Garbage

Last night I went and saw Garbage at the Festival Theatre. I am a huge Garbage fan and this is not the first concert of theirs I’ve been to – this was my fourth – obsessive maybe but I love their music.

Wow! Is the best way to describe the Garbage experience, they don’t need to rely on an over the top light show, dancers cluttering up the stage, big bangs and synthesized sounds. This is music in its purist form – the band playing and the singer singing. It was minimalist and the crowd loved it, hanging on Shirley’s every word sung and spoken.

The fans converged on the festival theatre (odd venue in my opinion) and once we were all seated the lights dimmed and the fans rose from their seats (like a Mexican wave) – Garbage had a standing ovation for the length of their performance, not one person remained seated. When the anticipation was hanging heavily in the air Garbage graced the stage and Shirley stood at the microphone shrouded in darkness. The fact we couldn’t see her didn’t stop us and the fans roared out their approval and when Shirley’s started to sing Queer the fans roared even louder.

The band had a good line-up, we got to hear songs off the new album live for the first time, but we also got to hear our old favourites like, “Only happy when it rains”, “I think I’m Paranoid” and “Cherry Lips”.

The fans loved every minute and we had a three song encore before Garbage disappeared backstage permanently.

The trouble with friends

Much to my pal Pool God's chargrin - I have removed what was an incredibly angry bit of writing on a certain individual that I have crossed paths with.

If you didn't get the chance to read it - tough luck - but feel free to read the comments.

Honestly, I didn't feel comfortable leaving it up as it made me feel like i was sinking to the individual's level - which I really didn't want to do.

Lastly, it is time to move on and I've talked enough about this.

For all you feminists out there

Not sure how true this all is but if it is true - what an absolute Hoot!

In Memphis, Tennessee, a woman is not to drive a car unless a man warns approaching motorists or pedestrians by walking in front of the car that is being driven.


In Georgia, it is against the law to slap a man on the back or front.


In Michigan, married couples must live together or be imprisoned.



Check out more strange laws here http://sbt.bhmedia.com/laws.html - there are some real weird ones!

Wizard of Oz - Bush Style

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

I received the following story from my work buddie and just had to pass it on as I thought it was rather humerous.

The tandem story
>
> Here's a prime example of "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus"
> offered by an English professor from the University of Phoenix:
>
> The professor told his class one day: "Today we will experiment with a
> new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person
> will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right.
> As homework tonight, one of you will write the first paragraph of a
> short story. You will e-mail your partner that paragraph and send
> another copy to me. The partner will read the first paragraph and then
> add another paragraph to the story and send it back, also sending
> another copy to me.
>
> The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on
> back-and-forth. Remember to re-read what has been written each time in
> order to keep the story coherent. There is to be absolutely NO talking
> outside of the e-mails and anything you wish to say must be written in
> the e-mail. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been
> reached."
>
> The following was actually turned in by two of his English students:
> Rebecca and Gary.
>
> THE STORY:
> (first paragraph by Rebecca)
>
> At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The
> chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home,
> now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times,
> that he liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep
> her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she
> thought about him so much her asthma started acting up again. So
> chamomile was out of the question.
>
> (second paragraph by Gary)
>
> Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron
> now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about
> than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with
> whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to
> Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar
> orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he
> could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and
> blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct
> hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.
>
> (Rebecca)
>
> He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt
> one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who
> had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its
> pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4.
> "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel,"
> Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously
> excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her
> youth, when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no
> newspaper to read, no television to distract her from her sense of
> innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one
> lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.
>
> (Gary )
>
> Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live.
> Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched
> the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy
> peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace disarmament Treaty
> through the congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the
> hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race.
> Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships
> were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the
> entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their
> diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere
> unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine>
> headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the
> inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized poor, stupid Laurie.
>
> (Rebecca)
>
> This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My
> writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent.
>
> (Gary)
>
> Yeah? Well, my writing partner is a self-centered tedious neurotic
> whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium. "Oh,
> shall I have chamomile tea? Or shall I have some other sort of F--KING
> TEA??? Oh no, what am I to do? I'm such an air headed bimbo who reads
> too many Danielle Steele novels!"
>
> (Rebecca)
>
> Asshole.
>
> (Gary)
>
> Bitch
>
> (Rebecca)
>
> F__K YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL!
>
> (Gary)
>
> Go drink some tea - W.H.OR.E..
>
> (TEACHER)
>
> A+ - I really liked this one.
>
>

Chameleon

like a chameleon
I metamorphose
like so many times before
the colour underneath always the same
but the appearance seen by all
a mass of technicolour
continually changing
to be what they want me to be.

Always observing
taking note
of how to act
how to talk
how to be.


(by yours truly)

Untitled

Had nothing to say,
that was strange,
I was speechless,
I walked away,
The rain camd own,
in slow heavy drops,
It hid your tears,
and I never looked back upon your face.

(by yours truly)

Yuck!

seeing is believing,
can you believe when you are blind?
I can't believe my ears,
so the deaf know all truths?

Meh!

you infuriate me
your twisted little game
i can't stand that smile on your face.

I hate humans!

I've finally cracked and I don't think I'm capable of being nice to anyone right now. I'm especially not willing to entertain the thought of being nice to new people.

The human has a tendancy to stomp all decency out of other humans. We're just a downright unworthy lot who really should be exterminated for the good of the planet.

Humans suck!

Noodly Appendage

dadadah

You know how you get to thinking about things and well then you start tallying things up and then you just down right confuse yourself.

Well, I was sitting thinking about things and I was remembering this guy I sorta dated back in England and I started to think about star signs and then it dawned on me. I've always had a thing for the "Aries" man. Don't ask me why for even I can't explain it. But freaky fact, all but three of the men I dated, had crushes on, obsessed about dadadah were Aries men.

Try and explain this if you can!

appendices:

Here's a bit on the Aries star sign: http://www.astrology-online.com/aries.htm


here's a bit about my star sign: http://www.astrology-online.com/aquarius.htm

******

more on me! Does this sound familiar:

The Dark Side
The Aquarian personality can be chaotic and unpredictable, stubborn and rebellious, cranky and perverse. It is a sign which can be totally dedicated to being unconventional, whilst remaining stuck in a rigid, unrecognized pattern. It is also a sign which can become detached to the point of coldness, making it very difficult for ordinary mortals to relate to them. Aquarians do not care what the world thinks, however, so that social conventions are sometimes thrown out of the windows in favour of anarchy. The isolation this can sometimes bring can come as a surprise to them as they find it difficult to see how they might have behaved unreasonably.
(http://www.forplu.com/community/life&style/feature/horoscope/aquarius.htm)

A Quiet Beer with Rob Murray (Lion Nathan CEO)

**I got this in my inbox from a work pal of mine and I told him I was adding it to my blog as part of the on-going Coopers discussion.

Q: Finally, if you don’t mind us asking, what is your favourite beer?

A: As a typical beer drinker, I tend to choose a different brand on different occasions. I love a Hahn Premium with food. I have become increasingly partial to a XXXX Gold. It’s great to be able to drink a mid-strength beer with real flavour.

There you have it, he has zero taste. Nay, negative taste. The first time I ever went to Queensland a couple of years ago, I went with Emma. Her dad and one of his mates made me drink a can of XXXX (Gold if I'm not mistaken) one day. It's was the worst thing I've ever tasted. It was literally piss.

Check out the rest here:
http://www.australianbeers.com/beers/interview/robmurray/rob.htm

Also check out this! Beer sizes in different states:
http://www.australianbeers.com/pubs/ordering/ordering.htm

A Loquacious Location of Lipograms

http://phrontistery.info/lipogram.html

Have a read and then write a lipogram for my blog!

Let's have fun and see how many we can get.

There will also be a prize for the best one.

********

Here is my first attempt:

Of all said blogs in this world, only chuck’s is worthy of adulation!

********

Words of the week

Last week's guess the word:

circumbilivagination
going around in a circular motion

*****

Now on with the letter D

deartuate
To dismember

diffibulate
To unbutton; to unbuckle

divinipotent
Having strong divinatory powers

devalgate
Bow-legged

dactylomegaly
Condition of having abnormally large digits

*****

And this week's GUESS THE WORD:

dapocaginous

*****

Insane!

This has to be the craziest ride ever - would any of you have the guts to go on it?

http://www.geocities.com/charliefandango2004/Lastpicturesaysitall.doc

I certainly wouldn't!!

I've finally hashed out a general plot for the little story I'm going to write! It's going to be so much fun.

Film fondue

All you movie buffs out there should check out Film fondue - http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/film/filmfondue/

Illegal Immigrants Poem

I got this poem in an email from Aunt today and thought I'd share it with you all.


Illegal Immigrants Poem


I cross ocean, poor and broke,
Take bus,
see employment folk.

Nice man treat me good in there,
Say I need to see welfare.

Welfare say, "You come no more,
We send cash right to your door."

Welfare checks, they make you wealthy,
Medicaid it keep you healthy!

By and by, I got plenty money,
Thanks to you, Australian dummy.

Write to friends in motherland,
Tell them 'come fast as you can.'

They come in turbans and Ford trucks,
I buy big house with welfare bucks

They come here, we live together,
More welfare checks, it gets better!

Fourteen families, they moving in,
But neighbor's patience wearing thin.

Finally, white guy moves away,
Now I buy his house, and then I say,

"Find more aliens for house to rent."
And in the yard I put a tent.

Send for family they just trash,
But they, too, draw the welfare cash!

Everything is very good,
And soon we own the neighborhood.
We have hobby it's called breeding,
Welfare pay for baby feeding.

Kids need dentist?
Wife need pills?
We get free!
We got no bills!

Australian crazy! He pay all year,
To keep welfare running here.

We think Australia darn good place!
Too darn good for the white man race.

If they no like us, they can scram,
Got lots of room in Pakistan.

Cooper's hostile takeover - update.

Lion bid tests Coopers' eccentric brew
By Stephen Bartholomeusz
September 13, 2005


One of the more curious takeover contests is playing out in South Australia, where a $352 million hostile bid by Lion Nathan for the family-controlled unlisted public company Coopers Brewery could result in acceptors receiving substantially less than the $260-a-share bid price.
The outcome appears to have bemused some observers, who see it as a gross failure of corporate governance and view the behaviour of the Coopers' board, which is opposed to the takeover, as denying shareholders the opportunity to receive a generous price for their shares. Coopers is, however, no ordinary company and this is no conventional bid.
Coopers has an unusual constitution and capital and voting structure. It has four classes of shares with effectively differential voting rights. The A-class shareholders have a right to appoint two directors, as do B-class shareholders. D-class shareholders can appoint one director. C-class shareholders, who hold more than 91 per cent of the shares, get to vote (alongside the other classes of shareholders) on directors' appointments only if all existing directors support a nomination.
It isn't just the voting rights that are different. Coopers' articles provide that any shareholder who wants to sell their shares has to give the company notice of their intent and the price at which they propose to sell the shares. The board of Coopers has the right to find an existing shareholder, or a relative of a shareholder, willing to buy the shares. The buyer has the option of asking that company's auditor, now KPMG, to fix the transfer price at "fair value".
If Coopers can't find an eligible buyer, the shares must be offered to AMP, as trustee for the Coopers superannuation fund. If it declines, then Lion Nathan, under a deal with the company struck a decade ago, is entitled to buy the shares.
Or at least it was. This month, the South Australia Supreme Court, in a judgement Lion Nathan is appealing, held in favour of an application by Coopers to remove Lion Nathan's pre-emptive rights on the basis that control of Lion Nathan changed in 1998 when Japanese brewer Kirin took a 45 per cent stake, triggering provisions in the agreement.
The eccentric provisions of Coopers' constitution are obviously defensive and designed to protect the Cooper family's control of the company. It is within the family's rights, given Coopers is unlisted, to have such a structure and, given the provisions are within the company's constitution, the board is obliged to observe them.
The defensive mechanisms do, however, have some consequences that in a listed environment would be regarded as unpalatable. They reduce liquidity and the prices shareholders can get for their shares by limiting the pool of potential buyers and because "fair value" in determining the sale price removes any strategic value for the shares.
The fair value approach will inevitably incorporate a discount for the limited liquidity, negotiability and absence of any potential control premium. That inevitably means the buyers are advantaged relative to the sellers.
Coopers has commissioned a valuation from KPMG to respond to the desire of a shareholder to sell to Lion Nathan. It is unlikely to produce a price of close to the $260-a-share bid, although Coopers' stellar performance in recent years means it will probably be multiples of the $45.01 a share at which KPMG last valued the shares in June 2003.
Nevertheless, any exercise of the first two rounds of pre-emptive rights will transfer value to either continuing family shareholders or the super fund.
Lion Nathan has tried to crash through the defensive screens around Coopers by offering a demonstrably generous (some analysts say too generous) price. It would be possible, with the approval of 75 per cent of shareholders voting, to alter the constitution and allow the Lion Nathan bid to be put to shareholders.
The core family groups have, however, made it clear that they have no intention of putting the company into play or doing anything other than resist Lion Nathan's bid.
Should the bid flush out masses of potential sellers, the defences - or, rather, the family's financial capacity - will be tested.
The company is apparently virtually debt-free and experiencing spectacular growth, so it is possible its balance sheet and cash flows could be tapped, directly or indirectly, to help take loose shares out of circulation. More likely, the family could borrow against the shares acquired - there is said to have been no shortage of financiers at their doors.
Coopers' board has commissioned a second valuation, from Grant Samuel, for its response to the Lion Nathan bid.
That valuation, presumably a conventional independent expert's report, may well put a price tag on the group above the Lion Nathan offer. That could complicate the board's efforts to convince aspiring sellers that the KPMG valuation does reflect fair value.
If it doesn't, or if Lion Nathan were subsequently to raise its offer to the level of value Grant Samuel places on the business, the confusion over Coopers' governance would get even more muddled and contentious.
The company's constitution effectively protects it from takeover regardless of price.
The directors, however, won't want to have to say that the company isn't for sale at any price, no matter how fair or full.

The blue couch

I found this image amongst my archived files and boy did it bring back memories!

Video store

Sahara

Yes, it's true, I hired this movie and for something that tries to describe itself as an "Indiana Jones" type it is far from that.

It was down right boring and Matthew McConaughey is no Indiana Jones! I hate to say it but National Treasure with Nicolas Cage was more enjoyable.

But then as we have learnt from studios trying to compete with each other, the first one always is the best! Hence, why Indiana Jones will always outshine anything that comes after it.

If you want to see some treasure hunting and a gorgeous guy doing it then don't bother with this one as it will only disappiont.

This is no adventure.

1/2 star

Weird

the room is upside down,
the building spinning round and round,
the city jumps up and down,
whilte the planet rolls along the ground.

A cat smokes a fag,
in the corner of the room,
people order cyanide,
while an oyster works its loom.

(by yours truly)

The night that turns into day

the light stabs at the doorway,
penetrating the darkness within.

Eyes peering and the music thumping,
the heavy, monotonous backbeat,
becoming one with your pumping heart.

The vibrations work through the body,
reaching the soul with one amazing rush.

Aderenalins released,
you feel power at your fingertips,
suddenly courageous.

You sip the sweet nectar,
that brings you to this place.
you pace yourself,
the pace getting faster and faster,
as the night turns into day.

You have a confidence,
lacking in everyday life.

Then you stumble, fall and vomit in the gutter.

(by yours truly)

Spam

Due to the increased number of spam I have been receiving and I have decided to try the word verification method of blocking unwanted spammer comments from this blog.

Feel free to comment on this new format.

Quiz Night - Final Update!

Okay the members of "The Plan 9's" is:

Lil Kim
Jazzy Hev
Chuckles
Lexx
Jess
Pablo
Bretsky
Kimb

This is final and no further changes will be made!

Blackouts

I've come up with a great little theory to do with alcoholic induced blackouts!

I reckon that "normal chuckles" drinks too much alcohol then passes out allowing "evil subconcious chuckles" to take over "normal chuckles'" body hence getting into mischief and mayhem unbeknownst to "normal chuckles" who then has to suffer.

I like this!

Clusterfuck nation

this is a great blog so check it out:
http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/

The Onion

This is a satirical piece written on George W Bush just after he became President.

A bit scary. . .


http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28784

Quiz Night Update - The Plan 9's

Okay, as much as I like being popular I seem to have accumulated more than 8 people for my table. The list currently stands at:

Jazzy Hev
Lil Kim
Kimb
Lexx
Jess
Brettsky
Pablo
Pool God
Chuckles
Jazzy Hev's main squeeze (likely to bail according to Jazz)

As you can see I have two extra so who would like to move to King Freddie's team who currently only have 3 team members.

The choice is yours!

(of course this could backfire horribly with all of you wishing to join King Freddie's team!)

Quiz Night

Well it looks as though my team for quiz night is being shuffled around a bit.

with Pablo and Brettsky being moved to King Freddie's table for reasons I am not willing to mention in this blog!

which will leave pool god as the only male - will understand if you decide to drop out pool god!

Alcohol

After an over indulgence of Alcohol on Saturday night I have come to the conclusion that you just reach an age where you can't hold your liquor as well as you use to and you definately shouldn't mix.

Once more I have found myself declaring "I'm never going to drink again!" and especially not white wine as I seem to suffer memory loss so probably after the fourth glass I have a very hazy recollection of what actually happened.

So I apologise en masse if I was a jerk!

Lucky for me I have some pretty decent friends who are rather forgiving - although they will probably make fun of me!

Never again - from now on it's beer all the way because that is the only alcohol that seems to affect me the least.

You will all be happy to know that as punishment I have now come down with a flu type illness which has caused my sinuses to become inflammed and my knees hurt *sobs*

Coopers

This morning I walked into Hudsons to get my daily coffee while in a sleepy haze. While waiting, I was flicking through The Advertiser and saw the words "Coopers" and "Hostile takeover" splashed across a page.

Coopers is currently trying to fend off a hostile takeover by Lion Nathan Ltd (the second largest brewer in Australia). But with Lion Nathan offering $260 per share Coopers might be hard pushed to defend its family owned brewery (the last in Australia). Unfortunately, in most cases money wins hands down and with reports stating some of Coopers 117 shareholders approached Nathan Lion I see little hope for our local beer of choice.

"Analysts welcomed Lion Nathan's move to expand further into the premium beer segment, noting Coopers is a quality brand name and would fit well with Lion Nathan's existing range of brands including Tooheys, XXXX, Hahn, Becks and James Squire. (quoted from http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/050901/15/3unpq.html)”

Nathan Lion's bid is said to be worth $352m and if successful will see the end of the family owned brewery and Coopers will be South Australian no more as 46% of Nathan Lion is owned by Japan's Kirin Brewery Co.

There is still hope however, as the takeover is still to be approved under the Foreign Acquisition and Takeovers Act.

The Quiz Night

Alrighty here are the team details as follows:

Team Name: The Plan 9's

Team Members
Kimb
Chuckles
Pool God
Jazzy Hev
Jazzy Hev's main squeeze
Pablo
Lil Kim
Bretsky

There it is - don't forget to be puntual bring some Alcohol and I might throw together a hamper.

I'm excited!

NYE

Yes I know it is only September but all good NYE parties are planned early. Anyway it looks like we may be doing something extra fantabulous this year, so pencil us in as a stop. Its all very hush, hush at the moment but if we pull it off - ours will be the NYE bash to go to and will be the best one yet.

For the girls

I watched this wonderful (straight to video) movie last night called "Dear Frankie" - girls you'll love it!

Its about a deaf boy who writes regularly to his father who works on a ship, but little does he know his mother is receiving the letters and writing the responses. When the boy makes a bet that his father is coming to visit, his mother hires a guy to play dad for a day to keep the illusion alive.

Sounds corny but it was actually a really enjoyable film.

A must see.

4 stars