Oh the Thinks you can Think

Despite being trounced by the English and losing the Ashes, we will hold our heads high come the hot weather. Because there’s just something wonderful about cricket.

1. The Terminology – googlies, silly mid on, nightwatchmen, bunnies and golden ducks. Explaining cricket to a novice is entertaining.
2. The Trousers – There’s something about a sport played in slacks.
3. The Refinement of the Member’s Stand – suits and frocks and lovely sunhats.
4. The Larrikins on the Hill – watermelon hats? Really?
5. The Memories –
6. The Legends – The Don, c. Marsh b. Lillee, Steve Waugh’s tour diaries, Warney’s first magical ball to Gatting, Dougie Walters laidback brilliance…
7. The Commentary Teams – You don’t fill five days worth of airwaves without being genuinely entertaining.
8. The 12th Man’s It’s Just Not Cricket –
9. The Length – Five day tests mean you can get on with life while you’re watching and not miss too much.
10. The Underdogs - This is what we’ll be next time. And everyone loves an underdog.

Drop us a comment telling us what you love about cricket!

Today I bought a container of Perfect Italiano ricotta for no reason. I have no dish planned that I need it for, although I will no doubt find one. I bought it simply because I love the latest Perfect Italiano ad campaign so much.

In my defence, the ad is BRILLIANT. Apparently it is the work of Clemenger BBDO in Melbourne, although I couldn’t find a link to the campaign on their website. For those who haven’t seen the Perfect Man ad, here it is for your viewing pleasure.

Personally, I can’t wait to find the latest commercial with the line “I love to listen. I love to hear the problems of your friends.. And when there is no woman to listen too, I practice my listening face.” Awesome.

Calling on the Blogosphere and the Twitterverse – I need your help!

For years now I have been hankering for jelly babies that taste like jelly babies used to taste when I was a kid. You know, when you’d go to the corner shop and carefully select “five of these and five of those” from the boxes under the glass and the shopkeeper would twist them up in a little white paper bag?

Lollies these days are all natural flavours and colours, except for those sour things that my kids like which I’m sure are made from an unholy alliance of sucrose and gunpowder.  I don’t know about you, but to me lollies are meant to taste fake. If I wanted fruit, I’d eat an apple. So my search for the perfect jelly baby goes on.

Here are my criteria:

Taste: sugary, synthetic -  like nothing that grows on a tree or bush!

Appearance: Bright colours, no powdered sugar (I’ve been directed to Bassett’s and their ilk before, and they’re just not what I’m after. I’m pretty sure Allen’s used to taste right, until they went all healthy on me. Damn you Allens -  denying my children’s right to massive sugar and chemical highs!!)

Texture: Soft and squishy, doesn’t stick in your teeth. Not chewy like gummi bears

There used to be a brand of lollies that started with a K and made big bags of jelly cats that tasted about right, but the brand name eludes me. I could only find them at the local Franklins when I was at Uni, so we’re talking early 90s.

If you can think of a brand, comment with the name and where I can get them! Susan is going crazy with my constant (seriously, it’s been years) harping.

On Sunday morning I had a brief panic attack as I contemplated the afternoon ahead with Croc Stars bringing their mobile reptile display to my son’s tenth birthday party. I wasn’t worried about having a snake, crocodile and other reptiles in my home but the thought of a house full of 10-year-old boys hyped up on party food was more than a little terrifying.

As it turned out, I needn’t have worried. Before the boys had enough time to commit any serious mayhem, Derek Ingham from Croc Stars arrived with a python, a blue-tongued lizard, a shingle-backed lizard, a rather charming crocodile and an eastern long-necked turtle named Stinky.

The reptile display was awesome. All the kids got a chance to touch each of the reptiles and Derek’s presentation was fun as well as informative. We had a mixture of boys and girls at the party aged from five to ten and they were all fascinated. The kids had a great time, especially my son who got to be Derek’s assistant since he was the birthday boy.

I think that the reptile display was fantastic and Derek certainly kept the kids attention for the whole hour he was at our home. Meredith isn’t quite so enthusiastic in her praise, since her daughter came home from the party armed with the information that she is now old enough to apply for a reptile licence.

So, not only did I keep the kids entertained (well, Derek did but I organised for him to come to the party, so I get to claim at least part of the credit), I also managed to annoy Meredith (an unexpected side benefit) AND I finished the party off by presenting the most amazing reptile swamp cake to fit in with the reptile party theme. I baked the cake and my eight-year-old daughter and five-year-old son did the decorations.

This morning I opened my door to a courier delivering a parcel. Not an unusual thing as such. The Australia Post parcel delivery guy is here so often delivering review copies of books that he’s almost one of the family. This parcel, however, was not a book.

Yes, that’s right, it is possible to receive a parcel that isn’t a book. Who would have believed it? Not my children, certainly, who are now extremely blasé about parcels arriving and hardly bat an eyelid anymore.

Anyway, to return to the original topic. A courier arrived with a parcel that wasn’t a book.

Would anyone like to guess what it was? Anyone? Anyone?

It was CHOCOLATE!!!!! Yes, that’s right. I had chocolate personally delivered to my doorstep this morning and it wasn’t even my birthday. Meredith, bless her little cotton socks, had decided to send me a little pick-me-up. Isn’t she sweet?!

This wasn’t just a block of Cadbury Dairymilk in a postpack though. This was one of the awesome lolly gift boxes from the amazing Rainbow Designs.

Owned and run by Jacqui Halls, Rainbow Designs offers a range of lolly/sweets noodle boxes as an alternative to flowers and gift hampers. I have used this website for thank you gifts for teachers, thinking of you gifts for new mums and thought-you-could-do-with-a-sugar-hit gifts for tired, stressed out friends.

Prices range from around $21.50 upwards (prices include postage within Australia). Today I received the amazing Buddy Box with over 500g of freckles, choc buds, caramel buds and white buds. Yummo. There are also a range of lolly boxes suitable for Christmas, Mothers’ Day, Easter, Weddings and other special events.

Well, I’d love to keep telling you all about Rainbow Designs and their wonderful gift ideas, but I can hear my Buddy Box calling from the back of the pantry (where I hid it so that the children wouldn’t find it). So, you’ll have to visit Jacqui at the Rainbow Designs website to get more info. Beware. It’s an enticing site and you might just end up deciding that you deserve a little treat yourself!

How timely that Natalie at curlywurlygurly should have Soap Operas as her introductory Theme Day Challenge, as just last week I was reminded how much I loved to laugh at soaps “back in the day”.

You see, since my HSC class has started organising our 20 year reunion (yes, I am that ancient), lots of old schoolmates have started crawling out of the woodwork on Facebook. Just last week I renewed acquaintance with a lovely girl who sat in front of me in 3-unit maths in 1989 (Hi Jenny!).

Now 3-unit maths being as fascinating as you all can imagine, a few of us preferred to spend our time dissecting soaps rather than bisecting angles. Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless were our faves.  We could all do a mean impression of Jill from Y&R turning her back on one lover and removing one of her enormous clip-on earrings to take a call from another suitor who was  probably the first lover’s (brooding out of focus in the background) father, brother or son. We pretended our calculators were phones, this being the days before mobile/cell phones. (Remember – old?).

I even roped my older brother into my addiction. Since I was still at school while the soaps were on, and he was home studying for his uni exams, I asked him to give me a quick update on a continuing storyline. (I think it may have been the first of the many John Black/Marlena/Roman love triangle plots: He’s John. He’s Roman. No, he’s really John and he’s a bad guy with amnesia. No – he’s a good guy, Roman’s a spy, Marlena’s possessed – wait – what?!). “You’ll only have to watch 5 minutes or so” I recall telling him. Famous last words.

I haven’t watched the soaps in years. Got a little frightened last time I tuned in and Bo and Hope hadn’t aged one bit, and yet their kids had grown from tiny tots into twentysomethings.

Time to ‘fess up. Did you scream “SHANE!” when you first saw Mr Sheffield on The Nanny? Were you also perturbed that Victor Newman only seemed to have one expression that covered everything from love to fear to surprise? Do you now or have you ever watched the soaps?