Neighbour

I feel sorry for my neighbour why you may ask

She has very bad epilepsy having seizures daily, she has had her daughter (18) live with her, the daughter having a 2 year old boy.

Yesterday her daughter has told her that she is moving out on the weekend to live with a friend, the mother will be left alone in the house.
I don't think she is the type of person who can live alone, and with having the seizures she gets scared or worried when she has them i think, she often comes to my place to ring her daughter so she isint alone when having the bad seizures

In one way i think its bad that the mother is getting left alone in the house, but in another way i congratulate the daughter for moving out and moving on with her life.

The mother had a friend come over for a few hours last night as soon as she saw him she ran to him crying, i hope she feels better today.

The daughter has many friends who come over so the house is usually lively and the mother has her daughters friends come over all the time.

Will just have to watch the mother now and see how she handles things, I think i will visit her a bit more so she isn't always alone.
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Nephew Gone

Last December my nephew came to stay for a few days, after being here for those few days the place he was renting with friends lease came up so he had to move, with no money he moved into my place, telling me he would be here for no more than three months.

Well it is now November, and he has finally moved out, leaving alot of his stuff here though, he moved out about 2 weeks ago and i had asked him to pack his stuff up which he hadnt done, so on Saturday i just picked everything of his up and put them in plastic garbage bags.

On Saturday morning i got a rude shock, he had somehow got into my house, after hearing some noise i got out if bed as it sounded as if someone had broken in and there he was sitting in front of this computer.

Since then i have worked out how he got in and have fixed up the problem, today at around 8am he had tried to get in again but this time couldnt, when i saw him this afternoon he told me how he had tried to get in and how he couldnt, i was laughing to myself cause he couldnt get in, but i was also thinking that other people may be able to see how he is getting in and break in while i am asleep and worse things happen, plus its not a nice feeling hearing noise of someone breaking into your house even if it is family....
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Phar Lap

I was watching an old Australian movie last night about a famous Australian racehorse from the 1930's, the horse was called Phar Lap.

The name Phar Lap derives from the shared Zhuang and Thai word for lightning (Thai: ฟ้าแลบ fáa lɛ̂p, lit. 'sky flash'). Aubrey Ping suggested "farlap" as the horse's name. Telford liked the name, but changed the F to PH to create a seven letter word, which was split in two in keeping with the dominant naming pattern of Melbourne Cup winners.

He stood at 17.1 hands, he was sometimes called "Australia's wonder horse", some of his other nicknames were "The Red Terror" and "Big Red".

Tommy Woodcock was Phar Laps full time strapper, he and Phar Lap formed such a close relationship that Phar Lap would take food from no one else, often having to sleep outside Phar Lap's stall. 'Bobby', as Tom nicknamed Phar Lap, always came first. Even when Tommy married, Tom could take no more than four days off.

Sydney trainer Harry Telford was a keen student of thoroughbred bloodlines, he believed he had found a future champion in a colt that was shortly due to sell in New Zealand in 1927.

Telford was in a financial mess. He talked an American businessman living in Sydney, David J. Davis, into buying the horse. Phar Lap was foaled in Timaru, New Zealand, late in the season on 4 October 1926.

Phar Lap was bought for 160 guineas, which Telford thought was a bargin, but when being crated from ship to shore in Sydney Harbour he looked anything but a champion. Warts covered its face and there was an awkwardness.

Problems came when Davis saw his purchase. He was furious and wanted nothing to do with it. Telford and Davis struck a deal, if Telford covered the cost of training the horse, he could keep two-thirds of the winnings-if there were any.

Phar Lap finished last in the first race he entered, and he did not place in his next three races. He won his first race on April 27, 1929, the Maiden Juvenile Handicap at Rosehill, ridden by Jack Baker a 17-year-old apprentice.

They spelled the horse for several months, then entered him in a series of races in which he moved up in class. The horse took second in the Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick on September 14, 1929 and the racing community started treating the horse with respect.

In the four years of his racing career, Phar Lap won 37 of 51 races he entered, including the Melbourne Cup in 1930 with 9st 12lb (61.5kg). From his win as a three-year-old in the VRC St. Leger Stakes until his final race in Mexico, Phar Lap won 32 of 35 races

Phar Lap came around at the time of The Great Depression of the 1930's, in those times there were no cash unemployment benefits. The 'dole' consisted of food rations often given to men who worked on special government projects such as making roads. People knew that to have a bet on him they would win their money back, bookies often would not take bets when Phar Lap raced.

After Phar Lap was almost shot at they decided that Phar Lap should race in America, he was shipped over there with Tommy Woodcock as Phar Lap's trainer.

On 20 March 1932,Phar Lap raced in The Agua Caliente Handicap and won.

After the win at Agua Caliente, Phar Lap was taken back up to San Fransisco to give him a rest and go through the many offers they where recieving for Phar Lap to race.

On Tuesday 5 April 1932, Tommy Woodcock awoke to find Phar Lap was in distress. His efforts to walk the champion failed to calm him down. Over the next few hours his condition only worsened. The vet was called but could do nothing. By then, Phar Lap could no longer stand. Around midday, with his head in Woodcock's arms, Phar Lap died.

There where many who thought that the Americans had poisioned and killed Phar Lap for they where bound to loose alot of money as Phar Lap's trainers could not be bought.

Most of Australia grieved with the death of Phar Lap, letters sent to Harry Telford to say how sorry they where that Phar Lap had died.

Following his death, Phar Lap's heart was donated to the Institute of Anatomy in Canberra and his skeleton to the New Zealand's National Museum in Wellington. After preparations of the hide by a New York City taxidermist, his stuffed body was placed in the Australia Gallery at Melbourne Museum.

A few good sites to go too Phar Lap Muesum Victoria

........................................Phar Lap Wikipedia

Poem

I hate cockroach's and last night as i was walking to my bed barefoot i trod on a dead one which made my hop about a bit and think bad things, to get the thoughts out of my head i wrote a poem about it so i could go to sleep and stop thinking about the dead cockroach.

If you really dont like cockroachs dont read this,

as i was writing it, it brought back memories of me treading on it....

the crunching sound

under my foot

makes me scream

as down i look

to see two eyes

on a body now dead

it makes me wonder

how long it lay there

with my hand over my mouth

to stop the bile

from rushing out a thousand miles

i grab a broom

trying to cover my eyes

and bend to sweep up

what was not a good surprise

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Playing WoW

A new part of WoW has come out today called Wrath of the Lich King and now people can get from level 70-80, they can also make a Deathknight character, which i have done, i called mine Dnight original i know its not.

Instead of really writing anything in my blog i have been playing WoW and getting some of the achievements that they now set done, i got one of them done which is to explore all of WoW, Horde and Alliance side.

I got that done around 2 days ago, but the game kept getting maintenance done for Wrath of The Lich King.

But i did get to catch up on alot of other stuff i had been putting off, so there was a plus side to it.

Alot of people of course will be rushing to get to level 80, i will be taking my time and annoying everyone on the way as they wait for me to get to 80 hehehe.

This time though i have 2 other characters to get to level 80 after my main character gets done.

Loads of people are all excited about leveling and all that, but for some reason i cant find the excitement to it, maybe it will come to me, but for me at the moment its all BLAH..

If anyone is interested in playing WoW, they do have a 10 day guest pass
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Japanese Love Dolls

I found this article on the net and previously i have seen a documentry about Japanese men and the Love Dolls they can buy.

There is a video by Reuters explaining how the dolls where first made around 30 years ago for handicapped men, now anyone can buy them.

One man called Ta-Bo, has dozens upon dozens of dolls, many of which are carefully arranged on his living room sofa patiently awaiting his return from work. (He says "hi" to them when he walks in!)

Ta-Bo has spent over $170,000 (USD)on his collection (dolls can cost as much as $6,000(USD) each), he owns dolls with various haircolors and facial features.

As Ta-Bo explains "A human girl can cheat on you or betray you sometimes but these dolls never do those things. They belong to me one-hundred percent."

Now a Japanese man has enlisted hundreds of people in a campaign to allow marriages between humans and cartoon characters, saying he feels more at ease in the "two-dimensional world."

Marriage is meanwhile on the decline as many young Japanese find it difficult to find life partners.

Taichi Takashita launched an online petition aiming for one million signatures to present to the government to establish a law on marriages with cartoon characters.

Within a week he has gathered more than 1,000 signatures through the Internet.

He has listed no contact details, making it impossible to reach him for comment to explain if his campaign is serious or tongue-in-cheek.
But some people signing the petition are true believers.

"For a long time I have only been able to fall in love with two-dimensional people and currently I have someone I really love," one person wrote.

"Even if she is fictional, it is still loving someone. I would like to have legal approval for this system at any cost," the person wrote.

Japan only permits marriage between human men and women and gives no legal recognition to same-sex relationships.

Japan's fans of comic books, or "manga," sometimes go to extremes.

Earlier this month, a woman addicted to manga put out an online message seeking to kill her parents for asking her to throw away comic books that filled up three rooms.

Prime Minister Taro Aso is an avid fan of manga and recently complained that he has been too busy to read comic books since taking office.
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Johnny O'Keefe, The King of Australian Rock n Roll

I was watching a Documentary about a great Australian singer from the 1950’s - 1970’s, his name was Johnny O’Keefe; he was know by either J OK or "The Wild One.

He was and will always be The King of Australian Rock n Roll, before most people thought Elvis Presley was the king of rock.

Born in 1935 Johnny O'Keefe, he was a major figure in establishing rock'n'roll and pop music in Australia.

He was the first Australian rocker to win a recording contract, and was the first Australian artist to ever make the Australian Top 40 charts, with 'Wild One'.

He was the first Australian rock artist to be signed by, and record for, a major international label - the US Liberty label.

Out of that association came three Australian Number One hits, and a Number Four hit.
His 1959 recording 'Shout' became the Australian Rock 'n' roll' National Anthem.

His biggest hit 'I'm Counting On You' spent a staggering ten weeks on top of the Sydney Top 40 Charts in 1961.

His last hit 'Mockingbird' topped the Australian charts in 1974, despite initially being rejected by radio stations preferring an inferior US version.

He pioneered teenage music shows on radio and television.

He was the first Australian rock'n'roll artist to have his own national radio program ('Rockville Junction' on ABC Radio) and, was the first Australian rocker to have his own weekly national television program, 'Six O'Clock Rock' on the ABC.

In fact, he ultimately compared four television programs.

Johnny gave many Australian artists including Diana Trask, Olivia Newton John, Helen Reddy and Peter Allen the opportunity to gain invaluable experience on television before heading overseas. Many Australian performers owe their start on television to O'Keefe. They in turn paved the way for today's Australian artists to be accepted overseas.

Despite not achieving international fame himself, Johnny still toured America in 1960, performing in 36 major cities and appearing on top rating television shows - all firsts for an Australian entertainer.

Johnny O'Keefe's life was not only a series of great highs, but also of many lows.
A near fatal car crash in 1960 not only affected him physically, but it also had a huge psychological impact.

He suffered a series of highly publicised nervous breakdowns through the early 1960s and these saw him undergo electric shock treatment and lengthy periods in institutions, including Ryde Psychiatric Centre.

Despite being written off by critics, fans and many in the industry, Johnny demonstrated an amazing capacity to bounce back at different times through the 1960s and 1970s.

He sadly passed away 6 October 1978

Johnny O'Keefe was the younger brother of Australian jurist Barry O'Keefe (a former head of the New South Wales ICAC) and the uncle of comedian and TV presenter Andrew O'Keefe To read more about him you can go to this website Johnny O'Keefe

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Weird Dream

I had this really weird dream last night and when i woke up the muscles in my legs are a little sore.

I dreamt that i was out with some friends in Sydney and that i had to get back to where i live, it was getting late and i was wondering when my friends would be moving to get home, around 2am i ask them when are they going to leave and they tell me that they are going to wait for the trains to start working and catch a train home, i tell them that i can get them home easier and if they want they can come with me, they say no and I'm really getting angry with them as it is getting late.

Now for the weird bit, i grab my bag and some other things and i start to fly, i am flying like i am doing a breaststroke in swimming, i loose myself in tunnels, and people start to look for me in the sky.

What at the start i think would take me less than an hour ends up taking me 2 days as my legs get tired.

I woke up though before i got home.

Gee i sometimes have weird dreams, does anyone else have dreams like this or is it just me?
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