Oh Brother.

If you had read earlier postings, you would've found that I have a little secret. Well, not so much a secret as something not to be proud of. Yes, I watch Big Brother. I think back to 2001 when the first series kicked off. That very first series with all the hype and mystery surrounding it. I had watched clips from overseas where contestants were mobbed by thousands and thousands of people. This must truly be an awesome show full of pop-psychological observations on sociology! But what we got wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. But still, as if I was trapped in an hypnotic whirlpool, I was sucked in. Every night, 7pm, on would come Big Brother. My housemate and I would yell abuse at the TV and how we didn't want Anne Marie in our living room ever again. It was our two votes that sent her home. Good. I wished Blair had won 'cos the guy who won was totally forgettable....hence why I don't remember his name. The second series, for whatever reason, I didn't watch it. Again, some boring guy won it. Then my eyes were opened to the possibilities of what Big Brother could be when I watched the British version. It was fantastic. It was straight down the line, simple, effective, tough. No holiday for these clowns. Even the host had a bit of spunk about her...Go Davina! But in the end some born again christian guy from the Orkney Islands won...again, b-o-r-i-n-g. I was disappointed with the Aussie version when I came home. It had become soft, when someone breaks the rules, you don't give them 20 chances, you expel them, immediately. Put the housemates under fear. Pressure. But all we got was akin to watching a 20-something beach party year in year out. But still I watched, I dunno why, probably because there was nothing else on at 7pm. Last year was pretty good I thought. A great number of twists, and the people were actually half decent. But again, too soft. And so this year, it ends....tonight...at least on channel 10. I can't see another station picking it up. If you thought the contestants for the channel 10 versions were boring, imagine what it would be like on channel 9...sheesh. They would have the personality and complexion of sanitized toilet paper.

I'm not a political animal but....

I have never been THAT political, my time at university was spent firmly in the middle between the "Young Liberals" economics students and the "Socialist Left" arts students. I voted, whoever won, won, and trusted that they would do the job handed to them by the people. The power of democracy. However, sometimes I just get a bit fed up. My gripe at the moment is with the Victorian State Government. Where do I start? I think it was three years ago when I was sent a lovely little fine in the mail for doing 64kph in a 60 zone. $135 thank you. Speed cameras....yes they have their place, but the government's blind axing of the 10% speedo error margin down to only 3kph was ridiculous. It was almost like, despite the opposition to it, despite car manufacturers saying that their speedo error margin is 10% at best, they just went ahead and did it anyway. 64 in a 60 zone...man, look out, the road was straight, dry and it was 6.30 in the morning. I'd better look out before I wrap myself around a lamp post. The next ingenious thing they did was begin trials on a new ticketing system for public transport. Now, I'm not talking taking an already working and proven system from another city somewhere, no, I'm talking sinking millions of dollars into a new ticketing system that is now running 2 years late. And instead of thinking 2 years ago, "hey, this isn't going to work, let's try something else", they didn't! The sheer stubbornness of sticking with it is extraordinary. And don't get me started on Melbourne's public transport. Luckily I don't have to catch it, but poor Miss R does, and the tales of woe....where to start?? Actually, they could start by placing staff at each and every station. When I happen to catch public transport, I don't think I have ever paid for it. But if I knew someone was waiting at that little suburban station checking the tickets, then I would. But why should I if I can so easily get away with it?? A 2 hour ticket is $3.30 and an all day one is something like $6.00. I've done the maths. A ticket evading fine is $110, if you make 36 trips, and don't get caught, the fine has paid for itself. Lord knows I've taken more than 36 trips. Go me! And the transport minister, despite 1000s of complaints a day made to her department, effectively showed little remorse saying that it wasn't her problem, but Connex's. So, what is it you actually do?? Oh yeah, she builds more roads....but oh no, we won't pay for it, you'll get tolled for using them. So the billions of dollars you are receiving from the federal government's GST is going where?? And now the state government are hell bent on building a desalination plant down in Gippsland. Despite all the opposition to it, despite them bullying protesters, despite the untold amount of damage they'll do to the local ecosystems of pumping hyper-salinated water back into the ocean, they'll just go ahead and do it anyway. How nice of them. I just get the impression that they're losing touch with reality, the whole lot of them. But then, come next election, who do we vote for?? The other guy has the collective personality of a split pea, he has a weird, creepy stare that reminds me of Blofeld from James Bond, but with hair. Just so fricken frustrating!!

Favourite movie scenes...corrections

Okay, well, it's kinda funny how you remember one thing, but in actual fact, in reality things are a bit different. I've managed to find a few of my favourite movie scenes on You Tube, so there are a couple of corrections I'd like to make: - In Terminator 2, it isn't a newspaper that is hiding the shotgun, but a box of roses. - In Heat, there isn't too much silence between gun shots, but still, probably the most realistic gun shot sounds found in any movie.

Favourite movie SCENES.

Everybody makes a list of their favourite movies, but have you ever stopped to wonder what your favourite movies SCENES are? Well, here are mine: 1. The running gun battle in Heat. Seriously, not many shootouts get as gritty and realistic as this one. Not so much for the thousands of bullets being fired, but more so for the deathly silence between salvos with only the sound of breathing being heard. I don't even think there is any background music playing either. 2. Death Star trench run in Star Wars. Despite being made before I was born (yes, by a good 2 years even!) the death star trench run has you right in that cockpit with Luke. 3. The trashed Ferrari in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Never, in any movie I have seen, is the word 'shit' so eloquently spoken as when after the Ferrari gets knocked off its axle stands and careers out of the window into the forest below. 4. The shotgun under the newspaper in Terminator 2. The scene, where Arnie walks into the building with a newspaper, then, in slow motion, whilst walking with intent through the hallway, the newspaper falls off, revealing the 12-gauge shotgun underneath. Classic cinema. 5.The "I Just Sharted" scene in Along Came Polly: Despite the fact that this movie just is not funny, the scene where Phillip Seymour Hoffman tells Ben Stiller that they need to leave the party because he just 'sharted' is simply one of the funniest moments in cinema. 6. Arnie having breakfast in Pumping Iron: A lesson in how to fully psyche out an opponent. Arnie, sitting having breakfast with Louie Ferrigno, his main rival, on the morning of competing at the Mr Olympia, and telling him how is he going to feel when he holds up the trophy. Confidence with a capital C. Oh, and then questioning Louie on his choice of food for breakfast, sowing even more doubt in his mind. Poor Louie. 7. Private Pyle wigging out in Full Metal Jacket: Yeah, when he shoots the drill instructor in the toilet. You might think yourself an enlightened person, and think "oh no, vengeance is never an answer to anything", but after watching Pyle get continuously harassed and berated by the drill sergeant over the course of one agonising hour, even fricken Ghandi would be calling for some sort of vengeance to be served. And when he gets it, you can hear that little voice in your head go "yeah, take that you evil S.O.B.!" 8. The "My Sharona" scene in Reality Bites. Haven't we all wanted to have a boogy at the local 7-11?? 9. After John Cusack's character in Grosse Pointe Blank kills that guy in the school corridor and sits down and says to himself "This is me breathing." Seriously, if you lie in bed at night, and say that to yourself, you get a weird sense of self-realisation. 10. When Steven Segal shoots the arch villain in Under Siege 2. Despite this movie being, well, a bit below par, the scene where Segal shoots the arch villian and his laptop to foil their attempts at global sabotage is just a guilty pleasure to watch.

Band Video!

Me and the band. Outstanding. Never mind the quality by the way....it was filmed on a Nokia N95.

Self sufficiency??

A while ago Miss R and I thought it would be a top idea to grow our own vegetables in our postage stamp sized patch of ground some people may refer to as a back yard. However, with dogs that emit urine that should be confined to toxic waste dumps, it's probably best that we don't. However, if anyone out there should happen to travel on the Epping line, you would notice that at a couple of locations there are some community gardens. In effect, these are little allotments, for people without backyards, where, for a nominal fee, you can grow your own vegies. Awesome huh? I know that in Europe garden allotments are quite common, but unfortunately, not so in inner urban Australia. So made a few inquiries, and found that one of the allotments you have to join the commitee and wait "perhaps" a year for an allotment to become available. The other one run by the council was more promising...or so I though until they said that there was a 5 year waiting list. Yes, FIVE YEARS! So anyway, I gave her my name and phone number over the phone, but I'm pretty sure she was just amusing me and sounded a bit shirty that I had perhaps interrupted her crochet session. So anyway, the only way around this I can see is to start one up myself. There is plenty of vacant land around the Preston/Reservoir area, but whether the council would approve of such a facility is beyond me. Quite frankly, with food prices the way they are, the local council should be opening up more community gardens. I'd love to have a little allotment, to potter about in a few minutes a day...tend to my crop...connect with the earth...you know, all that 'man o' the land' crap.

Other blogs...

Has anyone ever hit the "Next Blog" button on the top left corner of the screen? If you do, you may realise that I am one of the few people who; a)writes a blog in English; b)Doesn't write about their holidays; c)Doesn't write about their children; or d)doesn't do 'scrap booking'.