This will hurt me...

All right, with the mighty Bombers flying high in the pre-season cup , the time is upon us to gaze into the crystal ball and try to pluck this year's chumps and champions. Regular readers (all one of you) may recall my tremendous foresight in picking Geelong (that ragtag cluster of misfits best known for their extended premiership drought), for glory this time last year. On the back of this, I managed to win my regular tipping competition, see the magnificent Tasmanian Tigers win their first ever Sheffield Shield AND the Ford Whatever-it-is Cup, impregnate my wife again , see the back of John Howard and (hopefully) win a Nobel Prize. I'm not even fussy about which one, any will do. That just the sort of bloke I am, humble to a fault. Anyway, with this form, I'm tipping that at least three people are eagerly anticipating my forecast for this year. First, I shall put the kiss of death on the Essendon Football Club and tip them for pre-season glory! HURRAH! See the Bombers f

Tassie have lost another wicket! Right now, Tasmania require another 22 runs with 3 wickets and 45 balls remaining. They should do it, but Henry has turned to biting his nails! --UPDATE-- Henry has finished his nails, and is now chewing his fingers! Tassie need 15 runs with 3 wickets and 26 balls remaining! --ANOTHER UPDATE-- 3 runs with 1 wicket and 8 balls remaining! Henry is now chewing his bloody stump of an arm! It's all happening here! --FINAL UPDATE-- The Hilfenstud has batted out the over, and Birt edges a four!!!!!!!!!! TASMANIA WIN!

All right, I'll admit it, here is another ad that I don't really understand. It's sensual without doubt, but in ways that make me feel dirty. Seriously, if you can pick the identity of the product that it promotes, pat yourself on the back. [Scroll down below the pic and highlight the white space before the text for the answer.) Shell Industrial Lubricants, 1958. Damn, they must have been smoking some high quality grass back then!

There is still more than enough of the ten-year-old boy in me to think that this whole "shooting satellites with missiles" business is really, really cool.

I don’t follow rugby league (actually, I think that it is a pretty ridiculous sport), so I know little about their rules and the reputations of their referees. However, I do reckon that this is some pretty good officiating. He doesn’t lose his cool, he explains his decision in a rational manner, and both sides get what’s due to them.

Whether it is students, friends, or even people I don't like very much, I'm often surprised with the lack of concern, and indeed willingness to justify or explain away, some of Fidel Castro's less savoury actions over the years. Given his recent statement about retirement , yet again there is no shortage of educated, 'enlightened', reasonably intelligent people rushing out in force to pay homage to a man who by any stretch should be no friend to rational, progressive and compassionate people. Now, of course people are entitled (maybe even obligated ) to critique the actions and activities that precipitated the Cuban revolution. However, I personally fail to understand how, in the interests of identifying and condemning the political violence, interference and the poisonous influence of western hypocrisy and hegemony in the region, that so many of the above mentioned people appear to automatically grant a free pass to a fellow and regime guilty of significant abuses

There was an interesting little snippet from The Economist today. Apparently Nicolas Sarkozy visited the US in September, 2006 – during his stint as French interior minister – and met with just three people. Most remembered is a visit to the White House for photograph with President George Bush . Besides other members of the Bush administration, Sarkozy only met with two other American politicians: Barack Obama and John McCain. Is Nicolas the puppet master pulling the strings? Time will tell...

I know that Corey is yesterday's news, and this has probably been around teh internets now for AGES, but I've only seen it just now, and it made me laugh. Well worth the 1 minute and 27 seconds.

This one I find rather distressing. As the father of a boisterous child, I can see this sort of accident happening. Exactly why Pears feel that the image of some unfortunate, distressed child, in the throes of anguish immediately after an accident, would be a good selling point for their soap is slightly beyond my comprehension. Really, looking at that big copper bathtub, it isn't too far outside the realms of possibility to imagine a severed spine, broken legs, punctured spleen and so on. If this is to serve as a warning to all wayward children about the hazards of fooling about at bath time, fair enough. But the frankly shocking and miserable image of a injured and distraught infant may be counterproductive in getting the wee ones into having a wash. Hell, it might even put their parents off ever giving them a bath again!

If you've been reading and hearing about the whole 'subprime' mess, but haven't quite come to grips with what it is really all about but would like to know, then this slide show with very dodgy pictures is what you've been waiting for. Seriously, I think these guys should take their show on the road and explore/explain a whole host of fiscal crises for the masses.

The lord and master of the household has had his very first haircut today. I unfortunately was unable to witness the event (damn you work!), but Jennifer has kindly forwarded on the before and after shots of the little Aussie battler, and I'm happy to say that ears remain intact, and he still has a lovely (albeit slightly neater) head of hair. Jen also reports that he was a very good boy, and that the hairdresser was very impressed with his general demeanour, attitude and fine head of hair. BEFORE AFTER

Saw this story on Reuters this morning, and found it both depressing and amusing. It concerns the banning of the famous Cranach painting of Venus from a poster promoting an upcoming Royal Academy exhibition. It has been determined that the image is too risqué for the sensitivities of London's commuters. Aesthetically, I've never been a particular fan of Cranach's nudes (they all look like they are short of a good feed, to be honest with you), but what nonsense! How many school kids would visit the top art galleries of the world? Should we censor every Ruebens and Tintoretto because it might damage one of the sensitive dears? Or are they catering to the gender or religious sensibilities of whomever? Surely the 500 year old work of a master is no more offensive than some of the pseudo-paedophilic titillations of the ilk of Calvin Klein or some other underpants/perfume/home loan ad? It appears that the Royal Academy had the choice of placing black strips over Venus's naug

I'm a big fan of cartography and all things maps, so am thus a big fan of the blog Geographic Travels with Catholicgauze! Today, it points me in the direction of the new feature: the National Geographic Map of the Day . It seems to be setting itself up as an interactive engagement with history through a daily map of historical news events and milestones. Trivia, quizzes and maps. It'll keep me interested in the breaks at work. The first map/story concerns the surrender of Confederate troops at Fort Sumter, which took place 143 years ago today.