the glaciers

I'm in the midst of a little research and will report my findings back here shortly, but in the meantime I'm going to pop up a link about global warming.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute has started an ad campaign for CO2. What was I just saying about spin-doctors??? I'm not sure if the adverts actually made it onto US telly, but they are on You Tube so they may as well be. The first time I watched the video I thought it was a joke! A skit you see on those comedy shows, but no it seems to be for real.

There are 2 adverts - one that the glaciers aren't melting and one that suggests energy from fossil fuels isn't a problem!

MOFOs!

Funny that today I read a headline in the Age "As evidence of climate change mounts, wild weather patterns pose major challenges and risks for industry"

If its going to effect the economy. . . . .

thank you for smoking

When I hear the word lobbyist I automatically think dodgy. I'm sure there are plenty of organisations or industries who lobby the government for the purposes of good, but the World Wildlife Fund wouldn't be the first thing to spring to mind if someone were to ask what does a lobbyist do??

My first thought is someone who works in the oil, tobacco, gun, or fast food industries – industries with vast amounts of money to throw around to ensure the long-term survival of their business. There's nothing wrong with wanting to make a buck and certainly nothing at all wrong with fighting for something that you have poured your heart and soul into (especially if it has provided you with a very comfortable lifestyle in return). I know I wouldn't let that go without a fight.

Thank You For Smoking is a light-hearted political satire taking a brief glimpse into the life of the number one lobbyist for big tobacco in the US. The money aside, I'm puzzled as to why someone would want such a job? What drives a person to get up there and not just support, but fight for a side that these days is seen as evil. Sure you're morals might need to be a little flexible but to rise to this challenge and come away convincing people your product is not only not bad, but actually might be good and worth buying – “if you can do tobacco you can do anything!”

What impressed me the most about this film was despite the title I didn’t come away feeling that the film was for or against smoking! This was a film about politics not about smoking!

All of that aside at the end of the day they are still spin-doctors, they still have a product that causes harm to people and worst of all they succeed – governments accept their money, people turn a blind eye, the little person loses out, and the fat cats get fatter.

This film wasn’t deep, there was nothing profound, it isn’t going down in history – but its message was clear and simple.

very enjoyable

new job

after weeks (that feel like months) I've landed myself a new job.

and now that I look back it has been exactly 2 months to the day that one of the managers at work asked if I was interested in a job in his department.

The irony doesn't stop there - this morning I attended a training session on the new online recruitment system the university has implemented! It spells the end of paper forms, hand signatures, and internal mail delays - in fact the two week process of getting a job advertised has now been reduced to a mere 48 hours!!!!!

oh my god what am I saying - am I a whinger or what!!! yeah yeah yeah, I got a cool new job today and I'm friggin wrapped!!!

Its the start of a new career and a full time salary!!!

if I ever think of going back to study I'll need to save a butt load more money so I can actually have a life!!

YAY for me :)

crushing

the All Blacks had a crushing defeat last night. South African won 21/20 with a penalty in the dying minutes. devastating!!!

This was the All Blacks final tri nations game for the season and despite already securing the Bledisloe Cup and the Tri Nations cup it would have been nice to go through the season undefeated.

All that aside the game was fantastic, the All Blacks played well with plenty brilliant moments.

The ref was pretty good too - albeit whistle happy! He seemed to read the game pretty well (could have played advantage a little longer sometimes) and explained clearly every call. There was no sneaking anything past him - he knew every little cheat and trick.

I also admire the way he always had the safety of players in mind with several comments of "watch you heads" and he was very particular setting the scrum.

This is one area where I think rugby outshines AFL - the safety and well being of players is not only considered but paramount. Areas of the game that put players at risk are quickly identified and rules put in place to prevent injury. No one likes to see a player stretchered off the field - in contrast the crashing injuries in AFL all seem to be part of the spectacle.

What's more the ref in rugby makes sure it's a clean game - sure certain players might get targeted, but its all above board, none of the off the ball antics you see in AFL. It seems some AFL players are only on the team for their knack at giving the sly punch to the kidneys!!!

OK Go

OK Go's music video for their latest single Here We Go Again is brilliant.

The band have choreographed a routine for the whole song on a series of treadmills.

how do people come up with these sorts of ideas! neat :)

OK Go - Here We Go Again

faith

faith - the biped dog!

this is a pretty tough call, until now Namo (my Mum's guide dog) has held the title for me of worlds most amazing dog - now I think he may have a competitor. A women in the US has a dog with only two hind legs, and she has taught it to hop and walk. You can download the video off her website - so amazing. I watch the video with the sound off tho - she is very churchy and God has given her this miracle. But all that aside I think the positive vibe that she takes from the dog and shares with everyone is a good thing, and if people want to do good things then you wont see me complaining about their method.

as for the contest - after careful consideration Namo wins hands down

Capital City Trail / bike ride

On the weekend Reid and I cycled around the capital city bike trail. It was a beautiful late winter sunny day – 19 degrees, perfect blue sky.

We started at the bike hire shop at Federation Square and followed the Yarra east all the way round through Richmondto Clifton Hill – at which point the trail turns away from the river and heads across the top of the city into the Docklands. The entire trail is on special cycling (or walking), lanes not once on the 32 km trail do you have to ride on the road, which is bloody awesome! In fact I think we must have been about ¾ of the way around before we even had to cross over a road!! I think it is so brilliant in a (relatively) large city there are so many accessible and well maintained cycle paths.

We also got to see quite a beautiful part of Melbourne – most of the places we cycled were away from the main high streets or train stations (the only places we usually get to see) – clean and no graffiti

So now what – we are going to buy our own bikes and check out some of the other cycle trails. Reid said today (21 August) that he was definitely keen to get his own bike and go riding more often – I thought I’d write that down in case I have to come back to it later and “remind” him J

We had a great day! (no mention of sore bums of course)

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I really enjoyed this book, it is such an easy read and sometimes it’s great to be able to sit down for hours and just keep reading.

In this book, I think more so than the others, I was more aware of the easy escape – because this is a story about magic any tight corners in the plot are easily eluded with the flick of a wand or the all knowing stroke of a wise old beard.

I also thought the book focused a little too much on Harry, with not enough development of some the minor characters. Now admittedly, Harry’s journey was well drawn out, suspense and tension were developed quite well, all with a nice little twist at the end. Of course you could argue that the book is called HARRY POTTER and the Half Blood Price.

Overall, nice read, quite exciting, doesn’t leave much work for the screenwriter.

casting off

I've finally finished my scarf - after a quick check back it looks like I started knitting on 16 July - so it has taken a whole month!!!



I tired to alternate the rows between plain and pearl - however on more than one occasion I knitted two plain rows together, so I've inadvertanly created a small pattern.
However, when it came to finishing the patter in the final few rows I mucked it up again! DOH! nevermind, I'll just wear that end facing inwards!

lauhging stock

looks like intelligent design's (formally creationism) stint in Kansas is almost over. The recent state school board elections saw two new pro-evolution members join its ranks; now the majority of board members are pro-evolution.

according to a brief story in new scientist:

"the people of Kansas are tired of being the laughing stock of not just the nation, but the world"

bad timing???

Is this another "what is the world coming to" incident, or is it just a matter of bad timing.

A flight from London to Washington DC was diverted to Boston (escorted by fighter jets) overnight. Apparently a woman on board caused some sort of disturbance, it has been reported that she was claustrophobic and had some sort of panic attack. According the BBC a spokesperson from the Boston FBI said

"This isn't just an 'I want another drink kind of thing,' it was a disruption that caused them to divert the plane"

The news article also says that

Reports the woman was carrying a screwdriver and a note referring to al-Qaeda have been denied.

This is quite a specific claim - a screwdriver and a note from al-Qaeda, where did this claim come from??? Sounds very much like a bad case of Chinese whispers!!

I bet passengers cause disturbances on planes all the time - until now the only time it was reported in the media was when the culprit was a rock star.

Lets keep our fingers crossed this was just a bad case of nerves, by everyone involved.

Spare a thought for all those who work in the air every day, those charged with making our journey as comfortable as possible. It’s a trying time for airlines at the moment, threats of terrorism and high fuel costs are hurting the industry, I bet that means the salaries of cabin crew don’t reflect the increased risk (imagined or otherwise) of flying at this time.

what's going on

Reid has been onto me to keep up with my blog, but I've not been up to much so don’t really have much to write about. Since it doesn't look like much is going to change in the not to distant future I thought I'd just note down a few less interesting things - bit of an insight into the every musing of moi!

Yesterday I had really bad gas, not the farting kind but my belly was really full of air and I blew up like a balloon!! It was really uncomfortable!! I don't know what caused, I guess it was something I ate, Reid thinks it might be stress. I guess it could be - I'm a bit worried about this new job opportunity that is coming up at work, not that I don't think I can do the job, but I might have to move from my great office with great people to a new office on the absolute other side of campus. People don't like change - better the devil you know . . . Anyway, Reid looked up on the net for treatments for gas and found that it is caused by swallowing air.

I've started a nine week short course on yoga. Yoga is brilliant, I think the best way to describe how yoga makes me feel is to think about waking up on Saturday morning nice and early, you're really comfortable in bed and nice and warm, you look at the clock and don't need to get out of bed for at least another half an hour so you can lie there in the cosy warm and stretch and yawn. Bliss!

A friend of Reid's is turning 30 in a couple of weeks and is having a 70s funk/disco theme party. Last weekend Reid and I went and had a look around the shops for an outfit. I don't really know what I should wear - lots of bright colours I guess. We didn't find anything so we went and sat outside the state library in the sun, it was a great day, I think winter might be over early this year.

Next month we're doing the around the bay bike ride with a bunch of people from my work. We aren't actually riding around the whole bay, we're just doing the short 42km ride. We'll make a day of it, take a picnic. The full ride around the bay is over 200kms - man my bum would hurt if I did that ride - I haven't been on a bike for years.

get happy

http://www.gethappy.com/watchmore.html

the circle of life!! this is a great little short film about desire, drive, and ambition, and the trade off with happiness and self esteem! superbly filmed and great simple cinematic techniques to portray emotion.

definitely fresh :)

the blind assassin

I've just finished reading Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin.

The Blind Assassin won the Booker Prize in 2000, and as much as I hate to admit it, was the reason that I bought the book in the first place. According to the prize website

"The Man Booker Prize for Fiction represents the very best in contemporary fiction. One of the world’s most prestigious awards, and one of incomparable influence, it continues to be the pinnacle of ambition for every fiction writer."

So, my expectations were pretty high. The only other Booker Prize winning book that I've read is Yann Martel's Life of Pi, which I really enjoyed.

The Blind Assassin contains three stories based on the lives of Iris and Laura Chase. Now in her 80's Iris lives in small town Canada and begins to write her memoirs, reflecting on life as the daughter of the town’s wealthy businessman. The book opens with the death of Laura Chase in a terrible traffic accident, two years later Iris publishes Laura's book - The Blind Assassin, which is received with critical acclaim making Laura and instant and enduring star. This secondary story tells of two unnamed lovers who meet in secret in dingy rooms in the unsavoury parts of town. He writes stories for trashy science fiction magazines and recites these stories for her (yet another story inside a story). Chapters of the book alternate between Iris' recollection of her youth and Laura's The Blind Assassin. The third story is intermingled with Iris' memoirs, giving the reader an insight into Iris' life now, in her twilight years.

As the three stories come together at the end of the book there is a twist - unfortunately, this twist is quite obvious throughout the book, and ultimately means that Iris' memoirs are empty and bland. To avoid exposing the twist none of the excitement of Iris' youth is revealed (Hughes, 2002) - unfortunately this left me feeling no empathy towards the young Iris, who seemed banal and indifferent to the world around her. For example, her much beloved sister is mysteriously whisked away on account of her mental instability to some distant institution - Iris barely reacts to this news aside from the occasional worried thought, she seems incapable of tracking her sister down or finding out what is really wrong with her. Again, when her father dies while she is on her honeymoon her husband keeps this information from her until their return - at which time she barely batters an eyelid that she wasn't informed or that she missed the funeral - she just takes the news with little reaction. On several occasions Iris mentions that she just prefers to spend her time wandering aimlessly and has no interest in being involved in any activity or interacting with anyone. In comparison the lovers in the alternate story are intensely passionate, and desperately needing each other, and we really get the chance to experience their highs and lows – unlike Iris who is unfulfilling.

I’m not sure how the story could have been told differently, without the twist, but I am sure that it could have been much more exciting. Often when I finish reading a book I feel a sense of loss that I wont be peering into the lives of the characters any more – when I finished this book I had no such feeling for Iris, I wasn’t sad to see her go at all.

I must admit, at the end once the twist had been revealed and Iris opened up I did have a good cry – so she must have done something right!?!?

Did it deserve the prize?? Surely in all of 2000 there must have been a better book!

(Hughes, 2002 http://www.geocities.com/fantasticreviews/blind_assassin.htm)

current events

I’ve not said very much on this blog about current or news worthy events what I think of them.

The current crisis in the Middle East is revolving around Israel and Hezbollah – according to Wikipedia it is Operation Truthful Promise (Hezbollah) and Operation Change of Direction (Israel).

What do I think about this? Not sure really, mainly because I’m not really sure I have enough information about the conflict to make an informed opinion.

There is a large Lebanese community in Australia and therefore the focus of news bulletins here is the Israel Armed Forces v the Lebanese people . . . . often the only mention of Hezbollah is in the brief opening headline. So I don’t really feel that I know what is going on, although many Australians have fled Lebanon.

Obviously, I’m non-violent so as a matter of principle don’t support armed conflict and think it should be avoided at all cost. In which case I support calls for an immediate ceasefire (listen to me, you’d think I was talking directly with Condoleezza Rice). On the other hand, old George Dubya thinks the conflict should continue until a suitable resolution has been reached. (To be honest I’m not exactly sure how that works, do you just keep killing civilians until one side calls for mercy??) Anyway, what I am wondering about his opinion on the current crisis is – how does it fit in with the greater Middle Eastern Conflict? As time goes by I’m getting the feeling that the US aren’t bothering to try and disguise their intentions any more. With the Iraq war we were feed the “WMD” argument, now it’s about terrorism, democracy, and freedom (and the American way). Can the US really claim that they are trying to create democracy around the globe, and to do this they need to eliminate those who stand against democracy – terrorists – and expect that the rest of us will just sit back and say “well thank goodness someone has that under control”??

How long will it be before the US just comes out and says, “yeah, look, the price is getting a bit high at the bowser. . . . so if we just antagonise a little over here, and inflame a little over there, that ought to bring the prices down”

People often ask how different the world would be if Al Gore or John Kerry had become president of the US, I wonder if we should be asking how different would the world be if everyone decided to use public transport???

Then there would be the added bonus of reduced greenhouse gas emissions!!!

All Blacks 13 - 9 Australia

Its been a while since I have been passionate about rugby, I didn't really follow the game much while I was living in London . . . but this year I'm back into it. Reid and I watched a few games of the Super 14 and have watched most of the All Blacks games this season. It has been so exciting and last nights game against Australia was no exception, a closely fought battle for the Bledisloe cup, NZ coming out on top 13 points to 9. Part way through the second half Carter kicked a drop goal and I thought what a waste, if they'd kept on running they might have scored . . . . but on the other hand if they hadn't scored then it would have been 10-9 for the closing minutes just when desperation kicked in for Australia and MAN was it tense!

Anyways - here are the results from All Blacks games so far this season:

New Zealand v Ireland 34-23
New Zealand v Ireland 27-17
New Zealand v Argentina 25-19

New Zealand v Australia 32-12
New Zealand v South Africa 35-17
New Zealand v Australia 13-9

Oh yeah, and how about that Haka - apparently the new Haka has been causing quite a stir here in Oz. Although since I live in Victoria and don't want much free to air telly I've missed all the controversy. Apparently the Aussies aren't that keen on the throat cutting action. I must admit it does look pretty intimidating, but last night the Wallabys didn't even watch the Haka they started up a mini training session off field - chickens!

Sione's Wedding

Generally when the characters are teens its a coming of age film, and when the characters are older its a romantic comedy. Sione's wedding is sort of a combination of both - the characters are all older but as yet haven't faced the time-to-grow-up-meet-a-girl-and-fall-in-love moment . . . . until it is now forced upon them.

Even though the story was pretty predictable it was still really enjoyable to watch. There was plenty of emotional turmoil, comedy, and originality to set the movie apart from other films in both genres. You could say it was something that hadn't been done before, it was almost unique!!

Making the whole experience even better was watching the film at a cinema with other New Zealanders - although I didn't know anyone else (except Reid of course) it was great to laugh along with others at all those things distinctly Kiwi.

I was also impressed with the cinematography - particularly in the opening scene, flying over Auckland city. I did wonder what time of day they filmed that scene because there was very little traffic on the roads or perhaps the traffic crisis in Auckland is just a myth!

google earth

how cool is this, I can see my Mum and Dad's house in lil old Dunedin, NZ on Google Earth!!!

Its clear as a bell, in fact because everything is so open and spacious it is easier to work out their place than my place in Melbourne, Australia

My Dad will be pleased to know that the shed the old farmer has built across the road sticks out like a sore thumb from outta space, but makes a great landmark in google earth.

Pirates

Went to see Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Mans Chest, last night

It was pretty good - funny, definitely entertaining, aesthetically pleasing.

I loved the first one - curse of the black pearl. I think the character of Captain Jack Sparrow is so entertaining and Johnny Depp plays the part superbly.

There's not much to say about this film, its not new anymore - so some of the impact of the first film is lost, and the story is very simple - typical themes of humour, courage, and trust.

I think Orlando Bloom is made for the stage, I've never really been a fan of his style

disillusioned

I have always been a fan of Macintosh computers and Apple products. They look great, and the software is awesome.

However. . . . .

I have a Mac Mini, one of the first off the blocks, and it was shipped without the airport card - many an hour wasted trying to work out why it wouldn't work!

I also have an iPod mini - 18 months in it just stopped working - $95 later I have a reconditioned iPod with a 3 month warranty under the battery replacement program.

Now Reid's iPod photo has crapped its pants - also about 18 months old. It doesn't seem to be a problem with the battery, and it is making some strange noises. Reid is pretty pissed that now he has a $600 shiny white brick and wont be replacing it with another iPod.

One of my gripes about studying was my laptop was too heavy and carting it back and forth to uni was a hassle, so I was going to buy a new MacBook. Of course now that the study is on hold I don't really need a new laptop, but the MacBooks are full of problems - the white ones are turning yellow, the mag safe power cord is catching on fire, and they overheat so much that you can't sit them on your lap.

I am sure there are several websites like it, but apple defects outlines a multitude of problems with Apple products.


In my mind Apple is slowly turning into crapple! bummer :(

post masters

so post masters life has begun already!!

On the weekend I bought a book - to read just for fun!! The Blind Assassin, by Margaret Atwood - so far so good, and very well written!

I also picked up some new wool and have started knitting a scarf!! Old lady much?? Still its fun to make things for yourself!

Anyway - here is a pick of progress after day one.



Its great to do things, even boring things, and not feel guilty that I'm not studying! I would spend my weekends moping around procrastinating doing anything to avoid studying and now I can do what ever I want and not feel bad about it!!!

WOOHOO :)

study

I think I have decided to chuck in my masters. DOH!

I’ve been at it now for just over a year, and looking back I’m not sure I remember enjoying any of it. My course is research only so I spend a lot of time on my own. I’m not really sure what I expected from my supervisor and in fact I’m not really sure what support a supervisor is supposed to provide. I didn’t meet with him very often and most meetings he was late or had to wrap it up early, he never really gave me feedback on any work I gave to him, except “yep this is good”. Even though I found my topic interesting, I was never really passionate about it so I guess I didn’t really put in much effort either.

After I finished university the first time I lived in London and I never really thought of pursuing psychology as a career – I just wanted to have fun and not be tied to my job. All care – no responsibility!

Then when it came time to start my post grad study I didn’t really give much thought to what I wanted to do – I had always wanted to study neuropsychology so I rocked up to the nearest neuropsychologist at Melbourne University and said where do I start. My first and fatal mistake!

I’m not saying I’ve giving up on further study altogether, at the right time and with the right subject I’m sure I’ll get back into it – political science is looking interesting, particularly environmental or maybe even health policy – although I definitely no politician!!

work

I’ve had a bit of turmoil at work recently. My boss has been “reassigned” and since I am a PA that has quite an impact on my job. Unfortunately, since this has all happened there has been plenty if activity on the grapevine and what I had managed to ignore for the most part now is front and centre in my mind. I’ve always thought of my boss as a real salesman, and I’ve certainly had the hard sell from him before, he seems to be able to talk his way out of or into anything and he knows all the buzzwords. But in general he has been really good to me and we have a pretty good working relationship.

On the down side I’ve often thought he was a bit of a slacker, he spends more time mucking around on the internet than I do, he never seems to take responsibility for anything, avoids confrontation like the plague, and takes advantage of all the perks of a business credit card.

Until now I’ve nicely managed to ignore all of this and turn a blind eye, however, ye olde grapevine has revealed many greater evils than extended lunches and suspiciously high mobile phone charges. Individually, any one of these things can be ignored, but when you put them all together it exposes a rather nasty person who is only out for himself. Now every time he opens his mouth I wonder how calculated his words are, I’m sure he only tells me what he thinks I want to hear or what will make him sound good. It becomes a problem when you can’t take your boss seriously any more.

we're free

HOORAY!!

Earlier in the year Reid and I bought 10 movie vouchers from the Entertainment Book for Hoyts cinemas. Unfortunately, the only Hoyts we can get to without a major co-ordinated public transport effort, is at Melbourne Central and they only show the major Hollywood blockbusters/flops.

Anyways the vouchers expired at the end of June so we had a last minute scramble to use the last of them. Recently we have seen:

X-Men 3 - the last stand. Good, not as good as the first one, but pretty damn good special effects!
Cars - amazing special effects and a nice harmless story.
Over the Hedge - it was short so I didn't have time to get bored, nice harmless story.
Superman Returns - again, good special effects, nice harmless story. Superman is quite long and I was entertained throughout, I didn't think there were any low points of significant length to make me realise my bum was sore. I also thought they did really well building tension - I oood and arhhhed in all the right places.

Now of course Pirates of the Caribbean is out this Thursday so I guess its another Hollywood film up next - hopefully soon we'll see something a bit more arty!!

what do you call a . . . .

All over the newspaper today is the story of the long agonising demise of the Channel 9 television network.

Now I'm no comedian, but I'm sure there is someone out there who could make a reasonably funny joke in the form of: what happens when you cross a cash cow with an arsehole

I'm sure there is something funny in there.

Like too many big businesses Channel 9, hasn't prepared for the huge sweeping changes in technology. Almost every part of my life has been affected by new technologies in the past 5 years. I left sunny Dunedin with my brand new 35mm point and shoot in mid 2001, I remember oooing and aarrhing at the few digital cameras, smirking at the strange habits of a digital camera operator (holding the camera at arms length to take the photo their peering into the tiny little screen, "yep that was a good one!"). Six months later, I was the odd one out, everyone had digital. In 2002 I was introduced to the iPod, now I have all my music in my pocket. Laptops have gone from small and portable, up to huge powerful desktop replacements and back to small and portable again. Mobile phones got smaller and smaller, then briefly bigger, turned into clamshells, and now smaller again. And these are just the ordinary everyday gadgets that everyone has, not to mention the DVD replacement is nearly here (GO BLU RAY!!), and 3rd gen gaming is on our doorstep.

The same changes are happening in our lounge rooms, people are looking to different sources for the supply of their entertainment. There seems to be no limit to the amount and content of entertainment now readily available via the internet, and none of this is high tech either, you don't need to be computer whiz to download music videos, songs, TV shows, and movies. Plus, all the mini versions - video podcasts, mobisodes, tardisodes, and miniscreen film festivals. And did I read somewhere that wikipedia has encyclopaedia shaking in its boots???

What has Channel 9 been doing all this time?? . . . . . looks to me like nothing. In fact I think they may have even been fighting to try and keep things the same, watching as their viewers left in droves. As much as I think old Bert can be a pretty funny fellow it really was a step backwards, and perhaps the nail in the coffin, to pit Family Feud against Deal or No Deal. Enough with the “return to the good old days”, stop asking what the formula says to do now – try doing something NEW. The crowd is hushed, what’s this?? Something NEW they say?? It will never work!!!

Channel 9 isn’t the only big company with change phobia, many businesses have such a good thing going that they don't want to change. Some more than others are fighting hard too keep the status quo, American oil companies for one. Others have joined the revolution too late (Kodak) and others have finally tried to pick up their game (I can't believe I'm typing this but McDonalds at least at face value have tried to recapture some of their lost market - but who really knows what is in their food, if someone could make a salad unhealthy they are the ideal candidate. Even Coke-a-Cola took a hit with the health drink fad.

Not to mention, my favourite, Microsoft - every which way they turn someone is clawing away at their dominance. What have we seen that's new from Microsoft recently??? And don't tell me Vista is coming - so is Christmas! and Christmas really will be here first!

Let’s not forget the arse part of my joke. Seems a very disgruntled ex - senior Channel 9 employee has diligently kept detailed accounts of juicy conversations with the top dogs. Then when Channel 9 tried to stop him from defecting to rival Channel 7 this employee whipped out of his pocket all the dirt he had meticulously collected over the recent months for the court and public to see. Before Channel 9 could blink crikey.com had dutifully posted as much of this dirt as they could!! Unfortunately, the court has now suppressed the information so all of us who where too slow to pick it up first time round will have to wait.

Disclaimer: disgruntled employee often translates into vindictive employee, so this post claims no responsibility for the accuracy of said dirt!

What’s the moral of this story? Watch out because the cow just might bite you in the arse, and then you’ll have a big cow bite out of your arse, and that wont be good because it might make sitting down awkward, and people will probably look at you funny, and jeans will never look the same on you again. . . . . . .

no seriously though - what are we paying for?

The Da Vinci Code - the movie

DISAPPOINTING! What a shame, I really loved the book, it was so exciting, a real page-turner. None of the suspense, action, thrill, or anticipation from the book was translated onto the screen. I’m sure there are cinematic techniques for building suspense just as there are literary techniques, even just the use of timing. For someone who was just about to expose the greatest story ever told as a lie, Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) certainly didn’t seem very excited – you wouldn’t think he had a passion for symbols or was a world-renowned iconologist from one of the worlds leading academic institutions! If that was me I’d be peeing my pants with excitement – despite the fact that I was also running for my life. I really didn’t feel that Robert Langdon and Sophia Neveu grasped the enormity of their situation.

Today it has a rating of 18% on rotten tomatoes. Out of 150 reviews, 123 are rotten - 4.6 out of 10

Mission Impossible III

Went to see MI-III last week . . . . . should have written this blog closer to the time cos now I can’t really remember much about the film, although I couldn’t really remember much about the next day either. I guess that says something about how I felt about it.

It wasn’t all bad the explosions, special effects, stunts, and gadgets were cool, and Tom Cruise wasn’t dreadful - I was entertained at the time, and I didn’t really expect thing more, its an action film and fulfilled most of the requirements of an action.

The Great Southern Touring Route

Over 8 days Mum, Dad, Grandma, Reid and I travelled from Melbourne down the Great Ocean Road, through to the Grampians and back to Melbourne.

Now the weather is renowned for being unpredictable in Melbourne, but after holidaying in here in May 2004 with beautiful weather my Mum and Dad had no qualms returning to Melbourne at the same time this year. It is a big ask of someone from far south Dunedin to travel in Australia in the height of summer with the risk that the mercury could top 30 degrees. Unfortunately, we were lucky if the temperature reached 15 degrees during the entire trip, and it did rain on most days.

That said if the weather had been beautiful and calm we would never have had some of the fantastic experiences we did. The highlight of the trip would have to be watching the tide come in at Loch Ard Gorge (particularly at Thunder Cave) – along the coast of the Great Ocean Road. The Loch Ard sunk just off the coast of Port Campbell and was Australia’s worst maritime disaster, 54 of the 52 people on board the ship drowned. The coastline around the 12 Apostles is very fragile and is said to erode at a rate of 2cm per year, I think we would have seen a good proportion of this erosion occurring on the day we were there. The sea swells were huge and massive waves were crashing against the cliff face. My best guess is that the cliffs would be at least 50 meters tall, and very regularly a wave would crash into the cliff sending a wall of water well over the height of the cliff. In some of the bays the water was becoming brown as waves washed away layers of the cliff, on one occasion a wave sent water over the cliff top and as water then ran off a stream of brown sludge poured back down into the sea.

Just briefly, other highlights from the trip would have to be

Seeing a koala stop traffic as it wondered out onto and eventually across the road

Feeding the cockatoos at our villa in Apollo Bay

The Otway fly (in pouring rain)

Triplet Falls

The rainforest walk at Maits Rest – which has the biggest (tall and wide) trees I have ever seen, including the Hobbit tree (if you use your imagination you can definitely see a door on the front of this tree AND the tree trunk is hollow!!!! (I peaked inside)


Cape Otway lighthouse (in gale force winds)

The 12 Apostles (where I heard an Asian tourist say “excuse me, mate” in a very board accent – try saying it out load in your best generic Asian accent – sounds hilarious)

The tide coming in at Loch Ard Gorge and eroding the cliffs before our eyes!


An emu stealing a woman’s lunch

Recovery of the Grampians National Park after the January bush fires





Lake Lonsdale – or as it is known to the locals, Lonsdale Paddocks

Walking/climbing/clambering to the top of Mt Zero and watching the rain shower pass over us (the getting wet part was less fun, but unavoidable)

Sunset at Reid Lookout

Having wildlife all around, including kangaroos in the back yard or hopping down the street in front of our villa. Although kangaroos and emus running onto the road in front of the car was quite worrying, but a highlight nonetheless . . . I guess


Other points of interest
National Rose Gardens at Werribee Mansion

The house on a stick

The Ladies of Lorne (the have names I’m sure but I didn’t write it down, so from now on will be called the Ladies of Lorne, by me anyway)

The Beehive Falls

McKenzie Falls

Wildlife of the creepy kind

View from the Balconies

And of course spending time with my family ☺ (ah, isn’t that nice) this trip was for Mum and Dad’s 30th wedding anniversary.

Australia and NEW ZEALAND Army Corps

As a New Zealander living in Australia I understand as well as any that Australian’s are fiercely proud of being Australian and of the sacrifices made by those gone before to secure the future freedom of this nation. However, today at the ANZAC day dawn service, in Melbourne, amid talk of commandery, mateship, and sacrifice not once was the contribution of the New Zealand soldiers acknowledged. In fact, not once were the words New Zealand uttered. I was saddened that the respect shown to the Australian soldiers was not afforded to their New Zealand comrades.

It seems in this case we have forgotten.

the curious incident of the dog in the night-time

I’ve just finished reading the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon.
It is a really great book, well written and constructed and an amazing insight. The story is written from the perspective of a 15-year-old autistic boy, Christopher. He has never mastered the ability to understanding the minds of others, although he does recognise that he can’t understand people and most colloquialisms of language.

Christopher discovers his neighbour’s dog has been murdered and decides to investigate. His investigation leads to a series of discoveries about his mother and father that send Christopher on a journey to places he has never dared to go, yet are places most of us take for granted.

The book is so well written you would believe the narrative is coming straight from the mind of an autistic boy. Mark Haddon gives the reader the ability to see the world from a perspective that is hard to imagine, and with such simplicity and clarity. The book is so moving, your heart goes out to Christopher in every dilemma he faces.

33 & 1/3

Reid and I went to 33 & 1/3 on Saturday night and had a blast. As per usual Reid was glued to the dance floor while I roamed around looking for poor suckers who would listen to me blather on endlessly! Uberzone and A-Skillz were definitely the highlights! I have never seen anyone play the drums like the dude from Uberzone and A Skillz had incredible energy right throughout his two hour set – the hits just kept on coming ☺

It's great to have a blow out every now and then

Dinners

Reid and I LOVE good food! Especially when someone else cooks it for us and it is accompanied by good wine. So every two or three months we shout ourselves to a dinner at the fancy restaurant. The entertainment book is our good food guide to Melbourne, a quick flick through the fine dining section usually leads us to a great restaurant. However, this time we strayed from the book. Magic City is our local fancy restaurant, and although it isn’t in the Entertainment Book it is in the Age Good Food Guide, it reviews well on the internet, and is gets good reports via word of mouth – plus it looks really nice and has a great wine list.

Unfortunately, after months of anticipation we were quite disappointed. Our entrée’s were well presented, but a bit cold and certainly not a taste sensation, and the mains were quite ordinary. I had a pork dish, and apart from being doused in ginger and Chinese five spice (my least favourite flavours) it was very chewy and over cooked. It certainly dampened the conversation since I had to spend five minutes chewing every mouthful. Reid had a noodle dish, which he thought was no better than the $10 takeaway noodles from the neighbouring noodle bar! The service was pretty good – although they did forget to bring us our first drinks.

Bummer.

Doubt

Last Saturday I scored 2 free tickets to the opening night of Doubt, at the Playhouse theatre at the Arts Centre. The head teacher at a Catholic school suspected the priest of foul play with one of the vulnerable young lads. The theme of doubt was introduced throughout the investigation of her suspicions and the difficulty tackling such issues when all you have is that feeling in the pit of your stomach that drives you to make the toughest of choices.

The play was set in the Bronx – and the Australian cast did a reasonable job of the accents. Overall it was entertaining and thought provoking and we had a good time!

Aeon Flux

Two no brainer movies in as many days!! Have just come home from seeing Aeon Flux, staring Charlize Theron.

There isn't really much to say about this film - it followed the time honoured Hollywood tradition: good guy/girl, bad guy, love interest, solve the mystery, save the day!

Nothing very much happened, and I don't really know the comic books so I'm not sure if they stayed true to the originals, so can't really comment there. There wasn't very much character development either - but do you really need that in an action film?? How much did we really know about John McClane in Die Hard?? With a running time of only 93 minutes there wasn't really anytime for deep and meaningfuls.

The film was set in 2417ish. Many years earlier most of the population of the world was wiped out by a virus, and the few survivors now live in a big bubble. Over many years an underground group of rebels gather strength and numbers and begin to challenge the long reigning leadership. Aeon Flux is their greatest weapon and is sent on a mission to challange the ruler. The mission quickly unfolds and a the delivery of a few key lines neatly explains 100s of years of back story.

Charlize Theron played a good action character . . . like a true professional

That's about it - I was moderately entertained and it did look quite good - so it gets a pass.

the opening ceremony

Went to the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games last weekend.

What was that all about????

Dunno!!!!!

Looked good though :) So I guess if it was a movie it would get a pass cos it was highly visually stimulating.

But seriously - I didn't have a clue what was going on, but it was still and awesome night and it felt great being in the crowd at the MCG. The key point for me was the poem read by the little boy - if I had been paying attention when he was reading it, instead of turning my little flashing light on and off maybe I would have understood what on earth was going on! But those little flashing lights did look good when they were all on and you really can't go past the fireworks! They were spectacular!

All round great night and I'm really pleased that I went :)

Karl Pilkington

I've been listening to the Ricky Gervais Show podcast - so funny, I love it!!
(www.rickygervais.com)

Anyways, at one stage Karl Pilkington made a comment that your head can only hold so much information, back when Adam and Eve were knocking about there was no history, and they didn’t have much to remember.

Now, I wonder if he might have made a good point. There is quite a lot to remember these days and you could be forgiven for forgetting some things – even if they are history-making, world changing events.

South Dakota has just passed a law banning abortions (although they still have the death penalty - no executions since 1976). Exceptions will be made if the pregnancy places the women's life at risk.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4780522.stm

No exceptions will be made if conception occurs as the result of incest or rape. When the bill was first proposed risk to the health of the mother was not an exception – which it was pre 1973.

Maybe because there is so much to remember these days the decisions made in 1973 and the reasons for them have been bumped from our collective consciousness for something more recent?? There is a lot going on these days!!

The timing of this new law coincides with a slight change in the balance of the US Supreme Court towards a more conservative approach. Obviously, abortion is still a controversial topic today, 33 years after the Roe v Wade decision, and admittedly there has never been a time when everyone was on side, but is this a decision that should really be made by the State??

I don't necessarily agree with the current situation where we could liken having an abortion to popping down to the GP to have an ugly wart removed from your thumb. It is a serious decision, not one that should be taken lightly and I don’t really think it should be a procedure that can be used to avoid facing the consequences of your actions.

On the other hand, there are many compelling reasons not to bring a child into this world – rape and incest aside, AIDS and poverty are two examples pretty high on my list, and this choice should be a women’s to make.

3D Chicken Little

I’ve not seen a 3D film at the cinema before so off I trundled to see the 10am, Sunday morning 3D screening of Chicken Little. I must admit I was a bit disappointed, which is strange because I wasn’t really expecting much of a story or anything original. I was hoping for loads of objects leaping off the screen at me so I could duck out of the way, but there was none of that – the film was just in 3D – I don’t think it would have looked very different seeing it as a normal film. Aside from the disappointment with the lack of 3D action the film gets a pass. The story was harmless, there was the occasional laugh (not the out loud kind – just the in your head ha ha ha kind). I was entertained, or at least I must have been because I wasn’t restless in my seat, and it did look good – none of that fancy animation that everyone raves about tho – no special water effects or shaggy Shrek hair. Final word – I wouldn’t recommend anyone rush out and see it at the cinema, if you’ve got kids just get the normal version on DVD.

Movies

I’ve decided to use my blog to keep a record of all the movies I go and see, for now only the ones I see at the cinema. Down the track I often find I can’t remember what I thought of a film and I’m pretty sure if my opinion about a certain topic changes drastically I’ll probably subconsciously change my thoughts about the film. Plus, I often wonder how many films I’ve seen in a year, particularly around Oscar time. I remember when I saw Crash when it first came out in Australia I thought it was great, I was entertained, it was thought provoking. Despite some critics reviews saying there was just too much coincidence in the film, I thought it’s just a movie, the director was presenting modern perceptions on the age old racism saga – the more the merrier I say! The matrix of connections between the characters was a simple and effective way of making the point in the space of a feature length film. Anyways, when Crash was nominated for (and won) best picture at this year’s Oscars, I was a little surprised . . . . . it had been so long since I had seen the film it had lost much its impact, I had only just seen Brokeback Mountain and it was receiving a lot of media attention so it was fresh in my mind. I, like many others assumed Brokeback Mountain would win best picture. Hence the decision to keep a record my thoughts about the films I’ve seen.

I think it is virtually impossible to compare, for example, an action with an art house film – films are either good or bad – rotten or fresh. I generally think films can be rated on three qualities: entertaining, thought provoking, and visually stimulating. A high enough score on one characteristic can earn a film a pass. For example, War of the Worlds (the Spielberg version) was mildly entertaining, and highly visually stimulating – so it gets a pass – but only just – that crappy Spielberg ending with son turning up safe and sound very nearly dropped it below the line. So until I think up another quality to rate films on each film will get an overall pass or fail and a score on each of the three qualities.

Right, that sounds pretty clear – should be simple.

on the train

so just quickly so I don't sound like a whinger.

Travelling on the train really isn't the most fun part of my day. I'm not a morning person and after work I just want to get home, and we all know how you sorta enter that bubble when you are on public transport - you become less aware that there are other people around - this has its advantages, it helps you block out weirdos and smelly people, but its not so good at blocking out jerks.

This morning when I hope on the train with my boyfriend (Reid) we had to stand (as per usual), and there was this guy leaning on one of the poles. So Reid, trying to be the gentleman, kindly asks this guy if he could move a little so I could hold onto the pole and he says "its holding me up" HUH??

. . . . . its holding me up??? what is that??? MOVE THE HELL OVER YOU JERK!

Of course Reid cracks it! How about the guy standing in the middle who has to steedy himself by holding onto the roof of the train???

Now, what’s the big deal stop whinging about silly little things? Really my point is why are people so inconsiderate of others, when we got on the train and the guy noticed we didn't have anything to hold onto why didn't he just move over out of courtesy, and then when we politely asked him to shimmy over a little he said NO! Rude arse!

just to finish - usually when I am travelling on my own I don't say anything, I just twister myself around to I can get a tiny grip on the pole with my finger tips and I always thought how can people be so unaware of their surroundings not to notice that I'm practically wrapped around them - well, maybe they do know that I'm there and they don't care. Its times like these I wish I believed in karma!

Commonwealth Games

So the organisers of the Commonwealth Games here in Australia have decided not to play God Save the Queen at the opening ceremony, even though the Queen will be there . . . . grrrr

This morning on the news there was an interview with a republican - of course they thought it was great the organisers had canned the anthem - why? - well, because the Games are an Australian sporting event - why in the world would they want to play the English national anthem??? Furthermore, the lovely young interviewee doubted that New Zealand or Canada would be complaining that their national anthem wasn't being played at the ceremony.

So I wanna know how New Zealand and Canada feel about competing in an Australian sporting event???

Only in Australia would anyone suggest that the Commonwealth games were an Australian sporting event. I'm calling it "so-busy-loving-myself-I-didn't-notice-the-rest-of-the-world-was-out-there" syndrome. It seems that everyone here suffers from this syndrome just enough to be really annoying. There is only so much "how great am I" "how great are we" "we are such winners" you can take!

Of course it is very UN-Australia to say things like this, and as an Australian resident, but not an Australian citizen it is considered inappropriate for me to say such things - if I don't want to embrace the Australian way, then I should, well, go home.
Of course, I'm the first person to say if you move to another country you should assimilate - and I do my best to immerse myself in the culture of any country I live in. I spent two years in England drinking as much beer as I could at every occasion I could - lunchtimes, Mondays after work etc - I complained religiously about the lousy weather like every good Brit should. (Not to mention that the reason I could stay in England and have all these great times was because I'm from New Zealand and am apart of the commonwealth, and they have this deal . . . . . anyway that’s all beside the point.)

As a new resident in Australia I'm doing all the right things - but when I don't agree with something - what can I say? I can voice my opinion - sure, but now there's a good chance I'll be considered un-Australian and asked to leave.

Now I hear - what’s the big deal - silly little blog that no one reads - who cares what you say on it??? But where is the line?? How far can I go?

As a resident do I have any rights?? Have I lost my freedom of speech because I'm not a citizen?? I pay taxes . .. . . lots of them . . . . I contribute my share, but because I don't vote, I don't get a say???

I wonder if people like me were at the forefront of Mr Costello's mind when he was preparing his speech last week about migrants adopting Australian values. Loving your country is a priority for every Australian, more importantly, you should be bold and brash about your love. Well, I'm neither bold nor brash and I only have so much love to give.

Should I pack my bags?