Friday, June 26, 2009

Colin Barnett to flick the switch

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett will officially flick the switch on the new floodlights at the North Fremantle Centre (North Fremantle Bowling Club) at a function today at 5.30pm.

The lights, donated by Fremantle City Council and the Fremantle Port Authority, will bring night bowling to the club for the first time.

The Premier will be giving a short speech and carrying out his official duties at 5.30pm, followed by a foot stomping performance of African song and dance on the green by Dunumba. This will be followed by solo guitarist Rodney Drummond and a show by the Pocket Theatre.

Word up - get there early and be entertained by a performance from children's orchestra, the String Beans. If they get old and fat later in life they can call themselves the Broad Beans... boom tish!

The North Fremantle Centre is quickly becoming the cultural hub in the region, hosting a range of events from comedy nights through to alternative music events supporting local musicians and performers. We even have Pirate band Rumskull hoisting the Jolly Roger on a frequent basis!

WHAT:
Official turning on the lights ceremony by Premier Colin Barnett
WHERE:
The North Fremantle Centre, off Stirling Hwy, North Fremantle
WHEN:
5.30-7.30pm today, Friday 26 June
CONTACT:
John Cooke (Jnr) PPR, 0433 679 780 / John Cooke (Snr) NFC Manager, 0409 848 721

Monday, June 22, 2009

Snuggie electrical storm



Thanks to my Mother-In-Law the Cookster household now has its own Snuggie. And before I go too far, we are very grateful for the new addition... Mrs Cookster is looking forward to many snuggie nights ahead.

Me? Well, let me just say straight up that if the Snuggie was a restaurant, it would be a pie van at the local football ground as opposed to a fine diner. It is in a word, NOT snuggie.

It is advertised as a convenient blanket replacement, but it's not blanket material. In fact it's felt. Mrs Cookster says it's "fleece", but that would be fleecing the truth somewhat. So felt it is and thin felt at that which isn't very snuggie at all.

However, the material is particularly good at building up static electricity. After two minutes of draping this material around my person, I began to generate my own micro-electrical storm. The air was fairly crackling with static, my hair was on end and *apologies to the weak of stomach here* even my chest hair was at 45 degrees. Every hair on my body was at attention, much to the disgust of Mrs Cookster who suggested a good waxing might be in order.

Of course, the kids were roaring with laughter at Daddy's clownish sci-tech display, but the two-year-old got the fear when a small lightning bolt shot out across the room and struck Dixie Marshall on the cheek. Okay, okay, I made this bit up.

It was only when the Western Power rep smashed through the front door trying to plug me in to the grid, to "harness my Snuggie potential" that I realised it was time to shed this quasi-religious static suit before someone got hurt.

Of course, it didn't take long to get it off, because it doesn't have a back. It's the hospital gown of leisure wear, designed for the person who likes to share their backside with the world. Thinking back to the TV ad, I can't remember seeing a whole lot of butt on display... a half ar5ed idea perhaps?

This is my considered opinion and even though some people clearly get off on the Snuggie phenomenon, a static-charged felt blanket with baggy arm holes and no arse covering is just not for me. Go figure?

I'm thinking the duvet suit might be more my style...

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Why social media is like punk

Thanks to mUmBRELLA for this thought-provoking link. You know I always wanted to be a punk, more in a Saints or Sex Pistols kinda way than those wannabes Green Day... hey, maybe it's time to re-open the piercing in the ear?

Melbourne-based PR consultant Gerry McCusker - author of the PR Disasters blog, presented at the International Association of Business Communicators conference in San Francisco last week.

His topic was Why Are CEOs Scared of Social Media? As part of the presentation he created this two minute presentation on the similarities of social media to punk rock.


Thursday, June 11, 2009

Withnail's theme

Have I ever told you my favourite film is Withnail & I? Probably a hundred times. I went to see it when it first came out, then rushed home to grab the flatmates and went back for the next screening... ahhh, the 80s.

Anyway, before I start smoking banana skins, here's a particularly delightful piece if music from the film, 'Withnail's Theme', enjoy.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Turn off your spinklers, you nonces!

I took the bins out first thing this morning inbetween heavy showers sweeping in off the ocean, only to be confronted by sprinklers in full flight on the properties both sides of my house.

Watering in the rain. Are we stupid, or what? Okay, so people program their reticulation for ease of use, but is it really that hard to turn the system off when winter arrives and just turn it back on manually if we hit a dry stretch?

I say not, and so does the state government.

Water Minister Graham Jacobs said the frustrating and disappointing aspect from the Water Corporation's point of view was that throughout summer and well into autumn, daily water consumption was less than what would have been expected and well on track to saving the anticipated 45 billion litres through the sprinkler roster and other water demand measures.

“However, from that time on, despite the long warm and dry spell, during which it could be expected consumption would be a little higher, it became much higher and, until last week, remained ridiculously high,” he said.

“The State Government supports the Water Corporation’s concerns that, if we can't quickly get back on track, serious consideration will be given to a winter sprinkler ban.

“This idea would not be a panic move but a realistic reaction to the current situation. The State needs to bank water now for the summer, even if we do get good winter rains."


Now hear this Perth, we live on a freaking sand dune (most of us) and by rights we should have no lawns whatsoever.

Would our gardens really suffer if we weren't allowed to use reticulation in winter? No, they wouldn't. Even when it's dry, get out there at 6am and roll around on your lawns to check out just how wet they are anyway.

Okay, so you use bore water so it must be okay? No, you're an idiot. What, you think the world is an empty ball that's full of water that will last for ever? No again. It's a limited supply and it too is running out, just like our ludicrously low level dams.

In Melbourne you can't water your lawns at all in summer. It's a fact of life and people have built a bridge and got over themselves.

Here in Perth we're getting all 'cat's bum mouthed' over the prospect of losing the sprinkler during winter.

I would never propose that people take the law into their own hands, but an old 3 iron used in anger would take the tops off those sprinkler heads fairly smartly if they happened to show their heads in the rain.

It's okay neighbours, my clubs shall remain locked in the shed... for now.