Dallas-Morning-News-ladlitter

What's that you say? You've a sense of deja vu about this post? You know, I've a strange feeling I've heard that phrase somewhere before, but I just can't put my finger on it...

Anyway, now that you've stopped rolling your eyes, I want to tell you that just like I've posted before, both here and here, there is a shitload of fabulously entertaining, confronting, thoughtful and considered writing out there in the blogosphere. These are some of the blogs I've been reading (benignly lurking in web-speak) and engaging with (commenting at) in recent times.

For those blogs where I haven't been able to discern the gender of the author, or indeed number of authors, gormless pillock that I am, I've used the neutral "singular they" pronoun. Just so you know.

I would also point out that, as ever, none of these very talented people need an endorsement from the likes of me. But, bugger that, they're getting one anyway.

A Baffling Ordeal:
"The Shadow Attorney General said some things in the Senate that, in light of the verdict, make his legal mind seem about as sharp as a knife made of diarrhoea."  Now, if I'd been drinking Coke when I read that, it would have come shooting out of my nose as if from the Bicheno Blowhole. And there are plenty of lines like that.

This blog isn't updated with anything like regularity but each new post ought to be eagerly anticipated, so good are they. This is not a blog I comment at frequently because I have nothing to add and don't want to fill up the comment threads with stuff like "Brilliant!" and "I wish I'd said that!".

This post, Amanda Vanstone Has Had Just About Enough of Your Bullshit is emblematic of A Baffling Ordeal's output.

AIMN:
There's a lot to like about this alternative news analysis site, the Australian Independent Media Network: thoughtful articles on a range of issues by a battery of good writers and thinkers; and it's updated regularly. This post was one of many that took my fancy: Goodbye MSM! I'm Just Not That Into You

Anti-Bogan:
Anti-Bogan is a very confronting blog, and makes for some unpleasant reading and viewing. You know, that I-really-want-to-look-away-but-I-can't feeling. Nevertheless, my view is that it provides an entirely necessary community service. And anthropological study.

Anti-Bogan re-posts the most shamefully racist, bigoted and misogynistic Facebook wall posts and twitter updates of our fellow Australians. It's not pretty on a number of levels, if you're anything like me: you might be saddened that people like the ones shown here exist outside of gatherings of your extended family; you may also wonder how they can be so proudly and wilfully ignorant; and you'll probably be appalled by their misuse of the opportunities that public platforms like social media provide.

This post delivers the output of one serving member of Australia's Defence Force Reserve and erstwhile Bob Katter's Australia Party candidate 

You might want to have a shower afterwards.

Billablog:
Bill's blog defies simple categorization in that he writes on a range of topics such as politics, rock music, economics and travel. His posts are invariably well-researched and well thought out.

Like this one on Pink Floyd's 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon that takes a different angle from the predictable classic album post.

Bloginboots:
Sydney-based Mitzi G Burger is a high school English teacher who masterminds BlogInBoots and also the Joycean Here Comes Everybloggy. There are lovely poems and personal musings. Bloginboots is only updated occasionally but enjoyable reading nonetheless.

This post is a particularly poignant one.

Cafe Whispers:
This political blog benefits from regular posting and devotes most of its energy to giving the coalition, its conduct and policies the kind of scrutiny the MSM just can't (or won't!) do on its own.

I thought this post was a really nice piece on the finite nature of humanity - and with a fabulous closing line. We really are just specks, all of us.

Cheeseburger Gothic:
Australian author John Birmingham is the brains behind this blog, and it's not a bad idea for published authors to do this sort of thing: as long as you don't make it too obvious, you can publicize both yourself and your recent publications for sale in a chummy online bookclub atmosphere - but I don't want to sell Birmingham short - he offers genuine engagement with his readership and the public far beyond mere salesmanship.

With opinion pieces also regularly published by Fairfax, Birmingham gets to have a bob each way: by ranting in the MSM opinionsphere; and then posting rational considered pieces on his blog. He therefore debunks the tired old stereotype of MSM columnist = authoritative wisdom, blogger = intemperate raving all by himself on occasions.

And as much as that's a nice straddling act, Cheeseburger Gothic also provides interesting posts of a literary nature and insightful musings on pop culture.

The Failed Estate:
Jim Parker is a former journalist who finds much to deplore among the MSM. One of these smart-alecks who thinks he's clever because he employs REAL analysis (and REAL analysis of crap analysis), he exposes the extent to which so much MSM journalism and opinion pieces are closer to spin doctoring than we'd realized.

If you don't already anticipate his next post as eagerly as I do, try this and this to get a sense of what The Failed Estate succeeds at.

Hoyden About Town:
A feminist collective that always gives the reader something to think about. This post, and the 2007 post it links to, really resonated with me - and should be compulsory reading for all blokes, however uncomfortable it might make them feel!

J-Scribe: 
The name Julie Posetti will probably be vaguely familiar to many of you. Julie is a journalist and journalism academic who was caught up in a cause celebre not of her own making back in 2010, thanks to those fearless champions of free speech over at The Australian.

Media Watch covered it at some length, and you can delve into that here and here and read what Julie had to say herself here and a letter from her legal representatives here.

Needless to say, The Australian's pathetic, nasty, hypocritical bullying of someone who was not criticising that pompous rag herself, but REPORTING VIA TWITTER WHAT AN EX-JOURNALIST FROM THE PAPER HAD SAID AT A CONFERENCE, was terminated when legal advice based on logic, reason and the law managed to infiltrate a few thick heads. The same thick heads that sit behind such thin skins

At any rate, Julie's blog is mainly concerned with professional issues of interest to journalists. And since journalists are one of the filters through which all mainstream media news must pass, those issues are invariably of public interest.

Loon Pond:
Prolific, daily posts of a breathtakingly high quality that are quite simply, a must-read for me. That's pretty much what you get from this Sydney-based blogger: witty, scathing deconstruction of MSM cant - as seen here; here; and here.

You might wonder why they give lightweight contrarian buffoons like Gerard Henderson and Paul Sheahan so much oxygen, but I suppose the gullible might be lulled into thinking that if the SMH publishes them, there must be a skerrick of validity to their points of view. Loon Pond is there to disabuse you of that notion.

Naturally, The Australian provides a rich source of material.

News With Nipples:
The Harbour City is again the locale for this journalist (hmm, we're getting a few of those on board, aren't we?) and postgraduate student. Her blog title and header photo have given me cause to plead "It's not what you think..." on those occasions when I launch into The News With Nipples and there's a "Hey..." from close behind me.

Kim has a finely attuned and very sensitive bullshit detector and makes thorough use of it. It must be frustrating for someone like her to see professional standards ignored so often in the MSM.

This is the kind of crap that gets up her nose - as it should all of us.

John Quiggin: 
John blogs knowledgeably about science and economics and is always worth dropping in on. He even sought and gained an honourable truce with the extreme-right Catallaxy (and no, there'll be no link to that stinking, steaming pile of shit on this blog!) after some comment flame wars. So I'm probably breaching John's policy. Oh well.

Piping Shrike:
This political blog is always thoughtful and draws thoroughly evidence-based conclusions to support the views expressed there, as in this post on compulsory voting. I particularly liked the succinct summation of the non-mandated but predictable actions of the Newman Queensland government, which:
"...cut back services as though voter dissatisfaction at Labor doing the same never happened."

And is probably coming soon to a Commonwealth near you.

Politically Homeless:
If I've linked to Andrew Elder's blog before, I apologise, but in any event it's worth giving him another mention in dispatches, especially in a Federal election year.

And I hope his subtitle, Tony Abbott will never be Prime Minister of Australia, comes to pass. In any event, if Abbott's cosying up to the Essendon Football Club in 2010 results in the same fate for him as other red-and-black-draped Liberals like Andrew Peacock; John Hewson; and Peter Costello before him, then Abbott is destined, like them, to miss out on the top job.

The career of former Canberra Press Gallery doyenne Michelle Grattan came in for particularly withering and well-deserved scrutiny by Andrew.

PR Disasters:
This blog describes pretty much what happens when dickheads shoot their mouths off, taken from a PR Epic Fail perspective.

Psychobabble: 
Here is a very recent discovery that has been an absolute godsend. It's kind of like the blog this one would like to be when it grows up, focusing as it does on rock music and being so damned entertaining and informative about it.. The blog's author, Mike Segretto, also has a second key focus on classic horror movies which will make for a delightful diversion whether it's a particular interest of yours or not.

This post in particular, which was Mike's list of the best albums of 1968, I found really compelling. And in a similar vein to The Rising Storm, he's not afraid to go out on a limb and champion albums that are often dismissed by the general run of critics and fans alike.
 
Seriously Whimsical:
Her recent post on religious belief made me sit up and take notice. With a nod to Richard Dawkins, she challenges atheists who are ambivalent about religion and faith to justify their stance. There's a dichotomy alright, and the way she compellingly argues, it isn't a false one.

That's So Pants:
Comments on her blog are disabled, so lurkers aweigh! Her post on population provided a super-sized take-away pack of food for thought. And on that basis, you might find her archive worthy of exploration.

This quote really tickled my fancy:
"that thing that is as mysterious to us as would be the complete works of Thomas Pynchon set to music by John Cage - public transport."

Victoria Rollison:
There's an entirely justified sense of despair starting to creep into Victoria Rollison's Federal politics-focused blog. She can't fathom how the electorate is rushing headlong towards electing an Abbott-led coalition government in September 2013.

Actually, that's not completely fair: it's more that she can't believe how a gullible public seems to be falling for concerted MSM spin doctoring on how lousy the Gillard government is and how wonderful Abbott would be in her place. There is a sense of history repeating itself in this: press coverage of the Whitlam government went in a similar direction.

And like me, she probably wouldn't mind if it wasn't so bloody obvious.

War Tard:
The author here is exceptionally knowledgeable about history, technological advancement and global politics. Wartard is also a very witty, stylish writer with a terrific handle on explorations of historical What if...? scenarios. He combines world-weary cynicism with a these-people-deserve-better humanity that is the hallmark of the seen-it-all-before war correspondent.

This post on the German WWII-era jet fighter the Messerschmidt 262 was extraordinarily comprehensive.

Whatever: 
The brains behind this blog is American author John Scalzi. He doesn't need your traffic but it's a warm, welcoming  blog that keeps you up to date on his output, gives numerous opportunities to aspiring writers and is, like his books, witty and entertaining.

This recent post explores the publication of fan-fiction, a fascinating tangent to the issue of intellectual property for writers. While here, here and here he discusses a sexual harassment incident at a sci-fi fan convention that has wider implications - and applications.

WixxyLeaks: 
And we're in Sydney again. Blogs like Peter's are not just lively reading but, I would assert, essential in a robust democracy. He has been providing insightful additional information about the Health Services Union scandals that you won't find in the MSM - and indeed run counter to the prevailing MSM zeitgeist on embattled MHR and ex-HSU National Secretary Craig Thompson.


So there you have it folks. Go ahead, knock yourself out. You could do a lot worse than make this lot part of your essential regular reading. Like sticking religiously to MSM outlets exclusively, for example.

I should make a point of commenting at these blogs more regularly, but sometimes there's nothing to add to something that hits the nail pretty much on the head.

I only just noticed the other day that one of my earlier posts, Voices From The Blogroll, had the Roman numeral I appended to it, indicating the eventual arrival of a sequel. I had no such intentions, but my blogroll's been made over a bit since that post so I really should introduce you to a few very interesting people.

Audrey
The author of Audrey & The Bad Apples is Clementine Ford, an Adelaide-based writer and broadcaster. If you thought there were some right-wing nutters in the Melbourne tabloid media, the City of Churches has a cast of regulars to make them look like the Oxford Union. So it's a tough town in which to be one of the voices of reason. Writes warmly and honestly about personal matters too.

DK Presents
This music-based blog provides a really eclectic mix of album and artist reviews, much more so than what's usually found within the narrow confines of this blog. Delves into jazz and blues and manages to encapsulate what would normally be lengthy back-stories. Can cause you to reappraise your views (read prejudices!) about certain artists and their output.

Ears On Stalks
Boo had already made a name for herself with her other still-extant blog, The Galloping Skirt. A keen observer of the extraordinary in the everyday. Makes the personal universal.

Fifi Dangerfield
The Perth-based Frankie writes poignantly and yet matter of factly about her life there. I like the kick-arse iconography too.

Grog's Gamut
A political blog of some note. The best of his high-quality posts are those that deconstruct wrong-headed spin.

Happy Endings
Want to hear the viewpoint of a sex-worker? You've come to the right place. CJ works as a masseuse in a parlor in south-east Pennsylvania. A unique perspective with a clear leaning towards witty myth-busting.

Lady Pants
My only worry is Sydney might not be big enough for this 28-year old. She has a nice way with a snappy comeback and writes perceptively about her life in a vibrant metropolis. Maybe it is the Emerald City after all.

Lexicon Harlot
Interesting aspects of the English language are covered by this talented writer and knowledgeable linguist. Never pedantic, she always relates her arguments to meaning.

Lorna Lino
You could spend hours on her iconography alone. Fantastic images of women from the past, many juxtaposed ironically. And then there's her writing - always entertaining, she segues back and forth from the topical to the personal.

Man At The Pub
No, not the nasty drunk you try to avoid at all costs. This personal blog is always a little on the wry side and downright hilarious for it. You sometimes need to look very closely at the images.

Mike Fitz
Lean and Green. And why not? Somebody's gotta hang onto their principles. This activist is also a software architect. Work, life and community. Not a bad mix.

Much Ado About Sumthin'
Alternately prolific and dormant, Steph is one of the doyennes of blogging. Hilarious and not a little titillating, she also manages to make her legions of blogfans (I'm not kidding: 120+ comments per post, for chrissakes) feel special. Gives all comments a personal, and personable, response.

Penguin Hunter
Geoff is a comedian based in regional Victoria. The Penguin Hunter Diaries used to be wide-ranging but are now devoted largely to Geoff's passion for golf. Available for product endorsement contracts.

Phishez
This was one of the first blogs I ever followed. She's twenty-something and lives and works in Sydney. Quite a stylish writer whose voice is unique. Another blogger who takes great travel photos.

Sixth In Line
Writes about writing. Always thought-provoking. Great interplay in the well-stocked comments section too.

Veni, Vidi, Blogi
Ah, Latin. There's no other language does it quite as well. This guy says he's trying to be wry. And I reckon he succeeds. Another clever linguist.

Enough about me. Let's talk about you.

My blog might not be much more than a small and insignificant grease-stain on the blogosphere's linen, but I've made the acquaintance of a few bloggers here and there. And so, like in a bad 70s telemovie, here they are, Starring in Alphabetical Order:

After Grog Blog
Now here's a bloke who knows how to put together a pithy phrase or two. AGB tends to have a dual focus: sport, mainly football and cricket. And deflating the pompous. Always a good read, when these two themes are combined, it's priceless. Newspaper sub-editors would do well to match the wit of his post titles. The only Melbourne supporter I know who can carry off smug superiority.

Anonymous Lefty
Not so anonymous anymore but still fighting the good fight. Brilliant rebuttals of specious neo-conservative reasoning.

Blakkat
If you can get past the very appealing iconography, and it took me a little while, you'll find a versatile writer who makes the personal universal and the odd op-ed piece that would sit better in a newspaper than most of the lightweights and polemicists who reside there.

Blog Voyeur Meghan's blog is open and honest about her life in British Columbia. She writes perceptively about the minefield that is the single girl's life and times. Infuses most pieces with disarmingly funny self-deprecation.

BWCA A dear blog friend, Helena covers a wide range of topics in her unique style. Hints at a breath-takingly interesting life. She could make this blog an ongoing episodic autobiography and no-one would complain.

Copper Witch
Fabulously informative, Jahteh frequently posts fascinating material of a science-related nature complete with beautiful images.

Daniel Bowen
Incumbent Public Transport Users Association President, Daniel's blog focuses on transport issues mainly but there's invariably a little more to it than that. Always a good read.

Dating Diaries
Aint she sweet? Miss D is her second blog persona and her warmth and wit has glowed through both of them. Not posting as often as her fan-base would like these days. She once theorized about female bloggers dropping off the perch once they hook up with Mr Right. Say it aint so. Please.

Eleanor Bloom
Perth-based Eleanor adores Vivien Leigh. Frankly m'dear, I don't give a.... nah, just kidding. She's forthright and honest and tomorrow is always another day.

High Riser
Andrew is prolific and invariably stimulating. His blog abounds with local historic information and he's very erudite about public transport history. His friends and family make up a cast of intriguingly-drawn chacters.

Legal Eagle
Mixing the legal and the personal, she shines at both and combines the two beautifully. She writes warmly and doesn't lose that when debating firmly. Probably the sort of writer Miranda Devine wishes she was.

Madame Z
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Her travel pieces about Italy were lovely.

FG Marshall Stacks
Rock-based blog combines the personal, but never overdoes it. And with good reason. Because I'm convinced Helena was present at all of the seminal moments in Australia's rock history. Also authors BWCA.

Mooiness
This Perth guy is really entertaining, in a really thoughtful way. He gets right into the essence of being a single bloke. Some of us have dim memories of such a life, lived long, long ago. His descriptive writing illuminates them.

The Orstrayhun Prolific poster on politics and society. Crikey should engage his blog. But why would he take the pay cut? ;-)

The Rising Storm
This is a dead-set goldmine for 60s-70s music aficionadoes. A goldmine that nevertheless gives up the odd chunk of iron pyrites. He mixes it up a bit with reviews of classic albums by big name bands to unheralded gems from near-unknowns. He also features the unfamiliar work of the familiar artist and vice-versa.

Some Chilean Woman
Utah-based young married woman who's in touch with her emotions and sexuality. And puts her readers in touch with them too. Takes great photos of beautiful landscapes.

Ms Smack
Adelaide thirtysomething mum Catherine works in the very demanding child-protection area. Between her job, parenting, study and a social life, I don't know where she finds the time to blog but I'm glad she does.

Lord Sedgewick
Australia's rightful vice-regal representative. A sort of Bonnie Prince Sedgewick. Writes and illustrates.

Wells Of Fancy
Edward Yates lives not far from me but we've never met. He's not been posting much lately, but it's always worthwhile when he does.

So there they are. None of them need my endorsement. But go and have a look. You won't be disappointed. Not like on this blog.

I know I've been absent for some time now. Four months or something. And unlike some of my blogging contemporaries who drop out from time to time, I can't claim a new love-interest as the reason I haven't got around to putting anything up here lately. So I'll put it down to a combination of work; cricket; family; my 50th birthday extravaganza (I'll post about this just as soon as I get the photos back from the chemist shop - hokey nostalgia alert!) and indolence.

I still have about twelve posts in draft form almost raring to go but haven't got around to doing anything with them. And would you believe they are some of the most gripping; side-splitting; witty; prescient; and incisive blog posts you're ever likely to read? I didn't think so.

So talk amongst yourselves. Relax. I'll be with you in a jiffy.

The delightful Miss Diarist from Dating Diaries has recently bestowed a couple of awards on this humble blog. I just wish I'd posted a bit more often and actually, you know, deserved them. But I'm not one to be churlish in the face of a compliment so, Miss D, I acknowledge your good taste. And thank you from the bottom of my hard drive for thinking highly enough of ol' Lad to deem him worthy of a mention in dispatches.

The citations read:

One Lovely Blog:
Lad Litter, because he's seen me through two blogs now and is smart, funny and adores his wife to boot.

The Proximidade Award:
‘This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!’

Awwwww....

Isn't she lovely? I'll be putting the awards onto my sidebar just as soon as I figure out how to.

Would it be presumptuous to apologise? For the nearly two months spent without a post here? Yes, I think it would, but I'm going to anyway. I'm going to assume that you, y'know, like me as a friend.
And alright, taking it as a given that you'd probably rather I put the odd piece up a little more frequently, I'm sorry. And I also apologise for neglecting all of your fine blogs. Okay, I have been a bit busy elsewhere. But I don't think you'll be consoled by the fact that there are seven posts saved into drafts that consist entirely of titles and labels and not much else.

This blog is having something of an identity crisis. It's become a whole lot less anonymous than you'd think. Or rather, it's author has.

Lad Litter is a construct. No, really. Based on me. Based on the writing of people like Nick Hornby. An attempt to write, or post rather, in an approximation of that style commonly known as "lad lit". Hopefully, stopping short of the bad case of the cutes some efforts of this type in literature and the cinema seem unable to avoid. But probably not.

Everything here is true to me, though. No factual inventions. Just a few minor rewrites of the actual dialogue that don't change the intent. It's a construct alright, but it's one I feel is of my own making and reflects me.

And I think it's at the very least remarkable that my Facebook page, by comparison, looks and feels like more of an invention than what you read here. There's a kind of high school hierarchy about Facebook that I don't think is terribly evident across the blogosphere. And wouldn't you know it? Everyone seems so much cooler than I am.

I'd completely forgotten what a fucking nightmare being a teenager was. Facebook brings a bit of it back. And I feel a little uncomfortable about it.

So I'm wondering if it was a mistake to get into it. Okay, maybe not. You can ignore the popularity contest aspect of it and just do what you want to do. And don't do what you don't want to do.

But I used the Friend Finder and became Facebook friends with a couple of bloggers. And it's unexpectedly a little discomfiting. No reflection on these bloggers. They seem pretty self-assured and comfortable with who they are both in and out of the blogosphere. And with good reason too. But to be combining Lad Litter with my Facebook persona (because that's what it is, a construct or a perception, only using real, or realistic, names and details) just feels a bit funny.

I think what's happened is, Lad Litter and I have collided, like a future self meeting up with a past self in a really good time travel scenario. Or that Simpsons episode where Bart and the other kids go to Shelbyville and come across their equivalents. Okay, probably not nearly as exciting, interesting or amusing but, you know what I mean.

So there are two issues with this: oh, and it's not a fucking identity crisis, by the way. I do exaggerate.

No, there are two issues here: the nature of Facebook and the persona you create there; and Lad Litter getting mixed up in it.

Should be worth another draft post. First the title....there. Now a label. That should be okay. Whew! I'm knackered. But I think I might be onto something. Yeah. I'll come back to this soon....

You might remember I was having virus-generated PC problems at home. And that I was trying to get a solution via the http://www.techguy.org/ forums. This is a great way to solve problems and I highly recommend the website.

Alas, I had to have a problem that resisted even the good folk who trawl those forums dispensing sound advice. Okay, fora for those of you who insist on correct Latin plurals.

For some reason, the WinXP disk's recovery mode just wouldn't fix things so after a couple of luckless weeks, I rashly went for the reinstall option. After all, it only warned that I MIGHT lose the contents of the My Documents folder. Any chance is better than no chance at all. So I did it.

And lost everything. Family photos and video, family history research, personal stuff, everything. And 28 nearly-completed posts for this pathetic blog. When I say that they were all brilliant, witty, cutting-edge pieces of fine writing that could change your whole outlook on life, please take my word for it.

It's my own stupid fault. Mea culpa. Again with the Latin. I should have had virus protection in the first place. And even failing that, I should have waited until I came across someone who could help me recover Win XP without causing loss of data.

And then last week, TLOML's laptop surrendered its internet capability. And I got knocked back for one of those Virtual Community personal PC loans. Something about me only being in the new job for less than six months. So we're technologically-challenged at home.

Luckily, I'm now semi-comfortable at the new workplace and have girded my loins and posted this from work.

I'm not back in town as such, but I'm entering Kalkallo.

Kalkallo - small town on the northern outskirts of Melbourne

I could do with a change. Couldn't we all? I'd like you to comment on the following images as a possible avatar for myself. Not a big range to choose from, you're probably thinking. Well, I'm not going to put up just any old thing.

Tell me what you think in the comments. If you don't give a fuck, don't be shy.

If you think this is a pathetic, self-indulgent, self-absorbed, look-at-me-please post you might make mention of that too. I can take it.

Why Brian Jones? I suppose there should be a really good reason, but there isn't. However, there'll be a post about this 60s archetype and original line-up Rolling Stone early in the New Year.

Fascinating character. Even if he looks about as much like my true self as the current avatar does.

2

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**UPDATE!! Found another image that might suit.

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Someone came to this blog today from the UK after doing an AOL search on, ahem, "put the big lad in my arse." Well, not on the first date, I wouldn't, no. I didn't get around to checking, but I'm kinda hoping Alan Jones' website made it into the results too.

Lad Litter will be taking a brief hiatus while he struggles manfully to get through a very busy time at work. Lad Litter regrets any inconvenience or loss of continuity. Lad Litter also apologises for talking about himself in the third person. Very annoying, that.

I should be back with a couple of posts in the next week or so. In the meantime, here is a limited rundown:

What I'm Reading:
Caesar's Legacy by Josiah Osgood;

What I'm Re-Reading:
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut;

What I'm Watching:

Life On Mars on the ABC;

Strange Days by Kathryn Bigelow on DVD;

What I'm Listening To:

Sweetheart of the Rodeo by The Byrds

Where I'm Going:

The Retreat in Brunswick on Thu night;

My Cricket Club's AGM on Fri night;

Home to watch Essendon vs West Coast on 7;

Blogs I'm Really Enjoying:

BWCA; Much Ado About Something; Legal Soapbox; Anonymous Lefty; Success, Fame Beer Candy; High Riser;

*The title is a reference to Titus Oates. Quite a guy.