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The rarely updated blog of Joel Dixon
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Yeah ... Baby!
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 03/03/2010 20:04:48The green light has been given for my favourite book series to be turned into a HBO drama. Considering how much I loved Rome, The Wire, Flight of the Conchords, etc, etc - I'm excited!
Here's the announcement from the author.
# Posted in the General section and tagged as: Books
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Tuesday, February 09, 2010
xkcd Parody
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 09/02/2010 23:09:41Was stopping the mysql service on my laptop when I had an idea for a xkcd-style comic:
Alt Text: sc interrogate ex_girlfriends offers no hints either
Super geeky, crudely copied from a previous xkcd strip, and not very amusing - but it made me chuckle. A little bit.
# Posted in the General section and tagged as: Web
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Thursday, February 04, 2010
Donate money for my next stupid run
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 04/02/2010 23:22:53Updated by Joel Dixon at 06/02/2010 02:11:27
I decided to enter the 2010 Run for the Kids 14.6 km event, and will probably stuff up my knees again. But I'm racing a friend from work - so it shouldn't be all bad.
How about you donate some money to sponsor me? Or don't.
# Posted in the Sport section and tagged as: Running
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Feta, Sushi and Underwear
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 04/02/2010 23:18:24That's right - I knocked off items 2, 3 and 9 from my 10 things for 2010 list.
Feta and Sushi have been eaten (not as bad as I remember them), and I feel I'm now ambi-jock-drous.
That's 5 items out of the 10 down, half-way there. But it also means I'm running out of the easy wins (or low-hanging fruit as managers like to say).
# Posted in the General section and tagged as: 10 in '10
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Friday, January 15, 2010
Pimpy McHat Attack
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 15/01/2010 00:41:41I'm flying through my 10 things for '10 list, wearing a hat at number 8 has now been crossed off.
As part of my birthday outing, Bell and I went shopping for some clothes for me. Firstly - it's brilliant to have jeans that don't require a belt to prevent panty flashing. I also made sure we added a hat to the shopping trolley, and I'm now the proud owner of a pinstripe fedora.
Proud owner might be too much. Maybe a resigned owner
To be honest - it's clearly not something I would normally wear - but I guess that's the point of my list. I got a bit of crap for wearing it - but I actually didn't mind the look of it, especially when I have it at the rakish angle that Bell taught me.
So that's two down, only eight items to go. Too easy!
# Posted in the General section and tagged as: 10 in '10
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Thursday, January 14, 2010
Chai did it!
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 14/01/2010 21:28:03Well - number 1 has been successfully crossed off from my 10 things list.
I really loved the Chai Latte - but don't think I'd have it often with all that sugar and milk. When I tried a normal Chai (sans milk and sugar) yesterday I still really enjoyed it. I love cinnamon - so I don't know why I never gave Chai a try before.
I've also started some of my longer term items such as getting more sun and boxers or briefs - but I'm not ready to cross them off yet.
Wonder how long I can maintain this pace
# Posted in the General section and tagged as: 10 in '10
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
10 things for 2010
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 12/01/2010 22:54:10At work I'm often accused of resembling a grumpy old man. It's partly because I don't like many other people (they generally shit me), and partly because I'm very resistant to change. An example of this is that I eat the same meal every night, because it's easier to prepare one large batch each Saturday. (I personally believe I'm just sacrificing variety to gain ease, price and healthiness).
So to expand my horizons and teach me that change is not always bad, a list of 10 new things were drawn up for me (and neatly laminated). The intention is that I will slowly try these 10 new things in 2010. Here's the list:
Things To Eat
1. Chai Tea / Chai Latte
Chai - apparently Chai means tea, so Chai Tea is like saying PIN Number or My Cute Ragdolls
I don't drink tea or coffee, so we thought Chai would be a good start. I've actually almost achieved this one already, as in the afternoon I tried a Chai Latte. It may have something to do with the copious amount of sugar - but I really liked it, I'm looking forward to a proper Chai.
2. Sushi
Knitted sushi
I'm not too happy about this one. I've been told I don't have to try the crazy raw-fish sushi, but my main problem with sushi is the seaweed. I really dislike the taste. But who knows, my taste buds may have changed in the last few years so I'll give it a go.
3. Feta
Is feta better? No whey!
I'd really like to enjoy this new thing - as I absolutely love cheese. Cheese is right up there with onion as my co-favourite edible ingredients. I like pretty much every type of cheese I've tried. Some I like more than others - but I've often said that cheese will improve most meals.
My problem with feta is illustrated by the above image. At the deli, the feta is sitting in water. Apparently the water is actually whey, but I just don't enjoy seeing my cheese sitting in a water-like liquid. I think after I try it - I'll quite like feta.
4. Vegetarian
Thankfully it's only for a week
Another one I don't really agree with - I'm going to be vegetarian for most of one week (Monday breakfast to Friday breakfast inclusive). It's supposed to show me that meals aren't necessarily bad without meat - but I assume it will prove the opposite. I predict a lot of canned baked beans during that week.
Things To Do
5. Get more sun
Sunbathing Turtles
It is no secret that I am a very pasty-white individual, most of my family is. Our mixed-basketball team's name of The Clag-Eaters is a reference to this. So one of the list's contributers thought that 10 minutes of sun, three days a week for a month would be a benefit for me.
I predict I'll fry within a week.
6. Take Drum Lessons
I kinda snuck this one in - as I've been wanting to learn the drums for a long time now. Once I sell the house, one of my first purchases will be a drum kit and drum lessons. Surely my countless hours at Rock Band has made me a rock god by now!
7. Overseas Trip
U R Gay [tee hee]
Another one I'm not too upset about - who doesn't want to go on a holiday. The idea behind this one is that I'm not allowed to go to the US or Canada - I need to step outside of my comfort zone. I would like to visit some Asian countries - or maybe Europe. Another one that needs to wait until the house is sold.
Things To Wear
8. Hat
The awesomeness is clear
I've lost around 15 to 20 kilos over the last 6 months - so most of my clothes don't fit me anymore. I've been planning on doing a big shop soon to re-stock my wardrobe, and maybe trying to buy clothes that the young people might call trendy. Part of this effort would include buying a hat that is not a baseball cap. But probably not a knitted mustache hat either.
9. Boxers or Briefs?
Nice!
My little sister bought me a crazy pair of novelty Domo Kun jocks, all brown with Domo's unmistakable mouth in the crotchal region. I thought they were hilarious, but I've worn boxers exclusively since I started high school.
Boxers or Briefs is my attempt to become ambi-jock-drous (i.e. wear either boxers or briefs, as the situation requires).
10. Sandals
Eww!
Thongs disgust me. I do not own a single pair of thongs, and I do not remember ever owning thongs. I may have had some when I was too young to know better - but I hope not. I think it's mainly the rubber thing going between the toes that offends me. And as far as footwear goes, thongs are quite dangerous.
When it gets hot - I still wear my normal shoes which can get uncomfortable. I would not budge on the thong issue - but I did agree to give sandals a try.
Hopefully I'll achieve all 10 new things in 2010 - there shouldn't be too much holding me back. It would be a good result if I found a few extra things I could enjoy in life - but I'm not holding my breath!
# Posted in the General section and tagged as: 10 in '10
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Saturday, January 09, 2010
Party like it's 1999
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 09/01/2010 20:54:37With the most recent New Year ticking us over to the year 2010 - it made me think back to the millennium (hard to believe it was 10 years ago).
This made me remember a pair of Coke bottle I've kept since the year 2000 - pictured below:
Party into 2000 - and beyond!
I had a quick look on the Intertubes and found a site that was selling these bottles for $50 each, although the site is currently "Account Suspended" if you don't view it through the wayback machine.
Thinking I'm sitting on a gold mine here I took some photos and went straight to eBay. During the sale listing process it shows you some similar items, which is where I saw the exact same bottle as mine being sold a few months earlier. For $18.95.
Thinking about it now - I wonder if it's worth going through the hassle of listing, selling, packing and sending of the bottles even if I was going to score $50.
Maybe I'll just wait until 2020.
That's genuine 2000-vintage Coca Cola in that bottle!
# Posted in the General section
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Saturday, January 02, 2010
Literal Music Videos
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 02/01/2010 18:29:43Updated by Joel Dixon at 02/01/2010 18:33:39
The Internet doth provide. Literal Music Videos are classic video clips re-dubbed with more literal lyrics. Here are my favourite examples:
Take on Me
Take on Me: Literal Video Version - watch more funny videos
Total Eclipse of the Heart
# Posted in the General section and tagged as: Funny, Web
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Thursday, December 17, 2009
Green Day - Melbourne, 2009
# Posted by Joel Dixon at 17/12/2009 20:58:41I had never been to a live music show. No concerts, no festivals, no high school recitals. I never had the cash in high school - which is when I wanted to go to The Offspring, The Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, etc. When I started to earn enough money to afford such events, I started to feel like the first concert I went to would need to be worth the wait. So I just never went to anything (stupid, I know).
Green Day postponed their second Melbourne show, which had been planned for Tuesday. I had nothing on Wednesday night - so I thought I'd try to get tickets. Fortunately, someone had just returned their front-row lower seating tickets before I got to the ticket office - and my first concert was planned.
The slightly off-yellow tickets
Jet was the support act - and I was pretty happy to be able to see them live. Cold Hard Bitch sounded great and it was good to hear Look What You've Done again. For some reason about 5 male strippers joined the band for Are You Going To Be My Girl. I guess there was a fair few women in the audience - but it just seemed weird.
This is Jet - just take my word for it
Then, before too much waiting, Green Day took the stage. I really did pick a great act for my first live show. They played for two and a half hours pretty much non-stop. The set list was incredible. They played seven songs from 21st Century Breakdown, a good number from American Idiot, Minority, a few from Nimrod (Hitchin' A Ride was awesome), a few from Insomniac and most of their hits from Dookie. A kid was pulled out of the audience to sing Longview. While it would have been good to hear Billie Joe sing it - it was great to see how happy the kid was to sing with Green Day backing him. He did pretty well too, pacing the stage and pointing to the crowd at times.
It was an amazing show and the 150+ minutes just flew by. It's done two things to me. Made me want to buy a drum kit and graduate from Rock Band, and see many more live acts in 2010. Here's hoping Daft Punk tours again soon. Or Boston decides to visit Australia.
Green Day - A surprisingly good picture - considering it was taken from my phone
# Posted in the General section and tagged as: Music
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Yeah ... Baby! xkcd Parody Donate money for my next stupid run Feta, Sushi and Underwear Pimpy McHat Attack Chai did it! 10 things for 2010 Party like it's 1999 Literal Music Videos Green Day - Melbourne, 2009Feed
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Green Day - Melbourne, 2009
posted 3 months ago by joeldixon
The Offspring is probably the one that I most want to see next - except for maybe Daft Punk. I'm ... link
Green Day - Melbourne, 2009
posted 3 months ago by Brad
Can't believe it took you this long, but as far as first concerts go Green Day would have to be ... link
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posted 3 months ago by joeldixon
Thanks Hitman - the "we stuffed up the distance" article generally takes a few days to be released - so ... link
Great Australian Run - 2009
posted 3 months ago by Hitman
Hey Dixon, I haven't read any articles suggesting otherwise, so I will take you at you word that you ran ... link
I ran a[n eighth of a] marathon today!
posted 5 months ago by joeldixon
I should be fine. I'm sure the 15km will only be around 850 meters, after the measuring errors etc :) link
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