Friday follies

If last week was a fish I would have thrown it back in. This week was somewhat better - although the fish was barely legal.

Anyhoo, on with the show....

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I heard Barry O’Farrell being interviewed by Alan Jones this week. Barry made a good fist of things, and, barring some hitherto unmentioned cosmic conjunction, should be premier of New South Wales in March 2011.

I recently heard someone say something that annoys me no end.  A euphemism that should be refuted at all costs with a swift kick in the shins to whomever utters it – and that is ‘voters always get it right.’ With one or two exceptions (Mark Latham comes to mind), this is an ineffable load of heifer dust. Does anyone remember Peter Debnam? Apart from an infamous but innocuous incident with some budgie-smugglers, what did he do wrong? He should be premier right now, and Nathan Rees would still be an unheard-of Labor backbencher.

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Why do some Australians go all doe-eyed at the mere mention of ‘Halowe’en’? What is the attraction of this Celto-American, ghostly-themed, pagan ritual where awful things are done to pumpkins? I just don’t ‘get’ Halowe’en, particularly its attraction in this great south land, and perhaps never will.

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Another thing I don’t ‘get’ is sushi. What is appetizing about eating raw fish in pickled rice, rolled up in seaweed? Those three ingredients on their own would be enough to ensure I had several litres of iced coffee next to me – but together??!

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The house around the corner from me is bedecked every year in wonderful Christmas lights, including an illuminated tree on its roof. Speaking of trees…

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has angered some Christians with his yuletide terminology.

A giant evergreen that will brighten the Capitol lawn this winter won't be called a Christmas tree. Instead, the Beshear administration has dubbed it a "holiday tree."

The Rev. Jeff Fugate, pastor of Clays Mill Baptist Church in Lexington, said Christians find the change troubling.

"If you call it a holiday tree," Fugate asked, "which holiday are you talking about? We don't put up a holiday tree for Easter or New Year's or Thanksgiving. We put a tree up for Christmas."

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Watched The Secret Millionaire on 9. It’s great for flushing the tear ducts, I’ll give it that; but wonderful to see people and organisations in need given a hand.

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Hey Hey it’s Saturday looks set to return to Channel 9 next year. Given the success of the reunion specials, Hey Hey’s return was a dead certainty – and hopefully it will return to it’s rightful home - on Saturday night!

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Samuel postulates his ideal weekday 2UE talkback radio lineup. I’ll give my (composite) selection here:

Midnight-dawn, John Kerr; Breakfast: Alan Jones; Mornings, Chris Smith; Afternoons, Clive Robertson; Drive, Mike Gardiner; Nights, Clinton Maynard. 

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Serendipity doesn't often occur in the workplace, but I experienced it first-hand this week. I think it helps to be open and accepting and allowing things to just happen, rathan than trying to consciously manipluate them.

This lovely experience, this red rose in a compost heap, reminded me of this charming quote from Joseph Addison:

"Good nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit, and gives a certain air to the countenance that is more amiable than beauty."

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This weekend I intend to enjoy lots of delicious Aussie white, and watch some DVDs. Especially, some more Classical Destinations. I have series I and II. Magical stuff. Thoroughly recommended - for classical music aficionados as well as those dreaming of a European getaway. I'm fortunate in that I fall into both categories.

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Climate change treaty and one world government

I am a big fan of Christopher, Lord Monckton. Hear him in this video talking to US radio and TV host Glenn Beck on the climate change treaty that our fearless leaders will be tripping over each other to sign in Copenhagen. They must be stopped from ratifying this treaty, which if implemented, will according to Monckton who has read the draft,  involve the transferring of huge sums of money to poorer countries in the name of something called 'reparations for climate debt', and the setting up of a world government. God help us.

Watch part 2 here and listen to the Viscount give rational and measured counter-arguments to the climate change prophets.

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UPDATE

Listen to Alan Jones interview Lord Monckton this morning about this new communistic world government.

Thank God it's the weekend

As Clive would say, it's been a bit of a pooey week - hence the demonstrative title today. Never mind. A few more cups of tea and a hot tub tonight and all should be right in the world, well - better, anyway.

On we go...

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In the Weekend Australian Magazine is an intriguing story of a lawyer from Wagga Wagga alleging that J.K. Rowling copied his client’s ideas in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. You can read the article and make up your own mind, as I have no idea. One of my proudest achievements is that I have not read one word of any of the Harry Potter books. I prefer Kenneth Grahame and Frances Hodgson Burnett – with The Economist thrown in every now and then for some light reading.

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Still in the Weekend Oz (the paper this time), the Travel section has a nice piece on the architecture of Hong Kong “it’s most striking feature” says the writer. I would agree. By day, it certainly is, but be sure not to miss the spectacle that is Hong Kong at night – a really uplifting sight. If you have never been to Hong Kong – go. Before you do, to whet your appetite, try to find a copy of Lonely Planet's 'Hong Kong' DVD, part of Lonely Planet's 'six degrees' series.

Hong Kong - striking by day and night. Photo: Yours truly.

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We lost entertainment great Don Lane this week. He was born Morton Donald Isaacson in New York in 1933, and came to Australia in the sixties where he became a part of what was certainly a golden era of Australian television, an era the likes of which, sadly, we are unlikely to see again. Anyone who uproots and emigrates and makes a name for themself in another country is worthy of great admiration, in my books. To live and work in another country is actually a secret ambition that I have always harboured – although, I hasten to add, I certainly have no designs on a career either on the stage, or in front of a television camera. 

RIP Don, and omne solum forti patria est, as you so successfully demonstrated.

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Tuesday trivialities

Peter Dutton comes to his senses, albeit probably too late.

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Andrew Bolt educates us on the conundrum that is whether to use ‘may’ or ‘might’. My very simple solution, passed on to me many years ago, I posted to his blog, namely: ‘may’ is permission, ‘might’ is probability.

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The Australian reports today that the National Farmers' Federation wants the National Party to drop its hard line on the ETS and negotiate with the government. Like hell they should. As Barnaby Joyce has said, the ETS is a tax that will destroy regional Australia. Speaking to Jason Morrison on 2GB last week, Joyce said that for many people the ETS would be an 'employment termination scheme'.

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The 'What the...?!' for today comes from Germany.

Niiu, a German newspaper set to print in November, allows readers to customize their daily newspaper with news from a variety of news sources before it is printed and delivered to their doorstep.

Hmmm... the internet re-worked on paper. Obviously the "entrepreneurs" behind this venture aren't too concerned about ETSes and carbon footprints. Maybe they're my kind of chaps after all.

Honestly though, someone needs to tell these people about RSS!

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Customer service - the two sides of a coin

Two customer service experiences this past week; very different outcomes.

I ordered two items from an online store on 11 October. Package arrived on 16 October. Only one item inside package. No mention on invoice that second item was or should be missing. So I emailed them on the weekend, and received an apologetic reply today along the lines that my missing item would be dispatched today. Thank you. Will keep you posted.

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I phoned my bank today (no, not that one...not that one either) to organise a transfer of funds from my account to another's account - a process that I have done previously via the operator, and which then took no longer than 3 minutes from beginning to end. Today, with same intention, my call bounced from a distinctly sub-continental-sounding call-centre voice - a chap who said his name was Rulpfnh (well, that's the closest I could get), to an Australian-accented voice, asking for my password (which I have never used, and therefore couldn't remember), to a host of other name, rank and serial number-type questions, and finally the bank account details of the other party - which I didn't have (they were never needed with previous requests). So, after six and a half minutes I accomplished nothing. Very frustrating. The more I think about it, the more certain I am that I must have miss-dialled when I got to the options. Something that was so easy not so long ago, is now tortuous.  

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More Soon

I will be in Sydney this weekend and will return to blogging next week.

Meanwhile, if you are in the Canberra region, the Murrumbateman Field Days are on this weekend. If you go every year, it can be a bit boring, but visit every two or three years and you will usually see some new and interesting things. Admission is twelve bucks, but parking is free (they should park it for you at that price.) With all the rain in the area recently, you shouldn't have problems with dust in your face this year.

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Weekend thoughts

In what can only be described as a gesture rewarding intent; not to mention an act of irrefutable partisanship, Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Not only has Mr Obama achieved nothing for peace, he has achieved precious little in his time in public office, let alone as President.

I can not recall anyone less deserving of the title ‘Nobel Laureate’, and the once revered award has become a parody thanks to those on the prize committee who disingenuously sought to make a hero out of someone who is very, very ordinary.

UPDATE

Nominations for the Nobel Prize closed on February 1, just eleven days after Obama was sworn in as President. What stunning contribution to world peace did he make inthose eleven days? Nothing! This gives further weight to the argument that Obama was given the award simply for being Obama. He should not only turn down the award, but the five clearly Obama-fanatical members of the Nobel Prize committee should resign immediately for their part in this farce; this act of partisan foolishness.

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Harry Connick Jr made a complete backside of himself on national television this week when he objected strongly to a skit on Hey Hey it’s Saturday’s second reunion show. The skit in question was a replay of a piece performed by the same five people on the show some twenty years ago.

The producers of Hey Hey deserve a bollocking for thinking that a skit that was funny and acceptable 20 years ago would receive the same humourous reaction in the PC, thought-police, litigious and Stalinist society that is today. Silly people.

Having said that, the return of Hey Hey was a triumph, and the show is deserving of a return to living rooms across the nation. I wouldn’t be in any hurry to invite Connick back on the show, however. He should stick to performing in countries where self-righteousness is a national pastime.

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It was good to see the return of Andrew Bolt to the blogosphere this week. He’s still sticking it to Malcolm Turnbull, though I see. Oh well, some things never change.

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The question from last week was what do the United Kingdom, Israel and New Zealand have in common? None of them have a formal, written constitution.

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Sunday epicness

$!&#*@! Sorry. But that's what I think of daylight saving, which has just begun in NSW and probably a few other states as well - I really don't care. Someone else who obviously feels the same way as me and likes light at the start of the day is the twit who tweets at Canberra Radio station 2CC, viz:

Daylight Saving starts tonight. Remember to put your clocks BACK one hour before going to bed tonight #dalightsaving12:00 PM Oct 2nd from HootSuite

Riiiight. Look, it's very simple to remember what to do with your clocks, just remember the line "spring forward, fall back" and you will never go wrong.
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Peter Dutton has been defeated in his attempt to move from his post-distribution and now marginal Labor seat of Dickson, to the Gold Coast seat of Macpherson, where the incumbent MP, Margaret May, is retiring.
Macpherson pre-selectors have gone for a local - and a woman - to replace May. Karen Andrews is an industrial engineer and chairwoman of the LNPs Macpherson Division.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports: 

The federal Liberal Party had wanted to parachute Mr Dutton into McPherson after a redistribution made his Brisbane electorate of Dickson a notionally Labor seat.

The Opposition's health spokesman is regarded as a rising star of the party and a potential future leader.

Through a spokesman, Mr Dutton said: "I'll now look at my options in terms of what comes next."

The "potential future leader" bit scares me. Then again, I suppose if someone once thought Kevin Rudd was a potential future leader of the Labor Party, then it could conceivably happen to Peter Dutton with the Libs. But I sincerely hope not.

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By now you will all know that Rio de Janero will be hosting the 2016 Olympics. However, the announcement of which cities Rio beat (Tokyo, Madrid and Chicago), has become almost a bigger story. Many commentators have focused on the speech given to the IOC by Barack Obama, spruiking for Chicago. A speech that many believed should have delivered the Olympics to Chicago on a platter.

Well, as it turned out, Chicago was the first of the four cities to be eliminated. (How do you spell the noise one makes when one is trying to stifle a laugh?) Still, it's a pity in a way, as it would have been interesting to hear President Palin's speech at the opening ceremony. 

I digress. 

That Obama garnered no support for Chicago as a result of his whirlwind trip to Copenhagen, serves as his first major repudiation since he became President; and the whole thing serves as a shining metaphor of how disconnected from focusing on the correct priorities Obama and his administration are, and how disenchanted those thought to be in Obama’s sphere of influence are becoming as a result.

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Saturday randomness

Malcolm Turnbull has returned from overseas and hit the airwaves yesterday with a renewed confidence – there seemed to be some fire in his belly. However, calling maverick Liberal MPs who oppose his stand on the ETS “anonymous smart-arses” will win you no friends though, Malcolm. Those voters and Liberal Party supporters who happen to agree with those anonymous smart-arses, will just see you as trying to imitate Kevin Rudd – colloquially now, as well as ideologically.

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Channel Nine was never vindicated for axing Hey Hey it’s Saturday back in 1999, and the ratings of the first reunion special proved what a dumb move it was. Last Wednesday’s show was a ratings bonanza for Nine, with a peak audience of more than 3 million nationally. It was some of the funniest, most enjoyable television I have seen in a long time. If the second reunion show - to be aired this Wednesday - produces similar figures (they could well be higher), then it’s a dead certainty that a new series of Hey Hey will be commissioned.

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Here's a  'what the – ?!' for you. In October’s Conde Nast Traveller magazine, Sydney Airport has been voted 9th best airport in the world. If there were only nine airports on the list, I might be more understanding of the result – but apparently there were more – Barcelona came in 10th. Sydney Airport is over-crowded, poorly planned, and ineffably expensive. “Awards” like this will only tempt the airport bureaucracy to further increase its charges, and use this result, as well as so-called “passenger satisfaction surveys” as justification.

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What do the United Kingdom, Israel and New Zealand have in common? 

I will tell you next week!

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