homeward bound

well, my time in europe is finally coming to an end and my sights are on my return to perth via se asia for a cupla months backpacking, diving and beaching. by the time i arrive back home i will have been away for four years and in that time i've seen and experienced so much - some good, some bad and some ugly.

i've really enjoyed my time in kraków for the past three and a half months and can say that poland has gotten into my blood. it's a fantastic country that i've grown to love with really wonderful people. also i've been extremely fortunate in meeting my colleagues here who have now become friends that i will really miss when i leave. it's always sad when it comes time to say goodbye but i spose that it's a part of life.

updates to my blog whilst i'm away are likely to be few and far between and depend on how often i make it to internet cafes. i also won't have a phone so will be able to enjoy an extended period of being incommunicado. beaches, massages and relaxation here i come!!

benny boy

now maybe i'm a bit of a cynic but i find it hard to believe that in four months mr cousins has completely overcome his drug addiction and is ready to focus back on football. as i've said before in my writings (rantings?), i really hope ben is able to overcome his problems and get his life back on track. when it comes to things like addiction, even i try not to make cheap shots at the guy. but seriously, i do find it hard to believe that he's beaten his problems in such a short space of time and would really be interested to hear from other people who have suffered similar addictions about how long they took to finally break the shackles. as i said, i may be a cynic, but it does seem rather coincidental that when west coast were travelling well they were saying it was unlikely he'd play this season and may possibly never play again and now that they've lost four of their last six games he's suddenly being touted as looking at starting training on monday. let's hope that the interests of ben cousins the person come ahead of those ben cousins the football genius.

good luck bomber

following in the footsteps of greats such as moloney, neesham, allan and moss, 'bomber' riley takes over at melbourne after this weekend's game against essendon and becomes another claremont coach to also coach in the vfl/afl (with 'bluey' mckenna another possibility next year). i remember well when he took over from neesham in 1994 and that grand final against old easts where we ran out of time (another 15 minutes and we'd have snatched that one!!). i've never heard a bad word said about bomber and it says a lot about him that he's described as a "teacher rather than a ranter" (see the great article about him here). ranters are a dime a dozen in footy circles and i really believe it takes someone with a special character and a deeper knowledge of the game to try and teach and guide players rather than berate them. paul roos is another example of this. so good luck to bomber and i hope he is very successful.

on the note of the coaching roundabout.. possibly connolly to melbourne and daniher back to freo next year? i love chris and really hope he stays on at freo but if he has to move i reckon daniher would be a great choice as replacement. of course, mark harvey might disagree with me!

pearl jam in katowice

wow.. what an awesome night last night. to set the scene, we had a day of thunderstorms with lightning flashing across the south of poland and the deep rumble of thunder crossing the land. it was grey and wet and oppressive and not at all promising of a good night in an outdoor stadium watching pearl jam. to make matters worse, i hopped on the train from work to katowice only to realise one stop down the line that i'd left my ticket in my desk drawer in the office. so, off i had to get and back to the business park to get the ticket and wait for the next train... in an hour. the journey pt 2 wasn't any more promising as it was raining most of the way.. then..

arriving in katowice the rain had finally stopped and the air was still warm. i had no idea where i was going so followed some people who looked like they could be going to a rock concert. sure enough, my pied pipers led me to the stadium in the park in chorzów (i think it's a part of katowice but i'm not really sure) where the sounds of linkin park were already filling the air.

to cut a long story short, i made my way into the stadium and met up with zbyszek and aga from the office and settled into waiting for the band to appear. the sky was pretty clear and the air still and warm.. in short, perfect conditions for an outdoor show. it didn't take too long before the sun had gone down and the boys arrived on stage to launch into 'rearviewmirror'. they played a great set and eddie was in fine form as he interacted with the crowd. someone had written down a spiel for him to say in polish which was quite humourous but, as i don't speak the language myself, i had no idea what he was saying. the set was full of songs that are very well known (set list below) and the crowd responded accordingly. when 'daughter' morphed into a short cover of 'another brick in the wall pt 2' the singing from the audience almost overpowered eddie's singing. it was the first time i've seen pearl jam and can now see why their live show gets such great reviews.

the show finished just after 11pm and zbyszek and aga were kind enough to give me a ride back to kraków so i managed to fall into bed at 1.45am. today i'm tired, but very pleased i went.


main set:
rearviewmirror, animal, hail hail, corduroy, given to fly, worldwide suicide, elderly woman behind the counter in a small town, i am mine, lukin, even flow, comatose, nothingman, state of love and trust, spin the black circle, severed hand
encore:
leatherman, improv/daughter/another brick in the wall pt2, whipping, black/we belong together, jeremy, indifference

the land of the free

i've just been watching a fascinating and disturbing documentary on BBCworld about the CIA using secret prisons in eastern europe and afghanistan to get around their own laws banning the use of torture. the evidence is compelling that this abhorrent practice has been used extensively by the USA and further undermines their claim to be a bastion of freedom to the rest of the world. no-one wants the terrorists to get the upper hand but surely when countries that claim to stand for freedom start using torture to gain (often false) confessions and information then they are no better than the terrorists themselves. after all, how can we ask other countries to behave in ways that we are not prepared to do ourselves?

weekend in ukraine

i thought i'd celebrate my new british passport by heading somewhere on the weekend that i can't get into with my aussie passport without a visa so i headed for the ukraine. last time i was there i only saw kyiv and had wanted to also travel to lviv so, since lviv is quite close to the polish border i thought this would be a good location.

the first lesson learnt is not to enter the ukraine in the car as the border crossing is SOOO slow. on the saturday morning it took about two and a half hours to finally get through. but once through it was worth it as it is a very pretty country (as is much of eastern europe) with the things that make these countries such special places.. horse and carts, little villages with wooden houses, people in traditional dress etc.

i got to lviv and it is a very nice city although it probably would have been helpful if i had a map a bit better than the one in my lonely planet book. eventually i found the hotel i'd planned to stay in and also found secure parking for the car and set out for a bit of sightseeing and some tucker. the food was very nice but the heavens decided to open and there was torrential rain for the best part of an hour. once the rain started to lighten off i headed out with umbrella and saw the sights whilst still managing to get quite wet... my cons won't ever be the same again!! as with many of the towns i've been to in this area of the world, the main sights are a town square, some old and huge churches and various fortifications. this is not to diminish the specialness (is that a word??) of these places as they are certainly worth visiting, just to point out that when the guide books make out as though they're unique, it's usually not quite the case.

anyhoo, the town itself is lovely and not at all what people would picture when they think of the ukraine. it is clean and the historic buildings appear to be in good condition. unlike the people of kyiv who i found to be quite rude and unhelpful, the people i came across in lviv were quite the opposite. i was only there for a short while but enjoyed it very much.. even with the rain!!

sunday morning i got up and did a bit more sightseeing before heading back towards the polish border. arriving at the border crossing i figured it may take a little while to get through but there was no way i expected it to take the 4 hours it ended up. i arrived just after 1pm and finally managed to get on my way just after 5pm. aaarrgghh!!!

kraków 1257 - 2007

saturday marks the beginning of the celebrations for kraków's 750th anniversary. a huge stage has been set up in the square and there are decorations around the city. it's quite exciting to be living here at such a significant time and i'm looking forward to some of the events that are scheduled for the next couple of weeks. who would've thought as a kid growing up in karrinyup that one day i'd be living in poland and celebrating a city's 750th anniversary?? it's funny how things turn out sometimes.

oh the arrogance

so george bush jnr has finally accepted that climate change is a real phenomenon and also that it's caused by human actions. well good for him.. if he truly believes it. i spose it's better late than never. what is truly breathtaking is the arrogance of the man in trying to dictate that america will now take charge of the problem. as one of only two major nations to refuse to ratify the kyoto protocol (us being the other) the usa is hardly in a moral position to start trying to dictate to the rest of the world how the issues facing us will be addressed. to a cynical observer it would appear that bush (or, more likely, his advisers) have realised that the world is going to deal with these problems with or without america being involved on the inside and has decided to try and head things off at the pass. it was clear that the germans were going to take the initiative at the upcoming G8 summit and obviously the americans couldn't allow that to happen so the man who has tried for so long to deny that climate change is a scientific fact or that man is responsible for it has tried to get in first. well, as far as i'm concerned america has had more than enough opportunity to take the lead on this and now needs to demonstrate a bit of humility and learn to follow the lead of the countries that have already started to make changes.

climate change is a reality and we need leadership from people and countries that take it seriously; not from someone who is only prepared to address it for political expediency.

new passport

well, my aussie passport is one happy chappy now as i've obtained a british one to keep him company. yep.. i'm now the proud holder of two passports. it's been a long road to get to this stage but it's worth it as i'm now entitled to travel back to europe any time i like without having to worry about visas etc. hooray!!

1989 top pop

mark edwards posted the top 10 songs of his 18th year (1988) which i found quite interesting so i thought i'd have a look and post the top 10 songs of my 18th year (1989).

in order they were:

1. Like A Prayer - Madonna

fantastic song from when she was at her peak

2. The Look - Roxette

another great song. they were pretty daggy but roxette knew how to put out a catchy tune

3. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers

i love this song.. and who hasn't danced to it at some stage??

4. Eternal Flame - The Bangles

hmmm.. yep, another dag classic that i love

5. If I Could Turn Back Time - Cher

i'm on the fence on this one. it's harmless enough i spose. of course the visual metaphor in the video couldn't possibly have been more obvious

6. She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals

it didn't take long for this song to drive me crazy. and to think they used to write songs as good as 'blue' and 'johnny come home'

7. Bedroom Eyes - Kate Ceberano

a truly dreadful pile of steaming parrot droppings

8. You Got It (The Right Stuff) - New Kids On The Block

awful awful song. what an amazing collective lack of talent

9. Kokomo - The Beach Boys

a pretty average song from a formerly great band. brian wilson could churn out better songs than this in his sleep

10. The Living Years - Mike & The Mechanics

when asked to nominate the worst song of all time this is usually the first one to come to mind. it is honestly one of the most dreadful songs ever inflicted on the listening public.

if you wanna find the aussie top 10s from past years, the link is HERE

it's west coast, not west australia

i can't believe that west coast have been given permission to wear the 1977 WA state of origin jumper in the heritage round and consider it totally inappropriate. this is not me just being anti-west coast (no, really) as i would also be opposed to freo wearing it. the heritage round is all about celebrating the heritage of one's club and, as such, the former state guernsey has nothing to do with west coast. i couldn't imagine any of the victorian clubs asking, or being given permission, to wear the 'big v' in a club game. freo wear a jumper worn by the original fremantle fc which is fair enough. west coast have plenty of former guernsey designs to choose from and should be made to stick to those. of course, the other question that should be answered is what will happen should freo ever decide to make the same request. surely as a WA based club we should have the same entitlement to the guernsey of our state but of course such a suggestion is ludicrous now that west coast have been given the undeserved rights.

i'm all for the old state guernsey being honoured by being worn in a game but the appropriate forum for this is in a state game by a representative side. if they wanted to revive it they should have worn it in the game against the vics yesterday.. perhaps it may have inspired our boys to put in a bit of a better effort than the embarrassment of a 119 point flogging

update

wow, hadn't realised it's been so long since i updated what i've been doing. at the moment my aussie passport is in with the british embassy here in poland whilst i apply for my british (and hence EU) passport. what this means is that i really can't do any travelling as i need a passport to hire a car and also to book into accomodation. this isn't a bad thing as it's given me a chance to spend a bit more time seeing kraków. a couple of weekends ago a few friends from london came over for a few days during which time we went out to see auschwitz which is pretty sobering.

last saturday michelle, steve and i did a 4 and a half hour bike tour of kraków which was really enjoyable and then on the sunday i went for a tramride out to nowa huta which is a suburb set up by the communists as a worker's stronghold. there's a massive steelworks factory which is past its peak and also a catholic church which was championed by pope john paul II as the suburb was designed specifically to exclude any churches and it was only by pressure from the people and the pope that it ended up being built.

this weekend is a long one in the uk and therefore for me as well. it's gotten quite hot here and very humid. it's almost tropical with the humidity and warm, heavy rain showers in the arvo. yesterday i took advantage of the hot weather and went to park wodny which is kraków's main waterpark with some good (and fast) waterslides. today i've been out to salwator which is a suburb of kraków with some very old history. one church (kosciól najswietszego salwatora) is believed to have been build prior to 966ad. another wooden octagonal church (kosciól malgorzaty) is believed to have been built on an old pagan shrine to the god poswist. the highlight of the area for me is kopiec kosciuszki which is a huge mound from which one has a panoramic view of kraków and its surrounds. it is named after general tadeusz kosciuszko who was a great polish hero and after who mount kosciuszko in australia is named. tomorrow i'm planning on heading out to the famous salt mines where there are intricate carvings out of the rock.. there's even a full underground church where everything (including the altar and chandeliers) are carved from the rock salt.

i thought i'd add a photo of my desk at work just to give an idea of where i sit for many hours every day. it's nothing too exciting but has the mandatory freo calendar and anti-west coast sign.

back to czech

it seems that i'm spending most weekends in the czech republic at the moment but that's because it's such a beautiful country. this weekend was a long weekend in the uk so i took advantage of the extra day off to head to cesky krumlov on the recommendation of michelle, megan and vera and am glad i did. the town itself is quite small and really beautiful with the sort of castle and cobblestoned streets that you imagine eastern european towns have. it has a meandering river that is crossed by a number of small bridges and is a truly splendid place to spend some time. unfortunately it rained a lot whilst there so i also spent some time driving through the forests in the mountains on the border with austria and germany which was quite magical.

i'm very fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend so much time in this part of the world. poland is an amazing country and the people who i've been lucky enough to be associated with through my work have helped make my time here really enjoyable. i've spent quite a bit of time travelling in eastern europe since arriving in the uk in 2003 and it's probably my favourite part of the world outside of australia. hopefully i'll get to see a bit more before finally heading home.

megan & ve & me

it's been great over the past few days having megan and vera staying with me in kraków. i've not seen either of them for quite a few years and the last time was when vera was a little girl. it's incredible to see how much she's grown and the amazing job megan's done as her mum. the pair of them are great company and i've really appreciated having them around. not to mention that it's nice to have others who appreciate buffy and harry potter even more than i do. i definitely want to spend more time with them when we're all back in paradise (perth).

legends of freo

as a diehard claremont man i'm naturally in awe of the blokes who've worn the old gold and blue but regardless of how one-eyed one may be, it can't be denied that some amazing players have come out of the two freo sides. i'm naturally a bit biased towards souths as my father and grandfather are both staunch bulldogs but the old easts have also produced some legends too. having read that a combined team is going to be announced from the champions of the past has got my mouth watering with anticipation and the talk that even the great john gerovich may miss out on a guernsey shows the depth of talent available. it'll be fascinating to see how the selectors make their decisions.

dave the brit

yep, after living in the uk for three and a half years i've finally taken the big step of swearing allegiance to lizzy and becoming a british citizen. it's not such a huge step for me as she's already australia's monarch but still, to now have dual citizenship is a rather strange feeling. but fear not, perth is still my home and i'll still be barracking for australia in all sporting events!!

the most overrated artist ever?

ok.. having read opinion polls in the uk that list oasis as one of the greatest bands of all time and their first two albums in the top 5 albums of all time got me thinking... who is the most overrated artist of all time? i find it hard to get past oasis for this dubious honour. don't get me wrong, i thought 'definitely maybe' and '(what's the story) morning glory' were pretty decent albums but as far as i'm concerned there's no way they are amongst the best ever recorded. i've been trying to think of a band more overrated than oasis and i really can't at the moment.

the only artist i can think of as being on a par with oasis is richard ashcroft. he wrote a few average songs and people talk of him like he grew up on mount olympus as the forgotten son of zeus. to misquote monty python.. "he's not the messiah, he's a very overrated boy".

.

now i've kicked off proceedings, i'd like to hear feedback about who others consider to be the most overrated artists of all time.

new blog added

in what has to be one of the biggest coincidences i've experienced over here, i found out today that megan, an old friend from perth, and her daughter vera were at the same national park in czech as me on the weekend. unbelieveable!! anyhoo.. i found her blog quite interesting as they detail their trek around europe together so i've added it to my links.

have a look at it here.

dirty mongrel eagle

i've never been too comfortable with the efforts of some to make the relationship between freo and wet toast all cosy and harmonious... they are the enemy for pete's sake and we should never forget it! we owe them for the merciless beltings they gave us in the early days. we owe them for the crap/hobbled players they offloaded onto us (fewster, godden, hynes, metropolis). we owe them just for being a bunch of arrogant, drug addled knobs.

but a healthy rivalry is one thing; selwood's comments to DJ on the weekend are something else - completely uncalled for and below the belt. it's one thing to insult a bloke; we can all take that on the chin and play on. but to insult his six year old daughter says a lot about the bloke making the comment and he deserves to have the book thrown at him by the afl. i just hope DJ managed to plant a cupla good ones on his moosh before being dragged off. let's hope the payback in the next derby is worth the wait.

click here for the herald sun story

derby disaster

it's often said that there are only two games each year that freo supporters consider unacceptable to lose (when we make the finals that number increases but as we've only made the finals twice the rule is usually in place) and yesterday was one of those games. there was so much riding on this derby that it really stings to lose it. being in poland i'm pretty far removed from the afl scene and am limited to reading news accounts but it sounds pretty dire for us at the moment. fortunately we're only three rounds into the season and there's still plenty of time to recover. i've no doubt we'll be in the eight by the halfway point of the season and, injuries and suspensions permitting, will be a force in the finals. it's times like this that separate the true supporters from those who like to hop on and off bandwagons. as for me, i'm with them for the long haul!!