i like soccer but...

the bust up between the AFL and FFA have had me quite bemused this week. i enjoy soccer and would love to see the world cup hosted in australia, but not if it comes at the expense of the football season. it's not often i agree with andrew demetriou but this time i reckon he's got it right. the FIFA rule that no other sporting competitions can be run at the same time as the world cup is arrogant and unreasonable. whether soccer supporters like it or not, football is the most popular sport in australia and the FFA need to negotiate with the AFL rather than attempt to dictate terms. demetriou's role is to protect the interests of football in general, and the AFL in particular, and if he didn't do so he'd be neglecting his duties. to blame demetriou for us potentially missing out on hosting the world cup is ludicrous. if we miss out on the opportunity to host the world cup because an agreement can't be reached with the AFL, the blame lies fairly and squarely on FIFA and their unforgivable arrogance.

latest hungry jack's ripoff

can you believe how shameless hungry jack's are in their chasing of profits? first they changed the default size of combo meals from medium to small. this doesn't particularly bother me as it's probably for the best that i eat less fries and the drinks usually have free refills. it's more the way they've tried to sneak it in quietly that i find rather dishonest. now at the innaloo branch (and quite likely others) they've taken this one step further. i was in there yesterday and noticed that when the person in line before me placed his order, the guy behind the checkout asked if he wanted it medium or large. of course, the bloke asked for medium and was charged the upgrade fee. there was no mention from the checkout guy that there was an extra charge for a medium meal and no mention of the option of having a small meal. when i ordered my whopper meal, he asked me the same question: "do you want medium or large?" (with the voice intonation dropping on 'large', thereby implying that these are the only two options). i replied by asking, "don't you do small sizes anymore?" to which he looked rather surprised and asked, "sorry?". i repeated the question and he confirmed that they do small meals so i placed the order for that.

i realise that the upgrade fee is only 55 cents but it's the principle of the matter. if they're going to ask which size you want, they should either offer all the choices or none; not just the choices that attract an extra charge. i would presume that most people, when asked if they want medium or large, would choose medium. using a simple, dishonest tactic, hungry jack's are now able to entice the majority of customers to pay for an upgrade without realising they're doing it which i reckon is pretty unethical.

cambodia pt5

this should be the final installment as i fly out tomorrow arvo but i just had to put down a couple of things that happened within a few minutes of each other today. i was sitting up at wat phnom watching the world go by when an american couple walked behind me. as usual there were kids asking for money but his response was anything but usual. the exchange went as follows:

kids: mister, give one dollar
american: you should study hard and become a successful executive... don't beg

bearing in mind the kids were no older than 5, i found his response very comical.

i then bought a can of sprite off a seller and put it down after drinking a bit. a monkey, seeing that i'd put the can down, walked up and took it. instinctively i reached out to get my can back and the monkey attacked me. it grabbed my arm and bit me on the hand and then ran off with the can before turning around and getting ready to attack again. another monkey saw what was going on and started running up the hill with teeth bared clearly ready to attack as well. fortunately a policeman came running and scared them off but i was a little bit shaken and will now have to see a doctor about getting rabies shots when i get home.

tonight i had a really good green curry from a small roadside restaurant. i picked it as it was full of locals which usually indicates good food. the excited shout of 'barang' from the staff when i asked for a table makes me think they probably don't get an awful lot of foreigners dining there. none of the staff spoke english and they did seem to see me as a bit of a novelty. again, the value is stunning. i had a huge green curry and a bowl of rice and a coke for the princely sum of around $2.50. dining out in overpriced perth will never be the same again.

cambodia pt4

sob.. it's getting close to hometime. yesterday was a fantastic day as a few of us took off on a yacht to go sailing to a couple of islands a fair way off the coast. it was a warm day and although the wind wasn't up, it was still a fantastic time. we got to the first island and went snorkelling. it was brilliant in the shallows as there were a lot of flourescent tropical fish that were happy swimming around my arms if i stayed still. unfortunately a sizeable crab wasn't so happy to see me and chased me away. after some lunch on the yacht we sailed off to another island with a snowy white beach of fine sand. the water was so warm and the weather so good that one couldn't help but be relaxed. we headed back from the second island and eventually got back to sihanoukville and dropped anchor as the sun went down. it was a beautiful sunset as we sat on deck drinking some ice cold beers and relaxing even more.

today was another day sitting on a deckchair and contemplating how life must be for rich people that aren't workaholics. being the stupid bloke i can be, i managed to get sunburnt on my last day on the beach which was the first time i've really been burnt since getting here. trust me to save it for the end of my trip. tomorrow morning i'll be taking the early bus back to phnom penh and then saturday i leave for perth. sigh.

2009 afl draft

wow, what an exciting draft. i'm stoked we picked morabito with our first pick as he looks a readymade afl player and could well rival the impact our past two first picks have had in their debut seasons. i'm also very excited that we picked up nat fyfe with our second pick. i watched him dominate the forward line in my mighty tigers' colts grand final win this year and had hoped we'd get him. i don't know a lot about the rest but i look forward to seeing what they can do. i'm also stoked greg broughton was promoted from the rookie list as, in my humble opinion, he was the best first year player last season. he's so unobtrusive that he's easily overlooked (a la shame parker) but he's an extremely effective and courageous defender who quickly became an integral part of the backline last season. i'm not sure where this leaves matty de boer as he's still on the rookie list but i've no doubt his future at dockerland is secure after his fantastic debut season.

also, as a die hard claremont supporter, it's great to see a number of our boys get taken in the draft, even if one did go to the yuppie scum up the road. there's a real sense of poetry that nicholas winmar has gone to st kilda, the club where his second cousin and namesake was such a superstar. what i did find very disappointing, however, is that no one picked up ian richardson. it's great for claremont that we'll have his outstanding talent again next year but it's sad for him that no clubs have recognised his huge potential. he's a bit of a cult hero down at tigerland now with the regular call of 'kick it to richo' ringing out from the grandstand. still, that's the one sad point in an otherwise exciting day.

i can't wait for the 2010 season!!!

cambodia pt3

so my last day in siem reap was great. first i went to a place in the mountains where the rocks in the river have been carved as a kind of wild temple. it was great as the carvings are not immediately obvious but gradually reveal themselves as you look harder. there's also a waterfall there which was nice and cool. then in the arvo it was off to beng mealea which became my favourite temple over ta prohm. it's a long way out of siem reap (the best part of an hour on the back of a motorbike) and is really a big ruin with the jungle having taken control. unfortunately we left fairly late and as the sun sank, the ride became quite harrowing. a note to cambodian drivers: when it's dark and you're riding a motorbike, TURN ON THE HEADLIGHTS!!! the situation was that i was sitting on the back of the motorbike (no helmet of course) with the driver doing between 70 and 80 kmh as it's getting dark. the road is bumpy and there's motorbikes coming against us on the wrong side of the road with no headlights on. it's at this point that he decides it's a good idea to answer his mobile phone. needless to say it made me very nervous and there were a couple of very close shaves. he also needed to keep his helmet visor down as there were plenty of bugs in the air but, of course, it was tinted so he had to keep lifting it to see what was ahead and then he'd put it back down again. i was so thankful to make it back to the hotel in one piece.

that night it was onto a night bus that took me all the way to sihanoukville where i am now. the cultural stuff has been done so it's now time to relax. i've spent the past two days sitting on a deckchair a couple of metres from the water getting massages and having cold beer and fruit smoothies. tonight i had tea at a russian run restaurant called the snake house. my table was a big ceramic urn with a glass top and a python inside coiled up on a branch. it was certainly unique! they also had a massive aquarium bar and a crocodile besides many other snakes and a turtle.

sadly my trip is drawing to a close and i only have a few more days before it's back on the plane home. still, i reckon i'll be heading back here again as it's a great country.

cambodia pt 2

wow, two days of walking around temples is so very tiring. i had a nice foot massage last night from a place called dr feet but even so, my feet and legs and back are still really sore. the girls doing the massages laughed at my toenail polish and asked if i was a ladyboy... hmmmph. still we all had a good laugh and they were good fun.

i started off yesterday by spending about 3 1/2 hours checking out angkor wat. it's huge and absolutely stunning. no words i can write will do it justice so if you're interested in reading about it and seeing some images, check out this link. following angkor wat, i headed off to the ancient walled city of angkor thom. this contains a number of temples, the biggest and most impressive being bayon which has massive carvings of faces looking in all directions - a way for the king to keep an eye on his subjects. these two sites took me a full day to explore and i was very weary by the end. i was also at the point where i thought i'd lose sanity if i had one more woman screech at me "mister, you buy mango", "mr, you buy pineapple", "mister, you buy banana", "mister, you buy cold drink"etc. i know they're only trying to eke out an honest living but seriously, if i want a friggin mango i'll ask for one!!!

today started at my favourite temple of all: ta prohm. it's the temple that was featured in the film 'tomb raider' and has massive trees and roots covering many parts. it was fun wandering around imagining what it must have been like for the people who first came across it in the jungle. a number more temples followed but really, there's not an easy way to describe them all and i'm sure i'd bore everyone if i tried. one thing i really enjoyed was lunch. i stopped at a small eatery and had amok with chicken. amok is a national cambodian dish and simply delicious. i reckon i'll have to learn how to make it as i could definitely go that again.

so that's me so far. i reckon i'll head upstairs for a shower now and then out for some fried noodles and a mango shake from a roadside stall.. great value for $1.75!!! then a cupla beers and time to hit the hay. i've another day of temples tomorrow before catching the night bus to sihanoukville.

cambodia pt1

i've been in cambodia for a few days now and thought it about time i made mention of it here. i arrived in phnom penh on saturday arvo and hopped into a tuk tuk to take me from the airport to my hotel. the traffic here is organised chaos. i thought this was the case in manila but phnom penh really takes the cake. cars, motorbikes and tuk tuks vie for space on the road and basically drive wherever they like. it's nothing to see several motorbikes driving against the flow of the traffic and people just move out of the way. it seems like madness at first but it seems to work very well.

on my first day i visited the former prison of tuol sleng (also known as S-21). prior to the khmer rouge taking over the country in 1975 it had been a high school but was turned into the most notorious place of torture under the regime. many of the people who were tortured and killed were photographed before their ordeal and there's several rooms of photos to take in. i also visited the killing fields were many of the prisoners of S-21 were taken to be killed. to save on bullets, the khmer rouge had them kneel next to a mass grave and bashed their heads in with farming implements. except for the small children. many of these were taken by the feet and had their heads swung into a tree trunk. all in all, they are exceptionally sad places and highlight the brutality of pol pot and his henchmen (and henchwomen). following this i visited the 'russian market' - so called because it was the preferred place for russians to shop in the 1980's. it is the most remarkable market i've ever been to. it's massive and sells nearly everything you can imagine; from food (veg, herbs, raw meat and also meals) to all sorts of nick nacks, clothing, material, motorbike parts, household goods, jewelery, books, cds, dvds and many other things. so that was day one and it was indeed a full one and was concluded with a great massage from the good people at seeing hands. they're a chain of massage places throughout cambodia which train and employ blind people.

day two started with a visit to the silver pagoda which is next to the royal palace. it is called silver as the floor of the pagoda is tiled with squares of silver. it must be the most expensive floor i've ever walked on. i then moseyed over to the national museum and checked out centuries worth of angkor artifacts but i must admit it didn't take long for all the little buddahs to look the same. the afternoon was a fairly quiet affair but did include another massage.. this time for 1 1/2 hours (not bad for $9).

day three was my last full day in phnom penh. i had a moto driver take me out into the countryside onto mekong island where i met a lady named clara and her family. they have a weaving thing (loom?) under their house and weave material to sell in the markets. she was lovely and very welcoming and so i bought one of her products. it was great fun getting out into the villages and riding on the back of a motorbike. of course, being on the back of a bike in the crazy phnom penh traffic took some getting used to but eventually it was more fun than scary. again, the arvo was a fairly quiet affair with a couple of beers at the famed FCC (foreign correspondents club) and another massage. yep, i could easily get used to a life of long, cheap massages. this time my masseuse decided to find every knot in my muscles and knead them fully. it was rather painful but, i guess, necessary.

day four involved and early start as i was to catch the 8.30am bus from phnom penh to battambang. of course, i got there early and, of course, it didn't end up leaving until 9.20am. on arriving in battambang, a tuk tuk driver offered to take me for a drive out to the bamboo train so i could go for a ride on one. for those who don't know, the bamboo train consists of two axles (one attached to what appears to be a lawnmower engine) with the equivalent of a bamboo fencing panel on top. they ride along a small railway which has trains coming in both directions. when two bamboo trains coming from opposite directions meet, discussions are held and in the end, one of the trains is dismantled and taken off the tracks to allow the other to pass. the train is then put back together and the journey continues. needless to say, it was great fun and a very unique experience. by the time i'd finished that, it was nearly dark so i took a quick wander around town before sitting down for tea at the famous 'smokin pot'. the food was great but the three loud obnoxious americans at the table next to me weren't so wonderful. seriously guys, there's no need to swear in such a loud voice in a restaurant and no one really wants to hear about photos of you baring your arse.

so, onto day five: today. the reason for going to battambang, apart from the bamboo train, was to catch the boat to siem reap. i'd read that it is a marvelous journey but it surpassed all expectations. we spent about 5 1/2 hours journeying through narrow passages with bushes rubbing against the boat. we passed numerous floating villages and even stopped at a shop in one. the toilet at the shop was just a drop over the water which makes one wonder how hygienic it is crapping directly into the water your home floats in. of course, they charged like wounded bulls but they have to make a living like the rest of us. there was also much bird life and jumping fish and even a bright orange snake winding its way through the trees. eventually we reached siem reap and a tuk tuk was waiting for me with my name on a card. a quick trip into town followed and finally i rocked up at the lovely guest house i'm now at (with free internet.. yay!!). i've been out and bought my three day pass to the temples and seen my first one which was spectacular. tomorrow i'll be hitting the legendary angkor wat which i'm sure will be mind blowing.

so that's the expurgated version of my cambodian odyssey so far. now it's time for a shower and a cold frothie before hitting the sack.

on refugees

i must say that i have great sympathy for those whose home has become so unsafe and antagonistic towards them that they're driven to the point of giving up everything they have in order to flee their country in search of safety. i couldn't imagine how dreadful life would have to be for me to sell my belongings in order to scrape together enough money to pay people smugglers to get me to asylum; usually in a country that wouldn't really want me there. it saddens me that so many australians lack even a basic compassion for these people. assigning them the derogatory term 'queue jumpers' demonstrates just how little the average australian understands.

now, having said this, the current case of the tamil people presently on a boat in indonesia has me baffled. they claim to have escaped from sri lanka to the jungles of malaysia so i'm puzzled as to why they didn't seek asylum there. they're now in indonesia so i don't understand why they're not claiming asylum there. surely if you're a fair dinkum refugee who had no choice but to flee your homeland, you wouldn't be fussy about where you end up but rather gratefully accept shelter in the first country you get to.

as i said, i have sympathy for genuine refugees and certainly feel that we have an obligation to treat them humanely, especially when they've fled countries such as vietnam, iraq or afghanistan which we've invaded. what does cheese me off is when people claiming to be refugees start issuing demands about which country they will accept asylum from. they should never forget that it is the right of each country to decide on whether they will be accepted; it's not their right to pick and choose.

perhaps there's some crucial point i'm missing here and would be more than happy for someone with greater knowledge than me to set me straight

long overdue update

crikey.. it's been ages since i last posted so i thought i should write a quick update.

flying home was an absolute ordeal. we left manila about half an hour late which is pretty much standard for arvo flights so i wasn't concerned. the dramas started nearly an hour into the flight when the pilot announced over the PA that there had been a power failure in manila which caused the air traffic control to lose all radar and radio so the plane would have to turn around and return to the airport there. groan. so we returned and landed and sat there. and continued to sit there. and then had our tea... and continued to sit there. eventually we were told to buckle up again as we were going to take off... over 3 hours later than our original departure time. of course, this meant we all missed our connecting flights in singapore. fortunately i was flying singapore airlines which is my favourite airline and they had things in hand. when we landed they had tables set up to tell us when our replacement flights would be leaving. ultimately, rather than landing in perth at 11.45pm on sunday night as planned, i landed at 6.30am monday morning.

this then brought on drama number 2... customs!! i was almost out the door to the foyer. almost. that's when a nice gentleman asked me to come with him. really? after everything else? being the compliant, friendly, law-abiding person i am, i complied with his request in a friendly law-abiding manner. he asked to check my hand luggage and proceeded to empty my bag whilst asking about my holiday - where had i gone? did i enjoy it? how was the diving? next it was my backpack's turn. i unlocked it and he proceeded to empty this as well. argghhh!! a lady came and took my cameras and memory cards away to look through whilst another person took away my empty backpack to be x-rayed. now, i'm seen enough episodes of 'border security' to know what was going on - they thought i was a drug mule which would ordinarily be laughable but wasn't quite so funny after the flight problems i'd had. i also had a job interview lined up for 3pm that arvo and just wanted to go home and get some sleep before it. obviously nothing was found so you'd think that'd be the end of the inquisition right? ahh.. you'd be wrong. i was told they wanted to do a frisk search and was given a card to read which explained my rights. naturally i had no objection so my shoes were taken to be x-rayed whilst a customs officer proceeded to give me a frisk search. sure enough, i was clean so i just had to wait for the sheila who'd taken my cameras to return them to me. i grabbed a chair and sat reading a book whilst waiting. eventually she gave everything back and i was told i could now repack my backpack. why is it a backpack which previously fitted everything comfortably is now full to overflowing? i guess that's just one of life's mysteries. i can't complain about the demeanour of the customs agents as they were polite. still, i don't know that i'll be as friendly and effusive if they search me again when i return from cambodia next month. i've a good mind to leave a few notes for them to find giving them a piece of my mind!!

so, once i was released from customs it was time to go home and get some sleep before my interview. long story short - i had three interviews that week and was offered two of the jobs. i turned them both down for different reasons and am consequently still unemployed. it's not a huge drama and something suitable will turn up eventually. i'm not eligible for the dole so am living off savings which don't take long to dwindle.

tomorrow i've enrolled to do the two day senior first aid course with st john so at least i'm putting my time to good use.

hopefully my next update won't be so far in the future

still in the philippines

so i'm now into my second week in the philippines and still having a great time. i'm presently staying at sabang beach in puerto galera which is the diving capital of the country. today i started my advanced diver course and did three dives, including my first ever wreck dive. it was amazing swimming around three submerged wrecks with fish swimming all around me. the second dive i did today was what's known as a 'drift dive' as it was in an area of strong current so we allowed the current to take us along. it's a strange feeling as we have limited control over where we go and the rate at which we go but it's important to learn how to deal with these conditions. again, the views were spectacular and i took a lot of photos. i have more dives tomorrow so it'll be another fairly early night for me. i went out on a dive yesterday but had a lot of trouble equalising my ears which left them quite sore last night. fortunately i didn't have the same problems today. i have also had a pretty sore throat with tender, swollen glands for a couple of days but thankfully this isn't enough to prevent me from diving.

it's still raining most of the time but it's not at all cold so it's not really a problem. the main issue is that the cloud cover makes what we see underwater a lot more dull than it would otherwise be. it's not looking likely that the rain will clear up this week so i'll definitely have to come back another time when the weather is better.

only a few more days to go until it's back to the real world but until then i'll be making the most of my island paradise.

ask the leyland brothers

so, i've been in the philippines since monday evening and am enjoying the place. manila is totally mental in a very asian way. there's people and traffic everywhere and both are very noisy. i've never seen (or smelt) air pollution like this. breathing whilst walking down the street is an experience in itself and akin to standing in a busy indoor bus depot. still, one quickly gets used to it. the poverty is striking with homeless people having set up camp on most streets. in the evening food is cooked on makeshift fires using old tins as pots. in the evening, people scour through the mounds of rubbish on the bayfront that has been brought in by the tide in an attempt to find anything of worth. and, of course, there's a massive amount of begging. then there's the 'salesmen' on every street corner. the usual MO is to first offer a rolex watch for the 'cheapest price'. once that's been declined, out is whipped a box of viagra/cialis and then finally the offer of a 'nice lady'. i've mastered the art of making no eye contact and not breaking stride whilst offering a polite 'no thank you'. somehow all of these apparent negatives add together to make the place intriguing and, ultimately, a place i like.

i'm now experiencing a full on tropical downpour and am expecting the streets to have turned to rivers by the time it's over. of course, it hasn't cooled the place down any. for someone who struggles with humidity as much as i do, i reckon i've done pretty well. still, thank goodness for the air conditioned hotel rooms at night.

so, that's where i'm at. i'm here until sunday week so there's plenty more time to experience all the place has to offer.

There is power in a factory, power in the land
Power in the hands of a worker
But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand
There is power in a Union

Now the lessons of the past were all learned with workers' blood
The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for
From the cities and the farmlands to trenches full of mud
War has always been the bosses' way, sir

The Union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters from many far off lands
There is power in a Union

Now I long for the morning that they realise
Brutality and unjust laws can not defeat us
But who'll defend the workers who cannot organise
When the bosses send their lackies out to cheat us?

Money speaks for money, the Devil for his own
Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone
What a comfort to the widow, a light to the child
There is power in a Union

The Union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters together we will stand
There is power in a Union.

i can't help but feel inspired when i hear billy belt this out...

western derby XXX

the final derby of the decade was played yesterday and resulted in another win to my boys. that takes the final tally for this decade to freo 11 vs weagles 9. the first of the decade was the worst flogging we've ever received from the yuppies up the road and was followed by the infamous demolition derby in which filthy phil read got the beating he deserved and we won by a point.

there were positives and negatives in the game yesterday. the clear positive was the continued good form of some of the first year players. i thought broughton, pearce, suban and hill were exceptional. also ballantyne's attack on the ball was very encouraging, especially after the rough treatment he received early in the game. mitch brown's cowardly attack on him whilst he was on the ground was particularly disgusting. van berlo and ruffles didn't have a lot of the ball but both kicked outstanding goals when it counted. of course pav and sandilands were their usual outstanding selves. the fact that there were nine first year players in the side makes the win particularly meritorious.

the clear negative was the injury to tim ruffles and i hope he gets through the rehab well and comes back strong next year. at least he's got palmer and haselby for support as both have been through the same ordeal.

the other huge negative was that this was one of the worst games of football i've even seen. the skill level of both sides was deplorable on a clear sunny day. it was incredible how many kicks went directly to an opposition player and how many handballs were intercepted or missed targets. i don't think it's too much to expect highly paid professional footballers to display a certain level of competence in their decision making and subsequent execution of that decision. i made a comment to the lady next to me that the skills coaches from both teams should be sacked which drew an angry glare from michael prior, who was standing on the other side of me. of course, he's the skills coach for freo and i initially felt bad about him having heard my comment. having reflected on it, i reckon he and the club need to hear more of this feedback from the members. i've stumped up my membership fees for 15 years now, even whilst living overseas, and that must buy me some right to express an opinion.

so, another decade of football is drawing to a close. we started the decade near the bottom of the ladder and are finishing it the same way. we've made the finals twice during this decade and finished bottom once (hopefully). there appears to be better times around the corner with a crop of exciting young players so i can only hope that this time it's not the false dawn we've seen in the past. regardless, i'll continue to pay my membership fees and support the club. it'd be great to see the team be successful onfield but that's certainly not a prerequisite for my support. i'll be dockerdave no matter what happens.

nirvana vs rick astley

ok... the greatest band of all time getting mashed with a poncey 80's one hit wonder should disgust me but somehow i find it rather brilliant. enjoy...

simply incredible

in a few days it will be the 40th anniversary of the first time a human set foot on the moon. as it happened a couple of years before i was born, i've grown up just taking this for granted without any real perspective of what an amazing feat it was but the reality is that this is simply one of the most incredible things mankind has ever achieved. to look at the moon from my balcony and try to understand that a few blokes flew up there, went for a drive and a wander around, and then flew back to earth is mind blowing. it's so amazing that there's still many nutters who argue that it never happened. it's hard to comprehend that we can achieve this amazing feat and yet can't achieve a world in which everyone has enough to eat and access to health care. anyway, i'm sure there will be a lot in the news over the next few days about the moon landing and i'll continue to sit in awe and admiration of the men who took the trip all those years ago.

RIP michael jackson

i suppose i should make some sort of comment about the death of MJ. i wasn't a big fan of jackson and certainly didn't like anything he released in the past 20 years but could still recognise his huge talent as a musician and performer and the massive influence he's had over the music world. his life had such a sad feel to it and he always seemed to be so alone. i guess being a household name from the time you're 5 years old is a pretty good way to ensure a normal life is impossible. hopefully he'll be remembered for the music he made rather than the other rubbish and lies that people made up about him.

the moving earth

i've just been watching a programme i taped off sbs called 'the moving earth'. it traces the astronomical discoveries by people such as copernicus, brahe, keppler, gallileo and newton and has really blown my mind. their findings of a heliocentric universe and how the forces of gravity and inertia dictate the planetary orbits are just accepted as common knowledge now but at the time of their discoveries were not only unknown, but considered heretical by the church. copernicus' book was added to the church's list of banned books and gallileo was put under house arrest.

how unbelievably intelligent were these men that they could have grown up in a world in which the earth was believed to be the centre of the universe and yet they were able to come up with the theories they did. to be able to observe what is occurring around oneself and understand that what is seen proves accepted knowledge wrong is stunning to me. for newton to start from a base of observing the fall of a cannon ball and an apple and from there develop a theory of gravity is incredible enough, but to then relate that to the gravitational pull on planets in their orbit is mind-blowing.

these men are inspirational and true heroes. many were attacked by the powers of the day for their discoveries and yet continued their work. they placed the advancement of science, knowledge and understanding above their own safety. bruno was burnt at the stake by the catholic church for his claim that the universe is infinite. it must have been incredible to have worked alongside people such as this.

JJJ hottest 100 of all time

it's been a while since JJJ did their last hottest 100 of all time. from memory i think we could only vote for one song at that time. my vote went to 'smells like teen spirit' and it came in at number one. needless to say i was a happy camper. it's come time again to vote for our favourite songs and this time we're able to vote for ten songs whilst nominating one of them as the best. obviously narrowing all of the songs ever written down to the ten best is impossible: i find it hard enough choosing a top ten for each year. still, i've done my best and i've no doubt there will be plenty of people who'll disagree with me:

The Church - Almost With You

Depeche Mode - Blasphemous Rumours

The Hummingbirds - Blush

The Killers - Mr Brightside

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil

Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen

Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone

Billy Bragg - Levi Stubbs' Tears

Showbag - Perish Union

i had to nominate one of the songs as my favourite so that went to 'smells like teen spirit'. i should also note that it was very hard cutting 'that joke isn't funny anymore' by the smiths out of the final ten so that was a very unlucky number eleven. we'll soon see how few of my choices make the final cut.

oops...

NEWS ARTICLE

obviously this poor old israeli woman hasn't been seeing muz for financial advice as she'd kept her life savings in her mattress. the ravages of inflation on her savings would've been bad enough but when her daughter thought she'd give her a nice surprise by buying her a new mattress and throwing the old one out things turned really ugly. it turned out that the woman had saved over a million dollars and had hidden it all in her mattress. it's now sitting in a landfill site somewhere with no one yet able to locate it. bugger!

the end of daylight saving time

sigh. i really like daylight saving and hoped it would get through this time. still, i'm happy to abide by the majority decision and won't be losing sleep over it. 

what really bugs me are the people on both sides of the debate who try and claim some sort of intellectual or cultural high ground based on their opinion. i know plenty of intelligent people who are opposed to DST and they all have valid reasons for opposing it. none of them are worried about their curtains fading, increased rates of motor vehicle accidents, confused cows or any of the other ridiculous 'arguments' frequently referred to by the 'yes' crowd. to my mind, it all came down to a personal choice - does having an extra hour of sunlight at the end of the day suit my lifestyle? it does for me so i voted 'yes'. for the majority of west australians it appears it doesn't so they voted no. it has nothing to do with being backward or stupid.

so, yep, i'm disappointed but i'm quite happy to abide by the majority decision and i won't be wasting any time arguing or holding grudges. everyone's entitled to their opinion and i'm just thankful we live in a society in which we get to have our say.

freo vs hawthorn

well, i guess the run had to come to an end at some stage and although i'd been hopeful we'd win, i came away from the ground pleased with the boys' performance. given that we're rebuilding and playing a lot of younger players, i don't expect us to win every week (or even most weeks) but i do expect us to show a bit of ticker and put in a good effort. that's what they did on friday night. with a bit better accuracy in front of goal and a bit of consistency in the umpiring we could probably have won the match but there's no point worrying about what might have happened.

so, for me, there were some pretty big positives from the game.  the guts shown by the boys to fight the game out until the very end was encouraging. the form of duffield and tarrant was fantastic. i've been particularly impressed with the way duffield responded to being dropped earlier in the season. pav played a good match and continued his improved form after a poor start to the season. and then there's aaron sandilands! he's clearly the best ruckman in the country at the moment and still getting better. i feel lucky to be able to watch him play each week and his partnership with paul hasleby this season has been delightful. 

i've no doubt there will be plenty of pain this season but as long as the team continues to play hard, accountable footy i'll be happy.

bud tingwell r.i.p.

how sad it is to hear of the death of bud tingwell. the first time i remember seeing him was in the 'charlie the wonder dog' segment of 'the late show'. that such an esteemed actor would relish a trivial sketch show comedy role said a lot about him. along with most people, my fondest memory of bud was his role in 'the castle'. it remains one of my favourite movies and his character of 'lozza' was brilliantly played. 

bud seemed to be such an good bloke who was happy to laugh at himself and he'll be missed.

reflections on the derby

it may have been a game that didn't reach any great heights but a come from behind win when few people gave us a chance before the game was fantastic. i found it interesting that a lot of the dockers players who weren't playing in the game were sitting in the grandstand with the supporters. it's one of those nice touches that freo tend to do pretty well. i couldn't imagine the pretentious e-girls asking their players to sit with the ordinary folk in the outer. 

it ended up being a game of two halves (yes, i know that's a terrible cliche but it fits here). in the first half we played the style of footy we'd played in the first 4 rounds of the season ie. lots of misdirected handballs under pressure, delaying playing on until all options were covered, applying virtually no pressure on the opposition. and, of course, the result was the weagles dominated play. in the second half we played as we did last week against sydney ie. long direct play and intensity at the ball and the opposition ball carriers. and, of course, the result was we dominated play and outscored the e-girls by 6 goals after half time. it seems as though the key to freo at the moment is to keep it simple and play on with long direct play. hopefully harvs can keep the boys focused and the results will come.

as for the stars, i said before the game that if we won i'd expect hasleby to win the glendinning medal and he did. he's having an awesome season and is showing just how much we missed him last year. it's a tragedy that we won't get to see hase and palmer working together until next season. still, we have the joy of watching stephen hill this season as he just gets better every week. some of his play in the derby was simply stunning. he looks like being one of those rare players that is worth the ticket price alone. the other player who's been an absolute highlight so far this season is garrick ibbotson. he played some very good footy last year but so far this season has taken it to another level. 

i was pretty disheartened after the st kilda match but that's turned around. i still don't expect us to make the finals this year but as long as the boys keep putting in gutsy efforts as they have done in the past two matches i'll be happy. i'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

for pete's sake!!

when it comes to my footy teams i'm a very patient man. i have to be. but last night's effort against st kilda was nothing short of disgraceful. people can blame harvey all they like but the fact is if our players can't hit a target with a 10 metre handball we're not likely to win many games. i know we're in a rebuilding phase and i accept we're going to lose more than we win but i still expect some sort of competitive effort. the blokes who've now been around for 4 years or more need to be doing a lot more than they are instead of expecting the few really senior players to carry the side. for too long now blokes like mundy, johnson, murphy, thornton, gilmore, dodd, drum, schammer, duffield and peake have turned in inconsistent performances whilst relying on the older players to form the backbone. well, most of the older players have now left the club and it's up to these guys to become good, consistent footballers or face being delisted at the end of this season. 

still, in a season that has so far been very disappointing, one great positive has been the form of paul hasleby. it's great to see him back in fantastic form and has been one the highlights so far.

as far as claremont go, at least we've put in some good competitive performances apart from the game against east perth. again yesterday we played reasonably well against south freo but still lost. 

so, after round 4 of the afl season and round 5 of the wafl season neither of my teams have won a game. 2009 is shaping up as a long hard season for this little black duck.

beyond belief

along with most people, i'm stunned, angered and distressed that the animals who attacked matt butcher have got away with their thuggery. i can't begin to find the words to express the depth of contempt and disgust i feel for these spineless cowards. 

i just hope that when the angry mob sets onto them with baseball bats that the cops sit back and let them reap the result of their actions.

put them in gaol and then deport them

the trial of the cowards who attacked constable matt butcher started today. the scum on the right of the photo is the gutless wonder who attacked him with a headbutt from behind. he didn't even have the balls to attack him front on. the scum on the left is the one who threatened to kill a member of the public who caught the attack on his mobile phone. 

matt was a man doing his duty, trying to protect the public from these animals as, as a result, he's now permanently disabled. he's newly married and will never have a chance to live a normal life with his bride. he'll suffer for the rest of his life as a result of what was done to him.

words can't describe the contempt i have for these monsters. they are the lowest of the low. the only possible judgement that can come even close to justice is for them to be gaoled for a long time and then deported from australia on release. anything less will be a travesty.

big day out 2009

the moment i heard neil young was playing at the BDO my decision on whether or not to buy a ticket had been made. he's been at the top of my 'must see' list for a while now so there was no way i was going to miss him play. that decision was an inspired move as shakey played a set of sheer brilliance that blew everyone else off the stage. 

but first things first. i arrived at around 3.30 as i wanted to catch lupe fiasco in the boiler room at 4pm. i got up there with plenty of time to spare and his set started. to put it bluntly - he sucked!! i stayed for a couple of tracks and ended up leaving and going to lilyworld to escape his suckiness. 

next up was my morning jacket who were fantastic. the variety of songs was amazing and their presence was something to behold. also very welcome was the seabreeze! i didn't know a lot of their songs as i've only got one album but that wasn't a problem as they were so good. 

following them was old time fave red jezebel. i've not seen them in over 10 years but it was worth it as they were very good. i'd have loved to hear them play 'sail' or 'c is for cookie' but i think i was dreaming. still, they played some of their new classics and put on a really good show. 

arctic monkeys came on and sadly i had to get my spot for neil young so i wasn't able to watch them properly. nevertheless i could hear them perfectly and they were wonderful. i've heard mixed reviews but i had no problems with them. they played the hits and sounded fine to me.

but i was really there to see neil young. i really can't describe the joy he brought me. after all, he played 'hey hey my my' with his second song. when you also add others such as 'cinnamon girl', 'heart of gold', 'old man', 'cowgirl in the sand', 'cortez the killer', 'the needle and the damage done', 'everybody knows this is nowhere', 'rockin in the free world' and a wonderful cover of 'a day in the life' you end up with one of the greatest shows i've ever seen. it was worth every cent of the ticket price and more. his stunning brilliance was simply something that had to be seen to be believed. thanks shakey.. you rock!!

happy australia day?

this is the ugly face of nationalism that seems to me to be on the rise in australia. let no one confuse nationalism with patriotism. let no one confuse nationalism with a love for one's country. nationalism is nothing more than an excuse for cowards to bully and belittle those who are different. nationalism is what swept through germany in the 1930's and ultimately provided the conditions necessary for the holocaust in which millions of jews, gypsies, homosexuals, political dissidents and mentally disabled people were slaughtered.

i hate that the flag of my country and the constellation on it are being used as symbols of hate and bigotry. i hate that the slogan 'love it or leave' have come to mean that if you don't embrace xenophobia you don't have a place in our nation. i hate that others will look at us through the stained glass these reprehensible creatures have thrown up. 

the scum who have disgraced our national day through their mindless barbarism cannot be allowed to win. it's time to reclaim the symbols of our country as representations of the true meaning of what it is to be australian. to be australian is to be tolerant and to give everyone a fair go. it's to embrace people based on their character. it's to value the freedom to be oneself. driving a ute with an aussie flag on it doesn't make you more or less australian than the next person... and it sure as hell doesn't make you superior in any way. for many years i drove a holden panel van and you'd often hear ac/dc blaring from it as i drove by with the back up but that's not what made me a true blue aussie. nor is it my southern cross tattoo. it's my attitude and beliefs that have been shaped by this nation that make me fair dinkum. it's that i'll be mates with anyone from any racial background if they're decent people that makes me fair dinkum. it's that i love this country and desperately want it to reach the heights and glory it's capable of. it's that i despair that these narrow-minded xenophobes and trying to tear us down from within.

it's time for all fair dinkum aussies to stand up and be counted. it's time for us to repudiate hatred, bigotry and divisiveness. it's time to give the bigots the message that we don't support them. i've started by reclaiming the 'love it or leave' slogan. australia is a multicultural, tolerant society. LOVE IT OR LEAVE!

yes we can

well, it's only about half an hour now until barack obama is inaugurated as the new president of the usa and george bush jnr heads back to texas and provides a village somewhere with an idiot. i'm going to be very tired tomorrow but it's worth it to see a piece of history in the making. obama has an unbelievably difficult job ahead of him and i hope people give him the time and resources needed to do it. already he's gone a long way towards repairing america's destroyed international reputation. the future's looking brighter already.

sign o' the times

perth was once a safe town. i remember as a kid we'd sleep out the back on a hot night without any concerns. i don't know how we've managed to sink so far in such a short time. last week in mandurah a cowardly scumbag broke into the home of a 69 year old man in mandurah and killed him in is sleep. that's right.. he didn't even have the guts to face the old bloke awake but chose to murder him when he was at his most defenseless. it's disgraceful that we're reached the point where old age pensioners are not only attacked in their homes but attacked in their sleep. i can only hope the cops catch the animal that did this and put him away for a long time

POSTSCRIPT:

this story was reported in today's (21/01/09) west australian newspaper on page 13!! this demonstrates what i was saying in regards to how far we've sunk. an old man is brutally murdered in his sleep and it only rates a small mention far from the front page. disgraceful!

a good weekend

i've had a really nice weekend and sadly it's drawing to a close. on friday night i went out with bree, megan and vera to the cracovia club for some delicious polish food and beer. i had a hankering for some placki but you need to order that ahead so i had pierogi which was as tasty as always and washed it down with a bottle of okocim beer. 

yesterday i had a refreshing sleep in and popped up to the shops for a while. megan and vera came over in the evening and we walked down to scarborough beach for fish & chips and a swim. even though it wasn't a particularly warm day the water was still lovely. there's really nothing like being able to walk down to the beach and i'm lucky to have such lovely beaches a short walk from my front door. 

today we had one of our regular family get togethers down at matilda bay. it's so relaxing and enjoyable to spend an afternoon with cousins, uncles and aunty where we can sit around on the edge of our beautiful river and catch up with one another over some rather tasty food. i also (finally) got to meet my newest second cousin, cuba, who i've been told oinks occassionally. 

now i'm sitting around with a gentle breeze wafting through my unit watching some tele and feeling quite satisfied. i really don't feel like having to get up in the morning to go to work but am still thankful that i'm fortunate enough to be employed in these tough times. obviously there's things in my life i could complain about but what's the point when there's so much to appreciate?

jb hi-fi innaloo suck

ok, it's time for a whinge. i popped into jb hi-fi on scarborough beach road today to buy a new ipod fm transmitter after my other one got pinched from my car. i selected the one i wanted (which cost $90) and lined up to pay. my first gripe was that even though there were a lot of people lined up, a number of checkouts were closed... no huge problem and quite common in shops these days. what really pissed me off was that i'd been lined up for a while when they decided to just close the checkout i was queued for... with half a dozen people still in the queue!!! i was so disgusted by this extremely poor customer service that rather than join the end of another lengthy queue i put the product down and walked out of the store. i know that losing the sale from one person won't worry them but hopefully others will see this and avoid the place like the plague. it's time to refuse to put up with poor customer service.

my thoughts on the present israel/hamas situation

it's not often that i agree with george bush jnr but i believe his comments on the current breakdown of the peace between israel and hamas are spot on. people can throw up all the red herrings they like but the indisputable fact is that hamas chose to breach the peace agreement through their constant rocket attacks on israel and it's their own despicable actions that are directly responsible for israel's retaliation.

i also find the reporting by the western media to be largley inflamatory, irresponsible and blatantly biased against israel. we never hear about the attacks by hamas yet as soon as israel retaliate it becomes front page news which gives people who don't care to follow events the impression that israel's attacks have just come out of the blue. 

the situation in the middle east is horrific and i feel deep sorrow for the innocent civilian victims on both sides but there's no point for international diplomats to now start calling for attacks to stop. these calls should have been made a long time ago when hamas first broke the peace agreement and should have continued with every hamas attack. they've left it far too late with israel now well within their rights to protect their citizens from the scumbags on the other side of the border. i know that if one of our neighbours was constantly launching rocket attacks on australia i'd expect our government to strike back and protect us. to deny israel the same right would be nothing more than hypocritical.

2008 JJJ hottest 100

and here we are again.. voting for our favourite songs of the past year. i lodged my votes yesterday and will find out in a few weeks how many make the final list. i managed to listen to a lot of JJJ in the early part of the year but unfortunately as the year went on the work radio ended up being tuned into other stations. for this reason a large number of my songs were on high rotation earlier in the year. despite my limited exposure, i still found it very hard to cull my shortlist to 10 songs. the ones i finally voted for are:

Anti-Flag - Bright Lights Of America

Cloud Control - Vintage Books

Cut Copy - Lights and Music

Gyroscope - 1981

Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor

MGMT - Time To Pretend

N.E.R.D. - Everyone Nose

Stars - Take Me To The Riot

VHS or Beta - Can't Believe A Single Word

Yael Naim - New Soul

looking back at the final 10 demonstrates my rather strong penchant for pop music. we'll soon find out whether JJJ listeners share that taste.

EDIT: the results are in and i dropped back this year with only four of the songs i voted for making the top 100. they were: Lights and Music (#15), Time To Pretend (#18), Ready For The Floor (#69) and 1981 (#85).