What Is Your Blog Worth?

My blog, Frugal Bastard, is worth $2,258.16.
How much is your blog worth?

And why don't I see any of that value in it?

Gardening To Finish Off The Weekend

I didn't work this Saturday. Instead, I took the boy to his music classes and we did the fruit and veg shopping together. Then we met Miky at Myer before going home for lunch. Off to taekwondo before meeting Miky again to choose some DVDs to watch. We chose Unknown for us and Ice Age 2 for the boy. Not a bad movie and we didn't know anything about it except for the three lines on the back of the DVD packet. Nice way to watch a movie, sometimes. No expectation 'n all. Not a bad movie either. I noticed the lead actor's name, Jim Caviezel, but I couldn't tell you which other movies he's starred in. After the movie had finished we turned over to the TV and Terminator 2 was on. I don't know why but we found ourselves watching it until the early hours. I love the movie though. Any movie with Arnie in it is a good reason to watch.

This morning saw the start of daylight savings. So, after a late night it is easy to imagine that we were slow to get started. Following breakfast and a quick read of the paper Yu-Jin and I went to the driving range at Whaleback Golf Club. He wanted to go to the second storey and, as I had done so before, we did. Very different feeling to be teeing off about 4-5 metres above the ground. I gave the boy a few balls to hit. After that we tried out the putting green and he's quite competitive there followed by the bunker. There is a pitching green and that's probably Yu-Jin's strength. He did quite well on occasion.

Back home I put together some lunch and a water play set. He had the most fun by filling up the lock and then removing the sluice gate to act like a tsunami.

Similar to our play set but we have a crane as well.

Then we went to Bunnings to buy some hedges. A couple of weeks ago we turned the soil out the front and emptied our compost bin contents into it. It was time to plant something and we agreed on a particular hedge that will grow up to three metres tall. My job was to plant it after mixing more compost into the soil. Don't think I've done too bad a job, do you?

Hedge row pre-planting.

Hedge row post-planting.

Tomato Plant

The best plants in the garden are the ones that need no invitation. The wild ones. We use a bit of natural compost around the place so the occasional pumpkin or tomato plant pops up. If they start to grow I generally give them a fair chance at survival.

Next to our downpipe at the back of the house was a small clump of dirt which was placed there after Miky cleaned out the drain beneath the downpipe. The most surprising thing happened - a tomato plant started to grow. And there was bugger all dirt for it to grow in. Me being a bit of a heartless bastard thought that I would humour it by watering it regularly, never thinking that there would be enough nutrients for it to reach maturity. I did it to tease it more than anything else.

Well, grow it did. With the other five wild tomato plants around the garden this one fruited the earliest and we actually ate three tomatoes from it today. And guess what they tasted like? Yes, tomatoes.

Tomato plant.

Not a lot of dirt for this wild tomato to grow in. Or to put a stake in.

Some yummy wild tomatoes.

There's still about five unripe tomatoes hanging off this bush, whereas some of the other plants have 20 or more, so it will live for a bit longer. I'm rather fond of it because it has battled on manfully against the odds. Isn't mother nature wonderful? And it has taught me perhaps anything is possible if you put your mind to it and don't listen to the negative thoughts of others. Well, I didn't give it a chance, did I?

Wacky Number Plates

Are the plates wacky or is it just me?

Corridor of Uncertainty number plate.

I found the first one funny because I read a blog formally known as the Corridor of Uncertainty. It's a cricket blog but it now goes by the name of The Corridor (a cricket blog). Ol' Will Luke has the occasional money raising request but I didn't think that he'd gone to sell number plates.

WATSUPDOC

This number plate was amusing as it was parked next to a doctor's surgery. That hits the funny bone.

Is The West Australian Becoming A More Comprehensive Newspaper?

I have a nickname for the West Australian newspaper. I call it the Worst Australian as there isn't a great deal of depth in much that is reported. Now, The Times, on the other hand, is a fabulously prepared piece of literature.

It was recently reported that Ben Cousins was arrested for possession of prohibited drugs. I was starting to think that you would find more substance in Ben Cousins' car than the West Australian. There was also something mentioned about a scantily clad blonde accompanying him who was found to have traces of cocaine on a $20 note. But the police dropped the charge against Cousins.

Maybe, through no fault of its own, you can now find more substance in the West Australian than in Ben Cousins' car. It doesn't mean that the paper has improved however.

My Wife The Morning Person

My wife decided a few days ago to make a concerted effort to become a morning person. When I leave for work she wants me to wake her up so it's not that she wishes to be an early morning person. This morning, I think the second morning of her new regimen, she said, "Not this morning. Only Thursdays."

And you wonder why I laughed when she told me of her plan a few days prior? I know this girl so I couldn't see it lasting.

Today Is The First Day That...

Today is the first day that my ears have stopped ringing following the Linkin Park Concert last Thursday. Gosh, six days. It certainly was a loud concert. Glad to have the irritating ringing gone I must say.

Tonight I was invited to the opening of Siemens' office in Perth. They had about six offices previously but have now opened one to do the job. It was rather funny that two people I met were from opposition companies, one of which I was unaware of previously. Bit of an awkward moment there especially as I knew neither of them beforehand. Met quite a few people from Siemens which was useful as my contacts within that organisation prior to tonight were in Melbourne. I even had a chat with the managing director and CEO of Siemens Australia and New Zealand. He was rather interested in what I had to say too. Nice to have the ear of someone important in the company. Actually met a couple of people whom I had dealt with on the phone only and so it was very nice to meet in person.

Can't say much for the food. There's only so many servings of leek and mozzarella, salmon and caviar, octopus, lamb and couscous along with delightful chicken and drinks that you can put up with. Who am I trying to kid? The food was wonderful. Just don't tell my wife or she'll be horribly disappointed. All her hard work in getting me learned up and I'm reaping the benefits, not her. Well, she benefits by me having a good job. Good night actually.

Caught In The Act

No, not that sort of act. We have an electric toothbrush. It runs for two minutes then buzzes by turning off, on, off, on, off, on, off and then on again. The young bloke brushes his teeth by himself but doesn't do a particularly good job usually. He's a bit lazy to do it properly. Also, I suspected that he wasn't brushing for the full two minutes but it still did the buzzing to indicate so.

So, the other day I peered through the open bathroom door and saw what he was doing. To my astonishment he turned it off, on, off, on, off, on, and off so that it mimicked the buzzing perfectly. If you didn't see it you couldn't tell the difference. Sly little bugger. Did I tell him off. He protested that, "I've only just known how to do it."
"Bullshit son. You've been doing that for at least a few weeks."

It cost him some of his computer game time. Maybe I shouldn't have told him that when I was a boy if I didn't want to brush my teeth I'd just go to the bathroom and spend enough time as though I had brushed my teeth. We didn't have an electric toothbrush so no-one could tell. Perhaps he's just a chip off the old block.

Half A Million Doesn't Buy You Much These Days

House hunting. Gosh, I think back five years ago when $150k seemed like a lot of money to pay for a modest house. Last weekend we had a bit of free time and had a look at a few places. First one was in slightly sought after Victoria Park. It was only two bedrooms, had terrible fitout (the kitchen cupboards were more for display than function) but it had a large block. Could do something with it but the interior would need to undergo a radical rejuvenation. And so would my mortgage.

Next was a hilltop three bedroom place which appeared to be owned by the real estate agent. It had terrible fireside shelving desperately in need of replacing, no built-in robes and the exterior brick veneer was falling off. Very shabby proposition with a complete makeover of the kitchen and thirty years old wallpaper a necessity. The agent asked me what I thought and I said that, "A D9 would be a good idea." He understood. The asking price was $479k - $499k.

Last place we viewed was in St James, I think. The tenant was still at in residence during the home open, which is not acceptable behaviour, and so all the lights were turned off inside except in the room that he occupied for most of the time. Talk about dark inside. There were also cracks in the walls. The backyard wasn't huge but sizable enough. None of the three bedrooms, one of which was in a sleepout, had closets and once a the bed and a clothes hanger were installed there was very little room in any of them. One visitor took less than a minute to decide that the property was unsuitable before high tailing it out of there. And they were expecting $499k for this dump?

Like I said, you don't get much for half a million dollars these days. How on earth are ordinary working class people still able to afford to buy houses?

Proof That Dickheads Drive Holdens

Interesting news article about a driver who crashed into a convenience store in his car, did a burnout, and left no doubt that he is an idiot by leaving his number plate behind. Definitely a Holden driver.

Linkin Park Rock

Forget your dopey old Iron Maiden shit. Linkin Park ROCK!! They had their first ever concert in Perth last night and I decided to go - if I could buy a ticket. I was half hoping that ticket sales were a bit slow and the ticket price was halved - like it was when I went to Avril Lavigne's concert. Linkin Park is no Avril Lavigne, let me make that clear. They f$%*ing rock. The ticket was still full price but it was worth the money, let me tell you.

Linkin Park Concert Ticket - Perth

Bit of a funny start. Got home from work and checked online if there were any tickets left. Yep but, like I said, full price. Rang Ticketek and was told the same story. I asked Miky if I could go and she said, "If you want to."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"If you really want to." I was thinking that there had to be a catch. She generally wants something in return for me having a good time.

It was only after I purchased the ticket that she mentioned that it counted as my Christmas present. And my birthday present. Miky was cooking some veg and chick pea pancakes for tea so I grabbed the first few and headed off to the train station. Parked the car and as I reached the platform the train pulled in. Couple of blokes in the carriage with me were going to the concert also. We were a little surprised at the speed of the train before realising, too late, that we were on the express and it wasn't stopping at our stop. Jumped off at the next stop and changed trains. Luckily the first train, one that we waited only a minute for, was going to our intended destination.

Collected my tickets from the box office at the Burswood Dome. Found my entrance door and went to my seat. Checked out the merchandise and thought that $45 for a t-shirt was a bit much. They'd need to put on a good show to justify that sort of price.

The support act, Chris Cornell and band, appeared on stage bang on 7:30. He belted out some very recognisable tunes from his days in Soundgarden and Audioslave. The crowd quite enjoyed his performance but were eager for Linkin Park to arrive on stage. Bang on 8:30 he finished and I think the loud cheer that accompanied this moment was more to do with Linkin Park's impending arrival than anything else.

The stage was then covered in curtains and the set was changed behind. Thirty five minutes after Chris Cornell exited the stage then Linkin Park exploded on that stage. They started off with No More Sorrow with flashing lights and the curtain remained throughout the opening until the singing started. Phenomenal start and they just got better as the night went on. The new album songs were well received but the crowd went off when songs from Hybrid Theory and Meteora were belted out.

The crowd was quite amazing. They sang all the songs with gusto and at times could be heard very clearly. It was a fabulous atmosphere.

After an hour and ten minutes they left the stage. The lights stayed off. Almost nobody left. The crowd started chanting for them to come back. Five minutes later and their wish was granted. They came back for an encore of five songs. All up an hour an a half of one of the best rock bands in the world. But that's my humble opinion.

On the way out I visited the merchandise shop again, just to see if there were any specials, but not a lot was left. I decided to get a Fan Pack with a shirt and a few other things but they had sold out. Just before getting on the train there were some blokes selling shirts for $20. Obviously bootleg but at half the price I could buy one for the boy as well. He was a bit upset that I didn't take him but for over $100 for a ticket I couldn't justify it. Especially on a school night. I'll take him next time though. For sure. Mark my words.

Funnily enough I went to bed a few Minutes to Midnight. Bit of a late one but my work is flexible. Still managed to catch the usual bus though. My ears have been ringing all day and it has been difficult to hear what has been said on the phone at times.

Strange Feeling In The Blog World

Yesterday was a bit weird. For the first time I met somewhere that I have only contacted through my blog. She was a university student looking for Korean lessons and my wife offered to teach her. So, she came around for a lesson, my wife set up the meeting place not me, and that was that. It was really strange as I haven't met anyone in this fashion previously. I would like to attend a bloggers' convention one day and meet a few fellow bloggers, especially the locals.

What Use Are Flying Ants?

You may have asked yourself the question, "What good are flying ants?" I've pondered that from time to time. Well, they are great for keeping juniors entertained. Give the a jar and a water pistol and they'll shoot them down and collect them. The boy had his best friend stay over on Saturday night seeing as the holidays were ending. Miky went out for a birthday party that night, but not before making yummy hamburgers, so we had a nice tea together. The boys actually wanted to have a bath together and that kept them busy for at least half an hour.

That night the boys went to bed late and by about 5:30 they were up and playing Monopoly. Strange thing to do for that time of the morning.

Next day we went to Emma's Seafood Restaurant. It's a Chinese place in Vic Park and they serve quite nice dim sum. Every two minutes a trolley goes past and they offer more food. We had fried squid, dumplings, sardines, scallops and a few other food items that I probably don't want to know the name of. But it was quite tasty food. Only problem was you had no idea how much each item cost. Great lunch though and I'd definitely go back.

After lunch the boy and I went to the pool and had a good time. We met up with some people from taekwondo and Yu-Jin mucked around with the kids for a good 45 minutes. Nice way to spend the afternoon.

Subway - Eat Fresh

Hang your head in shame, collectively that is, Subway. I visited the Subiaco store today after working longer than usual and had to do the fruit and vege shopping before coming home. While I was waiting to order I noticed a lot of midges hanging around the bread. You know, the insects that appear out of nowhere when you leave food scraps around for a couple of days. This was rather shocking.

I asked the girl serving me, "Did you see the insects on the bread?"
She replied, "I'm not so sure about that. They just fly away."

Dumbfounded is a good way of describing how I felt. With a good mind to just walk out of the store whilst my sandwich was being made I decided that as mine was going to be toasted that would get rid of the blighters anyway.

The fact that the shop assistant, or sandwich expert if you wish to call them that, couldn't have cared less made me feel incredulous. I'd loved to have been a health inspector right then and there. Did I mention previously that every time I went to Subway they had new people. Obviously we are down to the dregs of the workforce, the people that just couldn't give a bugger.

Subway. Eat Fresh? Eat elsewhere, I think, if you want fresh.

Telemarketer Call - Most Amusing Ever

At least half of the phone calls that we receive on our land line are from telemarketers. This afternoon the phone rang and the boy answered it. After he had said "Hello" about four times I grabbed the phone and said "Hello". There was no answer although I could hear a slight echo so it sounded like an international or perhaps Internet call.

So, like any sane individual, I burped. The person on the other end of the phone, who up until this time had said nothing, burped. I burped again. He burped again. I burped quite loudly. He burped quite loudly. I belched extremely loudly (it's one of my talents) and he was no match. This continued for a good half minute. I wanted to know who it was and asked so. The response I got was, "Hello, Mr Mark?" So I hung up.

The phone rang almost straight away. The boy answered it and the guy, Rocky from Dodo, wanted to talk to Mr Mark. I told the boy to tell him that I wasn't here. Before Yu-Jin hung up Rocky said, "Your dad does very good burps."

Even Miky was laughing quite hard whilst all this was going on. I'm sick of telemarketers and thought it was a better way to attack them rather than whistling or screaming. I haven't laughed so much in ages. And to think that my first thought was Yu-Jin's friend had called because he was coming over to stay the night a little bit later.

Carlton Football Club Theme Song - Revamped by Frugal Bastard

We are the chequebook Blues
Next year we'll win more games than two
We're the team that won the wooden spoon
Buying our way back is all Carlton knows
We buy the champions for seven million
We'll take Chris Judd please

And West Coast will get bugger all
From the hard dealing chequebook Blues

******************************************************

Carlton Football Club has a history of buying champions and buying premierships. And they've done it again with a "trade" which netted them Chris Judd, a former Brownlow medallist. You have to bear in mind that the AFL clubs have a salary cap of $A7 million/season to cover 38 players and Judd will be taking home 20% of that himself in 2008 at Carlton.

******************************************************

The Original Carlton Football Club Theme Song

We are the Navy Blues,
We are the old dark Navy Blues,
We’re the team that never lets you down,
We’re the only team old Carlton knows,
With all the champions they like to send us,
We’ll keep our end up.

And they will know that they’ve been playing
Against the famous old dark Blues

New Twist On The Birds And The Bees

I'm dreading the time that my son asks me about the birds and the bees. I mean, he's still too young to be concerned about that. But he has mentioned that he knows what sex is and he even explained what being gay is. He's got a good source of information at school it appears. But he threw a question at me last night that I wasn't prepared for.
"Dad, how do you stop having babies when you are married?"
Well, I didn't wish to explain contraception or even say that you stop having sex therefore I replied with "Stop kissing." He accepted that. I think that it was a reasonable answer at this stage in life. There is some truth to that statement, isn't there?

Diary Of A Snail Killer

I mentioned on Monday that I'd killed 37 snails on my walk to the bus stop on the way to work. I'm afraid to report that, although overnight/morning rain had taken place the conditions for killing snails was not as conducive on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday's tally was 10 snails, two millipedes and two slugs. This morning I could only manage two snails.

I'm disappointed in my efforts but perhaps my eradication program is all too effective. The tally could have been increased but I didn't feel the need to stomp on snails that were already climbing walls, just the ones on or near the footpath got my attention.

I Love Mornings Following Early Showers

Spring is such a beautiful time of year. The mornings can be quite sunny and warm with lovely days to follow. This morning was quite nice because it had rained overnight and just cleared before I left the house for work. The sun was out and so were the snails. I did my bit for the environment and killed thirty seven of them on the way to the bus stop. They may have been your common garden variety and not some mammoth African variety but who cares? There's thirty seven of the little buggers that won't be munching on my garden.

What intrigues me is the fact that at least half of them were making their way towards grassed/green areas from the road. Where exactly did they come from? It's not that you see snails sleeping in the gutter and they sure as hell didn't cross the road. So, where were they hiding?

Ford - King Of The Mountain

The Bathurst 1000 was on yesterday and what a great finish it was - Ford one, two and three. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Holden.



It was an ordinary sort of race for 149 of the 161 laps of Mt Panorama. That was until the rain came and almost nobody changed to wets because it wasn't very heavy. Then they started crashing all over the place. Oh, wasn't it nice to see Mark Skaife put it into the wall? I admire him as a great driver of V8 Supercars but he drives a Holden and so I hate him. He's just that good. Nice to see Greg Murphy, a Kiwi (and a damn fine, niggling driver), finish in fourth, the first of the Holdens, and miss out on a podium finish.

Ford won the race last year but it was special this year as they outdrove the Holdens.

The Wallabies Have A New Addition To The Uniform

Following the Wallabies disgraceful loss to England on Saturday night at the 2007 Rugby Union World Cup I have decided that they need an addition to the uniform - a choker.

Wallabies Choker

On further investigation it appears that the New Zealand All Blacks have taken out a patent on the idea following another abysmal showing at the World Cup and so it won't be added to the Australian guernsey.

So You Think You Can Dance

We watch the show So You Think You Can Dance - don't click the link if you don't wish to know this season's winner. It's quite entertaining and there are so excellent dancers in this third series.

I quite like the different styles of dance like hip-hop, Bboyin (doesn't anybody breakdance any more?), krumping, and even sometimes, though very rarely, contemporary.

What the show doesn't require is:
Schuhplattler (in lederhosen)
Line dancing
Boot scooting
Barn dancing

If I were to suggest some challenging new styles they would be:
Pole dancing
Striptease
Ryouko - a mixture of dance and martial arts. These guys are brilliant.

I Hate Yappy Dogs

Yappy dogs annoy me. And so do their owners. How on earth do you put up with a dog that barks it's head off when someone comes anywhere near it? The slightest thing will set it off. There is one particular dog that I pass on my way to work. Until it became light at that time of the morning the dog didn't get excited by my presence. Now is a different story. I've got a good mind to walk past the house a few times as soon as it is light so that he annoys the heck out of his owners. And I have heard them yell at him to be quiet. I am a bit of a vindictive sod at times.

The dog in question is some sort of poodle. I especially hate poodles. Women thinking that they are smarter than you is bad enough, along with cats having the same idea, but a small curly-haired dog? C'mon, really?

On another note we were searching online for a dog if one was available from a dog pound and stumbled across a beagle X. Gave the lady a call after discovering that she still had him and talked about it. She'll send some photos and we'll decide if it's worth having a look. The dog appears to be a mixture of beagle and german shepherd. Miky only wants a purebred. Let me know if you hear of a any (local) beagles.

Firstly, I should make mention that the following is not my own work and was sent to me by email. But, once you start reading it and notice that it's very funny and well done you'll realise that I wasn't responsible for it anyway.

Port Adelaide Supporter Jokes

Q. Two Port Adelaide supporters jump off a cliff. Who wins?
A. Society.

Q. What does a Port Adelaide supporter use as protection during sex?
A. Bus shelter.

Q. What does a Port Adelaide supporter use as a contraceptive?
A. His personality.

Q. What do you call a 30 year old female Port Adelaide supporter?
A. Granny.

Q. What do you call a Port Adelaide supporter in a suit?
A. The defendant.

Q. Why did the Port Adelaide supporter cross the road?
A. To start a fight with a complete stranger, for no reason what so ever.

Q. What do you call a female Port Adelaide supporter in a white tracksuit?
A. The bride.

Q. If you are driving and you see a Port Adelaide supporter on a bike, why should you try not to hit him?
A. It might be your bike.

Q. What's the first question during a Port Adelaide supporter quiz night?
A. What you looking at?

Q. Two Port Adelaide supporters in a car without any music - who is driving?
A. The policeman!

Q. Why is three Port Adelaide supporters going over a cliff in Lexus a shame?
A. Because a Lexus has four seats.

Q. What do you say to a Port Adelaide supporter with a job?
A. “Big Mac please.”

BUT WAIT - THERE'S MORE....

You know you're a Port Adelaide supporter when:

1. A Halloween pumpkin has more teeth than your wife does.
2. You let your twelve-year-old daughter smoke at the dinner table in front of her kids.
3. You've been married three times and still have the same in-laws.
4. Jack Daniel's makes your list of 'most admired people.'
5. You wonder how service stations keep their restrooms so clean.
6. Someone in your family once died right after saying: 'Hey, watch this.'
7. You think Dom Perignon is a Mafia leader.
8. A ceiling fan once ruined your wife's hairdo.
9. You think the last words of Advance Australia Fair are: 'Carn the Maggies.'
10. You lit a match in the bathroom and your house exploded, right off its wheels.
11. The market value of your car goes up and down, depending on how much petrol is in it.
12. You have to go outside to get something from the fridge.
13. One of your kids was born on a pool table.
14. You can't get married to your sweetheart because there's a law against it.
15. You think 'loaded dishwasher' means your wife is drunk.
16. Your toilet paper has page numbers on it.
17. Your front verandah collapses and kills more than five dogs.

Yellow Sign For Britney Spears' Car

You know those annoying little yellow signs that you see on cars?

BABY ON BOARD
BEWARE - THIS CAR FARTS
0-60 IN 15 MINUTES

Well, I saw one that would go well on Britney Spears' vehicle:

CAUTION
CHILD IN MY HANDS

CAUTION - CHILD IN MY HANDS

OK, it would have been suitable until a few days ago and the custody decision. She'll have to get rid of the "BABY ON BOARD" yellow sign as well.

Britney no longer needs one of these signs.

Fancy being instructed by a judge that you must not drink alcohol or take prohibited substances for 12 hours prior to taking custody of her children and not being allowed to administer corporal punishment either. Doesn't that sound like advice that a decent parent would have passed on?

Perth Royal Show

The Perth Royal Show is currently on. It's where you take your kids to pay a huge entry fee, pay over and above to go on rides, get ripped off at sideshow alley, pay double for junk food and pay showbags full of cheap rubbish. But you have fun doing it.

I worked in the morning and took the afternoon off so that the boy and I could go to the show. It only happens once a year and as a kid you need to go. Miky didn't want to go as she went last year. I rang Yu-Jin's best friend but he went yesterday. I called another friend but he had too much housework to do and sounded very tired. Oh well, just the two of us. I hate the fact that a family ticket only kicks in at two adults and two children.

The boy is a slow eater and took forever to finish his lunch. We missed a train by two minutes and then had to wait another 10 minutes. When we finally arrived at the show they were finishing the Freestyle Air Raiders, a motorbike stunt show, and that was the first item on my list to watch. Bugger.

We watched a bit of Horse Power - 25 riders with flags, whips and sparklers before heading over the wood chopping. After seeing two events we went to the rides area.

Wood Chopping 225mm Standing Block at Perth Royal Show 2007

This guy can chop wood and swing an axe!

Wood Chopping 300mm Underhand Championship Perth Royal Show 2007

This old bloke is fairly handy too but he finished 3rd.

First was Splash Down where we got soaked as it is a boat going around a circuit with two waterslides. Wasn't too bad but $9 each?! Just next to Splash Down were some clowns so Yu-Jin had a go. He only won some cheap plastic cars so wasn't too enthused by that. Then we had a go on the dodgem cars - only because the boy wasn't tall enough for the roller coaster because I definitely would have gone on that ride. Dodgems were quite fun. Other side of the way was Arabian Camel Race where you popped balls in holes to score points and make your camel move forward. You compete against 15 other competitors and the winner gets a large plush toy. Yu-Jin started with three points and his camel didn't move at all. That left a bad taste in my mouth - roguing, cheating bastards with sub-standard machinery.

Went for a wander and came across Power Surge - a gut-churning ride. I could feel my lunch moving around and the boy said that he felt that he was going to vomit. I'm glad he didn't. Other than that he did enjoy the ride although had no plans to do it again.

We went on the lookout for showbags. The pavilion containing knitting and weaving held no interest for the boy, can't understand why, so we didn't waste too much time in there. Showbags galore and we looked for the biggest one with the most guns. Took a while to find it but was the boy excited or what.

Decided that it was time to leave and on the way out visited the Scouts display and that of the Police. Both exhibitions were quite good.

A good afternoon actually. The boy enjoyed it and will certainly remember it, which is the main thing.

Red Belt And The Bourne Ultimatum

The boy had a taekwondo grading yesterday. He was a bit nervous about it but did quite a bit of practice beforehand. Unfortunately he didn't do very well as he forgot one of his patterns, taegeuk 6, and struggled to do the spinning kicks. He did just enough to pass however and is now a red belt - 3rd geup.

After doing the housework and having an early tea we went to the cinema in the city to watch The Bourne Ultimatum. What a brilliant movie. The hand-to-hand combat, rooftop running and car chase were excellent. And the storyline was quite cleverly done too. We all thought it was a great movie. I was a bit wary of the 1.4 second average length of scene but it was done quite well. Check it out if you haven't already done so.