2020 General chat with Bobi

No, no. I jest. It’s just a New Year’s Day Chat.

I contemplated doing a retrospective but it’s been such a crap year for many of us that I thought I would just focus on the day itself.
I have simultaneous and conflicting thoughts about January 1st.

Firstly, I am well aware that it is just a number, an artificial construct, but for some of my friends it is the best excuse for a party that just goes on for hours … with fireworks. Who doesn’t love that, apart from people who have dogs and whose official bedtime is 9.30?

It is a day to put a line in the sand and look forward. I am not a great believer in New Year’s resolutions, and every year I say that this year I am not going to make any, but things can’t improve just on a wing and a prayer. There have to be goals: measurable, quantifiable, specific and achievable. Otherwise everything is the same old, same old.

So.

I’m going to watch less television. No, don’t panic. Don’t. PANIC!

I have the telly on for the dogs, from sun-up until I go to bed, and even then some. And I have been known to mindlessly watch it, just to keep them company you understand. I don’t think I’ll do that anymore. I think it should be an evening activity, once the day is done. Hopefully that will mean I will appreciate and enjoy it more.

And maybe I’ll be a little bit more selective: Cooking shows that actually focus on cooking. I love a good cooking show.

And I’m going to actually cook.
I’m going to plan the menu for the week, write it down, shop once a week … and cook. What’s the point of it all if I don’t take all those lessons and implement something. Maybe I’ll get healthy. Amazing by-product.

And I’m going to write down what I spend all my money on.

No, I’m not going to budget. I’m too old for that s**t but I am going to spend less on the grandchildren. They don’t need it and I waste a lot of money thinking that they do. Maybe I’m trying to buy their affection? Good job, well done. Now move on.

Okay. I suck at New Year’s resolutions.


Happy New Year.

Bobi

Note from Juz: many thanks to Bobi for all her posts in 2019 and thanks, everyone, for hanging around TTV. I hope you are all safe tonight and here’s cheers to 2020.



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116 Comments

  1. Thanks, Bobi. I never make New Year resolutions. I can relate to you spending money on the grandchildren. I’m not likely to give that up for awhile, especially for Son1’s kids, who need a lot of joy in their lives. Well what kids, or adults don’t need that.
    Now there’s a new girlfriend involved, so when we take the to the movies or ice skating, we have an extra. That makes Woolif grumble at the cost because we are a bit broke after the Koh Samui rescue mission. But not scary broke.
    My goal is to try and enjoy the rest of my life and to be more selfish. I am putting the dreaded year that was behind me.

    • I suppose you have to assume that the child is a permanent fixture on the horizon. It would be sad to exclude them.
      Think kind thoughts, do kind things.

      • Those are the two who have been half raised by us. Then their mother suddenly refused contact. They were cut off from all the family. We are still working through that. Those poor kids have copped it from both parents’ bad behaviour.

  2. We are awake here. It was so smoky I turned the aircon off and now we can’t sleep because it’s hot and still smoky.
    My kids are down the coast. The bed and breakfast owners told them it was all good there, the media was grossly exaggerating everything, and so they wold lose the entire cost of their stay if they cancelled.
    So now they are cut off, with electricity and communications down.
    To add insult to injury, the owners are MIA. They have been relying on the kindness of the next door neighbour.
    Some people step forward and some people step back.

    • You can always count on the media to exaggerate, then make a candle light vigil with a song to turn it into something sweet.

      But that aside, I can’t imagine, (and I’ve tried) what it would be like to lose your home and everything you have, and start again from scratch.

      • I’m sorry. . I misunderstood. I thought you meant the media had exaggerated. I can’t remember a time when bush fires went on and in and on like this.
        The images of the fires are shocking.

        In WA we have annual controlled burns to reduce fuel. I suppose it helps????

  3. Happy new year to everyone. 2019 seemed to be kind of a shitty year all around, so let’s all hope this year is much better. Those of you in danger zones, be safe. For others, I wish an uneventful year. No TV or radio does Auld Lang Syne at midnight anymore, sadly. I gave my good dog (who won’t be here next New Year’s) a treat and a kiss, and sang that song to him. I don’t think he enjoys my singing, but at least he didn’t walk away.

  4. Oh Von, I had a little cry. I give my best boy a scritch every morning and remind myself that, although it will be sad for me, he has had the best life.
    It is Apocalyptic here. You don’t need to see photos. It is exactly as shown on the news. It’s been like this for the last month and we are told that there will be no change for the next month. We just have to keep reminding ourselves that it could be a lot worse.
    Rightly or wrongly, I can’t help blaming our largely absent PM for the extent of the problem. If he had met with the 24 (goodness gracious, count them, 24) fire and emergency services chiefs last March when they asked, then perhaps things may have been slightly less awful.

  5. On a lighter note, I saw the last Star Wars movie and enjoyed it.
    All the criticism of the movie is exactly true but nevertheless it moved on at a rapid pace and had a satisfying ending.
    Trying to shoehorn absolutely everyone in was the most annoying thing.

    • I feel like the story was really affected by Carrie Fisher passing away. You could tell they wanted to do something completely different, and they deal with her death (which is something that simply couldn’t be avoided) in the most awkward way (that jerks every ongoing plotline sharply in a different direction).

      I still wish Finn and Poe had hooked up at the end, though.

      • Yes and yes.
        And why did some guy from Lost get more air time with no lines than Rose, who was minimised to random token ethnic diversity.
        But I still enjoyed it.

    • I am not at all a SW watcher but saw one a couple of years ago as one of the kids wanted to see it. Then saw this last one on Thursday at the drive-in. Very confused as Carrie Fisher’s character died in both movies, as I remember?

      Anyway, the drive-in was a double feature, with jumanji starting at 8.30 (for the dark). Enjoyed that, then SW started 10.45. I fell asleep about 10 minutes in, woke at about 12.40, had very little idea of the story, then it finished at 1.30. Home about 2.45am!! Can’t remember the last time I was awake then (without having been in bed first).

      I am trying really hard to see the attraction of SW, for the sake of family relationship, but it all seems like a parody of itself. And Pigs in Space.

  6. You know, I had a really great 2019. August (and some dental surgery) notwithstanding, I had a fantastic year, and I did so much cool stuff. Yeah, the world’s on fire and our prime minister is fiddling while Rome’s burning, but I got to meet so many new people and cross so many things off my list, I had so much fun last year that I can’t even pick a “top three” list of my favourite moments. Hell, even Lego really put out some amazing sets in the back-half of the year.

    And tomorrow morning, my boyfriend is taking me stand-up-paddleboarding, so, that’s 2020 off to a good start, as far as I’m concerned.

    • Boyfriend?
      Is that new or have I not been paying attention?
      I am pleased that you had a good year. I think that I gathered that and it was lovely to read about it.

      • It’s a new thing. Truthfully, he lives far away, so we only see each other a couple of times a month. But it’s nice, it’s kind of like a holiday-romance. I’m quite enjoying that. So I don’t know if we’re proper dating, or if it’s just a friend-with-benefits thing, but either way, I’m enjoying the time we spend together.

        He’s a chef, he’s funny and quirky and nerdy, and for some reason, he’s happy to put up with me. Heh.

        • He came down, on the weekend after my birthday, and cooked me this lovely orange chicken (with noodles, onion and capsicum) for dinner, then took me to that adults-only cabaret show (which I really liked), and in the morning, he made me bacon and eggs with peach. I ate like a king that weekend, and I certainly appreciated it.

    • Yes. My ears picked up at “boyfriend”.
      Glad it’s been a great year for you Windsong 😁😁😁😁
      Taking the Grandkids plus girlfriend to the movies tomorrow. Little Women shines in the reviews but A wants to see Jumanji. L might want to go into a different movie so he and ❤️ can hold hands without Grandparents nudging each other.

      • I listened to a review of LW this morning. 5/5 apparently, from both the men and women on the panel.
        Boys may be put off initially but maybe you could do both? As a deal? All boys should learn that chick-flicks can be okay.
        I wasn’t going to go – the concept of sobbing in public is still daunting – but I’ve decided that this one is a must.

        • It was my grand daughter who chose Jumanji.

          Speaking of….am I the only person who grumbles when people use “that” instead of “who”? Examples: the man that……, The policewoman that….
          It’s a person therefore it’s “who”!!

          Sorry, bad way to start NY; grumbling.

  7. Happy new year everyone. France has areived in 2020 too now. Macron gave his new year’s speach and clearly won’t back down from his pension reform. We already have a transportation strike since December 5th, so this will continue today.
    My Chancelorette promised to fight climate change. Australia is on fire and Trump just sent more soldiers to Iraque. Yehhh, it really started well here… On top of that, I made a bad move and seem to have a lumbago, and it is a banknholiday here. Thankfully I had enough mojito last night (that means about a tablepoon of Bacardi, because I usually do not drink), that subdued the pain a bit. My friends were highly amuses and I am apparently an old woman now.^^
    And I already had my first fight with Mr. Petite in 2020 (he has a hard time to keep his alcohol consumption in check -.-).

    Anyway, Windsong!!! Enjoy it while it lasts, let him spoil you. 😛

  8. I had a good 2019 year personally….I know the rest of the world is doomed. The first resolution writes itself.
    No MKR in 2020. Bad people cooking bad things.
    MAFS will suffice. Yes
    The $chlock ~ I may not live long enough to see the Finale
    MA$terchef~ The wages of George’s sin is death. Nonna.
    No Jamie Durie.
    I will scoff more Valium before Bold And The Beautiful
    I will give up reality tv
    I won’t laugh at people on Hot Seat. Except Eddie
    I won’t have impure thoughts over the newsreaders on Ch 24. (You know who you are)
    NO Karl. Poor Ali. She’s had it. Sorrrowfully.

    Happy New Year to my fellow contributors and especially Mr and Mrs Juz,

    • Yeah, I’m with you on most of those. MKR can go jump in a creek, so can the next season of TAR. With Bold, I think I need a break from it, and the last series of “House Rules” was such a horrible chore that the host herself quit, I mean, that’s a ringing endorsement, right there.

      And the last season of MAFS was enough for me. The whole thing made me feel dirty. Truthfully, there’s hardly any TV that I’m looking forward to, this year. Even “Survivor”, I feel iffy (just because last season was such a chore. Gosh, 2019 really sucked for Australian TV didn’t it?).

    • I’m still excited for IMAC. When they get the casting right, it’s just magic. And even when they don’t, there are always highlights. It’s never completely awful.
      But I’m with you on the rest.
      Call me vindictive but I really, really hope that Karl just crashes and burns. He’s got to be a case of jobs for mates. There can be no other reason for the special treatment. Oddly enough, I would get a special joy if that happened. Yes, yes, definitely vindictive.

      • Yes. I didn’t intend to omit I’m A Celebrity.When it’s not controlled by a boofs club ,it’s alright.

      • I’ll be honest. I’ve held Karl in absolute contempt for years now. I hope he crashes and burns too. I just can’t believe the decision-making. They fired him because people weren’t watching, but now, let’s bring him back! Will he even want to be there, knowing that he’s *that* disposable? Won’t that make him even *less* pleasant to watch?

      • Karl. Ok, for those who haven’t known me that long it goes like this; Chopper Reid, Cockroach from Big Brother, Karl. I don’t need to tell you if it:s from first to last or last to first. Please don’t tell me he is in IAC. I’ll bet he begged to go in.

    • I am up to my third year of No MKR and feel I can nearly look myself in the mirror again! You won’t regret it.

    • It was slow for the opener…low rent Spooks meets the Budget Direct Ads.

      Too many companions who contribute nothing to the storyline.

      Too bad they wasted the show’s budget on over hyped guest stars rather than talented writers.

  9. I went with A to watch Jumanji. I didn’t expect to enjoy it. Then we went to Benesse for lunch and…and Bobi you will enjoy this….we went clothes shopping and I bought her 5 tops. She was one happy little 12 year old.
    L stayed home coz his mum decided it was just fine to leave a 15 year old boy home all day with his 15 year old girlfriend. What can possibly go wrong. 😲😲😲
    But don’t worry…they were watching videos.

    • Don’t you mean “videos”? 🤦‍♂️
      I know we are all a bit cynical about Dr Phil at the moment but I do remember him saying once “It’s not that you don’t trust them but just don’t give them the opportunity. Don’t be stoopid”. ( He has a very special accent that is difficult to get across in writing.)
      BDD, we know we shouldn’t do it but there is a joy that comes from making them happy. Again, on the Dr Phil road train, it’s about us.

      • I didn’t spoil my kids or grandkids. I think it’s a great disservice to raise brats. I’m like Judge Judy.I have always been the disciplinarian for L&A because their mother always said, “Oh Grandma, it’s just a stage”.
        On Dr Phil, yes, we laugh and tease him, but sure enough, his sage proverbs come in handy. And yes, too right, “videos” was my thinking. But we aren’t the mother. It’s a whole ‘nother world of pain for them, and for me if I don’t guard my heart and let it be. And I am determined 2020 is not going to be like 2019.
        My friend has ants in her kitchen and I found myself having envy for the first time in my life. I found myself wishing I had normal problems.
        But Woolif is behaving himself, I have a wonderful home, with a big swimming pool in the bush, I am skinny and have my new face lift, my health is good, and I have good friends. And we are going to France and Spain in June so I am not going to let worrying about my son1, his wife and kids, detail my life or consume me. .This is going to be my selfish year. And yes Bobi, Dr Phil always says, “You do it because it makes you feel good”, but for a little girl whose mum and dad have sh*t on her life with their drugs and drama, 5 tops brought some sunshine. 😁😁😁😁Wow. We need some TV so I stop talking about myself. 😲
        On that. I can’t wait for IAC so that green ad; “Let’s get this Party Started”, stops.

  10. I don’t have grand children but I feel so much for my friends that spend/waste a lot at this time of year and don’t even get a “thank you” from the ungrateful little bastards. We won’t have prisons big enough to contain these entitled little turds if and when they grow up. From little turds, big turds grow.

    • We have seen too many Dr Phil shows not to know it all comes back to bite you on the bum. Ergo, 2020 is the year I want to be selfish. 🤣

  11. I don’t mean to dwell on this but it’s hard not to when it’s the only thing on telly and visibility here is 10 feet.
    The family is home safely. They turned and came back as soon as the road opened. They registered their “disappointment” with the owners who dismissed them as whiners. Apparently no one else has complained and therefore there’s no problem.
    Both the doggos are very lethargic. I worry.

    • Bobi, we are really hearing you. The fires and smoke look terrible, and that they are unending, and more lives are being lost must be too much. All of the people with lung/breathing problems must be finding it very difficult too.

  12. Right.
    There has been a flurry of activity here.
    I have enrolled in Italian lessons, a pottery class, a painting course and a bridge lesson.
    I have found a book, and I am going to read it, on cryptic crosswords.
    I have arranged to go to Bunnings with Son-in-law to buy a bird-bath.
    I have booked with rellies to go and see Spamalot and The Choir of Man.
    I have arranged to take the girls to see Spies in Disguise and with a girlfriend to see Little Women ( I have warned her that I could be a sobbing mess: Spoiler alert, Beth dies).
    I have ordered a weeks worth of LitenEasy so I don’t have to cook (so much for that resolution) and maybe I’ll shake some weight.
    And with the final of couple of dollars left in my bank account, I have paid my Optus bill early.
    I have now obviously broke (and there goes another resolution. You know it’s only the 3rd of Jan?) but I have pulled myself together.
    It’s not all bad news. Although it is only 12.30 in the afternoon and the tv is on (and I am clearly a train wreck with these resolutions), I am watching Delia Smith cook. She is so calming. I am inspired.
    Look, it something. Better than nothing. I am an optimist at heart.
    What was a grand plan is now a small, tiny but still absolutely, positively, fingers-crossed, achievable mission.
    And I feel good.

    • I paid my health insurance bill on the last day of December, just so I’d start the new year with no outstanding bills (broke, but no bills). I over-indulged a bit, in the back end of 2019, so I feel like just having a quiet January where I’m not buying any new (cool) stuff, and I focus on enjoying the summer by going out and doing some things.

      Bird baths are great, though. There’s something so inherently-soothing about watching birds splash around in a bird bath. I find that the peewees chase the other birds away because they want to bathe privately, the doves drink it (I don’t think doves are all there, mentally) while the crows just flop down in the middle because of course it’s all about them.

  13. Bobi, snap on cryptics. I have done them since I was about 12. A legacy from my mum; another avid fan. Forget Lovett’s. Too easy and boring. The newspaper ones are good.

    And snap on pottery.
    If Little Women is sad, I will steer clear. I want a happy 2020 and I won’t pay for tears.
    A light’nEasy read. And funny. Thanks.
    I’m out at the VAT with a friend.

    • I have to do the Two-speed cryptic – the one where if you can’t get the cryptic clue they give you a regular clue also. I used to be ok at cryptica but after a decade-Long break my brain forgot how to do them

      • My local paper (which is a total rag) used to do that. A daily crossword with normal clues alongside cryptic clues.

        But a few years ago, they started doing two daily crosswords. One had just the normal clues, and the other had only the cryptic clues. I felt a bit cheated, both ways.

        But I still enjoy doing the normal puzzle every day. I usually solve the whole thing on my own about once a week or so.

    • I am reading David Astle and I am up to p 57.
      Without using the big words (small joke there), he seems to imply that people who regularly do puzzles have fewer negative thoughts, or don’t hold onto them for very long, or something like that.
      Anyway, I am assuming that it’s all good for us. Better than drugs.

    • Wow, more things in common. I have cherished memories of my mum doing cryptics, and I believe her influence increased my lateral thinking. Now trying to pass that down to the next gen. Mum used to cut out the SMH cryptics and clip them together with a bulldog clip, and keep going backwards and forwards in the attempt to complete as many as possible.

      I don’t get the paper delivered but will buy it occasionally. I also cut them out, but I paste them into an old hardback notebook that I can take anywhere.

      My sis also loves them and I recently received a birthday pressie where she had used newspaper to cushion it in the mail, When I unwrapped it, there was a fully completed cryptic. I sent her a photo and accused her of boasting – she “claims” it was coincidental.

      I can’t do any but SMH (The Age etc) ones, nearly everything else is too easy.

    • I’m watching today’s Dr Phil.now.
      He shot that lady to pieces and shit her down until she was going to stay dead. He was at his bastardly worst today.
      Or is that because I too am the lady who doesn’t like eating sounds?
      He really let her have it for trying to question/challenge his description. In the end she had to shut up and let him win.

    • Good god.
      It’s not just the guns, it’s the toy pikachu (?) underneath. Or maybe it’s the gross OTT chandelier. But I have decided that it is definitely the balustrade made of snakes.
      It’s an oft repeated truism that money can’t buy taste.
      Or judgement. Seriously, why wouldn’t you put the guns away before the photos are taken and published? I so want to say “idiot” here but we know he’s not.

    • I’ll be honest, I can watch about ten minutes of footage, of all this, on the channel 10 five o’clock news, but that’s about it. I have to switch it off, after that.

      It’s just … all a bit too much, really, isn’t it?

      • Same here, mainly because they really have to flog the drama to death. The constant litany of “woe is the world” really gets to me.

  14. I don’t watch the fire coverage. The media are simply encouraging the next waste of space arsonists to do their thing.

  15. I’m out too.
    It’s horrendously awful, and I can see that just by looking out the window. I have friends and family out in this, both SES and volunteer firefighters, so there is also a constant, low level worry that I don’t need to fuel with pictures of the worst of it.
    I will wait and at some point someone will tell me what they need from me in a practical sense and then I will pitch in.
    And, in the meantime, I will send bad thoughts in the direction of the Coalition government, primarily directed at that d**khead who said the fires were caused by combusting horse-manure. That’ll lern ’em.
    I’m watching Short Circuit here. I’d forgotten how bad the acting was. I love a B-grade movie and that guy hasn’t aged a day. I want his face cream.

    • I know that being angry, right now, is not helpful. Anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die, right? But whenever I see Morrison, parading around on TV and expecting applause for dealing with a problem that he ignored for years, it just makes me see *red*.

      My parents are hardcore LNP supporters. They will not hear a single bad word said against him, so, I don’t even bother talking to them. I guess I’m venting, here, and I’m sorry for that. But he seems completely and utterly out of touch. His background is marketing, right, and can’t you tell? He seems to be treating a national disaster as good PR for himself, making sure he’s shaking hands and looking appropriately-sad in front of the camera, and then — once there’s been some good copy for the press — he immediately racks off. It makes me furious. He even released an ad, yesterday, about what a great job he’s doing. What is the matter with this guy?! I know we’re all sick of the LNP’s rotating leadership, but my gosh, how sad would anyone really be if the faceless men behind-the-scenes quietly conspired to knife this guy, sometime before Easter?

      He is crafting legislation designed to personally hurt *me* and people like me, just because we were born different, and I cannot put into words just how angry I am about that. But I’m supposed to respect this man and the job he’s doing? I do not.

      • You and I are in the same bubble, WS.
        I have to keep reminding myself that it’s very possible that we are a quiet minority.
        I accidentally ended up in a ScoMo twitter feed and I had to keep telling myself to keep an open mind, but it made me very tense. It’s not so much a discussion but rather just a continual stream of affirmations. Like a fridge magnet.
        But for something to make you feel better go to https://twitter.com/antonygreenabc/status/1213216910461923328?s=21
        It’s nothing to do with Antony Green. It’s just a bit of fun.

        • That is lovely and mesmerising :).

          Back after the election, I would’ve agreed that we were in the minority, in terms of Scotty’s popularity. But people from rural and agriculture areas are traditionally more-likely to be LNP voters, yet, they’re the ones who seem to be the angriest at him, right now. Go figure.

          Case in point — yesterday, the ad he put up connected to a request for donations (either on his website or something). But not donations to the rural fire service, or anything, but to the LNP. That is so ludicrously, absurdly inappropriate. I can’t believe how out-of-touch, he is, that he genuinely thought that wouldn’t look really awful. Either he needs to fire his PR and marketing people, or he badly needs to start listening to them.

          I just can’t shake the feeling that various newspapers are just chomping at the bit to do some opinion polls. They can’t do them now (because, unlike Scotty from marketing, they realise how inappropriate that would be), but I bet they’re just itching to. I know I’m very curious, academically, as to how this is all going to end up. And if I keep thinking about that? Then I’ll distract myself from how frickin’ angry I am.

    • I understand the frustration, and that other political issues get brought in, too, but I find it ironic that the public have complained since Rudd that our politics is unstable and all we want it some stability. Now we have a govt that refuses to react with misplaced overdramatics, and the people are still not happy. Yes, the timing of the holiday was unfortunate, and that it what seems to have triggered a bigger backlash than is warranted.

      However, when people are hurting and feel tragedy, they have to find a scapegoat. It happens after every crisis.

      Added to that is what I have labelled the “must do something right now” attitude that is infecting the world. I suppose you could call it panic. People calling for action, and it has to be immediately visible or they won’t believe that anyone is doing anything. No matter if the action is unwise, rushed, or will create further damage just “do something, dammit!”. If people looked properly, often they will see intelligent, clearsighted people who are working and solving problems with quiet tenacity and getting no media coverage because they don’t create clickbait.

      I am enjoying having a leader who won’t be railroaded into instant (and possibly incorrect) action, who spends the time to listen to the people who know before announcing a policy, and who is reacting in this crisis with calm and orderly leadership.

      As an aside, the donate button was a standard feature of his website, and the way the site was designed implied it was a donate to the fires button. It was corrected when noticed.

      I understand my view won’t be agreeable to many here, but I just wanted to put another viewpoint out there. Maybe it might help to understand why voters like those mentioned above see things differently.

      • “… who spends the time to listen to the people who know before announcing a policy…”

        But he doesn’t. Look, no offense, but he spent all of 2019 ignoring the experts and fire commissioners who were desperate to schedule a meeting with him as early as March, because they knew this was coming. The plans for a fleet of fire-fighting air-craft have been on the RFS’s wish-list for most of the 6 years that the coalition has been in power. None of which — *none* of which — the coalition or prime minister did anything about. He is not listening to the experts or making good decisions based on their data and information. People are upset because he’s doing the exact opposite of that. I can’t understand why people are praising him for something that he visibly and obviously hasn’t done. There’s document proof of that, all over the place. Hell, there’s document proof that Bill Shorten was trying to organise the money for fire-fighting equipment back in March, but nobody voted for him, so here we are.

        If he had the time, resources and money to make a video telling us how great he is, he had time to call the RFS and tell them that he was sending in the reserves. If he had money to waste on fixing his plane (to the tune of $250M), then he had the money to spend on a fleet of fire-fighting planes (we need $30M for one plane. After a great deal of pressure, he budgeted a paltry $11M). I haven’t been as critical as others for his trip to Hawaii, but he was in Hawaii back in June for a first holiday, and numbers from parliament show that he’s spent the least amount of time in parliament doings than any prime minister in living memory. None of this is a good thing. People are entitled to like the man, but they’re not entitled to their own set of facts, and “he spent the year listening to the experts and preparing the country for his nightmare” is simply not true. People aren’t angry for vague scapegoat reasons, they’re angry for *that* reason, that everyone in the country was trying to warn him about this. And he ignored them.

        (there’s pages from a climate change study from 2007 doing the rounds, at the moment, and it specifically points out that by 2020, bushfire seasons are going to become a *huge* problem. We’ve known this was going to happen for 13 years. To listen to the LNP say, “This caught us by surprise” is simply unforgiveable)

      • Hi Fijane. Don’t misunderstand. One of the things that I love about this site is that different views can come together respectfully. Please don’t stop just because you know that some of us will disagree with you.
        This discussion is exactly what has been missing out there in the big, wide world: we put our case, you put yours. And sometimes we find common ground and sometimes we don’t.
        My main objection to Scomo is exactly that: we ask a question and he says that he doesn’t want to answer that, over and over. I don’t need to put forward the examples. You’ve seen them.
        It is treating the voting public with contempt. Leadership is taking people with you, not hiding things. We don’t always have to agree but we do have to understand.
        And just as an aside, I have friends and family is the public service and the feedback is that the Government is in an absolute panic. There is nothing calm there. But sadly, until recently (and hopefully it is a sign of better things to come), their main concern was how to spin this.
        It was some American guy who said of Nixon, it’s not the crime but the cover-up that ruined his reputation forever. And yet, here we are again. The anger is because the experts asked to meet with him and he said no. Just say, I made a mistake, but from here on I promise to do better.
        And make that Kelly guy shut-the-f**k-up.

        • From someone who thinks most politicians would all sell their country out….to China and or the UN, thankyou for your opening comment there Bobi. The world “has gone mad”, with you’re either left or you’re right hostility. Why can’t people have an opinion? Is it Nazi Germany where the thought police come take you out for thinking or saying zomething counter to the politically approved one. The real rebels and trail blazers think for themselves.
          Good on the people here for being respectful and smart enough to allow different opinions.
          Now I will say it, “I like nachos munching Henry”. 😆

        • Thanks, guys, for the respect of listening. I will look into the points you make. I suppose I do like to be devil’s advocate sometimes, and if anyone says they can’t understand how anyone can believe something else, i like to present some of the other thinking.

  16. And did I mention that my idiot dog waited until it hit 42 degree and then decided he wanted to go for a run.
    No surprise that I am having trouble cooling him down. I don’t think he’s particularly impressed by a sponge bath, just as I am not particularly impressed by them both being really stinky.

  17. This is a photo of 7.30 in the morning. I know we shouldn’t be out in it but the long doggo has to poop and needs must.
    The good news is that the temperature has dropped and the wind has picked up because evaporative cooling doesn’t work in humidity or smoke.
    It’s still bad enough out there that the birds are all walking, except for the crows. Tough little buggers.
    No body has used my bird bath except by a Christmas beetle committing suicide.

    • It does odd things to your brain. It’s hard to know whether it’s morning or evening, let alone what time it is. Or the day for that matter.
      And it’s hard to do anything. Obviously.
      I wouldn’t have left the house except I had booked tickets for 2 to see Little Women. I need petrol and dog food and yet I sailed past both shops without stopping. How does Captain Picard do it? This is his entire life.
      Little Women was very good, btw: one of the better adaptions. I didn’t sob. I just let a tear gently trickle down at one or two strategic moments.
      And there are a couple of very minor flaws. Interestingly, my friend and I differed on what were the flaws. She didn’t like Amy (not pretty enough). I loved Amy (very funny). I couldn’t get past Hermione being Meg. My friend thought she was perfect. And there was an odd play with time that didn’t work for me, but I was the only one that seemed to notice, Etcetera, Etcetera.
      Too picky? 4.5/5.

      • I have heard others mention about the skipping about with flashbacks. It is one of the things that is making me hesitant to see it. I also worry that modern feminist attitudes will have altered the book’s original feel – your summary suggests you didn’t see that? If not, I might risk it.

        • The jumping around in time didn’t bother me. In some respects it made it easier to understand why they ended up where they did.
          There are a couple of nods to feminism but they dealt with them really well. They fitted in to the story line seamlessly and perfectly (I thought). I noticed them but they didn’t jar.
          And there is an ambiguous play on the story line, but it is left up to the audience to choose which way to go. Just so you know, I decided to change my view but my friend did not. We are both comfortable.
          Does that help?
          You won’t know if you don’t go. 🤣🤣

  18. We had some rain here, the temperature has dropped and the wind has cleared the smoke.
    I’ve decided that I was feeling claustrophobic and I need blue skies.

  19. Big thunderstorm here last night, and substantial rain. I had forgotten a bit what it felt like. Welcome back, Sydney humidity and mozzies!

    • I watched a video last night where people were personally petitioning the Queen to dissolve Australian parliament (like she did to fire Gough Whitlam), which would fire Scotty and turf the LNP until elections could be held. They made (what I thought was an excellent) point that, Whitlam failing to get a bill through parliament is several degrees *less* of a crisis than the entire country burning to the ground while our industrious leader sips cocktails on a Maui beach.

      Frankly, I’d ally with just about anyone who could stop that religious discrimination bill from being forced through, but Scotty’s dancing to the tune of his fundamentalist pals, so…

  20. Moving the discussion on The Family down here, it is an amazing doco. Worth watching if you want the pants scared off you.
    There are a lot of things to criticise about Americans but their ability to hold a torch to some of their internal issues is just jaw dropping, and admirable.
    The following is not necessarily my opinion but comes from a family member who has too much time on his hands at the moment and is fascinated by that aspect of American politics:
    It is not Trump who is fooling the religious right but it is the fundamental christians that have captured Trump in the form of Mike Pence. They have an agenda that is represented by Pence and as long as Trump does as he’s told on certain issues important to them they will continue to support him.
    It’s why you often see Mike Pence sitting there asleep. As long as they get their way on abortion, religious funding, creationism, schooling, etc, they don’t care what else he does.
    And supposedly it’s the model that ScoMo is following. When he talks of the quiet Australians, he actually means the strongly religious right.
    Listen, I love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next person but, as is said, a conspiracy needs at least three people to get in a room together and agree.
    My view is that here is a difference between believing that you have a divine right to rule and responding to your favourite lobby group (friends with benefits?). Sometimes I think that ScoMo is one one side of this and then the other. Either way, it’s not good if you are the-rest-of-us-who-can’t-be-saved.

  21. The family went to see Cats.
    The parents were bored stupid, the girls (8 and 9 years old) wanted to go home almost immediately, and the grand-parents (mil and fil) looooved it.
    Putting it out there, with no further comment.
    Alright. Just a bit of a comment. The mil and fil had demanded that everyone go to the movie in spite of resistance, so their view may be suspect. However, I am guessing that they genuinely liked it, and they probably thought everyone else would as well.

    • Cats is received very well with the audiences AND the critics. It is a very good mov…… Bwhahaha, okay, just kidding. 😀 It has a 2.8 rating on IMDB. That is Uwe “worst director alive” Boll territory. Actually Boll made better movies than that.

  22. So, we are on day 35 of strikes here in France. The hardliner union won’t budge (they want the whole pension reform scrapped completely), Macron won’t budge either. So far, it cost the SNCF (French train service) 730 million Euros, which is close to 1.2 billion Australian Dollars (yeah, I looked it up).
    People cannot get to work, now they start blocking refineries for oil, so if that continues, no more gas to fill up your car. Sooo, people who cannot take the trains atm also won’t have a car anymore. Let’s see how that plays out. If you go for worst case scenario: Rationed gas for public services like ambulances, police and firefighters and army. Fun times ahead, I guess.
    Also not sure what the strikers eat then, because how will they get food transported to them? 😉

    Anyway, compared to the shit Trumpidump is doing and Australia burning, our issues are more than minor. 🙁

    • I am now just waiting for the zombie attack.
      I am old enough that the phrase, “We already tried that and it didn’t work” is one of the reasons I decided to retire.

    • It must be frustrating, Zhee, to have no end in sight. My bro has been in an apartment in Paris for the past month but, luckily, because they have small kids they haven’t needed to travel much anyway

      • Well, I wanted to only do some baking classes in Paris but I will wait until the situation is sorted. I feel though I will move back to Germany before this will happen. I partially understand the strikes, the reform is not good. It needs major changes. But I also know that France is in desperate need of reforms. The pension fund is already in bad shape in France and in 5 years it is at a minus of 19 billion. I mean, the strikers want to keep all the money, they give a shit about following generations. On theother hand, there will be no earth anymore anyway if we continue like we currently do…

        • Sorry for being nosy, Zhee, but weren’t you enrolled in a course?
          Did I get get that wrong or is that all over?

          • Yeps, I have a school but due to some restraints from my old employer, it is an online school. So I wanted to have some baking classes at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. 🙂 But at the moment, I avoid Paris as much as I can.

            One of my friends lives in Paris and tried to get to work in Versailles. With just a few metros per hour running and not many trains, it is pure horror. The French police started kicking into the mass of people which tried to get to a train and she had two cracked ribs afterwards. -.- Thankfully there was footage and they identified the person who kicked her so she is suing.

    • It’s all a bit strange, really, isn’t it?

      I had no idea that the Royal Family literally has the legal right to claim possessions of people who die without next-of-kin or a will. Archaic laws about kings and subjects, right?

      Thing is … with everything going on with their crazy pervert uncle, maybe they’re putting distance between themselves and the rest of the clan for a reason?

      • Like there isn’t enough crazy on both sides of there families. 🤪 Is it ridiculous, is it sad? I’m a Celebrity. Get me out of here. 😜😜😜😜

      • I am assuming it’s a bit like our government doing the same thing, although the difference is that the Royal family gives it to charity whereas our government puts it into consolidated revenue (although there is a process).
        I have one of those nuanced views: there are too many charities in the world so anything that makes it one less is a good thing and we, the people, don’t pay enough tax so I don’t like to encourage the government on their no tax mission.
        Apparently Mexit are only giving up 5% of their income and 100% of their labour, so I call bulls**t on the escape plan.
        I appreciate that all families are odd but I am guessing that they are not all open to so much scrutiny. I am wondering how embarrassed I would be. Doesn’t every family have an Aunt Gladys?

      • No…they are running because Meghan can’t compete with Kate.

        Out of that debacle, the only one who is getting hurt is Beatrice.

    • Sorry Bobi, totally disagree.

      Meghan was not racial abused in England. Indeed, compared to other royal brides, the media has treated her with kit gloves. The whole England is backward and racist was part of the victim narrative that she sought to cultivate for when the marriage failed. (And it will once she has sucked all the revenue to be had from that dim-wit Harry). Everything she has done (from the petulant announcement leave my girlfriend alone you racist bullies announcement to that treasonous carve a ‘progressive role in the institution’ website) has been calculated to play well for the American audience.

      There are many videos where she has been rude, broken protocol and been an all round narcissist (inc. the stunt she pulled at Eugenie’s wedding). Would you really want someone who has shown complete disloyalty to your nation, leaks excessively about other family members, spends money on designer clothes that are never re-worn, looks disheveled every time she has not gotten her own way, representing you?

      Then there is Archieficial. If that child is real, she has certainly behaved in a manner that raises doubts about his legitimacy as an heir to the throne, all so she could get his birth announcement for prime time American TV and merch him (as demonstrated with that tacky H&M ad that was pulled after a couple of hours his “appearance” in South Africa).

      Frankly, the blame can not all lay at her door, if Harry had any sense of loyalty to Queen and country, he would have renounced all before marrying her (after what? a couple dirty weekends criss-crossing the Atlantic? Not that she would have stuck around if that happened) and not attempt to destroy his brother’s legacy because he is a destructive jealous imbecile. The Megexit should include stripping him (and all his purported heirs) from the line of succession since he finds the ‘duty’ too onerous.

  23. I totally missed that Great Australian Bake Off was back. The Brit version last season didn’t keep me entertained somehow. It just is a bit tired and I still miss my spirit animal Mary Berry.
    We have the second season of Zumbo’s Desserts on French Netflix now. Rachel Khoo looks like her baby will plop onto the floor any minute. Unfortunately poor Zumbo still has no personality developed, although that I already knew thanks to the Christmas version of Sugar Rush.
    A propos baking, I will challenge myself with a Baby Yoda cake for a kid’s birthday…

    • I have been watching the second season of the revamped Project Runway, with Christian Siriano. I still like it better than the original – Christian is not afraid to tell someone their design is awful but he also offers practical solutions, which no other mentor has done on past seasons.

      • Christian is actually totally worth watching the revamp. I liked him in his own season and thought from the beginning he will win. He changed a lot as back then he was quite arrogant, but he grew up and even if he still blurts out stuff, it isn’t hurtful.
        He was a judge on the Junior version and Tim the mentor and I loved both of them. He grew tired though after so many seasons and the viewer could see that.
        The thing with the revamp is though, Karlie is a great model but she is so bland as a host. She misses Heidi’s spunk and the ability to poke fun of herself (Heidi knew she was kinda tacky). And I miss a designer like Michael Kors, Brandon Maxwell is meh (at least he doesn’t creepily touch all the models like Zac). Plus, I checked his designs, uh yeah, not that great. He comes across as bitchy very often and not in a humerous way like Michael Kors. And god, I hate Elaine’s glasses. They irritate me. Nina is still great.^^
        So far I haven’t spotted the potential winner yet, or at least the one I think might win. Sebastian from last season was my early bet and I was right (this is why Sergio, who claims he designs for older women, will not win^^). I also liked Hester, even though she got a lot of hate on social media. Perhaps Geoffrey, who won the Cyndi Lauper challenge this week – if he continues like that. I also like the designer with the supercurly hair, forgot her name. But she won last week and came second this week.

        • Geoffrey’s Cyndi design was fabulous but I worry about whether he can cope under the mental strain of the competition. I don’t really “get” curly haired Victoria’s design aesthetic but the same has been true for me with past European contestants, like Iryna and to some extent Dmitri, much as I enjoy him as a character. They were a bit harsh on the guy who made the white shorts. Yes, they were bad but the jacket was waaay above the standard of the other two

          • Oh, I remember Elena with her severe shoulders and always making coats. She was horrible and Dmitri had a lot of fun with her. And yeah, Dmitri is one of my all time fave contestants.^^ I am still not sure how he could lose to Michelle during the last All Stars…
            Irina/Iryna (no idea regarding the spelling), I think she actually won her season and came back for 2 All Stars. In her regular season she came up with cool stuff, but since then her clothes went from kinda cool to totally tacky.

            With Geoffrey’s state of mind you are right. That’s why I put the restriction in directly. He seems very sensitive and I hope this win pushes him into a better position mentally. But the stress of that competition is immense, so I guess he will break down sooner or later. 🙁
            Good thing is, there doesn’t seem to be a contestant being superbitchy like last season’s Tessa (I still think that casting the evil twins from hell in Tim’s and Heidi’s last season was a reason for them to not return, Heidi was a producer, so it was kinda her baby).

  24. Hey, that repulsive “who wants to shag my wife?” Dean Wells from MAFS is on Dancing With The Stars. I can’t believe such a pig could get a gig.

    Here on the Dr.Phil show, we don’t reward bad behaviour. Dean lucked out.

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