The world adores matt hayward

Don’t let the title put you off. This isn’t some jingoistic, Republican response to Moore’s evidently successful Farenheit 911.  In fact documentary maker Michael Wilson, dedicates a great deal of time to justifying the movie’s somewhat harsh title and how similar his upbringing was to Moore’s.

Interviewed are people from Moore’s real home town in Michigan (not Flint) and several renouned documentary makers. So to are the bank clerks from the beginning of Bowling For Columbine that handed our Mick the shotgun over the counter. Because this is where Moore shows his contempt for his fans, by liberally editing and manipulating the truth to the point he could be an intern on Fox News. You’ll be quite surprised to see what the bank clerks have to say about Moore’s ruse to get his scene.

Those of you looking for a pro gun, doco-made-from-the-back-of-a pickup will be disapointed. So too those who are far too sensitive to Moore’s plight to overcome dumb, middle America. Because this doco shows a more liberal, beligerant side to the US that Moore belittles as the rubble left behind by corporate America. No doubt the US is trouble, but several people, including a maimed Iraq war vet. are furious with the way Moore has manipulated the interview footage.

Moore himself hasn’t done himself any favours by telling the doco maker, for all intents, to fuck off at question time at one of his university tours. So much so that many attendees actually came up to the documentary maker, to comment that whilst they agreed with Moore, they thought accosting him was uncalled for. Furthermore for refusing to be interview, as so many of his own subjects had in Roger and Me especially.

Whilst Moore himself may not hate America per se, he’s certainly profiting from corporate channels through criticising it.  Allegedly he now lives in New York far, far away from the Flint he so allegedly loves. This film certainly illustrates he’s not catching the bus.

Effectively those who criticise this doco may say it’s a dissection of Moore’s crock pot edit techniques to polarize people into action. I used to agree with his principals despite his actions. However this doco was in making me realise that truth should never be manipulated or compromised. Ultimately it only weakens your case and strengthens your detractors.

Two very big thumbs up buy the Michael Moore Hates America movie here.

This email came from some bloke calling himself ‘gully gti-r’. Perhaps he should call himself Ali G?

"yo homeboy dem pics of dat gtir r fukin mad,coz gtir r me dream car i lov dem 2 bitz,me uncle ad 1 in birmingham wat was runnin 300bhp"

What the hell am I meant to do with this? Should I tell him that the GTI-R never had any success ever because of its woeful transsion? He must be referring to some car on matthayward.com but for the life of me I don’t know which one. If nothing else, all these crap emails have taught me a lesson in usability: that you always need to know which page referred your user. But this useless information is the pitts. I think I am going to tear down all those old car pictures and turn the page! This shit is just the dregs of humanity.

Here’s some more to prove the point.

"oi do u have ne other pics of gemini wagons if so could u send em to us thanks dude"
"hey omg i love that car i want 1 just like it but in blue or black or pink.u got a nice ride.well betta go write bac"~Rheana
"that van is sic ive got a td panel van and i dont see meny of them now can you send me some more pics of it some of the inside to."~RONNIE

I give up on the mentality of the car scene.

OK so everyone that looked a little bit olive skinned was getting attacked? So OK, if I was in Cronulla, I think I would’ve been screwed. I am of English descent, but quite olive skinned. By default because I have very Celtish features, a combination of both English and French Celt descent. Not something I am proud or unproud of, just am that way. Maybe I could’ve been attacked by a bunch of stubby throwing bogans?

For most of us, nationality doesn’t mean shit really. My girlfriend is Asian (most have been) and most of my mates are in many ways foreign. Primarily because most suburban ‘Aussie’ types hang amongst themselves and don’t really do anything that interests me. It really doesn’t compel me where people are from. In some instances, sure it does, but why make a big deal of it? Some people are just sick to death of being asked where they’re from and I can at least at a simplistic level, understand why.

One possible reason why it doesn’t concern me is because I went to a primary school that was about 99% Anglo Australian (we had one Italian and a Jordanian) and was always seen as a wog, even through high school. And well up until about the 9th grade when I got to go overseas, I was bigoted, fag hating racist of the worst order. But I was for the most part a product of the environment. It doesn’t mean you can’t escape the environment! A trip to Japan probably saved me at that age.

So in effect, I could’ve ended up one of the yobbos at Cronulla beach. I am an ‘Aussie’ sans blue eyes and blonde hair. I am from the suburbs, never went to private school and have shit tin of AC/DC in my CD collection. Unfortunately I am not disgusted by what happened, you pretty much learn to expect it.

It scares me that Aussies who really don’t have a clue what’s going on might one day start a brawl at Frankston Beach or St Kilda beach because there’s nothing else to do.

Honestly I have no idea what spurred this on in Sydney. Although I hate Sydney in general, who wants to see this crap happen anywhere? Who wants to see people act this way toward one another? Also just because I don’t like it, doesn’t mean there aren’t some cool people there, and there’s not a good time to be had. It’s just a populous city with populous attitudes I detest, but do I hate the people? No.

Apparently, there were several catalysts for the rioting. Rapes by Muslim guys, ethnic gangs on beaches. God only knows what. You could even throw terrorism in the melting pot. Either way, I am not disgusted I am dumfounded. We live in a country where there’s plenty for everyone. Politically and economically not perfect, but for the most part OK. It’s not like where in Europe where people have been fighting for sovereignty and borders for hundreds of years. We’re 200 years old for crying out loud. We’ve never had a civil war (and you’d be surprised to see just how many countries have, ie Malaysia 1969) or anything where the national guard have been called in. I’m not disgusted, I am saddened.

One thing is clear though, is that the sun was shining, the beer was cold, a few people were pissed with their phones and felt like a punch on. They might have seen something on the TV and thought, ‘hey let’s jump on the train and start some shit’. White or muslim, equally unintelligent. Of course a few serious nutters were in the mix, like White Supremacists and Actual real Ethnic gangs. But for the most part, it was probably normal working types, that donned overalls come Monday morning (or even suits) and brag about their prowess at the water fountain or building site.

If you are from overseas, there is injustice in Australia and it would be most prevalent in Sydney. If only because the outer suburbs vary tremendously in living standards and the inner city areas are so impossibly unaffordable. People for the most part aren’t truly racist. There’s just trendy stereotypes, like ‘lebs’ and ‘wogs’ and a need to fit into a crowd. But we don’t have the pitfalls of New Orleans or Paris at the moment. We just have red blooded idiots with a TV, baseball bat and a mobile phone, pissed off by the ever increasing stresses of life that want to be the shit out of each other. And it’s enough to make you want to stay out of the trendy spots forever.

All I can really think of is perhaps the media can take a different tack in their treatment of this kind of violence. Instead of inciting people to grab a slab and call or their mates and get on the train to the beach. If this ever happens in Melbourne, I don’t know what the hell i’d do.

You won’t have to ask me twice to go to a girly show. Unfortunately, I neglected to check the details that this was a girly show, for girls, by girls in a really girly girl, gigly girly, friggin, pfft crap way.

In fairness, the last half hour of the show was pretty good. It was the first half that was well shitful.

And in closing OK, I am a male and an insatiable perv. 2 of the 3 girls are pretty sexy in the show. But for the life of me, the so called ‘town bikes’ , two gorgeous, nubile young sexy things, that dance in between the real act, were ten fold hotter than the main show. Then there was the stage hand girl. She was the most spectacular thing I have seen in quite some time. If they just had the town bikes and their stage hands slapping minges, I would’ve been the happiest man on earth. Oh well . . .

There were highlights. The cute Japanese chick. She did a cute little Kimono dance thing. There other hottie, with her nipples pierced did a fantastic dance with ropes and stilts. And there was a hilarious part with a dance to the song ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’.

That was in the last half though. The first act was average to say the least. And the cute Japanese chick did a raunchy thing were she throws a bunch of knickers out into the audience, without ever showing her minge. I felt as cheated as a fat bastard at ‘tofu appreciation night’.

Pfft, the girlfriend like it

Any director that casts Keanu Reaves in a role, no matter how small, obviously likes a challenge. For a guy that can’t even play bass guitar properly, with an incredibly wooden demeanour, he didn’t do too badly. Thankfully he only had about 5 scenes in the whole movie and actually pulled some big laughs. In cause you haven’t noticed, I think Keanu is the urine cake of the Hollywood porcelain bowl. Frankly this movie is a bit slow in bits and kind of lulls in you into the plot, like it’s a normal drama, then suddenly a piss funny joke comes out of nowhere like a deer in headlights. There are some completely left of field hilarious jokes in here worth the price of admission alone!

Thumbsucker basically is about a 17 year old bloke that can’t stop sucking his thumb. He blames everything wrong with his life on his thumb sucking, you know, why he can’t get a girlfriend or apply himself at school. He tries everything to quit, especially to appease his interfering sports jock father. Nothing seems to work. Enter Keanu the kid’s ‘cool hippie orthodontist’. He tries new age ways to get him to quit while checking his teeth. Somehow the new age treatment is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. And through a high school intervention, our kid’s diagnosed with ADD and suggested a course of drugs. He’s now on an amphetamine driven path to success and miraculously stops sucking his thumb. But all the same, ending up with a far worse habiat.

What Thumbsucker is really about is making mistakes as a teenager; parental and high school pressure taking its toll on the individual to the point where they think one small habiat can change their whole lives. Our main character Justin demonstrates that our high schools are too pragmatic in their diagnosis and parents too self absorbed in their own life to be skeptical of the schools. Or for that matter just let kids be themselves with no pressure. The pressure put on Justin the thumbsucker ends up in substance addiction. It’s a junkie of a different kind that puts him on the right path and he’s left ultimately to himself to decide what’s right for him. He explores legal and illegal drugs, the academic and stoner side of high school life, good mates and academic sparring partners.

Ultimately the decision for the rest of his life is his. Whether to exploit his ritalin fueled success or life with indifference. Because after all it’s not his fault his parents and school are so intollerant of kids being kids. There are some stellar performance by Vince Vaughan as the plaid high school debate club teacher. Keanu equally out of character and funny. Without being a spoiler, there is one utterly audacious and unbelievable scene that makes the whole movie.

Not a Napoleon Dynamite but pretty good. Check it out if you’ve ever been a confused teenager. 4 out of 5 stars.

If you know Toorak road, you’ll know Francoise near the corner of Toorak and Punt Road. Right next door to French Fantasies. Both these places just don’t do it for me. They’re either too snobby or the staff (in French Fantasies) just don’t care less. De La Terre is different.

From the moment you walk in you realise that they really care about their ingredients. All their rabbit, lamb etc was from the choiciest local regions, carefully sourced. Likewise the wine. Nothing pimped by sales reps here. Just carefully chosen Heathcote Shiraz and just the right French wines and Champagnes.

Rest assured, if you like the personal touch, this place wont dissapoint. It’s not incredibly expensive but assuringly not cheap. The staff will hapilly take any alteration to the menu and are extremely accomodating. What they do, they do very, very well. There’s an emphasis on game meat all cooked the Chef’s own way. So in a sense it’s not like any other French restaurant i’ve been to - and i’ve been to a few!

4.5 out of 5. Can only improve with further visits :).