Vaccination

I had my first flu vaccination ever today.
It's a new thing to me and something I'm going to have to get used to. So far no ill effects. I guess I have come to expect ill effects from medications at the moment so am prone to over-reacting (as subtly pointed out by my housemate today).
Hopefully this means winter will be a shade nicer.

The Number 23

I've said it before, I love it when comedians do serious and Jim Carrey does an amazing turn in The Number 23, the new drama/mystery from director Joel Schumacher.
Carrey plays Walter Sparrow, an everyday husband and father whose life revolves around his family and his work with the animal retrieval service. He's good at his job and he generally likes his life, though he gets bored from time to time.
On his birthday Walter's wife Agatha (Virginia Marsden), while waiting for him to meet her, sees a book called `The Number 23' in a used bookstore and after flipping through it decides Walter would enjoy reading it.
Walter doesn't so much enjoy reading the book rather he becomes obsessed with it and the number 23 which seems to dominate his life once he goes looking for it.
My bias towards Jim Carrey and serious roles (eg. The Truman Show, The Cable Guy, The Magestic, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind) aside this is a very impressive performance from him. There is little if no sign of the rubber faced comic of his more famous roles.
The Number 23 is a very watchable film and as it goes on it draws you in (or it did me) to a point where it had me guessing for a while. There are probably better mystery/thrillers out there but this is a good one, because if you're partial to conspiracies like everything being related to a number then it will interest you.
I'm going to give it an 8.5 out of 10. Carrey is excellent and it is his film, but he is ably supported by a solid cast and some of the camera work is very surreal, adding to the overall feel.
An interesting footnote. At the end of the film Numbers 32:23 is flashed on the screen. It reads: `But if you do not do this, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.' Interesting.

Rascal Flatts

Most people who know me would know why I dislike country music, at least the old style.
But, I just picked up Me & My Gang, the latest CD by US country group Rascal Flatts and I've got to say, on the whole, I like it a lot.
I only heard of them last year when they covered the track Life Is A Highway for the soundtrack to the Pixar film Cars.
While as I write this I am still on the first listen I already want to listen again. There's something about country music that seems more genuine than popular music. Perhaps it is all the heartache they sing about.
It's funny, there's a song on this CD called Backwards. Essentially it is an anti-country song in that you don't lose everything, instead everything comes back. if that makes sense.
Perhaps I am going to have to change my views on country music. Or perhaps this CD is one of the exceptions to the rule.

ANZAC Day

`..at the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them.'
Lest We Forget.

One Tree update

Two more episodes of my favourite show last night with the crew.
`Good News For People Who Like Bad News' and `Can't Stop This Thing We Started', episodes three and four from season 4 of One Tree.
The good thing is the show just keeps getting better.
Peyton's (Hilary Burton, pictured) `brother' Derek turns out to be a stalker (I've got to admit I didn't like him from the start of the third episode so I wasn't surprised he turned out to be obsessed with her). Rachel continues to make a play for Nathan while spreading rumours that Brooke is pregnant.
Lucas is missing basketball and Skills turns out to be a hit in his first game for the Ravens. There was a particularly funny bit when he was on the bench and another player saysd he's been sitting the bench for two years and hasn't got onto the court yet.
Deb is becoming interesting again as she flies headfirst off the rails and into addiction and Dan is unconvincing trying to play the good guy.
I'm sure I could go on for ages. Just awaiting news on a season 5, which is apparently going to be set some five years after high school. It's a new idea and it would be great to see what happens as opposed to a `College Years' season which didn't really work for 90210 or Dawsons Creek.

Good memories

I had a call tonight from my cousin David. It's been about 15 years since we saw each other last and that was at his first wedding and he couldn't recall seeing me there. (I suppose that's not a surprise, I imagine a wedding day as being a bit of a blur).
Last week I had called him because I was told of the death of his father, my uncle Steve, of a brain tumour after about six months since diagnosis. So naturally it wasn't in great circumstances. But it's strange how these things always bring long lost family members together.
David said he remembers me as a little kid. I found that somewhat funny, and said he would then be surprised that I am about six foot two or so. I don't remember him as a little kid though as we used to hang out a bit when our families came together. He's about seven years older than me so I guess that's not surprising.
It was awesome to talk to him though. I only have good memories of Steve and of when David and I used to hang out. Steve was a very enthusiastic, fun guy who was always interested in having a joke and good time with you, regardless of whether you were an adult or a child. His life circumstances changed through divorce but I haven't seen any of that other that seeing my aunt a number of times since it happened.
Regardless of that, as I said I only have good memories of Steve and it is sad that he died.
It turns out David comes to Sydney a few times a year so there's a good chance we'll catch up sometime this year. Won't that be weird. But it will be interesting.
As far as blasts from the pasts go, tonight's conversation with my cousin was amazing.

A win of sorts

Those in a position to decide what medication is subsidised by the government made a good move, finally by allowing Infliximab to be included on the PBS yesterday.
While there are conditions on who gets access to it, the subsidy will make the drug accessible to many who can't afford it.
Fortunately, at this point and touch wood, I am not someone who requires this drug and I hope I never will but it is good to know that things are heading in the right direction as far as availablility goes.
Like most decisions involving government on any level, the listing of Infliximab doesn't go far enough in that some people who may benefit won't meet the criteria for receiving it. But it's a start anyway.
This is why subsidy was needed, now it is up to the Government to guarantee funding for the coverage of this drug.

Shooter

The timing of the release of this film in Australia is unfortunate given what happened in the USA this week.
That said, the first thing to know about Shooter is that this is a very good film.
I say that because I went in expecting a bit of mindless action, I guess, even though it stars Mark Walhberg, who is really becoming a decent actor.
Wahlberg plays Bob Lee Swagger, a government trained marksman who was abandoned on a mission and left for dead. His partner is killed and he goes into exile. Three years later he is drawn back into the world when Colonel Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover) seeks him out to foil an attempted assassination on the president.
Or so he is led to believe. Swagger is double crossed by Johnson and framed for the assassination and he goes on the run.
Wahlberg is particularly good as the man determined to get justice and revenge on those who have used him and is unnervingly convincing. Yes there are probably some holes in the plot and such but, let's face it, it is an action film. However, it does have some intelligence and certainly had me hooked and interested.
It's also interesting to see Glover in the bad guy role, particularly in the light of his role in the Lethal Weapon films.
Shooter did surprise me but in hindsight these type of movies hang on how likeable the lead is and Wahlberg is very likeable, as is the support cast. So, while it's not Oscar material, Shooter is a tight, entertaining action film. An 8 out of 10.

Simpsons movie preview

I finally caught the full preview to the highly anticipated Simpsons movie today. If the expectations weren't high enough, the preview was a cracker.
I must admit to being a bit apprehensive about the film because the show has been on for 18 years so far and, on the whole, has been pretty damn good so they are on a hiding to nothing really.
Whether they can sustain it for 90 minutes remains to be seen but from the almost two minute preview, which was heaps better than the teaser trailer, I think the bar has been lifted even higher.
Doesn't come out until July but all I can say is bring it on!

Happenings

I took a lieu day from work and it's been a pretty good one.
My sister and nephew came over this morning for a while before driving back to the country. We went for a walk and Josh marvelled at all the spider webs around (which got me talking about Spider-Man 3 for a while) and we ended up at park where he went on the swing for a while.
After lunch I went and visited a friend for afternoon tea which was also quite pleasant and I've been for my almost daily walk, which is something I am enjoying at the moment.
I'm just about over the cold I picked up about 10 days ago. The odd sniffle here and there now seems to be all that remains. There is another minor (hopefully) issue at the moment that is annoying me and hopefully it will go away real soon.
When the cold was around it reminded me a lot of the times earlier this year when things weren't great and made me fear things going back to that period. Thankfully it hasn't reached that but I guess I'm still on alert.
The good thing about today being Tuesday is that tomorrow is Wednesday and Heroes will be on. I'm pretty well hooked on this show at the moment. It's so interesting and the characters are awesome, I'm very eager to see where it is heading.

Have Silverchair jumped the shark?

The new Silverchair album Young Modern has been met with much adulation and four-to-five star reviews from music critics.

This self-confessed critic has a different point of view on their first album in five years - it isn't very good. And that's a shame for me because I do own all their CDs, from 1995s Frogstomp.

The biggest disappointment for me is that, after a couple of listens, I can't find a song I like more than the single `Straight Lines', which has been number one on the Australian charts for four weeks so far.

It took me a while to warm to Straight Lines and I'd say I'm warm on it but that's about it. The song has a reasonable message in there among some pretty dodgy lyrics. The indulgent Those Thieving Birds/Strange Behaviour double has its moments but I'm really struggling to find highlights.

Musically the album has no guts, like the previous albums Diorama and Neon Ballroom, and Daniel Johns' singing is very strange.

I've tried really hard to like Young Modern, given it time to try and let it grow on me but it hasn't and I don't see where all the praise is coming from. It makes me think of that old TV analogy of when a show passes its best.

I'm beginning to think that Silverchair may have jumped the shark and there may be no going back. I hope I am wrong, really I do.

Resumption

Surprisingly my phone problems have been rectified quickly, within two days in fact, and I am back on line. Yay.

Break in transmission, again

Thanks to Telstra I'm going to be out of action from time to time (mainly when I'm not at work) as my phone line is down.
Hopefully this will only be a short outage of a couple of days.

Joey retires

It is a sad day in rugby league, the great man has retired.

Certainly the best player in the modern game, Andrew Johns is arguably the greatest player of all time and his retirement leaves a huge hole in the Newcastle Knights.

Admittedly, we all saw it coming a couple of seasons ago when he sustained yet another injury to the neck. I recall saying I hoped Newcastle were making plans for the day when he wouldn't be playing any more and I guess we'll find out this season if they have been.

I was fortunate enough to meet Joey a couple of times (both at the races) and I found him to be a pretty good guy and happy to chat to anyone.

Injury is not the way the greats should go out, this weekend was to be Joey's 250th game for the Knights, and it's a shame he can't have a proper, on field, farewell.

Setback

Just when things were going pretty well it appears I've been felled by a virus.
One of the good things about Sydney, though, is that even though it is Easter Sunday I was still able to see a doctor, albeit not my usual one.
After a check-up he concluded everything was fine functionally and that I had a low grade temperature. So he said don't go to work tomorrow and have plenty of fluids and rest. Hopefully within a day or two it will be out of the way.
It's only been about six weeks since I got over what happened before so this comes as a bit of a setback. Mainly because I hated feeling crummy then and this is just a reminder. More importantly, I don't want to go back to where I was a few months ago. It was a truly horrible time.

Another long season

Looks like it could be another tough year for the Knights.
Melbourne wins 22-12 against a Joey-less Newcastle team and there's uncertainty over the future of Johns.
Newcastle had their chance at 18-12 down to level the scores but the Storm were too strong. Now, where's my Melbourne flag?

Hard Candy

After shaking of a hit of post-film trauma I can write about a very disturbing film, one that I'm not recommending.
Hard Candy is a movie that I think crosses the line, for me anyway. Its subject matter is controversial enough as it is and I won't go into it here. If you want to know click the link for the IMDB page on the movie.
I've seen some pretty controversial movies over the years and this ranks right up there. However, with some of the others like Mysterious Skin, Head On etc I left disturbed but feeling like the experience was worth it. I felt I grew from having seen them.
All I feel is that the protagonist Haley (Ellen Page) got away with something (twice, at least, it seems) and comes away looking like a sweet little girl, the heroine of the film.
Maybe it was because Jeff (Patrick Wilson) had to endure believing he had his balls cut off and going through that scene with him, I have some sympathy even if it seems he wasn't such a nuce guy. I'd say to the guys out there, you don't need to see this (it is not graphic in any way, just suggestive).
With a cast of five (and three of them might have about 10 sentences between them) this is a small film but powerful and the performances of the two leads are outstanding. But that's as far as I want to take the praise.
Why did I see it? The film had decent reviews, despite the subject area, and I thought I was likely to take something from watching it. I only got trauma.
Should you see it? If it interests you I won't say it's not interesting as far as the performances and such goes but do you really want to put yourself through it?

The O.C. & me, part III

After what can only be descibed as a much needed break from watching The O.C., I finally finished off season 3 today.
It was good to have a break from it but it was pretty easy to get sucked back into the trials of Ryan, Marissa, Seth and Summer.
I'll cut right to the chase. The cliffhanger in which Ryan and Marissa are involved in a car accident was such a cliche I can't believe it.
Even though midway through season 1 I really didn't like Marissa I have to admit in season 3 she was much more interesting. In fact, I am finding Ryan much more annoying now.
Seth is still Seth, he's the best thing about the show and his relationship with Summer, and to a lesser extent his dad, is very interesting.
There's a great scene in the last episode where Sandy is telling Seth how proud he is of him then hugs him, saying `I love you'. Seth's reply is classic, `I can't say I love you to another guy, but I have much affection for you'.
Anyway, when season 4 is released on DVD I'm sure I will finish off the series. I didn't watch the finale when it was on here so I don't know what happened. I just hope it wasn't as cliched as the end of the third year.

CD's revisited: 1927's ...ish

I haven't done this for a while but, anyway, this CD would be one of the first albums I ever bought.
Released in late 1988, ...ish began for me a passion for music - not that I can play anything other than a CD player for myself - and happily for Australian music.
1927 kind of burst onto the scene in the late 80s with two big hits, `That's When I Think Of You' and `If I Could' from this debut album. And I pretty much got hooked. I still like to listen to this and the other two 1927 CDs, The Other Side and 1927.
...ish is quintessential Australian soft rock with easy to listen to songs and some tender ballads, particularly If I Could and a bittersweet war song `Compulsory Hero'.
I actually saw 1927 in concert a couple of times but they were well past when their popularity was at a peak and certainly not with the original line-up, which changed a couple of times.
This goes down as one of my all-time favourite CDs. They certainly don't make music like this anymore.

Weird week

I don't know about anyone else but this week seems a bit strange.
A few people I spoke to today had the same view. Must be the short week thing.
Today really didn't feel like Wednesday (apart from Heroes being on) and tomorrow is definitely going to feel like Friday at work.
The good news is, for the first time in a while, I get a long weekend - three days off in a row. Not sure exactly what I'm doing yet. The weather will decide a bit for Saturday and Derby Day at Randwick.

Sunday wedding

It has been a huge weekend.
For some reason my friends David and Marlene decided to get married at 9.30am today. It does sound somewhat like an April Fool's Day thing (and at one point I thought they told us the wrong time for a joke) but it was an awesome day.
The setting couldn't have been any more perfect. An outdoor seated (some standing) wedding overlooking Sydney Harbour from Gunners' Barracks at Mosman. The weather was a shade cool this morning but as the day progressed it was quite spectacular.
So despite hanging out in the beauty of nature with good friends, a few drinks, a meal and conversation I'm pretty stuffed. But a good kind of stuffed, there is a reason for it. I've got to say I'm a bit sick of the sight of my suit.
That takes me to yesterday and the Golden Slipper Day at Rosehill. My tipping was pretty ordinary (everyone has an off day now and then) but the day was excellent. Some great people, a few of whom I work with, to spend the day discussing the races and the other `distractions' of a glamourous day like Slipper Day.
Next Saturday is Derby Day over at Randwick. At this stage I plan to go, we'll just see how this week pans out. Like Slipper Day, Derby Day is usually an A-grade event and one of those events you (i.e. me) don't want to miss.