Bree's Cheese

Would you trust this woman with your children?

2007-07-03T12:20:00.000+12:00

Vicky Rose Chandler has been entrusted to take 16 16-year-old English school kids into the wilderness of Honduras, which we recently learned is the second most poverty-stricken country in Central America. Seriously though, Vicky's scored herself an awesome job trekking through Honduras and helping out local villages - all with a pack of students in tow - and I'm green with envy.

We saw her off at the airport on Saturday for her flight to London and she might not be back for awhile, as she has an open return ticket for the next year. So we will miss Vicky, even though this visit was fleeting. Keep in touch Vix, and I hope learning the lingo is not too horrendous! Please come back with all 16 of them. Don't sell them for some local cocaine or anything...

Simon Wiesenthal. Sniff.

2007-07-03T12:08:00.001+12:00

From a rant about a bad flick to a rant about an amazing one. Tim and I watched the first of the Film Fest ones that I'm reviewing, called I Have Not Forgotten You, about Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi hunter. I know there have been millions of films/documentaries about the Holocaust but this one still managed to amaze me - he's got a fascinating life story and I hadn't ever read much about him before. Well worth a watch if you want a film which stays with you for a long time after you've watched it. I was bawling my eyes out by the end of it. This isn't saying much I guess. I tend to cry in all good books and films. And when watching strangers say goodbye at airports. And when lonely people call talkback. And when Jessica Simpson makes a movie. But still, this was truly tear-jerking!

God save us

2007-07-03T11:57:00.000+12:00

Wow. Jessica Simpson has made a movie (produced by her creepy dad) that's so bad that when watching the trailer, I actually thought she'd made some sort of mock film parody situation - like an SNL skit or something. But no, it's real. Unbelievably, she's managed to rope in Luke Wilson to play her love interest! I know the Wilson brothers aren't exactly Clint Eastwood, but crikey! Have some respect. Hope they didn't waste too many millions on it. Those Africans are still starving as far as I know!

Check out the trailer

Cute! Can't wait to have children so I can dress them up like Mexicans ha ha

2007-06-21T17:40:00.000+12:00

I have been abandoning ye ole blog a bit lately as have been a little busy and all over the place. But this pic was too cute not to put up. Particularly like the listless look on Lil Napoleon's face - perfect. Have been pretty much chilling out lately, except for Tim who has been run ragged doing his exams. One more to go! Definitely a reason to celebrate.

Today's exciting news is that the International Film Festival (my favourite of festivals) catalogue arrived on my desk today. I am already in the process of scrounging as many free tix as possible as me and the workmates are keen to do some reviews. Fun times.

And we're trying to organise a couple of winter getaways to make this freezing weather, rain and wind seem less than depressing.

Dancing with the Stars

2007-05-28T11:41:00.000+12:00

Wow I really never thought I'd go to as star-studded party as I did on Saturday night. There were so many famous people there. Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, the drummer from Deaf Leopard, a Dixie Chick, Princess Diana, the Devil herself, Dirty Sanchez and David Bain! It was just amazing. Everyone got along really well though, and nobody seemed to be worried about grabbing the limelight. Celebrity hookup alert: I hear Princess Di liked the look of David Bain, but I'm guessing she does have a thing for men with big ears... In fact I think they might have even gone home together...

I'm chucking in this journalism gig...

2007-05-11T10:57:00.000+12:00

Yesterday I went to see an oral surgeon about my four (impacted, grotty) wisdom teeth needing to come out. After sitting and waiting while he was late for my appointment (thank God I had the wonderful Anthony Kiedis bio to read while I waited, thanks Streets) he saw me for what amounted to 5 mins to tell me about the op. Then he gave me a photocopied fact sheet on wisdom teeth which I'm sure I could have found on the net and which wasn't even pretty and colourful. The bill? NINETY DOLLARS. Ridiculous. So I am going to throw in the journo towel and become an oral surgeon, even though teeth and mouths and saliva scare me. And gums.

Oh but I did learn a cool new world: Maxillofacial. Oooh that sounds like he's going to do something truely horrible to your face. But I'm guessing getting my wisdom teeth out won't exactly be going in for a facial...

Happy Day Amanda John Peart!

2007-05-11T10:53:00.000+12:00

Today is one of my favourite people's birthdays so I would like to say Happy Day Amanda! It was really yesterday to those of us in the right hemisphere, but in weirdo Londonland they're a bit behind! I'm sure they'll catch up eventually. Hope you have a rad day John Peart :) Ps: The above picture isn't of my Amanda Peart, but a complete stranger also called Amanda Peart, it's the closest I could find without having pictures of the Real McCoy.

What the...

2007-05-02T14:37:00.000+12:00

I have no idea what this is all about?

Oh too terrible! But funny all the same.

The reply is "thanks" ha ha

Bet your airbags aren't this big!

Pic-chewers

2007-04-30T15:20:00.000+12:00

Pictures from my trip to Oz to Emma's wedding. (Check out Rian's charming tee shirt as he pretends he's such a lovely grandson ha ha). Our night at the Roller Derby. And Friday's night out to farewell the Moon to Japan.

Hello my name is Kelly and I'm a quilter

2007-04-26T18:48:00.000+12:00

I know that I will get mocked for this by one Anna Louise Murray (there you go I've shamed you by putting in your middle name) but I have been getting really into my quilting project at the moment. It's usually a mission to get to the classes because I'm on a late shift half the time but my boss let's me go off and quilt and then come back to finish my shift, which is just lovely.

I've been working on panels that are looking really good and got inspired in Australia when seeing all the cool stuff Barb has made. I know you're all laughing at me - but seriously! It's so much fun. It gives me something to do instead of getting bored when Tim's got his nose in his study books (as in all the time at the moment!**) and I really love all the material I've got. I'm sure most people turn to booze when faced with hours of boredom, so surely quilting is a healthier alternative ha ha.

There I have confessed. I have the hobby of a 60 year old. But I'm not even the youngest in my class! I will post some of my masterpiece when I get around to photographing it.

** Tim is a buzy Lizzie at the moment with studying - in fact he had a test today and one tomorrow - so GOOD LUCK TIM!!

Just a random pic of Tim I found...

2007-04-26T16:50:00.000+12:00

I know you're all thinking that nothing has happened in the life of the "Breenies" (as Alex has started calling us) since Easter but really it's been a busy old life and we've been all over the bleedin' place (including to Australia for one half of us).

Things which have happened since I last posted:

1. Tim went away with the Renalls for what sounded like an incredibly fun weekend over Easter while I stayed home ensuring I brought home the bacon. I had fun staying with the Streets and having an incredibly drunken (and memorable) Good Friday which I'm still trying to live down. Martin has mocked me ever since because he managed to get me being a fool on video.

2. On "Good Monday" Martha and I went for a bush walk in the Waitakeres which we thought would be a pleasant stroll with a picnic in the middle. Turned out we had to hack our way thru dense bush and I fell over and muddied my arse and my favourite running shoes. Great times though, we had quite a laugh over it all.

3. Tim and I spent two days together after such a big break only to have to farewell each other again when I went to Brisbane. Sniff. I forgot my passport until we were heading thru the checking in part and mum asked (as a joke) if I'd remembered it. Ha ha, it was so bad! Had to call Tim to rush it to the airport for me.

4. Celebrated cousin Emma's wedding to Brett up Tambourine Mountain in Queensland - it was a most cool spot and a very cool wedding and lots of fun. Spent a few days relaxing in the hot Jimboomba weather before having to tear ourselves away, back to the real world.

5. I came down with a shocking flu. Whinge moan moan argh how annoying. I hate being sick. Was bored sensless.

6. We watched the film Kenny, which I really recommend if you haven't seen it. It's an Australian comedy similar to the Castle about a man who works with portable loos. Hilarious.

7. On Saturday we went to the Roller Derby because Danielle was really keen to check it out. We were excited that it was near home (at the Mt Wellington roller rink) and we had a few drinks at our place beforehand. Loads of fun. It was a real lesbian affair because most of the players are quite butch but a fun time was had by all. Afterward we bumped into my former workmate Judy and went to the new Sylvia Park pub with her and her mate, who had just finished interviewing Anthony Kiedis. I was most impressed! It was great fun to be able to walk home from the pub since it's never been possible at our place before! My only whinge is that the local played some truly horrible songs a la Ricky Martin's Livin La Vida Loca.

8. Half of Sunday was spent in the lounge watching Danielle try to get over her raging hangover ha ha. Thank goodness for the Home and Away omnibus which kept us all amused. Then Tim and I went to Cornwell Park to meet everyone there for some BYC (backyard cricket) which I refused to play because I normally get laughed at.

9. Then on Tuesday night Mere and Dan threw Kat a surprise birthday party to show her how we did it in the 80s in NZ. It was so much fun. There was party food (enough to rot your teeth just by looking at it) Pass the parcel, pin the tail on the donkey and the dress-up chocolate game. Hilarious. I'll post pics when I steal them from Dan.

And that's about it. Drinks this Friday to farwell Chris Moon, who "reckons' he's going to Japan. We're not sure if we believe him. Hope everyone's well, will get up photos in the morning although I can't promise they'll be too interesting!

Wishing you all the most jolly of Easters!

2007-04-05T13:40:00.000+12:00

Hey everyone, make sure you have a safe and happy Easter. Go Jesus.

If I can't have a puppy....

2007-03-22T08:14:00.000+12:00

This is Knut the polar cub! He's an orphan in Berlin but some animal activists are trying to get him killed because they say the zoo peeps are raising him as a human and that's not right. But look how cute he is! I think I'll buy one. Sure, it will grow up to be a 300kg killer, but I'm sure the two years of cuteness will be worth it. I'm sure Dustin Hoffman would be stoked to have a new playmate.

Last night a 90-year-old stole my legs and left me hers....

2007-03-19T13:02:00.000+12:00

Ouch, I seriously have the legs of a 90-year-old now. Tim, Alex and I did Round the Bays yesterday, on behalf of Tegal and Griffins, though there wasn't a cookie bear in sight. I had to go on my own because I wanted to run - and I managed the full 8.4km! I was so surprised. That's a long way for me, although I'm sure it's not for some people! Old grannies were passing me, kids were whizzing by as if I was taking baby steps. But I got there eventually.

Then I got lost trying to find the Griffins set up and ended up walking around by myself for two hours till I felt like my legs were going to give up on me entirely! I was tired and hungry and had no water, and I had to go to the Lost Kids tent and ask the lady there if I could pay her to use her cellphone! Felt like a right plonker. Tim and I ended up going to bed at 8.30 - which I actually think is a record for us.

So this morning it felt like some old biddy had taken off with my legs. I don't think my running career is going to make me world famous in New Zealand. I just winced my way down K Rd to try to stretch the ol' muscles. What's with that myth that exercise is good for you? No wonder every GP I've ever had has been overweight!

Ah, the Borat hilarity continues

2007-03-17T19:23:00.000+13:00

http://www.glumbert.com/media/sexydrownwatch

Brrrrrmmmm - Dad's first race

2007-03-17T18:11:00.000+13:00

Check this out! Dad raced today at Pukekohe for the first time in his MG Midget. It was really cool. I arrived just in time to see him zip past me on the track in his first run through. Tim and Dad's friend Lindsey crewed for him - which involved a lot of pushing the car around. He did really well, knocking three seconds off the time he estimated for himself. Cool car ay :)

Spag Bol Party In Whananaki

2007-03-12T08:45:00.000+13:00

So, 10 (sometimes 11) of us set out for Whananaki on the weekend - and what a fun two days it was. We did lots of swimming in the rough waves, lots of eating of sausages and lots of dressing up in disturbing costumes only to be photographed by a friendly stranger. Most of the boys opted to dress in drag, except for Tim who opted for something even more disturbing and came away the winner on the day.
Highlights:

Red wearing Kelly's pink mini skirt, and facial stubble.
Daniel modelling Alex's bikini top.
Tim's Godawful outfit.
Danielle managing to trick Eddie into swapping outfits, only to end up being more comfortable than she was before! Ha ha. Us women, we're clever.
The skinny-dip where the boys didn't realise the girls were actually wearing clothing.
Tim explaining organising the transport as "trying to organise children at a spaghetti bolognaise party (we still don't know what he meant by that)
The strictest game of Kings I've ever played, with Eddie the Fuhrer spitting the dummy if we didn't stick to his rules.

Pics from my now de-funked cellphone

2007-03-07T18:49:00.000+13:00

Martina Street during Movember

Pauly Fa-ma-wee-na during Movember

Tim as we waited SIX hours to watch the tennis

Tim at the Leigh Sawmill

Kelly at the Leigh Sawmill

Red and Kelly at the... you get the drift

Kat playing poker - Paul trying to put her off no doubt!

Jim at Wendy's. We eat real healthy

A dangerous creature known as the Hannah Taylorsaurus

Leonard K eating chocolate - surprise surprise

Tim

My favourite little man

And the next photos are of us all at the Black Seeds concert at the Zoooooo

Bondi - The Craziest Place On Earth

2007-02-12T11:41:00.000+13:00

Me again. I seem to always hog this thing. Although I have asked Tim to post some pics of the gorgeous little Sofia Currie - but we'll see!!

Well I went from the" training" - the term is used loosely because we got barely any training done. Mostly we just ate. Anna Payne and I had a grand Home and Away date (for those who care, Amanda and Peter are engaged, Drew and Belle are getting back together and Sally may or may not have died) in my hotel room on Thursday night before heading off for Darling Harbour and dinner with Marcus. It was delicious and such a cool spot. Sydney really has it all covered. When are the losers that run Auckland going to figure it out?

Then on Friday afternoon Anna and Marcus left for home while I went to see Mali (who does my job but in Sydney and is based at the Channel Seven network) and got shown around the TV studio. I went for lunch with Mike (also does my job) and his random friend who works for the NSW government, and could finally explain to me how that all works! And then I was free!

I dragged my gigantic suitcase all the way from the hotel, up a slight hill to the train station, to Bondi Junction where I met with Char and Des. They're still the same! Having a great time in Bondi.

And that leads me to Bondi itself - a CRAZY place. It's like nothing I've ever seen. I was there when I was 19 but somehow managed to not realise what an insane place it is. It is insane for the following reasons:

1. The speedos. Men of all sizes wear speedos.
2. All men are so into themselves. They are tanned, buffed, shaven, strutting their stuff. It's really disturbing (how nice to get home to A REAL MAN!)
3. Plastic surgery. I have never seen so much fakery in all my days. Big boobs, fake fan, botoxed face. Charlene and I saw a woman who was so botoxed, she looked (from a slight distance) as if she was balling her eyes out. Up close, you can see that her face is just so munted from botox that it has this effect. Awful.
4. Nobody sleeps - they just party. Except old grandma me, who slept as much as I could in the noisiest place on earth.

It sounds like I hated Bondi, but I actually had a raging good time, catching up with Char, sampling the millions of eateries, swimming in the really nice water! It was a blast. And catching up with Charlene, Des and Mel was so much fun! I hadn't seen Mel (who did the original tour of NSW with Vicky and I six years ago!) for about four years, so that was great.

Flew home in the flash new Airbus. Was so happy to see Tim, it felt like weeks since we'd seen each other ha ha.

And now reality. It sinks in pretty fast when you're under these damn fluorescent lights!

Have fun!

G'day MATE

2007-02-07T16:32:00.000+13:00

How jolly exciting. I'm in Sydney on my first business trip. I say first as if it's likely there will be more. Let's be honest, this might be it for the fun trips. Had a good flight although they played one of the worst movies I've seen in a long while. "A Good Year". Don't see it. I think staring at a wall would be more entertaining. Absolutely terrible. Russelll Crowe trying to do romantic when he should stick to being a bonehead and trying to be funny when he's funnier for getting caught throwing phones at hotel workers.

Anyway! Good news when we got to the hotel! They had run out of the cheaper rooms and I had to be upgraded to the 31st floor (of 33) while Anna and Marcus are on the 10th. Doesn't sound like there're many differences in our rooms, but they are mighty flash! So tonight I plan to take a bath way higher than I ever have, the big tub looks over Sydney City! So cool.

The Yahoo! offices are something special. They're on "Pier 8" on the water and they're old boatsheds renovated into the funkiest office spaces ever. There are even lolly jars everywhere which of course I'm quite excited about. Although I think my status as a guest curtails any plans I had to steal lollies.

It's been celeb-time for me. I saw Harmeet Sooden at Mission Bay - his nose is just as big in real life as it was in all those hostage pics. Ian Ferguson was on my plane (I was tempted to ask about his great looking son, but he probably wouldn't have appreciated it). Then we spotted the Scissor Sisters in our hotel lobby! RoCK StARS!!

Our boss Carolyn is taking us out for dinner tonight, let's hope this socialising business doesn't interfere with my (and Anna Payne's) plans to watch some ahead-of-time Home And Away, take a long bath, check out the mini bar and get a jolly good sleep in the biggest, flashest bed I've ever laid my eyes on. Talk about "you can take the girl out of the West...."

Oh and shopping. To Tim's horror, I plan at least a tiny, mini, little, non-expensive look at Sydney's shops. Because let's face it, in two weeks I'll be having a quarter life crises and nothing helps more than a shiny new handbag.... and shoes... and earrings... and dresses...

A New Mrs Bree!

2007-02-01T10:51:00.000+13:00

There is so much to report! But alas, I don't have the time. Check out the pictures of Stacey and Tanya's wedding, which was so much fun and they looked so amazing! I have a sister-in-law which is quite exciting :) And Tim has a new neice Sofia too! Will get him to post some photos of the little cutie! And I will update everyone on more exciting things when I get a chance.

2007-01-09T06:22:00.000+13:00

Last Photos For 2006

2007-01-09T06:14:00.000+13:00

Yee-Ha For 2007!

2007-01-08T08:55:00.000+13:00

Hello everyone, Happy New Year

I'm so excited that it's 2007! Bring on the year - it's going to be a good one. Let's hope it doesn't fly by as quickly as 2006 did. Well I finally got a holiday after a year of hard slog at the rollercoaster that is XtraMSN. I got a new job too - I start at Yahoo! (you must always put the ! in of course) on March 1 and it looks like our new office might be in Parnell - so the shopping temptation will reach a dangerous level. 2007 is going to be loads of fun. We've got Tim's new niece/nephew coming any day now, the Streets' wedding to help plan, Stacey and Tanya's wedding in a few weeks, a trip to Oz for my cousin Emma's wedding (I see a theme...) saving for our big trip and hopefully learning some Spanish along the way. And Tim will no doubt be really busy with his last year at university!! Wow, it's all going so quickly.

The summer break was fabulous - too short of course, but so much fun. On Christmas Eve Tim, Nic and I headed to Red Beach to spend Christmas with my family. The Burnie parents had left us on the 23rd to travel to Italy for a very chilly summer. Christmas Day was a lot of fun, particularly when we put our new poker set to good use - Jay was all talk and ended up leaving the table, and cousin Jenny sharked us all into thinking she didn't know how to play, only to leave with most of the loot!

It was back to our house for Christmas night and there was some serious packing to do, as Tim always treats our camping trips like military operations. That boy knows how to pack! I did my best to keep up, but God forbid I should try to help him with the actual placing of items in the ute! We disgraced ourselves by having Domino Pizza for dinner (the only food place that was open) and watched some Bill Bailey stand up.

Boxing Day we met Alex at the Sultan St apartment where we attempted to fit her stuff into the ute (this required pulling out all items and leaving some stuff behind!) And we were off! Up to Uretiti. I knew it was a nudist beach, but I had no idea that it was a haven for gay men. What a fun time! There were gay guys everywhere wearing cowboy hats and they were prepared to party. Alex and I fell in love with Santa - a little boy who dressed up as Santa and rode his bike around the camping ground.

The three of us did some serious relaxing. We just lay around, swam, read books and magazines and ate. That was it, until Daniel arrived on the same day as my brother Justin and his mates Liam and Mark. We had a massive night on the 29th. I had to be carried to bed and woke up feeling so embarrassed - one of those 'I'm never drinking again' moments. Needless to say the 30th was a quiet day all round.

On the 31st we packed up early (happy to see the back of the 'party' camping ground to be honest) and headed up to Ngunguru to see Stacey and Tanya and friends. The boys went out on Stacey's boat where Tim and Daniel had the greatest dive ever (so we heard for the rest of the day!) and got us a yummy crayfish. Alex and I hung out at the beach, did some shopping (I bought a cool white cowboy hat, inspired by the Uretiti gaymen) and hung out with Zach and everyone.

New Year's Eve was a blast. It started off with drinking petanque (if you throw the worst attempt, you have to drink half your vessel) drinking games and dancing. We had so much fun! Tim and Daniel got mortifyingly drunk - check out the photos I'm going to post next - and headed for the sports club to meet some locals. By the time we got there they had double spirit drinks lining the bars and seemed to know half the club. And they were acting like such meatheads that Alex and I decided to leave them to it! Luckily they came running back to the house in time for the countdown.

Highlights included:

* Alex having to drink the worst concoction ever after losing Kings

* Stacey sticking a lit cigarette up his butt after getting someone to draw a smiley face on his arse cheeks

* Tim screaming abuse at the end of the night because nobody would let him sing "Elton McJohn" on the Singstar game. They weren't giving him a go with "Vamilla Ice" either hahaha

* Daniel telling us 400 times that it was the best New Year he'd ever had and dancing like a hillbilly in front of everyone

*Tim's rendition of "the window" dance move (open the window, climb through, close the window) which took the whole group a few minutes to decipher

Fight For The Right To Paaaaarty

2006-12-18T08:03:00.000+13:00

Well Christmas is upon us and as usual, it's complete madness. But what a lot of fun! Work is crazy. XtraMSN is being shut down on Feb 28, 2007 and so I had to reapply for my job in the new Yahoo!Xtra, which will be based in Sydney. Luckily they're keeping the news team in Auckland, so I at least had something to apply for. I'll let everyone know what happens when they tell us...

Had a Christmas party at Aunty Jules' place on Sunday (photos below) and gearing up for a big work week, then finally A HOLIDAY! My first of the year. Had a hilarious Telecom Christmas party which was a laugh. Will post more when fun stuff happens....

50s Fun

2006-12-06T08:35:00.000+13:00

All the sewing was worth it - a really fun night. Our outfits were fantastic and the boys' efforts were great as well. Tim looked like the old man in a pack of 50s ratbags. Fun times all round. Martin did a lovely speech and it was great to see everybody's parents having fun too. The highlight would have to be Nick Bell's homemade bomb which rattled the Bowler's roof and scared the bejesus out of the party guests.

Helcat's Birthday Fun

2006-11-26T18:02:00.000+13:00

Went down to Thames on Saturday to help Helen celebrate turning 40. Colin had lots of cheeky things to say about her age, but Helen just laughed it off - he's a cheeky bugger! She looked amazing in her new Annah S dress (Colin, of course, had no idea she'd made such a purchase) and her pearls she had strung up in Auckland. Very cool. And that's their gorgeous daughter Maddy there - she's four months now and a really alert, bright little baby - so cute! Had a lot of fun at the local Thames Thai restaurant - just a shame I had to drive home afterwards and couldn't give in to the bucket of margarita Colin made! Although he was a bit too handy with the 500ml bottle of Tequila for my liking!

Then on Sunday I had to work which was really slow - not a lot happening. Worked from home and sewed my new dress in between - boy was it fun! I had no idea sewing could be so much fun! Just watching the little bits come together to actually form something - brilliant. My original dress ended up looking quite good but it didn't quite sit right so I went and bought some beautiful BRIGHT GREEN material and I'm starting again - it's a great shape for the 50s theme and should be a lot of fun to wear. I'm so domestic now it's almost scary - when did that happen? Tim met a 22-year-old who couldn't cook, didn't like cleaning or anything domestic and now he's got himself a domestic goddess. Okay! Maybe that's going too far. I can just see him shaking his head at that one.

Heard from the lovely Hannah who is in Italy at the moment - she fell in love with Florence but will be happy to be home after not seeing her husband for five weeks (he's trekking around Vietnam - hope you're okay James!) Oh and we had poker night at our house last night - I only just broke even and Tim lost everything! Lucky the buy-in's only $5. Meredith cleaned up and Dan & Hugh, Paul & Kat also did really well. Fun times.

Now I'm just really looking forward to M&M's engagement party on Saturday - it promises to be a great one - and having a day off on Friday :) Hurray.

Cherry Annoying Blog Site

2006-11-24T14:17:00.000+13:00

Don Brash Molesting A Cherry Tomato will be on this site as soon as the damn thing lets me put up photos. Oh now I've hyped it up too much - really it's just Dr Don and a cherry tomato.

Facial Hair Is Not My Friend

2006-11-24T13:50:00.000+13:00

I'm going to post a pic when I have a good one of the monstrosity that has grown on Tim's face. I'm all for raising money for prostate cancer, but why does it have to involve something which makes my boyfriend look creepy. He has such a nice face and he's hiding it behind the "chopper" mo. Quite disturbing.

Had the craziest day at work yesterday when Dr Don, leader of the National Party resigned. I was so shocked but had to jump into action immediately to try and get the story up. Boy, who would want to be a politician? We had a story calling him the Political Mr Magoo. He he. (By the way I've posted my favourite picture of him, being WAY too amused by a cherry tomato - what's up with that?)

Well it's all a downhill slide to Christmas now, and I can only imagine this last month of 2006 is going to fly by. Meredith, Danielle and I got busy last weekend on some 50s dresses for Mere and Mart's engagement party. It's quite exciting. Danielle made the most amazing skirt - very cool. And the other dresses are in "production". Ie, mine is sitting in my sewing basket because I'm too scared to try to attach the bodice to the skirt.

I found some great 50s slang on the internet for us to use on the night. Can you believe they ACTUALLY SAID THESE:

Agitate The Gravel (To Leave)
Are You Writing A Book (You're Asking Too Many Questions)
Back Seat Bingo (Necking In A Car)
Blow Off (To Defeat In A Race) (Quite different from what it meant when I was 10)
Cat (A Hip Person)
Word From The Bird (The Truth)

What else is new? Zach the nephew is crawling - how cute! We welcomed little Lucas Forbes into the world (the son of my two bosses Kath and Marcus). I'm continuing my year of reading the classics with Gone With The Wind, I think I'm in love with Scarlett O'Hara already. Tim's back into the swing of full time work and has his Christmas party this week (I have to say, when did Christmas parties start happening in November?) Daniel's boat's being launched in a week or so, a good reason to crack open some bubbles I'm sure. Oh and I just got given an Elvis DVD to review (which might just happen to end up being a Christmas present for Danielle! Shhh don't tell her it was free.).

I almost forgot the most exciting thing. Tim came home during the week with a more-than-impressive plan for our big OE. He had planned a bit of a journey through South America, so I stole all the South American Lonely Planet guides off our travel producer at work, and we've been planning our route. I really want to make sure we don't end up anywhere too dodgy though, have seen one too many documentaries I think.

It's beyond exciting, and looks like we'll end up going up the East Coast of the US, and flying out of New York. So very cool! Then to London for a bit of work. That's all I've got, hope everyone is well and not attending too many boring Christmas parties a month too early!

2006-11-21T18:42:00.000+13:00

It's my first post. Be gentle

2006-11-21T17:24:00.000+13:00

Well i've been told i should add to OUR blog site. Being my first post i was told the rules, no boobies or anything dodgy. So it's taken me 3 days to come up with the following sentences. (Also please note i take a total and complete disregard for spelling and gramma. if it's spelt wrong or makes no sense, tough i think you'll live and if you do happen to have a corenery due my bad spelling i've just found out you should ring 112. It gets you through faster apperently.)

Well we've just come back from a great weekend up north at a camp ground in whananaki. Had wicked weather, with the sun burning us all till we looked like red crayfish, which coincendently is what we had for dinner care of Mr Daniel Renall. Kelly was stoked cause it was her first taste of the little critters. Me and Red built a sand castle we can happily say was the biggest we have created in our sand building carreers.
I'm finally back at work full time and am waiting for my exam results. The guts are getting better. Been running around and playing soccer for the last week.

Also been growing a mow for MoVember to Kelly's discust. It's also why this month is called NO-vember. If you don't have a clue why i'm growing it go to the following website. All will be explained www.movember.com.au/nz/home and if you want to sponser me my rego is 30294.

CU
Tim

Celebrate...Good....Times...Come On!

2006-11-06T14:47:00.000+13:00

I'm a bit slow on this one but I was waiting to find a really gorgeous pic of these two that's somewhere at home. But a shot of the bling and Martin's Movember facial hair will just have to do. CONGRATULATIONS MERE & MARTY - NEWLY ENGAGED :) I'm so excited. Can't wait to have a big fun wedding and see them tie the knot. And Danielle and I get to be bridesmaids! Oh the fun of it all. Marty did the most wonderful, romantic proposing which we're all impressed with, and Meredith is in LOVE with her new bling - the coolest engagement ring you'll see in a while! Was so stoked with the news and we all went out to celebrate last Thursday which was most fun! Seriously, congrats you two!

2006-11-01T12:54:00.000+13:00

Entering The 'Terrible Twos'

2006-11-01T12:39:00.000+13:00

Well it's crazy to think but Tim and I turned two yesterday. Very exciting. He was bogged down in exams so we're celebrating tonight when they're over. Yay! He's been working so hard so it will be a relief for him to walk out of that last exam.

I bought him a skateboard for our anniversary which could prove disasterous. I hope I don't put him back in hospital! We gave it a go on the drive last night but let's just say we're not ready to turn pro just yet.

Anyway to get all cheesy on you guys (it is the theme of this blog after all) I must say that the last two years have been the most fun and special of my wee life and that I'm so glad Tim and I got blind drunk and 'bumped' into each other in the tackiest pub in Auckland :) I thoroughly recommend this form of speed dating he he. Happy Anniversary Timothy Burnie!

Men In Drag

2006-10-29T10:00:00.000+13:00

It doesn't take much to encourage those boys into dresses, which is what really worries me. Just one mention of the fact that I own dresses and whammo - they're dressed in drag. Alex and I went a little more low key to the 80s party - she grabbed a bottle of Mello Yello and I wore an Adidas cap - but the boys just had to show us up.

Daniel was really disturbing because (and I quote) he "felt sexy" at one point. Hmmmm. And then there was the incident with someone's bra which the man with one jandal stole off the line. Note to people throwing rowdy parties: ALWAYS TAKE YOUR WASHING OFF THE LINE. PARTICULARLY UNDERWEAR. Boys can't help themselves.

The guy with one jandal was freaking hilarious. He was gutted cause he'd borrowed them off his dad and broken one. As we walked in to the party he turned around and said: "If anyone asks, I haven't lost a jandal, I've found one". Ha ha ha.

Other photos are of Daniel's surprise birthday party - the TWO CAKE affair - and of Vicky as she turned a very mature 25, Tim looking at a property book in Pauanui while we waited for the crew to arrive, and Zach in his new highchair that his nana got him. He's learned how to bang on things - brilliant!

OH AND You've got to click on the top pic to read the street name. Alex spotted it and the "laydees" were completely oblivious.

Some Photos - Some Strange People

2006-10-29T09:45:00.000+13:00

New Ricky Gervais Podcasts

2006-10-25T18:24:00.000+13:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OGqr6tZHcU&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0LBmEfy2uo&mode=related&search=

Life As We Know It

2006-10-25T17:45:00.000+13:00

Well life has been a little mad lately with work and study taking over. Tim's in the middle of a mean set of exams. He's got one this Friday and then one Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week. So our Labour Weekend was full of relaxing, DVD watching and book reading (for me) and study, study, study (for Mr Burnie).

Labour weekend was (hold your surpise) drizzly, grey and awful mostly, so a great excuse to watch DVDs and hang around home. On Friday night Tim and I babysat my nephew who was a little angel and didn't wake up all evening. It was Stacey's fiance Tanya's birthday so they went out. Zach was so cute - he's over 8 months now so he's getting really entertaining. And he's decided he likes us which is fun. No more frowning at us as if to say "What are you guys doing in my house?"

Saturday night we watched the rugger (Waikato v Wellington, the Air NZ cup final) at Uncle (not mine, Tim's) Richard's house with the whole Burnie clan and Tim's brother in law Grant who is over from Italy. It was real "get out the Nurofen" stuff with Paul's cow bell ringing all night and Adrienne and Trina screaming - loads of fun! And Waikato won which was great.

We were also introduced to the British show Green Wing which we've since watched continuously. How bloody hilarious. If you haven't seen it - get it out at the vid store. It's the maddest show I've ever seen and went well with my weekend of Brit geniuses (I also watched three episodes of Extras, Ricky Gervais is the coolest cat ever).

And Monday we made the idiotic move of venturing north to see Red and Kelly in the worst Labour Weekend weather you've ever seen. Luckily the rain stopped for long enough for us to hang out at Matheson's Bay and watch Red and Tim make (then destroy) a sand castle. Grubby little buggers. Kelly concluded that men never grow up - think I have to agree with her there.

We missed the weekly poker night which was a bit of a bummer but we plan to kick some arse at the next one. Can't have Martin winning money every week - his ego would be massive! He's already given himself a nickname - Aces. We hope it won't catch on.

Mere and I are in training for a 10 km run. Amanda, we actually plan to run it! Can you believe it. None of this sign up and pike stuff like you usually do :) Ha ha. Should be fun. I can now run 4.8km which is just amazing. I keep arriving home almost dead, but I'm sure that's perfectly normal.

So everyone, have fun! Hope everything's going well in your parts of the world!

James Morrison!

2006-10-19T07:57:00.000+13:00

I had an exciting day yesterday. I went and interviewed this hot British singer/songwriter James Morrison. He's all the rage at the moment and his album is amazing. It was quite cool - we went along to a new swanky hotel, the Quadrant, in the city and interviewed him in his hotel room. He was really lovely and having a grand time in New Zealand. Last night was the New Zealand Music Awards so he picked a good time to come. So now I get to cut the video together and play around with our editing software - that should be interesting! Haven't done it since university. Anyway, just wanted to tell you about meeting this raging spunk (don't tell Timmy, I already have) and doing my first real interview (Sorry Red!) in about 18 months! Fun times. I'll post the video if it doesn't look like a three-year-old was let loose on it. Let's face it, that's highly likely...

Acid Is Alive And Well

2006-10-07T11:13:00.000+13:00

This is a video link Martin sent me. It's hilarious! Loco Germans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO10s_HK6d0

Mahir Mahir

2006-09-19T14:29:00.000+12:00

In light of a recent conversation with Amanda Jean Peart, check out this hilarious link...

http://www.istanbul.tc/mahir/mahir/

I can't figure out if it's a real dude or not - but my workmate Claire sent it to me because of the release of the Borat movie.

It's a gas, as Aine would say! He's got one hell of a mo.

I Kiss You!

Oh and Tim's doing great now. Off to get the staples pulled out on Friday. And in other news the land of the long white cloud gets Dan and Alex back soon - how jolly exciting. Just two weeks to go before they arrive.

Oh and here's a joke sent to me by Lisa Booth (aka Laisel Boob)

Sad News...With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week.Larry LaPrise, the man that wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died peacefully at the age of 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in, and then the trouble started.

Check It Out!

2006-09-15T07:33:00.000+12:00

Here we go I had to do it - a pic of Tim's staples :) Quite amazing. It goes even further up than that too - and around his belly button. He's allowed home as soon as he does a good poo and tells the docs about it.

This is a view from side on.

Latest On Op

2006-09-13T14:02:00.000+12:00

Well the removal of Cecil the Cyst went really well. The surgeon was happy with the operation - and he says there's nothing to worry about with the cyst - turns out it's just a strange thing Tim managed to grow, and came out relatively easily without having to take any of the intestine.

Tim was in a lot of pain yesterday and it was quite awful but he's doing a lot better today. He's got morphine hooked up to a button - so guess who's a happy boy!

Thanks to everyone who called and sent emails/messages - was awesome to hear from everybody. Will keep you posted on when they let him out. I'm off to deliver a bunch of DVDs to keep him going!

Peace ;)

Tim's Operation

2006-09-11T13:41:00.000+12:00

Hi everyone, just a quick note to say if I'm not in touch much at the moment, it's because things have been quite busy here in Auckland. Tim is going in for an operation tomorrow. It's nothing to be worried about, but it's quite a major one and he's going to be well out of action for a few weeks.

He's been feeling a lot of abdominal pain for about three weeks and an MRI scan finally discovered that he has a cyst the size of a baseball in his intestines. Not very fun. But we've named him Cecil and will be glad to see him go!

So Tim will be in the Manukau SuperClinic for about 7 days they think and then home to rest up for about six weeks. Hopefully he'll be able to make up for lost time with uni once he's better.

I'll post again once we know all about our new friend Cecil.

Pics From The Last Month

2006-08-31T09:37:00.000+12:00

From the bottom up: Tim and Adrienne on the day we went for a "wee" hike with the whole Burnie family (and the dogs) and ended up nearly dead from exhaustion, hours later when we finally emerged. Beautiful day though - check out that winter sky!

My workmates Marvin, Hariet and Jude recreate the Xtra Ordinaries (and really lame Xtra ad playing here at the moment) on our Snowplanet day.

The Snowplanet people found it difficult to understand that Jude didn't need LARGE snowpants. So she ended up spending a bit of time just in her longjohns. As you can see, she wasn't too shy about it.

How to save money and risk your safety: When Tim's car needed fixing, he made his own ramp thing instead of buying one. Brilliant, but I feared for his handsome head!

Check out that cute baby! He keeps looking really sad in photos! But he's not - he's a happy little bee and really smiley. And so cute! I'm so biased.

Othello

2006-08-26T11:22:00.000+12:00

We played lots of Othello in Christchurch - something I'd sadly missed as a child! How did this game pass me by? I think I was too busy reading Babysitter's Club books to get on to this trend. So now I'm mildly obsessed - but I can't beat Tim! Which is a big problem, ha ha. Does anyone have any tips? Strategy was never my strong point.

These Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty

2006-08-26T11:07:00.000+12:00

Ah. I've been a lazy poo on the blogging site. I will make up for it. Right here. Right now. Well Tim and I have had a bit of a rough week. Tim's grandad Ian passed away last week so we went down with Paul and Nic to Christchurch. The funeral was really nice - great for everyone to be together, but very sad at the same time. Made me think about catching up with everyone and not being so slack!

I've started a very exciting photo wall in our house which is really cool. I'm going to try to get pictures of everyone up there. I already have you, Mr Renall, looking mighty disappointed at the Pauanui chippie - so funny.

Winter has been really mild and spring is almost here. Hanging out for summer - hopefully it will be a good and long one. I'm in training for a "quarter" marathon which is really exciting. It's only 10km but that is like 100km when you compare it to how unfit I am. So tough times ahead.

Yesterday I travelled to Thames to meet the latest addition to the Beaufill family. Helen gave birth to little Madelaine. She is so adorable. Pics up as soon as I can get them. Thames is amazing. One day I will own the second-hand bookshop there. When I'm old and wrinkly.

Tim's been really busy with uni and Griffins. We welcomed back Mere and Mart from the US (Meredith fell over and ended up in hospital - funnier than it sounds!) Danielle and Hugh are settling into their new careers in the jewellery world and the education sector :)

I will have photos up soon. We've got new ones of nephew Zach who is getting so big and clever. And some others which are probably really unexciting.

Not much happening in the world of news at the moment. New Zealand finally has its very own kidnapped journalist - you can imagine how excited we are about that. The Maori queen died and the media went mental about it even though, let's be honest, most of us couldn't even identify her in a photo while she was alive. And that's about all that's happening! Kia Ora.

Black Seeds Hit Number One

2006-08-09T13:26:00.000+12:00

One of the greatest Kiwi bands Black Seeds have reached number one in the land of the long white cloud, with their new album Into The Dojo. Mighty exciting. They're touring Enzed soon and they're off to Europe after that. My workmate Nick interviewed them lately and here's the cool vid which features on the one and only XtraMSN:

http://xtramsn.co.nz/music/0,,13572-6148388-300,00.html

Streets And The City

2006-07-31T08:33:00.000+12:00

Noo Yark! Just wanted to say a big hello to Mere and Marty (and Paul) who are currently ripping it up in New York. You guys probably won't look at this with the city that never sleeps as your playground, but if you do I hope you have the grandest time. Stay safe and take lots of photos!

PS: I take a size 8 in shoes (that's 39 Euro) and I like pretty things and chocolate. And if you see any of the Beastie Boys... please don't tell me or I'll die of jealousy :)

My New Snowboarding Lifestyle

2006-07-21T12:09:00.000+12:00

I am officially a major snowboarder now. If you can be a major snowboarder without any skills and when you spend half your time on your butt. Oh, and I also can't stop which was a real problem when I was hurtling towards a group of five year olds. Went on a work "bonding session" to snowplanet where we had a snowboarding lesson and an hour on our own to wreck havoc. It was much fun! I'll be dragging Tim along really soon to the 'mountain' on the Northern Motorway :)

Meet Karl Pilkington

2006-07-12T18:17:00.000+12:00

http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=XFDtbhQlCQM

Funny video. But also, can recommend Ricky Gervais' Animals standup DVD. Watched it with Mere and Marty the other night and Marty became quite obsessed with "knob-end island". I do love Ricky Gervais. The Office is still my favourite show ever made.

Free love on the freelove freeway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bA5OnSqnjA&search=David%20Brent (the funniest TV moment ever - love Gareth in the background!)

Can I ask fatty to lose weight? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXATK_yxFIQ&mode=related&search=the%20office

Wide Load

2006-07-11T16:39:00.000+12:00

A lady goes to the Queen's races. Can you believe this hat? It's almost as bad as Nicky Watson going to the Auckland races with her boobs out and announcing that she was wearing no underwear. Oh okay, maybe not. But you have to wonder if this old geezer could fit through the door to place her bets? And if she bonked her poor bastard husband in the head while trying to get a look at the racing.

Nicht Gut!

2006-07-06T09:41:00.000+12:00

Quite gutted Germany didn't win - I was rooting for the host team which has such wonderfully named players as Bernd Schneider. But alas, it was Italy's day. Then I found this awesome pic of an Italian Stallion (not quite) fan, living it up in his underwear fit for a child... Oh and Amanda von Peart alerted me to the fact that both the hot Italians in the previous post scored goals for their team, so that' s exciting.

Latest Photos

2006-06-29T07:46:00.000+12:00

First up: Martina's birthday as he turns real old and celebrates in style. Also a big yay time to have Danielle Bell and Hugot back in the land of the long white cloud. Then we have a bit more baby fun with Zach and my cousin Becks and my Nan. Finally some dress-up madness as we farewell Michael and Rebecca. In case it's not obvious, Tim is a fairy, I'm a prom queen, Vicky went as a granny, Red was a pirate, Beka a firefighter and Edward was Evil Knievel in an amazing outfit his sister made!

Plastic Housewife

2006-06-15T16:48:00.000+12:00

I'm so disgusted with plastic surgery at the moment. I can remember when NZ first got Desperate Housewives and everyone was amazed at how gorgeous Teri Hatcher looked. And now check her out! Her whole face is munted by plastic surgery. She's obviously gone too far. So if any of you are thinking of surgical enchancement - please don't. Except you Martin, you gotta get rid of that thing on your face, bro. Puts me off my dinner.

Girls - Get Voting

2006-06-09T13:35:00.000+12:00

Hey guys. Anna Murray was writing her weekly "sexy sports star" column today and we had an office-wide debate over which Italian footballer was hotter. So get in your votes. For the record I prefer number two, whose name is Marco.

ZB

2006-06-06T11:36:00.000+12:00

Our little man is growing up so fast. He's getting so big - really long and about twice his birth weight. He can also hold his head up almost on his own. Very clever, as all Brees tend to be. Here he is with his grandpa.

Sideburn Rob

2006-06-06T11:17:00.000+12:00

What happens when a bunch of lunatics hit the town dressed up as their workmate. Despite not looking like him at all, it was a great night had by everyone. And Rob knew exactly who they were when he walked through the door. Was so much fun - we had perfect strangers trying on the Rob wigs and the singer at the Claddagh even put one on. Then he got Rob up on stage and made up songs about his sideburns. Brilliant. And at the end of the night, Rob could barely talk, so that was athe sign of a good send off. (Don't ask me about my outfit, cocked it up big time - but the mic sure came in handy during the singalongs!)

Disaster In West Auckland

2006-06-02T09:06:00.000+12:00

The unthinkable has happened. I can't stand Tom Cruise and the mongrel has come over here and bought up a chunk of my beloved rural West Auckland! Apparently he was seen at the Downtown Ferry Building and has bought land in Coatesville. And he's going to build a mansion there. Poos. West Auckland is going to be tainted with Scientology-loving aliens. At least when he was in Taranaki it was hours away :(

Cheese!

2006-05-30T09:11:00.000+12:00

Did any of you Londoners travel to the Cheese Rolling? I hear it's quite an event! Looks bloody dangerous. I can imagine Daniel Renall sliding down a hill like a mad goat! Bring us home a bit, wouldya.

Poor Invercargill

2006-05-20T08:14:00.000+12:00

We went to Peter Helliar (pictured) on Thursday night. He's an Aussie stand up comedian and was bloody hilarious. He gave NZ a lot of shit which was a hoot. But it was brilliant when he said his Kiwi mate had handed him a piece of paper to read out during his show. He didn't know what it said or what it meant, but he pulled it out and goes "Okay. How FUCKED is Invercargill?" It was quite brilliant. Except the Invercargillite in the front row might not have thought so.... Going to a few of the Comedy Festival shows this year, as I'm reviewing them for a wonderful website we all know and love. Take a bit to top this mad ocker though. He did the best wombat impression I could ever imagine.

Fake Boobs Needed

2006-05-17T14:27:00.000+12:00

The big question of the day which I need help with: How can I get massive fake boobs? We're throwing a "Famous Brits" party for our beloved Robert Yarde who's leaving us for Canada (he's from Bath, England) and I'm dressing up as the Vicar of Dibley (Daniel, there's really no need for a "child bearing hips" comment here). Anyway, I need some serious padding for the boob situation - any ideas? I want them to look authentic.

Xtra Xtra...Cocktail Madness

2006-05-16T18:01:00.000+12:00

My workmate Lenny and I have created the XtraMSN social club. Here's a picture of Tim getting amongst it at our first event - the Telecom Cocktail Party (let's all hope we weren't really representing the nation's biggest company). That' s Tim making up his very own cocktail (which went down really well!) Next to him is the famous Jude Lett. Lord knows what she was making. And the "silver fox" Peter who ended up nearly bankrupting himself at the bar.

Piles Of Emails

2006-05-16T17:26:00.000+12:00

Many of you have been sending me a plethora of emails asking to see Tim on a farm bike, so here you go. This was back when the sun shone in NZ and we all had a jolly good summer. Tim decided to take Anna's farm bike for a hoon along the beach, because growing up on a farm clearly did not satiate his desire for four wheels...

Zach Attack

2006-05-16T17:21:00.000+12:00

Just because he's so damn cute, I thought I'd post a picture of the newest member of my family, one Zach Bree, who is now three months old! His parents (my brother Stacey and his partner Tanya) are getting married in January which is all very exciting. This was Zach when he was a day old.

Get It Poppin'

2006-05-16T17:02:00.000+12:00

Hi there. This is just a test. I'm trying to figure out how to join the world of extremely hip people who have these blog sites, mainly to share photos with all of you fullas not in New Zealand. Kia Ora and all that. I hope life is rocking like an old geezer in a rocking chair for you all out there.