VolaciousNet

Our Army of Darkness has grown yet again. Soon, we shall have the numbers to finally conquer our puny opposition. Victory is Ours!

*sighs* I really don’t have enough megalomaniac moments.

Anyway, we have added to our numbers this weekend with the introduction of Sammy, a 6-week old dwarf rabbit. As I was finishing off the final stages of the UberRabbitHaus this weekend, Adam mentioned that he saw a really cute baby bunny in the pet store a few days ago, but didn’t get it because he thought I’d get mad at him if he brought it home. As always, I never cease to amaze, and just like when we got the dog, I whisked Adam into the car and before you know it we had a new addition to the family. We called it “Sammy” because as of yet we still don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy, but I’m 70% certain we got a girl. *meh* if not our Army of Darkness will grow at an alarming rate. Attack, my pretties, attack!

After we had finished the UberRabbitHaus, Adam mentioned to me that he’d sometimes thought about giving Rabbit Hutch Mk 1, my premier construction masterpiece, a right royal sendoff. What are we waiting for, I say, and proceed to pull out Rabbit Hutch Mk.1 and place it in the centre of the yard. Adam, a self-confessed pyromaniac, gets some newspaper, a few twigs, and some matches. A small flame, a lot of smoke, and a lot of waiting. Enter Gus, and a 5 litre bottle of citronella oil.

Whoosh!. Game Over

I attribute this pick posted left (courtesty of eMackinations) sums up today quite well.
Started the morning off with visit from father, and during the afternoon when attempting to study, Adam gets this idea to build a rabbit hutch using some old pieces of wood we had kept after my earlier attempts at building my own bar. He was getting a little frustrated, and needed Yours Truly’s technical prowess to build the frame and the sidings so he could cover it with wire.

I have to say… am very proud of our work! It took maybe 4-5 hours to knock together, and this thing is fucking huge and strong enough to withstand the impact of a high-speed labrador. The bunnies love it too

On a side note, I was very frustrated today when I went to our local shopping centre in search of a “microfibre” shirt, because I have two which I love, but it’s a bit boring wearing the same two day after day and doing all that washing.

So nowhere had them. To ask a local retail assistant, the reason they’ve been taken off the shelves is that too many people were complaining that the microfibre made them sweat, and the shirts attracted “pit stains”.

So my beef is why should I have to pay the price and not be able to get a microfibre shirt I want just because other guys get sweaty when hoisting themselves from the couch????? After that I tried to eBay and Google “microfibre shirts”, to no avail. They’re gone as the dodo.

I hate ironing… so what’s a boy to do???

I haven’t been particularly well lately. I’ve been overly anxious, and the black dog has been snapping at my heels after months under contol. I’ve found myself becoming withdrawn, moody and antisocial, and frustrated at myself for not performing as I should. I can of course see myself getting into such a state, and am looking for a way to be able to manage my feelings and stay positive despite the lifestyle sacrifices I’m going to have to make over the next 5 weeks.

I’ve vowed that every day after work I’m going into uni to do at least 3 hours of study before being kicked out of the library at 10pm. I’ve got all my friends behind me, willing to bend over backwards to help me, but in the end it’s up to me to pull myself together and just make it all work.

It’s difficult though… I feel my mood sliding rapidly and I really have to use all my skills to divert my brain and avoid a lapse into the depths. First and foremost, I need to reduce my anxiety levels to a manageable point… as it is I think I’m going to grow a hump. I went to the physio today, and even he was surprised at the amount of tension built up in my back, and has warned me that if I don’t start looking at myself seriously I could be in for a lifetime of chronic musculoskeletan pain. He then proceeded to crack said back a few times and maaaaaan was it goooooooooooood…..

5 weeks… that’s all it is. 5 weeks, and the pain can be over.

So I noticed my old mate Alex Hawke got another mention in the paper the other day, and I have to say I was surprised, yet pleased, to see that the Federal Libs are quite alarmed that our favourite self-promoting left-hating narcissist is running for a Federal seat, and believe he could be quite a danger to the Party. I guess they could turn a blind eye when he was diluting the credibility of the State Libs, but now he’s on their home turf it’s a little too close for comfort.

I believe that now is the time that the Liberal Party really need to look back, and remember why they came to the political forefront in the first place. As Kevin Rudd mentioned today, the Liberals have neglected to continue the legacy of their founders, and powers and factions within the Party have warped it to a point where it is becoming radical and unviable.

I don’t blame John Howard for the way his Party is going. Many people have blamed him directly for his “ultra-conservative views”, his “gay-hating stance” and a myriad of other slander that should not be directed towards the man personally. After all, a good politician is one that can keep the Party together, and done so he has. Like Labor, the Liberals are an extremely factional party and one must sometimes play ball with the outer factions if one is to keep them in line. And yes, sometimes this means pandering to more socially conservative members to keep them from breaking free and dissolving the power in government

Truth be told, the Liberal Party of Australia was never founded as a socially conservative party. Taken straight from the constitution, the Liberal Party was founded with a belief in:

Freedom of Speech, religion and assosciation

protecting the people against exploitation

Freedom of citizens to choose their own way of life, subject to the rights of others

social provisions made for the aged, the invalid, the widowed, the wick, the unemployed, and their children

Liberal Party Federal Constitution, 1974

In my recent readings, I’ve come across some very interesting articles by certain authors trying to promote the “Libertarian” or “classical Liberalist” beliefs that the Liberal Party was founded on.

First I stumbled across was first here on Livejournal, by Tim, an active Young Liberal who I had found had posted a series of fairly interesting essays and articles on the state of the Liberal Party in Australia, including one article I enjoyed titled Liberals: We’re not all Evil!. To make a quote from that article:

Contrary to popular stereotype, it is not believing money is the alpha and omega of life that makes you a Liberal. Rather, believing people should be free to pursue their own goals, and their own happiness, whether it be financial or intangible, that is a true expression of liberalism

Another quite interesting article I found on Online Opinion( a popular roost for “professional” bloggers), titled “Gay Rights, A Liberal Issue” and written by Richard Kings. He makes a number of arguments in there, stating much of what I have here (in somewhat a far more intelligent and thought-out manner), where he examines the slide of the Liberal Party towards social conservatism, and reminds us that the true Liberal Party had this belief:

7. We believe the supreme function of government is to assist in the development of personality; that today’s dogma may turn out to be tomorrow’s error. In consequence, the interests of all legitimate minorities must be protected.

Richard then goes on to point out quite validly that in recent years the Liberals have been “hijacked” by “religious fanatics”, turning “Liberal” into “Fascist”. His article is a highly informative read, and I will definately be referring to parts of it in laters posts.

What I couldn’t believe was the hide of Alex Hawke to get up and there and say that Malcom Fraser should have joined the Greens (one of his favourite suggestions for people that don’t agree with him).

I’m sorry Alex… but you’re out on your own here. I hope, and hope beyond anything, that “your Party” wisens up to your ways and suggests that you yourself join another party. Methinks Family First are looking for recruits… just make sure you take David Clark with you!

Sexy…

Well the weather didn’t get any better today… more high cloud and no heat reaching the ground. And at Bathurst, no heat reaching the ground means it is FUCKING COLD. But anyway… took one launch mid-morning, and flew in and out of some cloud wisps, then proceeded to do a loop around a long wisp…. would have looked great if it was on camera! I’m still waiting to be able to afford that wireless camera I was mentioning some time ago. I did a few aerobatic sequences closer to the ground, which would have looked great had I a camera attached to the wing.

Big week ahead.. i’m going to take Tom’s suggest of staying behind late at work in order to do my uni work. It’s almost crisis time with uni, and I could really fuck up a lot of my next few years if I don’t snap myself into gear soon.

On good news though… I went to see a very special ex of mine on the way home from Bathurst, as he lives up in the Blue mountains. Great to see him, and he lent me a little gas heater for our place. So now I’m all toasty warm and ready for winter!

Some more glider porn

So I’m sitting out in the middle of an airfield, on the main runway, looking over the hills at the lights of Bathurst, and apart from it being fucking cold, it’s quite beautiful really. I’m typing just by the light of the screen, with cigarette in one hand and a glass of Johnny Green beside me. Doesn’t get much better, does it? I went for a small flight today, just up and down, and the air was so smooth it was like velvet. It’s been a few months since I’ve been up, and I’m glad that I don’t seem to have forgotten how to drive the thing.

I like sitting out here on the runway… a good “thinking” place where I can ponder Life, the Universe, and Everything.

At the moment, I’m looking up into the sky, and as you can imagine, without city light pollution, the view is just incredible. I can see the Milky Way band, and the Southern Cross constellation that Aussies and New Zealanders claim as their own.With all the stars and planets out there, it really puts you into perspective. There’s just so much more to the universe than anyone on earth could ever in their lifetime comprehend. All of our knowledge, and our assumptions, are based on the tiny bits of information that we can observe out here on this little rock in our remote portion of space. We make assumptions on religion and science, but in reality we really know absolutely squat and it’s embarrassingly arrogant of us to think otherwise. It’s truly mindboggling. Then I remember that the answer to it all is 42, and I’m at peace.

(Posted thanks to Telstra NextG HSPDA)