Roy for King of the World (Warnie is already God)

The decision to send Andrew Symonds home from England resulted in a storm of discussion over at twitter. Discussion, spirited discussion. Not argument, but a good old fashion enjoyable discussion. It was a pleasure Moko, Dr Yobbo and Lobes.

The point of contention seems to be around what is a reasonable expectation of behaviour from our sporting hero's. There are a few keywords that get thrown around during these discussions and here are my views on some of them:

Role model: This is a doozy. Apparently everyone that plays professional sport has to be a role model to the kiddies. In my day, my parents were my role models and they would give me the moral framework to be able to select role models from other areas of society. Sports people could be role models, but all that was demanded of them was to perform in their chosen sport and if they provided a good off-field example then that was celebrated.

Professionalism: Being a professional sportsman means that you make your lively hood from your sport. So by extension, professionalism would refer to the standards maintained by that player to perform at a level that warrants payment. So in my view, you are acting in a professional manner if you turn up each game/training session in a condition to perform at the standards required.

Sponsorship: The big problem is that to pay sportspeople lots of money, that money has to come from somewhere and that somewhere is sponsors that want to be associated with the sport or individual. They want to be associated with winners first and foremost, but then also demand that their stable also project an appropriate image outside of the sport. You may think that is a fair request, here is a stack of cash now go out and win and also behave like this corporate robot. I don't think that's is really fair. My life is my own and I will live it how I choose. Judge my character before you sponsor me and if you don't like it or it doesn't fit your marketing plan, then keep the cash.

Media: The new catchphrase for the media is "it's in the public's interest". Just because you say something doesn't make it true. Why is it in my interest to know how many schooners Roy has put away or what Ben Cousins is doing hours before a game? The phrase is "in the public's interest" not "what the public is interested in".

So in conclusion to me sport is sport and what matters is how you perform on the field. Your life is your life and you deserve to be treated in the same manner as the rest of society. Some sportspeople respond to a life of discipline and dedication (Tom Hafey, Michael Shumacher) while others perform best when their personal life is chaotic and provides a distraction (Warnie, Keith Miller).

Sport people are people not corporate cardboard cutouts.

Now someone ask me why I don't think sportspeople should be tested for illicit substances.

Super Naut

I quite liked this film as a small kid.



I may even use this to make myself a super t-shirt.

Ps. The bird is and always will be the word.

Have you heard?

About the bird?

Apparently the bird is the word!

Sorry, watched the "bird is the word" Family Guy episode for the second time on the weekend. The Good Lady Naut has had the song stuck in her head and I am taking great pleasure in singing, huming or texting her to make sure it stays firmly implanted. Her last SMS, in reply to mine asking if she had heard about the bird, suggested that my life my be forfeit once I get home.

In other news, I managed over the weekend to buy a couple of suits and half a dozen shirts. The suits are Anthony Squires off the rack items, which based on David Jones's current catalogue normally go for about $1000 each and I got them for $400 each. I have been looking at suits for a few weeks now, in consultation with a suit expert that sure knows his way around a lapel. I am not sure if I should be thanking him, as I will never be able to buy a cheap polyester suit again! That said he has been very generous with his advice and I thank him for it. Now does anyone know a good tailor in Melbourne?

While I am on the topic of thanking people, a big thankyou to the real estate agent that offered me some advice when the GLN and I starting talking about selling our house. We still don't know if we will, but I feel in a better position to make the decission when the time comes, thanks to the advice of this kind gentleman.

It may seem a bit strange my thanking people without naming them, but I don't want to be responsible for them being inundated with people after free advice. I need them to be available for when I need free advice! But if they happen to read this, they will know who they are and know that I appreciate their assistance.

Well now eveybody knows that the bird is the word, I'm outta here!

An homage of sorts

I have a short break between the end of my assignment and preparing for my exam, so I thought I would celebrate with a quick post.


This post is an homage to Steve and his number plate collecting apprentice Lermontov. I spotted this beauty on the way home from work. It was dark and raining, hence the crappy photo.



The car is a Toyota Hilux Dual Cab SR5 ute and the plate is PSTAGN which I assumed meant PISSED AGAIN. I couldn't really see the driver through the tinted windows, but I did catch a glimpse that made me think it was a blond woman.

The fact that they are advertising that they are performing an illegal activity suggests that they may indeed be blonde.

So to Steve, mate this one is for you!

*** UPDATE *** To international readers, "pissed" in Australia generally means drunk rather than angry.

Crappest! Post! Ever!

Still stupidly busy. I am skipping footy this week to get stuck into an assignment due Friday week. If I really get into trouble I will also take Thursday/Friday off work next week to get it done. I spend so much time driving to and from work I have no time left to study during the week.

We are still discussing whether to sell the house on not. I will have about a month in June/July to prep the house for sale, but the real question is do we sell? It's a long discussion that leads round and round in circles. Here is a property I like, cheap, lots of land and being close to the Hume it is as not as far out of the city as it seems.

Just in case anyone isn't aware, I won Simon Bedak's footy tipping last week which I believe adequately demonstrates my superiority over all humanity.

Pretty crappy update for someone that has just claimed to be so fantastic, but lack of sleep and stress will do that to ya! So remember, if you think you are creepy looking, at least you are not Ben Stiller!

The film of the TV series, of the book, of the play, of the comic, of the car, of the fish, of the .....

There is a fair bit of interest around the traps about the new Star Trek film, I'm not a massive fan of the series but even I am tempted to go have a look.

All this Star Trek talk got me thinking, how often has a popular TV series gotten made into a series of films that has been as or more successful as the TV series? There are plenty of examples of movies being turned into TV series, Stargate is the first one I think of, but it's harder to come up with any that were a TV series first.

I am trying, but I just can't come up with any other TV series that has done it.

In other news, I am making progress on assignment# 2 and we are debating whether to sell the house as houses around us are selling 2 days after listing.

The paradoxes of life.

Well the hectic life continues with the arrival of another assignment.

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that the Good Lady Naut (GLN) has started a 12 week job helping re-establish playgroups for those effected by the bushfires. It's worthy work and she has been enjoying it, but it is also quite challenging. As part of her job her boss suggested she take a drive through both Kinglake and Marysville so she can better understand the parents she will be dealing with. She did so and came back with some unimaginable photos.

The photos showed a luna type landscape with black tree trunks sticking out and twisted, mangled rubble that was once houses. One photo looks down through the blackened trees onto Marysville which now consists of neatly laided out piles of rubble. Nasty stuff.

In the midst of this we have been talking about moving a little further to Melb's north, getting a few acres and building a house. It's all very conceptual at the moment, but on Saturday we jumped in the car and took a drive to see what's around. The areas we are looking are all near Kinglake/Whittlesea so we ended up driving through Kinglake to Whittlesea. Seeing what I saw in the photos for real had just as big an impact. We made sure we stopped at a couple of places in Kinglake and spent some cash to help out the local community.

On the way back we detoured via a friend's place in the area that I knew had been destroyed. When we arrived we found my friend, his partner and baby daughter in a caravan parked out the front. They are living with his parents during the week, then weekends in the caravan. They left home on Black Saturday about 20 mins before their house went up. Some of their neighbours stayed and saved their houses and some stayed and died. They looked tired and you could see an air of sadness behind their eyes. The paradox is that in a couple of years time when they have built their new house, they will be in the best position they have ever been in.

Life is a funny thing sometimes.