My pictures are ready

I now have photo capabilities so my pictures will become a common feature on this blog.

Chilling with Pete

pete, row boat and me
Originally uploaded by crabba.

Mates, lakes, forest, beer, a row boat and Maija with a camera. Nice.

Sauna to snow

sauna to snow
Originally uploaded by crabba.

Finns tell me that heating yourself in a sauna and then rolling around in snow is a cultural thing. I think they just like to laugh at foreigners. This is not comfortable, I can assure you. Jumping into icy water from sauna is much more invigorating but I don't have a picture of that.

That damn frog will be the end of me

I like this world even though I am becoming more aware of how deeply rooted many of the major problems are. But one thing got on my nerves just then and I cannot even begin to understand it.

Is the Crazy Frog in Australia? If he isn’t, here is the run down. Some guys got hold of a sound program, made a funny voice and sold it as a ring tone for mobile phones. All good, no harm done. But, they have now taken that Beverly Hills Cop tune, added a very basic techno beat and put this Frog’s voice in cameo spots throughout the song.

Music is not my strong point but this Crazy Frog song sounds very basic and musically unintelligible. Maija, who is one of those amazing musical types, is also upset over the developments of this song. You see, it’s number 1 on the charts in parts of Europe, if it’s not number one then it has been there, or is on its way.

What the fuck is with that? What do people think when they listen to such a song? Really! Long gone are the days of class, soul, skill, talent, time and thought, heart, passion and all things that make music good. This is up there with my hatred for IKEA.

And will the dick who is playing that damn Crazy Frog song near my apartment please climb a tall tree and jump out head first. I want to record the sound of multiple bone fractures so I can make a funny ring tone for my phone.

Crabba

Someone with a story

Few immigration policies can stop useless people slipping through the fingers of the authorities. However, the heavy handedness of Australia’s workforce recruiting agency (also known as the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs) means that needy people who would provide nothing but benefits-o-plenty for Australia get crushed by a big and sweaty clenching fist.

The other night Maija and I went to Grilli for an intake of salt and fat. Grilli is a parked caravan or small shed that sells meals best described as “man food”. I ordered a meal that translates into ‘This and That’. This and That consists of meatballs and two types of sausage, pickled onions and cucumbers, and a shit load of fries all topped off with garlic sauce. It was washed down with one litre of milk (which is real man food up here)

The Grilli was manned by a Kosovo refugee. Finland opened their strict immigration doors, along with their extremely generous welfare system, to a few refuge seekers from the Balkans during the conflict in the region. As what happens in a country unaccustomed to foreigners, there were a number of other refugees hanging around the Grilli to provide morale support if racism came to order a meal. (For those who think Australia is an intolerant country when it comes to foreigners you should see places like Finland and Denmark, not to mention most other European countries, where attitudes towards foreigners are well below what is found in our multicultural society.)

The bloke from Kosovo recognised I wasn’t a local and, in perfect Finnish, asked my nationality. After hearing I was Australian he yelled out to his Iranian mate who came over to chat with me. We chatted for about half an hour. This man said that he had been to Australia and it was a nice country with nice people. He went there for three weeks and spent most of his time in Brisbane. I thought he was just another tourist until he started to tell a story about how his boat sank.

He told a story known to many Australians. He left Iran with the help of people smugglers and made his way to Kuala Lumpur. He then hopped on a boat en-route to Jakarta, where he spent about five months. Jakarta was his last stop before setting out on an overcrowded, shit-heap excuse for a boat, only to make it one day afloat before the vessel sank.

I was told that about 300 people died on this boat; women, children, the elderly and babies. This man survived by hanging onto a piece of wood for about 24 hours as he saw and heard the tragedy in all its detail. He seemed sincere and his body language showed signs that he was remembering a rather hairy event.

I have done some research and this guy must be a survivor of the Siev X event, the worst refugee boat accident of its kind. The dates, going to KL and the numbers of the dead are similar in his story. He also told me how he saw lights of boats only a few hundred meters away but these boats didn’t rescue anyone. He is one of the survivors who was given refuge by Finland and went to Brisbane to give evidence against Kheleed Shanayf Daoed, the nob-head who smuggled 353 people to their deaths.

The survivor is now working in a Jyväskylä drink factory, has learnt English and Finnish and seems to be an all-round top bloke. Unfortunately I don’t know his name but I have narrowed it down to five possibilities. I would like to know more about this man’s experience but probing too far into an event like this would just be greedy. Depending on your opinion of Australia’s immigration policy some people might apologise on behalf of Australia, while others would be happy this Arab didn’t make it to our shores. My actions will be far simpler. On my next visit to Grilli I will shake his hand and wish him a nice life in Finland.

Meeting someone who has gone through an event such as the Siev X really puts a new spin on Australia’s immigration policy. For those with a strong opinion on immigration, whether it be lenient or tough, make sure you have met both sides of story before you blurt out some irrational dribble. It might change your mind before you get stuck into defending yourself for the sake of defence.

Crabba

(I still stand ill-informed on the immigration issue and will leave it up to the people in charge)

Herro again

G'Day

I guess it’s about time I apologise for not updating my blog and the right time get on with the program. Over the past month I have been busy at work. I was writing a 50 page guide to GIS and GPS and because my English and proofreading is so bad, especially when it comes to my own writing, I couldn’t be bothered to write anything in this blog.

A lot has been going on outside and inside of my head. All of it has been healthy. Firstly, Maija has found a work-placement in Adelaide. A mob called ArtLab Australia want her to find new business opportunities for their services. They are a state owned company that restores art of all kinds. Her role will be challenging and doesn’t come with a $2500 service fee. We just have to get that slippery Aussie Visa.

Secondly, after inspiration from Janne the Finn and Eric the Unknown I have been delving into the world of disaster management. It appears to be one of the few fields of work that is truly good and hard to prove evil or non-substantial in anyway. I’m scanning the jobs and will probably volunteer for the SES or Red Cross Disaster Management Division on my return to Aussie.

Thirdly, I have also been pondering about my life in the next few years and come up with a wish list. I have travelled through Europe enough to realise that Australia is a fucking great place to live and I agree with Gilganixon that many people try too hard to find a culture shock without looking in their backyard. I know many nice people who are overseas at the moment wanking off at all the cafes that are sooooooo different. “Wow” they say, “in Australia we pay before we order”. Well who cares, really. That won’t make a great story for the grand-kiddies as they hope. When asked how many times these people have been to the Flinders Ranges in the last fives years, the answer will probably be none. Repeat the question and change the location to the Outback, the Deep Creek, Yorkes or the West Coast and the total score will still be zip. And if it’s cultural understanding for a better world they are after, what better place to look than the Australian natives, the oldest living culture in the word. The masters of a land that we white folk have brought to the brink of uselessness in just over 200 years. These guys had an impact on the environment upon their arrival but created a culture that lasted several climate change events, reliant species extinction among the fuckeries an arid climate has to offer. The Australian aboriginals know something we don’t when it comes to Australia, it’s time we ask them what it is and not piss-off overseas and try to find an administrative solution to our problems. As a result, I will try to stay in Australia from now on and explore its wonders with all intention of understanding my backyard.

However, I have a Finnish girlfriend and maybe the Australian thing wont work. So I will utilise my Irish passport and move to another great country, Finland, to start a PhD. This will sadly mean missing Australia but at least I’m in another awesome country full of nature, exposure to a tough climate and few metro styled nightclub loving business students.

So my wish is to stay in Australia for a long time and work with disaster management or on the environment. If that doesn’t work it’s back the Swampy Land to study something.

Nice

AB