Recapping 2010

So, it's January 2011. A new year, with new resolutions. Or, if you don't believe in new year's resolutions, at least there is the chance to enjoy the Sydney summer, what with its heat, humidity, and people sporting skin-cancer-inducing tans from their weekends at the beach.

It's probably a good time to recap on my top five memories of 2010, so here goes:

5) Work can be fun!

I've worked at the University for nine whole years now, and none of them were as awesome as the last. Don't get me wrong, work is still work and I'm not so enthusiastic as to take up residence in the office, but a couple of factors made it worthwhile for me to get up and get to the daily grind.

The people, for one. The staff turnover rate is still high and I question whether the organised events were successful (cough cough xmas party), but the relationships seemed to have truly developed in the past year, enough that it feels like more of a community instead of just small "teams" of people under one roof. Or maybe it's just me.

Sporting events are good. Especially when it branches across the whole workplace, because in all seriousness there is a good chance that I wouldn't ever have talked to a bunch of the badminton players, eg. those that I don't work close to. Because there usually isn't a reason to. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience though, and I'm glad I started playing badminton when I did. If you're reading this, I recommend you sign up to some sort of social/sporting event in your office. You might not care about those people now, but give them a chance, you may be surprised!

The other thing that made work bearable (enjoyable?) was my rather haphazard discovery that I knew how to work on databases. Those who know me will know that I have no previous programming experience, yet somehow I found myself developing enhancements and modules to the existing application database at work to the extent that it is now a crutch in our daily operations. It's just simple stuff in Access, but I'm proud of it, a little of which is a good thing. In short, learning new skills is fun, and google is an awesome teacher.

4) Gleek

It's official. Season 1 got me interested, but Season 2 ep 3 completely sold me. What is this, a show for teenagers that deals with issues like teen pregnancies, coming out, growing up with disabilities, bullying, and now religion? Not just religion, but a thoughtful if brief dialogue about faith, atheism, and the friction between homosexuality and the church.

Fine. It's camp. There is more singing than acting. The production isn't perfect (though it's actually very well done for something that has to be filmed weekly) and the plot is occasionally just whack. But for all its drawbacks, the show (sometimes) has heart, and courage to go where other mainstream shows won't even dream of going. If kids are watching this, fantastic. They probably aren't being made to think about these serious issues any other way.

Did I tell you? I'm now a total Gleek.

3) Marriage Equality rallies

Ah yes, these. I'm no activist. With the development of social networking, I'm not even sure that traditional offline activist-y stuff even work. But somehow, as I stood there in the midst of an attentive crowd trying to catch the words of various politicians and community spokespeople, I felt both saddened and heartened at the same time.

It was a shame that none of my heterosexual friends came with me to support the cause (even if the yelling is just falling on deaf ears). While I was out there in a crowd of progressive people gay and straight, I felt strangely isolated. It struck me that a lot of my friends are getting married. Even my long-term flatmates are now married to each other. And there I was wondering if any of them respect my desire to be able to do the same. Or is it friends with gay guy = OK, but support marriage equality = not OK?

Which makes me even more appreciative of the people who would get out of their houses and away from their weekend activities on a Saturday morning to rally for a cause that isn't even innovative or groundbreaking in the developed Western hemisphere. That's right, we're just catching up - who would even bother? Well apparently a healthy crowd of a couple of thousand progressive-minded people in Sydney care, and more in Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, all across Australia. Heartwarming, to be sure.

2) Do I dare to dream?

A crush that never quite developed into anything. This one was different though, because for a while we were fairly close and in him I saw something that I had been missing for a long time - the right to dream and the will to fight for that dream.

It rocked the foundations of my world when I realised that I hadn't done anything "worthwhile" with my life for a couple of years. I was an emotional wreck. Not a pleasant memory, but beneficial.

Work + games (by games I mean mostly WoW) are occasionally good, but they are easy traps to fall into. It was time travel the world, and find a purpose (thanks Avenue Q for that reference). I stopped gaming for a few months - a lifetime for me - did the Europe trip, and whilst no, I still haven't found a singular purpose to propel myself towards, I do have somewhat of a two-year plan now. Yuk, that sounds like something from a self-help book, someone slap me now!

I won't ever quit my games, but it was most certainly a great wake-up call for me to get out there and make sure I'm always challenging the status quo.

1) Trip to Europe

And that leads to the most memorable experience of 2010. I'm not sure you can understand how awesome this was for me. The trip was by no means perfect, but the fact that I was there in Europe, visiting these cities that I had wanted to visit since I was young, that was enough.

Paris, at once beautiful yet cold, seemingly geared more towards tourists who spend a night or two there and no longer. London, far too crowded and not my favourite place, but the hospitality of my friends made this stop great. Madrid, where I had no expectations of grandeur but found more to love than anywhere else. Berlin, where I met a fantastic bunch of good-looking people and was never in bed before the sun rose. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Tilburg, my friends' hometowns with architecture that has lasted the centuries.

I'll have to go back there, maybe in a couple of years.

Honorable Mention: this blog

Another concept that I've never really reconciled my personality with is the diary. Why put thoughts on paper when you don't have to? The more secrets you have, the more easily you can manipulate people, the better off you are.

This blog flies in the face of that belief. It was more experimental than anything, a way to express my ideas without having to bore people who didn't actually want to know. It eventually became a bit of a diary with my Europe trip.

It's been periodically active and inactive, and even this post doesn't guarantee that I'll continue posting in the future. It has, however, been a great outlet for my thoughts and a fair bit of fun. Should I ever feel the need to vomit text onto a webpage, I'll be back :)

The Final 2PP Count

For anyone who's wondering why we think a number of journos are educationally challenged, Pollbludger points out some of the more amusing commentary we've been provided with over the last few weeks here.

Essentially, despite a number of political commentators warning that the two-party preferred count isn't finalised (including ABC's Anthony Green), these journalists decided to run with their own fictionalised version of events. Last I checked, their jobs are to report on facts not fiction - they should probably be fired for lack of due diligence.

A number of coalition MPs have also used the 2PP figure like so (though I think Abbott has been careful to always say "it looks like we're winning the 2PP"). And while that is no less erroneous, it's at least to be expected from the opposition.

The Authoritarian Monster raises its Head

I missed this last night - apparently the New Zealand parliament unanimously passed the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill allowing the Governor-General to make Orders-in-Council at the advice of the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery, effectively allowing him to repeal or modify any existing law without consulting Parliament, his Government, or even the Cabinet.

While the intention is undoubtedly good, there has nonetheless been a bit of an uproar by online commentators over whether or not New Zealand is now a dictatorship, as the nation's legislation can now be changed at the whim of a single man.

I'd have to agree that removing a lot of obstacles during the rebuilding process is a wonderful idea, but I can't shake the ominous feeling that the disaster has softened the Kiwi opposition to authoritarianism. It's a scary thought that the seeds have now been sown, and all it takes is for someone to step in and harvest them at an opportune time.

Here's the take on the situation from various blogs:

From those more than a little concerned...
Kiwipolitico
Andrew Geddis
No Right Turn
Not PC

To those who voted for it or think it's good...
Greens
Labour
National
Kiwiblog

Aussie Politics - state of play

I really didn't want to make a comment on the election result until things were finalised, but seeing as the end looks like it's still a week away I can't really wait any longer.

Firstly, I gotta say, Aussie media is strongly biased, with News Ltd supporting the Coalition and SMH and the Age backing Labor. Personally I read the right-wing Oz because I like to see what outrageous things are being said about the Left. But you only need to switch to the other website to go from one party about to form government, to the other one having the advantage. No wonder the public are confused.

Secondly, I don't understand the desire that Aussies feel about having to form a government asap. I'd prefer an agreement between the parties that work, and which will hold for a good two to three years rather than something that'll just crash and burn within the year. And look, in New Zealand negotiations often take two weeks or more, and in the Netherlands it's been more than two months and there's still no agreement on who forms government. Patience, Australia, good things take time.

Now on to the Greens. I'm a rusted-on Greens voter, I can't envision voting for anyone else in the forseeable future. And it is because of this that I'm worried for the party as we look ahead to the next election.

With sole balance of power in the senate, it becomes very easy for one of the major parties to blackmail the Greens into voting for bad legislation, or alternatively if they don't cooperate, they can just as easily blame the Greens for inaction. Additionally, with most of the Greens coming from a Labor base, it will only take a small shift to the left by Labor and the Greens vote are at risk of collapsing.

I strongly believe that to maintain a strong status as the third party in the Australian political landscape, the Greens need to appeal to a broader range of voters. The real winning quality of the party is their social and environmental policies, and the pragmatic stance to take would therefore be to appeal to both social liberals and classical liberals.

Yet, the success of the NSW Greens in getting a senator up is that they are very heavily socialist in economic policy. Whilst Bob Brown can win votes from both social and classical liberals, the presence of Lee Rhiannon in the senate has the potential to turn off a lot of classical liberal voters. It's really a double-edged sword. As it is, the Greens already struggle in NSW, and I'm not sure that having a so-called "red-green" in the federal senate is really a good idea.

Don't get me wrong, I'd belong to what is commonly referred to as the red-green faction, that is, I believe in the ideal of anarcho-communism. Yet from a practical vote-winning point of view, I just don't see socialist economic policy appealing to the masses in this day and age. Malcolm Turnbull offhandedly attacked the Greens last month on Q&A with "there is none more pure than the impotent", yet it rings truer than it would first seem. Call it what you will, horse-trading or otherwise, but the Greens can't remain a mainstay in Australian politics if they are not willing to compromise on certain legislation.

We aren't likely to see anarchism nor communism in this country any time soon, and most certainly not a combination of both. In the meantime, I just hope that the Greens will be willing to make some sacrifices to appeal to the Liberal base. There are environmental and social votes to be gained, if only the party would take a break from offering such divisive economic policies...

Day 24 in Europe (Rotterdam)

The weather on Wednesday wasn't so friendly, but it did present us with a wonderful opportunity to see some windmills in action. We drove to Kinderdijk and I got uncharacteristically excited over the fact we were looking at real windmills. Yes I know, silly.

We returned to Rotterdam for a quick tour of the city centre. I was taking pictures of the Stadhuis there when a line of roller-skaters came rolling past and continued doing so, and I amusingly noted that in ten minutes I'd seen more people in Rotterdam than I had in the rest of the time I was there.

We finished off my stay with a great dinner of all-you-can-eat sushi! I don't remember seeing this in Australia. For some reason we get heaps of all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ but not Japanese sushi. Hmmmm...

Day 23 in Europe (Rotterdam)

I didn't actually do much in these two days because firstly I was really exhausted from the lack of sleep in Berlin and from the eight hour train trip, and secondly there really isn't that much to do in Rotterdam. I'm very grateful for my mate taking a couple of days off work so I could go check out some cool stuff around the place.

The Netherlands turned out a very fine day on Tuesday and the option was there to go check out Dutch beaches.  while I was in Rotterdam so we decided to drive to Scheveningen, a town next to the sea.

Australian beaches are world famous, but the beach near Scheveningen I found to be just as nice as Sydney's. The flat landscape of the Netherlands offers a beach that seems endless, and as an added bonus the Kurhuis offers a wonderful backdrop to the whole setting. There's even a bungee tower for those who find sunbathing too boring!

We spent a lazy three hours sitting at a café next to the beach, enjoying some Dutch pancakes and a beautiful summer afternoon. Choice!

Day 22 in Europe (Berlin to Rotterdam)

Another travel day, another day with very little to write about. Many hours on the train, hooray. :/

Before that, I had realised I didn't have any pics of the Reichstag so I walked out the station, took a long range pic, turned around, snapped another pic of the Hauptbahnhof, then BAM onto the train. Just had to add a couple of ticks to my checklist, y'know.

Fast forward six hours and I find myself rushing out of one train and into another. I double checked the destination of this new train. It says . Interesting. Well I need to go to Rotterdam so this should be fine right?

Wrong. Apparently the meaning was that the first two carriages were heading to Rotterdam and the latter two were heading to Den Haag. Oops.

Anyway I eventually got into Rotterdam some 40 minutes later than I expected, where I'm staying with an old friend from my Macquarie Uni days. All good, except, what was there to do in Rotterdam again?...

Day 21 in Europe (Berlin)

At this point I'd given up sightseeing in Berlin, so on Sunday I decided that at least I should head to Tiergarten for a nice relaxing day.

I have to say this place is rather amazing. It's like a forest in the middle of the city. It could be a beautiful summer day and a few steps later there's nothing but trees and shade. Absolutely wonderful.

The other thing to note were the sunbathers. I'd heard about them from people at the hostel but it was still amusing to see. I'm not sure that it was meant to be a *gay* area exactly but certainly there were only guys lying around, and in a certain area of the park they were also naked! Yep, naked men lying in the grass in the middle of Berlin! Winner!

I can deny it all I want but I suppose it was partly the reason that later in the afternoon I decided to revisit Tiergarten. Nonetheless it was very worthwhile, as I ran into a couple of the guys from the hostel, one of whom is a Tai Chi instructor, so I got an introductory lesson from him. The experience was rather magical; the yellow rays from the sunset piercing through the trees, the soft grass beneath my feet, a quiet afternoon reconnecting with my chi.

Dinner in the park followed, the venue being a beer garden that could have felt at home in some small Bavarian town. I actually forgot to take pictures but it was the perfect way to cap off my day. (Oh and I should note at this point that in the spirit of Oktoberfest I have consumed more beer in the last three days than I have in the last three years - I'm more of a wine person.)

Briefly went to a club called GMF as I was told it had some nice views from the Terrace. Took some pictures and had a drink at which point, being the lightweight I am, I got pretty drunk. Luckily one of the guys had to go leave early as well so I got home OK. All in all, a pretty damn good trip to Berlin even if there wasn't much sightseeing involved :)

Day 20 in Europe (Berlin)

I was feeling a little off-colour in the morning so I decided that the best thing to do was to have a light beer for brunch. The other fellas in the hostel found this rather amusing, and I put it down to my Aussie-ness. In all seriousness though, I find that a little bit of alcohol does wonders after a big night.

All I ended up doing on Saturday was to take a short walk through various parts of the city, before getting really tired and heading home for another quiet night in.

But of course I fail miserably at quiet nights in. A few of the guys had each individually decided they wanted to go to a club called Schwuz, so I figured that it must be pretty good and tagged along for the ride. To put it in perspective it was like Stonewall but with a much better floor plan and a better crowd. A few hours of dancing and drinking later and we were once again heading home in the daylight.

Loving it. I wonder why I don't do this in Sydney, but then I remember that I live more than an hour away from the city by public transport. What a waste :/

Day 19 in Europe (Berlin)

I fell behind a bit with my daily updates but we'll get there. My time in Berlin hasn't been much dedicated to sightseeing, as the last few days have melded together in a mix of 7am nights, beer, and dance music of various kinds.

Friday I found out that I actually needed to leave on Monday rather than Tuesday. Met up with some friends from Melbourne and we went out for dinner. Had a really bad mix of food and alcohol. Ended up throwing up in the bathroom of the restaurant. We took a good walk through the Berlin city centre, where I got some nice pics, and then we parted ways. I went back to recover at the hostel and have a quiet night in.

Some notes on the hostel:
It was a gay hostel, small and cosy so we got to know everyone at least by name. English was the language of choice but there were a variety of accents, as the backgrounds of the twelve guys who stayed there at some point over the weekend included Irish, English, American, Russian, Latino (Ecuador), Dutch, Cuban, Hungarian, Polish, and of course Aussie.

Anyway, someone suggested that at least a couple of drinks would be appropriate for a Friday night, and that turned into going to a chilled-out club on the other side of town.  The end result: drinking, dancing and getting home at 7h. Not what I expected but good times!

Day 18 in Europe (Madrid to Berlin)

Sad day for me. Madrid has been great and I really don't want to leave! The city even turned up the heat today to a cool 39 degrees by the time I hopped on the plane.

Not much to say about the total travel time of 11 hours including flight delays etc. Also my German U-barn map seemed a bit off so it did add some traveling time.

The part of me that became Madrileños wanted to have dinner at midnight so I obliged. Found a place that sold 'pommes frites, scampi, mayonnaise, and 23 Karat Goldstaub'. Had no idea what that was until it came; gold flakes! I found it rather neat.

The other fun thing I found out is that people will happily walk around with bottles of beer in hand. I tried it myself and I felt like I was an alcoholic. But still, pretty cool huh?

Day 17 in Europe (Madrid)

Panic stations! Having originally thought that there wasn't much to do in Madrid I've somehow left two art museums and a rather large park to visit today.

The Centro Arte Reina Sofia may focus on contemporary art, but its collection is certainly no pushover. Took me a good three hours to cover a couple of floors. The keystone piece is probably Picasso's Guernica, one of his most famous. But beyond that there was a lot of depth and range in 20th century art, more than I had thought was possible in one museum.

Had to drag myself away from the Reina Sofia without fully exploring all the pieces due to the fact that I really wanted to visit the Prado as well. So with lunch and a single tinto in my stomach I headed onwards to the last of the three great museums.

I probably didn't enjoy the Prado as much as I could've. One thing I've learned about my taste in art is that moving back in time is hard.

Anyway by the afternoon I was all museum'd out and it was time for me to step into the searing heat of the Madrid summer. I explored the huge block of green on my map called the Parque del Retiro, and it didn't disappoint IRL. Beautiful long paths through what is essentially a forest led to intersections with pretty fountains. An awesome way to spend an afternoon really.

I did run into a bunch of shirtless guys working out and chatting. I think it may have been a cruising spot but I didn't stay long enough to find out!

The night was rather sad as I had to pack, but luckily I found a Spanish boy from Mallorca to cheer me up!

Day 16 in Europe (Madrid)

I thought it was a good idea to sleep with the fan off for a night as it wasn't very hot. Unfortunately I didn't realize that the soft droning sound of the fan masked a viciously snoring person in the room adjacent to mine. In any case I woke up feeling drained and thinking oh no it's 'one of those days'.

Actually the day started off with a small win. I managed to have desayuno (breakfast) without saying a word of English. Granted there wasn't exactly a conversation but still...

Today was meant to be museum day. I was gonna do three art galleries. The first was Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and just wow. If you ever need a high quality crash-course through the history of European and Euro-American art then this is it. From a beautiful 15th century diptych by Jan van Eyck to 17th century Dutch realism to Monet to Van Gogh to Picasso, there was something nice in every room. My favourite being this piece by Gustave Courbet. The only downside was not being allowed to take any photos at all so other than telling stories here I have nothing to show for it.

A little hiccup during the visit was when there was a super cute Spanish museum-staff guy distracting me from the art in one of the rooms. My conscience kept pestering me with 'grrrrrrr concentrate on this art dammit'. I caught him looking at me many times while I was checking him out but didn't end up finding out what that was all about. Story may be worthy of /sadface but who knows.

By the time I was done with the Thyssen it was almost 16h00, perfect timing for lunch in Spain! At this point I was really feeling the lack of sleep so I gave up on the other two museums and headed home. On the way I stopped by for some jamon and huevos fritos and tinto de verano. Ok a couple of tips for future travelers; 1, jamon is theoretically delicious but if like me you don't like meat, then don't try it; and 2, many glasses of tinto de verano can be pretty lethal when it's a hot summer day and you're dehydrated!

So by the time I went for my siesta I was quite happy. :) :)

Have to cut this short, way too long already! In the evening I was on the internet, sitting under the air conditioner at my hotel lounge when I started chatting to a nice fella and we hooked up (yeah yeah too much info, but this is my trip diary too). At night 22h00 I went out for a dinner of paella and a copa of cuerveza.

I'm glad I dragged myself out of bed because I had one of the best days of my trip so far. Maybe not THE best but it would be close! (Dammit museum guy you ruined my perfect day!)

Day 15 in Europe (Madrid)

What better way to feel better than doing a bit of retail therapy. I'm not a shopper but with all the 'rebajas' signs around I can't really help it can I?

Wandered aimlessly for a while. Outside of the very centre of Madrid the city isn't catered towards tourists,  and there are thousands of streets to wander. I went up to the heart of Malasaña barrio and then back down to Chueca in my search for something to buy.

I eventually walked past a store I liked the look of, and bought five items of clothing. The number is relevant because I think I bought five items of clothing in the whole of last year haha.

Had a delicious sushi dinner at a restaurant with waitstaff that were Chinese. Had a half-decent conversation in Cantonese with one of the waitresses where she exclaimed that I had a very thick accent (obviously I know this already!).

Dinner was followed by another totally random incident where a Chinese kid asked me for directions, and after a lot of effort we discovered that he only speaks Mandarin and Spanish only, whereas I only speak Cantonese and English. Awkward. I showed him my map and he nodded and thanked me before walking off. I have no idea if I was of any use but it sure was funny.

Day 14 in Europe (Madrid)

It's 25 July and I'm halfway through my trip. It's been one hell of a ride and there's still two weeks to go!

Met up with another friend today from good old Club Mac (-quarie University). Despite having to pack for his own trip the next day, he was kind enough to take me on a tour around central Madrid.

My mate was really awesome at playing tour guide so I really got to enjoy myself for the afternoon, no worrying about where to go and what to say. We had some nice pintchos with a caña for lunch, walked everywhere, then relaxed with a tinto de verano. Two types of alcohol and it wasn't even 16h - the Spanish sure know how to have a great time!

After we parted ways I had a siesta, then I went down to the Temple de Debod where there was a great view of the Palacio Real in the dusk. I couldn't get the best pictures so I walked all the way downhill to Príncipe Pío station, but many trees do not a great picture make. By this time it was 22h30 so I stopped by Maccas on the way home.

Just a comment here - it's always so damn embarrassing when you can't even order a Filet-o-Fish meal properly. I can get my words out fine, but as soon as they ask me a question it turns to shit. I have no idea if they're asking what size meal, or if I'm eating in or taking out, and so I just nod like some idiot hoping that it works out well. The serving chick realizes quickly that it's hopeless to say anything further and just proceeds with the order, and I grab my food and run back to my hotel room in tears.

Ok not in tears but I did download a Spanish training audio track and listened to it for an hour or so. On the one hand I really did have an awesome day but on the other my confidence has been crushed beyond repair...

Day 13 in Europe (London to Madrid)

A lot of work this morning for a 2 hr flight; the whole trip took 8 hrs with added time from London tube and Madrid metro, Gatwick express, and most of all a massive take-off delay. Apparently budget airlines in Europe suffer from the same problems as those in Australia!

Anyway I took a nap then went wandering round town. Madrid is amazing! Not nearly as rich and pretentious as Paris or London, but there's a lot of shopping and nightlife is  great. It's a huge pity I don't know enough Spanish to hold a conversation or even say, pick up a guy, because if there was a place to let go of yourself it'd be here. :)

Had dinner for €13 which included three courses and a carafe of wine. My choice for the three courses were goat's cheese salad (delicious) mushroom and potatoes with scrambled eggs, and ice-cream/frozen yoghurt, all with vino tinto.

What a way to end the day! (Actually apparently this is when the Madrileños start going out but I need to catch up on sleep after waking up so early!

Day 12 in Europe (London)

Ok short one today, as I spent most of the morning online then sleeping and most of the afternoon sleeping then packing.

I visited the National Gallery today, and their collection is very impressive! Particularly liked their Cézanne pieces, though there's a good number of big names there too, like Van Gogh, Seurat, Pissarro, and Corot. I'm really not a fan of art nor a student of art history but I think everyone should learn a little and at least be able to appreciate art.

The evening was capped off by Avenue Q, whic I had previously seen but enjoyed so much that I was very happy to see it again. The videos were different as was the set but otherwise the essence of the show as the same as the Sydney production, and the show still wasn't terribly well balanced between the first and second halves (first is way better). Nevertheless this is one show all adults should see. Loved it!

Day 11 in Europe (London)

I suppose London does have a few sights and things to offer. I went to look at some old buildings today, including the Natural History Museum, the Royal Albert Hall, Buckingham Palace, and the National Gallery. Didn't go inside any of them but instead was outside admiring the architecture.

The best of those was probably the Royal Albert Hall. It really caught my breath when I entered into the vicinity, as it and its surrounding buildings were all erected out of vividly red bricks, something really nice to see when all the other buildings seem to be grey. From another perspective it was also the most important to me due to its status as the flagship concert hall for British (or maybe even Anglophone) classical music. The proms are currently on, but I don't have the time to see any of it.

Hyde Park was also nice to walk through, though the grass was more yellow than green at this time of year, not sure if it's meant to be like that.

In the evening I went out by myself, and it was a bit lonely until by pure luck I found some cool people to hang out with. The rest of the night went easy and was much fun, and at least I managed to get out to a bar and a club in London's rather famous nightlife!

My take on...

Labor's Climate Change Policy

Apparently I'm not the only one worked up over this, but really was it necessary to even announce a policy that does nothing?

Clearly the ALP has given up on their left-leaning voters. Julia Gillard is one smart politician and she knows that as long as the ALP's policies remain equal to or better than the Coalitions, then it won't matter if people want to vote Greens first, the preferences will still trickle back to Labor. Logically this makes sense, because the Greens aren't going to become a major party and govern on their own any time soon.

Yet despite this, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Effectively we have seen a commitment today to take no action from climate change, whoever wins the election.

My take on...

The Election Campaign Week 1

So Julia "Ginger Ninja" Gillard assassinated Krudd and blindsided the Greens (who would have a considerable youth vote) by calling an election allowing less than 72 hours for everyone to get on the roll. As an added bonus she managed to blindside the Coalition who for some absurd reason didn't seem prepared for the announcement even though the media called it well in advance.

The Greens and the ALP made a preference deal which we knew was going to happen five and a bit years ago when Steve "Fundies First" Fielding made his debut in the senate.

We haven't seen any good policies from the majors who seem more than happy to focus on vote grabbing and soundbites like "asylum seekers", "little Australia", etc.

Not what I was hoping for from Julia but I still have hopes for her to swing back to the left if she wins. Tony "Mad Monk" Abbott is actually not looking as crazily conservative for now, but if he wins I fear Australia will take a big leap to the right anyway.

Everyone fears the effect of the Greens' Nick Clegg potential so Bob Brown will have to continue sitting on the sidelines.

All in all a disappointing week.