Japan invaded by redbacks

If only the mark was a spot instead of a red arrow then they would be acceptable. I'll swap places with the redback spiders.

Australia vs the sheep

I borrowed a few DVD's last Wednesday for the household to watch. The selection included Australia and Black Sheep. An Australian movie vs a New Zealand movie. I chose the Kiwi.

I did see the end of Australia. Such a self-consciously epic film that I couldn't stomach it. Watching mutant sheep bite the arms and rip the guts out of people was much more palatable. Did Australia ever have the immortal lines "You f_cker!" "Actually it was a sperm sample." "You wanker!"? I don't think so.

The Australian film industry is usually so absorbed with films about miserable people or trying to define the Australian stereotype that I am put off watching most local movies. Imagine how much better many of those films would have been had Peter Jackson directed them (with the help of his special effects team). Certainly would have been more huge battle scenes. And if we could all 10 of the local film actors scanned and computerised then we would save loads reusing them in each movie (which pretty much happends now). Could the CGI Bill Hunter or Nicole Kidman be any worse than the real thing?

First words

It's a debate whether Alex's first words are "Wow!" or "Yum!". I suggest the latter. He loves his food.

Alex is one!

Alex turned one year old today. What an amazing first year it's been. He's done an incredible number of things in that time:

1. Was born
2. Started crawling
   
3. Visited Japan, Malaysia and Singapore and been on a short road trips around the south of NSW and Canberra
4. Taken nine flights, including two on the A380
5. Caught numerous trains, including the super fast Shinkansen
6. Ate durian
   
7. Started swimming lessons
8. Attended a wedding and a funeral
9. Watched a movie at the cinema (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince)
10. Attended a science conference

Last Saturday we held a party for him. I decorated his cake as an aircraft. Today, on his actual birthday, I took him in to visit him Mum at work then to see Sydney Aquarium. Alex seemed to enjoy it, saying "wow!" when he woke up in the shark viewing area.

He's a determined and confident child and an absolute delight. He is worth all the sleepless nights as he has brought such joy into the household. Happy Birthday Alex!