I made it to the twins’ school assembly yesterday. James’ class performed Shake A Tail Feather, which had the kids all bopping.

Maggie was awarded a certificate of achievement for being “a positive and exciting member” of her class.

It’s good to know that I’ve passed on my excitement genes.

James and me at the Melbourne Aquarium

We started at the Melbourne Aquarium, which he really enjoyed. We then caught the free City Circle tram to the Melbourne Museum and walked back to our apartment on the corner of Spencer and LaTrobe Streets.

After a break we went to Monkey Mania at Docklands. The video shows James reluctantly commenting on his time at the aquarium.

That was the most recent premiership for the Bloods, as they are known, although things are shaping up fairly well for a serious tilt this year.

Full Points Footy has this to say about the flag: “In 1983 everything slotted into place as the Bloods proceeded to win all bar four of their minor round matches to secure the minor premiership with ease. A 24.16 (160) to 13.8 (86) second semi final triumph over Norwood followed, and when grand final day arrived with Sturt providing the opposition there were few who doubted where the premiership pennant was heading. The Double Blues managed to keep in touch for a quarter and a bit, but West always seemed to have something in reserve and once they broke clear there was no stopping them.”

Back in 1983 the SANFL was a rival to the VFL in terms of standard and professionalism. Attendances were pretty good too.

The Westies song has the same tune as Hawthorn’s in the AFL. I don’t know the history of when it was adopted. If anyone can fill me in, please comment below.

I have noticed the opening line has changed from “We’re a happy team at Blood House” to “We’re a happy team at Westies”.

Here is the video:

The longer video from SA Football Archive is here.

“Your video, Maggie’s ballet performance, may have content that is owned or licensed by Sony Music Entertainment. No action is required on your part; however, if you’re interested in learning how this affects your video, please visit the Content ID Matches section of your account for more information.”

Following a link provided, I discovered the video is blocked in Germany because it breaches copyright in that country.

The fact is I find website video ads extremely annoying, especially the ones that start automatically.

I am being dissuaded from visiting my favorite news website (The Age) by this practice.

It has become even more insidious, with the option to stop the video from playing either unavailable or concealed.

Until today, if I clicked on a story and went to the article page, and a video began loading, I was able to prevent it from playing once the spinning thing stopped.

Today, it was not possible to stop the video until after an advertisement had run through.

I was viewing a story about the hostile reaction to a new road safety advertisement, which disparages redheads and emos.

In relation to the ad itself, I think it’s incredibly stupid. It’s offensive to redheads and the “dickhead” reference is in bad taste. I don’t get it either.

I actually find myself agreeing with Senator Steve Fielding, which is a little disturbing, when he says: “What happened to the State Government’s Respect Agenda portfolio? Surely using this kind of language doesn’t do much for respect in our society. There is no doubt this latest campaign is a low-class act at best and is only one step away from using even more coarse language.”

Redheads are up in arms, feeling they are a persecuted minority, and commenters have targeted the advertising agency as being full of dickheads.

Not to mention the government being caned for contradicting its own anti-bullying policies.

However, back to the website video …

I suspect a cunning ploy to force the viewing of an advertisement before the reader has a chance to turn off the video. Upon further study I noticed the following:

When you click on the home page link to the article, the link includes ?autostart=1 at the tail. Deleting ?autostart=1 or changing the 1 to 0 stops the video from playing.

Also, while the spinning thing twhirls around you have a small window of opportunity to select Don’t play before it automatically starts.

Even with a fast broadband connection, the loading process is very slow and you will probably have scrolled halfway down the story before the advertisement starts playing, if you are caught unawares.

I don’t think anyone objects to content providers carrying ads on their websites. I’ve got used to Flash ads and find them effective in getting my attention, whereas popups and automatic videos turn me off.

Increasingly, there will be browser-based solutions to block this type of advertising, indeed they may already exist.

Finally, to explain the text-link ads on this site: I am using Infolinks for pay-per-click advertising. The green links on this site are for advertising, the blue links are normal. Visit here for more information about Infolinks and how to avoid seeing ads, if you wish.

But I’ll be grateful if you sometimes click on a green link to support me in offsetting costs.

It’s in Danish, from the 1984 movie Midt Om Natten. You must read the subtitles and watch the video to appreciate it:

According to Wikipedia, Kim Larsen has had a number of successful album releases throughout the 80s, 90s and 00s and is possibly the most successful artist in Danish popular music history.

The New York Times review of the movie says: “Bohemians Arnold (Erik Clausen) and Benny (Kim Larsen), unemployed plumbers who earn their livelihood moonlighting, create their own little anarchic world in an abandoned factory. This gentle satire owed its fleeting popularity to its stars, cavern-mouthed pop star Larsen and comedian Clausen, the latter especially known for his satirical comments on the Danish establishment in particular and bureaucracy in general. A throwback to the wild and woolly 1968 Summer of Love, Midt om Natten was slightly anachronistic already when it premiered.”

Here is a catchy 1986 song by Larsen called Jutlandia. The Jutlandia served as a hospital ship in the Korean War.