The Stubby Holder Adventure

Cheerio - for a while....

2012-01-24T13:55:00.002+11:00

Well, it is now just over 5 days til I return to work, and I might be going on a road trip to Rutherglen this weekend coming.

So that's enough of this brief burst of blogging.

Given I have now got access to a free internet terminal at my local library, I might actually start blogging more regularly again this year, but I think I will get back to enjoying my few days of rest remaining, and then coping with the shock of returning to work after 9 weeks away (ugh).

The collapse of the Wilkie-Gillard pact

2012-01-24T13:35:00.002+11:00

Well, I suppose just like the deal between Hitler and Stalin in 1939, the deal between Andrew Wilkie and Julia Gillard did not have an indefinite life, and all is over now.

Having seduced the heavy drinking Peter Slipper away from the coalition (and I have been told exactly what is in that infamous video believed to be circulating which Slipper is so nervous about, so I can understand why he would want to drink even more than usual), Andrew Wilkie is no longer of any use to Gillard.

It makes for a very interesting time for the Gillard government, with the next federal election due sometime in the spring of 2013 - now doesn't time fly.

I would have to say that Whitlam did have his good points (he did end conscription, cut tariffs, and introduce a lot of reforms to administrative law to make the burgeoning government more accountable for its actions), and that Hawke-Keating were pretty good on economic reform.

Rudd-Gillard however, has been a government which has been running on empty since it started - wanting to be in government for the simple sake of being in government, rather than to do any good for the Australian nation. It's hard to think of any worse government than this mob - perhaps Fraser or Gorton-McMahon - and it does take a bit of head scratching to think of any government which has lurched from crisis to crisis the way that Rudd and now our Julia has done.

It makes for quite some comedy though - luckily all the work done in the 25 years of Hawke, Keating & Howard will take a while to come undone, so Julia's incompetance is not yet really going to hurt us too much. The betrayal of Andrew Wilkie's deal on poker machines would not be such a big deal (I think it is definitely not an issue for federal government involvement), except that it shows Julia to be both sneaky and weak. Listening to that highly annoying Penny Wong whine that there was not the support in the House of Reps for Wilkie's plans just shows how weak Gillard's government is.

However, there is one thing I want to see far more than Gillard's government defeated, and that is to see Rob Oakeshot unseated. That chap seems interested in only one thing - feathering his own nest - and has no principles. Listening to his justifications as to why he abandoned the national party, who had (a) given him a job as a staffer, (b) given him a safe state seat, and (c) promoted him to state shadow cabinet, because he didn't really believe in their politics (he only went and worked for them because he needed a job), just goes to demonstrate what a shallow, self-interested, disloyal and unprincipled person he is.

Whilst on the subject of the coming election - I think I will make one reflection on Gillard's stupid decision to call the last election for August 2010 (the only August election we ever have had). Expecting one's supporter base to turn out in deep winter, when it is so wet and cold and dark, to man those polling booths and do all the hack work, just shows that Gillard has nothing but contempt for the average ALP member who does the leg work for her. It must be so long since she had any connection with those people that she does not understand the degree of hardship she puts her elderly supporters through when she calls an election for the most uncomfortable time of the year.

Sauv Blanc weather

2012-01-24T13:20:00.002+11:00

Well, we've got a bit of a heat wave going on, and as there is little worth seeing in the cinemas (saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy this morning - great film), I think that the best way to cope with the weather is with some chill white wine.

Did dinner with some friends at Jim Wong's in Footscray last night, and two bottles of Sauvignon Blanc. Really helped make the heat a bit more bearable.

I don't normally drink white wine, but acquired a few bottles incidentally in recent months from various wine club related deliveries, and this is the perfect time, before I return to work, to get around to getting rid of them by drinking them.

Also sorely tempted to buy some of the very very cheap sparkling wine on sale for under five bucks at the local bottleshop - those are also perfect for this sort of weather.

Other decent wines I am pondering include dolcetto (maybe a bit too sweet), cienna, and moscato - the latter is usually pretty low alcohol.

Another reason I am thinking about white wines and light wines is that, aside from my super-premium reds, I have, in recent months, drank most of my collection of decent red wine.

Some moral arguments for the registration of cyclists

2012-01-24T13:04:00.002+11:00

It often grieves me sorely to see cyclists ignoring road rules, riding on the footpath, and generally making a public nuisance of themselves in their technicolour lycra.

Indeed, it makes me gnash my teeth in rage.

Hence, it always warms the cockles of my heart when prominent members of the community call for the regulation of public cycling, through such measures as registration plates on bicycles etc.

Pondering this issue, I am greatly surprised that most cyclists don't agree with me that further regulation of cyclists is a good thing.

You see, the thing about cyclists is that they seem to be over represented amongst green voters and other trendy latte leftist sorts - the type of people who generally tend to support higher taxation and regulation of other aspects of peoples' lives. They are the sort of people who would want to over-regulate or ban gun ownership, introduce health warnings onto fast food or alcohol, increase taxes on cigarettes, and generally try to use legislation to control most aspects of peoples' lives.

Not a nice bunch.

Even non-leftist cyclists are into over-regulating life. Look at Tony Abbott, the most right wing cyclist around. As a Howard government minister, he sought to introduce the 'access card', which, effectively, would be a national ID card - something which most believers in individual rights would be appalled at (I know I am - but I have expressed my dislike of Abbott repeatedly).

Consequently, I think that a proper registration scheme for cyclists would be not only good and proper, but it would also fit in well with the cyclists' general political world view - one of using government to interfere and regulate private life to an unhealthy degree.

I think that a registration system, with proper charges and fees, would be good for cyclists for the following reasons:

. myself and the other 70% of the population who resent cyclists would have less reason to resent them for freeloading on the roads and ignoring road rules & common courtesy

. it would be easier to identify and punish the many rogue cyclists who break the road rules

. money raised in the registration scheme could get spent on building some more bike paths (I think Coode Island would be a great location for a bike track)

. theft of expensive bicycles by poorer cyclists (remember that many cyclists are thieves) would be harder

. cyclists who do sick things like expose themselves in parks would get caught immediately, rather than taking the police months to hunt down and apprehend.

Ah... if only we lived in a more perfect world where cyclists would be able to benefit directly thus from their love of government regulation.

One week of vacation left...

2012-01-21T10:40:00.002+11:00

Alas, all good things come to an end at some point, and I find myself, after 8 weeks, with only one week of holidays left before I return to the rat race.

Barring the miracle of a lottery win of course - which is very unlikely (when I studied probability in year 11 maths, it turned out to be odds of over 8 million to one).

Joined my local library for the first time in over a decade and a half the other day. Not so that I can borrow books (I have a library of about 1500 books which is uniquely tailored to my personal intellectual interests in far more detail than the shallow range of pulp bestsellers and school project level non-fiction you can find in most public libraries), but so that I can access the internet here for free. After all, I am still reluctant to get myself a home computer and internet of my own, so if I want to blog or google something of passing interest, I can do so here.

The Cold War between the IPA and the CIS

2012-01-19T18:17:00.002+11:00

I haven't mentioned the IPA in my blog in recently times. Couldn't be bothered.

However, was chatting the other day at a barbeque with some people in the know, and one of them had some interesting stuff to mention.

That is, that there is a rarely talked about Cold War between the IPA and the CIS. It seems that the people at the IPA are very insecure about CIS founder Greg Lindsay and feel very threatened by him. Apparently they think that he is a maverick that they find it very hard to deal with. [Typical sort of thing to expect of the Melbourne establishment.]

Well... I have always said that it would make sense for Greg Lindsay to roll the tanks over the border and take over the IPA. However, when you look at the history of think tanks of the past 25 years or so, it is the IPA which has a history of taking over and dismantling other right wing think tanks, such as the AIPP and the Tasman Institute. I think Greg Lindsay has more reason to be wary of the IPA than they do of him.

Ethiopian Restaurants of Footscray

2012-01-19T18:02:00.002+11:00

As I draw near to the end of my 9 week holiday, must reflect on all the Ethiopian restaurants I have been eating at in Footscray.

Off the top of my head, have been to 9.

Divided by location, they are:

Nicholson Street (in the south Mall)
. Africa Town
. Africa Cottage Cafe
. Das something or other

Nicholson Street (south of Irving St)
. Cafe Harambee
. Addis Abada

Irving Street
. Cafe Lallibela

Hopkins St (opposite the Footscray Market)
. Awash

Barkly Street (towards Victoria Street)
. Dinkhesh (Lucy)
. Shabelle

They all seem pretty good, although I think some have better ranges than others. Dinkhesh is my favorite as it is good fun to chat with the feisty owner. Africa Town is the largest (in an old State Bank of Victoria building) and probably has the widest range. Cafe Lallibella has been there the longest, and probably has the best decor. Shabelle seems to have larger servings than the other places. The particular quality of the food at Awash seems really good.

Of course, I need to visit all of them more often, so as I can form a more precise opinion as to which is the best.

There are another 3 I haven't been able to try:

. Axum - in the south mall in Nicholson - currently shut (change of management???)
. Abesha - in Barkly just near the Plough Hotel - are they on holiday or have they closed down?
. Africa Tastes - in Victoria Street south of the railway line - on a long holiday til next month.

And as I am writing so much, I might as well mention Abul, which no longer exists, but where I had a fairly happy evening about four or so years ago, and which was in Leeds Street.

As an interesting coincidence, there was an episode of the Simpsons on TV last night where Marge accidentally takes Bart & Lisa to an Ethiopian restaurant, causing the three of them to become foodies. Perhaps it making it onto the Simpsons means that Ethiopian food will become the new Thai?!?

I sure hope so - whilst I love Footscray, it would be great to have an Ethiopian restaurant in Avondale Heights, in easy walking distance.

Boycotting Non-Australian Beer

2012-01-19T17:50:00.002+11:00

Beer drinking is a very Australian thing to do. And Australians have always been proud of their beers.

Victorians, particularly, have been proud of the stable of beers which traditionally were produced by Carlton & United Breweries (the company most recently owned as the anchor in the Fosters Group beer portfolio). The main of these beers are Carlton Draught (my dad's favourite beer), Victoria Bitter, and Fosters Lager (something was still popular and marketed in Australia in my late teens, so I would drink it still from time to time to remember being on the edge of 17).

Of course, there were others - Melbourne Bitter (which I think only my late uncle Paul would drink as beer of choice), Crown Lager, and so on.

I'm not drinking any of the Fosters product anymore. It is foreign owned, so I have chosen to drink beer which is owned by Australians.

Main choices right now are:

Coopers - South Australian and family owned still

Mountain Goat - brewed here in Richmond (had a couple of Goats last night)

Broo - all shares are mandated as Australian owned.

A few others out there as well - forgot which is the one which is 25% owned by Woolworths (not a bad thing as Woolworths is an Australian company with such a widely held local shareholding that it is unlikely it will ever be subject to foreign takeover).

But the point is that I am boycotting the foreign owned product, and sticking to Australian owned beer.

Postscript to the Fosters Takeover

2012-01-19T17:48:00.000+11:00

Forgot to mention the other day that I did go to the Fosters EGM last month to vote on the takeover of the company.

I was one of the less than one percent who voted against it.

A foregone conclusion perhaps, but no way am I going to make it easier for a foreign company to own our major beer producer.

Shane Warne redeems himself through waging war on cyclists

2012-01-19T17:36:00.004+11:00

Whilst I have been away from my blog lately, I could not resist but to post today, given the overwhelming newspaper coverage of Shane Warne's feud with cyclists in general and with the cyclist who allegedly thumped Warne's car the other day - which has triggered a vicious war of words.

As well as the allegation that Shane Warne then tried to drive his Merc into the cyclist's bike, damaging it.

As the very few regular readers of this blog would recall, I vehemently dislike Shane Warne. I think he is an obnoxious and semi-literate glutton who has very little going for him aside from a particular trick of the fingers which has made him a cricket star.

However, given he hates cyclists and has declared Jihad on them (as one writer in the Herald Sun described it this morning), Shane Warne does have at least one redeeming quality.

Indeed, in a Channel 9 newspoll yesterday, in which 70000 votes were lodged, over 50000 (ie over 70%) supported Warne's call for cyclists to have registration plates on their bikes.

It is time for the lawlessness on our roads to end. Cyclists must be registered and licensed and taxed before they break more traffic laws and offend more cricketers.

I doubt that registering cyclists will stop some of the other things they do, such as expose themselves to kids (I wonder how that particular sex fiend is fairing in the justice system since he was caught), or bash their wives, or stalk their girlfriends. But it might stop them breaking traffic rules or killing elderly pedestrians with impunity.

Of course, that old Dick Tracey moral dilemma raises its head: 'Is my enemy's enemy my friend or my enemy?' After all, whilst I hate cyclists, I really don't like Shane Warne either.

Well, in this case, I can continue to hate one, and dislike the other, whilst enjoying watching the slug fest. Clearly, Warne's attack on cyclists has reawakened the deep seated resentment that Ordinary Decent Citizens have for cyclists.

I might remind readers that in the past, I have written that I would like to own a big vicious dog, whom I could train to sic onto cyclists, the way that the bogans in the Bellarine penninsula do. I would add that if I owned such a dog, I think I would name it Shane Warne.

And trust me, it would be a mongrel.

The Boredom that is Newcastle

2012-01-17T10:05:00.003+11:00

As I left my blog 7 weeks or so ago, I was en route to Newcastle - out of sheer curiousity.

I spent three days in Newcastle, and I can attest to it being one of the most boring places I have been to (OK - I think Lara is worse - but then, Lara is a very small town).

There was very little to do, although some of the pubs were quite nice, and their main restaurant drag, Beaufort Street, does not have a patch on Melbourne, Sydney, or even Adelaide.

So... I went, and I added one stubby holder (from the Lemon Grove tavern in Walls End) to remember this trip by, and I don't think I will have any reason to visit Newcastle ever again.

Life left in the book retail industry...

2012-01-17T10:01:00.003+11:00

After A&R and Borders collapsed last year, things looked rather bleak for bookshops.

Looks like there is still plenty of life in the retail business yet.

Collins has opened a new store in Moonee Ponds, occupying the site of the old A&R store, and Readers Feast has reopened with new backers in the old Georges sites in Collins Street.

Plus, the Book Grocer, whom were, until recently, a small business in Brunswick, have got a chain of very good stores which feature pretty high quality books at pretty cheap prices.

Once my holiday is over, and I have cleared my small backlog of unread books, I expect to do a lot of buying of new books this year.

Just as well that I am planning to buy a few more book cases to fit into my newly renovated lounge room.

An even longer time away from my blog....

2012-01-17T09:55:00.003+11:00

Well, it is summer and I am getting towards the end of a 9 week vacation. As I spent ten grand on getting my roof fixed, I decided not to both buying a personal computer after all, and hence have not bother blogging.

Have been spending my time eating out, drinking lots of decent wine (and some not so decent wine), gardening, and reading a heap.

As a result, have almost got to the end of my 1500 volume library - I have only a dozen and a half books left to read.

One problem is that I do tend to get enthusiastic about certain subjects, which then causes me to stock up on books in those subjects. When you then get around to reading a backlog of books on a subject you are already well read in, it can get a little, well, boring. Hence, I have read about as much as I can handle for a while about the Peloponnesian War, the Punic Wars (especially number 2), and about the life of Shakespeare (although I think that there is still a lot of hilarity to be had out of the authorship question).

Also read a couple of W.Somerset Maugham's lesser known novels, Christmas Vacation and THe Merry Go Round. Quite unputdownably engaging, and they remind me as to why, after I read Catalina, some six or so years ago, I became a huge fan of Maugham.

Ethiopian Food

2011-11-26T10:31:00.002+11:00

For some reason, have really been into Ethiopian food the past few months - it must be a combination of the spices and the injeera bread.

Living not too far from Footscray is a bonus for that. There seem to be about a dozen Ethiopian restaurants around Footscray - mostly in Nicholson St, vamping up an area which previously was the haunt of drug addicts and winos.

Have tried a few - Addis Abbada, Africa Town, Dinkesh (Lucy), Harambie, and Cafe Lallibela. And Ibex in Sunshine. All are pretty good.

Now that I am on holidays for 9 weeks, I plan, once I get back from my visit to Newcastle, to try them all out and see what they all are like.

Shall be good fun.

Peter Slipper's 30,000 pieces of silver

2011-11-26T10:22:00.002+11:00

Apparently the job of speaker of the house of reps pays $30G more than a back bench salary.

Which, along with the other attendant perks, makes it worth Peter Slipper's while to sell out the Liberal Party who have wasted a safe seat on him for the past 18 years.

Let's face it, the man is such an oxygen thief that he makes that buffoonish dolt Robert Doyle look like a statesman in comparison.

But I think that heaping a lot of criticism on Peter Slipper is not exactly fair. True, he is an ineffectual and treacherous waste of space who has contributed nothing to public life during his time in the parliament, and who has been most keen on keeping his snout firmly in the trough all that time with as much abuse of perks as possible.

But everyone in the Liberal Party hierarchy has always known that.

The problem I see is that he has been allowed to sit there on green leather for so long, wasting a safe seat which perhaps might have been given to someone more dynamic, more ethical, and more loyal. And perhaps more sober - not that I can talk, given my fondness for a tipple. He used to be a National Party MP in the 1980s, and ratted out the Nats to join the Libs in the 1990s. This is well known, and once a traitor, twice a traitor.

The betrayal has not really been that of Slipper of the Opposition - the real betrayal is that of the Queensland Liberal Party hierarchy towards its members and voters - that they inflicted this greedy and piggish clown on the voters for so bloody long. Didn't they do due diligence on him at some point and wonder what the hell they were doing keeping him in parliament in the first place?

Holidays

2011-11-26T10:17:00.002+11:00

Today is the first day of a 9 week holiday.

I usually have trouble juggling a work-life balance, but after my various health scares this year, plus some high pressure work stuff this year, time to relax for a bit. Missed out on a promotion I wasn't all that desperate to get, and decided that it is time to reassess my priorities and take some me-time.

After all, with cholestoral and pre-diabetes and borderline high blood pressure, I think I need to relax, water my tomatoes over the summer, and put my life into proper perspective.

Starting with a trip away. I am at the airport waiting for a flight to Newcastle. Have only been to Newcastle briefly for a funeral, about 5 years ago, so I am keen to spend 3 days there and have a good look around and see it. I have a feeling that, given it is on the other side of Sydney, Newcastle is as culturally different from Melbourne as any city in Australia can be.

Broo's fight to list on the ASX

2011-10-29T09:38:00.002+11:00

I'm the proud owner of 20 shares in Broo, a locally owned mircobrewery.

The founder of Broo is in the media today over his fight to list the company on the ASX. The problem Broo has is that it's company constitution prevents foreign ownership of any of its shares, and as a result, the ASX will not list it.

This is a noble fight, and I wish Groges all the best.

I also hope that he renews the 10 shares per slab offer this Australia day - I would like to add a few more shares to my holding.

And it is a pretty good beer - I quite enjoy having it with friends.

Ta ta Fosters

2011-10-29T09:33:00.002+11:00

So, to the disgust of small shareholders like myself, Fosters is being sold off to SABMiller.

A great shame - it has some iconic Victorian beers in its stable.

What this does mean is that drinkers like me who like to buy Australian product are going to boycott Fosters product.

There are some options for Australian owned beers:

. Gage Road - a good drop and 25% owned by Woolworths, which makes it pretty takeover proof

. Coopers - family owned still - and they are ruthless about keeping control of it.

. Broo - a small company which has about 6000 shareholders, including me, who got their shares by buying a slab last January.

And of course there are a lot of other mircobreweries like Mountain Goat for example - I should stop in at Mrs Parmas in Little Bourke and check out what more ones they have.

192nd Stubby Holder - the Beaufort Hotel

2011-10-29T09:30:00.002+11:00

Was in Beaufort a couple of weeks ago, looking for a weekender. There was a 4 bedroom house on a quarter acre block going for $75g.

Sadly, it was a total dump, worth a whole lot less than that.

The trip was not a total loss. Down a side street and near the railway station was the Beaufort hotel, a rather large but empty pub with a few photos of the local footy team on the wall.

Stopped there for a beer and picked up the 192nd stubby holder for my collection.

Haven't written off Beaufort in terms of a place where I might buy a place or some land sometime soon, so I will probably be back.

A long time away from my blog

2011-10-29T09:28:00.003+11:00

Have been away from my blog for a while. No real reason for it - yeah, been busy at work and trying to mind my health (the doctor says I have to do something about my cholestoral) - but I suppose I mostly am over my blog.

Anyway, am here now so I will do a little bloggin.

Cactus Jack's - fantastic fajitas

2011-08-20T09:48:00.001+10:00

Did dinner last night at Cactus Jack's, a Tex-Mex bar in Palmer St South Townsville.

Apparently it's been there for a long time, 1979.

Anyway, the food was amazing - the best cooked fajitas I have ever had. Really runs rings around all those Mexican restaurants I have eaten at elsewhere.

Nice way to end a few days away.

The Newmarket Hotel, Townsville

2011-08-20T09:43:00.002+10:00

After leaving the Great Northern, I crossed Flinders Street and visited the Newmarket, a pub which looks a little more art-deco, and which seems a little more well maintained.

Sat in a corner sipping a schooner slowly whilst music videos from the late 1980s played on the TV, reflecting on what it would be like to be in 1989 and 20 again when the Fine Young Cannibals were big. (They look rather young now.)

Some light amusement - some uncouth woman started some sort of quarrelsome rant, dropping the F word a lot, to which various other patrons (regulars, I presume), started telling her to shut the F up.

Not sure what all that was all about, but the barmaid told her she should leave, so she did, dropping more F word on the way out.

As I was leaving to head to dinner (this was yet another steak kitchen I did not try), the barmaid did say some apologetic words to me - but my vague curiousity about this incident not quite satisfied, and never will be.

The Great Northern Hotel, Townsville

2011-08-20T09:39:00.002+10:00

Down the opposite end of Flinders Street from the trendy areas is a corner with two pubs on either side - the Great Northern on one, and the Newmarket on the other.

I was in both last night. The Great Northern had two leggy barmaids in short shorts serving behind the public bar, with the walls covered with their social club's boards - many of which relate to fishing records set by their angling club.

It is a pub which was very full, even at 4.30pm, and which seems to have a very close link to its community and regulars. This impressed me.

I did not stay to try their steaks - if I ever pass this way again, I will have to try the steaks at every pub in town.

The Commonwealth Hotel, South Townsville

2011-08-20T09:35:00.002+10:00

Away from Palmer Street, South Townsville remains a rather rough boganish area.

There is only so much that you can do to tidy up an area where people get in the way - people who have every right to be there.

The Commonwealth Hotel is one of those rather basic pubs - verandahs and two stories, and a very localish public bar - ten patrons in there around 4pm the other day. I assume it gets busier when people knock off work.

It has an active social club, as evidenced by the various broads around the walls of the bar. This is a pub which is tied in very closely with its community and with its history. May it last another 120 years, and never get redeveloped!

The Shamrock Hotel, Townsville

2011-08-20T09:31:00.002+10:00

Palmer Street, in South Townsville, used to be rather rough.

Not really so now, compared to my visit in 2005.

The Shamrock Hotel is a bit of a relic of that earlier era. It has poker machines in a side bar, a beer garden somewhere in the back, and a public bar which has all the atmosphere of a working class local pub, which is both honest and traditional - but not exactly what fits in anymore with the image of mirrored chrome and glass which the Metropole down the road has turned itself into, or the Rhino Bar up the road.

But I still liked it. It has its soul, and its loyal patrons, and its sense of history (est 1889).

There is something about Queensland with its grandish country pubs with verandahs which wrap around on both ground and upper levels, which we don't have in Melbourne. I wish we did.

And there was a stubby holder.

Fine Pubs of Australia - Part 38 - The Sea View Hotel, Townsville

2011-08-20T09:27:00.003+10:00

The Sea View Hotel is a large stately looking complex overlooking the Strand in Townsville, with great views of the sea and the beach (and I suppose Magnetic Island is on the near horizon).

It has a great reputation for steaks - but I noticed that every bar in Townsville offers steaks - I guess it is that all the infantry located around town eat a lot of red meat.

There is also a fine beer garden - but again, so do most pubs here.

Somehow, it all comes together in a way which makes it stand out from the rest, making it one of Australia's truly fine pubs.

And it did sell its own stubby holders.

Townsville - a pleasant surprise

2011-08-20T09:23:00.002+10:00

Am sitting in Qantas Club, typing away on an iMac, having first checked my share portfolio to see how much I am down in the current rout.

Am waiting for my flight home from Townsville, a far north Queensland city I once visited in March 2005 - where I stayed overnight en route home from Cairns and the NT.

That time, I was so bored with my visit that I promised myself not to ever go back.

Well, six and a half years is a long time, and I've been here for four days, and it has improved greatly in that time. The bogan strip in South Townsville has gone up market, and whilst there is still a lot of room for improvement in Flinders St East, it has really picked up from when I was there last.

And there were some pretty good pubs too.

Bookstore upheaval

2011-07-31T14:13:00.002+10:00

By now, Reader's Feast is closed, the last of the collateral damage from the collapse of A&R and Borders.

Quite a shame. There are 48 A&R franchise stores still open, compared to 50 Collins, and 60 Dymocks.

I tossed my A&R loyalty card in the bin a week ago - the program is suspended and I will not be able to use the $10 of loyalty credits accumulated at all the closing down sales.

One silver lining is the growth of the Book Grocer - a reminder store which has now turned into an 8 shop chain. Was in their Russell St store the other day and bought some Somerset Maugham which I was thinking of ordering through Amazon due to it being impossible previously to find in any local bookstore (ie Liza of Lambeth). Book Grocer also has a pretty good internet store, which I have already used to place some orders.

Recent trip to the footy

2011-07-31T14:11:00.003+10:00

I've been to the footy twice this year, to watch the Western Bulldogs. The Hawthorn game, and then the North Melbourne game.

Both times we lost. Ugh.

The thing with the North Melbourne game was that I went with a friend who is a Medallion club member, so instead of sitting in our seats, we sat in the heated restaurant and watched the game through the window whilst eating steak and drinking 3 bottles of wine.

So, even though we lost, it did not hurt anywhere near as much as it might have.

Julia Gillard loses the support of the bogans

2011-07-31T14:03:00.002+10:00

Last night I was at an engagement party out in Sydenham, amongst the more bogan branch of my family.

My cousin's fiance, being from Braybrook and a Western Bulldogs supporter, was asked by my brother about what she thought of the team this year.

She replied that she didn't support the Bulldogs anymore because Julia Gillard does, and that is enough to turn her off the Bulldogs.

So, you see, the lies and annoying manner of Julia Gillard have not only alienated the western suburbs working class bogans who are natural labour voters, but this is also hurting the supporter base of the Footscray Football Club.

Reflections on Cadel Evans winning the Tour De France

2011-07-31T14:02:00.001+10:00

I have one thing to say about Cadel Evans being the first Australian to win the Tour De France:

THIS REALLY REALLY REALLY SUCKS!

Trivia at the Parap Tavern

2011-07-23T10:41:00.004+10:00

Whilst in Darwin, I went with my best friend and his colleagues to their regular pub trivia gig at the Parap Tavern, somewhere just out of the downtown part of Darwin.

No stubby holders there, which disappointed me.

The pub trivia was not bad though, although the team did very badly (my teams NEVER do badly), thanks to the fact that half the team was outside smoking and chitchating in the beer garden for most of the night, whilst most of the others were discussing whether or not one of their number shaves her pubic hair. Quite annoying - I play my pub trivia to win.

Did not really look around the pub too much so I can't really say too much about it except that it seems like a comfortable top end local pub.

Why Islamic Fundamentalists might hate belly dancers - I know I do!

2011-07-23T10:37:00.003+10:00

After my couple of days in Broome last month I moved on to Darwin, where my best friend was working for a while (he is now camped out in my spare room for a week).

When catching up with your best friend in a Turkish restaurant, you want people to take your order for wine and food quickly, and you want the noise low so that you can have a decent conversation.

Instead, there was some loud cacophonic music so that a belly dancer well past her prime could do her act, disrupting any conversation and delaying waiters from taking our orders and delivering the wine and food (in that order of course, being me).

Indeed, it was so annoying that I have decided that I hate belly dancers. This sort of experience is probably what would cause Islamic fundamentalists to hate belly dancers too.

Fine Pubs of Australia - Part 37 - The Roebuck Bay Hotel - Broome

2011-07-23T10:31:00.004+10:00

As I wrote earlier on in the month, was in Broome recently for the first time in ten years.

Ten years ago, when passing through Broome, I had a beer and bought a stubby holder from the Roebuck Bay Hotel, the main pub in town.

This time, I was able to stop there for dinner twice - a pretty good feed, and was able to look about it a lot more.

The Roey, as it is commonly called, is a complex of connected buildings of mostly corrogated iron (in this land of Boab trees and termite hills, you don't use wood to build), which originated around 1890 when the town was mostly Japanese pearl fishermen and colonial administrators.

The front bar is fairly upmarket, and I believe there is a separate area for a night club. Out the bar is a more bogan bar, with a reasonably pretty waitress in her underwear - what Sandgroupers (common term for West Australians) would call a 'skimpy'.

There's a pretty decent beer garden area as well, and a good atmosphere to the whole bar.

All in all, it makes the list of fine pubs of Australia - if for no other reason than it is a good pub in a remote town.

Lazy lazy lazy me

2011-07-23T10:27:00.002+10:00

Yeah, I haven't been blogging all that regularly lately. No, I am not in love at the moment. Just lazy.

Work commitments, a bit of work related travel, social and family stuff, pub trivia, and generally trying to exercise more to look after my health a little better, have all combined to make me less interest in blogging.

My weight loss hit the wall at 82.5kg about two and a half months ago, and I doubt I can lose more without giving up alcohol and bread, and taking up a lot more exercise than I am willing to do.

Anyway, sorry to any of my readers who miss my regular rants.

Matsuo's Brewery, Broome

2011-07-02T10:31:00.002+10:00

Was in Broome the other week, for the first time in about ten years.

Hasn't really changed much. Lots of pretty girls in bikinis on Cable Beach (what a beautiful beach), and a pretty pristine central precinct - rather boring really aside from the beach, and I find beaches rather dull.

Anyway, was sitting in the beer garden at Matsuo's Brewery, sipping a beer and looking at the sea at sunset, and decided to email from my blackberry to a friend currently touring Europe to tell him what I was doing, and that it reminded me that living in Australia is such a fantastic way to spend ones life. His immediate reply was: 'My friend, I have been in many countries now, and I agree. Australia is the best place in the world.'

Also, must add that I did get a stubby holder from Matsuo's - quite an amazing pub.

It's on at last - SAB Miller stalk Fosters

2011-07-02T10:25:00.002+10:00

I've been saying it for ages - Fosters is going to get taken over by a foreign beer company.

Now it looks like happening - SAB Miller are offering 4.90 per share for Fosters.

I am NOT thrilled about this. I am a very patriotic Australian. I drink Australian beer. I want my beer company to stay Australian owned. I own 88 shares in Fosters and I want to keep them.

Not sure what is the next step. To be brutally honest, in the decade I have been a Fosters shareholder, the share price has been pretty moribund, and I was wise to sell my 3000 shares (ie the bulk of my holding) in December 2004 at 5.90 just before they made the mistake of taking over Southcorp. I am not going to be breaking open the piggy bank to put more money into Fosters shares.

But let's say that I did. If one million patriotic beer drinkers were each to buy 2000 shares in Fosters and then refuse to sell, then Fosters would stay 100% Australian owned.

It won't happen. It will go foreign owned. But they will have to compulsoraily acquire my 88 shares after they reach 90 % ownership. I will not sell.

Better late than never - the June IPA Review

2011-07-02T10:19:00.002+10:00

Hmm... no sooner had I blogged that the IPA review was two months late than it appeared again in newstands. And Chris Berg is back as editor, which pleases me greatly.

After all, I am a pretty eccentric chap, and I quite like the idea of my fellow eccentrics getting into the limelight.

Sadly, it doesn't look like the Victorian state government is going to poach the IPA's staff for ministerial advisor jobs. You see, it is a question of factionalism - the IPA is mostly aligned with the Kemp and Kroger factions, not with the Kennett - Ballieau faction. And Ted Ballieau is paying back a lot of factional grudges at the moment by blocking staff appointments of his various enemines inside the Liberal Party.

So there will be no brain drain from the IPA. Oops, did I say brain drain???? That's probably not the right word to use when talking about the IPA.

Which does mean that Greg Lindsay will have to wait a while longer before he uses the Centre of Independent Studies as the platform to take over the IPA - something I have been forecasting for ages.

Where is the IPA Review?

2011-06-04T10:35:00.004+10:00

It's been a while since I've taken a dig at the Institute of Public Affairs, an organisation which I enjoy laying into with great gusto. After all, they are such an easy target.

But they have been keeping a pretty low profile lately. Whilst I have been looking out for the latest edition of the IPA Review, which was due out in April, not only hasn't it been mentioned on their webpage, but it hasn't even been sighted in any of the newstands where I usually find it located next to Nexus and the Ufologist and other looney magazines.

So... where is it? The closure of Borders means that their newstand circulation will drop by about 300 or so - they used to put about a dozen copies of it into each Borders magazine section.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing it again at some point - it is such a funny read. And by that, I mean both Funny Ha Ha AND Funny Serious.

Takeover speculation at Fosters

2011-06-04T10:28:00.004+10:00

Well, the business pages are full again of speculation that Fosters is about to get taken over. My 88 shares will not make much difference for that, but I plan to be a dissenting shareholder and wait it out until they get my shares through compulsory acquisition at the bitter end. I do not like the idea of an iconic company like that, given beer is such an important part of the Australian way, going into foreign ownership.

I do hope that it does not happen, but I am not going to speculatively buy up shares in Fosters right now. The sharemarket is generally in for a rather bumpy ride in coming months, and I have been a Fosters shareholder long enough not to really trust the long term growth potential of the company - and there has been so many cycles of takeover speculation in the past years that I do remain a tad sceptical about whether or not it really does eventuate.

Borders to close entirely

2011-06-04T10:24:00.003+10:00

Not exactly a surprise, but all Borders stores in Australia are to shut by mid July. I would not be surprised if all A&R stores follow suit soon afterward.

Was in Borders and A&R in the CBD this past week, before the latest closures were announced, and noticed the many deep discount tables (probably books left over from the stores already closed), and the many empty shelves, and reflected that closure is not too far off.

It's rather weird that for the first time ever, Highpoint does not have a book store at all. That does make it less attractive for me to spend much time lingering in Highpoint for shopping purposes.

The Good Food and Wine Show

2011-06-04T10:19:00.003+10:00

Took the afternoon off work yesterday and headed over to Jeff's shed for the Good Food and Wine Show, with a particular focus on the wine part.

After all, the good food part mostly consists of dips, spreads, cheeses, nuts, and olive oils. How much of those can you eat without getting really bored?

Bee line straight for the RL Buller stand, where the Buller family remember me from previous years as a big fan of their wine. They had some new wine, the Langdon, which they are selling for $50 per bottle - so it is meant to be better than Calliope, my favorite wine. Bought a half dozen and they threw in a bottle of muscat.

Then spent about five hours doing a lot more sampling.

One of the souvenoirs this year was an orange stubby holder with the show's logo on it. Whilst I usually collect stubby holder by venue, I think that an event like this should count towards my collection of stubby holders.

One grumble about the show is that you have to pay extra for a wine glass this time, and they had run out of the cloth bags. Looks like they are trying to squeeze every extra buck out of the public.

The Pubs of Parramatta...

2011-05-14T12:29:00.004+10:00

Was in Sydney during the week for some work meetings, and spent an evening in Parramatta.

There are a few pubs there, although none of them had stubby holders for my collection.

Here's a list and some comments on each.

Rose and Crown

Did dinner - a pretty nice pizza - here. The Rose and Crown was founded in 1843 and is covered in ivy. On the inside, it looks to have been given a very good recent refurbishment, and was quite busy for a Tuesday night. The publican, Ken, was drinking with some regulars and was a tad apologetic about the lack of stubby holders.

It had a covered beer garden out back.

Royal Oak

A little up the road and a little more downmarket than the Rose (not that any Parramatta pubs seem downmarket) - this is a pretty large building.

Albion

A large complex, with a huge beer garden on one side, and the long narrow public bar on the other - I assume this is the place where the young ones go to socialise.

Woolpack

Bistro does Thai food, and the public bar looks very much all glass, polished timber, and shiny metal - I don't really like such pubs very much. Far too upmarket and sterile.

RSL Club

Technically not a pub, but it does serve beer and has a lot of poker machines. The kindly old security guard did give me a couple of promo stubby holders, but such do not exactly count as part of the collection.

Double Breasted Suits - where have they all gone?

2011-05-14T12:24:00.002+10:00

Have had a lot more responsibility at the office lately, and decided to go looking for some more suits so that I can look more boss-like.

I've got a thing for double breasted suits, being the reactionary that I am, and feel that they convey the right degree of authoritas. One of those suits is starting to look rather worn out these days, and so is about ready to be retired.

So I was browsing through Highpoint, looking in all the menswear shops. No double breasted suits at all - not even in Peter Jackson, where I bought two suits a few years ago.

Looks like they have mostly gone out of fashion these days, despite claims in the Financial Review that they were making a comeback.

I'll keep on looking though - I don't like the look of single breasted.

Treasury Wine Estates lists on the ASX

2011-05-14T12:22:00.002+10:00

The spin off of Treasury Wine Estates from Fosters Group is complete - it is now trading on the ASX and I hold what is arguably the smallest parcel of shares in this huge wine company.

I did have the option of selling them off market, but I decided to hold onto them - for similar reasons to why I hold my miniscule parcel of Fosters shares - ie I expect a lot of free booze at the AGM.

Koalas in Avondale Heights

2011-05-14T12:19:00.002+10:00

Whilst I have a general hatred of cyclists (check all entries with the 'cyclist menace' tag in this blog), not all cyclists are evil sociopaths. Indeed, one of my best friends is a cyclist.

Was speaking with him recently, and he said that last year, whilst cycling along the river in Avondale Heights, just opposite the Buddhist temple in Braybrook, he saw a koala.

Like, wow. Koalas in Avondale Heights, less than 10 minutes walk from my house. Amazing. Just goes to show how the reforestation of the Maribyrnong Valley is starting to pay dividends in terms of attracting wildlife back into Melbourne.

Heinlein's ghost rises - Variable Star

2011-05-08T12:12:00.002+10:00

Recently read Variable Star - a book written by Spider Robinson, based on something Heinlein planned out in the 1950s.

Was quite impressed by the mimicry. Robinson gets the style, the plot lines, and the particular ideas and mannerisms of the characters (and the distinctive Heinlein tone) down almost quite perfectly.

As it turns out, between the ages of 11 and about 23, I read about half of Heinlein's books, as well as starting and stopping on several of the other, sillier ones (eg Job). Heinlein was a bit of a nihilist and sometimes somewhat of a nutjob, but he did have some interesting ideas and a compelling way of telling his stories. Hence quite confident that I can pick his style, and Robinson is excellent at mimicing it.

Beer and calories etc

2011-05-08T12:08:00.002+10:00

Given I am trying to lose weight and avoid becoming diabetic, I have been seeing an accredited dietician to advise me on ways I can mend my habits and become healthier.

One thing she has warned me about, aside from white bread (or any bread for that matter), is beer.

Apparently even those diet beers (ie the low carb blonde beers) are pretty high in carbs, and that a low alcohol beer is better.

It hurts. I've given up coffee, soft drinks, and fruit juices, but I am not going to give up my alcohol in a hurry. I do need to stay somewhat sane. Both low alcohol and low carb beers are quite an awful choice to make.

And no, switching to wine all the time is not going to cut the calories significantly - she expected that question from me.

The Premiership window closes for the Western Bulldogs

2011-05-08T12:04:00.004+10:00

Well, we had a chance in 1985, and another in 1992, and another in 1997-8, and another in 2008-9-10. Each time, the Footscray Football Club (aka the Western Bulldogs) has been good enough to ALMOST make the grand final, to ALMOST come within cooee of an AFL premiership.

With 2 wins from 6 matches, and with no sign of any decent form, I think that the premiership window has well and truly slammed shut on the Bulldogs for another 5 years at least.

Not good. I would like to see them win a flag at least once in my lifetime.

Was walking past the Western Oval yesterday, and saw a sign up on Barkly Street imploring the 8000+ plus 2010 members who haven't signed up yet to do so. I can sympathise with those who haven't rejoined - the Bulldogs are such a frustrating team.

All the same, I rejoined several months ago - I would hate to see my team fold.

Reflections on the Royal Wedding

2011-05-08T12:01:00.002+10:00

I did watch the Royal wedding, as a bit of a die hard monarchist. Much of it, was reflecting on how much has changed in the 30 years since Charles and Diana tied the knot. What a different world we live in now.

One big craze emerging from the wedding is Pippa Middleton, the bridesmaid and now known as Her Royal Hotness. Her arse now has its own twitter page: pippasass

Check it out sometime - much of it is laugh out loud funny, and as Homer Simpson might say, we need all the laughter we can get in this world.

Bye Bye Bin Laden

2011-05-08T11:56:00.002+10:00

Whilst I normally think it is rather inappropriate to wish death on people, or even to celebrate their demise, the killing of Osama Bin Laden doesn't exactly bring a tear to my eye.

What is particularly amusing, in a very black way, is the bunch of people who say that he is either not dead or that he was not responsible for 9/11. Former Social Security cheat, Guantanomo inmate, and current celebrity victim Mahmoud Habib was one of the first this past week to utter some pretty silly things, which leaves one to think that he wasn't quite as innocent as he and his various advocates make out - not that I ever had much sympathy for him for his time in Guantanomo.

Also amusing, in a very laugh out loud way, is the twitter page osamascorpse. Check it out.

I do think that Obama has handled the Osama thing in a pretty sloppy way. 10/10 for killing him. 2/10 for the follow up in the media.

Will Angus and Robertson survive as a brand?

2011-04-30T10:42:00.002+10:00

I have a feeling that it is only a matter of time before the administrators close the door completely on the Angus and Robertson book brand.

Six years ago, when Collins Booksellers went into receivership, the parent company went to the wall, but the franchisees were loyal enough to club together and buy the brand and keep Collins going.

That does not seem to be happening at A&R - whilst the administrators have closed more than half of the company owned stores, many of the few franchisees have withdrawn from the franchise - it must reflect some serious absence of goodwill in the relationship between the parent company and the franchisees. As a result, I doubt that A&R will continue to exist as a recognisable brand.

And what for Dymocks, who hope to profit from the crisis? Since Dymocks first launched itself into Melbourne about 20 years ago, I have seen a lot of its stores open and close - two in the city, at least, and also Highpoint and Moonee Ponds. I have some reservations that it will be able to keep the wolf from the door either, if the whole industry is facing these new challenges.

Last bookshop in the western suburbs?

2011-04-30T10:37:00.002+10:00

Borders Highpoint is about to close. A&R Highpoint has closed. Now, from the west bank of the Maribyrnong heading west, the only bookshop in the inner western suburbs north of the St Albans railway is Plato's Books at the Sunshine Plaza.

Not a bad range there - a lot of classics, including some I haven't read, and a lot on philosophy and literature. I've bought a huge pile of books on the Shakespearean authorship question from there, as well as quite a few others of interest. And the books, many of which are second hand, are much cheaper.

Hopefully it stays open - the western suburbs needs some bookshops.

Fosters splits in two...

2011-04-30T10:32:00.002+10:00

Well, it was no surprise that the EGM yesterday saw a big turnout in favour of Fosters Group splitting off its wine business from the beer business.

What this hopefully means is that I get invited to two separate boozy AGMs in late October - one with beer, and one with wine.

I did think that it was a tad unfair that Trevor O'Hoy continues to get the blame for the overinvestment in the wine business - as per some financial journalists writing today. It was his predecessor Kunkel who started taking Fosters down that path with the Blass and Beringer purchases, and it was the Fosters board who mostly forced Trevor to take over Southcorp 6 years ago. I don't know Trevor, but I do know one of his close relatives, and the O'Hoys have always struck me as really decent and competant people.

Anyway, I don't regret selling out most of my shares 6 1/2 years ago at 5.90 - the share price is about 5.70 at the moment.

Another Leadership Coup? Bill Shorten starts counting the number against Julia Gillard

2011-04-30T10:29:00.003+10:00

I have heard from a friend who has contacts inside the Labor Party that my local MP, Bill Shorten, has already decided that Julia Gillard has done her dash and needs to be done in.

Hence, apparently he has already started counting the numbers for a challenge against her. Ostensibly, he is claiming to be counting for Ferguson, but people who know him and his naked ambition are convinced that he wants the top job as soon as possible for himself.

I have always predicted that he was very likely to become the ALP's annointed PM at some point, and it does not surprise me that he would be prepared to take the Richard III path to get there.

Anyway, you heard it first here.

More about my vinyl record collection....

2011-04-12T17:32:00.002+10:00

Having looked through my new record collection, I observe that most of the records are circa 1986-1991. And as that coincides with my entry into adult hood, I am left doubting the sanity and good taste of my generation. Scary, yes. There are lots of really crappy records by Kylie, Jason Donovan and Craig McLachlan of Neighbours. Really, where are all the New Order records or other sensible tasteful stuff? OK - there is a Violent Femmes album, but why all the Barbra Striesand???? And I did not know that bimbo blonde Collette had more than one single release?!? Shocking.

The Return of Mangled Thoughts

2011-04-12T17:24:00.001+10:00

Delighted to discover recently that Douglas, blogger at Mangled Thoughts, is back after a 10 month break, and just as vitriolic as ever. To read him, you would think that the IPA are almost singlehandedly responsible for the triumph of the Rudd/Gillard socialist government. Hmmm... he might have a point there. At least he is very plausible. Anyway, I urge you to read his many valid criticisms of the posturing pseudo intellectuals of the conservative right, people that pass themselves off as idealogues despite their general lack of principles and their naked ambitions.

Bye Bye Borders....

2011-04-12T17:20:00.003+10:00

Well... for the first time since Highpoint opened in 1975, it will be without a specialist bookstore. The closure of Borders, whilst not exactly a surprise, will leave my local shopping centre without a real bookstore. It will be quite a lot more boring as a result. The only silver lining to this cloud is that the IPA Review lose an outlet - one of the few where they can distribute their rather shallow vanity publication.

My giant vinyl record collection

2011-04-09T12:15:00.003+10:00

The other day, I shelled out $1500 to buy a large vinyl record collection off some DJ who is the landlord of a friend of mine. Why would I want a record collection anyway? Answer is pretty simple - vinyl is collectible and I might be able to onsell it in bits and pieces for a profit sometime. How big is this collection? At least 1000 records. Yeah, looks like quite a bargain, don't it. Haven't really looked through it yet. Some interesting bits so far though: . Londonbeat's one hit wonder 12 inch single 'I've been thinking about you' (funnily, this song has been going through my head a lot in recent weeks) . the 12 inch single of Madonna's 'Into the groove' . Jason Donovan's single 'Nothing Can Divide Us' - a horrible song with him in a golden mullet - I'm really hoping that either (a) some gay icon stalker will pay me money for this crap, or (b) someone who really hates him will buy it for the pleasure of smashing it into pieces. Well, that's a squiz through box 1 of 12 or 13 boxes of records. It's the late 1980s early 1990s box, where the computer graphic designs and fonts are pretty distinctive, being a particular style from that area when laser printers first came out - reminds me of being 21 all over again.

How to lose 8 kilos in 7 weeks....

2011-04-09T12:09:00.003+10:00

Weight has dropped from 90 kg to 82kg in 7 weeks. Why? Because I had to do something. My doctor told me that I am on the brink of becoming diabetic, which, given my family history, I really need to avoid. Not exactly a surprise. I'm a single straight 42 year old bloke, with no clue about how to look after myself, a dislike for cooking, and a fondness for junk food. So... what is the miracle diet I have been following anyway? 1. I used to drink 10 mugs of Blend 43 instant coffee per day at work. Gone. 2. Instead, I drink 3 litres of water at work every day (ugh) 3. I have totally abandoned sugary soft drinks (ie the 2 cans of Coke I'd drink per working day) 4. I have cut down (not quite out) orange juice 5. I am eating a lot more salads (ugh), rabbit food, and fruit %$#@! Result is that my weight is down, and continuing to drop at a steady rate. Aside from a food poisoning episode, I haven't been this light in about six or seven years. And it mostly feels good. At any rate, rabbit food is better than the alternative - diabetes.

Some funny commentaries on Dikileaks...

2011-04-09T12:05:00.003+10:00

As a friend of mine who is a St Kilda supporter says - her membership ticket is the gift which keeps on giving. The whole tramwreck of a circus which is the St Kilda Schoolgirl refuses to go away. I have been following the whole thing on twitter, where there are many opportunities for what is more or less laugh out loud humour. Two twitter sites in particular: . Melbourne-rox - this twitter account used to be known as bar20showgirl - but she has changed the name, probably because her former employer (she has left that establishment recently) did not like the publicity (!) . DirtyRickyNixon - this is an account for someone who is a fake Ricky Nixon, and who keeps tweeting funny things like 'The Gold Coast Suns played as well as my hair looks good', and 'I didn't deserve this 2 year suspension - I'm a good bloke'. Anyway, enjoy the tramwreck whilst it lasts.

IPA Review's circulation about to seriously drop

2011-03-27T13:01:00.002+11:00

I haven't taken any digs at the IPA in a while. It is not that I have suddenly decided to like them - it is just that they have been rather quiet and boring lately.

There is some sad news for them coming out of the collapse of the Borders bookchain - if Borders close too many stores, then the circulation of the IPA Review is likely to drop considerably, as it seems that Borders is the main place which stocks the IPA Review.

Not that many people seem to buy it.

As an aside, whilst talking about the IPA fun house - I speculated a while ago that the newly elected Liberal governments in Victoria and NSW would raid the IPA and the CIS for staff, causing them to perhaps merge (I wouldn't quite call it a 'brain drain'). I don't think this is going to happen - Ted Ballieau is refusing to allow his ministers to employ anyone whom he does not like, and the IPA is closely connected to the Kemp family, which are his factional enemies.

Grand Prix - more hypocrisy from Robert Doyle

2011-03-27T12:58:00.002+11:00

Moomba clown and sometime Melbourne Lord Mayor's hypocrisy knows few bounds. Having first angered Bernie Ecclestone to the point where the future of the Melbourne GP is in doubt (Ecclestone is so angry he has gone to New York this week instead of to the GP, in order to discuss moving the race), Doyle is now making full use of his free VIP pass to spend the weekend at the GP.

But he had to be dragged kicking and screaming there, having first indicated that he did not want to attend. Where are this fool's principles?

Funny comment in the reader's part of the Herald Sun this week, that Doyle has to be dragged to the GP, but that he was quite happy to go to some cult's new HQ opening.

Farewell to the Buckingham Hotel

2011-03-27T12:49:00.004+11:00

Was wandering through Footscray yesterday and stopped in at the Buckingham Hotel for a beer.

Discovered, to my lasting chagrin, that the pub is about to close and get redeveloped as an apartment block by some soulless monsters.

Quite sad.

Now that it is dying, and having spoken to the barmaid about its history, I think I will share a few last observations on the Buckingham.

It was built in 1873 (I have already observed that it is a twin to the Albert Hotel - also redeveloped recently). I always thought it dated only from the 1910s or 20s.

The front bar, as can be evidenced by the very worn floor boards, has not been changed in very many decades, aside from the addition of aircon. Across the top of the bar, there are ads painted on for local tradesmen.

There are some very historic local sporting photos scattered around the bar's walls. I took the time to look at them all. The most important are:

. Footscray Cricket Club - 1890s

. 1925 - a photo of the first VFL match played by Footscray Football Club

. 1957 - Footscray Football Club team photo

. 1955 - unveiling of the 1954 VFL Premiership banner at the first game of the new season.

The pub is one which has been part of the life of the area a very long time, and it is sad to see that this pub, one of the few unrenovated pubs in Melbourne, is now going. To see authentic pubs like this now, you really need to go for a long drive into the country these days, as they are dying out.

I will add this pub to the lamented list of Footscray pubs to have died in the past decade - The Barkly, the Royal, the Rising Sun, the Albert.

Soon, I believe that the Belgravia will join them, and probably the Exchange.

Moomba reintroduces a king

2011-03-10T11:01:00.002+11:00

Hurrah! Mick Malthouse has been crowned King of Moomba - restoring a fine tradition abandoned 12 years ago.

Of course, Moomba is nothing without a king - and I have long advocated the return of a king to this festival.

But it also needs a clown. And with Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, we have one! Hurrah!

The Woolshed on Hindley

2011-03-10T10:56:00.002+11:00

Having been in Adelaide last week for a couple of days, I caught up with my old friend the Ghost, one of the godfathers of this blog, who moved to Adelaide last year after his latest marriage broke up.

Of course, the Ghost is a bad influence on me, and we drank a lot of beer and wine over dinner.

Whilst waiting for him to knock off work and meet me, I had a beer in the Woolshed on Hindley, a bar which has been made to look like a faux outback pub.

I cringe a little at such places, which try hard and probably are aimed at what few tourists come to Adelaide for something other than the fine wineries and the opera (NB I love Adelaide as a second town - it is so much like a more dignified version of Melbourne).

But there was one good thing about the Woolshed - my 183rd stubby holder for the collection.

At this rate, I will need to buy a new display case soon.

I visited Snowtown and survived - a stubby holder from the Snowtown Hotel is my proof

2011-03-10T10:49:00.002+11:00

Snowtown is a typical South Australian country town, much like a dozen or so others on the railway line between Adelaide and Port Augusta.

It has a railway station, a grain silo, an RSL, a mechanics institute, a general store, a post office, and a pub.

It used to have a bank, but well, that is what really put Snowtown on the map in the late 1990s when, in typical South Australian serial killer tradition, some of the locals butchered their friends and family, put the bodies in barrels in the basement of the closed bank, and claimed their unemployment benefits for a few years....

I've been through Snowtown before, but before opening hours for the pub. This time, the pub was open and I went in for a beer.

Not a bad pub. Grander than what Victorian pubs look like, and with a very 'local' feel - the place is probably the heart and soul of the town. The local footy club are the reigning premiers in the local league, and the premiership shield hangs proudly on the wall amongst other memomentos of the local community life.

To prove that I have been there, and lived to tell the tale, I bought two stubby holders from the pub - one for the collection and a spare.

After all, I dare not risk my luck and visit this town a third time....

Fine Pubs of Australia - Part 36 - Hotel Augusta

2011-03-10T10:41:00.002+11:00

Port Augusta is a bit of a dump of a town. At the 'gateway' to the South Australian outback to the immediate north, the soil changes a few dozen miles south around Port Pirie from the fine rich farmland laden with fields of golden canola and purple Paterson's curse to an ocre sandy rocky soil - evidence perhaps that this flat lowlying area was once sea bed.

At least so I think on those rare occasions I pass through that part of the country - not much else to do but stare out the window and think of such stuff when in the passenger seat of a colleague's car.

Was in Port Augusta last Thursday, and before heading home stopped for a very decent lunch at the Western Hotel, just off the main drag. Did the same thing last time I was in Port Augusta, circa late 2001. Had a stubby holder from the Western at that time.

This time, wandered down the road afterward to the Hotel Augusta, a pub which is almost beach front for that little slash of the end of whatever gulf or bay Augusta is built on.

Quite a grand pub it is, the Augusta. Aside from being sort of beach front, with a huge verandah which has heaps of tables on it facing that seashore, it is am imposing place. The public bar has some rather politically incorrect photos of naked girls standing on the beach with the pub as a back drop, showing that the owners have that small outback country town idea of what is appropriate.

Whilst I doubt I could live in PA for long without going quite mad, I think along the way that I would not mind sitting for hours on end in the late afternoon on that verandah, sipping beer and watching the sunset over that somewhat polluted sea.

And they do have stubby holders - number 181 for the collection if I am not mistaken.

Dikileaks - some further reflections

2011-02-27T12:38:00.004+11:00

Until the whole Dikileaks scandal broke two months ago, I had never visited Twitter.

Of course, I don't have internet at home.

But my new Nokia mobile gives me a huge amount of internet access, which means I can waste many idle moments on the bus amusing myself by reading crap on the net.

Such as all about Dikileaks and Rikileaks and Dickileaks - and whatever other way you want to spell it or discuss it.

It is fascinating stuff, as there are so many interesting characters out there writing their thoughts and venting their bile. Indeed, there is enough to make me seem like a sane and tolerant person in comparison.

I'm not directly going to suggest the names of any of the webpages of the somewhat off the rails 17 year old girl who is generating the feeding frenzy. After all, she's still 17 and therefore a minor and I am vaguely concerned at the way she has been allowed to get off the rails and embark on what seems like a path of serious self-destruction (so far this year, she appears to be up to her second overdose on party drugs, quite aside from binging on a bottle of vodka and then tweeting about thinking of jumping off a building).

However, if you really want to read an entertaining twitter account from someone who really hates this girl and is not shy about showing it, try searching in twitter for the person named 'bar20showgirl'. Apparently she is the niece of a St Kilda player and has all sorts of reasons to hate the dikileaks girl - which she expresses in her twitter account all the time. And from the name of her blog, she apparently really does work at Bar 20 as a lap dancer. Cool.

And she was shopping at Highpoint yesterday, according to her tweets. How's that for a coincidence in the space-time continuum.

Canberra Taxis

2011-02-27T12:32:00.002+11:00

When I first used a taxi in Canberra in the early to mid 1990s, I was amazed at the quality - the best drivers anywhere in Australia.

For instance, I once took a taxi where an experienced driver was in the passenger seat, training a new driver in the ways of Canberra. In those days, training and quality control met quite a big deal to Canberra taxi companies.

All that has changed now. A couple of weeks ago, took a taxi from the airport to my hotel in Dickson and had to give the driver directions - as if Dickson is such an obscure part of Canberra.

A colleague once said that he had to go to the Senate entrance of Parliament House about three or four years ago, and the driver did not know where Parliament House was!

Quite shocking. Obviously these days, despite high demand, the standards have dropped pretty low. I wonder what needs to be done to fix the industry.

Splitting up Fosters Group...

2011-02-27T12:25:00.003+11:00

So... recent days have finally seen the announcement of the divorce of beer and wine.

In other words, Fosters group is going to split into its component parts: (a) the iconic beer company we all know and love, and (b) Treasury Wine Estates - a large wine company which contains many iconic Australian brands (eg Penfolds).

Probably can't be helped. The share price is currently about $5.70, and I sold out most of my shares at $5.90 in late 2004, so there has been only rare and brief upward traction - usually caused by takeover speculation.

Share market tipsters are divided about whether Fosters is a buy or sell right now. Today the paper had one bloke claiming it is a pretty good value bet at the current price. Yet a few weeks ago, the same paper had a different bloke arguing it is a sell as the net worth of the two component companies after the split would only be about $4.40.

Not that I am too troubled. I hold very few shares (86 I think), and having been a shareholder for about a decade, I think I will not be increasing what I hold.

What worries me more is the prospect of foreign takeover. The beer and wine brands held by Fosters are iconic Australian brands, and it would sadden me to see them in foreign hands. But I think there is little that can stop this except (a) a strong Aussie dollar, and (b) some cornerstone investor who will prevent a foreign takeover (and I doubt the Oatley family is all that cornerstone in Fosters).

Dikileaks - the latest bizarro twist

2011-02-19T08:51:00.002+11:00

Buying the paper this morning, page one is all about the latest stuff with the St Kilda school girl behind Dikileaks - this time, she has been visited by the manager of at least one of those players involved in this mess.

I have been following her bizarre story on twitter, so I was aware that something was about to happen, although I knew not what.

A few things really stick out which leave me rather perplexed, based on what things she has written in her twitter:

. what the hell were her parents thinking by letting her go out clubbing since 14/15?

. is she serious about sorting her life out - since the start of the year, she has been out clubbing constantly, abusing vodka, and even getting an ambulance called after she overdosed on GBH?

. she has had an overseas holiday in NZ, and probably some other time away - strange for someone claiming to have no money or income at the moment?

And why is she encouraging someone 30 years older than her by contacting him? Including supposedly on Valentines Day (ie 5 days ago)?

This is getting really bizarro - it is like a train crash in slow motion, and I don't see that either herself or anyone around her is going to do anything to stop it.

The collapse of A&R and Borders

2011-02-19T08:46:00.002+11:00

Whilst sad, the collapse into receivership of A&R and Borders, the largest book retailers in Australia, is hardly surprising. Books were the first products to be successfully e-tailed, and now many people are going to be downloading theirs (not me though - I like real books).

There is only so far that other etailing can go - but books, music, movies, the life of the traditional book or record store is limited.

When Collins Booksellers collapsed 6 years ago (although it has sort of survived in a pale ghost of its former glory), the store at Highpoint had been there for 30 years. It was sad watching the shelves get barer and barer over the weeks as Collins tried to trade out of the problem.

Last night, when visiting the A&R store which occupies the site of that Collins store, I had a feeling of history about to repeat itself - only 24 hours into receivership, the shelves did not seem quite as well stocked as usual.

Broo - I 'invest' in a new beer company

2011-02-19T08:41:00.002+11:00

Around Australia Day, new boutique beer company Broo announced a new promo. If you buy a slab online from them, you will get 10 shares in the company.

The offer closes soon, but this applies to the first 50 slabs per person.

Then, at some stage when they have the money accumulated, they will brew all those slabs of Broo - as they are offering to give away 10 million slabs, I wonder how long it will take to brew 1 million slabs in a shed on the Surf Coast????

I have ordered 2 slabs, so I am the proud owner of 20 shares in this company - which is to stay 100% Australian owned.

It's a lark sure, but I do not think it is necessarily the best way to invest my money. The online slabs are $8 each dearer than in Coles Liquor and the shares, according to my estimate, are probably worth at best a cent each.

Anyway, I'm curious enough, and I like what I have drank of their product so far enough, that I am happy to join the adventure and 'Live the Dream' with them.

More info at www.broo.com.au

Robert Doyle jumps the couch....

2011-02-19T08:34:00.002+11:00

I suppose everyone knows that phrase 'jumping the shark', regarding TV shows which reach the point at which they are on terminal decline.

Several years ago, the variant 'jumping the couch' entered the language. This was after Tom Cruise's bizarre display on Oprah, which marked the beginning of the end of his credibility as a bankable movie star.

It is apt, given the present circumstances, to suggest that our buffoonish Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle, has jumped the couch.

Whilst views on his moronic attack on the Grand Prix were mixed, as one would expect, and the main backlash from that was that Bernie Ecclestone is extremely offended and might pull the GP from Melbourne early, Doyle's latest idiotic conduct was one where the views were unanimous.

That is, his recent attendance to open the new Scientology centre in Ascot Vale. Most people, myself included, have grave reservations about this cult and the way it treats its members and their families, and the way it ruthlessly hunts down its critics. Having the Lord Mayor there to lend it respectability was not exactly smart (but then, since when was Doyle ever smart?).

The comments on the Herald Sun webpage were all extremely critical of this fool - so you can guess that he got it 100% wrong this time.

What I think is worse, given he claims to be there in a private capacity, is that he arrived in the lord mayoral limo - a clear sign that he is in it for the perks, not for civic leadership. What was wrong with simply taking the tram????

Robert Doyle - Our buffoon of a Lord Mayor

2011-01-26T10:16:00.002+11:00

As I am fond of saying, Robert Doyle is an oxygen thief, an abject failure of a state opposition leader who then was rewarded for his incompetance by Premier Bracks by being given a handsome sinecure as chair of the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

By some fluke, and I do not know any liberal voters living in the City of Melbourne who voted for him for Lord Mayor, this swinish creature is now Lord Mayor of Melbourne.

The other day, before the ink was dry on a sponsorship deal between the City of Melbourne and the Grand Prix, he crayoned an article for the Herald Sun calling for the Grand Prix to be abandoned.

Great going dufus!

Not that it is any of his business anyway. Whilst he happens to live in Albert Park, Albert Park is within the City of Port Phillip, not Melbourne.

Yet again, we are reminded that whilst thanks to him, we had to suffer a Bracks/Brumby socialist state government all that much longer, we would have done at least as badly with him as state premier instead.

Stories of an Air Hostess

2011-01-26T10:10:00.002+11:00

One of my staff used to be an airline hostess, and she has been regaling me with stories about the wonderful life airline crews lead.

Sayings like 'Wheels Off, Rings Off' (you can imagine what that means).

Farewells to obnoxious passengers 'C U Next Time'.

Toga parties til all hours of the morning (ie when it is time to get up and get on the bus back to the airport).

Quite amusing.

Makes me (a) wish I was an airline pilot, and (b) fear for my life on my next flight (I have two trips interstate booked in early Feb).

An Australia Week Public Holiday?

2011-01-26T10:06:00.002+11:00

Some trade union leader yesterday suggested that instead of Australia Day, we should have a whole week off.

Interesting idea. I like it.

But given that it is difficult to justify the 1.8% drop in national productivity from an extra 4 public holidays, we would have to find four public holidays to move from elsewhere. My suggestions are:

. Labour Day - why celebrate militant unionism?

. Queen's Birthday - much as I am a monarchist, I am happy to wear moving the day to late Jan

. Easter Monday - my Lord and Saviour rose from the dead on Sunday.

. New Year's Day -this will encourage moderate drinking and early nights for everyone who is not on vacation.

Downside is that school children and teachers will hate it as they are already on holiday at that time.

Idea for new reality TV show....

2011-01-26T10:02:00.002+11:00

An idea occurred to me recently for a reality TV show.

Get Wayne Carey, Brendan Fevola, Mark Phillipousis and Shane Warne, and put them in a house together. All have various issues - Carey is a thug who has a bit of a drug problem, Fevola is a thug who has a problem with alcohol, gambling, and dry humping anything in a skirt, and Warne is in comparison to those two a class act. Scary. And Phillipousis, who has such a problem with managing money, apparently is now in need of a place to stay, as well as being a veteran of reality TV to guide the other three....

You could have all sorts of visitors to the house - they seem to have no problem pulling all sorts of chicks with bad judgement, and you can have regular guests from amongst other troubled sporting stars, such as most of the St Kilda Football Club.

I reckon it would be quite hilarious TV, sort of the Keeping Up With The Kardashians for Australian bogans.

Fine Pubs of Australia - Part 35 - Queen's Hotel - Highgate

2011-01-09T11:32:00.002+11:00

What is it with WA and why do they have such big and amazing pubs?

Queens is on Beaufort St in Highgate, where I met up yesterday with some friends after that wedding I am in Perth for, just down from the Anglican Church.

It's a former coach house converted into a pub in the early 1900s, and which has been recently refurbed so as to open it up a whole lot.

Great beers on tap, as I found whilst sitting out the front (it is set back enough from the street that there are tables in front, as well as a beer garden to one side.

Really, this must be one of the best pubs in Australia.

More Stubby Holders for the collection

2011-01-09T11:26:00.002+11:00

Am at Perth airport, waiting for my flight home, having been over here for a few days for an old friend's wedding.

Naturally, spent Friday wandering around inner Perth and Northbridge, visiting a few bars and pubs, looking for stubby holders to add to my collection.

Here are the results.

1. Carnegies

This is a rock bar in Murray Street, featuring old album covers and electric guitars on the wall. It has a pretty good vibe to it, as well as the odd bit of live music.

2. Outback Jack

The Northbridge franchise of Outback Jack's has stubby holders - I think that they must be a standard merchandising item for this chain.

3. The Hula Bula Bar

This is a rather odd place in Victoria Avenue, just around the corner from my hotel. It is decorated as if it is some sort of tropical place somewhere in the Pacific. Specialises in cocktails and imported beer.

Penfolds Bin 128 - 2000 vintage

2011-01-01T12:09:00.001+11:00

As a shareholder in Fosters, owners of Penfolds, must give another plug for one of their great wines, the 2000 vintage of the Penfolds Bin 128 shiraz.

Had a bottle - almost the last in my cellar of that vintage - the other night, and it was perfect.

Strongly recommend it.

Buy much Penfolds - the profits make it back to my pocket as a shareholder.

Dikileaks - some further observations

2011-01-01T11:56:00.002+11:00

Got a Christmas email the other day from one of my Italian cousins, who said something about how terrible things are in Italy at the moment and who asked if it was also bad in Australia.

My reply was that the biggest story in Melbourne newspapers was a sex scandal involving some footballers - which is indicative of how good we have it at the moment. No bushfires, no floods (except in QLD), no terrorists, no war, no plague, no famine, and pretty low unemployment etc.

A month or so ago I got a new mobile phone, which enables me to access the internet, and for the first time have been looking at things like twitter (no, I am not going to abandon my blog for a twitter account). Got curious on Wednesday evening about how good my internet access from the phone is, so searched 'st kilda schoolgirl' on twitter, and got onto the St Kilda sex scandal girl's twitter account - where she goes by what may or may not be her real name. Googled an image search on that name, and various webpages show up which have downloaded the various photos of the St Kilda players (which shows that they deliberately posed for these photos).

Also have had a look at the formspring account for this girl, where she has a photo of herself in a bikini on a beach, which does leave me seriously scratching my head about what is she thinking??? And more to the point - how have her parents let her run wild like this both online and in public for several years. [As an amateur psychologist, I suspect that she has serious daddy issues, and is pursuing sex as a substitute for affection - something she lacks.]

From various of these pages - her utterances on her accounts (she indicates that the surname she is using is probably not real), and the comments on some other pages (eg the hilarious utterances in the Vexnews page), it is possible to piece together quite a bizarre story.

But all up, aside from the hilarity it has caused during the silly season, and the appropriate discomfort of all those cretinic St Kilda footballers, I think that this girl has some serious issues and has now made herself infamous for all time - the internet is a two edged sword.

The Australian Cricket Team gets some humility

2010-12-29T09:59:00.002+11:00

Rule Britannia!

I for one am glad that the Australian cricket team is on the brink of being humiliated at home in the Ashes series.

I have never been a admirer of that bunch of morally cowardly bozos and bad sports. Cricket, which used to have the highest levels of good sportsmanship, has been brought low by the standards of gamesmanship (ie sledging etc) by the likes of our national cricket team.

And my views on the cowardly way they hid behind a flagrant misuse of the Passports Act by the federal government to get out of touring Zimbabwe a few years back were documented in great detail on this blog at that time.

Watching England pound the crap out of those clowns is most gratifying, and I say that not only as a monarchist, but as a patriotic Australian - our team needs to learn to be sportsmanlike again before it is worthy of our support.

Dikileaks - the St Kilda Football Club scandal

2010-12-29T09:51:00.002+11:00

It shows how lucky we are in Melbourne at the moment in terms of misfortunes (the food which news grow on), that the biggest story of the past week is Dikileaks, the posting on the internet of nude photos of various St Kilda footballers by some half crazed 17 year old girl.

Whilst St Kilda Football Club and the AFL have sprung into serious damage control mode, including a lot of lawyers, to get the photos off the net and shut this girl up, several questions are begging answers:

. why is this 17 year old girl so angry at St Kilda players?

. why are St Kilda players taking nude photos of each other?

. how did this girl get hold of these photos? (I assume Sam Gilbert slept with her and showed them to her on his computer, but I think we all want the real story)

. what else have St Kilda players being getting up to with teenaged girls?

Various of my friends have told me various theories and rumours, which unfortunately, I cannot coorborate on the internet because the AFL is very good at getting such stuff taking off the net. However, what I have heard, to be frank, is pretty revolting.

We will probably never really get the full truth because whilst I doubt this girl is all that honest, I don't place much veracity on what AFL players might say either.

A spate of cycling related injuries at the office....

2010-12-29T09:48:00.002+11:00

At the office social club Christmas binge drinking session (not so called, but what it really is) the week before Christmas, was amused to see that there were various people on crutches or with arms in slings.

Well, I should not be amused about misfortunes befalling my colleagues - except, you guessed it, they all had accidents when riding their bikes.

Indeed, it seems that just about every cyclist in the office is having accidents. One of my staff, who, aside from being a Green voting cyclist, is not a bad chap, keeps either falling off his bike or getting hit by cars. Serve him right, as I keep telling him.

Cyclist assaults Stephanie Gilmore!

2010-12-29T09:45:00.002+11:00

Until page one of the Herald Sun this morning I was not aware of Stephanie Gilmore.

Apparently she is a surfing champion of some sort.

Yesterday she was assaulted by an iron bar wielding maniac and had her arm broken.

He then sped away on his bicycle, with Stephanie's neighbours in fierce pursuit.

You got it. This dangerous lunatic is a cyclist.

It just goes to prove the point I keep raising in this blog, that cyclists are violent anti-social sociopathic menaces and generally unpleasant people.

The sooner that the rest of the public realises this, the sooner we can start taxing them and mircochipping them.

David Tweed - Morally Bankrupt Cyclist

2010-12-03T10:59:00.002+11:00

David Tweed is the closest thing to a pariah in the financial community in Melbourne. The Herald Sun and various current affairs shows tend to attack him a lot because he direct mails to a lot of naive share holders offering to buy their shares either in ways which involve instalments which benefit him or at below market value.

Indeed, he has written several times to my mother, who has taken my advice and sent back the reply paid envelope empty.

On Today Tonight the other week, they had a clip of him on his bike and wearing his bike helmet, and they described him as a 'morally bankrupt cyclist'.

So... on top of all the other horrible things cyclists are, according to this blog, cyclists also are the sort of people who will try and legally con the eldery out of their investments.

Shame on you cyclists! How much lower can you go!

The Wikileaks Story - What a Conspiracy Theory

2010-12-03T10:53:00.005+11:00

It currently looks like something out of a movie plot:

Man starts webpage which releases secret government and corporate information, making many powerful enemies.

Man then gets accused of rape and goes on the run, continuing to release more and more secrets.

However, this Wikileaks business is true. And it is happening in front of our eyes. Is whathisname (I have not paid close attention) really a rapist, and if not, why is the Swedish government framing him? How can Huckabee in the US accuse him of treason if he is not a US citizen or resident?

At the moment, I am inclined to think that perhaps a lot of powerful forces are ganging up on this chap and that he is now being turned into a Horatius at the bridge. And the rape charges, if they are a frame up, have backfired on the powerful forces out to get him, as his fugitive status is attracting even more publicity to Wikileaks than it otherwise would.

One cringeworthy thing - as he is an Australian citizen, expect the Australian taxpayer to have to help foot the bill for the inevitable legal aid and consular assistance we provide as a form of middle class welfare to all our expatriates who get into trouble overseas.

Definition of a Socialist

2010-12-03T10:50:00.001+11:00

A friend of mine gave me the following definition of a Socialist the other day:

'A Socialist is someone who has nothing and wants to share it with you.'

The Tom Cruise Biography - big deal

2010-12-03T10:39:00.002+11:00

Got hold of a copy of the infamous Tom Cruise unauthorised biography by Andrew Morton a few weeks ago, and read it.

Really, I wished I hadn't, as it was rather dull.

There were some inconsistencies too - was Dustin Hoffman or David Miscaviage (the Scientology chief) best man at Cruise's marriage to Nicole Kidman? The book contradicts itself.

I'm not sure about why Tom Cruise is so hostile to this book - it really does serve to white wash him to a large extent. In particular:

. it provides a lot of evidence to debunk the rumours that he is gay (unless you can draw the conclusion that banging a lot of very hot women implies that he is in strong denial of some latent tendencies - something which only very spiteful & jealous people like me might argue)

. Nicole comes out strongly as the villainess in their marriage - except for how Cruise decided to end it without speaking to her when he had had enough.

Of course, anything about Scientology (and there is a huge amount in there about that) is going to get Scientologists madder than watching the movie Bowfinger - even though Cruise comes out of it looking like he is Saint Paul to L.Ron Hubbard's Jesus. Even the bit picked up in the media (which is why I wanted to read the book) about how maybe Suri is the product of a sperm donation from L.Ron is only just a throwaway comment on what some of the more fanatical Scientologists hoped and wanted to believe.

So yeah, don't waste your time either reading the book or watching any of Tom Cruise's movies (I started boycotting as soon as he hooked up with Penelope Cruz, as I have always had a thing for her).

Time to buy into the share market

2010-12-03T10:37:00.000+11:00

In case you haven't realised by now - I am a dreadful investor in terms of picking when to buy into the share market and when to sell.

I sold my shares (almost everything) a month ago.

Hence, this is probably the right time for everyone to buy, as it is likely that I will miss out on a sudden rise in share prices.

And when I buy back in, as I am tempted to do unless I buy some land near Beaufort next week, it will be a time for everyone to sell their shares.

Changes at the Institute of Public Affairs

2010-12-03T10:30:00.002+11:00

I rarely bother mentioning the IPA in my blog anymore. They have gone all boring lately (they have learned some lessons in media management from the blogwar Douglas and I waged against them some 3 1/2 years ago).

However, I was rather sad to see that Chris Berg has been replaced as editor. His somewhat eccentric editing of the IPA Review gave me both entertainment and ammunition. Almost felt like saying so to him when he passed me in Swanston Street last week.

His replacement, Liberal Party apparatchik Tony Barry, is not going to be anywhere near as quirky - he will do exactly as the elder Kemps want a loyal family retainer to do. Hence it does not appear that John Humphreys will be published in the IPA Review again anytime soon, and I suspect that Christian Kerr will have to revert to writing for Crikey and the Age.

Still... with a new Liberal state government, it will not surprise me if a few of the lads and lasses at the IPA decided to move into advisor jobs there, which means a few more changes.

Indeed, with the upcoming likelihood of a change of government in NSW as well, there might come to be a mass exodus of right wing idealogues and apparatchiks from the safe havens of the right wing think tanks where they lurk when the Liberals are in opposition. This could potentially cause a staffing crisis at both the IPA and the CIS - which would then give some impetuous to calls for the CIS to take over the IPA.

Watch this space - but not too often - as I don't blog that regularly anymore.

Bottling the remnant of the 2008 vintage....

2010-12-03T10:25:00.002+11:00

I'm on holidays for a couple of weeks. Have been doing a few things around the house like mowing the lawn, planting tomatoes etc.

Also tidied up the garage. In other words, bottled the last of the 2008 vintage (the 2009 and 2010 still sit in demijohns or plastic kegs). Which leaves me with 70 bottles of cabernet to give away or drink.

As well, tidied up storage of my 2008 vintage port. Bottled about 3 litres worth, topped up one of the two plastic kegs in the garage (which leaves 25 litres of that vintage for future bottling), and topped up the 5 litre keg I keep as a solera in the kitchen.

Next, I think I need to consider when to start the daunting task of bottling the 2009 vintage.

Brumby Socialist Government defeated

2010-12-03T10:14:00.003+11:00

On election night, whilst watching the goings on over a slab of beer with a friend (no, I couldn't be bothered helping out - I donated money to avoid that part of my civic obligations), I texted a somewhat crazy friend who was helping out with the Greens campaign in the western suburbs.

Given she says, in her somewhat crazy but always left-leaning way, that the major parties are finished, I texted: 'Death to the Greens, Long live the Liberals!'. She texted back a rather silly rant about how the election was rigged.

But that is the sort of childish thing that you expect from the Greens. I texted her so, and have not heard back since.

And it was so pathetic watching that creepy Senator Brown sooking that if the Liberals had preferenced to the Greens, the Greens would have taken four or five lower house seats.

And what would the Liberals have gotten in return?

I think that the state election has been a victory for the good old fashioned conservative values that most people have. Most people are interested in jobs, food on the table, and infrastructure that works - not in gay marriage. Ted Ballieau first showed himself to be premiership material when he announced that he was putting the Greens last - it showed him at long last not just as a decent bloke, but as someone who could be a strong leader.

As a result, we now have a Liberal-National state government, in place of that Bracks/Brumby socialist government.

One last aside on this. The Bracks led Labour party did not deserve to win in 1999 - they just picked up an enormous protest vote against the arrogant style of Jeff Kennett, who had been an excellent premier. They turned this into a landslide in 2002 when faced by an extremely pathetic and useless opposition leader, Robert Doyle.

And whilst the Bracks/Brumby government did not do as badly as the Cain/Kirner government did in the late 1980s, it still did a lot of bad things:

. the incompetant leadership which led to the huge human cost in the Black Saturday bushfires
. the appearance of unethicality in planning decisions
. the failure to invest in state infrastructure
. Myki
. squandering of billions of dollars of unprecedented revenue on consultants and rent seekers.

If this was one of the more competant governments, then that niece of that silly novelist must be shaking in her shoes in NSW - assuming she is still leading the NSW socialist government by then (it seems like it is time for someone else to have a turn in that revolving door job).

Another Stubby Holder - the Golden Age Hotel, Beaufort

2010-12-03T10:09:00.002+11:00

Went for a long country drive the other day with my best friend, with whom I make wine each year.

Our dream is to buy land somewhere and start our own vineyard (and yeah, it's just a hobby, not a fool's gold expectation that we can actually make money).

Towards the end of the day, after getting lost in the side roads outside Meredith thanks to the GPS on my new mobile (I bet taxi drivers want a GPS THAT unreliable), we made our way to Beaufort, a very tidy little town just to the west of Ballarat.

And we stopped in for a beer at the local pub, the Golden Age.

Judging from the architecture, which is similar to that of the Derrimut in Sunshine and the Powell in Footscray, the Golden Age was built circa 1930. Perhaps, like the Powell which was rebuilt around then, the Golden Age itself existed prior to the current building. But it is an imposing two level building with a very home like bar, the sort of place where locals would feel at home, even with the TAB in a corner and horse races blaring out of the TV non-stop.

And it sells stubby holders - so I edge closer and closer to the 180 mark in my collection.

Fine Pubs of Australia - Part 34 - The Norfolk Hotel - Fremantle

2010-11-07T12:49:00.003+11:00

Whilst the Norfolk Hotel in Norfolk Street Fremantle does not have its own stubby holders, I was quite impressed by it.

An imposing sandstone building with a beer garden which is surrounded by a low sand stone wall, and roofed in some part, with an outdoor bistro, this has to be one of the best pubs in Australia.

Indeed, I would go as far to say that this is the best beer garden in Australia.

Stubby Holders from Fremantle

2010-11-07T12:46:00.002+11:00

Well, I'm sitting on the internet in the Qantas Club at Perth airport, waiting for my flight home to Melbourne.

Acquired two new stubby holders for the collection on this trip:

. The Sail and Anchor Brewery Tavern in Fremantle

. The Kailis Seafood Restaurant, also in Fremantle.

Hence, feeling rather pleased with myself.

As I reflected a few days ago, the pubs in Perth are much bigger and better than Melbourne. I think that they have invested their goldrush money far more wisely than we did.

As another aside, the narrow streets of Fremantle, with their stately two and three storey sandstone and rendered buildings from the 1890s and 1900s are amazing.

The Leederville Hotel

2010-11-05T10:24:00.003+11:00

Dinner with an old friend in Leederville, one of the inner eastern suburbs of Perth last night.

On the way to the pizza shop, stopped by to have a quick look at the Leederville Hotel, a rather impressive building with a tiled ground level facade - something you really don't seem in Melbourne anymore.

Inside, there is a sprawling complex which includes a large elaborate stage area for bands - something really big.

It got me pondering - not for the first time during this trip - what is it with Melbourne pubs? We seem to have them a lot smaller and less impressive than those of the other capital cities of Australia - and we seem to have swept away more of the history of our pubs, leaving them soul-less shells at best.

Take Young and Jacksons' for example - the current refurbished version has very little in common with the pub I first visited in November 1987, and very little again with what it was before Alan Bond took it over. All it is is a name, some tiles on the outer wall, and a nude painting - everything else has changed so much internally that there is very little to consider it an iconic or impressive pub.

Fine Pubs of Australia - Part 33 - The Windsor, South Perth

2010-11-05T10:18:00.002+11:00

The Windsor, on Mill Point Road in South Perth, is a mighty fine pub.

The original red brick building, built in 1898, is an impressive two story building with verandahs on both levels jutting out from the walls - something we don't see in Melbourne alas.

It has extended into other buildings on both non-street sides, extending as far as a giant bistro and beer garden area.

I spent several hours there on Wednesday night, sipping beer and chatting to the old friend of a close friend about the world etc, whilst some singer-songwriter with a set of aucostic guitars played a mix of his own songs and classic covers. Not a bad way to pass the time.

One small criticism about this pub is that whilst a lot of the interior is well kept, it seems to have been swept clean of any of its internal social history. You don't see honour boards for its social club or old photos of local footy teams or tug of war trophies. Whilst it is comfortable, it is not a place where you quite feel you can make yourself at home.