Bob-a-job-alog-a-roonie

In terms of technical wizardry, tonight's Aussie Open semi-final is by far the best I have ever seen. Three points to Nadal, one to Verdasco, have been jaw-dropping. Each has come back from a seemingly hopeless position to put extreme spin on the ball and place it somewhere un-returnable. It's like watching a pair of Energizer Bunnies crossed with Terminator.

Nadal will win, and I am very looking forward to his final with Federer.

UPDATE: After 4.5 hours, into a 5th set. A better description of this game would be "amazing table tennis played on a tennis court".

Labels: tennis

This is one of the oddest stories I have seen in a long time, and I am curious to find out how much truth there is in it:



The theory is that Nazi doctor Josef Mengele used a small Brazilian town for genetic experiments, and the proof is in the high number of twins being born (in in 5 pregnancies), with most of them being blonde and blue-eyed!

For years scientists have failed to discover why as many as one in five pregnancies in a small Brazilian town have resulted in twins – most of them blond haired and blue eyed.

But residents of Candido Godoi now claim that Mengele made repeated visits there in the early 1960s, posing at first as a vet but then offering medical treatment to the women of the town.

More at the Telegraph.

Labels: Brazil, Josef Mengele, twins

This is the bee's knees! It would save me several hours per month, for the small price of looking like a freak (Japanese can pull it off better...)

To use the glasses, the wearer first wanders around a house or workplace for an hour or so, looking at the objects he or she may later want to find in a hurry.

Each time the camera focuses on a object - such as a set of keys, a mobile phone or a purse - the wearer says the name aloud. The name is then recorded and stored into the memory.

...In a demonstration at the university last week, the team were able to programme in the names and identity of 60 everyday objects, including a compact disc, a hammer, a potted begonia and a mobile phone.

Then whenever you lose something, you just tell it. It connects what you call it with the image it captured previously, then recalls where it was seen/filmed last, and the glasses present you an image of where it last was.

Of course this won't be of any use if somebody else moved the item!

Labels: glasses

We saw it on TV the other night, first time since the 80s. Are all the best comedies from the 80s? Having been watching the US elections lately, it's good to see a politician capable of humour (Schwarzenegger). Twins - it's almost as if Obama was The Fresh Prince of Bel Air in his younger years. OMG! another biopic coming up for Will Smith!

Labels: twins

I don't know what their proper name is, because they seem to have a policy of keeping the receipt when you pick up your photos. Consequently when we went to return a photo DVD they burnt for us, it took them 10 mins to find the receipt in the bin. It took a further 20 minutes to get a refund, and the owner tried her hardest not to give it to us, which is surprising - I'd figure her time and keeping customers happy was more important than the cost of a blank DVD, ultimately the only loss she suffered.

This is the 4th time we have had such problems there. The owner even has difficulty telling customers how much it costs to have photos printed (maybe she should write the prices down somewhere).

They are on Douglas Parade, Williamstown, a few doors up from Coles.

In future we will use SnapFish for photos (an online service).

Also, they charge a lot for framing, so we have found a much cheaper (many times cheaper) service at 153 Hyde St in Yarraville.

Labels: framing, photo printing, williamstown

I bought tickets when they were first released, figuring seeing Public Enemy in a small venue was well worth $70, even if it was the night after New Year's Eve. It was a mistake and I mostly blame the legendary Espy pub.

Since time began, when you pay to see a band at the Espy, they are in the Gershwin Room, and I have always been happy with that venue.

Presumptions I made in error:

1. That I would be able to see the Jungle Brothers support act followed by Public Enemy. They actually played simultaneously on 2 different stages. Bad luck if you liked both bands.

2. That I would be able to see and hear Public Enemy. They performed in the Lounge, and the stage is only about 1 metre high. Anyone under 6 feet tall, in the back half of the Lounge could not see the band. The sound wasn't very good either.

3. That considering it was the day after New Year's Eve, the band would be on at a reasonable hour. They started at 1:50AM, after someone (Griff?) said "yeeeah boyz" for half an hour. We turned up at 9 and when we saw the listed start time of 1AM for both Public Enemy and Jungle Brothers, we went and saw a movie (Slumdog Millionaire, excellent), and still had a long, long wait.

4. That I would hear all their hits. They announced that their set would be "It Takes a Nation of Millions..." track by track. It might be their best album, but it is half filler, songs I rather swap for hits.

5. That I could drink beer and go to the toilet. There were too many people. It might have been the alright if half the audience were in the Gershwin Room watching the Jungle Brothers... but I presume everyone was there for Public Enemy. If it was possible to get to the Gershwin Room I would've popped in to count the audience there. As it was, I had to leave the venue and go to the park across the road for a pee, as it was impossible to move in the venue.

To top it all off, every drink was served in a plastic cup, and pots were $4.50.

The band were alright, maybe great if I could have gotten close to the stage and actually seen them. Their lateness, perhaps a combo of Espy greed and trying to get Chuck D away from whatever his vice might be. He's gotta have one!

UPDATE: Three other blog reviews of the gig:
http://maxcelcat.livejournal.com/259232.html
http://nickjam.blogspot.com/2009/01/public-enemy-epsy-1109.html
http://scribulator.blogspot.com/2009/01/so-i-know-what-time-it-is-bro.html

Labels: espy, public enemy