I just read a headline that said "Britney not allowed to keep kids!" Is that really a headline or just hews outlet assuring us that the world hasn't quite gone to hell in a handbasket. They should get some psychologist to do a Longitudinal study on kids of messed up celebrities and how those kids turn out. They could include Britney Spears, the little guy ummm what is his name... Tom Cruise. I'm not going to sit her and list the different kids you could include because Ithink you get the point.
A few comments on some comments made by loyal readers... Dave the Cliff Claven comment was very funny and confirmation as to why I have been using the white socks to dust. Diane yes I do a lot of running (although not recently), but I have put the 1960's high top socks (similar to the ones my mother bought me) and the crotch hugger jogging shorts back in my fathers drawer in Winnipeg.
Another observation... for all the talk of David Beckham and in the media did youk now that I have only once seen photos of his kids and his relationship with his wife appears to be stable aka they have good nannies, but maybe those kids could also be included in the study. Beckham seems the most normal of the bunch and the most likely to have normal kids.
You know I really want to follow up the Christmas Invitation entry with something as funny, but there isn't really anything funny to talk about. I had a really good time. I was expecting to be there for 3 or 4 hours... I didn't end up leaving until about 9 pm. I'm sure I oveerstayed my welcome and yes i had troo much to drink, but Lisa's family was great. Her husband and sons were terrific compnay and it made for a very enjoyable Christmas Day.
I seem to have a new vigor for writing in the blog. I wil lcontinue this throughout the New Year. However, I will be in New Zealand for a few weeks so I won't post until mid January most likely. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
Love,
D
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Here is the details for my Christmas lunch with my interpretations in red
This is the e-mail sent to me about the Christmas lunch I will be attending... the coles notes verion is in red
Hi Danny,
I'm fine, and I have a wonderful time moaning about the humid weather.
(I'm fine, but I haven't finished my Christmas shopping, I have to get prepared to cook a dinner for you, my family and all your lazy asses and its 40 fricking degrees outside and I have boob sweat)
Details: we have a traditional vaguely mixed English and Australian Christmas lunch. This year we'll be having roast pork, roast lamb and a cold ham, with traditional apple sauce, gravies, roast veggies etc. We also do a brandy plum pudding with custard, fruit mince pies etc and a side dessert of something else for the non pudding eaters (eg my sons aren't big on it).
(We eat like Kings, I cook like a slave and yet my sons still can't manage to choke back the damn pudding that my needy Husband and mother insists on)
Let me know if any of this is a dietary problem , no probs if it is...can always do something additional for you.
(Your bandwagoning sorry ass better like whatever it is I decide to make)
As good Aussies, we are also red and white wine (and the men are also beer drinkers. We also ensure there are plenty of non alcoholic drinks around for eg me during the cooking!
(The only way you, me, my family gets through this most aggravating time is to get drunk as skunks, so you better bring some because I'm not sharing any of my magic potion)
Best time to arrive is 12.30. We tend to get straight into pre lunch drinks and nibbles and gift unwrapping immediately before Jasmine explodes with anticipation.
(By 10am I will have needed a strong drink... by 12:30 I won't be able to wait any longer and we all need to eat something to have a good balance of booze to food ratio in the belly to avoid barfing at 4am when I most likely will still be drinking)
Then lunch inside in the dining room (squeezy with so many of us, but adds to the fun) then outside in the garden for the afternoon, weather permitting. If it's hot Jasmine tends to squirt everyone with water pistols..which actually isn't too bad if its over 30 degrees!
(Because of you we are going to have to sit on each other laps... why is it I invited your sorry ass again? Regardless of temperature we are going to have to sit outside because there isn't enough room with you being there and there is a strong possibility you will get splashed in the face with a water pistol. I suppose this could be one reason why I invited you as the extra person means that there will be less squirts directed at me this year and we will all avoid the wet t-shirt incident we encountered last Christmas. P.s. hopefully this year the water pistol won't be filled with pee like it was in 05... here is to hoping!!)
Family info for you.
My husband Malcolm is a skinny Englishman, still has a strong accent despite claiming not to do so..took me a year to understand some of what he said (smile).
( He is a midget and he is sensitive about it, so no jokes. When he drinks there is no chance you will have any idea what he is saying, but this is most likely for the better, so cheers to that)
My sons are Willis, a bureaucrat come to think of it, in Melbourne; plays club cricket, volley ball (?) golf, used to play Aussie rules football and rugby and American football in his teens .
(Bureaucrat... so you he is going to ask you about your politics and religion within the first 10 minutes of meeting you.. you better bring your a-game... if you are getting killed trying changing the topic to the following sports)
Duncan, Jasmine's Dad, plays club tennis, plays acoustic guitar, Jasmine does gymnastics. (is scarily good at it). (It's a possibility that Duncan's partner Tamara and her 6 yr old daughter Jade will also be here. depends on how she can fit in both families. )
(Duncan will be so busy trying to keep Jasmine under control you won't have to worry about him)
My youngest son Jon (aged 28) still hasn't a clue about what do with his life, like many youngest sons apparently (smile). He began a BA at Flinders, dropped out, likes films and computers and is a really gentle guy...
(Where have a heard this story before minus the gentle part?)
And my Mum, Lena is a wonderful woman, who is very lucid at 85, but has recently lost a lot of her eyesight due to macular degeneration..but she doesn't let that stop her!
(A saucy lady who will indulge in a medicinal drink by about 8am can't see a thing, but she will be stripping by 2pm regardless.... nothing has stopped her including the depression and WW2)
Hmmm, if you want to bring anything a bottle of wine is always welcome...but if you don't drink, anything is fine.
(You better bring a bottle of wine, even if you don't drink and for your sake you better.. .you should still bring a bottle... its like Church when they pass around the plate for collection.. you know its a ripoff, but you don't want anyone to think you are mooching!!)
Do you drive or cycle?
(As I have hinted throughout this e-mail... the only chance of someone surviving this ordeal is to drink copious amounts of booze, so you should most likely drive unless you plan on driving home with your eyes closed and I can't really condone such actions)
Hi Danny,
I'm fine, and I have a wonderful time moaning about the humid weather.
(I'm fine, but I haven't finished my Christmas shopping, I have to get prepared to cook a dinner for you, my family and all your lazy asses and its 40 fricking degrees outside and I have boob sweat)
Details: we have a traditional vaguely mixed English and Australian Christmas lunch. This year we'll be having roast pork, roast lamb and a cold ham, with traditional apple sauce, gravies, roast veggies etc. We also do a brandy plum pudding with custard, fruit mince pies etc and a side dessert of something else for the non pudding eaters (eg my sons aren't big on it).
(We eat like Kings, I cook like a slave and yet my sons still can't manage to choke back the damn pudding that my needy Husband and mother insists on)
Let me know if any of this is a dietary problem , no probs if it is...can always do something additional for you.
(Your bandwagoning sorry ass better like whatever it is I decide to make)
As good Aussies, we are also red and white wine (and the men are also beer drinkers. We also ensure there are plenty of non alcoholic drinks around for eg me during the cooking!
(The only way you, me, my family gets through this most aggravating time is to get drunk as skunks, so you better bring some because I'm not sharing any of my magic potion)
Best time to arrive is 12.30. We tend to get straight into pre lunch drinks and nibbles and gift unwrapping immediately before Jasmine explodes with anticipation.
(By 10am I will have needed a strong drink... by 12:30 I won't be able to wait any longer and we all need to eat something to have a good balance of booze to food ratio in the belly to avoid barfing at 4am when I most likely will still be drinking)
Then lunch inside in the dining room (squeezy with so many of us, but adds to the fun) then outside in the garden for the afternoon, weather permitting. If it's hot Jasmine tends to squirt everyone with water pistols..which actually isn't too bad if its over 30 degrees!
(Because of you we are going to have to sit on each other laps... why is it I invited your sorry ass again? Regardless of temperature we are going to have to sit outside because there isn't enough room with you being there and there is a strong possibility you will get splashed in the face with a water pistol. I suppose this could be one reason why I invited you as the extra person means that there will be less squirts directed at me this year and we will all avoid the wet t-shirt incident we encountered last Christmas. P.s. hopefully this year the water pistol won't be filled with pee like it was in 05... here is to hoping!!)
Family info for you.
My husband Malcolm is a skinny Englishman, still has a strong accent despite claiming not to do so..took me a year to understand some of what he said (smile).
( He is a midget and he is sensitive about it, so no jokes. When he drinks there is no chance you will have any idea what he is saying, but this is most likely for the better, so cheers to that)
My sons are Willis, a bureaucrat come to think of it, in Melbourne; plays club cricket, volley ball (?) golf, used to play Aussie rules football and rugby and American football in his teens .
(Bureaucrat... so you he is going to ask you about your politics and religion within the first 10 minutes of meeting you.. you better bring your a-game... if you are getting killed trying changing the topic to the following sports)
Duncan, Jasmine's Dad, plays club tennis, plays acoustic guitar, Jasmine does gymnastics. (is scarily good at it). (It's a possibility that Duncan's partner Tamara and her 6 yr old daughter Jade will also be here. depends on how she can fit in both families. )
(Duncan will be so busy trying to keep Jasmine under control you won't have to worry about him)
My youngest son Jon (aged 28) still hasn't a clue about what do with his life, like many youngest sons apparently (smile). He began a BA at Flinders, dropped out, likes films and computers and is a really gentle guy...
(Where have a heard this story before minus the gentle part?)
And my Mum, Lena is a wonderful woman, who is very lucid at 85, but has recently lost a lot of her eyesight due to macular degeneration..but she doesn't let that stop her!
(A saucy lady who will indulge in a medicinal drink by about 8am can't see a thing, but she will be stripping by 2pm regardless.... nothing has stopped her including the depression and WW2)
Hmmm, if you want to bring anything a bottle of wine is always welcome...but if you don't drink, anything is fine.
(You better bring a bottle of wine, even if you don't drink and for your sake you better.. .you should still bring a bottle... its like Church when they pass around the plate for collection.. you know its a ripoff, but you don't want anyone to think you are mooching!!)
Do you drive or cycle?
(As I have hinted throughout this e-mail... the only chance of someone surviving this ordeal is to drink copious amounts of booze, so you should most likely drive unless you plan on driving home with your eyes closed and I can't really condone such actions)
The only thing I want for Christmas is my two front teeth
The only thing I wanted for this very low key Christmas was to watch the Jamie Oliver Christmas Special.... it was on at 7:30.... its now 10... I missed in... damn it....
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
6 pairs of
You know I am not one to complain (okay, maybe sometimes), but I am certainly am not one to complain about a generous gift bestowed upon myself (well not with earshot). I received a FedEx package in the mail, which I am extremely grateful for! I'm not going to say who it is ( my parents) who sent it and everything that was sent was great except I'm slightly curious about one thing, rather the 6 of one thing. The sender sent me 6 pairs of white socks, which would be great in Canada because I would own a pair of shoes in Canada. However, here in the southern hemisphere... I don't own a pair of shoes. With the coldest day of the year hovering around 13 degrees I only wear sandals. So.... this leads me to a small dilemma... I have 6 pairs of socks and zero opportunities to wear them. Should I go and buy a pair of shoes to go along with the socks or should I save them for some day when I decide to go back to Canada? Or maybe I should just start wearing socks with my sandals?
Picked up the car from the mechanic the other day. Appears as though his statement of "the muffler will need 1 0r 2 small components" actually means he is going to replace the muffler... I won't be going back.
Sidney Crosby being names the Canadian athlete of the year is an injustice as Steve Nash should have won the past three years. You could have made a compelling argument that Vincent Lecavalier and Roberto Luongo are equally as deserving as Crosby, but no Canadian touches Nash. Also, basketball is far larger on the world stage, so the field that Nash has to compete against is far greater than that of a hockey player.
Rumour on the street has it that a devoted reader continues going to work despite the fact that the person in question is very ill. The reason you are given sick days is not so that you can stay home if you are sick. They are given to you so that you can stay home and not show up to work making everyone else sick. If you aren't feeling well stay home.
Picked up the car from the mechanic the other day. Appears as though his statement of "the muffler will need 1 0r 2 small components" actually means he is going to replace the muffler... I won't be going back.
Sidney Crosby being names the Canadian athlete of the year is an injustice as Steve Nash should have won the past three years. You could have made a compelling argument that Vincent Lecavalier and Roberto Luongo are equally as deserving as Crosby, but no Canadian touches Nash. Also, basketball is far larger on the world stage, so the field that Nash has to compete against is far greater than that of a hockey player.
Rumour on the street has it that a devoted reader continues going to work despite the fact that the person in question is very ill. The reason you are given sick days is not so that you can stay home if you are sick. They are given to you so that you can stay home and not show up to work making everyone else sick. If you aren't feeling well stay home.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Random
I'm suffering from Acute Radiation Poisoning, yet not one reader seems overly concerned... As you can see the poisoning has attracted some funny looks at the beach.
The table has been set! I heard one of my neighbours say that they do not really like U2. This comment was made while listen to the Live Vertigo DVD from Chicago. Well I'm not a fan of their 30 cigs a day, which waft up and into our flat. As you can guess 5/9 Cross St. has turned into U2 everyday all day. They have no idea how persistent I can be.
Were you as surprised as me when you heard that A-Rod denied using steroids on 60 minutes? Shocking! I thought he was going on t.v. to come clean and admit his rampant steroid use.
The word of the day on Google is unfledged.. I had been looking for the right word to explain why I'm still in a training bra and unfledged fits perfectly. I still use a training bra because my delicious bobbies are still unfledged.
Presently I feel like I'm on trial and I'm waiting for the jury to comeback with the verdict. I had to take our car in because of the fan belt, but of course upon being brought into the garage they noticed that there were a few components on the muffler that needed replacing (is it just me or is the muffler at the other end of the car?). Nevertheless I didn't ask how much it was going to cost and decided I'd treat it as a Kinder Surprise. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the cost associated with car maintenance in Australia... An oil change runs for about $100. I can only imagine how much this is going to cost.
Erin and I have officially secured tickets to the Australian Open!!! Saturday the 19th under the lights and Sunday morning. Its going to be AWESOME!!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Photography
Since I spent two minutes giving a shout out to a random persons website and pictures... Dave Lauder one of two faithful readers I have also have a great website with wonderful pictures.. More importantly... if you Google his name his website is the first thing that comes up... How cool!
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Did you try googling it? Did you Google your own name?
Poison
Erin tried poisoning me!! Before she left for Canada she bought me an Advent calendar... you know the ones with the chocolates for each day. Well I hadn't opened up yet and the last few times we chatted on the phone she kept asking if I'd been keeping up with it. Well today I decided to cracked it open... upon first look I was surprised to see that is wasn't a solid brown piece of chocolate and that it had a design on the back of the chocolate or so I suspected... it wasn't until I placed the chocolate in my mouth that I realised that it wasn't a design, but rather poison that was obviously put there by Erin in her attempt to be an assassin I have obviously played the role of Alexander Litvinenko. If this is the last time I write in this blog you'll know that the polonium-210 has taken hold and I've succumb to acute radiation syndrome. Please pine box coffin and I'd like to wear the signed Milt Stegall jersey that I never got to wear.
On a side note... did anyone read the comment on the last entry? It was from Rick and I believe he may be the first random reader I have ever had... how exciting! His blog is http://organizeddoodles.blogspot.com/ he has some cool drawings and pictures on his blog... Its better than mine... I'm going to have to step it up a notch!
On a side note... did anyone read the comment on the last entry? It was from Rick and I believe he may be the first random reader I have ever had... how exciting! His blog is http://organizeddoodles.blogspot.com/ he has some cool drawings and pictures on his blog... Its better than mine... I'm going to have to step it up a notch!
Guilty pleasures continued...
Guilty pleasures continued...
- Sports Illustrated
- www.cnnsi.com
- McLeans the Magazine (very underrated, but I haven't read one since February)
- Sour Kids
- Me mentally picturing walking downstairs to where my neighbours are sitting and systematically pulling the cigarettes out of their mouths and giving them each an open handed slap to the face
- Growing plants
- putting chocolate chip cookies in the freezer (you should try this with store bought ones.. makes them taste better)
- Listening to U2 Live DVD's
- Getting to school early so I can drop a deuce in my secret toilet
- watching movies
- going to the beach
- playing Scrabble.
I'm sleepy... time for bed!
This list will continue...
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Christmas Shopping
Well up till now I haven't felt overly Christmassy, so I decided to venture down to the local mall to take in all the Christmas excitement. My gosh it didn't take me long to remember all the things I hate about Christmas and why I stayed here instead of jumping on a plane and flying back to Winnipeg to punish myself at Future Shop.
It started off with me having to park at the equivalent of Home Depot if I were shopping at Polo Park. Frankly I don't mind the walk, particularly on a day when its not overly hot. After darting through traffic I finally made it into the mall. I walk in the door and there is one of those makeshift stores in the middle of the aisle. Although unlike Canada, the people who work at these (well call it a boutique to sound all.. oh I don't know) Boutiques are very aggressive and don't just sit on a chair in front of a cash register, rather they pull aside unsuspecting victims and try and guilt them into buying something. With that all said its rather easy to avoid said people by putting your head down and walk them as fast as you can. Not today for me... nope I decide to look up at the most inopportune time and make direct contact. "Excuse me sir... excuse me sir.. can I talk to you for a second?" Me bring the gentleman that I am, I stop rather then storming by.
Aggressive sales lady: "Sir do you have a special lady in your life?"
Danny: "Yes but they are in Canada"
Aggressive sales lady: "Oh you must have someone here?"
Danny: "Nope"
Aggressive sales lady: "Girlfriend?"
Danny: "Canada"
Aggressive sales lady: "Mother"
Danny: "Canada"
Aggressive sales lady: "Sister, auntie, neighbour"
Danny: Looks at watch to divert attention and bolts to the boys room hoping no to be found.
After the initial fiasco I decide I want to go grab a coffee, so I walk towards the coffee shop, but it is far too busy, so I know the whereabouts of a coffee shop that is in the middle of on of the large department stores that is always dead. As I enter the department store a woman is walking out and sets of the alarm. She stops and retreats and I assume she is going to head back to the register. Nope, she decides to go through the detector in case the initial alarm was a false. Ok I can understand a second attempt (actually I can't but...), but nope alarm goes off again. Still no retreat to the register although this time through the alarm rather then walking at a normal pace she umps through, fourth time slowly goes through, fifth time she put her right foot in and then her left foot and shakes it all about, but nope alarm still blaring away. At this point I've stopped to see if she is going for the 10 tries because clearly after 10 alarm sets off the magnet deactivates itself.
Its at this point that I hurry off to the coffee shop, pick up a coffee and get the hell out of dodge because clearly if given the choice between ) not feeling overly Christmas like or B) Getting into the Christmas spirit by being fueled with rage at shopping mall I will pick A.
I think to day is the third time that I can remember feeling a bit homesick while in Adelaide. The first was a few weeks after my university graduation when after some pondering I figured it may have been a good day if I could have been there and gone for lunch and what not. Second time was Greg's wedding and today the third time was the get together at Carlos & Murphy's. Could have been a very fun time. Although when Erin e-mailed me she said she had wished it was better, but that it was interesting.. interesting hey?? That can certainly mean a lot of things... were people grumpy? Not getting along? Nothing to talk about? Who knows maybe I read it the wrong way. Although I sat back and thought about the group that was going and I realized that the one common denominator between this group of people is me and I wasn't there... oh well I do hope everyone had a blast. My heart sunk a little when Erin said it was interesting as I was living vicariously through the group that went and wanted everyone to have a good time.
WANKER OF THE WEEK
It started off with me having to park at the equivalent of Home Depot if I were shopping at Polo Park. Frankly I don't mind the walk, particularly on a day when its not overly hot. After darting through traffic I finally made it into the mall. I walk in the door and there is one of those makeshift stores in the middle of the aisle. Although unlike Canada, the people who work at these (well call it a boutique to sound all.. oh I don't know) Boutiques are very aggressive and don't just sit on a chair in front of a cash register, rather they pull aside unsuspecting victims and try and guilt them into buying something. With that all said its rather easy to avoid said people by putting your head down and walk them as fast as you can. Not today for me... nope I decide to look up at the most inopportune time and make direct contact. "Excuse me sir... excuse me sir.. can I talk to you for a second?" Me bring the gentleman that I am, I stop rather then storming by.
Aggressive sales lady: "Sir do you have a special lady in your life?"
Danny: "Yes but they are in Canada"
Aggressive sales lady: "Oh you must have someone here?"
Danny: "Nope"
Aggressive sales lady: "Girlfriend?"
Danny: "Canada"
Aggressive sales lady: "Mother"
Danny: "Canada"
Aggressive sales lady: "Sister, auntie, neighbour"
Danny: Looks at watch to divert attention and bolts to the boys room hoping no to be found.
After the initial fiasco I decide I want to go grab a coffee, so I walk towards the coffee shop, but it is far too busy, so I know the whereabouts of a coffee shop that is in the middle of on of the large department stores that is always dead. As I enter the department store a woman is walking out and sets of the alarm. She stops and retreats and I assume she is going to head back to the register. Nope, she decides to go through the detector in case the initial alarm was a false. Ok I can understand a second attempt (actually I can't but...), but nope alarm goes off again. Still no retreat to the register although this time through the alarm rather then walking at a normal pace she umps through, fourth time slowly goes through, fifth time she put her right foot in and then her left foot and shakes it all about, but nope alarm still blaring away. At this point I've stopped to see if she is going for the 10 tries because clearly after 10 alarm sets off the magnet deactivates itself.
Its at this point that I hurry off to the coffee shop, pick up a coffee and get the hell out of dodge because clearly if given the choice between ) not feeling overly Christmas like or B) Getting into the Christmas spirit by being fueled with rage at shopping mall I will pick A.
I think to day is the third time that I can remember feeling a bit homesick while in Adelaide. The first was a few weeks after my university graduation when after some pondering I figured it may have been a good day if I could have been there and gone for lunch and what not. Second time was Greg's wedding and today the third time was the get together at Carlos & Murphy's. Could have been a very fun time. Although when Erin e-mailed me she said she had wished it was better, but that it was interesting.. interesting hey?? That can certainly mean a lot of things... were people grumpy? Not getting along? Nothing to talk about? Who knows maybe I read it the wrong way. Although I sat back and thought about the group that was going and I realized that the one common denominator between this group of people is me and I wasn't there... oh well I do hope everyone had a blast. My heart sunk a little when Erin said it was interesting as I was living vicariously through the group that went and wanted everyone to have a good time.
WANKER OF THE WEEK
- I could say the woman and the alarm, but thats too easy and it was kind of funny. I'll have to go with my neighbours. They must smoke three packs of cigarettes a day. Has nobody told them that smoking is no longer cool? Is it because they are addicted to smoking that they do it? Yes I assume so, but I am also addicted to chocolate and coffee and I don't have 30 of either every day!!
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
- Two.. two days of rain MWAH AH AH AH AH...
- Car was making a funny sound the other day.. sort of a hissing sound when I accelerated. It sounded like a belt was loose or something (fan belt maybe?), but now it isn't making that sound any more. As far as I'm concerned.. fixed!!
THINGS I DO NOT LIKE THIS WEEK
- The car clearly isn't fixed and it has either gotten worse and that it is why its stopped making the sound or it has temporarily fixed itself in a calm before the storm like moment and will return with a ferocity not seen before.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Runners World
Guilty pleasures, more specifically my guilty pleasures... Chocolate after dinner, coffee, video games, fantasy sports, $1 hot dogs at Ikea, office supplies and Runners World Magazines...
I LOVE Runners World.... I don't buy them on a monthly basis, however, there are times when I just feel like I deserve to read one, so I splurge. I do have one complaint though.... why...WHY.... does there always have to be an article on an middle aged, over weight mother of three (two children with the father, the latest with the illegal immigrant gardener), with a husband whom she married because she got knocked up in the back of a Chevy during high school who has recently run a 10km race to deal with her drug induces depression, but really its just an excuse to check out the guys running by. Every single issue of Runners World has this article and its never one of those 1 page you're in and you're out articles, but rather its drawn out of 6 pages and we all know whats going to happen. She dedicates everyone of her races to someone because heck why would you just run for the sake of running.... GAWD SPARE ME!!!!
Tomorrow night I think a few friends of mine, Erin and my parents are getting together at Carlos & Murphys. It seems low key, but it is the classic go in with low expectations and then all of a sudden you come stumbling out of the bar with a souvenir mug is one hand, the cover bands burnt disk in the other and the only reason you are leaving is because they turned the lights off. I wish I could be there hehe.
I would like to make a comment on my reference to the Pope... I do believe I said that white, english speaking males are like the Pope and I do believe that demographic reaches beyond your truly. However, I'd like to take it back because with the Catholic churches track record with young boys I don't believe its appropriate to compare potential school teachers and the Pope as clearly teachers should be held in much higher regard.
WANKER OF THE WEEK
I LOVE Runners World.... I don't buy them on a monthly basis, however, there are times when I just feel like I deserve to read one, so I splurge. I do have one complaint though.... why...WHY.... does there always have to be an article on an middle aged, over weight mother of three (two children with the father, the latest with the illegal immigrant gardener), with a husband whom she married because she got knocked up in the back of a Chevy during high school who has recently run a 10km race to deal with her drug induces depression, but really its just an excuse to check out the guys running by. Every single issue of Runners World has this article and its never one of those 1 page you're in and you're out articles, but rather its drawn out of 6 pages and we all know whats going to happen. She dedicates everyone of her races to someone because heck why would you just run for the sake of running.... GAWD SPARE ME!!!!
Tomorrow night I think a few friends of mine, Erin and my parents are getting together at Carlos & Murphys. It seems low key, but it is the classic go in with low expectations and then all of a sudden you come stumbling out of the bar with a souvenir mug is one hand, the cover bands burnt disk in the other and the only reason you are leaving is because they turned the lights off. I wish I could be there hehe.
I would like to make a comment on my reference to the Pope... I do believe I said that white, english speaking males are like the Pope and I do believe that demographic reaches beyond your truly. However, I'd like to take it back because with the Catholic churches track record with young boys I don't believe its appropriate to compare potential school teachers and the Pope as clearly teachers should be held in much higher regard.
WANKER OF THE WEEK
- Ray Emery hand finally one over the starting spot with the Ottawa Senators (what goalie leads his team to the Stanley Cup and then loses his spot the following season?) and then after one shot the other night pulls himself because of a sore hip. Like clockwork Martin Gerber goes in net and he has only let in one goal in the last two games. Thank you Ray Emery for putting the final stake in my fantasy hockey team.
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
- It rained today!! Man I do not remember the last time in rained and thankfully I'll be able to get some sleep because its not so hot.
- The book A Perfect Mess
THINGS I DO NOT LIKE THIS WEEK
- The article on the mother of three in RW
- Jason Jaffray called up from the Manitoba Moose to the Vancouver Canucks to play his first NHL game and manages a 1G/1A... excellent work. However, game 3 15 minutes of playing time, -1 and 2 hooking penalties...me thinks that someone might be having trouble keeping up with the big boys with all those hooking penalties.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Susantha
I'm not sure if you may remember Susantha? An international student from Sri Lanka who has zero computer skills and I ended up being his group partner three times in 2006. Well over the past semester I have helped him type out his assignments... yes you could use the "give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish he eats for a life time." However, I'm too busy doing my own work and he is normally doing his assignments 2 weeks after the due date... time is normally of the essence. Regardless, a few days ago he asked if I could help him out and I being the sucker I am agreed. Well yesterday he comes over and he has his two kids and wife in tow? Not exactly ideal homework conditions, but not much I can do. Well... we head off to the beach with his kids and play around for a bit and everything is good and dandy, but we finally get to the point where we have to do the work. His assignment is 15 pages worth of math equations that must be typed into word format. I have to admit that I had never had the extreme pleasure of having to type math equations into word for... MY GAWD!!!! Is there anything in the world more painful? We worked till about 1 A.M. and got about half finished when I kicked him out because his wife, two kids and himself were asleep on the floor.
Susantha comes back this morning at about 9AM and the same pain stakingly slow process of typing in math equations continues. Around 12:30PM and nearly finish I say that I need to get out of the house and get some fresh air. We head to the Jetty to grab some lunch and Susantha continues on with his barrage of questions as to where are good places to visit around Adelaide and how the next day myself, him and his family should all jump in the car and go to said places. Well as we eat away he asks what I have planned for the day and I mention not much... maybe a run later on. Well as we head to the car he asks "so no plans for the rest of the day?" and I'm "nope" (yes I know you know where this is going) Before I know it we are driving in his tin box on the freeway towards McLaren Vale (wine region) to have a visit. I WAS DUPED!!!
Now you may think that my biggest concern in all this was that I was essentially kidnapped, but really that was child's plays. The far bigger concern at hand was being on the freeway. Have you any idea what it is like driving in the Australian version of a Chevette with a taxi driver from Sri Lanka? Let me set the situation... were driving downhill on a highway with the speed limit 110kph in a car that I'm pretty sure has a max speed of 91kph... at any rate... on said hill we are only going 80 and Susantha is braking. I'm in the passengers seat with pee running down one leg, one arm gripping the door handle for dear life and the other arm pulling Susantha's leg off the brake while he is shaking me off yelling he doesn't want to get a speeding ticket to which I'm yelling back "but I don't want to die"
We made it there and back, but a little worse for wear...
Not much else new on the Adelaide front...it has only been going up to about the mid 20's the last few days, but I suppose it could be worse.
What do you guys prefer? The black background or the new one?
Oh one last thing... I finally figured it out why so many Indians and Sri Lankins want me to go visit them when were are done school.. no its not because I'm a nice guy, but in India and Sri Lanka it is quite common for people to open up their own academies i.e. schools and to have a wite english speaking male is like having the Pope as a priest at your church. If I went and taught at one of these schools it would be like winning the lottery for some of these future school owners.
WANKER OF THE WEEK
- Clearly that is a no brainer.. me... who else gets suckered into helping with the most tedious assignment ever and get kidnapped?
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
- Very excited about going to New Zealand
THINGS I DO NOT LIKE THIS WEEK
- My hamstring is not feeling too good.
- My neighbour who always who stomps his feet up the stairs every single time... why.. WHY??
Sunday, December 02, 2007
6 in the morning
Its Sunday morning.... 6:30am... and I am awake. You may think this is because of my philosophy on life and how it revolves around "Early bird gets the worm""... not true. I am up because my loving girlfriend who had lived in Australia for almost two years went back home and still hasn't quite figured out the time difference and I got a nice little call at 5:30 this morning. On the positive side of things it is nice to go outside before it becomes 35 degrees outside, but the downside is what the heck am I going to do all day??
Oh here are my plants... just little guys...
Shrewd business people these Australians... Doughnuts used to be $0.75... just a steal of a deal and they agreed, so they raised the price to $1.25... chicken enchiladas used to be 5 for $10, again another great deal, so tasty... went to the store and now they are 4 for $10.. disappointment.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend... if anyone happens to take a number of outdoor closeup pictures(you know who you are) could you e-mail me what type of lens you use most often...
Oh here are my plants... just little guys...
Shrewd business people these Australians... Doughnuts used to be $0.75... just a steal of a deal and they agreed, so they raised the price to $1.25... chicken enchiladas used to be 5 for $10, again another great deal, so tasty... went to the store and now they are 4 for $10.. disappointment.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend... if anyone happens to take a number of outdoor closeup pictures(you know who you are) could you e-mail me what type of lens you use most often...
Its Hot
Hello kids,
How is everyone? Before I get started I want to wish Dave Lauder a Happy Birthday... I hope you had a good one.
I'm just sitting here gasping for air at midnight as the air is thick and humid because it is so damn hot... I'm pretty certain that I will not be sleeping well tonight with such warm conditions. I know you can all sympathize with me on how difficult it is to sleep when its warm outside.
Not much happening here. I am finally... FINALLY... finished school for the semester. It seemed like it was over after my practicum, but no they had one nasty treat left for me. My last assignment was a total of just under 100 pages and consisted of approximately 38,000 words.. yes you read that correctly.. 38,000 words. My teacher is off his rocker. The last time I checked I wasn't in the midst of writing my thesis, but rather unit plans for Ultimate Frisbee, Football, Floor Hockey and Golf. In case anyone cares to know... I ma confident that I have the best unit of flag football in all of South Australia... It is of no concern that I may be the only one in all of South Australia that knows anything about Flag football.. it still is number one.
I don't want to talk about those sad sack Bombers for too long, but I did want to make mention of one fact... watching the game (or in my case listening) was not disappointing because they lost, but rather it was disappointing listening to the game because at no point did you actually feel like they were going to win the game. Even with 1m30s to go and the ball at midfield just before numb nuts threw his third interception one could make the argument that it felt like they had the chance to win. I did not have those same tingly feelings.. as I sat 40cms away from the laptop listening to the game it was as if I was waiting for that interception and not a touchdown.. the loss almost seemed inevitable.
Greg I know you may be slightly concerned about Brett Favre and his injury... no need my friend. I have had a number of separated shoulders and there is very little pain involved in the injury, but rather a discomfort because the shoulder is so weak. I feel that Favre could easily play in the game without too much discomfort, however, after one of two good shots he will be in a little bit of trouble because when he falls towards the ground his left arm will not be able to sustain the blow and he will crash violently into the ground.
For those of you who are unaware... Erin is back in the Peg so please if you get a chance say hello to her.
I bought three plants to decorate the apartment.. they are doing well..I will keep you up to date on their health and growth. I wish I had more to tell, but I have just been so darn busy as of lately... I hope all is well in Canada.
WANKER OF THE WEEK
How is everyone? Before I get started I want to wish Dave Lauder a Happy Birthday... I hope you had a good one.
I'm just sitting here gasping for air at midnight as the air is thick and humid because it is so damn hot... I'm pretty certain that I will not be sleeping well tonight with such warm conditions. I know you can all sympathize with me on how difficult it is to sleep when its warm outside.
Not much happening here. I am finally... FINALLY... finished school for the semester. It seemed like it was over after my practicum, but no they had one nasty treat left for me. My last assignment was a total of just under 100 pages and consisted of approximately 38,000 words.. yes you read that correctly.. 38,000 words. My teacher is off his rocker. The last time I checked I wasn't in the midst of writing my thesis, but rather unit plans for Ultimate Frisbee, Football, Floor Hockey and Golf. In case anyone cares to know... I ma confident that I have the best unit of flag football in all of South Australia... It is of no concern that I may be the only one in all of South Australia that knows anything about Flag football.. it still is number one.
I don't want to talk about those sad sack Bombers for too long, but I did want to make mention of one fact... watching the game (or in my case listening) was not disappointing because they lost, but rather it was disappointing listening to the game because at no point did you actually feel like they were going to win the game. Even with 1m30s to go and the ball at midfield just before numb nuts threw his third interception one could make the argument that it felt like they had the chance to win. I did not have those same tingly feelings.. as I sat 40cms away from the laptop listening to the game it was as if I was waiting for that interception and not a touchdown.. the loss almost seemed inevitable.
Greg I know you may be slightly concerned about Brett Favre and his injury... no need my friend. I have had a number of separated shoulders and there is very little pain involved in the injury, but rather a discomfort because the shoulder is so weak. I feel that Favre could easily play in the game without too much discomfort, however, after one of two good shots he will be in a little bit of trouble because when he falls towards the ground his left arm will not be able to sustain the blow and he will crash violently into the ground.
For those of you who are unaware... Erin is back in the Peg so please if you get a chance say hello to her.
I bought three plants to decorate the apartment.. they are doing well..I will keep you up to date on their health and growth. I wish I had more to tell, but I have just been so darn busy as of lately... I hope all is well in Canada.
WANKER OF THE WEEK
- Got into a rather heated debate with a med student over his claim the Rexall Place in Edmonton has the best ice in the NHL and I too have heard this before. However, how exactly does one qualify ice being the best.. his rebuttal was ask an NHL player to which I said well what if player A says one ice surface and player B says another.. how is right? It seems rather arbitrary to say on is better than the other...
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
- No home work
- I got mail from Greg Morris.. I loved the pictures!!
THINGS I DO NOT LIKE THIS WEEK
- No school this week... despite my bitching I still kind of enjoy it.
- First running injury in ages.. pulled hamstring.. not happy about it
- Having trouble loading pictures for the blog, so sorry.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
I'm back
HOLY SHIT ITS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I'VE POSTED!!!!
I'm alive... its true. You may be wondering what happened to me (or not) and although I'm not going to go into a detailed explanation I'll give you the coles notes version.
Erin and I moved... yes our lease was up, so we found a place not to far away and we are extremely happy about or upgrade (we now have carpet, but we no longer have air conditioning).
My birthday came and went and I'm a year older and a little better looking. On my birthday (the day before actually) we played the finals of our hockey and we lost in a shootout... the other team was stacked with players from the so called professional team here in Adelaide and we had a bunch of 16-year-olds, myself and a 40-year-old Canadian. We played well and I was very proud of our team. That night went to what may have been the best house party I've been to in Adelaide.. free beer, so you can't really go wrong. Now on my actual birthday I had a nasty.. nasty hangover and I was considering asking the good lord to take me a spare me of the pain I went through... I didn't though and lived to tell about it. It also turns out of had a few other hangovers since, so apparently I haven't learned my lesson.
Ran the Melbourne Marathon October 5th I believe it was... race was great expect that I ran the first 5 kms in 30 minutes, which is extremely slow.. once the race broke open a bit I managed to run most of the race at a 4m30s clip, but because of the slow start I only ran the race in 3h18m. I thought I would have been able to qualify for the Boston Marathon if it weren't for the slow start, but what can you do?
Went on a 5-week practicum for school. Day 1 I only had two kids cry, but after that it was great. I won't go into too much detail, but I am super excited about becoming a teacher and actually getting paid for it.
Went Mountain biking on an actual Mountain Bike course... never realized how fun it was or how sore your butt can get the next day.
Our neighbour his psycho. We BBQ close to our flat... someone complained, so I began BBQing near the road about 20 steps away from the apartment. They asked me to move to the other side of the building in a garden area and BBQ about 2 steps away from the building. Pretty certain that 2 steps is closer then 20.. I've even counted out the damn steps for the guy, but he clearly mental health issues and I was not about to pick an argument with his autistic ways.
Bought plane ticket to New Zealand for December 30th.. very excited.
WANKER OF THE WEEK:
I have my first UniSA teacher that I do no like. Philippa Millroy.. I would take great enjoyment in giving you a swift kick in your cottage cheese ass.
Erin has been studying diligently... she has exams this Saturday and then she goes back to Canada on the 30th.
Possums scare the dickens out of me when BBQing in the dark... damn sneaky animals. I'm pretty sure those raccoon like creatures scurry around with tiny little knives in their hands waiting to attack.
Clearly the Bombers do not deserve to win the Grey Cup and without Kevin Glenn there is even more reason why they shouldn't win, but you know what... its that very reason why they just might win.
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
I'm alive... its true. You may be wondering what happened to me (or not) and although I'm not going to go into a detailed explanation I'll give you the coles notes version.
Erin and I moved... yes our lease was up, so we found a place not to far away and we are extremely happy about or upgrade (we now have carpet, but we no longer have air conditioning).
My birthday came and went and I'm a year older and a little better looking. On my birthday (the day before actually) we played the finals of our hockey and we lost in a shootout... the other team was stacked with players from the so called professional team here in Adelaide and we had a bunch of 16-year-olds, myself and a 40-year-old Canadian. We played well and I was very proud of our team. That night went to what may have been the best house party I've been to in Adelaide.. free beer, so you can't really go wrong. Now on my actual birthday I had a nasty.. nasty hangover and I was considering asking the good lord to take me a spare me of the pain I went through... I didn't though and lived to tell about it. It also turns out of had a few other hangovers since, so apparently I haven't learned my lesson.
Ran the Melbourne Marathon October 5th I believe it was... race was great expect that I ran the first 5 kms in 30 minutes, which is extremely slow.. once the race broke open a bit I managed to run most of the race at a 4m30s clip, but because of the slow start I only ran the race in 3h18m. I thought I would have been able to qualify for the Boston Marathon if it weren't for the slow start, but what can you do?
Went on a 5-week practicum for school. Day 1 I only had two kids cry, but after that it was great. I won't go into too much detail, but I am super excited about becoming a teacher and actually getting paid for it.
Went Mountain biking on an actual Mountain Bike course... never realized how fun it was or how sore your butt can get the next day.
Our neighbour his psycho. We BBQ close to our flat... someone complained, so I began BBQing near the road about 20 steps away from the apartment. They asked me to move to the other side of the building in a garden area and BBQ about 2 steps away from the building. Pretty certain that 2 steps is closer then 20.. I've even counted out the damn steps for the guy, but he clearly mental health issues and I was not about to pick an argument with his autistic ways.
Bought plane ticket to New Zealand for December 30th.. very excited.
WANKER OF THE WEEK:
I have my first UniSA teacher that I do no like. Philippa Millroy.. I would take great enjoyment in giving you a swift kick in your cottage cheese ass.
Erin has been studying diligently... she has exams this Saturday and then she goes back to Canada on the 30th.
Possums scare the dickens out of me when BBQing in the dark... damn sneaky animals. I'm pretty sure those raccoon like creatures scurry around with tiny little knives in their hands waiting to attack.
Clearly the Bombers do not deserve to win the Grey Cup and without Kevin Glenn there is even more reason why they shouldn't win, but you know what... its that very reason why they just might win.
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
- I will be having my first Grey Cup Party next Monday and you are all welcome
- I will do a better job of writing in here now that we have internet up and running regularly
- One last assignment till summer break
- the 30 degree weather we've been having for the last week or two
THINGS I DON'T LIKE THIS WEEK
- The one last assignment I have to spend the next week doing.
- Because I haven't been writing in my blog I haven't heard from Dave and Greg.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Al Gore
Readers of my blog (all six of you) may or may not know that I can occasionally be cynical.. yes its true. I will hear something provocative and more times than not the first thing out of my mouth is "But?" I have read a lot of stuff about Al Gore either in the newspaper, Internet, mostly time articles (which is a left leaning magazine so I'll put an *) and tid bits from both Hillary and Bill Clinton's biographies. Every article makes him out to be the most compelling individual who comes across as the smartest guy in the room (well aside form Bill Clinton, but that's another story). Any topic he broaches he seems to know every angle and has the ability to rebut any argument that someone may come up with.
I often read criticism about how his idea of carbon emission credits is just an excuse for rich guys to give a bit of money to the poor, so they can continue making millions while polluting. I thought this seems like a very plausible argument, but in the last time article I read he makes the argument Gore says (to the U.S. Senate) that this is not rich people continuing to steal from the poor, but rather entrepreneurs purchasing dirty plants, cleaning them up and going ahead and selling them as Co2 reductions. Essentially he is suggesting that rich people may still pollute, but they will also be required to purchase places that are also polluting and clean them up. Thus reducing carbon emissions, but as Companies continue to purchase and clean up dirty plants... more stringent rules will be applied limiting the amount that the original plant of said rich will be allowed to pollute. Yes there will be pollution, but at the very least baby steps will be made to improve the environment and at the same time stimulate the economy... I'm not sure who is right or wrong because I'm no global warming expert, but Gore's argument sure sounds better.
Another tid bit on Al Gore... he is on the Board of Directors and in a consultant for Google. Two observations 1) Pretty good companies to work for whether you think they are evil or not 2) A large chunk of his wage is in stocks... the last time I checked Google and Apple stocks weren't doing to badly. Yes I have drank the kool-Aid!!
Tony Kornheiser has now become my favourite media person to listen/read. No I have not fallen in love with the Washington Post writer because he is on PTI and Monday night Football.. although I do love PTI. Nope, its because of his Radio Show on Washington Post radio... top notch. Its off for the next several months because of Monday Night Football, but there are still episodes available to listen on I-tunes... up and until the end of June. Its worth the listen if you get the chance.
Man am I craving Pizza Pops and Kraft Dinner... have a lovely day.
I often read criticism about how his idea of carbon emission credits is just an excuse for rich guys to give a bit of money to the poor, so they can continue making millions while polluting. I thought this seems like a very plausible argument, but in the last time article I read he makes the argument Gore says (to the U.S. Senate) that this is not rich people continuing to steal from the poor, but rather entrepreneurs purchasing dirty plants, cleaning them up and going ahead and selling them as Co2 reductions. Essentially he is suggesting that rich people may still pollute, but they will also be required to purchase places that are also polluting and clean them up. Thus reducing carbon emissions, but as Companies continue to purchase and clean up dirty plants... more stringent rules will be applied limiting the amount that the original plant of said rich will be allowed to pollute. Yes there will be pollution, but at the very least baby steps will be made to improve the environment and at the same time stimulate the economy... I'm not sure who is right or wrong because I'm no global warming expert, but Gore's argument sure sounds better.
Another tid bit on Al Gore... he is on the Board of Directors and in a consultant for Google. Two observations 1) Pretty good companies to work for whether you think they are evil or not 2) A large chunk of his wage is in stocks... the last time I checked Google and Apple stocks weren't doing to badly. Yes I have drank the kool-Aid!!
Tony Kornheiser has now become my favourite media person to listen/read. No I have not fallen in love with the Washington Post writer because he is on PTI and Monday night Football.. although I do love PTI. Nope, its because of his Radio Show on Washington Post radio... top notch. Its off for the next several months because of Monday Night Football, but there are still episodes available to listen on I-tunes... up and until the end of June. Its worth the listen if you get the chance.
Man am I craving Pizza Pops and Kraft Dinner... have a lovely day.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
House
Does anyone watch the show 'House'? We watch it here and they just had the last episode of the season... well they had some behind the scenes deal and they were interviewing Hugh Laurie... very weird to hear him talk with a thick English accent after only hearing him with an American accent.
I HATE reality t.v. its one reality show after another here.... Big Brother, Australian Idol, Amazing Race.. how do people watch this crap?
We found a new place... a little bit bigger, $120 cheaper a week, further from the train station, 2nd floor, so not too sure where we will put the B.B.Q. I'm not quite sure if I like it as much as our current place, but very relieved to find a place.
On the train this morning woman walks onto the train.. pushes her was past the people standing near the door because there are no available seats. She manages to get through the people and find one remaining open seat where she pushes past the people sitting because the remaining seat is smaller than the rest because of the design of the train (most people do not ever sit in that seat) . Sits down, pass one stop, pass two stops, woman gets up, pushes past people sitting, pushes past people standing by the door and gets off at the third stop. Length of train ride 5 minutes? I'm not going to comment about what I was thinking seeing this woman. You guys can make your own conclusion, but my neck is strained from shaking it back and forth.
I'm concerned about moving... The combination of a second floor apartment, stairs, couch, fridge, bed and only Erin and I carrying them sound like trouble.
Well not much else to say, so ta ta for now.
I HATE reality t.v. its one reality show after another here.... Big Brother, Australian Idol, Amazing Race.. how do people watch this crap?
We found a new place... a little bit bigger, $120 cheaper a week, further from the train station, 2nd floor, so not too sure where we will put the B.B.Q. I'm not quite sure if I like it as much as our current place, but very relieved to find a place.
On the train this morning woman walks onto the train.. pushes her was past the people standing near the door because there are no available seats. She manages to get through the people and find one remaining open seat where she pushes past the people sitting because the remaining seat is smaller than the rest because of the design of the train (most people do not ever sit in that seat) . Sits down, pass one stop, pass two stops, woman gets up, pushes past people sitting, pushes past people standing by the door and gets off at the third stop. Length of train ride 5 minutes? I'm not going to comment about what I was thinking seeing this woman. You guys can make your own conclusion, but my neck is strained from shaking it back and forth.
I'm concerned about moving... The combination of a second floor apartment, stairs, couch, fridge, bed and only Erin and I carrying them sound like trouble.
Well not much else to say, so ta ta for now.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Nothing new
As the title says.. not much new here, but I wanted to share a few thoughts...
Greg and Courtney Morris just had their first baby boy.. Brayden is the new and everyone is health and at home.. congrats.
Erin finished her exams and the giant piano was lifted off her back... congrats.
I ran the 42.2Km Adelaide Marathon in 3H13M 56s, which is a personal best. I ended up being 27th place overall.
Nice to see the Bombers doing well, but I have to be honest.. I'm just waiting for the shoe to fall and have them run off 4 or 5 straight losses... lets hope not.
Erin and I stayed in a Bed and Breakfast for two nights last week in the Clare Valley Wine Region... the costs were covered as we (Erin mostly) had to do a review on the B&B. If we had been honest the B&B was not the greatest, but we gave them a cushy review nonetheless.
Only two weeks to go before the new owner of our flat moves in and we have still yet to find a place to live.. Houston we have a problem.
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
Greg and Courtney Morris just had their first baby boy.. Brayden is the new and everyone is health and at home.. congrats.
Erin finished her exams and the giant piano was lifted off her back... congrats.
I ran the 42.2Km Adelaide Marathon in 3H13M 56s, which is a personal best. I ended up being 27th place overall.
Nice to see the Bombers doing well, but I have to be honest.. I'm just waiting for the shoe to fall and have them run off 4 or 5 straight losses... lets hope not.
Erin and I stayed in a Bed and Breakfast for two nights last week in the Clare Valley Wine Region... the costs were covered as we (Erin mostly) had to do a review on the B&B. If we had been honest the B&B was not the greatest, but we gave them a cushy review nonetheless.
Only two weeks to go before the new owner of our flat moves in and we have still yet to find a place to live.. Houston we have a problem.
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
- Greg's good fortune
- That I think I will be running the Melbourne Marathon in October
- The weather is getting nice!!!
THINGS I DO NOT LIKE THIS WEEK
- Moving.. hate it.
- My Wednesday morning class... I'm over it.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Sad day in Adelaide
Hola,
Today was not such a great day... I'm not going to complain about it, but I will chronologically point out what was bad.
9:00 M- Sebastian left for Calgary. My golf, poker and beer drinking buddy has gone back home to start his law career. Sorta weird seeing as though there is a chance I may never see him again... I think I'd make a trip to Calgary to visit.
12:55 PM- Arrived at my practicum school for my 1 P.M. meeting... at 1:20 PM I was still waiting (I suppose I should replace 12:55 with 1:20 because I wasn't all that annoyed until 1:20 PM). What is the point of arranging a meeting if I still end up sitting around for 25 minutes?
2:05 PM- This is about the time I realized I had missed a turn on my way to school. Today was the first time I didn't take the train to school... missed one turn and ended up on a wild goose chase. I finally got to the school at about 2:40 PM.
2:30 PM- This is the time I scheduled a meeting with one of my teachers to discuss my feelings on a bullshit assignment. See above to remind yourself about how I feel of people who do not get to appointment on time.
3:33 PM- The parking police was putting a $25 parking ticket on my car window (If you are keeping score at home it is Danny drives to school 1 Parking police 1.
3:48- Danny pulls parking ticket off windshield.
5:37- Danny notices that Erin bought lamb from Coles and not Foodland... I despise Foodland because of the stench and its prices, but it does have good lamb.
Oh well...
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
Today was not such a great day... I'm not going to complain about it, but I will chronologically point out what was bad.
9:00 M- Sebastian left for Calgary. My golf, poker and beer drinking buddy has gone back home to start his law career. Sorta weird seeing as though there is a chance I may never see him again... I think I'd make a trip to Calgary to visit.
12:55 PM- Arrived at my practicum school for my 1 P.M. meeting... at 1:20 PM I was still waiting (I suppose I should replace 12:55 with 1:20 because I wasn't all that annoyed until 1:20 PM). What is the point of arranging a meeting if I still end up sitting around for 25 minutes?
2:05 PM- This is about the time I realized I had missed a turn on my way to school. Today was the first time I didn't take the train to school... missed one turn and ended up on a wild goose chase. I finally got to the school at about 2:40 PM.
2:30 PM- This is the time I scheduled a meeting with one of my teachers to discuss my feelings on a bullshit assignment. See above to remind yourself about how I feel of people who do not get to appointment on time.
3:33 PM- The parking police was putting a $25 parking ticket on my car window (If you are keeping score at home it is Danny drives to school 1 Parking police 1.
3:48- Danny pulls parking ticket off windshield.
5:37- Danny notices that Erin bought lamb from Coles and not Foodland... I despise Foodland because of the stench and its prices, but it does have good lamb.
Oh well...
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
- I was thinking earlier today about how my family (immediate and extended) would enjoy the wine culture here and most certainly the price. The clearskins are the best $5 bottle of wine you will ever have.
- I was also thinking about how my friends would enjoy the pub culture here.
- I don't mind that Barry Bonds broke the home run record... I just wish he came across as a nicer guy.
- The Edmonton Oilers signing of Dustin Penner (Product of Winkler Manitoba) doesn't get much worse. It isn't so much the money, but the 3 picks. I hope the Oilers finish in last and Anaheim gets the first pick overall.. Brian Burke walks up to the mike and says "we'd like to thank Kevin Lowe by selecting with our first pick John Tavares
THINGS I DO NOT LIKE THIS WEEK
- I was living life like a rock star only a few weeks ago with John and Sebass here... and now they're gone.
WANKER OF THE WEEK
- me... showing up late for a meeting and sacrificing a parking ticket in the process.. sighhhhhh
Friday, August 03, 2007
Two in one week
Hello...hello...
Two posts in one week... unheard of. Seeing as though I'm pretty certain there is only two people who read this I'd like to take this chance to introduce you guys.... Dave meet Greg. Dave is my uncle and Greg is my former roommate when I lived on Pebblewood. I'm not sure if you guys have met, but at least now you know who is who when you guys leave posts.... as for the rest of you? If you are out there reading this why don't you leave comments? Even if its to tell me to shut up or how my spelling is awful. At least then I now there is a market out there of people who resent the blog.
Anyways, the previous post was a quick breakdown of what we id and yes I'm sure I left out many things. One important aspect of the trip that I failed to mention needs to be revisited. John snores like no person I have ever heard. If he fell asleep before I did it was pretty much assured that I was getting a bad nights sleep. The first night in Brisbane when we went to the Backpackers Bar John and I ha more than our fair share of bears (this confirmed by John wanting to start a fiasco). That was the evening that we were in an 8 person shared room. I managed to fall asleep right away (some people might consider this passing out, but I digress), but in the morning you should have seen the looks John was getting from people in the room. I guess they didn't have the luxury of falling asleep before he did.
I do believe there was a wager on the race and John briefly mentioned it a few days before the race when he said "Do I still get 15 minutes?" At first I didn't know what he was walking about, but then he said for the race. I was sort of surprised he was turning this casual 30km run into a race. Particularly after spending the two previous weeks drinking beer and the fact that his running career consisted of 1 half marathon race and that I will soon be doing my 9th (Adelaide) and 10th (Sydney) marathon. Well as it turned out I did cover the spread and I didn't need to say anything as John was pissed off after the race.
Yes the trip did partake in beer and farting, but we also did a massive amount of walking and were able to cover huge amounts of cities in only a day or two. The trip itself was pretty low key, but yet busy at the same time.
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
Two posts in one week... unheard of. Seeing as though I'm pretty certain there is only two people who read this I'd like to take this chance to introduce you guys.... Dave meet Greg. Dave is my uncle and Greg is my former roommate when I lived on Pebblewood. I'm not sure if you guys have met, but at least now you know who is who when you guys leave posts.... as for the rest of you? If you are out there reading this why don't you leave comments? Even if its to tell me to shut up or how my spelling is awful. At least then I now there is a market out there of people who resent the blog.
Anyways, the previous post was a quick breakdown of what we id and yes I'm sure I left out many things. One important aspect of the trip that I failed to mention needs to be revisited. John snores like no person I have ever heard. If he fell asleep before I did it was pretty much assured that I was getting a bad nights sleep. The first night in Brisbane when we went to the Backpackers Bar John and I ha more than our fair share of bears (this confirmed by John wanting to start a fiasco). That was the evening that we were in an 8 person shared room. I managed to fall asleep right away (some people might consider this passing out, but I digress), but in the morning you should have seen the looks John was getting from people in the room. I guess they didn't have the luxury of falling asleep before he did.
I do believe there was a wager on the race and John briefly mentioned it a few days before the race when he said "Do I still get 15 minutes?" At first I didn't know what he was walking about, but then he said for the race. I was sort of surprised he was turning this casual 30km run into a race. Particularly after spending the two previous weeks drinking beer and the fact that his running career consisted of 1 half marathon race and that I will soon be doing my 9th (Adelaide) and 10th (Sydney) marathon. Well as it turned out I did cover the spread and I didn't need to say anything as John was pissed off after the race.
Yes the trip did partake in beer and farting, but we also did a massive amount of walking and were able to cover huge amounts of cities in only a day or two. The trip itself was pretty low key, but yet busy at the same time.
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
- That it is August already... winter is almost over HALLELUJAH!!
- I've only had the chance to listen to one game, but its nice to See the Bombers doing well.
THINGS I DO NOT LIKE THIS WEEK
- John and Sebastian (the guy who was at the concert with me) going back to Canada.
- School assignment due in Week 2: one, week 3: two, week 4: two, week 5: three.... a famous person once said "you have to be kidding me!!
WANKER OF THE WEEK
- I could certainly name a few (the naked guy in the hot tub comes to mind), but I will go with the waiter we had for the last supper with John. Thick french accent (that in itself may lead to wankerness) and he asks Erin what she wants... Erin goes with the salmon and waiter asks "Do you want chips with that?" asks me what I want and I get the steak "do you want chips with that? You could share them with your friends?" I reply "doesn't it come with vegetables?" Waiter still in his silly french accent "only a few you should get chips." John orders kangaroo "do you want chips with that, you should get them because you'll be hungry." Dude what is the obsession with us ordering ships? Only in Australia do you go to a nicer restaurant and have fried pushed on you like they are this glorious addition. If I want fries I'll go to McDonald's!!
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
My trip
Why.. why? Why can't you order online in Canada from the Nike website. Why do they only have Nike stores in Ontario? If anyone who happens to be going to Minneapolis any time soon could you please pick me up two of the following? Here is the link to said products. According to Nike this may be and I quote "quite possibly the best athlete's shirt ever made" plus in Sports Illustrated Tom Brady and Ladainian Tomlinson are also wearing them... if there god enough for them, well it must be good enough for me.
Well I haven't written in ages because quite frankly I have been flat out to busy with travelling, school and J.C. visiting Erin and I here in Oz.
I'll start with the trip.... Day 1 Erin, Carmen, Sebastian and I all got up at 5 A.M. to catch a flight to Sydney to attend the Live Earth Concert. The day began with a one hour flight delay. Although I most certainly could used the one hour sleep as I was like a kid on Christmas morning and was unable to sleep. The delay allowed Erin and I to enjoy a flat white before departing. I hesitated on getting a big breakfast and this lead to a slight piss off as everyone had eaten,so I had to have McDonald's for breakfast. Normally I don't mind Mickey D's for breakkie, but the cheese at McDonalds here in Oz tastes like feces. Nevertheless I persevered (not without a few minutes of sulking of course) and we made our way to the hotel. We did a 'sneaky' and reserved a two bed room at the hotel, but it was only for 2 people when in reality it was for four people. Us in the industry call this a 'sneaky.'
Upon finally arriving at the concert Erin and I had oval two tickets... this means we couldn't go right to the front, which I was fin
e with as we still had great seats and I enjoy being in and amongst the blue collar crowd (even though ticket prices are e
ven Steven). Temperature went from being cold to swick level aka sweaty balls. First act was Blue King Brown... decent music well thought out end, but I wasn't a big fan. Act two Angela Bishop and quite honestly I don't even remember her singing and I was not using illicit drugs. Act three was Toni Collette... oh GAWD my ears still haven't recovered. For those of you who don't know Toni was the mother in Little Miss Sunshine, she should stick to acting. Well there was a mix of bands I do not know and then there was the Sneaky Sound System... I had never heard them, but they were a lot of fun and I decided that I'd invite them to my birthday. I bought their track off itunes, but the CD does not do them justice compared to their live performance. My favourite song of the concert was a collaboration of Paul Kelly, John Butler, Missy Higgins as the sung "From Little Things Big Things Grow" it just so happens to be on you tube and well worth the watch... if you don't like that song I think you may have to have a look at yourself in the mirror (for the computer illiterate click on the blue writing and it will open up the link). Anyways, I don't want to bore you with small details... but Missy Higgins, John Butler Trio, Eskimo Joe were all good, but Jack Johnson was the biggest disappointment!! I was pumped to see 
him as was the other 80,000 people there and what does he do? Plays slow ballads.... I mean seriously buddy open it up a little. Oh I almost forgot to mention beer line was a two hour wait. Did not have a beer until 6 pm and the concert started at 11am.
e with as we still had great seats and I enjoy being in and amongst the blue collar crowd (even though ticket prices are e
ven Steven). Temperature went from being cold to swick level aka sweaty balls. First act was Blue King Brown... decent music well thought out end, but I wasn't a big fan. Act two Angela Bishop and quite honestly I don't even remember her singing and I was not using illicit drugs. Act three was Toni Collette... oh GAWD my ears still haven't recovered. For those of you who don't know Toni was the mother in Little Miss Sunshine, she should stick to acting. Well there was a mix of bands I do not know and then there was the Sneaky Sound System... I had never heard them, but they were a lot of fun and I decided that I'd invite them to my birthday. I bought their track off itunes, but the CD does not do them justice compared to their live performance. My favourite song of the concert was a collaboration of Paul Kelly, John Butler, Missy Higgins as the sung "From Little Things Big Things Grow" it just so happens to be on you tube and well worth the watch... if you don't like that song I think you may have to have a look at yourself in the mirror (for the computer illiterate click on the blue writing and it will open up the link). Anyways, I don't want to bore you with small details... but Missy Higgins, John Butler Trio, Eskimo Joe were all good, but Jack Johnson was the biggest disappointment!! I was pumped to see 
him as was the other 80,000 people there and what does he do? Plays slow ballads.... I mean seriously buddy open it up a little. Oh I almost forgot to mention beer line was a two hour wait. Did not have a beer until 6 pm and the concert started at 11am. Day two... J.C arrives and we did the tourist stuff... Sydney Opera House, Sydney bridge, pub, a brutal restaurant, botanic gardens and an overall good day. Oh and we had a great breakfast where we got to chit chat... great day. Almost forgot... had a $10 lobster at the Casino t
hat john was losing his money at.
hat john was losing his money at.
Day three... Erin leaves for Adelaide and John and I go to stay with Seth Goldberg.. very low key day as we ended up going to bed early. It was a little awkward to stay with all 6 oh Seth's roommates, but nice to visit. the next day John and I went down to Manley (North Beach of Sydney). Went to the aquarium and drank a number of beers.
Day 4... Seth drove up to train station where John and I both had a touch of car sickness. I assume this may have been induced by the 25 beers the previous night, but again just an assumption. We finally got on the plane where I kept my eyes closed well I dropped bombs. John thought it was me, but I kept my eyes closed and was innocent of all charges. The best part is when it tickled the nose of an Asian man a few rows up... classic stuff. Not much in Brisbane, but we did find an awesome 2 for 1 pub where we had a great meal before heading to the pub where we took in cheap beer and met people from the hostel. John tasted his first Oz gyro... delicious stuff.
Day 5... recovery!!
Day 6.. big day at the Australian zoo former home of Steve Irwin... saw crocs, Tasmanian devils, otters (my fav), big snakes and big birds... fun time. Then raced back to catch a bus to Surfers Paradise. Thats me feeding the croc.
Day 7.. Beautiful, beautiful place, Great weather! The two of us went for a run, walked around and essentially chilled out. That night we hit a couple of pretty low key pubs. Made the big mistake of having McDonald's on the way home.
Day 8... John goes about telling me how he doesn't eat McDonald's little did he know that I took advantage of him the night before and bought him a Big Mac. My memory fails me, but I think we walked for a few hours to the Putt putt a 54 hold mini-golf course, but we have done this the next day. I can't remember. 
Day 9... Dream World here we come... Superman roller coaster, Lethal Weapon, Shrek, Marilyn Monroe, Wilma, we both had a blast and when you guys see John you have to check out the picture of us on the Superman Roller coaster. Good times!!!
Day 10... Back to Adelaide..... miserable weather, but we went to Ikea to pick up a pillow a John and divulge in 3 footlong hotdogs or at least I did. Can't really go wrong with a day at Ikea. We visited with Erin and were having such a good time at dinner that John and I raced to Dan Murphy's AKA the wall mart of liquor stores to pick up the finest $5 bottle of Cabernet Merlot from the Barossa Valley.
Day 11... went for a 16km run and then 9 holes of golf with Seabass and James... we stink at golf by the way. Treated ourselves to the first of three Adelaide free poker nights. I was the first out and John quickly threw his chips in see we could spend less time card playing and more time drinking beer.
Day 12... Adelaide market, picked up steaks, mussels, corn on the cob and ate like kings... we may have also had a bottle or two of wine. Beauty of Adelaide is that there is no shortage of wine. Another beautiful evening and day for that matter. Oh I almost forgot... John cheated the transit system here.. good for him.
Day 13... James birthday... Erin's classmates, John and I went to a lame restaurant and then the Elephant pub. Highlights... John hitting on the stiffs Erin goes to school with, Welcome to the jungle and a few other songs that got the masses onto the dance floor. WIth John turning 29 looks like he is moving up an age braket with the ladies. Dance... dance..dance!!!
Day 14.. rest for the big race tomorrow
Day 15... 30 km race!!! John and I ran 30km, Erin 15km. I managed to get a time of 2h07m, Erin 1h07 and John 2h45. I do believe John has a new appreciation for the fact that you can't have your best race everyday and that going from 21km to 30km is a big distance jump. He'll do great next time though. Went home and I made pancakes, John went swimming in the Ocean crazy kid..... the water is too DAMN cold and I think he may have lost the ability to plant a seed in an ovary.
DAY 16.... Sore... and also my first day back to school. 6 hour class is too long and particularly when you are sore and have to partake in funk dance, and volleyball. Round two at the poker and I at one point had the most chips, but John got knocked out early, so I dumped my chips and had one of those random nights where you expected an early night, but ended up closing the joint. Not the first time I've done that.
Day 17... my alarm going off at 6am came very early.... very tired at school... went to the Museum and art gallery with John after. Not too shabby for free exhibits if I do say so myself.
Day 18... Round three of poker.... James, Seabass, John and I were all at the same table and ended up with some great guys. Nothing overly exciting happened, but an enjoyable time nonetheless.
Day 19... Started off on our trip to Melbourne, but not before our landlord called to remind us she is selling the place.... fill in and expletive... we drove to Mount Gambier where Erin and I will be living next year. Man-oh-man I don't think we will be out for dinner too often, but a nice enough place. John and I found ourselves a nice little pub where there was free poker, but we stayed away from the tables and just relax. For the record we have had a number of beers by this point in time... stayed in a hostel for $18 each.. The Mac and the place gave me the creeps. There wasn't anyone else staying there and it primed up for a cheap murder mystery, however we survived.
Day 20... Let me tell you.... I did not realize that diving down the great Ocean Road added at least 2hours to the drive. I'm disappointed we had to rush through it, but absolutely beautiful and a must see. I will do that drive again with Erin, but we had only a few hours to get to the footy game, so we hauled ass and after slaloming through the Forrest and finally getting to our Hostel we arrived just after halftime where we managed to drown 6 beers, see everyone pretend they were snorting coke because it was a players second game back after drug rehab.. I always enjoy 
the home crowd reminding the visiting team and their drug addicted player 
the 
joys of his addiction and the night topped off by "drunk lady" falling over.
the home crowd reminding the visiting team and their drug addicted player 
the 
joys of his addiction and the night topped off by "drunk lady" falling over.
Day 21... Walked through Melbourne, saw an exhibit by Karin Katt, Federation square, St. Kilda, Erins flight was delayed, but when she finally got there we went out for a beautiful meal, Meringues, cookies and a few drinks. It was the last supper and a celebration of good times and friends.
Day 22... the 5:00am wake up call was shocking, but had to get J.C. to the airport. I normally am not one to get sad about people coming and going as its never goodbye, but rather see you later. However there was a tinge of sadness as we had an action packed 3 weeks. Like a jealous girlfriend I was sad he wasn't coming back to Adelaide with us to spend a little more time together. J.C. is a true blue friend.
Well there was the coles notes version of our trip/visit. I had a great time and I hope John did too. I have tons of pictures and I will post a few here and again I will add some more over the following week. There are so many things that we did and saw its hard to think of them all and at the same time try and squeeze them into this blog. I did however forget to mention that at Surfers Paradise our room overlooked the hot tub. John looked down and did a double take. John believed that the fellow in the hot tub was naked, so like a car crash I ran over to see and I can confirm the was nakedness... how very European. Initially the bubbles weren't on, but I walked away and walked back to take a picture to share with you all, but the bubbles were on... I guess I missed the show.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
The Weekend
I was at the grocery store the other day to pick up some bacon (FYI the bacon in Oz is excellent). I decided upon 400 grams, but the lady at the counter so graciously gave me 460 grams at what should have been $9.99/KG. Upon checking out and to my dismay I was charged not for medium bacon, but for short bacon which runs at a premium price of $16.99/kg. Needless to say I was somewhat surprised and I made mention of said injustice. As it turns out in South Australia if you are charged the incorrect amount at the till they refund the money. I ended up with 460 grams of free bacon. I Danny Mitchell am conquering the world one same battle at a time.
Pretty quiet weekend... watched Beautiful Mind with Erin on Friday night, Saturday I had hockey and then a small get together with classmates at a local Pub where myself and others went about drinking far too much. Following this self-mutilation I feed on not one, but two gyros and woke up without a trace of a hang over. I think the Greek's may be onto something.
Adma Eckert a former classmate and fellow football player is currently trying out for the Blue Bombers. Apparently on day 5 he dislocated his left index finger through the skin. I am going to take a gander and say that may have hurt.
Only a few more weeks till the Sydney trip, which I am very excited about.
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
Pretty quiet weekend... watched Beautiful Mind with Erin on Friday night, Saturday I had hockey and then a small get together with classmates at a local Pub where myself and others went about drinking far too much. Following this self-mutilation I feed on not one, but two gyros and woke up without a trace of a hang over. I think the Greek's may be onto something.
Adma Eckert a former classmate and fellow football player is currently trying out for the Blue Bombers. Apparently on day 5 he dislocated his left index finger through the skin. I am going to take a gander and say that may have hurt.
Only a few more weeks till the Sydney trip, which I am very excited about.
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
- That I am going to add a "Wanker of the Week" section at the end of this column.
- That I didn't have a hang over this morning.
- Looking forward to going for a long run tomorrow to work off the beer which I initially thought was going to lead to a nasty hang over.
THINGS I DO NOT LIKE THIS WEEK
- I was considering doing a 25KM race this morning, but figured it would be unwise to run such a race under the influence.
WANKER OF THE WEEK
- A tutor (who will remain anonymous, but he knows who he is) broached the topic of how many of the Health and P.E. students at my school seemed to have resubmitted an assignment twice, but in two different classes. This should be deemed to be academically dishonest, but the topic was "Discuss your beliefs of what quality teaching is." My emerging beliefs did not change over the course of two weeks. However, out of sheer scaredy catness I did not resubmit the same assignment, but rewrote very similar ideas. This is clearly a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing and students should not be held in contempt as it is not their fault that tutors at out school are completely and totally unoriginal. I did however take a small sampling of my peers to see who had and had not resubmitted the assignment at it was unanimous... all the students re handed in the same thing. The beauty in this is the confidence in numbers. I will assume they will not kick everyone out of school. Anyways, to my point... there is no need for said tutor to be so crusty he clearly would have done the exact same thing. GROUCH!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Man of few words
I was thinking about A-Rod and his night on the town with his mystery blonde, which included dinner and strip clubs. Seeing as though he is the highest paid player in MLB baseball at $250 million Dollar man will that make his potential ex-wife the $125 million dollar ex-wife seeing as though she may be entitled to half A-Rods assets?
May practicum has come and gone. For the most part it was fairly good other than the fact the Phys ed teachers outright told us they didn't want student teachers and that the of student teacher I was with is buddies with the phys ed teacher and all they talked about was Cricket and I wanted to claw my eyes out... Let me tell you how much I am looking forward to spending 5 weeks in Early November with the same people.
I wish I knew why stores such as the Gap and Nike do not ship merchandise to Canada off of their websites. Does the idea of 27 million potential buyers not appeal to these companies? Seeing as though clothes are expensive and of poor taste here in Oz I was hoping to get some stuff sent over here by purchasing off their webpages, but NOPE. I just do not understand.
John Cacayuran ex-roommate and future visitor of Oz recently ran the Manitoba marathon in a stunning 1h45m. Congrats to him. He will be arriving in Sydney July 8th where we will be spending some time before shipping off to Brisbane and then back to Adelaide. It will be a hoot.
I have one remaining assignment due before the end of the semester... a pass or fail 2000 word essay. Why in the world i have a pass or fail class is beyond me. People will be able to hand in terrible essays and they will be deemed to be just as adequate as say an "A" paper makes no sense to me.
I must confess after having everyone tell me how great the weather was last summer in Winnipeg, I'm enjoying the wet weather and potentially life sized mosquitoes you guys and gals will be getting.
I just wanted to let everyone know that I now have a monopoly on danmitchell13 e-mail addresses as I have signed up for yahoo, hotmail and g-mail all in the same name just in case I decide to switch. I'm quite happy with my yahoo address, but it seems to be inundated with junk mail, which is becoming increasingly aggravating.
Well not too much to share right now... I hope everyone is well.
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
May practicum has come and gone. For the most part it was fairly good other than the fact the Phys ed teachers outright told us they didn't want student teachers and that the of student teacher I was with is buddies with the phys ed teacher and all they talked about was Cricket and I wanted to claw my eyes out... Let me tell you how much I am looking forward to spending 5 weeks in Early November with the same people.
I wish I knew why stores such as the Gap and Nike do not ship merchandise to Canada off of their websites. Does the idea of 27 million potential buyers not appeal to these companies? Seeing as though clothes are expensive and of poor taste here in Oz I was hoping to get some stuff sent over here by purchasing off their webpages, but NOPE. I just do not understand.
John Cacayuran ex-roommate and future visitor of Oz recently ran the Manitoba marathon in a stunning 1h45m. Congrats to him. He will be arriving in Sydney July 8th where we will be spending some time before shipping off to Brisbane and then back to Adelaide. It will be a hoot.
I have one remaining assignment due before the end of the semester... a pass or fail 2000 word essay. Why in the world i have a pass or fail class is beyond me. People will be able to hand in terrible essays and they will be deemed to be just as adequate as say an "A" paper makes no sense to me.
I must confess after having everyone tell me how great the weather was last summer in Winnipeg, I'm enjoying the wet weather and potentially life sized mosquitoes you guys and gals will be getting.
I just wanted to let everyone know that I now have a monopoly on danmitchell13 e-mail addresses as I have signed up for yahoo, hotmail and g-mail all in the same name just in case I decide to switch. I'm quite happy with my yahoo address, but it seems to be inundated with junk mail, which is becoming increasingly aggravating.
Well not too much to share right now... I hope everyone is well.
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
- The end of my practicum
- End of the semester
- The rain
THINGS I DON'T LIKE THIS WEEK
- Birds who keep eating my grass seed
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
School, basketball, facebook and fire fighter calendars
Have you ever wondered in subjective subjects why exactly it is teachers/profs/lecturers think they are more right than you? I can make just as persuasive of an argument as they can, so who are they to think that they are more right than oh say myself? I just got an essay back, which I got a good mark on (distinction if you are keeping score at home), but my lecturer slipped in the comment "you could 
add some additional work from 'management' & 'brain based learning' research" Why? The essay topic was to discuss my "emerging beliefs about quality teaching in P.E.", so if I don't feel the literature I read was relevant to my essay or coincided with my supposed emerging beliefs why would I add it? If need to to justify anything I believe with something someone else already believes is it really what I believe? Frans da Waal is a Professor of Primate Behavior and he makes a persuasive case that morality is etched into out instincts and not a learned trait (he came to this conclusion by watching monkeys). Because this has been written in a journal does that mean in my essay I should that my emerging beliefs for quality teaching be that I NOT teach what is morally correct because it is already set in stone according to a monkey watcher? Or is it that my lecturer wants me to only regurgitate what she thinks my emerging beliefs should be? If this is the case my teacher should save me the time and just write my essay for me mark it, give me a great grade and wake me when it all over. Just a thought...
I recently received six stitches and it is slightly compromising my emerging modeling career... very unfortunate!
Erin and I just went on a road trip to the Barossa Valley, which is wine country. We visited a number of vineyards... Wolf Blasse was one of them and Erin ran in a half marathon where she did very well. I was a very good cheerleader as I was unable to run because of my ongoing rib injuries.
I don't like following the NBA, but Steve Nash is one of the most compelling athletes... wish they had won.
I wrote a long while back about how I felt bad for David Beckham. Seems as though things are on the up and up for him... I'm happy for him.
I think Facebook is overrated although I do talk to more of my friends more frequently now that I have made an account.
Greg Morris is running for the Volunteer Fire Fighter Calendar... please support him!!
Erin and I have tickets to the Live Earth concert is July. Bands include Wolfmother, Jack Johnson, Eskimo Joe, Crowded House… Very much looking forward to it!!
THINGS I LIKE THIS WEEK
- Last day of classes today and my practicum starts tomorrow Yoppie
- All the rain we’ve been getting in Adelaide
- Digital SLR cameras
- Photoshop
- That I’m not in Winnipeg when it stops raining and warms up. The mosquitoes are going to be ferocious.
THINGS I DO NOT LIKE
- Whats not to like?
- Oh wait... my spelling, but that could be a staple on this list. It is my parents fault for putting my in french immersion
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)