Watching Airport 75 tonight (part of the Airport Terminal Pack). The beginning was cool - filmed at Dulles airport in DC (been there!! :) ). The whole first half of the movie I'm thinking "gee that's a lot like Flying High! (Airplane! in the US release).. the nuns singing on the guitar with the girl needing a transplant.. and since when did nuns travel so much, and then in first class ???? And then to have a hole ripped out of the cockpit and but a mere breeze blowing through it?? I went sky-diving once, and at probably half the speed the wind was unbelievable. The conditions in the cockpit should be similarly unbearable. But the technical specifics of actually flying a 747 are pretty cool. And there is some cool footage of a 747 flying through the Rocky Mountains. I've yet to come to the really silly part of transferring a person into the plane tho.. :)

Been having my fair-share of dopamine-releasing chemicals tonight.. with pizza in the toaster oven heating up for dinner.. yumm.. :)

Friday Q on a Thursday, woohoo! :) (and possibly even before Dave if I'm quick)

FQ HELPER: It may be helpful to use a globe and a distance calculator for the questions below.

FQ1: What's the furthest North you've been on this world? What were you doing there?
A couple of kilometres north of Jasper in Canada. We were there to see the scenery, but it was totally rained out.

FQ2: What's the furthest South you've been on this world? What were you doing there?
Near Wilson's Promontary in Victoria. We were travelling through Victoria and South Australia in 1994 and passed by there on the way back to NSW. .. Actually I take that back - I've been to New Zealand when I was 18 months old. But I can't tell you whereabouts we actually went. Queenstown I think is fairly far south.

FQ3: Where were you born, and what's the furthest you've been from that spot?
I was born Sydney Australia. The furthest I've been from home would be New York (15979 km).

FQ AWAY: Name a blog you read that's the most distant from you... whether it be emotionally, culturally, religiously, or by physical location.
Physically.. Richard and Paul are in England, which I think is further than Tennessee where Dennis is. I'd have to think about the others though.

and yup, Dave hasn't posted yet, I win! :)

Map stolen from Wikipedia, red target from Dave:

FQ1: Share a health or beauty tip!
Drink a litre of orange juice per day. And stay out of the sun.

FQ2: Share a computer or electronic gadget tip!
Always check the first three laws of tech support.

FQ3: Share a travel or transportation tip!
Declare everything. Even if it's just chocolate or sweets. Often you can get through customs quicker than the standard lines. That of course is twenty year old advice. Four years ago it made absolutely no difference. Last year I'm sure it took longer. Dave would be able to say if there's any difference.

FQ TIPSTER: Got a tip for a classic or vintage CD, movie, TV show, or book we might have overlooked?
Star Blazers. I used to watch it when I was a kid and haven't seen it since. Toying with the idea of finding it on dvd. That and Astroboy :)

Stolen from Richard, source of many a meme

1. What is your favourite colour? Some sort of aqua
2. Tell me about a talent or skill you possess, which I've not yet witnessed or discovered. Who's I? :) Many blog readers will not know of my only talent, which is giving massages. Kirk does though :)
3. What was your favourite subject in school? Science
4. What is one place to which you've never been, but you'd like to visit, someday? (Locally or abroad) Europe
5. Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning
6. Are you left-handed or right-handed? Right handed
7. Did astronauts really land on the moon, or was it all a hoax? Shrug. Well if they didn't land there then the Russians would have had to have been in on it, as their rock samples matched up. And during the cold war that would have been fairly unlikely.
8. What's in your pocket? (Or if there's nothing in your pocket at present, what sorts of things are most often in your pockets?) A $50 note and a hair elastic. Only thing not emptied out the moment I get home, because there's no bulk to it and it doesn't bother me being there.
9. In 10 years, you see yourself... (Finish that any way you desire.) Doing much the same thing, but hopefully somewhat more travelled
10. There's a power outage, and you don't have a generator. This means no electronics--no computer, no telly, no videos, no stereo and no electric heat or electric kettle--what do you do to keep warm, content and entertained? Keeping warm isn't a problem in Sydney, I'd just put a jumper on. But content and entertained, that's tough. During the day would be ok, cause there'd be enough light. But at night I'd be utterly lost. Like the time a few months ago when there actually was a blackout at night and I had literally *nothing* to do.
11. What's one thing you cannot bring yourself to eat? Wasabi.

    Just got home from the Dean's final end-of-year bash. All went swimmingly. The eggnog was delicious, if not as potent as claimed (five glasses later and barely any effect). Many incrimating videos of people singing were recorded mwoohahahahah.

Seems somehow appropriate that the topic be Historical, since the topic is now historical, to the tune of two weeks...! (has it been that long, yikes!)

FQ1: If you were able to visit any time period in the past, when would it be? What is it about this particular point in history that appeals to you?
It might be cool to visit Biblical times. I also always thought it'd be cool to travel the world before tourism really took off and cluttered everything up. Seeing Europe before the wars and acid rain would have been great.

FQ2: If you could meet any person from throughout history, who would that be? What makes them so special to you?
Jesus. He's my saviour.

FQ3: If you could reach through time and grab a piece of historical memorabilia, what artifact would you take and what would you do with it?
Gosh I dunno. Never thought about that one.

FQ QUANTUM LEAP: You have been given a one-time-only opportunity to travel back in time and interfere with history! Would you do it? Where would you go and what would you try to change?
I used to think about going back in time in my own life, like going back to primary school, and just laughing at Kerry Williams who was such a bitch to me, but then I thought what would I do with all my spare time without my computer and the internet. Sometimes I thought about going back to earlier points at school or uni or even work, but then I'd be wondering what I'd have to do in the same order to get to where I am now. Like I'd want to work where I am now, but to get there I'd need the history I had. But then I'd be frustrated having to do the desktop support which was necessary to be where I am now. I'd certainly avoid working at OzEmail, but then without that experience I may not have gotten to work at CIA. There's just too many dependencies to get right.. :) hrm don't think this is making much sense :) Going to back to being a student at uni would be a disaster though - especially if I was dropped mid session, I'd fail! lol

I also used to wonder if I could go back and stop certain disasters. The Challenger disaster was one I thought about years ago. But noone would believe a girl from Australia predicting something on the other side of the world. Until it happened of course. Even with recent things, I'd be hard pressed to convince anyone, given that I don't pay too much attention to news, and wouldn't be able to tell when certain things actually happened. hrm I'm still rambling.

But in answer to the question. If the opportunity was given to me I'd give it a go. Trying to prevent the World Trade Centre disaster might be a logical choice, because I'd know enough about the specifics of it to make some attempt at convincing people it was going to happen.

As seen at Blogography. BBC viewers rated these things the top 50 things to do before you die. (significantly longer than my original rather short list)

1. Swim with dolphins I'd love to do this!
2. Scuba dive on Great Barrier Reef, Australia I've been to the Great Barrier Reef, but I was five at the time, and didn't go scuba diving
3. Fly Concorde to New York, New York, USA Well since the Concorde doesn't fly anymore that's pretty unlikely. The closest I'll probably ever come to this is going on the Concorde at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
4. Go whale-watching I'd love to do this
5. Dive with sharks And this
6. Skydiving And definitely this.
7. Fly in a hot air balloon That reminds me, Ric and his friend and I were talking about this the other week
8. Fly in a fighter jet That'd be awesome. I actually wanted to be a pilot in the air force when I was at school, but I turned out too short with too poor eyesight. You can go on jet flights on old migs and the like in aus, but they're ridiculously expensive, presumably because of all the fuel they use
9. Go on safari Only a vague interest in going to Africa
10. See the Northern Lights That'd be very cool. The northest I've ever been is Jasper, Canada
11. Walk the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, Peru, South America Don't have too much interest in going to South America
12. Climb Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney, Australia Done it! Twice in fact :)
13. Escape to a paradise island Does it have all the creature comforts, including a shower?
14. Drive a Formula 1 car Be kinda cool I guess
15. Go white-water rafting I went on a jet-boat on New Zealand when I was 18 months old and hated every moment, I was told. I've been white-water liloing which was extremelly cool
16. Walk the Great Wall of China I'd like to do this one day
17. Bungee-jumping And this
18. Ride the Rocky Mountaineer train, Canada Came quite close to doing this earlier in the year, but we decided we'd get better value by driving.
19. Drive along Route 66, USA Road trips are always fun. If I were to return to the US though, I want to do the south and east
20. Fly in a helicopter over the Grand Canyon, Nevada, USA Been to the Grand Canyon, but only by car and foot
21. Take the Orient Express from Venice to London Be kinda cool
22. See elephants in the wild In Africa, so lowish on the priority list, but would definitely be cool
23. Explore Antarctica Cool but overpriced at the moment
24. Ride a motorbike on the open road Well now if Dave had had a spare helmet that night in June... :) The only time I've ever been on a motorcycle was in our neighbours backyard when I was about seven
25. Have a go at cowboy ranching Riding horses? cool. Herding cows? no real interest
26. Climb Mount Everest Well I don't think I'd ever have the capability to climb it, but I'd take a helicopter ride to the top!
27. Wonder at a waterfall Many times.
28. Travel into space Well yeah sure I'd love to do this, but I don't have a spare $40,000,000 sorry. Actually this is on my original list of things to do before I die.
29. Explore the Galapagos Islands Be kinda cool I guess
30. Trek through a rainforest Rainforests have leeches. I'd much rather trek through temperate or subalpine forests
31. Gallop a horse along a beach Oo I'd love to do that
32. Ride a camel to the Pyramids, Egypt That'd be very cool also. Egypt is one of the few places in Africa I'd like to go
33. Take the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Vladivostok I actually know someone that's done it in reverse, and that's probably the closest I'll ever get to doing it
34. Catch sunset over Uluru (Ayers Rock) , Northern Territories, Australia Done this! In 1985
35. Go wing-walking I'm sure there's some OH&S law against doing that.
36. Climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa Meh
37. Fly over a volcano The closest I've come to doing this was being at the heliport for flights over Mt St Helens. But for $99US each the parents weren't ever going to be interested.
38. Drive a husky sled Shrug
39. Hike up a glacier I didn't exactly hike, but we took a sno-coach onto the Athabasca Glacier in Alberta Canada.
40. Ride a rollercoaster Lots of them. Some of my favourites - the old Space Mountain at Disneyland, The Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Montezuma's Revenge at Knott's Berry Farm.
41. Fish for blue marlin Meh
42. Go paragliding I've been microlighting does that count? I'd love to go paragliding though
43. Play a round of golf at Augusta, Georgia, USA No interest
44. Watch mountain gorillas Vague interest
45. See tigers in the wild Even if I was in the right spot, they'd be hiding I'm sure
46. Do the Cresta Run, Switzerland Never heard of it
47. Visit Walt Disney World, Florida, USA One day
48. Visit Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Been there, although it was twenty years ago
49. See orang-utans in Borneo Vague interest
50. Go polar bear watching That'd be cool, I could combine that with the northern lights perhaps

FQ1: What's something you find humorous, but probably shouldn't?
There are some movies that I laughed the entire way through but I'm sure they weren't meant to be that funny .. like the Poseidon Adventure, and Emma

FQ2: What's something that others find funny, but you don't?
There's Something About Mary would have to be the stupidest movie I have ever seen in my life. Everyone I went with were laughing like mad the whole way through it, but I was only mildly amused about twice in the entire thing.

FQ3: What actor/comedian/personality always makes you laugh? What movie? What book?
I remember seeing a travel doco by Clive James once, and I found his sense of humour rather appealed to me for some reason. I haven't seen anything of his since though. Movie? Probably Flying High (Airplane) is my favourite movie comedy. Book? I rarely laugh out loud when reading books.

FQ Stand-Up: Tell us a joke or funny story.
According to some study, the funniest joke in the world is:

A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps to the operator: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator, in a calm soothing voice, says: "Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: "OK, now what?"

Although I don't find it hugely funny. I remember reading something of Heinlein's once (I think it might have been Stranger in a Strange Land), and he made a rather interesting point about comedy that I've rarely found exception to - he essentially said that in order for something to be funny, someone (or I guess something) has to get hurt. When you think about it, that's very true. It's rare to laugh at something without someone/something else getting hurt in the process.

100 things about Kazza the Blank One. Bren has had one of these for ages, and I've been thinking I should probably put one together. Just recently Dave and Dennis put theirs up, so I thought I would too. Some of my ideas were stolen shamelessly from them :)

Stolen from Richard and Dave..

1. Who do you admire the most and why?
Not sure about the most, but recentest.. Ian Thorpe, and the way he handled his disqualification from the 400m. If ever there was a true Australian hero, he would be it I reckon.

2. What would you have as your last meal if you were on death row?
Roast pork with apple sauce, gravy and crackling, the way my mother makes it

3. What is your earliest memory?
Probably the old family car, and getting a new one when I was about four.

4. If you had 3 wishes, what would your 3rd wish be?
Probably that I'd could be rich enough not to have to work anymore, and travel wherever I wanted to.

5. If you had to be blind or deaf, which would you choose?
Deaf. The only thing I'd miss being deaf would be music. If I was blind I couldn't work, couldn't exist.

6. Have you ever been dared to do something where the risk exceeded the reward (ie. jump off a building for a penny)?
Don't think so..

7. If you were forced to live the rest of your existence in a fictional world from a movie, book and TV show which ones would you select?
After pondering this over reading and watching tv for an hour, I'm no closer to an answer for this. How about movie - probably something futuristic .. or magical .. I'll get back to you; book - perhaps the world of Harry Potter, with magic; tv - the utopia of the Star Trek world would be nice.

8. If you had a superpower, which superpower would it be and why?
Easy - the ability to fly - always been my greatest wish ever

9. What is your favourite vegetable?
Potato

10. In how many different languages do you know the meaning of at least one word?
Probably yes or no, dunno how many tho - maybe english, french, german, italian, russian? probably others too. Someone I know once said you should learn five words when going to another country - yes, no, please, thankyou and toilet. Everything else you can fumble your way through with sign language :)

11. What did you want to be when you were a child?
For a while I wanted to be an artist because I was fairly good at drawing. Then I discovered flight and thought that the only jobs you could get as a woman was a flight attendant. Then realised there was such a thing as female pilots, and wanted to join the air force because they paid you to learn to fly, but I was too short and my eyesight wasn't good enough. And that was the end of that really.

12. What one event (if any) would you change in your personal past if you had the power to do it once?
Tough one. Been through lots of tough times, but I wouldn't be where I am now if I hadn't been through them in the right order. There's not really anything I can think of that I desperately wish hadn't happened. Except in the cases of depression when I wish I hadn't been born.

13. What's the one question you want to be asked of you in an interview?
I liked Dave's response of "what will you do with the $25 million you just won on lotto?" hehe

14. Have you ever cheated death?
Don't think so

15. What was the most important decision you've ever had to make?
Dunno.. buying this flat I suppose, that certainly involved the most money

16. Which sports team do you support the most, and why?
Probably the Australian Olympics team .. I don't follow sports much

17. Mobile phones (cellphones) - evil or good?
Oh evil ;) But I don't think I could live without one. I feel naked without it - disconnected!

18. What is your favourite song at the moment?
Something wicked this way comes

Was hoping I'd get some opportunities to post, but motels in Australia are pretty slack at having phones in the rooms. I'll upload my travelogue prolly tomorrow.