why wy?

To be honest, I'm not too sure what the phase bought the farm means, but I think (in a vague hazy way) it means to retire very very rich. Or to die. Too lazy to check it out so please correct me.

Anyhow, over the weekend I had an invitation to visit somebody's organic farm and it was pretty lux. Not your gold tap lux, but in the sense that it was almost completely self sufficient - wine from their vineyard, roast duck in beer, buttered mushrooms from the garden...

The family who looked after the farm were warm, generous and very Italian. They fed us lunch, then insisted we stay for dinner too - homemade ravioli, homemade pasta sauce, washed down with more wine.

Their pancetta was bueno (italian for good, we kept repeating it that day) and comes from their own pigs. They are currently rearing Chip and Chop 3, which gives you a fair hint of what happened to predecessors 1 and 2.

The kids (Ario above is 4) were adorable. As I chased him around the grounds on a quadbike, yes he was going faster than me, I thought this is the life.

8 threadmills. This video made my monday. I know it is Wednesday, but everyone can do with extra midweek cheer.

If there is a week of crap luck, this is it. Not terrible misfortune, worldwide catastrophe, unforeseen expenses bad luck, just mediocre pissing me off bad luck.

Monday- a friend accidentally knocked a bottle of radiator fluid onto me while at the shops. My pants stank up the entire osteo clinic, my car and proceeded to linger around for 5 days in the bathroom despite soaking in nappisan and industrial strength eucalyptus oil.

Wednesday - Missing out on getting a petrol voucher by 5 cents under the minimum spend. I know this is not a big thing, but deserves a mention considering the other events.

Thursday - Falling off my bike and skinning my knee.

And assorted near collisions while in the car, one really close one with a speeding woman in a car park.

So here I am, end of the week and a big sigh of relief. I should have just stayed in bed.

Got my first spam email from Malaysia! I know, my life is boring. Can't say they did a very good job, I mean is there a Malay surname Abby? I guess it could happen. And no offense to muslims, I've never heard anyone exclaim Allah is my shepherd either.

And 3kgs of diamonds? Come on. If you had that much De Beers would set their mafia lackeys on you.

Overlooking all the grammatical mistakes, there is an interesting philosophical twist at the end. If you want her gold and diamonds, she asks you to write to you quickly (do it now!!! forget the kettle on the stove!) otherwise she will give the sum to a mosque or church. If you took the money, wouldn't you be depriving the needy? So if you were religious, you might say, give the money to God and his good works, they need it more than me. And if you were indeed religious and dying, wouldn't you give your fortune to the mosque or temple than to a complete stranger?

Can't say her sales pitch was effective.

spam alert -----------------------------
Dear Ma/Sir,

Greetings in the name of ALLAH. I am the above-mentioned person from Malaysia presently I am undergoing medical treatment, I am married to Late Dr. Suleman bin Abby who worked with Malaysia embassy in Russia for nine years before his death in 2005. We were married for eleven years without a child and he died after a brief illness that lasted only for four days.And I decided not to remarry nor get a child outside wedlock and my late husband when he was alive deposited a 17 kg of Gold (seventeen kilo gram of Gold) and 3kg of diamond (three kilo gram of diamond) with one finance/security company in the Republic of Benin in Africa.which we will made agreement to collect through cash at anytime we decide to take from them.

Unfortunately, my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next couple of years due to cancer problem. However, what disturbs me most is that I am diagnosed to developing stroke soon if some precaution measures is not taken, having known my condition I decided to donate this treasures to mosque, church or better still an individual that will utilize this money according to my instruct herein.The Quran made me to understand that blessed are those that gives than receive and i made this decision because I have no child that will inherit the treasures and I don’t want my husband’s hard earned labor to be misused by his sole called relatives because I don’t want a situation where this treasures will be used in an ungodly manner, hence the reason for taking this bold decision.

Please i will not entertain any telephone communication in this regard because of my health and the presence of my husband’s relatives around me always, I don’t want them to know about this decision with ALLAH all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Finance/Security Company for you to discuss with them and i will also issue a letter of authority to the security company that will empower you as the original beneficiary of this treasures, and as such act in full capacity to any deed of instrument as regards to the deposited treasures.

I want you to always pray for me because the ALLAH is my shepherd. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Muslim. Whoever that wants to serve the ALLAH must serve him in spirit and truth. Please always be prayerful all the time.Any delay in reply will give me room in sourcing for a MUSQUE, CHURCH or MUSLIM/CHRISTIAN individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as stated herein. I require you to respond to this very urgent and indicate your readiness to help me accomplishing this mission.

Yours Faithfully,
Mrs.Maria Binti Abby

Just read a brilliantly funny summation of econs 101, brought up to date with references to internet piracy and anime dvds. here is an excerpt:

If I should have an invisible hand I might use it to lift up women’s skirts while they are not looking. Should they accuse me of any wrong doing I shall proclaim, “But madam, I have no hands.” But I do have hands and they are invisible.

In a capitalist mood, I found another funky t shirt site threadless - my fav slogan Procrastinators leaders of tomorrow. Unfortunately already sold out. ooh heavy irony there.

Anthony Bourdain has written a beautiful sad piece about the destruction of Lebanon in Salon (click on free ad).

Celeb spotting: I met Anthony Mundine the boxer at work. And as what they say about all celebs, he's shorter than I thought. Truth be told I didn't even know who he was until a kid got all excited and pointed him out to me. I wouldn't have picked him for a boxer really, cos his nose is still pretty straight, which must mean he is decent in the ring. Last week the guest of honour was this woman with really big biceps - she must either be a weight lifter or swimmer (maybe even a female boxer). Never found out who she was.

Other strange but true spot at work: A man showed me the wrong ticket - for the Exotic Men's gallery or club - by the sounds of it something involving bosoms and poles. I thought he was having me on at first, but he seemed sheepish so I guess his wife doesn't know.

a bit more on da pad - it now has lovely curtains in the living and bedroom, thanks to monica! There was a lot hard work and elbow grease to get this place reasonably clean - the previous tenants were a female yeti and her sister - there was long black hair everywhere. So much for the theory that girls are cleaner and tider than guys. Otherwise it gets plenty of sun and the cabbages are loving it.