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Well lads and lassies, I'm 10 hours away from facing the Australian Citizenship Office to convince them I am worthy of becoming an Aussie.  Actually the only reason I am doing it is cos of my son, who's 9/16 Irish anyway.  Among the responsibilities and privileges of note are the following:

- "defend Australia, should the need arise."  In other words if the w**ker John Howard pisses off the Indonesian or if Rio Tinto keeps increasing the cost of Iron Ore for the Chinese, there is every likelihood I will be called upon to defend Australia.  Hmmm, 7 years of Tae Kwon Do might not go very far I think.

So those of you out there who have or are contemplating getting dual citizenship, who among you would be prepared to give your life for another country?

Then there's the question of the oath to be taken at the ceremony...
"From this time forward, under God*
I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people
whose democratic beliefs I share;
whose rights and liberties I respect, and
whose laws I will uphold and obey."
* A person may choose whether or not to use the words " under God".

I have chosen to omit the words "under God" as I feel only Mother Ireland deserves such loyalty. 

Or more precisely ...

an Irish woman from County Derry reaches the summit of Everest.  Yes, happy for her as I was a year younger than her at primary school in Kilrea.  Even pushed her off her bike one day!!!  Don't ask.

What's all this NI shite.  No such country...never was never will be.  The Ulster Scots brigade will next be telling us that because she lived in Kilrea close to Ballymoney, Ballymena, Ballybogey, Dervock, Bushmills and Stranocum, she is part fluent in the lingo.   

Ulster Scots...US...UnServiceable!!

"A other SKY program made for people with the iq of a brick "

A other??....iq of a brick...bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I wonder what would happen if the illegitimate one was annexed by the natives...would Britannia go in with all guns blazing or what?  Fcuk it would be great if he was nabbed.  Of course the world would be drowned in the vomit of pro-Western lies and then told they had to understand that the war was justified.  I'm not surprised Charlie hasn't come out against Hewitt going...sure he's not his da anyway, so why should he give a fork.

I've been doing a bit of photography now for about 15 years and have only recently bought my first digital camera, a wee Canon Sureshot 430, stick in your pocket thingy so that I can take pictures of the wee lad and email them to the family at home.  I have two Canon SLRs from the early '90s and all Canon lenses.  It has been a labour of love but I can take a decent auld snap now, mainly because I read books about it.  The "probleim" with digital SLRs is that the actual skill of taking photos for the most part is lost what with Photoshop etc.  So, my advice is get an ordinary SLR, get some good books, actually Photography for Dummies is good as it explains F-stops, AE, Tv, P, etc in layman's terms and get advice on film.  I only use Fuji  Velvia, Sensia  and Provia.  Then when you have nailed the techniques, progress on to a digital SLR.  I'm considering the Canon EOS 3 but still a case of want as opposed to need.  Maybe next Christmas.

I was watching the Swans' game and must admit when Tadhg went down and before we had the two millionth rerun in slow motion of the tackle (fair in all as it was) I knew the lad was in bother.  This weekend has seen quite a few nasty knee injuries.  It is a testament to Tadhg (or Tie) as the illiterates here call him, that it was a topic of quite lengthy conversation of AM radio yesterday morning.

I myself, am recovering from the nailbiter at Subiaco as Freo sneaked a win against the Crows.  What an atmosphere and what a way to say thanks to Shaun McManus for 200 games and loyalty to the club since its founding.  I was just to the side of the Freo cheer squad and the craic was mighty I can tell you.  When Webster kicked the winning "goal" we went ballistic thinking that that was it.  I was directly in line with the ball and it actually landed about three rows in front of me but must admit it did ever so slightly shave the upright.  Actually a point was a better outcome as from the kickout the Crows were forced to play long and who should collect the ball, but none other than Pavlich.  He is one serious mountain of a man.  All in all scoring 16 behinds is really crap, granted that three were rushed.  Still the kicking was woeful.  And to make matters worse Jeff Farmer went and got himself into trouble for clocking a bouncer on Saturday night.  Out to R13, if he's allowed back at all.   He is just too important to be let go as he is easily the best kicker.  The defence was very strong today so I think Shane Parker will have a very hard task getting his position back.  Antoni Grover was a tank again.

Ben Cousins is back in Perth after his rehab.  Joke doing the rounds:
"Hungry Jacks have a new hamburger on sale;
It's called the Ben Cousins happy meal...
Comes with free coke and a straw,
but hurry in and get one before they all run out.

Brisbane next week I think.  gulp.  Jonathan Brown gave a great plug to Begley for his showing at the weekend v. Carlton, but unfortunately Setanta and his chums will have to take a long hard look at one of the last goals conceded when all three went unchallenged for the ball and missed allowing a Lions forward to run in, collect and score. 

I was listening to Collingwood v. Richmond on the radio.  Seems the Tigers self-destructed again.  Rocca is on form this season. That goal v. WCE (one of only two times I go for the Eagles, the other is v. Essondon) was something else but has any one seen the goal the Port Adelaide player scored v. Freo in Round One.  I was sitting about 20 yards from him when he unleashed and it must have travelled at least 70 metres.  We all clapped as Freo were about 30-odd points up by that stage, but that was the beginning of the self-destruction and the last time we had anything to clap about for the rest of the game. 

Tonight is the derby.  If I'm  silent for another week, it'll be obvious why!!

Fremantle...shit start to the season but we're short a few regulars...the Royalty are on the up this season.

County: Derry

Clubs:

Pearses, Kilrea, Derry
Lavey (Hurling), Derry
St.Brendan's, Manchester
Morley Gaels, Perth, Australia

Best GAA memories:
Playing: Winning the D'Alton Cup with Maghera in 1981, walking out onto Croker in 1985 for Colleges hurling final (don't want to talk about the result though), winning the All-Britain U-21 Championship with Lancashire in 1988 beating the very over-rated London team by a bagful.

Supporting: everything about 1993!, singing Amhrain na bhFiann with my cousin in Perth last year prior to the international rules game