Uni boys and the Woodies.

Tomorrow is the Eastwood vs. Sydney Uni Toohey's New Cup grand final. And the Woodies are looking like they might be able to win it, even if Uni's been pretty strong over the whole season. C'mon Woods! Sadly I won't be able to make it to the game at Aussie Stadium. And this was the game I was aching to see! Instead I'll be watching in ABC TV. Just not the same.

And gosh, Tom Carter is cute.


Listening to:
Title: If She Wants Me
Artist: Belle & Sebastian
Album/station: Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003)
Length: 5.05

Returning to normal programming.

Bah! What crappy attempts at blogging. They say one shouldn't ever apologise to anyone for what one blogs, so I won't. I'll just shake my head at myself. Tsk tsk. Nothing but drivel, ramblings and rants. I'd delete them, or at least hide them, but that's just cowardly. Suffice to say, I'm short of subject matter. Or substance.

Later on today, I intend to go to the beach. Yay! The Bureau says it'll be sunny and twenty-three degrees on the Celsius scale. Probably too cold to swim in, but sunny nonetheless. And so we begin our medium term farewell to winter tan lines. We've shared some good times over the cooler months, but it's time to say goodbye. You are the weakest link. Har har. Anyway, it's probably just a quirk of the weather, having such a sunny and [relatively] warm winter. So until global warming catches up with us, Junes, Julys and Augusts of wearing T-shirts and saggy-arse shorts (yes, I'm one of those), and hence severe winter tan lines, probably won't happen again.

And speaking of clothes, I found this T-shirt that I loved the look of earlier this week. Problem is, it came only in kiddy sizes. No smalls. No extra smalls. Only in 8 to 16. I tried one on anyway and a size 12 fitted me perfectly. How embarassing. A nineteen year old lad wearing a kiddy T-shirt. I suppose it doesn't matter all that much, I mean we're talking skate and surf tees here. And a size 12 is essentially an XS, right? Right.


Listening to:
Title: Comin' Back
Artist: Bent
Album/station: Ministry of Sound: Chillout Sessions 7 (2005)
Length: 4.14

Interesting...



Listening to:
Title: ---
Artist: ---
Album/station: --- (0000)
Length: -.--

Let's read the paper, eh?


Final push to get rail users back on track, Sydney Morning Herald, September 28.

Whatever happened to the days when the NSWGR ran those cheap, dinky little railmotors all over the state?


Real baby bonus found: a rising birthrate to keep us younger, Sydney Morning Herald, September 28.

So apparently Australia's declining birthrate is turning around, which is good. What's better is that the increase in mothers doesn't appear to be in bogans or teenage kids only after the Federal Government's baby bonus. Score!


Breastfed babes know when enough is enough, Sydney Morning Herald, September 28.

Breastfed kids are less likely to become obese. I can see an upcoming episode of A Current Affair or Today Tonight: "Bottle feeding mothers making our kids fat and bludging on the dole while dodgily repairing washing machines".


Recycle effluent: green group, Sydney Morning Herald, September 28.

To turn seawater into potable water, one must remove dissolved salt and other minor impurities, yes? To turn effluent into potable water, one must remove dissolved salts (and not just the sodium chloride variety), dissolved and suspended organic compounds, nitrogenous and metabolic wastes, pharmaceuicals and other toxic compounds that have been disposed of in sewage, et cetera, which occur in very much higher concentrations than in sea water. Essentially, almost the exact same or even more extensive procedures would be needed to obtain the same quality of potable water from effluent as from desalination and an equivalent or greater amount of energy would be consumed in the process.

And reports that these people want recycled effluent from the treatment plants in western Sydney piped directly into Prospect Reservoir scares me. People are worried about accidents at relatively safe nuclear power plants, what about accidents at water treatment plants?


ALP buries Hawke's nuclear waste revolution, Sydney Morning Herald, September 28.

Hey, it already comes out of the ground here, readily decaying on its own. Why not stick it back in the ground from whence it came? And make money for us, twofold - when it comes out of the ground, and when it goes back in?

Heh, and gosh I love Hawkie, in that silly grandpa kind of way.


Beazley sidesteps and Gillard runs away with the ball, Sydney Morning Herald, September 28.

Julia Gillard can be my prime minister any day.


Petrol profit details go on web, Sydney Morning Herald, September 28.

Oil refiners are businesses so, illegal practices like collusion aside, shouldn't they be able to set their own profit margins and charge what ever they feel? It's up to the consumer to vote with their feet and wallets to keep them accountable. It's our own demand and our own fault that the oil companies have us by the balls. We've got to reduce our dependence on petrol, walk more, or get the bus, anything. We can't forever be suckling at the teat of the bowser.


What goes up will keep it up, Ross Gittins. Sydney Morning Herald, September 28.

"If only more Australians had a better grasp on the laws of supply and demand", Ross Gittins says, "they'd understand the paradox that the rising price of petrol (and, of course, oil) offers the best prospect of preventing, delaying or limiting further price rises". Of course, the only thing that some Australians seem to grasp are the immediate effects on their own hip pockets, and will put all other concerns important to Australian society behind it. Disgraceful.


School reports need more detail than a few words on a billboard, Jenny Allum. Sydney Morning Herald, September 28.

One thing that the Libs don't understand is that schools are more than just places where academic subjects are merely taught. Education is not a commodity to be bought and sold for the lowest price. It's not a matter of putting money in and measuring what you get out of it at the end. They are communities in and of themselves and as such deserve as much support as they need. If they're doing poorly, supply the financial and social capital to remediate the problems. Schools and education are not just a means to an end, they're also the ends in themselves.


The gender divide as seen through the shower curtain, Sydney Morning Herald, September 28.

Wait a second. I face away from the showerhead. And I take ten minutes. Bah, according the shower people, I'm not a man!


Youth leaders set their ideals in motion, The Age, September 28.

Even a mock Parliament with young idealistic kids in the place of politicians won't vote for gay marriage. Well there you go.


Letters, Sydney Morning Herald, September 28.

Can David Ashton of Orange (Letters, September 26) answer this: why should I, as a relatively high income earner, contribute more to society because I have worked hard and got where I am today? Does that mean I should pay more for hospitals and schools even though I use them as much or even less than someone who doesn't work or doesn't earn as much as me?

If there is more money left at the end of the financial year, give it to the people who put it there: the payers of high tax.

A. Perry Quakers Hill

This is one of the attitudes that really gets my goat. Taxation is meant to be the redistribution of resources from those more fortunate to those who are less fortunate, in order to lift society as a whole. Taxation, and surpluses thereupon, shouldn't be and isn't about raising the fortunes of the few, nor about what one does or doesn't get out of their tax dollars. Anything left over should be invested back into society.


Listening to:
Title: Slippy
Artist: Goodshirt
Album/station: Good (2002)
Length: 3.23

Weird neighbours.

Funny how I go out for some fresh air and just fill my lungs with decrepit smoke. Bah! Anyway I've cut down on that now to like, nil, after a chat with Adam. Also, funny how my best friend is more of a guiding father figure than my own biological one. I suppose thats all a two way street, and well, I'm not exactly the best son insofar as a father-son relationship goes. But I digress. I needed a cigarette tonight.

Anyway, we have quite of a lot of weird neighbours I discovered, just from standing on the balcony of my flat. Bogans next door talking about pot. Talking loudly about pot. People across the way watching The Biggest Loser on TV with all the lights off. Some crazy lady who keeps walking to the mail box a couple of times every hour. In the middle of the night. Almost constant flushing of toilets. Like, the same toilet. Someone has the runs methinks. And cats. Lots of cats.

Nice night though. It's warm enough to go outside without a jumper on, but still quite cool.


Listening to:
Title: Falling For You
Artist: Weezer
Album/station: Pinkerton (1996)
Length: 3.47

Onya, Woodies!

Eastwood, 28.
Manly, 15.
Concord Oval, Concord.

Eastwood is through to the grand final next week against Sydney Uni! Could this be any more perfect? Next Saturday is going to be the Woodies' fifth tilt at the premiership in a row. And they're going to absolutley flog Uni.

A couple of Wallabies were back for the match today. Manly had George Smith. Eastwood had Matt Dunning. And back from suspension, Chris 'Bus' Kerisiano put in a fine effort and bagged himself a try. "The Bus has arrived at the depot", said ABC TV commentator Toby Lawson. And rightly so. How can one stop a 125 kilo bloke who runs on diesel?


Listening to:
Title: Life Is Better With You
Artist: Eskimo Joe
Album/station: From The Sea (2004)
Length: 4.41

The obligatory 'I'm not dead' post.

I hadn't gotten around to blogging much this week, ergo the lack of postings.

This week, I hooked up with a boy that I've known for the last few months. He's a first year engineering kid, and the obvious thing that comes with that: he drinks like a fish and is a right winger, just like the rest of them. But all that aside, he's really quite adorable. Like, the way he held my hand when we saw the Theatresports Grand Final at Manning on Wednesday night. Gosh, do you know how long it's been since someone has held my hand? I think it goes all the way back to the girlfriend I had in year ten. Aaages ago. Anyway, I probably shouldn't give away too much. I suppose I've also got to think up a suitable psuedonym for him too.

The SRC elections were on this week too, and two ex-boyfriends had a hand in part of it. One was seeking re-election and the other, an outsider from another university altogether, apparently came down and helped campaign for one of the lefty groups. I've heard he's on his university's union board, or at least gunning to be on it. Bah, what is this? Am I destined to date politicians? No, please no.

And that Experience Brisbane TV ad that's been on recently, what with Eagle Eye Cherry's Save Tonight, is really pretty cool. Almost makes me want to pay their fair city a visit.

Tomorrow: Eastwood vs. Manly at Concord Oval. Go Woodies!


Listening to:
Title: As Time Goes By
Artist: Natalie Cole
Album/station: Take A Look (1993)
Length: 3.45

Sunday evening musings.

1. In a fit of procrastination, I resorted to kicking the footy around the backyard with my uncle. I put a little too much oomph into one kick and it went sailing over the fence. I had a look next door but it was no where to be found. The fuck? Did it fall into some sort of wormhole? Did the fairies at the bottom of the garden whisk it away, just to piss me off? Gah! So now it's back to my physics assignment on the electromagnetic properties of matter. Riveting stuff. Sigh.



2. On the long list of things that drive me to murder, one thing happens consistently when I'm out or at uni and is perpetrated mainly by my straight male friends. Picture this: a bunch of us are sitting on a couch in some nondescript public venue whilst eating, drinking, chatting et cetera. Enter drop dead gorgeous male specimen.
   
   "Fuck, he's hot", I say, or something to that effect.
   
   Then someone will say: "He's probably straight, you know".
   
   Gah! You think I don't know that? Us queerfolk don't exactly make up a significant proportion of society and yes, chances are that the twitching mass of muscle who just walked in probably does chase pretty little things in skirts. Does that mean I'm not allowed to appreciate his form or fantasise about sharing a good ol' shirt-liftin' pillow-bitin' night of fun with him? And when you straight lads perve on some girl, do I say, "she probably doesn't go for the type of guy that you appear to be"? Of course not.



3. I'm not sure whether to be happy or not about State Labor's victory in Maroubra, Marrickville and Macquarie Fields by-elections. Despite the recent change of leadership, the State Government seems a bit tired - or alternatively, I've tired of the current State Government. Still, the State Labor seems like the better of two evils. And plus, my local member John Watkins rocks.
   
   In other election matters, Helen Clark seems to have the upper hand over in New Zealand. I'm captivated by Kiwi politics, what with their societal quirks and intriguing electoral system.



4. So Eastwood faces Manly next week at Concord Oval after Manly's forty-to-five win over Eastern Suburbs at TG Millner today. Go Woodies!

Listening to:
Title: Only In Dreams
Artist: Weezer
Album/station: Blue Album (1993)
Length: 7.59

Two years.

In a week or two, it'll be exactly two years since I graduated from high school. That fact dawned on me over drinks with the mates last night. Maybe I'd just been a little on the toasty side, but I felt myself space out. I had a think. Life since then hasn't been perfect, but I wouldn't change a thing. I'm glad things have turned out like they have. I mean sure, the parents are a bit of a pain, uni is getting on a bit and boys-- well-- they're being the difficult fuckers that they always are. But, you know, it's all good.

In the dim light of the bar at PJ Gallagher's, I sat staring at my half-empty glass of Cooper's and retreated to the periphery. Only for a moment. Two years, I thought. And these people that were with me, my closest mates, are still around. I remember back then, having no idea about what laid ahead. Would the people I cared about still be around? Would I still be on the scene? What would change? What would stay the same? It was a daunting time, but in that carefree juvenile sort of way I just pushed it to the back of my mind where it lingered, a lot like dogshit that you haven't realised you've stepped in.

I suppose I still have no idea about the future but now, I think I can deal with it a little better. As much as things have changed, quite a lot of things have remained static, and there have been things that I've always known that I can come back to and regroup. But yes, I wouldn't do anything differently.

Also, Alex brought his cousin Andrew along. Drool. Hotness seems to run in the genes.


Listening to:
Title: Ask
Artist: The Smiths
Album/station: The Very Best of the Smiths (2001)
Length: 3.09

Eastwood defeated by Sydney Uni.

Sydney University, 38.
Eastwood, 22.
Pittwater Rugby Park, Warriewood.

Bah! Uni had a bunch of Wallabies back playing club rugby from international representation and were just too good. So Uni goes straight to the grand final in two weeks. The Woodies have still got a chance though. They'll play the winners of tomorrows match between Eastern Suburbs and Manly next week at Concord Oval.

I didn't get to go out to see the game today. Warriewood is just too far and too much bother to get to so I watched it on ABC TV. But it's just not the same.


Listening to:
Title: Boys Don't Cry
Artist: The Cure
Album/station: Greatest Hits (2003)
Length: 2.41

Gonna take your mama out all night, yeah we'll show her what it's all about...

Tonight I'm taking my mum to see the USyd arts revue, Escape From The Planet of the Arts. It'll be her birthday on Monday. She turns fort-- erm-- I mean twenty-nine.

Also, Monday is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Yarr.


Listening to:
Title: Take Your Mama
Artist: Scissor Sisters
Album/station: Scissor Sisters (2004)
Length: 3.31

Walking 'round the room singing stormy weather...

It really irritates me when people use the word brought instead of bought, i.e. instead of "Jane bought three oranges", they say "Shaz went to the bottlo and brought a six-pack of JD and Coke".

Also, when people pronounce the contractions would've/could've/should've as would-of/could-of/should-of. That shits me too.


Listening to:
Title: Thankyou (For Loving Me At My Worst)
Artist: The Whitlams
Album/station: Love This City (1999)
Length: 3.58

A September Tuesday.

Is it just me or was today very... quiet? On the train to uni: quiet. Fisher Library: quiet (goes without saying, really). Eastern Avenue during lunch: quiet. On the wharf at Circular Quay: quiet. It was eerie, especially for the City. Maybe a little sombre, too. But pleasant.

Also today, my workshop partner Aaron and I gave our presentation on the aspirational class for EDUF2007 Social Perspectives on Education. And it went pretty well, I thought. I think I'm getting the hang of this business about getting up in front of a class and teaching/talking. It might be helpful, you know, seeing as that's the basis of my chosen profession.

Hmm. I found out last night that the major semi-final between Eastwood and Sydney Uni won't be taking place at a logical place, like TG Millner Field or Uni Oval No.1. Oh no, of course not. It'll be at Pittwater Rugby Park up in Warriewood. How inconvenient.


Listening to:
Title: Bizarre Love Triangle
Artist: Frente
Album/station: Marvin the Album (1994)
Length: 1.58

Political [dis]engagement.

Let me just start out by saying that I'm no activist. But I do worry about and take interest in the politricks that our elected officials are up to. I suppose I have some sort of anxiety about where this country is going, but I try not to dwell upon it here. I don't know, maybe I should.

So anyway, today I quoted Benjamin Franklin after reading a rather apt letter on the Letters page of Melbourne's The Age, with regards to proposed and enacted anti-terrorism laws. "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security", he said. And one of my mates just did not get it. He just had no idea about the whole issue. Maybe it's just me being faintly snooty or esoteric, but his ignorance alarmed me. He had no inkling at all, nor did he hold any opinion whatsoever.

It annoys me how at this moment, we are having this potentially decisive debate about where we want our society to go and he can't be bothered nor cares. It's not like he has to participate in any activism. A simple opinion would suffice. I don't mind if it's not what I believe. Just think of something.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised though. This is the guy that cast a donkey vote in the last election, and the only electoral policy he ever cared to listen to were about tax cuts. And to think, there are probably millions more of him out there. Hmm. Evidently, mine is a self feeding anxiety.


Listening to:
Title: Buddy Holly
Artist: Weezer
Album/station: Blue Album (1993)
Length: 2.39

Sunday night thoughts.

So I was watching ABC TV's Insiders this morning and the Australian Financial Review reporter Brian Toohey validated one of my econopolitical views, with regards to petrol pricing. Profligate use of petroleum products isn't sustainable nor is it healthy and one way to put a check on the growth of its use is to tax it via the fuel excise. Maybe the current high bowser prices might encourage motorists to consider other alternatives, or at least smarter use of their vehicles.

And if there's anything that shits me more than whinging commuters, it's whinging motorists. While the cost of petrol rises, drivers all over this country are complaining to the Government. For fuck's sake people, just deal with it. The Government doesn't have any influence over the market that determines petrol prices, nor does it want to, what with its free market ideology and all. If anyone is at fault, it is you, the consumer, whose demand is driving up those prices and further perpetuating the reliance on hydrocarbon fuels. And removing the fuel excise, much like removing stamp duty or property vendor tax, would only increase demand more and dig us all into a deeper hole. We'd be up shit creek with out a paddle, without a canoe and without a life jacket and all the while the salt water crocodile of doom will be hungrily sliding down into the murky water from the muddy, muddy bank.

In the long run, the use of hydrocarbons as a fuel isn't the best idea. Not only are the combustion of such fuels environmentally damaging, supplies are finite (although the issue of exactly how much we have left is debateable). When supplies run out, or become so scarce that the prices skyrocket, what then? Global economies collapse, industry comes to a standstill. Transport and other logistical systems will cease to operate. And we won't have any useful petrochemical materials. No plastics. No synthetic fibres. No organic solvents. Petroleum is much better utilised in the production of such materials rather than being combusted in an engine anyway.

Thank you for your time dear reader, signed Mikey, armchair professor of economics.


Listening to:
Title: Requiem: In paradisum
Artist: Fauré/Sydney Philharmonia Choir & Orchestra
Album/station: Life Is Beautiful with ABC Classic FM (2005)
Length: 3.30

'Woods Triumphant!

Eastwood, 28.
Manly, 23.
TG Millner Field, Marsfield.

Beautiful day. It was hot and sunny. And in the first match of the finals series, Eastwood defeated Manly! It was a pretty close game too, with only a couple of points separating the two since the kick off. It was sweet. Well, on reflection it was - things do tend to get pretty tense when there's a chance one's side might lose.

Scrum-half Chris O'Young scored two tries! I love him. And I was on TV!

So here's to the Woodies. After three straight losses, they've made a great comeback. And next week, they play against Sydney Uni in the major semi final. And I have no doubt where my loyalties lie - I'm an Eastwood boy first, and a USyd student second.


Listening to:
Title: Blown Away
Artist: The Pixies
Album/station: Bossanova (1990)
Length: 2.20

Why I like...

In the (one week old) tradition of posting the 'Why I like...' entry from uni, I bring to you this week's installment from the Con Library, a branch of the University of Sydney Library at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. [Well, it would've been, if Unwired had some semblance of internet reception down there].

Why I like...

...the Sydney spring: It's only the second week after the Australian winter ended and the weather is perfect for a trip to the beach. The temperature is up around 23 degrees C, the sky is blue and the sun is bright with a very light sea breeze. I was actually planning on going down to Camp Cove today but for some reason I decided I'd come down to the Con Library instead. Now I'm kicking myself. I suppose the tan lines that I got over winter and that desperately want to get rid of will have to wait.

...the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Library: Music. CDs. It's all here! Everything from the 1812 Overture to Nirvana, Nick Cave to Spiceworld. Of course, I'm copying them for research purposes only. Erm, yes. Sandstone-university snobbery aside, this is another reason why the University of Sydney rocks - it has the biggest library in the southern hemisphere, with almost everything you could ever want or need to read, watch or hear somewhere on it's shelves.


In other news, I've lost my sunglasses (amongst other things, like my marbles or my dignity for example). Bugger. I think I left them up on level seven or eight of Fisher Stack yesterday. Either that or I left them on the ferry when I was on my way home. Bah! It's highly doubtful, but I'm hoping that someone hands in a pair of silver Oakleys with blue lenses to lost property or something.


Listening to:
Title: As I Sat Sadly By Her Side
Artist: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Album/station: No More Shall We Part (2001)
Length: 6.14

The mikeymixtapes: spring time fling time.

Listening to:
Title: Star2fall
Artist: Cabin Crew
Album/station: Ministry of Sound: Sessions Two (2005)
Length: 2.21

Disjointed ramblings.

I bid Adam's sister farewell on Saturday night. Sarah's off to Manchester for two years to see her boyf. Nice bloke, he is. She'll be missed. Sometimes I wish that she was my own sister. Watched the unfortunate Wallabies v. All Blacks game at her farewell drinks at P.J. Gallaghers in Drummoyne. Perved on hot bar man. Ate some really nice pie - Guiness and beef pie. Mmm.


Ran into Tony, an ex, on the train the other day and we had a chat. It was pretty good seeing him again. He's special. I mean, he wasn't my first boy but well, he was the first-- anyway he was looking good.


I can't take rugby league seriously. If that makes me some kind of snob, then be it so. I just think there's something suss about a game where the players' jerseys aren't dirty by full time.


Today was the second day of CityRail's new timetable and in my experiences so far, it's all good. The train from mum's place to uni had to wait at various stations for the timetable to catch up. I haven't heard any whinging commuters yet. Ahh whinging commuters: how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways.

In other CityRail related ramblings, is it just me or do the R/S sets in Sector One all smell a little? Like, all musty and such. What do they do to them down at Mortdale MC? Heh, only a gunzel would know what I'm on about. How esoteric of me.


I was touched by a guest posting that spunky Agent FareEvader did on Desci's MelbourneHumanFemale. Honest, funny, sweet. And then he wonders why he has gay boys all over the country fawning over him.


Australian Nobel Laureate and immunologist Professor Peter Doherty was on Andrew Denton's Enough Rope on ABC TV tonight. Amongst other things, he loves are being proven right through experiments and being proven wrong through experiments, too. Sometimes when one is stuck in the quagmire known as a science degree, it's always refreshing to hear a few words of wisdom from the people in the field who love what they do. People like Dr Karl and my high school physics teacher gave me my direction and I'm thankful for it. I might have to post about why I want to become a science/physics teacher some day. That's for another time, I suppose.


Listening to:
Title: Kiss Me
Artist: Sixpence None The Richer
Album/station: Sixpence None The Richer (1998)
Length: 3.19

Thoughts at hand.

I've decided that I'm taking my mum to Escape From The Planet of the Arts, a.k.a. the USyd arts revue. It'll be her birthday on the Monday after, and well, I love my mum.

As far as mobile phones go, I'm a bit of a luddite. All I do is text and talk. I'd be satisfied with a telegraph, really. Anyway, my phones are always second hand, usually coming from mum when she gets a new one with all the latest features. Very tech savvy, my mum is. Up until recently I'd been getting by with an ancient Nokia 3310 but the other day I traded up to an 8310 that had been sitting idle since mum aquired the camera phone.

This 8310 is an odd thing. It stores nearly everything somewhere that isn't the SIM card - including various txt correspondences between mum and others. This morning on the train I was going through the process of deleting all of them when I came across this one message that was recently saved to the outbox. It was to dad, telling him not to take his girlfriend to the same pub or club that she was going to be at because it would be embarassing, as she says.

For those not in the know about my family situation, my mum and dad are still together, in a manner of speaking - despite the separate residences. As far as I knew, they spent weekends together. But I've got no idea what's happening now. I cried on the train when I read that message. It's entirely a new perspective for me. Dad's always had some floosy on the side and mum often joked about it. But I could imagine her vocalising what she'd written and I knew exactly how it would sound. Despair. Anger. Resentment. Hurt. And I wish none of this was happening.


Listening to:
Title: Dreams
Artist: The Cranberries
Album/station: Stars: The Best of 1992-2002 (2002)
Length: 4.15

Woods, Wallabies defeated.

Canberra, 43.
Eastwood, 8.
Viking Park, Canberra.

New Zealand, 34.
Australia, 24.
Eden Park, Auckland.

Oh dear. Woods have slid down to third place on the competition ladder after Sydney Uni and Easts after the loss against Canberra yesterday. That's three losses in a row. And after their defeat at the hands of the All Blacks last night, Australia didn't even win one match in the whole TriNations series. Maybe it's just a bad year.

The club rugby finals series starts next week. Eastwood plays Manly at TG Millner. There's still hope.


Listening to:
Title: My Baby Just Cares For Me
Artist: Natalie Cole
Album/station: Ask a Woman Who Knows (2002)
Length: 4.26

Why I like...

This was meant to be weekly sort of deal, but just as commitments often go in my life, it fell by the way side. Anyway, this entry is brought to you care of the AccessLab in the Education Building at the University of Sydney. So this is why I like:

…Fridays at uni: Fridays are just the most laid back days on campus. Most of the arts students are off smoking pot at home or in a park or whatever it is they do on their days off (I’m kidding, of course… or am I?). People just laze about on the grass in The Square, the Sunken Lawns and the Front Lawns. Others sit around the Fisher Coffee Cart, the purveyor of fine caffeinated liquids, and lackadaisically consume various incarnations of coffee whilst surrounded a haze of tobacco smoke. This is how learning should be. Fuck high-pressure education.

...Nick Earls: I’m not into any of the big epics of the literary world, but novels I can handle. And Nick Earls writes great ones. He grabbed me in high school when I found After January. It was such a sweet story and it just melted my little heart. I promptly borrowed 48 Shades of Brown from my school library and loved that to pieces too.

And that was it for a while. My school library only held two of his books and I didn't know until I got to uni that more existed. Squee! I typed in 'Earls, Nick' into USyd Library's catalogue one day last year and there they were, on level 8 of Fisher Stack. I got through Headgames, Bachelor Kisses and Perfect Skin but then exams intervened. And then I forgot about him.

The other day however, I loaned out World of Chickens. I'm only a few chapters into it, but it's excellent so far.


Listening to:
Title: ---
Artist: ---
Album/station: --- (----)
Length: -.--

Manning Bar/House.

I knew watching Theatresports at Manning Bar religiously every Thursday would pay off. I'm now the holder of two tickets to the USyd Arts Revue, The Planet of the Arts, which starts in about two weeks.

We resumed that other great Thursday ritual at Manning House (albeit only in my circle of uni friends), the communal hashbrown breakfast, after a week off due to Pat's surgery (on his goolies, I might add). The whole lot of us just annexe a couple of the window couches and send a sole operative up to the counter. Every week, without fail, we order a couple of dozen hashbrowns, and no matter how much or how little an individual chips in, everybody gets an equal share of the hashbrowns. We still have to wait while the ladies at the counter fry them up, though. You'd think that after weeks and weeks of this ritual, they'd wise up and have the potato cakes of joy ready to fill our tummies. Ah well.

But not long beforehand, possibly around nine hours earlier, a young man had passed away just up the stairs, on Manning Bar's balcony. Just after USyd's queer party for Sexuality Week, inVersion, and after the straight college kids on campus had more or less taken over, a young life was extinguished. They say it was a heart attack. At the time I thought he was just a random passed-out drunk. Evidently it was a lot more serious than that. Tragic.


Listening to:
Title: Local God
Artist: Everclear
Album/station: Romeo + Juliet Vol. 1 (1996)
Length: 3.55