ToobzInOz

I wonder whether this thing still works... At worst, it doesn’t, and I’ve just published a post modern comment on the futile transience of modern communication. At best you’d all surely forgotten you were subscribed to my blog, but with any luck, an automatically generated email has recently arrived in your inbox, directing you to this essay of indeterminate length, which I am now beginning to write. I’m jumbling my timelines somewhat there, but you get the idea. If so, welcome back! Let’s not pretend for a moment that this entry heralds any sort of new beginning: we’ve trodden this path many times now; any proclamation that I shall henceforth maintain my blogging habits with impeccable regularity would be heeded by only the most naïve of ears. Still, I hope it’s nice to regather after all ... read more

Evening all! It’s been a really busy few weeks, and it’s time you heard about it: we moved into our new place; there was a party with three (three!) cakes; some English visitors came to town; and I got a little bit older. It’s all meant that Sport is Global (yes, I’m banging on about the sport blog again) has taken a break, but oh my goodness it’s back this week baby, with three (three!) entries, which you can find at the new abbreviated link (thanks Andy) here: Where we live Sarah and I now live with our friend (and bridesmaid) Jasmine in a two-bedroom flat in Hawthorn. In case you’re not au fait with Google Maps, that’s a suburb in Melbourne’s inner east, with Richmond to the west and Camberwell to the east. It’s a ... read more

I've sportblogged: www.sportisglobal.blogspot.com Please read it. Then, you may read this: 1) Interesting to Dad and his seafaring mates, I'm sure. 2) Interesting to anyone attending MY stag in July. 3) VERY interesting to anyone who knows Michelle Prestleton - because she's the bride! Stag party rescued by lifeboat off Mumbles Head A 10-strong stag party have been rescued after one of their two high-speed boats suffered engine failure on a trip across the Bristol Channel. The group, from the Midlands, were heading to Swansea from Devon when the problem occurred. A lifeboat was scrambled at 1700 BST on Saturday and picked up two of the party who were suffering from mild exposure. A Mumbles lifeboat spokesperson said the group continued the stag celebrations in Swansea. The six-metre rib vessel - or rigid inflatable boat - ... read more

Ok, first, just quickly: www.sportisglobal.blogspot.com - there was one last week and there'll be another on Thursday, you know the drill. Please keep reading, follow it, link to it, share it, however it all works, and without the aid of any technology whatsoever, tell all your friends. Thank you! Guilty as charged. In my last entry, I set out to pick and choose some contrasting elements of the Australian experience, but instead produced an entirely negative diatribe about all that has irked me since touching down 11 months ago. Perhaps I was in a bad mood that day; I forget. While I take back not one word of what I wrote, I must thank Jon Clemson and others for their advice, and act accordingly by accentuating the positive. Therefore, here are Five Things I Love About ... read more

I've written something just for you guys, because I really appreciate your time listening to me rant about careers, and, hopefully, supporting my new sport blog. I enjoyed writing it, and I want to write more travel/observational/fun stuff, so your ideas, requests and suggestions would be much appreciated. Before we start though, and I know, I'm so predictable, but please have a look at this week's two entries: www.sportisglobal.blogspot.com Thank you! Now you may proceed, to FIVE things about Australia - I think you'll find that's more than enough: Driving We drive on the left here, so it's basically the same and nice and easy to adjust, right? Right? Wrong! Where to start with life on the road in Melbourne? The famous trams, of course! No, I didn't know Melbourne was famous for trams either. They ... read more

...and here it is: Paul & Sarah (& Jasmine) 5/492 Glenferrie Road Hawthorn VIC 3122 No more house sitting, no more imposing on Neill and Alison - it's our place. It means we're finally paying rent, but hell it's worth it, can't wait. Naturally, I wouldn't be bringing you to this site if I hadn't just sportsblogged (What? It's a verb!), so please check out this week's two entries here: www.sportisglobal.blogspot.com and let me know what you think. Coming up next week, just for you: 10 things I hate/love/will never understand about Australia... Keep smiling Toobz... read more

Two entries this week, at: www.sportisglobal.blogspot.com I'd really appreciate your time and feedback. Maybe sign up as a follower or add a comment, or just comment or send a message on here if you prefer. By the way, I've still got plenty more to write specifically for you people, on this blog here; and not the 'stuff that I need to say' like all that careers drivel, but 'stuff I want to say', about Australia, travel and fun - stuff that will make you laugh and interest you. Thanks for sitting through the careers blogs, which have helped me to get started on the new project, and thanks in advance for looking at the new blog, telling me what you think and spreading the word. Once I'm in the groove on the other site I'll put ... read more

This is the address: http://www.sportisglobal.blogspot.com/ I'll still be blogging here - more on that at a later date - but please please please have a look at the new site and tell me what you think. Rather than send you from link to link though, here's the first entry: Permanent header: Sport, for sport's sake, is the purest form of competition, answering a basic human instinct for superiority. It's war without death; evolution without science; reality television without self obsessed idiots spouting turgid banality and soulless filth. When nations go head to head, peaceful pride takes centre stage, planet earth gets smaller and every flag can fly. It happens everywhere, every day, a never ending Olympiad of infinite disciplines. Every Thursday I want to give you a hand. I make it my business to know what's ... read more

Greetings, from another house sit with another dog. I could get used to this! Here comes some more, to quote a dear friend, 'self indulgent' musings on work and what it means. I'm reading Alain de Botton's book on the subject and would certainly recommend it: mostly there are nice descriptions of unusual things; occasionally there are startlingly lucid paragraphs encapsulating the torment of responsibility. I hope you get to the end because there's a TREAT of a link waiting for you there. First up though, a link that you've no excuse for missing - a wonderful lady doing a frightful thing for an excellent cause: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SkydivingWithGregInMind On we go then: I arrived in Australia, fresh from the only job that I hadn’t left due to lethargy/misdemeanour/ misguided belief in alternative career potential. Here’s the rub ... read more

This one was getting a bit long, so I took mercy on you all and decided it should be a two-parter... I’ll start with a question. What do you do? Go on, tell me. Any fellow philosophy graduates will point out that this can be interpreted in a number of ways. Linguistically it is ambiguous: if designed to focus on the present, it would be worded ‘what are you doing?’; neither does it isolate the past, but surely can’t expect future prediction. Chronology notwithstanding, the question is vague: one ‘does’ many things, consciously or otherwise, simultaneously or over time; are we asking what I enjoy doing, or what I do frequently, notably, or well? The fact is though that not one of you would ever waste the time that I just did considering any such permutations, ... read more