happy bday! tank q mcduck & snowflake!

tank q for mcduck's generosity by taking me back in time, into the decadence of art deco, sampling the ultra-fattening long aged steak / wagyu steak
http://www.rockpool.com.au/sydney/bar-and-grill
contemp art deco... all these "window", "square" patterns look v shanghai 1930

the crusty soredough started to filled me up..
the aussie ham platter was v nice
the $110 wagyu steak with marble score 9+ was v juicy... each bite lubricated with copious beef drippings... mcduck's aged grain fed fillet was a revelation (although it was cooked to only "blue", it was not bloody, just soft and tender)



mcduck enjoyed the rubarb pud...
i liked the brittle-popcorn and passionfruit mashmellow better... will def be researching to recreate the brittle-popcorn...

we enjoyed the end of the night at the jazzgroove futures festival...
http://www.jazzgroove.com
bday cake as well (curtesy of snowflake)

our future - who is responsible?

I was lucky enough to have secured my ticket months ago... HHDL is visiting australia again, the second time in the last 3 years... this time around, the public talk is back in the entertainment centre again (like 3 talks ago, unlike last time, which was held in the domain)...
i thought this time around, i would record the valued bits and pieces i remember from the talk (so to make the most out of such great motivational teachings and to supplement my slowly failing memory)...
it was already 1:50pm as i reached ETC, so there was no time for any merchandise shopping (on that later)... i headed straight inside to resume my seat... more than 50% of the audience was still busily rushing to the toilet and parting with their cash for the merchandise though...
it was courageous to see kylie kwong there as the MC... much would be at stake for her with troubles awaiting... with her future china travels(& visas woes) from now on... i cannot say i would be brave enough to openly act the same... she spoke briefly of her path finding tibetan buddhism which helped her through her days of loosing her dad (due to cancer)...
by this time people were still streaming in from the entrances while kylie was talking... it would have been much better if the organisers told everyone it started at 1:30pm...
HHDL and hsi interpreter ascended onto the stage with kylie's intro...
then the aboriginal rep greeted everyone, welcoming everyone on their native land...
the first words of the HHDL was surprisingly un-PC & hard on the ear.. i was a bit surprised as he described "the lack of education of the aborigines" (or to that effect)... everyone was silent!
i think it was his tibetan-english at work here... i think his main message was the importance of education & current lack of support in education in the indigenous community...
the rest of the talk was much more PC from that point onward...
he had his trademark anti-spotlight cap on (plugged out of this marron environmentally friendly bag)... the main takehome points i remember included:

• our future will be our vision of hope our positivity
• who is responsible? no one but ourselves
• increasing battle between external materialism vs inner peace as we head to the future, external materialism can only temporarily masks our inner aggitation (negative emotions eg anger, stress, etc) and does not create inner peace
• shantideva quote,"if you can do something about it, why worry? and if you cannot do anything about it, why worry?” there's no point in diverting ones energy into worrying
• everyone wants to be happy... true happiness comes from compassion
• there are 2 levels of compassion - biological (may be with attachement) & next level without attachment
• wisdom / knowledge -> right effort -> known destination (enlightenment); knowledge alone without know destination or right effort would not result in enlightenment
• daily tip - on awaking (in the morning), set one's positive destination (then the rest of the day, one can follow the path of positive attitude, effort, motivation to reach the set destination!) <-- hmm may be that's why people meditate in the wee hours of the morning...

end of the talk...
and i got my merchandise & xmas pressie... XL to refashion for me and reg size for mcduck...
we also got a packet of blessed seeds from HHDL...
also his useful tips & motivation on living a happier life!
thank you HHDL!

Life in 2 weeks

it has been a dramatic 2 weeks...
almost the entire spectrum of life squeezed into a tiny time frame...
we became mr & mrs
in extreme weather conditions...

from intense rusty red to sparkly golden...
my nicely waxed car after its $75 car wash (done the previous day) was buried deep in dust...

miraculously the sky cleared up just in time and for just long enough for our ceremony...




3 wedding cakes (& rain, hail, gusty winds, sandstorm, sunshine, thick humidity etc etc )later, we received the news of grandma leaving us for heaven...

as we continue our journey

for better or for worse
for richer or for poorer
in sickness and in health

like in marriage, life goes on...

yoga challenge

northside bikram yoga is doing $20 for 10 days...
that was what i have been doing the last few days or so...

v interesting... i've never had my shin in sweat b4!
holding postures in a heated room has been challenging, but rewarding also... i had so much energy after the first class, i couldn't get to sleep...
after the past 1/2 week of daily class... my muscles are firmer and lower back straighter! unfortunately my Rt shoulder is also sorer.... for now...
the next challenge would be the $99 30 day kick start (noramlly $160)...
see how it goes...

DIY printing press part 2 - reflect, redesign, renew, redo

work continued on the press this arvo...
everything back onto the verandah...

this time i got the nuts and bolts from the hidden corner of our garage - mcduck's hidden treasure trove

i'm makeing the platen plate today and the bungee rope mechanism...

the double plate - melamine & timber plate combo should make the platen stiffer...

the finished press looked the part, but the real test was how it would go pulling a print...

since i haven't bought a bottle press, i tried with my scissors car jack first...


here is a print done with an etching press...

here is one done with the bottle jack press...

loads of difference!
the pressure was not enough... and it was a collagraph! not even a zinc plate...
:~~~(
abit sad really... esp i have sore muscles and have spent 2 arvos making it...
lucky i didn't jump onto ebay to buy a 20 ton jack! so lucky!

even sadder when i saw the damage to the press after pulling the first print! massive crack above as it de-bolted! and the horizontal hairline crack of the timber beam below...

reflection:
1) timber pieces are too weak - too dry for starters and they are pine, not hard wood
2) bolts are 1/4 inch (could not fit larger ones in the slotts of the slotted steel angles)
3) using too much pressure? (already? but i was using only a scissors jack and it was only rated to 850kg, not even one ton)
4) may work better with a linoprint or woodprint - ink is thinner and rolled on, not like the oil ink used on etched plates, so thick!

so there is still hope yet - first i'll have to change the timber beams and get myself some easy carve lino tiles and a tool set...

ring mark

i never wear any jewellery, not even a watch normally... until when i got my ring from mcduck 2 years ago... it had never left my ring finger... until...
we visited our jeweller for our wedding ring 2 weeks ago and he told me to take my ring off and i couldn't!
"when was the last time you took it off?"
"dunno." (never)
i learned something new that day - one should take off all jewellery b4 bed, that is including wedding ring... "fingers need to breathe at night."
righto...
so for the past 2 weeks i've tried the soap and cold water, micropore tape, finger lymphatic massage, even steroid cream on my knuckle...
apparently my "meat", skin and "lymph" had decided to make home around the ring... my knuckle had decided to overflow with swelling...
but my luck came the other night during my 48 degree shower... my have been the expansion of metal in heat... i was able to (with the help of QV wash) wriggle the ring out of my fat knuckle!
my finger was freed (and marked with history of strangulation of 2 years)

see the constriction where the ring used to sit...

now i could make good use of the platinum necklace i bought for the ring 2 years ago...

the origianl idea (2 years ago) was to wear my ring on my neck... but it never happened

now the much scratched ring body hangs loosely, dangling around the necklace on my neck...

do i need to take the necklace off every night? cos i haven't been doing that...

Anzac Day

woke up at 4-ish this morning to attend the local anzac day dawn service...
it was pitch dark - there were many many shadows gathering at the local RSL memorial...
it was a moving and (v) chilly service...

then i warmed up at home with breaky and a hot bath...
back to sleep... it felt like a lazy sunday - but actually it was saturday...

memories of 2008 snowflake's extravaganza

a week or two have past since the end of the last day of 2008 snowflake extravaganza...
mr professional photographer beautifully documented one out of three of the extravaganzas... (the other two were documented by us and mr photographe-friend-of-a-friend)
a snippet of the first extravaganza...

... thankfully the handmade clutches were artfully matching & useful... the weather held out and mr professional photograher declared it to be a great great day for photos (due to lack of harsh harsh sunlight)... to top the day off, there was the "lost and found, happily everafter" big ring drama...
and a tip of the day (being MOH) was be prepared and pack one's kitchen sink in the bridal emergency bag (sewing kit, back up make up, safety pins, party feets all made their debut that day)