For the Love of the Game

At age 13 I picked up a golf club for the very first time. My grandfather had taken me to Blackheath golf club in the early hours one morning. After hitting his tee shot on the 3rd hole he turned to me and handed me the club. He simply smiled and motioned towards the hole.

From that moment, I was in love with the game. I would play golf with my grandfather every school holidays. He would tech me not only the tricks and tips of good technique, but the love of the game. I was never happier than when I was with my grandfather on the golf course.

I joined my first golf club at age 14. With a lofty handicap of 37. 6 months later I was bringing home prizes in the "Tuesday Club" - a collection of retired golfers playing at Blackheath - winning frozen chickens (don't ask). At 15 I played in my first junior pennants - handicap 25. At 16 I won my first handicap club championship. At 17 I won the club championship for scratch, and by 18 I was playing off scratch and had won my first all ages golf tournament with what was arguably my best golf shot I have ever played to this day (Think Final hole, 1 shot behind - birdie to tie and force playoff - eagle to win. Howling wind, rain - I end up driving the Par 4 green in one and holing the eagle putt to win). Every step of the way - my grandfather was there. Always quick to offer encouragement, and to give me support as I grew as a player and as a person.

Then came university, and work. The game I loved so dearly - and had spent so many endless hours perfecting found itself playing second fiddle. I just didn't have the 10+ hours a week to practice, or entire weekends to spend playing. Slowly but surely it faded, until I was relegated to playing the occasional work golf day. I never played golf with my grandfather again, and he passed away in 2009. Ever since, I just haven't been able to bring myself to play.

This part of my life has become a void which has never been filled. I had always wondered where it may have taken me if I had ventured down that path. Or if I had just made the effort to spend more time to play golf with my grandfather.

Last night I had the most profound dream that has once again made we wonder. I was back at Blackheath golf club with my grandfather, I can remember how great it felt to see him again - it felt so real, I could smell the grass, and feel the cold morning air in my lungs. We were playing the 7th Hole and I had a very difficult shot to attempt, I knew what I needed to do, I could see it in my head but I wasn't sure if I still could, it had been so long.. I swung hard and the ball arced gracefully towards the green, stopping close to the hole. I turned to my grandfather and he smiled at me and said "Its amazing how you never forget, it always comes back to you. You just have to give it a chance.". He slapped his hand on my shoulder and we then turned and walked off towards the hole together.

Was this a message? Was this simply a dream, or was this some sort of ghost email. Perhaps it was just my inner voice telling me to return once more to something that I once loved, and need to love again.

I just want a chance to recapture some of that joy that I once felt, for a game taught to me by the greatest man I have ever met.

Death of a Man Shoe

Today, at approximately 5:35pm AEST I suffered the tragic loss of a man shoe. My kickass rustic man shoe colorado boot. Man shoe #1 leaves behind his surviving brother man shoe #2 who is quite clearly distraught and is now in an extended period of man shoe brother mourning.

In a horrible twist of fate, man shoe #1 split in two leaving his bottom rubbery err bottom flopping around like a dead fish. Cut down in his prime. Forced to endure an agonising death march home - I now realise what pain girls go through with broken heels. Stay strong sisters!

This leaves me with a dilema. Poor old man shoe #2 is still in tip top shape. In this heartless consumer driven world, shoe #2 has no place. And he will be relegated to the junk pile while still in the heart of his shoey life. Or will he? Can we find a use for shoe #2?

• Throwing at politicians during press conferences? He is nice, heavy and sturdy and would pack quite a punch if aimed correctly.
  
  
• Sole shoe for a peg legged pirate? They are manly and pirate like, in a non pirate sort of way.
  
  
  
  
• House for a really small family of elves or pixies. It has a nice "musky" aroma and plenty of space. Its sturdy construction is also great for repelling raids by gnomes, trolls or other fairy-esque creatures.
  
  
• Perhaps some sort of Hobo Apparel. Or maybe some sort of new Kitch fashion trend. Mismatched shoes - don't let the conformity factory keep you down people!
  
  
• Ballast for any type of ship - preferably a tramp steamer (No reason why - it just sounds cool)
  
  
• Other miscellaneous suggestions?

Comon - lets give this poor shoe a chance people. I believe in the shoe!

Holidays

Guess what meatbags, I'm on holidays!

Huzzah! Huzzah!

Ok, carry on.


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Holidays approaching

It's that time of the decade, I'm taking holidays. 3.5 weeks of R&R. Unprecedented, yes I know. I can't wait to unplug my brain for a while and let it cool down.

In the spirit of the occasion I have decided not to even check my email for the duration. Ye gods man, you will surely kill us all. Ah well, shit happens.

Catchy on the flipside Brodie dude!


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Stress

Stress is one of those things that some people seem to be plagued by, while others seem to be able to deal with it.

My recent career change (read: management) forced me to confront stress and learn how to turn it to my advantage.

Stress is an agent of change- if your stressed it is usually because shit is going south. Deadlines, organisational problems, interactions with others, inaction of others. The list goes on. When I'm stressed I recognize the main driver - things must change. Now this is not always easy, but it is possible and is the main escape hatch. Reorganization, restructure, rethink, reprioritise, retask and reevaluate.

Stress feeds on inaction - Inaction includes complaining, overthinking, trying the same thing expecting different results, wasting time, and of course doing nothing but worrying. Do something positive. Not only does it keep your mind busy, but is actively moving you towards the ultimate goal of removing the source of the stress.

Focus is key - stress can often be caused not by individual issues, but by the compound crushing weight of many issues. Focus on the top three issues to focus 90% of your effort, time and thought. Focussing on too many issues is a surefire recipe for disaster.

Let it go - know when to detach. Continual engagement stifles creativity, logical thinking and impairs judgement. Force yourself to think about other things.

Don't be a dick - never take out your stress, anger or frustrations on others. This includes verbal abuse, being unhelpful or rude to others. Accept that this is your cross to bear and don't take it out on the world. Dont be afraid to ask for help! Life sucks, don't let it turn you.

So that's my top 5 tips for dealing with stress. Sure they might not work for everyone. But they helped me so deal with it.


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Imported beer

What's the go with imported beer. Specifically Mexican, el salavadorish (is that the right term), Chinese, Indian etc

It's all the rage, but why so popular. Particularly when one would not drink the local water. Is it some masochistic desire to drink shit water safely? It's not like it's even bloody cheap.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mind a Corona as much as the next gringo - but paying $50 for a slab of quasi Mexican distilled bathwater is pushing the friendship.


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Steak Cures what ails you

There's something about the promise of steak that is enough to get any (real) man excited. Dead cow chargrilled and served up with a delicious array of side goodies. Sauté mushrooms, cheesy fries, beer!

Some "crazy" people out there say it's wrong to eat meat. Don't let those bovines fool you. If they got the chance they would eat you and everyone you have ever cared about.

Sorry! I couldn't resist at least one Simpsons quote for good measure.

In the battle of man vs bovine - man will triumph!

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Social networking

This morning I was reading an interesting article on Sydney Morning Herald about a recent trend in people refusing to use facebook, twitter and all the other equally useless social media wankfests. As my close friends and family can attest, I started this trend years ago. Social networking is a waste of time, effort and is a virtual wedge for preventing any meaningful form of physical human interaction. It is a monopolistic,self involved,egotistical, shameless outlet for incomprehensible dribble. Where Self promotion is king.

Millions of people sharing jack shit. Tweeting about every sandwich they eat, posting yet more crap to yet more people.

It's the age old parable of data vs knowledge. Data has no inherent value. It is just data. Social networking generates loads of it. But without any inherent value it might as well be random binary datum.

After all, it's just another fad. No business applications that are anything new or useful. It's a pimply faced teens veritable wet dream, but devoid of any long term usefulness.

I'll stick with my old school blog mentality thank you very much. I have plenty of constructive ways to waste time (yes i know that's an oxymoron) without participating in a big giant ego stroking social orgy.

Join the revolution and cast off the pinko social(ist) networking hyperium. come back to the real world.

Of course I know noone is reading this, your all too busy friending other cretans on twitbook or facespace.

Just you wait, I'll dance on their grave. And I'll laugh, laugh I tells you.

That is all. We mow return to your regular programming.

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Untitled

As per usual, my evening commute home gives my brain time to switch into a lower gear, the more distance I put between myself and the commerce centric white noise of work, the more I unwind.

Gone are is the daily pursuit of some semblance of order, of schedules, tasks, organization and multitude of communications. Replaced by the quiet solitude of a clear mind, accompanied by the beat of my own heart, and the stirring of of creative thought.

I pity the poor souls who march to the incessant beat of omnipresent engagement with work. Unable to escape it's grasp to steal a few precious moments of peace.

As the train rumbles onwards, my minds drifts, music twinges happy recollections and spurs further meanderings. Time retreats , replaced by more spurious realisations of the constructs of time and place. And then, almost inexplicably the journey is at once complete, yet also beginning anew.

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Sick

It's been 9 days and the battle of mark vs the flu continues to rage. The germs continue their quasi guerrilla warfare from their mountain stronghold. They are bashing me like a damn pinyata, trying to get to my delicious candy centre.

I hate being sick. The helplessness of the situation, as you lie there struggling to breathe, even thought becomes agony. Praying that if you ever get better you might somehow find a way to appreciate your life on some newfound plane. Really that's a big crock of shit. You only remember how it feels to be sick when your bloody well sick.

For the love of god, make it stop!

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I watched a Miley Cyrus Movie and Didn't Stab my Eyes out

Go figure. I've never been a Miley fan. Always thought of her as a poor imitation of Hilary Duff. Never actually seen her in any movies, but I always kinda figured I would rather incrementally remove my brain with a salad fork.

That being said, and with much trepidation I watched "The Last Song" the other day. A mix of boredom and lack of available options was the main problem here. Anyhow, I digress.

The plot summary from IMDB:

A drama centered on a rebellious girl who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father. Through their mutual love of music, the estranged duo learn to reconnect.

It was actually a pretty darn good movie. The plot was a little trite, and rehashed from other similar genre films (Greta springs to mind). Miley plays Ronnie, a highly talented piano player from NY - who has been shipped off (along with her brother) to her fathers beachside house by her mother for the summer. There is some animosity with her father who she blames for her parents divorce.

In the end we find out her father is dying of cancer, and the emotional journey plays out from there. Of course the usual summer romance plays a big part of the movie, but unlike other films in this genre - this does not overpower the story, or needlessly subject us to the usual tacky scenes.

I was surprised at the acting ability and range of Miley in this role. She really makes the role her own and brings a sense of believability to the movie.

So there you go, I wouldn't say I am a Miley Cyrus fan, but her performance in this movie really made me sit up and take notice, and I will have to keep an eye out to see if she follows up this stellar performance with anything else - or if this was a one hit wonder. So do yourself a favour, just watch it.

Insurance and/or Credit Card Ads

Is it just me -or is everyone else sick and tired of the ad-nauseum Insurance ads recently? Seriously - every single commercial break there is insurance ads for bloody funeral protection plans, life insurance etc etc. They trot out the same stupid plot lines with people crapping on how great it is - the same shitty acting, and the same lame crap. And not once, but over and over. Which bright spark in the marketing department decided that showing the exact same ad twice in the space of 3 minutes will get better results. I'm pretty sure that the stats would back up an increase in violence.

Then comes the bloody credit card ads. Over and over. One of these days I am going to snap. They must must be stopped. They must be made to suffer like we have.

Goosebumps

Does anyone else get goosebumps listening to "Tuesday Morning" by Michelle branch? Or have I contracted some sort of deadly song induced virus?

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Train to nowhere

Every morning my train pulls into A certain station, halfway between work and home. Halfway between quiet solitude and the white noise of commerce. As the commuters pile on and off the train I stare at the ticker showing trains heading out of the city. I wonder what it would be like to forget my days pursuits and responsibilities and just ride that train out of the city.

One day I might find out. That day is not today.

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GroundHog Day and Today Mashup

Groundhog Day and Today by the Smashing Pumpkins Mashup! How awesome is that?

http://vimeo.com/20291066

Awesome Social Media Venn Diagram TShirt

This is by far the best representation of social media that I have ever seen!

View Now

Heatwave

Its one of those good old Australian summers in Sydney - like I remember as a kid. Recently our summers have been much more mild and wet - but this year its a good old fashioned stinker. So far the last 3 days have been 41, 43 and due for 40 again today. It will be sunday before we see the lower side of 35 degrees Celcius.

The cicadas are back. Theres something magical about a hot summers evening. The sun (finally) dipping below the horizon - but the heat persisting. The sounds of insects winging around. The chattering of flying foxes in the eucalypts - snacking on the nectar. The hot north-westerly winds blowing, and the hint of smoke from the all too familiar bushfires. Watching my pet dog chase ice cubes around on the floor. Its all part of the rich tapestry of summer.

Ok - I'm over it now. I'm ready for Autumn!

Australia Day

It's Australia Day. 9am - and like every other true blooded Australian I'm looking to start canning on. Yet - no grog shops are open. This is totally un-australian. Hang you head in shame Australia!

Smashing Pumpkins named Beatweek Indie Artist of the Year

A welcome and suprising pick. Through the bulk of their stellar existence, the pumpkins have been on major labels. Until now. Billy corgan has given the entire recording industry a big "fuck you". Not only are they releasing every song from their new forty-four song album Teargarden By Kaleidyscope, on their website for free (as well as some beautiful boxed CDs/LPs you can buy) - they are doing it one song at a time as each song is finished.

The pumpkins are back, and in a big way. Anyone who has seen the latest lineup, or listened to any of their new tracks can contest to that fact.

http://www.beatweek.com/music/musicianinterviews/7854-smashing-pumpkins-beatweek-2010-indie-artist-of-the-year/<

Also checkout www.smashingpumpkins.com/ to download free tracks.