A Sydney Sojourn - Part Two

We awoke to the sun streaming in through our east facing windows - quite a treat when there is no chance of anyone actually peering in at you at the same time!

We rose and went down to City Extra for breakfast, which was right at Circular Quay. The big breakfast was what took my fancy, and along with coffee was a very enjoyable way to start the day.

From here it was time to go shop browsing. Helen rarely gets the chance to look through clothes shops, and it has been a long time since I have been forced to do so as well, so we spent most of the morning looking through places such as Myer and other places of which I have no recollection in the search for bargains.

Watch out David Lawrence!

It was also St Patrick's Day today, which meant not only a lot of green and crazy people, but a parade along George Street near Town Hall, which created bottlenecks along the sidewalks.

I was able to duck into Utopia to make some quick purchases too, which was good. A Gamma Ray DVD and a couple of CDs meant I was at least able to make some part of this my own.

In the afternoon we took the rivercat up to Parramatta and back, which was terrific. It was great to be able to cruise up the harbour and into the river, and see how quickly it does become just a small mangrove covered stream. Though the breeze had picked up a little, we still had a great afternoon.

After some more champagne in the spa, and another room service dinner (yes, I got exactly the same meal as last night), we made the five minute walk to the Opera House to watch Neil Finn & Paul Kelly in concert together. And it was just fantastic. The songs they played, the way they sang them, the fact that Paul's nephew and Neil's son played in the band, was brilliant. They played for 2 hours and 40 minutes, amazingly long in this day and age. It was just a marvellous experience all round.
The following night they streamed their final gig live on YouTube, which is below. The concert starts at about the 19 or 20 minute mark. It is completely worth watching.

Putting the icing on the cake, as everyone streaked off to get taxi's or cars or trains, we strolled back to the Quay, and took the elevator to our room and our bed. Awesome.

"Whenever I Fall.... At Your Feet..."

Edit this setlist | More Paul Kelly & Neil Finn setlists

A Sydney Sojourn - Part One

Neither Helen nor I have ever seen Paul Kelly in concert, and though we have seen Neil Finn, we were always keen to see him again. So when, in November, I discovered that they were going to play TOGETHER at the Sydeny Opera House in March 2013, I jumped to get good tickets, and was able to keep it a surprise long enough to give to Helen for Xmas.
Also, as the concert was just a couple of weeks after our 20th wedding anniversary, I decided to make a weekend of it, and booked accomodation near the Opera House for two nights, and organised Mum & Dad to look after the kids.

So, today we drove over to Minnamurra at 10.00am, and after a cup of tea with Mum and farewells to the kids (for pretty much the first time in their lives) we boarded the train for Circular Quay. And what a lovely train ride it was. We both had our headphones in, listening to our own music, and also reading our own book or magazine, or just staring out the window. Quite the change, and very relaxing.

We arrived at Circular Quay just prior to 2.00pm, and booked into our hotel, Pullman Quay Grand, right on Circular Quay and the Royal Botanic Gardens. I had booked aroom on the RBG side of the hotel, and the room and view were both quite stunning. We had a room on the top floor of the visitor accomodation, and the management even sent up a complimentary bottle of champagne for our anniversary. So we sat on the balcony and had a lovely time.

After champagne we had to go out and find sushi for Helen for lunch (not for me, thank you), and having walked around the Quay and the Rocks, and bought a few essentials (more champagne and some chips and chocolate) we returned to our room. Having perused the room service menu, we decided on eating in and a couple of in-house movies.
The movies we watched were "Argo" (which was informative and gripping with some good performances) and "Bachelorette" (which was a female "The Hangover" which was basically tripe).
My dinner was superb. Wagyu rump steak with chips, awesome stuff. Helen also enjoyed her meal, which was of a fabulous standard and reasonable price considering where we were.

Anne's Birthday

No rest for the wicked, as we were up before dawn to make sure we could get a day in to go to Sydney to take Anne for lunch for her upcoming birthday.
Crazy stuff, allowing an alarm to awake you at 6.45am on a Sunday morning, but we needed to keep moving if we were to meet the timeframe of the day.

We arrived at Darling Harbour at 10.30am, and as usual decided to catch the Monorail around to Pitt Street. It wasn't until after we bought our ticket that we discovered what most people seemed to already know - that they are going to tear down the monorail in a couple of months. Ludicrous!! How is one supposed to find their way from an easily found parking station at the Entertainment Centre to the dead centre of Sydney without the Monorail?! Walk? With three kids? Very disappointing, and kids were almost devastated. As such, we had to take a couple of photos with them and the monorail for posterities sake.

We met Anne at the Sky Phoenix chinese restaurant, which was a yum cha restaurant, something that both Anne and Helen looooooooooooooove and that I put up with but would much rather be somewhere else. Winning dishes for me included the BBQ pork, shredded beef (a bit like crunchy witchety grubs, but still ok) the fried noodles and peppered honey pork. Good stuff. Best part of the lunch was that Josh actually ate quite a lot, fried rice and fried noodles and a spring roll and jelly for dessert. Cost as much as about five Macca's runs, but you get that I guess.

So, it was an interesting day. Started at 7.00am, and we got home at 3.30pm, all for an hour's lunch date, all of which with parking, monorail, fuel and lunch cost about $275.00. "Yikes" is what the financial manager of the family said once he had worked it all out.

Brown Paper Bag Party

It has been a long time since my parents had one of their big get togethers. When we were kids, and teens, and even twenties, there were any number of parties during the year that we were all invited to and would attend. Australia Day at the Toms' home was always a highlight, and Anzac Day at our house was also great. With much of the old group beaking up and moving away, or in some cases even passing on, these parties have become a bit of a thing of the past.

However, today, for the first time in a long, long time, Mum & Dad hosted one of their famous "brown paper bag" parties.
Ah, I hear you ask, "What the hell is a brown paper bag party?!"
Well, every couple who come must bring with them a bottle of red wine. There is no specification as to what kind of red wine it is, nor how... good... it has to be. The bottle is wrapped in a brown paper bag so that the label cannot be seen, and each is designated a letter. Then, throughout the day, you have a 'taste' of each of the bottles on offer, and mark them accordingly out of five as to what you think of it. Once the bottles are empty, they are unwrapped for all to see, and their score is averaged out. At the end, you can see exactly which you thought was the best, without being swayed by  a label or price or anything like that. It's a good way to discover new wines by taste only, and a good social event.

The scores mount up

The weather was perfect for the outdoor event, and I caught up with a lot of family friends who I hadn't seen in 10-20 years, so it was a good afternoon.

I managed to try all 12 wines on offer, and found most to be pretty good. (surpise surprise). The winner turned out to be a 2010 Robertson's Well Shiraz. Current price at Dan Murphy's is $13.75 a bottle, so probably worth a couple of investments.

Later in the afternoon Tony and I took the kids over to Minnamurra River for a dip as tghe tide came in. I was amazed that the water was so warm for this time of year, and the kids enjoyed the swim.

To top off the weekend, we came back in time to watch the Eels pulverise the Warriors 40-10 in their first round clash in the NRL. After last season, what an amazing start to the new season. Their real form will be judged by their performance against Canterbury on Thursday night.

Also - here's a photo of Maddie playing around with the sprinkler this morning, just like we used to as kids, well before they brought in all of these nasty water restrictions.

Will Bungling in India Be Reversed or Reverted?

The wash up from two demoralising defeats in the first two Tests between Australia and India has been extreme - warranted in many respects perhaps, though possibly an overreaction in some ways. In wading through the destruction caused by an 8 wicket loss in the 1st Test (with an innings defeat only avoided by a 66 run partnership for the final wicket) and a crushing innings defeat in the 2nd Test, easy targets have been vilified, and any sense of reasoning has been set aside.

The selection of the squad for the series raised eyebrows at the time it was announced, and by its very nature locked the tour selectors into a dangerous game of picking unqualified "all rounders" and spinners with little or no success (as I have detailed in this post).

In fact, the team chosen for the 1st Test was almost the best they could do given what they had to pick from.

They chose Moises Henriques as a bowling all rounder in preference to the batting of Usman Khawaja, and chose returning paceman James Pattinson in front of Mitch Johnson, who had had his best summer for a number of years. Both of those selections worked - Henriques bowled accurately and scored two fifties on debut, and Pattinson was dangerous in taking six wickets for the match. Michael Clarke had some luck with the lack of the DRS in India to make a wonderful century, which drove Australia to a respectable first innings total of 380. In reply, around tea on the third day, India was 7/372 when Ashwin fell, and with only three tailenders and MS Dhoni remaining, a small deficit was what Australia was looking at. At this point, the Test was still dead even.

So what happened in the next 49 overs? Dhoni went ballistic, the tail hung around, and 200 runs were added for the final three wickets. What was to blame for this? Poor bowling plans? In some respects, yes. Dhoni took Nathan Lyon, who had bowled steadily again without being dangerous, out of the game. Peter Siddle bowled straight and on a length, but produced nothing to trouble the batsmen. Mitchell Starc once again reverted to bowling around the wicket, taking away every advantage he has by being a left arm quick. Mystifying. The bowlers and fieldsmen showed an inability to get a good crack at the tailend batsmen.

In the long run, it was Dhoni's amazing 224 from 265 balls that changed the match, and sometimes there is just nothing you can do to stop it. Australia applauded Adam Gilchrist's ability to do this, and it won Australia many Tests in the decade when he played for our national team. Sometimes players have a day out, and they are unstoppable. This is what happened in these 49 overs, and while things could have been done better in a bowing and fielding capacity by the Australian team during this period, it most likely would not have changed the result too much.

What hurt was Australia's response. The top six could put together only 6/131 between them, though Phil Hughes and Michael Clarke received unplayable balls aided by the deteriorating wicket. Henriques and Lyon showed that it could be tamed with a last wicket 66 where both patience and attack was rewarded. India lost two wickets in making the required 50 runs for victory, but Lyon made the ball do some tricks in the short time available, as well as having two chances missed. If India had been chasing 200 for victory instead of 50, it could have been a completely different result. A case could be made that Australia wasn't as far behind in the 1st Test as the experts and the scorecard may have suggested.

Why then did we see the team that walked out for the 2nd Test chosen? A case could be made for a second spinner to be chosen, and Xavier Doherty was quite rightly (of the spinners chosen in the tour squad) named as that second spinner. But then we have Lyon being dropped, and Glenn Maxwell, who would probably not even play for Victoria as solely a batsman or solely a bowler, being chosen as a front line bowler in his place. Lyon's figures in the 1st Test were not appealing (3/215 and 1/29), and while for the most part he showed nothing more than he has in his previous 18 Test matches, on that final afternoon he was able to produce some deliveries that kicked and spat off the dying wicket, which (to me at least) boded well for what he may be able to do in a similar situation in the next Test. He would have to deal with Indian batsmen treating him with contempt, but perhaps he would be better prepared for that the next time.

Instead, he was given the flick, and a part-timer (at best) was drafted in to do his job. And it had been coming for awhile. For some reason, the selectors, or at the very least the Chairman, John Inverarity, has had a huge man-crush on Maxwell for 12 months, and has taken any opportunity to push forward the case that he is the next big thing, that he is too talented not to be in any Australian team. His results at first class level do nothing to help prove this, but the National Selection Panel (NSP) almost shoe-horned him into the eleven for the 3rd Test against Sri Lanka at Sydney in January at Lyon's expense, and now they found a way to finally do it here. It really just appeared to be a very selfish move to get a guy into the team that the NSP wanted in at any cost. And the cost? Well, two scores of 13 and 8 batting at number eight, and he appeared all at sea, and unwilling to play himself in, whereas Lyon had faced 78 deliveries in his innings in the 1st Test. The Indian pair Vijay and Pujera took a liking to his bowling, and though he did bowl better when he decided to go around the wicket finishing with 4/127, he didn't look threatening until he was bowling at the tail and they were trying to take advantage of him. This was no fault of his own, it was a situation that he had been thrust into when he was palpably not ready for it.

Overall again though, one partnership gave India the advantage. The 370 runs that Vijay and Pujera put on together was two runs more than Australia could score in both innings combined. India lost their last 9 wickets for 116 runs, which again showed that, apart from one outstanding moment of batting, the Australians were not too far off the mark. Again, during this partnership, the Indians had the running, with a number of balls flying just wide or high of fieldsmen. This happens, and you need to be able to put those behind you. Siddle was again economical but mostly not threatening. Henriques again held up an end without looking like taking a wicket, but really that is as much his job as the fifth bowling option. Pattinson again was the best of the bowlers.

Doherty was innocuous throughout the second day, but looked more likely on the third day. Without a real quicker slider that both Stephen O'Keefe and Michael Beer have as a change up into the right handers, Doherty will not be as dangerous to the Indian batsmen as he could be. It's a tough ask for the bowlers, and given the runs they have had to defend so far, it is an impossible one.

The bowlers have had some excuses. Our spinners in these conditions are just not in the same universe as the Indians, though it has been Ashwin who has been the real handful. Our batsmen are not picking him at all, which is amazing given they faced him in Australia only 12 months ago. Australia's spinning crop at the moment are plodders. 3 or 4 for 100-odd from them in unfamiliar conditions is not an unfair return.

But we need more aggression from our pace battery. When Mitch Johnson was out of the game for 12 months, I never expected him to return. But return he did, and in the process probably had his best summer in four to five years. He has had success in India before through his aggression, which Indian batsmen do not like. It is therefore another mystery why he has yet to play in this series. He is exactly the guy we need bowling on these wickets. Again, I never thought I'd say this, but Johnson should have been the first bowler picked. Pattinson has been a revelation, and we can only hope he doesn't break down again. Siddle has been ineffective in these conditions and should be 'rotated'. And the coaches should all be telling Starc to stay over the wicket and bowl with some fire and pace, not try and bully batsmen from around the wicket on dead pitches. If he can do that, he should be in the team. If he can't, then he shouldn't.

Australia will not compete in India again until our batsmen score the runs required to do so. In the first two Tests they have also gone in a batsman short in order to pick an "all rounder".

It's been a tough ask. Two of Australia's greatest ever batsman retired within three Tests of each other, leaving a massive hole in the batting line-up. There was never going to be an easy fix to this situation, and some patience was going to have to be exerted. For the moment, Michael Hussey's position has been taken by the all rounder Henriques, while Ricky Ponting has been replaced by the returning Shane Watson. Hardly a straight swap.

The batting order is a dog's breakfast. The opening pair of Cowan and Warner has never appeared settled. One is a blocker who is unable to rotate the strike enough to keep his innings moving in a forward direction. The other is a slogger who loves to be a flat track bully, but when faced with a wicket that is something else is incapable of deciding how he should play. Neither has looked comfortable, and their dismissals have been ugly. In two of the four innings they have put together a fifty opening partnership, which is all you can ask of your openers - take the shine off the ball. If Cowan could find a way to get more singles to break the spell of the Indian spinners, and Warner could better choose which balls to play aggressively, then they may still salvage something from this series. If they can't then not only will Australia lose this series, but they may also lose their places in the team.

I don't mind admitting that I have a soft spot for Phil Hughes, and the obvious trouble he is having against spin has probably marked his card once again in the short term. He copped an unplayable delivery in the 1st Test, but his three other dismissals have been troubling. He has been no less disappointing than the others in the top six, but you can almost guarantee in the current selection environment that he will be the only one sacrificed in order to make it look as though they are being pro-active. It will be another unfortunate episode if this is the case. In his last Test in Sydney, he scored 87 and 34. In his last first class game before leaving on tour, he scored 120 and 35. His is the best current form of any player apart from Clarke in this squad. Surely, if someone is to go, that needs to be remembered and recognised.

Unlike Hughes, I have no soft spot for Shane Watson, just general disbelief that he continues to be exempt from any discussion that he should lose his spot in the team. Another four innings without reaching 30, and now not able to fall back on his bowling. If it was any other player in the team (and they all are) they would be concerned as to whether they will be in the next Test team. Just how many failures will it take until he is 'rotated'? This continued selection ignorance is endemic of the problems our batting line up faces.

Why is the skipper still batting at number five? Is he hiding? Is he scared? I don't know the answer, but it surely must end. He needs to lead from the front, and take on the Indian spinners and knock them off their game. He needs to make a stand and change up what has been happening with the batting. The scary thing is that it is plainly obvious that a dry spell is coming for Australia's captain, because no one keeps scoring the number of runs that he has been without experiencing a dip sometime. That day is coming, and if it coincides with him moving up the batting order, then we may never hear the end of it.

Can Australia get back into this series? Most would say no, but it is not out of the question. What the selectors decide to do with the team for the 3rd Test will be important.

To my way of thinking, there needs to be some varied thinking on the matter.

Usman Khawaja has been around this team for most of the last four months, but has barely hit a ball in anger. He will play the 3rd Test, and will do so with almost no cricket behind him. What a way to set him up to fail! We can only hope he can stand up and deliver. He should bat at number three, the position he has been groomed to take up for the past two years.

Despite all of my misgivings about him, Watson should be retained and asked to open the batting again. If this appears to be contradictory, given my comments above about both Watson and Hughes, then so be it. Hughes hasn't got the time in this series to turn around his obvious deficiencies against spin, while Watson has at least looked solid before his inevitable dismissal once he is set. Also, this will bring together a left/right hand combination which will hopefully play with the Indian bowlers lines and lengths.

Clarke must bat at four, and with Watson and Khawaja above him, I think this gives us a more solid looking top four than we have had for some time.

Now - what I would do, but will never happen - I would leave Cowan opening the batting, and move Warner down to number 5. At five he can play his natural game, and like a good number five can move the game for the batting team in the right direction. Cowan and Hughes are both unsuited to the position, which leaves Warner to be the man to do the job.

I would prefer to have another batsman to play at six, moving Wade back to number seven and choosing just four attacking bowlers. However, the only other batsman in the squad is Steve Smith, and as Henriques has already proven he is a better bat than Smith, I would reluctantly retain Wade at 6 and Henriques at 7.

I would also revert back to the three pacemen and one spinner option of the 1st Test. Doherty perhaps now deserves another chance, and as he spins the ball away from the right hander it may be an advantage. I would also rotate Siddle out, and choose Pattinson, Starc and Johnson as our pace bowlers, all attacking. It may well cost us some runs through undisciplined line and length, but I'm not sure we can leak any more runs than we already have, and we have to take 20 wickets in the match to win it.

With the squad we have, my team would be: Watson, Cowan, Khawaja, Clarke, Warner, Wade, Henriques, Johnson, Starc, Pattinson, Doherty.

My guess is that the NSP will go with Warner, Cowan, Watson, Khawaja, Clarke, Wade, Henriques, Maxwell, Johnson, Pattinson, Doherty.

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that Australia can compete better for the remaining two Tests of this tour. It will require the bowling attack to be more aggressive and clever, and the batting line-up to be both patient against the good balls, and aggressive against the bad balls. If noting else, our selected team must be prepared to recover the dignity and honour lost in the first two Tests, and be able to stand toe to toe with an opponent that may think it has the better of this Australian team, and may not know what to do if they are called on it.

20th Wedding Anniversary

Today marks 20 years since the day Helen and I got married. And though there have been a number of bumps and potholes in the road along the way, we seem to have come along at least as well as everyone else so far.

I put some photos up on Facebook from the day this morning, which I will now also publish here.

Helen during the morning hair & make-up sessions. Not that she needed it.

Linda, Helen and Elizabeth, with flower girl Anne

The Bridal Party - Elizabeth, Linda, Chris, Helen, Bill, Jason, Peter and Charlie Dunk

Geoff & Wendy, Helen & Bill, Chris & Chris

(back) Chris, Linda, Bill, Helen, Anne, Chris (front) Phil, Peter

Wendy, Angela, Bill, Helen, Louise, Geoff

Murray & Louise, Bill & Helen, Angela & Tony

Nan & Grandad

Nan

Wendy, Wogs, Kay, Bill, Helen, Bernie, Carolyn, Geoff

Jason, Dale, John, Lynette, Courtney, Bill, John, Helen, Peter, Anthony, Roger, Garry, Shane, Michelle, Andrew, Brett

Soundwave Festival 2013

So today I attended my first Soundwave Festival, and it was the biggest so far and it felt it. Apart from a couple of hiccups, my day went off with barely a hitch, and was more than enjoyable.

My chauffeur for the day Kearo and Jordan showed up at the front door at 8.45am, and we were parked up and heading for the entrance by 10.40am. The walk around ANZ Stadium however is not short (it can be timed at about 16 minutes, as was to be proven later that night), and when we arrived shortly before 11.00am we were surprised to find the gates open, and no lines to get in. The boys told me that last year it took them about an hour to actually get inside, so at least that problem appear to have been rectified.

We had a little walk around to see where everything was located, and even bought the first alcoholic drinks for the day, before heading over to Stage 3 for the first set of the day. Dale met us there, and we finished off our drinks before realising that the first band had actually cancelled three weeks beforehand (their drummer was not touring, the first of many). Once this was discovered, we headed over to the pavillion shed - which really was just an enormoous shed - where Stage 5 was located, to get a look at Fozzy. Though the sound seemed to get a bit lost within the confines of the arena at times, the band gave a great performance, and showed why they are so popular here in Australia.

Fozzy playing "Enemy", Soundwave 2013

From here it was over the main stage in ANZ Stadium, where Anthrax was to play their 45 minute set. Anthrax was also without their drummer, Charlie Benante, who had personal problems in the States, so John Dette was filling the role. As always they were great. It is amazing how good Joey's voice still is after all these years, and the band showed great energy throughout. Finishing with "Madhouse" was just brilliant, but 45 minutes isn't enough. Hopefully they'll tour again soon.

Anthrax Full Set, Soundwave 2013

Tomahawk was the next band on the adjoining stage, a band I knew nothing about. However, once Dale had told me that it was the band fronted by Mike Patton, I was intrigued enough to stay and see what they were like, while Kearo left to find where Jordan had ended up after Fozzy.

I think "eccentric" might be the best term to describe Tomahawk. It was all very experimental and free-form exploration kind of stuff, apart from two songs which hailed back to the best of his Faith No More days which were great. Dale and I both agreed that apart from his great albums with FNM, Mike has probably been involved in half a dozen bands and numerous more albums - and from all of that, you could compile a 'best of' album that would rate with the greats,while the rest is pure garbage. Such is the mark of 'greatness' I guess.

Tomahawk playing "Flashback", Soundwave 2013

At this point I left Dale to head back to Stage 5 to check out Orange Goblin. It was 2.15pm, and I was not to see Dale again, nor Kearo and Jordan until we met up again at the car just before 10.00pm. Until then, I was on my own...

Orange Goblin, back in "The Shed", as I came to dub the Stage 5 pavillion, was great. Sure the band got lost again at certain times - and whether that was the P.A. or the sound engineers or just the venue for the stage itself, I don't really know. What I do know is that the band put on an awesome performance, and the songs were strong and impressive. I have noted that I need to chase up some of their music in the near future.

Orange Goblin playing "The Fog", Soundwave 2013

Between bands I got to catch up woth Holzy, which was good. We got to swap band info, those we'd seen, those we'd heard would be worth seeing, and even some family chat. As I think it has been at least 12 months since we have seen each other, the 15 minutes was too short but fully worthwhile.

Orange Goblin was followed by The Sword. Again the sound wavered between great and average, and I found the first two songs to be average. But, once they warmed up they proved themselves to be better than that - in my opinion, not as good as the previous band, but still above average in this respect.

The Sword playing "Freya", Soundwave 2013

From here I made the trek back to the main stadium, where Stone Sour had hit the stage. I had only recently acquired this band's latest album, House of Gold & Bones Part 1, and while it wasn't exactly my favourite style of rock/metal, there was enough there to suggest I wanted to see them live. And what I saw, for the most part, was good. The rock ballads of course don't sit well with me, but the harder stuff was played well, and Corey Taylor does have a unique voice. Whether I follow up on the band inthe future will perhaps depend on whether or not I run out of oher options to chase.

Stone Sour Full Set, Soundwave 2013

Following this, though, was probably the main reason I was here at Soundwave - the mighty Slayer. Sure, Jeff Hanneman may still be out with his flesh eating virus, and Dave Lombardo looks to have again been cast aside for questioning the band's money management, but still, half of Slayer playing Slayer is still awesome.

What was even better was that, if I had been given the opportunity to choose the 10 or 12 songs of their setlist that I would love to see, they played every single one of them. Awesome serlist, awesome gig. Just awesome.

Slayer Full Set, Soundwave 2013

It was time to leave the comfortable seating arrangement of the main stadium to again head out, this time to Stage 3. It was 5.30pm, and I was not to sit down again until I got into Kearo's car much later that evening. It was to be the death of my failing achilles tendon and ankle, but overall it was worth it.

On Stage 3 it was the turn of Killswitch Engage to play. I had only seen the band once, as second support to Anthrax at the Metro Theatre a decade before, and had been impressed at the time but knew none of the songs. Now I knew their songs, and was looking forward to it immensely. Disappointingly however, the P.A was shocking, so quiet that one could probably talk to the person next to you without even raising their voice. Despite this, the setlist was another where they played almost every song I could have asked for, and the band was in top form.

Killswitch Engage playing "My Curse", Soundwave 2013.

From here, things began to get a little mixed up. I decided to try and get back into the main stadium in preparation for Metallica, for which I had been tossing up all day whether or not to see them or The Offspring, whom I had never seen live. For the first time that day, I had to line up for 15 minutes to get in, at which time I discovered that all of the available seating and standing room was taken. Having walked completely around the stadium in search of a way up to the nosebleed section (which obviously had not yet been opened), I decided to go out again. I had been trying to contact Kearo and Dale by text for an hour with no response, and at that point I decided that The Offspring would be my destination after all.

With two hours to kill, I decided the head back down to the shed, and catch Fucked Up, of whom I knew nothing except some vague recollection of having been played some of their stuff in Bryn Coleman's car one day. And I was not disappointed. They are a Canadian punk band with great musicians and a lead singer who did the whole gig in the crowd, and then went around and high fived  or hugged every person who had been there to watch. His comment, "You are my favourite guys in the world. You could be watching Metalliac or Blink 182, but you're here watching us, and I fucking love you for it!" was well met by the small but enthusiastic crowd. I loved them. No doubt their raw energy would be lost on recorded music, but I'll have to get more of their stuff anyway.

Fucked Up playing "The Other Shoe" live in 2011

Following these guys was Cerebral Ballzy, a New York punk band in the more 'traditional' mold, with songs fast and furious with four chords repeating, all over in two minutes. Like The Sword earlier in the day, it took me a couple of songs to get into them, but once they had warmed up they were also a treat.

Cerebral Ballzy playing "On the Run" live in 2012

I timed my run (as best as I could with no clock, as my phone had died by 8.00pm) as best I could to get the second stadium for The Offspring at 8.45pm. Of course, the bands were running late, and so I had to put up with about 20 minutes of Blink 182 concluding their set. I don't like Blink 182, and their music and popularity was lost on me.

However, when The Offspring started, I'd forgotten how old they had to be, given their start in the business over 20 years ago. But once I'd gotten over this, and their opening song (which was off their latest album, Days Gone By, which I don't know that well) they played some of their great stuff, and they ripped it up. It made me believe I had made the right decision after all in seeing a band I had never seen (and may well never get another chance to see), and given the other two bands I had seen along the way, it made my Soundwave experience much rounder than it would otherwise have been.

The Offspring playing "The Kids Aren't Alright", Soundwave 2013

Soon it was time to meet the Kearin's back at the car (they had been squeezed into the far corners of ANZ Stadiumfor Metallica) and head home from my first - but perhaps not my last - Soundwave Festival.

Metallica Full Show, Soundwave 2013

While Mum is Away...

The day was ours with Mum up in Brisbane, but it was always going to be a relaxing one, a day where we could have fun without having to do to much. A sleep-in until 8.30am was just terrific, and a real surprise to me that it was able to be achieved.

After breakfast and morning duties (beds, hair, teeth, clothes on the line), we all went off to Shellahrbour Square - or Stocklands Shellharbour as it is now known - so that Maddi could spend her $20 Sanity voucher that she had won in the Summer Reading Series thorugh the local library. She lucked out, and found two Strawberry Shortcake movies and a Spongebob Squarepants special DVD for just $20. She was so proud as she handed the movies and her card to the sales assistant, who was also suitably impressed and taken with Maddi's demeanour.

Jessie showed she is bit like her Dad, checking out every CD in the shop and yet still unable to determine if she wanted to part from her money. In the end we decided it would be better for her to search iTunes at home and choose the music she wanted that way. As I had forgotten to bring Jessie's epipen with us I didn't want to risk having morning tea out, so went went home via Ashburton Drive shops and bought some afternoon tea and other goodies. Then we headed home where I treated the kids to one of Dad's Super Milkshakes for morning tea.

After a lunch of 2 minute noodles, we all played Uno, which Joshua summarily won fromout of nowhere, at which point he decided  not to risk his crownand went off to his bedroom. The girls and I played another game, which Maddi won, before deciding on a closely fough game of Trouble, which, for a change, I won!

The kids spent the arvo between the TV and their dolls, while Josh had a mid-afternoon snooze.
I switched between some cricket and the races.
The highlight was the return of Black Caviar to the track, and I made sure all the kids were down to watch her race, with varying results.

Thanks to a couple of tips from Josh Elliott, my day of punting went pretty well. I even had the Sydney Quaddie in the bag, until in the last when my selection was beaten by a nostril. 25% of $2500 down the drain by a couple of millimetres. It's a tough game sometimes...

Maddi Takes Off the Training Wheels

Jess and Maddi had been keen for a bike ride for a couple of weeks. The wet weather had put paid to that idea last weekend, but the warm 28 degree day today meant we were right to go.

Well... almost...

Bike tyre pumps are in the top ten of the most aggravating things in the world. We have three of them, and all three are nothing like the ones we had when I was a kid. I know bikes have changed, but I don't remember tyres being so difficult to keep inflated.
Anyway, all three bike's tyres needed inflating. The first pump broke half way through the second tyre on Jessie's bike, basically letting the air out faster than I could pump it in. It got thrown against the wall of the garage with a number of obscenities following it. The second pump did little better, and soon followed it's cohort into the wall. The third, though a little better, had been designed for stroller tyres and not bike tyres, so although it worked to a certain degree it was hard work, and a lot of swearing continued to flow, stuff that the girls probably didn't need to hear, but copped anyway.
To be honest the valves on bike tyres these days just don't cut it as far as I'm concerned. It is almost enough to make you go out and buy an air compressor for home just to do this job. Maybe I'll do just that...

Anyway, 20 minutes later and we were finally off. Maddi had never ridden a bike without training wheels, and had in fact taken to riding her scooter on most of our bike excursions. However, she does take well to my 'forced invitations' for things like this, so she pushed along with her legs dangling and balancing her until we reached the bike track that goes through the Croome Sporting Complex, and then I got her to slowly get herself to push on the pedal and think about her balance. She took to it like a duck to water, and our confident little girl basically just got up and went without incident, and was riding along without any help whatsoever. Great stuff.

It was a warm and draining day, and so the girls decided that a trip to Terry Street shops was in order (as most of our rides end up in that direction). Soon, a Streets "Cyclone" recharged the batteries as only it can.

The long-promised storms finally tried to roll in by 5.30-6.00pm, but despite the angry skies, only 5mm of rain fell over the course of a number of hours, which was most disappointing.

The Glorious Controversy of Cricket

It's been a busy and somewhat heated couple of weeks in Australian cricket, what with rotation policies and rain-affected games and blow-ups on and off the field, and Shane Warne re-writing the entire set up of Australian cricket, as well as the naming of the Test squad to tour India at the end of February. In all instances, everything seems to have been blown right out of proportion. In the long run, the only thing that can stop all of this nonsense is Australia winning cricket matches and turning the talk away from these distractions.

The so-called 'rotation policy' argument was and is all just a storm in a teacup. When Australia' squad for the first two ODI's against Sri Lanka was named, it was 'controversial' because the retiring Mike Hussey was not chosen despite being 'available' until the end of the season, Michael Clarke was 'rested' due to his dodgy hamstring (which certainly would not have held up under the scrutiny of ODI games without much needed rest), while Matthew Wade and David Warner were 'rested' in preparation for the long hard slog that both players have ahead of them.
Suddenly, the media felt it right to attack the selections. How dare they not pick Hussey while he was available? How dare they not give the public (read "media" here) the opportunity to see Warner in action? How can they rest our captain and put an 'unknown' in charge of the national team? Despite Australia winning the first game handsomely, then blowing the second game terribly, the accusations remained. The selectors did not help their cause by giving both Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith only one game each before sending them back to their state squads.
However, when, for the final three games, the 'best' team available was selected, they were then summarily thumped in Brisbane before being in an awkward position when the fourth match was abandoned. What did the media say to that? Drop them? Replace them with who? The guys they had just spent columns telling us were not worthy of a place in the team?

It was not the rotation policy that meant that Australia could only draw the ODI series against Sri Lanka 2-2. It was an inability to score runs, and poor bowling in testing conditions. In two matches, Phil Hughes scored centuries, and Australia won both games. In two other games, Mitchell Starc top scored from number nine. Warner and Bailey made one score each. the rest of the batting was basically a shambles, and that had NOTHING to do with a rotation policy. The bowling was generally wayward and too short. Once again in the testing overs, Australia's plan of attack was slow, short deliveries. It is a terrible plan that seems to go wrong far more often than it goes right. In only one game did a bowler try to bowl full sharp yorkers in the final overs, and it was Moises Henriques who showed the full worth of the tactic, taking 3/15 and helping to win the final ODI to square the series. It was the only time it was tried. The bowling plans were poorly thought out and executed, and that had NOTHING to do with the rotation policy.

With the retirements of Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey, the constant injury concerns to Michael Clarke and Shane Watson, and the advanced age of the now-spurned David Hussey, it was inevitable that a large changing of the guard would have to occur in the ODI team especially. It's a pity that the media and the public critics of this season's selections have not taken that into consideration. From my point of view, the tactics have been much more in question than the players selected.

More ammunition was aimed at the selectors over the choosing of the T20 team for two matches against Sri Lanka. On the whole, the team selected carried the best-performed players from the recently completed Big Bash. Those players included Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges, James Faulkner and Ben Laughlin, all of them at the top of their categories for that tournament. However, the second that any of them failed to live up to that form, they were crucified. Poor old Ben Laughlin failed twice in the final over of both games, faltering under the extreme pressure and probable faulty tactics, and was mercilessly lambasted by all and sundry. And fair enough - it's the national stage, and he was unable to deliver as he would have hoped, but the selectors were rounded on too, despite what appeared on the surface to be a fair enough call in selecting him. Selectors have a habit of being called out for perceived bad decisions, but rarely get the credit for all those selections that work out, for example Phil Hughes in the ODI team this season.
Too much is still made of T20 cricket. It is still hit and miss as to what works. Good cricket is generally rewarded with being caught by a screamer or being smashed over the fence, while poor slogs get edges for six, or half trackers get smashed straight into someone's hands. Twenty20 does not promote technically good cricket, and most games are now being won with just 130 runs in an innings, whereas the promise had been that teams would consistently score over 200. The final word comes from the fact that no one remembers who won a T20 game 24 hours after the match has concluded. If you don't care enough to remember, it can't be good, enthralling cricket.

What the hell is Shane Warne up to? He seems to have lost the plot again, and none of it seems to make a lot of sense.
Firstly he went completely overboard in his confrontation with Marlon Samuels in the Big Bash game between the two Melbourne franchises. You can't grab someone's shirt and pull it (though Samuels did just that to start the whole fracas) and you can't deliberately throw the ball at a player (which Warne denies, but really... it was pretty obvious). For this he was suspended for a game and received a fine. This was probably extreme given similar events in other games around the world, but this is Shane Warne.
Then, in an obvious attempt to stop any chance of he being suspended for the Final of the Big Bash if his team made it (he was on one warning already for slow over rates, and if he received another he, as captain of the team, would miss the following match), James Faulkner was 'named' as captain and went out for the toss. This was obvious, because there was no doubt at all as to who was running the show on the field for the Melbourne Stars, and it wasn't the 'captain' Faulkner. For this he was fined again. This again was probably unfair, as he is just an individual in the team, not the team itself. He again could feel a little hard done by, but the actions themselves should never have taken place.
Then he decided to weigh into the aforementioned 'rotation policy' that has been at the forefront of the news in recent weeks. The media of course would have asked him the question, hoping for just the reply he gave, which then fed their frenzy even longer.

Topping this off, Warne has now decided that Australian Cricket is, for lack of a better term, "up to shit", and that he had the plan that would fix it all, which he began by publishing on his own website.
Where is Australian Cricket At? Part 1
To be fair, Warne was only stating his opinion, and also made reference that "So, to my dream team, I could be completely wrong and barking up the wrong tree", and that these were the people "who I would put in charge of cricket if available and willing". The fact that everything he wrote in regards to selections is just common sense, and no doubt is exactly what the current panel are doing, and that all those people who he named in the other positions are solidly involved in other fields, means that it comes across as nothing more than a publicity stunt. Again, this may not be completely fair, as he obviously has some strong opinions on the way Australian cricket should progress (as we all do). It just seems as though there was not a lot of thought put into this to start with - but that seems to be a common thread throughout Warne's career.

Indian Tour Squad

David Warner
Ed Cowan
Phillip Hughes
Shane Watson
Michael Clarke (capt)
Usman Khawaja
Steven Smith
Matthew Wade (wk)
Glenn Maxwell
Moises Henriques
Mitchell Johnson
James Pattinson
Mitchell Starc
Peter Siddle
Jackson Bird
Xavier Doherty
Nathan Lyon

The naming of the squad for the Test tour of India was preceded by a number of 'leaks', in essence to try and buffer the content when it was finally released in full. To be honest, I was of the opinion that the selectors would take 14 players on tour if they named just one keeper, or 15 if they decided to take a back up for Matthew Wade. The fact that they are in fact taking 17 players for a four Test tour with basically no tour games is extraordinary and unprecedented. It does feel that, in order to justify taking the players that they want to 'develop' for future years, they had to take as many players as they actually have on Australian contracts.
It is a little difficult to comprehend where they will go with this team. My stated disapproval of the continued selection of Shane Watson in his current form and player development is on public record. The selectors will point to Australia's last ill-fated tour of India, when in four innings Watson scored a century, two fiftes and a 30 in his four innings. They will no doubt suggest he is the man to take on the Indian bowlers in their conditions. What the selectors will ignore is two long injury lay-offs in the past two years since then, and a Test batting average under 30 in that time. If the Watson of 2010 was here he would be one of the first chosen. The Watson of 2013 is unfit, has no form and spends more time in the media explaining what he wants to do than he does actually doing it. He will replace Hussey in the team, and on the selectors' heads be it.
With Watson not bowling, this then justifies the selectors decision to find an alternative for the all-rounder's position. They have spent the past month pushing the values of Glenn Maxwell, a player who cannot justify selection as either a batsman or a bowler, but finds himself there as an all-rounder. They desperately want him to develop as a spin bowling batsman, and perhaps in the fullness of time that may occur. But if he is chosen in a Test match with his current statistics, it would be by crystal ball methods only. Moises Henriques is also a bolter, but one who at least has better current statistics with both bat and ball. It would still be a gamble to choose him at 6 or 7 in the Test line-up, but surely less so than that of Maxwell. Steve Smith is the third man in this category, though it is difficult to label him an all-rounder when he has barely bowled in 18 months after choosing to make it as a batsman only (Shane Watson's influence?). His selection is perhaps the most baffling, though as it was leaked to the media a week ago it has obviously been in the selectors minds for some time.
More important for the team was to have two spin bowlers in the squad. England outplayed India just a couple of months ago, thanks mainly to excellent pace bowling from Jimmy Anderson, and the wonderful spin bowling of right arm orthodox Graham Swann and left arm orthodox Monty Panesar. In essence, Australia need the same attack.
Nathan Lyon is the custodian, and is going with little cricket and zero wickets under his belt. The Indian tour will be a real test for him. He has four Tests in spin friendly conditions against batsmen who LIKE those conditions to make a bold statement about his career. In 2010 Nathan Hauritz failed to make any impression through innocuous bowling and strange field placements. In 2008 Jason Krejza took 12 wickets on debut but went the journey in runs conceded. Through a combination of a lack of candidates knocking down the door with bagfuls of wickets in Shield cricket, and a perceived view that he has been the victim of some poor fielding when bowling, Lyon has had an extended run in Test cricket without ever looking like winning a Test through his own bowling. he will go to India, and he will be the number one choice, but he needs to produce something sooner rather than later if he is to retain that position.
The two 'all-rounders' Maxwell and Smith will come into contention if the selectors decide to go with three specialist seam bowlers, as seems likely. However, a second specialist spin bowler was needed on tour, and it had to be a left arm orthodox for Indian conditions. The selectors decided on Xavier Doherty, two 1st class wickets at over 80 runs each in 2012/13, as opposed to Steve O'Keefe, who has 17 wickets at 24 thi season, more than double of any other spinner. I have no brief for O'Keefe over Doherty, and have seen neither bowl in first class cricket this season. But surely statistics don't lie. Doherty has been average in the white ball game this summer, with a couple of break out performances, but nothing spectacular. The dearth of spin rewards in Australia at the moment means there are four spin bowlers in the touring party for India, none of which would be considered a first choice in any other Test team. Troubling times indeed.

The most trouabling part of this for me is what this holds for the tour. By the team chosen, Australia will choose five batsman, a keeper at six who is still struggling to find his best, and five bowlers with a minimium of batting pedigree about them. Scoring 300 in an innings and bowling India out twice looks on the surface to be a very difficult proposition. Maybe we'll all be pleasantly surprised.

Finally - and perhaps most importantly - when will the Channel 9 network rotate James Brayshaw and Michael Slater out of the commentary box? These two are the most painful and annoying pair of commentators currently in operation in the game. They pander, they carry on, they piss in people's pockets, and they show very little understanding for the game for two guys who played at the higher levels.
These two in particular must go. They won't of course, just like Shane Watson is destined to haunt me until he retires (probably to the bloody Channel 9 commentary box). At least for the Indian tour we'll only have Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Laxman Shivaramakrishnan, Saurav Ganguly... oh bloody hell...