Wishing Bernard well

It seems Rachel and I are perfecting the art of catching famous musos in their 'private lives'. After our Ben Folds experience in Melbourne (where we saw him walking along the sidewalk with his mates after a gig, before getting into a shit-box car and driving away) we recently witnessed none other than Bernard Fanning live and in the raw!

We were at The Coffee Club at Paddington for 'brunch' (we got up late and missed breakfast?) when the incident happened. We sat inside, and, from about 5 metres away, I spied this guy who 'looked a lot like' Bernard Fanning. He was sitting with two other girls (ahem... women!) and another guy (who may or may not have been from Powderfinger). While we couldn't see his face front-on, the longer we sat there and the more I looked at him, the more sure I was that it was Bernard. Further, the people he was sitting with were all pretty good looking ('cause BF wouldn't be seen with ugly people, of course!).

After we'd finished and paid we went out the exit closest to their table, and walked in such a path where I'd be able to see his face front-on. Of course, that confirmed for me that it was him... unmistakable. I was so excited! Bernard Fanning right THERE! Sipping a flat white.... THERE!!

Folds - tick
Fanning - tick

I wonder who's next???

So.... yeah.

Ok, time for another "Joe Hate's" post....

I'm at uni right now on the internet trying to sign up to a new home internet connection. However, I'm being distracted by this guy who works in the Computer Help Desk adjacent to the computer labs. In fact, I'm just about ready to stab him in the eyeball...

Reason's why I feel this way include:

1. He has the little window between his office and the computer labs right open, so everyone can hear all that he is saying. He was on the phone before chatting to a mate about mobile phone plans for about 20 minutes. The rudeness!

2. He's one of these people who say "so yeah" at the end of every sentence. Yes, EVERY SENTENCE. He's also someone who says "it's all good" waaaaayyyy too frequently.

3. He has the cricket on his little tv on his desk, and he feels he needs to share the score with EVERYONE who goes up to the desk..... "Yeah, I've just got the cricket on here, and England have just lost another wicket. So yeah. It's all good [chuckle, chuckle]". Meanwhile, I'm sitting here without a tv and without the score.... BAH!

4. He also says words like bro and aye too much. He also laughs at the end of most sentences... as if everything you say is the funniest thing he's ever heard. GRRR!!!

5. Dunno, I'm out of reasons. He just shits me.

It's all good, bro, aye. So yeah...

Kevin "good to be with you, Kerry" Rudd

I don't normally blog about politics, but with everything in the media currently, I feel compelled to say my 2.2c (GST inclusive).

I was pissed off on Friday when I found out Kevin Rudd had challenged for the leadership of federal Labor. I suppose this was because I'm already resigned to the fact that the chances of Labor taking government in the election next year are slim, as at least 16 additional seats will have to be won on top of their 2004 election wins. This is a pretty tall order, and a pretty big head-start for the Coalition. So my thinking was, that if anyone was going to lose the upcoming election, it should be the Bomber - Kim Beazley. With IR and climate change issues hitting a chord with the community, and Kim doing an "ok" job, a win of 10-12 seats would be a great result for Labor, but 16 is an up-hill battle.

I really like Kevin Rudd, and have a lot of respect for him. Myself and a number of other Young Labor people were involved in a project last year called Labor Community Action (LCA). Kevin invited about 25 YL people over to his house one Sunday afternoon and broached this idea of creating a community action group which got out into the community and helped out with things like Meals on Wheels, after-school Literacy Centres for school students, and retirement home visits. While the program was semi-successful, it was this desire Kevin had to make a real difference to real people in the community which is so commendable, and is what sets him apart from other politicans.

I just hope that taking on the leadership now doesn't stuff up Rudd's career. You'd suspect that even if Rudd-Gillard lost the 2007 election, they'd still stay on as leaders for an election in 2010. I suppose the good thing is that Rudd won the caucus vote by such a big margin. If he'd only won by a vote or two, it may have made things awkward for him now and down the track.

Vote 1 for the round-faced, Mandarin-speaking, nerdy-looking, four-eyed ex-diplomat.

And the winner is... Wooloowin State School!

The latest news to come to hand is that I'll be teaching at Wooloowin State School in 2007! Woohoo!!!!!

For those who don't know, Wooloowin State School is a relatively small school for inner-Brisbane, with only with just over 200 students. It seems a very nice school, with a nice mix of old-style 1920s architecture, with modern and contemporary facilities and classrooms. In typical "old school" (ahem...) style, all the buildings are built in a U-shape around a central courtyard and oval. The actual buildings and classrooms are really nice, with wooden staircases, big teaching spaces, and quite cool and 'breezy'.

The principal who offered me the job is only there acting until the end of the year, and the existing principal is coming back after taking a year off... wait for it... in the Army Reserves!! Yep, it's 2006, and there still exists people who double as a principal of a primary school and a Lieutenant Colonel! Be good, kids!!!!! :)

At the minute, it seems as though I'll have a year 3 class, so I've already been familiarising myself with the corresponding syllabus documents. I think I like the idea of having year 3s. Year 1 or 2s I wouldn't have liked in my first year, but I'm quite happy about 3s. Eight year olds are starting to become "people", and they're still easy to motivate and excite ("Right boys and girls, this morning we are doing our 3 times-tables"... "YAY, Mr Perkins!" they cry).

Anyway, I'm attending the staff meeting later this week to get to meet the teachers and try to get into the swing of things.

While I was somewhat expecting an offering at Thargominda, Murgon, Birdsville or Morven, I'm stoked that I get to hang around in Brissy for at least next year, and at least get my feet on the ground.

Stick it up the Little Green Man

I'm getting frustrated with people. Not all people. Just some people. "City" people, specifically, and those who choose to cross the road at lights, just before the little green man comes up.

You know the people I'm talking about. Those which stand on the VERY EDGE of the street corner, wait until the cars have gone, and then start walking before the little green man pops up, and hence, get a 3-4 metre head-start on the rest of us who choose to wait.

Yes, these people are beginning to give me the shits!

What, I ask, is so important that these people feel they need to cross the road that second earlier, and risk getting hit? What is the real benefit? Why? WHY DAMMIT??

Well, I've come to the conclusion that it's an anti-social-conformity thing. A "stick it up the institution", if you will. I think that people's lives are so 'controlled' these days by social institutions that they are frustrated. So many things are out of people's control (especially if you work in the city). You have to catch buses, or trains, at particular times. People have to wait for an elevator before they can get to the floor they want. And many people only have a set amount of time for a lunch break before they 'have' to be back at work. People want to feel in control of their lives, and what they do, and hence all of these external control factors are frustrating people.

And so, when these people are on the edge of the pavement and see the road clear, they decide to take advantage of the slim control they have over the situation, risking their lives in doing so.

"Stick it up the little green man" they say, and leave the rest of us "conformists" waiting on the sidewalk...

Which one are you?

I hit a kid with my car

I had one of the most scariest experiences of my life on Monday afternoon. Rachel and I were in my car and were coming home after spending a long day looking at possible rental properties.

We were coming off the highway at Cornwall St, and there are 2 sets of lights quite close to each other, and kind of on a bend. Anyway, we went through the first set, and we were stopped in a long line of traffic at the second. The lane to my right was almost empty, so I checked over my shoulder, indicated, and pulled out and started accelerating.

Then, however, all I remember was hearing this awful 'klunk' and seeing this kid, an Aboriginal boy and probably 11 or 12 and who was riding his bike, landing half-way up the bonnet of my car! I can't quite remember, but I'm sure I screamed an expletive or two, and I don't think Rachel, in the passenger seat beside me, was too quiet either.

What had happened was that the boy had gone to cross over the 4 lanes of traffic on his bike (in the middle of the road... not at the intersection), and had gone in front of the car I was originally behind. Luckily, I was stationary before I pulled out, and only accelerated a couple of metres before I collected him...

Anyway, the kid hit the bitumen, and then got up and ran to the side of the road. I immediately got out of the car and went after him. He was screaming a bit and holding his face, and for the first 30 seconds I thought he was hurt badly. I don't really remember thinking anything at the time... just being very paniked, and trying to sum up the situation as quickly as I could. He wasn't wearing a helmet either, which I was really concerned about.

After he calmed down a bit I was able to look at his face. He had a couple of bad grazes - one on his chin, another on his cheek, and another on his right eyebrow. Apart from another bruise or two, he seemed to be ok... nothing broken or damaged otherwise.

I think it was at this point where I finally exhaled...

While I was checking him out, Rachel had moved his bike from in front of my car and pulled it off the road. He was actually with 3 of his friends (about a similiar age, none of which were wearing helmets either) who had come over to him by this stage and were standing around. After I made sure he was ok, I went and moved my car (as it was still in the middle of the road and blocking 2 lanes of traffic) and parked in the nearest driveway. Even though the kid was looking ok, we decided to call an ambulance anyway, which arrived about 15 minutes later.

While we were waiting, his 'mates' passed the time by rolling and smoking some joints and yelling at people in cars who were looking at the scene to "fuck off, pooftas". A reminder that these boys were all probably 11 or 12. Nice one, lads...

When the ambulance arrived, we explained what had happened. They checked the kid out, but didn't seem all that concerned. They applied a few bandaids, and, seeing as the kid wasn't wearing a helmet, recommended that they take him to hospital to do some tests. He didn't seem to like that idea too much. They had a look at my car, but, apart from a few scratches, there didn't look like there was any damage. Soon after, they said there was no problem and that we were fine to go... however, Rachel was tempted to stay behind and strangle the 'little fuckers'.

As you can imagine, I was pretty shaken up by the whole thing. I have only ever had one accident, in 2002 not long after I got my licence, where I backed into a post at uni and had to get a rear brake-light replaced. It sure isn't every day that you see children flying off the bonnet of your car... and it sure is a shock when it happens. I can't believe I didn't see him, though... I think I 'heard' him before I actually 'saw' him. I know that I didn't do anything wrong, but I still feel bad. I suppose he was really very lucky, though. If a car was coming around the corner at 60km/h and had collected him he would've had no chance.

Drive safely, people.

iYay

Meanwhile, my iPod is going swimmingly. I've bought an attachment-thingo for my car, which means you can play tracks through the car speakers. It's very hot, very fuckomatic.

Songs that I've downloaded from iTunes lately include:

Sarah Blasko's new album
Consolation Prizes - Phoenix (plus a few others)
A few Ben Folds Five golden oldies
Scissor Sisters
Grey's Anatomy soundtrack

Yay!