Maturin

Bullshit. The past is the past people, get over it. What is it with all the self-hate. ALL countries have histories that are filled with problems. What about what Napoleon did to Europe in his time? He was the Hitler of his day. Good thing the Brits kicked his ass. And what the hell is wrong with Flinders? I've just returned from a sea voyage that went through Investigator Straight, some of his charts are still used today - brilliant man, brilliant navigator. As for V for Vendetta, whilst I haven't seen it, just remember that the man who wrote it, Alan Moore, has totally disowned the film version and is quite vocal about it. Look it up.

Oops, double post.

I hate the media, it's why I don't watch any TV (discussed in another thread). But what I don't understand is that some people just don't see the massive elephant in the room. A small percentage of Muslims ARE violent. And when you have 1.3 billion Muslims in the world, that small percentage actually adds up to something rather significant. Sure, the media placed this out of context...but it takes two to tango. Do you go off just because someone said something, or do you investigate further before reacting? In Africa a nun was stabbed and various churches were burnt down...by people from the 'religion of peace'. Did they not at any time stop and try to actually read or interpret what was said before they went nuts? Apparently not. And the joke of it is, someone is misquoted saying 'blah, blah, Islam is violent' and how do SOME Muslims react? They react with violence. Good one.

Awwww... Give her an extra pat from me!

Oh brother, fucking insurance companies...I hate them. And I work for one!! (as a computer programmer, for an English company on contract). Never had to deal with a stolen car...but I have had my house burgaled and spent MONTHS dealing with CGU to get what was owed to me. Bastards only paid when I threatened to go to the ombudsman. Bastards, bastards, bastards!! /rant.

Cats are not cuddly, cute animals. They are little carnivores. I think Stephen King said it best when he described them as little, hard-ass gangsters (from Pet Sematary). Botanika is correct. In fact, the dolphin thing always makes me laugh. People join "Dolphin Watch", trying to protect the image that they too are, cute, loving mammals. Fact is, for every story of dolphins helping humans who are drowning etc, there is a story where dolphins attack humans. This is particularly true of dolphins in the North Atlantic. Fuckers will go people if you are too close. Not that I have anything against dolphins, I love the sea and its creatures. Just that I hate the bullshit about them being some uber-intelligent, human loving creatures. They are not. They, like us, are caught in the reality of survival of the fittest. Competition is everything.

Never did see that movie, but I remember that song by Max Q. I feel older just for thinking about that!

Fark, what a sad time for well-known contributors to Australia... Don Chipp, Steve Irwin, the great author Colin Thiele (goodbye, creator of Mr. Percival ) and now Peter Brock. I don't squat about motor sport, but I know he provided a lot of happiness for the petrol-heads (I've always been a Holdens man myself). RIP Peter Brock.

http://www.freekatie.com/

Saw 'em at the BDO a few years back, man that singer is great to watch. Think I may have to check this gig out!

Sorry about your grandmother. But I too was touched just by reading that. Maybe it's 'cos I've had a really shit day and I have lost a friend, not through death, but through people changing and not respecting one another's differences. There is too much negativity in this world, sometimes I feel like I want to be a hermit or something...but then I hear about something small, seemingly non-consequential which restores faith in the decency of some humans that makes me happier. Thanks for sharing that Teo.

I think anyone's life should be viewed by weighing the positives against the negatives. I think Steve Irwin comes out far in favour of the positive. Of course there were negatives. I agree with Wandjina, none of us are saints. Fact is even if you weren't personally a fan, myself included, as a celeb he brought a joy and an appreciation of wonder reagrds the Australian environment to a lot of people. I'm personally thinking of my 6 year old nephew who loves watching his shows, and knows quite a bit about animals from doing this (for a little tacker). I have no idea about his conservation methods, but I'm betting he did far more than the average person. There's tons of footage from divers swimming with rays. Damn unlucky way to go. RIP, Steve.

Yes, Tool are coming to Oz. * Sydney 24th January, 2007 * Melbourne 31st January, 2007 * Dates in NZ, Queensland, Adelaide and Perth to be announced. Rumour has it they will be headlining the Big Day Out. I hope so!

Never used Acrobat Pro...but goddamn I hate reader (well since version 5 onwards). It just becomes more and more bloated with endless addins that are never used. I hate, hate, hate it. When I upgraded to reader v7 I get about 8 error message boxes popping up before it will display the file. Reinstalls don't help. And the size of this thing, 27mgs-ish...for a reader?!? It's not just Microshaft that bloat out their software. I should have never upgraded from v4. /rant

I'm sure I've heard of people doing this for the Big Day Out, although it was probably a rumour. Wonder how long the stink would stay around for? Oh, if you could only just liberally douse the dogs themselves with bongwater Is bongwater illegal? I guess they could find something in it to get you for.

Hehe...you got me there. I must admit, being a happy capitalist myself, that you're kinda right. Personally, I wouldn't pay the vastly inflated price. But I feel bad for the true fans who miss out. And the bands themselves do not like this. In fact, no one likes this scam but the scalpers. I don't know. It just feels wrong. And it's getting utterly ridiculous, like this: http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,2...4-23212,00.html

Fucking Ebay scalpers should die horrible, painful deaths. It's getting beyond a joke, it's not just Tool, it's every band/sporting event. I heard on JJJ today that Foo Fighters acoustic gigs in Sydney are being sold only at the venue, were you have to line up if you want a ticket, and even then you're limited to 2 tickets. Harsh for those who can't spend time to stand in line for hours...but what else is the solution to the problem? Greedy bastards suck.

Yeah, he's brutal. Regards Wolfmother, they were much, much better when they were called Black Sabbath.

I thought the label printing thing might be the case. Anyways, cheers for the reply Torsten.

Great show. I can't believe what they get away with on TV! Torsten, with due respect about following the instructions for "not hash". I bought mine from Happy High Herbs, and I found the label on the weekend. Apart from recommended dosage levels and not smoking through water, it makes no reference to "burning super fast and hot", using small pieces as opposed to a large piece, or any other helpful techniques. I bought mine before I knew SAB existed, and hence did not know these instructions. Many others buying outside of SAB may encounter the same problems explained in other threads. Don't wanna sound like a whinger or anything , but maybe more detailed instructions need to be added on the label?

My name comes from the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The movie "Master and Commander" starring Russel Crowe was based upon these novels which are generally regarded as some of the most historically accurate novels of any genre. The novels take place during the Napoleanic wars and centre around the actions of the British Royal Navy. Stephen Maturin is one of the two main characters, he being the ship's surgeon and intelligence agent. I chose his name because he is also interested/addicted to various drugs. He spends the first 10 or so novels in the series addicted to Laudanum. When he finally kicks his habit he spends the other 10 novels chewing Coca leaves. In between there are passing references to Khat, Bhang and Peyote.

It certainly does! Hits galore. I understand the paranoia...wonder what would cause that

I've tried it once, it was OK, a light buzz. I found it a bit hard to smoke in terms of it kinda 'melted' a bit and tended to block the pipe. I've read elsewhere in the forums that the effects are more pronounced with your smoking technique, and I would take that into consideration if I was to try some again. UTSE for more info. Definitely A+ for taste, though...yummy!

Hehe, I believe climate change is real too. Climate change has always happened, change is constant. My gripe is with the media that insists it must be all bad. I just don't think we know all of the story yet. Certainly humans must stop pollution and other contributors to damaging the planet. As for the hurricane thing, I read about this a few days ago - http://www.weatherstreet.com/hurricane/200...rmal-season.htm It's just typical of the mainstream media not to report this rebuttal to all the talk last year of increasing hurricane strengths and occurences.

From CBSNews: "Even though their country has been at war there for three years, six in 10 young American adults were unable to locate Iraq on a map of the world, a survey found." "They did little better with their own country: Despite the wall-to-wall coverage of the damage from Hurricane Katrina, nearly one-third of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 could not locate Louisiana, and nearly half were unable to identify Mississippi, according to a Roper poll conducted for National Geographic."