Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
The good, the bad and the ugly
The good
American Gangster - Saw this yesterday at Arndale (the perfect setting for a movie about gangsters). Really enjoyed it, although it took a while to get into, and I don't really think it's necessary for any film to be over two hours long. I don't really like Russel Crowe, but Denzel is great and as always, he's so charming you forgive him the occasional outbursts of violence. However, (spoiler alert), I thought it was a bit ridiculous that in the end his character only served 15 years in prison - even though he did help put away 75% of New York City's DEA for corruption, he did some bad stuff in the film, like shoot guys in the face over monetary disputes. Seems like that would justify a lengthy sentence. Also liked the fact that Stringer from "The Wire" and Saul from "Deadwood" had major roles.
The bad
Getting robbed - For the second time in 2 1/2 years, I got robbed. This time they took all the regular items (home theatre amplifier, playstation) but also upped their game and took my laptop and camera, with all my photos from the last year. Thanks guys! Now I'm looking at how I can sell up and move to a suburb without so many poor people.
The ugly
Trying to entertain myself last Thursday night in a house with no internet and no dvd player. That pretty much cut out all of my traditional entertainment options. After getting robbed I was too annoyed to read, so I just went to bed.
American Gangster - Saw this yesterday at Arndale (the perfect setting for a movie about gangsters). Really enjoyed it, although it took a while to get into, and I don't really think it's necessary for any film to be over two hours long. I don't really like Russel Crowe, but Denzel is great and as always, he's so charming you forgive him the occasional outbursts of violence. However, (spoiler alert), I thought it was a bit ridiculous that in the end his character only served 15 years in prison - even though he did help put away 75% of New York City's DEA for corruption, he did some bad stuff in the film, like shoot guys in the face over monetary disputes. Seems like that would justify a lengthy sentence. Also liked the fact that Stringer from "The Wire" and Saul from "Deadwood" had major roles.
The bad
Getting robbed - For the second time in 2 1/2 years, I got robbed. This time they took all the regular items (home theatre amplifier, playstation) but also upped their game and took my laptop and camera, with all my photos from the last year. Thanks guys! Now I'm looking at how I can sell up and move to a suburb without so many poor people.
The ugly
Trying to entertain myself last Thursday night in a house with no internet and no dvd player. That pretty much cut out all of my traditional entertainment options. After getting robbed I was too annoyed to read, so I just went to bed.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Weekend in Melbourne
Being the spontaneous, seize the day kind of guy that I am, I decided last Monday to take advantage of $10 one way Tiger airfares to Melbourne and go across for the weekend. That's one of the great things about not having kids, or even a vibrant social life - you're pretty much free to come and go as you please. Of course it wasn't really hard to sell Michella on a weekend of eating and shopping in Melbourne, so I had a travel partner lined up in no time.
We got dropped off at the airport just before 7pm on Friday night, by Michella's mum. Which was great, as it meant we got to save valuable money, which Michella could spend on shoes over the next few days. It did feel a little weird though, like we were siblings getting dropped off at summer camp, or something like that.
We found the Tiger check-in desk (it was their second day flying out of Adelaide, so they hadn't got onto anything like signage just yet), and the nice lady behind the counter must have thought we looked like the responsible type, because she gave us exit row seats. The flight attendant on the plane explained our responsibilities, which led to a discussion about whether Michella could lift the 15kg door in case of an emergency. Eventually she admitted that she couldn't, and I suggested she should tell someone and asked to be moved, but she ignored me.
We sat next to a lovely young man who was heading to Cambodia to volunteer at a hospital as part of his medical degree. If I was to pick one thing that was slightly annoying, it would be that he would often listen in on our conversations, then join in if he had something to add. But I'm not the complaining type, so live and let live eh?
We got into Melbourne at about 10pm, and took the Skybus into the centre of Melbourne (kind of a misleading name, as it unfortunately travelled on the road, much like a regular bus). We then grabbed a taxi, and I told the driver (or indeterminable African descent) "The Sebel at Albert Park thanks". He didn't exactly look confident that he knew where that was, but then he didn't say anything about not knowing either. On the way out of the city it became obvious he wasn't sure when he asked me what route he should take. I felt like responding "You picked me up from the airport and are taking me to a hotel - why would you think I'm a local who knows their way around". Anyway after some trial and error we found the place.
Saturday morning we woke up about 9ish. Well Michella did anyway, pictorial evidence would suggest I was a little slow getting out of bed.
We asked downstairs for directions to the Prahan markets, and the concierge replied "Well, it's a little beyond walking distance." We took that as a challenge and set off on foot. On our way there we stopped at a nice little French cafe for breakfast. Michella had fruit and yogurt. I considered my plan of eating healthy over the weekend, decided to change the play on the fly, and went with a bacon and egg sandwich. One of the waitresses at the cafe was French, and had a great accent. I think you can get away with a lot with an accent - I know girls are big fans of the Scottish accent on guys, and the French one on girls is pretty cool. Not so much with guys though.
After breakfast we walked to the Prahan markets. The neighbourhoods we walked through were really nice, although very gay. I'm not sure if it's something in the water, but there seems to be a lot more men who love other men in Melbourne. The markets themselves were pretty nice, quite small compared with the Adelaide Central Market, but smelled a lot better.
I was surprised to find a shop that sells your stuff on ebay - someone must have watched "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and thought "that actually sounds like a decent idea".
Exiting the markets we came out onto Chapel Street. Over the next few hours we entered about 1,453 shoe stores, 1,325 handbag stores, and a few that combined the two.
Also, I had an awesome burger from TGI Friday's, and Michella had Yum Cha from some Asian Tea House (which I shared in - the weekend of healthy eating continues!). Michella bought some shoes, I bought a black polo shirt from Country Road, and we began the long walk back to our hotel.
After showers and a bit of a rest, we took a cab down to Toorak Road for dinner (no more walking for us). We settled on a nice Italian restaurant called "ecco", and had a rather pleasant dinner. Michella had pasta with oxtail, I had what was basically a meatlovers pizza (although as it was a classy joint, the pieces of meat were few and far between). After dinner we walked to the Jam Factory complex on Chapel Street to see "American Gangster" but it was all sold out, so we had coffee in Borders and read magazines we had no intention of buying. We got back to the hotel about 9.30pm, had a drink in the bar and then went to the pool/gym area. There was already another couple in the spa and Michella didn't feel like sharing water with them so she just waited as I lifted weights for a while, then it was bedtime.
Sunday morning we got up a bit later, and went back to our favourite French cafe for breakfast. On the way we passed an incredibly creepy looking gay man (ie he was wearing a very loose fitting pair of underwear, and a leather jacket, and that was pretty much it). Unfortunately he stopped off at our cafe, rambled a bit, ordered a coke, got up and walked around, then finally left. Luckily he never got within a few metres of us, I'm pretty sure we could have caught something just being in his presence.
We walked back to the hotel, and enjoyed their complementary business centre, where I checked my fantasy team's progress, and was pleased to discover they had banded together in my absence and were kicking butt. At about 12.15 Michella's friend Nat and her partner Geoff picked us up and took us to the Docklands for lunch. Since it was only about an hour since we'd finished breakfast I wasn't exactly hungry, but ordered a main serve of calamari anyway. It was good.
After lunch Nat and Geoff took us to a place called "Misty's Diner" - an American-style diner attached to a car wash - for thickshakes.
We got dropped off at the airport just before 7pm on Friday night, by Michella's mum. Which was great, as it meant we got to save valuable money, which Michella could spend on shoes over the next few days. It did feel a little weird though, like we were siblings getting dropped off at summer camp, or something like that.
We found the Tiger check-in desk (it was their second day flying out of Adelaide, so they hadn't got onto anything like signage just yet), and the nice lady behind the counter must have thought we looked like the responsible type, because she gave us exit row seats. The flight attendant on the plane explained our responsibilities, which led to a discussion about whether Michella could lift the 15kg door in case of an emergency. Eventually she admitted that she couldn't, and I suggested she should tell someone and asked to be moved, but she ignored me.
We sat next to a lovely young man who was heading to Cambodia to volunteer at a hospital as part of his medical degree. If I was to pick one thing that was slightly annoying, it would be that he would often listen in on our conversations, then join in if he had something to add. But I'm not the complaining type, so live and let live eh?
We got into Melbourne at about 10pm, and took the Skybus into the centre of Melbourne (kind of a misleading name, as it unfortunately travelled on the road, much like a regular bus). We then grabbed a taxi, and I told the driver (or indeterminable African descent) "The Sebel at Albert Park thanks". He didn't exactly look confident that he knew where that was, but then he didn't say anything about not knowing either. On the way out of the city it became obvious he wasn't sure when he asked me what route he should take. I felt like responding "You picked me up from the airport and are taking me to a hotel - why would you think I'm a local who knows their way around". Anyway after some trial and error we found the place.
Saturday morning we woke up about 9ish. Well Michella did anyway, pictorial evidence would suggest I was a little slow getting out of bed.
We asked downstairs for directions to the Prahan markets, and the concierge replied "Well, it's a little beyond walking distance." We took that as a challenge and set off on foot. On our way there we stopped at a nice little French cafe for breakfast. Michella had fruit and yogurt. I considered my plan of eating healthy over the weekend, decided to change the play on the fly, and went with a bacon and egg sandwich. One of the waitresses at the cafe was French, and had a great accent. I think you can get away with a lot with an accent - I know girls are big fans of the Scottish accent on guys, and the French one on girls is pretty cool. Not so much with guys though.
After breakfast we walked to the Prahan markets. The neighbourhoods we walked through were really nice, although very gay. I'm not sure if it's something in the water, but there seems to be a lot more men who love other men in Melbourne. The markets themselves were pretty nice, quite small compared with the Adelaide Central Market, but smelled a lot better.
I was surprised to find a shop that sells your stuff on ebay - someone must have watched "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and thought "that actually sounds like a decent idea".
Exiting the markets we came out onto Chapel Street. Over the next few hours we entered about 1,453 shoe stores, 1,325 handbag stores, and a few that combined the two.
Also, I had an awesome burger from TGI Friday's, and Michella had Yum Cha from some Asian Tea House (which I shared in - the weekend of healthy eating continues!). Michella bought some shoes, I bought a black polo shirt from Country Road, and we began the long walk back to our hotel.
After showers and a bit of a rest, we took a cab down to Toorak Road for dinner (no more walking for us). We settled on a nice Italian restaurant called "ecco", and had a rather pleasant dinner. Michella had pasta with oxtail, I had what was basically a meatlovers pizza (although as it was a classy joint, the pieces of meat were few and far between). After dinner we walked to the Jam Factory complex on Chapel Street to see "American Gangster" but it was all sold out, so we had coffee in Borders and read magazines we had no intention of buying. We got back to the hotel about 9.30pm, had a drink in the bar and then went to the pool/gym area. There was already another couple in the spa and Michella didn't feel like sharing water with them so she just waited as I lifted weights for a while, then it was bedtime.
Sunday morning we got up a bit later, and went back to our favourite French cafe for breakfast. On the way we passed an incredibly creepy looking gay man (ie he was wearing a very loose fitting pair of underwear, and a leather jacket, and that was pretty much it). Unfortunately he stopped off at our cafe, rambled a bit, ordered a coke, got up and walked around, then finally left. Luckily he never got within a few metres of us, I'm pretty sure we could have caught something just being in his presence.
We walked back to the hotel, and enjoyed their complementary business centre, where I checked my fantasy team's progress, and was pleased to discover they had banded together in my absence and were kicking butt. At about 12.15 Michella's friend Nat and her partner Geoff picked us up and took us to the Docklands for lunch. Since it was only about an hour since we'd finished breakfast I wasn't exactly hungry, but ordered a main serve of calamari anyway. It was good.
After lunch Nat and Geoff took us to a place called "Misty's Diner" - an American-style diner attached to a car wash - for thickshakes.
After arriving and perusing the menu of American style junk food I kind of wished we ate our lunch here. A couple of Asian waitresses came over to take our order, but only one seemed to speak English. Seemed a bit weird, if you're going to hire waitresses in an American style restaurant that can't speak English, shouldn't they at least speak Spanish? After a bit Misty herself came over to talk to us and take us through the menu.
I chose the Reeses Pieces thickshake, which she said came to her one night late in bed (the idea that is). It was indeed a wonderful shake.
Back at the hotel we had a rest then went for a swim in the hotel pool, and sat for a while in the lukewarm spa. We couldn't really be bothered going anywhere for dinner so went downstairs to the hotel bar. I had a pizza which had a "secret bolognese sauce" on it, and was topped with a rocket salad. It was surprisingly tasty.
Monday morning we got a 5.15am wakeup call, which is, in my experience, too early to get a wakeup call. Grabbed a cab outside the hotel, and got dropped off at Spencer Street station. The fare came to $12.40, looking in my wallet I saw I could make that exact amount so paid him without tip. Needless to say, the driver didn't get out to help us with our bags after that. We jumped on the extremely efficient (if a little mis-labeled) Skybus and found ourselves at the airport just after 6.30am.
We checked in, then walked over to the main domestic terminal to get some breakfast. Unfortunately Hungry Jacks at Melbourne Airport don't serve a breakfast menu, so I was faced with a dilemma - go elsewhere or order a Whopper with cheese for breakfast. I don't think I need to tell you which way I went. Although I did wash it down with an orange juice, which was rather breakfast-y I thought.
The flight back was rather uneventful, other than the fact that we didn't have exit row seats this time, and I possibly would have had more space on one of those Africa - America slave ships. Also, there was a minor issue with a tap in the toilets that I couldn't turn off. Got into Adelaide around 9.30am, and got a lift into work with Dad. All in all a good trip, and for $20 return I certainly can't complain.
Monday, January 07, 2008
At the movies with Darren
Last Monday I believe (New Year's Eve) it was, as I recall, ridiculously hot, so the girl and I decided to stay cool and grab a DVD during the day. We settled on "Lucky You", which I thought would have something for both of us - it's a romantic comedy (for Michella) starring Drew Barrymore (for me), and also about poker (me again). Also, Michella picked out some really dodgy movie starring Michael Keaton and Brendan Fraser which I knew she wouldn't actually watch. The funniest part was watching her reaction to finding it, plus her reaction to my comments like "Michael Keaton AND Brendan Fraser, that's amazing - how the hell were they both available?!?!"
Anyway, we sat down to watch "Lucky You", and it was a pretty big disappointment. Eric Bana plays a professional poker player who falls for Drew Barrymore, treats her like crap, steals her money to gamble, realises he's made a big mistake, tries to get her back, fails, somehow gets to the final table in the World Series of Poker, realises that winning isn't everything and lets his Dad (a fellow poker player) beat him, and then of course wins Drew back since she's inexplicably travelled back to Vegas to see his big game. So it's not really that surprising or original.
Last Friday night we decided would be a "date" night. Not sure really how this differs from a regular Friday night, other than the fact that I had to spring for a nicer restaurant than normal. Anyway we had dinner at Cafe Eros, which was pretty disappointing. You would think that in a Greek cafe, you could get a yiros or something similar, but there was no such option. I went with the "mixed grill" which was like a regular mixed grill I suppose, but being Greek, much more oily. Michella had some sort of pastry thing and salad. We shared some pita and dips which were pretty good, although that's pretty hard to stuff up. The worst part was we were on a tight schedule - we had a 5.30pm dinner reservation, and 6.40pm movie, and didn't get our mains till 6.30pm. I stress out a lot over stuff like that so was pretty wound up by the time we finally got our food.
The movie we decided to see was "No country for old men". I thought it was brilliant. It's directed by the Coen Brothers (Fargo, The Big Lebowski), and is about a Llewellen Moss (played by Josh Brolin) who comes across $2 million in cash in the middle of the desert, in the midst of what appears to be a drug deal gone bad. Later that night his conscience gets the better of him, and he returns to the scene to take some water to a dying man who was injured in an apparent gunfight, but when he arrives he finds the man is dead, and that the owners of the money have also returned, and give chase. The rest of the film sees a psychopathic killer Anton Chigur on Moss' trail, while the local Sherrif (played by Tommy Lee Jones) tries to keep up with the two of them, and keep Moss safe.
The guy who plays Chigur does a great job - he's one of the creepiest movie characters I've ever seen. Woody Harrelson is also great as a rival hired killer who shows up in the middle part of the film. The best part of this is the direction though - the cinematography and music are tremendous, and create an incredibly tense mood throughout. Because of this, Michella wasn't a huge fan. In fact, I think she may have described it as the worst "date" of her life. Nevertheless, I had fun.
Finally, last night we watched "The Bourne Ultimatum" on DVD. People seem to love these movies but I'm a bit ambivalent. I can see the appeal - exotic locations, spectactular car chases, violence . . . but I just kind of lose interest. Maybe it's because I'm not a huge Matt Damon fan. Who knows. Anyway this was OK, but at the end of the day, I think I'd rather watch a James Bond movie. So if you like Matt Damon and think it's conceivable he could be a lethal killing machine, go see this. Otherwise, don't. It's up to you.
Anyway, we sat down to watch "Lucky You", and it was a pretty big disappointment. Eric Bana plays a professional poker player who falls for Drew Barrymore, treats her like crap, steals her money to gamble, realises he's made a big mistake, tries to get her back, fails, somehow gets to the final table in the World Series of Poker, realises that winning isn't everything and lets his Dad (a fellow poker player) beat him, and then of course wins Drew back since she's inexplicably travelled back to Vegas to see his big game. So it's not really that surprising or original.
Last Friday night we decided would be a "date" night. Not sure really how this differs from a regular Friday night, other than the fact that I had to spring for a nicer restaurant than normal. Anyway we had dinner at Cafe Eros, which was pretty disappointing. You would think that in a Greek cafe, you could get a yiros or something similar, but there was no such option. I went with the "mixed grill" which was like a regular mixed grill I suppose, but being Greek, much more oily. Michella had some sort of pastry thing and salad. We shared some pita and dips which were pretty good, although that's pretty hard to stuff up. The worst part was we were on a tight schedule - we had a 5.30pm dinner reservation, and 6.40pm movie, and didn't get our mains till 6.30pm. I stress out a lot over stuff like that so was pretty wound up by the time we finally got our food.
The movie we decided to see was "No country for old men". I thought it was brilliant. It's directed by the Coen Brothers (Fargo, The Big Lebowski), and is about a Llewellen Moss (played by Josh Brolin) who comes across $2 million in cash in the middle of the desert, in the midst of what appears to be a drug deal gone bad. Later that night his conscience gets the better of him, and he returns to the scene to take some water to a dying man who was injured in an apparent gunfight, but when he arrives he finds the man is dead, and that the owners of the money have also returned, and give chase. The rest of the film sees a psychopathic killer Anton Chigur on Moss' trail, while the local Sherrif (played by Tommy Lee Jones) tries to keep up with the two of them, and keep Moss safe.
The guy who plays Chigur does a great job - he's one of the creepiest movie characters I've ever seen. Woody Harrelson is also great as a rival hired killer who shows up in the middle part of the film. The best part of this is the direction though - the cinematography and music are tremendous, and create an incredibly tense mood throughout. Because of this, Michella wasn't a huge fan. In fact, I think she may have described it as the worst "date" of her life. Nevertheless, I had fun.
Finally, last night we watched "The Bourne Ultimatum" on DVD. People seem to love these movies but I'm a bit ambivalent. I can see the appeal - exotic locations, spectactular car chases, violence . . . but I just kind of lose interest. Maybe it's because I'm not a huge Matt Damon fan. Who knows. Anyway this was OK, but at the end of the day, I think I'd rather watch a James Bond movie. So if you like Matt Damon and think it's conceivable he could be a lethal killing machine, go see this. Otherwise, don't. It's up to you.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
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