Mike Beckham

This has been a major element of my life. My parents always rented, they got together too late in life, moved to the other side of the world, and didn’t have any savings, so their best option was to rent properties.

The big issue with rentals is instability, knowing you may have to move with the end of each rental contract. If the owner wants to move in to the property, sell it or let a family member lodge there, it means you’ve got to find somewhere else to go.

image: domain.com.au

Finding rental properties online, following up with agents to find out if there are inspections, going to them, filling out the applications, and waiting to hear back. All part of the misery of applying for rentals.

Probably the worst part is finding a place, falling in love with it, and not getting it. That happens often, occasionally you will get lucky, most of the time you will not. The demand is too great, too many people, also looking for the best of the lot, your odds are low.

This is what my partner and I have been doing over the last week, trying to find a new rental, all while trying to juggle a hundred different things at once, and travelling quite the distance from our current location, to where we are looking.

Hopefully it will all be worthwhile, and we find a great place to call home, well until the lease is up, and another hideous search for a place is necessary.

It has been over a week of 30c/86F degree days, and I’m completely over it. I’m never a fan of hot weather, but it’s even worse on work/school days.

Travelling to and from classes each day, in a stinking hot train, waiting on platforms for them to open the damn train, as it just sits there. Air conditioning not working, then schlepping up and down stairs, sprinting to air conditioned rooms, to only have to face it all again on the way home.

image: smh.com.au

It’s not good, in fact what makes it worse is I missed most of summer, having been overseas. So stepping into the furnace from winter elsewhere, is a bit of a shock to the system.

Relief is apparently on the way come Thursday. It can’t come soon enough, even those crazy friends of mine who love hot weather, are over it already.

Here’s hoping it’s a cold and wet winter ahead, we all need it.

This is the video that is making folks on social media go crazy. A much hyped week long teaser campaign has backfired, after promising a ‘game changing announcement’, it has been revealed that Domino’s Australia is just unveiling a new range of premium pizzas, with speculation it is in response to Crust, which offers more premium toppings. 

That’s always the problem with promising so much, and delivering something rather minor - certainly no game changer.

However the reaction, as you’d expect is ridiculous. Angry Twitter, YouTube and Facebook messages, all furious that they aren’t delivering something more. What do you really expect though? Every time one of these companies promises ‘something big’, most often than not, it’s just a rebadging, or evolution of an existing product.

Perhaps we expect too much?

image: gawker.com

I’ve been reading, with some amusement, the latest rumours coming out of NBC about yet another attempt to push Leno out of The Tonight Show. Good luck with that by the way.

The names that are being put out there to replace Jimmy Fallon, who would take over Jay’s spot are interesting though. Howard Stern is a name that has bizarrely been put out there, the 59 year old radio show host, and judge on American’s Got Talent has been tipped as a possibility. Ignoring the fact that is almost in his 60’s and the Late Night gig has always gone to young comedian, it is unlikely he would take the massive pay-cut that comes with accepting such a role. It sure would be interesting to see, mind you.

image: gawker.com

Another name put out there, but this time for The Tonight Show is former SNL writer and performer, and 30 Rock creator Tina Fey, she could be awesome in the position, but I just don’t see her wanting to do that with a movie career longing for her.

Two names I am happy to put out there are - Jason Sudekis. Currently on SNL, he is coming to the end of his tenure, with rumours that he wants out soon. What a perfect opportunity for Lorne Michaels who produces both Late Night and SNL to slide the charisma heavy star over. 

The other is The Soup host, and star of the critically acclaimed NBC sitcom Community, Joel McHale. His biting comedic edge is something different to what Jimmy Fallon does, and he is still quite young and has a built-in following, his current star vehicle Community, isn’t doing crash hot in the ratings. He might be able to be convinced to take on such a coveted role.

image: comcast.net

There is nothing worse to me, than someone who reads a news article about something - usually something they didn’t witness for themselves, and goes into hysterics about it.

The moral panic syndrome, it’s so annoying, and so pervasive, throughout Australia in particular, fuelled by the mind numbingly dumb mainstream media, who are too lazy to chase real news, and instead find it easier to get Joe Anybody to comment on a social issue, and pick out the outraged ones to air.

Politicians are especially good at this, as well as AM talkback shock jocks. Just look at the Mardi Gras police incident, the AM radio guys were falling over themselves to defend the police in that situation, and when evidence comes out that the guy involved had been a dick as well, they had a field day. On top of this, some morons made up a sign labelling all cops as bastards.

All results of people acting in a reactionary manner, all of which could have been avoided with cooler heads, and a media that didn’t feel the need to sensationalise every god damn thing.

The guy was a dick, the cops acted like thugs, but everyone on either side can’t see how the other acted wrongly.

photo: https://twitter.com/tomsteinfort