Keyboard Heroes

There's some shit going on in the world right now, Aussie and New Zealand troops being killed in Afghanistan, hurricanes hitting the south of the states, again, earthquakes every second week, and if that isn't enough, now Charlotte Dawson is in hospital after some pathetic oxygen thieves berated and harassed her on Twitter.

Why did they do that? Because she stood up to bullies.

Internet trolls are nothing new, people who just want to stir the pot because they have nothing else to do, and probably ( I don't know for fact as I don't actually know any keyboard heroes) brag to their mates how they 'really got Charlotte Dawson on Twitter'.

Think about how fucking stupid that sounds, yes, it really is that fucking stupid.

People are losing family members, friends, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, and all some shit stain cares about is being as abusive as possible to a public figure behind the anonymity of a keyboard somewhere.

Corrine Grant just wrote a fantastic piece on this very issue http://thehoopla.com.au/dear-charlotte-lovecorinne/?cpg=2 and I wasn't sure that I could add anything to it, but I can. Support.

Corrine and I share mutual friends, one of which we lost a few years ago to suicide because we didn't know the extent of his depression. Depression is real, it's not a sign of weakness, it's very real, and it's fucking awful. I know a lot of people don't understand it, and probably never will, because it doesn't make a lot of sense. "Why are you feeling sad, you have a great life", if only it were that easy. You feel useless, pathetic, you sit hating yourself, not wanting to associate with anyone, and when you do, it's like a dark fog that clouds your vision, regardless of what people see from the outside looking in.

We're all guilty of giving someone a spray, being vitriolic, it's human nature, and I don't think it's ever going to change, but maybe we can be more aware of the consequences, and then maybe people will think twice before they unleash fury on someone they don't even know.

I'm fairly anonymous being on radio, and I cop shit from people on the phone, e-mails, twitter and so on, and I can only imagine what someone like Charlotte Dawson cops from the brain dead single digit typists with chips on their shoulder, I think it stinks.
That's the problem with social media like twitter isn't it. It gives everyone a voice, there's no editing, and for the most part, are unaccountable for they damage they do all too often.
I don't want to see anyone else fall to the depths my friend did not so long ago, myself included.

Any wonder my heart is fucked.

Round 17, Essendon vs Geelong. Geelong smashed them, and it was at that moment, I knew the bombers season was over. I announced it then, "they won't win another game all year". 4 games later, I'm right so far. I wish I wasn't. My heart wishes I wasn't.

North played better right across the ground, even after suffering injuries to Adams and Wells, two key midfielders, and without Ziebel. They are another level above Bombers, who themselves have been plagued by injury this year, but just haven't had what it tales to cover it.

As a Bombers fan, they are ultimately frustrating to watch. That's not to say they don't have great players, they do, Hurley, Watson, Bellchambers, Dempsey, are all playing well, but the stupid mistakes and over use of the ball resulting in turn overs is just painful. Any wonder my heart is stuffed, watching these guys is killing me.

What's the answer? Who knows, but as just another armchair coach of course I'll weigh in. Firstly, the fitness needs to improve. Well over 20 hamstring injuries this season. What the fuck is that all about? How does one team suffer so many fuckin hamstring injuries? FIX IT.

Secondly, Cale Hooker, he's a big strong bloke, but he can't run. FIX IT.

Thirdly, Dyson Heppell. I love this kid, he's funny and has got skills, he's just forgotten how to use them. Rising Star last year, lost all confidence this year. I dunno what's going on in his head, but the mistakes he makes are worthy of me throwing a pie in his face. FIX IT.

We're getting killed around the contested ball. What happened to once great 'rover' or 'crumber'? FUCKIN FIX IT!

I know we're rebuilding.... and I know that Matthew Knights set us back a bit when he was at the helm, god knows we have one of the best coaching staff in the league, so WTF? FIX IT!

I will never stop supporting my beloved Bombers, and I know that all good things take time.. but this is 2 seasons in a row we've started great and then faded into obscurity. FIX IT!

FUCK!

What a year..

On Saturday night, my hard rock and metal show 'Distortion' celebrated it's 1st birthday.

The show is a babe in the woods on the radio landscape of Melbourne and Sydney where it airs on Saturday nights, but I'm stoked it's done so well so far.

When I was growing up, I was introduced to a load of new music through radio. Community radio. Those stations were the ones who lead the charge with hard rock and metal shows. As a 16 yr old I would scan through the green guide looking for shows to listen to, word of mouth was also crucial coz back then, the internet simply didn't exist.
I was put onto bands like Deicide, Sepultura, and Pantera (amongst many others) via community radio.

And now, I get to play the music I love, on commercial radio. Triple M.

To me, it makes sense, we're a rock station, we should be paying this stuff, it's an opinion I know is shared by literally thousands of people as is apparent on the Distortion Facebook page. But up until a year ago, it just wasn't going to be... until..

I asked.

I asked the head honcho if I could do a show, he said yes. And so it began.

He was willing to take a chance on a hard rock and metal show because he knew how much I love the music and how important it is to showcase new Australian bands.

Not taking anything away from what Triple J, Triple R, 3PBS and other community stations do for local hard rock and metal bands, I just figure, the more the merrier. The metal community is extremely vocal, passionate, and protective. They buy the albums, go to the shows, buy the merch, wear it proudly like a badge because hard rock and metal is a lifestyle and I wanna help it grow. This kind of music is just as deserving of publicity and support as anything else out there, it's just that it has an unfortunate stigma attached to it that will, hopefully, go away one day.

I wish these musicians were celebrated for their talents rather than derided and shunned. I know it's certainly not everyone's cup of tea, and I can understand why, some of it is just downright frightening. But then, that's part of it's charm innit.

So publicly, I wanna thank the people that have helped me along the way. Sure, it's a one man operation when it comes to the music, putting the show together etc etc, but behind the scenes, there are so many.

Chris Maric from RIOT! Entertainment. Legend. Thanks for your undying support and introducing me to so many great bands. Lets not forget John Howarth from RIOT! as well, coz without the head cheese, where would we be. Champion.

Janine Morcos from Roadrunner. You are a bloody gem, plain and simple. Thanks for being awesome.
P.S. All the Roadrunner staff have been amazing, it's just that Janine is my front line gal and a legend.

Karen McLennan from Warner Music, thanks for sharing my enthusiasm for this show.

Tim Charles and all at Welkin Entertainment, for putting me onto such brilliant music and presenting excellent festivals (and Ne O of course)

Chris, Troy, Mel and everyone at Soundwave. GREAT people putting together the BEST festival this country has.

Everyone from Firestarter records, great tunes from the west.

All the bands who send in their music, the standard just keeps getting better and better.

But most of all, I wanna say thanks to everyone who listens every week, who jump on the FB page and get involved, suggesting music and ideas.

Oh, and Fisty, if you're reading this, thanks, I really appreciate it. Now, how's about we go for an hour thirty at a better time slot?

Here's to the next 12 months.

Keep it loud.

\m/(>.<)\m/



*Triple M Distortion airs Saturday Midnight - 1am Sunday 105.1 Triple M Melbourne, 104.9 Triple M Sydney.
Stream through www.triplem.com.au/melbourne
www.facebook.com/triplemdistortion
Follow on Twitter @MMMDistortion

Who'd be an Olympian?

Who the hell would be an Olympian?
The endless training, the life sacrifices, the criticism.
Nope bugger that, I'd rather sit on my fat arse and watch them achieve something I never ever could and berate them when they don't win.

Doesn't make much sense does it?
But it's that fucked up mentality that's plaguing our elite sports people who are representing our country.
This time around we've seen and heard it all and we're only a few days into competition. 'Not good enough' 'hopes lost' 'disappointing'.

Is that really the attitude we should be embracing?

There is no harsher critique than the athlete themselves. They don't go to the Olympics to lose, they go to win, that desire burns deep within them or else they simply wouldn't compete.

Yes there are some sports that Australia excels in, like swimming, but lets face it, you can't be the best at something forever, and to expect that is unfair.

I don't have to point out the unbelievably harsh social commentary about Leisel Jones being 'unfit'. 5th fastest in the world in her event is hardly unfit. Let me repeat that 5TH FASTEST IN THE WORLD.

Last time I checked, I wasn't 5th best in the world in anything, what about you?

I watch the Olympics each day, and I get more of a buzz watching the womens weightlifting and seeing someone not even win a medal but achieve a PB. The look on their face when they smash their personal best is fantastic, their coaches go bananas, they love it, because on the world stage they have done their very best and they're happy, so why aren't we?

I feel sad, not sorry, for our Olympians who don't win, because they've given everything to their sport, and yet it's never seemingly good enough.

I'm pretty damn proud of anyone who represents Australia (unless they're a fuckwit).

Lets celebrate the achievement of that, rather than kicking them when they're down.

my heart skipped a beat.. or something

About 10 days ago I was sitting on the couch at home, exactly as I am now, when I felt something I haven't felt before. It was as if my heart stopped, then thumped back into action again. Wait, lemme get that right, it felt like someone squeezed the blood out of my heart, a flutter, then thump.

'What the hell was that?' I thought. 

Then it did it again some 2 minutes later, then again, and again. 

I put it down to heart burn or some sort of reflux messing with me, so I ignored it, as blokes do, coz ya know, we're pretty stupid like that. 

So I went about my business over the next couple of days, went for a walk on Saturday, just a lazy 8.5 kms, because despite my hefty appearance, I do like to do at least some form of movement to make sure the bones don't seize up, all the while this 'flutter' in the ticker continued, but didn't affect me walking, not shortness of breath, no dizziness, no adverse effects. 

In the first few days, there was a dull ache that went along with this weirdness, and that was enough to convince me to visit the doc and find out what the hell is going on.

The Doc didn't seem that concerned, which is always a relief when it comes to ya heart doin flip flops. 

I had an ECG, (for the uninitiated that's when they attach electrodes to your torso measure the electrical activity of your heart) and no one has contacted me since that, so I can only assume that things seemed pretty normal there. 

Today, I went back for a bunch of blood tests and to get a Holter Monitor. The Holter is a little pack, not much bigger than an iPhone, that has 4 leads coming from it that are attached to your chest and this will monitor my hearts activity for 24 hours. 

My heart is still doing it's little dance every now and then, and on the Holter is an 'event' button, which I can press whenever I feel my heart do whatever it is that it's doin. I don't have to, because it's all being recorded,  but it gives the boffins a reference. 

So, it's been on for 12 hours so far, and it'll be interesting to see if I get any sleep with all these wires hanging off me, what's more, I wanna know what he hell is going on with my dicker ticker.

I'm optimistic, but realistic. It's probably nothing, but it could be something.

I guess we'll find out soon enough. I'll keep ya posted. 

30 yr old fashion revival

Yesterday as I was driving I saw a bunch of young kids, probably 15-16yrs old, and all of them had skateboards.
Nothing special there, skateboarding is awesome, always has been, the weird thing was, they were all carrying their boards, what's more, they were all those small skinny 80s fibreglass ones. What the fuck is going on there? I had one oft hose when I was 6 in 1980. It was blue, and it was awesome, for a 6 yr old. Why are they making a comeback? They're shit for anyone taller than 4 foot, you're not about to attack the mega ramp and the X-Games on one.. what gives?

People have been trying to bring back the 80's for a while now, lets face it, those of us who were old enough to remember them often look at them through rose coloured glasses, it was a simpler time. You thought nothing of turning the tap on out the front and hosing down your driveway, or leaving the sprinkler going in the backyard for hours on end, what a bonus of actually having seasons back then.
We walked to school, or rode our push bikes with no helmets, and as soon as I got home, I threw my bag into my room and headed out into the court to skate/play footy/cricket/ride bikes with the other kids in the court or around the corner till it was dark then I'd head home for dinner.

I won't rant on about the 80's, we've all seen the spam e-mails about how kids today don't know how good they've got it blah blah blah.. but lets face it, if we had today's technology back then, we would have been the same. Don't even pretend like we wouldn't have.. c'mon now, you're only lying to yourself.

So what's with the shitty skateboards? Are they trendy? A fashion accessory? As I mentioned, they were carrying them, for blokes, in their teens.. carrying skateboards. If ya gunna do that, finish the whole thing off with a "CHOOSE LIFE" t-shirt, and have a yellow Sony Sports Walkman hangin off ya belt.  Now THAT'S fuckin cool.

Sunday rant

Carbon Tax. Gillard's a liar. No shit. Everyone politician lies. What makes one party better than the other? Not a lot, we each just take what we want from the party that caters best to our needs it seems. One thing's for sure, you add the word 'Tax' to anything, and people won't like it. Another certainty is that this 'carbon tax' which isn't taken directly from our pocket, but indirectly by increasing the price of services, won't reduce the amount of pollution this country creates, which, on a world scale, it pathetically small.


When the Liberal Party get elected (don't even pretend they won't) will they scrape this cash cow? They say they will, but I doubt it.


Let's move on to fuel prices. Yes Australia enjoys a relatively low fuel price compared to a lot of countries, but we're far from cheap. It's great that it's dropped recently, but what annoys me is when people say 'jeez, petrol's cheap isn't it?' It's not fuckin cheap at all you clown, it's just cheaper than what it was, and for a country that could be self sufficient in fuel, it's a disgrace.


Example: On Friday I saw unleaded for $1.20 per litre. On Saturday, the price had jumped to $1.39 per litre, despite the fact that there had been no increase in the price of crude oil.
There has now, by 9%, but why is it retailers are allowed to increase prices as soon as there's word of a crude oil increase, and yet it takes weeks for it come down when there's a drop?
That's price gouging at it's best and the government is doing fuck all about it.


At least some don't jack it up instantly.. on the corner of Stud rd and Heatherton Rd in Dandenong there is a Shell service station on side, and a BP on the other. Saturday midday the price at Shell - $1.39, BP - $1.20
Guess which servo was full.


When I started driving nearly 20 yrs ago, we had petrol rations due to strikes and yet petrol remained at a steady price when they could have smashed the hell out of them. In contrast, we also enjoyed a price war back then, the cheapest I bought unleaded petrol for was 56cents per litre. That was in 1993.


I know I'm ranting, but that's what this blog is for, I have to get all this shit out of my head. Why doesn't the government do anything about constantly fluctuating fuel prices? Coz they're making shit loads. And that goes for all political parties. They've been double dipping for years, there's the excise on petrol, and the GST, why would they scrape something that makes them millions?


It works like this, ALl petroleum fuels (not LPG) are taxed at 38.14cpl. GST is also applied to the total price, at 10%, it's a tax on a tax. 


How is that fair? It's not of course, but no one is doing anything about it. It's fucked. The Libs brought in the GST and now Labor has brought in the Carbon Tax, and Australia is fast becoming one of the most expensive places to live. Food, clothes, housing, fuel, water, electricity, gas etc etc, it ain't cheap. 


Right, I think that's all I have to say about that for now, I am feeling cleansed in my mind.. don't get me started on the boats, why this is still an issue is beyond me. There was a policy in place when Howard was in power, that seemed to work well, what happened to that? 


I don't have all the answers, I wish I did, although I also wish the people were are elected by the people to serve the people would sack up and stop pandering to vocal minorities in order to 'look good'. News flash, you're not looking good, you're looking shithouse. 





right, back to the footy..