Australia Day, Franz Porcelain Kathy Ireland Monkey Mischief Teapot, Tintin Market Scene Plastic Coffret and the Mother 2 Piano Book

Australia Day

For most people in Australia, the 26th of January is a day to kick back, have a beer and barbecue with friends and listen to TripleJ count down the Hottest 100. For others, it's a time to raise awareness of what we might be celebrating- "Invasion Day", when the First Fleet landed on our shores. For others still, it's a day to ignorantly lament the growing racial diversity of our nation, while harassing our newest arrivals to this land.

My wife and I were blessed enough to be able to engage in the first option with our beautiful friends, Jo and Richard, and their lovely children, Daniel, Grace and Esther- along with the kitten, Lilly, and the baby bird, Kiwi (which we helped name!).

It was the first truly Australian Australia Day my wife had celebrated, and our first as a married couple. There were Australian flags everywhere, hamburgers shaped like Australia, Pass-The-Parcel dress-ups (I'm hoping we get some of the photos soon) and plenty to drink.

It was great to share in the celebrations of our freedoms and the beauty of this country, and to remember those who aren't as lucky as us, who fight oppression without rest. We're very lucky to have new friends in our new home, not least of all because of their preposterously generous nature. 

My jaw hurt from grinning when this was "awarded" us after the Pass-The-Parcel...

Franz Porcelain Kathy Ireland Monkey Mischief Teapot

This teapot is the first item I fell in love with in the Impress Tea House in Elmore, and still the loveliest teapot I've ever seen. Thank you so very much, Jo and Richard! It will be treasured and it will always remind us of our generous friends up north.

As my brother-in-law once said of me, "I've never seen anyone as enthusiastic about monkeys as him."

Mother 2 Piano Book

Today, in the mail, another piano book arrived, and this one is much more at my current level. Mother 2 (Earthbound) contains some of the best music every written for a videogame, and the simple, but strong melodies lend themselves very well to piano renditions, both simple and complex. It's a beautiful (and cheap) book for anyone who's interested and has some cute images of the original clay models used for the guide book and advertising. You'll probably recognise the four on the back from their plastic reproductions by Banpresto that I recently purchased.

And do you know what I've just noticed? There's a notation guide in the back that teaches beginners how to read music! How cute is that?!

Off I go to play some of this lovely music, but not before I show you the pretty gift I received from my sister after her return from France...

Tintin Market Scene Plastic Coffret

Fiona knows I love Tintin, and I love toys, so she bought me this cute plastic scene of Tintin at the market inspecting the model of the Unicorn. There is an assortment of bric-à-brac modelled around him, with the masts and rigging of the model ship printed on transparent plastic. It's very cute, with Snowy scratching behind his ear. My sister sure knows me well- Thanks Fi!

In the background, on the cardboard display, you can see the pick-pocket, the detective, and at least one thug- it's very cute, indeed.

I hope you take time out to celebrate how lucky you are. Get some friends, and some food, and spend some time enjoying each others' company. I highly recommend it.

See you soon,

Evan

Cowboy Bebop sheet music

Taking a break from toys, and the poems I've been writing - but never from geek-ism - today I present you with my latest project! As you may know, we recently got a piano as a wedding gift, and both of us have been playing almost every day. This morning the piano book I was most excited about arrived!

As you can see, it's the Cowboy Bebop piano book!

Honey likes the smell...

The notation is great for a beginner like me!

Although, without a stiff book stand,
I may need to photocopy all the songs I intend to play...

So pretty!

The first song I shall attempt will be "Flying Teapot"... So wish me luck!

*Hugs*

Evan

"We've been here longer than you..!"

...was the reasoning our neighbours gave recently in response to our request that they try not to kill each other- but I think it's also a fair description for most racism. For some reason mistreating others is the right of the majority.

After a most pleasant weekend with my folks, and little sister - making desserts, eating home-made pizzas and watching BBC dramas - we came to a point where officers of the law had to be called in. We established that hands around throats and swinging fists didn't offer the best environment to raise the tiny child that was present, nor guaranteed its safety.

After hearing that line (the title of this post) given as the reason the couple over the fence were entitled to continue their screaming and punching, I started thinking about many things, not least of all my own safety and the potential repercussions for involving the police. After securing all the doors, I gave thanks for the joy my wife and I share and how great it is to know that dedicating our lives to something bigger than ourselves takes away some of the all-consuming self-centredness that constricts the view of many or our neighbours. I hope the couple received the wake-up call they needed, and they might soon see their child's future as something they can rally around, united as a family.

A wonderful present returned to me today after I got it framed. Thank you so much, Jackson. It's beautiful.

Here you see the lead character from Disgaea 4, Valvatorez, along with three other members of the cast. The game so far has been hilarious, and I adore the little figures that came with it, which I showed in an earlier post.

For now, I'd like to return to the home-made pizza, and a lemon tart!

I hope you all get the rest you needed to prepare for the New Year. See you soon!

Evan

P.S. Use the following images as an example:

Experimental cooking

After the last post about my Chocolate Pudding recipe, I thought to myself, I really should upload more experiments... Especially when they work! And yesterday I was lucky enough to succeed with two more.

The first was a complete success! I loosely followed a chocolate biscuit recipe and modified it in an attempt to make it into a "rocky road" biscuit. I increased the cooking time, after adding lovely things like nuts, glace cherries and white choc chips.

As you can see (but not taste, sadly) they turned out pretty enough, and they were delicious, too!

The second experiment was in the vein of Sophie Grigson's Parmesan Cake, but with tomato, curry powder, black and white pepper, and various other goodies. Next time I make it (and I will!) I'll add more baking powder to compensate for all the extra wet ingredients and flour. I compensated, but not quite enough. For some reason, when it's heated up, it loses its denseness, and I imagine it would taste marvellous with Vegemite.

*Edit* It does!

We had a wonderful dinner at our friends' new house, and I'm looking forward to sharing many more. One thing that spooked me was a cat we saw in the house next door. Now, I'm pretty sure Honey was originally a Bendigo cat, but I've never seen two cats resemble each other more closely than this cat we saw and our Honey, and to emphasise the improbability of that, here's a picture of Honey to remind you:

It would seem impossible, no? They MUST be siblings, and I intend to investigate further in the future.

I hope the New Year is treating you well!

Love, Evan.

P.S. I'm such a sook- I got a little sad last night thinking that Honey (who is the most joyful, happy kitten in the world) is away from her siblings... Which probably doesn't make any sense, considering how young she was abandoned. Silly me.