Happy Birthday Brett

Today I am full of mixed emotions. It is my second cousin’s 37th birthday. He is riddled with cancer.

My second cousin is my age and has had a tough life, some of it due to circumstance and some due to his own doing. Being a similar age to me and being the product of a single parent family Brett would often stay with my family for holidays. In fact he stayed with us for months on end while my cousin (his mother) sorted her life out. He was very nearly formally put into my parents care.

Before he would visit my mother would tell myself and my two brothers to hide our change jars. I always wondered why but I have to give my parents credit for recognizing something. Comparing a kid who grew up in Dandenong to me as a naïve kid from the country, no wonder my parents were keeping an eye out.

Brett went off the rails at an early age. At 16 or so he ‘broke’ into his own house and stole his step father’s tools to hock at the pawn shop.

I am unsure if you recall but in the late 80s and early 90s the Herald Sun (The Sun in those days) used to publish wanted criminal’s pictures on page three, like the crime stoppers section now. My cousin turned up in that section a few times as he jumped bail and was wanted in connection for a few crimes. My mother still has the cut out section of the paper. I remember as a teenager reading the paper over breakfast saying “Brett’s in the paper again Mum”.

After that he went off the radar. I would hear through the family grapevine that he was in Sydney, he had somehow found a lawyer who got him off the charges, and found a job.

In 2001 he turned up at a family wedding in Melbourne and appeared to be back on track. He would keep in contact with his grandmother (my Aunty). Things looked like they were on the improve. Things went quiet again and the next I heard he was in treatment for cancer in 2004.

After successful treatment all the news I heard was positive. He had a partner, a job, a normal life for once. Things were looking up.

Last year over grandfinal weekend it was his grandmother’s 80th birthday. It was no surprise to have Brett turn up out of the blue. It was the first time I had seen him since 2001 and he looked happy and healthy. It was good to see he finally had his shit together.

Then over the last month things have turned for him again. Follow up scans revealed he had brain cancer and possible lung cancer. Further tests revealed cancer is throughout his body and it is no use doing any surgery. He is currently undergoing chemo and the outlook is not great.

It really makes me wonder about life and what is left once you go. What is his legacy? What is mine?

It also gives me a reality check about health and what can happen to you.

A birthday should be a happy day. A time to reflect on things and to look forward to another year. Today I am reflecting on Brett’s life and wonder if he will have another year. I hope he does.

Happy Birthday Brett.

You Never Know Unless You Ask

Megan Fox refuses offer for sex tape with fan

At this year's Comic-Con...

This year, Johansson was the headliner, promoting Iron Man 2, but it was an appearance by Megan Fox which had the geeks talking after one fan approached the star during a Q&A to promote her new supernatural western Jonah Hex.

"My question is for Megan," the man said. "I have a Sony HVR (video camera). It's not a true HD, but it gives a pretty good image.

Anyway, my question is: I just graduated film school and I'm trying to help my career. I was wondering if you'd be interested in some kind of, like, celebrity sex tape?"

With that, a couple of security guards grabbed the fella and took him to an undisclosed location.

"Dude, I can't wait to see what you look like in 30 minutes," Fox's co-star, Josh Brolin, quipped as the man was dragged away.

Really the guy deserves credit for trying.

100th Post for the Year

Yep. You got it. 100 posts so far this year. Of course I have not posted in a few days, mainly due to work commitments

What does one have to say on such an occasion:

• So what?
• What next?
• Who cares?

Well bugger it, I will go on. Like Jason Gillespie:

Aahhhh the Memories

I was reminded by this:


of when you bought a CD you got artwork, a booklet, sometimes lyrics or a story to go with the album. Not just a download bar on i-tunes.

Now you go online and download the single, the ring tone etc. What happened to artists creating an album? A catalogue of 10, 12 or 15 songs they have put together. You would listen through them finding what might be the next single or what you think should be the next single. Not just listening to the one song on high repeat on commercial stations.

Is it not suprising then that the early 90's featured so heavily in Triple J's Hottest 100 of all time?

Have a look through the list. You will be humming tunes for the rest of the day.

World Exclusive - Michael Jackson Coffin Revealed

And that is all I am going to say on the matter.

Idle Hands - Part 2

The original (with the word 'tea' in it) was on the wall for over a year. It was replaced by the above 10 weeks ago and was only removed last week.

As you may gather some people in the office are fond of signs. More to come.

WTF 31 - Isn't this from the Simpsons?

Chester Zoo evacuated after chimpanzees escape 'Chimp Island'

July 06, 2009 07:46am

A ZOO in northwest England was evacuated after about 30 chimpanzees escaped from their enclosure.

The animals escaped from 'Chimp Island' and found their way into a keeper area where their food is prepared, the zoo said.

More than 5000 visitors were asked to leave Chester Zoo, near Liverpool, shortly after the break-out on Sunday as keepers rounded up the chimps.

I am sure something like this did happen on the Simpsons.

Dodgy Taxi Services

If you read this article you will see why:

1. The Victorian Taxi Operators Group are a bunch of frauds;
2. The Victorian Taxid Association is a toothless tiger; and
3. How corrupt some taxi operators/drivers really are.

Some portions of the article

The Victorian Taxi Association said taxi drivers were effectively "subleasing" their licences to untrained drivers.

"A driver (will rent) a taxi off an operator, and then he might have a rest and give it to his cousin or someone like that, who is not accredited," association chief executive Neil Sach said.

Drivers would take the licence and log-in codes for legitimate drivers and pretend to be them, Mr Sach said.

Geoff Bell, of the Victorian Taxi Operators Group, said the industry was aware of the problem of unlicensed drivers using other drivers' licences.

"All the evidence so far is only anecdotal, but there is not a very secure system of logging onto the system, so it's not hard to do," he said.

Obviously Geoff Bell has not caught a cab after 10pm when a number of cabs are driven by unlicensed drivers. Or tried to catch a cab a short distance and been refused (which of course is illegal).

Taxis are a part of our Public Transport system. They need to be considered as such and legitimate drivers and standards upheld.

If taxi drivers want respect then they need to repsect the system in which they operate.

Idle Hands - Part 1

The following mysteriously appeared on the toilet wall at work:



It has been modified to take the company logo off.

This is what happens when the 'fun' is taken out of a workplace.