1 Ton Post

It's with some pleasure and pride that I find myself writing my 100th post. It's taken 19 months. To be precise, since I left Ottawa on Monday, February 4th, 2008, I make it 84.5 weeks, that's 594 days or 14 256 hours or 855 360 minutes or 51 321 600 seconds. Not a bad length of time. I wish I had some sort of fantastic news so that I could make this a 100th post extravaganza, but I don't. It's been a fairly ordinary week with some tiring schoolwork. In case you're wondering, a "ton" is slang in cricket when someone scores 100 runs.

Earlier in the week a jockeys strike was averted after the Australian Racing Board (ARB) and the Jockeys' Association came to an understanding on the use of the whip. Whip isn't really the right word since the item in question is a soft riding crop that doesn't hurt the horse at all. The ARB issued a directive forbidding the use of the whip in the last 100 meters of the race. The jockeys objected saying it discouraged good racing and threatened to strike. In fact, many races on the Friday before were abandoned as the jockeys to industrial action by refusing to ride in the last few races. However, on Monday the ARB and the Jockey's Association reached an agreement whereby the jockeys can use the whip in the last 100 meters of the race but only in a limited way in the last 200-100 meters. Racing is very important to Australians. Australia is, in fact, the largest racing country in the world with 66 of the world's 139 Class 1 (highest) races are in Australia. A jockeys strike would be very detrimental, especially with the Spring Carnival coming up. Well, at least that mine has been averted.

I had a 6 000-8 000 word international law paper due on Friday. With all the research done it wasn't all that difficult to write, just time consuming. I'm reasonably happy with it but the final word count was 6 667, which, I hope, isn't an omen. Now that it's finished, I find that I feel I should be writing something. I don't have anything else due until October 23rd but for some reason I just can't seem to relax as much as I would have thought. Maybe it just takes time.

Today I took part in the annual Field Umpires vs. Boundary Umpires aussie rules game. As a goal umpire, I had the option of choosing my team and I signed up with the Field Umpires. I was placed on our back line as a defender. The game didn't start out too well for the Fieldies but we eventually pulled ahead and won by 8 points. I had a reasonably good game with some good tackles and one pretty good mark. Afterwards there was a barbeque, another Australian tradition. There's only one more function this year, the Association Dinner sometime in October, then it's nothing until February.

Speaking of relaxing, I have good cause to celebrate as "the mid-semester" break is on after this coming week. It's hard to call it a mid-semester break since it occurs 10 weeks into a 13 week semester. The reason, you ask? It lines up with the ACT public school holidays. If you're generous, you could say that it makes sense since it allows people with children at university and the sub-tertiary system to take their holidays together; it's just practically easier. If you're cynical you would say that it's so that professors with children not at university don't have to take time off for their vacations. Whatever the reason, many complain that it's physically and mentally draining and that it's simply stupid to have a semester that's 10 weeks on, 2 weeks off, 3 weeks on, and then exams. In fact, I understand that the University of Canberra has their break in the 7th week, exactly like the 1st semester. There was some hope ANU would change its policy for 2010 but I checked next year's schedule and nothing along those lines has changed. The fight continues.

For the 1st part of the break of the break I'll be visiting the Motykas in Newcastle. It has been so very long since we've seen each other and I suggested that, if convenient, I should visit them for a weekend, and they agreed. I look forward to seeing them again since they're all so interesting and so much fun. It'll be good to get out of Canberra and go somewhere with 30C heat. I'm not kidding, it's been that hot already in Newcastle and Sydney.

EPICs

Although the senior grades had their grand finals, the footy season doesn't officially end until the junior grades have theirs. Last Sunday I officiated at one of these events which was held at the Royal Military College in Duntroon, an area of eastern Canberra. It was a near perfect day for footy as the temperature rose with the sun. Although frost lay on the ground at the beginning, it quickly disappeared leaving a great playing surface. For the young children, having goal umpires was a particular thrill as usually they have only one field umpire and not a full complement. I guess it gives them a greater sense of professionalism. I had a great time even though some of the spectators tried to distract me. All-in-all, not a bad game.

Monday marked the return of harness racing to Canberra and I took the opportunity to head down to Exhibition Park In Canberra (EPIC) where the races were held. I had a backstage pass, so to speak, because on of my DnD buddies, Alice, works at the racing office doing insurance and other things. I visited her and we chatted about this and that. I also took a peek at the races as they were running. On TV harness racing doesn't look to be that fast but up close it really is very quick. After the each race, you could see the sweat steaming off the horses. At on particularly scary moment, about 50 meters from the end of a race, one of the horses got tripped up causing itself and its rider, as well as 2 or 3 other horses and riders, to fall to the ground. Personnel immediately rushed to render assistance and there were some tense moments as the horse didn't move as its gear was removed. We feared the worst but breathed a sigh of relief as the horse got up and didn't seem particularly distressed with only a small cut on one of its shoulders. The horse's jockey also suffered a small cut but thankfully no one and nothing was seriously hurt. None of the other horses and jockeys were injured. Horse racing can be a dangerous sport.

Speaking of horses, it just so happens that I have been working for ACTTAB for a year now. Although my 1st rostered working shift was not until October 2008, my first training sessions were in September and I believe my first pay period began from September 3rd, 2008. All this means is that I could change over to permanent part-time if I wanted to but this presents such difficulties that I think I'll just stick with casual employment. The pay is better and the hours are more flexible. I'm making great money and I'm glad that I've been allowed to stick with this for a year. Speaking of money, I also received some back pay from ACTTAB after they approved my promotion in payscales and, per the EBA, we've received another pay increase. I'm now making just over $27/hr which I think is fantastic given the amount of work I actually do. I'm sticking with this job for as long as I can and I will fight hand, tooth and nail to keep it. It's far better than anything I would be doing in the legal field.

Late Update

This is my update for things that happened last week. Thankfully there isn't that much to report although there are a few interesting things.

It wasn't easy getting back into a scholarly rhythm following my trip to Adelaide but somehow I managed. Nothing truly remarkable happened at university but something else happened which may have an impact on my constitutional law course; more on that later.

On Saturday the senior divisions of the ACTAFL had their grand finals at Manuka Oval. I wasn't picked to be one of the goal umpires but I wouldn't have been able to do it anyway as I was working at ACTTAB. On that point, ACTTAB, for the first time, offered odds on the outcome of the Division 1 Grand Final. There were 3 grand finals that day but I could only attend the first, the Under-18s. It was an interesting game but was handily won by Marist College over Belconnen. I learned later that the Division 2 Grand Final was also a blowout but the Division 1 Grand Final was decided by 6 points and was close all match. I'm sorry I missed it but it was fun being at the footy, which doesn't happen very often. By the way, because I'm an umpire, I got in for free. Another thing I noticed was that between the quarters people spectators went onto the ground and had a kick around while the teams were in their huddles. This doesn't happen at the AFL anymore but I was told that it used to until about 30 years ago. I think it's kind of a shame that we've become so security conscious that people can't play around on the pitch during game breaks or storm the field after a particularly thrilling win.

I mentioned an impact on my constitutional course, and it's about a ruling handed by the High Court of Australia regarding courts-martial. To understand the impact you'll have to follow along with some pretty unusual constitutional reasoning. A principle in common law countries is the separation of powers, or at least that non-judicial bodies cannot exercise judicial powers. An example would be a Minister passing judgement and imposing a punishment after deciding a legal question. There are some exceptions to this, a historical one being Parliament's power to act as a court, a privilege the courts have been willing to let Parliament keep. In order to preserve the independence of the judiciary, the courts in Australia (and I imagine elsewhere like Canada, the US, the UK and NZ) have said that only courts can decide legal questions and impose punishment, and judges must be independent. Courts-martial have proven an anomaly in this area as judges are generally military staff not necessarily independent as other judges (removal only by certain procedures, independence from influence, etc.). Essentially, courts-martial are executive bodies exercising judicial power which would normally be prohibited except the courts have gotten around this by saying that the purpose of military courts is discipline, not justice, so the they can continue in this unusual way. Now we come to the fun part.

About 2 years ago, the Australian government decided to reform the military justice system to make it more like a Chapter 3 court; Chapter 3 of the Australian Constitution deals with the judiciary and has been used to establish judicial independence. This new system was challenged in court and a few days ago the High Court ruled that the government had ponced it up and that the tribunals were improperly constituted. I haven't read the judgement, but essentially, the government had not given the judges sufficient freedom. I think the High Court is saying that on this issue there can be no middle ground, either you give them full judicial independence or you stick to the old system. This now means that all decisions of the past 2 years have to be reviewed and the government has gone back to the old system while it thinks up what to do next. On a personal note, last semester I asked a professor about this very issue and why the government, in order to avoid the whole justice/discipline issue, which really is bizarre, why not create something like the Military Division of the Federal Court. The professor replied that would be acceptable as long as judicial independence was maintained. I then asked had the current system been challenged and he replied no. I like to think that I was ahead of the game that day.

One more thing, I've added pictures from my trip to Adelaide on my previous post.

The City of a Thousand Spires

Adelaide, I know, is quite beautiful in the sunshine. I know because I had some of it on my trip, but, unfortunately, I was mostly rained on. Nonetheless I saw some interesting things in Adelaide and I can see what my mom sees in it, but maybe a little less. Like I said, the weather may have contributed.

After class last Thursday I quickly packed up and left for the airport. I boarded and quick as a shot, was off to Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It is the driest city in the driest state on the driest continent; oh the irony. Canberra quickly fell away and very soon there was a broad expanse of nothingness, broken only by occasional farms and homesteads. The plane landed in Adelaide in tune with an exquisite sunset. After disembarking, I boarded a bus into the city and made my way to the hostel at Light Square. By the time I arrived it was quite dark, so I decided to stay in.

The next day I used to explore the city center. Adelaide is called the City of Churches because there are, apparently, so many of them. The city was founded in the early 1830s as a free settlement and was planned. The core is surrounded by parks and there are 5 squares within the urban core. The largest of these is Victoria Square, which I visited at a later on. The main streets are several lanes wide and can cope with vehicular traffic better than any other Australian capital city.

I made my way to the South Australian Parliament for a guided tour but had to wait a few hours for the next one. I used the time to walk around the adjacent parkland. Next to Parliament is the Adelaide Festival Centre, the home of the famous biennial Adelaide Festival. In the 1970s, Adelaide experienced a liberalizing trend and the festival was founded and now South Australia is known as the "Festival State". I then walked along the banks of the Torrens River, the main body of water flowing through Adelaide, and made my way to the north side where I saw the famous St. Peter's Cathedral. After killing all this time, I finally went on the parliamentary tour.

South Australia's Parliament, like Victoria's, is technically unfinished, missing its cupola. It was built in 2 halves and was completed some 50 years after construction began. In this half-finished building is where one of the conventions leading to Australian federation was held. The building itself is like many other Parliaments, steeped in history, but one thing I did notice was the public gallery is labelled "Strangers Gallery".

After the tour, I walked to Rundle Street, a pedestrian mall famous as much for its interesting artwork as for its shops. Then I made my way to Victoria Square, the beating heart of Adelaide. At the very center of its core, Adelaide has a large park with a fountain depicting the 3 rivers of Adelaide: the Torrens, the Murray and the Onkaparinga. That night, I went to sleep eager to venture a little further afield.

The next morning I had breakfast at the Original Pancake Kitchen, a restaurant my parents had recommended. Located in an alley, as many fine restaurants are, it is exactly what it sounds like, a restaurant that serves pancakes. I got an order of pancakes with strawberry sauce and ice cream, downed with milk. It was very good and I'm glad my parents suggested it.

After breakfast, I took a tram from the city to Glenelg, a trendy beachside suburb. I'm sure it's marvelous in the summer sun but I had to contend with gale winds and rain. The one good thing was that it meant I had the area mostly to myself. The tram stopped at Moseley Square and I immediately had a look around. Since there wasn't much activity, I just strolled along the beach and snapped a few photos. Glenelg is where the first European settlers in South Australia arrived. When I'd had enough of this, I boarded the tram but got off at Morphettville Racecourse. The races were on that day and I decided to step in and see what a large city's racecourse looks like on race day. The betting ring was abuzz with activity as people studied the odds, placed bets and cheered their picks. I watched one race and then continued back into the city. I was going to treat myself tonight.

For Saturday night, I decided to go to AAMI Stadium for a game of aussie rules. Today, the Port Adelaide Power were hosting the North Melbourne Kangaroos but the contest didn't mean much as both were out of the playoffs. My family was never much in to sports, apart from watching them really. My dad enjoys watching CFL and I have dabbled in baseball and soccer, but my mother was never keen, totally unjustifiably, on myself or my brother playing any really hard contact sports. Furthermore, we never really went to any sporting events. My parents would always say it's too expensive, and they're probably right. I see an outing to a match more of a social thing than anything else. I just enjoy being around so many people watching an exciting game.

The match did prove exciting, though the weather didn't hold. At times the rain positively gushed down and the wind caused it to swirl in different directions. I can only imagine what it was like for the players. The game ended with North Melbourne winning by 4 points, which is pretty close in AFL terms. Despite the atrocious weather, I had fun and its unfortunate, but probably fiscally wise, that I don't live in a city with a professional AFL team.

Sunday I spent walking around the city again, but I did take a guided tour of the the Art Gallery of South Australia. They had some very thought-provoking pieces in there, particularly one about the despair of the Burke and Wills expedition realizing that they're situation was now dire; the 2 would eventually die in the Outback. It consisted of a 3 panel tableau with a male figure in each to represent the 3 members of the party: Burke, Wills and King (who survived). There were other pieces in there, such as aboriginal art and early Australian art from the 19th Century but the Burke and Wills piece was my favourite. I also had a look around the South Australian Museum, a small museum with a large model of a giant squid. For dinner, I ate at another of my parents' recommended restaurants, a Belgian place called Oostende. I had a delicious pork rib there and, again, I thank my parents for the recommendation. That night at the hostel, I took part in a ping pong tournament and got to the 2nd round. Although I didn't win, I did get a free breakfast out of it. And just as an aside, that afternoon as I was walking through a shopping mall on Rundle Street, who should I spy but Helen, one of my tutors from law school. What are the odds, you think, of 2 people from Canberra being in Adelaide at the exact same spot at the exact same time? They cannot be high and I know odds; it's my job after all.

On my last day in Adelaide, I just walked around as much as I could to take in what was left unseen. I walked beside the Torrens River again and explored the northern quarter a little more. I even managed to find a stobie pole, a South Australian exclusive. When electricity first came to South Australia, they quickly realized that there weren't enough trees to make all of the necessary poles. Ingeniously, the South Australians invented a pole made of concrete with iron/steel sides; these were originally railway tracks. The result is the stobie pole, one of the most solidly built things on the face of the Earth. They may be ugly, but they're environmentally friendly and they work. What more do you want? Another South Australian invention is the Torrens Title System whereby the person whose name is on the land registry owns the land regardless of other claims. Under the old law, when you bought property you had to show good title back 40 years, and this new system simplified things greatly. Now, you only had to show that title was passed to you by the person registered. This may not mean much to you now, but it'll prove vitally important if you ever buy a house.

Anyway, when I arrived back in Canberra, I was very pleased with myself. Although this trip was primarily just to get out of Canberra for a while, I feel like I saw a remarkable part of Australia. Adelaide is a not-oft visited city, and it's a shame because it has some wonderful features. Too bad about the weather, though.

Eating Crow

Today I take off for Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, for no other reason than I've never been there. I'm a little excited to see this city as my mother raves about it. I figured that since I'll be gone for the weekend, I might as well update my progress now.

A few days ago a powerful weather system moved through the region bringing howling winds. I don't know exactly how fast they were but winds of up to 90km/h were recorded in Sydney and that was the same system. Although the windstorm brought clouds there wasn't much in the way of rain. The system has now cleared and we've got nothing but sunny weather. Unfortunately, according to the forecasts, my time in Adelaide will be rainy.

In my last post I mentioned Roman and Oksana who had come down for a wedding and I said that it was for Oksana's friend. Shortly thereafter I received a, may I say terse, e-mail friend reminding me that it was Oksana's sister that was getting married up in the Blue Mountains, not her friend. Now, I don't know Oksana's family dynamic but I imagine if she's come from Canada to see her sister get married, they must be friends. I stand by my earlier statement.

Now, a little about Adelaide and South Australia. South Australia was founded by free settlers, unlike the rest of Australia which had convict settlement, although the man who though up the idea was a convict and was in Newgate Prison in London when he thought up the idea. Some of the earliest settlers were Germans who established the wine industry in the Barossa Valley, now a premier viticultural area. The Germans had a particular dish involving crows and to this day South Australians are known as "crow-eaters". Because it accepted non-conformist thinkers South Australia has usually been a little more liberal than the rest of Australia.

Adelaide, named after a Queen of the UK, with a population of 1.1 million, is Australia's 5th largest city after Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Its center is laid out in a grid pattern and is the only major city in the world who's central district is entirely surrounded by parks. It is home to many festivals, giving the name "The Festival State" to South Australia. I'll see if Adelaide is as wonderful as my mother says it is.

All Work and No Play

The title of this post worked out better than I thought. It's a pun. Someone once said that puns are just lazy writing, and they're probably right, but punners are in good company. The ancient Egyptians were famous for their puns and enjoyed them thoroughly. The civilization that brought us the Pyramids, the Great Library, the Great Lighthouse, poetry (the first recorded example) and organized labour, including history's first recorded strike (I'm not kidding), seem to have been lazy writers. I suppose when all your writing consists of pictograms (hieroglyphs) even a short story is quite an undertaking, you have to economize where you can. The ancient Egyptians, it seems, economized with lazy humour.

I'll explain the title now. Since my semester schedule is better for getting hours at ACTTAB, I've been getting better (more) hours at ACTTAB. Although I haven't been overworked, I've still managed to get in some solid time, which translates to some solid cash. Unfortunately, it meant that I couldn't see this year's ANU Law Revue. I'll have to get a precis of it from someone.

The ANU Law Revue, an annual comedy lampooning put on by law students, ran Thursday-Saturday but commitments interfered every day. Thursday was blocked by umpire training and a visit with some family friends, while Friday and Saturday were taken up by work.

On Thursday, I met up with some family friends, Roman and Oksana, who were in Australia for Oksana's friend's wedding. Oksana is originally from Australia but has lived in Canada for a number of years while Roman, her husband, is a Canadian through-and-through. They were kind enough to pass along some stuff, mostly clothes, from my mother. I met up with them at the Canberra Hyatt, Canberra's oldest and possibly nicest hotel, and then they were gracious enough to take me out for dinner. I showed them around Garema Place and we finally decided on the Tongue & Groove, a new, trendy restaurant/cocktail lounge. If you can get a table there, you're somebody. We were seated and had a fantastic dinner. Afterwards, I thanked Oksana and Roman for their companionship, the dinner and the parcels.

Earlier I discussed ancient Egypt and I figure I'll say a little more on that fascinating civilization, in case you still don't believe the assertions I made earlier. With regards to poetry, the first recorded poem is an ode to the sun written (probably dictated) by Amenhotep IV, popularly known as Akhenaten. Among other things, he was Tutankhamun's father. Akhenaten was a very unusual fellow and moved the capital to a place now called El-Amarna, or Tel-El-Amarna. He instituted what was known as the Amarna Revolution, completely changing Egyptian religion. Although polytheistic, Akhenaten declared there to be only 1 God, the sun God Aten (hence the name change and the ode). It was history's first monotheistic religion. As well, art was changed to show the royal family in a more realistic way. After his death, the old religion was restored but such was the upheaval that, for whatever reason, Tutankhamun's name was erased from the List of Pharaohs.

As for organized labour, the Egyptians were famous for not using slaves in the construction of their monuments. Slaves were only used domestically, and sometimes in the brick works and quarries. All the Egyptians who toiled away for decades to make the Pyramids and other monuments were paid, and quite well. There were actually two very good reasons for this. Firstly, most of the work was done during the flood season when stones could be shipped closer to the monuments. At this time, better than 95% of the population was, effectively, unemployed, so the monuments essentially became vast public works for employment creation; lessons for today, I think. Secondly, I think there was a sort of spiritual aspect and that the Egyptians believed that you could not truly appreciate what you were building, essentially ensuring the Pharaoh's immortality, if you weren't an Egyptian. Getting to the first strike, around 1480 BCE there was a brick works near modern Deir-El-Medina. Like most people, they were promised goods (in this case grain, I think) in lieu of cash. At one point, they were not paid their wages and so the workers stopped working. They returned to work after being promised their wages but when those were not forthcoming, they went on strike again. They only returned to work after the Mayor of Waset (Thebes), I think, personally came down and delivered their allotment. I think the ancient Egyptians could teach us all a thing or two.

In, and Out, the Money

I had a pleasant surprise on Monday when I noticed that my income tax refund had been deposited in my bank account. While $676.00 may not sound like a lot, to a student it makes all the difference in the world. Of course, it's my money to begin with so I'm only really getting what I've earned anyway. Am I really any better off? Of course I am. That, combined with a fairly nice payday a few days before means that I have ample funding for me-sen and my adventures.

The first thing I did was get a new rear wheel for my bicycle, whose rear wheel was slightly, but noticeably, bent and the axle broke. I just have to fiddle with the breaks a bit to get it perfect. I also got a set of Allen keys and a mud flap so my pants won't get dirty when I'm riding in the rain.

I've also decided to treat myself to a little vacation. Using my hard-earned money, I booked myself a round-trip to Adelaide with accommodation at the central YHA hostel. I think I deserve it. I'm leaving on the afternoon of Thursday, August 27th and returning to Canberra Monday, August 31st. Because one of my courses won't be running for a few weeks, I won't have class that Monday giving me extra time in Adelaide. I'm going primarily because I've never been and my mother sings the city's praises. This will mean that the only capital cities left for me to explore will be Hobart and Perth. I'll have to catch them some other time.

There are 2 things I wish to complain about, though, the first being the absence I see, from time to time, of the letter "u" in words like colour, harbour, favourite, etc. While this would be acceptable in the USA, I find it very irritating. It's not a matter of American hegemony, rather laziness on the part of the writers. Is it really that hard to set the spell check to English (Australian/UK/Canadian)? I had an exchange on this very topic over the university intranet with someone.

The history of the "u" in those words is actually quite interesting. In the 18th Century there was a move to standardize English spelling and, at the same time, to make it more like Latin; this is where the absurd "non-splitting infinitive" rule came about as well. The idea was the words that entered into English from French would be spelled with a "u" but those that came directly from Latin would be spelled without it. The problem was that it was very difficult most of the time to discern which language was the progenitor of the English word. Hence, 18th Century spellings sometimes would include words like "errour" (error), "terrour" (terror) and "governour" (governor) and "color", "labor" and "harbor". In the 1750s, the first great English dictionary was published by Samuel Johnson and his spellings included the use of "u" now seen in the British/International English. In the American colonies, soon to be independent, the Latinization of English continued to the point we see today, but it is only the American English that has dropped the "u". There are other differences, such as "-fense/-fence", "-lt/-led", "-ise/-ize", and "-er/-re" but I won't labour on them.

The second gripe I have is with the appalling lack of late-night eating facilities in Canberra. This arose out of a discussion with a fellow from India named Varun. Sometimes I like to eat late or I just get a craving and I want something. Unfortunately, there isn't a single pub or anything that serves good food late. Your choices are limited to either pizza stands, McDonald's or the Casino, which does have an alright menu, but it is quite limited. I really don't understand why there isn't at least 1 pub that serves food late. Kitchens seem to close in Canberra around 21:00 and I can't fathom it. Surely there must be a demand for proper late night eating; I'm an example of it. Is a late night food serving pub really too much to ask for? Apparently, in Canberra, it is.

The Case of Humans vs. Zombies

For most of the week ANU has been in the grips of a zombie infestation. Apparently, Humans vs. Zombies is a popular role-playing game around American universities. Essentially people get placed on human or zombie teams and then go on missions. If a human is touched by a zombie, they become zombies. Although zombies cannot be killed, they can be stunned for 15 minutes by being hit with either a nerf dart or some socks. The game ran across campus and in the residences starting Wednesday and ending last Saturday. The Zombies won by infecting all of the human players. It sounds like so much fun and I couldn't play only because I didn't hear about it until late. Next year, if they're still running it, I'll buy some night vision goggles for the night missions.

Thursday and Friday were the last 2 days of my intensive postgraduate course. We had some interesting guest speakers who spoke of APEC, ASEAN and the Human Rights Council. Now comes the interesting part of trying to write a great paper. The professor assures us it isn't hard but I'm not so sure.

This evening I went to a laser tag facility called Zone 3 in Belconnen. This was a joint venture between our floor and the residents of the floor below us. We had an enormous amount of fun shooting each other and I fared fairly well. A nice escape from the usual drudgery.

I'd also just like to point out that I gained about 8kg from my Canadian trip and now I'm busy trying to shed that weight. That's the last time I accept to eat so much without the weather favouring bicycle riding.

Formatting Adventures

I've noticed the days getting longer. When I go to umpire training its not quite as dark as it used to be. It hasn't warmed up any but it's getting there.

The last few weeks haven't proven interesting really. University continues to be as much fun as it sounds, although I was introduced to a new class format. As part of the JD program, I have to take at least 2 postgraduate courses, and this semester I'm taking Law of International Institutions (LAWS 8184) with the same professor who's teaching me Advanced International Law (LAWS 2264). Because most postgraduate courses are run for those who work or fly in from elsewhere, the format is 4 days of 09:00-17:00. That was last Thursday and Friday and the same will be repeated this Thursday and Friday. Following that, I have to submit a paper which will be worth 100%, not something I'm looking forward to. I hope that because I did a similar class back at NPSIA I'll have an advantage here. Other than that, so far so good. I will only have 2 final exams this year so I'm hoping I'll get those out of the way quickly and then have the summer to work at ACTTAB and travel if possible. I may even be having visitors from Canada.

Life outside university seems to be progressing. My friends and I had another DnD session recently where we managed to slay a difficult opponent. We're all riding a high at the moment and we can't wait for the next adventures. I'm hoping a little adventure will come my way soon too.

By the way, I've updated my previous post a bit so check to see if you've missed anything.

There and Back Again

I've returned from a brief spell in Canada and have quickly re-entered the scholastic life. My trip back was fantastic except for the weather which was absolutely vile. It rained most of the time and temperatures were never really much above 20C. The one day it was nice and hot was the day after my arrival. After that, a stationary low moved in and brought rain and cold; it was like that almost everywhere I went. I did get a chance to talk to my grandmother about her experiences, some of which were quite suspenseful.

Firstly, the journey across the Pacific began with my brother and I meeting up at Sydney airport. I felt sorry for him as he had to be up extra early in order to catch the flight from Christchurch; actually, he may not have slept at all. The flight was uneventful except that one of my brother's bags was misplaced and we spent the next few days waiting for it; it eventually turned up. Due to the missing bag and a quick connection, we missed our flight to Ottawa but, luckily, the next one was only 2.5 hours later. We made it to Ottawa where we both collapsed from exhaustion, though I think I tried to stay up a bit.

I had a busy schedule planned for my 3 weeks in Canada while my brother only spent a few days in Ottawa before shipping off to Camp Borden to teach another cohort of cadets how to play musical instruments. One of the first things I tried to do was get in on the trial of Larry O'Brien but it was pushed from 09:30 to 14:00 so I couldn't stay to see it. Later that day, I went to a friend's barbeque where he, quite ingeniously, had Montreal smoked meat and other goodies. I also went to see a soccer game of my old team and I enjoyed seeing everyone after such a long time.

I managed to meet up with Gavin, one of the most creative people I know. We met a few years ago as his parents are lawyers my dad knows. I went over to Gavin's house and we talked for hours on what I recall to be a myriad of subjects and his sister, Becky, joined in as well. The one that springs to mind is linguistics. Gavin is contemplating returning to university to do an English degree. He's never out of ideas for TV shows and movies, the entertainment industry being his first love, and I hope to see one of his creations on the screen one day. I also met up with Luda who is working in the trademarks section of a major law firm. She gave me some great pointers
on what to expect and how to apply to firms for work.

Canada Day has always been one of my favourite days on the calendar. This time around, though, I didn't spend much time downtown as I was invited to another barbeque. Walter Usyk, the host, had graciously invited the whole soccer team to his place for Canada Day. We all had great fun talking and dodging the rain. After it all, I thanked Walter for the day and I trodded off downtown to see the fireworks. They were quite spectacular this year as they came off the stage, not only from behind the Centre Block.

I also caught up with old friends at the Barley Mow for pub trivia and at the RASC meeting. Things had moved on in the 18 months I wasn't around; for example, a friend of mine and her husband had had a daughter. I kept my arrival secret from the RASC members and I surprised them all when I showed up. I think it was a pleasant thing to do. Much the same happened at the Barley Mow, though everyone knew I was coming. As luck would have it, we won our first trivia game in a long time, and by only 0.5 points! I so enjoyed trivia at the Barley Mow and I'm a little bit sorry I could only stay for 2 games.

Even though it rained most of the time, I did manage to get some exercise in. I played some soccer with the old team and even though we lost, I had a great time. I'll miss playing with the guys but next time I'm back, they assure me there will be a spot on the team for me. All of them, every last one, are absolutely fantastic lads.

I also managed to catch up with Greg, perhaps my oldest and dearest friend. Our families have gotten together every so often for so many years and I always enjoyed going to the Hull's on hot summer days to frolic in and around the pool. Greg's done quite well for himself and is working for an investment company; I wish him every success.

My last weekend in Ottawa I did get a chance to travel to Montreal to visit Andre, my doctor friend I now call Dr. Dre. Dr. Dre was throwing a party at his apartment and I was invited. I arrived in Montreal and was greeted with an absolute downpour. I walked to his apartment (luckily I brought a poncho) but I paid for it with soaked shoes and socks. I helped Andre set up and we talked about a variety of things. I tried to convince him to look into Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service as it combines his 2 great passions --- medicine and flight (he's an amateur pilot). Andre said he'd look into it and I do hope he seriously considers it; it's perfect for him. Anyway, Dr. Dre's friends were all very interesting people from his program and there was also Oleh, a mutual friend from Ottawa now living in Montreal. We all had a great time under the wonderful hosting of Andre. I slept overnight before heading back to Ottawa the next morning. I must express my deep thanks to the good doctor both for inviting me and for letting me stay over.

Although 2.5 weeks sound like a lot of time, it really isn't and I didn't get to do many of the things I wanted. However, my trip to Regina would prove to have some interesting moments.

Again, as luck would have it, a cold wet front moved in, which is atypical for summer. I did mean, though, that I got to spend a lot of time with my grandmother who is a very interesting person. Although she wouldn't let me record her, she told me stories of how she survived the war, dealing with air raids, Soviet kidnappings, lost luggage and a myriad other things too bizarre to even imagine nowadays. My grandmother even showed me a fake passport that she used while travelling within Europe during the war. It's something that's so difficult to imagine and I'm not sure what's more amazing, that my grandmother lived through and did some incredibly brave things, or that her story probably isn't unique and that millions of people had similar experiences. One story that does stick to mind is the brief time my grandmother was a spy. At one point she accepted a job typing something for a group of people and it was only after her brother told her that they were likely some underground organization did she realize what was going on. You would never figure her for a "spy" just by looking at her, but there you go. At some point, I'll get my grandmother on tape. Unfortunately, I'll probably never hear the whole story as time has taken its toll on memory and there are some questions I'll probably never think to ask. My grandmother said that eve though those days were dangerous she still misses them I guess when you look back on the past, even the dark bits seem to shine.

I did manage to visit some of Regina's sights on this trip too. I visited the Legislature and the RCMP Depot with its new interpretation center. There wasn't much to do that day as the rain and winds picked up, which forced me indoors fairly quickly.

I also managed to spend quite a bit of time with my cousins. The 4 of them are so full of energy and their parents are always driving them to one activity or another. This time around it was softball for one of the days. Later, we went to the cottage at Regina Beach where I rode an ATV. Regina Beach was one of my favourite locations when I was younger though I didn't remember much of it. That day was a little chilly but bright and sunny, which made up for it. We all had a great time playing around, eating pizza and just talking.

And that was it for my Canadian trip. To everyone I visited, especially my grandmother who is always so accommodating and wonderful, thank you for letting me spend time with you. To my uncle, aunt and cousins, thank you for inviting me to all the functions and the cottage. I hope to see everyone again as soon as I can.

I returned to Australia with only 2 days until classes started up again. As with every new semester, I was nervous as you never really know what to expect. So far, my classes seem interesting enough. This semester, though, I also have a postgraduate course which will be an adjustment for me. Apart from that, not much more remains to be reported except that I planned the trivia night we had at Fenner. I designed a very hard quiz but some of the teams did remarkably well. The last round was on Canada. I made the quiz challenging primarily because I wanted to teach them something. It's no good regurgitating what you've known all your life; I wanted to impart some new knowledge. I've already been asked to write another quiz for a future trivia night and, although I'm making it quite a bit easier, I'm still hoping to teach them. Maybe it'll stick.

Winterlude

As I'll be off in Canada for the next 3 weeks, there will be no updates for that time. Afterwards, I'll publish my adventures. See you in mid-July.

Freedom! Horrible, Horrible Freedom!

It's finally happened. The semester is over. All exams written and handed in. You hope you've done well and hope you've done you're best. I'd like to think I've done both. My exams were not exactly easy, but none were ridiculously difficult. In a few weeks I'll find out if I have to sit in any supplementaries. Hopefully not. To write another exam or, heaven forbid, redo a course, sort of feels like paying twice for the same real estate. I think I've done alright. the end of this semester also signifies the end of half of my degree. It won't be long now.

I had my end of year performance review at ACTTAB and things went very well. It turns out people are quite happy with my performance and are generally pleased to work with me. It entitled me to a little raise, or as they say here, a rise. I'm now making just under $26/hr which is fantastic considering the amount of work I actually do. And in this economic crisis, I'm glad for the money. Next semester my schedule will be a little more conducive to ACTTAB so I'm looking forward to raking it in hand over fist.

Tomorrow I'm off to Queanbeyan to officiate a footy match and then go to something called the "Day of Heroes". It's some sort of Ukrainian event commemorating someone or other. I've never heard of it so I guess I'll find out then.

Speaking of Ukrainians, Viktor Yushchenko, the President of Ukraine, was supposed to visit Australia last week, but his trip was cancelled. Apparently the political situation in Ukraine is such that he needs to be personally there. Oh well. I'm sure there will be another occasion for him to come Down Under. We Ukrainians in Canberra were kind of hoping for something big but I guess we'll have to wait.

With the semester truly over, I'll be off to Canada for the next 3 weeks, returning just before the start of the 2nd semester. It'll be nice to bask in Ottawa's 30C weather while Canberra freezes and celebrate Canada Day in Ottawa. I leave Tuesday but I'm staying in Sydney overnight at a friend's. My brother will meet me at the departure gate and together we'll cross the Pacific. He'll spend most of the Canadian summer at Camp Borden (or as I call it, Camp Boredom), teaching young cadets how to play musical instruments. I keep telling him that he should join the army since he enjoys it so much. Anyway, I look forward to seeing some familiar faces though I've been in Australia for so long, Canada may seem foreign.

One last quip. What was the name of Scotland's Jewish national poet? Rabbi Burns! I think it's funny even if you don't.

No Good Deed Unpunished

I've had my first exams of the season, neither of which I looked forward to. The first was a take-home International Law of Human Rights (ILHR) exam and the other was a sat Administrative Law exam. Although I don't think I did particularly stellar in either, I do think I did alright. I comfort myself by saying that one day this will all be 10 years ago. I did have a little boost just before my administrative law exam and that was that I received 2 marks from ILHR, a High Distinction for class participation and a Distinction for a class presentation. I really needed the boost. I later found out that I sat my administrative law exam on the coldest day in Canberra for 43 years! The day was quite miserable as a fog didn't burn away like it was supposed to and trapped colder air beneath it. The daytime high was 4C, which for me isn't that cold, but for Canberra it's freezing. And another interesting thing happened with administrative law. My professor contacted me and said that he had somehow neglected to record my mark for a particular assignment and asked if I could send him the mark by e-mail. I told him the truth, a Credit and offered to bring it in as proof. He replied that it wouldn't be necessary. I later asked him if I had said I'd received a Distinction or High Distinction would he have checked, and he said no, at least not for a Distinction. I think I deserve honesty bonus points.

The cold weather I just spoke of also brought snow to the hills, though none has actually fallen in Canberra. I want to see snow! Snow can actually be classified as a mineral, in much the same way as ice. Ice is a naturally occurring, inorganic, crystalline compound which is the definition of a mineral; snow is exactly the same. I'm not kidding, geologists do classify ice this way. Snow, then, is the sedimentary version and ice is the metamorphic version --- created by heat and/or pressure.

Last Monday was the Queen's Birthday public holiday, one of only 2 days of the year, the other being Australia Day, that Canberrans are allowed to set off fireworks. There were fireworks everywhere. I went to the roof of Fenner Hall and looked out over the city and you could see fireworks from every point. It was actually quite amazing.

I had another great round of picks at the AFL, getting another 8 of 8. This means that my tally is now 70% correctness. If only I'd been putting money on this, I'd be making it hand over fist.

I read on the internet that the trial of Larry O'Brien has adjourned while the judge considers whether or not to grant a directed verdict. Reviewing the evidence, I think there is reasonable doubt but I'm not so sure I'd be ready to grant a directed verdict quite yet. I think judges when considering such matter as an assumption take the Crown's case at its highest, that is to say they consider, for the sake of argument, that the Crown's evidence is true. The judge would then see if even at this high standard, could a jury reasonably find a person guilty. Luckily, I'll be in Ottawa when the directed verdict is scheduled to be handed down. Maybe I can get a front row seat.

I've been reading, as I'm sure you have too, about the Air France flight that disappeared and the statement about contradictory speeds from the instruments made me think of another disaster. About 10 years ago an AeroPeru flight crashed at night into the sea. Shortly after takeoff, the instruments began relaying conflicting information, for example stall warnings, overspeed warnings (too fast) and different altitudes. It is actually impossible to be going too fast and be stalling. The crew decided to turn around but because it was night, there was no horizon or any landmarks. They eventually just sort of landed in the ocean as they lost altitude. It turned out that the pitot tubes had been blocked by tape when cleaning the tape hadn't been removed again. The pitot tubes use the external air pressure to gauge altitude and airspeed and then relay this information back to the instrumentation. If this is blocked, it can wreak havoc and create contradictory information. From what I've read about the Air France flight, this is very similar. There has even been talk about the pitot tubes being iced over although the manufacturer has questioned this conclusion. Hopefully, we'll find out what happened.

Finally, I'll leave you with this slightly less than politically correct event that happened last week. Sreeja, a young woman from India on my floor, was having trouble with her computer so she called one of Fenner Hall's IT support people. I think she got through to Ian. I then pointed out that in an ironic twist, and Indian was calling a Caucasian for tech support. I think it's funny even if you don't.

Reminding

Lectures have ended and now comes the true test of one's mettle --- exam season. The exams have set upon me as a flock of ravenous vultures. All lecturing has ceased, all assignments are in and all bets are off. The best anyone can do in this situation is their best and hope for the best. Luckily, 2 of my 4 exams are take-home which doesn't make them any easier necessarily, but it does give more time for reflection. Almost as luckily, exams at law school are open-book unless otherwise specified but none of mine are, so that takes away from the stress as well, but only slightly. I guess all I can do is study like mad and hope that I come up with the right answers, although in law there are no such things.

Speaking of exams, I had another dream involving administrative law. This one dealt with a fictitious administrative law exam that was being administered orally; I only wish. Taken with my previous dream a few weeks ago, I think I've got admin on the mind. It's actually quite sad that I dream of these things, although I did have another dream where I was piloting a plane that had been lost on radar but still had radio communications. We ended up landing on Cranbourne Avenue is Sydney, which doesn't exist as far as I know. All I can say is bizarre.

With the onset of winter, the weather has taken a decidedly gray countenance. It's been fairly chilly for the last few days and there's even been some rain. This is good news for the reservoirs but it doesn't help the mood, especially when you're cooped up studying. It'll remain like this for a few days and then it's supposed to clear up but without an increase in temperatures. As I'll be in Canada for a good part of July, hopefully, I'll miss the coldest time of the year, but I doubt I'm that lucky.

And finally a question of semantics. Can some place remind you of somewhere you've never been? I've had a few occasions to travel by bus to Tuggeranong, a division in the south of Canberra. The hills make me think of Switzerland and I've found myself telling people that it "reminds" me of Switzerland. I have never been to Switzerland. That being the case, can the view remind me of some place I've never actually seen for myself? Oh, the questions I think up when I've got too much time on my hands.

I've decided to post some pictures of night fog in Canberra. Fog seems to be a regular occurrence this time of year.

Sequestration

Swine Flu has hit the ACT and in this smallish community, it has affected some people I am acquainted with, or at least, have probably been in contact with. A man on a city bus was recently ordered to quarantine himself after he tested positive for the H1N1 virus. As a precautionary measure, 3 residents of Fenner Hall have been billeted in alternate accommodations for a week to make sure they don't have the virus. You may have heard of the cruise ship in Sydney that had someone infected with the virus? Well, Murray, a guy I've worked with at ACTTAB was on that ship and now he's quarantined for a week. It's a little scary to think that I may have been in close contact with these people, apart from Murray whom I haven't seen in a while. Although the risk of infection is low, you can't help but wonder. After all, I'm going to Ottawa in June, provided they don't close the borders, which has had reported cases of Swine Flu. I only hope I don't get quarantined on the way back.

Speaking of ACTTAB, we recently introduced a new system for betting on sporting events. By recently, I mean yesterday and I didn't know that until I started my shift. Although it's supposed to offer more choice to the customers, we've received complaints about its complexity and elimination of some options. The change to the new system wrought absolute havoc on the computer system last night and we (the staff) were virtually powerless to correct or assist with errors. There will definitely be some teething problems as the system gets broken in and I can only hope that it'll be worth it in the end. I also received my union card in the mail, giving me conclusive evidence that I am now a member of the USU. Solidarity forever!

In 2004, just before coming to Australia the first time, I took a course in bartending. I didn't get a chance to use it in Australia but I now have a second chance. I'll be volunteering at the Warren, the "canteen" at Fenner Hall starting in August. I've actually done a bit at the Warren before but as this year is much quieter than last year, business has been pretty slow. First, I had to get a Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) Certificate which I completed online in about 1 hour. I am now qualified to serve alcohol in all states and territories of Australia save New South Wales and Queensland. I hope to make some of my famous cocktails for the residents very soon. I had the idea of a shot called the "Jack and Jim" which consists of one part Jack Daniels and one part Jim Beam; I have no idea what that would taste like.

At umpire training on Saturday I was very impressed with myself as I did a non-stop run of approximately 6km. This is the furthest I've ever run without stopping, although at around the 4km mark we did some calisthenics. I think I'm in the best shape I've ever been. According to my bathroom scale, I've levelled off around 82kg which is about average for someone my height. I really feel good about myself and the difference from when I first arrived in Australia at 92 kg is noticeable. After that long run, I got a very effective and painful neck massage from the visiting masseuse. She says I should get a whole body treatment as I've a lot of tension in my muscles. I might just go in for one, but not yet.

At university, the end draws nigh. There is only 1 week left before exams begin and it's a funny thing. When semester begins, you can't wait for it to be over but now that the end is here, you want a few more weeks to shore up your knowledge. I'll just have to make the best of it. I think I understand my subjects but that could just be me thinking I understand my subjects. We'll find out fairly soon, won't we.

Have you ever had a piece of music stuck in your head and can't remember what it's called or even if you've ever heard it? A few months ago, a little melody popped into my head and I couldn't figure out if I'd heard it or made it up. Then, a few days ago, I heard it in 2 movies, Bad Santa and Eyes Wide Shut, in the space of a few days. It turns out to be a jazz suite waltz by Dmitri Shostakovitch. It was really bugging me but now, at least I know.

And may I make one further recommendation. I think everyone should have a listen to the BBC shipping forecast over the radio or internet. I learned about it recently and have started to listen to it. It's more than a mere weather report; it's an experience. It follows a specific format and has its own jargon for those in the know. Essentially it is a sea weather report with various parts of the north Atlantic around the British Isles divided up into sectors. The sector reports are given in a specific order and if you know the jargon, in a few words, you can know the weather for the next 24 hours. It doesn't sound exciting but once you get into it, you learn to love it.

Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

It's been a fairly eventful week, especially in the realm of the news. I even got some money I was owed.

In international news, the big event was the elimination of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers. That these people still have the support of the expatriate Tamil community is beyond me. The Tigers were a band of unprincipled brigands who should have faced the justice system a long time ago. I only hope that they get fair trials, which something else to be concerned about. The Tigers, according to CSIS and the RCMP, extracted by various coercive means, CAN$1 million every month from Torontonian Tamil businesses alone. Some of this was along the lines that non-compliance would earn that person a black mark in the community, while other methods were of the more threatening variety. I think everyone should be glad that the Tamil Tigers are gone, and so should the Tamils themselves.

Another event I've been following closely via the CBC website is the trial of Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien. After the 1st week, we've heard from Terry Kilrea, the man O'Brien is accused of attempting to influence, and John Baird, a current Cabinet minister who was responsible for political appointments at the time of the mayoral election. According to analysts, Kilrea maintained his ground and Baird's testimony corroborated Kilrea's affidavit partially. Kilrea had been grilled for days by Mike Edelson, the defence attorney, while Baird's testimony was rather brief, lasting barely a day. Baird essentially confirmed the part of Kilrea's affidavit where Kilrea maintained that the discussion of a parole board appointment never came up in a meeting they had. While this may score some points with Kilrea's credibility, it doesn't really add any new evidence, but not all witnesses have testified yet. All I can say is that this trial is becoming curiouser and curiouser by the day.

There was big news in the world of biology with the unveiling of Darwinius masillae, a lemur-like primate supposed to be one of the missing links in the hominid evolutionary chain. It lived about 47 million years ago, was the size of a smallish cat, had a long tail, opposable thumbs and fingernails, as opposed to claws. The fossil was discovered in 1983 but its significance was not established until 2 years ago. It's just one more thread in the tapestry that is the story of human evolution.

A curious bit of news was the referendum in Western Australia (WA) over whether or not to adopt daylight savings. WA trialled the system until this year when a vote was held on it. The No side won 55%-45%, which means that during the summer, WA, like Queensland, will not go forward 1 hour. That will put 3 hours behind Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart in the summer; those cities are all in jurisdictions which have daylight savings. I think, if you look at it, daylight savings makes sense since the day (09:00-17:00) is planned around 13:00, not 12:00. On the long summer days, it actually makes more sense to have sunrise and sunset "later" than they would normally be, though really, not daylight is "saved" by daylight savings. WA has always been a little strange though and they are the only state with a reasonable separatist movement; they're like the Québec of Australia.

I mentioned money earlier on and it was the long-awaited back pay from the government approved ACTTAB EBA. I got about $400 and was very happy about it. I bought a few things I needed, among them, a new pair of black cleats for $109.00. This is for AFL umpiring work and training. They're pretty comfortable and I had great run in them at training of Thursday. They grip the ground really well and I was able to get a lot of speed while running. These will last me for some time.

Following on from that, I have some aussie rules news. In my picks for game winners, I had a perfect round guessing 8-of-8, boosting my record to 39-17. At a game today, I also had an encounter with a player who voiced his disagreement with one of my calls. The ball was on the ground close to the goal posts when the player in question kicked the ball, but just as he kicked it, a player from the defending team touched it which meant it was a 1-point behind, not a 6-point goal. When I signalled this, the player ran over and told me in no uncertain terms that he disagreed with my decision. I just remained calm and continued about my business. The defending team was awarded a free kick at the center circle as a result and if the player had continued his vocalizations, I might have reported him. It's all part of the game and you can't let it get to you.

I also happened upon a curious irony. In Mandarin Chines the name for the Germans, "do gwo ren" translates to "the moral people"; do gwo is a transliteration of "Deutsch", the word Germans call themselves. When I first heard this I laughed hysterically. I then suggested that an alternate name, which still preserves the transliteration slightly, would be "da sha ren", meaning "the genocide people". I can have a very dark sense of humour.

Money, Justice and Electronics

There is a saying that you don't really realize how much you need something until it is gone and I had a very practical instruction in this a short while ago. On Wednesday, I returned home from classes and turned on my computer only to receive the message that Windows had failed to boot. Try as I might to restart the system, nothing I did worked. For one reason or another, my operating system had crashed; the equivalent to my computer having a stroke. It was still under warranty so I managed to get it repaired for free, but at the cost of all the data I had on it. This would normally have been disastrous except that only 12 days before I had backed everything up and I hadn't really created any new files since. Nothing of any significance that I can find was lost. It did mean that I had to reinstall all of my programs and restore all of my settings, but with a few hours work, that was done. I'll now be backing everything up weekly just in case.

Big news in Australia this week was the announcement of the federal budget which calls for spending in some areas and cutbacks in others. For example, the pension age was raised to 67 while the age of independence (for government benefits purposes) was lowered to 22, I believe. All things considered, I think Australia is doing rather well in these economic times. Needless to say, this has caused quite a row in Parliament and I've watched some of the debates with great interest. Naturally, the opposition calls the government's budget ill-advised, the government is defending it and the Speaker is in the middle trying to maintain some semblance of order in this rough country. There is some speculation that Kevin Rudd (the PM) is having a bit of a gamble, another fine Australian tradition (which also happens to keep me employed), and that should the budget fail to pass the Senate where numbers are even, then he will as for a double dissolution precipitating an election. I don't think that's particularly well-founded and I think that the budget will go through, if it hasn't already.

In other money matters, the ACTTAB EBA passed the government authority's "no disadvantage" test. In Australia, whenever a collective agreement is signed by management and a union, it must be sent to the workplace authority for inspection to make sure it complies with all laws and does not contain any provisions which would be otherwise disadvantageous. It was with the authority for about 5 months and we were worried something was wrong. However, now that it's gone through, we go on a new, increased pay scale, backdated to September 1, 2008. Practically, this means I'm getting an extra $1.00/hr on normal days and $2.00/hr on Sundays and public holidays. It also means I'll get about $400 in back pay this paycheque. That's something I'm looking forward to. The EBA, which lasts until 2011, also states that we get raises of 4.2% every year. I'm glad we got this negotiated before the economic downturn. There's no way I'm letting go of this job.

I've been following the story of one Mr. Demjanjuk (dehm-yah-NYOOK), as I'm sure many other Ukrainians have as well. He was recently extradited to Germany to face charges that he assisted in the Holocaust while working at the Sobibor Death Camp in World War Two. Now 89 years old, he was flown from Ohio to a German jail where he will be held pending his trial. this is not the first time Mr. Demjanjuk, a native Ukrainian, has been charged with complicity in the Holocaust. In the 1980s he was stripped of his American citizenship and extradited to Israel to face charges of being Ivan the Terrible, a particularly vicious guard at Sobibor. While originally convicted and sentenced to death, the only other person I can think of other than Eichmann (the architect of the Holocaust) to be so, his conviction was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court after new documentation surfaced putting his identity as Ivan the Terrible in doubt. His American citizenship was restored and he has lived in Ohio until now. I want to see the outcome of this trial and I guess it's comforting to know that no matter how much time has passed, one cannot escape the sword of justice.

There was another story buried amongst the economic news that made me stop. Apparently, due to low fan support, the National Basketball League (NBL) in Australia is folding after the coming season. There just isn't the support base that the managers thought there was and so the league is disappearing. I don't watch basketball, even really know any team names in the NBL or have any association with any of them, but I always fell a bit sad whenever I read that a team is folding, let alone a league. Somehow, it feels wrong.

I've also developed a rather unusual ability or habit. For the last few days, I seem to be able to wake up well before my alarm clock goes off. It doesn't really bother me and I kind of like it because it means that I can just doze off again, but it is a little unusual. I do have the ability of a natural alarm clock, you know, the talent of thinking at what time you wish to wake up and then you do, unassisted. This latest phenomenon is new for me though, but it hasn't caused me any pain so I guess I'll just continue with it.

My parents called me from Toronto this morning and it got me thinking about the telephone being probably one of the rudest inventions in history. Just think about it for a second. If I came over to your house or place of work, started banging on the door and shouting, "Speak to me now! Speak to me now! Speak to me now!", you'd be liable to call the police and yet we tolerate this from an inanimate object. If I went back in time, I don't know if I'd shake Alexander Graham Bell's hand, or punch him very firmly in the spleen. Who actually invented the telephone is a matter or debate but I'll stick by fellow a Canadian, though he was really Scottish. I'd probably shake his hand.

More of the Same

I wish I had a little more excitement in my life. Lately, the routine of school and work has begun to wear me down. This semester isn't as fun as the last ones and the courses are difficult. I only take comfort in the fact that I am not the only one finding concepts of administrative and corporations law to be seriously obtuse. I guess it just gets to you after a while. I don't seem to be doing anything except that which is required, with no time for diversion. I'm second-guessing my choice of studying law but it's still "fun", so I can see the benefit in continuing. I figure everyone has second thoughts on occasions when affairs reach a point of drudgery. I think I just need some thing or event to lift my spirits a bit.

Perhaps to help me, I went with some acquaintances to the new Star Trek movie tonight. It was very well made and the references to the early Star Trek TV series, and the movies, made it enjoyable. The plot, which creates an alternate reality, is either the ultimate stroke of genius or insult. The movie felt more organic than the previous series, which had these characters who we all aspired to be; they were with few flaws and always the good guys. The Enterprise series, I felt, first brought in a more realistic interpretation of humanity by making showing some characters in less than favourable lights. This Star Trek movie continued on that vein, and it was quite exciting as well. I think any Star Trek fan would do well to see it and judge its merits for themselves.

I've also decided to volunteer at Fenner Hall's small alcohol dispensary, called the Warren. First, though, I have to complete an on-line government program to be certified to serve alcohol. This is called the RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) certification. It's good for the ACT and Victoria, though not New South Wales, curiously. One thing, I found interesting, though, is that it is illegal to serve straight shots in Canberra. This was put in place some time ago in an attempt to curb binge drinking and its associated problems. While spirits can be mixed in to non-alcoholic drinks, they cannot be served in shot glasses on their own. I don't know if this has made any difference.

Speaking of unusualities, I have to profess a particular aversion to a practice I've seen cropping up in Australia, and that is the word "thankyou". I simply cannot stand it. "Thank you" is two bloody words, "thank" and "you". They are not to be amalgamated into a single word and anyone who does so deserves to be hanged, drawn and quartered.

Back in Ottawa, the trial of Larry O'Brien, the mayor, has begun, or really, the first part of the process. He's pled not guilty to charges of attempting to influence an election. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) charged His Worship in 2007, I think, in connection with the mayoral race. It is alleged that he offered a Mr. Kilrea, another prominent candidate, his influence to obtain for him a job on the National Parole Board, which in my opinion, is not exactly what I would call a plum government appointment, if Mr. Kilrea would withdraw from the race, which he did. To make such an offer is contrary to the Criminal Code, and Mayor O'Brien is facing 2 or 3 charges. For the duration of the trial, which will begin in June, he said that he will step aside as mayor allowing two councillors, one of whom, Diane Deans, represents my ward, to occupy the post of Acting Mayor. I can't wait to see how this plays out.

Lastly, I'll say that I do have something to look forward to, and that is my winter/summer trip to Canada. With the exam schedule more or less finalized, I will be travelling to Canada from June-July roughly corresponding to the winter break here. It will be good to get out of the Canberran winter and into someplace where it is warm, hopefully more than 30C. I leave June 23rd and arrive back in Australia July 18th, which is the Saturday before term starts. The flights have been booked and I've arranged for transportation to and from Sydney by bus. Maybe being back in Canada will do me some good.