The Journal Of The Horse
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Below are the 12 most recent journal entries recorded in the "equusaustralus" journal:
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06:40 pm
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X-mas, war and carols...
I've been ranting and raving about X-Mas long enough now. I have come to the conclusion that Mariah Carey should be shot and banned from ever singing again, particularly Silent Night. Her particularly whiny voice belting out a thousand variations of a single note, most of which can only be heard by cats and dogs, sending them whimpering for cover... *click, click* BANG!
On a slightly more optimistic note, I believe I have found the TRUE meaning of Christmas. A story I am reminded of every year by the good folks at Antiwar.com, the story of a spontaneous truce breaking out between the English and German troops in the trenches of Flandria, in the freezing cold, started by the Germans singing Christmas carols, and the English joining in. Peace broke out, both sides mingled in no man's land, burying the dead, exchanging gifts and even playing a game of football (soccer)...
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article334971.ece
Reading such stories, 90 years on, really lifts your spirits and leaves you with a heavy feeling at the same time. That such a thing can happen spontaneously, I think, shows the true spirit inside every man, regardless of race, nationality or religion. It took the high commanders to break up the several day long truce, by ordering heavy artillery barrages (they realised that peace is not in the best interests of the nations... ;)) Really goes to show, it's always the young men dying fighting the old men's wars. Always has been, and always will be.
I think everyone's wondering where that spirit dissapeared. Probably with Santa Clause and all those sales...
If Mariah Carey were allowed to sing Silent Night in 1914, we'd still be fighting WWI!
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12:15 am
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Santa Clause and gang violence in Sydney
Pope decries Xmas commercialism
From correspondents in Vatican City
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17536291-23109,00.html
December 11, 2005
POPE Benedict XVI has warned rampant commercialisation was polluting the religious meaning of the Christmas holiday as he gave the Angelus blessing at the Vatican.
"In today's society of consumption, this (Christmas) season unfortunately suffers a sort of commercial pollution, which risks altering its spiritual authenticity..." the pontiff said before tens thousands of faithful gathered in front of St Peter's Basilica.
Pope Benedict instead urged Roman Catholics to set up in their nativity scenes depicting the birth of Christ in a Bethlehem stable.
"The manger helps us contemplate the mystery of the love of God which revealed itself in poverty and simplicity..." said Pope Benedict, who will be celebrating his first Christmas as pope.
I knew it all along! :) hahahahahahaha
In other news, riots have been breaking out in Sydney once again. A couple of days ago, some Lebanese guys beat up two "Aussie" life guards at a beach in the south of Sydney. The response has been cooking for days, and everyone knew about it. People I know were talking about a "big fight" between the Lebs and Aussies on Sunday. Lo and behold, a crowd of 5,000 people gathers to "protest" peacefully or take back their beaches or whatever they were doing, which eventually transformed itself into a lynch mob coming after any and every person of Middle Eastern decent. Crowds were shouting racist slogans against Lebs and wogs (Western Oriental Gentleman, a formerly derogatory term used to describe anyone of Italian, Greek, Balkan and Middle Eastern decent, now more accepted). Tonight it's managed to sperad to another suburb, with about 50 cars being smashed and broken...
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17531782-1242,00.html
I'd love to be able to say "I told you so", but this has seriously been brewing for a while... It's been underneath the surface for a couple of years now, bubbling away until something like this incident sparked it off. Doesn't mean that the whole society is racist, but the media has really been cooking up a storm, with radio shock jocks and talkback programs... it really doesn't take much to whip a crowd up into a frenzy!
So, whatever happens tonight, this is only the initial reaction to hearing the news of 5,000 people beating up Lebs in the suburbs... My prediction, tomorrow and in the days to come, it will become more organised. There will be more retaliations, fights, they will start to use molotov cocktails and torch cars... We'll have our very own Paris! But it doesn't stop there. In France, the riots were directed against the police and government, and the frustration was taken out on cars. Here, it's a gang war between wogs and aussies. If a bunch of wogs torch 20 cars in one suburb, a bunch of aussies will torch another 30 and a mosque in another...
And guys like this don't help:
"It is time to reclaim our Shire from these foreign invaders, we have the right to take our families to the beach and not be the subject of racist attacks." from The Infidel Diaries, http://theinfideldiaries.blogspot.com/2005/12/mid-east-gang-violence-continues-in.html
What a nice Christmas we're going to have!
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05:15 pm
[Link] | Christmas is getting closer... aaaghhh!! Found a good alternative to Jingle Bells, thanks to this guy:
http://www.angelfire.com/hi3/austblonde/xmasjing.html
Aussie Jingle Bells
Dashing through the bush,
in a rusty Holden Ute,
Kicking up the dust,
esky in the boot,
Kelpie by my side,
singing Christmas songs,
It's Summer time and I am in
my singlet, shorts and thongs
Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut !,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
Engine's getting hot;
we dodge the kangaroos,
The swaggie climbs aboard,
he is welcome too.
All the family's there,
sitting by the pool,
Christmas Day the Aussie way,
by the barbecue.
Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
Come the afternoon,
Grandpa has a doze,
The kids and Uncle Bruce,
are swimming in their clothes.
The time comes 'round to go,
we take the family snap,
Pack the car and all shoot through,
before the washing up.
Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
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02:50 am
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Sugar, sugar
You know how when you hear an advertising jingle for the 100th time, you just can't EVER forget the damn thing...?!
Well, if you've ever wanted to learn biochemistry in an interesting way, check this guy out:
http://faculty.washington.edu/crowther/Misc/Songs/music.shtml
Sings about different processes, pathways, chemicals etc :))
My favourite: Glucose, Glucose
"Glucose -- ah, sugar sugar --
You are my favorite fuel
From the blood-borne substrate pool.
Glucose -- monosaccharide sugar --
You're sweeter than a woman's kiss
'Cause I need you for glycolysis."
http://www.science-groove.org/Now/Glucose.mp3
Hahahahahahahahahaha :)) Takes me back to the good 'ol days in biochem class... groan :))
Classic!
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12:54 am
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The Death Penalty
Rather a grim topic, but interesting to rant about.
Yesterday, the Singaporean government executed Vietnamese-born Australian citizen Nguyen Tuong Van, for smuggling 396g of heroin. Despite all possible diplomatic and legal avenues being exhausted, and pleas for clemency from everyone including the Prime Minister and the Pope, the Singaporean government nevertheless stuck its course. Here's the facts of the case:
- He was caught in the transit lounge in Singapore airport on route to Australia with 396 gms of heroin
- He never had any intention to bring the drugs into Singapore. Rather the drugs were bound for the heroin addicts in Australia
- He committed the crime to earn $30,000 from drug dealers in Australia to repay money lenders from whom his twin brother had borrowed to pay legal fees. The money lenders were “applying pressure” to get the money back leading to the desperate act
from http://www.nguyentuongvan.com/
Funnily enough, although it was huge news here, as the culmination of a month long "situation", it barely made a blip on the world news radar. Well, they did mention an execution, that of Kenneth Boyd becoming the 1000th prisoner to be executed in the US since the law was brought back in the 70's... http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article330841.ece
In any case, I think it's the height of barbarism, no matter who does it. A life sentence in jail, working hard, getting your anal opening explored every once in a while, seems to me like a far harsher sentence than a quick (and inhumane) death...!! And it's made all the worse in the case of Van, given the facts.
I undersdand the whole concept of national sovereignty, rule of law above all etc etc. Nobody has the right to stick their nose in your business. But c'mon people, this is the 21st century! Both Singapore and the US are supposedly developed "democratic" economies (well maybe not Singapore, it's more like a dictatorship, where you get fined $500 for chewing gum)... The US is spreading "democracy" and "freedom" around the world, and setting a REALLY good example for the rest about how it's done properly (rigging elections, detention camps, executions, high-level corruption and funds embezzelment)...
Don't even mention Sing to me... I think Hitler would like to go there on vacations ;)
Nguyen Tuong Van, Kenneth Boyd, requiescant in pace.
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06:24 pm
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One man's trash is another man's treasure...
So the saying goes. Three times a year, the kurbs of suburb streets everywhere turn into a legal dumping ground, where people can take out all of their crap which they don't need and can't otherwise dispose of... Council sends a couple of trucks, and they collect it all. In the meanwhile, if you find anything of value to you, it's all yours. Damn, you'd be surprised what some people throw away!
Actually, I was very grumpy when I was made to clean out the garage, with help from my brother. Then when you see all the crap out on the street, neatly piled up, waiting to be taken away by some poor students or the city council, makes you think... We managed to make quite a nice heap of junk ourselves, with lots of sentimental value :)
A testament to our rampant consumerist society, where you buy something, use it, take it out to the side of the street, and then it magically dissapears from your life forever!
Ah well, since the title says what it says, without further ado... :)
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06:54 pm
[Link] | Been discussing with a friend the idea of going out to the city sometime at night to take some pics... he's imported from Finland, staying here for 3 months, whom I've dubbed Soup Man (his real name is Yuha, which is a VERY popular manufacturer of soup in Serbia, like Campbells). We decided that last night would be THE night.
Unfortunately, we forgot to take into account the fact that it was the finals of Australian Idol at the Opera House... Still, we managed to steer clear of the hordes of worshippers and get some nice shots of town. Six hours of walking around, switching cameras, messing with settings, all went by like a breeze... Great fun! Actually, we took a break half way through to have a couple of beers, in order to stimulate creativity... ;)
Here's some results:
Standard picture of Sydney, still nice to look at.
Jungle City.
Hidden Opera House.
With the new anti-terrorism legislation, security around the country is being vamped up, including under the Harbour Bridge. Here, two security personnel guard a bottle of beer.
Sleeping giant :) We stood in the middle of the road for several minutes, quite safely...
Ghostly reflection of a cathedral.
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01:50 am
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IQ test and spare brain cells
"A registered charge loses its priority to a subsequent registered charge if that subsequent charge was created before the prior registered charge and the chargee of the subsequent charge can prove that the priod registered chargee had notice of the subsequent registered charge at the time that the prior registered charge was created"
-Sections 280(1)(a) and 280(2) Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)
Wtf?! This is why I think lawyers should get paid $400 an hour. And I'm supposed to know this for free... The scariest thing is, it's starting to make sense!
Almost 2 am in the morning, and I've just about finished studying for the damn corporations law exam tomorrow. Last one. After that, I can get to killing every extra brain cell gained during this semester with all forms of substance abuse... aaaah summer! :) Already have a pub crawl planned for this saturday (a pub crawl is when you start in one pub in one part of the city, then make your way to the next one and so on until you're crawling)...
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02:23 am
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Australia v Uruguay
Aaaaah what is the world coming to when Australia qualifies for the FIFA World Cup?! It was a helluva match, causing me several near heart-attacks, strokes, aneurisms and a sore throat. I haven't followed soccer (or football, everywhere else outside the US :)) in a few years now, got tired of watching my team lose. But this game was different. EVERYONE had to watch it!
Why? Four years ago, exactly the same thing happened, it all came down to one final game between Australia and Uruguay, winner takes all and goes on to qualify. The last Uruguay game involved a near riot when the Aussies landed at Montevideo airport, fans spitting on them etc. Well, this year it was calmer, still not without Uruguay trying every dirty trick to gain an advantage. For a start, they tried to change the timing of the match, so that the Aussie team would end up missing the flight directly after the match. 4 days to go, and you're still trying to shake off the jet lag...
Well, Qantas proudly steps in and announces they're giving them a charter flight... filled with chefs, massage facilities and 75kg of ice... :)) When the Uruguayans saw that, they shat themselves, tried to change it back, but it was too late.
Then, their coach proudly announced that they would win the match, because it was their "God given right to play at the world cup"...
And finally, with the Uruguayans looking to defend after a 1-0 lead at home, the first half hour of the match was truly worth an Oscar, with such theatrics that would put Al Pacino and Robert Deniro to shame! Australia's goal after 35 minutes jolted them into reality, and the rest of the game was tight as a virgin ass with constipation under a cold shower. It went all the way to a penalty shootout and despite what all the TV commentators said, I think the man of the match was Schwartzer, the goal keeper, who managed to save two penalty kicks...
I haven't raved like a lunatic that hard in years! After a 32 year drought, just getting to the world cup is like we've already won the damn thing! At least now I'll have something to get up for at 4 in the morning! :))
God given? Yeah right :)) I wonder if Uruguay plays cricket...
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03:41 pm
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Almost forgot...
For anyone else that happens to feel like me about Christmas, I managed to dig out an old song... Apparently it's called "Christmas Sucks" by Tom Waits and Peter Murphy, but on closer inspection, I found out it was done by a group called the Porn Orchard who were imitating the two, and is called "This Holiday Season." Well worth a listen if you can find it (or download it :)), here are the lyrics:
Oh give me a noose
I can hang from the tree
I need no excuse
to end my misery
This holiday season
is all the more reason
to die.
Oh pull up a stool
lend an ear to a fool
who once found some solice
in the season of yule
This holiday season
is all the more reason
to cry.
I put on my mittens
one green and one red
and I walk alone
where they bury the dead
the snow falls as I grieve
it's a gothic death rock
christmas eve.
The bottle is empty
the sleigh has a flat
the stripper in my bed
is ugly and fat
her tassles are tangled
and once more my jingle
won't jangle
This time of the year
makes me sick to my guts
all this good cheer
is a pain in the nuts
when it's your career
to be down in the dumps
tidings of comfort and joy
really suck
I feel like st. Nicholas
is pulling my leg
This thing we call christmas
is a sorry black plague
This holiday season
is all the more reason
all the more reason
to die...
http://www.eschew.net/archives/000785.php
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03:08 pm
[Link] | It's definitely that time of year again. Yep, Christmas is just 'round the corner... wtf? It's the beginning of november! Well, I'm going by my local shopping centre, and that's THE standard to judge by! The $2 shop can be excused, it sells decorations in bulk, plastic santas, misseltoe, raindeer. But then, the jewlery stores already have the reindeer in their displays, fake snow, big fat jolly santas all over the place, and the mandatory Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. So do the supermarkets. And the post office can't help but start getting in that jolly mood (somewhere in July)...
Ok, REALITY CHECK. It's already in the 30-s outside, by the time Christmas comes, it'll be close to 40 (that's well over 100 degrees F). I seriously can't remember the last time I saw a fat old guy wearing red and white furs in the middle of the bloody AUSTRALIAN SUMMER! On top of that, wtf is a reindeer and when was the last time anyone ever spotted one in the outback?! (Ok, I know what a reindeer is, point is, you don't see them much on this hemisphere). Another thing - we don't have chimneys down here. Who needs a fireplace?! It'd probably be designated a fire hazard and put you in increased danger of starting a bushfire. So much for santa!
What it comes down to is one giant two month SALE that you can't get away from, no matter where you turn! In a week or so, the only music that you'll be able to hear in shopping centres, supermarkets, department stores, post offices and even ELEVATORS will be countless reinterpretations of about 10 carols and a couple of Christmas songs (Jingle Bell Rock is always a favourite ;)).
Allright, I know it's all been said before, rampant consumerism, commercialisation, capitalism bla bla bla. But I have never come accross something SO irrelevant to Australia as Christmas (appart from the religious significance)! So here's my proposition for change. Instead of reindeer, we can have kangaroos (they look similar enough, you can even paint their noses red if you like). Instead of santa in furs, have a big aussie bloke in a red and white singlet and shorts, and he can knock on your door like normal people (instead of busting in like a burglar :)) And we can make it an annual tradition to go down to the beach on Christmas day (or meet anywhere really) and have a nice big BBQ serving kangaroo steak and beer ;)) So when the kiddies ask, mummy what happened to Rudolph...?!
You get the point.
Current Mood: Ranting
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02:36 am
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my first talking of crap :)
2:36 AM. Had an Administrative Law exam today. Scorcher of a day, we were stuck in a tiny room, on a different campus, no airconditioning, no flow of air. Just a room full of sweaty, stinky bodies, scribbling away on pieces of paper, stuff which is meant to be logical, coherent, intellectual and legal arguments. Try that when it's mid thirties and the guy sitting next to you smells like a visit to the zoo when you were a kid... Brain already feels like it needs a holiday to Tahiti to recover from the day's mental strain, yet I have to get back into it starting tomorrow, two more exams coming up.
Wondering if anyone actually reads these things?! I have realised the attraction of blogging - people like to talk about themselves ;) Feels good to sit here and talk crap, mostly about you, knowing that someone out there will read it hehehehehhehee
damn I love the internet.
Current Mood:  tired
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equusaustralus's journal