These are the days

The actions of our life are what we will leave behind. The impact on others and that little bit of us that we leave with those we meet. If we are lucky we get to share more with some people. But there are times that you must journey as one and make your own path.

Days go by, but I do not mourn those who have passed but for those who live and are not alive. Those who miss the opportunities of the world, the moments that pass them by.

remember those that have been part of your life and treasure those who have been close to you.

Fyi, this post has come about partly due to a film I watched today, a catch up I had with an old friend and the significance of the date.

Manly V Storm V the NRL

so i feel the need to vent my spleen again. i am still proud and passionate about the NRL and the Meloburne Storm but yet again it seems to me that they have recived the wrong end of the stick.

lets look at the facts of the case.

a bit of punch on in play, both players sent off - not a problem

the players decide to conitnue on whilst they were headed off the feild - not good for the game but fiar enough.

4 manly players run in from over 40 meteres away and SET UPON the single Melbourne player- not right

4 storm players come in and try to remove the other players from the situation - understandable.

the penalties - all of the storm players offerd level 1-2 charges. i question their being charged givne the fact that they did not actuly ENGAGE in the melay. but i accept the ruling of the NRL on this one.
the Manly players are facing charges ranging from grade 3-5. these are players who decended on mass to beat the living day lights out of an oponent and did so without hesitation. they were not there to help their team mate, if they were they woujld have tried to pull blair off instead of throwing a punch.

in the last two days the Storm and Adam Blair have made comment publicly & taking responisablity for their actions and thier part in the mele. today manly have announced they are considering an apeal and that they dont think they are responsible.

to the NRL........ i hope you stand your ground and you throw the book at manly.
to the Storm.... i am proud of you boys and you behaved honrably in my mind in this incident. i am not proud of the actions of Blair on the night but in the days since you and the club have behaved in a fashion that make me glad to support the club.

well thats me done. more coming soon but probably in a more positive light.

What to say......

i was given the most unusual request the other day. i was invited by the Assistant Region Commissioner - Cubs for Bays region to speak at the annual grey wolf recognition day. he invited me as it is traditional that they have an "inspirational" speaker. and he wanted me? sure i can talk, but most of it is nonsense. it was one of the toughest speeches i have ever had to write and also make. but i think i will share with you some of what i said. i tired to break it into nuggets to share on twitter but none of it broke down that nicely. i am going to chose to skip over the history and the nice "what i have done" and just get into the key message.

don't be afraid to ask for help
a lot of people think they should be able to do everything straight away. so many times i have been asked to do things that i didn't know i could or think i should do. and so often i took on things that were beyond my experiences. but i knew that every time i could ask for help and advice when i needed it. in scouting and in most things in life you are never left out on your own. the support is there if you decide to take it.

if you can dream it, you can probably do it
now this sounds very much like the cliche of if you can dream it you can do it. it has a small reality check attached to it. linking this idea to the support and knowledge base at your disposal it makes all kinds of things possible.

challenge your self
this was relay important. i spoke about the fact that the cubs had accept a challenge to push them selves and do their best. i encouraged them to not just do this when there was a tangible reward such as an award. the challenge should be seen as the opportunity and not to look for a larger reason to challenge them selves than they can.

be prepared to ignore the doubters
people around you will always tell you what you can and cannot do. now some times you need to listen to those people because they might control the finance, insurance or actually tell you not to do something because of safety and a genuine reason why not. BUT, some of those people will just be telling you that you cant because your too young, that your too inexperienced, the your too **INSERT WORD HERE**. those are the people to be ignored. believe in your own abilities and you will be amazed at what you can do.

have fun & make friends
i think this is the most important lesson that i passed on. i have friends all over Australia and more importantly all over the world. and these are people who i care greatly for. i keep in regular contact with them and we share our lives through keeping in touch and scouting. i have had some amazing experiences but i wouldn't keep coming back for more if it wasn't fun. so if you take one message from all this is that to go out there, make some friends and have fun.

well this was a greatly abridged and paraphrased version of my speech. it was recorded and i have no idea what it looks like. it was probably the hardest audience and i had lots of kids come and talk to me afterwards about what i said.
i hope you enjoyed this brief insight into my brain and some of what makes me tick

Richard "Gonzo" McCoy

My Future Tours

Hello All,

so i have begun to think about trips i want to make in the next few years. so i have decided to write them down. obvisouy this is all subject to employeers and funds and other nice things such as partners letting me. this covers major evnets and other activites. i hope my employers will let me do Time Off In Lieu so i can take some more time off when i want to do some of the larger trips. obvsiously for all the scouting events i now will be attending as staff.

so here we go

January 2011 - Oz Moot (DONE)
July 2011 - Queensland Theme parks (assuming they are still there and havent been blown away)
September/October 2011 - Victorian Cuboree
January 2012 - Wild Dayz - Tasmania
January 2013 - Australian Jamboree - Queensland
July/August 2013 - Candaian Jamboree (Alberta) & World Moot (Quebec)
January 2014 - WAM (Perth)
July/August 2015 - World Jamboree (Japan)

i am sure that plans might change between now and then. but the sad news is for those who were hoping that i would be coming to PJ2011, looks like the finances and stuff wont go that far. but i am planning another trip in a few years. i also want to do a trip to NZ at some stage.

there you go.

YiR & YiS

Richard "Gonzo" McCoy

you know the problem with you is..........

so i have hit my straps again. i am still being frustrated by the lack of work and my inablity to secure an interview. and i am still waiting to hear back form an interview two weeks ago. but that is merely minor issues.

good news is that i had my first date in almost 6 years the other day....... and it wasnt a disaster. but i have recently figured somthing out. because the lack of dates has not nessacarliy been by choice. its not for a lack of aksing girls out. its been for a lack of "yes".

now then...... first of all i accept the I like you too much as a friend response. i just have got tired of hearing it again and again and again and ......well you get the idea. but a line from a film comes to mind and i am going to go to the trusty IMDB for this quote

Gobber: Don't you... no, Hiccup! If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all... this.
[gestures to all of Hiccup]
Hiccup: But you just pointed to all of me! 

now for those of you who don't know the film "how to train your dragon" the reason for using the quote might seem a bit mysterous. well it turns out that being all of whom who are is not such a big deal and it just takes for people to get used to it. well the moral of the story also applies in my life. part of the reason (and this is form people i have asked) as to why they wouldnt date me, is that there is just TOO much of me. not too much ego, not too much gut, not too much personality just too much ME. because of the combination of the elements, i can only concluded that there is too much me.

so does that mean i am going to get rid of some of me? no it just means i need to wait and find some one who can handle and deal with all this me. in the mean time i am going to perserver and i might even go one some more dates and see if i can improve my hit rate.

so i am beging to feel better and i am getting more positve about my life. now its time for me to refocus, get back to doing what i do best and scaring the world with my ideas.

a blog posting with my intended future tours (yeps you read right) is coming soon. obvisouly plans change, but if i foward plan i might just be able to do all of it.

Peace out and dont do anything i wouldnt

Gonzo