Had a win in the pub quiz last night - here’s a Katz cartoon.

Katz backstory and Flickr set.

We’ve all been there. Pretty good selection, with Arrested Development and Shaun Of The Dead.

My garden consists of six Tomato plants (Tommy Toe and Dynamo), one bucket of Potatoes, and a big-arse Rosemary plant so far. They were my first ever father’s day gifts (awww!).

I really want to get a big-arse Basil plant and a big-arse Coriander going too. I’m thinking of trying beans. I may have to get a watering system going for when we’re @ the beach.

Everything seems to be thriving so far, they’re out on the back porch, getting loads of afternoon sun.

Click the pic to make big.

I should really attempt Infinite Jest again - I stalled at about the 600 page mark. It’s probably not one for the bus, in fairness. Dave Eggers reckons it takes a solid month.

Two links - Roger Federer as religious experience. And one from The Onion.

I have this blog and sportreview.net.nz - I do them because I want to improve my writing, make cartoons, it’s a lot of fun, and because you never know what opportunities will come. I get a lot out of it, and I think (hope) my sites are getting better.

With a new baby my time is a lot more valuable than it used to be - I’ve got stuff I want to get done - and not much time to do it. I really want to crack on at work, too. So all you non-blog digital activity - it’s time for a review based on a) what I get out and b)time suck factor

RSS reader - My ideal RSS feed is a post every other day or week or even month, as long as it’s one I want to READ. That’s your barrier to entry, team. Rands in Repose is pretty much the model. I’ve had times when my reader is showing over 500 items - not going to happen. Public Address, 43 Folders, the Onion and AV Club stay. Out go Boing Boing (overrated) and Wired (I’ll just read the magazine online from now on, thanks) and all Gawker blogs, except Lifehacker’s top posts feed. Every other link blog is cut, except Jason Kottke and Waxy links, I like their signal to interesting ratio. Stays (with drastic spring clean).

Facebook. With auto-decline of invitations, and blocking alerts and noisy people, you can be on Facebook quite stealthily and take advantage of its’ best feature - keeping up with people. On notice.

Twitter. Deleted account - Yeah I tried it for a couple of months, but I still DON’T SEE THE POINT! Gone.

Last.fm. Low maintenance. Plug in ipod and scrobble tunes. Check stats. That’s a useful tool (when it works). Stays.

Del.icio.us. Invaluable. Low maintenance. Stays.

Flickr. The best photo sharing site - and I’m kinda committed. It’s easy to use, so it stays.

Next step goals would be having a crack at writing fiction - and more *actual emails*. Proper one to one emails are becoming as rare as letters. There’ll always be a place in my life for really some solid fucking around on the ‘net - it’ll just be a little more focused.

I noticed a stuffed spaniel poised by the fireplace with a yellowed newspaper rolled into its mouth. Madeleine said ‘That’s Balto. The paper is the LA Times for August 1, 1926. That’s the day Daddy learned he’d made his first million. Balto was our pet then. Daddy’s accountant called up and said ‘Emmett, you’re a millioniare!’ Daddy was cleaning his pistols, and Balto came in with the paper. Daddy wanted to consecrate the moment, so he shot him. If you look closely, you can see the bullet hole in his chest. Hold your breath lovey. Here’s the family.

The Black Dahlia - James Ellroy