late night shopping

What is it about teenage kids thinking that its cool to hang around at shopping centres on Thursday nights? Being late night shopping night, I took the opportunity to swing by my local Westfield shopping centre to see if there were any good DVDs on sale (as you do), and there were teenage kids everywhere. Just hanging around, socialising. None of them looked like they were shopping at all. Just hanging around in large clusters, in the way of everyone, being loud and getting in your way. Being annoying in general. Geez, find something better to do. I mean sure, Thursday night TV is usually pretty average, but can't they find somewhere else to be cool? Its not like there's even cinemas or a Timezone to give them any real reason to be there if they're not shopping. Makes me wonder what I got up to on Thursday nights when I was a schoolkid - probably busy doing a graphics assignment while listening to the radio...

stupid thinking errors

Just stumbled upon what I thought was an interesting article, take a read of it if you have a chance. It discusses seven common thinking errors - biases which can impair your decision making, problem solving and learning. Handy to be aware of. For anyone looking to waste more time on this, you can find a more extensive list of cognitive biases here.

It looks like its that time of the year again when all the regular TV shows take a break and the stations either put some random (and usually below average) new shows a run and see how popular (or not) they are, or fill a timeslot with an old series that you love (or hate) but haven't seen on commercial television for a long time. Oh well, gives me a good chance to start working my way through these books and DVDs.

guniea pig

On Thursday I was the guinea pig for a PhD thesis. It wasn't the first time either - back when I finished school, I was involved in some postgrad research and had to answer all these questions about my school experience. Anyway, this time around it was an hour interview about innovation in the workplace or something like that. I scored a nice pen out of it so its all good.

Lately I have been increasing my book or DVD collection (or both) pretty much every time I go shopping. I don't know why, but I just keep accumulating. I can't help it. So now I have all of these movies to watch and books to read. Something to keep me busy during holidays I suppose. Though I have been slowly working my way through the DVDs, last few included Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Hot Fuzz. Now those were two great movies.

I have a few framed pictures etc hanging on the wall in my room, with a few over my bed. Call me paranoid, but I'm kinda scared of them falling down on me while I'm sleeping. That would not be cool at all. It would hurt.

the whitlams

Ok, so I just got home from seeing The Whitlams with the Queensland Orchestra. I enjoyed it, more than I thought I would. I'm hardly what you would call a Whitlams fan - I like Blow Up The Pokies and have a copy of Torch The Moon sitting around the room which I had hardly listened to. It was different to any other gig I had been to - being at the arts centre with the orchestra meant no mosh pits and people were generally quite subdued (not to mention generally older...). The music was good, and the orchestra made it even better. Their normal drummer was actually on tour with Missy Higgins (who also happened to be playing on the coast tonight), and so they had some young guy who looked like Stephen Curry in The Castle. I only wish that I was better at controlling the urge to join in on my air drum kit...

A few people seemed to think it would be okay to use flash photography in the theatre, idiots... It was really annoying, and several people were doing it so it was proving to be difficult to catch them. However, after a few warnings from the ushers, they seemed to get the point.

Anyway, a few highlights of the night:

1. One of the best bits was actually a five minute section in the middle of a song where The Whitlams actually did nothing, and the strings took over and did their thing, they were great.
2. A rapper who wrote a song with Tim Freedman actually came on and performed, it was cool seeing this unlikely mix of rap, The Whitlams and the Queensland Orchestra. It sounded really good, though I'm not sure what the oldies thought about it. There was a huge applause for it though.
3. Tim's chat in between songs - he's quite a funny fellow, in a way I find amusing anyway. Occasionally the odd comment about politics etc, but only ever a quick passing comment, nothing like what you'd expect from, say, Bono of U2. He did get a "Kevin 07" yell from one person in the crowd though (in case you didn't figure it out, the band are named after former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, have a song called Gough and are supporters of the Labor Party).
4. Some crazy girl sitting near the front right hand corner stood up and danced along beside the stage like a madwoman to the final song of the night, You Look Like Louis Burdett.

I bought a concert program for $10, I usually buy one when I go to a performance like a play, musical or ballet, though this one was quite a ripoff I reckon. However, I thought I should stick to tradition, plus I didn't pay for my ticket so why not. Got it signed by Tim afterwards, he came out to the foyer to do signings and photos, and I somehow ended up pretty much at the front of the line. So I didn't have to wait long, but long enough for the traffic to disappear.

Anyway am off to bed, I can smell the weekend already, and it smells good.

solitaire

I think I'm addicted to solitaire. The internet at work slows down during lunchtime, so I started playing solitaire when the net became impossible to use. Now I am addicted. Its weird, I don't seem to gain any enjoyment from the game anymore, I become automatic when I play it now, I don't really think, I just do it. Thankfully I don't have it on my home computer...

free stuff is always good

Finally got around to watching the director's cut of Donnie Darko on Friday night - I bought the 3 disc collector's edition not too long ago - and it makes soo much more sense than the normal release, especially if its the first time you've watched it. Shows related excerpts of Roberta Sparrow's book during different events in the movie, so that you don't have to do what I did, watching the movie several times, going on the net and reading through the so-called book, and then watch the movie again some more. Great movie either way.

Birthday party on Saturday night went well. Not bad for not much of an organisational effort on my behalf. Quite a bit of cake left over, and its very rich stuff, struggling to get through it. Dessert every day for the next few weeks at work I reckon. Big thanks for everyone that was there, and for the very awesome gifts too. Also, if you like freebies, tell people at the cashier that its your birthday. I managed to score a couple of free promo bottle openers and, of all things, lip gloss and nail polish, from a DVD store. A bit strange and random, but not bad for pretending it was my birthday. Free stuff is always good.

Was at the beach today up north (to avoid the schoolies), and you can see my sunglasses tan. Ah well. It was a good day, it wasn't too hot of a day but it didn't rain either. I can still taste the salt. Also won tickets on the radio to see The Whitlams on Thursday night, first time I've ever attempted to call in to a radio competition. So that was cool. Once again, free stuff is always good.

Anyway gotta be on site early tomorrow morning. Very early, especially by my standards.

more decisions

I bought a pair of shoes this evening. After narrowing it down to two pairs, I asked a girl who worked there which one I should pick. Following some discussion, pondering and changing shoes several times, she recommended the cheaper one despite not wanting to make the decision for me. This seems to be the way to go for me when it comes to be buying clothes - narrow it down to what you kinda want and then get someone else to pick which one.

Spice Girls - or Spice Women, whatever you are - your time is long over, go away. Apparently their new single is a dud, and no one is really buying it. I haven't even heard it on the radio yet, or at all in fact (not that I'm complaining of course). Hope they see the light and cancel their world tour. Bon Jovi, on the other hand, managed to sell out their Australian concerts in minutes. Shame they're only playing in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. They've added another Sydney show due to overwhelming demand. They haven't been here since 1995. Lost Highway, their new album (their 10th!), is more countryish and less synth-rockish, but is still pretty good. Though for the sake of the people who were lucky enough to snap up a ticket, I do hope they play a lot of the old stuff. Oh, and on the topic of Bon Jovi, word is that Jon Bon Jovi is planning to run for Governor of New Jersey. Hmm, sounds familiar...

Anyway, the latest Engineers Australia mag just arrived today, so I'm off to squeeze in some reading before I go to bed.

decisions decisions

Well, got to my car this morning to find that there was a magpie hovering around the driver's window, continually pecking it and making a squealing sound every now and then. I'm not sure what sparked it, the car isn't exciting at all. Nothing worth fluttering around and pecking at. I have bad memories of being attacked by birds when I was younger... Luckily the bird flew away after a couple of minutes, so I was all good.

Meanwhile, I am terrible when it comes to making decisions. Which makes shopping interesting, although I am susceptible to many cases of impulsive buying. Bought a shirt on Tuesday, and I don't really know whether it looks good or not. The two salesgirls just kept suggesting things to try on and then judged whether it looked good or not - girls tend to be good at that kind of thing. Eventually I bought the one that they liked the best. I did observe the prices though, to see if they were screwing me over and upselling me, but what I found was that the one that they liked most at the end was cheaper than others. So I guess I can't complain with it too much.

When I got my hair cut on Monday, I realised that I didn't like it all that much - it seemed too short. Admittedly I was probably too used to the sight of a mass of hair on my head lately, but I still think it was too much on the short side. Oh well, I guess it will grow back eventually. You know how they get out the mirror at the end to show you what your cut looks looks like from all angles, and ask you what you think? I am curious to see how the hairdresser (well, technically I was at a barber, though she was female... can I still call her a barber, or is that a bit weird?) would've reacted if I had told her that it was too short? Its hardly like there's anything she can do to fix that. I remember I once said it was still too long for my liking and asked if they could cut it a little more, and they seemed fine with that. But that was because there was something they could do about it, and it didn't take that long.

west end riot

Well, what do you know... In Italian football, a Lazio fan was killed during a clash with Juventus supporters at a highway rest stop. A police officer fired a warning shot into the air from his pistol to break up the clash, he somehow hit a young man in the neck, who was in one of the vehicles (not sure exactly how that could happen...). As you could imagine, fans rioted a few hours later, attacking a police station near Lazio's home ground. Hundreds of youths dragged metal barricades and trash bins to block off one end of a bridge, and then proceeded to storm the yard of a police station, hurling stones at passing police cars and smashed windows in an attack at the nearby Italian Olympic Committee headquarters. The match between Lazio and Juventus was postponed, and as news of the incident spread, a scuffle between supporters and police in riot gear occurred at the match betwen Atlanta and AC Milan. The match went ahead, but a small group of fans covered their faces with scarves and tried to smash the glass barrier keeping them from the pitch, which led to the players leaving the field in the seventh minute. The game was abandoned, and two other matches were postponed. Now, lets hope that this kind of thing never happens down under...

What's with the campaign launches this week? The Coalition had theirs in Brisbane today, while Labour's campaign launch will be at the same venue on Wednesday. It feels weird, as far as I'm concerned the campaigns have been going on for ages...

I have been thinking lately about getting a motorbike licence and a motorbike, with low fuel consumption and ease of parking in mind. However, the thought of getting in an accident has put me off it for now. I got my hair cut at lunch today, and while waiting, I was reading the Gold Coast Bulletin, and on the front page was an article about yet another motorcyclist death yesterday. It was the 20th motorcyclist to die on the southeast region's roads this year. I know that a lot of motorcyclists out there are speeding idiots, weaving between cars at high speeds without any regard for road rules, but this is a generalisation. Its the few idiots that ruin it for the rest and give them a bad name, something which also happens with cyclists. The problem is that it is not always the cyclist's fault - people in cars have to keep a close eye out when sharing the road with their two-wheeled counterparts. I've heard too many stories of accidents occuring with drivers running over cyclists, or sideswiping motorbikes, and I think its the reason that I prefer riding on footpaths, as much as pedestrians hate it. So, for now, no motorbike, though it would be good to get a decent bike to ride in to work...

schoolies around the corner

Ok, so I've been a little lazy over the last few days with new posts. I'm sure that you will survive. First things first - Ben Cousins. I don't care about him skipping on rehab in the US and going on a cocaine binge or whatever he did. The media seems to still have an interest in it still, which is a shame. I don't want to hear about him anymore, its time to move on.

Its nearly Schoolies time again, and this year a huge one kilometre long and 1.8 metre high wire fence will be erected at Surfers Paradise beach. The purpose - to keep out the older gatecrashers, also known as "Toolies". They're also hoping that the fence will help in keeping "Foolies" out - kids as young as 13 who are wanting to get a feel of the action long before they themselves graduate. The fence will go up at 4pm each afternoon for the week-long celebration, starting on Friday, and be removed at 5am the next morning. There will be two entries and two exits, and only officials and people identified as schoolies will be permitted to enter and take part in the beach celebrations. I am interested to see exactly how it works, so maybe I should swing by next weekend and find out... Actually, if anything, Surfers Paradise is the last place I want to be during Schoolies. Looks like I may as well head down further south to Burleigh or Kirra if I want to hit the surf next weekend.

To the A-League, and police have had to use capsicum spray to control wild clashes between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC fans following their 0-0 draw last night in front of 32000 fans at Melbourne's Telstra Dome. Eight fans were evicted from the stadium and another was charged with posessing a flare. A number of Sydney supporters were involved in damage to property and disruptive behaviour on the way to the ground, outside there were verbal altercations between supporters from both sides and some plastic containers thrown, and inside the ground venue staff and police kept the two supporter groups separated, with sections of the crowd trying to breach the security line after the match with police resorting to using capsicum spray to keep the groups apart. As a keen sports fan who enjoys having a good time at a sporting event, it is the few people who take it too far and ruin it for the rest of us that piss me off. I understand that some people get very emotional about their sport, but its no reason to start acting like an angry mob and start a riot. I sure hope that Australian football supporters doesn't become like their European counterparts...

In sharemarket news, BHP Billiton have made a $232 million play for arch rival Rio Tinto, which sent the Rio share price surging to a $130.90 high. Now, this is huge stuff - both BHP and Rio account for the stock market's $1.67 trillion value, and the merged company would control more than 30% of the world's iron ore, oilfields in six continents and huge amounts of the world's resources, ranging from copper to diamonds. The two groups generated combined profits of $22 billion last year, which is more than the Government's budget. Unfortunately I am not a Rio shareholder, though I did buy about 120 Rio shares in a sharemarket game not too long ago.

get this, but for not much longer

I won't bother going into detail about the first day of the first test today, those who would be interested would know all about it already anyway. Though I will say that I was surprised at the amount of play they squeezed in today, it wasn't looking good this morning. I'm just hoping the weather holds up on Saturday...

Anyway its good to have cricket to listen to at work in between music - lately I have been listening to previous podcasts of my favourite radio show of all time, and at the rate I'm going I will have gone through the whole back catalogue by the end of the month. The show is called "Get This" on Triple M, starring Tony Martin, Ed Kavalee and Richard Marsland, and after being moved around a couple of times it is now on 2-4pm weekdays. Since I don't get Triple M reception in the current office, I have to settle for the podcasts.

The sad news is that Austereo have decided to axe the show, despite it being one of Triple M's top rating programs. They claim that they want to focus more on their attention and resources on new breakfast shows. The worst part is that it appears that the show's popularity proved to be its downfall. According to an article in The Age, "In a pattern repeated across the country, figures jumped from about 5 per cent audience share to about 11 per cent during the two-hour program, when it aired at 11am. They fell back to near 6 per cent when the station returned to music." So basically, their issue is that no-one listens to the bits before and after the show. For those wondering, the show started in April 2006 at 9-10am. In 2007 they were moved to 11am-1pm, and then moved to their current timeslot.

More stats for ya: In Melbourne, Get This is second in its slot, while the station is fifth overall. In Sydney Get This is fifth, Triple M ninth; in Brisbane Get This is second, Triple M fourth; and while in Adelaide the program is in third place, the station lags in sixth place. It just doesn't make sense, does it?

On Monday, there were "Save Get This" rallies at Triple M's Melbourne and Sydney studios, with about 170 people at the Melbourne rally. Wish I was there. There are also a couple of petitions going around to save the show, I've supported one already.

Its a real shame, this show is the only thing that could make me suddenly burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter while in the office at work... The last show is on November 23, so do tune in at some point before then and see why I am kicking up all this fuss while you still can. Though if you are a serious kind of person and don't appreciate random silly humour, forget it.

pm says sorry?

Seems that everyone is talking about today's rate rise of 25 basis points, the first ever during an election campaign (like everything lately, it all comes back to politics...) to take official rates to 6.75 percent. Mr Howard has come out and said "I would say to the borrowers of Australia that I am sorry about that." But wait, there's more. Some analysts are forecasting that rising inflation and strong economic growth will lead to interest rates peaking at 7.25 percent within six months, pushing the variable home lending rates to 9.07 percent. Despite Johnny's promise to keep interest rates low, we have been slugged with ten interest rate rises in the last five years, including six since the last election (in 2004). I wanted to buy a house in the nearish future...

To sport, and I'm looking forward to the start of the first test against Sri Lanka tomorrow at the Gabba. Might go for a day on the weekend. Though the weather is my main concern - it was raining consistently today and it's not looking too great for the next couple of days according to BOM:

Thursday - Cloudy with a few showers
Friday - A shower or two
Saturday - Mostly fine
Sunday - Mostly fine
Monday - Fine

Hey, at least the weekend should be good when I go. Looking forward to see Mitchell Johnson on his test debut, as well as of course the big hitting of Hayden and Symonds. Will also be interesting to see how Phil Jacques goes as Haydos' opening partner. After the whole controversy behind the racist "monkey chants" directed at Symonds in India recently, I am wondering whether this will have a positive or negative effect (or none at all) on the sledging that Murali will cop from the crowd. I have been to many-a-game at the Gabba featuring Sri Lanka, and the controversial off-spinner with the, er, "questionable action", has always been the centre of attention when it comes to copping it from the Aussie supporters. My favourite has to be the "no-ball" shout everytime he bowls a ball - and the crowd never tires of it.

While on the topic of the cricket, I want to speak my mind about the "fun police", and what they have done to the game. In recent times, we have seen the demise of some of what I would regard as enjoyable features of attending a match at the Gabba, most notably mexican waves and beach balls. Especially with the slower pace of test match cricket, for a lot of people the point of going to a match is to enjoy the atmosphere, and with the restrictions by the fun police, I feel that a lot of this lost without the intermittent distractions of beach balls flying around and trying to get a mexican wave started and keeping it going. Admittedly, something had to be done about crowd rowdiness, with rubbish being thrown in the air, and consequently landing on the field, as people throw anything they have in their posession into the air as they rise for the mexican wave. During these mexican waves, I have had beer spilt all over me, have been hit by a can (which wasn't even supposed to be permitted in the grounds), and have even seen a wallet thrown in the air. As the crowd get drunker and rowdier, it does get infinitely harder to control and manage - you can't simply kick everyone out, and it is painful seeing the game get stopped for 15 minutes because the crowd is going nuts and pelting food etc onto the field. So I suppose I can see both sides of the story when it comes to mexican waves, but beach balls... come on, give us a break. Oh well. This doesn't stop me going, its still a fun day out when you have the right people with you, and go with the right attitude. As long as I'm not one of the cops or security that cops (excuse the pun) the hatred and abuse of the crowd.

horses and meat loaf

First of all, just a quick rundown on the Melbourne Cup, the race that apparently stops the nation. I don't know about you, but I swear stuff was still moving. At least I had an excuse to take a break from "doing work". Anyway, Efficient came from the back of the field and reeled in Purple Moon in the final metres to win by just over a head, with Mahler three lengths back in third. For the win, Efficient paid out at odds of 24-1, and a trifecta would've come in very handy at $1431. In a bid to link this story to politics, Kevin Rudd was given Efficient in a sweep, and also had $10 on the horse, whereas all John Howard could muster was some money on Mahler. Is this a sign of things to come election-wise?

In other news, I was getting excited when I heard news on Sunday of the legendary Meat Loaf (aka Michael Lee Aday), bringing his Three Bats Tour down under, including a show in Brisbane. For those of you who don't know what or who I am on about, this is the man behind hits such as "Paradise By The Dashboard Light", "Bat Out Of Hell", "You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth" and, my favourite of them all, the epic masterpiece "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)". However, he apparently walked off stage at a performance in Newcastle, England, telling the audience "This is the last show I may ever do in my life. This is my last ever gig, this is my last ever song. Thanks for 30 years, I can't do this anymore." Oh well, I wasn't going to bother to go see him anyway, he's hardly what you'd call a pretty sight... I can just rock out to him from the comfort of my own home.

are you in the top 2%???

Try your hand at an old favourite riddle of mine that I recently re-stumbled upon - I remember my Year 8 English teacher giving this to us in class. Oh, and just for the record - I am in the top 2%, apparently :) Though, I must admit, I'm sure that educational standards have risen quite a bit since his time, so I'm not that special at all.

ALBERT EINSTEIN'S RIDDLE

ARE YOU IN THE TOP 2% OF INTELLIGENT PEOPLE IN THE WORLD? SOLVE THE RIDDLE AND FIND OUT.

There are no tricks, just pure logic, so good luck and don't give up.

1. In a street there are five houses, painted five different colours.
2. In each house lives a person of different nationality
3. These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke different brand of cigar and keep a different pet.

THE QUESTION: WHO OWNS THE FISH?

HINTS
1. The Brit lives in a red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the centre house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbour who drinks water.

ALBERT EINSTEIN WROTE THIS RIDDLE EARLY DURING THE 19th CENTURY. HE SAID THAT 98% OF THE WORLD POPULATION WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SOLVE IT.

Ps. See the comments for a clue ie. a giveaway of the answer :)

i knew i forgot something

You know how sometimes you just get that funny feeling that you've left something at home? Yeah, well I got that feeling this morning as I headed to the gym, and then decided that I must be paranoid. Turns out I forgot my belt. I mean, its not that big of a deal, my pants are hardly baggy, they counteract the forces of gravity quite easily on their own, but I feel that the belt is required for aesthetic purposes. It just doesn't look right when you're wearing a collared, long sleeve, buttoned up shirt tucked into trousers without a belt on. I think its even worse today as I am wearing brown/cream pants. Oh well, I don't really care anymore.

To update you all on the topic of the "smoko break" girl, ACT Education Minister Andrew Barr has rejected the claims that the student was given permission to take the smoke breaks. According to him, the student was given permission to leave the school grounds, but not for the purpose of taking a cigarette break, and that the ACT Government has a zero tolerance policy on smoking. I wonder who is behind all of this, Anna Coren or Tracy Grimshaw? One of those types anyway, I bet... However, something interesting to note is that there are five ACT secondary colleges with students in year 11 and 12 that provide designated smoking areas for students, though these are to be phased out by the ACT Government by January to stop students and staff smoking on school grounds.

i'm stressed, give me a smoke

Just reading about a Year 10 student who has been given permission to take cigarette breaks at school - apparently she is clinically addicted to nicotine. This is ridiculous - I am not a smoker, but I really couldn't care less about people smoking. They can waste their money and kill their lungs all they want for all I care, as long as they don't do it near me. However, a school allowing a schoolkid to smoke is just absurd. So, apparently this girl smokes as much as a packet a day and is allowed to smoke in the school grounds, near the staff carpark and away from other students, to relieve the "stress" of her Year 10 studies. You have to be kidding me... isn't it illegal to supply cigarettes to anyone under 18? She isn't legally allowed to smoke, yet she is allowed to smoke at school? This really isn't setting the right example for other students, is it? Also, to make things worse, her mum rewards her with six cigarettes a day for doing her chores and behaving at school. So basically, "you've been a good kid, here's some cancer." I just don't understand some people...

to be an all-rounder, or not to be

Apologies to those who aren't sports fans, but I happen to be one. I'll try not to make my posts all about sport all the time, but do expect a lot of it in the future. In cricket news, the Queensland Bulls happen to be playing a three day first-class match against the touring Sri Lankans - think of it as a warm-up for the Lankans. Yesterday was the second day of the match and 37 year old veteran Andy Bichel, batting at No. 6, scored an agressive 125 runs, in a four hour knock that included 11 fours and seven sixes from 169 balls. Shame I wasn't there to see it. This guy is a true champion - he's known as a bowler, but the guy is truly underestimated when it comes to his batting. This was his ninth first-class ton, and I just don't know what more it will take for him to be properly recognised as an all-rounder...

For all of you out there who don't really care about sport (though to my knowledge, there are only two other people who have ever read this - hi Stormy and Paul - and they both love their sport), I thought I would also quickly throw in something non-sporting before I go to bed. Commonwealth Bank have eleven branches now open on the weekends (all are open on Saturday, and three of them open on Sunday as well). I think that this is a good move, I always found the branches in the city to be a real pain when you are working 8am-5pm, Monday to Friday, and need to pay the bank a visit. I started work before the banks opened, and finished work after the banks closed, and so the only time I really had to go was on my lunch break. Now, this must have been the case for most other people as well, as the queues were just ridiculous and, quite frankly, I felt that my time was better spent doing anything other than standing in line for over half an hour. So, since no-one at work really ever cared where I was, I would just duck out to the bank during work hours, in the morning or the afternoon, and I would usually only be out of the office for 5-10 minutes. However, ever since working away from the city, this isn't the case as the queues are nowhere near as bad - I can usually stand the wait these days. Also, I probably wouldn't bother going to the bank on the weekend unless I really had to, I'd rather be at the beach. So this move by Commbank may not really affect me all that much, but I think that others who do not have the luxuries that I can enjoy would appreciate it. Anyway, I'm off, say hi to your mum for me.

hingis on cocaine?

An earlier-than-usual post today from me today - must be a Friday thing.

Anyway, I know this is starting to turn into a commentary of what's on the news, but on the drive up this morning I heard that Martina Hingis (who happens to be my favourite female tennis player) has announced her retirement from tennis after coming up tested positive for cocaine at Wimbledon this year, though she has stated that she is "100% innocent". This bit of news has come as a bit of a blow to me, as I was hoping to see her at both the Mondial Women's Hardcourts and the Australian Open early next year. I missed out on seeing her at both events this year for whatever reasons, and I had decided that I wasn't going to let it happen again this time around, but unfortunately it was out of my control.

She may only be 27 years old, but boy has she had quite the career. The "Swiss Miss" won five grand slams in 1997-1999, was runner up in seven grand slams in 1997-2002 (including three painful successive final losses in the Australian Open...) and retired in 2003 (or was it 2002...?) after ankle problems. Came back in 2006 and somehow won three titles and worked her way up to No. 6 world ranking (considering the way the women's game has become more, er, "physical strength" based over the years, this was quite an achievement) before her final retirement. Also successful in the doubles, with nine women's grand slam titles (including a 1998 clean sweep) and one mixed doubles grand slam. There was no better sight that watching the doubles pairing of Hingis and Anna Kournikova... :)

Anyway I shall still be going to the Mondial Women's Hardcourts (I think I'm going to all the quarter final matches... yay) and hopefully will head down to Melbourne for the Australian Open too. No Martina, but should still be a great experience.

november has arrived

Welcome to November [insert streamers here]
Yeah ok, so its not really that exciting...

The news article that caught my attention today was about a plan to reroute the Kokoda track. Frontier Resources, an Australian-based mining company which I also happen to own shares in, have plans to develop an open-cast pit near the track at Mt Kodu to mine approximately $1.7bn worth of gold and copper. Now, both Kevin Rudd and John Howard have both spoken out against it, and Kruddy in particular has decided to contact the PNG Prime Minister to express his concerns - after all, he did walk the track last year. To my understanding, Frontier have already got the thumbs up from the PNG government and landowners to go ahead with the project, which will require one percent of the 96km track that holds no significant historical value. In my opinion (not that it matters), it is only a mere one percent and its not a spot where some significant battle took place, and the land does belong to PNG, so really it is up to them what they do with it. Another upside to it that I see is that it would give the local folk jobs too. Please don't get me wrong, I totally respect how much the track means, and if they were bulldozing the whole lot or a section of historical significance, I would be totally against it. I just feel that this is being blown out of proportion by a couple of pollies looking for more votes. I know I may be coming from a biased position here, but putting aside the fact that I own the FNT shares for a minute, I still don't see the issue of a minor diversion of the track... I guess the fact that makes this oh so controversial is the fact that it is an Australian mining company. Oh well. I suppose any publicity is good publicity? I think I shall leave it at that, apologies to anyone I have offended, but hey its not like anyone reads this anyway...

Woohoo tomorrow is Friday, the weekend is almost here :)
Until then, stay classy San Diego.