Horse 931 - Jack of Hearts

Why is it that whenever you draw Tintin, you can never ever draw him again?



I have been given a new computer and a new scanner at work while the boss up and gallivants down in Melbourne. So, with my new scanner, I've decided to go and scribble up some drawings for it. Never before have I had colour in such clarity or come to the screen in such a quick amount of time.

Tintin is clad in a Heart of Midlothian FC shirt as you'd expect the Jack of Hearts to be wearing, it is after all Hearts FC and not a Hibernian in sight.

Harley Quinn makes for quite an adequate Queen of Forks.

Horse 930 - Presidential Tipping

I found this handy dandy little widget gidget on the Washington Post's website:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008/pick-your-president/

... basically it's a little thing where you can have a go and paint red and blue all over America to pick who's going to be the next president. I had a go and came up with this:

That would have the results listed as:
322 Obama
216 McCain

Mind you, I think that whoever has the job will find it incerdibly difficult; also Iran has come out and stated in two independent statements that if McCain were to be president then a state of hostility would be likely to exist between them and America, and that if Obama were to be president then a state of hostility would also be likely to exist between them and America. Either way it's a bad result.

I think that it's technically possible to win with either 12 or 11 states bur for that to actually happen you need to get California, Texas, Florida, New York, Ohio and Illinois to agree with each other. Whilst that's possible in theory, in practice it's as likely as a camel passing through the eye of a needle and as pleasant as a needle passing through the eye of a camel.

The last president who was neither a Republican nor a Democrat was Millard Fillmore who was Whig and was president from 1850-1853.

Horse 929 - Keep the Blue Flag Flying High?

http://www.goal.com/en/articolo.aspx?contenutoid=932584
Speaking to the BBC after the game, Scolari admitted he wasn’t too disappointed with his side’s performance and bemoaned Liverpool’s good fortune in front of goal.

“I think we played a normal game against Liverpool. It’s a derby and we created three or four good opportunities,” said the Chelsea boss, “They had more luck than us and they make a goal.”

Somehow I don't agree with Scolari. Notwithstanding the fact that Chelsea v Liverpool is not a derby, I question his theory that Liverpool had more "luck".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/oct/27/premierleague-chelsea1
Victory for Liverpool was fully deserved, as is their place at the top of the table. Whatever Chelsea make of the outcome, the visitors gave another indication that they may become champions of England for the first time since 1990. This piece of evidence clicks into place beside the comeback against Manchester United at Anfield last month.

This game made fewer demands. The margin of victory might have been wider, Rafael Benítez's side almost doubling their lead in the 62nd minute when Xabi Alonso's free-kick cannoned off a post.

The Gaurdian (sic) conceeds that Liverpool deserved its victory. Perhaps Scolari was looking at the match facts:
Shots (on Goal)
Chelsea - 17(2) Liverpool - 11(3)
Offsides
Chelsea - 4 Liverpool - 1
Time in Possession
Chelsea - 60% Liverpool - 40%
Saves
Chelsea - 2 Liverpool - 2
However, the match facts don't entirely tell all of the story.

What this shows is that Chelsea held the ball for longer, sprayed it around more often and made more forays into offside territory. Perhaps almost ironically it shows that they spent more time paddling the ball around their back 4 than Liverpool did. This was the real story of this fixture.

With two sides both unbeaten and on 20 points heading into the fixture, what should have been a definate display to attack and take 3 points, turned into something that could have easily been a snore draw. In fact even Alonso's 9th minute strike only went in because it took a wicked deflection off of Jose Bosingwa.

It also shows the power of mastering conditions at home. Chelsea were unbeaten at Stamford Bridge in their previous 86 matches - the last team to do so was Arsenal on February 21st, 2004 during their season unbeaten.

From there the match more or less lost its spark. Chelsea although made the odd thrust into Liverpool territory found that a Benitez managed side still is very good at the counter, and rather than press on at the 18th yard box, they were content to sit at about 35 yards away and we all know that hitting from out there is optomistic at best, unless you pull something brilliant out.

How Ironic do these two articles now look?
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/10/24/liverpool-will-end-chelsea-s-unbeaten-home-record-says-xabi-alonso-115875-20834070/

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/10/25/chelsea-boss-scolari-i-want-to-go-through-the-season-unbeaten-115875-20836888/

Either way, I have one eye and it's red and Chelsea are feeling blue. Liverpool top o'the league and 23 points is their best ever start to a season... ever.

Horse 928 - Numb3rs

I have a strange fascination with kit numbers on footbal shirts. Whilst cricket, american football, baseball, the AFL and ice hockey seemingly let their players get away with big numbers on their shirts, the football kit until only very used to take the stance that the first XI was something important. I guess all of this is changing.

The current AC Milan squad has the following

76 Andriy Shevchenko
77 Luca Antonini
80 Ronaldinho
84 Mathieu Flamini

Bear in mind that Ronaldinho also made his debut for AC Milan in the 99 kit. The only reason I can think of is that this must be some sort of marketing thing.

99 Vitor Baia
The Portuguese keeper donned the number 99 shirt for the first time for Porto's European Cup victory in 2004.

88 Gianluigi Buffon
Buffon was accused of being a fascist after requesting the number 88 while at Parma. His critics claimed this was number code for HH or Heil Hitler. The keeper himself claimed the gesture was his numeric tribute to an Italian saying about strong men having four balls.

55 Dominik Werling
There are 17 vacant squad numbers between Barnsley defender Werling and the highest numbered reserve player at Oakwell. And he was wearing a different number on his shorts (19) against West Brom when he took the field that day.

69 Bixente Lizarazu
Although most people assumed the French full-back was a cheeky chappy, he always maintained that he picked his squad number because he was born in 1969, he is 169cm tall and weighs 69kg.

66 Alain Sutter
The Swiss international allegedly let US culture go to his head when he signed for Dallas Burn and picked his shirt number in honour of Route 66.

1 Ossie Ardiles
The Argentine midfielder wore the number 1 shirt at the 1982 World Cup after the squad numbers were allocated by alphabetical order.

1+8 Ivan Zamorano
The Chilean international was forced to give up his number 9 shirt when Ronaldo joined Inter Milan as part of the bouncing Brazilian's sponsorship deal with Nike. Zamorano took the number 18 shirt and insisted on having a plus sign inserted between the two digits.

111 Luisão
The Flamengo player celebrated the club's 111th anniversary in true South American style - by sticking another digit on his shirt!

0 Hicham Zerouali
The Moroccan striker was given permission to wear the number 0 in honour of his nickname (Zero, in case you need that spelling out!) whilst he spent his time at Aberdeen. Thus he is the play to wear the lowest kit number of all time as far as I can make out.

100 Adolfo Bautista
The Mexican striker became the first player to take to the field wearing triple figures while playing for Chivas de Guadalajara.

But the prize surely for the wackiest kit number has to go to...


500 Romario
The crazy Brazilian wore the number 500 shirt while making his 500th appearance for Vasco da Gama, which is really quite silly.

Horse 927 - **** **** Beep Beep Beepin' Barina

Gentlemen, Behold!

... or in this case, do not Behold if you can get away with it.

The 2008 Sydney Motor Show saw the debut of the brand new Holden Barina. By brand new they mean that they... facelifted it. Every panel forward of the A-pillar has been made afresh. It's just a pity about the crud that still lurks under the skin.

Holden in all their wisdom decided the replace the 2006 XC Barina which was really the Opel Corsa, with the 2006 TK Barina which was really the Daewoo Kalos. In fact with the model change came a considerable drop in prices from $16,499 to $12,990. As well all know that when it comes to cars and especially in the "budget" end of the market, you get precisely what you pay for. Thus Holden managed what had never been done before... replaced a 4-Star NCAP safety rated car with a 2-Star NCAP safety rated car - oh dear.

What it meant in reality was that Holden had effectively managed to produce a car which on price would compete with it's own second-hand nameplate but because it had a lower spec of kit and a worse safety rating, was actually worse value for money. The thing is that the public knew it. Holden at one stage was actually shifting 400 more second-hand XC Barinas as they came back through the dealers than the new TK Barinas on a per month basis.

I should mention the Kalos. Daewoo under its own badge had a terrible reputation, in fact so bad was this reputation, that GM actually removed it from sale in Europe before relaunching the whole lineup under the nominally American label Chevrolet. Perhaps realising that this would not fly with the Australian public, they snuck in under the radar by slapping the apparantly unsoilable Holden badge on the front in the hope that no-one would notice. On the face of it, Australians aren'that stupid - or at least they're told they aren't by Holden marketing executive Jason Laird.
"safety is not a concern in this segment and sales have proven this, therefore we will not be importing the Opel Barina" - again, oh dear.
I think that it's best to let the actual numbers speak for themselves. The plucky little Mazda 2 has jumped straight to the top of the sheets with a full kit and safety spec that makes the Barina look quite frankly... like a Daewoo.


Back in Europe and in fact Korea, GM are realising that they have a case of duplication. So the 2010 or 2011 small car will probably be based off the GM Gamma platform which the Corsa is currently based and which the next car will be developed.
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051129/FREE/511290701

It follows that the styling of the 2008 TK Barina should look like the Opel Corsa D if they are both going to be replaced by the same car. I do wonder though what this does mean for the Chevrolet badge in Europe. Does this mean to say that both badges will sit side by side, because I very much doubt that Europeans would fall for the same trick Australians did... er, didn't do with the Kalos.

Perhaps Shakespeare said it best when he penned the following in one of Juliet's speeches:
"What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;"
In the case of the Barina, the name has changed... but the product still stinks.

Horse 926 - The Man Who Sued God... and Failed

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7673591.stm

In 2001 a film starring Billy Connolly called "The Man Who Sued God" had as it's subject a man who upon having his boat struck by lightning attempts to sue God for damages; since Christian churches and Jewish Synangogues claim to be God's representative, his action is held against them.

In this case of art imitating life, the "the Maverick of Omaha"; Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers, self-appointed "angriest black man in Nebraska," and "defender of the downtrodden" has decided to raise a permanent injunction to prevent the "death, destruction and terrorisation" caused by God.

Judge Polk however threw out the case on the basis that because God has no address, legal papers cannot be served. "Given that this court finds that there can never be service effectuated on the named defendant this action will be dismissed with prejudice," Judge Polk wrote in his ruling.

The court, Mr Chambers said, had acknowledged the existence of God and "a consequence of that acknowledgement is a recognition of God's omniscience"; "Since God knows everything," he reasoned, "God has notice of this lawsuit."

Perhaps if Mr Chambers knows of God's omniscience, maybe he would also know of Jesus' statement in Matthew 4:7 (quoting Deut 6:16)
Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

And "Why?" one might ask? Well obviously since this proves, one doesn't really want to put God to the test because God has a better legal department. Or perhaps to quote Biff Tannen from Back to the Future Part II... "I OWN THE LAW"

Horse 925 - Malware, Malappropriate, Malicious

I am typing this post from a Wintel machine currently operating without a GUI. The strange but true thing about this is that if you really wanted to you could in theory run Windows from a bare command line and it would still work.

It all started when Snowy and I stumbled on an ancient door... no seriously, what happened was that AVG, found some sort of malicious threat somewhere and attempted to remove it. What AVG wasn't smart enough to work out though, was that the malware in question had deleted windows.exe and replaced with with either its own version or has corrupted what's there.

You really have to admire the genius of whoever created this though. Here's Windows sitting merrily all by itself and without any prompting, Mr Malware comes along and disguises itself as the GUI and because it did it so effortlessly, AVG hasn't realised that it was Mr Malware, until Sir Windows-Crash-A-Lot told it. Up comes the little red shield in the corner and quicker than you can say Jack Robinson and His Amazing Shark-Infested Custard, bang - Mr Malware has done his dash, and set up a deckchair to watch the machine crash into the digital iceberg of destiny.

It leaves me with the problem now of doing a file recover off of this machine and hopfully saving all of the little hidey instructions that tell it how to talk with ASIC, the ATO, the Law Courts, the Dept of Defence as well as all our other lovely VPN clients.

Malware, Malware, bo-balware
Banana-fana fo-falware
Fee-fi-mo-malware
Malware!

Horse 924 - What is the X6 for?

Warren Brown on Top Gear Australia wasn't sure what the X6 was supposed to be and therefore wasn't sure whether he liked it or not. With this small diatribe, I explore this idea and cast my own judgement.



The fact of the matter is that if you see any given car on the road, you can use commonsense and pretty well establish what sort of person is behind the wheel. Commodore drivers are blokes who think that they're blokey or mums with kids. Falcon drivers are tired blokes who think that they're blokey or tired mums with kids. If you see an Audi A4, you immediately think "office affair". Mercedes drivers are usually fat businessmen. Camry and Corolla drivers are people who don't care about the car and have simply bought it as an appliance to go from A to B (but would never think of going to C). BMW drivers have only one word you immediately think of. Go on, you know you want to say it...
... well it's true.

Think about it and think about that word. On the corporate business ladder there is only one road to travel. MINI (being a sub-division of BMW) then BMW itself and finally Mercedes-Benz. Or if you will - wannabe <>, to actual <> and finally fat old <>. Have you worked out what that word is? Good, then we'll move on.

Now think about the type of vehicle it is. It is a well known fact that I personally prejudiced against Four Wheel Drives (and abhor the acronym SUV because they're not sport and not very utilitarian but if you only call them a vehicle, then it tells you nothing).
A 4WD by purpose is a thing for going off road. To this end, really the only things suitable for the job are the following: Land Rover and Range Rover's entire range, because British car makers are used to building cars to drive through bogs. The Toyota Land Cruiser and Prado (if you couldn't afford a Land Cruiser), the Nissan Patrol, the Mitsubishi Pajero. The Ford Territory (because the Falcon was already capable of the job) and every big 4WD ever produced in America that doesn't have those stupid 22" bling tyres on.

By contrast the following car makers are building 4WDs that will never see dirt, and also have a ground clearance lower than my Ford Ka: Audi, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Mazda, Volvo, Volkswagen and Porsche. The 4WDs from these firms are even named so that they instantly give away the fact that you can't use them to go on dirt with - Q7, X5, RX430, ML500, CX-7, XC90 - the trend is generally, name them with a bunch of letters and numbers and make people think that they're catalogue numbers from Ikea. Admittedly Volkswagen and Porsche broke this trend but they chose the really mind-twisting names of Cayenne and Touareg, Tiguan.
The people who drive these sorts of cars are almost certainly likely not to actually own them, but the keepers of the vehicle provided by the company they're employed by. Almost by consequence, in general they're more likely to be agressive, arrogant and cause damage to other vehicles on the road; in case you're wondering this isn't speculation but based on the NRMA's actuary reports - if you do a quick scan you'll find that 4WDs are over represented in accident figures.

So then, if you can't define the BMW X6 by what it is, maybe you can define the car by who is likely to drive it and that is... an arrogant <> who is highly likely to run you off the road; that's an apt description.

PS: We all know what <> is... for that reason it's inherently funnier not to say it. Everybody...
Members are <>, clap-clap clap-clap-clap

Horse 923 - Claims of Biblical Invalidity are Invalid

The BBC is having a right old field day with the discovery of more parts of the Codex Sinaiticus. In particular it has to say this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7651105.stm
For those who believe the Bible is the inerrant, unaltered word of God, there will be some very uncomfortable questions to answer. It shows there have been thousands of alterations to today's bible.
The Codex, probably the oldest Bible we have, also has books which are missing from the Authorised Version that most Christians are familiar with today - and it does not have crucial verses relating to the Resurrection.

Great... it totally makes Christianity look stupid... until you do the research.

Firstly the place where this was discovered bothers me. Not so much because it was found at Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai in Egypt which was a Greek Orthodox Monastery, but rather what else had been at the site.
The Monastery has in its possession, a document purportedly signed by Muhammad himself. In the Charter of Privileges, the Prophet Muhammad gave his protection to the monastery. A Fatimid mosque was built within the walls of the monastery, but has never been used since it is not correctly oriented towards Mecca. Now considering that a Mosque was in posession of a Codex, there would be more than a serious possibility that they would want to alter it.

Secondly, the document doesn't appear to be as old as purportedly made out. For a document supposedly made in 350AD it doesn't quite fit. The chap who discovered the Codex, Constantin von Tischendorf noted in 1863 that "the the leaves were in "suspiciously good condition" for something found in the trash." What sort of document is this then? If scholars don't agree that this document itself was genuine, then why hold to up to be genuine within the same breath? Make up your minds please.

At any rate a document produced in 350 falls 150 years after the general adoption of New Testament canon which was fairly well normalised by about 200. Certainly both Origen of Alexandria in 203 and almost certainly by the time of the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the same 27 books we find were pretty well much accepted and debated even though not "officially" adopted until the Synod of Hippo of 393. Virtually all of the bible exists several times over in Papyri which was made between 100 and 200 anyway.

As far as documentary evidence does, the amount of document which exists is quite immense compared to other contemporary documents. Thousands of fragments dating from before the end of the first century were even found at Oxyrhynchus which was a giant 6th century rubbish dump.

My general query with people finding problems with the bible is that for a document that is under so much scrutiny you'd have to ask "why". No-one for instance has a problem with the Histories of Herodotus or the Pliny the Elder. In fact it is really only the Bible itself which sees such scrutiny at all; this is because of the critical claims it makes.

What other religion claims that its principle died and rose again? Although Muhammad* supposedly ascended to heaven, Muslims still believe that he returned... and still died on June 8, 632AD. You still have a dead prophet unable to save himself. Likewise, Gautama Buddha also died but scholars can't even decide when he lived, let alone when he died - either way we're still left with a dead prophet unable to save himself.

The Bible by its very nature presents a difficult problem which is that a man died and rose again. Find me any other religion which claims that.

*If you really want something odd, Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad married a 9 year old girl, which by definition is pedophilia - that's really quick ick.

Horse 922 - Odd Things

With the US currently throwing money as lost causes such as the banking system at an alarming rate, two things noted on BBC Radio 4 this afternoon are worth repeating.

The first of which is the Russian Reversal of the Cold War. During the Cold War it was Russia who was socialist and the Capitalist Pig Dogs of America who were making Godzillions of dollars on the back of the automotive miracle.
Now with AIG, GM, Wachovia etc. etc. etc. all suddenly sticking their hands out for vermillions in hand outs because they're all in the red, it's the Capitalist Pig Dogs of Russia who are making the dosh by selling the oil to power the increasingly expensive automotive millstone.

The second of which happens to be Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol. Now presumably Ms Palin wasn't aware of the city of Bristol. It would appear that both Bristol City, and Bristol Rovers fans have bought football strips bearing the name "Palin" across the back. I wound what would have happened if her daughter was called Bowness-on-Solway instead.

Horse 921 - The Japanese Banking Crisis

Following the problems in the sub-prime lending market in America and the run on HBOS in the UK, uncertainty has now hit Japan .

In the last 7 hours Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches.

Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song, while today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived.

Samurai Bank is soldiering on following sharp cutbacks; Ninja Bank is reported to have taken a hit, but they remain in the black.

Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal.

Horse 920 - The Big Ship Sails Through the Ally Ally O?

The big ship sails on the ally-ally-oh
The ally-ally-oh, the ally-ally-oh
Oh, the big ship sails on the ally-ally-oh
On the last day of September.

The captain said it will never, never do
Never, never do, never, never do
The captain said it will never, never do
On the last day of September.

The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea
The bottom of the sea, the bottom of the sea
The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea
On the last day of September.

We all dip our heads in the deep blue sea
The deep blue sea, the deep blue sea
We all dip our heads in the deep blue sea
On the last day of September.

I've tried to do some research on this little skipping rhyme and the best that I could come up with is somewhat surprising.

The most likely explanation has to do with the Manchester Ship Canal which runs from Manchester to Birkenhead. It was opened in 1894 and at the time it was estimated that only about half a dozen ships in the whole world were unable to use it. On completion it held two records - it was the biggest canal in the world at 38 miles long and to pay for it, a cheque for £1,700,000 was the biggest cheque ever presented to any bank in the world (or £234 million adjusted for inflation).

So impressive was the canal, that the city adopted as part of its crest a ship denoting the canal. In turn both Manchester United (1970) and Manchester City (1997) would also both adopt a ship as part of their crests.



In regards to the question as to why it sails on the last day of September, I can't find anything of any import that actually happened on the last day of September except for the beginning of BBC's Radio 1, 2, 3 & 4, Jack the Ripper killing four people, and those dang cartoons of Mohamed appearing in Danish newspapers... but nothing about a supposed big ship.

Maybe the big git's name is Dallaglio?

Horse 919 - Tell Me Why

I'm going to show you a picture and I want you to think long and hard about it. Here goes:

Now what I want you to do, is search this picture long and hard to find... the point. Because I've been looking for nigh on 20 minutes and I still haven't found it.

This is the Peugeot 207 Touring. By Touring they actually mean a station wagon; by station wagon they actually mean why bother?

Firstly I don't understand why this car exists. It could be argued that the increased capacity of the bootspace from 270L to 337L could be an advantage, but considering that Peugeot itself offers the 307 at a cheaper price and the boot in that is 341L and that's before you even consider the 307 Touring, with the amount of money you have to play with, it would make more sense to buy a 307 in the first place, consdering that a base model 307 is only $25,490 as opposed to the 207 Touring which is less car for $29,790.

Then there is that dang awful styling on the rear of it. Admittedly they're trying to keep the family resemblance with the 407 Touring which by the way also looks dog ugly, but at least the 407 Touring can fit more than a couple of poodles in the back.

If anyone can find a point to this car, please let me know what it is. Or perhaps if you are from Peugeot and just happen to stumble across this page, then by all means give me one. I'm not so proud that I wouldn't accept a free car.

Horse 918 - The Road Tolls For Thee

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/millions-lost-in-the-m5-black-hole/2008/09/22/1221935546566.html

The M2, M4, M5, M7, Cross City Tunnel, Lane Cove Tunnel, Warringah Expressway, Falcon St ramps, Eastern Distributor can all collectively jump as far as I'm concerned.

Coming home from a camp, I again expressed the opinion that I was denied from using the M7 because I didn't have an e-tag. It would appear that people think I'm crazy and should just go out and get one. However, articles like this one published in today's Sydney Morning Herald, just prove to me that the good and fair people of NSW are being taken for a ride and then forced to pay for privilege.

MILLIONS more taxpayer dollars will be poured into the M5 East tunnel for a computer upgrade after yet another glitch closed the tunnel yesterday, forcing more than 20,000 motorists into back-street gridlock and embarrassing a Government under siege.

Um who was that again? Did you say Taxpayer Dollars? I think I'm a taxpayer... yep, it appears so. Does that not mean that I'M PAYING FOR A FRIGGIN ROAD I CAN'T DAMN WELL USE. I'VE NEVER PAID FOR NOTHING BEFORE!

Last night the Roads and Traffic Authority was threatening to "tear up" the operating contract for the $800 million tunnel, awarded to Baulderstone Hornibrook Bilfinger & Berger, and foreshadowing it may take over the road itself.

Good. Do it. NOW. I don't see why my tax dollars should be used to prop up any private enterprise at all. It was a buisness decision for those poor poor sould to build their precious road, and if they can't turn a profit by screwing the motorist, then they should just suffer. The government doesn't bail out the local hardware store or the record shop when they go broke do they. Why should they even lift a finger just because someone is richer.

The road has been so overwhelmed by demand the Government has to pay regular penalties to BHBB, totalling as much as $13 million by 2011. The Government last year paid $25 million in compensation to Connector Motorways, the operator of the Lane Cove Tunnel.

Boo hoo hoo, have a cry. Poor Connector Motorways. I feel soooo sorry for them. Perhaps they should have a little lie down and a cup of cocoa.

That $25m is going to go to directors and managers anyway, in payments like golden handshakes. Why the heck should the taxpayer compensate a business when that business actively lobbied for a denial of service in the first friggin place. Epping Rd through Lane Cove has been but back to a single pathetic lane in either direction, and the traffic jam which used to extend all the way up the M2, now goes around the corner of the M7 as well.

That's progress for you aint it?

The new Roads Minister, Michael Daley, was talking tough yesterday: "My message to the CEO and the motorway company on behalf of motorists will be a very clear one. If you can't run this motorway properly, we will find someone who can."

Good. Let the State Government do it. I have a little sticker on my window which I pay a pretty penny for every year. Here's a thought - how about using that amount called "Motor Vehicle Tax" in actually providing a service for... Motor Vehicles. Now what do Motor Vehicles drive on? Roads. Ahah!

The Herald has been reliably informed that a key problem with the forecast was the Carr government's introduction of Cashback on the M5, which pays back motorists the cost of their toll.

BECAUSE THERE SHOULDN'T BE A TOLL IN THE FIRST PLACE YOU STUPID BASTARDS!

Horse 917 - You Can Judge A Book By It's Cover

You're supposed to.

Penguin Books have even gone to the effort recently of retrofying their covers so that they again look like what they did in the 1930s. They were supposed to look vaguely art deco and cheap just so people standing around in train stations would buy them.

Serious text books aren't likely to have pictures of UFOs, Giant Eyeballs or Dragons on them are they? Period books are likely to show people as they dressed in that era; and likewise Mills and Boon, and Harlequin books are deliberately styled so that people who buy that sort of thing know whats inside.

Labelling things and judging things at a snap helps cut down on time and effort. Added to this is the simple fact that when applied to people, people dress a certain way deliberately to look like their peers and thus gain acceptance. Even goths who dress in black do so to alienate society at large but be accepted by other goths.

Is the clothing or wrapping something comes in a valid form of self-expression or not? What about communicating what we wish to be? Police and Fireys dress that way to be recognised and respected and also to be identified.

Even my style of stymied and continual arguing about petty crap in a blog instantly tells you that I'm a cynical bum who thinks that this could be vaugly funny but in reality fails miserably... so stick that in your non-judgemental pipe and judge it.