Here we go again

It is with a slight sense of rage that I read this news about the State Liberal Government's plans for WA.
Not content with repealing prostitution laws designed to offer more protection for sex workers, the right wing knobs have decided that WA does not need to subscribe to the new Federal industrial relations regime.

As I write this, I'm still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that Troy Buswell is actually on the front bench of our Government after sniffing chairs and snapping bras for most of his time in opposition.

But apart from all that, what gives them the right to say that WA does not need to subscribe to laws brought on by the Federal Government with an overhwelming mandate?

Buswell's arrogance shines through particularly when he is questioned by a senate committee about whether or not WA would abide by the proposed Fair Work Bill:

"It's our view that ... (employees and employers should) arrange their affairs to have flexibility as they see fit,'' Mr Buswell said.

"You don't have to take the job, at the end of the day.''


You don't have to take the job at the end of the day. Thanks for that, Troy. Wanker.

I am. You are. We are...

What is Australia Day all about? Really?
To many people, it's about sticking stupid plastic Australian flags to your car windows. I would never buy one of those flags. As I write this, there is a car sitting out the front of my house with no less than 11 of those silly flag sticking out its windows. 11! What a knob. To me, the people that stick those flags on their cars are the same people that would have been involved in the shameful Cronulla race riots from a few years ago. I don't feel the need to put a flag on my car to prove how Australian I am.

To me, Australia Day is about celebrating with friends, a bbq, a few beers and listening to the Hottest 100.

To others, Australia Day may be about this sort of thing.

I guess it's open to interpretation.

What's your interpretation, dear readers?

Rachel Getting Married

Rachel Getting Married is the latest movie directed by Jonathon Demme, whose resume includes a couple of small pics like Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia.

Starring Anne Hathaway, from more dubious movies such as The Princess Diaries and Bride Wars, this flick is a close up look at addiction, recovery and dysfunctional families.

I saw this movie this morning and I have to say, it was really good. It's done with a hand held camera, which I always find takes up to an hour to get used to but is ultimately rewarding in the end.
Let me just say from the outset - Hathaway is brilliant as Kim, a drug addict who has been in and out of prison and rehab for the last ten years, and returns home for her sister's wedding.
Without going too much into the plot, the movie is a great study on how addictions can affect a family unit.
If you get the chance, and you like a movie that makes you think, see it.

So many things

Hi all,
Sorry about my slack blogging efforts lately.
The truth is, I've found it hard to inspire myself to blog about anything. I think it's something to do with the fact that I had nearly four weeks holiday and got into the habit of being lazy during that time.
There have been many things over the past few weeks that I thought I would like to blog about. I wanted to blog about Obama. I wanted to blog about an amazing exhibition I saw at the WA Art Gallery by an artist called Gordon Bennett (anyone who lives in Perth and is interested in Aboriginal issues must see this exhibition before it closes). I wanted to blog about two albums that have inspired me over the summer months (Apocalypso by the Presets and the new Kings of Leon album - both are brilliant and come highly recommended). I wanted to blog about racism. I wanted to blog about returning to work after a long holiday. But in the end, what inspired me to blog again was a notepad getting destroyed all over my clothes (read below).

Anyway, the long and short of it is I'm back. I'm in a great mood today and, as ridiculous as it sounds, blogging about my load of washing has inspired me to stick with this blog.
If there's any readers left, thanks for coming back. I'll be better this time round. Promise.

Ever found a tissue in your load of washing - after the washing's been done?

Pretty annoying, huh?

Ever found an entire notepad in your load of washing - after the washing's been done?

If you're thinking it would be substantially more annoying than a single tissue - you'd be spot on.

Observations from a trip to the casino

• There are people out there who think that writing the numbers down as they come up on the roulette table will form some sort of pattern to help them win. These people are usually the ones that never win.
• The people in the poker rooms at the casino take the whole thing waaaay too seriously. I don't think too badly of myself as a poker player on a casual basis - but these people scare me.
• The bright lights and higher oxygen levels in the casino make me feel like I could stay up for days.
• Thank god we don't have pokies in pubs here in WA.

Tales from the north side

On Christmas Day, we had a few friends around for drinks.
My housemate Cookie, who currently works in the mines but has done pretty much everything - from rigging, to deep sea diving, to working on a fishing trawler - invited one of his mates from Karratha down.
Frosty was a fishing trawler captain and he proceeded to tell me one of the cooler stories I have ever heard in my life.

He was working on a trawler off Exmouth and had been out for three days of a four day fishing expedition. Frosty explained that guys (and girls) who work on fishing trawlers don't get paid a salary, they get paid a commission depending on how much fish they catch. He said two tonnes was a good catch in general terms. Anyway, they were on the second last day of their trip and they only had 100kgs so far.

Frosty had tried everything - he had gone to every secret fishing spot he had ever known, tried every old fisherman's trick in the book but still, there were no fish anywhere.
He studies the maps for hours, still coming up with nothing. Then, he looks up out the window and sees a rainbow on the horizon. So, on a whim, he programs where he calculates the end of the rainbow to be and sets course for it, thinking he's got nothing to lose.

Of course, his crewmates thought he'd gone mad, and proceeded to wind him up with jeers of "chasing the rainbow, are we Frosty?" all the way there.
When they were about three quarters of the way to the spot Frosty had estimated, he almost turned back. But he pushed on, because he had nothing to lose.

When he gets to the spot that he had put into the computer, a massive triangle of fish appears on the radar - right at the spot where he calculated the rainbow ended. He ended up filling the boat with high quality fish. But that's not the clincher - the bit that makes this story so awesome is the type of fish he found at the end of the rainbow - gold band snapper. They could have been any species of fish in the world, and they were gold band snapper.

I asked him what the moral of the story was. He told me there was a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow - you just had to look hard for it.

Hi all,
Sorry I haven't been a reliable blogger of late. I've been good, it's just been a busy time of year as I'm no doubt you're all aware :)
I had a lovely festive season and new year, some of which has inspired me to blog.
I love the new year. New Year's Eve provides people with the opportunity to start afresh. I know it sounds like wank but think about it. The clock ticks over and then the calendar starts again from the beginning. People make resolutions to try and better themselves in certain ways. The festive season even provides people who have fallen out with others the opportunity to resolve their differences "because it's Christmas" or "because it's new years."
I enjoyed my festive season and, I think because of the events leading up to it, I appreciated a few of the things I usually take for granted.

Anyway I'm back blogging now and I promise I will be more of an active writer in the new year. That's my resolution :)
Dave

PS Oh, and I just wanted to add that this whole Israel/Palestine situation is the scariest situation we've faced in world politics for some time. What makes it scarier is stories like this and the US response to it all.

PPS In 16 days' time, George Bush will no longer be the president of the US. How awesome.