03:58 pm - Why do I even bother trying?

That is all for now.

10:03 pm - PEOPLE SHIT ME.

That is all for now.

11:24 am - True Blue

For a long time the question “What is an Australian?” has been asked.

And for just as long there has been debate about the answer. Some of it positive some sadly negative.

That was until now.

The bushfires in Victoria are an absolute tragedy, but the generosity of the Australian public towards those affected has been awe inspiring.

A financial crisis, people losing their jobs, mortgage troubles, floods have all taken a toll on this country in the last couple of months but even though this is the case, people are still donating money to the victims.

I have heard stories of children giving all the money in their piggy banks, flood victims in Queensland donating the government assistance given to them to help with their situation, people from all walks of life, all races, all religions, all economic classes, giving to those who have lost it all.

To have this happen without debate, without prejudice, without care about peoples own personal situations is incredible.

There has been $76,000,000+ donated so far. This equates to roughly $3.60 per Australian, and still we continue to dig deep and give more.

This help that is being given to those in trouble is the true Australian way, and what a real Australian is. We have done this before, when trouble has arisen, and we will do it again.

Let us put our problems aside, forget all the issues that divide us and band together as one, as Australians, to be beacons to the rest of the world, as to how people should act when put in horrible situations like we are in now.

I have never felt as proud as I do today to be called Australian.


--If you haven't already, please consider donating to the cause. 1800 811 700 or www.redcross.org.au--

11:51 am - Realisation

Eight years after the realisation that life is short and that I should live every day to the fullest, and twelve days before six months until my 25th birthday, I have come to the realisation that I should really live every day to the fullest (or as many as possible).

How am I going to do this is still to be decided but I believe that I need to do this, not just because my life has been fairly stagnant for a while now but because isn't this something at every single person should be doing?


Now this is not the first time that I have considered doing this, hell I made a post a while ago saying that I wanted to be invited out more so that I could do more with my life.

How did that work out? you may ask.

Well I am posting this aren't I.

So, because I cannot decide how to do this I am asking all of you,

How should I proceed in this plan?

This is not just a "new years resolution" type of thing that will go by the wayside in a month or so, this is something I NEED TO DO, no I MUST DO. For the sake of my sanity.

12:18 pm - Damn Drivers

To all the Genii who decide to slow down to 80km/h on the hume highway 1 kilometre before the southbound Narellan Road exit,


FUCK OFF, IT IS A FUCKING 110KM/H ZONE.


Thank you.

That is all for now.

01:04 pm - Rant: reworked and in english

Warning for certain people: If I hear about this rant through parental channels then I WILL kill you. You know who you are.

-------------------

This is the extended English version of a rant that I posted earlier in French as to keep it private, but I have decided to actually allow everyone to read it. Plus I have added some more to it.

-------------------

Ok this is a rant that is not meant to offend.

It is not pointed at any person or persons,

and

Is just a way for me to get some stuff of my chest so that the straw does not break the Craegus' back.

-------------------

So I have been thinking about stuff (which is not a good thing most of the time) and I have come to some conclusions. I hate the fact that I have no social life.

Yes, it is mostly my own fault that this is the case, but the fact that I never seem to be invited to many nights out is also a contributing factor. I know that I probably am not into the scene that most people that I know are in to, but still just the feeling that I have been considered would be nice once in a while. Honestly how hard is it for someone to email, text or call me and say "Hey Craeg we are going out on (insert day here) would you like to go with us?".

Now I don't know how often everyone goes out but it does seem to be on some kind of frequency and perhaps considering asking someone you know if they would like to tag along would be nice.

Yes I could email, text or call and see if anything is happening but it would seem desperate (at least to me).

From this I shall lead into my next point.

As I see it now, the reason that I am single is that I really don't get the chance to meet people that I may be interested in because I don't get out of my house often enough, this is made worse by the fact that even though I love the space I have in my bed, a queen sized bed is very empty when in it by yourself at night (especially in winter).

Added to this is the fact that I have never been an outgoing extrovert and my shyness has limited the amount of times that I have had the courage to even say to someone that I like them (damn my not being able to get the courage to say what I really think and feel).

But on top of this is the feeling that you get when you are shot down in flames. A hit like that is hard for an introvert to get past and the doubt that is left always makes me think that it will always happen (usually by misreading the situation).

I would love to be able to get out and meet new people but I am limited to who I can actually go out with.

This is because at university I have the unfortunate position of only being a psychology major so the people that I became friends with have finished university (as they did a different course to mine and are now somewhere working in law enforcement) and I also lost contact after first year because we were never in the same units. All, no,  most of the people that I am in classes with now started the year after me, some the same, but they are all mostly bachelor of psychology students so I have not been in the same units as them all the way through so I have not really gotten close to any of them.

This leaves me with the people that I went to high school with and the friends that I have met through those links (though this is not a bad thing). All of you are great people who I really don't get to see often enough. Once again probably my fault by not wanting to go out as often as you all did (home life also contributed to this in a major way) but now I really think that even though the places you go are not really my thing, I need to make sacrifices and try new things, at least I would be socializing rather than sitting at home watching television, or playing video games, or on the internet.

I am at the moment really on the brink of losing it, either in an explosive outburst (at certain people {if you know me well enough you will know who}) or worse (but not to the extent of hurting myself, I could never do that due to my own fears {once again if you know me well enough you will know what I mean}). It may not come to that as I have felt similar before and have just gotten past it, but the fact that I am sitting here alone in my bedroom really makes me look at my life and see where it has gone down the wrong path (to a certain extent).

If you just read this then please do not take offense, I just needed to put these thoughts down and even though it is not very well written and probably does not cover all of what I want to say it does help in relieving some of the bad feelings I have at the moment.

That is all for now.

12:06 pm - Rant to stop the straw on back syndrome

Below is a rant that is in the form of text in an image file the text is written in black so if you have a dark background you may not be able to read it without saving it first.

Excuse the poor translation but I'd prefer this to not be written in English.

02:21 pm - Foxtel and its new HD+

Wow, Foxtel is offering 4 new HD channels at start up of their FoxtelHD+ service, and for what cost $120 or more?

 This is starting to become a bit of a rip off, I have the platinum package and am supposed to get over 100 channels (if you actually count them it is only 60 or so original channels with several +2 channels that show exactly the same thing just 2 hours later and then other channels that cost even more to see just a small selection of {e.g. box office})

 I get the fact that it is a double edged sword (in the fact that the cost is high because there is a lower number of people signed up compared to other countries {25% here compared to over 90% in the United States} and that people don't sign up because the cost is too high) but really compared to the rest of the world we are not getting a fair go.

 For example: Direct TV in the United States offers packages starting at $29.99USD ($33.26AUD) for 45 channels {Family package} (similar to our starter package $37.95AUD ($34.23USD), however this is where the lines of similarity change.) For $49.99 ($55.45AUD) they get 150 channels {Choice Package}, for $54.99USD ($60.98AUD) there is over 200 channels {Choice Xtra}, for $59.99USD ($66.53AUD) they get over 200 channels plus a DVR (their version of IQ){Plus DVR Package}, for $64.98USD ($72.06AUD) over 200 channels including HD channels {Choice Xtra + HD Access}, $69.99USD ($77.61AUD) gets then 200+ channels including HD and a HD DVR {Plus HD DVR}, and finally for $99.99USD ($110.88AUD) they get 265+ channels including HD and a HD DVR {Premier Package}.

 So to compare platinum to their nearest package we get:

 Platinum: 100 Channels* = $105.95AUD ($95.56USD)

Choice: 150+ Channels = $55.45AUD ($49.99USD)

 Now add IQ to this

 Platinum + IQ (100 Channels) = $115.95AUD ($104.58USD

 compared to

 Choice Xtra Plus DVR Package (200+ channels) = $66.53AUD ($59.99USD)

 Does this seem fair especially in today’s financial environment with interest rates on the up?

 I myself do not have the worry of a mortgage at the moment but I do rent and that has gone up in the last few years and on top of this I am a university student who is also the carer for my disabled father [he is the reason we get Foxtel as he rarely leaves the house and there is not enough choice with just free to air TV] (so I do not earn that much money {around $500 a fortnight}) My mother does work but is only paid during the school term so over the Christmas break she does not get paid, so financially we are no better off than anyone with a mortgage.

 Is it too much for a company to maybe lose some of their earnings to attempt to increase their subscriber numbers and also give their current subscribers a financial break?

 To illustrate this point, Foxtel's profits have jumped by 19 times from $4 million to $76 million and subscriber numbers jumped 12.4 per cent to 1,443,000 in the financial year of 2006/2007 (The Age, Friday, August 10, 2007 http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=75669)

Perhaps before offering HD, Foxtel should look at giving some better value for money to its loyal customers and maybe in doing so increase their subscriber numbers and profits further (because as we all know it is all about the money).

10:54 pm - A statement from DNN

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Due to unforeseen and some foreseen circumstances this years State of the Craegus address has been postponed for an indefinite period of time. We hope that all circumstances can be rectified soon and the address can take place at the soonest available time.

Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

DNN.

12:01 pm

Rules:
1. Take your answer to each question and type it into Google Image Search
2. Post one of the images from the first page of results. (Or post two images if you have two answers (or just really want to).)
3. Add some of your own!

1. The age you will be on your next birthday:



2. A place to which you'd like to travel:



3. Your favorite place:



4. your favorite object:



5. your favorite food:



6. your favorite animal:



7. your favorite color:



8. the town in which you were born:



9. the town in which you live:



10. first name of a past love:

N/A

11. name of a past pet:



12. a best friends nickname:



13. your nickname/screen name:



14. your first name:



15. your middle name:



16. your surname:

did not match any documents

17. a bad habit of yours:



18. your first job:



19. your grandmothers name:



20. your major in college:



21. your current job:



22.  the first childhood toy you can remember:



23: your favorite hobby:



24. your most embarrassing moment:



25. the last stupid thing you did:

did not match any documents

02:31 pm - Update on post dated: 10:55am 18/10/2007

So it has been 4 days since I posted about the child in the bag murder and the sickness that surrounded the idea of what had happened and the closeness to where I live.

Thankfully the police have been able to act quickly and discover who the child was and arrest the mother over there murder, unfortunately the house where they live is even closer to my place (the street runs off the same one as mine and is under 200 metres away from my place) than where the body was found:

10:55 am

What is wrong with the world? Seriously, what is it out there that makes people act like they do? Hell, I am studying psychology and I still don't get how people can do things like they do.

For those who haven't seen/heard/read: News Article

How sick do you have to be to do that, Now usually this story would quickly just cross my path and then I would just as quickly forget about it (even though it was a terrible thing to happen) however this time I have taken notice because this heinous act occurred less than a kilometre from my home, and I mean less than one (about 6-700 metres as the crow flies and not much more walking). Hell I used to fish at the pond myself when I lived even closer to it than I do now.

And on top of that the possibility that I or my family or a friend of the family know the family or even worse the killer is very possible especially if the child went to my primary school or lived in the vicinity.

What could make a person in their right mind (well maybe they were not in their right mind at the time) put a body (let alone a child's) in a suitcase and throw it into a pond (which in itself is not a smart thing as the pond really isn't the biggest thing and it is a popular place for families to go. I still remember that whenever computers were stolen from my primary school they were always dumped in the pond and found within a day or so of the robbery, so, I seriously think that a suitcase would arose more suspicion than a computer.

I just hope that they find the sicko who did this quickly and absolutely throw the book at him/her (though knowing the Australian legal system that won't happen).

 

03:41 pm - R.I.P. Marcel Marceau: 1923 – 2007

Question:

When a mime dies, do people participate in a minute of noise?

09:20 pm

"...crushing blow!, he's down

The count begins...

1...2...3..."

12:28 pm

The feelings are becoming stronger,

The thoughts are more intense,

The realisation that it isn't going to happen hurts like hell,

The fact that I can't stop any of these is indescribable.

10:36 pm - Possible spoiler/exclusive

NOTE: This information may not be something that people want to hear but it would be interesting if it indeed was shown to be true.

-------------------

Ladies and Gentlemen, earlier today a very reliable source informed me of a story that they were told by a friend who also is a very reliable source.

This story related to a 21st birthday party that was set to be held at a particular community centre in the suburb of Glen Alpine on the 29th of September.

However the person who had booked the centre 12 months in advance received a letter the other day telling them that the hall would be unavailable on that particular day due to it being used for an electoral polling place (something was also mentioned about 33 days warning {33 days is the minimum number of days that an election can be called and the parliament dissolved}).

Is this the slip that has revealed that the forthcoming federal election will be held on the 29th of September or is it just a major stuff up.

It is highly unlikely that this will be true because of major political (APEC) and sporting events (NRL/AFL Finals) that will be occurring during the 33 days.

If this information is true then expect an announcement before the 27th of August.

-------------------

That was just something interesting (well I found it interesting) especially if it comes to be fact.


That is all for now.

10:23 pm

07:21 pm - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Big Brother to be back, despite ratings
Friday Jul 27 15:14 AEST
Big Brother 2007 has survived a battering from the media and politicians, lower than usual ratings and some dramatic controversies.

But after Monday's finale, producers will celebrate the series as a success before contemplating plans for next year.

"There will be the usual post mortem but there's no reason to believe it won't be back on air," he said.

Four housemates are left in the show from the 24 participants who have passed through the doors of the Gold Coast compound.




Two will be evicted on Sunday before the winner is announced during Monday's finale.

They came from a cast chosen to be less controversial than previous years to appease critics who had dubbed the show "toxic TV" after the infamous "turkey slapping" incident last year.

Despite the concessions made by producers in casting, Noble is impressed to be left with a diverse mix of characters in the final four.

The raging favourites, with the bookies and fan popularity polls, are 21-year-old hairdresser Aleisha and 24-year-old gay corsetiere Zach, both from regional Victoria.

If the experts are to be believed, they will survive Sunday's evictions as 32-year-old truckie and father Travis and 23-year-old Billy, an insurance broker, kiss their chance to win more than $400,000 in prizemoney goodbye.

None of the contestants fit the profile of previous Big Brother winners.

All are outspoken and haven't shied away from confrontation where past winners have been the house's resident pacifists.

"It was a slightly nicer mix of people this year and the show's suffered for it," Noble said.

"But the last four in the house, they are all such real people. People love them, they are so open and honest. They wear their heart on their sleeve. If they're unhappy you know straight away."

Billy was at the centre of a world first for the Australian show, plucked from a holiday in Canada to spice up the house as an intruder on Day 2. He was the ex-boyfriend of housemate Hayley whose current flame Andrew was also in the house.

Zach entered the house on Day 50 of 100 as an intruder. He or Billy could be the first intruders to win the show.

Big Brother was again never far from the headlines during its seventh season.

When housemate Emma Cornell's father died while she was in the house it reached scandal status when producers decided to fulfil the wishes of her family and not tell her of the death.

Noble says of the thousands of decisions producers must make during the series, this was one of the easiest.

"We still absolutely 100 per cent believe we were doing the right thing," he said.

"If we'd gone the other way, they would have said you're playing God. There's no winning with these things."

A scandal Big Brother producers took on the chin came in week eight during the Friday Night Live show when contestants were required to throw water balloons at a Mexican flag.

A complaint was promptly made by Mexican officials and an apology just as quickly offered.

"That will never happen again," Noble said.

Other controversies, such as the toy baby task which brought back memories for housemate Kate of her miscarriage, were dealt with as quickly as possible.

"When people say any publicity is good publicity, I'm not sure that's the case when a show is bagged for long enough," Noble said.

Despite the troubles, this year's show was more family friendly. Friday Night Games, an It's A Knock Out style program, has become a worthwhile end to the week for families.

Up Late with Mike Goldman also has its own devoted audience and income stream.

So while the show has suffered in the ratings overall, its consistent appeal for young viewers is invaluable to Ten.

Noble notes that while numbers are down on last year, that tarnished series was particularly well-watched on its way to a finale seen by 2.2 million viewers.

"Other networks would bust a gut for a show that accounts for this many hours to get the numbers we get with 16 to 39s so consistently," he says.

Big Brother's Daily Show averages more than one million viewers daily at 7pm.

Noble says the average of about 45 per cent of 16 to 39-year-old viewers is more significant for the network.

Last year's furore saw the early axing of the late-night Adults Only show, which featured material not permissible during the PG-rated daily show's timeslots.

The fact it didn't return at all this year has hindered the show significantly, Noble said.

"It was a mistake not to have it on," he said.

Noble said the Adults Only show isn't just about sexual content, but showing the full spectrum of the contestants' personality while not breaching censorship guidelines.

"Not seeing what the other half of these people are really like has been one of the biggest problems," he said.

Asked to what degree he thought the compromise hindered the success of the show, Noble was certain.

"100 per cent. Not 100 per cent, 200 per cent. I think the people who like and watch the show did like it and didn't want anything changed," he said.

Regardless, stay tuned for more in 2008.


©AAP 2007

07:12 pm - squeee

04:34 pm - How to escape a fart

How To Escape A Fart - Watch more free videos