Nostradamus

I have always considered Nostradamus to be something of a fantasy for fortune tellers and gypsys all over the world. His 'predictions' were so general that they could mean anything. In fact, if people want to connect two things together, then they almost certainly can. Earlier this year I was mocking one of my friends for loaning a book on Nostradamus out from the library and reading some of his predictions. I took the book off him and was flicking through it when I came across a passage which had me quite confused:

Beasts wild with hunger will cross the rivers,
The greater part of the battle will be against Hitler.
He will cause great men to be dragged in a cage of iron,
When the son of Germany obeys no law.

The very fact that Hitler's name is mentioned is quite amazing, especially seeing as it was written hundreds of years ago, and Hitler is not a very common name. I took it apon myself to see what else I could discover, and thankfully found out that there is another translation of the original passage:

Beasts mad with hunger will swim across rivers,
Most of the army will be against the Lower Danube.
The great one shall be dragged in an iron cage
When the child brother will observe nothing.

Apparently Hitler or Hister is a place on the Danube river. This made me feel much better, even though it leaves some food for thought. I will rest easier knowing that Nostradamus was merely an old crack pot, rather than a supernatural crack pot.

The Future of Australian Soccer

After our recent win against Uruguay there has been an enormous amount of support for the Socceroos. Before this win we all wanted our boys to succeed, but never dreamed it would happen. Now that it has, the future is far from certain, but this is what I think will happen:

Naturally, we have all been die-hard 'football' fans all our lives, and are not surprised with the victory over Uruguay in the slightest. In fact, it is fairly safe to say that we will go on to win the World Cup. From there Australia will become the most famous and successful Footballing nation to have ever existed.
From such simple beginning we have used our sporting prowess to beat the odds, and become champions. Cricket, all other forms of football, and all other Australian winning teams will be cancelled, and all Australians will be put into Amateur Soccer teams. Riots will ensure after every national game, and deaths will not be uncommon. All of Europe's soccer riots will seem boring in comparison. All in all, Australia will become the greatest sporting country, and civilization to have ever existed, and it all stemmed from a simple victory...

I am not a huge soccer fan, but when we win anything it is a time for celebration. So, as you can imagine, we are always celebrating.

Categories: Australia, Events, Sport

Brisbane Bomb Hoaxer Caught

On Monday a Brisbanite hoaxed authorities into believing that he was going to blow up several buses. This shut down Bisbane's public transport system for several hours, due to the increase alert on terrorist attacks after the new anti-terror laws.

Rodney Watson has been acused of being involved in the phone calls, as his finger prints were matched to several pay phones and his voice was identical to that on the calls.

There is nothing funny, or interesting about bomb hoaxes. They disrupt everyone's lives and cause distress when none is needed. I am glad that these calls were taken seriously by the police, because if there was a danger, then it could have been avoided.

Categories: Events

My Favourite Songs

I feel that it is important to know someone before you can respect their opinions. Because this blog is mostly my opinions about different events, then obviously I need to tell you all something about myself. One of the most interesting facets about a person is the kind of music they listen to. So, here is my list of 5 star rated songs at the moment (they are constantly changing):

• Burn Baby Burn - Ash
• Clocks - Coldplay
• DOA - Foo Fighters
• Smells like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
• Waiting for the Sun - Powderfinger
• Up & Down and Back Again - Powderfinger
• No one knows - Queens of the Stone Age
• First it Giveth - Queens of the Stone Age
• No more heroes - The Stranglers
• Heaven coming down - The Tea Party
• Paint it Black - The Tea Party

Comment if you like these songs, or hate them if you want, although I doubt that is possible...

Categories: Misc

The Best Things About Australia

I live in and love Australia. It is one of those places that gets your heart racing with pride, and passion. The numerous sporting competitions, public events, and national traditions live on. These are just a few of my favourite things about Australia.

1. Ned Kelly - What an awesome character to have as a villian
2. Thongs - Also known as pluggers, they are a required to be Australian
3. Barby - Gathering round the steaming hot plate is a tradition around Christmas
4. Dual Flush Toilets - I can't believe no one else has these
5. Meat Pies - A must in an Aussie diet
6. Tim Tams - A chocolate biscuit to die for
7. The laid back attitude
8. The native animals - Although Kangaroos are considered a pest, they are good for the tourist industry
9. The Hills Hoist - A clothes line that everyone in Australia has swung on at least once in their life
10. The Beaches - In my opinion, they are the best in the world

So, there is the list. If you are going to dispute are agree with any of them, put in a comment.

Categories: Australia, Misc

How Pop Culture Changes Youth

This topic came from an English asignment I have been working on, and I felt that many of you could do well to heed its warning.

By Pop Culture, I am refering to the music and celebrity worship of youth of today. Almost all music genres are constantly refering to drugs, sex, alcohol, and violence, and this message is bombarding youth. It is almost impossible to miss it completely.

Before the media became mainstream, culture was based around family, and religion. Both of these taught good moral values - love one another, loyalty, and many other 'good' manners. In recent times the culture of family and religion has come into disarray, and these values have also become less common.

Luckily for Australia, the celebrity worship of the US has not become prominant, because of The Tall Poppy Syndrome. This syndrome is were the Australian public destroys anyway they see as being full of themselves, or significantly above the rest.

So, keep it up Australia. Let's keep those Americans out, and start to rebuild the 'old' Aussie Culture.

A Story - One word at a time - Meme

This is it.
The way of the future.
It is a classic word game, often played in classrooms around the world.
The rules are simple:
add one word to the story at a time, but it has to make sense, and
no offensive words, or storylines

Everyone is welcome to participate, just put your word in the comments section.
I'll start first:

Categories: Misc, Humour

The Castle - The best movie ever

In my opinion no movie even comes close to the humour of the Castle. There are so many funny scenes, and catch phrases that comes from this single film. For those who don't know it, it is an Australian comedy about the Kerrigan family. They live in a house next to the airport, but are not happy when a letter arrives telling them they are being forced to move.

Naturally, they fight to keep their house and go to the local lawyer, Dennis Denuto, who spends most of the time fixing his printer. Eventually, after going through the supreme court with the help of a QC, they get their house back.

It stared many classic actors, some of whom went on to do... not greater, but better paying films. They include Michael Caton, Eric Bana, and Wayne Hope.

Some of the most memorable quotes from this awesome movie are:

"Dale dug a hole"

"Tell him he's dreamin'"

"This is goin' straight to the pool room"

"I dug another hole... It's filling with water."

Several weeks after writing this post I came across a classic piece of observing life, which accurately portrays The Castle to real Australian life. This great blog shows the similarities between the 'hole' characteristics of Australian society. Thanks to Musings of a Man and his Hat for such a great piece of observation.

Categories: Misc, Movies