[Guest]

Well I think I must be part Australian Syd because my middle name is Sheila!! When I was little my brothers used to put me in the middle of the room and bound round me pretending they were kangaroos (their fingers were their sticky up ears) and singing "Kangaroo down..."

Needless to say, I didn't like my middle name much, neither did my mum for that matter, my dad registered it behind her back!

[Syd Smurf]

Well I'm probably not one to talk about middle names Karen but I have never met anyone real with the name Sheila. Gee, you would think every guy in Australia would be talking to, or about you if you came over here. Your Dad is very naughty sneaking off behind your Mum's back to register that name. Did he ask your Mum first and after hearing "no" he then sneaked off? Either way he sounded pretty determined to name you Sheila.

Speaking of kangaroos (please keep Rolf) I once went to a remote place in NSW called Coonabarabran where the nights were so hot you found it hard to sleep with anything on and then you would wake up in the morning and you would be freezing to death. You don't know how frustrating this is. Anyway we slept in these dis-used trams that were now being used as accomodation for naive tourist in a clearing that had all these wild kangaroos scattered everywhere. As some people know kangaroos can kill a man or at least shred someone close to death with their claws if they are feeling motivated at the time or it isn't a public holiday in Australia.

One night I was busting to go to the toilet and got out of my bed in the tram and was prepared to do the 20 metre walk in the dark to some shed they regarded as a toilet outside.....(a tin shed is actually the equivalent to 5 star luxury for remote Australia with the added bonus of spiders and snakes of course). Unfortunately I couldn't get out of my tram because a large kangaroo was just lying on the doorstep covering the whole entrance and wasn't too interested in my attempts to scare it off. Now I was 11 years old so I knew if I had the run-up I could probably clear the roo in a long jump but I think I was too scared of what the roo would do as they can move pretty fast and with a lot of power. Not really something I wanted to jump over and expose sensitive regions to. So I had to go back to bed which was still boiling at this time knowing that I would be waking up in about 4 hours frozen to death and really really busting to go to the loo.

The 2 things I can't believe about this story is that it trapped me in the tram and I couldn't even do a simple thing like go to the toilet and the second is that I am telling you this. Oh well that's my kangaroo story....my alive kangaroo story anyway.....not very relevant but you did mention a kangaroo in your post Karen.

All the best

Dyar

[Guest]

Well I enjoyed your story Syd!

What part of Australia do you live in?

My mum wanted my middle name to be Ann, my dad kept saying Sheila and she was really against it although she did say if she ever agreed to it it would have to be spelt Shelagh. So that's when he snuck off and registered it Sheila!

[Syd Smurf]

Hi Karen or Kazza as you would be known around here

I live in the south of Sydney which is about 30 minutes drive from the heart of the city.

Your Father is a very naughty man isn't he? It sounds as though he didn't really wait for your Mum's full approval before he ran out the door and off to the registry. I guess he must of like that name.

I wouldn't stress too much if you don't like your middle name as they are pretty useless titles anyway. I think Karen is a pretty cool name so I hope you don't disapprove of that otherwise you would have some serious issues to sort out with your parents.

Dyar

[Guest]

I like the name Karen just fine so that's ok! My Uncle lives in Morningside in Brisbane, one day I will go and visit him, he left when I was 18 months old so it has been a long time! 1970 to be precise!

[Syd Smurf]

Your Uncle must love it in Australia because it doesn't look like he's coming back. Maybe we can steal you too if you come out here. It's funny that England used to send prisoners out here as punishment.....I think the crime rate in England went up after that. A lot of people from Sydney are moving up to Queensland due to the property market soaring in Sydney. It's so much cheaper up there than down where I am but I suppose that will soon change like everywhere else.

I am actually flying up to Queensland at the beginning of next week as I have been served a subpoena to give evidence as a witness against my former employer in the Supreme Court of Queensland. I have never been involved in a court case before so I am a little daunted by that but I suppose as long as I just tell the truth I should be right. At the very least I will be able to go swimming up there as the weather in Queesland during winter is still very warm even at night.

all the best

Dyar

[Syd Smurf]

Wahooooooooooooooooooooooo

That's wahooo in Welsh. I have now finally finished all the English translations of the Regulars and the Supers Smurfs from the Katalog. I will move into the promos and other bits soon and then I can go through my collection and see which ones I have and which ones I need or still want to get.

On Tuesday I will be paying for a large order that will include the last Regular smurf I need to complete the set of Regulars. I have all the Supers but need one more Christmas Ornament (Smurf w/ Candycane). There are still 3 playsets I need but they are the 3 most expensive and hardest ones to find (Astro's, Tree Stump & Schlumpf-Burg) so who knows when I will get my hands on those ones or if I ever will regarding the Schlumpf-Burg playset. I have a lot of variations but as everyone knows there will always be millions out there we don't have but I have done really well since starting late in October last year.

Once I know what I have here I will be checking out the markings at the webshop Karen to see which ones I still need.

Dyar mit wunden roten Augen und schwarzen Ringen