Blank Cheque Theory

The idea from NSW Labor and the unions to claw your vote back to themselves was to claim that a vote for the Liberals was in essence giving them a “blank cheque” to do whatever they please. It was a last ditch effort in futility, yet it was a buzz phrase repeated by some in my presence at a recent social event.

What Labor is really saying is, “don’t give them a blank cheque, give it to us instead”. If anyone had a blank cheque is was NSW Labor and they did a great job of flushing it down the toilet.

In reality a vote for the Liberals in NSW wasn’t a vote for a blank cheque. Rather it was a vote for a mop and bucket in order to clean up the mess made by the previous administration. Now the NSW Premier has to go through projects and prioritise as he and his team sort out the ram shackled finances of this state. It will take much of the first term to achieve.

They can’t do whatever they want and they never could. Labor just wanted you to think that.

Thunderbolt Kid

Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
By Bill Bryson

There are not many authors whose books I purchase purely based on reputation. Bryson had me hooked with his travel memoirs called ‘Down Under’, obviously about Australia, and ‘A Walk In The Woods’ about a famous walking trail in north-eastern USA. Those were read prior to this blogging sensation. More recently I have read Bryson’s ‘Shakespeare’. He has written many other travel and historical books that I hope to read in good time.

‘Thunderbolt Kid’ is different because it is purely autobiographical. His primary topic is himself. His trademark wit is evident but I wouldn’t rate it as highly as his other books. The subject matter was still interesting as he describes the strange naivety of children in a rural midwestern town. It is such an eye opener to our way of living these days.

Although reading about his upbringing it does become obvious why he turned out to be a writer. Especially one with a unique sense of humour. He had journalist parents with interesting idiosyncracies, and a wickedly random imagination. The title of this book is evidence of that.

I still enjoyed reading it but it wont be one that I would read again. It won’t stop me buying and recommending Bill Bryson as a fantastic author.

Book To Movie

The Ghost
by Robert Harris

I acquired this book after seeing the trailer for the movie on which it is based. Thought it might be interesting to read a book followed closely by the movie. It would be a first for me, to be able to critique both is such quick succession. After all it is usually stated, “the book is always better”.

The Ghost is a suspense thriller. It captures an essence of truth, hence making it very believable despite being fiction. It follows the events of an author who agreed to ghost write for a controversial recently dumped British prime minister caught up in a war crimes case against him for matters relating to the war on terror.

I felt captivated by the book, it was one I found difficult to put down. Even in some apparent boring bits there was a twist around the corner. There were twists everywhere and I doubt you will pick the final twist.

Perhaps my expectations of the movie were too high after the book. Others will probably tell me that it happens with every movie that comes from a book. Plus it didn’t help that I knew the ending that was straight out of left field.

A great performance from Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan, and an impressive British accent from Kim Cattrell.

Roman Polanski chose a great setting that captured the mood magnificently. It was bleak yet picturesque.

So choose the order you like, book then movie or movie then book. Both are worth checking out.

’96 Revisited

Plugger and the Mighty Swans
Jim Main

To the Swans fan 1996 was a magical season. We went from near bankrupt perennial losers to almost premiers and grabbing the heart of a city that had scant regard for the greatest game on earth.

I was lucky enough to participate in most of season ’96. I had started playing in 1994 and convinced Dad to buy season tickets after seeing an ad in the paper for memberships prior to the 1995 grand final.

In the beginning of the year my dad and me could sit just about anywhere. By the end we had to work very hard for a finals ticket. Dad tells me it cost him “an arm and a leg” to get us down to Melbourne to watch the grand final at the MCG. I never asked him the exact amount, and he never told.

This book lays the foundation to explain why 1996 was such a fantastic year. Author, historian and fellow Swans nut takes us back to the origins of the club that has only recently celebrated 125 years. As South Melbourne we were one of the original clubs to form the VFL. Our club celebrated an era of dominance in the 30’s and 40’s followed closely by many lean years, despite having the best player in the competition in Bob Skilton.

Many lean years didn’t help the coffers and the move or extinction outcome became obvious. It just took some people a bit longer than others. Jim Main captures the emotion and anger of a public that felt like they were losing a part of themselves.

It took a long time to regain the old South fans support, but 1996 did that. A premiership 9 years later further entrenched the support from our original home.

I enjoyed the read but perhaps that’s because I was part of it, if only in a small way.

Outsource

David Koch, better known as ‘Kochie’, from channel 7’s breakfast program, ‘Sunrise’ apparently stated that sending children to day-care was effectively outsourcing parenting. Probably paraphrasing, as I am not a regular viewer. No doubt this rubbed some parents the wrong way.

I heard one such objector on afternoon radio. Ironically she voiced her disapproval while she was on her way to pick up her children from day-care. Perhaps she has a valid gripe, or perhaps she felt convicted of her poor choices. She didn’t go into detail with her reasons for objecting to Kochie’s comments.

Whatever your opinions are of these sorts of comments at the very least Kochie is correct, to an extent. Any form of childcare from sports coaching to long day-care is outsourcing time that you can spend with your children. They are all situations where the parent relinquishes partial responsibility for the children.

So did Kochie say that children should not go to day-care under any circumstances? I really don’t know but I suspect not. These are choices for each family and your own conscience after assessing the circumstances. It’s all about priorities.