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| Well, I shaved my chin/cheeks again this morning, so the stubble-that-will-be-a-mo-soon is coming along nicely. 
This is Movember 5 - the fifth day since going completely clean-shaven in order to start cultivating () a moustache in the name of charity.
There's about fifteen of us here at work who are growing Mos for the month. 
Here's why...
- Depression affects 1 in 6 men...Most don't seek help. Untreated depression is a leading risk factor for suicide.
- Last
year in Australia 18,700 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and
more than 2,900 died of prostate cancer - equivalent to the number of
women who die from breast cancer annually.
- Men are far less healthy than women. The average life expectancy of males is 5 years less than females.
To sponsor my Mo please go to http://www.movember.com/au/donate,
enter my registration number which is 62349 and your credit card
details. To sponsor me via other methods, contact me directly. 
The money raised by Movember is donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue - the national depression initiative,
which will use the funds to create awareness, fund research and
increase support networks for those men who suffer from prostate cancer
and male depression. The reason I personally am doing this is that my grandfather died from prostate cancer about six years ago. So I think it's a good cause to raise some money towards.
Thanks for your support, Glenn More info is available at www.movember.com. | | |
| Hi all, During Movember (the month formerly known as November)
I'll be growin a Mo. That's right. Six months ago I was shaving hair off for charity, this time I'm growing some... Here's why...
- Depression affects 1 in 6 men...Most don't seek help. Untreated depression is a leading risk factor for suicide.
- Last
year in Australia 18,700 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and
more than 2,900 died of prostate cancer - equivalent to the number of
women who die from breast cancer annually.
- Men are far less healthy than women. The average life expectancy of males is 5 years less than females.
To sponsor my Mo please go to http://www.movember.com/au/donate,
enter my registration number which is 62349 and your credit card
details. To sponsor me via other methods, contact me directly.
The money raised by Movember is donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue - the national depression initiative,
which will use the funds to create awareness, fund research and
increase support networks for those men who suffer from prostate cancer
and male depression. Thanks for your support Glenn More info is available at www.movember.com. | | |
|  | Currently Watching
The Sting
By Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Ray Walston
see related |
Back in February I showed some nerdy statistics relating to the 55 movies I'd seen in the year. As of today I've seen 145, so here's the new stats (above), with comparison to the old stats (below).
Movies seen in 2005: 255
Movies seen in 2006: 139
Movies seen in 2007 to date: 145
In February, 45% of the movies I'd seen were ones I'd seen for the first time. Instead of catching up to my goal of seeing at least 50% movies I've never seen before, I've lagged further behind - it's now 39%.
 
In February, 27% of the movies I'd seen had an average IMDb rating of at least 7.0 out of 10. That figure has now reached 39% - I'm obviously seeing more good movies than mediocre ones.
In February, the majority of films I watched were from my own collection. That's still true, although the percentage has dropped from 55% to 40% - I've now also been to the cinema several times this year, and have seen airline movies as well.
When I look at the release decades of the movies, the numbers have remained fairly steady, thanks to my watching re-run movies on TV, and renting a lot of "weekly" DVDs from the past few decades that I've never seen before.
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| Made it after a loooong flight.
I got to BNE at 10 to 12... and check-in wasn't till 1pm. I questioned an airport staff member about the "3 hour" check in time the airport and airline websites had mentioned, and they said it's up to the airline whether they want a 2-hr, 2.5 hr, or 3-hr check-in opening... depending on whether it's a busy commuter run or a not-very-fully-booked flight, etc. So I read a book, ate some Red Rooster for lunch, and lined up at 1.
The inbound plane from Fiji was late getting in, so we didn't take off until closer to 4pm. With only 1 hour between the original scheduled touchdown and takeoff times in Nadi (Fiji), I thought it would cut it fine...
We landed in Nadi, and walked down the steps and across the tarmac in the open night air (felt around 29-30蚓 - nice!) and then up the steps to the veranda that runs around the airport terminal's upper storey, and followed signs for the Transfer Desk. As we got inside the terminal, we heard the first boarding calls for the LA flight - so that was actually rather good timing, and I didn't have any waiting - just lined up again and boarded the 747.
Good food on Air Pacific - Chicken Masala with rice on first flight (dinner), and on the LA flight they served dinner (Fish curry with rice) and breakfast a couple hours before descent to LA. I didn't eat much breakfast, but I did sleep a lot on that long flight, after watching all but the first 7 min of "Music & Lyrics" - Air Pacific had individual screens, but it was all on a pre-programmed timer, like on Singapore Air when i went to Japan - I couldn't stop/pause/replay the movie when I wanted. Speaking of Singapore Airlines, I saw the bird logo engraved on the towel dispenser in the aeroplane bathroom - Air Pacific's 747s are obviously Singapore hand-me-downs!
So I got to LA, had a looooong wait in a line to clear immigration, then our conveyor belt broke down and everyone had to watch the ten suitcases that did make it down go round and around. Eventually it started up, I grabbed my bags, and cleared customs.
I'd ticked the "fruit/nuts/seeds/plants/food" box on my customs form, and had my suitcase unlocked (but not yet unzipped) in case they queried my Tim Tams, but they didn't ask me once. They took my form and said have a nice day... pretty lax if you ask me ;) I guess I was in LAX. :p hehe BAD PUN!
My ticket said American Airlines, but they don't actually do the flight - it's operated by Alaskan. So the baggage handlers had to write "AS" over the "AA" on my bag tags, then they did the transferring to the other terminal.
I walked to Alaskan's terminal, checked in, and waited - there was a 3.15 flight to Seattle leaving about 20 min after I got there, so I sat and ready my book till my 4.32 flight.
I got in to SeaTac at 10 past 7, and luckily arrived at the main terminal this time, so didn't have to catch the mini-train around - and my bags were quick onto the carousel too. Kara and her mother were there to meet me, and we came back to the house for spaghetti and cheesy garlic bread for dinner. 
So far we've had photos taken (for the front of our wedding programs), sorted through CDs (working out which ones we both own, and therefore can sell/trade before we leave), and folded wedding programs.
I also helped Chuck (my father-in-law-to-be) fix the new blinds in the kitchen - he couldn't get a little plastic piece to slot into the brackets correctly. I got it to work and Mrs Mom (my mother-in-law-to-be) said "that's why he works at IKEA - he can fix stuff"
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| The Arena, Brisbane, 6.00pm-10.00pm
Angelas Dish
NSW band. I was on the upstairs balcony for this part and the acoustics up there were really bad - sound was all muddy etc etc. The songs - what I heard of them - sounded pretty good.
I moved downstairs and stood near the sound desk, hoping to get better sound for the rest of the gig.
Copeland
Florida band - I'd never heard them or really even heard of them. They were good, but the highlight was...
Anberlin
To put it simply, they rocked. A good time was had by all.  
Setlist:
A Whisper & A Clamor
Never Take Friendship Personal
Hello Alone
Readyfuels
Adelaide (somewhat appropriate in an Aussie setting )
A Day Late
Paperthin Hymn
The Unwinding Cable Car (acoustic)
Dance, Dance Christina P輎fgen
Dismantle.Repair.
Godspeed
1st encore:
(*Fin)
The lights stayed on so the band decided to come out again to play:
The Feel Good Drag
Then they left the stage, and Stephen Christian and two guitarists returned for an acoustic cover of Radiohead's "Creep".
They left the stage (again) and word was given that the venue had time for one more... so the whole band returned for:
Time & Confusion
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