Cablog

Modern girls

An old girlfriend* of mine, Miranda Devine, has again today been on the case of desperate and dateless Sydney women,

It is the chocolate box approach to love: take a nibble and move on, because a better chocolate might be next. Finding a mate might be easier, but moving to a committed relationship is less likely, those roaming free in the singles world say.

Indeed, the number of beautiful women in my cab with dropkick men, is astounding. Are they that desperate ? Well, yes. On Thursday, Miranda laid the blame squarely on picky women,

...ditching men because they fail to measure up in some infinitesimal way has been a staple gag in real-life single girl chats for years.

However, with the help of Melbournite, Bernard Salt, she comes to the conclusion that there is no man shortage,

But the famous man shortage is a myth. According to Bernard Salt, KPMG demographer and author of The Big Shift, there is actually a glut of never-married single men aged 25 to 34 in Australia: 727,000, compared with just 568,000 women. That's a ratio of 1.3 to 1.

Where this arguement falls down, is in considering Sydney typical of Australia. Sydney is atypical, being a dead-set chick and gay magnet, but not a real man attraction. Sure, blokes will come to Sydney to see what all the hype is all about, even staying for a year or two, then they're off, back to where life is real.

Saltie first floated his findings back in November '03. Then I responded with a letter, pointing out national trends on dating, do not apply to Sydney....

*She dropped me, citing the lame excuse, 'You have no good prospects'. For Gods sake, I'm the best looking cabbie in town - my jeans are impeccible ! Women are so fickle...

Bloody passion

Just when league's month of shame could not get any worse, some Bulldogs fans took it to a new level. They reinforced their reputation as the worst-behaved fans in the NRL by starting several mass brawls, viciously attacking Roosters supporters.

Ho hum, more charming behaviour by 'passionate Australians', using football as a cover. A feature of these mobs is the predominance of split-level haircuts, coupled with signs of steriod abuse. Same 'ol, same 'ol...

No sooner had the brawl been stopped than spectators in Canterbury jumpers and waving blue and white flags at the Randwick end of the ground started throwing rubbish and bottles on to the field.

The most disappointing aspect of this latest violence, is the inaction of the NRL, despite the many warning bells of this emerging problem. Consider this letter I sent to the newspaper 12 months ago...

No passion

Often when chatting to immigrants in the cab, I ask them,

So, what do you think of Australia as a home ?

Whether they have been here 1 week or 10 years, to a person, they struggle to complete their assessment,

Oh, it is very nice/beautiful/like heaven......but......,

But...there’s always something else, they can’t bring themselves to tell me. What they find hard to say politely is,

....the people here, they have no passion....

Immigrants feel this acutely.

Passenger tips

Don’t get in !! Nah, just joking...

How many times have I heard from passengers, ‘ The driver wouldn’t take me/got lost/was aggressive/ripped me off. But what could I do ?’. The common thread of passengers complaints is a feeling of helplessness. This is especially so for women travelling alone at night.

Here’s some tips for passengers confronted by a difficult driver...

To a Mountain

Twelve months ago last night a dear friend, mate, brother and baba passed away. He lived on a remote mountain at 4000ft, a days drive from anywhere. Whilst it was such an ordeal to ever visit, one could be certain of never wanting to leave.

When the clouds kissed the gums, it felt like heaven...

Cable outage

Cable outage should have been eliminated once I switched from the dreaded dial-up. Not so. Over the weekend I've battled to operate, posting in bursts only. May as well be on Mars, communicating with Earth, for that service is more reliable than my set-up ! Today, beautiful Kylie from Telstra assures me everything is sweet. We'll see....Ade

Is this you...

Has this ever happened to you ? You hail a cab. On taking off, you notice the driver has forgotten to hit the meter.

Maybe you’ve elected to stand in a dangerous pick-up position. Possibly, you are with a party who is drunk, giving the driver immediate challenges over your destination/safety/behaviour. Whatever, something at the start of the fare, distracts the driver enough for him to forget to hit the meter. This can sometimes happen to me once a night.

Blokesworld threatened

Tonight Saturday, is shaping up as a real dilema for Aussie blokes. Will blokes be forced to take out their sheilas, or will their regular Saturday night plans remain unaffected. In the last 24 hours, we've been told that Community Channel 31 which carries Blokesworld, the weekly religious program for Aussie blokes, was kaput. Apparently, they have breached the provisions of their license, banning advertising. They were ordered to terminate transmission at midnight last night. Coincidentally, a replacement broadcaster is waiting in the wings...

Then good fortune intervened by way of the shitfight between Sky Racing Channel, and the Turf clubs. At the eleventh hour, an agreement was reached to use Channel 31 for todays broadcasts of all TAB meetings. A midnight court order subsequently granted a reprieve to Channel 31 by temporarily extending its license to accomodate the shitfight over racing telecasts. This decision however, seems to be supersede by related info. in the above news link. Huh...?

However, on checking Channel 31 at 3pm, it appears to be running normal transmission. Except there is no listing for Blokesworld at 9.30pm, instead being replace by Fashion Police !? Has Blokesworld been sacrificed to save Channel 31 ? I smell a conspiracy. Now on checking Blokesworld web site, nothing. Probably on the piss already or still recovering from last night. Short of any further update regarding this perilous situation for Aussie blokes, we must assume the show will not go to air tonight. Tragic really.

Surviving Sydney

On my days off, I sometimes have an early dinner in Surry Hills. Last night Friday, found me on Elizabeth Street, looking for a decent diner. I was as hungry as buggery, if that’s possible. So stupid me chose a ‘glamorous’ Thai eat 'n run place, near Cleveland. One of those joints where halfway through the meal, one makes a mental note never to eat at these shithouse joints again. Only to be forgotten a few weeks later.

I should have gone straight to the cabbies café on Regent Street. There I would be assured of a good honest feed instead of eating without enthusiasm, culling an uncertain mammal off the plate. Given I eat on a cabbies budget, I’m not in a position to live it up by blowing a nights wage at Aria, Opium or Golden Century. I did put in a request for Sydney Food Diary to review Regent Streets Gas/Guts&Go, but nothing yet. Probably just as well, otherwise the secret of Regent Street will get out. Then it will be subjected to a Soup Nazi-style swamping by inner-city yuppies.

St Patricks night

Just got home from working St Patricks night and it was pretty rough. On the rank at Kings Cross, the Asian cabbie in front got out and doused a burning green shirt in the gutter, near his cab. For his efforts he was heckled by a large crowd of drunken Irishmen.

A few yards up, next to the heroin-injecting room* an Irishman sat in the gutter outside Playbirds strip club, his face and hands covered in blood. Something has just happened. No police or paramedics yet. A few minutes earlier I’d noticed Playbirds spruiker, a real professional, leaving his post, looking back, gesticulating. He barked at a hooker looking for a light. She hurriedly backtracked. He wasn’t happy at all. Later, on passing the strip through the early morning, Playbirds was closed down and the area taped off as a crime scene.

* All junkies please note : The heroin injecting room is subject to State Government regulations. For the safety of the staff you are reminded there is NO SMOKING inside the room. (I kid you not)
UPDATE: The injecting room is a non-descript closed down shopfront, with blacked out windows and no signage. Very shabby. It is conviently located directly opposite the entrance to Kings Cross railway station. Junkies have never had it so good, yet fuck-all use the joint. And why would they. Of course it only operates public service hours, noted by the presence of a lone security guard, who looks like any other dreamchaser loitering on the strip.