One day in September...

"One day in September:" it's my birthday, it's father's day, Marcus was born, it's the equinox, it's the first day of spring?

No. The song was written as "one day in September" is when the grand final is played; the culmination of a season of blood, sweat, tears, turmoil, suspensions, fines, drink driving offences and curfews. This is not just any grand final. It's the AFL grand final. A sport uniquely and truly Australian.

Depending on you historical interpretation the game either developed from the aboriginal game of malgranuc (where a blown up possum was used in place of a football) or it originated when two pretentious Melbourne boys' schools played a grudge match against each other (it's still going.) For decades it was the VFL played in the southern state of Australia. Then either because Victorians felt the need to enlighten other states, or other states decided they'd had enough of the Melbourne monopoly it evolved into the ABLE, as interstate teams joined in.

Despite the nationalisation of the game (every child has a football and knows how to kick it) the grand final is still played at the famous MCG (the politics surrounding this could fill a week of postings, so I'll leave it at that.) While our family are West Coast supporters (some more passionate than others) we also followed the game when it was the VFL. I won't mention which Victorian team we supported, as members still deny this event. Because 'Dad did,' we moved follow the West Coast Eagles the day they joined. In between I'll admit I did followed a few other teams. These were determined either by what was 'cool' as dictated by the twenty something girls in my year at school, the team that had the players that were cute, and yes, I'll admit it there was a time when I went for colours. Fickle and shallow, yes, but hey I grew out of it...well at least when it comes to ABLE.

While ridiculing our own football code seems to create hours of amusement for other countries, i think we get some respect from the Irish, who don't exhibit the aptitude to grasp the fundamental concepts of the sport (or a just jealous they didn't think of it first) for Australian 'blokes' it's a right of passage.

Hand in hand my 6f4" shrinking Dad and my 6f 6" growing brother set of to watch the sporting spectacle that is the ABLE grand final. It wasn't the first, and it won't be the last. Prior to attending the match both individuals had early starts. A last minute flight home saw James at the Brisbane airport at some unholy hour, while his father greeted the doors (or more appropriately the line up outside the doors) of the MCG at 4am. This was so seats could be secured in the stand. Madness.

This grand final was a battle of the birds and as predicted by one commentator; feathers did fly. They flew up until the final siren where the west coast EAGLES (origins in East Perth) beat the Sydney SWANS (based in Sydney and then merged with South Melbourne when attempts to reduce the number of Victorian teams in the league took place - this is still going on) by a single point. During the final 20 minutes of the match I think my Canadian flat mate decided it might be time to move out as I paced, commented and frequently lamented the Swans won last year, we have to win this yelling, "the Eagles have got win this year as it's Dad's 60th Birthday, on no it's too close, just get in front just kick the stupid ball, oh dear dad will be in Epworth, Dad will be having a heart attack....oh lord that's the siren...They won ...THEY WON." She looked at me like I had told her I was contemplating dying my hair bright green with purple highlights. But hey, between my amateur commentary I did outline a few of the rules and she did admit their was some talent, given her limited knowledge of the sport you can infer what she was making reference to.

Closing on the only word my father could utter down the mobile just after the siren: "Unreal."

Palaver came, palaver went

Due to technical difficulties, beyond my control, a ticket for palaver was not secured. Palaver past me by this semester. As fun as it is it's really a disguise for getting out your party shoes and consuming excessive amounts of alcohol. Reports from all have documented the night has a highly successful and enjoyable, especially those who stumbled home at six-thirty on Friday morning. Imagine Friday would have been rather painful past-time. This pic is from palfrey last year (I managed to secure a ticket for that.)

photo from palaver a year ago

Melbourne

This advertising campaign should win an award, or many. You can watch it here. Ensure the volume is activited.

Bond went to the races: the evening in pictures

thanks to those fantastic people at unit 1 for the photos again

from all accounts the night deteriorated from here and no photos from the aftermath are suitable for display

Bond goes to the races: the day in pictures

thanks to Erin and Mark for providing the photos & camera

Here's hoping the birthday girl had a fantastic day

Today

Today walking to Uni I saw a friend of mine. They weren't having a great day. Hopefully my efforts to cheer them up worked. Knowing that I made someone else feel better makes me feel better, and makes me forget how the last few days haven't been great. I think I'll go back to caring about people, positive energy is good.

Have a great day!

Back at Law School: the good, the bad and the down-right unfair

some of you were lucky, or unlucky, to view a list of the good, the bad and the down right unfair according to Emm,now back at law school. It has been removed.

News from down-under

• The Australian women's basketball team, the Opals, are now the world champions.
• My friend Cait (discussed here and here) made a huge discovery today: msn. She spoke to me on it. I showed her how to change her display photo. She is living in Germany at the moment. She is living in a rowing club and organising a regatta.
• Water Crisis: there really is a water problem in this country. Suprise, Suprise. There really has been for a long long time. Again, suprise. The solution to build pipe lines between dams is rather like putting a bandaid on a broken leg.
• The introduction of an 'Australian values' test for those wishing to become Australian citizens has been discussed. Bud Tingwell said some great stuff about this, as did these two. Rather than read it, try to download it(many options available) and watch these two amusing individuals.
• There has been an out break of the dreaded and highly contagious Meningococcal disease in Brisbane at the Griffith University Campus. Two cases have been reported and admitted to hospital. Hopefully these people will be alright. A substantial effort to prevent the spread has been undertaken.
• Last night was the Brownlow medal count. It wasn't directly tele-casted to the Gold-Coast. Anyway Adam Goodes was the recipient. This is the second time he has won. Last year my friend from Uni Anna flew down to Melbourne as she was invited by a very important footballer. I don't remember his name but she was on television and people commented on her dress. My friend Andrea has accompanied her Grandmother before. Her Grandmother goes as her now deceased husband was awarded this medal sometime ago.
• The AFL grand final is in Melbourne this weekend. Let's hope the West Coast Eagles win the cup. If only to ensure my family's sanity. This article picks them as winners. The Bond Constitutional Mooting team is also going to Melbourne. Best wishes and good luck to them.
• Apparently the Telstra boss has been paid too much, especially considering the money shareholders have lost.
• Oh dear: '3 year old buys car on ebay '

Have no fear

For those people who panicked, thought I had run away or entered a self-imposed blogging hiatus this is not the case.

I could provide a four page account of what happened. I hope you have more to do with your day than read my dribble. Cutting a long and boring story short: I signed out of the home page for blogspot. I forgot my user-name and password. I attempted to re-set it. Alas blogspot and yahoo are having disagreements. I pursued other means. What seems a life time later (four days) it was reset.

I presume the person that sent me this email was hinting that this blog would be the appropriate forum to bring to your attention..Thanks Dad.

Em,
some Saturday mornings i get to listen to this programme and have just looked up on the internet, low and behold the interview with Peter Macintyre with his house on the river in Kew, 1955, that is before Mum was born. Also, programme on shoes that i partly heard, also very interesting that is ...www.abc.net.au/rn/bydesign
Cheers Dad

p.s. for those of you who have not as yet met my rather eccentric family both my Mother and Father have a passion for 1960s architecture and furniture. One of there favorite architects is Robin Boyd. To say he was their favorite would be a big judgment call. They have diverse tastes and one would hope my Mother's favorite architect is my Dad. Building on this interest for things of the 1950s and 1960s my father's PAJ (that's pride and joy) is the Eames Chair my Mum gave him. He still has the box it was shipped in and is storing it safely. My Mother bought herself a Wassily Chair, actually circa 1925 however it embraces design techniques and styles used in the 1960s. Hopefully one day they can visit this place and this place together. When visiting Herman Miller, all cards and accesses to finances should be remain in a locked vault. It may be too tempting. i've seen my Mother try to restrain herself. While my Father has always been interested in this stuff....Mum I'm not sure, nonetheless, I am sure it is probably a reaction to years of unwilling exposure to antiques selected by others.

And yes to all those Canadians out there I am aware that this is based in Toronto. Apologies to all my Australian friends but Canadians continually need to re-assure themselves how terrible this country is. If you don't believe me read this.

Odd as it is while my Mother has a handbag fetish my Father has a shoe one, primarily for women's shoes. He doesn't wear them, just admires them from a distance. Andrea, Dad I and we would invite Christine Hogarth along ,if she wasn't to busy rising to political prominence in Canada, would do some damage at Miss Louise in Collins Street, Melbourne. Dad, I don't think you've ever purchased a pair of shoes for me, aside from runners. This is your chance... (p.s. I am sure they don't stock large enough sizes for Sarah and Mum so there is not an opportunity for them to be offended.) But I can probably think a number of far more functional things to purchase before a pair of shoes...like water tanks...

In the meantime I have been doing a bit of reading.
This article strikes fear into my heart, 'Poor pitiful Oz', but all it really does is eloquently state the obvious. Richard Neville writes:

"It is said that a leader who thinks of the next election is a politician, but a leader who thinks of the next generation is a statesman. By that criterion, it is no mystery where history will place John Howard. The key threats facing Australia today, including environmental degradation, the rise of militarism and the decline of free speech, are rooted in a decade of toxic federal governance. Instead of storming TV, the views of voters are shaped by it and the shock-jocks. ...Once we were larrikins with a taste of defiance; now we are lapdogs with a thirst for conformity. On the matter of values, John Howard and Kim Beazley are joined at the hip. In Oz 2006, to be a "civil libertarian" is to invite abuse, while to dismiss human rights as "no longer sacrosanct", or to deny inconvenient facts about global warming or indigenous history, is to attract government patronage. Once we had bush poets, mocking the pompous; now we have scribblers, licking the hands of their feeders.
Puffed-up politicians on both sides of the House seek from new arrivals a pledge of citizenship that endorses "Australian values" at a time when our values are tangled in a global tumble-dryer. That a government should demand such endorsement is itself a violation of a core Australian value - the freedom to think what we please. To think, for example, that numerous values exemplified by our Prime Minister are crap.

That's a rather good summary of politics, it's leaders and the change in the Australian psyche over the past decade.

Neville further comments:
"Leaders of developing nations are becoming enraged by our indifference to the impact of emissions on their citizens. A statesman would recognise that the fate of the earth is a shared responsibility, but we have turned our backs on potential climate refugees from waterlogged Tuvalu.... in the lead-up to the Iraq invasion, where propaganda was put above truth. The jolly hordes of peaceful protesters in Sydney and Melbourne were branded a "mob", and those who tried to alert the nation to the manipulations of intelligence and the subsequent outbreaks of torture were gagged or slandered. The result is continuing carnage, with the fingerprints of our leaders on the corpses. In the "war on terror", Australia's fair-go reputation was traded for "future security" and a White House banquet."

"Freedom of information has been re-constituted into a new value, the freedom from information. Any document with the potential of "embarrassing" the Government is quarantined from public scrutiny."

Nostalgically, he laments:
"There was a time when Aussies scorned officialdom. The boys from the farms and the factories who swarmed to the front line in the First World War, including those who landed at Gallipoli, were renowned for their disregard of red tape and for pricking the pomp of superiors. ...The huge anti-war moratoriums of the Vietnam era also displayed a sharp defiance for delusions of big-wigs...."

"Today's TV politics is unable to provide perspective, history, meaning or foresight."

For the entire article from the Age click here.

Stay tuned for:
1. re-adjusting to life at Bond and law school after a time down south
2. Canadian and Australian language variations
3. My new flatmate Erin
4. De-brief from the races at the Gold-Coast Turf Club on Saturday
5. Pending social and academic commitments at Bond
6. Planned travels