dockerdave

2011 JJJ Hottest 100

2011-12-26T19:46:00.001+08:00

Yep, it's the end of the year and therefore time to vote for our favourite songs of 2011. This year my votes went to:

Adele - Rolling In The Deep

Goodnight Tiger - Jump Down

Goyte (Ft. Kimbra) - Somebody That I Used To Know

Jay-Z & Kanye West (Ft. Otis Redding) - Otis

Jebediah - She's Like A Comet

Matt Corby - Brother

Mr Little Jeans - The Suburbs

Pnau - The Truth

The Vaccines - If You Wanna

Voltaire Twins - Animalia

So now I'll just wait for Australia Day to find out how many others also rated.

Letter To My MLA

2011-11-13T11:35:00.001+08:00

Dear Mrs Harvey

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/bid-to-break-wa-bikie-gangs/story-e6frg143-1226193506235

I write to you as my local Member of the Legislative Assembly in response to the story linked to above which ran on the Perthnow website yesterday. It concerns the reported move of the State Government to target outlaw bikie gangs with tougher sentences than would apply to any other member of the West Australian community.
I should state at the outset that I am not now, and have never been, a member of a bikie gang. I am not a supporter of bikie gangs and I am extremely concerned at the damage they do within our society, primarily through their supply of illicit drugs which eats a society away from within. Having said this, I am outraged at the proposal attributed to the government. The bedrock of any legitimate justice system is that its laws and penalties apply equally to all citizens from the lowest through to the most powerful, including the Premier and leaders of business. I find it alarming that such an important foundation principle is in the process of being eroded. If the current penalties for certain crimes are considered inadequate then they should be increased, but must still apply equally to anyone who commits the crime. I firmly believe that by legislating the unequal treatment of certain groups under the law we are starting down an historically dangerous path; a path we must avoid.

Whilst I appreciate you have certain party obligations with regard to this legislation, I would ask you as my voice in parliament to make it known that regular community members with no link to bikie gangs whatsoever are outraged and extremely worried by where this proposed course of action is taking us as a community.

Yours sincerely,

2011 - Year Of The Tiger

2011-09-26T21:35:00.000+08:00

Well, it's taken 15 years but finally my mighty Tigers have won their 11th premiership. After the desolation of last year's loss to Swans I didn't want to get too excited before the game even though our form ensured we started as favourites. I needn't have worried. Very early in the game Brett Jones made the determination of the side very clear with a bone rattling, old fashioned shirtfront on the Subiaco ruckman who didn't move for a while. Fortunately he wasn't dead and was eventually helped off the ground. Subiaco fought a hard game and dragged a lot of our play down to their level which made for a pretty scrappy game at times as the usual smooth movement into the forward line became more of a case of bomb and hope. Luckily for us Beau Wilkes was unstoppable up forward taking some great contested marks and often bringing the ball to ground for smaller players. Luke Blackwell and Kane Mitchell were dominant all over the ground and Alroy Gilligan was involved in a number of important passages of play and ended up with 3 goals. Mitchell Andrews was outstanding in the ruck as he has been all season since Andrew Ruck went down with a knee injury. Brandon Franz led a very solid defense and was as reliable as always. As the game went on our lead gradually built until we were in front by 56 points when the final siren sounded. It was a great day and a great night back at the club with a huge crowd in attendance including some of the great former players of the club.

Now let's make it back to back in 2012!!

Harvs Eaten By Lyon

2011-09-16T17:50:00.003+08:00

First things first: The way Freo went about sacking Harvs was disgraceful. The bloke's done a good job since he took over from Chris Connolly in 2007 and deserved to be treated with a lot more respect by the club. He can hardly be blamed for the number of injuries this year.

Having said this, I do believe Ross Lyon is a better coach and the right person to take our talented list to the next level. He needs to set a very early standard of excellence and make it clear that no crap is going to be tolerated. There are some players on the list *cough* Michael Johnson *cough* with huge amounts of talent but consistently under-perform and hopefully Lyon can start turning their performances around.

Make no mistake, Ross Lyon has a massive amount of pressure on his shoulders. No full time coach appointed by Freo has ever left voluntarily and unless the club has sustained success from next season Lyon will join that group.

So,

To Mark Harvey: Thanks for all you've done. As a foundation member I appreciate your work and the way you've built a talented, young list and wish you all the best for the future.

To Ross Lyon: Welcome. I'm expecting huge things from you and the club next year and have faith that you'll deliver.

To the members threatening to hand in their memberships: Jump ship if you want but don't come crawling back later. I don't like what was done to Harvs but I've been a member for 17 years because I'm a passionate Freo supporter... not a passionate supporter of individuals at the club. If that were the case I'd have handed back my membership after Neesham was sacked at the end of 1998. I'll be renewing my membership for 2012 and sitting in my same seat as I always do giving the club my full support. It's what being a supporter is all about.

Go Freo!!!

Australian Story - David Hicks

2011-08-30T21:16:00.003+08:00

Thoughts on Australian Story tonight:

Watching the special edition of Australian Story on David Hicks tonight leaves me seething with anger and frustration at how such an injustice and abuse of power can be perpetrated and how there's nothing that we can do about it. That is was done by the USA and supported by Australia, nations which claim to value freedom and justice is all the more galling.

There are definitely holes in his story which appear to be him trying to whitewash some of his actions but there's nothing he's documented as doing which justifies what was done to him. The key things I took away from the programme are that:

* He was legally in Afghanistan at the time of invasion and that, following the invasion, he did not actively fight with the Taliban against the invading western forces.

* He was not captured as part of a fighting force but rather unarmed in the back of a truck by a warlord and then sold by his captors to the US army.

* He was physically and mentally tortured and sexually assaulted by the US army during his years of imprisonment.

* The 'crimes' he finally confessed to as part of his plea deal to gain release were not actually illegal at the time he was captured but were made illegal some years later.

* The Australian government of the day were content to let him rot in Guantanamo until it became politically expedient for them to pressure the US government to finalise his case.

* The US Supreme Court ruled that the Military Commissions being used to try the accused were illegal under the US constitution and the Geneva Convention. Rather than abide by this ruling, the court jester of a President, George Bush Jnr, signed a new act designed to get around this.

I realise many people would prefer to ignore the facts and argue based on emotion that he got everything he deserved but the facts of the case do not support this opinion. The above points have not been contradicted. To see Alexander Downer and Philip Ruddock continue arguing that what was done to him was fair and acceptable was disgraceful and an insult to all Australians who value freedom and justice. I'm glad that we're finally beginning to hear the other side of the story rather than the line pushed by the media for so long.

JJJ Hottest 100 Aussie Albums

2011-06-13T19:48:00.005+08:00

Ok... disclaimer: There are far more Aussie albums I've not heard than ones I have so of course my votes aren't necessarily for the 'best' albums but simply for my favourites of the ones I have heard. So, having said that, the ten albums I voted for are (in no particular order):

Goanna - Spirit of Place
Jebediah - Slightly Odway
Midnight Oil - Head Injuries
My Friend The Chocolate Cake - Brood
Paul Kelly and The Coloured Girls - Gossip
Regurgitator - Unit
Sleepy Jackson, The - Lovers
Triffids, The - Born Sandy Devotional
Weddings Parties Anything - Roaring Days
Things of Stone and Wood - The Yearning

It was a very hard task to narrow the many Aussie albums I love down to a final ten. But there they are. Some of the final ones that just missed the cut were INXS - The Swing, The Spazzy's - Aloha! Go Bananas, silverchair - Frogstomp, Tim Rogers & The Twin Set - What Rhymes With Cars and Girls, and You Am I - Hourly Daily.

Bali Pt 1

2011-05-08T12:07:00.002+08:00

Ok, back to the beginning..

I flew out on Wednesday which was the worst flight I’ve ever been on. It was no fault of Air Asia who were as good as ever but rather due to me being really crook. I’d had a very sore through, swollen glands and aching joints for a couple of days but the hot and cold flushes had set in earlier in the arvo and by the time my flight was due for boarding I was in a very poor way. When I boarded the flight I was freezing cold but it wasn’t long before I started alternating to boiling hot. Eventually it reached the point where I was felt I was only semi conscious and was burning up and dripping with sweat. Additionally my chest felt like it was going to explode in a wild panic. Although it was one of the shortest flights I’ve been on it certainly felt like the longest. I arrived at about 12.30pm and was thankful that I was being picked up from the airport as I didn’t feel in any state to arrange my own transport. I hit the sack and fell into a grateful slumber.

In hindsight the bad turn on the plane was the worst of things as when I woke the next morning my joints were far less achy although my throat was still very sore and my glands very swollen. I’d already decided to have a very easy day to let my body recover so after breaky I grabbed a towel and staked my claim on a poolside deckchair where I spent the rest of the day reading and snoozing.. and also had an hour long massage. Yeah baby. Still, I wasn’t well so after wandering along the beach to find somewhere to have tea it was back to my room for an early night.

Friday morning I felt much better although the sore throat and swollen glands were still annoying me. I decided to go for a walk along the beach to Kuta thinking that it wouldn’t take too long. Naturally I stopped along the way for a massage for an hour before continuing my journey. The walk was taking much longer than I thought it should but it wasn’t until I saw a jet plane on a runway jutting out into the ocean that I realised I’d walked right past Kuta and down to Tuban. I headed back to Kuta and stopped for a cold beer at one of the beachside stalls which was lovely although the flock of people demanding I buy things from them ensured it wasn’t too peaceful. After the beer I headed into downtown Kuta. Now this was more like I expected with lots of traffic and people shouting out to me as I passed their shops. I even allowed myself to be stopped by a bloke on the footpath who was ‘advertising’ a new hotel in Nusa Dua and part of the promotion was a kind of lottery. I couldn’t believe my luck as when I opened my card I’d won a choice of a stay at the hotel, USD$500 or a handycam. Wow. All I had to do was hop in a car with this complete stranger and go back to his head office to collect my prize. I must be incredibly ungrateful or maybe just morbidly suspicious as I made my apologies and exited stage left. After heading back to the resort and having a quick swim in the pool and a cold beer I showered and went out for some tea. The plan had been to catch the second half of the Hawthorn vs Pt Adelaide game but the downpours started whilst I was eating and continued on and off for a while so I settled on a quiet night in my room watching a movie (The King’s Speech... great flick!) and some snoozetime.

Yesterday will go down as the lost day on my holiday. I didn’t wake until just after 9.30am which meant a rush for breaky as the restaurant closes service at 10am. After that it was off for a 2 hour massage. It was nearly 1pm by the time that was finished so I headed out to a pub with a big screen and settled in for an arvo of watching footy. The Sydney vs Footscray game was on so I caught most of the second half. It was a cracking game and I was happy to see Sydney get up. Next was the main attraction which was the Freo vs Richmond game. What a disappointment. It was a good tussle up until 3/4 time but the last quarter was a massacre. We’d better get our act together before the derby next week as I couldn’t bear us losing to the slime up the road. Although I was feeling much better by this stage, apart from a hacking cough, I was still very tired. I’m not sure if it was a hangover from being ill or just my body relaxing on the first holiday in 18 months. Either way I got back to my room just before 5pm and thought I’d have a rest for an hour before going out to get some tea and then going bogan spotting in Kuta at night. Neither of those things happened as I promptly dropped off to sleep and didn’t wake until just after 2am. I went back to sleep and eventually woke at 9.30 for another rushed breaky. It’s now nearly midday as I write so I suppose I should go walkabout again and wander some of the gangs to see what is around.

Open Letter To The WAFL

2011-03-21T23:20:00.006+08:00

Dear WAFL

On Saturday I attended the East Fremantle vs Claremont game at Shark Park. As you're fully aware, Daniel 'Wayne' Kerr was making a comeback from injury and playing his first senior game for East Freo. In the course of the match he made a cowardly strike on Luke Blackwell with his elbow while Blackwell was on his back and defenseless on the ground. This strike was clearly captured by Channel 7 cameras and has now been shown nationwide.

Claremont have followed traditional footy etiquette and decided to leave on the field what happened there but as the body running football in this state you have a higher responsibility. You have the power to choose to open an investigation into Kerr's actions but have chosen not to. Instead you've taken the soft option and hidden behind Claremont's decision and used it as a shield for your own inaction. This is unacceptable.

The footage of Kerr striking Blackwell has been shown nationwide on news and football programmes and your inaction is bringing our proud state competition into disrepute.

I realise you are under extreme pressure from the West Coast Eagles to ignore Kerr's actions but it is time for the WAFL to do the right thing, even if it does upset the 2010 wooden spooners. I challenge you to either bring Kerr before the tribunal or explain why you choose not to.

I await your response.

Regards

Dave

* In the interests of full disclosure I declare that I have been a Claremont Football Club member since 1988

American Hypocrisy

2011-02-05T09:12:00.005+08:00

In the news today is an article about espionage charges the Cuban government have brought against US 'contractor' Alan Gross. I have no idea if the man is guilty or not and I guess time will tell but what really caught my eye was a statement from US State Department spokesman Charles Luoma-Overstreet. He said:

"We deplore the Cuban government's announcement that Cuban prosecutors intend to seek a 20-year sentence against Mr Gross... He has been held without charges for more than a year, contrary to all international human rights obligations and commitments regarding justice and due process."

Yes, this is a spokesman for the government which imprisoned people at Guantanamo Bay without charge for years at a time; which tortured and degraded people in prisons in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay; which kidnapped people and flew them to 'black sites'; and which has members of congress demanding Julian Assange be tried for treason (even though he's not an American) and executed for merely bringing the truth to light. And now a spokesman for this corrupt, malignant government has the audacity to condemn Cuba for holding an accused spy without charge for "... more than a year". HYPOCRITES!

For the record, I am also outraged that someone could be held in prison without charge for such an unreasonable length of time but the American government is the last group that should be opening their mouths about this.

Robert McLeod: Scum Personified

2011-02-04T20:25:00.002+08:00

The next time Oxford put together a pictorial dictionary, they should use this picture to show the definition of scum. Robert McCleod is lower than a snake's belly.

For those not in the know, this dog and his equally canine sons were involved in a brawl in Joondalup in February 2008 which the police had to attend. Whilst trying to break up the fight, Constable Matt Butcher was attacked from behind by the incredibly gutless Barry McLeod and has been left partly paralysed. Recently Butcher was awarded a $3.3 million payment from the state as compensation which is a pretty poor substitute for being able to live a normal life. So what does this opportunistic mongrel McLeod do? Yep, you guessed it.. he's suing Matt Butcher to try and get some of that money for himself. Wow.. and to think I'd thought he and his family had already sunk as low as it's possible to get. When this mob hit rock bottom they just keep on digging.

Anyone who knows me can testify that I have no problem with immigration and am quite happy for people to move to Australia from other countries. What really annoys me is that people get all up in arms over refugees being allowed to stay but say nothing about this dog. As far as I'm concerned he and his family should be deported back to Scotland immediately.

julian lassange - an aussie hero

2010-12-08T18:16:00.004+08:00

all people in a free society have the right to know what their government's doing in their name. anyone who values our freedom of information should thank julian lassange for putting his balls on the line by running his wikileaks website in an attempt to (to paraphrase the original aim of the australian democrats) keep the bastards honest. that populist forces in the US government are so determined to portray him as some sort of terrorist just shows what a good job he is doing. lassange is no terrorist. he's not even a very naughty boy. he's just someone who believes our governments should be held accountable and is actually doing something about it. the way he has been demonised by governments which claim to value freedom is obscene. the 'commitment' of these governments to freedom and truth has been exposed as nothing more than lip service and i'm personally thankful there are people such as assange prepared to risk everything to hold our corrupt governments accountable.

a perspective

2010-10-11T21:08:00.003+08:00

what an incredibly powerful programme on four corners tonight. most of the time we only hear the spin and propaganda of the government when it comes to the topic of the invasions of afghanistan and iraq. i think most people know what we have done is wrong; some just hide this knowledge deeper than others. it's all too easy to see things from a parochial, blinkered perspective; it's what we are spoon-fed by the tabloid media that makes up commercial television and the print media in this country. thankfully the abc still has some journalistic integrity and is prepared to report the truth. still, regardless of one's perspective, none of us wants to see aussie servicemen killed and i, as much as anyone, mourn their tragic loss and the devastation it wreaks on their families.

what i find gives me perspective is to think of how i would react if circumstances were different. for example:

a group of nations have decided they have a common hatred for the australian government and, despite our government being largely impotent, disseminate a story that it poses a danger to the international community. they band together and launch a coordinated invasion of our country and overthrow our government. they then occupy our country, kill our women and children and torture australian citizens in makeshift prisons. they humiliate our people and desecrate our places of importance.

so, what do we do? do we welcome them as liberators? some of us will. some will see an opportunity to take positions of power with the invaders backing them. more importantly, what would i do?

i honestly believe i would fight for my country: in today's parlance, become an insurgent. say what you will about the insurgents in iraq and afghanistan, but if my country was invaded and occupied i'd be the first to volunteer to fight in any way necessary to defend it. as much as i hate to see aussies killed in foreign countries, i know that if foreign powers invaded australia i'd be targeting them. and if they came with far superior technology, i'd be using anything available to me to combat that. some may consider IED's to be dirty warfare but if that was all that was available to me to even up the odds a bit, i'd be using them. furthermore, i'd question the patriotism of anyone who wouldn't stand and fight.

i hate to see our troops die abroad but they shouldn't have been there in the first place. howard, bush, blair and the other leaders have a lot to answer for.

interesting ABC geography

2010-10-06T19:38:00.002+08:00

i was watching the ABC news tonight when they had a story about the toxic mud slide in hungary and showed a map of europe. now, unless there's been some major world events going on in europe that i am unaware of, slovakia is to the north of hungary but the map showed ukraine as being there. i'd expect channel 7's tabloid 'news' service to make basic errors like this but not the ABC.

how could they get it so wrong??

2010-10-01T21:37:00.002+08:00

i'm flabbergasted. i'm flummoxed. i'm furious.

football clubs are built on tradition and for 16 years the freo footy club has done a great job of building traditions. the annual len hall game is a perfect example of how well this club can do it. today's announcement that our traditional guernsey is to be abandoned is a perfect example of how badly a club can get it wrong. anyone who's played the game knows that you play for your teammates and for the jumper. it's what you put your body on the line for. for our club to so casually throw this aside beggars belief.

if i wanted to barrack for a soulless club with no respect for tradition i'd be a west coast fan. they've changed their guernsey so many times i've lost count. they don't even wear their premiership jumper anymore. no, i want to barrack for a club with depth. a club that doesn't bow to ephemeral fashions and fads. a club that isn't guided by focus groups and shallow marketing 'gurus'. i still believe that deep down freo is that club but the people we trust with running it have lost their way. a footy club isn't about the president or the board. it's isn't about chairmen or CEOs. a footy club is about the players, the members and the supporters. that's it.

the people running our club have taken this course of action and it infuriates me and breaks my heart. still, i remain a loyal and steadfast member... one who'll continue to wear the legendary guernsey worn by kickett, mcmanus, parker, cook, bell, waterhouse and the other greats of our past.

female sporting fans from around the world

2010-09-22T20:22:00.006+08:00

portugal:

usa:

korea:

germany:

brazil:

italy:

and, of course....

collingwood:

2010 wafl grand final

2010-09-22T18:26:00.003+08:00

ok, it's been a few days now so i guess it's time to speak of the devastating disappointment of sunday's grand final loss to the inbred hillbillies. a one point loss always throws up "what if's". what if the best full forward in the league had not torn his hamstring? what if the most courageous captain in the competition hadn't had his jaw shattered in a gutless behind the play attack? could either of these players have made that one point difference? the past two meetings between these sides would suggest that it would have tipped the balance in our favour but ultimately it's irrelevant as the history books will show that swans were the better side on the day and ended up 2010 premiers.

nonetheless, i remain so proud of all my boys have achieved this year. this time last year we'd finished second bottom on the ladder and narrowly missed the wooden spoon. still, i was optimistic that we'd challenge for a spot in the top four as i thought we had some good young players and we'd appointed simon mcphee as coach. as it turned out, we did so much more than just make the top four. we dominated the competition and only lost two games for the season. sadly our third loss was in the only game that really matters.

so, onto the grand final. it clearly wasn't our best game for the year and there were some boys who will be a bit embarrassed by their performance but there were also some pretty good performances. rory walton played a ripper, as did brandon franz. 'franger' had a tough time early but ended up dominating ashley 'the big albino' hansen. schammer and blackwell both played good games through the midfield and crawford was a good target up forward. i thought 'ninja' looked a bit overawed early on but got better as the game went. ian richardson never gives in and tried hard all match. i've probably left some out as it's been a few days but they're the fellas who stick in my mind.

so this year was a great success in jumping from second last to minor premiers and next year promises even more. i can't wait.

filthy dirty mongrel

2010-09-06T22:43:00.003+08:00

whilst yesterday's humiliation of swan districts in the 2nd semi final was wonderful, to lose our captain to a cheap shot by a gutless hillbilly was heartbreaking. clancy rudeforth is as tough as they come and leads by example. he thoroughly deserved to have the opportunity to hold the premiership trophy aloft in two week's time but instead he's having his shattered jaw put back together and will watch the grand final from the sidelines. having seen the incident live and subsequently watched the footage, there was no excuse for luke pratt lifting his elbow to hit a bloke coming in for a shepherd. it was a dog act by a dirty player. for pratt to have labelled ian richardson a dirty player a few weeks ago simply beggars belief. richo is as far from a dirty player as they come whilst pratt has shown his true colours on the weekend. if there's any justice he'll be rubbed out by the tribunal for a long time.

great weekend of footy

2010-09-06T21:14:00.002+08:00

wow.. what a brilliant weekend of footy. it's hard to believe that last season freo finished 3rd bottom and claremont 2nd bottom. on saturday freo went into our first final in 4 years as a huge underdog but emerged supremely victorious. considering hawthorn beat our reserves side by 116 points two weeks ago, it was a remarkable turnaround. yet again the young players really stood up and played outstanding footy. hill and morabito were excellent and exciting whilst broughton was unstoppable in defence. matt de boer was as hard as nails and when he straightens up in front of goal will be an even better player. as for the older players, i reckon mcpharlin was BOG as he completely humiliated buddy franklin. mcphee was also brilliant on hodge.

i have to admit i couldn't understand why harvey kept playing mcphee early in the season as i thought he was awful. i guess that's why harvey's a senior coach at the top level and i'm not because he's been proved right as mcphee is now a crucial part of the side.

and then yesterday my mighty tigers absolutely destroyed swan districts who finished second on the ladder. despite us missing chad jones who is the best full forward in the competition and schammer who has been a key midfielder throughout the season, swans still weren't able to put up any sort of a challenge. so now we're though to our fourth grand final in seven years. unfortunately we've been like geelong of the early 90s when they made a number of grand finals without winning any so it's vital we go the final step this year. i'm still stinging from us losing the 2007 grand final after finishing top of the ladder and would be devastated for it to happen again. thankfully i don't believe it will.

so go you mighty dockers on friday night an eat 'em alive tigers in two week's time.

thanks hase

2010-08-23T21:49:00.002+08:00

so paul hasleby announced his retirement from the afl today. hase has long been one of my favourite freo players and it's sad to see his career come to a premature end. it's also sad he experienced so few finals campaigns but he's certainly in elite company with that given champions such as robbie flower and bob skilton also went through their careers with clubs mostly anchored to the bottom of the ladder. the pride and passion hase showed for the freo footy club was inspirational and i've no doubt he'll still be around the club post-retirement.

good luck with your future endeavours hase and also with your impending fatherhood. i've really appreciated all you've done and the pleasure you've given me over the years.

the power of music

2010-08-08T00:19:00.004+08:00

i'm watching rage at the moment and once again the power of music to pull me back to particular places in time has astounded me. listening to certain songs is like a time machine. they just showed the clip for joe jackson's "steppin' out" which always takes me back to the trampoline and putt putt centre in augusta (around the corner from the colour patch general store) where we'd go as kids in 1983. they played a compilation cassette over and over and the songs that i most remember from it were steppin' out and UB40's cover of red red wine. every time i hear either of those songs i'm immediately back there.

next they played 'smooth operator' by sade and suddenly i'm a 14yo year 9 student at scarborough high school waiting for stephen buhlman to bring me a tape-2-tape copy of a compilation cassette with that song on it.

it's the same when i hear 'last chance on the stairway' by duran duran off their incredible 'rio' album. it always takes me back to kalbarri in 1986 when brett arnott came on holiday with us. i'd only just bought 'rio' (4 years after it's release) and this was the only track i hadn't heard before so it stuck in my mind.

now comes on 'superfreak' by rick james. this always takes me back to the mid 90s and into adam brown's flat in vic park with the como bapo youth group as it was the first time i heard this song. yep... i heard mc hammer's sample before i heard the original.

another song that always takes me back is the rather awful '(i've just had) the time of my life' from the dirty dancing soundtrack. it pulls me back to 1988 and the school bus on the way back from our year 12 camp at club capricorn just outside of yanchep. for some unknown reason the girls loved the dirty dancing soundtrack and inflicted it on us as we headed back from camp.

i could keep going on but i won't. the point is that music has a stunning ability to transport one back to a certain place and time. it does it better than any other medium and the sensory feelings it brings are undeniable. i don't know how it affects others but for me, i grieve deeply for my lost youth. i guess that says a lot.

western derby XXXII

2010-08-03T21:49:00.004+08:00

well, what can i say about sunday's wonderful western derby. i clearly remember a time when freo were crap and i'd turn up to each derby with a dream that we'd win but knowing it was pretty unlikely. at the time i regularly said to people who queried why i stuck by freo that the hard times would just make the good times all that much sweeter. now i know just how right i was. the really great thing about watching freo this year has been seeing the young fellas playing good hard footy and playing with an intensity we've not had in the past. i really hope this is something we'll see a lot of in years to come and that the club's culture of accepting mediocrity is being permanently changed now. we had a false dawn in 2006 and i'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that history doesn't repeat itself.

of course, the flip side to the great enjoyment of watching freo heading towards the finals is the schadenfreude of watching the weagles wallowing at the bottom of the ladder. i didn't hear until after the game that harvs and pav had asked freo members not to bring wooden spoons but i doubt it would've stopped me. part of the great sporting rivalries is taking joy in your bitter rivals doing it tough. i've sat through many derbies when we've been belted and taken the jibes of the weagles fans on the chin (and never left the game early - take note weagle fans) so it's only fair they take some of their own medicine now. what i didn't expect was to for a photo of me to grace the media! ahh... it's all a bit of fun.

the other significant thing that happened at the derby was that i finally fulfilled my end of the bet and wore a weagles jumper for the whole game. for those not in the know, in late 2003 i made a bet with doc munners that freo would win a premiership before the weagles won another. at the time it was a reasonable view given we'd just finished the home & away season in 5th place and had dominated the weagles during the year. history shows we got smashed by essendon in the elimination final and didn't play finals again until 2006 whereas the weagles developed a brilliant midfield, played in a number of finals series and won a premiership. the terms of the bet was that the loser had to wear the opposition guernsey to a derby and it's taken me a while but i've now done it. thank goodness i don't have to it again!!

wilson tuckey = scumbag

2010-06-22T11:54:00.003+08:00

how low can wilson tuckey sink? his attempts to politicise the tragic deaths of the aussie mining execs in africa by trying to link them to the resources super profits tax demonstrates yet again what a despicable person he is with not a shred of decency or dignity. he's simply pathetic and unworthy of the powerful position he holds. the people who continue to vote for this embarrassment should be ashamed of themselves

homeopathy on trial

2010-06-10T17:27:00.002+08:00

homeopathy is a load of crap but, for the most part, a rather harmless waste of money. sadly the danger of 'alternative' medicine is sometimes highlighted in a most tragic way. the story of penelope dingle and her slow and painful death from cancer is a case in point. mrs dingle's diaries record that her homeopath told her homeopathy would cure her cancer and she should avoid conventional medicine, including pain relief. rather than undergo surgery to remove the cancer and follow this up with appropriate real medical care, mrs dingle chose to treat her cancer through a strict diet and regular homeopathy treatments. rather predictably her cancer didn't retreat but instead spread and eventually ended her life. suddenly what usually passes as a harmless pseudoscience is exposed as a malevolent and deadly con which should, at the very least, be strongly regulated but preferably ended. any other fraudulent treatment which results in death would be and there's no doubt that homeopathy is a deadly fraudulent treatment.

absolutely awesome

2010-05-29T18:52:00.002+08:00

until today, the largest margin in any match i'd attended was 169 points (claremont vs east perth at the waca in 1988) but that was smashed today. my tigers were absolutely ruthless in their 194 point demolition of peel at tigerland this arvo. peel were fortunate to be given a couple of charity goals by the umpires which kept the final margin below 200 points but that's fine. what makes the win even more remarkable is that our captain is out suspended at the moment and andrew browne isn't playing. also, when we beat peel by 110 points in round one wilkes kicked 5 goals and fyfe kicked four and neither played today. chad jones was brilliant and ended up with 10 goals despite regularly having the full back hanging off him. brabazon and schammer were unstoppable in the midfield along with foster and mitchell. it's also great watching ninyette play as he gets better each week. and it goes without saying that richo was in everything. what a great arvo at the footy!!

good luck johnno

2010-05-17T22:37:00.004+08:00

well, the shock news of the night is that michael johnson was apparently caught by police on the weekend in possession of illegal drugs. my opinion on drugs is well known and it's certainly very disappointing to have one of our players being an offender. my belief is that johnno's well being has now got to be the priority. we saw through the early to middle period of the last decade the manner in which a certain other club was willing to put on-field success ahead of the health of their players. they were informed by police that players had been caught on wire tap discussing their drug use but none of the players were suspended or reprimanded by the club. this has to be the blueprint for how not to deal with drug abuse within the club. on the other hand is the example set by geelong with matthew stokes this season. he was suspended by the club but at the same time it was made clear he had their full support and they cared about what happened to him. i reckon, if the reports on johnno are accurate, that freo need to take a similar approach. he's a player who's very much loved by the club's supporters and all we want is to see him overcome whatever issues he has, to be happy and healthy in his private life, to be a good role model for aboriginal kids and to fulfil his potential as a footballer. personally, i wish him all the best and can't wait to see him better and successful.

ban the burka?

2010-05-12T20:10:00.012+08:00

i've watched with interest the growing movement in parts of europe to ban the wearing of the burka and the comments by corey bernardi of the liberal party that he considers them to be 'unaustralian' (what does that actually mean?) and wants them banned in australia. tony abbott stated that he finds the burka 'confronting' and would prefer it wasn't widely worn. personally i have no more problem with a muslim wearing the burka than i do with a priest wearing the dog collar, a jew wearing the yarmulke or a buddhist wearing their robes. in fact, as one astute commentator pointed out, there are some much more offensive items of clothing regularly seen in australia. i certainly know which of the below pictures i find least confronting!!

such is life

2010-05-12T17:44:00.004+08:00

i've only heard and read some excerpts from the interview ben cousins gave to fox sports recently but it's been very interesting. obviously the excerpts making headlines are to do with his infamous drug addiction. he tells of how he experienced considerable paranoia and felt that the afl was out to get him. obviously this wasn't the case and presumably he realises this now. he also spoke of how he wants to continue playing on with richmond next season and i hope he's able to do so. i've never been a fan of ben but i'm glad to see him overcome his problems and i really hope he's able to stay on top of his issues for the long haul. there's no doubt he was a very talented player and it's a shame he won't be remembered solely as such.

what really surprised me is that the interviewers were honest and brave enough to broach the subject of the common perception that the 2006 flag won by the weagles has been tainted by the revelation of significant drug use within the club during that season. unsurprisingly cousins is quick to state that he doesn't believe it is. well, i'm sorry ben but the reality you'll have to live with is there's a lot of unbiased people (ie. non weagle supporters) who will always see the 2006 flag as having been very tainted by the exploits of you and a number of your team mates and will continue to treat it with significant disrespect. i'm afraid that is one of the prices you'll have to pay.

gold!!

2010-04-18T15:46:00.004+08:00

last night was the long awaited concert by spandau ballet at sandalford winery and it was one worth waiting for. the opening act was tears for fears who played all of their big hits including shout, everybody wants to rule the world, head over heels (my fave TFF song), mad world, pale shelter, woman in chains (my least fave TFF song) and sowing the seeds of love. they were pretty good without being spectacular.

but i wasn't there to see tears for fears... i was there to see one of my fave bands when i was growing up. only a couple of years ago the idea of the original five members playing together was pretty remote as tony hadley was still rightfully very bitter about his treatment at the hands of gary kemp but it seems they've patched up their differences and are good mates again. i'm sure the big bucks this tour is bringing in would've helped with that. regardless, i was very excited to finally have the chance to see the band play live. in a word, they were wonderful. they were as tight as though they'd been playing together for years and tony's voice is still golden. they played everything i wanted to hear and even a couple of great tracks off the 'parade' album. with a back catalogue including such great songs as round and round, true, gold, communication, lifeline, to cut a long story short, only when you leave, through the barricades and highly strung, we were guaranteed a show packed with familiar songs and all were played. they didn't have quite the same excitement factor as duran duran had when i saw them on their big comeback shows in london in 2004 but i still have no complaints. i reckon the venue probably detracted from the atmosphere as it's so big and having the hoi poloi sitting at the front of the stage is no way to have a gig with any sort of atmosphere as the people who know how to enjoy a concert are stuck up the back. i doubt they'll be back here any time soon so i'm really thankful for the opportunity to see one of the great bands of the early 80s

the real deal

2010-04-11T19:04:00.002+08:00

what can i say about today's game against geelong? it was one of the most entertaining and enjoyable afl games i've been to for a long time. to beat the reigning premiers and remain undefeated three rounds into the season was almost unimaginable three weeks ago. i can't believe how rapidly the team has developed this season and the way the young players have stepped up and taken responsibility on the field. regardless of whether or not we make the finals this year, the future is looking very bright.

and of course my tigers defeated the mongrel lions at leederville oval today to also remain undefeated in the wafl. what a great start to the footy season!!

freo, way to go

2010-04-04T19:27:00.002+08:00

holy cow.. what a start to the season. a couple of weeks ago the media was tipping us to lose the first four games and yet here we are, sitting second on the ladder and undefeated after two very good victories. the thing that's most exciting has been the contributions of the new blokes to the club. we all know how good sandilands, pav and haselby are but now they finally have a young group of players who can make the most of their abilities. barlow has been unbelievable in his first two games whilst silvagni has also played two outstanding games. the hyperactive aggression of ballantyne is fantastic to watch as he madly chases either the ball or any opposition player silly enough to pick it up. morabito has shown glimpses of what he's capable of and i'm looking forward to watching him develop.

so, all is happy down at dockerland ahead of a huge test this week against geelong. wouldn't it be amazing if we could knock off the reigning premiers? there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to.

the end of the bill

2010-03-29T11:00:00.004+08:00

it's with great sadness that i read today that ITV have decided to axe 'the bill' which is one of my fave programmes. i've watched it for many years except for the period when it was going through it's worst soapie-style stage. it provided me with most of my knowledge of london life although i don't know if that was a good or bad thing. it was certainly a surprise when i moved there and found that people don't generally use words and phrases like 'guvna' or 'nasty little toerag' and that there wasn't actually a place called sun hill. i've thought the show's really improved recently with some good story lines but i guess when they cut down from two episodes per week to one i knew it wasn't going to last much longer. so thanks for entertaining me over the years. you'll be missed!

len fallon RIP

2010-03-11T11:01:00.002+08:00

my grandpa died yesterday morning. it's been a long time coming but when it finally happens it's hard to comprehend. i guess my brain just isn't processing the information properly. i know the fact that he's gone but it doesn't seem real. i guess the funeral will help change that.

grandpa was a good bloke who lived a long and godly life. making it to 94 is a pretty good effort! he was very proud of his australian heritage and was well known for being able to recite poetry to suit any occasion. the advice he gave at my 21st on the type of women to seek out was certainly very interesting. his speech at my brother's wedding was also quite a classic. he worked as a mechanic and used his skills to keep our mini going for a lot longer than it should have. he was also quite the genius at using scraps of metal to manufacture parts for lawnmowers to keep them going.

but no one's perfect and grandpa was no exception. he was known for his explosive temper and there was many a time i saw him blow up at people without any real provocation. he was also one of the worst drivers i've ever been in a car with and quite scary at times.

so the last of my grandparents has now passed away. i'm sad.

ruby hunter RIP

2010-02-18T08:04:00.003+08:00

i'm really sad this morning to hear of the death of ruby hunter. she and her partner, archie roach, did so much to bring a human face to the experiences of the stolen generation and help us understand a little bit of what they went through. for her to have been forcibly removed from her parents at the age of 8 and still go on to live such a full and productive life speaks of the amazing inner strength of the woman. also, to have met the love of her life at the age of 16 when homeless on the streets and to remain with him all her life speaks of her great loyalty. she was truly a remarkable australian and an inspiration and example to us all.

my thoughts are with archie roach and her family.

love it or leave - cya pauline

2010-02-16T12:04:00.005+08:00

for all of her faults, you've gotta give credit to pauline hanson for having the integrity to truly embrace the 'love it or leave' mentality. so many people, usually meatheads, spout it as some sort of anti-immigration or anti-multiculturalism mantra directed at non-caucasian australians with the premise being if they don't love the meathead view of how australia should be they should leave. the funny thing is they chant it without really being prepared to leave the country themselves. the fact is, australia is a tolerant, multicultural society so either love it or leave... or in the words of the bumper sticker: FIFO (fit in or f**k off).

somewhere a village is missing an idiot...

2010-02-10T18:57:00.003+08:00

lycra-clad loser

2010-02-09T21:56:00.004+08:00

i almost had a prang with a cyclist on the way to work this morning. as i was turning right onto weaponess road at a roundabout, some dickhead on a pushbike decided that he didn't need to follow the rules of the road which demand that he give way to vehicles which have already entered the roundabout (usually coming from the right). instead he kept going as i was turning through the roundabout and then actually shouted at me when he was almost hit. i'm so over these lycra-clad losers. after a couple of years working on st georges tce i'd had more near misses as a pedestrian from these idiots hurtling along footpaths than i could count. they want drivers to treat them as equals on the road but they also want to be able to fly along footpaths. basically these arrogant prats want control of wherever they choose to ride and woe betide anyone who gets in their way.

what am i going to do about it? to be perfectly frank, absolutely nothing. apart from whining here that is.

laneway festival

2010-02-07T00:20:00.005+08:00

i only got a ticket to today's laneway festival quite late but am so glad i did. first things first: northbridge is, without a doubt, THE worst venue for a festival i've ever been to. trying to get in and out of the main stage area is a nightmare. those unfortunate enough to be stuck at the back of the main crowd had views obstructed by the sound desk and the trees. also, the amount of sound carrying over from the other stages was dreadful. in theory, the northbridge cultural centre should be a fantastic place for a festival but in practice it's not. but that was the only negative for me. i came for the music and that was wonderful.

the first act we saw was whitely. i'm not a big fan and don't know much of his music but he was good. not good enough that i'd go out of my way to see him again but good enough that if he was on the bill of a concert i'd be happy to hear him.

one of the main draws for me was the fantastic voltaire twins. every time i see them i can imagine being in steve strange's blitz nightclub in london in the early 80s as they play such wonderful new romantic tinged electro-pop. their set was in the daylight which doesn't lend itself to their music but their stage presence is such that they're easily able to overcome this and draw the crowd in. as well as old faves, they played some new material which i presume will be on their debut album. the songs were strong and i'm certainly looking forward to the album.

next up was mumford and sons. as megan and i had stayed for the end of voltaire twins' set, we arrived at the main stage after m&s had started playing and got stuck up the back (see my earlier whinge about the difficulties of being stuck there). we hung around until they played 'little lion man' and then took off to see the middle east. they were good without being something to write home (or on a blog) about.

following the middle east, we headed over to watch sarah blasko. i'm not a fan of hers and this performance did nothing to change my mind. dull, boring, middle of the road dross for people who like whatever triple j tells them to is my opinion of her. megan enjoyed her though so i'm sure plenty of people will disagree with me.

the other act beside voltaire twins i was looking forward to was the xx and they didn't disappoint. i'm only a recent convert to this band but am totally sold on their debut album. their music is beautiful and powerful in its subtleness. what i hadn't expected was how good they'd be live. they managed to grab hold of me for the entirety of their set and even had me dancing (badly) at times. i'll definitely see them next time they come to perth.

the unexpected highlight of the show for me was florence and the machine. i quite like the songs i've heard of theirs and expected to enjoy their set but was amazed at how wonderful their live show is. florence's voice is a power to behold but when she combines it with antics such as crowd surfing and climbing the scaffolding, it's a formula for crowd ecstasy. i found the first couple of songs rather dull and was thinking that i'd not really enjoy the set but it just got better and better. the sight of the entire crowd bouncing in time was fantastic. the songs are good and she knows how to hold an audience in the palm of her hand. they were definitely the best act of the night in my not-so-humble opinion.

it was a very good festival and is only let down by the venue. i appreciate it was originally held as a festival in the laneways of melbourne (hence the name) but it's grown beyond that now. if they want to hold it in the northbridge cultural centre then they need to limit the numbers. if they want the large numbers then they need to hold it somewhere more appropriate. it seems silly to pretend it's some low-key underground festival when the number of punters doesn't bare this out.

this man is a moron

2010-02-01T15:26:00.002+08:00

yep, this is the retard who thought it'd be a great idea to run onto the waca in the middle of a one day international and assault one of the pakistani players. really, you've got to wonder at what goes through the pea-brain of people like this. we all remember (well, the older ones amongst us do) what happened back in 1981 when some english idiots ran onto the waca and terry alderman ended up with a dislocated shoulder which wrecked the prime years of his career. there's simply no excuse for this type of behaviour. it's not funny or clever. it just betrays an astounding level of stupidity and a clear lack of appreciation for the sport. no true cricket lover would ever do something like this.

and what were his mates doing when this goose was hatching his ill-conceived plan? i'd imagine they were sitting there braying encouragement like the slow-witted donkeys they are. they'd be lucky to be able to scrape together a full brain between the lot of them.

in my not-so-humble opinion, the retard who ran onto the ground should be slapped with a huge fine and banned from all sporting events in WA for life. this would include football, soccer, basketball, cricket, rugby etc. we really can't have idiots like this spoiling it for everyone

a catch up

2010-01-27T19:08:00.003+08:00

crikey.. i can't believe it's been over a month since i last posted an update. i didn't even wish everyone a merry christmas and happy new year. how rude!!

since i last posted, i finished my lengthy period of unemployment and started a payroll job at the go marine group which is going well. it's only a three month temp role but there's indications it should go permanent. i've always said that a job is only as good as the people you work with and i've been lucky in the past to have worked with some really great people who ended up becoming good friends. the crew i'm working with at go marine are also a very friendly, fun bunch and i can see that my time with the company is likely to be very enjoyable.

2009 was an interesting year. it started with a lot of promise as my contract with chevron continued. unfortunately a new payroll manager started at the beginning of january and took an immediate dislike to me. i'm still bewildered as to why but feedback i've received from other people has reassured me that she regularly has problems with people she works with. she never gave me negative feedback about the quality of my work so i can only assume it was something about my personality she didn't like. needless to say, when my contract with chevron finished in june i moved on, only to find there wasn't a lot of work for payroll officers. i ended up getting a short contract for five weeks and when that finished i choofed off to the philippines for a couple of weeks. i got home from there in mid september and had a couple of job offers but decided that neither were what i was wanted and that i'd hold out for something better. interestingly, it was around this time that chevron wanted me to come back. of course, i said no as i don't want to work with that payroll manager again. i must say that, immature as it may be, i got quite some satisfaction in saying no. early in the year i'd booked a two week trip to cambodia and as that got closer, it became pretty much impossible to get a job as no one wants a new employee who is going to take off soon after starting. still, it didn't take long after getting back home before my current job started.

and that brings me up to date. i've got no travel plans for this year but if some very cheap flights become available i may just head off. i still want to go to vietnam, laos and thailand and would also like to return to the philippines.

so, a belated happy new year to everyone and here's hoping 2010 is a good one.

i like soccer but...

2009-12-12T17:23:00.002+08:00

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

2009-12-01T14:07:00.003+08:00

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

2009-11-27T20:19:00.003+08:00

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

2009-11-26T19:06:00.002+08:00

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

2009-11-26T18:56:00.002+08:00

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

2009-11-24T21:41:00.002+08:00

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

2009-11-21T18:39:00.002+08:00

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

2009-11-19T20:28:00.010+08:00

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

2009-10-17T17:08:00.003+08:00

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

2009-10-12T15:32:00.007+08:00

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

2009-09-08T16:54:00.003+08:00

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

2009-09-02T15:33:00.002+08:00

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.

2009-08-03T22:22:00.000+08:00

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

2009-07-26T21:07:00.005+08:00

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

2009-07-23T23:22:00.001+08:00

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

2009-07-17T22:01:00.003+08:00

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

2009-06-29T20:46:00.004+08:00

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

2009-06-20T11:02:00.003+08:00

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

2009-06-18T09:02:00.003+08:00

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...

2009-06-11T18:21:00.002+08:00

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

2009-05-17T21:21:00.003+08:00

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

2009-05-17T11:01:00.002+08:00

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.

2009-05-17T10:33:00.003+08:00

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

2009-05-04T20:02:00.002+08:00

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!!

2009-04-19T10:12:00.002+08:00

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

2009-03-13T18:18:00.002+09:00

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

2009-02-03T23:40:00.003+09:00

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

2009-02-03T23:05:00.002+09:00

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?

2009-01-26T22:00:00.004+09:00

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

2009-01-21T01:35:00.003+09:00

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

2009-01-20T23:37:00.004+09:00

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

2009-01-18T19:49:00.003+09:00

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

2009-01-03T17:22:00.002+09:00

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

2009-01-03T17:06:00.004+09:00

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

2009-01-01T21:09:00.005+09:00

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).

seasons greetings

2008-12-28T22:57:00.002+09:00

i hope everyone had a wonderful christmas and that 2009 is a fantastic year.

the tragic death of tyler cassidy

2008-12-13T18:09:00.003+09:00

no matter what people disagree on, i think one thing we are all in agreement with is the fact that the death of tyler cassidy is very sad.

that said, if you steal two knives and approach police telling them that you're going to kill them, you don't get to whinge about being shot. further, when you add to this that the guy was known for random acts of violence and that he was involved with white supremacist groups one starts to get an idea of what the police were faced with. the police are charged with protecting the public and put their lives on the line every day. i don't always agree with the way they go about things but i have complete confidence that they wouldn't have shot this bloke unless they had run out of options.

i also find it sad that his mother knew so little about her own son and what he'd been up to. to listen to her, you'd think he was a perfect child who had never been in trouble and usually spent his spare time doing bible studies and volunteering with meals on wheels. unfortunately that is completely false. he'd become involved with some of the lowest scum of our community.. the white supremacist movement. these mentally stunted prats deserve nothing more than complete contempt and must accept some of the blame for what happened to tyler.

the australian way of life is one of tolerance and multiculturalism. as the bumper sticker says - if you don't love it, leave.

is 'so what' by pink the worst song ever?

2008-11-28T15:14:00.005+09:00

hmmm.. probably not, but it's certainly up there.

speaking of dreadful songs, how bad is that new katy perry song 'hot n cold'? i thought she'd plumbed the depths of bland, soulless dross with 'i kissed a girl' but the aural spam being flogged on commercial radio at the moment proves that her well of mediocrity runs truly deep... as does the well of unthinking simpletons who buy whatever they're told to by the corporate music 'biz'.

and don't even get me started on gabriella cilmi..

arrrghhh.

the dream becomes reality

2008-11-05T22:33:00.004+09:00

there's gonna be a lot written about barack obama's ascension to the presidency and most of it written by people far more eloquent and insightful than me. still, i may as well add my two cents worth.

the thing that struck me most today is the sense of history and potential. it was the same sense of awe and excitement felt when nelson mandela was released and also when he was subsequently elected as president of south africa. it was the same feeling of history i felt when the berlin wall was torn down. i felt the same when our prime minister finally said sorry to the stolen generation. these moments are so rare that when they occur they're to be savoured.

george bush jnr has done incredible damage to the reputation of the usa around the world and leaves the country in a mess with a staggering national debt and two unsuccessful wars. barack obama brings hope and a chance for america to rediscover its soul. i only wish martin luther king had lived to see this day.

bring on the change

2008-11-03T19:23:00.003+09:00

it's been 8 years since george bush jnr literally stole the 2000 usa election. in that time we've seen the tragedy of the terrorist attacks on the world trade centre and pentagon in 2001 and the moral bankruptcy of the invasions of afghanistan and iraq. we've seen the insidious corruption of the values we claim to hold dear through the evil of the guantanamo bay detention camp and the associated use of torture techniques and incarceration of people without charge for years on end. we've seen the usa using 'black sites' to bypass their human rights obligations. we've seen levels of rhetoric against foreign nations at levels not seen since the cold war.

it's been a tumultuous time and one in which the hope for a return to honourable government seemed a long way off. a year ago we managed to give little johnny garden gnome the arse and all polls indicate the people of america will tomorrow give the worst warmonger in the world today the same treatment. i truly hope america votes in barack obama as the next president. whilst the idea of an african american president is exciting in itself, it's the potential obama brings to the role which is inspirational. he's got a lot of work to do in order to restore the reputation of the usa after the bush years but if anyone can do it i reckon obama can.

little pleasures

2008-10-29T19:17:00.002+09:00

how often it's the small things that bring such pleasure. i've just been listening to lou reed's masterpiece 'transformer' and found myself rejoicing in david bowie's angelic 'bom bom bom's in 'satellite of love'. pure brilliance from a musical genius.

my new additions

2008-10-20T20:44:00.010+08:00

a little over a week ago the population of my flat tripled when i brought home a couple of cats. they are both from the cat haven and would've been put down if a home hadn't been found for them. they have very different personalities but both are very cute and it's great having them around.

DYLAN

dylan is one of those cats that very quickly makes friends with anyone around. she's not overly clingy and doesn't like to sit on one's lap, but she does like a bit of attention. she was around 10 months old when i got her and quickly established her dominance over oprah. she's gradually accepting oprah's insolence and engaging in some play with her. she also loves spending time out on the balcony watching what's going on in the world around her

OPRAH

oprah started out as a very timid cat who was frightened of her own shadow. she's still quite skittish but not nearly as bad as she was. as i type, she's curled up on the lounge next to me which would've been inconceivable a week ago. although dylan's trying very hard to maintain her dominance through hissing and growling i get the feeling that in time oprah will become the dominant cat. she's already become very cheeky to dylan and is certainly the more inquisitive of the two. she has also developed an unnerving habit of jumping up onto the balcony railing and walking along it.

so, that's my two new housemates. i'm still a dog person but it's not really feasible to have a dog here and mum said she'd look after the cats for me if i ever want to go away so it made the choice pretty easy. besides, cats are a helluva lot easier to look after as they're not so labour intensive and quite happy to amuse themselves... usually by sleeping.

nothing in particular

2008-10-09T18:08:00.002+08:00

it's been a couple of weeks since i last posted so i feel duty bound to put something up. life goes on through many little enjoyable experiences rather than any big bangs. tonight is poker night at the stamford arms so i'll be heading off shortly. it's free to play and a pretty good night with a cupla pints and a few hands. i made the final table on tuesday night so hopefully tonight will be another good one.

it was good to catch up with katie, reg, kath, nath and marco on saturday night for a chat, a debate over daylight saving and some poker (hmmm.. do i sense a pattern emerging?). i've also volunteered for a couple of shifts as parking attendant at claremont oval for the show parking. this is the biggest money earner for the footy club each year so i thought it was about time i did my bit as i've been a member for 21 years now and not really done any voluntary work. it turned out to be quite enjoyable as i met some of the club stalwarts and we had some good chats. it was an especially big thrill to have a beer and yarn with john o'connell who is a legend of the claremont footy club.

so, time to head off to poker and hope for that elusive royal flush

well done hawks

2008-09-27T18:16:00.002+08:00

what a fantastic win by the hawks today. i decided to barrack for them a week ago when the saints were knocked out as i wanted to see crawf finally get a premiership. it was sad for the cats who such as blake and lonergan who missed out last year but the hawks were the best team on the day. there's no doubt they can improve from here as blokes like buddy, hodge, junior rioli and bateman continue to mature. it's just a shame for them they've gotta overcome freo next year.

chair sniffing inc.

2008-09-16T22:27:00.003+08:00

ok.. i'm laughing a lot right now. i'm watching 20 to 1 on channel nine and they're counting down the top twenty 'all aussie scandals' and guess who's come in at number 4? yep, our very own chair sniffing, bra snapping, drunk-at-work state treasurer..

.. TROY BOOZEWELL

whilst it did have me laughing, i realised very quickly that i'll be laughing out the other side of my face when this buffoon gets his hands on our state economy. he's just lucky he's not working in a normal workplace as he'd have been sacked long ago.

graham maybury was asking tonight what we learned from the state election and what i've learned, or rather had confirmed, is that wa voters are not particularly bright.

don't blame me...

2008-09-14T11:34:00.004+08:00

so the national party has decided to support a minority liberal government. personally i believe this to be the worst decision that could have been made for our state but i appreciate their reasoning. it appears that the key factor in their decision is that the support of an independant will also be required and they don't want to have to work with the greens as would be the case if they'd supported labor. during the past week, supporters of both main parties have tried to claim some sort of mandate from the people that would obligate the nationals to work with them. this is simply a load of rubbish. neither party won a majority of seats and therefore neither party has a clear mandate.

my own belief is that the liberals have shown in the leadup to the election that they're not even capable of running their own party in a mature and professional manner so they're certainly not in a position to run the state properly. still, they are now in power for at least the next four years so i hope they are able to surprise me and run this state in a compentent manner. still, i may as well say this now as i reckon i'll be saying it a lot over the next four years...

... don't blame me, i voted labor

go the saints

2008-09-04T22:53:00.003+08:00

it's finals time and, as usual, freo's started the offseason early so i should nail my colours to the mast for who i'll be barracking for in the finals. i love watching the cats and the hawks play but nothing would give me more pure joy that seeing robert harvey walk off the mcg on grand final day with a premiership/norm smith double. the man is an absolute inspiration and deserves to be a premiership player. obviously it'll take some sort of dramatic divine intervention for anyone to stop geelong and i won't be upset to see them win as they've clearly been the best team for most of the season but my heart is with the saints.

gold coast football club

2008-09-04T22:26:00.005+08:00

what an absolute disgrace. not since the west coast eagles slithered forth from the sewers in 1986 has a new team been handed a premiership on a plate as blatantly as the new gold coast footy club. it's been announced that they're to have 9 of the first 15 picks in the 2010 draft, including 4 of the first 5. they will also start the season with 48 senior players (10 more than anyone else) and an extra $1 million in total player payments. the whole idea of the draft and salary cap is to provide an equal playing field for all clubs and for them to be compromised to this extent is nothing short of obscene. it particularly irks me when i think back to the raw deal freo got when we joined.

it's been announced on the footy show tonight that they don't even have a nickname. what sort of club is this? at least their gay lifeguard mascot makes ours look like marketing genius. i'm just waiting to hear their club song now cos i'm hoping like mad it's even worse than ours cos at the moment only the port bogans and e-girls are worse than our dirge.

howard sattler: man of the people

2008-09-02T08:52:00.003+08:00

if this was 1992 i'd have added the word 'not!' at the end of that title, but it isn't so i didn't.

it's been reported that poor howard the coward has had to reduce the asking price on his house from the "high $6 million mark" to just $5.75 million. now, i don't have a problem with someone being wealthy and readily accept that many wealthy people have earned their money. howard is different. the man is a parasite who feeds off the misery and dissatisfaction of his listeners. he presents himself as a man of the people when the reality is the only time he's likely to encounter people who fall into his listener demographic is when they serve him his food or service his car.

i've had the misfortune of listening to his malevolent diatribes whilst waiting for the sports programme to come on and it is truly the most base of gutter journalism that shamelessly appeals to the lowest common denominator. the sooner this cancer is removed from our airwaves, the better.

the end of footy

2008-08-31T18:50:00.004+08:00

well, it's the last weekend either of my teams are playing this season and it's ended on a high note. i headed to subi oval on friday night without any great expectations given the number of injuries and retirements the club's had. the most enjoyable wins are the ones you don't expect so to see my boys give collingwood a good hiding was very satisfying. it's been a pretty disappointing season (yet again) but the future's looking up. we've got some pretty promising kids who are hard at the ball and prepared to do the gutsy things. we've got a lot of room on the list and an early draft pick. i just hope the club takes this opportunity for a fresh start and plans for the future rather than following our past of trading for a big name.

yesterday was a big day for claremont. we've been anchored to the bottom of the ladder for a lot of the year and were looking at getting our first wooden spoon since i started barracking for the club as a 10 year old in 1981. we were also coming up against the second placed team on their own dungheap so things looked grim. it turned out to be a tight game and my boys acquited themselves very well. the game was up for grabs at 3/4 time and kerry gave a pretty inspiring talk. the last quarter was a see-sawing affair but my boys held their nerve and fought back every time souths kicked a goal. the win lifted us off the bottom and the form of the young players bides well for next season.

so, it's into the finals for the next few weeks and then i'll have weekends all to myself.. and i'll be counting down the days til next season starts.

tigers, a derby and shauny mac

2008-08-05T18:44:00.007+08:00

what a great weekend for footy. on saturday my tiger cubs kept alive our hopes of getting off the bottom of the ladder by beating east freo by 64 points. i've been quite critical of roger kerr's coaching this year but i reckon i may have judged him a bit early as his game plan seems to be coming together. we've got a lot of first year players who are starting to show some very promising signs and as long as they don't all get drafted to victorian afl clubs, we should get some great service out of them next year. ian richardson's the pick of the bunch and is a real ball of excitement. every time he gets anywhere near the ball, he draws huge calls from the members' stand and is becoming a real cult hero at tigerland.

sunday was a bittersweet day as we trounced the e-girls but said goodbye to shaun mcmanus. shauny mac is one of those old fashioned players who's not particularly blessed with silky skills, doesn't have a pretty haircut and will never be described as 'metrosexual' but has a heart like phar lap. he's worn his passion for the club on his sleeve and over the past 14 years and has eked out every last bit of ability in his quest to make the club successful. to my mind, macca was part of a trilogy that also contained troy cook and dale kickett. all three were passionate about the freo footy club and they were all hard as nails but exceptionally fair players - the demolition derby of 2001 excepted in kicketty's case (although it could be argued that phil read deserved everything he got and probably more). i'm really going to miss watching macca play. it was always an adventure when he got the ball and i'm sure a small part of my hair loss is his responsibility.

while we said goodbye to an important part of the club's past on sunday, we got another look at the future and it's looking pretty rosy. the new young players are hard at the ball and exciting to watch. palmer is always willing to get under the packs while mayne and ibbotson seem to have no fear. i'm really looking forward to next season as things can only get better.

great win

2008-07-27T13:42:00.003+08:00

what a fantastic win! to lose pavlich before the game was always going to put us at a disadvantage and could have been disasterous. instead, i reckon we learned an important lesson about going forward and spreading the goals around. there's no doubt pav is the key forward for us but i feel we often tend to be a bit 'pav-centric' which can be costly. today the young fellas really stepped up and showed that this club has a positive future. we still need to work on our skills as we turn it over a bit too much but hopefully that will get better. now we just need to recruit well in the draft and we can be looking at a spot in the eight in the near future.

bring on the slime next week!

finally a good footy weekend

2008-07-21T08:25:00.003+08:00

finally i have a double reason to cheer after the weekend with claremont and freo both notching impressive wins.

my (once) mighty tigers have kept alive our hopes of avoiding the wooden spoon as we're only a game behind east perth but ahead of them on percentage so only have to win one more game than they do for the rest of the year. i've been barracking for claremont for 27 years and in this time we've not finished bottom so it would be great if we could avoid it this year. what made the win on the weekend even more meritorious was that it was over a side that was in the top 4 at their home ground and without browne, mackenzie or wilkes who were all playing for their afl sides.

the freo game was a strange affair. i watched most of the first quarter through my fingers and certainly had my head in my hands at quarter time. we were simply woeful. thankfully harvs performed some magic at the first break and a completely different side came out for the rest of the game. suddenly the boys were attacking the bloke with the ball and forcing errors. this is something the good sides do each week whilst we've been playing a game where we simply run alongside the ball carrier and hope that our psychic powers will make him trip over and drop the ball. strangely our approach thus far hasn't worked. the final 3 quarters were the sort of football i expect from an afl side and if we can continue that level of intensity i'd expect us to win a lot more games.

i was also really happy with the games of some of the younger brigade. ibbotson and mayne played the same way they have all year.. bloody hard. each week they seem more at ease playing in the premier competition and are really showing a great deal of potential. also showing really good signs were browne and o'brien who were both very hard at the ball. o'brien is a player i was hoping to see a lot more of this year as i believe he provides great value for the team in his willingness to get under the packs and do the hard work that we used to rely on troy cook and shaun mcmanus for. speaking of mcmanus; he was fantastic. i'm sure he'd be the first to admit that he's not overly blessed with silky skills but he makes up for any skill shortfall with an excess of heart. his retirement in imminent and i'll really miss him.

courtney love is the devil

2008-07-02T10:54:00.002+08:00

i was horrified last night when watching tele to see an ad for the nintendo ds using the song 'breed' by nirvana. now, my understanding is that courtney has control of the nirvana back catalogue which passed into her control when kurdt died and this would mean she has the power to decide how his songs are used. i'm sure kurdt would be turning in his grave (if he'd been buried in one) at the thought of his songs being exploited in a commercial and courtney, more than anyone, should have worked to ensure this never happened. after all, she constantly stymied attempts by krist and dave to release a box set with some unreleased songs and generally was a 'spaniard in the works' so for her to allow 'breed' to be used in this way is unforgivable.

woosha vs brownlow brad

2008-06-24T09:49:00.004+08:00

woosha's attack on brad hardie on 6PR last night was nothing short of disgraceful. hardie played in a premiership with south freo in the days when the wafl was as strong as any other competition in the country so for worsfold to denigrate him for not having played in a vfl/afl premiership side was not only uncalled for but also a slap in the face for all the wafl premiership players. great players such as bill walker, haydn bunton, stephen michael, graham moss and 'bomber' peake played in wafl premierships without being vfl/afl premiership players and to now call their status into doubt is simply wrong. still, what should we expect? it was a cheap shot from a bloke who built his on-field career around running past the ball to take cheap shots on opponents who weren't expecting it. why should we expect his off-field behaviour to be any different?

no sympathy for corby

2008-06-22T22:34:00.003+08:00

i'm pretty sick of hearing about schapelle corby. the woman's a convicted drug dealer. end of story. in my opinion drug dealers are about as low as people come. unlike the other people generally reviled in our society (murderers, rapists, child molesters, drink drivers etc), drug dealers directly and indirectly impact and destroy the lives of huge numbers of people and they do it with the sole motivation of greed. i don't believe in the death penalty but i do believe in long gaol sentences. corby was trying to make some easy money and got caught and now deserves every day she spends behind bars. there's an inherent racism in the championing of corby's cause. it's a racism manifest in the belief that a white australian girl must be a victim of a corrupt indonesian legal system and incompetent lawyers rather than simply being guilty of the crimes she's been convicted of. well i don't buy it for a second. i believe she's guilty and the media should stop giving her constant publicity. i also believe any money raised by her selling her story when she's released should be subject to the proceeds of crime legislation as she shouldn't be allowed to profit from her crimes.

tanking

2008-06-20T08:01:00.003+08:00

so st kilda have dropped del santo and milne for tonight's game against the mighty dockers and replaced them with two debutants. i find this pretty interesting from the perspective of a member of one of the teams already being accused of tanking. tonight's game is a quite winnable one for the saints and being played in melbourne so one would expect them to field their strongest team. i'm sure if freo or the e-girls headed into a home match against low ranked opposition by dropping a key midfielder and their leading goal kicker, the cries of 'tankers' would be deafening. yet, presumably because they're four spots on the ladder higher than us, there's no such slur aimed at the saints. nor should their be. i don't believe for a moment that they're tanking but neither are we. it's time the afl stepped in, preferably today, and announced changes to the way the draft picks are allocated to the bottom teams. i remember a lottery system for the bottom four clubs being talked about in 2001 when we finished bottom and yet 7 years later the problem's still not fixed. i have no doubt that carlton tanked last year and reaped substantial benefits for doing so but i don't believe it's common. nevertheless, the temptation to tank and the opportunity for it to be a topic of discussion needs to be removed by the afl. in my opinion.

i'm back online!!

2008-06-17T17:56:00.003+08:00

woo hoo.. i'm finally back online. i've changed provider from aapt to iinet so that i can get a naked dsl line as i only use my home phone very sporadically and reckon the line rental is waste of money. for less than what i was paying aapt for a phone and net package, i'm now getting a heap more downloads and (hopefully) a better service. seems like a win to me. i'll finally be able to start blogging again so i'd better start finding something to say

the eroding of freedom (or the slow road to ruin) pt 3

2008-05-26T15:49:00.003+08:00

when the state government brought in legislation enabling it to seize private property that had been acquired using funds raised through the commission of crimes such as selling drugs i thought it was a good idea... and still do. but the latest proposal of the government to move from seizing property obtained using the proceeds of crime to simply seizing the property of people convicted of committing a crime is simply obscene. the courts are in place to impose a sentence and/or fine and that is where the penalty should end.

of particular concern to me is the insidious way in which the government is trying to sneak the laws in. it started as a law targetting bikies and drug dealers and, of course, no one was concerned. now it's trying to extend the scope of the laws and has chosen to apply them initially to sex offenders as, again, they don't believe people are likely to object to the targetting of a group almost universally despised. one has to question who will be targetted next. already the government is trying to seize the property of a man who was accused, but never convicted, of sex offenses. the man is now dead and the property has been passed to his brother. to take a property worth over $1 million from a man who has not been convicted of a crime simply because there were unproved allegations made against his deceased brother is immoral, unethical and wrong.

those of us who work for our possessions should have the security of knowing the law backs our ownership of them.

the eroding of freedom (or the slow road to ruin) pt 2

2008-05-20T19:03:00.003+08:00

the term 'big brother' gets bandied around a lot these days and has unfortunately lost a lot of the menace it used to have when it was seen purely in the context of orwell's masterpiece, 1984. still, there are times when it really encapsulates the concept of a government's monitoring of its citizens that's gone beyond what is reasonable and become a serious breach of their right to privacy. the proposal of the UK government's home office to develop a database containing details of every phone call made, every text message sent, every email sent and all time spent on the internet by every individual in the UK clearly falls into the traditional 'big brother' realm. it is an ominous and frightening prospect.

we're all aware of the threat of terrorism but i personally believe that the biggest threat terrorism poses to our way of life and the values we hold dear is the way our governments are using it as an excuse to strip away our freedoms. unless we fight to preserve our rights, things like this will be just the tip of the iceberg.

STORY LINK HERE

я говорю немного по-русски

2008-05-18T20:50:00.010+08:00

geez it's hard learning a new language. i've started taking russian lessons and am finding that i'm struggling a bit with it. the first few weeks were ok but the vocabulary lists get longer and the grammar gets more difficult by the week. i'm determined to learn it though so will keep battling through. once i'm a bit more financial i want to go back to eastern europe and spend some time there and i reckon knowing russian will be of use.. especially in the ukraine. i'd also like to learn polish and perhaps romanian and german. i've been told that once you learn a foreign language, it's easier to learn more and i really hope that's the case.