I'm tired.

J keeps getting bigger.

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 05:22:05 GMT

Today, she went to a nearby shop and bought bread. All by herself! Where does the time go?

In other terribly exciting news, we went to a church book sale and I picked up a hardcover copy of Shogun (volumes 1 and 2) and a "best of the year" collection of science fiction stories for five bucks. Huzzah!

Zombies have shuffled once again...

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:08:59 GMT

Dark Zombie..., originally uploaded by tomfhaines.

I love this shot. Although it makes it look a lot more sinister than a zombie shuffle should look.

Jordan was wonderful as the little goth girl that had a pet zombie. Many people complimented us on our costume choice and the fact that J stayed in character the whole time.

As you can see, some people were somewhat bemused by our costumes.

More later, if anybody asks for it.

Happy Birthday!

Wed, 14 May 2008 11:13:10 GMT

Happy Birthday!, originally uploaded by tomfhaines.

More photos are available on my flickr page. If you need to be on my "friends and family" list, email me at tomfhaines@gmail.com and I'll send you the link.

Sun, 11 May 2008 13:18:47 GMT

Looks like somebody is organising another zombie walk in Melbourne!

Date: Saturday, June 14, 2008
Time: 12:30pm - 3:30pm
Location: Carlton Gardens and beyond
Street: Cnr Rathdowne & Victoria
City/Town: Melbourne, Australia

Looks like we'll be following the 2006 route.
Facebook event can be found at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=16984977655

Bit windy?

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:53:58 GMT

Bit windy?, originally uploaded by tomfhaines.

Yesterday, Lauren and I came home to find that the gale force winds had decided to stack our trampoline up against the clothesline.

Bit wet?

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:52:11 GMT

Bit wet?, originally uploaded by tomfhaines.

It was a touch wet a few weeks ago. The storm water system in Preston once again displayed it's excellence at moving water by moving it all to the corner of Victoria St and Dundas St.

Huzzah!

Daft Punk Silliness...

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:10:23 GMT

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.

A CAPPELLA!

Oh CRAP!

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:07:25 GMT

While I was at work, the car got broken into. An amp, the microphone headset and all of Lauren's dance stuff was stolen.

I have to say, I'm feeling pretty low right now. Any attempts to cheer me up would be greatly appreciated.

*le sigh*

Die, Gummy Bear! Die!

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 06:33:20 GMT

Title says it all really.

Scooter!

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:12:16 GMT

Scooter!, originally uploaded by tomfhaines.

Lauren got her scooter yesterday. She's now a mobile woman and doesn't need people to drive her somewhere if it's further than walking distance. Yay!

Royal Melbourne Zoo

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:09:10 GMT

Royal Melbourne Zoo - Native animal banner - 0190, originally uploaded by racka_roadrunner.

Carmen, Lauren, Zach, Sue and I went off to the zoo today. Zach was slightly overexcited, but behaved fairly well for most of the day. Photos will be coming (when I head back to work again) but for the moment, I've borrowed this Creative Commons licensed photo from racka_roadrunner.

We were there for about five hours, and everyone was flagging at the end. Still, much fun was had and many animals were spotted.

Hoppy New Beer!

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:34:51 GMT

Wishing everyone who reads this (all two of you), a Happy New Year!
New Years Eve was spent at Claire's place in the city. We had a few drinks, taught Claire how to play drinking Checkers and watched the fireworks. An enjoyable evening all round. Pics will come when I'm back at work and can retrieve assorted photos from my phone.

On a slightly disturbing note, I went to the supermarket today and saw packages of hot cross buns. Easter is nearly three months away, so I think that they're jumping the gun a little.

Melbourne Cup Zombie Day

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 02:43:30 GMT

The zombie walk held on Melbourne Cup day was a great success and fun was had by all. Lauren and I stayed up late trying to create a reasonable fake blood. In the end, we went with a mix of water, cornflour, cocoa and red food dye.

In the morning, Lauren zombified me with a combination of liquid latex, fake blood and talcum powder. Then I drove off to Carlton Gardens to meet all the other zombies. I had no idea how many people would show up and was worried that there would only be about a dozen of us.

As I walked through the gardens, heading for the meeting point, I saw the young lady pictured (sans blood) and she asked where the zombies were meeting. We wandered towards the meeting point together and found half a dozen zombies getting ready. At this point I was slightly concerned because it was now midday (which is when the walk was supposed to start) and there weren't many zombies about at all!

We hung around for about 45 minutes and during that time our ranks swelled to about 100. After a quick poll of the zombies to see if anyone was waiting for friends to arrive we headed off. After determining that we weren't waiting for anyone else we gave a cry of "BRAINS!" and wandered across Victoria Street. We got some very odd looks from the people in their cars, as well as a couple of thumbs up.

We went past a corrugated iron fence, and the zombie mob decided to bang on the fence as they went past. A guy on the other side yelled "Stop banging on my bloody fence!" and popped his head up to see who was making such a racket. I think he was rather surprised to see the large mob of zombies shuffling past. As soon as his head came into sight, the zombies clustered around with cries of "BRAINS!". I tried to get a shot of this, but just as my camera was ready, the man jumped back down behind the relative safety of his fence.

After the fence was a driveway with a large chain to block access when not in use. One zombie took it upon himself to be a chained up zombie, snarling at everyone walking past.

From there we headed down to Swanson Street, although I paused to indicate that the public toilets were now zombie-friendly. It was at around this point that my camera fell out of my pocket and hit the ground.

Shit.

Luckily, the only thing that was broken was a little latch that held the battery case closed.

*Phew!*
We milled around on the lawn outside the State Library for a while, then continued on to Federation Square. Along the way, some poor bugger, dressed up as a giant Boost Juice drink with the slogan "love life" was handing out vouchers. Unable to resist, many zombies crowded around the mascot.

Some other zombies tried to get on one of the many shopping tour buses that were parked nearby. For some reason, the organisers of the shopping tour weren't too keen and asked them to get off again.
We reached Flinders St Station, where there were four people standing around in "Free Hugs" t-shirts. Many zombies got given a hug and the t-shirts became slightly bloodstained. I offered to share my ziplock bag full of blood with any "normal" people that would stand still for long enough, but very few people took me up on the offer. My standard tactic was to hold out the bag, ask "Share?", then after they decline say "Look! Yum!" and dip my fingers in it and dribble it into my mouth. This really disturbed quite a few people. I don't know if they thought it was real blood or if it just looked icky.

We left the station and crossed the road to Federation Square. Zombies posed for photos, some for fellow zombies, others for tourists. Then the zombie shuffle broke up and we went our seperate ways. I headed off with a few zombies to get something to eat at The Lounge. An old guy sitting at a shoe shine booth saw us walking down the street and started yelling "Dracul! Dracul!". I didn't think it would do him any good if we went back and explained "No, no, it's okay. We're zombies, not vampires".

Claire.

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:16:22 GMT

Claire.... if you're reading this then you need to stop slacking and get back to work right now. :-p~~~

Portal : the flash game

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:27:15 GMT

Portal reimagined as a flash game. Play it at http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/404612 . Play it now. 'tis good.

3000 views and counting!

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 23:45:51 GMT

Busy day at the park., originally uploaded by tomfhaines.

My flickr account has now reached 3000 views! Huzzah once again for meaningless statistics.

Facebook?

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:13:28 GMT

I have surrendered to the pressure and gotten myself a facebook account. I can see this sucking up vast amounts of time in the near future....

Giggly fairies

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 11:48:21 GMT

Giggly fairies, originally uploaded by tomfhaines.

I don't know what it is about these two little fairies. But they look like they are about to cause an enormous amount of mischief.

It's a girl!

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 00:30:44 GMT

Auntie Sara?, originally uploaded by tomfhaines.

Sophie Alexandra was born at 4:45 this morning. Mum and Bub are doing well, but both very tired. I think she was a bit over 4 kilos, but don't quote me on the weight. Photos will be posted on flickr (either my account or Sara's) in a little bit.

Sara belly 37 weeks

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 06:49:32 GMT

Sara belly 37 weeks, originally uploaded by sara2722002.

This was Sara a few weeks ago. From the way things are going, it's looking likely that Sara will be induced in the next 24 hours or so. So I'll have a new nephew or niece by the end of the week. Huzzah for little bubby cuddles!

My Humps...

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:17:24 GMT

As sung by Alanis Morissette

The Victorian Slap Game...

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 05:40:28 GMT

What the heck?!?!?!

http://nigoro.jp/game/rosecamellia/rosecamellia.php

Words can not explain this. It must be experienced.

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 10:40:11 GMT

Lauren and I as Simpsons characters. Done on http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html?cid=en

Scienceworks!

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 11:33:46 GMT

Sundial at Scienceworks, originally uploaded by Rachel Holkner.

On Sunday, the whole family packed up and headed down to Scienceworks for the day. We didn't bring the camera, so I've borrowed this pic from Rachel Holkner (a fellow Zombie Shuffler!).

It was quite a busy day with visits to the planetarium, the lightning room and Strike a Chord (a music exhibition). It was tiring trying to keep all three peskies together, as they had a tendency to wander off to look at different exhibits. But an enjoyable time none the less.

Hurrah once again for museum membership, which allows us to visit places like Scienceworks for free.

Hurrah!

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:50:44 GMT

More random crap from around the internet...
The Amityville Toaster!

If the embed thingie doesn't work, have a look at http://www.illwillpress.com/toast.html