Vienna Visit

Its rare that I get alliterate with the letter V. Anyway, now that is out of my system, I thought I would update everyone on my visit to Kate and Joe! It was great to see them, here are some pictures of us in front of some old buildings (Kate is front of the TownHouse, but I forget which one I am in front of). We also enjoyed some drinking at various pubs, eating at resturants that allow you to pay "whatever you think its worth", having a large amount of coffee and walking through the woods that surround Vienna. Everyone should go and visit! I also went to Hamburg to visit a mate that lives there now, and watched Jose Gonzalez with the Göteborg String Theory, which was an amazing gig!

Round 1 Footy Tipping

1. Lily (7)
2. Rock (6)
3. R.Dizzle (6)
3rd Last - Grant
2nd Last - Alaine
Last - Dom

Wild Horse

Annika's flatmate Anna. A contender for wildest horse. Megan talked like Anna for about a week after we all went to Golden Plains together but I think it is wearing off. New edition please Rowie.

Thanks for looking after us at the festival and being so attentive Annika. It was ace.

Film Review

Went and saw "True Grit this afternoon. Rooster Cogburn, Dumbledore, Gandalf and Grant are all the same person. Cant any one else see this? Am I taking crazy pills or what? Other than that, it was pretty good.

Happy birthday Julia

One-armed Julia turns 55 tomorrow (Thursday). I know you've seen this picture before but at least she's in it. We're celebrating with a dinner in Little Vietnam with as many family members as we can muster and the daughter we always wanted (Milly). Jules and I were booked into a bicycle ride around the Rutherglen vineyards this weekend but I suppose that will have to wait. A Kombi adventure on the Loddon River in central Victoria will have to do. Happy birthday, Jules.

Aunty Betty update

Brendan should be doing this as he has up-t0-date news but I talked to Uncle Ken last night and he told me that Aunty Betty wasn't well last Tuesday and Wednesday (March 15/16). He called the ambulance the following day and it was initially thought that she'd had a stroke. It's now not clear what what the problem was but it could have been related to shingles (spelling?). The good news is she's getting better and may be back at Lourdes again by the time you read this.
I had a whinge to Uncle Ken about both Julia and myself being in slings and having to take our blind dog for a walk and he revealed that the Seages once had a dog as well. Aunty Betty went to visit the Neil Roffs in Griffith ('52?) and Neil unloaded a dog on her that he and Eileen had picked up that they didn't want to keep. Ken was "unimpressed" when Aunty Betty arrived home with it but the situation was resolved on the day Neil and Betty's father, Jack, died. Aunty Betty was distracted when she reversed out of the garage and ran over it.
Here's the million dollar question for the Seages: what was the dog's name? Uncle Ken can't remember. Get well soon, Aunty Bet.

A tribute to the 22 year old Wild Horse

This Day in History - March 20

Sir Isaac Newton dies - 1727
Uncle Tom's Cabin published 1852
John Lennon marries Yoko Ono 1969
R-Dizzle's cover of Jacky Moon's "Love me Sexy" comes in at one on JJJ's hottest 100 - 2008
Rowan Roff's Birthday - 1991(?)
Bobby Rhino's character, "Wild Horse", successfully challenges "Fred Basset" for Adelaide's most popular cartoon (2011)

Happy Birthday (2 days late) Rowan!

Footy Tipping

New tippers. The competition is "roff afl" with a gap between roff and afl. The password is roff.
Go Swans!

FOOTY TIPPING IS BACK

Old tippers simply need to log on to footytips.com.au, try and remember your password etc and tip as last year.

New Tippers need to log on to Footytips.com.au, register (its free) then follow the afl prompts. Where it asks you to find a comp put roffafl and the password is roff.

The original deal that all tippers would send the winner a CD. I won it two years back and have been enjoying "the sounds of silence" ever since ie not one CD received. As a result Ive got no idea who won it last year as I was still sulking. Come on! lets make it interesting. Perhaps a CD or a bottle of wine (harder to send) or better still a bottle of Port. Lets have some discussion on this. Anyone suggesting we do it for fun will be rubbed out by the administrator ie me.

More Melbourne stuff

We're currently enjoying Megan's company as she was left here after everyone fled the state when Meredith ended. The picture attached is of Adam and Annika. I'm not entirely sure, but I think they'd been drinking. Attached also is Adam's attachment to his emails just in case you thought he wasn't really important. I only understand the first two words...

Adam Roff
Senior Spatial Analyst
Department of Environment and Climate Change
Biodiversity Conservation Science Section
Level 18, 59-61 Goulburn Street Sydney 2000
PO Box A290 Sydney South NSW 1232

Breaking news

Poor old Jules - riding her bike to work (18 kilometres each way - she does it three or four days a week) on a damp day when she slid out on a tight corner on the bike track she uses. She continued the journey but her boss drove her home when it was clear that she wasn't well. A visit to the doctor and an x-ray later she was diagnosed with a T-break/fracture in the radius just below the elbow. The doctor said it's consistent with someone trying to break a fall by putting their hand out. She's now waiting for a call from a surgeon to see if it requires an operation or if it will heal itself with plaster. Fortunately, it's her left arm but having my left hand out of action for the past couple of weeks myself, it's surprising what you actually need both hands for.
In other breaking news, I put my hand up recently for a voluntary redundancy from uni and they accepted with what looks to me to be indecent haste. I've been there 15 years which is a pretty good innings. I'll teach out this semester and then Julia and I are going to Europe for between four to six weeks depending on how much time Julia can get off work. The Isle of Man motorcycle races call once again but neither of us have spent any real time in France, Spain and Portugal so they're all on the list. One of those week-long walks in the provinces has a lot of appeal.
Adam and Megan are in town at the moment to attend the Meredith Music Festival with Annika. We're all hoping to catch up for dinner tomorrow (Monday) night before Adam flies back to Sydney. Annika has started her MA in Environment at Melbourne uni and is working as a research assistant there to pay for it. Nick continutes to pole-vault up the ANZ corporate ladder and has recently moved to share house number two with his mates. Dom has just started a public relations degree at RMIT uni and is enjoying it so far. It's a pity I won't be there for the whole degree but I might end up doing some sessional teaching.
Amanda will start her Honours year in creative writing and looks like spending the first six months of it at a uni in California. I went to a Ukes gig last night with the full band and it was sensational. The mixing of the first CD is finished and it should be out by June or July. I have a copy on high rotation in the Kombi CD-player and now know all the words.

I call this "The Man Rules"

After 2 months of being married, I think it's about time for me to do a report on how I learnt to deal with my "wonderful husband" Harry.
Our married life will be so sweet and happy if we all follow the rules, but since my rules seem to be more like guidelines, I had no choice but to follow this set of rules,

I call this "The Man Rules"

Rule No.1. Men are NOT mind readers.
(FIRST & FOREMOST RULE)

Rule No.1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down.
We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it Down.

Rule No.1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

Rule No.1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

Rule No.1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do.
Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

Rule No.1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.
In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.

Rule No.1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

Rule No.1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

Rule No.1. You can either ask us to do something Or tell us how you want it done.
Not both. If you already know best how to do it , just do it yourself.

Rule No.1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials...

Rule No.1. Captain Cook did NOT need directions and neither do we.

Rule No.1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings.
Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

Rule No.1. If it itches, it will be scratched.

Rule No.1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We will act like nothing's wrong.
We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

Rule No.1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.

Rule No.1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really .

Rule No.1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics
AS Football or Cars.

Rule No.1. You have enough clothes.

Rule No.1. You have too many shoes.

Rule No.1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

Now, you might noticed that these rules are all addressed as Rule No.1
That's because in men's world these are all number "1 " Rules!

Vicky Lee Roff

Happy Birthday Zac

It was Zac's birthday last week (5th). Unlike Phanny whose Birthday was the day before, he is well regarded.

Horsing Around

One of Sarah's many talents is face painting. On Friday night I conscripted her services for an "Adelaide Fringe"-themed office drinks party. While the paints were out, I got her to paint my favourite webcomic character. Inexplicably, I went to a service station later on and the guy there had never even heard of Wild Horse!!

Happy Birthday Phanny

Apparently it is Phanny's Birthday. Phanny is the bottom ranked Roff dog as it ran off on me once when I took it for a walk.

Happy Birthday Milly and Sarah

Trying to avoid work I didnt look at my diary, but today I did. It was Milly's birthday last Thursday. Milly is unreal.

Milly did not even flinch at lunch with Stu and Marianne when they donned makeshift bibs in an authentic Vietnamese restaurant in Footscray and were ridiculed by the waitress. I was deeply embarrassed. In fact Stu's bib was so makeshift it involved taking the plastic off a $2 pair of boardshorts bought 5 minutes previously.

Im pretty sure it is Sarah's birthday today and she is also unreal.

Update From Zac

Hi all, just thought it might be time to give a little update on the life of me. I live in Norway, in a town called Rudshøgda, although "town" is a bit of a stretch, as its more of an intersection of the main highway, with two service stations, a shop and a couple of industries. Fortunatly, one of the industries has decided to employ me-I am a cage-repairman. Basically there are these cages used in recycling electronic waste, and they get broken now and then during transport, and i weld/drill/hit-them-with-a-sledgehammer until they look like cages again. Its a pretty simple, dont have to use your mind job and does lend credence to Dads claims that the university is investigated my thesis for plagerism. They are not. I think. Other than work I try to get some trips around Europe done as often as I can, I am headed to Vienna to visit Kate and "NoHands" in 2 weeks and then up to Hamburg to visit a mate on the way back to Norway. I get to go skiing alot, since there are 3 skifields quite close to where I live, and I'm enjoying living here overall! Hope alls well with everyone! As a side note, if someone would like to give me a brief overview of WildHorse i would muchly appreciate it as its pretty much all over Facebook and Roffreport and I have no idea whats going on.....

Yes We Can-Berra

Firstly, congratulations to Lizzie. Secondly, Daylesford and Melbourne have recently had their minds blown by the Wild Horses. And will never be the same again. Finally, I'm hoping one of my kind, generous and helpful relatives in Canberra would be willing to put myself and a mate up this weekend because we're heading down to watch the Brumbies play the Reds. We might be arriving on either the Friday night (the 4th of March) or Saturday afternoon (the 5th of March), we just haven't decided yet. You can - indeed, you should - come along to the game and, if you decided to drag us along to Filthy McFadden's or The Durham, we would reluctantly attend. Thanks. Daniel.

Graduation Ceremony

Hey everyone,

So I had my graduation ceremony and Mum and Dad joined me in Perth to celebrate it!





Liz x

Wild Horse Guest Artists

Rather than let the h8rs bring me down to their level, the best revenge is to live well, so on that note:



Now that I have your attention... The wild horse movement is getting some serious momentum here in Adelaide. People are really relating to the characters, appreciating the philosophical aspects and unique style as well as enjoying the witty punchlines. So extreme has "wild horse fever" (a media-created word) become, that people are making T-shirts, hosting wild horse parties, and more recently, sending in their own works. Here are a selection of the best:

This one is from a mister Mitch Simmons:


This one is from a Gemma Sanderman:


And this is from Rowan Mount:
*note: The Caravan and Camping show is on this weekend in Adelaide, so it is very topical!

While there is no denying they are all fantastic entries, there is nothing like the real thing! So I will leave you with my latest to enjoy:



Wild Horse out.

Cartoon wars -Fred bites back

Wild Horse - a discussion

Wild Horse vol 5: Wild Horse's Revenge.

Outraged by the following comment from a certain riled up closet Basset fan, Wild Horse decided to hit back:

"While I admire your enthusiasm, Rowan, the creator of Fred Bassett probably isn't losing any sleep. Its humour is nuanced and relies on the established relationship between Fred and the family with who he lives.
Granted (pun intended), Fred is no Hagar in terms of outstanding comedic writing, but at least Fred looks like a dog. Only a concerned uncle could bring this up with you but Wild Horse has square legs, no tail to speak of and a non-horse face. In short, don't quit your day job..."

I know this one's a little text heavy, but things needed to be cleared up.

Get a copy of the Roff Report Archive!

Hello all,

Please download a copy of the Roff Report Archive for me and keep it somewhere safe if you feel up to it. If we ever accidently get deleted someone will have a copy.

Please go to here and click on the big green 'download' button.

Much appreciated,
Ad

Wild Horse vol 2,3,4.

Rather than fill up the respectable Roff Report with thousands of Wild Horse comics I will endeavour to find another home for them. On that note, here are some more Wild Horse comics!



Trivia: It may surprise you to learn that horses do indeed enjoy carrots and sugar lumps. The Wild Horse comic strip always takes special care to provide accurate information to it's fan base.

New comic

Reading Fred Bassett everyday has made me convinced that I can write a comic strip that could be published in the major Adelaide paper. Compared to Fred Bassett, what I lack in aesthetically pleasing illustrations, I make up for in actually having a punchline. I think that is a trade-off most people would agree with.



Stay tuned for volume 2.

Eat

Angelina

Happy Birthday Dave Morely

I noticed in my diary, which I foolishly let people fill in at will at Harry's and Vicki's wedding, that yesterday was Dave Morely's Birthday. Happy Birthday Dave! At Lismore, Ash (popular pick on dinner party top 10's) Stu, me (Damian) and Dave (I prefer Christian names), played Golf ( I really believe that sport deserves a capital letter).

Innocently during the round ( which was played in difficult conditions), I asked Dave (Christian name) how old he was, to which he replied he was 46 ( I think that is right) ( Grant, am I overdoing the brackets thing?) (Can you do two brackets in a row ?) (How funny was the Mark Dapin article in the SMH last Saturday).

Anyway, it must have been a good two ( or maybe three) ( I tend to underestimate) ( as opposed to Grant) days, When Dave (Christian name), seemingly offended, asked why I looked shocked (two, or maybe three days ago), when he revealed his age ( at Golf). Being sensitive ( a Roff family trait), I could tell he was worried about being looking old (ancient) (like Grant). To which, I replied (sensitively), "Mate you look great!", I was shocked because you hang out with Grant!" (despite being relatively youthful) (compared to Grant).

To cut a short story long (irony), this highlights a couple of things;

1. Grant is (as everyone knows) great company.

2. Dave is a great bloke and a great friend to Grant.

God Bless Dave (Christian Name).

More to the point, Happy birthday Morely ( I mean Dave) ( I hope the diary entry is accurate). I hope you had a great day.

Thai style

sAWadeeKA,

Yep. I am one of those annoying tourists that insists on massacring the local language with a strong Aussie accent…
Canadian Joe and I have just left Thailand after an excellent three weeks of non-stop eating and thought we should blog, just to break-up the Hewitt fest.

We were in Bangkok for Chinese New Year and Joe was very disappointed, Rowan, to find out you had lied to him and it was in fact the year of the Rabbit… And Jake, thanks to you, Joe has travelled the last three weeks saying “Hey apple…apple…hey apple…”

We spent one week in big, crazy Bangkok, another week in the very tranquil Chiang Mai and a week trying to ignore the tourists in the completely over-run Koh Phi Phi and Koh Lanta.
I have been writing travel stories for a couple of NZ publications, and one of the more interesting articles is an interview with a Thai Monk who explained, amongst other things, that when he needs to break one of the 254 rules they have (like touching money) he “just breaks the rule and then goes to confession afterwards”…. I had to explain the “dodgy” award to him.

This is a temple. As most of you know, there are many.

This is a waterfall. In Chiang Mai.

One of the highlights for us was diving off Koh Lanta.
Milly, we burst out laughing when the diving instructor showed us the hand signal for “look, there’s a turtle” – it’s the exact same as the awkward turtle sign!


Look closely – that’s not a rock…


It’s on to Austria now, with much colder weather and a more crippling exchange rate, but it’s been great keeping track of everyone via the blog and we will see many of you in the near future.

- Kate

PS. Nome, do you have my shoes?

Mick Seage's Wedding (Oh yeah, Jodie was involved!)

We have to encourage Mick and his beautiful wife Jodes (and his brother Matt, and cousins Jenny and Stephen) to come to the next phase of the Roff/Seage/Forrest gathering whatever that may be. These guys belong in a dorm with you motley crew. They are exceptionally fun and sexy.

Dream Dinner Party List

Top 10 dinner party list (10 limit)

1. Ashley
2. Serena Williams
3. Don Adams
4. Amy Winehouse
5. Hale and Pace
6. Christine Keneally
7. Bart Cummings
8. Kerri Anne
9. Mick Foley
10. Keith Richards

Happy Birthday Ash!

Grant

Thanks Ad for including the rest of us in the music from the day. It feels like we were there. Great music.

Happy belated birthday from the Lismore Roffs Grant. The following are my top 3 Grant shots.

Best Ebay Purchase

Following some setbacks (click the email below) trying to locate Lleyton Hewitt's autobiographical DVD "Lleyton Hewitt: The Other Side", I managed to snap it up on ebay for 99cents + postage costs. I think you will all agree this is one of the best deals ever made, and I will be happy to lend it out once I have watched it a few times.

For those who have been living under a rock, Lleyton released this DVD in response to the poor sentiment towards him from the Australian public for being slightly "arrogant". The DVD backfired, however, instead perpetuating the myth that he is a "tool" and was immediately discontinued. But don't listen to the haters! The 2-year world #1 is another fine example of Adelaide tennis, and an absolute super-star.

Keardos

Cocomo

Chinese New Year card you can use.

Apparently you appear heaps cultured if you send out these bad boys to everyone you know.

Grant's Party

Lots of great performances at Grant's birthday party. Stay tuned for more.

Click on the 'youtube' logo for a higher quality version or select HD instead of 240p for all the bells and whistles.

GRANT IS 60 TODAY!!!!

Lachlan's first day at school, and Maisie's first day at Pre-school

Australia Day foam partys rule!

By the way, for all the facebook illiterates out there (Kate and the oldies..), I saw a "Happy Australia Day" post from Zac, which confirmed to me that he is in fact still Australian. Then... 5 minutes later he posted something in some strange foreign language..

My theory is that he is never coming back and will slowly phase English (and his Roff heritage) from his life.

FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS

There are some important birthdays coming up in February so be warned!

1st Feb GRANT Joseph ROFF(60!)
3rd SHAUNA Patricia FORREST (56?)
5th CALLAN James ROFF (15)
9th ASHLEY Sherwood ROFF (55)
MITCHELL THOMAS (54)
12th TONY SEAGE
24th AMELIA Ellen ROFF (24)
25th ELIJAH Thomas ROFF (2)

Happy Birthday in advance to all Februarians.

Talking about rugby..

Someone posted the 2nd Test v the British Lions 2002 on YouTube about a month ago, so I cut out 2 of Joe's more significant tries. For those who remember the golden age of Aussie Rugby, the Wallabies lost the 1st Test and looked like they were up against an unbeatable force. It seemed that the Lions were going to go on with it in the 2nd Test (11-6 Lions at half time and looking strong).

Joe said "No".

This is probably his finest 5 minutes in the gold jersey.



Now he gets to swan around on cruise boats, drink free booze and get box seats to World Cup games, while some poor sap is on Kate's blow-up...

World Rugby Cup Tickets For Sale

We have a Rugby package of 5 games in Christchurch up for grabs next September. Kate purchased 3 packages - 1 for her, 1 for Joe and 1 for John - but John is now unable to make it. It includes two Australian games and one other likely good match plus two lemons, and Kate has volunteered accommodation in Christchurch (not that she has any at the moment as we speak, but she says it's no drama) as a bonus.

Package cost is 450 NZ dollars and you can negotiate with Kate and her Joe for the details. I think our Joe is on a boat in Auckland doing PR work and Damo is in something below a backpackers standard in Wellington at the same time.

What an opportunity! Think it through and talk to Kate. Sounds ideal for a unemployed wheatboard worker from Adelaide!!

Rock

Call for the Heavy Roller

Greetings from the west! 80% of the family (minus Zac) made it to Geraldton for a visit after Lismore and we managed a nice celebratory (Liz's 21st and graduation, Kate's 1st class honours, Joe's honours and John and Jan's 30th wedding anniversary) lunch at a flash local restaurant. Many thanks to you all for looking after the Geraldton Roff siblings in Lismore!

Any money John had left over from the lunch, he 'invested' in his horse, Heavy Roller (it runs at 4:50pm Geraldton time (7:50pm eastern time) this coming Sunday. He's carrying a fridge, but the trainer thinks he's a good show). Many years ago Black had a similar investment in Moree (Baron Fritz) but I can never remember it ever getting a place. The Roller on the other hand has had four starts, for two wins, a second and a third. Get on it!






Rock

"Property of Rod Karaoke Solutions" - This young man is having a really good time. YOU CAN TOO! Just call Rod on 555-Wild for the night of your life

The Roffy and Rupert Summer Series is back!

Joe's recent TV efforts for Lifeline

A little history

On the way back from Lismore, Julia and I visited Uncle Ken and Aunty Betty. They weren't home but arrived while we were still there with another visiting relative: Marie Rudinger. Here's the (relatively) simple version: Uncle Ken's father, William, married Marie Louise Bernasconi. Marie Louise had a number of sisters, one of who was Gertrude, and Gertrude was the mother of Marie, making Marie and Ken first cousins.
Because we missed Brendan's song this Christmas, I've included below his slightly more complicated but fascinating explanation of the family connection which appeared in the Roff Report on Marie's last visit. In your family photo album, you'll find a picture near the front of Tony, Jack, Marie, Neil, Mardi, Betty and Aunty Doll. It turns out this was taken at the docks in Sydney where Betty was being farewelled on a trip to Perth to show off her first son, Tony. Marie told us during our visit that she had a "crush" on Neil - which might explain why she doesn't seem to be complaining in the photo regarding the location of his right hand. Take it away, Brendan...

"Aunty Marie Rudginger visited recently from Albany W.A., and stayed with Betty and Ken before attending her granddaughter's wedding in Wagga Wagga. The significance of this lady in your lives should be brought to the attention of you younger Roffs. Firstly, she knows the Waifs, and has a story to tell, but that's another story.
Marie is Ken Seage's cousin, her mother and Dad's mother both being Bernasconi's, and the children of John Bernasconi who, in the 1880's sometime, along with his brother, married a pair of Newton sisters, the progeny of Adam Newton, Baker, 28 King Street Sydney. (There is a Newton Lane off King Street named in his honour - check it in the street directory, or have a night out at the Japanese restaurant that now occupies the site.) Adam Newton, baker, fathered 7 children with wife Elizabeth, but he died I guess quite young, and left Elizabeth a youngish widow. So she married William Roff of Glebe, and bore 2 more children with him, Fred and Jack, the latter of course the father of Neil and Betty. Elizabeth sounded quite a lady, running pubs, then the bakery when Adam died, and raising 9 children in her spare time. Alas she died when the Roff kids were very young, Jack barely 2 years old, and so they were put in care of the elder Newton siblings, notably an Aunty Eva. Another story.
Back to Marie, remember Marie? Story about Marie. She was orphaned at an early age too, and so she and her siblings were also farmed out to relatives here and there, one of whom was Catherine Bernasconi, the youngest of John Bernasconi's daughters, aunt to both Marie and Ken, and often referred to in our generation as Aunty Doll. Doll took over the errant operations of her father's newsagency, errnat because he was trade stock, his father a gilder, and he not very good with accounts and books. The remnants if the newsagency still stand today as a Chinese laundry diagonally opposite the new look Redfern Oval park, but with 'Sydney Morning Herald' painted on the street awning. Daniel and Alaine know the Redfern territory, and I have witnessed first-hand Daniel speaking Redfernian. Anyway, in taking over the newsagency, the story goes that Aunty Doll enlisted the help and support of a young Jack Roff of the Newton side of the family who was 'doing his articles' (a term Mum used) on his path to being an 'articled' lawyer. The Roff-Newton clan were close to the Bernaconi's, it seems, so Marie and Neil and Betty used to kick around a bit in their younger days. Marie recalled that she, being quite petite in height, would insist the lanky Neil Roff walk in the gutter as they strolled the promenade, to even things up height wise. Family friend, pillar of society, Jack Roff was asked to be MC at Marie's 21st birthday as her own parents were not around, and Jack was a natural at entertaining a crowd. As people entered the party, Aunty Doll on door duty, and perhaps adept at speaking Redfernian herself, announced to a shyish (?) Neil Roff 'Here is someone tall for you to dance with, Neil' and placed the vivacious Eileen Forrest on his arm for the evening. And so your dynasty started. Eileen worked with Marie and a bevvy of others at the tax department. So the story goes."

Proper Mess in Neil's Bar

You asked for more but is this too much?

Interpretive Dance

Like the wikileaks guy I have hours of this stuff and will release it all in one go if anything happens to me.

Another year older and deeper in debt...

Stuart's part-time job as a trolly thief in Vietnam has largely gone unrecorded in the Roff archives but this picture is proof. Cursed with a birthday so close to Christmas, he's been forgotten by most but remembered by his fan club (members of which include none of his immediate family). Happy birthday, Uncle Tood - you were on the road on Jan 8 but we didn't forget.

Ukes steal the Sydney Festival

Amanda's main band, the Ukeladies, have just completed two gigs at the Sydney festival, the main one being the support act for Emmylou Harris in front of a crowd of 70,000. Adam took these shots where Amanda apprears on the big screen. The second gig the following day (see daylight shot) was more relaxed and the Ukes would have sold a million CDs were one actually available (hint). I'm still in negotiation stages but I hope I've secured them for my 60th on January 29.