Vague Disbelief

The old familiar cry from the newspapers has been raised again as they howl in anguish over the petrol prices and the fact that motorists are being ripped off by oil companies. Well, gee, that’s a new one. I can’t believe the journos are acting so surprised, the oil compnies have had our pants pulled down and bums bared to the world for years.

This time the observation is that the oil prices have fallen by 20 per cent since September, yet over the same period the price at the bowser has risen by 5 per cent. They’ve got university professors and NRMA president Alan Evans weighing in on price gouging. Meanwhile the Australin Federal Govenment and the toothless ACCC will sit back, make their complaints but prove once again how impotent they are when absolutely nothing happens.

The sooner a biofuel is developed at a cost that can sink the oil companies once and for all, the better off we’ll be. Yeah right, like THAT’s gonna happen.

For the life of me I can’t understand the fascination some people have with collecting objects simply for the sake of collecting them. I suppose it’s a kind of obsessive behaviour, or maybe it’s a throwback to the old hunter-gatherer instinct, but it’s definitely a compulsion to surround yourself with things that please you. There is certainly a need that has to be satisfied where buying 1 of something simply isn’t enough, particularly when that something is part of a series.

Companies feed this obsession knowing that they have secured many repeat sales from collectors who simply have to have the latest release in order to keep their collection complete.

It doesn’t matter what the product is it seems. It might be baskets. Yeah, I know, who would think to keep a basket collection, but Longaberger has created a booming market for collecting baskets by releasing themed baskets that are only available for a limited time. Devotees and secondary market investors will then snap up the latest releases and a certain percentage of sales are assured each year.

Fountain pens are another huge collectable item with major pen manufacturers such as Montblanc and Pelikan tapping in to the collector’s obsession. Both of these pen companies have created a line of high quality limited edition pens that appeal to the collector not only for their rarity (which is controlled by the pen company) but also by the visual appeal they have.

In the case of Montblanc the long-running Montblanc Writers Edition fountain pens continues to prove extremely popular as does the Pelikan Special Edition Series featuring cities, landmarks and natural wonders.

It’s a very clever marketing ploy by the companies involved and is bound to create customer loyalty. I just wonder what the people who buy these baskets, pens, teddy bears, Cadillacs or whatever it is they’re into, do with them after the initial exhilaration of a successful hunt wears off.

I sat up last night to watch the Beijing Olympics again with the big drawcard events being the heats of the Mens and Womens 4 x 100m relays. By the US standards, it’s got to be said that the Beijing Olympics has not been an overly successful meet with far fewer gold medals coming their way than they would have anticipated. But with a win by LaShawn Merritt in the 400m it looked as though things were beginning to go their way.

Little was I to know that the order or events I saw on the television wasn’t the order that they happened at the track and in actual fact, the US track team would have still been in shock over what had just unfolded.

With the dominance of the Jamaican men and women in both the 100m and 200m it was always going to be a difficult task for the US team but surely no-one could have anticipated that both the men’s team and the women’s team would drop the baton at the final change of each race. What a disaster for a team that prides itself on its professionalism, to miss out on making the finals because of such elementary errors is almost unthinkable. Suffice to say I watched in disbelief.

On to a topic that will give everyone more reason to be smiling widely. The joy that was displayed by Australia’s Sally McLellan and Canada’s Priscilla Lopes-Schiep, 2nd and 3rd respectively, as they celebrated their placing together on the track was great to see. Their unbridled pleasure at what they had achieved and the way they reacted will be one of my lasting memories of the Beijing Olympic track meet.

Carlton Football Club has recently signed Brendan Fevola to another 3 year contract after a great deal of game playing and negotiation was carried out. I’m sure Fev’s getting a great deal out of the contract in terms of his pay packet. I’m not so sure that Carlton are going to get their money’s worth out of him. One thing is for sure, they haven’t gotten good value out of him so far.

Yesterday’s match against North Melbourne was a classic example of the extreme paradox you get with Fev. He kicked 6 goals and at times the talent he displayed was sublime. But on the down side he gave away a 100m penalty (back-to-back 50m) constantly complained, whinged, whined to the umpires when he would have served his team much better chasing his direct opponent who was proceeding to run off him. At one stage you could hear him berating the umpire because he wanted a free kick awarded to him after his team mate had kicked a goal. The umpire was understandably incredulous that Fev was such a selfish bastard.

But the problems with Fev run deeper. As one of the commentators pointed out yesterday, Carlton were a one trick pony. A they brought the ball down field, North Melbourne know that the ball was going to be kicked long to Fevola, so they simply camped 3 defenders on him, defused the Carlton attack and then ran straight off him to set up goals at the other end.

So sure, Fevola kicked 6 goals against North Melbourne, but Carlton lost the match by 50 points. The Carlton players are way too conscious of trying to kick it to Fevola making them an extremely one-dimensional team. He’s a guy who has kicked 90 goals this year, an awesome effort, yet his team is very unlikely to play finals footy. If you’re paying big bucks to your full-forward and you’ve got a team stacked with number 1 draft picks, you’d want to be doing better than 11th place with only 2 rounds to go.

Does Carlton truly believe that sticking with Fev and his ill-disciplined, completely selfish attitude will get them into the top 4 in the next 3 years?

Sitting quietly, waiting for your prey to come wandering innocently (or should that be, blithely) by, you are left to contemplate all sorts of weird and wonderful thoughts, it’s a very peaceful time, paradoxically just before you plan to inflict violence upon another creature. Armed with a state of the art Hoyt compound bow, the deer you are hunting stands very little chance, particularly if you have properly positioned yourself for the kill.

A compound bow packs a solid punch thanks to modern cam technology that helps with shock and vibration reduction. All major brands such as Hoyt, Browning, Jennings, BowTech and the like talk up the cam systems of their compound bows, pointing to them as their significant edge over their rivals.

Whatever the edge is, there’s no feeling like the anticipation of waiting for the opportunity to take that shot. So the mood of contemplation can lull you a little bit, but you’ve still got to be watchful without letting your nerves get the better of you.

Having a solid, reliable compound bow in your fist is only part of the secret to a successful hunt. Vigilance and calm at the crucial moment will make all the difference.

So, back to the contemplation. I wonder how much work went into the cam system of the bow I’m holding. How does it actually reduce shock and vibration (that’s a pretty clever trick). Does the type of arrow I’m using make any difference to the effectiveness of my bow…was that the flash of a deer’s bum I’ve just seen disappear into the other side of the clearing? Damn.

You often hear the saying “it takes all sorts” and there are many, many things that happen or that you read about that makes you shake your head with vague disbelief. While I don’t intend on dwelling solely on these moments, I will be pointing out the odd clanger that has me wondering what the heck were you thinking?

This will simply be the place where I will allow myself the luxury of expressing my approval, my outrage and my interest in anything that takes my fancy. I’ll try to make it readable although you’ll have to excuse me in advance if I get worked up about something. In my haste to spew it all out, the sentence construction might become a little erratic.