Bogans and their vicious pets

Funny how dogs reflect their owners’ personalities.

Bad dogs = bad owners.

Case in point. Staffy/bull terrier-like dogs, who have a reputation for being aggressive.

This type of dog attacked my little Silky x Maltese two days ago, leaving it with a bloodied nose and some undoubted psychological scars.

The point was the owner of this monger had the temerity to have a go at me because my dog wasn’t on a lead. Funny that, neither was his (and another dog in the same property) when they rushed across the road to attack.

But the two guys (presumably the owners) were both boofheads. Tattoos, lousy speech and with a couldn’t-give-a-shit attitude.

There was no point in arguing. I had a little girl to chase after, as she was quick enough to escape without too much damage (though there was a $230 vet bill).

I contacted the City ranger and I hope he finds the dogs were’t registered and fines them. At least they’ll get the message … or will they.

With the attitudes they had, I doubt it. Tthis is really symptomatic of many people today. People don’t care much for anyone else and don’t think of the consequences of their actions.

Ruins Christmas, really.

Relishing the rugby

Finally we can start (hopefully) to begin enjoying rugby union again.

The prospect of this weekend’s Australia v NZ game is one of the most anticipated I can recall for a long time. I’m hoping the “new boy”, Radike Samo, proves the decider for the Wallabies.

It’s a great story, isn’t it? His age and the fact he hasn’t played a Test for seven years.

Then, we have the World Cup. My “backup” team is Samoa, and I hope Japan and Canada go well.

Bring it on.

PS: Interesting I last wrote about James O’Connor being a spoilt brat back in June. Events of the past two weeks have proved that assessment correct.

James O’Connor: spoiled, little boy

James O’Connor displayed the utmost arrogance in dumping the Western Force. How can a 20-year-old kid dictate terms to a rugby team? He can’t, so the Force did the right thing and ended negotiations.

O’Connor reckons he’s bigger than the game. That’s evident by his actions, and by his web presence and comments made to the media: that he wants to develop his brand.

Most telling is his Twitter account, which has 21,000 followers and he only follows 104. In a social media context, that’s unbelievably selfish.

It would be nice to think other Australian clubs could teach the telanted upstart a lesson by not giving him contract, or give him one worth less than he had in WA. That’s unlikely, given teams’ win-at-all-costs attitude.

However, it’d be nice to think there were other teams out there with the same fortitude as the Western Force.

Tea, anyone?

We all know Australia is a nation (predominantly) of coffee drinkers. But it wasn’t always so.

In the many years after we were colonised by the British, we drank tea. That changed when migrants from Meditteranean nationas (mostly Greece and Italy) started arriving in the 1950s.

It took us a while (30 years of so, according to demographer Bernard Salt) to adapt to their cultute, customs and food. But now look at us. We’re as at home with a paella as we are with a meat pie, and, of course, coffee.

This is an analogy of our changing demographics. Salt says Italian and Greek communities in Australia are declining, with Indian and Asian communities growing rapidly.

In another 30 years we probably will have assimilated their customs and habits.

Will this also mean that we once again become a nation of tea-drinkers? Should be interesting.

AFL’s poor grasp of integrity

These AFL criminals wear their jail time like a badge of pride. The cross-fist salute is an abomination. The AFL has again shown what a pathetic grip on integrity it has by not condemning the displays. Not offensive, my backside. Tell that to the victims. If it was Demitrou’s son Krakoeur had bashed, then it’d be a different story. ANd nothing from Collingwood. I would hope the club would have the decency to censure this imbecile and ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Concert crowds need a lesson in manners

First up, let me say, I drink alcohol (beer and wine).

Two concerts in three days. Bon Jovi, then the Eagles last night.  Both were great (Eagles superb).

But the events were partially ruined by many of the audience who, it seems, can’t get by without a drink.

WTF? Are people that feeble you can’t watch a concert without alcohol? Obviously.

There was a constant stream of people getting up and down to get booze. This ruins the experience for the majority. What’s worrying is that this is symptomatic of a society that uses alcohol as a crutch for enjoyment.

Added to that was the constant hum of talk in the background. This was particularly so during the Eagles. (At Bon Jovi it didn’t matter because they were so loud). Do people come to listen, or chat to their friends? An expensive chat.

This is another symptom of the “me society”. These people don’t give a damn about anyone but themselves.  In another age not so long ago, it would be called bad manners.

These trends are reflected/manifested elsewhere in things like binge drinking, road rage, intolerance, impatience and ignorance.

Anyone got any answers? Me? Maybe I’ll just get the DVD next time.

Apple iTunes Store a joke

How to get fucked around by Apple. Search for an album, which (as I discovered) is not available on the Australian site. So I get taken to the US site. But I can’t buy there, because it keeps rejecting my ID. SO I then go back to the Aussie store and now it rejects my details. Fuck it. So I have to go through all the bullshit of lost password. But that doesn’t seems to work because the process throws up a spinning wheel on the Internet. So I take the route to reset my password, choosing the option via email. But no email arrives. So back to the Internet. Try again. Still no email. What gives, Apple? Maybe I’ll be able to purchase again. But get this. Tunes on the US site are 99 cents, while in Australia they are (min) $1.69. What happened to friggin’ parity in pricing, considering the dollars are almost equal?

 

World Cup disappointing

The World Cup opening ceremony was one of the worst events of its type I have seen. I’m not sure if it was SBS’s coverage, or just the fact the South Africans have got no idea.

As someone who has lived in South Africa and is married to a former Yarpie, I feel I’m qualified to comment.

The event was devoid of any real feeling. Sure, there was loud banging of drums and colour. But incorporating rap?

Where were the animals? There are plenty of them in the veld. Distinct lack of splendour. And where were the soaring African choirs to provide the emotion?

As for the blithering idiots on SBS, who claim the country is doing well, based on one walk down a SA street, and about how much good this will do for the country.

Sports commentators would do well to stay out of in-depth social commentary. They do lead sheltered lives, dealing with the “unreal” environment that is professional sport.

I am sure, however, that the sport will be good, and I’m looking forward to the Socceroos showing the Europeans and South Americans a thing or two. America has already done so.

On the road to oblivion

The just handed-down Australian federal budget has done little to inspire confidence in our nation’s leadership. It was an insipid document, showing little care for the things that matter – the environment, the underprivileged.

The Rudd government has shown scant regard for it promises made at the last election: notably that the environment was “the greatest moral challenge of our generation”.

It’s inepitiude has been shown in the failure of the insulation scheme, and the building of infrastructure for schools, where rip-offs were rife. The mantra seems t be throw some money at it and she’ll be right.

Give Olympic hopefuls $300 million, and budding scientists nothing. Anyway, what good is money two years out from the Games? It’s too short a timeframe to develop successful elite sports programs. But I digress.

The government simply panders to the (perceived) populist whims of the electorate and the business lobby, without consideration of anything of the effects, other than the next election result. Rudd simply operates by what glib media grab he can produce. He’s been doing it ever since he won the last election.

We are wasting our resources at an alarming rate, while business calls out for more development. This is simply greed; for how much more profit do corporations want to wring out of the earth? Sustainable development? What’s that?

Logging is an example. Our forests disappear, and along with it an ever-increasing number of animal species. Our pollution rate climbs as we contribute more to global warming by supplying coal to power China.

There is technology in place that allows electricity to be generated by waves. One platform I saw demonstrated last week can supply enough power for 2000 homes.

Why do we have to continue to use technology from the steam age? Answer: it’s easy money for the coal and oil industries. Why do we have to be bigger? Answer: So these companies can be richer. Arguments about greater prosperity for the country don’t wash. Much of the profit goes overseas.

If we are to believe the government, we live in a country awash with wealth. If that’s the case, why don’t we have free tertiary education for all, as we used to?

In short, I’m concerned we are moving to a situation where there will be precious little left for future generations.

I believe many Australians are thinking this way, and will vote for neither Liberal or Labor, instead perhaps creating a situation as has just occurred in Britain. In our case, we may see Bob Brown (Greens) as the Nick Clegg of Australian politics.

Rudd on the downslide

Looks like Kevin Rudd and Co. are in for a hard time at this year’s election. People are starting to wake up that the bespectacled bureaucrat is short on substance.

Like many, I was prepared (to a point) to give Labor a go (I voted Green in the Senate). But they’ve let me down big time, with little action on key core promises.

The budget was the last straw. Fancy giving $300 million to our elite athletes and no ongoing funding for a $1m program to foster scientific research among young scientists.

Meantime, out nation continues to degrade environmentally. The economy won’t matter a jot in a few years, when all our natural resources have disappeared.

As the American Indians (not sure which tribe) said: “it’s only when the last tree has disappeared that man will realise he can’t eat money” (or words to that effect).