We’re up to the second half of the month of September and we all know what that means don’t we? That’s right, footy finals and to be more specific, AFL footy finals time.
The Grand Final combatants have been decided and Geelong are going to try to make it two in a row when they take on Hawthorn. I’m very pleased to point out that in our local tipping comp at the start of the season we were ask to nominate our two grand finalists and I picked them both. What I probably shouldn’t point out but will in the spirit of full disclosure is that the majority of tipsters also picked Geelong and Hawthorn as their Grand Finalists.
So after 22 rounds of AFL football this year plus 3 weeks of finals, we’ve reached the point that most people knew we’d be at half a year ago.
Each year you sort of get a feel for the teams that look as though they are building up to becoming forces in coming years. Hawthorn gave this impression way back when they were plumbing 12th – 14 places on the ladder. This year I reckon that team is Richmond. They were a little unlucky to miss the 8 and appear to have a team of young, talented footballers who are starting to display the ability they have only hinted at in previous years. It will all depend on how they fare during this year’s draft.
Apart from that little prediction I won’t do anything so crass as to give my own rating on each team’s performance during the year. All I will say is that I have enjoyed the way both Geelong and Hawthorn have gone about their games, both of them are highly entertaining teams that make the ground admission price more than worthwhile, which is more than I can say for some of the teams who made the final 8. The crowds during the final series reflected that, I think.
Tip for the grand final on Saturday is Geelong. (Surprise, surprise)
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
The Fathers Day Con
Today is Fathers Day here in Australia and there’s at least one positive thing that I have to say about the day. The wind and rain, that looked yesterday as though it had set in for the entire weekend, has given way to a beautiful clear day today.
As you may have picked up, my family and I don’t do Fathers Day. At least, my wife and I and our 3 kids don’t do Fathers Day. There are others in our extended family who insist on celebrating it with a family do. Now that’s all well and good for some, others not so much and quite frankly the fewer times I get put through the wringer that constitutes some of our dysfunctional family get togethers each year, the better.
To start things off Fathers Day and Mothers Day…and Valentines Day for that matter, are simply marketing ploys perpetrated by retail executives whose job it is to take as much of our money as they can. And there are any number of suckers out there. Surely you’ve noticed the number of hardware ads before Fathers Day, the jewelry store ads before Mothers Day and florist ads before Valentines Day. Retailers experience a lovely little spike in sales at strategically placed points throughout the year.
It’s not a coincidence that Valentines Day sits nicely between Christmas and Easter, Mothers Day sits between Easter and the mid-year sales (or clearance if you’re a brainwashed DJ’s devotee) and Fathers Day falls between mid-year sales and Christmas. Now they’re hanging guilt trips on those who don’t splash out the big bucks just because you splashed out some sperm.
So if you’re one of the suckers who have fallen for the commercial cons of Fathers Day, Mothers Day and Valentines Day, you seriously deserve everything you get. I mean it. You have been had and the retailers are laughing all the way to the bank.
As you may have picked up, my family and I don’t do Fathers Day. At least, my wife and I and our 3 kids don’t do Fathers Day. There are others in our extended family who insist on celebrating it with a family do. Now that’s all well and good for some, others not so much and quite frankly the fewer times I get put through the wringer that constitutes some of our dysfunctional family get togethers each year, the better.
To start things off Fathers Day and Mothers Day…and Valentines Day for that matter, are simply marketing ploys perpetrated by retail executives whose job it is to take as much of our money as they can. And there are any number of suckers out there. Surely you’ve noticed the number of hardware ads before Fathers Day, the jewelry store ads before Mothers Day and florist ads before Valentines Day. Retailers experience a lovely little spike in sales at strategically placed points throughout the year.
It’s not a coincidence that Valentines Day sits nicely between Christmas and Easter, Mothers Day sits between Easter and the mid-year sales (or clearance if you’re a brainwashed DJ’s devotee) and Fathers Day falls between mid-year sales and Christmas. Now they’re hanging guilt trips on those who don’t splash out the big bucks just because you splashed out some sperm.
So if you’re one of the suckers who have fallen for the commercial cons of Fathers Day, Mothers Day and Valentines Day, you seriously deserve everything you get. I mean it. You have been had and the retailers are laughing all the way to the bank.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Scam of Domain Renewal Group
It was bound to happen I suppose. I own quite a few paid domains, sites that I maintain on an irregular basis. Anyway, one of them will be up for renewal at the end of January. I was a tad surprised to find a letter in the mail yesterday from a domain register company.
When I opened it, the stench of SCAM pervaded out of the envelop and across my senses. The company was Domain Renewal Group and they offer to allow you to transfer your domain registration to them for a price that is more than 4 times higher than the cost of a regular domain registration.
Checking on Google and you can see that many others have twigged to the underhanded tactics used by Domain Renewal Group. Some of the posts about the company suggest that their shadiness extends beyond the overinflated prices they offer as specials.
I'll tell you what though, they win the prize for the smallest fine print I have ever squinted over.
Steer clear of Domain Renewal Group.
When I opened it, the stench of SCAM pervaded out of the envelop and across my senses. The company was Domain Renewal Group and they offer to allow you to transfer your domain registration to them for a price that is more than 4 times higher than the cost of a regular domain registration.
Checking on Google and you can see that many others have twigged to the underhanded tactics used by Domain Renewal Group. Some of the posts about the company suggest that their shadiness extends beyond the overinflated prices they offer as specials.
I'll tell you what though, they win the prize for the smallest fine print I have ever squinted over.
Steer clear of Domain Renewal Group.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Holiday Destinations
We’ve slipped into September with the realisation that there’s only 4 more weeks until the October school holidays are upon us. This will mark 2 years since our last major family holiday away together when we went to Airlie Beach and had a wonderful time. That’s too long to go without a holiday.
There’s not really enough time to organise a holiday for October but there are definitely some stirrings to make some plans sooner rather than later, possibly during the April holidays. So we’ve got a few options that we have already tossed around for consideration with more, I’m sure, to come before the end of the year.
The Gold Coast holiday has been done to death by our family and even though it’s jam-packed with things for the kids to do such as Movie World, Dream World, Wet ‘n’ Wild, Sea World and the beach we’re looking elsewhere for out holiday choice.
Top of our list at this point is Cairns. With options into the Great Barrier Reef on one side and trips out into the Daintree Forest on the other there’s a lot to like about the area. It’s one of the parts of the country that you tend to hear a lot about and looks as though it provides plenty to see and do. I’m not too sure about the kid-friendliness of the place, although I’m sure that as with all tourist destinations they will be well provided for.
Another place I have never been to but am keen to visit is Darwin. Australia’s Top End is holding an increasing allure to me and I’d like to get the chance to get up there and experience the true Australian Outback. With the possibility of touring Kakadu and Arnhem Land I would love to spend a week experiencing a part of the country that is unlike anything I’m used to. The Darwin / Northern Territory holiday strikes me as more of a strenuous, adventure type holiday and one that you would take with older children. So perhaps a holiday to Darwin will have to be saved for another 3 or 4 years.
The final idea we’ve had is a trip to New Zealand’s south island. Every bit of footage I have seen of the south island landscape has been absolutely stunning, so in terms of breathtaking scenery we would be set. It would be the kid’s first trip outside of Australia, so it would be a good learning experience for them. It’s also close enough so that travelling won’t be especially tiring.
I don’t really know a great deal about New Zealand’s south island so I will be doing some study to learn about places to stay, things to do and sights to see.
There’s not really enough time to organise a holiday for October but there are definitely some stirrings to make some plans sooner rather than later, possibly during the April holidays. So we’ve got a few options that we have already tossed around for consideration with more, I’m sure, to come before the end of the year.
The Gold Coast holiday has been done to death by our family and even though it’s jam-packed with things for the kids to do such as Movie World, Dream World, Wet ‘n’ Wild, Sea World and the beach we’re looking elsewhere for out holiday choice.
Top of our list at this point is Cairns. With options into the Great Barrier Reef on one side and trips out into the Daintree Forest on the other there’s a lot to like about the area. It’s one of the parts of the country that you tend to hear a lot about and looks as though it provides plenty to see and do. I’m not too sure about the kid-friendliness of the place, although I’m sure that as with all tourist destinations they will be well provided for.
Another place I have never been to but am keen to visit is Darwin. Australia’s Top End is holding an increasing allure to me and I’d like to get the chance to get up there and experience the true Australian Outback. With the possibility of touring Kakadu and Arnhem Land I would love to spend a week experiencing a part of the country that is unlike anything I’m used to. The Darwin / Northern Territory holiday strikes me as more of a strenuous, adventure type holiday and one that you would take with older children. So perhaps a holiday to Darwin will have to be saved for another 3 or 4 years.
The final idea we’ve had is a trip to New Zealand’s south island. Every bit of footage I have seen of the south island landscape has been absolutely stunning, so in terms of breathtaking scenery we would be set. It would be the kid’s first trip outside of Australia, so it would be a good learning experience for them. It’s also close enough so that travelling won’t be especially tiring.
I don’t really know a great deal about New Zealand’s south island so I will be doing some study to learn about places to stay, things to do and sights to see.
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