Stuff and Nonsense

Thanks to Neil Finn for this title….No thanks to Belinda Carlisle for murdering this song on her Belinda album.

Brain is once again fried after yet another mentally long day with work. I am in a way glad that the next two working weeks are somewhat shortened due to the Easter period. The only downside is that it means I have to cram five days work into four. Can’t complain though, but do prefer Easter to be during its usual / majority time-slot of mid-April - it breaks up the year a bit more evenly with the public holidays.

Finished a sanity check of a 45 page High Level Network Design Review this evening. Am not looking forward to the the check of the Detailed Design Review in approx three weeks from now. That is going to be a bitch. The tonic for me after the review this evening was a trip down to Gertrude and Alice for coffee and reading. Knocked off just under 60 pages of The Girl Who Married a Lion. Have approx 40 pages to go now. I love that this book is short stories of between four to six pages each. Not a pressing read for a tired mind and typically entertaining in Alexander McCall-Smith style.

Speaking of this author, today marked the untimely (when is it ever timely though) passing of British film director, Anthony Minghella of The English Patient and Truly Madly Deeply - among other popular films - fame. He died after complications from neck surgery and two days away from the (made for) TV premiere of his latest film, The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, a film based on the popular novel series written by Alexander McCall-Smith. I have read three of the novels in the series and find them entertaining, light reads. Have been wondering how the film was going to be cast and am somewhat happy to know that the lead characters are pretty much as my mind imagined, except maybe for Mma Makutsi.

Soon after learning of Anthony’s passing, I read that the Arthur C. Clarke passed on overnight. Is suppose he will always be most famously known for being the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, of which the film adaptation by Stanley Kubrick, is one of my favourite films of forever. A great legacy he has also left behind.

On the way home this afternoon, the petrol station nearest my place upped their standard unleaded fuel prices by 11 cents per litre from yesterday. Other stations across Sydney have raised prices by as much as 16 cents per litre. This is the typical collusion by the motherfuckers kind people at the fuel behemoths of Caltex, BP, Shell, Mobil and co. coming into the Easter holiday period. News stories this evening had their spokespeople stating that they are so poor by receiving only 1.5 cents from every litre sold. Oh boo hoo. So poor they are that Caltex Australia posted a meagre “oh how am I going to feed my family on my exec salary” AU$500 million profit last financial year. Arseholes.

Back to Gertrude and Alice - and keeping in line with my sporadic thoughts right now - the music was interesting this evening. At one point I wanted to go jump at the most melancholy, sad song being played. No idea who the artist was and really don’t care to know….well maybe I do, so I can just source and burn all copies and masters of that song. Gosh, if one was wanting the final push when feeling suicidal, whatever that song was, would do the trick.

This was shortly followed up with a hip song. So hip, that I had the staff check their iTunes playlist for who it was. Twis’ a Welsh lass by the name of Duffy and the song was Rockferry. On listening to this song again, it is very Mazzy Star-ish. I would almost swear this was Hope Sandoval in disguise.

Whilst listening to this song, kicking back on their couch and enjoying the delight that was my coffee, a couple of people parked themselves at the table nearest the couch. Immediate thought was that these people had met each other for the first time and were on a (safe) first date. This was by the way they spoke to each other in determining who gets what seat, where to sit etc. I was dead-on-balls-accurate with this thought. Not that the “she” made any bones about it being a first date - she was broadcasting herself to all and sundry on this BLIND date. “He” was somewhat shy and way more softly spoken. That said, here is some of what I learned about them - and NO, it is NOT eavesdropping when one doesn’t have to strain to listen

SHE

• Is 39 years old and is the youngest of three children (two older brothers).
• Her fave cities are Sydney and Paris. Her ideal living situation would be Paris for three months per year and Sydney for the remaining nine.
• She loves Bondi.
• She is separated from her husband. In her words “I got rid of him six months ago”.
• They were married for five years and together for seven overall.
• I will not state her reasons for the split - this part is her business and for her to tell.
• It was her first date since she was 27.
• Was born in Casablanca and arrived in Sydney at age four.
• Was wearing Birkenstock sandals and daggy white top.
• Has a slightly long / hooked nose and long dark hair.
• Was quite pretty and talkative.

HE

• Was somewhat shy and quietly spoken - but not quietly that he could not be heard.
• Is from France.
• He was a stylish dresser, despite being a la casual. He had hip Camper shoes.
• He has a younger 29 year old brother.
• Was once in the Army - not sure where or which one.
• Had never been to Gertrude and Alice before.
• Had a bit of an adventure in Melbourne and an incident with his hire car

That’s it for him….told you he was not a big speaker. Maybe given the fact that she was a chatterbox. I also know that she is not entirely over her marriage, despite her saying so. When one keeps on giving reasons to the other person and trying to convince oneself that things are ok and as they should be, that is a total load of shit. How do I know - because I have been in that exact situation over the past two years and have heard those descriptives and self assurances many times right from my own mouth. The difference these days for me, is that is is actually true almost every day. Nearly there.

Well folks, for tonight, fittingly so, that’s a wrap.