Graeme

I'm jealous. When I started, I used to looked for two consecutive PARAGRAPHS without red.... I'm getting better. I can sometimes have several paragraphs without red, but I haven't managed to get a page without red yet.

I would be surprised if it got as expensive as bananas were here. After a cyclone wiped out most of Australia's crop, the price went up 500% -- I saw them at AUD$11.99 per kilogram at one stage. Because of quarantine restrictions, they wouldn't allow us to import them, so we just put up with it. Because it's a popular fruit with our two boys, we just kept on paying. One of our eldest school friends came over to visit at one point. He saw our fruit basket. His eyes opened wide in awe. "You have bananas!"

I'm beginning to get tuned into C James's twisted mind, and it's scaring me.... Bullet Riddled Body appears to be in reference to Chris's jeep, since we know at least one bullet hit it. I suspect that they'll find the body of the car riddled with bullet holes -- putting myself in the sherrif's shoes for a moment (and I'm going to need a long shower afterwards to make myself clean), if I'm going to fire at Chris, I'm not going to fire only one shot.

I was aware of that -- but that doesn't mean that they get along, or would cooperate in something illegal.

I think it depends on what your concerns are. If it is that you think people (either other band members or anyone who follows the band) will freak out, then that's an incentive to staying in the closet. However, my impression is that musicians overall are generally easy-going as far as gays are concerned. If you're happy coming out, and you think the band members will be comfortable, then why not tell them and ask their advice about advertising the band here at GA and elsewhere? Personally, I think you should mix your artistic ventures, but since I also am not out as a writer to anyone except my family, I'm not one to talk....

Thanks, Trebs, especially for the part about the eggs. Emu eggs are more common here, but one emu egg is the equivalent of about 10 chicken eggs, so using three emu eggs wouldn't have been a good idea. On a more serious note, I 'think' I know what the equivalents are for the two types of chocolate chips (dark and milk being my guesses, since dark chocolate tends to be more bitter and milk chocolate tends to be sweeter), and I'm guessing that the flour is what we call 'plain flour' since baking powder (bicarb of soda) is being added to it -- the other option being self-raising flour which has the baking powder already added. However, I'm just going to have to give it a go and find out. Knowing my boys, it won't matter if they aren't perfect -- they'll get eaten anyway

I'm going to get this wrong because I haven't had a chance to give it a lot of thought, but here goes. 1. We're pretty confident that Eric was involved in more criminal activities than just blackmailing Chris and Steve. 2. If Eric was in cohorts with the Piedmont sheriff, we can be pretty sure that he'll blackmail the sheriff with the threat to reveal everything (why wouldn't he?). So, I'm expecting Eric to be released, get a slap on the wrist, or is found dead if that was the case. 3. We are uncertain as to whether the sheriff was aiming at Chris or the jeep. If it was the former, then he must believe Chris has some seriously incriminating evidence against him. If it was the later, he wanted to apprehend Chris for questioning, probably in some backroom somewhere. Are the sheriff and pastor working together at all? It is certainly possible that they aren't, but given that it has been stated that there are other gay couples who are out, having the pastor target only Chris and Steve is suspicious. It could be explained on the basis that Steve's dad is a cop and hence implies that the law enforcement in their home town has been 'corrupted', but I think it's likely its because the sheriff wants some sort of pressure applied -- maybe just to discredit Chris and Steve if they come forward later with evidence against him. What sort of criminal activity are they involved in? I'm going for something basic -- embezzling or drugs. I don't see any reason to go for something extreme -- those two are common enough. Of the two, drugs would be more likely if Eric has become involved. I can't see how he would get to learn about embezzling in another town, BUT he could have learnt about drugs being pushed.

Speaking as an author who doesn't put sex into his stories, but people still seem to like them, I don't think you'll have a problem. You're building up a reputation as a good solid author. As long as the story is good (and I have no doubts it will be), then people will read it. If it pushes your boundaries as an author, than don't worry about that -- I'm going through the same with my current novel and I'm learning from it. As for the nominations -- don't put yourself down. A degree of modesty is nice, but don't fall for false modesty. You are a very promising author... and the only reason I'm not saying you're a good author is because I don't want to give you a swollen head As long as you're happy writing, you WILL find people happy reading what you write. It will never be everyone, so don't even try. Write what you want -- that will always give the best results. Graeme

I didn't look, but was one of the pieces of advice to buy new aircraft from Boeing?

Your comment was: The correction is that you should put the word "Honest" front of that statement. ie Honest cops don't shoot unless they're threatened. Guns are used as last resort. The cops are well trained to wrestle an unarmed person to the ground to handcuff him.

Ho hum.... another boring chapter where not much happens. I think I'll go to bed -- it's put me into the right, relaxed mood to sleep. [For those who might be tempted to believe the above statement is an accurate statement of what I think, I also have a bridge in Sydney for sale that's going very cheap....] I can see the sheriff justifying the shooting. If he thought Chris was wanted for something, and was trying to escape (which is exactly what Chris appear to be doing), then calling out to stop or he'll shoot is a legitimate thing to do. I don't believe there are any regulations on how LOUD he has to call out, and it's quite probable that the noise of the jeep engine may have drowned out any shout, anyway. Having said that, it is still a very serious thing. I don't know what it is like in the USA, but in Australia EVERY discharge of a firearm by a policeman (with the possible exception of on the firing range) has to be reported and justified. The sherrif's motives are still unknown. Homophobia would explain him harassing Chris, and impounding the jeep as evidence, but the shooting is extreme. I'm more inclined to believe that there has been an accusation of some sort against Chris and Steve (Eric has made one already, and the preacher implied another), and the sherrif wants to believe it.

I like them, too. I've dumped a number of my Australian photos there, already.

Happy 29th Birthday! I hope you have a great time!

Happy 19th Birthday!

Some people require something to fill in the time while waiting for the next chapter. If C James isn't providing the topic direction with appropriate prose, others are making up something to keep themselves amused.... I'm hoping for the next chapter soon, because, quite frankly, the sex live (or lack thereof) of a goat is not something that interests me....

Happy 20th Birthday! :king: :king: :king: I hope you and your family have a great day

The snow fields in Victoria (which are NOT very high -- we have a short snow season as a consequence) reported snow on Christmas day -- well into Summer (our Summer starts 1st December). The weather at that time of the year was just plain weird....

Few years are obviously good or bad. 2006 saw my mum in hospital for the first time in decades, my eldest brother having prostate cancer (and chemo-therapy) and my father-in-law diagnosed with untreatable leukemia. Despite that, I would say 2006 was a good year overall. My father-in-law saw Christmas (that had been in doubt at one point) and looked good at the time. My brother is doing well, and my mum is happy -- that's enough for me.

If you're looking for a title, how about 'Mistakes' or 'Bad Assumptions'? On the off chance that it WASN'T Alex, you could go for "Mistaken Identity". Good luck

Australia doesn't have many places above 2000 meters.... On a more serious note, we had one of our driest winters on record last year and now that it's summer here, it's really hitting hard. We've been in drought conditions for years and this summer it is REALLY hitting hard. We've got farmers who are shooting their stock because there is no feed for them, and no one is buying. When people ARE buying, it sometimes costs more to transport the stock to market than they are able to sell them for. There are ancedotal stories of farmers locking the house, locking the gate, and then going out and killing themselves . Australians tend to be very independent and stoic about difficulties, so you know things are getting desperate when there is a major push for advertising mental health services (and suicide prevention in particular) in rural parts of the country. I saw a newspaper making a prediction of drought-breaking rains in April. I hope they're right....

Happy Birthday, WVSailor!

Escaped from the local zoo? I've heard enough stories of kangaroos escapings, and echidna's are a lot cleverer than kangaroos....

I'm waiting to see if the boys go to an 'alternative' restaurant one night and have roast echidna....