As I type this my father is in hospital having a large gall stone removed from his bile duct. Yesterday he had emergency surgery to remove his gall bladder. Serious symptoms only manifested on Saturday night. He thought it was his heart but the pain didn't go away. Mon knew exactly what it was and how serious, accurately predicting even the surgery. Her diagnosis was about a day ahead of that of the doctors.
It will be a trial getting him to stay in bed and do nothing. Unfortunately this also means that the 40th anniversary party for him and mum this Saturday has been cancelled.

Went to Paradise Lagoon at Big Crystal Creek far a picnic and swim on Saturday. Paradise is the right name for it. Wonderfully clear water which was not too cold and a day that wasn't too hot. As we were leaving a light rain started. The next day heavier showers gave some much needed relief to this dry old town. According to Mon, it was probably the consumption of loads of greasy chicken wings at the picnic which triggered dad's attack.

Another in a probably doomed effort to continue regular blogger entries.

Just read "Signal To Noise" and "A signal Shattered" by Eric S. Nylund . I thought they were pretty good.

Just listened to "Life On Air" written and read by David Attenborough (I hope nobody needs links to know who he is). A brilliant and entertaining autobiography by one of the most interesting people in the history of broadcasting.

Occasional listening:
Shonen Knife who are surprisingly easy to listen to even when singing in Japanese. With fantastic lyrics like "Sheep in the sky, Like a butterfly" who can resist them. Which reminds me, I should get some Tortoise brand pot cleaners, the best pot cleaners in the world.
Paul Kelly is good for a melancholy mood (too much and sometimes a shot of Shonen Knife is needed).

Watched:
Hot Fuzz - Better even, I feel, than Shaun of the Dead.
Stranger Than Fiction - Watch it with an open mind. I am even considering buying a copy.
The new Flash Gordon television series - Don't get your hopes up (couldn't even be bothered finding a link).

K9 And Company V2.0

Elizabeth Sladen is back. Her brief resurrection in Doctor Who has led to The Sarah Jane Adventures. A show primarily directed at young teens it is well dodgy but improves noticeably as the stories progress (I have seen eps. 0-6 so far and they are now verging on just plain dodgy). Apart from the pilot it is in the format of two half hour episodes per storyline. Also (apart from a brief appearance in the pilot ) there is, so far, an absence of annoying robotic dogs.
Recommended only for die hard fans of Lizzie.

I have had to put the grille back on the fan on my computer desk. I took it off to clean it and decided that the airflow was better without it. Unfortunately my idjit (not idgit) cat keeps jumping on the desk and sticking his head or tail into it. It's gotta hurt (hypothesis confirmed by experimental test on finger), but he just stands there and takes it until I yank him out of the way.

The little bugger is also going through one of those "you call this food?" phases. Even fresh mackerel and barramundi (my thanks to the Blue Marlin Fish Bar [conveniently close, delicious and they use lamb fat in the deep fryers]) get left, along with minced portions of animals domestic, foreign or mysterious. Also anything that's not put on his plate right then and there is no longer classed as food. As nothing is edible he is hungry all of the time and subtly hints that he should be fed by interposing himself between me and the monitor (or as earlier mentioned, sticking bits of himself into the desk fan).

I foolishly let my blue card lapse at the end of last term and it will take till the end of this term to reprocess. Since I don't need it for paid work I am barred from the zoo for the rest of the year. This kinda sucks. Otherwise not much has been happening.