it's not the same thing...

When will folks get it through their thick skulls that just because some who claim to be Muslims commit acts of terrorism, that not all Muslims are terrorists. Why is that this flawed logic, this blatant breakdown in deductive reasoning has taken become so widely accepted?

It just doesn't follow, people. It just doesn't follow!

Just because some men beat their wives, therefore all men are guilty of domestic abuse? No, that doesn't follow. A Doctor diddles a patient while they're under anaesthetic, therefore all doctors are sex offenders. Nope, no truth there, either. Yet somehow it is acceptable to claim that all Muslims are terror threats, simply because of the actions of some.

I think one of Islam's "PR" problems is they don't have a formal "command" structure like the Catholic Church does. There are respected local leaders who effectively take the title Immam (sic? excuse my ignorance) from no greater authority than the respect of their peers. As far as I'm aware there is no process of ordination or formal authority. Everything is decentralised.

This leaves them open to so-called "journalists" describing every nut who opens his mouth as a "muslim leader". Generally speaking, they're no such thing. The closest analogy to the Christian world would be the over-zealous young who frequently claim, say and do the oddest things in the name of their religion. These young zealots, though, are routinely ignored, written off by the media as over-exciteable youngsters. Yet somehow these same overexciteable youngsters of Muslim faith are deemed to speak for their entire religion.

Then you get nuts like Cr Paul Donovan, saying straight out that Islam is a violent religion. I heard him call in to 774 ABC yesterday morning. There is no transcript I can find, but apparently his views are well known. He claims that the Koran contains a number of "war chapters".

Well, newsflash, Councillor and all you other holier-than-thou types. There's a fair bit of violence in the Holy Bible, too. You don't get to pick and choose which parts of your own holy volume you choose to live by, while holding another religion to every archaic verse in their book. So, in honour of all those Christian types who want to hold Islam to every verse in the Koran, I introduce to you a new, regular segment:

"Ancient, Hideous Verses in The Bible".

Join me as we shed some light on some of the things that apparantly all Christians must agree with, since it appears in their sacred text!

personality...

I took this personality test.

On balance, I reckon it got me pretty right. Slighty off on a couple of trust in authority ratings, but rather spooky in a number of areas. I'd recommend it. Gets you thinking a bit, too!

There's a graphical representation in the sidebar. Ah, pretty pictures :)

watching the road...

This might sound a little heartless. Maybe even a lot heartless.

I've been reading the reports of this big crash near Horsham the other day. Seven people dead. Exploding cars. The whole nine yards. According to reports, the intersection is a dangerous one and has been the subject of local anger and funding calls for decades. Evidently this deadly intersection is well known to locals.

So why then was it locals barrelling through the thing and cleaning up passing non-locals?

Heartless, I know. Especially because, as I look at the picture of the intersection, it really is a bit dodgy. And it could very easily have been the non-locals at fault. In which case, I guess, my sympathies would lie in a different direction.

While clearly the intersection could be improved, I'm concerned the authorities are copping such a one sided basting. After all, there is a very human public service officer probably feeling responsible for this thing right now. How will this attention make that person feel? The tabloid media must know that there is no way anyone at VicRoads can actually dispute their claims of bureaucractic bungling without sounding like unmitigated pricks.

But look again. There are signs. There is a merging traffic sign. There is a speed sign. There is a give way sign. There is a line across the road. These people must've known of the intersection. These people had their kids in the car. These people didn't stop at the sign.

Tragic, yes. But not entirely VicRoads fault.

it's amazing what you can find on youtube :)

I haven't managed to embed directly from youtube yet, but in the mean time please use the text link.

turning the other cheek...

Ok, so this is pretty funny :) Thanks Miss Politics!

Yes, of course mine's there! Can't you tell? :)

Can you tell, C?

fields of experience...

I work in hospitality, so it goes without saying that I work with a lot of young people. My department is about eight people, one female about 40, myself and another male each about 35 and the other handful are all female and average about 22. The whole hotel, about 65 people and including managers and all, probably averages about 23.

I know what I'm about to say is just about different fields of experience. I know full well there are things others would find self-evident which would receive a similar response from me. But all that aside, what follows made me feel something. Whether that feeling was very old or a little snobbish and superior, I can't in all honesty say!

When I got to work Sunday night, after having been out at the movies instead of sleeping, my colleague commented on my visible tiredness.

"Yeh, I didn't get much sleep. I went to see 2001 at the Astor"

*blank stare*

"You know, classic science fiction movie. One of the best known films of all time"

*blank stare*

"Stanley Kubrick. {me affecting HAL accent} What do you think you're doing, Dave? {me humming theme music}"

*blink and shrug* "Cool ,well as long as you had fun"

Bugger me!

movie time!

C and I went to see 2001: A Space Odyssey at the Astor today.

Two of the stars of the film, Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, were there for a Q and A and they were signing stuff. They weren't really the draw card, I have to say. It was more to see it on the big screen. And may I say, wow! But them being there kind of added a "this won't come around again factor".

Somewhat surprisingly C enjoyed the movie. Although she's spent the greater part of her social and dating life hanging around with nerds, sci-fi geeks and sundry other film buffs, comic book fans and "cult-following" types, she'd never seen 2001 and has only reluctantly sat through Star Wars and the like! But I digress.

General spoiler warning, if by chance you, also, have never seen it!

Firstly, the music. Well, the sound in general, really. Such a mood is created that you could pretty much follow the film with your eyes shut. Naturally, the big anthemic pieces most associated with the film are powerful. I've posted earlier about my love for big, bold orchestral pieces. When the sun rises over the Earth at the very start and the boom kicks in! Very cool. I'd never heard that piece over the big speakers before. It's quite moving.

But there is also the silence. The shots of the Earth* and the emptiness of the deserts. The way its framed somehow fills the scene with tension. It's not a peaceful day we're looking at. The notion of survival is somehow drawn out of what is essentially nothing more than a series of still shots of a rocky canyon-like environment. Such tension that one is not remotely surprised when the cat comes from nowhere and attacks the ape.

The silence in the space scenes is also telling. And realistic, too. Seeing metal objects bump and crash into each other and make no sound is offputting, especially as we've been so conditioned by our earthbound experience and unrealistic films where space explosions make noise! There are scenes, when Bowman and Poole are EVA (spacewalking) and the only sound is their breathing. C was left feeling claustrophobic! As I said earlier, you could watch much of the film with your eyes shut and not miss that much.

Of course, there is that seminal moment when it dawns on the ape that this bone can be used to break things. It's probably one of the most famous moments in film history and for good reason. Right there in that almost accidental discovery is the whole human condition and the strongest possible statement in support of evolution.

What follows, though, is something I'd never noticed before and is rather more disturbing. We see an ape teaching its off-spring to employ the bone as a weapon. That really struck me this time.

The moon scenes, ironically enough, are a fairly innocuous part of the film. I say ironic because that is the only part that is actually based on Arthur C Clarke's original short story, The Sentinel. In that short story, they find the monolith on the moon and, as in the movie, it emits a signal which is presumed to be some kind of message to whoever placed it there. Keir Dullea described it today as a kind of cosmic alarm clock, which is a good analogy. I guess it's kind of stating the obvious a bit, that the monolith was placed somewhere we could only find it when we'd advanced enough to be of interest. I've always been a little confused as to when it was placed though. I get the impression from the Earth scenes that the apes woke up one morning and it was there, so were the Moon and Jupiter ones placed at the same time?

The short story leaves the question open as to who is receiving the message that the Moon monolith emits, whereas the film follows the signal to Jupiter and beyond. Although by the end the question is no less answered for the journey, which is for the best.

You can take the rest of the film any way you like, really. From a simple story about a malfunctioning computer and a film director on serious hallucinogens. Right through to, oh, whatever you like, really :) The power of the film lies in what isn't expressly shown. In what is left to the imagination. That may be in part in deference to Clarke's original story being so open ended, or Kubrick's preference for doing the same. Perhaps its both. Perhaps that's why the two were such a good fit.

C actually made more sense of the trippy lights at the end than I ever have. Now, she wasn't aware of the foetus at the end. Even though it's on the posters and so forth, but as I say, she'd never seen it. But, even without that knowledge she'd spotted birth, rebirth and creation type themes through the light show. Apparently some of the images were rather phallic and others rather gynaecological. In her words, Kubrick was in part a dirty little boy who was continually amazed how much he was able to get away with!

Dullea had some interesting things to say about the scenes in the room at the end. He felt it was something this alien intelligence had picked up from his mind as preferred habitat. Whereas, of course, that wouldn't have been his habitat, perhaps his character had been to the museum recently and that's what they'd picked up on. In other words, it was their attempt to make him comfortable while they did whatever they were doing.

Anyway, we had a good time I think. But one comment on the appearances of Lockwood and Dullea. While they had their well rehearsed shtick going on, as I watched them sitting at those tables, signing autographs and posing for photos, I have to say they looked rather sad. Imagine having such long and successful careers as both performers have, but all anyone wants to talk to you about is one role from 40 years ago. I couldn't imagine anything worse!

So that was my day. Hence very little sleep. Hence (again? can you roll one hence on top of another like that?) I'm a little bit tired at work tonight :)

* It's easy to forget that one doesn't need to specify prehistoric Earth to make clear the scenes involved. There are no contemporary scenes set on Earth in the film.

worthless blog...

So I'm at work. I'm alone. It's 2.18 and I've already completed my primary function.

There are other things to do, but even they're out this time. Usually I can shred some old archived material and make some more room in the shed, but not tonight. The other ad hoc task is making up sales kits. But I can't even do that, because we're out of one of the brochures that goes in them!

So, of course, I blog! I love the 'next blog' button on blogger. You find some weird shit including, tonight, this.

My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

T'rific!

catching you up a bit...

I guess it's probably time to put some of this IVF stuff in context. If this thing is going to be anything more than purely venting, then a post like the last one needs a little background. Let's start at the beginning.

Firstly, a quick Too Much Information warning for the squeemish :)

Male Factor Infertility, or MFI for short. That's what I've got. As is usual with such things, there is no one type and no one cause. There are a whole swag of different types. I have several of them. I have Oligospermia, which is basically a fancy way of saying low sperm count. Then there is the tetrazoospermia, which relates to the motility or swimming ability of the sperm. I also experience a high abnormal forms ratio, which means that there are relatively few of my sperm which are properly developed, even before the other matters have their effect.

As a final whammy - and this is the bit my doctor describes as "clinically significant" - my body produces antibodies against my own sperm. Don't ask me why, but the upshot of this is that if and when any of them finally reach an ova, they can't stick to it while they burrow in.

About six months or so after C and I started trying to conceive (ttc is the jargon, I've learnt!) we started to suspect something might not be right. C had always felt she had some sort of a problem. Prior to the coeliac diagnosis she'd much of the five or so years before that vomiting fairly regularly. This she felt had limited the effectiveness of her oral contraceptive regime over that time. Also, she had never had a single scare in ten years or so of sexual activity and her menstrual cycle wasn't particularly regular.

All things considered, some problem sounded likely, so we went off to the doctor. Sure enough she hadn't been ovulating, possibly for quite a long time. The doc gave her some stuff which seemed to do the trick. A couple of months after that I thought I'd go along and get myself tested, more or less just to dot the i's and cross the t's. After all, we'd found and fixed the problem. But that wasn't the case at all. The diagnosis came back and the rest is history.

There are a few key milestones in an IVF cycle. Broadly there is the harvest, where they draw the ova from the female. There's the fertilisation, which is kind of self explanatory. Although there is a little more to it in terms of the continuing development of the zygote in the dish. And there is the transfer of an embryo back into the female. From there it all becomes essentially the same as a natural conception, in terms of pregnancy, miscarriage etc.

Before the harvest they boost the ovulation cycle of the female to try to get just the right number of ova. If they get too many the hormone levels can be dangerous to the female and too few means its not worth the hassle of harvesting.

Our first cycle C hadn't grown enough ova, so they pulled the plug.

Second time around they changed the mix a bit and we got a harvest. They didn't get as many as they might've liked - only four ova - but it turned out that was enough. All four fertilised into embryoes and they transferred one fresh embryo back into C. That one didn't take.

A month or two later they went to thaw a couple of frozen embryoes to try again. They successfully thawed two, while one of the remaining embryoes failed to develop any further. They transferred those two thawed embryoes. One failed to take, but the other was successful. Unfortunately we miscarried that pregnancy at about the six week mark.

So, that's where we're up to. I hope that puts the earlier posts in context!

so it begins again...

I don't think there are many reading this who would know in real life. Maybe one or two. For the rest, suffice to say my politics are broadly centre left. Actually, the whole left-right thing does nothing for me. This guy has written a very thorough post on the subject here. But, so far as the left-right might be instructive, I am far more likely to vote for one of our veteran or emerging third parties than Liberal or Labor.

I have been involved with the Democrats over the years. I'm deeply ambivalent about it's future. On one hand, I'm concerned that too much time and effort is going to be spent trying to rescue a party that has essentially been navel gazing for quite a while now. I was disturbed to read in their national journal recently that they are again - or still, really - holding a consitutional review. FFS! Now?

On the other hand the role they've played is so vitally important. We've seen in this current term of parliament the kind of behaviour we haven't seen from a governing party in many years. Dominance of both houses must never be allowed. I had begun to become a little more relaxed with the prospect of the Greens becoming the balance of power party, but then I see stuff like this;

The Greens will campaign to stop the Bald Hills wind farm in the seat of Gippsland South in the lead-up to the Victorian election in November.

The newly appointed Greens candidate, Jackie Dargaville, will contest the seat held by the leader of the National Party, Peter Ryan.

Ms Dargaville lives at Fish Creek and lived on a farm at Bald Hills.

She says the Australian Greens support renewable energy over coal and nuclear electricity generation.

"But we do believe that renewables should be in the right place," she said.

"In coastal areas of great beauty and fairly high population and a lot of tourism potential we believe that's not necessarily the way to go unless that's what the community wants."

Oh, my giddy aunt. They're not ready.

They've done it before, of course. Polly, whose blog alerted me the item above, also reminded of an old favourite. This was hanging on that vacant block on the corner of Boronia Rd, Mountain Hwy and Wantirna Rd during the 2004 election. That's where the fast food joints have all just opened.


Ari has it blogged for posterity here. If I remember rightly I sent him that picture. In any event, I certainly took a photo. Actually, I stole the thing. Not sure where it ended up. I wish I'd kept it!

It's not that I don't trust the Greens specifically. But my very great fear has always been that their unity will crumble the first time their decision actually counts for anything more than shouting from the sidelines. I fear that the electorate will scream "oh shit, not them too" and swear off third parties for a generation. Examples like the above are evidence of maverick sorts and a lack of discipline that will not bode well if they get the balance of power.

In truth, I have no doubt that they would learn to handle the role. But I'm concerned that the electorate won't give them time.

There's a couple of other possibilities to step in to the breach. Family First have shot their bolt I think. Or maybe it's just with me. Their particular brand of populist policy might just be what the majority would be happy with. But I suspect the image of Steve Fielding making deals after being in the house about five minutes might raise flags with many. Check the site. They're calling him their 'Federal Parliamentary Leader'. That is champagne comedy, Colonel!

Then there is People Power. I'm a little bit interested in these guys. They seem to have picked up some intellectual capital and by the look of a couple of the names involved, they might have a few bob in kick to boot. Their existing published information is sound, although there are still many gaps. And they haven't answered my email yet after nearly a week, which is a slight concern.

Some of my persuasion might be concerned by a party that allows a board, albeit an elected one, to make it's decisions. May I say I've seen participatory democracy first hand and its not always that flash! Sometimes you just need to pick managers and let them do their job.

And so it begins. Another election cycle. State election almost upon us and then, for Victoria anyway, the federal campaign will be the focus of all attention.

back on the train...

So, we started back on the IVF train this morning. It's our second treatment cycle and within the first cycle we had two transfers, or implants. For the record, the first didn't take and the second resulted in a miscarriage.

I admit to being a little thrown by how quickly it's taken off. We're going in for Cate to have a hysteroscopy and a D & C next Wednesday. Already! Fuck! I'm concerned with the overlap with the last of C's study and the wedding, which will now all be happening at once. She assures me she's thought that through. I can only take that on face value and tell her of my concerns, which I've done.

She had the same procedure last time. Last time they did it primarily to see the lay of the land first hand. They wanted to check her uterus was in good shape. Even though the tests and scans had all been fine, it never hurts to be surer than sure. Plus they also wanted to stretch her cervix a little, which sounds bad but while uncomfortable for Cate is handy later on. It wouldn't do to go all the hassle of the cycle and then find the tube with the embryo in it won't fit! Plus, they're not stretching it to fit a large object through. Just a very narrow delivery tube, but I suppose even that's a wide opening in relative terms. She was uncomfortable last time, but it wasn't the worst part of the whole thing.

This time they're going to do it for the stretching reason, but less for the checking reason. They also want to make sure there is no tissue left from the miscarriage. But also, fascinatingly, they've discovered recently that fresh, regenerating endometrium cells are better for adhesion of the zygote.

It sounds, from what our doctor was saying, that there has a been a quantum leap in technology since we last tried. And that was only a year or so ago. Which, I fear, makes it a little harder not to get my hopes up. That's my dealing tool. I just convince myself that we're not there yet, so that failing is no surprise. C completely fails at this. It hurts so much to see her crushed every time, but I know she'll never take my tack. All I can do is hug her lots.

Nowadays they try to let the embryo grow in the dish an extra day or two. It then becomes, using the technical term, a blastocele. Apparently, and I suppose naturally enough, less embryoes get to the blastocele stage, but those that do have double or better chance of going on with it. According to the doctor they're up to about 50% success from that stage, as opposed to about 20% to 25% before. So that's got to be good. If it's better, I don't know why they haven't always done it. Presumably they've just got better at keeping the cells alive outside the womb, or something like that.

C is never a fan of internal examinations. Notwithstanding the personal discomfort it bring back certain memories of unpleasant experiences. So it's no surprise that the unexpected pap smear the doctor gave her today threw her a bit. :(

So, no move before next Wednesday.

porridge...

No, not gaol time!

C and I had porridge for breakfast this morning! Doesn't sound post-worthy yet, I know, but give me a minute.

A few years ago C was diagnosed coeliac, which is a gluten intolerance causing all sorts of intestinal ickiness. Oats, from which porridge is made, is one of four main sources of gluten. The others, all grains, are wheat, rye and barley. Derivatives of these four grains rule out other things, but that's the essence of it.

More recently, in response to increased stomach upsets, we took C off to the doctor for another look. According to this doctor it wasn't coeliacs at all. Never was. The only problem, at least from my point of view, is the nature of the diagnosis. See, coeliacs is a condition whereby part of the bowel, when exposed to gluten becomes inflamed. By staying off gluten as she has for a long time now, this inflammation won't occur. So how can you then look at the bowel and say she doesn't have it? Isn't it just that she isn't currently affected?

Apparently there is a blood test now, but I'm sceptical, particularly when the earlier scopes were quite clear. But maybe it isn't coeliac after all.

From time to time C has considered deviating from the gluten free diet, to test the waters a little. There is definitely something there, because a wheat bread sandwich made her sick a while back. But the other day, unbeknown to me, C had porridge and has been unaffected, it would seem.

T'rific.

As for me, I had epilepsy as a younger man and by sheer coincidence all three of my seizures came after a bowl of porridge. Pure coincidence. But, needless to say, it's become a bit of a family joke, rather like the one about keeping me away from knives, after "the incident" in '93! I'm pretty sure I'm not allergic to porridge, though :)

So, we'll see how today pans out, shall we :)

beta ain't so flash...

I should've read the fine print! Seems as a beta blogger, I can't post comments on a non-beta blogspot!

"That function is coming soon."

Oh well, I guess we wait :) I don't think there is anyone in the blogosphere who would notice my absence in comment-land anyway :)

a theory...

I've got a theory.

I reckon sex is the largest drawer of crowds to any website. Some say it's pop culture. Hard to argue with their logic. I just think it's sex!

So I'm going to make this post all about sex. Boy girl sex. Girl girl sex. Naughty cheating housewife sex. Sex. Sex. Sex.

Of course, this blog has nothing at all to do with it. At least not in such an overt "C and I bonk like bunnies" way. But I'm willing to bet that the amount of times I've mentioned sex, boobs, porn stars having sex, naughty sex , dildoes, cocks, MILF sex, voyeurs, exhibitionists and all types of weird sex, will make this coming day or two my most hit upon yet!


This picture has nothing to do with sex either. It's the Flying Spaghetti Monster. You can read about his - or should I say His - history here! For now, I've altered the meta data to get me into the image searches too :)

Over the next couple of weeks I might try the same thing with pop culture! If anyone has any theories of their own they'd like me to test, drop me a line.

By the way, beta blogger is working well. Almost better than - say it with me - sex!

...

John Tucker Must Die.

Hard to argue with that!

gone beta!

Just a quick note to flag the day I went beta.

Blogger is introducing some new functionality and while I'd never consider trying a beta on something critical, this blog presently represents a low risk factor for me and the new toys sounded worth the risk.

So, we're off and running. I took the opportunity, too, to change the template. Never really liked the old one. This one was my first choice originally, but I had trouble configuring it and settled for the other. Not so this time! Yay.

separated at birth...

Here's a quirky one for the Eddie McGuire and Collingwood fans out there. Guess who the host of the original UK Millionaire is?

Chris Tarrant!

Fancy that, eh!*

* For those not finding this even the slightest bit quirky, Eddie was until recently the host of Millionaire in Australia. He is also the president of the Collingwood FC, whose star forward is none other than Chris Tarrant.

a trekkie and a cyber stalker...

Yep, that's me!

I can't remember where - some blogroll somewhere, I imagine - but I tripped over a link to Wil Wheaton's blog the other day. It's pretty funny. Now, just to really tip my geekness over the top, he's started writing reviews of TNG eps like this one, for a TV blogsite called TV Squad.

His blog displays an enjoyable writing style. It's just self-deprecating enough to make it light, without coming over as needy, lacking in self-esteem or fishing for a compliment. And honest it would seem, about his family life. That's a refreshing trait in anybody these days. I'm not one to be caught up in the cult of celebrity - far, far from it (just ask C!). And from reading this blog, it seems he isn't either. So, kudos to you, Wil Wheaton!

Now, there is one thing. He uses this word 'grok'. In context it seems to be something like 'understand'. As in "my dog doesn't grok that this is my side of the bed", for instance. Does anyone know this bit of lingo?

UPDATE: Ah, now I grok it. Check this site and tell me if you think I'm using grok correctly in that sentence :) I'm not sure! It seems very nuanced!

giving it all away...

There must be some new unknown and nasty punishment for coming first on Forbes rich list! No one seems to want to be at the top anymore! First Bill puts a bunch aside for charity. My cynical side thinks that might've had more to do the anti-trust settlement than philanthropy. But on the other hand it did start once Melinda came on the scene and she seems a decent, grounded sort!

Then Warren Buffet got in on the gig. His method is remarkably simple. Just never sell anything. He figures that when you buy and when you sell is when you incur the costs. Taxes, bank fees, legal fees etc. Since you have to buy things in the first place, the next best thing is never sell! Makes sense when you put it like that!

Now this fella, who I must admit I'd never heard of, doesn't have a use for $30B of his loose change. Can't say I can think what to do with it, either! Amazing, isn't it? In a world of such intense celebrity scrutiny, the world's third richest person can be so anonymous. Relatively so, anyway, considering.

What happened to the Sultan of Brunei? Wasn't he the World's richest man at one point? Has he slipped backwards, or have the others done pretty well lately? :)

some perspective please...

I've become increasing uncomfortable with the whole media beatification thing going on around Steve Irwin. Have a read of Clive Hamilton's take on the whole Steve Irwin.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Damn shame Brocky had to go and follow suit, though!

even idol producers think its crap...

Ok, I'm going to concede from the outset, I've watched a grand total of about two hours of Idol. Ever. Not just this season. I mean in total. And now it seems I'm vindicated. Even the producers - the ones who write the ads - can't think of a nice word to say about the performers themselves.

I rely on updates like Bland Canyon's excellent summaries to keep up with the water cooler chat :) Thanks PetStarr!

I've just heard the ad for the first episode of the final 12 series. According to the ad, its on;

"the most impressive new set in Idol history"

and you'll meet;

"the most unique final twelve ever"

Now, putting aside that "most" in front of unique is a bit dopey, is that really the best that the famed Idol hype machine can come up with?

They really must be rubbish, then, eh?!

trying to recapture lost yoof cred...

Well, maybe just potty-mouthed, icky cred.

These Dolmio ads on tv lately have got me wondering. And giggling naughtily, frankly :) Is "the Dolmio grin" still a euphemism for a certain act that results in a similar appearance as the ads testify?

I know. Tacky and gross. But what else is an anonymous blog for? :) Guess I don't qualify for one of Steph's nice guys!

interaction, please :)

Well, I've put a site meter on and it turns out I'm not quite alone. (Almost, but hey I'm only new :)

So, my question is, where are you from? Tell me where you're from and what floats your boat :) If you drop by, leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

By the way, check out the world map function on sitemeter.com. Very funky indeed.

So, hello I say. Ciao. Arrividerci. G'day. Hi. Aloha.

chess

I've been playing chess on line the last few weeks. Wanna play?

nice day for a drive...

Last night I'd accidently taken the mobile phone from work home with me. No big deal. It doesn't really get used during the day. It's just a back up if someone is alone in front offce and has to go elsewhere. So there was no rush to return.

C and I had some free time this morning so I thought, bugger it, I'll show her around. She's been out a couple of times to pick me up or drop me of if one of our cars was at the mechanic, or something like that. But I hadn't yet taken her around, shown her the rooms, that kind of thing. so that's what we did.

We took the scenic route out there, dropped the phone off, had a coffee and went for a wander around the hotel. Then we had a wander around the winery next door. Very pleasant morning, may I say. I work in a very nice area.

Then on the way home, we got in an accident!

It's okay, no one was hurt. A three car fender bender, no less! We were at the front, faultless might I add. We were shunted from behind by one car, then that car was hit from behind by another.

Fun for all the family! Still, the panel beater did a really good job last time this happened, so at least we know it's all going to be fine in that regard. And as I say, no one was hurt, so all is well there, too.

I'll keep you posted!

Pop

My last surviving grandparent is my mother's dad. My Pop. He's 91 and these days calls a local high care aged care facility home.

Pop has been one of my best friends over the years and a genuinely positive role model in my life. Always encouraging. Always believing in my potential, even during those horror adolescent years when even I couldn't see it, let alone others.

Among other influences, his spruiking of the benefits of a military life were probably the reason I served in the Reserve as a younger man. Might've gone full time, too, if I hadn't developed Epilepsy. One year, while marching with my unit in the Anzac Day parade here in Melbourne, he and my sister were on the side of the road. I'd seen them from a distance, but once we got closer I couldn't turn my head to see them beside me, although we were only feet apart.

Pop made some comment like "looking good lads" or something similar. Despite my best efforts to keep a straight face, a slight curl at the side of my mouth gave me away. My sister said "he heard you!". To which he replied, "Of course he heard, sweetchick, they're not deaf!".

He taught me chess. I'll never forget his smart arse remarks whenever I'd try to watch tv and play at the same time. Of course, my concentration would be shot and he'd roll over the top of me!

Up until he was about 85 I really thought he'd be cracking the ton.* He was spritely, energetic and full of life. But that year, 2000, was the one that took the wind out of him. Over a twelve month period he lost his ability to walk without a frame, some cognitive function, his wife of 62 years and as a result of all that, naturally his confidence, too.

These days its pretty much a day by day proposition. I don't visit him as much as I'd like and it saddens me greatly. I used to be able to say I had no time which, notwithstanding that old "you can always make time" truism, was pretty much true. I was deeply engaged with an activity of which Pop was enormously proud. I got kudos for that and it kind of got me off the hook a bit. But that time has passed now. That activity is over and my work hours are now very civilised indeed, I must say!

There's something uncomfortable about visiting him. I'd like to think it's not just personal awkwardness at the environment he's in, or boredom at the lack of conversation. I'd like to think I'm a better grandson or, for that matter, a better person than that. But honestly I can't rule it out.

The thing that gets me, is that I think he notices the awkwardness, too. I believe he can see from the way I look at him, or talk to him, or whatever that he isn't the same Pop anymore. I think he feels hurt by that. And I think that's why I don't like going.

But what if I'm wrong? What if he can't see what I credit him with seeing and would he just love to see me, even without conversation. Or maybe he does feel the hurt but would still rather see me. I don't know what to do. I've spent enough time with him over the years that I won't have any regrets about these last few, but it still hurts. It's like dealing with the grief before the death.

*reach 100 years of age, in case that bit of jargon is not familiar to you :)

innovation, non?

Well, fuck-a-doodle-doo!

Microsoft's IE7 will finally include tabbed browsing! They'll probably plug it like it's revolutionary technology, too, no doubt.

Is there anyone other than the most basic plug-and-play end-user who is still using IE? Steered clear of it for years, personally. I was the one using Netscape. Even though I got laughed at a lot and Netscape were counting their total users on two hands. (Well, maybe they were counting in binary, but that still would've been enough, I gather!) It was a bit resource intensive, a bit slow and occasionally unstable, but it was still better than IE.

I used to try the Mozilla stuff way back when, but I think it was just API's and stuff. I could never manage to get a GUI browser going from their gear. But then Firefox came along and I'll never use anything else! Best featured, most stable browser I've ever used. If you're not already, try it out here.

Channel Seven exploit JonBenet

Trust Channel Seven to take a perfectly painful, sensitive matter and exploit it for profit. After all, it is their reason for existence these days!

This Saturday night they're replaying that movie about the whole affair. I think it's called Perfect Town, Perfect Murder, or maybe it's the other way around.

Pretty tacky, eh! And a little counter productive, I would've thought, given the current confession, given that from what I recall of the movie it rather leaves open the suggestion that the parents did it.

Which leaves me wondering if maybe they're editorialising a bit. Making a subtle statement that they don't believe Mr Karr's version of events. I haven't been paying a lot of attention to their news lately, but the ads at least have been spruiking stories of Mr Karr's alegedly menatally ill past.

Guess we'll have to wait and see where they go with that. In the meantime, please don't reward their cynicism with ratings by watching it! Ta!

pets are fun :)

These are my cats. The moggy is Nutbag. The ginger Tom is Bosco.


Well, that's their formal names. More often than not they get "Furball The Orange" and "Pusscat The Grey". Or sometimes Mr and Mrs Magilla-catty. I think this last one very clever indeed :) Please laugh politely at the very least :)

Here's another one of Bosco. I think I might post this at Cats In Sinks. Whatta ya think?


I've a couple that might crack it for a run at Cute Overload, too. Another time, perhaps.

peter gabriel videos...

We just found the Sledgehammer video clip, the Peter Gabriel song, on Limewire. I always liked his stuff. Is it true he died? I thought he did, but what do I know :)

C had suggested that those crazy arse videos of his were the early work of one Nick Park, or Wallace and Gromit fame. I'd never heard such a thing, but that doesn't mean anything and her instinct on such trivialities is usually pretty reliable.

Sure enough, I was watching the video just now and I reckon she's right. I'm having difficulty getting a screen capture up, but there are these little clay dodge 'em cars at one point and their little mouths are classic Aardman mouths! A couple of other scenes look very much like that kind of stereotypical, almost satirical English loungeroom that the W&G has down pat.

If I can get caps up, i'll do it. But in the meantime, I'm calling it for the affirmative. Nick Park did the Gabriel videos! Very cool :)

bad habits...

I'm not going to kid you. Or myself for that matter. I have a considerable number of bad habits. I bite my nails. I'd really like to stop, but, you know, it's a habit, right? I know, very soft option.

Now my neice has started. She's five and a bit. I don't think it's been seriously suggested that she's copying me, although we do have a close relationship. We haven't seen all that much of each other lately and my sister would not feel any compuncion at all in laying it right on the table in front of me if she believed it were true. (C has had a shot, but it's more philosophical - and part teasing - than actually blaming me.)

So anyway, I thought I'd try a little pact with the girl. You know the kind of thing. Taking advantage of the trust she has in me to make a pinky promise something she'd have to stick to. (Of course, so would I. The irony is not lost!)

You know what she said?

"Maybe when I'm older. Like six, or seven."

I shit you not. Cheeky little bugger!

a favourite journalist...

I like Matt Price.

Generally, journalists don't float my boat at all. My view of that profession is that the content should speak for itself. All I ask of the writer is to keep it neutral and keep it moving. From that starting point I'll then make my own assessment of their impartiality and readability.

Mostly they fail on at least one of those crtiera. Some are coming from a particular standpoint, which would be cool, by the way, if they weren't trying to make out they're not. Others are just plain dull. It's rare to find someone entertaining to read and paradoxically, I know, someone whose writing is so unobtrusive that I can hardly tell they're there.

His writing style is conversational, which is my personal preference. Most of the time his coloumns sound to me just like transcripts from The Insiders! Anyway, I've just read this one and felt like saying I like his work :)

one space too few...

I don't know if it's the template I'm using, or the blog editor or what's going on, but something is removing the second space I'm putting in after a full stop. This is very annoying! There. See what I mean.

You'll find me something of a grammatical snob. I was never the greatest student in the world. In fact, I was bloody ordinary as my VCE score of 232 out of a possible 410 will attest. But for some reason I could always spell reasonably well. Perhaps it's not too late to become a proof reader... that'd be cool, except for that whole turning-your-fun-into-work problem, but I'd be willing to take the chance.

In the meantime, no wisecracks about not leaving two spaces after a full stop! It's not my fault ;)

the "honourable" dissenters...

I'm not sure how I feel about these "dissenters" in the ranks of the Liberal party.

Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with the sentiment. This government's treatment of refugees is nothing short of appalling.

But where have they been before now? I know there's been a lot of public backtracking. I'm paraphrasing very broadly here, but we're hearing a lot of "I've always been opposed to" and "I'm very outspoken in caucus" from rather a few coalition backbenchers. But we've never seen this kind of open defiance of the little rodent. So where exactly have they been?

Its no coincidence that this public soul searching amongst government MP's has begun since they took control of the Senate. Previously they've been able to sit back, minding their careers, safe in the knowledge that others will protect the Australian people from the worst of their collective will.

Now that the others have been eviscerated, these people are forced to take a stand. Bruce Baird said in parliament this week that he expected to die politically for this stand. I hope he does. Not for the stand he's taking now, but for never having done so before.

There will be those who might argue that these folk have been vocal in their opposition to their government's policies, but simply saying it isn't enough. Words are just hollow, unless you've got the guts to cross the floor. And abstention is the cowards way out.

This group made some noise about a year ago and achieved some mitigation of the policies in question. But nowhere near enough. We can assume from their aquiescence to Howard's concessions that they are happy with their win and therefore with the government's current position.

I'm not. Neither are many others. Their day will come.

Yasmin ain't gettin' married after all...

Thank God that appalling dross is off the air. And completely wiped from the face of the planet, too! Even this link doesn't work anymore!

This one was plagued from word one, I reckon. And rightly so. It really is the most distasteful concept. And there was another one of those professionals behaving badly! Who was that "relationship counsellor"? How dare she call herself that in this context. If a single person came to her looking to solve her loneliness issues, would her professional advice be to go on a television show? Of course not. Anyway, the argument against Dr Phil goes equally for this unconscionable character!

Not for nothing, the rest of the panel was little better. Anything involving the incredibly ordinary Matt Hardy is pushing it up hill to begin with. Jo Stanley, I must say, I find entertaining and a bit of a spunk. Maybe she has a thing for carrying untalented Matt's, given her day job. But even her talents couldn't save this stinkbomb.

Am I the only one who noticed the very early teaser ads for "Rene Is Getting Married". Maybe Rene saw the writing on the wall and wisely scarpered.

Anyway, I've given this steaming pile enough of my precious key strokes. I'm glad it's gone. It restores a certain amount of my faith in the viewing public, that this - for now, at least - is a line we're not willing to cross. Phew!

remembering babies

Today is a rather odd sort of a day for C and I. Today was the due date for the pregnancy we lost at about six weeks or so.

Of course six weeks doesn't sound far in. And it isn't really. Most folk are only just starting to think "hmm, I'm a little bit late" by then. But you see ours was IVF, so we knew about it from day one. There was a time I'd have really liked to believe that it is worse to miscarry an IVF pregnancy than a regular one. After all, for us it just means another costly few months of emotional roller coasters and painful procedures. Whereas for those without such issues, they just get to jump back in the sack, right?

Of course, that's not right. Actually it's very wrong and hurtful of me to even think it. My sincere apologies to anyone reading this who has miscarried a naturally concieved pregnancy. Your experience could not possibly be any less painful than ours.

More on IVF as we get closer to our next treatment cycle. But I wanted to tell you about one bonus that normal folks don't get. It's the really cool baby photos! We've disposed of the photos of the zygotes that haven't gone forward, but I've seen them all at the eight cell stage. It's the most amazing sight. I can't wait for the successful one. I'm gunna be flashing around zygote pictures. Eat my dust, fertile people! All you have are those mundane eight-week ultrasounds :P

Well, okay, they're pretty funky too :)

Geez, I'm ready to be a dad!!

my cat is crazy...

Well, if she is, its cos I made her that way :)

We have two cats. One we adopted together about six months ago. The other I got as a kitten when I bought my unit almost eight years ago. (It wasn't until just before C came along that a friend pointed out that I was single, living alone with a cat. We comtemplated trying to pull with the old, "my friend thinks he's gay and wants you to save him" line, but mercifully, we thought better of it!)

I think she was happy alone with me. She gave all the signs... lots of sitting on my lap purring, lots of sleeping beside me at night. That kind of thing. Lately her life has changed considerably and it wasn't her choice and she probably lacks the reasoning skills to make sense of it.

Firstly, this other person came along and took her side of the bed. Took her all of five minutes to accept her. C is definitely a cat person, so no real dramas there.

Then we got the other cat. A ginger tomcat, who wasn't neutered I might add. Although she's basically an indoors cat, my little girl has got out once or twice over the years, so I can't say for sure she was "inexperienced", but she certainly isn't now! I hadn't actually heard cats having sex before. The noise woke me up and I knew it was the cats so I went looking for them and there they were :)

Not too long after that we got the boy cut and it stopped almost immediately. Which begs the question, is she mad that I brought brought this male upon her, or that I took it away? :)

Professionals Behaving Badly...

You know what, I get really jacked off by professionals lending the credibility of their professional roles to something they wouldn't consider doing in that professional role.

"Dr" Phil McGraw is a case in point.

He may very well be a excellent medical professional for all I know. I've never experienced his work in that role. It may very well be that his badgering style of "what are you thinking" counselling is even appropriate in a lot of cases. God knows, if I was a counsellor, it'd probably be my approach!

But do you think even for a second that he would take a client into the foyeur of his office or to the show stage in the local shopping centre and counsel them in full public view? Of course not. That would be ridiculous. A serious medical professional would never do such a thing.

So am I the only one who thinks that he shouldn't be allowed to effectively advertise his professional credentials in an exercise that he'd probably get struck off for if he did it for real? By all means produce a show of this type. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I can see the appeal and from the little I have seen and from what C tells me, I gather he raises some decent issues.

Just don't call yourself a Doctor while you're doing it! Cos in that moment, you aint, buster!

Setting Dates...

C and I have set the date*.

The 2nd of December 2006.

The venue is booked, the best man and matron of honour are lined up and as of yesterday my two little neices are booked in as flower girls. One great-nephew of C's is still to be asked about page-boy activities. C's sister is her matron of honour and due to a disparity of ages, she is already a grandmother. One of her grandsons is the great-nephew in question.

A friend of some fifteen years standing is my best man. I kind of regret that I don't have that one "best mate" for whom I'm also their best mate, but he's a great mate all the same. And I know where his bodies are buried as well as he does mine, so the speech will be safe enough. I'm harking back to Cold War terms like Mutual Assured Destruction here, but you get my drift!

I never thought I'd end up having an actual wedding with a "normal" reception and all the rest, but it should be a good day. I always imagined I'd be one of those ones who surprised their house warming guests with a wedding surprise.

I've been trying to work out why I've been uncomfortable with the idea of a wedding (as distinct from the being married part) and I have to admit part of it has just been an awkwardness about romantic, sickly sweet displays of affection... worse yet, in full view of other people. Truth is, though, it must be the real deal with C, because right now the prospect doesn't bother me at all.

The thing that I'm really fearing is the bridal registry. I've never felt comfortable recieving material gifts. There's far too much stuff in the world and I've never been a particularly material guy. The idea of actually asking people for gifts and suggesting something for them to buy is of deep personal embarrassment. I'm not yet sure how we're going to get past that issue. Time will tell.

*I'm just going to work on the understanding that this particular phrase comes with an implicit understanding such that I will not need to clarify exactly what we have set the date for :)

muppets save the world...

So I tripped over this little gem :)

I love the muppets. I'm not even kidding. My favourite little golden book when I was a kid was "The Monster At The End Of This Book". They did a sequel, too, with Grover and Elmo. Of course Elmo is the fearless little fella turning the pages.

...

Okay, so I'm watching Grey's Anatomy and I just have to ask.

Is Katherine Heigl hot or what?

A bit of cultural fun...

Yesterday C* and I went to the symphony. We were given tickets to the MSO Pops's Cinema Paradiso for Christmas and I had a blast.

We'd both worked overnight on Saturday night so we were a tad tired, but for me at least the prospect of some John Williams music cranked out by an orchestra was a buzz waiting to happen. I wasn't dissapointed on that score, either... most of the second half was Williams, which is hardly surprising. If you're talking cinema scores for orchestras he's just about the most successful in history.

For the uninitiated, Williams has composed Jaws, Star Wars and everything in between. Name a Spielberg or Lucas film and he's your man. ET, Raiders, 1941, Close Encounters. Okay fan boy... settle down :)

The tickets were amazing; in the middle of the front row of the stalls, so we were literally looking up their skirts. Clive James was the host, which I wasn't expecting. He was great, but looking up his metaphorical skirt was far less enjoyable than the violinist two back in the second row :) (Don't worry, C had her favourite too!)

James was a little slow getting started. For the first little bit I thought he was going to be phoning it in all night, but by the time they played Superman for an encore he had one arm extended over his head (classic flying pose, if that description doesn't make sense), running around the stage, having a little mock collapse Kryptonite style and pretending to carry Lois over the city. A few frank admissions regarding why he liked Janet Leigh movies, a cracker of an orchestra goes without saying and all up an entertaining show.

Afterward we went out for dinner and ended up getting a hotel room in the city for the night. Which is not something we do very often. It's just that for the first time in a little while the money was there to do it and it just seemed like a good idea at the time. By the way, if you're looking for a vegetarian meal I wouldn't recommend a "ye olde englishe tavern" type venue. Their definition of vego was offal, as far as I can tell, but they came up with something and it was nice enough.

So, all up a pretty good night was had by all. Also, please don't take the above comment about money as gripeing or a lack of gratitude for my life of relative luxury. We do okay between us and we both have good prospects. It's just that there have been a lot of bills the last year or two, which will gradually become self explanatory, I guess.


* I haven't decided yet but for now 'C' will be code for my girl, fiancee, partner, gf, live-in lover, de facto wife. Pick the term which best suits your preference... I'll stick to 'C' :)

Welcome...

Hiya All...

I haven't the faintest clue what this is going to turn in to as we travel along, but it just felt like the right time to write a few things down. Not even that sure why, because I've never really kept a diary of any sort before.

Anyway, I won't be giving you a whole big "tell you everything at once" starter post. Much more fun if these things come out gradually. All I'll say is that some of the subject areas you're likely to encounter are impending marriage, infertility, pet ownership, parliamentary politics and, well, probably a lot of nonsense and a few jokes.