The most hilarious video ever

I watched this last night and nearly pissed myself laughing (note to self: spend more time on the Keegels).

If you are Samoan, watch this. It will make your day.

Last Friday Night - the remix

Katy Perry has a song called "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F)". When I first heard it, I was thinking "Very catchy beat and tune", then when I listened a little closer I discovered the lyrics are about going out, getting trashed, getting chased out of bars, random sex, etc. Ok, not my thing. My own fault for not seeing that coming, I mean it's a Katy Perry song about a Friday night.

It made me think though, I can no longer relate to that. My Friday night is the yang to KP's yin one. And I'm very happy about that, and thankful for my two buddies that I get to spend every Friday night with, the house we get to spend Friday night in, and the delicious food we usually pig out on every Friday night.

So here's the reeeemix, Rock Fobby style Friday night (sing it to the tune of KP's song):

Last Friday night
Yeah I washed all of the pots
But forgot to wash my socks
Stinky feet next day, that's hot

Last Friday night
Always rugby on TV
One-eyed for my Canterbury
Constant Facebooking and Tweet

Last Friday night
Lyla bossing us around
While snack shopping at Foodtown
Think I gained about 4 pounds

Last Friday night
Thought about doing some chores
Instead I chilled to Jersey Shore
Whoa-oh-oah

This Friday night
Do it all again
This Friday night
Do it all again

Wintry magic

How to start this post. A week or two ago, I was taking photos of the hail on our deck and wishing for snow during what was to be the "last Antarctic blast" for this winter. The blast came and went and it started becoming warm in Wellington.

So pre-snow-wishing life continued. Lyla received her first ever invitation to a birthday party, and I mean a non-family party. Today was the big day, and off Lyla and I went to conquer the windy, narrow, badly labelled streets of Wellington to find this party. It was the chaotic affair that you would expect a 4th birthday party to be (with the added bonus of some really BADLY BEHAVED children...grrr...but that is for another post).

As we were getting ready to leave, I received a text from the man - "Its snown hea." I had to read it twice, and then check the date received. I looked outside, and it looked like it was raining, so I stuck out my hand and felt the soft snowflakes land and then melt in my palm. I was ecstatic (to put it mildly). As I much as I tried to contain myself and react in a suitably mature manner, I just couldn't. So I ran back inside to where the palagi parents were having a cuppa tea and civilized conversation and (wide-eyed and maybe slightly crazed in appearance) I shouted, "It's snowing!!"

Everyone else was excited of course (maybe not on the same insane level as me) and ran out to see the snow. The cars on the street were just starting to get a dusting of snow. Like the responsible parent I am, I put Lyla in her carseat, forgot to strap her in, and instead grabbed the camera and started taking photos. The drive home conservation was something like this... "Lyla, look outside. It's snowing!!" "Mummy, my shoes are wet."  "Everything is so white! OMG this is SO cool!" "Can I change my tights when I get home?"
Could I get more fresh? And could my kid get more OCD?

We arrived home to a completely white street, and we immediately bundled up and trooped outside to make a lazy, not-quite-so-snowmanny-shaped snowman and take more photos. However, being tropical natives, the man and I didn't last long in the snow, and before you know it we were back inside having hot chocolate (for Lyla) and koko Samoa (for Lyla's parents).

The snow seems to be melting now, but that's ok. While the snow was here, it was everything I had imagined it would be. I could not ask for more.

Staring upwards in awe

The same deck that was hailed on only a week ago

The view of the street from the deck. So pretty

Lyla and our snow guest, a dedication to David Tua :)



The perfect way to end a snowballin' session - hot koko Samoa



Shout out from the top

After a week of sleepless nights and intense work stress, I received a pleasant surprise today when our CEO called to tell me that I got a special mention/award thingy at our company's monthly meeting (which I was unable to attend since I'm the only-the-lonely loser working from Wellington while everyone else is in Auckland - but that's another story).




Not the award I got

 So I stand up here on the stage to receive my Oscar Geek award, and would like to give thanks to all those that have helped me achieve my goal of being Geek of the month.

1. God
The source of all my geekiness blessings. Thank you for providing an awesome job and boss, for always being faithful in answering prayer and for such favour at work.

2. Mum and Dad
For the genes. Sure, you also gave me thunder thighs, a flat head and hairy fingers, but the brain genes didn't turn out too bad. And thanks for paying my school fees at RLSS because I was too much of a wussy kid to survive public school.

3. Pati
The Duran to my Duran. For clearing Lyla out of my path when I'm at my most stressed, shouting me nice lunches when I need to get out of the office and understanding about me spending some nights with the laptop instead him.

4. My boss
Chances are if he read my blog I would not have received this award. So thankfully he has more important things to do, like running a great company that hires awesome fobs...actually, one fob.


Oh my goodness, I'm so overwhelmed...who else do I need to thank...

5. UPY science labs
By spending 9 hours every week sitting in labs, while the Arts and Commerce kids lounged and laughed at the canteen just outside the window, I was put off any career involving labs and stumbled blindly towards IT (because I was told they were paid well).

6. Angie
The lovely Malaysian lady that runs the Malaysian restaurant Sri Pinang on K'Road. Where I spent hours of bonding time with workmates while chowing on the best roti ever, and copious amounts of curry. Friday lunch at work has never been the same since I left Auckland. Thank you Angie, for filling me up so much with scrumptiousness, that I was able to handle the Friday afternoon brain haze by sleeping-with-eyes-open at my desk.

Ok, the music is playing really loud now...the ushers are dragging me off...but thank you last but definitely not least to my blog readers and the blogs I read, for the bucketloads of laughter in the wee hours of the morning that helped me to make it through to where I am today *tear*

Ezra

My lovely friend Talia Brown gave birth on Sunday 17th July 2011. For the Manu fanatics out there, you read correctly. It was on that fateful day, when Samoans the world over feasted on wallaby meat, albeit vicariously through the Manu.

So needless to say, I attempted to influence the baby naming process, by coming up with this fobby suggestion - Samoabeatwallabies3223. She politely declined (okay, more like flat out refused).

Then yesterday, the news of the boy's name was announced - Ezra Jordan Brown. The thought of the Manu fanatic may be - Have all the stars, planets, moons, asteroids and satellites aligned or what? I'm sorry, but I do not think Ezra Taylor had anything to do with the naming of this child. I am not normally a believer of coincidences, but I think just this once I can say this is purely coincidental.

Here is a link to the source of this super adorable pic (where you can also see a photo of his mother looking mighty fine even after pushing out a 10 pounder...yes, that was jealousy you detected)

Ezra Brown


If you're thinking that this post was not at all what you thought it would be, I am laughing at you.

Golden Oldies

When I created this blog, I didn't have a name in mind. How do I sum up in a few words what the general feel would be? Not sure what made me think of music, but I went with Rock Fob because:

1. Rock - I like rock music. Maybe not as much as a bogan. But I think as much as a born-and-raised Samoan mongrel can be (thanks Magik FM and Rick Dees). So not surprisingly, the car radio is nearly always on The Rock radio station. (And funnily enough, but unrelated, we go to a church called The Rock. Oh yea, I love that Rock - Jesus - hard out)

2. Fob - Need I say more? Growing up in a kuaback village that meant you couldn't go to school after heavy rainfall because all the fords were flooded....yea, I don't think there was much hope of not being a fob. Being under permanent house arrest with a bookshelf of Laura Ingalls, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, Nancy Drew and a Collins encyclopedia set was still not enough to deviate me from fob-ination. I mean, Mum had Daniel Rae Costello, Five Star, Misiluki and Aniseto tapes playing non-stop...and of course every year Boney M at Christmas time. And the most surprising music influence - my grandma. Her little squeaky transistor radio, always on 2AP, was the source of my love for the Rod Stewart/Dire Straits/Bee Gees/Lionel Richie types.

In recent times though, I have lost interest in new music. Actually to be frank, I think most of the music coming out nowadays is average at best. Harsh, maybe? Am I a dinosaur? At the young age of...my young age? I mean, who remembers that J-Lo was one of Janet Jackson's "friends" in the clip of "That's The Way Love Goes"? And that Courtney Cox was a front row fan in the concert clip of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark"?

I find watching Juice TV exhausting. Most nights now, while we're working on our respective computers, we've got the TV on MTV Classic. What a find. A channel that plays music from artists I know, with melodies that I can understand, and lyrics that are intelligent, deep or witty. With charts like 'This Is 1993'...how can you go wrong?

I should consider a blog name change to "Golden Oldies", along with a "Back in my day" series. I'll have a cuppa tea, then think about it some more as I clean my dentures.

Festive Season

As each year goes by I feel less and less festive come December. As I sit here paying my bills and listen to the wild rain outside, my tired mind can't help but wonder why this is.

What did I enjoy about Christmas back then?
- Jim Reeves and Boney M faithfully rattling out the Christmas tunes on the old cassette player
- Counting the year's savings. Growing up, we (siblings and I) saved our lunch money through the whole year so we could buy Christmas presents for each other (we thought we were rich! Lol!)
- Planning the itinerary for our annual shopping day
- Walking around town "shopping", from CCK to Wai Tui, back to the Savalalo flea market, and once in a while to Janet's (for their awesome selection and the powerful aircon in the shop)
- Listening to a really fobby Christmas album by some "artist" that I don't know. This albums plays at nearly every shop in Samoa, and I recently heard it again while visiting family in Mangere. Lol! You know the one - "It's the memory, of the old Grismas garrrrd..."
- Dry curry lunch at Amani's (this became a tradition of sorts during the Christmas shopping trip)
- Aoga mea every evening
- Unfashionable tux uniforms and candles without candle holders for Christmas items
- Midnight Christmas service, with beautiful singing from the Sunday School (I so miss that), a gazillion kids crowding around one camera (non-digital), and sometimes followed by a cuppa tea and masi at the church hall
- Christmas day back at the hall where we all received a (usually budget) gift...water guns FTW!
- BBQ lunch with the family at Vailele

That was pretty much it. The memories are flooding back. Christmas then was so ... Christmassy ..?

Is it that I am just too busy now to appreciate the small things that are around me now? Am I still in Christmas culture shock? Am I not "moving with the times"? Too old fashioned? Living in the past?

I don't know. And too tired to think.

But this I do know - some things remain true. Christmas is about Christ. Christ is about love. As long as I try to keep remembering that, I'm sure I will find my festivity niche in the hustle and bustle.

Merry Christmas, my 6 followers and visitors!

Much love,

Fob

(This post was definitely more fob than rock)