I’m calling SERIOUS BULLSHIT on this one.

According to this TV Tonight post, 80% of people who responded to an ABC/Hungry Beast survey were in favour of Stephen “Cockboy” Conroy’s mandatory Internet filtering plans. Naturally, I smell a shitload of spin on behalf of the surveyors, along with a generous serving of ignorance on behalf of the surveyed.

For starters, since when do the views of 1000 people speak for a nation of nearly 22 million people? How computer literate are these people? What are their true political leanings? Do they have a full understanding of Conroy’s draconian agenda? How was the survey worded initially? These and many more questions, for which there are no easy answers, all arise from this, and it’s only too easy to spin “I agree with blocking access to child porn sites” (hell, I oppose the very existence of such sites) into “I support a more complete Internet filter” (which I most certainly do not) as well.

But in light of the fact that the result of this survey flies in the face of just about every other poll result on the subject I’ve seen thus far, I suspect another agenda exists within the Australian Broadcasting Corporation itself. That is, to toe the Rudd Government’s line on this issue, and possibly get increased funding as a consequence. After all, it is ultimately controlled by the Federal Government, and I wouldn’t put it past them.

And remember:

Are you serious, Rudd?

Having just read this article, I have to say I’m not a bit surprised. After all, Kevin Rudd has proven to be the most socially and economically conservative Australian Prime Minister from the Labor Party since Bob Hawke. At the same time, though, I’m somewhat alarmed by his idea of raising the legal drinking age in Australia to 21, since I can only see it creating new problems instead of solving existing ones.

Just as with Stephen “Cockboy” Conroy’s plan to censor/filter the Internet in Australia (which I still oppose), if Chairman Rudd actually gets his way on this, it may prove to be the thin end of the wedge. The next step, of course, would be to change the liquor licensing laws to ensure that people under the age of 21 aren’t even admitted to pubs and clubs unless alcohol is not served on specific nights, leaving people in the 18-20 age range with fewer leisure time options.

If people in that demographic are patronised like this instead of being treated like adults, then they’re sure as hell not going to act like adults, and instead of going out to drink, they’ll do it in the comfort of their own homes. So instead of prohibition, which will only take the problems underground, what’s needed is education, along with a healthy dose of parental guidance. After all, dangling the carrot is always preferable to waving the stick, though the latter is still warranted if people wilfully continue to drink excessively at every opportunity.

I knew this man once….

I must admit; when I heard about the circumstances surrounding the death of Dianne Brimble several years ago, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it at first. However, when I found out that one of the eight “people of interest” was a certain Petar Pantic, that changed rather quickly.

You see, for a couple of years, he and I went to the same high school. Although I was never really close to him, largely on the strength of the company he kept (i.e. other students of European lineage, some of whom tended to call the Anglo-Saxons such as myself “doggers” or “skips”), he seemed like an OK guy at that time. But after hearing about his apparent involvement in this case, and his being charged with importing bestiality porn DVDs into the country, it makes me wonder just what the hell happened to twist his mind in such ways.

And it raises an even bigger question for me: how many other people with whom I went to primary school, high school, university or TAFE were or are in 1% motorcycle clubs such as The Finks? Because without naming any more names, I still remember a few people from those periods of my life who, on the strength of how they behaved back then, would’ve fitted right into such organisations.

All is well…. again. :-)

As you can probably tell from the title, my continued birthday celebrations at The Palace last night went off without a hitch. In addition to keeping my word to baby Rose, I was surprised to see Ivy back in action after having several weeks off, and I was more than pleased to have her again as well.

But how did things go with Sienna, I hear you ask? In a word; fantastically. I now know that her second hiatus was the result of her parents buying her another return airfare, and wanting her to be back in Canada for Christmas. And as a consequence, very few people (if any) were kept in the loop about it, but all the same, it’s great to have her back.

With all of this going right, and with the new job commencing soon, my karma seems to be very good right now, and I certainly hope it holds for some time to come.

Happy birthday to…. me! :-)

Yes, viewers, yours truly is 32 today. And still not acting like it, I might add.

And it’s been quite a good one so far. My older brother came up with a card earlier, and I went out to have lunch with my father not too long ago. But since I wasn’t up to having a big cake, I suggested to my mother that she could bake some cupcakes to soften the blow for her.

Of course, this birthday will be capped off perfectly if Sienna is scheduled to work at The Palace this evening (and provided that she has no nasties, hidden or otherwise, these days), and since I promised Rose I’d have her the next time I saw her, I intend to keep my word on that. Wish me luck!

Finally, here’s a little tip for those who can no longer find their favourite sites from the now-defunct Geocities, in case you haven’t figured it out yet; replace the “g” in Geocities with an “r”, and there’s a very good chance that you’ll find the site you want.

FIVE for the price of one this time! ;-)

1. From February 14th, I will no longer be unemployed. I will be collecting and entering data on a casual basis for the University of South Australia; more specifically, for a unit based at their Mawson Lakes campus.

2. I can’t believe that the Victorian Government were actually entertaining the notion of having the lovely Nikki Osborne dropped from a regional TV show – Changing Places – on the strength of a RALPH! photo shoot she did a few years ago. In light of the Michelle Chantelois affair here in South Australia, I can smell the hypocrisy from across the border.

3. Since I doubt that the impending re-reissues of Predaking and Sixshot through Hasbro Hong Kong are brand new production runs (but if they are, I’d expect them to be very limited), and considering that no new Encore-specific Transformers news has arisen, I think I’d better reduce my Encore Wish List to one more release: Soundblaster with this little guy. The reason: with the focus shifting to the Japanese release of Transformers Animated, my gut instincts tell me that the other lines may be lost in the shuffle as a result.

4. Much to my chagrin, Kyle Sandilands will be disgracing Australian TV screens again much sooner than I would’ve liked, having just been appointed as a judge on Australia’s Got Talent. Although the word on the street is that he’ll be succeeding the pregnant Dannii Minogue, I actually think Red Symons is the one being replaced, since the newly revived Hey Hey It’s (Not On) Saturday would be much more dire without Red Faces.

5. After another lucky coin toss, I plan to head out today and score a Silver ticket to the Spandau Ballet and Tears For Fears concert at the new and improved Adelaide Entertainment Centre in April. And I was also surprised to find that Jack Jones (aka Irwin Thomas) of Southern Sons fame will be the opening act, so I’ll definitely be getting my money’s worth once again.

Hey hey! Ho ho! Mick The Dick has got to go.

With his obstructionism in terms of R18+ rated video games, his draconian new laws on the sale of R18+ rated films and TV shows, and more recently, his attempts to censor any local Internet debate leading up to the South Australian State Election, Mick “The Dick” Atkinson’s doing a great job of digging his own political grave. Even though he now plans to repeal the laws in that last case, I think the best thing he can do now is step down as Attorney-General, and hope to hell that his successor isn’t as determined to force his or her own moral code on everyone else as he is.

Far be it from me to actually praise The Advertiser for any reason, I have to give their editor in chief a big thumbs up for today’s editorial. It seems Mike “The Bike” Rann and the bulk of the Labor Party will look out for Atkinson no matter what, so it would appear that only his own whims or a change of Government will unseat him.

Ironically, though, I’m not so sure things will change that much under a Liberal State Government either, since even in Opposition, they’ve actually supported Mick Atkinson’s arch conservative initiatives instead of opposing them. However, if what I heard on Leon Byner’s 5AA radio show this morning is any indication, they may now be wavering somewhat on the Internet issue at least, and that would be most encouraging indeed.

But the bottom line for me is this; I will not be censored on this or any other issue. And if Big Brother comes to watch me, I’ll poke him right in the eyes (metaphorically speaking, of course).

Oh really. You think?

That was my very first reaction to this story about TNA President Dixie Carter. Sure, she may look red hot for a woman her age, but after reading many columns by people in the know and the relevant fan responses, I don’t think she even knows a wristlock from a wrist watch.

I had reservations about her bringing in Terry Bollea (i.e. Hulk Hogan) and Eric Bischoff right from the outset, and it now looks like TNA Wrestling is heading down the same sorry path WCW did before WWE acquired it. In fact, I’m going to make a very bold prediction and say that by March 2011, TNA will be no more, and its tape library will be in the hands of WWE.

Hell, there are only so many people who are way past their prime that can be brought into TNA (though I wouldn’t mind if Sid Vicious gets another run). But due to TNA Impact’s 2-hour timeslot, and the greater recognition these veterans bring with them, it’s inevitable that a number of the “TNA originals” will be pushed aside. And even though Dixie Carter boasts about the greater athleticism of TNA’s talent, we still have Vince Russo trying to defend a 2-hour show with only 16 minutes of actual match time in it? Give me a break.

That said, and even though the show’s ratings have gone up somewhat in recent times, I believe any move to put TNA Impact on against WWE Raw every week would be a suicidal one. Vince McMahon’s WWE is simply too strong and too resilient to ever be defeated again, and even though their current PG-rated push doesn’t sit well with me, there’s a possibility that the product could grow and mature with these new fans, possibly leading to another Attitude era (or something much like it) in the near future. Though once more, only time will tell.

If I could start this strip club lark from scratch….

…. there are a lot of things I would change, because as you all know, I’ve made more than my share of mistakes (for which I’ve been penalised a dozen times over, I might add). However, since time machines haven’t been invented in real life, and I therefore can’t travel back in time and give my younger self the right advice, this list will have to do. So here we go:

1. I would’ve employed my current criteria for dancers right from Day One, with absolutely no exceptions. Sure, it wouldn’t have won me many popularity points among certain girls, but it would’ve saved me a lot of headaches later on;

2. I would’ve still stuck with Ariel, Brianna and Claudia at the Crazy Horse, but instead of playing the field with others, I would’ve had more 2-on-1 dances with any combination of the three (and maybe even the occasional 3-on-1 dance ), depending on availability;

3. I wouldn’t have bought any Miss Nude Australia tapes or DVDs, and I would’ve only gone to a pageant if one of the abovementioned ladies requested my presence;

4. I would’ve started phoning to ask about the girls’ presence before each visit a lot sooner than I did;

5. I wouldn’t have bothered with the Land of Promise Hotel or any of the other “strip pubs”;

6. I would’ve tried Strat’s once, if only to see why people hated it so much;

7. I would’ve started going to The Palace during Ariel’s hiatus from the Horse in 2006. Thus making it very possible that I could’ve met Sienna and the gang much sooner as well, but all the same, I would’ve taken the same approach as at the Horse; and

8. I wouldn’t have let my guard down on my interstate strip club visits either, and on account of the “no contact both ways” policy in effect, I may have even given the Sydney clubs a miss altogether.

Yes, viewers, I know it’s two items short of a Top Ten List, but a call from David Letterman’s legal team is the last thing I need right now!

More reissue goodness? Or just old stock?

While it’s still very quiet on the Transformers Encore front, rumours abound of a stack of “reissued” Transformers from several different lines in Asia, for which some Hong Kong-based retailers are apparently already taking preorders.

If such rumours are true, then I’m more inclined to believe that with the exception of Encore #12 Metroplex – which appears to be getting a second production run, just as I believe Encore #01 Convoy (Optimus Prime) did – this may just be a warehouse find (a la Star Convoy, which I proudly own). And if you ask me, keeping this previously unsold stock out of sight until the demand becomes greater later on is a very smart business strategy, and I’ll bet that Hasbro Hong Kong and TakaraTomy will be laughing all the way to the bank on this one.

But on the flip side, and since the previously reissued G1 Predaking and Sixshot are listed, I’d say it pretty much nixes an Encore release for both of them. Never mind; there are still many more possibilities, and I still hope that Devastator (among others) is one of them!