Life Lesson No.256 – Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion

Wine of the Week:

Hentley Farm ‘The Beauty 2010’ Shiraz

We don’t have too many “big guns’ in the cellar but this is one of them and it was opened with great gusto over the weekend. It was almost a religious experience as the cork came out slowly but sweetly with that unforgettable ‘pop’. It was smooth from the first taste with the fruit coming out as it rolls around your mouth. Shiraz from the Barossa is not like the big pepper tasting ones of the Hunter Valley but the fruit comes through a lot stronger.

It is an exceptional wine from a great boutique winery in the Barossa and one that is definitely worth hunting down and grabbing a bottle or two. It isn’t the cheapest at about $50 plus a bottle but it is worth the investment as it will only get better with age...if you can wait that long. Hentley Farm Wines

So for those that may not be aware, I turned 40 years old on September 28^th and contrary to the cliche' reactions to a milestone event such as this, it hasn’t led to any bouts of navel gazing nor have I had any lightning strikes hit me with the meaning of life or a book of wisdom.

What I have noticed, and it isn’t so much as a result of making my 40^th birthday but rather as a general consequence of life rolling on, is that as you get older you pay more attention to certain realities of life rather than just brush them away like an annoying mosquito on a January evening - which brings me to the subject of this epistle.

After having a rather enjoyable Saturday night celebrating my birthday with some of my dearest friends, I checked my twitter feed and noticed a great deal of hubbub relating to one Mr Alan Jones. A quick ‘Google’ filled in the details of what had transpired and what the Sunday Telegraph would be leading with the following morning.

Suffice to say, I was going to title this piece “Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion...even though you may be recorded”. I was even thinking of calling it “Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion...even though you may come across as a cruel, sanctimonious prick”...but I figured that was going a little too far and besides, the format of Blogger wouldn’t let me do that.

Let me say right from the outset that I am not a fan of Mr Jones; in fact I think he is one of the most dangerous and divisive people in this country who uses his position at times without fair consideration of the broader consequences. Fact is though; he does have a strong following across many areas of Australian society so it was with interest to watch how all this transpired since the story broke on Saturday and the various opinions and stories that have been voiced and written. As is my want, I made some observations that I wish to share with you.

• I believe his comments were cruel and disrespectful to the extreme. There is a very well known saying in this country that you play the ball, not the man (or in this case a woman but that is irrelevant to the argument despite his rantings on Sunday morning).  We all have lost loved ones in our lives and we all have had to deal with grief. To use a death of a loved one to score some political points or worse case rev up a gathering of Young Liberals, lacks common decency and respect and as such needs to be called out accordingly. It's the same lack of common decency and respect that Rebecca Mifsud, wife of Immigration Minister Bowen showed by her re-tweet concerning the Australian male life-span and the links to Mr Jones’ fight with cancer. 
• He doesn’t seem to know how to apologise – which isn’t surprising for someone who comes across as always thinking that they are right. After watching parts of the press conference on Sunday morning, my opinion is that the only thing he is truly sorry about is the fact that his speech was recorded by a journalist (who was a paying attendee at the dinner) and then released online. There didn’t appear to be a lot of contrition on Sunday as he quickly turned the event into another opportunity to criticise the Government’s policies.
• That said, I think to try and shift the blame to Tony Abbott is a little rich. To be fair, Mr Abbott did come out and condemn Mr Jones’ comments that afternoon. In fact, Mr Abbott’s comments in the Parliament were both sympathetic and respectful – which all anyone asks for in times of bereavement. That and Mr Jones’ reputation has been created over many years – a lot longer than Mr Abbott has been Opposition Leader.
• Irrespective of whether we like what was said or not, Mr Jones (like every other citizen in this country) is entitled to voice his opinion. It may be an opinion that is cruel, insensitive and smacks of arrogance and an over inflated sense of self but it is his opinion. Calling for him to be sacked or banned is both irrational and to be honest, unrealistic. He has and continues to make a career of taking radical points of view. The likelihood is as well that many of the companies who cancelled their advertising on his show will come back over time. Ratings do speak loudly when it comes to reach and ROI.
• While speaking about loudness of volume, many have taken to Twitter, Facebook or even a humble blog to voice their disapproval or otherwise to those comments. For me, it was fascinating to see the reactions of people from different parts of Australian society making their views heard in such a immediate way;  so much so in fact that I think it led to Mr Jones making the decision to address the storm of public opinion on Sunday rather than wait for his usual platform on 2GB. Like a lot of things in our lives, social media can be used for good or evil.
• The Sydney University Branch of the Young Liberals really do have to take a long, hard look at themselves otherwise like the classic line out of ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ – “I weep for the future”. 

When the story first broke, I tweeted the following

 

This blog is what I have decided to do about it. If we don't agree with what is said by those who are in a position of influence - either by profession or popular vote, we shouldn't be afraid to call them out and disagree; especially when we think they have thrown common decency and respect out the window in the process.

Happy Birthday to me!

"Welcome Back!" (with apologies to John Sebastian)

Wine of the Week:  

Heathcote Estate Shiraz 2006 

I have come to enjoy the type of Shiraz that comes from Heathcote in Victoria. They generally have some ‘oomph’ to them and are very much enjoyed this time of year; either with a hearty casserole or a lovely medium rare steak...or even by itself to warm the cockles during the peak of Winter. The 2006 Heathcote Estate Shiraz is no exception. Full bodied with the hint of pepper and spice and well aged. Luckily, this particular bottle was a gift I received earlier this year from my work colleagues. I was appreciative when I unwrapped the bottle and even more so when I tasted the first glass. Thanks one and all who contributed.

 

I must say I have not heard of the Yabby Lake winery which the Heathcote Estate range hails from but suffice to say, I will be looking to learn more about them in the future.

Well, as those who have been regular readers of my blog in the past, you would realise that this is the first time that I have posted in 2012. To those kind souls that have kept asking me why I haven’t been posting and providing suggestions for their Friday night trips to the bottle-o, I apologise for the rather lengthy break. Why the pause in proceedings? I have no real excuse other than being focused on other pursuits and perhaps a slight dose of laziness. That said, what better reason to break the drought other than the Games of the Thirtieth Olympiad in London and more to the point, the performance of the Australian Olympic Team which have left many to feel a bit like my friend here below.

At the time of writing, Australia has 1 Gold, 12 Silver and 7 Bronze medals putting us 19^th in the overall rankings. From what I have seen, this has put the nation at large in a state of apoplexy and looking, nay demanding explanations as to why these results have been so poor, substandard and dare I say...un-Australian???

As for said explanations, I have heard a number of reasons why, particularly our swimmers haven’t followed the script and finished well below the expectations the nation have set for them; not training hard enough, a bad attitude, laziness, lack of Government funding...I even heard that Twitter is potentially the root cause of why our swags aren’t weighed down in golden booty (this last one justifying my decision to turn the sound down when watching the swimming on Foxtel). It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if the Carbon Tax is also trotted out as a probable cause soon as Tony Abbott has been a tad quiet of late.

If I may, I have one that I haven’t heard tabled; maybe... just maybe there are athletes from other nations on this Earth who perform better than us - even when our athletes deliver their best on any given day or night? Crazy I know but it’s just an opinion.

Yes, some of our athletes haven’t delivered their best when the whips have been cracking and some may have written cheques that have bounced when it has been time to cash in. However, many, many others have and will continue to do so over the next week.  

That and one other thing keeps going through my head:

• According to worldometers.info, the World’s population is now over 7 Billion people.
• According to www.mapsofworld.com, just fewer than 11,000 athletes will compete in the Games in London. 
• The Australian Olympic Team that is competing in London numbers 410 athletes.

In short, you have to be an exceptional athlete to get on the f...ing plane in the first place!!!

In the last few days, I was reminded of a bloke I used to work for in my early working days. As time passed by, we started to get to know one another a bit; as you do when you work side by side each other every day.

One day, I noticed his keyring and it was something that was from “The Olympians Club”. So I asked him the obvious question. Turns out, he had competed in the 1988 Olympics at Seoul in a sport that Australia had and continues to have a long and quite illustrious history in. Add to that, he was a World Champion in his sport the year before.

Even then, I was a sports nut so once I found out he had gone to the Olympics, I would start asking questions – what was it like, what had happened etc. At first, he was reluctant to talk about it as his performance at the Games wasn’t what he had hoped for and I don’t know, I think he wanted to make it a bit of a distant memory. Which was a shame because as I pointed out earlier, very few people get the chance to represent their country at the Olympics and to do so, you have to be close to the top of your sport over a fair period of time.

One day, my mate came in to work with a photo album which he showed me. It was his photos from the Seoul Olympics – ones from the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, ones with others in the Australian Olympic Team at the time and ones with him, in his Australian tracksuit with his proud parents. He also had mementos in there like his Olympic ID which was pretty cool as hey, it would be the closest I would ever get to one.

I was absolutely wrapped that he would share that stuff with me and thankfully a few others in the office as it was something he should have been proud of; irrespective of the result he achieved there. I know I was (still am) and this was years after he competed.

Maybe it is something we should remember when we sit around the coffee tables, water coolers and pubs over the next few days as we pass judgement on our team’s performances and the results that they achieve. That and one other thing...we are all entitled to have a bad day at the office once in a while.