just say no to cuz

i know how one could be tempted.. a quick fix and an easy high but harvs, don't do it. we don't need cuz and it will only cheapen our club if we pick him up. as much as i love seeing the weagles drones getting all upset over perceived injustices, i'm sure we can find better ways to bait them than bringing ready made problems into our club. just unleash josh carr on them again and lay off the cuz.

btw.. it's nice to see two guys who'd be in contention for the e-girls captaincy in the news for blueing in the early hours of the morning. well done kerr and embley.. you're keeping the weagles club traditions alive

war torn scarborough

in part of the never ending battle against ending up a total lard arse i've been going for brisk walks after work. yesterday i could've been forgiven for thinking i'm living in belfast or beirut (ok, i may be exagerating a little..) as in a 40 minute walk i passed two burnt out cars. now, this may be normal life for some people but i certainly don't expect to pass burnt out cars when going for a short walk in suburban scarborough.

bad taste chaser

forget the eulogy song which has kevin and lil johnny in such a tizz, the real issue of bad taste on the chaser is surely andrew hansen's increasingly ridiculous haircut. those who watch the show will know what i'm talking about. i'm really hoping that it is an ongoing joke which will have its punchline revealed at some stage in the season cos i really don't see how it can be justified otherwise.

or maybe andrew is trying to compete with such luminaries as russell brand, elton john and all of good charlotte for an entry in the guinness book of records under 'crappest haircut'. he's certainly a good chance of making it there at the moment!

oops he did it again...

yep, benny boy is back in police custody after being pulled over in northbridge today. now, my thoughts on ben are pretty well known so there's not much point in going over old ground.

what i've found interesting are the comments on the 'west australian' and 'sunday times' websites from weagles supporters. given the mentality of their supporters, they should seriously consider changing their name to the west coast ostriches. check out some of the more choice comments below to see the extent to which people can bury their heads in the sand..

Chester Says: October
16th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
What a boring world with all you perfect
do-gooder, bleading heart hypocrites. I bet your little darling sons and
daughters have never put a foot wrong or that you are model citizens for
that matter.
Here’s hoping your little darlings stuff up life big time so
that I can be there having a laugh at them making a meal out of your lives…lol

alana Says: October
16th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Give Ben a break, he has been through a lot
lately. And if you support the Eagles you should not be judging him like
everyone is. And if someone can tell me why a reporter was right there when this
hole thing went down? I still am a big fan Ben and I will not judge
you from this, I will be a fan 4 eva.

Amanda Says: October 16th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Come on People of Perth give him the benfit on the doubt, everyone is jumping the gun here it has not been stated why is was arrested. My question is why did there happen to be a reporter right there at the time of the arrest.
He is being set up.
GIVE BEN COUSINS A BREAK PERTH AND SUPPORT THE WEST COAST EAGLES PREMIERSHIP PLAYER AND BROWNLOW MEDALIST.
WE LOVE YOU CUZ………..

Shannon Says: October 16th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Nothing like waiting for a police report, just like you didn’t bother to wait for the coroner’s report after the death of Mainy. You should be ashamed of yourselves..it’s the media who causes most of these ‘incidents’ in the first place. Get off his back.

i think everyone should shut their mouths. Im sorry but he helped us bring back the cup last year, hes come back from rehab and he's still here taking all of your crap. Dont you people relise. HE DOESNT CARE WHAT ANY OF YOU THINK. GET OVER HIM.
Posted by: PIKEY of perth 4:01pm today Comment 130 of 145

I will be keeping my eagles membership and i know in my heart that Cuz isn't guilty of anything i will always love him.
Posted by: D Vincent of Como 3:52pm today Comment 108 of 145

it's hard to believe that people can be this deluded. how he's supposed to face up to his demons and overcome them when he has thousands of sycophants in perth telling him he's done no wrong and that it's all the media's fault is beyond me. they're certainly not doing him any favours.

the consummate politician

one has to admit that despite all his faults (and i reckon there are a LOT of those), little johnny howard is certainly a master of the art of politics. he knows when, and how, to play an issue with the same skill as peter bell plays footy. just as 2001 was the year of the refugee for LJH, when he used the fortuitous event of the tampa rescuing some refugees (or queue-jumpers as those with limited intellect refer to them) to save his skin, it appears that 2007 will go down as the year that he realised there actually were some people living here before 1788.

now, i hate to cast aspersions (nasturtiums?) at the motives of someone who is superficially doing something to help indigenous folk as they need, and deserve, all the help we can provide.. BUT it does seem rather strange that the timing of LJH seeing the light comes just at the darkest point of his reign. of course we should be protecting aboriginal (and all) kids from sexual abuse and neglectful parenting, but why did it take him a decade to work that out? of course there should be recognition of the original australians in the constitution, but linking this to his re-election seems somewhat cynical to me. like i said, i don't like him, but he sure knows how to play the game!

pete - don't break my heart!

i don't know what to think. for so much of my life peter garrett has been a voice of uncompromising reason. he's been passionate about his beliefs. he's been the champion of the environment, of aboriginal issues and of the fight against the spread of nuclear weapons. he was a man who knew what was right and was prepared to put his balls on the line to stand up for it. when he joined the ALP and people accused him of selling out i defended him, strong in my belief that he was only joining in order to help effect change from the inside rather than battering ineffectively on the walls from outside the establishment. in short, he's been someone i've looked up to as a man of unquestionable integrity and morals...


...until last night that is! to watch him on the news, choking on his words as he gave ALP support to the building of the pulp mill in the tamar valley in tasmania was something inconceivable to me. the peter garrett of old would have stood his ground and fought against this. he would have left the ALP as a matter of principle. i never thought i'd see the day when peter garrett would sell his soul but it seems that that day may finally be here. there's no point having him neutered in the ALP when it's clear he's not able to stop developments as immoral and irresponsible as this. we need him back in a position where he can stand and lead the fight. as much as little johnny howard is a puppet of the bush administration, garrett has become a puppet of the federal parliamentary process.

pete - it's time to declare your allegiance. either stay in the ALP and be their ineffectual token greenie or reclaim your soul and leave if they don't oppose this pulp mill.

stupid arrogant weagles

ok, finding reasons to be critical of west coast is, as they say, like shooting fish in a barrel (although why you'd actually bother putting the fish there and then shooting them is beyond me) but yet again their arrogance is truly startling. here they are, about to lose one of the best players in the afl, potentially without receiving any compensation, and yet they are trying to play hardball with carlton. it has now got to the stage where carlton and richmond are discussing doing a deal whereby the weagles are bypassed completely. from what i've read, it sounds like both carlton and richmond would be better off dealing with each other and if it wasn't for the weagles backing carlton into a corner it's unlikely this avenue wouldn't have been explored. trevor nisbett is quoted in the paper today as saying "if they don't hand over the No1 selection, then he's not at carlton, simple as that" and then goes on to say "i find it staggering that carlton doesn't think chris judd is worth the first pick in the draft.". is the guy delusional or just immersed in the culture of a club that seems to think it can do whatever it likes without consequences? whether carlton think juddie is worth the first pick or not is completely irrelevant. what is simple is that they don't have to deal with west coast if they don't want and it is now very possible that the weagles could lose their captain without any compensation all as a result of their own bloody-mindedness. naturally i find it all very amusing.

haze continues

fantastic news today that paul hasleby has signed a new two year contract with freo. i know he can be a bit inconsistent but he's still a very good player and i'm sure he'll blossom under harvey's new reign of discipline at the club. with the loss of cook and, most likely, bell we need the type of player that gets in under the packs to get the hard ball and haze does that pretty well.

go the cats

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

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

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

sofia's law?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

small small cox

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

soft tigers

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

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

all at peace

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

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

and it's nearly the weekend.. yay!

keeping up with the joneses

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

top 5 songwriters

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

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

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

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

disgraceful

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

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

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

kanye vs fiddy

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

2.24 million watch chaser

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

joys of home pt 2

sunsets over scarborough beach

conservapedia

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

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