Can you smell it in the air? No? Try again. Raise your nose up a little higher and let out a big sniff. Can you smell it now?
It's that time of the year again when the fragrance of optimism and feelings of hope are abundant. It's in the air. It's in our hearts. It's in the forefront of our minds. Although the back of my minds may have something else to say about it.
Yes, Season Eve Optimism is a wonderful thing. Before any footy has been kicked in anger and the new jerseys are still at the manufacturers. Before new haircuts on old players have been seen and commentary teams are still working on name pronunciations.
You can dream of the year ahead for your beloved team. Will it be Premiers? Finalists? A Brownlow? A Dally M? A Rising Star?
It all seems possible in the hurly burly of February as speculation mounts higher and higher and the excitement grows to a fever pitch. Before the winter sets in around May anyway, and realism comes back to bite you and your team on the bum.
But May is a long way away at this time. It's Season Eve and what a special time of the year it is. The cricket season is getting on for a bit too long and a new inspiration (and challenge) awaits. It seems like an eternity since last winter and the bouncing pigskin being at the forefront of everything. Your withdrawal is great. There's only one cure.
Amongst it all, the papers are running with stories of certain blokes 'burning it up on the track' and others that have 'recovered strongly from last year's knee or shoulder or back'. Clubs are in the middle of membership drives and emails start flowing in for fantasy footy leagues and tipping comps. Not too mention the fact your local footy oval has come to life with the noise of circle work and 220 sprints.
The hope is strong. Excitement abounds. Will this be 'our' year you keep asking that voice in your head? 'Surely yes'. The footy gods can't be that cruel for you to go without for another.
But then that voice sparks up again with a nasty dose of doubt and negativity. 'Of course they can'. You've been hurt way too many times before. It's the same conversation you have with that voice this time every year.
Alas, optimism wins over and you can't help but be hopeful. Positive and bouyant. Encouraged and confident. 'Bring it on' you say. 'Let the games begin and may the best (my) team win'.
Happy Season Eve everybody.
EDM.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
EDM's Reluctant Homecoming
Real life really sucks sometimes. You know, reality and all it's trappings.
Or more like the trappings we put around own necks in the pursuit of status and material goods. Mortgages/loans and the jobs we endure to pay for them. And then the things we do to keep those jobs in the name of financial and employment security. 'For our future happiness' we tell ourselves. 'For our kids'.
Well, I'm pretty down on real life right now because it means this little adventure on the Sunny Coast for EDM and family is coming to an end. As regular visitors to this blog would be aware, the wife and I have been agonising over a decision to either stay and relocate on a permanent basis or go back to Brisbane. Back to our old lives.
It's all come to a head in the last week or so and the clock was starting to count down. Decision time was upon us and I'm sad to report that we will have to leave our sea/tree change lives and return to the big(ish) smoke in Old Brisbane Town.
The lease runs out here on 13 March so we'll be back around then with me returning to my old job around a week later. The wife to find a new job herself while inquiries are being made regarding the son returning to his old daycare (not Daddy Daycare I'm afraid).
Oh, the pain. The pain. It's heartbreaking typing those sentences out. Especially after just going for an early morning surf at Noosa West before meeting the wife and son for a play on the beach. And that's before a walk around the National Park planned for this afternoon and probably a drink at the Surf Club or fish n chips at First Point. Paradise.
Why are we leaving then? Well, it comes down to my work and the need to pay off mortgages and the like. Not too mention the odd trip to IVF Land that we are currently experiencing on a regular basis. And very expensive trips they are.
Yes, my current job and all the experience and qualifications I have built up are quite Brisbane-centric I'm afraid. Capital city centric anyway. Finding employment in something similar up here on the Sunshine Coast appears to be quite impossible. And it looks like there is even less chance of me being able to find a job that would pay as well as my current one in the City.
So back to the big smoke it is. But with great reluctance. Being pulled kicking and screaming by the financial and job security gods. Oh, what fickle and controlling beasts they are.
All is not lost yet though. Our dream remains to move up here again and hopefully for a much longer term. However, I'm not going to make any promises around timeframes seeing how much life can change in a mere few months, let alone years.
Especially around the irony where the one thing we want the most - the wife falling pregnant and having our second child - could be the thing that keeps us in Brisbane for years to come and inhibits our dream of returning to the coast and living a simpler life.
Who knows. Because life can certainly throw up some curveballs from time to time and make all sorts of intentions null and void. We know where we're going for the next six months anyway, and it's a homecoming to Brisbane and our friends and family. It is a reluctant return, but looking mighty forward to catching up with them all in both quantity and quality over the coming months.
Now, it's nearly time for that walk though. Better get them shoes on soon and grab the son. Just wondering what beer I'll have when we finish up at the Surf Club.
Life's pretty tough sometimes.
EDM.
Or more like the trappings we put around own necks in the pursuit of status and material goods. Mortgages/loans and the jobs we endure to pay for them. And then the things we do to keep those jobs in the name of financial and employment security. 'For our future happiness' we tell ourselves. 'For our kids'.
Well, I'm pretty down on real life right now because it means this little adventure on the Sunny Coast for EDM and family is coming to an end. As regular visitors to this blog would be aware, the wife and I have been agonising over a decision to either stay and relocate on a permanent basis or go back to Brisbane. Back to our old lives.
It's all come to a head in the last week or so and the clock was starting to count down. Decision time was upon us and I'm sad to report that we will have to leave our sea/tree change lives and return to the big(ish) smoke in Old Brisbane Town.
The lease runs out here on 13 March so we'll be back around then with me returning to my old job around a week later. The wife to find a new job herself while inquiries are being made regarding the son returning to his old daycare (not Daddy Daycare I'm afraid).
Oh, the pain. The pain. It's heartbreaking typing those sentences out. Especially after just going for an early morning surf at Noosa West before meeting the wife and son for a play on the beach. And that's before a walk around the National Park planned for this afternoon and probably a drink at the Surf Club or fish n chips at First Point. Paradise.
Why are we leaving then? Well, it comes down to my work and the need to pay off mortgages and the like. Not too mention the odd trip to IVF Land that we are currently experiencing on a regular basis. And very expensive trips they are.
Yes, my current job and all the experience and qualifications I have built up are quite Brisbane-centric I'm afraid. Capital city centric anyway. Finding employment in something similar up here on the Sunshine Coast appears to be quite impossible. And it looks like there is even less chance of me being able to find a job that would pay as well as my current one in the City.
So back to the big smoke it is. But with great reluctance. Being pulled kicking and screaming by the financial and job security gods. Oh, what fickle and controlling beasts they are.
All is not lost yet though. Our dream remains to move up here again and hopefully for a much longer term. However, I'm not going to make any promises around timeframes seeing how much life can change in a mere few months, let alone years.
Especially around the irony where the one thing we want the most - the wife falling pregnant and having our second child - could be the thing that keeps us in Brisbane for years to come and inhibits our dream of returning to the coast and living a simpler life.
Who knows. Because life can certainly throw up some curveballs from time to time and make all sorts of intentions null and void. We know where we're going for the next six months anyway, and it's a homecoming to Brisbane and our friends and family. It is a reluctant return, but looking mighty forward to catching up with them all in both quantity and quality over the coming months.
Now, it's nearly time for that walk though. Better get them shoes on soon and grab the son. Just wondering what beer I'll have when we finish up at the Surf Club.
Life's pretty tough sometimes.
EDM.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Playing Catch Up
If you've been following the sports media over the last few days, you must be aware of the controversy around Optus winning a Federal Court appeal to allow them to broadcast free-to-air programming on delay for free on their TV Now service which can be accessed by mobile devices such as phones, iPads and the like.
If you've missed it, here's a link. And another.
So basically, we've got a situation where Optus can offer, to the minute almost, the broadcasting of sports such as AFL and NRL without having to pay anything for the rights. While someone like Telstra, who has negotiated and paid for exclusive rights in the millions of dollars, has no recourse.
Now, I'm no big supporter of our largest Telco, Telstra, on a purely customer service basis, but on natural justice grounds you'd have to say this scenairo is unfair on them as well as the big sporting codes which have now seen the value of their product diminished dramatically. At least in a broadcasting sense.
You can't really blame the Federal Court though for their decision as they were merely following the letter of the law. The thing is, the letter of the law is somewhat out of date having been written in 2006 and has simply not kept up with the technology that is advancing and changing so quickly.
Telstra, the AFL and the NRL are of course appealing the Federal Court decision which they must in the circumstances. I've just read also that they've already met with the Prime Minister today and will be lobbying the Federal Government hard in an attempt to amend the copyright legislation to protect their 'rights' and product.
Because the whole system of selling broadcasting rights is at risk and both codes could be up for losing millions of dollars in their next deals if no-one is willing to pay for them anymore. Or more likely, not pay as much. Lucky the AFL just signed theirs but unlucky for the NRL and Cricket Australia who are just about to begin negotiations.
Optus are claiming that the decision is a win for customers and by extension, fans of the footy codes. As well they might. The thing is, they won't be offering their service for free to fans, you can be sure of that. They'll be charging for something they are getting for free so let's take their version of events and musings about 'doing it for the people' with a hefty grain of salt.
However, the technology is currently available and Optus, in advancing this issue, has merely acted within the law and to enforce their 'rights' under the current regulations. Just another case of a traditional business model being challenged by the realities of new media and the like.
So as a big sports fan who is prone to the odd couch potato moment during the footy season, I've found this whole issue absolutely fascinating. The law of the land and our sense of how things have always been done, quickly being made redundant by the rapid advance of technology and media.
The lawmakers just can't keep up with it all and it raises all sorts of questions about how we, the consumers, will be consuming the product that is sports broadcasting in the future. Not too mention the way broadcasting rights are regulated as well as copyright and intellectual property.
I certainly don't have the answers and I don't think anyone really does. Well, not in a comprehensive and long-term way anyway. My guess is that the laws will be rewritten and then made redundant again in just a few short years by further advancing technology. That cycle will probably just keep going on and on. An eternal game of 'playing catch up'.
Ideas? Thoughts? Solutions?
EDM.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Misery Loves Company
And things were going so well...
Yes, the joy of all things living up here on the Sunny Coast for EDM and family has come to a grinding halt. It started with the son, before moving on to myself and then the wife. The dreaded flu my friends. And hasn't it hit with a vengeance.
One of the great things about going full-time in terms of daddy daycare duties was that it meant we could take the son out of formal daycare for six months.
Now, any parent with a child in daycare will tell you, daycare is a mixed blessing. While you get to work, etc and have the child(ren) looked after, it also means the child(ren) comes home on a regular basis with an assortment of lurgies and bugs.
So taking the son out of daycare has meant that we've been free of all these sicknesses since we arrived and it's been a wonderful thing living life to the fullest and enjoying all that it brings up here in Noosa.
Well, a week of constant rain last week meant a few trips to the local indoor play centre for reasons of sanity for both myself and the son. And that's where it all began. The son picked something up from some snotty-nosed stinky and it's been hell ever since.
I'd forgotten just how miserable it is when the flu or something similar like gastro reeks havoc amongst every member of the family over the course of a week or so. It's bloody horrible as the most vicious of vicious cycles goes around.
The son being sick means he doesn't sleep which means we don't sleep which then means none of us can rest and try and get over our sicknesses. The son's refusal to take his antibiotics for the chest infection he's got certainly doesn't help either, as it means his recovery will be delayed and of course ours will be as well.
Ahh, the misery of it all. There's no light at the end of the tunnel and you start wondering if life will ever return to normal. You know it will one day, but that one day seems so far away. Yes, misery loves company and there's plenty of it to go around at the EDM household right now.
Let's hope I can bring you my next post with a more sunnier and robust disposition. I'm certainly hoping the endless pumping of sudafed and multivitamins into my system over the last few days achieves just that.
Til then,
EDM.
Yes, the joy of all things living up here on the Sunny Coast for EDM and family has come to a grinding halt. It started with the son, before moving on to myself and then the wife. The dreaded flu my friends. And hasn't it hit with a vengeance.
One of the great things about going full-time in terms of daddy daycare duties was that it meant we could take the son out of formal daycare for six months.
Now, any parent with a child in daycare will tell you, daycare is a mixed blessing. While you get to work, etc and have the child(ren) looked after, it also means the child(ren) comes home on a regular basis with an assortment of lurgies and bugs.
So taking the son out of daycare has meant that we've been free of all these sicknesses since we arrived and it's been a wonderful thing living life to the fullest and enjoying all that it brings up here in Noosa.
Well, a week of constant rain last week meant a few trips to the local indoor play centre for reasons of sanity for both myself and the son. And that's where it all began. The son picked something up from some snotty-nosed stinky and it's been hell ever since.
I'd forgotten just how miserable it is when the flu or something similar like gastro reeks havoc amongst every member of the family over the course of a week or so. It's bloody horrible as the most vicious of vicious cycles goes around.
The son being sick means he doesn't sleep which means we don't sleep which then means none of us can rest and try and get over our sicknesses. The son's refusal to take his antibiotics for the chest infection he's got certainly doesn't help either, as it means his recovery will be delayed and of course ours will be as well.
Ahh, the misery of it all. There's no light at the end of the tunnel and you start wondering if life will ever return to normal. You know it will one day, but that one day seems so far away. Yes, misery loves company and there's plenty of it to go around at the EDM household right now.
Let's hope I can bring you my next post with a more sunnier and robust disposition. I'm certainly hoping the endless pumping of sudafed and multivitamins into my system over the last few days achieves just that.
Til then,
EDM.
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