Ep5: Animals

[00:00:00] Well, here we are again. How have you been going? It's been a week or maybe less. How's life at AT Plus? Well it's interesting because this is the second Zoom session today. The

[00:00:21] one earlier was with Danny, my first producer and he's absolutely dead keen on my blues song. So we're just for those listeners. Dad loves to listen to music, go to concerts but also come up with music and you've produced already a rock opera? Not a rock opera but

[00:00:47] a large scale protest song. Large scale protest song, right? Okay and we'll put that in the link if you know we get some interest in what have you. And now you're working on a blues song, say?

[00:00:58] Yeah maybe it was part of a long poem that I wrote and he thinks like a musician, I think like a poet. So we affect compromises and it's probably been cut by almost 50%

[00:01:11] but the 50% that he's using is very musical and he's dead keen on us finishing it. So we're very close now, we're down to the music and the modification of the lines for the last three

[00:01:25] verses. Brilliant, brilliant. I'm looking forward to hearing that. We've got a lot to cover this episode but just on that note there is something about just being able to employ one's creative resources and induces and particularly in a collaborative way with others and just put this

[00:01:44] stuff out there, right? Like I think we maybe touched on this one of the other episodes. There's something about just allowing it to flow forth and to honor it and to put energy

[00:01:53] behind it. Well it became contained with all the hard work I did in my business enterprises which had, none of them had anything to do with the music industry. So after I had retired

[00:02:06] I decided as a bucket list to get my big protest song out and I became involved in the actual music creation and recording side of the business and it was a total education and I've enjoyed

[00:02:22] every single moment of it because I love challenges and I love learning and boy have I learned a lot. Good on you dad and look, I don't know what it's like to be 80. I actually

[00:02:34] did the research. I said, you'll find out one day. I did the research episode three and it was it was actually 1.9% in 2020 of the world's population had over 80 and they're predicting it to rise a bit as the baby boomers retire and everything and then it's obviously higher

[00:02:51] percentage in the developed world but what I will say is and this is just a compliment to you and just a bit of aspiration maybe for those who are getting on age thinking oh I'm a bit

[00:03:01] too old now the fact that you are willing to lean in and employ yourself creatively and collaborate with others at 80 is actually very inspirational and I think more people should do it and I want

[00:03:14] to be able to do exactly that myself. So good on you. Well they're all younger than me and therefore they're more dynamic and you know they move faster, they think faster etc

[00:03:26] and it gets you out of yourself son. It gives you something to look forward to. It's like when Natasha my granddaughter who's going to Melbourne University she brings her friends around you know for dinner but having that youthful energy in my house is in a sense revitalizing.

[00:03:45] It's absolutely lovely. Now I've talked too much tell me about your day. Well I will what I will say first is I feel the same with my daughter right like I get an eight year old energy here

[00:03:56] you know I feel revitalized as well so I can understand that and the difference of age between one of my 53 she's eight and you know you and it's even larger age gap. Well I'm 18 and they're

[00:04:08] 21 yeah yeah yeah and it is it's a wonderful energy I mean we can learn so much and the quality of life increases so much with different generations so I totally appreciate that. All right

[00:04:22] well I had an interesting day dad let me tell you about it you know right now. Okay the meet in him podcast actually had quite an interesting day there was a lot of heart involved in a funny

[00:04:36] way. I was busy at work I've got a lot of projects running and a few that I'm delivering right now but I work for local government which is something I never thought I'd ever say to be honest like

[00:04:52] I never thought you would do it either so and I'm very very proud of you. Yeah thank you thank you very much. I was a hospitality guy you know the man in the moment you know making things

[00:05:03] happen just grooving and jiving you know creating his experiences all that stuff and I don't know how long they were 25 or 30 years which you again you said you said the best example for and now thank you now I'm a public servant. What? Love it yeah well you know

[00:05:22] it happens so I've got this job and I'm working for this council and I tell you what dad I'm really enjoying it and not just because it's a different industry the actual general through line of my

[00:05:34] work is the same I'm connecting people creating culture training people you're elevating people all that stuff that I enjoy and I practiced but the thing about a council is that you have multiple different aspects of a council you actually you actually represent and are a central part of

[00:05:55] the whole community which is something I've never been in the middle of before I've been part of a small community in terms of bringing people out of their home to have a meal or a

[00:06:05] drink or a dance or what have you but I haven't been part of a community which sorry I shouldn't laugh which when someone takes a dump and it goes out down to some pipes to a stay sewage station and then gets filtered and then recycle and then ammonia

[00:06:21] treatment and then ends up back in the river and you know I know that stuff and that's part of my work right now right like and then clean water comes out of the tap by the way

[00:06:29] those things two things don't connect I just got to point out clean water comes from another part of the river but I thought you were being rather imaginative but I guess I'm making really

[00:06:40] bad example here so there is it's okay that sounds like my son it's not about it's not just about poo all right there's more and so god I don't know where I'm going from here

[00:06:54] the what I'm trying to say is today I went to the animal shelter so councils have so many different divisions to them there's obviously water treatment which I was just referring to in a rather

[00:07:09] crude way there is the actual water supply which comes you know and is treated from the river water that's piped through lots of different pump stations across the whole community and then

[00:07:20] there are the library and a whole bunch of other things community sort of hubs and then there's the animal shelter now you know I love animals right like I am I've had dogs I've had cats I just love

[00:07:34] animals and so to go the animal shelter we do what's called a techie tea where we bring the digital team out and we we just go out and we see the staff on site we I actually made some

[00:07:47] ham and cheese croissants for them we bought a couple of cakes out had a chat fixed up a monitor tidy up some cables and just showed this team that we're how big was the monitor son was it you

[00:07:57] know one of those ones which are about three meters long and can devour and cat or a dog no it's not an animal dad we're talking a screen here screen animals no that is a reptile it's not a

[00:08:11] reptile zoo so no you took a monitor as in a screen thank you very much display and so anyway we bought a few things out there and as we get there there's only a few stuff handful of stuff

[00:08:23] out there and and a bunch of the team came out like literally we're talking two or three staff that were there on site running this animal shelter and about eight of us because which

[00:08:35] never happens we never get that many people why because everyone wants to go and see the cats and the dogs and the different thing there and meet them and you know it's they just want to

[00:08:44] get a fix so I went out there with them I padded some cats one called Barbie which I thought was very cute he really liked me I'm a bit of a ken I guess some some of the dogs running around

[00:08:57] and I gotta say I walked out of there feeling really fulfilled we helped them out with a couple of tech issues we chatted to them made him feel you know included in terms of

[00:09:07] the environment and the community that we live in because I often feel a bit ostracized from the head office and the other big departments but more than that for me I also got to just play with the

[00:09:17] animals which they uh they did this themselves they're quite short staffed at the moment and they would like to spend more time with the animals but they just have to do the admin

[00:09:25] stuff so to have us come along and pat and run and throw a ball to and and give these animals some comfort is actually a real boon for them so that was enjoyable for interrupting yourself

[00:09:37] that's a perfect example of reconnecting with nature oh you know where I'm going with this we're so divorced from it in our sterile you know suburban empires and high-rise buildings that having the touch and feel of something real that's not reality tv

[00:10:00] it actually exists in its own right and has a need personality an important thing for us oh dad 100 so this is actually the point I was going to make on the first part of my day today

[00:10:14] and that is that I mentioned this to Carissa who runs the animal shelter there amazing lady doing an amazing job I said look my feed right now when I say feed dad I don't know if you but you

[00:10:27] know social media feed right so whether it be reels or what have you from youtube or tiktok or whatever you is it is very cautious feeder I'm feeding my mind oh yeah with yeah but if you're

[00:10:42] going to feed your mind here's my philosophy I have seen I was a big american news fan for a while with the trump you know debacle and all the rest of it and just looking at the war going on at

[00:10:52] the moment with Israel and Gaza and all and everything else I have decided that I would prefer to watch animals so what I've been doing well in that case you're studying the human race aren't you

[00:11:06] that's actually I didn't set that up correctly uh yes uh I don't know how to explain animals more than actual animals but so for example let me give you an example there's Peggy and Molly

[00:11:17] right which has been this huge story that's blown up where Peggy sorry I believe Peggy is the magpie well I could be wrong here sorry so don't quote me on this but there's a magpie and a

[00:11:32] staffie that are best mates yes I've seen that on the news actually yeah exactly and they were separated they were separated and I was watching them and that kind of got me I was just feel I felt

[00:11:44] so good watching it I was like oh this is how I want to be feeling you know forget all this doom scrolling and oh look you know look at they're doing this extreme sport or this or that I'm

[00:11:54] watching these animals and just sitting there smiling and feeling love and going this is great so I end up following unlikely pet couples or pets there was like a cow that was best friends

[00:12:03] with a goose and uh you know a cat that was best friends with a canary and and I and these things are loving each other and rolling around and playing it with each other and I'm like I need

[00:12:14] and I started almost becoming like almost a bit of addicted to it because I'm thinking this is the energy I need right now there's so much disharmony out there and I I just love

[00:12:24] seeing the unconditional love and of animals interacting that is what is soothing me at the moment well son we are all connected every living entity is connected with every other one in this entire universe and the closer you get to a direct observation of it through the contrast

[00:12:49] of a staffy and a magpie oh yeah the closer you get to the what underpins the universe and I'm not being religious and I'm not being scientific I'm just saying that there there is

[00:13:02] a connectivity which even spans eons of time but I'm saying to waffle so you finish no no no hey look I just checked to make sure I was on track there the staff is named Peggy and the

[00:13:13] Molly's uh the magpie and you're right I think the reason and the Queensland Government got involved right the Premier because some some do good it was saying that yeah it was a wildlife

[00:13:23] sort of bird it should be treated you know what they got up and arms about anyway the Premier everyone got involved I signed the petition everyone a lot of my friends signed the petition

[00:13:31] and the Queensland Premier got involved and it's like okay common sense this wild bird who can go anywhere they want was obviously really young and bonded with the staffy and the staffy was gentle

[00:13:40] and loving and then became best mates why on earth would you separate those two because of some law or convention or whatever it is absolutely correct son yeah so I guess what I'm

[00:13:54] saying is I went to the animal shelter today I patted a bunch of dogs I loved I gave them you know all my googly googly good boy good on language what you know I did I did all that

[00:14:05] stuff I don't care I'm an idiot patted the cats and I didn't adopt anything I was very proud of myself uh because that's usually what happens when council staff go to the animal shelter we

[00:14:15] walk out with a pet between us but I walked out feeling whole again and also feeling like I need to get another animal in my life because my little guy Ray passed away last year and you know I miss

[00:14:27] I miss him and I they fill the house it's nice having a friend other than a human being because the bond between a person living on their own as you are and I am and an affectionate

[00:14:42] animal of whatever kind it's very strong I mean when my cat cats at different periods in time we'll run over I actually heard the bump oh god and I thought oh no it's such and such and I ran out

[00:14:58] and the sods didn't even stop and it's a tiny little street yeah you don't rev up and and do you know 80 to 100 k's and the street this small who are the real animals here right

[00:15:11] you know yeah it's unfortunate well there were fatso it was uh over in Dolce tabby I remember fatso and three times the size of the entire neighborhood it didn't matter whether if it was

[00:15:26] a Labrador you know ten times the size or a canary they were disciplined by this unbelievable cat and he disappeared that was hard never came back and then there was miss kitty who my partner at the

[00:15:44] time wanted a second cat and we were in a pet shop and there were some kittens there and I decided to pick what I thought was the mongrel little kitten with a whole variety of colors you know

[00:15:58] ginger stripes white stripes etc and I was subsequently told that she was the perfect example of a sorry son it's a special breed of cat that looks like it's had 27 fathers and is actually a defined species of cat there's no moggy or something no not a moggy

[00:16:19] look it'll come to me in another episode I'm sorry about my fractured memory that's right yeah a lot of things fractured about you at the moment well look let me just let me finish then

[00:16:28] by I'm sorry I just remember what is it tortoise shell of course tortoise shell yes I glasses like that so I interrupted miss kitty sounds like she met her end under a vehicle as well unfortunately

[00:16:45] but let me just talk quickly about the second part of my day the me in him podcast so this may sound weird but I want to I want to relate the whole conversation about animals to

[00:17:02] me walking down the street and I've got a particular situation in mind where I was walking down Pacific Drive up here in Port Macquarie and you know a guy walks past me and he's maybe with

[00:17:12] someone maybe not but look I could see them looking at me like almost like a threat assessment right and I'm not a threatening guy I generally want to just smile as they hello but guys seem very often

[00:17:25] I don't know very careful to look someone in the eye oh it's almost like I feel sometimes a guy's either going to smile at me or potentially lash out at me because it seems like an insecurity in

[00:17:37] many men around like another guy being dangerous right and I guess I can relate because I've potentially thought other people were dangerous and look the bow I want to draw all the

[00:17:47] now is I want to draw is it's the same thing when you meet an animal for the first time and they're looking at you and it reminded me of that same scenario that you know animals like I don't

[00:17:56] trust you you know and they move away from you and you might have to sort of gently coach coach them and show you're nice and friendly and open up it's it's the same fear I guess or

[00:18:07] insecurity I don't know what it is dad but there's a reflection okay first of all you have to recognize that we're all animals human beings are animals separate ourselves so some of the mechanisms which operate between a human being and a so-called animal like a dog or

[00:18:26] a cat the same between human beings and I have a suggestion son in the news recently there's been a lot of stabbings and violence against innocent people who were not connected in any social way

[00:18:46] with the perpetrators well so there's probably a concern running through the community as a consequence of that right the other factor is unnatural fear then a natural reservation just

[00:19:00] to be wary well it's been promoted by the media yeah and it's topical so my yeah people might be a little bit more careful okay you know fair enough is this another radicalized person yeah yeah well

[00:19:11] I'm in the street I'm walking past a beat on a beach road in my board shorts I don't think I'm going to be pulling your machetes out but anyway yeah yeah gotcha yeah well you would probably

[00:19:21] put something a little bit smaller like a scalpel in your pocket all right and what was the point and you you would nutters out there don't take my advice either the point is that so there's a certain

[00:19:36] amount of cautiousness in the community as a consequence of yeah it's real and coming at us through the media but I'd just like to draw your attention to walking down a street in a country

[00:19:49] area which is a built up metropolitan situation where total strangers will smile and say hello or it's a nice day isn't it that it's about safety isn't it like that they feel safe that you know

[00:20:04] they're accepting you as yeah and and it's part of our natural being which has been programmed out of us in this vast crush of competing things running around the city and yeah it's still there

[00:20:22] and in my opinion part of the strangeness actually comes from the fact that they want to say hello but they normally don't because everybody else is weird yeah and there's a conflict inside yes yeah that's interesting because so it's almost like they're second-guessing themselves

[00:20:40] and often when I have proactively gone g'day mate I've met with a big beaming smile and hey mate how are you because that's what he's wanted to do that's right it's just needs someone to break the ice on

[00:20:51] that yes but I just I just know the look in and I'm speaking as a man here with walking past other men who may be short tall tattooed big small doesn't matter but there's a certain

[00:21:01] level of like casing out you know like just sussing out is this guy is he cooler than me is he stronger than me is he is he scarier than me am I strutter for them him and it's just judging judging

[00:21:12] judging kind of element to the whole thing which to me is a separation of okay so we're not we're not unified so it takes someone to break that dynamic I'm really surprised that you're encountering that in Port Macquarie which is oh well there's a lot of tourists who

[00:21:30] come through dad to be honest so they may be still the city mindset right because the locals are probably a bit different to that so I mean I'm going to quite a tourist spot with you there

[00:21:43] yeah then the locals kind of have got used to rubbing up against each other and we'll say oh hi nice day whatever yeah whereas the tourists have a particular objective in mind and they don't

[00:21:56] give a rats about who you are well I also think you know just on their judging point that it becomes a case of trying to you know I hate to use the word threat assess but you know

[00:22:08] who is this person how about using the word risk it's as a risk assessment right exactly so so we're risk assessing each other as we walk past which is a lot tying up a lot of mental circuitry

[00:22:21] and not achieve anything and if anything just alienating each other like what the fuck is the point here like why don't you just look at them on the eye game hello or

[00:22:30] hi guys how are you I don't know dad maybe um I'm just too soft I don't know no you're not too soft you've identified as something which happens in society and keeps us apart from each other

[00:22:44] yeah and how hard does it say hi like it's and smile yeah the breaks down the boundaries and especially when you're your same sex absolutely I can understand a strange female totally

[00:22:59] being concerned about yeah I don't want to give someone the eye and they're going oh she's interested in next minute I'm stalked all right I understand that's a real risk right there even though the

[00:23:08] older females I know before this piece each love come here we go oh they love being whistled at oh yeah again comments from the guys on the building side if you're gonna wolf whistle fellas

[00:23:22] make sure she's over 60 and she'll be like oh still got it the meet in him podcast okay dad well I have really enjoyed hearing a bit more about your background your childhood

[00:23:38] your schooling and what have you and I do hope that this does become a legacy piece for my kids and their kids and I just kind of think that's cool right that the fact that you know we've got this

[00:23:51] medium that allows us to capture some of these stories in a way that is transferable so are you cool to I guess continue the story I know we're in a bit of a linear journey here through

[00:24:03] school where were we by the way where did we land last getting close to high school which was okay in 1957 okay well so let's at the stage 1957 it was a dark and stormy night let's go no it wasn't

[00:24:19] there was a lot of rock and roll around oh yeah all right so yeah tell me about the high school years I really don't know much about them well I'm glad you mentioned keeping something that can

[00:24:30] be shared with the family because look in all honesty I'm close to the drop-off zone and I'm the only one who has got the knowledge of what the family was and how it operated and I feel it's my duty

[00:24:47] to communicate this you know to you my children and to my grandchildren so they understand who their antecedents were but your question was about you know high school well just before that like I

[00:25:03] just want to make a point that if the asteroid does strike if the sun does give off a gamma radiation that blows out of the whole satellites and all the earth polar you know axis tilts and

[00:25:15] wobbles and we we have tidal waves that cover the earth unfortunately our podcast will be lost so my goodness maybe I mean nothing's indelible and there's wonderful technological age it's all transitory unfortunately and can we convert it into a bitcoin I was thinking stone tablets

[00:25:35] so it's worth something no I was I was thinking if we start carving now we might be able to transcribe this into stone tablets we'll carve half of the trees in the forest no I'm thinking stone

[00:25:48] tablets so when they discover Atlantis they might find version sorry episode five of our podcast all right sorry that's a good idea I mean it's much better than getting stoned it's creating stone yes well look I just want something you talk about indelible and passing the solar generations

[00:26:08] and I know this is an Egyptian hieroglyphics but you know this is a what's wrong I mean we've got AI why can't we have Egyptian hieroglyphics all over the place yeah we well look

[00:26:22] I don't know why even when I track the honest with you it seems you're right all right school what happened okay um it's an only child uh witnessing domestic violence oh hang on a minute you haven't

[00:26:36] mentioned this before never mind I mentioned it now okay and I became terrified and I didn't realize when I went to school I mean Napier Street was weird enough as it was

[00:26:51] when I went to a proper school that I had the talents to do very well even though you're called a professor yeah well they had a reason for that but I thought other members of my peer group

[00:27:05] were interested in the same things that I was you know life the university etc and that made me pretty dysfunctional at uh teenage parties where you know everybody wanted to boogie

[00:27:19] up and get on down check out a bit of side boob uh yeah and I was so hung up I didn't know that I was good looking it was your sister who told me about 10 years ago when I was extolling the

[00:27:34] virtues of your mother who I married in the 60s 65 actually and I said you know she was the great catch at the university at the time I look mom give her credit stunning do you and both of you

[00:27:50] are she looked like Elizabeth Taylor yeah she did yes Elizabeth Taylor and you had this kind of strong cut Slavic jaw tall slick bat you know like you had the James Dean here to

[00:28:02] like you guys I've got these pictures that you've given me I think black and white ones amazing looking couple and I'm very I'm actually blessed I've been I feel blessed that I did genetics

[00:28:10] from you guys yeah well I mean you know all my children including you my son are very good looking very very intelligent and I feel very proud of that but when I met Miss Cleopatra because

[00:28:23] the big movie those days was Anthony and Cleopatra Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor oh so you thought you're Richard Burton there no no no no no no no the university had a competition associated with camping week for Miss Cleopatra and your mother one hands down really oh yeah

[00:28:44] oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah oh she looked like uh Elizabeth Taylor you got no idea all right and I knew her just bumping into

[00:28:54] like she's got my eye but you still awkward at this point though you're still a little bit look I was awkward for about 20 or 30 years ago yeah I had to cure myself through self therapy

[00:29:07] yeah right and I'm not talking about the sex and drugs and alcohol oh I thought you took about the alcohol for sure no no all of that was just unbridled pleasure right they had to do it

[00:29:18] there's a slight interruption here but it's important yeah sure we don't know until we rub up against other people and as an only child it's very difficult because you don't have a competition

[00:29:32] for the love of your parents with your brothers and sisters because I had none you just assume the rest of the world's like you and it isn't and you find out the hard way and you've got to

[00:29:45] do the hard yards and I'm speaking as a male from a dysfunctional family what sorry dad there's all so you're saying there's an advantage about having brothers and sisters to teak to give you that sense of

[00:29:57] hey I'm not you know yeah I mean it's not the way it is like I was the only one who had my toys and my stamp collection my coins and so forth so that's where I must have stayed oh yeah yeah got you

[00:30:09] but you know your brothers and sisters yeah they're constantly yeah stamping on stealing it what the hell's going on yeah yeah throwing it around the room I and I like that's such a good

[00:30:20] point because I actually benefited from having a older sister and younger brother because I guess it does give you some socialization skills very much so son I didn't have those socialization skills so although though I've subsequently been told because they've looked at the old photos

[00:30:36] that I was very handsome I did you were very handsome on the traditional scale for sure I wear like so not what you are right you say you are like there's no be a just I was effed up

[00:30:48] you know and it took a long time and my progress in that area with the opposite sex was a lot slower than others including yourself I don't say I started to be young because I was

[00:31:03] bloody hung up I made up for it though after our marriage broke up because I've had 50 years divorced and there's been a few trying before you buys during that time yeah we're going down

[00:31:18] a dark road right here but like so I'm interested in just doubling down on this sort of awkward dad good looking guy only child socially dysfunctional socially dysfunctional true yeah who is out there trying to fit in trying to fit in with trying to be like the others

[00:31:39] yeah but with feet we like pick up woman or get to know women at least hang out with guys girls sorry yeah hang out with the boys and you know and I think he started playing poker

[00:31:51] hang out with the boys I mean I was naturally good at sport right so I like rugby I played rugby but I played soccer I played hockey I've done athletics and so forth I was a very good club

[00:32:05] tennis player etc I had the motor skills and I was built for everything you were still playing squash pretty heavily when I remember when I was a teenager yeah I know yeah I'm surprised that

[00:32:16] didn't break various things but you look like you're about to explode at some points but apart from that I was impressed I mean it's only so red you can get before and swollen before it just

[00:32:30] is a mess on the court but actually you brought up a good point oh really you want to talk to yeah I inherited my mother's cooling system my dad could work in you know like shovel concrete

[00:32:45] for a pathway or driveway or whatever 40 degree heat or something uh well it wasn't 40 degrees still in hot conditions in mid-summer back home and not break out in a sweat wow and your mother and I

[00:32:58] could just look outside and we'd break out in the sweat all right and we say you're your mother or my mother my mother yeah yeah so so so Jenny sorry I'm going back to yeah because she's got

[00:33:12] a shans history wasn't she yes there's a big Scottish family called the guys g ui sse and my mother has got a lineage which goes back about 300 years oh well she is awesome grandma I had so much

[00:33:31] time for her she's a wonderful woman yeah but I identify as a wog because of my father's Dalmatian heritage and the fact that when I was young although that we were very poor the meals

[00:33:46] that we had were incredibly vibrant you know full of garlic and herbs and spices and so forth yep love that and I didn't know that people outside and I'll use the wog in a generalized affectionate

[00:34:01] way we're with their shall we say British ancestry as far as cooking was concerned had such revoltingly bland meals yeah overcooked vegetables and soggy everything and oh yeah and no flavor

[00:34:19] no flavor yeah I found out of luck as a teenager you know when my dad would be helping out our friends of his and they'd concrete a driveway or something like that then they'd all rush off to

[00:34:33] the pub at five o'clock because six o'clock closing was mandatory those days and it's amazing you gotta drink a lot in one hour then how much beer a male knowing he's only got 45 minutes

[00:34:49] can consume who just to take the edge off life well that was the cultural paradigm of the time son but they stopped six spots were right because the whole rationale was it was actually causing

[00:35:03] drunkenness because there was such a short window to drink as much as you could it was causing massive cost to society so they end up extending the hours out and which is because I know because

[00:35:15] I was in this industry had to study it that was the argument for late trading well you're right son because I'm being a naughty boy and I think you followed him in my no thanks no no I mean I

[00:35:28] I you're just too you're too pure aren't you I was in the pub with with my mates when I was 16 or 17 and the legal age was 21 yep remember that and and I saw these men walking up and this was in

[00:35:45] the middle of the city vomiting on the pavement because they just thrown so much beer into their belly without any food it was disgusting even for a young rebel it was disgusting can I just

[00:36:01] on this topic I want to hark back to something you said I don't know if it relates but I'm going to give it a go about domestic violence because you mentioned at the outset some you just

[00:36:13] threw it as a throwaway line and then we've got lost in this other conversation I would like to just revisit it albeit quickly because I think it deserves its own episode uh do you mind I

[00:36:24] agree to dip into that okay just let's let's just reset quickly and let's just get your thoughts around the subject this is very very tricky subject the meet in him podcast

[00:36:39] my son it wasn't called that though those days right I don't really know what the term for it was I'd prefer to call your marriage you know dysfunctional family okay my dad worked hard

[00:36:54] my mother worked hard they were both good people but my dad couldn't contain his anger particularly or temper I should say when he had come home from the six o'clock's will okay that's what I thought

[00:37:10] so the pubs related or that's this drinking is related um yes because he was a very talented man he was very good at cards and snooker and all sorts of things as well as working hard

[00:37:25] he wasted a lot of money on the races I remember in the 50s where he would put a hundred no yeah 100 pounds on the nose wow now 100 pounds in today's money is I don't know 10,000 10,000 oh wow

[00:37:46] 10 yeah the equivalent of grandma would add a heart attack yeah well eventually she took control of the finances which was a good thing but um I wasn't subject to any form of abuse but I saw

[00:38:05] what my dad did to my mother and I was just a frightened little kid and you know it stuck within me and as a consequence of that experience although he loved my mother intensely he would

[00:38:23] be verbally abusive in their old age etc I've I'm very passionate about the what's called domestic violence these days right good uh we should you know we should all be focused on I but I know

[00:38:39] it's in the press but that's not what's motivating me my childhood has motivated me and any man who abuses a woman and especially those who kill women deserve the harshest punishments and ever since the age of 13 I know this sounds strange I've been passionate about the death

[00:39:02] penalty because there are too many monsters in society here we go and controversy here we come I don't give a rats it's true and the monsters need to pay for their sins yeah and the lives they take and the lives they destroy in the futures that they corrupt

[00:39:23] can't you say that there are some mitigating circumstances for people who've been subjected to violence themselves or you know abuse or what have you you know in that and then they treat

[00:39:33] their partner would you say this really going so that's you want to wouldn't want them to be put to death or anything like that would you if the consequence you know like and then this

[00:39:43] happened not so long ago a man putting a hammer through his wife's head I don't give up yeah I don't give a rats what his background was shoot him okay don't muck around yeah

[00:39:54] so here's some stats for you dad this is uh I've just done a quick search mission Australia it's a few years ago uh one in six women have experienced physical or sexual violence

[00:40:05] for men it's one in 16 so I'm actually surprised in in that 75 percent of victims of domestic violence reported as perpetrator is male so that's that's actually less than I thought too but still a lot um overall one in five women uh have experienced sexual violence and that's

[00:40:21] sorry this is sexual violence but this is the bit I was getting to on average one woman every nine days is killed by a current or former partner in Australia well I don't have any tolerance for

[00:40:33] that at all yeah my view is exterminate the animal what and I don't see you with a flame thrower just like going off son all my life I've been committed to my values I will pull the trap door

[00:40:50] I will do the injection I will make you know if I'm allowed by by society to do it I will do it because you know what I got my time yeah people someone in jail it's about it is about 50 to

[00:41:05] $60,000 a year too much and then these bastards get out yeah I'm parole after 20 yeah well not three years but longer I am old-fashioned and I'm damn proud to be old-fashioned well look you don't have

[00:41:20] a judge's robe on and you know you've given up your long week from from you know the primary school years I've given them to my children to play with so thank god you're not in charge

[00:41:32] but I do hear you and I do feel you and it's got to change and I think part of the way it's going to change is through men having forums to discuss to express to reconcile some of these

[00:41:46] these things that are going on within them because there is a lot of frustration there is a lot of misplaced anger and emotion and it needs to find a way through because otherwise it's destructive

[00:41:59] look I've got to be honest because I've been on the receiving end of this many times women are beaten with language than men and some of the things they say they'll be fucking nasty man can

[00:42:12] be very inflammatory oh god yes I've been I've been on the receiving end too that's no excuse to beat them no I I hear you and I totally hear you yes so I mean no one's perfect in this but

[00:42:26] just come on girls give us a break I know I know they'll never give us a break and and half the time we deserve it by the way yeah that's true so I'm not saying we make lots of

[00:42:39] our stupid mistakes our guiltiest judge yeah well look we we promised to take the rubbish out and we didn't so yeah we get a reward for that hey look but no I appreciate you sharing that and I know

[00:42:56] you've seen stuff and it's shaped you I've seen stuff and it shaped me and I think we should devote more time to this in its own episode potentially in season two if you're cool with that

[00:43:09] yeah I'm cool with that it's something which is endemic in society and has to be stamped out one way the other yeah well maybe we can do a little bit to help all right let's move on emails

[00:43:23] so here we are again with emails from dad and I've chosen a really uh an interesting one to be honest with you and I know you've you've been touting this from the rooftops dad but I will go

[00:43:37] back to I found the original email you sent about this which I hadn't actually scroll all the way down to because it's like takes me half an hour to scroll down to the end of the thread

[00:43:45] but I found one from March which was talking about your mental acuity test and I was I was intrigued so it's a this you said this was in your email you said this is the most comprehensive set of

[00:44:00] cognitive tests I've in your underscore ever encountered so you went on to talk about how you went out cost what 900 bucks or something why did you do a mental acuity test and

[00:44:11] tell me more like I've got some of stuff in the email here but like speak to it I'm interested looks like you failed this time so another 900 dollars thanks no fail well no I'll never get to

[00:44:29] be a stand-up comedian because I like I'm just sad I'm a sad audience every so often I decide to benchmark myself and as you get older at some of these things are very important this is the

[00:44:44] second time in my adult life I've been talking to a health professional and I've said I want a full range neurological test okay and the first reaction I think I'm going crazy no I am crazy I just

[00:45:01] don't want to go sane it's very important that's interesting I'm trying to resist being sane all right I don't think that was the point but yes good one oh it's like David Bowie's

[00:45:18] one of his famous songs was Aladdin saying was what Aladdin saying spelt Aladdin as in the magical cup but oh interesting but with the English language being what it is it actually is a lad

[00:45:34] insane how are you mate I'm Aladdin saying exactly I've done it because my dad had Parkinson's disease when he was 65 and you know these tests have taken place post my 65 years and I wanted from a real professional what dysfunctionalities I may manifest or be starting to manifest we

[00:45:59] were hoping that the scores would be pretty darn disastrous so that we could get you know put your hand on the first one was 20 years ago and she was very very good and in the end in her

[00:46:18] she didn't use this terminology because she was a specialist and lady she basically said look you're fine piss off right and I got the full report from my doctor and I had passed she said

[00:46:31] she saw no signs at all or you said sorry near email no no no this was 20 years before the most recent okay okay well let's talk to most recent one because we are running out of time okay I'll

[00:46:42] make it quick the most recent one is I was talking to another health professional and I said I want a full neurological test because I'm in the age group for dementia I'm in the drop-off

[00:46:55] zone well no I death is fine so long as it's not agonizing they don't want to be stupid I've had friends friends die of dementia I've seen what you know these these mental things do to people

[00:47:13] and yeah they suck it's a most indignified way to die so I engaged this lady who was recommended to she did house calls which really impressed me and then she explained the reason for the house call

[00:47:29] is she needed to see the elderly person in their environment and you know you can tell a lot about what is happening in a person's mind by looking at the way their situation is ordered so all those

[00:47:47] cases of wine and empty bottles you think oh no that was fine I mean she'd I thought she would failed you immediately go no she recognized the preservative and applauded okay so the brain

[00:48:01] is floating in a beautiful preservative and what was the result at the end of the second well I was most impressed with yourself there were 20 different tests number sequences pattern recognition word associations etc etc and tell them the price son I know it was 890 bucks no that's

[00:48:25] actually an expression for can we get to the gist of what the the score was please oh look basically she said uh for my age I'm fine okay so that was it you know like that was a shame

[00:48:36] I'm sorry no man that's really good but it was a shame yeah because we're going to take over your estate but damn it you got ahead of us and we're gonna have

[00:48:49] to get our own personal psychologist in or you know that right just to double check no this is a neuropsychologist yeah that's what I mean yeah yeah all that this lady was no we're all good

[00:49:00] very well respected in a field oh yeah well so you say this double she couldn't she couldn't toss me out because it was my house oh god all right so look congratulations 80 years old um

[00:49:12] party to party hardy for the last I don't know let's call them 70 years of that please don't remind me of my parties oh maybe 60 years uh and because you weren't doing when you're 10

[00:49:24] I'm sure it should be a separate topic yeah that will be at your party party I got it August and stories yeah yeah the ones you remember that you talk about those and then I'll remember those ones because I was too young to get it that blind

[00:49:36] and then the ones afterwards that we went to together they'll be great to talk about as well so congratulations uh you are sane and um you must be disappointed I'm very disappointed

[00:49:52] if she'd come up with a fact that I was a mental I would have thought oh yes mental is anything I fit in yeah all right I think it's time to wrap this thing up the meet in him podcast

[00:50:05] well there we go dad another episode in the bag thanks for the time and the conversation I think we're pretty well what about you I did too son I'm really enjoying this process good I'm learning things about you you're learning things about me and hopefully the topics we

[00:50:21] cover are of interest other people yeah that's what I'm hoping to and in terms of this episode I actually quite enjoy talking about the animal peace and and digging into the way that that shows up

[00:50:34] I guess as part of our own natures you know as humans as men and our interaction with animals I thought that was interesting nothing else and obviously that point too about I guess just your what I say interesting interesting about your perspective on domestic violence

[00:50:52] albeit brother extreme it's firm and consistent son fair enough the meet in him podcast