the hunter, not the hunted

A German doctor has been ordered to pay for a child that 'was not wanted' due to what appears to be a botched contraceptive implant procedure. what i find fascinating is that there was apparently NO EVIDENCE of the device found in the womans body.

i don't really know what to say. having gone through my very own 'unwanted pregnancy', but appearing to be dealing with it fairly well, and having been contemplating some sort of chemical contraception in order to prevent another 'accident', this kind of, i don't know, opens up a few doors of questioning? i've been disuaded in the past simply due to my own laziness and phobia of MDs. there have been some side effects to some of the devices that have been less than enticing also, and then there are those cases where there are people who have become pregnant while implanted (and the device clearly noted) BUT NOT pursuing some kind of retribution. i really don't know.

i know where some of my feelings lie, but i'm not of the kind who freely expresses this information, even after a post work wind down drink. but i do know that i can't understand this want or need to sue for EVERYTHING that goes wrong. is it not simply enough to understand that sometimes mistakes can happen, and that it may be a case of the doctor was NOT at fault (referring to the lack of implant found)? that perhaps her own body was fighting against her? it sounds like some kind of hocus pocus crap of sorts (and i know there are people out there who may think that), but what if this woman's body simply digested the implant? just because it's never previously been documented doesn't mean it can't happen. seriously, everything that is documented HAD to have a beginning. perhaps this is the beginning of something. perhaps there are other women out there whose bodies will absorb and discard the implant the way i imagine this womans body did. makes for some great sci-fi doesn't it?

i don't think i agree that the doctor should pay for the childs maintenance (as it seems the father is being compensated financially for this whole thing). it's setting a precendent now for other cases to go ahead in the 'oh no my contraceptive didn't work and i'm pregnant' scenarios. geez, it's almost the same as suing your local supermarket for selling you that packet of condoms that had one break during one of your 'experiences' and resulting in you becoming a parent. it's almost absurd! but then again, they are germans, and they don't tend towards doing things by halves now, do they?

i still don't know. it's mind boggling. and my brain has been mostly frazzled thanks to the past week or so of not finishing work til the not-so-wee hours of the morning. when people get back from their holidays i may be able to think more clearly, but then again, we are talking about ME. :P

til next....
~Kits~ (cor blimey its cold this morning)

blogging just doesn't have the 'wham' it used to.
i'm barely interested in reading other peoples these days, and can't really be bothered updating my own out of sheer laziness.
well, laziness and the fact that i'm not really at the computer all that much anymore.

it's just a voyeurism anyway. a self centered voyeurism.

• let's talk about the bullshit i get up to in my daily happenings. i don't even care if you read it or not, i'm just so full of myself that i have to share EVERY SINGLE SMEGGING DETAIL (i'll admit that i've been guilty of this narcissism, but i only do it occassionally, and only when i'm feeling particularly full of it). there are some things you should just leave OUT of your blog. i mean that. REALLY.



• then there's those who use their blogs to thrust their politics upon you (with a hint of the religious/non religious hankerings). sometimes these blogs are actually worth reading, because they are inciteful, witty and interesting. most of the time, however, they are not. i particularly despise the ones who use it as a platform to try and force people into believing in the same right wing/left wing/slightly off centre bullshit they do. yes, there are some things i'm passionate (or at least care) about, but i'm not inclined to say "HEY, YOU MUST TAKE NOTICE OF THIS OR I'LL KNOCK YOUR SMEGGING TEETH OUT OF YOUR HEAD!"



• i rather 'like' the ones who come over all self important. oh, they certainly are very interesting to read, in actual fact. they're always posting about how much better they are than the other people they 'chat' with. i rather enjoy the ones who'll post transcripts of arguments they've had in whatever forum they were posting in that week, and brag about how much more 'mature' than their 'opponent' they are.

ah, whatever. i dont' really know where i'm heading with this.
as always, i've had an idea that's run out of steam less than half the way through.

i'm simply venting.
i'm not self important and i'm not forcing this onto anyone.
i'm just letting off steam.

i now have to go do a stocktake.
*gasm*

til next....
~Kits~ (more than just a farting brain)

pots, monkey and myself went to sultan's kitchen in paddington for dinner.

i think we ate enough curry, pakora, somasa and naan bread to feed a small village (and there were only 2 of us - two and a half if you include monkey)!

it honestly didn't look like much at all when it arrived, but, by gumbo, were we mistaken!

the food is great, but the service and atmosphere is a little something less.
i don't mind it so much, but i'm not too keen on going back.
i think it's mainly to do with their main inability to deal with a toddler and a high chair.
i don't want to be thrust into an entrance way simply because i've got a small person who requires their own seat.
the most obnoxious thing of all: it wasn't a huge encumberance at all, as they tried to make out. we could in fact have sat ANYWHERE in the restaurant.
we were begrudged a table against the wall because it was 'for four people' despite the fact that the table they were originally seating us at was also for four people.

i think we'll just stick to take away from them from now on (if that).

til next....
~Kits~ (hmmmm)

The Whitlams:

Arrived early to get in line and then waited til the doors opened. Sound check for the support band was in full swing when I got there, and seeing as there was a lot of traffic, I'm impressed that I was able to hear much of anything at all. The line up for the band's opening night was small but mostly pleasant. There was an air of impatience when the doors didn't open EXACTLY at eight, but what can you do? There were a couple of air heads in front of me in the line (who are unlikely to know who Whitlam is aside from the name of the band) being all "OMG THE WHITLAMS". When the doors did finally open, we were let in in small groups so the door chick wouldn't be overwhelmed by the masses of mostly older (late 20s plus with random foetuses scattered about the place) well behaved people. ID check and a The ZOO stamp upon entry. My ticket was especially well looked after by the door chick upon her witnessing the bright blue TIM FREEDMAN signature scrawled across the front. Kudos to her! Up the stairs a toddled and straight to the bar for a soothing glass of Lindemans (blech) Shiraz and hobbled over to a window wot had a chair. This was my chair for the rest of the night.

The crowd mingled quietly, with the hardcore teeny FOW (Friends Of the Whitlams) crowd jamming themselves as close to the stage as they could, and patiently waited for the festivities to begin. THE BOAT PEOPLE donnered onto the stage and began to play. I was impressed. Having never heard them in my life before, I was very impressed. Incredibly professional boys with a really tight and well rehearsed sound. Very interesting and vaguely ecclectic 80s rock sound with creative and ocassionally humourous lyrics. Amusing stories about stretch Humvees and how great it was to be using the FEEDS (TIM FREEDMAN) podium complimented the energetic performance. The audience received them with polite applause. They left the stage with their gear in tow and were quickly forgotten by the antsy WHITLAMS base literally champing at the bit for their piece of pie.

Finally the time had arrived for the main attraction. Down went the stage lights, up came the intro music and off went the crowd. The band came on stage quietly in the dark with TIM last on stage to a rousing cat call from the mosh pit. End intro and straight into the first track (taken from the new album). Most of the set was taken from the new LITTLE CLOUD album, with a nice interspersal of all the old classics like NO APHRODESIAC (a loungy version), LOUIS BURDETTE (full of the rockin energy you'd expect it to have); a beautiful solo version of CHARLIE No 2 (which disappointed me because I was really hoping for the dancier version they usually perform), THANK YOU, BLOW UP THE POKIES and of course HAMBURGERS. A less than energetic performance overall from the band (unlike shows from the past), opting for a more sedate "We'll just sit here and play our favourite songs from the new album". Not to say that it wasn't enjoyable. TIM connected with his audience, laughed at them because he could, and played with the songs so they couldn't annoyingly sing along the way they do and drown him out.

LITTLE CLOUD (the album) is a nice and muzak-y collection of songs that are tightly produced, but sound HEAPS better live. There is energy and emotion that's not inherently apparent in the recorded versions which makes any WHITLAMS song sound amazing. The band's live sound is fabulous. TIM's voice is clear and well formed and (despite a somewhat scattered mix from the desk, what were those sound boys doing?) the general mix of sound is perfect. It's difficult to fault their performance other than it was a little dull. Even Jack (the guitarist) was lacking in stage play. Perhaps it was just first night whatever, but I've seen better performances from the lads and this kind of dampened the feel. That said, perhaps the sedate performance was to compliment the songs from their new album, which is sedater than their previous ones. Whatever the reason, Wednesday's performance was less than inspiring but still enjoyable and I can't wait for them to return.

til next....
~Kits~

Wow, long time no blog...

stuff that has happened:
Mark, our friend from Canada was in Oz this week for a conference and took 24hours out of his schedule to come visit us. It was cool. He had dinner at our place, watched some of the footage we took while we were in Canada in May (most specifically the drunken shenanigans of his birthday party) and the following day we took him to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. It was good. I got to play with Kangaroos. I was also stampeded by a pod/swarm/group/collective noun of the buggers as they chose the exact moment I walked into the thick of them to get up and run away. All in all, a marvellous afternoon was had.

( Now see the pictures.... )

I could have just spammed with koala and roo photos, but I thought I'd keep it to a bare minimum. It was lots and lots of fun. There were even a few baby Emus.

til next....
~Kits~ (trying to kill a headache with coffee)