Tom Reynolds

Exhuming Aussie Diggers- the right idea?

2009-05-06T08:23:00.002+10:00

Work is about to begin near Fromelles France to exhume approximately 400 Australian and British World War One soldiers thought to be buried in a mass grave.

The stories of the soldiers are as touching and as fascinating yas you might expect. The research done by Lambis Englezos is deserving of an OBE in my view. The technology in use is also interesting and of course DNA investigations form the corner stone of this project. But here's where I become a little concerned.

"We don't even know if it is going to work yet," Peter Jones, a British DNA consultant to the project, said yesterday.

"If the DNA is there and in good condition, then you get profiles from all of the samples from the grave. But I don't think you are going to get that.

So despite the fact they are going to exhume these dead soldiers, there are concerns that it ight be for nothing. Not only are they uncertain about the DNA validity, but they are short on for decendants willing to offer their DNA:

...fewer than 15 British families have registered to take part in the project and an 11th-hour public campaign has now been launched in Britain to try to ignite interest in the Fromelles discovery, coax potential relatives to register and increase the chances of individual identification.

THis may be due to a less than ideal PR/advertising campaign, but I's like tohttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5856979 suggest that some descendants hold the same view that I do- that we ought to leave the dead as they were.
These are a mix of young men from Britain and Australia. They went to war as volunteers, fought side by side and died together. In the fields of Fromelles they have lain side by side for 90+ years and it is my view there they should remain.
While I am always interested in this sort of forensic work, I wonder if this isn't possibly desecration. There may be a prevailing view that these men deserve a proper burial, but I'm of the view they have already received one:

The Germans, to their credit, gathered the dead and buried them in mass graves under the shadow of Fromelles’s church. Before they did so, they removed the identification tags, recorded the names of the dead and sent the tags back to Australia.

View Larger Map

Work Underway To Identify Fromelles Fallen [via The Age]

My web presence- getting it all to hang together.

2009-05-04T10:59:00.001+10:00

Yesterday I posted the news that I have a new site in the process of being designed built and to ensure it not only launches smoothly, but works hard for me, I have been reviewing how all of my social media strategy hangs together.
Frankly, it's less than ideal. Here's my bad photoshopped image of what currently happens.

How it all works.

The whole shebang hangs off RSS. Without the RSS feeds from the content services, then it would all be manual- a total nightmare.
TwitterFeed is a brilliant service (I have donated) and is the hub I use for content processing into Twitter.
Thomasr.org posts are checked every three hours and then posted into Twitter as "Blog Post". The RSS feed automatically shoots into Facebook as a "Facebook Note". Facebook only allows one RSS feed. It's tempting to process all the feeds into Feedburner and then feed the whole lot into Facebook- but that's untenable and Facebook Spam (FBS).
Flickr pics also go into TwitterFeed, but are processed slightly differently. As I have varying degrees of Flickr use- occasional pics from BrightKite as well as whole car/bike sets that can number 50+ pics per car, I use the TwitterFeed feature to limit the RSS checking to once a day and 2 posts at any one time. FBS reduction right there.
I use BrightKite mostly on my iPhone as it can post pics to Flickr (and importantly geo tag them) and send onto Twitter as well. If I'm not using BK for pics, then it works well as a Twitter client and I use it when I want to tell everyone where I am (especially for public event hosting and similar).
My YouTube channel videos update once a day and one video to TwitterFeed. No need for updates more often than that as I have never posted more than one video a day and I doubt I ever will!
My 3AW blog posts are rare, but also update via RSS. This is a once a day thing and one post gets sent to Twitter.
My CarAdvice and BikeAdvice posts do not have an unique RSS feed. I think if I got to the bottom of Yahoo Pipes, I think I could feed the raw RSS into Yahoo pipes and filter it so only the podcasts and my articles make it to TwitterFeed. In the meantime, I write up a blog post pointing to the article and that starts off the Thomasr.org chain of events and that suits me for now as it gives my all-important paid work a double dose on Facebook and a single run on Twitter.
Two services for links I use are my Del.icio.us and Google Reader shared items and these feed into Twitter almost on the spot, though I do limit them to a maximum of 3 at a time.
All that done, the tweets start to automatically appear on Twitter itself.
My Twitter feed goes straight into FriendFeed, which also aggregates my YouTube and Blog posts independently but is smart enough (something Scoble says a lot about FF) not to double up.
FriendFeed then sends all aggregated (And not doubled up) content to Facebook via a Facebook app.

That last point is no longer true, but it's important to note that it was once the case. The problem now at Facebook is not one of double ups, but rather over saturation. Every single Tweet goes to Facebook. Per my previous post, I took my own advice and I'm not letting Tweets set as FB status, but it is appearing in all my friends timelines. Not all are happy:

Quite. I had a feeling this was the case, but as you can't really see when you are creating "noise" on a friend's Facebook page, I just kept going. (Not to be rude, but the more friends you have on FB, the less spammy my FB timeline appears as I am woven into the general fabric of Facebook)

Ok So what's this all mean?
The Web 2.oh services are evolving and so too are the users. In fact it's user expectation and user demands that are driving me- I think not so much about what can be done, but what's best for my readers/followers/friends. So I turned off the feed into Facebook. But I do need some sort of feed into Facebook as it is a content cul de sac (Content goes in, doesn't come out) and is very important as my friend base on Facebook increases.

So I'm going to set up a Feedburner account and aggregate most content apart from Twitter posts into Facebook as notes. It's not a huge amount and certain services like Flickr will now be handled by a Facebook App instead of FriendFeed.

Where's the conversation?
This is super critical. Corvida's post on ReadWriteWeb was very clear and I believe it.

While there's no formula for success, there are three keys to a killer web service: search, aggregation, and conversation.

So search is taken care of and I nearly have the aggregation situation about right. But it's conversation, the third and possibly most compelling element- where will that happen?

Thoughts on conversation:

Not on my blog as it stands. I generate a fair few followers and readers, but few comments. I'm not that sort of blogger.
On places of content origin. That's a mixed bag. YouTube- you have to be kidding. Flickr- very occasional. BrightKite- rare. on 3AW, CarAdvice and BikeAdvice a lot of good commenting takes place and should stay there as these sites are focussed on conversation.
On Twitter. That tends to be short: "Good post" "nice pic" etc. Not really conversation, though it can be. Twitter conversations can be intense and real time, but also tend to disappear into the Twitter ether due to the non semantic nature of Twitter.
FriendFeed. I don't think so right now. Scoble may be right and FF might go mainstream, but that's going to take a while and meantime FF is silent.
Conversations on my content. Absolutely. So much so, that I have resolved to do two things: employ Facebook Connect on my new blog comments area and open up my friends list to Scoble-esque proportions.

So there's a bit to do and of course it's ongoing.

And it obsesses me.

Website changes- they are a comin'

2009-05-03T11:11:00.006+10:00

I've been collaborating with SharpSushi on a new website for me. It's not an overly ambitious new site- the designs are very different to the old site and we're doing some real UI work to make the site not only a bit more lively on the landing page, but also seek to market what I do and what I offer in a better way. How? Keep coming back people!
Some notes:

Changing over from Blogger to WordPress. Thanks Blogger, but it's time. Yes, there will be teething/transfer issues, but I feel WordPress offers features and plugins that Blogger just can't match. It also means I am not beholden to Blogger. WordPress could run my site for the next 20 years.
The site landing page will offer content rather than my current "just freakin' links" page.
On occasions I will offer a podcast featuring off-topic content developed for CarAdvice podcasts. The WP Plugins will service this new content offering.
Changing over my GoDaddy accounts to use WP has been a pain at times. The Power of Twitter assisted the process when I bitched about GoDaddy's terribly messy website. They replied. In the I called their tech support and found out to host WP on windows you need IIS7 and I was on IIS6. Find that on the website if you can...?
I hardly use any bandwidth or cloud space as allocated by GoDaddy, so offering podcasts won't cost me anything more.
I'm finally working out how to get my content to syndicate elsewhere- not from a tech perspective, but from a social perspective. I recently turned off FriendFeed to Facebook as I was almost spamming FB people.

The new site will go into beta shortly and fully launch in a matter of weeks.

Thanks to Lord Hayden for the early designs.

My web presence- getting it all to hang together.

2009-05-03T09:00:00.000+10:00

The whole shebang hangs off RSS. Without the RSS feeds from the content services, then it would all be manual- a total nightmare.
TwitterFeed is a brilliant service (I have donated) and is the hub I use for content processing into Twitter.
Thomasr.org posts are checked every three hours and then posted into Twitter as "Blog Post". The RSS feed automatically shoots into Facebook as a "Facebook Note". Facebook only allows one RSS feed. It's tempting to process all the feeds into Feedburner and then feed the whole lot into Facebook- but that's untenable and Facebook Spam (FBS).
Flickr pics also go into TwitterFeed, but are processed slightly differently. As I have varying degrees of Flickr use- occasional pics from BrightKite as well as whole car/bike sets that can number 50+ pics per car, I use the TwitterFeed feature to limit the RSS checking to once a day and 2 posts at any one time. FBS reduction right there.
I use BrightKite mostly on my iPhone as it can post pics to Flickr (and importantly geo tag them) and send onto Twitter as well. If I'm not using BK for pics, then it works well as a Twitter client and I use it when I want to tell everyone where I am (especially for public event hosting and similar).
My YouTube channel videos update once a day and one video to TwitterFeed. No need for updates more often than that as I have never posted more than one video a day and I doubt I ever will!
My 3AW blog posts are rare, but also update via RSS. This is a once a day thing and one post gets sent to Twitter.
My CarAdvice and BikeAdvice posts do not have an unique RSS feed. I think if I got to the bottom of Yahoo Pipes, I think I could feed the raw RSS into Yahoo pipes and filter it so only the podcasts and my articles make it to TwitterFeed. In the meantime, I write up a blog post pointing to the article and that starts off the Thomasr.org chain of events and that suits me for now as it gives my all-important paid work a double dose on Facebook and a single run on Twitter.
Two services for links I use are my Del.icio.us and Google Reader shared items and these feed into Twitter almost on the spot, though I do limit them to a maximum of 3 at a time.
All that done, the tweets start to automatically appear on Twitter itself.
My Twitter feed goes straight into FriendFeed, which also aggregates my YouTube and Blog posts independently but is smart enough (something Scoble says a lot about FF) not to double up.
FriendFeed then sends all aggregated (And not doubled up) content to Facebook via a Facebook app.

While there's no formula for success, there are three keys to a killer web service: search, aggregation, and conversation.

Not on my blog as it stands. I generate a fair few followers and readers, but few comments. I'm not that sort of blogger.
On places of content origin. That's a mixed bag. YouTube- you have to be kidding. Flickr- very occasional. BrightKite- rare. on 3AW, CarAdvice and BikeAdvice a lot of good commenting takes place and should stay there as these sites are focussed on conversation.
On Twitter. That tends to be short: "Good post" "nice pic" etc. Not really conversation, though it can be. Twitter conversations can be intense and real time, but also tend to disappear into the Twitter ether due to the non semantic nature of Twitter.
FriendFeed. I don't think so right now. Scoble may be right and FF might go mainstream, but that's going to take a while and meantime FF is silent.
Conversations on my content. Absolutely. So much so, that I have resolved to do two things: employ Facebook Connect on my new blog comments area and open up my friends list to Scoble-esque proportions.

So there's a bit to do and of course it's ongoing.

And it obsesses me.

First review for BikeAdvice.com.au

2009-04-29T19:56:00.001+10:00

Just done my first review (with pics!) for BikeAdvice.com.au

See it here.

How long to fix something simple?

2009-04-24T21:27:00.002+10:00

One notable problem in large organisations is the lack of accountability and proactivity.

The Age's website is a case in point. If it was centralised and built on a better, more unifying platform with a single development team then maybe they would be able to fix the terrible, confusing template issues that plague the whole site.

Honestly, how long would it take a junior developer to fix the CSS for the letters page for example? How long does it take to add a <br> tag? (see image)

To the developers on The Age's website: where are the mavericks who get shit done? Why do you accept this state of play? When's the last time you worked back late to get something fixed- not built, but just fixed? Where are your bug reports? I hope you don't get tipped out during this global recession, because no one will think your skills and more imporantly your passion is up to scratch.

Oh and while you're at it, fix the bug that causes the site to crash iphones.

#nbn - the National Broadband Network announcement...

2009-04-07T09:54:00.002+10:00

This announcement has both the twittersphere buzzing and me marvelling this morning. As Internode's Simon Hackett said :

I'm gobsmacked. If they do what they promise, they've actually got it right, and we might just turn into a broadband front-runner country ten years from now... after all.

I've also supported the idea of the Federal Government building national broadband infrastructure. I'm not sure about the plan to sell it off again as I think a corporation owned by the government with subscription based billing to the telcos could not only sustain itself, but also account for future upgrades as well. Let's face it, the network we build today will not be the same one we are using in 50 years. We'll need to revisit this time and time again. Or we can set ourselves up for the longer term.

Hell, I might just go for a job there!

More details here

Harry likes kitty

2009-04-05T20:58:00.000+10:00

He's quite insane.

Tom Reynolds to race Factory Honda in 2009 Motocross series

2009-04-01T11:51:00.003+11:00

DSCN1896, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

-------------PRESS RELEASE----------

Woodstock Thor Honda and Thomasrdotorg are pleased (some might say "fully stoked") to announce a one year deal for Melbourne motoring journalist Tom Reynolds to race in the factory Woodstock Thor Honda team aboard a special one off Japanese prepared CRF450X.

Team owner Yarrive Konsky: "After Tom's startling performances in last year's Dirt Bike Master's we were ready to look at a full year deal. His performances showed us we had found a rider for the over 50's. Of course he's 'only' 37, so that did make things a little difficult- but we'll sort that out in due course. All jokes aside, we were pleased with the races he competed in where he didn't crash- and that was a special one. The race where he crashed and broke two ribs showed us that he was a special rider. Very special. Of course at the time, we didn't know the full extent of the damage and we were very, very worried. It was only later we discovered that it was a triple clamp setup, a set of handle bars, a full set of plastics, an exhaust and two marshals."

Yarrive continues:
"After looking at the team members for 2009, it was clear we were going for a youth policy, so bringing Tom into the team will help to raise not only our spirits, but also the average age. We've gone from an average of 18 to 29 by adding just one rider."

Tom Reynolds:
"There will naturally be some people who see this as a decision that is not based around talent, but more around whether I can get Yarrive a drive in an Aston Martin for the weekend. The answer is yes; anytime Yarrive wants a drive in an Aston I can organise it for an hour or two."

While the deal has only just been finalised, Reynolds rejects any suggestions that he will not be fit enough for this weekend's opening round at Albury Wodonga. "I won't lie, at 37 it's a struggle to get to a racing weight and Honda have been very supportive by providing a rear suspension setup straight off a Gold Wing. Meanwhile I've been hard at it for months. I'm on a semi strict diet of hops, barley and wheat delivered by liquid infusion. In time I've been on said diet I've gone from 72kgs to a race ready 97kgs."

At time of writing, the final hurdle is an ASDA supervised drug test, due to be completed this afternoon 1 April 2009...

------------------ENDS----------------

11:59am STOP PRESS UPDATE:
Woodstock Thor Honda regret to announce that Tom Reynolds has been released from his racing contract for 2009 effective immediately after failing a drugs test. Details at this time are sketchy, but it is understood that an excessive amount of oestrogen was found in his system, rendering him not only unable to compete in the men's division, but a threat to other team members safety.

-------ENDS------

Believe what we tell you

2009-03-30T12:49:00.003+11:00

Mike Hickinbotham Wednesday, 18 March 2009 3:54:14 PM

Duncan,

Sorry to disappoint, but no one is getting fired and my update to yesterday's post addresses your comment about 'where the story diverges'.

Checkout the link here: http://tinyurl.com/c28l96

Mike Hickinbotham
Telstra Social Media Senior Advisor

Spin spine spineless

Leslie is subject to disciplinary action not because he Twittered as the Fake Stephen Conroy, but because of his ongoing unauthorised public statements about Telstra, including abusive comments towards a colleague.

Telstra, better than Canadian Mounties. They always get there man. Anyway they can.

Thomasr's Twittering gets him in Mainstream Media

2009-03-30T09:48:00.002+11:00

the-age-30-3, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

Wait, yr doing it backwards!

Thanks to Suzanne Carbone for having the vision to include a few paras about me at the F1 GP tweeting like an OCD sufferer (without the suffering bit!)

No... where are those offers of Social Media work? HUH?

Epic Fail at Albert Park.

2009-03-28T14:40:00.001+11:00

The following is the full presser from the Aus Raving cars race held earlier at Albert Park. What a screw up.

CONTROVERSY OVERSHADOWS AWESOME AUSSIE RACING CARS AT ALBERT PARK
28 March 2009
A communication issue has left half the Aussie Racing Cars on the form-up grid and out of race 2 today at the 2009 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix.
Confusion reigned after the event as to the exact chain of events that led to only 17 cars starting the race while 15 were left behind with officials refusing them access to the track.
The issues are expected to be resolved in the next few hours but it is expected that the race will be designated as a non-event from a round and series points perspective.
What is not in dispute is the action that those 17 cars provided on-track as a reverse-top-nine format was implemented to beef up the action for the fans.
Maurice Masini was set to start from pole position with Tyler Owen next to him and Adam Gowans and Peter Carr on the second row.
As the field entered turn three for the first time a melee erupted after Peter Carr connected with the rear of Gowans Toyota Aurion, this set off a series of spinning cars as the field went in all directions to avoid the carnage.
Clews was an innocent victim but soon recovered to start picking off the competitors ahead.
Race 1 winner, Richie Rapa was a benefactor of the carnage as he drove through the gap and into the top three and proceeded to move into the lead early in the race.
"I knew that the guys would be pretty toey out there with the reverse-top-nine so I just held back in the first few corners," Rapa said.
"We had a good clear run and I was really happy with how the car was going."
Allan Simonsen forged his way to second place and began a race-long battle with Clews and Masini for a podium position.
"Obviously he (Clews) was coming pretty quick and I tried to drive defensively," Simonsen said.
"I thought I was pushing it as hard as I can but obviously not, it was a great race.
"You can't compare them at all really, I just jumped in for the first time on Thursday for practice and have not spent any time setting it up.
"The cars are easy to drive and great fun and you can really chuck them around on the track," he said.
The three exchanged places many timed before Clews was able to break a gap on the last lap and Simonsen was able to overcome Masini in the drag to the finish line.
David Lawrence threatened the top four but didn't quite have the speed to make the top three.
Many of the Masters Cup drivers didn't get to race but the three that did were Darren Chamberlin, Glenn McNamara and Shane Sullivan.
"There was no point pushing hard because I knew the others were not out there and it didn't seem to make sense to risk my car for effectively nothing," Chamberlin said.
The drivers that missed the race were:
Phi Ward, Kevin Smith, Garrett Halder, Dan Evans, Taz Douglas, Shane Wolki, Brendon Tucker, Rob Thomson, Darrin Masini, Michael Hovey, Tony South, Ruth Bowler, Adam Johns, Sheridan Phillips, and Grant Ludbey.

Peter Wherrett dead at 72...

2009-03-25T16:46:00.000+11:00

Lovely tribute from, Car Advice's Anthony Crawford to Peter Wherrett- one of the people I idolised when I was a youngster.

What made Torque such compulsory viewing was Peter’s utterly candid approach to what he thought of a car. He wasn’t afraid to call a lemon a lemon. On the other hand, he was always quick to point out improvements by a manufacturer.

It was this kind of straight talking that made Peter Wherrett a household name in Australia, and gave the program the high level of credibility it thoroughly deserved.

Peter Wherrett, world’s first TV motoring presenter, dies at 72. » Australian Car Advice | News Blog

Google maps bogged down in... mud.

2009-03-24T20:40:00.002+11:00

Ooops. The Google street view car (an Astra I believe) got itself into all sort of of bother.

[Image Google]

Thank you Nissan Patrol!

Hat Tip: Google Street View: Google Street View Car Stuck In Mud Down Under

He went to to the danger zone

2009-03-24T13:39:00.002+11:00

Sharing is caring:

Mick Doohan thinks World Superbike is shit

2009-03-11T19:15:00.003+11:00

Last night at the Premiere of "Love The Beast" I had occasion to chat with former 500cc Champion Mick Doohan.

POst chat about things film related, I moved on to chat about MotoGP this season and we wandered into a MotoGp v WSBK discussion and then the sparks started flying. I dared to suggest that that WSBK- with its field of 35, close racing and keen fans might eclipse MotoGP as a spectacle in 2009.To say Mick was NOT convinved would be an understatement.

Here's how I saw the discussion:

Me: The fans want to see close racing, big fields and skill playing an important role (over say, traction control). MotoGP might struggle as there are just 18 bikes on the grid this year to get the fans fired up.

Mick: MotoGP is the pinnacle of the sport. World Superbike is not. Therefore MotoGP is better without even referring to field numbers, fan interest and closeness of competition.

Listen to the discussion here.

Love The Beast podcast interview with Eric Bana » Australian Car Advice | News Blog

2009-03-11T18:23:00.002+11:00

New podcast has gone live at CarAdvice.com.au Click here to check it out!

Love The Beast podcast interview with Eric Bana » Australian Car Advice | News Blog: "CarAdvice was invited to the red carpet premiere last night at Crown Casino’s Village cinemas of Eric Bana’s documentary on his ‘74 XB Falcon Love The Beast that stars Eric, Jeremy Clarkson, Jay Leno and Dr Phil McGraw."

Some of my favourite things

2009-03-09T00:12:00.001+11:00

The following is an amazing Japanese gameshow- I want to host, be a part of or just watch an Australian version. It's insanely brilliant.

The Live Lounge - a live music compilation [torrent]

2009-03-07T20:41:00.003+11:00

In the late 90s I was at Monash Uni, arsing my way through an Arts degree.

While there I was on the committee (and later chair of) Radio 3MU- Monash Uni's student radio. Back then we were on 95.7FM.

While chair, I proposed and built a ''proper'' recording studio. To get the studio going, and to train students, we debuted a show called ''The Live Lounge''. Every week we had a band play live.

I've just created a Torrent of the first (and ONLY) CD we produced from those sessions. In time I will torrent up the other (latter) performances.

Here's what we got:

Southcity- ''Celeb Meyer''
Pornland- ''Wacca Wacca Disco''
Couch Grinder- ''Visit''
Matt Handley- ''Brittle Then Broken''
CW Stoneking & The Bluetits - ''Beedle Um Bum''
Loin Groin- ''Big Balls''
Shonytonk- ''Shonkytonkin'''
Davey Lane- ''I Know''
Vent- ''Insomnicide''
Symbiosis ''Seein' You''
The Surrogate- ''Noosa''
No Idea ''Just Another Song''
Secret track/compilation.

[132Mb 320kbs VBR MP3]

Sample:

To download the full version visit vuze.com

Check out for the torrent page.

Or this direct torrent link if you wish

Please download AND SEED!

The Stupid Things That My Father Did

2009-03-04T18:10:00.002+11:00

What will my kids make of this life? I have maybe 30 photos between 0-4. Harry has as many videos in his first 7 months. Will he recklessly delete it all or become an archiver?

AND WILL HE LOVE VAN HALEN?

Harry and VH
Originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg

...when I was too young to understand.

Wardrobe malfunction in Paris:Emma Thompson to the rescue :: rogerebert.com :: News & comment

2009-03-04T10:55:00.001+11:00

I also love that all the film clips for the foreign language noms inevitably have characters saying "fuck" or "fucking" a lot. And that the show's host said to Penn, about "Milk," in English, "And by the way, you were fucking great in that movie." And everybody in the theatre, including the (female) Minister of Culture applauded in agreement.

People love to bag the French, but I'd rather the cool, sophisticated style of the French over the uptight, conservative idiotic mumblings of most of the English speaking world.
Wardrobe malfunction in Paris; Emma Thompson to the rescue :: rogerebert.com ::

Melbourne Motorshow Podcast

2009-02-27T21:32:00.004+11:00

The Melbourne Motorshow has begun and I was there for the media day. Alborz Fallah and I did a podcast walkabout and review most of the various stands and features.

Hit the link to hear the podcast and check out CarAdvice.com.au, Australia's number one independent car site.

Connetta- The World Is My Lobster

2009-02-24T23:00:00.001+11:00

Connetta- The World Is My Lobster, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

Connetta- The World Is My Lobster

Anyone can knock out an album cover, who can write a review for an album that does not exist....?

Conetta- The World Is My Lobster

Hailing from New York (with plenty of Italy thrown in) this debut from alt-pop gal Connetta (born Connie Manzettta) is at once as quixotic as it is exotic.

With her flair for quick, simple tunes and lyrics that are as funny as they are poignant, Connetta immediately stands above other so called competitors in her so called peer group- why? She doesn't care for the trappings and formulas for stardom. You get the feeling she would play to five as happily as 50,000. For Connetta it's apparent that it's about allowing herself the freedom to be herself.

Still confused? Try listening to "My Red Tricycle" and tell me you are not caught up in the simplicity and beauty of a child's favourite toy. On "It Wasn't Me, It was The Other Three" a blame shift in the manner of George W Bush's failures in Iraq come to mind. I'm no wiser after 10 listens to "Who's The Real Elmo Anyway?" but it has something to do with Facebook banning, Gene Simmons and That Phonecall. "Not Another Fucking Meme" is a light hearted look at the minutes of your life wasted on pointless social networking sites responding to mindless tags and is absolute pop perfection- right down to the people tagged in the liner notes.

In a world where a critic is supposed to be a cynic Connetta takes that frown and turns it upside down- without a hint of cliché.

9.5./10
~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random... Read More”
or click en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to "Random quotations"
or click www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together.

5 - Post it to FB with this text in the "caption" and TAG the friends you want to join in.

Ok I give in. 25 Random things about me

2009-02-24T09:41:00.003+11:00

I don't mind a good meme-ing. Off we go.

My late grandfather was a war hero who went to his grave without telling anyone why he received his Militaty Medal. There is a book "Westralian Cavalry during the War" that outlines his citation. He had killed 6-8 men with a machine gun. Whenever he was asked why he got the medal he varied his answer between "for being the best looking bloke in the army" to "for marring your grandmother". The bond between us is strong, despite Tom Sarre having died when I was ten.
When I was very young I was terrified of water. My mum was convinced Harry would be the same. To prevent this, I have taken him to the pool, in the shower and to the beach since he was born. He loves the water.
Between the ages of 19 and 29 I weighed 72-74 kilos. Post knee reconstruction (which coincided with me getting a "real" job and giving up windsurfing instructing), I whacked on a lazy 25kgs. Losing them is proving harder than gaining 'em.
Depite the fact that my brother and I argue like crazy (and as recently as 5 years ago had a punch up!), I miss him a lot. Now he lives in LA instead of NYC, I kid myself we will visit them more often.
I am regarded as versatile. I like lots of things and I do a few of them moderately well. This has not led to fame and fortune, no matter what some people say.
My all time favourite adventure was our motorbike trip around Australia. (note: I dropped 10kgs on that!)
I can wheelie almost any bike- motor or cycle. I can wheelie my mountain bike until I am too tired to balance it, can wheelie a road bike like Robbie McEwen and got warned at Phillip Island for wheelie-ing down the straight at a track day at a tick over 200km/h.
I did not walk until I was 18 months old as I had a four wheelie tractor that I could get anywhere on. I could drift it, trundle it and steer it better than I can drive today.
My first dog was Boots. She was a muttley dog who was crazy smart, loyal and perfect as a first dog. When my Dad used to tell the story about how he took her off to have her put down, he cried. Every time.
When I was 21, I went on a windsurfing trip to WA with the recently gold medalled "Oasrome Foursome". Hilarity, insanity and lifelong memories ensued.
I started blogging in September 2003. I was, and am a crappy blogger. I rarely make enough effort and am in awe of those who keep it up.
I've had quite a few girlfiends, but only one whom I actually depise. Yes, it's YOU.
Like all new Fathers I was blown away when I became a Dad. I cried and cooed and felt 10 feet tall. Ask me if I feel the smame way at 3am when Harry has spat his dummy and is grizzling about it... The answer: HELL YES.
My all time hero is Albert Jacka VC. Most people know nothing of him, and yet he is our finest war hero. He was mayor of St Kilda and when he died young at 39, his pallbearers were all VCs. As Christopher Bantick wrote of Jacka "Albert Jacka is the forgotten man of Gallipoli. The reason is clear. Jacka was an efficient if not legendary killer."
In 2008 I took to gardening for the first time. Rach and I planted a range of veggies and what not. I set up a tank based watering system and we proceeded to kill 90% of the plants. We'll be back in 09/10!
I used to subscribe to the Henry Rollins philiosophy of being "trained in mind and body". But I have let both deteriorate woefully. Sorry Hank.
I once wrote a book about the years up to and just after my Father's death. But it was crap. It was good for me, but no good for the public. I deleted it from amy computer years ago with no regrets.
I am currently at my career crossroads. I'm going to let the next few months just play out and see where I go.
The first time I asked Rachel out on a date (to see a film) she said no. She didn't wasnt to see that film. I asked again weeks later. She said yes.
My favourite all time test car was the Aston Martin DB9 Sport. It is simply perfect.
One of my life goals is to break 40 knots on a windsurfer and 200mph on a motorbike.
I think Denis Walter is one of the nicest, funniest people I have ever met. Or worked with.
My camera was stolen at the 2008 F1 Gp and I cannot afford to replace it (Thanks Harry!). I love photgraphy and am becoming more and more depresssed about not having a digital SLR camera. I want a Nikon D90, but need to find a special project that provides me with additional funds.
For many years I lived the mantra that there are no limitations and you can be anything you want to be. This lead me down a path of doing things just because I wanted to prove I could do them, not due to any particular passion.
I would tag Rachel to do 25, but here's no way she would. So I am tagging no one.

Irony- up to maximum...

2009-02-23T11:44:00.001+11:00

The court was wrong, and I note you fail to show in what way I was dishonest - a charge I utterly reject. I’d say more, but that case proved to me that there are grave risks in criticising a member of the judicial fraternity. Now, back to this matter…

Scroll down for this hilarity...

100 goals for 2008 2009!

2009-02-13T12:00:00.002+11:00

Thanks/apologies to to MiriamP, I am going rip you off 100% and post some full on serious (and not so serious nor full on) goals for 2009 and go hard from the get go.

Blog and online

1. Blog an article fortnightly. People think I don't/can't write and really I am certain I have lost some mojo. Promise to fix this.

2. Relaunch thomasr.org this year

3. Blog on my 3AW site weekly or more.

4. Do some guest posts elsewhere.

Health

5. Get into the low 90 kilo mark.

6. Do more incidental excercise- 10,000 steps a day.

7. Cycle once a week, building to twice.

Books

8. Read a book or part thereof 3 nights a week before sleep. Harry's arrival and exhaustion have killed that much to my shame.

9. Complete the Patrick O'Brien series

10. As above but Flashman.

Family and Friends

11. Go to swimming lessons with Harry

12. Take Rachel to dinner twice a month

13. Have lunch with a friend every month.

14. Use my expertise to help a friend once a month.

15. Teach Harry how to ride his tractor

16. Buy a new apartment for Mum.

17. Collaborate on some projects with Stephen.

18. Visit Mansfield family twice for the weekend.

19. Skype with Bro weekly.

20. Get email contacts for entire cousin network.

21. Babysit for friends occasionally that they might have a night together.

22. Have the nieces/nephew over for the night/day.

23.

Financial

24. Get my credit card below $1000 and then change the limit to that.

25. Attack all my debts with the vigour and singlemindedness of an Olympian with gold in mind.

26. Sell all my motorbikes and buy one.

27. Take over the management of house finances.

28. Use a freelance income stream to save money.

Freelance work

29. Get a new gig with a different media channel.

30. Get one article published in legacy (mainstream) media.

31. Get my television idea up to proposal stage (so that it may be rejected)

32. Call people I know who are in the industry and keep in their circles.

33. Review two cars a month.

34. Get a manager for media work.

35. Organise an event of some description.

36. Review/write up some racing events.

Personal improvement

37. Get up at 6:30 every morning and excercise in some way. Or Wwrite. Or get Rachel breakfast.

38. Go to bed by 11:30 no matter what.

39. Play Xbox less- no more than hour at a stretch and no more than 3 times a week.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

Recreation

50. Go kitesailing 3 times and then quit.

51. Get a skateboard again. Long board of course.

52. Nail a one handed loop windsurfing. I have not done one in 5 years.

53. Take Rachel surfing.

54. Go camping with Rachel and Harry- and go somewhere I have not been before.

55. Windsurf as often as possible. Record it via the Facebook app I installed.

56. Take rookies for weekend motorbike rides more often. Take Rachel as well.

57. Race in the Dirt Bike Masters or Vic enduro series in over 35s.

58. Break 40 knots on a windsurfer. PB is currently 38.8 or something.

59.

60.

61.

62.

63.

64.

65.

66.

67.

68.

69.

70.

71.

72.

73.

74.

75.

76.

77.

78.

79.

80.

81.

82.

83.

84.

85.

86.

87.

88.

89.

90.

91.

92.

93.

94.

95.

96.

97.

98.

99.

100.

A ride though the hills before the fires struck

2009-02-13T07:47:00.004+11:00

Adrian and I had a run through the hills just a couple of weeks before the horrible fires that have destroyed so many houses and lives. It's perfect country for motorcycle riding- well made, curvy roads, beautiful scenery and people who welcome us everytime . We respond by respecting the speed limits and spending money in the towns (Especially the Kinglake bakery!)

We'll be back just as soon as the people in these towns can shake the ash off the welcome mat. Looking forward to it...

I'm getting out while I'm still young...ish.

2009-02-12T08:31:00.001+11:00

Shortly I will be exiting my current employ and I think I might not work agency side in advertising nor digital media for a while.* The reasons why I may discuss in the future. In the event you want to work in either industry, here's how I think you can work/worm your way in.

How do you get started?

It's always been hard to break into any industry. Always. Noah wanted to be a stone mason, not a boat builder, but couldn't find an opening.

In this day and age of internet not stone tablets, you can start building a personal brand long before you begin the CV polishing and door knocking process. Here are my cheerful ways to get ahead and show your passion:

Register yourname.com or your-name.com – find some sort of variation on your name.
Email from that domain address when seeking work. We will immediately check to see if you have a site parked there and;
Build it as a blog site. It's simple and inexpensive to set up (WordPress, blogger etc). Include an about page with contact details.
Blog about your desired industry. Weekly or whenever you have something to add. Become engaged in your industry.
Publish your uni papers and related material there too.
Get a profile on LinkedIn and ensure it's up over 80% completed.
Don't stalk your prospective employer online. They'll hear about you if you're smart and insightful.
Subscribe to relevant sites of interest via RSS and comment there using your real name and a link to your blog.
When setting up on Facebook/MySpace/any other site ensure that whatever you do- from pics to comments- will not hinder your chances of employment. They look up all candidates on Facebook. Remember that.
Your CV- no more than 3 pages. They'll appreciate the fact you worked at Maccas, but they don't need to know if you were flipping burgers or workin' the drive through. Just the bare essentials. They're going to Google you and Facebook you for good measure.. Let the good stuff turn up there. (Remember how we registered your-name.com? That's now going to work for you when people Google your name...)

So next time you hear someone say "Oh it's so hard to get a start", ask them if they have completed the above list. If not, tell them what I am telling you now: build a brand- your brand.

That's a start.

*In case of extreme poorness, this may in fact be a lie.

Bush fires: What could we have done to warn people?

2009-02-10T10:00:00.001+11:00

In the haze and confusion that has followed the most horrific natural disaster in our history, it's become apparent that the scope of information (or lack thereof) and the speedy dissemination of said information to residents in the firing line was not effective.

The government has authorised a royal commission, but the time that will take and then instituting the findings will take some time.

I'm going to float an idea right now: Unmanned drones. They are an effective and low-risk method of monitoring this sort of natural disaster. They can carry a huge amount of equipment for surveillance and can be part of a technology chain that could be far more effective at sending out information live from the fire to command and then onward to people affected via sirens, the web, radio, SMS and automated land line calls.

The logical choice of drone would be the MQ-9 Predator. Not only has it been a highly successful military aircraft, used extensively in Afghanistan and Iraq, but it also has form insofar as monitoring fires.

From Wikipedia:

In November 2006, NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center obtained an MQ-9 from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.. The aircraft has been named Ikhana and its main goal is the Suborbital Science Program within the Science Mission Directorate. NASA also acquired a ground control station in a mobile trailer. This aircraft was used extensively to survey the Southern California wildfires in 2007. The data was used to deploy firefighters to areas of the highest need.

And, despite being built ostensibly for global warming research, it worked a treat:

It was surprisingly successful: Ikhana found a hot spot at the bottom of a canyon just east of the town where fire crews hadn't expected any problems. With the data, fire fighters were able to re-deploy to block the hot spot from spreading towards the Sierra town of Paradise. They immediately evacuated 10,000 people and successfully kept the fire from overtaking the town.

Here's why we need this sort of capability:

"Firefighters are blinded by the smoke of a fire, but they need to know where the hottest parts of a fire are burning, and any little hot spots that are out in front," said Vincent Ambrosia, NASA Ames Research Center's principal investigator for the fire mission. "Most temperature sensors are calibrated to sense low-temperature sources; for instance, the military wants to use UAVs to sense a person walking across a field at night. But that kind of sensor doesn't work well for high-temperature sources.
"By calibrating our thermal sensors for high temperatures, we can tell whether a given area is actively flaming or just extremely hot ash—a 'boot melter'—because you don't want to send in firefighters if it's going to melt their boots."

Yes, there are manned aircraft with this sort of sensor equipment available. But a drone is a better choice- for starters, there's the time it can spend "on station".
Wikipedia:

"The MQ-9 is fitted with six stores pylons. The inner stores pylons can carry a maximum of 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms) each, and are "wet" to allow carriage of external fuel tanks. The midwing stores pylons can carry a maximum of 600 pounds (270 kilograms) each, while the outer stores pylons can carry a maximum of 200 pounds (90 kilograms) each. An MQ-9 with two 1,000 pound (450 kilogram) external fuel tanks and a thousand pounds of munitions has an endurance of 42 hours."

This would mean that a could have gone on station at 9am on Saturday the 8th and stayed until late Sunday night. A refuel at Essendon airport approximately 50 kms from Kinglake by air and it would be back for another 40+ hours. (Also note that if you have purpose built fire "eye in the sky" for non military use, you free up another 450kgs/1000lbs for equipment or even more fuel.)

One of the arguments against drones is safety of existing air traffic. That's only an issue for the MQ-9 when ascending and descending. The rest of the time, it's too high:

From an altitude of 43,000 feet, the wildfire sensor collected and sent 100 images and more than 20 data files containing the location of the fire perimeter over a 16-hour period on Oct. 28 and 29. The data were delivered in real time through a satellite communications link. NASA and Forest Service specialists worked to familiarize the fire management team with accessing capabilities and sensor data format. The data from the NASA system were used by the Esperanza Fire Incident Command Center to map fire behavior and direct resources to critical areas on the fire.

Australian already has these drones in use for illegal fishing detection. So we have trained staff and pilots who can fly and support these aircraft. Further, use by the military of these drones in a domestic crisis is not only great PR, it's ideal for training under real pressure. Illegal fishing might be a worthy reason to have drones, but is it more important than saving lives?

I emailed Wired's "Danger Room" blogger Noah Schachtman to ask his thoughts on drones used in fire fighting. Here's what I sentt:

The number one problem was detection and information flow. In Oz we either leave early or stay to fight. Many early-leavers left too late and were killed in their cars as they did not know the extent of the problem or proximity if the fires.

The government has set up a commission of enquiry. I would like to ask your users what they think- from a tech view- could be used to assist in detection and rapid dissemination of information.

Would unmanned drones built specifically for fire detection be the way forward? On the day in question, we knew we were in for trouble- record drought combined with 120f day and 60mph winds. Could we have launched drones into the danger areas to track fires? (I might add that the most deadly fires were seemingly deliberately lit).

Over to you!

His reply:

I know that NASA has used some drones to fight wildfires. They haven't been more widely-deployed here because of the Federal Aviation Administration's worry about them flying in the same skies as manned planes.

But drones are successfully being used to find everything from smugglers to bomb-planters. Why not fires (or fire-starters) too?

The last point is interesting. If drones can be up in the air scanning for fires, then early detection is possible and even identification and footage of the firebug is possible as well. Not only that but surely there would be a deterrent factor at work as well...?

The costs are a little up in the air as the predator and reaper UAVs are "systems"- typically deployed as 4 aircraft with all relevant support systems. That can get very expensive. But if simply added to our existing UAV program, the costs would be significantly lower.

Technology has a lot to offer in these circumstances and it seems that we are still relying on old systems (like the bush telegraph) when the technology already exists to significantly reduce the risks to people in fire affected areas.

Why I don't Miss the Cinema So Much

2009-01-30T10:08:00.003+11:00

This is from a post on a website elsewhere and I thought it's worth a republish here:

I went to the Bourne Ultimatum with Wife and former (female) housemate. Before the cinematic event we enjoyed a lovely dinner where my wife and ex housie decided that a heroic dose of wine was called for.

Once drunk, they decided it was time for me to outline what happened in the two preceding films. The glazed eyes and repeated questions such as ''but WHY did he lose his memory?'' indicates this is not going to go well.

Arrival at the cinema finds me in the queue behind Nadine Garner. I attempt to flirt with her, only ruined by the wife and ex housie ''mumble mumble HENDERSON KIDS!''.

One in the movie, the oversize handbag carried by ex housie turns out to be full of plastic glasses and a bottle of red. They open this (oh we're late BTW) in the dark, pour some on the floor and sit back.

They eat snacks in manner that I'm pretty sure sounds not unlike the Germans shelling Stalingrad. Ex housie has to go to the toilet three times (the last one to throw up due to hand held camera angles and wine). Both ask me questions throughout the movie in that faux ''I AM WHISPERING'' yelling voice.

At one stage they put their hands up to ask me a question. This is , according to them, the funniest thing they have ever done.

I reach for a killing implement.

Wife crosses and uncrosses her legs- desperate to go to the toilet. Finally she goes, and the movie ends a minute later. Housie is still throwing up in the ladies. I ponder going home with Nadine Garner.

They want to kick on to a bar. I walk home through the golf course. At midnight, the sprinklers come on for no apparent reason and I get wet.

10K a day..

2009-01-23T11:41:00.004+11:00

I've joined Rach, JimBob, Carl and Mikey with a new years weight loss resolution.

we're trying to walk 10k a day. Its pretty tough. The updates are in my right hand column and here:

A step tracker for pedometer enthusiasts - Walkegreat free widgetsWidgetbox

Towards 50 knots

2009-01-20T08:51:00.007+11:00

The rise and rise of the GPS data logger has brought back speed windsurfing in a huge way in recent years.

Going back 15-20 years, speed sailing was an incredible pain. You had to lay out a 500 metre course, with timing gates set for a certain tide and then hope it all panned out. Having a GPS means you can hit the water when you want.

And it's ratified:

The following applies when using GPS survey equipment:
a. Receiver logging rates shall be set at 10 Hertz, which results in a GPS position every 1/10th of a second.
The GPS system shall provide time stamp with each position that are accurate to within .001 second.

More on the rules here.

The Navi BT-11 brought an SD equipped GPS data logger to everyone. For about US$80 you had a device that was incredibly accurate, water resisitant (a waterproof camera style bag sorted that out) and made analysis, top speed and even integration with Google maps incredibly easy. Here's an example.

So we come to Macquarie Innovation. The first time I saw it's predecessor Yellow Pages Endeavor I did not know what to make of it. I sailed behind it on my windsurfer in 1993 when it was doing its test runs and at the time I thought it was not super fast, but had weirdly blistering acceleration.

I recall reading about designer Lindsay Cunningham and thinking he was actually full of crap; of course that opinion turned out to be full of crap. He designed the "boat" to be an assymetrical speed machine, designed only to beat the record with efficiency, not be the blunt instrument we windsurfers were and still are. In that year they took the outright and boat class record, pushing the record to 46 knots (52mp/h or 85km/h) over the 500 metre course. Several things about this record blew me away. First Cunningham predicted it- the speed they would achieve and the wind they would need to do it in- just 20 knots. This record stood for 11 years until the blunt instrument of windsurfing inched its way past.

After that, I thought a smaller craft for one crew might be e better option and it could be made stronger and therefore go out in more wind. Once again; blinded by the theory that you need lots of wind (30-40knots) to go fast. The new craft had a different wing/sail but was still about the same on-water dimensions.

This latest record of 48.14 is up by 2 knots, around 4%. Thats huge in my view. If the world record for 100m dropped by 4%, that would represent a drop of .4 seconds- about 4 metres! The peak speeds were over 51 knots. Really all the team needed was a steady 22 knots (instead of the 18 they got) and we would be looking at a 50+ knot world record- and probably another 11 years of holding it.

The efficiency of this new craft is astounding:

This performance represents not only the fastest speed ever recorded by a sailing boat, but also the most efficient use of wind energy by any craft competing for the World Sailing Speed Record.
Capable of sustaining speeds in excess of three times that of the wind powering it, Macquarie Innovation showcases an Australian project that is leading the world in sail powered performance, efficiency and design technology.

Dr Tom Chalko- sustainability early adopter and speed sailing fan was there:

MI speed sailing craft on course in Sandy Point on 8 March 2007. It reached 48 knots in 16-18 knots of wind. I must have been the only spectator - there is not a single footprint on the beach..

Well done to the Macquarie Innovation team. Long may your record reign.

That's the Macquarie Innovation container filled with gear to attempt to take back the speed record from windsurfers :-), originally uploaded by Tüshar.

The container as used by the team for their gear.

Licensed under Creative Commons.

Image used courtesy of Yachting Victoria/Macquarie Innovation Team.

Twits hate Facebook

2009-01-14T09:38:00.004+11:00

Of late I've noticed a strangely snobbish and superior attitude emerging amongst so called social media experts (I hasten to add most are in fact genuine social media experts!) towards Facebook.

Sure, they love their twitter and spend hours tweeting, replying and retweeting and explaining to "idiots" why Twitter is such a great resource, yet they regard Facebook as being some sort of opiate for the masses, a place where the great unwashed gather.

We've seen Scoble fall in and out of love with Facebook , and go bananas over Friend Feed (which I am slowly coming round to), but I am curious about a few Australian folk and how they approach Facebook.

@Trib (Stephen Collins) started a group for his business Acid Labs only recently. That seems odd. Stephen is, in my view, a true cutting edge social media animal, but only just got around to using Facebook for business. I started a Tom Reynolds Motoring group on Facebook last year when it became apparent that people who heard me on the radio wanted to be my Facebook friend. I do not generally accept those friend requests purely because I want Facebook to be a place where I am friends with people I know personally. That's not to say all of my Facebook friends are "real life friends" but if I knew them outside of their Facebook friend request, then that's good enough for me. Trib also seems to have his Twitter connected to his Facebook status, an issue I will address later.

And then there's @duncanriley. Recently he had to "lower" himself to reply to a Facebook email and posted (and yes, I am sure it was toungue in cheek/seeking a response) "I'm replying to an email on Facebook. I feel dirty." Duncan discovered he had many pending friend requests, FB emails and notifications. I think he softened his view, but still jokingly maintained an air of horror at getting into Facebook. Until recently, he too had his Tweets linked to Facebook : "... I've got tweets going into FB, but have to log in to reply"

Some other Facebook h8rs:

stilgherrian & andrewsayer RT @crispynoodles: One word: "Phew". RT: @andrewsayer Twitter Rejects $500 Million Takeover Offer From Facebook http://tr.im/1gfy (Sure it's a retweet- but he clearly supports this!)
cameronreilly: @pmenadue PETE! Long time no see mate. I'm playing on Facebook at the moment but it sucks. Need a realtime board.
kcarruthers: @JackBastide I find facebook a little dull compared to twitter, preferring the realtime view on friendfeed instead
fulltimecasual: I understand the power of facebook now. One snarky update = a flood of emails. Thank Christ twitter aint like that. :)

Facebook <3

MSpecht - Uses it for work and play.
SilkCharm - Does presentations on the power of FB
liubinskas: "On holidays and playing my dads facebook scrabble while he gets another cold beer on a hot day. Twttr feels like work... "

To really understand the Twitter snob hate for Facebook, you need only go here.

Twitter updating Facebook- just say NO.

Of course there's an app that allows your tweets to go directly into Facebook. You can establish a filter that will prevent this occurring (When I used it I simply used the @ symbol- a direct twitter message.) These filters are less than effective. Effective however, is the way you lockout your Facebook friends from Twitter. Your Twitter updates will appear to FB like you are having a great/werid/busy/sooky time but not including them. I got lots of comments on my FB stream when Twitter was connected to Facebook- and none were positive. Most ended in a ? mark.

Here's an example from @Trib.

"Stephen RT @liako Spread the word & let's build a kick-arse team that will help identify expertise in the Aussie industry: http://twtvite.com/ick9m3.via Twitter - 15:58 - Comment"

The next item in his Facebook was from FriendFeed and was the same post, just not as a status...

"WTF?" said trib's FB friends...

I'm not alone in this thought: jpoh: @reemixx i wonder the same... my facebook timeline seems pretty full with my twitter updates and i think i might be spamming my friends

JJprojects worked out how unimportant Twitter is for his clients

jprojects: @jpostman Yes Facebook is still where to reach most. This is still quite small, we all here and elsewhere forget that sometimes I think.

So, the obvious question is Why The Hate? For as long as Twitter remains an early adopter haven- complete with downtime (Fail Whale), in jokes and no monetisation, the early adopter cool crew will love it.

Facebook was never like this. When it was small it was not really an early adopter place- it was for grads. When it went mainstream it jumped right over the early adopter crew and boy do they hold grudges. Scoble thinks LOLcats will cost you a job interview, the Twitter crowd think that just being on Facebook is not far from that. It's because the "regular" folk are there- interacting, searching, commenting and unbelievably getting the most out of Facebook. That's not early adopter, that's mainstream!

Don't believe me? Watch them all get up and leave when Twitter goes mainstream (or gets ads)...

Harry at Five Months

2009-01-13T23:13:00.001+11:00

Elwood, Victoria, Australia, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

Bigger, happier and developing his own lil personality.

I don't have to like it, but I do.

Fwd: Respond me if you can

2009-01-09T13:53:00.002+11:00

Sometimes the Spam filter on Gmail works, other times it doesn't. I suspect the fact there is no link in the email could be why....

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <ladypozitive@gmail.com>
Date: 2009/1/9
Subject: Respond me if you can
To: xxxxx@xxxxx.com

I regret for the long answer, I hope you have not forgotten me? I send my photo here. I would be glad to continue our acquaintance, if you not against? If I do you boringly, please forgive me. I shall wait your answer :)

Yours Ramilya

Happy Christmas to all!

2008-12-24T19:10:00.002+11:00

View Larger Map

On the road!

2008-12-23T16:19:00.001+11:00

We're off on our caravan adventure. Rchel will love it, Harry knows no better and I am going mad- why on earth am I in a caravan? DId I wake up and find I was retired?

www.flickr.com

thomasrdotorg's Caravanning up the coast Christmas 2008 photoset

OUr watering system!

2008-12-01T23:26:00.002+11:00

Here it is- in place of an actual blog post, I just grabbed the Nikon Coolpix (which adds an annoying tap tap noise for unknown reasons- excuse me!) to film this...

Dirty days

2008-11-26T09:50:00.002+11:00

It's been a few weeks, and I am a bad blogger of late due to a new job, new baby and other things being more important (apologies!)

The 2008 Dirt Bike Masters- I competed in two of three rounds- was fantastic.

I swore to Mum (and to a lesser extent Rachel) that this would be my last gasp, my lap of honour on a dirt bike. But as I considered the fitness I gained in the lead up and the pure hard core physicality of racing a dirt bike for just 10 minutes three times in a day- I'm well and truly hooked and I am very keen (Honda willing) to go round again next season.

The first round was appalling. I was left a physical wreck. Terribly unfit and totally unsuited to the requirements of even low level competative dirt bike racing.

I skipped over round 2 due to both Bathurst and... this is going to sound insane... I had not recovered from the first round some 6 weeks earlier. Yes people. It's that difficult.

In the lead up to round three I actually managed to get some worthy fitness sessions under my belt. Rachel oh-so-conveniently found a gym with personal trainer and then I aided and abeted this conspiragcy by telling David the personal trainer that I was going to be racing the damn thin in a matter of weeks. He selected a program that I thought was ok, but it turned out to be brilliant come race day.

Race Day
Round Three at Lardner Park looked on paper to be a likely disaster for me. It was a grass track cut onto the side of a hill and then rotary hoed. Then a water truck.

I watched the first warm up session (women) with a mixture of admiration and horror. Some sections looked like potential youtube worthy disasters.

This was proved a worthy thought when I was out - determined to just circulate and get to know the track. The top turn was so wet that my idiotic decision to "experiment"with a few racing lines resulted in a slow front end tuck, slide and embarassing clean up back in the pits.

Race one was not great. I arrived late to the start (being cool n all) and was left on the far left side of the track. About 10 feet from the start I would have to cross the last turn berm and then realy try to get going. I got a terrible start, found a rythmn and even passed a few guys- as shown below.

Race two I was offered That Bike- the bosses factory fiddled CRF450X. I felt great insofar as my health and fitness was concerned (despite a slight fade out at the end of race one) so I was very keen to give the beast a go.

On the start line- again on the non favoured side, I decided that 60 odd horsepower would be enough to drag me down the straight in second gear. It was more than enough. She sat up like an as yet unbroken horse and I headed to turn one on the rear wheel, desperately clawing my 100 kilos of glory towards the handlebars to settle the stallion. Futile.

After about half a lap I realised this bike needed a different style. Where on the softer 250cc I needed to keep corner speed, keep the engine reasonably revved up, the 450 just wanted me to turn hard, stand it up, and shoot it to the next corner. It worked like fury. I passed many riders this way. I can act all "Jeez I was good" but it was a simple combination of more horsepower + fat guy + reasonable technique= fast.

This came unstuck twice- once when I tried a block pass in too high a gear with too much back brake. I got in front alright, but I stalled it and sat there for a lap trying to get her restarted. I was just about buggered when she came to life. I gave up a crowd pleasing wheelie of anger and rejoined my the same guys I had passed.

Fitness meant nothing. I was blowing like a steamtrain. The much loved horsepower was now straining my arms. I could barely stand for the whoop sections. I wanted the chequered flag.

Passing the last lap board, I decided to have crack anyway and was lining up a guy to pass in the exact manner you see in the video above and a perfect storm/bad planet alignment occured.

Yarrive Konsky- Woodstock Honda team boss and the owner of the bike I was racing- has small hands. He has the front brake lever very close to the bars. Me? I have huge hands. Everytime I pulled the front brake on with two fingers it hit my knuckles and meant the brakes weren't on hard enough. So I used all my fingers.

This meant I had lots of front brake, but bugger all control. The bike is bucking and weaving and I need to be stable to brake "just so".

...and so I am brought undone. I go in late, grab a man sized fist of brakes, hit a few bumps and lock the front wheel. This time I have a fast and violent front end tuck but I try to ride it out. I do not succeed in gathering it up and when it finally all goes to hell I hit my chest on the right handle bar hard and go up and over the bike like a rag doll. This breaks two ribs. I land on my back and feel ok. I go back to the bike and try to lift it and I feel significantly less ok. I cannot lift it. A track marshall lifts it for me. I remount, decide not to finish and roll down the grassy hill, bump start the bike and ride slowly to the pits. The bike is not happy. Check the handlebars in this shot (ignore Harry in his sling!):

I'm sore, but not in trouble. The talented and likeable Peter Boyle offers me his enduro championship winning CRF250 for race 3 and I reluctantly agree. (well, part of me is "oh I will crash ANOTHER factory bike" but part of me says "hell yeah")

So, I mount up, get to the start line early. I ace the start, I pass guys, I ride hard, I feel great. I'm in the top half and I feel ten feet tall and as stoked with my performance as legally allowed.

Here are some more pics:

www.flickr.com

thomasrdotorg's Dirt Bike Master Round 3 photoset

So thanks must go to: Yarrive Konsky and Sean Wisneske from Woodstock Honda. Super special thanks also to event organiser Adam Bailey and PR guru Marscelle Tully for getting me a ride and treating me so well across the various rounds.

God, wife and mother willing I'd love to go round again in 2008. Racing is back in my blood, and I'm better physically and mentally for it.

Harry at 4 months

2008-11-25T11:27:00.003+11:00

No reason, just though I would post these:

Two months

Four months

Harry: growing up fast

2008-10-06T17:04:00.001+11:00

DSCN1802, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

He's now 10 weeks old- in the 75th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height.

In short, he's tall and skinnyl Like Daddy once was.

The bike is here.

2008-08-29T20:23:00.001+10:00

The bike is here., originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

So here we go. A BIG weekend of practice and aggro is called for.

May the Lord be Merciful and Kind.

I am racing a motocross bike.

2008-08-26T16:18:00.004+10:00

Yes, you read that right. here's the news:

I will be competing in the Dirt Bike Masters series over the next few months. Scared? You bet!

I'll be racing under the Woodstock Honda umbrella, and with the assistance of Ford (for the ute!) I will seek to a/ not fall off b/ not come last c/ not vomit into my helmet at the end of each race.

I will be racing in the rally class, but it's still going to be competetive, full -on and very, very hard work.

Come and see me fail!

**UPDATE**
No need to turn up at 10am! I have three races on the Sunday the 7th September, so go and say hi to your Dad, then bring him along and treat him to some serious laughs.

Map below:

View Larger Map

The gear:

Cute pics are boring

2008-08-14T21:08:00.001+10:00

Cute pics are boring, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

I played your guy is a riff on an older LOLCAT pic. Google "i played your guy and he died" for more info...

The Olympics opening ceremony- as it happened.

2008-08-09T02:15:00.003+10:00

The following is an exchange between your humble correspondent and olde friend whom I shall call "Oh". It took place via Skpe during the opening ceremony as the athletes came out.

**LANGUAGE WARNING**
[8/08/2008 10:51:07 PM] Thomasr said: I predict the couldron will be lit Barcelona style but using a trebuchet instead of a bow, and flaming dissidents instead of an arrow.

[8/08/2008 10:51:13 PM] Thomasr said: thoughts?

[8/08/2008 10:54:12 PM] Oh said: a giant wok

[8/08/2008 10:54:32 PM] Thomasr said: filled with burning tibetans?

[8/08/2008 10:54:59 PM] Oh said: why give them a platform

[8/08/2008 10:55:19 PM] Thomasr said: ...when you can give them a BBQ?

[8/08/2008 10:55:41 PM] Oh said: nice to see so many soldiers dressed up as ethnic minorities and doves though....

[8/08/2008 10:59:25 PM] Thomasr said: now comes the bit I love. The re enactment of the guy in front of the tank RUN THE FUCKER OVER!

[8/08/2008 11:00:39 PM] Oh said: the green games !! did you catch that. perhaps our government should order industry shut down 15 minutes before the Kyoto deadline on pain of death.

[8/08/2008 11:01:12 PM] Thomasr said: I dont see why the Chinese should stop opening a new coal powered electricity plant every 30 fuggin days however.

[8/08/2008 11:01:23 PM] Thomasr said: [btw: powered by aussie coal!]

[8/08/2008 11:01:27 PM] Oh said: rick birch doesn't mind going the not so snide hack

[8/08/2008 11:01:37 PM] Thomasr said: did he miss out on this one?

[8/08/2008 11:01:50 PM] Thomasr said: It's like an Eistedford with unlimited budget.

[8/08/2008 11:01:58 PM] Thomasr said: rick b is Mr G with money

[8/08/2008 11:02:41 PM] Oh said: chinese michael bolton

[8/08/2008 11:02:52 PM] Thomasr said: has better hair however

[8/08/2008 11:03:51 PM] Oh said: who's the whitey?

[8/08/2008 11:04:14 PM] Thomasr said: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ex Sarah Brightman

[8/08/2008 11:04:48 PM] Oh said: it's a massive Benneton ad

[8/08/2008 11:05:19 PM] Thomasr said: those firecrackers are made out of human fat. That’s a fact.

[8/08/2008 11:05:47 PM] Oh said: tibetans burn brighter

[8/08/2008 11:06:04 PM] Thomasr said: but shorter dude. c'mon. we all know that after much trial and error

[8/08/2008 11:06:55 PM] Oh said: i know but they make that great deep humming noise on the way down

[8/08/2008 11:07:51 PM] Thomasr said: christ they have brought out Sandy Roberts... where's Lorraine Dick when you need her?

[8/08/2008 11:08:46 PM] Oh said: did i just see the peruvian pipers from the vic market?

[8/08/2008 11:09:27 PM] Thomasr said: sure. It's a multi cultural event.

[8/08/2008 11:09:46 PM] Thomasr said: look out, here come the asthmatics, I mean athletes

[8/08/2008 11:10:15 PM] Oh said: only 202 to go

[8/08/2008 11:10:35 PM] Thomasr said: those greeks look fucking smug "oh look, we invented this shit"

[8/08/2008 11:10:47 PM] Thomasr said: START THE SHOOTING I say

[8/08/2008 11:11:18 PM] Oh said: well its the only thing the chinese aren't laying claim to inventing tonight

[8/08/2008 11:11:41 PM] Thomasr said: I think the chinese skipped on inventing global warming.

[8/08/2008 11:11:56 PM] Thomasr said: they just do it better than anyone else.

[8/08/2008 11:12:07 PM] Oh said: and torture

[8/08/2008 11:12:29 PM] Thomasr said: WTF? what are the turks doing coming out first? Are the Kurds coming out last? Do they have to keep them apart?

[8/08/2008 11:12:55 PM] Thomasr said: bugger, what if the Cypriots come out next?

[8/08/2008 11:13:00 PM] Oh said: in order by Chinese characters. Australia 3rd last

[8/08/2008 11:13:33 PM] Oh said: Turkmenistan.

[8/08/2008 11:13:35 PM] Thomasr said: oh bollocks. How did that happen? RUDD WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Fix this shit

[8/08/2008 11:13:46 PM] Oh said: borat

[8/08/2008 11:14:06 PM] Thomasr said: Ah I see now.

[8/08/2008 11:14:17 PM] Thomasr said: who is last?

[8/08/2008 11:14:24 PM] Thomasr said: Taiwan right?

[8/08/2008 11:14:52 PM] Thomasr said: though I bet the announcer says "taiwan!!!!.... taiwan...?..... Taiwan????....????????"

[8/08/2008 11:14:56 PM] Oh said: there is no Chinese character for Taiwan

[8/08/2008 11:15:05 PM] Thomasr said: then we'll just go to the lighting of the tibetans.

[8/08/2008 11:15:58 PM] Thomasr said: Malaysia look like a cert in the sodomy heptathlon...

[8/08/2008 11:16:59 PM] Oh said: things are getting serious. Bwuce is out.

[8/08/2008 11:17:16 PM] Thomasr said: ...as in gay?

[8/08/2008 11:17:25 PM] Oh said: no

[8/08/2008 11:17:54 PM] Thomasr said: that poor fucker for the Marshall Isl wearing arse grass instead of pants. He must have drawn the short grassy straw.

[8/08/2008 11:18:36 PM] Thomasr said: No Sandy, when I think of Bhutan, I think of dope growing wild in the streets.

[8/08/2008 11:19:32 PM] Oh said: hotties

[8/08/2008 11:20:06 PM] Thomasr said: "their women are stunning" I agree with Bruce

[8/08/2008 11:20:16 PM] Oh said: and he'd know

[8/08/2008 11:21:02 PM] Thomasr said: here we go, those Israelis will be up for a punch on with anyone.

[8/08/2008 11:21:07 PM] Oh said: pity sandy wasn’t disqualified for the same reason

[8/08/2008 11:21:40 PM] Thomasr said: Weighing in heavy you mean? Agreed.

[8/08/2008 11:21:55 PM] Oh said: mmm. quite right tony

[8/08/2008 11:22:11 PM] Thomasr said: Why do they insist on calling table tennis; table tennis? We all know it’s fucking ping pong

[8/08/2008 11:22:31 PM] Oh said: especially when played in ching chong

[8/08/2008 11:22:45 PM] Thomasr said: and badminton? FUCKING SHUTTLECOCK

[8/08/2008 11:22:50 PM] Thomasr said: Christ, here comes Taiwan.

[8/08/2008 11:22:56 PM] Oh said: i know

[8/08/2008 11:23:04 PM] Oh said: standing ovation

[8/08/2008 11:23:19 PM] Thomasr said: ROGUE STATE

[8/08/2008 11:23:27 PM] Thomasr said: I think the shooting starts now

[8/08/2008 11:23:28 PM] Oh said: dead men walking

[8/08/2008 11:23:39 PM] Thomasr said: and next.... HUGE FUCKING TANKS!

[8/08/2008 11:24:15 PM] Oh said: ahh the special autonomous region

[8/08/2008 11:24:26 PM] Oh said: dude !!

[8/08/2008 11:25:06 PM] Thomasr said: Benin- blew their entire budget on costumes.

[8/08/2008 11:25:38 PM] Oh said: is eddie murphy competing

[8/08/2008 11:25:44 PM] Thomasr said: Do Pakistan know that Mauritania stole their flag?

Mauritania flag- must have got a grad to design their flag. Like all grad work; it's a rip off.

Pakistani flag- likely to be pissed when they read this

[8/08/2008 11:26:11 PM] Thomasr said: Eddie is in the mutherfucking looong jump mother fucker.

[8/08/2008 11:26:31 PM] Oh said: prince fredrick of denmanrk has an iphone but can't work it !!

[8/08/2008 11:26:57 PM] Thomasr said: Uganda look great in the human skin suits. Idi must be proud... if a little dead.

[8/08/2008 11:27:15 PM] Thomasr said: i just texted prince freddie "u r dikhed LOLZ!"

[8/08/2008 11:28:57 PM] Oh said: have uraguay not sent a soccer team?

[8/08/2008 11:29:54 PM] Thomasr said: i think they are eating each other in a crashed plane somewhere

[8/08/2008 11:31:10 PM] Thomasr said: no gold for Brazil? is there no hot chick Olympics?

[8/08/2008 11:31:20 PM] Oh said: is brazil competing in womens beach volley ball

[8/08/2008 11:31:36 PM] Thomasr said: hope so or tv is going out window

[8/08/2008 11:32:06 PM] Oh said: never wear a tshirt and blazer is my rule

[8/08/2008 11:32:16 PM] Thomasr said: good rule too

[8/08/2008 11:32:34 PM] Thomasr said: thoughts on wearing a boater?

[8/08/2008 11:32:59 PM] Oh said: too dazzled by their hottie

[8/08/2008 11:33:21 PM] Thomasr said: ...also a good rule

[8/08/2008 11:34:53 PM] Oh said: right that confirms who is selling nuclear technology then

[8/08/2008 11:34:58 PM] Thomasr said: is aiding international terrorism a category?

[8/08/2008 11:35:14 PM] Oh said: well palestine is a chance

[8/08/2008 11:35:21 PM] Thomasr said: pakistan for gold in both

[8/08/2008 11:35:21 PM] Oh said: saudis a sure bet

[8/08/2008 11:35:59 PM] Oh said: is anyone left in cuba

[8/08/2008 11:36:09 PM] Oh said: did they all come for a feed

[8/08/2008 11:36:33 PM] Thomasr said: Medical treatment more like

[8/08/2008 11:38:09 PM] Thomasr said: the Qatar team hotel is short some bed sheets

[8/08/2008 11:38:25 PM] Oh said: is falconing and being rich a sport?

[8/08/2008 11:38:53 PM] Thomasr said: sure, done properly

[8/08/2008 11:40:24 PM] Oh said: is piano accordian a sport

[8/08/2008 11:40:39 PM] Thomasr said: on Thursdays at a retirement home it is.

[8/08/2008 11:42:22 PM] Thomasr said: lithuania- dressed by kermit the frog

[8/08/2008 11:43:59 PM] Thomasr said: the nigerians need to transfer some money post games.... care to help sir?

[8/08/2008 11:45:31 PM] Thomasr said: here comes Canada- they are not the usa by the way...!

[8/08/2008 11:47:30 PM] Oh said: city states !!

[8/08/2008 11:47:47 PM] Oh said: are all the tax havens in?

[8/08/2008 11:48:53 PM] Oh said: the Vatican?

[8/08/2008 11:49:05 PM] Thomasr said: luxemburg

[8/08/2008 11:49:14 PM] Oh said: saw them

[8/08/2008 11:49:16 PM] Thomasr said: hutt river...?

[8/08/2008 11:49:22 PM] Oh said: ?

[8/08/2008 11:49:44 PM] Thomasr said: http://www.principality-hutt-river.com/

[8/08/2008 11:53:44 PM] Oh said: the bermuda short. very nice

[8/08/2008 11:54:09 PM] Thomasr said: they got them cheap.

[8/08/2008 11:54:30 PM] Thomasr said: I think the Rwandans killed each other during their lap

[8/08/2008 11:54:39 PM] Oh said: is the other Congo not democratic?

[8/08/2008 11:55:07 PM] Oh said: the Halliburton team

[8/08/2008 11:55:13 PM] Thomasr said: they dont like to go on about it.

[8/08/2008 11:55:57 PM] Thomasr said: watch for the iraqis. if one starts fiddling with something next to the track, then the sprint events begin NOW.

[8/08/2008 11:56:50 PM] Thomasr said: "so colourful" translation: "they looking fucking stupid"

[8/08/2008 11:56:59 PM] Oh said: just gorgeous. bruce calls it again.

[8/08/2008 11:57:12 PM] Thomasr said: just... as in "barely"

[8/08/2008 11:57:12 PM] Oh said: he can spot the babes

[8/08/2008 11:57:34 PM] Thomasr said: they used channel 9's cricket camera men

[8/08/2008 11:58:21 PM] Oh said: bloody hell the washed up royalty turn up for this stuff in droves. it is like cape antibes in july !!

[8/08/2008 11:58:33 PM] Oh said: i didn't know hungary had a king

[8/08/2008 11:59:05 PM] Thomasr said: I thought queen Salote of Tonga ate him at QE II's coronation.

[12:02:38 AM] Thomasr said: there's a female shot putter from tonga- who'd have picked it?

[12:03:34 AM] Thomasr said: Finland sent 69 competitors. Nailing their colours to the mast somewhat.

[12:04:16 AM] Thomasr said: The Croatians are still strong in genocide.

[12:04:27 AM] Thomasr said: ...and stupid shoes

[12:05:13 AM] Oh said: expecting sand storms?

[12:05:25 AM] Thomasr said: no, chemical attacks.

[12:05:44 AM] Thomasr said: hey that beaded hair chick must be representing bali

[12:07:09 AM] Thomasr said: Cape Verde? I take it Wilson's Prom is next?

[12:07:21 AM] Thomasr said: or Cape Liptrap.

[12:07:28 AM] Oh said: cook isl

[12:07:40 AM] Thomasr said: they are handy in javelin

[12:07:53 AM] Thomasr said: if live prey is involved.

[12:09:30 AM] Oh said: dubai sucks

[12:09:40 AM] Thomasr said: ...said the UAE

[12:10:53 AM] Thomasr said: Argentina will not be entering the "reclaim a small island" comp after a savage loss in 82- a non olympic year.

[12:11:10 AM] Oh said: i am so conflicted. brazil has better women but argentina is more beautiful, has better wineries, beef and skiing.

[12:11:46 AM] Thomasr said: which one has better lotto draw show? thats how I decide.

[12:12:24 AM] Oh said: the audience is dictator central.

[12:12:50 AM] Thomasr said: I note that Mugabe was asked not to attend. Not for political reasons, but due to space.

[12:13:51 AM] Thomasr said: Great Britain - is their entire team made up of flight attendants?

[12:18:50 AM] Oh said: french uniform disappoints.

[12:19:35 AM] Oh said: although Poland made them look good.

[12:20:24 AM] Thomasr said: Anything that requires Poland to make it look good is having an off night.

[12:21:21 AM] Thomasr said: Bangladesh will be strong in swimming if that global warming caper gets going.

[12:22:23 AM] Oh said: 150 million people. six athletes.

[12:22:25 AM] Thomasr said: When your flag bearer is a para olympian, someone has the calendar screwed up.

[12:23:20 AM] Thomasr said: Bangladesh have 6 athletes this time round. By 2020 they'll have 120 million swimmers.

[12:23:59 AM] Thomasr said: Sandy's usually drunk by now. It's after midnight Oz time. He'll start swearing soon, mark me.

[12:23:59 AM] Oh said: Kuwait sent the royal family gun club

[12:24:12 AM] Thomasr said: ..and the falconers.

[12:25:18 AM] Oh said: any fucking bump currently above sea level gets a run in the games these days.

[12:26:01 AM] Oh said: time to consolidate. if you don’t have a medal in 100 yrs of competition. too bad. you’re out.

[12:26:50 AM] Oh said: wow they love the hard men and assassins. (putin)

[12:27:40 AM] Thomasr said: The USA look like extras from a Village People movie.

[12:27:58 AM] Oh said: nice 1920's Shanghai protectorate look.

[12:28:04 AM] Thomasr said: Actually is golf an Olympic sport?

[12:29:04 AM] Thomasr said: The black ones are the caddy’s. Big golf team though eh?

[12:29:52 AM] Oh said: dressed by Samuel l Jackson

[12:30:18 AM] Thomasr said: no wonder they are losing in Iraq- they are all in China.

[12:30:22 AM] Oh said: olimpify !

[12:30:54 AM] Oh said: loose lips, Sandy

[12:31:21 AM] Thomasr said: American Samoa- lemme guess hammer throw, Judo and eating.

[12:31:52 AM] Oh said: only 70 kg women’s judo. what about 159 kg?

[12:32:08 AM] Thomasr said: When asked about the host nation, the American Samoa judo expert described them as "delicious, but snackky"

[12:32:36 AM] Oh said: tastes like human. what do you call it?

[12:32:45 AM] Thomasr said: yellowcake

[12:32:50 AM] Oh said: hmmm

[12:34:03 AM] Thomasr said: their crown princess looks a tad blokey. like as in "an actual man"

[12:34:30 AM] Oh said: i think sandy might be a bit 'off'

[12:34:39 AM] Thomasr said: Egypt haven't been strong since the loss in '68.

[12:35:01 AM] Thomasr said: Sandy OFF? he's rarely on, and when he is on, it's never when he's on air.

[12:35:54 AM] Thomasr said: Lesotho are in sniper suits. Handy.

[12:36:27 AM] Oh said: another ugly mercenary war

[12:37:01 AM] Oh said: ahh african post colonial history.just one good news story after another

[12:37:29 AM] Thomasr said: the oppressors or the formerly oppressed.

[12:37:53 AM] Thomasr said: they should have a seperate category for countries with hyperinflation.

[12:38:21 AM] Oh said: georgia. coolflag !

[12:38:45 AM] Thomasr said: Norway and switzerland will be pissed however.

[12:39:18 AM] Thomasr said: Colombia- not so good in own goal soccer anymore.

[12:40:02 AM] Oh said: but still flying the flag for coke production

[12:43:12 AM] Oh said: haiti. they should make the voodoo final.

[12:43:24 AM] Thomasr said: are the czech team all Russian sailors?

[12:43:51 AM] Oh said: they are better dressed than the French

[12:43:55 AM] Thomasr said: If Haiti don't make the final, then I worry about the teams that do. Shrunken heads all round.

[12:46:12 AM] Oh said: where TF is micronesia. are they a failed state in our neighbourhood

[12:46:46 AM] Thomasr said: another team that fail the "land mass above 100 metres above sea level"

[12:47:09 AM] Oh said: a good test. should be imposed.

[12:47:25 AM] Thomasr said: in 30 yrs it will be.

[12:47:29 AM] Oh said: the 2020 rule

[12:47:33 AM] Thomasr said: trial by water no less.

[12:48:17 AM] Thomasr said: Slovenia are wearing Oz's outfits from the Prue Acton era.

[12:49:39 AM] Thomasr said: I think the Portuguese lost a bet vis a vis their outfits.

[12:51:11 AM] Thomasr said: Cameroon- another team there just for the food hall.

[12:51:44 AM] Oh said: is there anything bruce doesn't know

[12:52:25 AM] Thomasr said: what the fuck Sandy is on about. Yes. Bruce certainly doesn’t know that.

[12:52:33 AM] Oh said: "...menstruating this week, but will come into her own next week.."

[12:53:20 AM] Thomasr said: For betting purposes we must know their cycles.

[12:54:19 AM] Oh said: how is sailing a strength in austria

[12:54:29 AM] Oh said: do they have a lake

[12:54:39 AM] Oh said: or did i fail geography

[12:55:52 AM] Thomasr said: They are all trying to sail away from Germany.

[12:56:13 AM] Oh said: sweden v dissapointing.

[12:56:27 AM] Thomasr said: Nauru- strong in birdshit but fuck all else.

[12:56:40 AM] Thomasr said: WHERE WERE THE HOTTY SWEDES?

[12:56:42 AM] Oh said: not what i have come to expect from my recent trip to stockholm

[12:56:52 AM] Thomasr said: that’s it. Cancel this shit.

[12:57:43 AM] Thomasr said: New Zealand popped by after a funeral.

[12:58:27 AM] Oh said: & 37 mechanics

[12:58:59 AM] Thomasr said: "uts ficked bro'"

[1:00:17 AM] Thomasr said: Serbia are not as strong in genocide as they were in 92

[1:01:30 AM] Oh said: no but some athletes ruled ineligible for further competition by the hague

[1:02:47 AM] Thomasr said: HA! due to excessive use of killing.

[1:03:30 AM] Oh said: well....if you wanna be a stickler for the rules...

[1:04:07 AM] Thomasr said: they used drugs like Lead. You have to be firm.

[1:04:34 AM] Oh said: nice polo hats

[1:04:49 AM] Thomasr said: shall we start a chukka?

[1:05:15 AM] Oh said: in doubt you have the ponies

[1:05:38 AM] Thomasr said: Christ the muslim countries will have a to call a pause to pray to mecca at this rate.

[1:05:50 AM] Oh said: monaco sent 5 accountants

[1:06:30 AM] Thomasr said: and the accountants accountant.

[1:07:25 AM] Thomasr said: JESUS H CHRIST IN A CHICKEN BASKET. The Aussies look like they fell in a toilet bowl of Jayes Blue.

[1:07:48 AM] Thomasr said: Please show Jessica Schipper. I need to throw up.

[1:08:17 AM] Oh said: sandy was thinking the outfits look shit but, give him credit as a professional, he said sensational (just thought "shit")

[1:08:29 AM] Thomasr said: y'know there are 10K athletes and we sent 450+

[1:08:59 AM] Thomasr said: Based on our population China ought to have a million athletes.

[1:09:06 AM] Oh said: we bat above our weight. And boy does the tax payer wear it.

[1:09:07 AM] Thomasr said: and thats just in gymnastics.

[1:10:02 AM] Thomasr said: "China, with their flag bearer, the experiment/pituitary cancer sufferer yao ming"

[1:11:57 AM] Thomasr said: It's great the way China can celebrate a person with gigantism.

[1:11:57 AM] Oh said: time to pull out the 12 yr glefiddich

[1:12:05 AM] Thomasr said: Amen to that.

[1:12:18 AM] Thomasr said: I have half a bottle of Mclaren vale

[1:14:29 AM] Thomasr said: Bruce just called Yao Ming a giant. So close to saying freak.

[1:15:03 AM] Oh said: righto. this looks over (as am i).

[1:15:12 AM] Thomasr said: I want to call equestrian "horsies". Can I get a "hell yeah"?

Random Baby Pics

2008-07-29T21:55:00.001+10:00

Hit refresh for new/random imagery...!

www.flickr.com

Say hello to Harry.

2008-07-28T11:14:00.001+10:00

Say hello to Harry., originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

Here he is people!
Born Sunday 27th July 3:27pm
Weight: 4.065 Kgs/ 8.96lbs

He's blonde, curly and cute.

Thanks to staff at Frances Perry!

Iphone to Telstra, Irony to 11

2008-07-01T14:46:00.002+10:00

Telstra in 2007

Telstra's operations chief Greg Winn, considered the telco's second-in-charge and the man who oversees most of its big product decisions, believes the iPhone may meet some significant operational challenges when it makes its market debut.

"There's an old saying - stick to your knitting - and Apple is not a mobile phone manufacturer, that's not their knitting," Mr Winn told AAP.

Telstra in 2008:

Introducing iPhone 3G. With fast 3G wireless technology, Maps with GPS, support for enterprise features like Microsoft Exchange, and the new App Store, iPhone 3G puts even more features at your fingertips. And like the original iPhone, it combines three products in one—a revolutionary phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device with rich HTML email and full web browsing. iPhone 3G. It redefines what a mobile phone can do- again.

I guess Greg Winn... lost.

The Real Thing

2008-06-18T17:58:00.003+10:00

In 1989 I bought my last "real" record- as in "on vinyl". There have been others since, but they have been mere curios; a reminder of times gone by and perhaps for reasons of parody.

That album was Faith No More's "The Real Thing". I was halfway through year 12, and frankly I think this album got me to the end in safety. Of course, being an album from 1989- even the last 6 months of that decade makes it an 80's album. But really it's a bookend. I'm not entirely sure what the other bookend is- perhaps the death of Bon Scott/John Bonham signaled the beginning of the 80's just as TheReal Thing signaled the end.

All that aside, I want to focus on but one song; "From Out Of Nowhere". Of course any dissertation on "The Real Thing" ought to include "Epic", but that's almost too easy and certainly too obvious. In 2008, it's easy to listen to this song and say "oh... I get it", but in 1989 the musical landscape was very different. Culturally, the Berlin wall had fallen, Bob Hawke cried on telly and Milli Vanilla had not been revealed as a fake.

So from the opening bars emanating from Jim Martin's guitar, some confusion begins. It seems metal, but perhaps a little punk. There's a keyboard floating in and while you are trying to work out what's going on there a double flam hits you and the hi hats open from then on...! What the hell? There's a bass guitar bouncing about in a manner that just ain't right. Mike Patton's singing is forced and strained, yet on brand. What the hell is on brand in this situation? Listen and learn.

Back then I rarely listened on headphones to my favourite music. The only way I got to hear it loud was to turn it up when the family were out and hope Mr Munro in Maylands ave didn't come round/ring/tell Dad later. If I had listened to "From Out Of Nowhere" closely I would have picked up the the subtleties that ipod earbuds now afford me; the subtle doubling of the chorus vocals- Mike P singing with Mike P and the final "wave goodbye" being followed by a whispered "...goodbye".

The song's ending, where it perfectly runs down and then launches immediately into "Epic", is for me the greatest 1-2 opening double punch outside of Led Zeppelin IV's "Black Dog" "Rock n' Roll".

The evenness of this album, and by that I mean genius, would perhaps not have bothered the band as much as it bothered me. After copying the record to tape for my newly purchased '74 Corolla, it became my soundtrack to 1990 as well. I was at uni, had a job as a part time sound engineer and roadie. Every soundcheck that required a tape played invariably meant "From Out of Nowhere". This was the album and for me the song.

When Angel Dust came out in 1992, I was 20, turning 21. I had a steady girlfriend and school days were already behind me. There was no way for "Angel Dust" to compete no matter how good it was.

Fittingly, when I broke up with that girlfriend, she kept "The Real Thing". Today, I have it on my ipod, but its not the same.

And neither am I.

The horrifying incident in the night.

2008-05-29T09:51:00.001+10:00

Sitting on the couch, watching Brad and Sandra flirting on the late news and I get a news flash of my own; a blood curdling scream with follow up screams and no ad break.

Like a salmon I rise from the couch and head down the hallway with all engines full ahead. Rachel goes past the end of the hall, on her way to the bathroom where she gets into the shower fully clothed and turns the cold up full.

While trying to do up the lid on a hot water bottle she half dropped the bottle, pressing it against her pregnant belly, and emptying some of the boiling contents all over her belly and chest.

At once I see this is bad. There's skin hanging loose and its red and angry. Rachel can take pain like I can take beers, but appears to be in serious pain. I do what any sensible person does faced with such a situation, I call an Ambulance and talk faster than a horse racer caller on crystal meth.

I finally get it all across to them, the MICA arrives ten minutes later, I pack a bag of entirely inappropriate and "mere male" fodder clothes* and Rachel goes of to Cabrini, with me in the car 10 minutes behind.

Of course it turns out ok. Pain reduces, a smile returns, no long term scars, baby is fine, I am wrecked. We get home, cuddle each other and our baby and sleep comes like many drugs.

I go into 3AW this morning and foolishly chose a controversial topic and get fired up and call a listener an idiot for the first time ever.

* the clothes I packed were as follows: One non maternity bra that does not fit, a sports bra, one g-string, one pair of useful undies, one pair of trakkie daks, one pair of slippers two of my t-shirts as "she'll want something loose fitting"

It's about lifestyle- or is it really?

2008-05-06T13:21:00.000+10:00

Presuming to speak for me, Peter Berry had the following to say:

KEVIN Rudd, like John Howard before him, has done the right thing intervening against Jon Stanhope's proposed changes to effectively redefine marriage.

An honest examination of the situation reveals this is not about rights, as claimed. Previous areas of unreasonable discrimination against homosexual couples have been addressed through new legislation. Consequently, there is no good reason to dismantle and redefine this age-old and time-proven institution.

Our society and our children need marriages to be supported and strengthened, not diluted. This is now simply about justifying a lifestyle by forcing society to accept, despite its better judgement and legitimate concerns.

Peter Berry, Chirnside Park

"This is now simply about justifying a lifestyle by forcing society to accept, despite its better judgement and legitimate concerns."

Careful Peter, your homophobia is showing. Oh an you missed a line. After "justifying a lifestyle" you meant to put in "that is dirty, dangerous and against God's teachings".

Really, I feel the other way. I want marriage to include as many people as possible. Why on earth do certain members of the heterosexual community feel the need to keep marriage as a heteros only club? Before I got married I used to joke that gay folk should have the right to marry and be as miserable as much as anyone.

But now as a married man, I want to be inclusive. Being married is actually much more important to me than I thought it would be. I thought I was satisfying a traditional requirement, but now it feels like more than that. I can't really express it, but lemme say this; it's pretty damn good.

To me, it's the equivalent of not offering mirgants the vote. Oh sure, we want you to contribute, to work and so on, but we don't want to include you.

What a load of rubbish. It's 2008- we can do better.

Dilbert Mashup...

2008-04-29T18:25:00.001+10:00

First attempt at this

This site requires Adobe Flash, please click here to get it.

No questions!!

2008-04-28T22:32:00.001+10:00

No questions!!, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

Read the tshirt, avoid a facial burn.

You have that choice.

Regards,
thomasr.

Your defense is my annoyance.

2008-04-24T19:48:00.004+10:00

Sometimes lawyers go to clever lengths to say "my client is an idiot". I have no problem with that defence. It's honest, and often it's true to boot.

However I believe this sort of defense should have life long repercussions. Take this guy:
Three months' jail for speedster Justin Pickering

A P-PLATER who hit speeds of 255km/h in a high performance rally car during a police chase from NSW to Melbourne has been jailed for three months.

It's pretty clear this guy is not a complete genius; anyone who speeds on the Hume is looking for trouble- with the cops, a truck, a tree etc.

In the TV news, they went to lengths to point out the car was the oh-so-fast Subaru WRX STi, a rare and wonderful car in the right hands at the right time.

...just not in this guy's hands. His defense went a little like this:

Defence lawyer Stan Waites said Pickering was developmentally delayed, and his parents had gone through great anguish to make him recognise he had a problem.

Questions:
1/ WTF is "developmentally delayed"? Late bloomer? Total moron? Immature? Mentally retarded?
2/ How does a "Developmentally delayed" guy afford a $70,000 car?
3/ If he can't afford it, did his mum and dad buy it, thereby reducing their "great anguish" factor?
4/ Can people who are "developmentally delayed" get a license nowadays?

So here's what he got:

Magistrate Robert Kumar sentenced him to nine months jail, but suspended six months. He cancelled Pickering's license for five years, and fined him $2000.

In my mind, the jail sentence is appropriate as he has many car related offence priors (he has lost his license in multiple states) and the risks he took with other people's lives mean a custodial sentence is correct.

The $2000 fine is neither here nor there.

The license suspension for five years is woefully inadequate. If his defense has said he effectively has a mental issue that makes him an ongoing menace behind the wheel, then cancelling his license and banning him from driving for life is the only way forward.

I do not understand why we leave the door open for people to drive again. If he had a gun license and was firing bullets in the air recklessly, we would take the guns away for life. There would not be a suspension; "Are you ready to stop firing in the air randomly? Oh? You ARE? Good then, here they are!". We would just say "that's it bubba, you have blown your gun license"

But this guy could be driving again in five years, and frankly I do not want to share a city with him.

Why hast thou forsaken me?

2008-04-21T00:52:00.001+10:00

Why hast thou forsaken me?, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

Oh really. This is enough. I want to get up and about again.

Idiots ride motorcycles too

2008-04-15T09:47:00.001+10:00

Some people are frickin' idiots. Riding the scooter this morning, I pull up next to a young bloke on a Suzuki Bandit 250. I look over his bike and while it is clean as a whistle two things grab my eye: the exhaust has a huge scrubbed area- so he's crashed it once. The other thing is so startling that I have to comment. It goes as follows.

Me: Hey mate... can I ask... is that TYRE BLACK I can see there?
P plater on a 250: ahhhh yea.... I'm selling it.
Me: Shit mate, thats fricking dangerous y'know.
P plater on a 250: It's only on the sides.

I look down. Yes, its on the sidewalls. AND around the corner on the contact surface. About 5-7cms. Right where the contact patch would be if you tried to corner it.

P plater on a 250: It's cool. I wanted it to look schmick.
Me: It won't look to schmick if you fall over again.
P plater on a 250: Hey mate... look, you ride a fucking scooter...
Me: Ahhhh ok. Well good luck. See you in the newspaper.
P plater on a 250: ????

Inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Mr Dodi Al Fayed

2008-04-04T11:57:00.000+11:00

I'm sure Mohamed Al Fayed has his reasons, and the public have their own reasons for being interested in the outcome of the inquest into Diana's death, but allow me to answer the conspiracy question using my skillset.

First this:

Only Princess Diana's bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, survived the crash.

Secondly:

Among the questions Lord Justice Baker put to the jury was whether Diana and Mr Fayed would have survived had they worn seatbelts and whether Diana would have lived had she been taken to hospital more quickly.

The only person wearing a seatbelt was Trevor Rees Jones.

The only person to survive the crash was Trevor Rees Jones.

Therefore the only fair conclusion is that Diana, Dodi and Henri-Paul died as they were not wearing their seatbelts.

Conspiracy theories:
My favourite:

Claims that the seatbelt which would have saved Princess Diana's life was sabotaged are now being investigated by detectives

There is no argument that Diana was not wearing a seatbelt (All agree she wasn't. There is no suggestion she was wearing one that then failed in the accident). So the suggestion that the party of four got in the car only to discover that 1 out of 4 belts were serviceable, yet thought "oh hell, we'll just go anyway and drive hellishly fast while at it..." is nonsense.

In summary: Occam's Razor applies.

All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best."

Inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Mr Dodi Al Fayed

Baby is 24 weeks today!

2008-04-04T09:00:00.000+11:00

24 Weeks Pregnant

I was on TV and I liked it more than it liked me..

2008-04-03T16:49:00.002+11:00

Here we go:

Yes, I hit the wipers for no reason in the first bit. It was a subtle sight gag that some have suggested was just me being stupid and not realising that the Ford Focus has its wipers on the right side where the indicators usually are.

But they would be wrong.

TAGGED: 8 Random Things about me....

2008-03-26T10:38:00.002+11:00

Micheal Specht has tagged me and tardily I reply today.

Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Ok, I am going to fully break these rules as a/ no one reads my blog b/ if everyone tagged 8 people the universe might implode.

I am gluten intolerant. Discovered 2008. Suffering since 1998. Good times.
I broke a bone in my hand when I was about 11. Fighting of course. No, not my brother.
I bought my pregnant wife an exercise bike for her 30th birthday and lived to blog the tale.
I wanted to be a crime reporter after I left uni, but with no idea how to become one, I let it fall by the wayside. Now that I have the contacts to become one, I no longer want that career.
I used to have a famous and volcanic temper. I did nothing about it per se, I just grew out of it.
The women who left me: women I left ratio is skewed in favour of the ladies. Well played bitches.
I own a set of really expensive roller blades and they have remained unused for three+ years.
I am totally non-musical. The Curse.

Motorcyclist killed in Black Rock

2008-03-07T13:58:00.000+11:00

From The Age:

A police spokesman said the 43-year-old driver, from neighbouring Brighton, was making a u-turn when the motorcycle approached her from behind. She is helping police with their investigation.

Damn fool drivers doing u turns. I'm going to say it: U Turns should be banned. The very nature of a u-turn encourages people to get over in the far left of the lane and then cut in front of any traffic behind. Add in the fact that drivers do not look properly and you have a recipe for trouble.

That is why I always slow down if there is someone in a car that has pulled over. Watch for wheels turning out while stationary. Don't bother looking for an indicator, they won't use it and you'll soar over the back of the car like a messed up eagle bwecause you made an assumption.

Melbourne Motorshow 2008

2008-03-06T17:21:00.004+11:00

After bagging the MMS last year for being boring, they really listened to me (!?) and this years effort was a lot less lame.

It was actually really pretty good. I went on the Saturday with the proletariat, a good move indeed.

So, here's my review: sortof clockwise. See all the pics.

Mazda.
A Mazda 2 Rally car for the Australian Rally Series was the major highlight. Kids climbing all over an RX8 was not. The staff were attentive and friendly, but it was a bit of a yawn fest.
Highlight: Mazda 2 Rally Car
Lowlight: No one on their stand knew anything about said rally car.
Overall: C

Lexus
Classy as ever, not a whole lot of exciting stuff (Does a huge range of hybrids do it for you?). The automated reverse parking display drew gasps and ohs and ahs like the first time people saw Pong on a computer screen. Excting at the time, but perhaps not impressive long term. The Lexus Ladies were well dressed, but perhaps a littel cold looking.
Highlight: Monique and her amazing reversing Lexus.
Lowlight: The guy behind me willing it to malfunction and drive off into the crowd like a bulldozer. Had that actually happened, it could have ended up being a highlight.
Overall: B

Audi
The shovel nosed crew were showing off like drunk teenagers with a stolen skateboard. The "ladies of the stand" were dressed to impress and the men looked like they were off to the horse racing.
Highlight: R8 of course. And a TTS- in left hand drive.
Lowlight: No prototypes. Where is a Le Mans Diesel people? Not getting into the VIP area- DON'T YOU PEOPLE KNOW WHO I AM?!
Overall: B

Saab
Out of the way and out of the spotlight, I may have gone to the Saab stand, but I sure as hell don't recall it. I do however recall driving the 1.9 litre Diesel turbo wagon recently and the turbo lag was such that I wondered if it was in fact faulty. "No" they said, “We make them like that.”
O RLY? FAIL.
Highlight: Leaving to go to Holden's stand next door.
Lowlight: I wish the whole stand was in low lights.
Overall: D+

Holden (GM)
What a nasty bunch the folks at Holden are (when it comes to their main rival Ford). Ford are giving birth to their new Falcon and Holden burst into the delivery room with not one but two DNA-altered, mean-as-Terminator Show Stopper babies.
The W427 with its 7 Litre, LS7, Warp factor 7 engine had plenty of interest and since Holden are well known for using show feedback as a deal breaker on future models (the Torana prototype from a few years ago had lots of VE Commodore goodness on it LINK: http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/2101/Holden-Torana-TT36.html ), expect much of this display car to hit the road in the second half of 2008.
Even if Holden only do a short run of these 427 C inch mutha trukkers (even at $150k AUS they won't make a lot of money on them), it should set the new Ford FPV power figures (as yet unreleased) on their asses. What bastards.
The other Ford happiness killer was the Coupe (can we say Monaro/GTO?) With no specs and perhaps no real plans to build it, the Coupe was definately a toe-in-the-water show car. Should Holden build it? Hell yeah, and whack an LS9 in it to make certain it's the beast people expect it to be. Likelihood? Unknown. There were a few hints of what they are thinking - the little "BioFuel" badge being but one, but then the wheels looked like they didn't fit inside the wheel arches, so the whole thing might be a hoax to generate interest, but not for sale. Maybe we'll see a production run of the Effijy before we see a new Coupe...
Highlight: New 427 and Coupe
Lowlight: 14 yrs olds arguing over what 427 meant.
Overall: A

Volkswagen/Skoda
We've all liked the hot lil' Volksies in all their guises- GTi, Diesel turbos etc for years and while they may be getting a little tiring (especially if you drive a V8 and one of these little buggers gives you the slip in the hills), there was a lot of attention for the cars "for the people". Australians are getting onboard with Diesel engines and Volkswagen are surfing these first waves of interest. Good for them.
Highlight: Good spread of models, attentive stand folk.
Lowlight: Bit dull… I mean... diesels? What are we thinking?
Overall: B

Toyota
They may be the biggest selling manufacturer in Oz, but if you don't race V8s, you don't count. Toyota knows this, so they compensate with rally-bred stuff. We love rally, but we don't rate it since Subaru pulled out in Australia. There were a few of the obligatory engine-cut- away-in-a-perspex- box displays, but it fell away after that. There are only so many ways to display a Corolla. There was a curious looking hybrid prototype thing that drew attention, but it also caused confusion. Putting “hybrid” on a prototype with a closed hood does nothing for sales, but much for confusion.
Highlight: Seeing the Aurion Supercharged engine and its 20 foot long supercharger belt.
Lowlight: Seeing the Aurion TRD again after it tried to kill me and my loved ones with its front wheel drive 250Kw torque steering anger management issues.
Overall: B

Mitsubishi
For a company that just abandoned manufacturing in Australia, many thought that Mitsubishi turning up was an act of war in itself. Not so. All was forgiven when they trotted out the new Lancer Evo X. Mitsubishi’s display was the only stand on two levels. I think this was to create an atmosphere of superiority when no such superiority is warranted.
Highlight: The Evo... in red of course.
Lowlight: Closing their manufacturing operations in Australia. No strictly show-related, but we’re still angry about it, so we'll say it again.
Overall: B-

Proton
Whoops, fell asleep while walking through there.
Highlight: Small stand.
Lowlight: They came at all.
Overall: Not fair to mark them. Oh hell, D.

Suzuki
One gets the impression that Suzuki are finding a nice newish niche in being the fun and funky car maker. The little rally car they had their combined with nice, fresh designs means they could be the new Subaru, now that Subaru have decided to be the new Volvo.
Highlight: the SX4 rally related display car
Lowlight: The new B-King motorbike being put into what looked like a large fish tank where we couldn't inspect it or take photos that didn't make it look ridiculous.
Overall: B

Peugeot/Renault
The manufacturers of the Frogmobiles might hate being bundled together, but then if they really did hate it so much they would not "arrange" to have their stands side-by-side. This confuses the public and the occasional motoring scribe.
Highlight: The new 207 Megane.
Lowlight: Not realising the above car does not exist
Overall: C

Land Rover
One upon a time, simply bringing any prototype to the Motor Show was enough to guarantee interest. Now you need to bring over an interesting prototype with things that go “bing”. Land Rover failed on all accounts. Their prototype was neither interesting nor compelling. For starters, you could not see inside it as the windows were painted. FAIL. Meanwhile they had a supercharged 4WD for pulling that really big horse float. YAWN.
Highlight: The supercharged super tank thing
Lowlight: The lame and ludicrous prototype.
Overall: C-

Volvo
After many years of trying to shed their "boring shoeboxes with wheels" image we can finally admit it: Volvo failed. The "funky for the sake of funky" C30 and the XC models have that aroma of "please say I'm cool" when they really are not. I felt sorry for Volvo, so I went to sit in one of their cars, but immediately aged 10 years once bum hit velour. Damn teenagers, no respect. Etc.
Highlight: The rear window on the C30
Lowlight: Wondering if my wife and yet to be born baby would like one. What's happening to me?
Overall: B-

Ford
Holden crashed the party, urinated on the new Falcon and then took all the publicity, but the folks at Ford were still proud ‘n loud as they ought to be. The new Flacon may not be a billion dollar baby like the VE Commodore, but there is much to be proud of at their stand. The FPV’s drew attention and applause and the G series didn't quite put me to sleep (went close however). The turbo FPV is the pick of the litter- the dark wheels and “Alice Cooper eyes” of both the GT and Turbo work really well and rumor has it they will jump over HSV in power figures across the board.
So, the new Falcon should sell in volume, but for how long? Why build a better mousetrap when they are being bred out of existence?
Highlight: The FPV tuned Territory 270Kw Turbo. Cayenne killer?
Lowlight: The smell of fear: what if we fail?
Overall: B+

Nissan.
The staple of all Motor shows in 2008, Nisaan had a new GTR there. The new GTR. Here in Australia. In Right Hand Drive. But also In The Show. This show. The Melbourne MotorShow.
I saw it, and it looked at me.
Highlight: The new GTR.
Lowlight: There was a nice 350Z that obscured my first views of the GTR. Damn thing.
Overall: A+. For the GTR. C- without it.

Kia
Kia are like a demanding, precocious but talented kid nagging you. You want to dislike, deny and ignore them, but you do so at your peril.
They had a few “niceish” models on display, though they do lack any punch in the interest nor the power stakes.
So I went back to form and ignored them.
Highlight: A people mover. Just kidding.
Lowlight: The families poring over a people mover with no stability control. They should be called people MOWERs.
Overall: C-

Hyundai
It's a pretty sorry state of affairs when a brand like Hyundai have one of the prettiest, most interesting prototypes on show. Add in the market research girls who seemed to be doing genuine surveys about the desirability of the proto and you get the feeling the chip, chipping away that Hyundai have engaged in is starting to work; they may actually make a car that you might want to buy.
Highlight: The orange prototype
Lowlight: The orange prototype being ultimately the only item of note.
Overall: B-

Subaru
I said earlier that Subaru have decided to become the new Volvo and boy they mean it. After all the effort they made opening their garage doors to the Boy Racers- they have absolutely slammed that door shut. Instead of a WRC car on display they have a cut-away of car with airbags deployed. Instead of a boxer turbo cut up and naked for all the world to see, we get the Tribeca's engine and drive train. “It’s a Volvo, but even more dull”. That’s my ad for Subaru 2008.
Highlight: The Liberty STi looked hott.
Lowlight: A mother and daughter in the WRX saying "how cute" it looked. It’s come to that.
Overall: C+

BMW
In the absence of Mercedes (They are all in Germany, on bail or had better things to do) it fell to BMW to be the Other Big German Marque. They sure meant business. They tried there best to be Mercedes-like with a mind boggling array of cars with numbers and letters that began to blur in front of ones' eyes. One nomenclature stuck out: X6. They know they will sell a lot of these now as people who clearly had the money showed clear interest. And in the end that’s what a motor show is all about. Moving “units”. So I’m told.
Highlight: X6 hands down.
Lowlight: The VIP lounge. Yet another place I was not allowed into.
Overall: A-

Honda
When someone working for you shit-cans the stand they are working on, then you know you have a serious problem. When the Accord V6 is your flagship, you have a problem. When Hyundai is making more interesting (and probably faster) sports cars; you have a problem.
So it was with the Honda stand. How can a manufacturer with F1 and MotoGP credibility have such a lame duck range and therefore motor show stand? The hottest car on show was the S2000. A car you cannot buy/order/see/own unless you steal a second hand one. The next hottest was a front drive Civic R Type. A Civic? Front wheel drive? Good God! Where is a new NSX or equivalent? Nissan have the drool worthy GTR on the other side of the room next to a 350Z- also no slouch. Over at Honda we have a Civic and an Accord or something else equally dull. I nearly died of boredom and were it not for the stand attendant keeping be interested by also sticking the boot into Honda, I might have had a nap in one of the cars. Undisturbed too.
Highlight: They were in the corner out of the way.
Lowlight: The EPIC FAIL nature of Honda today.
Overall: F. Worst stand and range by a margin.

The "others"
No it's not an allusion to Lost, but rather the smaller stands of note.

Ferrari/Masterati/Lamborghini/Alfa Romeo/Fiat.
Italians love Melbourne- the inner city suburb of Carlton is well known for it's strong Italian heritage- along with a less savory Mafioso element. And so it is (without the mafia bit) with Italian cars- right at home in the Melbourne Motor Show.
The Supercars were beautiful and the stands were also beautiful. But the public were separated by some margin from the cars- in keeping with the unattainable nature of the cars themselves. The Fiat stand- heavily promoting the new 500 (it will be the F1 "celebrity" support race car next week) was a very cool, very retro looking thing with hot stand girls in a mixture of all white outfits. The cars were cute, the girls were hot.

Elfin/Bolwell
Two local hand builders in varying degrees of development and success.
Elfin have had a very mixed year. Highlight: new Streamliner and Clubman models looking great, accelerating like fury (LS1 engine + 900Kgs=??), but a lowlight when Elfin co driver Paul Flintoff was killed in a tarmac Rally in early November last year. Rumors about build quality issues and engineering shortcuts harmed their brand, but being owned in part by Walkinshaw and HSV has meant that support is not far away and the recent seconding of senior HSV engineers means Elfin should get back on track in every sense. The "No Fear" show car looked the goods and drew plenty of interest.
Meanwhile Bolwell are a blast from the past. In the 70s their Nagari almost-supercar was a desirable and sexy object and 30 years later they are looking to release a new Nagari with a Toyota V6 supercharged (from Toyota’s Aurion TRD) as a rear engined, 0-100kms/h sub 4 second, 300km/h genuine supercar. From the front and sides the prototype looks the goods. I did feel it was a bit ugly/unresolved in the rear compared to other similar cars. Campbell Bolwell, the driving force behind this project has the motivation, skills and two supportive and talented sons to get this car on the road and one hopes that they do get a viable car out there. Custom handbuilt cars are going the way of the typewriter and any builder still having a go has my support. Link: http://www.bolwellcarclub.com.au/new%20nagari.htm

Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge
Despite the non appearance of Mercedes, fellow Dainmler (or whatever they call themselves this week) companies Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge put on quite a show with plenty of pretty lassies, show bag giveaways and a fairly strong range of vehicles. No Viper, no Ram, but the Nitro has plenty of appeal for those stupid enough to think it's a Hummer H3. (hint: It’s better and cheaper)

Hummer
Speaking of which, the Hummer still draws support at any motor show. Usually only from those who have neither driven nor been a passenger in one. If you have then you would know the H3 in Australia, with its asthmatic 3.7 ltr 5 cylinder waste of time engine and poor road manners, is not worth crushing into toy Hummers, let alone real ones.
But why spoil the annual car-Christmas that is the motor show?

Shannon’s Auctions.
Tastier than the whole motor show put together, the classic auctions coming-soon list included a 1971 GTHO. In brown, sure, but its still the 351 Engine, still looks like sex on wheels and has gone up a little from its original asking price of $5000... to more like $600,000+. A world gone mad- in a good way.

Summary
Last year I told anyone who would listen that the Melbourne Motor Show was a waste of time. It was bad by Australian standards and a total non-event on a world scale. They must have listened to me- poor fools- but nonetheless seemingly the organisers and exhibitors have gone to some lengths to stop it becoming a glorified parking lot. Well played all round.

www.flickr.com

thomasrdotorg's Melbourne Motor Show 2008 photoset

FAIL- my time to... fail.

2008-02-12T12:30:00.000+11:00

I am loving the Failblog. Tales of failure always warm the evil heart.

Now for my own submission.

Last year, I hosted - at Atomic Media- a Halo 3 fight night. It went very well UNTIL an evil Brazilian drink known as Cachaça came out to kill all assembled.

Here's me:

But more was to come. Mike:

Fail indeed.

Newspaper letter

2008-02-12T10:46:00.000+11:00

This gem popped up today:

Sharia smorgasbord
THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams is right. Why not have a "smorgasbord" of laws. In our enlightened multicultural society we need to be "sensitive", "tolerant" and "inclusive".
If Muslims want to stone their adulterous women, why should we object? If Aborigines want to reject "white man" laws and live by their traditional tribal laws, then we should accommodate this. Yes, we should invite all cultures to pick and choose from a smorgasbord of laws and, if groups like the anarchists want to reject all laws, how can we discriminate?
Yes, bring on the utopia, but not before I have time to migrate to a country that has pride in its culture and safe streets.

Brian Handley, Moe

...said the guy from Moe.

A blat in them there hills

2008-02-03T14:27:00.001+11:00

Loving the new Speed Triple 1050, a real goer and a definite improvement over my sad, old 955 version . This is not a review as I have to get some things done, however you can view the data track here
3-feb-08.zip

Windsurf at Elwood today

2008-01-13T20:50:00.000+11:00

Oh lordy that was good. Steady southerly, The Don, The Tone, Benny D, Rocket Roddie and a few others.

After the triumph that was Sandy Point, I had my dander up somewhat and was starting to believe that 37.5 knots on flat water might translate to 30+ on the bay.

WRONG!

Though we did not get the wind strength like Sandy Point- 25k tops today vs. 35k at the Point, it was still strong enough. Heading off the wind beyond 120 degrees and the sail died in your arms like a war buddy (yes that was an appalling metaphor). Another 5-10 knots would have helped to boost speeds above 30, but would have made going upwind, messing about, jumping and whatnot a right nightmare. That's speed sailing for you though- tread softly and carry a big stick.

So, without any further guff, here's the data track for Google Earth.

The .kmz file contains the following note:

I don't call it cheating to go upwind and then bare away onto 120 degrees just to get a bigger top speed. In this case 27.9 knots or 51.67 km/h or if you like 32.1mph

Turbo SIMs

2008-01-11T13:01:00.001+11:00

Turbo SIMs, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

That damn scooter.

2008-01-10T10:03:00.001+11:00

So riding around the Formula 1 GP circuit on the way to work (how many people can say that?), the scooter stepped out and got up a nice ol' wobble as she went round a corner. i knew straight away what the problem was. On inspection, I was right:

So here's how I was situated. Stuck in the relative middle of nowhere. What to do?

Call Donny and get him to bring Holden's BLOODY MARVELLOUSLY CONVENIENT VE Ute and pick me up:

He's taken the little bugger to Brighton Kawasaki and hey presto it will be solved.

This is only my second ever flat tyre on a motorised bike. Weirdly enough, when Rachel and I went around Australia, we didn't get one flat. 20,000 k's no flats. The scooter? less than 600 k's and we're off for a repair. Don't let this become a pattern.

Clinton Grybas, 1975-2008.

2008-01-07T11:20:00.000+11:00

L-R Blake Leigh-Smith, Dwayne Russell, Clinton Grybas, Tom Reynolds. Photo Jay Mueller

I first met Clinton in 2005, when I was asked by the Powers That Be to go to Phillip Island for MotoGP and offer up a few race preview comments and keep Clinton and Dwayne informed. It was supposed to be a background role and I was excited.

After I previewed the early races (and seemingly/amazingly impressed) Clinton asked that I hang around and offer up "expert comments" for the main race. For me, this was a dream come true. I felt like Robert Walls, Murray Walker and Roy Higgins rolled into one. During the race, the pre race briefing I gave the boys worked perfectly. Clinton may not been a MotoGP regular, but boy he knew how to broadcast it. He wove perfect opportunities for me to use my knowledge and for the listener to feel like they were there in the booth with us.

Post-race, Clinton asked me to head out in the paddock and find some racers to interview. My interview with Chris Vermuelen remains one of my favourite radio memories and without Clinton's encouragement; nay, insistence that I do said interviews I doubt I would be a 3AW regular.

In 2007 I "repaid" the favour by suggesting to the Grand Prix corporation that Clinton be included in the Celebrity Grand Prix. This was a great idea on paper, except for one teeny problem; he had never driven a manual. To any one else this might have been a reason to say "thanks, but no thanks". Clinton was not easily put off and despite a rocky start he not only learned to drive a manual, but learned to drive it hard. He stayed back after school like a good student and picked the brains of Allan Moffat and the other trainers, looking for an improvement here and there. He may have been a commentator, but he had the drive, preparation and determination of a pro athlete.

His passing is not only a shock, but a huge loss. It seems insane that I will not be working with him again, nor listening to him on the radio. He has set the bar near unfeasibly high for young broadcasters and the sports broadcasting industry is better for it.

My deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends.

Clinton highlight package. Listen to the last 10 seconds to hear how good he was at MotoGP

Jay Mueller's comments

I took this photo (Top) during the 2006 Moto GP at Phillip Island. Dwayne Russell, Clinton and Tom Reynolds are interviewing teenage rider Blake Leigh-Smith. Dwayne looks of mildly amused, as if he’s thinking about what he was doing when he was 16. Tom just looks happy to be there. Clinton looks interested. That was the thing about him, he was. Whether it was AFL, Australian Open tennis, boxing or some obscure overseas sporting event, Clinton cared. I had the privilege to work with Clinton during the 2006 Commonwealth Games and I always enjoyed talking to him when our paths crossed at AW. He was a terrific guy and a thrill to work with.

Sandy Point New Years holiday.

2008-01-03T21:13:00.000+11:00

A few beers, the lads and 35knots of Easterly.

www.flickr.com

thomasrdotorg's Sandy Point- New Years 2008 photoset

Also I got 37.5 knots on my 9 year old Torquay freeride 272. With a wavesail. That's gotta be a some kinda record...?

See the GPS data track in Google earth here. I think with a speey fin, a wet n' dry and maybe a race sail I could actually get 40 knots out of the old girl.

And still pull these off:

Boring dad moment no 2

2007-12-31T11:10:00.000+11:00

Following up my boring 1st post about the baby, here are some overly pixellated-only-a-father-could-love scans of junior from this morning.

We saw wriggly little feet and hands. Was awesome!

158 days to go

We are having a baby

2007-12-25T12:00:00.000+11:00

You read that right people.

This blog post was started back in the earliest days of Rachel's pregnancy, but as we needed to make it to at least 12 weeks before we made any announcement, I decided to keep this as a a draft until it was time.

Monday 19th November.

Rachel had some interesting news this morning. She has a faint, but likely positive pregnancy test. She read the instructions and thinks she may not have done it right.

As I know nothing of these tests, I assume it's false. Their accuracy is unknown to me. (99.9%)

Tuesday 20th November
Well little one, seems you really are there and I really am to become a father. WOW!

Two tests, done properly and two strong positives. Holy crap. I'm not freaking out, I am just excited. Your mother is going to be pissed- she wanted to have a few drinks all over Xmas and her 30th birthday promises to be a quiet affair. I think she's cool with it on balance.

...of course she's not really cross- she's all a glow. I get her to come in and meet me and I took this picture. Now might be a good time to mention that I am a sentimental softie at heart and I cried a little with happiness. Your mother laughed at me. You'll discover that she does that a lot.
See how happy we are? Your mother is but 5 weeks pregnant at this time. You are the size of a pea, about the same size as your father's brain.

Regarding the photo, don't freak out about the mo'. It was NOT the fashion at the time, it's just I was raising funds for Movember- a charity aimed at (amongst other things) eradicating the cancer that took your grand dad. Don't sweat about not meeting him BTW- he's just like your dad, only older.

Friday 13 November
Today your mum went to the doctor's for the first time. He took some blood, lectured your mother about her drinking (I made that part up) and told her that the results won't be back 'til next Wednesday, but three positive pregnancy tests from two different brands is good enough for him. He tells your mum congratulations and she calls me straight away. I suppress the urge to have a another cry as I have eight months of occasional cries ahead of me and I think I might try pacing myself. For once.

She sent me the following text:

no fish more than once a fortnight!!!!, no soft cheese, no sushi, no cold cut meats...no drinking...my baby is going to starve!!!

You won't starve, I promise. By that I mean I won't personally find food for her, but rather I know your mother well enough to know she will find food- and lots of it.

So after leaving to doctors your mum freaked out and went straight to the shops for some retail therapy..she did manage to buy a book "What to expect when you are expecting"

But mostly she bought clothes for herself... while she could still fit into them.

We have decided to tell the family at Christmas, and announce to the world in January sometime. You will only be 11 weeks at Christmas, but your Aunt and Uncle will be here and this will raise the roof!

As is the family tradition, we have given you a pregnancy name. We have a budgie called Wudge and you are called Budge. Don't panic, it won't stick. You will get your own name in good time, and I will find a stupid variation on that name to call you. It's what I do.

Oh and for the first time your mother used you as an excuse today. She wanted a new toothpaste tube as the old one was almost empty. She said "The baby wants me to have a new tube"

7.5 loooong months to go.

Monday 26 November
We had a very relaxed weekend and talked about our plans for the future. Your mother will stop work in June and take 6 months maternity leave, so guess who has to work like mad?

Yo, Daddy does.

Your mother is ready from the pregnancy book, usually just highlighting bits like "your partner should do half the work" and "If the father gives up alcohol as well, it will make the journey easier". Well that's crap, how will I cope with Mrs Crazy Hormones huh? So now, as soon as I hear another quote coming from that damnable book, I switch off and play Xbox.
I might also add your mother has latched onto a quote that says "even when inactive, just being pregnant is the equivalent of mountain climbing every day" She has taken this as as fact and now has a nap. When I ask her about this nap she is using you as an excuse "the baby wants me to have a nap". Hell, *I* want her to have a nap, it stops the quotes from the baby book coming thick n fast.
All this aside, we are very happy and very much looking forward to your arrival. I was waaay cluckier than your mother, but the flood of hormones has sent her past me in a big way. It should be quite wonderful, but weird.

Friday 13th December
Yes little one, it has been a few weeks since an update so let's do that quickly:

You have given your mother morning sickness. Not vomit-y bad, but "I iz siiick" bad. Cure: Vegemite toast made by Dad at 7am. This must be buttered and "vegemited" while it is still hot or all hell breaks out.
You had your first photoshoot this morning. It was entertaining as your mother had to be up at 6 am for wee, followed by the consuming of a litre of water. She was hell busting when we got to the ultrasound place. I enjoyed it no end, nearly another cry, but I saved it as I wanted to enjoy the moment. The moment I wanted to enjoy was the look on your mother's face as she tried not to wee while the ultrasound was being run over her stomach. Yes, we have a strange relationship.
We saw your heart beating. Mine jumped. It was sublime.
We told your maternal Grandmother. 5 minutes of squealing noises ensued.
We're telling my family tonight. They will act excited I am sure.

Right so there's that done. We've locked in all other details: you have an obstetrician, hospital (frankly I am looking forward to the double bed and pay TV more than I ought) and we even looked at baby capsules and related. I want a Formula 1 style baby car seat, but apparently you have to be able to hold your head up and stuff before you can go in one. Your mum is looking out for you on this score junior.

I'm very excited still. Let's see how long that lasts...

December 25th 2008
The day we tell everyone.

Elwood sailing day 22 December

2007-12-22T23:11:00.000+11:00

Love to tell all about our day out sailing, but knackered. To Donny, Tony, Duncan, Ben & Paul; well played.

www.flickr.com

thomasrdotorg's Windsurfing photoset

Best of the Brat Final

2007-12-19T10:41:00.001+11:00

Best of the Brat Final, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

I went to Best of the Brat's last show before Ms Hardy moves to Sydney. It was a blast, ruined only by the incessant talking coming from the stage

I'm reading Brett Easton Ellis again...

2007-12-18T16:46:00.001+11:00

I'm reading Brett Easton Ellis again and his style is so unmistakable that at once I find myself able to write and indeed talk as if I am a much lesser version of said writer.

It was such a disappointment to me when Marieke Hardy reviewed American Psycho and hated it so. Perhaps Jennifer Byrne's love of AP filled the void for me, I can give it no more thought than that. So here I am 30,000 feet up writing a blog post on my iPhone- could I be more postmodern?

No, the answer is none more post modern.

I'm sitting in the exit seat. I am in this seat due to one reason- they asked me and I accepted. At first I thought it was due to my 190cms of glory, then I thought it might be due to my firefighter physique and style. Then I get to my seat and there is a short middle aged woman in the window seat.<
br>Perhaps it was one of those random acts of kindness you hear about.
All I know is it had nothing to do with me...
Til later
Thomasr.

Past, meet future...

2007-12-04T14:21:00.000+11:00

On noes, they be replacing me!!

Evel Knievel RIP

2007-12-01T13:04:00.000+11:00

When I was a kid, Evel was THE MAN.

One Christmas, Santa brought me the Evel doll and motorbike, complete with jump ramps.

The bike had a rip cord AND gyroscopes inside it so it could wheelie like a real bike.

I loved that thing so much. Years later, Mum told me Dad and a friend of his were playing in the hallway (probably half cut) with Evel on Christmas eve. It was that cool a toy.

So, it's sad to hear he has died. RIP- you legend.

News from the election

2007-11-24T21:32:00.000+11:00

The Election 2007

2007-11-23T16:20:00.000+11:00

Tomorrow is the Australian federal election, and while I have been known to spout my political views in public forums from time to time, I have not done so as part of my media career as there is no place for it.

As a result, this blog has steered clear of politics also.

But today I feel compelled to sing:

Hat. Hurry. Door. Arse.

Rachel's new scooter

2007-11-20T10:12:00.000+11:00

As is her rightful wish, Rachel will soon be the owner of a new Bolwell Euro 150 scooter.

Here's the info

Here's the scooter itself (not another one, but the actual scooter!)

Very soon it will be mine...

2007-11-19T16:33:00.001+11:00

Oh yes baby

My new hero

2007-11-08T15:44:00.000+11:00

Lord Paul Drayson:

With a seat in the House of Lords, a biotechnology fortune in the bank and good sight in just one eye, Paul Drayson is an unlikely candidate to become Britain's next motor-racing hero. But yesterday the 47-year-old minister for defence equipment and support wrote one of the most unusual resignation notes in political history and told Gordon Brown he was standing down to pursue his dream of winning the Le Mans 24-hour motor race.

More here

Beersheba captured- 90 years passed.

2007-11-08T14:38:00.000+11:00

It's 90 years since Beersheba was captured from the Turks by the Allies. It was an important turning point in the war, and of course the site of the 4th Light Brigade's famous cavalry style charge. More about he campaign here.

On the night of 30-31 October about 40,000 allied troops moved towards Beersheba, including units of the Desert Mounted Corps, about 15,000 men, under Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel, in a night march of nearly 30 miles. On the morning of 31 October the British 60th Division attacked Turkish positions around Beersheba. The infantry made steady progress but by late afternoon had still not secured the wells in the strongly defended town, which were vital for the welfare of the Mounted Corps’ horses, many of whom had been without water for several days. Chauvel decided to send in the 4th Light Horse Brigade, under Brigadier General William Grant, with the words, "Put Grant straight at it".

I've blogged previously about how my Grandfather Thomas Hugh Sarre was a Light Horse trooper, how he was wounded and how he was awarded the Military medal. I also turned up this photo in a search of the Australia War Memorial database:

Some other info about Trooper T H Sarre:

Thomas Hugh Sarre

Thomas Hugh Sarre was awarded the following honours:

Military Medal

Service Number
1438
Service
Army
Rank
Trooper
Unit
10th LH
Conflict
First World War
Date of London Gazette
3 July 1919, page 8357, position 91
Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette
17 October 1919, page 1531, position 35

It Remembrance day this weekend.

Courage; defined.

2007-11-08T13:44:00.000+11:00

Courage is not about being tough when you have no choice, it's about doing something dangerous when you do have a choice.

Just watch the first minute of this and consider what is required- physically and mentally.

Travis Pastrana. Legend. Madman.

Pic Post 2: Rally of Melbourne- my ride

2007-11-08T10:14:00.001+11:00

With Adrian Rowe in tow, we went up to the Toolangi state forest for a visit to the testing site for the Rally Of Melbourne where Neil Bates took me for a wild ride in his Toyota Corolla S2000 class rally car. I have been in cars with several race drivers and I have never, ever seen a driver as busy as a rally driver. Sawing the wheel back and forth like Mr Miyagi's "wax on wax off" scene and more toe tapping than a blues gig, it's a busy office for the rally folk.

I would hasten to add, that until you experience travelling through the bush at warp factor ludicrous... well maybe you haven't lived.

www.flickr.com

thomasrdotorg's Rally of Melbourne photoset

Pic post 1: HSV Maloo

2007-11-08T08:23:00.000+11:00

I'm going nuts with the pic thing (Tony P complaints about photo numbers has only slowed- not stopped- me.
So here's post one for today: HSV Maloo. A sweet, sweet ride.

www.flickr.com

thomasrdotorg's Holden HSV Maloo- VE edition photoset

Facebook me

2007-11-01T15:59:00.000+11:00

Coolabahshades.com.au- Donny sets sail/sale.

2007-10-26T11:14:00.000+10:00

Me ol mate Peter "Donny" Carradus has left the employee nest to strike out on his own at last making shade sails and he will of course install custom Awning and Shades for you. Go to his contact page and say I sent you. That ought to amke no difference to anything at all, but will make me feel better.

YEs I designed the site and it's clear my skillz are falling behind the pack. We'll address that in due course. Anyway if you want shade sails in Victoria, Australia then Donny is your man.

Spotti- waaaay fast...

2007-10-19T08:13:00.000+10:00

Craig Spottiswood has really given speed sailing a shake- he's always been fast; now we have the numbers 43 knots + (81 km/h)
See him smoking at Sandy:

Freaky fast.

Ride to work day

2007-10-17T10:18:00.000+10:00

I was full of good intent:

Ride to work? NO problem
Get up early to go to Fed Square? Did NOT happen.
Get up early to do scenic route? Did NOT happen.
Take camera for pics on the way? Yes, got it.
Take pics on the way? NOT quite.
Take GPS data logger? Yes got it
Turn it on? Not until Albert Park.

Anyway, more pics to come and here's the data track...

MotoGP weekend at Phillip Island

2007-10-16T10:24:00.000+10:00

What a busy, insane, fun, triumphant, and satisfying weekend.

Broadcaster, producer, news reporter, interviewer, host, MC, commentator and- above all else- MotoGP fan.

www.flickr.com

More pics here.

Casey Stoner public appearance.

2007-10-09T22:31:00.001+10:00

DSC_0074, originally uploaded by thomasrdotorg.

It was my pleasure and privilege to introduce Casey Stoner to an adoring Federation Square audience. It was fantastic to be offered this opportunity and Adam and I had a bloody ball.

More pics here

MCing at Federation Square next Tuesday!

2007-10-05T12:28:00.000+10:00

Well, strike me down with a torque wrench!

The Grand Prix Corporation have asked me to MC Casey Stoner's public appearance at Federation Square next Tuesday evening!

More details as they emerge, but for now I just wanna do a "holy crap this will be fun" dance.

Crazy things

2007-10-03T17:51:00.000+10:00

Air on an R1...?

Yamaha R1 Sportbike Jump And Gets Huge Air - Funny bloopers are a click away

Off to Bathurst we go

2007-10-03T16:44:00.000+10:00

In this:

Ford FPV R- Spec Typhoon Turbo.

Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) has released its new limited edition F6 R-Spec Typhoon, featuring FPV's innovative R-Spec suspension and handling package. The F6 R-Spec is the first of FPV's six-cylinder models to feature the R-Spec suspension. The stylish new addition to the FPV stable is identified with distinctive R-Spec badging, and ''Dark Argent''gunmetal accents on the wheels and rear spoiler as standard. With production limited to just 300 units, the new F6 R-Spec will come with a unique build certificate of authenticity.

Halo 3- Theatre.

2007-09-27T10:08:00.000+10:00

As an occasional Machinima maker and enthusiast, the possibilities for Halo 3 are really interesting to me and I intend to explore them fully.

The recorded games feature is, frankly, breath taking. Every game you play is recorded- not as a video file, but rather a data file. What's the difference? If it's data, it means you can place yourself anywhere in the action. Anywhere at any time. Freeze the game, move, hit play again. Incredible.

Below are some screen shots I took on my first day of a sniper shot I fired that I though was a head shot- turns out it was a shoulder hit.

Bobby takes it in the shoulder.

Actually it's more like the armpit.

Thomasr firing from the Book Depository.

Another view of the shot that disappointed a nation.

aDre's view of the shot that may have saved his life. Note the bullet trail is unique to the sniper rifle in Halo1/2/3. regular bullets have no such trail.

Thomasr firing again.

Unbeknown to me at the time was that if I hit the yellow button, it allows the camera to "roam free" and float in space. It is absolutely amazing. The possibilities are almost unlimited. Add in the yet-to-be-explored-by-me Forge feature that allows you to build maps and frankly you could shoot a film in a manner that will leave people scratching their heads. Factor in 1080 high def and wow, there's a whole action movie making device in your Xbox 360.

I am going to have to make a short film using this technology. It's just awesome.

Here's my first attempt:

Update:

Machinima Makers - Read This
Okay, so I've got good news and bad news for you, if you make Halo machinima, and you want to know how to put your weapon down. The good news is, we've got that info for you, thanks to madmax. The bad news? It only works locally or in system link - it will NOT work over Live. Sorry. So: here's the trick (and it really is a trick, you need a lot of fingers): hold down both bumpers, both sticks, A and DPad-Down for 3 seconds. (Three fingers per hand should do it.) To bring the gun back up, just pull a trigger. And oh, yeah - this works in both Multiplayer... AND Campaign. Update: Chris Burke, from This Spartan Life, sent in a correction - you don't actually need to hold down the right stick. The other 5 buttons do the trick. (Louis Wu 19:41:03 UTC)

Another reason to have children:

2007-09-25T15:29:00.000+10:00

When I have kids, they get to sit in one of these!:

Good looks apart, BMW's child seat comes with a height-adjustable backrest including a belt carrier and side support as well as a headrest for extra safety. What’s cool though is the fact that the backrest and side support interact with one another, automatically adjusting the seat width as a function of seat height. As a result, the seat literally "grows" with the child sitting in the seat, the correct position being shown by a centimeter scale on the backrest indicating the body height currently set on the seat.

[via carscoop]

Didn't even make it to one year of marriage

2007-09-25T15:19:00.000+10:00

Hardly my fault...:

I'm easily led...

Astray.

See y'all in 2008!

Simply Awesome

2007-09-23T23:35:00.000+10:00

Was a pleasure to witness this moment:

Casey, well done. Many said you couldn't do it- including me.

I have never been so glad to be so wrong.

The Snow 2007 video

2007-09-18T01:19:00.000+10:00

She sure learns fast... From no skiing beofre to black runs (the last 20 seconds) in 4 days.