Maisie's 4th birthday (and other Lismore business)

Lismore nutter society.

Jake's Long Service Leave routine - Sitting at Gloria Jeans, reading a book while I make Maisie watch my Music Video Clip on the mall computer banks every day.

Birthday girl with her oversized elephant.

Kelly made this Barbie Ice Cream cake out of two Blue Ribbon Neopolitans and half a barbie.

My entry into a Gloria Jeans promotion. I'll let you know if we win the espresso machine.

In other news, Xavier is visiting while Joe is on Brisbane Lifeline duty. The X-man is loving his tree-change. We are going to take him down to feed the two new calfs at the Ag plot (Maisie and Daisy).

I spent Saturday night at Harry and Vicky's place in Brissy. The Brumbies tore the Reds a new one, while I enjoyed the delights of a coorporate box with Rupert and his mates. Haz and Vic fought it out (in Brumbies Jerseys) with the lovely locals in Red down in the cheap seats.

I highly recommend a trip to Brissy to stay with Vic and Haz. They have a great pad, close to trains and they bring you bagels and coffee in the morning.

Uncle Ken 88!

Congrats Uncle Ken, 88 a couple of days ago. Give him a ring!

Round 11 Update

Great tipping Roffs. No one tipped worse than 6 (including the reluctant Dan). Alaine with the margins won the round. Did you know that Will Minson once dated Claudia Schiffer? Go Swans! Go LRT (not TLR).

Daniel's 30th

Hello Family,

I turn 30 this year and am planning on having a bit of a shindig on the 13th of August.

Since I am more of a "big picture men", I've simply nominated a date and a set of broad criteria and am leaving the finer details to some very helpful minions. The likely venue will be somewhere near Central Station in Sydney and it is likely to be a pub with a late closing time.

Bring yourself along if you can and feel free to pass this message on to others and, indeed, just bring other people (partners etc) along. Because, you know, sometimes you go to a party and say to yourself, "Well, I don't really know any body else and I'm only going to this party because I've heard the creator of "Wild Horse" will be there and I really want to discuss with him his top five fillings for sponge cakes, but what will I do if he is in fact the mono-syllabic fool I suspect him to be?" I say, bring other people along so that you feel comfortable given it is all about having a good time.

Cheers.

Very briefly on other topics: footy tipping in aussie rules is stupid and nonsensical; Vietnam is completely frustrating but absolutely brilliant - if it was a person you'd want to kiss it on the forehead and punch it in the stomach at the same time; and, Amanda, I'd like to buy a Ukeladies CD - I evidently didn't read (and, as a consequence, follow) the instructions on how to do that.

Wild Horse is go!

Round 10

Alaine 7, Dan and Lolcats 6 each were the big movers. Rock becomes a feather duster in the space of a week. Did you know that Will Minson speaks fluent German?

Bangalow is gearing up for the launch

Wild Horse Grand Opening

So Wild Horse! will be up and cranking on Friday next week! I've done a bunch of comics that are just sitting on the website at the moment, and I have at least 30years worth of ideas for the future. The website is located at: www.wildhorsecomic.com . For those of you who are facebook literate, I made a page Here. Invite your friends!

Navigating this in between my other commitments of winning the tipping competition and responding to late night Melbourne/Sydney Roff calls I have been a busy dude, so rest assured this wouldn't be happening without Andrew's help. Yes, the dark horse of the Radelaide Roff's came through.

P.S: Annika, could you ask the delightful Anna if I can use her Wild Horse knuckle tattoo picture on the site? I have a section for fan photos which is currently only occupied by a guy with a horse painted on his forehead (despite the immense horse body art that has been drawn on limbs and torsos all around Australia - if anyone has any other photos let me know). Anna is still not returning my calls after the "Brett Maher incident".

Eat More Chocolate Already!

today Amy was watching 'lord of the rings'
i sat next to her, and she asks hey mum whats dumbeldore doing?
i said '' dont you mean gandolf?''
Amy replied " gandolf, dumbeldore, uncle Grant- same thing.

Jen

Happy Birthday No Hands!

Joe's Birthday last week and we forgot it! Sorry Joe. Top 3 presents for No Hands;
1. Boxing gloves
2. Mittens
3. Worry Beads

Whopper for the Rock!

The Rock 8 out of 8! straight to number 2. Consistent dizzle gets his usual 6 and retains lead. Lily, Gandalf and Daniel only tipped 3.

Ukes

Captain Manas

Ukes album launch

Here's another example of modern technology at work: I'm going to write a few paragraphs and Adam is going to add pictures when he sees this. Miracle.
The Ukes' album launch was full of sound and colour. It was held in what is normally a bar and restaurant which was closed for the event. It had a capacity of around 200 and unless you had your name on the door, you couldn't get in. (Actually, there WAS a way of getting in - anyone who slipped door-bitch Nicholas $40 got access.)
Our table was up the back but everyone moved towards the front when the Ukes were playing so there were no bad spots. Dan Kelly joined the band for one number and among the crowd were plenty of Melbourne's A-listers including most of the Drones and interstate celebrities including Jake Roff.
Highlights of the night included two exotic dance troupes (one with Annika as a member) that interpreted a couple of the Ukes' songs.
Dom, Nick, Jake and Annika all did spells on the door and Adam took plenty of photographs. Cathie Murray was down for the event so, along with the Lemmings MC featuring Dave Morley, our table was full.
Those of you who pre-ordered the CD will receive it in the next couple of days although it's probably already on high rotation in the Jake/Kelly household. Jake, Nick and Adam partied on afterwards and Adam was still in bed the following Sunday. It seems Jake didn't bother much with the waste of time that is sleep, either.
The other big news of the night was that Amanda was accepted into Berkley University in California for a semester of her honours year. It's the academic equivalent of getting a knighthood. She leaves in late July for, I think, five months.

Round 8 update

TLR was one off a Whopper, let down by the Dockers. Dizzle had a poor round by his standards (4) but retains the lead. Will Minson (who apparently can play the saxophone) made up some ground and shares second with Lily. The Rock had another poor round. Go Cats!, Go Dogs Go (an excellent book if you get the chance to read it).

A photo montage of Lachlan Roff's first goal

Round 7 Update

Gandalf was the top tipper (6) with margins. Pretty good as he was still faithful to the Dogs. Mr Lolcats continues his charge up the ladder. Lainey was the big improver, TLR and Dan the big losers (forgot to tip). Lily moved to outright second and unfortunately R- Pizzle got his usual 6 and extended his lead. Dizzle never backs Adelaide teams. Box Hill Roffs are true to Dogs, Armidale Roffs are Swan faithful but Dizzle has no loyalty. He should have to take Crows and Power every week! Any comment by Will Minson on Will Minson's performance v Swans?

Ukes in your loungeroom

For those who can't make the Uke's CD launch (everyone except Jake) you can have 24 minutes with them in your loungeroom! They performed for a bunch of mums on mothers day for the ABC on Alan Brough's (Spics and Specs Alan) Sunday morning show. Cathie and Jules both get a mum's day mention, as do family, cousins and the Lemmings MC. They also perform four songs. If the link below doesn't work, google "The Ukeladies", find "News for the Ukeladies", click on Happy mothers day with the Ukeladies and then click on the purple banner that says "Listen to the Ukelaides 24 minutes. Hopefully, the link below will work.

Right click to Download. Or just click to play in your browser.

Wiener Schnitzel...

Last days in Vienna and the opp for a quick report!! It is ridiculous to think that John and Zac could holiday in a place with class, culture, orchestras and operas - thankfully Jan, Kate and Canadian Joe lent the quality and espri de cor!!
It is a terrific place and we really enjoyed it...taking in an opera (not just any opera-THE opera (Don Giovanni)), a Mozart/Strauss concert, the Vienna Boys' Choir, the Vienna Philharmonic, performances of the Requiem and Vivaldi's Four Seasons plus buckets of coffees and cakes...and having a great time with the kids. We hired a car to do a bit of touring and walking but having a central unit to stay in is the go.

Here's a few of our favourite shots...

Lost while hiking:


The Brady Bunch do Vienna:


Gargoyle Zac:


No evil:


Who knows?



cheers
Rock and Jan

3 years olds and Patagonia

Ukes CD launch

Anyone with more money than sense is invited to the Ukes CD launch. We have plenty of room at the Box Hill HQ for a sleep-over. Thanks to all who bought a CD in advance and allowed the project to proceed. I've prepared a speech and a couple of songs but, somehow, I appear to have been left off the poster. Watch this space for a full report.

Round 6 Update

Trivial post compared to a South America trip but has to be done. Unfortunately R - Drizzle has extended his lead and has taken to bragging on the wall. Grant made up some ground and Lily moved up to equal 2nd. Alaine forgot to tip and only managed 1. Luke remembered to tip and only managed 1. Dogs and Swans disappointing. Crows beat Saints, did anyone tip that?

Patagonia

To follow up Glenn's Inca trail pictures here are some pictures of our trek in Patagonia. Massif Torres del Paine (the Blue towers) was awesome and spectacular and the walking was really enjoyable. Our "W" trek involved three incursions into the Massif via two valleys and along the side of Lago Grey to see a spectacular glacier meeting the water.


We had to rough it. The toilets in Chile tended to be of the "squat" variety and this is a picture of Glenn demonstrating the required technique.


Glenn standing in front of the Blue Towers. We walked up and into the mountains to eventually stand at the foot of the towers.

On a boat before the mighty Lago Grey glacier.

Yes I was there too. The "local" where the Patagonian beer was a highlight.

Everything's big here. The foxes are as big as dingoes.

A tricky moment. I managed to save Glenn this time but I couldn't watch him 24/7.

Somehow I started to feel like the 'big" brother.

Thank goodness we could retire to the comfort of our eco-friendly yurt.

Finally we made it back to Santiago. Glenn sought out the biggest religious symbol he could find. Sorry, no big pencils.

Ash

Glenn and Ash in Chile and Peru

Just a few photos to show what a great trip Ash & I had in Sth America. The trekking was adventurous / the company great / and the Chillien wines surprisingly good.Genuinely great trip which was tax deductable for the Woodlawn teachers but not the Adelaide lawyers!Ash was impressively resilient in the 10 hour a day challenges. Cheers, Glenn.

Round 5 Update

New Leader! R- Dizzle

Big Movers; TLR, Lily, Mr Lolcats

Lowest Score - Gandalf (2)

Dog Day.

Did you know that Will Minson was once described by Rocket, as the dumbest smart footballer in the AFL?

Jake's Birthday

I just checked out my work diary and was upset that I missed Jake's Birthday on the 14th. The King of Cousins birthday unheralded. That is a disgrace. Happy Birthday anyway Jake, I hope you got some good presents. Did you get to the Bluest Fest?

ANZAC day promotion at school assembly

18 years of wedded bliss

Relaxing on the skywalk at Dorrigo National Park OR a family mutiny refusing to do any more bushwalking

Luke buried in sand at Hungry Head - we came back that night just before high tide

Lily fishing at Urunga - we only caught one but it was tiny so let it go after lots of squealing

The Armidale Roffs are just back from a holiday in Urunga caravan park. We had fantastic weather and the beach at Hungry Head was beautiful. The day we arrived was our 18th wedding anniversary, and I did mention to my darling husband that if he had told me 18 years ago at the altar that we'd be celebrating by eating fish and chips in a caravan with four kids I may well have said "No!!!!! I deserve much more than that!!!" Thankfully however, I said yes and it was a perfect holiday until the kids started fighting.
Who remembers that wedding? Wasn't it fun? On the way to Urunga we proudly showed the kids the cabin in the Dorrigo caravan park where we spent our first few nights as a married couple. Amy thought it looked very bogan, and promptly declared that she wouldn't get married on the cheap like her bogan parents. I wonder who will be forking out the thousands she will require - perhaps her kind unbogan godfather Toody Lee Roff???
Other exciting news is that I have applied for a teacher exchange to teach in Calgary in Canada for 2012 and we are in the process of finalising all forms and work/study visas. Fingers crossed it will all go through and if so we hope that lots of you will come and visit. Damian will need some company as he plans to become a housewife baking cupcakes and stay in his dressing gown all day. I have other plans for him as I need him to get casual teaching to pay for all the things we want to do whilst we are there. I will keep you posted with more details.
If Calgary is too far away the come and stay with us in Armidale this year before we go!
Cheers
Jenny

Freemantle Blues and Roots

Julia and myself are just back from three days in Perth/Freemantle where we attended the Blues n' Roots festival. In case you're wondering how we could afford it, think frequent flyer points and my 60th birthday present. We stayed in a hotel in Perth and caught the train down to Freemantle for the music.
We had lunch with Elizabeth on the Saturday and apart from having a throat condition and all her family being overseas, she's in good shape. She was a little annoyed with Andrew who was also in town for the festival but declined to join us.
"What Andrew has to realise is that family comes first. His so-called "friends" who he thinks are important now won't be there to support him when his life is engulfed by the kinds of scandals and corruption that characterised his father's career. How does he want to end up - enveloped in the affection of his extended family or having to do penance walking with Saint Glenn in the god-forsaken mountains of South America? When you think you're too cool for your family, you've got it all wrong!"
I think that's what she said - my memory isn't great and, as you can see from the picture, it was very crowded and noisy in the restaraunt.
My personal view is that Lizzy was a bit harsh. We hooked up with Andrew at the festival and he shared plenty of his time with us. He even bought me a can of cider.
We were there, of course, to see Bob Dylan. Before he came on we saw a really good local band named Breakthrough, Ruthie Foster (excellent blues), Megan Washington, Elvis Costello (great set), Michael Franti and The Cat Empire (best musicians of the night). Bob didn't address the crowd, played for an hour or so and was very "professional". Those who knew what to expect (me) really enjoyed it but others may have been a little surprised. He was criticised in the WA papers today for murdering the lyrics on some of his best songs (Tangled Up in Blue and Like A Rolling Stone) but there's no evidence he didn't do it on purpose.
We missed Mavis Staples and the Blind Boys of Alabama but, overall, we couldn't complain. It was a great weekend.

Round 4

1. Minson (25)
2. R - Fizzle (24)
3. Everyone else

Lolcats is making up some ground.
Lily is slipping, forgetting her tips this week but still got the same score as Gandalf (4).
TLR tipped Gold Coast and still tipped 6. Close but no Whopper.
Alaine, Daniel, Dude, Luke all affected by misplaced faith in the Swans.

MARIANNE and TOODY LEE ROFF IN CAMBODIA

Here we are in Cambodia living a life of four star luxury for just a few dollars. We have decided to stay around Siem Reep (Angkor Wat) for the whole week here rather than trying to see everything zoom zoom. We do day trips to various sites and sights and come back to this luxury hotel for a swim and a free massage. We go into town for our meals because of the outrageous prices they charge here for a meal - $6!! They must be dreaming! I have become addicted to the $1.50 cocktails in town and am wasting away in Margarittaville. I am a tad disappointed that the "fresh beer" is 50 cents a schooner but I am prepared to pay that much to help the economy along. Actually, Cambodia would be a great place for a Christmas......hold that thought. We are changing hotels today because we have found a better one (if you can believe it) for $40 a night plus breakfasts and massages. Marianne is enjoying the pedicures etc and has a great set at the moment (of toenails). Off to the jungles tomorrow to see a temple swallowed up by the jungle and the site of yet another Pol Pot massacre. Looking forward to meeting up with everyone in Taiwan for the next leg of the adventure. I have found NO big pencils in Cambodia - sorry Damian.

Tood

Round 3 Update

1. Will Minson
2. The Dude, Dizzle

2nd Last - TLR
Last - Lolcat

Comment - Crows cost me a whopper. They are such a crap team that even hardcore Radelaide Rapper Supporter, R - Dizzle doesn't tip them.

The Rock paid the price for tipping with his heart.

Go Bombers!

Late Happy Birthday

Last Tuesday was Jan's Birthday. Hopefully John remembered. Happy Birthday Jan!

It’s a great town. It stinks, but it’s a great town!

Zac's recent blog makes the beautiful city of Vienna out to be a lovely place, which it is. But at the risk of coming across a little Daniel-esque, I have a bone to pick with this place.
Sure, you can sip fine coffees in a 600-year-old café, and yes - it’s required by law that the Sacher Torte is delicious, and it’s against human rights for your coffee to be sub-standard. You can wander in the mysterious Vienna woods or attend a glamorous ball at the Hofburg palace, see a Monet exhibition on the weekend, the Opera is world-class and only three euros, the wine is from France, the beer is from Germany, the ice-cream is from Italy, and if your wiener schnitzel is not bigger than your plate you can actually send it back. So yeah, you might say Vienna is a pretty cool city.
But all that means very little WHEN ALL YOU CAN SMELL IS CIGARETTES.

The Viennese smoke. All the time. Everywhere they can get away with it. And I don’t just mean young peer-pressured teens, or an older we-didn’t-know-any-better generation (but let’s be honest, if you survived the Hapsburgs and Hitler you can smoke what and where you want), these are educated masses puffing away. Clubs, pubs, cafes and restaurants all end up in a haze of smoke. Lecturers join students in university hallways for a durrie between classes. Airline pilots and hostesses huddle outside the terminal stinking out their clothes for the upcoming trip. Billboards show fashion models holding a cigarette in their advertisements. Waiters smoke behind the bar when they aren’t serving anyone. Actually, waiters smoke behind the bar when they are serving too. Yesterday I was handed my wiener schnitzel by a chef with a cigarette still in his mouth….mmmm, ash-flavoured schnitzel.
Technically, dining establishments have to provide a “non-smoking” section if they are over a certain size. So the small cafes stay smoking and the big ones put a “no-smoking” sign on their broom closet.
So come to Vienna…it stinks, but it’s a great town.

Having got that off my chest, here are some pics from good times in Austria. Hold your breath.

Ice skating at the Rathaus...(yes, the word for council building is Rat-house)


At the Coffee-House Owners' ball (massive event - lots of fun was had, and no, we didn't see Berlusconi's mistress)


Ok, this isn't Vienna. It's Hallstatt (country Austria). But it was too pretty not to show you.




Happy Birthday Annika, commiserations to Rowan (plenty more wild horses in the sea, mate) and bravo dad on the tipping...

Kate

Tipping Round 2

1. Dizzle, Rock, Lily and Wil Minson - 12 points
2. Loads of people on 11

Last - Dom

Rock would be sole leader but he tipped against his own team (Eagles) and the Swans. Serves him right.

Grant was one off his predicted Whopper. Hot Dogs!

Happy birthday Annika plus Rowan and Anna break-up news

Happy birthday Annika - 25 today (Sunday 3/4). We had a party at Nelson Road tonight (Amanda, Nick, Dom, Milly, Simone (housemate of Annika), Annika, Jules and myself. Annika had a party on Friday night for her 300 closest friends.
You know I'm not one to gossip BUT...
Rowan rang during the evening of Annika's party and talked to Anna. During the conversation, Anna said, "You should go to a bar if you're in the mood". Rowan heard it as, "Brett Marr isn't very good." Brett Marr is a retired Adelaide 36er basketball player. Marr is a nobody but Rowan took offence and paid out on Anna, who spent the rest of the night crying in a bedroom.
My advice is to cancel all tickets you've booked for the wedding...