Sunday, January 24, 2016
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
TIME TO GO JOBE
A great guy. Fantastic advocate for his club and the sport. But unfortunately, has taken a banned substance, whether to his knowledge or not, and thus should face the penalty of a min. 6, 12 or 24 month ban.
Essendon FC implemented a supplements program they admitted was 'on the edge'. Well if you play on the edge, there is every chance you will fall off.
EFC and its players will fall and it looks like Jobe has fallen. The rules have been broken.
The penalty may be harsh, given it's highly likely players were misinformed as to what they were taking, but this issue has been prevalent sport for a long time.
The modern Olympics, the benchmark for human athletic achievement for over a century, would judge this occurrence with a ban; even after numerous appeals.
It is likely that the excuse of 'I trusted my doctor" would not negate guilt. The athlete takes full responsibility.
I bet less than 5% of Australian Olympians get paid close to what Jobe does, yet they manage to keep abreast of all the rules and all the details associated with drugs in sport. And whilst they struggle to keep down a day job, find small sponsors to get by, they still abide by the rules on mass.
Watson, whom I have met, and is a lovely guy, and I feel for him, is a full-time professional athlete and has a plethora of resources around him. No excuse mate, he must take the fall if proven to take a banned substance at the time.
A great guy. Fantastic advocate for his club and the sport. But unfortunately, has taken a banned substance, whether to his knowledge or not, and thus should face the penalty of a min. 6, 12 or 24 month ban.
Essendon FC implemented a supplements program they admitted was 'on the edge'. Well if you play on the edge, there is every chance you will fall off.
EFC and its players will fall and it looks like Jobe has fallen. The rules have been broken.
The penalty may be harsh, given it's highly likely players were misinformed as to what they were taking, but this issue has been prevalent sport for a long time.
The modern Olympics, the benchmark for human athletic achievement for over a century, would judge this occurrence with a ban; even after numerous appeals.
It is likely that the excuse of 'I trusted my doctor" would not negate guilt. The athlete takes full responsibility.
I bet less than 5% of Australian Olympians get paid close to what Jobe does, yet they manage to keep abreast of all the rules and all the details associated with drugs in sport. And whilst they struggle to keep down a day job, find small sponsors to get by, they still abide by the rules on mass.
Watson, whom I have met, and is a lovely guy, and I feel for him, is a full-time professional athlete and has a plethora of resources around him. No excuse mate, he must take the fall if proven to take a banned substance at the time.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
ENOUGH is ENOUGH ADAM GOODES!
You've got 2 Premierships, 2 Brownlow's and 3 Best & Fairest's. Football has served you well and you have certainly delivered on the main arena to be one of the all time greats. But seriously BOO F&$kin' HOO over this blown out circus, all about a young 13 year old girl calling you an Ape.
Firstly, you point her out in the midst of a game, after you heard the remark "something something, you big Ape!" Strike me down Adam, I can't believe you played on!
This resulted in the girl taken away from her family, interrogated and scrutinized in a room for apparently 2-hours. Then you grand stand to the media for 20 minutes post-match, carrying on about why being called an Ape cuts you to the core and denigrates your ancestries' 40,000 year history.
When I grew up, the playground at school was a cauldron of racist remarks and taunts. No vilification policy there. But not once can I remember the term 'Ape' being used to racially abuse or marginalise a particular race or background.
To categorise someone as an 'Ape' was generally based on the fact that they were 'hairy', like an Ape. So someone's Dad who rocked up to school in a singlet or open shirt, with masses on hair protruding from the top and back of their shoulders and top of their chest, was usually a target for remark the next day.
According to Darwin, we're only a few degrees of separation from Apes, so why the big fuss?
Adam, no offence, but if you were placed in a random line-up of 10 blokes off the street, I'm sorry to tell you mate, but you're almost a certainty to be the closest look-a-like to the main Ape, King Kong.
Which takes us to the next overblown saga in this debarkle. Now Eddie Everywhere has put his foot it and may just cost him his career. Fair enough he extended the whole issue past where it should have gone, but if this issue had not risen like it had in the first place, the topic would never have reached the proportions it has and thus no comment from his triple M show would have transpired.
I'm sure Eddie also sees this issue as over the top, which is perhaps why he effectively parodied it on air. But he has 25 years of media experience and will get through the scrutiny. The 13 year-old, single handedly pointed out by the apparent white-knight of football, I'm not so sure.
I do feel genuine concern for this girl. Whilst at 13, she is not entirely innocent for her actions, in the world of AFL and the media it generates, she is more than just innocent, she's simply incapable of being able to harness and ward off the immense pressure the media and Adam Goodes have brought on her.
13 is an age where teens are entirely impressionable and still understanding their own self. I am no psychologist, but I have grave concerns this incident will scar her emotional DNA for life, and for what, calling a dark skinned, bearded man an 'Ape'.
Move on Adam and target the fools and racists who clearly make racist remarks and taunts, as we have seen via You Tube the past week. You are a great statesmen of the game, but you have used your position to corrupt the propoganda which you stand behind.
Educate the kids Adam, don't punish them.
You've got 2 Premierships, 2 Brownlow's and 3 Best & Fairest's. Football has served you well and you have certainly delivered on the main arena to be one of the all time greats. But seriously BOO F&$kin' HOO over this blown out circus, all about a young 13 year old girl calling you an Ape.
Firstly, you point her out in the midst of a game, after you heard the remark "something something, you big Ape!" Strike me down Adam, I can't believe you played on!
This resulted in the girl taken away from her family, interrogated and scrutinized in a room for apparently 2-hours. Then you grand stand to the media for 20 minutes post-match, carrying on about why being called an Ape cuts you to the core and denigrates your ancestries' 40,000 year history.
When I grew up, the playground at school was a cauldron of racist remarks and taunts. No vilification policy there. But not once can I remember the term 'Ape' being used to racially abuse or marginalise a particular race or background.
To categorise someone as an 'Ape' was generally based on the fact that they were 'hairy', like an Ape. So someone's Dad who rocked up to school in a singlet or open shirt, with masses on hair protruding from the top and back of their shoulders and top of their chest, was usually a target for remark the next day.
According to Darwin, we're only a few degrees of separation from Apes, so why the big fuss?
Adam, no offence, but if you were placed in a random line-up of 10 blokes off the street, I'm sorry to tell you mate, but you're almost a certainty to be the closest look-a-like to the main Ape, King Kong.
Which takes us to the next overblown saga in this debarkle. Now Eddie Everywhere has put his foot it and may just cost him his career. Fair enough he extended the whole issue past where it should have gone, but if this issue had not risen like it had in the first place, the topic would never have reached the proportions it has and thus no comment from his triple M show would have transpired.
I'm sure Eddie also sees this issue as over the top, which is perhaps why he effectively parodied it on air. But he has 25 years of media experience and will get through the scrutiny. The 13 year-old, single handedly pointed out by the apparent white-knight of football, I'm not so sure.
I do feel genuine concern for this girl. Whilst at 13, she is not entirely innocent for her actions, in the world of AFL and the media it generates, she is more than just innocent, she's simply incapable of being able to harness and ward off the immense pressure the media and Adam Goodes have brought on her.
13 is an age where teens are entirely impressionable and still understanding their own self. I am no psychologist, but I have grave concerns this incident will scar her emotional DNA for life, and for what, calling a dark skinned, bearded man an 'Ape'.
Move on Adam and target the fools and racists who clearly make racist remarks and taunts, as we have seen via You Tube the past week. You are a great statesmen of the game, but you have used your position to corrupt the propoganda which you stand behind.
Educate the kids Adam, don't punish them.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
B.I.T - Back In Town or B.I.B - Back In Blog!
Back again after a prolonged absence. No excuses, just too busy carrying on with life and all that it entails. Not to fret my army of followers (all 4 of you...not even my wife :( ) as you all know too much about me anyway to miss me.
Soon I will welcome every opportunity to 'gass bag' on about everything to do with life in the world today, and perhaps post some controversial insights, yet for now I am going to post what maybe a small achievement I am working on over just a short period...THE PROTEIN DIET!
After watching someone lose about 5kgs in 5 days, mind you they weigh about 35 Kgs less than me, I thought, I should give this a try and could possibly lose 5-kgs in a week.
Huge discipline, no veggies, no fruit, no bread, no pasta, no sugar - just meaty goodness with eggs!
Day 1 - Sunday 2nd December - evening meal take-off
Idea is to have absolutely no saturated fats and sugars for a 5-7 day period to shock your body into sourcing energy from your stored body fats. I am a great storer.
So after a food coma bolognese at a winery in Sunbury (shit too by the way) I embarked on the 'protein journey'!
Stocking up at the local Woolworth's, we spent about $100 on mostly meats, also eggs and some protein bars.
The first meal.
Flattened chicken breast with mallet. Added some olive oil to the pan with some minced garlic. Browned on both sides and added lemon and myrtle seasoning for flavour. Continued until cooked.
Added the salmon to pan with olive oil. Sear on both sides and added a Little salt. Once seared properly on both sides, added a little lemon and lime juice.
The meal consisted of half a chicken breast an one portion of salmon; probably about 300gms. Plus 1 litre of water.
Day 2 - Monday 3rd December
Breakfast at 9am - 3 rashes of shortcut bacon and 2 eggs beaten and then scrambled on hot pan with a little olive oil. Simple. 2 glasses of water. Done.
Snack 11:30am - half a 100gm protein bar...weird. Glass of water.
Lunch 1:30pm - Half a cooked chicken breast (made 3 in total night before) with some shaved ham on the side and a slice of turkey breast.
Snack 4:30pm - half a 100gm protein bar...still weird. Glass of water.
6:30pm - Walked the dogs for 30minutes.
Dinner 7:30pm - Cooked four fillets of fish approx. 150 gms each. Added a touch of olive oil and minced garlic to pan, searing fish, I add chilli flakes, dukka seasoning and finish with lemon juice to dress and serve plain. I ate two fillets, dinner done! 2 glasses of water.
Day 3 - Tuesday 4th December
The weigh-in!
Have I achieved instant results? I've certainly noticed a change in body temperament.
Slight headaches and not quite right stomach. Not to mention toilet unmentionables. But aside all that, probably would have helped if I weighed myself properly at the start. Besides not trusting some very cheap looking scales, looks as though I am around 125kg. A huge 34kgs heavier than when I was 23, and still a good 15-20kg, above what should be my resting weight for a large framed man who is an expert at watching sport and not an avid exerciser.
Breakfast at 9am - 3 rashes of shortcut bacon and 2 eggs beaten and then scrambled on hot pan with a little olive oil. Simple. 2 glasses of water. Done.
10:30am - No sugar soft drink can.
Snack 11:30am - half a 100gm protein bar...weird. Glass of water.
Lunch approx. 1:30pm - Half a cooked chicken breast (made 3 in total night
before) with some shaved ham on the side and a can of Tuna, with oil drained. 500ml water.
Snack 5:30pm. half a 100gm protein bar...weird. Glass of water.
7pm - Walked the dogs for 20minutes.
Dinner - 7.45pm - made a crust-less quiche...hmmm, not bad. heard that spring onions were OK,so made up 6 eggs beaten, added small pieces of roast chicken (about 1/3rd no skin), shaved ham 50gm, diced spring onion, chopped parsley and basil leaves along with a little salt and pepper. Baked in a small quiche/pie dish on baking paper!
I had just under a quarter. Plus I had about 100 grams of roast chicken with coriander. Plus 500ml sparkling plain water.
How to do coriander chicken...broke up remainder of roast chicken pieces (I used a free-range Lilydale chicken and cooked in oven). Placed in large mixing bowl, diced up a handful of fresh coriander and added to mix. Added chilli flakes. Dropped in a few dashes of fish oil and a dash of soy sauce. Mixed around, and ready to serve.
I am not sure on what the rules are for herbs, but they are a great off-set for plain meat.
Now to make up some meat balls with low-fat mince meat, garlic, some taco seasoning and coriander. Hmmm...tomorrow's next meal!
Hoping to continue the protein only diet until Friday lunch time, so 5 full days! Then to add slowly veggies and salads. If I can drop 5-7 kgs in a week and then go another 5kgs in next fortnight, 10 kgs in three weeks would be an outstanding result...hardest part is to change habits of carbohydrates, but this process should set some real practices of low-carb and low-sugar healthy eating.
BTW lack of sugar headaches are a bitch!
Soon I will welcome every opportunity to 'gass bag' on about everything to do with life in the world today, and perhaps post some controversial insights, yet for now I am going to post what maybe a small achievement I am working on over just a short period...THE PROTEIN DIET!
After watching someone lose about 5kgs in 5 days, mind you they weigh about 35 Kgs less than me, I thought, I should give this a try and could possibly lose 5-kgs in a week.
Huge discipline, no veggies, no fruit, no bread, no pasta, no sugar - just meaty goodness with eggs!
Day 1 - Sunday 2nd December - evening meal take-off
Idea is to have absolutely no saturated fats and sugars for a 5-7 day period to shock your body into sourcing energy from your stored body fats. I am a great storer.
So after a food coma bolognese at a winery in Sunbury (shit too by the way) I embarked on the 'protein journey'!
Stocking up at the local Woolworth's, we spent about $100 on mostly meats, also eggs and some protein bars.
The first meal.
- 1 large chicken Breast
- 2 Salmon steaks
Flattened chicken breast with mallet. Added some olive oil to the pan with some minced garlic. Browned on both sides and added lemon and myrtle seasoning for flavour. Continued until cooked.
Added the salmon to pan with olive oil. Sear on both sides and added a Little salt. Once seared properly on both sides, added a little lemon and lime juice.
The meal consisted of half a chicken breast an one portion of salmon; probably about 300gms. Plus 1 litre of water.
Day 2 - Monday 3rd December
Breakfast at 9am - 3 rashes of shortcut bacon and 2 eggs beaten and then scrambled on hot pan with a little olive oil. Simple. 2 glasses of water. Done.
Snack 11:30am - half a 100gm protein bar...weird. Glass of water.
Lunch 1:30pm - Half a cooked chicken breast (made 3 in total night before) with some shaved ham on the side and a slice of turkey breast.
Snack 4:30pm - half a 100gm protein bar...still weird. Glass of water.
6:30pm - Walked the dogs for 30minutes.
Dinner 7:30pm - Cooked four fillets of fish approx. 150 gms each. Added a touch of olive oil and minced garlic to pan, searing fish, I add chilli flakes, dukka seasoning and finish with lemon juice to dress and serve plain. I ate two fillets, dinner done! 2 glasses of water.
Day 3 - Tuesday 4th December
The weigh-in!
Have I achieved instant results? I've certainly noticed a change in body temperament.
Slight headaches and not quite right stomach. Not to mention toilet unmentionables. But aside all that, probably would have helped if I weighed myself properly at the start. Besides not trusting some very cheap looking scales, looks as though I am around 125kg. A huge 34kgs heavier than when I was 23, and still a good 15-20kg, above what should be my resting weight for a large framed man who is an expert at watching sport and not an avid exerciser.
Breakfast at 9am - 3 rashes of shortcut bacon and 2 eggs beaten and then scrambled on hot pan with a little olive oil. Simple. 2 glasses of water. Done.
10:30am - No sugar soft drink can.
Snack 11:30am - half a 100gm protein bar...weird. Glass of water.
Snack 5:30pm. half a 100gm protein bar...weird. Glass of water.
7pm - Walked the dogs for 20minutes.
Dinner - 7.45pm - made a crust-less quiche...hmmm, not bad. heard that spring onions were OK,so made up 6 eggs beaten, added small pieces of roast chicken (about 1/3rd no skin), shaved ham 50gm, diced spring onion, chopped parsley and basil leaves along with a little salt and pepper. Baked in a small quiche/pie dish on baking paper!
I had just under a quarter. Plus I had about 100 grams of roast chicken with coriander. Plus 500ml sparkling plain water.
How to do coriander chicken...broke up remainder of roast chicken pieces (I used a free-range Lilydale chicken and cooked in oven). Placed in large mixing bowl, diced up a handful of fresh coriander and added to mix. Added chilli flakes. Dropped in a few dashes of fish oil and a dash of soy sauce. Mixed around, and ready to serve.
I am not sure on what the rules are for herbs, but they are a great off-set for plain meat.
Now to make up some meat balls with low-fat mince meat, garlic, some taco seasoning and coriander. Hmmm...tomorrow's next meal!
Hoping to continue the protein only diet until Friday lunch time, so 5 full days! Then to add slowly veggies and salads. If I can drop 5-7 kgs in a week and then go another 5kgs in next fortnight, 10 kgs in three weeks would be an outstanding result...hardest part is to change habits of carbohydrates, but this process should set some real practices of low-carb and low-sugar healthy eating.
BTW lack of sugar headaches are a bitch!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
I will blog again!
Dear Readers,
Do not despair, Soliloquy will return shortly with a whole gammut of new topics to expose and praise the world that we live in.
Stay tuned!
Do not despair, Soliloquy will return shortly with a whole gammut of new topics to expose and praise the world that we live in.
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The consumer shall reign!
Hail CONSUMER!
Aha, at last, a victory for the Voter! The steel beams of corporate society have crumbled in my wake. Persistence has paid off and now my simple indulgence awaits.
Soon my senses will alight from the aroma of freshly popped corn, with each bite, my palate will encrust in a salty blend of butter and crushed corn, my only saviour will be a thirst quenching complimentary post-mix delight. This time no tender shall pass across the counter, no credit card on-line, for I have complimentary tickets and it's Hoyt's who have succumbed to Soliloquy's rebellion.
So after my little rant 'n' rave about no popcorn at 'Black Swan', my wife and I bitched and moaned about how good the movie was, the seats were nice but didn't recline, yet most of all, the sneaky host at La Premiere reneged on the free popcorn. After the film as no-one was there we rang the next day and left a message. After almost a week of playing phone tag my wife actually got onto someone. The first operator said nothing she could do and that we had to write. My wife rejected this and demanded a manager.On hold for a while, I took on the challenge and proceeded with my banter and carefully re-constructed the scene in a real-time like monologue. But the manager 'Wayne' (not his real name but close) totally disregarded my version of logic and expectation and stuck to their policy of "...all complimentary items are self-service..". He failed to acknowledge that we were never communicated that and by the fact that the host actually hand delivered our drinks, then was it not reasonable by precedence, our popcorn too would be hand delivered?
So good old Wayno just listened to me roll around a few analogies such as likening 'McDonalds Drive-Thru' to 'Vue De Monde' comparative service and expectation philosophy etc etc which went nowhere as he didn't even know what Australia's No. 1 restaurant was. So obviously young Wayno, whose barometer for fine dining is limited to a TGI Fridays, came back at me with "..the best I can do is offer you a free La Premiere popcorn". So with a mind to enact some sort of retaliatory vengeance akin to Gary David (or Webb) type of event at the cinema, I calmed myself, said my goodbyes to the sniggering beligerance of the 'Wayno-Wall' and took to the feedback section on Hoyts.com.au to scribe my opinion of a popcornless man.
Here's the result from none other than Wayne himself....
Thanks Wayne, I appreciate that although you had every opportunity to appease my simple request you have now undertaken the humility to express, and in your own words that behaviours were simply 'unacceptable'.
As Metallica says...."And Justice for All!"
Aha, at last, a victory for the Voter! The steel beams of corporate society have crumbled in my wake. Persistence has paid off and now my simple indulgence awaits.
Soon my senses will alight from the aroma of freshly popped corn, with each bite, my palate will encrust in a salty blend of butter and crushed corn, my only saviour will be a thirst quenching complimentary post-mix delight. This time no tender shall pass across the counter, no credit card on-line, for I have complimentary tickets and it's Hoyt's who have succumbed to Soliloquy's rebellion.
So after my little rant 'n' rave about no popcorn at 'Black Swan', my wife and I bitched and moaned about how good the movie was, the seats were nice but didn't recline, yet most of all, the sneaky host at La Premiere reneged on the free popcorn. After the film as no-one was there we rang the next day and left a message. After almost a week of playing phone tag my wife actually got onto someone. The first operator said nothing she could do and that we had to write. My wife rejected this and demanded a manager.On hold for a while, I took on the challenge and proceeded with my banter and carefully re-constructed the scene in a real-time like monologue. But the manager 'Wayne' (not his real name but close) totally disregarded my version of logic and expectation and stuck to their policy of "...all complimentary items are self-service..". He failed to acknowledge that we were never communicated that and by the fact that the host actually hand delivered our drinks, then was it not reasonable by precedence, our popcorn too would be hand delivered?
So good old Wayno just listened to me roll around a few analogies such as likening 'McDonalds Drive-Thru' to 'Vue De Monde' comparative service and expectation philosophy etc etc which went nowhere as he didn't even know what Australia's No. 1 restaurant was. So obviously young Wayno, whose barometer for fine dining is limited to a TGI Fridays, came back at me with "..the best I can do is offer you a free La Premiere popcorn". So with a mind to enact some sort of retaliatory vengeance akin to Gary David (or Webb) type of event at the cinema, I calmed myself, said my goodbyes to the sniggering beligerance of the 'Wayno-Wall' and took to the feedback section on Hoyts.com.au to scribe my opinion of a popcornless man.
Here's the result from none other than Wayne himself....
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Dear Mr. <Soliloquy Report>,
Thank you for the correspondence regarding your recent visit to Hoyts Victoria Gardens. We appreciate your patronage at Hoyts and welcome your feedback. It is this feedback that allows us to improve on the overall cinema experience.
I am writing in response to your letter regarding your La Premiere experience and the problems you encountered with your visit to La Premiere on Australia Day to view Black Swan. Please accept my apology on behalf of the team for failing to deliver you and your wife popcorn upon your request. As stated to you via the phone, the sequence of service in La Premiere does not generally include the delivery of complimentary popcorn or drink due to there being self-service areas. However after discussing the issues at hand with members of my management team we feel that because you were not made aware of this fact at the time of your visit, it is not unreasonable for you to expect it; especially after a request was made. Failing to act on this request is therefore unacceptable.
Our staff are required to follow strict procedures in relation to servicing our La Premiere customers. It is unfortunate that the standard was not reached on your visit. The circumstances you experienced are extremely rare and we have taken measures to ensure that the incident is isolated. I do however apologise for the inconvenience this caused.
Again, thank you for communicating your feedback. As a gesture of good will I would like to offer you two La Premiere complimentary passes that you can redeem at any participating Hoyts location. Please forward a mailing address so that I can send these to you. I am confident that your next visit to Hoyts will be an enjoyable one.
Yours sincerely,
<Wayno 'tail between my legs' Movie Manager>Thanks Wayne, I appreciate that although you had every opportunity to appease my simple request you have now undertaken the humility to express, and in your own words that behaviours were simply 'unacceptable'.
As Metallica says...."And Justice for All!"
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Where's my Popcorn!
Dear Readers,
It's been a while but I have been embarking on a solitude of cinematic research, horticulture and other lame activities all in an effort to subdue the inevitable mindset of other year of self-employment. But I am here again for the opposite of my penultimate update in the life of 'The Soliloquy Report'.
The Arachnid Garden is still at large with Pablo becoming somewhat of a nuisance. He has taken to refraining from his beautiful displays of web architecture to simply hanging loose from the 'Bird of Paradise' fern in the front garden, just dangling from a strand of web. Quite useless it would appear, given it's unlikely he will capture some unsuspecting insect, unless of course the insect is a volunteer in the Insect Fire Brigade (or INF as it's commonly known in the world of larvae inhabitants) and has mistaken the strand for a pole in the insect firehouse, sliding down on the way to an emergency. Unlikely as it seems, for the past few days that's all Pablo has offered me.
To to further add to his delinquency, he foolishly crossed the line and appeared last night right on top of the front door. Silly, silly little Pablo. Even though he is twice the size of his arachnid brethren, he may have the run of the front garden but he has stepped too far on this occasion and should have not have made an attempt to which he will ultimately regret.
So as anyone would do to protect their home against an object that is nearly one billionth its size, I cornered Pablo next to the front sensor light and with swift flick of the wrist holding a loose piece of cardboard, sent him flying into oblivion; or in actual fact the direction of the overly abundant gravel driveway. So is that the end of Pablo? Will I see him again? Will he migrate to another home and spin his webs of wonder or will he mount an rebellious attack? Hmmm...
If he does come to a gravely grave, he can't be to upset, I have effectively made him a celebrity of the arachnid world. Perhaps he will be remembered as somewhat of a show pony who simply went off the rails and ended up eating dirt as you do on a foul, fall from grace. I shed no tears, for Pablo, as he has been gifted a second chance of life. He can slowly amble across that gravel horizon, perhaps onto greener pastures, a bit Nick Kershaw like, filled with gullible insects to slowly ingest and may even one day have little Pablo's to spread the message of his fame and inhabit the earth with such prowess and efficiency.
On the topic of gravel mind you, our driveway is full of it. About 20 metres by 10 metres of white and grey gravel, encased on one side buy seriously scary and overgrown cactus plants and a brick walled garden bed on the other. From one angle it looks as though you are in the some sort of desert, yet it's a gravel desert with a 3 metre high cactus tree, just loping and scratching at you. Who likes grave anyway? It flies everywhere, it gets in your shoes, you cant walk bare feet on it and if you do it looks like your stepping on hot coals. It chips the paint on your car, it drivels out the driveway so you have to sweep it up constantly otherwise you receive the side-glanced wrath of some overzealous neighbour, who has OCD over the facade of her house and garden. I mean look at where else gravel is used; Garden beds - looks ugly, Roads - major cause of fish-tailing and in turn accidents. What a useless bloody suggestion...hmmm lets smash rocks into little pieces and drive on it?
Gravel has even made its way into film, yet this time as a culinary delight. In 'Life of Brian', "Packet of Gravel?" he asks the Colosseum spectators. I mean really, how oppressed were they? Eating a packet of gravel! How'd they afford entry if all they could afford was a packet of gravel to nibble on? How they invented lasagna is beyond me.
Talking about movies, I have seen two hands full in recent times. While wasting time early in the new year before I had to catch a plane, I saw 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. Up until then I hadn't seen a full Harry Four-Eyes film yet. But I must say I was particularly impressed with the 'darkness' of the film, especially Ralph Fiennes as the arch nemesis of Harry. He is a real 'nasty' that Ralph; it's no wonder he simply absconded himself from any wrongdoing when he clocked up another 'mile high club' mile with that Qantas flight attendant whose life has since gone to ruin. I hope he gets to disembowel Potter with his wand and get Hermione pregnant while Ron sits and watches whilst being half eaten by a dragon. JK Rowling will need to keep her empire going so if she knocks off 'Voldemort' no-one wants to know about a 'man-wizard', unless he's a fiendish bastard played by Ralph.
So to catch-up I watched all 6 films. I am still not sure what all the fuss is about Emma Watson, she would easily pass down the street without a second look. If I was any of them I would retire with the $30mil I'd made and buy a Zoo.
Next on the film scene was 'The Kings Speech'. I dare you to find a better film in recent years that provides such sheer acting brilliance from the entire cast; perhaps faultless? A great story and sublime efforts by Rush and Firth. Does Rush make a bad film? He must arguably be our greatest ever actor on the world scene?! One of the very few who was actually born in Australia, even if it was Queensland. Some of my fav's are 'Shine', 'Quills' and 'Munich'. Hope he gets the gong over Bale for the Oscar, although haven't seen 'The Fighter' yet.
So another theatrical delight was 'Black Swan', that Aronofsky has a dark sense of reality and loves drawing out the fear from his characters. This film will grow in status over the years. But whilst the film was all engaging, our bellies were moaning, why because the Hoyts girl at La Premiere Victoria Gardens, failed to deliver our complimentary popcorn. First we arrive just as the ads had started, she welcomes us, and we notice the decadent surroundings, fitting given we are paying almost $70. So she asks if we would like anything, "No, just our complimentary drink and popcorn". She asks what soft drink we would like and escorts us to our seats. So we sit down, the chairs are roomy, but they don't recline. Note to self, Gold Class at Village better. So we wait awhile and then these puny plastic cups with a lid and straw are brought to us, it looked like something a Kindergarten would serve a four year old. I ask nicely "Is it Ok if we could get our popcorn soon", yes yes she says and then in a flash disappears.
So after the film starts, we look around and everyone is munching down on their popcorn, amazingly no staff in sight and we are in the front row, so can't be stuffed looking back all the time to see if Hoyts creme of the crop, 'La Premiere' staff are loitering. We look at each other like "Do we go and ask?" "But I don't want to miss the film". Who'd want to leave when I've just seen the gorgeous Natalie Portman undertake a full straddle masturbation exercise. What a scene! It must have been embarrassing to deliver as was Sascha Baron Cohen's delivering oral sex in 'Bruno' during the clairvoyant session. Then again, he wrote it?
Oh well, so we stayed glued to our seats, watching Natalie freak-out over Mila and undertake the Swan Queen in a dazzling performance all the while our mouths remained quenched with the everlasting flavours of Sprite and Coke Zero, whilst our minds were craving that salty, buttery aftertaste of popped corn.
So the movie ends and guess what, the place is a ghost town. No staff in sight, no one to enact our vengeance upon, no poor, zit faced teenager to unleash the wrath of 'dissatisfied customer'. We had 2 hours to prepare our cavalcade of rhetoric and sarcasm, hoping to unleash upon some poor summer holiday adolescent. If successful, such a vehement rage would have no doubt rendered them sleepless for days. Over and over in their mind they would stutter and murmur "If only one more bucket of popcorn had to be dredged from the warm stainless steel popcorn pit". Yet it be of no concern as all their lives were left more bountiful than ever, taking home an easy $12/hour to rip a ticket in half and say "Enjoy the movie". Then like Natalie, they'd go home content with a hard nights work and execute fearless self-pleasure to a wall bound 2D Megan Fox or Twilight icon. Instead if we had found them, no Megan Fox poster would be the ointment to cure their mental ailment after the oral lashings and character degradation we would have spawned. But alas, it was past 11:15pm, Mummy and Daddy had collected them all, whisked them away from the responsible adult world to dote on their Megan Fox adornment, untainted by the anti-customer and will sleep well...until tomorrow that is.
It's been a while but I have been embarking on a solitude of cinematic research, horticulture and other lame activities all in an effort to subdue the inevitable mindset of other year of self-employment. But I am here again for the opposite of my penultimate update in the life of 'The Soliloquy Report'.
The Arachnid Garden is still at large with Pablo becoming somewhat of a nuisance. He has taken to refraining from his beautiful displays of web architecture to simply hanging loose from the 'Bird of Paradise' fern in the front garden, just dangling from a strand of web. Quite useless it would appear, given it's unlikely he will capture some unsuspecting insect, unless of course the insect is a volunteer in the Insect Fire Brigade (or INF as it's commonly known in the world of larvae inhabitants) and has mistaken the strand for a pole in the insect firehouse, sliding down on the way to an emergency. Unlikely as it seems, for the past few days that's all Pablo has offered me.
To to further add to his delinquency, he foolishly crossed the line and appeared last night right on top of the front door. Silly, silly little Pablo. Even though he is twice the size of his arachnid brethren, he may have the run of the front garden but he has stepped too far on this occasion and should have not have made an attempt to which he will ultimately regret.
So as anyone would do to protect their home against an object that is nearly one billionth its size, I cornered Pablo next to the front sensor light and with swift flick of the wrist holding a loose piece of cardboard, sent him flying into oblivion; or in actual fact the direction of the overly abundant gravel driveway. So is that the end of Pablo? Will I see him again? Will he migrate to another home and spin his webs of wonder or will he mount an rebellious attack? Hmmm...
If he does come to a gravely grave, he can't be to upset, I have effectively made him a celebrity of the arachnid world. Perhaps he will be remembered as somewhat of a show pony who simply went off the rails and ended up eating dirt as you do on a foul, fall from grace. I shed no tears, for Pablo, as he has been gifted a second chance of life. He can slowly amble across that gravel horizon, perhaps onto greener pastures, a bit Nick Kershaw like, filled with gullible insects to slowly ingest and may even one day have little Pablo's to spread the message of his fame and inhabit the earth with such prowess and efficiency.
On the topic of gravel mind you, our driveway is full of it. About 20 metres by 10 metres of white and grey gravel, encased on one side buy seriously scary and overgrown cactus plants and a brick walled garden bed on the other. From one angle it looks as though you are in the some sort of desert, yet it's a gravel desert with a 3 metre high cactus tree, just loping and scratching at you. Who likes grave anyway? It flies everywhere, it gets in your shoes, you cant walk bare feet on it and if you do it looks like your stepping on hot coals. It chips the paint on your car, it drivels out the driveway so you have to sweep it up constantly otherwise you receive the side-glanced wrath of some overzealous neighbour, who has OCD over the facade of her house and garden. I mean look at where else gravel is used; Garden beds - looks ugly, Roads - major cause of fish-tailing and in turn accidents. What a useless bloody suggestion...hmmm lets smash rocks into little pieces and drive on it?
Gravel has even made its way into film, yet this time as a culinary delight. In 'Life of Brian', "Packet of Gravel?" he asks the Colosseum spectators. I mean really, how oppressed were they? Eating a packet of gravel! How'd they afford entry if all they could afford was a packet of gravel to nibble on? How they invented lasagna is beyond me.
Talking about movies, I have seen two hands full in recent times. While wasting time early in the new year before I had to catch a plane, I saw 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. Up until then I hadn't seen a full Harry Four-Eyes film yet. But I must say I was particularly impressed with the 'darkness' of the film, especially Ralph Fiennes as the arch nemesis of Harry. He is a real 'nasty' that Ralph; it's no wonder he simply absconded himself from any wrongdoing when he clocked up another 'mile high club' mile with that Qantas flight attendant whose life has since gone to ruin. I hope he gets to disembowel Potter with his wand and get Hermione pregnant while Ron sits and watches whilst being half eaten by a dragon. JK Rowling will need to keep her empire going so if she knocks off 'Voldemort' no-one wants to know about a 'man-wizard', unless he's a fiendish bastard played by Ralph.
So to catch-up I watched all 6 films. I am still not sure what all the fuss is about Emma Watson, she would easily pass down the street without a second look. If I was any of them I would retire with the $30mil I'd made and buy a Zoo.
Next on the film scene was 'The Kings Speech'. I dare you to find a better film in recent years that provides such sheer acting brilliance from the entire cast; perhaps faultless? A great story and sublime efforts by Rush and Firth. Does Rush make a bad film? He must arguably be our greatest ever actor on the world scene?! One of the very few who was actually born in Australia, even if it was Queensland. Some of my fav's are 'Shine', 'Quills' and 'Munich'. Hope he gets the gong over Bale for the Oscar, although haven't seen 'The Fighter' yet.
So another theatrical delight was 'Black Swan', that Aronofsky has a dark sense of reality and loves drawing out the fear from his characters. This film will grow in status over the years. But whilst the film was all engaging, our bellies were moaning, why because the Hoyts girl at La Premiere Victoria Gardens, failed to deliver our complimentary popcorn. First we arrive just as the ads had started, she welcomes us, and we notice the decadent surroundings, fitting given we are paying almost $70. So she asks if we would like anything, "No, just our complimentary drink and popcorn". She asks what soft drink we would like and escorts us to our seats. So we sit down, the chairs are roomy, but they don't recline. Note to self, Gold Class at Village better. So we wait awhile and then these puny plastic cups with a lid and straw are brought to us, it looked like something a Kindergarten would serve a four year old. I ask nicely "Is it Ok if we could get our popcorn soon", yes yes she says and then in a flash disappears.
So after the film starts, we look around and everyone is munching down on their popcorn, amazingly no staff in sight and we are in the front row, so can't be stuffed looking back all the time to see if Hoyts creme of the crop, 'La Premiere' staff are loitering. We look at each other like "Do we go and ask?" "But I don't want to miss the film". Who'd want to leave when I've just seen the gorgeous Natalie Portman undertake a full straddle masturbation exercise. What a scene! It must have been embarrassing to deliver as was Sascha Baron Cohen's delivering oral sex in 'Bruno' during the clairvoyant session. Then again, he wrote it?
Oh well, so we stayed glued to our seats, watching Natalie freak-out over Mila and undertake the Swan Queen in a dazzling performance all the while our mouths remained quenched with the everlasting flavours of Sprite and Coke Zero, whilst our minds were craving that salty, buttery aftertaste of popped corn.
So the movie ends and guess what, the place is a ghost town. No staff in sight, no one to enact our vengeance upon, no poor, zit faced teenager to unleash the wrath of 'dissatisfied customer'. We had 2 hours to prepare our cavalcade of rhetoric and sarcasm, hoping to unleash upon some poor summer holiday adolescent. If successful, such a vehement rage would have no doubt rendered them sleepless for days. Over and over in their mind they would stutter and murmur "If only one more bucket of popcorn had to be dredged from the warm stainless steel popcorn pit". Yet it be of no concern as all their lives were left more bountiful than ever, taking home an easy $12/hour to rip a ticket in half and say "Enjoy the movie". Then like Natalie, they'd go home content with a hard nights work and execute fearless self-pleasure to a wall bound 2D Megan Fox or Twilight icon. Instead if we had found them, no Megan Fox poster would be the ointment to cure their mental ailment after the oral lashings and character degradation we would have spawned. But alas, it was past 11:15pm, Mummy and Daddy had collected them all, whisked them away from the responsible adult world to dote on their Megan Fox adornment, untainted by the anti-customer and will sleep well...until tomorrow that is.
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