by cameron | Oct 4, 2006 | Melbourne, Podcast, Uncategorized
Jon and Beti were raving about "Look Around You" at the last TPN dinner and I finally watched some of it tonight on YouTube. What a gem. Thank god for YouTube. This alone justified their $3 quadrillion valuation. If I had the funds, I’d buy three of ’em. Hey – the sun is up. It’s 5.40am. I’ve just pulled an all-nighter. Now I’m off to produce a video podcast for Tourism Victoria. By the way, listen to my interview with Melbourne businessman Geoff Lord if you haven’t already. Lots of good stuff in there. I especially liked his analogy of water-skiing and taking risks. Your goal for today is to take a risk you wouldn’t normally take with a view to pushing your horizons. This is the only life you’re going to get. Are you going to spend the rest of it doing what you’re doing right now?
by cameron | Oct 3, 2006 | Melbourne, Melbourne's Leaders, Podcast
Today I’m kicking off a new series of shows that I’m calling ‘Melbourne’s Top Dogs’. I’m going to approach Melbourne’s leading business people and government leaders and try to discover a little bit about what makes them tick.
This first interview is with Mr Geoff Lord.
A quick bio:
After a business education at Melbourne universities, Geoff Lord joined Ford in the 1960s and moved to Elders in the 1970s, where he became a key lieutenant to John Elliott. In 1985, he formed Elders Resources and built it to a market capitalisation of $1.5 billion by acquiring assets such as forestry businesses in New Zealand. He is currently chairman of the Australian soccer club Melbourne Victory, Chairman of UXC Limited, Australia’s largest technology solutions company, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of his private investment vehicle Belgravia Group, and also sits on the board of many other companies.
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The G’Day World Theme Song is “Save Me†by The Napoleon Blown Aparts. Thanks to our sponsors Wardy IT and Direct TV!
by cameron | Sep 27, 2006 | Melbourne, Uncategorized
Okay, I know this is kind of sad, but…. I’m batching it this weekend and I’m looking for something to do in Melbourne on a Friday and Saturday night. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to entertain myself. What should I do? Here’s what I like:
- weird shit
- good jazz
- good rock
- arty shit
- watching weird ass people
Suggestions? Anyone up for a poker night at my house?
by cameron | Sep 22, 2006 | Iraq, Melbourne, Uncategorized
Chavez is making geopolitics interesting again. Just as it looks like the Fidelissimo is riding off into a khaki sunset, along comes Hilarious Hugo with his attacks on Bush. According to The Australian:
VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez has taken his anti-imperialist rhetoric to New York’s Harlem overnight and ridiculed US President George W. Bush as a puffed-up John Wayne wannabe. And a supportive crowd loved it.
Mr Chavez stunned delegates at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday by calling Mr Bush "the devil himself" and saying he left the smell of sulfur hanging in the chamber from his appearance the previous day.
He received an ovation at the United Nations, but nothing like the raucous and upbeat receptions later Wednesday at a free university and again overnight at a Baptist church in the predominantly black neighbourhood of Harlem.
Crowds soaked up his critique of the Iraq war, his interpretation of the history of US military interventions and his stories about visiting Cuban President Fidel Castro, who is recovering from surgery.
You have to love this guy. He doesn’t just stay home and slag Bush. He goes to New York muthafraking City and says it. This is a man of the people. He’s also doing almost as much for Noam Chomsky’s book sales as his appearance on G’Day World:
Mr Chavez began his speech by displaying a copy of American writer Noam Chomsky’s 2004 book Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance, and recommended it to UN delegates and US citizens.
By yesterday, the book had risen from backlist obscurity to the No. 3 bestseller at Amazon.com
And the reason why the Democrats won’t win another election? They denounced Chavez! They should be getting this guy tattooed on their freaking skulls. He’s doing what they (and the US media) seem too scared to do – criticize Bush in a way that gets people’s attention.
Grandma Funks by the way is a terrific café in Richmond (Melbourne) that I’m having breakfast in this morning and I’ve just discovered they have FREE WI-FI. I’ve been coming here for years because I love the vibe of the joint (and the quality of their latte) but the big free wifi sign on their wall makes it a clear winner for "best Melbourne cafe 2006".
by cameron | Sep 21, 2006 | Melbourne, Uncategorized
I’m in the planning stages for a series of interviews for G’Day World which will contain in-depth interviews with Melbourne’s leading business people. I want to know what makes them tick, how they got started, about their biggest successes, biggest mistakes, and lifetime ambitions.
First cab off the rank will be Geoff Lord. I’ve got an interview scheduled with him for next week. Geoff has been in the news lately due to his large stake in Melbourne Victory, the first soccer club in Australian domestic football history to sign-up 10,000 members. He is also currently Chairman of UXC Limited, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Belgravia Group, Chairman Terrain Australia Limited, Australian Litigation Fund and Terrain Capital Limited, and a Director of the following companies: MaxiTRANS Limited, Triako Resources Limited, Ausmelt Limited, Auto Group Limited, Institute of Drug Technology Limited, Adelhill Limited and Kids Campus. I’ve heard a lot about Geoff over the last couple of years from a friend who worked for him for a while and he sounds like a very interesting bloke, a true entrepreneur.
Then I’m going to work my way through the A list of Who’s Who in Melbourne. Should be fun. Wish me luck.
by cameron | Sep 16, 2006 | Melbourne, Uncategorized
Dan used to sit next to me at Microsoft Melbourne all those years ago. I remember when Dan bought this massive Creative mp3 player, I think it was 6Gb or something, was about the size of a bread plate, way back in 99 or 00. We thought it was the bomb. Cost him a week’s pay. I was extremely envious. Five years ago DanMc moved to Microsoft London and when we caught up for a quick coffee last Thursday he told me he has recently chased a skirt to Amsterdam where he tells me he will continue to put off his true dream of bringing webcams to Africa, even though he’s now 30 and looking every day of it. Apparently he’d ratherbuy a beer in a movie theatre and, Dan, remember….. it breaks down like this: it’s legal to buy it, it’s legal to own it and, if you’re the proprietor of a hash bar, it’s legal to sell it. It’s legal to carry it, which doesn’t really matter ’cause — get a load of this — if the cops stop you, it’s illegal for them to search you. Searching you is a right that the cops in Amsterdam don’t have.
Dan (left), and Richard Sockpuppet Giles (right)
Dan’s sparse blog.
