Below are the 19 most recent journal entries recorded in Kitten Moon's LiveJournal:

Friday, November 5th, 2004
11:36 am	Last Post! In case it's not obvious, I have abandoned this LJ account. That's the bad news (to anyone who cares). The good news is I have a new blog at girtby.net, and I promise to be far more prolific (not to mention coherent). Thanks for reading. (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 1st, 2002
9:58 pm	New York was awesome. I have been there once before, but over 10 years ago. Over that time I know I've changed, but I suspect the city has changed also (in more ways than the obvious). Speaking of which, Ground Zero is a pretty damn big hole in the ground and the whole space really brings it home as to how big those buildings really were. Had fun walking around during the day, though it was very hot. And stinky. Pee-yoo. Walking around the place is definitely the best way to enjoy New York. Of course there are the compulsory tourist traps, but for my money just soaking up a bit of the city and it's inhabitants is really the best thing to do there. Subway crazies, chaotic markets, trendy restaruants, late night bars, always something happening. 10 years ago I was a kid from small town Adelaide, and it was reasonably intimidating. This time it was just fun. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 23rd, 2002
10:18 pm	OK, enough with the Austin Powers overload. Reruns of the first two movies, really bad ads with the characters in them (and Britney for no readily discernable reason), even worse ads without the characters (but with bad British accents and an overuse of the word "baby"), and trailers up the friggin wazoo. Someone much wiser than I once observed that the even-numbered Star Trek movies are the only ones worth watching - I have a suspicion the same principle will apply to Austin Powers. Current Music: Andre Estermann - Menca (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 18th, 2002
8:57 pm	Oh yes, it is mine, oh yes. Like this, only in blue and with a slightly different fork. I believe a "woot!" is appropriate right about now. Current Music: Kraftwerk - Techno Pop (Comment on this)
Sunday, July 14th, 2002
9:00 pm	Been out shopping for a new mountain bike this weekend. Current favourite is the Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo (yes that's really the name). I have ridden many others, but this one feels the best. I've been pleasantly surprised at the lack of high-pressure sales people on my tour of the local bike shops. For the most part they have been pretty helpful and understanding. There was a minor annoyance at one place because their test model was not well maintained (the chain kept dragging on the front derailleur) and it was hard to assess the quality of the bike. Special mention goes to the big sports stores (REI, Polar Revolution, Galyons) who had bikes I would have tried, had they actually had someone I could talk to! Pretty annoying, that. Mind you, I really prefer buying from local bikes stores, so it's no great loss. I'm going back for one more ride at the local bike shop and, one way or another, my new dream bike is coming home with me soon! Can't wait! (Comment on this)
Monday, July 8th, 2002
11:14 pm	Jeez, does it ever rain in this place? I guess not. No wonder there are such tight water usage policies in force. And, like any scarce resource that isn't rationed by money, humans are forced into head-to-head competition to ensure that we all get our fair share. Or, failing that, ensure that at least noone else is getting more than their fair share. That's why canny homeowners around Boulder have little signs up out the front of their beautiful green lawns saying "well water" or "private ditch", or (my favourite) "raw water". Not sure why I thought I needed to tell that story. Here's a funnier one. On the way to the Zoo yesterday we drove down US-36 and where we normally pass the paddocks with cows, there were none to be seen! (cows that is, the paddocks were still there). Campbell was most disappointed: "Cows?" "Sorry Campbell all the cows have gone." "Cows all fly away!" (Much laughter) "No, you're thinking of pigs." "Piggies! Oink Oink!" Ah, what repartee. (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 29th, 2002
11:19 pm	The StarCraft experiment went really well. We played a couple of games against the computer. Lost one, won one. Which isn't too bad considering I'm a complete novice at StarCraft. Also the performance of the game was great - even though my friend was on a dialup link on the other side of the world, if was almost like being there. Just going to play another game, love it. Current Music: DJ Food - Now, Listen (Comment on this)
Friday, June 28th, 2002
10:04 pm	Currently playing (or at least, have played an am about to play again) some Starcraft over the net with friends on the other side of the world. Got to love the internet for that. Thanks to Garthfor the link to b3ta. Lost of zany stuff there. It's like NTK meets some drunken teenagers with Photoshop. Those cray-zee brits. Tomorrow we're going to the Scandanavian festival in Estes Park! I've been practicing my Swedish Chef lyrics in anticipation... (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 27th, 2002
10:14 pm	OK, finally got the Big Email out the virtual door. Here's one bit that I think deserves reprinting. Before reading it, you need to know that I'm going to be a daddy again. Yaay! Now, on with the story. Incident on Sulphur Mountain In Banff there is a gondola which takes you up to view the scenery from the top of one of the surrounding mountains. Although this particular mountain isn't a skiing mountain, the gondola is of similar make and model to those used for skiing. We decided that riding this (the gondola, not the mountain) would be a good idea on our last day in Banff, and boarded it one sunny morning. Some 50m into the trip the gondola lurched to a sudden stop. Being seasoned skiers, we are used to these sorts of events on gondolas and lifts. It's usually caused by some klutz falling over on the dismount, and is usually rectified in a matter of minutes. Not so this time. After 20 minutes we were starting to get a little worried, and the announcement came over the gondola speakers that there was a technical malfunction, the mechanics were working on it, and that we would be going again "shortly". We had plenty of time to reflect on the obviously ironic use of the word "shortly" as we sat there baking in our own little perspex bubble with the hot sun beating down (it was over 30 deg C outside), a tiny window, no breeze, no food and only a sippy-cup of Campbell's chocolate milk to drink. After almost three hours we got going again. At the top Helen got out of the gondola, and promptly fell to the ground feeling faint, sick, and suffering cramps. A short (and uneventful) ride back down and she was in the care of the paramedics who then whisked her off to hospital. There she stayed for the rest of the day whilst the uterine contractions slowly subsided. Number 2 didn't seem to be in any distress, at least if his/her heart rate is anything to go by, but that certainly wasn't the case for mummy and daddy! Anyway, all's well that ends well. The contractions subsided, and we were honorably discharged from hospital. The gondola company did the right thing and looked after us. No adverse effects have been seen since. (Comment on this)
8:50 pm	Had a really strange moment whilst driving to work today. Got a flash from a dream the night before. It's one where I'm trying to run, but for some reason I can't get the momentum up to actually move anywhere. It's like I'm in molasses or a really strong wind or both. Really strange. Anyway then it hit me that I have this dream all the time. It's really really common, but I just don't remember it. Wonder what it means? Maybe it's my subconsious longing to fly like Peter Pan! (link courtesy smh.com.au) OK. Two things to do tonight. One is learn how to play Starcraft so I can not be too embarassed when playing my mates over the net tomorrow night. Another is to finish the bloody big email I've been writing to family and friends. Best get to it then. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 24th, 2002
7:59 pm	Just too hot. No relief in sight. Hmm, let's see, can I whinge even though I've got central air conditioning? Oh my word yes. My study is the furthest room away from the a/c unit and it gets bloody hot here. Never mind the three computers on all day and night generating lots of heat. Hot hot hot. Woe is me. Getting back to work this week is going to be a bit of a drag. After a decent holiday the first week back always seems to take forever. "What, it's only Wednesday?" Good news: I'm going to NYC at the end of the month for a few days to visit a friend. He's going to NYC for the first time, so it should be a blast running around causing trouble. Will be interesting to see if (or how much) the city has changed in the 12 years since I was last there on my backpacking world tour. Last time I was there I stayed at a hostel and shared a room with (amongst other people) a South African caravan salesman. Also I stood on top of the world trade centre. The odds of doing either of those things again are pretty remote. Talking of nostalgia. Stayed up late last night playing The Fool's Errand. This is a great puzzle came that I remember playing on my Mac SE back in The Day. Runs just fine in emulation. There are a few Mac emulators, but I chose Basilisk II. Have to say that with a 1.4GHz Athlon XP, it emulates a _really fast_ Mac. Maybe they should slow it down to make it a more realistic emulation? Current Music: Devo - Big Mess (Comment on this)
Monday, June 17th, 2002
10:32 pm	Just got back from a monster road trip. Boulder -> Jackson WY -> Yellowstone -> Calgary -> Banff -> Boulder. That last leg was a 3 day drive. All I can think about right now is the endless loop of a nursery rhyme tape that we played over and over and over and over and over again to keep Campbell happy. And it prettymuch worked, although I'm not sure about the cost to my sanity... More details after I sleep (5:30am start this morning...) (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 1st, 2002
12:02 am	Pretty scarce on the LJ updates lately mainly because we were visited by family from all over the place. My mum came over from Australia and my sister from Wisconsin. Still it was great to see them, and show off all the latest tricks that Campbell can do. We did a lot too, went to Aspen for a day, Rocky Mountain National Park, lots of walks. On Sunday we're going on a big driving holiday around America. Yellowstone, Banff, Mt Rushmore. Should be interesting doing long distance touring with a 21 month old. And should be educational to be off the net for 2.5 weeks. See y'all then. Current Music: Big Bud - Stone Groove (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 16th, 2002
7:40 pm	Damn PC is giving me grief again. It's a wierd one though. Doesn't crash at all, just freezes solid (no mouse, no nothing) for about 4 seconds, then unfreezes again for a second or two, then repeats. Does this until you reboot (either gracefully, or by losing patience and hitting the big red button :) Searching round on the net, it seems this a relatively uncommon thing, but not unheard of. No answers, but I think I know some BIOS settings to play with. No idea what started all this, as the only thing I've changed lately is to reinstall Unreal Tournament... Hmm. Anyway, back to the coalface. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 14th, 2002
10:28 pm	I confess to being a Law & Order addict. This evening it was on two channels. On A&E, an old episode, Mr Big vintage. On TNT, something more recent. I gotta say, they sure have gone downhill lately. The old episode was from the days when they played around with the formula a lot more. Put more thought into the plots and made interesting legal points. So tonight, they plea-bargained a guy for a murder and had him sent to prison. Then something strange occurs to the ADA and they start investigating further after the case is closed, turns out he didn't do it at all, it was a lawyer conspiracy! Meanwhile on the recent episode, some guy was being charged for freeing monkeys from scientific experiments! WTF!? Seems to me that as a show increases in popularity it will inevitably start to suck more and more, but they'll carry on making it just out of inertia. I'd like to suggest a new verb for this phenomenon: the show has been "Simpsoned". (Comment on this)
8:48 pm	I love going to the Outback Steakhouse. The tacky meal names just crack me up: Melbourne Steak, Gold Coast Ribs, Kookaburra Wings, Ayers Rock Giblets, that sort of thing. I should volunteer to help them make up new ones. Dead Dingo's Donger Desserts Wombat Snot Cheez-Wiz Goanna Toenail Clippings with Galah Dipping Sauce Quokka Quango Quince Paste Western Suburbs Cultural Wasteland Breadsticks Bloody Annoying Blowflys Crawling Up Your Nostrils Scare The Foreigners Snake Tongue Soup Stereotypical Crocodile Wrestling Mashed Potatoes Gratuitous Use Of The Word Crikey Bean Sprouts Aged Member Of Monarchy Still Head of State For Some Reason Prime Cut of Minister, Conservative Style Unsold Fluffy Toy Mascots From The Best Bloody Olympics Ever And, if all else fails: Vegemite Current Mood: full (Comment on this)
Monday, May 13th, 2002
8:03 pm	Saw a B1 bomber flying over the flatirons on the way home from work on Friday. Way cool. So what's the big deal about the Spiderman movie? Or should I say Spider trademarkedhyphen Man? Boring and predicable. Sam Raimi, you can (and have) done a lot better. Toby, you need a bitchslap. The next morning (Sunday), Cambell decided that 5:00am was a great time to be up and partying. Don't know what's up with this early rising business, but I'm pretty sure it can stop right about now. Anyway we all got up (even though it was Helens turn to sleep in) and, attempting to salvage something from the situration, I ended up going early to my Bolder Boulder qualifying race. Did OK, too. Today I got an unexpected call from my boss' boss' boss! Yes, I had done so well on my performance review that I would be getting company stock options! At a price less than the current market rate even. First time that has happened to me. None of my coworkers got it either. Yaay Livejournal. This is fun. Current Music: Aphex Twin - Acrid Avid Jam Shred (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 11th, 2002
1:42 pm	Decided to anonymise my journal. Really, I'd prefer not to have this stuff picked up by a search engine when looking for me. Kitten Moon is the name of a track on Fluke's last (if you don't count the greatest hits) album. I am a big Fluke fan. So what to post today? Well this morning we caught the bus into Boulder for the Kidsfest. I was expecting this event to be very cringeworthy, but it turned out to be tolerable. Campbell loved most of the activities we put him on, even though he was a bit young. He's 20 months now, but reasonably big for his age. It was fun watching him play. Funny thing is that we saw just about everyone we know in Boulder at this event! A co-worker who is in the next office to mine, some friends of hours, co-workers of Helen's, even my accountant for Dog's sake! I guess we really are locals now... Current Music: Danny Breaks - Vibrations (2 Comments |Comment on this)
12:28 am	'morning all. Sorry, but I really don't like the chances of me actually updating this on any sort of regular basis. I'm only going on past form you understand. Just for the record, here's my last effort at maintaining a 'blog (before they were even called blogs), take it away archive.org. Read my crazee antics at updating my CPU from a 266MHz Pentium II to a 400 MHz Celeron. Oh they were heady times. Then I had a go at publishing a weekly zine called 'geekflash', which actually was moderately successful. It was mainly to scare my friends into realisation of just how nerdy I really am, and was qute successful at this. And it was actually fun to write. So I may revive this at some point in the future. You livejournal folks will be the first to hear about it. Thanks to Mike Brown for admitting me to the livejournal. Current Mood: drunk Current Music: The Clash - Rock The Casbah (2 Comments |Comment on this)