Oh. My. God.

Did you hear about this???
I'm so outraged I'm speechless at the moment. I had no idea this had even happened.

Bunghole

(n) 1. A hole in a barrel or cask; used to fill or empty it. 2. Vulgar slang for anus [syn: arse] 3. Affectionate nickname given to Bunbury, usually by people who have lived there.

This weekend, I made a trip down to Bunbury. For those who don't know, I started my journalism career down there (a regional city with a population of about 50,000, about 200km south of Perth) and lived there for what seemed like forever. In reality, it was only 8 months. But I hated it. I'm not a country boy, I'm a city boy through and through an spent most of the 8 months down there driving back up to Perth every single weekend to hang out wih my friends.

Despite this, I did make some friends down there and it was my former housemate's 30th birthday, which was the reason I travlled down.

While I had fun, the bogan to normal person ratio was way too high - I spent the night dumbing down my conversations and talking about boring stuff.

Until one of the bogans decided to start a political discussion with me. I tried so hard not to take the bait. I really tried hard.
I was good when he told me that he voted for Howard and that he was the best Prime Minister Australia had ever had. I didn't take the bait.
But when he launched into a tirade about the apology to the Stolen Generations, I could hold back no further.

Really, I was good overall, but I basically explained to the guy that the apology wasn't about porportioning blame so much as expressing regret for what happened. But he didn't get it. He told me that because the Government made the apology, he felt that he was being blamed for what happened.

In the end I let it go but it really encapsulated for me what it is that I hate about Bunbury - and why I'm so happy I don't live there anymore.

Best cover EVER

Read this article and play the clip.
Celine Dion and Anastacia doing a duet of "You Shook Me All Night Long" By ACDC.
Pure, unadulterated, embarrassing gold.

A little faith has been restored

Last night I had the privilege of seeing Powderfinger play at Metro City (perks of the job - I had to write a review for the paper).

They were brilliant, but that's not what I wanted to talk about.
While I was standing there watching the band, a young man who appeared to be quadraplegic moved alongside us in his wheelchair with a friend of his walking nearby.
While trying not to stare, I could not help but be moved by the unconditional love shown to him by his able-bodied friend.
Firstly, he ensured his wheelchair-bound mate had a good position, clearing people out of the way who were lingering in his line of sight.
Then he made sure he was most comfortable.
He removed the braces from around his legs, gently removed the windpipe from his mouth and then pulled his mate's glasses out of his pocket, wiping the lenses clean before placing them on his nose.

I was almost overwhelmed by the love and care this guy showed for his mate. I could not even begin to imagine what it would be like being disabled to the extent this young man was. And yet, nothing seemed too hard for his friend.
I started wondering whether I'd be capable of giving that level of care to someone close to me. I hope I never have to find out, but I would like to think maybe I would.

About 15 years ago my cousin in Queensland was involved in a car accident. A guy who had no license and was too stoned to be driving crashed into the back of her car, sending her into a coma for three months.
When she woke, while her mind was as sharp as ever, she literally had to learn how to walk, talk, write and use basic motor skills all over again.
Her husband at the time left not long after she woke up. He was roundly criticised by family members and written off, but still to this day I find it hard to blame him. Can you imagine the situation he was in? Can you imagine how terrible he would have felt pulling the pin?

There's not really a point to any of this rambling other than to say that seeing this young man last night gave me a little more faith in humanity.
And I love it when that happens.

Hi

Since I haven't blogged much this week, I thought I'd give you all a quick update on, well, me.

Current likes:

• My new job. In particular the bit that involves not working for my old boss. Also the increase in pay.
  
• Cigarettes and alcohol. They're fantastic together. 'Nuff said.
  
• The new Fratellis album. Review to follow when I can stop listening to it.
  
• Making new friends and catching up with old ones. Always a favourite of mine.
  
• Watching the state Liberal party wrench that knife even further into its own back.

Current dislikes:

• PR people pushing a McDonalds initiative and then querying why I didn't mention the company name in the story. It's McDonalds. They do not need free advertising from me. No offence to the particular PR person involved if he's reading this.
  
• Sales reps who try and stamp their authority over new editors and tell them what stories to write. You picked the wrong one, sorry :)
  
• Receiving calls from my old boss who continues to whinge about how hard her life is for her - I can't get away from it!
  
• People whose personalities change when they get promoted to a position of authority. There's just no need.

Overheard in the office

In keeping with Dan and Kate's respective blogs on toilets...

Manager at employee bathroom: Why is this door propped open?
Waiter: Eric just dropped a bomb in there.
Manager: Fuck, man, spray that air freshener.
Waiter: I did. The stink actually laughed at me.

Circle Centre Mall
Indianapolis, Indiana

Retail Therapy

So with my first (editor's) pay packet this weekend, I went shopping.
I bought myself my first pair of black skinny leg jeans, and they're awesome. I never thought I'd be able to pull off skinny leg jeans, but I actually found a pair that not only look good but are comfortable as well.

I also managed to snare a pair of Converse sneakers for half price - $40 - to go with the jeans. Awesome.

And all this in time to go The Fratellis' concert at Capitol on July 31, for which I also bought my ticket today.

How exciting.

And in world politics today

Gordon Brown seems intent on completely handing over power to the conservatives in the UK.

Not content with Tony Blair ruining his image by so closely aligning himself to George Bush and pledging troops to a war that never should have happened, Brown has pushed a new bit of anti terror legislation through the house.

Now, in Britain, if you are a terrorism suspect you can be held without charge for 42 days.
That's six weeks. Without charge.

It's interesting in the current world climate that conservative governments such as those led by John Howard and George Bush are now suffering (or have been kicked out already) largely as a result of decisions they have made in their war on an abstract noun.
What's disappointing is that the Labor Government in Britain seems intent on pigeon-holing itself with the same decisions.

And in other news, George Bush doesn't think he deserves the image of warmonger bestowed upon him by pretty much the rest of the world.

In an article in the West today he says his gun-slinging talk leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq made the world think he was a "guy really anxious for war" with Saddam Hussein.
He said he was misunderstood and expressed regret: "I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different retoric."

No regret for the millions of Iraqis who have been killed or injured as a direct result of his war.
But then, hindsight's always 20/20.

Sucker for punishment

Roughly a year ago, I blogged about a good friend of mine who had just broken up with his girlfriend for the fifth or sixth time over the course of - wait for it - one year.

Since then, he's been on again and off again with her a few times, most recently off again.
I know this isn't a nice thing to say, but she's a horrible person, and his attempts to patch up the relationship really aren't worth it.
Particularly when the reason they break up all the time is because she won't tell him if she's pissed off with him, rather, she'll keep it to herself until one day when he does something trivial like puts the wrong cutlery down on the dinner table, upon which she flies off the handle.

So anyway, the long and short of it was that they've broken up again. I was on the phone to him and he was saying how he couldn't do it anymore.

Me: "You've only just realised this? How many times did you guys break up, like, eight? Didn't you think after the first two or three that perhaps it wasn't worth it?"

Him: "Actually, it was more like 30 times, at last count."

Me: "..."

30 times!!!
Now THAT is ridiculous...

Sex and the City - A Guy's Take

I saw the SATC movie the other night. If you haven't seen it, don't worry, I promise this blog contains no spoilers.

About four years ago I fell in love with four New York girls by the names of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte.
The show was groundbreaking - we were seeing female lead characters who were fiercely independent, hot and funny, yet at the same time they all had a human side and were not machines.

I loved it. One by one, I hired or bought each season and watched the entire series through.

There's been a lot of debate about the movie. A review in the West said that while it was good, it failed to live up to it's naughty, sharp reputation.
Bollocks.
It was great. Yeah, it might not have been as provocative as the first episode, but that wasn't why I was there.
I went to see the movie to see the characters one last time. To see where they had been, what they had been doing and to finally find out what happened to them in the end.

The film was all this and more.
Go see it - it's worth the 2 and a half hours just to see all the loose ends tied up.

Back by popular demand...

The story about the money in the bag.

So, last night, a woman who only wanted to be known as Melissa successfully claimed the money from police.

She said that her and her boyfriend had been on their way to make a deposit on a business.

She went on to say how happy she was that there were still honest people in the world.

Personally, I'm still a little skeptical - why was she making a business deposit in cash? And, more importantly, why a brown paper bag?

Maybe I'm just a little quick to convict someone based on what appears to have happened...

Overheard in my office

Journalist, on the phone to a friend: "So how's your mate with that child sex thing?"

Did you hear the one about the $10,000 cash the guy found on his front lawn?

He handed it in to the police.

Seriously.

There's been a story in the news in the last couple of days about a family in a Perth suburb who noticed a brown paper bag on their front lawn.
After not doing anything about it for the first couple of days, thinking it was rubbish, the son eventually went out to clear it off the front lawn and found $10,000 worth of hundred-dollar bills inside it.

So he handed it in to the police.

Now, my first reaction was that I would do no such thing, but it would appear that their honesty might just pay off - if no one claims it within 60 days it is given back to them.
And let's be honest, whoever's brown paper bag it was, they'd have to have a pretty damn good excuse to actually get it back off the cops without themselves being investigated.
On the news this morning a police officer said there had already been two failed attempts by members of the public to claim the money.
Hilarious.

So...

I had the BEST weekend just gone.

Had birthday drinks on the Friday night, which attracted a sizeable crowd from work as well as friends from school that I hadn't seen in ages.

I got some awesome presents, including a couple of ultra cool t-shirts, a couple of great books (a collection of Rolling Stone interviews, from John Lennon to the Dalai Lama, and Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer Anthony Kiedis' autobiography) and a couple of other goodies to boot.

Friday night also involved lots of pictures, as you can see below.

And the rest of the weekend was spent in similar style, sleeping in, shopping, drinking, relaxing and just enjoying myself in general.

Long weekends are never long enough...