I would give her a hug and tell her, that yes - it really was going to be okay. As for the advice - "left foot, right foot" and "it will be okay in the end - if it is not okay then it is not the end."

Rachel Goldstein from Water Rats - a now defunct Aussie cop drama. She is the right mix of sass and smarts. Also a nod to Perry Mason's secretary Della Street, who always appeared to be helping him solve the case.

A small moment from a day at the Magic Kingdom with Bogie and I.

Scene: Tomorrowland

Location: Monorail type thing making laps above Tomorrowland. The monorail has just gone through the dark tunnels of Space Mountain. A child begins to sob and howl inconsolably a couple of carriages behind us.

Monorail emerges into the light and Cinderella's Castle is in the distance.

Child: Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Adult male parent/guardian type person: Look! Look! It's Cinderella's castle!

Child: Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

(Cinderella's Castle gets a little closer)

Adult male parent/guardian type person: What an EXCELLENT view of Cinderella's Castle! Look! It's Cinderella's Castle!

(At this point gentle readers, it should be noted Bogie and I become equal parts confused and amused at this man's almost too enthusiastic embrace of Cinderella's Castle. Who knew?)

Adult decides to get smart and try a little reverse psychology.

Adult male parent/guardian type person: Do you want to go back to the hotel room?

Child (still sobbing): Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssss!

This has to be shared.

If anyone can point me towards a copy of the Farnarkling Song from the Gillies Report it would be appreciated.

Meanwhile, enjoy political satire at its finest .....

more cat pictures

This year the run into Mother's Day has been a little easier for me.

Admittedly I am still exercising some rather selective vision about where I actually look in department stores (we all know Mothers Day is coming up people - I don't need a sign every three paces!). It is getting better though.

A part of that making things better involved a spur of the moment decision at work yesterday afternoon. I logged into the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation site and made a donation.

While ovarian cancer claimed my Mum, hopefully a donation or five from people will mean more Mums getting a chance to have a few more Mother's Days with their kids and grandkids.

PS - I have got the radio on at the moment. In one of those little moments I have often written about here, one of Mum's favourite songs just came on.

The world has strange ways of reminding us how much originality needs to be appreciated.

( Read more )

Having a slight mother hen moment here - found this and thought it a reasonable party season reminder about drink driving. No point in spending the holidays going to a mate's funeral or visiting them in hospital. Or for that matter, not being around yourself to see what really does happen in 2008.

I'm having a slight Crusader Rabbit moment here folks, so bear with me ...

To Aussie marathon runner Kerryn McCann who has made news of her breast cancer diagnosis public tonight - fight on my dear. Again the nation is behind you.

While on the topic of cancer, much love for Daffodil Day and its fundraising efforts for all types of cancer. While I love the work done by the pink ribbon charities for raising awareness of breast cancer - more should be done to highlight all varieties of this complete and utter horror of a disease.

Which then brings me to the editorial note in this week's WHO Magazine and highlighting Witchery's fundraising diary for ovarian cancer research.

The hope of the research is for an early diagnostic test, along the lines of how a pap smear works for cervical cancer.

To this I say yes please! Because by the time many ovarian cancers are detected they have all the stopping distance of a Mack truck with no brakes on a steep slope in driving rain.

Yoinked from Freyasheart

You Are Storm

Exotic and powerful, Storm descended from a line of African priestesses. Emotions can effect your powers, but you are generally serene. Powers: controlling weather, creating winds that lift you into flight, generating lightning

Your Sexy Boots Are

Lumiani Paula

My shoe devil could not resist. I have no idea who in the name of mink Lumiani Paula is but he/she/they appear to do a good looking boot.

Greetings, you have entered the rant zone. As my reading audience has now been suitably warned, I shall begin.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)in Australia is a wonderful, wonderful thing meaning many medicines that do an awful lot of good for so many people are placed in easy financial reach.

However, what of newer drugs that are equally beneficial to those who need them? It seems they are being put through more hoops than a performing seal by those who decide what does or does not make the PBS list. Before people start flaming me with qualms about letting any old thing into the health system, I openly accept the need to be stringent in matters of public health for the best interests of the wider community. This is something I am fine with.

In the meantime, these products remain at the pricier end of the scale where those who use them pay the higher price, claim whatever they can from their health fund and keep telling themselves the benefits are worth it.

Yet in the middle of all this, you wonder how many more people could benefit from these newer drugs if they were listed on the PBS and placing them within easier reach?

In hitting the Net to find out what a particular medication has to prove to have itself placed on PBS - I find whatever is there is written in language you would have to have a medical degree to understand. Which I don't.

So, Federal health authorities please take note - while we love you for trying to explain why something remains NOT on PBS - can you put it into language the people who are using the medication might actually have a hope in Hades of understanding without the need for a medical dictionary by their computer?

Either that, or speed up the PBS process a little. Please? Pretty please?

You are now leaving the rant zone. Thank you for flying Sonbon Rantways, please leave your tray tables in an upright position and observe the star signs on your way out.

With all due respect to Nancy Sinatra, I think the shoe gods were trying to tell me something today. Wearing a pair of kitten heeled mules for work the right one managed to get seriously stuck in every paving gap or divide in the footpath it could find.

I am not talking about catching my heel on these objects and then me stumbling in a less than graceful manner. It was full on shoe wedged into the footpath, wrenching itself off my foot and leaving me hobbling down the road, swearing like a champion.

Then in moves that would do pro-wrestlers proud, one has to remove the offending object from the footpath, much to the amusement of those walking past.

Tomorrow, it's a pair of thongs.

PS - That is flip-flops for international readers as I realise thong has a different meaning outside the land of Oz....

After much gentle prompting, it was suggested I get a LJ. So here I am...don't expect regular updates in my little world but more of my view of whatever takes my fancy.