Samuel's Blog

NRL Tips: Round 25

Broncos V Knights
Tigers V Rabbitohs
Warriors V Raiders
Bulldogs V Panthers
Sea Eagles V Storm
Sharks V Cowboys
Roosters V Titans
Eels V Dragons

Samuel

August 30th, 2013 at 07:18pm

AFL Tips: Round 23

Sydney V Hawthorn
St. Kilda V Fremantle
Geelong V Brisbane
Port Adelaide V Carlton
Essendon V Richmond
West Coast V Adelaide
Gold Coast V GWS
Collingwood V North Melbourne
Western Bulldogs V Melbourne

Samuel

August 30th, 2013 at 07:16pm

Kevin Rudd considering suing News Ltd

An email to 2UE’s George Moore and Paul B. Kidd

Good morning George & Paul,

How utterly ridiculous for Kevin Rudd to consider suing News Ltd over a factual report about him flying to a cooking show.

Did Tony Abbott even respond to, let alone consider suing Fairfax over Mike Carlton’s defamatory satirical piece in last Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald? No.

Not only does Kevin not shut up, he doesn’t grow up either.

Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra

August 25th, 2013 at 09:18am

AFL Tips: Round 22

Collingwood V West Coast
Adelaide V Melbourne
North Melbourne V Hawthorn
Geelong V Sydney
Carlton V Essendon
Fremantle V Port Adelaide
St. Kilda V Gold Coast
GWS V Richmond
Brisbane V Western Bulldogs

Samuel

August 23rd, 2013 at 07:20pm

NRL Tips: Round 24

Panthers V Broncos
Rabbitohs V Bulldogs
Dragons V Tigers
Titans V Warriors
Cowboys V Knights
Raiders V Sea Eagles
Storm V Eels
Sharks V Roosters

Samuel

August 23rd, 2013 at 07:15pm

Multiple car fires in Canberra (with photos and video)

Two separate car fires caused the evacuation of over 70 residents overnight, and many thousands of dollars of property damage.

The first fire, in the underground carpark of Condamine Court in Turner involved fourteen cars and a boat. The entire block of the apartment complex above the carpark was sealed off, and residents were evacuated. Many residents were temporarily relocated in the Rex Hotel just up the road on Northbourne Avenue.

Forbes St, Turner, blocked due to the Condamine Court fire

Northbourne Avenue north-bound partially closed due to the Condamine Court fire

In Jerilderie Court in Reid, a car which has not moved for at least a year was torched. Residents were evacuated from the apartments above the fire and much of the carpark has been blocked off. A HAZMAT team was called in to perform atmospheric monitoring due to concerns about toxic smoke. The torched car produced more toxic smoke than usual due to a number of tyres being stored in the car in addition to the ones on its wheels.

Witnesses reported seeing two young males running from the scene, and some police officers were sent from the scene to check surrounding blocks for any sign of the pair.

The Emergency Services Agency reports that two cars were on fire in the Jerilderie Court blaze. I did not see evidence of the Mazda next to the torched car being on fire, however as it was right next to it, there probably was plenty of fire, smoke, and water damage.

Firefighter battles the car fire in Jerilderie Court

After most of the fire had been put out, more flames emerged from under the car’s bonnet

The aftermath of the Jerilderie Court fire

I was able to get some footage of the Jerilderie Court fire while it was being put out, but the Condamine Court blaze had been well-and-truly extinguished by the time I was able to get over there. Here is some footage from both scenes.

Media note: A clean version (no watermark and no supers) of this footage is available upon request, in exchange for attribution. Alternatively you are free to use this video, provided that you do not remove the “Footage from Samuel’s Blog” watermark.

Update 6:07am: The police have issued a press release in which they say that, in addition to the two fires I’ve covered above, there were a bunch of other fires in garbage bins around the Civic and inner-North areas last night. The wording of the press release is ambiguous about whether there were car fires before the two I’ve noted above. Anybody with information is asked to call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000. End Update

Update 12:08pm: After a tip-off, I have discovered that the Jerilderie Court recycling bins were also decimated by fire during the night. More interestingly, the bins which are made out of plastic appear to have completely melted.

This apparently occurred before the car fire, which fits with what I saw as there was no sign of this fire when I first arrived on the scene, and it certainly wasn’t put out afterwards, so it must have happened before the car fire. End Update

Samuel

August 23rd, 2013 at 04:40am

NRL Tips: Round 23

Broncos V Eels
Rabbitohs V Sea Eagles
Raiders V Bulldogs
Cowboys V Titans
Dragons V Sharks
Warriors V Panthers
Knights V Storm
Tigers V Roosters

Samuel

August 16th, 2013 at 04:48pm

AFL Tips: Round 21

Hawthorn V Collingwood
Richmond V Carlton
Port Adelaide V Gold Coast
Essendon V North Melbourne
Brisbane V GWS
West Coast V Geelong
Melbourne V Fremantle
Sydney V St. Kilda
Western Bulldogs V Adelaide

Samuel

August 16th, 2013 at 04:43pm

It’s always fun to be the answer in a competition

But it leaves me wondering if it would make me ineligible to enter.

This afternoon on 2CC, Drive Show host Mike Welsh ran “It’s just not normal” as The Phrase That Pays. That phrase is the tag line for this blog and my name was the answer.

After this the song “Sam Hall” by Johnny Cash was played. Mike Welsh’s show was the first place I heard that song a few years ago, so it’s nice of him to play it again in relation to me.

I hope the winner enjoys their prize.

Samuel

August 15th, 2013 at 05:39pm

The charges against Essendon

An email to 2GB’s Ray Hadley

G’day Ray,

Given the hype which has surrounded the so-called scandal of the Essendon supplement scandal in the AFL for months, the charges of “bringing the game in to disrepute” seem very odd.

It seems to me that it may be a case of “we can’t charge them with anything else, but we need to charge them because we have made such a big deal out of it”.

“The Darkest Day In Sport” will surely go down in history as yet another grand failure of this Labor government. The suffering and anxiety it is causing across professional sporting teams is an outrage.

Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra

August 14th, 2013 at 09:25am

NRL Tips: Round 22

Storm V Rabbitohs
Eels V Tigers
Roosters V Raiders
Sharks V Knights
Sea Eagles V Warriors
Broncos V Dragons
Panthers V Cowboys
Bulldogs V Titans

Samuel

August 9th, 2013 at 05:36pm

AFL Tips: Round 20

St. Kilda V Hawthorn
Richmond V Brisbane
Geelong V Port Adelaide
Carlton V Western Bulldogs
Sydney V Collingwood
Gold Coast V Melbourne
Essendon V West Coast
Adelaide V North Melbourne
Fremantle V GWS

Samuel

August 9th, 2013 at 05:34pm

AFL Tips: Round 19

North Melbourne V Geelong
GWS V Melbourne
Hawthorn V Richmond
West Coast V Gold Coast
Carlton V Fremantle
Brisbane V St. Kilda
Western Bulldogs V Sydney
Adelaide V Port Adelaide
Collingwood V Essendon

Samuel

August 2nd, 2013 at 06:50pm

NRL Tips: Round 21

Knights V Broncos
Panthers V Roosters
Warriors V Sharks
Eels V Sea Eagles
Cowboys V Rabbitohs
Raiders V Storm
Titans V Tigers
Dragons V Bulldogs

Samuel

August 2nd, 2013 at 06:48pm