R.I.P. sodastream

yep, i know it's now quite old news that sodastream have called it a day but it's new to me as i've only been back in perth for the past 2 weeks. i've loved the music of sodastream for a long time and was actually at their first gig (supporting gary wiseman for his cassette launch) when they were a 3 piece and their music was still quite reminscent of the wonderful thermos cardy. they've changed a lot over the years but karl's touching and beautiful songwriting has always remained a constant. they were the first band i saw after arriving in london in 2003 and saw them again in january this year which makes them one of the last bands i saw before leaving london. i just hope that karl still finds a way to put his music out there as it will be a huge loss if he doesn't.

a nice win

well it was a great first up win for harvs and begs the question of why the players didn't play with such desperation under chris. let's just hope that they can carry on like that for the rest of the season and perhaps a miracle can happen with us making the finals. if we did get into the eight we'd certainly be playing with a fair bit of momentum and anything can happen from there.

i've been interested in the debate over the prospect of sumich coaching us next year. i'm obviously no fan of the weagles and would prefer that we didn't get a former west coast player as our coach, but i know that any dislike of him would evaporate very quickly if the team found early success. i remember gerard neesham taking over as coach of claremont from mossie in 1987 and i was very much opposed to him but after a few wins i was glad he was there and now i reckon the man's a saint.. and a bloomin good coach as well. if only he'd had a good list during the early freo days...

jeffrey

to quote the beatles.. "i read the news today.. oh boy". i simply can't believe that the wiz has stuffed up again and at such a difficult time for the club. as if there wasn't enough going on without this to worry about. for once i'm really glad that i'm not in a position of power within the club but rather just one of thousands of members cos i'd hate to be having to make the decision on his future. there is no question that we are very much poorer onfield without him in the side but how much more of this behaviour can be put up with? i've been very critical of the weagles for the amount of rope they've let their players have over the years so i spose the chickens are coming home to roost as some really tough decisions need to be made down at freo oval now. i really don't know the best way to go forward with this and am glad that we've got some pretty bright people in charge of the club.

most importantly, i really hope the club can help jeff address the issues he obviously has and assist him to overcome them in the long term as i'd hate to see him end up going down the same road as jimmy krakouer and ending up in gaol. if this means he doesn't play for us again, then so be it.. as long as he ends up ok in the end.

thank you chris

so the inevitable has happened and chris connolly has stepped down as coach of freo. i know the press are always in need of a good story but they really need to stop and think about what they're doing sometimes. the speed with which they've turned on chris has been despicable and there are a number of 'journalists' in perth who should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. the fact of the matter is that my mob were a laughing stock when chris took over at the end of 2001. i still clearly remember that season as i turned up week-in, week-out to watch us lose consistently. the final game against adelaide, which was the only home game we won that year, was a rare treat. the turnaround following chris' appointment was immediate. since then we've made the finals twice, including a preliminary final last season. of course, that's not enough for the vultures in the press who lick their lips at the first scent of blood.

i want to thank chris for all the work he's put into the club, for the humour he's shown and for being a simple, approachable bloke who has more integrity in his little finger than many of the 'journalists' combined. i honestly hope he gets another chance at senior level (melbourne next season maybe?) and proves just what he's capable of.

as for next year, i reckon it's time we went for a proven senior coach and therefore i'd like to see neale daniher appointed. he's been very unlucky this season with the number of injuries at melbourne and he's proven himself by coaching melbourne to a number of finals campaigns, including the 2000 grand final. he's also another coach with a great deal of integrity and knows the culture of the club after being assistant to gerard neesham.

so, good luck chris. thanks for the memories and i hope 2008 proves to be a fantastic year for you.

a little update

hey ho.. i've been home now for a week and a half and gradually things are returning to 'normal'. i'm still at mum's and on monday start housesitting for my brother and sis-in-law down in golden bay. i'm really looking forward to moving into my scarborough unit but it's still a few weeks away. yesterday i bought a car so now i have wheels and today i had a job interview and was offered the position. it's a payroll position for an oil company on st george's tce so is perfect as it will make it easy to catch public transport to work once i get to scarborough. with any luck i can start on monday! it's also been cool catching up with various friends and family. i went down to have tea with trev, ruth and family last night and had a great time catching up. trev would be my oldest friend as we've been mates since i was in primary school.

i enjoyed watching claremont and freo play on the weekend in two very similar games. both games involved a lot of errors and poor play from my teams but fortunately claremont managed to snatch a 7 point win whilst freo went down to nth melbourne by 4 points. barring some sort of miracle i really can't see freo making the finals this year. still, one must stick by the team and keep up the support regardless of whether we make the finals or not.

i'm still having moments of missing london and krakow but i guess that will always be the case. i still haven't found a good polish restaurant here yet but am determined to do so. after all, how long can someone last without a good dish of pierogi z miesem??

another great thing about being back in perth is bumping into people you know just about everywhere you go. there's only been a couple of times that i've gone out since i've been back that i haven't bumped into someone. it used to bug me but now i really appreciate it.

this saturday is the release of the final harry potter book and i can't wait. i've already ordered my copy so i'm guaranteed to be able to pick it up on saturday morning. i think this saturday will be spent by a long time in a coffee shop down at scarborough beach reading the book.

hopefully everyone reading this is doing well and i'd love to hear from anyone who feels like dropping a line.

oh yeah.. nearly forgot.. i've also bought my first concert ticket since getting back for the silverchair/powderfinger show in september which should totally rock. can't wait!

back home

i've had a pretty eventful week. just over a week ago i was in krakow anticipating an extended trip around se asia. today i'm in karrinyup library back in perth. so.. here's how it happened.

i left paris last monday night and headed to bangkok via dubai. the signs weren't good on the leg from dubai to bangkok. i got stuck next one of those prats who whinge the whole trip. the guy was tall.. much taller than me and before we even started moving on the runway he was demanding to be upgraded to business class as his legs were too long for the economy seats. it was pretty obvious that he regularly pulls this trick and i guess it usually works for him. well this time the business class was full so there was no moving for him and he was not impressed. his next try was to ask if someone at the front of economy (where there's more leg room) could be moved for him. thankfully they didn't give into this demand. so he humphed and groaned and started giving me dirty looks as he wasn't able to stretch his legs into my space. after a while the guy in front of him decided to put his chair back which made him even more annoyed and he started pushing the guy's chair back up. eventually they had to call the head stewardess to tell him that he'd just have to put up with it. so he reckoned he was gonna put in a complaint although i really can't see what grounds he has for complaint.

anyhoo.. that was just the start. to cut a long story short, i arrived in bangkok to find my visa card suspended as i'd not told them i was travelling there so i had no access to my account. this problem, coupled with rather severe jetlag and quite a bit of homesickness made me decide to postpone my trip and head back to perth. so after two days in bangkok it was back to the airport and onto a plane to perth. fortunately i had enough cash on me to pay for the ticket or else i would have been really stranded. i arrived at perth airport at 6.20 friday morning after about one hour's sleep and caught public transport to mum's place to give her a surprise.

so here i am back home. i went to the claremont vs sth freo game on saturday with dad and saw a great win by the tigers and went down to pete and ali's for a family lunch yesterday which was also very enjoyable. now i've gotta start getting everything sorted jobwise, carwise etc back here. it's nice to be home but i know it's gonna take a while to fully settle in. i can move into my place in late august and am really looking forward to it. i just hope i manage to find a job soon.

when we left for the uk, the only time i'd been outside of WA was a one day mystery flight to sydney. now i've been to 21 countries (including england and scotland) and had a chance to see much of the world. i never thought i'd get the travelling bug but i guess it's bitten me pretty hard. it'll be strange to live in a place where i can't just pop over to another country for the weekend but i spose there are trade offs no matter where one lives.