No cat no sink no upload

Knowing my penchant for animals a friend sent me a link to a website devoted to pictures of cats... more specifically pictures of cats in sinks, exclusively. What’s the website called? http://catsinsinks.com/ obviously. This website's 'No cat no sink no upload' policy is unusual I admit, but you have to admire men, but more likely, women willing to believe in something and fight for that belief; in this instance, the supremacy of pictures of cats in sinks. Genius.

Not a cat lover? Prefer dogs? Then look no further and welcome to http://www.beedogs.com/. This website is exclusively for pictures of dogs dressed in bee costumes.

But this is not just any random dogs-dressed-as-bees website. NoSireeBob it is not. In fact here’s a quote from the website making this point clearly:

“Beedogs.com is the premier online repository for pictures of dogs in bee costumes.”

“Premier online repository” - That is quite an achievement considering how many ‘dogs-dressed-as-bees’ websites there must be out there… Sarcasm aside, I want this doggy.

You know that old saying about dogs and their owners looking like each other? Check this out...

I'm betting this woman is single. And if she is not I bet her partner wishes she was...

I am Woman (well our Prime Minister is)

In honour of Australia’s first female Prime Minister Julia Gillard, pictured at her swearing-in ceremony today, the Song of the Week has to be I am Woman, the powerful, emotive feminist anthem written and performed by another successful Australian woman, Helen Reddy.

2010 has been a big year for the song, written in 1971. The song featured in Sex and the City 2 (it was sung by the cast members when visiting a culture with questionable women's rights) and was also played during the Oscars Ceremony when Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win Best Director.

With I am Woman Helen Reddy was the first Australian to have a #1 single in the United States and the first Australian to win a Grammy Award.

I am Woman
By Helen Reddy

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

CHORUS
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

You can bend but never break me
'cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

CHORUS

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything

I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
Oh, I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong

FADE
I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
I am woman

---

It is such an empowering song that I almost wish I was a woman so I could sing it without getting my gender confused.

On the Road Again

Hi all,

Song of the Week time.

Today is Moving Day! I am moving to my fourth government department in less than two years. My stationery, files and Tintin posters are packed into boxes and I am waiting for someone wearing King Gees or Stubbies to move them to Victoria Square for me.

How naïve I was to think my peripatetic work life might cease when I scored a permanent job. HA! Instead I am… On the Road Again…

On the Road Again
by Willie Nelson

The song title is appropriate but if you read the lyrics Willie seems a bit happier with being ‘on the road’ than me…(that might be due to his marijuana intake though)


On the road again
Just can't wait to get on the road again
The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the road again

On the road again
Goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things that I may never see again
And I can't wait to get on the road again

On the road again
Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends
Insisting that the world keep turning our way and our way

Is on the road again
I just can't wait to get on the road again
The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the road again

On the road again
Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends
Insisting that the world keep turning our way and our way

Is on the road again
Just can't wait to get on the road again
The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the road again
And I can't wait to get on the road again

Don't worry mate. She'll be all white.

Pittsworth, Queensland made headlines last month when school teacher and senior official of the Ku Klux Klan, Graeme McNeil, was jailed for helping one of his students dispose of his murdered brother's body. The defendant's KKK connection made this story front page news. It also fuelled the perception across the country that northern Queensland has a higher proportion of racist rednecks than the rest of this wonderful wide brown, but very white, land of ours.

Pittsworth 'personality' Penny McKinlay attempted to prove that there was no racism within the local high school community by saying:

“Good God! The deputy principal saved the life of a Chinese girl from drowning at the pool,” Mrs McKinlay said.

Well that puts my mind at ease.

Is there still time for Barack Obama to give his peace prize back?

Eye of the Tiger - Song of the Week

One happy-happy-gay-gay fortnight ago I was feeling, “absurdly happy” and chose the 1960’s glee-filled pop classic Sunshine Lollipops and Rainbows by Lesley Gore as my Song of the Week. This week I am wallowing in the misery caused by the fact that I have been forcefully moved to another department to do a job thatI have very little interest in. The grotesquely corpulent cherry on this pie-in-the-face is that I will have to work with my least favourite colleague, an obnoxious, obese and verbose bore. A Yogi Bore in fact.

What have I done to deserve this? I keep asking myself a question that Travis asked too, Why does it always rain on me? And yes, LeAnn Rimes – I feel Blue too.

But I cannot allow my Song of the Week to assist my slide into misery. Instead I need a self-empowerment song that will inspire (and possibly delude) me. I need to be a Survivor! I need the “will to Survive.” What I need is the…

Eye of the Tiger
by Survivor



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS4giqtbRBM

Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

Chorus:
It's the eye of the tiger,
it's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

Face to face, out in the heat
Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry
They stack the odds 'til we take to the street
For we kill with the skill to survive

Chorus

Risin' up, straight to the top
Have the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

Chorus

The eye of the tiger (repeats out)...



1 For more info on my colleague Yogi Bear read my blog here http://infense.blogspot.com/2010/02/unbearable-yogi.html and here
http://infense.blogspot.com/2010/01/rise-and-fall-of-yogi-bear.html.

Irony-fisted

Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Scott Morrison, MP, is currently responsible for spruiking the opposition immigration policy that seeks to forcefully turn around the often unseaworthy boats of asylum seekers without assessing their claims for asylum. Prior to entering politics, Morrison was Managing Director of Tourism Australia and was paid handsomely to convince the world’s citizens that Australia was the best place on earth and that everyone should come visit. Oh the irony. Perhaps he just did his job too well? Morrison was Managing Director when Lara Bingle asked the infamous question, "Where the bloody hell are you?" The response "Nearly there! I am somewhere near Christmas Island" is obviously not what Morrison was looking for.


Where the bloody hell are your ethics Scott Morrison?



We've saved a spot for you, it's called Nauru.