This postal survey isn’t right.
I originally addressed this letter to the LGBTIQ community, but while I don’t want to downplay the strength of this community, I can also imagine some of you might actually be a bit sick of being lumped together as single undifferentiated entity. Just as heterosexuals are a diverse range of people with all manner of opinions and traits, so too are their LGBTIQ counterparts. The constant delineation between LGBTIQ and straight perpetuates an unspoken narrative that our sexuality is a preeminent criterion for defining difference, camouflaging the reality that I have more in common with many LGBTIQ people than a lot of straight people.So, on behalf of millions of fair-minded Australians, I write this to all LGBTIQ Australians, with my own friends particularly close in my thoughts. Read Full Article
0 Comments
I woke up oddly calm and confident (although still much earlier than I wanted to and with no hope of getting back to sleep). This is very unusual for me before a race- usually I’m as scared as Pauline Hanson is of factual reporting. For some reason, despite all the evidence from every other marathon I’ve run telling me this was going to be painful, I felt really optimistic about having a good race- is this how climate change deniers feel all the time, because if so, I can see the attraction. Read Full Article “Are you going to the G10?” a number of my friends have been asking in recent weeks. I was a little surprised as none of them were particularly politically active sorts. It was only after the fourth time that I had patronisingly told them, “They expanded to the G20 years ago,” that someone bothered to tell me they were inviting me to participate in a fun run, not protest a global financial summit. Read full article My friend, Porter, was in town and suggested we head for a walk on the mountain. “I love it,” I replied, unintentionally imitating Trump Jnr’s response to offered Kremlin assistance during the election. We met at the end of Lenah Valley road, with the plan to walk up to the Chalet following the Old Hobartians' Track, and if time permitted, continue to the summit. I filled up my drink bottles from the rivulet which, considering how much noise it made, had surprisingly little water flowing through it. I guess I’m used to things that have a lot more noise than substance after watching the short-lived antics of the Palmer United Party. Read Full Article Solemate Handicap 29 saw the event return to its original home of Risdon Brook Dam. Personally I had never run this course, but I had been warned it was a bit hillier than the flat course I had run previously at the Montrose Foreshore. Being a handicap race everyone has to wait for a different amount of time before they can start. Unless you are one of the very first runners, this gives you an idea of what it feels like to be on a footy team end of season players' trip, in that you spend most of the time chasing arses. Read Full Article Like many men of my generation, I have had a go at one or two Century Challenges when I was a lot younger- if not more foolish- and the results weren’t very pretty. So I was relieved to hear Solemates Century Day would not be featuring shot glasses. This Century Challenge was literally to run up to 100 kilometres in a day, in order for most participants to run further than they have run before, and for those who run further to enjoy a social 100k run. I know some readers are thinking this sounds worse than the one involving shot glasses but it was actually a lot of fun. Read Full Article I am tired of this, but it goes on regardless.
Bodies were barely cold and details were scarce, but that didn't slow those with a political axe to grind taking to social media to make their point about religion or immigration. And sure I accept that the ramifications of these events can't be ignored and the discussion can be awkward and uncomfortable, but isn't it worth taking a day or two to reflect just on the sadness of loss, before we start the ugly recriminations? Read Full Article Port Macquarie was my first Ironman and what an experience it was! As I discovered when I got up there, it was a very challenging course, but the fantastic atmosphere made it perfect for me. Even when I was struggling, it was never long before I encountered someone with a kind word of encouragement. I can’t say everything went perfectly to plan, but I’m not really disappointed by that. Most of the other competitors I spoke to said something similar and having unexpected challenges rear their head during the race seems like an accepted part of ironman. Unlike the organisers of the Fyre Festival, being underprepared for an event or forgetting something really worries me so I repeatedly checked and re-checked all of my preparations the day before the race. Read Full Article It was a rainy Sunday arvo so I sat myself down in front of the TV to watch the Blues and the Bombers. I have to say I was a bit worried, as I rate Essendon as a markedly better team if there is a one-sided game on I lose interest faster than Natasha Exelby.
The early minutes of the game seemed to be in keeping with my expectations, with the Bombers doing most of the attacking and Carlton finding it hard to get past half way except through Casboult’s powerful marking. One such mark was the catalyst for the first goal of the game, as Casboult kicked it long inside 50. No one could mark it but good work by Petrevski-Seton (who had an excellent game) made a chance for Cripps who snapped it off a step from about 30 metres out. Read Full Report Mt Amos is a rocky peak that dominates the skyline from Coles Bay, so it really was overdue for me to get up and check it out. I woke up on the Sunday feeling a little worse for wear from yesterday’s triathlon (and probably a bit more worse for wear from the post-triathlon celebration- I mean recovery). But I thought a gentle bushwalk would be a great way to loosen out some tired legs. As it turns out Mt Amos is about as gentle and relaxing as the Liberal Party is competent and trustworthy. It is not a gentle bushwalk and has some difficult sections that I would not recommend for anyone who has difficulties with balance or heights. But if those things don’t put you off, it is a true gem of a walk- visually stunning and with a constant variation in the type of terrain and movement. Read Full Article The Tasman Peninsula is such a beautiful part of the world. We are blessed to have many wonderful places in Tasmania, but the peninsula is pretty hard to beat. So when my mate, Ash, suggested a few of us spend weekend at Carnarvon Bay and do day walk to Mount Brown (not in the Hugh Grant way though) and Crescent Bay, I was as excited as Corey Bernardi gets about softening the Racial Discrimination Act. We got down there Friday evening and I had planned to get up early and get a few kilometres of swimming in before breakfast. However I ended up staying up later than I meant to so that plan was about as doomed as the Republican first effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Instead, I got up late, had a cold hamburger and cheesecake for breakfast (mmm nutrition- remember that statement when I later mention that I am in training) and set off in the midmorning. Read Full Article
I really should come to Coles Bay more often, even when there isn’t a triathlon being run. It is such an amazing place. But since there was a triathlon this weekend, I had to come up. I had a fantastic time when I came up for this event last year and once again Coles Bay turned it on for an amazing weekend in 2017. Read Full Article Despite having lived in Hobart for almost all my life, this was my first time in the Run The Bridge (RTB) race. Many Tasmanians eagerly look forward to RTB (unlike its near-namesake, RBT, the embarrassingly cheap reality TV show which no one asked for and no one definitely looks forward to. I parked a few kilometres from the start line and jogged in for a bit of a warm up. The forecast wind and rain were as non-existent as Peter Dutton’s humanity and after a few minutes jogging I was comfortably warm and looking forward to the run. The Solemates gathered for a massive pre-race photo and otherwise decided to forgo much in the way of race preparation in order to allow more time to chat. I caught up with Lewinski, who I have run with for a number of recent races and training runs (we have actually spent so much time running together over the past few months, Pauline Hanson wants us to sign a prenuptial agreement- don’t tell me running bromances aren’t real). Read Full Article There are so many great walks in Tasmanian but the Alum Cliffs if probably my go-to walk or run if I have an hour free and want to get outside. Situated at the northern end of Kingston Beach, it is a scenic 90 minute return walk that passes a number of excellent vantage points for viewing the cliffs themselves, the river and the eastern shore along the way. Read Full Article So in the lead up to Australia Day I wrote a piece on the Short Thoughts page explaining why I had changed my view about changing the date of Australia Day and now support the Change the Date campaign. In light of some of the reactions to this campaign, i also thought it was worth writing about what might be holding more people back from changing their perspective and supporting this push.
Based on the size of the protests and the media commentary, it appears that momentum is building to change the date of Australia Day. Not to cancel Australia Day and deny the country a day of national pride and celebration (despite what some extreme right perspectives would have you believe), just to move it to a day that is more inclusive and sensitive towards the first Australians. On some occasions, social change can be government-led, when we are governed by statesmen of vision and integrity (don’t laugh- it has happened, just rarely under a Liberal government). However Australia at this time is not governed by such people so it will be up to the people to lead the government. For this reason, it is important that the Change the Date campaign works hard to garner as much support as possible. Read full article
Untouchables VS Pirates
Much like Turnbull in the senate, we were struggling for numbers. We had actually been looking alright until Sunday night, but Untouchables players seem to pull out late so often we should really be sponsored by Durex and this week we had a massive exodus in the 24 hours prior to the game. Luckily the White Walker was able to call his brother, Barry White to fill in and we at least had six. Read Full Report |
I realised that the website was getting a little difficult to keep track of and people would have no way of keeping track of which new posts were recent. I will use this page to display links to any new articles from now on.
Archives
November 2020
Categories |