Sydney 500

Here is the best photo I took at the car races over the weekend. Word

Crop

Same photo, two different crops. Which is better?


Or this one?

Thug

I just found this old photo from Rugby. I look tougher than I do now, but really, I've never been tough

Flash Art

I think this is probably the best photo I've ever taken.

Bloody bloody

I’ve heard a lot about Olympic Funding this week so I’m going to buy in and rant. John Coates this week argued against withdrawing funding for Olympic sports, indeed he pushed for more. Lots of people have argued that Olympic success is necessary for creating national pride, in turn motivating Australian’s to get out there and get involved in sport. Apparently funding for the Olympics trickles all the way down to the grassroots and supports kids on the way up. Blah blah blah.

I think it is shocking that we give so much money to the Olympics program. Not because it’s only every four years, or even because we’re funding numerous obscure sports, it’s because we have a nation of fat kids who aren’t healthy. We need to make kids healthy, so why not make them all play sport. I don’t care if you don’t like it now, every kid should play sport so that they have an active upbringing. I’m not talking just about rugby or cricket, sport is anything from running, to dancing, to lawn bowls – kids need to be outdoors and active, or indoors and active. They need to be active. There is no correlation between Olympic success and increasing participation in sport in the community. I would think though that there is some correlation between a lack of funding in regional and rural areas for sport and lowering participation rates. The answer is simple, fund the grass roots.

So there. Not a really coherent rant, but right. LIKE HEAPS

Tuck tuck tucking

How do you tuck your shirt in? Mine always looks daft, it tends to creep around? I’ve had this problem for as long as I’ve been tucking my shirt in, which has probably been since birth given my Father’s insistence that my sister and I look respectable when out. I’ve tucked in lots of shirts, from primary school through high school uniforms, to t-shirts into jeans (what a STATEMENT), yet all have the same issue – they seem to draw a bit around the side and never quite stay.

Whilst this post is an attempt to SEARCH for answers, I have done some scholarly research – I’ve googled ‘how to tuck in your shirt’. I’ve since learned that I’m not the only one with this problem – the quest for the ‘perfect tuck’ is shared by many, and documented on youtube clips and on websites. I found the website ‘How to do things’ to be particularly useful with its advice to:
- Pick the right shirt
- Make folds on the side of your shirt
- Zip and button up your pants
- Raise your arms
http://www.howtodothings.com/fashion-personal-care/how-to-tuck-your-shirt-into-your-pants

Well, what do you think? I’ve been conscious of the shirt and buttoning up my pants, but the folds and the arms could do the trick! Perfect tucking may only be a simple fold away!

Cab Home. Art

Backwards and forwards

25 revisited

I love looking at people’s top 25 most played songs on iTunes – it’s a great insight into someone’s tastes, above and beyond what their currently listening to. I’ve done this before, but I’ve done it again so please, judge me on mine:

1. Be the one (Jack Penate)
2. Song for Aberdeen (Mando Diao)
3. The Band (Mando Diao)
4. Getting Wise (Yves Klein Blue)
5. Heartbreaker (Metronomy)
6. She’s the Girl That Makes Me Not Want to Be Alone (Red Riders)
7. Courtesy Laughs (Phoenix)
8. Summer Wino (Dan Kelly)
9. All day and all of the night (The Kinks)
10. No You Girls (Franz Ferdinand)
11. The Reeling (Passion Pit)
12. Cato is a Yawn (of Montreal)
13. C-C (You Set the Fire in Me) (Tom Vek)
14. A Thing for Me (Metronomy)
15. Gronlondic Edit (of Montreal)
16. Lonesome Road (Black Sorrows)
17. Sleepytime in the Western World (Blitzen Trapper)
18. Paper Bag (Fiona Apple)
19. If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life (Jimmy Soul)
20. Safronia B (Calvin Boze)
21. Witches Rave (Jeff Buckley)
22. A Thing for Me (Breakbot Remix) (Metronomy)
23. You’ve Got a Lot of Nerve (Red Riders)
24. Buttons (Sia)
25. Sad Girl (Supergrass)

And the song that just missed out:
Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry) & Spooky (Dusty Springfied) – equal!

I’ve had this machine since May. I did this for my last two computers, and a number of similarities are interesting to note:
- I had two artists that had two songs in the list off my old lap top. Of Montreal is still here, but with two different songs from last time. What is interesting thought is that the two here are different from the last two. The other band, Van She, didn’t make the cut at all. Here, Mando Diao, of Montreal & the Red Riders are all represented twice, but Metronomy is here THREE TIMES, with the same song TWICE (a remix & the original). On my old, old machine at home, the Beatles and Supergrass where there twice, and again the Supergrass song is different.
- The Oldest Song on there is Safronia B, which was recorded in 1950. It was also the song added most recently to my machine.
- The song that I’m most surprised is on the list would have to be probably Sleepytime.

Word

Art? Pt 2

What do you think? Art?

What do you think?

I’ve been thinking a bit about the Dennis Ferguson case of late. I believe that paedophilia is a most horrific crime, and is often due to mental illness of which there is difficult (if any) rehabilitation. There are a wide variety of issues associated with placing Ferguson in Ryde, and in hindsight he would not have been giving housing there. But what I want to say is this – Ferguson was sentenced to 14 years for his crime, which he served. I believe that more needs to be done to protect children from convicted sex offenders, but he served the associated punishment for his crime. Whilst this is an issue in and of itself, what I've really been thinking about is what this story suggests about our society.

Society is only as strong as its weakest member. I believe Australia (or even wider contemporary society) is weak - we don’t take responsibility for anything. We should make sure that people are managed, that there is not a constant shifting of blame or responsibility in our society.

Horrific issues, but there are no winners, just losers.

Sing, sing a song

B Shore and the Mods had our first full Jam last night. It was well tops, we’ll soon be ready to take over the world, one dark dingy rehearsal room at a time.

Can't help loving that shop of mine...

I’ve probably moaned about class before, but one little issue is that I can’t shop at my preferred grocery shop, Woolies at Leichardt, because it closes too early on Sunday for me shop after class. As such I have to go to Coles at Broadway. This is disappointing for a number of reasons:
1. It’s far too busy. You can’t move in the place, it is all go. I don’t like it when there are 23752 people in the place, it’s too hard to move up and down the aisles.

2. It doesn’t stock some of my favourite things. Simple things, like Deb & my deodorant. This is INCREDIBLY disappointing.

3. No self checkout. Self checkout is the single best thing about grocery shopping ever. It is amazing, but I can’t revel in its awesomeness at Coles because THEY DON’T HAVE IT. I miss it.

So there you go. Simple man, simple shopping pleasures TORN away by Sunday class.

Vulture Street

Look I’m not going to lie, I’d love to be a culture vulture. This is mainly a shallow attempt to appear more interesting by surrounding myself with interesting people & attending interesting events. Interesting.

Whilst I’m building my ‘art’ base, Ill keep up with the old music. I always try to listen to ‘hip’ music & two of ‘hypist’ I’ve heard this week are Tilahun Gessesse & Dinah Washington. If these isn’t one of the best songs you’ve ever heard then I won’t talk to you again.

See how cool I am? Wow, what an ‘interesting’ kid. F*#king Art mate, I’m all about it

Photo from http://vulturecrew.com/images/vulture_crew_3.jpg

Child's play

I think every child should play contact sport when they’re growing up. Well, either Rugby Union or AFL, I don’t care for League much. I felt this stronger than ever over the weekend when I went to watch a soccer grand final of a friend. On one of the other fields was the under 9s or 8s GF. When one team won, they ran together and hugged one another, whilst the other team dropped to their hands and knees, buried their heads in the ground & started crying. Parents ran onto the field and hugged the kids, before pushing them to shake hands. I thought that the behaviour was pretty ordinary. Whilst the kids shook hands at the end, they were pushed to do so by their parents, & they had a definite sense of winning and losing.

WallaRugby is much better. Why? Well obviously they tackle one another and toughen the f*#k up at a younger age, but also because they don’t score until they’re older. That is the great thing, they learn to play the game with one another & respect one another, they play for the game and their friends.

I’m prejudice, obviously, but there is no way Ill let my kids play soccer, its all about Rugby. Or AFL, its good too.

Here is a photo I took at the game though. ART! F*#king art mate.

Art

Change of p(l)ace - take two

I went back to the afore mentioned campus cafe today to give the place a second chance. This time, two things jumped back at me:

1. There is an Access Discount (which means that the Coffee/Bagel combination is now comparable to the USU morning meal offering) which is not advertised ANYWHERE. I only found out as the casher asked the lady in front if she just showed her an Access Card, so I showed mine and it was cheaper. This is disappointing, as I went hungry last week

2. This is going to sound really horrible, but you don’t have to be cooler than me when you’re taking my money for a coffee at a Uni Café. I know, harsh, but dead set I loath people that are too cool for school in retain outlets, what ever they may be. Sure, if I walk into somewhere expensive I’m not likely to purchase anything (the staff can pick you!) so you don’t have to be my best friend, but in all other circumstances, it is important to make sure that the customer is welcome. Not so down stairs!!! I was a tool bag (laughed at even) in the eyes of the barista’s. Well get nicked, pull your head(s) in, you’re pretenders.

So there you go, none from two.

High Flyers

I was just reading about an individual from a Sydney Uni College who has been awarded a Rhodes scholarship. It was a pretty impressive transcript, with achievements from arsehole to breakfast. I know the kid, I always thought that he was a bit of a joker, but regardless, it reiterated two things to me. Ill highlight them below.

Firstly, I’m fortunate to call some pretty impressive people friend (or acquaintance at the least). Lawyers, Doctors, World Savers - I’ve been very fortunate to meet some wonderful people at Sydney. What I realise though when I’m surrounded by these people is how inherently dull I am. Not in a bad way, just in a ‘lack of impressive achievement or character of note’ sort of way. Not that I’m outrageously disappointed by this, but it is just important to realise your limitations.

Secondly, following on from that point, whilst there are some impressive people out there, you have to document everything that you’ve ever done in order to be recognised for these sorts of awards. If you’ve walked past a social justice event at one point in your life you need to put it on your transcript. Is that jealousy for people taking every opportunity offered to them? Yes. I am aware that I hold myself back occasionally, and that inherently I’m not as generous as these award winners, but still, a bit over the top.

Word

Oh ph-leeze

I heard today on the wireless that MJ is to be buried this week. He died two months ago. I think this is somewhat disgraceful, as although there has been a great deal of hysteria following his death, he should have been laid to rest. Imagine the repercussions on his children, having Dad’s coffin lingering around for ages. Rubbish.

In other news, I’m not looking forward to Wednesday as much as I normally do. Wednesday is normally my favourite day, but tomorrow will be ordinary so I’m not looking forward to it. What day do you look forward to? I’m going to jump in there and say Friday, but I could be wrong. Unlikely, but possible.

Word Gangsta

Photo from http://mallemala.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/michael-jackson-funeral-photo-gallery-34.jpg

Flying home

I often do lame things (surprising I know). I like to time things, be it how long it takes to cook something, how long a bus trip is etc, just because I’m odd. I have timed how long it takes me to walk to Uni previously, with (Annandale) door to door (Manning) being about 25 minutes. Last night I walked home from Carslaw (about 3 minutes past Manning) to home in 19 minutes. The exact same walk this morning took 29 minutes. I was going to write something witty like, ‘I blame peak hour traffic’ (witty or lame, either one of the two), but the main reason was to make it home in time to watch Flight of the Conchordes. Class went over by ten minutes so I walked as quickly as I could to make it home, and home I made it in record time.

Feel good story? I think so. It was a great episode.

Image from http://www.hypeful.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/flight_of_the_conchords_season_two1.jpg

Phoney

I’ve been using my computer a great deal lately – I love it. I use it in lectures, I play and listen to music on it; I’m just getting amongst it all the time. My increased use has made me start to think about getting an iPhone. I know, height of wankerdom, but their such good phones when hooked into a Macbook. You can use the calendar and synch it to the phone, you can use the maps and the like, you can jump on the net. But an iPhone would mean the end of my pocket diary. So a conundrum, technology or not?

Well it's not really a question, there is no way I'd give up my diary. Even though the technology is pretty cool, I would feel like a wanker with the iPhone, I’d miss my diary and notebooks too much, and I’d look like a wanker. Yeah, it's the wanker bit that gets you. So that does it, no iPhone, or at least for the moment.

Image fromhttp://www.core77.com/blog/technology/geekster_moleskine_6136.asp

A change of p(l)ace

I’m not a connoisseur of anything (does that make me a non-con? Con-non?). This is not to say that I don’t have particular taste and preferences for certain things. One thing that I do appreciate is coffee. I never drank coffee at Uni, I only started to drink the stuff when I started working full time. Coffee came from the Bourke Street Bakery on Broadway, accompanied by a Danish or tart or the like. Since then I’ve drunk the stuff pretty regularly, not compulsively but regularly due to an appreciation of the flavour.

Seeing I work at Uni, I prefer to buy coffee from the best friend of the uni, USU. I like the taste, maybe because I’m use to the flavour, & because I don’t like some of the other outlets on campus. That was until today, when I had a coffee from another on campus cafe (due, in part, to a move to my Wentworth Office more permanently). The wash up? Look it was pretty bloody good - I have to say, Asako was right. But was it better than USU? NO. Why? Simple really, the coffee was sensational but all the peripheral items (muffins, bagels etc) were all exorbitantly priced! I didn’t have enough for a muffin (I would have if I’d gone to a USU outlet) so I ultimately enjoyed the coffee, but left unsatisfied due to my hunger.

It’s now 11.20 & I’m starving. All I can think of is lunch. I blame the different coffee.

Posessive

I don't know if it is because I'm single or not, but I really loath people that refer to 'their boy' or 'their girl' when talking about their partners. It is horrible, don't you think? I doubt it's because I'm single, I think it is probably more so due to the fact that it a stupid way to refer to someone.

How are you then? Good? Blogs are fun.

I've also included this photo for something completely different

Top of the tops

I was just thinking as I listened to ‘Dust me selecta’ by Gerling, what are the most influential albums in my life?

Here I go:

Get on Board – The Badloves. My favourite band for so very long, great album, heaps of fantastic songs. A band that I think is still under appreciated. I actually take away 'were' my favourite band, they're still up there!

When Young Terrorists Chase the Sun – Gerling. I still love this album, it is just great fun.

Grace – Jeff Buckley. An incredible album, though it is always filled with a touch of sadness as it is was the only one he actually finished.

There the three that immediately spring to mind. As such, they’re the real ones I think.

Good. Chat soon.

Happy Birthday to you

Tonight I'm watching 60 Minutes celebrate their 30th Anniversary. Two things have jumped into my mind. Firstly, I thought isn't it commendable that a show like 60 Minutes is celebrating its 30th Anniversary. In a time when news is diluted and our current affairs programs are mainly focused on dodgy car dealers, I though isn't it great that this is still going. But then I paused. Quality current affairs is on night after night on the ABC & SBS. I must say that we all should watch those things more often, but still, 60th Minutes is still 1000 times better than what else is going around on other commercial networks.

Secondly, the intro said that the two biggest stories that have been reported are terrorism and natural phenomenons (particularly global warming). Very interesting decision I think. I've only been alive for 24 years of those years, & perhaps only conscious of current affairs for the past ten, so only really half of these years. So in short, I don't know. Big questions.

Random Trash times heaps

I've not written anything in a while. Have I not had things to write about? Of course not, it has more so just been a problem of finding the time to put my thoughts down on word, checking for spelling mistakes, then uploading to this blog. SO WHAT'S ARE MY STORIES I hear you asking with much excitement? Well let me start at the start and ill race through a few, just because it will be fun to write a long post. Yes, good.

STANDING ON THE CORNER
I was walking up to work the other day, as I do. I stopped to wait to cross on Parramatta Road behind a girl (nothing spectacular but not quite pleasant looking) & noticed something that I found truly amazing. Each male who drove past swiveled his head to look at her. There were very few exceptions, but exceptions none the less that I noted. Of those who didn't look, 90% were of Asian appearance. The other 10% were in cars with female companions. So, how many cars did I observe? Well I'd say about 35 or so, as the lights were probably green (so we couldn't cross over) for about two minutes during what was peak hour. I'd also say that maybe 7 or so didn't look at her. That makes about 28.

So what am I trying to say here? Well mainly that I think its funny. I guess men naturally look at girls, no matter who they are, as they drive past. The only exception were the Asian men, & I don't know why that was. I can't even guess, as some men of Asian appearance looked.

I would like to test what I saw though, if I could, by doing two things:
Placing a very attractive man on a corner and seeing how many gay men look at him as they drive past
Placing a very attractive man on a corner and seeing how many girls look at him as they drive past

It could be the same man, but I think that the gay men would look, but that girls wouldn't. I just think that men are natural predators and are always on the look out for love, where as girls are the hunted, so they don't need to keep a look out as much. Ill gualify all this by saying I know that I look, so I can say it. There, word.

V-DAY
I've never been in a relationship on Valentine's Day (I can hear what you're saying by the way, that I've never had a decent relationship either way. Smart arse), but still, what a day of complete bull shit. Given the horror of the Victorian Fires, I've been super glad to see that people are being encouraged to donate money to the victims rather than buy gifts for one another. Still, this day is a Hallmark holiday, we all know that.

POPULAR WITH THE PENGUIN
I know I seem to harp on about it, but my renewed enthusiasm for reading has not died. I've read a few more books recently and have thoroughly enjoyed all of them, save Rabbit, Run which was ordinary. John Updike died whilst Matti and I were reading it, I don't know if that had anything to do with us. I hope not.
My renewed enthusiasm has had a reasonable profound affect on the amount of time I watch television though, which is a great thing I think. I really think I could live without TV. The only time I really watch it is in the mornings to check the news and the weather, but I could do exactly the same thing if I had a good internet connection. It is also useful as background noise if you're home alone, but save though two instances, there really is very little point for it. I'm going to make that commitment to myself though, to try and cut out televions where-ever possible. I think it is a good move, you really don't need it and it gives you so little. Read on.

AM I OLD
I'm beginning to think more and more about being old, or still being young. How old is old? How young is young? The answer, or course, is all relative to where you're at. Given the number of peers getting married and having children, buying houses and all that jazz, it is only natural to have these sort of questions. I don't think it is wrong that people are doing these things, not at all, but what I do know is that I'm not like that. What do I mean by saying that? Well I know that I am not ready for that sort of lifestyle (although elements would be nice), simply because I know that it would burn me out too quickly. I think that you need to have fun in your twenties, sure you need to be careful with how much fun you have and have an eye on the future, but I can't play happy families for the next 60 years (based on a rough life estimate) with someone/children etc, as I still need to know myself better. That and I need to have fun for a while.

What a selfish point of view. It's true, but what are you going to do about it? Not like me, that's fine, be like that.

RUGBY
It is so nice to be back at Rugby. I had the first contact session of the season on Thursday (not the first of the year for the club, but the first that I've been to) and it was tops. I'm glad I've come to it a bit later this year as I do tend to get burnt out before the season starts and then again in the season (as it is a long year). Still, that first hit is always tops; it keeps you coming back. Let's hope it's another good year.

WORK
I had to work last weekend. I don't know how people do it. I'm so tired I'm useless at the moment, fair dinkum it takes it out of you. Not to mention some of the trials of the actual work.

Well that is enough bull shit for one post. I've other stories, but I think they need to play themselves out a little more. Nice.

CHEER UP ASAKO

YAY

New

I use to laugh a lot about Triple M always playing ‘new music’. You know, AC/DC, Queen, Chuck Berry. Well last night I had a little chuckle to myself as I sat eating an ice cream, listening to Nova play great new music. The song, Kids by MGMT. Great new music. It was released in October, 2008 (when their album was released). As such, it would have been playing about the shop since 2007. When you look at the definition of new, it says:

Having been made or come into being only a short time ago; recent

(Thankyou dictionary.com)

Of course it depends on how liberal you area with this definition. I don’t think that four months is new (if taken purely on release date, not on my assumption of how long it’s been played by MGMT).

Still, I guess Everett Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation is important. I’ve made my own example below of the radio stations running around (I am a bit biased, as you can tell):

So I guess I should clarify this. The real innovators now for music are blogs & my sister (my sisters friends too). This is just my take.

Word.

Things I love Part 2 - I, II, III & IV.

The next in my line of things I love, a few dot points to tide you over:

I. Dan Kelly & the Alpha Males Summer Wino
I was just listening to this yesterday thinking how much I love it. Really says (sings) summer for me; cause its all cool, woo wooo wooo woo. Great song.

II. Mick Dodson - Australian of the Year
Excellent choice. As someone said on 702 today, ‘Someone asked him a question, he told them what he thought. Isn’t this what all Australians should be doing?’ (in relation to changing the day). ALSO, at least he is getting people to think about Australia Day and what it means to be Australian RATHER than what seems to be the vibe of the day at the moment, namely a chance to get drunk and act like a dick in zinc.

III. Levi 502 jeans (even if they now have holes in them)
The first pair of jeans I bothered to learn the name of, because they were so comfortable & my favourites. Ill buy another pair this weekend.

IV. Listening to 2BL 702
It really actually brightens up the morning, it makes me think at the start of each day. The other super good thing is that it is at exactly the same point on the dial as FBi is on the FM band on my radio at work, so all you need to do is flick the AM/FM switch & Bob is your Uncle (your uncle, my father).

There you go. I meant to write posts on all those ideas, but there you go. One big hit.

YUCK

There are some very pretty cars out there. I made of list of race cars that I would like to own the other month, most of them are exceptionally pretty cars (I did include a few because of their historical significance, but all were good looking). But just like anything, there are also some particularly ugly cars out there as well.

Such as the Jeep Compass. I’ve seen a few of these around the traps of late, surely they must be one of the most hideous vehicles on the road. What an ugly car. I’m trying not to vomit. Yuck.

Another car that I find horrible is the Dodge Calibre. YUCK. EERRR, Horrible.

Oh yes, & the Chrysler PT Cruiser. Vomit.

See a common theme. These cars are all made by Chrysler & they’re in the hole. Why? Because they make ugly cars.

HARSH but fair. I don’t like American cars, there have been some good looking ones (Mustang is an obvious example), but dead set, it’s hard to see the attraction to these monstrosities.

Keeping track!

I was just reading the 1000th Issue of Motor Sport & came upon a advertisement from Bonhhams and Goodman for an auction of the Late Hon. John Dawson-Dames Lotus race cars. Dawson-Dames was killed in one of them, a Lotus 63, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed a few years back. The first thought that sprung to my mind was how sad it would be that some of these great cars that were in his collection would be sold off overseas (as obviously, he has been dead a while, so my thoughts were not immediately with him...). Whilst most of the cars have importance to people from all over the world (he had one of Jim Clark's World Championship winning cars), there were a couple that had historical importance in Australia, such as one that Clark and Leo Geoghegan raced in the Tasman Series.

I did jump on line though and saw a note saying that two of the key cars (the two mentioned above) were bought by Australians, which I think is just sensational. One of my favourites though, a Lotus 79, was sold to a Japanese collector.

I think that it is always important to keep hold of your history, or historically important items or belongings. I guess this makes me a bit of a hoarder, but you should always know where you've been in order to know where you're going. I'm just glad that I can see these beautiful cars again, in Australia, in the future.

After reading this, I think ill have to go to Goodwood as well. It is simply a must. Maybe 2010? It must be done!

Dumb

 

There are lots of important statutes and legislations. Then again, there are some pretty stupid ones as well. Just before Christmas the State Government put out tender requests for private enterprise to replace the Manly Jetcat service. Whilst I don't know the full details, I think the invitations went out on something like the 7th of December, they closed on the 24th of December with services due to start on the 5th of January.
This made me realise, yes, there are lots of important statutes and legislations, but they are tapered by a lot of stupid politicians and policy makers.

One other thing I think is a little stupid is facebook. Well, friendship requests in particular. Facebook is a social networking site, designed for you to present information about yourself to friends and peers. Whilst it is social, it is also networking too, something that has always taken place put in a slightly more advanced manner. When you request someone as a friend, it will let you know if that attempt is successful. This is, obviously, an important part of social networking i.e. knowing if you're actually friends with people. I know why they don't do it (probably to save face), but I really think that facebook should tell you when others reject your friendship application, or removes you as a friend (of course it becomes obvious if they don't accept, but still, madness). Isn't this just as important as adding a friend? This isn't a gripe over someone rejecting a friendship request or removing me as a friend, just more of a social oversight that facebook is not managing properly.

Also, I wrote this so I could put up this picture that I took the other day. Isn't it just stellar?!?

Of importance

I was reading an article yesterday on passive aggression. Why? Well it was there to be read, because at the end of a google search is pretty much anything. I realised that I’m passive aggressive. Why? Well one of the characteristics of passive aggressive behaviour, according to Wiki, is procrastination. With the internet always a click away, it is so very easy to log on and procrastinate. I’m doing it right now, what a toxic cycle. Still, I didn’t think it was passive aggressive. I guess Ill have to work on that.

More importantly though, I found a list of the AFI's top 100 actors. Interesting stuff, you had to have made your debut before 1950 to be included on the list. So the question begs to be asked, who would you include post 1950 onto the list? Well there are plenty, but I do believe the one person who would be on EVERY critics list throughout the world would be Rose Byrne. No question about it.

Tops

Come on Aussie

What does it take to become an Australian Hero? Irwin, Bradman, Brock; they all were iconic for slightly different reasons but all demonstrated greatness. David Warner is on the front of the Herald & the Australian today for hitting 89 off 43 balls on Sunday in the twenty-twenty international against South Africa. He is being proclaimed one of the greats, indeed he may well be (it was a remarkable innings, he hasn’t played for his state yet), but dead set, how fickle are we? Duminy hit 78 off 48 balls, which is pretty good as well; Duminy had a great summer as well, but a few sixes and we have the best thing since sliced bread.

This isn’t a Warner bashing, I loved watching him play, but dead set it’s a little over the top (& where is the praise of Tate??? He was amazing).

Photo: Vince Caligiuri Getty from www.watoday.com.au

STARS!

I played a round of golf yesterday at Chatswood with Spik which was good fun, but arguably the highlight was a bit of a star-spotting moment on the first tee with a twist of sorts. An unnamed member of the Waratahs teed off just before Spik and I, but it was interesting for three reasons. Firstly, his girlfriend, or an attractive female companion, was walking the course with him but not playing. Unusual? No. Secondly, they did not have a cart, instead his bag was one of those good ones that you can put on as a back pack to make it easier to carry. Thirdly, he wasn’t carrying his clubs, his girlfriend was. Not sure what the story with that was, but a bit strange.

So alright, the third bit was interesting, so that is my story.

Photo by me... n shit

L-O-V-E love

I know this is a particularly random post to put up, but what the hell, here we go.
I love cars, race cars in particular. They’re my love above and beyond anything else. I seem to get too caught up in other things and ignore that love occasionally, but Ill stop that from now on. Race cars are huge money though, that is in part why I fall away from them occasionally (as its much cheaper to buy an old guitar than an old F5000 race car). But money will come and go, so I thought it best to put down a list of race cars that I’d like to own. Now please take into consideration that in most of these cases these cars will never actually be for sale, as there were only two or three ever built, & even if they were for sale they would be so expenisve you would need to own apple to afford them. But anywho, here we go, Ill limit myself to 5per category (as I’m not selfish). Ill sort them by catagory for ease of comprehension:

Formula 1
Lotus 49
Lotus 79
Eagle Westlake T1G
McLaren MP 4/5
Williams FW17

CanAm/Sportscars
Lola T70
McLaren M8D
Matich SR3
Matich SR4
Ferrari 330 P4

Touring Cars
Pete Geoghegan’s 1965 Ford Mustang
Pete Geoghegan’s 1967 Ford Mustang
Jim Clark’s 1964 Lotus Cortina
Pete Geoghegan’s 1972 Ford Falcon
Frank Gardner’s 1968 Ford Escort

F5000
1974 Lola T-332
McRae GM1

Rally Car
Anything from Group 4, probably a Peugeot 205 Gti

If I could add an extra car in exchange for another, I would have Frank Gardner’s 1967 Ford Falcon Sprint instead of the Williams FW17. I’d probably have a few other touring cars if I could too, an M3 and a Sierra, probably an A9X as well. Oh this is hard. Hard to leave our the 1984 VK Commodore as well… oh dear.
From this list you can probably conclude a few little things:

- My favourite period of race cars was the 1960s/early 70s
- I’m a big fan of Australian Motorsport
- I do like Touring Cars.

The list could go on and on, but that is a nice start. Good fun.

Image from: picasaweb.google.com/.../Ejzrv8TEQkzen0c1AY4i9w

Editorial license

I saw some of this story yesterday on the news, it caught my interest when the nine reporter interviewed a 37 year old grandmother. When reading this article, some points jump off the page as well:

- Family of 17
- A group of her brothers… went hunting for the person they believed responsible
- The teenagers boyfriend… went to help his cousin

I think this is a case of the media presenting this story a little tongue in cheek. Some of these details didn’t need to be included in the article, but they were. I guess it depends on what you quantify as ‘editorial authority’ to report the details of the story, but even so, some of these details are a little damning.

Really though, doesn’t this article make you reflect on some of the social problems that exist within Sydney today. Whilst probably not ghettos, this isn’t a very healthy environment for people to be living in.

Can you believe it's 2009 as well??? Crazy!

Holidays

 

Today is the last day of my holidays, which started on the 15h of December, or three weeks ago. It has really been a lovely little holiday, here are some of the key statistics/highlights:

- Kicking it in Radelaide with Spunks which was grand, super good
- Reading In Cold Blood, Lolita, High Fidelity & Breakfast at Tiffanys
- Playing golf at Millicent, Narracoorte, Glenelg, Turramurra (twice!) & Chatswood
- Jamming with Timmy S
- Listening to Big Joe Williams
- My new camera
- Christmas at home
- NYE at Benny M house at North Sydney, with all the cheekiness there

I think this shows that I'm a one trick pony – my one trick is trying to do everything. So why is that a one trick pony (I can hear you saying, you idiot, you're getting your metaphors mixed up)? I have to do a lot of things at once to keep myself entertained. In this holiday my attention has been completely focused on three different past times, namely reading, playing golf & taking photos. This, as Mum often points out, is a little daft. Something I know too is that what I'm always going to be. I'll always try and do as much as possible, be as many things as possible and just kick it with everyone. As you may have guessed I've decided to try and be more comfortable within my own skin this year. I want to read more, play golf, take photos, so that is what I'll try to do. More more more!

I hope you have a lovely year.


Photo by me