Burning Daylight

I have 1 full day of work left before the entire city of Canberra shuts down for 2 weeks over Christmas. Its a beautiful thing, unique amongst the towering and glittery metropolies of Australia.
Unusually I've been working right up to the wire. Typically December is a slow down with the last week being a blur of Xmas parties, work BBQ's and random drink driving tests.
Not this year, this year has finished busy. So I have to say I'm glad that I have time to jot down a few notes. I haven't even had time to go shopping for presents, I've got an office Secret Santa, a nieces first birthday, Jesus's birthday and my Dad's to sort out.
My apartment is decoration free, mostly because I haven't been home and partly because all the decorations are at my ex-Wife's place (but at least they'll get used, so thats a good thing). I haven't sent out any Christmas cards because I find it a pain in the arse and I've only received one. People are getting the message.

And yet I'm waiting on that last minute phonecall from Sydney, insisting that we force through an action with a customer on issue X... Perhaps if I play dead.

Well I only have a few more days left before presents are due and as usual it looks like descending into a last minute scrabble. I both like and detest Christmas shopping. I like buying presents for people I genuinely do. But Christmas has this pressure cooker feel to it that shits me and nobody wants an IOU.
Like anything creative shopping for that perfect present requires a state of mind or grace that cannot be forced. Its an ascension of the spirit and budget that should reflect harmony and happiness.

I'm not quite there yet.

Why, Why, Why

My car is back in the shop.
I've had this vehicle for 2 months and its been off the road for about a third of that time.
I name thee Achilles.

This time it turns out the drive shafts I had replaced where for a 4 cylinder Landie not my 6 cylinder. The correct parts won't be ready until mid Jan...

On the plus side its Christmas soon, so having a car will be less of an issue as I'll be up in Sydney for a week. After I have discharged my fillial duties it'll be off to NZ for a New Years monster PAR-TEH with Seraph, Mrs Seraph and others.
Possibly might be low key, we'll see...

Actually I'm really looking forward to it. This year has been one of huge changes and I'm grateful for the chance to drop out of it all. And to be honest I don't know what the next year will bring. Or where the hell I'll be or what I'll be doing. As I'm typing this out I have this sense of big change coming. Perhaps a new city, definately a new job.

A wiser man than I once told me 'everything changes, nothing stays the same'. In my book he has not been proved wrong. The way to handle change in my opinion is to either be effected by it or be responsible for it. When ever I can spot that a change is coming or is needed, I try and face it on my terms.
Otherwise it can just be terrifying.

A lot of Soccer

While some people manage to cripple themselves horribly in a social game (LINK)
I manage to win 'Best and Fairest' awards.
This weekend was Soccer a go-go, had the final Saturday Morning match of the year (Blue team got pantsed by the Red 2-1). We will now retire for the Summer and regroup around March some time. Its just too darn hot trying to play in 30c+ temperatures, or so those guys say...
I've just started playing in a Sunday league and their games are Sunday arvo. I've only played in 2 games we lost last week and this week pulled off a 1-0 victory. Part of the way the league works is a Golden Boot award and a Best and Fairest award at the end of the year.
Golden Boot = Most Goals
Best and Fairest = For being a good sport

Its a lot of fun and everyone is there to enjoy themselves (except the odd dickhead who has nothing else in their miserable meaningless lives)(but you'll always get at least one).
Part of the responsibilities is being a ref for other games. Usually the teams can ref themselves very well (being adults) but its part of the game. As I got Best and Fairest I got to ref a game as well.
Which gave the chance to see last years champs (Goalissimo)play - those guys where fraking amazing!! The other team was great, but these guys made them look like they were underwater. Wow!
Both teams will ofcourse utterly destroy my team, Nerds FU, when they next meet.
We should probably just forefit now and save our energy...

Do you believe me now?

I filled in on the radio last night and brought along my regular late night radio conspirator Deano with me.
We programmed a fairly loose mix of Motown, jazz, funk and the occasional soul track thrown in. we even got a couple of calls telling us how awesome we were. Always helps I think.
Here's a photo of me looking all professional and with a cold head!

Bubbajay's Totally Awesome and Well Researched Book Review

His Dark Materials By Phillip Pullman
I really recommend this series. Its a trilogy of The Nothern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

In a nut shell, we start off in a parallel world were the Reformation never happened and neither did the two World Wars. People also have personal Daemons which are a physical manifestation of themselves (its get weirder and more fun).

The writing style is actually quite light and although the book is marketed at 'young adults' ("nosin' around, nosin' around") Pullman advises that he had no particular audience on mind. To that end there are some great ideas explored about the soul and the nature of identity, awareness and consciousness. As well as an ever quickening pace of an adventure that involves armoured Polar Bears, Zeppelins, murderous children, angels, tourture and fanatical priests.
In comparing these book's to the Harry Potter series, the principal difference in my opinion is Pullman is a better writer. He knows when to economise, when he has painted a scene with just the right amount colour for us the reader to see as well as allowing us to see though the eyes of the characters. He also has that rare talent for a fantasy writer to be able to invent names without employing the lesser used consonants.
I've never been a fan of the Fantasy Genre for the simple reason that, to me, the author spends far too much time inventing the setting, its history and people's and too little time on prose. The story doesn't seem to want to move along without the usual crutches or clichés.

His Dark Materials works for me because its is simple on the one hand and on the other explores some really great ideas about humanity, evolution, quantum theory.
I can't imagine what some children will make of it, but for me it was good fun.

Four Ninja Stars: ****

PS If you do decide to buy it, look for special edition covers (not the movie tie in's) in the back of the book there are some 'bonus features', that mark Pullman out as good writer.

Bike Riding

Its not the distance, I've been getting better at that (last Saturday was a ride around Lake Burleigh Griffith 37km and a 20km ride on Sunday) its my seat.
Or more specifically my tail bone. I've noticed it starts to cramp after about the 10km mark.
Will have to find a more comfortable seat (perhaps one with arm rests!!)

Well other than bicycling around and catching some really sweet air on the odd jump (like swear to god, one had to have been 5 feet at least) there was an election on Saturday.

So some buddies and I held an election night BBQ and there were fun and games (election night Bingo, which I won!) and a new government.
I'm a little stunned to tell you the truth. I had a good feeling that Labor would get in, but certainly not by the margin they did. And no body went the mongrel in their victory or defeat speeches.
It was eerily civilised. Like I said stunned mullet.
Having voted earlier in the day, I was full of vim and vigour for the democratic process. Labor has run an aggressive campaign from January when Rudd took over. Canberra is traditionally safe Labor and after the humiliating defeat last time... I was just gobsmacked by the result this time round.

To be continued...

Some good old fashion ROCK

These guys were my world in '85.
Its time to reconnect with some fantastic good old fashion family values.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE?

Quiter

I got invited to sing as part of the University of Canberra Choir a couple of months ago. They are preparing to sing Handel's Messiah this Friday.
The problem is, after 2 months of practises, I still don't know the music well enough to be confident to sing it. Its weighing on me a bit, I made a commitment and now I'm backing out on it.
That said, there are a few things I don't like about the choir;
- For most of the last few weeks the practises have been lead by a reserve back up instructor, not the guy with the mad skills.
- Then there's this officious little old lady who wants to run things, but in a 'I've got nothing better to do with my life' way. It kinda pisses me off to tell you the truth. Especially when I get a phone message from her during my work day wanting me to ring her back about some trivial crap
- Its a fairly average choir I would have to admit. I could wonder how much of that is my fault, having never heard let alone sung most of the music before, but there are veterans there who should be on top of their game and who are not.

Anyway I could go on, the performance is this Friday but I've got to be on the radio so its a no go on that front.
A bit disappointing, but there it is.

The last time I played golf

Last week was busy, in a good way. My radio station did its radiothon we were aiming for $35,000 and got $41,381. So all in all an outstanding result.
For my part I was there every night from about 5.30 to 10 answering phones, spruiking, organising stuff. Just glad to be part of it all to tell you the truth. Did a massive show on Friday drive (5 - 7pm) got $1,500 in two hours. Feeling good about that.

Well on Thursday I took time out from my busy schedule to play golf for the Legacy society. Actually I though I was playing golf on the Friday, but a reminder call got me out of the office and into a golf shop for pants, shoes and a crash course lesson as to exactly how you hit a golf ball.
armed with a 15 minute tutorial I rocked up to the golf day.
It was an 'Ambrose' with a 'shotgun start'.
Ambrose - team event, everyone tee's off and the team can then play on from the best shot. The team must play at least 3 drives from each player.
Shotgun Start - Each team is assigned a hole to tee off from, the proceeds in a clock wise direction.

I was crap.
Possibly the worse person on the field but a lengthy margin. I did sink some putts, but that was about the limit of my contribution.
I did have fun though.

A good idea at the time

This has been an insanely busy weekend I have to tell you Bubba's.
My radiostation is holding its annual radiothon, so its been a lot of work at the station answering calls, co-hosting and stuff in between. Its running all week so I'm locked in for a fair bit of it.

But I had some time this morning to go on an actual mountain bike ride. I went up Mt Stromlo it would be about 20kms all up (and down). I consider myself the kind of guy who is happy to take a challange, especially if there are thrills and spills involved.
Well the medium track I took today was no exception. Thinking back on it, I have to ask, just what they hell was I thinking! I mean for the most part going down the track was less than half a metre wide!! One side was up and the other was a steep down!!

Did I mention I was flying down this thing at amout 30kph!
I've had some time to thnk about my actions and I have ask myself, just what the hell was I thinking!?!

Can't wait to try it again though.

Melbourne Cup - Gamblor

Yesterday was Melbourne Cup, the so called 'race that stops a nation'.
Which to be fair its always been a bludge day only in Canberra it is now a public holiday. Hoteliers and restaurateurs complained a bit at the idea, but otherwise everyone else seemed happy enough. Monday was pretty much a write off for productivity as well (lord knows if I was able to I would have bunked off too).
Anyway, Tuesday lunch time and I was down the pub with some mates, one of whom had a clue about horses. 7 of us pooled $20 bucks each as a kitty and we began picking ponies.
There was beer, steak and chips for lunch and good company.

Only one beer fuled bogan fight to be seen and otherwise a pleasant afternoon. The horses ran and thankfully we each made our $20 investment back AND $10 profit. Everyone was jolly excited until we worked out how much we actually make an hour and we had been at the pub for 5 hours.

Such is the vicious grasp of gambling.
Still it was a fun day out. The only problem with the day as far as I could tell, it was almost impossible to find a restaurant or take away joint open for dinner. Perhaps that will change next year.

Changing of the Guard

It is a time of changes and it is with a heavy heart that I wave goodbye to my F-100.
Too be honest I'm not too sorry, there comes a point in every relationship when its time to move on - the skill is being able to recognise that point and being prepared to be honest about it.
In the case of my truck it was the growing regularity of stalls while idling that really did it. I could look past the noise, the total lack of creature comforts (such as a passenger side window that could roll down, or holes in the side of the truck that would blast freezing cold air onto my leg during winter that no amount of detective work could uncover).
I could forgive the absence of power steering, its perchance for fish tailing in the wet weather and the car radio that would only play out of one speaker and that could not be heard at all above 60 kph.
I could forgive all that because it was awesome.
People stopped and looked and starred and wanted a ride. It could haul arse like few things in the world. Its tray could hold over a ton of crap and then some. It was big, it was tough and I was the only person who could drive it.
It was a totally awesome 1979 F-100.

It was also starting to cost me to maintain it. In the last few months it's been in the shop 3 times, all for some fairly major work. I did not take me too long to work out what it was going to cost to fix the current problem (again).
So I had to harden my heart and clear my head. This needed some tough decisions and they had to made without consideration for the truck.
On Saturday I picked up my new wheels, a 2001 Land Rover Feelander. Its not an apples to apples comparison. But it is an improvement and a better ride. The radio works as does the tape deck and CD stacker. There is an abundance of buttons on the dash, the purpose of many I can only begin to guess at. The engine is more sophisticated than the F-100, even though its a 6.
But at the heart of it all is the right vehicle for my needs.

Haven't got a name for it yet, but I am looking forward to driving it home tonight.

Crushing Victory

Conan was once asked to describe the ideal victory, in general terms was something something, crush, something something, kill/destroy, following this was a general raping and looting theme, followed by the promise of a warm teddy, hot chocolate and an early night.

Well thats his view and he's entitled to it. For me victory (at soccer) is a 7 - 4 pantsing of the Red Team. We kicked off in 25C+ with 4 Blue against 5 Red. By the end of the first half we were 1-3 and the Red guys were cocky as all get out. It was hot, I was slighty hung over - but I knew I had a secret weapon.
By the end of the second half (we play 3 halfs, trust me it makes sense) we were up 4-3. but the heat was taking its toll. the Reds had a guy they could rotate in goal so their team would have a reasonably fresh player AT ALL TIMES.
But then my secret weapon arrived, his name is Vince and he's an instructor at my gym and from the Caribbean! There are oak tables and granite cliffs that look like warm butter next to this dude, he is cut! He's also a really friendly guy and likes to play social soccer.
The next half was a humiliation for the Red team. A crushing humiliation!!!
Vince popped in two goals in short order, both totally awesome!

So thats 2 back to back victories for the Blues!! I'm sure the Reds are even now hatching some scheme for pay back...

In the country, people can hear you clearly

This weekend was a weekend of victories!!
Was on the radio on Friday for the drive show (5pm - 7pm) and I totally kicked arse!! Had people ringing me up telling me what an awesome show I was doing it was really great fun!

On Saturday the Blues whomped, those scumbag Reds!! It was totally sweet, and by totally sweet I mean it was totally awesome!! Twas was a 3-0 whitewash. I played my part, being the goal keeper of doom. Plus my foot still hurt from last weekend so I really wasn't all that mobile.
But we won!! 3-0 is the biggest margin we've had for a while. Which makes the victory just that little more extra tasty!!

For the rest of the day and Sunday as well I was helping out at the Murrembateman Field Day. Its a big fair for the local farming community (Murrembateman is about 20 minutes to the West of Canberra. A friend of my ex-wife had asked me a few months ago if could help out, I said no problem. It was an easy gig, just had to read out announcements for stall holders and visitors; you know the usual 'lost child', 'go to stand such and such for a great discount on worms farms' etc...
The people were fantastic, I love volunteering to do this kind of thing - you always meet some really great people. I was even given a meal voucher to buy my lunch. Having gone to a couple of these field days when I was spruiking wine last year it was a lot more enjoyable to be there as a volunteer.
Added to which I brought some great Batlow apples and some pretty impressive fishing lures. Plus I got the drive the truck around the country side, like a real cowboy!!

Now its Monday and I have to wear a tie again.

Awesome Mo Poster

Movember is a coming...
This should help to get y'all in the mood!

Spring is Sprung

Spring in Canberra is my favourite time of year, my next favourite is Autumn.
The weather is warming up, the colours take on a fantastic hue during the morning and evening. It feels as if the world is waking up after Winter.

So I thought it might be fun to review the day on which we all might die, so visit the DEATH CLOCK.

I'm off to find some flowers.

Oh Woe is Me

Isn't it funny when one thing goes wrong it can reverse your whole outlook on life.
Yesterday I got a reaming from my boss, I've learnt a long time ago to not take it personally - but still to go from a high off last week to a chewing out (it wasn't really that bad). Does shake the old confidence though.

That and I just got a message from a girl whose car I backed into with my truck.
Oh boy! I ummed and ahhred about leaving a note... in the end I did the karmically responsible thing. So now I guess I've got to pay the piper on that one.

This morning I'm fighting off the little black dogs trying to make me focus on all the things that have gone wrong or might be seen to have gone wrong lately.

Thank goodness its a sunny day.

Was lost, now found

I used to have this link up on my site, but it dropped off for some reason.
This is The Sartorialist

Its a great Blog about fashion. This chap wanders around with his camera taking pictures of people whose outfits he likes. Its all done in a very positive way.
Enjoy

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

This weekend was an injury fuelled affair.
I sprained my shoulder at the gym on Friday and rolled my ankle at soccer on Saturday. Thankfully the shoulder should be back in action in a day or two. My foot however is sporting a grapefruit sized bruise (twas my right ankle as opposed to the other ankle I broke while rock climbing).
So Sunday was a lazy day.
I almost went nuts.

On Saturday night I invited some friends around for dinner. My first entertaining in the new place and it worked out very well. Its a good sized place, I think at a pinch I could get 8 - 10 people and have them in reasonable comfort. Time will tell.

So I slept in on Sunday, till about 6.30am when I had to get up and get a tea. My foot was sore so I figured a bike ride was not the best idea. I spent Saturday afternoon getting a few bits of furniture for the apartment. The previous night I had discovered I did not have any wine glasses and that my roasting tray was too big for the oven I owned.
So I sat in my chair and watched Neo Genesis Evangaleion until I felt hungry enough for breakfast.
It was a lazy start to a lazy day.

I went out around noon and picked up the extra stuff I needed for my kitchen. ran into an old work colleague and enjoyed a warm but blustery Sunday. After a couple of hours my foot was hurting, so I figured return to base was the order of the day.
The sun being over the yardarm I sat back down with a good book and beer. It was all going well.
Then for no reason, my body wanted salt. Not just any kind of salt - KFC.
I have had KFC twice this year. Only one of those times did I actually eat most of the crap in the box. But for some reason, KFC was the go.
I blame the beer.

But, whatever, I get back in my truck and head on down to the local KFC cess pit of shame. I regretted my decision the moment I walked in. There was a family of fat stupid people cleaning bones off mutant chicken, while their sugared up children were grabbing straws and getting loud. It was dirty, the staff were the usual bred of shit useless young people with attitude and no care for their job or the customer.

I still brought some chicken and it was the worst meal I've had in a long time.
Even the food in America seemed better by comparison.

This morning my shoulder is slightly better and my ankle is still sore and in 3 days time the last of that crap will be clear of my digestive system.

Exercise Surprise

Earlier this year I posted some thoughts about my world view of health and fitness.
As a quick summary I proposed;

• Health is about what you eat, the quality of the fuel you put in the engine.
• Fitness is about the kind of exercise you do, how efficiently your engine uses the fuel.

My suggestion was you can be fit but not healthy and vice versa. If you exercise but still eat stupid, its not going to do you any good. Neither is eating well but never giving your body a chance to use all its muscle groups.

Well I found an article on line that has an interesting view about exercise here. Have a read and let me know what you think?
For myself I suggest it raises a good point, people have different metabolisms that respond to different stimuli. I also suggest that people looking to change their lifestyle should also do some investigation as to how their body responds and work around that.
I would also suggest that people need to stop concentrating on weight loss and focus more on the body shape (in my opinion BMI scales are totally bogus, eg a Mr Universe contender is considered obese by the BMI scale). If you're flabby, diet and exercise will give you muscle tone, more energy and better posture, but muscle mass IS heavier than fat - so your weight probably won't improve, even though you'll look better and feel better.

I try and eat well whenever I can, I also try and exercise regularly. What I can say is I don't waste my time with scales. I focus on how I'm feeling and whether or not I'm having fun!

What I did in Beechworth

This last week gone has been something a wash for me. Have you ever seen the movie 'My blue heaven' (Steve Martin and Rik Moranis). For my money the moral there is we all need a friend who can help us relax and loosen up some and possibly get us into trouble. You know the lovable trouble maker.
Well my own personal Mephistopheles rode into town last week, I love him like a brother - but he has got me to do more wild arse shit than I care to recount out here in the court of public opinion. So we hook up on a Monday night for dinner and a couple of beers.
Then a game or two of pool.
Then it was $10 of coins into the jukebox for a Motely Crue medley and I was so drunk I had to leave my truck in town and walk an hour and half home which I reached by 2am.
Needless to say I was not firing on all cylinders come Tuesday, thank goodness I had a late meeting near my apartment the next day.

So it got me thinking about growing up and having fun. My thoughts coalesced Tuesday night and I concluded I was a total pussy for being an old stick in the mud and taking so long to recover from a night out on the town.
So I picked up the phone and took another buddy of mine up on an offer to join a bike wine tasting tour this weekend just gone.
Helped there were 4 single nurses coming up from Melbourne.

I tell you what Bubba it was some good fun. The location for the tour was a little country town in Victoria called Beechworth, that had as a claim to fame among other things a cell that once held Ned Kelly!
He had gone by the time we arrived, I checked.

Everybody hooked up a local pub that had a tiny pool table in a confined space. I was hurting some from the acupuncture the day before (all to be revealed in a seperate blog) so I was barely drinking anything but lemonade to the complete disgust of my cohorts. On the plus side I was coherent enough to talk to 4 cute nurses, so swings and round abouts.
If you've heard of the Hash House Harriers, you may know that they also do Bike Hash's and this is what the events for the weekend were. Things kicked off around 10am on the Saturday we only rode about 20 km's all up, but we did visit 3 vineyards and 2 breweries.

The day was fantastic, great weather, great company and the ride was very pleasant and broken into easy stages. The ride was graded to allow people to take a hard route should they wish or go easy and enjoy the sights of Beechworth.
Things that stand out in my mind was the Bocce tournament we spontaenously organised during the lunch break. Me and some buddies kicked things off and by the end we had 20 people playing along with us! Everyone was very friendly and welcoming and I think that makes such a positive difference to an outing.
Even though the theme of day was to drink and ride, I piked after the last stop and had a cup of tea with 4 fantastic nurses. I have to tell one thing I find really sexy in a lady is her ability to hold up her end of a conversation. Must be a Gemini thing, but there a lot of girls in Canberra who have trouble with that particular social skill.
I suggest someone with good conversation skills also has a positive social personality, just a thought...

Later that night was footy on the telly, great wine, then off to another pub for disco dancing, getting my arse kicked on a pool table by a couple of good old boys who KNEW there was a lean on the table :)
I had a great time and wasn't too drunk to walk back my hotel and get a good nights sleep.

Sunday morning was a slow recovery day, no hurry to go anywhere. We all reconnected and had brunch on the balcony of a pub Ned Kelly and the Kelly gang once had a brawl in. They must have been sleeping by the time we got there.

So I guess by know your wondering - how did it go with the nurses? Well I don't like to kiss and tell, but I think I have a crush on one very special person in particular.
Lets see where things go! It should be a lot fun finding out!!

Looks familiar

Sometimes it is fun to get another persons perspective on a city.
I know I have fun writing about it. So do the good chaps at The Economist!
Click here for Wellington

Couldn't get the link for Canberra to work...

Yoga

I've been giving the Yoga classes at my gym a go, and I have to tell you they are awesome!!
Originally I figured, why not. Never done yoga before, could be fun, lets see what happens.
Weel I have to tell you, its pretty hard core.
As our instructor says at the start of the class, 'This is not relaxation yoga, you are going to hurt.'

I appreciate his openess. That said though, its only been my abs that have been hurting. The kind of yoga we're doing focuses on the abs and lower back muscles as the core group (which is great because those are the ones my chair bound day job mess up the most easily).
Definately getting flexible though (could come in handy later...) can scratch between my shoulder blades with little or no effort now!

So if you have the chance to try yoga, my advice is give it a go!

Too much coffee

Its easy to get distracted, especially by dumb ideas that have nothing to do with what you are currently being paid for.
That said, this just popped into my head - an idea for a new kids cartoon;
"Toby and Elias"

I'm thinking an educational program, exploring issues and themes such as nature versus nuture, the role of religion in a secular society (with a nod toward church vs state seperation), individuality and the common good, reason and passion - how do they work toward the same goals? Consumerism as well as the collective model.

First episode; "No Mercy for Percy"
Synopsis: Involves Toby and Elias with a giant Go-Go dancing robot (called Greg) who has a fiscal management problem and can't get a loan through a regular bank.
Special Guest Star; Jay Laguia as Greg, Hanibal Lector as 'The Lone Shark'

What do you think? 5 - 8 year olds?

Last night I dreamed I saw...

Canberra is an interesting town.
Like yesterday for example, I'm driving past a car yard and next door is a V2 Rocket getting cleaned up for the War Museum.

This week I've been off with the flu, its been a arse kicker to tell you the truth. Being in my new apartment with zero energy, a fucked up head and an insane passion for salt and potatoes (wtf?).
Actually it was a great excuse to get a lot of house work done. Unfortunately my boss was down on the Wednesday, so I had to drag my sorry arse into the office.
At least I managed to infect other people!!

At what point...

Did you know next month is the 50th anniversary of 'On the Road'?
You need not necessarily care about the book, its plot or characters - there are enough of us for that. But it is a book that has had a lasting impact. It captured a zeitgeist at the perfect moment, it created the Beat Movement.
As Kerouac's publisher said; the night before 'On the Road' was published, Kerouac went to sleep for the last time as a nobody.

But what does it mean? Did it change anything? Does it still change people? Or has this book, like others (Hemingway, Joyce, Miller et al) become a tedious right of passage for the next generation of angry young men. (where are they all these days?)

I hope not, last night I picked up 'Tender is the Night' and began reading it again. I haven't tried to read 'On the Road' for many years (my preference is for 'The Vanity of Duloz') it is a difficult book to read. There is no coherent plot to speak of, don't bother trying the Wikipedia approach, it doesn't map out well and I suggest its an anathema to the spirit of the novel the try and apply a plot arc.
Perhaps it is a feeling you get from the book. The idea of living for sake of living. I'm typing this from my desk at work and the sensation of a lost summer is strong. But I digress, from a literary perspective 'On the Road' is an okay book. From a cultural perspective, its a milestone.
From my perspective, I believe I've lost touch with people in that book. I say this as nothing bad or good, I've become indifferent to the spirit it once evoked.

On the other hand, 'Tender is the Night' is right up my current alley.

Summer Wind

In my ongoing series of good music I now present Mr Frank Sinatra and his version of 'Summer Wind'.
What you should be listening out for is the phrasing, tone and pitch. This is Frank at the top of his game. The voice the strength and the emotion (somewhere between frustration and time to move on). This version, in my book, is the definitive one [though having said that, I'd like to hear the Tony Bennett cover]. Watch, listen and enjoy...

Late Night Boogie

So I'm here at the radio station doing the late show (8pm - 10pm). This might not seem late to some, but it is late to me. And I'm reflecting on the possibility that no one is listening...
But its always on occasions like these that you mess up and some 'offended' dude rings in the next day.

So let me tell you about the context of this show - its genre's are Jazz, Blues, Soul, Funk, Groove.
It is a pleasure to be able to play music from these classificatios and I always love to push the envelope!!
So far tonite I've spun; Money Mark, Mississippi John Hurt, Jeff Buckley, Sam and Dave, Brassey, Morphene and more. I've got this regular listener, he's another Kiwi from the Canberra area, who always rings to say hi and wish me a good show (so I guess thats at least one!).

As for pushing the envelope, I like to lead people up the garden path - Massive Attack leads to Jeff Buckley leads to Joy Division leads to The Cruel Sea.
As you can see (or hear) The Cruel Sea is more of your rock based blues than blues itself. I would argue that its being played in context of the other tracks - a theme has developed and needs to be explored.
Perhaps I'll finish on 'Hot for Teacher' , but only if its in context :)

Looking after My Da

Well its day one up here at the Blue Mountains and the first thing I can say is that it is warmer than Canberra.
Actually funny story from yesterday, I got a speeding ticket - for going 135kph along the highway. Thats my fault, I wasn't watching the speedo and had my head in the clouds. But the funny thing, I got busted doing 135kph going uphill.
And that is something I would never have credited my '79 F-100 to do.

When I do get around to selling her, that speeding ticket is going on the add!!

So day 1, well Ma and Da have got new carpet put down and all the furniture has been moved around. My first job (Dad's had breakfast, he's now having a shower) is to vacum up the off cuts from the carpet and return all the furniture to its original position.
After that I'll take Dad into the hospital for some physio, then lunch then Magnum PI!!

All full dance card!

Some people have too much time on their hands

So tonite I'm recording a series of shorts (that I do each week) for the radio station called - Arts Diary. Part of this awesome responsibility is research, write, record, edit and publish 3 2 minute sound files that get played several times a day.
I love doing it. But I have noticed a pattern. Artists, by which I mean visual artists are terrible at writing copy. If the oft used maxim of "picture = a thousand word" applies these guys write the way they paint. All I need to know is 'why should we care?' and 'where can we see it?'.
What I get instead is pages et pages of crap about their life mission and places they've visited where the didn't have a job either.
How do these guys stay in business?
The bong budget alone has gotta run into the thousands?!?

And you would think these bums would include a picture or two...

A while between blogs

Boy it has been a spell!

Quite a lot has happened, not all of which I'll post here. But suffice to say I've been busy with work and some lifestyle changes.
But mostly I've been freezing my arse off here. And tomorrow the forecast is for more snow.

Well next week I'll be up in the Blue Mountains looking after my Dad. He's had a knee operation so I figure I can return the looking after he's done for me. Dr Bubba's recipe for recovery - beer, nachos and Magnum PI.
Should be fun AND educational!!

Someone has to do it

Every now and again I get a phone call from a nice person who enquires after my welfare and asks if I'm happy working where I am.
One should always be courteous to headhunters, you never know when you might need one. However these poor buggers often have to fill roles for some really dud companies, I'm talking utterly charmless products or gormless services with a real small user community. Words like niche, select and professional creep in to cover was is essentially the worlds smallest 'me too' market space.
So it got me thinking about products and services that someone has to sell. Products for whom complex SWOT analysis have been conducted - so as to 'crush' the competition...

Toilet Paper - Based on the number of brands out there and the advertising dollars committed this strikes me as a fairly cut throat environment. Makes me wonder what the IR&D budget is... On the other hand we all use the stuff, so the market is universal. So whats your pitch? what is your products differentiator?

Scissors - Its a one trick pony. How do you value add to the scissor experience? Can you brand people as company X hard supporter's? Would you buy a pair of scissors with a laser point for a straighter cut?

(this is harder than I thought... okay here's one that is too esoteric for us mundanes;)

Embalming Fluid - How would like to be the territory rep for embalming fluids? You know they spend millions on improving the product, there's probably a catalogue produced each year. Get three of these guys sitting around the bar swapping 'war stories' about the time the customer wanted the XJ-57n but insisted it was the YG-47m, like Hello! If he wasn't the customer... etc



I try and take a moment each day to thank God for how lucky I am to have my job.

Mind Worm

Y'know when you get a song stuck in your head... for some reason it just pops in there and is impossible to dislodge. Well it happened to me the other week, Boston's 'More than feeling' - a song about everything and nothing (mostly nothing) all at the same time.
Actually what got stuck in particular was the harmony part were the lead singer hits that rising note that melds with the wailing guitar (ie 'I hear that old song and it takes me away etc').
What I usually do in those circumstances is hit the old web for the guitar tabs. Then for the next couple of days I arse about getting the melody down at which point my interest begins to wane and I'm free of the darn mind worm.
However every now and again I find the right kind of harmonics and I'm off chasing a variation that can keep me happy for weeks!!
So its a good way to kill some Sunday afternoon time until things warm up enough to walk the dogs!!

As if I needed more proof its Winter...

Today it was snowing just outside Canberra.


I mean real actual snow, check out this poor wee kangaroo...



This spot is about 20km's odd from my front door.

Stay warm little fella!!

Why I will next buy a Mac

I'm sitting at home trying to enjoy the benefits of 'multimedia' on a Windows Machine.
Actually I'm doing this and trying to listen to the Human League via the good graces of YouTube.
And this gosh darn machine is running like a dog.
I know its trying to download some freakin updates from gosh darn MS. Why do those idiots keep trying to tie up my system resources with some shit useless patch I DON'T WANT?

But don't get me wrong I don't hate or dislike Bill Gates, in fact I admire the guy. He crushed all competion to his products - he won.
Its his products that give me the absolute shits.

You know its Winter when...

Boy Howdy Folks, I tell you whut...
Today was one freeze ass ice bound day. But I know what your thinking;
"Dude, Australia is one huge monkey loving desert. It ain't never cold there brother."

Well you're right there for the most part. I live in the one area of Australia that does get frost, that being the Snowy Mountains. And let me tell you - it gets cold.
Now having grown up in Lower Hutt and cold and damp valley in of itself, I believe I have a point of comparison. The main difference is the dryness, if that makes sense. Canberra is higher up than most of Australia, probably more like a pampas with very low humidity.
We actually get some fierce frosts during Winter, even snow occasionally.

So this morning I had to de-ice the truck and drive it into our mechanics to get (of all things) a heater installed. Here's what I learnt, after using water to melt the ice of your windscreen - dry the water or it remelts when your driving through fog at 80kms.

Thank goodness I remembered my gloves.

Funny Ass Trailer

I am a fool for a good movie trailer, I believe that a good trailer will sell a film.
The downside of course is a trailer will also show all the good bits and make you feel like a chump for spending $15 on 90mins of filler...
So with that in mind - Can't tell you what I think of the whole film, but this trailer is awesome...
LINK

Thoughts from the Competition and Ageing

I noticed that an earlier post bore a striking resemblance to the posts of my other team mates. So in the interest of diversity I'm posting some observations and memories;

• I was REALLY impressed with the way the team fell into place. Everybody pulled together to do the best job they could.
• The writing exercises that Seraph and I worked on coming into the competition really helped. It was great to see how quickly we could turn out a working script.
• It was really funny to see myself on screen, I was surprised to see the facial expressions (even though I know how late in the day the shooting took place)
• I would not attempt to do this again without a Mac.
• The feeling of relaxation once Seraph handed me the Safety Copy for delivery to the 48 Hours HQ on the Sunday.
• Viv and myself drinking a beer, upstairs at the Bowls club getting a sales pitch from the grounds keeper as to the benefits of a social membership ($20 and you can bowl any time after 5pm on a week night).
• Despite the late time of my arrival in Wellington, being met by a half asleep Seraph
• Borrowing a guitar at one of the practice rooms at the school and jamming with one of the kids from the brass band competition.

All that fun and it was my birthday yesterday!!

Are YOU on message?

As the kind of guy who writes little of what he wants and much of what he has to; I suggest it is refreshing to reacquaint oneself with an excellent essay on the subject and a watch dog website whose humour is really quite tragic...

Or you could read this 'how not to' guide...

Memories of Billy T

I had a couple of hours at Wellington Airport before my flight out.
So, as you do, I was browsing around the shops. Figured I should get myself a book to read or a DVD or something.
So I was looking around and found vol 1 of the Billy T James Show (you know the one that was on TV3 in the early '90's)(not generally regarded as his finest work). To be honest I thought I was buying a selection of his sketch comedy, didn't realise my mistake until I got to Sydney, oh well its still a bit of fun!

Thankfully You Tube has a great selection though...

48 Hours Later...

Just a quick note now I'm back in the country after my incredible weekend of 48 Hour film Madness!! It was always going to be a crazy time and it did not disappoint.
So there we were, Seraph and I, on Friday 6.59pm poised behind our laptops like dueling banjo's. At 7.00pm on the dot Viv and Conan call in with our theme and must haves;

Character; Jerry Reed - Hypochondriac
Line; "And what do you call that?"
Prop; Rope
Genre; Educational/Religious

To be honest the temptation to go after a religious theme was strong, but we just couldn't pitch any really solid ideas. Eventually we hit upon the idea of a marketing/sales training video for pharmacists based on the idea of Hypochondriacs as the ideal customer - a walking goldmine if you will. By that time Conan and Viv had returned and we had our production team in place.
From that point on it just flowed...

Everyone was just incredible

Seraph - For taking the chance
Viv - For being a total battler and hanging in there with a full blown cold (and selective creative control)
Conan - For working like a demon the whole weekend, you are a legend dude!!
Jamie - Our wingman and graphics professional!
Angela - Set design is too poor a word for the hard work that transformed a small bland corner into a fully believable pharmacy.
Ryan - Sound and editing guru
Meredith - Runner, hand model and girl Friday extrodinaire
Danyl - For being a great sport to let us film him rubbing himself with loads of money (I think he actually liked it!)
Flick - For the awesome theme music
Maggie - Well this is one is a joint award for the donut as well

We had so much good luck and so many people helped us out in little ways. It was such a fun and positive environment. I could do it again next weekend!!

I'm just so glad I was able to join in this year. It always sounds like just a whole lot of crazy ass fun. And let me tell you know it was.
Thank you to everyone!!

Zombie town Team Management Song

As long as we're talking about Zombies here... Thought y'all might like this one (thanks Seraph)

28 Weeks Later - a lousy film review

I call this a lousy film review, because I'm not in the least bit objective here. 28 Weeks Later is a scary sequel, I'd rate it as a worthy follow on from 28 Days Later (possibly even scarier!).
So how do I measure these claims?

1) There were parts I actually hid my eyes from!!
2) I had dreams about the 'Infected' and was seriously wondering about the security of our house at 3am last night!!
3) Drove to work today wondering if Canberra could be quarantined off and how one might do that!!

All in all good 'clean' scary fun. It did its job well from that respect.
In terms of the franchise we get to see the speed with which the infection can spread and how a city could get taken down so quickly. Helps to give some background to the first movie (As an aside I think you could watch this one first or on its own without losing any major elements).

My recommendation; spend the money dude, its well worth it!

My niggles are below in super secret inviso-pen, don't read them if you actually want to see the movie...

Inviso-Pen ACTIVATE>>>>>>>

Niggle 1 - What I do know of the Apache Helicopter Gunship is that the main cannon is linked to the gunners eye. There is no way he would miss.

Niggle 2 - Why was the wife left unattended?!? and why did the husband have unfetted access around the entire base?!?

Time Management

Last Friday I drove to Sydney and back again. In between I had meetings and pitched by 3 year business plan for the business area. I'm not complaining, I got a lot done and it was well worth the effort.
You know I've been driving for about 6 or 7 years now. It is in fact one of the most fun things I can do with my time. The Canberra to Sydney drive is about 3 hours, give or take traffic, each way. And I have done it so many times its like a pleasant afternoon drive, no hurry - enjoy the sights.
Tomorrow I get to do it again, there is a training course up in Sydney I've been signed up for. The only problem from my end is its Karins birthday tomorrow.
I'm writing this from the radio station, I'm about to go on for 2 hours.

So tomorrow I will cook my lovelly wife a birthday breakfast in bed (bugger, forgot to get flowers - hmmm might check out the servo on the way home...(yeah if I want a divorce :)
There will be bacon eggs, pancakes with real Canadian maple syrup and whipped cream!!

It should be fantastic.
Every now and again though I feel like there isn't enough hours in the day. But I'm learning, that just means I need to move faster.

A wet Saturday

A wet Saturday, its like I deserve a do over. Though I shouldn't complain, we did have Wednesday off.
It was ANZAC day once again and once again I am amazed at the indifference of Australians to the NZ part. ANZAC to them just means Australian Army Corp. There is ZERO recognition of New Zealand, its all become proprietary.
And don't get me started on John Howard defining the term as more or less anyone who votes Liberal or watches channel 9. Check out the Wikipedia listings, see just how minimal the recognition is...

What frustrates me the most is trying to explain to Aussies that New Zealand has a very different view of the ANZAC spirit and Gallipoli. Its viewed by Kiwi's as a moment of nationhood, in much the same way as modern Turkey does. Not so the Australians.

Its the one and only time of the year that this country just pisses me off.

A Good Kind of Hurting

Yesterday I played my first game of soccer for the new season.
(Mental note for next time, don't play soccer after working out on my legs at the gym!)

I forgot just how much fun it is to race around a field for an hour or two (and even score a GOAL!). Just to refresh people's memory, its two teams divided equally amongst whoever turns up into Red - The Spitfires and Blue - The Lightnings. There is no skill level to speak of, but a basic rule of thumb is good sportmanship and courtesy.
Which I think are excellent values for us all.

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Made the mistake of wandering into JB HiFi afterward and walked out with amongst other things the latest Bowie best of, he seems to put one out every few years. This has some of newer stuff on it as well as the covers made popular by Nirvana et al.
Which is a good thing, I guess. My last best of got chewed by my shitty old CD player. Don't ask how, I assure you it is scratched to shit...

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After soccer yesterday, cooked a seafood paella and chowder, just to experiment and because Karin asked. A bit of change for me, I'm not a seafood person per see, but it seemed to work out ok. This morning woke up with stiff and sore, all the way to the hips. But I still feel it's worth the fun of running around like kid for a spell!!

Lets get serious!!

Have signed on with Seraph to the whole 48 Hour Film thing. I have no idea what I'm in for other than it should be a lot of FUN!!

Every year I hear these great stories from Seraph and I'm always like, Dude - you gotta hook me up and he's always like Dude - I keep forgetting or you're not serious or I thought you were dead...

I might've made those last ones up.

But we've begun, we're doing script writing exercises and soon we will be a finely oiled team.
Lets git it on!!!

Dumb TV

I don't watch a lot of TV, well not in this country at least - US Cable is hard to beat.
Right now my beloved is glued to the 'Biggest Loser', fat people losing weight for money.
How that is entertainment is the true miracle of Easter.

Having said that, I'm busy watching episodes of the Venture Brothers on YouTube.

This I must remember

So a couple of weeks ago I got a mountain bike. Principally for the pleasure of a Sunday afternoon bicycle ride. Which is a lot of fun, actually its more than that - its a lot of good old fashioned great fun!!

But I sometimes need to remind myself that I'm not Evel Knievel and should not attempt dirt jumps until I can land properly. Which to say, I'm a whiz at the jumping part, just haven't got the landing part squared away.

Still it is fun to have skinned my knees... Carpe Diem et al

Everything Changes

Happy Easter everyone!!

So I found myself wondering this morning, why do I still bother playing video games? As I've blogged before I'm not a techno or gadget boy, by any measure. Yet I enjoy having a computer game as a distraction.
I was prompted to think about this during the game 'God of War', it was while I was attempting to beat five colours of crap out of a giant mechanical minotaur. The game play is basic as to be absurd, run here - run there, bash this-mash that.
And yet I keep wasting my time on it...

I don't get it, I'm waiting for my epiphany. My moment of clarity. But I just keep pushing buttons to see what happens next - but its always more of the same...

Today is a lovely Autumn day, the sky is a perfect crushed powder blue. The season is changing the cold from the night is stretching longer and longer into the morning. Soon it will be the whole day. There is so much to see and do OUT THERE.
Why do I keep this stupid machine...


No wait I remember - SingStar

Scary Sequal

Hey gang!! Its scary movie time again!!!
I love zombie movies and although 28 Days Later wasn't specifically an undead movie, as such...

Anyway, no time for symantics. Its shotgun-a-grabbin' time and holein'-up-in-a-bunker time once more.
28 Weeks Later is the sequal!!

I haven't bothered with too much of the plot details. At a guess I'd say, things seem to go well at first, then they don't, small team of survivours, a few get picked off, darkest before the dawn, then the conclusion.
But I propose an awesome plot twist - England is WAY TOO infected for repopulation. It will always remain a threat - solution nuke the fucker!!
What do you think? Too obvious!?! - It will make for a shorter film though - which means less zombie/infected scenes... its a trade off.

Check out the trailer HERE

Radio in my brain

Boy howdy, I tell you whut! All this work and no play makes for a dull, but profitable life.

Y'know how sometimes you'll wake up and have a song in your head? Well I did my regular radio spot last night an hour long world music show (and yes I did play a mandetory accordian track). One of the songs was by a Basque group and it was fantastic!! In the first instance; Wow what good fortune to have been able to find them and secondly now get the feck out of my head.

To do List, Upon Taking Office First Draft

This is a list of things I intend to do, should by accident or design I become Emperor of the World;

1. Install Death Metal music around auto-tellers to motivate 'old people' to get their shit done FASTER (a recent trial at Redfern station produced similar results with young people and classical music).
2. An immediate moratorium on Queen's ' Bohemian Rhapsody' - No commercial radio station shall be allowed to play THAT song for at least a period of 18 months between rotation. Fuck you Wayne's World; it was ready to die at last and now they play it still EVERY FUCKING DAY!!
3. Jihad on Jamie Oliver
4. Customer admisitered therapy to motivate the attitude of surly young people who work in retail
5. Hand portable car batteries and nipple clamps for responisble adults while retail shopping.
6. Fast Food chain restaurants will be obliged not to serve fat people, for their own good.

More rules to follow...

City Report - Sydney

This one is a long time in coming.
I thought I'd add a report on the probably the most famous city in Australia largely because its so far been a glaring omission. Actually what has prompted me to write this one up is just having spent a week up on North Sydney for work.

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Transport - Usually good, although on Wednesday the entire metropolitan rail network was shut down due an accident involving a motorcycle and a van on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. God help you if Dick Chenney is in town...
It was the 75th anniversary of the Harbour Bridge this weekend.

Travel Times - Typically any Sydney sider who does not work in the suburb in which they live can expect to commute for up to 1 1/2 to 2 hours covering any distance from 20 Kms to 100+ Kms. This time in transit is regardless of the mode (bus, ferry, train, car). It is actually about the same amount of time to drive to Sydney from Canberra as it is to fly.

Cost of Living - Sydney has as a rule, has highest cost of living of any city in Australia. In recent times Perth has crept up to challenge this title - which frankly boggles the mind as to what you could possible be blowing your money on in Perth?!? it largely boils down to the revenue raising tactics of the State Govt of NSW. There are plenty of taxes that a Sydney Sider will pay twice (or three times if the local council is involved).

Housing - There are two types of houses in Sydney, the one you own and the one you wish you owned. Everyone in this city wants to be on the up and up. Get the right kind of house, get to the right kind of suburb, enjoy all the trappings that come with that kind of postcode. Whatever that may be. As a rule of thumb people settle in one ghetto of Sydney and never move out or at least never from long. Whether its the Eastern Suburbs (but only as far South as Bronte), the Inner West (Glebe to Leichhardt) the West (Parramatta and beyond) as examples.
As a result its best to think of Sydney as a series of small townships.

Entertainment - There are 2 things to do in Sydney on the weekend, go pubbing or go clubbing. And you can be assured that regular conversation is impossible in either situation.

Beaches - Wonderful! Sydney has the best beaches of any Capital City in Australia. Unfortunately in order to get out to them, you rely on public transport as there is never any parking and your car is liable to be broken into while your there.

Sport - Sydney will leap on the bandwagon of ANY local team, as long as it is doing well. The Sydney Swans are a prime example, ticket sales go through the roof if they are on a winning streak and drop like a stone if they are on a losing one.

Celebrations - Sydney is a party city and will show off at the drop of a hat. That said the events are always spectacular (largely due the harbour) and well attended. Its no surprise to me that the Sydney Olympics went off as well as they did.

People - As a rule the people of Sydney are friendly and always have the time for a chat. But this, as a rule, can be applied to most Australians. Its in their character to have a good old yarn with a complete stranger it is certainly one of the first things I noticed about them.

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Sydney, in my opinion, is a city thats at its best when visited. Its a great holiday destination, its bright, shinny and you can view 2 of the worlds most recognisble landmarks from any spot on the harbour.
I can't live there myself. The crowds piss me off, I hate driving through the city - it takes forever to get anywhere. No one reads books - everyone reads magazines...
Like I said, for me at least, a great place to visit.

What I did before I got a proper job

Hey Y'all,
You are in for a treat amigos' I have the pleasure of showing you a picture of my TOTALLY AWESOME F-100 and of me getting ready to go fishing up at Lake Eucambene.
It was a great day. I managed to convince my usual partner in crime Ando to join me and together we proceeded to catch no fish at all.
Which is good news for the fishing industry.

Believe it or not where the truck is parked is an area of the lake catchment called the Pan Handle. Its usually under water, if you can see the tree line in the background - thats where the lake would be at full capacity.
Its currently holding 8.5%.

Unemployed

Yes indeed friends, I'm unemployed until Thursday.
I have a few days in between jobs, so I guess that makes me unemployed. Which in turn makes me wonder what do the unemployed do? I tried feeling sorry for myself and blaming society - but my heart wasn't in it. Then I thought I could use this time to improve myself and read a book or two - but seemed to go against the Bogan 'Esprit de Corp'.

Finally I hit on it - unflattering facial hair.
Today I started my goatee.

Some Saturday Funk

Seraph has been posting a Hierarchy of Geekdom, its a lot of fun to read and I look forward to more posts. So far I can claim no association with the groups named to date. That said, I am something of a music nerd (by which I mean, I have a vast store of useless trivia about a whole range of music - and everything in the top 40 these days pisses me off)
So in the spirit of solidarity with my hygene challenged indoors types, I present a video by Money Mark. You get one Nerd Point for knowing who he is, you get a second Nerd Point for knowing the significance of the keyboard featured in the track and you get Uber Nerd Points if you can name the guys in the animal suits!!!

A cute wee video

Just love this video!!

What a great line "Do you feel like a chain store - Practically ignored"

I decided to swap the video out for a link so people could load the page faster!!

Good Eating Part 3

I Hate Jamie Oliver, he's like a Silkie Terrier - small, annoying, yappy, unhelpful and loved by women in their 40's.
I like Antonio Carluccio, he's like a regular human being - he gets his passion across in a simple and infectious way. His recipes inspire, they beg for creativity and variances on the theme. His teaching method is simple, he never patronises his guests - he honours them.

The difference between these two are in my mind - I want to punch one repeatedly for being an annoying patronising git, while the other inspires me to cook. Good Eating is as much about ingredients as they are about technique and recipe.

But most of all it should be about having fun.

Have a look at this LINK to a story from Kiwiland about a book to teach kids the love of cooking!!

Madness from the Skies

This awesome shot was taken (by someone else!) on Tuesday night in Civic (the CBD of Canberra). A storm similar to the type that hit out palce on New Year's strode through the northern suburbs of Canberra.

Flash Floods and severe hail damage was the order of the day. Even at 6am yesterday I could still see lightning to the north as I walked Bishy.

The storm hit Canberra about 9.30pm.
That white stuff on the ground is a half metre of hail.
The location is Northborne Ave looking toward Sydney.

OMG Look whose on Blogger!!

I wonder if this actually is Pete Townsend?
How awesome though, this is the benefit of the internet

Click HERE for Pete Townsends' Blog!!

Good Eating Part 2

In this part we'll look at people you need to know to start eating better in your neighbourhood.

Influential People YOU Need to Know

• Your local Butcher - This guy you need to visit when ever you can. He'll have good quality meat, he can help you choose what you need and can even dice up stuff for stir fries and curries. Take the time to say hi and tell him about what you need. Local Butchers are being squeezed out by faceless supermarkets, staffed by bored teenagers. This guy will work to keep you coming back and cares that your a satisfied customer.
  If you shop around you can even find Butchers that specialise in organic (hormone free) meats. Thats some tasty eating right there bubba.
  
• Your local Green Grocer - For much the same reasons as above. This guy is local, he sources the best fruit and vegeies he can find. They always let you try before you buy (have you ever gone past one of those places and not been asked to try an apple or orange!!) and its a great place to try stuff out of your comfort zone!!
• Your Local Community College - These guys will run cooking courses in the evening. ENROLL NOW. They are a lot of fun, you'll learn new ways to cook , make some new friends and have a ball.
  Put yourself out there, you've got nothing to lose - plus you get eat what you've cooked!!

Okay the message here is two fold, one get out and meet people in you neighbourhood! and two use the expertise thats available! Don't be afraid to say hi and ask questions. People are always willing to help you, especially when you smile!!

Next time I'll discuss the Food Pyramid and its similarity to bullshit.

Good Eating Part 1

Whenever I hear someone talking (or blogging) about good eating or diet, I always have some advice.
So in the spirit of know-it-all-itis (Al Gore syndrome) I thought I start an occasional series on good eating.Perhaps you can learn something and share the results?

1. Stop eating Crap - Sounds like simple, plain advice - but people do find it convenient to resort to prepackaged food. No I'm not talking just about the Macca's and KFC, I'm talking about 2 minute noodles, soups in a can, TV dinners. The whole range of packaged 'heat and serve' gunk out there.
Its all crap and its lazy eating.
Motto;- I've you've got time to boil water or microwave plastic for 5 minutes - You've got time eat properly

2. Eating well won't make you thinner - This is a big point to grasp, if you eat well you will become healthy, not fit. You will process food better, you'll have more energy during the day, your skin will be less oily, you'll actually start to smell better. Believe me, if you eat well you'll get sick less often and for shorter periods. But you won't lose weight per see.
If you want to lose weight, actually lets cut the crap on that dog whistle - its not about losing weight its about changing your body's shape. If you want to do that, just exercise regularly.
Motto;- Healthy is the fuel you put in your body. Fitness is how well your body runs.

3. Time Makes the Wine - Believe it or not changing your diet, eating smarter and better takes about 6 weeks to show visible effects on your body. But the sooner you start the sooner you can see results, it won't happen overnight. Don't get impatient, have some humility. You mind might be super fast, but your body is the same model we've all be using for the last 10,000 years. If you try and put the effort in to cook, use good ingredients and eat what your body is going to use. It will all start to come together.
Motto;- A watched kettle will never boil (especially if isn't plugged in!!)

Okay people love sound bites and the above 3 bullets are that in spades. But the message should be clear, good eating starts with smart choices, taking time to exercise and an understanding of the body's clock. You work with those variables and you can start getting healthy today.

Gaze into the face of Crazy!!

Lately we've been having big storms in the evenings around Canberra. They build up during the day and usually break around 4pm.
Sometines they last a few minutes, sometimes they stay over a specific location and sometimes thay'll last longer and spread over a whole area.

But as always they set Calvin off his head. The little bastard can't wait for the first roll of thunder. He's off and out into the back yard screaming his head off, telling Thor to keep the fuck out his yard (or what his tiny wee mind imagines). Wild eyed, full of joy and excitment, like a child hopped up on red cordial and coffee the night before Christmas. He'll keep this up for as long as the storm wants to go and he has never yet given up first.
Even with my hands around his throat.

And last night he kept it going until 3am.

Another City Report - Wellington

This is another in my city reports. I was asked recently for some insight into the city of my birth (actually the city of my birth is Lower Hutt, but if you have trouble finding Wellington...). The below brief city notes have been submitted to the CIA Fact Book, we can all rest better for my exhaustive research.

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Local Weather - There are three states of weather in Wellington;
1. Just about to rain, 2. Raining, 3. Just finished raining.
It is always windy.

Local Sport - Rugby. Seriously its all anybody will want to talk about. Details below to help you acclimatise quicker;

• National Team - All Blacks (cruelly robbed of many victories by the evil referee/Wallibies/Springbocks/Frence/Global Warming etc. Be prepared to answer questions or criticism of past matches regardless of whether or not you care or even saw the game. This applies even if you are from Victoria.)
• Super 14 Team - The Hurricanes, lost the final last year to an unusual display of black magic by the Crusaders (they cloaked the entire pitch in a thick mist, then scored a record number of tries when no one was looking)(cheating bastards)
• Regional Team - The Lions, you won't care enough to watch them so don't worry.

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Local Arts Scene - Vibrant. There are more theatres and galleries per head of population than anywhere else in the Southern Hemisphere (if you don't believe me, just ask someone - they will tell you, again and again and again....) Usually produced to a very high standard of quality.
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Local TV - Very Good. Well it has to be, everyone stays inside out of the rain.
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Transport - Get a car or get used to public transport. The other very viable alternative is to walk everywhere. Don't waste your money on the cable car. Parking in the city is hit and miss.
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Topography - Hills are what the locals refer to the charming sheer cliffs surrounding the city. Most of them are taller the Snowy Mountains. All of them have houses on.
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Cuba Street - Once the dangerous alternative haunt of the Wellington Underground scene. Its now a thriving shopping precinct. Walk to the far end for the Real Groovey Records store and kiss your paycheck good bye.
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Cuisine - Kebabs and fish 'n' chips. There are actual restaurants, but kebabs and the old FNC are foodgroups in themselves. They bring the family together.
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Beer - Tui and Waikato are good North Island brands. Speight's is the South Island's gift to the country. Don't drink it unless you actually own a 500,000 hectare sheep station - otherwise you're just a poser.
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Earthquakes - Will happen regularly. There will be at least 1x 5.5+ Richter Scale shake per year. Locals will lower there voices when they talk of the impending 'Big One'. Smile and nod, sip your beer and have a deep thoughtful bite of your kebab.
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No one knows when it will strike, but you can assume you have plenty of time to catch the bus home, put your feet up and watch your latest DVD from Real Groovey records.

Hearing my own Voice

As you all know, I volunteer at a community radio station ArtSound FM.
Well I finally got to hear myself today. The station has a regular promo/announcement called 'Arts Diary' and I've volunteered to be one of the voices who writes, records and edits the promo.
I spent 4 hours on Sunday working to get 3 promo's sounding just right (approx 7 minutes of air time total) and I think I pulled it off.

To be honest I had my cringe factor turned up to 11 when my promo started... But it actually sounded pretty good. I mean I could hear all the little mistakes and some slightly sloppy editing, but all in all - not a bad effort.

You can judge for yourselves soon, the station website will be posting my next one in a weeks time.

More Zombie Stuff!!

In this LINK you can read a serious review about a fun topic - Zombies!!!

Someone I think is drawing a long bow here, deconstrucitng the Zombie genre.
The review reads like someone who hasn't found the C.o.S.G yet.

ATHF IS THE BOMB!

If you've been living under a digital rock {for your face} lately, you may not of heard about the City of Boston Def Con One response to a Stealth Marketing campaign for the upcoming Aqua Team Hunger Force movie [Which I promise you Seraph, will be better than 'Snakes on a Plane'].

Well the web is pretty much alive with talk about the over reaction. Thank goodness there is an election next year - over there.

But my little chickadees, you may want to know more or better yet even view an episode or two.
Visit here and enjoy [LINK]
I also recommend Robot Chicken.

Can't Sleep...

Its true, I can't sleep right now (its 4am). Just a little too excited - I got a new job yesterday!!

Actually this is a lot like jet lag, when I'm in the States I find my mind is too overstimulated. A combination of sugar, beer and 75 channels of 'there must be something on..'
So currently I'm wide awake about an hour an half earlier than I usually get up. I'm sitting here wondering if any of this will make sense in the daylight, listening to Durran Durran (or maybe I am dreaming...)

Did my regular radio gig last night and found a crazy arse Haitian Voodoo Rite to play. It was only about 2 minutes, but when you see something like that - you have to do that shit!!!

Had to get my truck towed to the garage, it just died in the arse. I'm not mad though, she's off getting fixed for whatever mystery beset her (Durran Durran was a fairly base heavy outfit... just noticed that. Sorry had to stop this line to comment on 'Wild Boys').
So anyway, tuck nackered and should be sorted in a week or so - its not the repair work so much as the parts. Its still awesome.

Feeling a little more sleepy - I won't bother editing this. Lets see how it reads in a couple of hours!!

Its Still More Fun than Work

!!!HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY EVERYONE!!!

This weekend just past was the Australia Day Long Weekend. Which is good because, well obviously everyone loves a long weekend (provided you are getting paid for it...).
So from Thrusday afternoon until this morning I had a fantastic time - 3 days of barbie's, the odd beer or two, snags, truck driving and radio shows!!
On Friday a work colleauge of Karin's held an Aussie Day/Housewarming pool party (in Australia it's illegal to have an Australia Day party without either a pool or a game of backyard cricket). Which was lovelly and about 6.30pm I ducked off to the Radio Station to do my regular gig, then it was back to party!! I was a great day and we had a rare late night (in bed by 11.30...)

Saturday was another BBQ, this time at our house. By now our new French Doors looked really good - after mucho trouble in getting them in the first place. It was another late night, but this time it was Singstar's fault!!

Sunday was the quiet day, I had a 2 hour shift on the radio. It was a mixed bag of music and I hadn't really prepared for it - SO IT WAS FLY BY PANTS TIME!!

Thankfully it was also community radio, so I didn't sound too bad

Fire in the Sky

Last Saturday while standing on my driveway, en route to my neighbours BBQ I spied in the heavens the Great Comet of 2007.
Otherwise known as the McNaught Comet, named after a local astronomer Robert McNaught 'who observed the comet near Coonabarabran in 2006' (thanks ABC).

This photo was taken over Wamboin, but on Saturday over my place it looked just as spectacular

The tail was amazing - fanning away like a feather! Its getting fainter now in the heavens and I'm told will be gone by early Feburary. But this truely does shit on Halley's comet.

Probably because this is an Aussie comet!!


Here is the link to Wiki page if you would like to know more - LINK

New Years Resolutions

This year I've decided to actually have some goals, other than try and not get fired.
I actually got a lot done last year so it has inspired me to set some projects and see how I do over the next 12 months.

Goals;
1; Do a French Cooking Course - One of my favourite cook books is 'The French Kitchen' by Joanne Harris. Great recipes, a fun layout, awesome pictures of little corners of France. A really charming book and one of my favourite inspirations when I'm cooking. So I figure why not actually do a French cooking course?!? I figure someone around here must run one...
2; Improve a language - For this one I'm tossing up between Italian and French. Italian because I flunked it so badly the last time I tried and I have an Italian brother in law. So I figure it'll be good fun should I ever get the chance to do a cooking tour of northern Italy. The French because I actually enough to be dangerous, but not enough to be competent. Added to which, it might be good for my job prospects...
3; Get a regular radio gig - Already started with this one. Having done my radio course I still haven't followed through with any regular air time. Have to fix that, I love doing it!! So I've volunteered for a one hour fortnightly spot on Fridays hosting the World Vibe show.
My plan is to see how my schedule goes and get another gig as well.

It will be fun to see how I track to these goals and I'm sure I'll add a few extra ones as the year progresses. I always in believe in being flexible to your circumstances.

Christmas Hols must end Soon!

I've been somewhat lazy (I am somewhat lazy...) with my postings as of late. This is what 3 weeks of holidays will do to a man.
Well to be honest I can't actually say 3 weeks of actual holidays, the first week I was almost driven insane by the absence of work and was living in dreaded excitement of the pending arrival of my 1979 Ford F-100. Then my truck arrived, by which time Karin was on holiday - which meant my life had purpose and order (or more precisely Karin told me to do things.)

Then we had Christmas itself, which was a grand affair with most of Karin's family coming down from Brisbane to join us. Then they went home, then I relaxed for a day, then it was the New Years storm. Finally Karin has gone back to work and I can go fishing to my hearts content.

I go back to work on Monday.

Highlights!!!
- Had a lovely day with my nieces before Christmas so their Mum (Karin's Sister Ness) could wrap presents. One of the rare occasions after which I have not wanted a vasectomy.
- Got my Truck (full description to follow with pictures, set Thrill Rating to HIGH!!)
- Australia got the Ashes, after humiliating England (The best way to win)
- Warnie the cheating, lying, bogan genius has retired.
- Was nearly electrocuted by lightning while trying to clear a clogged drain
- My Brother Ben and his wife Rhonnie had a wee baby girl (Alexandra Jane Rossiter)
- Finally got to clean the garage out

If there is more to tell, I can't think what it would be.
Best wishes to you all for a fantastic 007

This weather is making me thristy...

As if the weather couldn't get any more weirder!?!
On New Years Eve we had a torrential downpour complete with Thunder, Lightning and about a metre worth of hail!!
Thank goodness we were home, hard core party animals that we are. Dude I was out there in my gumboots shovelling hail and water out of blocked drains as fast as I could (nearly got hit by lightning). The storm lasted for 2 hours and thats a lot of water that hit our part of Canberra.

We got off lightly with only minimal damage to our kitchen ceiling (but my Porsche and Karin's expensive collection of Baroque art works were destroyed (should the insurance people ask))

So it was a cleansing start to the new year with all the old dust washed away!