go the cats

when discussing the greatest players ever to have played in the vfl/afl there are four players that generally get singled out, and debated over, as being the best - graham 'polly' farmer, gary 'god' ablett snr, ted 'mr football' whitten and 'lethal' leigh matthews. it's amazing that two of them played for geelong and one of them has produced two offspring that will pull on the blue and white hoops on saturday in what will hopefully be the cats' first flag in 44 years.

personally, i love and admire polly more than just about any other footballer. his life is an amazing story as he overcame being part of the stolen generation to use the talents given to him and make a success of himself. from what i know of the man, he was confident without being arrogant. how many others could single handedly change the face of the game without being arrogant? he's also a friendly bloke. back in the days when i rode my bike to school and uni i used to pass him pretty regularly as he jogged along marmion ave and he always said gday which never failed to make my day. just think, one of the greatest players of the greatest sport invented would say gday to an upstart riding his bike down the road!!

polly reckons he's not well enough to fly over to victoria for the game on saturday so he's just gonna watch it on the tele. well, i hope the cats win and i hope he enjoys every second of the game.. he deserves it!

sofia's law?

it's funny how people are the same everywhere. it doesn't take much to whip into a frenzy the people who rely on 'today tonight', howard sattler and 'the sunday times' for their news and opinion. there wouldn't be a single person in perth that isn't horrified by what dante arthurs did to sofia rodriguez-urrutia shu (yep, one can be compassionate and yet say her name without having to add an adjective such as precious, darling or little). it's the way that people react to that horror that i find bemusing. there is now a push to enact an australian version of megan's law and sarah's law (to be known as sofia's law) and have a publically available database of anyone convicted of child sex crimes. this is despite the fact that even if there was such a law in place, arthurs wouldn't have been on the list anyway. well, at the risk of being stoned, flogged in a public place or, even worse, being accused of being 'soft on crime', i completely oppose such a law. the reason i oppose such lists is that they are largely useless. the majority of people who commit sex crimes will not be on the list as they will not have been caught yet. dante arthurs is a perfect example of this. the only purpose these lists serve is to make the public who fight for them feel good about themselves and for politicians to get cheap votes.

but worse than these laws being useless publicity stunts, i believe they have the potential to do far more harm than good. i say this for the following reasons:

• the debate of them takes time in parliament at the expense of laws that will actually make a difference
• they increase the risk of innocent people being attacked by vigilantes due to mistaken identity - this has already happened overseas
• they increase the risk of convicted child molesters 'going underground' to avoid the chance of being attacked by vigilantes which makes it almost impossible for police to continue monitoring them - this then increases the chance of a repeat offence
• they increase apathy amongst lazy parents who rely on the list as if it were exhaustive
• they undermine the basic principles of our justice system
• they waste valuable resources that could be put to better use

to clarify, i oppose these laws for the above reasons and because they are useless. if they were proved to work i would obviously support them fully. we currently have the list that the unthinking masses are demanding but it is only accessible by police... and that's the way it should stay!!

i reckon there are much more important and useful things we can do to protect our kids. the first thing that i believe should be done is for it to be made illegal (with harsh penalties) to smoke in a car or building where kids are present. there should also be an exclusion zone (is 50 metres far enough?) around kids where it's illegal to smoke. this would actually make a practical, everyday contribution to protecting kids. and how about bringing in some sort of law ensuring kids receive adequate nutrition? this is an area where kids are routinely abused. and if people really want a public register, then how about making one for people who are a real threat to kids (as opposed to a 'today tonight' threat) - convicted speeders and drink drivers! i'd be on the speeders list unfortunately.

it would be interesting to see whether people are serious about protecting kids or just jumping on a populist bandwagon. i have a funny feeling that many of the people who are so quick to demand enactment of 'sofia's law' wouldn't be so quick to support the measures i suggest. i can hear cries of 'nanny state' and 'big brother' already. there's a word to describe these people - hypocrites!!

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22484549-5008620,00.html

small small cox

he may be tall in stature but dean cox is a small, small man. his on-camera reaction last night when josh carr was given 3 brownlow votes for the second western derby was pathetic and completely lacking any degree of sportsmanship. the judges on the day awarded carr the ross glendinning medal as the best player on the ground. the umpires awarded him top brownlow votes as the best player on the ground. it's time for the e-girls players and supporters to just build a bridge and get over it. face facts - carr was clearly the best player on the ground that day and him roughing up druggie cuzzy was just the icing on the cake.

soft tigers

those with even a passing interest in footy will know that the worst insult that can be levelled against a team is that they're soft. it's ok to be crap, as long as you're not soft. well, yesterday's grand final really sticks in my throat as my beloved tigers played as soft as i've ever seen. i hate to admit it but subi were very hard at the ball and put unbelievable pressure on claremont which our players simply couldn't handle. after such a fantastic season and successive wins over subi, to come out and play like that in a grand final is pretty devastating. i'm sure the players and feeling very sore and sorry for themselves today. i do love my tigers and know that they're not an inherently soft team but yesterday's performance was just so disappointing, especially as we've shown during the season that we're a better team than subi. i just hope that the senior players make a pact to continue on next year and make amends as we've now lost 3 of the past 4 grand finals and it's time to realise the potential we have.

still, as i say.. the monts to be great in 2008!

all at peace

ok, i know this is most likely of no interest to anyone but me but i'm gonna post it cos it's my blog and i'll post whatever i like!!

i just had the best lunch break i've had for a very long time. there's a little park over the road from work and i went down and sat in the mild sunshine leaning against a jacaranda tree reading a really good book. the grass was such a vibrant green and the zephyr was taking away the excess heat leaving it a perfect warmth. it's enough to make one sleepy so i lay down on the grass and had a very relaxing rest. even coming back to the office isn't too bad as the swan river is so blue today that it's particularly beautiful.

and it's nearly the weekend.. yay!

keeping up with the joneses

i'm very happy with the result of anthony jones winning this year's sandover medal. he's a claremont boy through and through having come through our junior system and played colts and ressies with the club before going on to play 82 games for freo. it's just a shame that he suffered so many injuries during his afl career as he was a pretty handy player in the backline. these days he's dominating the forward line for claremont and i reckon he must be loving kicking a few goals. as i played most of my footy in the backline i know i'd love to have been able to kick a few myself. AJ's dad, mark, was also one of my lecturers when i was studying for my teaching degree many years ago. now i just hope we can get another win over subi this sunday to claim our first premiership since 1996.

top 5 songwriters

the great thing about having a blog is being able to share my opinions with the two or three people who actually read it. anyhoo, i was thinking recently about who would be my top five songwriters and i've managed to come up with a list. i've cheated a little as i've counted songwriting teams as equal to individuals simply because they sometimes cannot be split up. so here goes (in no particular order)...

1. bob dylan
2. kurdt cobain
3. morrissey/marr
4. neil young
5. lennon/mccartney

as i said, songwriting teams have been put in together. obviously morrissey and johnny marr wouldn't be separated but one may wonder about lennon/mccartney. well, i wouldn't include a solo john lennon or paul mccartney in my list of top five (or ten for that matter). some people like mick thomas, leonard cohen, frank black and bruce springsteen don't miss out by all that much but still don't get a guernsey.

any suggestions of alternative top 5's will be read with interest.

disgraceful

let me preface this by saying that i know quite a few e-girls supporters who are decent people and actually know a bit about footy... it's just that not many of them can have been at subi for the semi final on friday night. i watched the game on tele and was disgusted to hear the crowd booing nathan buckley whenever he touched the ball. now i can understand booing a player under some circumstances (when he's a drug crazed knobend with an oversized ego for example) but to boo someone like buckley who's done nothing except be an absolute champion of the game just shows the mentality of the wet toast members and their lack of understanding of the game. their behaviour on friday night, along with the throwing of pies and bottles at the best player on the ground in the last western derby, is simply disgraceful and is a perfect crystalisation of why i hate west coast so much and have no respect for the bulk of their supporters. they don't derserve to have a player of judd's stature wearing their jumper.

and.. as the old joke goes.. how do you know when a plane load of weagles supporters has landed? the whining continues after the engines have stopped. i can't wait to hear the whining this week as they try to blame everything under the sun for their team's failure to win a final. face facts.. THEY SIMPLY WEREN'T GOOD ENOUGH!!

oh yeah, one final thing. to the beached whale who made snide comments to me during the week about it being sad (meaning pathetic) to barrack for a team that's missed the finals yet again.. i laugh in your general direction. i'd retort that i'd rather barrack for a team that misses the finals than for druggie scum that make the finals but aren't good enough to win a game but i reckon that would probably be a bit below the belt.. so for now i merely extend a satisfied grin and await to renew my freo membership

kanye vs fiddy

fantastic news this week for anyone who enjoys seeing third rate 'gangsta' rappers getting their comeuppence. curtis jackson III (aka 50 cent.. cos that's how much his truly dreadful cd's sell for in the charity shops) has said that if kanye west's new album outsells his this week he's gonna retire. from what i've read it looks like kanye is well ahead and hopefully it will be the last we hear from mr cent... although something tells me we won't be that lucky. now if only someone could find a way to get a few other ppl to retire....

2.24 million watch chaser

wow.. about 10% of the australian population tuned in last night to watch 'the chaser's war on everything'. naturally the week's controversy over their stunt at the apec summit (or opec if you're george jnr) drew a lot of people but it's great that a bit of political satire manages to pull a crowd. i really love the chaser's humour which reminds me a great deal of the wonderful 'late show' that screened on the abc about 15 years ago. of course, the guys who did 'the late show' went on to form 'working dog' and have been responsible for such wonderful programmes as 'funky squad', 'the panel', 'thank god you're here' and 'frontline' as well as movies 'the dish' and 'the castle' (which is one of my favourite movies of all time). it'll be interesting to see what the chaser boys do over the next decade or so.

joys of home pt 2

sunsets over scarborough beach

conservapedia

if you want a bit of a laugh along with a fair amount of frustration check out http://www.conservapedia.com/. yep, as you'd guess by its name, it's the reaction by the right wing to what it perceives as 'liberal biases' in wikipedia. as would be expected, the contributors to conservapedia consider the best way to deal with biased, subjective entries in wikipedia is to create biased, subjective entries of their own. the more controversial entries (eg. george bush jnr) are locked to prevent anyone amending the record with a dissenting view whilst anyone, conservative or otherwise, who even asks questions that could lead to dissenting responses is decried as a 'liberal'. there's an area for discussion where one can find such enlightened opinions as the person who stated that most democrats (yep, it's a very america-centric site.. and proud of it!) are atheists and the ones that go to church are just hypocrites.. lol!! unfortunately for a site that is trying to present itself as an alternative online encyclopedia, there is actually very little actual educational value. for example, virtually the entire entry on dinosaurs is devoted to arguing that evolution is wrong and that it can be proved that dinosaurs co-existed with humans whilst very little about dinosaurs is actually included.

anyhoo, if you have some spare time on your hands and wanna check out the effects of lobotomy on the mind's ability to think logically then check out this site. it's a hoot!

has the world gone topsy turvy?

i don't believe it!! in the three and a half years i lived in london the one thing that could be relied upon was that the service provided by the northern line would be crap and certainly the worst by far of all the tube lines. i used to have to take the thing twice a day and it was a truly dreadful service. i had to put up with it being hit by strike, being delayed by 'signal failures' more often than you could poke a stick at, having extended closures, trains terminating unexpectedly and even a derailment. it was usually referred to in the media as the 'misery line'.

now i see that it is one of only two lines not hit by suspensions! what's the world coming to?? how typical that it suddenly becomes reliable once i leave. hmmmph!

bush the bully

thank goodness the reign of george bush jnr is coming to an end. i read with disbelief in the paper this morning that he's planning to attack iran and destroy any military capabilities they may have (the australian - 3/9/07). this will be the third unprovoked open attack on another nation during his presidency and further proof that not only is he one of the worst presidents ever to have been in power in the USA but that he's also a warmongering lunatic and, by many definitions, a war criminal.

when iraq invaded and occupied kuwait in the 90's the reaction of the international community was swift and decisive and yet we have a situation where US forces have invaded afghanistan and iraq and are still occupying these countries without any organised consequences. now the plans are to attack iran. the USA is the nelson muntz of the world community who, along with its gang of bullies, picks on anyone who dares to be different or who has more lunch money than they do... and that's nothing to be proud of!

cheers cookie

"he's played the game the way i expect the game to be played". that's what mark harvey had to say about troy cook on his retirement and i reckon that pretty much sums him up. cookie is one of the hardest players i've ever seen play the game but was always an unquestionably fair player as well. he wasn't the most talented player in the afl (although you've gotta be a lot more talented than the average footballer to play nearly 200 afl games) but he plays in a style built on courage and discipline. i've seen him put his safety on the line so often since he came to freo and no matter how hard he's hit, he goes at the ball just as hard the next time. the guy just oozes guts. i'm really proud of the club for playing him in the last three games to enable him to get life membership. it's something that great clubs do and shows that the spirit of the game hasn't been completely diluted by the big money that the afl revolves around these days.

i'm gonna miss watching cookie play.