Planet MadDog

A quick update.

Nothing major at this point. Changes are in the works (as this 5-year-old, table-ridden layout makes me want to spew), but at this point, I've just done a quick tidy up of the links to the left and merged the Baby Blog with the regular one. I've also dusted off the old webcam (well actually, the old webcam has been retired due to a lack of Vista drivers — I'm now using a Sony EyeToy with hacked drivers. Does that give me extra geek cred?) in an attempt to reclaim page one of the PA Cams with my good buddy Jerz.

Posted by a very hot MadDog on Monday February 19, 2007 at 9:17:49 PM - 0 comments

Testicular fortitude.

I sit alone in my study, staring gloomily at my internet banking screen having just completed a $1,500 transaction to pay my annual council rates. Gracie walks in chirping "I've got a surprise for you!".

"Meh..." I reply, still staring at my screen. "I feel like I've just been kicked in the nuts..."

"Here. This will make you feel better."

I turn around to find Gracie holding out a big bowl of ice cream for me.

"You're right. That's just what I need.", I say as I take the bowl and rest it on the affected area.

Posted by a very woozy MadDog on Monday February 5, 2007 at 9:08:35 PM - 0 comments

Happy New Year 2007

Yes, I know it's a damn shame that here we are in 2007, and I still have 2005 posts on my front page. Technology analysts say there are 200 million blogs which are no longer being updated. I'd hate to be yet another statistic, so consider this an update.

The fact above came from BBC's 2006 list of 100 things we didn't know last year, as per last year's list which *cough* you can see further on down this page. So without further ado, here are my faves from this year's list:

7. The lion costume in the film Wizard of Oz was made from real lions.

30. The brain is soft and gelatinous - its consistency is something between jelly and cooked pasta. (Yummy!)

33. Eating a packet of crisps a day is equivalent to drinking five litres of cooking oil a year.

49. When filming summer scenes in winter, actors suck on ice cubes just before the camera rolls - it cools their mouths so their breath doesn't condense in the cold air.

59. Dogs with harelips can end up with two noses.

68. The egg came first.

92. In a fight between a polar bear and a lion, the polar bear would win.

100. In the 1960s, the CIA used to watch Mission Impossible to get ideas about spying.

Posted by a very jolly MadDog on Monday January 1, 2007 at 2:40:58 PM - 0 comments

And here I was thinking I was popular.

I'd often heard the sad stories of other blog authors battling with comment spam. I thought to myself "That doesn't seem to happen to me. I guess it just happens to the popular blogs. You know, with actual visitors?".

Imaging my surprise when I discovered that Planet MadDog had received over 14,000 comments in the past 4 months, mostly advertising online casinos and viagra.

Well, after a marathon database editing session, all of the junk seems to be gone now. Before filtering out all of the junk, the database for this website was 165MB. After filtering: 3.6MB. Unfortunately, until I can implement some kind of CAPTCHA system for comments, I'll have to disable comments for now. Sorry.

Posted by a very MadDog on Wednesday July 12, 2006 at 12:44:48 AM - 0 comments

Innovation

I've been interested in innovation lately. I really need to get a link-roll...

Posted by a very MadDog on Saturday June 24, 2006 at 4:37:28 PM - 0 comments

I tells ya, I loves me some nostalgia.

AstroboyTonight, I found myself at a defining moment.

Let me tell you one thing. I love nostalgia. I absolutely love discussing, or even better, watching something that I haven't seen since my childhood. Case in point: tonight, I sat in my comfy armchair recliner, with Amy in my lap, watching a DVD of Astroboy. Not fancy-pants neo Astro, no, but OMG its 80's Astro, with the Atlas storyline and the whole Goliath plot. I'd recieved the Astroboy DVD's for Christmas a year or two ago, but hadn't watched them until tonight. The end credits with the flip-book animation and the wacky amateur singing brought back a flood of memories from my very early days, and almost (I said almost ) a tear to my eye.

I remember the exact time in my life when I realised that my generation had ended and the next had begun. That was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (closely followed by Pokémon). I just didn't get it. I thought to myself "If this is what they think is going to replace Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as the 'next big thing', then forget it. I dont wan't any part of it". The era of Saturday morning cartoons was over.

Fast-forward to the Internet era (which for me was around 1995-1996, not counting BBS-based dialup-services) and the realisation that people all round the world, just like me, were reminiscing of their glory days. Remembering playing the latest Megaman/Alex Kidd/Creatures game on the NES/SMS/C64. Rembering that kick-ass episode of Danger Mouse/Monkey Magic/Degrassi Junior High. Remembering what I was doing when I first heard that Guns'n'Roses/Starship/Crowded House song. The Internet was full of memories. When a good friend ordered a copy of the Mysterious Cities of Gold on VHS from a collector, I knew that the Internet was truly the greatest invention known to man. Up until this point, I'd always wanted to grow up to be on TV (the greatest invention known to man, until then).

Which brings to to my current predicament. I'm sure that, no doubt, the Internet can help me relive nearly all of my mainstream childhood memories. What worries me is that I have more years ahead of me than I do behind me. Should I go full-on and soak up as much nostalgia as I can? Should I portion it out in digenstable chunks so as to increase the happiness effect? What if I run out of cool nostalgia in the next couple of years? Then what will I do? WHAT WILL I DOOOOOOO!!!?!?!??

For all of you children of the 80's, knock yourself out!

Posted by a very nostalgic MadDog on Friday May 5, 2006 at 8:18:14 PM - 0 comments

Douche... hee hee...

zefrank's theshow today, while being totally void of news, totally brought the funny. Check it out, and if you're new to zefrank, check out the archives.

Posted by a very awesome MadDog on Wednesday May 3, 2006 at 11:35:17 PM - 0 comments

Pictures I Like For A Variety Of Reasons

Oh my dear lordy lordy. *wipes away tear of laughter* I have to share.

Posted by a very giggly MadDog on Tuesday April 4, 2006 at 9:34:26 PM - 0 comments

Useless trivia

BBC News has published their list of "100 things we didn't know this time last year". Here's a few of my favourites:

29. When faced with danger, the octopus can wrap six of its legs around its head to disguise itself as a fallen coconut shell and escape by walking backwards on the other two legs, scientists discovered.

59. Oliver Twist is very popular in China, where its title is translated as Foggy City Orphan.

67. Giant squid eat each other - especially during sex.

73. One in six children think that broccoli is a baby tree.

78. One in 18 people has a third nipple.

100. Musical instrument shops must pay an annual royalty to cover shoppers who perform a recognisable riff before they buy, thereby making a "public performance".

Posted by a very zany MadDog on Wednesday January 11, 2006 at 5:06:58 PM - 3 comments

Goodie Goodie Yum Yum

I have just returned from seeing The Goodies in concert as part of their "Still Alive On Stage" tour, and it's left me feeling a little unsure. I mean, sure, I enjoyed the show. Even without Bill Oddie (who wasn't available to tour due to filming committments with some show on the telly in the UK), I was satisfactorally entertained by the jokes, the snippets from the show, the commentary and the interesting tidbits of trivia (such as the list of phrases that were censored from the Australian version of the show, mostly containing the word "knackered"). However, and this was only pointed out to me today, perhaps it's best to remember The Goodies for what they were and what they meant to me growing up, and not taint that image with that of two elderly men staggering around on stage talking about the good old days.

But as I type this, I realise that in addition to the above, attending the show tonight has really accomplished a lot. Firstly, they made fun of the fact they are now so terribly old, so that we don't have to, because honestly, it was a bit of a shock to see them aged so much. Then I did the math, work out how much I, myself, had aged since the late 70's, then quickly got over it. I was reminded of a lot of great moments from my childhood. While I remember bits from the show being funny as a kid, I was a bit worried that my adult(like) mind wouldn't get the same appreciation from the humour, however, from the moment they played the opening credits, I felt like I'd gone back in time, and found myself lauging along with everyone else. Plus, with a lot of the commentary they gave on a few classic scenes, they've sated my incorrigible appetite for useless trivia, so that's a bonus.

The negatives: there has to be some, because as I got up to leave, I felt like there was something missing. I was expecting a bit more of the memorable music from the show, but without the main musical driving force, Bill Oddie, all we got was a 65-year-old Tim Brooke Taylor miming to Wild Thing with his gold jacket and spikey wig, which is better than nothing I guess. A lot of parents brought their kids, who I imagine spent most of the time scratching their heads wondering what the big deal was. And finally, the lack of Bill Oddie made the show feel a little incomplete for a full priced event. Like a two-for-the-price-of-three sort of deal.

Overall, I'm glad I went, if only so I can now say "I saw them performing live", and besides, they'll probably be dead soon.

Posted by a very conflicted MadDog on Friday November 4, 2005 at 11:43:47 PM - 0 comments

Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24