Kristina Keneally and Tony Abbott. If they’re not in Opus Dei, they act like it. The good thing about Opus Dei members is they’re perfectionists. And will genuinely try to be ethical or else they’re doomed to the fires of Hell. Or at least a few years in Purgatory. Which is probably worse than ICAC.
December 2, 2009
Most unbelievable fetish ever
I find it very annoying — the dent in my hair from wearing a ponytail.
There’s someone who takes photos and loves that dent in the hair.
November 29, 2009
Same Sex marriage rally
Protesters march along George Street (Sydney's main street).
Went to the Same Sex Marriage rally at Sydney Town Hall. One of the speakers, Katrina, said she’d been warned that the Salt Shakers were there – who hate gay marriage – and they were taking photos to allegedly try and misrepresent the crowd as being smaller than it was. [You can see from the photos on their website that every family is heteronormative. There’s always someone out of the norm, though, that’s life. They must straitjacket all of their family members and friends, trying to squeeze and mask the quirks so they can fit a “normal” definition. I agree with their Cronulla riots analysis, though.]
Just ignore their propaganda, as there was a great turn-up, despite it being stilfing hot. A few speakers, then we marched off to Bathurst St and back in a big square to Town Hall. The police closed off the main street of Sydney, George St, for the march, and the traffic was held up but most motorists were tooting their horns in support, rather than getting stroppy. It was a great atmosphere.
November 28, 2009
Visit to the supermarket
I bought four peaches from Coles earlier this week. They were in the “in season” area. Hard as rocks.
Got them home and I had a pink lady apple left over from last week so I bashed it a couple of times against the supposed granite kitchen counter (that’s how it was advertised by the estate agent – it’s actually “granite-style” laminate) so it would release fruit-ripening ethylene. Put them all in a bag and yet three days later, three peaches were completely wooden inside, starchy and tasteless and only one was edible.
If they’re in season, surely all should have ripened OK?
November 27, 2009
Advanced marketing course
Did an Advanced Marketing course the past two days, Sydney Uni. Learnt a lot of new terms and jargon. We had to do several team exercises and think up marketing campaigns. The most interesting bits were how to conduct an experiential campaign and the various ways of measuring a campaign’s success. I was very impressed by the quality of the other students. I have a pretty certificate.
Chatted with a lovely lady at the course who used to present “Relationships and Intimacy” courses at Hillsong.
November 23, 2009
Polly Waffles to become extinct!
50 grams of scrumpliciousness.
Yum! But no more Polly Waffles. 
A favourite Aussie chocolate bar with marshmallow in the centre. They were sold for 62 years here. Nestle is going to stop making them cause Kit Kats are more popular.
This is what happens when a multinational takes over an Aussie company — they don’t bother promoting the Aussie products and then ditch them. Thanks Nestle!
November 17, 2009
Run out of Fanta Lemon in Iceland
Hold the Ice-land.
Iceland has no McDonald’s and now no Fanta Lemon. They’ve also cancelled their Comedy Festival cos noone can afford to buy tickets.
With 300,000 people, they reckon they’ve got a sweeter deal from the IMF bail-out than Argentina. And they’ve got mineral resources and an educated workforce. Housing prices have deflated. The foreigners were the first to get sacked so they’ve all left. Iceland’s resources are being sold to foreign investors at cheapo prices. Utilities are being privatised.
While younger Icelanders are fleeing, older ones with houses and commitments are stuck. One blog post I read said each Icelander should be paying 80 per cent of their gross income to pay back foreigners who lost money in IceSave. The foreigners (Brits and Dutch) aren’t even getting ALL their money back.
November 11, 2009
Concentration camps – book review
Viktor Frankl, 1949. Prisoner No. 119,104.
Due to the neo Nazis being in Chippendale, I refreshed my mind yesterday on concentration camps by reading Viktor Frankl’s account of his time in Auschwitz and Dachau and others in Man’s Search For Meaning. It was completely dire. He outlines the various ways people mentally coped.
He took the fatalist approach and a couple of times he made what seemed to be the “wrong” choices but luckily, those ended up being the right ones and he survived. (eg. to go on a truck or not; to look after typhoid patients and die of that …) It was impossible to know which way to jump, everything was so unpredictable.
November 8, 2009
Stomping out Nazis in Chippendale
Mounted police in Chippendale or Ringwraiths from LOTR?
Knocked off early-ish on Friday night at 7.30pm and went to the Humanist Society Hall in Chippendale to protest against a group of extreme right-wing fascists, Klub Nazia, who meet there every month. They didn’t show, though.
There were about 80 people there, mostly residents, hanging around outside and a little streeet party with drums and music and singing. There were two mounted police, about 10 Tactical Response officers and another dozen police officers. They were strategically standing in a circle around the protesters. Keep reading →
November 8, 2009
Australian Style book review
It’s a beautiful book. I bought it because I like interiors and was interested in a vision of “Australian” style. I couldn’t find many references to Australia, though.
I used to work with Penfold, sub-editing her Source column, and, after reading this book, I can affirm she walks the walk. She always looked glamorous and always had bright, chirpy anecdotes. She’d always say we were brilliant at our work (page 31). She always had a humorous comment to make about a trip to Monte Carlo or a fashion faux pas or the latest mishap by the tradies. She’d send herself up in an Ab Fab Patsy kind of way.
