I hate Max Barry.
I really do.
Don’t get me wrong. He’s a top guy, I’m sure, and from the sounds of his writing I’m sure he’s a genuinely likeable bloke.
He’s also a top author, and I recently purchased a copy of one of his books, Jennifer Government.
I even play the webgame based on the same book.
Actually, there’s not many things about Max that I don’t like.
But nevertheless, I hate him.
Why such an unwarranted negative reaction, you may well ask?
Well, there’s only one reason why I hate Max Barry.
He spoke to John Cusack.
Yep. John Cusack, the awesome actor and star of many of my favourite movies – not the least of which being Serendipity, Pushing Tin, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity and Grosse Pointe Blank – just called up his mate Max to discuss Cusack’s involvement in the movie adaptation of Max’s new novel, Company.
So, that’s why I hate Max Barry.
But it got me thinking about the people, well-known figures in society, that I’d like to get a phone call from, maybe have a conversation with, have lunch with, etc.
Here’s a list of the top 5 people I’d like to meet:
i. Tom Cruise;
My main reason for wanting to meet Tom is to disprove for myself and for intellectual society all the stupid rumours about his offscreen personality. I’m convinced in my own mind that he’d be a genuinely likeable and friendly bloke, and I’d like nothing more than to spend a day with him discussing film, directors, and other things, because I know he’d be over talking about stuff related to the movies.
ii. Rob Sitch, Tom Gleisner, Santo Cilauro and Jane Kennedy;
This lot is all stuck together because as a unit they’re inseparable and unstoppable; and to be amongst them would be akin to being amongst comedic, political and filmmaking genius. These are the writers, actors, directors and authors behind Frontline, D-Generation, The Late Show, The Dish, The Castle, Molvania and Phaic Tan, among others. Some of the most amazing personalities and minds in Australia.
iii. Neil Finn;
I’ve been lucky enough to see Neil Finn perform with his brother Tim at the Opera House, and by himself in Melbourne and in Tamworth. Not only is Neil an amazing performer and vocalist, his songwriting skill is among the highest echelons of the craft. The only others I can place with him are Paul Simon, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. It would be amazing to meet Neil and pick his brain about… well… anything, really.
iv. Pierce Brosnan;
He’s the man every man wants to be, and who every woman wants to be with. I want to meet Pierce not only because he’s so incredibly cool, but because of his interest in independent filmmaking. I’d ask him all about his film company Irish Dreamtime and how he got that off the ground. I’d talk to him about filmmaking and our visions of how it should be done. And we’d talk about Bond. Because you can’t really have lunch with Pierce Brosnan and not talk about Bond.
v. Shaun Micallef;
I’d love to meet, talk and laugh with, in my opinion, one of the funniest men in Australian showbusiness history. Famous for Milo Kerrigan, Roger Explosion, David McGahan and for his deadpan delivery on his various shows including The Micallef Program and Shaun Micallef’s World Around Him, Shaun has established himself as one of the foremost comedic personalities in Australia. He wrote a lot of the material for Full Frontal and most of his own work, as well as co-writing the Australian series BlackJack starring Colin Friels. And Radio Vega Sydney would be so much better if they had Shaun on in the mornings.
And there you have it.
Every blogger wants more readers. It’s a simple fact of blogging existence. The search for tools to attain more visitors can be long and unsuccessful.
The other day I bit the bullet and signed up with BlogExplosion. You’ll see random banners and links and buttons in the sidebar pertaining to this service. Basically it’s a link and click exchange thingy, where I spend time surfing other blogs, earning credits which can then become visitors to my site through the same system. It’s good because it’s not money-based, it’s free, and it gives me the chance to explore other blogs while getting new visitors to mine.
Another part of BlogExplosion is the Rent My Blog service, where I ‘rent’ out a small space in the sidebar of my blog to another; payment being via BlogExplosion credits. The rent lasts for a week, then I run another campaign and switch to a new blog.
This week the blog-in-residence is Jump in the Ocean by Maritza of New Jersey in the US. It’s a random blog, personal and succinct and a top read. She also uses the cutest pictures. I strongly recommend you check it out; I’ll be popping in regularly from now on.
I got my bike back today, with its really cool, futuristic-looking silver gear levers. I had some new Shimano RapidFire shifters fitted, and now the bike works really well. So there’s no excuse for me not to be riding!
Today it was announced that between Morris Iemma and Michael Costa, almost 5,000 jobs will be cut in the public sector. In order to streamline the NSW parliamentary system, a reshuffling of power has occurred, which will facilitate the formation of several ’super-ministries’. The aim of these ministries is to consolidate power from a number of redundant government agencies and speed up the decision-making process in key areas. The $2.5 billion saved will, it is hoped, return the state to a budget surplus.
According to treasurer Michael Costa, it’s a ‘fairly small adjustment‘. And apparently the whole abolishment is through voluntary redundancy.
Personally, if Mr Costa strolled up to my desk with the offer of a ‘golden handshake’, I’d tell him to go jump. A job in public service would be hard enough to attain, let alone keep. But I can’t talk for the people themselves. Maybe a large government payout is just what they need to sever ties with the public sector and go seek employment elsewhere.
Sigh. The world keeps spinning, somehow.
Until next time…
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