There’s a somewhat irreverent website I like to visit for some dark amusement. It’s called Deathlist. It’s a British website run by people of approximately my age, and probably started off as a game played in a university cafe in the late 1980s, where a circle of friends would come up with a list of …
Author Archives: Ernest Zanatta
A Sociopath’s Guide To A Successful Marriage
I still buy and read books, although I much prefer to idle a few hours away on the iPad with the Kindle app, reading what is on offer via Kindle Unlimited (my preference is for Sharpe and Hornblower imitations about the Napoleonic War). Browsing physical books in an actual bookshop is still a simple and …
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Iran – Will Anything Actually Change?
AI creates some very weird and wonderful fake videos these days. One which brought a chuckle to me (despite the gravity of the situation) was an AI revision of the Flock Of Seagulls hit (their only hit FYI) ‘I ran’. Trump, with his distinctively wild hair, takes the place of the lead singer of that …
Apocalocyntosis Redux
Last summer, I wrote about trying to grow pumpkins. I ended up successfully producing two. They were butternut variety. This year, I tried again. Put in a few seeds of a variety which grows best in pots. So I have a few tennis ball sized (so far) yellow fruits in vines growing in pots. I …
More Fun With Business Cards….
It is going to be a while before I run out of the business cards I ordered in late 2024. I did, after all, order 500 at that time. But when I do, I need to work out what sort of outrageous claims I can make on the card, beyond calling myself by the post …
Off With His Head! How To Best Resolve The Problem That Is The Andrew Formerly Known As Prince
I am fond of the plays written by Shakespeare, and by extension, those written by his near contemporary (and alleged ghostwriter) Kit Marlowe. The audiences at the time enjoyed a bit of gore, for instance, and so Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare’s equivalent of a Road Runner cartoon), with its rapes, dismemberments, murders, and cannibalism, is particularly …
A Game Of Thrones (Or Seats) – Why The Liberals Face An Uphill Battle In The November 2026 Victorian State Election
Only the most unabashedly partisan of voters would argue that the current incumbent Labor government of Victoria deserves to win another term. The most recent revelations of corruption running to a 11 figure number (ie tens of billions) lost in inappropriate payments to entities and personages aligned with the more sinister elements of the union …
We Are Pleased To Announce That We Are Passing On This Rate Increase In Full On Your Variable Home Loan…
The heading for this blog post is taken from a message sent out in the past day by ME Bank to its home loan customers, following the announcement by the Reserve Bank that official interest rates were rising. This tone deaf message probably marks the dissolution of the last vestige of the myth that ME …
I Blame Daryl Somers For The Rise Of Pauline Hanson
As a child, my favourite TV show was Cartoon Corner, which was on Channel 9 every weeknight at 4pm. It was a welcome escape from the weary grind of primary school, and was hosted by Daryl Somers with the puppet Ossie Ostrich as his sidekick. That was Daryl Somers’ first TV hosting gig, and the …
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Iran At A Crossroads?
I was not quite 10 in early 1979 when the Shah of Iran flew into exile, preempting the takeover of that country by the mullahs, led by the odious fanatic the Ayatollah Khomeini. That was not the only thing going on around that time. The USSR rolled tanks into Afghanistan a few months later, and …
Lost For Words! 