I came across a very cool website today via Design Sojourn, but before I go any further into pointing you in the exact direction, I wanted to know if any of our readers are artists and could recognise the two paintings above. (more…)

Has anyone from Melbourne ever found a reason to pick up a Lonely Planet travel guide on their very own city? According to the latest guide Melbourne is racist to the point of needing to be mentioned in this widely read and internationally circulating publication. It also said that we are obsessed with money and sport. This is what people will be reading in 30 countries within the next month or so.

This is a classic case of a bunch of bogans ruining things for everyone. Yes, Melbourne is home to a large number of idiots - or larrikins as some people like to call them. “Boys will be boys” (and/or girls) as their Mums say.

You can get a punch in the eye for knocking someone’s football team, or for falling asleep during a cricket match. The money comment really puzzles me though. I guess the author of the guide never went to Sydney or Brisbane where the value of your house is your passport to a greater life.

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Says it all really. Oz has made the life changing decison to give up the deathsticks. As a result, I have been sick as a dog all weekend. Stuck on the couch with a brain-numbing headache, overhwelming lethargy and a cough that refuses to get nasty (you know you’re getting better when you’re coughing up furballs). I thought I’d have a more serious crack this time around, so I dragged my sorry ass of my couch and went to my local pharmacy to buy some nicotine patches. The Nicorette brand, just in case you were wondering.

My quest for better breathing really isn’t the point of this post. The Daydreamer has already pointed out I only have myself to blame for smoking so now I’m just correcting earlier mistakes (very supportive - lucky I don’t have a drug addiction with a mate like that). In my packet o’ patches, there was a wonderful little booklet full of information about my purchase: how to use the patch, how the patch works, blah blah blah. The section that caught my interest was When you must NOT use Nicorette Patch.

Do not use Nicorette patch if:
• you are pregnant or intend to become pregnant
• you are breastfeeding or intend to breastfeed
• you have heart disease
• you have had a recent heart attack or stroke
• you have a long term skin disorder
• you are a non-smoker, or smoke occasionally
• you are under 18 years old
• you are allergic to nicotine

Why would a non-smoker want to use a nicotine patch? Who honestly gives up smoking before they turn 18? If you’re allergic to nicotine, surely you would have figured it out when you lit up a smoke? Maybe my brain has gone a little soft without the smokes but I honestly would have thought these last three exclusions were rather self explanatory. Though my information booklet was kind enough to let me know ‘there is not enough information about the use of the nicotine patch in children’. I’d love to see the consent forms for that study.