A letter to the editor...

The effect of the undersea earthquake was unpredicatble- the response of Channel Nine was as predictable as the sun coming up.

I knew this was big news item when they went with the all too familiar "could it happened here?" story, reminding us that New Zealand is on a fault line and what if... etc.

While I have no problem with reporting the numbers of Australians lost, to run the "what if?" line the very day of the disaster is not good journalism, reporting, taste, science or sense. It does however create fear, fill in time and otherwise distract us from the tragedy at hand.

Here comes the bride...

Rachel and I went to a wedding on Saturday. I was clearly the best looking woman there...

Cover boys

In Music and Media Ezine this week:

In May, this column reported that Gary Dunn and James Morley, founder members of Perth cover band Our Generation, launched action in the WA Supreme Court against ex-manager Derek Harrison and band members Rocco Mazzone and Frank Licastro...

Part of the issue was Harrison, a businessman who put money into the band's stage costumes and props, had registered the name and owned it. Harrison tells this column he was part of the partnership, which split their monies equally, and had come up with the name.

Harrison says, "It's a lesson to all young bands - always draw up a partnership agreement and get a good lawyer."

Actually, there's an even better message:

DON'T PLAY IN A FUCKING COVERS BAND!


In Music & Media Christie Eliezer's Business News

Rainbows can lead to dancing...

When a really big rainbow appeard recently, Rachel came running into the house screaming "rainbow! rainbow!" So I took a few snaps... then for reasons unknown, she started dancing like a LOON.
Bless 'er!

HAPPY!!

Rachel performs her "rainbows make me happy" dance 

It hits her!!

The, er... "awful" moment when you realise you have been a dork in public... 

New template issues

Hello all, we are in a holding pattern while thomasr works out how to get his new .css working.

We assure you it will be worth the wait...

thomasr

A little style goes a long way...

*Note the cuffs shot to perfection, the tail of the coat sitting just over the bike seat and throttle control allowing a 45 degree wheelie to take place...

Thomasr shows the best way to really wear a suit. 

Leaving on a Jet plane...

Actually he's already GONE.

Stephen Sarre Reynolds, artist, musician, little bro', has left these fair shores for the USA. he got through customs- no doubt finger printed, interrogated and rectally compromised.

Here's his blog. Unfortuantelty it's just ME contributing so far!
Stephen Sarre's blog

David Tweed is a C___!

Oh look, I am not given to using the C word at the drop of a hat, but David Tweed has form:

The bicycle-riding Mr Tweed, who now lives in central Melbourne and shuns media interviews, has spent his adult life plumbing share registers for unwitting, often elderly, investors likely to fall for his scams.

Here's what he does:

David Tweed, aka Otmar Tschernitz, obtains a company's share registry, does a mass mail-out to its shareholders and relies on confusion and carelessness among many for acceptances. Many are unaware that the offers are far below the market price.

Tweed has also shown himself to be ruthless in pursuing shareholders who accept his offers to pay up. He has taken a number of elderly shareholders to court who have refused to pay after realising their mistake.

He's all class this boy...

The government have tried to stop him, but he is as cunning as a gutter rat- he now offers ABOVE the market price, but will only pay it to the share owner over 15 years- more than enough time for the discrepancy to be eaten. Add to this his tendency to go for older share holders who won't perhaps see another 15 years and WHAM a new scam...

The Age call him a shyster and know he won't sue- truth is still a defence!

I say he's C__T and I can prove it!


The Age- Shyster asrsehole, bastard...

Bless the Bolt, for he hath shown us the way

Dearly Beloved,
We are gathered here today to pay homage to Mr. Andrew Bolt. Non journalist award winning, Jelena Popovic slandering Mr B.

Our tolerance is So clear
01dec04

WE are so often told we're racist, that I hope you won't mind again hearing the latest proof that we're not.

This week's evidence is John So's runaway win in the popular vote for the lord mayor of Melbourne.
Here's a Chinese man, whose English has been chopped up for soup, winning more votes than the Anglo also-rans combined.

Strange, the harder So tries to speak clear English -- and fails -- the more voters love him.

Or not strange. So's struggles show him clearly doing all most Australians have wanted from migrants -- trying to fit in, no matter how silly he may look. Think of They're a Weird Mob, the 1957 bestseller that described the farcical battle of Italian Nino Culotta to become a "real" Australian.

What's more, So's election comes just a couple of weeks after Casey Donovan, who has Aboriginal heritage, was voted the winner of Australian Idol, and in the same year a man from a Fijian family was voted winner of Big Brother.

So where is the proof of our famous racism?

It would be wrong to say we've only recently mellowed. I remember as a boy in Darwin hearing my father speak with respect of our ethnic Chinese mayor, Harry Chan, who was elected in 1966 and had a street named after him on which stand the Darwin City Council offices today.

In a Bendigo museum is an even older tribute to our openness -- the Chinese dragon that first danced in the city's Easter fair in 1892. Naturally, there are racists here, as there are everywhere, but those who claim racism is in the soul of this country tell a smug lie.

To Whit:
Andrew,

I know you love to run the "Australia is not racist and here's why.." Then you trot out the likes of Casey Donovan, John So, Trevor from Big Brother etc.

Now, whilst I agree these are great symbols of our "non racist" modern Australia, I think prime time "reality" TV is somewhat removed from real life

For starters, the winners have assumed our ideals of success and proper behaviour. John So is a successful businessman and Casey has all but rejected her aboriginality. White Australia is very tolerant of people like this. They are "our people", not "them".

It's pretty easy to vote via SMS for someone on Australian Idol, but what if Casey's (possible) coming wealth means she can afford to buy her family a "nice" house in a "nicer" suburb. I can't imaging Mr and Mrs Rose Bay feeling as inclusive with a "mob of abos" next door.

I rememeber a sketch Ernie Dingo did many years ago on a comedy show. A house was about to be auctioned and he poked his head over the fence from next door to say hi to all who were there and, using a "heavy" aboriginal accent (if you get what I mean) proceeded to explain how nice it will be to have "new neighbours bro', and we will have them corroborees an' you can bring all your mob to meet all our mob" etc. This naturally scared off all the bidders, leaving a solitary aboriginal man to purchase the house for a bargain. Ernie walks over to congratulate the man. He calls him cousin and chats about how funny it was to do what he did. He does all this in his everyday Ernie accent.

A lot of our tolerance extends to the "Not in my back yard" mentality, and your constant use of the "big" examples leaves the at the coal face scenarios alone.

Regards
Tom Reynolds

..and to whit:

Tom, you write wisely when you call yourself a masochist. I expect that no evidence will stop you from believing we are racist (except for you, of course).

Andrew Bolt

www.heraldsun.com.au/andrewbolt

I never said Australia was racist Mr B, i just said that Australian Idol is hardly representative of Australian attitude.