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.

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.

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'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.

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

• 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

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

• 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!!

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 fine with as we still had great seats and I enjoy being in and amongst the blue collar crowd (even though ticket prices are even 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 that 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.

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.