... that I wanted to write about, but for the life of me, I can't remember it now. Perhaps it was just the fact that Beck and Oasis seem to have brought out good albums recently - was watching the Australian Top 50 on Rage before. And tonight's programme are choices of Tori Amos, and looks a good list - includes Blur, Radiohead, Oasis, Weezer, REM, Garbage, Depeche Mode, New Order, Fatboy Slim, Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Beastie Boys, Metallica - and of course Tori. The last song that I would like to catch up with is at 3.30 in the morning, but for some reason I don't think I can stay awake until then - or is there a cricket match on tonight?
Hmm, Bush had a press conference with the new Iraqi PM in Washington today, saying that the insurgency will be defeated, and the US will withdraw with honour - giving no timeframe for any withdrawal, so at least that is one good idea he has heeded. Giving timetables for exit strategies is never a good idea, it just emboldens your opponents (or is that enboldens? Spellcheck seems to be down LOL). As six more US troops die in Fallujah and thirteen are injured (suicide car bomb) - three female soldiers dead, eleven injured - guess it must have been a support unit rather than a front line one?
Bush is going to give a prime time address to the nation next Tuesday - could it be that a few obvious home truths are going to be said? Or is it going to be more sabre rattling? Could it be that the draft will be reinstated? Or Osama has been captured - nah, if it was the last, it wouldn't wait until Tuesday, he would crow about it now...
'The United States will soon have to start reducing force levels in Iraq, or risk seeing the volunteer Army collapse. Yet the administration and its supporters have effectively prevented any adult discussion of the need to get out.' - Paul Krugman, New York Times, 24 June 2005
Hmm, on a lighter note, some guy in the US, over the course of 38 years, collected over a million one cent pieces (known as pennies in North America, even though I thought they had a revolution to get rid of British things LOL) and has just cashed them all in for the grand total of $13,084.59 - all up they weighed four metric tons. I'm guessing he had to hire a fork lift to get it all out :)
Hmm, Guantanamo and Abu Gharib may have actually come back to bite the US intelligence agencies - an Italian judge in Milan has issued arrest warrants for thirteen suspected CIA operatives for kidnapping an Egyptian cleric who was living in Italy and spiriting him off to Egypt for interrogation. At least the Italians had the decency to issue arrest warrants, after all the people being sent off to the Gitmo legal black hole, can you imagine if someone had just kidnapped Americans and then held them somewhere, but it's all OK, they are threats to national security? Even if they succeeded in capturing a CIA operative, the response would be nuclear - only half metaphorically as well. But no one in Washington is willing to comment at all on this Italian case, surprise surprise.
Of course, am going to watch the rugby match from Christchurch this afternoon - of course, will probably be watching it by myself, and not sure whether I want to insinuate myself into any other conversations - this is as much as home anyways, rather than somewhere I am going to be for eighteen months (thinking of watching rugby when I was in London - before the internet got big and you could get the results straight away - thinking of the Walkabout getting videos of the games shipped over to watch the following Saturday LOL). Of course the games were on Sky Sport over there, but something about having a social time out with your fellow Antipodeans.
Should be a good match though, supposed to be a cold rainy day in Christchurch (why do they schedule night matches in the middle of winter in the South Island? Surely our fans are rabid enough that we can actually watch it in the afternoon - the Brits do with their soccer, only midweek games are night games)... Eight of the starting line up for the Lions, and five on the bench are from the English side, as opposed to bugger all for the teams that were actually better than England this year LOL.
Oh, I know what I was going to mention at the start of the post - was a thought I had from last night, as I was heading to bed. I have mentioned how I feel how I am being pulled in five different directions at once. Of course, Brisbane is my main point of reference at the moment, but I am also have the other foot in Tasmania it seems, half a brain in Canberra, with hands hanging on to back home (New Zealand) and fingertips from the other hand sprawled towards Canada. And also occasional brainwaves also sent out to the UK.
Just a passing thought - V says that my family as a whole never seems able to settle. My parents moving house so much the last five years especially and then needing to do the places up (see the pool out the back, a mini rumpus room planned for the garage etc), and my own wanderlust - haven't been further than New Zealand recently, but my love of travel is still there. Just the financial getting back on my feet stuff after the past five years of well, not living beyond my means, that was just the last two years, but instead depending on credit as a source of funds. Up until the whole Canada thing in 2003 I was able to keep ahead of payments, but I was depending on the credit card as an additional boost as it were.
Now, to head to Chermside or head into town for the rugby, hmm.
Pauly
Hmm, Bush had a press conference with the new Iraqi PM in Washington today, saying that the insurgency will be defeated, and the US will withdraw with honour - giving no timeframe for any withdrawal, so at least that is one good idea he has heeded. Giving timetables for exit strategies is never a good idea, it just emboldens your opponents (or is that enboldens? Spellcheck seems to be down LOL). As six more US troops die in Fallujah and thirteen are injured (suicide car bomb) - three female soldiers dead, eleven injured - guess it must have been a support unit rather than a front line one?
Bush is going to give a prime time address to the nation next Tuesday - could it be that a few obvious home truths are going to be said? Or is it going to be more sabre rattling? Could it be that the draft will be reinstated? Or Osama has been captured - nah, if it was the last, it wouldn't wait until Tuesday, he would crow about it now...
'The United States will soon have to start reducing force levels in Iraq, or risk seeing the volunteer Army collapse. Yet the administration and its supporters have effectively prevented any adult discussion of the need to get out.' - Paul Krugman, New York Times, 24 June 2005
Hmm, on a lighter note, some guy in the US, over the course of 38 years, collected over a million one cent pieces (known as pennies in North America, even though I thought they had a revolution to get rid of British things LOL) and has just cashed them all in for the grand total of $13,084.59 - all up they weighed four metric tons. I'm guessing he had to hire a fork lift to get it all out :)
Hmm, Guantanamo and Abu Gharib may have actually come back to bite the US intelligence agencies - an Italian judge in Milan has issued arrest warrants for thirteen suspected CIA operatives for kidnapping an Egyptian cleric who was living in Italy and spiriting him off to Egypt for interrogation. At least the Italians had the decency to issue arrest warrants, after all the people being sent off to the Gitmo legal black hole, can you imagine if someone had just kidnapped Americans and then held them somewhere, but it's all OK, they are threats to national security? Even if they succeeded in capturing a CIA operative, the response would be nuclear - only half metaphorically as well. But no one in Washington is willing to comment at all on this Italian case, surprise surprise.
Of course, am going to watch the rugby match from Christchurch this afternoon - of course, will probably be watching it by myself, and not sure whether I want to insinuate myself into any other conversations - this is as much as home anyways, rather than somewhere I am going to be for eighteen months (thinking of watching rugby when I was in London - before the internet got big and you could get the results straight away - thinking of the Walkabout getting videos of the games shipped over to watch the following Saturday LOL). Of course the games were on Sky Sport over there, but something about having a social time out with your fellow Antipodeans.
Should be a good match though, supposed to be a cold rainy day in Christchurch (why do they schedule night matches in the middle of winter in the South Island? Surely our fans are rabid enough that we can actually watch it in the afternoon - the Brits do with their soccer, only midweek games are night games)... Eight of the starting line up for the Lions, and five on the bench are from the English side, as opposed to bugger all for the teams that were actually better than England this year LOL.
Oh, I know what I was going to mention at the start of the post - was a thought I had from last night, as I was heading to bed. I have mentioned how I feel how I am being pulled in five different directions at once. Of course, Brisbane is my main point of reference at the moment, but I am also have the other foot in Tasmania it seems, half a brain in Canberra, with hands hanging on to back home (New Zealand) and fingertips from the other hand sprawled towards Canada. And also occasional brainwaves also sent out to the UK.
Just a passing thought - V says that my family as a whole never seems able to settle. My parents moving house so much the last five years especially and then needing to do the places up (see the pool out the back, a mini rumpus room planned for the garage etc), and my own wanderlust - haven't been further than New Zealand recently, but my love of travel is still there. Just the financial getting back on my feet stuff after the past five years of well, not living beyond my means, that was just the last two years, but instead depending on credit as a source of funds. Up until the whole Canada thing in 2003 I was able to keep ahead of payments, but I was depending on the credit card as an additional boost as it were.
Now, to head to Chermside or head into town for the rugby, hmm.
Pauly
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