General Election 2010

So polling closed not long ago in Britain after the 2010 General Election. Exit polls unfortunately suggest the Tories have a good chance of getting enough seats to get into power, but that a hung parliament is more likely. Disappointing really, but time will tell if the outcome is a good one or not. Actually remembered to put my football tips in this week, went for all the home sides except melbourne, wondering if i should have gone Sydney over Geelong though...that should be a good match. Only just got the bus this morning, dad had to drive me round to The Avenue because the bus left Blackburn just as we pulled up. Some girl was running across the crossing, waving at the bus driver, and he still drove off. What an asshole! So uncharacteristic of bus drivers, most of them would stop, so me and dad were both surprised. *Seventeen by Jet just came on the radio. Eeeee! <3 * Played pokemon on the bus, to try and build up my Gyarados up a few levels so i can take on the gym leader with Dragon type pokemon, as my Gyarados is the only one who knows any ice moves. Craving a lamb roast thanks to mmm Hot Breakfast having Slammin' Sam on the show this morning. I got very excited whenever @mmmhotbreakfast responds to my tweets, i don't know why. I keep harassing them with tweets, they are probably so sick of me. Sorry person who runs that twitter account :( . Loving 'The Independent' newspaper from the UK, keeps me up to date with whats happening overseas. Had one of those dreams where you try to run really fast, but you can't move. It so annoying, because everything then takes forever to do in your dreams. I was trying to run up my driveway because my aunt, my cousin and her boyfriend where in a car waiting to pick me up. Also, for some reason Bella was with me. but then i said 'won't Bella have to wait in the car whilst we eat at the restaurant (for some reason, we were now going to a restaurant)' and they said 'yes', so then i had to take Bella inside and then i woke up to Bella barking in my ear. Weird dream, very weird. Damn, i've let ANOTHER coffee go cold whilst surfing the interwebz. Streaming radio over the net is fun, and doesnt waste my phone's precious battery! Huzzah! Anyone know how i can convince my mother that going to the NRL match on Sunday would be a great way to spend Mother's Day? You're so right, there is no way to convince her :( Guess that means i'll have to wait until whenever the next Melbourne home match is to have my first taste of live NRL. Still annoyed that the Rabbitohs v Storm match is in fucking Perth. Fuck you Perth, you suck as a sporting city. Other than that, you are quite nice though. I'm running out of ideas to talk about. The link (if you were wondering) is to Cracked.com , specifically an columinist who regularly takes comic strips and edits the speech bubbles to make them hilarious (i think so anyway). Quote for you? Direct from Twitter, Bill Bailey (@RealBillBailey) - hung parliament looms..let's decide the outcome with a three way Total Wipeout style bounce-off
JC

Newsflash: media ads -gate to a scandal

fuck the media. Seriously. There is important stuff happening like elections, wars and fucking mental scale oil spills, but instead the australian media decides to focus on fucking twitter. Oh, and guess what they've called this twitter centric scandal? (hint: see title of this post) That's right, fucking 'twittergate'. How fucking original. Also, fucking stupid. Also, Watergate was a major political scandal with far reaching implications where the name made sense. 'Twittergate' is a couple of comedians, making jokes (imo they were hilarious, especially Mr Anderson) about an awards ceremony for australian television. And for some reason people are suprised and offended? For fucks sake people, get a sense of humour. Remember, freedom of speech is afforded to everyone, not just those you agree with. You do NOT have the right to not be offended stupid people, no matter how tough/sensitive you are. On a lighter note, after i washed my hair last night i gave my dog a hug. She licked my hair, then began to gag on the shampoo taste. It was so cute because she sat on the ground making a spitting sound whilst she tried to lick the couch to get the taste off her tongue. I'm definitely falling in love with Top Gear now. I think its Richard Hammond. Watched a giraffe dissection on SBS last night, so that was interesting although i then forgot to turn back over after then news to watch the human anatomy show. Get to watch Sir David Attenborough in Animal Diversity today #excited. Sorry, i'm starting to twitterify everything :P. Oh no, now im inserting emoticons into my blog. How unprofessional! Im now off to the age website to read their reasoning for firing Ms Deveney, because i have a feeling its going to be pathetic. Good luck finding a new place to write your columns Catherine, i've always found them entertaining and informative. Quote? How about an 'offensive' (read: hilarious) twitter logies quote from Wil Anderson? Brilliant! "Do you think it would be bad taste to arrive at the #logies being carried in a gold-plated coffin?"
JC

Fuck, its May

How the fuck did it get to May? My brother is now an adult and we are less than a month away from winter. Went and got a mothers day present for mum today. It's a personalised photobook, full of pictures of mum and us (us being me, nick, dad and other family and friends). So we'll see how that goes down on Mothers Day (aka marketing brilliance day masquerading as a holiday celebrating females who fulfilled their biological purpose in life and how wonderfully wonderful that all is) next weekend. No progress has been made on the novel or screenplay i've started writing, because i am both really lazy, and really shit at writing. Wondering when Adam, Gemma, Alex, Caitlin, Victoria, Emma and I are getting together to edit that video...i really want to finish it. Also, Collingwood are fucking legends and Sharrod Wellingham is both attractive and awesome. Also, he may be God, but further research will need to be undertaken before this can be confirmed, denied or left undetermined. Also, Cameron. The End...oh wait, quote. Ummmm, hang on, im gonna search for a quote about someone called Cameron, by someone called Cameron, or if all else fails, about a Butler. BRB. Ok, here is a quote from Cameron Diaz (yes, its a female cameron, but the other famous camerons had cameron as their surname) : I don't care how smart a kid you are. The only way you learn what's not right is from experience.
Ok, NOW its the end.
JC

Buses and broncos

Surprised to wake up this morning with no panda eyes, despite having gone to sleep with heavy makeup. Why was i wearing such heavy eye makeup? No real reason, i just felt like experimenting. The bus driver tried to shut the door into (no, literally into) my face because he failed to see me. That made me feel a little bit of an emo, because i was like, am i THAT invisible? Also, seeing people running to catch a bus, and then making it, makes me feel really warm and happy inside. Am very excited about the weekend, as Awesome vs Loser is coming (oh, im sorry, i meant Collingwood vs Carlton. I forget other people can't read my mind. Then again, i dont think it was that hard to interpret) so im super awesomely excited. Love that so many of my friends are Collingwood supporters, which automatically makes a person awesome, although in Cameron's case he is slightly less awesome because he goes to Liverpool, who lost their match against Atletico Madrid about 20 minutes ago and are also going the fuck down on Sunday against Chelsea, who are Gods. Also, when Collingwood destroys Carlton on the weekend, Cameron, Aaron + other Collingwood supporters going to footy, must mercilessly mock Steegs for his supporting a terrible (although compared to Richmond, brilliant) team. Moving on from sport and back to the UK election, its so exciting that there is actually three viable options. I wish Australia had a third option, but at the moment the Greens only have one platform and are too uncohesive to form a viable alternative. So yeah, hopefully the Lib Dems do well over in the UK. As long as it isn't the Tories, im good. Also, if the BNP manages to win a single seat, i'm going to become a republican (you know, people who want Australia to be a republic, not under the Queen.). Jumping trains of thought, i blame Triple M for my Green Day obsession revival. Also, i thank Triple M for remindig me about the May 9 Storm vs Broncos match. Im so going if i can, it'll be my first NRL live match, so awesome. Hahahaha, sorry i just laughed again when i heard Liverpool had lost on the radio. It makes me happy. Side Note: managed to get 30/30 on my Animal Diversity miniquiz, yeah! OK then, quote time? I'll find a sports one considering most of this has been about sport. "Tell him he is John Coleman and send him back on"
- Jack Dyer, when told by medical staff that a concussed player 'did not know who he is'
Brilliant!
JC
****ok, forgot something! Why is everyone so upset at the ads for Essendon vs Hawthorn? i thought most people only went to the footy because they were secretly (or not so secretly) hoping for someone to be pollaxed. Surely it isnt just me...BRING BACK THE BIFF!

Twitterified

It's happened. I am now just as addicted to twitter as i am to facebook. *slams head into desk* Hang on, give me a minute...that really hurt. Ok, good now, moving on. Triple M morning broadcasts are getting better and better...actually, Triple M broadcasts in general are now awesome since they revamped the whole thing. Amused to find Zoe had been stalking my profile last night on facebook whilst procrastinating as i was unaware that anybody actually viewed any of my photos. I operate on an 'assume nobody even looks at anything you do' basis, which means i am very open perhaps to the point of stupidity sometimes, because at some point, someone will read/view something and i'll be like 'oh shit'. Moving on again, i am loving the term 'bigotgate', refering to Gordon Browns 'gaffe' (in my opinion, the woman was a bit of a dick and england needs to grow up and get the fuck over it) calling some dumb bitch a 'bigot' and later 'that bigoted woman'...which was accurate IMHO as she was both a bigot AND a woman. People are just too fucking sensitive. On a lighter note, im already extremely excited about the upcoming lunar eclipse! So exciting! I know, i know, im such a science nerd. I'll survive. Also, Nick turns 18 on Saturday, thats in TWO FREAKIN' DAYS! TWO! OMFG! MY BABY BROTHER IS NEARLY A FUCKING ADULT...physically (sorry for shouting). Also, i got my hair cut and coloured and feel like me again. Also, awesome article in Aust. Sky and Tel. this month (may/june 2010 issue) about the possibility of planetary orbits going fucking mental (apparently there is a once percent chance Mercury's going lose its shit before the sun dies). So thats awesome and all that. Would you like a quote? Ok, how about an astronomy one? With every passing hour our solar system comes forty-three thousand miles closer to globular cluster 13 in the constellation Hercules, and still there are some misfits who continue to insist that there is no such thing as progress.
- Ransom K. Ferm
Love
JC

Wharrgarble

Is it strange if i heard a girl sneeze in the library today, but my first thought was that it was my dog growling? I very nearly called out at the poor girl to stop growling and be quiet, thank heavens the rational part of my brain interceeded before this could happen. Am amazed at how many people misunderstand what freedom of speech actually encompasses, or bias freedom of speech towards their own freedoms and against others. Have found myself becoming more and more obsessed with Richard Hammond, although this may or may not be directly correlated to my growing interest in Top Gear overall. Got halfway through a supernatural fanfiction last night before it turning into a wincest fest. There was no warning, NO WARNING! needless to say, i flamed the work, as i find wincest to be extremely disturbing and was hoping instead for some Dean/Cas loving.Have become highly excited about the movie script i am writing, which is absolutely dreadful but totally fun. Also, im writing a novel, which is also terrible, but gives me something not-social networking or playing pokemon to do. Have decided that Wil Anderson is the funniest person on the entirety of twitter, perhaps only rivaled by Josh Thomas or maybe Nathan Fillon. Question: Why is the conservative party of the UK called the "Tories"? im too lazy to look it up and i dont really care all that much, but it just makes me curious. Also, thanks to Andrew Hanson on twitter, i found this : http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/british-avatar-fan-pays-people-to-see-the-film-and-only-dates-blue-women/story-e6frfmvr-1225858424139 . Priceless, absolutely priceless. If i wasnt in public, i would be laughing out loud (no abbreviations on THIS blog...today anyway). Suddenly realised that the library, which i have been in for two and a half hours, was completely empty when i started and is now quite full of loud people. How did i not notice this? Surely twitter and facebook isnt that absorbing? is it? oh no...
Quote for today: We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still. ~John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859
JC

ANZAC Day

I would have posted this yesterday but i left home at 3:45am and didnt get back until midnight, so i was too tired to figure out how to turn on the computer, let alone type anything resembling a coherent sentence. Yesterday was my first experience with an ANZAC day that wasnt simply waiting until 2:00pm to watch some Essendon vs Awesome football. Arriving at the War Memorial at 4:45 am, unsure what to do or what to expect. My dad and I stood around 15 rows back from the front and wondered how many people would turn up and what the service would entail. Not long after arriving, a man dressed in full army uniform stood next to us with his mother, and sister and possibly his girlfriend, i think. He was no older than 30, with wonderfully shiny black shoes. He told an interesting tale of the taxi driver, whom had lived up to the reputation of melbournes taxi drivers being unknowledgable idiots. Having booked the taxi and dressed in his uniform, he had waited for it to arrive. Upon its arrival he had directed the driver to 'the War Memorial". The driver had no idea what he was talking about. 'ANZAC day? The Dawn Service? Soldier in uniform? Nothing? Just go to St Kilda Rd.' Off they went. Reaching ST Kilda Rd, the driver remarked on 'all the people' and the closed roads. 'Just follow the people'. Mr Uniform instructed. How exhilerating for him. Moving on, the service was brilliant. It began with wonderful stories about those who had served our country and really brought home what it was we were remembering. The service itself was fantastic, everyone was so respectful. Later, on the news, they showed a man who had never been to a service, despite having served over half a century ago, because the memories had been too raw. His pure emotion and thankfullness towards all those who came to pay their respects and give tribute to those who sacrificed was touching. I thank him from the very bottom of my heart, as i do to all those who have served or are currently serving. The music was amazing, with the brass and the pipes being particularly well played. My legs began to ache as the time passed, but it was worth it. I had a wonderful morning. Unfortunately, being so early, practically nowhere was open for breakfast, and so mcdonalds had to do. Spent time in Dad's office as he sorted through old files, whilst i trawled facebook and twitter for ANZAC day mentions. Left to watch the March at 10:30, which meant it had already been going for an hour and a half. People were lining the tram tracks, which were fenced off, 2 people deep, sometimes three, whilst others stood back off the road, even though it was blocked off to traffic. Others took advantage of the arts centre balcony to get a better view. Each time a new group of people walked past, with medals on their chests, the crowd would applaude. Those in wheelchairs, or on mobility scooters would often get extra applause for their effort. It was a bittersweet experience, for we were giving these people the recognition that they deserve, yet we also saw so many who were alone, marching for those that had fallen and those who had only gone in recent times. Many times, i felt on the brink of tears. Some faces were sad, eyes swimming with tears, others were joyous and old hands waved to the crowd, smiling at all the young people who had come to support them. I stood there for 2 and a half hours i was told, although if you had asked me i would have guessed at 45 minutes. I was so thoroughly absorbed in these men and women marching past that i had completely lost track of time. We only left after the tragic accident, occuring only 100 meters down the road from us, leaving 6 people injured as well as 2 more critical after a car accelerated jammed. I only hope that this does not mean cars will be banned altogther in next years march, for a fault with a single car. If there are concerns, perhaps better vehicle saftey checks should be enforced instead. I felt terribly sorry for those who had not finished the march, most of whom where the foreign soldiers such as the South Africans, Rhodenisians, Americans (and i assume, French as i couldnt see what came after the americans) who were at the very end of the parade, had waited hours to march, but never got to finish. They may not be ANZAC's, but i respect them no less. After this sad conlusion to the march, my dad and i went to Myer, to purchase pods for our Nespresso coffee machine, then had lunch at a lovely cafe on Elizabeth street. Arrived home halfway through the first quarter for the ANZAC day match, Essendon vs Collingwood (aka Awesome), with Collingwood absolutely dominating play. Collingwood easily won, as did my NRL team the Rabbitohs in a thrilling second half comeback. The Storm showed that they still had plenty of fight, and their supporters showed their critics how much NRL meant to Melbourne. Up in the Northern hemisphere, Celtic FC won 2-0 against Dundee and much later that night (really, this morning) the wonderful blues, Chelsea FC defeated Stoke City by an astounding, record breaking, 7-0. I joined my mother's younger sister and family for tea that night, chatting away, joking and becoming pleasantly buzzed off two sparkling wines and two sav blancs. Yesterday was a long day, but a good day. I will not hesitate to attend the dawn service again next year, for it was one of the best things i have ever done. Perhaps one year, if i can afford it, i will go to Gallipolli. For now, all i have to say is "Thankyou', to all soldiers. I am anti-war, but you have risked, or given, your lives for what you believed in, for the values of your country and your people. I may owe my very way of life, my very freedom to type this blog, to you. I am not sure that there is anything i would give my life for, as i do not believe in an afterlife. This makes your sacrifices all the more important to me. I cannot properly express my gratitude to you, as soldiers and as fellow human beings, for what you have given for me. So i once again say "thankyou", which we all know, is really not enough, but it is all i have.
I would like to leave you with this quote, author unknown, " I would thank you from the bottom of my heart, but for you my heart has no bottom."
JC