Graham Poll Quits International Football Refereeing

Following his debacle between Australia and Croatia Graham Poll's retirement from refereeing international football matches is more than welcome news. Except if you play in the English Premier League, I guess, where he can concentrate his efforts now.

Having ref'd in Euro 2000 and World Cups 2002 and 2006 and having blundered in each and every one, it's another case of three fouls and you're off.

Funny Licence Plates Spotted Recently

LMFAO - One of the funniest I've ever seen.
BEEUTE - On a beautiful white Ford ute - "Beaut"

P3RZ3SD

MY 68 V8

Grumpy Old Couple

Expensive Car Repairs

I may have mentioned that I got my car back last Thursday. It was expensive. I had to pay an arm and a leg. Oh, I think one of my testicles was also used as payment. Hmmm, not much change out of three grand.

Not only was the head gasket buggered but it lead to one of the cylinders having to be replaced. The radiator, which apparently lead to the problem, only needed to be flushed and all of the hoses, clamps, pulleys, water heater etc had to be replaced. I can console myself that it hasn't had a lot of work over the years and so all the maintainence costs have been rolled into one hit. I can try anyway. It's running quite well now. And so it ought to be.

What I find most amusing is that with all the points collected on my credit card I should be able to fly anywhere I like long before I could afford to drive there.

Penalties Handed To Them On A Plate: Italy - 1, Australia - 0

Gee I'm glad I didn't stay up to watch the debacle that ensued in the final moments of Australia's round of 16 match with Italy. I taped it and got up at 4:30 to watch it, thinking that extra time would be called for.

It was a good game, no question. The Aussies had their chances. All the while I was thinking, "Get Viduka off and replace him." Either the ball wasn't fed to him well or he didn't make position well enough and it was a waste of time passing to him. Having said that, Italy are well known for their defensive capabilities. And they were impressive at the back but looked suspect with balls coming in from the flanks. We should have put one in the back of the net instead of leaving it until the last minute.

I blame Simon Hill from SBS. He said that no-one in this tournament gets past Lucas Neill. Ten minutes later and an Italian, Grosso, dives over a prostrate Neill in the penalty area and is awarded an undeserved penalty instead of a deserved yellow card. Neill didn't touch him. Grosso didn't touch Neill. Plain and simple.

As one caller to the radio this morning put it, it would have been easier to swallow had Italy scored early in the match, instead of in the last minute of stoppage time, and defended their 1-0 lead for the entirety or flogged us 5-0.

So what if the South Koreans were lucky to beat the Italians four years ago when the ref's decisions were called into question? Why pay out on Australia? Four games and four poor referees. I would feel even greater disappointment if we had shown enough to win the game but, in reality, we didn't. The Aussies weren't menacing in front of goal.

Let's just hope that we have a good team and can qualify for the World Cup Finals in four years time. Socceroos, you've done us proud. And you've done yourselves proud.

What I Got Upta On De Weegend

Quite busy at times, it were. Saturday saw us do lots of shopping before a hastily prepared, yet long cooking time-involved, lunch prior to heading off to taekwondo. I needed a haircut, and so did the boy, but the boy didn't have any clothes to change into. I asked him if he was ok with going to the city in his taekwondo uniform and he had no objections. Well, not initially. He got heaps of looks because of it and might have regretted that decision.

When I stopped at an ATM the guys behind us were talking about taekwondo and one of them pulled out a taekwondo master's card - he has obviously reached 4th or 5th dan black belt or the equivalent. Many people asked if he did karate. Yu-Jin gets a lot of that at school and he says he doesn't bother to tell them that it's not karate.

We both had a mop chop and did a bit more shopping. Asian food this time. Whilst waiting for the CAT bus, which takes its time to arrive, I spoke with some Singaporeans here on holiday and the nephew, Markus, does taekwondo also. Slightly more learned people. Grabbed pizzas on the way home for tea. Yu-Jin stayed up to watch Superman III whilst I went to bed as I couldn't stay up for the Germany vs Sweden match, as I felt unwell, and I planned to get up for the replay of Argentina vs Mexico. Unfortunately they played extra time and so the replay was delayed and I ended up only seeing 22 minutes of the game before heading back to bed.

Painted the toilet a bright white colour on Sunday, kicked the soccer ball with the boy, and then we all went to the library. I'm glad that the boy enjoys books and so we spent a bit of time there.

Played some card games and Yu-Jin is very keen on poker. He keeps getting three-of-a-kind and winning easily so he thinks the game is fun. I'm not playing him for money.

Early Monday morning and I watched the replay of Portugal vs The Netherlands without knowledge of the score. Talk about a spiteful match. It was pretty ugly. The ref lost a bit of control and should have sent a player from either side off earlier than he did. Plenty of bone-crunching action though.

News Flash - The Purple Cobras Had A Win

Not only did the Purple Cobras win their volleyball match last Thursday, not only did they do it without a fill-in player, but they played one of the better teams. Man, we played well and it was fantastic to have a win. That may even put us into the semi-finals although we have a bye this week which could count against us.

Direct Share Purchasing Corporation Pty Ltd - Biggest Scammers In Australia

You've heard about scams with companies involving shares. Well, I was subjected to one last week. It came from the Direct Share Purchasing Corporation Pty Ltd and offers to buy my AMP shares for $5.00 each. In the detail it does outline that the market value of the AMP shares is $8.72 apiece but I think that a lot of older people will get sucked in by this and misread it. What a shonk. At least I wasn't too tired from watching the World Cup to notice it.

The company is headed by a guy called David Tweed. He is well known for this unethical behaviour and it is well publicised. I wonder how many people get caught out by this scam?

I was really wild when I read this. Sure, it is legal to offer money below the market price but it's just not cricket. The paperwork includes legalese signing over power of attorney to Direct Share Purchasing Corporation Pty Ltd and allowing them to do whatever they like with your shares. If you forget to put your shareholder reference number, SRN, then you are duty bound to do your best to supply it.

Well, I removed any details that would identify me and wrote some really nasty words. Quite venomous really. And, get this, they include a self-addressed envelope but expect you to put your own stamp on it! Not only do they rip you off but you have to contribute to the privilege.

The more people that hear about the slime that is Direct Share Purchasing Corporation Pty Ltd and National Share Purchasing Corporation Pty Ltd the better. I have a good mind to send heaps of envelopes and make them pay the added expense of extra postage but maybe there is a law against it.

I'm Tired - Been Watching Too Much Of The World Cup

I knew yesterday that I was tired from watching the World Cup until late in the night and then getting up early to watch the replay of the late match before heading to work. I knew I was tired because I made an omlette and forgot to put the eggs into it. My omlette contained cheese, mushrooms and soy sauce but, strangely enough, no eggs. Soon rectified the situation.

Those who think that time can't go backwards should try waiting for a CAT bus in Perth. The Yellow CAT was only 13 minutes away on Saturday, following Yu-Jin and my haircuts in the city, and the Red CAT was 24 minutes away. The countdown went down and up. To see the clock go from 9 to 10, back to 9, back to 10, so on and so forth, makes me think that Einstein may have to rewrite some formulae. As it turns out the Yellow CAT only arrive one minute before the Red CAT, which appeared to countdown normally. I believe that the bus has some sort of transponder which signals how long it is until it reaches the stop that you are at. Unfortunately it is not an entirely accurate way of doing things.

Graham Poll – A Lesson In Refereeing Required

I thought I had seen some poor football refereeing by Mark Shield and Eddie Lennie over the years with Perth Glory in the NSL/A-League. How wrong I was. Graham Poll, an Englishman no less and therefore should be one of the finest refs for a football match, has just shown how bad a referee can be. And on the stage of the greatest showpiece of world football no less, the World Cup.

Rules of the game that need to be learned and administered properly - do yourself a favour Graham Poll and study up.

1. Penalty – when a player pulls an opposition player down in the box a penalty is given. Tomas had his arm wrapped around Mark Viduka at the six minute mark in the penalty area, pulled him down, and no penalty was awarded.
2. Penalty – when a player intentionally handles the ball in the penalty area he is to receive a yellow card and a penalty is to be awarded.
3. Sending Off – when a player, like Josip Simunic, is given two yellow cards he is to be sent off. Not THREE yellow cards before sending off. Even the official match report only notes two yellow cards. FIFA have stuffed up big time here.

Talk about a bad run for the Aussies when it comes to referees in the 2006 World Cup. In their first match the Egyptian referee, Essam Ab Del Fatah, didn’t spot two Japanese defenders interfering with our goalkeeper, Mark Schwarzer, and allowed a goal that should never have stood. In their second match the German referee, Markus Merk, protected the Brazilians as much as possible and denied Australia a fair go. And then this, in the biggest match of Australia’s history with the chance of progressing to the second round at stake, Graham Poll puts in an absolute shocker. I don’t seriously expect to see him refereeing future games at this World Cup. Two penalties missed and a botched sending off. Did the Germans give him a rule book written in German, or more likely Croatian, before the game?

Thank goodness we came good and finished the match 2-2 which was enough to go through to the second round where we will face Italy. Remember what Korea did to them four years ago? With a decent ref in charge the Azzurri had better look out.

FIFA require taking a good, long look at themselves as an organisation too. Talk about playing against 12 men. Bloody terrible. Here's a better match report that outlines the refereeing inconsistencies.

Somebody In The Government Is Watching Us

Or is it just me? Vistor 12569, since I installed the Sitemeter counter, has an IP Address from the Ministry of Premier & Cabinet of WA. Now I'm intrigued. Who is this person?

Mind you, they were searching for Noongyar on Google so perhaps it's harmless enough. Poor Joe has been harrassed lately by the authorities and I wouldn't want to go through that.

I have to say that the WA Government has been behaving itself fairly well lately and not having too many embarrassing gaffs to have to worry about little old me and my acid tongue. But you can't be too careful.

New Site Worth Reading

I've discovered another blog worth perusing - The Daily Nooz. It's quite a laugh.

Your Personality Profile

You are elegant, withdrawn, and brilliant. Your mind is a weapon, able to solve any puzzle. You are also great at poking holes in arguments and common beliefs. For you, comfort and calm are very important. You tend to thrive on your own and shrug off most affection. You prefer to protect your emotions and stay strong.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Thanks to Insane Tom for this.

What Does This Look Like?



I spotted this leaf on my way to work this morning? Instantly I thought that it looked like something familiar. Does anything spring to mind?

More Thoughts About Public Transport

If I have to reside next to another teenager or hippie who says "like" every third word I will do significant damage to that person. Two girls the other day and one said, "He's like. And I'm like. Like. Like. Like."

No, I don't like it.

And last night there was a girl all dressed in black with fishnet stockings on her legs, a much more appropriate place for them, and black fingernail polish. She was on the phone when I boarded the train and still yabbering away 20 minutes later when I alighted. By this stage she was almost rolling around on the floor laughing so much without any consideration for the other passengers. There were numerous glares in her direction but she obviously didn't care. A little bit of dignity gone astray, perhaps?

I'm surprised by how much people swear whilst on mobile phones whilst in public places. There was a time when this didn't happen. Yes, it was before mobile phones but I mean that people didn't curse in public before. Maybe I'm just getting too f***ing old. Ha.

Does This Make Good Business Sense?

Nestle have just purchased the weight-loss company Jenny Craig. I'm not sure that the two of them match too well. Seems like a conflict of interest to me. Or maybe, just maybe.

Getting people fat is not bad for business but the buyers remain anonymous. I'm guessing that once they get the slimmers' personal details after joining Jenny Craig it will allow them to target their market much better. Free samples of a new product anyone? Hmmmm.

Where does this leave Kirstie As-wide-as-an-Alley?

If You See Something, Say Something

Transperth, the operators of public transport in Perth, have an anti-terrorism campaign running at the moment with the slogan - "If you see something, say something".



I saw something last night that may have been worth reporting.

There was a tall, black hat. Almost a tophat.
The hair was dyed black.
There was black eyeliner.
The lips had rings inserted.
The back of the neck had black studs inserted.
There was black nail polish on the fingernails.
The fishnet stockings on the arms were black.
There were spiky wristbands.
The clothing was black.
The platform, almost jackboot, boots were black.
I think it was a guy.

Perhaps I should have said something.

My Poor Old Car

She's not looking too healthy. My dad will probably be interested in this post.

The Falcon's head. One valve is clean, but, that's not a good thing.

Buggered gasket that caused (partially) the problem. The report on the radiator said that it was 90% blocked.

A rather sad looking engine.



The sunrise earlier this morning cheered me up.

Quite A Full Weekend

The World Cup nearly fills up the weekend by itself. Friday night saw me fall asleep during the match between Argentina and Serbia & Montenegro. I missed the last half an hour and three goals. Not to worry. It was a good match up until that point with three goals anyway.

We went shopping on Saturday morning and then off to taekwondo following lunch. Then it was a hurriedly prepared tea for Yu-Jin so that we could drop him off at his friend's house to allow us to go to a 40th birthday party at the WA Rowing Association. A lawyer friend of mine, Jeremy, and no I don't have need of his services (although I spotted John Kizon the other day in Subiaco), whom I met at the Dover Castle in London in 1994, was turning 40. It's funny as I only catch up with Jeremy every four years for the World Cup. We did go to a few Perth Glory matches though.

Miky and I went and it was a little difficult as we didn't know anybody else. Not the sort of circles that I normally mix with. I did find that lawyers, as many of the guests were, can be quite rude. On a couple of ocassions we'd be in the middle of a conversation when somebody would interrupt and hijack the conversation and we'd get an apology for their butting in if we were lucky.

Felt like an extra groom at a wedding, or something to that effect. Miky spotted a couple who looked nice and walked over and said, " We don't know anybody and just want to talk." Perfect icebreaker. Lovely people also.

There was a very interesting speech from Jeremy's father and one of his oldest friends from uni. I am glad that I attended and we'll have to get together for a pizza night.

Sunday morning saw us do the fruit and veg shopping in Subiaco and we had a lovely pupusa from a stall selling food from El Salvedor. Couldn't get an empanada like in England from the Colombian restaurant as we would have to wait an hour. The Colombian place was just around the corner from the Dover Castle in London, as it turns out.

Went to pick up Yu-Jin and he had some kiwi fruit to eat which appeared to give him an allergic reaction. He didn't feel too well for the next 30 mins or so. We'll have to get to the bottom of which allergies he has. I was nagged enough to paint the toilet walls but the damp coming from the bathroom, which I addressed last week, meant that lots of plaster had to be removed first. Patched all that up and need to wait at least 24 hours before painting.

As a family we went for a long walk around the nearby cycle/footpath. About five kilometres worth anyway. Set us up just nicely for tea. After playing some card games I read Yu-Jin a bedtime story about vampires. Here's the kid's reading list from his last visit to the library - vampires, ghosts, mosters and dinosaurs. At least he doesn't experience bad dreams. The ghosts book shook me up a little bit. Early bed for me.

Midnight was time to get up to see Australia vs Brazil. The referee treated Brazil as a protected species, that's for sure. Not that Vince Grella didn't deserve to get sent off (he wasn't even booked!) but we should have taken our chances and scored at least one goal. Harry Kewell, were you sleeping on the job? We went down 2-0. How embarrassing to have a bloke by the name of "Fred" score against us. Took a little while to get to sleep around 2am.

About twenty past five I got up to watch Korea vs France and to prepare for work. France were very smooth in the first half but Korea deserved their second half goal to level the scores and force a draw. Ten minutes after the football finished it was out the door for bus/train/Shanks' Pony to go to work.

On the train I saw a funny Aboriginal. He was quite short, had long hair and a bandana and was draped in an Aboriginal flag. In his good hand he carried a digeridoo. It was obvious that he had great pain and could only use one arm properly. Then he proceeded to tell his life story to a schoolgirl. It included being hit by two cars, a 4WD, falling backwards through a window, overdosing at the age of 21 by popping pills, etc. We were enlightened to the fact that he doesn't smoke dope anymore. Interesting life story. I hope there are more of these stories to share with my week of using public transport. On Friday I waited 45 mins for a bus that never turned up before walking home and having Miky give me a lift to work where I was 40 mins late.

It's Shanks' Pony For Me

It appears that the head on my car has finally gone. Along with the cooling system. Well, the cooling system is probably to blame. I'm looking at a $2k bill. Woah. It's Shanks' Pony for me for the next week at least.

Yesterday I left home at 7 o'clock to catch a bus that the missus told me to catch. Forty five minutes of waiting in about five degrees is not my idea of fun. Thanks to the public transport authority for that. Miky was leaving home at eight so she gave me a lift to her work and I walked to mine from there. It meant that I was about 40 minutes late but shit happens. It better not happen again on Monday.

How Do These People Get Through Journalist School?

On the way to work this morning, in my misfiring car which I just discovered has something wrong with the head and is likely to cost me $2000 with associated radiator repairs as well, I heard Tunisia (pr. Tjunizia) pronounced as Tunizia (imperial measurement ton). At work during the day I heard that there was an interview that they were about to play with John Alezia. After they played his interview the newsreader corrected herself and said that his name was Tony Alezia. He is, in fact, called John Aloisi.

Now I'm surprised that Togo, pronounced Toe-go, wasn't mispronounce as Takeaway (To go) because not too many people have heard about it.

Common theme here - all these mispronunciations are to do with the World Cup. Our journalists obviously have no interest in the round ball game normally and are just trying their best. Pathetic really. Especially as John Aloisi plays for Australia.

Just When I Thought The Finances Might Be Sorting Themselves Out

Along comes another repair job for the car. It's been about two years since I did a major service on my car. You know, spark plugs, oil, tune, etc. I have changed the oil in that time however. In the last couple of days the car has been running very roughly, like a hairy goat is the correct terminology I believe, so much so that it was about the stage where it was likely to stall when idling. Bit of a worry with an automatic.

Next door to my office is a mechanic. He does, or at least did, all of our work vehicles. Not that I have one of them, you know. I popped over at lunchtime and he had time to do the job that afternoon as he was awaiting parts for a BMW. The major service wasn't a problem but he identified the radiator and cooling system as needing urgent work. This includes replacing the heater tap, which I had done only a couple of years ago and that cost around $400, as there was a heap of corrosion. All up I reckon it will cost close to a grand or more and I commented, "Gee, it's a good thing I did a home loan redraw today," which was the truth - got the sun room extension to pay for (should be up in about six weeks). I just don't like having to use any of the leftover money for my bloody car.

Can't sell the damn thing, with petrol at the current prices nobody is interested in a 4L vehicle, and the repairs need to be done. I guess I better just take my medicine.

It's the same old story. Just when you think that all of the bills have been paid and you can look forward to saving some dosh along comes another bill to bugger it all up. Experienced that also?

Time For The Queen's Birthday Holiday To Be Scrapped

We all know that the Poms don't even get a holiday for the Queen's Birthday and there has been talk about it in Australia for years. Yesterday, in the eastern part of the country anyway, was the Queen's Birthday Holiday. We don't have it in Western Australia until the first weekend in October. It's not even Queen Elizabeth's birthday - it's for Queen Victoria.

On the telly in the morning they were discussing having a day off in honour of the lamington, an Australian culinary invention, and other such things. Yes, keep the day off but just change the name.

I reckon we should have Socceroos' Day in honour of our first goals and win in the World Cup finals against Japan last night. Perfect timing to replace the Queen's Birthday Holiday. Or Cahill Day after Tim Cahill and his two goals.

What warmed my heart the most was when the controversial goal was allowed and the 15000 Aussies in the crowd started singing, "The referee's a wanker!!" After the game the referee apologised and said that the goal should not have stood. Luckily he can say that after the Aussies triumphed 3-1 and he didn't get bashed in the carpark.

C'mon Aussies.

Take That Japan

Not the headline that I really wanted to type. I, along with probably a few million other Australians, have just finished watching the World Cup match between Japan and Australia. Don’t think I’ll get a lot of sleep tonight as it will take a while for the excitement to die down.

A controversial goal to the Japanese early in the game didn’t sit well with most viewers from this country. Mind you, I think Schwarzer, the Aussie goalie, made a bit of a meal of it but there is little doubt that he was blocked and impeded. The goal shouldn’t have stood.

The Aussies maintained possession but the Japanese were quite dangerous on the counter attack. I’ll give it to them that they are very fast and defend quite well. On the attack they are a real worry. The Japanese coach, Zico, thought that the Japanese would handle the humid, hot (35 degrees) temperature better. Let history show that for the last ten minutes of the game the Aussies ran it out and slaughtered the Japanese. Three goals in eight minutes demoralized the opposition. What a barnstorming finish. Cahill, followed by Cahill followed by a scything run by Aloisi. How sweet it is. Especially with six minutes until full time and we were looking out of it.

Take that Japan. Asian champions my arse.

The best result possible.

Early Morning Walk Required

Not that I'm feeling fat or anything. No, there is a great deal of building work going on across the road from our office and they have removed much of the parking on the street. It just meant that I had to park a bit furhter away than I'm used to. I guess it isn't a bad thing as I stayed up late to watch Serbia & Montenegro vs The Netherlands at the World Cup last night. Bit unfair that - two countries, Serbia and Montenegro, taking on poor, diminuative Holland all by themselves. Anyway, it lead to a bit of a sleep-in as I didn't feel like getting up too early.

Bit of reach in this sucker.

She takes up a bit of the roadway.

Atticus The Storyteller - Finally Finished

We first borrowed this book about eight weeks ago. As you may only borrow a book for three weeks at a time it has been reborrowed the maximum of two times. I've been reading it to Yu-Jin as a bedtime story and it was a bit hard to put down at times. Having said that, by this morning we were only up to story number 80. I read the remaining 21 stories this morning and that took about two and a half hours. Not that Yu-Jin lost interest at all.

Interestingly, the Greek myths are very much mirrored by the Bible, or so they seem. There were many stories about Heracles (Hercules), Zeus (unfaithful scamp) but probably my favourites were about Helen of Troy, the Trojan War and Odssyeus. I shall have to read more about this man Odssyeus.



Do yourself a favour and have a read if you have any interest in Greek mythology.

The Purple Cobras Went Down Again Tonight

It was a much better performance tonight however. On the way to the game I was listening to The Living End and their song Wake Up. Man, I was pumped. But, alas, the last song I heard before arriving at the sports stadium was a cover of This Time I Know It's For Real by The Young Divas. Nice song but it mellowed me out.

We played alright, in patches. Couldn't believe that we lost the first set as we played well. The second set was close and the third we lost 25-23. Damn, so close.

The feathers were flying. Well, the skin was crawling. I took a bit off my knees tonight. Perhaps that's what we need, a little more committment. We enjoyed ourselves and are starting to get it together. Just in time for us to be bottom of the ladder before finals. Ha ha.

Number Plates

Couple of spiffy number plates spotted this arvo.

THE SITH - on a black ute.
THE GEEZA - on a new Landrover.

Is This The Best Toilet-Trained Dog In The World?

Our friends in Japan have a corgi by the name of Robin. He waits patiently at home before going outside to do his business. Same thing in the morning as he doesn't poop at home. No need to worry about cleaning up after this dog. He poos on tissues and makes it really easy to clean up.

Another Dickhead Loose On The Road

Long weekend. Double demerits. You'd think that people would be a little more careful on the roads. No, not Richard I-won't-tell-you-his-last-name-but-it's-the-same-as-the-most-famous-male-porn-star. As Yu-Jin and I were heading to Whaleback Golf Course to make use of the driving range, yes I paid to seemingly senselessly hit a bucket of balls into the distance, I decided to wait for a car about to enter a roundabout. I could have gone but I wasn't in a hurry. A few seconds after I had stopped, and the other car had entered the roundabout, I was rear-ended by Richard in his City of Canning Security car.

So, I pulled over to inspect the damage. Not much wrong with my vehicle. I was worried about the bumper and the lights but they were all intact. There was some markings on the tow ball but otherwise ok. Luckily my driver's side airbag hadn't inflated.

Few markings to the tow ball.

The other car had a dent in the front bumper. Richard didn't even say sorry. Being in a bit of a mood I asked him some questions.
"What's wrong, my brake lights not working?"
"Didn't you see the car entering the roundabout? You give way to your right, you know."

Thankfully, it didn't affect my golf, I'm happy to report.

Isn't the City of Canning Security company supposed to be protecting the residents of the City of Canning rather than running into them on the road?

Today I rang the office wishing to speak to Richard's manager. I want to hear what sort of claim he has put in for insurance. His boss needs to know that he was rather careless out on the road. Not sure whether to tell the police or not. If I tell my insurance company they'll probably want to bump my premiums up. Richard answered the phone so I just gave him my work number and asked him if he had filled in his paperwork and needed anything. Didn't feel like asking to be put through to his boss - how could I trust him to do that anyway?

I Know How To Enjoy A Long Weekend

We had a long weekend this last weekend to celebrate Foundation Day. Something to do with the early settlers landing around the Fremantle area for the first time. Don't ask me, I'm not a Western Australian.

On Thursday night Miky had been given a document to translate. I played volleyball where we got hammered. Our opposition served very well but once we got the serve back we were in the game. Lost four or five sets to nothing. Terrible really.

On Friday night whilst Miky was doing her translation I picked up Yu-Jin's friend Jesse for a sleepover. The boys were still talking at 11pm when I hit the sack. By that stage they had been talking in the dark for 30 minutes and I have no idea what time they went to sleep. Miky went to a friend's house to type up the document in Korean and rang me at 3 o'clock for a couple of definitions. The boys awoke at 7 o'clock. They played games and ate lots of breakfast. About 10:30 Jesse's mum came to collect him.

Following lunch Yu-Jin went to taekwondo and we went shopping. Miky wanted to celebrate being paid for her translation with her friend and two kids. Big mistake trying to locate a restaurant on a Saturday night without having a booking. It didn't matter where we went, apart from a Korean restaurant that they weren't interested in, everywhere was fully booked. After an hour of going around Vic Park we decided to buy some Japanese food and pizza. I waited to be served at the counter for a couple of minutes before somebody served me. I said that I wanted a couple of pizzas and the guy asked me if I had ordered them. "No, I've been standing here being completely ignored," was my reply. Went back to our house to eat tea.

Sunday we wandered down to Bunnings to get some sealant for the bathroom to stop the walls from cracking in the toilet. Need to stop some water ingress. Best idea to seal the tiles and paint the wall. Once we got home I set a chicken florentine up for lunch and started emptying Yu-Jin's room in readiness for painting. Fun, fun, fun.

Had to do two coats of white on three walls and was hoping to get away with one coat of blue at the bedhead end of the room. It was too light and streaky so required a second coat and it looks much better and darker. Once the painting was completed, the major furniture put into place and the new bookcases installed, Yu-Jin and I went to the driving range. This allowed Miky carte blanche to throw out some of Yu-Jin's belongings that he is too old for.

Bedhead pre-painting.

Bedhead post-painting.

Bedroom corner pre-painting.

Bedroom corner post-painting.

On the way to golf I got rear-ended whilst waiting at a roundabout for a car about to enter the roundabout. The dickhead didn't even apologise. More about that later.

Yu-Jin and I started on the putting green and he was the only one to sink a long putt. The clubs are a bit too big for him though. I let him hit about 10 balls out of my bucket of 60 on the driving range. Pretty much every ball he hit went about 30 metres. I seemed to have straightened out my hitting a bit and the last ball of the night, from my driver, went straight and very long. Now, if I can just take that form out onto the golf course.

Yu-Jin taking a swing.

Yu-Jin took this photo. The shutter stayed open as it was dark. Kept my head fairly still at least.

Where Are Those Japanese Whaling Scientists When You Need Them?

We've got a whale off the coast in distress. The poor thing had become entangled in ropes and was fatigued. Last night I heard on the radio that they were scaling down the search as the whale had not been seen and was presumed to have sunk.

Where are the Japanese whaling scientists when you need them? Surely they are the most obvious people to help in a whale search. They must know about whales better than anybody. I have sprouted off about them before but questions remain unanswered.

What is the basis of their scientific study? Are they checking for:

How good whale meat tastes?
How many Japanese people eat whale?
Comparisons between recipes?
How many hungry Ethiopians a whale could feed?
How long before the rest of the world catches on to what is actually going on?

Have Japanese whaling scientists ever published results of these "studies"?

If the International Whaling Commission has truly been bought out by the Japanese then they could be in our waters before too long - story.

Do Chinese People Eat Pizza?

We had a sales meeting for our team yesterday and I thought seeing as we were having it during our lunch break why couldn't the boss put pizza on. And so he did. Interestingly the Dominos Pizza franchise in Wembley is run by a Chinaman. Talk about a rude bastard the abrupt way he talks to his workers. Not a lot of compassion shown.

Anyway, the order monitor had four names:

Shou Wei
Reid
John
Han

My boss's name is John but a guy in the shop took that order. I thought that it was pretty unusual that two out of four customers were Chinese as I didn't think that the Chinese were big fans of pizza. It turns out that Han should have been Ham. Doh.

I will work for pizza so it was a good tradeoff. Nothing like a nice hot meal during winter, especially when the boss is paying.

Must Have Been "Bump Into People You Haven't Seen For Ages" Week

Bit freaky last week. On Saturday we went to Ikea and I bumped into somebody I'd met at uni who also had a child in the childcare centre. She's still at uni but doing another course now.

On Thursday night I was walking to the sports stadium for volleyball and there was a couple in front of me. The girl turned around and we instantly recognised each other - she's the daughter of one of my former workmates. The stadium is about 40 kms from her home so she's one of the last people I expected to see there. Great to catch up.

And yesterday I was heading to the markets when I bumped into the lady who held the reception job at Curtin Uni Childcare Centre for 20 years before retiring a year ago.

Did the planet just get a bit smaller or what?

Couple Of Good Number Plates

A Subaru went flying past me on the Narrows Bridge this morning with the licence plate "IM LATE" which I thought was quite good.

Another one that made me laugh was on a Mitsubishi Lancer - "WONTON". Funny thing was that it wasn't an Asian driving the car. Wonton soup is something that we had for tea the other night. Wanton however has an entirely different meaning which would be more appropriate to Lancer drivers. Did they make a spelling mistake on their application for a personalised plate?

Bit Of An Oversight In The Vanity Unit Planning

The new vanity unit looks nice. Apart from the flat top which looks like it came from a public toilet benchtop in the 70s. I did notice something of an oversight however. The shelves aren't big enough to store the 18 packs of nine toilet rolls that I buy when they are on special. Well, you can't even stand one such pack up. Hmmm, bit of a mistake there. It is lamentable that the benchtop space has been reduced by about a third but that will mean that someone will have to find a home for all of their crap, not mentioning any names, Miky. I don't understand why women need so many beauty products and can never finish the one they are using before getting another one from a different brand. Is there no loyalty out there in terms of what women use?

Saw Tyson Stenglein At Coles At Lunchtime

With the risk of the missus and I just communicating via free calls on our mobiles lately as we have been so busy, she rang me just before lunch and wanted to have a chat when I was at lunch. I thought we could do better than that and so took a quick drive to her workplace, some five minutes down the road, so we could sit down and have lunch together.

Popped into Coles to buy a drink and lined up at the cashier behind Tyson Stenglein from the West Coast Eagles. He looks much more pumped on the telly as he is quite a muscular bugger but with his shabby looking Eagles tracksuit he didn't look that impressive in the flesh. If I'd gotten close enough I would have had a dig at him and said that he'd look so much better in a black and red tracksuit, i.e. Essendon.

Nice that the missus and I had time for lunch together. When she worked nearby before I popped in a couple of times to say "G'day" but we never got to do lunch.

Which Uni Did This Marketing Student Attend?

Going for my early morning walk this morning, the first day of winter in the southern hemisphere, and I spotted a new advertising poster. It was for a new ice cream called Cocoa and advertised as chocolate on a stick.

Now, that doesn’t seem like the ideal time to launch a new ice cream but what do I know about marketing? But then again, I'm the sort of bloke that will eat an ice cream or icy pole during the coldest of weather and have a hot cup of tea in the heat of summer. I'm probably one of those guys who would buy this ice cream.

Damn, they have marketed it well, come to think of it. It's aimed at me and I've noticed it immediately. Clever people these marketing types.

What The Heck Is This Insect?



Spotted this yesterday and have no idea what it is. Anybody out there got a clue?