Moving House

I've had just about enough of the bullshit of having to make about several attempts before viewing this literary masterwork, so I'm moving here. I've already started moving a few of the old posts over. You won't be able to see the well written stuff, though.

I couldn't be bothered moving the comments.

It's been a long time since I rock and rolled

And even longer since I listened to Led Zeppelin.
Up until yesterday I was unable to access any blogspot blogs, including this one. I don't know why that was the case as I could write and post on the site, I just couldn't see the result. Now I can see it, eventually. I usually have to refresh the page half a dozen times to get blogspot pages to display, but display they do, so I might start writing a few bits every now and again.
As for me, there's not a lot to tell, really. I got married in February. Dad came over for a month, which was pretty cool. I've been doing a fair bit of scuba diving when the mood takes me. Apart from that, not much.
It will take me a whi9le to get back into the swing of writing stuff, but don't worry, this won't turn into one of those inner demon exposing blogs all about me, me, me, me. Nor will it be a travelogue style, "Look at me, aren't I adventurous!" things.
They shit me.

Not much has happened

Well here I am in sunny Vietnam. I've been here for a little over three weeks. Now for a brief summary. Saigon stinks. It's also fucking crowded. No surprise there, I guess. I met the lovely lady at the airport, after having sat next to another Aussie who spends six months a year in the same town that I now find myself living in. We spent a couple of days in Saigon before doing a bit of a tour around the Mekong delta to the Cambodian border. Now I'm in Nha Trang.

Apparently Vietnam is not, in fact, one huge town. I've been reliably informed on various occasions that I was in the countryside between towns. You can tell that you are in a rural area because some of the houses have backyards. The Vietnamese name for these backyards is 'farms'.

Nha Trang does a fairly good impression of a tropical paradise.

Which is all I could be bothered telling you at the moment; I've got to go get a pedicure.

I'm just going out for a short walk

I think that some polar explorer said that before he disappeared into the icy wasteland.
Which I guess is a little inappropriate as I have no intention of going anywhere near any icy wastelands. I will be buggering off for a while, though. Probably for about a month or so.
If you don't hear from me before then, feel free to purchase me something expensive for consumer exploitation day Christmas.

Groundbreaking New Technology

Every other bugger in the world is posting YouTube video, so because I am nothing if not a diehard individualist, always willing, nay, eager to go against the flow, to buck the trend and to fight the machine, I'm going to post a YouTube video, too. I have no idea why cornstarch and water behaves this way, but it is pretty nifty.

A pool filled with non-newtonian fluid

In other news, I replaced the drag link on my ute smornin'. I mention this only because of the trouble I had in sourcing a replacement. I emailed literally dozens of establishments in the eastern states. Only six bothered to return my email. Of those six, four wanted to know what a 'centre drag link' was. For those of you who don't know, a 'centre drag link' is what Holden call the item I was taught as an apprentice to call a tie rod. Also known as a track rod or even just a steering linkage. You would think that a spare parts person would be familiar with the terminology.

I also mention this because it is the first bit of maintenance that I have done on this vehicle that was remotely straightforward. Fair dinkum cobber, you'd think this vehicle rolled off a sixties Vauxhall production line, not a noughties Isuzu one. It's only the metric fasteners that give it away.

Hail to the chief

Unless something very odd happens in the next twelve months, I'm going to vote Labour at the next election. I heard Kevin Rudd on the steam powered wireless yesterday and in the very first Opposition Leader interview of his that has come to my attention he addressed two of the issues that matter the most to me. Not only did he he address them, but his stance on these issues is very palatable to me. On the first we are in complete agreement: Australia is sending jobs overseas by the bucketload because of the current gubment's obsession with having every single budget in surplus. The easiest way to get a surplus is the export of commodities, we give the industries major tax breaks, the taxpayer then constructs the majority of infrastructure (Although the coal industry is doing so well that they are building a lot of their own rail and water lines now.), the commodity is then put on a boat and sent overseas. We don't manufacture anything any more. We send coal and iron ore to Japan, who smelt the ore. Japan is not a cheap country, either tax-wise or labour-wise. How does this make economic sense?

Rudd nimbly side-stepped what will probably be the official Liberal Party rhetoric about tariff barriers (Much like the official Liberal Party rhetoric about interest rates, they will neglect to mention their own record on tariffs, or tell you who fixed the problem.) and gave some imprecise, but encouraging answers full of references to R&D and industry development. It is naive to expect detailed policy from any opposition this far out from an election and ridiculous to expect it from a new opposition leader, but I will be watching this one closely.

The second issue I don't see exactly eye to eye with Kevvy on, but at least he is addressing the issue in a way which is likely to see a positive outcome. I am referring to the relations between state and federal governments. My preferred solution is to get rid of the states. Simple idea, really, but bloody difficult to put into practice. Kevvy didn't offer a quick soundbite solution to the problem (He'll have to work on that if he is to compete with Howard. Johnny's policies are always easily digestible. Might not be any good, but they are easy to sell.) but he is aware of it, has worked in both area and seems to have a pragmatic approach to the problem. Johnny, on the other hand, uses the steamroller approach in areas where he is ideologically motivated or where there are easy points on offer. Everything else he blames the states for.

There is another reason to vote for Kevvy: He wears RMs.

My ex-girlfriend's sister had one of Jamie Durie's g-strings

In these days of trepidation regarding climate change and global warming, a thought occurred to me the other day which strikes fear into my heart.
First let me qualify this particular thought by saying that the last lifestyle program that I had much time for was Torque in the seventies (Couldn't find a link.). However, having been exposed to a few episodes of shows that involve gardening and in particular, makeovers of people's backyards, I have noticed something disturbing. Nobody has a Hill's Hoist. Or if they do, the correct course of action is to remove it. They don't even replace it with one of those reel in and out doovies.

Nup, it's carbon- emission central for this people. Maybe they think that because they have planted callistemons and bromeliads and stuff, that makes them carbon-neutral. I have, of course, written this post out of concern for the planet and not as an excuse to post a photo of Jody Rigby, whom I admire for her horticultural skill, work ethic and ability to drive a bobcat and not for her droolworthiness.

The new stealth model from Ducati:
Featuring Australia's next World Champeen (If Chris Vermuelen doesn't beat him to it, which seems likely, given his times in off-season testing.) Note his angle of lean, then look where his back tyre is, he's having a bit of a go. And yes, I realise that the picture has been edited for effect, but not very much.
Also, funny what a difference a colour makes, isn't it?
This photo is of the GP7 in stealth trim, so that camera waves bounce off it and they can do their testing in secret.

This photo is of the GP6 in full dress regalia. Basically the same as far as bodywork goes (Which is to say "Far and away the sexiest of the current crop of racing bikes." Like 'em or loathe 'em, Ducati always brings the pretty. Except the Paso. The Paso is the ugly one who stays at home baking cookies.) The GP6 looks far more angular and New Millennium than the GP7, which is almost John Player Norton-ish by comparison. I'd still ride it, though.

Probably only to about halfway around the first corner, but it would be good fun trying.

As an added extra bonus limited edition feature, here is the dash of the GP6.

Belinda Emmett

Let me begin by saying that until recently I was blissfully unaware of the existence of Ms. Emmett. I have no particular feelings regarding her personally one way or the other. She conducted herself with great dignity throughout her ordeal and for that she is to be congratulated. Rove is as funny as a toothache and as charismatic as a tax office auditor. Be that as it may, he too has carried himself in an exemplary manner and his marriage to a terminally ill woman is to be much admired. Indeed, I think his conduct could be held up to the entertainment industry in general as an example of how people of strong character behave in times of personal crisis.

They buried Belinda Emmett yesterday. The funeral appears to have been slightly more showbiz in orientation, with glossy pamphlets and things, but hey, they were only disposing of a corpse and I don't care what they do at my funeral, so I have no right to be judgmental about anybody else's. However, to commemorate her passing, radio stations around the country were given copies of a song entitled Less Than Perfect, recorded by Emmett* in 2003 for an unreleased solo album.

Yesterday, whilst raping the planet in my tractor** and listening to the ABC, one of only two radio stations we receive out here (The other one being 2WEB, which was playing John "When I want your opinion, I'll give it to you" Laws.) I had the opportunity to listen to Ms. Emmett's song. There is a reason that album remains unreleased.

That song is truly, unrelentingly awful. It is the most painful gash that has assaulted my eardrums in many a long year. I would rather listen to an album of failed Australian Idol auditions. The scariest thing is the probability of this album being released as a fundraiser for the Belinda Emmett Foundation.

I don't know if the Belinda Emmett Foundation exists, but if it doesn't then it soon will because every dead celebrity - and most live ones - have a foundation, it being a well known fact that the only way to contribute to a cause is to duplicate services, multiply the combined admin costs and write it off on your taxes. Which has absolutely nothing to do with self-aggrandisement, furthering your career or trying to cover your greed and wealth in a coating of nobility.

* Is it disrespectful to refer to a dead person by their surname?

** Raping the planet = leveling ground that I earlier cleared with a bulldozer.

Here I am, brain the size of a planet....

Is it just me, or is depression becoming more common? Not that I'm depressed, but I seem to be seeing more reports of it in the papers. Now Marcus Trescothick is going home.

Bugger.