Another

Geez, I nearly forgot this moment.





A spectacular day for some friends with the seals. The way they interact with us always blows me away.

To Live

There are times when I think I don't like where I live.

Apparently, some friends of mine cannot return because it is now cheaper to live in London than Perth. I don't believe this, but it is undoubtedly another good way to justify to family and friends why you can't stand the place. Sometime I don't like it simply because I can't go to France next weekend.

But then there are moments when I know why I came home, to live.

One moment: a balmy nights following a 40+ day, with our parents, at the flicks in Kings Park.

Other moments: at the beach.

The beach is an addiction. I've got an opportunity to move to Melbourne but when I reflect at length at why I am likely not to go, in all honestly it is because I love our beaches and cannot yet bear to be parted from them again .

Time of Year

Its that time of year where we drag tress inside and throw bright things on them to amuse and delight. This is the first 'real' Christmas tree we have been involved with since we lived in Jersey and would buy cut trees encased in nets.

Its not even at our house, but at my mum's. Only having dogs to amuse, the Christmas tree no longer delights me. It delights my mum though, so that is enough reason to lop a branch of one of the trees on the farm.

Newstopia with Shaun Micallef - LANGUAGE WARNING

I don't know how to post this to facebook, so it goes here instead.

Maxine McKew Wins Bennelong

I was stuck on 69 posts for a while there

Trash and Treasure

Recently we had a Sunday morning free. I suggested we go down to the local Rotary trash 'n treasure. Just to see what is out there. I was just hoping to pick up a couple of tomato plants or chilli plants for the vegetable garden.

That was not to be. Here is our bounty:














Husqvarna push along grass cutter
Flat leaf parsley
Bee hive smoker
Local garlic
Hammer
Vice
Tow ball
Chilli plant
Wire cutter
Very Large Spanner
Lovely Chinese Style Lazy Susan Dip Holder

I spotted the bee hive smoker and the lazy susan.

Bondi

I went to Bondi today. I saw this sign.

No

No

No

No

No

No

Fun

September

Another September, another hockey grand final...

A different result for the first time in three years. Although we didn't win, I got another bit of bling to hang on the nail in the wall.

It shows what happens when hustlers get turned into saints.

New Technology

I have been resisting buying any new kind of television recording equipment like a VCR or a DVD recorder. I do enjoy watching the tube in the evening, but generally there is nothing on it I feel I cannot miss. Generally. The Tour starts again this weekend, and there is a certain something about the struggle of fit men to get up mountains on a bicycle that appeals to me. The thought of riding quite quickly for 3 hours nearly every day for 3 weeks makes me want to weep.

So we're off to spend some cash on a DVD recorder to record the Tour. I suspect this new machine may only be used for 3 to 4 weeks in a year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/07/03/sobren103.xml

Pasha Bulker

I admire activists. I admire the ingenuity of their protests. Like this one at Nobby's Beach in Newcastle, NSW, where the 77,000 tonne coal carrier, Pasha Bulker, ran aground earlier this month.

I have a friend who is an activist. She engineered a particlury amusing protest in regard to the conditions of child care workers. It involved psuedo soiled nappies and an MP's electoral office. I bet the MP didn't see that coming.

La Grande Boucle

I meant to post this many months ago.

On a Sunday, in last November, we went for a ride around the Swan River. 4000 other people did the same thing. The start was quite a spectacle.

I am not much of a cyclist. For one, I am far too fat (see chubby knees below). But, against my expectations, I have found that it is a pleasant way to get around, even if it requires far much more ‘gear’ than was required when I was a kid on my Indi 500. Cycling is turning out to be like skiing. Expensive. Also fun. Not quite addicted yet though. Also not willing to take the bike all the way to Europe.

The Burber King; he is a cyclist. A real cyclist. He didn’t really want to wear the maillot à pois rouges on this little blat around the Swan. After all, there are no mountains here (and to his despair, I could not face the idea of hauling up the big hill at Mosman Park, so we cheated at that point. Shhhh.).

But he has climbed mountains on his bicycle. He rode this very bike up Mont Ventoux.
Mont Ventoux is on the periphary of the French Alps, and is 1909 metres high. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Ventoux

It took him several hours and he never got off his bike once. And the bike was laden with paniers carrying all the supplies you need to tour France. I drove past this mountain once, and I have seen it on the Tour de France year after year. Our campervan would barely make the climb. It is difficult to contemplate it on a bicycle.

Anyway, as I said, he was hesitant to wear the Polka Dot Jersey around the Swan. I asked the question - of the 4000 people riding around the Swan today, how many have rode their bicycle up Mont Ventoux? Perhaps a few. But it would only be a few. So wear the polka dot jersey, because you have really and truly, ridden up mountains.

The Great Perth Bike Ride was a hoot. Freaken hot though. And our sprint finish was hilarious. But 53km circuit was completed in 2hour 9 mins. I think the people doing it as a race did 2 circuits – 106 k’s - in less time. Clearly, there are drugs in cycling.

Look at this freak. More evidence of drugs in cycling

Dirty Old Town

Poor coal ridden Newcastle

Foundation Day Derby

Captain James Stirling officially proclaimed the Swan River Colony in Western Australia on 11 June, 1829. Although Captain Fremantle on the HMS Challenger had already claimed, for Britain, this western part of Australia some seven weeks earlier on April 25. Stirling took off up the river thinking he might find a better place to live. Instead, he just found Bayswater and Mt Lawley. What an extraordinary dissapointment for Stirling! And for countless residents since.

Captain Freo, on the other hand, knew he was on to a good thing, and set up camp on Bathers Beach. Stirling agreed he had lost the race to find the best place in the west to live and acknoweldged Fremantle's excellent judgement by naming the place after him. The People of the City of Fremantle have celebrated their Captain's victory ever since by playing a terrific game of Australian Rules Football between the teams of East Fremantle and South Fremantle.

Here you can see South Fremantle warm up in the background while the locals pay minimal respect for their athletic need to warm up those active muscles.

I love WAFL games. Kids everywhere kicking everywhere. Many adults too.

Souths won.

Jeffrey Farmer - the clown - gave away two 50m penalties and got taken out of the game on a stretcher. Ridiculous. Bloody Dockers

Another disgrace

http://www.dockerland.com/NewsPub/News/Stories/2007/06/02/11807183462.html

I remember how grand it was watching West Perth win their first grand final for 20 years in 1995. All the Cardinals supporters came out of the woodwork that year. I thought at the time that it was a feeling that you don't get to experience very often.

Fortunately for me, I support the Fremantle Football Club, so there is every chance I will get to wait 20 years before Fremantle win a premiership. That will be a sweet day.

Disgrace

I am very angry. Very angry indeed. I am going to write a letter of complaint that makes use of the c word.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Dockers Supporter 1
Sent: Friday, 1 June 2007 2:46 PM
To: Burber ; Dockers Supporter 2
Cc: Burber King
Subject: RE: is it true?



yep 7 are delaying it to start at 7.30 and foxtel can't start until 9pm because 7 won't let them.



I'm going home to listen to the radio



it's a disgrace




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Burber
Sent: Friday, 1 June 2007 2:41 PM
To: Dockers Supporter 1; Dockers Supporter 2
Cc: Burber King
Subject: is it true?

Is the Dockers game not able to watched by anyone in WA unless it is 2 hours late?

Wilfred: Best Moments.

Absent friends

With the garden works being on, I have had to leave our little friends down at Mum's place. I find I stay at work later when they are not at home. It is horrid coming home to the house without them being there jumping at the gate. I sometime wonder why I didn't get a dog sooner.

Speaking of dogs, I must introduce you to Wilfred. He is on the next entry. I am just trying to figure out this whacky google/blog spot/You Tube technology




Where would we be be without our SBS?

Living the dream

Read it and weep.

http://picasaweb.google.com/luckymojito/GardenRenoMay2007

And for some extra reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Dream

Burbs Hell.

Rain

The Farm came with a rain gauge. So now we can join in the talk about rain. Last time we were there we got about 40 millilitres of rain. Let me tell you, the district was quite excited. It was on the tips of everyone's tongues in the hardware store. And the brewery. And the vineyard.

Here is one of BurberKing feeding Molly and Blind Beauty. The calf will be on someone's dinner plate soon enough, so no need to give him a name.

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/luckymojito/FarmApril2007