I entered my very first official Texas No Hold ‘Em competition last weekend. I’ve been a fan of the game ever since I saw it televised. I’d heard about it prior and refused to believe a televised card game could be in any way entertaining. How wrong I was. My wife and I have become big fans of the game, watching a number of different competitions and buying our own chip set to practice at home. We started playing with friends late last year, even spending New Year’s Eve playing the gam...

Another Update… We went back into the studios last weekend to mix our recordings from the previous week. The process took 7 hours and was pretty damn tedious, if the truth be told. Basically, we would sit with the engineer, listen to one song at a time, give him the ideas we had for it and then he would shoo us out of the booth while he worked his magic. Once he was satisfied, he’d call us back in, we’d listen to his mix, offer any further suggestions which he’d do on the spot and then ...

This is to update those interested… The recording process went very well indeed. In fact, it exceeded my expectations. The process can be a laborious and tedious, with moments of activity book ended by long periods of sitting around waiting for things to happen. Our session went remarkably well and proved to be very enjoyable and, most importantly, a whole lot of fun. We went in with the objective of recording tracks for 5 songs over 8 hours. Under normal circumstances, this would be a ...

It has been months in the planning. In fact, it has been something I’ve been dreaming about for years. And this coming Saturday it is finally happening. This coming Saturday I have 8 hours of time booked in a great local recording studio to put down five tracks for my band’s first EP. I have been working so hard getting everything ready, planning the sessions, rehearsing the songs over and over and over, organising the artwork, the website, copyright paperwork, distribution (which we’re...

For those of you who don’t know me, I grew up in a family of 7, in a small house. My parents were both from large families and both grew up in rural areas. The only time the family really all got together on any given day was for dinner. This habit was adopted by my parents as well. Some of my favourite memories are of us around the dinner table, laughing and sharing each other’s day. My wife, on the other hand, is an only child. As a consequence, her childhood was completely differen...

Christmas day was a hot, humid one. My dear wife had worked the overnight shift and woke me as she came through the door. All I heard as I woke was “Presents, presents, presents…” repeated over and over again like voices in a crazy man’s head. I shook away my sleep and leapt out of bed, straight on top of the cat. She yowled and took off at a fair clip down the hallway to the kitchen, just as my dear wife was exiting said same room with a hot cup of coffee (I am just not human until I hav...

To all my JU friends and aquaintances, I would like to wish every one a very Merry Christmas and a happy, safe, prosperous New Year. I have enjoyed the interactions this year, both the positives and negatives. The thing I enjoy most about JU is this open interaction between people who might not necessarily mix in 'real' life. So thanks one and all for the on-going education. I will continue to look forward to learning more thanks to you all. Particularly, I would like to thank Shovel...

For those of you who don't know or haven't heard about the escalalting incidences in Sydney over the last few weeks, here is a recap: after an incident where a couple of lifesavers were bashed, local groups decided to stage a protest at the beach, Cronulla, where this occurred. This led to one of the most sickening displays of violence I have ever had the misfortune to witness. Retaliatory actions were carried out by roving gangs of youths in cars at a number of beach-side suburbs, includin...

I went to sleep on the train on the way home from the city last night. I have always been wary of doing this but, man I was so tired I couldn’t stop myself, no matter what I did. I even tried to burn myself by heating up my cigarette lighter. All this did is cause a nasty-looking blister that I had to pop with a pin this morning. My wariness is for a number of reasons. First of all, the nodding-head look is not cool, regardless of where you are. I’ve watched commuters hold up their ...

Recently I had the opportunity to attend my 25th High School Reunion. To start with, I couldn’t believe 25 years had passed so quickly. I also found it difficult to believe some of the people I saw at the reunion were ever at school with me. A lot of them looked so old. I was also surprised when one of the Brothers, our former vice-principal and disciplinarian, couldn’t remember me at all. He walked around the room shaking hands with all of us, relaying little anecdotes he could remembe...

Just about everyday, I catch a bus to work. I spend the five minute ride watching cars go past, usually cars with enough seating for 5 adults. Most of the time, however, there is only ever the driver. Haven’t these people heard of car-pooling? Don’t they know there is a severe petrol shortage? Or are they oblivious drones, so used to the way things are they’ll never adapt to the way things will have to be. Occasionally I go past cars with children in the back seat, strapped in tight a...

Having not been online to check my blog for a few days, I came on today to a wonderful sight. I've passed the 10,000 points mark for my blog. I know it doesn't really mean anything but it pleased me regardless. Wow, 10,000 points... I can remember when I wasn't even close to 5k and excited about the prospect of hitting that particular mark. Now, without me watching or even doing any points whoring to boost it, I'm over the 10k mark. Woohoo... Thanks to anybody and everybody who read ...

I'm not politically correct. But then I'm not politically incorrect either. I am my own person and choose to think and speak as I see fit. I am polite. I say please and thank you. I hold doors open for people and I do my best to remain patient and mindful. But I don't give a rats arse for anybody who thinks our language and culture need to be sanitised to the point where it is as weak as watered down beer. Damn them and their PC ways, I say. In today's Sydney Morning Herald, an a...

THE FEMALE SCALE DISCLAIMER: The following survey is not intended to be taken seriously by anyone. It is intended as a humourous piece, even though it is in the Miscellaneous Thread As most women have said at one time in their lives, all men are bastards. Hell, even our mothers think we’re bastards, and they should know. Men don’t just become bastards overnight, though. There is a certain amount of conditioning they undergo before becoming bastards. Most of this conditioning is don...