I love reading Bill Simmons’ articles. I love listening to Bill Simmons podcasts (check out this Bill Walton episode for an hour of podcast gold). Bill Simmons is the franchise player of sports writing, and more specifically, basketball writing. I only wish we had such an equivalent writing in Australia about the NBL. Now that would be awesome.

Just to give you an idea of how good this guy writes, especially from a basketball perspective, I present the following quote:

If you’re scoring at home, the Hero Complex manifests itself in the following ways during close games: Insistence on making every big play; propensity to make out-of-control drives that lead to offensive fouls; overeagerness to take advantage of a potential two-for-one by hoisting up a horrible 3-pointer; and most importantly, insistence on being isolated on beat-the-buzzer plays so that everyone can stand around while you dribble for 17 seconds, fake like you’re going to the basket, then pull up for a horrendous jumper. The success rate of the buzzer-beating shot by someone suffering from the Hero Complex is roughly 11 percent. And that might be high.

Anybody who has watched or played basketball, at pretty much any level, will identify with this affliction!

Last night Hannah and I were fortunate enough to be attend West Australian Opera’s performance of La Boheme, as a guest of Beaumonde Catering.

I’d never been to the opera before last night, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, or whether or not I’d enjoy it. I was more certain that Hannah would have a good time as she definitely has a more artistic side than I.

What was especially great about last night was being a guest of Beaumonde. This meant that we didn’t just get great tickets in the dress circle, but prior to the show we were treated to canapes and drinks, followed by a most delicious meal that highlighted what a great catering company they are. While enjoying the meal, we were given some background and explanation of La Boheme by the Musical Director.

From there, it was downstairs to the theatre for the first two Acts. As I mentioned, I didn’t know what to expect, but I was truly blown away. The strength of the performer’s voices, coupled with an excellent orchestra and magnificent set design, all framed in the beautiful His Majesty’s Theatre, just made for an awesome experience. Also helpful were the English surtitles provided, which helped me follow the story which is performed in Italian.

At intermission, we were provided with desserts and more drinks and reflected on the great performance we had seen so far, and we looked forward to the second half.

Acts 3 & 4 did not disappoint. The performances were just amazing, and I was completely taken in by it all. I can’t describe how much I enjoyed it all – it was simply amazing.

Following the show, it was back for some more dessert and drinks while we waited for the crowd to disperse. The cast also came up to meet the guests of Beaumonde.

All in all, it was a great first time opera experience, made even more special by being there as a guest of Beaumonde and enjoying their hospitality at the same time. It made for such a special night; one we will not be forgetting.

Today somebody deliberately tried to kill our dog.

We let Indi out of her bedroom (the laundry) this morning to go run out in the backyard, take care of her morning business, and just generally be a dog.

A little while later, Hannah went out to get her food bowl and just happened to notice some paper and green pebbly things on the patio. On closer inspection, it turns out that it was a packet of Ratsac rat poison that Indi had discovered and eaten.

The thing is, we don’t own or use Ratsac so there’s no way Indi should have had it. The only conclusion we can draw is that somebody threw it over our backyard fence deliberately for Indi to find and eat.

Why would anybody do this? Why would anybody elect to murder somebody else’s dog? What sort of arsehole do you have to be to do this?

Ratsac is a poison, but doesn’t take effect for 24-48 hours after digestion. So if it weren’t for the fact that Hannah noticed a bit of the rubbish left from Indi’s eating we would have no idea that she had eaten it and she would almost certainly have died this week.

We rushed Indi to the vet, who was able to induce vomiting and get most of it out of her stomach. She’s now got to take three weeks worth of medicine, and we are living in fear that the person will try again. So today we had the fear of our dog dying and the cost of the vet and medicine to save her, all because some prick doesn’t like our dog.

Indi is our dog, a member of our family and we love her. I can’t believe somebody tried to kill her.