Weebl and Bob, you are known as the most professional of...things...

This influenza thingy is most unfair. It won't bloody well go away. I've had it for weeks now (okay, not nearly as long as Kelly, but Kel is a naturally happy person and you can't really tell when she's not well cos she's so nice, whereas I'm a whinger through and through), and it seems to hate me. If there's anyone out there to whom the flu is nice, I will have you dragged out into the street and comically dispatched by a steamroller which is on fire.

There seem to be three options:
-Take hospital-strength antibiotics, which turn you into an insomniac or make you narcoleptic or explode your gastrointestinal tract, or all of the above.
-Take garden-variety medicines, like paracetemol and aspirin, which really don't do all that much, they just pretend to, so you need to believe in them for them to have the placebo effect.
-Die. This offers 100% chance of curing your flu condition, but has a nasty side-effect.
Faced with these choices, I have gone for the second one. But as I have not yet built a shrine to Herron, the godess of curement of what ails you, my throat feels like it's been napalmed, my head feels like it's the Chernobyl reactor, seconds from meltdown, and everything else feels like my entire body is in traction.

I know everyone else has the flu, so do what I do...whinge about it. It makes you feel better. Actually, I made that up. But whinging is good for your bladder. Or something.

In other exciting STOP PRESS news, my cat Lille likes Kelly. This is extraordinary, as she never goes near anyone unless they're part of my immediate family.

I'm going to bed. Maybe I shall sleep. Maybe when I wake up, my dog will be able to fly. Maybe not...

Who's got the pills when I need them?

Righto, this is an ultraupdate, although not particularly lengthy.

Last night, the Blue Devils strode on to the field at Stepney ICA for our indoor soccer final against Chewy Onya Boot. This, we felt, was going to be a huge game: Chewy Onya Boot had obliterated The DBTs (our arch-nemesis) 12-4 in order to get to this game. They were a new-look team, and could obviously play excellent football. Adding to this, our key striker Angus, of MC Nab fame, had just left the country, and star "hey-I'll-play-everywhere-and-you-can-watch-me-kill-them-all" player Stevo was still out with his leg injury. But already things were looking good before the game started...Raf, Patrick and I were putting shots on target, and Ron was saving them, when we doubted any keeper could. So then, the game began...
It was Sarah who got the crucial first goal for us, very early into the game, and from the sideline I could see that all of our players were psyched. Ron pulled off some incredible saves that denied the laws of physics, and Raf ran riot. That isn't to say we had their measure; Chewy Onya Boot always pressed every advantage they found. I came on in the second quarter to replace Kadds, but not long after, a defensive error on my part gave the opposition a goal, and soon thereafter, my shin was hacked into near-oblivion. Before the end of the quarter, Alex Horner came on to replace me, but my respite was shortlived...at half-time, Raf came off after being thoroughly tired out from his successful attempts to imitate the go-everywhere playing style of Stevo, and Patrick was sidelined, having been temporarily blinded. Kadds and I had our work cut out for us in defence, and yet, somehow, we both held the line, due in no small part to the awesome keeping of Ron, who dealt with everything that got past us. The pressure of the situation could be shown by the penalties: Blue Devils had two, and Chewy had one. The first penalty was by them, and was saved by Ron with ease, despite being a good shot. I took our first, and put it on target with some grand power that Raf would call the JJ Shot--Jumbo Jet Shot--but it too was saved, and Patrick took our second penalty in the last quarter, just putting it over the bar.
In the end, the scoreline does not do the game justice. The Blue Devils emerged triumphant, with a win to the score of 5-2, our goals being scored by Sarah (3) and Pat (2). The game certainly felt closer than that, but we took our chances well. How difficult it was was definitely shown by the fact that all of us were dead on our feet at the end of the game, except Raf, who collapsed and couldn't feel his left side. We supposed kicking it might make him feel it. He didn't take us up on the offer.
So we got awarded beanies that say we're the premiers, and also we get our team name on a trophy up in the ICA bar.

*Choke*

Yep, the flu is back with a vengeance. I am stupidly sick.

*Cough*

I've been perusing other blogs, because I should update my links on the sidebar. The ones I visited recently are those of:

• Illmo (his new blog, as he buggered up the last one)
• Shaun (one of the cool Blackwood Boys)
• Denley (the great Hungarian NerdMaster)
• Sammie (or SammWAH to Dangerous Tom, who is TommWAH to Sammie...)
• So-Lou (who I've met only twice or something, but who seems really nice and is going out with Shaun)
• Peanut

After deliberations lasting all of fourteen microseconds, I decided to link to five of them, because of their coolness and merit. So you shall find links to Illmo's Youth Against Fascism, Shaun's Shaunius's Land of Blog and Photos, Denley's Nerd Blog: For All Things Nerdy, Sammie's Sammie-o, and So-Lou's Blog.

In other news, Kelly can't soekk...I mean, spell. =)

Till next time, sports fans!

Found myself in an awkward situation: I've come out tonight without my medication

Well, we're back at uni, and so I suppose it's time for me to update as well.
Let's see...

First of all, TRAVESTY McSHITE! The UniBar pool tables are now 40c more expensive! This means that, instead of the traditional $1.60 fare, it's now $2.00 to play, all in $1.00 coins! Can you believe it!! I could cry. In fact, I might.

*sob*

Had some lectures today. Philosophy: Mind, Knowledge and God is basically ToK, according to our lecturer, who is fat and weird. He is of the belief that we can will a rabbit to exist by power of thought. Also, he posed us the question: "Can a kettle talk?"
Someone replied that a kettle makes noise, and if that noise could be interpreted in a meaningful way, then the kettle can indeed talk. This guy is hence known as "Nonce", or indeed, "The Kettle Whisperer".
WeirdFatLecturer then spoke about the nature of God (if indeed there is such a thing), asking us all to challenge anything he said if we felt like it. Someone challenged him. He changed the topic.

Then we went to History. History was conducted by a very angry American guy, who insists that a century can last three hundred years and Africa is better than Europe, despite Europe being better. Or something. He was difficult to understand because he flew into a rage the moment everything worked perfectly. Maybe he's not used to it.

Politics lecture was in the McMed School (thanks, Frontman of Kraukus!), because evidently Dr. Bhumitra Chakma had an epiphany...if we go to the Med section and the students give us stimulants, we might stay awake during lectures. Kelly and I headed straight for the sedative section.

Finally, I had German, which was intense, given I haven't spoken or read German for about eight weeks. No matter, it was alright.

When I got to the UniBar, I challenged Denley to ExpensivePool. I should have won, but for the fact that I did not. I told Denley to consider me angry. He told me to consider him Denley. I did.

Now I am home, and I have changed my Politics tute time so I don't need to be awake so stupidly early tomorrow. Wahoo!

Needing caffeine. Drinking now.

If you wish, these ramblings can be attributed to my relative lack of sobriety

Just a few thoughts I was having as of now, while I'm sitting at my desk, drinking hot chocolate after coming home from Angus' great 18th party...

There are certain people in the world who are just wonderful. You know, the ones who had things going on in their lives the same time you did, and yet they didn't want to draw attention to what was going on with them, they just cared about what happened with you. These types of people are the ones who are truly magnificent friends. They genuinely care, and they're just always nice. They're honest with you at all times, but never scathing. They always try and find a silver lining for every cloud in your life.
And then, in the midst of all this, things suddenly start getting better for them, in their own lives. And it doesn't matter even if you feel envious that things go right for them and not quite for you; even with that, you are happy, so happy for them, in fact, that you would not trade their satisfaction for your own.

There are also certain people in the world who I've been guilty of severely misjudging. Maybe at some level I dislike certain things about them, but it's the same with everyone, even best friends. But in certain situations, these people show their true colours, and you just can't help but like them more. I'm not doing this thought justice at the moment, but I can't think of the words I'm looking for...

Rumours, hearsay and whispers can be malicious things. Regardless of what you believe, no one is there for your own personal entertainment. If you think they are, it's time you grew up and realised that such feelings do not make you respectable in any way, shape or form.

Alcohol is not a bad thing. It's fun to have a bit to drink (although not to get totally smashed, I imagine, due to the copious amounts of vomiting and headaches that follow). Never, ever, begrudge someone just because they like to drink.

At certain times, you lean back and think, "can things get any better?" Usually, they can. But for those times, contentment is wonderful. Use it for good as well. If you're content, think about other people, and what (if anything) you can do for them. They are, after all, your friends.

The Rubik's Cube is the tool of Satan.

No matter what, you are never alone. There's always someone who cares.

Don't mess with Phil.

You can almost taste the excitement...and the flavour is brick

Gadzooks and conflagrations of blue flame!
The Blue Devils are into the finals in the Stepney indoor soccer competition!

Last night, we took on Bored of the Beckhams, with our favourite tosser, Dave, leading their woefully undermanned team. They started with only three players, and we quickly stamped our authority on the game. Angus McNab Main, playing his final game with us, came away with a grand total of seven goals, and our everlasting respect, owing to his fly-kick challenge on Dave. The final score was 15-5. Other scorers included Paddy, Alex Horner, Sarah, Kadds and I believe Raf may have gotten one before being sent to keep. The only worry from the game is that Ron injured his ankle, which required him to be taken off in the first quarter.
On the sidelines, Stevo and I laughed deliriously at Dave, who scored a penalty while his team was still 12-2 down, and then conducted the most elaborate celebration of said goal ever. Stevo's stitches almost burst from laughing about two minutes later, when Dave tried a backheel shoot which was woeful. Also, his call "over here!" was pegged as The Most Useless Call of the Game by Stevo, who explained: "he could mean anywhere!"

I'll write more later, but not now. Suffice to say, we're into the final. And it's good. Especially that we're not against The DBTs...

"Ah cannae hold it t'gether, Captain!"...but he always did...

Saddening news today, but not entirely unexpected: James Doohan, the Canadian actor famous for his portrayal of Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott ("Scotty") aboard the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: The Original Series, as well as seven movies of the franchise and a guest appearance on Star Trek: The Next Generation, has died, aged 85.
James was probably the most well-loved of all the Original Series actors, and indeed may well be the actor who most endeared himself to all fans of all series of Star Trek, owing to the lovable nature of Scotty. It was once said that even people who have never heard of Star Trek would recognise the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty."
James loved all his fans, and told his agent on many occasions that if an actor didn't sign autographs for fans, they should "go sell shoes somewhere". Now that's an actor who looked after his fans...
James' ashes are to be launched into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in the United States...probably the only time Scotty went into space and wasn't tinkering with the engines.
Other Original Series actors who have passed through the Definitely Final Frontier are Mark Lenard, who played Sarek, Spock's father and ambassador of Vulcan, as well as the Romulan commander from Balance of Terror, and DeForrest Kelley, who played the irrepressible Doctor Leonard McCoy, known by Kirk as "Bones" (or "Pille" if in Germany).

Carl Sagan said that we're all "star stuff". Now it seems James Doohan really is. Rest in peace, Scotty.

"So if a girl came up and straddled you..."

...and I'm not going to finish that quote from Tara. Lovely girl. Odd questions, though...

Where to begin...?
Friday night, the Blue Devils played The Gladiators in indoor soccer, and we were less than full-strength, because:

• Andrew Stevenson is still injured and unable to play for the rest of the season.
• Sarah Tirimacco wasn't playing.
• Awesome striker Pat Coleman and stalwart defender Andrew Kadis were both surviving on about 120 mins of sleep, and were thus exhausted.
• Angus Main, Polish import extraordinaire, isn't 100% fit at present.
• I've got the flu.
• Raf Jose was carrying an injury of some description.
• Thuc Le Tat was keeping for the first time in about 20 weeks, and therefore was out of practice.

Despite these shortcomings, we trounced our opposition 13-6, with Patrick now on 36 goals in 36 quarters played. The semi-final is this Friday at 7:30, everyone should rock up to support us. Because you know you want to...

Saturday...nothing happened, I think. Or if it did, I can't remember it.

Sunday night was Simon's party. When I arrived, I was greeted by a vaguely intoxicated Simon who introduced me to a vaguely intoxicated someone else. Then, Kelly and I drove down to Unley to pick up Angus.
On the way back, we discovered a neat phenomenon. We were driving on a road that looked, felt, smelt and tasted like Old Belair Road, but it wasn't! How do we know this?
Well, Kelly won't drive on Old Belair Road, so it seems that everything that makes Old Belair Road Old Belair Road was actually a figment of my imagination. And Angus'.

Simon's was awesome. When we arrived again we discovered that "vague intoxication" had become "smashed". I'm pretty sure Tang was the first casualty. Jacob and Angus discovered the organ, I discovered the Strongbow, and Denley and I were knocking them back as we discussed a myriad of things. In the meantime, Tara relayed to us The Continuing Saga Of Tara's Love Life. This would never ever be picked up by soapie writers, because it is too implausible. Basically, for those of you who want to read about love, sex and everything in between, do yourselves a favour: don't waste your money on trashy romance novels, just ask Tara instead. Seriously, though, as I said before, she is a lovely girl.
Also at the party were none other than Dangerous Tom, Brent, Jenkinz, Ron, Jojo and Mia, to name but a few. Mia reprised the role of Zorro perfectly, attacking anyone and anything with her sword. Tang bit Kelly, so Kelly hit Tang with a fake lobster. This may also have been because Tang kept calling Kelly "Ali". Jacob entertained all and sundry with his organ-based version of the Super Mario Bros. theme, which was cool. Ron wanted to kill him, because Ron is infatuated with Sonic the Hedgehog.
Matters took a turn for the worst when Kelly lost the connizzle for her glizzle-stizzle. Happily it was recovered.

Eventually, I left with Jo and Mia, and we attempted to navigate sidestreets that decided to no longer exist. But we made it home anyway.

And today we played pool at the bar, and I bought a pack of cards from the casino. And Jason, this one's for you: QUOTHA!!!!!

Why can't it be dreary?!

Due to *someone's* sick sense of humour (if you are religious), or due to a supreme amount of bad luck (if you're not), today is the first day in about a month that there's been sunshine and nice weather, and...
...I'm sick with the flu. Great fun. And I only just caught it. Even better.

Yesterday, a P-plate-brandishing Kelly turned up at my house and we watched copious amounts of CSI, which is cool, and Billy Connolly, who is undeniably the funniest man on Earth. Kelly being proud of her drivingness, we drove to Mia's to pick up Kel's stuff from the weekend, and later we took a veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery long detour to get to Cross Road McDonalds for dinner. In the interim, EmT got a visit from us, and we laughed at the dodginess of ABC Kids. It was good having Kelly over, she's cool.
At 2:10am this morning, Jojo rang and wanted to see if she could come over and visit. Sorry, Jo, but everyone had only just gone to bed, myself included. Five minutes earlier, and you would've been more than welcome!

Seems I can't win a trick these days; for some reason, various people seem to be pissed with me, and I have no idea why. It's a great feeling, not knowing what's going on...or rather, knowing what's going on, but not knowing why.

My 19th birthday is fast approaching...six weeks, six days to go! In the meantime, I should hopefully have secured my Ps, and for that reason, on my birthday I reckon I'm gonna go driving around all morning/early afternoon visiting people because I can. This, of course, all depends on whether I have any friends left by then...

Oh well, soccer tonight. I'll try to play well, but given back and flu problems, I don't think I'll be all that good...

The Blowing Up CDs Review

Okay, I've decided I want to review a CD I've sorta-recently purchased, because...well, I'm bored.

OASIS
Don't Believe The Truth
(Sony/BMG)
Not much has been heard of Oasis for a little while; after Definitely Maybe and (What's The Story) Morning Glory, they kinda fell off the scope, leaving us with two songs in particular as their legacy (Wonderwall and Don't Look Back In Anger). Was this it?
No, they answered this year, with the release of Don't Believe The Truth. Various reviewers declared it to be the best thing they've ever done.
Truth is a great album. It takes some getting used to, but it really is. Of course, the most recognised song is Lyla, the first single, but this isn't the best song on the album. There are nice contrasts throughout, from the raw vocals of Turn Up The Sun to the hauntingly mellow Let There Be Love. Also, the album segues between modern soft-rock and Beatles-type sounds; The Importance of Being Idle (my favourite song on the album) sounds like it could have been taken off The White Album, somewhere near Rocky Raccoon.
There's a huge amount of discord on the CD, but it doesn't grate on the ears; indeed, the disparity beween the raw and the soft, the modern and the classic, meld nicely to form an album that is not only an excellent one to listen to, but also leaves you with that feeling you get when you try to do something ambitious and difficult, and succeed in it magnificently. As I'm sure Noel and Liam Gallagher felt when they released it.
There's nothing on here that will ever have the Wonderwall immortality. But there doesn't need to be.
THE BLOWING UP SPACE VERDICT: 9 stars to be exploded.

"I'm Ali. Sorry for the delay."

Today, the plan was to all meet in the UniBar at 12. Unfortunately for us, Raf was late. But Ron should not kill him. This is because Raf was not the only one who was late; in fact, only Denley, Ron, Tate and I turned up to the UniBar, the rest being late/non-existent.
The plan further stipulated that we go to Hindley Street Cinemas to see the 12:40 screening of The Fantastic Four. Ron got a phone call from Stephanie: apparently there was no 12:40 screening! But Stephanie was wrong, and yet again, Raf was saved from the wrath of Ron.
The film itself was enjoyable. Certainly not classic cinema, but then, it doesn't pretend to be. Starring Ioan Gruffudd, famed for his role as Horatio Hornblower in the BBC TV series Hornblower (and one of my favourite actors because of that), as well as the oh-so-lovely Jessica Alba of Dark Angel fame (Raf, keep your jaw off the ground, please), it's a fun romp through Marvel Comics' world of superheroes. You really don't need to think at all...just sit back, relax and enjoy. Some may not like it because it keeps the comic book feel: it's reasonably light on character development in favour of action and a clear plot, but it's a neat film to just relax with. Six and a half stars at least.

Afterwards, everyone went to the Pancake Kitchen, but I had to go to uni to get a German mark. While there, I met up with Kelly and, incredibly, Jenkins! Yes, he still exists! We decided to visit Ali at McDonalds, where we laughed at her sexy pants. Then, it was pancake time; they really are repulsive, but you still feel obliged to eat them...

A big cheerio to Lauren and Dylan, who are off to Melbourne for a week! Enjoy yourselves!!
Also, heartfelt thanks to Emma T., Kelly, Ali, Lauren and Courtney. You all know, respectively, what for...

The saga of the idiot system

Once, there lived a desktop computer and an ADSL modem. They gave the impression that they lived in perfect harmony. Unfortunately, the desktop computer had been infected by a malicious social disease. This we shall name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition. Thereafter, conversations between the computer and the modem went something like this...

PC: "Hey, if you transfer data I shall provide you with a USB port so you can live."
Modem: "Sure thing, dude."
*Two hours later*
PC: "Still transferring data?"
Modem: "You better believe it."
PC: "Good, cos I'm cutting off your supply of USB goodness. HA! Die, bitch! Die!"
Modem: "You conniving bastard! The connection is gone!" *Screams*
PC: "Bwahahahahahahahaha! All your base are belong to us!"
*Five minutes later*
Modem: "You do realise that Bodie is now at the point where, if you don't have an internet connection in the next fourteen seconds, he'll throw you out the window, don't you?"
PC: "Oh hell...here, have a USB port."

Here endeth the story.

One ticket to Miamimagi, return...

KAPOW!
With this one word, I think I can describe many things about the weekend. I might focus on the (mostly) pleasant ones, though...

HAPPY EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY, AMELIA!

Yes, that's right: Our favourite Zorro is now eighteen years old, and to celebrate the occasion, in the hilariously early hours of Saturday morning we all met at Mia's to sojourn to the ZorroFarm. My travelling companions were Juan, Caitlin and Raf, and we piled into the pristine FerdinandMarcosMobile, which then travelled as far as the fuel station, where it was washed, polished and reconditioned. Suitably clean for Juan's liking, the car then zoomed to the Main North Road McDonalds, where we breakfasted. mmmm, Bacon and Egg McMuffin: how can something so tasteless be so yummy?
Then, we resumed our trip, some two hours behind schedule. In this time, Juan brought out the Hunting Voice, when some tosser in a WRX thought he was better than us, by tailgating.
Though we missed the turn-off to ZorroFarm when the road branches off towards Clare, we presently regained our course, stopping at about 12:30 or so in Clare to have lunch. In that time, we discovered the Onga Pump Shop, which sells pumps for ongas. That sounds kinda kinky.
Also we discovered the joys of navigating for public toilets.
When we finally made it to ZorroFarm, we had experienced Raf singing in his sleep: Green Day's Minority, as it was playing on the stereo! But he was 3 seconds out of time...

ZorroFarm is ultramegafabutastically COOL! There's a mouse-proof barn (the ZorroDorm), a quarry and a bonfire. The bonfire was nice and warm. Dangerous Tom (aka Dangerizzle) and I toasted many marshmizzles on that fire. It was pretty fabulizzle. And we spoke like this. It was hilarious. Kelly can provide proof for this.
There was a super barbecue with much food and the patented FatSausages. Angus likes his FatSausage (or so says Angus, anyway. I didn't try it, personally...)
Unfortunately, that night Andrew (the famed Stevo, mega-decorated soccer player extraordinaire, star of the Blue Devils) sustained a nasty injury to his leg, which resulted in him being rushed to Clare for stitches. This left us very worried as to the condition of said Stevo, but happily he is quite alright, albeit most uncomfortable. However, he shall be unable to take to the field for us for a month.
Both Mia and Stevo took turns blaming themselves for what happened. Here's my two cents: to both of you, it was no one's fault. It was an accident. Accidents happen. It didn't ruin the weekend (although I doubt it made your weekend much fun, Stevo...but I hope you had fun even so), and none of you is at fault. So don't worry.
Jacob got an ancient motorbike running. Mike Henry decided it would be a good idea to ride it. In pitch black. In fog. Over an uneven field. Without a light. Result: almost ran over Dangerizzle, Emtizzle and myself, then stacked it. Nice...
In the night, Denley, Raf, Angus, Jacobob and I played poker. I lost, but for Angus, who lost worse. Then I read with Kelly for a while, and Angus informed us that his pants are a static electricity power plant. We fell asleep, very very cold, but safe in the knowledge that if there was a power failure, we could simply plug in Angus Main...

When we awoke, we discovered a few things:

1. Denley had only just gone to bed.
2. The water bottle might just as well have frozen.
3. I had stolen Kelly's pillow in my sleep.
4. Raf had toppled to the wood floor.
5. The bonfire was still alive, despite wind, rain and, incredibly, SNOW!
6. There was not an electrical lead into Angus' pants. Thus, power was still operational.
7. Overnight, Mia had become an ADULT!

Well, we'd already said happy birthday to Mia. Now we did it more. Then, Kelly declared her need to pee. As she does.
Photos, cake, lunch and presents later, it was time to leave ZorroFarm. The seating arrangements had changed in the FerdinandMarcosMobile (now called Condoleezza), as Juan had traded our Raf for Jo's Stephanie. So we took off again, this time bound home. We bade ZorroFarm a teary goodbye, minus tears or a goodbye, but with good memories.
Things learnt on the return trip:

• When playing Eye-spy, no matter what the letter is that the object begins with, the answer is "poonani" (Juan discovered this)
• If the letter is 'S', the answer is probably 'Stephanie' (Stephanie discovered this)
• I am lame at coming up with Eye-spy objects (everyone discovered this)

So we're back. Oh, but must not forget....Questionable Quotes from ZorroFarm:

Kelly: "I can't believe he kept looking over at us and didn't realise we were doing it."
EmT: "We were doing it all night!"

Matt: "Pull me!"
EmO: "Where?!"

Matt: "Pull me! Pull me harder!"
EmO: "Pull yourself!"

Angus: "I can't wear boxers. They generate static electricity in my groin. Especially when I'm wearing school trackpants; they rub."

The questionable quote to end all questionable quotes is on the sidebar, though...

Keep it rizzle, my nizzles!

What are we coming to?

Well, I'm once again back at home! YAY! My old bed is so much nicer than the one at the Bodie Mansion...

News is filtering to our screens about the outrage in London. Whoever is to blame, you bastards should rot in a fucking hole. For Christ's sake, these people are INNOCENT, commuting to work. My cousin is in London. She was in a Tube station when the attacks occured. She could have been injured or killed (thank every single god that she wasn't), but what the hell did she ever do to whoever did this? She's a chef!
But there are others who weren't so lucky as my cousin: underground railway-goers or bussing into town, they've been blown apart without knowing why. You sadistic bastards...

Bodie Ashton wishes to convey his most profound condolences and sympathies to the people of the United Kingdom, and specifically London, in this time of suffering. I'm ever so sorry...

Living life in the Mansion, courtesy of Live8, live on FOX8

Right, Sir Bob Geldof is a genius. I don't care if you don't like the fact that his anti-authority airs from his Boomtown Rats days clashes with him being knighted. I don't care if you don't like the fact that he's usually rude to journalists (actually, that's good...unless they're interviewing Tom Cruise, they usually deserve everything they get). I don't care if you don't like him. The man is the brains behind BandAid, LiveAid and now, 20 years later, Live8. And what a show it was.
In London, the crowd in Hyde Park was estimated to be between 200,000 and 400,000, with further estimates reaching even higher. In addition, he organised simultaneous shows in Berlin, Paris, Rome, Johannesburg, Tokyo, Moscow, Philidelphia, Toronto and Cornwall (the last one being for African stars, as run by Peter Gabriel).
But this splendid display of charity and altruism aside, let's talk about the show itself.
On Saturday night/Sunday morning, Bodie Mansion was inundated with people, all coming to watch Live8 and partake of a pretty cool barbecue. Best performance of the 10 hour marathon goes to Green Day for their Berlin gig...American Idiot, 200m from the US Embassy. Classic. Billie-Joe, I'll forgive your crap German accent and inability to say anything other than Danke schön, Deutschland, on account of you being Billie-Joe. Other cool performances included Stereophonics, The Who, Pink Floyd, Robbie Williams, and some Italian girl whose figure was far more impressive than her singing. Brent, stop drooling...

Events of the evening:
21:00-Barbecue begins. Much sausages to be had by all.
23:00-Live8 begins, but we miss it because we're too busy playing Halo. Cait reminds us. We watch Live8.
23:30-Ali, JAmes, Matt Kelly and I sojourned to the British Hotel for a pint. Yay for Pale Ale, I think Raf was jealous.
00:15-Returned. Soon after, Green Day and Stereophonics were blasting through the speakers. Caitlin complained of a vibrating couch.
01:00-Angus suggested that Stephanie wants him really badly. Stephanie thence attempted to murder the treacherous Pole.
03:00-At this point, most people had departed, maybe scared away by Destiny's Child. There remained Brent, Dangerous Tom, Ali, JAmes, Raf, Angus and I. We pressed on and made more sausages.
05:25-Brent, Dangerous Tom, Angus and I ventured to McDonalds on West Terrace in order to purchace a bacon and egg McMuffin and a medium Sprite. We had to traverse the space outside Heaven. It was ghastly. More so was the stench of stale vomit in McDonalds. Worse, Angus tried in vain to buy a soft-serve ice cream...it seems every soft-serve machine on the planet is being cleaned/serviced/mutilated at 6am on a Sunday. On the return journey, we feared Dangerous Tom and Brent were about to be rolled. Perhaps their shadowers were just drunk and stupid. Also, Brent was almost run down by a paddywagon that screamed across the Hindley Street-King William Street intersection and sped into the Mall.
07:00-Returned from treacherous journey. I remained conscious until 8, and then I went to bed for 80 minutes.
09:20-Woke up. Raf started watching Phone Booth. Brent stole the guest bedroom. Ali and JAmes departed for the train, Raf departed for his automobile, Dangerous Tom dangerously vacuumed while I packed the dishwasher, and Brent continued to snooze.
11:00-Brent and Dangerous Tom left. I packed up my trusty PC and removed it to the Highgate Residence. Which is why I am able to post.
Tomorrow is free pool and the requirement for much coffee. Mmmm....caffeine and much sugar...

What more can a poor boy do...?

Hello everyone!
Yes, I know...Blowing Up Space took a week-long hiatus. There is a reason for this: the internet connection at the Bodie Mansion went kapow, kablazmo, mitsuhirato, origami and suzuki vitara. Fear not, though! I shall be departing the Mansion by Tuesday, which means that on Tuesday, I shall suddenly have the ability to post and exist online, such as we see now (I am at my Highgate residence presently..."I have an English house, an Australian house and a Scottish house, I'm a very bloody wealthy person.")
Seriously, though, the last week or so has been impressively interesting, but for the moment, I shall only talk about the absolutely fantastic bit:
-Last night, the Blue Devils took on our arch-nemesis: the DBTs. They've beaten us the last two times we have met. Then again, we haven't played them with Sarah or Angus on our side before...Result: the DBTs were annihilated, to the tune of 13-2. One of their goals should be counted as an Angus goal, because he kinda set it up for them. No matter...our percentage is now over 300%, and (and and and) I scored a penalty...the first one I've actually put in all season! Hurrah!

Finally, the DangerMasons have a new site: www.dangermasons.blogspot.com, but it is not ready yet.
Bye all!