Archive for June, 2004

Dennis Kyne

Remember the Highway of Death back in the first Gulf War. Dennis Kyne is a Desert Storm veteran. He has a website with some photos and commentary. He claims that low-yield nuclear weapons were used in 1991. Although gruesome, photos like this should be seen in newspapers every single day so people can see the true face of war.

A week of beer and takeaway

A job is a good thing. It allows us to feed and clothe ourselves. It lets us be entertained, pig out, get drunk and save for the future. The one thing jobs are bad for is holidays. Only 4 weeks a year for me. I happen to be married to a teacher. She gets 12 weeks a year - 3 times the amount I do. Shit! I’d reckon that around one-third of those 12 weeks is taken up preparing new lessons or marking essays/exams. The other 8 are genuine holidays. Seeing as the good lady effectively gets twice the time off as I do, every now and again she buggers off for a week or so to see her friends (and my family) in Brisbane. For the next 10 days I intend upon briefly returning to my former self. A weekend sloth.

The scene is set. I went around the corner to Movie Reel and got 12 episodes of Star Trek Voyager (6.13 - 7.5 for all the trekkies) I’ve been slowly getting through the series since early 2000. Nextdoor to the video shop was an Indian Restaurant. Takeaway Lamb Pasanda w/Basmati Rice please! Yum. Woops, almost forgot the beer. 24 stubbies of Carlton Draught please! Thank You. I don’t have any commitments until Monday morning, when I have to put the bins out and then go to work. Yee Haa!

On the subject of Voyager, Jeri Ryan, who plays the character of Seven, has been involved in a sex scandal that is crerating waves in US politics. Her husband, a banker who was running for the US senate as a Republican, has dropped out of the race for a senate seat in Illinois. He’s accused of getting Jeri Ryan to “engage in sexual activity in front of other patrons” inside sex clubs. This is the only time you’ll ever see me typing like a gossip columnist.

Ranter

Never before have I been bothered to write a letter to the editor of a newspaper. But the other night I had a few bevvies and got hot under the collar at reports about local Collingwood/Fitzroy residents getting upset at Kooris drinking beer and yahooing on Smith Street in downtown Collingwood. I fired up Mozilla Thunderbird and sent a little piece of my mind to The Age. I didn’t think it’d get published as I was half cut when I wrote it. I opened this mornings paper and there it was (titled Black and White). It’s no big deal, but it’s a first for me and I’m a little chuffed about it.

It’s all in the name

Some names translate badly into other languages. Take this name for instance.Chew shit fun.

What would Tim Blair say?

Fahrenheit 9/11 is looking like it is going to do well according to this news item.

Send out a search party

Vivisimo is a search engine that I have not heard of before. It ‘clusters’ your search results into categories in a sidebar on the left of the screen. Different.

Sunday bloody Sunday

Bloody hell! My footy team couldn’t kick it’s way out of a wet cardboard box judging by last night’s performance.

Anyway, today was a Sunday of arty fartyness. The good lady and I walked into the city and saw a photographic exhibition at the Victorian Arts Centre. It was an exhibition of Australian actors in Hollywood. Even though all things Hollywood are definitely not my cup of tea, I found the exhibition interesting enough.

A 3 minute walk down the street was the NGV and an exhibition of French graphic arts from 1880s to the 1950s. That was a little more interesting for me. The Picasso drawings are pretty striking. If you’re in Melbourne or planning a visit, pop in and have a gander.

On the walk home I took the Mrs. to my favourite galleries. The laneways of Melbourne. One particular laneway (Rutledge Lane - behind The Forum Theatre) is suffering from stencil overload at the moment. Click for larger images.

Information overload

Google this, google that. Everyone’s pants are in a knot over these 1 gigabyte G-Mail accounts. What’s the fuss about? I have 200 gigabytes of space on my hard drive - most of which I won’t use before I get a new computer in 4 or 5 years time (and in 2008 I’ll probably have 3 or 4 terabytes of space to play with). So when someone sends an email to me with content that I want to keep, I’ll store it on my own computer. Why should I store it online? Why do I need another email account? There’s plenty of space on modern computers. Honestly, 1 gigabyte isn’t that big these days. Hype.

Having said that, I forgot about the other 5.8 billion people on the planet who don’t happen to have their own computers. They might find it handy.

Ahh, root it. I’m starting to confuse myself. Enjoy a googlefight anyway.

A better me

Recently, on bluishorange, I stumbled across a link to a page on the betterme.org website. On this page there is a checklist of 100 possible “incompletions.” And just what is an incompletion? According to the blurb, incompletions are “those physical, emotional or mental items, which are in some way not resolved in the current moment. Incompletions of any kind drain energy.” Yep, it’s another pesky self-help quiz. Just like the ones I find in the dogeared copies of the magazines my wife brings home from work (or the dentist’s waiting room). Here’s some of the more odd “incompletions” that this quiz asks you to tick off.

“I back up my hard drive at least monthly.” How the hell is the contents of C drive going to make you more complete?

“Nothing in my environment harms me.” Fat chance, unless you live at least 1000km from the nearest city. Even then you’re not safe from harmful substances.

“My computer works very well and fully supports my efforts.” For fricksake, forget about the bloody computer!

“I drink at least 2 liters of water a day.” Does Cottee’s Coola flavoured cordial count?

“My nails are healthy and look good.” Oh. Off to the manicurist at Northcote Plaza (the one with the 80’s mullet and giant fringe).

“I am in relationship with people who can assist in my career/professional development..” Network, network, network.

As far as I’m concerned, if you want inner peace (or completion) just have a shower when you stink, eat when your hungry, drink when you’re thirsty, treat everyone in the way they deserve to be treated, don’t speak shit, do your best not to act like a shit and when things get tough, just say “Ah, I don’t give a shit!”

Yeah, I am cynical beyond my 31 years. But I fail to see how spending several thousand dollars per year on a life-coach and backing up C drive onto a DVD is going to make life more complete.

Eat maccas and die

Tonight I went to see Super Size Me. Unless your head’s been in the sand for the last month or so, you’d know it is a documentary made by Morgan Spurlock. He ate McDonalds for a month to see what effect it would have on his body. I can recommend the film highly. Spurlock also keeps a blog, detailing his hectic life post-release. If you snoop around the archives in late May you’ll see photos of Spurlock with Bert Newton, Merrick and Rosso and the like. Very amusing. It’s interesting to note that before the movie started, there were no less than 4 advertisements for Coca-Cola.

How to chase the flu away

If you feel a flu coming on, don’t worry about Grandma’s remedy that usually involves lemon juice and honey with hot water. I seem to have chased away my impending illness by flooding my system with Jameson Irish Whiskey.

White van drivers have all the fun

Too prove the point made in the above title, just look at image number 13 on BBC’s picture gallery of this Venus bull dust. Crikey! If someone blocks my sun at the beach I throw sand in their eyes. Why should Venus be let off any easier? (thanks to Marky Mark for providing the link in the comments section of the previous post - get a weblog Mark)