laurie's theory of comedy

I spent a few hours with Laurie yesterday some of which took place at Airport West playing a 10 pin bowling game which he is quite good at. On the way home we sang songs about poo and bums. (Eg 'three fat bums in a bum in poo in a nappy in a watering can'. )

Laurie: 'It's funny because babies do poo in a nappy'.

i love to argue with a librarian

Particularly when I am right.

I am on the phone to a librarian at one of my own university's branch libraries. She asks me to give her my home number to call me back.

'Is that a Melbourne number?'

'Yes.'

'Because it's quite unusual that it starts with an 8.'

'Some Melbourne numbers start with 8. All the University's numbers start with 8.'

'No, that would be a "9"'

'The University of Melbourne's number is 8344 4000.'

'(Silence) alright I'll try and ring you back. '

lust for power

Charlie watching Barry and Kenzie playfight from the cheap seats last weekend.

I see potential for a new tv show combining elements of anthropomorphised documentary (Meerkat Manor etc) and sitcom (I'm thinking particularly of The Office). Because when I see how Charlie has changed with the arrival of Barry, it strikes me (again) that hierarchies are everything in dog world. Charlie as Millie's underling was a challenging, edgy and sometimes reckless personality. Now, with Barry taking that role, Charlie is some kind of elder statesperson, leading a life of routine and quiet duty. She has become a kind of public servant. I am reminded of an insane diatribe I once had delivered to me (though not about me) by a fellow Australia Post worker in about 1987, about those amongst us who went up in the chain and became bosses, betraying us in the process. You used to be cool Charlie.

(No, you still are. It's different though. It's Martin Scorcese cool, not John Safran cool.)

monsters

Barry is already matching Kenzie in size and aggression. Charlie: 'I really need a drink'

my latest book

barry update

Barry is of course a great addition to the family and while no-one can replace Millie he takes human-dog relationships round here to a new paradigm. Even Charlie is kind of into him now I think, in a sort of Charliesque way (she growls at him 4 or 5 times a day in quite a sinister, ugly way but since she could quite easily snap his head off with her jaws and hasn't, you assume she's taken on a pedagogical role more than anything). He bites a lot but that's OK, as long as he grows out of it, which Mia keeps saying he will.