Baked good discovery of the day: lime and pistachio yo-yos.

You can all breathe now. I passed. In fact, there is apparently nothing I don't know about the New Zealand road code, since I got full marks. Woo.

I have my driver's licence theory test today. I am scared of 35 multi-choice questions. I am lame.

I am also 29 and I can't drive.

Did you know that your tyres must have a minimum tread of 1.5mm over 75 percent of their surface?

This is my new cousin, Leon.



I'm not really into babies, in general. But on my mother's side of the family, he is the first new addition since I was born 29.5 years ago. His mother is my only maternal cousin; she swore until last year at the age of 35 that she would never have children. He is, thus, a big deal. And since I'm the only same-generation relative of his mother, I get to be 'auntie'. Woo!

I only have to wait about ten more years until it's his responsibility as the youngest at family gatherings to make endless cups of tea, fetch cigarettes/lighters/ashtrays, wash and dry the dishes, and go to the dairy. All *right*!

I'm sure everyone knew about this before me, but I'm still knocked out by it. Photos from Chernobyl ghost towns.

The Disney channel is playing Muppet Show repeats at midnight weekdays. I'm so happy! On Thursday I saw James Coco (whew) and on Friday, Helen Reddy! She did a soft-shoe shuffle with a camel! Tonight is Harry Belafonte! Now, if I could just work out the timer on the video, I could tape all of them and have a marathon over Easter weekend... oh, the possibilities!

Here is why dogs are weird. Ellie just ate - and ate *eagerly*, mind you - a combination of leftover couscous, flat L&P, and a raw egg.

BLUUUUUURRRGGGGGHHHH.

Last night we saw soul brother number one, James Brown! It was totally old-school soul-revue-esque, with matching suits, choreographed dance moves, and call-and-response out the wazoo. I think my favourite part of the entire show was actually the introduction (not to denigrate the man himself, who was awesome!), with that groovy little old man in the white tuxedo who's been with him for decades saying 'the man who brought you "Please Please Please"! [bar of the song]! The brother who gave you "Sex Machine"! [bar of the song]! The man who told you to 'Get Up Off That Thing'! [bar of the song]!.... The Godfather! The Hardest Working Man in Show Business! JaaaaaAAAAAaaaames! Brown! James! Brown! James! Brown!' I can't even do the intro justice, frankly. As befits the band of a man who fines them for hitting wrong notes, the musicians were incredibly tight and impressive. Two drummers and a percussionist! Two bassists! Two guitarists! Three-part horn section! Three-part background vocal group (one of whom was getting *down*, she was a dancing machine)! That guy whose job is just to go 'get on up! get on up!' The only time things really flagged was during an extensive guest vocalist break, in which a woman did a dodgy Janis Joplin impersonation. Brent and I speculated that she wasn't there solely to sing, since she seemed to think James was the bees knees. He also had a hilarious duo of girls with 'JB' embroidered on the buttocks of their tiny shorts, who danced like Carmen Electra! The crowd was in a frenzy of excitement from beginning to end, refusing to go home even after the house lights came up and the PA started playing exit music. WHEE!