random sheer hotness

While today's Random Hotness isn't the first time I've only posted a single image, it's something of a rarity (in fact I've only done it twice before and the last one was back in 2006).

But I just had to do it with this image.

This is Thomas Ivasaki, a "Brazilian-Japanese model" (whatever that means), posing for Daniel Ward in the Nude issue of online British fashion magazine Fashion156.

As I was flicking through the set of photos I discovered this shot featuring a grey sheer shirt by Christie Lee (full credit where it's due), and it just took my breath away. I'm not sure why exactly, whether it's my ongoing love of clothing that reveals more than it should or just one of those images that you connect to on a primal level and you can't explain, but it's not enough to say that this image spoke to me... this photo SANG!

However much I might have liked the other shots in the set, I couldn't bring myself to pair this up with any of them. So enjoy Thomas in his singular sheer shirted splendour.

thomas ivasaki for fashion156.comCurrent Mood:

bumper food meme

I've had if not the Day from Hell, then the Day from Whatever Suburb Neighbours Hell... it's been full of stupid people and they don't even know that they're stupid... they just think they're regular folk...

So I figured I'd easy the pain with a nice soothing meme. Actually before The Meme That Would Not End dropped out of the sky last week, I'd been planning to post this one...
    kitchen dude
  1. Can you cook?
    Well, I'm not going to make it into the Michelin Guide, but I haven't given myself serious food poisoning yet either, so I would say yes, I can cook.

  2. Do you like to cook?
    I do actually... the results are occasionally not worth bothering about (but usually those failed experiments are when I have nothing much in the house and try and construct something anyway), but I quite like the chopping and preparing and combining and whatnot.

  3. Do you consider yourself a good cook?
    See Q1. I'd say I'm not bad.

  4. What do you eat for breakfast?
    I'm boring, I have Weetbix every weekday morning (previously it was five, but I'm trying it out with four just to see if that makes any kind of difference), it's quick and easy and fills me up.

  5. When, where and how do you eat on weekdays?
    Well, now that I'm working again breakfast, as per Q4 is Weetbix at home. Lunch is mostly Subway (but occasionally other things of a bad-and-wrong variety depending on what else I'm trying to do during lunch)... I ALWAYS leave the office though, it would drive me nuts if I didn't get a little sunshine at some point during the day. Dinner is usually one of a few regular options, some things (like Smashed Broccoli) are pretty much a constant, but the rest I make up depending on how I feel. And as for "when", breakfast is around 7am, lunch is mostly at noon and dinner is between 6 and 7pm (give or take).

  6. When, where and how do you eat on weekends?
    Weekends tend much more to be "opportunity eating", I never cook, I just make do with whatever and eat more or less when I'm hungry... and added to that they're also usually a carb-fest (which is especially bad and I really need to work out a way to stop that... except that carbs are so damn tasty!).

  7. How often do you eat in a restaurant?
    A proper sit-down, menu, full service restaurant? Not very often.

  8. How often do you order delivery/take-out?
    More often than the restaurant thing (and more often again now that I'm working), but not really that often either.

  9. Buffet, take-out or sit-down restaurant?
    You know what, I miss Sizzler... sorry, the whole buffet thing just made me think about it (mmmm multiple serves of soup and then multiple desserts all in those teeny tiny bowls)... I don't know that I necessarily have a preference... it depends on my mood and if I'm with other people or not. I'd probably come down on the side of take-out, if only because usually by my self.

  10. What are your signature dishes?
    Well, a number of things I've blogged the recipes for couple possible count as "signature"... Toona Noodle Do, Tuna Morney, Heardbeast, Smashed Broccoli... but there's a bunch of stuff that I make that isn't overly difficult like Green Chicken Curry or Chicken Cacciatore that I do pretty well... not sure if they're technically a signature though.

  11. Have you ever cooked for more than six people?
    Ummm... I think I made Tuna Morney for Sunday dinner at Sheba's once... which was probably around six people... but that's about it.

  12. Do you cook every day?
    No... definiately not on weekends (as previously indicated), and some week nights are just microwaving or boiling or whatever.

  13. Have you ever tried recipes from blogs?
    I have indeed... I made Tom's Chicken Curry once (must do that again, only in a way that doesn't involve quite so much effort, or such large pieces of chicken... and must remember to start the whole process much, much earlier)... and I'm very tempted to give Andrew's chicken stock/soup thing a try some time soon.

  14. Do you cook totally differently compared to your mother/parents?
    Well, some of the stuff that's still on the list of things I make comes from Ma... and I think she tends to cook stuff slightly differently to the way I do it, but I wouldn't say that we cook totally differently these days, no. Both of us do currently cook radically differently to the way Ma cooked when I was growing up though.

  15. Are you a vegetarian or could you imagine being one?
    I'm not one... although I do have a tendency to use a lot of vegetables in things, and I'm very fussy about what kinds of meat I eat (or at the very least the appearance of said meat)... but I don't know that I could actually imagine being a vegetarian.

  16. What would you like to cook which you haven't dared to make yet?
    I don't think that there is really anything that I haven't "dared" to make... there's a whole lot of stuff that I just don't have any interest in making, or that I wouldn't mind trying but I just haven't had the time/energy/commitment to make.

  17. Do you prefer cooking or baking?
    Cooking probably, because while baking is easier, the stuff you make when baking tends to be much worse for you... and I end up eating it all.

  18. Homemade or store-bought?
    As sad as it sounds, probably store bought for a lot of things... it's just easier, plus I don't have the time or energy to be making every little thing from scratch.

  19. What is your greatest misery in the kitchen?
    I don't know what I really have any great miseries in the kitchen... I still have some trouble with cooking a steak to anything resembling perfection, but I'm working on it.

  20. What is your number one comfort food?
    Chocolate

  21. If you were on a deserted island, what one food would you want to have with you?
    Gravy... because then I could use the gravy boat to sail to freedom. Thank you, I'll be here all week, remember to tip your waitress!

  22. What is your biggest weakness when it comes to food?
    Things that are bad for me. Nothing specific, just the whole genre... if it's tasty and bad for you, generally I'm up for it.

  23. What food can you absolutely not eat?
    Any of the internal organs... I just can't be having with any of that stuff (expect maybe kidneys, but only in a steak and kidney pie, and even then they're not my first preference). And things that have little fiddly bones (although to be honest I'm not that fussed on bones of any kind) or attached heads, not up for that either.

  24. What is the most decadent dish you’ve had?
    When we first got a Death By Chocolate store here in Adelaide back in the mid 90's I had some pretty decadent stuff then... but lately it's possibly the Sara Lee Moccona Cappuccino Indulgence icecream.

  25. What is your favourite type of food?
    Ummm... "tasty"? I don't think I could narrow it down to just one type (and what defines a "type" of food anyway?)...

  26. What is your favourite dish?
    I can't say that I have one singluar favourite dish either... I might be picky about the things I will and won't eat (at least in theory), but never let it be said that I don't like my food (and therein lies the problem).

  27. If you could go to any restaurant you wanted, which one would it be?
    The place I really would have liked to try was a Melbourne restaurant called Black Out (or The Dark Side of 604... or both, not sure) where you dine in the dark (there was one in Sydney too) but they're both closed now. But maybe somewhere that does some of that fancy and weird molecular gastronomy stuff.

  28. Are you a soup or salad person?
    I don't see this as an "either or" kind of question... in the summer when it's hot, I like salad (but real actual salad, not two bits of lettuce and half a tomato)... in the winter when it's cold, I like soup. See, no need to choose!

  29. What is the most impressive dinner you’ve ever made?
    Not sure that I've ever made much that you would really count as "impressive"... I'm not really that type of cook.

  30. Do you know what vichyssoise is?
    It's cold soup, right? I have no idea what it's supposed to be made of though... I know that gazpacho soup is made from tomatoes though, does that help?

  31. Can you name at least three TV cooking personalities?
    Interestingly, most of the ones that immediately sprang to mind and that I can name off the top of my head are English... but since I only have to pick three, I'll go with Delia Smith, Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver.

  32. Who is your favourite TV cook?
    You're obsessed with this concept of "favourites" you know that? Once upon a time it was Jamie Oliver, back when he was cute and floppy haired and not so interested in saving the world... but there really isn't anybody that spring to mind these days.
Current Mood:

opposing tuesday dotpoints

elmo's world oppositesThings that have annoyed me today...
  • The 90% of boys with those stupid asymmetrical "emo" haircuts who just look like floppy haired crap
  • People who dawdle on CBD footpaths at 8am
  • Senseless government bureaucracy in the workplace
  • People who don't consider others on public transport, both when it comes to getting on and off as well as those who have long noisy conversations on their mobile phones
  • Deviating from my usual lunchtime routine and ending up buying crap food.
  • Permanently extending Daylight Savings, but not aligning us to the appropriate time zone for our geographic location
  • Promotions for stupid sporting events cluttering up the Mall
  • Losing the card that had the names of the two hairdressers Tink recommended to replace her
And things that I've appreciated...
  • The 10% of boys with those stupid asymmetrical "emo" haircuts who look gorgeous (although they do encourage the other 90%, which is bad)
  • Recognising cute, pierced "Urban Suitage" (ie a dude in a suit or general businesswear) from his Gaydar profile
  • The gorgeous and well built blonde Army man in uniform
  • Aesthetically appealing AEU (Accidentally Exposed Underwear)
  • Mr Plumber Man who arrive on my doorstep within an hour of making the phonecall to the agent (and who had a really nice ass, even though he wasn't that appealing othewise)
  • A much quieter flush on my toilet
  • Most of the people I work with (the other ones I don't appreciate so much)
  • The flavour combination of chocolate and pretzels
  • passiveagressivenotes.com
  • Having Haircut Day on Friday
Current Mood:

unconscious mutterings 326

I've continued to not really be rained on (except a little bit during my walk this morning) and J gave me a lift home from work this afternoon... Huzzar!

Unconscious Mutterings...
  1. Soul :: Food
  2. Fold :: Paper
  3. Breakup :: Relationship
  4. Will :: & Grace
  5. Fond :: Of you
  6. Powers :: Super
  7. Ho-hum :: Bored now
  8. Hustle :: Dance
  9. Avenue :: A
  10. Tower :: Dark

Current Mood:

rest in peace pussycat

bea arthurBea Arthur
13 May 1922 – 25 April 2009

Current Mood:

sketch me baby


You Are a Drawing

You appreciate things that are simple and elegant.

You believe that complexity is mostly used to mask flaws.

You believe that art is about leaving more to the imagination.

The best art isn't overly showy or flashy. It subtly beautiful.


Current Mood:

movies: let the right one in

let the right one inSometimes the Universe just lets everything fall into place in just the right way.

Since I didn't win tickets to the opening night of Let The Right One In (or "Låt den rätte komma in" to give it it's proper Swedish title) at the Palace I decided that I'd take myself off to the movies tonight (since I've essentially done nothing much of note for the whole of this Anzac Day public holiday) and everything just fell into place very nicely.

The DVD I was watching finished at just the right time, I got a park on Rundle Street with a minimum of fuss, I got to skip the very long ticket line (note to self, the candy-bar does still sell tickets, so if necessary, skip line and buy from there), and nobody ended up sitting next to me.

I will just give a couple of quick brickbats though... to the staff at the Palace, please get your air-conditioning checked... I had a slight problem with it going from acceptable to very cold last Tuesday, but tonight I had to put my jacket over my knees to keep warm, that's just not right. And to the incredibly annoying middle aged woman who laughed at a couple of totally inappropriate moments and who let out a startled shriek at a moment that was being telegraphed a mile off, first off why the hell did you have to sit in front of me and secondly, please stay home from now on.

After the movie I went and bought myself a hot chocolate, wandered up and down Rundle Street with it before getting back to the car. Once I was in the car it started to bucket down with rain (which it has been doing on and off all day), and continued to do so all the way home, but when I got back it stopped just long enough for me to get into the house. Perfect.

I was thinking about it while wandering Rundle Street and I honestly can't remember the last time I went to the movies on a Saturday night... and alone on a Saturday night too. Saturday afternoons, sure, but not after dark.

And after dark brings me full circle back to Let The Right One In.

I don't think it's really giving away too much plot to quote the synopsis for this movie for anybody who might never have heard of it... "Oskar, a bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire."

This is also unlike any vampire movie I've ever seen.

Partly because the vampire stuff is almost secondary, and partly because there aren't many vampire movies that concentrate solely on a child vampire. At least not ones that aren't aimed at a PG rated market.

But it is a beautiful movie and one that is almost told exclusively by the images. There really isn't that much dialogue, and what there is (with the exception of one or two key pieces) could almost be done away with. I found myself wondering at one point how this would have played as a silent movie.

Because of the sparse dialogue, sound obviously plays an incredibly important part in this movie... but they didn't go over the top with the sounds because of the lack of speech... from the silence over the opening titles and the very soft sound of snow falling, to things being softly heard before they're seen, it's much, much more about the very faint soundscape.

There also seemed to be a particular emphasis on colour. I'm guessing it was intentional, although I could be wrong. Because the movie is set in winter the background palette is essentially neutral tones, white and black mostly (the snow and the night), and even Oskar is blonde to the extreme (very, very, very blonde and with very faint blonde eyebrows)... but he also seemed to have a lot of bright sky blue used in his costuming. Like I said though, I could have been reading too much into it.

And speaking of the lead characters, for kids who don't appear to have done any kind of acting before, they were phenomenal. Neither of them took a wrong step and were so incredibly natural (even in the scenes that were anything but natural) that I was really impressed by the pair of them. Although some of the adult characters have probably been in a range of things they all felt very authentic too (but that could just be because they were Swedish actors and I didn't recognise any of them).

While I don't have that great a knowledge of Swedish cinema (or Swedish anything really), the movie does feel "very Swedish", or at the very least it feels particularly European... there's a slowness and feeling of weight to this that you just don't get in American movies. At the same time there seemed to be this underlying current to it that made me a little uneasy. Not about the vampire stuff, I didn't have any problem with any of that, but there's an undercurrent of "preteen sexuality" that's part of the relationship between the two lead characters that felt very European, but at the same time a touch unsettling.

There's also what I thought was either just a very Swedish vibe or else a particularly 70's vibe to the look of the clothes, it was most apparent in Oskar's whole look... hair, clothes, everything... turns out it's actually neither, the movie is supposed to be set in 1982 although that's never mentioned explicitly (or at least not that I remember).

From the "vampire movie" perspective it was interesting to see what mythology they used (and how) and what they didn't use. I did find myself wondering if there was some sort of specifically Swedish vampire a few times, but they did check off a large number of the usual vampire cliches, one or two of which were used to great effect.

I also have to give the film makers extreme kudos for the very subtle digital work on Eli's eyes at various points in the movie. There's really only a couple of spots where it draws attention to itself, but those are when it's supposed to. I'm guessing that on repeated viewings more of those might become apparent. While we're on the subject of digital work however, there is one scene using digital cats that frankly stuck out like a sore thumb.

But the good very much outweighs the bad.

So basically what you get with this movie is a particularly Swedish coming of age vampire story without a fang to be seen anywhere but with plenty of bite.

yani's rating: 3 Rubik's cubes out of 5

photo friday: the week that was

toy soldier's monster kingWhen none of the photos that you tried to take today work out, default to street art...

And now... since I haven't really done any "blogging diary" entries this, here's the week that was...

Monday: Discovered that I didn't win any tickets to any of the movies I entered competitions for (and it was even worse because H-San did win tickets to one of them *sulk*). J came over in the evening, much annoyance and gnashing of teeth occurred due to new stupid external hard drive and my overly stupid and antiquated computer.

Tuesday: Bought a box of cupcakes (with flavour names like Carrie, Mr Big, The OC, Drama Queen and Elvis) from BTS Cafe (which in theory stands for "Better Than Sex", but the girls in the shop would neither confirm nor deny that). J called me to tell me that he'd bullied, cajoled and lied his way to getting the store to replace the busted hard drive with one that had twice as much space. Saw an outstanding movie. Followed this up with having a lovely young gentleman visit me late in the evening for a little B&D sex play.

Wednesday: Woke up half an hour late (partially because of aforementioned sex), skipped my walk and just went back to bed instead. Bought $200 worth of tickets (three different shows, two tickets each) to the Cabaret Festival in June, picked up some new underwear on sale, found The Celluloid Closet on DVD.

Thursday: Wore the new Pierre Cardin undies I bought yesterday (not impressed, no support at all... or else I needed a smaller size). Got rained on at lunch, Sugarmonkey gave me shit, got rained on going home, went to the supermarket to do my shopping (Saturday being Anzac Day and all). Bought stuff, got takeout, came home, watched teevee.

Friday: Wore the Underdaks undies I bought on Wednesday (much better, support, leg elastic, the whole deal... forgot to remove the "Inspected By" sticker from them though). Got slightly rained on during my morning walk (had my umbrella though), but avoided the rain for the rest of the day. Had a pointless (and long) meeting (the cancelled one from last week), still not sure why (or what it was about). Was reminded that a guy I used to work fills out the crotch of his jeans very impressively. Called the cute stocky (and totally gay) boy at Boost "darl" again.

Current Mood:

random checkered hotness

This week's Random Hotness is musician and model, Jamie Dominic (with photos by Rick Day, who just seems to be everywhere all of a sudden).

These shots of Jamie come from the "sometimes it's all about the face" school of thought. And really, what's not to love about a fitted suit!

jamie dominic jamie dominic

Current Mood:

meme ninety nine

This isn't my 99th meme at all... but it is close... to tell the truth it's the 97th meme I've posted. Sad but true!

This is stolen from both Tom and Eddy (which I'm sure makes us some sort of unholy meme triumvirate). And I think I probably spent more of the day than I should have working on this stupid thing.

I also reordered some of it... because I like to be different, plus there should be a natural flow to these things.
  1. When was the last time you cried?
    Very recently while I was watching the Season Two finale of Doctor Who on DVD. Tragic I know.

  2. Have you ever cried during a movie?
    Oh hell yes...

  3. Have you ever danced in the rain?
    Danced, no... stood outside in Summer when a long hot spell is broken by rain, hell yes.

  4. Have you ever been drunk?
    Er, YES.

  5. Have you ever tried drugs?
    Yeah, nothing major, but the stuff that I have tried hasn't done a damn thing for me, which is lucky I guess.

  6. Do you smoke?
    Nope... I've tried it a couple of times, usually when I was rip-roaring drunk, but all it ever did was make me feel sick.

  7. What's the farthest you've ever gone on a dare?
    I don't do dares... trying to guilt me or dare me to do stuff just makes me look at you with thinly veiled contempt (and sometimes it's not really that thinly).

  8. What is your full name?
    Appleby Barrington Wankleforge the Third, Esq. at your service... really, what kind of stupid question is that for a meme.

  9. When is your birthday?
    March 14... put it in your diary.

  10. What is your blood-type?
    O Negative... which means that I'm one of about 9% of people in Australia with that blood type... and yet the Red Cross don't want my blood (*blows raspberry in their general direction*).

  11. What does your screen name mean?
    My screen name is a nickname that Ludo gave me when we were sharing an apartment... I have no idea where it came from, but I liked it and have used it ever since.

  12. How many screen names do you have?
    About four I think... those are the ones that I use regularly anyway.

  13. Have you ever been in a car accident?
    Nothing serious thankfully (touch wood)... and all of the accidents that were my fault involved stationary objects (and the one instance that wasn't my fault was when my car was stationary and the other car backed in to me while travelling fairly slowly).

  14. How old were you when you had your first kiss?
    Unlike some other people I'm not going for the easy "Mother" option on this... I think my first ever kiss (with a girl, or anybody who I wasn't related to really) I would have been about 11. My first proper kiss with a boy happened when I was about 21.

  15. Who was your first kiss?
    Her name was Mary-Jane (I know, she's a shoe and a recreational substance, how gay am I, right). The first boy I kissed, I think his name was David... actually I'm suddenly wondering if that was his name (there was a David, but I think he came along later), or if I ever knew his name... I'm such a hussy... I remember that he drank scotch and coke though.

  16. Have you ever had phone sex?
    Course I have.

  17. Have you ever had cybersex?
    Oh hell yes.

  18. Have you ever had an online relationship?
    Oh god yes... BlueDragon springs to mind, although he's not the only one. He's the only one that really lasted for any length of time though.

  19. Would you ever participate in a threesome?
    Sure... would do, have done, will do again.

  20. Would you ever pay for a prostitute?
    Sure... would do, have done, might do again.

  21. Have you ever mooned or flashed someone?
    No.

  22. Have you ever gone skinny dipping?
    I don't think it counts as skinny dipping when you're at a nude beach, so no.

  23. Have you ever played strip poker?
    Nope... I suck bad enough at regular poker without the added pressure.

  24. Who was your first crush?
    I dunno, probably somebody in kindergarten... but the first one that springs to mind from when I was a little older is Dean Brown... he was skinny, had dark hair and those highly visible veins on the back of his hands and up his arms.

  25. Who do you have a crush on?
    Nobody worth mentioning.

  26. What is the longest crush/relationship you have had?
    Oh I can carry a crush on for years and years and years and years... I don't really do relationships though.

  27. Have you ever been rejected by a crush?
    Pffft... I don't think I've ever NOT been rejected by a crush.

  28. Who was the last person you couldn't take your eyes off of?
    Well, lets see... I work in the city and I went down to the Mall at lunch time... so there were any number of guys I couldn't take my eyes off. But, you know, only until they go past me.

  29. Do you have a celebrity crush?
    I have about a million of them, they come and go.

  30. Have you ever written a love letter?
    No.

  31. Have you ever been in love?
    I don't think so, no.

  32. Do you believe in love at first sight?
    No, that's not love, that's lust.

  33. Who was your first boyfriend/girlfriend?
    Stephen, he was four years younger than me, built like a wet noodle, hung like a stallion, was into B&D (which I couldn't take seriously at the time... oh how times change) and had a fascination with Communism.

  34. Have you ever cheated on your bf/gf?
    No, but my aforementioned first ex's new partner cheated on him with me.

  35. What is your favourite sport to play?
    Tiddlywinks... that's a sport, right? I don't do sport either as a participant or an observer.

  36. Do you believe in god?
    No, not Big-G God anyway.

  37. Do you believe in karma?
    Yep, especially the instant kind.

  38. Have you ever made a prank phone call?
    Kinda... it wasn't supposed to be a prank though... when La Cousina and I were younger we were in the city with our respective maternals and for some reason we tried to call my Nanna from a public phone box. Much to our surprise the number dialled and the phone call went through, but it turned out that while we could hear her, she couldn't hear us at the other end. Of course we got busted and Ma had to ring Nanna back (this time with money) to tell her what had happened.

  39. What's the meanest thing you've ever done to someone?
    Remember that question about karma a few seconds ago, it's not nice to mess with karma... but having said that, I've done some small and petty things but nothing really vast and mean (well, I didn't think so anyway).

  40. Do you say meaner things to your friends or your enemies?
    I say meaner things TO my friends ABOUT my enemies.

  41. What is the meanest thing anyone has said about you?
    Nothing springs to mind... but then not many people seem to actually say the mean stuff to my face.

  42. What's the biggest argument you've ever gotten into?
    I've gotten into some doozeys, since I'm often stubborn and it seems increasingly annoyed as I get older... but nothing really stands out as "the biggest".

  43. What was the last lie you told?
    I can't think of one... but I'm not sure if that's because I lie so well that I even manage to fool myself or because I'm often painfully honest about things.

  44. Would you ever lie to someone to make them feel good about themselves?
    Not lie as such... more of a sin of omission. But mostly I'm the guy that's all "you weren't going to wear that, were you?".

  45. Do you get along with your family?
    Well since I consider my family to pretty much just be Ma (even though there are other associated relatives around the place), then yes, I would say I get along with my family very well.

  46. Has anyone ever been disowned from your family?
    Yeah, my Nanna used to disown La Cousina regularly when we were teenagers... it only ever lasted for about a week though. Various parts of the family have disowned themselves from other parts though.

  47. Is there anything that you have done that you regret?
    Yes.

  48. What's your favourite childhood memory?
    Sitting up in the branches of the apricot tree in my backyard and picking the sun-warmed fruit straight off the tree.

  49. What do you want to be when you grow up?
    Somebody else?

  50. What is your political persuasion?
    Non-committal... I'm fairly small-L liberal in my political leanings (such as they are).

  51. How would you describe yourself?
    Contradictory.

  52. What are you afraid of?
    I dunno... nothing, everything, fear itself..

  53. Are you religious?
    Not in any kind of organised sense, no.

  54. What is the best compliment you have ever received?
    I obviously don't tend to either get a lot of compliments or remember them if I do... but Raja telling me I had a "hot ass" was the first one I thought of.

  55. Which person do you trust the most?
    Probably Ma.

  56. What is your greatest strength?
    Creativity.

  57. What is your greatest weakness?
    Procrastination.

  58. What is your perfect pizza?
    Anything so long as it's cooked in the wood fire oven way and is tasty.

  59. What is your first thought when waking up in the morning?
    "That alarm is so irritating."

  60. What is your first thought before you go to bed?
    "Have I set my alarm?"

  61. What university do you want to go to?
    Never wanted to, never did (plus I didn't have the scores).

  62. Do you play any instruments?
    I have played the piano, the recorder and the piano in the past... oh and a rather memorable incident playing the xylophone at a school assembly, I can't remember what the song was though (something about sailing maybe?). Currently I play nothing.

  63. What kind of music do you like?
    I have pretty broad tastes in music... some jazz, the occasional bit of classical, some dance/electronic music and some random pop stuff.

  64. Do you think you're attractive?
    I think I have good eyes and nice lips... does that count?

  65. Would you ever get a tattoo?
    I already have one... I've considered getting others but I would need to be 100% certain on the design and the location before I got anything else.

  66. How many piercings do you have?
    Currently one... over time, four.

  67. Who makes you laugh?
    Sugarmonkey (especially when he does actual monkey noises, that just cracks me up) and Ma.

  68. Who would you want to be tied to for 24 hours?
    Nobody... the idea of being tied to anybody for 24 hours is very unappealing.

  69. Have you ever seen a dead body?
    No.

  70. What is one thing scientists should invent?
    A Universal cure/weight loss pill. And then they should get to work on teleportation.

  71. What happens after you die?
    You move on to whatever your next stage is. Or possibly nothing, I really don't know.

  72. Do you watch or read the news?
    I read the newspaper on the weekends, but I never watch the news.

  73. What stereotype would you label yourself as being?
    "Gay" is a stereotype, right?

  74. Would your friends agree with that stereotypic label?
    Well, they know I'm a big homo, so probably yeah.

  75. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
    I really don't have any strong feelings one way or another about my name... but I don't really know what a better name would be.

  76. If you could go back in time to one point in your life, where would you go?
    I'd probably go back to when I was 21, just after I moved out of home and in with Ludo. Not to change anything, just because it was a pretty good time.

  77. If you could change anything about yourself, what would you change?
    I'd give myself a super fast and super efficient metabolism.

  78. If you could go back and change one day, what would it be?
    As an immediate example, the day I dislocated my knee springs to mind.

  79. What do you want your friends to think about you?
    They can think whatever they want to think.

  80. Have you ever bitten someone?
    Yes, as recently as last night actually. He enjoyed it immensely.

  81. Have you ever stolen anything?
    Yeah, I went through a klepto phase when I was younger.

  82. Do you make wishes on shooting stars?
    I don't think that I've ever SEEN a shooting star.

  83. What's the most you've ever eaten in one sitting?
    I've been known to polish off more than my fair share from time to time... but never to the point of throwing up or anything.

  84. Do you remember your dreams?
    Seldom if ever.

  85. Are you a morning person or a night person?
    Technically I think I'm a night person, but by virtue of necessity I have to make the most out of the mornings.

  86. Do you have any phobias?
    Not as such, no.

  87. Have you ever been to the hospital (other than birth)?
    Yep, I was in hospital when I broke my arm, I had to go to Emergency the three times I dislocated my shoulder, plus for the shoulder reconstruction, then again when I had problems with my knee after falling on it after the second shoulder dislocation.

  88. Have you ever broken a bone?
    Yep, just the once though... the bone/bones in my forearm when I was 12.

  89. Have you ever faked being sick?
    I like to call them "Mental Health Days"... but I haven't pulled one for quite a while.

  90. Do any medical problems run in your family?
    My Nanna had diabetes, that's about all I can think of.

  91. Have you ever attempted suicide?
    Considered it, yes... attempted it, no.

  92. Have you ever had a nightmare?
    Like with the dream question, I don't usually remember my dreams or, for that matter, nightmares.

  93. Have you ever laughed so hard you peed in your pants?
    Errr, no... I have better bladder control than that. I have laughed until I was crying and couldn't breathe though.

  94. Do you prefer boxers or briefs?
    On other people I have a weakness for briefs... on me, I prefer the trunk, it's not a brief, it's not a boxer, but it provides more support than your average boxerbrief.

  95. Have you ever been in a fistfight?
    Not as such, no.

  96. Do you have any hidden talents?
    I don't really hide any of my talents... I'm all about using as many of them as is practical.

  97. What is one thing you want me to know about you?
    I'm a really good kisser.

  98. What is one question you wouldn't want me to ask?
    "Where did you bury the bodies?"

  99. What do you think of this meme?
    I feel like I've done large chunks of it before... or maybe it's just that after a while all memes start to blend into one.
Current Mood:

movies: easy virtue

easy virtue - let's misbehave!First up, I have to give a big, big, big, big thank you to The Other Andrew for his review of Easy Virtue which caused us to go and see that tonight instead of whatever piece of randomness we had been planning on going to see instead.

Secondly, I don't think I have ever in my life been in such a TINY cinema... seriously... we went to the Palace Nova on Rundle Street (this was on the Palace side) and the movie was been shown in what I think used to be either somebody's office or possibly just part of the walkway that they had blocked off, because it was tiny! Something like 45 seats and very, very "intimate" (Cinema 2 for the record). So that was an experience!

But back to the movie, which was just phenomenal!

We all know that I love that whole 1920's vibe at the best of times... but add that to a movie containing strong female characters (love), awesome music (love), scorchingly good dialogue (double love), beautiful clothes and Prince Caspian (totally way love), and frankly, I'm sold.

I cannot even being to describe how good the writing is on this film... even if Stephan Elliott and his writing partner Sheridan Jobbins supposedly "watered down the acid" of Noel Coward's original play, what you're left with is still some outstanding, witty, bitchy and awesome work. The number of smart, snappy comebacks alone make your head spin (or it would if you weren't so busy laughing).

Even with the best writing in the world, if you don't have an outstanding cast then, really, what's the point. Fortunately Mr Elliott didn't fall down there either. Nobody really puts a foot wrong in this movie... it's almost enough to just list the names without any descriptions of how good they are... these people all know their way around a script. The one person who did surprise me with how bloody good they were though was Jessica Biel... I've only seen her in a couple of things, neither of which were the greatest stretch acting-wise, but in this she is fantastic and very much holds her own against Kristin Scott Thomas (of course it doesn't hurt that she has some of THE best lines in the movie).

The other person who really drew my eye (other than the occasionally shirtless but otherwise snappily attired Ben Barnes) was Kris Marshall, mostly because it's something of a different role than I've seen him in before (still comedy, but a very different character)... he gets a number of great lines, and does some wonderful comedic facial acting. There's definitely a "character actor in the making" there.

Speaking of stand-outs... the music! Not only the music that is appropriate to the period (and also, who knew Ben Barnes could sing so beautifully), but the twist that they put on a couple of songs, most notably the one during the fox hunt and then the song over the end credits both worked brilliantly for me. They do run the risk of throwing you out of the moment, but I didn't find that at all... it just made me love the movie that little bit more. In fact, what it makes me want to do is rush out and buy the soundtrack.

In fact the only thing stopping me from ranking this up there with my small and select club of perfect scores was the ending. Which is not to say that it's not good... it just wasn't what I was expecting and it was just the inference of what would have happened next that felt a little weird to me.

But other than that, thoroughly enjoyable and it's definitely one that Ma and I are going to be squabbling about who's DVD collection it has to live in!

yani's rating: 4 obnoxious Chihuahuas out of 5

unconscious mutterings 325

I swear, J must be psychic or something... I had lunch with him this afternoon, then I was thinking about a conversation I kind of need to have with him and he calls to say he's on his way over.

Granted the whole evening went semi pear-shaped (not because of the conversation though) and part of me kind of wishes that my evening had just gone the way it usually does... but thems the breaks right?

Unconscious Mutterings...
  1. Lease :: Broken
  2. Dead :: And Buried
  3. Removed :: Sanity
  4. Broke :: Cheap
  5. Lips :: Hot
  6. Flight :: 815
  7. Three hours :: Til Brooklyn (again, so close and yet so far)
  8. Give :: Me Strength
  9. Technical :: Expertise
  10. Hurry :: Up
Current Mood:

birth date images meme

It's amazing what you find when you're ferreting around in folders you haven't looked at for a while...
Go to Google Images and enter your birth date as six figures: ddmmyy (or mmddyy if you prefer).

Pick any five pictures from the first page of results and post them!
birth date imagesWhen I thumped my birth date in and one of the first results was good old Harvey Fierstein, I knew it was meant to be...

Plus, how cool is that laptop cover... and how gay is that centrepiece?

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multipart shopping with wildlife photos

supermarketOy... World of Tired...

And ever so slightly World of Incoherence... but I think that's more because I'm currently trying to do about four things at once, none of them terribly well.

I'm not completely sure where the day went either... time just seemed to get away from us.

So we started off with the Supermarket Safari as usual... blah, blah, groceries, et al. Although I'm not sure why but I don't seem to be getting that much stuff recently... maybe it's because I have a freezer full of leftovers and a cupboard full of tins and jars... and I don't tend to plunder either during the week. Plus if I really need anything, I can pick it up during the week since I'm all financially solvent and stuff...

Anyway, once all that was over and after a detour to go and see The Honey Man and I'd done the Ritual Unpacking and Paper Reading we headed down the road so that I could pick up La Cousina's wedding present (and I can't find a link to the company's website... I did write the address down, but that goes to a place that sells trucks, so I don't know what's up with that)... it's hideously overpriced and essentially useless... but isn't that the point of a wedding present? Anyway, it's done now...

Then we headed over to the Haighs factory (again)... just to see if they had much of anything left after Easter... the not terribly surprising answer was no (apart from some really ugly long stemmed eggcups which would be completely impractical and I'm sure you'd end up with egg everywhere). We did grab a few bits and pieces (Ma went a little crazier than me), but you can't really go past packets of broken Easter egg...

After that we headed into the city... and I was surprised to discover that it was noon... while it makes sense that each stop/detour took up some time, and added together they added up to a chunk of time, it still surprised me.

wildlife photographer of the year entriesAnyway, the reason we headed into the city was to check out the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition for the third year in a row.

As with previous years it was well worth the entry fee... although for some reason it didn't seem as good as previous years... plus this time they hadn't crammed the other competition in with this one (that one isn't coming around until October... so somebody was obviously listening to my advice from last year), so everything was much more spread out, which initially made me think that there were less entries or something.

I often wonder (as with all photographic competitions that I've seen or been involved with) why the judges pick some of the shots they pick. I know it's all subjective, and they probably have a very strict set of guidelines they're working to, but I didn't think about half of the shots that won their respective categories were actually the best shots in that category.

After we'd killed a big chunk of time wandering around the exhibition (we always end up doing two laps... I go through it all at my own speed, Ma does it at her own slower speed, then we go back around together and point out what we like and what we don't like to each other) we headed across the road to the food court under David Jones and got some Nando's action... sadly the girl on the counter was possibly a little bit dense, and instead of giving me the steak burger like I'd asked, she gave me the chicken one (same name, just one was beef, one was chicken)... fortunately she only charged me for the chicken one otherwise I would have complained... as it was I couldn't be bothered.

That was followed by some random wandering around town before we headed back here. But man I'm knackered... even after sitting here for far too long...

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photo friday: colours of glass

colours of glassIt was a very "Boy's Club Day" at work today... not in a bad way or anything, it's just that the female contingent of The Nut House weren't around and it was just me, H-San and Sugarmonkey.

It was also one of those days (a little bit like last Thursday) where you don't really want to do the stuff you probably should be doing, so you find any possible distraction that stops you from doing actual work (like, say, doing the first draft of a blog post)... I think I managed to make about two or three things stretch out and last for the whole day.

Speaking of "Boy's Club", last night was that way too, but in a much gayer way. No, get your minds out of the gutter, I didn't have "teh sex"... J came over and we spent the evening chatting and watching episodes of Stephen Fry's QI (Quite Interesting) on J's laptop... and of course we all know that I love me a bit of Stephen Fry action (and I think this is the "gayest" I've ever actually seen him behave... which just makes me love him that little bit more).

And even though J didn't stay all that late, by the time he did leave and I faffed about with one thing and another, it was past midnight... so that's two late nights back to back and I was a touch sleep deprived this morning.

On the plus side J backed up my disobedient external hard drive on his itty bitty teeny tiny external hard drive (I can't remember what brand it is, but I WANT ONE), so if mine DOES die unexpectedly, I won't lose anything. So, result there... but at the same time I'm a little bit weirded out that he's walking around with a copy of EVERYTHING on that drive (I don't care about the porn, he's copied various sections of my vast photo archives on a couple of occasions... it's more the "everything else"... just weird somehow... dunno why).

I picked up a copy of the program for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival at lunch today... mostly on a whim, but there are a bunch of things in there that I wouldn't mind seeing, and it's all going on around Ma's birthday, so I sense at least one birthday-related excursion coming on... not sure what yet, but I'll workshop it with her tomorrow.

And because the fun never stops here at Casa del Yani... I'm probably going to spend the rest of the evening tidying up my apartment (actually, that's lie, it will probably take about 10-15 minutes... it will just feel longer)...

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random t&w hotness

This week's Random Hotness is from the Fantasticsmag Tight & White photoshoot, "a brief tale of epic proportion" (and they're right... there's a bucketload of photos in the set)... with photography by McKenzie James.

And I couldn't really got past this since it presses all my buttons... white underwear, check... hot guys, check... major attitude, check... black and white photography, check.

tight & white photoshoot from fantasticsmag tight & white photoshoot from fantasticsmag

Current Mood:

oddness

red benzo tikis red benzobot with chinese lantern
Not the best photos ever of Benzo art... but they were in kind of an odd spot, lightwise. And speaking of odd...

It's been an odd day...

I woke up just after 4am, thanks to the wind that picked up around then and was banging the cover of one of the gas meter covers outside my bedroom... I lay there thinking that I could either get up and do something about it (which would involve trudging all the way to the end of the apartment block, then all the way back up to where the meter was) or I could lay there and ignore it. I went with Option B, but couldn't get back to sleep so ended up tossing and turning for just over an hour.

So by the time I'd finished my walk (complete with a knee that kept "complaining") and did everything I needed to do, I was in kind of a foul mood as I headed off to work.

When I got to work I had a Berocca and can I just ask... have they always tasted so godawful... I haven't had one of the original "flavour" ones for ages and it just tasted nasty... and didn't help my mood.

Also in the "Urgh Boo Hiss" column was the fact that I had a meeting in the morning that was going to run through lunch that I really didn't want to go to... followed (in theory anyway) by another meeting I was supposed to just be sitting in on which would have run for the rest of the day... BLAH!

Then my day just started to turn around... nothing big happened, I just started feeling better and things didn't seem quite so bleak (it did helped that I had some useful yet essentially timewasting work to do). Then I got a phonecall saying that my morning meeting was cancelled (woohoo)... then I got an SMS from Ma saying that the stupid people at Optus are "harassing" her about upgrading her phone again (which is interesting, because I have the exact same phone, the exact same plan, bought from the same place at the same time and they NEVER call me... thankfully), and instead of just SMSing her back, I went into one of the meeting rooms and called her.

While I was on the phone it beeped a couple of times to tell me that I had a message... I figured it was probably Stu... but no, turned out it was J... he was coming into the city and wanted to know if I wanted to have lunch with him (actually I treated him to lunch since he's now an impoverished "mature aged student"... and he's not happy about the "mature aged" bit either *grin*)... woohoo...

It's good to see him live and in person again... we also pulled our usual comedy act on the serving staff at Subway (not intentionally, it's just what we do), so it's nice to know that he's the same J as always... possibly a little more grown-up (although I'm not betting on it), but essentially the same.

And we won't discuss the fact that I accidentally threw my sunglasses in the bin (one hand paper and sunglasses, other hand empty bottle... whoops, still have the drink bottle) on the way out and had to go ferreting around to find them (thankfully Subway bins are mostly full of paper)...

I decided as I was coming back that even though I was more or less in time for the afternoon meeting, they really didn't need me sitting at the back of the room watching everything, so I stayed at my desk and did some real work instead.

And other than the long and rather tedious conversation with H-San (mostly because he wanted to do SOMETHING about a particular issue and I wanted to do NOTHING) late in the day (which then resulted in me not realising that it was actually time to go home) it was a pretty good afternoon.

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je suis le cerveau

For whatever selection of reasons, I'm having something of a "blue mood" at present... and I was going to document it all, but figured that would be boring for me and for you... so here's a quiz instead...

And don't ask me why the post title is in French... I did it, but I have no idea why...


You Are The Brain

You're the type of person who's always on, always churning.

You are alert and quick to react. You like to stay busy.

You are responsible but also demanding. You take up a lot of energy.

You are someone of deep mystery. There's a lot below the surface that's hard to figure out.


Current Mood:

unconscious mutterings 324

It's actually been a mostly hideously dull Easter weekend... I haven't done a damn thing of interest (other than perhaps the Saturday stuff but I would have done a lot of that anyway)... and to be honest, part of me is going to be glad to get back to work tomorrow, how tragic is that (part of that is the boredom thing, part of it is the fact that my apartment is no longer The Fortress of Solitude it once was).

On the potential up side, J is back in the country (if not the state just yet)... on the down side I have to engage in the ritual headfuck that is a Norton Subscription Update...

Squashed banana... Unconscious Mutterings...
  1. Animal :: Attraction
  2. Temporary :: Staff
  3. Moan :: Groan
  4. Rapid :: Pain relief
  5. That's for me to say :: And you to find out... no, wait, that's not right
  6. City :: Livin'
  7. Bumper :: To Bumper
  8. Eclipse :: Moon
  9. Problematic :: Life
  10. If? :: I was your girl oh the things I'd do to you (with big love to Miss Janet)
Current Mood:

easter shopping

that's a well packed easter basketOkay... officially knackered now...

I tell you what... every time there's some sort of holiday that involves time off and the shops being shut, people go just a little bit nutso. Actually this all started on Thursday when I attempted (somewhat foolishly in hindsight) to go to Haighs at lunchtime to get Ma an appropriate Easter present. I went to two different Haighs stores... in one they were lined up right out of the door (filling the entire shop to be honest), in the other it wasn't quite as bad, but they didn't have the thing I was looking for.

I don't think I've ever attempted to visit Haighs the day before Easter... it was an eye opener, I'll tell you that much!

But even just regular shopping seemed to slightly harder work than usual... there were certainly more people around... and when we were finished there was only one checkout chick working (well one regular one and the "11 items or less" one). Everything worked out okay in the end though.

my easter presents... the stuff at the top is from ma, the fish and the frog i bought myself... and yes that is a metal bananaAfter we were done with the Ritual Shopping we headed off to the Haighs Factory on Greenhill Road. I was fully prepared for there to be lines of people out the door and it to be a total insane asylum, but actually it wasn't too bad... I think there was even a coachload of Japanese tourists there while we were there, and still it was manageable. Sadly they didn't have the "half egg with fluffy duck" I'd originally intended to get Ma, but it didn't really matter in the end (plus, seriously, what is a woman in her 60's going to do with a fluffy duck... on second thoughts, don't answer that)... although with what I bought her and what I bought myself, I can honestly say that I've NEVER spent that much in Haighs ever before...

The chocolate is totally worth it though. Plus we got given some free chocolate by the nice lady wandering around with a big bowl of the stuff three times. Woohoo!

The next part of the plan (after a quick stop off at my place so all that chocolate wasn't sitting around in the car in the sun all afternoon) was to head down to the beach with the full intention of flying our new kites. But of course there wasn't all that much wind today. So instead of doing the "trying and failing" thing we opted to just wander up and down Semaphore Road and then Jetty Road at Glenelg.

A semi-interesting sidebar about Semaphore Road... there's an apartment block that sits down towards the beach end of Semaphore Road and I can't help but smile internally ever time I go past it. Partially because I once spent a very pleasant Sunday morning in one of the apartments with an attractive and generously endowed young gentleman... but the flatmate of said gentleman who was passed out asleep at the time of the liaison (and who still lives in said apartment as far as I know) is somebody I've been flirting with on and off for some time. So the apartment block gives me a mental happy...

Semaphore Road really is that mix between trying to be upmarket and kinda trailer trash (sort of like the guy I've been flirting with actually)... but we still managed to waste a bit of time there before we headed down to Glenelg.

blue beast street art at glenelgGlenelg was pretty much the way Glenelg always is... maybe a tiny bit more crowded than you would usually expect for this time of year... but then it is Easter and the start of the school holidays (which I will have to remember on Tuesday when catching the bus... in theory they should all be running much earlier... and also be much emptier... sorry, just a little mental note to myself there).

We did the wander thing up and down Jetty Road too... I spotted some new street art (as seen to the right) in one of the little side alleys... we bought some bits and pieces, although nothing major or particularly noteworthy, then went to have a late lunch at that most awesome of fish and chip shops... Chips.

Yum, yum, yum and double yum. The burgers there are just awesome, and the chips are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, just like they're supposed to be.

We probably only started heading back to my place at around 3pm, but ever since the clocks have gone back it suddenly feels a lot later than it actually is (and I mean a LOT later, not just an hour).

And after I ended up with a fair amount of chocolate in my fridge, I don't know that I'm really in the mood for any of it right now... typical really...

Current Mood:

photo friday: good friday

model's chair circa 2007Sometimes the right photo for the right day just seems to whisper in my ear... I'm not sure exactly why this photo felt it had to be seen today, but who am I to argue. It's actually just a test shot I did when I was shooting a model way back when... I wanted to see how the garden and chair translated into black & white before I put the model in shot...

It's also an apartment/garden that I really like... peaceful, modern, spacious, green.

I've done pretty much nothing the whole day. I slept in, skipped my walk (officially I was resting my knee, unofficially I just wanted a day off), and pretty much watched Doctor Who all afternoon.

Then I made Toona Noodle Doo for dinner, as is my want on Good Fridays.

I also finally finished Watchmen... which in some ways makes a lot more sense than the movie, although it contains even less action that the movie.

Current Mood:

random rabbit hotness

It's been one of those seemingly never-ending, frustrating yet slightly boring days... but it's now officially the start of the Easter Long Weekend... woohoo... and to celebrate, what could possibly make a better bumper Random Hotness than The Naked Rabbit Project!

French photographer Sylvain Norget has had a fear of "white rabbits with the red eyes" since childhood... and what better way to conquer it than by photographing himself wearing a rabbit mask and not very much else (actually there probably are better ways, but they're much less photogenic).

the naked rabbit project the naked rabbit project
the naked rabbit project the naked rabbit project

Current Mood:

exposing my underwear (drawer)

i have both more, and at the same time, less underwear than i thought i hadQuite possibly we can file this under "Waaaay Too Much Information" (and if so, please feel free to run screaming into the night)... but what's blogging if not an exercise in too much information?

I haven't done a proper "Exposing Myself" post for a while now... and when I was looking for pictures online to go with my post on Sunday, I discovered two things... the first was that a number of people have actually posted photos of their underwear drawers onto the internet, and a number of them seemed to have very particular ways about arranging said underwear drawers.

To be honest, up until Sunday afternoon, I've always been a "just throw the new stuff in on top of the old stuff" kind of guy. Sure you end up with certain things that get buried at the bottom of the stack and don't get into regular rotation for a while, but you do eventually get to that "all my favourite underwear is in the hamper" moment and you have to go with that you've got... or you rediscover things you haven't worn in a while.

But I thought I'd give this a bit of a try... not completely sure how long it will last, it does involve a degree of folding (although probably a bit less than is involved in bundling up a pair of socks).

As for the type of underwear I have... well the entire left column is varying types of Bonds trunks... some with waistbands and fly fronts, some with internal elastic and no fly, and a few of what I tend to think of as the "fancy variations". The few pairs on the front left are the overflow (so to speak) of those Bonds trunks.

The right side is of the boxer brief genre... predominantly Calvin Klein, but not exclusively... those are usually in the "not so often" category... the other kind are just more comfortable.

Then we have the other genres towards the back in the middle... g-strings (which I seldom wear) and my Bike jockstrap. I also need to stop collecting the Canteen bandanas... I have three of them at the very back and I only ever use them for tying back my living room curtains in Summer. And under all that stuff I think there's a red beanie...

And thus we come to the end of the tour of my entire underwear collection (bar the pair I'm actually wearing of course). There are one or two people I wouldn't mind seeing take this on themselves (and one in particular who seems to have a prodigious amount of underwear and swimwear). And a couple of people I'm sure who won't (*grin*).

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