonato and a rocket, bresaola and apple salad - so when she was interrupted it was no drama to put down the eating irons and feed Georgia. I got to finish my parmesan encrusted chicken scalopini with "Sopra"-slaw because I'm not equipped to feed little ladies.

I got to play the proud daddy while Michelle finished her meal though.
We finished with a fabulous creme brulee.
It was great to get out again. It has been a while. Cafe Sopra was as awesome as ever and very kiddie friendly.
Cafe Sopra is upstairs at Fratelli Fresh at 7 Danks Street Waterloo.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T20:10:00.001+11:00

Chapter 5 Section 116 of the Commonwealth Of Australia Constitution Act

2011-02-13T14:21:00.004+11:00

116. The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.

It is based on the US version but in effect a little weaker. Almost gutless when push comes to shove.

So why are Christians always angry?

Quickies

2011-02-12T01:35:00.005+11:00

Here a couple of things that have got my goat recently.

States urged to impose total ban on mobile phone use in cars.
The nanny state gone mad. Yes using a mobile phone or texting in a car is dangerous. Have you ever been behind someone yakking on a mobile while driving? They look like they're driving pissed. By all means ban hand held devices, but hands free? The study suggests that even hands free devices are distracting and could cause accidents. Maybe, but this is taking the nanny state too far. The law would be almost unenforceable anyway. What will they ban next? Passengers? Do you know how distracting passengers can be?

'Appalling' law lets schools expel gay students.
This absolutely appalling law is a relic of the Wran years when homosexuality was still illegal. Holy shit have these people ever heard of basic human rights? The law allows private schools to expel gay students not because they're disruptive or are "flaunting their homosexuality" or harassment. But just because they are gay. What the fuck? It's like outlawing lefthandness or brown eyes. Fucktards.

Christians put faith poll on the agenda.
The Australian Christian Lobby have organised an event where Christian leaders will question Kristina Keneally (Premier) and Barry O'Farrell (Opposition leader) on a range of "social" issues. The ACL did this during the Federal election with the two Federal leaders too. Hello, Church State Separation anybody? Why the leaders pander to this out-of-touch and un-representative to the majority of people in the state I don't know? Maybe I do. Votes. The ACL, and Catholics for that matter, agenda is probably the newly approved Ethics Classes in public schools. For some reason the various religions have been allowed to come into public schools and teach scripture classes once a week. While the classes were technically not compulsory, ask Nowra and Ulladulla High Schools about that though, students who had permission from their parents were not allowed to do anything constructive. No school work or homework was allowed so as not to disadvantage the poor kiddies in the scripture classes. Recently though ethics classes were trialled as alternative to scripture classes. In the trials apparently more than half the kids chose to do the ethics classes instead of scripture. This outraged the Anglicans and the Catholics. I don't know why they have their own fucking schools after all. Now the government is rolling out ethics classes across the board. Ethics are cool. I wish I had them. Last week the Opposition Liberal Party dropped its objection to ethics classes and their promise to remove them from schools. This has again outraged the Christians. It appears to me that the Liberals have seen how the wind is blowing and how popular the ethics classes actually are with voters.
The scripture classes have no place in public schools. Ethics classes are appropriate for public schools, or any school for that matter. If the Christians want to teach scripture they can go and start there own schools. Oh. Hang on. They have their own schools. Hundreds of them. Well piss off out of the state system then. We nominally have a separation of church and state in this country.

DNA and dollars are killing capital punishment.
You'd think this abhorrent practice would be outlawed just because it is barbaric but if DNA evidence and the cost of executions is doing the job, well that will do I suppose. The execution rate in the US has halved since 1999 which was the peak year for judicial homicide in the USA.

Vaccination day

2011-02-11T19:46:00.005+11:00

Little Georgia started her schedule of vaccinations today. She's already had one Hep B shot in hospital. All up today she had 2 injections and some syrup to sip on.
The first injection was for Pertussis, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Haeomphilus influenza type B, Hepatitis B and Polio.
The second shot was for Pneumococcal and the sipping syrup was for Rotavirus. Georgia drank the Rotarix pretty easily. It is quite sweet apparently.

Mum preparing as well as she could.

One shot in one thigh and another in the other.

Poor Georgy howled. Look at the tears. Hopefully it won't be too painful over the next few days. I got the DTP booster a couple of months ago and the injection site in my arm ached for days
It didn't take her long to calm down and she had been fine ever since.

Copernicus attempts to smuggle himself out of the house

2011-02-10T19:40:00.001+11:00

It has only been 6 weeks! Today in fact.

2011-02-09T00:57:00.010+11:00

I can't even remember what it was like before Georgia came along and it's only been 6 weeks. Sure we were happy but, Jesus Georgia, you've filled a hole we only had an inkling we had. I'm well into my 40s now, and don't I hate saying that out loud, but I feel like a clueless 20 year old kid again when it comes to parenthood. I can't say parenthood has been easy but there is a naturalness to it I didn't expect. I suppose there are a few billion others going through it at the moment on top of 2 million years of evolution so I shouldn't be too surprised. If Ozzy Osbourne could successfully raise a family there's hope for us yet. There have been dramas, tears and frustration. God knows how the parents who have difficult babies cope, she has been a dream baby. I reckon there will still be tears a plenty in the years to come. Give us time. We'll fuck up somewhere. However I'm looking forward to watching her grow up more than just about anything. One minute you can't wait for her to do something new and the next you want to stay in the moment and wish she wouldn't grow up so fast. And it has only been six weeks. Even in the short time we've had the changes have been coming too fast and yet not fast enough. It is so confusing. All we can do is take some happy snaps to cry over in the future.
You are the best thing that ever happened to us Georgia.
Thank you.
XXX

Haven't drawn anything for a while...

2011-02-07T16:23:00.002+11:00

5 weeks

2011-02-03T20:09:00.001+11:00

More photos here.

You really can't afford 50 bucks?

2011-02-03T17:46:00.014+11:00

The recent Queensland floods brought out the best in Australians and, unfortunately, the worst. Many Aussies spent time, money and sweat to help out the victims of the floods. Many of us donated to the Premier's Relief Fund. This disaster will cost billions. It may be the most expensive natural disaster in Australian history by orders of magnitude.

Of course the Federal Government has to foot the bill for much of the repair bill. Just how are they going to pay for it? Billions of dollars don't just magically appear out of consolidated revenue. They will have to cut some expenditure but there is a limit to the cuts any government can make. A quick dirty way of raising a couple of billion bucks is a one off levy. This is what the Gillard government has chosen to do.

The levy is only going to be levied on those who make more than 50 grand a year and they're only going to be hit with a 0.5 percent surcharge on top of their usual Medicare levy. For the lucky few earning more than 100 grand a year the levy is 1 percent. Yes lucky few. Only 1 percent of Australians earn more than 100K per year. If you earn less than 50k what are you complaining about? You won't have to pay anything.

I was a little shocked by the furore this has caused. What a bunch of whingers those affected by the levy are. At the bottom end of the scale it is 48 cents per week. Yes 48 cents. If you earn 100K it is $4.81 per week. This is only for one year. Are you telling me Mr or Ms $55,000 a year you can't afford $52 in one year to help reconstruct Queensland? Or $250 if you earn $100,000. Oh the hardship. Whingers.

Before any of you 1 percenters get up on your high horses, in a good year, and I've had a couple, I've earned enough to be slugged a fair whack with this levy too you know. And what about the personal donation I made to the appeal you say? Well good on you then. Do you want a medal? I contributed too. It was tax deductible after all. Every bit helps. So we're making a compulsory contribution now. Get over it. We've been paying 1 percent extra for Medicare for years because of our incomes. Don't you consider yourself lucky enough to earn enough to be slugged with extra taxes? Shit, I do.

So you're not convinced how the government will use or misuse your money? The money per week that amounts to less than one of those lattes you have every day. Well governments use and misuse your money every day. Again, deal with it. Why doesn't the government cut more of those other programs that you don't believe in anyway? Well, they are cutting stuff. It may not be one of your pet projects but it is someone's. You can't please everybody. Deal with it.

Some people might even say why should I fork over my hard earned when these people are living in a flood zone and are under insured? Why should I bail out people who haven't prepared for themselves? They've chosen to live in a risky environment after all? Well, because it is the right thing to do. We call it social responsibility. Sometimes we just have to help out those who have to deal with something so extreme. These sort of disasters don't happen very often. Hell, speaking of flood zones, we're talking an area the size of Germany and France combined. Practically all of Queensland is at risk. It means you couldn't rebuild anywhere if you wanted to avoid risky areas. Even Toowoomba, which was hit by the inland Tsunami, is 700 metres above sea level. Silly buggers building homes in such and obvious flood zone. How dare they ask for help?

Now the mad monk, Tony Abbott, and the Liberal Party have asked for donations to help fight the flood levy. Oh the irony. I think, and this is entirely supposition, that Abbott is only so vehemently against the levy because, one, he didn't think of it first, and two, because if the government says the sky is blue he would say it was green. Nice work Tony.

I'm happy just to do my bit. Shit, I might even get more tax back this year than I'll be paying in the levy anyway.

Rant over.

PS
Update 4-Feb-2011
I'm not the only one that thinks this way. Thank you John Birmingham.

One month old portrait

2011-01-31T19:40:00.002+11:00

Georgia's first train ride

2011-01-31T18:10:00.002+11:00

On Friday we thought we'd attempt an excursion into the city, haircuts and Medicare, with Georgia. She only grizzled a bit while I was in the Medicare office and the guy serving offered to do the paper work for me so I could go. Nice one Georgia.

Souvenir Pope's beer

2011-01-30T20:19:00.006+11:00

The oldies went to Germany for Christmas to spend time with Ben and Sonja and brought me back beer. Good oldies. This is a special beer from a village in Bavaria called Marktl. Marktl is the hometown of Pope ~~Emperor Palpatine the Nazi~~ Benedict. Being Bavarian they've brewed a beer in his honour. Good 'ol mum and dad brought me back a bottle of this holy water and a souvenir stein. Typical Bavarian Beer. Not the best from that part of the world but better than some. I didn't burst into flames when I drank it so it can't have been blessed.
Papst Bier means Pope's beer by the way.
I still haven't been able to source a souvenir Pope-on-a-rope though.
Thanks Ma and Pop.

Grinderman at the Enmore Theatre

2011-01-28T23:55:00.010+11:00

This is the first gig I've been to PG. Post Georgia that is. She has only been in the world for four weeks so it hasn't been that much of a drought. I did have to ditch the Big Day Out two days ago though because it wouldn't have been seemly to leave Michelle and Georgia home alone for 12 hours with Georgia only being four weeks old n'all. Most of the bands at this year's BDO I'd put in the nice to see bracket anyway. Except, that is, for Grinderman. They're in the I've been champing at the bit for a couple of years to see them bracket.

Grinderman is Nick Cave's other band. They did a show or two a couple of years ago at All Tomorrow's Parties at Mt Bulla but not at the Sydney show so I missed them then. I got a ticket to this show just in case of the off chance I'd miss them at the Big Day Out this year. And I did. Miss the BDO. So lucky eh? Almost didn't make it to this show though. Georgia wasn't settling before I left and it was only when she started to feed and Michelle was happy I was comfortable enough to leave. As it was I only missed the first 4 or 5 songs.

What I did see was pretty bloody good. Grinderman are definitely not Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds even if there are a couple of familiar faces in both line-ups. Most notably Nick Cave, the strutting rock god himself, and Warren "Rasputin" Ellis. When I say definitely not I mean that is a good thing. Nick Cave at ATP was just about the best gig I've ever been to. That is a hard act to follow. Grinderman was almost as good though. They are still in a class of their own. They're brilliant. The worst thing about the show? I missed the first 4 or 5 songs. The second worst thing? I missed the support act. Ed Kuepper. Dammit. I like Ed too. Georgia if you're reading this in years to come it wasn't your fault daddy missed some of the show tonight. He would've given up the whole show if you needed him. Thankfully that wasn't the case and I was treated to something special.

Setlist here. Or there will be a soon as somebody who isn't me updates it.

Gig of the year? Possibly according to fasterlouder.com.au. Click here for review.

Lots of photos below. Click 'em to embiggen 'em.

Here's a little video taster of the gig. Palaces of Montezuma. Currently one of my very favourite songs. The sound in the video is very very distorted though.

Things you see in Redfern

2011-01-28T19:53:00.002+11:00

Another Leigh Sales fan I see. I saw this posted on a wall in Redfern before Christmas. I don't know how long it had been there.
Click to embiggen.

Happy Birthday Mummy... I'm 4 weeks old today too

2011-01-26T23:59:00.001+11:00

First Easter Eggs for the year... and it is still frackin' January.

2011-01-26T15:00:00.000+11:00

I think Easter may be my favourite holiday. The Easter Bunny was crucified so that we could enjoy delicious chocolatey treats. But the chocolatey goodness seems to be appearing earlier and earlier every year. It is still Summer for Flying Spaghetti Monster's sake. January. I bought these Easter Eggs in Woolworths in Redfern today. Awesome. There goes the diet.

But the record for the earliest appearance this year was a few days ago. The Easter Eggs below I spotted on the 21st of January in Coles in Redfern. This may have been the earliest release of Easter Eggs I've seen so far.

Big Day Out 2011

2011-01-26T14:00:00.000+11:00

Ticket to the Big Day Out. $155.
Big Day Out Android app downloaded to phone. Free.
Ear plugs. $2.
Spending the day with my new daughter instead of going to the Big Day Out. Priceless.

Looks like new daddy duties win out over day long music and booze fest.

Oh well. Maybe next year.

What did Michelle miss most while she was pregnant?

2011-01-26T11:59:00.000+11:00

There are a number of foods not recommended for pregnant women one of which is sushi. Raw fish. Michelle loves sushi so it has been a struggle for Michelle to get through an entire 9 months without sushi. Michelle's favourite sushi in Australia is from Yoshii. Yoshii doesn't usually do take-away but yesterday he graciously made up a selection of sushi for us to take-away. I wanted to organise this for Michelle's birthday today but Yoshii is closed today (Australia Day) so we got it yesterday instead. Yoshii's sushi is the best sushi we've had outside of Japan and he would give some of their top Michelin starred sushi chefs a run for their money.
Happy birthday Michelle.

Les Cars Rouges - Paris

2011-01-25T23:00:00.004+11:00

Four years ago we drove from Munich to Madrid in about 7 weeks. This was a little holiday we shouted ourselves after Ben and Sonja's wedding in Germany. Geez I'm a procrastinator though. After 4 years I've managed to finally get out 2 minutes of edited video. Well, that is, if you don't count Ben's fully edited wedding video. This is a start though, a speedy 2 minute tour of Paris on Les Cars Rouges. An open top double decker red bus. It is a great way to see any city. We even did it when the Kößers visited Sydney a couple of years ago.
I recommend the HD version of the video.

Friday night in Redfern

2011-01-21T23:55:00.008+11:00

On a quiet warm night in Redfern nothing much happens. It has been years since we saw a riot here. And by here I mean in the suburb. Not here in our quiet little street hundreds of metres away from where all the exciting stuff happens. Michelle did watch a little to-do once from the very window the photos below were taken from when some coppers, with guns drawn, pulled over a car load of alleged crims and ordered them from the car. When the cops announced that the "crims" were under arrest one of the arrestees replied "No shit sherlock".

Anyway that was in the daylight hours some time ago. Tonight's festivities were limited to a couple of cops pulling over a vehicle with a single occupant.

Click the photos to encopinate.

The female cop keeps an eye on the car's driver while the male cop calls in the details.

The cops must've called for backup because another police car arrives with another couple of cops.

All four cops start checking the vehicle. But wait. There is a line in the classic 80s zombie film "Return Of The Living Dead", "Send more cops".

Now we have 7 or 8 cops interrogating the driver or thoroughly searching the car.

Of course a pat down is order.

You sit right down there son while we give your car the once over.

Mustn't forget the boot.

'Allo 'allo what have we here? A plastic bag of suspicious looking material. Funny, the suspicious package glows like the Mcguffin in Pulp Fiction.

Suspicious baggie of goods obviously not that suspicious on further inspection. It is your lucky day son. On your way.

And we are back to a quiet suburban street where really not much happens. Indeed, not much happened here this evening.

Three weeks old

2011-01-19T19:00:00.002+11:00

New aerial photos of Barwidgee Creek house before and after the Black Saturday Bushfire of 2009

2011-01-15T19:11:00.016+11:00

A company called NearMap have announced that they will have high resolution aerial photos of the recent Queensland flood disaster on their mapping service. That got me thinking about whether or not they had high resolution photos of our old place at Barwidgee Creek. Or at least to see if they look anything like the Google pictures. Near Map's photos are indeed high resolution. They're taken from planes so the photos are quite detailed. Google don't update their photos as often so the Google shot was taken some time before the Black Saturday Bushfires I've written about before. Near Map's photo was taken on 26th January 2010 - about a year after the fire. I've animated both shots to show the green before fire shot and the after fire devastated black landscape. The red circle is where our old place was.

The photo below is taken from Google Maps and shows the Barwidgee Creek place sometime before the Black Saturday fire. The photo is overly green but note how lush the bush is. The house is in the large clearing towards the middle of the photo. Behind the house, slightly down and to the right in the photo, is a large shed. The shed survived the fire. The house was completely destroyed.

Click the photo to see the high resolution version.

The photo below is from NearMap.com.au and shows the state of Barwidgee Creek about a year after the fire. The bush behind the house, to the right and below the house in the photo, was almost sterilised in the fire and has taken a couple of years to come back. Last time we were there, about 20 months after the fire, some green had taken root and the landscape wasn't quite so bleak looking. The shed is still there but only the barest outline in the dirt of where the house stood gives any indication that the ol' hacienda ever existed.

Click the photo to see the high resolution version.

Please note that we have not lived in the Barwidgee Creek house for about two decades. While it is very very sad to have lost our childhood home we can only imagine the heartache and devastation the current owners went through when they lost their home and belongings. We can only offer them our deepest sympathies for their loss.

Two weeks in... a life time to go.

2011-01-13T15:51:00.014+11:00

My how time flies. Or does it? The last two weeks have been a blur of nappy changes, feeding and nursing. Babies are vitality vampires. They suck up every little part of your life you have. Had! I looked out the window this morning and I saw something flutter by. It was the last vestige of our previous life. Life BG (before Georgia). But do you know what? Who cares. I wouldn't change our new life for the world. So long internet, reading, TV, movies, eating out and just plain old chill time. I'm going to miss you. Seriously though it isn't that bad. Consider this small blog post for example. I still had time to tap this out. Albeit because mummy was in the shower and didn't catch me goofing off on the intertoobs.

I get some respite. I can go out to shop. For food or baby stuff we didn't realise we needed until Georgia came along. Exciting stuff. At least I have work to look forward to. Um... until yesterday that is. My contract is up at the end of this week and won't be extended. Oh no, I no longer have a job to go to. I will have to stay home with Michelle and Georgia and bond with my baby daughter for longer than I expected.

Michelle has the short end of the stick. She is the one breast feeding after all. Breast feeding takes a long time. Sometimes 45 minute to an hour at a time then two hours later she has to do it all again. I'm getting a little bit of sleep at night but Michelle has to get up 2 or 3 times after midnight to feed Georgia. Sometimes Georgia has trouble attaching and screams like a raptor in frustration. Luckily for us she isn't a cry baby but when she does cry it's like the scream of a banshee with a blood curdling howl that I'm sure has opened the gates of hell just a little bit. If the demon spawn get through and the apocalypse happens don't say I didn't warn you but it was probably our little angel that woke them up.

As I said two weeks ago. Little Georgia is the best thing that has ever happened to us. Two weeks down and life time to look forward to. Just don't grow up too fast my little angel.

Two weeks and one day today.

More pictures here.

Dear Georgia Cate Nixon...

2011-01-07T22:02:00.006+11:00

Dear Georgia Cate Nixon

Nine days ago you came into our lives. December 29 2010 was, and probably will be, the best day of our lives. You were that special gift that can never be surpassed. Our first child.
We want to do so much with you and for you. We can try to keep you happy, safe and healthy. We will always try to do our best. But there are two things we can give you. Our unconditional love and your name.

We love you Georgia Cate Nixon.

Your Mummy and Daddy.
XXX

First Family Portrait - LIttle Miss Nixon has arrived

2010-12-29T19:29:00.011+11:00

At 12:57am weighing at a reasonably hefty 3754 grams our first child, a girl [insert her name here], was born by caesarean at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Considering it was an emergency c-section after a long and fairly difficult labour and still only half way through being stitched up mum looks pretty comfortable and happy with herself doesn't she. And she should be. The little one is beautiful. I would say that though, being her dad and all.
There should be a word for the joy of being a parent for the first time. Nothing I have ever done has pulled the hearts strings from so many directions. You go from grinning with overwhelming joy to bawling like a baby. The effects are contradictory but the feelings seem to come from same place.
You know, there might be a word in English that describes this after all. Love.

More pictures here and here.

How To Assemble A Cot In Less Than 2 Minutes

2010-12-27T20:01:00.000+11:00

Christmas Day

2010-12-25T23:23:00.002+11:00

Merry Christmas.

The rest of the Nixons are over in Austria celebrating a white Christmas in the snow with the German family while we're here sweltering in the muggy Sydney humidity. Gerard and Jasmine have put on a pretty good Christmas spread of lobster, prawns, spatchcock and pork. Mmmmm.

Moira and Michelle. Poor Michelle and her swollen ankles.

Adam, Jasmine and Gerard.

Gerard and the parcel from Germany.

Me and my new Christmas Schnapps Belt. Beat that Batman.

Michelle modelling my Schnapps Belt - ready for hospital.

Merry Christmas - The Hives & Cyndi Lauper In A Christmas Duel

2010-12-25T13:45:00.000+11:00

Merry Christma. Twisted Sister - Oh Come All Ye Faithful

2010-12-25T13:44:00.000+11:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2010-12-25T00:01:00.002+11:00

Merry Christmas from Copernicus.

Chirp chirp... Christmas visitors

2010-12-22T20:00:00.003+11:00

It never ceases to amaze me the wildlife we can get in inner city Sydney, and I don't mean Copernicus and Michelle. These little buggers below are occasional visitors and are probably Rainbow Lorikeets. Pretty aren't they (click on the photos to emparrotinate).

Copernicus is always excited to see the birdies. He'll watch them for a while and realise he has no chance of getting through the window to "play" with them so he loses interest pretty quickly.

Michelle is almost 39 weeks pregnant now.

10 things I've done you probably haven't

2010-12-20T15:20:00.010+11:00

John Scalzi has a list of thing he has done that we probably haven't over on his blog. He invited his readers to participate in the comments of his blog. I couldn't resist.

Note for the smarties: You may have done one or some but I've doubt you've done them all.

1. Had a group of people sing "Happy Birthday" to me outside of Mawson's Hut, Commonwealth Bay, ANTARCTICA.

2. A baby gorilla grabbed my leg as he ambled past in the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. He looked up at me and tentatively reached out to touch the hairless ape.

3. Swam with Humpback whales, Tonga.

4. Swam with whale sharks off Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia.

5. Ate a guinea pig in Peru.

6. Took a beating on more than one occasion (stitches involved) when I was a night club doorman.

7. Drove half way around Australia (14000km) in 23 days.

8. Was DJ in an inner city night club for a number of years.

9. Was a contestant on a TV game show, Sale Of The Century.

10. Broke up a fight on the street and disarmed the guy who pulled a knife (easy, he wasn't interested in sticking me with it but I probably shouldn't do that again).

Universal Restaurant for my birthday

2010-12-17T23:01:00.004+11:00

We've come to Christine Mansfield's Universal Restaurant in Darlinghurst for my birthday. Universal offers a number of dishes inspired by Christine's travels around the world. It is a sort of build your own degustation from a selection of smallish dishes that are each intensely flavoured and yet still build to a crescendo that really wallops you in the mouth.

Geisha Girl - a cocktail of sake, plum wine, elderberry flower and cucumber.

Spice quail, roasted rice, pomelo and mint.

Hiramasa kingfish cerviche, pickled seaweed, heirloom tomato and green chilli salsa.
08 Naia Verdejo

Steamed whiting, squid and clams, seared sea scallop, black beans, ginger soy broth.

Tea smoke aoraki salmon and pacific oysters, morcilla and green apple salad.
Mukai 'Ine Mukai' Hiire Genshu Sake.

Seared venison, spiced beetroot, pearl barley and parsley walnut salsa.

Sichuan pepper spiced duck, asparagus, lychee and watercress salad.
07 Lost Valley Cortese.

Slow braised wagyu beef shin and bone marrow vol au vent, chestnut mushroom tempura, spinach.
08 Domaine Singla 'La Crinyane' Carignan.

Beautiful pregnant lady - 38 weeks.

Beautiful pregnant lady and birthday boy.

Gaytime goes nuts.
Honeycomb ice cream, caramel parfait, chocolate crunch, salted hazelnut caramel.
It looks a little messy because Michelle couldn't wait to get stuck into it. It was delicious after all. A quick rebuild and it was okay to photograph.

Piccolo latte and blueberry friands.

Universal has been awarded 2 Good Food Guide Hats and is at Republic 2 Courtyard Palmer Street Darlinghurst.

The Gorillaz

2010-12-16T23:50:00.021+11:00

It was a long time coming but it was certainly worth the wait. The Gorillaz were, to use an overused word, awesome. Definitely up there with some of the best gigs I've seen. Ever.

This is the first time The Gorillaz have performed in Australia and the first time front man Damon Albarn has been here since 1996 with Blur.

I didn't really know what to expect as far as the live show goes. I'd heard years ago the band performed behind a screen while their animated alter egos were projected on the screen. True there was a big screen where some fantastic videos were played but it was behind where Damon and the other performers strutted their stuff.

Guest performers on stage included De La Soul, Bobby Womack, Rosie Wilson, Yukimi Nagano and the Syrian National Orchestra. On video only we had Shaun Ryder and Snoop Dogg.

Setlist here.
Sydney Morning Herald review of the gig here.
Gorillaz wiki here.
Gorillaz website here. According to an interview with Damon on Triple J The Gorillaz will be giving away their latest album on their website on Christmas Day.

The Gorillaz played at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

Rebecca Watson drops into Sydney one last time

2010-12-14T21:20:00.003+11:00

Skepchick and awesome Skeptics Guide To The Universe member Rebecca Watson has made a final stop in Sydney after her whirlwind antipodean tour of Oz and Kiwi Land.
Rebecca's talk at the Manning Bar, the dry Manning Bar (they didn't open the bar dammit), was entitled How To Ruin Christmas (For Pretty Much Everyone Involved).
I don't think I'll be giving too much away by saying you don't ruin Christmas. You enjoy it more than the fundies and that will piss them off.

As always Rebecca's talks are funny and informative and sometimes a little disturbing. But who the hell has heard of the lovely European Alpine tradition of Krampus? Krampus follows St Nick around and punishes the bad children. Tongues are involved. It is, as we say in this country, pretty fucked up. I love it.

After the talk I walked home through Victoria Park and watched the ducks. I like ducks. Szechuan style.

As you can imagine I was pretty thirsty because the Manning Bar was closed (dammit). So I stopped in at a bottle-O on the way home and picked up a couple of brews including the Magners Pear Cider from Ireland below. Nice.

Yeah, we know you're cute...

2010-12-11T23:14:00.001+11:00

A kid, a cat and a new dad

2010-12-09T01:41:00.011+11:00

Once upon a time, early 1965 to be more precise, lived a young family on a remote dairy farm in the foothills of the Australian Alps in Victoria. A place called Kancoona. This is almost as far bush as you can get in that part of Victoria. In December 1964 a young farmer, Barry, and his wife Margaret brought a new born chubby little bloke home from hospital (yes they had hospitals then) for the first time to their single bedroom weatherboard shack. This shack barely had electricity and it would be another four years before it got a TV. Half the kitchen was taken up with a big old black wood fired stove. They had running water in the shack but the dunny was a drop toilet in an outhouse that had to be moved every few years when the hole was filled. God it was primitive. The nearest town was about an hour away on a mountainous windy road.
It was a modest yet grand place to raise the first of their four children. Idyllic in many ways. Well, except for the bushfires. Bushfires nearly took out the young family on a least one occasion. But that was a couple of years in the future. The kid had a little brother by then too. In the meantime though, in the years before mother nature unleashed her fiery fury, it was rural bliss. The young family were broke but happy. They had cows and pigs and chooks and cats and dog name Blue. And Bluey was a good dog.

The kid (10 weeks old), the cat and the new dad.

Now, some 45 years later, the kid is expecting his first child. Sydney is a long way from the bush, both temporally and geographically. Things aren't quite so primitive now either. He has lived in the big smoke for so long now he can barely remember growing up in the bush. But he hopes, fervently, he can be as good a parent to his daughter (she'll be along any day now) as his mum and dad were to him under more, shall we say, challenging circumstances then. Some things never change though. The kid still has a cat.

Baby furniture assembled... finally.

2010-12-05T22:58:00.000+11:00

Luckily we have enough room in our bedroom for the baby's tall boy, cot and change table. SIDS And Kids recommend the bub sleeps close to her parents for the first 6 months or so. Which suits me. Gives me another 6 months to clear out the spare room / library / baby's room.

After the hot hard sweaty work of assembling the cot and change table it is time for daddy to have a beer. This is a Kozel from the Czech Republic.

Shooting the messenger - Wikileaks and Julian Assange

2010-12-03T16:37:00.008+11:00

All the kerfuffle about the release of diplomatic cables boils down to one thing. Shoot the messenger. Wikileaks doesn't make shit up. They just publish the sort of stuff that once upon a time may have been published by the New York Times or the Washington Post. If the leaks had been initially been published in the newspapers the leaks and the source of the leaks would have been the news. Now the corporations than run the newspapers are the same lobbyists that "run" government so it isn't part of their business plan to publish inflammatory leaks. The call is to shut down Wikileaks and call for Julian Assange to be executed. Shoot the messenger.

Democracy requires a certain amount transparency to work. Otherwise what have you got to hide? Governments are not private individuals. They're beholding to the people. Not the other way round. Governments forget that and start to think that it isn't the secret that is the point it is the keeping of that secret. Lets face it. What has been the major revelations so far? Country A thinks country B is corrupt. Or a certain Prime Minister, let's call him Mr Brown, is considered by some to be feckless and vain. No shit Sherlock. All we're seeing is what we already knew. The emperor is naked.

As I said the point is keeping the secrets. Openness leads to accountability. If we the people are kept in the dark to whom are our governments accountable? They can and do get away with any old shit. They don't like being caught out in a lie. Most of the releases might embarrass the authors in the short term but in the long term we'll all forget and it will be Business As Usual. Responsibility and accountability are what the politicians and beauracracy fear the most. Well that and keeping us from finding out where the money comes from. Keep the bastards honest. That used to be the slogan for the Australian Democrats. Maybe Wikileaks is the true successor to that motto.

It is far from certain that Julian Assange and Wikilieaks have done anything illegal. But this is where the shoot-the-messenger part comes in. Some politicians and media are calling for the ex-judicial murder of Assange. WTF? Assange and Wikileaks may be doing more for open government and democracy than, well, just about anybody in decades. And for that some are calling for Assange to tried for treason or shot. It is typical of these reactionaries. Government does something illegal. Whistleblower blows whistle on illegality. Whistleblower is charged and silenced. Government goes back to BAU.

Assange and Wikileaks aren't traitors. They're heroes.

A boy still needs a pedicure

2010-12-01T18:53:00.002+11:00

The Amazing Meeting Oz - Final Day

2010-11-28T23:36:00.011+11:00

Two and a half days goes fast when you're having fun. This is the final day of the con. Another early start though. The first cab off the rank at 8 effing 45 was a panel on The Media and the Message.

Steve Cannane, Tim Mendham, Paul Willis and Rob Morrison.

Dr Pamela Gay was next with a talk about instilling curiosity and getting involved in citizen science using the example of Galactic Zoo. Motivational and inspirational. Pamela Gay is an extraordinary person. Very popular by the ovation too.

Dr Pamela Gay.

The speaker designated to be next was sick and unable to attend so Rebecca Watson came up with a skeptical quiz to fill in. The SGU and George Hrab were a team and the audience was the other team. Rebecca asked the question and George had to shout out the answer after conferring with the SGU. We, the audience, twittered, yes tweeted, our answers which were displayed on the big screens behind Rebecca. The team with the most number of correct answers won. The audience won. 14 to 8 from memory. Best use of twitter I've seen. I even signed up on the spot. Best answer of the the day - 'boobs'. Can't remember the question.

Rebecca Watson.

Evan Bernstein, Jay Novella, George Hrab, Bob Novella and Steve Novella.

The skeptical quiz.

More from the skeptical quiz.

Richard Saunders and George Hrab took us through a list of what the psychics missed in 2010. That was easy. Everything. Their, the psychics, predictions weren't much better.

Dr Rachael Dunlop, Brian Dunning, James Randi and Steve Novella.

You even get some luminaries up the back of the room notably Eugenie Scott.

Nearly every session was a full house.

Lunch was a quick sandwich before I hit the bookshop for the last time. I bought my first parenting book - Raising Freethinkers. Then it was off for a game of bag a skeptic. In this game I try and get my photograph taken with a notable skeptic or two. It's an easy game because the attendees at this conference are all fantastic people who give up their time selflessly and don't mind posing with a boofhead. As I said to them, if it's not on my blog it didn't happen.

Rebecca Watson and a boofhead.

Same boofhead with Steven Novella.

That boofhead just won't leave the talent alone. Steve Novella, Boofhead, Brian Dunning, Rebecca Watson and Bob Novella.

Boofhead and Dr Pamela Gay.

After lunch Eugenie Scott spoke on the rise of creationism in the the US and globally. Eugenie is the executive director of the National Center For Science Education in the US.

Eugenie Scott.

Who do you have on a panel about skepticism and entertainment? Entertainers. Some good ones here too. Julian Morrow is from The Chaser (magazine and TV show), Simon Taylor (illusionist), George Hrab (podcaster and entertainer) and James Randi (magician).

Julian Morrow, Simon Taylor, George Hrab and James Randi.

George Hrab and James Randi.

I'm Spartacus... Julian Morrow, Simon Taylor, George Hrab and Randi.

John Smyrk spoke on the credulity of business - management psuedoscience. I always knew that Myers Briggs test was a crock of shit. Now I know why.

Richard Saunders demonstrated how the magic power balance bracelet scam works (hint: it doesn't). Click here to see Richard's expose of this device on Today Tonight.

Richard Saunders, Pamela Gay and Paul Willis.

Pamela Gay, Richard Saunders and Paul Willis.

I listen to a number of skeptical podcasts - the SGU, Skeptoid, et al - but the main Aussie podcast I listen to is The Skeptic Zone. I think today's live show was the first time all the cast have been in the same room together for a show.

The Skeptic Zone Live with Eran Segev, Dr Rachie, Stefan Sojka, Richard Saunders, Joanne Benhamu, Krissy Wilson and Kylie Sturgess.

Joanne Benhamu, Krissy Wilson, Kylie Sturgess and Pamela Gay.

Rob Morrison is a Professor at Flinders Uni in South Australia and a noted science communicator. People of my generation may fondly remember him as the host of the long running Curiosity Show on TV. A whole generation of kids was brought up watching this show as it ran from 1972 to 1990. Rob's presentation was on the Illusion of Reality. He showed a bunch of wicked slides and videos of optical illusions and other tricks. Mind bending.

Rob Morrison.

Optical illusions and trickery

The final formal event for The Amazing Meet Australia 2010 was the closing address from the Amazing One himself, James Randi. Randi has been coming to Australia for 30 years and he said he was honoured to come here representing the James Randi Educational Foundation at TAM Oz. Skepticism has taken off over recent years and one of the forces behind the success of the movement is James Randi. I felt honoured to finally meet the man. Earlier this year I thought I never would. James said he expects to come back to Australia at least one more time for the next Amazing Meeting to probably be held in Melbourne next year. Randi it would be our hounour to have you back.

James Randi gives his closing address.

James The Amazing Randi.

That was it for the conference. I was sad it was over. I got to meet a bunch of my heroes and participate in something very cool in a nerdy way. All that was left now was to bag a couple more skeptics on the way out. I didn't know that Lawrence Leung from ABC TV's Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure was even attending. Time for me to embarrass myself with a fan boy moment.

Lawrence Leung, Boofhead and Simon Taylor.

Simon Singh and Boofhead. I'd been carrying that bloody book (Trick Or Treatment) for three days. Each time I ran into Simon I'd managed to leave it somewhere temporarily. Then, spookily, on my way out the door there was Simon signing autographs.

The very last people I ran into on my way out the door though were Rob Morrison and Eugenie Scott. Both very awesome people. I think I gushed just a little bit.

Rob Morrison and Eugenie Scott.

That was it. See you at TAM next year. I'd like to get to TAM in Vegas at some point too.

The Amazing Meeting Oz - Day 2 - Skeptics Afloat

2010-11-27T23:24:00.013+11:00

Ahoy there. After the day's formal proceedings it was time for a couple of hundred skeptics to let their hair down, unless you're George Hrab that is, and party on a harbour dinner cruise. With all those Australian (and visiting) Skeptics in one place I'm betting the Australian Vaccination Network wish they had a submarine. The food was good, the booze was cheap and the company was great. The whole evening was tops and was over way too soon. One of the highlights was Randi, again, doing close-up magic for his adoring fans. Thankfully I didn't have enough Crownies to embarrass myself by going up say, George Hrab or Brian Dunning or Steve Novella or Eugenie Scott, and put my arm around them and declare my undying love for them. Michelle was there. She will tell you. I was reasonably well behaved. I might have gushed a little over Randi though.

The Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Habour Bridge.

George Hrab in tourist mode.

Thanks to the Phil who took the picture but he did take a while to push the button and George wondered if he was actually drawing the picture.

Sydney

The Amazing Randi holding court. Michelle and I were quietly having dinner when Randi wandered over and plonked himself down beside us. He then spent the next half hour or so doing magic tricks (see videos below), talking to the fans and being photographed.

Randi even posed with this boofhead again.

Same boofhead with beautiful pregnant lady.

Randi has some serious skillz. He was everywhere. Every time he sat down he'd get an audience and then he perform magic tricks as can be seen in the following two videos.

The same trick as above but a better view and different victims.

The Amazing Meeting Oz - Day 2

2010-11-27T23:21:00.013+11:00

I hate early mornings. One thing going for the Science Fiction community is most of the sessions at Worldcon started at 10am. Here at TAM the first sessions were about 9am. And with Brian Dunning being first up do you think I'd miss it? Rhetorical question by the way but if you do want an answer then, No. No, I wouldn't miss it. However after the previous night's skeptically drinking session I had my doubts.

So, Brian Dunning was first with a session on spooky sounds. When he eventually got started after some amusing technical difficulties (sorted out by Pamela Gay) it was an entertaining session. 30 minutes seemed way too short. But then that is about 3 times longer than his podcast.

Brian Dunning

Loretta Marron talked about Dodgy and Devious Devices and her one person campaign to have these dangerous quack devices banned by the TGA.

Loretta Marron

Dr Krissy Wilson is a psychologist who researches the psychology of belief. Apparently she appeared once on The Bill as a hooker. Today she claimed to be wearing red undies. She wouldn't prove it though. She did prove to be funny.

Dr Krissy Wilson

The G Spot. The convention was held in the Masonic Centre. This is the Grand Hall or Lodge or something. A large letter G hangs from the ceiling by a G string. It was rumoured the G stands for God but Jay Novella said it actually stands for Geometry. Who knows?

Paul Willis interviews James Randi and Dick Smith for the DVD.

After morning tea where you gulp down a couple of cups of coffee and try and pilfer as many Cookie Man cookies as you can take it was time for a conversation with Dick Smith and James Randi or, as MC Paul Willis, put it at chat with Willie, Dick and Randi. Dick was one of the founders of the Australian Skeptics and he and Randi have been friends for 30 years.

Randi, Dick & Willis.

Randi and Dick Smith relate the story of "Carlos".

One of the highlights for me this weekend was always going to be the Skeptics Guide to the Universe Live. It was kind of surreal watching the show live and not as a podcast. Steve started the show with a hilarious slide show of their trip thus far. Alex, or as I call him that damned kid who outbid me*, appeared for the Science or Fiction segment of the show and performed admirably.
* I bid up to $750 and by then there were only me and the Alex's dad bidding. Someone whispered to me that Alex's dad was a dentist. Shit. There was no way I could out bid a dentist. Maybe if I was Dick Smith. Maybe. I threw in one more bid of $850 so they'd have to bid at least $900 and called it quits. It was for charity after all.

The Skeptics Guide to the Universe Down Under. Woohoo.

Jay Novella and Rebecca Watson.

The entire SGU cast - Jay, Steve, Rebecca, Bob and Evan.

One for the conspiracy nuts. The SGU under the logo of the Masons.

Richard Saunders tweeting away while the SGU entertains with Science or Fiction. Guest star 11 year old Alex sitting with Jay and Steve.

Astronomer Dr Fred Watson showed some slides of the secrets of Saturn and her moons.

Dr Fred Watson.

Australian Skeptics Awards.

Dr Rachael Dunlop, Tim Mendham, Eran Segev and Richard Saunders holding up the Oz Skeptics Bent Spoon Award.

An Apple a Day - Science Based Medicine. A panel with Dr Rachie Dunlop, Dr Steven Novella, Prof Ian Harris and Joanne Benhamu. Don't read this next bit mum. Did you know that the risk from dying from knee replacement surgery is not 1 in 100000 or 1 in even 10000? It is something like 1 in 400 and only about 25% or patients are happy they had the surgery a year later. Shit.

Dr Rachie Dunlop, Prof Ian Harris, Joanne Benhamu and Dr Steven Novella.

Dr Paul Willis tore apart a BBQ duck. Birds are dinosaurs and there are thousands of pieces of evidence that point to this fact. Funniest dissection I've ever attended.

Dr Paul Willis and a BBQ duck.

Dr Simon Singh had the last official spot for the day with Alternative Medicine (and me) On Trial. Simon filled us in on the history and successful resolution of the libel action against him by the British Chiropractors Association. Simon is another of these nice guy skeptics. We chatted a bit while we were boarding the boat for the Skeptics Afloat Cruise (see the next post).

Simon Singh.

The Amazing Meeting Oz - Day 1

2010-11-26T11:45:00.016+11:00

The Amazing Meeting Australia (TAM Oz) kicked off today in Sydney. TAM has become the biggest annual skeptical convention in the world when held in Las Vegas and this year we finally got our own TAM in Sydney. It wouldn't be The Amazing Meeting without The Amazing one himself, James Randi, in attendance. Amazingly Randi has made the trip here too. He has had some quite serious medical issues recently, and he is 82, but he still made the trip down under.

Me and James Randi later in the evening at the SGU dinner.
Randi is truly a nice guy. I am in awe of this man. There is a genuine warmth from him when you meet him. You feel like an old friend. I am honoured I finally got to meet one of my heroes. I've idolised Randi since the first times I saw him on the Don Lane Show back in 1980 when after bending a key the same way the "psychic" Uri Geller did, Don told Randi to piss off. Don stormed off the set leaving a stunned Randi behind. I told Randi I'd been a fan since that moment.

The very first panel for TAM Oz - Paranormal in Australia. Tim Mendham, Ian Bryce, Dr Steve Roberts, James Randi and Barry Williams.

Dr Rachael Dunlop introducing the Science Based Medicine Workshop. That is Dr Steve Novella directly below her.

Dr Steve Novella from the SGU.

Dr Mick Vagg.

Ken Mcleod from Stop The Australian Vaccination Network.

Wendy Wilkinson from Stop The Australian Vaccination Network.

The Skeptical Rogues - Jay Novella, Bob Novella and Evan Bernstein.

Master of Ceremonies Paul Willis from the ABCs Catalyst science TV show.

Randi addresses the crowd. Note the glow from the iPads and smart phones in the crowd. I don't think I ever seen as many iPads in the one place before. I think Twitter almost melted down.

Randi performing the levitating match box trick.

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki finally stopped moving for just a second so I could get a non-blurry photo. Hilarious eclectic eccentric exuberant and brilliant presentation by Australia's twelth most trust worthy person and radio Triple J's Science in the Morning presenter.

Funny man, singer, entertainer and podcaster George Hrab belting out one of his funnier songs. He also played his song about loss and death in memoriam of his dog Oscar who passed away a couple of years ago. Yeah, I choked up. Bastard.

George's Twitter Song. Rebecca Watson and Rachael Dunlop read the tweets. Fracking punerific.

After the formalities it was time for the Skeptics Guide to the Universe dinner. I walked in a couple of minutes late to find most of the hundreds of places taken. Me and another bloke (hi Phil) walked over to the only table that had two places left and sat down. Luckily for me I sat down next to Evan Bernstein from the SGU. I swear I didn't know before I sat down. I looked behind me over at the next table and the Guest of Honour himself, James Randi, wasn't more than a metre or two away. Being the hosts, the SGU guides floated from table to table from time to time so after a while Evan left, he thought temporarily, and was replaced by Bob Novella (above). Bob ate with us and I stole things from his plate when he wasn't looking (no I didn't).

Fan boy squee. Brian Dunning from Skeptoid. Excuse me while I squee again. Later in the evening while Brian was distracted I chatted to his lovely wife Lisa for a while. Hmm, that didn't come out right. After my experience at Worldcon a month or so ago I thought the science fiction community was gracious and friendly. The skeptical community makes the SF community look like bitter snobs. These are good people.

What do you call a group of podcasters? I dunno but here are all the podcasters who attended the Skeptics Guide to the Universe dinner. From the left, Bob Novella, Evan Bernstein, Dr Rachie Dunlop, Dr Pamela Gay, Jay Novella, Rebecca Watson, Dr Steven Novella, Brian Dunning, Richard Saunders, George Hrab, Eran Segev & Myk Dowling

The table next to ours with Randi and the Australian Skeptics.

James Randi performing an impromptu disappearing spoon trick for us.
Michael, the guy on Randi's left, earlier won an auction for a guest spot on the Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast. I'd kicked off the bidding at $500 dollars but Michael eventually snagged the spot for $1500. Prior to that auction the SGU had auctioned off a guest spot on tomorrow's segment of Science Or Fiction for the live recording of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast. The bidding started at $50 and after a few small bids started going up by $100. I jumped in and finally there was only me and another bidder left - unfortunately for me it was an 11 year old kid and his dad (a dentist apparently). Rebecca Watson had spotted the kid and she said she wanted the kid on the show. I knew then it would be lousy of me to keep bidding so I only threw in one more bid for $850. I wasn't going to let them off that cheaply. They bid $900 and we now have a precocious 11 year old podcasting superstar in the making. A self described GSK - generally skeptical kid. Good job Alex.

Below is the video of Randi performing the disappearing spoon trick.

And that was day one.

Caturday stare off

2010-11-21T20:33:00.000+11:00

We're slowly getting our shit together...

2010-11-13T17:31:00.001+11:00

The baby will have some clothes and somewhere to store those clothes at least... only 5 to 7 weeks to go now.

Fish

2010-11-06T23:27:00.001+11:00

Before

After

Mandatory yummy mummy profile picture

2010-11-06T22:20:00.002+11:00

Almost not cleared by the censor.
About 33 weeks.

Wonder Woman... er... baby

2010-10-30T21:21:00.006+11:00

Silly Michelle thought that when we'd go shopping for baby clothes I would stick to sensible outfits. Wonder Woman, Supergirl or get in the Christmas spirit and a tiny elf outfit?

Baby update - 30 and half week ultrasound

2010-10-27T14:35:00.014+11:00

This is the scan the midwife suggested we do because the baby is tracking big. Today we were in the very capable hands of Dr Felicity Park. Dr Park was very reassuring and the ultrasound went well. All the measurements - placenta, baby, amniotic fluid - were all in the normal range. Some baby measurements were in the high range - up around the 90th percentile - but still normal. We think she is going to be a largish bub. She is currently around 1990 grams (a little over 4 lbs) and if she keeps gaining weight at the same rate she could be around 3700 grams (maybe 8 lbs) by the due date according to the computer projections. Michelle's birth weight was 3250 grams and mine was about 3900 grams so she may weigh somewhere between us. Anything less than 4 kg would be good as far as Michelle is concerned. She is the one who has to squeeze her out after all.

As far as the pretty pictures go she was sitting (hand standing?) in a head down bum up position and seems to be happily moving around - rolling, pushing, kicking. She still looks beautiful (of course). Apparently we can get a selection of snapshots from all the ultrasounds we've had so far if we bring in a USB thumb drive next time.

All in all Dr Park was very happy with the results and that everything is proceeding according to plan. We'll still need another ultrasound in 3 weeks to confirm a normal growth rate for she-who-is-as-yet-unnamed but we're more optimistic now.