Hazoo for war

I am sitting here watching The Longest Day, which may or may not be "the greatest war film ever." I don't want to enter that debate (I prefer The Thin Red Line), but I do want to say one thing - war sucks. Stop it.

Now I'm not prone to much emotion, but I do know that I get quite emotional when I see scenes, albeit in pseudo-historical-documentary films, of people dying pointlessly and painfully in battle. There is nothing glorious in war, there is little heroism, there is not much to be celebrated - there is just a lot of needless death as far as I can see.

Today is Australia's national day of rememberance for those who served and died in wartime - known as ANZAC Day. I am never going to look at an ex-serviceman and tell him or her that they should not have fought and I am not grateful for their actions - that would be both wrong and disrespectful. But I am also never going to be thankful that world leaders allowed affairs to get to such a low point that they believed that only the death of millions of their citizens and citizens of other countries could solve their crises. That is something to be deplored, not applauded.

I don't like war.

.e.

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Update 1:30pm Mon 25th

I have just watched the dawn service from Gallipoli. Speakers from both Australia and New Zealand, including the Chief of New Zealand's Defence Force our respective Prime Ministers, said some intriguing things. They said that war was not grand etc., but some went on to say that Gallipoli and other aspects of war represented the highest levels of military incompetence and national subservience to Britain. I'm not sure if I've heard that kind of talk from officaldom before. It intrigues me. I will post links to transcripts when and if I can find them.

Hazar for Fun and Games

Yes, I am a little lazy.

Some days I simply sit on my couch, watch hours of terrible daytime TV, think about having a shower at 4 (when kids programming starts), and play computer games.

But I am not a "gamer"! I can't stand Battlefield 1942, Command and Conquer, or Zelda - I like to play silly little free games.

Which is why I am issuing a massive Hazar to Orisinal. I know nothing about this site other than it offers the largest set of fantasically bizarre and lovely looking games to challenge your minds and fingers. Everything from a space shooting game to a game where a bee supplies pollen to other bees - each game is both weird and wonderful. My favourite is the game where two mice steal sugar cubes so they can have a cup of tea each day. Brilliant.

Other sites which amuse and entertain me include:

• Globz - great shockwave games.


• Yahoo Games - I especially like Pool and SpellDown.


• and Sturtsa.com's versions of good ol' arcade games.

Games are fun - waste your time with them.

..e

Hazar for Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong announces retirement.

Now, I'm no cyclist. In fact, I sold my bike to a cousin a while ago because I get so puffed riding up to the shops that I couldn't be bothered using the thing. But I do like sportspeople who are good at what they do, and for that reason I like watching the Tour de France. While it means that I don't get a lot of sleep over the month from June 20 (Wimbledon) to July 20 (Tour de France), and I am quick to bore friends with meaningless information about the word 'peloton', I honestly enjoy watching the Tour.

And one of the main reasons I have enjoyed it in past years is Lance Armstrong and his phenomenal ability. He is a freak. I think I heard some commentator say that he can pedal constantly at a rate about 7 times faster than your run of the mill professional cyclist. And he never seems to look like he's in trouble - he just has his head up and pedals through whatever. I'm not sure if I'll watch the race in future years if Lance is not there... well, maybe if they take it off SBS.

.e

Hazoo for Channel Ten

Has anyone been watching Channel Ten's (in Sydney that is) promos for The O.C.? The plot for this week seems to spruik some kind of lesbian affair between two characters, and Channel Ten have chosen to use music from christian band Switchfoot to underpin the promo. Christian music to promote the immorality of The O.C.? Doesn't anyone think before making these choices? Now, according to Switchfoot, this is nothing new -

from www.switchfoot.com:
Over the course of the past several years, more than 40 Switchfoot songs have been used for several nationally televised shows, including “Dawson’s Creek” (five songs), “Regis and Kelly,” “Felicity,” and many more. “The context in which the songs are used can be pretty funny,” says Foreman. “I remember writing a song about spiritual longing and then seeing it played back during a hot tub scene on some show. The songs can wind up very far from the edge of the bed where they were originally written.”

I don't think it's that funny - I think it's ridiculous. Maybe bands should be asked before their music is used way out of context in a particular show.

e.