Tales Of A Caffeine Junkie

Tipped Over The Edge

2007-04-26T10:02:00.001+10:00

I'm not enjoying being dead last and third-last in my footy tipping competitions. Probablistically, selecting tips by flipping a coin would do better than me (so far). (I've been considering pitting myself against a magic 8-ball for the rest of the season for some blog material, but I think being beaten by an inanimate object would result in general craziness and/or a fragmented 8-ball.) But Science help you if I'm going to sit here and be e-slagged for my Cricket World Cup tips when I get 2 outta 2. Here, read!

Hi Patrick,

Welcome to the tipping results for Round 10 of the Cricket World Cup 2007 season brought to you by footytips.com.au.

YOUR TIPPING:
Poor tipping, you scored 2 points.

RESULTS:

Winning Team Score Losing Team Score
Sri Lanka 289 (5) def. New Zealand 208 (10)
Australia 153 (3) def. South Africa 149 (10)

Regards,

The team from footytips.com.au

G'day footytips.com.au,

Go fuck yourself!

Love,
Pat

Had Scotland defeated the Netherlands, I dare say I would have won the cricket tipping. Shame that clash of the titans was the match that foiled me!

Bored? Want more out of the Internet?

2007-04-12T16:54:00.000+10:00

The astutest/most bored of my readers may have noticed that I've included my Google Reader Shared Items in the linkbar to your right. Why is that awesome, you ask? Well, as you may or may not know, posting a blog is at the bottom of my boredom chain while surfing the Internet. Reading items from RSS feeds is way higher - and something I do often. So I'm using my shared items as a way of approving the post or saying it's amusing - and it takes me just one click.

So basically, if you're bored or ever wished that I updated my blog often, try reading my shared items, as I update them regularly through the working week. I tried to incorporate shared item snippets into my blog's sidebar, but despite Blogger claiming their new features are pure unadulterated sex, most of them don't work if you don't host your blog on Blogger (which I don't - courtesy of Brad's generosity). Even more encouragingly, the Blogger team say that their "Layouts" features are "unlikely to be supported soon if ever". Honesty is great, but it's not so nice to alienate the more technical users after you've forced them to upgrade.

Back to the shared posts thing: you can subscribe to the RSS feed of my shared items if you'd prefer to be notified when I've shared new stuff. So essentially you can "feed" off my feeds, and only what I consider the best of what I've read. It's not sloppy seconds, it's just recycling.

I'm going to stop typing before all these degrees of abstraction start to get to me.

Patrick Presents The Champ Car World Series Rogered By Seven

2007-04-11T18:19:00.000+10:00

Since the late 90s/early 00s when Formula One^(TM) started to turn into pole-to-finish processions - and it became clear that not all races in America are on ovals - I've had an interest in the CART/ChampCar/Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered By Ford series. Gradually the series lost prominence as Americans stopped driving in it, replaced by Formula One^(TM) hopefuls and rejects, and more oval tracks were replaced with road circuits. Eventually Toyota and Honda stopped supplying engines to CART teams and defected to IRL, leaving Ford as the lone engine supplier. But it was better racing than ever and Channel 10 kept showing it, so I kept giving the VCR a workout and watching the race on Tuesdays.

The owners of ChampCar reinvented the series to be a lower cost, more competitive alternative to all other premier racing series. They introduced a turbo boost button (now used in A1 GP) to encourage overtaking and markings for different tyre compounds (now used in Formula One^(TM)) in the past few years. The rules prohibit blocking and there's a good serving of overtaking and wall-to-wall stoushes. I'd say it's the motorsport fan's series.

Heck, the IRL series which successfully usurped CART as North America's best open wheel series is even considering a merger with CART - after years of poaching the best drivers, tracks, engines and sponsors. There are even ties Down Under beyond hosting a race: there's a Team Australia and Australian Will Power (yes, Will Power) won Rookie of the Year in 2006. Aussie and former Minardi owner Paul Stoddart has started up the Minardi Team USA operation for 2007 and Kevin Kalhoven not only co-owns a team, but was one of the three main contributors to help keep ChampCar afloat during tough times. Things are at their most interesting and competitive levels for the past decade from both a racing and an Australian standpoint.

So I was in a state of disbelief as to why the first race in Las Vegas wasn't broadcast...especially considering Power won it, the first win for an Aussie in the 20+ year history of the series. A bit of Googling later and I found my answer...

...Channel Seven. No wait, Channel Fucking Seven. Their purchase of V8 Supercars rights from Channel 10 was reported heavily due to the cash involved, but I hadn't heard a whisper about them buying the ChampCar rights off Channel 10. Not a replay, nothing (except for the Surfers Paradise race, hopefully). Must be tough fitting it into those 2am timeslots. Who knows what kind of tyrannical wrath the late-night fanatics of Guthy-Renker Australia or Passions repeats could muster?!?

At least Formula One^(TM) is interesting again!

Hockey heats up in both hemispheres

2007-04-10T16:36:00.000+10:00

It's time for hockey season! The NHL playoffs are about to start. I may have won our fantasy hockey league (thanks to Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Sidney Crosby I'd say), but I can't tip hockey games for squat. Here's what will become the evidence:

Western Conference Quarter Finals:
Detroit Red Wings vs. Calgary Flames, 2-4
Anaheim Ducks vs. Minnesota Wild, 4-2
Vancouver Canucks vs. Dallas Stars, 4-3
Nashville Predators vs. San Jose Sharks, 2-4

Eastern Conference Quarter Finals:
Buffalo Sabres vs. New York Islanders, 4-0
New Jersey Devils vs. Tampa Bay Lighting, 4-2
Atlanta Thrashers vs. New York Rangers, 4-1
Ottawa Senators vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3

In the other hemisphere (the good one), there's Melbourne ICE and the AIHL starting this Saturday. I'll miss going to the game, but most worthily, in order to see Dylan Moran for the Comedy Festival. Mind you, I'll probably end up tuning in to 1611AM to listen to live coverage (fuck yeah!) if I can find it on the radio dial, at least for a bit in the arvo.

Props to Google Calendar and Melbourne sporting teams

2007-03-30T11:32:00.000+10:00

I didn't fall in love with Google Calendar the first time I tried it, but as a quite content user of Gmail and Google Reader, I decided to try it out again this morning, prompted by the lure of hockey, no less.

I saw that the reigning Australian Ice Hockey League minor premiers, Melbourne ICE, had their home game schedule available in Google Calendar and a few clicks later, it was all beautifully displayed with my calendar. In fact, I liked it so much, I searched for a Melbourne Demons Google Calendar. Even though there wasn't one, I quickly whipped one up. Hopefully it provides a service to one other Demons fan, I might even go post it on a Demons message board or something.

Click to add it to your
Demons AFL Games (in Melbourne)

For any ICE fans, the season is only two weeks away, and opens with a double header of home games against Adelaide. Check out their entire schedule in HTML, or the home games in Google Calendar. Gimme a holler if you're interested in rockin up!

Does anyone out there use Google Calendar? I'll probably create a fixture for the indoor soccer team when the new season starts.

Aussie F1 GP and a tiny bit of AFL

2007-03-21T15:01:00.000+11:00

The Formula One^(TM) Grand Prix came and went and all of the annual woodwork whingers complaining about the use of taxpayer funds to support the GP or the lack of real V8 racing can all forget about it for another 358 days and whine about something else. It's a big event with worldwide exposure. As much as anyone might care to argue, if Bernie Ecclestone says he wants an Australian Grand Prix at night, sooner or later, the Australian Grand Prix will be at night or will cease to exist (in its present form).

The race itself? Not too exciting, but enough to keep interest. The Coulthard-Wurz crash was big, but Lewis Hamilton's pass around Fernando Alonso at the first corner was pretty damn confident, if not impressive. It wasn't as ballsy as Juan Pablo "Nutsack" Montoya's F1 entrance where he passed Michael Schumacher at the first corner in his second or so race in Brazil, but you can consider me a great fan of Hamilton nonetheless.

Kimi Raikkonen was near-faultless, with just a little "brain fade" that anyone who's completed a 58 lap simulation of the Australian GP on a video game can identify with. (While I'm at it: shoutout to F1 World Grand Prix for Nintendo 64, thanks for being there on Saturday mornings before I learned to sleep in.) Many people want Kimi to show a little more enthusiasm or charisma - well, you're looking in the wrong place. F1 drivers have been trained to be PR robots as not to cause controversy. Obviously Kimi takes it further. I bet he's a great poker player. But you don't need to show you're happy, and if that's the biggest complaint that the great unwashed has after a pole-to-flag victory, well, I'd cop that pretty easily if I had a silver plate in one hand and 10 points in my pocket. I'm also one of the few people who can actually understand what he's saying. I'm willing to translate!

One last F1 thing: Kimi went from McLaren, my favourite team (that actually wins) since 1998, to Ferrari, my least favourite team since 1997 when I started watching Formula One^(TM). In soccer, you'd call that a defection (harsh as it is), wouldn't you? People who spoke to me about Raikkonen's victory (family members, the pizza guy who saw my McLaren jacket) seemingly expected me to supply a bit of "Kimi, Kimi, Kimi! Ra, ra, ra!", to no avail. So while I am pleased that it wasn't a Schumacher on the top step of the podium, I can't be happy about the result. I've trained myself to not go for the red cars with the horse on them and I don't plan on getting used to them beating home the silver McLarens!

The AFL season's nearly upon us. I think I miss footy tipping more than the footy itself right now. Ben Cousins appears to have added "caught on drugs" to his growing CV of drunken antics, drink driving, car crashes and doing runners from the police. With many other Eagles' late-night behaviour under scrutiny, I wonder if they're playing a game of West Coast Bingo, just marking off each infraction.

I'll leave you with a question. In 2008, what will there be more of: blades on a shaver or captains of the Brisbane Lions? (That means over 22% of the team is a captain)

Tuesdays: toight like a toiger

2007-03-21T13:14:00.001+11:00

You know, on Tuesdays, you can go to places like the cinemas or the Melbourne Comedy Festival and receive a discount simply because it's Tuesday. (And you're a cheapskate.)

Oh, you're familiar/not familiar with the concept? That's good/bad. But remember, it's not Half-Price Tuesday or Super Tuesday, it's Tightarse Tuesday. But now, I may have an even better moniker. One that I can't believe I never considered in the years I've been using the term Tightarse Tuesday.

We should call it Jewsday.

Trickier than a squirrel running on a telephone wire

2007-03-15T09:58:00.000+11:00

Courtesy of Josh, I watched a copy of the weekend's Barcelona vs Real Madrid soccer game, covered by American TV station GolTV. I thought I'd seen a lot of wacky colour commentators (nearly all of them Scottish or Northern English), but they've got nothing on the one they had for the Barca-Real game: Ray Hudson. With such excitement and such willingness to make up analogies on the fly, I'm proclaiming him as the Murray Walker of soccer. At first, you think you can't stand him, but by the end, his enthusiasm becomes endearing and his nonsense entertaining!

So here's a shoutout to Ray. Be sure to check the Wikipedia page for a fair few notable quotes.

Ideal for the thirsty, lazy man...

2007-03-06T17:16:00.000+11:00

...I believe I meet all three of those criteria! A big shoutout to the dude who made this robotic beer launching fridge. A damn sweet contraption. It may shake your beer a little too much, but this is an area of research that needs more attention!

Also a shoutout to Matt Trentini, I saw the aforementioned fridge on his site first.

Shoutout to "Razor"

2007-03-02T16:22:00.000+11:00

If Jacques Chirac-tober proved nothing else (if anything at all), it's that theme months add a small touch of life where there was significant lack of before. Therefore, I think I've found a theme for March: the month of shoutouts.

Shoutouts are the laziest way of blog writing and that means I'll do it more often - perhaps every weekday? To add more content, I'll try and find some linkage for ya.

Today's shoutout goes to a master of the shutout: Ottawa Senators goalie "Razor" Ray Emery. This guy a fighting machine, going toe-to-toe on a goalie and then on a tough-guy skater during the Senators-Sabres brawl last week (props to Brad for the link). It's somewhere between unheard of and mental for a goalie to take on a recognised fighter - and I respect guys willing to tread that line.

When his fists aren't doing the talking, he can post a handy 2-0 shutout that gives me a big edge in our Fantasy Hockey League. Which I'm leading after trailing most of the season, may I add. And he's black. Believe it. So Razor, you're the man.

Link-O-Rama!

2007-03-01T16:20:00.000+11:00

Hey champs and chumps! I've been reasonably busy at work recently and hadn't hit the level of inactivity/boredom required to write a blog. However, I have a small collection of notes and links from stuff I've seen online recently, so I might as well share them with you. Uncyclopedia rules all. Particularly their Did You Know section! Sports Argument Wiki isn't bad though, even if sometimes extremely subtle.

For example, did you know...
...that, according to Aesop, a tortoise and a hare agreed to race? The hare took off at a tremendous pace, but lay down to sleep on the way. The slow but steady tortoise thus emerged victorious. Moral: Tortoises frequently carry rohypnol. Never leave your drink unattended when tortoises are about.
...that there is no other word for thesaurus?
...that the flooding of New Orleans was actually caused by a suicide plumber?
...it's not the cough that carries you off but the coffin they carry you off in?
...that censorship is a tactic practiced by oppressive governments who believe in upholding an arbitrary social standard for the so-called "good of the people" while simultaneously imposing their peremptory moral values on their unwilling populace by dictating what is and what is not necessary for them to experience?

Other Uncyclopedia links:
People with distinguished names
List of weapons that don't exist but should (see Chuck-Nuns)
How to: Start a Religion. Truly brilliant and features one of my favourite style of jokes: the "say one thing but link to what you really mean". For example: Hire people to join the ministry, advertise on television, and pay stores to only accept your religion's prayers as currency. Enjoy that and you might enjoy this too, particularly if you're a fan of flowcharts. And deep down, aren't most of us closet flowchart fanatics? ... Me neither.

Escher's "Crazy Stairs" emulated in Lego!
Simpsons Movie Trailer
Movie WAVs: perfect for setting your ringtone or message tone. I recommend Eurotrip, Talladega Nights or Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

(\ /)
(O.o)
(> <)
This is an EVIL BUNNY! Well it scares the crap outta me. Aaah!

For the tech-inclined: I've converted from Bloglines to Google Reader for RSS feeds, thanks to a few nifty things with the interface and the sweet, sweet stats. Plus, I can share items with the click of a button, so any articles I feel are noteworthy, I'll share them quickly without having to assemble a post. This is something I will update throughout days at work, so check out my shared items now! I might even get around to upgrading my blog so it'll hook up with Google's add-ons. It'd be cool to see the shared items appear in my blog's sidebar, for example.

One final shoutout to the Faceoff Hockey Show, the best damn podcast there is. Currently, it's the only one I'm listening to (now that NFL season is over), so I'm trying a few radio podcasts (Tony Martin, Hamish and Andy, Merrick and Rosso) to try and uncover some gold. I love gooooolllld!

Victory! Victory! The winning blinds team!

2007-02-22T13:37:00.000+11:00

I'd like to give a shout out to Melbourne Victory and their 6-0 thumping of arch-rival Adelaide in the A-League Grand Final last Sunday. It was a little odd as my teams never seem to win anything, I don't really know what to do when it happens. Ask any Melbourne Demons fan under 40. The Socceroos' World Cup qualification and the Socceroos' late comeback to win 3-1 over Japan in the World Cup are probably as close as I've come to a big game victory feeling.

But hey, we won the "toilet seat"! Archie's 5 can't be denied and the over-celebrating Muscat had the thrustin' (the less mentioned about that the better)

My Top 10 Albums of 2006: #1-5

2007-02-12T15:39:00.000+11:00

Here they are: the grand champions of the music year, according to yours truly. Who will join Bloc Party (2005) and Idlewild (2004) as winners of the coveted #1 album? The answer is only a few pixels south...

1. Starky - Starky
After capturing my attention during support slots including Snow Patrol, the album proved to be my find of the year. Beginning with a driving riff, the opening track Me Michelle escalates into a riot of madness by the end of the song. From there on in, Starky control the tempo of their songs consumately, unleashing fierce arrows and heartfelt pleas alike. It's indie with enough rock (and enough bass) to keep me happy, mixing longer atmospheric songs with short, sharp, rocking tracks. There is one strange thing about it: I can't remember having the lead single (in this case, Hey Bang Bang) as my least favourite song on an album before, even if I'd still give it 7/10. Spin this album!

2. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever They Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
These guys created such a buzz, such an incredibly rabid impression, seemingly from most people's first listen. I'm not sure whether it was the punch of raw rock and/or roll frenzy as exhibited at the start of I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor or that the lyrics, recounting tales of late-night mischief, struck a chord with the party boys and girls out there. All I know is that the Arctic Monkeys sound terrific musically and that I, too, enjoy their delightfully accented phrases all album long.

3. The Fray - How To Save A Life
I immediately liked The Fray - it's pretty easy on the ear and the songwriting is terrific. In fact, I found out they were playing at the Prince of Wales just a week after I got the album, went along and had a great time! As honed and well produced as the album may be, it's good to know that it can be performed live (All At Once and Look After You particularly) and that bands like that actually do tour. The album runs the gamut of tender piano ballads to piano rock songs and they all sound very polished and very piano. It contains so many great songs that you might as well listen to the whole thing.

4. The Strokes - First Impressions Of Earth
A strong, well crafted album of rock songs that still retain that Strokes touch, even if they've broadened their sound. I love their stuff because many songs have such a brooding mood to it, like a pissed off cougar waiting to pounce. When they do pounce, the speakers explode with guitars and genuine aggression. Juicebox is a terrific example and the best damn track on the record.

5. Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine
I've still been quietly lamenting the loss of quaint little indie Eskimo Joe who made Girl, one of the albums that got me interested in the Australian music scene in the first place, while still paying my dues to the efforts of the more songwriting (or dare I say it: hit) concious Eskimo Joe. This album sounds more designed for a big live arena (take Comfort You, Beating Like A Drum or the title track for example), but also designed to please the masses that'd fill that arena. While Kav can keep writing those choruses that so many of us love to sing, they'll remain a player and keep winning more fans. Simple as that.

My Top 10 Albums of 2006: #6-10

2007-02-02T17:30:00.000+11:00

6. Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
Finally they hit the big time! Eyes Open has all the elements of their brilliant third album Final Straw and merely elaborates them a bit more, as bands do when they grow in stature. Gary Lightbody's lyrics and vocals are as clever and as relevant as ever and the band supports him well. It's got a few of those wank/epic tracks, Open Your Eyes and Shut Your Eyes (was that deliberate?), which push my buttons in a good way, but I could listen to the less heralded tracks Headlights On Dark Roads and It's Beginning To Get To Me all day too.

7. The Rapture - Pieces Of The People We Love
By about September, I was looking for an album with a good blend of rock elements with a dancefloor/electro feel, something in the vein of Jamiroquai or Datarock, and was wondering where I'd find it. Both of the albums' main tracks, Get Myself Into It and the title track, had been on my rotation for a month, so I took a stab at the album and was greatly rewarded. It's a good one for Summer, as some might say. Mind you, it's not for everyone, especially if you can't stand the high pitch of the singing.

8. Kasabian - Empire
I'd heard about these guys a few years back as one of the next wave of UK bands to try and take on the world. I understand why. Empire got me from the first listen, just before Christmas! That means I can't give a longevity guarantee, but it might a few spots lower on the list to counter-balance that. If you like indie rock, spin Shoot The Runner, Empire, Stuntman and The Doberman and that should cover the spectrum of it...and all brilliantly.

9. Muse - Black Holes And Revelations
While Muse took this album in a less familiar direction, their songwriting skills haven't gone far. Supermassive Black Hole, Starlight, Knights Of Cydonia and Exo-Politics all strike the listener. In their softer moments, they tread water at times (Invincible sounds like a soppy Olympic theme) but end up regaining your interest. Black Holes And Revelations is by no means up there with their last album Absolution, but it's a great album and it sounds even better live, I assure you!

10. The Matches - Decomposer
#10 was a tough position to fill. So many decent albums, but ultimately disappointing compared to their predecessors. Instead I filled this final slot with a record that pleasantly surprised me. I've only recently got on board this album, but it truly sounds unique and I'm happy to call it the punk release of 2006. The Matches have their own musical style that makes it tough to listen to (more on this in a future Top 5) but once you appreciate the subtleties, like the witty one-liner lyrics, Decomposer emerges as a top-10 worthy record. They brought in 9 producers for these 13 tracks (with no more than one producer per track), but it doesn't sound like a mish mash, as each song manifests an energy of its own. A band willing to push some boundaries deserves some props.

Decade Of Dynamite

2007-01-29T17:50:00.000+11:00

For all the sport nuts, the franchise managers out there, I came across an interesting article. It refers to hockey, but the concept is universal. Basically, imagine you've assumed control of a team, be it an expansion franchise, you're a Russian billionaire or tyrannical dictator, whatever.

You can have any 20 players from the league (say 10 for cricket or soccer, 40 for NFL etc), at your choice, with all salary cap restrictions waived on two conditions:

Each of the 20 players must be given iron-clad 10-year contracts
Your club is barred from trading and drafting for the next decade

Imagine that! You can assemble your dream team of the future, but you'd be bound to your decisions for good. As a prospective manager, never before would your actions be so transparent. You'd have to consider everything from potential down to injury proneness when planning so far ahead. Plus it fits in with the youth policies that I end up adopting in video games, regardless of the sport, so it's a concept I think is quite shrewd.

Anyone motivated enough out there to throw out their team for their chosen sport? I'd be willing to match it with a team of my own. Unleash your own "Decade of Dynamite" (as the article calls it)! Any other thoughts on this concept? Would a team dominate from having such talent at their disposal, or tank due to a lack of fresh talent through the draft and an ever-aging squad?

My Top 10 Gigs of 2006

2007-01-24T16:49:00.000+11:00

1. Gyroscope, Hi-Fi Bar
A supreme performance. They left everything they had on the stage. Lead singer Dan routinely threw up off stage, but we could still see. To top it off, they kept saying they'd finish the night, possibly at the expense of their next show in Adelaide, which delighted the raucous Melbourne crowd even more! It's gigs like that when you (in the crowd) feel a rapport that you've built up with the band. Their sets at Thank God It's Over and the Northcote were fantastic too (the Northcote one made sure we saw the Hi-Fi gig), but I won't clog the list up twice!

2. Franz Ferdinand, Palace
I'd seen them the year before and they were even better this time. The new material rocked out, so there was less filler. Take Me Out still garners a mammoth response (especially after the pause, then "Take Me Out" from the entire crowd!)

3. Hard-Fi, Palace
I'd liked the album, but I was unsure about whether the dance/electro beats could coexist in a rock environment on stage. I shouldn't have been concerned. They were entertaining, funny and got the crowd involved just when it was needed. Hailing from Ali G's suburb of Staines in London, they know soccer crowds can chant and amp up a gig ("We're the stars of CCTV!") - one of my favourite things when done well.

4. The Strokes, Festival Hall
I've never seen such a diverse crowd. It's the only time I'd been asked if I had any pills at a rock concert! They didn't talk heaps, but they played plenty and did it with gusto. The set list was well crafted from their three albums, so kudos there. A few points off for Festival Hall's renowned sticky atmosphere.

5. Coldplay, Rod Laver Arena
Another band working off three albums with a pretty solid set list. The grand entrance of Square One with a countdown timer on screen until the big rock change in the song was impressive. Lead singer Chris Martin mingled with the fans and was chatty as usual, with less preachiness than I expected.

6. Eskimo Joe, Forum
7. Snow Patrol (+ Starky), Metro
8. After The Fall (+ Starky), East Brunswick Club
9. The Fray, Prince of Wales
10. Motion City Soundtrack, Hi-Fi Bar

Highly commended:
Arctic Monkeys (+ The Grates), Palace
U2, Telstra Dome

Best Festival: Thank God It's Over, Sidney Myer Music Bowl
Fuck $100-plus tickets, long queues and limited access to stages during sets (that's you, Big Day Out!). TGIO had a casual and friendly atmosphere, several stages separated by a hill so the noise didn't travel and a great line up of local talent including Gyroscope, Dallas Crane, Shihad, Kisschasy and Karnivool, to name a few. The MySpace stage showcasing generally unsigned bands made the festival though. There's nothing like a chillout sort of area when you don't expect to hear a great band, but keep leaving pleasantly surprised. The crowd seemed to be more genuinely interested in having a good time than at many other shows. The only thing missing was the beer, as it was an underage-friendly gig, but a couple beforehand and then onto the Red Bulls took care of that.

Chicks, Czechs, Beers And Sets

2007-01-23T16:05:00.000+11:00

In a tradition dating back to a Marat Safin's stirring fourth round victory over the great Pete Sampras, back in 2001 or 2002, my sisters and I have bought tickets for the second Monday night on centre court. The theory is that it's the last night before prices start spiralling, but still with a high quality matchup. Last night's Rafael Nadal/Andy Murray encounter lived up to the traditional billing.

I knocked off work early to beat the peak hour Punt Rd standstill (successfully, although Springvale Rd was hardly a breeze) and roamed the grounds of Melbourne Park, Heineken in hand. The vocal Czech "Berdych Army" were out in force, with 11 of them game enough to do a little body painting to explain who they were. Nikolai Davydenko had a little support too, but mainly from Aussies who couldn't resist paraphrasing Mike Williamson's famous commentary of the Jesaulenko mark: "Davydenko, you beauty!" Nice.

Three or so games later, it was off for a wander around the back courts, more Heineken and then to show court 2 for nearly a set of Daniela Hantuchova in the doubles. Also nice. Sure, I saw Maria Sharapova on centre court later, but from the second tier of Rod Laver, it's not the same. Plus I'd met up with Claire and Erin by then.

The Sharapova match was pretty decent, lasting over an hour and a half (a rarity in women's tennis) even though it was straight sets (regulation in women's tennis). Sharapova was nearly as good as my fifth Heineken. At $6.30 for 425ml, my wallet was useful, but took a beating. You know what else was useful but took a beating? Andy Murray.

I cheered on the young Scot, seeded 15, to upset Spain's Rafael Nadal, seeded 2, with mixed results. Murray looked nervous at times, but hit a stack of cross-court backhand winners and a few big 'uns on serve, interspersed with the precise volleying you'd expect from a guy who's won through to at least the third round of Wimbledon both years he's played.

It looked as though Nadal would win the third set to go 2-1 up, and I would go home, but Murray turned it around to snare the third. Soon Nadal regained the upper hand, and some daft chicks started screeching for Nadal every point, after they'd gone unnoticed and unheard until then. They stared at Nadal every time they did it too, like he'd look up (into the second tier? Come on!), wave to them and propose. I considered doing the same - if by wave to them means showing them my backhand across their face and by propose meaning deliver the proposition that they shut the Federer up.

No happy endings as Nadal won the match, nearly sweeping Murray 6-1 in the fifth, rather anticlimactically. Beer had long been replaced by coffee. By then it was 1:50 am - and hanging around to see a memorable upset turned into a bonehead idea considering two of us had to work. But all's well that ends well: I turned up to work and still have the ability to write a semi-coherent blog. Hurrah!

Radio Pat's Top 100 Songs of 2006: #1-25

2007-01-22T12:57:00.000+11:00

Here is it: the important quarter of the list! To The Killers go the spoils, but the real action is in the top 10 albums: the top 100 songs' more attractive sister, if you catch my drift.

1. The Killers - When You Were Young
2. The Fray - Over My Head (Cable Car)
3. Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
4. Snow Patrol - Hands Open
5. Starky - Me Michelle
6. Sparta - Taking Back Control
7. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
8. AFI - Miss Murder
9. The Rapture - Pieces Of The People We Love
10. The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger
11. The Fray - Little House
12. The Killers - Sam's Town
13. Keane - Is It Any Wonder
14. Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober
15. Snow Patrol - You're All I Have
16. Evermore - Running
17. Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down
18. Gomez - How We Operate
19. Starky - Distraction
20. Muse - Starlight
21. Chris Cornell - You Know My Name
22. Howling Bells - Low Happening
23. Love Outside Andromeda - Sparrow
24. The Futureheads - Skip To The End
25. Eskimo Joe - Comfort You

Here's some ordered notes on the top 10, followed by some non-top 10 ones.

When You Were Young has got all the right elements for a song, and still remains sharp and punchy on each listen. It's a brilliant track and I challenge you to defy that!
Over My Head is pretty close to a perfectly written song and well produced. It's also got that ability to sound as soft or as loud as the listener wants to hear. A real sing-along favourite for me as well - wonderful vocals.
I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor grabs you with a frenzy of guitars and then their now-signature riffery that sent Arctic Monkeys on the road to stardom.
Hands Open is a pure rock song, with Gary Lightbody's great lyrics: "It's hard to argue when / You won't stop making sense / My tongue still misbehaves / And it keeps digging my own grave". I'll never forgive them for not playing it live.
Me Michelle has got a great feel and builds well to a rock-spastic finish! The standout effort on their debut album and now one of the leaders of Australian indie in my book.
Taking Back Control is what I'd call music to overthrow governments to.
We all know Crazy, and due to its tremendously wide appeal, it should win every popular (i.e public voted) count there is.
I guess they'd call Miss Murder a punk anthem. I call it number 8 (burp). I got into it before it was popular (triple j) and then again when it was being played heaps, so it was hard to ignore.
Pieces Of The People We Love is a memorable title track from The Rapture, with an electro-indie sound. Also wins best use of hand claps in a 2006 track.
Chelsea Dagger is a little gem most people will never hear. I don't even think it's being released in Australia. If Arctic Monkeys went huge in 2006, I think The Fratellis have got the same sort of raw sound to get on board in future too.

Little House is endearingly jagged to the ear, punched home by the solo where the piano and then lead guitar have their moment in the spotlight. Piano is so rarely used aggressively, perhaps because it's viewed as a "beautiful" instrument. Same with acoustic guitar.
On multiple occasions, I've chucked on Sam's Town just to vent some frustration to the chorus "Why do you waste my time?". Another classic track.
Distraction isn't exactly a stand-out Starky song. It just sounds nice on my stereo with the equalisers set bassy.
Howling Bells are quite good. They feature Juanita Phillips from Waikiki, if anyone remembers them, but it's less pop and more edgier indie I suppose. Setting Sun is another one of theirs to wrap your headphones around.

Radio Pat's Top 100 Songs of 2006: #26-50

2007-01-19T15:53:00.000+11:00

26. Eskimo Joe - New York
27. The Strokes - You Only Live Once
28. Evermore - Unbreakable
29. Kent - Max500
30. Kasabian - Empire
31. The Futureheads - Area
32. Arctic Monkeys - Leave Before The Lights Come On
33. Little Birdy - Come On Come On
34. Youth Group - Catching And Killing
35. Sneaky Sound System - I Love It
36. Something for Kate - Oh Kamikaze
37. The Fray - How To Save A Life
38. Expatriate - The Spaces Between
39. The Matches - What Katie Said
40. Rise Against - Ready to Fall
41. The Egg - Walking Away (Tocadisco Remix)
42. Red Riders - Slide in next to me
43. Arctic Monkeys - The View From The Afternoon
44. Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
45. Starky - The Wreckery
46. Metric - Monster Hospital
47. The Fray - She Is
48. Expatriate - Killer Kat
49. The Grates - Science Is Golden
50. Snow Patrol - Open Your Eyes

These are all 4 or 5 star, 10+ listens on iTunes on my laptop alone (not including my iRiver or at work etc). Basically that means my family should recognise all of these from the sounds eminating from my room.
Here come the Aussies: Eskimo Joe, Little Birdy, Youth Group, Sneaky Sound System, Something For Kate, Expatriate, Red Riders, Starky and The Grates.
Will, the other Evermore song was Unbreakable. It follows roughly the same formula as Running (uplifting chorus sort of thing), but the quiet bit in the middle created an atmosphere I grew to like. Good choice for their third single in my book.
I'll credit Will for introducing me to Kent. It's got the music of Coldplay at their best, but with a more haunting vocalist. Mind you, I didn't work out it was in Swedish until Will told me! I have a habit of making up words and just running with it...
There are some punk songs up quite high here (The Matches, Rise Against) and a few more to come. Two of modern (i.e. pop influenced) punk's main ingredients of fast drumming and high pitched singing make them ideal for me to join in when I'm driving the Patmobile!

Radio Pat's Top 100 Songs of 2006: #51-75

2007-01-18T18:57:00.000+11:00

51. The Rapture - Get Myself Into It
52. The Similou - All This Love
53. Rinôçérôse - Cubicle
54. Arctic Monkeys - Fake Tales Of San Francisco
55. Beck - Nausea
56. Taking Back Sunday - Twenty Twenty Surgery
57. Thom Yorke - And It Rained All Night
58. Lordi - Hard Rock Hallelujah
59. The Strokes - Heart In A Cage
60. OK Go - Here It Goes Again
61. Motion City Soundtrack - Everything is Alright
62. Junkie XL - Today
63. Panic! At The Disco - The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage
64. The Matches - You (Don't) Know Me
65. Something With Numbers - Apple Of The Eye
66. Muse - Exo-Politics
67. Rhubarb - The City Life
68. The Living End - Long Live The Weekend
69. Starky - Is This How It Ends?
70. Death From Above 1979 - Blood on Our Hands
71. Evermore - Afloat
72. Sparta - Untreatable Disease
73. Jet - Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
74. Little Birdy - After Dark
75. The Mars Volta - Tetragrammaton

Aloha! A few more notes:

Tetragrammaton, like The Mars Volta themselves, could be construed as 15-plus minutes of genius...or 15-plus minutes of wank. Your call.
In Sparta's Untreatable Disease, the screaming chorus of "You were right" just plain rules.
The Matches' You (Don't) Know Me was quite a find: never before have I heard the stylings of punk and The B-52s collide so well...or at all.
I am slightly embarrassed to include the Eurovision winner, Hard Rock Hallelujah, at number 58 but I did listen to it a lot mid-year and it's still listenable.
At the very top of this group of 25, we've reached the songs that I played obsessively.

Radio Pat's Top 100 Songs of 2006: #76-100

2007-01-17T14:43:00.000+11:00

So here it begins. All songs had to be from 2006 or was a part of a radio/TV station's rotation predominantly in 2006 to qualify, but not necessarily singles. Any ambitious (at least this early) #1 predictions are welcomed, just leave a comment.

76. Eskimo Joe - Sarah
77. Love Outside Andromeda - Measuring tape
78. Sneaky Sound System - Pictures (Tonite Only Remix)
79. The Grates - 19 20 20
80. Wolf & Cub - This Mess
81. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California
82. The Rapture - The Devil
83. Evanescence - Lacrymosa
84. Little Birdy - Bodies
85. The Strokes - Ize Of The World
86. AFI - Love Like Winter
87. Lost Prophets - Rooftops
88. 30 Seconds To Mars - The Kill (Bury Me)
89. Eagles of Death Metal - I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)
90. Keane - Atlantic
91. Beck - Cellphone's Dead
92. Panic! At The Disco - I Write Sins Not Tragedies
93. The Darkness - Is It Just Me
94. Gnarls Barkley - Smiley Faces
95. The Magic Numbers - Love Me Like You
96. Augie March - One Crowded Hour
97. Supermode - Tell Me Why (TV Rock Remix)
98. The Killers - Bones
99. Dallas Crane - Curiosity
100. The All-American Rejects - Move Along

Just a few quick notes here:

Yes, I have been critical of Sarah because I reckon the chorus doesn't keep up the momentum that it opens with. But what a start it is! As for the opening lyrics "Sarah / Won't you tell me your name?", well, that's somewhere between puzzling and pointless.
Look out for Australia's Wolf & Cub in 2007. This Mess has finally started getting play on Channel V.
I wish I'd given Dallas Crane's Factory Girls album more of a chance.

The Life Offline

2007-01-15T16:27:00.000+11:00

Nearly four whole weeks since I knocked off from work last year - and just one 90 minute session on the Internet in that whole period. Some would call it a drought, I consider it a holiday. As much as the Internet can be a solution to boredom, too often boredom escalates into frustration as you realise that the people having fun generally aren't online willing to recount tales past. Predictably, I now only crawl back to the Internet and you, the readership at large, as this is my first day of full-time, non-intern work. Hey, if my manager wants a slack day, I'll be ... supportive. Yeah, supportive.

The cricket always seemed to keep me occupied. In fact, at one stage I was synchronising my lunch with the lunch break in the cricket, so much so that I felt like Australia's 12th man. In the past week I've seen two of Victoria's 20-20 matches, including the grand final win over Tasmania. Courtesy of that, and Bill Lawry's exclamational style of commentary, I am now a fiercely proud Victorian. Cameron White, Brad Hodge and Shane "Stickers" Harwood are bloody terrific - and hopefully Adam Crosthwaite will be Australia's next keeper of the future. That said, I am super impressed with Taswegian Ben Hilfenhaus' bowling. With his swing, Stuart Clark's accuracy and Brett Lee's pace, Australia's bowling attack should be solid for a good half decade. It's nice to see some of the "buzz" about Hilfenhaus actually being justified, as I felt that Mitchell Johnson was highly overrated and that Shaun Tait is shithouse, as his slinging action leaves him prone to inaccuracy and injury.

I had a terrific little trip away, just when I needed to escape the folks for a bit. It turned out quite well, as I arrived home the evening that my parents returned and they were more refreshed also. Helps to keep everything very friendly. The next morning I felt like a totally different person. In the style of George Dubya Bush, I "declared war" on the mess in my room and section by section, a little each day, I've got it back to a decent state - the best it's seen in years of neglect. In an odd way, I found the purging of my old stuff, that destructive nature, a little bit exciting. Imagine it as the caffeine free, diet version of pyromania, if you will.

The break was also the chance to do all those things I'd put off until exams and work were over. I haven't done all of them, but at least the list is down to four...and I actually made a list, which in itself is an achievement. I even became pumped to move out, spotted a nice place and all, but it looks like that one's on ice for a while. I could probably use a few months to accumulate more cash money, perhaps just to ensure that I am able to live it up when I do take the plunge. And not just have beanbags in the lounge. Let's face it: I'm in no hurry to be doing my own washing et cetera unless the folks try and put me under the thumb.

It's a shame that my week of post-holiday enthusiasm blew over before I had a chance to bring it into work. Yep, in one short week I discovered that insignificant menial tasks are the way that people (i.e. adults) manage to pass the time (FYI: in November I was seriously wondering how people did it). I even got a bit of a kick out of that sense of achievement, even if you knew it was easily achievable, it still had to be done (which for a lazy person is still a considerable step). It was an ultimately artificial and transparent exercise though - by the week's end I'd regressed back into the warm glow of TV, DVDs and video games. And it feels cosy.

I've been preoccupied with copying more DVDs and getting my hands on more music in the past week. My DVD collection is finally worthy enough to negotiate with the "Richlist" (of a guy at work). While I've made no blogs and only a few not-to-be-released video blogs, I have prepared my top 100 songs and top 10 (possibly 20) albums of 2006, with only a minimum of tinkering left to do on the album list. I've learned to accept that I'll never be able to listen to all the albums of 2006 that I want to, so I might as well post it now and revise it at year's end, as Jiggy does so effectively. Since I'll be online five days a week, keep checking back as I post the lists little by little, starting with 76-100 of the top 100 songs tomorrow I reckon.

Hi everybody! (Hi Dr Nick!)

2006-12-09T16:09:00.000+11:00

I've been away having a more regular sort of life - offline - enjoying the cricket, hanging out with mates in the evenings and working for the man. Allow me to fill in a few more gaps ("random briefs" as the Wood-O-Sphere would acknowledge).

I have comfortably passed uni and will graduate in a few weeks. Good riddance!

I went to the MasterCard Masters golf. It's terrific if you love watching sports up close. I can't think of any other sport that lets you get within spitting distance of guys (who are so good that they can walk away with a million dollars for four days work!) Seeing Stuart Appleby's bunker work got me thinking about my own game. In fact, last Thursday, I hit the most good shots on the course (Ringwood back nine) in a single round that I can recall. I recommend any golf fan (particularly anyone with a MasterCard, who gets free entry) check out the golf on a Saturday next time it's in town.

I saw the Borat movie. Permit me to square the ledger: it's a good movie, with at least one hilarious sequence, but it's no classic. I've seen Borat's antics in Da Ali G Show and while it's got terrific shock value (you simply don't expect some of the responses), that's pretty much all there is. I'm looking forward to Casino Royale, the new Bond much more. I actually read Ian Fleming's original earlier this year and that was pretty decent - and I'm not normally a book reader. One thing struck me: the book describes Bond's food selections and his constant smoking meticulously and often. The 60s and 70s must have been a real "time to be alive". I expect the movie to concentrate more on the card playing and French speaking - both fine with me. In other movie news, I will soon achieve a 3-year goal of finally seeing Old School, as I now own the DVD.

I went to a wedding on Saturday. I couldn't help sitting, waiting for the bride to arrive and thinking that the groom had better get used to hanging around waiting for the woman to get ready. Then of course came the mass of camera flashes. Do epileptics ever get married? Because they'd be in trouble. It was all in all a very nice event and the first wedding I've been to. It's true that I'm no Hugh Grant - my attendance count is closer to four funerals and a wedding rather than the other way round.

Well past 1am and inspired by BASEketball, one of my favourite movies, I devised a game which is essentially "Rock Paper Scissors" with American Football rules. Even more inventively (!) I call it "Rock! Paper! Football!" I might run the idea past Dean, who's funnily enough both the biggest NFL and Rock Paper Scissors fan I know, but after seeing a documentary about Finnish mobile application creaters who based most of their games on Rock Paper Scissors earlier this week, I don't think much of my late-night creation.

In music, I've been impressed by The Rapture's Pieces Of The People We Love record. Part indie, part electro-dance, part shriek-singing, I'm calling it a great Summer play. Little Birdy's Hollywood slightly disappointed me, as they've gone keyboard overboard and lost the rock edge. The first half of the CD is pretty good though. I also saw U2 at the Telstra Dome, which was pretty cool, simply due to the mass of people who sang along.

What else do I like that I haven't covered? Oh I know, beer! The devil's mouthwash. Yep, since my last post I've finally sampled arguably the two leading Aussie "boutique" beers, Beez Neez and Redback. Both very decent, but I wasn't wowed. The honey in Beez Neez was too subtle, admittedly after I'd already had two other beers first. I also tried out Singha (which was heavy at 6.5% "alcavol" and had an aftertaste just like it - 2 stars of 5), El Salvador's Cabaña (so I wasn't sucking on a cabana) and I got some more Hoegaarden, as I'd only had a few sips of it. It's the most unique beer I think I've tried; I'm still getting my head (via the tongue) around this white beer, but it deserves props. Even if it looks like sperm. What a terrific note to leave you on.

Cricket on 3 totally pays off

2006-11-24T18:03:00.000+11:00

Just a quick word to anyone on 3 who at least modestly likes cricket (or hangs out with people who do) - get the Bumper Pack. It's quite cool having it on underneath my monitor at work, calling out the wickets before they filter through to the others in the office watching CricInfo.

Anyone desperate for something else to watch can see a few little videos of mine over at YouTube. Personally, I recommend putting the cricket on instead.

Studying: German Style!

2006-11-14T14:57:00.000+11:00

Howdy peeps! Some of you might be wondering what I'm up to - I just thought I'd pop in and let you know my exams are over on Thursday. After that, I'll be easing into my new position at work, a few days a week until the new year, when I'll be a permanent employee. Sounds like fun? I've honestly got no idea yet.