I quite enjoy going to the optometrist, and I think they enjoy me coming in too.

nothing like wacko eyes to make your day interesting.

Well the Tour is over, I don’t even know why I love it so much but every year it hooks me in and I love it.

While Cadel did an amazing job and is the first Aussie to win, we can’t celebrate too much as Jenny beat me in the fantasy tour. There are rumors going around that she cheated and took performance enhancing drugs. I’m trying to get to the bottom of it to ensure that if she did cheat I can take my place on the top of the podium but she is being shifty and refusing to wee into one of our cups for testing.

We are getting to the business end of Le Tour and Jenny is still kicking my butt in the fantasy league.

On July 1st 2012 Australia will take a significant step towards taking responsibility for our national impact on the environment.

While the price on pollution is weaker than I expected it is still a great step forward and finally we are seeing some facts and action on something that has just been a blab fest for the last decade.

The thing I don’t like is that I will be compensated for the costs associated with higher power and production costs of the goods and services I use.
Climate Change is not just a political and government issue, it’s a personal issue.

I should have to pay for my misuse and over use of the planet’s resources.

Having to pay more should also help households to use less.

So I have decided that my weekly $10.10 compensation money should actually be used to help those who are struggling with the effects of climate change, not a rich abuser of resources like myself.

I recommend you consider doing the same.

Here is some further reading thanks to Oxfam.

This afternoon Tom and I were sitting on a park bench eating burgers and chips.
I reached across to grab another chip when I was bombed from above. Some massive bird decided to release it’s bowels and it landed on my hand and leg.
There was some pigeons around and a few cockatoos but there is no way a little pigeon could drop something that substantial.

How the hell is this good luck?

I went off to the park seedy toilets to get stabbed by a junkie and wash my hand and leg.
there was no soap so I just used some water and decided to get some toilet paper to help scrub off my leg.

The cubicle door was slightly open so I pushed it all the way and a man was sitting there with his pants down doing an impersonation of the bird that was above me. There was a split second of staring shock that seemed a lot longer than a second. I turned quickly and the man shut the door. I said “sorry sorry’ many times and got some toilet paper from the next cubicle before getting out of there as fast as possible.

this evening I have had some twitter banter with one of the Producers from SBS covering the tour in France.

I set him the challenge of getting Mike Tomalaris to use the word ‘underpants’ in a live cross on SBS TV.

The producer (Stuart Randall) and Mike have both accepted the challenge and will slot underpants into the live cross at the conclusion of stage 1.

Nothing to do with the race but a bit of fun. These guys will be tweeting throughout the next few week too so if you love the tour follow their tweets.

I hope next year they take me as part of the crew. I can show them my Certificate 4 in TV production surely that is enough?????

<– UPDATE —>

He did it!!!! At the conclusion of the Stage 1 telecast as promised.

Happy happy.

Today I took Oscar to Luna Park.

He is now too tall to get on stuff for free so I had to pay and he went on a bunch of rides by himself and had the time of his life. This is the first time he has ever been on anything by himself so I was unsure if he would cry or love it.

Below are some of his quotes from our time at Luna Park. (context is not included for comedic effect)

‘Woweee this is soo much fun’

‘Oh I have a good time’

‘Daddy do you have a doodle and a penis’

‘Daddy we go on more rides’

‘Daddy what ride is this way?’ (followed by me saying ‘Not in there buddy that’s the girls toilets’)

‘This horse is a bit wobbly but it be allright’

They also gave us a $20 voucher for the gift shop so Oscar picked out a stuffed toy which he has called ‘sunny side’.

Oh and no accidents involving wee which is new for a father son outing.

I’ve written about it a bit on my facebook wall so won’t again here.

Just thought it a little odd (and slightly amusing) that the very advertisement image ACL want’s to be hidden can be seen at the top of their  own Facebook page.

A Congressman was seated next to a little girl on an airplane so he turned to her and said, “Do you want to talk?? Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.”

The little girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the total stranger, “What would you want to talk about?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” said the congressman. “How about global warming, universal health care, or stimulus packages?” as he smiled smugly.

“OK,” she said. “Those could be interesting topics but let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff – grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, but a horse produces clumps. Why do you suppose that is?”

The legislator, visibly surprised by the little girl’s intelligence, thinks about it and says, “Hmmm, I have no idea.”

To which the little girl replies, “Do you really feel qualified to discuss global warming, universal health care, or the economy, when you don’t know shit?” And then she went back to reading her book.

There is a bit of kerfuffle at the moment surrounding the recent federal budget and the increase to funding the school chaplaincy program.

Christian’s are copping most of the disagreement surrounding the program for pushing their religious agenda and using the role for evangelism. I could be wrong but my understanding of this federally funded program is that the chaplains don’t necessarily need to be ‘Christian’ and that if a school chooses they can use the money to fund a Hindu chappy if they want. But it is mostly being taken up by Christians and christian organisations like Scripture Union.

I think we also need to be aware that scripture in schools is not directly linked to the chaplaincy positions so the argument that chaplains are responsible for all the scripture is false. Scripture is often undertaken by representatives from local churches to the school.

Personally I’m not a big fan of scripture in schools, I know it’s probably not going to win me friends with everyone but I’m not convinced that forcing a whole grade of students to sit in a seminar room for an hour to listen to one person who you have never met rant on about how amazing is Jesus is a good use of of time and resource. I know students don’t have to attend but from what i hear it’s parents have to opt out rather than scripture being an opt in session. I think if Christianity is to be discussed in a school it should be in things like lunchtime groups and breakfast clubs. With local church members attending every week not just once a term for a forced seminar. At the same time I don’t think it should be just Christians who run lunch time groups etc, I think all religions should be able to do the same.

I get a bit annoyed by Christians getting upset that their programs in schools are being more restricted when other religions arn’t even allowed in the gate.what right do we have to push our beliefs if others don’t have that same right.

Now to Chaplains, I have no problem having chaplains in schools, a person who is there a few days a week and can build relationships with the kiddies and also take part in programs and everyday school life. A person who is there to provide an alternative form of pastoral care and support. I think this support should be available to all kids in schools, but yet again I would prefer there was several chaplains representing different beliefs. I don’t think these chaplains should have counseling roles unless they have recognized training to do so. And I don’t think the government should be paying to provide chaplains. If religions and faith groups want to have chaplains in schools it should be like 10 years ago where their funding came from local churches and individuals.

The government should use the money it spends on chaplaincy to provide alternative student support roles like disability support staff, psychologists, community engagement officers etc…

I’m for chappy’s but not paid for by the government.

“Osama Bin Laden is dead. So is a woman who was killed in the firefight, taken by Bin Laden’s people as a human shield. I want to know her name. I want the whole world to know her name, so at any point we think we can celebrate a human death, we’re reminded that no matter how much we try to justify it, the inevitable consequence of violence is sadness, pain, misery and loss.”

- Van Badham

“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”

- Mahatma Gandhi

Somewhere in Saudi a young Muslim terrorist is watching footage of people cheering in America and thinking to himself, “Those Christians are not so different from us afterall”

- Chad Holtz

I just sold a block of Cadbury fair trade chocolate to my wife for $10.

We got given two blocks each at Easter from her family but apparently that’s not enough.

$10 is a bit much I hear you say, as those blocks are normally around $3 in the supermarket. Well I had some factors to include into the exclusive pricing.

1. convenience,  as my block is in the kitchen cupboard you can’t get more convenient than that, no need to walk all the way to the shops. So you pay a premium.
2. sentimental value, the chocolate was a gift to me, so to part with it I will need some significant financial compensation.
3. If I left it in the cupboard much longer she would have eaten it anyway which would have been theft resulting in criminal charges, this way she gets let off with a fine in full knowledge that we all knew she was planning on committing an offense.

“Just hope that as we remember Servicemen and women today we remember the Australia they fought for – wasn’t gay marriage and Islamic!”

He later tweeted this apology….

“Ok you are right my apologies this was the wrong context to raise these issues. ANZACs mean to much to me to demean this day,not intended”

Wallace and ACL you do not represent me!!!!! Don’t want to demean this day??? only intended to demean gay and Islamic’s ???? How christian of you.

I just had a mother and daughter come to my door. I opened the door and the mother said ‘Hello, do you have sin in your heart?’.

We had a bit of a chat and I told her that I sin all the time, she was shocked by this and quite firmly said “NO if you believe in Jesus dying on the cross then you are free from sin”.

I tried to say that I personally don’t quite agree with that and that I do believe that Jesus died for my sins, but that I will keep sinning even as a believer , that Jesus death does not make me perfect but does give me a gateway to forgiveness.

Anyway she was beginning to get a little to heated for my liking so I suggested that we may not agree but it’s ok to to have different beliefs.

She then asked what my name was and said goodbye.