Wanted

Wanted for questioning about the untimely demise of Olympia Rose Begonia: Courtney "Black Thumb" Kelly. The suspect is likely unarmed but should be considered dangerous to anyone who relies on chlorophyll to generate cellular energy.

Well I skipped the Window Box update last week with the post on Wilson's Prom and I know that your are jonesin' just like when HBO skips a week on the Wire, so calm down, calm down (Season 4 DVD out now for those already thinking of Christmas) here's the skinny on the 'Box: As you can see the Begonia has about had it. Thanks to Amy for the suggestion to cut it back, I clipped off 2/3rds of the blooms. Maybe it was just to little to late, but the rest of the leaves have turned black and I think the end is upon us. Should I cut the rest of the blooms off? Should I hold a service? The Lavender has developed a huge crush on the Erinus and refuses to stand on his own any more. He is all tangled up. The Erinus doesn't seem to be returning the ardor, but doesn't seem to mind and she continues to grow and flower. I guess 1 out of 3 isn't so bad. That's still better than the survival rate of kids in the New Jersey Foster care system.

Work is nuts. Killing me. I worked all weekend. It blew. I am tired. I did escape on Sunday evening for a throw around of the disc which was a nice change. This week looks even worse. ew.

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. They don't have that here, but I know enough expats I actually had two Thanksgiving Dinners. Thanks to Gil, Susan and Julia for having me over for an Aussie hybrid turkey and shrimp on the barbie. Thanks also to Mike Shimota who had a lot of the account expats over to his place for a full catered Thanksgiving dinner. People brought their families. There were 40 or so people and maybe a third of them were under 7. There was a tumble bus out front for all of the kids. [Lynn, since I've confirmed the existence of a Tumble Bus down under, will you be coming with the girls, or are we already past that stage? Time flies...]

The election happened. Kevin Rudd (Labor) won as was widely predicted by the polls. Most of my Aussie friends seem pleased with this result, but as far as I can tell he didn't say much during the campaign to inspire optimism. He relied heavily on his election slogan (Kevin 07) which luckily rhymed and tried to say as little as possible that would make voters dislike him as much as they dislike outgoing PM John Howard.

I did steal away a break at work this weekend to plan my holiday trip. I'll be in Cambodia and Thailand over the break. Angkor Watt on Christmas day and Bangkok on New Year's eve. (Vietnam fell out as the Visa process just seemed too complex and I only have about a month to prepare.) Next I'll be planning hotels. Let me know if you'll be in the neighborhood.

Alright then, back to the salt mine.

American Stars in Bars

I just won the Irish or UK lotto again 3 more times. If only it was the ***FINAL NOTICE*** as the subject line implies.

In other news I've been extended to stay here through April, which I am glad about. I'll be busy at work, but hopefully I'll get to Asia on a trip of Christmas and have another good season with Team Box* (*perhaps working on a rename to Sporting Squadron or some such English as a second language joke. Stay Tuned. We'll see.)

I've been working ALL weekend on another PowerPoint and some spreadsheets. Liz and I discussed spreadsheet nightmares. I'm glad it's not only me. I'm not glad I worked all day both days. Makes me GROUCHY!!!!!

Friday I had awesome soup with Amanda and 7/9ths of TEAM WILD who will be going camping back to Wilson's Prom next weekend. I am REALLY looking forward to that. Not so much the camping actually. But the being outdoors and the not being at my laptop.

Thanks to Amy for sending along this free rice link which is a good way to procrastinate when you have to work on a spreadsheet all weekend. Did I mention I was grouchy? It is gorgeous outside.

Here's this week's check on the window box:


Same updates really, Erinus seems taller, Lavender wider, Begonia sadder. Look back here to see a much happier Begonia on October 24, really just under 3 weeks ago. This serves as another reminder about how roommate situations can be complex. I recommend living alone if you don't want to look like that sad Begonia.

They put up even more Christmas decorations everywhere. Everywhere! There are these frosted metal stars that reflect like a hologram on a credit card across all the streets. There is much more Christmas stuff than I ever saw in NYC, even with the Maceys Day Parade and the Nightmare/Miracle on 34th street. See?

These stars are lining every block of every street in the CBD. It's a wonder, just the sheer volume. I dislike them.
In contrast, here are some decorations I do like. This is a current view of Flinders Street Station, the train station about a block from my apartment. Can you see that they are promoting World Diabetes Day? Click here to learn more.

Here's a close up where I was able to crop out the nearly omnipresent stars:

A few posts back Kimmie blogged about here interst in this, ""Hemingway once wrote a story in just six words ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn.") and is said to have called it his best work." Well this isn't quite as moving, and it's 25, not 6, but this is a sign that someone posted in my elevator this evening:

I think that explains the situation pretty clearly. I didn't post the sign (note the neat handwriting) but I applaud it's sentiment.

I bought tickets to the Australian Open in January. That should be fun. I'll let you know.

A Day at the Races: The Melbourne Cup

This Tuesday was a Victorian State holiday. It was a day off for Melbourne Cup Day. As dutiful Victorians Liz and I decided to attend the race. We took her Chris (another 55) and Pottsy who can be seen getting schooled on page 170 of Tony & Zagoria's book. It was a big horse race. It was a lot like the Kentucky Derby, without the blanket of roses, Mint Juleps, or My Old Kentucky Home. That is to say it was just another horse race. Melbournians wear their finest to the race, even to sit in the infield. The behavior is pretty much the same, but chances are that drunk girl two blankets over passed out in her own puke is wearing a thousand dollar dress and Malono Blahniks. It is nuts. Here's us:

Chris and Pottsy having a beer

Liz, Chris and Pottsy

Pottsy, Liz and Chris, still with beer. (You get the idea)

Me laughing at Liz

Me and Liz enjoying some Champers, (there is a racetrack behind us somewhere, note the guys in ties sitting on the grass)

We bet a lot but did not win too much. We had a fun day and a nice picnic lunch.

Team Box had a preliminary get together to throw around a bit on Monday which was nice. It was good to play again.

Work persists in being totally nuts.

In other news, I took this photo while shopping for the picnic lunch we had today at the race.
See the pink bunny selling the Duracell batteries. I am flummoxed. You can see him better here on Duracell's website.

Don't we all remember the Energizer Bunny?!?!?!?! If not click here.

This tells me two things. 1) Pink Bunnies = Sell Batteries. Is this obvious? Please explain. 2) Duracell's ad company said persuasive things like: "Oh yeah when we take the sunglasses off it makes him seem more trustworthy." And someone believed this was not just copying your homework off the person sitting next to you, and an ad campaign was born. :(

The Window box is getting out of hand. The Erinus is still growing, but the Lavender is ranging out and tangling up with the Erinus. I do not approve. The poor Begonia seems less happy every day. It just drops blooms. See?

Results Tallied!

Well the Reader participation drive was a huge success. Thanks to all participants.

To summarize the results:
My readers include Robbie, Paige, Sarah, Matthew, Rueben, Dennis, my Mom, J. Mordecai, my Dad and Jennifer. That’s a total of 10, which is lucky because it makes the math on the following percentages so much easier to calculate.

Based on the drive, 30% of my readers are family, 90% are living in the USA, 40% are female, 20% are living in NYC and 20% are living in DC. A shockingly low 40% count as current or former ultimate players.

Maybe I should estimate some lurker, non-responder % as well. I’ll say another 50%, bringing me up to 15 readers. Go ‘Spondence! With this kind of circulation I’ll be in syndication in no time.

Now, on to some specifics:

Robbie. Wow. I had no idea. I had NEVER EVEN HEARD of Mother’s Finest, and had no idea that would be your type of music. Seriously. That is a great song. Would you and Lynn call that ‘your song’. ;) Also, World B. Free is good, but as J. Mordecai points out below, changing your own name is cheating.

Paige, sorry to blow your mind. You don’t have to get the song tattooed on your forehead or anything. It’s just a point in time. I’m also grading on a curve and having a diabetic toddler gets you extra credit, see? Thanks anyway for trying.

Sarah, Yes, where is that Jello mold? I have my Jello right here, mixed and ready to pour. On a side note, Jello here is called “Jelly” so you would never have Jelly on toast, only Jam. So if you are looking internationally it might be best to look for a Jelly mold. Maybe that will help. I will just have to keep stirring until the mold arrives. My arm is a bit tired so hurry.

Matteo, Hooray! I love the Macon Whoopies. That is very good. A hockey sweater would be a nice add to my collection too, so I’ll get on to Santa about that. I have been very good this year.

Rueben reminds us he’s already conducted a much more thorough study on the song topic here . Thanks Rue.

Dennis, obviously still a debater at heart, wins for being the most thorough and I flowed everything across with no drops. Thanks for your detailed answer. You know how much I love responses. Yes, Randle el is a good one. Please check out his dedicated personal site this guy gets points for being thorough too!

The cool thing about the Radiohead album download is that you can choose how much to pay. So say, based on experience you like about 4 songs an album and you think a song is worth 99 cents, then upon checkout for the album you could opt to pay $3.96. Cool, eh?

Mom, glad you still like Garth Brooks’ The Dance. The Saint Gabriel Archangels certainly is a mouthful. How do you cheer for that? Go Archies? (Yes, the cold is pretty much gone now thanks.)

J. Mordecai, Waiting for Superman is a great song. Great, Musically. But the vocals cannot compare to Gladys. At all. Maybe someone who can sing should remake that song. Who do we need? Lauryn Hill? Trying to save this missed pick by switching to the Smiths is a bold move. A bold move indeed, when How soon is now is not even the best Smiths song (This Charming Man). I would agree that this is at least warmer.

Dad, I certainly can count on your consistency. Yes, I love the Eagles comment. Especially ironic as the Eagles were formed in LA.

Anonymous, is that Matthew again? Yes, everyone loves Dick Trickle. But until you fess up to who you are, it’s Mr. Trickle to you.

Jen – wow. That’s a compliment. I’ll take it, but I think J. Mordecai would DQ me as well for adding the F as my “confirmation name”.

Whew! That’s about it.

In other news I have to work all weekend this weekend. Boo. Grr.

Here’s an update on the window box: As you can see, I rotated the window box to put the Begonia at the North end as there is a little bit less sun up there and the Erinus was reaching left/South for more sun and the Begonia was burning up. We’ll see if this helps. The Lavender has about doubled in size since I transplanted it, so I assume it is pretty happy.


Also here is a poor quality cell phone photo of the giant Christmas tree I walk by on my way to work:
ew! Have a good week.

Happy Birthday to my Dad and J-Christ and good luck at Nationals to Ambush despite and organized campaign to thwart you by the UPA.

Know when to fold 'em, Know when to Run

A few more brief comments prior to responding to the reader participation drive and a shout out to all 8 of my readers:

This past Sunday was the day I had promised myself I would do a hill work out. There is a pretty steep hill on the Tan, where I usually run, that keeps a continuous incline for about 600 meters. First I decided I would do 5 hills at 90%. Then (from my couch) I raised to 7. On Sunday it was 33 degrees here (91 F) and I bumped it back down to 5. Even then, my last one at 90% was still at a pace that saw me passed by senior citizens with walkers. I will need to try that one again. Maybe this Sunday after Karen & Lee’s engagement party (where I am expected to costume myself as half of a famous couple. I am trying to think of someone who was famously married to their work. Suggestions welcome, but please remember my level of artistic talent before you go telling me to sew an Evangeline costume.)

Also on Sunday, I noticed that the City of Melbourne has put up a huge metal Christmas tree in the square near my apartment. Ug. It glistens in the hot sun. They don’t really celebrate Halloween down here, and not Thanksgiving at all so there is nothing to stop the slide into full scale Christmas capitalism. I’ll try to get you a picture.

“This” is the funniest thing I have read in a long time. I laughed out loud until it “hurt”. I am such a nerd. This is my favorite because of the “slogan”. The whole blog reminded me of KT a bit (the acerbic tone I guess) and I think she should be doing a blog at least this funny if not funnier.

I got a chance to play in a friendly Poker game this weekend, which I promptly ruined for everyone with my ‘Never Fold’ strategy. I got a pair (of 5s) on the first hand and raised too much pre flop. Then I was re-raised enough that I might as well go all in, which I thought would shut them up. Instead, several other people went all in with me. Of course, I lost, but so did 3 other people, which meant that the 4 of us had nothing to do for the next hour or so but watch and a player with two pair won four times the chip count on the first hand, making him the big stack at the table and changing the dynamic of the entire game. (I did win a side game I started with the drop outs.)

Do you guys have that commercial for Extra whitening gum on TV at home with the adorable claymation stains that follow the girl around until she pops in a pellet and then they all fall off the ferry? There’s a coffee cup, a cigarette butt, chocolate and a banana. That’s right. A banana. Fight the scourge of banana stained teeth. I always thought bananas were white. I think the banana only made the cut because it is the cutest of the stains.

The rugby world cub finals were last weekend. Starved for football, I planned my weekend around watching this game on at 5 AM Melbourne time. I went to bed at 7, planning to get up for the day for the game. Instead I woke up at 3 AM and couldn’t get back to sleep. I read. I listened to talk radio. Nothing helped. That is until the game started. I dozed off at 5:20 or so and missed the most of the game. It was all penalty kicks and no trys anyway, so I guess I didn’t miss too much, but I am glad that the South African Springboks prevailed over England.

Here's my window box on 24-Oct-07:

Begonia - Lavender - Erinus

The Window box seems to be doing well despite the trauma of transplant. The Lavender and Erinus are already much taller than they were when planted. The Begonia is still blooming but it might be getting a little too much sun as the edges of the blooms are getting a burnt brown color. The narrow alley location means the direct sun is really only from 12-1 PM or so, but that still might be more than a Begonia likes. I’ll keep you posted.

And finally,

I saw this walking to work today. That's right. Get your Christmas hampers today. With food in them. Jeez.

Have a nice week.

Erinus

This weekend I was reminded how much fun it is to go running with a head cold. Negative 147 fun. That's how much. Ew. Still sick.

I also bought plants at a Royal Botanical Garden sale for my window box. I got a Begonia and some lavender and something called Erinus. I didn't really know how to get them out of the pots they came in. Maybe you are just supposed to put those pots in the ground. I got them out, but by pulling, which the plants can't enjoy. We'll see if they live I guess.

Today I did the Melbourne Romp, a sort off electronic texting trivia contest with no clear beginning, end or purpose. I had fun hanging out with Cath and Nicki, but the whole thing could have been drastically improved by binge drinking if I felt a little better. Sober, it was like one off those quizzes a high school librarian gives to see if you can use the card catalog correctly, but on a city-wide scale. It was a gorgeous sunny day.

In the NFL this week, my two favorite teams will meet in a loser bowl. The only good think about this is that one of them will probably get a win, unless it's a 0-0 tie, which i think the Jets and Eagles are both capable of. I'm also waiting to see TO tear into Romo after the Pats beat the Boys. TO will attack him like AIDS attacking a T cell.