That's One Way To Wash Your Car

Some guys across the road from my work were testing the water pressure on the emergency standby pump. It was coming out at 7.5 Bar. Good thing they put their vehicle in the path of the stream as the car parked directly across the road had its window down slightly. And the passing traffic may have been involved in an accident with that streaming across the road.







They did a second test so I was able to get some pics and a short video. Used plenty of water but it dried up pretty quickly in the 37 degrees we are experiencing at the moment.

The Biggest Loser - It's Not On Channel 10

What a horrible day. It started off ok but soon went downhill. Perhaps I shouldn't have stayed up until after 12am watching the ice hockey at the Winter Olympics but it was the only chance I had of seeing any of it. So, I was a bit knackered when I got up. Actually, woke up a bit early and then reset the alarm for a bit of a sleep-in. Forgot to turn on the alarm though, just set the time. Something told me while I was in la-la land to have a look at the time.

Heading out at 9 o'clock to Collier Park Golf Course for a 9:42 tee with Shayne and Joe and one of Shayne's friends. Backing out of the driveway I noticed that I hadn't turned early enough before there was a very loud bang. The back of the car fell down and I had no traction. Somehow, I had bogged my car and I'd never done this before. Next door is getting her kitchen done and she had a benchtop sitting in a skip on the front verge. I jacked my car up and put the benchtop under the rear wheel. It moved all of three inches.

Bogged my car in my own driveway.

How on earth did I bog my own car?

I called Shayne, as he has a 4WD and was heading up my way, to see if he could give me a hand. My neighbour's neighbour, Jim, whom I hadn't really spoken to in the three and a half years we have lived here, was walking past with his dog and offered to get his ute. He put a rope between our tow bars and pulled me out quite easily. Thank goodness for that. It must have been 30 degrees already by this time and I'd built up a sweat trying to put dirt beneath the car for traction. Called Shayne to tell him I was out and he had just turned the corner into my street.

Paid my green fees at Collier Park and we were called straight down to the tee. We played Pines followed by Lake. Shayne's friend didn't show as he had a wedding to plan. "Last chance to play golf if you're getting married" were my thoughts. The group of four in front of us only had three sets of clubs and they were using golf carts. Not good for my blood pressure. It was bloody hot on the course and any breeze was appreciated. Joe hit a lovely birdie on the par-4 fourth.

On the fifth I spent a bit of time looking for my ball and Joe had some trouble in the lateral water hazard, which, I found out, that you don't have to take a penalty drop from, sorry Joe (we adjusted the scorecard to something quite fair), and fell behind the group in front of us. Then, the girl from the pro shop came by and told us to catch up to the group in front. Typical. All this time they've been holding us up and we are the ones getting told off.

Did I mention that it was hot? Temperature was supposed to reach 33 degrees. When there was no wind it was awfully warm. Richard, a four handicapper, joined us for the back nine which he shot a level par 35 for! Pleasure to watch. Joe and Shayne went with him a bit but I kept playing RS. It was 36.6 degrees when we finished. Boy was I glad that I took some frozen water with me along with a couple of other drinks. The sorry tale is below.

Collier Park Scorecard 26th Feb 2006.

Look, I lost on handicap to both Joe and Shayne and Joe obliterated me off the stick as well. Sorry day. And it kept getting worse.

As we had had a BBQ at work on Friday I was unable to do the fruit and veg shopping at the marketes. Once I arrived home and had a cold shower Yu-Jin and I decided to head up to Subiaco. Had to bribe him with a smoothie if he came. Miky didn't want to come. Good thing too. We were trying to get to Subiaco at the same time as several thousand Eagles and Dockers supporters were as there was a pre-season AFL match on at Subiaco Oval between the two teams. Traffic was stupid, it was Sunday afternoon afterall, and that meant that parking near the markets would be severely restriced. Ended up parking a few blocks away and neither of us had a hat for our walk in the sun.

I swear never to go to Subiaco Markets on Sunday afternoon again. It was so busy you could hardly move in the stalls. And they only had half of the items left on my shopping list. Bought a pineapple and had an argument with the checkout girl. I wanted to pay their advertised price and she insisted on a different price advertised elsewhere. All the pineapples in the area that I got it from were the same so her suggestion that someone had dumped it from a different area didn't cut it with me. Finally got what I wanted but not until the guy on the adjacent checkout commented "It's stingy hour". Shit! I didn't come here to buy cheap, worn out fruit and vegies because they were offering them at lower prices. Bastard. One instance where I wasn't trying to be frugal. You advertise at one price and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay more.

Following that less-than-successful purchase we had a strawberry smoothie. I left Yu-Jin with the shopping and the smoothie as I really wanted to purchase a few other items. Had to wait ages in the shop just to get four vegies. And then I had the change thrown at me with no "Thank you" or anything.

Frugal Bastard is the Biggest Loser this weekend. Don't bother tuning into Channel 10.

New Theory Behind September 11th

It hit me this morning on the drive in to work today. September 11th was not about the hatred of the United States by radical muslim extremists known as al-Qaida. Absolutely not. It's about choice of car for Arabs. The car of preference for Arabs is the Mercedes Benz. You see them everywhere.

September 11th was an attack on Porsche. Their most famous model is the 911. Obviously Porsche won't sell their vehicles to Arabs. That's why the date of 911 was chosen folks.

Who is next on the list? My guess it is the Cayman Islands - Porsche have the Cayman. Tia Carrera should also bump up her personal security - ever heard of the Carrera?

Keep an eye on September 44th people. Remember the 944?

Author's Note: Please feel free to inform the author that he is full of it. Slow news day today.

Too Many Thoughts In My Head

Censorship On The Radio

96fm is known for playing older music, some 70s and 80s stuff, that most FM stations don't play anymore. It's still a little bit too new to make the AM stations as the only seem to play music from the gramaphone era. Yesterday they had Cliff Richard with "Wired for sound" and I was enjoying it very much. Yes, I can admit that I like listening to Cliff Richard. After about two minutes it was pulled from the air! I don't think I've ever witnessed a song being stopped midway before. The announcer interrupted and asked people to stop calling about taking the song off as he'd had about two dozen calls already. Unbelievable! People that like the older music couldn't stand a bit of ol' Cliff.

What Was The Psycho Thinking?

The Health Minister, Tony Abbott, visited a psychiatric hospital yesterday and was attacked by a patient who punched him twice. Doctors said that he probably didn't know who Tony Abbott was.

Yeah, if he'd known he would most likely have tried to strangle him instead.

Bloody Cars

Miky got her alternator fixed yesterday. It set us back a total of $420. Scheisse. I checked my radiator coolant and couldn't find any in the overflow tank. Only had one litre of coolant left, put it in, and still couldn't see any in the overflow tank. I left the bonnet up so that I would go back and replace the radiator cap. Shut the bonnet afterwards. We have had some hot weather lately, up to 40.1 degrees, and my car hadn't even gotten warm so I decided to wait a day before buying more coolant.

Driving to work this morning and I noticed some steam coming out of the engine bay. Oh shit. Then the cars started banking up, just when I needed to keep the car going as much as possible to let the air intake keep the engine cool. The engine was a bit warmer than normal so I put the heater on full bore to take a bit of heat out. Got to work safely.

Borrowed one of the work vehicles at lunch time to get five litres of coolant and that didn't even fill the overflow tank. It was at this time that I noticed the reason for the steam emenating from the engine bay - I had forgotten to put the radiator cap back on!! And it was still sitting on top of the overflow tank!!! Dumb point.

Putting The Price Of Fuel Into Context

Filled the car up tonight with fuel. Man, Woolworths +Plus Petrol must have the slowest bowsers this side of the universe. Putting 64 litres in took such a long time. I'm glad that I don't own a truck. What struck me about the time the last drops were going in was the fact that it costs more to fill my car than to pay my mortgage repayments. What is happening to the world?

Excuse Me While I Get Into My Other Skin

Went for an early morning walk today. On the way home I was thinking about something and could hear a dog barking nearby. Then I heard a crackle behind me as a branch was broken. Boy, did I jump out of my skin. And I mean that I jumped. It was only some guy riding his bike behind me and I had thought that it was a dog attacking. If snakes could only change their skin as quickly as I did. The guy was nice enough to say "G'day" as he went past however.

Quotes From Admiral Yi Sun-shin

I look up to Admiral Yi Sun-shin - Korea's greatest hero. The entry in Wikipedia isn't too long to read and I'll give you some of his quotes. The first two were inscribed on his swords.

Samcheok seocheonsanha dongsaek - As this sword is pledged to the sky, the mountains and the waters tremble. (Meaning [I think] - If I am fighting for you do not fear but, if I am fighting against you you should be full of fear)

Ilhwi sotang hyeohyeom sanha - Once this sword is brandished, the country will run with blood. (Meaning [I think] - Once I go into battle there will be much death as I don't muck about)

The enemy knows me. I must become another me, one the enemy does not know.

The soldier who fights to death never dies, but the soldier who fights for existence never truly exists.

My life is simple, my food is plain, and my quarters are uncluttered. In all things, I have sought clarity. I face the troubles and problems of life and death willingly. Virtue, integrity and courage are my priorities. I can be approached, but never pushed; befriended but never coerced; killed but never shamed.

Do not weep, do not notify my men of my death. Beat the drum, blow the trumpet, wave the flag for advance, we are still fighting; finish the enemy to the last one.

Sounds Like A Lovely Scam To Me

Subject: RE-URGENT

Dear Sir, CELL: +27-735-545272


I have picked-up the trust and courage to write you this letter with divine
confidence that you are a reliable and honest person who will be capable for
this important business transaction believing also that you will never let
me down either now or in the future.My name is DR MICHEAL ZOLA a senior
Auditing Officer with the Peoples Bank in South Africa. There is an account
opened in this bank in 1980 and since 1996 nobody has operated on
thisaccount again. After going through some old files in the records, I
discovered that if I do not remit this money out urgently it would be
forfeited to the government as dormant account.The owner of this account is
Mr. Duckson Fritz, a foreigner, he was a miner at Kruger Gold Company, a
geologist by profession, and he died since 1996 in a plane crash. No other
person knows about this account or anything concerning it, the account has
no other beneficiary and my investigation proved to me as well that this
compa! ny does not know anything about this account and the amount involved
is (US$12 million) Twelve million United States Dollars. I want to transfer
this sum of Twelve million United States Dollars into a safe foreign account
abroad. I am contacting you based on the fact that you are a foreigner
because this money can only be approved for payment to a foreigner.I know
that this proposal will come to you as a surprise as we don't know ourselves
before.However I got your contact from a trade consultant here in South
Africa, though I did not disclose the purpose of my seeking for a foreign
business partner to him.Although we will still have to meet to sign some
agreement before the final transfer of the fund into any of your designated
bank account. I have involved a very senior official in the operational
department, and we have agreed that after the transfer of the money into
your account, you shall be entitled to 30% of the total sum, my colleagues
and I will have 60% while 10% ! will be used to reimburse any expenses
incurred. All necessary precautions have been taken to ensure a risk free
situation on the side of both parties.Please note that this deal can only
take place on the following conditions; 1. You will provide the bank account
and other relevantparticulars information for easy and onward Remittance of
the Twelve million USD. 2. Absolute confidentiality and sincerity will be
required and guaranteed, considering our positions in the bank. 3. Assurance
that our own share will be released to us in good faith when this money
finally gets into your account.All things being equal, this transaction will
be within 10 working days as soon as we hear from you. Please treat with
utmost confidentiality. Contact me as quickly as possible through my e-mail:
or above telephone.Expecting your urgent response,


Best Regards.

Yours faithfully DR. MICHEAL ZOLA


- In Australia if a bank account has been inactive for 7 years I think the money goes into the Government's coffers and is called "consolidated revenue".
- Funny to see that he can't spell the name Michael properly.
- Why would an auditing officer have a doctorate?
- Ever heard of somebody with the first name of "Duckson"?
- Glad that he added me to his email list. I just wish that I had use for US$3.6m and I might want to help this poor guy out. Only 30% - cheapskate.

Now That's What I Call Service

Very rarely does an organisation provide service that's satisfies their customers these days. Or am I just a narky customer? That changed tonight, for the better.

Miky rang me at work to say that she was at a friend's house and that her car wouldn't go. I got her to try a few things but she was getting nowhere. Had to wait until I finished work. Thankfully she wasn't too far from home. Looked to me like the starter motor had had it. Her friends were a Korean family who are new to the country. I was wanting to meet them but not exactly under these circumstances.

Anyway, I rang the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) to tell them that my wife's car had broken down. Miky isn't a member of the RAC but Libby, the lady taking the call, said that as I had been a member for quite a long time (13 years) and had made very few calls, she would swap my car for Miky's and allow it to be fixed for free. Wow!! That's what I call service. Talk about exceeding my expectations. I won't have too many worries about paying $66 for an annual membership for Miky in the not too distant future.

Libby said that the patrolman would be there within an hour. I grabbed some pizzas and they cooked some octopus and noodles. Just as we sat down to eat the octopus the patrolman came. Bugger. Almost no oil in the engine and the real cause was a flat battery. Not that the battery was at fault it was in fact a crook altenator. The patrolman, who never got around to introducing himself, gave it a bit of a charge and said that Miky wouldn't be able to drive the car at night.

As it was ten to seven, and sunset was due for 7pm, I told her that we had to go now. Pity. I would have liked to spend more time eating octopus, er, meeting these new people. It felt like I was in Korea as I was the only one in the household who didn't know what was going on as they were all speaking Korean.

Thank you RAC. Your service was outstanding. I'm happy to recommend your services.

Nerd? Geek? Or Dork?

Sixty questions to find out what I already knew. Does that mean that the test was accurate or that I'd worked out the questions?

Tri-Lamb Material 73 % Nerd, 47% Geek, 60% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd and Dork, earning you the coveted title of: Tri-Lamb Material. The classic, "80's" nerd, you are what most people think of when they think "nerd," largely due to 80's movies like Revenge of the Nerds and TV shows like Head of the Class. You're exceptionally bright and smart, and partly because of that have never quite fit in with your peers or social groups. Perhaps you've realized, or will someday, that it is possible to retain all of the things that you like about being brilliant and still make peace with the social cliques around you. Or maybe you won't--it's really not necessary. As the brothers of Lambda Lambda Lambda discovered, you're fine just the way you are and can take pride in that. I mean, who wants to be like Ogre, right!? THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 83% on nerdiness You scored higher than 65% on geekosity You scored higher than 96% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Drink. Drive. Bloody Idiot.

Since the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) of Victoria cut their sponsorship of Richmond Football Club following an incident with 19 y.o. Jay Schulz getting caught speeding whilst drunk on a probationary licence, I figure that they have been searching for some good use for their sponsorship dollar.

The old slogan, as it appears in New Zealand.

I reckon they could back Ben Cousins of the West Coast Eagles. He epitomises the message of the TAC.

Just over a week ago Ben, then captain of the Eagles, went to a schoolfriend's wedding and decided to drive home at midnight with his girlfriend and two other friends, including Nathan Hewitt, in his BMW 4WD. On Canning Highway he spotted a Booze Bus (mobile breath testing unit to detect drink drivers) and abandonded his car. Hewitt and Cousins went on the run. Ben's girlfriend and another passenger were left in the car. Hewitt was caught by police and he claimed to have been driving before being breathalysed. Ben Cousins was interviewed by the police six days later and indicated that it had been him driving, so how much trouble is his friend in for trying to mislead the police?

It's funny that the cops couldn't catch Ben Cousins on the night. He does play in the midfield and his job is to run all day (I think that he just runs past for an easy possession too much) so I'm not at all surprised. Perhaps they recognised him because he was bouncing a football every 15 metres and had that strange kicking action.

Today Ben Cousins, under mounting pressure, quit the captaincy of the Eagles. And rightly so. If he can't make the right decision on the road he shouldn't be a public figure captaining an AFL team.

If the TAC wish to sponsor Ben Cousins I think a change of slogan is required:

Ben Cousins - This sums you up.

Wembley Golf (New Course) And The Pet Mouse

Shayne and Joe were going to play club competition at Wembley Golf Club so I decided to head out there as well. Teed off at 7:48 with three guys from Singapore - Darren, Teh and Chan.

Wembley Golf Club - Tuart Course - Feb 19th 2006

It was a breezy morning and we were looking at a warm top of 31 degrees. I hadn't played at Wembley before and I found it to be a demanding course. Mainly because you felt that you were in an elevator as one hole was downhill and the next was uphill. I was so glad that it wasn't 40 degrees as the first nine buggered me. Felt alright on the back nine though as there aren't quite as many hills to negotiate.

Opening hole of the Tuart Course. Saw one guy hit his tee shot into the water.

Even though Chan hit a 10 on the opening hole it wasn't until the 3rd that the wheels fell off. Literally. The axle broke on his buggy. Luckily the next hole took us next to the car park and with the motorised cart that Darren and Teh were using they grabbed another buggy for Chan.

The wheel(s) have come off.

Darren has quite a follow-through.

On the par-5 6th Darren hit a massive drive over the dog-leg and in the middle of the fairway 270m. It was a very steep downhill shot with a side/tail wind so the distance was a little disappointing. He nailed his second shot and was left with a putt for eagle. We put as much pressure on him with comments like, "I've never seen an eagle", and "You never leave an eagle putt short". He left it short but knocked it in for birdie. On the next hole, a par-4, he shot 11.

On the 15th Darren hit out of the bunker with his putter and nearly parred the hole! By that stage he didn't care too much about the score. Chan found quite a lot of balls stuck in the Yackas. Not the sort of plant that you want to go sticking your hand in as you will get cut to pieces.

Yackas.

Both Chan and Darren teed off with a tee that had a stake. I thought this must be something to do with being brought up in Singapore and not being able to litter for fear of getting fined. They said that Singapore didn't go to that extent but they had unbreakable tees that were expensive and they didn't wish to lose.

Bunkers on the 5th on the Tuart Course at Wembley Golf Club.

Bunkers on the 14th on the Tuart Course at Wembley Golf Club.

Bunkers on the 15th on the Tuart Course at Wembley Golf Club.

Very pleased with my back nine. I didn't venture into any of the bunkers during my round.

The Pet Mouse Is No Longer

After the toast didn't work I tried a watermelon seed in the mouse trap. It sat there for a day and a half, untouched. Bloody fussy mouse. What sort of establishment does he think we are running here? Last night I popped some walnut in the trap.

Pet mouse no more. Damned fussy eater.

He is a pet no more. Got 'im. I did see him run from our bedroom into Yu-Jin's room last night as I was doing the ironing watching the Winter Olympics. He won't be doing that again. Interestingly he pooed and peed himself. Not that I blame him.

Tanja Frieden Is The Female Steven Bradbury - Thanks To Lindsey Jacobellis

One sport well worth watching at the Winter Olympics is the snowboard cross. The men's event was on Friday night and last night was the women's. A spectacular event with fabulous camerawork. It's fast and furious and has some close racing and plenty of spills.

Watching the final last night was so funny, and tragic. Like I always say - One man's tragedy is another man's comedy (I've just started saying that). Lindsey Jacobellis from the USA was leading all the way until she tried to do a maneouvre to show off to the crowd with only two jumps to go. She should have waited until she had won the gold because she fell on her backside and was passed by Switzerland's Tanga Frieden.

How do I come to the conclusion that Frieden is the female Steven Bradbury? In Salt Lake City 2002 Bradbury won a gold medal for Australia in short track speed skating when all of his competitors fell over in sight of the finish line. Rather bemused he crossed the line and won the gold. Last night Maelle Ricker crashed out early in the race, Dominque Maltais went through the safety fence and then Jacobellis fell on her arse.

Jacobellis will have to put up with jokes for the rest of her life about throwing away a gold medal. In fact, I think she will be more well-known because of it. They say that you never remember who got second place but after viewing this tragic comedy that can only change. The commentators were already adding her gold medal to the US tally and mentioning their domination of the sport just as it happened.

I'm not sure why I found it so funny as I can feel for her. The ridicule that she will face. I bet Dick Cheney is glad that she will take him out of the headlines and give comedians someone else to poke fun at.

Dinosaurs On The Loose In The City

Today saw a special presentation of Dinosaurs of Gondwana in the city on the steps of the Western Australian Museum. Lots of parents and children were there to enjoy the show. And it was pretty impressive and entertaining. They were created by the innovative designers at Sydney's Erth Visual & Physical - talented people.

Brave kid. The surrounding trees were raped of greenery by kids to feed him afterwards.

This guy enjoys eating his plants. It looks so lifelike.

A dingo just ate my baby! Whoops, different story.

Very large allosaurus. He had plenty of kids screaming.

Think this is supposed to be a dwarf allosaur.

Closeup with the allosaurus.

The allosaurus made noise and had saliva going everywhere. A few people were struck by his tail as he swung his body around. They did look pretty lifelike. When the half hour show finished the kids made a beeline for the museum. It seems that everyone wanted to go inside and check out the dinosaurs. Just when I was about to take a photo of the dinosaurs on display did I discover that my battery was flat. Bugger.

Found out that I have to pay for Yu-Jin to use public transport now that he is of school age. We've become so used to him not having to pay that it is a bit of a let down.

Valentine's Day Meal - A Tad Late

On Thursday I made a booking for Friday night at a nice restaurant to take Miky out for a lovely meal. Valentine's Day was pretty busy, as expected, and she wasn't interested in going out anyway. As soon as I arrived home Miky decided that this was the night to go out. Dressed in jeans I told her that she needed a lot more formal getup than that.

"Where are we going? Northbridge, the city?"
I wouldn't tell her. Not telling her infuriates her. When she realised that we were going to Burswood out came the, "I'm not wasting my money there" - I had informed her of the $85 for Yu-Jin that we would had to have paid had we gone out on Valentine's Day and that is what she was expecting.

I dunno, you try to do something nice to show that you appreciate someone and they get upset about it.

Burswood Resort.

Found our way to Sirocco, our chosen restaurant, and the ambience was very nice. Lovely music, very few people, great service, and, perhaps best of all, they gave Yu-Jin a bucket of crayons to get busy with. The tablecloth was a big sheet of paper designed to keep the kids busy obviously so that the parents can stay longer and spend more money. I'm nothing if not a cynic.

He's almost as neat as Picasso.

Yu-Jin was very well behaved, ate all his meal, and keeps talking about going back to that restaurant. It became crowded about the time of our dessert and then you couldn't hear yourself think but it had been very nice up until then. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals and would look at going back again for a special occasion, or a couple of days later when it's cheaper at least.

We Have A Pet Mouse

Not that I've seen him, mind you. Miky saw him a couple of days ago so I set a trap last night. I loaded it with some food and in the morning the food was gone and the trap had not gone off. Today Yu-Jin and I went to see the dinosaurs in the city and I reset the trap with a piece of toast. This time the food was more difficult to remove. Upon coming home we discovered that the toast was gone and the trap hadn't gone off.

So not only do we have an unwanted guest in the house but we are feeding him as well. Perhaps he will be house-trained before we know it. Tonight I have set a watermelon seed as bait and it is quite well stuck in place. Unless this mouse is very dextrous, or the trap requires too much tension to operate, we should have a dead pet in the morning.

Are We Finally Going To See The Back Of Eddie Everywhere?

I haven't heard from my mate James for a while so I thought that it was about time to bag Collingwood, one way or another, to see if I could grab his attention. Eddie Everywhere, aka Eddie Maguire, may finally be taken out of the picture. Currently he is the host of Australia's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, The Footy Show, is a presenter for Friday Night Football, President of the Collingwood Football Club and he probably has a role on radio as well.

Thankfully Channel 9, the TV station that he works for, have offered him the role of CEO, which I believe he has accepted. Surely he must now work in the background in this new position. There's no way he can mix it with the front-end presentation anymore. Hopefully. With a bit of luck we won't be hearing too much from Eddie in the future.

I do have to hand it to him for making himself so marketable and rising to such a position though, however begrudgingly that is.

Couple Of Cool Number Plates

Saw a few good ones yesterday.

SHADOWMAN - on a black 4WD
BEASTEE - a on red Mitsubishi Lancer
FALCNOATH - on a lime green Falcon ute.

Dick Cheney Makes Me Laugh

Dick Cheney, second in charge of the world's most powerful nation and only true superpower, makes me laugh. I've been laughing for a few days now after hearing about his shooting accident whilst out hunting.

And what would the second most powerful man in the world be hunting you ask. Bears? No. Moose? No. Bison? No. Oil? No, that was in his younger days. Dick Cheney was hunting for quail. Obviously he didn't have time to go to Africa and take part in a real safari hunting expedition. Yes, he's taking on the mighty quail.

What a man. What a strong man. How brave can he be? Mind you, with the heart problems that he has I guess he shouldn't take on any beast that is a bit wilder than the vicious quail. They are known for being vicious, aren't they?

The Story Behind The Pictures I

Just for fun I thought I would reveal the stories behind pictures that have been in the news recently.

Extra points were scored by Andrew Burton in the half-pipe at the Torino Winter Olympics as he was vapourised by the sun. Unfortunately he had several points deducted from his score as he failed to complete the course and was unable to do his second run.

Scientists are disturbed by a white line that has appeared in front of the sun and fear for a sky-writing pilot's safety.

Condoleeza Rice posing with her Madame Tussaud's wax dummy.

Justin Humphries competing in the Pat-a-cake World Championships and going for extra points for style and difficulty.

Men are rapidly joining a new self-help group - "How to love your pot guts".

Australian Prime Minister, Mr John Howard MP, a loyal cricket fan, demonstrates that he knows a thing or two about karate so he shouldn't be messed with.

Polar bears have been quite curious to see some visitors, the recently banished Seattle Seahawks NFL team, following their devastating Super Bowl XL loss to the Pittsburgh Stealers.

The Italian Fire Brigade have discovered a novel way of extinguishing fires by incorporating a hammer. Sadly, it's not too successful especially considering that it's in the middle of winter. Patent pending.

Steve Martin is making an attempt to become the world's most tattooed man.

Sean Preston Federline, the world's youngest driver, apparently grabbed the wheel not to show his mum, Britney Spears, which pedals to use, but because he heard that his father was taking him to get his ears pierced.

Australia - Soon To Be The World's Next Muslim Nation

Trust a politician to bugger things up. We've been having a bit of debate in this country of late about the abortion pill RU486 and who should regulate its use. Currently the Health Minister has the power of veto over this drug. A Private Member's Bill was introduced to remove the Minister's veto and hand the authority over to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). The TGA currently administers the usage of thousands of drugs and RU4686 is the only drugs that falls outside of this.

It's a drug. If it has been scientifically proven to work and have side-effects within accepted guidelines then where is the problem? I don't see that the Health Minister should have a say. As it turns out, the current Health Minister, Tony Abbott MP, is saying it is a vote of no confidence in the position of Health Minister and that of the Government. Poppycock! It's got nothing to do with it. He also happens to be a staunch Catholic opposed to abortion but even this shouldn't come into consideration. Approval for this drug should be based on medical science.


Danna Vale MP has shown a considerable lack of tact by announcing that Australia will become a Muslim nation if the abortion pill is approved due to 100000 less children being born every year meaning 5 million less (white) people in Austrlia in 50 years. Hasn't she heard about compound interest, i.e. kids having kids. Surely it must be closer to 7 million less over 50 years. As if that has anything to do with it. Can't say I'd like to see Catholics running the place either but what has religion got to do with it? Does the Government want to legislate in the interests of keeping a white, Christian Australia? I don't believe she has too many supporters in her argument.

The abortion pill is about women's choices. If the pill is safe then the requirement for surgery is negated. I'm still on the fence as to the safety of RU486 but surely there is enough data to make a rational decision. And I'm not promoting abortions either. People should be better educated to make the right decisions about having children and the activities that lead up to that. I don't see hundreds of thousands of Australian women rushing out to use the pill just because it is there.

Settle down people and don't bring religion into the argument. Next thing they will be banning circumcision based on religious principles.

Happy Valentine's Day

This day never used to be special to me as there was never anyone special to share it with. Trying to get a booking for a restaurant is difficult around Valentine's Day as well, for obvious reasons, but the catering doesn't take children into account either. I was quite happy to take Miky to a fine restaurant tonight, where I could get a booking and the price was almost twice the normal menu price, but I'll be damned if I'll be paying $85 for my kid not to eat anything. Besides, the ambience would be set for couples anyway.

There's a message here for us all. Stay as a couple and you will be catered for. Don't even think about taking kids out on Valentine's Day.

I did have a booking for tonight but Miky said that she didn't want to go out. I felt like a right dick ringing up to cancel a booking for Valentine's Day. What must the staff member think? Probably along the lines of 'He's stuffed up big time' or "He's obviously been jilted/dropped, etc'. Not true. At least I can feel much better about going out later in the week, having a good time and not spending quite so much money.

Our Canna Is In Flower

We have some canna plants at our place. They had to be moved when we put the paving slabs out the back. Miky chose these plants as they like plenty of sun and an abundance of water.

Beautiful flowers and the first time I believe that they have been in bloom.

The canna looks lovely in bloom.

Not all too surprisingly they have flourished following the move. Since we returned from Korea they have grown substantially and for the first time have bloomed. I love these plants due to their low-maintenance requirements.

Another Weekend Slides By

Friday night saw a bit of excitement as Yu-Jin's school was having a sausage sizzle as a fundraiser. They also put on a couple on waterslides, which were really popular and our first stop, a train ride, abseiling setup, face painting, fairy floss and an entertainer. Yu-Jin's teacher put a bit of a dampener on the evening by calling him by another Korean boy's name. Not a bad show otherwise. We found some nice people that we could talk to and sat down with them to eat our hot dogs. Only problem was that a family we don't get along with, as their boy is an obnoxious bully (from very early on mind you), came and sat down with the people we wanted to chat with. Didn't that bugger up the night. We grabbed some fairy floss and headed off to the abseiling but didn't get a turn as they were about to pack it up to go home. Yu-Jin wanted to get his face painted but the lady ran out of time as she wanted to head to Western Force's inaugural Super 14 match. Let me tell you, Yu-Jin was more than a little disappointed. And it ended up ruining the whole evening. He left for home in disgrace.

I think that Miky moved this during the freezing stage.

It's nothing if not an original.

Woke up on Saturday morning with a very sore right shoulder. It felt like I had slept on it the wrong way or torn a muscle, something I have done before. I couldn't even lift my arm proplerly and was a bit concerned about golf set down for Sunday morning. Yu-Jin went to taekwondo in the afternoon and we went shopping during that time. We returned in time to see him catch a foot in the head during a sparring session. I had thought that his instructor, a 7th dan black belt, Australia's 2000 Olympic Head Coach (Taekwondo) and six times National Champion, was a bit past it but he can move when he wants to. Not that it was he that kicked Yu-Jin in the head. Spectators aren't allowed to interfere and we left it up to the instructor to make him feel better. Obviously the pain didn't last long and he was back into it quite quickly.

Sunday morning and my shoulder was still very sore. I put some shorts on, grabbed a 7-iron, and went outside to have a swing. I remember a golfer once said that if you could hit a ball 200 yards both hands then you could hit it 180 yards with one arm, that being your non-dominant arm. Thankfully I could swing the club without pain and surprised myself by not using my right arm too much at all. Hey, I play right-handed.

Out to Collier Park early and did some chipping which wasn't too accurate. Bad omen. Shayne rocked up and then I headed off to the putting green. Fairly out of touch there too. Shayne popped over to the car park to see where Joe was. As it turned out, Joe was just getting out of bed at that time and turned up just before we teed off.

We played the Island nine first. I shanked my first tee shot but it richoted from a tree into the middle of the fairway. My 6-iron went about as far as Shyane's driver. Looking pretty good if I can hit an iron that well that early on in the round. Shayne played a layup shot as the group in front of us were on the green and the flag was out. Unfortunately he hit it all too well and it ran onto the green. Shayne then hid in the shade until they left the green. They looked at us, looked at the ball, and looked back at us with a look of disdain. It wasn't me! Shayne parred the first.

After knocking it on the par-3 second off the tee and then 3-putting Joe rubbed it into me as the first 3-putt of the day. Joe put the first one in the water on the next hole. Anyway, it was a bit of a good tussle and Joe and I squared off at 46 apiece for the front nine. At one stage there was a group Corellas, very noisy Australian parrots, that descended on the course in almost plague proportions.

One of those Corellas.

Noisy buggers when they get into a large group.

I started the back nine off by shanking my drive into the same tree as last week and I had to take a penalty drop for an unplayable shot. Again. Managed to save it somewhat with an eight on that par-5. Joe started playing some really hot golf after that until 4-putting on a par-4 for a double bogey six. Not good when you are putting for par and I rubbed it in. Not that I had much to skite about as I overhit my drive, tried to chip back onto the fairway and just put it into a bunker and then 3-putted for a triple bogey seven. I parred the next hole after a brilliant approach shot, parred the next and bogeyed the last. Joe and I both shot 49 on the back nine to tie for 95 off the stick. My handicap, as it stood when I played, is 10 shots better than Joe's at the moment. So, he really beat me by ten shots on handicap. It was about 33 degrees when we finished and it was a strange back nine as we were nearly the only people playing. Maybe it was too hot or the fact that the final round of the Johnnie Walker Classic at The Vines was being televised live.

Collier Park Scorecard.

In the arvo Yu-Jin and I went to the swimming pool. There were a group of Africans there and as we walked past them Yu-Jin pipes up with, "Why are these people so brown?" and then followed it up with, "Are they Japanese?" It seems that our trip to Japan did nothing to raise the level of ignorance in our little Australian.

What Superhero is Yu-Jin

Your results:
Yu-Jin is Robin

Robin 85% Superman 80% Green Lantern 75% The Flash 55% Hulk 55% Spider-Man 50% Iron Man 40% Batman 40% Catwoman 35% Wonder Woman 30% Supergirl 30%

Young and acrobatic. You don't mind stepping aside to give someone else glory.