Brett Gibson. Life.

Daft Punk

2007-12-18T22:24:00.000+10:00

Daft Punk, in 2 more sleeps (but as if i'm going to be able to sleep!) very excited. Here's a film clip made up of fan footage of their concerts.

---from Ra.net ---
This was shot live in Brooklyn by 250 camera-wielding fans at a concert.The video is directed by Olivier Gondry, brother of Michel Gondry, who has directed a Daft Punk video or two himself in his time. The cut is from Daft Punk's new album Alive 2007 due in December, but don't expect any more where this came from. "That's the way we want to leave it right now," Bangalter told Billboard magazine."We were inspired by the Beastie Boys' 'Awesome, I F-ckin' Shot That!' and tried to do that in a four-minute video," says Bangalter. What that means is that the video was shot by the fans, in this case 250 audience members who brought along home DV cameras to Daft Punk's show in Brooklyn in August. And as ever, the result is eye-popping.

Our house in pictures

2007-07-19T21:32:00.000+10:00

Okay, so clayton's house. But thought I would put pics up to show the place.

This is the kitchen, it has a raised bench surface for easier access to chopping boards and the mother-of-all-fridges. Notice the light in the cupboard behind the (hot) model, and pearlescent light in the skylight.

This is the view into the house from the entrance (next to the raised bench). While the lights look like a runway strip in this photo, they are great and can be set for 'mood'. The tiles are nice and big, and straight. Like that they are straight. Behind the curtains at the end is our balcony.This is out on the balcony. The timber decking makes it level, and the bar was made by Clayton and Dan. It's a sweet bar with enough space for 4 people to eat breakfast or have a drink at.

Update

2007-07-18T17:01:00.000+10:00

It's been a while since last post. Since then I've been down to Sydney, Perth and the Gold Coast. Sydney was great, I caught up with old team mates, hung out with Gabi, went to Brett Hoffman's birthday and saw a lot of the trainees (hopefully not for the last time before they go!). Ironically, having gone to Sydney because Penny was in town, I was informed I would then be going to Perth for training the next week.
The training was really good, and the new budgeting module that is being released is really good. Now to get up a few models in time for the Qld Local Government amalgamations so that we can show them why ours is the product they need when councils merge and they need to throw out one system or another.

Next trip is planned to go to Ayr for a demo to a property development group, although it looks like I'm not going to Darwin as initially thought.

Two other things - I'm sick atm. Stupid cold that has been going around and claimed most of the people at work over the last month has finally caught up with me. I had thought I'd managed to dodge it, but no luck. And Uni starts again next week.

This will be my final semester as an undergrad student (I really hope I haven't missed something!!!). I'm anxious to get it over with, and want to do well again, but will be a little bit sad to see it end.

Judy Abrahams

2007-06-26T22:49:00.001+10:00

Jean "Judy" Abrahams

11/11/1923 - 17/06/2007

Born on 11 November 1923 in Ashfield, Jean was 2nd daughter of Percy, a photographer, and Constance, his English WW I bride. She grew up in Ashfield, with holidays in the seaside cottage in Cronulla. An independent, verbal little girl who challenged everything, especially her elder sister Margaret, known as Peg/gie but nicknamed Punch and hence, Jean became Judy and was evermore known as Judy.

Judy was involved with St John Ambulance cadets and was one the youngest at that time to attain her Grand Prior Badge and was a member of the Voluntary Aide Detachment during the war and reminisces of walking in blacked out streets and being in Sydney town when the mini-subs sank the HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney Harbour.

She met Cedric at St John and wedded on 21 July 1945. After Cedric's acceptance of a position with the Public Health Department, they went to Kavieng in New Ireland, an island at the very top end of New Guinea, in November 1947. The next years saw regular moves as Ced worked with Public Health throughout New Guinea when a bad jeep accident saw her in Wewak with children in hospital. David spent nearly 4 months hospitalised. Judy was only in her twenties when handling all this upheaval thousands of miles from family or friends, in a primitive country recovering from WWII, where she was often first white woman and her kids the first seen by tribesmen when travelling to "social functions" on outstations or joining Ced on immunisation patrols. Back to Yangoru in 1952, followed by Lae and another leave before reaching Daru in September 1955. Her decision to return to Australia in 1956, without husband, was the gossip of the Territory of Papua & New Guinea for months!!!

Attitudes prevailing at that time were hard on a young separated woman with 2 kids, but returning to her family home, she held full time secretarial work and purchased a rather weather beaten, weatherboard house to make into a home, which was open house for many of the Burwood area. Judy followed her father's love of the spoken word with years as a member of the ladies public speaking organisation, Phoenix, which would often meet with Rostrum, where her dad and many of the male influences of her youth met.

One of the most amazing things in her life at this time was her marriage in 1964 to Ray Abrahams a 40 year old bachelor, youngest of four children, fanatical Wests Magpies supporter, nary-a-care-tiler, later known as "half-day Ray" due to his desire not to be a slave to the work ethic! Ray could direct one around Sydney by getting you from one corner pub to the next, with the local, "having a fling" and eventually lawn bowls filling his afternoons, not to forget his ongoing love for Wests, even when they moved so far from his old stomping grounds. This marriage lasted exactly 31 years, his dying at 3am the morning after their 31st wedding anniversary.

Joining Ray in the Woy Woy area, Judy became secretary to the MD of the new company establishing itself in Australia, Sara Lee. It was about this time she accepted an extension to her Justice of the Peace duties and was appointed as the first woman Civil Marriage Celebrant in the Woy Woy area when two appointments were made by the NSW government. Eventually she left full time secretarial work and undertook part time positions to compliment her ever increasing marriage celebrant duties. No one on the Central Coast of NSW can be more than about 3 or 4 removed from Judy, from 1976 to 2002 she performed 1528 weddings!

Judy passed away on the 17^th of July 2007 without warning after a fall. A remarkable lady, I’m glad I was able to hear her stories, enjoy her company and share many a Whisky with Nana.

Rest in Peace.

exams

2007-06-14T16:43:00.000+10:00

Mid way through exams, I have one due Friday night and another next Friday morning then freedom for a little while.

The one I have done I killed. And so far the one tomorrow is looking good.

Funny stuff

2007-06-02T17:25:00.000+10:00

Two things I've read over the last 24hours have made me laugh with surprise.

First was the news that gay prisoners in California are allowed to have conjugal visits (read article here). Now honestly, I couldn't care less either way, but the quote from the guy who was the first gay man to ever have one of these special visits was hilarious:

"To carve my name into the first brick to be laid in the foundation ... is something I will always be proud of, honestly,"

So, he think's he's Neil Armstrong. But I would have avoided using the term 'laid in the foundation'.

The second bit of news is that I am got on the Dean's List for my studies in Semester 2 last year. Made me laugh, because during university i've never consdered myself one of the people who gets great marks, because I"m too busy doing the practical/work'y stuff. Nice way to brighten up your day!

Different way of looking at the world

2007-05-24T23:30:00.000+10:00

One of the things I try to gain from dealing with different people is to understand how they see the world and why an opinion like theirs is formed. Other 'Why' questions come up with arbitrary things like why Australia is at the bottom of the map (did you know medieval european maps had East at the top, which is why they call it Orientation, and had Jerusalem in the centre?)

But arbitrary orientation aside, it's interesting to see how the world looks when real information is used to draw out what the real world looks like. From things like HIV and poverty to meat imports/exports and the true wealth of nations. What does your world look like?

HIV Infections
Military Spending
Deaths from WarMeatWealth of Nations (1,1500, 1900, 1960, 1990, 2015)

More cartographs can be found here: worldmapper.org

Finally Back

2007-05-13T20:48:00.000+10:00

So the last month(ish) has seen no updates, but it's not because I haven't been doing anything, it's because I've been lazy and doing other things. Firstly, I chaired AIESEC's state Conference with Al Speirs, which was again a great experience. It's amazing to see how well AIESEC Qld has done in getting so many talented and eager new members. The conference had over 90 people, which is a far cry from the 40-50 that it normally gets! Of course along with the great sessions and big learning experiences from everyone who went (either as a delegate, facilitator, oc or chair), there was the annual skölling competition for the XXXX cup, and alumni won the coveted cup in a blazing effort. That means I've been part of the winning team of that cup 4 times in 5 years!

Also, after a mammoth period at work, we presented the largest demo I've been involved in to a potential client. We found out we didn't get the deal in the end which was a bit surprising, but was a fantastic challenge none the less. Otherwise at work things are going well, I'm enjoying getting the opportunity to present to clients more and more, and will at the end of the month present an hour session to QUT Accounting students. Ironic that they're getting an IT salesman with a background in HR to tell them about it :)

I've been down to sydney and had the most fantastic time, seeing everyone at Sveta, Susu and Jeremy's housewarming/red party, going to the Minus5 Ice-bar at Circular Quay, seeing movies, going to the Museum of Sydney, and the Wooloomooloo Community festival with Gabi. It was the best way to relax after the most stressful time in a long time!
Another reason it was stressful was because of the unit renovations, but I can say that the place looks freaking awesome (pictures still to come... yep, still no camera). So to celebrate the sweet looking pad, we had a toga party on Friday night. I think toga's are the way of the future... And I'm glad I got over the stomach bug/thing I had for the week, argh, I pride myself on never being sick, but this one had me feeling horrible. Surprising then that I had a lovely seafood lunch with Mum, Nana, David, Yvette and Brett (Jr) for mothers day on the Gold Coast. If it weren't for having to do the long train ride that I did most days of 3 years before moving to Sydney I'd definitely be down there more often. (Brett is soo cute. He has this knack for attracting good looking waitresses who adore him to the table which seems to be a skill that might get him into trouble in the future! ah to have curly blonde hair and great big blue eyes! :)

Now heading into some painfully busy weeks at uni with assignments and then into exam block. Starting to feel like I've got motivation to study again which is coming in at the right time and means I don't do the homework begrudgingly. Another semester of 6's and 7's? Hopefully! Fortunately the lack of any decent rain for however long it has been means that the last round of golf was terrible (to the point of having to tee up shots on the fairway!), so I'm not lamenting the lack of chasing the little white ball for the time being!

What would Bambi say?

2007-03-29T23:27:00.000+10:00

Here's a post from the Dilbert blog by Scott Adams- one of my regular net reads. Just about the funniest thing on the net.

Getting some tail was just never meant to be this way.....

---------------
Oh Deer
by Scott Adams

Did you hear about the Wisconsin man who is charged with having sex with a dead deer that he found in a ditch?

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1122061deer1.html

His defense was that the deer was already dead, so it wasn’t technically an “animal” when the sex happened. The judge disagreed and ruled that a dead deer is still an animal.

This decision sets a dangerous precedent. By the judge’s reasoning, any guy who gets aroused while wearing leather pants has – in the strictest legal terms – his wiener in a cow.

The story doesn’t mention if the dead dear was male or female. That’s important because I want to know if the perpetrator was gay. Without that information, I don’t know how fascinated I should be.

And lord help me, I can’t stop wondering what specific kind of sex he had. Did he arrange the deer in missionary position – which is the way I prefer to imagine it – or was he just getting a little antler? Was he whispering sweet nothings, or was he having angry sex and yelling something along the lines of “I…TOLD…YOU…TO…STAY…OUT…OF…THE…ROAD!!!!”

The story doesn’t mention if the perpetrator tapped the deer where he found it in the ditch or if he dragged it home and put lipstick on it first. My guess is that he got busy right in the ditch, based on three facts:

1. Deer are heavy.

2. He got caught.

3. If a man is horny enough to fornicate with a dead deer, he’s probably too horny to wait until he gets it home.

I’m trying to picture the cop arriving on the scene. The deer-humper looks up from the ditch, sees the cop looking down at him, and asks himself this question: “Is there any point in stopping?” It seems to me that the legal punishment for man-on-deer sex would be exactly the same whether you finish or not. I picture him holding up two fingers and saying to the cop, “Just two minutes. Almost done.”

The cop wouldn’t mind waiting. He’d be busy covering his entire body and the back seat of his cruiser with plastic gloves before he handcuffed the guy.

I also wonder what the cop was thinking. If I were the cop, I’d be worrying that this would be the exact time I had a coincidental heart attack, rolled into the ditch, and became part of this guy’s threesome. This is why people like me do not become cops. I worry about all the wrong things.

Some people might say this was a victimless crime, but I think that depends on whether the perpetrator has recently broken up with a girlfriend. If so, I would say she’s not too happy about this development. It’s one thing to lose your guy to a cheerleader, but it really has to sting when you lose your guy to road kill. How did he break it to her? “It’s not you, baby, it’s me…and a carcass I noticed on route 9.”

Anyway, the moral of this story – and there is one – is that if you ever see a dead deer in a ditch, and you are aroused by it, your best strategy is to pass the buck.

Or get a windowless van.

Living in a shell

2007-03-28T19:24:00.000+10:00

For the last 2 weeks I have been living in a room 10x8ft. We're getting a new kitchen put in and that means they've ripped out the kitchen and all the tiles through the living room leaving a sudty concrete floor and a shell of a home. I would have pics to show you, but my camera got stolen a few weeks ago.

But, I can tell you right now - I don't think i'm the renovator type.

The amount of hassle that Clayton has gone through to get the plans done, colours picked and tradesmen working has been hell. Plus the dust and inconvenience of having to leave the house early each morning (whether I have something planned or not) to avoid the workers banging around outside my room has meant i'm either at work, uni or the gym - all day. I like the city, but having to spend a lot of forced time there is painful.

Finally, it is sending me broke. They turn off the fridge during the day, so I've been living of Subway. I think if i see Adro on the in-store posters again I will break it in half. I dont care how much weight he lost.

Only another 10 days of it. can't wait till it's done. (Oh, and it should look great too!!!)

International Travel

2007-03-26T23:08:00.000+10:00

Found this resource, which is just about the best thing any AIESECer or Business Traveller could ask for - a seating layout for different airlines. Knowing which row is going to give you the best chance for a bit of sleep has got to be a great thing, because there's nothing worse than only having a few days of exploring time before or after a conference and having chronic jetlag. The fact that you can now check-in a day in advance and book your seat makes this the best lifehack I've found so far in 2007.

http://www.frequentflyer.oag.com/airlines_airports/seating.asp

Here's an example (cut down by me) of the seating plan to help with your next trip.

UPDATE: From Lil's article post, here's some other sites who provide other usefull flight tips. SeatGuru.com, SeatExpert.com, LoveMySeat.com

Rugby realisation

2007-03-24T23:11:00.000+10:00

I can be a bit of a snob when it comes to Rugby, and I make no secret that my preferred ball sport besides playing a round of golf is Rugby (aka Rugby Union). There's a number of reasons for this, I'm sure growing up in South Africa supporting the Bulls was one of them, another being the flow that the game can be played with. But honestly, I think one of the reasons is the class with which it is played and the crowd who follows it. Lately, a line I have pulled out a number of times is that the ladies at a Rugby Union match are much prettier than that of Rugby league, identified by the fact that most still have their own teeth. yep, bad joke, but one I'll stick with for a while.

Tonight, that statement will need to be altered slightly in that it's true of Rugby in Australia, but perhaps not so of New Zealand...
The most annoying crowds I've been to so far have been played against NZ teams. With NZ supporters almost starting fights in the stands at the Hurricanes match at the start of the season and tonight getting a headache courtesy of the Chiefs fans. And the language coming out of the 10 year old Chief's fans sitting with their parents 2 rows behind us were not what I'd expect of a merchant sailor!

Rant over. Bad news - Queensland Reds lost again. Once again giving away a penalty within 10 minutes of the final siren and thus losing the lead/game (same thing happened against the Lions 2 weeks ago). At least the match fixing and associated activities (as seen in Cricket World Cup) aren't apparent - who would need to pay money for the Reds to lose a match?!?
Next game is against the NSW Warratahs and it's always a good one (and one that Qld normally wins, regardless of how the season is going), so looking forward to that.

Rugby - the game played in heaven...

Fortune Top 20 Admired Companies

2007-03-11T13:14:00.000+10:00

Fortune magazine has ranked their Top 20 Most Admired Companies.
GE is top of the list again, with Apple making the cut this year too. Others included Toyota, Google, Johnson&Johnson, Goldman Sachs and Starbucks.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/2007/index.html

It'd be interesting to get a most admired globally, with different perspectives (ie, Environmental, Employees, Financial Soundness, Innovation, Global'ness)

This will change the world

2007-03-10T01:13:00.000+10:00

This is when Google will really change the world...

Future Music Festival

2007-03-05T21:44:00.001+10:00

This Saturday:

Future Music Festival

10 hours of non-stop sunshine, beats and bass.

It's been a little while since I've been to a festival, with the last one being in Sydney for Field Day with the Trashbags. So pretty excited by this one. It was a toss up between FMF and V-Festival. I've got to say the V-Festival concept is great, and I think going to see Gnarls Barkley and The Pet Shop Boys would be awesome, but it was one or the other and I haven't done some serious dancing in a while now.

Some really big names in dance music are coming who I haven't seen before. As great as Krafty Kuts is, the fact I've now seen him 3 times makes the novelty wear off (although I still listen to his stuff on the iPod at work if a slow day needs some funk).
Some of the names I'm excited about are Ferry Corsten, Carl Cox, Felix da Housecat, and DJ Falcon (from Daft Punk). Also playing are some of the newer names who are making it on to radio like The Egg, TV Rock and Fedde le Grand (Put your hands up for detroit - erm, heard it far too much). Local DJ's are also pretty good with some I've seen before and really liked (and will make an effort to see again barring any serious clashes) like the Bang Gang DJs and Midnight Juggernaughts.

Yay.

Cocktail Party

2007-02-25T23:45:00.000+10:00

Seeing as how uni was about to go back and I hadn't thrown a decent party in a while, a suggestion by Clayton to have a cocktail party seemed like a good idea. Funny how that decision always looks a little different the morning after the party...

It's was a great night, thanks for those who came. I had thought people would drinks more, so either:

my friends are getting old;
more people drive than used to; or
my palm-of-hand alcohol calculations were way off

Possibly a combination...

Either way, Clayton and I are going to have to work out how or when to finish off the left overs (3 bottle vodka, 3 bacardi, 1 tequila, 7 litres pineapple juice, 8 litres cranberry juice, 1 pair edible underwear).

The night was really good though. It turns out the unit can be arranged for good party layout. On the menu for the evening was Cosmopolitans, El scorpions, fruit daiquiris, Tung Ice Tea, Mojitos, Pina Coladas and a couple of "let's see what this tastes like"'s with Al.

Getting old (aka my birthday)

2007-02-21T23:18:00.000+10:00

It's official, I'm getting old. On the 19th Feb I turned 23. It was a little sad, as for some reason I've always had in my head that I should be 22, so to now be past that means I'm older than I think I should be.

I've got to say my 22nd year would have to have been my best so far. Some of the things I did:

Partied with my best mate for my entire 22nd birthday weekend
Signed the size partnership I'd been trying to do in AIESEC for YEARS!
Went to the Czech Republic (It's as central as eastern Europe gets, but I always wanted to travel there)
Got a new nephew
Partied with friends at festivals and concerts
Finished off an amazing AIESEC career after nearly 5 years
Moved to Brisbane 5 and a half years after I first said I would
Achieved better at Uni than I'd thought I could
Got a great role with a great buch of people at TechOne (and started earning real money!)
Started playing golf regularly and for real-real (not for play-play)
Went to Borneo for an amazing experience and which presented a huge opportunity
Hung out with great friends in Sydney for New Years
Chaired my first conference
and many, many more. (I say that to stop it going for ever and because I forget things quickly)

So now, in my last year of uni, with choices to be made and hard work to be done, It'll be hard to live up to 22, but hopefully it will or won't be too far off. (and maybe it'll surprise me and rock my world!)

Learning a language.

2007-02-21T23:15:00.000+10:00

I have threatened to learn a new language for years now. It started off with German and buying a set of tapes at a Dymmicks shop in my first year of uni that I could listen to on the train to uni (yep tapes. I only stopped using my walkman in november 06!). Point is they were terrible and I stopped after the 3rd train-ride with them. Waste of time and money. Then the idea took a back seat for a while until my last 8 months in Sydney when I thought I'd learn Mandarin and enquired at some of the language schools down there. The course times and cash didn't work out, so that didn't happen (although after 4 requests to stop I still receive mail for the Red Crane school of language. pricks).

After a few sms's and email with Gabi in preparation to going out to the theatre (see Chinese Dance spectacular in conference post) with Portuguese in them (courtesy of online translator: Babelfish), I thought I'd learn a couple of words in Brasilian for when I got down there. Then I found the best language teaching series ever developed (based on my limited experience with other series which don't work). Pimsleurs.

The process used is conversational and repetitive at incrementing intervals. It just seems to work. So excuse the atrocious spelling, (it's phonetic learning so deal with it) but:

Eu falo um poku Portuguese, e nau intendo portuguese muerto beng. Eu so je Australia. Obrigato e boa noite.

I'll get better at this one before I try another language. But next time I do it will definitely be with Pimsleurs.

Conference'd Out

2007-02-21T22:08:00.000+10:00

BRETT THE CHAIR

I've been to many, many, AIESEC conferences in my time, and now that I'm out of the organisation, the natural thing was to go back to another conference right? It's a bit like the mob, "You think you're out, but they pull you back in". I was asked by Ruthie on the Australian Member Committee to chair the Star Sellers Team Kickoff, which was basically a sales training conference in less ecoteric (non-AIESECronym) language. It was quite an experience. I'd like to say I was the best chair ever, but that's clearly not the case. Hopefully I added something to the experience and value that the delegates got out of the 3 days though. It really was a great concept which actually happened, so a huge congratulations to Ruthie for pulling it off. Leaving the conference there was really a sense of the delegates prepared to put in the hard yards to knock on doors and raise some internships.

After hours, I took the time to see off some great, great friends who are finishing their internships and heading home. Gerardo is hanging around working for GE, but was heading off to NZ for 6 months, Augusto was headed back to Italy - but not before a whirlwind tour of Europe to see the millions of people he seems to know after so long on the other side of the world. Most of all I'll miss Alenka. She really was great, and we spent some fantastic time together. It was interesting going to Prague for the AIESEC's European conference in March 05, because we got to speak a whole heap about Czech and the people over there, places we had to see, some of the insights from the short time over there. I was lucky enough to wear her Czech Hockey jersey - i'm told I was the only Aussie to have the honour. I've promised to return the favour by letting her wear an aussie cricket or rugby jumper when I finally get one. I suggested I'd get an aussie ice-hockey jersey when we made the world cup, but thought we should do it during our lifetime...

On Saturday night I went to the 2007 Chinese New Year Spectacular. Which had some phenominal dancers - if that is how good dancers are, I can't imagine how good Chinese ninjas must be. Rated as one of the Top 10 shows of 2006 by US Billboard magazine, it really was spectacular. Also making the night great was hanging out with Gabi, an intern at Real World Marketing in Sydney. We did some work together when we were both National VP ER's in Australia and Brasil, but never thought we'd meet, let alone get along as well as we do. She's even inspired me to start learning Portuguese! (more below).

MORE CONFERENCE. TechnologyOne style.

Getting back from a weekend with little to no sleep, I then backed-up with another conference. This time for TechnologyOne's Evolve User conference which was held on the Gold Coast. Not having been to a conference quite like this before I really wasn't sure what to expect, but it was great. I got to meet a bunch of clients I'd only ever heard the names of before, and the same for many of the TechOne staff (in Brisbane office or interstate). I won't go into the sessional detail too much, but they were really solid and gave a good picture of what the products made can do, but also where they're going. And I got to see a whole lot of TechOne'rs present so I can steal how they do things for my presentations!

Socially it was a blast. Coming from the AIESEC background, just about every conference I was either facilitating or organising, so being a delegate again was sooo much fun. I got to pick which sessions I went to, didn't have to run around stressing and got to party till the early hours. The last night involved Austin Powers, many, many drinks and Project Sunrise (picture right). So we stayed up to watch a fairly dismal sunrise behind clouds in Broadbeach before getting a 40 minute powernap and then setting up a support centre stand at 8am.

The planned "Week of golf" didn't pan out as the partying took over, but I did manage to get a round in with my brother on Saturday. Normally I play between 6-8am, this time was 10-12am - the resulting sunburn has my neck now peeling and my arms still a litle red. Slip, slap, slop! Good news was I hit a 41 at a par 30 course, so retained my first round score with the new clubs at St Lucia (47 of par 36)! Wasn't just a lucky round with them!

Red Army

2007-02-07T14:20:00.000+10:00

This year I'm part of the Red Army, the Qld Red's Army to be exact, and my comrades in arms include Al, Lil and Clayton. I tried to get other people to sign-up with us late last year, but it seems everyone didn't want to be disappointed at matches for another year. Sucks to be them after the first round because in the first match of the season the Qld Red's beat the Wellington Hurricanes 25-16! The Hurricanes are currently holding the 2nd best odds to win the Super14, while the Reds are 2nd last!

While not the most exciting match ever (too much kicking, not enough rugby), it was great that their new sign-up from League team the Canberra Raiders, Clinton Schifcofske, on fire with his kicking during the match. And we're looking forward to a season where we get used to winning. On the 17th of Feb we play the Canterbury Crusaders (who were premiers last year, and have won the title 6 times in the last 10years!). Hopefully we can win again, which would be the first time Qld has won in New Zealand in a number of years.

I'm a little disappointed that the Bulls won't be playing a match at Suncorp this year - I've supported them ever since I remember, (Naas Botha and Uli Schmidt were my favourite players) and last year was the first time they've done well (coming 3rd of 14) since then!

As proud as I was to see the Reds win I must admit three things sour it a little:

1) The Hurricanes were missing their back-row to the All Blacks resting policy (for the Rugby World Cup this year), but still, a win for the Reds is a great start to the season.

2) The 'charge' music they play at the matches is crap. Sounds like torture. But it's still less torturous than the official Red's Supporter Song (which sounds like an 80's corporate anthem)- all bad.

3) In my footy tipping league, I didn't back the Reds... (I scored 2/7, leaving me bottom of the table - Greatest. Tipper. Ever.)

Here's to a great season of rugby! GO THE REDS

Australia Day Longweekend on Houseboat

2007-01-29T21:44:00.000+10:00

26th of January is Australia Day, which means above all, a long weekend. And heaps of Aussie pride (when not hijacked and used as a front for stupidity or racists). So it was an easy call when the option of a houseboat with mates came up.

The boat was a grand ol' ship with 10 berth's which suited the 9+short-term guests just fine. While the fact that it was shaped like a brick made speedy getaways challenging, the fact that one of the motors stopped working after the first day made it impossible. So we put-put-putted around the Gold Coast Broadwater, stopping off at wavebreak island, tipplers resort and near the spit, with a stopover at the Grand Hotel.

Was great hanging out with my mates, all from high school. Since before I moved to Sydney, and now live in Brisbane, I only see them once every 6-8weeks, and a couple of them I hadn't seen in almost 2 years!

Also, Good news - Sunday after the boat, I spent most of the day at home and Nephew Brett's Colourful box is still used and enjoyed as the best toy box ever.

After the event, I think I'll stay away from snags on a bbq and beer for a while. And sunburn is just about gone now - had done so well with sunscreen until Saturday afternoon...

BBQ's, Beers, Boys. Was a great time.

Chaser/Bulldogs case will be appealled to the Jedi Court

2007-01-23T16:10:00.000+10:00

One of the highlights of TV comedy in 2006 was the Chaser selling 'Official Canterbury Bulldogs Supporters Gear' including rohipnol, knuckle-dusters and balaclavas. Chas won the case (thank goodness for judgment with commonsense! Here's the story from news.com.au

COMEDIAN Chas Licciardello has vowed to appeal all the way to the Jedi Council after a Sydney magistrate dimissed a charge of offensive conduct against him for a stunt at a Bulldogs NRL game.

Sutherland Local Court Magistrate Joanne Keogh threw out the charge against Licciardello, which arose from a sketch for the satirical ABC TV program The Chaser's War on Everything, after viewing a 50-minute tape of the prank.

"I can't ignore the fact that overwhelmingly the crowd responded to the accused's conduct as if it were a joke, which it was - although it may not have been a joke to everyone's liking," Ms Keogh told the court.

Licciardello was filmed outside Kogarah's Jubilee Stadium on July 14 last year as fans gathered for the Canterbury Bulldogs' clash with St George-Illawarra. Dressed in blue and white Bulldogs gear, he offered to sell supporters fake knuckledusters, a rubber knife, balaclavas, imitation flares and boxes labelled as rohypnol, a drug used in date rapes. He touted the items, which were decorated in team colours, as "official Bulldogs merchandise".

Although Licciardello offered his wares to nearby police officers, they intervened only after several fans became aggressive towards him.

The stunt aimed to send up crowd violence that had erupted at Bulldogs games, but police alleged it was offensive, saying some of the weapons looked real.

However, Ms Keogh said Licciardello was polite and courteous and most fans "were good-natured and appeared to share the joke". She dismissed the charge, saying reasonable people would not have been offended by the prank. "Seeing as this was a comedy sketch, I don't believe they would regard it as offensive," Ms Keogh said. "The fact that one group of people didn't appreciate the joke, were insulted, doesn't necessarily prove the conduct was offensive."

Defence barrister Stephen Russell sought costs for the ABC, arguing that police had charged Licciardello as "a knee-jerk reaction" and pressed ahead with the prosecution without reviewing the videotaped evidence. But Ms Keogh rejected his application, saying: "It definitely wasn't a case in which there was never any prospect of a conviction."

Licciardello emerged from court draped in the Australian flag and said he was off to the Big Day Out music concert - a reference to a controversy over a flag ban at the event. He vowed to appeal the magistrate's decision all the way to the Jedi Council.
"I'd just like to say how deeply disappointed we are with the court's decision," he said.
"We will not rest until this injustice has been corrected. We will be appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, to the High Court, to the UN, to the Jedi Council and to the snickometer."

Told he had in fact had a victory in court, Licciardello said: "I'm sorry, I didn't actually prepare any material for the off-chance that we won."

Premier Morris Iemma, who at the time of the prank called it "grossly irresponsible" and "well beyond just having a joke", today accepted the magistrate's decision. "It's a decision of the courts; the proper process has worked its way through," he said.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,21104976-2,00.html

New Golf Clubs

2007-01-21T16:55:00.000+10:00

It's taken a lot longer than I'd thought, but I've finally decided to get a decent (and complete) set of golf clubs. This week buying a set of Wilson clubs off ebay, with online auctions becoming a more regular occurance.

A few years ago (while I was still working at Warner Bros), I had wanted to start playing golf but had no equipment. I was working with a guy who had got drunk and then written off a couple of bikies' harleys on the Gold Coast highway and was paying them back given insurance would cover a drink driver. He went to his 30min break, and when I called him an hour later to find out if he was coming back, he asked if anyone I knew would be interested in buying his set. Wanting a set, and feeling that I might be helping a guy keep his knee-caps I said yes.

They weren't great, (small driver, nothing between a 7 and Sandwedge, putter that looked like Bagger Vance's) but they hit golf balls further than I can throw them (generally) so they do the job. Now that I play a lot more often with the guys from work, I figure it was time for a real set. Enter ebay.

So two rounds of golf this week with my old clubs, and from next week it'll be proper set all the way.

Great times with the current set:
- Round at Bondi with Westy and Ralph
- Practice balls up the pathway in the Gore Hill Cemetery
- Rounds with Westy at Cammeray
- Pitch'n'Putt at Terry Hills with Trashbags (nearly getting into biff with the father in front of us)
- First round of golf with manager and work colleagues (scary as!)"

Because Al said so

2007-01-19T21:18:00.000+10:00

Because Al said so (and Lil and Richard did it):

1. I'm originally from South Africa. Lived on a gold mine when I was first born and in Johannesburg after that. We moved to Australia in 1996.
2. I joined AIESEC my first week of university, and worked with them volunteer for 3 years and then full-time based in Sydney for 18months.
3. I've travelled to Zimbabwe, Zambia (very, very briefly), Indonesia, Czech Republic, England, Netherlands, Malaysia. Plus the odd stopover in other places.
4. In Sydney, when I couldn't get to (or afford) a round at the golf course, I'd walk across the street and hit my practice balls up and down the centre walkway in gore hill cemetary. Fortunately I also topped it so I didn't leave divits, and it really got my game better.
5. I can see the XXXX brewery from my bedroom window.

*** Update: I forgot to pass it on. so - Westy, Doz, Dan, Mei and Marms (if you ever bloody post) It's up to you!

Death, cable tv, emotions and hamsters

2007-01-14T12:04:00.000+10:00

I thought this was fantastic. interesting thoughts on life and how it all fits together.

Le Grand Content

Le Grand Content examines the omnipresent Powerpoint-culture in search for its philosophical potential. Intersections and diagrams are assembled to form a grand 'association-chain-massacre'. which challenges itself to answer all questions of the universe and some more. Of course, it totally fails this assignment, but in its failure it still manages to produce some magical nuance and shades between the great topics death, cable tv, emotions and hamsters.

The film is a co-production with Karo Szmit. Andre Tschinder is the speaker. The diagrams are inspired by the site
http://indexed.blogspot.com created by Jennifer Hagy.

Source here: http://www.clemenskogler.net/film/grandcontent.htm