Don't turn your back Rudolph

I'm really worried about Rudolph.....this is the reindeer guy, the one with the red schnozz. Rudolph seems like a nice fella and he's got all of these reindeer friends who seem to like him too......but I don't think all is as it appears.

You turn the clock back a little while and Rudolph was a bit of an outcast. He was a reindeer nerd. The others didn't like him. He was shunned by the group and he was a lonely sad reindeer. One day the boss comes in....that's Santa of course and gave him this plum job leading the sleigh. And then.....all of a sudden, he had all of these instant friends. In fact the story goes that all of the reindeer loved him and they were shouting out "Yipee" with some glee.

How shallow are these reindeer ?

How can you go from despising someone and treating them like a leper and then in the next breath they're your best friends and your shouting things out with glee, whether it be "yippee" or something entirely different. And it appears that this sudden change of heart has got nothing to do with Rudolph as a reindeer but quite simply because he achieved success at his work.

I think Rudolph needs to have a good hard look at this friends and work out which of them are his true friends, because I daresay it's none of them. I even believe that these reindeer may be just sucking up to Santa and pretending to be Rudolph's friends because it looks as though he's in tight with the boss now.

Don't turn your back Rudolph because you may find a knife in it one day....or even a set of antlers.

It doesn't get much better than that.

I had the most amazing night around at home last night. You may not think this sounds all that special, but it was.

Nes was working last night. The big kids were out doing the things that teenagers do in December. It was just me and the wittle girlies.

I did dinner on the barbecue on the back deck. I cooked with assistance of a long tall glass of icy Coopers Ale. The girls and I dined on the back deck and talked about how old Santa might be and what time he might get to our place on Christmas eve. We had some ice-cream for desert. It's the tub that we hid from the big kids in the back fridge...so that made it even more special.

After desert, the girls sang the songs that they had been rehearsing in the back room. They're putting on a big Christmas concert for their Nanna you see. Their singing was woeful, but I still clapped and laughed. We had a big bath together after that and got into our jimmy jams. And then the girls came to bed with me in the big bed.

It doesn't get much better than that.

Warney's gone

So that's it...the great Shane Warne is outta here. Despite our wishes that the announcement may be about something else.....it wasn't.

How good did he look at the press conference. Didn't he look relaxed. Didn't he look, desite his many crimes....didn't he look lovable...almost humble. Well I guess humble might be stretching it a little.

Obviously there's been a lot of reaction from right around the world.

Journalists at the press conference were advised that they were not to ask questions about Warney's private life. They respected those wishes. Shane himself though ventured to bring up his ex wife Simone.

He said "She's been an outstanding support for a long period of time...and who knows what the future holds there."

One gets the feeling that history will be very kind to Shane Warne. That when he is remembered 50 years from now it will be as one of the greatest cricketers the world ever saw and not as a selfish womanising larrikin who just couldn't keep it in his pants.

Australian cricket fans are a bit worried about just who is going to take all of those wickets now. If only Stuart Magill were 10 years younger....but he's not. Dan Cullen's not the man. Well I don't think he is anyway. It's certainly not Nathan Hauritz. Who's going to fill Warney's shoes ?
It could be Beau Casson. He's a left arm wrist spinner who does some very special things with the ball.

The pigeon is also expected to retire this week. I gather we will learn of Glenn McGrath's retirement today. His replacement has already arrived in the form of Stuart Clark. But things are going to get much tougher for Ricky Ponting's boys if we don't find another couple of freakish strike bowlers.

So this is Christmas

So this is Christmas. Another year over. For so many people, it’s the last day of work for the year today. I hope you get everything done. God I’m looking forward to having a month off…..it’s going to be sensational.

And I am so looking forward to Xmas day. The weather is going to be superb….well as far as I’m concerned…if Lisa were here she’d be giving me one of those looks and telling me I was a big loser.

Chance of showers and 19 degrees. Sounds great to me.

Xmas for us is going to be in the best place….Home.

Got the in-laws coming from Newcastle. I’ll be roasting big chooks, pork and….I dunno what else….maybe lamb…maybe beef. There’ll be plenty of roast vegies and lashings of gravy. And the key ingredient….laughing children. I haven’t actually bought the vegies yet….but I’ve got the laughing kids.

Where’s Xmas for you this year. Let me know.

Warney's announcement

They say that Warney will retire today.

He's called a press conference for mid day today and the speculation is that he will announce his retirement from all forms of cricket effective from the end of the Ashes series.

I hope they're wrong.

I'm thinking that maybe is press conference is not about retirement at all. I don't know what else he could be announcing. Let's hope it's announcement about something entirely different.

Maybe he's announcing that he's opening a chain of baked bean and pizza restaurants simpled called 'Warney's". Maybe he's found god and he's announcing his re-birth and his newfound relationship with the Lord. You never know.

Or maybe he's coming out of closet and announcing that a. he's gay and b. he's hooked up with Darren Hayes.

Come to think of it....maybe we should just go with a retirement announcement.

Lessons of Christmas

Xmas was very special for me when I was growing up. I guess it is to most kids. We didn't call the big guy Santa at our place....he was Father Xmas. And the ol' Father Xmas used to look after my brother and I like nobodies business. I can still remember when I got the bike. That was amazing. It was a bright yellow Malvern Star Dragster. It was all shiny and new. It was so big, and I couldn't believe it was mine. In the lead up to that Xmas, I had no idea that I would get a bike. It was such a surprise.

Now, when I was growing up, we used to get some prezzies from Father Xmas and some presents from Mum and Dad. I can remember when I was about 9 or 10...I can remember being at home on holidays a week before Xmas. Mum and Dad were at work, and I figured I might go hunting for my presents. I looked in a lot of places...and eventually I struck gold. I stumbled across some prezzies in Dad's wardrobe. It was all a bit exciting. I kept on listening for the car in the driveway and looking over my shoulder.

I found my present. It was a radio. It looked pretty cool.....it was in the shape of big chunky watch. I even got it out of the box to have a look at it. And I said to myself...."uh...a radio ? I wonder why they decided to get me a radio."

I was a bit dissapointed. But as the days passed by to Xmas I got even more dissapointed. Dissapointed with myself that I had been selfish enough to go looking and find my gift. The magic of Christmas was gone, not because I didn't really want the radio, but because I'd destroyed my own surprise. It was the year that I finally woke up to the fact that Xmas was more about giving than it was about receiving.

On the day itself I pretended to be really excited and thanked Mum and Dad. And from that day forward, I have never ever tried to discover what I was getting as a gift ahead of time.

Hi-jacking the sleigh

Getting so close to Xmas now. It's very very exciting. We've got some prezzies under the tree at our place. My girlies are beside themselves with anticipation. They're big brother has been trying to talk them into staying awake on Xmas eve and hi-jacking the sleigh. Delaney was wide eyed with the prospect.

"Could we really fly in Santa's sleigh ?" she said, "What if we don't know how to fly it ?"

Jesse assured them that he knew how to fly sleighs and that Santa would be cool with it all. My little girlies are already planning where they might fly in the sleigh, but they're convinced that despite what they're brother has told them, this must be a naughty thing to do.

Delaney figures that it doesn't matter all that much because at that stage Santa would already have allocated presents to her.

Delaney is hoping for a My Little Pony toy and the Mousetrap game. Brydie is hoping for a bike. Xmas day will be insane. If indeed Santa does get them bikes, and far be it from me to know how the big guy operates.....but if indeed he does go with bikes, we'll never get them off the bloody things.

Can you remember Xmas presents that you got and you just used and used for weeks on end.

I've been a bit like that with my new barbecue. It wasn't quite a Xmas present, but I got it a few weeks ago. I seem to find myself doing every single meal out on the barbie. Would you believe I did toasted sandwiches on the barbecue last night.

They were awesome.

Celebrations

I have to tell you...I'm a bit shaky this morning. I'm a little on the hungover side.

We had a huge celebration last night at the Parton household.

There were so many things to celebrate. We were celebrating that it was a week before Christmas. We were celebrating that it was Monday and that only happens once a week. We celebrated Jesse's Graduation from Year 10 at Canberra High. The winning of the Ashes. The first night with the new outdoor setting. We celebrated our ham....what else...um, we celebrated Ivory Coast National Day and the anniversary of the opening of the movie Titanic.

God it was good to get intoxicated. It's been a while.

Blurrrrr

Here we are a week before Xmas and life is just one big blur of shopping and christmas drinkies. It's just one thing after another. A BBQ here, a shopping centre car park there. Quickly glance at the calender to make sure it's not Xmas yet. Steal a glance at the TV to see if we've bowled them out yet.

We shopped yesterday. We fought for car parks. We walked with trolleys, not saying much. We charged into the Westfield Belconnen with a steely resolve to secure the gifts that we required. We will fight them on the beaches....we will fight them in K-mart. We will never surrender....unless the credit card is over it's limit. Then we may try to compromise.

Xmas drinks around Jeff Garner's place yesterday. Quick look at the watch....."Gotta go now. Thanks for the food." Merry Xmas to you !!!!

Off to Vanessa's work Xmas party at the Waterfront Restaurant at Gungahlin. It's nice in there isn't it.

Ate some more in there. Got even fatter. Bounced at the car like a beach ball. Raced on home and got another 4 hours sleep and then up and atem again.

Don't you just love this time of year.

How good is this rain ?

How good is this rain ? How good does it smell ? And how good does it feel ?

I walked out of house this morning to the sound of the rain falling. The earthy summer smell hit me as soon as I walked out the door. It was the most beautiful thing.

We've scored just over a millimetre out of it. In the context of dams and backyard lawns and water restrictions it is virtually insignificant. It really is a drop in the ocean, but we'll take it. Things are mighty slippery on the roads, so take it easy on the corners and the roundabouts.

Isn't it amazing how our perceptions to rain have changed so dramatically even this year.

I was at the rehearsal for the Carols at the War Memorial last night. The big Carols by Candlelight are on tonight at 7, but we had the rehearsal last night. It's going to be a huge night. We were nearly three quarters of the way through last night when some big drops of rain began falling on us. And nobody fretted. Nobody panicked. Even the sound and light guys didn't give a toss. They just looked up and smiled.

Nobody is prepared to say anything negative about rainfall anymore.

I'm sure if the heavens opened up tonight and drenched as the War Memorial, everyone would be happy. They'd do their best to cover up the electrical equipment and then I think everyone would just sit in the rain and get soaked.

We're not going to get much in this lot. I've just been looking at the Bureau of Meteorology weather radar. This lot of rain has virtually gone now....but at least we got something. Fingers crossed that theres more to come at some stage.

Are we there yet ?

Reports on our news this morning that Australian parents would choose the dentists drill ahead of a long car trip with the kids...and to be honest with you, it doesn't surprise me.

It's that time of the year when families pile half their belongings into their sedan, 4wd or people mover and venture off into the distance.

"I'm hungry." "She's looking at me" "I need a drink" "I'm bored" "Mum...He's doing it again" "She won't give me a turn" and of course the classic "Are we there yet ?"

Non parents may think it's just a myth, but it's true...the kids really still say "Are we there yet ?" ad nauseum.

Delaney Grace is the main offender. We can be half an hour into the drive to Newcastle and she'll say "Are we there yet" I always respond with the same thing now.....I always say "Yep we're there."

And she says "No we're not Dad"

"Well if you know we're not there....why the hell are you asking me ?"

You take 4 kids on a 5 hour drive and see how many toilet stops you have. And with the littlest one that if you stop to do number 1's just on the roadside, she will always always end getting some on her legs, her undies or her pants. You can also guaruntee that there will be a McDonalds outlet every 700 metres of the 500 k trip, the coke will spill in the back seat and someone will get barbecue sauce all over themselves.

Don't you wish you could do with your kids what they did for Ripley and her crew in the movie Aliens. That you could give them some sort of injection and they could drift into suspended animation....they could be cryogenically frozen for the entire trip. You could revive them when you get to within 5ks from your destination.

School Closures

It's going to be an interesting day for many Canberra families. Today we will find out the fate of those 39 schools earmarked for closure. Now, it's going to be an interesting process. As I understand it, this is what's going to happen.

At around mid-day, although I'm not entirely sure of the time, the 39 school principals will be addressed either by Andrew Barr himself or by Department of Education staff I gather at the Legislative Assembly. They'll be informed which schools are remaining open and which schools are closing. Now as I understand it, the principals have been told not to talk to the media. They are to get in their cars and head back to their schools to personally address their school communities on the outcome of the report.

Then it's a case of enter the media. Members of the media will enter the Legislative Assembly. They will be in a media lockdown. So this means that we're not allowed to file a report. Don't know if they're going to remove our mobile phones or not. Members of the media will be handed the full report into the school closures. I gather it's quite extensive. We'll be given an hour just to read it. Then the Minister Andrew Barr will address the media around 2:00pm. We will be allowed to exit at 2:30 to file reports.

Now I'm going along to the media lockdown. Lisa will be out and about this afternoon getting reaction from parents and maybe even principals at a number of schools. And we'll also be looking for your feedback. I guess particularly if you attend a meeting at your school to get the verdict. We don't want to tread on anyone's toes, but if you know the fate of your school before we do, we'd love you to call in on 62 42 1063 this afternoon.

Don't you just love Christmas ?

It was the most amazing night last night around at the Parton household. Last night we put up the christmas tree. Our Christmas tree has been a bit dodgy for a couple of years. We had been planning to bust out and get onto a new whizbang monster tree this year. We didn't have to.

The mother in law in Newcastle used to be one of those full on 'Christmas lights all over the front of the house' people. Her display also included this huge christmas tree in the front window of her place. Well, she's given the whole Christmas lights thing a big miss for the last couple of years....and this year she said, 'you guys may as well have my Christmas tree'.

No argument from me.

The tree was delivered yesterday. Last night after dinner there were two sets of the widest eyes ever seen in the loungeroom as we assembled this tree. It turned out to be a little bit more difficult than we had imagined. I told Nes we should have used the instructions right at the start.......actually, I think maybe that's what SHE said to ME. Anyway by the time we got to 11 o'clock we were nearly done. The little girlies had long passed out by then, but they'll still be excited to see it when they get up.

We've still got to do some final decorations. And I'm going to have to fix the big right at the top, cos it's gone all droopy, hence there is no star on the top of the tree at this stage.

Don't you just love Christmas ?

Naughty weekend

Hey did I tell you we had a naughty weekend, the weekend just gone. My Ness and I waltzed on off to Rydges at Eaglehawk to one of their spa suites on Saturday night. We actually dined on the edge of Yerrabi Pond on a picnic rug. We feasted on monster prawns, chilli salami, sundried tomatoes, marinated olives, brie, cashew nuts and chilled champagne. We watched the sun set and then headed back to our suite before a spa and Baileys Irish Creme on ice.

We watched some inhouse movies....No not those sort've movies. We actually had a squizz at Jindabyne before drifting off to sleep and did the big buffet breakfast in the morning.

God it was nice. And it wasn't all that expensive.

Guys...think about that sort've stuff. I know it's not natural for us to be romantic, but use your noggan and get creative, cos it's worth it.

Can you smell the smoke

How pathetic was that rain this morning. That wasn't rain. That was mist pretending to be rain. I think most of it evaporated before it hit the ground.

What a tease. Here we are sitting watching our lawns dieing, wondering if there's going to be anything to drink in the new year and they give us that. It was not even enough to register in any rain guage. The lawn would have just thought that someone stood on the back deck and sneezed.

Cannot believe how little rain we've had in the last 6 weeks or so. We're not alone. Victoria and Tasmania are feeling the ravages of the season at the moment...and I can I say, we'd be odds on favourites to feel it again this summer as well. I cannot see anyway that we're going to get through summer without fires of the sort that we faced in 2003. I don't want to sound like a scare mongering prophet of doom, but I'm sorry, this place will burn this year. We've been so lucky thus far.

I've physically watched two fires just develop out of nothing this year. I saw one yesterday just over the Barton Highway at Kaleen. There was another I watched on Belconnen Way. On both occasions the firies were super quick in attending and sorting out, but it could have been much worse. This place is a tinderbox and I fear the worst this summer.

To all of the firies. Full time and volunteer. We're counting on you. We know you're doing your best and we have faith in what you do. You're going to need luck this summer. I hope you get it.

Xmas lunch...hot or cold ?

Christmas is hurtling towards us like an uncontrolled missile. December 25 is looming larger than life on every calender. Christmas shopping is in full swing. And there's a lot of planning for Christmas lunch all over the country.

The big question we have for you this morning is this. Christmas lunch, hot or cold ?

For me it's got to be hot. Unless the forecast for 40 degrees, roast Christmas lunch is a must for me. Either a turkey or a couple of big chooks. Maybe a roast beef or lamb and some crisp taties out of the oven. Lashings of gravy and vegies. Doesn't matter how hot it is....it's gotta be hot lunch for me.

Lisa disagrees. For her Xmas lunch is about prawns and seafood. I can sort've understand that in Brisbane. I don't think I could do roast lunch on any day of the summer in Brisbane.

What goes on at your place ?

Feeling Hot Hot Hot.

How hot was it yesterday ? Another hot one lined up today with 33 degrees. It felt like 40 yesterday. I want to commend everyone who came on down to Yerrabi Pond District Park to celebrate Christmas in Gungahlin.

You really had to be brave. We ended up getting a couple of thousand there across the afternoon and everyone seemed to have a good time. Hats off to the members of Sydney party band Tall Pop Syndrome. It was hot on that stage but they kept on rocking along. Morning to David and Cooky and the rest of the Gungahlin Jets AFL crew who were there doing the handball competition and still celebrating after their amazing first grade premiership in Canberra Div 1.

I'll tell you who I met for the first time in the flesh. Do you remember young Bryce from Gungahlin who's Dad was in the middle east. The young lad who we surprised on his birthday with a Hummer ride to school. Bryce was there with his Mum....And his Dad. Dad arrived back home on Thursday night. Bryce was so proud to be walking around with his Dad.

Fruitylicious

Can I start with a blatant plug this morning ?

Last night I had the great pleasure of opening a new shop in Gungahlin. Fruitylicious opens the doors today. It's the new fresh food shop on Hibberson Street at Gungahlin, over the road from The G.

Fruitylicious is the brainchild of my good friends Vince and Kathy Torcassio. They're the guys who've been running the IGA at Spence for years.

I was blown away by the shop. I knew it would be good. I didn't think it would be that good. It's got the fruit and veg of course and a full deli section. They've put on 60 staff. And it's a family friendly fruit and veg shop. There's a little kids booth with movies running on a video screen.

Check it out today or over the weekend. Fruitylicious, down the other end of Hibberson Street at Gungahlin.

And speaking of Gungahlin.....the big Christmas in Gungahlin thing is on on Sunday. It's on at Yerrabi Pond District Park. It's been huge for the last couple of years and it's going to be just as big on the weekend.

Sydney party band Tall Pop Syndrome will be performing as well as a lot of local acts. 4 till 7 at Yerrabi Pond. See you there with a big hat and some sunscreen.

School closures

Well it's December. The new school year is less than two months away and this town is full of families who aren't sure where their kids are going to school next year. I know some parents who have enrolled their kids at both Giralang and Aranda, because they don't know for sure which schools will be open...and which ones won't.

And never mind the parents and the kids....how about the teachers ?

If you're a teacher at Cook Primary, what plans can you possibly make for 2007 ?

December 14th is D-Day. That's when we find out for sure which schools make it and which schools lose.

Cathy rang us this morning. She's had kids at Rivett Primary. She's had to enroll them at Duffy just in case Rivett loses out on December 14th. Cathy went to Rivett Primary herself and she's hoping that somehow it remains open, but as she said to us, if somehow it does stay open, the enrollments will be well down anyway.

I still wonder whether this list of school is so big so that Messrs Stanhope and Barr can come out on December 14th with some good news. So that they can come out on that day and announce that schools A. B. and C. have been saved. Cue crowds cheering.

Would welcome your comments on this one.

Nothing like red wine in the morning

What a gorgeous morning this morning. How good is this ? The suns on the rise. There is not a cloud in the sky. The air is crisp and fresh and things are good.

The mornings on the weekend should be like this too. It would be a great weekend to get out and check out some of our local wineries.

We did just that yesterday, me and Leesey Lou. And what a morning we had.

We had brunch at Greystones Winery out near Murrumbateman. Do you reckon they look after you out there ? Bacon, sausages and eggs and Greystones Pink Ice for breakfast really worked for us. Pink Ice is their Australian first chilled Shiraz desert wine and it didn't matter for us that we weren't having desert when we sampled it.

Thanks to Greg and Leigh for looking after us out at Greystones. I do know they've got brunch on there this Sunday, so follow the signs along the Barton Highway and go and check them out. We also made a whirlwind stop on Gallaher Wines just down the road. Greg showed us some of his secrets and we sampled some of the amazing cheese in there. I've added some of the award winning 2004 Shiraz to my collection and all in all it was a wonderful morning.

I have to admit, I wasn't all that productive yesterday afternoon when I finally got home....but that's life.

How did my Nan go ?

Hey I fogot to tell you yesterday....My Nan passed her driving test with flying colours.

She got it !!

She was so happy.

I rang her soon after I heard the news and she was all smiles. She said to me, that it was relatively easy second time around.

"I just got a nasty man on the first test who put me off and made me panic" she said.

Well done Nan. Power on.

Boys in suits

My boy Jesse has his Year 10 formal tonight. He's looking forward to it....but he's a boy. He's a 16 year old boy, and the concept of getting dozens of 16 year old boys into flash hire suits is an interesting one.

Jesse isn't the most stylish of human beings. As far as he's concerned, getting 'dressed up' is wearing three quarter denim pants instead of shorts. Getting stylish for Jess is wearing his Jim Beam scuffs instead of going barefoot. He doesn't believe in ironing anything. The crumpled look is always the best option. Jesse possesses 2 button shirts. He would never wear either of them. They just hang in his wardrobe as decorations. He views wearing a tie in the same way that you might view putting your head in a guilloutine. And I discovered while I was waiting at Lords Formal Wear in Myer at Belconnnen that he is not alone.

You just about couldn't move in there yesterday from all the testosterone. The place was filled with boofy haired, board short wearing teenage boys who still haven't figured out what is the right amount of deodorant to use each day. And they are so funny to watch.

I feel for them at Lords. These boys go off into the change room and will on occasions come back wearing the pants and shirt....but they haven't actually tucked the shirt in. I'm sure for some of them it's the first time they've ever tucked a shirt in in their lives.

Jesse came back from the changeroom with his suit on. He looked about as comfortable as the Fijian Prime Minister at a military parade. "Couldn't I just not do the top button up ?" he said.
He was carrying a scunched up piece of grey paper in one hand....well at least that's what I thought it was.

"What's that ? " I said.

It turns out it was his tie.

I cannot believe how patient the staff at Lords were, cos I would have thought they would want to yell and scream at someone eventually. But they just smile and do their best to point the boys in the right direction.

I know Lyneham High have got their formal on tonight at the Boat House. Canberra High is on at Old Parliament House. Good luck to them and good luck to the team at Lords for the rest of the season.

What sort of car are you

My co-host Lisa Ridgley has been asking this big question. If you were a car, what sort of car would you be.

Surprisingly Lisa sees herself as a VW. I didn't see her as a vee dub at all. I think I see her more as a Mitsubishi Lancer. I'm thinkin' one of those hotted up Lancer Coupe's with a spoiler. I don't know what colour it is.....maybe blue.

I think I see myself as one of those old Toyota Tarago people movers. Probably a grey one with a few little dents and scratches in it. Just a dependable old, family friendly warhorse. Always goes when you get in it. Getting on a bit, but still does the job.

Help My Nan

I'm a bit worried about my Nan this morning. My Nan lives in Perth in the same house that she's lived in for as long as I can remember. She must be close to 90 now, but she's always been a young Nan. She plays golf. She goes dancing. She goes to gym. She's desperately independent.

She went in to renew her licence last week and failed.

She gets a second chance at it this morning. But she's absolutely petrified that she won't make it. I can't imagine my Nan if she couldn't drive.

I'm sending her good vibes and crossing my fingers. I think it's on at 10am our time, so that's time time to think positive things.

What did you think of Kevin ?

So...what do you think of Kevin Rudd ?

He is the new leader of the Federal Opposition. Yesterday played out like Groundhog Day for Kim Beazley. He was dumped again and the smiling Kevin Rudd is the new head honcho.

I can't come at Kevin Rudd. He just never seems real to me. He seems like some sort of wind-up doll. Everything he says is in political speak. Every thing that comes from his mouth is designed to win political points. Every single word he utters is an attack on the Government.

Having said all that, I have been quite impressed with him in the last 24 hours.

He's still looked like a wind up doll, but he's certainly talking the talk as leader. I wonder if he can walk the walk.

Can he take on John Howard and beat him ?

My co-host Lisa Ridgley thinks he can. What do you think ?

Andrew rang us from Holt. He has been a Liberal voter all of his life, but he's been swayed by Kevin Rudd.

Chris disagreed. He called us to tell us that Kevin is far too negative. He thinks that when he is featured on "How green was my cactus" he'll be known as "Kevin Dud". He may well be right.

I don't get it ?

You know, I like to think that I live in the best city in Australia. I like to think that this town is a perfect size at 350,000. We've got so much to see and do but we don't have to put up with any of the big city inconvenience. And I also like to think that we've got a good bunch of people here.

Around this time of the year, I always have to question that.

At this time of the year I always get e-mails and calls from people who have put decorations up on their house and had them stolen. It is so predictable. Some people have big Santa's stolen. They have whole lines of lights taken. Others have stuff just ripped out of the ground and smashed on the street.

I don't get it. And I never will.

I just don't understand how somebody, anybody could be so callous. How could you stomp on somebody's Christmas like that ? How could you have so little regard for families and community.

At least there was an upside in this e-mail that I got in overnight.


Hi, my daughter and husband have 3 children 4mths, 22mths and 6yrs. Each year they decorate the house for Christmas each year something is stolen or vandalised. On Saturday night 4 of their painted Elf's were taken after a full day of decorating. We told them to put out a sign asking that the elf's be returned to the kids and to their surprise they were in fact back this morning. While it was terrible to have taken them in the first place its
nice to see someone had enough in them to return them. Thanks for reading.

There's no answer to this perennial problem. I just hope that it doesn't stop more and more people from putting up lights.

If you're decorating your house in the lead up to Christmas, let us know about it on the Mix website.. www.mix106.com.au

You can also view of list of houses already on the register.

And I should point out that from Monday of next week we will be drawing a winner from our registrations every day and reward them with $1000 extra of decorations from the Christmas Warehouse at Fyshwick

No Correct Answer

Do you ever have days when you discover at the last moment that you're double booked.

Can you imagine discovering that you had two appointments at the same time.....you had a dentists appointment where they might take your wisdom teeth out, And you were down for a pap smear at the same time.

What a dillemma. Which one to go to and which one to cancel.

Federal Labor MP's find themselves in a similar position. Kim Beazley or Kevin Rudd. It's not really a fair question is it ?

It reminds me of a sadistic maths teacher that I used to have in High School. In ever test he ever wrote there would be a multiple choice question in which there was not a correct answer listed.

For the Labor Party there is no correct answer this morning. It's the choice between the 5 time loser and the only man in public life who officially has no personality at all.

Now I happen to know who the winner will be this morning. I've got some serious connections up in the 'ministerial mansion'. They've spoken to the movers and shakers and they've told me who the winner will be.

It'll be John Howard. John Howard by a space.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Hello to all of those who are going along to Hoyts Belconnen today for the special Canberra Kids screening of Charlotte's Web. It's going to be huge. I can't be there unfortunately. Brydie would kill me if I missed her school concert thing tonight. She's singing...and she'll be dressed as an angel....well that's the theory anyway. We've still got to get that sorted out.

I was actually at Hoyts Belconnen yesterday with my littlest girl Delaney Grace. We went along yesterday arvo to see that 3D Tim Burton thing "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

What a weird movie ?!

I had never seen it when it was originally released. It's very cool in 3D. You should have seen little Delaney with these big 3D glasses on. It was worth paying the admission price just to see that. We're sitting there right at the start of the movie and this talking pumpkin comes on the screen.....and then out of the blue it seems to leap out of the screen at you ! Delaney held Dad's hand tightly and screamed....but she had a ball.

As far as the movie goes, it's probably not the movie you would take many 4 year olds along to. Delaney loved it....but it's a little dark. In fact it's very very dark. It's rated G, but there are some rather scary characters in Halloweentown where most of the movie is set. The movie revolves around a skeleton by the name of Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween. He discovers Christmas by accident, but doesn't quite understand the concept.

It's a stop film animation film. And it's extremely memorable. It doesn't have long to run, so go in and check it out while you can.

What are you looking at Dad ?

We were sitting eating dinner last night at the Parton household. I was sitting back looking at my girls...and little Delaney Grace looked up from her Lasagne and said "What are you looking at Dad ?"

I said "I'm just looking at you Delaney because you're so beautiful"

She said to me...."Dad, you're always telling me that I'm beautiful !"

I said to her....I said "Do you get sick of Dad telling you that you're beautiful ?"

She said No. She's happy for me to tell her that she's beautiful every minute of the day.

And she believes me. She believes that she is the most beautiful 4 year old girl in the world. And I like it that way.

The coup in Fiji

So it's all on in Fiji today. There will be a military coup at 11 this morning. Frank Bananarama has made it clear to the Prime Minister Mr Pencil Eraser that he's going to storm parliament and take over the country at 11 o'clock unless he abides by all of his demands between now and then. So it's on in Fiji.

When it comes to military coups you would think that Fijians would be really good at them. They seem to have one every couple of years. You'd think that they would have fallen into a bit of a miltiary coup groove and things would run like clockwork. They seem to have forgotten that like a coup is supposed to a surprise. So if Frank Bananarama is listening, you might want to think about this next time you launch a military coup.

"Don't tell them that you're about to do it."

You guys are supposed to make secret plans in caves and secret tunnells and seedy late night bars. Then you're supposed to gather behind some bushes somewhere and put boot polish on your faces. Then someone gives a secret signal....maybe a bird noise and in your go and take them by surprise.

You don't tell them a week in advance that you're going to storm the place. Could you imagine the Great Train Robbers advising which train they were going to rob and when. Could you imagine Mr Personality Kevin Rudd telling us exactly when he was going to take on Kimmy in a surprise bout of jelly wrestling.... I don't think so.

You Fijians....I think you've gotta go back to the drawing board when it comes to the old military coup.