">My Big World Of Crap

A man in Bunbury, Western Australia was apparently having some sort of dispute with his ex-girlfriend – maybe he was not accepting of the “ex” status of their relationship.  So what does he do?  Enlists the help of his parents.  OK, fair enough, they presumably have more life experience and could well offer some useful advice and support to their son.  So far, so good.

Unfortunately, thats all the good in this story.  Son plus mum and dad went to the girlfriend’s house for a visit.  Jarrad Fitzpatrick was visiting the ex-girlfriend, apparently a childhood friend of his.  Seeing him there, they beat him to death.  According to police, he was attempting to leave when they attacked him.   They said he was punched and kicked numerous times by the family.

Kenneth John Smith, 20, and his parents Colin John Smith, 40, and Tanya Louise Smith, 38, appeared in court today charged with his murder.  Charming family aren’t they? 

Not only that, they have some pretty dodgy relatives and friends, judging by the way they behaved outside the court – abusing and threatening the media who were there to report on the matter.

With the new Angry Anus burger.

That’s what you get for employing dumb teenagers in your stores (its actually supposed to be Angry Angus – Hungry Jacks response to the McDonalds Mighty Angus).  Actually I’m intrigued by McDonalds pushing their Angus burgers as a premium product … so what were they selling us before, dog food burgers (oh wait, I think I’ve just answered my own question).

Speaking of anuses, chicken nuggets come to mind – before they started making them out of “real breast meat” they were made out of chicken anuses, feet, beaks, eyeballs and other bits they could grind to a pulp and mash together into nugget shapes, so its not as if the junk food emporiums haven’t already been selling anuses before now.

One of the things I did on my unexpected stopover in Shanghai recently was go for a train ride.  How would you like it if this were the normal speed for trains?

This is on the Maglev train which runs from Shanghai airport to the city – it covers 30km in 8 minutes.  You see cars on the roads that run alongside it and they look to be standing still – when they’re probably actually doing 80-100 km/h

This was in Wangfujing, which is the fashionable shopping area in Beijing.

Phwoooar!

Well not in this case.  A patient in the Hobart Private Hospital noticed some bleeding from a wound drain after some surgery he’d had.  He rang the call bell to get some assistance.  After 10 minutes and no response, he rang his wife who rang the nurses’ station.  Again, no response.  He then rang 000 seeking help.  The hospital’s night duty supervisor then went to the ward and arrived at the same time as two nurses.  Lucky they did, otherwise it would have been a very short ambulance ride … from his hospital bed, to, his hospital bed.

Did I mention how boring it is sitting around in airports?  Well today in Beijing it was snowing, so flights were delayed and/or cancelled all over the place.  End result - missed connection in Shanghai to Sydney and will now be flying back tomorrow night.  So I’ve got a day in Shanghai to fill in.  Shanghai is somewhere I’ve been wanting to visit - but not as an unexpected addition to a month away from home, especially with another week away coming up next week.

Anyway, better make the most of it and check out The Bund and Nanjing Road, maybe some other things.  Not to mention riding on the Maglev train.

flying, airports, Beijing, Shanghai, China

Its my last few hours in Beijing and I have a sore throat.  It might be due to the cold weather, but I am blaming Tuesday night’s karaoke (KTV) bar adventure for it.  Especially my efforts at Bohemian Rhapsody - those high notes were a killer.  Not to mention that song just goes on and on.  Fortunately there was beer, lots of it, and snacks.  All good fun, and ended up costing less than $10 each for 3 hours or so of singing and drinking.

Better start packing soon, my flight is just after lunchtime, and I get home tomorrow lunchtime.

I see a little silhouetto of a man,
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango
Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very fright’ning me
(Galileo) Galileo (Galileo) Galileo, Galileo figaro
Magnifico I’m just a poor boy and nobody loves me
He’s just a poor boy from a poor family,
Spare him his life from this monstrosity
Easy come, easy go, will you let me go
Bismillah! No, we will not let you go
(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go
(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go
(Let me go) Will not let you go
(Let me go) Will not let you go (Let me go) Ah
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
(Oh mama mia, mama mia) Mama mia, let me go
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me
So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye
So you think you can love me and leave me to die
Oh, baby, can’t do this to me, baby,
Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here

Beijing, China, karaoke, KTV, Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody

My last free day in Beijing for this trip.  Been here 3 weeks now, 4 more sleeps now before I fly home.  I really like Beijing, but am really looking forward to getting home.

Looks like the last couple of days here are going to be cold and maybe snowy.   No doubt a foretaste of what it will be like when I come back in December.

Beijing, Summer Palance

I decided to give this a miss today.  Likewise starfish.

About as adventurous as I’ve been with the eating here has been pig’s feet we had as part of lunch yesterday, which was quite ok.  We nearly talked ourselves into the spicy stirfried bullfrog, too, but wimped out.

PS …. I forgot to mention before, the scorpions were still wriggling.

Beijing, food, seahorse, scorpion, bullfrog

It did snow here today, more than I’ve ever seen except when I’ve been to a ski field.  Here’s what I could see out of my hotel room window. (I know, I know … for Northern Hemisphere people snow is no big deal, but for Australians it is a novelty.  I live in one of the coldest parts of Australia, and we get snow (enough to settle on the ground) maybe once every 5 years).

However, it eventually did stop snowing in the afternoon, so I caught the subway to Yuanmingyuan Park to have a look around.  As you can see, lots of snow there, too.

Not to mention a few snowfights going on, and the odd snowman.  And lots of workers to sweep snow off the paths.  And, did I mention, it was pretty damn cold?  I think it got to all of 2 degrees.  Tomorrow, its -6 to 3 degrees.

Beijing, snow, Yuanmingyuan, Old Summer Palace