Pull your heads in.

Something that has really bugged me about NHL fans, announcers and “experts” in general for a while is the overwhelming bias towards original 6 teams Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers,  Toronto Maple Leafs and also teams from “traditional hockey markets”.

My team Anaheim Ducks are currently in the middle of a terrific series with the Blackhawks. The Ducks are the #1 seed in the NHL having had a brilliant season and they are currently leading the series 3-2. This series has had it all, great goals, tight finishes and big hits. Even a triple overtime game that broke the record for the longest Blackhawks playoffs game.

While watching the games it’s hard not to notice the  tone of the announcers voices and even outright disgraceful comments towards the Ducks (see Mike Milbury on Corey Perry: http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-hockey/25192252/corey-perry-irked-by-comments-made-by-analyst-mike-milbury).

No Matter what the Ducks do, virtually no respect is forthcoming from the hockey media. Most still predicting the Ducks to lose this series and have done so at the start of each series, despite the Ducks being the #1 seed. (how is that working out for you Jets and Flames?).

The fans are even worse. Just look at any comments thread on Facebook regarding this series and it’s all, “I hope Hawks and Rangers win then we will have original 6 teams”, “I wont watch the final unless one of the original 6 are in it”, “The NHL will hate the Ducks and Lightning making the final”, “Ratings for the Ducks and Lightning will be terrible”, “It’s bad for the NHL to have the Ducks and Lightning in the final” etc etc etc.

My message to these people is: If all you want is to watch original 6 teams, maybe you should form your own little 6 team comp and play each other 16 times a season. You can all wear your old lace up jerseys…. oh and forget helmets.

Chirp me all you want about my team and how they are going etc, I love some good trash talking. Some of those Flying V and Gordon Bombay jokes are pretty funny. Especially the one where there was a shot of real life ducks players in that formation (by accident). But please try to move on from your old time hockey bias and realize that we are now in the 21st century and none of your teams have a god given right to be in the playoffs or the final.

This is just a test post to see if this app is any good, here is an image I took a while ago at the melb derby a-league match

Have you been diagnosed with IBS  (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)? If you have you probably like me have been frustrated to learn that the doctors have no idea what to do with it and give virtually no assistance whatsoever.  It could actually be gut permeability, but don’t expect a doctor to suggest that or even know what it is.

I have struggled with IBS for nearly 3 years now and I have finally found some very good help and I feel much better for it.

I went to Melbourne Natural Wellness centre www.melbournenaturalwellness.com.au and saw Deanne Linde about 3 months ago after it was recommended by a work colleague of my wife. I had tests done for food sensitivities and was started on a de-tox program. The test produced a list of foods that my body sensitive to (not allergic). Mine came up with gluten and dairy, even though I am not coeliac.

What Deanne explained was that my problems were related to a condition known as gut permeability (or leaky gut syndrome). This means that the lining of your digestive system has been damaged and is allowing food to go straight into your blood stream.  This gets worse and worse over time and causes further problems like allergies (I am now allergic to Calamari). The de-tox program is designed to remove all the toxins from my system that are causing the problem and then help my body to repair the damage. You get to take some very bad tasting medicine during this time as well as a very strict diet, it’s probably easier to list what you can have than what you can’t, fresh fruit and veggies, water, lean meats and certain nuts.

I have now completed the program and I feel much better, I have virtually no symptoms at all and much more energy, I have lost 15 kgs and I am much more confident when eating.

I still have to steer clear of gluten and dairy for the time being but they will gradually be re-introduced.

If you have IBS and are struggling without help, I certainly recommend seeing a Naturopath.

Recently I have been inspired to rebuild and restore my old Lego thanks to a friend of mine putting the idea into my head.

I loved Lego as a kid. Those days I didn’t have a care in the world. The biggest problem I had to worry about was when I was getting my next Lego set. This has partly brought that feeling back to me and it has been a really enjoyable experience.

I found a brilliant site called BrickLink which is a marketplace for new and used Lego and is the best place on the net to find old obscure missing pieces that most likely ended up the vacuum cleaner. There are plenty of Lego enthusiasts around and their creations are very inspiring for me and have made me want to create something special myself. Although I have no plans to quit my job like this guy: Quit job to play Lego

So I started with my vintage Shell Service Station set from 1986. Set number 6378

After fighting with my younger brother and claiming ownership, I brought the pieces home and with the help of a downloaded PDF of the instructions I began to rebuild it and log the missing pieces. I found that I had most pieces and I have ordered the rest from various stores on bricklink. I just need the stickers and one more order to come to complete it.

Here is a picture of what I have so far. I intend to re-print the stickers from a hi-res scan that i found on the internet.

So me being me, I guess it couldn’t stop there. Anyone who knows me would know that if I find a new interest I can get a bit carried away. Mrs Punkologist was just happy I wasn’t collecting porn or getting into drugs.

I am also a big Star Wars fan, as is Mrs Punkologist. So obviously the Star Wars Lego was of big interest to me. Luckily a birthday was coming up and Lego is celebrated 10 years of Star Wars Lego in 2009 with some of the older sets re-released (I have no interest in the episode 1/2/3 or clone wars ones). Mrs Punkologist kindly bought me Darth Vader’s Tie Fighter.

I love it. It is now proudly displayed in the lounge room.

I have also recently bought some other bits and pieces and got some from my brother and sister, the best being the Police Station.

I have been really inspired by the creations of buildings and trains I have seen on the net. Eventually I plan to build a nice display in a cabinet of some sort with a train and scenery. It will include some custom building creations. I think all this will have to wait until I don’t live in a small 2 bedroom apartment though.

Here are some of the best things I have found:

So I had an eventful Labour day long weekend.

On Saturday after spending the day visiting my 3 year old niece, I was a little tired but my darling wife had the idea of going out for Greek. I love Greek food and decided why not? What’s the worse that could happen right?

Well we went out to the restaurant in Niddrie. We were lucky to get a table as we hadn’t booked, so we were up the back in the corner (I would prefer this anyway).

Mrs Punkologist suggested the banquet and I liked the look of it, so we went with that.
First came out the dips and bread, and it was great, then sausages which were brilliant, then the Calamari which was delicious….. for 5 minutes, until all of a sudden I went bright red, my throat closed up, my temperature skyrocketed and I felt like I was going to throw up. I have never felt worse in my life and I have experienced asthma attacks before.

So we paid for the entrees and left straight away, I threw up on the way to the car but that was nothing compared to how I was feeling, my legs had turned to jelly and I felt like my head was about to explode from the pressure on my eyes and ears. It did help though. We went home and I tried in vain to lie down and calm down before I developed a rash that covered most of my upper body.

At this stage we decided it was probably best to go to the hospital. So the closest to us is Royal Melbourne, Mrs Punkologist drove me there. It was one of the longest drives ever. After navigating the corridors leading from the car park to the emergency ward, we waited in line and I felt like fainting. They took one look at me and I was rushed out the back while Mrs Punkologist filled out the paperwork. The doctor later suggested an ambulance would be the best course of action if this should happen again.

So I was on the oxygen and had a heart rate monitor which showed my heart was racing. Talk was going on about whether I should be having an injection of adrenalin. The nurse prepared me for that by sticking a needle in my arm but hitting 2 veins! That area was abandoned and then I was lucky enough to have a needle in my wrist to insert the needle thingy for easy and fast needles later if needed.

From that point on my health started to improve. I was moved to another room by another nurse and a few hours later I was groggy but ok.

I’m sure I was faring far better than the guy in the room next to me that was constantly throwing up, or the 4 people who had fallen off their roofs during the storm that day.

So evidently I now have developed an allergy to Calamari to go with the IBS I developed a bit under 2 years ago. I guess eating just isn’t for me…