Children see, children do

I have been seeing this advertisement on TV from Australia's National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) recently and I think it's really good. Just thought you might like it too:



NAPCAN says: "NAPCAN's powerful multi-media community service campaign challenges adults to make a positive influence on the lives of children and young people."

Randy Thai sniffer dogs get the sack

Two Thai street mutts who became ace sniffer dogs at an airport near the notorious Golden Triangle opium-producing region have been fired for urinating on luggage and sexually harassing female passengers.

The pair, Mok and Lai, had been plucked from obscurity under a program initiated by King Bhumibol Adulyadej to turn strays into police dogs, the Bangkok Post said today.

Although they won plaudits from police for their work in sniffing out drugs at northern Thailand's Chiang Rai airport, near the border with Laos and Burma, so many passengers complained about their behaviour they had to be fired.

"He liked to pee on luggage while searching for drugs inside," Mok's former handler, Police Lieutenant Colonel Jakapop Kamhon, said. "He also liked to hold on to women's legs."

"Both were just as good as foreign dogs trained for use in drug missions," he added. "But they were stray dogs, so their manners were worse than those of foreign breeds."

Mok and Lai now work on a farm, herding chickens and pigs, the paper said.

Reuters

Under the moonlight

I have been so entranced by this song featured in the Novetel advert below. There is something romantic and ethereal about the singer's voice that just sends shivers down my spine.



Anyway, I did a little bit a of detective work on Google and found out that the singer is Emilie Simon, a 28-year-old French singer/songwriter. Her music, I suppose, is quite typical of the European electronic vocals-type genre. Love her voice, and of course, it does sound even sexier in French!

A forgotten populace

The Herald published a slideshow of the living conditions faced by indigenous Australians just 50 minutes from Cairns. Do have a look at the slideshow and the article that it accompanied. It's shocking to see (but perhaps not surprising?) such third-world poverty in this country.

Links
Article: Hopes, dreams and lofty government promises
Slideshow: Aboriginal Australia

Bye bye Blair

In celebration of Tony Blair's 10 years as Prime Minister of Britain, here's a excerpt from a Guardian commentator about him, and two videos.

Getting a laugh out of this prime minister has been like trying to open an oyster with a plastic fork

Simon Hoggart
Thursday May 10, 2007
The Guardian

... When a new political figure comes on the scene, sketchwriters and cartoonists have the same job. We need to find the key elements, of physical appearance and speech, then exaggerate them to that they become familiar to readers and can be used as a helpful shorthand for drawings and articles. Steve Bell spotted the Blair eyeball, the one mad staring optic, which he seemed to have inherited from Thatcher. The bonkers eye complements the sane one, which roves around the room in a friendly way; meanwhile the angry one is taking names. Alarmingly, the eyes change places; sometimes it's the right which comes at you like a dentist's drill, sometimes the left.

I noticed first the verb-free sentences, which he still uses today: "Our people, prosperous and secure. Our children, meeting the challenge ..." These are sentences without real content, expressing vague aspirations rather than real commitments. He might use up to 200 in one speech, making it sound like oratorical Muzak, conveying little but a sense of wellbeing. ... Click HERE for full article

Tony Blair's sketch with Catherine Tate for Comic Relief 2007:



A spoof of a Bush-Blair press conference by Dead Ringers:

Wanna be a Brit?

There has been talk about establishing a citizenship test in Australia, and the BBC website has published a mock citizenship test in advance of the actual one that will be implemented soon in the UK. Give it a go, it's good fun!

Can you pass a citizenship test?



The government is launching the citizenship test for foreigners who want to become British. If you want the passport, then you'll have to read Life in the UK, a special book, and sit a 45-minute test on society, history and culture. But do you know what it is to be British? The following very unofficial questions are based on information in the official book - let's see how well you do... more

Glory glory Man United

Woo hoo! Just watched the thrilling English Premier League match between Manchester United and Everton at Goodison Park. It was nerve-wrecking, especially after Man U fell behind 0-2 early in the second half and Chelsea was leading Bolton 2-1.

I was watching the game live on FOX Sports and reading the Guardian minute-by-minute commentary (highly recommended - detailed, entertaining and witty), unable to take my eyes off the screens for the whole 90 minutes (was about 94 minutes actually, with extra time for injury added).

For Man U to come back from 0-2 down to win 4-2 speaks volumes for their tenacity and never-say-die attitude. Their win brought them one huge step closing to winning the Premiership, as they are now five points ahead of Chelsea after the Blues' draw with Bolton.

There were lots of jokes and puns bandied about as usual. Phil Neville, the former Man U defender who now plays for Everton and is the younger brother of United captain (injured at the moment) Gary, was called Phil "Sleeper Cell" Neville by one of the Guardian's commentators after he scored an own goal, while a FOX Sports commentator said Man U were going "where Eagles dared" when Chris Eagles, a late substitution for Solskjaer, scored their fourth goal in the 92th minute.

Anyway, I've been thinking about the song Come On Your Reds, which was sang by the team in 1994.

Come On You Reds
Busby Babes they always made me cry
Thinkin' 'bout the teams of years gone by
Charlton, Edwards, Law and Georgie Best
We're United, you can keep the rest

Schmeichel, Parker, Pallister
Irwin, Bruce, Sharpe and Ince
Hughes, McClair, Keane and Cantona
Robson, Kanchelskis and Giggs

Come on you reds, come on you reds
Just keep your bottle and use your heads
For ninety minutes we'll let them know
Who's Man United, here we go

Come on you reds, come on you reds
Just keep your bottle and use your heads
For ninety minutes we'll let them know
Who's Man United, here we go

Glory Glory Man United
Glory Glory Man United

We'll maintain the status quo
We're Man United, here we go

So Old Trafford let us hear you loud
Cheer us on and we will do you proud
Fifty thousand voices sing our song
Keep us at the top where we belong

So here's to Alex Ferguson
He'll take us all the way
We're on the road to glory now
Winning at home and away

Come on you reds, come on you reds
Just keep your bottle and use your heads
For ninety minutes we'll let them know
Who's Man United, here we go

Come on you reds, come on you reds
Just keep your bottle and use your heads
For ninety minutes we'll let them know
Who's Man United, here we go

Glory Glory Man United
Glory Glory Man United

We'll maintain the status quo
We're Man United, here we go

Come on you reds , come on you reds
The team that's able to defend their net
We won the Doubles we'll let you know
We're Man United, here we go

Come on you reds, come on you reds
Just keep your bottle and use your heads
For ninety minutes we'll let them know
Who's Man United, here we go
Man United, here we go
Man United, here we go

Also, with the team trailing 0-1 at the end of the first half, Fergie must have given them the hairdryer treatment, possibly something like this:



Funny eh?