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[darkelf9]

Morning all,

It's Reconciliation Week here in Aussie land and it's gone rather flat as there is no appetite for Indigenous rights in this country. The over 60% No Vote in the referendum last year shows there is little to no point in discussing Reconciliation with the indigenous people of this country by a majority of Australian society. It's makes for a news story which most people it seems just ignore anyway. There is a theme in western democracies these days that if you acknowledge another culture it means yours will suffer by not getting enough air time either on the news or more and more on social media. It's made these democracies dumber and less knowledgeable about the world outside their own social circles. We have become inwardly focused on what's in it for me and if I acknowledge the rights of others, I will miss out. This is why democracies are going to the far right because the far right is all about selfishness and imposing your will on others to protect what you think is your status in society. Which speaks a lot to why the Yes vote failed and says a lot about where Australian society is right now. The slogan "if you don't no, vote no" is one of the dumbest statements a progressive society can make yet it's a message over 60% of Australian society agreed with. You can't claim to an intelligent society if that is slogan you believe in. It's a negative argument and we can't have society defined by negative philosophies otherwise we cease to progress. Tourists who come to Australia are told this country is a fair society and racism doesn't exit, none of those statements are now true.

There is no point talking about closing the gap whilst there is fundamental racism against indigenous people who are the First Nations people of this land yet a majority of Australians sent the message last year that they reject indigenous culture. Australia is stuck in it's colonial past when it comes to indigenous people. They are thought of as nothing more than refugees in their own country. They only make up 3% of the population so don't have political power and rely on collaboration with parts of Australian society to get equality. Immigrants who come to Australia have more rights than the people who have been here for 65,000 yrs. It is the world's oldest continuous culture yet is largely ignored by the Australian public. Their culture is good for tourism ads but very few tourists actually know how indigenous people are treated and perceived by a majority of Australians. You won't see that on the glossy ads and brochures. When indigenous people speak out there is a reason they are so angry, yet most people seem to think they are just having a whinge. The ongoing coronial inquest into the death of an indigenous man at the hands of police has shown fundamental racism by Northern Territory police towards indigenous people in that part of Australia. The police commissioner of the NT said he was too busy to deal with racism in the police force he manages. Which sends a signal to the entire police force in the NT that no action will be taken to racist actions even if that lead to the death of an indigenous person. That type of racist culture in a police force is dangerous as we see in the US. Black people in this country are killed by police without any recriminations similar to the US. Indigenous people will not gain equality in Australian society unless this fundamental racism against them is removed from Australian culture which was started by the Anglo-Saxons who came here. I say that as someone with Anglo-Saxon heritage. What is ironic is that Anglo-Saxons are a product of invasion. Saxony is in Germany not the UK.

With the nice sunny days to start of this week I spent the first couple of days in the backyard doing more clearing of stuff towards the back fence. Put a big dent it that part of the work in the backyard. Used a lot of those cutting to fill up the area around the side of the house that suffers from that lower land due the building of duplex next door. It just takes time to build up the soil. Can't do that all in one hit unless you want to pay lots of money to bring in new soil, even then you need top that up as the ground settles especially after it rains. I already have stuff to fill that area which is free all it needs is a some grunt work from me. I also gets lots of cardio doing this. I keep getting surprised as to how different the backyard now looks as I remove stuff. I forgot how big my backyard actually is. Looked a lot different with those trees and massive rose creeper over the archway. All that is now gone mainly to show the new buyers how much land there actually is on my block. I'm under no illusions that when I sell up, the new owners will knock down the house which has been on this property since the 1950's. Another piece of history in this area will lost given my house was one of only two originally in the entire area. When they built houses in the previous century they were built to last and the workmanship was much better than we get in modern homes which is all about speed.

Just did my next medical stuff for the next specialist appointment happening next week. Will see what hoops I have to jump thru. Done so many blood tests I know the procedure better that some of nurses. Had times when I had to tell the younger ones what they have to do like making sure you sign the paperwork otherwise Medicare sends you a bill. Doesn't happen with other medical stuff just blood tests. Not sure why that is. Blood test are a standard procedure required by all GP's and specialists you see, so I don't get why it is treated differently.

Just been watching the wind pick up and the overcast conditions get heavier. Brought in the washing before it blew away. The high winds started late last night. Saw all that rain hitting Adelaide this morning whilst watching the news. Not sure why reporters insist on standing near the thing they are reporting on given most of the time it's just some random building linked to the actual news story. Saw this reporter hunkering under an umbrella for no reason just to do the news story on a random street near to where something happened. As an example if there is a news story on a medical issue, the reporter will stand in front some random hospital and talk a medical issue not even linked to the hospital they are in front of. As if we don't know what a hospital looks like. They treat us like we're all 5yrs old.

As a welcome to Winter here in Melbourne town the rain is set to be with us well into mid next week. So it will be a wet day timetable for the next week. Got stuff to do inside so not a major hit to plans, but would like to keep going in the garden.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Rump losing his mind about the outcome of his court trial. He is now a convicted felon as well as a convicted rapist. He didn't get a criminal sentence on the rape because of the statute of limitations which is nuts given there is not a statute of limitations for other types of assault. The truth about his sexual assaults on women won't come out until he is either in jail or dead since people are scared to speak out against him about those crimes. As for his 34 felony guilty charges, he won't get jail time for them either mainly because of his age of 77yrs old plus it's his first offence that he has been caught on. He has committed fraud before just not taken to court on it. He is just pissed that he actually got caught this time. The people who will vote for Rump have already drunk the cool aide so they are a lost cause. Rump could commit murder and they would vote for him. If they are willing to vote for a convicted felon, they are totally lost to the rational and moral world we supposedly live in. He is clearly showing signs of a disturbed mind and if he gets back into the presidency, Americans can't say they didn't know what he was going to do. The new Republican party has gone down the path of making America a dictatorship as they will only accept the outcome of the vote if their Republican candidate wins. They are now saying the US justice system is rigged because Rump was found guilty. All this will lead to further violence by Republicans if Rump doesn't win the next election. If his maga crowd decides to storm the NY court house they will find it to be a dumb idea. The NYPD unlike the cops in Washington will not hesitate to use force against any maga crowd trying to cause trouble. Don't fuck with an NYPD cop as they have a history of not taking kindly to people who try to cause trouble in their city. The sentencing of Rump will be a big news event and yet another circus that follows Rump where ever he goes and he has his own set of freaks at that circus.

Yet another cloud based security breach. The fact that Ticketek used a cloud based server to store customer data is an issue. They, like most companies that store customer data using a sub-contractor for this stuff, take no responsibility for the management of this data as it's easy to blame the sub-contractor when things go wrong. The real question is how does Ticketek manage the processes related to their sub-contractor? It doesn't resolve them of overall responsibility for customer data. If they don't have any oversight of their sub-contractors actions related to the subject of the contract then that is an issue. Hackers always look for the weakest point which is usually a sub-contractor to a larger business and also those companies that continue to use old softer with known faults. So Ticketek can't just blame their sub-contractor. Customers should start suing these companies for the mismanagement of their data. The only way for this problem to improve is hit these companies where it hurts and that is financially. Companies should also delete your data within 12months or at the end of the FY after you stop being a customer. The fact that they can hold on to your data for 10yrs after you stop being a customer is an issue and has no justification. If you are dumb enough to put your sensitive data on a cloud based system well you might was well give the hackers the key to your front door. It is easy to set up your own backup systems inside your house and rather cheap these days to buy a backup system that can hold 2-3TB of files. It's all set and forget these days.

Picked up my new specs at the end of last week. As mentioned previously the new frames are a throw back to specs I had about 15yrs ago. I also noticed the darkest tint on the new sunnies is what I used to have. So it's like winding the clock back. Not a big change to the eyesight which in fact has improved. With the specs my eyesight is better than 20\20. The only upside to getting a cataract op is there will be no need for long distance specs. Won't have to deal with that issue till I'm into my next decade of life. Have a friend who recently had a cataract op and is much better for it. It is such a common op these days, it's like going to the dentist. Not a big deal.

After all the rain we had last week and into the weekend, this week has been rather dry. The dew on the ground is still heavy but all that rain which was predicted hasn't happened. The temps have been typical Winter temps of 14-15C. Decided to do the shopping earlier this week due to the predicted rain, but then since the rain didn't happen decided to spend some time in the front yard trimming the trees. Will see what next week brings to see if I can get into the backyard again. Expecting a rainy weekend and once again more rain predicted for several days next week, but as we saw this week that rain might not happen.

Went to use the hedge trimmer last week and discovered the battery wasn't charging. So not sure if it's the charger or the battery, but either way it doesn't work. Tried to find the charger on-line and it seems the world has moved on, also the price of batteries and chargers is more that the trimmer is worth. Far cheaper just to buy a new one, so off to Bunnings today to get a new one and put the old trimmer on the junk pile I'm slowly building up. Might even look at buying one of those long pole chainsaws.

The house prices in Brisbane have outpaced other cities like Melbourne and Canberra. Brisbane now has the second highest house prices in the country. With Sydney at the top mainly due the lack of land in Sydney. Sydney can't get any bigger where as cities like Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane can keep expanding. There is plenty of land in Melbourne for the suburbs to expand, but like all new housing areas it's the lack of facilities that caps how far the city can expand. Here in Melbourne, the state govt put a stop to expanding the suburbs because of the cost of putting in facilities like PT. Melbourne is now the third highest city in house prices which makes it more affordable in which to purchase a house. Qld was the place to go if you want to buy a cheaper house, now it seems that isn't the case.

Dicky Knee is dead. The voice of The Angel and Dicky Knee, John Blackman passed away this week. He was one of the brains behind Hey Hey It's Saturday and was very quick witted at improv. A lot of his voices and voice overs on Hey Hey It's Saturday were ad lib and not much was scripted from him. The other guy who was a writer and producer on Hey Hey It's Saturday was the guy who played Professor Ratbaggy. It you were a kid in the '70s, Hey Hey It's Saturday was main viewing on a Saturday morning and that show had a huge following. It was one of the main kids shows that you got to watch cartoons as well as a talk show for kids.

Had to say goodbye to a piece of crockery I've had for 3 decades. I was showing it's age and the final deathblow was in the form of a hot bowl of ramen noodles. Was thinking of giving it a Viking funeral but due "cost of living"....I just wrapped it some junk mail and put it in the bin. In a couple of hundred years someone will dig it up and put it in a museum. Whilst most things organic disappear over the years crockery will live on.

Got a lovely note from power company that the power in my street will turned off tomorrow. Thought it was just another maintenance notice as I've received previously. Then got another note from the company actually doing the work informing me that the street will be blocked off. So I'll be on the bus for my medical appointment tomorrow and might go to the movies to waste some time till the works are completed and the power is back on.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Holy fuck, Rump has a gun licence. Given his diminishing cognitive abilities and unhinged outbursts, he is allowed to own a gun! Given he is now a felon, he might have his gun license removed for New York state, but he can keep it in Florida which seems nuts. Which makes the law an arse. How can a felon lose his license in one part of the US but can then buy another gun in a different state. Was funny to see Rump be quizzed by his own journalists by which I mean all those so called journalists from right wing news channels. They tried to give him a platform to promote himself but he fluffed it again. They keep asking him about the bible and it's clear he hasn't a clue what's in the bible. He barely reads anything that isn't about him. He can't even read off the prepared script without wandering off topic. He needs lots of minders to keep him focused as has the attention span of gold fish. This is the guy millions of American will vote for. Decades ago if someone carried on like Rump does, the men in white coats would show up and take him away to a padded cell. These days that person can become President of the US which shows how fucked up the US has become.

The LNP has finally come out and told the truth about what they think about climate change. They want to remove us from the climate change agreement. The smoke screen of nuclear is pie in the sky stuff, so they can keep supporting fossil fuels and will ensure we build more coal fired power stations which investors have said is a dead duck. Private industry doesn't want more coal fired power stations which means an LNP govt will have to fund them using tax payers money which means less money for things like hospitals, pensions, etc. The Teals would be smiling at this fucked up policy by the LNP. In fact it will encourage more people to challenge traditional LNP seats. Qld is a lost cause when it comes to climate change which is part of the reason by the LNP is pushing this anti-climate change policy. People in QLD outside of Brisbane are basically anti-climate change and fully on board for keeping coal. Which is why they are strong LNP seats and anti-Labor.

Danny Boy getting his King's Birthday honour is really pissing off the LNP here in Vic which is too funny. Jeff was on his high horse again which is funny because he also got a Queen's Birthday honour even though he was an absolute arsehole when his was Premier of Vic. He got booted out because of his complete disdain for the voting public and he was the guy who privatised all publicly own utilities which sent the prices for all the utility bills sky rocketing. Overnight the price of electricity went up by about $100. Jeff said the privatisation of these govt services would fall which was a total lie. He couldn't erect a statue to himself so he forced the the building of the new Exhibition Building opposite the Crown Casino on Spencer St. Nobody wanted it as we already had an adequate Exhibition Building. It was a total waste of money. We nicked named it Jeff's Shed just to piss Jeff off and he never forgot it. He was mad that we gave it that nickname as nobody liked it. He is your typical private school arsehole who believes his opinion is the only one that counts. So when Jeff now has a go at Danny Boy on his record, he seems to forget his own record as Premier. As for Danny Boy's honour it is deserved because we were in uncharted waters and whilst mistakes were made, he was brave enough to take a hard line. And let's not forget there was no vaccine at the time of the first lock downs. How many lives were saved by his actions we will never know. People in regional Vic led a relatively normal life because of his actions. If you lived outside of the Melbourne city boundary you weren't impacted by COVID similar to people in WA when their Premier closed their border. COVID only became on issue in WA when the border was reopened and COVID arrived with people travelling to WA. Nobody here in Melbourne liked the lock downs but largely we complied because of what was at stake in keeping other people safe. What annoyed people was the multiple lock downs. People who thought they were resilient and could deal with life, got a reality check and what really made them angry was the fact they discovered they weren't resilient and not as capable at dealing with the world as they thought. They also realised how dependent they were on others. They wanted someone to blame for their inability to deal with life so they focused on Danny Boy. These are people who would push you out of a life boat to save themselves. Then you have the self entitled people who believe they should be allowed to do whatever they want. If Danny Boy was so hated by Vics he would of lost his last election but not only did he win, he increased the Labor vote which flies in the face of all these idiots now coming out on TV and social media against Danny Boy. Come the Zombie apocalypse these will be the first people to die because they will try to tell the Zombies what to do. You can't argue with a Zombie.

Been watching the swimming selection trials this week. Much better to watch it on TV than live. Went to one of these swimming comps for the Comm Games here in Melbourne and had no clue who was in the pool nor what was going on. Had to watch the big screens to find out. Saw the pool interviews but largely that was for the TV audience. Just one of those sports that is better to be seen on TV. Much like F1. The tougher qualifying times and only top two going thu. I'm sure other countries apart from the US will be so strict. There a clearly swimmers turning up to the Olympics from other countries who don't meet the rules. We can depend on the Chinese team hopped up on drugs as per usual.

Charged my new hedge trimmer expecting to be out in the garden today based on new weather forecast but it has been raining most of the day so far which kills any chance of getting out there. But when you watch the weather on the TV it still says Melbourne is clear of rain. Well not in my part of Melbourne here in the SE. Supposed to be dry tomorrow but who knows. Just a case of getting up tomorrow and see what happens. The old "suck it and see" method. Charging the new battery was a real light show. Technology certainly has moved on since I purchased my previous hedge trimmer. The new battery and charger pack has lots of flashing lights when charging and it charges in about 90 mins compared to the 5 hrs for the previous battery. Now the battery packs are sold separately which makes it all more expensive. Previously the battery packs always came with the tool, now the main focus is on the battery and charger with the tool being secondary with makes the entire package more expensive. It encourages you to buy more power tools from the same manufacturer rather than go for the best tool for the job. Yet another marketing strategy to get more money out of customers. Although these companies will tell you it gives more options which is total bullshit of course.

Hope the weekend is good for you

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

The aggressiveness of those Palestinian protesters is one step from the vandalism which has now moved to putting lives in danger by targeting a Jewish federal politicians community office. These Palestinian supporters not only used old anti-Jewish images to deface the office but also set fire to the front of the building which has apartments above the office. These idiots are also attacking staff who work in these community offices. These types of acts of vandalism is far from the peaceful protest which only plays into the hands those on the other side. These Palestinian protesters have shown they don't believe in peaceful protest. It's all about aggression. Not sure what they expect the Australian govt to do about Israel's aggression in Gaza given Netanyahu is not even listening to the US which is their biggest supporter. So people can protest as much as they like in this country but it's not going to make any difference and vandalising politicians offices is only going to lead to the public turning on these Palestinian protesters. We have seen the violence against British politicians leading to them being bashed in the streets. We don't need that level of violence here. But it seems those on the Palestinian side of this conflict are willing to escalate things to violence which will not end well for them. It's just silly and in fact playing into the hands of Hamas which wants violence to occur in Western countries much like other terrorists groups have tried to do by recruiting locals in Western countries. And is seems Hamas has recruits here in Australia, they just don't come out and say they support Hamas. Hamas is winning the social media war given everything coming out of Gaza is not independent reporting. It only happens with the ok from Hamas which is a terrorist organization. Something that is lost in the social media posting. Both sides are responsible for what is happening in Gaza.

The Chinese govt rent-a-crowd was in full swing in Canberra and once again they went straight to violence which is how China deals with any opposing views. These Chinese govt supporters are bused in to the respective locations and have Chinese govt minders mixed in to that crowd. They are so bold that they attack Australian citizens here in Australia. As we also saw at the press conference they shoved our own Australian-Chinese journalist and blocked her from getting in front of the Chinese delegation. At some point we need to shove back. We already know they attack Australian citizens who dare to speak out against China by sending their agents here. About time we took a more aggressive stance against these attacks on our soil. If we seem bent of deporting people, we might want to start deporting Chinese citizens from Australia who perform acts of violence on Australian citizens.

The T-20 cricket his happening and so is the Euro cup but you won't see it on the TV unless you are willing to pay for it. The only news you get about these sports is via small grabs on the internet or via a sports report. It's like turning the clock back 50yrs where the only option to hear The Ashes being played in England was via a transistor radio which you had to have in bed while falling asleep. With all this technology we have these days, it seems sport at the elite level is only available to those who have money. In that respect we have gone backwards as a society and things have little much changed in 5 decades for those who are struggling to have enough money to pay for stuff. Sport has always been available to people from all economic backgrounds. The working class are a huge supporter of sport, but now we are denying those people access to sport.

Mr Potato Head has identified locations where the LNP intends to use tax payers money to build very expensive nuclear reactors in 10-12yrs time. They have said they will takes these sites by force which isn't surprising given it was the LNP which changed the clothing of our Customs agency to black shirts. It was again another Mr Potato Head idea. He sees the world thru the lens of a Qld cop and if anyone opposes him, then he wants to use force to make people comply. It's a Qld cop thing. It's just his nature. It's obvious that the LNP has not consulted any of the state govt's nor any of the rural local areas identified for these nuclear sites. There is also no plan as to where the water is coming from to keep these plants cool. The site here in Vic in Gippsland is a known earthquake fault area. Several of the earthquakes we have had here in Vic in the last 2yrs were centred in the Gippsland area. Yep build a nuclear reactor in an earthquake zone, what could possibly go wrong. I reckon they should build the first nuclear reactor in Rocky right in the heart of beef country. Since the Nat's are so keen on nuclear, lets put them in key farming and cattle country then watch the price of beef fall. Well the positive would be you wouldn't need to look to hard to find the cows as they will glow in the dark. Already in Qld you can get your steak with a hint of racism, but in the future your steak will also glow in the dark. Think how much the restaurants will save on lighting. Win, win?

Went to my dentist this week and saw they have new dental chairs which now have hand grips but they aren't any longer. Always have an issue in those dental chairs as they my feet normally hang of the end, plus my shoulders are a lot wider so I have to take the death pose to fit on the chair. I was only one day away from that fake bomb threat in the CBD although from what I saw it was on the other end of Collins St, near the financial area. Lots of banks on that side of Collins St. It's the money street in the CBD. The other end of Collins St is the upmarket area where the expensive stores like Rolex, Gucci, etc are located. If you have money to burn, then the top end of Collins St in Melbourne is the place for you. Whereas Bourke St has always the people's street.

The Winter chill has certainly hit Melbourne this week. This month started of with cooler than normal temps and it's ending with bone chilling morning temps. We had our coldest morning in Melbourne for a long time with a temp of 1.4C and that was the inner city suburbs. In my part of Melbourne it got down to zero which is only 30mins from the CBD. In regional Vic it got down to negative temps. Normally in Melbourne at this time of year we get morning temps around 4-5C. It can even get down to 3C but anything below that is very unusual. Is it climate change or just an unusual week of very low temps? It is certainly an extreme of temps. I've had to use the heater during the day once just to warm up the house.

Gave the new hedge trimmer a run on Monday, but given the chilly temps I didn't get outside till after midday. It did an excellent job and even though I was told it would have a shorter run time, the battery didn't lose much charge. It was like a hot knife cutting thru butter. Was very impressed with its power given it's on the smaller size. The battery even comes with it's own battery check button which is a good idea. Don't need to use the charger to see how much charge is left. Managed to fill up the garden bin in short time. Now waiting to see what next week brings and if the weather is dry, I'll be in the backyard again cutting back more stuff with the new power tool. Might even use the other attachment to see how that goes with the tasks I've got. Good to know the limits of these power tools. So far I'm impressed.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Had the radio on while doing the ironing on Saturday and was surprised to hear a Neil Diamond song with a new up-beat tune. Have the younger generation run out of songs that we are getting more revamped songs from the previous century. Sure this is a classic pop song but I wasn't expecting it to feature on a modern radio station.

Well Oddball from Kelly's Heroes has passed away. Captain Stubing was his tank mechanic in that movie amongst a cast of many well known actors. He was also in The Dirty Dozen. No matter what role he plays, he was always noticed in a movie and was very natural as an actor. The younger generation would know him better as the major bad guy in The Hunger Games.

The lack of detail in the LNP's nuclear plan seems similar to what they accused Labor of doing on the referendum. So to quote the LNP mantra on the referendum, "Vote No if You Don't Know" about nuclear power. They don't seem to have a plan as to what happens between now and 2035 which is more like 2040 to build these multiple nuclear plants. The LNP doesn't even know how many nuclear plants will be built as they are now saying there will be multiple nuclear plants on one site. Whilst they say they will consult they also say that if they win the next election that gives them the mandate to force regional communities to have nuclear plants built in their communities. So no community consultation then? So if you don't know about the LNP's nuclear plan it seems appropriate to say "Nuclear, Vote No if You Don't Know" to the LNP at the next election.

The other issue the LNP has not explained is their plan as to where the nuclear waste will be stored given those spent nuclear rods last about a couple of thousand yrs. Since FNQ loves Mr Potato Head and votes for the LNP it seems only right that nuclear waste is stored in their region. Somewhere close to Cairns. The Whitsundays have plenty of uninhabited islands just perfect for nuclear waste given The Great Barrier Reef is fucked anyway due to the LNP's lack of action on climate change for over a decade. They are now proposing to do nothing about climate change for next 15yrs by their nuclear policy. But on the bright side whilst the reef will be fucked the three eyed tropical fish of the coast of Cairns could be a new tourist attraction. Granted you will need a lead lined radian proof glass bottom boat to see them, but just think of the funky radiation suit you will get to wear. "Queensland, perfect one day, glowing with radiation the next. Come see our variety of three eyed tropical fish."

The far right is getting traction in France because some French people believe migrants are killing off their normal way of life. Which is interesting given the best French sports people are black. If you watch any international sports meet, most western and European countries have black athletes. If it wasn't for migrants, France wouldn't be able to field a soccer team at the current Euro cup. So when European countries confuse migrants with refugees it shows they don't know the difference and at the heart of their complaints is pure racism. When I was in France over several decades ago, there were plenty of black people speaking French. Why? Well because a majority of them come from former French colonies and see France as their next natural home given singing the French national anthem was part of various African and pacific nations. France still have colonies is non-european locations. So the concept of France only being for white French people is a nonsense. A part of France has always been anti-migrants even if those so called migrants have been part of French culture for centuries. Lets not forget French people rounded up Jews for the Nazis during WWII and sent them off to concentration camps. These Jews had lived in France for generations. So France has always had an issue with people who they see are not proper French people. Also given the European nobility have been fucking each other for centuries, cousins marrying cousins, there is no such thing as pure French. It is all about self entitled people wanting the world order not to change. Well guess what. Empires rise and fall all the time and holding on to the past only ensures your society goes the way of many of other societies that have disappeared from history. You either change or die. The only constant is change.

Assange is back in Australia and regardless what you think of the guy and his methods, the pursuit of him was politically motivated because the US tried to cover up the deaths of those journalists which the military mistook for the enemy. This happens in a mixture of terrorist and civilian zones. Civilians are being targeted every week in Ukraine but the world seems immune to those deaths. Protesters are very choosy at to which lives they want to protest for. Even if people think Assange didn't do what he did based on freedom of information, he did get a journalism award. If the US had not tried to make an issue of the publication of that evidence of the US military making a mistake, then Assange would not have got the backing he now has. It's noted that the US govt did not go after the newspapers in the US that republished the same info. The US just should of owned the error and apologised and this issue would of gone away over a decade ago. Journalists are always looking for an angle to tell the facts which are always embellished in any journalists article or video report. They are story tellers and not necessarily fact tellers. As part of their reporting there is also a bunch of assumptions to fill in the gaps in the facts. It happens all the time. So what you read or listen to is a retelling of facts mixed in with theatre to tell a story. You should never hang on each word a journalist says. Don't just listen to what is being said, but also how it is said.

Got notification of what my pension will look like come the new tax cuts and the CPI increase. The CPI only did 1.6% so about average. When you are looking to retire, Super funds will tell you their figures are based on you getting a CPI of 2.6%, well that has hardly happened in the last 15yrs. It's normally under 2% so the pension you see in their calculators is a guess. When I first got my pension the CPI was under 1 %. The larger part of the actual nett pension increase, as in what you get in your hand, is in the tax cuts. So your pension might not have gone up much but you get more money in your spendable income. And just to bring the new joy down a couple of pegs, the RBA might increase interest rates in Aug due to companies making big profits. The push towards higher inflation isn't happening due to wage increases, it's the big companies making billions in profits because they have increased their prices. So people have little choice but to purchase these higher priced goods, yet the ACCC is doing nothing to curb these huge profits from higher prices. And of course it's the average tax payer that gets hit and then blamed for inflation. I would prefer to buy coffee at the pre-COVID price, but it hasn't gone down. COVID has been over for nearly 2 yrs and supply is not an issue any more so why has the price of coffee not gone back down. The price of the single malt scotch I like to buy has gone up an again by an extra $30, that's and increase of $80 in the past 12 months. Again supply is not an issue so why the price hike. The price setters can't explain why the prices jump so quickly, given prices were stable for a number of years pre-COVID. COVID continues to be blamed for the higher prices which is getting old as a reason.

So all that rain that was predicted for this week didn't happen. My side of Melbourne got fuck all when it comes to rain. Was out in the front garden at the start of the week then decided to do other stuff for the remainder of the week due to the rain supposedly coming our way. Here we are on Thursday and not a drop. Was out doing the grocery shop yesterday and it even felt a bit warm. Whilst they were celebrating the Summer solstice in the northern hemisphere in the southern part of the world we had our Winter solstice although you wouldn't know it given here in Melbourne we get a lot less daylight at this time of year anyway. Apparently we only got 9hrs of daylight on the day. Since we are heading into mid-Winter, it gets dark by 4:30pm anyway and night descends by 5pm.

Cate Campbell has hung up the goggles and probably should of gone out earlier on a high, but she is a champion. No doubt she will be a future advocate for women's swimming in the near future.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Watched some of the US Presidential debate. Was waiting for Rump to start ranting, instead he just refused to answer questions related to his conduct as President and comments he made. In short he just lied about everything. One thing guaranteed is the chaos that will occur if Rump wins. He will change the constitution to ensure he is President for life, much like he saw Poo-tin do. He loves Poo-tin and wishes he could do the same in America as Poo-tin did in Russia. Rump has removed any moderate Republicans so the govt will be in total freefall with nut jobs like Space Laser Lady who be will in charge of a major portfolio in the US govt. There will be riots in the streets of the US. Abortion will be banned nationwide. Black people will continue to be removed from the electoral roles in Republican states as they were when Rump became President. There will be mass deportations of what they call "aliens". These people work and pay taxes in America but will be bused to the border much like we saw asylum seekers being bused from Texas to NY. If elected Rump won't see out his term. He will be removed either legally or by force. There are more guns in the US than when there was an assassination attempt on Reagan. The US will withdraw support from Ukraine and allow Poo-tin to complete his invasion of Ukraine at which point there will be a mini-war in Europe. Rump is not a fan of Palestinians so Israel will be given a free pass to remove Palestinians from their current territory which will spark a new war in the M.E. The EU and NATO will turn their backs on the US. The world will return to the uncertainty of WWII. Rump loves dictators and will run the US much like he runs his various businesses which all have gone bankrupt. He tried this the last time he was President but he had moderate people who stopped him. All those normal Republicans are gone, with only the nutters left. People don't like Kamala much as the candidate for President. The Dem's need a rockstar at this late date in the campaign that will get people out to vote and the only person people know on the Dem's side is Michelle Obama. She said they wouldn't be back in the Oval Office, but she is smart, tough and can easily take on Rump who is scared of smart women which is why he surrounds himself with women who are either crazy or look like Barbie. He likes them young. I'm sure he will try and change the law so he can marry his daughter as he already stated he would date his daughter but he legally can't. Americans don't mind if their President is a felon, rapist and constant liar as most of them don't vote yet expect to continue to live in a democracy which is living in a fantasy world, not reality. Most Americans don't treasure their democracy which was won after a bloody and vicious war. Perhaps they need a taste of what it is like to lose their democracy for them to appreciate it. They take their freedoms for granted and have forgotten the lives that were lost to gain the freedoms they enjoy today.

That Labor Senator who crossed the floor initially said she voted based on her beliefs then did that defiant interview on Insiders and David Speers being the experienced journalist gave her enough rope and she did the rest. The nail in the coffin came when she said the voters were with her not the PM which was a challenge to Albo and he acted. It's ironic that she is an Afghan refugee who's parents fled the Taliban to give her the opportunity for a better life as a woman and she has thrown that all away. Her political career is trashed and whilst she might have been told on social media she is right, that is not the real world of politics. Her social media posts quoting the phrase "from the river to the sea" only has one meaning which is used by anti-Jewish groups calling for the elimination of Israel and the elimination of all Jews in Israel. You can't rephrase the meaning of that term to suit your own agenda. She has learnt the hard way that she is a small fish in a big ocean of political sharks. Whatever her agenda, it has all blown up in her face. It doesn't matter whether you are in a private company or a govt organization, the moment you challenge the leader of that organization in open forum, you better have a back up plan. If she did have an issue with the war in Gaza, she should of spoken up behind closed doors, not blind side her party in open forum. It was a dumb idea if she wanted to stay in politics. Now she gets a free ride for the next 4yrs, getting tax payers money without having to do anything for it. Essentially getting money for free which will only piss more people off given there are people struggling and having to work for the money they earn. What pisses voters off more than anything are politicians who get voted into Parliament on a party ticket then jump ship to do their own thing. She will find Canberra a very lonely place and you can bet Labor will keep the pressure on her to resign from Parliament and give back the seat to Labor. She is young and has shown she is very naive and cannot see why things went south. If you load the gun then shoot yourself in both feet, don't blame other people for your actions. I'm sure she worked hard to get into the Senate but rather than listening and learning from the older politicians on how politics works, she like other young people believe her opinions are right and anyone older is out of date. It's like a newly minted uni graduate who believes they know everything, when in fact all they have done is get a piece of paper confirming they are good at passing exams. The real knowledge comes after you graduate.

The French are on track to elect a Fascist govt which will be interesting with the Olympics coming up. There was another fascist govt which held an Olympics and it didn't go their way all because a single black man won most of the medals. Then again when Jessie Owens was given an award by his own US govt, he wasn't allowed to use the front door. He had to use the service entrance just like all the other black people who were part of the catering. So he was treated just a little bit better than the Third Reich treated him, but only just. So the question them becomes will the non-Christian and non-white French athletes compete at the Olympics for a fascist govt, given the fact the AfD want to deport anyone who is not considered a true French citizen. The AfD has stated they will deport anyone who doesn't meet the criteria of a French citizen regardless of whether or not they have citizenship. They also don't like gay and trans people. Very reminiscent of the Third Reich who removed anyone who was disabled, Jewish, gypsys, non-white, gay, etc from the respective countries they invaded. It is essentially the same policy. If you can't trace your ancestry back to the French revolution then you aren't considered French. That also includes anyone who is not a Catholic Christian. Some how they believe only Catholics are true Christians which is interesting given that Jesus was a Jew. French Kings believed they were anointed by God to rule. When you self proclaim you speak for God, there is something dictatorial about that. Now the Hungarians are in control of the EU for the next 6 months, so that is going to be another bit of chaos given Hungary supports Poo-tin and is anti-EU. You would be forgiven to think the world is descending into chaos. WWIII couldn't be that far away. Better get than underground bunker ready. Well unless you live in a flood zone, you'll need to invest in submarine.

Spent a few hours today in the back garden. Waited till later in the day to get out there. The new power garden tool continues to impress. Got a lot done in the area I was working and happy with the progress. It has that Qld grass that has taken a hold in one part of the backyard and is hard to shift. Was told previously to just poison it then rip it all out, but I kept it however it needs to be watched closely otherwise it can run away in the garden. On the positive side it doesn't need much and stays green all year round and makes a nice soft place to sit. Will need another couple of sessions to get it all cleared out. Happy with where the rest of garden is at. Have got rid of lots of stuff in both the front and back yards. It looks much more spacious.

Has been dry all week but it has been bloody cold on several days. Yesterday was very chilly even for Melbourne. Was only 2C overnight and didn't get much above 12C but it didn't last long. Don't normally put the fire on during the day, but had no option. Was out on Wednesday to do the groceries and visit the bank to count my money, and despite the cooler temps it was nice in the sun. Today it has been overcast all day but the lack of wind has meant it hasn't been really cold. With the cardio workout I got doing that work in the garden today, I didn't feel cold at all. Only starting to get chilly now with the light disappearing.

Just saw Rishi Sunak concede defeat. Another own goal by his party. He didn't need to call an election. Liz even lost her seat which is not a surprise. The elites will do ok now that they have lost their seats in Parliament.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

The Supreme Court in the US are doing the bidding of Rump. It is a preamble to what a dictatorship looks like where the law falls in behind the needs of one political party. The highest court in the land is out of balance which leads to less actually analysis of the law and it has more to do with who put them in power. It is clear the Supreme Court are biased towards the Republican cause and are enabling the abuse of power by the Republicans. They are also reacting to Biden stating that he would change the make up of the Supreme Court, so the Republican judges want to keep their influence and continue to get kick backs. They are more interested in getting richer and will abuse the law to make sure they stay in power. The wife of one of those Republican judges is a typical racist and she tells her husband what to do and obviously how to vote on issues. The American system is not one a true democracy should aspire to. It is just a tissue paper thickness away from becoming a dictatorship. You can't have a democracy based on people in power doing the right thing. There has to be robust systems in place to stop politicians flaunting the rules of the democracy. Now the US Supreme Court has stated a President is above the law and can't be prosecuted for anything a President does whilst in the job or in his private life whilst in the job. So the President can commit any crime without consequences. He could have his political opponents killed, he can rape women, and commit financial fraud whilst President and not be charged with any of those crimes all because he is President. WTF type of democracy is that? Sounds like a dictatorship and the law is allowing it to happen. That is a fucked up society.

The talk about a Muslim political party is interesting given it is being driven from the same mosque in Sydney which is known for radical Imams. Muslims just like Christians are not united as a religion. The two main factions of Muslims have been killing each other for decades if not centuries. The Muslims in Sydney don't speak for Muslims in other parts of the country, so to say all Muslims will support a Muslim party is nonsense.

On the Christian side the Catholics believe they are the true Christian faith. Only Catholics believe the Pope is god's rep on earth. The Catholics don't believe the Protestants are a true religion and both sides killed each other when in power in England. Mary killed off lots of Protestants and her dad looted lots of Catholic churches and killed off the priests to get their wealth. The Methodists and Baptists don't get along either. I remember as a kid when my parents would drag me along to the local church and after our service was over, the local priest had to hold separate services for the Methodists and Baptists. So all this beat up about a religious based political party can't happen as an entire faith based party because the factions in each of the religions can't agree on a thing, let alone a common political agenda. It might make a good news story to generate advertising income, but that is all it is. No doubt social media is blowing up, but again that is only to generate click bait and revenue for those social media platforms. It has fuck all to do with reality. There are plenty of political parties both big and small to choose from.

The French elections shows what happens when the quiet majority gets organized. The far right thought they had fooled everyone by using the son of an immigrant to show they are not a fascist party, but they have had a reality check. The French people don't want a far right govt. It will be the party of those who are pissed off about anything. Anyone with a chip on their shoulder will join the far right as they want France to stay white, whatever the fuck that means. The strongest metals are those that are made up of a mixture of elements. The weakest metals are the pure metals. In-breeding makes for more mongoloid offspring, we see that with pure breed dogs which is another man made construct and another failed experiment by humans. The strongest species are those that evolve and gain new genes. So the challenge for the US is will the American political parties in the centre and left unite to ensure they remain a democracy or is American society so divided they are willing to trash their own democracy by voting in Rump for another term. The Dems also need to get their act together as it's clear JoeB isn't up to it physically. If they don't replace JoeB they will hand the Presidency over to Rump and then the US will spiral into chaos and their constitution will be in tatters. Which makes the French smarter than Americans. It's in their hands.

Got a message from my mobile (cell) phone provider at the start of the week saying my phone would be defunct when 3G is shut down. For those who are not Australians reading this bit, we call "cell phones" mobiles because they are mobile as in you carry it with you. So if visiting Australia you need to learn the local lingo. Again Aussies know far more about the US than Americans know about Australia. So went down to my local Officeworks to checkout the mobiles on offer at the price I was willing to pay. I discovered my area doesn't have 5G coverage so had to settle for a 4G phone. Went for another Android. My old phone is about 7yrs old and the operating system is a 5.1 so very old by current standards. The current op system is 14. I also discovered that when it says in the specs you need a usb charger they fail to mention you require a C type usb charger of the right size. Yet another tech thing you need to be aware of. I have three usb chargers at home but none of them were the right type or size. One of which I use to charge a tablet, but it seems the new mobiles use their own usb sized chargers which is just mobile phone manufacturers making people pay for additions. It's just another way for the general public to pay for stuff they don't need to. I also discovered not all mobiles come with a charger. Motorola for example, that has been around since mobiles were first used, doesn't come with a charger even though it's a more expensive phone. So I ended up with a mobile that was on sale but the ticket price was less than the on-line price. I had to settle for a pinky colour but I did save $100. Told the sales assistant I'll just have to be a new age guy with a pinkish phone. Well I do have a pink shirt so it will blend in with that. Also the new phones don't come with other accessories such as an ear bud headset or a case. My old phone came with a charger, a case and an ear bud headset with a mic. I mean if you spend a couple of thousand on a smart phone the least they could do is include basic accessories. It would be like buying a TV without a power plug. We are all getting ripped of by these mobile phone manufacturers. I'm sure they would say it allows consumers more choice to buy their own accessories, but it's basically a way of them making more money. Who the fuck makes a phone without a charger? They just want you to pay more for their accessories. And you end up with so many fucking cords and plugs that don't fit anything but their model of phone and we end up with more e-waste. So now I'm on the hunt for a case for the new mobile. Tried searching on-line for what I want but the search engines are so poor, I'll have to go shopping the old fashioned way. Will be off to my local Westfield next week once the school holidays are over. Currently using an old sunnies soft case which the mobile just squeezes into. If these mobiles get any bigger you'll need carry-on wheeled luggage to carry it in. At least the new mobile fits in the top pocket of my shirts, but not all of them. It's either that or get a man bag for it like we used to have 40yrs ago just to carry the brick size mobiles we had back then. I see there is even a sling bag for mobiles these days. Why?

Rain expected well into next week so work outside it not happening. But I have other tasks to do inside the house. Has been overcast most of the day and it's getting chilly as the afternoon progresses. Now have to spend time downloading the pics from my old mobile to my PC. Apart from the 3G thing it's a nice compact phone. Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well it hasn't taken long for the threat of Rump to turn to violence. The shooter was a registered Republican who obviously was worried about Rump turning his country into a dictatorship. If you are a Republican in the US you are by default a Rump supporter now. The Project 2025 manifesto by the Republicans is stating the intention of the Republicans to demolish the American Constitution and democracy in general, to turn it into a Rump dynasty which is what Rump wants. He intends to be dictator-in-chief of the US. All will serve at his pleasure and like some Asian countries he will ensure his sons rule after him. Might sound crazy, but that is the state of American politics right now. The Republicans believe they are the true Americans and anyone who does not follow Rump is un-American. As for the shooter well he was a member of a gun club which Rump supports. He joined the Republican party knowing who Rump is and his policies so he was one of Rump's supporters. The gun used is one that Rump supports the sale of. The shooter was also an amateur shooter. A professional sniper would not of missed and also not gone for the head. Rump said God saved him. The only thing that saved Rump was that the shooter was not a professional. God had fuck all to do with it. Now he is using the angle that he is God's chosen one to become President and he will ride that horse into his tilt at the Presidency. The evangelists are having orgasms over the fact they believe it was a sign from God that Rump should be President. His other followers already believe the bullshit that God saved Rump. The Dems need to get JoeB to leave the race otherwise apathy will win the day and Rump will be the next President and the retribution will begin not just on his political rivals but also on American citizens who don't believe in him. There will be another attempt on his life if he does what he said he would do if he becomes President. The only difference is that next time, it will be professional sniper who tries to kill him. Americans have a history of assassinating their own leaders.

Rump's choice of Republican judge in Florida has paid off. She has ruled in Rump's favour but then she was always going to do that. Another sign that the American legal system is politically biased. All these Republican judges are worried about their jobs so are ruling in favour of Rump because they believe he will win. Which is just another issue with the American democracy model. Even the law is biased on political grounds. Judges are appointed based on their political affiliations not whether or not they have the skills to do the job. And they laughingly call America the land of the free. The subtext to that is "free" is based on which political party you support.

Had my cheese and wine night earlier in the week watching Le Tour and "The Pog" doing his thing climbing away from everyone else on a high mountain stage. He looks clear now to take the yellow for the rest of the race and win it overall. Which would be an amazing achievement winning both The Giro and Le Tour in the same year. He is learning not to spend all his biscuits at once. He is much more tactical this year. Also he hasn't hit his peak as a cyclist either which is around 28 yrs old so he can only get better.

Happy to see that The Jackass lost his Wimbledon final. The young Spaniard deserved the win. Time for The Jackass to quit. He got another taste of a tennis crowd not liking him and his attitude. He might have won more championships than Roger, but he is just an arsehole. Roger, even though he is now retired, would draw a bigger crowd than The Jackass .

Started the deep cleaning tasks this week given it has been raining all week and it will continue into the weekend. Not sure what next week will bring. The main bathroom is old and in need of a reno, but since I'm selling up I'm just going to give it a good scrub and leave it at that. Might need to do some re-grouting in the shower but that's about all I'm going to do as a maintenance task. Trying all different types of cleaning agents to see which works for which task. No doubt will need to go to Bunnings at some point to top up on supplies. Only advantage with doing this work now is that the cold days are counteracted with the physical work which keeps you warm. Also using the steam cleaner creates it's own warmth. Today like the last couple of days, the temps have struggled to get above 12C and it doesn't get there till mid afternoon. Very good days to stay in bed under the warm covers.

Went out yesterday to do the groceries when the rain stopped and the sun made an appearance for a couple of hours. Was walking down the street and happened to look down when I discovered that my beard had it's own shadow. No I wasn't wearing a scarf. The beard has gotten on the bushy side but it kinda creeps up on you. So a trimming we shall go to get rid of the bushranger look, as I don't have enough room in the driveway for a horse and buggy. Plus I don't have a butter churn. Discovered in the new version of Skyrim you can actually make butter by churning milk. Lots of little things like that are now possible in this new version. I keep discovering new hidden things that's included in this version of the game.

The place next door is back on the market with a new agent. Selling during Winter is not a smart idea, but it has been on the market for 7 months overall and won't attract the money they want for it because people know it has been on the market for so long. The longer a property stays on the market the less it will sell for. Investors prefer older properties that they can remodel or just demolish the existing house and build either one big dwelling or multiple dwellings. That's where the big money is at and where you will attract a bigger pool of potential buyers. With the possibility of an interest rate hike in the next couple of months, owner occupiers are thin on the ground.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Received a notification that the gas bill charges are going up as of next month. Whilst the increased mentioned in the new tables of charges might seem small you won't really know till you get the next gas bill. I only use gas for heating and hot water. It is funny how continuous flow hot water systems have made a comeback after 50yrs. They were removed as the norm back in the 80's because they were not considered efficient and also dangerous because of the pilot lights that were in the open, so the industry went to tank systems with a plate burner. Now these tank gas hot water systems are seen as not efficient because they heat the entire cylinder whereas continuous flow units only heat the water on demand plus they are smaller so take up less space. The cycle of life, which it is seems means we can't come with anything new. It has been a rather cold Winter so I'm expecting a higher Winter gas bill anyway. Even if you bother to compare utility providers, the offers they advertise only last for the first 12 months then you go on the higher charges because they all get their supply from the same providers. It's like getting the milk from the same cow, just different teats. They just make you believe it's from a different cow.

Kamala now has to energize Americans to come out and vote. Republicans only win when the vote is low. Now that JoeB has departed the race for the next President, it's the Republicans that have the old man syndrome to deal with. Rump rambles when he gives a speech and can barely stick to his prepared speech. His acceptance speech at the conference was just an old man babbling about stuff and just kept on rambling and boring the shit out of everyone. Some of whom either left or fell asleep. He just wanders off topic and has on numerous occasions just lost his thought. All those things Rump said about JoeB being old and not being able to complete sentences, can now be applied to him. Lots of clips of Kamala dancing and looking young with lots of energy. Then you see Rump walking like an old man. He has to now contend with the old man tag. Kamala hasn't wasted any time in going after Rump calling him a typical criminal she used to deal with as a prosecutor. That's going to be the main trope against Rump. On one hand the choice is someone who stands up for the laws and rights of people and on the other side a felon, rapist, financial fraudster, and a constant liar. Americans have a clear choice of who they want to represent their country. The rhetoric from the Republicans is back to the same racist stuff they rolled out when Obama was running for President. Rump is trying the same birtha thing he tried with Obama. They seem to be so scared of Kamala. Now they are trying to say she isn't black enough. They need to read their history. Black people were taken as slaves from Africa to the West Indies to be slaves working for sugar plantations owned by white people some of whom came from America. Again the Republicans are showing they are just dumb white people who can't stand the fact non-white people are smarter than them. They feel threatened by an educated non-white woman. Republicans believe if you're white then you are normal if not then you are classed as "other" therefore not relevant let alone equal. The new Republican party is so far from the original that it is unrecognizable. There are good people who consider themselves Republicans, but they can't see themselves in this new infestation.

The Republicans are known for their racist and anti-female comments. They made lots of sexist comments about Hilary and Michelle Obama. Now they are trying to disguise this by using the DEI thing. So not only are they going after non-white people but also anyone who is disabled, gay, trans etc. Basically anyone who is not a white person and anyone who is not a descendant from a slave owning family. It goes all the way back to the last civil war, which the Republicans like to continually bring up. Even saying dumb shit like the American Civil War had nothing to do with slavery, it was those northerners who were trying to ruin the economy of the southern states. An economy built of slavery. The Republicans are trying to rewrite history. They are even burning books which tell the truth about those times. Similar to what happened in Germany after WWII where Germans removed any mention of the holocaust from their school books so a couple of generations grew up not knowing the truth of the holocaust. The detention death camps were mentioned as holiday camps which Jews willingly went to. The new Republicans are trying to push the bullshit that slaves were free choose to be slaves or free people. Which everyone knows is just a lie. Even people outside the US know it's a lie. They have become the political movement that wants to take America back to a time when white people owned everything. The world has moved on, they haven't. They might want a civil war but the outcome will be the same. White people just need to face the facts they are on the decline and there is a power shift coming whether they like it or not.

Has been a busy week. Started off with more deep cleaning and have book ended it with some more cleaning this afternoon. Haven't cleaned so much in such a small amount of time. I'm happy with the results. Next step will be some grouting in the main bathroom just to freshen up the area. Had a couple of dry days so was out in the backyard again tackling the same area I started chopping back last week. That area looks completely different. I've turned the clock back a couple of decades. That area now looks like it did soon after I purchased the house. It has opened up the backyard even more. Happy with the progress I'm making there as well. Feels like I've turned a corner in getting the big tasks done in the garden. I continue to be impressed with the new garden power tool. It is punching above it's capability and I am pushing it to it's limits. Has been raining most of the day after a very windy day and night. The week hasn't been as bad as was predicted. Had more dry days than wet days. But the rain will be back for the weekend and to start off next week. Today is a lot cooler and back to typical Winter temps. Had a couple of days around 17C which felt like a heatwave compared to 12C we had most of last week. Back again to 12C today.

Have been watching some of the early sports for the Olympics. Getting a sense of when the main viewing will be which for us here in Australia is in the early hours of the morning. So you either go to bed early and get up at 3am or stay up to 6am. Given most of the finals will be at night Paris time, the replays will be avidly watched. Don't think I'll be getting up in the cold to watch the opening ceremony.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Stayed up to see the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris, and well it went on forever. I quit after watching it after 4hrs. Not sure how long it actually went for but it must have been close to 5hrs. Apart from the parade of the athletes and the performances on the river, it went for far too long. The replay went for 6hrs here in Australia so you had to sit there for the entire afternoon if you wanted to see it all. The French said this would be breaking new ground about how to do an opening ceremony. I don't think so. Any other country hosting the Olympics in the future would be looking at that ceremony and saying they aren't going to follow. Have to hand it to the performers who continued to do their thing even in the heavy rain. It just took too long to get up river. Then after spending 3hrs 30mins taking the Olympic flame up river, they spent another 45mins taking it back up river to light a cauldron where nobody could see it. The final sequence was like watching it during COVID. Runners alone in empty streets. The mechanical horse on the river was amazing but even that went for far too long. The younger generation have an attention span of a goldfish, so they would have been checking their phones every 30secs during that sequence. Not sure what the laser light show was all about at the Eiffel Tower apart for stalling for time whilst Rafa, Carl Lewis and Serena got drenched taking the flame back up river. The mayor of Paris was hanging on for her life during that boat ride. She kept trying to get those legends to face into the wind and heavy rain. Serena nearly fell over. Rafa looked less than impressed that he was totally soaked. They could have cut that entire thing in half. An opening ceremony should go for 3hrs tops. But it is France and they don't do anything quickly. Just don't let the French build your house. It would take them 2yrs to lay the foundation. Your house wouldn't be completed till your first born finished high school. Closing ceremonies normally go for longer than the opening ceremony. If it goes longer than 3hrs, I'll be going to bed. I started watching the opening ceremony at 3am and by the time I quit watching it, the sun had come up, that was at 7:15am. I had stayed up all day to watch it which in hindsight was a mistake. For me, overall the opening ceremony was a thumbs down.

Have discovered that Coles makes a nice rum and raisin ice cream. Not sure who actually makes it but it's sold as a Coles brand ice cream. First had it a couple of weeks ago and bought a second tub last week. It hasn't lasted long. It's just so yummy. Even though it's bloody cold in these Winter months, it's ice cream time all year round.

The rain has been coming down all weekend and it's raining again today and rather chilly so having a day off from my tasks. Hoping to get back in the garden tomorrow. Supposed to be dry for the rest of the working week with more rain coming on the weekend. As I was watching the opening ceremony in the early hours of the morning, I could hear the rain on the roof here in Melbourne and basically the rain hasn't stopped since then.

So that JD Vance guy seems to be more of a liability to Rump than an asset. This is a guy who had sex with a couch with a rubber glove stuck between the cushions. Did he do anal with the family couch? Why didn't he just have sex with his cousin like other hillbillys. Or even an American pie. Couldn't get away with that with an Australian pie. He'd burn his dick off. Our pies have lava inside the pastry. All Aussies know that. And we have all experienced the situation when you take that bite to the edge which drips hot lava onto your fingers to give you third degree burns while you're cheering on your footy team.

Vance doesn't like immigrants yet he married one from an immigrant family. She ain't anglo. Same with Rump. He doesn't like immigrants yet he only marries women from eastern Europe. He won't marry an apple pie American woman. Perhaps because they wouldn't put up with his bullshit. So Vance reckons women who can't have children are less than human. He also said that married people with kids should have more rights than single people or women who can't have kids. So if the Republicans get elected people who don't have kids don't get to vote? Don't remember that being in the American constitution. Obviously the Republicans want to pencil that bit in. They keep attacking Kamala on her heritage. Has he even looked at his wife and daughter? I figured out what the JD means in his name. Stands for 'Just Dumb' Vance. Rump picked him because 'Just Dumb' said he liked Rump. That was it apparently. "He likes me". The guy doesn't have any qualifications to be VP apart from being racist, sexist and wanting to turn America into a dictatorship. Rump has recently said people won't have to vote again if he is elected. Which means he wants to be dictator-in-charge for life. That's shit they do in Asia not America. Well at least they didn't till now. It is shaping up as a clear choice for Americans. Do they want to continue to live in a democracy or not? The Republicans are clearly telling people what they are going to do to America if elected. None of which is good.

Rump said he would debate JoeB anywhere any time. The next debate is scheduled for Sept. Kamala has said she will honour that commitment but now Rump is running scared and is trying to cancel it. You could say he is ducking for cover...too soon?

The Aussies are doing exceptionally well. We are on top of the medal tally for the second day. Might as well enjoy as it won't last. Once the Americans get on the track they will zoom up the rankings. But for now we can enjoy being on top of the world. I gave up on the Matildas in their match against Zambia. I watched the entire game against Germany hoping they would come back. But they did amazingly well in the match against Zambia. They won even with 5 goals being scored against them. Jess Fox is tough. She brought it again in her final run and was clear from the rest of the field. She has had so many world titles but wanted this gold so badly in her favourite event. An amazing champion. The Aussies have also done well in the pool so far. And how was that gold medal by Grace Brown in her last Olympics. Very cool. With the time difference I'll be relying on the replays from the Olympics. I have tasks I need to do this week during daylight hours. Will have to wait till the weekend to do the all nighters.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

The Chinese athletes are once again in a doping controversy. The 23 Chinese athletes that tested positive explained the reason for the positive samples was caused by eating Aussie beef and WADA just accepted it without question. Aussie athletes have been eating Aussie beef their entire lives yet not one Australian athlete has ever tested positive for eating Aussie beef. Also the Chinese govt banned Aussie beef in recent years and only this year agreed to lift that ban, so where did these Chinese athletes get this so called Aussie beef. WADA needs to do their job and apply the rules equally to all athletes. They seem ok with taking medals off Russian athletes but some how go easy on Chinese athletes for fear of what, being racist. It's not racist to apply the rules across the board regardless of race or country. The Aussie swim teams of the past know the Chinese swimmers are doping but can't do anything about. The Chinese swim teams of the 70's and 80's were pumped full of steroids and it was obvious by their size. They were all built like Bulgarian weightlifters and I'm talking about the women's swim team. The Aussies at the time did complain to the swimming federation about it, but got nowhere. So the real question is why are the Chinese getting a free ride when it comes to doping? Mack Horton called out Sun Yang for cheating and refusing to allow his blood samples to be tested by smashing them because he knew he would be found out if those blood sample were tested. When any Chinese athlete wins a medal it should be greeted with suspicion given the state wide doping the Chinese engage in. Similar to the Russians. Although the Russians are not so subtle. We can't forget the Russians drilling a hole in the wall of the testing facility to swap out their samples for which they were banned from competing. If we want a clean Olympics or any world sporting competition to be clean, then those in charge of enforcing the rules need to make sure they apply the rules to all countries and not favour one country over another because of political pressure.

Has taken most of the week for the Americans to jump up the medal tally. They aren't as dominant in the pool as they used to be, but that's mainly because most countries send their athletes to the US to train and learn from the Americans who have amazing training facilities in their colleges which we call university. Their high school sports facilities beat anything we have here in Australia. There is a reason they are so good and most of that comes from the facilities to nurture young talent. We don't have that here apart from the AIS but that means kids need to leave home. There isn't much in their own local area. If we want better results at events like the Olympics then we need to invest more in the facilities to foster young talent. So it is amazing even with the lack of money and facilities here in Australia that we do so well on the world stage. A lot of our athletes still need jobs to help them support their respective sporting careers.

Was very cold in Melbourne mid week. We got down to -1C in my part of Melbourne which is not normal for Winter. I knew it felt colder but wasn't aware it got down that low overnight. Expecting some more of the wet stuff this weekend. It might be August but it's still Winter here in the south so not much of a change. It will probably warm up by the end of this month, but then again it could just stay this cold till mid Sept. Got my latest gas bill and as I suspected it is higher than the same time last year. Has been much older this Winter in Melbourne which started on the first day of June so have had to use the heating for longer most days. That 4pm chill is still happening so the temps just drop quickly from that part of the afternoon.

Managed to stay up and watch the swimming into the early hours. Watched the Aussie women take the gold in the 4x200 Free. They are a power team. Our female athletes are killing it at the Olympics. They are responsible for all of our gold medals, yet they have to fight for sponsorship and getting equal status to the men which is ridiculous. The Aussie women are proving they are better than the men therefore should get a bigger percentage of the sponsorship dollars.

So Just Dumb Vance is talking up his military career and challenging Kamala on her merits. Given she has been VP for the last 4 years she would of had more access to the military and at a higher level than Just Dumb ever had. What he doesn't tell people is that he was a journalist in the Marines so not a front line soldier then. He wasn't even a war correspondent that gets embedded with the military front line troops. Those people put themselves in danger and they don't carry a weapon. At least he had a gun even though spent most of his time safely at the HQ doing PR for the men and women who were actually doing the fighting. So when he talks about his time in the military like he was some kind of warrior, it's a big stretch. He wore the uniform, not the same thing.

Got some more work done in the backyard at the start of the week given the dry weather we have had most of the week. Then picked up an injury the other day so I've had to put any other tasks on hold for the rest of this week. Not sure how I got the injury but it's painful enough to make walking a problem. These days it takes longer to get over injuries which is annoying. Another sign that I'm getting older. So I don't have any other option but to wait till it heals itself.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[FosterK]

Hi From Far North Queensland

 

[darkelf9]

Hi From Far North Queensland

G'Day and welcome to the thread,

Just jump in and post stuff. Best way to get people to know you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

With the foot injury, I've done a few all-nighters watching the Olympics given I couldn't walk properly for several days so staying in bed was a good option. Prefer to watch the events live so staying up till 7am for several nights means I'm wiped out for most to the daylight hours. Not how I thought I would start off the week. Only able to walk without pain by mid week. Managed to spend some time in the backyard once the foot improved. Cleared the remaining part of the area I've been working on to make the backyard look bigger. Happy with the work done in that area. Certainly has taken a lot of time and was hard work but now that it's done I can get on with the smaller tasks outside which continue to be weather dependent. Don't normally do so much work outside in the Winter. Usually a time to kick back. Why would you get out there in very cold temps if you didn't need to. The week has been rather dry but got some rain overnight. Could hear it while I was watching the Olympics into the early hours.

The Aussie women at the Olympics have been amazing. They have got a vast majority of our medals and nearly all our gold medals at this Olympics. This has been Australia's most successful Olympics ever. Last best was 17 gold, we have 18 at the moment and that could change with the women's water polo team beating the US to play off for gold against Spain on Saturday. Have been watching some of the water polo into the early hours and our Aussie women's team are very good. Haven't lost a match all tournament and the main goal keeper Gabby Palm is ice cool. Nothing seems to phase her. Either way we should be really proud of our Aussie Olympic team for going beyond expectations. The Aussie women have been the main reason we are currently third on the medal tally. The latest gold is from Nina Kennedy in the pole vault and she got the gold by being the only one able to clear the final height. She was offered another height but could be bothered. She was too emotional to jump again. The Aussie women are just out and out champions even against the odds of a lack of funding for women's sport here in Australia. Overall Australia is punching well above it's weight, matching it with the US and China at the top of the medal tally. Overall the US has the most medals. What is surprising is the Chinese in the boxing making it to the final rounds. Not known as a boxing nation and certainly not on the world stage for boxing. Will that translate to gold in the boxing? We'll find out this week. Even though the Aussies took a big boxing squad to this Olympics the results have not been up to expectation even though the Aussies will come away with a couple of medals. The Fox sisters have been amazing. Lots of talent in the one family. They have more gold medals between them than a number of countries competing at this Olympics. If they were a country they would be equal 18th on the medal tally just above Brazil and Mollie O' winning 3 gold 1 Silver , 1 Bronze would be 17th on the medal tally. A lot of countries don't even have one medal of any colour. Simone Biles is just a champion coming back and winning gold after her previous issues. Saw that Swedish pole vaulter win his second gold and also break the world record. Again he comes from good genes with sports people on both sides of his family. And another athlete with dual citizenship. He is still very young so can keep going. The French would not be too pleased they are below us. The main thing is we are well ahead of the pomes, which we consider the old enemy. If we can beat England at any sport, it's a win. So long as we remain above them in the medal tally it's a win.

Rump's appearance at the Black journalist's conference didn't go well. In fact you could say it was a total disaster. He was laughed at by most of the audience. He did of course have some embedded supporters who tried to clap but were howled down by the rest of the audience. He kept up the whole black thing about Kamala which is right from the racist play book. It was a is dumb thing to do given you are speaking in front of a black audience. His comments of Kamala pretending to be black are just ludicrous given her dad is Jamaican. Can you imagine the amazing food at her parent's place. Both Indian and Jamaican food. Yummo.

It probably comes as a huge surprise to white people who support Rump that there are black people in the West Indies. They probably think they are from West India. If you asked them where the West Indies are, most would not have a clue it is just of the coast of the US, S.E. of Florida. They probably think it's in Asia near China. Just Dumb has now pissed of the Vets by going after Walz and his service in the National Guard. Does he not remember that Rump was in the National Guard to avoid conscription. So if he is going to slag off anyone who served in the National Guard he is also having a go at this boss who faked a medical condition to get out of serving his country. Well actually it was Rump's daddy who bribed a doctor to come up with the bone spur thing because he realised his son was a coward and would only die if he went to Vietnam. Not his brightest child and not one he wanted taking over his business but had no choice after his eldest son walked about from the family business. Rump has now agreed to debate Kamala next month so that should be interesting and you know Kamala will have her own attack lines. The convicted felon against the former DA.

So The Seine has lived up to it's reputation as a poo river. It must be the English translation. All those tourists who take boat trips up and down The Seine don't seem to realise they are travelling in sewerage. A number of the athletes who took part in the triathlon race have become sick and a couple been hospitalised with ecoli infections. Some countries pulled out of the other races in The Seine. It might make good photo ops for the French but health and safety of the athletes should come first. The French have made a number of screw ups in this Olympics but you would know it cause the journalists at the Olympics aren't publishing these issue or down playing them as we have seen on the Channel 9 coverage. There was no reason why the triathlon and the open water swimming could not be done in the south of France. It's a huge tourist area so there wouldn't be any lack of tourists to watch it. It's where the yachting has been held. It was all about the showcasing of Paris which is frankly overrated. Not that I'll go back to France but if I did I would avoid Paris and go back to the south of France. The people are more friendly and they actually want tourists and they will talk to you if you don't speak French. Parisians don't give a shit about tourists and don't really want you there. It fucks up their access to their local cafes. They live right on the tourist areas such as the Champs-Elysees so don't want tourists right outside their front door taking photos. And god help you if you don't speak perfect French. Even though they all speak English, they just choose not to. You might as well mime as they will go off at you if you don't speak French. It's not so much racism more so elitism. Just don't mention that Aussie wine outsells French wine on the global market. They thought Aussie wines were a joke till they started winning gold medals.

Dusty Martin has hung up his footy boots. He is one of those champions of the game who won't keep playing if he can't give 100% to the game. His body has had enough punishment. These days footy players are lucky to have 8yrs at the top. It's a much more physically demanding game that it was even 15yrs ago. It's much faster and players are carrying many more injuries into games. Not many players play the game at 100% fitness. He will be missed by the Tigers but they will find other champions to keep the supporters hopes of another Grand Final win in the near future.

The UN has finally acknowledged that members of UNWRA help Hamas on Oct 7th by using UN vehicles to transport Hamas terrorists to the Israel border. It shows that Hamas has penetrated the UN agency in Gaza and that the UN needs to clean it out. The initial denials by the leadership of UNWRA have turned out to be lies. They tried to make it as an Israeli plot to defund them. Turns out the Israelis were on to something even though the report couldn't confirm the Israeli allegations but to confirm they would need documented evidence which in that situation is not likely. It's not like Hamas filled out paperwork on Oct 7th. Terrorists aren't known for their paperwork.

Will be watching the Aussie women water polo team in their gold medal game against Spain on Saturday night our time. The weekend is supposed to be fine. More rain coming mid next week so will be out in the garden again early next week.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

​

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Got up in the early hours of the morning to see the Olympics closing ceremony live. Thought I'd give the French a second chance to showcase a proper closing ceremony. I shouldn't of bothered. Trust the French to take a positive happy moment in time and make it a depressing downer. Watching the athletes coming in and enjoying themselves was a positive part of the ceremony and seeing two Aussie athletes taking a prominent role in those activities was good. Then came the artistic bit which is when things went down hill. As with the opening ceremony it took so long for each segment and the transitions were again very slow. It was a dystopian view of the world. It seems the French view of life is that you must suffer loss and be depressed about the world. It's a bit like the Catholic view of life. The best part of that sequence was when the Americans took over. When that French band took the stage the athletes were told to bugger off. Don't remember that happening in a closing ceremony before. I mean the event was in celebration of the athletes. Kinda like being told you can't have any cake at your own birthday party. The Para-Olympics is on in two weeks, but I've learnt my lesson. I won't be watching the opening ceremony live. Lets hope it's not another 5hr marathon.

While watching the Olympics I heard a lot of 'Fanfare for the Common Man'. First heard it back in the late '70's as the Emerson, Lake and Palmer version. I would of been about 15yrs old at the time, and I was hooked on their music. Had to get the long version of that song by ELP. The drumming on that track is just relentless. I liken it to CCR's version of 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine', again the long version that goes for 11mins. Always liked the drums. Did bit of that in school.

Been watching a bit of Youtube again while waiting for certain events to start at the Olympics. It seems people reacting to other content is a thing now and people give them money to do that. It feels like the on-line version of busking but you are just reacting to the original artists music and people are sending you presents and tipping you. Don't know about that. Seems a bitof "sugar daddy" stuff. I get it if it's just some fun but asking people for money then getting presents for not actually creating any content, maybe I'm just old. It's one thing to post a Youtube segment in which you create content like I've seen from Youtube posters like Sorbit Tamang who actually sings and plays guitar and flirts with girls, but just reacting to content already on Youtube seems weird. It's not even commentary and some of it seems rather fake just to get followers. I get the posts on Youtube which are asking questions about things in various countries for self education, but the whole reacting thing I don't get. It's a good thing to get some knowledge about any country before you travel there but that's something else.

The younger generation on Youtube is rediscovery Aussie music artists of the past like Johnny Farnham. I still call him Johnny since that's I know him from way back when he was King of Pop back in the '70's. He missed his time breaking it in the US and couldn't get a gig until he came out with 'You're the Voice' and his 'Whispering Jack' album went to the top of the charts. If anyone is from outside Aussie land, I'd suggest you give it a listen. Nobody thought a bubblegum pop artist could mix it with the rock industry but he proved them wrong and he showed he could sing anything. Anyway it was interesting to see young people listening to Johnny Farnham now. They missed out. Same with Jimmy Barnes who whilst is known in the US music industry he is largely unknown to the US music fans. They know AC/DC but can't seem to get their head around it being an Aussie band made up of mainly Scottish immigrants. Back in the '50's and '60's there was a big push for immigrants from the UK. The Young brothers were part of that immigration push. Why was that? Well it was part of the Aussie govt's push to keep Australia white. Aussies at the time were not happy about the large migrant population of European immigrants after WWII mainly from Italy and Greece. The whole Christian thing wasn't an issue mainly cause these immigrants were Christians and mainly Catholics. A lot of those immigrants were put to building the Snowy River Dam project. Surprise surprise racism was around back in the late '40's. With the influx of people from the UK the dominant religion went from Catholic to Protestant mainly because people from the UK are largely C of E. It was Angus's oldest brother who brought him into the band and the rest is history. Angus only got the gig because the other guitarist they wanted wasn't available. One of those sliding doors moments. And who is Angus's oldest brother well he is part of a famous song writing duo here in Australia called Vanda and Young. Their songs are on Youtube as I discovered. George was the driving force behind Akka Dakka in the early years. George Young and Harry Vanda were part of another famous Aussie band The Easybeats. So Akka Dakka didn't happen by accident, it was engineered by George Young. All three Young brothers were song writers but George was the most prolific. A very talented family.

So Ukraine has kicked some Russian butt and showed once again Russia is a weak military force. They fooled the Russians who didn't think Ukraine could strike them in their own country. They are now claiming about 1000 square k's of Russian territory. Now the Russians are putting out fake news footage of engaging with these Ukrainian troops. The Russian footage is actually of clashes previously in Ukraine not Russia. Which means Poo-tin if running scared and confused. He looks weak. It's also clear Poo-tin doesn't have any spare military forces to go after the Ukraine forces in Russia which is what the Ukrainians want him to do. If they get the Russians in a pincer movement the Russians will suffer huge losses. Russians who have had to flee their homes now know the war is real and Russia is not untouchable. That news is already spreading on social media within Russia even if most Russians will not see it on their TV's. Everyone has a smart phone and you can't contain that info no matter how much Poo-tin tries to control it.

OK so everyone must have seen or heard about the Rump and Musk interview which was a total shitshow for Rump. He looked old, slurred his words and his dentures kept slipping. He looked tired, stressed out and just kept rambling for 2hrs. I've only heard small amounts of it, but by god the man looks and sounds out of it. He confused his wife with Kamala and was kinda hitting on her which again just sounded weird. He worked out Black Don't Crack and Brown Don't Frown. He looked and sounded like a man on the cusp of dementia. Musk said there were technical issues but when his staff were questioned they said there wasn't an issue. So then the question becomes was Musk just fucking with Rump? Has Musk realised being associated with Rump is bad for business? This interview was like Biden having that disastrous debate. Rump now looks like the old man stumbling over his words and can't focus and a man who is past it. As for Just Dumb he is getting his arse kicked by just about everyone. More Veterans have come out to slam him. Now Rump is trying to distance himself from Just Dumb. Is it just me or does Just Dumb look like Don Jr. Did Rump want his son to be his VP so got a look-a-like? Until I saw a pic of both of them side by side I didn't realise how similar they look.

I will admit I was wrong about who Kamala picked for her VP. I thought it was going to choose Pete. I've seen him rip apart Republicans and he relishes going on Fox News that telling them their idiots, but Walz is slaying it. He is going after both Rump and Just Dumb and Walz is funny which just draws in the crowd. Regardless of politics this guy knows how to engage with a crowd. He looks like Kamala's uncle but they are the same age. He was a good choice to energise Americans to come out to vote. On the other side it's all doom and gloom whereas Kamala and Walz is all positive energy and just having fun. Yes Americans are entitled to feel happy and the Dems are bringing the happy.

The weather this week has been on the warmer side. Unusual for the temps to get up to 20C at this time of year here in Melbourne. Has been dry all week. We got some rain today. It's going to be a wet weekend and it's going to stay wet well into mid next week. Only dry day is supposed to be Monday, but then again it could just keep raining. I have lots of minor tasks I can do under cover or inside the house so the weather won't be an issue in getting stuff done. Did manage to get out in the garden mid-week to complete the work I've been doing in an area in the backyard. It certainly has turned back the clock. Still got to do some minor tidy up work in that area like running the mower over it, but I'm very happy with the outcome. Been awhile since my backyard has looked so big and empty. Still have trees around the fringes of the backyard but most of it is now very open and definitely shows how much land I have at the back of the main house. Next task is to finalise the junk I'm going to get rid of. Can't use the exercise bike any more due to my knee so have to take that apart otherwise I can't get it out the door plus it is fucking heavy, so just picking it up and taking it out to the garage is not an option. I can't be bothered selling it. I don't need the money.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Watched Le Tour for the women and was a little disappointed it only went for a week and scheduled to fit in with the Vuelta start time. Let's hope they can fix that for next year and give the women's race the respect it deserves by not seeing it as a filler for the men's race. It doesn't seem to matter how many gold medals women win in the Olympics, they are still not seen as legitimate athletes.

So Mr Potato Head is at it again. Sounds a bit similar to the Muslim ban Rump enforced in the US. All refugees are terrorists apparently which is an old attack dreamt up in the Little Johnny era and is now a cornerstone of the LNP play book. Although the Liberals have been more keen on showing their racist heart than the Nat's, but both parties are shadow supporters of the White Australia policy because both political parties are the parties of outrage. If they can keep that going it wins them votes, why? Well because at it's heart Australia is a racist society which goes all the way back to the first fleet and if you don't think there are racist motivations behind these political motions, you are living in fantasy world. Australian society openly supports far right news media such as Sky News and Sky Afterdark which is a racist, sexist and misogynistic show that gets sponsor dollars. It is owned by Rupert so enough said. It's viewers are mainly old white men and also young men who believe women are men's play things. This is happening out in the open which no checks on the show's behaviour. They call it free speech. And like the LNP if anyone calls them out on their bullshit, it's apparently attacking their free speech. The only way that the LNP gets voters is by creating fear and keeping Australian society divided. In that, they are very similar to the Republican party in the US. For Mr Potato Head to call for a Muslim ban for refugees from Gaza who have already been vetted by the Israelis as not being terrorists seems odd. They are also telling the Australian people not to trust the VISA system nor to trust ASIO which is a dangerous rabbit hole to go down. We see that in the US where if you are from a different political party to your own, you don't trust the govt processes which then leads to what we all saw on Jan 6th, which the new Republican party still cannot acknowledge was a threat to American democracy. They still don't acknowledge that Biden is the current President. In Rump's latest rant he said he was in a helicopter with one of Kamala's previous boyfriends who is in public office. Turns out it was another black dude. The only thing they have in common is that they are both black. So Rump was admitting to everyone he can't tell one black person from another. They all look the same to him. Yet another dumb thing he said to piss off black people.

So the NSW Liberals fucked up big time. It seems all the Liberal state branches on the mainland are a bunch of clowns. The NSW branch was going to challenge the rules of the AEC in court, but have now backed down mainly because they weren't going to win. I mean all political parties know the rules. Prior to any election the candidates need to be nominated by a cut-off date so the AEC knows who is on the ballot. Since the AEC is responsible to print the voting papers which are legal documents. You could understand if one or two candidates are missed by not 130 and some of these local councils are Liberal Party strongholds which will be important to their next federal election hopes. This is a major fuck up for the Liberals and shows that at the state level they are totally incompetent. You can bet Labor will now put more effort into these local council areas to get their candidates to become Mayor of the respective councils. If the Liberals in these local councils can't vote for a Liberal who are they going to vote for? They can't not vote as it is illegal not to vote. It will be interesting with local council elections happening soon.

Watching some of the late night shows from the US, I kept hearing about a Republican called Lauren Boebert so rather than pass judgement, thought I'd do my research on who she is. I mean it couldn't be too bad, may be these late night show hosts were just doing a joke routine. Then I looked her up on Youtube and well yep they were right she is nutso. This is a woman who claims to be a Christian who follows the bible, then gets caught on CCTV getting groped by her boyfriend and her groping his junk in a production of Beetlejuice. Then she was vaping in front of a pregnant woman and taking selfies during the performance of the play. And just to top it off, all this was happening with kids in the audience. She got kicked out of the theatre then lied about everything till the footage was released. Also saw her performance in Congress and at committees where she demonstrated she doesn't have a clue about how govt works and gets shut down by just about everyone. Her nickname is Bobo as in 'Bobo The Clown' who was a famous clown in the yesteryear. Now the Republican party in Colorado is trying to get her kicked out of Congress. Where the fuck does the Republican party get these crazy women from. It's clear none of them are competent. How do the Republicans expect to win at the next election? They now only have a one seat majority because Republicans in the middle have resigned due to this craziness. It's all very dumb politically.

Just when you thought the dumb couldn't get any dumber from the Republicans they have all started saying that abortion can happen after a baby is born. Sorry WTF are these people talking about. How do you abort a baby after it has been born? Do these fuckwits even know what the word 'abortion' means? There are Republicans in Congress saying that women are choosing to abort their babies just before they are born. Now I'm not a medical professional but the rule has always been if the baby threatens the life of the mother, the mother is given priority. C sections are not always an option. Then the Republicans go on to say mothers have the option to kill their babies after they are born if the mother's don't want it and it is happening in hospitals in Democratic states. Again how fucking crazy have Republicans gotten under Rump that they actually come out and say such insane stuff. These are the same fuckwits that said that babies were being sacrificed in the basement of the White House by Democrats. Yep totally insane shit, but these morons actually believed this crap. How the fuck did these idiots get elected to Congress? Obviously by people who are just as dumb as they are. The Republican party is a total freak show. If Mr Potato Head was to ban people from coming to Australia, how about we ban these Rump Republicans. Sure we have our own level of dumb in this country, but we don't need dumber people coming into the country.

Had a chance to get out in the garden on Monday as it was the only dry day forecast this week. Decided to do the mowing in the front and discovered the council had put new turf on the nature strip which I only realised when I ran the mower over those sections. My garden is telling me Spring is on the way. The magnolia in the front lawn is blooming with it's large purple and white flowers. The Camellias have been flowering for a couple of weeks now. It's a large bush which blooms for about a month in late Winter. Also the liliums are blooming again. They usually start in the second week of Aug but have come out early this year due to the heat we had last week. The roses in the front and back yards are also showing new growth ready for Spring blooms. Also have small Winter flowers like bluebells that are starting to bloom now in the front rock beds. The front lawn usually gets covered in liliums in the second half of Aug. So I try not to cut the grass during this time. It has given me ideas to plant these Winter flowers in the next house I buy .

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Evening all,

I mentioned previously that it was weird seeing random people on Youtube doing reaction videos to posted content on Youtube. I think I'm getting why they do it which is money. Well ok that's their grift to make some coin. I wouldn't be paying someone I don't know to post a video of them reacting to content created by someone else. Seen some reaction videos of Aussie bands and solo artists and discovered there is lots of Aussie artists from the music industry on Youtube. Only got into Youtube for music originally not realising there were Aussie artists from my era of music on there. So since this is the Aussie thread thought I'd list some Aussie bands and solo artists for people outside Australia to check out on Youtube who would not of heard of before and some from the current era of performers who again as people from outside Australia you may not have heard of before. I am using my memory on this, mainly because I can't be bothered doing lots of research on every Aussie artist going back 50 years. Also I'm not getting any younger.

Ok so lets start this list and will post more lists in subsequent posts till either I get bored or can't find them on Youtube. Will try to list the group/artist and one of their more well known songs. Any Aussies reading this, yep I'm going to miss out on stuff so chill. If you have your favourite Aussie artist or band then post it here. The '70s is when my musical journey began.

The Easybeats - 'Friday on my mind' - song writers Vanda and Young both in the band

Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs - 'Most People I Know Think I'm Crazy' - hard rock band, my generation of music

Brian Cadd - 'Ginger Man' - was the lead singer for Axiom then went out solo

Collen Hewett - 'Day by Day'- was big in the '70's and another iconic Aussie artist

Zoot - 'Eleanor Rigby' - Beatles cover. Fun fact the lead guitarist was Rick Springfield, and yes Rick Springfield is an Aussie well known now in the US

The Seekers - 'Georgie Girl', 'The Carnival is Over', 'I am Australian' - originally a folk singing band that transitioned into the pop charts. 'I am Australian' is an iconic Aussie anthem

Lobby Loyde and The Coloured Balls - 'Liberate Rock', hard rock band with heavy beat, kinda like AC/DC

The Bushwackers - 'South Australia' - this song became a sea shanty very popular during Covid.

Hush - 'Glad All Over' - rock band

Russell Morris - 'The Real Thing' - very 60's flower power time

Ronnie Burns - 'Smiley' - war song

Masters Apprentices - 'Turn Up Your Radio' - '60's band but was still playing in the '70's

Skyhooks - 'Livin in The '70's' - glam rock band

The Bee Gees - well anything and yep another Aussie band made up of immigrants from the UK

John Paul Young - 'Love is in The Air', 'Yesterday's Hero' - if anyone OS has seen the movie 'Strictly Ballroom' you will recognise the song 'Love is in The Air'. Was the big hit movie by Baz Luhrmann and was a gamble financially for him which paid off.

Daddy Cool - 'Eagle Rock' - rock band

Vanda and Young - 'Hey St. Peter'. This song writing duo had major hit songs sung by other artists. As mentioned previously George Young was the founder of AC/DC

Mondo Rock - 'Cool World', 'Come Said the Boy' - pop rock. Lead singer of Daddy Cool formed this band

Sherbet - 'Howzat' - glam rock turned pop. Lead singer Darryl Braithwaite went solo

Darryl Braithwaite - 'Horses', 'One Summer' - still performs today and two iconic Aussie songs

Mental As Anything - 'The Nips are Getting Bigger' , 'If You Leave Me Can I Come Too'- rock band and yep the are slightly weird but in a good way

Midnight Oil - 'Beds are Burning' - iconic Aussie rock band lots of hit songs

Renee Geyer - 'Say I Love You' - sadly she passed away last year, she was only 69 yrs old. Another iconic singer in Australia in the '70's

Little River Band - 'Cool Change' - yep people in the US they are an Aussie band. Name comes from an actual place on The Great Ocean Road here in Victoria called Little River.

Air Supply - 'All Out of Love' - yes I know shock horror yet another Aussie band that is now big in the US and in Vegas. Am I blowing your mind yet?

Think I'll leave this here, otherwise Lit will cut my post down due to the character limit. More on a future post and may be more surprises for those outside Australia

 

[darkelf9]

Evening all,

Part 2 of the Aussie bands and solo artists people from outside Australia might not be familiar with:

Dragon - 'April Sun in Cuba'

The Badloves - 'Green Limousine' - a blues rock band

AC/DC - Bon Scott lead singer 'Jail Break', 'Long Way to the Top' - the video of 'Long Way to the Top' was shot here in Melbourne down Swanston St. You can see our old trams in the clip. They just put the band on the flatbed of a truck and drove it down the middle of the Melbourne CBD. You will see the town hall on the left where the Beatles stood when they came to Melbourne. Here is an Aussie insider thing. Rather than sing "It's a long way to top if you want to rock and roll" , we would sing "It's a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll" . Yes we even take the piss out of an iconic Aussie song, that's just us.

AC/DC - everyone knows their songs after Bon Scott died so you know your favourite. One thing for any visitors to Australia wearing an AC/DC T-Shirt, if someone points to your T-Shirt and says Akka Dakka they mean AC/DC, that's what we call them here in Australia. And yes for those still not aware they are an Australian band that now mainly resides in the UK.

Ice House - 'Great Southern Land' - numerous hits by this band. Saw a video showing different parts of Australia with this song as a backing track to it. Looks like a tourism video. It's not the original music video for the song.

Yothu Yindi - 'Treaty' - an anthem for indigenous rights here in Australia. Was a huge hit for the band. Can even see Gurrumul on the video who is related to the lead singer of Yothu Yindi.

Gurrumul - 'Wiyathul' - he only sings in his native language, he is blind and has a haunting voice. Sadly he passed away in 2017, he was only 46 yrs old.

Goanna - 'Solid Rock' - another iconic Aussie song and band, they are still around and play lots of live gigs.

Choirboys - 'Run to Paradise' - this song is still played today and sung even by the younger generation

Australian Crawl - 'The Boys Light Up' - they had a few other hits as well as this one

Warumpi Band - 'My Island Home', 'Blackfella/Whitefella' -another indigenous band with a big following. 'My Island Home' was also covered by Christina Anu and was a big hit for her. Most people thought it was her song but was written by the lead singer of the Warumpi Band.

Archie Roach - 'Down City Streets' - another indigenous voice talking about the struggles of indigenous people in Australia. He is an icon of the Australian music industry.

Spectrum - 'I'll be Gone' - huge hit in Australia in it's day

Helen Reddy - 'I am Woman' - the anthem for the feminist movement. Yes I know people from the US are you shocked she is from Australia? She did move there so can understand the confusion.

The Mixtures - 'The Push Bike Song' - we used to call bicycles push bikes back in the '70's. This one will bring back memories for anyone who was a kid in the early '70's.

Ted Mulry Gang - 'Jump in My Car' was another hit of the '70's.

Max Merrit and the Meteors - 'Slipping Away'

Marcia Hines - 'I Just Don't Know What to do With Myself' - another import this time from America. Marcia came here and stayed and became an icon of the Aussie music scene and very much loved. She still sings today. Fun fact her daughter was married to a member of INXS

The Angels - 'I am Ever Going to See Your Face Again'- another iconic Aussie band which would draw huge crowds for their live sets. There is a rude version of this song that was sung by the audience when The Angels would play live.

Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons - 'Shape I'm In'

Black Sorrows - 'Driving Wheels' - Joe Camilleri (Jo Jo Zep) formed The Black Sorrows and put Vikka Bull as lead singer on this track with her younger sister Linda on backing vocals.

Vikka and Linda Bull - ' When Will You Fall for Me?' - Vikka started off doing backing vocals then brought her baby sister into the industry and she is as good as her big sister. Their harmonies are amazing.

Cold Chisel - 'Breakfast at Sweethearts', 'Khe Sanh', 'Bow River' - yes yes I know there are many more but this if for the OS people so don't shoot me. We call them just Chisel, say that to any Aussie and they know the band you are talking about. They are probably the most iconic Aussie band that any Aussie of any generation will know. Even the kids today know who Chisel is. Chisel stayed here in Australia whereas AC/DC moved to the UK so Aussies would say Chisel is the more iconic band. The lead singer of Chisel is Jimmy Barnes, but that group had several good singers and three guys in the band that were song writers.

Jimmy Barnes - 'Working Class Man', 'Driving Wheels' - again yep Aussies I know there is more but it's an intro to Barnsey. I've just confused the fuck out of people in the America. "who is Barnsey?" That's what we call Jimmy Barnes. Also check out Jimmy Barnes and Joe Bonamassa - 'Stone Cold' - keep in mind Jimmy Barnes is in his mid 60's when signing this song.

Duet Jimmy Barnes and John Farnham - 'Something is Wrong With My Baby' - two huge voices, check it out.

Ian Moss - 'Tucker's Daughter', 'Georgia on My Mind' - Ian's cover of "Georgia" is amazing. For those OS, Ian Moss was the lead guitarist of Cold Chisel and also a song writer for the group.

Noiseworks - 'Take Me Back' - Jon Stevens lead singer went on to do this own thing. Another big Aussie male voice in the music industry.

John Farnham -'You're the Voice' - massive hit here in Aussie land at the time and still sung. A song everyone knows from all generations. I reckon John Farnham would sing most US singers under the table. He just didn't get the break to make it in the US. Now he has problems with his vocal cords and can't sing which is sad. He could sing anything. His acapella version of Amazing Grace shows his range.

Reckon I'll leave this here for now. More to come in Part 3.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Part 3 of Aussie music past and present for anyone outside Australia to check out on Youtube.

Olivia Newton-John - 'Physical' - so was watching some Youtube about Olivia and Americans couldn't recognise her yet they all know Grease. They had no clue the female lead was an Aussie called Olivia Newton-John yet they new who John Travolta is. Somehow they thought she was American. Probably some people from the US are reading this thinking, "wait Sandy is an Aussie". Yep people correct.

Redgum - ' I Was Only 19' - song of the Vietnam war and PTSD. My eldest brother was sent to Vietnam. He didn't get a choice.

Rose Tattoo - 'Bad Boy For Love', the live version - hard rock band. Lead singer looks the type of guy who would fight you in a pub just for fun, by he's actually quite normal.

Eric Bogle - ' The Band Played Waltzing Matilda' - a war song about WWI mainly and the ANZAC Day parade which happens every year. Waltzing Matilda means travelling carrying your belongings in the Aussie bush or outback, kinda like backpacking.

Rick Springfield - 'Jessie's Girl' - did mention him in the previous post as part of a rock band, but yes Rick is an Aussie although it's been a while since has left to live in the US so again I can understand why Americans think he is one of them.

Chris Wilson - ' You Will Surely Love Again' - blues singer with a deep rich voice

Diesel - ' Tip of My Tongue' - related to Jimmy Barnes by marriage and was his lead guitarist.

Big Pig - 'Hungry Town', 'Breakaway' - R&B type band heavy on the bass and drums.

Men At Work - 'I Come From a Land Down Under' - an iconic Aussie song most Americans will be familiar with from the term "down under". However you guys most likely don't know the band that sings it. One of our Olympic athletes stood on the podium to receive her medal then shouted out 'I come from a land down under", which would of confused the hell out of the French but any Aussie watching would know she was referring to the song.

Divinyls - ' I Touch Myself' - Chrissy Amphlett was the lead singer of this band. Besides being an amazing singer she was very very sexy, a school boys fantasy at the time. She passed away a little over a decade ago, she was only 53 yrs old.

Baby Animals - 'Early Warning' - rock band from the '90's.

INXS - anything really, people OS should now them so not much needs to be said

Girl Overboard - 'The Love We Make' - band from the 90's, dance music

The Church - 'Unguarded Moment' - band from the 80's

Wendy Mathews - 'The Day You Went Away' - she is a very underrated singer that had a few hits.

Hoodoo Gurus - 'What's My Scene' - rock band, with lots of hits and another iconic Aussie band.

Boom Crash Opera - 'Dancing in the Storm' - pop rock band, another pub song to dance to.

1927 - ' That's When I Think of You' - rock band of the late '80's.

Weddings Parties Anything - 'Father's Day'

Hunters and Collectors - 'Throw Your Arms Around Me' - a classic Aussie song but a sad song

The Screaming Jets - 'Better' - another rock band that made it thru the Aussie pub scene. If you were crap the Aussie pub crowds would take you apart and your career would end.

The Party Boys - 'He's Going to Step on You Again' - lead singer is Jimmy Barnes's brother, yep that Jimmy Barnes connection again. A very very talented family.

Tommy Emmanuel - 'Initiation' the live version - Tommy Emmanuel has a brother who also played guitar. His brother Phil favours an electric guitar whereas Tommy likes acoustic guitar. In the early days they were called the Emmanuel Brothers before Tommy went solo. He is well known in Nashville amongst the other musicians. He spent some time learning from Chet Atkins. He is a master of the guitar. If you watch the live version of 'Initiation' you think he is using some trickery to get that sound and you keep watching and realise it's just him an amped acoustic guitar and a pick, the rest is just his talent. Amazing!! He is well known in the US music industry amongst the other musicians and has played on numerous albums from other artists. The crazy thing about Tommy, he didn't read music, it's all by ear. The guy is a freak.

Powderfinger - 'These Days' - another iconic Aussie band with lots of hits. Lead singer went on to make his own solo career

Silver Chair - 'Tomorrow', 'Freak' - these guys were kids that could only do their gigs in pubs if their parents were present.

Savage Garden - 'To the Moon and Back' - iconic Aussie band. Lead singer went on to make his own solo career

Rockmelons - 'New Groove' , ' It's Not Over' - fun fact Deni Hines did some tracks with this band. She is the daughter of Marcia Hines. She hasn't made it as big as her mum, but like her mum she is a very good singer. Her version of 'Ain't No Sunshine' shows her capability.

Ok so now going for some artists from the Aussie country music scene:

Keith Urban - anything really, yep for those still clueless, he is an Aussie and so is his wife who is kinda a good actor you may have heard of...Nicole Kidman. Although if you didn't know they are both Aussies you should get out more.

Troy Cassar-Daley - 'Home' - iconic in Aussie country music

Casey Chambers - 'Beautiful Mess' - lots of hits and kills it live.

John Williamson - 'Home Among the Gum Trees', 'True Blue'. True Blue is Aussie slang for being an Aussie who is true the Aussie spirit. An iconic song which made it into the pop charts in it's day.

Slim Dusty - 'A Pub with No Beer', 'Duncan' - two iconic country songs that even if you aren't a country music fan here in Aussie land, you know these two songs. Slim is not with us any more but his songs remain as iconic songs in the Aussie culture.

Lee Kernaghan - 'Boys From the Bush' - huge artist in the country music scene. If you listen to the words you will know what we mean by the term "bush" when referring to the country.

That's just a taste of Aussie country music. Reckon I'll leave this here. Next post will be people you might know who are current artists.

 

[darkelf9]

Ok last post about Aussie songs and artists. Part 4 of Aussie music past and present for anyone outside Australia to check out on Youtube. Lets go to the current artists some of whom you might know:

Tina Arena - 'Chains' - probably her biggest hit and she is still touring. Tina was a child star and even as a kid she had a powerful voice. She is another icon of the Aussie music industry.

Kate Cebrano - 'Bedroom Eyes' - still performing. Another strong female singer in the Aussie music industry. She was in Jesus Christ Superstar alongside John Farnham and can hold her own.

Paul Kelly - 'Making Gravy', 'Dumb Things' - he is yet another icon of the Aussie music scene. Too many hits to mention here. You can really hear the Aussie accent in his songs.

Anthony Callia - 'The Prayer' - got his break on Australian Idol, a very powerful voice. Current in the music scene.

Spiderbait - 'Black Betty' - people in Aussie land have a love/hate relationship with this band, but they are an Aussie rock band that had some success on the charts, make up your own mind.

Karise Eden - ' It's a Man's World' - She was first seen on The Voice Australia at the age of 19 about 12yrs ago. She is just amazing with a very unique voice. And like Tones and I, Karise was performing on the streets and had a tough childhood. She came on The Voice and her life totally changed. She is still performing but you won't hear her music on the radio. It's not pop enough. Still she has an amazing voice.

Guy Sebastian - 'Battle Scars' - yes lots of hits. Another product of Australian Idol way back. He might be known in the US. to the public but is well known by other musicians in the US.

Jessica Mauboy - 'Give You Love' - lots of hits. She is indigenous and a massive star in Aussie land.

Sia - 'Chandelier' - yep that Sia who is in the US now. Surprise, she is an Aussie.

Vanessa Amorosi - 'Absolutely Everybody' - another powerful Aussie female voice. Found various clips of her with Dave Stewart so check those out. Her vocals and his playing, magic stuff.

Kylie Minogue - 'Better the Devil You Know' - Kylie has had many hits, based in the UK now and is well known in the UK. Probably known in the US for the infamous issue is when Kylie Jenner tried to trademark the name Kylie, well because she is totally clueless. Kylie Minogue was going to take her court because Kylie Minogue is a well established singer. Kylie Jenner quickly backed down. Again Kylie Jenner has the brain of chicken although a chicken has a purpose in life.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - 'Red Right Hand' - Nick has his own unique take on life and most of his is stuff is dark but popular.

Gotye - ' Somebody That I Used to Know' - people from OS should know this one, yep another Aussie

Kate Miller-Hidke - ' The Last Day on Earth' - I suppose she is our equivalent to Kate Bush, massive range & her high notes are like Kate Bush

Delta Goodrum - 'Born to Try' - Delta got hits early and writes her own songs. She has been around the music scene since she was 17 yrs old.

Stan Walker - 'Don't Dream It's Over'- Crowded House cover, mentioned them previously. Stan is another product of Australian Idol. Whilst he does have Kiwi roots he was born here in Melbourne so he is an Aussie by birth. But also sings in Māori.

Reckon I'll leave these song lists here. Now that people OS know a bunch of Aussie songs and artists you guys can explore our current artists or deep dive in to the Aussie music industry going back 6 decades. I haven't included any Aussie artists from punk, opera, rap in these lists so you guys can discover those yourselves. But basically Aussies are in all genres of music even musical theatre.

 

[darkelf9]

Evening all,

We had a large thunderstorm come thru Melbourne on Sunday with the lot including hail stones. It didn't stay long but did some damage to some parts of Melbourne. Some areas had power knocked out and downed trees. It was very windy on Sat night with things rattling outside so it was a sign something was coming. Such heavy wind usually means a storm is on the way and it did deliver. Then we had a repeat of the high winds today come thru Victoria with damage in different parts of the state. The wind was really howling in my part of Melbourne all day. It has been unusually warm for a couple of days so something was building up.

Been on Youtube a bit discovering people coming to Australia as a tourist and posting videos. Some of the stuff they are saying on these videos to people back home in their own countries is total and utter bullshit. No issue with them posting their impressions and experiences of the differences but when they post stuff that is not true it misleads others thinking of visiting Australia. Not going to defend bad behaviour by Aussies they might have encountered, but there needs to be some correcting of incorrect info. So this next bit is just for our American friends:

"They don't wear shoes in Australia" - Seen some tourists post this as if it's normal. Nope, we do wear shoes. However if you are at the beach and you wonder across the road to get an ice cream or drink chances are you will see people enter these shops without shoes mainly because the beach is just across the road. You will see this in Surfers on the Gold Coast, but if you come to one of capital cities and expect to see people walking around without shoes, well you're an idiot. Up in the tropics it is common for people to wear open footwear or go barefoot, but if you are going to dinner or into a proper restaurant you will need proper clothing and footwear. You will see signs on the front of these places such as 'No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service' so be warned you will be refused entry if you don't comply with the dress code.

Apparently Americans are freaking out about the size of our drinks both coffee and softdrinks (sodas) and also the fact you don't get free refills. Plus apparently the food is bland. And our coffee is weird. So one thing at a time:
The size of drinks - yep our drinks are smaller than in the States, then again we don't provide our drinks in a bucket with a straw. The smaller size drinks are better for your health. The life expectancy is higher here in Australia than in the US by about 5-7yrs. Consuming smaller portions is part of that reason.

Free refills - You will get free refills in some buffets but as a general rule you pay for each drink. So if you use a self serve drink machine the first time, you don't get to do go back up for a refill unless you pay for it. If it costs you more, you will drink less of it.

" Coffee is not the same as in America" - Well that is basically because you're in Australia, you aren't in America. Thought that was fucking obvious. Americans are used to filter coffee and also Starbucks. We do have filter coffee here that you can purchase in grocery stores for use at home. We mainly drink instant coffee at home or have a coffee machine that takes coffee pods which is essentially fancy instant coffee. We have coffee shops everywhere with espresso machines and baristas, so if want to work in Australia and are a barista back home, you will always find work here in Australia. Starbucks tried to make a go of it here but they lost business because we already had a coffee culture here which goes back all the way to '50's when the Italian immigrants came to Australia and brought their coffee culture with them. Prior to that we were mainly tea drinkers taking after our British heritage. We do drink tea as well, so if you are not a coffee drinker you can get normal tea or tea with different infusions as well. Once you get used to our coffee and your taste buds are shocked into actually having good and proper coffee, you won't go back to Starbucks. Basic coffee styles here are Straight Espresso, Long Black, Flat white, Cappuccino and Latte. And don't be shocked if we don't have creamer. Nobody outside of America has creamer so get over it. You can have full cream milk which is possibly the closest to creamer or if you are lactose intolerant you can get soy, almond and in some places goat milk. You can also buy soy and almond milk at the grocery store so don't panic.

Naming convention - we call drinks like Coke, "softdrinks" to distinguish them from booze. So if you are a tourist and someone invites you for drinks, they mean alcoholic drinks. If you're from the States and you order a soda you will get soda water, not a coke. If you want a coke ask for a coke. You guys are the only culture that uses the term "soda" for softdrinks. I know in Canada they call them Pop. I was flying out to the US one time and was sitting next to an American couple. The husband asked the QANTAS flight attendant for a soda, she came back with a can of soda water. He just stared at the can. I had to call the flight attendant back to get the guy a coke. This same couple told me they didn't know how big Australia was. They had stayed in Sydney for 2 weeks and thought they could see the rest of the country on day trips so hired a car for the 2weeks. Granted that was back in early 90's, but Americans are still coming here today in 2024 with no clue how large Australia is. So I will do a separate post just for our American friends or you guys could just google it, but given you guys have a severe lack of doing any research before you leave the US, I'll play mum. By the way that's a sarcastic term here in Australia. If someone tells you stuff you already know we say "yes mum'.

Obviously the Americans that were travelling to Australia 30-40yrs ago haven't passed on their knowledge about Australia to their kids. It just surprises me that Americans are asking the same questions about Australia they were 40yrs ago. Here in Australia we know a lot about America and we know geography. We have to be good at geography because we have to travel long distances if we want to see other countries. Seems some Americans think Alaska is a country and are surprised that people from Costa Rica have American passports. Perhaps we shouldn't tell them about American Samoa let alone Guam. I'm sure some Americans are reading this thinking "what's a Guam", if that is you and you have passport, burn it and don't leave your country, you will hurt yourself.

Next one is for our friends in the Netherlands:

"In Australia they put chlorine in the drinking water so buy bottled water" - Ok this one I saw on a video posted by a woman from the Netherlands telling everyone back in the Netherlands we put chlorine in our drinking water. She probably got pissed and fell in the swimming pool, got a mouth full of water and concluded we put chlorine in our tap water. Then again she is blond. So No we don't put chlorine in our tap water, we do put fluoride in our drinking water, same stuff that's in toothpaste which keeps your teeth healthy. Putting fluoride in the drinking water was done to help mainly kids with their teeth health. If you bottle the tap water and put it in the fridge for a couple of days, the fluoride dissipates and it goes back to just normal water. There is no need to buy bottled water and keep it in your accommodation. You can drink the water right out of the tap. Melbourne has the best water in the country so if you are visiting Melbourne the water is very safe to drink.

I'm rather bemused that people who travel outside of their own country, do so expecting to have the same things they get in their own countries. That's not how travelling works. If you aren't prepared to have new experiences then don't travel. The food will be different, the customs will be different. What is the point of you travelling outside your own country if you are going to complain about everything that is different to your country. So in conclusion if anyone wants to know stuff about Australia, just ask an Aussie and don't only rely on what you see on social media or what your fellow countrymen have posted on Youtube. It can only be subjective and not objective.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Hello to our American friends who keep being shocked about stuff in Australia, mainly about the size, so thought I'd do a post that will help in your time "down under" as you guys like to call Australia. We don't call it that. As it says in the song "I come from a land down under", not down under. There are other places to see down under like New Zealand.

So some basic facts:

Australia is a continent not an island. It's about the same width as the USA. We live mainly on the coast because the centre of the country doesn't have much water. Our drinking water is safe to drink. If you go to remote areas of the country they use either tank water (rain water) or underground water sauces via bores drilled in the ground. Australia has various underground fresh water sauces called Aquifers. Australia is probably the driest content on the planet hence why a big chunk of it is not capable of sustaining humans. This one keeps coming up by Americans as to why we don't live all over Australia like you guys do in the States. The lack of water is the main reason.

Distances - people keep getting this one wrong, mainly Americans. I don't know why given you guys invented google maps. I mean, just look stuff up. However as I said in a previous post, I'll play mum just for you guys. So some basic facts about distances. The places I've mentioned below are the capital cities to our states and territories with the exception of Canberra which is the capital city of Australia and also the capital city of the territory of the ACT (Australian Capital Territory). These are approximates so for the nerds out there, chill:

Melbourne to Sydney is 1000km (that's "key lomiters" not kilo meters as you guys say), I won't go into the conversions to miles, look it up. And yes we spell stuff like the British, well because we were a British colony so we kept the spelling the same, although now our dictionaries even on emails and texts tends to use the American spelling for words which means our kids are spelling words the way you guys in America spell words. So Metre is right for us not Meter. If we say "meter" we mean a measuring device like the water meter or gas meter which measures how much of those utilities we use in our homes. Don't get me started on the prices we pay on utilities.

Sydney to Brisbane is 1000km if you take the coastal road. Brisbane to Cairns (Great Barrier Reef area) is 1,700km.

Melbourne to Adelaide is one of the shorter distances between capital cities at 720Km.

Melbourne to Hobart is 800km. Just for our American friends do not try to drive from Melbourne to Hobart you will drown and no I don't care what your GPS says. Put car on ferry, take ferry to Tasmania, drive from ferry port to Hobart. Can't make it any simpler.

Melbourne to Canberra is 660km - Canberra is the capital city of Australia, not Sydney.

Sydney to Canberra is 286km - one option if you hire a car is to do the loop and drive from Sydney to Canberra then down to Melbourne and take the coastal road back to Sydney. You can fly out to the west of the country from Melbourne. Flight times are relatively short between Melbourne to Adelaide or Melbourne to Sydney.

Adelaide to Darwin is 3000km as we can all agree, it is not a day trip so don't tell the car hire place in Adelaide you want to rent a car for day to drive to Darwin. They will laugh at you then tell you to fuck off.

Adelaide to Perth is 2700km. A warning for all tourists thinking of driving from Adelaide to Perth...don't, you will probably die. Most Aussies wouldn't do it unless they have the right car and are used to driving in the outback. The lack of water will be your main issue. So if locals don't do it, tourists should definitely not do it. People do drive across but you really need to have experience before you try, otherwise you will probably be bogged in sand and there isn't any phone reception out in the Nullarbor unless you have a satellite phone and even then it is sketchy. If you try to drive it in the rainy season you will get stuck in the mud and secondly you're a fuckwit.

So hopefully that helps with people understanding how big Australia is. Like I said you guys could just have googled this stuff, but it seems most people don't.

Eitquette when ordering food or drinks - Ok this one is also apparently a problem for tourists. So if you are in any hospitality setting and you order, don't say "I want", "give me", "I need", that is considered rude here. Don't also be shocked if the person serving you asks how you are or strikes up a conversation with you asking about your day. It's totally normal cause we are a friendly bunch of people. So when ordering say "Can I have" or 'Can I get" and when you get your order say "thanks" or "ta" which means thanks. That's a hangover from our British heritage. We also have a twist on "ta", we also say "ta muchly" but that's mainly a Queensland thing. Means "thanks very much". You may also hear a middle aged women say "lovey" to you. That's mainly because she senses you are either lost or confused as to what to order. It's that mother instinct kicking in. As I said we are a friendly bunch of people. Note - Young women that serve you, will not call you "lovey", that's what their nana calls them.

Tipping - we don't tip in Australia and if you try to tip the waitress in a restaurant she will refuse the tip and probably take it as a bit of an insult. The minimum hourly rate here in Australia is $24 per hour. So no need to tip people in hospitality. Some places do have tip jars which is mainly in coffee shops however it's usually if you have loose change you want to get rid of. One thing to watch out for if you pay by card or with your mobile (cell) phone is the auto tipping option on the software. The software is most likely designed in the US so just be aware you could be paying a tip with your card or phone without knowing it. If the tip option does come up on the screen, just say no, you are not obliged to say yes to a tip. However if you really really like the food you can add a tip as part of the bill, but again not required so don't feel obliged to do so. We don't work for tips in Australia as it's not a supplement for a proper wage as it is in America. Also if you use a credit card you might be charged a surcharge fee which is about 1%. Why? Because banks are dicks and will try to charge you as many fees as they can. The surcharge fee is the bank's fee for using your credit card not a fee imposed by the retailer.

Weather - yes it does snow in Australia. Not sure why that one surprises tourists. If you google it you will see the various ski resorts we have and on Youtube there is a video that rates our ski fields and yes it was done by an Aussie so you can trust that video. Apart from the skiing, most of the time our climate is on the hotter side and given the size of the country we can have all four seasons on the same day in different parts of the country. Darwin in the far north for example has a normal daily temp of about 33C all year round. Cold for them is when the overnight temps dips below 20C. Whereas here in the south whilst we can have temps above 40C during Summer our Winters can get very cold and it snows in the mountains in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. So depending on what temp you like will depend where you want to visit.

Celsius vs Fahrenheit - another thing Americans freak out about. So that you yanks don't have to do continual conversions back to Fahrenheit here is a thumbnail guide. 10C is chilly, you will need Winter clothes and it will snow in the highlands at that temp because the overnight temps will get below 0C. 15C is typical Winter temps in the south so yes warm clothes again. 20C is warm, you can get away with not wearing Winter gear, but can you can get a cool breeze here in the south so for the ladies a cardigan or warm top might be needed, for the men... toughen up. 25C is a pleasant Summer or Spring day. Can wear shorts and a T-shirt. 30C is hot so thongs (flip flops) or sandals is the acceptable foot wear and definitely shorts and T-shirt weather and use lots of sun screen as our sun is hotter than in most parts of the world which is why we have high rates of skin cancer, mainly white people. 35C and above is very hot and you will hear heat warnings either on the radio, TV or if you have the app you will receive at text warning of high UV levels. Our daily weather forecasts come with UV readings as even on a mild Summer's day we can get elevated UV levels so watch out for that. On days of 40C stay out of the heat during midday to 2pm if you don't want heat stroke. So if you are a white person visiting Australia during Summer, gets lots of sunscreen. If you are dark skinned or naturally tanned, not much of an issue but you will still get sunburnt which will lead to your skin peeling afterwards, so sunscreen is advised to avoid that, otherwise don't bother. Also if you are coming to Australia during Summer buy a hat to shade your face and wear sunglasses. If you are a red head, you will be called a wranger or ginge so just go with it. You guys should only go out at night in the Summer in Australia otherwise you will turn the colour of cooked lobster. And we all know the song "only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid day sun", so true in Australia.

Ok that should help as a start. Anyone curious about the local rules or inside info just post it here on the Aussie thread or ask an Aussie on social media. But be warned we will probably try and take the piss out of you initially, but then give you the actual answer. Why would we do that? Because we like to have fun with tourists.

 

[darkelf9]

Part 2 of Aussie stuff to know

Metric system - another freak out moment for Americans coming here. You guys in the States already use the metric system. Just look as your soda bottles they are in ml or L which is the metric system. When you get an injection from a doctor or nurse, it's in CC's which is cubic centimetres, again the metric system. Even going back as far as the show ER, you know the one with George Clooney, they were using the metric system for dosing the medication. I remember here in Australia when our temp readings went from Fahrenheit to Celsius, I was only a kid. Everyone was saying it wouldn't work and we kept converting it back to Fahrenheit to get a sense of the actual temperature. It took a while for us to adjust to Celsius readings. When I purchased my current house the stove was an old electric ring top. What I didn't realise, the oven was in Fahrenheit not Celsius until I used the oven for the first time and couldn't work out why the food was taking so long to cook. That was back in 2000. I very quickly purchased a new stove. We still have imperial mainly for plumbing parts and we still use terms like "2 by 4" which goes back to the imperial measurement. And the older generation is more comfortable stating someone's height in feet and inches. Like saying "6, 4" as in 6ft 4 inches tall rather than 193cm. I still refer to people's height in ft and inches, well because I'm old. Only when I have to fill in a document with my height do I say I'm 180cm that's 5'11'' in old money. But we mostly use the metric system for weights and measures. And yes all our kitchen measuring stuff still has cups marked on the side mainly because the old recipes use cups as a measurement and the metric conversion is not exact so you will see a measuring cup in Australia in cups and ml marked on the graduations. Anyone visiting Australia from Europe would not have an issue with the metric here.

Pronunciation - I see people getting this one wrong although can't totally blame people coming from OS for that one. The English language is not a pure language so how we spell stuff is not always the ways it is pronounced and here in Aussie land we have our own twist on English. And to our American friends just because we speak English doesn't mean we say stuff the way you guys do nor spell things the same way either. It seems Americans are also unaware that English originated in England. The clue is in the name. I won't get into how English was messed up by the respective invaders into England.

Let's start with the names of the capital cities that everyone keeps messing up when saying them. We are a country of migrants so we don't rely on an accent to tell if you're a tourist, it's the way you guys pronounce stuff. Ok....Melbourne is not "Mel bourne" as in the bourne legacy movies, it's pronounced "Melben" and not "Melburn". Brisbane is not "Bris baine" it's pronounced "Brisben". Canberra is not "Can berra" it's "Canbra". We don't say "G'Day Mate" we know you are a tourist, it's just "G'Day" or "Hello", "Hi". The other option for a greeting is to state the time of day such as "Morning", "Afternoon", "Evening", we don't say "Night". When we leave someone's company we say "Seeya" or "bye". Another Aussie saying is "Catchya", meaning to see you later as in "catch up with you later". I won't go into the ocker lingo that will take a bit of explaining on this media. Best do that in person with an Aussie. Hopefully that helps tourists fit in better. If you get those wrong we know you are a tourist. It seems Americans only go by the accent then assume anyone who doesn't have an American accent is not American. That's not how we see people here in Australia. Your accent doesn't matter to us and we don't judge people based on their accent. It's how you say stuff that tells us if you're a local or not.

Religion - we are a predominately Christian country based on the Church of England faction of Christianity with Catholicism as the second highest faction of Christianity. We have people from all the major religions here in Australia so besides churches we have temples, synagogues and mosaics, so if people from religions other than Christianity come here, you can practice your religion whilst visiting Australia and nobody will bother you for doing so.

For our friends in the US, your constitution does not extend past the border of your country. When visiting another country and telling the locals you are an American and you know your rights, means fuck all in another country. Your first and second amendment means nothing in another country so get with the program and learn the local laws and customs and you won't get arrested or punched in the face. It's quite simple.

Driving in Australia - we drive on the left which means the steering wheel is on the right. We use indicators to signal a turn or like Americans like to call them "blinkers". And we know American cars didn't have blinkers nor seat belts several decades ago. Wearing a seat belt whilst driving or as a passenger in a car is mandatory in Australia and will incur a fine if not wearing one. Here in Victoria, yes Victoria is a state not a city, the fine for not wearing a seat belt is $350 and 3 demerit points. 12 demerit points and you lose your licence. So a warning to once again our American friends, wear your seat belts when in a car. Everyone in a car must wear a seatbelt. And no for the clever dicks out there it does not apply if you are sitting in a parked car with the engine off. However if the car's engine is on and you don't have a seat belt on you can get a fine. There have been instances of cops issuing fines to people whilst sitting in their cars in their own driveways with the engine running. It is technically a breach of the law.

Another one for our American friends who think the road laws in America apply to the rest of the world. You cannot turn on a Red traffic light unless there is a green arrow saying you can do so. Not all our traffic lights have turn signals on the red light. Mainly at busy intersections and when major roads cut through suburbs and the CBD. So if you try to turn on a red without a turn arrow, you are breaking the law and will get a fine and more demerits points if caught by a traffic camera. We have speed and traffic light camera all over the place here in Australia plus unmarked cars with speed cameras and last but not least cops with radar guns. So basically don't speed when driving in Australia or you will be caught. We also have new traffic cameras that can detect if anyone in a moving car is not wearing a seatbelt. And no for our American friends don't argue with a cop about your American rights, you're just making things worse for yourself. All these measures are aimed at reducing road fatalities here in Australia. And yes we do bitch about all the traffic cameras, but if you are doing the right thing it's not a problem.

Alcohol driving limit - We have a .05 alcohol limit here in Australia which is nation wide. I know it's .08 in the US. If you are on a probation licence it's zero. You can be stopped any time to take an alcohol and drug test by the cops. If you refuse you can be charged. We also have what we call "booze buses" which the cops set up at random times, usually on school or public holidays but can happen on any day of the week. They will shut down one section of the road and pull over several cars at a time for drivers to get an alcohol test and also a drug test. So if you are a tourist in Australia and you are pulled over to do one of these tests just do it and don't argue with the cop. Once again for our American friends, your first and second amendment rights mean fuck all here. So just comply with the request and for fuck sake don't tell them about your American rights. If you are one of those Sovereign Citizen fuckheads, don't leave America. You do have the right to be an idiot you don't have the right to be a fuckwit.

Driving Licence - You can apply for a drivers licence at 16 but it takes 2 yrs before you get your full licence. As a Learner driver you must do a certain amount of hours with a licensed driver before you can apply for your actually drivers licence. All those hours must be recorded in a book. Not sure if it's digital yet. If you pass your driver's test then you get a probational licence with two levels. The first level only allows you to carry one passenger the second level is the capacity of the car. Also unlike America, if you are on a probation licence you must display the' P' plate on your car. Different states have different rules on this. Here in Victoria is must be displayed on the inside lower right corner of the rear window because the driver of the car behind you sits on the right hand side. The 'P' plate is for other drivers to be aware you are a new driver and to get the fuck away and give you plenty of room.

That will do for now. The next Aussie stuff post will be about Melbourne for any visitors.

 

[darkelf9]

Things to know before visiting Melbourne...."Melben", from other parts of Australia and those visiting from OS, we don't use the term foreigner nor aliens when describing tourists to Australia. They are just tourists.

CBD - we don't have uptown nor downtown in any Australian city the city centre is known as the Central Business District(CBD), so for our American friends don't ask for uptown or downtown, whilst we do know what you are talking about because we see lots of American movies, we don't use those terms here. Here in Melbourne the CBD has everything a tourist would need except hospitals which are just outside the CBD. Our CBD is built on a rectangle which goes from Flinders Street at the south end to La Trobe Street at the north end. And Spencer Street from the west to Spring Street in the east. So the CBD is 4 blocks North to South and 8 blocks West to East. Anything outside that zone is where the suburbs start. There isn't a distinct change when going from the CBD to the start of the suburbs so whilst you might think you are still in the CBD you will be in a suburb. As an example if you go north on Elizabeth Street to Queen Victoria Market you will be in a suburb. If you go south of the Yarra River to the Casino or the restaurants on the other side of the river you will be in another suburb. Same applies if you go west of Southern Cross Station. If you visit the Victorian Parliament building you are actually in a suburb. If you go to see an AFL game at Marvel Stadium by crossing the bridge you are in a suburb.

There are shops all over the CBD zone. Collins St is the money street with financial companies at the Spencer St end to high end stores like Rolex, etc at the Spring Street end. The more affordable shops are between Elizabeth and Swanston Streets so there is something for everyone depending on your spending power. I'm told by my female friends that shopping here in Melbourne is great for clothes and accessories and better than Sydney, so ladies if you want a bargain Melbourne is the place to be. Don't forget to checkout the lane way shops from Flinders St going north to Bourke St. Lots of tourists only travel on the main streets in the CBD and miss out on the coffee shops, cafes, bakeries and retail in between the main streets. There are also arcades to explore. So basically explore the side streets as well as the main streets. Never know what you will find.

Food - Melbourne is a foodies paradise. There is plenty of choice and all of it is good. Whatever is your favourite type of food is we have it here in Melbourne. Once again you can get good cheap eats or go to the more expensive venues. There are plenty of coffee shops to choose from not only in the CBD but in all the suburbs further out so even if you are travelling to one of the suburbs to the edge of zone 1 or into zone 2 you will find a coffee shop. Most train stations in the suburbs will have a coffee shop near by if not adjacent to the train station. We love our coffee here and expect a high standard. I covered the types of coffee in a previous post. But Melbourne does have the best coffee in Australia and that's coming not only from tourists but also friends visiting from other parts of Australia. But no matter where you go in Australia the coffee is good.

South Melbourne Dim Sim - this is something unique to Melbourne is the South Melbourne Dim Sim which is twice the size of a normal dim sim. Not all fish and chips shops have them so you might need to ask. If you are in South Melbourne near the market, the fish and chips shops in that area will have them. For our OS friends Dim Sims are not dim sum. Dim Sims are pork and cabbage filled packets of goodness. Can have them steamed or fried, although most Aussie kids would know the fried version. Any school kid on their way home from school will divert to a fish and chips shop to get a couple dim sims with soy sauce.

Myki - is what we call our Public Transport (PT) ticketing system which is also a misnomer as we only have actual tickets for travel to regional areas. You can purchase a Myki card with is currently $6 for full fare adults or $3 for a pensioner. If you are from OS you can also use your mobile(cell) and set up a Mobile Myki app with your credit card. Not sure what costs are associated with that nor charges for using that set up. The PTV website has all the info. The cost of travelling on the PT here in Melbourne is capped so you don't pay per trip. Also the capped fare applies to all trams, trains and buses within that zone. You can travel all day in zone 1 for the price of two cups of coffee at the full fare rate and of course for pensioners that's one cup of coffee. The transport runs till midnight. You can do as many transfers as you want during that period and won't pay any more than the capped fare. So if you are staying in Melbourne for several days or here as an OS student or have a job here as an OS contractor the Myki system is cost effective. Melbourne has rather good public transport compared to other cities in Australia, but we still bitch about it because we expect a high standard of service from our PT.

As I've mentioned there is a free tram zone in the CBD zone. So take advantage of that after a long day shopping. You don't have to walk everywhere in the CBD, plus the CBD does have steep inclines. It might look flat but it isn't. Also if you've had a few drinks at one of the pubs and a good lunch or dinner in the CBD, take the free tram.

Shopping in Melbourne is 7 days a week. Most of the week retail shops close at 5pm except on late night shopping days on Thursday and Friday nights when shops are open till 9pm. So if you are a shopping freak then Thursday and Friday are the days for you. This also applies to retail shops both at suburban shopping centres and local shops so it's not exclusively for the CBD.

Melbourne has some unique driving experiences you need to be aware of. In the CBD and some inner suburbs close to the CBD we have hook turns. These are designed to allow trams the right of way and to not hold up traffic flow. It is very unique to Melbourne. A hook turn is done from the left hand lane thru an intersection. It might seem bizarre for anyone outside of Melbourne. The trams is the main reason for these hook turns and that trams always travel thru the middle of any street. The other unique driving experience in Melbourne including the suburbs is the ability to drive on tram tracks. This is only allowed if you see a dashed yellow line. Yellow lines will always accompany tram lines even in the suburbs. A solid yellow means you can't cross it in much the same way a solid white line means you can't change lanes. So if you are a tourist in a Melbourne suburb and you see a car driving on tram tracks, now you know what is happening. I always freak out friends who come to Melbourne when I drive on tram tracks as they think I'm breaking the law.

Sports - Melbourne is the sporting capital of Australia. We love our sport in Melbourne and have all the major codes here. Melbourne is the home of the AFL otherwise known as Aussie rules football. The Melbourne Cricket Ground(MCG) is sacred ground not only for cricket but also the AFL. The AFL was originally called the VFL(Victorian Football League) and was considered the top footy competition in the country with players coming from other parts of the country as well as from Victoria. When the VFL expanded to include teams from other states in Australia it changed it's name to the AFL in 1990 to acknowledge it was a national competition. Because I'm old I remember when it was just the VFL. The game itself was started in the 1850's here in Melbourne and was meant as a way for cricketers to keep fit in the Winter months, which makes Aussie rules a unique sport. A majority of the teams in the AFL reside in Melbourne and are named after Melbourne suburbs. Even today there are cricketers at the grade level that play Aussie rules in the off season. The Sydney Swans was originally the South Melbourne Football Club(mascot was a white swan) and the Brisbane Lions was originally the Fitzroy Football Club(mascot was a Lion), both of which are inner city suburbs in Melbourne and not far from the CBD. I remember both those teams. Melbourne is also the home of the Australian F1 and the Australian Open tennis tournament. Both of these events are held not far from the CBD. We have sport happening in Melbourne most of the year regardless of the weather.

Next Melbourne post will include stuff to see in Melbourne and in regional Victoria.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

The start of Sept has carried on where the end of Aug left off. Here in the south the heavy winds have caused lots of damage then the rain came. The winds were cyclone level. At the height of the windy conditions about 200,000 homes were without power across the state. A couple of days on, there are still thousands of homes still without power as the high winds moved east then went north and into NSW. No damage at my place but the next door neighbour lost the roof to their back awning which ended up in my driveway. Walked it back over in the morning on the Monday. I know what it's like to lose roofing in high winds, that was back in 2006 and I'll never forget it. Things calmed down for one day then the high winds came back and the temp dropped back to Winter type temps. Did manage to spend about an hour in the backyard and filled up the garden bin again ready for green bin day this week, before the wind picked up again and it hasn't really let up. Temps are back up again today to Spring type temps in the low 20'sC but now the rain is back as well. Have had some rolling showers coming thru this morning on my side of Melbourne. Need to go out and do the grocery shop and hit up the bank again. If only those bills took a Spring break. Having high winds in Sept at the start of Spring is normal but not cyclone type winds. Sept is one of those months that we get huge changes in temps here in Melbourne. It can get close to 30C one day then go back down to 15C a few days later. Sept is always like riding a roller-coaster, the weather is all over the place.

I can certainly tell Spring has sprung at my place. The deciduous trees in the front are starting to get their leaves back. The magnolia has the last of it's flowers about to fall off. The ground under the magnolia is littered with it's large purple and white flowers. The early flowers are now being replaced with new young leaves. It always flowers from the bottom up over a period of several weeks. The flowers in the garden beds along the driveway are also in full bloom with bright yellow and red flowers. The roses should start to bud in a couple of weeks. So lots of colour is happening at my place at the moment.

Have started the cleaning phase of the house tasks to get the place ready to sell. Been experimenting with a couple of different options for spot cleaning a carpeted area near the back door which gets lots of traffic from outside and especially from after working in the garden. I have that black sandy soil which tends to stick to shoes. Found that the good old white vinegar is just as good as any of the specific carpet cleaner products and way cheaper as well. Rather impressed with how many cleaning situations the white vinegar can handle. Will see what this month brings in regard to tasks completed to make the final push to sell up. The only a couple of main tasks to do this month. Still gathering stuff to throw out. The junk pile is growing. Have had some of that stuff for a number of years so it's a clean up and an clean out.

Had to laugh at Americans going to the Outback Steakhouse and thinking it's Aussie food which it isn't. So if any Americans think they are getting a taste of Australia by going to one of those places in the States, you are getting ripped off. Our beef is not pumped full of hormones, so if you guys want to try some proper steaks, come to Australia. Only warning I will give Americans coming to Australia is that your taste buds might actually wake up and when you go back home, your food might taste bland apart from all the sugar you guys put in your food.

Kyle and Jackie O must have got a shock when they discovered they came 5th in the radio breakfast shows here in Melbourne. The team that was kicked off KiiS radio here in Melbourne so Kyle and Jackie O could take over the morning breakfast slot for KiiS, kicked their arse by coming first. KiiS lost a whole bunch of loyal listeners that have now gone to NOVA FM. Kyle and Jackie O might work in Sydney but Melbourne has given them the middle finger. Not to say they haven't gained a following here, but they attract a certain type of person who are loud extroverts who are up themselves. It's about the outrage. You just know most of these people have been in trouble with the law at some point in their lives and now want to boast about it. Apparently these listeners are real people, whatever the fuck that means. Plus the high amounts of money they offer brings lots of people out from under rocks. Heard an exchange between Kyle and David Walliams, and Walliams wiped the floor with Kyle who slagged off lots of people in the process of showing off. It was like listening to an adult and petulant child, Kyle being the petulant child. Jackie O was nervously trying to laugh it off and keep the peace. Seems everyone that works on their morning show have to suck up to Kyle and nobody will challenge him which is why the guy has turned into a spoilt child and an arsehole who thinks just because he is now wealthy he can treat people like dirt. Kyle being on Australian Idol was one of the main reasons Marcia Hines quit the show. She does not like him because of the way he treats people. Everyone loves Marcia who is a legend in the Aussie music industry. Kyle is just another rich arsehole and one of the reasons Australian Idol was cancelled. The only reason they got him back is because all TV channels are run out of Sydney and they love him up there.

Saw the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympics and preferred it to the Olympic Opening Ceremony. Only saw it on replay. Wasn't going to stay up till the early hours again. The Aussies are doing well at the Paralympics. Has taken a while for the American team to get going but they are now up there. Given the extra issues these paralympic athletes have to deal with, their accomplishments are even more impressive than the able-bodied athletes. The Aussies are winning lots of medals so they are doing well. Even when not winning medals the individual athletes are doing PB's which is all you can ask of them. Saw the swim of Lexy Leary giving the other team half a lap lead then winning. An amazing swim. Three years ago she was in a coma and doctors had given up on her telling her parents they should say their goodbyes. She is amazing given all that she has gone thru just to get to the games let alone win a gold medal in her sport. She also won a gold in her individual event and broke the world record twice in one day. With her brain injury she has no filter which makes her very cheeky and even more of an Aussie. The funny part was that she wasn't too fussed about the gold medals, mainly wanted to know her times.

Looks like the rain is set to hang around Melbourne for the rest of this week, thru the weekend and into the start of next week. Hope the weekend is good for you. Hope the Aussies continue to achieve for the rest of the Paralympics. Go Aussies!