My view and thoughts on everything!

"well it wasn't an online convention for Buffy The Vampire Slayer...a fun way to raise money whilst looking like a gay 1970's porn star" Last month I participated in a worldwide event that was something I have wanted to do for a long time. What was it? I hear you scream. Well, it wasn't an online convention for fans of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (though the idea does have some merit) but rather the ever growing annual event called 'Movember'. For the anoraks amongst us, Movember is an annual event whereby males (and, I suppose in some cases, females!! - eek), grow a moustache for the month of November. During this time the mo grower aka 'mo brotha' or his female support aka 'mo sista' raise money for men's health issues. It is, in truth, a fun way to raise money whilst looking like a gay 1970's porn star. Now I would not know what a Seventies porn star looked like, but mo's were very big (and hairy) in that decade of glam rock,

"my hearing has diminished or it could be I have too much earwax...Snow White did a backwards flip into the hands of a minder" A couple of weeks ago I went with friends to the Acer Arena to see those loud and proud (and anti Napster) dudes that go by the collective name of 'Metallica'. Now I have seen them before on their last tour just after James Hetfield's well publicised rehab sessions. Now I should say that I am not a huge fan of Metallica but certainly like some of their music and they do put on an awesome show. You always get 110% from them. I have also found them not to be as loud as you may think. Yes, they are loud, but I have heard louder groups. It could be that as I have got older my hearing has diminished (probably the case) or it could be I have too much earwax!! You would have thought that these bad ass soldiers of metal would be snarling and growling all the time. Far from it, in fact. For the whole concert, until the end of it, there was no

"my souffle making skills have improved beyond measure....obviously the architect had a sense of humour!" A few long years ago Alanis Morrissette released a song called 'Ironic'. It was a worldwide hit and is probably her most well known song. For the nerds reading this, the single was released in 1996. The songs lyrics revolve around the great ironies that is life itself. The reason for mentioning this is not to promote the song or Alanis' music career but to mention it because I have come across a few ironies recently. What are these type of ironies that I have discovered? Well, dear friend, read on. A few weeks ago I came across the Mosman Daily. It is a local, free newspaper that is delivered to residents in the lower north shore of Sydney. Nothing unusual or ironic about that is there? However, the irony is that the Mosman Daily is a weekly newspaper!! You would have thought that given it's not so daily frequencies that a name change would have bee

"allow for inflation and say something like 'well that's the $123,267 question...a tinker is a mender of pots and kettles' Recently at a work meeting the Project Manager said a couple of things which got me thinking. Now I should state that the Project Manager said more than a couple of things, in fact he said quite a lot! In my experience they can talk as much as politicians (without th e rhetoric). Our Project Manager certain does suffer from a case of verbal diarrhoea at times. For the record, I do respect him and think he is very good at what he does. Anyway, he said a couple of things that woke me from my stupor (be honest, does anyone find long meetings exiting?) and i used my cheap ball point pen to jot them down. What was it that he said that got my inquisitive radar going? Read on, dear reader and all will be revealed. The first thing he sad was "well, that is the $64,000 question" That got me thinking, where did this expression come from? Also, if i

"maybe they watched too many Vietnam war movies when they were growing up...whatever the case, these boot camp instructors are scary and dangerous" There is a phenomenon that has overwhelmed Sydney and probably most other cities around the world - certainly in the western world. What is it? I hear you say. Well it's not Justin Beiber - though this young pup seems to have well and truly made his mark - even if he does need a haircut and should learn how to shave. It is, however, the phenomenon known as 'boot camp'. Now, I for one am a great advocate of fitness regimes. Without a doubt they do help us all in our quest for a healthy life (mental note not to eat that chocolate bar that is staring at me!). However, the concept of boot camp truly baffles me. Let me explain. I can understand people signing up for a boot camp, but I cannot understand why you would sign up to get fit and be abused at the same time! You see, dear reader, that a lot of the boot camp i

A few days ago my blog finally cracked the 5,000 hit mark. Compared to lots of other blogs it's not that big of an achievement. However, to me, myself and I it is a landmark. It has taken a tad over 3 years to reach this, and it is something that I never thought I would reach when I set out on my first blog back in July 2007. Now I cannot wait to hit the 10,000 figure - hopefully not in three years time! A big thank you to all the visitors to my blog. My readership has increased and I now have a number of subscribers which, for me, is fantastic. Please keep reading my blogs and feel free to 'spread the word'. Finally, I love reading comments - both good and, erm, not so good so please leave me your feedback. My next blog will be published very soon - stay tuned!

"I do not have a supermarket fetish but was in one to buy some bread (honest!)...you have probably spent too much time in a convent, monastery, collecting elastic bands or playing PlayStation!" There I was one lunchtime wandering around a supermarket. Now I should state up front that I do not have a supermarket fetish but was in one to buy some bread (honest!). After I picked up a wholemeal loaf (healthy choice of course), I walked up and down a few of the aisles. Truth be known I was probably bored. It was then that I came across the DVD section. Now it should be stated that compared to supermarkets in other parts of the world, the DVDs available in a Coles or Woolies in Australia is very limited indeed. The DVDs are normally kept close to the checkouts. My theory is that as you get bored queueing up to be served that you will grab a DVD and purchase it! Sure enough I was in a queue when I picked up a DVD to read more about it. It was a movie from the 1960's that

"yes I am an ex-banker. Please keep it quiet and don't spread it about...To me '101' is a bus number. Recently something dawned on me. Now that is an amazing thing in itself. However, I realised that in today's fast paced society we are using more and more slang than ever before. Now I don't mean Internet slang like 'lol' or 'imho' but slang that is used in everyday life. There were two pieces of slang that struck me as having become more popular. The first one is '24/7'. I know that it means that something is available all week. That is 24 hours for 7 days. Now if the Beatles had there way with the song 'eight days a week' then it would be '24/8'. To me '24/7' means that the fantastic show 24, with Jack Bauer, will be shown on Channel 7! That would make perfect sense. Otherwise a person would say something like 'available all hours of each day'. I am not sure how '24/7' came to be so pop

"great beaches, fantastic cities and Kylie Minogue (well maybe not Kylie)...my consumption of caffeine has increased dramatically" I am feeling tired a lot recently. Now it's nothing with to do with long working hours, or going to bed really late or even collecting stamps. It's got to do with the football World Cup. Now, obviously I am not at the finals. After all, England overlooked me for Rooney. Then again, I could have probably played much better that Wayne! One day England will see my silky skills....at least in my dreams! You see, living in Australia has lots of benefits - good weather, great beaches , fantastic cities and Kylie Minogue (well maybe not Kylie). However there is a huge downside. It is called 'time zones'. The thing is, if us in Australia want to watch one of the top world sporting events then we have to either stay up to the early hours of the morning, or wake up at, say, 4am! Naturally, it can take a toll on you. A few days ago,

"I have been convinced that this weather is a cunning plan of ducks worldwide...you will see loads of English carrying a brolly or two" Us Sydneysiders have just come out (fingers, toes and dangly bits crossed) of a very wet spell that lasted nigh on three weeks. Now I would be the first to admit that it is great that we have been awash with the life saving liquid, but there is a point where it gets beyond a joke (and I don't mean the one about the Englishman, Scotsman and Irishman!). The other joke is that the rain is falling on the coast and not really in the dam catchment area. Now obviously, the downpours do not compare to monsoonal regions of the world, but they can certainly get to you nonetheless. At present we have just entered winter and naturally the sun is rising later and setting earlier. So with the lack of daylight hours, coupled with grey and overcast skies, the city has been living in a kind of gloom recently. For those who don't know, winter in Syd

"you know the type - accountants, lawyers, bankers, stamp collectors, Celine Dion fans etc...I started to cringe. How tight was his Levis?" Recently No Worries and I left the gals with a friend and headed into the big smoke that is Sydney. This is not to say that Sydney is covered in smoke as it is not (unless you include the New Years Eve fireworks). We decided to have a night to ourselves which is very rare these days.... I had two tickets to see a concert that had two of the biggest music names from the 1980's performing - Spandau Ballet and Tears For Fears. Now I grew up on both groups but in the last couple of years have really become addicted to the music of Messrs Orzabal and Smith aka Tears. They truly are talented song smiths, great musicians and fantastic singers. So after a meal at King Street wharf (which I have to say was very average given the reputation of the restaurant we ate at) we headed to the Ent Cent. Better know to all as the Sydney Entertainme

"however this advert caught my eye (and nose and left ear)...now call me dumb or slap me about with a wet fish" The other day I was reading the local newspaper when I came across an advert inside it. Now, I hear you say, there's nothing wrong with adverts in a newspaper. After all, it helps keep the cost of the newspaper down to a reasonable amount. This is very true indeed. However this advert caught my eye (and my nose and left ear). So what was the advert that grabbed my attention? Well, you see it was an advert for a local pet shop that was having a sale. It must have been a large pet shop given the number of sale items. In fact, it was one of the items on sale that struck me as being quite odd. The advert stated, and I quote verbatim. "50% off all live fish". At first glance this seemed to make sense. Your long awaited addition to your tropical fish tank would be half price (no, I didn't need a calculator to work that one out!). However, a lite

"is when cutting cheese turns into an endurance sport....I have no idea of the cunning plan that this piece of sharp metal has for me" During the last week something dawned on me. It was one of those moments when clarity is to the fore and you realise why things happen (not necessairly for a reason either). So I thought it only fair that I shared this with you, the reader, and the rest of the world. It appears that I have a fetish. Now before your sordid mind delves off into the realms of toe sucking, leather, bondage and gimps, let me explain. This is no ordinary fetish indeed. Over the past 18 months or so I have, at intermittent periods, bought 3 knives. These are your typical knives that you would find in any household kitchen. They have all been utility ones so that No Worries and I can cut, chop and dice vegetables, meat and anything else we want to cut until our heart's content! I always know when its time to replace a knife. The first indication is when cutting ch

"before I know it I am singing along (normally internally as I don't like scaring my fellow train passengers)...I even swapped the balck t shirt, jeans and beer for a shirt, pants and a bottle of chardonnay!" Many years ago, when I was a mere strip of a lad, there was a song released called "Music" by John Miles. Some of the lyrics went like this " to live without my music would be impossible to do, 'cause in this world of troubles my music pulls me through" . For the nerds out there in the blogosphere, the song was a number 3 hit in the UK during the tropical summer of 1976. It is an awesome song with a great guitar lick towards the end of it. The lyrics really struck a chord (deliberate play on words) as it really sums up my view to music. When I am feeling down I'll get out a CD, or listen to my MP4, and play some of my favourite songs. Before I know it I am singing along (normally internally as I don't like scaring my fellow train

"but can inflict severe pain (like a Celine Dion concert methinks)....there were literally hundreds of baby Huntsman spiders running everywhere!" Recently No Worries, the Gals and I moved to a new abode. The move was a typically stressful one even though we only moved a couple of kms up the road! Moving is not fun at the best of times. As I type this tome we still have lots of boxes to unpack! Yes I know, we are lazy!! Anyway, when we moved in we noticed a Huntsman spider in the kitchen at the top of the venetian blinds. For the uninitiated, a Huntsman spider is quite large, hairy and looks like a tarantula! Fortunately they cannot kill a human but can inflict severe pain (like a Celine Dion concert methinks). I tried to kill it but it went into the bracket that was holding up the blinds. No Worries and I decided to leave it be as Huntsman's do kill insects including the much maligned cockroach. So we left it alone to its own devices. It seemed happy enough to hang a

"So far in life I had gone without seeing Miley Cyrus. In truth I was mentally scarred by her fathers' musical legacy...come on London 2012, drop synchronised swimming for whip cracking!" A couple of months ago I had the privilege of escorting my youngest daughter and her school class on an excursion to the City Zoo in Sydney's west. I was eager to go as I had missed out on my eldest daughters' excursion to the same place the previous year. Two weeks prior to this I had received a letter asking for parent volunteers to accompany the teachers on the excursion. As places were limited it was on a first come,first served basis. Naturally I filled in the attached form and had it back with the relevant teacher before you could say "Wooloomooloo"! I had an agonising seven days wait before I received the news that I wanted to hear. I had been accepted as a parent volunteer! I was very excited. On the day of the excursion we got to the school early. I had pac