At approximately 7.30pm last Tuesday night Serious Scott and I went our separate ways, after I completed the tenth of my paid-for-up-front sessions.
It was, I suppose, an amicable split. I told him it wasn't him, it was the money he was charging me. He ased if there was anything he could do to help, like direct debiting me weekly instead of taking all of my money up front. I told him that wasn't going to work out for me. So we said our goodbyes, acknowledging that we would most likely see each other round the gym.
So I'm on my own again, trying to navigate this crazy world of health and pysical fitness. Luckily, I have a new challenge.
On 16 September 2007, God willing, I am going to run 12km, from Adelaide to Glenelg. I'll be starting at around 8am, when I finish is anyone's guess. I suppose if I haven't arrived at my intended destination by 9.30am then something has probably gone terribly wrong.
Yep, I signed up for the City to Bay Fun Run. An email came round work today, offering to pay for the registration of any staff interested in participating. I figured it would be a good challenge, and keep me consistent with my exercise regime. Plus, it's only 12km, how hard can that be right? I've never actually run 12km before, but in my younger and fitter days I came close, and did so on a pretty regular basis. I only have to do this once.
While I feel reasonably confident of my chances of finishing, part of me can still imagine myself dragging my feet, gasping for breath, and looking up to see that I'm only at the South Road intersection. I'd better get training.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Rome
A couple of weeks ago I bought Murray "Rome" on DVD for his birthday. He finished watching it in about a week, and raved about it. So I decided to borrow it back from him and give it a go. (For my more cynical readers, I didn't just buy it for him because I wanted to watch it myself. Although that's not a bad idea).
Normally I'm not a big fan of period movies/tv shows - I don't like anything that is set more than 20 years in the future or more than 20 years in the past. Which rules out anything that involves either space ships, or dragons. This seems like it might be different though. To start off with, it was made by HBO. By my count, six of the top ten shows ever made were made by HBO - The Sopranos, Deadwood, Entourage, The Larry Sanders Show, Extras, and The Wire*. Of course they also gave us Sex and the City and almost ten years of Sarah Jessica Parker, but everyone makes mistakes. Also despite it being set in ancient times, there don't seem to be any elves or hobbits involved.
I watched the first episode last night, and it was pretty good. It was kind of hard to understand who was who, as a lot of the characters wore white togas. The fact that you're aware of some of them - Julius Caesar, Brutus, Marc Antony - by name if not anything else makes it a bit easier to follow. I'll stick with it for a few episodes at least, and who knows, I might even learn something.
*The remaining four being The Simpsons, Seinfeld, The Office and The West Wing.
Normally I'm not a big fan of period movies/tv shows - I don't like anything that is set more than 20 years in the future or more than 20 years in the past. Which rules out anything that involves either space ships, or dragons. This seems like it might be different though. To start off with, it was made by HBO. By my count, six of the top ten shows ever made were made by HBO - The Sopranos, Deadwood, Entourage, The Larry Sanders Show, Extras, and The Wire*. Of course they also gave us Sex and the City and almost ten years of Sarah Jessica Parker, but everyone makes mistakes. Also despite it being set in ancient times, there don't seem to be any elves or hobbits involved.
I watched the first episode last night, and it was pretty good. It was kind of hard to understand who was who, as a lot of the characters wore white togas. The fact that you're aware of some of them - Julius Caesar, Brutus, Marc Antony - by name if not anything else makes it a bit easier to follow. I'll stick with it for a few episodes at least, and who knows, I might even learn something.
*The remaining four being The Simpsons, Seinfeld, The Office and The West Wing.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Things better kept to myself
Sometimes I think I underestimate how loud my voice is. Today was one of those times.
We were in our monthly marketing briefing at work, and our boss was showing myself and around 40 of my colleagues a DVD on the new Tourism Australia website. The "Where the bloody hell are you?" ad ran for a few seconds, capped off by a clip of Lara Bingle on the beach. "Oh, I'm surprised they're still running that" she said as the clip ended.
Mirjana leaned over confused and whispered "Why don't people like Lara Bingle anymore?" To which I whispered back, without thinking about it too much "Because she's a slut."
Which would have been fine, if Mirjana, and perhaps just one or two other people heard it. Unfortunately, the room went dead silent at the time I chose to open my mouth. That, and the fact that my whisper isn't as quiet as it sounds in my head (a fact that Michella and Amanda could both verify, having once caught me trying to cheat in a friendly game of Pictionary), meant that everyone in the room heard my little comment.
What followed was a lot of laughing, and my face I'm sure turning a very bright shade of red. I felt a little better when after a few seconds the lady in front of me turned around to say "We're laughing because we agree with you." Still, from now on I think I'm going to start keeping some of these comments in my head.
We were in our monthly marketing briefing at work, and our boss was showing myself and around 40 of my colleagues a DVD on the new Tourism Australia website. The "Where the bloody hell are you?" ad ran for a few seconds, capped off by a clip of Lara Bingle on the beach. "Oh, I'm surprised they're still running that" she said as the clip ended.
Mirjana leaned over confused and whispered "Why don't people like Lara Bingle anymore?" To which I whispered back, without thinking about it too much "Because she's a slut."
Which would have been fine, if Mirjana, and perhaps just one or two other people heard it. Unfortunately, the room went dead silent at the time I chose to open my mouth. That, and the fact that my whisper isn't as quiet as it sounds in my head (a fact that Michella and Amanda could both verify, having once caught me trying to cheat in a friendly game of Pictionary), meant that everyone in the room heard my little comment.
What followed was a lot of laughing, and my face I'm sure turning a very bright shade of red. I felt a little better when after a few seconds the lady in front of me turned around to say "We're laughing because we agree with you." Still, from now on I think I'm going to start keeping some of these comments in my head.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Please . . . just walk away
I've sat through some pretty terrible movies in my time. I once watched "The Bodyguard" - from beginning to end - and even pretended to like it. Although that was hoping to impress a girl, so I'm not sure it should count. Here's a better example - in 1992 Forcey and I went to see "Stop or My Mom Will Shoot" - a film best described as a vehicle for Sylvester Stallone and the eldest of the Golden Girls - and again stayed through to the closing credits. (www.rottentomatoes.com gives it a rating of 6%, with reviewers quotes like "Being shot might be preferable to sitting through this" and "Stop! making lousy comedies or you'll permanently damage your career.")
What I'm trying to say is that I don't give up on a movie easily. If I've spent the time and money to go to the movies - or even the video store - I'm going to give something every chance to succeed. I reached my limit last night though watching "Miami Vice" - after about an hour I turned it off.
The original plan was to grab "Rest Stop" - a horror movie recommended to me by a colleague. But by the time I got to the video store I wasn't in a great mood, and didn't really feel like watching random people being murdered. I looked around for a while but nothing was jumping out at me - it was one of those times where you can't really find anything you want to see, but hate the idea of going home empty handed. So you talk yourself into something you never really wanted to watch in the first place.
Anyway . . . I get home and pop the movie into my DVD player, and it jumps straight into the action. So much so that it feels like I've started in the middle of the movie. After about ten minutes, I take the disc out, check to see if it's a double sided disc that I put in wrong, and realise I had been watching the start, they just neglected to include anything like opening credits. Or a proper introduction of the characters. As far as I could work out, they were undercover agents trying to infiltrate a drug ring. And they drove a Ferrari, and had a very fast boat.
The film was directed by Michael Mann, whose made one great movie in "Heat" and another pretty good one in "Collateral", and to be honest, it did look great. I just honestly had no idea what was going on with the plot. And when you can't follow the plot of an action movie, there's either something very wrong with you, or with the film. I'm going with the film.
So next time you're in a video store, and you talk yourself into seeing something you never really wanted to, do yourself a favour and walk away. Just walk away. I wish I did.
What I'm trying to say is that I don't give up on a movie easily. If I've spent the time and money to go to the movies - or even the video store - I'm going to give something every chance to succeed. I reached my limit last night though watching "Miami Vice" - after about an hour I turned it off.
The original plan was to grab "Rest Stop" - a horror movie recommended to me by a colleague. But by the time I got to the video store I wasn't in a great mood, and didn't really feel like watching random people being murdered. I looked around for a while but nothing was jumping out at me - it was one of those times where you can't really find anything you want to see, but hate the idea of going home empty handed. So you talk yourself into something you never really wanted to watch in the first place.Anyway . . . I get home and pop the movie into my DVD player, and it jumps straight into the action. So much so that it feels like I've started in the middle of the movie. After about ten minutes, I take the disc out, check to see if it's a double sided disc that I put in wrong, and realise I had been watching the start, they just neglected to include anything like opening credits. Or a proper introduction of the characters. As far as I could work out, they were undercover agents trying to infiltrate a drug ring. And they drove a Ferrari, and had a very fast boat.
The film was directed by Michael Mann, whose made one great movie in "Heat" and another pretty good one in "Collateral", and to be honest, it did look great. I just honestly had no idea what was going on with the plot. And when you can't follow the plot of an action movie, there's either something very wrong with you, or with the film. I'm going with the film.
So next time you're in a video store, and you talk yourself into seeing something you never really wanted to, do yourself a favour and walk away. Just walk away. I wish I did.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Ballin' in the Ghetto
A couple of weeks ago our Thursday night basketball comp got moved from the Powerhouse (Distinctive Homes Dome if you really want to be correct) to St Ives stadium at Port Adelaide. I can't really remember why, I think it had something to do with resurfacing the courts. Either that, or they realised they could make more money hiring the venue out to corporate clients.
So now we're at St Ives, and it kind of sucks. I've played here before, and it hasn't changed at all. Perhaps that's what seems vaguely depressing about the place - you play here for a while, then leave, get on with your life, make some new friends, start a new job, buy a new house - then you come back here and feel like you've instantly regressed ten years.
The main problems, as far as I can see it are:
1) Terrible lighting - it's light enough to play safely, but still dark enough to give off a sombre vibe.
2) Crappy rims - when you spend a lot of your time bombing away from the three point line, you really want soft rims that will - more often than not - give you a friendly roll. These don't fit that mould.
3) The size of the court - I can't prove this without the aid of a really long piece of tape, but I'm pretty sure the courts aren't full size.
4) The odour - a slightly musty smell that greets you as you walk through the doors.
It's not all bad though, there are a few benefits:
1) Probably the biggest advantage is that the stadium is only five minutes or so from my house. So the convenience is great.
2) Presumably since the comp organisers are aware of points one through to four above, they've lowered the cost from $9 a game to $7.50.
3) The snack bar seems to be at least the equal of the one at the Powerhouse, although since I don't eat mixed lollies during half time of our games anymore, that's of limited value to me.
Anyway we played there last night against Blaze. Who we rarely lose to, except when we played them in the semi finals last year, a game I'm still kind of bitter about. Last night we lost by one, but in our defense, we played the fiinal twenty minutes with four players after Ash injured his knee at the end of the first half. He's having an MRI on Monday, but it's terrible timing for him, having a ski holiday to New Zealand booked in less than a month . . .
So now we're at St Ives, and it kind of sucks. I've played here before, and it hasn't changed at all. Perhaps that's what seems vaguely depressing about the place - you play here for a while, then leave, get on with your life, make some new friends, start a new job, buy a new house - then you come back here and feel like you've instantly regressed ten years.
The main problems, as far as I can see it are:
1) Terrible lighting - it's light enough to play safely, but still dark enough to give off a sombre vibe.
2) Crappy rims - when you spend a lot of your time bombing away from the three point line, you really want soft rims that will - more often than not - give you a friendly roll. These don't fit that mould.
3) The size of the court - I can't prove this without the aid of a really long piece of tape, but I'm pretty sure the courts aren't full size.
4) The odour - a slightly musty smell that greets you as you walk through the doors.
It's not all bad though, there are a few benefits:
1) Probably the biggest advantage is that the stadium is only five minutes or so from my house. So the convenience is great.
2) Presumably since the comp organisers are aware of points one through to four above, they've lowered the cost from $9 a game to $7.50.
3) The snack bar seems to be at least the equal of the one at the Powerhouse, although since I don't eat mixed lollies during half time of our games anymore, that's of limited value to me.
Anyway we played there last night against Blaze. Who we rarely lose to, except when we played them in the semi finals last year, a game I'm still kind of bitter about. Last night we lost by one, but in our defense, we played the fiinal twenty minutes with four players after Ash injured his knee at the end of the first half. He's having an MRI on Monday, but it's terrible timing for him, having a ski holiday to New Zealand booked in less than a month . . .
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Things I recommend
Entourage
Until the Sopranos returns or we get a third season of Extras, this is the best show on TV. Of course, it's not even on free to air, but that seems about right - you wouldn't want to deprive Australia of the chance to watch quality fare like "Two and a Half Men" in prime time. Still there are advantages to it being on Foxtel - they don't have to bury it at midnight like Channel 9 do with the Sopranos, and we actually get episodes only a few weeks after they air in the US, rather than a year later. How novel.
Nixon Watches
I bought myself one of these a few months ago and am now looking at maybe getting another. I got "The Player" which I suppose is fitting in an ironic sense.
Next up I'm thinking of "The Banks" in gold. The question is whether I can pull off a giant gold watch without looking like a complete loser. Michella thinks I can't. I kind of want to prove her wrong.
Top Taste Little Bites
Do you ever feel like just a few small bites of a piece of cake, but hate wasting food with all the starvation going on in the world? I know I do. And that's why I'm loving the new Little Bites range from Top Taste - perfect for topping off a lunch with something sweet without having to buy (and then devour) an entire muffin. Available from all good supermarkets in choc-chip muffin and chocolate brownie varieties.
"Can I Keep My Jersey" by Paul Shirley
I just finished reading this book, and if you have even a passing interest in basketball, it's worth having a look at. His self deprecating style of writing does wear a little thin after a while, but it's worth it just for the stories which show just how shallow and stupid the average NBA player is (eg guys making more than $10 million a year buying lottery tickets, hoping to win and be "set for life").
Cotton On
The clothes here aren't great quality. And come to think of it, with the amount they cost, they probably aren't manufactured in the most ethical way. But if there's somewhere you can buy a better tshirt for $10, I haven't found it yet.
Omlettes
I just recently discovered how delicious and easy to make these are. I take two eggs, half a tomato, three mushrooms, one spring onion, a handfull of grated cheese, add sea salt and cracked pepper, and mix it all up in a bowl. Pour the mixture into the pancake maker Forcey gave me for my birthday last year, and within five minutes dinner is served. Or breakfast . . . or lunch . . . that's the beauty of the omlette, it's the meal for all occasions.
Snow Patrol
I've only got the latest album but I'm slowly coming around to these guys. Initially I had them pegged as U2-clones, then (even worse) Coldplay clones, but I have to admit a few of their songs are really growing on me. Check out "Make this go on forever". They are coming here later this year, my early prediction is their concert will one day join the list of concerts I can't believe I passed up.
Until the Sopranos returns or we get a third season of Extras, this is the best show on TV. Of course, it's not even on free to air, but that seems about right - you wouldn't want to deprive Australia of the chance to watch quality fare like "Two and a Half Men" in prime time. Still there are advantages to it being on Foxtel - they don't have to bury it at midnight like Channel 9 do with the Sopranos, and we actually get episodes only a few weeks after they air in the US, rather than a year later. How novel.
Nixon WatchesI bought myself one of these a few months ago and am now looking at maybe getting another. I got "The Player" which I suppose is fitting in an ironic sense.
Next up I'm thinking of "The Banks" in gold. The question is whether I can pull off a giant gold watch without looking like a complete loser. Michella thinks I can't. I kind of want to prove her wrong.Top Taste Little Bites
Do you ever feel like just a few small bites of a piece of cake, but hate wasting food with all the starvation going on in the world? I know I do. And that's why I'm loving the new Little Bites range from Top Taste - perfect for topping off a lunch with something sweet without having to buy (and then devour) an entire muffin. Available from all good supermarkets in choc-chip muffin and chocolate brownie varieties.
"Can I Keep My Jersey" by Paul Shirley
I just finished reading this book, and if you have even a passing interest in basketball, it's worth having a look at. His self deprecating style of writing does wear a little thin after a while, but it's worth it just for the stories which show just how shallow and stupid the average NBA player is (eg guys making more than $10 million a year buying lottery tickets, hoping to win and be "set for life").
Cotton OnThe clothes here aren't great quality. And come to think of it, with the amount they cost, they probably aren't manufactured in the most ethical way. But if there's somewhere you can buy a better tshirt for $10, I haven't found it yet.
Omlettes
I just recently discovered how delicious and easy to make these are. I take two eggs, half a tomato, three mushrooms, one spring onion, a handfull of grated cheese, add sea salt and cracked pepper, and mix it all up in a bowl. Pour the mixture into the pancake maker Forcey gave me for my birthday last year, and within five minutes dinner is served. Or breakfast . . . or lunch . . . that's the beauty of the omlette, it's the meal for all occasions.
Snow Patrol
I've only got the latest album but I'm slowly coming around to these guys. Initially I had them pegged as U2-clones, then (even worse) Coldplay clones, but I have to admit a few of their songs are really growing on me. Check out "Make this go on forever". They are coming here later this year, my early prediction is their concert will one day join the list of concerts I can't believe I passed up.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Top five meals for the weekend
I sure hope Serious Scott isn't reading .. . .
5. Saturday lunch
Where: My house
What: Two KFC Twisters, one Coopers Dark Ale.
Not a bad meal considering I just wanted to grab something quickly after the gym. Loses points because of the lack of ambience (eating on the couch in my TV room with the curtains closed) and company (dining on my own).
4. Sunday lunch
Where: Hungry Jacks
What: Chicken BLT Baguette (available for a limited time only), medium Fanta, a handful of fries
My philosophy is that if the people at Hungry Jacks (or McDonalds . . or Subway) put the time and effort into coming up with a new dish, the least I can do is give it a go. I thought this was a pretty solid addition to their baguette range - it's the standard country chicken baguette, but with free tomato and bacon. Unfortunately we didn't get the chance to stay long enough to sample something from their dessert menu, the sticky date pudding looked tempting.
3. Saturday Dinner
Where: My house
What: Spaghetti Bolognese, can of Coke Zero, single serve mixed berry and apple pie.
Normally this would be at number five on this list, but Michella has a bit of a talent for combining raw mince, Paul Newman's pasta sauce, and assorted herbs and spices and coming up with a delicious meal. Dessert was a Nana's mixed berry and apple pie - very tasty and easy to prepare at home.
2. Sunday Dinner
Where: My house
What: Combination Hot Pot, Can of Coke Zero, one of Karen Crouch's delicious home baked muffins
Then Peter approaching asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:18-19.
Wise words indeed. Except someone who will remain nameless feels that these principles of forgiveness don't apply to restaurants who are forced to temporarily close down due to Health Department orders. So instead of getting a hot pot from Vietnam Restaurant at Pennington, we had to go to Vietnam Village at Thebarton. A bit further away, and the food wasn't quite as good, but it was just good enough to sneak into the number two spot, although a very distant second behind . . .
1. Friday Dinner
Where: Lenzerheide Restaurant
What: Gnocchi with Walnut and Cream sauce, topped with pesto, Steak Olympus, Creme Brulee and a glass of Wirra Wirra Church Block.
This meal might not be topped in 2007, definitely the classiest place I've ever eaten at. The food was great - the gnocchi entree was a playful yet mysterious little dish, and the main was kind of over the top - steak stuffed with prawns - but fantastic. It kind of reminded me of the Simpsons episode where Moe ordered the most expensive dish in the restaurant, stuffed with the second most expensive.
I think we may have stuck out - our waitress asked us as we were leaving if it was our first time, which of course I took to mean "you don't look rich enough to have eaten here before." Other than that she was nice though.
5. Saturday lunch
Where: My house
What: Two KFC Twisters, one Coopers Dark Ale.
Not a bad meal considering I just wanted to grab something quickly after the gym. Loses points because of the lack of ambience (eating on the couch in my TV room with the curtains closed) and company (dining on my own).
4. Sunday lunch
Where: Hungry Jacks
What: Chicken BLT Baguette (available for a limited time only), medium Fanta, a handful of fries
My philosophy is that if the people at Hungry Jacks (or McDonalds . . or Subway) put the time and effort into coming up with a new dish, the least I can do is give it a go. I thought this was a pretty solid addition to their baguette range - it's the standard country chicken baguette, but with free tomato and bacon. Unfortunately we didn't get the chance to stay long enough to sample something from their dessert menu, the sticky date pudding looked tempting.
3. Saturday Dinner
Where: My house
What: Spaghetti Bolognese, can of Coke Zero, single serve mixed berry and apple pie.
Normally this would be at number five on this list, but Michella has a bit of a talent for combining raw mince, Paul Newman's pasta sauce, and assorted herbs and spices and coming up with a delicious meal. Dessert was a Nana's mixed berry and apple pie - very tasty and easy to prepare at home.
2. Sunday Dinner
Where: My house
What: Combination Hot Pot, Can of Coke Zero, one of Karen Crouch's delicious home baked muffins
Then Peter approaching asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:18-19.
Wise words indeed. Except someone who will remain nameless feels that these principles of forgiveness don't apply to restaurants who are forced to temporarily close down due to Health Department orders. So instead of getting a hot pot from Vietnam Restaurant at Pennington, we had to go to Vietnam Village at Thebarton. A bit further away, and the food wasn't quite as good, but it was just good enough to sneak into the number two spot, although a very distant second behind . . .
1. Friday Dinner
Where: Lenzerheide Restaurant
What: Gnocchi with Walnut and Cream sauce, topped with pesto, Steak Olympus, Creme Brulee and a glass of Wirra Wirra Church Block.
This meal might not be topped in 2007, definitely the classiest place I've ever eaten at. The food was great - the gnocchi entree was a playful yet mysterious little dish, and the main was kind of over the top - steak stuffed with prawns - but fantastic. It kind of reminded me of the Simpsons episode where Moe ordered the most expensive dish in the restaurant, stuffed with the second most expensive.
I think we may have stuck out - our waitress asked us as we were leaving if it was our first time, which of course I took to mean "you don't look rich enough to have eaten here before." Other than that she was nice though.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Smokin' Aces
Over the weekend Paul asked me if Ben Affleck had made a good movie since Good Will Hunting. I thought about it and couldn't really think of one (not counting Chasing Amy, as I think I'm in the minority when it comes to that one). Last night I saw what may be his first, despite (or perhaps even because of) the fact that he dies a violent death reasonably early on.
I had wanted to see Smokin' Aces at the movies. The selling point for me was the inclusion of Ari Gold, I mean Jeremy Piven, and the promise of high level violence just sealed the deal. Anyway I missed it there but grabbed it at my local Video Ezy last night (shouldn't that be updated to DVD Ezy sometime soon?)
The premise is reasonably straightforward - Buddy Israel (Jeremy Piven) is a Vegas entertainer turned mob associate turned snitch who is in the witness protection program, hidden away in a penthouse in a rural Nevada casino. The mafia have put a bounty on his head, and so it's a race between a few different groups of assassins and the FBI to get to him first. As luck would have it, they all arrive at roughly the same time, so the majority of the film is the bloody stand off between all of the different groups - kind of like the last ten minutes or so of True Romance, stretched into a full movie.
Jeremy Piven was great as the increasingly paranoid Buddy, isolated from the world and waiting for the inevitable. I also liked both the guys playing the FBI agents - Ray Liotta and Jeremy Reynolds. The script was decent I suppose, but you don't watch movies like this for the acting and dialogue, it's more of a "sit back and enjoy the carnage" experience.
I've read some bad reviews about this where people compare it to the films of Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino, and if that's the standard you're holding a movie up to, yeah it's not going to make it. On it's own merits though I thought it was really good, I'd definitely watch it again.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Weekend in Melbourne
Just got back today from an extended five day weekend in Melbourne.
The plan was to leave at 6.30am Friday morning, although we didn't hit the road till about 8.30am in the end. Luckily we had a great mix of music to see us through (see below).
We got into the Melbourne area at about 7ish, thinking we weren't far off from a delicious dinner at Paul's house. Well, we were. After getting lost a couple of times we finally arrived at Paul's place about 8.45pm. A surprisingly tasty dinner of lemon chicken and satay veggies was waiting, and after tea Paul and I watched the Cavs get killed in game one of the NBA Finals.
Saturday morning we had breakfast in a delightful little place called "Flippin' Pancakes" in the Dandenong Hills. The exact name of the town escapes me but it was really nice, kind of like Hahndorf, but a little less rubbish.
After this we went shopping at some factory outlet complex, then later in the afternoon Paul and I schooled some Asian guys down at his local courts. David and Anthony their names were I think. Anyway really nice guys, not so hot at basketball though.
Dinner was at a local cafe "Smokin' Joes". Their advertisements say it's not just a cafe but a way of life, but I don't know, it kind of seemed like a cafe to me. We grabbed Babel on DVD, but unfortunately we all hated it.
The next morning we left Paul and drove out to Careforce Church at Mt Evelyn. Michella had heard the Pastor before and wanted to check it out, it was really good. From there we drove into the CBD, checked into the Radisson, and did some shopping. Having a late lunch we ran into a guy from Adelaide who just seemed desperately lonely. He started off bagging Melbourne, then bagging Adelaide, and I got the feeling he'd say anything just to keep the conversation going a little longer. We would have obligued him, but I really needed new trackies so we slipped away.
Dinner Sunday night was in the Radisson's restaurant. I had the steak, and it was probably the best meal I've had in recent memory.
Monday morning we planned an early morning walk in the park opposite our hotel, which looked stunning - it reminded me of Central Park in New York. Unfortunately we slept in so after checking out of the hotel headed to the Melbourne Aquarium. It was better than I thought it would be, but completely overcrowded with kids (being a holiday and all).
We left Melbourne about lunchtime and drove to Horsham. We checked into the Darlot Motel, and took the vouchers they gave us to the RSL for dinner. It was kind of nice - the place was a bit run down and the food pretty crap but the atmosphere was great, with all of the locals and ex-servicemen in there. We saw Shrek the Third at a local theatre, then retired to our room, where I managed to catch 15 minutes of Passenger 57 before Michella made me turn it off. Man that movie has not aged well. Kind of funny though that at one point Wesley Snipes was actually making popular movies.
Drove through to Keith this morning where we stopped for lunch at a nice cafe, then home this afternoon. A great weekend, but it's good to be home . . .
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Making a mixtape
The making of a great compilation, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. The you got to take it up a notch, but you don't want to blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules.
I spent tonight making mix cds for my trip to Melbourne this weekend. Rob Gordon was right, it takes ages longer than you think it would. Possibly longer than I've spent actually researching things to do when I get to Melbourne. Anyway, if anyone is interested, here's what I came up with.
CD One
1. California Dreaming - The Mamas and the Papas
2. War - Edwin Starr
3. All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
4. Use Me - Bill Withers
5. Wouldn't It Be Nice - The Beach Boys
6. Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
7. Have You Ever Seen the Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival
8. Under My Thumb - The Rolling Stones
9. The Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel
10. Uptight (Everything's Alright) - Stevie Wonder
11. You Keep Me Hanging On - Diana Ross and the Supremes
12. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) - Nancy Sinatra
13. Time of the Season - The Zombies
14. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You - Led Zeppelin
15. In the Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
16. Hold On I'm Comin' - Sam and Dave
17. Little Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs
18. Solitary Man - Neil Diamond
19. The Turtles - So Happy Together
20. I Heard It Through the Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
CD Two
1. Paranoid - Black Sabbath
2. Layla - Derek and the Dominoes
3. Tiny Dancer - Elton John
4. Freddie's Dead - Curtis Mayfield
5. Sure Know Something - Kiss
6. Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
7. Express Yourself - Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
8. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
9. Roxanne - The Police
10. American Girl - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
11. Cocaine - Eric Clapton
12. Hurricane - Bob Dylan
13. Heart of Gold - Neil Young
14. Baba O'Reilly - The Who
15. The Logical Song - Supertramp
16. Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
CD Three
1. Manic Monday - The Bangles
2. Love Song - The Cure
3. With or Without You - U2
4. Under the Milky Way - The Church
5. The Killing Moon - Echo and the Bunnymen
6. Into the Groove - Madonna
7. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
8. Never Tear Us Apart - INXS
9. Hello - Lionel Ritchie
10. You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
11. Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns n' Roses
12. Short Memory - Midnight Oil
13. F.I.N.E. - Aerosmith
14. Call Me - Blondie
15. I Ran - A Flock of Seagulls
16. Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi
17. Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
18. Four Seasons in One Day - Crowded House
19. Africa - Toto
CD Four
1. Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
2. The Last Stop - Dave Matthews Band
3. Not an Addict - K's Choice
4. Pick You Up - Powderfinger
5. Polyester Bride - Liz Phair
6. Mama Said - Metallica
7. Dumb - Nirvana
8. Animal - Pearl Jam
9. My Friends - Red Hot Chili Peppers
10. Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead
11. Losing My Religon - R.E.M.
12. Glycerine - Bush
13. What It's Like - Everlast
14. Easy - Faith No More
15. White, Discussion - Live
16. Wonderwall - Oasis
17. Every You Every Me - Placebo
CD Five
1. Volcano - Damien Rice
2. When You Were Young - The Killers
3. Son of Sam - Elliott Smith
4. From the Sea - Eskimo Joe
5. Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
6. Mad World - Gary Jules
7. Evil - Interpol
8. Orphelia - Kashmir
9. Time is Running Out - Muse
10. There She Goes, My Beautiful World - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
11. Let It Ride - Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
12. Make This Go On Forever - Snow Patrol
13. A Sorta Fairytale - Tori Amos
14. London Still - The Waifs
15. The Saints Are Coming - U2 and Green Day
16. In the Fade - Queens of the Stone Age
17. Twenty Years - Something for Kate
18. I Got You - Stone Temple Pilots
I spent tonight making mix cds for my trip to Melbourne this weekend. Rob Gordon was right, it takes ages longer than you think it would. Possibly longer than I've spent actually researching things to do when I get to Melbourne. Anyway, if anyone is interested, here's what I came up with.
CD One
1. California Dreaming - The Mamas and the Papas
2. War - Edwin Starr
3. All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
4. Use Me - Bill Withers
5. Wouldn't It Be Nice - The Beach Boys
6. Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
7. Have You Ever Seen the Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival
8. Under My Thumb - The Rolling Stones
9. The Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel
10. Uptight (Everything's Alright) - Stevie Wonder
11. You Keep Me Hanging On - Diana Ross and the Supremes
12. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) - Nancy Sinatra
13. Time of the Season - The Zombies
14. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You - Led Zeppelin
15. In the Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
16. Hold On I'm Comin' - Sam and Dave
17. Little Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs
18. Solitary Man - Neil Diamond
19. The Turtles - So Happy Together
20. I Heard It Through the Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
CD Two
1. Paranoid - Black Sabbath
2. Layla - Derek and the Dominoes
3. Tiny Dancer - Elton John
4. Freddie's Dead - Curtis Mayfield
5. Sure Know Something - Kiss
6. Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
7. Express Yourself - Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
8. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
9. Roxanne - The Police
10. American Girl - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
11. Cocaine - Eric Clapton
12. Hurricane - Bob Dylan
13. Heart of Gold - Neil Young
14. Baba O'Reilly - The Who
15. The Logical Song - Supertramp
16. Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
CD Three
1. Manic Monday - The Bangles
2. Love Song - The Cure
3. With or Without You - U2
4. Under the Milky Way - The Church
5. The Killing Moon - Echo and the Bunnymen
6. Into the Groove - Madonna
7. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
8. Never Tear Us Apart - INXS
9. Hello - Lionel Ritchie
10. You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
11. Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns n' Roses
12. Short Memory - Midnight Oil
13. F.I.N.E. - Aerosmith
14. Call Me - Blondie
15. I Ran - A Flock of Seagulls
16. Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi
17. Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
18. Four Seasons in One Day - Crowded House
19. Africa - Toto
CD Four
1. Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
2. The Last Stop - Dave Matthews Band
3. Not an Addict - K's Choice
4. Pick You Up - Powderfinger
5. Polyester Bride - Liz Phair
6. Mama Said - Metallica
7. Dumb - Nirvana
8. Animal - Pearl Jam
9. My Friends - Red Hot Chili Peppers
10. Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead
11. Losing My Religon - R.E.M.
12. Glycerine - Bush
13. What It's Like - Everlast
14. Easy - Faith No More
15. White, Discussion - Live
16. Wonderwall - Oasis
17. Every You Every Me - Placebo
CD Five
1. Volcano - Damien Rice
2. When You Were Young - The Killers
3. Son of Sam - Elliott Smith
4. From the Sea - Eskimo Joe
5. Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
6. Mad World - Gary Jules
7. Evil - Interpol
8. Orphelia - Kashmir
9. Time is Running Out - Muse
10. There She Goes, My Beautiful World - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
11. Let It Ride - Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
12. Make This Go On Forever - Snow Patrol
13. A Sorta Fairytale - Tori Amos
14. London Still - The Waifs
15. The Saints Are Coming - U2 and Green Day
16. In the Fade - Queens of the Stone Age
17. Twenty Years - Something for Kate
18. I Got You - Stone Temple Pilots
Great song, not so great dancing
I found this live version of "Set the fire to the third bar" by Snow Patrol with Martha Wainwright on youtube. Great song, fantastic version . . . but the singer looks like he's having a seizure of some sort.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Zodiac
Last night I used some tickets I won to go see "Zodiac". A few thoughts on the experience:
Arndale cinemas are totally dead on a Monday night. In our particularly screening (admittedly at 6pm) there were three people - Murray, myself, and an elderly asian man.
A lot of cinemas these days don't bother to put someone on the door collecting tickets - presumably because they don't sell enough tickets to cover the salary of both the person who sells you the ticket and the person who collects them. Pretty soon we're just going to be on the honour system with ticketing, as well as a self serve philopsophy for the candy bar.
Jake Gyllenhaal is great. I haven't seen a bad movie with him in it yet, although admittedly I've never watched that "Day after Tomorrow" film or the gay cowboy one. I think I'd strongly consider seeing both though just to watch his performance. He joins Ed Norton and Robert DeNiro on that list for me.
Robert Downey Jr plays an alcholic, who also has a drug problem. I guess that's what you call method acting. Actually it was kind of weird watching him/his character snort coke on screen. Murray joked that it was real and was part of his deal for appearing in the movie.
The movie itself was pretty good, although because it's based on a true story, it didn't have the resolution I was hoping for. I'd be interested to read the book that it is based on.
The film has a seventies look which was really cool - the film stock was kind of faded so it looks like it was made thirty years ago. The movie was pretty long - at least two and a half hours. Not in the league of David Fincher's great movies - Se7en and Fight Club - but probably better than Panic Room. Or any Jodie Foster movie really.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
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