Go Go Dancing on fire!

Rock Lobster started just appearing in Japan and Taiwan at random places.......
Some of them will make more sense if you have seen Madagascar but Harry insisted that I put them all on.... sorry
ROCK LOBSTER at Kyoto City Zoo
ROCK LOBSTER at Osaka Aquarium with some deep sea crabs

ROCK CRAB????? at Teramachi in Kyoto
ROCK CRAB in Namba, Osaka


ROCK LOBSTER! Taichung Science and Natural Museum

ROCK LOBSTER with Marty at Taipei Zoo
ROCK LOBSTER with Moto Moto at Taipei Zoo

ROCK LOBSTER with cheer leading rehearsals at Cheng Kai-Shek memorial Hall, Taipei.

Just a bit of a laugh, but we are thinking of the guys and girls caught up in the fires, it is all over the news here and sounds terrible. I hope life can return to normal soon.
Vicky

i know some of you might be worried about me

I will survive....

Puffing Billy Update

Hi to all prospective Puffing Billy runners.
Attached is the PB website. If you're in then send them your email address. Registrations open late February. Hopefully the area won't be damaged by fire. Pleased to hear all Victoria Roffs accounted for, but so sad for so many others.

Jenny

www.puffingbilly.com.au

BIRTHDAY BOY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Ashley Sherwood Roff - 53 today! We hope the weather is kinder to you today than it has been. Enjoy!

Also happy birthday to Mitchell Thomas - it was great to see you at Lismore and hope we see much more of you.

Cal and Lily start school.

Cal starts high school and Lily starts Kindergarten. How much fun would it be having Lily in your class! So far so good with everyone enjoying school.

Dodgey Uncle 2008/09

It's official - The dodgey Uncle for 2008/2009 is GLENN!!!

Yes, he may have selflessly organised the Roff/Seage/Forrest Bi-yearly reunion. Yes, he may have selflessly driven all the cousins to the dogs, and the pub. Yes, he selflessly cleaned up after everyone left.

....but the stats don't lie. He has the most strikes against his name, and as Toodey says "GLENN, GLENN, GLENN" - Everyone has his name on their lips.

Congratulations Glenn. Good luck you other 5 for the coming year.

Favourite injuries at Roff Xmas

The Roff ward at the hospital in Lismore was very busy over Xmas! Please indicate in the comments the most concerning or indeed your favourite injury.

Maisie's black eyes from Xmas Mass.
Alaine's finger.
Nick's nose.
Cal's cut (at Alcheringa Lake).
Rock's hand (it necessitated plaster after everyone had gone).
Hannah's burns (a favourite for "most concerning").
Ash's cut on his arm from pool rugby.
Lizzie's crayfish poisoning.
Jan's fainting + virus + sleeplessness + migraine.
Grant's graze.
Tom's planter wart (you don't get a runner for a pre game condition).
Pat's ping pong welts (sting pong).
Ash's hamstring.
Rick's exhaustion (or choosing not to play with Glenn when Tom collapsed).
Grant's pride (being beaten in swimming for the first time ever by a dodgy brother).
Peter's eye strain (watching...err... staring at Amber whilst jogging).
Daniel's forked tongue (where again were Marianne's keys found?).
Pat's hand ( he put a fishing hook in it... this is a late entry but it did necessitate a trip to the Lismore hospital).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANT!!!

ON THIS DAY in 1951 there came into the world the most insufferable, annoying, antagonistic, stirring brat that ever lived. Not a lot changed over the next 58 years but it would be dull without him. Long life Grant Joseph!


Other birthdays to look out for....

Shauna (54) on Monday the 3rd
Callan (13!!) on the 5th
Cathy Murray on the 6th
Ashley (53) on the 9th along with Mitchell Thomas!!
Millie (22) on the 24th
Aunty Fran (90!!) on the 26th

You have been warned!!!!

Tood

Spare a thought for the Mexicans

Spare a thought for the Mexicans who will be sweltering in record breaking temperatures over the next few days. Forget the predictions of climate change in the future, the maximum temperatures are measurably hotter in Adelaide and Melbourne than when Poppa was a kid. By all predictions, get ready for more extreme weather in the future.

I'm was too drunk to remember if I told everyone this at Roff Christmas but I am buying some property in the bush with an independent water supply and a stash of food and guns. I'll tell you when I get it so you can come and stay when the pandemic/bird flu/environmental catastrophe/zombie outbreak finally hits. It is going to be near the beach too so it won't be all bad. I call it "Kitchen Stadium".

Lenny C

I thought I would write a quick review of Leonard Cohen while it is still fresh in my mind. I went with Mum, Dad and a friend to McLaren Vale, host of the "A Day on the Green" show. Very laid back setting until you step out of line (I'm not sure if you have Weslo security guards interstate but you won't like them when they're angry). Mum and Dad brought enough food and snacks to last at least a 5 day blues and roots festival, and were lucky enough to locate a very responsible, reliable and fast designated driver in myself so they could begin a small war on fermented grapes.

Augie March got the day started in pessimistic fashion with lead singer Glen offering some constructive criticism as to the orientation of the stage, commenting with a generous dosage of sarcasm that it was "well thought out" (the stage was facing the sun). He then proceeded to offer other interesting gems of trivia such as "the sun is hot", "playing this song is madness because my hands aren't working but I'll give it a go", "I think my hair is burning, yep, it's definately not in it's original state". They did sound good though, if a little underwhelming.

After they went to "go lay down and die" Paul and Dan Kelly came on in a duet kind of setup. They sounded absolutely awesome but didn't get nearly enough time. Dan had a new hat. Finally Leonard Cohen came out with a 10-or-so man band. The last time he came was 15 years ago when he was 60 and "just a kid with wild dreams". He played his classics I am told, including "Hallelujah". My favourite was "Everybody Knows". He seemed to be a very humble man, and introduced everyone in his huge band 3 times and gave them all a chance to bust out mad solos. Yes, I thought I was just in for innocent fun until they hit me with a tasty bass solo. It was awesome.

The unanimous verdict was that it was a winner.

Now for some opinions you won't find anywhere else.

1) Kings of Leon shouldn't have won hottest 100.
2) Del Potro will beat Federer tomorrow night.
3) Nadal will win the tourney.
4) I will never ever watch a movie about a Neil Diamond cover band.
5) I'm going to finish the puffing billy race.

Dodgey Uncle competition 2008/09

Notes were taken over Christmas - Now it's time to vote!

A few stories will be provided below. If people will provide more stories in the comments section, we will vote in one weeks time.

Grant: Asking Vicky Lee how well she can see without her glasses, then proceeding to unzip his fly - "Can you see this?"

Stu: "Do you mind if I slip the tounge in when I kiss Monica hello?" - to Adam.

Grant: "I am better for seeing you!" with a slap on the (neices') butt

Glenn: Trying to organise a dodgy uncle campaign against Rock.

Glenn: Trying to organise his daughter in-law into the 'tops off' team in touch footy.

Stu: Doing a raunchy strip in Neil's Bar.

Evil Woman

I shouldn't have done it, but I stayed up rather late last night to watch a movie called "Evil Woman". And I'd have to say I don't think I have ever seen a better movie about a Neil Diamond tribute band.

Poor Amanda

Those feeling sorry for Amanda for missing Roff Christmas might like to consider her schedule for this weekend. On Saturday she's part of the Kelly (Paul and Dan) entourage (in the air-conditioned Kelly tour bus) for the Leonard Cohen concert in the vineyards. After the gig, Dan and the Ukes fly out to Canberra to appear on the steps of Parliament House for the Australia Day concert on Sunday. K-Rudd will see the show. Then it's back to Melbourne on Sunday night so that she can join the Drones backstage at the Melbourne Big Day Out. If she had gone to Lismore she would have broken something like everyone else did and missed all this! Jules and I called in to see her tonight (Monday) after seeing "Australia" which is a really entertaining movie. Don't miss it.

Vale Jim Downing

Julia's uncle (Norma's brother), Jim Downing, died recently in Darwin. He was someone all the Roffs would have enjoyed meeting and devoted most of his life to indigenous Australian issues. He pulled no punches politically in his assessment of various governments and their indigenous policy, and many politicians won't miss his commentary. Below is the text of a media release issued by the NT's chief minister.

"Chief Minister Paul Henderson said today that he was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of the Reverend Jim Downing.

“Reverend Downing was a highly respected Minister in the Uniting Church, and a great Australian who made a wonderful contribution to Australia, particularly in the Territory,” Mr Henderson said.

“He was highly respected advocate for Aboriginal rights, from his time at his first parish in Redfern, in Sydney, through to his work in Central Australia and later in the Top End.

“Reverend Downing was instrumental in the establishment of the Institute of Aboriginal Development in Central Australia and the Aboriginal Resource Development Service in the Top End.

“Reverend Downing was also a great service provider for Indigenous people, doing social work in remote areas in the Centre and Top End, and learning Aboriginal languages.

“My condolences go out to Reverend Downing’s wife Shirley, his family and friends.”

Reverend Downing was survived by his wife, Shirley, and four children, John, Sue, Cathy and Bronwyn."

More memories - Was it just a few weeks ago?

Power tennis

Does anyone remember the heat?

How good is it getting christened

Santa?

The Kiki appreciation society

The hail storm that some got caught in

Maisie and Hannah in good sharing form

The scarey Grandpa monster

Hmmm...

Papal warning

Pope Ridiculous XV has issued a warning that all those who vote in the JJJ Hottest 100 will end up experiencing a heat they've never dreamed of: the fires of Hades await!
In other news from the Melbourne office of the Vatican, Nick has scored a job with the ANZ bank. He got the job through an agency and, while it's temporary (eight weeks), the bank is already sounding him out about on-going work in the insurance area. This is all part of his plan to make enough money to go to Europe in the second half of the year. We're up to day three and all seems well. Things are getting back to normal here after the Roff Christmas but we have the great train race to look forward to in May.

Triple J Hottest 100 Countdown

Voting closes this Sunday so who are you voting for?



Here is my list in alphabetical order:


Cut Copy - Lights and Music

Dan Kelly + The Ukeladies - The S.U.V. Song

Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream

Fratellis, The - My Friend John

Kaiser Chiefs - Good Days Bad Days

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - More News From Nowhere

Pendulum - Propane Nightmares

Kings Of Leon - Crawl

MGMT - Kids (lismore Memories)

Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You



A special mention goes to Amy Roff and Flight of the Concords for their dedication and devotion to the beloved David Bowie. Amy, you can vote for "Bowie" on the countdown. Woot Woot!



Happy Voting

Japan

LOOK OUT! The Snow Ball Ninja may strike anywhere that snow permit's the use of snow ball throwing. i.e Happo-one in Hakuba- good snow and a great old fashioned town. i had a great time here.
Nagoya Castle, interesting place to visit, there is a lot of culture and history here, defiantly one of my favorite castles of all time

i don't care what anybody says: if you can buy a bottle of sake in the street for 500Yen (AUD$8.00) it will not taste good- and i doesnt- that was new years.
We found the Japanese version of Black books, the sad part is i could not find any books i like. This is why.

Marianne- i am alive, i am well, we are in Kyoto for a few days and i am wearing clean underwear.

Race Puffing Billy

Jenny here...
Damian and I are currently planning our road trip for Easter and beyond. We will use a few weeks long service leave and if you are lucky (or unlucky) enough to be on the way we may well call in and see you. One of the main highlights of our trip will be the fun run to race the Puffing Billy steam engine in the Dandenongs on Sunday 3rd May. Quite a few family members seemed interested so I thought I would post the details and see if we can make "Team Roff". Damian, Cal and I will run whilst Grant has offered to take our other three on the actual train if we can get tickets.
I have pre-registered as advised in the following email and I suggest you do the same if you are keen to join us as they will only accept 3 000 runners and according to Grant it is a very popular event.
You can go https://www.greattrainrace.com.au/Registration/PreRegister.aspx and input your details. We will then forward you entry details in late February 2009.

Family and friends can travel on the race trains (there are two), however places are limited, so I suggest you register for the race as soon as the entries open. (You book seats on the race train via your entry form).

Hope you can join us, and wasn't the Roff Christmas great???!!!

By the way, has anyone come across my novel "The Slap"? Damian gave it to me for Christmas and I couldn't find it when we left Lismore. I only have a little bit left to read and I am desperate to know what happened.

Love Jenny