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Had a Melbourne Cup function at work today, naturally… tables full of snacks, and finger foods, plus beer. Good stuff: little pastries and prawns and sandwiches and breads and dips, that kind of thing.

Most of the entire afternoon went to the party of course… and the race was five minutes. I do love Australian traditions

And while I put some tiny bets on a got nothing, somehow I did win one of the work sweeps! For a measly $2 I picked up $30 since I got Shocking as my random selection. It’s been years since I won one of these things. Good stuff!

Dinner’s on me… or something

I’m doing the Movember thing again and have signed up properly this time!

To donate or check out more about the charity, go here: http://www.movember.com/m/303656

The evidence from last year:

Send money now to see me do it all again!

For many years now, we’ve always made ourselves slightly prepared for Halloween, not that keeping some chocolate in the fridge is hard for us or anything… but we’ve kept it in mind.

And every year previously, we’ve just eaten it ourselves a week later, none the wiser.

Until this year.

Must be the neighbourhood, but just before 5pm we had some little trick or treaters door knock us, then about 6pm a few more. That was it, but the 4-5 kids it represented were up on the 0 that had ever knocked before. So I think we can say that Halloween has arrived in Australia finally.

I don’t mind really, and I don’t think it heralds some disaster of American cultural imperialism or anything… I just wondered when we’d finally see more of it. And this year we did.

Makes me wonder if years down the track I’ll be taking Will, Alex and Lachlan out trick or treating…

Well, that’s what someone asked me today. By complete accident, I was called by a Swinburne University Psychology department phone poll, which gave this very interesting opportunity to answer a bunch of questions about my Internet habits.

She told me it would take about 20 minutes, but in the end it took 45 minutes. But it just flew by, probably because I can talk for hours about the topic, and she was happy to hear it. I’m probably atypical of their poll results, but I don’t care.

Funniest moment came when she asked me about how often I look at “adult sites”, which led to the slightly odd semi-answer that my work leaves me looking at adult sites every day… but yeah, I do occasionally otherwise anyway. And we left it at that

And there was lots about downloading habits, and legal downloading and illegal downloading, and ecommerce and more. I like to think I gave some good answers and a lot of explanation.

Would be curious to know how I got roped in to begin with… must have been a totally random phone thing I guess. And I suppose that many would just say no… wonder if she expected someone with as much to say as me

You can see all about their study at this Swinburne site, which on my own observation now is actually more the site of the people carrying out the survey process, not the people who wanted the data… interesting. Oh well.

As many will have no doubt read, Des “Tuppence” Moran was murdered yesterday, in broad daylight, in the middle of the day, in a crowded cafe in Melbourne. He follows to the grave his brother Lewis, his nephews Jason and Mark, and many, many of their colleagues and friends.

This is likely freaking police out right now, since Des Moran had no connections (that I’ve read) to any recent criminal activity, and everyone you’d think would have been out to get him was already dead or in jail. The fact he was so well known was one thing, but the fact the crime was so brazen and public is the other thing: and obviously very dangerous. Whoever did this clearly wasn’t worried about anyone else.

Makes you wonder who did do it though. I actually wonder if new gangsters in Melbourne actually thought killing the last Moran man would be good for business, not because he was any kind of competition, but simply because it would get them in the Underworld fame books, and get them media headlines (mostly of these nutters are fame whores now anyway, in that Godfather/Scarface kind of way).

So another chapter of Underbelly, or just a sad segue into some other lame crime syndicate, selling drugs to dummies who still want them, while the cops wonder what kind of idiots are keen to shoot up people in broad daylight like this? Hard to tell really, but I hear the police are very close to arrests already (I mean, I’ll check the news, they might have someone already).

Either way, Underbelly is on again next year on Nine, with another past story. If this new thing warrants more stories, expect to wait until at least after there are convictions and sentencing, at least.

UPDATE: Turns out the culprits were far closer to hom… Judy Moran and family arrested in gangland murder

So close and yet so far…

NSW should have had no chance really, and for some of the game it appeared they didn’t… but they came back, kept it close, but still went down 28-18.

Highlights and lowlights were everywhere… NSW dominated the first 10 minutes, leading up to the disallowed try to Jarrad Hayne that they’ll be talkinig about for days. It really should have been a try… how on earth do you watch that replay 20 times and then say no try? What the hell is Benefit of the Doubt for? You can’t say that was no try for sure… it was so ridiculously close I don’t see how the decision could have been anything other than with the attacking team. They should have asked themselves, “would the defense feel hard done by?” and I think the answer is no. Too many of these rulings seem based on obscure definitions from the rule book, and not about “what is best for the fans?”

The next 10 minutes after that were a disaster… with the advantage completely blown, Queensland ran riot and scored three quick tries, which made the game look like it was going to be a disaster. It was looking like a 50-2 whitewash for a while there…

Finally, some sanity prevailed. NSW improved their defense, they got one (slightly lucky, admittedly) try where Hayne definitely knocked the ball back even if it rolled forward afterward. 18-6 at halftime was fair, and surprising honestly, considering how things looked earlier.

So, salvageable for NSW, right? Then the 2nd half opened with an immediate Queensland try, so the half looked like it would be a disaster again. 24-6 and all that. But then things changed again, NSW were on the up, their defense was good and their attack was making enormous yardage. Every set went 70 metres nearly, and they constantly hammered the line. Two great tries off kicks and good ball play, especially the second one where Robbie Farah kicked, regathered then sent Hayne over. Really classy stuff, and for a while it looked like NSW could even pull it off. But alas…

It was not to be. Queensland’s defense held firm, their insane magnitude of experience over NSW held strong, and they even bagged a quick late try to seal things 28-18. About the difference between the two teams really, though I would have liked 24-18 better. Despite NSW’s rookie team, there wasn’t that much between the sides in the end.

Player-wise, NSW’s best would have been Luke O’Donnell, Robbie Farah and Jarrad Hayne. Was very glad to see Farah do so well on debut, this is one Wests player who should have years of Origin in him… even as a future captain I would say. Queensland had the usual top class performers, with Thurston and Inglis the best.

That Greg Inglis… I still don’t understand why he even plays for Queensland… this guy grew up and started playing in NSW (Bowraville), further south than some of our players… yet by some obscure ruling based on a Melbourne Storm feeder team he played for in suburban Brisbane, he’s allowed to play for Queensland. Very weird, and a ruling NSW is clearly going to hate for years to come. I’ve still never seen a good enough explanation as to why this was allowed to happen.

So in the end, NSW weren’t exactly unlucky to lose, but they really showed some class for the future. They were massively outmatched in most positions, but really held strong in the end and only went down narrowly. Hopefully they can use this to win in Sydney for game two, and then game three in Queensland — which will be a mammoth task — well, who knows? This is a strong team for the future, though I’m worried they still might lose this series, even if it’s close and valiant.

Final word: Queensland are all class, we know that, but NSW made a good showing, and it bodes well for the team’s future.

Went to the parent’s today for another little celebration for Will’s birthday. A great day, with more presents for Will, and cake and birthday candles and all that wonderful stuff, and a football game too. Wests played Newcastle in the main TV game this afternoon, and damn it was a good game. Seizure inducing, but great.

Wests won 26-24 after storming home in the last 20 minutes when they seemed certain to lose. Benji Marshall ran the show, personal brilliance on display in a commanding role where he set up three tries in that 20 minute period then kicked the winning goal from the sidelines. He’s a freak and a legend, and I’m glad he’s on my team!

The funniest thing of course came when I just got too involved… I spent much of the game very non-committal in my obsessiveness, as Wests looked certain to lose for much of the game , and I was watching happily but trying not to invest too much into it.

But after the ref disallowed a try to us I just lost it… I scream at the TV with the best of them…! I kept the language clean, but when it gets that exciting… at least Will understood now. He laughed at everyone for the whole game, but naturally Alex got a bit upset. He’s at a simillar age Will was back in 2005 when we all screamed Wests to the Grand Final win.

Alex was fine in moments, and it all got more and more exciting until somehow Wests took out the victory. It made for a happier day certainly, and we all let Will know how happy his birthday party was with an extra win. We’re all a bit nuts, but that’s what being a sports fan is

Anzac Day… and I’m always slightly in two minds about the event. You can’t go past the importance of remembering the past horrors of Aussies in war, they’re heroism mixed with a healthy dose of “let’s never do that again”, but I’ve wondered about the direction of the day in recent years. I think the Howard years brought us too much “isn’t it wonderful” and not enough “let’s remember it to never do it again”. But maybe I’m reading too much into it…

Seen some new ads at the moment… ostensibly they’re for Legacy and Anzac Remembrance, but oddly enough, they’re for VB beer as well. But they’re extremely good ads… I would say brilliant even. They focus on an old war veteran, or widow, remembering they’re mate, or their husband, or their comrade, that didn’t come home. Emotional as hell, and a perfect first-hand reminder of the horrors of war. They extoll you to “have a beer” to remember their mates, which is a good Aussie allusion as well, but also where the beer ad comes in.

So I guess what I’m saying is, is it okay to have a beer ad and an Anzac ad in the same package? They are such perfect ads I don’t think you can fault them, but I wonder about the beer content being so to the fore as well (the fact it’s beer doesn’t matter, I’d wonder the same thing if it was a Coke ad for instance).

An interesting one…

Up early for the family haircut fun again. About time I got one — you don’t want a lot of hair in this heat. And the kids really need it too, not that they’d let us know of course! Up to Richmond again to see Amy, and thankfully nice and early, with the way the temperatures are predicated to head.

Will takes them well now, but Alex still wriggles like crazy, though the lego to play with helped. But he’s OK with it, and the fact that he’s so comfortable with Amy justifies us going to Richmond every time (and the cost too… thanks so much Amy!)

Really didn’t want to do much more than stay home after that… watched Wall-E on our DVD as a whole family, first time for Sallie. Temperature climbed to 45.3 degrees by 4pm which was nuts, but we dealt with it.

Sadly of course, Victoria went to hell today, as we started to find out late. Suppose I’ll write more about that later on, if I can bring myself to look at it more.

After truly hideous weather yesterday, we woke up today and it was warm, sunny and only got better during the rest of the day. Really nice Christmas this year, with Will more exciited than ever before about the whole event, and we certainly made sure all wishes were fulfilled.

Will only wanted one thing this year… and as arranged, the Pixar Short Films Collection is finally his. Not to mention several more videos (Happy Feet, Lazy Town), various clothes, more Cars figurines, outdoor tennis and golf toy sets and so much more. For Alex  it’s not quite the same, but he’s a happy little guy and he enjoyed the day as well. His main present was a big metail Tonka truck, a solidly traditional toy that so sums up his personality. More videos, clothes and other books, and we’ve got a house full of new toys. It’s amazing how much you can get if you start enough in advance.

Wonderful highlights was seeing Will be so generous — when he went into Alex’s present bag he then started giving Alex his presents! Will’s really embraced the season… lots of “Merry Christmas” and hugging and it’s just so cute…!

We packed a ridiculous amount into today… spent the morning from eaarly hours with the boys opening presents, then the morning packing to travel, then lunch and the afternoon with the parents, with more presents and festivities. Then we packed up our already thoroughly full car and headed up to Nelson Bay at 6.30pm. Good thing it’s such a good trip now and we made it just on nightfall, just before 9pm.

Quick recovery… and some time on my highlight present — I finally have Guitar Hero! My lovely wife got me Guitar Hero: World Tour, just the guitar pack, but that’s all that made sense for now. Great stuff, already tried a few songs. Personal present highlight on a wonderful family day!