Adrian Barich’s 10 things: Blowouts in junior footy, hero fire fighters and ScoMo’s horror timing

1 I’ve only been up close and personal with a bushfire on one occasion and that was enough for me to know our firefighters are the best of us. As someone once said, firefighters save hearts and homes. One of life’s hardest questions is — what are you doing for others? 2 A city’s gratitude also, to the sergeant who used his first aid training to save that young child who was choking. Is there an award we can give the quick-acting Jason Lee? 3 Timing is everything in politics and the PM was all out of luck this week. His trip to Hawaii as the bushfires raged at home was a bit of a blunder and then when he rushed back to deal with the PR disaster, he ran into possibly the only fire service vollie who is still staunchly British. 4 Imagine having a beautiful, new billion-dollar stadium, which currently houses arguably the best cricket pitch in the world and somehow the venue gets overlooked for a Test match against India next year. If Cricket Australia doesn’t schedule a match in Perth against the world’s best Test playing nation, it’ll be a win for politics over common sense. 5 Isn’t it great to see the mighty quokka get a starring role in the latest Tourism Australia ad? The three-minute extravaganza made its debut on television in the UK just before the Queen’s Christmas message. Look out for plenty of Brexit-weary Brits heading Down Under next year. 6 The city has had some bad publicity in recent times but over the Christmas period plenty of people voted with their feet. The place was pumping and along with Northbridge was pulsating with energy and excitement. 7 And as we head into a new year it’s timely to remember the top four causes of homelessness. Lack of affordable housing, unemployment, mental illness and substance abuse. 8 Junior teams could be penalised for winning by huge margins under a controversial AFL proposal. As a junior coach myself, I’ve noticed the only people who like smashing other teams are mostly over-ambitious coaches and ugly parents. Surely a 10-goal winning margin is enough for any kids’ team. 9 I’m completely compromised on this issue as I love them but even I was surprised to see them in the shops already. Coles says more than half of us like a hot cross bun out of the Easter period. 10 Best I’ve seen so far. Be kind. Read more books. Spend more time with family. Crack jokes. Hug a pet. Go to the beach. Tell that special person you love them. Eat more ice-cream.