Hello and welcome to THE RANT, my own special way of keeping in touch with the world.

It may take a little time to find out what form my blog post will take; how it will be related to our work with Sixes & Sevens, how much world view/international commentary is appropriate and whether self-censorship is going to be enough to keep this on the rails.

I have a little devil on my shoulder that looks a bit like me in a red leotard, but on the other shoulder I have an little angel who looks a lot like Kim Berry. So let me take the opportunity with this blog to tell you a bit about what it means to have a partner in crime who cares about the work, but cares more about the person.

Considering how rare they seem to be these days, I have been extraordinarily lucky to have worked most of my adult life to this point with a bunch of chaps whose dedication to one another has been the sort of thing they make movies about. Like the end of Top Gun where Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise go all gushy with each other about who is going to be whose wingman. Kind of like that anyway. Being able to recognise in a co-worker a very distinct, complimentary set of skills but also a sense of simpatico is what I have been lucky enough to find with Kim.

Now, I get to write this stuff because I'm the mouthy one and he's the clever clogs with the tech know-how. And sometimes reading something complimentary about yourself is very difficult, but he should read this and he should know that for me at least, his dedication to our work together, his compassion and his talent continue to inspire me.

Before I sign off for the first time, I would just like to mention for posterity if for nothing else, that Channel Nine News chose to run a promo yesterday during a break in the cricket in which the split between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie took precedence over the crisis in Haiti.
And in a roundabout sort of way, that illustrates my point. My inability to just let go is kind of why I need a friend like Kim Berry.