so that was 2005
Photo's don't seem to be working on blogspot at the moment so here's a lot of text instead. In fact, here's a lot of text I'm borrowing from ninemsn because I couldn't have summarised the past year any better...
"IF you'd gone into a coma on Christmas Day last year, what a different world you'd be waking up to today.
The past 12 months have been packed with half a decade's worth of pivotal events that have redefined us individually, nationally and on a global level.
And it all started on Boxing Day when an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia triggered the devastating tsunami that smashed Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka.
Australia was busy relaxing in front of the cricket but pictures of the killer waves swamping beaches, hotels and towns shocked us to a generous and effective response.
In all, Australians would raise more than $315 million for victims of the catastrophe, which cost 273,000 lives. Nine Australian servicemen would also give their lives in the relief effort when their Sea Hawk crashed in Nias.
The tsunami caused political fall-out on the home front too when Labor Opposition Leader Mark Latham was exposed for his lack of visibility during the disaster. He was gone by January 18 to be succeeded by former leader Kim Beazley.
It set an early pattern. The political response to events unfolding to Australia's north defined our leaders during the year as Australians were arrested, threatened, killed, jailed and executed in Indonesia and Singapore.
Some of these Australians, such as the Bali Nine, were seen to have brought trouble on themselves. But convicted marijuana trafficker Schapelle Corby was considered innocent by the majority, despite being sentenced to 20 years' jail.
Michelle Leslie — the burqa-wearing, ecstasy-taking underwear model — split Australian opinion down the middle. She said she did whatever she could to secure freedom and she was the only one of the Bali accused to make it home.
Nguyen Tuong Van's execution was a sad conclusion to a year of drugs trouble for Australians overseas. His guilt was evident, his motivation was admired (by some) and he was hanged in Singapore at dawn.
Terror again struck Bali when suicide bombers detonated bombs at Kuta Beach and Jimbaran Bay killing more than 20 people.
It also revisted London in a series of co-ordinated attacks on the capital's transport system. More than 50 people perished, including the British-born bombers.
By October, mother nature had again proved herself the deadliest of adversaries when an earthquake on the Pakistan-Kashmir border killed 73,000 people.
During a year in which President George Bush was sworn in for his second term, nature also had her say in US affairs when Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans and ripped back the veneer of the American dream.
In Europe, riots engulfed Paris, Princess Mary had a baby boy, Tony Blair won his third term, Prince Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles and Kylie was diagnosed with cancer. In the Vatican, Pope John Paul II died and was mourned by thousands in St Peters Square and millions around the world. His successor German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was sworn in as Pope Benedict XVI.
In the Middle East, an increasingly unpopular war raged in Iraq, Lebanon's former PM Rafik Hariri was blown up in a massive car bomb and Australian hostage Douglas Wood was freed by Iraqi soldiers.
On the sporting field, it was a year of victorious underdogs and failure abroad. In rugby league, unfashionable West Tigers outpaced the North Queensland Cowboys to win an unexpected NRL premiership.
At the MCG in September, it was the Sydney Swans taking the flag in the relocated club's first premiership since 1934 as South Melbourne.
England's green and pleasant land turned into the killing fields for Australia's cricketers who lost the Ashes for the first time in almost 20 years. Don't look for Jason Gillespie, Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke or Simon Katich … they're not there anymore.
Remember Eddie Jones and the Wallabies? They lost eight of their last nine matches and Jones got the sack.
At the other end of the scale, the great mare Makybe Diva made it "three-peat" in the Melbourne Cup having already blitzed the Cox Plate field.
As great as the Diva was, the sporting highlight had to be the Socceroos' defeat of Uruguay to qualify for the World Cup. On a magic night in Sydney, Australia came together to celebrate its rebirth as a soccer nation.
But as fast as we drew together, we seemed to come apart again, a series of violent clashes in Sydney's south horrifying Australians of every creed and colour.
The Prime Minister said race was not a factor but most saw it as a fight between "men of middle eastern appearance" and white Anglo-Celtic males. The majority of ninemsn readers said racism was behind the violence.
Many also thought the violence would worsen, but the beaches have since been declared safe after a quiet weekend.
Here's hoping they stay that way because a beach full of only white faces is unAustralian and Christmas without a swim is no Christmas at all.
Here's to the sun, sand and the surf. And a safe, happy and eventful 2006. "
By Andrew Hunter 22nd December 2005
Oh by the way, to update you from my last entry, my car is not drivable... my radiator is completely broken... poor Ribena Berry is in the shop til end of Jan... *not happy*
Labels: random
posted by catty @ 5:16 AM
0 comments
