I've been thinking about this a lot... We all get grumpy from time to time and more often than not, our relationships suffer for it. After all, who better to take it all out on than the people closest to you? We've all had fights with our partners/parents/husbands/wives/family/etc over things that had absolutely nothing to do with them in the first place. We just needed someone to take it out on...

So what if there were people who could do that? I mean, people whose sole job is to get yelled at so that we don't fuck up our own personal relationships?

I would seriously employ someone like that. I mean, really, we could all avoid so many arguments. Wouldn't that just be easier?

I just take it out on the car...

hehehehe

Nah, i've learnt not to transfer anger from one person to another. It's hard, and I still slip, but am getting better at it

The idea is interesting. Firstly, I hope that person has someone they can take stuff out on too

Also, read something about how unleashing anger isn't the best way to deal with it. It only makes ya more angry/aggressive....

Also, read something about how unleashing anger isn't the best way to deal with it. It only makes ya more angry/aggressive....

http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/08/11/catharsis/

Was it that? 

Ja!!

Thanks SK. Saved me lookin for it

Morgan you can always hook in to the goons handing out shyte at the polls today. But I suppose that may not happen often enough.

Oh thank goodness it's finally election day!

youarenotsosmart is good website

yus. is true.

Lot of interesting things to read about how we are wrong about things we think we know.

Yeah, it's one of my reader items

I'm waiting for them to really surprise me still

It's a fucking disaster. Looks like we will have Tony Abbott form a minority Government with the aid of three former National Party now independent nutcases from the bush. Could have my facts wrong on the last bit but give a fuck. Strong rumour that Australia is ten years behind the USA is true. We now may have our very own George W Bush.

Coulda been worse... he could've been in charge...

Coulda been worse... he could've been in charge...

Abbott will be as bad or worse than Bush..(unless of course you have millions invested in mining shares).. 

So for the first time since the 1940's we have a "hung parliament".

Bet you're wishing you voted for the sex party right about now... 

I would have voted for em if they had a candidate in my electorate.. (or even one of their parties would have ben nice)..

Hung parliament ...

EUUUGH

oh oh, did you guys see this?

That about sums it up.

The most likely PM at the moment is Abbott. His Liberal National rag tag team will have to convince the 3 independent disgruntled (former) National Party nutcase bush wackers to join his 73 to reach the magic number of 76 and have the majority needed to form a government. Then they're going to have to try to push their right winged rubbish through a Senate where the rampant leftie Greens hold the balance of power and will more or less laugh everything out of the room. Labour has no hope of forming Government. You can cut my legs off and call me shorty if this scenario comes into fruition. Kevin Rudd would have to have the oudest laugh in the Labor house at this point in time. I can't recall how many seats were lost in Queensland but it was shit loads.

... and the only thing worse than a National Party nutcase bush wacker is a disgruntled one. Two words, three syllables ... Bob Katter.

Frak. Not happy abt Abbott getting the leadership that way

Fat lady hasn't sung yet, and there may still be a few surprises to come, although Mr Rabbit appears to have the upper hand....Wouldn't be surprised to see us back at the polls in a month or so...

On a lighter note, it would be interesting to hear Deezee's video spoken in English by the Japs... I can just imagine them talking about our "erections and Juria Girrard" etc..

The fact that they get all the idiosyncrasies of the pollies is good enough

Like a friend said yesterday ...

Fear and Loathing was the winner. Short sighted cowardice was a very close second. Third was a photo between a couple of bushies and the narrow minded petulant protesters.

The way I see it, non of it matters. No matter which party you put into power, nothing substantial will be done.

It's a matter of who would annoy you less

Or, who would cause you the most grief..

You are thinking like me Dek.  "who would annoy you less".  That's the way I've always evaluated politicians.

I take some kind solace that I near-enough predicted the outcome of the UK elections earlier this year.  Now we seem to have a government that seems to have a semi-balance between reality (that is what needs to happen now) and ideology. But time will tell.

I can't work out what's going on down there though. The media make it worse by showing both leadership candidates and the dependants as a combination of megalomaniacs, fluffy clowns and nutters.

All I know for definite is that the woman is Welsh and has an Australian accent...

She reminds me of a string puppet.

If you'd have said "puppet on a string" that would have reminded me of Sandy Shaw.  She wasn't Welsh though.

"IIIIIII, wonder if some day that you'll say that you care"........(apologies to Ms Shaw)

BTW, is she the girl who used to sing barefoot? (ie. without shoes)?

the woman is Welsh and has an Australian accent...

A very Oorstralian accent actually..

She used to sing barefoot.

Clocked 62km/h on the pushie yesterday on the steepest part of Mclean Rd South. Was a bit of a Family Services moment. I took the oldest with me up to the end of Lanita Rd and through the old Samford Railway cutting, saw the memorial to the rail accident in the 40's that killed 16 and shut that section of the line down (Samford would perhaps be just another built up area if the crash didn't occur), then turned back and headed south with the aim of getting to Sutton Court. Unfortunately bug-a-lugs tore a heart mucsle and we couldn't get to the top but we came close. He did OK though ... according to my GPS the bottom of the hill is at an elevation of about 136m and we got as far as 209m over a horizontal distance of 900m which makes it steeper than 8%. I'd say the GPS is a little out but it's all relative. According to the topo survey the elevations are from 100m to about 175m which results in the same grade. Suttons is about another 400m further but at about elevation 220m is steeper than 10% from the point where we stopped. So we turned around and headed down. My last words to my son were ... keep left for Gods sake, go easy, use your rear brakes first and I'll see you in hell. I meant at the bottom of the hill. Then I took off and left him. I could have sworn I hit 70 km/h but it wasn't to be. Nonetheless when I got to the bottom it was about another 2 minutes and three cars until bug-a-lugs arrived. I felt bad for leaving him unattended on a strange country road at 8 years old but he was stoked the whole way down and it was kind of liberating for both of us. Next week I'm going on my Pat Malone because from where we got to, all I had to do was get to Suttons then there's an unsealed fire trail up to Camp Mountain picnic ground at elevation 400m. If I make it to there it's a 300m drop over a 2.5 to 3 km trail run down to Bellbird Grove at 100m which should be a scream. Map follows. Pick up our trail on the red line starting the top right which is Lanita Rd which was once the railway corridor out of Ferny Grove to Samford. My place is not far off picture from there. The curley bit just before the transmission line easement that runs centre north to south is the old railway cutting through the hill. The first red marker is the corner of Lanita Rd and McLean Rd Sth which picks up the old railway as it bends around to the north and heads down the hill. The big left hander where our red trail stops at the second red marker is where the worst rail accident in Qld occurred. Google it for a read. Head back south to the first marker on the corner which is the bottom of the climb. The red trail stops where bugs faded out. Keep going the next marker ... Suttons. Head west through the bush to Camp Mountain picnic ground. Then South East to the centre bottom of picture to Bellbird. Actually wont be doing it the weekend because the 10km Bridge to Brisbane runis on and I'm going to smash it's face in this year. I'm so full of shit.

The wikipedia effort ...

'tore a heart muscle' hahahahahhaha

And yes Arthur, that is my policy re pollies. Cos *I* have to listen to their annoying ummm and ahhhhs and not saying anything while trying to look intelligent the whole time they're on office.

If there's one thing we need to do to rectify politics in Aust, it's getting rid of the PR people. BAH

10km Bridge to Brisbane runis on and I'm going to smash it's face in this year

53:45 (provisional)

Pretty much ran consistent 5 min 10 second km's apart from the first up the Gateway (6:00) and the second last (6:15ish) ... a lung buster up the inner city bypass. Stoked with that.

(Can't log in on the regular Ruski channel. Cleared cache and forgot password. Bugger. So Euska it is.)

Dude.... nice one

53:46 official.

*thumbs up*

Find myself agreeing more than laughing. From the Punch ...

Here are some of issues plaguing Australians. Feel free to add your own.

1.    Who shrunk the Weet-bix? Is it an evil ploy by the Seventh Day Adventists at Sanitarium to slowly starve us until – low on carbs and high on delirium – we agree to join their religion? And who decided that Sultana Bran shouldn’t have as many sultanas? Discuss.

2.    Truth in entertainment reporting. Matthew Newton is not “troubled” he’s a mentally ill, substance abusing bully (allegedly). Ben Cousins is not a “glamorous football star” he’s a smug, spoiled drug addict.

3.    No more socks with sandals. Admittedly, this might cause consternation at the Mt. Isa RSL. But this trend on the catwalk during the Rosemount Australian Fashion Week should have been reported to the fashion police. Blame the Romans: Archeologists have discovered fibres on a 2,000 year old sandal.
4.    Over-sharing on social media. I don’t want a blow-by-blow description of your miscarriage/divorce/family tragedy via Twitter or Facebook. Just pick up the phone, you social pygmy.

5.    Mandatory smacking. Parents should be encouraged to smack their kids as often as possible. Positive parenting should be banned. “Now Lachlan, it’s not very nice to kick granddad in the shins. Darling, this is your last warning. I’m going to count to three. That stick’s not a toy, he needs it to walk. Look, he’s fallen over and broken his hip. Would you like it if someone did that to you? That’s it. Only one scoop of ice-cream for dessert tonight!”

6.    Permission to harm ourselves. It’s a free country. Laws pertaining to bicycle helmets, seatbelts and child car capsules should be abolished. The desire to smoke, eat and drink excessively should be indulged at all times.

7.    Poker machines on every corner. Why should we waste time travelling to a pub or club to lose our hard-earned cash? In fact, how about gaming machines on public transport? Or for that matter, along Sydney’s M5? What a perfect way to while away the hours.

8.    What the hell is aigre-doux anyway? Restaurateurs should be forced to include a glossary at the end of the menu. “Erm, excuse me, so sorry, what is a Meunière? Oh, I see, and what exactly was the style of a miller’s wife? Silly me. I guess I should remember that from my master’s degree in Cooking Techniques Favoured by Spouses of the Middle Ages.”

9.    Fair dinkum food labelling. For example, at Woolies: “These apples have been sitting in cold storage for 11 months. They taste like crap.” Or at McDonald’s: “Some of these chips may have been dropped on the floor by a trainee staff member. A three second rule applies.”

10. IQ tests for the commentariat. Almost anyone can be a media commentator these days. Even newsreaders. What is the world coming to?

ROFL!

social pygmy - I'm gonna use that!

Never mind the pygmies.  The art of conversation is diminishing to the point where you only call someone 'cos they are not answering texts, emails, twitters or some other kind of on-line sad-bastard alert.

And the menu thing applies in all countries.  Pretentious idiots.

Time divided approximately equally between laughing and agreeing. Good stuff 

Yeah.... I hate that Mr Dent. I hate that I find myself thinking twice about calling someone just because I might wanna have a chat or reconnect

Soon, we aren't even going to be interacting with each other. The introduction of Facebook Places makes it seem pointless. Seriously, I'm >thisclose< to deleting my facebook page altogether.

Why does it seem pointless with Places?

Because now you have no need to tell people where you are going or why. You just go up to a little scanner and Voila! you didn't even have to update.

If there was no reason to speak to people, would you?

Be honest.

Imagine if you were at your favourite coffee place (and I know it has "places" because I've seen you use it). There's a scanner at the counter where your order is already stored. You go and sit down and they bring you your coffee. Scanner to pay as well. There is now no interaction at your coffee place. You can just enjoy your coffee. No waiting, no talking, no inconveniences along the way. Just sit, relax, enjoy your surroundings.

Sure, it's more convenient, but eventually we're going to miss the "old" way of doing things.

Ok... I may be blowing it out of proportion a little... I'm just trying to get my point across. Is this the way the world is turning? Possibly.

Possibly not. But it's a reality that could come to exist. And I don't like it.

I miss picking up the phone and calling people, just to ask them how their day is.

I have less friends now, than I did before facebook, and even though it says I have 120 "friends" I sure as hell don't talk to all of them. I think I actually only talk to about 10% of that number.

I miss writing people letters for crying out loud. The next generation isn't even going to know what "letters" are (since even grandma has a facebook now)...

I hate it. I miss interaction. What the hell is happening to us?!!?!

It is really so simple as consumerism crossed with convenience?

Or is it people just being lazy, or intolerant, or, dare I say, so selfish that nobody even thinks of anyone else anymore. It's all about "superiority" and believing that others are inferior to that image... why waste time on them, right. I mean, are we really that busy that we can't allow a portion of our own time to escape us? To not give a care about people who (should) be important to us is becoming the norm, and can we change it? Should we change it? Or are we so self-absorbed to assume the whole "well if they're not going to bother, I'm not going to bother" mentality?

I do agree that friendships work both ways, but when one person takes away the other's intention to interact, simply because it's a bother, I believe that friendships dissolve, making the world a much uglier place to live in. No wonder people are so cranky all the time.
Loneliness can be a strikingly powerful emotion.

Not wishing to sound holier-than-thou, but I'm not letting Facebook et al replace normal interaction, just fill in the spaces between said interaction... I saw a friend earlier, we sat about and talked for a bit, then went for a short walk. After she's gone I might check on FB, see what's been posted, but I'll use IM to talk to people (the cheaper convenienter replacement for a phone call afaic), and either FB or IM to arrange to meet folks.

My friends are lamer than yours then. 

I get what you're saying Morgan, but it can go both ways.

Using the example you used - Me tweeting about being at Red Rock coffee brought me to their attention. So much so that when I returned after a 2 month absence, the person who looks after their Twitter account recognised me and said - Aren't you the Aussie?
Voila, one new connection made, many more conversations had.

As always, it's about how the tech is used.

Big obvious-shaped example of connections enabled only by the march of technology; those existing between most of the people here...

Yep. Eggactly

I'm with Morgan on this one.

I even managed to get through university without facebook  -  The good thing about going out without pre-arranging to meet the usual crowd is that you are forced to constantly meet new people.  Whereas if you arrange things via a "social networking" site it seems to me that you end up largely socialising within that circle, or with people who are known to members of the circle.

And you can take the time-line from 11.30pm in 1990 and keep extending it to 2010 and that still applies to me... except that I might well use Google to find the song.

Yeah... I'm not a great fan of random people though. Individual people are OK, but people (en masse), I could do without. Not a fan of crowds.

So arranging to meet the usual crowd (especially easy when we all live within 100m of each other in college accommodation) kinda suits me. Not that we'd use FB to plan to do something during term time, what with the whole "living within 100m of each other" thing. It's when we've all dispersed to the far ends of the country and want to stay in touch that the internet becomes rather useful.

"not a fan of random people"

Tell me about it. I try and go for these events over here.... It's such a nightmare for me. I fare better on rollercoasters to say the least

I'm not saying that random is best, it just means that on the occasion that you meet up with another bunch or individual you tend not to feel obligated to introduce them to "the usual crowd".  Very useful when it's a good-looking young lady who you want to pay a bit of individual attention to 

Ah ha!

Isn't that a Norwegian boy band (or at least they were boys about 20 years ago)

why yes!

Did know they were Norwegian... all I know is that they cried in the rain

Lotus Peak White tea bags.

Says on the box " ... a thousand years ago Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty of China singled out white tea as the pinnacle of sophistication".

I think while Zongy was having a cuppa he might have been getting his arse wiped with silk cloth by ten hand maidens and thus a thousand years later it turns out the pinnacle was not the tea.

In any case ... there's 25 bags in the box and I've had 9 so far and every single one has broken the string as I withdraw it from the cup. I usually adopt a steeping time of around five minutes. What's the story? Any ideas? Answers suggesting to go to leaf tea will be treated with the contempt they deserve. I have that at home.

It's acid in tea form, and that's eating through the string

On a completely unrelated note

http://doesaustraliahaveagovernmentyet.com/

Well, not all that unrelated, I blame the broken strings on the govt

Inferior quality string due to lack of firm government regulation?

We need to start a lobby for that

Or maybe the fluoride in the water corroded the string

(It was put there by an evil commie plot to dilute your precious bodily fluids and weaken your resolve, possibly in advance of an invasion by hostile extra-terrestrial reptilians who have been walking among us under the guise of advanced holographic projection, which you can see through if you use a strobe light... think about it, have you ever seen the Queen or the President of the US in a disco?, they're ALIENS, the self-same aliens that were taught to build space craft and pyramids by the Ancient Egyptians, when they were a spacefaring civilisation thousands of years ago,  used their advanced weaponry to sink the sub-continent of Atlantis, but fell into decline when fluoride leached into their water supply. The reptile aliens saw that and planned to use the weakness against us. Also 9/11, hidden satanic messages, the end of the world is nigh, and something to do with jet trails)

It's the coffee makers I tells ya....

Yeh, I'm annoyed today.

Who shall I punch?

Give yourself an uppercut

But it's not me I'm annoyed at

I'm annoyed too. I've decided to stay in bed all day and sulk.

If I had a bed, I'd be doing that. Yes

We've got the whole Asia Pacific heads of State here and some big knobs from the United States for some bullshit finance meeting the next three days. Take your pick. Smack any or all of them repeatedly.

Yeah, they'll do.

Actually, that might being me a bit too much satisfaction

Does it mean I would have to get out of bed to do that? 

I'll drag em to you Morgan

There's apparently tonight some meet and greet for the heads of state from the new aquisition we just swallowed up. All were invited and compulsory attendance as usual would have been implied. But frankly I couldn't give a fuck. I find it so difficult to be in awe of anyone let alone shoulder rubbing fuckwits and even harder to stand there and pretend I am like a good boy. So it's best I avoid these bullshit affairs or it'll just end up awkward. I bet they're serving up snot on a cracker and all sorts of that poncy shit that wouldn't look out of place with a shell on its back.

Bet they wouldn't have your beer neither

It would be Boags and Coopers. No XXXX.

I don't mind Boags

I'll have either of those two.

I bet they're serving up snot on a cracker and all sorts of that poncy shit that wouldn't look out of place with a shell on its back.

It's like someone heard me.

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-doesnt-anyone-just-eat-normal-food-any-more

Fucking spot on. 

Tell me about it. I just stuffed my face with a Chicken Tikka Masala Burrito

*burrrrrrp*

Bloody tangler and its stupid "your message could not be sent" GAH and always when I write something good or long and I don't want to write it again!

<insert long rant here about people not eating real food, and not know how to cook food "from scratch" without using recipe bases or ready-sauces or microwave rice or packet mixes, and about the guy who didn't know how to make rice, and about my partners lack of ability to actually cook, and about how good "real food" is>

Seriously, you guys haven't seen fake food on the scale it is present in the US.

It's a full time job trying to find real food

Bloody tangler and its stupid "your message could not be sent" GAH and always when I write something good or long and I don't want to write it again!

If you're on Firefox, I recommend the extension "Text Area Cache" - it saves a copy of anything you type into a text box so that in just such a scenario, you can just open it up and copy your good/long post back.

Ooohh! I like the sound of that

who is bored -.- im new what do you do on this website someone?

SK- that extension doesn't work for me. It copies everything I type but as soon as I post it, it doesn't save it for later so there's still no way to get my post back.

Huh... that's odd. It ought to save everything.

Although now I check, it doesn't work on Tangler for me either.

Theory: when the box is cleared as part of the posting process, it replaces the cache with that emptiness.

Makes sense I guess.

In the meantime, I have found someone to get mad at.

For now, it's my shitty friends. I've had a hard time this year trying to make new friends (most of my old friends are interstate now so I have to make new ones) and this process is seemingly harder than I imagined. I get along with everyone great and new people aren't a problem for me, but as far as actually getting as close as "being friends" it just doesn't seem to happen. And one thing that's been really pissing me off for a few months now is when these great people that I've met and just started to get along with and start thinking "yeah, I could really hang with these guys, they're pretty awesome" invite me to a party.
"Hey Morgan, I'm having a party this weekend, you should come" and then keep talking to me all week about it "yeah it's gonna be so much fun, can't wait" or "we're gonna have such a great time, you better be there, don't wanna miss this one!" and then they don't tell me when or where the party is.
It's really annoying, and it's happened at least four times over the last few months, from four different people. I mean, if you really didn't want me to come, why did you actually invite me in the first place?
Makes me feel really rotten, like being the last kid at school picked for a team or something like that.

Stupid question maybe, but have you tried asking when/where the parties are?

Maybe you're getting on so well that you seem like an old friend and should automatically know where/when because everyone else does.

I have to go along with Sir M on this one Morgan.  I should simply say "where and when"  if they say "the usual" then reply "you never do anything usual, so where and when is it to be"  If the reply is "aaaah you know" then ask "who else is going".  The reply will be "the usual crowd"  then you know you are destined to be a Betty No Mates...

Meh, it's alright. I'd had a few drinks when I wrote that and now after re-reading it, I realise it sounds a bit exaggerated. Booze-y rants do me no honour 

It's probably a good thing that we don't believe anything you say anyway.

Ask if you could get a lift.

Friends are a pain in the arse.

Relatives are waaaaay worse

My friend came to stay with me. I gave her a sleeping pill last night and went to bed myself.

In the morning, I saw a Twitter message from her - I was restless so I raided your fridge.

I was like, heh good luck, there's nothing in there.

Turns out, she found the ONE thing of value to me.... My last UK Kit Kat

I am most upset

If your upset... try to do things you would never imagine you would do.. it's fun...

dare yourself

Like beat cars up?

Unless you are another car or, for example, a robot, that would hurt - Unless it's one of those Smart cars  

Those deserve a beating

So do the drivers...

Ja

Ja.

We are in agjament then

Ja

Ja

Ja   (I don't know what I'm agreeing to)

Ya

Ya - you are definitely in a marketing job or hanging out with twerps...  Next thing you know you'll be paying $20 for glasses of cheap chardonnay at lunch-time and driving a Smart car...

Nah, I'm just Singaporean

Groupon is a software script that used for e-commerce .It is web based software making of online web based shopping business portals.Groupon has taken the Internet world by storm since its launch in 2008. The concept is very simple, each day all the subscribers are emailed a single fantastic deal. It could be deep discounts on food, entertainment, places to stay or things to buy. Since Groupon launched, it has been featured on just about every major media channel in the Western world, and has caught the attention of Entrepreneurs around the world who are looking to create a Groupon clone with their own unique spin or twist.