Don't know if ppl still read this. Thought I might randomly post some ideas and after watching an unbelievably good doco about Waco (The rules of Engagement by William Gazecki) I felt inspired to share something.
Injustice, corrupt governments, inequality, big business. issues that i admit don't cross my headspace that often, (and when they do, no clue about what it means to me, or what i could do about them) but it just really cheeses me off.
Enron, Waco, Big oil companies, global warming and don't get me started on 9/11 conspiracy theories. Goldman Sachs having to pay $550 million something the other day to settle a civil case in the US. Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur.
Do these things bother other people, or is everyone just busy heads down bums up trying to make a go of life, and willing to forget these things as the new news about Twilight or Lady Gaga or LBJ becomes the next big thing?
maybe i'll post again soon.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Inner Entrepreneur
I recently launched Tan Hands - my own (eek!) physio practice, working in Carlingford Court two days a week. It's been exciting and really tiring at the same time. I've been flat out registering my business name, purchasing supplies, getting freebie Vista-print business cards done, (250 free cards - just $18 for delivery!) reading up on small businesses, as well as trying to brush up on Australian tax law.
Saw my first patient last week and despite the fact that I have seen probably done about 2000+ appointments every year for the last 8 years (say roughly 15k+) I was still incredibly nervous. It definitely felt different to be working for myself - a mixture of feeling free, but scared, and very satisfied afterwards when everything went well - how I imagine a tightrope walker feels the first time they go without a safety net.
Now it's time to get a bit of marketing material out for my practice - and despite a good friend's suggestion, I might stay a little quiet in advertising my newly trained feet techniques (hey if it's good enough for the Prince Charles is it good enough for you?).
Business stuff is all new to me - and I'm sure it'd be a bit easier if I had a mentor or friend to advise me on pitfalls and to bounce business ideas off. Interestingly, for all the people I know that are intelligent and have well established careers, very few of them have had much experience running businesses, or are that way inclined. I guess most startups involve just diving in and working away, so here i go!
Tuesday and Thursday arvos - 2 till 6pm. Did I mention that we currently have a special running - $10 off your intial consultation?
Saw my first patient last week and despite the fact that I have seen probably done about 2000+ appointments every year for the last 8 years (say roughly 15k+) I was still incredibly nervous. It definitely felt different to be working for myself - a mixture of feeling free, but scared, and very satisfied afterwards when everything went well - how I imagine a tightrope walker feels the first time they go without a safety net.
Now it's time to get a bit of marketing material out for my practice - and despite a good friend's suggestion, I might stay a little quiet in advertising my newly trained feet techniques (hey if it's good enough for the Prince Charles is it good enough for you?).
Business stuff is all new to me - and I'm sure it'd be a bit easier if I had a mentor or friend to advise me on pitfalls and to bounce business ideas off. Interestingly, for all the people I know that are intelligent and have well established careers, very few of them have had much experience running businesses, or are that way inclined. I guess most startups involve just diving in and working away, so here i go!
Tuesday and Thursday arvos - 2 till 6pm. Did I mention that we currently have a special running - $10 off your intial consultation?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Sydney Update
What a busy last 4 months.
For those who are still checking my blog (haardcore!) here is the quick update:
* Visited Croatia and Turkey - our last European trip before heading home. Turkey was more amazing than I thought it would be - really beautiful, great natural wonders, fun experiences (hot air ballooning, staying in a cave, waiting in bus terminals like hobos in the wee hours of the morning, and a very badly planned 30 hour trip from Croatia to Cappadocia)
* Packed up and left London :( - good bye pubs, goodbye Two Point Thai. Most missed things about London - lazy Sunday arvos at pub (pint and chips, maybe some darts and trivia?), Saturday morning run with the boys (usually followed by breakfast at Gob/Syls), travelling (always having something to look forward to when work is starting to grind), friends, public transport, living in central city, internet shopping (amazon, e-buyer, e-bay!), earning pounds, eating places (two point thai, mandarin kitchen, beirut express, marylebone high st, la fromagerie, ginger ping ....).
* Quick trip through HK and Singers - foood! Special thanks to our hosts - T&R for having us over and organising dinner, daarn tart, frozen yoghurt mmmm mmmm ... oh and chilli crab in singers w jojo, ice kachung mmmm mmm
* Back to Aussie land. Great catching up w family and friends. Stu and Yve's wedding was great, bought a car, enjoyed some quality weather. Life - living space, quality of health care, general food standard - is very good here and defn good reasons to be back in Sydney.
* Started house hunting - this seriously feels like a homework/assignment that is due but not for a few months, that is tempting to keep putting off. Feels like a really big decision about where to buy and invest all our hard earned pennies into and each house is sooo different. Need to develop some psychic powers to be able to envision our future needs and what living in each place would feel like.
* got a job, hate the workplace environment (mostly the boss) and decided at 2-3 weeks in (after much whinging to Jen) that I would find another job. Felt like a sorta rash decision, and in back of my mind not sure if I hate this workplace or just hate working ... but I don't reckon I've worked in a less fun job. Anyway moving on in a few weeks, to a job further away, but hope to learn a bit more before entering the world of business ownership (scary!)
Will prob try to blog in about a month or two - check back in. Oh, the other thing that i've found since coming back to Sydney - all my old pc files - such classics as Romp.com's Jake's Booty Call! "I'll have a jack and coke, and a bottle of dom!"
For those who are still checking my blog (haardcore!) here is the quick update:
* Visited Croatia and Turkey - our last European trip before heading home. Turkey was more amazing than I thought it would be - really beautiful, great natural wonders, fun experiences (hot air ballooning, staying in a cave, waiting in bus terminals like hobos in the wee hours of the morning, and a very badly planned 30 hour trip from Croatia to Cappadocia)
* Packed up and left London :( - good bye pubs, goodbye Two Point Thai. Most missed things about London - lazy Sunday arvos at pub (pint and chips, maybe some darts and trivia?), Saturday morning run with the boys (usually followed by breakfast at Gob/Syls), travelling (always having something to look forward to when work is starting to grind), friends, public transport, living in central city, internet shopping (amazon, e-buyer, e-bay!), earning pounds, eating places (two point thai, mandarin kitchen, beirut express, marylebone high st, la fromagerie, ginger ping ....).
* Quick trip through HK and Singers - foood! Special thanks to our hosts - T&R for having us over and organising dinner, daarn tart, frozen yoghurt mmmm mmmm ... oh and chilli crab in singers w jojo, ice kachung mmmm mmm
* Back to Aussie land. Great catching up w family and friends. Stu and Yve's wedding was great, bought a car, enjoyed some quality weather. Life - living space, quality of health care, general food standard - is very good here and defn good reasons to be back in Sydney.
* Started house hunting - this seriously feels like a homework/assignment that is due but not for a few months, that is tempting to keep putting off. Feels like a really big decision about where to buy and invest all our hard earned pennies into and each house is sooo different. Need to develop some psychic powers to be able to envision our future needs and what living in each place would feel like.
* got a job, hate the workplace environment (mostly the boss) and decided at 2-3 weeks in (after much whinging to Jen) that I would find another job. Felt like a sorta rash decision, and in back of my mind not sure if I hate this workplace or just hate working ... but I don't reckon I've worked in a less fun job. Anyway moving on in a few weeks, to a job further away, but hope to learn a bit more before entering the world of business ownership (scary!)
Will prob try to blog in about a month or two - check back in. Oh, the other thing that i've found since coming back to Sydney - all my old pc files - such classics as Romp.com's Jake's Booty Call! "I'll have a jack and coke, and a bottle of dom!"
Friday, August 08, 2008
3 second rule
Not sure if people reading this post will get grossed out forever, and not want to shake my hand again when they see me, but here goes.
Never really believed in the 3 second rule. I think from very early on growing up, I always wanted to question all those things that people took for granted - if everyone had to tuck their shirt in, I wanted to have mine out; if everyone had to wear gay yellow raincoats, I wanted to get wet and run around in the rain; if we were taking photos and everyone was smiling in normal seated positions, I had this urge to kick my leg into the air. Most of these things got me into trouble with teachers, or mum, but great photos, eh! :)
anyway saw this packet of crisps on the train platform yesterday. no one standing around it. Looked unopened, like someone had dropped it as they rushed to get on the train. So I stood next to it for a while thinking should I pick it up, are people looking at me, is this gross, what would mushie say? What would you do - esp if you really loved crisps, and were a cheap bugger (freebies!) like me?
In the movie Million Dollar Baby there is one scene where Hilary Swank is working as a waitress, and they show how poor/frugal she is because she eats what customers leave on their plates. I can see some value in doing that - cause I hate seeing food wasted, you could always cut around the parts that other people bit into, and it's free!
and the 3 sec rule ... how does that make sense? it's either dirty or clean, leaving it there for a few more secs or minutes won't make it much dirtier surely (unless you kick it round etc). and my dad used to work as a chef told stories to the effect of "there's no such thing as a 3 second rule in a chinese restaurant"
and the chips - they are happily sitting in my bag, ready to be eaten today. what you think about that mushie? :)
Never really believed in the 3 second rule. I think from very early on growing up, I always wanted to question all those things that people took for granted - if everyone had to tuck their shirt in, I wanted to have mine out; if everyone had to wear gay yellow raincoats, I wanted to get wet and run around in the rain; if we were taking photos and everyone was smiling in normal seated positions, I had this urge to kick my leg into the air. Most of these things got me into trouble with teachers, or mum, but great photos, eh! :)
anyway saw this packet of crisps on the train platform yesterday. no one standing around it. Looked unopened, like someone had dropped it as they rushed to get on the train. So I stood next to it for a while thinking should I pick it up, are people looking at me, is this gross, what would mushie say? What would you do - esp if you really loved crisps, and were a cheap bugger (freebies!) like me?
In the movie Million Dollar Baby there is one scene where Hilary Swank is working as a waitress, and they show how poor/frugal she is because she eats what customers leave on their plates. I can see some value in doing that - cause I hate seeing food wasted, you could always cut around the parts that other people bit into, and it's free!
and the 3 sec rule ... how does that make sense? it's either dirty or clean, leaving it there for a few more secs or minutes won't make it much dirtier surely (unless you kick it round etc). and my dad used to work as a chef told stories to the effect of "there's no such thing as a 3 second rule in a chinese restaurant"
and the chips - they are happily sitting in my bag, ready to be eaten today. what you think about that mushie? :)
Sunday, July 20, 2008
As usual ...
ages since I last blogged. Between working, holidaying, planning for holidays, general web surfing, xbox games, ps2 games (cheap cheap seeing as Woolworths is shutting), catching up on emails, watching the 70-100 GB of NBA basketball games sitting on HDD, exercising (Bring it P90X), touch footy, reading, household duties and lazy afternoons at the pub - the blog doesn't get much love.
There's about a half dozen posts that got started and never got finished which I think I might eventually post that one month when I'm too lazy to write about something new.
Life is busy, and I was cleaning up my email inbox the other day (1100 messages) - which basically involved sorting the inbox into folders (I have an "Oldies but Goodies" folder - for all those classic emails you get from people that still make you laugh 3 years later) and going through some fwds that I had never looked at.
There was a few interesting emails - one was a link to a Japanese IQ test to take a family, robber and cop across a river - that occupied me for about 5 hours (fell asleep for about an hour of that), and another one to a youtube video about the Information age. One of the things in the video said that the information contained in a New York Times (or Guardian or SMH) newspaper was the equivalent of what someone in the 1800's would have had access to over a lifetime!!
No wonder I've got no bloody time left in the day. Too busy trying to finish the newspaper I picked up from the recycling bin from a week ago, and Times magazines from 18 months ago!
be back to post up my half finished blog posts in a few weeks ;)
There's about a half dozen posts that got started and never got finished which I think I might eventually post that one month when I'm too lazy to write about something new.
Life is busy, and I was cleaning up my email inbox the other day (1100 messages) - which basically involved sorting the inbox into folders (I have an "Oldies but Goodies" folder - for all those classic emails you get from people that still make you laugh 3 years later) and going through some fwds that I had never looked at.
There was a few interesting emails - one was a link to a Japanese IQ test to take a family, robber and cop across a river - that occupied me for about 5 hours (fell asleep for about an hour of that), and another one to a youtube video about the Information age. One of the things in the video said that the information contained in a New York Times (or Guardian or SMH) newspaper was the equivalent of what someone in the 1800's would have had access to over a lifetime!!
No wonder I've got no bloody time left in the day. Too busy trying to finish the newspaper I picked up from the recycling bin from a week ago, and Times magazines from 18 months ago!
be back to post up my half finished blog posts in a few weeks ;)
Friday, May 02, 2008
End Game
I've noticed over the last few months that I'm ready to leave London. When we were working out how much longer to stay, it came down to a few things:
* I really miss my family in Oz. Much more than I thought I would, and especially so because my family is generally super crap at keeping in touch via email and phone. Not sure about your parents, but I talk to them for 3 mins (every 4-6 weeks) and they say something like "well, better get going, don't want to run up your phone bill ..." Nothing beats a face to face for all friendships/relationships I find.
* Had a new patient (about 50 or so) come in the other day, and after asking him about his back problem and when it started, he mentioned that he'd been off work for it initally for a week, then back to work for a week then off again recently. When I asked why that was, he told me that his Mum had passed away a few days ago, and he was now without any parents. I was like "Geez, and you've come back to work, don't you want to take some compassion leave etc ..." and he basically broke down saying that he didn't know what to do, he thought it might be better to continue to work and keep his mind busy than to just stay at home.
Anyway - he looks me dead in the eye and says "Do you tell your parents you love them? Do you?? You should do it every day because once they're gone you've lost that chance. Gee I miss them" It almost broke me. I still well up thinking about this guy and what he said.
* Think I might be ready to have kids. (gee can u imagine me as a dad?? scary.) Mushie is quite particular in not wanting to have them in London, and also re: being setup in Oz with a place for the bub. But, all that takes time to setup, time to get back to Australia, time to find a house, time to get a mortgage. And all I can hear is the ticking of the clock in my head ...!!!
[On a side note - I reckon there is a bit of a baby trend shift happening these days. It used to be that you got married early, had your kids young, and then you could enjoy growing up with them. That's changed with contraception, later marriages etc, and people enjoying the DINKs (double income no kids) lifestye. However, the DINKs are leaving pregnancy to later - say 35-40, but due to lower fertility rates have to rely more heavily on IVF and reduced success rates. Think it'll shift back to a more sensible mid-range - late 20's pregnancies.]
* Other friends are leaving London or planning to - bye T&R we'll miss the poker nights and the never ending alcohol supply! Oh, and can't wait to see new bubs in Oz, and catch up with people there. the SA missionaries will be back soon too - will be great to see you back in Oz.
* Crap weather to exercise in - every time we plan to go climbing, or touch footy - raining. Went for a run in the wet yesterday w/ fat bastad no#1, and I did feel like a real man powering through the rain, but it was hard to get out there.
* We are going home in Oct 08 for a (two!) good friends wedding and if we were to come back to London it would be at a minimum for a further year (to make it cost-effective to fly back here, and continue to rent our place while we are away etc). That would bring us to Oct 09. That would make Mushie - 29, and still no bun in the oven, and prolong this process of getting setup. And did I mention Mushie has retired ?? If she's not going to work, she better get ready to push out some babies :) (oh, and you still gots to do the housework, and cook me dinner)
Thanks London, it's been a blast. But it's time for the next part of life - babies, business and spending time w family and friends. And chezzy, lets live across the hallway from each other, so you can hear my baby scream itself to wake at 5am in the morning!
* I really miss my family in Oz. Much more than I thought I would, and especially so because my family is generally super crap at keeping in touch via email and phone. Not sure about your parents, but I talk to them for 3 mins (every 4-6 weeks) and they say something like "well, better get going, don't want to run up your phone bill ..." Nothing beats a face to face for all friendships/relationships I find.
* Had a new patient (about 50 or so) come in the other day, and after asking him about his back problem and when it started, he mentioned that he'd been off work for it initally for a week, then back to work for a week then off again recently. When I asked why that was, he told me that his Mum had passed away a few days ago, and he was now without any parents. I was like "Geez, and you've come back to work, don't you want to take some compassion leave etc ..." and he basically broke down saying that he didn't know what to do, he thought it might be better to continue to work and keep his mind busy than to just stay at home.
Anyway - he looks me dead in the eye and says "Do you tell your parents you love them? Do you?? You should do it every day because once they're gone you've lost that chance. Gee I miss them" It almost broke me. I still well up thinking about this guy and what he said.
* Think I might be ready to have kids. (gee can u imagine me as a dad?? scary.) Mushie is quite particular in not wanting to have them in London, and also re: being setup in Oz with a place for the bub. But, all that takes time to setup, time to get back to Australia, time to find a house, time to get a mortgage. And all I can hear is the ticking of the clock in my head ...!!!
[On a side note - I reckon there is a bit of a baby trend shift happening these days. It used to be that you got married early, had your kids young, and then you could enjoy growing up with them. That's changed with contraception, later marriages etc, and people enjoying the DINKs (double income no kids) lifestye. However, the DINKs are leaving pregnancy to later - say 35-40, but due to lower fertility rates have to rely more heavily on IVF and reduced success rates. Think it'll shift back to a more sensible mid-range - late 20's pregnancies.]
* Other friends are leaving London or planning to - bye T&R we'll miss the poker nights and the never ending alcohol supply! Oh, and can't wait to see new bubs in Oz, and catch up with people there. the SA missionaries will be back soon too - will be great to see you back in Oz.
* Crap weather to exercise in - every time we plan to go climbing, or touch footy - raining. Went for a run in the wet yesterday w/ fat bastad no#1, and I did feel like a real man powering through the rain, but it was hard to get out there.
* We are going home in Oct 08 for a (two!) good friends wedding and if we were to come back to London it would be at a minimum for a further year (to make it cost-effective to fly back here, and continue to rent our place while we are away etc). That would bring us to Oct 09. That would make Mushie - 29, and still no bun in the oven, and prolong this process of getting setup. And did I mention Mushie has retired ?? If she's not going to work, she better get ready to push out some babies :) (oh, and you still gots to do the housework, and cook me dinner)
Thanks London, it's been a blast. But it's time for the next part of life - babies, business and spending time w family and friends. And chezzy, lets live across the hallway from each other, so you can hear my baby scream itself to wake at 5am in the morning!
Friday, March 07, 2008
hey blog world
... i'll be back soon. Hit fire through January and had endless energy and writing spirit to get stuck into blogging each week. Have been struggling with time management, and finding it hard to get onto PC with the launch of ppdesigns.etsy.com! Oh, and found some websites to download NBA, NFL, EPL games and lots of old NBA games to watch ... it's soo awesome. Hail, the power of the web.
Still waiting for enough creative juices to do a True to Form pt 2.
Still waiting for enough creative juices to do a True to Form pt 2.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
True to form pt 1
I realised a few months ago that sometimes you can't change your true nature. In one "wild" weekend back in November 07, I managed to slice open my wrist - bad enough to require a trip to the local A & E - and lose my wedding ring. The actual story about what happened is not that exciting, so I decided to write a short story about myself in the 3rd person - ala Yr 4 creative writing classes :)
------------------------------
Young Dessy by Nasde
Young Dessy was your typical asian boy growing up. He was naturally talented at doing maths, as most young asian kids are, while equally sucking at English and any other creative writing type tasks. He was dashingly handsome - his dark brown hair, carefully groomed by his Dad into a typical asian bowl cut with no parting, proved to be a hit with the ladies, and never got in the way of his handball exploits. He also proved a natural charmer of the ladies, kissing his first girl at the age of 4, and kissed a girl at school in Yr1 at the urgings of his older brother. Yes, it should've prepared Dessy for his high school days, where any attempt to talk to a girl involved much urging from friends watching and hassling you, but a then young Dessy had no fear.
But one thing Young Dessy could not help doing was lose things. If he went to the pool for a swimming carnival, he'd lose his towel. If he went to the movies, he'd lose his wallet in the edges of the chair. If he went to the shop to buy a bottle of coke, he'd bring the coke home and leave his wallet on the counter. It was terrible, and his parents spent much time talking to young Dessy about losing things, and much time bailing him out when he'd locked his keys in the car, or that time when he even lost the key to his club lock (but somehow didn't lose any other keys it was attached to in his keyring) and had to get the NRMA to saw it off - now that was embarrassing.
Young Dessy also proved to be very accident prone. Or maybe he was just clumsy and unco-ordinated. Whatever the case may be, young dessy spent a lot of time falling over, dropping things, tripping over, and running into walls. Being an early walker - he began walking at 9 months - he somehow managed to be able to run, but unable to judge how to run through doorways resulting in two large bumps that are still visible today on his forehead.
-----------------------------
Gee, that was hard work. I know why I sucked at English.
Tune in for part 2 about older Dessy - no guarantee it'll be in short story form though!
------------------------------
Young Dessy by Nasde
Young Dessy was your typical asian boy growing up. He was naturally talented at doing maths, as most young asian kids are, while equally sucking at English and any other creative writing type tasks. He was dashingly handsome - his dark brown hair, carefully groomed by his Dad into a typical asian bowl cut with no parting, proved to be a hit with the ladies, and never got in the way of his handball exploits. He also proved a natural charmer of the ladies, kissing his first girl at the age of 4, and kissed a girl at school in Yr1 at the urgings of his older brother. Yes, it should've prepared Dessy for his high school days, where any attempt to talk to a girl involved much urging from friends watching and hassling you, but a then young Dessy had no fear.
But one thing Young Dessy could not help doing was lose things. If he went to the pool for a swimming carnival, he'd lose his towel. If he went to the movies, he'd lose his wallet in the edges of the chair. If he went to the shop to buy a bottle of coke, he'd bring the coke home and leave his wallet on the counter. It was terrible, and his parents spent much time talking to young Dessy about losing things, and much time bailing him out when he'd locked his keys in the car, or that time when he even lost the key to his club lock (but somehow didn't lose any other keys it was attached to in his keyring) and had to get the NRMA to saw it off - now that was embarrassing.
Young Dessy also proved to be very accident prone. Or maybe he was just clumsy and unco-ordinated. Whatever the case may be, young dessy spent a lot of time falling over, dropping things, tripping over, and running into walls. Being an early walker - he began walking at 9 months - he somehow managed to be able to run, but unable to judge how to run through doorways resulting in two large bumps that are still visible today on his forehead.
-----------------------------
Gee, that was hard work. I know why I sucked at English.
Tune in for part 2 about older Dessy - no guarantee it'll be in short story form though!
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Craphouse work
I am stressed. Not as much as my patients, but still it’s an uncomfortable feeling.
The patients I talk to day in and day out say things like: my back is sore, my arms are sore, my neck is sore, and my ankles ache for no reason; my father just passed away, I’m looking after a bed-ridden mother in law, and my daughter has just started dating a boy that I don’t like. I’ve recently had problems working my normal hours – due to the pain – and am now hating work due to everyone treating me like a malingerer and I’m struggling to meet my mortgage payments now. I’m also arguing regularly with my husband because I can’t have “relations” with him due to the pain. I’m not stressed though. Really I don’t feel stressed. Did I mention that I can’t sleep at nights cause my mind is racing – I can’t seem to shut down. What’s wrong with me?
It’s STRESS. Or Pressure. You know they released a study the other day that showed that stressed people died earlier (suffering from cardiac disease and other organ problems) than less stressed ones. STRESS it’s a killer.
And, unfortunately the complaints have continued climbing – now 10 new ones (not all attributable to me) in the last 2 months! Aye carumba!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
A different sort of Christmas
Christmas means such different things for everyone. For me, it's always meant a time with family and friends, waking up early-ish to open up presents (getting later as I get older), and always always always a Christmas party at the Tan's.
The Christmas party at our house happened every year, had about 60 guests, and in it's early days guests started arriving at about 12, with the last stragglers leaving about 4am. It was a hectic day that involved taking furniture out from under the house, wiping it down, mowing and sweeping the backyard (damn you gumtrees!), not to mention the cooking that Mum and Dad would do in the lead up to Christmas. People would arrive to get their fill of mangoes, lychees, satay, hokkien noodles, crispy pork, curry chicken .... mmmm .... and would depart in the wee hours with our whole family standing on the porch waving good-bye.
I admit that over the years it was often a bit tedious. Having to talk to random aunties/uncles, and being in charge of entertaining the family friends, the ones that you only ever saw once a year and had nothing to say too. Setting up for Christmas and doing chores ... that's always tedious! But it was always still a fun time, mucking around, hanging out with family, watching our uncles/aunties get tipsy and start telling random stories.
Reminiscing about old-times gets me misty eyed. London Christmas this year was still nice - the European cold/dark christmas was still pretty cool, but Christmas day was very wet and we got soaked heading to church in the morning. The church we went to had a really nice quaint service, and the day was pleasant, even if our turkey was a bit dry. The main difference was that it was soo quiet - as London was deserted, friends had other plans and London as a whole had shut down on Christmas day and felt eerily deserted.
I really missed "Christmas" this year - I'm pretty sure I'll be back for Christmas next year.
The Christmas party at our house happened every year, had about 60 guests, and in it's early days guests started arriving at about 12, with the last stragglers leaving about 4am. It was a hectic day that involved taking furniture out from under the house, wiping it down, mowing and sweeping the backyard (damn you gumtrees!), not to mention the cooking that Mum and Dad would do in the lead up to Christmas. People would arrive to get their fill of mangoes, lychees, satay, hokkien noodles, crispy pork, curry chicken .... mmmm .... and would depart in the wee hours with our whole family standing on the porch waving good-bye.
I admit that over the years it was often a bit tedious. Having to talk to random aunties/uncles, and being in charge of entertaining the family friends, the ones that you only ever saw once a year and had nothing to say too. Setting up for Christmas and doing chores ... that's always tedious! But it was always still a fun time, mucking around, hanging out with family, watching our uncles/aunties get tipsy and start telling random stories.
Reminiscing about old-times gets me misty eyed. London Christmas this year was still nice - the European cold/dark christmas was still pretty cool, but Christmas day was very wet and we got soaked heading to church in the morning. The church we went to had a really nice quaint service, and the day was pleasant, even if our turkey was a bit dry. The main difference was that it was soo quiet - as London was deserted, friends had other plans and London as a whole had shut down on Christmas day and felt eerily deserted.
I really missed "Christmas" this year - I'm pretty sure I'll be back for Christmas next year.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
House party
A great day yesterday - went for a 4.5km run with the boys, had fish and chips, sausages and spam afterwards, went to the pub to play the pokie/trivia machine, drank some beer and then cooked up a spanking (if i do say so myself!) pork belly and chicken curry dinner. Have cooked this meal a few times before, but was probably my best effort yet - Go the Ginger Pig! (mmm, leftovers for today!) Finished the night with some poker and Guitar Hero (we played GH a bit after everyone had left!).
Really fun day and night - to recap the events at the poker table:
Really fun day and night - to recap the events at the poker table:
- Roy, 1 day after flying back from Oz, passed out after dinner, to wake up fresh and recharged for the poker session (that teddy bear jumper must have been a lucky charm! We expect you to pull it out for all future poker sessions)
- Yve played remarkably tight and conservative all night (keep on grinding it out, Yve)
- Gobbo's pockets got emptied (hah, my plan to get u drunk worked!)
- Syl's all-in on the last hand bluffed me out (with her holding ace high, to my pair 9's - damn you Syl!). Did we mention that Syl has finished ahead of Gobbo every time she's played poker??
- Stu, after leading the jog around Regent's earlier in the day, continued the trend by taking everyone to school on the poker table - finishing 18 pounds up (5 pound to buy in).
- Mushie pulled the occasional pot, and I went down early, but re-deemed myself late to finish slightly up.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Role Reversal
At the same time, Mushie’s job recently finished. She’s not on the beach (or the bench or whatever u call it); she’s in early retirement. Even though I’m not that excited about her laid back attitude to finding work further work (the date for her to finish 'updating' her CV keeps getting pushed back and back. Soon I'll be hearing the whole "but dessy, we're going on holidays to Dubai at the end of Jan, I can't get a job and then take holidays, and then we plan to go for skiing and then the US so it's probably easier if I don't get another job ...) it’s probably a well earned rest (ie well earned – she has worked fairly solidly the entire time we have been in London – except for the 80 something days off work/year we’ve taken)
There’s 2 things I guess – 1) Though, I like to say that I want to be the stay at home man (the housesitter!), I really do enjoy working – particularly working as a physio. I enjoy getting up early to work - my brain seems to function better (it’s the opposite after lunch/mid-afternoon – I’m usually struggling to stay awake – not great for patients!). It’s a good feeling to do a job well and to see tangible results. I’m not saying you can’t get that from being a house hubby, but I definitely didn’t feel that ‘productive’ – even if I had spent the day cleaning house and cooking etc.
2) There’s something that definitely feels ‘right’ about women staying at home to raise the kids, and men going out to work and be the breadwinner. Maybe it’s partly a society thing as in it feels right because society deems it right. For example, I hate getting handed the bill while at a restaurant and having to ask mushie to pay!
However, I strongly believe that God made men and women different, so that they could do different roles. Sure, women can mow the lawn or do labouring jobs, but males are designed to do jobs requiring more strength. I think it’s probably the same with raising kids. People often talk about the bond a mother gets with the baby while it’s in the womb. Women are also supposed to be more intuitive and better multi-taskers – surely that helps with raising kids and keeping track of them.
What does this all mean?? I guess things work out perfectly then. Mushie gets to stay at home, Dessy gets to go to work - where you want to be (keep saying that to yourself!) Oh, and Mushie no complaints when you have to stay at home and we actually have kids! In the meantime, you have to work - sorry!
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
The darkness begins ...
Since coming back from Africa the last 8 weeks in London have flown by. Thinking back to what's happened, it's a blur of meeting up with London friends, dinners, hanging (ie drinking beer and playing the trivia machine) at the Hobgoblin, getting re-acquinted and hearing Mushie get progressively more excited about her pending unemployment.
Being so busy with all these other things and maybe due to us having just returned from 7 weeks in Africa, but London's weather has been particularly irritating. In Africa we experienced consistently hot weather, beautiful, sigh-inspiring sunrises and sunsets, and minimal rain (it was the dry season) - perfect for getting out and doing things. London's weather really is like 4 seasons in a day - you have to rug up for the cold, carry umbrella for the rain (cause there's no cover), scarf up for the wind, and wear multiple layers in case it gets hot (e.g. when on the tube). It's much more grating than I remember.
Oh, one last whinge - the pain of waking up at 6.30am when it's pitch black outside ... it's fricken bloody terrible, and it's only the very very start of Winter! I swear I'm trapped inside "Groundhog Day". One last English winter!
Being so busy with all these other things and maybe due to us having just returned from 7 weeks in Africa, but London's weather has been particularly irritating. In Africa we experienced consistently hot weather, beautiful, sigh-inspiring sunrises and sunsets, and minimal rain (it was the dry season) - perfect for getting out and doing things. London's weather really is like 4 seasons in a day - you have to rug up for the cold, carry umbrella for the rain (cause there's no cover), scarf up for the wind, and wear multiple layers in case it gets hot (e.g. when on the tube). It's much more grating than I remember.
Oh, one last whinge - the pain of waking up at 6.30am when it's pitch black outside ... it's fricken bloody terrible, and it's only the very very start of Winter! I swear I'm trapped inside "Groundhog Day". One last English winter!
Monday, November 26, 2007
An Inconvenient Truth
Just finished watching Al Gore's movie about Climate change and felt compelled to blog - what an intriguing movie! To give you the brief background:
* Movie released 2006, based on Al Gore's long running slideshow lecture about climate change and global warming. Al Gore explains in quite a scientific way the current theory of global warming - with presentation of graphs of CO2, temperature, migratory birds etc.
* Won 2 Oscars.
* Al Gore won a joint Nobel Peace prize for the movie (shared with the IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - who helped make the movie)
* According to IMDB.com - "This is the first carbon-neutral documentary"
* Various youtube hits - check this one debunking some of the 'facts' from the movie
Should u see this film? Yes, probably. It wasn't the greatest film, but though essentially it was a like a lecture, it didn’t feel like being back at University (I wasn't falling asleep, drooling on my notes and absently drawing squiggly lines everywhere). In terms of impact to people of our age, and for general knowledge about climate change and how it's affecting the earth, and for a subject of conversation - I would say it's a very important film. I must admit that I'm a bit skeptical re: climate change, and I did find myself trying to pick holes in the arguments. (I didn't use to be! but recent reading makes me think the issue is much more complicated than i previously thought)
My issues with the film -
* For a film that presents like a documentary and passes off a lot of scientific data, while talking about research studies and sample groups, there was more than a few inaccuracies in the film. It one section of the movie he talks about when the ice caps melt (somewhere around 2050) that the seas will rise by 20 feet (about 7m) - flooding The Netherlands, Manhattan, SF bay, Shanghai, India etc. However, the most recent study has predicted that the largest the sea levels will rise will be 59cm!!
Many people have defended the movie saying that it's not the scientific accuracy of the movie that's important, it's about getting the message out there - which is ridiculous when you are talking about a documentary film (scientific based one at that) where accuracy is everything. He states that the presentation has been done over a 1000 times ... enough times to get it accurate?
[ on a sidenote: the film has been distrubuted to every secondary school in UK (also 50,000 copies of the film were given away to teachers in the US) - subsequently, film was taken to court for various inaccuracies of the film. See here. ]
* The film doesn't present the other side of the story. There is a lot of data out there that puts the impact of humans much lower than what has been suggested by Al Gore. One website I can recommend is Junkscience.com which has a lot of interesting, but very technical information -e.g. how much carbon dioxide is actually in the atmosphere? how much is due to human beings? (Check out the answers for those 2 questions!)
Regarding climate change there is undisputable evidence. There is no doubt that the earth's climate is changing - no scientist will disagree with that. However, there is massive doubt about wether human's are effecting the environment. This is where scientists are debating currently. There are a lot of other explanations about why the temperature is increasing and many that don't involve a human element - e.g. solar flare, Earth emerging from a mini Ice Age.
* The film concludes with suggestions about what we as should be doing to make a difference in this world. Interestingly the film uses the credits as the time in the movie to do this - in very small print too. Evidently not part of Al Gore's lecture? Well the list isn't that ground breaking - it's recycle, drive a hybrid car, pray for the world , and spread the word.
The important thing I think is to find out as much as you can, try not to be deceived mainstream thought but to make your own decisions based on ALL the available data. (unfortunately that means lots of reading!!) For starters try Michael Crichton's "State of Fear". Very good book. or this website.
* Movie released 2006, based on Al Gore's long running slideshow lecture about climate change and global warming. Al Gore explains in quite a scientific way the current theory of global warming - with presentation of graphs of CO2, temperature, migratory birds etc.
* Won 2 Oscars.
* Al Gore won a joint Nobel Peace prize for the movie (shared with the IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - who helped make the movie)
* According to IMDB.com - "This is the first carbon-neutral documentary"
* Various youtube hits - check this one debunking some of the 'facts' from the movie
Should u see this film? Yes, probably. It wasn't the greatest film, but though essentially it was a like a lecture, it didn’t feel like being back at University (I wasn't falling asleep, drooling on my notes and absently drawing squiggly lines everywhere). In terms of impact to people of our age, and for general knowledge about climate change and how it's affecting the earth, and for a subject of conversation - I would say it's a very important film. I must admit that I'm a bit skeptical re: climate change, and I did find myself trying to pick holes in the arguments. (I didn't use to be! but recent reading makes me think the issue is much more complicated than i previously thought)
My issues with the film -
* For a film that presents like a documentary and passes off a lot of scientific data, while talking about research studies and sample groups, there was more than a few inaccuracies in the film. It one section of the movie he talks about when the ice caps melt (somewhere around 2050) that the seas will rise by 20 feet (about 7m) - flooding The Netherlands, Manhattan, SF bay, Shanghai, India etc. However, the most recent study has predicted that the largest the sea levels will rise will be 59cm!!
Many people have defended the movie saying that it's not the scientific accuracy of the movie that's important, it's about getting the message out there - which is ridiculous when you are talking about a documentary film (scientific based one at that) where accuracy is everything. He states that the presentation has been done over a 1000 times ... enough times to get it accurate?
[ on a sidenote: the film has been distrubuted to every secondary school in UK (also 50,000 copies of the film were given away to teachers in the US) - subsequently, film was taken to court for various inaccuracies of the film. See here. ]
* The film doesn't present the other side of the story. There is a lot of data out there that puts the impact of humans much lower than what has been suggested by Al Gore. One website I can recommend is Junkscience.com which has a lot of interesting, but very technical information -e.g. how much carbon dioxide is actually in the atmosphere? how much is due to human beings? (Check out the answers for those 2 questions!)
Regarding climate change there is undisputable evidence. There is no doubt that the earth's climate is changing - no scientist will disagree with that. However, there is massive doubt about wether human's are effecting the environment. This is where scientists are debating currently. There are a lot of other explanations about why the temperature is increasing and many that don't involve a human element - e.g. solar flare, Earth emerging from a mini Ice Age.
* The film concludes with suggestions about what we as should be doing to make a difference in this world. Interestingly the film uses the credits as the time in the movie to do this - in very small print too. Evidently not part of Al Gore's lecture? Well the list isn't that ground breaking - it's recycle, drive a hybrid car, pray for the world , and spread the word.
The important thing I think is to find out as much as you can, try not to be deceived mainstream thought but to make your own decisions based on ALL the available data. (unfortunately that means lots of reading!!) For starters try Michael Crichton's "State of Fear". Very good book. or this website.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
A window into the future
Looking after babies is hard! We had babysat our niece the other weekend – for 3 hours and we had to feed her lunch. How hard would that be?
Really how hard?? That was when all the random thoughts began … what do we feed her for lunch? Will she choke if I feed her some of my meat pie? What do we do with her? What happens if she suddenly gets a fever??? What if she collapses suddenly?!!?!
Well, I calmed myself down cause I figured nothing was going to happen and it gave me great comfort to think … there’s those mums that are like 16 when they have a kid, and somehow they manage not to kill their children – Dessy, you should be ok. Get a grip.
So we fed her chicken soup and pasta – just what we were going to eat anyway – sat around and watched TV (TV is such a good, but evil babysitter! It felt like we were all getting dumber watching the TV) and took her to the local little kids ball playground and spent an hour chasing her up and down the slides, and watching her sink and flounder in the big tub of balls ala Maggie Simpson.
It was exhausting! For the first time ever in my life I could finally see the appeal in NOT having children … it’s so encompassing – the parenting/caring for a child. It’s a cliché, but I can see how your whole life would revolve around your kids and basically their welfare becomes the most important thing for that period until they can look after themselves. It didn’t really ever strike me that way until this last weekend. Am I ready to give up my lazy mornings/evenings surfing the web or relaxing, going to fancy dinners, late nights at friends places playing games or poker until the wee hours?
Realization: that’s why you’re supposed to be married before you have kids. The wife can do that. Thanks mushie!
Oh, and I hope you are managing ok all you new parents!
Really how hard?? That was when all the random thoughts began … what do we feed her for lunch? Will she choke if I feed her some of my meat pie? What do we do with her? What happens if she suddenly gets a fever??? What if she collapses suddenly?!!?!
Well, I calmed myself down cause I figured nothing was going to happen and it gave me great comfort to think … there’s those mums that are like 16 when they have a kid, and somehow they manage not to kill their children – Dessy, you should be ok. Get a grip.
So we fed her chicken soup and pasta – just what we were going to eat anyway – sat around and watched TV (TV is such a good, but evil babysitter! It felt like we were all getting dumber watching the TV) and took her to the local little kids ball playground and spent an hour chasing her up and down the slides, and watching her sink and flounder in the big tub of balls ala Maggie Simpson.
It was exhausting! For the first time ever in my life I could finally see the appeal in NOT having children … it’s so encompassing – the parenting/caring for a child. It’s a cliché, but I can see how your whole life would revolve around your kids and basically their welfare becomes the most important thing for that period until they can look after themselves. It didn’t really ever strike me that way until this last weekend. Am I ready to give up my lazy mornings/evenings surfing the web or relaxing, going to fancy dinners, late nights at friends places playing games or poker until the wee hours?Realization: that’s why you’re supposed to be married before you have kids. The wife can do that. Thanks mushie!
Oh, and I hope you are managing ok all you new parents!
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Sports Mad
So much of my time gets eaten up by sports - reading about sports, thinking about sports, playing sports, training for sports, watching sports. Spending this much time on anything is made even greater if:
1) You can turn it into skill, or money
2) If you have someone to share/debate/watch the sport with
Now I haven't (yet!) been able to turn my sports watching into any money - not through lack of effort or time spent - damn you Sportsbook. Now while we were in Africa, Gobes arrived in London- woot! - now, anytime that I need someone to hit up the pub with to watch the soccer, or someone to keep me in the casino until 2.30am watching a fight he's the "Go-to Guy".
Recently we went to the NFL in London - and I must say, the expectation and build up was much better than the actual game. We bought 90 pound tickets to the sold out game about a week before the game from some random internet website. Waited nervously for 3 days for tix to arrive (called them up once to check on ticket delivery only to be told that they had NO IDEA about delivery - it was after business hours - only in London! Since then they've sent me 3 emails, after the event, to say that my tickets were on the way ...)
Got into the stadium (Wembley is a gorgeous stadium - beautifully designed in and out) after trudging through usual London crap weather, a mass of people trying to get souvenirs that had sold out 2 hours before kick off, a pack of American accents, and being asked for ID by the security staff that were body-searching people on the way into the stadium. When the guard asked me how old I was - I gave him a look like "are you for real?" and said that I was 15 and he said, "oh, you're too young to be searched ..." We promptly went off and bought beers. Ha!
Then with flames, fireworks and flashes from camera exploding across the stadium the players made a dramatic entrance onto the field - running through a tunnel of cheerleaders (thanks to the Miami Dolphins for bringing your cheerleaders! new york didn't :( how can you win without cheerleaders!?!) "How good is this?" we were saying to each other.
Unfortunately, that was as good as the game got. The game was ugly, messy and wet, with the field and ball so slippery that the exhibition of skills was sorely lacking. As mushie would say – “they call themselves professionals but they can’t even catch the ball!!!”. (She usually would add in something about how the best technique to win the game would be to just pull everyone’s pants down to stop them running … that’s why Gobbo came to the NFL not Mushie.)
1) You can turn it into skill, or money
2) If you have someone to share/debate/watch the sport with
Now I haven't (yet!) been able to turn my sports watching into any money - not through lack of effort or time spent - damn you Sportsbook. Now while we were in Africa, Gobes arrived in London- woot! - now, anytime that I need someone to hit up the pub with to watch the soccer, or someone to keep me in the casino until 2.30am watching a fight he's the "Go-to Guy".
Recently we went to the NFL in London - and I must say, the expectation and build up was much better than the actual game. We bought 90 pound tickets to the sold out game about a week before the game from some random internet website. Waited nervously for 3 days for tix to arrive (called them up once to check on ticket delivery only to be told that they had NO IDEA about delivery - it was after business hours - only in London! Since then they've sent me 3 emails, after the event, to say that my tickets were on the way ...)
Got into the stadium (Wembley is a gorgeous stadium - beautifully designed in and out) after trudging through usual London crap weather, a mass of people trying to get souvenirs that had sold out 2 hours before kick off, a pack of American accents, and being asked for ID by the security staff that were body-searching people on the way into the stadium. When the guard asked me how old I was - I gave him a look like "are you for real?" and said that I was 15 and he said, "oh, you're too young to be searched ..." We promptly went off and bought beers. Ha!
Then with flames, fireworks and flashes from camera exploding across the stadium the players made a dramatic entrance onto the field - running through a tunnel of cheerleaders (thanks to the Miami Dolphins for bringing your cheerleaders! new york didn't :( how can you win without cheerleaders!?!) "How good is this?" we were saying to each other.
Unfortunately, that was as good as the game got. The game was ugly, messy and wet, with the field and ball so slippery that the exhibition of skills was sorely lacking. As mushie would say – “they call themselves professionals but they can’t even catch the ball!!!”. (She usually would add in something about how the best technique to win the game would be to just pull everyone’s pants down to stop them running … that’s why Gobbo came to the NFL not Mushie.)
Saturday, November 03, 2007
5 months have passed!
Gee - it's so easy to get lazy and not blog! soo easy ... but then you talk to friends who say things like "I used to read your blog but you never update!" and you know other people that blog regularly (maybe once every sunday, and have have gay-Kerri-Anne Kennelly related reasons for doing so) and that little voice inside you starts to fire up again.
There feels like lots to blog about right now - africa, babies with big testicles, living overseas, missing oz, nfl at wembley etc - but I'm not sure if it's the same feeling i get when i want to go shopping. The feeling of actually "wanting to shop" only overtakes me every 6 weeks or 2 months - and as soon as I've bought one or two items (usually 1-2 games on ebay.co.uk - at 5 pounds) it dies.
well best get started on one of the above posts ... stay tuned!
There feels like lots to blog about right now - africa, babies with big testicles, living overseas, missing oz, nfl at wembley etc - but I'm not sure if it's the same feeling i get when i want to go shopping. The feeling of actually "wanting to shop" only overtakes me every 6 weeks or 2 months - and as soon as I've bought one or two items (usually 1-2 games on ebay.co.uk - at 5 pounds) it dies.
well best get started on one of the above posts ... stay tuned!
Friday, May 18, 2007
It's raining babies!
We just found out about another close couple of ours is pregnant! (not sure about the wording of that) All together that makes it 4 couples that have recently announced pregnancies in the last 6 weeks ... ! Congrats you soon to be parents!! Ahhh, the miracles of life!
When to have kids and how long to stay in London is a question we have been struggling with for the last 2 years. I guess for married couples (that want kids) it's about finding that fine balance between enjoying married life and not starting too late - and we all have an idea in our minds what the best age for kids would be.
For me personally, I'm really enjoying the life we have here in London, but it'd be heartbreaking if we put off having kids in favour of travelling the world and seeing sights and then missed our chance to have kids. I hope my "boys" are going ok down there - they've spent a lifetime encased in briefs!
Another consideration (if you plan on having more than 1 child) is how you space having your kids...? I think it's a fine balance again - you want to have them close enough in age to all be able to play together, without making it feel like one continuous pregnancy for the baby factory (ie mushie)!
so many more questions: are we adult enough? are we ready for this change to our lifestyle? what should we name the boy/girl? what if they get the combination of me and mushie's hairy eyebrows???
When to have kids and how long to stay in London is a question we have been struggling with for the last 2 years. I guess for married couples (that want kids) it's about finding that fine balance between enjoying married life and not starting too late - and we all have an idea in our minds what the best age for kids would be.
For me personally, I'm really enjoying the life we have here in London, but it'd be heartbreaking if we put off having kids in favour of travelling the world and seeing sights and then missed our chance to have kids. I hope my "boys" are going ok down there - they've spent a lifetime encased in briefs!
Another consideration (if you plan on having more than 1 child) is how you space having your kids...? I think it's a fine balance again - you want to have them close enough in age to all be able to play together, without making it feel like one continuous pregnancy for the baby factory (ie mushie)!
so many more questions: are we adult enough? are we ready for this change to our lifestyle? what should we name the boy/girl? what if they get the combination of me and mushie's hairy eyebrows???
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
You alright?
After spending 20 months in London (not including time spent overseas or back in Sydney) and enduring ½ a winter, I can officially say that I’m starting to understand Brits and their mentality.
While this winter hasn’t been that bad, (and surprisingly pretty snow for 2 days) the length of the winter coldness, which lasts approx 6 months Oct to april, and the dark, cold mornings and the dreary wetness has left me right miserable. And whingey. And craving sunshine
It has resulted in a few undesirable effects. Firstly, the cold and misery makes u:
A) Want to stay indoors, preferably warm – what could be better than the pub?
B) Crave comfort foods – hot chips, meat pies, Yorkshire pudding and Sunday roasts covered in gravy. Mmmmm Tasty!
Which inevitably gives u a gut. And makes u pasty white. Not good!
And then u happen to transport yourself away from London to a somewhat warmer country – and despite your brain telling you not to, u find yourself whipping your shirt off to “sunbake” in 19-20 degree weather, exposing ur white, flabby body for all to avert their eyes from. Sorry fellow Portugal travellers - my body needed it!
And my lingo has expanded now too! I now know what bubble and squeak, toad in the hole and spotted dick is - but not what the third one tastes like! :)
Monday, December 18, 2006
Time
Having a free subscription (thx to our previous tennant) to Time magazine has made me painfully aware of how ignorant I am re: things happening in the world. It really is scary learning what is happening around the world right now, that living in our precious, cosy homes, we can be completely oblivious to.
Should we care? Mushie has always been of the opinion that watching the news is "too depressing and upsetting" - and i certainly agree with that. There is way too much suffering going on in developing countries, warring african states, Palestine - Israel, Iraq, let alone the local news about rape, murder etc, to feel very excited about watching the news (i guess that's why they have that naked news .... certainly adds a different twist to news)
I guess I pride myself on my own powers of judgement - that i can see a certain situation/issue and know in my mind what is the right thing to say or do then. (like knowing not to walk down dark alleys or being careful to wash your hands carefully after treating someone's feet for example :)
However, when I think back to pre-iraq ,when Australia was deciding wether it would join the US at war, and I thought ... i guess that's ok, why not ... WHY NOT?!?! How about that Iraq was not responsible for 9/11, that Bush and his governement had lied about the WMD (weapons of mass destruction), that the UN would not support the action, that soldiers would die ... are we partly responsible for not having an opinion, and in silence, supporting our governments who persue these illegal, immoral, stupid wars?
Should we care? Mushie has always been of the opinion that watching the news is "too depressing and upsetting" - and i certainly agree with that. There is way too much suffering going on in developing countries, warring african states, Palestine - Israel, Iraq, let alone the local news about rape, murder etc, to feel very excited about watching the news (i guess that's why they have that naked news .... certainly adds a different twist to news)
I guess I pride myself on my own powers of judgement - that i can see a certain situation/issue and know in my mind what is the right thing to say or do then. (like knowing not to walk down dark alleys or being careful to wash your hands carefully after treating someone's feet for example :)
However, when I think back to pre-iraq ,when Australia was deciding wether it would join the US at war, and I thought ... i guess that's ok, why not ... WHY NOT?!?! How about that Iraq was not responsible for 9/11, that Bush and his governement had lied about the WMD (weapons of mass destruction), that the UN would not support the action, that soldiers would die ... are we partly responsible for not having an opinion, and in silence, supporting our governments who persue these illegal, immoral, stupid wars?
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