Peter writes It looks like that cartoonist who got sniffed out in the Toccie for illicit flora aromas is still bitter and twisted over the incident. Here's another of his cynical works of art just published in his Glebe Globe column....

hpdp.org.au proudly brings you this article from the Glebe Globe.

(Republished with kind permission from Glebe Globe).

As this week appears to be HP Poetry Week, here's another submitted by Jack

Peter THarold Park Hotel

Theatre of gold
Fresh with talent
and yet so old

First here as a boy so long ago
Now a sad farewell
The final show

It's touched us all near and far
From the back of the garden
through to the bar

The names, the faces the unearthing of stars
Battlers and winners
now treasure their scars

The magical aura where memories abound
Art be romantic
If romance be found

Thirteen years to the month a slice of my life
Not a single regret
Richer for the journey

Space is running low like time itself
They say we must move on
The almighty dollar shrouded in lies
Once again moving us along

John T. Carroll 2/10/99

Edited by Phil Ryan

Fran writes:

"Thought you might like this poem I wrote many moons ago re the HP. Won Highly Commended in NSW Writer's Comp a few years ago with it.
Cheers, Fran"

Read on for Fran's award-winning poem...The Harold Park Hotel

Fran Davies

What's become of the H P Hotel, to the locals that haunted the place?

Not the suits that breezed in on a Friday night for the trots or to pick up a case

Gone are the days of the old pool comp that gathered people from near and far

I wonder what happened to old Jetboy who had his own seat by the bar

I hear Marty went back to Ireland , there's no shortage of pubs over there

But I still see Carol round the traps, pushing uphill in her chair

And Nick, well he didn't make it, though he put up a mighty fight

So we said farewell to a local with the pub overflowing that night

Serge now works for the opera and Dean has moved nearer the sea

A beer garden once so crowded is now completely pot-free

The carpark is filled with rubble, the sign gone from above the front door

The poets, the muses and comics will stand on its stage no more

There are plenty of pubs in Sydney , but the Harold was one of a kind

No matter how far you would travel I'm certain just couldn't find

The kind of mates we made there, some have lasted a decade or more

It was a refuge to many a traveller and those who were new to our shores

Yes, they've closed the old HP Hotel but there are many who still hope in vain

The doors will swing open wide and long to welcome old mates once again

Yesterday, Microsoft released another 8 software patches for its products including Internet Explorer (IE) to fix some fairly critical security holes in these products. Many of them allow malicious persons (e.g. hackers) to take complete control over of your PC.

This brings the total number of security vulnerabilities with Internet Explorer over the past 2 years to 80 of which 19 remain unpatched. As a comparison, Firefox, an alternative free browser, had only 14 vulnerabilities of which 5 are still unpatched.

Read on for ways to protect yourselfI would recommend to anyone wanting to protect their PCs from attack from the Internet to download and install Firefox and stop using Internet Explorer. Firefox has many features that are not in IE and which provide a better browsing experience. It also has many "Extensions" available which can be easily downloaded to add more functionality.

Additionally, if you do not have firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware software installed you should do so immediately. All of these can be obtained for free (including automatic updates) and work extremely well in detecting "nasties" before they do any damage.

The following software is recommended:

Internet Browser: Firefox
Firewall: ZoneAlarm
Anti-Virus: AVG
Anti-Spyware: Ad-Aware
Anti-Spyware: Spybot

Note: Download and install both anti-spyware programs for best protection.
Note: When installing ZoneAlarm, it will ask whether you wish to load ZoneAlarm Pro or ZoneAlarm Free. Make sure you select the free edition or else it will expire within 30 days.

If you are not very technical savvy, some of the above programs may be a bit of challenge to install and configure. If you do have problems, some technical support is available from myself (peter AT hpdp.org.au) or Henare (henare AT hpdp.org.au). Standard schooner labour rates will apply for email support.

Good luck and safe surfing.

Peter T

That GG cartoonist has done another great one.

Peter T.

All,

Hey, it looks like there's gonna be a regular cartoon column in the
Glebe Globe now. This looks like the first of them.

I'll check with the editor and see whether they'll take submissions
from some of the other budding cartoonists out there. Shouldn't be a
problem cos he's a real good mate of mine.

Peter T.

Although hpdp.org.au doesn't wish to become a mouthpiece for the 'Globe, one of our regular list contributors submitted this article:

Welcome all to the new year, hopefully you have recovered from the excesses of Xmas & NYE. Remember to check our Ben's stats site for details of the 2004 Comp.

All the servers also had a break over the holiday period as they were physically moved and moved to a new ISP. We would apologise for the inconvenience, if anyone used the site.

Read on for details of the 2005 SuperComp proposed by our comp organiser PhilHi HPers,

This is a belated communication regarding a proposed addition to our pool competition. Informal discussions with many of you have gained a significant level of support (with none yet against), but in the interests of informing everyone, this 'official' communication is being issued.

It has been proposed that we maintain the records for a "super" competition, with a $500 prize at the end of the year for the player with the best NON-buyback results.

1) Competition will be based on the weekly results of the current competition.
2) Winner will be the player with the best 20 results for 2005, NOT counting buy backs.
3) Prize money to be $500 made up of $10 per week withheld from the weekly prize money. (I see this as the only possible sticking point - reducing our weekly prize by $10, although we do not have a fixed prize amount anymore).
4) I believe a tie is unlikely, but in that event, I suggest a system of playoffs (using balls sunk ala Nick Power cup if required) to narrow the field to a single winner. If a mutually agreed system of playoffs can not be agreed by the tied parties, then the winnings shall be evenly divided. (If two players, I suggest a best of 3, and work from there).
5) As organiser of the comp I will manage the collection of prize money for the end of the year.
6) In the unlikely event that we are forced to relocate again, if possible this arrangement to continue at the new venue. If not, the current leader will take any prize money collected to that point.

On the basis of widespread support $10 was withheld from the prize money of last week's competition. If that support does not meet any objections from the wider group, we will simply continue. If objections are raised which can not be over come, I will return the $10 from last week to the winner of last weeks comp - yours truly ;-).

Thoughts are welcome. Your presence tonight even more so. See you there.

Phil

As the end of the year and the end of the '04 comp draws near Phil updates us on the state of play...

"With 3 rounds to play (assuming we play the last one on 15/12 and not 22/12), Col needs to win at least 2 of the remaining comps and he CAN catch Ben for the title (Ben currently leads by 32 points - so it isn't all that likely). Well played to both of them, as they do have 1st and 2nd tied up between them. ..."

Read on for More"Third spot closely contested between PT and myself - half a point separates us.

JL has a chance of breaking into the top 5. Currently in 8th spot, 30 points adrift of Dean in 5th spot, John would need a very strong close, with at least two wins from 3 comps. Dean's leg also doesn't seem to be slowing him down too much (he beat me last night :-(), so John's work is cut out for him.

Special mention and thanks to Xavier for supporting the comp so strongly last night with 3 buybacks.

PT would appear to have the attendance record sown up, on 46/47 appearances, Mond 45/47 and Ben and myself on 44/47. Col, JL, Jase, Spider have all racked up (pun intended) over 40 appearances, and Karina and Dean are on 39 and 38 respectively.

Phil"