Binnsy's Hovel

I must again sincerely apologise for the distinct lack of postage lately. I’ve had several things – not the least of which being the aforementioned ten-day jaunt to Melbourne – that have held me up in posting often and/or regularly. But I hope to get back into it over the next week or so.

As mentioned in yesterday morning’s World Cup round-up, Saturday brings glorious tidings for fans of the sport of cycling, as the 93rd Tour de France departs from Strasbourg in northeastern France. Not only am I looking forward to three weeks of thrilling cycling excitement, awesome sprints, treacherous mountain-climbs and death-defying descents, I also thoroughly enjoy Gabriel Gate’s segment on the food of the region through which le Tour is passing that day. Great stuff.

So I daresay that by the end of July my eyes will be bulging, especially considering I have work to manage as well. However, expect much Tour blogging here, as I’ll be propped up in front of the telly with my laptop, a cuppa and a baguette waiting for the start of the greatest, most awesomest bicycling race in history!

Until next time…

This will be one of the hundreds of blog posts on the Australia vs Italy World Cup Match. I am slightly disappointed that we lost, of course. There will be an incredible amount of debate and discussion over that final penalty. Despite my usual complete lack of interest in round-ball, I found myself tracking the Socceroos’ progress through the World Cup with fresh interest, and lived every thrilling moment of tonight’s match.

I thought that Australia dominated for most of the match, actually, and it was most unfortunate that a stupid referee dashed Australia’s hopes to make it to the quarter finals. Distressed at the moment, I find myself, to see Iemma Dilemma getting his ugly mug on SBS’s coverage of the chaos in Norton Street in Sydney.

So there you have it. A loss to Australia. Now we move on to the next great international sporting event, le Tour de France, which kicks off (no pun intended) on 1 July.

Bad luck fellas.

Back to regular blogging soon, hopefully.

Until next time…

Whoa. Long time no post. Since my last correspondence I caught the train to Melbourne for my Dad’s wedding, I’ve spent time with the various Melbourne-based constituents of my widespread family, was there to see the Demons thrash Collingwood at the beautifully-renovated MCG, saw X-Men 3 and Mission Impossible 3, walked around Melbourne for a day whilst recovering from a hangover, published a pseudo-drunken blog post, caught the train back to Sydney, watched two series of Black Books on DVD, bought a Toshiba Satellite A100/4600 laptop PC, worked my first shift at my new job, and edited together an extremely short film of my dog chasing a ball. I’m also working on several film projects, not the least of which is the script of a 1984-like totalitarian nightmarish vision of the not-so-distant future.

So to quote Bill Lawry, ‘It’s all happening, here.’

Until next time…

Supplementary to my little note in the wee hours of this morning, I intend to posit my thoughts herein on this so-called Day of the Beast, Day of Reckoning, Comething of the Antichrist-like-person and so on and so forth.

In my trawlings of the interweb, I’ve come across several suppositions about the true identity of the Antichrist. See, the thing about the counter-Jebus is that he could take any form whatsoever, as intoned unto us by the sweet, saccharine, rustic tunes of jazz icon Cab Calloway over at Sterne.

The allegations have flown thick and fast, but the prominent ones have been James Blunt, David Hasselhoff, Prince William and, non-surprisingly, the most powerful man in the world, who ‘couldn’t think his way out of a wet paper bag without the advice of his staff’.

I, personally, lean towards the first name mentioned there, as the chiseled face of the Hoff, the over publicised military training and King Arthur connections of Prince William and the fumblings and faux pas’ of George Walker Bush have nothing on the torturous potential of the whiny strains of James ‘Six Heads’ Blunt.

There are interesting and amusing posts on the Antichrist and the Apocalypse at Larvatus Prodeo (and again), Sterne and AnonymousLefty.

But for my two cents’ worth on the unmasking of the soiler, spoiler and embroiler of humanity, religion and the world as we know it, let us turn to that spawner of sacrilegious sensationalism and tabloid travesty, the Herald Sun. I ask you to turn the opinion page, on any Wednesday or Friday. Look for that face.

That’s right. It all comes into focus now. The cogs of your mind suddenly connect and begin to spin with such adamant and revelatory ferocity. You know it as well as I do.

Yep. Sorry folks but it has to be true. Not only do his opinions hinder the advancement of humanity, but many of his left-bashing anecdotes have forced many libertarian sufferers to enter lines of work they’d rather not, earning minimal pay and enduring all the introspective delirium that artistry lavishes upon them*.

His work spawns anti-life sentiment, as well as a series of blogs that end up just being ridiculous. He sucks up humanity’s valuable resources – time, money, effort! He must be stopped!

Let this thread be the beginning of the resurrection and the salvation of humanity. Discuss, debate, and declare your allegiance to the Bolt Must Be Stopped Antichrist Stopping Fraternity here!

Until next time…

* Richard Plumridge, a victim of Bolt mentioned in previous posts, is now a filmmaker. Oh, the humanity!

There was a great article by Bill Leak in what is now yesterday’s Australian about the changing role of the humble postman in the twenty-first century. I’ve managed to track it down online, or they’ve just managed to stick it up on the site, and you can read it here.

I’m in a reflective mood, which I’ve found is extremely counter-productive. Not only that, but I find myself completely devoid of any desire to sleep whatsoever. This comes, mind you, in spite of all the cold and flu tablets, and cough lozenges, and butter and menthol drops, and eucalyptus steam, and hot, paracetamol-laced beverages I’ve been imbuing my fragile and far-from-lucid spirit with over the past few days.

There’s a milestone approaching, a day which I’ve no doubt will be a very happy one for a family member, a direct relative of mine who is extremely special to me. Despite my excitement and pride for him, I feel a distinct sense of grief, as though part of him that I’ve always held close to me will be lost forever. It’s a connection I’m not willing to sever easily, but we make sacrifices for the happiness of those near and dear, I suppose.

C’est la vie, eh?

And it’s now 06-06-06. If I could be bothered I’d stay up until six past six in the morning just so I could say that I was the blogger who stayed up until 0606 on 06-06-06. But you know, I’m sick, tired and relatively miserable so I guess I won’t. But the thought was there. Happy apocalypse.

Until next time…

Well, folks, you’re now looking at the latest censored at censored. The reason I’m censoring my position and my employer is because I’m not entirely sure if John Howard’s new industrial relations laws or his sedition laws allow employees to comment about their employers on their blogs. If the PM takes after some British companies, I’m thinking not.

But regardless, I’ve now secured employment with a business nearby, and am looking forward to earning some dough over the mid-year break. I’ve got one more assignment to finish off and mail on Wednesday, then I’m catching the train to Melbourne on Thursday (something to blog about, to be sure), am in Melbourne for just over a week then training it back overnight on the 16th/17th June. Then I hope to be working pretty much full-time up until uni goes back at the very end of July. Hurrah.

Until next time…

I’d like to welcome my new blodger, Henry the Adequate. Henry is not only one of the world’s current leading superheroes (within the top 375,000 on the Hero Chronicle’s top million superheroes of all time), he is a coding and IT expert, willing to answer your questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That’s just the kind of guy he is. Make his rent pay for itself over there in the sidebar – visit! NOW!

Until next time…

This showed up in my gmail spam tonight…

Dear Friend,

I am MRS. SUHA ARAFAT, the wife of late YASSER ARAFAT,the Palestinian leader who died recently in Paris. Since his death and even prior to the announcement, I have been thrown into a state of antagonism, confusion, humiliation, frustration and hopelessness by the present leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the new Prime Minister. I have even been subjected to physical and psychological torture.

As a widow that is so traumatized, I have lost confidence with everybody in the country at the moment.You view this website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3965541.stm.

You must have heard over the media reports and the Internet on the discovery of some fund in my husband secret bank account and companies and the allegations of some huge sums of money deposited by my husband in my name of which I have refuses to disclose or give up to the corrupt Palestine Government.

In fact the total sum allegedly discovered by the Government so far is in the tune of about $6.5 Billion Dollars. And they are not relenting on their effort to make me poor for life. As you know, the Muslem community has no regards for woman, more importantly when the woman is from a Christian background, hence my desire for a foreign assistance.

I have deposited the sum of Fourty-Three million dollars with a Diplomatic Security firm in Europe whose name is withheld for now until we open proper and full communication.I shall be grateful if you could receive this fund into your bank account for safe keeping and any Investment opportunity.

This arrangement should be known to you and I alone and all our correspondence should be strictly on email alone because our government has tapped all my lines and are monitoring all my moves.

In view of the above,if you are willing to assist for our mutual benefits, we will have to negotiate on your Percentage share of the $43,000,000.00 that will be kept in your possession for a while and invested in your name for my trust pending when my Daughter,Zahwa,will come off age and take full responsibility of her Family Estate/inheritance.

Please note that this is a golden opportunity that comes once in life time and more so, if you are honest, I am going to entrust more funds in your care as this is one of the legacy we keep for our children.

In case you don’t accept please do not let me out to the security and international media as I am giving you this information in total trust and confidence I will greatly appreciate if you accept my proposal in good faith.

Please expedite action. And you can reach me anytime on my private email (suhafamily1960@aim.com).

Yours sincerely,

Mrs.Suha Arafat

I couldn’t resist the opportunity to reproduce an email from such a noble and newsworthy source, with an obviously legally reliable proposal.

Until next time…

Drinking: Coffee
Health: A bit of the flu
Mood: Relatively good spirits

Reading: Unspeak, by Steven Poole – as of around 2:30pm 3 June I’m just a little over halfway through it. I was skeptical about it as I’ve had a couple of shocking experiences with language-related books (being an arts and English fan I was drawn to this kind of literature, only to be slapped down with the tedium and boredom that resulted). Poole’s wit and humour keep this book lively and jovial despite its being a scathing and unrelenting critique on the use of specific language to cloak political ideology. It is accessible and easy to understand, and Poole addresses his case to the everyday person, showing how they too can unravel the complexities and mysteries of Unspeak. The other reason I’m reading this book is because of my current fascination with all things Orwell, and just how relevant his works are today. I have yet to see V for Vendetta, though I’m told it’s very, very good. And scary in a ‘this could be us soon’ kind of way, much like Nineteen Eighty Four. Poole’s knowledge of Orwell’s work comes through clear and strong, and makes for a most excellent and very intelligent piece of writing. Top stuff, thus far. Full review and commentary when I’m done.

Study: Researching Little Red Riding Hood for an essay comparing Charles Perrault’s original and Anna Walwicz’s modern rewriting. I’m using the concepts of political correctness, feminism, gender, intertextuality and a comparison of social values to illustrate and flesh out my arguments that contemporary social attitudes shape the flavour and subtext of many literary works. Paper due end of next week.

UPDATE (7 June, 6pm): If anyone from UWS is doing this assignment and finds this post through Google, feel free to use the comments to discuss the assignment. I’ll be up pretty late tonight working on it so I’ll pitch in from time to time, but it’s free Little Red Riding Hood discussion here if you’re up for it.

Until next time…

You may have seen the recent addition of a “Fat Little Notebook” in the sidebar. And, yourself being a somewhat discerning visitor, may ask, ‘What, praytell oh mighty blogger*, is that?’ To which I would, in my haste and hurry, reply, ‘Tis but a link, silly person.’ However, thee not being satisfied with so rushed and rudimentary a response, would henceforth proceed to forcibly enunciate the truth from my good self.

So, to save all this hassle, I’ll just tell you straight out.

It’s my new, fandangled, Google Notebook, the concept of which I was introduced to by Tim over at Road to Surfdom. The Notebook is still in the Beta stage at Google Labs, however it’s highly functional and completely integratable with Firefox and a number of other browsers, I’m sure.

Basically, it lets you take anything from the web – highlighted text, images, links – and sticks it all on the one handy page for your later reference, amusement or use. It also lets you compose your own notes. You can divvy the page up into various sections, and organisation is simply a matter of drag and drop. Google’s Notebook has a number of advantages over traditional real-world notebooks and scrapbooks. Firstly, if you write something down and don’t like it, you can edit it or get rid of it and start again. Likewise, pictures can be removed easily and without unnecessary glue residue. Excellent stuff, I feel. Also, the Google Notebook can be accessed anywhere, and can’t be left at home on your desk.

So there you have it. Go get one now, and let me know the link so I can do a Tim and add you.

Until next time…

* Delusions of grandeur is a scientifically and medically proven disorder. I am taking pills and attending classes. Truly. You believe me, don’t you?

The HGNN (Hovel Google Notebook Network)

Tim Dunlop (blog)