Been a while since I updated this thing.  Went to see Superman Returns last night and figured I now have something to say.

 

This blog contains one SPOILER.

 

Superman Returns was slick - very well polished and true to the Christopher Reeve series of films.  The portrayal of Clark, Superman, Jimmy and Lex were especially nice and brought back fond memories of their earlier selves.  Lex (Kevin Spacey) had a darker side to him though - more so than the Gene Hackman version.

 

The action scenes were great.  Brandon Routh did an excellent job with "nothing can phase Superman" even when there was much more to deal with than could reasonably be expected from any other superhero (you'll see what I mean when you watch Metropolis having a small city wide crisis).

 

In between the action, some subtle (and not so subtle) humour kept me engaged.  One question - was that Ian Roberts (non-Aussies won't know what I'm talking about).

 

So here comes the SPOILER -

 

How tough is Superman?  Well he takes a bullet in the eye ball at point blank range and the bullet pancakes before falling to the ground.  Superman's reaction?  He smirks at the bad guy.

 

In summary.  I've always been a Superman fan.  Ever since I was a little kid and used to commando crawl past my parents bedroom to the TV in the early hours so I could watch reruns of the 1930s cartoon.  I'm glad they made a new Superman movie and I'm glad it turned out like this.

 

I've been playing Project Gotham Racing 2 on Xbox a while now.  I got it the Xmas before last and played through on Gold.  I still had the itch so I started on Platinum.  Some time around 50 Platinum medals down, my dvd drive failed and the xbox went in for a service.  By the time I got it back, I'd lost the interest to fight through the Platinum medals.

 

Recently my wife and I had a son.  In between the chaos, I've taken on the Platinum challenge again.  I've now got 122 Platinum medals, the rest Gold.  This is a ways to go but you know what?  I'm not that worried now that I've finished first on Nurburgring against the Cerbera.  Here I am against a car with 30mph on my Porsche GT1 and better acceleration.  How did I win?  Two laps of near errorless driving and braking so hard for corners that the driver's helmet hits the windscreen on the replay - that's how.

 

It's back to work tomorrow so my PGR2 time will be significantly reduced.  The last 50 might be a long way off but I'll always have Nurburgring.

 

... Oh and Spong ... I'm not playing on Live.  Subscription based game play is an evil I can do without.  I know!  I know!  I'm "chicken".  My answer - system link and I'm there.

 

Last weekend I went for a picnic with Jen and a bunch of friends.  We found a spot under the Harbour Bridge.  Quite a nice day out, sitting in the shade of the bridge, having a bite to eat, catching up and watching the boats go by.

 

I later discovered that I'd been fried like a chicken.  It seems the shade of a large bridge is insufficient when sitting by the water.  Talking to the folks that were on the picnic with me, it seems most of them were also caught out.

 

Note to self - wear sunscreen always.

With the birth of our son getting ever so close, Jen organised a final act of gluttony and gaming for my friends and I.  We gathered at an XBox lounge owned by a friend of mine - http://www.xtopia.com.au/

 

With a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts each and several boxes of Red Bull, we jumped in for some hardcore gaming axion.

 

Rallisport Challenge 2 was the first game.  Winning all but two races (out of about 10 or 11), I was feeling pretty good.  Then we moved onto Halo - I just don't get the whole FPS thing on the console.  Where's the mouse?!  Needless to say, I got 0wn3d.

 

Crimson Sky was next.  That was quite a bit of fun.  We were playing "team keepaway" (I think it's called) where you have to capture "the booty" and hang onto it for a set time.  Pretty good fun and interesting with all of us being Crimson Sky newbs.

 

By this time I'd had about 20 donuts and too much Red Bull.  This combined with the dark room and the flashing lights gave me a pretty good headache.  It was 6 hours gone by this stage so I headed home leaving the others to game on.

 

Out.

I should make a new category for reports of my job but I find it entertaining to write so that's where it gets filed.

 

I change roles next week.  Still at the same company but doing something new.  Instead of doing support, I'm moving to a more customer facing role that apparently gives them a feeling of well being.  Instead of working in the engine room, I'm now going to be one of the cabin crew that smiles at you politely and ensures that you enjoy the cruise.

 

Why would I do this when my bread and butter is troubleshooting and techie stuff?  Well let's just say that the engine room is being off-shored and I'm being replaced by a uni graduate with zero experience.

 

Amusingly, the customers don't know this is happening yet and it's not too far away.  There seems to be some difficulty in finding the customer friendly message in all this.

 

So with the new roles comes more money and other benefits.  I also get to go on call and fly all over the country at the drop of a hat.  Apparently this won't happen too often but it should make for interesting times when the baby comes.  Thankfully my manager is great and we'll take each day as it comes.

 

Jen and I took a trip down to Tassie to visit my parents.  They've retired to Devonport and moved there back in June.

 

It was a great trip.  The country down there is truly magnificent - rolling hills that meet the sea.

 

We spent a day heading out West of Devonport, seeing the sights and stopping off to taste various foods (chocolate, cheese and raspberries).

 

The next day we went South.  We stopped off to see some water falls and did some more tasting (honey, salmon and gourmet sauces).

 

It was a great couple of days and it was good to catch up with the folks.

 

Driving down in Tassie is tops.  There's nothing on the roads and people drive with a sense of calm.  The whole place is certainly appealing.

 

Our flight home was certainly interesting.  After a trouble free trip across to Melbourne, we boarded a 767 back to Sydney.  On the way in the captain advised the weather was a bit rough so the seat belt sign came on and he plunged the plane into a steep descent.  It was like a 40 minute ride in a washing machine and to liven the party, we were struck by lightning.  "It's not a problem" says the air hostess (aha).

 

After disembarking we hear that the return flight to Melbourne is cancelled as the plane was "struck by lightning and is no longer servicable".  I'm kinda happy that it was servicable enough to GET US OUT OF THE SKY!

This may cause a lot of controversy but after reading about Phar Lap in light of yesterday's Melbourne Cup, I have to say that Makybe Diva, while indeed a great horse, doesn't live up to the Phar Lap legend.

 

Makybe Diva had 15 wins for 36 starts in her career - 42%

 

Phar Lap had 37 wins for 51 starts in his career - 73%

 

Indeed, Makybe Diva ran over the field to win by 1 1/4 lengths in the last Melbourne Cup with a 58 kg handicap - truly amazing.

 

Phar Lap ran his last race in the Agua Caliente Handicap, Mexico.  This race attracted the best horses in America with a $50000 purse (a lot of money in those times).

 

Phar Lap ran with a 58.6 kg (129 lb) handicap (the largest in the field), a winter coat (coming from the Australian winter to the Mexican spring) and a heel injury.  Because of the injury he was wearing heavy bar shoes for the first time and the race was run on a dirt track - another first for Phar Lap.  He won the race by two lengths and broke the track record by 1/5 of a second.

 

Now you can make your own judgement but this feat sets Phar Lap on his own in my mind.  Comparisons can't be avoided and winning three Melbourne Cups in a row is incredible but Phar Lap surely remains the stand out enduring legend of Australian horse racing.  If only he'd survived the mystery illness that cut his career short.

 

Every time I go into Coles to get some things, they fail to have at least one item that I'm looking for despite it being a regularly stocked item.

 

Today Jen and I were looking for chocolate milk (for her) and Red Bull (for me).  They failed to have the Red Bull.

 

Coles is teh Suck!

Please make sense - freaks.

So we didn't miss much of the film (read earlier - Just call me Schleprock).

 

It wasn't a bad flick at all.  Accepting that there's some artistic license, the film documents the story of James Braddock and his rise to the World Heavyweight Boxing title.  Down on his luck during the Great Depression, Braddock is given a second chance and through a string of inspired victories, finds himself fighting for the title.

 

To some degree it's an "overcoming the odds" film with a predictable end but it's based in fact and because of that, has an inspiring quality.

 

For those of you unfamiliar with the revised Flintstones character set which included this guy, I'll offer a summary:-

 

Schleprock was the bad luck icon.  He would appear in scenes dressed in black with a small storm cloud over his head.  Things would go terribly wrong at which point he would recite the catch phrase "Wowsie, wowsie, wow wow".  Particularly un-funny but an accurate representation of me.

 

<rant>

 

Last night, Jen and I decided to make the trip to Greater Union (near where I work) to see a Gold Class session of Cinderella Man.  This trip has taken me as little as 16 minutes in the early morning.  It generally takes between 20 and 30 minutes depending on traffic.  The worst I've seen it is around 45 minutes - until last night.

 

We left home with an hour in the bag.  We arrived 10 minutes late.  That's 70 minutes people.

 

The cause - lots of traffic and other drivers with no concious thought that there are other people trying to use the road.  When the light goes green and you're at the front of the queue, accelerate.  Be prepared for the light to change.  Have the gear selected.  Pay attention to what's going on around you.  Think about how annoying it would be if you were in behind of yourself.  And lastly, when the road is clear ahead, have the courtesy to drive somewhere near the posted limit.  Not 15 to 20 below.

 

</rant>

I work in tech support.  I like to think I do it well.  I'm not a helpdesk battery hen that helps grandma with the power switch.  I'm a server support specialist that has a reasonably detailed view of how things work.

 

The key points to doing my job well is:

The issues that never go away are:

For anyone working with someone in tech support, please consider these things, be patient and help me (and my kind) help you.

 

I'm driving home from work yesterday and notice the car in front is a late model Lexus ES-300.  The driver is a P-plater.  Now if you ask me, mummy and daddy have more money than sense.  You've got yourself a driver who is almost certainly going to have an acco at some stage in the next couple of years, driving your expensive luxury vehicle.  That aside, I wonder how much it would cost to insure this vehicle for a P-plater

 

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OK I've just returned from the AAMI web site to find that THEY DON'T OFFER AN ESTIMATE for under 25s driving cars of this value.  Stupid, stupid parents!

 

In my book you haven't completed the learning-to-drive process unless you've cut your teeth on a heap of junk held together by faith alone.  For me it was a bright orange Datsun 180-B.  For a few of my friends it was a 1979 or 1980 Commodore.  Listen to me parents!!  Make your kids drive cars at least as old as they are.  It makes the less wealthy of us feel like we're better than someone on the roads and will save you money that you can spend on some other expression of opulence.

 

My mate opened an XBox gaming lounge in Dee Why.  It's kewl.  Check it out.

 

 

 

I hear people say 4WDs shouldn't be allowed on the road.  Do I agree?  Partially.  Some have a legitimate need for a 4WD.  They tow trailers (btw, the law in NSW states that the towing vehicle must be heavier than the trailer and contents combined), they actually go off road.  It's like a plumber needing a ute.

 

Then there are people who buy the BMW 4WD.  Get serious.

 

I hear people try to back up their argument against 4WDs with "4WD owners are more aggressive etc, etc, blah, blah, blah".  This is false.  Almost all drivers are aggressive and drive carelessly.  What makes this bad in the case of a 4WD is that it's a killing machine.  It has a full chassis under it and when it hits a regular passenger vehicle, it kills the occupants.  4WDs are trucks.  They handle like trucks, they stop like trucks and they squash like trucks.

 

4WDs have bigger rear facing blind spots that make crushing small children more likely.  What are you thinking school mums?

 

4WDs block the view of people driving behind them not allowing others to see what's ahead.

 

Anti-4WD campaigners - wake up and form a real argument based on FACTS.

 

4WD owners - wake up and think about whether you actually need this car crusher.  If you don't, get a car.  If you do, drive with the thought that this thing is going to squash other vehicles in an accident.

 

No doubt there are many of you who would agree with me when I say that speed cameras have their place.  This place is in areas where speeding is quite obviously going to lead to accidents.  A place where the driver of a vehicle conciously decides to exceed the posted limit despite obvious dangers.  Speed cameras in school zones are a good thing.  Speed cameras in areas with concealed drive ways are a good thing. 

 

The place for a speed camera is quite obviously NOT where there are three lanes each way, where the road is divided, the road is straight for the next 3km and the road has a minor downhill grade right under the sensors on the road.  This is what I refer to as a revenue gathering TRAP.  It's been implemented because it'll catch people off guard and spin the RTA a nice pay out.  I pass one such TRAP on my way to work every day.  The irony is that you spend so much effort making sure you're under the limit as you pass through the TRAP, you're not watching the road as well as you should - good one.

 

If the RTA was serious about road safety, perhaps they'd channel some of the money generated by TRAPs back into road police who might spend their time booking road users who refuse to indicate when turning or changing lanes (the indicator is there to INDICATE YOUR INTENTION), who cut in on you believing that your braking room is their invitation to move out of that right turn only lane they didn't realise was there, who change across three lanes of traffic instead of turning around further up.  I see this stupidity every time I get in the car - why don't the police?

 

Apparently this blogging thing is all the rage.  I'm not one to argue (maybe I am) but filling the Internet with piffle about how your weekend didn't go to plan because the scrag next door stole your boyfriend seems somehow wasteful.  Still, the thought that someone might read my whinings and perhaps empathise holds a certain seductive quality.  Whine number one to follow.