31 January 2009
29 January 2009
American “Fanatics” Association
According to “the Gay Agenda”, the American “family” Association is coming down on Pepsi for an ad that was aired in England. One might think that a group with American in their name would primarily focus on things that happen in their own country, but when it comes to gay-bashing, the AFA knows no borders.
It’s sad when the mere recognition that gay people exist is seen as pro-gay. While the ad puts a twist on the pick up bar scene, the guys mates certainly don’t react positively when the 3rd person at the bar stands up. The guy with the glasses even looks angry at his friend’s interests.
26 January 2009
Happy Australia Day
Australia Day is a time to celebrate beaches, lamington drives, and Kylie – at least that’s what one commercial said. Another opinion is a day that we can all take off work to watch cricket. I’ve never been able to get excited about cricket. (and lamington drives are what American’s would call bake sales).
On January 26th, 1788 the First Fleet ran the British flag up over Sydney Cove (I think this might even be on the citizenship test). It’s similar to July 4th as the respective national holiday. It’s also similar to Columbus Day both in a celebration of the “discovery” (by the British), and protests by the people that were already here. There have been suggestions of moving the national holiday to a different day as some native people look at it more as Invasion Day.
We didn’t go to the beach, but I made John listen to a little Kylie. I gave the grill a good cleaning only to realize we were out of gas. Our indoor grill had to sub. I’m so full I’ll barely be able to make room for ice cream. :)
23 January 2009
F’ng Cable Companies
If you’ve been reading my blog for a long time, you’ll probably remember my rants about Charter Communications when we lived in the States. When we got here, we signed up for Foxtel since they seemed to have the best deal that included a DVR (foxtel iq). We got a fairly full package – we wanted our movie channels and lots of rugby.
It wasn’t long before the ability to order pay per view movies went out. With our package we were supposed to get 2 a month free. We usually forgot, but we ordered a handful before the connection stopped working.
Today I finally called to see if they could help. Not only do the pay movies not work (the only way to order them is thru the box over a phone line), but a lot of the recordings have failed. I could understand if the box was under heavy load, but these were single recordings with the box recently rebooted.
The other problem has been the remote. We use the dvr so much the button to access the recorded shows has almost stopped working. In the
States, your remote is considered part of the equipment the cable company provides (barring mistreatment). They told me I’d have to purchase a replacement at the estimated cost of $60 or so. It’s not like I could use it for anything else. (and thankfully I’m enough of a geek to take it apart and clean it – working better now).
The first time I called and punched through the recorded options – the recording told me they would reboot my IQ and then hung up (this was without any question of what was wrong with it). I had to call a second time to get a person (they have you enter your phone number so they can tell if you’ve called back right away). Foxtel has obviously outsourced their help desk. I talked to 2 people and could barely understand either of them. They had me run through all the trouble shooting steps I’d already taken. In 3 weeks they’ll send someone out to verify the unit is broken. Too bad there isn’t a way to back up our recorded programs or settings. (in the States we had a Tivo and they have a PC extension and you can connect it to your home network). Maybe I’ll ask the technician if we can get credits for a few movies.
20 January 2009
18 January 2009
Sunday Blasphemy -
I’ve been seriously slacking with the Sunday Blasphemy posts. It’s not like there has been a lack of material.
In England when an atheist group put up advertisements saying there “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” They had to add the “Probably” to meet with advertising guidelines since no god could have been “misleading”.
In Australia, they tried to do the same ad campaign but regardless of the wording, they couldn’t get it accepted.
Don’t even get me started on the Warren inauguration appearance. I’m sure if someone had made similar comments about any other group being incestuous or child molesters, there’s no way they’d be speaking at even a secondary event. The irony that the bible tells many stories of people important to the three religions marrying close relatives, or people we’d consider minors (and not just in a statutory way), and polygamy is fairly common too. Funny how they try to say allowing gays to marry would force everyone to accept those other things as well.
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Someone sent me an email they thought I’d like. It could be a fun little activity you could do if you find yourself staying at a hotel. (although it seems the chances of finding a bible are declining).
When you find a bible in a hotel or hospital – grab a yellow highlight pen. Then highlight some of the most “loving” verses, such as –
Luke 14:26 – hate your mother and father
Matthew 10:34/36 – he came not for peace but with a sword
Psalm 137:9 – it will make you happy to dash your little ones against a stone
Leviticus 26:29 – eat the flesh of your sons and daughters
Proverbs 28:25 – if you trust the Lord you will put on weight
Matthew 23:9 – don't call a priest, father
Deuteronomy 19:18/19 – Kill anyone who tells a lie
Exodus 35:2 – Kill anyone who works on Sunday
Leviticus 20:27 – Kill all mediums by stoning
Deuteronomy 21:18/21 – Kill a rebellious son by stoning
Leviticus 24:14/16 – Kill anyone who utters a curse by stoning
Keep going for the several thousand verses which are just as bad, or until the pen runs dry.
16 January 2009
Political Compass
It’s been a little while since I’ve done this… I think it was the 2004 US election, although when I search my blog nothing comes up. I think I’m in pretty good company when I’m in the same neighbourhood as Mandela and Gandhi. I was a little concerned when I saw the majority of politicians in the US or Australia coming from the upper right quad. Also, while Ralph Nader is the closest to my point on the graph, he was pretty low on my list of who I’d vote for.
I <3 Corgis
see more puppies
The dogs are good.
Taz has a sore spot on his wrist from compulsive licking. I’ve been trying to keep it covered with a medicated cream on gauze wrapped loosely with duct tape. It’s the only thing he won’t rip off at his earliest convenience.
Oz got a quacking duck toy for xmas from mom (on John’s side) that he absolutely loves. Despite our efforts to keep him on a diet, he’s still a little piggy. He was 18 kg this morning, he should be closer to 13.
2 January 2009
New Years Resolutions
It’s hard to believe 2008 is history. I go back and forth on the idea of doing resolutions. It’s a quaint tradition, but it someone really wants to change something, why wait till the end of the year? That said, here are a few for me.
- I’ll stop turning on the hot water to wash my hands. Between having contacts, doing the cooking, dealing with the dogs – I wash my hands a dozen times a day. The water doesn’t get hot before I’ve washed and rinsed, plus the “cold” water isn’t cold anyway.
- I will use the Wii Fit more. Maybe shoes or a couple pairs of socks will keep it from hurting my feet.
- I will do a better job of keeping in touch with my family and friends from the States. The ones that spend time online (twitter, blogs, facebook, linkedin) are pretty easy, but I have some friends that either aren’t online that much – or I haven’t found their pervy fetish page yet…
- I will find a diet that gives me enough nutrients to be active, but low enuf in calories that the Lyrica doesn’t make me fat. I’ve gained most of what I lost since going on the drug.