30 August, 2012 by Capt. Savage

It’s a Celebration… Thanks to you all!!! And another Award for Rose…

Yes it’s a celebration…

Thanks for all the attention, I am just blushing really…

Sydney really knows how to celebrate new Year, the glorious coat hanger in the background (that’s the Sydney Harbour Bridge for you non-Sydney people)

Ok Capt. What the heck are you talking about?

Well this week my humble little blog passed the following milestones, and excuse my little bit of trumpet blowing and celebrating, but this week (as of posting and now updated):

The blog just passed 500 likes
There are now over 70 followers of this blog (72 73 to be exact)
~~658~~ 666 comments have been made (ok maybe 50% of them were replies by me)
This is my 125 post
I have 38 blog followers on Twitter
I have 10 blog followers on Facebook
This has been my busiest month on the blog (~~667~~ 700 views) and I still have a day to go!!!
And there has been ~~3,141~~ 3,180 views of the blog in total (and 700 for August alone)
And my daily average has just hit 23 overall and 28 for this week…

I really appreciate you taking the time to read my blog entries, I really do!!!

This all started off as a little experiment on my behalf, and very much as a result of prompting from my dear friend Rose from http://butimbeautiful.wordpress.com/. I never really thought that anyone could be bothered to read my dribble, but here I am 8 months later still blogging (started this blog in January this year), and I’m loving it.

So thanks Rose, thank you for giving me a whole new outlet, and it’s been a great release.

So Rose to honour your inspiration,

I Award You (Drum Roll Please)

The Inaugural Capt. Savage Blogger Inspiration Award…

Ta Da…

Here is my alter-ego, ready and waiting to award you…

So what mindless things do you have to do now?

So what do you have to do in return for this most prestigious and one of a kind award?

Well Rose, I expect you to do the following 5 things (and as usual in no particular order)

Break the new ban on doing hand stands (and post the picture on your blog), see http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/08/28/3577470.htm
Put up a YouTube video of yourself dancing on your blog (that should be entertaining)
Explain to me why my vacuum cleaner has never been the same since you borrowed it (I’m sure it’s the liposuction)
Sit and watch the Jason Bourne Trilogy with me (without falling asleep)
And nominate a Gazillion other bloggers for this most prestigious, soon to be no longer unique, award.

And Yes Rose, it’s your fault that I am now addicted to blogging…

And by the way, sorry I still haven’t done my weekly Karmic Challenge post, I’m a slacker I know.

Ok, maybe I only put in this clip cause Alanis Morissette is running around in the nude, and it’s a weird clip, but the title sounded appropriate at the time ok!!!

Thank YOU

Thank you fellow bloggers for taking the time the taking the time to read my blog, it is only my mad ramblings, but I enjoy it and that’s all that matters. The fact that others also take the time to read it too is just icing on my cake, so thanks!!!

Capt. Savage

(Aiming for 5,000 page views and 100 followers by 31 December, 2012)

29 August, 2012 by Capt. Savage

I Love a Sunburnt Country…

My Country
by Dorothea Mackellar

The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance
Brown streams and soft, dim skies-
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel sea,
Her beauty and her terror-
The wide brown land for me.

The stark white ring-barked forests
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon.
Green tangle of the brushes,
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die-
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the Rainbow Gold,
For flood and fire and famine,
She pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
That filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze…

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand-
Though earth holds many splendors,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

———————————————-

This one of my greatest memories from my school days, we all had to learn this poem at my school, for some reason I can only remember the second verse, but even so, a great poem about Australia. Its no wonder people from Somalia and Afghanistan want to come here.

Enjoyed the second episode of ‘Go Back To Where You Came From’, see my post from yesterday at https://captsavage.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/1384/. When I have finished watching the 3rd episode tomorrow night, I’ll do another post about it and also my long awaited ‘Karmic Challenge’ post, although Rose has beaten me to it, see http://butimbeautiful.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/the-karmic-challenge-week-22-rose-has-a-lovely-personality-apparently/

Capt. Savage
(Glad not to be a Somalian or an Afghan)

28 August, 2012 by Capt. Savage

Go Back To Where You Came From… A great 2nd series so far!!!

http://www.sbs.com.au/goback/

I watched a very interesting program on the Australian TV channel SBS tonight, and then watched the online discussion, so no time to do a Karmic Challenge post tonight (Sorry Rose). The program was the 2nd series about boat people or so-called illegal immigrants. In this series 6 ‘prominent’ Australians are introduced to former illegal immigrants and then sent to Somalia and Afghanistan to experience what it is like from the other side of the fence. I found the first episode very interesting, especially the reactions of the participants as they became deeper and deeper involved in the experience, and the obvious danger of day to day life in the two countries they had been sent to.

Here is the reaction of one participant to being in Somalia

And everyone was happy to be in Afghanistan too (not)

Will it change the attitudes of any of them

Not so far, but this is only the first instalment of promises to be a very interesting and perhaps challenging second series. If anyone from overseas wants to see the series, you can watch it online http://www.sbs.com.au/goback/videos and join in the online discussion pages and pose questions as well. I am going to watch the next episode with interest, but I enjoyed the first one, shocked by the conditions in Somalia, more than Afghanistan, as the former doesn’t get much coverage but the latter gets plenty (mostly about coalition soldiers being killed unfortunately).

Capt. Savage (An interested observer)

27 August, 2012 by Capt. Savage

The terrors of the 21st Century, the day I had to reboot my car!

This is what I felt like doing on Sunday night, I just couldn’t find a bit of branch to whip my car with.

I have a new car, you know that lovely shiny new Volkswagen Golf that I picked up the other day. Well on the weekend I thought I would take it for a spin to a mates place to show it off. He has one too, but mine is just a little bit more special than his… Well at least I think it is…

Here is my new baby

Isn’t she lovely, btw all my cars are girls…

So what has you so upset with her Capt?

Well my darling daughter rang me up just as I was about to get home from my trip. So I thought I’d talk to her on my hands free in the car, rather than calling her back when I got home… So we had a lovely little chat about things, talked about her impending visit with her two brothers, and how she is going at school. Then I hung up and did what you normally do when you want to drive off, I turned the key and tried to start the car…

Nothing happened, well apart from it briefly coughing a bit, then promptly stopping…

I tried again, cough cough, then nothing…

I was starting to get a bit frustrated, there was plenty of diesel in the tank, the battery seemed ok, and it had just driven 50 odd kilometres, not a problem at all.

So I took stock of things, thought maybe I was doing it wrong, not holding my tongue in the right direction, I crossed my fingers and gave it one my go… Cough Cough and nothing. I also noticed this funny error message on one of the displays in the car, ‘Key not recognised’, sounded funny as it was the key I had been using all day.

So I resorted to reading the manual, I was getting pretty irritated by now, no explanation of this error message. Then I decided I’d take the key out of the ignition, call for help, and wait outside the car.

Well no, my car was having none of that, it wouldn’t let me take the key out of the ignition…

AARGH!!!! The last straw… I was starting to fall out of love with my new mistress (my VW).

This was me… Except my teeth aren’t nearly this well looked after.

So I sat locked in my car, waiting for the roadside mechanic to come and fix the car… 20 or so minutes later a cheery chap for the local roadside assist company (NRMA) turned up to see what the problem was…

He listened to my tale of woe and first off said the obvious, “you haven’t had this car very long, have you”…

I replied, “well no, just a couple of weeks”.

Then he informed me, “Well you should have asked someone how to operate it before you drove it out of the showroom”.

I said, “it’s a car, I can drive already”.

But he said in a soothing voice, “this is a Volkswagen, it’s not just a regular car”.

Here is the NRMA van… Or one very similar

“well ok” I said “what should I have asked about”

He then pointed out that to remove the key you must have the car in Park (gear)… Otherwise it won’t let you (take the key out)…

Bloody Germans, they make their cars so safe, that we aren’t allowed to do anything dangerous, even if we wanted to. You see I already know that the gearbox won’t let me change gears except when its safe to. It turns on the wipers automatically, it self-parks, it beeps numerous warning sounds when I don’t put on my seat belt or lots of other things.

You’d think they actually won the war by all the bloody rules they have (look out I’m going to cop it from my ancestors for that one).

“So” I asked him “why won’t my car start?”

“I’ve no idea mate” he replied “you have to be a bloody computer guru to understand one of these cars”

“So what do I do then?” I asked rather frustrated

“You do what you do to any misbehaving computer” he laughed “you reboot it”

So the mechanic opened the bonnet, unattached the battery leads, waited for a minute or so. Then he reattached the battery, and amazing, the car started first go…

There is the battery box on the right of the motor at the back

He then told me that since I had rebooted, without saving my data, all the cars settings had reset themselves to the factory defaults… And before I could ask, he told me that since its a car there is no way to save the settings, it’s just too bad…

“Damn” I said “and I had just put in all of the radio stations… another wasted night reprogramming everything.”

I turned to the guy and said “Since when to Microsoft start making cars?”

“Yeah” he replied “you just got the blue screen of death, I suppose, except there is no computer screen”

The dreaded ‘Blue Screen of Death”, I used to have this kind of issue all the time with my Windows 95 computer, I just never thought I’d have it with my car…

Ok, so I’ll admit it, the honeymoon period with my new car is now officially over…

Capt. Savage

(Now knows how to reboot a car, what will I have to reboot next?)

26 August, 2012 by Capt. Savage

The Capt. Savage Dating Wheel of Fortune

So how was your day Capt?

Well over the last few days I have been giving the old Internet Dating ‘Wheel of Fortune’ a spin.

It all started off ok, I had a lovely bunch just down the road from my house. It was another of my ‘wheel of fortune’ dates, where the intrepid Capt. Spins the wheel and sees what the dating gods have offered up for him. This time it was Miss S, who was a lovely and interesting lady, a truly dedicated person who apparently works tirelessly for charity, was very funny and entertaining, and has a pussy cat just like I do.

We shared brunch and chatted and all was going great, until, and there is always an ‘until’, the subject of my recently cultivated beard came up. You see, none of my photos on the dating site have me wearing a beard. Apparently according to Miss S, beards are a bit old hat, don’t you think they make you look old, I’d be worried about that if I was you…

I was starting to feel just a tad offended at this point, as I am desperately trying to achieve my ultimate beard look, and here are a few of my role models, what do you think?

George, Pierce and Daniel, what hunks… And with a beard I look so much like them!

Anyway, beards make you look manlier… And I’m not taking it off just because some stupid date thinks I should… Na Na De Na Na…

So, once I had settled down from the beard discussion, we moved onto children. Now I have three of my own, who incidentally don’t live with me, but who I do visit every school holidays for at least a week at a time. I love kids, especially my kids…

Well Miss S also has kids and first off she told me about her two foster children, but that was ok as they are all grown up and moved out of home. But I got the sense that I hadn’t reach the end of this story, so after a bit of probing she then told me about her 5 other children… At this point I started to do my accounting thing, ‘Say what, you have 7 children?’… And I broke out into a cold sweat…

And I started having flashbacks of Steve Martin movies…

Cheaper by the dozen…

But I am being a little unfair, Miss S was a lovely lady and I walked away from our late brunch feeling like I’d like to have another session to see where things could go. Once again, it’s nice to go out with someone without any pressure, well apart from a few subtle beard removal hints…

So will you roll the dice with Miss S again? Yep probably, she was fun…

Next I visited my mates Mark and Heather, it’s always great to catch up with old friends and we had a coffee and they checked out my new car… We had coffee at a quaint little coffee shop, the type that is full of semi-antique furniture and the walls are covered in local painters semi-satisfactory efforts, and everthing including the furniture has a price tag on it.

This is the sort of ‘quaint’ I mean

That being said the company was great (my friends) and the coffee and the brownies weren’t too bad either.

I left the coffee shop and bid my friends a fond goodbye, promised not to leave it so long next time, and wandered to my car with a nice feeling and relaxed, all ready for my second date for the day…

What’s this Capt? 2 dates in the one day?

Yep, I’m building up to a movie script idea that I’ve been toying with, “3 dates and a funeral” or maybe considering how my recent dating history has been going, maybe “3 dating disasters and my own funeral”.

Miss K was a very interesting lady, as was the venue chosen by her. Normally I meet ladies at restaurants, coffee shops, bars, that sort of thing, well Miss K wanted to meet up in the main bar at the local Ex-Serviceman’s Club. It’s the kind of place that old pensioners and war veterans meet up at to talk about old times, maybe watch the football, and get drunk.

Yes, for everyone outside of Australia, there really is a Rooty Hill RSL club… And by the way the club I went to was not nearly as nice as this one…

So what was Miss K like Capt?

A picture tells a thousand words, so they say, and Miss K was worthy of probably more than that. I couldn’t find a suitable picture in my trolling of Google pics, but I suppose this was as close as I came to it.

She was perhaps this scary…

So why did you hang around?

Mainly because I just couldn’t work out what she was on about, or perhaps what she was on. She had everything going for her. I hadn’t picked up from her dating site profile that she smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish, she drank 3 schooners (375 ml) of beer while I was talking to her. She swore like a trooper and in the middle of the conversation, which was pretty one-sided (mostly her side), she told me she frequented chat rooms with men (the internet ones) and often stayed up doing this until 4-5 in the morning. All this while drinking beers and chain-smoking.

The ashtray was getting pretty full while we ‘chatted’

I thought that we had reached the bottom of her particular barrel when she told me that her husband had walked out on her with the kids because he couldn’t take her anymore. Apparently she had been sleeping around ‘a bit’.

By this time I had reached the end of my tolerance, and said that I had better get going, and felt like saying thanks for the free cigarettes (gained from all the smoke blown in my direction). But that’s when she suggested that maybe I would like to come home with her and, well do I really have to spell out the rest… This is when I nearly fell off my bar stool…

I wish I could have seen my own face…

After I picked my jaw off the floor, I said politely, no thanks… and I walked the lovely Miss K to my car and drove her home.

Will you be seeing Miss K again?

You know, I am being a bit unfair… Miss K is one troubled lady. She is obviously an alcoholic; she looked like hell, which is not the way to make an impression when you meet a guy. When I rang her as I was leaving my friend’s place to meet up with her, she was still in bed, apparently sleeping off the previous nights all night internet chat room session.

I feel sorry for Miss K, but I won’t be seeing her again. But it made me realise how fortunate I am not to be in that sort of situation.

You see Miss K lives alone in a single room bed sit. She apparently has few (if any) friends, and sees very little of her children (apparently at their request). And its apparent to me that what I view as normality or perhaps sanity is not always what is reality, you see Miss K really thinks she is doing ok, at least that’s what she tried to convince me.

Where to next Capt?

So I think I will give the dating wheel of fortune a miss for a few weeks… Today wasn’t the best of days, at least as far as dating went.

Although Miss S was a heap of laughs… And maybe I get Karma points for bringing some happiness to some lonely women, although I don’t think Miss S is that lonely and Miss K, well…

Capt. Savage

(Intending to remain hairy and bearded, regardless of his growing and uncanny resemblance to Father Christmas)

26 August, 2012 by Capt. Savage

Stories of mum: my mother’s vibrator

Hi mum (kiss kiss, hug) How’s your week been?

Fine, you know, same as always…there’s just one thing, I can’t get that jolly vibrator to work!

What? Your vibrator?

Yes. You know, that thing. That vibrates. I plugged it in, so it’s not a battery problem or anything..It heats up, so that’s not the problem. It just doesn’t vibrate like it’s supposed to.

Oh. (puzzles) Ohhhhh. That thing, Your VIBRATOR. Er, mum, I think you mean your vibrating back pillow. You do know what a vibrator is, don’t you?

Cup of tea? No…what do you mean?

A vibrator is, um, one of those things that you buy that you hold up against your, you know, and it gives you orgasms. You buy them in sex shops.

You hold it up against your..but why would you want to do that?

Well, suppose you didn’t have a man around, and you felt like sex, well there’s this little machine in your bedside drawer and you have that instead. Or, some people have it even when there IS a man around.

Oh. (pause) Well I’ve never heard of THAT. And frankly I don’t see the point. How strange. Now about that vibrator..

Darling mum, wherever you are in the ether (or not), have a big virtual hug!

Rose, that’s a cute story, but Rose’s mum was far more liberal and progressive than mine. My mum still hasn’t told me sex, and I think she would collapsed from shock if I discussed vibrators, CS

From my friend Rose of http://butimbeautiful.wordpress.com

25 August, 2012 by Capt. Savage

Another Savage Top 10 – My deadly residents of Canberra

Is Australia really a Dangerous Place?

Yes, Australia is an extremely scary place, isn’t it, how can you possibly expect to survive? Well, I have and I’ve been walking around Australia since 1961 (I really am that old), and the point is that I am still walking around.

And yes, I know we’ve got all kinds of venomous snakes and spiders, plus sharks, crocodiles, killer jellyfish and a whole host of other venomous things. But is the fear of Australia’s creatures really justified. Let’s look at the facts.

Snakes: With 41 recorded deaths between 1980 and 2009, snake deaths in Australia average out at less than two per year.
Spiders: Nobody in Australia has died from a spider bite since 1979 after the successful introduction of antivenom for all native species.
Sharks: Accounted for 25 deaths between 2000 and (March) 2012 in Australia, about 2 a year.
Crocodiles: Historically, crocodiles account for less than one death per year here in Australia, although that is increasing slightly as the crocodile population rises following the ban on crocodile hunting in 1971.
Blue Ringed Octopus: Just 3 recorded deaths in the last century.
Stonefish: One unconfirmed death by stonefish in 1915.
Cone Snails: I could find no recorded deaths from cone snails in Australia whatsoever.
Killer Jellyfish: Jellyfish account for (at time of writing) 66 deaths since records began in 1883. The box jellyfish was responsible for 64 deaths, and the Irukandji the other two. It sounds a lot, but still less than one death per year, more like just half a death per year.

So Australia’s dangerous creatures kill about five people a year.

So what are Australia’s worst killers!

Here in Australia, about 20 people a year die from horse riding accidents.
Around 10 people per year in Australia die from European Honey Bee stings after going into anaphylactic shock.
And around 300 people a year drown.
And in 2011 1,295 people died in road accidents

So the best advice I would give anyone about staying safe in Australia would be nothing to do with avoiding scary creatures. It would be “swim between the flags” if you are going to take a dip in the sea. Or better still, don’t hire a car here, travel by bus, train, taxi or air.

Does that put it into perspective?

Source: http://www.bobinoz.com/migration-advice/australias-killer-creatures-the-truth-about-deaths/

So what deadly creatures do infest Canberra Capt?

The Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus)

Funnel-web spider venom is highly toxic, and all species should be considered potentially dangerous. Males roam at night, especially during or after rain, and may enter houses. Bites by males of two large species, the Sydney funnel-web and northern tree funnel-web, have resulted in death.

So here is some good advice, if you are camping or out and about in Canberra:

wear gloves when gardening
know what a burrow looks like
wear shoes when walking
close tent flaps
carefully shake out any footwear, clothes and sleeping bags left on the ground overnight, as the spiders hide during the day.

First aid if bitten:

keep calm
move only if necessary
if a limb is bitten, apply pressure bandage to bite area and around limb towards heart
immobilise limb with a splint
collect spider specimen (even if squashed)
seek medical aid as soon as possible.

Next are the slippery snakes…

Eastern Brown Snake or Common Brown Snake – Highly venomous

The Eastern Brown Snake is slender, but can grow to lengths of more than 2m. It has a small head. The snakes’ colouring ranges from tan, through brown to almost black. The underside is pale yellow, with small dark-orange blotches. Adults tend to be un-patterned. Juveniles have quite a different appearance to adults, with a black head, yellowish body and often narrow black bands across the body and tail.

And lookout, there are loads of similar species

There are a number of other snakes which occur in the Canberra region which can be confused with the Eastern Brown Snake. Confusion is especially common between juvenile Eastern Brown Snakes and other species. The Black-headed Snake (Suta spectabilis dwyer) has a much darker body and tail than the juvenile Eastern Brown. Juvenile Eastern Brown Snakes are also mistaken for Highland Copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi), however, the copperhead doesn’t occur in the Canberra urban area. The Mainland Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus) is another snake which can be confused with the juvenile Eastern Brown, although like the Highland Copperhead, Mainland Tiger Snakes do not inhabit the urban areas of Canberra. The head of the Mainland Tiger Snake is bigger than the Eastern Brown, and when threatened, tiger snakes will hiss loudly, and flatten their head and neck.

(Source ACT Urban Services)

Red-Bellied Black Snake – Highly venomous

Tiger Snake – Highly venomous

Curl Snake – Highly venomous

Death Adder – Extremely venomous (seriously dangerous if this sucker bites you)

Death adders are mainly active at night and unlike most other snakes, death adders will not necessarily retreat when approached. This makes them more easily trodden upon or disturbed by the unwary. However, they are often less likely than other venomous snakes to strike unless actually touched, but great caution is still advised.

Southern Copperhead Snake – Highly venomous

The Red-Back Spider

Redback spiders, Latrodectus hasselti, are almost too familiar to need description. Mature female redbacks are jet black spiders with a variable red stripe on the back of their spherical abdomen. Immature females are smaller, usually brown with whitish markings. Their tough, untidy webs are usually near the ground with the spider hiding in a shelter tucked in a corner, often guarding her round woolly egg sacs. Male redback spiders are rarely seen. They are small and brown with red and white markings. Redback spiders are found throughout Australia, in drier habitats and built-up areas. They are common in dry places around buildings, outdoor furniture, machinery and stacked materials.

In the bush, redback spiders nest under logs and rocks. There is some evidence to suggest that redbacks are not native to Australia. Redback spider bites usually occur when part of the body comes in direct contact with the spider or its web.

And yes you should check around the toilet seat in case of Red-Backs, you just never know…

And here is one for the girls – after mating – the tiny male redbacks are eaten by the much larger female.

Redback spiders are not aggressive, and rarely leave the web. But they are still seriously venomous, you should note that after a bite, the onset of pain may be delayed for five minutes then increase in intensity. Subsequent symptoms vary but have included: nausea; vomiting; abdominal or generalised pain; sweating; restlessness; palpitations; weakness; muscle spasm; fever (Sounds like me before and during a date). But seriously, anyone bitten by a redback spider should seek medical attention.

Eastern or Common Bearded Dragon

These guys aren’t really venomous, but they do have a nasty bite which often causes problems from infection (bacteria). The Bearded Dragon is a large lizard, sometimes growing to over 50cm, averaging around 40cm. The most obvious feature is its extendable throat which looks like a beard. They are grey to brown in colour with only faint markings (except on juveniles which have pale blotches on each side of the back). The interior of the mouth is yellow. The dragon has spines on the back of the head, on the beard and running down the side of the body. The body is short, while the tail is very long.

The Eastern Water Dragon

These guys are also non-venomous, but do have a nasty bite. They are grey to olive-brown, with black bars running across the body and tail. Adults can reach around 90cm total length, with an average of around 60cm. A row of spines runs from the back of the head down the body and tail.

Capt. Savage

(And yes I always check under the toilet seat, especially as the females eat the males…)

24 August, 2012 by Capt. Savage

Hopscotch Films – The Sapphires, a real feel good movie

Pictures and material from Hopscotch Films.

The Sapphires… A real feel good movie

I went out tonight and gave the old Internet Dating wheel a spin, it was actually a pleasant night a lovely lady. Nothing romantic happening, just a nice pleasant evening, a good dinner followed by a really great musical romp through outback Australia and then Vietnam. The film is set in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, and tells the tale of a family of Aboriginal singers who form a group and get to tour South Vietnam to entertain the troops.

I really enjoyed this film, not because it had a deep and meaningful plot, or that it was clever or original, but because it was honest, old-fashioned enjoyment. There was a little bit of moralising about the treatment of blacks in Australia, as there should be, I don’t agree with painting over our history, good or bad. There were also some reminders about the events in Vietnam, and racial discrimination, but it was not the main focus of the film, which was definitely the music.

Here are some samples of the music from the film, and the soulful voice of Jessica Mauboy.

What A Man – Jessica Mauboy

Who’s Loving You? – Jessica Mauboy

I Can’t Help Myself – Jessica Mauboy

And the best part… let’s hear it for the Real Sapphires

“The Sapphires feature film is inspired by a true story about four extraordinary Aboriginal women, sisters Laurel Robinson, Lois Peeler and their cousins Beverley Briggs and Naomi Mayers. Yorta Yorta women born along the Murray River, they were part of an extended family of brothers and sisters who regularly sang together during the 1960’s and 70’s. Sisters Laurel and Lois toured Vietnam in the late 1960’s singing to the American troops - an extraordinary achievement for two young Aboriginal women, considering that Aboriginal people had just received the right to vote.

All four women still live in Australia. Naomi Mayers has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Medical Service for 30 years. Beverly and Laurel have tirelessly worked by her side striving to improve the health of the Aboriginal community. Naomi received an Order of Australia Medal in 1984. Lois Peeler became Australia’s first Aboriginal model and is now the Executive Director of Worawa Aboriginal College, a secondary education facility for young Aboriginal Women, founded by one of her seven sisters the late Hyllus Maris. Lois is also the former head of Aboriginal Tourism Australia.”

Source: http://www.hopscotchfilms.com.au/the-sapphires-film/the-real-sapphires/

Now did the lady (your date) enjoy the movie?

Yes she seemed to, but it’s hard to tell when you are laughing at it as hard as she was. She even got emotional a couple of times during the few tear jerker moments that this genre of film is really good at, not me of course, I’m a man… I think we both enjoyed the movie, no strike that, I know I did anyway.

Will there be another date Capt?

I don’t know, maybe, it’s nice to go out with someone without there being any pressure or expectations of anything happening apart from enjoying yourself.

Now here is a man crying… And is it just me, or does Robin Williams have REALLY hairy arms? And Yes Rose, I know that you REALLY love that… (hairiness) 🙂

Capt. Savage

(Totally enjoyed watching the Sapphires, a real feel good romp)

23 August, 2012 by Capt. Savage

Week 21 – Karma gathering has never been so hard…

THE CHALLENGE. A man (Captain Savage). A woman (Rose). A quest. To earn enough karmic points by Christmas to be reincarnated as Something Nice. Maybe a 3 toed sloth, they have a pretty lazy life? (adapted stolen from Rose’s blog)

“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.”
― Dalai Lama XIV

The Dalai Lama, what a cheeky chap…

The Captain’s Karma

So what did I get up to this week worthy of perhaps raising myself to a slightly higher reincarnation?

My life this week has revolved around my work, slavishly droning away preparing briefing papers for two meetings. It drove me nuts mostly, and I’m sure I drove the staff working with me nuts too. I was once again being whipped unmercifully by my devil like boss, Mr S …

Here I am, on the galley, slaving away… Oops, maybe this is my fantasy galley… Sorry…

This week I did do some good deeds, just a few squeezed in amongst the grunting and cursing (mostly when I’m at work btw).

I managed to make coffee for several of my staff, or pay for coffees, or some combination of that. I was also very nice to every woman that I could be, getting in practice for dating; just have to catch a slower moving target… Most women run far too fast.

If only I could make a coffee heart + smiley…

Maybe 2.5 points per cuppa = 10 points?

Plus, true knight and shining armour style, I loaned my almost unused vacuum cleaner to a desperate friend (and she appreciated it). Now what she was going to do with it I hope involved just floors and domestics… I’ve heard rumours however about backyard liposuction…

And I kid you not friends…

“Suck-It-Yourself

Liposuction at home

by Eve Rings Published November 8, 1999 in Crave

It would cost me about $2,500 to get the fat sucked out of my ass. It would cost me about $250 to get a Fantom Cyclone XT vacuum with HEPA filter and a free T-shirt. The Fantom Cyclone weighs 25 pounds. I think my ass weighs 25 pounds. It would take about 25 days (almost 4 weeks) for me to heal from ass surgery. If I ordered my vacuum today, it would take me about 5-10 days to receive it by standard shipping. Not only is the Fantom Cyclone XT a great way to do your home liposuction, but it utilizes a certified HEPA filter on the exhaust to trap minute particles such as pollen, mold, fungus, yeast cells, plant spores and many other household allergens.

So what more could you want, after a hard session of liposuction, you can use the Cyclone’s upholstery/pet hair tool to clean up the lounge room, and as an added bonus it comes with an environmentally friendly clear collection bin which you can wash in your dishwasher…”

I found this article on the Internet… It must be true… And the Fantom Cyclone, well I want one now…

So, dear friend, if I find one scrape of fat in my vacuum cleaner, I’ll know what you’ve been up to…

Here is my vacuum cleaner, or one very much like it, pre-liposuction…

So maybe I get some points for dropping off the vacuum? For whatever purpose it’s intended use is = 10 points

And just maybe, just maybe, I went out to the movies straight from work, and didn’t get home to feed dear little Miss T, my pussy. Now she may just have been a little upset with me, see https://captsavage.wordpress.com/2012/08/21/tale-of-my-naughty-pussy/ and just maybe I deserved it for not feeding her on time…

SO what do you think Miss Tabitha = Minus 5 points?

Rose’s Tally…

So this is Rose’s own summary of her efforts:

“what have I thrown out into my ocean this week? Pretty much nothing – I’m struggling just to stay afloat. Unless you count taking my treasured eldest sister to Birthday Breakfast on Sunday – CAN we count that, Ms A? Please?”

A Birthday Breakfast, perhaps it didn’t look like this?

But I think you Miss Rose are being a bit hard on yourself, your heart has and is always in the right place, even if your mind isn’t always… Yep your heart is that pumpy thing in your chest… And this week you have been a little bit distracted, see Rose’s post… http://butimbeautiful.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/the-karmic-challenge-week-21-does-the-universe-care-if-you-pick-your-nose/ and you’ll see what I mean…

So how about… = 5 points?

You don’t really need many anyway; you are so close to being reincarnated as perhaps a sleepy Wombat… Almost nirvana!!!

A Very sleepy Wombat…

Ta Da… and Week 22’s points tally is…

		Rose		The Capt.
Week No.	Week Ending	Rose’s Weekly Tally	Rose’s Running Total	Capt’s Weekly Tally	Capt’s Running Total
15	4/07/2012	200	406	50	205
16	11/07/2012	10	416	15	220
17	18/07/2012	10	426	20	240
18	25/07/2012	5	431	25	265
19	1/08/2012	5	436	20	285
20	8/08/2012	10	446	25	310
21	15/08/2012	15	461	30	340
22	22/08/2012	5	466	15	355

Capt. Savage

(Soon to be reincarnated as a small furry gerbil, so cute)

I’d be such a cute Gerbil…

22 August, 2012 by Capt. Savage

Come on Girls… Bring it on…

She knows how to make the first move.

Ok Girls, Why don’t YOU make the FIRST move for a change?

Ok, I’m a guy (hard to believe I know Rose), but I’m here to tell you that it’s a real shot in the arm, when a woman shows blatant signs of interest in me. It’s kind of like finding a brand-new bicycle under the tree on Christmas morning. I may have wanted it so bad, but dared not say anything, especially since I’m middle-aged, and still living in my mom’s basement (well maybe not really, but you get the idea), and with no friends other than a couple of acquaintances from dating sites (failed dates). That bike under the tree was like a seductress. It was painted red, had lots of gears and expensive bits, it reeked of maleness (well maybe the lycra clad type).

Here is my cycling god, Fabian Cancellara, stubble, gritty, looks just like me…

I was exhilarated the first time I took her out on the town. I rode her proudly getting envious looks from all the other blokes. Did I care that I did nothing to get this new ride? Did I get all upset and tell the person who let me have the bike and throw my leg over it that I was too proud to accept it? Not a chance…

My idea of a sexy girl on a bike

And the point to this story?

There is an assumption that people who put out too easily, especially women on the first date, won’t be appreciated or respected (and may they are sluts).

However, is really a valid basis to form rules for sexual attraction? According to recent statistics (on a blog I found somewhere), six per cent of women approach men lustily for sex on the first or second date. Of this six per cent, over 60 per cent are successful. In other words, over half of those cute guys actually say yes (and loved it).

Okay, now let’s look at this from a different perspective.

A typical woman, who takes on the role as a ‘lady in waiting,’ has only a 33 per cent chance of getting into the pants of a guy. Incidentally, the guy, may or may not be all that cute. Statistics show that for every guy who asks a woman out, only one-third will even be of moderate interest to her. In other words, he may not be a wealthy, a gallant knight in a shiny Porsche, but he will at least have a dull, rusty, two-wheel scooter with a backseat (or in my case a new VW), and enough money for a dinner and a movie.

SO my thoughts girls, why not make the first move, especially when there is someone, in particular, you would like to get in bed with. The catch is, you can’t appear desperate.

Here’s what I think you should do…

Just ask hit on the guy if you fancy him, I personally am sick and tired of almost always having to be the initiator. If you are attracted to someone, why not just come on to them? If they are a bit shy or reluctant (like me), they may actually like it… And if it doesn’t work out, maybe that’s a good thing, then you know where you stand without doing the dating game and living in hope.

And why go cold after the first date or so? Why is it always me who has to push? I know that women of my generation seem to feel it’s the guys role, but it’s the 21^st Century, GET OVER IT!!! Some of us blokes are shy, are scared of making the move, are worried about rejection, and would really appreciate that special person (potentially) hitting on us.

Why not take on the ‘male’ role guys, equal pay, equal work I say…

Why not make that first move on the shy guy?

I reckon asking a guy on a date would be easy if you give him (or me) the idea (or pretending it was his idea), and then letting him follow through with it. For instance:

You: “I’m thinking about going watching that a DVD at my place this weekend.”

Me: “That sounds great.”

You: “Why don’t you come over, it’s one of those Jason Bourne movies and I love action films, don’t you too?”

Him: “Sure, I’ll come around eight.”

Then all you have to do is take the initiative, make sure that one thing leads to another and, BINGO, next thing I’m making you toast and coffee the next morning…