Stick Insect

Yesterday I found a 30 cm long stick insect resting on the radio antenna in the garden shed. I was surprised but not frightened to find it. This is "bush country" out at Barnsley - this morning I saw a Kangaroo jump away less than 50 metres from my backyard.

I didn't kill it. Instead I got the plastic rake and transferred it to the tree outside. It was there until this morning, but was gone when I came back from the pictures this afternoon.

Corpse Bride

I was supposed to go down to Sydney today, but they changed the train timetables and I missed the one at Cardiff by 5 minutes. Rather than wait and then get to a meeting an hour late, I went to Glendale and watched Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.

Loved this film -- it's a return to form from Burton that I haven't seen since Sleepy Hollow..I was disappointed with both Planet of the Apes and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (which, while following the story more or less faithfully is lacklustre), but this one makes up for it.

The big comparison of course is with Nightmare before Christmas, though he only produced that. I love: the story (though I was able to predict it almost 70 minutes in advance); the mix of gruesome story and strange fifties look and sound; that fact that the "land of the dead" is more colourful than the "land of the living" (and it isn't a Wizard of Oz thing either, as the dead retain their colour when they go "upstairs").

In short, it was just the film I needed to watch just now.

Mobile Phones

Happened to go to Glendale today (to see Corpse Bride) and decided to check out offers and rates for mobile phones. There certainly seems enough vendors out there ready to sell you something (some dumber than others).

The guy at Optus seemed the most informative, and the lass at Vodafone just didn't listen (no, I want a pre-paid, not a monthly plan); though Dick Smiths had plenty of brochures and the people at Telstra seemed... ...odd (I felt like I'd walked into a Madonna video). Still, there's no rush on this, and car rego has priority.

I didn't know until today that there were country and urban networks, or what a SIMS was. Got a long way to go before I buy one. Someone suggested getting a 2nd hand phone, but presumerably that won't work without a SIMS card and it may be on the wrong network, so I'm probably better off buying a new phone. the cheapest range seems to be between $69-89.

Early days yet. I think I'll do a lot more online research tomorrow while I'm at the uni.