The Purple Dragon Blog

Are you sick of hearing that political catchphrase, ‘working families’, everywhere you go? Does it irritate the eejits out of you to hear how the government is helping ‘working families’ (as opposed to lazy, bludging families? working single people? pensioners? couples? what?) every time you turn on the radio or the news. Then the Purple Dragon ‘Working Families’ Drinking Game  is for you!

‘Working Families’ drinking game*

This is a good way to make watching the news much more interesting.

Rules:

1.  Grab the alcoholic beverage of your choice. It’s more fun with friends, but you can play it singly if you’re lonely and unpopular. Alcohol loves you just the same.

2.  Switch the tv onto a news channel. If you’re on free-to-air tv, the ABC news is a good pick; it’s nice and long, and it has a varied, more thoughtful look at current events than other channels, which gives you more opportunities to play the game.

3.  Every time one of Kevin Rudd’s people mentions ‘working families’, have a drink.

4.  Every time some one from another political party** mentions ‘working families,’ have another drink.

5.  If a more or less neutral group** refers to ‘working families,’ have two.

6.  If the man himself, the honorable Keven Rudd, mentions ‘working families,’ yell ”BANZAI! “*** and have three drinks in quick succession, as fast as possible!

By the time you’re finished you will be completely sloshed, and feeling much more charitable towards this annoying catchphrase. The best part is, the rules can be adjusted at a whim and new ones can be added by players to make the experience more interesting. So have a go at the Purple Dragon ‘Working Families’ drinking game today!

*This will probably make no sense whatsoever unless you are familiar with Australian PM Kevin Rudd and his political policies.

**They do this surprisingly often. I don’t think they like this phrase, either.

***The Japanese equivelent of “Bingo.” It is pronounced sort of like ‘barn-z-eye!’ and is much more fun to yell than ”bingo” is.

Found this image by Starseige, at this link. Immature though it is, it gave me the giggles.

Anyone who has had a conversation with a teenager lately, you have got to watch the filmclip to the song ”Sort Of Dunno Nothin’.” This song is hilarious, and the filmclip just adds to the amusement. It was played on quirky Aussie music quiz show “Spicks & Specks” last night which is where I saw it.

While I was on YouTube, Lil Sis made me look up a video of Keira Knightly playing “Raindrops are Falling on my Head” on her teeth. Amazingly, all the notes are more or less accurate.

Oh, and in a fit of St Trinians love, I made an avatar.

So, I’m going to a pop-culture convention in about a week. I have a costume question for you all. Bearing in mind that I am five feet nine inches tall, have brownish hair with blonde streaks I am growing out, should I go dressed as:

A) Lucy Saxon from Doctor Who, for which I have a moderately-similar costume ; or

B) a generic St Trinian’s schoolgirl from the new St Trinian’s movie, for which I can get a more or less accurate costume.

What do you guys think?

Thanks to Tektek’s avatar maker I was able to make a bunch of Doctor Who chibis! We have Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Lucy Saxon, Romana II, and the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Doctors! Lucy’s even wearing the exact coat she wears, and the Tenth Doctor has 3D specs!

 Rose Tyler series 1   Rose Tyler series 2  Martha Jones series 3

Lucy Saxon series 3     Romana II (classic series)

        Eight                            Nine                        Ten

Spoiler warning for Sarah Connor Chronicles 

Is it just me, or does Sarah Connor Chronicles sound like it could have been pulled wholesale from fandom? I mean, the general plot is something like, ‘after Terminator 2 a hot girl terminator pulls Sarah and John into the future where they angst and self-torment in between near-death experiences’. Is it just me, or does that sound like a piece of fanfiction to you. Bad, Mary-Sue fanfiction. I swear, back in high school I considered writing something similar, but decided not to on the grounds that even fanfiction readers wouldn’t be interested. And yet, SCC is really enjoyable. ‘Cameron’, and her attempts at learning the subtleties of human behaviour and society, is quite amusing. The plot moves quickly and is interesting. The terminators are well done, the action interesting. The characters dilemmas pull you in. Sarah isn’t as tough as she should be, and John is a whiny, selfish emo brat (Why is this happening to me? This is unfair!  I shouldn’t have to do this. You took care of it last time, Mum. You take care of it.) Yet in the end, it doesn’t matter that much.

Some people might have wondered about the last post… No, I didn’t intentionally teach my guineapig to dance. I was dancing in front of the cage when she began copying me in hopes of food, and I took advantage of the situation. Lease note I did not actually train her to do this. Wish I’d gotten it on tape though, it was adorable.

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Childcare scenario:

Teacher sings, ‘bee be bumblebee, come and sing your name to me, your name is…’ and the child indicated gives their name.

Teacher: Bee, bee, bumbebee, come and sing your name to me. Your name is -

*points at child*

Child *bellows*: JACK SPARROW!!!

Teacher: Um, okay… you can go to morning tea now…

*Purple Dragon dissolves into laughter…

For those who are wondering, yes, the Veronicas new album is as good as their first. In fact, I like it even better.  At  least, once I got over the horrific  way they strain their voices on some  of the tracks - they need to get voice training fast or their voices’ll be gone within the next three to five years.  One of them’s had throat nodules removed already.

I am in town today buying Christmas presents, as my house is full of strange men installing airconditioning. They were thumping around in the ceiling when I left, utterly terrifying my cat so she was cowering behind the laundry sink with two enormous scared eyes peering around the edge.

I have also taken the time to buy the box set of season 3 of Doctor Who, which, I found out a few minutes ago ,was $20 cheaper in J B Hi Fi. Bugger.

 I totally have to link to a post now - this one at Tetherd Cow. It’s wonderful for it’s simplicity and instant laughter-inducingness. It  is, of course, computer joke, but an accessible one.

And now I will vanish into the real world once more to continue shopping.

In the fit of Romana!love I experienced while watching City of Death (see previous post) I sketched her in biro. I took this photo with my cameraphone so it’s blurry and detail is lost, but still…

Had a lovely quiet day yesterday; was assigned to do all the cleaning that hadn’t been done at the childcare centre yet. Wandered about quietly on my own, industriously cleaning, sometimes singing in my chorister voice… I need more days like that.

(Avatar by me)
Have been watching the Fourth Doctor story City of Death today. Bought it last week on DVd even though it is hideously expenisve, but I’m glad I did. The Doctor. Romana. In a school uniform. On location. In France.
The dialogue in this is positively sparkling. Romana makes an excellent companion; she’s intelligent, individual, and strong-minded, and she and the Doctor spend their time engaged in witty, educated banter when they’re not in the middle of a crisis.

Romana: Where are we going?

Doctor: Are you talking philosphically or geographically?

Romana: Philosophically.

Doctor: Then we’re going to lunch. *snickers*

Another example:

Romana: Well at least on Gallifrey we can capture a good likeness. Computers can draw.

Doctor: What? Computer pictures? *appalled* You sit in Paris and talk of computer pictures??

Speaking of pictures, I love the drawing of Romana the Time Lady with the face of a clock. Isn’t that a great idea? So interesting. This is a great story; intelligent, well-written, and not let-down by poor acting or effects. I love it. Duggan is amusing too, the way he’s always knocking someone unconscious when the Doctor’s talking to them and the way the Doctor and Romana are always having to restrain him.

Duggan: You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.

Romana: *tartly* If you wanted an omelette, I’d expect to find a pile of broken crockery, a cooker in flames and an unconscious chef.

This is also the first Fourth Doctor episode I’ve seen, and I can see why he’s so popular, he’s full of charm, isn’t he?

Doctor: *delighted* I say, what a wonderful butler. He’s so violent. Hello. I’m called the Doctor. That’s Romana. That’s Duggan. You must be the Countess Scarlioni, and this is clearly a delightful Louis Quinze chair. May I sit in it, I say haven’t they worn well? *to menacing ‘butler’* Thank you Herman that will be all.

Am very glad I got this DVD, and to LizBee; well, my avatar say it all, doesn’t it?

For those people wondering about last post’s list, I will perhaps re-type it at a later date; it included me getting bitten (ow), the aggressive boy with the gang, *ahem* relieving himself under the computer desk (were his instincts and pent-up testosterone too much for him? Was he marking his territory? God, I hope not. Once was enough), the adventures of the Terrible Three (R. the Bad, I. the Handful, L. the Naughty), and learnign lots of things I didn’t necessarily want to know. But to just continue the first point I began last time:

• When Twin 1 comes inside he is asked, “do you want to take off your hat?” He stares up, eyes wide and lip trembling, completely aghast at the prospect of being parted from his hat, before bursting into tears.
• Later on a worker is trying to change Twin 1’s pants after he spilled water all over them. Twin 1 bursts into tears. Turning to Twin 2, who is never far from his brother, she askes he he can help Twin 1 take off his pants. Twin two stares in complete horror; he bursts into tears as well, leaving both of them sobbing almost hysterically.

I saw Stardust today, based on the book by Neil Gaiman. It’s a really great movie. I’ve read bits of the book, and while the book is great, I actually think I like it better than the book.  Meanwhile on his blog I have discovered a new word: neep-neep, one who is fascinated by computers (but may or may not have more skill than is necessary to play games) and its related word, neepery. I like that. I can’t really count myself as a computer geek to the same extent that I used to, seeing as I failed IT at uni (I know, I know) so now I can be a neep-neep. It even has a silly, amusing name. How can I not like that? I like lots of strange words, actually. Maybe I should make a list. My Mum used to be an English teacher so she always encouraged me to read and bought me lots of classics as a kid, as well as corrected my grammar constantly (although to be fair, my Dad always has too) and so I’ve always used words like ‘morose’ and  in everyday conversation, and know things like the difference between ‘imply’ and ‘infer.’ (For the record, to try and give you a rough idea, if someone implies something, then you might infer it. They’re more or less opposites.)

I also discovered a specialist bookstore that sells in-print Rex Stout novels, do you know how hard to find those are? My Dad and I are major fans of the Nero Wolfe series. We love the eccentric detective and smart-arse assistant, Archie Goodwin! This has made my day.

Anyway, going now, post again soon. Bye.