Pulling in to the end of another week and it hasn’t exactly been a particularly noteworthy one, it has to be said. Work continues to take up way too much of the time I would rather be spending elsewhere, but at least this week I had a few projects that kept me reasonably busy.
The warm glow from Collingwood’s win last Friday night has only just started to wear off and is now being replaced by the apprehension over Saturday’s match against the West Coast Eagles. Will the boys be able to get themselves up again after their mighty effort last week?
As I was writing that last paragraph I was reminded of a word that has inexplicably crept into the English language – at least in my part of the world. At first I thought it was just my kids then I thought it was just the kids who went to my kids’ school. Now I realise it has grown to parents as well.
My wife and I do our best to correct out 3 young children whenever we hear them misuse words. The prime examples of this is when they say “should of”, “could of” and “would of” instead of “should have”, “could have” and “would have”.
But the word I’m talking about here is “verse”. I thought it was only children who would say something like “who are we versing next week, Dad?” To which I would invariably correct them with: “Do you want to know who you are playing?” Recently though, we received an email from the manager of my 8 year olds soccer team who informed us that the team would be versing the Seagulls this weekend.
Versing?!?
Where was I when the word versus was bastardized into a verb? Is this how languages develop? Someone hears a word that sounds similar to a completely different word and decides to misuse it, whereupon someone else picks it up thinks, yep, that sounds right and misuses it too until one day it becomes part of the acceptable lexicon.
It remains to be seen though. I will totally eat my words if the Under 9s get out this week and recite Keats to the Seagulls.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Monday Sports Rant
It seems to me the Australian cricket team have been just a touch complacent in the First Test against the West Indies in Jamaica. Admittedly, because of the time differences I haven’t seen a heck of a lot of the game, but what I have seen included some very ordinary bowling apart from Stuart Clark and then a dismal batting performance that had Australia at 4/17. Not a lot of value appeared to be placed on each wicket. Is this the curse that 20/20 cricket will place on Test cricket? Thank goodness for Andrew Symonds and his face saving innings of 79 in a total of 167. At least he has managed to ensure that the bowlers have a score that can be defended.
On to Aussie Rules and I’m going to go on record to say I don’t rate North Melbourne at all. In fact, I think the majority of their players are talentless jokes who wouldn’t get a game at a real club. The fact that they are in the top 8 (and ahead of Collingwood) lower s the tone of the entire competition.
I remember the good ole days when crap teams were given a good hiding and sent packing. These days it seems whenever a good side comes up against North Melbourne (aka, a crap side) North seems to have the ability to force the opposition down to their rubbish standards. They’ve done it against Collingwood, they eked out a draw against Sydney and now they’ve lulled a win out of the Western Bulldogs.
Enough’s enough! For the good of the game, give North the 100 point hiding they deserve and send them to the cellar where they belong.
On to Aussie Rules and I’m going to go on record to say I don’t rate North Melbourne at all. In fact, I think the majority of their players are talentless jokes who wouldn’t get a game at a real club. The fact that they are in the top 8 (and ahead of Collingwood) lower s the tone of the entire competition.
I remember the good ole days when crap teams were given a good hiding and sent packing. These days it seems whenever a good side comes up against North Melbourne (aka, a crap side) North seems to have the ability to force the opposition down to their rubbish standards. They’ve done it against Collingwood, they eked out a draw against Sydney and now they’ve lulled a win out of the Western Bulldogs.
Enough’s enough! For the good of the game, give North the 100 point hiding they deserve and send them to the cellar where they belong.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Lewis Roberts-Thompson Is A Clown
School fete today. We had to go...I mean, you have to don't you? Soccer first, boys lost, one was close the other wasn't - usual story. Then we ducked into the school to see how things were going. As it turned out, not a lot. We've got to back up yesterday. One of my sons is in the band, dance and choir and all three are performing at various times during the day.
It's been a big day of celebration for me though. The Mighty Magpies flogged Geelong last night and I loved every minute of it. I loved it so much I watched the replay after midnight too! Collingwood played like a team possessed and showed the rest of the competition that Geelong are beatable. Not only are they beatable, they're floggable. Very exciting stuff!
The Sydney Swans followed up their good win over Essendon with a hard fought victory of Port Power in Adelaide. Very lucky escape from that game for the Sydney boys today. Happy to see them get up of course but they looked a little shaky.
And I've got to go on record to say that Lewis Roberts-Thompson is quite possibly the worst player in the AFL. The guy has absolutely no idea what to do with the ball when he gets it in his hands. You might as well put a red nose and floppy shoes on him and let him run around as the half-time entertainment it's so obvious the guy's a CLOWN. The most bitter pill for the majority of players playing AFL at the moment is that this sorry excuse for a footballer has got a premiership medal in his trophy cabinet and they haven't. You can see that his team-mates even think twice before they pass the ball to him.
It's been a big day of celebration for me though. The Mighty Magpies flogged Geelong last night and I loved every minute of it. I loved it so much I watched the replay after midnight too! Collingwood played like a team possessed and showed the rest of the competition that Geelong are beatable. Not only are they beatable, they're floggable. Very exciting stuff!
The Sydney Swans followed up their good win over Essendon with a hard fought victory of Port Power in Adelaide. Very lucky escape from that game for the Sydney boys today. Happy to see them get up of course but they looked a little shaky.
And I've got to go on record to say that Lewis Roberts-Thompson is quite possibly the worst player in the AFL. The guy has absolutely no idea what to do with the ball when he gets it in his hands. You might as well put a red nose and floppy shoes on him and let him run around as the half-time entertainment it's so obvious the guy's a CLOWN. The most bitter pill for the majority of players playing AFL at the moment is that this sorry excuse for a footballer has got a premiership medal in his trophy cabinet and they haven't. You can see that his team-mates even think twice before they pass the ball to him.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Recovery Mode
Well, it’s all over. After 12 years and 3 kids we have decided that we would quit the weekly swim training. Now that all of our children are reasonably strong swimmers we have decided that rather than go through the weekly arguments about whether or not they should go we’ve decided to pull the pin. This now leaves Tuesday evenings blessedly free –the only night of the week we won’t be running hither and yon. Bet that won’t last.
I’m in recovery mode after running in the half marathon over the weekend. My goal was to break 90 minutes which I managed to achieve, so cue the theme to “Rocky” for me. It’s an interesting experience to be setting myself goals that, in the past I would have reached without having to try too hard. It’s all about the aging process and these days it’s a lot more important to manage the recovery process a little more closely. Anyway, I’ve had a couple of days rest and the body’s raring to go again.
I’m in recovery mode after running in the half marathon over the weekend. My goal was to break 90 minutes which I managed to achieve, so cue the theme to “Rocky” for me. It’s an interesting experience to be setting myself goals that, in the past I would have reached without having to try too hard. It’s all about the aging process and these days it’s a lot more important to manage the recovery process a little more closely. Anyway, I’ve had a couple of days rest and the body’s raring to go again.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Cool on Saturday
Another Saturday means another day of soccer for the boys. As sometimes happens we had a scheduling clash with the first game starting at 8:00 and the second at 9:30. The clash came with team photos which coincided with one of the games. You've got to expect these things. A win and a loss led to mixed celebrations at home. You don't want to enthuse too much when the other team has done pretty poorly. It's all got to be reasonably tempered.
By the way, I'm a happy Collingwood supporter today after the Magpies downed St Kilda in a a hard fought match at the Telstra Dome, eventually getting up by 9 points. Not as comfortable as I had hoped or expected but a win's a win and we can move on with a 50% record after 8 rounds.
Weather forecast for tomorrow has been promising cold and wet conditions for the day, not particularly pleasant for running but at least we won't be overheating. We'll see what the new day brings for tomorrow's half marathon.
By the way, I'm a happy Collingwood supporter today after the Magpies downed St Kilda in a a hard fought match at the Telstra Dome, eventually getting up by 9 points. Not as comfortable as I had hoped or expected but a win's a win and we can move on with a 50% record after 8 rounds.
Weather forecast for tomorrow has been promising cold and wet conditions for the day, not particularly pleasant for running but at least we won't be overheating. We'll see what the new day brings for tomorrow's half marathon.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Grinding to the End of The Week
I missed checking in yesterday but with the day proving to be particularly blah I figured I had nothing else to add. As it turned out I was kept pretty busy last night chasing backlinks for a few of my sites so I figured I’d let it slide for a day.
With another day down we’re almost into the weekend and a hint of freedom from work for a few days. That seems to be the way of it lately. Nothing at work is inspiring me enough to hold my attention so I’m spending the days counting down the hours until I can get out of there. With a little bit of luck something vaguely challenging will show up and drag me out of this funk.
On to brighter news and Collingwood are playing St Kilda tonight. It should be an easy win for Collingwood but I’m a little apprehensive about this match. Collingwood have gone into games as favourites a couple of times this year, looked good for the majority of the match and then had the other team run over the top of them in the last quarter. They simply haven’t looked as solid as they were the last couple of years. Anthony Rocca’s missed a couple of games and Josh Fraser was injured in the Legends match, I would expect the Pies to be too strong…surely.
With another day down we’re almost into the weekend and a hint of freedom from work for a few days. That seems to be the way of it lately. Nothing at work is inspiring me enough to hold my attention so I’m spending the days counting down the hours until I can get out of there. With a little bit of luck something vaguely challenging will show up and drag me out of this funk.
On to brighter news and Collingwood are playing St Kilda tonight. It should be an easy win for Collingwood but I’m a little apprehensive about this match. Collingwood have gone into games as favourites a couple of times this year, looked good for the majority of the match and then had the other team run over the top of them in the last quarter. They simply haven’t looked as solid as they were the last couple of years. Anthony Rocca’s missed a couple of games and Josh Fraser was injured in the Legends match, I would expect the Pies to be too strong…surely.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Post Federal Budget
Another beautiful day in Sydney town today makes you appreciate this time of year in this part of the world, with the bright sunny days overseeing cool, comfortable temperatures.
Today Australia awoke and began digesting the Federal Budget that was handed down by the Rudd government, their first. Predictably the Liberals poured shit all over it and made themselves look like the incompetent brainless pricks that the rest of Australia voted on a few months ago.
The Budget looks like it’s taking a decent stab at helping the lower wage earners while hitting the rich a little harder, and so it should. Tax cuts, means testing of the baby bonus and an increase in the Medicare Levy Surcharge were the main points.
But the part of the Budget I want to talk about is the money set aside to combat climate change. What a complete disappointment! Australia has some of the greatest potential renewable energy sources in the world with solar, wind, geothermal and wave power available for the taking. Instead, the government seems content to ignore the prospects of these clean technologies and continue to pour money into the polluting coal-based power.
The government has announced $2.3billion in climate change measures, but these amount to funding changes such as introducing a standard 1-watt power limit on appliances on standby, $500 million for scientists to develop a low-emission car, $13.3 million on research into how a trading emission scheme will affect industries.
But here’s the real kick in the teeth for the solar, wind and geothermal industries in Australia. $500 million has been set aside for a “National Clean Coal Fund” to reduce the emissions from Australia’s coal industry. To which I can only throw up my hands and say, You fucking idiot politicians, there is NO SUCH THING AS CLEAN COAL!!! The only way we can clean the coal industry is by developing major renewable energy projects that will generate power to replace power created by dirty, filthy coal burning power plants. Clean coal is a concept devised by the coal industry to save their sorry asses. It's about as believable as the cigarette industry telling us that smoking doesn't cause lung cancer!
Unfortunately, when it comes to the climate, I fear Australia is still a third world nation. What kills me is that $150 million is being budgeted so that Australia can help other countries in the region prepare for and tackle their climate challenges. Our government’s demonstrating that they’ve got no idea how to address climate change and then they’ve got the gall to suggest they’ve got the goods to advise others!
Look, let's put this in perspective, while the Australian government are kowtowing to the coal industry and trying to convince us that clean coal is a viable climate control option, the US government thorugh the US Department of Energy have announced that by 2030, 20% of the country's energy needs can be handled by wind power.
Today Australia awoke and began digesting the Federal Budget that was handed down by the Rudd government, their first. Predictably the Liberals poured shit all over it and made themselves look like the incompetent brainless pricks that the rest of Australia voted on a few months ago.
The Budget looks like it’s taking a decent stab at helping the lower wage earners while hitting the rich a little harder, and so it should. Tax cuts, means testing of the baby bonus and an increase in the Medicare Levy Surcharge were the main points.
But the part of the Budget I want to talk about is the money set aside to combat climate change. What a complete disappointment! Australia has some of the greatest potential renewable energy sources in the world with solar, wind, geothermal and wave power available for the taking. Instead, the government seems content to ignore the prospects of these clean technologies and continue to pour money into the polluting coal-based power.
The government has announced $2.3billion in climate change measures, but these amount to funding changes such as introducing a standard 1-watt power limit on appliances on standby, $500 million for scientists to develop a low-emission car, $13.3 million on research into how a trading emission scheme will affect industries.
But here’s the real kick in the teeth for the solar, wind and geothermal industries in Australia. $500 million has been set aside for a “National Clean Coal Fund” to reduce the emissions from Australia’s coal industry. To which I can only throw up my hands and say, You fucking idiot politicians, there is NO SUCH THING AS CLEAN COAL!!! The only way we can clean the coal industry is by developing major renewable energy projects that will generate power to replace power created by dirty, filthy coal burning power plants. Clean coal is a concept devised by the coal industry to save their sorry asses. It's about as believable as the cigarette industry telling us that smoking doesn't cause lung cancer!
Unfortunately, when it comes to the climate, I fear Australia is still a third world nation. What kills me is that $150 million is being budgeted so that Australia can help other countries in the region prepare for and tackle their climate challenges. Our government’s demonstrating that they’ve got no idea how to address climate change and then they’ve got the gall to suggest they’ve got the goods to advise others!
Look, let's put this in perspective, while the Australian government are kowtowing to the coal industry and trying to convince us that clean coal is a viable climate control option, the US government thorugh the US Department of Energy have announced that by 2030, 20% of the country's energy needs can be handled by wind power.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Autumn Illness
We're barely any distance into the colder months of the year and already two of my three children have picked up colds. For some reason, and I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but the moment they show signs of a sore throat or a runny nose they seem to become very affectionate. It's almost as if they have an instinct for passing the cold on. Anyway, nothing too serious this morning, off they went to school without a complaint.
The day was passing along fairly quietly until about 2:30 when we got the call from school - one of the kids was sick. Working in the city meant it was going to take an hour or so to get home. This meant that school would be over by the time I got there to pick my son up. He couldn't go to After School Care so after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing it was decided he would stay at school until I got there. (Personally I don't know what the dilemma was, it's not as if they were going to turf him out or anything). So for the second week in a row the boys got to miss their swim training, much to their delight.
Funnily enough, after the insistence that we get to the school as soon as possible, by the time I got there, my son was starting to feel better. By the time we arrived home, he was keen to have a kick of the soccer ball. Not impressed.
We've now begun the pool deck, although at this stage it amounts to a whole bunch of holes in the ground as the footings are prepared. Once the ground has been sufficiently broken we'll be able to actually see some progress.
* * *
The day was passing along fairly quietly until about 2:30 when we got the call from school - one of the kids was sick. Working in the city meant it was going to take an hour or so to get home. This meant that school would be over by the time I got there to pick my son up. He couldn't go to After School Care so after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing it was decided he would stay at school until I got there. (Personally I don't know what the dilemma was, it's not as if they were going to turf him out or anything). So for the second week in a row the boys got to miss their swim training, much to their delight.
Funnily enough, after the insistence that we get to the school as soon as possible, by the time I got there, my son was starting to feel better. By the time we arrived home, he was keen to have a kick of the soccer ball. Not impressed.
* * *
We've now begun the pool deck, although at this stage it amounts to a whole bunch of holes in the ground as the footings are prepared. Once the ground has been sufficiently broken we'll be able to actually see some progress.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Of Late Trains
Not a great start to the week with City Rail up to its old tricks again. The train before mine was running late this morning, not that any City Rail employee was going to let us know. It was already 5 minutes overdue when someone finally decided to play the recorded message announcing that the train was running 6 minutes late. This was already after the time that MY train was supposed to have arrived. Naturally, they were keeping quiet on when exactly that train was going to get there.
After it finally arrived they added another twist by throwing in a couple of unscheduled stopes at Banksia and Arncliffe stations. They didn't tell us why and no-one got on or off seeing as the train wasn't supposed to stop there in the first place. Thanks to City Rail's arse-about way of reporting lateness, this will be one of those situations where the trains were not "technically" late.
After it finally arrived they added another twist by throwing in a couple of unscheduled stopes at Banksia and Arncliffe stations. They didn't tell us why and no-one got on or off seeing as the train wasn't supposed to stop there in the first place. Thanks to City Rail's arse-about way of reporting lateness, this will be one of those situations where the trains were not "technically" late.
* * *
It was a good day for a run again today. May weather continues to provide the most superb conditions for running in Sydney. Cool and sunny ensures that you're comfortable pretty much from the first kilometre to the last. It inspires me to get out and enjoy the conditions as often as I can. 10k today just sailed by.
* * *
I noticed on the news tonight that tornadoes have ripped a huge path of devastation across Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. The images showed massive damage with whole neighborhoods completely obliterated. The sobering news came at the end of the report when we were reminded that this is only the very beginning of tornado season and it's very possible that more will follow. add to that the terrible scenes from Burma and the death toll as a result of the recent cyclone and it hits home just how much power Mother Nature can wield at times.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Mother's Day 2008 Blah
As is traditional at our house we do not celebrate Mother’s Day (or Father’s Day for that matter). We sneer at the saps who have been conned by the retailing industry into forking out even more money on gifts. So if you’re a believer, consider yourself sneered at. My opinion of you just went down a notch…ya sap!
* * *
I washed both the cars today. It must have been around, oh I don’t know, 6 months since I last pulled the chamois out and cleaned off the road grime. I’m not what you might call car proud, but they both desperately needed the spruce up. There are now a host of spiders that are homeless thanks to my hard work.
* * *
My weekend run was next on the agenda today. I started at just after 10:30 which is around 4 hours later than when I would normally start, but I needed the sleep in and with perfect autumn running weather at the moment, the conditions were absolutely perfect for a nice long run.
* * *
Back at home and with lunch out of the way, it was time to finish cleaning up the massive pile of palm fronds that were still lying around after yesterday’s epic battle. I stuffed as many as I could into the garden waste recycling bin before I realised that the more practical solution was to pull out the shredder and put the rest of them through. Two garbage bins worth of mulch was the result and that has been spread under the mandarin tree. Pretty silly really, I spent a helluva long time chopping up palm fronds when I could have just shoved them through the shredder and been done with it.
* * *
This left just enough time to spend about an hour kicking the soccer ball around with the kids in the front yard. Although I’ve got to say, the energy levels were pretty much flagging by late afternoon. A quick tidy up in the backyard was necessary though because the deck guy comes tomorrow to begin work on a brand new pool deck.
I washed both the cars today. It must have been around, oh I don’t know, 6 months since I last pulled the chamois out and cleaned off the road grime. I’m not what you might call car proud, but they both desperately needed the spruce up. There are now a host of spiders that are homeless thanks to my hard work.
My weekend run was next on the agenda today. I started at just after 10:30 which is around 4 hours later than when I would normally start, but I needed the sleep in and with perfect autumn running weather at the moment, the conditions were absolutely perfect for a nice long run.
Back at home and with lunch out of the way, it was time to finish cleaning up the massive pile of palm fronds that were still lying around after yesterday’s epic battle. I stuffed as many as I could into the garden waste recycling bin before I realised that the more practical solution was to pull out the shredder and put the rest of them through. Two garbage bins worth of mulch was the result and that has been spread under the mandarin tree. Pretty silly really, I spent a helluva long time chopping up palm fronds when I could have just shoved them through the shredder and been done with it.
This left just enough time to spend about an hour kicking the soccer ball around with the kids in the front yard. Although I’ve got to say, the energy levels were pretty much flagging by late afternoon. A quick tidy up in the backyard was necessary though because the deck guy comes tomorrow to begin work on a brand new pool deck.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
The Saturday Blah
Heard today that Jack Gibson died, aged 79. Another reminder that time waits for no-one. Apparently he’d been battling Alzheimer’s for the past few years. He was a terrific football coach but always for teams I despised (Eastern Suburbs and Parramatta) so I never really appreciated him.
* * *
The boys had their soccer matches today, today being Saturday and all. As usual the Under 11’s struggled, although it didn’t look too bad at half-time with the kids only down 3-0. Then the floodgates opened and it got pretty ugly finishing 9 or 10 – nil. We’re getting used to the floggings now.
The Under 9’s continue to improve and were looking for a 3rd win on the trot. They had to be content wit ha 4-all draw, which I though was an appropriate result for a hotly contested match. Good viewing all round.
Came home to some yard-work to round the afternoon off. Attacked a fan palm which had grown a tad rampant behind the garage. Bloody thing was well armed with it’s ample supply of thorns and put up a commendable rearguard battle. But in the end it was no match for me, my pruning saw and extension secateurs.
The Under 9’s continue to improve and were looking for a 3rd win on the trot. They had to be content wit ha 4-all draw, which I though was an appropriate result for a hotly contested match. Good viewing all round.
Came home to some yard-work to round the afternoon off. Attacked a fan palm which had grown a tad rampant behind the garage. Bloody thing was well armed with it’s ample supply of thorns and put up a commendable rearguard battle. But in the end it was no match for me, my pruning saw and extension secateurs.
* * *
No AFL last night or in the afternoon today because the Victoria v Dream Team match to celebrate 150 years of AFL football is on this weekend. It’s a bit hard to take, only one meaningless match all weekend. I’m sure I’ll get by.
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