An Open Letter to Mel Gibson

Dear Mel, Mel, Melly-Melly-Mel,

You know I love Mad Max II more than food, and possibly more than Rachel (she can, and will, confirm this). I also love Mad Max I. I liked "Tim", cherished Gallipoli and forgave you for Mad Max III, Lethal Weapons II-IV, and for you Dad's appalling views on the holocaust.

I was all set to forgive you AGAIN for the drink driving thing (hey, everyone's done it *). But WHAT IN SATAN'S NIGHTGOWN WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU WENT ON A JEW RANT?

Sadly, I can only assume YOU MEANT IT YOU BLOODY MORON. You really are an anti semitic, Jew hatin' dickhead. You made "Passion of the Christ" to poke Jews in the eye. You are said to be working on a film about the holocaust- can't wait to see how that's going to pan out.

you now say you "are sorry". SORRY FOR BEING CAUGHT OUT! In ALCOHOL LIES TRUTH AND TRUTH IS YOU ARE FNISHED IN HOLLYWOOD.

For the LOVE OF GOD MAN, give it up. The whole pre Vatican II Catholic thing, the listening-to-every-mad-thing-daddy-says-and-then-spewing-it-out-when-caught-driving-pissed.

GIVE UP. The whole thing. Acting, directing, producing. Move to Broken Hill and drive around in a V8 XB Coupe and the world will learn to love you again.

yours,

thomasr

* by "everyone", I mean "everyone famous in hollywood"

Mel culpa: Gibson sorry after tirade - People - Entertainment - theage.com.au

First Tuesday - ABC TV

I'm not certain, but I'm pretty certain the delectable Ms Marieke Hardy will not pimp her appearance on the ABC's new book program First Tuesday Book Club on her own blog as... well, frankly, her blog is another persona. Of sorts.

So, I feel duty bound to talk it up ESPECIALLY AS IT FEATURES MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE BOOK as an opener. WHOA! SHOUTING! THOMASR!! Well, hell it's "American Psycho" and frankly it's the book that made me give up novel writing aspirations. (damn fury!

Brett Easton Ellis wrote the damn thing when he was but 25-ish and it's constructed like the most perfect piece of engineering you've ever seen. I return to this book annually- and have introduced many people to it. Of note, two of the people who did read it were almost complete "non-readers" (one admitted he hadn't read a book since high school. He read it in two days.)

So, if you haven't read it, don't be completely put off by the title. Ok, be slightly put off by the title. And strap yourself in.

Marieke Hardy - About Us - Celebrity Readers - First Tuesday - ABC TV

This is my best man...?

New applicants please leave contact details in comments...

Self Tag!!

I normally don't respond to meme tags, I just pick the ones I like and go from there...:


1) Four jobs I've had.
Coles shelf stacker
Roadie
Windsurfing instructor
Chemist boy

2) Four movies I could watch over and over.
Mad Max 2: the Road Warrior
Clerks
Run, Lola, Run.
Apocalypse Now!

3) Four places I have lived.
North Balwyn, Melbourne, Victoria
Tarifa, Spain
St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria
Mt Martha, Victoria

4)Four TV shows I love to watch
Scrubs
Top Gear
Myth Busters
Lost

5) Four places I have been on vacation
New York, USA
Tarifa, Spain
Seisia, FNQ, Australia
Geralton, Western Australia

6) Four webshites I visit daily
Boing Boing
Reasons You Will Hate Me
Petrol Case
SlashDot

7) Four of my favourite foods
Lamb Chops/cutlets
Beef Stroganoff
Rachel's Lasagne
Beef Wellington (mum's!)

8) Four places I would rather be
With Duncan
In FNQ
In NYC
With Jake

9)Four fave CD's
Yoshimi Battles etc- The Flaming Lips
The Wall- Pink Floyd
Electric Ladyland- Jimi Hendrix
The Real Thing- Faith No More

1) Five things in my bag
ipod
ipod battery backpacky thingamy
Robert Timms Coffee bag
Computer parts land catalogue
Triumph motorcycle fuel connector (broken)

2) Five things in my fridge
Tonic water (no Gin in the house, sadly)
Ice dispenser that Rachel shows every new visitor
Real butter (no butter tray)
3 X 750 ml Carlton Draught bottles
Some veggies I'm sure Rachel bought

3)Five things in my closet
My car racing shoes (thany you blue wiggle)
4 helmets
3 wetsuits
A suit or two
motorcycle leathers


4) Five things in my car
No CAR!

Honda shoots for 400km/h

Honda F1 have been out on the world famous salt flats @ Bonneville, Utah attempting to break the F1 world speed record (or at least set a benchmark). They've set 400km/h as their goal and are using an ex F1 car (with minimal downforce) to achieve these big numbers.

The BBC motorpsport website has some beautiful pics of the event (link below). (though I gots ta tell ya, it's pretty easy to get good pics in the desert...!)

BBC SPORT Motorsport Photo Galleries Honda tops 400km/h

Must have that I can't have...

The Gadgeteer - Tekkeon myTalker ET7000:

"myTalker is a Bluetooth gateway that turns your iPod or MP3 player into a Bluetooth headset. It plugs into the earphone jack of your iPod, and then your earbuds or headphones plug into the myTalker."

Yet another "must have" that I cannot justify as we speak... and yet...

Teen restaurant worker shot in face

Teen restaurant worker shot in face - National - theage.com.au:

"Police are hunting two men after a teenage fast food restaurant employee was shot in the face in Melbourne's east last night.
The 16-year-old, working in the drive-through section of a McDonald's restaurant at the junction of Mountain Highway and Boronia Road, Wantirna, was wounded near her left eye when she was shot at with what is believed to be an air rifle from bushes on Boronia Road about 7.30pm."

...at this point police have not released the name of the wounded party, though it's believed the employee's name is Marvin.

Boy surfer tells of 'pretty scary' tsunami encounter.

Boy surfer tells of 'pretty scary' tsunami encounter. 19/07/2006. ABC News Online:

"I suddenly thought that wave is not a normal wave, that never happened here before so I just started to run. It was pretty amazing because it was like the biggest wave I have ever seen and it probably was"

"... and I can't belive some guy pulled localism on me? I mean it's pretty screwed up when the biggest wave you've ever seen comes through and some local guy snakes you coz he wants to surf it all the way to his house..."

YouTube - Human Space Invaders

Stop motion filming- shoot that damned UFO!!

YouTube - Human Space Invaders

Bungie.net : Game Stats

We didn't win- nor lose, but here today I present my best ever game of Halo 2 (Xbox live of course) Here I am playing as St Kilda Wood (Marky Mark's account)

Bungie.net game stats

Holyhell, did I worked the angles- 39 Kills, 9 deaths, 35 head shots.

Here's a diagram (as provided by Bungie) of the kills I got in one area. (I am the green "4" symbol). You'd think they'd work out that I was sniping them with my mad skillz!


Just. A. Big. Kid.

Back Online

We've just installed new Telstra Cable Extreme. i though i would take it for a lap around the block and see how fast it is:


FORKIN' SMOKIN' is what it is!!!

NASA live tv

Despite the relative "ho hum" nature of modern space travel- it still interests and inspires me.

As an avowed claustrophobe, I doubt I would pass any astronaut classes- there's something about a guy in a big space suit squealing "get me out GET ME THE HELL OUT!" that equals no space career.

Watching video of the astronauts going on a spacewalk (like Mr Squiggle) still awes me. you want lonely? Vertigo? WOW try being 200 miles (320 Kms) above earth just doin' a lil construction work.

Anyway, check out the link below while the current mission is in progress and enjoy the banter and chatter between ground control and the space shuttle/International Space station.

I watched fascinated the other day when a couple of female astronauts were working on something or other with the robotic arm. They sat side by side working away and their ponytails sat out at 90 degrees to their heads (zero gravity remember!). When they turned their heads.... frankly, their pony tails looked like dogs wagging their tails. I was having a laugh with a colleague at their expense when a female mission controller said "we're loving the ponytails!" and the gals wagged their tails like they were happy lil dawgs. Fantastic!

NASA TV- live streaming from the Discovery

UPDATE: ...they actally have little breaks with astronauts saying stuff like "Hi I'm Bob from The Discovery mission, stay tuned for more from NASA TV!"

Just. Like. Sports. Stars.

So I'm marrying a red head!!

I mean, I love her and all- and I think she looks a little like Angie Everhart- and that my frrends, is awseome!!

Excitement- with extra fizzle...

Well, last night looked like it was going to be the MOST EXCITING NIGHT in Marine pde ever. We're into our last week of living there, so the timing could not have been better.

2:30am: Rachel wakes me as there is a disturbance coming from outside/downstairs. Now, we have some charming French lads (by charming I just mean "French" and by French I mean "bloody annoying, messy lads who leave their shopping trolley in the street every week...") living on the ground floor and they were up loud an' raucous when the Frogs beat the 'Zilians the other night. In my sleepy state, I just assumed that they were up watching yet another World Cup game. WRONG!

2:32 I take a look outside the window- there's a taxi, a bunch of lads and they are all yelling madly. It's NOT the French boys- methinks it's Bogans from Frankston who've come up short on the fare calculation/spewed down the taxi drivers vest.

2:33 The yelling intensifies, with a call of "break the window!" thrown in. Rachel sees (as I move to a new pozzie for a look) one of the Bogans throw three punches at the Taxi driver. Taxi driver (being a sensible chap) retires to the confines of his cab as a fat guy arrives with a metal bar to "interrogate" the driver Guantanamo style.

2:34 Driver takes off in the taxi with the (Indian accented) war cry of "I have your wallet, I have your wallet", not quite Mel Gibson in "Braveheart" but it seemed to piss the Bogan lads off. There's another taxi right behind the first. We didn't see the second taxi as it was obscured by a tree or two. The Bogan boys take off across the road to the reserve/park near the marina.

2:36 I watch the norty lads for a bit, they look like lions pacing at a zoo- though where lions seem to be looking for a way out, these lads appeared to be looking for a way IN. So I decide: call the cops. Now, I am not your paranoid type- so I decide to call St Kilda police station as this is hardly worth a "000" (emergency 911) call.

2:38 I get through (looking up the number took a bit) and The Copper is immediately onto it, he puts the phone to one side and radios a car. Gets my name, confirms minor details and we hang up.

2:45-ish. COPS. FREAKIN'. EVERYWHERE. At least four marked cars and one unmarked turn up (no lights or sirens). The cops pour into the area- drive on the footpath- they cover the logical escape routes. We can't see the Bogans- they seem to have disappeared near the lighthouse/beacon area of the marina. Torch beams flicker in the rocky area near the point.

2:50 Phone rings. They ask if I'm watching. I feel like an artillery spotter calling in the troops/shells. I tell them the exact spot that we last saw them. I "reckon" that they must have gone over the fence and are hiding somewhere inside the marina.

We sit, we watch, we go back to bed.

3:00am Another call. I confirm to (a new copper) the earlier details. He tells me that there is no report about the incident we witnessed with the Taxi driver. I tell him it could have been a "mutual" situation, give the Taxi driver's call of "I have your wallet". He agrees, terminates call.

sometime after 3am The FREAKING DOG SQUAD ARRIVES. Rachel is at this time calling me a "a public nuisance" and infers that I will be arrested for making a false report. I tell her that I will take her down WITH ME and she shuts the hell up.

3:15-ish I wake Kat Riley- she might have work (she does- and it's an early shift) but I decide that she might be annoyed at being woken, but will be MIGHTILY pissed if she misses out on the "Puppy Squad" (as the girls call it). The cops have now brought in a MINIBUS with "Response Squad" on the side. I begin to think maybe I will get arrested- or at least the bill will be sent to me. A security guard turns up and opens the padlock on the car park. No more driving on the footpath to get in and around the gates. We watch non stop for the next half hour. The police dog is clearly off leash in a leashed area. We decide against telling the council- on account of our precarious position having reported an incident that looks rather hoax-ish at 3:20am.


4:00 I finally get to bed . I wonder how my mum might have handled it and tell Rachel- "She'd have done the same, but would almost certainly have put the kettle on" She puts her cold feet on me to shut me up. I give her a Dutch oven and we (sortof) sleep.

So, while there was some excitement- in the end there were no arrests and no reports in the paper that I know of

SORRY FOR THE ANTI CLIMAX!!