Part 1: For once, I’m glad I went to the Prom

In high school I always hated dances and the Prom. People would tell me to go, that I would regret it if I skipped the prom. Then I would get all spiffed out in some ridiculous dress and hairstyle and be stressed and nervous and go to some hotel conference room decorated with streamers to have a boring time that was at best a let down and at worst a total disaster, all set to a soundtrack of Garth Brooks. I don’t think I have any high school readers, but if I’m wrong about that and you are a high school student, trust me, skip the stupid Prom. Unless, that is, you happen to be in Victoria at Wilson’s Prom.

The drive from Melbourne to Wilson’s Promontory is just a couple of hours and getting out of the city is fairly congested. It’s worth the traffic. The get away is a stark contrast to the city. The peninsula is beautiful wild national park with lake and ocean exposure. There are lots of Wallabies and Kangaroos and colorful Australian birds. There are supposed to be Koala there, but for now they proved elusive, not for want of my searching. (Koala freaks: stay tuned for Part 3). We stayed in a modern, hip cabin that was warm and bright and fully outfitted. There were huge screened windows that would allow you to basically open both ends off the cabin if it was warm. There were ceiling fans. There was a nice kitchen and hip little throw rugs. There were high ceilings and the top meter of all the walls were big windows, to there was lots of natural light. I started plotting how I could move in permanently. We hiked to Observatory Point from Telegraph Saddle, the highest point in the Prom. We could see the ocean on 2 sides. See it’s gorgeous there:




We also did a 20 K hike down to the beach. There were camp sites right down by the ocean, for those tough enough to pack in all their water and not need a shower. I saw at least 20 Crimson Rosella. It was tough to leave the prom.

After a fantastic day of hiking the drive to Mallacoota was 5 hours along the winding Pacific Highway in the dark and the rain. I did some screaming about the frequency of Roo carcass (they are a nuisance akin to deer on US highways) but we made it to Mallacoota. It’s a charming little town on the ocean with beautiful lakes and rivers in town. There were good café’s and bakeries. There were huge pelicans. They have these beautiful pink birds everywhere called Galahs. These are as common as pigeons.

Here is one of the thousand picturesque inlets in Mallacoota.

It was hard to leave but we had to hit the road. I needed to be in Sydney for camp by Saturday morning (see part 2). Another 4 hours or so up the Pacific Highway is Wollongong which reminded me a bit of St Louis. It is a Sydney Suburb that is trying hard but has more than it’s fair share of charmless retail. There were a lot of drunks staggering around downtown. Parts of it look like Atlantic City. When you come to Australia, go ahead and skip Wollongong. I also lost my Tennebaum-esque Adidas track suit top there when I left it in the hotel room and called later and the cleaning staff had never heard of it. Jerks. Now I guess it’s in heaven with the Triple 5 Soul Jacket I lost at Battle of the Beach in West Palm Beach in 2004 and the other Triple 5 Soul hoodie I lost in Copenhagen.

(Unrelated to my Tour, thanks to Tucker for passing on the Ultimate Ice-capades and to Paige for getting me hooked on this prison dance troop. She’s right, the best one is Thriller, but look around YouTube they’ve also danced to the Black Eyed Peas and something about a Jumbo Hotdog.)

Avalanche

Hi. I am back from my trip. I had a great time and I have a lot to tell you, but I am currently snowed under with work, ultimate laundry (the worst kind), errands, Yahoo! and Accenture and Telstra e-mail accounts and a deep seated need to unpack. I also have to do my Australian taxes. Check back in a few days for posts about the trip to Sydney, the national training camp, the trip to Brisbane and finally Halibut.

Tour

Quick update here. Next weekend is the National Training Camp in Sydney. I'll be doing drills and playing with the 40 or so women trying out for the Australian worlds team. I'll be in Sydney July 21-22.

The following weekend I'll be in Brisbane for the co-ed Halibut tournament (July 28-29). Brisbane is farther North and it should be quite warm up there. That should be a ton of fun.

The week in between I'll be away from Melbourne and away from work. Weeeeeeee!I may drive up the East coast, or I may fly up and park myself at a beach somewhere.

Updates may be a long time coming so now you are warned. I'll try to come back with some photos.

In other news, I'm watching a lot of the Tour de France. Like all international sporting events there is an Aussie in contention and the public is following the tour closely in the news. The Tour is on pubic TV live, every night from 11 PM until 3 AM. This conveniently replaces my late night Wimbledon addiction.

In addition to late night sports viewing, this week involved work, running, and swimming. I went to a Jazz place near my house which had a very Chicago feel. I also went to the MCG with 90 thousand other Melbournians to watch the Geelong Cats in an epic battle against the Collingwood Magpies. (The Cats prevailed.)

On Sunday, I did a little loop that included Brunch in Albert Park, an ocean side walk in St. Kilda glass of wine at a Fitzroy wine room, a brief stop at the ANZAC remembrance shrine,a quick check of the Royal Botanical Garden with the drought restrictions lifted, and a quick stop off at the National Gallery of Victoria to see how the Guggenheim looks down under. (Crowded.)

Hope everyone at home is having a great summer.

Some times our heros let us down

This probably aired weeks ago in the US, but last night while watching Law & Order SVU or CI or ESP or TNA whichever one it was, I saw my beloved David Cross portraying Howard K. Stern of the Anna Nicole Smith celebrity distraction from the war in Iraq. Seriously. Check it out. This mad me sad, but also reminded me of the great R&B group TTOMO (Three Times One Minus One) and this made me smile.

Now I'm not so apologetic for stalking him that night at pianos. He doesn't deserve any reverence if he's going to be in Dick Wolf's TV universe.

Also, I'm told the last post was overly grouchy. Sorry. Don't be alarmed. All is well... All is well... All is well...

planet = bad

I am so sick of this present day media super saturation of extreme everything-overs telling me what makes a meaningful life. I know why Thoreau went to Walden. I feel like I am in a Folger's commercial with the volume at 100 decibels and a wind machine set to 'full force gale' just behind a haystack of fiberglass shards.

On the upside, I have a new goal, and a new reason to keep going to work. Now I want a sensory deprivation tank of my very own.

Also, if you are thinking about any early Christmas shopping I could use a t-shirt that reads, "LEAVE ME ALONE."

Lazy Americans

Lazy Americans! You take a Wednesday off in the middle of the week and now you want a post from me? Nice try. My 4th of July was uneventful.

All I can really tell you is that once again this week involved much going to work, some going to the pool, and some playing of ultimate. I also stayed up way too late many nights this week watching Wimbledon.

I had some co workers over to the corporate pad for sushi and nachos on Saturday afternoon while we watched the Collingwood Magpies overcome a 20 point (4 scores) deficit over the St. Kilda Saints in rainy and windy conditions. It was a great game.

After the game, I went out to celebrate a birthday for Teegan who's on the Victorian Squad with me. About 6 of us went to see the very scary documentary Jesus Camp (yes, Mara a second time for me) at the swank ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) which is about 2 blocks from my house. They have a big pixar exhibit on now.

After the movie the Australians celebrated not being Americans by going out for Japanese food and then to the James Squire brewery for beers. It was a fun night.

The posts should pick up soon as it looks like I have a full slate of visitors lined up. Jesse will be here later in July. Sarah will be here in August. Sipper is passing through town on a whirlwind Australian tour and before I know it my Mother (and #1 comment poster) will be here with my Dad, Aunt Vicki and Uncle John. Look forward to thorough coverage of all those visitors.

Extra special thanks to Andy for this which reminds me that some good things do occasionally come out of the good ol' U. S. of A.

nightswimming of the indoor variety

Abbey is home from her surgery. Mom has called dutifully with updates. Abbey seems to be having a bit of a tough time, but I am really hoping that she starts to feel better over the next week. I think what bothers me most is that we can't explain to her what is happening. She probably thinks we took her to the vet and that's why her leg hurts now. It's so odd that Ali's dog, Paige's dog and Abbey have all had ACL tears over the last couple years. Could this somehow be getting more common? I don't remember this happening when I was younger.

A big congrats to Ambush for winning the Easterns division at the Boston Invite. Way to start the season with a trophy! I miss you guys.

Things here have been pretty slow. This week involved some work. (Thrilling, I know.) Some making dinner. Some going out to dinner and a happy hour. You may suspect I am trying to lull you to sleep. Stay with me.

I went to the Melbourne public baths after work on Wednesday. It's 5 dollars in and another $2 for a locker. It's open until 10 PM so I can go after work. There is a nice 50 meter pool with 4 lanes: 2 slow, a medium and a fast. I am slow. It was never too crowded at the pool and there were never more than 3 to a lane. I was pretty scared about the whole ordeal, but I did okay. I'd never tried to work out in a pool before by swimming. I think I was last in a pool for deep water running. I last had swimming lessons at the age of 6 or so. I didn't know pool protocol. When do you put your swim cap on? How do you keep your goggles from fogging up? Is a flip turn mandatory? (My guesses: After you get in your lane and get you hair wet, no idea! and no, you can just turn around).

I was in the pool for about an hour. I can swim breast stoke without attracting too much attention. I swam 6 300s, which is about as far as I can swim in one go without getting quite tired. Freestyle is a much bigger problem. I cannot really do it. I flail around a lot and splash much more than the other humans. Do you kick on top of the water or just below? I cannot get the arms right. I cannot get enough air. I could only swim a 100 free at a time. I tried to do 3 laps four or five times, and always had to quit for fear of drowning. To recover I did some laps with the kick board. Swimming is so different than running because I don't know how to swim slowly enough to recover. I will just sink. I have to go to the edge and hang on.

On the upside, my plan of working out w/o hurting my knees seems to have been a guarded success. I'll go back. (I may need a lesson.)

I am watching the Wimbledon on TV in the evenings after work. They pretty much only show Lleyton Hewitt, but I get a general sense of the goings on from that.

Saturday, I went to Geelong to see the Footy at tiny local Skilled stadium. It's about an hour train ride from Melbourne. It was rockin'. Geelong city has a cute little waterfront harbor area with lots of cafes. We had some good pancakes. The stadium was packed with Cats supporters. We stood in the general admission area with the real fans. It rained on us a bit but that only made the experience seem more authentic. The Cats won definitively and we had a great time. I think it would have been a lot less fun if the Cats had lost.

Saturday night after my day trip to Geelong, I went back to the G, this time for a huge Rugby match between the national rugby team, the Wallabies and the dreaded rivals, the New Zealand All Blacks. New Zealand is just abut the only less relevant country than Australia for Australians to pick on so there is a lot of picking on the Kiwi here. The G was packed with 80,000 people or so. There were more New Zealand fans than Australian fans. The game didn't make a ton of sense to me and I don't really know the rules, but I had a good time. Australia narrowly prevailed, which was a major upset. The best thing about the game was the haka before, which is something I had never seen before. The traditional Maori war chant seemed to add a level of menace and severity to the already violent game.

Sunday was practice for the National Ultimate Frisbee League, where each state selects a team and sends the state squad to a small national tourney. I'm playing for VOS (Victoria One Squad). It is good to be playing again. I missed practice the last couple months. We played from 1 to 5 in Albert Park, and despite it being "winter" here it was about 60 degrees out and a gorgeous day. Practice was fun. I learned some new drills and we scrimmaged for several hours. I am working on my long game and got to put it long quite a bit so it was a lot of fun.

Next week could be a lot like this past one: work, Frisbee, swimming. Maybe we can make the blog a little more participatory and choose your own adventure style. I'm open to suggestions. If you want something to turn up in the blog just let me know.

If I'm not thinking, I'm drinking 'bout you

Hello. What can I tell you? It was a pretty good week. I am feeling a little sluggish and uninspired, but it's probably time for an update so here we go...

Let’s start with the bad news. Another torn ACL: First was J-Christ, then Brenda then Emma and now Abbey. That’s right, my golden retriever tore her ACL. The injury was sustained while playing fetch with my Mom. She’ll have surgery on Tuesday and then rehab, just like a person. I’m sad about this and a bit worried about her. I remember when this happened to Moose (of TMC fame) and it was a tough deal. Moose got better though, at least most of the way. I’m sure my mother will be keeping a close eye on Abbey.

Deirdre is back from the bike vet and better than ever. I just needed a new peddle hyrdacoil. I got her seat raised a bit and rode her to pick-up.

Pick-up on Saturday was a lot of fun. While there, I found a co-ed team to play with here. The seasons are opposite (rather than concurrent as they are in the US) so most club players play both co-ed and open or women’s. I’ll be playing with “Gary” which is based on a core of one of the open team here in Melbourne, the Heads of State. The boys from heads are pretty nice and a very casual group. I don’t expect us to win many games, but we will win the party. “Gary” is a bit of an inside joke, but I’ll probably expose it here in future posts. Stay tuned.

This weekend involved a fair bit of drinking. Jess and I had 5 long necks of Coopers between us at Hell’s Kitchen on Friday after work. On Saturday Jess, Joy, Hussey and I pubcrawled Fitzroy. We approved of the Provincial and Night Cat, and several other places that can now only be hazily recollected. It’s a good part of town. This morning I had brunch at La Citta and had some bloody marys. It’s a good thing I have to go to work tomorrow, I need the detox.

This week’s strangest event was a corporate team outing to watch the movie Office Space. The whole team was there. We were in a Telstra office, showing the movie on an Accenture laptop on a Telstra projector. We had Pizza. The bit about every day at work being the new worst day of his life still paints a poignant for me. It was a queasy dissonance to watch this anthem of rebellion at work with Lumbergs right there all around me. Maybe that’s what necessitated all the drinking noted above.

I also attended another trivia session this week, this time at the Prince of Wales, with Chris and Liz. I didn’t help much, but I did get a question about Jesse Owens right. We came in next to last, which (strangely) wins a prize.

This week’s mailbag: I have an exciting item in the mailbag this week. Thanks to Peanut for sending me a postcard from Budapest. She is in Hungary visiting her family and resting her planter fasciitis.

Peanut was Lindy’s favorite Ambush player for her sic layouts and long “yellow hair”. Lindy, also of the yellow hair turned 5 this weekend. Time flies.

Best of luck to Ambush at the Boston Invitational this weekend. I think this is the first time in 5 years or so I’ve missed that weekend. It’s strange not to be there.

Fellow bloggers: Do you archive independently from Blogger, in the event that it might go down or eat your blog or something? It is free after all. They don’t exactly have a service level agreement to meet. If so, any tips?

And finally, don't think I forgot about you. Here's a few good pranks to keep you entertained:
Oil and Weather.

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.

How many times did the Batmobile catch a flat?

Catastrophe has struck! Deirdre is out of commission. Today is the Queen’s birthday and a state holiday here in Victoria. I was planning on spending the day on a 50 K bike ride with Liz along the coast of Port Phillip Bay. About 5 K into the ride, luckily still near major roadways, my left pedal came flying off. We tried to put it back on, but the threads were completely stripped and it wouldn’t turn. Disappointed about missing out, I had to hail a cab and put Deirdre in the back seat. She just barely fit. I’ll have to take her to a bike shop next weekend. (Unless you have any suggestions…)

Back at 301, I rang up Joy and Hussey and we took the tram down to Port Melbourne to walk around. This is us on the pier. It was windy out and 13 degrees (about 55F).


Here’s my favorite Australian road sign.

Another thing I really enjoy about Australia is a nightly call in radio quiz on the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation.) Below is a typical exchange:

HOST: Question 2: In what year was the American President John F. Kennedy assassinated?
CALLER: {hem and haw for 60 seconds, mention Jackie’s clothes, and perhaps that Bobby was also Killed, and that you have a neighbor named Bobby, etc.}
HOST: I’m going to have to ask you for an answer. In what year was the American President John F. Kennedy Assassinated?
CALLER: Can I have a clue?
HOST: All right. The decade was the 1960s.
CALLER: {repeat extended hesitation. Recount where you were when you saw the news.}
HOST: I’m going to have to ask you for an answer. In what year in the 1960s was the American President John F. Kennedy Assassinated?
CALLER: I wonder if you could tell me if the year was even or odd?
HOST: All right: Odd. So there you go. An odd year in the 1960s. In what year was the American President John F. Kennedy Assassinated? 1961, 63, 65, 67 or 69?
CALLER: {Profess that it is all coming back to you and you can recall the year. You almost have it. If only you knew if it was in the early or later part of the decade…}
HOST: Right-o. I would say it is in the earlier half of the decade. So 1961, 63, or possibly 65. Are you ready for a guess?
CALLER: Can I ask my friend/husband/wife/neighbor?
HOST: Of course.
{Sound of the phone being put down on the kitchen table. Sound of the caller hollering down a hall.}
CALLER: {to host} What is the question again?
HOST: {Polite sigh} In what year in the was the American President John F. Kennedy Assassinated? 1961, 63, or 65?
CALLER: {Shouting down the hall} In what year in the was the American President John F. Kennedy Assassinated? 1961, 63, or 65?
HALLWAY EXPERT: {repeat the question, repeat above hemming and hawing, and mention Jackie’s clothes, and perhaps that Bobby was also Killed, and that you have a neighbor named Bobby, etc.}
HALLWAY EXPERT: I’m certain it was 1961. That was the year we redid the roof.
CALLER: Ok. I’m going to go with 1961.
HOST: {Genuine empathy} Oh! I’m sorry. That’s not it. Let’s go to our next caller.

REPEAT ENTIRE PROCESS WITH NEXT CALLER.

Let’s just say the host is no Alex Trabek.

In other news, this week was pretty good. On Wednesday, I went to the National Australian Frisbee team try–outs (a long shot but tryouts were fun). All week work was crazy, but perhaps in a promising way. Friday night I went to the Mountain Goat Brewery with Jess, Joy, Liz and Hussey and then back to their house to watch a close match of footy. On Saturday, Chris and Liz came over to watch a movie and eat pasta. Sunday I went for a long run and then I went to a birthday outing (Happy Day Esther!) at a bar in Fed Square a block or so from my apartment with much drinking and dancing.

Dad, I put a Father’s day present in the mail to you. Keep an eye out. It’s up to the whims of the Australian postal system if that’s your Father’s day present for 2007 or 2008.

On the NBA: Is his name LeBron or LeBroom? Tim Duncan is such a boring, dominant superstar.

Mailbag: Thanks to Ali for the postcard from Tuscany. Apparently there is something more to Italy than beach ultimate. Who knew?

And finally, here's a link for my sister Lynn. You're not alone, sis! Then again, she might not get it...