In my defense, as soon as I worked out what was causing it I stopped doing it immediately.

Children

Dylan
Meg
Maddison
———-
Hayley
Oliver

Grandchildren

Lily
John

Malakai
Aaliyah
Abigail
Spencer
Lucas
E

Ariana

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It’s one of my favourite lines from one of my favourite movies, and so when I was working at Aglet, I chose it as my ‘signoff’ when signing emails or in-game messages. It became something that Aglet players identified as being “my line”, when in fact I had simply borrowed it.

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In January 2011 I created a second account. Why two? Well one was my “professional persona”, where I tried to keep myself nice. When I was in real estate I didn’t want to mix in all my personal and political opinions on that account, so that’s why I created a second. Until I left real estate I kept the second one fairly anonymous, so as not to out myself.

I enjoyed the interactions I had with people on Twitter. I made loads of friends who I interacted with online, and then began to meet in real life! What a great place it was.

Then in 2022 Elon Musk acquired it. And it turned to shit. Right wing bot accounts became the norm, and it just wasn’t what it had been. I was eager for something different.

Bluesky began in 2019 as a research initiative at Twitter, becoming an independent company in 2021. Development for the social app accelerated in 2022 after Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and subsequent severing of ties between the companies. Bluesky launched as an invite-only service in February 2023 and opened registrations in February 2024.

Sometime during the invite-only period I managed to get an invite code, and i joined. I was member number 138,752.

Since then I have stopped posting on Twitter, though I have maintained my accounts for archival use. Bluesky has been my choice of social media app, and many of my old Twitter friends have joined, which is awesome. Many haven’t however, and that’s a bit of a shame, but I understand their reasoning so I don’t hassle them about it.

Anyway, if you want to find me on Bluesky, here’s my profile.

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I also smoked weed. When I was younger it was bongs, but as my lungs deteriorated I moved to joints, a mixture of weed and cigarettes in each one.

I made a decision to try vaping weed instead. I’d heard from a mate how good it was, and I wanted to try it myself. Because I have a prescription for weed, I contacted the pharmacy I deal with and they were able to sell me a device that would fit the bill.

It’s known as the XMAX V3 PRO Portable Vaporizer. Essentially you just put weed (not mixed) into a little canister at the top of the device, turn it on, and the weed gets heated up (not burned) as you draw on it and it mixes with air, and you inhale the vapour. From the minute I began using it I haven’t had another joint. There’s just no need, this does the trick!

So having made the transition to vaping weed, I started to think about attempting to get off the ciggies the same way, by vaping. But it wasn’t easy to work out how everything worked. The Australian Government, in an effort to try and scare the kiddies away from vaping, had made vaping very hard to do. I was able to locate some very helpful information on Reddit. I then registered with several online pharmacies and was able to purchase some vapes and pods and unflavoured juice (containing nicotine) so I could flavour it myself.

It’s now been 325 days since I have actively smoked cigarettes, and I no longer cough all the time, I breathe easier, and I no longer stink. If you want to transition to vaping as a way of getting off the cancer sticks please let me know, I am more than happy to share the knowledge.

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The first booze I purchased was a short time after that. Tia Maria. Yeah I know, go figure.

Anyway, during my early adult years I used to go and see a lot of live music. Mostly The Lonely Boys. And because I was poor, beer was the cheapest choice available, but I’m super classy, so I would usually drink Heineken.

My mate Tom used to drink Jim Beam, and when I would go visit him he’d usually offer me some, but I thought it tasted like crushed ants (don’t ask me how I cam to this conclusion). I genuinely hated the stuff. But one night after a LOT of drinking I ran out of booze, and so it was either bourbon or nothing, so bourbon it was.

I cured myself of my bourbon dislike, and it has been my choice ever since. Jim Beam was the go-to, but I recall doing some experimenting when I lived with Tom. Beams Choice, Beam Black etc.

Later on I moved to Jack Daniels, and for the last two decades or so that has been my goto drink. That is until March 7, 2025 when I stumbled across a piece of news: Jack Daniels parent company (Brown Forman) has pulled out of the Human Rights Campaign annual Corporate Equality Index.

“Hastily abandoning efforts that ensure fair, safe, and inclusive work environments for LGBTQ+ people based on manufactured outrage from MAGA bullies is bad business and leaves their employees and millions of LGBTQ+ allied customers behind,” Eric Bloem, VP of programs and corporate advocacy at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, said in the statement.

I consider myself someone who is one of those millions of LGBTQ+ allied customers, and so now I choose to no longer purchase Jack Daniels.

So that’s it. After twenty-odd years of loyalty, I’ve tipped my last Jack. It feels a bit strange, like breaking up with someone who’s been in your life for decades. We had some good times together — well, some hazy times, anyway — but I can’t in good conscience keep supporting a company that caves to pressure from the worst people on the internet.

Will they notice the absence of one middle-aged bloke in Melbourne not buying their booze anymore? Probably not. But it matters to me. If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything, right?

And besides, bourbon isn’t a one-brand affair. There are plenty of other bottles out there ready to step up. So from here on, I’ll be looking for a new favourite. Maybe I’ll reconnect with old mate Jim Beam. Maybe I’ll explore something fancier. Maybe I’ll even go back to Tia Maria for old time’s sake (nah, who am I kidding).

The point is, Jack and I are done. It was fun while it lasted, but values beat brand loyalty every time.

And if you see me at the bar, don’t bother sending a Jack and Coke. I’ll be the bloke trying to figure out what the hell to drink next.

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In April 2020 I started working at Onlife, which had at that time just released a mobile phone game called Aglet. The game was a map based game similar to Pokemon Go, where players would navigate to locations around them and collect in game assets such as sneakers and street wear.

Initially I was employed as a casual, just helping out a friend who was one of the co-founders of the company. We were in business together with the real estate business, and he knew I could do with a few extra dollars given that real estate was essentially shut down due to lockdowns. When I started there were just a handful of us. Things grew very quickly and the role was made full time. I was essentially handling all of the in-game support requests and engaging with the community on our Discord chat server.

The game revolved around sneakers and street wear culture. We were releasing a lot of very cool sneakers into the game, and players were loving the ability to collect their favourite sneakers, albeit digital versions of them, in a game that was fun to play. 

One of the “hype” brands was Adidas Yeezy’s. Designed by Ye, these shoes were as much a hit inside the game as they were in real life. One of the more popular Yeezy’s is the “Waverunner”, and so it wasn’t a big surprise that my colleagues gave me the nickname “Daverunner”, a play on my name and the popular Yeezy shoe. 

So in all my engagements with our players, they knew me as Daverunner. So it made sense (to me at least) that I begin agitating for us to release a Daverunner shoe inside the game. To that end, I began dropping subtle hints in team meetings, and also began stirring up our players, getting them onboard with the idea that releasing a Daverunner was a good idea.

Our Senior Illustrator, Dan, came up with an impressive design which incorporated numerous elements that were relevant to me, and in time the tide was too much for management to ignore, and the Daverunner was released into the game. 

At the time, the release of this digital shoe was the most successful of any we’d released to date, including shoes like Nike, Adidas, New Balance etc. For an “unknown” shoe, it gave us an insight into the fact that the “hype” around particular shoes wasn’t always just due to the shoe being popular in real life already, but that we could manufacture our own hype around a brand. 

Over the next few years, we successfully created and launched 16 “Daverunner” shoes, all with differing styles and colours, but all featuring the Daverunner name on the sole, and all backed by the hype we created around the brand. 

In addition, we released a further 12 shoes which featured “Dave” in one way or another. I had become a meme within a game. 

If you’re interested, you can read about how we set about manufacturing the digital version of the Daverunner into a real shoe and made it available to purchase, ultimately selling over 700 pairs worldwide.

Here is a list of all the “Dave shoes” we created and released;

AGLET ONE ‘DAVERUNNER 

AGLET ONE ‘DAVERUNNER 2.0’ 

AGLET ONE HIGH ‘DAVERUNNER’ 

AGLET ONE ‘DAVERUNNER GA’ 

AGLET GRIND ‘DAVERUNNER 

AGLET ONE HIGH ‘DAVERUNNER GA’ 

DIME ‘DAVERUNNER’ 

AGLET ONE ‘BANNED DAVERUNNER’ 

AGLET ONE ‘DAVERUNNER NFT 

AGLET ONE ‘DAVERUNNER IRL’ 

AGLET ONE ‘GREEN DAVERUNNER’ 

AGLET ONE ‘BLUE DAVERUNNER’ 

AGLET ONE ‘YELLOW DAVERUNNER’ 

AGLET ONE ‘FLANNEL DAVERUNNER’ 

POSITIVE INDUSTRIES JMPR PRO ‘DAVERUNNER’

AGLET ONE HIGH ‘DAVERUNNER ALL WHITE’ 

AGLET GRIND ‘DAVEBOT’ 

AGLET SOCKS ’N’ SLIDES ‘HOT DAVES’ 

AGLET ONE ‘WHAT THE’ 

AGLET ONE HIGH ‘WHAT THE’ 

AGLET TELGA ‘BEACH’ 

AGLET ONE HIGH ‘HOT DAVES’ 

GRIND ‘BANOCCOLI’

AGLET FREEFLOW ‘HOT DAVE’

TELGA ‘NAFLA UNIVERSE’

SEVEN ‘WILD WEST’

SEVEN ‘HAPPY ANIMALS’

AGLET VELCRO DAVEHOPPER

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I was very close with my Gran, who lived a good deal of her adult life in Belgrave, and whilst she wasn’t sport mad, my uncle Dan was involved at Belgrave Football Club. So as a kid I’d occasionally get the opportunity to go and see him play. So my first real exposure to AFL was through watching Belgrave, who wear black and white stripes, and are known as the Magpies.

So when anyone asked me who I barracked for, I always said Collingwood, because they too are the Magpies.

The first Grand Final I can clearly remember was in 1977, when Collingwood drew with North Melbourne and then lost the replay a week later. From there came a brutal run of heartbreak: the 1979 loss to Carlton, the 1980 loss to Richmond, and then 1981… another loss to Carlton. Four chances at glory, four defeats. Supporting Collingwood meant learning about disappointment early.

The rest of the eighties weren’t much kinder, but then came 1990. Facing Essendon in the Grand Final, the Pies finally broke through. To watch the team I’d followed since childhood win that flag is a memory that will never fade.

Since then it’s been the full rollercoaster: four more Grand Final losses (2002 and 2003 to Brisbane, 2011 to Geelong, and 2018 to West Coast), another draw in 2010 against St Kilda, and two glorious wins—2010 and 2023.

Through all the ups and downs, Collingwood has given me immense enjoyment. And I count myself lucky that Eleisha, Hayley, and Oliver all barrack for the Pies too. It makes for a harmonious household on game day—well, unless the umpiring goes against us.

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I attended the rally as part of a large contingent of people opposed to Reclaim Australia and their divisive message.

Here’s a selection of images I captured on the day

The post Reclaim Australia Counter Protest appeared first on Dave Hooper.

Tecoma is a quiet town in the Dandenong Ranges 40km east of Melbourne.

More than two thousand residents live in the area, which is characterised by its protected parklands and National Parks. 

In 2011 McDonald’s lodged a planning application for a 24-hour outlet with drive-thru in Tecoma, which elicited a record number of written objections from local residents to the shire council. 

The 1,170 objections raised concerns relating to traffic, litter, noise, crime, impact on existing local businesses, schools, parklands, the demolition of the historic Hazel Vale Dairy building and the development not befitting the character of the area.

The Shire Yarra Ranges Council unanimously rejected the proposal, only to have their decision overruled by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, who deemed the overwhelming objections of the local community “irrelevant”. 

The residents of Tecoma refused to accept the development and launched a remarkable grassroots campaign, which spread across the world, involving thousands of people and hundreds of Gnomes. 

Tecoma, “the little town that roared”, made itself an international cause. Here’s an example article on CNN.

My involvement

Around October 17th, 2012 I was working in real estate, and had just completed a sales appraisal at a property in Boronia. I had the radio on 3AW, and a caller called in sounding very distressed. She outlined how the community had come together to create a community garden on a vacant site in Tecoma, and now the police had arrived and were trying to evict the protestors who were “sitting in” at the garden. It sounded interesting, I had some time, so I figured I would go up and take a look at what was going on.

As I pulled into the carpark at the rear of the site (in my c-class Mercedes and wearing a suit), a couple of the protestors approached my car. As I got out, they angrily demanded to know of me “Are you Maccas lawyer?”. WTF? “No, I am a real estate agent.” I said without giving it another thought. This just seemed to agitate them more, as they thought I had something to do with the garden site. I quickly explained that I had nothing to do with anything, I was just here to see what was going on, and they calmed down a bit after that.

There were perhaps 50 people there at that stage, but more were arriving as time went on. As the caller had suggested, there were a couple of police on site as well, and a fencing contractor who had been called to erect fencing around the site. It emerged that the site owner was also in attendance. There was a lot of shouting going on, and it was clear that the protestors weren’t going to allow the contractors to install the remaining temporary fence, and the police were overwhelmed by the number of people there.

In an effort to calm things down, the police asked to borrow one of the protestor’s loud hailers. He then explained that everyone in attendance was trespassing, and the land owner was requesting that everyone leave the site.

The protestors were making it clear that they weren’t going anywhere. The land owner was becoming more agitated with the police, demanding they “do their job”. The police said “look around you mate, there’s two of us and too many of them”. That’s when the land owner asked to speak directly to the protestors. As he raised the loud hailer to his mouth, I watched intently to see which way he would go. Would he try reason, common sense? He did no such thing. He essentially called them all trespassers and was very rude and aggressive. Things got a little heated, the fence guys realised there was little chance of them completing their work, and they left. Soon afterwards the police left too.

It had been an exciting afternoon. I had never been part of such an event before, and so I began talking to people, getting an understanding of what was happening. I discovered a very kind and welcoming community of people. Each of them had different concerns. Some were worried about rubbish, some were concerned about traffic, others simply hated US multinationals. All of them had their reasons, none of the reasons seemed invalid. I asked how I could keep in contact, and it was immediately apparent that there were as many different “sub groups” as there were opinions.

am proI walked away thinking about all of this, and decided that I could help. I would build a website. One central place for all of the information to be collated and shared. That website became Burger Off. I am proud of the contribution I made, and was honored when approached by the National Library of Australia to include the site in its official archives. Visit burgeroff.org using Trove.

The Age Article featuring me

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/kill-threat-probe-over-mcdonalds-tecoma-protest-20130731-2qygu.html

Timeline

Early 2011

Project Launch

The Tecoma Village Action Group was sent 1,170 written objections to the Yarra Ranges Council. The objections included concerns about increased traffic and rubbish, as well as the impacts on established local businesses.

October 11, 2011

Council rejects proposal

The council met at a specially-hired reception centre for a vote on the development of a McDonald’s restaurant on the Burwood Highway, near the intersection of Sandells Road. About 650 people turned out to hear the decision and record their objections. The council unanimously rejected the proposal, prompting McDonald’s to take its plans to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a review.

October 10, 2012

VCAT overturns decision

A year later, VCAT overturned the council’s decision, allowing the development to proceed. VCAT concluded that the problems identified in the submissions are “not so significant that they cannot be managed through permit conditions and final design solutions”. It placed a number of conditions on the development, including landscaping and paint colours in line with the surroundings. The full decision is here.

October 14, 2012

Community garden created

Local residents gathered at the site, planting a community garden to protest against VCAT’s decision. They began a 24-hour-a-day vigil at the garden until police intervened in November. Protesters began writing to the Yarra Ranges Council, calling for it to appeal against the decision in the Supreme Court.

October 23, 2012

Council rejects appeal

The council voted against pursuing action in the Supreme Court, six councillors to three, ruling it would not be a responsible way to spend ratepayers’ money.

November 9, 2012

Police raid garden

Police intervened at the protest site, clearing out tents and the community garden.

November 15, 2012

Meeting with Minister

Residents held a meeting with the Planning Minister, Matthew Guy to express their concerns. They asked him to put planning overlays in place in the Dandenong Ranges to prevent similar developments in the future. The protest group Burger Off says McDonald’s declined his offer to meet its representatives.

December 11, 2012

Petition tabled

A petition containing 3,775 names was tabled in State Parliament. It requested the Legislative Assembly “do everything in its power to provide legislation that will prevent more fast-food chains being built in the Dandenong Ranges”.

March 2, 2013

Community march 1.0

About 3,000 people marched from Belgrave to Tecoma to protest against the development.

July 1, 2013

Roof occupation 1.0

Four protesters began camping on the roof of the old Hazelvale Dairy building to prevent McDonald’s from bulldozing it and others picketed the site outside.

July 3, 2013

Police assault

Police moved in on the protesters.

July 3, 2013

Union support

Unionised construction workers walked off the job at the Tecoma site, citing solidarity with protesters and occupational health and safety concerns.

July 8, 2013

State Cabinet campaign

The protesters moved their message to Melbourne, campaigning outside One Treasury Place where a State Cabinet meeting was taking place.

July 16, 2013

Maccas sues community

McDonald’s began court action against eight members of the group.

July 17, 2013

Court documents served

Members of the broader protest group were served with court documents, ordering them off the site at Tecoma. 

July 28, 2013

Community march 2.0

About 4,000 people take to the streets of Tecoma to protest against McDonald’s and support the so-called Tecoma Eight.

July 28, 2013

Roof occupation 2.0

A lone woman climbs onto the roof. She was replaced later in the week by another woman who stayed on the roof for more than a week.

July 31, 2013

Petition goes viral

The group says more than 61,000 people have joined its online petitions against the development.

August 6, 2013

Massive police raid

About 50 police moved onto the site before dawn. They arrested the woman who was camped on the roof and allowed contractors to resume work. There have now been nine arrests since the protests began but the opponents have vowed to fight on.

August 7, 2013

Demolition begins

Work to demolish the old Hazelvale Dairy, Saffron Cottage and Hippie Haven began.

August 21, 2013 

More cops

Police charged a tenth protester, a 56-year-old man, accused of pushing a security guard in front of a truck.

August 27, 2013

Tecoma eight in court

The Tecoma Eight face court in Melbourne saying they object to being singled out by the company.

September 17, 2013

International press

Four of the protesters flew to Chicago, the global home of McDonald’s, to present their online petition to the company’s chief executive, Don Thompson. They took out a full-page advertisement in the Chicago Tribune newspaper and placed 30 inflatable kangaroos at the front of a McDonald’s restaurant in the city.

October 29, 2013

SLAP lawsuit fizzles

McDonald’s agreed to drop its legal action against the eight protesters.

November 22, 2013

Flash mob

Protesters staged a flash mob at a Melbourne comedy show.

January 30, 2014

Picket knitters rock!

The “Picket Knitters” unveil an 11-metre long knitted banner at the McDonald’s site.

April 7, 2014

Picket the opening

Protesters picket the official opening of McDonald’s in Tecoma.

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