fishboy's totally drunk and speedy top ten

Apologies for the nonsensical nature of this post. It's been an interesting night.

Apropos of nothing:

1. Radio #1 - Air
2. Wrapped Up in Books - Belle and Sebastian
3. Drive - Bic Runga
4. I Am - Moving Units
5. Mr E's Beautiful Blues - Eels
6. Take Your Partner By The Hand - Howie B
7. Bug Powder Dust - Bomb the Bass
8. NYC - Interpol
9. He War - Cat Power
10. Untogether - Belly

Sleep well.

don't blame me, I voted for Kodos

So we've got a government eh? By we I mean New Zealand (the royal 'we'), I don't really consider myself sufficiently part of Australia to comfortably include the 25-odd million people here in a two letter word. Perhaps in a slightly longer word.. but no, I'm being uncharitable, some of my best friends are Australians! Honest!

Back to NZ though. Yes, a government has been formed. Or congealed. Deposited even. I'm sure there are much more worthy, erudite and frankly better informed commentaries over at Public Address, No Right Turn, Just Left, FrogBlog, et al. But in any case I'm going to drop my pennies worth. Or five cents now I guess - it being the smallest currency available.

Labour won. Tentative yay! I grew up in a Labour supporting household, and have been a Labour voter in the past (prior to the advent of MMP, when I gained a choice). So some of my sympathies lie there. And I grudgingly like Helen, even if she can be far too damn authoritarian for my liking (I have issues with authority figures, as I'm sure I've mentioned many times). She's at least capable and intelligent - and appears to have a soul. Something missing from many other politicians: I think some get it removed before entering office as it tends to get in the way. Most of the rest find theirs dissolving after a few terms.

Anyway, congrats to Labour, credit where it's due. But what the hell happened since the election? I was tentatively expecting a Labour-Progressive-Greens-Maori Party coalition but it seems egos and personalities got in the way of that ever happening. So now we have the prospect of a Labour-New Zealand First-United Future bolt-through-the-neck monster lumbering around scaring the natives (literally) for the next three years.

For fucks sake!

Pseudo-religious right-wingers, racists and xenophobes should rejoice - your lot got into power.

Peter Dunne, the most pointless politician in NZ, is in Government. Dragging in with him his raft of anti-gay, anti-women, anti-tolerance platforms. And as if that's not enough Winston Peters is back! There's a phoenix story for you. And of course he'll be pushing his well-worn wagon full of immigrant hate, iwi-bashing, and youth fear.

Goddamn.

It almost - almost - makes me happy I'm in Australia. Right up until I look at the politicians over here and want to vomit. Ok, so things could be so much worse..

...

Good, that feels better.. I needed to get that out of my system.

I'm not giving up hope yet. I'm just angry at the wheeling and dealing that goes on in politics. Yes, I'm aware that the system we have now is immeasurably preferable to the old FPP days, it still rankles when deals get cut, concessions made and the politicians and parties don't really seem to give a monkeys about what the people actually voted for.

Fuck it. That's life. I'm over it now.

Oh, congrats to the Greens tho - for having a conscience (being the conscience of the whole parliament really), having a solid platform and having the balls to stick to their ideals even if it meant getting passed over again for inclusion in a Government. Go you smelly hippies! :D

sponge bath please

Apparently I'm a superhero!

"Fishboy is a young superhero that appears occasionally. He doesn't seem to have any powers, but he has to stay moist."

I think that's absolutely brilliant.

recap

Yes I've been shit at this blogging malarkey lately. Like my report cards always said: "could try harder".

So, in an effort to prevent the site being declared vacant and squatters moving in here's a brief precis of the last month or so of fishboy life:

After my brush with wrinkle-free death life went back to it's dull humdrumness. It's bollocks that a near death experience changes your life & you get all carpe diem-y: when it comes down to it, we cheat death several times a day just by living in cities. No-one bats an eye at crossing a busy 4 lane road, fully confident in their ability to spring out of the way of huge metal monsters moving more than 20 times faster.

I've seen a couple of movies. Sin City was the full-on visual feast I'd been expecting but, after Mickey Rourke's story (man, he OWNED that film!) the other threads seemed a little anticlimactic. If anything involving Jessica Alba gyrating on stage can be called an anticlimax.. Still ranks as one of the most stunning films a I've seen in a long while, but I'm pinning my hopes to Wallace & Grommet to take out this year's top spot.

Read a couple of good books - and one outstandingly fantastic one. The Scar, by China Mieville. If you have any interest/tolerance for fantasy writing Read.This.Book. That's all. Go now.

Karate has been good - when I've been going. It's 6 months till the grading and my tension levels are already ratcheting up.. Must go throw my sai around this evening.

The big deal: went up to Port Douglas for a wedding. Now that was an experience worth blogging about. And yet.. it's been hard to get the words together. Not sure I can get it all out right now anyway, a lot is still brewing. Or festering.

I did sod-all writing when I was up there, started one letter but didn't even write any postcards. Oops. Ah well, they were all crap up there anyway, such a touristy town.

On the other hand the weather was fantastic, the seas warm and calm, the company great, and the beer plentiful. Met many fascinating bugs and managed to avoid being eaten by any of them. A fantastic time was had, all told.

I went diving on the reef (y'know, the Great Barrier one..) and that's a whole blog entry on it's own.

Oh yeah, the wedding was fab too. Much as I sneer and laugh at weddings (sometimes even throw things) and at the people who do them, this one was about as perfect as they get. I give them at least five years.

Then I came back to Sydney..

Blargh.

I must be allergic to this place: I got sick almost immediately upon going back to work. Took several days off and tried to come to terms with being back in the big stink.

It was a good thing I was home though - my neighbour's backyard (junkyard. I must get a photo of it sometime..) caught fire one afternoon and if I'd not been there to put it out it's quite possible several houses would have gone up. As it is we only lost a banana tree, a few shrubs and a section of the fence.

Since then..? Well, work is about as interesting as Condensed Theoretical Accountancy, 3rd Edition. Weather is improving: a balmy 34 degrees yesterday (that's Celsius, the sensible measurement, for those in North America). Cash flow is as torrential as the rainfall here in Sydney; which leads to: fun activities that cost anything = zero.

Still I have the Internet and a cat. Having exhausted my inspiration with one, I'm off to play with the other.

It's been real. Ciao.