Little by Little

Well, the builders have been around today and have done a little more (see photo). Things are slowly surely getting done. The picture you see here is actually from a couple of days ago and I've been too lazy to take a picture of the current progress. There is actually a sort of roof on now and they will be back tomorrow to do a bit more. They were all scratching their heads today and I asked them what the problem was.

"We don't know how to put the roof on".

I asked them why this was so.

They said "We've never done a roof with a funny angle on it before..."

I told them that they are clever and will work it out eventually....I'm not paying for overtime.

I am approaching the first weekend I haven't had to work in about 6 months. I don't know what to do with myself, so my wife and I invited a couple of friends over for Mexican food and tequila/beer/wine tomorrow evening. Should be fun.

Disturbing

I was horrified to read this over at News dot com dot au.

For the United States Administration to deny constantly the bad new coming out of Iraq is irresponsible and, in some cases, downright evil. Bush's administration cannot be trusted. On the brighter side of this, it seems that more and more people, including the Main Stream Media, are waking up to the fact that the Bush Cartel are a pack of lying fools.

Still Waiting

Well, another day has passed and our builders have decided that they will be working on another project today....just not ours. I'm not pissed, am I?

Rehearsing a song by Regurgitator called "Everyday Formula". It's kinda old, but it's a fun song to do. I enjoy a lot of Regurgitator's stuff as it varies from one song to the next. If you've nevere heard them, you should give them a try. I urge you to visit their site just to check out the cool 'OS'

The Weekend

Well, I've been through the weekend. Played two nights out of three and been exhausted coming out the other end. On Friday night, I played at a female Touch Football presentation night. Out of a room full of people, there were only 3 males and the rest were atheletic, lithe females; it was hard to take. I would just like to point out that these women partied and drank just as hard as any bloke's footy presentation night I've been to.

Saturday evening was a little quieter, but not by much. One of the only weddings I've played at where they wanted the bridal waltz to be 'Enter Sandman' by Metallica. Needless to say, I felt like a sleep in on Sunday, but that was not forthcoming, as I had to take my son to soccer. Maybe I'll sleep tomorrow.

General Personal News

Tomorrow week I will be meeting with old work mates for a luncheon rendezvous. This is exciting for me, as I haven't seen them in quite some time and I'm sure there will be plenty to talk about. I worked 23 years for a large telecommunications company. That's a long time for an old fella. My friends worked there for quite a while as well, but nowhere nearly as long as I had. I took a voluntary redundancy and left with quite a bit of cash. Of course, most of it went to paying off debts on the house and car, but at least I can say "I own it!"

On a darker note, it has been raining here and my home renovations have stalled because of this. I hate having a mudpool in the back yard. The picture you see here is on a day of sunshine. Note the dusty, dirty area. Imagine it with a couple hundred gallons of water over it...

A Culture of Entrenched Cruelty

After following with interest the problems faced by Cornelia Rau, I was flabbergasted (yes, my gasts were Flabbered) to read this little gem in the Sydney Morning Herald

Is there any reason why this should still be happening? What the hell are DIMA doing? It is obvious that this system is not working, or in fact, it works, but has been implemented poorly. A little investigation never hurt anybody!

'A Life Revealed' - National Geographic

Watched a special on this person. Sharbat Gula is her name. She was the "Face of Afghanistan" on the cover of National Geographic 21 years ago. This special was aired in 2003, but this is the first time I have seen it. I remember seeing her picture back then and was stunned by her haunting beauty. Her eyes pierced the soul.

Now, 21 years, later, I have seen her as she is today. Her complexion somewhat weathered, her skin ruddy, but her eyes now tell the story of a life of hardship. She has survived her time in the refugee camps in Pakistan and felt that her life was easier under the rule of the Taliban when they moved, once again, to Afghanistan.

If you wish to read more about her, you can find out about her at:
National Geographic dot com

singing for my supper

Yes, that's me showing the strain. I'm a bass player. I can't work more than 4 strings. I've been playing piano since I was 6 and the bass since I was 13. I was in my first rock band when I was 14 and am still going today. That's 34 years of driving people crazy or 'entertaining' as I like to put it. Over that period of time, I've met some awesome people and rubbed shoulders with some of the best. Although, I must say that the musicians that I work with now are, to me, the best. I think that I say this mainly because they put up with me. My guitarist and drummer have worked with me now since around 1980. That's a long time to stay together. True, we have split up on the odd occasion, but we always seem to gravitate back to each other. I think it's the familiarity thing really.

Scott says hi!

Well, this is all very exciting! My first blog and I'm very nervous.

My name is Scott and I will be your host here for a countless number of years.

I intend this to be a moderate blog and hopefully I won't go on a rant unless something really gripes my cookies.

As times roll on, I will most likely post less here, but for the time being, I will try to keep this as up to date as possible.

At present, my house is going through renovations and I am finding it hard to concentrate on anything else besides that.

To describe myself, I am 48 years old, married with three children and am left-leaning politically. I am retired from the workforce spending my last few years as LAN administrator for a communications company and am now self-employed in a rock band and I also do duet work.

I have a couple of favourite blogs that I scan every day. One of them is Crooks & Liars dot com. A great site if you are frustrated also in the direction that the administration in the United States is taking currently. It's good to see that many others feel the same as I do, not all of them Americans mind you. There are many scattered throughout the world that are worried about the health of the good ol' U.S. of A.

So, this is my first posting....hmmm.....I reckon I should have put a little more into it, however, there is plenty of time for more later