Blah.

Someone came into our back yard while we were out and took Chico.

I assume it was his original owners - the ones who let him wander the street without a collar with fleas and worms. It would have been nice if they'd come and told us he was theirs, or left a note or something. I don't know.

There's nothing we can really do about it, of course. I know this is an ethically grey area, so we're just going to have to accept that he's gone. At least I got rid of his fleas and worms and got him some vaccinations, so he'll be more protected in the future. And of course if they let him roam again... well, hopefully for his sake they won't, because he could get run over so easily.

Ellie misses her little compadre. We miss him too. He was a real sweetie. Sigh.

The new Kanye West album contains a song about his mama.

[dong] Can you hear that? Ask not for whom the bell tolls, Kanye. It tolls for thee. In hip-hop, songs about your mama are generally the sign of an artistic slump. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but so far the rest of the album is way underwhelming too. And all I want is three killer singles, dude! I don't need cohesiveness! You can be inconsistent! I'm not that picky!

(One song, however, does use a sample of the AOL instant messenger notification noise, which is funny. I suppose that's something.)

Trading Spouses this week had a Californian vegan mother swapping with a Cajun mother who did swamp tours. I didn't realise until watching it what a unique accent Cajuns have. My whole American family talk like that, but because I grew up hearing it it never seemed weird. Watching Cajuns talk on television in New Zealand while Californians talked to them (and their speech was subtitled!) made the accent seem very intense. (It also made me a bit sad because I won't get to see my intensely-accented peeps for yonks.) The vegan Californian woman was a self-righteous shrew who needed her ass kicked, and her family and friends were horrible judgemental arseholes too. The Cajun family and friends may have been the worst-dressed people ever, with the worst hair (the little boy had a magnificent undercut mullet!) and the worst-decorated house, but they were nice, and funny, and a lot more accepting of people in social situations. And you know what? I'm sure the Cajuns were (ostensibly hate-filled) Republicans and the Californians were (ostensibly tolerant) Democrats. Man, that country is so fucking weird I still can't get my head around it. I'm sure I've written a variant on the themes of this post every month for the last three years.

In other news, were you aware that New Zealand is the only country in the world to use the word 'scroggin'? Neither was I.

Feijoa and raspberry muffins.

Hannah is not only my knitting coach. She is also a culinary genius.

If Simon Grigg ever writes an autobiography, I'm first in line for that sucker. Check out his latest post, in which he goes from holidaying in rural Bali to Elvis Presley's back catalogue and death to a disastrously hilarious Suburban Reptiles mini-tour to Wellington in 1977 (how did the Scavengers set their car on fire, for god's sake?) in the space of four or five paragraphs. Apparently, they 'thought they were punks'. Hee.

Official Incredibly Impressive DVD scores of the Week: at the Warehouse (like Wal-mart without the hugeness or the satanic quality. Well, not quite so much of it anyway) on Lincoln Road last night I found Buster Keaton's The General and Steamboat Bill, Jr.; Orson Welles' The Stranger; *and* the awesome His Girl Friday for five bucks apiece! (That, Americans, is a mere $3.50!)

I like living out west, where no one knows who Buster Keaton is. Bargains ahoy!

The woman in The Narcs' 'Diamonds on China' video was in my 20th century literature class at Auckland university in 1993. She thought that Lolita shouldn't have been published because it was obscene.

(This post brought to you by May, also known as New Zealand Music Month.)

I have a driver's licence! I have a driver's licence!

I am a grown up. Finally. At 30.

Make your own Picasso with Mr. Picassohead!