Ok the Big news:

Mr T got a JOB!

It's not the greatest job ever. But its legal and pays a decent wage and it is close to where i work.

He's so happy!

So how did get it:

its the old not what you know buy who you know: a friend referred him.

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We went to big day out yesterday and despite very sore/feet legs, being kicked in the head twice and being very sweaty for most of the day and now sunburnt it was still a great day!

The first show we saw was The Subways(see pic below). I looked around and felt kind of old as we were mostly surrounded by teenagers but then they are only young themselves so i guess it is to be expected. We were only a few people back from the front and they were awesome, they play with so much energy and stage presence especially Charlotte the bass player, i hate the guitarist/bass players who play and look like they would prefer to cleaning a toilet than playing. The crowd loved it too. Billy (lead singer) crowd surfed a few times although sadly not in our direction, seeing what hanging around teenagers does. It was so hot in there, and combined with our dancing along with everyone else we were drenched in sweat by the end. But well worth it, so much so I bought their t-shirt.



Next, was sleater kinney(see pic below) who along with The subways were my two favourite acts of the day. Again we were relatively close to the stage although i had to endure some horrible dance music waiting for them. It was pretty funny though a room full of ravers and rockers. Ravers enjoying the dance show and the rockers looking bored and irritated and waiting for s-k. We were standing there inspecting our highlighted show list when the man behind us motioned to highlighted iggy pop, and informed us he was the stooges bass player (which was later confirmed to be true). We chatted for a bit and he too was sick of the dance music and waiting for s-k. They were awesome, as good as their cds maybe even better. Again no bored looking singing or playing and lots of dancing. The crowd was pretty mixed, old and young.



We saw bits and pieces of lots of shows, some because I was bored, some because we had more important shows to watch for. The toilet queue wasn't as bad as expected. I did however spend a lot on calls/messages trying to find everyone. Next time I won't bother.

Other highlights: iggy pop- any 50 something year old who can play that hard and crowd surf is doing pretty well, although some should tell him that underwear is good and butt crack and really low pants is not so attractive. We were pretty close thanks to good timing of lining up. The crowd was really mixed, lots of teenagers, people in their 20's/30's and quite a few in their 40's/50's. The funniest sight i saw was a older very short asian male in his 40's push past everyone to get to the front and his wife and his son (in his 20s) behind just standing there looking quite embarassed and shaking their heads as his dancing and pushing to the fron. Iggy also managed to get about 20 people from the crowd on the stage with him until security pushed them off where incidentally I was kicked in the head twice, how? crowd surfers falling on me (see below).



The white stripes were also really good even though I could only see meg OR jack not both at the same time and they were pretty tiny from how far back we were. The crowd went crazy when Meg sang but they sadly finished 10 minutes before they were supposed to.

One disappointment was missing out on seeing Mars Volta, and the Magic Numbers. I only heard one song from Magic Numbers and it sounded great and two of my friends said Mars Volta was the best act of the day.

So top 4 shows:
1. Sleater-kinney
2. Subways (it was a close first)
3. Iggy Popy
4. The white stripes

I recently read Diet of a New America (after reading food revolution-yes backwards) and while i was aware of lot of the issues I did learn some things, and I was also reminded of a post that i've been wanting to write for a very long time.

The relationship between Animal abuse and violence/domestic abuse.

From Diet of a New America:

The way we treat animals is indicative of the way we treat humans. One Soviet study, published in Ogonyok, found that over 87% of violent criminals had, as children, burned, hanged, or stabbed domestic animals. In our own country (US), a major study by DR. Stephen Kellert of Yale University found that children who abuse animals have a much higher likelihood of becoming violent criminals.

This is certainly not new, and the not the only place written about the subject.

There is more on domestic abuse and animal abuse including a National Survey of Shelters for Women Who Are Battered which revealed:

One of the questions we asked was, "Do women who come into your shelter talk about incidents of pet abuse?" An affirmative response was given by 85.4% of the shelters. In response to the question, "Do children who come in to your shelter talk about incidents of pet abuse?" 63% of the 46 shelters that completed this item said "Yes."

So what is exactly is the link between the two, the American Humane factsheet suggests:

A correlation between animal abuse, family violence, and other forms of community violence has been established. Child and animal protection professionals have recognized this Link, noting that abuse of both children and animals is connected in a self-perpetuating cycle of violence. When animals in a home are abused or neglected, it is a warning sign that others in the household may not be safe. In addition, children who witness animal abuse are at a greater risk of becoming abusers themselves.

I strongly recommend browsing through
Animal Abuse and domestic Violence Resources which lists quite a few useful links including the national survey of shelters and the factsheet (above).

What surprised me even more though was the next part in Diet For a New America:

But these attitudes can be reversed, even in criminals. Heartwarming research has been done in which convicss nearing their release dates were allowed to have pets in their cells with them. The result? "Of the men who loved and cared for their cats, not a single one later failed as a free man to adjust to society. This in a penal system where over 70% of released convicts are expected to return to jail.

Someone once told me i should pick one issue I cared about rather than concerning myself with so many (animals rights, the environment, womens rights, humans rights etc etc). And as I told him back: they are they are all interconnected!

Almost forgot....

My blue shoes for Emma as requested!


They don't look quite as cute in the pic though i'm afraid and my feet look horrible close up :-(

Btw, they were also really cheap, got them at payless shoes for just under $20 au dollars. If you let me know your size I can sent you some they also come in bright pink.

Vegans love hepburn springs/daylesford area

Wow i know two that do (Mr T and I).

We just got back from a weekend away and food wise it was amazing.

We started off having one of the beautiful pies at the himalaya bakery and cafe.

Then went of to the continental house for dinner. Where sadly the vegan buffet was cancelled but they promised to whip up something for us.

They brought out some sliced mango and a nice cold tofu salad with some sort of sesame dressing and Mr T and I were quite pleased. But it didn't stop there, they continued to bring out a further 4 dishes: kimchi, nori rolls, green veggies with sweet chilli sauce, and avocado salad.

It was amazing and we both left very full. Yes even Mr T who never seems to be full.

The next day we had brunch at the bakery again and this time had their beautiful dips platter and I swear there hummus is one of the best that I've ever tasted.

And their bread, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

We also had a yummy calzone and one of the most amazing desserts I have ever had, a date carob cake/muffin (below) and I don't even like carob.

It was a great weekend and just what the doctor ordered.

Migrants: 'they steal all our jobs'

I have always thought how silly that argument is but being with Mr T i've had an even closer look at the crappy jobs that migrants face.

Sorry some migrants. White migrants seem to be ok. My English, South African(white) and American friends do ok.

Mr T is currently working in a sales job. But it gets worse it's a commission only job. Sounds ok, but when commissions are hard to get you are left working for NO money. NONE!

Not just regular hours either 8 til 6 at least (2 hrs more than the norm).

But surely there are others right?

According to Mr T if you work in a restaurant in china town or in a shop in a food court you can earn:

$7 per hour

Yes loads of money.

And great conditions too, the majority of the employment opportunities available for him are illegal and others pay little and also no sick leave, annual leave or any other benefits.

There was a also a massage one, one of those of ones in a shopping mall where you got half of what they charge you for a massage. Sound not too bad right?

Again it is illegal, and when you charge $5 for a neck massage, you are lucky to get $50 a day.

What about professionals?

There was one accountant one that payed $5.50 per hour.

Another friend of mine has a masters degree and also worked in a commission only sales job for a year before he could get more work.

Another worked pretty high up in the corporate world overseas only to find work in a supermarket.

And a professor friend of mine works as a cleaner.

These are not rare. There are plenty of stories out there like that. Think you taxi driver is un-educated and 'unskilled' think again!

Mr T is hoping to get a job at 711 where he can deal with drunken idiots, night shifts, possibly be held up, and all of crap (actually accordingly to reports pissing is pretty common in 711s) and for a great wage:

If he is lucky $14 per hour, although some pay between ($7-10 per hour)

Yes migrants take all the great jobs. I only wish I could be exploited like that.

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This post come after two things.

One, seeing the cycle of hope-disappointment for Mr T in applying for jobs.

Two, over hearing a conversation with my colleagues about how Asians waste money, and how they all work in great high paying jobs and blah blah.

Mr Stereo MC- live at the chapel

Yesterday Mr T and I both had pretty bad days, although him more so than me, he had possibly the worst interview ever.

I just had one of those days when clients, and a couple of my co-workers drove me a little crazy.

So when i went home I knew exactly which song should be played:

Hefner's 'the greedy ugly people'.

We then danced like crazy, when I mean like crazy i actually mean crazy dancing as in really really bad dancing.

So bad that it was impossible not to burst out laughing.

We continued for a few more songs like that dancing and laughing until our sides hurt from laughing so much.

I strongly recommend it!

Hows your summer(or winter depending on where you are) going?

Its only mid Jan but so far I've had a great summer, highlights include:

The weather finally some summer weather in summer in melbourne
going to the beach
my new blue poka dot shoes
xmas day
Claire's party
sons and daughters show
front row seats(actually beanbags) at the Stereo MC show
house sitting for Ms Honey with her adorable cat
reading for fun (more on that later)
inheriting some new cds (since Mr T moved here)
having more time to spend with family and friends
and lots of yummy food (see below)

Chickpea salad from garden of vegan

BBQ 'pork' buns cooked by Mr T

lunch at Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery (Queen st Melbourne)

I'm still alive!

Just been busy and house sitting for the lovely Ms Honey which means no internet access.

I've also been trying to help Mr T get a job which has been a challenge.

The timing is bad with xmas and new years eve.

However he has applied for all sorts of crappola jobs probably a total of about 100 since he arrived (3 weeks ago): data entry, telemarketing, a few different retail places, restaurants, bar and even a cleaner job.

With no replies with the exception of two.

Both of which offer unpaid training (2 weeks) and a very very low salary.

Its like he has a sign above his head reading: Migrant- exploit me!

I thought I had a crappola job, but these ones make mine seem like a dream job. Hell they almost made McDonalds seem like a dream employer.

Fingers crossed things will pick up soon.

And I'll be back next week, looking forward to catching up on my blog reading.