Imitiation Is The Sincerest Form Of Flattery

Nice to see the SMH blatantly ripping off the Disneyland analogy I drew on SydneyPubGuide.net several years ago.
I said: "Like a pubgoer's Disneyland"
They said: "Kiddies like Disneyland. Adults like the Newport Arms."
OK, so it's not direct plagiarism, but I think inspiration was due to SydneyPubGuide. And where's my credit? Nowhere.
Will Swanton, you owe me a beer. Get in touch and we'll organise when and where you can get the round in. Thank you.
[cross-blogged at pubguide blog]

Poms die from sport. Aussies thrive

BBC news is reporting on a new study based on major sporting events as major medical risk factors. Put simply, Euros and Poms have a 25% increased risk of myocardial infarction, aka heart attack, around major sporting events such as the World Cup, the Ashes and so on. The study also took into account the last AFL Grand Final (which was a gripper even for someone who understands little of the sport), and the socceroos qualifier against Uraguay as measures of Aussie risk, and I'm pleased to note there was no spike in hospital admission figures over here.

The article notes that this may well be down to the stereotype of the laid-back Aussie, which I think has some validity - there just isn't the life-and-death importance attached to sporting events here - I can't imagine an Aussie rioting beause their footy team lost. Well, actually, there's always the bulldogs but I digress. It could also be that Aussie blokes are tough larrikin bush-ranger types who, if they felt a heart attack coming on would just shrug it off, grab a steak off the barbie and open another VB.

So how do I fit in here? Well, I'm not a big team sports fan, so I'm highly unlikely to cark it in front of Channel 9's Wide World Of Sports, but I am an expat pommie living in Australia. And I did fall down the stairs during the first Ashes test this year, twisting my ankle around into quite an unnatural shape and relegating myself to several weeks of limping and complaining. Are the two connected? Could it be that, as a whingin' pommie bastard, I'm doomed to death and severe injury every time there's a ball being bashed around on the telly?

Shit, I hope not.

Ah, good old religion...

Don't you find it makes people so calm, sensible, rational and reluctant to use violence?

Textbook case of a some insignificant little event escalating and moving into out-of-control territory due to the fact that religion is in the mix.

Really, what do people see in the whole religion thing? Don't they notice how many religious people are utterly batshit-mental?

(quick aside: I channel surfed past 'Cops' on the TV the other night to see some nutter in Maricopa County, Arizona raving on about "finding god" while amped up to the scalp on crystal meth. It would be funny were it not so tragic)

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