'Bout time I wrote something here.

Having a bit of a blast from the past this coming Monday. Off to see The Specials at the Enmore. One of my favourite bands from the late 70s, early 80s. Around the time when I was 14 or 15 and highly impressionable. Nothing's changed then. Music's still important. Thought you were supposed to grow out of these things. Going with a couple of old friends from those days who know how special The Specials were.

Then me and the misses are off to see Elvis Costello in November,

also at the Enmore.

When I was a lad I used think I would name a child Rudy

after the above song.

Of course I got over that...and took our son's middle name from

Costello's real first name (look it up if you have to).

It's a funny old world.

Also in november am off to Melbourne with a pal from work

to see a taping

of Rockwiz. The best music show on TV.

At the end of the show the two guest stars sing a duet.

This one always makes me smile...

.

Peta, Peta pumpkin eater.

Should never have looked at the PETA site. I've been pretty much vegetarian for the last 13 years. When I started I wasn't going to eat any flesh at all. But back then there weren't many options for the lazy vegetarian when eating out. Menus were: meat, meat, meat, meat, chicken, a bland salad and fish. And going out to family and friends to eat there was a great panic about what to cook for the weird, attention seeking vegie. So I compromised my already pretty flimsy ideology and decided to eat fish. Ater all they have a happy and free life out in the ocean at least for a while before they are caught.
But now I'm thinking what's the difference between killing a fish and any other animal? So now perhaps more inconvenience for everyone when they invite the attention seeker. Sorry.

It's really a decision I have to make every day. Isn't it alright to eat an animal if it has been raised specifically to eat and is treated and killed humanely? It wouldn't have had a life at all if it hadn't been raised for humans to eat.

At the moment for me I think this is okay for others. That is, I'm not a great campaigner for everyone to become vegetarian. But I would encourage meat eaters to be sure the animals they eat have been treated humanely.

People wouldn't eat their pet dog (unless they were starving) or even their pet cow quite often. So why is it alright to eat an animal just because you haven't met it?

I wonder if there are many vegetarians who are strongly religious - particularly in the Judeo/Christian tradition? In my limited knowledge of these things didn't God give the animals to man(un)kind for his amusement and dining pleasure? So if you were a Christian/Muslim/Jew type of person and a vegetarian would you be going against the big G's will? Perhaps even condemned to burn in the pits of Hell for all eternity?

Maybe that's the point. A God that's happy to go around smiting and condemning and being vengeful and so on would be all for the throat cutting, grilling and mastication of some of his lesser creations. Guess that'd be reason #12 in my extensive list entitled "why I'm not a Christian."

Is this not my beautiful life?

This morning while washing the car I started to wonder if I had become the thing I used to hate; the cliched suburban family guy, washing his car on Saturday morning. Well there I was, so I suppose I have! If you see what I mean.

"This is not my beautiful house, this is not my beautiful wife."

Not that there's anything wrong with my beautiful house or beautiful wife or for that matter my beautiful kids. Some parts of the cliche make up for the others.

I wrote a song years ago - one of the many could've been hit singles - with a chorus that went something like: "I guess I'll get married some day, live someone else's idea of life." In fact it was exactly like that.

How do you know which bits of your life are what you planned and which bits just happen. I guess that's an easy question if you have a plan. Note to self - get a plan.

Naturally enough washing the car brought on thoughts of obeying rules and social justice.

What with the drought and water restrictions, we have been washing the car using a bucket (as per the law) for the last couple (?) of years. As soon as the restrictions were changed and it was decreed that car washing could be performed using a hose with a trigger nozzle, off we went to buy said nozzle. 

So I'm thinking about all the people who carried on washing their cars with their good old fashioned hoses. Their story often being that they just don't give a shit or reckon they can use less water with a hose than a bucket. Well too bad!  Work out how to use a bucket with less water! Maybe they could settle for a little worse a washing job. Is it more important to have your own car as shiny as possible or to save a bit of water for everyone? Is it always the same people who don't care about saving water for others who whinge about "paying taxes to support those bludgers who don't want to work and bla, bla, bla, bla"? 

Saw these two guys washing their cars with a hose before the laws changed. Typical!

Are they the same racist, narrow minded bigots who think it's patriotic to drape themselves in the Australian flag and go out looking to beat up/annoy/harass those who are not exactly like themselves? Are they the ones with the sticker on the back window proclaiming "Real Aussies drive utes" or the stars of the Southern Cross or that great classic "love it or leave" or the charming young mother I saw driving her family Torago with the insightful "Speak English or die" bumper sticker? Oh, her lucky, lucky kids.

Have I gone too far, have I  drawn too long a bow? Probably, but car washing does make you think doesn't it?!

For the record, real Aussies drive small Japanese cars, were often born overseas and eat quiche... hang on, is that real men? I can't remember.