OK here are the photos/pictures I was rambling about

So I found these on the net to show yall what I was talking about. I'm fairly sure you can work out the titles, if not you may want to go back to the 'cat in the hat' website.

OK so first things first...

I still haven’t got a job, but at this point am not too worried. I know I’ll get one; it’s just a matter of time… & maybe not being a picky little princess who is only applying for the perfect jobs.
Let’s face it, I’m only going to be in London for 9-12 months so I’m not quite sure why I really care about what I do while I’m here.
And no ladies I’m sorry but that doesn’t mean I’m becoming Rodis Bigalow: Cockney Gigolo…Not that I wouldn’t have a shortage of customers. It just means I’m going to start applying for... Helpdesk jobs errrrrrrrrrrrr.
“Hello. Welcome to service deck. You’re speaking with Rodney Tuck. I like long walks & candle lit dinners.”
“Yes sir I know it’s my fault your PC isn’t working. “
“Absolutely sir, yes we did break your PC on purpose just to hear your sweat sweat voice.”
“Yes sir I know that if your PC isn’t fixed this instant the Earth will stop spinning & life as we know it will cease to exist.”
“What was that sir, you forgot to press the big button on your PC?”
“Of cause, I should have came in early & turned on your PCs for you.”
Owwww I just can’t wait.
On a lighter note, I went to the Tate modern last Friday. Now that is a much better form of art gallery. It’s an old converted power factory and the entrance into the old turbine hall is quite cool. They had a wicked structure in the hall (The only place you can take photos) which is made out of about 14,000 different sized boxes & it puts to shame ANY fort I ever made as a kid. Granted, I recon I could have sent the whole thing tumbling to the ground in 5 sec if I had had a tennis ball, so my forts were better.
The Pablo Picasso’s were OK but the Andy Warhol’s kick ass! That was one very funky monkey! Mum can I send home I self portrait like his to replace the boring professional one you’ve got of me?
Also went to the Jeff Wall Exhibition while I was there. Some of his work is awesome like ‘Sudden gust of wind’ made up of over 100 different photos taken over a year, ‘Dead troops talk’ a fantasy photo of some killed soviet soldiers suddenly being re-animated, & my favorite one ‘The Flooded Grave’ in which an open grave in a cemetery has a rock pool in the bottom of it. Again a montage made up of over 75 shots & again no postcard in the gift shop! I’m coming to the conclusion that the established artsy fartsy types don’t like my taste in art. I say a revolution is coming & then they’ll get their comeuppance. Yes comeuppance for all!!! (Did I spell that right Ali?)
I then wandered over the Thames to have a gander at St Paul’s Cathedral… it’s very big & you get very cold went taking photos on the Thames.
Apart from that not much else is happening. Had yet another MASSIVE Saturday with the ABs getting the clean sweep & The Kiwi’s winning the league (Almost had me wishing I was back in Oz…then I thought about it & went narrrrrrrr). Of cause now that the sport has stopped I’m sure we will be having a quite one this Saturday & just sit around playing board games…yeah right!
Here are the photos
Rodis out

The Turbine hall
Notice the top of the fort in the background

The Fort

They look like ants

What I would give for a tennis ball

St Pauls

I hope you all like the picture because after taking this photo my fingers were numb for an hour.

The National Gallery

OK so after 2 days of staying home & looking for work I needed to get out & have a look around. Which reminds me, I realized yesterday that I had put the wrong mobile number in my CV & had to re-apply for a whole bunch of jobs yesterday. I only made myself look like an idiot to about 30 employees. Still better they find out now than a couple weeks down the track ah?
So off to the National Gallery.
Short version... Parh!!!
Long version...I’ll go to the Tate Modern next because the old crap DOES NOT turn me on.
Don’t get me wrong, they are called ‘The Masters’ for a reason & I realize that if they wanted to get paid they didn’t have much choice as to their subject matter but man does it get boring quick.
Sorry but pictures of some white, over feed religious figure stabbing something or suffering, quite often shows a complete lack of imagination. When you see them all in one gallery you realize that there seems to be only about 4 set arrangements allowed for this type of painting. On the flip side, I bet those halos all the saints had made scroll reading at night heaps easier.
Then there is all the painting of some self-righteous Lord, Lady, Bishop or Pope. These just make me queasy. Someone should have told them to pull their head in. I’m not taking the piss out of these people for getting their picture painted (God knows there are enough pictures of me kicking about). It’s all those angels blowing trumpets in the background that turns my stomach.
There are some good points though, when occasionally one of these great painters were allowed to paint landscapes (Why waste an amazing piece of earth by putting some fool in front of it?) they do some amazing work. As I just pointed out have a look at the background in some of the portraits, at times the detail can blow your mind.
Also the old ‘oil on oak’ style that can look almost 3D is very cool. Then there is another style that’s kind of like a pencil/sepia look. Which they didn’t have any postcards of…typical! No one ever likes the stuff I like!!
Another thing, remember to look up every now & then, the actual gallery building is pretty funky at times in an ‘older than new Zealand’ kind of way.
Finally, IT’S FREE!!! I think the attendant though I was strange standing there laughing, thinking of that Simpson’s where Homer takes Lisa to the Museum “You mean I don’t have to pay…Suckers!” (Don’t worry Mum I did put in a donation)
So 1 gallery down only about 100 left to go, plus I have to pop over the Queenie’s sooner or latter & she says she has a pretty good collection. (Something about some famous relatives or something)
Till next time
Rodis out

London Photos Part 2

& the photo's go on

London Gangsters ... Snappyer dresses & packing heavier weapons than there L.A counterparts

Armistice Day remembrance - What a waste of life, & this is only about 1/5 of it.

Buckingham Palace. Notice the Queen is in, but she didn't come to the window when I yelled "Yo Queenie, Sup!! It's your kiwi home boy Rodis" Maybe she had heard about me threating her horsey gaurds

The Mall, um ...... it's quite long I guess?

Piccadilly Circus - Sorry guys but this soo beats the Coke sign in Kings Cross.

London Photos Part 1

After running around London like a mad monkey here's what I've got

The one, the only ... Peter Andre, man he's cool
When I grow up I want to be just like him ... Gush

Whose a good Kitty then?
These things are MASSIVE. - They're at the base of Nelsons's Tower

The National Gallery ... 1 of hundreds... can't wait

He was waving his arms up & down but I told him to stay still or I'ld knock his horse out... No one messes with 'Tuck the Muss'
PS: notice beanie & new Jacket complete with fur hood

Downing St
So much for my plan of running down there with my backpack on yelling 'dugga dugga dugga'

London town

OK so have made it to London town. My bags turned up by 5pm Friday so thanks to all of you who lost sleep over my luggage. Now my Eftpos card doesn’t work …Should be by tomorrow.
I haven’t really been doing the tourist thing over the weekend, as I have been catching up with all the old mates including Charlie.
We went over to the west end on Fri night to catch up with Will, had my first “Smokey Café’ breakfast on Sat. Very cool, only ₤2.50 for a classic Bacon & egg Breakie, plus only 50p a mug of tea ….Sweet! (By the way, am loving tea, so much more a teay type drink than coffee)
Then we went off to an Irish pub to watch the All Blacks pummel them like the Northern pansies they are. (Sorry been hanging out with a lot of Poms this weekend & there seems to be some animosity between the two) Which reminds me; Ha ha Aussies the Brits kicked your butt… I mean really, what’s that 8 games in a row now?
OK I’m off to kick around London today & act like a Japanese tourist (I’ve heard it’s safer than acting like a Brazilian tourist)
See ya on the dark side
Rodis

Mt kinabalu Photos - Part 2

One of the views from the top And now we have to climb down!!!
Down where the Pterodactyls lie

Just a quick note to the Mojuntin Clan & the rest of the Sauba crew for showing me a wicked time while I was in KK.

Thanks alot, You will diffenatly see me again but in the mean time do a few Talak Suicides' for me!!

You are all Legends

Mt Kinabalu Photos - Part 1

Bags have turned up so check these out

Fruit stall along ther way
Impressive...Yes??

Nieve Fools

Mt Kinabalu

Well that is what I call a climb!!
Have now done the math’s (That’s what you get when you have QUITE a few hours stopover) & have worked out that that @#*!! Mountain has a gradient of 0.37. In other words for every 3 meters horizontal you walk you climb over 1 meter, doesn’t sound much but pull that out to 9km and it equals one monkey of a climb!!
So enough of the math’s B.S. Yes it did hurt, yes I did curse at the sun, moon & anything else in a 5km radius, but man what a result waiting for you at the end! OK so we started at about 12:30pm on Weds. I’m fairly sure most of us Kiwi’s had visions of a casual, maybe a little taxing jaunt through a bit of bush. Much like a wonder to the Pinnacles in Coromandel, or maybe Mt Tongarero in the National Park. You have to remember this is a 2 day hike so how hard could it be? VERY! Think of emergency stairs in a high-rise for 6km… then make every 3rd or 4th step a double step. Ow ow where do I sign up? So that gets you to the night camp, with was fairly decent, good food, hot showers & a bed (although I was so buggered I would have had the best sleep of my life in the middle of a Slip Knot concert).
So it’s up at 2am the next day to start climbing at 2:30. Yes I did say climbing & not hiking as this is a pull yourself up by a rope over a sheer rock face while trying to hold onto your torch jobby… for another 3km (Note to anyone planning on doing this: buy a miners light, it’s much easier & it pulls those mountain climbing chicks) Did I mention this is all at the coldest time of the day in an exposed area? So now I understand why people climbing Mt Everest turn back when they’re 100 m from the top (& no I am not comparing Everest to my climb … well maybe just a little) By this time we were so stuffed we were climbing 80m in 10 minutes & stopping for a rest, & there is not as much oxygen at 4000m so your gasping for air for longer.
Anyway we got to the top just before sunrise (well some/most got there well before sunrise) , after resting & catching your breath the view is AMAZING. Most other times of the day the summit (4095m) is covered in cloud but at sunrise there just a hint that shrouds the mountain’s interesting bits like flimsy lingerie ( Be warned mountain climbing can result in very poor attempts at poetry) & you can see for miles. So after sitting up there patting yourself on the back, taking in the view & making a piss poor effort to capture it on camera you slowly come around to the fact that you are sitting on top of a mountain, the wind is blowing & ALL your extremities are getting VERY cold so its time to head home.
Not much to say about this apart from AWW & that due to swelling I now have child bearing hips & knees the size of softballs. Just what I needed for jumping onto my flight to London THAT NIGHT!!!
So in conclusion Mt Kinabalu & I have a love-hate relationship. Loved it up the top but the climb & leaving was hell (Sounds like some ex girlfriends) If your in NZ I would recommend Tongarero before this. Only 1 day, much easier climb & nearly as good as views. If you do decide to do this GOOD LUCK & make sure you prepare for it, going on a 2 week leaving bender is NOT good preparation. Enjoy the Photos
Rodis out

UPDATE: Am now in London, alive & well but short my luggage which has my camera in it… Plus the rest of my worldly possessions. Hopefully it’s in Vienna & will turn up today… if not… I’ll cross that bridge when it comes. I know for a fact they’re somewhere between here & Kota Kinabalu. Anyway I’m sure you all will be losing sleep over my luggage, but it means that you’ll have to wait a little bit for the photos.
London. First impressions, colder than Malaysia. Seems cool, (no pun intended) will not see much of it today as I have to sit around the flat waiting to hear from the airline, hence updating this.
OK will talk again soon.

Fun in Paradise

Maybe not the most comfortable way to travel but definitely one of the most fun!!
Man I hate it here, I can’t wait to get to London & all that……Ow wait why am I going again?

Just friends & immediate family

I think I'm in there...somewhere

Text update

Hey Boys & Girls

All’s good in KK Malaysia. I’ve tried the local Talak & it’s A LOT stronger than west coast cooler. It’s more like a home made cross between Vodka, Gin & Tequila!! Very messy!
Have yet to have a sober night but did crash out 10pm Fri night due to only having 4 hours sleep since leaving Sydney.
The wedding was quite cool. Church on Sat, followed by a lot of drinking at the parent’s home. Then the proper reception on Sunday, we’re talking in excess of 500 people.
Taught a bunch of boys ‘Tequila suicides’ on Sat night, which seemed to have given me a bit of a rep come Sun. I would have been OK with that if it wasn’t for the fact that most locals can drink ‘Talak’ till the cows come home…. I can’t!
Been out to a couple of the local Islands…Very cool. Basically just chilling, swimming, diving & generally working on my already fabulous tan.
Photos to follow
Rodis out