Monthly Archives: August 2010

Bridge

Still winners, even though we came second

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Our team, still not quite believing we're going to Tweed Heads. Photo: LLB

My long service leave is rapidly coming to a close and while I haven’t been on any extended overseas vacations, retrained, or sorted out my love life, I have played A LOT of bridge.

Four or five times a week will see me pulling cards with the best of them.

The last two weekends have been two full days of competition.

First the Swan River Pairs where we didn’t do that well… 56 out of 88 pairs… sigh.

And then in the last two days the GNOT finals.

This is the first time I’ve played in the GNOT – Grand National Open Teams – and up for grabs for the top three place getters a subsidized trip to the Gold Coast to play in the national play offs.

The GNOT’s start off at club level.

We placed second in the Nedlands Bridge Club heats and so with 19 other teams from around Perth competed in the weekend finals.

The teams final was 8 14-board matches and going into the last round we were sitting fourth, one point behind third.

We figured a win would get us to Queensland.

I was terrified that I would choke at the last hurdle but a wine at lunch-time had mellowed into a slight headache and I think the Panadol steadied my nerves.

The last board ended up as me to make 6NT.

Pressure!

I'm sitting East.

I get the queen of spades lead from South and I start counting tricks.

I can see 11 off the top and I need one more.
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Plan A – the diamonds – surely the fifth diamond will come good once I play four rounds.

The bad news is delivered at trick 2 when South shows out – I can’t even finesse for the 10.

Poop.

So thought is required.

I go into the tank for what feels like forever.

The hearts are my only hope.

I run the J which is covered by the Q and won with my K, now I play the 9 and let it run to North’s 10.

The 8 of hearts is my 12th trick.

Yay.

The result of the match – we scored a maximum.

As did about four other teams in the last round, including the people lying second playing the team sitting first.

Overall we ended up second which means (exciting club) that we get subsidised to travel to Tweed Heads to play in the national finals in November.

OMFG!

How cool is that?!

All that bridge practice finally paid off.

(I’ve been told if we win three matches we’ll have acquitted ourselves well.  I’m just happy to go… now I just need to talk to my boss about a couple of days off… worried look!)

NSW, Restaurants, Theatre, Visual Art

Two days in Sydney

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Following my last post, after two days in Sydney I can no longer fit into my daughter’s size 5 jeans (size 5 is about a 9 in real language).

A pork roll from James’s favourite cheap lunch spot.

Lasagne!

At least I have avoided all the yummy pastries from the (count them) five gorgeous bakeries that surround our hotel.

The food in Sydney is cheap and delicious and so difficult to not eat.

The first night we went to a little Vietnamese place in Surry Hills (or was it Darlinghurst) called Phamish.

They started serving at 6pm and there was a queue waiting to be seated (including us).

The highlight – the to-die-for duck and prawn rolls – watching mum eat one and then realise they had prawns in them was priceless.

We’ve also gone to see Wicked – the musical.

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We had a brilliant time.

Last night I went with my sister to the Cinema Verona to see an Italian film called I am Love – starring Tilda Swinton.

The Italians have a very different approach to film making – lots of loud crashing music and close ups.

Good film though.

And walking down Oxford St late at night was fun too.

Today… I’m not sure what we’re doing… something touristy before the exhibition opening probably.

Then drinkies and art.

Photos to come.

Fashion Victim

Size freaking 5!

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Yes that is little old me in SIZE 5 jeans!

OMFG!

I can fit into my 13 year old daughter’s size 5 (US) jeans!

Sure I can’t breathe.

And luckily they are lo-rise so all the wobbly bits squeeze “above the line”.
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But still.

Size freaking 5!

I am happy.

Now why am I suddenly craving a muffin…

Hugamuga, Urban Nature

I’ve been thinking about that spider

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Check out the eyes!

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When my son was a little tacker – about 2 – we asked him what he was thinking about.

He answered:

“I’m thinking about that spider.”

I don’t remember what spider – or even if there was a spider or if he was thinking about another spider somewhere else but it was such a sweet response that we have used it ever since.

You know, when you are staring off into the distance with your mind in limbo.

Or when asked what you’re thinking, you suddenly forget.

It’s a handy response to have in your back pocket.

This spider, the one in today’s photo was hiding behind a piece of loose bark on the tree my son was climbing.

It dropped to the ground and I think the spider was a bit stunned because not even the very close lens of my camera startled it.

Even prodding it gently with a twig only caused him to lethargically wave a front leg.

On the way home my son – now 15 – asked me what kind of spider it was.

A huntsman, I guessed.

What do they eat?

Humans.

Really?

No, not really.

Bless.

Even at 15 he’s still thinking about spiders.

Up close and personal

Archaeology, Urban Nature, WA

Crawley Boathouse

The Crawley boathouse

Today I wandered towards the Crawley boathouse and the Eliza statue for a bit of a looksee.

On Saturdays you struggle for space as the jetty out to the old boathouse is groaning under the weight of bridal parties keen for those “special shots”.

(or maybe not so special as there are A LOT of brides who get the boatshed shots)

But have you ever wondered about the boat that lives inside the boathouse?

Me too.

Through the broken board.

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A lone kayak

Afterward I wandered back to Neds for a coffee and then had lunch with an archaeology friend.

She is so enthusiastic about archaeology that it is impossible not to be inspired, so afterwards I enquired about post-graduate diplomas.

It’s a “next-year” project if it ever happens but I confess that some of the units do look very interesting.

And oh! The excitement of field trips. I loves it.

Hmmmm.

We’ll see.

Urban Nature, Youtube

Bloody crows

1 Comment

And I thought my alarm was bad.

These birds were so loud this morning.
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I felt I was in the Hitchcock film “The Birds”.

And such an unattractive call.

House

The darling buds of August

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My enthusiastic glory vine

It seems only yesterday that I was posting photos of my glory vine’s last bright red leaves.

It is now a twist of twigs over my rotting pergola, the beams sagging, held together by inexpertly attached shadecloth.

Well it was.

Today, as the bright sunlight of winter shone through I noticed greenery.

It’s budding.

And there are still two red leaves from last season.
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Spring has sprung my friends, and we didn’t even have winter.

Well, maybe a day or two of winter.

And that freak storm in March.

Maybe we’ll have winter in spring?

Then my glory vine WILL be confused.

The last red leaves of my glory vine

Hugamuga, Parenting, School

Education fail

1 Comment

No, not the school, me.

My son has lost 4% on a recent maths test because of me.

The question read something like this:

Sam went to a restaurant, he had the choice of two entrees, three main courses and two desserts.  Pate and pumpkin soup for the entrees, steak, chicken and beef for main course and icecream and chocolate cake for the desserts.  What is the probability that Sam would choose soup and chocolate cake?

The correct answer is 1 in 4 but unfortunately my son had no idea what pate was (see image on the right if you are unsure… no, not the bread).

He thought “pate” might be “some kind of random gourmet product you might turn into soup”.

In other words he thought BOTH entrees were soup.
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Bugger.

Knew I should have made him eat pate!

This is why feeding expensive, overpriced gourmet foods to your children from an early age is important if you want them to do well at school.

Bless him, he’s asked the teacher to restore his marks on the basis that the question was ambiguous.

Note:  Hugamuga would like to point out that their was no illustrative photograph with the words “Pate de Foie” on the test.

Fashion Victim, Modern Life

Time to own up

6 Comments
C'mon confess! I know there are more than two of us...

I thought it was just me that kept a pair of tweezers in my car but the other day I discovered another close friend of mine had the same secret.

Yes we’re both (cough) forty-something (cough) and yes occasionally we’ve sat at the lights… looked in the visor mirror and almost spat out our take-away coffee.

Ugh! 

What is THAT doing growing THERE?!!!

The problem is that at 40-something, not only do you start growing hair in unusual places but your eyesight is failing.

So it is rare for you to notice that stray hair until you are faced with the mega-magnification of that little mirror on the inside of your visor.

And even if you did notice that rogue – wtf is that doing on my face – hair… quite often,  because you need glasses, you can’t do anything about it.
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Have you ever tried to pluck your eyebrows, needing glasses?

Trust me – it can’t be done.

Hence the tweezers in the car.

The ultra-magnification of the mirror allows you to see the wretched rogue hairs without glasses.

Yes, you look like an idiot at the lights…

But at least you don’t look like Wicked Witch of the East when you get to work.

Job done.