Thursday, November 20, 2008

now THAT'S news...

UK man kills himself with chainsaw


A British man committed suicide by cutting off his own head with a chainsaw, an inquest into his death has found.

David Phyall, 50, took his own life because he was "irrationally opposed" to leaving his home, which had been repossessed, Deputy Coroner Simon Burge said at Winchester Coroner's Court in southern England.

"In the 15 years I have been sitting as a deputy coroner, this is the most bizarre case I can recall," said Burge, recording a verdict of suicide.

"He thought through how he was going to commit suicide very carefully. He went to a great deal of trouble."

Phyall, who had been drinking alcohol but not taken any drugs, tied the chainsaw to the leg of a snooker table and plugged it into a timer.

Police were called to his apartment in Bishopstoke, southern England, on July 5 when his parents could not contact him.

Requesting the parents to remain outside the property, officers broke in and found the walls and floor covered in blood, with Phyall's partially decapitated body in the lounge.

The apartment block where he was living was set to be demolished and despite various efforts from the local housing authority, Phyall - who suffered from mental illness and had attempted suicide in the past - had declined several offers for an alternative home.

Eventually, a court decided that his home, the only apartment in the block still occupied by anyone, was to be repossessed.

take note, ABC news. THIS is what you should be reporting, not this 'two planes didn't crash' rubbish

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Newsworthy?

Landing aborted at Adelaide Airport

A Virgin Blue jet had to abandon its final approach into Adelaide Airport last night to avoid a light plane that was on a cross runway.

Airservices Australia says at about 7:00pm air traffic control calculated clearance times and decided against letting the 737 land.

The Virgin jet circled and landed safely on a second approach.

Airservices Australia says the air traffic controllers followed routine procedure.


is it just me, or is that news story basically

'Overnight, two planes didn't crash at adelaide airport. The safety procedures worked, and the air traffic controllers did their job'


I guess in Adelaide, every day is a slow news day...

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Election Day...

On a day when America is basically deciding the future of the free world...let us remember one of the great speeches by the greatest president ever.

Except he's fictional...



Which reminds me: Garry, are your West Wing DVDs amongst the stuff you're leaving being when you go overseas? Can I borrow?

Sunday, November 2, 2008

quick note

Can I just say...how is it November already? Where has my year gone? This is not a good indication of how quickly my time doing Honours is going to run out.

I'm freaking out. Maybe this is the source of my lack of happiness. Stress.

Only I don't feel particularly stressed.

Maybe I should...
I've been reading a few people's blogs lately, and it really hit home how much of a terrible blogger I am. I don't keep this up to date at all! I think it partly has to do with being a fairly private person, really, and trying to sort through things myself and not sharing them with (potentially...) the whole world.

The thing is, at the moment, I'm in a bit of a funk. I'm not feeling happy, and it annoys me, because I have nothing to be unhappy about. Uni is progressing well, I'm busy but that's OK. I'm sleeping well, I'm mostly managing to maintain my friendships. I really want to be happy. And I'm not and it bugs me. It's not that I'm mega depressed or even particularly unhappy. I'm just not happy.

That doesn't make any sense, does it. Damn. I hate it when that happens. I also hate being in a funk, because it means I don't get along with people, I get all snappy and then eventually I will have a break down and everyone will hate me for a few days. And that is something I would really rather avoid.

Bah-ness. See? This is why I don't blog about how I'm feeling. Because it doesn't really do me any good anyway.