Binnsy's Hovel

Well, back once more I am from the beach.

I must say that it was a nice little getaway and a good chance to spend time with the folks. It was also a really good way to avoid schoolies.

And as promised, I kept a little diary of the journey, though I slacked off on the last night and didn’t write anything. But I’ll fill you in when we get to that point. So here goes…

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Preparation – Nov 24, 5:42pm
I hate packing. Washed car. Burnt holiday CD, packed DVD’s, Xbox. Still have to pack clothes. Off to piano at 6:30 then mass prep. No broomball tonight, so don’t get to see J & L before I leave . Not to worry. Need to be up early anyway. More later. Toodles!

Day 1 – Nov 25
Away 8:30 after fuel.
All packed and set.
Biggest dilemma was which book to take.
I have a disappointingly insatiable craving for a Sausage McMuffin and a hash brown .

Day 1 – Nov 25, 10:34
Stopped at servo just past Wyong turnoff and I got my muffin and hash brown . Nice latte too. Also got phone reception so smessed important ppl.

Day 1 – Nov 25, 12:34pm
Music played so far:
– My holiday CD
– Ray Charles
– Monty Python
– Ray Hadley
First three were good. Last is currently playing and is making me want to curl up and die sleep.
Car trip is boooring.
Slept for about an hour.

Day 1 – Nov 25, 11:31pm
Got to Port Macquarie around 2pm, found accom., checked in.
Unpacked, then went into town for grocery shopping. I got a hair cut, bought a birthday present for L, got icecream and came home. Had a cuppa and watched Ep. 1 of Long Way Round. Then got ready and went in search of the Port Panthers Club. Massive place. Bad bruschetta, lovely beer-battered fish, chips and salad. Had a beer (first in a while) before my first foray into the ‘casino’. Lost $13 on pokies but won $20 in blackjack . Watched Mum lose $30 on the pokies then came home around 9pm. Had icecream and watched Ep. 2 and half Ep. 3 of Long Way Round.
Started raining about 6pm, stopped about 10pm. So much for sunny Port Macquarie, eh? Now to sleep…

Day 2 – 11:25pm
Up at 9:15. Had breakfast (cereal with fruit) and coffee. About 11:20am, headed into Wauchope and to Timbertown – a reconstruction of an 1800’s Australian township with school, church, shops, tavern, animals, steam train, bullocks, etc. Twas quite enjoyable. Loved the old newspaper presses. Came home and sun was out so went for a swim in pool for about half an hour. Had a shower, then we went round the corner to the “Pasta Place” for tea. I had tortellini with pesto-napolitana sauce and it was delicious. Most enjoyable.
We then came home and watched Keeping the Faith over icecream, cuppas and chocolate. And now, to bed! Adios!

Day 3 – 1:43pm
Slept in this morning. Woke up at about 10:10. Had a massive breakfast – scrambled eggs, fried tomato, bacon and toast. Makes you wonder what the poor people are doing, really. Then we watched a bit more of Long Way Round, then I flicked over and watched the end hour and a half of Laws of Attraction on pay TV.
Now, after a shower, we’re all just sitting around doing not much, which is most agreeable.
Particularly now it’s storming. How fun.

Day 3 – 8:58pm
Well, I’ve just had a day of doing nothing. We ended up just sitting round all day watching Episodes 3-10 of Long Way Round. A whole TV series in a day.
We then got pizza and have just been bumming around. It’s great. Anyway, I’m off again, not to sleep, but to do more nothing.

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Thus ends the ‘official’ journal, or that which was written on the trip.

On Monday, November 28, we went to Billabong Koala Park, and saw monkeys, wombats, lizards, birds, snakes, everything. It was very cool. We then played a round of minigolf, in which I thrashed my mum and stepdad quite comprehensively. We then had lunch and went to a rainforest centre where you can walk around a boardwalk for 2km taking in the forest, and they had stuffed animals and displays and such. Tranquil much.

Anyhoo, a most enjoyable trip.

Took heaps of photos – they’ll be up as soon as I could be bothered getting them organised.

Until next time…

Well, the bad news is that I’m going on holidays until Tuesday.

And the good news is that I’m going on holidays until Tuesday.

Yes, nothing but sun, sand and sea for me.

However, despite which of the above news items you liked or disliked the most, I’ll be keeping a concise record of everything that happens while I’m up north, which shall be transcribed here at the Hovel, in its entirety, upon my safe and speedy return. Expect tales of near-escapes, thrilling car chases, dirty laundry, shifty undertakers and the gripping drama of room service politics. Carnal, bloody and unnatural acts may occur, as also may, accidental judgements – “I should’ve had the pork” – and casual slaughters – “I told you I wanted to go to the beach”.

How fun. Tune in to the Hovel around Tuesday night Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time to have the read of your life.

Until next time…

It’s the silly season again.

Everywhere you look there’s baubles and crackers and snowmen and ridiculous old men in red suits.

Bah humbug.

For mine, the Christmas season doesn’t start until December 1, which is when my family put up the tree and deck the halls and so on and so forth. Until such time as that, it is not Christmas. It is just ridiculous.

Christmas is silly, really. Season’s greetings!

Some time over the next few weeks I’ll also be compiling this year’s edition of the Binnsy’s Hovel People of the Year Awards. Last year’s awards were a fizzling success, and this year they’ll be smaller and worse than ever, as opposed to bigger and better.

See, here at the Hovel, much like over at the Chaser, I strive to find the worst in what is an overly materialistic and pseudo-optimistic world. Basically I cut through the crap do the best I can to show you how the world really is, and brainwash you try to make you see things from my point of view.

I’m off to the beach again on Friday. Hurrah! This time I’m heading north. And avoiding Schoolies. Ugh to that.

Until next time…

Well, I think I can say I’ve well and truly had my fix of exams. I had my Grade 2 Piano exam at 11:48 this morning, and got an A!

My little report thingo said:

Well done, Dan. A generally impressive exam in which you showed excellent preparation and above all a brief and engaging sense of stule and plenty of performance flair.

And apparently I interpreted Star Wars well. Which is all you can ask for, really. Now, next year I’m skipping a grade and heading on with Grade 4. Hoo hah!

Until next time…

Yesterday I was helping out at a stall at the Sydney Motorcycle Show at Homebush Bay. We arrived in time for me to be privileged enough to see Charley Boorman speak live about his 2004 motorcycle trip from London to New York with actor Ewan McGregor. I also purchased the DVD and was able to meet and talk with Charley after he spoke. He also was kind enough to personally sign it for me.

I’ve since watched four episodes of Long Way Round and have been rather oddly affected by it. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten into what is essentially a travel documentary as much as I have with this one – perhaps with the exception of Michael Palin’s brilliant Himalaya. I find myself experiencing every up and down, every bump and pothole. It really is very odd. But brilliant at the same time.

Perhaps it comes with actually meeting the person up there on the screen in front of you. Maybe that ten-minute conversation with Charley let me into what he felt and experienced on the trip. It’s very weird, this brain thing.

I also got to wander round the show taking random photos. Many of them can be seen via the Blue Thunder DownUnder web site, but I’ve whacked up a gallery in the Photo Hut specially for visitors to the Hovel. Aren’t you lucky?

Until next time…

Check out my nifty new artwork I made:

Dammit I’m good. Picasso eat your heart out. To see it being painted live (Flash required, folks), check out this link. To make your own nifty painting, though it could never be as good as mine (I am so modest), go here.

Knock yourself out.

Until next time…

Well, what a weekend/Monday. On Saturday afternoon I went to see this here. Absolutely spot-on and brilliantly executed. If it ever runs again you all could do a lot worse than see it.

Sunday was good, a nice quiet day with friends.

Then yesterday I went to see Little Fish in the city. At times I found it to be incredibly intense; the combination of washy music and visuals, as well as the drug use and violence a little too much, however it was a brilliantly constructed film, and I’d recommend it for that alone. Despite its darkness, the film has produced memorable performances from, among others, Cate Blanchett, Noni Hazlehurst and Hugo Weaving.

In other news, my little nation is flying high. And the forums have been keeping me off the streets hobby-wise. Whenever something momentous happens it’s usually documented soon after on the Bynzekistan NSwiki page.

This weekend sees me off to my Year 12 Formal on Friday night, a friend’s birthday party on Saturday night and the Sydney Motorcycle Show on Sunday to help out with a stall for the day. Then Monday sees me tackle my Second Grade piano exam. So just when I thought things could slow down, life chucks a volley of stuff at me. Hurrah for life. :S

Until next time…

Binnsy back from beach. Binnsy thought beach was good. Binnsy wants to go back to beach. Binnsy now exceedingly bored.

It’s amazing what you miss out on when you head off for a while and don’t read the papers. The whole nationwide terrorist crackdown and arrests thing from the other day was news to me this morning. In a really weird way I couldn’t really give a damn. I just want to go back to the beach.

Until next time…

You’ve got to wonder how much of a gamble Trevor Hohns and his cronies were making when they signed Mike Hussey up for the current Australian test side. Admittedly Hussey’s performance with the Western Warriors has been nothing short of incredible, with a strike rate of around 95, the highest in the Australian domestic competition.

But you really do have to wonder about his capability when he scores 1 and 29 in his respective innings. And his probable reason for his inclusion was his supposed skill with the bat.

My personal decision would be to include both Hussey brothers, Michael and David, in the limited overs side, and reserve the upper order test slots for someone like Michael Bevan or Justin Langer – a specialised player who’s not too bad in the field. Bevan would be a particularly good choice given his skill with the ball also. I wouldn’t even mind seeing Andrew Symonds in test mode. Would make for very interesting viewing.

On the other hand, a brilliant few overs this morning by Nathan Bracken. Top effort, that, especially the LBW in his double wicket over. Absolutely plumb.

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You’ve got to wonder how many straws the Australian government can clutch at with their new counter-terrorism laws. Having experienced first-hand bag and body searches, as well as the Victorian Government’s near-radical protection of public transport services, the measures seem near-superfluous.

Let’s be honest here. If a terrorist really wants to cause mass havoc, death and destruction, no amount of government prevention or threat of subsequent intervention will be able to stop it. What governments sometimes seem to forget is that most of these people are smart. They have a grasp of technology, world events, politics and the economy, and of how these can all be attacked or manipulated to ensure the worst conceivable end result.

The reason for this little comment is this article in today’s SMH. It says of a new law rushed through the Senate on Thursday:

…people can be charged even if they are only considering carrying out a terrorist act, but have not yet decided when or where.

With all due respect, short of implanting mind monitoring devices in every Australian citizen’s head, how is the government going to know if someone’s ‘considering’ being a terrorist for a day? Phone taps and other conventional surveillance techniques are all well and good, but again, if a terrorist really wants to attack somewhere, he’s going to cover his tracks.

It’s all rather pointless really.

I really do admire the government taking steps, though. It really is a case of damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t.

But just in case, don’t touch anything, look at anything or speak ever again. It goes against subclause 4.3.2.6B of Australia’s Big Book of Anti-Terror Legislation, 2005 Edition.

I just hope Free Speech wasn’t affected. If I stop blogging for an extended period of time, I’m probably being held on suspicion of eating something I wasn’t supposed to.

Until next time…

Interesting phenomena of the universe as noted by Binnsy, Item 1: How absolutely brilliant a different type of toothpaste tastes the very first time you use it.

New photos up here.

Until next time…