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Robbo and Alana at the Rod Laver last night - surreal!

Mike's Pith & Wind - Surreal
I went to the barber yesterday. I routinely go to the same barber shop but I’m never sure which competent exponent of the shears I’m going to get. I used to go to a ladies’ hairdressing salon, but I was irritated by the unnecessary ritual of washing and drying and fussing that I suppose women actually enjoy, and then, to cap it all off, extremely disconcerted by the expense at the end of it all. So I’ve ended up at an unassuming barber shop that’s comparatively cheap, (though not 8/6 mind you), conveniently located near my ‘office’ in Camberwell and I’m comfortable with that.
I suppose I go there every six weeks or so. There are mirrors all around the room so I’m able to check the progress of my male pattern baldness, particularly as it affects the crown, of which I‘m blissfully unaware most of the time. I was trying not to feel too dismayed at the pink positively glowing through the feeble undergrowth when I noticed this eleven year old boy sitting with his mother behind me and pointing at the back of my head and sniggering – I distinctly saw him mouth the damning words ‘bald-spot’.
Maybe my ancient mariner scowl deepened fractionally, but then I told myself that one day he will be looking at his own comb in horror and maybe he’ll remember the dignified way I resolutely stared senility in the face with only the hint of a tear welling in my eye. Not.
I blame my maternal grandfather. My father, who is 87, is blessed still with a thick white mane of hair. read more

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Dick's Toolbox - Executive salaries
One of the more diverting news stories of late has been the sacking of the female principal of a leading private Melbourne girl’s school by the school’s board, comprised mainly of notable business people and chaired by another notable woman CEO, for alleged overpayments. The issue is too complex to go into here; the principal is much admired and has considerable support, the school is large, prestigious and she was being paid around $500,000 a year. This around three times as much as a state high school principal is paid, but perhaps not ridiculously excessive given the work that a school principal has. And, in her case the parents, their children and their joint sense of entitlement she had to deal with on a daily basis. It probably indicates that state school principals are grossly underpaid for the work that they do given the multi-cultural nature of state schools and the highly varied..read more