bX-6bukh banished!

Victory! I've been battling that error message for months. I finally got rid of it, so now when I post comments my photo shows.

This was very helpful:
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42093&useful=1&show_useful=1
The key for me was to use the "src=" url NOT the "href=" or "<img style=" link.

In other news, there was a shooting outside my office today. (Thanks for checking on me Liz & Matthew). I am fine. The shooting was about 5 blocks from where I live and at the corner of the building where I work, but by and entrance I never use. My building, the Rialto Tower was closed for a couple of hours. Shootings are a bigger deal here in Australia because they don't give away guns here in boxes of Cracker Jacks like we do in the states. I got to work at 8 AM or so and entered without trouble by the front entrance. I called my Dad to wish him a Happy Father's Day and then started work. Then, over the loud speaker, building management made several announcements that we should not exit and should stay away from the windows, that the building was closed. Some of the streets downtown where closed most of the day. I didn't see anything and it was a pretty normal day for me, work-wise.

Happy Father's day to my Dad. He is all kitted out now with AFL gear (Go Melbourne Kangaroos!) It's not Father's day here in Australia, they celebrate that in September, so he may just get two this year, like I had two summers.

Another difference, and this is one of my current favorites, is the varied flavors of Doritos here. You know how I love Doritos and I like to eat the entire bag, regardless of the size. They have a flavor of Doritos here that is "Tapas". Tapas flavored Doritos. What does that mean? That's like having a "Snack-Flavored" chip. That could be anything. I haven't tried them yet, but I am assuming that they are magical, a`la Willy Wonka and that whatever Tapas item you imagine is what the chip tastes like.

While I'm going on about differences, just another update on Australian Radio, special for Sarah. There is an exhibit from the Guggenheim coming here to the Melbourne Museum of Art. For about 15 minutes this morning on Australian Broadcast Corporation Radio, the host slagged the Matthew Barney Cremaster films. She talked about how they were pointless and pretentious at the same time and a total waste of energy and her viewing time, then she had an art critic on the program to complain about them as well. This will be the main art show in town for months. I'm pretty sure I remember NPR in the same position oozing adoration at Matthew Barney like that Vaseline oozed around the Guggenheim. I feel I may have found a second home.

I ran a 10K yesterday called the Run to the G. The "G" is the further abbreviated name for the abbreviation the MCG, Melbourne Cricket Ground. It's the most famous sports stadium in Melbourne and where many a Footy match is played. You don't actually run to the G in the 10K (though you do finish there for the half marathon that I skipped for the 2 hours later start time.) I had a fun race. It was very crowded. I saw a co-worker on the course, but never did meet up with the girls I had planned to run with.

You know how I love blog participation: Thanks to Alex for checking in and doing a lot of back-reading on the blog. (Tell Nina and Tim I said hello.) Alex won the webdings conversion contest which was "pointless". She's a gamer!

I am also a recent winner, of a Trivia night held in Richmond this past Saturday. My team was well balanced and while I was no help with the Australian sports or pop-culture questions, I did correctly identify the capital of New Jersey, getting us 1 point which was the margin of victory. Unfortunatly, we won a lot of free jugs (what they call pitchers here) of beer, which made the Run to the G a little harder for me than necessary. I'm still a strong advocate of the hung-over category in road races. I think I would have made a strong showing in that category.

Bike update: Deirdre is currently in the hospital. They are going to do surgery on her left hoof. I should get her back next weekend. Don't send flowers, as she is allergic.