3AW, especially Ross and John, is probably what makes Melbourne mornings (weekdays only, unfortunately) interesting for me. For years now I’d listen to them in the morning, probably leaving 2 to 3 radios on around  the house.

This annoys Tress no end. It also keeps me entertained and interested no end so I’d wear the risk. Every day. When I leave the house and turn all the radios off, it was the car radio which took over.

This morning for example they had a professor on. Tim Bedding of the Sydney Institute for Astronomy. They were chatting about a Kaplar 22B or something. The point that caught me was the bit when they talked about how infinitely huge the universe is. The professor was asked if he thought there was life elsewhere in the universe. He quoted Carl Sagan, who was also asked the question and who said “I dont know”. When asked what was his gut feel, Carl Sagan said he did not think with his guts.

Then Ross asked what his thoughts are when caught in a traffic jam in San Francisco – whether somewhere in the universe another person was fretting about traffic jams. Obvious points like why in a universe of infinite enormity we were caught up in a traffic gridlock in a tiny portion of space.  It was the speed of thought Ross demonstrated, as well as the way he captured – in an apparently banal manner – the significance of our relative sense in the world, which made me smile and wonder why some Melburnians bother with other stations.

I often dont care for Susie O’Brien’s articles. For some reason this Herald Sun columnist seldom write anything that strikes a chord with me.

Her most recent article however, had me nodding all the way. It has to do with the Miss Tourism Australia pageant. She thinks Victoria can do away with the pretense at promoting tourism – it is “just a second-rate Malaysian based beauty pageant“. I can imagine this being another one of those hare brained events dreamed up by an idiotic UMNO person or a business person whose financial success is attributable  only to the relationship he has with idiotic UMNO persons.

The sooner Victoria leaves this event alone the better it will be. Only those with a desperate need to have their 15 seconds of media attention need be associated with this rubbish.

I think I’ll read your work a bit more, Susie. Thanks again.

This plant looked dead many months earlier, but in recent weeks it appears to have resurrected. Look at how pretty it has blossomed. I’m glad we left it alone to regenerate.

It was a late night last night and I’m struggling to focus on work now, so I jumped on a couple of sites to browse.

Unfortunately one of them was the Malaysia Today website and this headline “Anwar squashed by Najib’s speech” caught my eye. It turned out it was a New Straits Time article so you know it is likely to be an utter waste of space. I didnt want to make the arvo any more laboured than it already is so I gave it a miss in a heartbeat.

I have left Malaysia for a number of years now so I am probably even more remote than ever before but everytime I see Najib Razak’s name it still floors me for how someone with so much baggage can be allowed to head the government and be accorded any respect at all. He still carries the stench of the Altantuya Shaaribu murder – the C4 explosives used by Najib’s aides, the link with Razak Baginda – Najib’s close aide – with Altantuya Shaaribu, the disappearance of her record of entry into Malaysia, the statements by the bodyguard of Razak Baginda, the purported photograph of Najib Razak and Altantuya Shaaribu and the reluctance of Najib Razak to ping Gani the AG and Musa Hassan the IGP, the link of Najib Razak to Perimekar and the Scorpene purchase… all these add up to be a huge 600 pound gorilla.

How does a beast of that magnitude get ignored and someone with so much dirt like Najib Razak still strut around? Not only should he be far away from the seat of government, he should be investigated and if appropriate, charged, tried and put away. It still angers me, strangely enough.

Summer’s finally here but you wouldn’t know it. It was 8 degrees this morning when I drove out to the gym. It would indeed be strange to be watching the cricket on television this summer.

The Kiwis open our cricket season in the Gabba this morning. Other than the cool morning, Peter Roebuck is also no more, so this summer and cricket would indeed be different. Despite all that has been said about Ricky Ponting, I’m glad he’s still there in the team facing the Kiwis. I hope he’ll be there against the Indians too. He’s the one constant to ensure this summer’s cricket wouldn’t be an entirely alien experience.

I was hoping to go for the Boxing Day Test in the MCG again this year, seeing we’re not planning to travel over the summer Christmas holidays. It turned out however that Tress’ parents would be here in a couple of weeks and would stay over Christmas and New Year. I wonder what they’d think about spending a day in The G watching Michael Clarke’s Australia trying to wrestle some dignity against the Indians. It would certainly be a treat to watch the Little Master and Ponting on opposite sides again. It could well be the last time these two play in the same test match. I dont think however, that the senior Chews would take any interest…

Summer’s really here?