I am utterly disgusted over tonight’s Australian Idol results. I know, I know… I said I wasn’t going to watch anymore or vote. I got sucked back in. I voted for Guy three times today in the hopes that he’d go through and Celine – I mean, Cosima – would get dropped. It started out well. I cheered as they announced that Guy was safe. I knew that Cosima’s number was up. I sat through the commercial break gleefully waiting for her to get the big news… and instead she announced that she’s got a temporary voice problem and she’s dropping out. WHAT? She quit! She quit just before she got booted! She robbed me of knowing that my votes were responsible for kicking her out! How crappy is that? The hosts didn’t even bother reading the final results, which I think was pretty weak. Poor Shannon is going to spend the next two weeks thinking that he doesn’t really deserve to be there. All because Cosima had to quit before they announced that she’d lost. Who drops out when it’s down to three because of a little case of laryngitis?! Idols fight through that stuff; they don’t pack it in. That sucks.

It’s bad enough that Americans get blamed for every cultural breakdown in Australia; now we’re responsible for a Halloween house egging. (Letter excerpt follows since that link will break tomorrow.) The gist is that some crotchety old fart put up a sign saying he didn’t want to participate in Halloween so a gang of teenagers egged his house. Somehow we Americans are to blame because the Australians kids were just “slavish[ly] copying … misunderstood American practices.” That ticked me off so much that I sent in my own response (which the Herald will no doubt neglect to print). It’s not my damn fault that Aussie kids don’t get the rules. I had to deal with a couple little jerks myself who A) weren’t wearing costumes, B) stole extra candy from me when I gave in to their pleas, and C) tried to run off with my pumpkin. There are bratty asshole kids everywhere. Complain about George Bush’s foreign policy if you will – heck, I’ll probably join you – but blaming every snotty Aussie kid’s behavior on American influence smacks of nothing more than xenophobia.Letter from The Sydney Morning Herald:

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Not wanting to be a part of Halloween activities, our family put up a polite sign discouraging children from trying to beg treats. Upon reading this, a group of teenagers, not a Halloween costume in sight, proceeded to throw eggs at our house.

This confirmed our conviction that slavish copying of misunderstood American practices does nothing to enhance our society.

It is bad enough that we blindly follow America into unjustified military campaigns. Must we also submit to cultural colonialism?

A. Keating, Adamstown Heights, November 2.

Salon examines the “low-carb geek” trend in their article Hackers on Atkins. I agree that it does have a lot appeal for technically-minded folks. Rodd and I have both inspired co-workers to start on it. The ensuing Slashdot discussion has a lot of nerd testimonials. (Unfortunately it also contains all the usual stupid Atkins criticism: “My sister’s uncle’s brother knows this kid who was on it and he got gallstones and his liver fell out!”; “No diet that requires you to eat raw meat and eggs for every meal can be healthy!”; “All you fatties have to do is just exercise more, DUH!” Luckily there are some great responses in there with links to supporting research.) Now I just need to get back on it… I had an insane sugar blowout courtesy of all the Halloween leftovers.

Still in party recovery mode. CoachCam is indeed stuck in case you’re wondering. (We had to pull up the network cable lest a drunken reveller trip on it.) Today I learned once again that sugar is not a very effective hangover cure. Forgive me, Dr. A, but that leftover candy’s not going to eat itself!

Hee! CouchCam is now BlankWallCam as we’ve moved the furniture around for the party. I’m not sure yet if we’ll be broadcasting live from the festivities, as I think the Snook’s planning on pulling up our network cable (so our guests don’t trip on it). Regardless, the digital camera is ready for some action…

Happy Halloween

Penis BearHAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Everyone should start Halloween off with a disturbing sight, right? With that in mind, I give you the Penis Bear. Yes, click on that image and check out the close-up. I discovered Penis Bear earlier in the week when a co-worker pointed him out. There he was, sitting nonchalantly in the back window of a random beat up Ford. He’s been there ever since. I couldn’t resist sneaking up to take a photo. Who manufactures such a thing? Why is he uncircumsized? Who in my office is actually weird enough to drive around with this in their car? The world may never know.