just hang in there.

this is a bit personal.

though watching sports on television is not normally an ideal activity for me.  i make a few exceptions to this general rule in the form of a bit of soccer, tennis, and of course my new favorite, australian rules football.  

as enjoyable as our own 'gridiron' football might be to some [not i], it cannot compare to the fast-paced version that australians have been practicing since the mid-19th century.  its fast, its fun, and they don't wear pads.  in addition, the uniforms that the players sport are absolutely beyond compare in professional athletic competitions.  

photos sourced from afl.com.au

my confessional admirations aside, the point i actually want to bring up is the year of indecision australia seems to be having.  what with flip-flopping ideas about mining taxes, immigration regulation, and major political party leaders [both the labour and liberal parties ousted their majority leaders in the past 10 months], things seem to be indecisive at times in australia.  

now with two of the major events on the calendar for this country also up in the air, 2010 has become a year for growing pains.  the elections in august resulted in the first hung parliament in australia since 1940 and now, today, the australian 'footy' grand final resulting in a tie [one of three in all 112 years of finals]...what else to be stalled, oz?!  the results of this game are curious for a premier competition in sports due to the afl rule that a tie outcome in the grand final be resolved by playing a second full grand final match a week later.

alls i can say is...good thing i didn't stay up to watch this game online with all its dubiety, but instead waited to watch the replay this afternoon.  next week perhaps these two teams with end this indecision and truly have a grand final.

still coming. #iran elections.

just a little more information in video form. let me warn you though, it is a bit sad and slightly graphic.

news flash: #iran elections. lucky us.

(photo courtesy of the bbc)

with khomeini's speech to the iranian people over, one only has to wonder -as the article from the bbc where this photo appears does- whether the protests and rallies **edit::: the largest protests since the 1979 revolution** will be strong enough and ongoing for the authorities to respond in the appropriate and reasonable way. if not, human rights issues would be wholly multiplied by this once power-flex of the ruling iranian government.

as i was performing chauffeur duties for my mum today, the waiting in the car consisted of sudoku and npr listening. one of my favorite programs, the takeaway, was on and brought up an important example of the issues involving human rights injustices which are currently being thrust and reinforced on the iranian voters. if you'd like to listen to the segment direct yourself here.

basically, it seems unimaginable that i can be sitting here blogging away, whilst simultaneously chatting with friends in other places via gmail, and watching the season five premiere of weeds and there have been sanctions on basic internet viewing in that modern country. sanctions on internet via servers and proxy disabling (like the "iran elections" twitter blockage from within the country), internet outages, cell phone network outages, the list can go on. what a way to show how much you care about your people than to not let them have a voice when the entire world is watching. the npr program seemed to suggest that these internet shutdowns are in part due to the overwhelming amount of live coverage that has been happening from the people who are involved. youtube, twitter, facebook, online news sources. everywhere is talking about it.

all this in fact has finally spurred me to join twitter after months of holding out for a good reason to present itself. i joined in order to be able to find and follow these live, primary sources. finally, a good reason for a program that i couldn't justify for "up-to-the-minute" social networking until now. one of the people i have found that is a student who is, dangerously i might add, updating about the iranian state tv programs that are being broadcast, the khomeini speech, student protests, etc can be found by pointing your dial here.

finally, if you are, as i am, a more visually stimulated person the huffington post has a startling slideshow and interesting updates on the state of the tehran.

my eyes will be glued. hopefully, good things will come from all these efforts and the votes will be found and counted. fairly.