2010: A belated beginning

I started this post on 17 Jan 2010, but life got in the way... It went a little something like

In the week of heading back to work for 2010 after a generous 2 month holiday, I figure it is time to declare the goals of 2010. I realise this is a little premature given that I haven't reported back on 2009, but I will catch that up in the coming weeks.

This will be a series of posts as I explain the reasons for the goal and how I plan to achieve them, but for now the 2010 Goals:

Health: Waist circumference <= 100cm

Reading: The Bible

Cooking: Sauces and Beer

Finance: Improve my net position by 10%

Family: Spend Quality Time with Hayden and Julie

Study: Finish my 2nd and 3rd Masters Degrees and take my longest break from study since Pre School

I am sure I would've explained a little rationale behind the goals, instead I have drifted along a path. As always, I can't help but think I am exactly where I should be.

Early in the year, I became aware that there was a position on the Canberra Officers' Mess Committee as the Wine Officer. And given that wine is something that I am passionate about, I decided to take it on. The role of the Wine Officer is to nurture the appreciation of Wine among members and provide opportunities to access great drops.

Some of the ways that we this had previously been achieved is through a combination of tastings, Wine Appreciation Dinners and through a bottle shop service. Although only remnants of the Dinners and a shadow of a bottle shop remained.

I will aim to describe the Wine Officer's journey through this Blog over the coming weeks/months.

But before I sign off an update on the original goals:

Health: Start 115cm - Now 105cm

Reading: Not Started

Cooking: Not Started

Finance: Improved by 7.5%

Family: What does that mean?

Study: Two assignments and two subjects remaining in MSysEng

New Goals:

Health: Spend 45mins/day exercising averaged over the week

Twitter killed the facebook...

I have long been thinking about posting on how my twitter fetish has killed off any hope for my Weblog, but I kept myself from posting. The main reason was that I am certain that it had all been said before over the three years of Twitter's life. It is quite natural that a disturbance in the force results in a renegotiation of how to fit everything in.

What inspired this post has been the recent barrage of complaints on Facebook about the twitter updates that apparently consume facebook 'news' feeds. From what I understand, by tweeting some of my friend's walls are consumed by my activities... but isn't that the point?

What is it about web2.0 that these people aren't getting? but if I went down this rabbit hole, I would be just as bad. So instead... Things that @#$% me about Facebook:

1. Being bitten by Vampires/superwalled and poked

2. Friends' statuses about the current domestic that they are having

3. What this quiz can tell me about me

4. You can control your news feed

5. This is where your mum is now

2009: An Odyssey

Whilst I am not one to regularly make New Years Resolutions, I have decided on a couple of goals for 2009 to address some frustrations that spring to mind about 2008.

1. iPod Zero = I am to achieve a steady-state of no greater than One Week's backlog (6.5h at current rate)
2. Weight = 95kg +3/-0 for 3 months or longer
3. Read 12 books (already @ 3.3)
4. Complete MBA (Advanced) - and avoid having a specialisation in anything Finance-related.

In 2008, I was a late comer to the wonderful world of podcasting & iTunesU, but I really did attempt to fill my head as much as I could. That currently leaves me with a backlog of 17.7 days, so by any means I choose I must reduce the levels to no greater than one week's backlog - iPod Zero. This strongly supports Goal 2, as the longer I run/gym the more audio I can consume.

The other goal worth explaining is my realisation that I had completely stopped reading books, instead engulfing myself in RSS feeds, skim-reading articles and podcasting the nights away. Thus, a modest book a month I think is a reasonable re-introduction.

I don't think the list is exhaustive and there should probably be something that helps me prepare for the Bundle of Joy expected in Winter. As always, I am open to suggestions for additions or appropriate rewards

Rick's Aussie Music Intro Disc 2

As started yesterday, below are the details of Disc 2 in the compilation. This leads me to Bleg: What would you put on Disc 3?

1.      Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again The Angels
   
2.       (He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River TISM
   
3. .     Trampoline                                                The Grates
   
4. .     Black Bugs                                                Regurgitator
   
5.       Middle Of The Hill                                    Josh Pyke
   
6.       The Weeping Song                                    Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
   
7.       Three Dimensions                                    Something For Kate
   
8.       Better                                                            The Screaming Jets
   
9.       Tarantula                                                Pendulum
10. Beds Are Burning                                    Midnight Oil
11. Highly Evolved                                    The Vines
12. . I Will Not Go Quietly (Duffy's Song) The Whitlams
13. Holy Grail                                                Hunters And Collectors
14. My Ex-Girlfriend's Boyfriend            Machine Gun Fellatio
15. Woman                                                Wolfmother
16. Purple Sneakers                                    You Am I
17. Skeleton Jar                                                Youth Group
18. Six Months In A Leaky Boat                        Little Birdy 

1.            Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again by The Angels. 1970 saw the formation of Adelaide, SA band The Angels. The Beer-drinking classic Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again was released in 1976 off the self-titled album.

2.            (He’ll Never Be An) Ol’ Man River by TISM.  This Is Serious Mum (TISM) are of the great Australian genre of Piss-Taking, where nothing is sacred as you will find in this hit off the Machiavelli and the Four Seasons (1995).  This song is a reference to River Phoenix’s death which raised threats from Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s Bassist Flea. TISM have an interesting and mysterious history and are the first live band I saw in their 1998 tour in support of Regurgitator. Cultural Note: Piss-Taking is derived from “taking the piss,” which is Australian slang for “making fun.”

3.            Trampoline by The Grates. Hailing from Brisbane, Queensland The Grates managed 4 songs off their debut album Gravity, Won’t Get You High in the 2006 Triple J Hottest 100, but Trampoline wasn’t one of them. The Grates are lead by the high energy Patience Hodgson.

4.            Black Bugs by Regurgitator. The headline act of my first live gig at Festival Hall in Brisbane, their hometown, was Regurgitator. Black Bugs comes off the Rock/Electonica band’s second album, Unit (2007).

5.            Middle Of The Hill by Josh Pyke. Josh Pyke’s first hit single was Middle of the Hill off the Feeding The Wolves EP. This track got this Sydney, NSW Artist recognised with a 19^th place in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2005.

6.            The Weeping Song by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. Nick Cave is a bawler hailing from 223 miles NW of Melbourne, Victoria and started his music career as the frontman of the Birthday Party. He joined with the Bad Seeds in 1984 with The Weeping Song coming off the 1990 album The Good Son.

7.            Three Dimensions by Something For Kate. Melbourne band Something For Kate formed in 1994 lead by Paul Dempsey whose voice could break a heart at a thousand yards. His wife is the hot-as-hell Stephanie Ashworth who passed up an offer from Hole to play with the band. Three Dimensions is taken off the 2001 album Echolalia rating at #13 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of the same year.

8.            Better by The Screaming Jets. A hard rock band hailing from Newcastle, New South Wales, Screaming Jets formed in 1989 and are still playing today. Better is the hit single from their debut album All For One.

9.            Tarantula by Pendulum. Off the Perth drum and bass band’s debut album, Hold Your Colour (2005), Tarantula is the #88 song in the 2006 Triple J Hottest 100.

10.            Beds Are Burning by Midnight Oil. A classic Sydney-based Australian Rock band who played from 1971-2002 before frontman, Peter Garret retired his crazy-dancing shoes to join the Australian Labor Party and is currently the Minister for Environment, Heritage and the Arts. Importantly, this protest song was in support of the Australian Aboriginies  and particularly tied to the ‘Sorry’ movement. Peter Garret was in his political capacity when the apology was made by Prime Minister Rudd in 2008.  Beds Are Burning was released in 1987 on the album Diesel and Dust.

11.            Highly Evolved by The Vines. Formed in Sydney in 1994, The Vines were the first Australian band to be on the cover of Rolling Stone (2002) since Men At Work in 1983. The band succeeded in crafting the album Highly Evolved (2001). It turned out that the frontman, Craig Nicholls was having some issues with drug use and was quite erratic on stage leading to a significantly degraded live presence.  The track Highly Evolved achieved 19^th place in the 2002 Triple J Hottest 100.

12.            I Will Not Go Quietly (Duffy’s Song) by The Whitlams. The Whitlams are part of the Australian music brotherhood with You Am I, Machine Gun Fellatio and The Cruel Sea. This track I Will Not Go Quietly is named for a TV character Duffy from a one season Australian show called Love is a Four Letter Word. The TV show was the zeitgeist of frustrations of the Live Music scene centred on a Sydney pub that was besieged by noise complaints. Released in 2001 on the Torch the Moon album and it achieved #42 in the Triple J Hottest 100.

13.            Holy Grail by Hunters and Collectors. This classic band Hunters and Collectors formed in Melbourne in 1981 and disbanded in 1998 with the album that this rendition of Holy Grail is taken from, Under One Roof recorded at the Coogee Bay Hotel, Sydney. This song was originally released in 1992 on the album Cut. Holy Grail has become synonymous with the Australian Football League.

14.            My Ex-Girlfriend’s Boyfriend by Machine Gun Fellatio. The third song on the compilation by MGF, this one showing their truer nature of playful hurt.

15.            Woman by Wolfmother. These Sydney Rockers obviously draw their roots from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, but I will out them here as having some very close sounds and lyrics to Uriah Heap! They formed in 2004 and disbanded in 2008, with this hit track being released in 2006 on the self-titled album. On the way to the Jan 2005 Big Day Out, I stopped to buy the Wolfmother debut EP and played the four tracks on infinite loop from the Smith St exit to the Gold Coast Showgrounds… which on Big Day Out day takes about an hour. Luckily, Dan and Andy got to enjoy it!

16.            Purple Sneakers by You Am I. This track is not the best You Am I track, but most importantly it was my conversion to the alternative genre. Thanks to Brad Wheeler, I have never looked back. You Am I formed in 1989 and have released 11 albums. Purple Sneakers was released on the Hi Fi Way album in 1995 achieving #24 on Triple J Hottest 100.

17.            Skeleton Jar by Youth Group. Youth Group start their story in Canberra, ACT but now reside in Sydney. They shot to fame in 2006 with a cover of Forever Young, which was used in the TV show The OC. Youth Group released Skeleton Jar in 2004 on the album of the same name.

18.            Six Months In A Leaky Boat by Little Birdy. Six Months In A Leaky Boat is a cover of New Zealand brothers Tim and Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House fame. Little Birdy have their roots firmly in the Perth Music scene including other bands such as The Sleepy Jackson and End of Fashion. This eerie track is taken of the tribute album She Will Have Her Way (2006).

 

Rick's Aussie Music Intro Disc 1

Those of you who follow me on Twitter would've noticed the mention of a Mixed Tape... And despite some of the feedback it is not as old school as you think... but the same rules apply. I refer of course to those in High Fidelity. The Mixed Tape is an introduction to Aussie Music for my partner's brother back in Angola, IN.

And this is it:

1.  Propane Nightmares              Pendulum           
   
2. Hold Me Close                         Bertie Blackman   
   
3. Heart's A Mess                        Gotye
   
4. One Crowded Hour                        Augie March 
   
5. Skywriter                                    Ash Grunwald      
   
6. Rollercoaster                                    Machine Gun Fellatio   
   
7. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Live) AC/DC
8. Nobody Likes A Bogan            Area 7 
   
9. The Boys Light Up                        Australian Crawl        
   
10. ...And We'll Dance On The Ashes Of What's Left   The Beautiful Girls
11. The Familiar                                    Faker          
    
12. The Game                                    End Of Fashion   
    
13. Comfort Me                                    Pacifier 
    
14. Are You Gonna Be My Girl            JET    
    
15. Numb All Over                        Dallas Crane       
    
16. Unsent Letter (Acoustic)            Machine Gun Fellatio    
    

 

1.            Propane Nightmares by Pendulum.  Propane Nightmare is a hit off Pendulum 2008 album In Silico. Pendulum are a Drum and Bass outfit from Perth, Western Australia who formed in 2002. Julie and I are going to see them at the Big Day Out Festival on 30 Jan 2009.

 

2.            Hold Me Close by Bertie Blackman. Hold Me Close is the hit single off the Bertie Blackman 2006 album Black. Bertie Blackman is a local of Sydney, New South Wales commencing her musical career in 2003.

 

3.            Heart’s A Mess by Goyte. Heart’s A Mess is Gotye’s track that achieved number 8 in the Triple J’s 2006 Hottest 100 off his album from the same year Like Drawing Blood. Gotye (pronounced gore-ti-yeah) was born Wouter DeBacker, in Belgium but was raised in Melbourne, Victoria. If you get the chance check out the film clip.

 

4.            One Crowded Hour by Augie March. One Crowded Hour is the Triple J Hottest 100 2006 winning track by Augie March, who hail from Melbourne, Victoria. Augie March formed in 1996 and released the album Moo You Bloody Choir in 2006.

 

5.            Skywriter by Ash Grunwald. This Surfer-rock/Blues/Roots sounding track Skywriter taken from his 2006 album Give Signs. Ash comes from Melbourne, Victoria and released his first solo album in 2002.

 

6.            Rollercoaster by Machine Gun Fellatio. These guys were completely nuts, and one helluva stage show. Rollercoaster was a hit-single finishing sixth in the triple J Hottest 100 of 2002 from Paging Mr Strike album.  Machine Gun Fellatio were from Sydney, New South Wales and disbanded in 2005.

 

7.            Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap by AC/DC.  Does this band even need an introduction? AC/DC formed in Sydney, New South Wales in 1973. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap  was released in 1976 on the album of the same name.

 

8.            Nobody Likes A Bogan by Area 7. Nobody Likes A Bogan is the track taken from Melbourne, Victoria –based Ska band Area 7’s album Say It To My Face. Cultural Note: Bogan translates to Podunk.

 

9.            The Boys Light Up by Australian Crawl. Coming out of Melbourne, Victoria in 1980, Australian Crawl released The Boys Light Up the second single taken off the album of the same name. The track was nearly banned due to its suggestive lyrics implying that ‘light up’ was a reference to Marijuana.

 

10.            …And We’ll Dance On The Ashes of What’s Left by The Beautiful Girls. In the Roots genre The Beautiful Girls have a few good tracks making regular appearances at the Falls Festival and are currently on their 6^th tour of USA. …And We’ll Dance On The Ashes Of What’s Left is taken from their 2005 album We’re Already Gone.

 

11.             The Familiar by Faker.  Faker formed in 1996 in Sydney, New South Wales but it was their first studio album Addicted to Romance that shot them into the popularity in 2005.

 

12.            The Game by End of Fashion. End of Fashion formed in 2004 as an offshoot of fellow Perth, Western Australia –based band The Sleepy Jackson after a spat. The Game was the second single from their self-titles album released in 2005.

 

13.            Comfort Me by Pacifier. Pacifier were formerly and are currently known as Shihad, changing their name in 2002 out of concern that the USA fanbase would associate them with the 9/11 attacks by sounding similar to jihad. Shihad formed at school in Wellington, New Zealand in 1988 but moved to Melbourne, Victoria in 1999. The one album released under the name Pacifier was self titled and released in 2002.

 

14.            Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet. This Melbourne-based band catapulted into fame with Are You Gonna Be My Girl off the Get Born Album (2003). This track even got included in Madden NFL 2004 but most importantly was the #1 JJJ Hottest 100 track of 2003 and is classically attributed the my housemate and I coming home from such a party to turn everything upside-down.

 

15.             Numb All Over by Dallas Crane. Dallas Crane formed in 1996, but this rip-snorter is taken off the self-titled album of 2004. The track came in at #83 in Triple J Hottest 100 of the same year.

 

16.            Unsent Letter by Machine Gun Fellatio.  This acoustic version of an MGF tearjerker was selected to wrap up Compilation Disc 1, leaving you wanting more. Originally released on 2000 album, Bring it On,  this particular version is taken from the Rollercoaster Single of 2002.

And then there were Ten

I have submitted my top ten songs for 2008 to JJJ Hottest 100 and can hope for the chance to win two tickets to every JJJ sponsored gig in 2009... sweet, never mind the odds.

In coming to the final ten, I amused myself by observing how I decided:

Step 1: The Trawl

In this step, I scrolled through each listed song by artist, stopping at an artist I recognised as liking in the past. The song had to live up to or exceed my expectations of the band or it was neglected (notice a distinct lack of Kings of Leon). 

If I couldn't recall the song by it's title, I searched for it in my playlists. If I didn't own it, I then went the iTunes Store and listened to a snippet. The output was;

Step 2: The Shortlist

I wrestled with some thoughts about censoring what would make my shortlist, in particular Muscles and Emiliana Torrini. I recognised this as an irrational thought and dismissed it... but I have to admit, it was this fear of judgement that incited me to post on this topic.

Step 3: The Cull

Over the past 24+ hours, I slowly cut songs down from the 50 in the Shortlist. The cull was based on the following factors;

1. Performance against expectation of the Band/Artist (is this their best work)
   
2. Ranking of songs by the same band (is this their best work in 2008?)
   
3. Origin (Australian?)
   

The cull resulted in:

 Bloc Party - One Month Off 
 Cold War Kids - Something Is Not Right With Me
 Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart 
 Faint, The - The Geeks Were Right
 Faker - Dumb Mistakes 
 Faker - Sleepwalking 
 Grates, The - Carve Your Name 
 Music, The - Strength In Numbers 
 Pendulum - The Other Side
 Pendulum - Propane Nightmares

In retrospect, I really hope my important decisions are made with more rigour, precision and accuracy...

Rugby Trip

Indeed what memories from this place...

Boutique Beer

Sunday was unremarkable with the exception of a visit to an impressible Microbrewery down in Goolwa that the guys introduced me to in February... If you get the chance get into the stuff, the standout is the Truffles... Australia's only Fortified Beer

BMI

It looks like I'm not the only one on this.

Well my situation has got a little more intense... I have decided to apply for an exchange to the UK which would be for approximately 4 months starting April 2009... on the application there are many conditions including a set entitled 'Application will not be considered if:' Five of the ensuing criteria were medical in nature, these covered; recommendation by doctor, passing of a physical fitness test, being rated as Medical Category 1 (the highest) and finally a BMI no greater than 29.9.

Now that is deliberately chosen because of this arbitrary 30 = Obese figure. One does wonder if the other medical criteria would suffice? surely physical fitness, a doctors recommendation and a top tier med cat would cover the risk factors... So then is the BMI merely a catchall for not sending someone who looks fat?

BMI has long been a pain to me, every annual health check up I have to go and talk to a doctor before I can attempt the physical fitness test (which is less load than my Aussie Rule and Touch football commitments, which can be approved by my boss without medical consultation).

Now I am the first to admit that I am overweight, but I suggest that I could stand to lose 10kgs, but that takes me to my optimal... not to borderline obese as BMI suggests...

So basically the mission is on... 

Slackness and a tip of the hat

There are a couple of reasons I have been neglecting my Blog... the defensible one is the transition to Mac... I am nearly there...

2ndly, hat tip to misssandy for starting to guest blog at this one's evil twin. Arguing with myself was ineffectual let alone just a little creepy...

Standby for more in the coming week :)

The Superheroes

For the last week I have been playing on a Leadership Exchange and whilst I am not going to go into my frustrations with the Mice right now, I will introduce you to my little friends...

Introducing Captain Common Sense, Logic Man and Sir Sarcastic... feel free to call on them as you need.

Life's Soundtrack

Iain put me on to this... Basically, you have to pick an album for each year that you have been alive and you can't double up on artists...

I found it really hard to keep it down to one album and using the artist once but here is my bash at it...


1981: Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes

1982: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Midnight Oil

1983: Eliminator - ZZ Top

1984: Too Tough To Die - The Ramones

1985: Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits

1986: On the Beach - Chris Rea

1987: Strangeways, Here We Come - The Smiths

1988: Travelling Wilburys 1 - Travelling Wilburys.

1989: Stone Roses - Stone Roses

1990: Empire - Queensryche

1991: Ten - Pearl Jam

1992: Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against The Machine

1993: Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins

1994: Smash - Offspring

1995: Alice in Chains - Alice in Chains

1996: Hourly, Daily - You Am I

1997: Sehnsucht - Rammstein

1998: John Butler Trio - John Butler Trio

1999: Beautiful Sharks - Something For Kate

2000: Mer de Noms - A Perfect Circle

2001: Lateralus - Tool

2002: Songs for the Deaf - Queens of the Stone Age

2003: Sleeping with Ghosts - Placebo

2004: Antics - Interpol

2005: Silent Alarm -Bloc Party

2006: Orphans: Bawlers, Brawlers & Bastards - Tom Waits

2007: Because of the Times - Kings of Leon

2008: In Silico - Pendulum

Multiple Ontologies

I found this and this through Skepchick (though I am not sure how I got to her blog).

The issue of education of children (and extrapolate as you will) is one that I hold dear. As a child I fought tooth and nail to not be forced to attend Religious Education. Now in retrospect, I was only ever fighting the fact that I was being forced to attend. I had chosen not to attend because the presenters of the material were unable to satisfy my curiousity about inconsistencies.

So how do these tales tie together? My $0.02 would argue that the role of educators is to provide balanced education in as many fields as the professional educators can provide. I think the role of the parent in this is to guide how a child interacts with the knowledge. Surely, no censorship but guided education is far more worthy in the pursuit of excellence?

I think that by providing rounded education de-politicises the curriculum and encourages everyone to their role. Thus religion in education is 'studied' not practiced allowing exposure to the gamit of Dahmic, Abrahamic, atheist and other schools of thought (faith) which would surely assist intuiting tolerance.

Maybe the real fear here is that children may find joy in the multiple moral tales available to them...

Hierarchy

I recall as a high school student being allowed to do work experience at the Gympie station of the Queensland Ambulance Service. The majority of the work was mundane but I did get to spend sometime with an early form of mentor. He and I had a discussion at one point about hierarchies and how people will go and look for a 'person in charge'. he observed a similar behaviour through his experience that went something like

'... we were out at a crash scene and this was after we had change our rank insignia to all look the same. It seemed that people would go up to the oldest looking member of the team to ask questions but in fact he was only qualified as a driver and not really able to help with the queries.'

I think that hierarchies are a natural thing that we rely on and are probably linked to our idea of family that in case of emergency head toward the grey hair. But there are always exceptions known experts (medicine men), known Confidence men (Charlatans), Dominant types (Alpha) and influencers (the King's Physician). I think that these roles tie into crews but I will await Dave's thoughts to fully emerge before I come back to my application. I think that these roles run deep... and can be used in many and varied ways

With all of this in mind, I was told by a friend that when I see anything to do with the Public Sector (particularly the Military) I just zone out thinking it is not relevant? I would really like to hear some thoughts on matrix organisations and hidden hierarchies formation?

Mind you I don't think that all of the archetypes are brought out in the open when the hierarchy is ritualised it just gives you a map.

What's in a name?

On a lighter note, and heading back to my two weeks in Wagga Wagga... I recall a lady on course with me who had three kids, Ocean, Vibrant and Winter... This did inspire someone to ask her why? and particularly to justify why she had consigned her kids to be beaten everyschoolday of their lives... and you might think the answer had something to do with Nimbin... but it was: place of conception, nature of the child and season of birth... pretty boring for some odd names. I only bring it up because of Scott Adams

White Noise

It is often a joke in Australia (the World?) to pull the mickey out of Americans for their ignorance but reading last month's The Monthly, I have to consider the effect of white noise.

If we are constantly bombarded by low level information at what point do we stop discerning. I read a blog that my boss put me onto that might have a point that news will find you...

So then do we surround ourselves with like-interested people who act as filters for us? isn't this what web2.0 is really all about? self-censoring? so then we can be responsible for our own ignorance... IF we know what we are doing... In a constrained environment (behind a firewall) then maybe it is a positive but societally I wonder about heading toward a place where Gatorade is used to hydrate crops.

On reflection of Something For Kate Your not the first to think that everything has been thought before... I would tell you that this article is related, but I didn't make it through before getting fidgety and ...

The Dark Knight

I went and saw The Dark Knight, it was a Christopher Nolen classic. I have to say that it did not disappoint... That being said, the rhetoric around Heath Ledger's performance is interesting... the Joker is an unashamed archetypal Loki or Eris... Strange, alluring, quirky but not that dark. The darkness is brought to life by the White (Harvey Dent) and Dark (Batman) Knights... The fall into chaos and the perversion of Dent into Two-Face is truly dark but the chilling part is Batman... at the risk of spoiling the movie, I will stop.

I have taken the day off to get somewhere with my last Career Episode Report for CPENG painful.

Just a thought

First of all, I am speaking without any authority at all (thank you Technorati)... but I thought it was basic that if you want a safe and undistracted workplace then you probably don't want to threaten the maintenance engineers' jobs.

Does Joyce know what he is getting into?

$58, no joke.

I have been somewhat slack... albeit a little the fault of my access to the net... Unfortunately, there is no access to social-networking behind the work firewall nor regular access to internet whilst in Wagga Wagga... Anyway, the direction of this blog is still working itself out.

Well I have some half-baked uses for the Cynefin framework that I intend to blog in the near future... One looks at training, which might actually be closer to KM than I anticipated and the other one looks at Military organisational structure.

Speaking of the Military, I wonder if the RAAF is aware of this revelation. This will not help their retention, I am sure.

To finish, I was shabbily in need of a haircut after my 3 weeks away so I went to the place I have used near work. Only to find that the Barbers had left for the week. This was fine I would simply find a place near home...

I googled a place in North Adelaide called Mens Hairdresser's (which seemed unambiguous enough for me) but once I got to the Village there was none to be found. So, now I wandered closer to home and started looking for a hairdresser. This is not hard to find on Melbourne St, but this uncomfortable feeling settled over me as I stood outside... I felt the need to ask if they cut men's hair... I avoid this and headed to the one with the picture of the bearded person amongst all of the women. Now I say bearded person because the model was somewhat androgynous and that should've been a hint...

I am still getting over the fact that they could keep a straight face whilst telling me that a man's haircut cost $58... I realised it was not a joke when they offered me 10% because it was my first time... Am I out of kilter with the world or did I miss something extra that was on offer here?

Evil ATM

So it turned out to be true... My debit card was not expired despite this rogue ATM's claim.

Luckily my bank is happy to send me a new card... to my home address... which I won't return to until 26 Jul... There has to be a better way...

Day 2 of course = 2h Safety Lecture + 6 h Legal Lecture, not as much fun as it sounds