Boy, have I been lazy around here… was in Melbourne over the weekend for Nathan’s wedding, but before that, a few growls: Argh, Qantas is supposed to be a full-service airline right? So why do I not get a choice of meal, or some other snack, if the only meal offered contains something I’m alergic to? I can understand them not having alternative meals unless specifically requested - though I’ve never had a problem before - so I asked for a snack, some pretzels maybe, instead, they said “Ok we’ll get it for you from the back.” No acknowledgement later that any such request was made. Even Jetstar gives you better service than that. Melbourne’s looking a lot… browner than I remember. It’s been raining fairly steadily up here, and the lawns are green, so maybe that’s a factor, but it was the other way around just 6 months ago. Melbourne also feels more… European, especially around the new Southern Cross station (I like it; it’s fresh and open). Pleasant surprise that makes me a little bit more favourably disposed to it =) Pity about the weather. Melbourne drivers…! Gah! Give way fercryin’outloud! Sydney’s roads may suck, but at least people know how to behave on the road. On a more pleasant note! Nathan’s wedding was excellent. Scary to think of friends getting married, but it was a great evening that wasn’t bogged down in any major formalities (yay!). The location was perfect (apart from being an hour and a half away from the city), the dinner excellent, the bride beautiful (it’s like weddings have this special halo that makes the bride & groom look especially flash). Nathan should put up photos at some point, so I’ll link to it, but y’all really did miss out =P ...

Max Barry is one of those rare writers - able to weave humour and a thick plot into high-paced action, and to do so consistently. Previously, he’d written Syrup, largely unheard of and unnoticed, and Jennifer Government, his “break out” novel that took branding to the extreme. Company, his latest, continues the fine tradition of corporate satire with serious plot. Jones is a new graduate joining Zephyr Holdings - the reason for joining being the drop-dead-gorgeous receptionist who drives an Audi - but he doesn’t really know what Zephyr does, per se. And since there’s a hiring freeze due to budget restrictions, he’s being paid from the copy paper budget. He starts to ask questions that make his co-workers, Freddy the sales assistant who hasn’t been promoted in 5 years, and Holly the fitness freak, a little bit uncomfortable - they’re all thinking it, but no-one asks out loud, until Jones at least. ...

There is a snake in the house. It’s just come in through either the garage or the front door, and it’s just sitting by the wall in the entryway. We have people over and they (my parents and these people) were just planning to go for an evening stroll. Mum starts to get a little flustered, as might be expected. She refuses to live in this house anymore until we get pest control - the cockroaches were bad enough, but this is Sydney, so you expect them a bit. Dad joked that this meant it was a place where things liked to live. I think the snake probably crosses a mental line, though. ...

Mumble is an emperor penguin with a problem: he can’t sing like the other penguins. Indeed, his singing is so bad, he’s practically an outcast. Also, he has this funny thing going on with his feet, and this is causing all sorts of upset to his parents, and the tribal elders. The elders cast him out, saying his destruction of their traditions is what’s responsible for their “god” witholding fish; he finds a group of smaller penguins and with them goes and finds the cause of the lack of fish, the “aliens”, penguins with flabby faces, no beaks or feathers (i.e. humans). The humans see how cute his dancing is, they think the penguins are trying to send them a message, see the error of their ways, and they move on banning fishing in the Antarctic zone, and all’s well that ends well. ...

I’m bored. Nothing’s happening. No, that’s a lie, actually. I’m not. And stuff is happening. I just haven’t got the writing impulse flowing. Reading Max Barry’s Company, which is all kinds of awesome, awesome fun. Good Australian writer with a penchant for corporate satire like you wouldn’t believe ($29.95 at good bookstores). Angry with Apple for running out of MacBook battery stock just as I need to get mine “serviced” (read: replaced). Oh Apple, how I loathe your service department. And your occasional unreliablity. ...