Close, but no....

Lleyton will be back in 2006

A disappointing end to a fantastic 2005 Australian Open for Lleyton Hewitt. After a poor first set, Marat Safin beat Lleyton with consistently powerful strokeplay and a barrage of unreturned serves [1-6 6-3 6-4 6-4]. Not the greatest final ever played, but having lost two previous Oz Open finals, and having defeated Roger in the semi's, probably a fair outcome in the end.

As for Lleyton and Bec....hmmmm. Time will tell.

Is it just me, or did Olivia Newton-John look ready to jump Marat on centre court during the presentation? That cheeky gal. Love it!!!

Now that I have your attention...

Single minded focus

Don't forget to watch Lleyton Hewitt tonight in the semi finals of the 2005 Australian Open against Andy Roddick (if your going to a pub, make sure it's one with a TV). With Roger unexpectedly hitting the skids and exiting the tournament last night, Lleyton, who's efforts this week have had him labeled "Miracle Man", is just one win away from a chance at glory. Unlike the Poo, a little groin strain shouldn't be enough to slow him down. Go you good thing!!!

Hello Stranger

Penny, Colin and I

Here you go Colin, going to make you famous. Good luck to Sonya and yourself with the twins on the way. Hoping they are both girls of course, leaving you with four lovely ladies to look after. Great to see Penny again too! I can't believe I haven't seen her in 10 years (since the wedding). Next time make sure you stay a little longer mate!

Kim v Kevin

On the Money!

I think it's the ultimate compliment to John Howard. The Federal ALP giving the leadership back to Kim on the hope that he may emulate the PM's "lazarus" comeback in politics. Are they kidding us or themselves? Remember Kim, no "hubris".

You the man Lleyton!!!

Awesome. Just awesome!

Yet again, Lleyton rises to the occasion. This kid is special, has been for years, will be for years. Anyone watching the game last night, especially the third set, must have thought he was gone. Instead, we saw an incredible display of mental strength and skill and as good a fightback as you'll ever see [7-5 3-6 1-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2].

I would also like to say how pathetic I think the Australian press were yesterday before the match. How some of them could blame Lleyton for the spitting incident during his Round 3 clash with Juan Ignacio Chela, like Patrick "has this wanker ever played sport" Smith from The Australian, is a joke. Why do people pay these journo's to keeping bringing our sporting hero's down?

I hope Lleyton goes all the way and does it with more c'mons that Shannon Noles has belted out this summer. All we need to do is kidnap Roger for a few days and he just might get there!

Happy day at CT

Much to the relief of all staff at Cranbourne Transit, Nilan Perera walked into work as scheduled yesterday. For those of you that don't know, Nilan and his young family had been on vacation in Sri Lanka on Boxing Day and nobody had heard from then since. After he'd failed to call us last week to find out his starting time for yesterday, a little panic had set in around the joint that he might not be coming back. As it turns out, Nilan was 15 kilometres away at the time the tsunami hit. He went down to help out the next day, and while he was there took some of the most graphically disturbing photo's I've ever seen. I won't be posting any of them here. I will be eating the lollies that he brought back though...yummy!!! Great to see you back Nilan.

New Logo for Victoria?

What say you Mr Bracks?

Costa Rica meets Ostkreuz

Sascha, standing at the back

Anyone traveling to Berlin in the near future must visit brother Sascha at his new expresso bar, "Trez Cabezas". They serve up first class coffee mixes, made in what he describes as "The Mercedes of Expresso Machines", as well as milkshakes and freshly squeezed juices for the little tackers. Just tell him the Sexy Motherfucking Mashed Potato Head sent you and he just might throw in some of his mothers soup for free. For more information, check out:

http://www.friedrichshain-magazin.de/xtext07.html#ptop (In German. Refer to comments below for amusingly translated English version)

Sascha says he and his partner thought of the idea while smoking a joint in Costa Rica. Living the dream brother!!!

Latham Quits

Amen. Back to Green Valley you go. Gone and soon forgotten.
Gough Whitlam says "It's a tragedy". We'll Gough, it takes one to know one. Why don't you take Mark, head to Africa, and start your own Congo line of suckholes.

Revenge of the Jedis: return of the factional kings

My first political post, and surely not my last. Thought I'd share this account of the current ALP leadership written by Herodotus Freudenbergus, ALP historian (lifted from crickey.com.au)

http://www.crikey.com.au/politics/2005/01/17-0004.html

Personally I think their only hope is to bring back Master Hawke. At least he made us laugh and didn't get ill from excessive beer consumption.

Free to good home!

Sven

This is Sven. He's not old, not ugly, has no verifiable mental condition and is currently seeking a new home. Sven likes sleeping, drinking, show tunes, stumpy lesbians and of course, cold tiled floors.

He is currently looking to move to a new home in the Prahran / St.Kilda area. He's clean, quiet, and miraculously manages to maintain a full time job so rent is not a problem. Anyone that can take him in, or knows of a pet farm willing to take 6ft plus two legged creatures, can post their details below.

And just in case any desperate person is reading this, Sven is also single and isn't fussy, boys and girls are both welcome to have a crack, just don't feed him after midnight.

Who wants to be a Virgin?

Eleven Virgins on the march in Cologne

After years of high level and at times tense negotiations, I'm please to announce that I am now a Virgin, the first of my kind in Australia.

The "Elf Jungfrauen" or "Eleven Virgins" are a bizarre cult based somewhere in the woods outside Cologne, Germany. For almost forty years, this small group of eccentric Germans have come out to play at carnival, donning their capes, gowns and trademark blonde wigs. What does it all mean? Sadly, nothing at all. If you look closely enough though, you can see Virgin Dirk in the middle.

For more information, check out http://www.11jungfrauen.de/

I'm now looking forward to taking my place in the march in Cologne in February every year. Who's in?