tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69627072011-08-17T13:04:46.377+10:00Giannanoreply@blogger.comBlogger5791100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-3607931662787222442010-08-26T13:36:00.003+10:002010-08-26T14:06:26.883+10:00

...there is only 1gianna.ciao...and thanks.

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-67153404545698387262009-03-11T22:35:00.003+11:002009-03-11T22:55:40.207+11:00

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-50859972387983585542009-03-11T22:34:00.000+11:002009-03-11T22:57:19.884+11:00

Etc.

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-71842708948813397252008-03-27T21:22:00.011+11:002008-03-27T21:47:15.648+11:00

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-35466001132558355992008-02-20T23:25:00.002+11:002008-02-21T07:36:17.823+11:00

For five long years, John Howard gave me something to gripe about on my blog on almost a daily basis. Then came the miracle of November 24. And I’ve had nothing to say since. (Or very little, anyway.)No, I don’t get it either. The thing is, I’ve still been tuning into politics just as much as before, but I guess I’m in more of a listening and observing phase right now. I'll just have to go with

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-78176316126739905392008-01-31T23:00:00.000+11:002008-02-01T00:02:58.580+11:00

So, if you happen to have suffered through my sketching experiment here on the blog last year and/or think the picture at left is woeful, you may be pleased to hear that I've enrolled at TAFE this year, to do Fine Arts. Yeah! I'm going to learn from scratch how to draw, paint, sculpt, print-make, photograph, and 2D-image. I'm pretty excited, even though it's probably a little less vocational than

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-48850194357549684282008-01-31T22:58:00.000+11:002008-02-01T00:00:52.572+11:00

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-15882056998336498932008-01-11T19:44:00.000+11:002008-01-12T11:42:29.700+11:00

I wake up happy, thinking he'll be home today. It's been twenty-one days without him. He calls me up first thing. Rustling in the background, talk of sticky-tape and some sort of "special message" he has to stick in my card, presumably my birthday one. I tell him I can't wait to see him at lunch-time. We talk a bit more, then his father gets on the phone."So we’ll see you tomorrow at one then.""

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-68409652324554733242008-01-05T23:19:00.000+11:002008-01-12T11:38:31.126+11:00

Painting his room today, I pushed with such vigour that I broke the handle of the paint roller. I walked down to Bunnings to get a new one. Outside the store I bummed a cigarette off a staffer on his break, then I headed towards the little bridge where my son and I usually stop to rest on the way home from grocery shopping. Two young boys were hoisting an old shopping trolley up over the bridge

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-50364144218561196742007-12-05T22:12:00.000+11:002007-12-05T22:34:54.129+11:00

Thought it was time I picked up a pencil again, so here's tonight's quick sketch. It's not a self-portrait; it's actually meant to be Her Serene Highness the Princess of Monaco, the late Grace Kelly, from the recent Good Weekend cover.Alright then, enough doodling. Back to work on some draft posts for Surfdom...*cracks whip*

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-12619782555569072322007-11-27T12:29:00.000+11:002007-11-27T12:36:43.339+11:00

The Australian's editorial this morning, entitled 'Cheers for democracy', concludes with:"[T]he voters' judgment was, like the Kray twins, cruel but fair."Like the Kray twins? Um....

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-59214362119132683762007-11-16T09:02:00.000+11:002007-11-16T09:14:08.874+11:00

We're off to Sydney now for a few days. Lots planned for the little man as well as some big nights out for me...about time I say... Hope everyone is well and like me, enjoying the long-awaited and much-deserved spectacle of Howard's chickens coming home to roost.

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-39713898301431385182007-11-12T23:32:00.000+11:002007-11-12T23:56:11.789+11:00

“Mum, come and play with my train track,” he whinges.“Sorry, sweetheart, but I’m folding this washing right now,” I say, not feeling the slightest bit guilty because it’s the end of a long day of playing with him and he’s certainly had no shortage of my attention. “It's book time in a minute, as soon as I fold this pile of clothes on the couch, okay?”“But I want you to play with my train track

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-49740764674809703742007-11-02T23:47:00.000+11:002007-11-03T00:15:05.766+11:00

I’ve wanted to blog all week but have been under the gun with, you know, life and stuff. We had an unexpected houseguest off and on during the week and there were various domestic dramas (telly blowing up, washer breaking down, locking myself out of the house, etc). And then there's the things you can't blog about. I may have had a worse week than Tony Abbott.Jumped on the NaNoWriMo bandwagon

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-81191656405061794842007-10-27T07:39:00.000+10:002007-10-27T11:29:32.070+10:00

(Reminds me a bit of the letter I got from my obstetrician when I was pregnant, asking me to come in for my 'fist consultation'.)

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-40153860476828493502007-10-23T15:02:00.000+10:002007-10-23T15:12:05.851+10:00

I’m not sure that a nude will convert people to vegetarianism, but I guess there might be some Neanderthals out there who would take one look at Sophie Monk’s American Beauty pose, fling their T-bone in the bin and grab a handful of nuts instead. (Other than their own, I mean.)Is it my imagination or has poor Sophie been subjected to a bit of digital mulesing?Who on earth has a bum like that? Oh,

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-88606406417773483102007-10-19T15:14:00.000+10:002007-10-19T19:16:45.695+10:00

How odd. Not a peep from the PM this time.

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-60126868373082377152007-10-19T11:01:00.000+10:002007-10-19T19:17:55.989+10:00

Sometimes when I serve my cat his dinner and he finds the quality unsatisfactory, he gives me an offended look and jumps out the kitchen window.Goodbye, cruel cat food!Minutes later, he is scrabbling at the back door. I open it. He slinks past, rewarding me with a brush of his fur on my calf.Miaow!, he cries, managing to sound relieved, smug and sycophantic all at once.He heads for his bowl, in

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-20521772829426066482007-10-16T15:04:00.000+10:002007-10-16T20:35:09.572+10:00

I agree with Monica Dux when she argues that the Left is obliged to criticise Kevin Rudd for apparently moving the Labor Party to the Right; whether that's a strategy to offer 'conservative middle Oz' a painless transition, or whether that's just who Kev is. But voting in Howard to make that point is totally counterproductive because even if it would send a message to Labor, it wouldn't send one

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-23101823030034884142007-10-14T22:12:00.000+10:002007-10-14T23:01:38.706+10:00

From John Howard’s election announcement speech today:"Can I say, love me or loathe me, the Australian people know where I stand on all the major issues of importance to their future."Que? I doubt even his own party knows where he stands on anything, anymore. What we all do know is that he is a gross opportunist, forever jumping on bandwagons because he suddenly "senses" something--or is told via

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-72302404592638924642007-10-14T21:58:00.000+10:002007-10-14T22:11:01.272+10:00

According to Howard there is much to fear about "wall-to-wall Labor governments":"Such a state of affairs would rob this country of the necessary checks and balances that a federal system inevitably provides."Well, surely it's not quite as dire as that. Voters are still able to vote Liberal at the next state elections. At worst it’s a short-term lack of balance, which presents little risk.Making

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-62601178008435455242007-10-14T15:01:00.000+10:002007-10-14T15:25:48.799+10:00

I'm often fairly critical of Murdoch media outlets, and here's another typical example why. Look at this piece of dirty reporting in today's Daily Telegraph. The link pointing to the article by Chris Tinkler reads, Boyfriend scandal - Gillard's lover's dark past, and if you click through, you will surely be shocked and horrified to learn that not only did Gillard's partner once drunkenly crash

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-8178078194054587002007-10-07T08:44:00.000+10:002007-10-07T08:49:49.854+10:00

This was strange and smacked of desperation--Tony Abbott accusing Julia Gillard of being a political animal. Gee, how totally inappropriate for a politician, eh? Last election, Labor was too inexperienced in politics. Now it seem's they have too much experience. It's not Learner Latham, it's Learned Gillard:It was Gillard's obsession with politics that counted against her. Mr Abbott said voters

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-10806352594133121002007-10-06T08:53:00.000+10:002007-10-06T09:07:13.577+10:00

I suck at dating. Really suck. You know when you like someone and it makes you so self-conscious that your behaviour weirds out? Yeah. Pretty much blew the whole thing from start to finish. Couldn’t be myself. Then again, maybe I just need practice. A lot of practice.Never mind. We writers can at least comfort ourselves that we are going to get some mileage out of our dorkiest moments.PS. I hate

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-65525749776386185322007-10-05T10:45:00.000+10:002007-10-05T10:52:42.990+10:00

In more ways than one...so, more very soon. Hope y'all are well.

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-48276201896124308582007-09-23T07:43:00.000+10:002007-09-23T08:00:00.129+10:00

OK, we're struggling to make ends meet at the moment*, so it's possible I might lose my net connection for a week or two (though hopefully it won't stretch into three months like last year when we faced a similar cashflow problem...what is it about the month of September ?) Anyway, I might get a chance later to catch up on all the blogs, and get some posts up, before we go offline. (*and of

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-25134142213269728202007-09-16T21:58:00.000+10:002007-09-16T22:20:27.578+10:00

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-48159286830957774722007-09-13T08:32:00.000+10:002007-09-13T08:54:48.932+10:00

So, the Liberals have settled the leadership question. And this time they mean it, okay? (Until the next bad poll.)Kerry O’Brien interviewed John Howard last night. Howard pleaded to govern for up to three more years. Uh, this mightn’t have been the best thing to tell people who keep telling him to go away, they’re bored of him. Like Barnaby Joyce, my thoughts turn to a metaphor of lovers. Of the

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-89653312983104867222007-09-12T08:33:00.000+10:002007-09-12T08:36:30.283+10:00

The other day Conservative columnist Piers Akerman complained,"Howard has stuck to a mantra about the leadership ever since the question was first raised. He has steadfastly repeated that he will remain leader for as long as his party wishes him to remain. The commentariat, however, seems psychologically incapable of taking him at his word."Well, Piers, that might be because it clearly is up to

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-16285478138277124832007-09-11T21:10:00.000+10:002007-09-11T21:28:05.636+10:00

Oh-oh. I could play with this for hours. Shame my column width makes it wraparound. (Link pinched from Fred.)How 'bout this:

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-60372484154522136142007-09-11T15:01:00.000+10:002007-09-11T15:03:41.399+10:00

Interesting juxtaposition of stories in The Australian newspaper today. In the first story, Britney Spears is panned for her controversial VMA performance. She’s described as being "out of shape" and "no longer boasting [a] buff body". Right beside it, a story about new rules limiting the use of underage models by fashion designers in response to "controversy about the fashion industry’s use of

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-32778525892452415972007-09-10T23:06:00.000+10:002007-09-11T07:25:03.615+10:00

After I posted this at Surfdom just now, I switched on Lateline in time to see a neatly-combed and scrubbed John Howard vowing he would stay on and win.What option does he have--publicly wring his hands in anguish? Say, "But how could this be happening? I have the ear of the Australian people!" Of course he will act concerned, but confident. Alert, but not alarmed. He needs to try to harness the

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-51264886324223245062007-09-10T22:03:00.000+10:002007-09-11T07:26:11.240+10:00

Sandra Lee writes about 'cultural cringe', seeing this expressed in the "self-flagellators flooding the talkback radio lines moaning about what they saw as Australia's and Prime Minister Howard's misplaced but slavish devotion to the US and President Bush".I don't understand this argument. Aren't her 'self-flagellators' actually condemning cultural cringe themselves? Aren't they demonstrating

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-84462583631570369972007-09-09T14:11:00.000+10:002007-09-09T15:11:22.847+10:00

Impressed with the Chaser's recent APEC stunt, Osama bin Laden unveils his new look:Breaching Western security should be a breeze now.(I cut to the Chaser at Surfdom the other day. Oh, and also posted on Condoleezza Rice's Lateline interview while there.)

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-35061632053885842012007-09-08T11:47:00.001+10:002007-09-08T12:02:21.718+10:00

Slow news day, obviously, so Imre Saluszinsky decided to gross us all out. Apparently he wants to "eat something sweet and creamy off [APEC media spokesperson Anne Fulwood's] naked body". As Annabel Crabb put it today, Imre's latest column is "a stomach-turningly, police-callingly explicit account of his own haggard sexual yearnings for poor Anne Fulwood".What was he thinking drinking?

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-25784954096135401522007-09-07T11:47:00.000+10:002007-09-08T12:04:08.889+10:00

"Mum," he said. "On the news, they’re just making it up.""What do you mean, little man?" I asked, thinking gee, he's pretty critically literate for a three year old..."Cos, well, Mummy," he explained, "they’re pretending the streets are on fire."Gulp. "Oh, yeah...I think that was part of some kind of show...um..."Nice reminder of why kids really shouldn't watch the news, even just in the

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-48022013316567348842007-09-06T21:14:00.000+10:002007-09-06T21:32:06.710+10:00

Unless you're too busy having conniptions, that is. I had a laugh with my folks today over John Howard's "Tough on Drugs!" promotional booklet which we all received in the post lately. I don't know about your family dynamics when you were a teenager, but parental conniptions were a feature of ours. If I'd dared to pipe up with, "I always wanted to try that stuff!" or maybe even "It made me feel

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-26514785402996031542007-09-04T22:58:00.001+10:002007-09-06T21:56:09.066+10:00

Now this is good news. Especially this bit:For those who prefer the comfort of their own home Raw Jaffa offers a mobile service ensuring everyone has access to this unique and entertaining experience.Home-delivered male life drawing models? Where do I sign?

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-25000499760197165282007-09-04T11:08:00.000+10:002007-09-04T11:12:08.462+10:00

Browsing my local online paper for jobs just now, I saw this ad:FUNERAL ASSISTANTIrregular casual work in the local area. Current driver's licence essential, with some heavy lifting required.Insert disturbing mental pictures....Anyway, I guess it rules me out, since I can barely hoist a three year old kid aloft.

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-30032563387567180142007-09-04T10:38:00.000+10:002007-09-06T09:26:30.585+10:00

Well, I'm sure you're all tired of hearing the same old excuses and promises, so I'll just say that I should have some posts up later today this week (argh). The spirit is extremely willing. As soon as I can shake off this persistent writer's paralysis, I'll be back in the swing of things. At least I've got the Tuesday nude out of the way; first drawing I've done in about a month, so we're going

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-20526550200946211912007-08-24T15:46:00.000+10:002007-08-24T15:47:59.035+10:00

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-19166988555657619582007-08-21T21:51:00.000+10:002007-08-21T22:27:50.993+10:00

So, did women really evolve to prefer the color pink because natural selection favored those of our female hunter-gatherer ancestors who could easily pick out ripe fruit? For some, it's now settled beyond doubt:IT'S official. Blue is the most popular colour and women really do prefer pink, and reddish shades of blue like lilac and purple.And the preference isn't just a result of social

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-19843330861923700132007-08-21T10:35:00.000+10:002007-08-21T11:16:40.358+10:00

Sorry, Piers Akerman, it wasn't an hour, it was fifteen minutes, according to the owner of the strip joint. At worst, Rudd was "a little rowdy" and "uppity". And Janet Albrechtsen, sorry but you're wrong, too. Had Tony Abbott taken a detour to the Pink Pussycat one evening, I’m betting that the Labor Party sisterhood would be hissing for his resignation. Likewise if Alexander Downer or John

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-48926877690053969242007-08-20T22:37:00.000+10:002007-08-20T23:03:29.552+10:00

Ah, very funny, SBS. I noticed in the telly guide they were screening a show called Stripperella tonight. (Synopsis: "A man is bitten by a uranium-contaminated beaver and starts chomping everything in sight that is made of wood. Back at the club, Giselle is performing lap dance on an elderly fellow, and when it is over, she discovers that he has had a fatal heart attack".)Elsewhere, the 7:30

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-77815111611305547682007-08-09T21:59:00.000+10:002007-08-09T22:45:55.711+10:00

Since he has the flu, we treat him to a new Thomas video and spend the afternoon snuggled up watching it. We are introduced to a new character, Sir Topham Hatt’s elderly mother. Later, over dinner, the boy takes a long look at me and says,"Mum, you look like Dowager Hatt."And starts laughing, possibly at the look of stunned horror on my face. Thanks, mate! Still, if he's cracking jokes, he must

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-39392972583330693422007-08-09T14:12:00.000+10:002007-08-09T14:14:04.851+10:00

Sorry for lack of posting and reading blogs. There's stuff in the works (in particular a critique of the three anti-blogging pieces published in the broadsheets at the weekend) but my boy has come down with another bug, this time of the sore throat, runny nose, high fever kind. He's a trouper but I'm a bit of a nervous wreck as he's only ever had mild fever before. Anyway, back to the blog as

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-57303924284404442592007-08-01T22:40:00.000+10:002007-08-02T00:13:26.663+10:00

Well, that kind of backfired, didn't it? Go looking for evidence that reality TV is rotting people's morals and find out it's actually making them better citizens. D'oh! Maybe Helen Coonan hoped that, after sitting on the report into the evils of reality TV for nearly six months, people might've forgotten all about it. Sadly for her, The Australian has managed to use Freedom of Information laws

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-38574366531558290642007-07-30T19:39:00.001+10:002007-07-30T19:47:12.231+10:00

Yeah okay, I was a victim of clever advertising.

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-53580501741330321142007-07-26T07:56:00.000+10:002007-07-26T08:01:34.744+10:00

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-28924774293718248972007-07-19T08:31:00.000+10:002007-07-19T08:40:37.286+10:00

After all The Australian's bleating about "breaking real stories and adding to society's pool of knowledge" the other day, I was amused to read this line in a news.com.au story last night:"Max Bowen, manager of the Iron Duke Hotel at the corner of Botany Road and McEvoy Street, told SMH Online that he ran outside after hearing the crash and saw the mother covering her daughter." (my emphasis)You

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-28470156928247009272007-07-19T08:17:00.000+10:002007-07-19T08:34:35.311+10:00

Last night he says,"Mum, it's sore.""Hey? What is?" I say. I turn the light back on."The door," he says."The door is sore?""Yes," he says. "It has a sore handle.""Really?""Yes, and if you close it, it might bleed, you see.""Oh, dear." He is starting to get scared of the dark and wants me to leave his bedroom door open at night. Still, I'm a little disturbed by his dark imagination. I haven't even

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-75864024292324912142007-07-17T23:55:00.000+10:002007-07-18T00:04:08.767+10:00

Matthew tagged me with a 5/5 meme the other day. I'll give it a go.1. Name your area of expertise/interest:I thought about offering "procrastination" as my area of expertise, because on my way to the computer to write this post today, I had to first make a lime cheesecake and then repaint my bathroom and then do some cartoons and then have a lie down and feel sorry for myself for having a cold (

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-50697252734191410762007-07-17T12:30:00.000+10:002007-07-17T13:04:07.450+10:00

(Today's Handy Terror Hint: Don't forget to pack some Valium!)

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-8109366477378358802007-07-17T10:41:00.000+10:002007-07-17T10:58:23.044+10:00

Well, my child is back to rude good health but has offloaded his cold onto me. So (sniffle, cough) I'll just drop in to link to the latest episode The Search for a Scapegoat . Hilarious, Spud. Too true.

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-20504285419865722472007-07-15T20:16:00.001+10:002007-07-17T13:09:10.591+10:00

I feel like weighing into the debate provoked last week by The Australian’s editorial sledging online writers. Others in various comments threads have pointed out that the newspaper is likely most irked by competing for-profit online media like Crikey, rather than the thousands of amateur sites like mine. I couldn't resist reacting to some of the claims the paper made in attacking the

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-29386978021821715052007-07-15T20:15:00.000+10:002007-07-17T11:31:58.411+10:00

(By Spud.)

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-47457902406810772662007-07-13T22:31:00.000+10:002007-07-13T22:53:32.546+10:00

The protester:We didn't get a chance to leave peacefully. The police just started pepper-spraying people, hitting them with batons and throwing them to the floor. It was absolutely shameful.The Education Minister Julie Bishop:So we did ring the police because they were actually inside the office chanting.Imagine! They were actually chanting. Dangerous, chanting. Might lead to macrame or

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-44515393860087099622007-07-11T09:50:00.000+10:002007-07-11T10:00:04.302+10:00

So then my boy came down heavily with the head cold he'd been nurturing since last week. Bad timing given the current flu scare, but since it's only been a mild cold and it's been several days now, and he's still cheerfully running amok, I'm not too worried (that's so unlike me!). Just means we've had a few sleepless nights and I had to keep him home from daycare yesterday, just to be on the safe

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-53911008440679211792007-07-09T07:33:00.000+10:002007-07-09T07:57:02.645+10:00

I’m going to steal a blogger convention--and by that I mean a common post type, not a whole gathering of bloggers--and do a “What I’m…”.what I’m watching…Wallace & Gromit. Fave line from Wallace: “Now then, no sense in prevaricating around the bush”. Especially liked: A Close Shave.Mr and Mrs Smith. My library had this and I thought, it’s free, how bad can it be? In a word: Tragic. Like

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-87366987372943984542007-07-09T07:28:00.000+10:002007-07-09T07:32:59.329+10:00

I was too embarrassed to show my face around Surfdom for a few days last week after leaving a stupid self-pitiful comment there. I mean, the post was about another blogger who died, and I managed to try and make it about me. Cringe. I’d been in the last throes of PMT, and feeding into that had been the sudden and inexplicable estrangement of a sibling, making me feel worse than usual. Mostly when

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-49637134171807146342007-07-06T18:18:00.000+10:002007-07-06T18:24:36.231+10:00

These were from Tuesday, but I'll whack them up now and get Howie off the front page for a minute...

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-73225579932916126352007-07-06T14:26:00.001+10:002007-07-06T22:09:31.770+10:00

I might be getting a little obsessed with John, whaddya think? Oh, well. Above are a few lolrats I made. There might be some actual written posts up soon. And some more nudes (not of John, I promise).

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-60870971214885989902007-07-02T09:39:00.000+10:002007-07-02T09:52:59.542+10:00

Jizzle Hizzle's latest clip (by Spud).

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-51946089143334125842007-06-26T23:07:00.000+10:002007-06-26T23:23:16.169+10:00

Well, what an exercise in frustration. I am stuck on Blair. Friends tell me they don't recognise him in this sketch:So I tried him again tonight but only ended up with this:which is not much of an improvement. His eyes look evil, no?Unfortunately I can't continue my cut'n'paste toons without an adequate sketch of Tony, but now I find that my multifuction printer's ink supply is so low that

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-7175337967517091362007-06-26T10:10:00.000+10:002007-06-26T10:24:50.404+10:00

John Howard in that speech last night:"We should have been more humble. We have our Katrina here and now. That it has unfolded more slowly and absent the hand of God should make us humbler still."Absent the hand of God? I thought God had His fingers in all pies. If He was absent, where was He? Busy elsewhere in the world causing freakish weather--hurricanes, tsunamis and the like--and the ensuing

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-11950618831486305522007-06-25T15:50:00.000+10:002007-06-26T23:07:21.693+10:00

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-42699928970910882982007-06-18T10:59:00.000+10:002007-07-02T10:02:12.863+10:00

Beautiful, Spud. Thanks to Sean for the link.

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-3788081959143929022007-06-12T15:34:00.000+10:002007-06-12T15:53:43.378+10:00

Why do Miranda Devine and Janet Albrechtsen hate women so much? And why do they loathe Western culture so much, while projecting this loathing onto progressive Western women?Each of these conservative commentators wrote a piece last week cynically using Hiyaan Hirsi Ali as a tool to attack progressive women, while under the pretext of championing the rights of Muslim women around the world.Their

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-89470813024553327072007-06-06T19:18:00.000+10:002007-06-06T20:05:47.654+10:00

And I will be posting again soon, not that I think anyone believes a word I say anymore, as far as promises to blog go. I have not been writing for a few reasons which I'll try and explain soon. I haven't been sketching either, but I have been cartooning myself into a frenzy, and I'll put up a couple soon, despite the danger that they're unintelligible to anyone but myself. (Tried one out on my

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-43007528275160031762007-05-28T09:58:00.000+10:002007-05-28T10:07:13.798+10:00

Sorry for the lack of posting. I feel as if someone has pressed the "mute" button on me lately. I'll have a few more days off and see if there's any improvement in my blogging mood. Otherwise, I dunno. Maybe my blogging days are drawing to an end (literally...)? Meantime thanks again for the encouragement with the sketching project, and for continuing to visit my site.Just a quick link... Jeremy

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-46195622222717452752007-05-21T14:16:00.000+10:002007-05-21T20:32:35.800+10:00

Ratty goes batty...Meanwhile, the Howardhuggers ponder the polls and the causes of rodent fatigue and conclude: either the rat's just a bit long in the tooth, or it's not him it's us (we're apathetic, see), or it's only because Labor has been cleverly advertising on polling weekends.Dream on.(Bats by wikipedia; rat with apologies to the dapper rat, where I learnt that rats are pretty damn cute,

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-88732471473840507262007-05-18T08:48:00.000+10:002007-05-18T09:28:48.524+10:00

Is this a trick question? The new citizenship test apparently asks, among other things,"...what Australian values are based on - with the options being: the Koran, the judeo Christian tradition, Catholicism, or secularism."My instinctive answer was secularism, but I have a feeling that's not the one they're looking for, eh? I guess I'd be on the boat back to Hamburg.It's a curly one because even

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-13536093217441038212007-05-17T23:17:00.000+10:002007-05-17T23:42:17.025+10:00

Joe Hockey says the unions, with Labor, have run a successful scare campaign against WorkChoices which has "resonated" with voters. So, he reckons people have listened to and believed the unions. This begs the question--why would people believe the unions if they didn't trust them? I mean, does anyone listen to, and take on board, a message from someone they don't like or trust?

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-66626894454116760892007-05-17T20:39:00.000+10:002007-05-17T21:01:22.880+10:00

Gulp. I was just visiting the site of a new visitor. And gee, other people's drawings really put mine to shame. Sometimes I do feel like a bit of a tosser for posting what are really just very average drafts. There's a long way to go yet...another ninehundred and seventy or so before I hit drawing nirvana. It's going to be a long ride...

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-71518491226086122292007-05-17T08:08:00.000+10:002007-05-17T09:25:57.616+10:00

I thought using a photo of someone else to draw from might get me around accusations of narcissism. I also liked the drama of this picture, with the white gloves and black boots and the furry hat. Here she is supposed to be channelling Dietrich in last September's issue: You want muff? You got muff...It was fine until I started to explore Kate’s nether regions. What the..? They seem to have been

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-72879017827810889602007-05-15T15:25:00.000+10:002007-05-15T16:03:24.787+10:00

I was surprised to see The Australian declare the Budget a ‘masterclass’ the other day, because on the same front page several of its writers mentioned how Costello had ‘stolen’ and ‘pinched’ the idea from Rudd. It's a weird 'masterclass' that indulges cheating and doing homework the night before it's due, which is what this Howard Government's 'revolution' amounts to. (Saucy Julie Bishop was

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-69457692244129917362007-05-15T15:19:00.000+10:002007-05-15T15:23:48.287+10:00

Just one more heckle from the class clown at the back of the Masterclass.“The Government has also moved to bolster its security credentials with the biggest rise in defence funding since the Vietnam War, with a $2 billion increase to $22 billion in 2007-08.”Bolster its credentials…or perhaps refill its depleted coffers after rushing off to wage an expensive, neverending war in Iraq, hmm? Biggest

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-74632839275480178212007-05-15T15:06:00.000+10:002007-05-15T15:18:43.235+10:00

Noticed there are some Conservatives around preaching that Labor should backflip and accept AWAs or else (see Paul Kelly and Janet Albrechtson). But what if it did? Would these commentators accept it as calmly as they accepted Howard’s “mini-rollback” (as an Oz editorial so cutely branded Howard's IR cave-in) the other day? If we can have “Costello’s own” education revolution, can we have “Rudd’s

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-60767427195594833172007-05-14T12:39:00.000+10:002007-05-15T15:03:58.704+10:00

Shorter John and Alex on Tony:"We like him because he made the same mistake in Iraq as we did."Utterly self-serving and hollow.

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-61488243423491217552007-05-07T15:55:00.000+10:002007-05-07T21:24:00.206+10:00

Hello to all the folk visiting from Tim Blair's. Did you come here looking for nudes? Sorry. I'm only giving heads again today. But try back next week.Here's the past week's effort. I think they're a slight improvement on last week's Dr Seuss-inspired scratchings. Still woefully asymmetrical though.I didn't get much time today to blog but hopefully will later or tomorrow. I had to go to a funeral

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-10569983401575238492007-05-01T15:29:00.000+10:002007-05-01T20:44:02.151+10:00

I did fifteen faces. These are the eight that didn't look so much like ET, but God knows who these people are.

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-91104442846599782412007-04-30T11:10:00.000+10:002007-04-30T12:12:21.713+10:00

I read this quote from the Foreign Minister in The Australian this morning:"I'm not terribly focused on whether I ever could become leader of the Liberal Party or deputy leader," he says. "If there was a mass assassination of a whole lot of people, well, I mean, I just don't know.And for a good hour I completely misunderstood it. I thought he was joking that a mass political assassination might

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-41955403192145000672007-04-25T20:14:00.000+10:002007-04-25T20:49:51.634+10:00

Gee, only day three or four, and phony moral outrage at News Ltd already:BIG BROTHER SWEARING DISGRACEBIG Brother turned big blooper last night, with contestant Bodie dropping the "c" word during the daily show.Looks like God has answered one of John Howard's prayers ("...And please God, we need more turkey slaps so we can get this immoral postmodern rubbish off the air and everything. Um..if

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-81740668444242617072007-04-25T20:11:00.000+10:002007-04-25T20:13:22.862+10:00

Whatever gives Mr Barker this idea?"In one sense the community is indebted to him and he is now entitled to call in the debt," he said. I think not.

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-55823459494821499692007-04-24T23:13:00.000+10:002007-04-25T18:17:07.064+10:00

Remember all that talk we heard in the 90s about things like the "triple bottom line"? I thought the point was to humanise capitalism, to force the market to behave more ethically and thoughtfully (maybe even rationally) about consequences in terms of families and the environment by conspicuously including them in the balance sheet. But now we're back to dehumanising capitalism by turning workers

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-27854631365348055752007-04-24T23:12:00.000+10:002007-04-25T18:15:53.939+10:00

More cheesy nudes. I think the problem lies in the kind of poses I filmed that first time: they're too coquettish. I must've thought I was auditioning for Blogger Does Dallas. Anyway, I'll be trying to figure out the self-timer on my digital camera so that I can take some pictures that are less blurry than those captured by the webcam, and therefore easier to draw from. Hopefully with some more

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-14149867114337504352007-04-24T08:33:00.000+10:002007-04-24T09:33:44.657+10:00

Right, well Haloscan obviously hates me. They claim to be there, but they're not, are they? Time to give up on them, I think. I'll try Blogger comments instead, so let's see if that works.update So, evidently I just needed to default new posts to showing comments. Who'd have thought? Sorry, Haloscan. However, apparently I've lost all old comments threads, or at least they won't show (though I

Giannanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-46296362262821371922007-04-23T13:08:00.000+10:002007-04-24T11:58:44.096+10:00

Trust Big Brother to lift my spirits after a bit of unwanted melancholy lately. It's always such a great distraction.Top marks to BB this season. I like the missing prizemoney. I like the trendy ultra-green house made of recycled materials, with a pedal-powered washing machine, and artworks on the walls. I like the way they encouraged preliminary gender bonding (and "bagsing" of potential mates)

Giannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-1745849882566220352007-04-18T22:27:00.000+10:002007-04-19T08:14:37.050+10:00

Back soon. Hopefully with working comments (it's a bit lonely blogging without them).

Giannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-4679955788013026152007-04-17T23:17:00.000+10:002007-04-17T23:16:46.533+10:00

Just some quickies tonight. I wasn't really in the mood. Better luck next week, I hope...

Giannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-42325353312996538952007-04-16T11:14:00.000+10:002007-04-16T13:22:43.186+10:00

Art critic John McDonald is no fan of Howard Arkley, and wonders why anyone else is. In previewing the Arkley exhibition running until May 6 in Sydney, Carnivale of Suburbia, McDonald questions the validity of Arkley's popularity. He suggests it is more a factor of marketing hype rather than appreciation of any genuine talent (Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald, April 7; not available online).

Giannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-34463000022036268472007-04-16T10:28:00.000+10:002007-04-16T12:14:42.764+10:00

I assume this pun was unintentional:Commissioner Trevor Bly said in his judgement that he was convinced "the nearby residential developments would be disadvantaged by a 3am closure [of the nightclub] because this does not facilitate the staggering of departures, as would be the case for 24-hour opening".Yes, these extended hours should definitely facilitate staggering.

Giannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-45096716454418197022007-04-11T23:05:00.000+10:002007-04-12T07:48:04.761+10:00

I drew hands and feet yesterday. They're not worth uploading, but here's something that I thought could possibly be useful to those of us who can't draw hands:It's one of those free postcards that you used to get at all the Sydney cafes. This one was from the Deaf Society of NSW, promoting deafness awareness. (I love the sign for "bad". I'm surprised it isn't just the universally-recognised two

Giannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-67267834183693601122007-04-11T23:01:00.000+10:002007-04-16T12:21:40.555+10:00

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the following posts of mine up at Surfdom:Rats in the rat's ranks; andDismembered.So you can go there if you like to hear me crap on about politics. Otherwise, stay here. Or come back. Or something.

Giannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-38347393166889681862007-04-05T07:40:00.000+10:002007-04-05T07:40:30.816+10:00

I only did one drawing yesterday, before I was interrupted by a friend bearing a bottle of vintage sparkling white. So, by popular non-demand, here's the late edition of Tuesday sketch-class. (And I hope no-one enlarges it, it's much better this small!)I notice I have probably been a little generous in the bust department. Wishful thinking, I guess.Several other things occurred to me while

Giannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-68648905982738862062007-04-02T19:44:00.000+10:002007-04-02T19:51:14.510+10:00

We didn't gag Hicks: PM.Altogether now: "Yeah, right."

Giannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-61700646040562893212007-04-02T19:12:00.000+10:002007-04-02T19:27:57.513+10:00

Comments are now fixed, or so I'm told by Haloscan. Let's just see about that...Excuse me just a little longer...update Nup. Nothing, is there? Oh, that's right, you can't talk to me...damn. Anyway, full service will surely resume again soon. Also some new posts on their way to their various destinations (ie. here and at surfdom). Honest!

Giannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-6722113115576381892007-03-29T09:21:00.000+10:002007-03-29T09:26:07.680+10:00

"Listen, we're still waiting on that holy writ vis a vis climate change, God. How are we travelling on that? A first draft by Tuesday? That'd be awesome, God. Cheers. Talk to you then, mate."

Giannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-22687597125105767632007-03-28T09:18:00.000+10:002007-03-28T10:42:30.477+10:00

In response to Carmel Tebbutt's resignation yesterday, News Limited's Anita Quigley argued, "By her own actions Ms Tebbutt is demonstrating you cannot have a career and motherhood."Meanwhile, Anne Patty of the Herald asked Tebbutt if her decision could not be construed that way, and Tebbutt rightly said,"I hope it sends a message to women that you can combine a career and being a mother. But

Giannanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6962707.post-10633761540518250442007-03-27T14:28:00.000+10:002007-04-05T08:14:46.553+10:00

Having had the urge lately to draw, and not having touched a pencil for at least a year, I decided in the absence of a local life drawing class I would just sketch myself. First I spent an excruciatingly embarrassing half-hour filming myself au naturel. Then I printed out some very (I mean, very) blurry stills from which to practise drawing.I don't know why it felt so embarrassing to pose, since

Giannanoreply@blogger.com