Transformers vs Pasha Bulker

Here's two major events that are happening in Australia at the moment:

1. The Transformers movie will be launched this Thursday. Yeah! I'm thinking of going perhaps later this weekend or early next week - will give you a full report after.

2. There has been a bloody great big oil tanker - The 'Pasher Bulker' - stranded off Nobby's Beach (just north of Newcastle) now for around three weeks. There are reports that, with a rise in the tides, they will be able to move it tonight. See here for a bit of extra detail from news.com.au's recent media coverage.

How are these two related? Well, I just saw a solution to the problem as outlined in point #2, utilising the ingenuity of point #1. See below:



(Thanks to my old man and Mr Wirris who drew my attention to this video)

The fashion queen turns 25

It was my beautiful older sister Cass' (above) birthday yesterday. In order to celebrate her turning 25, my family and I decided to turn back the photo album of time and review four of her greatest outfits.

Cass' birthday circa June 1999 @ home. Appropriate attire for a mid-winter birthday morning.

Something strange happened during the 2000 Olympic Games - my sisters decided to wear their underpants in an external manner. Note Cass' ribbon "Go For Gold AUSTRALIA".

I was summoned by Gianni Versace in the spring of 1986 for a photo shoot for his new kids short-shorts and fatty top range. Cass stole the show with her well-crafted immaculate and angelic 4 year-old look. I lost my modelling contract. Bitch.

England, July 1988. After spending 2 years on the European modelling circuit, Cass had most definitely mastered a broad range of poses. Note the velure jacket, oversized heals, polka-dot pants and Mickey Mouse T. Pure fashion genius.

Happy birthday sis - hope it was a cracker of a day. Looking forward to seeing pics of your true-blue Aussie BBQ (in Ireland). xx

It's all fun and games

It's been quite an active few month. Here's a few pics:

Phil Waugh, Al Baxter and myself sing the national anthem in front of le Eiffel Tower. Emotional stuff.

Wales vs. Australia @ Telstra Stadium, May 26th. Australia wins the game 29-23 in the final few seconds of the game, after Stephen Hoiles scores a try in the corner right in front of Willis & I. Thanks to Weens for the free tickets!

A depressed trio of Welsh supporters lament the fact that their team came within only a few seconds of beating the Wallabies at home for the first time since 1969. Willis celebrates.

We then went to GC's for a celebrationary feed. Angus - Julie Lo Mo said to say hi and that she wants her Burberry skirt back.

Sunday afternoon golf - the 6th hole on Cammeray Golf Course, May 27th. For anyone who knows anything about golf, my stance is absolutely shithouse, which is probably why I nearly killed a pair of Asian golfing enthusiasts with a stray ball on the previous hole.


The Swans at the SCG, June 2nd. I had the pleasure of accompanying Ms. Karla L. Paff to the very salubrious Trustees Box, where the beer, wine and pretzels flowed. That's ex-Australian Test bowler Geoff Lawson sitting in front of us. The Swans lost 73-74 due to two very contentious umpiring decisions.


Falcon St North Sydney, June 3rd, circa 2am. We all went out to Oxford St after the Swans, then Willis and I caught the bus home. This is a picture of me chasing after my wallet which I conveniently left on my seat. Being the well-oiled athletic machine, I was able to chase down the bus and retrieve said wallet. Yeah!


June 6th, Casino de la Wright (AKA the Wright's place in Huntley's Point). Poker and ribs night with the boys. This is a picture of Willis, just before he was about to go all in (alllllriiiight!).

Appropriate attire

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while.

Note to self: Don't go shopping at coles wearing black business pants, a white shirt and no tie. I was accosted by a fellow shopper last night for not knowing which isle he could find a rubber hot water bottle in.

Pick the Transformer

Let's play a game:

Below is a list of pharmaceutical medications currently available in Australia - mixed in are the names of the Autobots (good guys) and Decepticons (bad guys) featuring in the upcoming Transformers movie.

Let's see if you can pick which ones are which. Apologies for anyone who doesn't dig the Transformers.

Allegron Pegatron Ironhide Crestor Lipitor Jazz Onkotrone Optimus Prime Blackout Anandron Dextran Bumblebee Xyloproct Efexor

Microgynon Megatron Femtran Magnevist Nexium Octagam Starscream Diamicron Barricade Probitor Xalatan Exelon Megace

Excuse me, but has anyone seen this girl?? (4)

Celebrations across the world today, as my sister Amelia has finally surfaced from her alcohol-fueled European sight-seeing adventure.

I received this update email from her a short time ago:



From: "Amelia"
To: "Steve"
Subject: i have been found
Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2007 23:15:31 +1000

Yo bro

I have been seen throughout many places in Europe...the last few days I've been seen wondering around Florence with another young lass that I met on the tour. I'm staying in Florence until Saturday then I fly out for the Greek islands on Sunday. I'm there for two weeks, staying at a Contiki Mykonos resort, then I'm going back to Ireland to spend some more time with [our sister] Cass.

I spoke to Mum and Dad the other day when I was at Luton airport. It was 2am...Shaz (the girl im travelling with) and I were staying there overnight to save money because we were flying out for Rome at 7am the next morning.

Great news about Clare!!! Awesome to hear that she is going to be so close. Tell her I'm very happy for her and hope all goes well with her new job!!!

Not much time left on the net but I have some spare time this week so I will be able to send you a longer email in the next couple of days!!!

Speak soon Love Amelia xoxoxoxoxox ciao from italy!!!


Ahhhhhh...I can breathe easy now - she's safe, well and in very good spirits!

Who needs LSD when you've got the new 2012 London Olympics branding??

There's only one place in the world where the colours of cerise and blue belong...

I am shocked AND awed this evening. A bunker-buster of a branding campaign has just come right down my chimney and exploded with eclectic voracity.

Have the advertising creatives behind the London 2012 Olympics branding gone COMPLETELY bananas? Have they been watching too many re-runs of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or other fluro 80's sitcoms?? Will the Australian uniform for 2012 include happy pants???

If you haven't seen the new branding over the last few days, see the promotional video below:



Just a couple of things for the agency behind this outrageously epileptic episode:

• When branding the Olympics, why the bloody hell didn't you use the traditional Olympic colours?
• You won't engage young people with a graffiti-like dog's breakfast...these days young people want smooth designs - like Nokia phones, Apple's iPod and Notebook, the Airbus A380, a BMW or Maybelline lipstick. I wonder what those 50+ members of society are thinking...

This is yet another poignant example of why it's imperative that advertising people need to be led by those angelic media saviours - PR professionals. If advertisers could drag themselves away from those bars and boozy client lunches and actually do some bloody work, we PR people wouldn't have to mop up the remnants of a shoddy rush-job that clearly won't see a result past the mockery of the wider world. (Just jokes)

I'd love to hear all of your thoughts - especially all of my great mates over in London...your observations on the local reaction, your professional opinions of the branding etc. Angus?

Australians bonking because of a burgeoning back pocket

The Australian tabloids are going nuts today, with an Australian Bureau of Statistics announcement that the number of births registered in the quarter to December 2006 was the highest Australia has recorded since the very swinging, 1971.

Federal Treasurer Peter Costello is claiming the increase as a result of his government's tight economic policy. From news.com.au:

"The improvement in the number of births reflects a confidence in Australia's future, and a greater sense of economic security for families"

I must agree - the treasurer is spot on when attributing the Australian Government's strong fiscal policy to a higher birth rate. There's nothing that turns a bloke on more than reading about the GDP contribution of the mining and industrial sectors, or the effects that the centralisation of Australian assets is having on foreign investments.

I wonder if he'll also be claiming credit for the fact that 2006 saw more people dying than in any other year, probably resulting directly from the monotonic economic rhetoric he carried on with last year...

The ABS release also reported that Australia's population reached 20,852,000 at 31 December 2006. Exciting times, as we move toward the big 21-million. Stay tuned - I'll let you know as soon as we hit it, scheduled toward the end of the month.

Woman, 24, gets job

News just in:

My shweetie of a girlfriend has just accepted a job as a residential assistant at a local Sydney boarding school, Abbotsleigh. Why is this so damned awesome?

NO MORE LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP!!!!!! Yeah!

Clare will be situated approximately 18.15km from my place. A mere Sunday stroll, compared to a frustrating 205.26km we've endured over the past while.

Excuse me, but has anyone seen this girl?? (3)

The search goes on.

This photo came through this morning from an anonymous source*. Apparently Amelia was recently seen with this woman, who strangely resembles our sister...







* I may have recieved it in an email this morning from my mother