This week, in the car I pressed the voice button and said “play Frozen soundtrack please”. The car understood my meaning and used Spotify to play the songs.


Incredible driving soundtrack and, incredible manners role modelled by me. See, that’s how you do it kids. You’re welcome.


Except it isn’t. Also this week, I was informed that using extra (unnecessary) words like ‘please’, ‘thank you’, ‘could you’ increases the processes demand of the computing behind AI which uses additional energy, creates more carbon emissions and raises operational costs at the server. Using good manners with AI uses more energy, is unhelpful with conceptualising AI and is the wrong this to do.


This is of course completely opposite to using good manners with humans. Every time you forget to use ‘please’, ‘thank you’, ‘how are you feeling?’ with a person you cause them to use unnecessary energy to cope with your lack of politeness. Ask anyone in retail, hospitality or with young kids. It takes patience and energy to manage communicating with bad manners. I’m no expert, but it can’t be good for global warming either.


The way a message is wrapped up is important. It’s good to be efficient and direct. But sometimes, it’s better to take a little extra time, and energy, and send your meaning over wrapped in crisp brown paper with a neat string bow.


Thanks for reading.

We arrived home a week ago, and we’ve just now shovelled everyone over the jet lag and back on schedule, kind of. During a groggy early afternoon, or maybe it was a vibrant mid night chat during the last week, the three year old said “I want that adventure to be bigger.” She might have meant she wished she was back in the Algarve region, lounging on the golden sand and eating berries by the fist. She might have meant she wished day still felt like day and winter wasn’t so cold back here. However, I think what she really meant was that it was great to have the whole family around all the time.


Today she was at day care, Dani on campus, the 7 year old at holiday care pony club and I was marking assignments and doing laundry - we were flung to the four corners of the Sydney globe rather than 1 corner of the Iberian holiday coast. On the trip we slept in 7 different places across the 28 nights. Only 2 of those had a bed for the kids and a bed for the adults. The rest involved me sleeping with a knee in the back and an arm across the nose. In a good way.


With a few exceptions, most notably while mum/nana was there, the four of us spent a lot of time together everyday, for a month. This is pretty usual in our normal life, and of all the adventures on the trip, I think it’s the one we all ‘want to be bigger’ now that it’s over.


It’s great to be home, but it was great to be out there, anywhere, together.

There’s an ancient Spanish saying, which Dani and I made up this week, called Todos Juntos. It means all together, if you were to translate it to English. But when you’re in Spain, with a frisbee team of young men at the World Championships, it means so much more.


What it actually means is, your glory is my glory, and your problem is my responsibility. When one of the boys makes a great play, it’s because someone else threw it to them, or because their mate put enough pressure on elsewhere on the field to give them a block chance. Sport is about individual efforts and personal struggle, I’m not trying to describe a monolithic, all-are-one culture in which everyone has to be the same. Difference in a team is strong and healthy. Todos juntos is not everyone the same, Todos juntos is everyone together.


6 months ago we, the collective staff, started coaching the Goannas team. We didn’t set out to create a surprisingly unified and connected team, but that’s what has happened. Their super power has turned out to be an interpersonal affinity and affection which we’ve steadily tried to weaponise into points on the field. This isn’t an instant outcome, turning togetherness into blocks, goals and tactics. Be they’ve done it, used the knowledge that they care about each other to be able to hear criticism with the good will behind it. They’ve used it to demand each other’s best, and they’ve used the true fact that each person’s contribution feeds the moments of greatness that other’s achieve.

They didn’t win the tournament. They did build something special.

Your glory is my glory, in them we’re all together. Todos juntos and pour in.

I’ve arrived at the frisbee World Championships, again. I’m here with the under 24 year Aussie men, the other coaches and our manager, Vince. For 6 months I’ve been trying to think of ways to make the team great, to see problems as opportunities and think ahead to get the best outcomes - thankfully Dani is on the staff to do plenty of that. We’re all here, as our manager would say “because of the Frisbee Gods”.


Vince must be some kind of frisbee mystic, because he sees the silent hand of the frisbee gods at work in many ways the rest of us just take to be chance or luck. The weather forecast in the week of a Sydney training camp. Frisbee gods. The Jetstar flight cancellation board at Adelaide airport. Fris gods. The cost of synthetic playing fields, the location of the closest El Jannah, the accomodation booking process through the Australian and World associations, the refund policy at the synthetic playing field place. The whims of the frisbee gods. “It’s up to the frisbee gods Mike,” he’s said to me once a week this year. They are cruel sometimes. At times they are benevolent.

I wonder if you win enough at frisbee, do you become a frisbee gos once you retire. Then it’s your whims lofting under an errant throw or revealing your favourite cleats at lost property.


These national team campaigns are 6 months of injury, accounts, field and player and tactical management. Vince says the frisbee gods are on our side.


We’ll find out in the morning. Game on against Austria at 10am, Logrono time.

Roman baths in the late republic and imperial era were much more than just public baths. My understanding is they were kind of a swimming pool complex with a gym, cafe and even meeting rooms. People moved through a range of different temperature pools, exercised, discussed sport, business and politics, wrestled, ate and escaped the heat or cold of the season. People used to love just there hanging. The emperor Caracalla had one build in the 200CE that was 330m square!


Last week whilst hanging around at Camperdown Fitness, I listened to a podcast and did an occasional movement with a heavy weight. I noticed a couple doing an extended bathhouse style session. You know, moving, talking, drinking, looking, etc. Halfway through a friend arrived to say hello, they sat on the ground in a circle for 15 mins and discussed sport, business and politics.


A few days prior to that I was with some people who had concluded doing something dirty and were on their way to a place which required them to be clean. They decided to not go home in between, instead to head To the local Anytime Fitness to use the sauna and then the showers.


People love gyms, and not just to exercise in. It’s a place to have a smoothy and talk about Crixus the Gaul or whoever is playing that weekend. 3.9% annual growth, every year for the last 5 in Australia. Gyms are going off, I’d like to think that if Caracalla were to drop into Sydney 1800 years after his time, he’d know where to go for a casual afternoon.

It was a long day of training. The team had done well, yet it wasn’t perfect. There was a bitterness about the mistakes. Rightly so.


With the cleats off we worked on recovery, breathing, focussing and cold water. Then there was the feat. We had to get the manager from the beach, to the pier ladder, without getting wet.


The young men worked with their muscles and their minds. They worked together and hauled their revered team manager high into the air and across the gap. There was sacrifice, there was effort. There was unity and success. At the end of it all there was a team, cheering, ready to face the challenges ahead at the World Championships.

My mate at work had plans to go to a Italian restaurant last week, table for two! On the day, she found out it would be just her - she decided to go anyway. This required courage, not first over the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople in 1453, but legitimate social-emotional courage none the less.


The other night Dani told a story of pain relief during delivery. The point was, the second time around she knew it was possible to have a baby without. She gathered up knowledge, determination and some courage then went into that significant day.


Now she’s a mum and there is plenty of courage required in that job too.


Happy Mother’s Day to mums and well done to everyone who’s found some courage recently

Anakan was found as a child with incredible potential in the Force.
Trump was elected because people believed he had the potential to drain the swamp.


Anakan gained in power and became the most powerful of all Jedi. The one who would bring balance to the Force.
Trump won his second election with an actual majority, a compliment Supreme Court and Republican Senate and House of Representatives. Ultimate US political power.


Anakan turned to the dark side, became Darth Vader and ruled the galaxy brutally on behalf the evil Sith emperor.
Trump started a global trade war, deported people to an El Salvadorian mega prison without trial and slashed public services through appointment of personally loyal key position appointees.


Darth Vader eventually destroyed the Emperor and saved the Galaxy.
Trump was so globally objectionable that conservative political movements with even a whiff of Trumpism lost elections everywhere and saved the galaxy?


May the 4th be with you.

Our younger dachshund Greta died three and a half years ago, Evie last week. It’s brought up a lot of thoughts and feelings for our 7 year old boy. He’s asking questions, we’re coming up with answers. Yesterday it seemed like he spontaneously thought up reincarnation, I told him his idea has a name and some people go for that belief. We’ve been asked what are the options for when we die, cremation is the popular choice in our house at the moment. As I say, a lot of thoughts and feelings.


Much like grief in my own life, the big feelings have flared up mostly around bed time for the little guy. The top bunk timbers have been groaning with the extra weight of a parent most nights this week.


On Friday we bought a small dachshund soft toy. Toy, I’ll just that again. A non living toy replica of a dog. The boy said “it’s soft like Evie, but looks like Greta. We should call her Grevie.” Apt. Grevie’s getting lots of hugs tonight.

Once, years ago, I had a lot of time and not much to do. So, I agreed to take the hounds and pick up the travelling superstar frisbee coach from the airport. Her name was Alex and everyone in town was excited she was coming to run a series of workshops - Alex was probably the best thrower in the World game.


I made Evie and Greta sit in the back because we had a special guest, they didn’t agree and continued to poke their noses forward, I elbowed them back, even though Alex said it was alright. She didn’t understand yet that if you give a dachshund and inch, they’ll take your lunch.


The tree lined streets of Canberra cruised by as Alex pretended to remember me from a tournament in 09, she really was a big star. We arrived at Jonno and Keah’s house where she’d be staying for the week, the hounds and I were also staying there for the week, just like we had for the 20 weeks prior.


Greta sprinted through the back door to bark at a bird, again. Evie sniffed Alex’s bags while everyone said hello and welcome. Alex said “the little dogs are cute”, Keah replied “I’m glad you think so.” Alex settled in and it was cup of tea time so we sat in the sunlight and talked about frisbee, adventure and old memories. For the next 2 days Alex was going to run training sessions for Canberra’s frisbee players. From the new talent all the way up to the National representatives, there would be great learning and insight.


Jonno said to Alex “the main rule of the house is to make sure you don’t keep any food down low.” “Oh sure” she replied unfazed, “I do actually have some incredible truffle coated chocolates as a gift for you, but they’re zipped in my bag up on the bed.”


Jonno and I looked under the table - no Evie, we looked outside, then at each other. Without explanation or warning we both broke from the table and charged upstairs to the guest room. The carnage was complete. The door was open, the waterproof field bag was unzipped, clothes were dispersed and a brightly coloured package lay in shreds on the bedspread.


As we entered the room Evie looked at us in triumph and a hint of the addict’s jealous fear. “These are mine” she said with her wide stance and cocked ears. “No they’re not!” I said by snatching her up into my arms. “Welcome to Australia” Jonno said sheepishly. “I thought I had to watch out for the snakes and spiders”, Alex murmured as we all traipsed back downstairs in a mix of disappointment, embarrassment and defiant glory.






This week, after nearly 18 years of successful food heists, we said goodbye to Evie the wonder dog. Ever vigilant, ever stubborn, forever hungry. She’s off on the next adventure and wherever you go to after you die, the people there better hide their snacks.