Appealing to the youth of today?

I'm in a dill of a pickle of a cucumber.

VicRoads has launched a new range of ads online aimed at getting young people to behave in a more sensible fashion and have a greater chance of not crashing and dying and killing us all with them. I haven't seen them all, but I just watched one here (hopefully that will take you to the one with the lovely young Asian man speaking). And I really don't think it's appropriate.

I did, however, find it p**s-funny. Particular moments are at 1:00 and 1:16.

Which is what leads me to the dill-pickle-cucumber situation: on the one hand I think this ad really is not appropriate, mainly because of the swearing (and yes, I swear, but I believe there's a correct - or less incorrect - time and place, and an advertisement is neither), yet on the other hand that ad made me laugh out loud, and obviously it had an effect on me as I'm now blogging about it.

But on the OTHER hand (yes, I have three hands. I borrowed one) perhaps this is what will appeal to young drivers and maybe, just maybe, it'll make them think twice before using their phone while they drive. I mean, let's face it, the ad isn't aimed at children, it's aimed at people old enough to be driving on our roads, so there's very little chance they'll hear anything in it that they don't say themselves. In fact, they quite probably use far worse words in their every day life.

Unfortunately I'm not so sold or amused by some of the other VicRoads ads... "Emo" and "Red Head Gets It's Wings" I think are going too far (as well as the grammatical error in the Red Hed title just bugging me... my grammar is by no means spectacular, but come on people, this is an organisation advertising to young people - TRY to get it right) and I didn't enjoy them. Probably because they're poking fun at very specific sets of people, but not in the light-hearted way of the video I linked to. "Poleaxed" I thought was being a bit too flippant about a speed-related crash where the car flipped five times, knocking out a "No Stopping" sign but thankfully not killing anyone... The "Turn off Facebook" and "Turn off Twitter" ads were mildly smile-inducing for a second or two. And the "Using Your Mobile While Driving" air traffic control and surgery ads make a very good point.

I'm curious if other people have checked out the ads and how they'll be received generally. They're getting publicity in the newspapers with some pretty interesting feedback.

I guess, if nothing else, it's all drawing attention to the issue of safety on the roads.

"I-Love-Weekends" French Toast

I luuuurrrrv weekends. Not sure if you know, but for a while there I was working 2 jobs, which meant 7 days a week I had to get up and get moving (and let's not dwell on the time, in my late-teens and early 20s, when I was holding down 3-4). When I quit about a year ago I found that I'd completely forgotten what I used to do on the weekends.

Didn't take me long to remember, though.

There's one thing in particular that I love about weekends, and that's the fact that I don't have to drag my ass out of bed when some alarm goes off, before the sun is even up, and race off to work. Yep, I wake up whenever the hell I want (well, some weekends), and I have time for a proper breakfast. Like today.


It might not look like much but this was fabulous, if I say so myself. And I do. It was SO worth the effort. And yet so simple.

6 strawberries, hulled, sliced in half, and thrown into a small bowl with a slick of good balsamic and a bit of icing sugar, then mixed all around to coat the strawberries (with an occasional stir while the rest is being prepared). An egg, a splodge of milk and a little vanilla in another bowl and beaten. Bread (in my case, wholemeal, which ain't the most picturesque of breads) thoroughly soaked in the egg mix, then thrown into a hot pan to cook and get yummified. Repeat with a second piece of bread (note to self - use smaller bread next time, or make extra egg mixture). Throw on a plate, top with strawberries, some of the sweetened balsamic, and a twirl of golden syrup. Dish it up with a lovely cup of coffee.

Welcome to Saturday morning.

Delicious.

Check Out These Girls

I can't even remember how I found out about these girls now... but I likem.

Garfunkel & Oates are actually Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci. And I like their humour. So much of their stuff gets me giggling.

Check 'em out. They've got a few videos here