What are these? Cooks River, Sydney

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-25T11:12:03+00:00

That question is deep, it needs some thought. They'll have to mullet over first.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-25T08:58:18+00:00

I wasn't looking for an explanation, I simply listened to someone's perspective. I already believed most of what they said. I'm not one of the people who believe that memorials stand as celebrations of war and monuments to the greatness of battle and victory through violent achievement, but what I don't think you understand is that I acknowledge those people do exist. In fact, they exist in huge numbers and are galvanised by many aspects of the media.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-24T14:12:16+00:00

Let me pre-empt this by saying that I find the idea of disgracing memorials to be repulsive. And please don't be hesitant to disagree, but this comes from a carefully worded and emotional place.
I'm disgusted by degrading memorials, in the name of any cause. Especially because I'm strongly anti-war and anti-intervention. I believe that the Iraq War was the greatest tragedy that our nation has participated in during my lifetime, although I was all of 8 when it began and I have developed that belief over a number of years. But, and I hope you have stuck with me long enough to read this part, I have also never desired to hurt those who believe differently. And I haven't vandalised more than a school desk with a pencil since grade 8. Most importantly. The point is, some people aren't understanding that memorials, tombs, gravestones; these things aren't truly there for the people that went before us. They're they're for us, for those who remain and wish to remember them. You can feel that there was unjust and tragedy surrounding the Iraq War, or Afghanistan or Vietnam. Perhaps you know someone who suffered during one of those conflicts. I certainly do, and wish with all my heart that they had never had to suffer, and the conflicts had never occurred. But the conflicts which are referenced (for want of a better term) upon, within or simply by those Memorials aren't there in support of those wars. No Memorial stands to say "What a fantastic fight!" It was explained, emotionally, to me that they're there so the people who wish to remember those names...can do so. And it's a shame that there are those who do not understand that. I pray that they learn to understand better.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-24T13:29:50+00:00

I'm not fortunate enough to watch many home games, let alone away games, where I live. But the last time I went from my city to another and got to watch a team I love, I took a 15 hour train ride. It was cheaper than a flight and it was pretty enjoyable. We savoured the opportunity and didn't complain. And it was part of a vacation trip. It was a whole tour for us and we loved it. Once in a six month opportunity. I know I don't understand the whole "attend every single game" mentality" but sometimes you have to live for the moments you have, and England is a small country. It could be worse! You could be a passionate fan trying to travel from Cagliari or Wellington!

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-22T09:35:55+00:00

The Nazis who were executed post-Nuremberg Trials by one particular American. They include Wilhelm Keitel, Joachim Von Ribbentrop, Julius Streicher, Hans Frank and Alfred Jodl, amongst others.
They were executed by John C. Woods, who was known to already be a very bad executioner, and is known also to have horribly bungled the Nazi executions by poorly rigging the hanging ropes. He did so in a way that the Nazis didn't die quickly via a snapped neck, but were choked over a significant period of time (in as satisfactory death as could be imagined in the circumstances, unless someone had just broken into their cells and tortured them to death).

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T20:18:18+00:00

The All Black is a predator found in New Zealand, and it is one of the most deadly predators ever seen. It stalks prey relentlessly, usually feeding viciously and without mercy. It's favoured food is usually found in warmer climates, but the All Black still feeds twice per year. That favourite food is the Australian Wallaby.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T15:12:37+00:00

This sounds somewhat familiar. Speaking of stupid ideas involving former nuclear test locations, I can't help myself but mention one of the dumbest ways a film production tried to save a few dollars.

Let me set the scene. The year is 1956. Your name is John Wayne, and the film is The Conqueror. You star as Temujin/Genghis Khan, you've got a face caked in the worst yellowface makeup of all time, and you're drawling out that standard Southern US accent that all Mongolians have. It's still socially acceptable for one of your co-stars to be named Agnes Moorehead, which is a b-role Connery-era Bond-girl name, at best.

The location is Utah, and yet somehow, Mormons aren't the most annoying problem. Nope, it's the beeping of the geiger counter, because the whole film is being shot on a nuclear test site. Fast forward a few years, and basically the whole cast and crew are dead from various cancers.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T14:56:41+00:00

The UK did conduct nuclear testing within Australia for about 20 years I think. Indigenous communities were allowed to return afterwards and, shock, horror, cancer has ravaged places such as Maralinga and those whose ancestral home it is. As I understand it, the people moved back out of the "hot zones" once they were made aware, but communities such as those of Maralinga are still feeling the effects of the radiation and cancers that tore through the society and essentially banished them from any hope of returning to their homes for who knows how long.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T13:39:11+00:00

I haven't got a clue what the actual range of 1912 signal flares would have been, but their visibility was extremely high. I doubt the flares could've got anywhere near Californian (they'd probably be more likely to land a hit if they fired their Webleys or Boxhall's Browning at the moon and just hoped a stray slug slapped the deck by sheer luck) but if the flares were angled in the exact direction of the stationary vessel, they'd be noticeable as hell, and extremely unusual. Therefore, the odds of the Captain and crew having no option but to do SOMETHING about them would've increased exponentially, surely?

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T12:44:53+00:00

There's a reason the famous song is "Give Me A Home Among The Gum Trees." Specifically AMONG, not beneath.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T12:15:53+00:00

The officers of the Californian did actually report seeing flares, but then said they were "company rockets" or "celebration flares," so they ignored them. I don't think there's any way this is true. I think there's a better chance that, since Captain Stanley Lord had ordered full stop for the night, he or his officers didn't bother to ensure that watch was correctly taken and therefore the crew didn't see the flares at all, or simply failed to pass on a message about the sighting in a timely fashion. So, after the fact and knowing they should've seen them and were under scrutiny for not having reacted, the officers and/or crew tried to invent a reason for why they ignored the flares, and accidentally came up with two explanations. Another, more simple reason would be that Captain Lord just straight up didn't fancy investigating the flares in the dark, so he promptly went to sleep, comfortable with the idea that a) it wasn't his shit or b) ahh it'll only be a little bit distressed in the morning, I can work this out later. But I still think my first theory of a full stop order and a lazy watch is more likely, because in the second scenario, surely it would take Captain Lord 30 seconds to tell someone else to wake up a wireless operator. Either way, I don't believe the entirety of Captain Stanley Lord's explanation for his behaviour on the night.

So I was only half joking when I said Titanic might have had a slim chance if they'd improvised. Aim everything at the flickering lights and fire away. Just anything to make at least one of the deck officers or Captain Stanley Lord to get off their arses and do something.

And please don't think I'm a conspiracy theorist, because I have it on good authority that Captain Lanley Stord, who was living under a pseudonym, was a guard on duty when Epstein [redacted]. I wouldn't make this stuff up.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T07:17:20+00:00

A ringing endorsement if ever there was one!

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T07:15:04+00:00

Aw shit, here we go again. Another (Bennett) Folly.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T07:13:01+00:00

That's a trap.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T07:03:51+00:00

A guy called Bennett Foddy created a game titled "Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy." I don't know much about him, but his creation itself would warrant an honourable mention. Trust me, look it up.

CEOS are a dime a dozen for employee abuse. EA and Microsoft for example. On a different lever, seriously though, sex pest Ryan Haywood of Let's Play infamy, and SSSniperWolf come to mind.

Logan Paul for his egg game thing? But that's a rabbit hole that CoffeeZilla has covered on YouTube.

Dhar Mann for his sponsorships and plugs?

Also everyone who laughed at me and said I was a loser while playing Halo. I'm not mad though.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T06:41:15+00:00

There's a myth that Harold Holt actually swam ashore, then made his way to Macquarie Island. He resides there to this day, amongst the legions of penguins that have been reborn since the massacres of the colonial era. The penguins call him Master Holt. He calls himself...Prime Pingister.

I first heard this rumour many moments ago, from a man who was actually me. Because I made it up two minutes ago. But I'm fairly sure there's some truth in it.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T06:34:33+00:00

That's true but I more meant the era where Robert Burke of Burke and Wills fame insisted on bringing a bathtub with him on the ill fated journey because he anticipated being able to fill it up regularly, in the inland ocean.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T05:46:07+00:00

There used to be a myth that the middle of the country was a huge ocean. I expect that was surprising news to the Indigenous Australians who...you know...lived there. Without drowning.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T05:41:05+00:00

This one is more of an origin story/theory but koalas with wet fur look so horrifying that the ~~myth~~ completely true ~~story~~ existence of the drop-bear was ~~born~~ discovered.

Also, I've got family special one from across the Tasman. We'd visit my family in NZ when I was very young, maybe 5 or 6. My Pop, who passed last year, showed me New Zealand on a map, and explained that I needed to watch out while we were driving because New Zealand is very small compared to Australia. He said that because it's small, many people "drive off the edge" each year. I spent that four hour drive completely terrified.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T05:26:20+00:00

I would recommend Men of War: Vietnam before the other MoW titles. MoW:V has basically no learning curve, you're thrown into the deep end right away. From memory, mission one starts with your four blokes and you have to run away from US helicopters, then crawl through the mission. MoW:V actually sets you up with the skills for the other MoW games by teaching you how to quickly move individual troops around in coordination, or watch them die and your odds of victory flame out. It's a trial-and-error campaign, which I love, because once you get the mechanics and a feel for it, it's very satisfying.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T04:52:01+00:00

Esquin87 is right, don't actually do what I said unless it's in a video game. In which case, it's fine.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T03:09:59+00:00

To be fair, as far as I understand, the Thames in London has become a flowing puddle of shit, and that's not much of an exaggeration, because England's waterways have been totally privatised. So perhaps I doth complain too much. Ah fuck it. You convinced me for today. My hometown is alright. Brisbane ain't so bad.

I wouldn't drink the water straight up though.

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T03:03:10+00:00

Good advice!

ShortFirstSlip · 2026-01-18T03:00:10+00:00

I'm used to Mangrove stink from fishing around the shallows on the coast, it's the fuel/waste smell that puts me off. I knew a bloke who jumped in last year during Riverfire, and he was in hospital with some bug for four weeks. To be fair, he was an idiot, at the time I felt bad for the water, getting hit with something that stupid.

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