Fathers Day

This is just a short post I wanted to write as Father's Day is coming up here in Australia (September 2nd) and I get to re-stock my supplies of socks, underpants and DVD's.

In one of my more serious (and second most popular!) posts titled, "Dads have it Easy(er)", I wrote about the importance of fathers or father figures in the lives of children.

Now, men want practical tips - not airy fairy emotional stuff. You don't have to give us all the background, just tell us what to do.

So I've taken one practical piece of advice that I learned and applied it at my childrens' school - having some of the kids read to me in the morning before class.

It's mostly gone well - and has been a lot of fun.  My "regulars" have come to enjoy reading to me - you can tell. One boy actually told me he wanted to read to me every day. That was nice. I think it's because, being a Dad, I'm naturally much cooler than the Mum's. I can't help it - that's just the way it is.  It's like the sun always rising in the East and setting in the West. Dads, by definition, are cooler.

The real Olympics medal count

Well the Olympics have come and gone for another four years and, surprise surprise, the United States finished first again, and China second.  And of course Australia once again showed their sporting superiority over New Zealand (which, after all, is all that really matters, especially when Great Britain has kicked your butt).

I've included the official top 10 ranked countries below:



# Republic of Korea is South Korea

But are these countries really the best Olympic nations? Does the medal tally truly reflect the sporting worth of a Country?

I think it's time to put some parity back into the medal count, and I did more research than I usually care to do for my blog on the matter. But before I tell you which nations are truly the best...

Some interesting "facts" I discovered

What's in an anthem?

With the Olympics on pretty much all day and night, you may have heard the occasional National Anthem being played (except perhaps the Australian one).

Fortunately Australia's national anthem isn't all that good, so you're not missing out on much if you haven't heard it. Our old anthem was much better than the current one anyway. It was about a guy who stole a sheep. The new one has Australia "girt" by sea.

And before you ask, yes, "girt" is a real word.  It means "to encircle", though I prefer the Urban Dictionary definition - "to leave quickly out of necessity".  Somehow that seems to fit.

But some anthems actually sound good - well the music anyway. Who knows what the words are. Well, dear reader, I do - some of them at least. And boy, do they make girt look good.

Speaking of looking good ...

This image and a few more can be found at Digital Spy.

Friday (3 days late) Funny

Hey, the Olympics are on so 'excuse me' for being three days late.

I do have some other posts in the wings waiting to dazzle and amaze, but I'm still researching some bits and pieces (yes, this blog occasionally does have some factual matter amongst the dribble).

It also has some highly intellectual humour, such as the cartoon below ...

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