Happy Ball-Drop Day

Another year older, another year fatter and another ball drop on the good people of New York.

Something Ive also just realised is that its the last year I'm single! Am I Worried? No, Cold Feet? No, just quite odd thing to ponder. Maybe it seemed further away as we weren't in 09 yet but its starting to set in now that we've almost rounded that marker.

I suppose only the married folk out there can know what I mean but the best way I can describe it is a feeling of a looming, unstoppable, monumental upcoming event that we need to organise and so many people are relying on it to run (more or less) like clockwork. Its not that I don't want everything to go ahead or that I'm not super excited, its just that my natural, worrywart, stresshead, human instinct is to fixate on the hassle hurdles and concern over unbooked stuff instead of stepping back and remembering that its supposed to be enjoyable and fun!

An interesting feature of today is that it will be 24hrs and 1 second long to allow for the slowing of the earths rotation. Wont bore you any more with further details but tonight, start your 10 second count-down from 11 ok!

Anyway hope you all have a fabulous evening tonight and trust you all have your transport already organised. Big shout out to Blair in the UK, hope you don't get another 2L coke bottle cannoned into your guts this year mate......still....it was pretty funny for us : )

Happy New Year All and Big Balls.....

3D Outlet Plates

Bored of your power points? Wall switches just not cutting it anymore? House not quite nerdy enough? Too many friends?

Look no further than these concept 3D outlet covers that play with your grey matter and make it look like your switch is out-standing. Thus far they have only been created for the US but something as pointless and as cheap as $8 will probably spread like the pet rock, the invisible dog lead or the unforgettable Antenna Ball.

I know what you're thinking, "Why not just get an actual spacer from any high street retailer for half the cost?" well you silly sausage, it wouldn't be an illusion then would it!?!

So if your power points have no spark or your switches aren't lighting your life anymore, pimp their rides with Cubic Switchplates!

Wind-Up Universal Remote

The return of squidring.com brings the return of the bizarre gadget reviews and what's better to start with than an upgrade to something we all use everyday, the humble remote.

Universal remotes have been around for eons and if anyone has been around to my place you will have seen that I have succumbed to their greatness with a Logitech Harmony 785 (thanks Todd!) which takes universal to the next level by creating 'Activities'. An Activity is a set or string of commands that the remote will send out with 1 button press like, Watch DVD, Watch TV, All Off etc. All you do it hit the button, make sure the remote is pointed at the general area and it will turn on/off each device, set them to the correct input, switch to widescreen, pretty much anything you like. It also claims to be able to control anything that comes with a remote so now that remote control lighting systems, air conditioners, blinds etc are becoming more popular, your handheld friend will soon be able to control the house.

Back on topic, this remote from EZ Power solves the battery issue for good. The manufacturer claims that with 30 turns, it fully recharges the internal battery which should last around a week. Sounds good to me, as long as it has some in reserve to quickly flick channels when the next rerun of 2 1/2 Men comes on!

It can control up to 6 devices which is around average and it looks like it has all the basic buttons for each device covered......and then some. On your doorstep for around 25 quid it easily competes with other uni's out there so definitely worth considering if you're sick of 6 different remotes for your gear or don't want to put the Duracell bunny through college!

L8r Sk8rs

Weddings, Bucks Drives, Anything.....

Trust you all had a fab Xmas and will be planning the new fitness plan, starting this Friday!

Just wanted to jot down a quick blurb on the wedding and associated festivities so everyone's aware what’s going on.......well I would hate for anyone to be uninformed!

The wedding date is still Wednesday 27th May and is well and truly locked in. Kylie and a few of her girl posse are departing Perth on Saturday onboard a 9.55am flight which should get them in around 12.30-1. I, along with the almighty men on the Bucks Drive, will be arriving on Monday anytime between 5pm - 7pm. A lot of people are leaving Broome on the next Saturday/Sunday and we are flying back on Wednesday the 3rd, a week after the big day.

We have all but decided on celebrants, venues, photographers etc so thanks everyone who helped us out with info and ideas, very much appreciated. Once finalised in the next couple of weeks, the real RSVP invites will be mailed out and the actual guest numbers will be realised (gulp!). Based on a quick tally of people with flights booked, there will be at least 70 up in sunny Broome with us which is terrific.

If any of you guys are unsure about flights, accommodation or need info on where/when/what, please get in contact ASAP. More than happy to help out if we can or put you in contact with other guests you know that haven’t found a place to stay yet.

A common question we get is "Is this accommodation in a good spot?". In Broome you can stay in town or Cable Beach which is about 5km down the road. While the wedding is in Cable Beach, its only 1 day. Most of the other Broome activities, shops, pubs, boat ramps etc are in town so in most cases its better to be near there. Again, if you need to know something, let us know.

The Bucks Drive will be leaving on Wednesday 20th from my place. Those confirmed are Me, Mike Brewer, Todd Tate, John Fazari, Shane Jager, James Patterson, Adam Holyday, Shane Fleming and John Brewer. If you're reading this, your name isn’t above and you're thinking "I’m sure I said I was going to that!", I've forgotten so email me now! If you're on the fence, hop off..........and into a motor home :)

That’s all I can think of at this second but I'll post updates when they emerge. Any questions, please email us, leave a comment or send out some smoke signals!

Bye Crocodiles

Merry Christmas All

Ive finally starting writing again and we're all off for 2 days.....not that you'll hear any complaints here cos now that I'm a contractor its come to work rain, hail, shine, sickness, health and decapitation.

Hope you all have a splendiferous day tomorrow and everything goes incident free with the coming together of families combined with the excessive consumption of alcohol.

Hope the presents you get are awesome even though you told everyone not to get you anything! Special shout out to all the tiddly-winks, Im sure Santa wont dissapoint if you leave out a shot of Absinthe and a Medium-Rare T Bone for him. Actually if you leave the bottle out, you might get to meet him in the morning!

Well I'm off to the Paddo to have another crack at the 141 list so for those going, i'll see you there and for those that arent.....umm.....Pull Ya Finger Out! Just kidding, have a good one y'all.

Peace, love, happiness and all that gooey stuff,

Phil

Watch This Space

Ok its been a long time coming, just over a year in fact, but squidring.com is back up!

Hold the applause please, I'm not finished yet.

For those that still have my link from their site, you know who you are, thanks very much for sticking it out and not losing faith (or perhaps just thanks for not being bothered removing it!), much appreciated.

The change in squidrings appearance is completely due to my inability to setup my home hosting server which I'm happy to pin the blame squarely on my rubbish adsl firewall router and its evil configuration screens.

Anywho, happy to be back online and I have a bunch of posts ready to go that Ive been saving for the past year so stay tuned cos probability says ill post something of interest to you in that lot!

Ciao and Merry Xmas happy NY all!
Phil