{K}

Time to get started...

2007-04-22T23:43:00.000+10:00

I've been kind of lacking with the blogging of late. Totally unmotivated to write about the mundane day-to-day happenings in this thing I call My Life. Even the bloggy redesign a few months ago hasn't increased my enthusiasm for the putting of words on paper or LCD screen (or VGA) as the case may be.

I've decided it's time for a whole new change of address and scenery. So from BLOGGER to LIVEJOURNAL I go.

As with any decision, there were PROs and CONs to the move:

PROS:

1. Change is as good as a holiday.

2. 'LiveJournal Cuts' - which means I can ramble on and on about nothing and then hide most of it away behind a 'cut'. Then, gentle reader, you get to decide if you want to actually read what I've written or just get the abbreviated version.

3. Damn cute little 'Mood Icons' (Sadly, I think this was the main selling point for me! *L* my Supernatural DVDs and photo editing software have come in to their own creating cool little images to match the mood list. Too cute.)

CONS:

1. Speed - LiveJournal can a be a bit chunky at times.

2. Cost - I've opted for a PLUS account which means no cost but I've got ads. It was a trade off.

3. Friends Lists - You get to see how many friends you DON'T have! lol!

I'm sure there's more to add to both lists but they were the main ones. Weighing it all up - I've decided to make the switch... for now at least.

Lets see how long it lasts.

See you on the dark side... http://katysam.livejournal.com/

Remember These...

2007-03-21T23:07:00.000+11:00

OK, so this is only a virtual cassette tape created here.

However, if Supernatural was around 10 years ago - long before MP3 players and iTunes, and all the cool kids had those things called Walkmans - I suspect I would have had at least one real, honest-to-God cassette tape which would have been labelled something like the above.

It never would have been a Scotch tape though. From experience, that brand sucked out loud. For me it was BASF or TDK all the way, dude. I had so many MIXED tapes I'd created myself... All of them choc-a-bloc with 1927, Southern Sons, John Farnham, Daryl Braithwaite, New Kids on the Block and Richard Marx. And I can always tell if I really, really liked a song because instead of having it on the tape just the one time, I had it on there, like, 5 times. Brings back memories of sitting in my room, listening to American Top 40 - with Kasey Kasem - on my cassette radio, finger hovering over the 'record' button, hoping to capture my fav songs of the time. Damn DJs, always talked over the beginning of the songs too. Man, that annoyed me.

I guess my taste in music has changed somewhat - Thank the gods! Which kind of brings be back, in a round-a-bout kind of way to my current obsession - All things SUPERNATURAL. Seriously, how cool is some of the music from that show. The soundtrack to my life is currently held in the PLAYLIST: "Supernatural Season 1 & 2" on my MP3 player and the 'Play Count' for Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas - currently at 948 times and climbing - is a fair indication of how much I really do listen to them:

Carry On My Wayward Son (Album Version) Kansas
Fight the Good Fight Triumph
Burnin' for You Blue Öyster Cult
Sugar, We're Going Down Fall Out Boy
(Don't Fear) The Reaper Blue Öyster Cult
Paranoid Black Sabbath
Highway to Hell ACDC
Bad Moon Rising Creedence Clearwater Revival
Back in Black ACDC
Rock Of Ages Def Leppard
Ramblin' Man The Allman Brothers Band
Road to Nowhere Ozzy Osbourne
Fire of Unknown Origin Blue Öyster Cult
Laugh, I Nearly Died The Rolling Stones
Movin' On Bad Company
Hot Blooded Foreigner
All Right Now Free
Bad Company Bad Company
Stranglehold Ted Nugent
Wheel In the Sky Journey
Do That To Me One More Time Captain & Tennille
Shambala (Single Version) Three Dog Night
Can't Find My Way Home Blind Faith
She Brings Me Love Bad Company
Renegade Styx
Knockin' On Heaven's Door Bob Dylan
Down On Love Jamie Dunlap
Back On the Road Again REO Speedwagon
Surrender Cheap Trick
Can't Fight This Feeling REO Speedwagon
Killing Moon Various Artists
Fly By Night Rush
White Rabbit Jefferson Airplane
God's Gonna Cut You Down Johnny Cash

Note: Still love me some Richard Marx

Look what I've started...

2007-02-02T00:42:00.000+11:00

It might be that I still have a half complete album from my holiday in 2002 but I decided that I should make a start on my most recent holiday while the details are still fresh in my mind (Damn, my terrible memory!)

So, without further ado, here are pages 1 & 2 - The very first day of my trip.

Oh yeah, I'm sure there are errors in the above pages, and the ones to follow. Grammatical errors. spelling errors. You name it, it'll be there. And you know what, who cares? Nobody is perfect, right? As long as it tells the story. As long as it saves a memory. It's all good.

Like a comet blazing your trail...

2007-01-22T22:35:00.000+11:00

Jen called earlier asking if we had seen 'the' comet. After wandering around the backyard to find the best view we ended up out on the street. The view from the letter box turned out to be the perfect vantage point... and served as a pretty good 'tri-pod' too.

COMET MCNAUGHT

Must read my camera book to figure out how to take better photos. I couldn't remember how to set anything once I was on the M setting.

And in honour of Australia Day on Friday, I also took one of the Southern Cross - just because I could. A few more stars showed up on 'film'...

They say things happen in threes...

2007-01-16T16:36:00.001+11:00

The third thing that happened in the past 24 hours, which I am kind of pleased about, was the return of those extremely cool Winchester brothers in Supernatural .

Season 2 premiered last night with a sad, sad episode (In My Time Of Dying) and I admit it, I kinda sorta did ink. Man, just seeing Dean's car all beat up was enough to bring tears to my eyes. I sure hope they fix it.

It seems that the big question this season will be "What's the deal with Sammy?" I know it came to the forefront in the last couple of episodes of season 1 but now they know where their Dad is - or so it would seem – I’d say this season will be all about Sammy.

And just what is the deal with Sammy? I must draw a little deer with no eyes on that one.
Does Dean know what the deal with Sammy is? I think he maybe knows part of it. Perhaps that's what John whispered to Dean before... well, before what happened in the end happened :*( Hopefully, he also told Dean that there was another way to get THE Demon that doesn't involve a little itty bitty bullet.

Quote of the Ep must go to Dean...
Dean: "Dude, I full on Swayzed that mother!"
(…as his 'spirit' form managed to push a class of water off the table a-la Patrick Swayze in Ghost.)

Next Week: Bring on the Clowns!

All My Christmas' Arriving at Once?

2007-01-16T10:16:00.000+11:00

Well, not quite ALL my Christmas' but I'm a little excited over the news that Little Stevie Turner will be staying with Melbourne Storm for the next 3 years.

The tug of war between the Storm and the Titans is finally over.

The Titan's have 'traded' Turner to Storm in return for $50, 000 and two juniors. Hmm, interesting they can 'trade' with something that isn't theirs in the first place. Show me the contract, Searle. I bet it's not worth the paper it's written on.

Anyone else find it a totally expected coincidence that the Titans finally agree to this on the same day that Matt Rogers signs on to play with them a year earlier?

Yep, me too.

It Finally Arrived...

2007-01-16T09:52:00.000+11:00

My parcel of books! It's like Christmas all over again!

Whilst travelling in the USA my bags were getting increasingly heavy. When in Boston I realised that I had a heap of travel books that I no longer needed - I'd already visited the places they referred to. There were also some other books & magazines that I didn't need to lug around the States. I decided to post them home.

Easy as, right? Yep, fairly easy but also fairly expensive. I opted for a el-cheapo postage rate as I wasn't in any hurry for them. Besides el-cheapo estimated delivery time was only 6-10 weeks.

Today they finally arrived.
11.85714 weeks after I posted them on 25-Oct-2006.
83Days.

They were all there.
My DK books on San Francisco, Seattle & New England.
My book on seeing the USA by Train.
My new-but-now-not-so-new Ali Edwards book.
A couple of Simple Scrapbook mags.
A novel I read on the plane on the way over to the USA.
A couple of brochures about Mystic and AMTRAK.
And a lovely little surprise find of my train ticket stub for the leg between ALBANY, NY. and BOSTON, MA. Man, I thought I'd lost that little sucker!

It's Christmas, I tell ya!

So Pretty...

2007-01-05T22:45:00.000+11:00

My newly improved and prettified blog.
Now, if only I could get back into the habit of blogging regularly...
Maybe I can start tomorrow because right now it's 10:45 Friday night.
And 10:45 Friday night = VERONICA MARS time.
BEST.SHOW.EVER.

I'm Home Safe & Sound...

2006-11-20T19:04:00.000+11:00

I arrived home Friday.
My holiday is over.
Today I went back to work.
I think I need another holiday...

:)

The Lost Post...

2006-11-20T19:01:00.000+11:00

date Nov 17, 2006 3:42 AM

subject Nearly Home...

mailed-by gmail.com

Hello from Auckland International Airport where, for some reason, there appears to be a distinct lack of Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi in Auckland the moment! I've had to resort to Coke Zero... Ugh! And why isn't Dr.Pepper even an option??? ;)

It's currently 05:35 and my flight to Melbourne doesn't leave for another 3 hours. Fun times ahead!

In approximately 7 hours I'll be back in Melbourne, waiting to go through customs with 72 litres of Calgon, two bags of Goldfish, two boxes of Milk Duds and a gazillion Garth Brooks CDs and DVDs - Gotta love Wal-Mart!

Long Time, No Blog...

2006-11-12T05:33:00.000+11:00

It seems like ages since I got a chance to update this... and checking the date of the last post (25-Oct-2006) it WAS ages ago!

Since I helped SMASH the pumpkin record some of the places I've been to include;

Cambridge (Harvard University)
New York City
Orlando
DisneyWorld
Kennedy Space Center
Melbourne (Florida)
West Palm Beach
Key Largo (How do you get to the water???)
Miami
Las Vegas
Salt Lake City

I have also;

Turned a year older
Been to the top of both the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center
Seen Beauty & the Beast on Broadway
Taken a twilight cruise around half of Manhattan
Had 6 rides on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney MGM Studios
Met Mickey Mouse
Seen a real Saturn rocket up close (HUGE!)
Expanded from one piece of checked luggage to TWO! (Just what do I have that weighs 60lbs!)
Driven from Orlando to Miami in a little PT Cruiser named Pete.
Seen the fountains at the Bellagio in Vegas three times.
Visited all THREE floors of M&M World in Vegas.
Visited all TWO floors of Coca Cola World in Vegas.
Got a little sunburnt.
Visited New York, Paris and Venice without leaving Nevada!
Driven from Vegas to Salt Lake City in a big Cheverolet Malibu named Marvin.
Visited with relatives I haven't seen for 16 years!
Seen & learnt a lot about Salt Lake City and it's history thanks to Uncle Geoff and Aunt Jill.
Gone to my very FIRST game of American Football
Actually understood my FIRST game of American Football thanks to Geoff and my second cousin, Lawson. ('Our' team, BYU, defeated Wyoming 55-7! It was a 'only' a College game, it was on a Thursday night and the temperature outside was about 5c but there were still 60,000 people there!!!)
Been snowed on!

I think that's about it for now and since there are only 5 days before I leave to come home again, I think this will be my last update.

Tomorrow morning I leave for the Grand Canyon, where I'll be staying for a couple of nights. I then drive back to Vegas, hopefully stopping at Radiator Springs and the Hoover Dam along the way.

Thanks for reading and I'll be seeing everybody pretty soon.

Pumpkin World Record Smashed!!!

2006-10-25T11:00:00.000+10:00

(I'm going to cheat here a little and just cut and paste the details of my time in Boston from an email I sent out...)

I'm still alive and well, if a little cold, on the other side of the World. It's 'Fall' here and it's already colder then the worst days in a Melbourne winter.

I've spent the past five days in Boston and had a fantastic time here. However, after five full days I still have absolutely no sense of direction here. This afternoon I decided to go over to Cambridge to visit Harvard and promptly headed off in the wrong direction!

During my time in the city I have visited a tonne of historical sites in the area, all of which I would have known about if I went to school in the USA but, alas, I had to read about them in my DK travel guide. I think having grown up with the stories (history) as most Americans have, would have enhanced my experience here. Despite knowing very little before coming here it's still been very interesting visiting the different locations and learning the details as I go.

Scott H - I don't think this would be your kind of place to visit. The 'locals' are very very excited over a little battle they won way back in the day against England... Not too many royalists around here, I'm afraid to say ;)

On Saturday I took a break from touring historical sites and participated in what seems to be a favourite past time of the people in the USA - PUMPKIN CARVING! I kid you not. I happened to hear about this 'Pumpkin Festival' to be held on Boston Common and thought it would be worth a look.

Well, it was so much fun. There were pumpkins and people and more pumpkins everywhere. It was a fundraising event for Camp Sunshine (something like Australia's Camp Quality) held by Life is Good and as well as raising money for Camp Sunshine they were also trying to break the World Record for the number of Jack-O-Lanterns (carved pumpkins with candles stuck in them) lit at one time in one location. The record stood at around 28,000. On Saturday night on Boston Common they managed to light 30,128 Pumpkins! I am proud to say that I was a part of that World Record as I carved a pumpkin during the day and I also went back at nightfall to help light them.

Seriously, I never realised people could hold a vegetable in such high regard as the Americans hold the humble Pumpkin :)

Sunday, I went up to Salem to take a look around. They are totally geared towards Halloween in that town right about now. There were people walking around already dressed up - fully grown people too, not just kids. If my time in Salem taught me anything - besides that fact that mass hysteria is hardly ever a good thing (Salem Witch Trial, 1692) - it's that Haunted Houses are no fun by yourself ;)

Yesterday I caught the train to Mystic, Connecticut. Some of you may remember the movie Mystic Pizza from the 1980s - starring Julia Roberts - which was set in the local pizza shop in Mystic called, funny enough, Mystic Pizza. Mystic is a pretty little town. I enjoyed a relaxing day looking around the shops of downtown Mystic as well as walking out to Olde Mystick Village. I had a 'Mystic Pizza' - best pizza! - for dinner and then had 3 hours to wait for my train back to Boston at 22:11pm. It was 19:00 - The train station was closed, the temperature outside was hovering around 5c and my phone battery was almost dead. I was beginning to feel a bit on the isolated side. I gathered my wits and I did what any self-respecting person would do in a situation like that - I hung out in a doughnut shop for over 2 hours. Not just any doughnut shop, but a Tim Horton's doughnut shop. Lisa G. would have to agree with me there! Aaah, Maple Dipped Doughnuts... See, there is a reason for a doughnut shop to stay open for 24 hours!

The Empire Builder & Lakeshore Limited

2006-10-20T13:00:00.000+10:00

Minneapolis - Boston - Day 9 & 10
Wednesday 18 - Thursday 19-Oct-2006

This journey seemed to take a long time.

The first part was to Chicago was the continuation of the Empire Builder journey I had started four days early. At Chicago where I had to change trains and I had enough time to get out and walk around a bit. I went as far as the Sears Tower however, it was pouring with rain so I didn't bother going to the top. But hey, I can say I've been to Chicago!

From Chicago I took the Lakeshore Limited as far as Albany, New York. This was such a pretty trip. The colours of the leaves were incredible. As the name suggests we followed Lake Michigan for quite a while however it was dark for a lot of it.

For most of the day we travelled through country side full of farms. The properties were quite close together and the towns we went through were all quite large. Nothing like going across Montana, that's for sure.

At Albany we changed trains yet again to get a connection to Boston. The original Lakeshore Limited I was on goes into New York. For this part of the trip we followed the Erie Canal for a lot of the way.

We arrived in Boston about 1.5 hours late... and that's where I am now.

So, I'm up to date. This entry is probably a bit rushed because I only have 1:45 minutes of internet time left...

Quick spell check and post...

Till next time...

Minneapolis St Paul

2006-10-20T12:40:00.000+10:00

Minneapolis - Day 7 & 8
Monday 16 - Tuesday 17-Oct-2006

Ah, Minneapolis. Two days of luxury. No hostel. No queuing for a shower. This was going to be good!

For two whole days I was spoilt by the generosity of Rachel, Doug, Kelsey & Eric and them letting my stay with them for a couple of days. And Rachel was like my own private tour guide!

She drove me everywhere.

The Mall of America was our first destination. It was not quite what I was expecting but I wasn't disappointed either. The amusement park inside was crazy!

There was a great scrapbook store there called Archivers. It was huge and had all the latest and greatest things. I spent a bit of time in there. Poor Rachel. Seriously, I could have spent all day there.

On the way home we toured some of the 'well to do' areas of greater Minneapolis. Some of those houses have to be seen to be believed!

In the evening, I was lucky enough to get to see a concert at Kelsey's school. American high schools fascinate me. They are so completely different to those in Australia. In some ways better. In some ways not so good. The concert was very good and the talent those kids have was something I never witnessed at Gully High, let me tell you!

On Tuesday, we hit downtown Minneapolis (freezing @ 7c) and St Paul. The guy who created the Peanuts (Charlie Brown and Snoopy) comes from the area so there are these bronze statues of the characters in a park in St Paul. They were kinda cute.

We also went to visit the State Capital Building. It amazes me that every state has one of those and they all pretty much look the same. We actually went in and attached ourselves to a tour in progress. The ladies at the information counter were very excited that I was from Australia because they didn't have a 'pin' on their October's Visitor's map from Australia yet. One of the other ladies wanted to know if people in Australia were as sad about Steve Irwin's death as the were here in the USA. That was the second time I've been asked that question. He is/was quite the celebrity here.

But the coolest thing we visited was a GIANT Spoon and Cherry sculpture. It was really bizarre but looked great! There wasn't snow on it when we visited but it felt like it was going to snow at any minute!

Later in the evening we headed out to a Pumpkin Patch to pick some pumpkins for Halloween. The particular pumpkin patch we found was looking very sorry for itself but Rachel was able to find at least a few. It seems the whole country is gearing up for Halloween in a couple of weeks time.

It was my last night in Minneapolis, and for dinner we had a home cooked meal finished off with Pumpkin Pie. I'd mentioned that even though we do have pumpkins in Australia we ate them as a vegetable and not a sweet. The pie was good - once I got passed the psychological aspect of eating pumpkin with cream on top!

A big thanks to Rachel, Doug, Kelsey and Eric (and Fluffers) for making my visit to Minneapolis such a pleasant one. I really did appreciate all the trouble they went to. I can't say how guilty I felt when poor Doug had to get out of bed at 5:40am to drop off at the train station.

At 7:50am the train was pulling out of Minneapolis St Paul and I was on my way to Boston. Another 36 hour journey by train, or in this case, three trains...

The Empire Builder... Part 1

2006-10-20T12:31:00.000+10:00

Seattle - Minneaoplis - Day 6 / 7
Sunday 15 & Monday 16-Oct-2006

The Empire Builder - that's the name of the train which runs from Seattle to Chicago. Even though I did the complete journey, I did it in two stages.

The first Stage was Seattle to Minneapolis. And I have to say, that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The train is so much more comfortable then an airplane. Lots more room and I found it quite easy to sleep.

To start the journey the track followed Puget Sound before heading inland to Everett. At one point the train passes through a tunnel which is something like 7 miles long. Unfortunately it was already dark out so we really had no idea when we went through it! lol! Overnight we crossed Idaho into Montana. Montana was gorgeous and had such a diverse landscape. To start with we were crossing (and going through) mountainous regions and then it flattens out into miles and miles of plains. Montana seemed to go on forever and ever. When it got dark on Sunday evening we were still in Montana.

Overnight on the second night we crossed into North Dakota and at 7:30am Monday morning we arrived at Minneapolis.

An attempt to catch up...

2006-10-18T13:12:00.000+10:00

Seattle - Days 5 & 6

Since I last blogged I've spent two good days in Seattle, a long 36 hours on a train, a couple of wonderful days in Minneapolis and another long 36 hours on three more trains.

First with Seattle...

On my first day in Seattle I took a look around the Pike Place Market. It's a nice market and seems to be a very popular place to visit. One of the best places in the Market to visit is the Pike Place Fish Co. Basically it's a fish stall however the guys that work there are all about having fun at at their job. You know, despite having the handle slimy, smelly fish all day they have a ball doing. Huge salmons, or crabs go sailing through the air at regular intervals as the guys out front of the stand through customer's selections to the guys behind the counter for packing. Huge crowds gather just to watch the 'show'.

From the market I climbed down what seemed like a thousand steps to get to the waterfront... And I thought I'd left the hills behind in San Francisco. I have to say I was little dissapointed with Seattle at this point. The streetcar which I expected to see running along the waterfront no longer runs, and hasn't done for a while given the rusty state of the tracks. Also there were a lot of renovations happening along the wharfs and piers. They did have a monorail at one stage too but a fire in 2004 destroyed one of the cars and they still haven't got it back up an running.

My next stop was Pioneer Square where I signed up for the Underground Tour. That was a very cool tour. It gives you a brief history of an extremely interesting side to the establishment of Seattle as the city it is today. It was a lot of fun and the tour guides were incredible. So full of energy and knowledge. It kind of made up for the disappointment of the morning.

My second day in Seattle I walked down to the Seattle Center, the site of the Seattle World's Fair in the 1960s, to take a look at the Space Needle. Unfortunately, the fact that I could hardly make out the top of the Space Needle from the ground meant that going up the Needle would have been pointless as it would have been difficult to make out the ground. I checked at the ticket booth anyway and my suspicions were confirmed - zero visibility. Oh well, not to mind.

The rest of the Seattle Center seemed deserted and, to be honest, uninteresting. I can imagine during the summer on a nice day the place would be all a bustle but today it was empty. Not sure what impact the loss of the monorail had on tourism. I persisted for a little while and found the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. That was something to see. I spent a happy hour and a half checking out the displays that showed the World of Sci-Fi in it's earliest forms to what it is today. Lots of Star Trek and Asimov and cheesy Sci-Fi movies from the 60s.

At 16:45 I was on a train, for what would be a 36 hour train journey across Washington State, Idaho (slept through it), Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota to Minneapolis St Paul.

Peoples, We Have a Definite Highlight!

2006-10-14T02:19:00.000+10:00

...and no, it wasn't sitting on a train between San Francisco and Seattle for 22 hours and 10 minutes.

It was riding across the Golden Gate Bridge on a BIKE! - Thanks Jill for the suggestion :)

Friday 13-Oct-2006
San Francisco Day 4
San Francisco - Seattle Day 5

Wednesday was my last day in San Francisco. I had to check out of the hostel by 11:00am but they were able to mind my bag for me so I had the full day to fill.

I decided to go back to the waterfront as I enjoyed my time down there on Tuesday and also I had it in my head that I may, just possibly, hire a bike and do that ride across THAT bridge.

Sure enough, that's where my feet took me - Pier 41 Blazing Saddles bike hire. When they explained the route to take it sounded a long, long way. And it is - 8 miles to Sausalito on the other side of the bay. From there you can take ferry back over.

Deciding I'd give it a go, I saddled up and off I went. If it was too hard going I could always get off and walk a bit. Especially over the Bridge as it is definitely uphill for a long way.

In actual fact the ride there was fairly easy, especially along the water where it was flat. There were two major hills to climb but I made it up one with not too many dramas and half way up the other one I walked for a bit. Of course, stopping every 5 minutes to take a photo of the bridge as it loomed closer and closer made it somewhat easier also.

Finally I made it to the start of the Bridge, and if I thought I was excited getting to Alcatraz on Tuesday, that was nothing compared getting ready to ride a bike across that Bridge. Once I was on the bridge stopping every 2 minutes for photos made for an easy peasy ride to to the middle.

Bike riders and pedestrians share a footpath along one side of the bridge separated from the streams of traffic by a safety rail. On the other side of the footpath is the safety rail to stop you falling off the bridge. A good thing too. It's a long long way down and as the signs dotted along the bridge next to 'Emergency and Crisis Line Phones' say "The consequences of jumping from this bridge are fatal..."

Once I made it to the middle it was practically all down hill to Sausalito. There's a look out just at the end of the other side of the bridge called 'Vista Point' which had very good views of the whole of SFC and a different view of the Bridge... I stopped to take a photo or two, just in case the 137 of the Bridge I already have aren't enough!

From the look out it's a 10 minute downhill, steep downhill run into Sausalito. It looked like a pretty little town but I didn't really have a chance to look around as I had the bike with me and didn't really want to leave it anywhere.

A 30 minute ferry ride got me back to the SFC side of the bay and the end of the my Across the Bridge in a Day ride. To complete the experience and to brag a little, I just had to buy an "I Biked the Bridge" tee-shirt.

Once coming back down to earth - I really was that thrilled to do that ride - I had dinner, made my way back to the hostel to get my bags before going to the Amtrak Station for my connecting bus to Emmeryville.

I had a bit of waiting around but the time went quickly and before I knew it it was 22:12 and Train 14 The Coast Starlight was pulling out of Emmeryville station bound for Seattle.

There was a lot more room on the train then I thought there would be. I was in the last row of seats in the last carriage which meant there was very little noise throughout the night from people walking around and opening doors, etc. The seats reclined and there were leg and footrests so it's possible to get quite comfortable. I think I dozed for most of the night from Sacramento to just before Klamath Falls, Oregon.

We were running behind schedule up to an hour at one stage. I think the delays were largely due to freight trains using the same lines. We 'overtook' at least 3 or 4 during the day yesterday that I saw, and many more coming the opposite way. One of the trains we passed was being pulled by five diesel engines. There was no way I could have counted how many trucks there were. Lots.

We got to Seattle right on time - 20:30 - and by 21:00 I was at the Green Tortoise Hostel. I was very pleased to see that the hostel is located directly opposite Pike Place Market so that's where I am headed today.

I'm going to go now as there are only five computers here - four iMacs and one PC and people are waiting. Unfortunately I got an iMac which uses Firefox so I've been struggling along not knowing how to open new windows or even copy/paste. Does ctl-C not work? ctl-X? Seriously, in Seattle of all places I thought I would have had a Windows PC! Where is that Bill?

Till next time...

TRAINS, ALCATRAZ, PIERS AND MORE...

2006-10-11T15:01:00.000+10:00

Tuesday 10-Oct-2006 - 22:30
San Francisco Day 3

Another tiring, tiring day has been had.

Starting out at about 9:45 I hobbled down Broadway to find the Amtrak Ticket office. I wanted to get all my train tickets and arrange a bus ticket to take me from San Francisco to Emmeryville to connect with my Seattle train before the tomorrow (the day I actually need the tickets and bus). For the most part everything was fine - even though my voucher had a my name as MR. K. LIGTEN. I did have to pay an extra $10US because they had had a price increase since I bought the ticket. Go figure. Anyway, I now have in my possession five rail/bus tickets to get me from San Francisco-Emmeryville (11-Oct), Emmeryville-Seattle (11-Oct), Seattle-Minneapolis (14-Oct), Minneapolis-Boston (18-Oct) and Boston-New York (25-Oct).

After picking up the tickets I wandered gingerly along the wharfs to Fisherman's Wharf. Can you see a pattern here? Hobbling, gingerly... Yep, those feet of mine are still hurting. Lucky I'm on my own because if anyone was with me I'd be whinging all the way ;) Along the way I passed Pier 33, which is where the Alcatraz cruises depart from. I was a bit taken back to see a demonstration taking place. People with placards were marching around and one guy had a megaphone yelling at everyone - "Don't go to the Rock! Get a refund!" From what I can tell it had to do with the change over of companies running the Alcatraz cruises. It changed towards the end of last month and I'm guessing that the new company didn't keep the 'old' staff.

I continued on to Wharf 39 to take a look around. I couldn't believe it when I got to the end and found that there were about 100 Sea Lions making a ruckus, lying on wooden pontoons. By the time I'd made it down to the end it was time for lunch so I grabbed a Cheese Meltdown Pretzel. Sorry Mum, I couldn't bring myself to try the Sourdough Bread or shrimp or chowder :) It's all about the seafood... Wonder why ;)

I had just about enough time to go into a tourist shop and buy a San Francisco baseball cap. I forgot to bring a hat and for the last two days it's been so sunny that I've actually got sun burnt. $3.99 (plus tax) later I had my cap and I was off to face the picket line at the Alcatraz cruise. But alas, the demonstrators had already moved on.

We set sail for Alcatraz at 14:20 and arrived some 10 minutes later. For the first time on this trip I got really, really, really excited. The tour of the prison island didn't disappoint either. It was really well done. I didn't find it creepy or anything although parts were a bit graphic. Some of the prisoner stories they included were a nice touch as they were things you probably wouldn't read about. Like how the inmates caused havoc when they received Spaghetti for dinner one too many times.

If I was to visit Alcatraz again I would definitely get an earlier cruise. The last boat leaves the island at 16:30 so you don't really get enough time to wander around to look properly.

After Alcatraz, I limped back to Pier 39. I really did enjoy this place and I suspect I may even end up back there tomorrow if I find myself at a loose end. First stop this time though was Dyers Ice Cream for my first Cookie Dough Ice Cream of my trip. I can't believe it's taken me almost three days to find one! I took a photo of it to preserve the memory. Yum!

I checked out all the shops I'd missed earlier and then stopped at Mrs. Fields Cookies to get a Double Fudge Brownie for later tonight. It's an experiment of sorts - to see how they compare to the ones back home. All for science's sake ;)

Ooh, I should mention too that in one of the lolly shop windows, a box of Violet Crumbles had centre stage. It was nice to see something from back home. I later saw a Flake also but that had what looked like Arabic writing on it. Not sure what was doing with that.

The best way back to downtown from the Wharf is by Cable Car. I found it and jumped on board - hanging off the running board again. I LOVE those things! As we got nearer to Market Street there were seats free. I sat - the little voice in my feet told me to - but there was an Australian guy who refused to sit saying: "We have trams in Melbourne but we're not allowed to do this! We'd get arrested!". He had a point.

After a brief bit of shopping at Old Navy I went next door to my favourite store - Walgreens - to get my photos transferred to CDs. I've already taken around 1GB worth photos (approx. 230 photos). I sure hope there is a Walgreens in every city I visit. At this rate I am going to come back with about 20 CDS full of photos. As I said to Emma earlier, I was doing really well with limiting the photos I had taken until Alcatraz. Having said that, I haven't been holding back either. For example, I am sure I didn't need the five photos I took of the squirrels I saw in Golden Gate Park yesterday but we don't have them back home and they were really, really cute :) And no, Dad, I didn't pat them.

I ended up catching a Cable Car back up the hills to the hostel, getting a slice of Pizza for dinner and eating it in the 'Ballroom' whilst other guests played some kind of drinking game involving three large tables, cups of beer and a ping pong ball. I declined to play... Sounded like a young folk's game ;)

That was about an hour ago. I haven't even made it up as far as my room because I was afraid once I got up there I wouldn't want to come back down. But now I must face the stairs of torture for what may be the last, or second last time.

Tomorrow morning I check out of here before leaving for Seattle. I do have a full day before I leave at 21:25 tomorrow night but I am not sure what to do. Jill mentioned hiring a bike and riding across the bridge. I am contemplating that because I haven't actually made it as far as the bridge yet, although that does seem like a long, long way. I'm not sure that I would actually make it across before I collapsed but I may give it a go. I'll see how me and my feet are feeling and decide tomorrow morning.

I don't think I'll get a chance to update this tomorrow because I am 'homeless' for the night. You know, spending it on the train and all. I am almost 110% certain that Amtrak does not have a high-speed internet connection available... especially not to those of us in 'Cattle Class'.

Bye for now.

Blisters on Blisters

2006-10-10T12:50:00.000+10:00

Monday 09-Oct-2006 - 20:30
San Francisco Day 2

Day two of my holiday started with a little bit of a sleep in. Not too much though and I was on my way by 9:30 or so.

First stop was Powell Street to take some photos of the Cable Cars, including their little round-about at the end of the line.

Next on my list of places to see was Alamo Square. It does look a fair way from downtown SFC and there is a bus that runs right past the square however, I decided I could walk it. I'm not sure that my feet and legs are ever going to forgive me for that moment of madness. lol!

Now, I remember reading in a travel guide there were only a couple of areas to avoid in SFC. Guess what? I think I found them both. There were a couple of times where I thought "Oh-oh, I think I have made a mistake here." But I survived and I still have no idea why there were four armed Police Officers on motorbikes in that one little park I walked by... Probably better that I don't know.

Alamo Square itself was larger then I thought it would be but then again in most pictures you only see if from the one angle - looking out over 'Post Card Row'. I think all the photos I took were from that exact same vantage point. It's a pretty little square and I took the opportunity to sit and relax for a while before moving on to Haight-Ashbury.

Haight-Ashbury was a fun place to walk through. A totally different 'vibe' to anyplace else I've been to in SFC. Just as I reached The Haight a guy on a push-bike came riding along the road singing "Bette Davis Eyes" happily at the top of his voice. It seemed appropriate and it did make me smile.

From Haight-Asbury I walked across to Golden Gate Park. I wandered around a bit but got totally lost and by that stage I had a bit of a head ache coming on. I finally found what I was looking for - the Japanese Tea Gardens. They were nice to walk through as they were very shady and it was much cooler being about of the sun.

From the Park I went in the general direction of The Presidio & the road back to the Hostel being undecided if I should try for a view of the Bridge (I knew the Bridge itself was way too far to travel) or not. In the end my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to attempt The Presidio. I made it... eventually and my first view of the Golden Gate Bridge was an foggy one. Yep, all I could make out was the roadway and a section of each pylon but the rest of it was covered in fog. It wasn't totally unexpected I guess but the thing was the rest of the sky was for the most part blue. The fog or 'cloud' only covered the bridge nothing else. Is there a fleet of SFC City workers who roll in the fog for the tourists at a certain time? I wonder...

I spent some time on a little beach watching the kite flyers and windsurfers and 'Kite Surfers'. (Not real sure that's what they are called but essentially they are surfers who are holding on to a big kite, so 'kite surfer' seems to fit.) By this stage it was getting cold being down by the water so I started the long slow climb back to the hostel.

I was trying to decide the quickest and easiest way home when I stumbled upon Lombard St. Sure, I thought, I'll climb it. Sorry feet! Sorry legs! Please forgive me! I climbed up the straight side so once I was at the top I could see all the way down the twisty part. It doesn't make for the best photographs from that angle but there was absolutely NO way I was climbing down that street and back up again. I'll buy the post card instead ;)

Of course, the main attraction for staying at the top was being able to jump on the next Cable Car that came along. I even had to stand on the running board at the front of the car and had a blast taking photos of the oncoming cable cars which seemed to pass way too closely. I was a bit nervous at first because I had my backpack, camera and purse all out still so I had to hang on to them as well as the pole. But I lived to write the blog so it's all good. I actually enjoyed myself so much I stayed on until the end of the line (Market St). This meant I had to walk all the way back up the hill anyway. But it was worth it.

Time for me to go get a drink of the Pepsi / Coke variety and then head to bed, I think. It's early but I've had a long day and a yummy free dinner at the hostel so I am quite ready.

Tomorrow I have my Alcatraz tour in the afternoon. I might actually head over to the bridge earlier to see it -hopefully without the cover of fog.

Till next time...

San Francisco Day 1.5

2006-10-09T14:00:00.000+10:00

Sunday 08-Oct-2006 21:30 (San Francisco Time)

Well, here I am in sunny, sunny San Francisco. I couldn't have asked for nicer weather for my arrival, that's for sure. It's been quite warm and walking in this city makes for a hot way to spend a few hours.

The flights (Melbourne-Auckland & Auckland-San Francisco) were good, as far as long-ass flights go. I have to say I was extremely impressed with the entertainment system on board. Being able to watch a couple of episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Pixar's Cars and ALL three Lord of the Rings movies over the duration of the two flights made the 15+ hours go kind of quickly.

Flying into San Francisco I was over a wing so my view was limited and I was also on the wrong side of the plane to get a glimpse of the Golden Gate or any other landmark I could identify as SFC. Honestly, I could have been flying into any city anywhere. What was interesting though was as we approached the shoreline I could see low clouds butting up to the cliff face along the coast line. I'm sure if you were standing on the top of those cliffs at that point, you wouldn't have been able to see the beach below for cloud. From the plane I certainly couldn't see any sign of it.

Immigration was quick and painless. I'd even declared I had a suitcase full of Tim Tams, Freddo Frogs and Caramello Koalas but it seems that those particular items don't even cause a blip on their radar. It's kind of strange having to be finger printed and photographed to be allowed into a country but there you go. It has to be done. It was over in a jiffy and before I knew it I was on a lunatic driven shuttle bus (they really are the same all over the World) heading for the Green Tortoise Backpackers in Downtown SFC.

Arriving at the hostel about 13:30, I was able to spend most of the afternoon wandering up and down the city. I say, 'up' and 'down' because that's all you seem to be doing - either walking up an incredibly steep hill or walking down an incredibly steep hill. The only flat bits are the middles of the intersections. To give you an indication of how steep some of the streets really are... To get to the Hostel reception from Broadway you need to climb one flight of stairs - no mean feat with a 20.9KG bag, I might add. To get to my room you then have to climb a second flight of stairs. When I got to the room I realised looking out the window it was, in fact, at street level! The side street off Broadway is THAT steep.

I think I've managed to get a feel for the place and shouldn't have too much trouble getting around in the next three days. I now know where Old Navy, The Disney Store, Borders, Safeway and Walgreen's (Priceline on 'steroids') are, so it's all good. I also walked through Chinatown and perhaps, on Tuesday night, I might even get adventurous and go get some Dim Sum for dinner. Not real sure what Dim Sum is but it's everywhere, let me tell you.

Side note: After about 4hours of walking around the city streets, I have only seen ONE McDonalds :)

I've met two of my room mates - one from Sydney and one from Leeds, England. Not sure about the other one. They seem nice enough.

Well, that's about it for now. Time for me to have an early night. I have been up for what seems like an eternity but in reality is only about 28 hours. But hey, it's still been a killer and they don't have Pepsi Max over here to help me along. (Diet Vanilla Pepsi, whilst extremely nice, is only a marginal substitute at best)

At the minute there is a live band playing in the 'Ballroom' at the hostel but believe me when I say it is NO where near as glamorous as it sounds. Oh, have I mentioned that the area the hostel is in is probably akin to King Street in Melbourne? And they call it Broadway. Huh!

Tomorrow I plan on going to Haight-Ashbury, Alamo Square and Golden Gate Park. I might try and make it to Lombard Street also (that's the really steep twisty street) but it's in the opposite direction so perhaps I'll save that for another day.

It wasn't meant to be...

2006-10-05T18:59:00.000+10:00

After a fantastic season, Melbourne Storm were beaten by the Brisbane Broncos in the Grand Final last Sunday night. It was a tough game to watch and whilst we didn't help ourselves, a number of controversial refereeing calls made it extremely hard for us to stay in the game. It is only a game, I know, but it was nothing short of heartbreaking the way that we bowed out.

Despite the way it all ended, each and every player gave their all for the team this year and they have made me so proud to be able to call myself a Storm supporter. They are only a bunch of young kids yet they have achieved much much more then any of us could ever have hoped for.

The Storm's Annual Presentation Dinner was held on Tuesday night and, as usual, it was an effective way to mark the end of the "Rugby League Year". It was a great night and wonderful that all of us could share in it together.

Perhaps next year will be our year but in the meantime I am experiencing that strange sense of relief I always get right about now... No more League for five months!!! It's been a long, long season and as much I adore the game, the team and my fellow supporters - well, some of them ;) - I actually do look forward to the off-season.

Now for me, the next six weeks are all about my holiday. Three more sleeps and I'll be leaving our sunny shores for the somewhat cooler shores of North America.

Only...

2006-09-29T10:33:00.000+10:00

2 Days 8 hours 27 minutes 57 sec until the NRL Grand Final!

9 Days 1 hours 27 minutes 57 sec until I leave for the USA!

Guess What?

2006-09-24T18:33:00.000+10:00

MELBOURNE STORM

are in the

GRAND FINAL!!!

Last night, Storm took on the St George Illawarra in the 2ND Preliminary Final.
I admit I was worried.
Real worried.
Part of me didn't think we'd win.
And a rather large part of me.
Another much, much smaller part of me, wasn't worried at all.
This smaller part of me knew we were going to win because:
- I thought I didn't want to have to travel to Sydney next week.
- I thought I was getting to old for this.
- I thought I had so much to do before I leave for the USA in 14 days
- I thought I'd be happy to sit at home in Melbourne watching the GF on TV.
Luckily, I thought wrong on all of the above points, because we did win 24-10, and there is no place in the World I would be rather be next Sunday then in Sydney at Telstra Stadium.

NRL GRAND FINAL 2006

Melbourne Storm

Brisbane Broncos

Telstra Stadium, SYDNEY!

Hey, turns out it really is a 'NATIONAL' competition. It is the first time ever that a Grand Final will not feature a New South Wales team.

As Lisa said:
"You better get ready to have 2006 tattooed on your butt. Here we come!"

NRL Finals

2006-09-16T21:01:00.000+10:00

I can't believe we are in Week 2 of the finals already.

NRL 2006 Final 8:

Storm
Bulldogs
Broncos
Knights
Manly
Dragons
Raiders
Parramatta

Week 1 Games - 08/10 September 2006

Knights v Manly - Winner: Knights
Broncos v Dragons - Winner: Dragons
Bulldogs v Raiders - Winner: Bulldogs
Storm v Parramatta - Winner: Storm

Raiders & Parramatta eliminated.

Storm & Bulldogs get a week off and proceed straight to Week 3

Week 2 Games - 15/16 September 2006

Dragons v Manly - Winner: Dragons
Knights v Broncos - Winner: Broncos*

Manly & Knights eliminated.

*As I write this, the Broncos haven't technically won yet. However, with the score currently 0-50 in favour of the Broncos - with only 15 minutes remaining - if they manage to stuff it up from here there is something seriously wrong! I wonder if the Knights actually showed up???

Week 3 Games - 22/23 September 2006

Bulldogs v Broncos - Winner: ~~TBA~~ Broncos
Storm v Dragons - Winner: ~~TBA~~ Storm

Week 4 Game - The GRAND FINAL! - 01 October 2006

~~TBA~~ Storm v ~~TBA~~ Broncos

T minus 22 Days...

2006-09-16T02:24:00.000+10:00

...until I leave for the USA.

Can I just say - planning my BIG trip is getting a bit stressful now :(

Just 48 Hours Ago...

2006-09-08T22:27:00.000+10:00

...I was nearing the end of two of the most enjoyable hours I've had in the last couple of years. Nah, scratch that.... IN MY LIFE! Big statement that. Kinda huge really but one which I believe to be quite possibly true.

Q. So, I spent thouse two hours doing what?
A: Being completely enthralled by this man: RICHARD MARX

It's been a while since I've been to a concert and even longer since I've been to a good one. And this one? One. Of. The. Best. Ever.

Held at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne - in front of a FULL HOUSE baby! - it was just awesome.

I had a seat in the 4th row which was a terrific vantage point to both view the show and also to take photos. The first few shots I took were pretty blurry due to an extreme case of the shakes. If course, the blurry photos could also be attributed to obscured vision through the view finder due to something in my eye - namely tears. lol! Yep, I did ink!

Almost on the stroke of 9pm Richard's band came out on stage- I started shaking.
A moment later Richard takes to the stage - My eyes misted up. I couldn't help it.

It's been 14 years since he last toured. Gods, I hope it isn't 14 years before he comes back.

Highlights? You betcha...

Right Here Waiting - the entire first verse and chorus sang spectacularly by a very enthusiastic crowd! "...aah, you sound good Melbourne."
Ready to Fly - just such a great song.
Endless Summer Nights - Man! This one sounded great. They've given it an overhaul. Upped the tempo a bit. It totally rocked!
Rick Price - Was the support act & also performed a duet with Richard. They said they'd been thinking of what to sing and all they could come up with was 'this' and they proceeded to sing the first line of "Sadie, the cleaning lady!". So funny! Serious note, I'd forgotten how great Rick Price was. Note to self: Find Rick Price CDs.
Hazard - The story behind it was great too. Apparently he thought it was the 'lamest' thing he'd ever written before his wife said "Nuh-uh! It's the coolest thing." So he finished it. Recorded it. Released it. And scored the biggest hit of his career for his troubles. Note: I still think the Sheriff did it. Isn't it always the Sheriff?
Should've Known Better - He took us back to the 80's when, in his words (or close to) "When music was music. Videos were videos. And hair styles were kind of messed up... Not that I'd know anything about that!" As you can see by the photos - the mullet has gone!

The only negatives of the night were:

It went WAY too fast
He didn't do Too Late to Say Goodbye
He didn't do Hold on to the Nights

Hold on to the Nights was the first Richard Marx song I ever heard. Way back in 1988. It's where my obsession with him started - I was at the bus stop across the street listening to a tape recording of American Top 40 with Casey Kasem. Funny what you remember. Generally, I've got a terrible memory. But that moment I can remember clear as day. I would have been 13 years old. It's probably safe now to admit that back then I had a fairly serious crush on the man - posters on the wall, doors, ceiling, locker, diary, folders, maths text books, t-shirts, etc. lol!

Hmm, should I admit that part of that 'crush' still exists some 18 years later?
Nah, better not :)

One month to go...

2006-09-08T22:24:00.000+10:00

This time in exactly one month I will be flying somewhere over the Pacific Ocean... probably thoroughly sick of the in-flight entertainment by now.

We are the Storm from Melbourne Town...

2006-08-18T21:25:00.000+10:00

...We'll blow the others off the ground.
We are the Storm and we're NUMBER 1!"

Truly, we are Number 1. Have be for the past couple of months actually.

However, as of approximately 10 seconds ago (according to NRL.COM), Game One of Round 24 has been played out and the result ensures the Mighty Melbourne Storm will finish Minor Premiers for Season 2006!

WE WILL finish the season on TOP of the LADDER!

Storm SO ROCK!!!

Now, you'll have to excuse me as I do a little happy dance around the room. I may even take to the streets...

Two Months Today!

2006-08-08T22:13:00.000+10:00

In two months time I will be sitting on a plane - somewhere between Auckland and San Francisco - enjoying the wonder that is 'In-flight Entertainment'.

Hard to believe, eh?

200 Storm Games and Counting...

2006-07-21T16:15:00.000+10:00

Tonight the ultimate 'Storm Boy' plays his 200th game for Melbourne Storm.

Congratulations Matty Geyer!

Update much?

2006-07-13T12:22:00.000+10:00

Well, I've been meaning to get around to doing the update thingy but never quite got there

Storm Won - again - a good thing.
Craig Smith at the Social Club - always a good thing.
Sophia's for dinner - yum.
Didn't feel so well on Saturday - not a good thing.
Sam and Nick stayed Saturday night - always a good thing.
Up early Sunday morning @ 4:00am - never a good thing except...
Up early to pick Mum and Dad up from the Airport - a great thing.
First taste of Victoria Krispy Kreme doughnuts, thanks to Jenny and Michael - a good thing.
News that Emma's niece and nephew were born early, yet safely - a great thing.
Vegged out for rest of Sunday watching the NRL - always a good thing.
Work since then - always... a thing.

And the winner is...

2006-07-06T10:32:00.000+10:00

QUEENSLAND!

Queensland 16 defeated New South Wales 14 in front of a crowd of 54,833 at Telstra Dome in Melbourne last night.

With 10 minutes to go the score was 14-4 in favour of the New South Wales and Caz and I were discussing the sad fact that Queensland did not even look close to scoring.

But somehow Queensland managed to pull two quick tries from absolutely nowhere to win the game and the Series.

Congratulations to Storm's Cameron Smith and Dallas Johnson. Good Boys.

T-1205 Minutes until State of Origin III...

2006-07-04T23:55:00.000+10:00

The Decider.
In Melbourne.
Can't wait.

66 sleeps...66 sleeps...66 sleeps...66 sleeps...66 sleeps...66 sleeps...66 sleeps...66 sleeps

T-3 Hours and Holding...

2006-07-04T23:50:00.000+10:00

That is the current status of Space Shuttle Mission STS-121 Discovery.

It's all good - besides that little crack they found in the insulating foam near the external fuel tank (Gees, and I was worried that my car smelt like burning leaves!) - and the 'holding' part is one of the many scheduled holds in the official countdown, which begins at "T-43 Hours and Counting".

Discovery is scheduled to launch at 04:38am Melbourne Time.

Too late to stay up for.
Too early to get up for.

Hope everything goes well for the crew.

06 September. Stalls. Row D. Aisle Seat.

2006-07-04T00:03:00.000+10:00

I got me a ticket - Whoo hoo!
I really am going to see Richard Marx!!!
...in 67 More Sleeps.

Did someone say State of Origin?
Rugby League? hUh?
What is this?

67 sleeps...67 sleeps...67 sleeps...67 sleeps...67 sleeps...67 sleeps...67 sleeps...67 sleeps

This Week, Big Week...

2006-07-03T22:12:00.000+10:00

Monday Night - Supernatural Night! Oh-no. It finished last week. OK. I can cope. Start watching re-runs from episode 1 - pretend it's still going. I'm actually enjoying it more the second (and third) time around. Final two episodes definitely better on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th viewing. Plus, HOW MUCH DOES THE MUSIC FROM THAT SHOW ROCK!!! Seriously. Thank you iTunes. Who would have thunk that I'd ever be listening to Black Sabbath? But if Dean thinks it's cool - It really must be.

Tuesday Night - Go to Gym or spend time thinking up excuses not to go to gym ;) Actually got things to do so perhaps I won't go anyway...

Wednesday Night - State of Origin III @ Telstra Dome. Going to be a HUGE night. I am devastated that Steve Bell won't be playing. You know, I miss him down in Melbourne. Not sure that I've mentioned that before ;) On the bright side, Cam and Dallas will be playing so it's all good - Well, except for the Belly not playing part). Go Queensland!

Friday Night - Storm v. Broncos @ Olympic Park. Hopefully it will be a big crowd. Fingers crossed that more then Storm's usual '9' or '10' loyal fans show up, 'eh Matty King?

Saturday Night - Got to get me to bed EXTRA early.

Sunday Morning - Pick up Mum & Dad from the Airport @ 4:45AM. Hence, the extra-early-bed-going. Can't wait to see them again. It's been 9 weeks and it feels like about 9. Gotta say, I don't think I even mind the thought of getting up at 03:30 am to get them :)

Monday Morning - Pull a sicky? Just kiddin' - I think.

NRL Footy Show Tonight...

2006-06-29T12:49:00.000+10:00

Emma, Glenn, Tanya and I are off to see the NRL Footy Show at the Channel 9 studios in Richmond tonight. A big 'THANKS' to Melbourne Storm. Should be a great night.

Get this though...
They are broadcasting live from Melbourne.
For the first time since 2000.
For the second time ever.
Unfortunately, channel 9 can't even manage to show it in Melbourne - at all.

The NRL Footy Show is usually screened at around 11:30pm each Thursday night. Okay, I can understand that a lot of people like to watch that damn tennis tournament that's on at the moment but why the frack do we need to see "Letterman", "Entertainment Tonight" and, as much as I do love the show, "Who's line is it anyway?" at 04:00am?

Oh well, I guess you can't please everyone.

It really is a shame. Especially considering that it should be a Melbourne / State of Origin focused show. Sure could have been some nice promotion for both.

EDIT: Footy Show was great fun. Funny stuff. Fatty, Sterlo and The Chief all stayed around after the show for a Q&A session, a quick chat and photo ops. Unfortunately, Matty Johns was nowhere to be seen. I didn't get photos or talk to any of them. For me it was either Matty Johns or no-one. No one won. But I've added "Getting my photo taking with Matty Johns" to the list of 101 THINGS TO DO IN MY LIFE so I'll be doing some serious 'stake-out' work at Olympic Park for the next few home games. Anyway, thank you Melbourne Storm for the tickets.

Finally, I Have a Date...

2006-06-29T12:38:00.000+10:00

On Wednesday 6th September 2006 Richard Marx will be playing at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne.

Rick Price is the support act. It's the 1990s all over again. Nice one.

Can't wait. Seriously.

What's a Friday Night Game?

2006-06-26T20:40:00.000+10:00

Last Friday night, Melbourne Storm played their FIRST Friday night HOME game since 2001. Whoo hoo!

Things nearly didn't go to plan - eg. we nearly lost.

With 15 seconds to go Storm had possession and were trailing the Bulldogs 10-12. The ball came to Cooper Cronk in the middle of the field. He kicked it from our 40 metre line, Ryan Hoffman - who for some unknown reason, even to himself it seems, was playing out on the wing - gathered the kick on the Bulldogs 30 metre line, drew in two Bulldog defenders, off-loaded to Jake Webster who raced the final 30 metres to score the MATCH-WINNING TRY with only 2 seconds remaining on the clock!

It was one of the most incredibly dramatic finishes to a game since the 1999 Grand Final! Unbelievable stuff!

I was holding poor little Ryan at the time and I know I was screaming as much as the other 10,000+ spectators. My throat was certainly proof of that for the next hour or so. I suddenly realised at one point that I probably shouldn't be screaming whilst holding dude. I stopped and I looked down at Ryan and he just looked back at me as if to say; "You nuffa!" ;) What a great kid! If the noise and commotion at Olympic Park after Jakey crossed that line didn't phase him, I don't think there is anything on this Earth that will. It was total chaos!!! But Ryan, and the other babies must have known it was ALL GOOD chaos.

Of course, we were all excited and re-lived those dying seconds numerous times before the night was over. Emma and I were still discussing it our way to Krispy Kremes (another story for another time), some four hours later, and our memories from that final minute of the game seemed to pretty much match.

However, once I got home and watched the replay for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd times, I came to the conclusion that I SERIOUSLY do not remember anything of the last 3 minutes of THAT game. Honest. I remember Chris 'Sally' Walker throwing the ball over the sideline and that's it. That's the last thing I remember.

What I thought I remembered of the lead up to the final try was actually the lead up to our try in the 74th minute, which could also be attributed to Hoffy and Jakey, with a bit of help from Sally this time. Weirdness.

The minutes following the siren on Friday night (not that I actually heared the siren) are a different story and I will always remember what happened next.

Watching the boys jump all over the place and all over each other made it LOOK as if we had just won the Grand Final not a Round 16 Premiership clash.

Watching the supporters around me jumping up and down and high-fiving every person within reach and sloshing their beer everywhere and not caring and smiling and laughing and cheering and screaming and yelling and then finally all coming together, as one, to chant MELBOURNE!!! MELBOURNE!!! MELBOURNE!!! over and over again made it FEEL like we had just won the GRAND FINAL!

It was un-freakin'-believable!

Even now, some 72 hours later I still feel the urge to smile and pump my hand in the air with a victorious "YES!!!" everytime I see "the man with the coolest name in sport" Cooper Cronk kicking for Hoffy and Hoffy off-loading to Jakey and Jakey sailing over the goal line for THAT try.

Rugby League is alive and well in Melbourne, let me tell you!

T-minus 549 minutes to KK Day...

2006-06-21T21:21:00.000+10:00

Krispy Kreme in Fountain Gate opens in less then 10 hours!

Why I am the Most Passionate Melbourne Storm Member...

2006-06-21T20:29:00.000+10:00

(In 50 Words or Less)

My 'STORM STATS' tell the story:*
9 Years of Storm Games
8 Years as a Storm Member
4 States
1 Territory
24 Stadiums
8 Pre-Season Games
143 Premiership Games
30 Interstate Games
12 Finals
1 Grand Final
58 Run-Through Banners
7 Presentation Balls
Countless friends made
and
A Premiers Tattoo!

Not sure if my 50 Words indicate 'passion' or 'craziness' but yesterday they earned me two tickets to the Footy Show in Melbourne! Whoo hoo! Emma entered too and she also won two tickets!

The Story begins last Tuesday after spending 30 extremely frustrating minutes on the phone trying to get tickets for the NRL Footy Show in Melbourne on the 29th June. Unfortunately, the tickets went like hotcakes and I missed out. As it turned out, so did everyone else I know. Damn it Bert!

Fortunately, Melbourne Storm ran a member's competition to win one of 10 double passes to the Show. All you had to do was say in 50 words or less WHY YOU ARE THE MOST PASSIONATE STORM MEMBER. Too easy :)

Last time I worked out my 'Storm Stats' it was back in 2001 and they looked a whole bunch different to the ones above. The 9 years it has taken to build up those stats, sure have been a lot of fun.

* These stats are accurate to the best of my knowledge. No embellishment was required. My big regret is that I can't say I've been a member for 9 years... :)

Two Games in the Clear...

2006-06-19T22:30:00.000+10:00

Melbourne Storm defeated the Canberra Raiders 22-12 yesterday afternoon at Olympic Park.

Storm were brilliant in the first 40 minutes. However, after their half-time nap and hot cocoa they all looked like they wished they were still curled up under their bunny rugs in the dressing sheds.

But a win is a win and this particular win has given us a two-game buffer on top of the ladder.

Pos.	Club	Points
1	Storm	24
2	Broncos	20
3	Sharks	20
4	Bulldogs	20
5	Dragons	20
6	Knights	18
7	Manly	18
8	Cowboys	16
9	Tigers	16
10	Raiders	16
11	Panthers	14
12	Roosters	12
13	Warriors	10
14	Eels	10
15	Rabbitohs	4

Tractor Tippin' Good Times...

2006-06-17T22:21:00.000+10:00

Samantha and Nick were kind enough to take their aunt (me!) to the movies today. On my request, we went to see the new Disney-Pixar film, CARS.

It had all the elements of a classic Pixar:

Sweet Story.
Way cool characters.
Pretty, pretty pictures.
A rockin' soundtrack.
Laughs for the kids.
Laughs for the 'big' kids.
Laughs for the 'bigger' kids.

My favourite part? "Tractor Tippin'" for sure!
Not sure why I was the only one in the cinema who laughed when Mater first mentioned this particular form of entertainment. Perhaps I've seen one too many American Teen movie...

Andrew and Lisa took Adelaide to see Cars last week, and Andrew reported here that it's "definitely Pixar's best". I'm sure Andrew would have appreciated a couple of the guest 'appearances' in the movie.

Cars is up there, that's for sure. However, I'd have to rate it just below Finding Nemo and Toy Story. Perhaps once I've seen Cars as many times as I've 'found' Nemo I'll re-evaluate my standing ;)

Who's on First?

2006-06-15T21:50:00.000+10:00

Oops, I can't believe that I've neglected to mention that Storm are currently sittin' pretty at the top of the NRL Ladder for the second time this year.

The win over Parramatta on the weekend moved us into outright first place with 22 points. The Broncos aren't far behind on 20 and the Knights, Sharks, Bulldogs, Sea Eagles and Dragons, are all on 18 points. It's a tight competition, that's for sure.

Rugby League will never take off in Melbourne...

2006-06-15T21:34:00.000+10:00

Yeah, right...

State of Origin III is officially a SELL OUT.

Yep, a game of Rugby League between two out-of-state teams - Queensland & New South Wales - will be played at a predominantly AFL venue, in a predominantly AFL City - Melbourne - in front of a capacity crowd of 53, 355. Hmm. wasn't there seats left for Origin I in Sydney? Shove that up ya' Sydney!

In Origin, a home ground advantage is everything. You'd think by playing in Melbourne that advantage would be taken away from both team. However, I don't think that's necessarily going to be the case in Melbourne... And it's something that Queensland Coach, Mal Meninga, is banking on.

Attention Queenslanders: Welcome to Melbourne! Make yourselves at home :)

Always & Ever a Storm Boy...

2006-06-15T15:04:00.000+10:00

Melbourne Storm announced today that Matty Geyer has signed until the end of 2008! Nice one Matty!

See You In Melbourne For Origin Decider...

2006-06-15T14:08:00.000+10:00

Last night, Queensland whooped New South Wales butt in Origin II.
Final Score:
Maroons 30
Blues 6

Storm Boys Dallas Johnson and Cameron Smith did such a great job for Queensland.

It's official - State of Origin III, to be held in Melbourne on July 5th at Telstra Dome, will be the decider. Whoever wins, takes the series. It promises to be quite the game and the atmosphere should be incredible. Last I heard there were only about 2,000 tickets left.

The only negative for Queensland was that Steve Bell was injured after being head-butted by Manly 'team mate', Steve Menzies. Poor Belly will be out for 4-6 weeks and will miss Origin 3 in Melbourne. Bugger. With team mates like Menzies - you certainly don't need enemies :(

Thank goodness the Queen has a birthday...

2006-06-13T20:00:00.000+10:00

FRIDAY · SURFED WEB · MANLY V TIGERS GAME ON TV · MANLY WON · LATE TO BED · SATURDAY · SLEPT IN · SUPERNATURAL EPISODES 14, 15 & 16 · FOXTEL MAN FIXED FOXTEL · SCRAPBOOK SHOP · FRIED KUAI TEOW · KFC · SCRAPBOOKED · HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL · MYTH OF TITANTIC · ANNA VISITED · RABBITOHS V BRONCOS GAME ON TV · BUNNIES WON · SCRAPBOOKED · LATE TO BED · SUNDAY · UP EARLY · VISITED LISA, SCOTT & RYAN · JENNY, MICHAEL, SAM & NICK VISITED · GLENN & TANYA VISTED · PARRAMATTA V STORM GAME ON RADIO · EVERYBODY LEFT · STORM WON · DINNER · SCRAPBOOKED · SUPERNATURAL EPISODES 17, 18 & 19 · TALKED TO MUM & DAD IN ENGLAND · PARRAMATTA V STORM GAME DELAYED ON TV · LATE TO BED · MONDAY · SLEPT IN · SCRAPBOOKED · KNOX CITY · DINNER · SUPERNATURAL EPISODE 20 · EARLIER TO BED · TUESDAY · WORK · FEELS LIKE MONDAY...

Brrrr, It's Kinda Cold Out...

2006-06-10T17:22:00.000+10:00

According to the Bureau of Meteorology the maximum temperature today for Scoresby (just up the road from where I am) was 8.1c at 14:29 this afternoon. The minimum was 1.1c at 04:13.

Man, that's cold!

As would happen, today is also the day that I'd decided to wash my car. Had the decision not been made out of necessity - I couldn't see diddly-squat out the windows - I definitely would have given it a miss. However, I was brave and went through with it. Luckily frost bite didn't take a hold and all's well that ends well. I got me some sparkling clean windows to boot.

Tomorrow the forecast is 13c with an overnight low of 7c. Given that currently in Scoresby it's reading 7.8c, I'm guessing it's going to be a slight bit colder at the base of the mountains tonight.

I love winter :)

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby...

2006-06-06T22:40:00.000+10:00

Hey Mum. I almost had a little job for you for when you got back home. You see I made a little boo-boo with the computer.

I was dusting - Yes, I was cleaning - and I was wiping the keyboard. Once. Twice. Three times. Oh-Oh. Sometime during the third dust the screen went black. Oh-Oh. A couple of seconds passed and finally the picture returnsed. Only, it didn't look like it usually does. It looked like this:

I had no idea which key combinations I pressed or, more accurately the OATESCLEAN dusting cloth pressed, so I didn't know where to start to try and get it back to how it was. Here's a Tip: Trying to do a 'Help' search from the Start Menu and a Google Search, all at 90 degrees, is somewhat fun... and somewhat useless.

Well, I thought, I'll just have to lay the screen on it's side and figure it out later. It was then that I realised that the screen actually swivels 90 degrees! It's actually designed to do that! Whoo Hoo! So, around it went until it looked a lot like this:

And you know what? I kind of like it. It works for me - especially since I tend to have multiple windows open. They fit neatly, one on top of the other.

We may have actually played around with it when we bought the computer so I think in the back of my mind I knew it did have this function. But having used it for a few days, I have to say I don't want be going back just yet.

Since the 'boo-boo' I have actually figured out how to change it back to 'landscape' mode but I still have no idea how I managed to change it with the keyboard. Freakishly comes to mind...

Saturday Storm & Origin Monday...

2006-06-06T13:38:00.000+10:00

Laura and Emily came to see Storm play on Saturday night. I can't believe that after all these years, it was only the second game they have ever been too. As I said to Laura - "Someone's Aunty has been very, very slack indeed."

We played the Roosters and we won. I was a bit concerned towards to the end as I thought we may be heading towards extra time like last week - or worse - a loss. But the Storm boys did well to hang on and secure the win. Storm 20 Roosters 16.

It was kind of a special game because it marked Matty Geyer's - aka. The Hack, as he is affectionately known in some circles - 200th First Grade Game. I can't say I've always been a Matty Geyer fan. In fact, in those early days of 1999, I tried my absolute hardest to dislike him - hence The Hack. Why in the World would I do that? Well, he did take Craig Smith's spot in the team and I was SO dirty on him for it. However, Matty Geyer being Matty Geyer, it is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE to dislike him. In fact, he's just so damn lovable ;) Especially when he looks at us after an away loss and says "Sorry about that..." :( You just know he means it too. So, basically my dislike of him lasted all of about 5 seconds. Besides, I also have him to thank for my nickname - Tristo. But that's another story for another time.

Yes, Scott, I admit it... First The Queen and now Supersonic Geyer. What can I say? Closet. Me. Out. Personally, I can't wait for Matty Geyer's 200th STORM game. He'll be the first player to make it to that milestone and I can't think of a more fitting player. From my calculations, it will be Round 20 v Cronulla at HOME! Party at Olympic Park that night, let me tell you!

Enough about The Hack and back to Laura and Emily...

I think they enjoyed themselves. Well, I'm pretty sure that Lauz did - After all, she did get her photo taken with Billy Slater! Apparently she is quite the envy of the school as a result ;) Not sure about Emily though. I think she was a bit cold and not really sure about what the two teams of nuffers were doing out on the field. She mentioned that she didn't understand what the scrum was all about. Unfortunately, that's one of the mysteries of Rugby League to me too. I mean, really what's the point? The Halfback places the ball on the ground, it goes under one foot and then he picks it up again. Seriously, why do they bother?

After the game we headed to the social club for an hour or so and Emily and Laura were able to have cuddles with Beckham and Campbell. I hadn't had a cuddle with Ryan yet so I baby-napped him :)

Finally, we decided we should have some tucker and, on Glenn and Tanya's suggestion, we went to Sophia's in Camberwell. Talk about HUGE meals. The highlight for me was their Pizza Garlic - Lashings of crushed garlic with a thin slice of pizza base holding it all together :) That was one serious garlic pizza. We all must have stunk the next day, that's for sure.

Thanks for coming to the game girls. Next time I suggest we invite the Traralgonites and the Maryboroughites and the rest of the Noble Parkites... Or at least the kids from all places, if the adults aren't all that impressed with the idea. (There's an out for you Rugby League Phobics adults ;)

Oh yeah, State of Origin II teams were announced yesterday.

Storm have Greg Inglis, Cameron Smith and Dallas Johnson named for the Maroons (Queensland) and Matt King playing for the Blues (New South Wales). Unfortunately for Greg Inglis - and Queensland - he is almost certain to miss the game due to injury. Steve Bell (Manly) has been named at Centre for the Maroons. Great to see him playing position this time. Bring on June 14th!!! Go Queensland!

Forever Young... QUIETUS

2006-06-05T21:48:00.000+10:00

On Friday night I went to watch Niece Laura's Year 10 Drama Class take part in the Monash University Arts Centres 11th Schools' Theatre Festival.

The Festival is run every year and involves Secondary Colleges from around the State. This year there were 20 schools participating over five nights. Friday night I got to see four of those schools perform.

Each school is given the same 'Starting Point' for their performance. This year the Starting Point was two abstract art works from the Monash University of Art Collection. The idea is that each group draws inspiration from these works in whatever way they can and then create and perform an original piece of theatre based on that. To me, this is incredible in itself because I looked at the abstract art works and said "Yep. They're abstract alright." Yet the four schools on Friday night all managed to build quite remarkable pieces around them. I was in awe, let me tell you.

From what I can gather the students are encouraged to be responsible for all aspects of the performance - writing, technical, directing, etc... The students from Laura's school seemed to have met that challenge head on as in the program it stated that they had Student Writers, Student Directors and Student Crew in addition to the student performers.

The piece that Laura and her class did was called QUIETUS. From the Starting Point they developed the idea that whilst they are alive everyone is different, yet in death everyone is the same. (This is a very simplistic, yet hopefully accurate summary, Lauz. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.) They based the story on a current event that occurred at the time of their initial brainstorming sessions a few months ago and it worked very well to represent the idea and feelings they were trying to portray. The actual performance was extremely engaging and I think most people in the audience couldn't help but be moved by what they saw... even those from the other schools. I know I am a sook, but I admit it, I inked. ("inked" = watering eyes.)

Their piece was ALL good but I'll mention a few highlights:

Sarah singing Amazing Grace - Way to go Sarah!
"You know what I'm saying!" - Thanks for the 'point-out' Laura :)
"Not Cool!" - Funny stuff, Adele. This and the "You know what I'm saying" were - I think - at an ideal moment to provide some necessary humour but not detract from the overall mood of the piece.
'Danni' breaking down towards the end of the eulogy - I couldn't tell if Deb was acting or not. She had me convinced.
Everyone else, of course, was great also.

Gees, just call me a Theatre Critic :) I didn't really mean to write a post like this but I thought it deserved a little something :)

Hope you guys all had fun performing it :) I'm guessing you've all worked very hard on it over the past few months and it's paid off.

Oh, and as for the title of this post... The finale to the performance was the song Forever Young by Youth Group. So, here's another thanks to y'all - This time for getting that song stuck in my head after I'd only just managed to get it out after hearing it every three hours on every single radio station in Melbourne for the past 2 months!!! lol!

Exciting Purchase...

2006-06-05T21:00:00.000+10:00

On Friday I made quite an exciting, yet frustrating, purchase. Can't say too much because even though the person I bought it for is in a far off distant place right now, they still have access, be it occasional, to the internet. Hmm, wonder what it could be and I wonder if I can keep it a secret until their birthday?

It's Officially Winter...

2006-06-01T23:46:00.000+10:00

Here in Australia, as of today, it is officially Winter.
In Melbourne, it seems like Winter has been hanging around for at least a month already.

Over in England, as of today, it is officially Summer.
According to Mum and Dad, who are currently in London, it doesn't sound like Summer is anywhere to be seen.

Thursday's forecast temperature in Melbourne: 15c max
Thursday's forecast temperature in London: 16c max

See, it really must be summer over there - London is definitely warmer.

To be fair though, it looks as if London is in for sunny days ahead with the temperature reaching a sweltering 23c on Saturday ;)

However, Mum and Dad will miss out on the London sunshine as they are off to Moscow tomorrow. Much to my surprise - or ignorance - the forecast temperature for today is 26c in Moscow. That's not too shabby. When I think of Russia, I think of thick fur coats, hats with ears and snow. I'm guessing Mum and Dad won't be seeing much of any of that at all.

BBQ Chicken or Car...

2006-06-01T23:00:00.000+10:00

I had a bit of a scare with little Brett Pugsly - aka. My Car - on Tuesday night.

It happened whilst I was sitting in the Red Rooster drive-thru, waiting for our cheap chicken. It was freezing cold, the car was in neutral, the heater was up as high as it would go and the fan was as high as that could go. Basically - the inside of the car was extremely toasty.

All of a sudden I smelled smoke.

At first, I thought - Funny smelling chicken.
At second, I thought - that's not chicken.
At third, I realised - That's my car!

Sure enough, there was smoke coming out from under the bonnet. Oh-Oh.

I quickly turned off the heater and the fan and, for some reason, took it out of neutral. WT? Seriously, I know so much about cars...

Soon after, the smoke cleared and so did the smell. When I got home - with both me and the car in one piece - I checked under the hood. Yep, there was an engine.

Yesterday, Andrew convinced me - very dramatically ;) - to get it checked out. Gees, I was going to anyway...

So, Brett Pugsly went to visit the mechanics at Brakes Plus today. I explained what had happened and the questions began, including:

Q: "Was it a Eucalyptus smell?"
This question had me baffled for a second. However, all became clear when it was explained that it is quite common for leaves to get caught in the vents and if they get into a particular spot they can burn.
A: "Umm... [teeth chattering]... not sure. I can't... [teeth chattering]... really remember."

Q: "Has it happened since?"
(Fair question)
A: "No.... [teeth chattering]..."

Q: "You haven't turned the heater on again, have you?"
Not real sure how he knew that. Perhaps it was me getting out of the car and standing in their office bundled up in a jacket and a scarf.
A: "Umm, No..."

Turns out it was some stray leaves. The guys cleared them out and now I am free to use the heater - no problems what-so-ever. Shiny.

I love a happy ending to a visit to the mechanics.

O.M.G.

2006-05-30T22:54:00.000+10:00

OK, I'm prepared to cop some flack over this entry but I am so fricken excited, it's not even funny.

Just read the following over at the Official Richard Marx website...

"And later this summer I'm headed back to Australia for the first time in many years to do 6 shows on my own. I can't WAIT FOR THAT!!!! The only thing I hate about Australia is leaving it."
~ Richard Marx. Journal Entry, 29.05.06.

SHINY!!!

Am I really that excited? Seriously?

Let me answer that question with the answer to the following question...

Q. If forced to make a choice between going to a Melbourne Storm HOME game and a Richard Marx concert, which would I choose?
A. The Richard Marx concert.

Me? Excited? Damn right I am!

Storm win in a thriller...

2006-05-29T23:07:00.000+10:00

Or, at least, a thrilling final 20 minutes.

Truthfully, most of the game was fairly flat. It was only when Greg Inglis levelled the scores with 10 minutes or so to go that things started getting interesting.

With a minute and a half to go and scores still 16 a piece, I think we'd all accepted the fact that this was going to go to Golden Point.

'Golden Point' involves 10 minutes (two x 5 minute halves) of extra time during which each team try their damnedest to score anyway they possibly can - Field goal, try or penalty goal.

Game Time: 80 minutes.
Score: 16 - 16.

Oh no: Golden Point time

At this point I think it's fair to say we were all a little more then concerned.

Can any of the Storm players even kick a field goal?

After eight and a half minutes of extra time and FIVE MISSED attempts at field goal (three from Cooper Cronk, one from Stevie Turner and one from Cameron Smith) we figured the answer to that all-important question was a resounding - NOOOO!

However, Storm's little No.7 - Cooper Cronk - landed one on his forth attempt and, with very little time left on the clock Storm scraped home by a point.

Coops admitted after the game that field goals aren't something they practice a great deal and if they do, they are only mucking about.

Umm, Coach Bellamy?

Mate, can I suggest mandatory field goal practice for the ENTIRE team every training session?

Perhaps you make it that they don't get to go home until they kick at least five each from at least 40 metres out?

Sound reasonable?

As a supporter, I certainly think so.

The 17-16 win has placed us in equal first position with the Broncos. Broncos are just ahead of us on points difference.

Slither...

2006-05-29T21:46:00.000+10:00

I finally got to see Slither - Nathan Fillion's new movie - yesterday.

Having dragged myself out of bed ever-so-EARLY for a Sunday (08:30) I packed myself up ready for the Storm game and headed off to catch the 10:00 screening at Knox.

Now, Slither isn't generally the kind of movie I'd go to see. It's a horror. Sure, years ago, at the height of the Freddy Krueger phenomenon I would have been right there but not so much now. However, with Nathan Fillion as the 'star' of the show, there was no way in the World I was going to miss it.

SO, was it worth getting up at such a ridiculous time on a Sunday to see a 'horror' movie by myself?

YOU BETCHA!!! I LOVED IT!

Talk about a crack up. Of course, Nathan 'made' the movie but I thought Gregg Henry was brilliant as the Mayor and Elizabeth Banks did a wonderful job playing the downright unlucky Starla Banks. It wasn't really very scary, although I admit to jumping once - well, maybe twice - OK, three times ;) It seemed to find the right balance mix of gore and comedy and frights so it wasn't too over the top any way. It's also very tongue-in-cheek, just as a good horror should be. It doesn't take itself too seriously.

I mentioned to Emma later that Nathan Fillion could make a three hour movie with him just reading excerpts from the White Pages and I would quite happily pay $15 bucks to watch it. Heck, I'd probably pay $35 to watch it in Gold Class and I'd enjoy every single second of it. He has such an onscreen presence - ouch, cliché - but I think he is quite remarkable.

All-in-all, it was a fun movie. It's not a movie a lot of people have heard of so I guess I am one of the lucky ones.

Dinner on the Dark Side...

2006-05-29T20:31:00.000+10:00

Saturday night I was kindly invited to dinner on the Dark Side of Town - North of the Yarra River - with Scott and Trent's family. It was quite the party. I picked up Lisa and Ryan (Scott went to see Essendon lose... again), Caz, Trent & Campbell were staying the night and Clayton & Rachel also came to visit.

Marion made a lovely dinner - as always - of roast lamb, vegies and the big favourite of the night, a tomato and onion bake.

I have to admit I just love visiting that family and their home. You know, I really was the ODD one out on Saturday night. I mean, I'm not a part of their family and I was the only one there who wasn't. However, it never, ever occurred to me - and I doubt it ever will - to feel uncomfortable or awkward or out of place. Every single family member has a way to make you feel so welcome and as if you do belong. It's very cool. Thanks guys.

School Set To Close...

2006-05-26T22:09:00.000+10:00

Ferntree Gully College will close at the end of this year.*

Sad news.

aka. Ferntree Gully Secondary College

aka. Ferntree Gully High School

Gully High.

I loved that school.

I spent six years of my life at that school.

I loved going to that school.

I've got great memories of that school.

I've got some not so great memories of that school... But mostly good.

Sad, sad news.

*As reported in local paper - Knox Leader.

It's the Best of Three...

2006-05-25T22:51:00.000+10:00

..thank goodness.

New South Wales (17) defeated Queensland (16) in State of Origin I.

Queensland got off to a shocking start and were trailing 14-0 at around the 20 minute mark. Nerves maybe? After all there were 7 rookie players and State of Origin is a whole different ball game.

Whatever it was, they overcame it and managed to keep New South Wales TRY-less for the remainder of the game - 60-odd-minutes ain't too shabby. Queensland also managed to scored three tries of their own - two to Melbourne Storm's Greg Inglis and one to Manly's Steve Bell (Go Well! Go Bell!) - to equalise the score with less then five minutes to go.

New South Wales' halfback, Brett Finch, kicked the winning field goal a minute out from full time. Bugger.

Origin II is at Lang Park - with a HUGE home ground advantage for Queensland.

And then ORIGIN III - Telstra Dome. Melbourne. Wednesday 25 May 2006 - BRING IT ON!

Big Game Today.

2006-05-24T08:52:00.000+10:00

Big Game Today.
In Sydney.
State of Origin 1.
Cockroaches v Cane Toads
New South Wales v Queensland
That's Queensland with a 's' unlike the spelling in my Blog Title - doh!
I'm born and breed in Victoria.
Who do I go for?
Queensland, of course.
Is there really any other choice?
Well there is always a choice.
The 'Cockroaches', maybe?
Not a chance!
Good Luck to ALL the Storm Boys playing.
Good Luck to all the ex-Storm Boys playing.
More luck to the Storm Boys playing for Queensland.
Go Queensland.

At Brookvale nothing changes...

2006-05-23T13:40:00.000+10:00

Saturday sure was proof of that.

But before I get into that I'll mention the good bits.

Carolyn, Trent and Campbell were already waiting for us when we got to the hotel at Brookvale. Campbell was all smiles :) In fact, he was all smiles all the time during the time we saw him. Hmm, not sure why none of my photos reflect this.

After settling into the hotel, Anna and I went to get some drinks and munchies for the game. Well, drinks for the game. The munchies were actually packets of chips containing NRL Tazos!!! How embarrassing. I felt like I should be in the school yard as we excitedly opened our two packets of chips each to find out who we'd got. We even traded! Oh, what fun!

We kind of sat in our usual Brooky spot for the game - A little closer to the 50 metre line then usual but Rose, Heather, Sue, Luke and co. had already picked out the seats and waved us over so it was all good. I have to admit I spent a lot of the game (Game? What game?) having cuddles with Campbell. He was so good. He tried sleeping but the noise around was too much and he kept waking up. In the end the poor little guy only had about 30 minutes sleep the whole evening.

After the game we ~~caught up with a few players~~ caught up with Kiddy... Oh, and Matty Geyer. Poor Matty Geyer. He always apologies to us when they lose and this week was no exception.

We munched on Pizza for a late late supper - midnight - we called it a night. Sunday morning Carolyn, Trent and Campbell left for Batemans Bay whilst Emma, Anna and I flew back to Melbourne. We made it to Mascot just in time - 5 minutes to spare. Luckily we still had enough time to grab some Krispy Kremes before taking off. Got to get our priorities straight. The flight back was uneventful but the landing made up for it. So so BUMPY and the HARD brake at the end was extremely unsettling. I wondered if the pilot only just realise that the runway did actually end at some point? Anyway, we made it back safe and sound and as did the doughnuts.

Now for the not-so-good bit: Manly 34 Storm 12

What is it about that ground that makes the Storm Boys play like a bunch of pebos? True enough, Storm did have a bunch of big names out. Cam Smith, Dallas Johnson, Greg Inglis and Matty King were all out due to Origin and Billy Slater and Michael Crocker were out due to suspension. Those six names account for a hell of a lot of experience and talent in our team. However, if you look at the players who did play on Saturday it's not as if we are playing with a bunch of no-names. It was a time for them to stand up. Unfortunately no one really did. There were some OK individual performances but as a team they had nothing doing. It looked like they had no idea how to score and generally never looked close to doing so.

This week we are back home, at The Graveyard (Olympic Park), playing host to the Penrith Panthers. A close to full strength squad has been named - minus Billy (back next week) and Crocker - and it looks damn good on paper:

Starting team:
1. Greg Inglis
2. Matt Geyer
3. Matt King
4. Jake Webster
5. Steve Turner
6. Scott Hill
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Garret Crossman
9. Cam Smith
10. Brett White
11. David Kidwell
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Dallas Johnson

Subs:
14. Ian Donnelly
15. Jeremy Smith
16. Antonio Kaufusi
17. Nathan Friend

Hopefully the boys will lift this week. I want to be number one again!

To Sydney We Go...

2006-05-20T10:29:00.000+10:00

Emma, Anna and I are off to Sydney today - for less then 24 hours - to see the Manly v Storm game at Brookvale Oval. Whilst the three of us are flying up, Caz, Trent and Campbell are driving up and will meet us at the hotel this afternoon.

We were always coming up for this game - a promise was made at last year's Storm Presentation Ball. However, the person who the promise was made to isn't even likely to be there. He's up on the ~~Gold~~ Sunshine Coast sunning himself at Camp Maroon :)

Anyway, it should still be good. I've lost track of the number of time I've seen Storm play Manly at Brooky but I can safely say I've never seen Storm win there. Maybe today that will all change.

Go Well Go Bell

2006-05-15T22:20:00.000+10:00

Today, I finally got to see something that I've been waiting five and a half long years for: Steven Bell's name in the Queensland State of Origin team.

It's taken him a move interstate and a new team to get there but I've never doubted for a second he wouldn't make it. Congratulations Steve! You are the best! And obviously I'm not the only one who thinks so. Gees, what's taken you people so long!?!

Although his selection this year was not a surprise, the position he has been named at is - or at least I think it is. I never, ever would have guessed he'd be named as a winger. I don't think I've ever seen Belly play anything other then centre - Except perhaps in the first trial game in 2001 when he was named 5/8th. 5/8th? 'Eh? Exactly!

I mean, really - A winger? Sure he's got the speed to be a winger but aren't wingers meant to be good under the high ball too? No offence intended - as most people who know me will also know that I think the sun shines out of Belly's you know what - but what's Belly going to do when a kick comes hurtling towards him? LOL! Me thinks, he and Thurston better go down the local park and get some extra kicking practice in ;)

Seriously though, well done to Belly. He has certainly earned his spot in the side and I am sure he will do brilliantly for Queensland wherever he plays. It's going to be such a cool game to watch.

On the Storm front we have a couple of Origin Rookies in the team ourselves. Dallas Johnson and Greg Inglis, will both make their well-deserved Origin debuts on Wednesday 24 May after both being named in the starting lineup for Queensland. They will be joined by Cameron Smith who has been named at hooker for his 4th State of Origin campaign.

Matt King has been named in the New South Wales side.

QUEENSLAND: Matt Bowen, Greg Inglis, Justin Hodges, Brent Tate, Steven Bell, Darren Lockyer (captain), Johnathan Thurston, Steven Price, Cameron Smith, Petero Civoniceva, David Stagg, Matthew Scott, Dallas Johnson. Interchange: Shaun Berrigan, Carl Webb, Sam Thaiday, Nate Myles.

NEW SOUTH WALES: Brett Hodgson, Matt King, Mark Gasnier, Matt Cooper, Timana Tahu, Braith Anasta, Craig Gower, Brent Kite, Danny Buderus (captain), Willie Mason, Nathan Hindmarsh, Steve Simpson, Luke O'Donnell. Interchange: Craig Wing, Steve Menzies, Mark O'Meley, Andrew Ryan. Standby: Luke Lewis, Eric Grothe.

Only one thing left to say - GO QUEENSLAND!

Melbourne Storm are #1

2006-05-15T19:55:00.000+10:00

On Saturday night, at home in front of 10, 830 fans at Olympic Park, Melbourne Storm defeated North Queensland Cowboys 18 - 6 to secure their place as sole competition leaders in the NATIONAL Rugby League. Storm are sitting pretty on 16 points, two points clear of the Cowboys, Knights, Broncos and Bulldogs on the NRL Ladder.

How shiny is that???

It's the first time Storm has been in the top spot since 1998 - The first year they were in the comp. It's a pretty special feeling, that's for sure.

The boys all did really well with Cam Smith (as always), Dallas Johnson (as usual), Matty Geyer (all over the place - mostly in a good way), David Kidwell and Greg Inglis as stand outs. The young kids - Cooper Cronk, Brett White, Adam Blair, Ian Donnelly, Garrett Crossman and Ryan Hoffman (backing up from City v Country) - were all exceptional! Hopefully this won't jinx us but seriously - How much depth do we have!?!

For mine the PLAY of the DAY would have to go to the first try - Cooper kicks to Geyer, Geyer falls flat on his face, Geyer passes to Hoffy, Hoffy to Smith, Smith kicks, taken by Hill, Hill to Kaufusi (He does know his own team mates or was it a fluke?), Kaufusi to Johnson, Johnson to Kiddy, Kiddy SCORES! - but coming in a close second would be little Stevie Turner putting his body on the line and running straight into Bowen and Matty Sing to set up Matty King's try. OUCH! That's gotta hurt.

Scott Hill cracking his head open after colliding with Dallas Johnson (or was that a premeditated strike by a member of the recently formed: HBA*) may possibly have hurt a little more but I'm thinking the old expression - "No Brain, No Pain" - could be appropriate here. Unfortunately, even after losing what looked like a stubby full of blood, someone saw wisdom in bringing Hill back on a short time after. What the? Even little Beckham couldn't believe that decision! Suddenly the Cowboys were playing with 14 players again - "HILLY! You play for Storm. They are the ones in the navy Blue! Only give the ball to them, OK?" ;)

* Hill Bashers Anonymous

Mum & Dad in Salt Lake City...

2006-05-11T19:47:00.000+10:00

I mentioned yesterday that Mum and Dad had made it to Salt Lake City, the stop on their 'Round-the-World' tour.

Thanks to the luxuries of free internet access at their hotel, Mum was able to update the Ferntree Gully Lightens blog. (Permalink to entry here)

Photos are contained in the photo album - Salt Lake City 9th May.

I'm Sure Glad he's on our side...

2006-05-10T23:25:00.000+10:00

QUOTE of THE DAY:

"But that's OK, that just makes us more determined to actually, excuse the phrase, shove it up them."

When Brian Waldron came to Melbourne Storm in 2004, I admit I wasn't convinced he was right for our club. Heck, I didn't know a lot about him but something just wasn't right. During 2005 he didn't do a great deal to make me change my mind.

What exactly are his intentions at Storm?
Why is he here?
Why does he care?
Does he care at all?

In the space of 24 hours he has managed to answer all those questions for me.
He is here for this team - OUR team - Melbourne Storm.
He wants to make his team - OUR team - successful.
He cares because he believes, unlike many others, that Storm does have a future in the NRL and that future is looking pretty damn bright.

Initially I wasn't convinced that Brian and co. went about the press conference yesterday the correct way. I was concerned that it would just cause Storm to be labelled the 'whingers' of the League and that it would raise the whole 'poor us... everybody hates us 'cos where from Melbourne' attitude again.

Over the course of today I've come to the conclusion that - Who cares what people call us?

Brian Waldron said EXACTLY what needed to be said.
Well done, Brian. Welcome to the Team!

Five Days Since...

2006-05-10T22:19:00.000+10:00

Saturday

Haircut.
Visit to Colorado - the store, not the place.
Andrew and Adelaide dropped by.
Saturday Night Footy on Foxtel - How good is it!
Game 1: Eels v Raiders
Game 2: Cowboys v Panthers
Game 3: Rabbitohs v Storm
Storm Win - That's four wins in a row.
Storm player, Michael Crocker, gets placed on report for a spear tackle - Fair call.
Michael Crocker gets 10 minutes in the Sin Bin for allegedly starting an 'all in' brawl - Frakking joke!

Sunday

Mum and Dad spend the day getting ready for their 9 week holiday.
Sunday Footy on SEN 1116 - Wests Tigers v Manly Sea Eagles - Shiny!
Tigers win - Not so shiny.

Monday

Work Day #1
Michael Crocker gets formally charged by NRL Judiciary with a Grade 4 Dangerous Throw and faces up to 12 weeks on the sidelines - His 'detailed' history at the judiciary helps not but the initial 'Grade 4' charge is a bit steep.
For similar tackles in the Super 14s and AFL over the weekend, players only face 1 week and 3 weeks out respectively - Different codes so they can't really compare but interesting none the less.
Grandma and I drop Mum & Dad off at the Airport Holiday Inn - They have an early flight tomorrow morning so it saves us all having to get up at 4am.

Tuesday

Work Day #2.
Mum & Dad's plane leaves at 10:25am.
Storm have until 2pm to decide whether to fight Crocker's charge or cop the 9 weeks for an early plea.
Storm decide to cop the charge deciding that fighting it is "fraught with danger." - Michael Crocker is out for 9 weeks.
Storm hold press conference - Storm CEO, Brian Waldron and Michael Crocker, with a bit of help from Coach Craig Bellamy, make the most of the opportunity and use it to comment on the following areas of concern:
1. The "ridiculous" NRL Judiciary System
2. The victimisation of Michael Crocker
3. The NRL for the total lack of support for Melbourne Storm
4. Channel 9, for the lack of free-to-air Melbourne Storm games, even though we have conistantly been in the TOP 8.
5. The lack of respect from "certain factions in the game" and their determination to see Storm fail.
Comments relating to the above piss the NRL off BIG TIME! - Storm are issued with an $15, 000 fine by the NRL for questioning the integrity of the NRL and its committee members.

Wednesday

Mum & Dad arrive safely in LA before catching a connecting flight to Salt Lake City.
Currently they are in SLC with Geoff and Jill.
The $15,000 fine issued by the NRL to Melbourne Storm ends up being money well spent - I don't think I have seen so much publicity since the Grand Final week in 1999!

Her Majesty The Queen

2006-05-07T23:09:00.000+10:00

I realised today that I forgot to mention in my post about the first Storm Home Game, one of the highlights of going.

A friend of mine, Scott, is every bit the Royalist. Anything to do with the British Royal family he is all over it. Actually, anything to do with England - he is all over it.

Before each Storm home game the Australian National anthem is played. Fair enough too. We are Australian, after all. Everyone stands and some people even sing along with "Advance Australia Fair" quite well. For others it's a time of mumbling or simply opening and closing their mouth periodically to give the illusion of singing and the further illusion that they indeed know the words.

This is not the case for Scott though. For Scott, it is the time to sing, with great gusto, "GOD SAVE THE QUEEN"!

In a previous post, I'd written how excited I was to be at the Commonweatlth Games Opening Ceremony with The Queen. At the time, I seriously didn't think Scott read my Blog and therefore I was safe in mentioning such a fact. Oh boy, was I wrong...

My 'outing' as a closet Royalist was a public one, with Scott presenting me with the framed photo of The Queen, pictured above.Cool, eh?

Thanks Scott :)

A visit from Andrew and Adelaide...

2006-05-06T17:12:00.000+10:00

Mum and Dad are leaving for their holiday on Tuesday so Andrew brought Adelaide down from Maryborough for a visit before they left.

Adelaide has become quite the little girl. Today she was all dressed in pink with hearts and flowers.

Don't you love it #1

2006-05-05T23:00:00.000+10:00

Don't you love it when your work mates collect free Pepsi Max, even though they despise the stuff, just so they can give it to you because they know you love the stuff?

Near where I work they often give out free things. My favourite, of course, is the Pepsi Max days. It's happened a few times and this bounty was from last month. I was just doing a bit of 'digital housekeeping' and came across the photo.

Soccer fans sticking it to the opposition

2006-05-05T10:59:00.000+10:00

A German Company has come up with an unusual piece of World Cup Soccer merchandise – a Voodoo Doll.

Each doll comes with a complete set of little World Cup flags - one for each competing team - and needles. Supporters can attach the flag of their choice to the doll’s jumper and cast dark spells on the opposition players, whilst sticking in the needles.

I am absolutely positive that this falls into the 'Extremely Poor Sportsmanship" category but how freakin' funny are they?

Holiday 2006 Update

2006-05-04T20:18:00.000+10:00

I've finally got around to doing a bit more planning on the trip.

A seat on the following trains has been requested:

11.10.06 10:12 - San Francisco to Seattle
14.10.06 16:45 - Seattle to Minneapolis
18.10.06 07:50 - Minneapolis to Boston
25.10.06 08:20 - Boston to New York

Once these have been confirmed I'll move on to the accommodation in those places.

Emma has already booked our accommodation in New York (Big Apple Hostel) and in Las Vegas (Circus Circus).

It's all coming together.

The Olden Days...

2006-05-04T17:11:00.000+10:00

Yesterday at work, a couple of the guys and I ended up chatting about old TV Shows. It happens frequently when you have TVs going 24 hours a day in the work place.

I happened to wander into the OPs room just before five o'clock so, naturally, one of the guys assumed I'd come in to watch Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman. He flicked the channel over but Little House on the Prairie was still on. Now, I've never watched Little House so all I know about it is that the dude in it also played an angel in Highway to Heaven. And that's where it started.

From Highway to Heaven - Highwayman - Manimal - "V" - American Gothic - Double Dare - Secret Valley - Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin - Inspector Gadget - Captain Pugwash - You Can't Do That On Television - and Metal Mickey!
Of course, no one remembered Metal Mickey... Not many people do. However, since it was around from 1979-1981, perhaps I am showing my age just a little too much.

Wow!

2006-05-04T01:04:00.000+10:00

Sure glad I waited up for that! That was the most amazing...

Yeah, OK, so nothing happened. It's not like I REALLY waited up especially - I was up anyway.

*And to explain the 'Sydney' clock - I only just thought of finding the time on the net ... and couldn't find a Melbourne one. Same timezone, so it's all good.

Don't forget to set the alarm...

2006-05-03T11:09:00.000+10:00

...Because you won't want to miss this!

Tomorrow morning, at two minutes and three seconds past one am, the time and date will be:

01:02:03 04/05/06

Cool, 'eh?

Unfortunately, those in the USA have missed their chance. Given the USA uses date format - MM/DD/YY - their special day was last month on April 5th: 01:02:03 04/05/06.

3 babies, 2 Games & a Sook...

2006-05-01T00:44:00.000+10:00

Wow, two home games in Melbourne and I haven't really written about either.

The three boys - Beckham, Campbell and Ryan - have been to both games. They are such good boys. Take for example this week. Beckham slept for most of the game... Ryan slept for most of the game, in my arms I might add! No competition this week ;) ... and Campbell, although he didn't sleep much, was quiet as a mouse. I can't wait until this time next year because I am sure the three of them will keep their parents on their toes. I can just imagine the three of the tottering around.

Unfortunately, I didn't take many photos - only six. Three blurry ones of Lisa and Ryan - use the flash Katy! - one not so blurry photo of Lisa and Ryan, one of the back of Beckham's head and half of Gina and a nice one of Trent and Campbell's eye. I think I need to spend more time on composing the shots, 'eh.

For only the second time (I think) in the past few years, we didn't go back to the social club after the game. It was held in the stuffy dark room at the back of the Tennis Centre and, to be honest, what's the point of going back these days? The main reason we went each week is no longer in Melbourne so we decided to go to Vihn Vihn in Victoria St, Richmond, for dinner instead. It ended up being quite the party. I think the idea was to have a semi early night because of the babies. However, I'm not sure about the others but by the time I got home it was 1am. Not so much with the early. It was a great night so it is all good.

Emma and I have been helping The Club (aka: Melbourne Storm) before the games with handing out membership packages and caps. I used to help out a bit in the early years of Storm. True, way back then it was more in association with the Melbourne Storm Supporters Club (MSSC) and the Banner Crew rather then the club itself. It was something that I, for the most part, enjoyed a great deal and have missed over the last couple of years. As far as the MSSC went, once it became the Melbourne Storm Supporters 'Clic' my desire to be associated with that went by the wayside. The banner got to be a bit much a couple of years back, especially having done it since it was introduced in '99 by Scott, so I stopped helping out with that also. Emma and I do still make a point of helping out with at least one banner every year but that seems to be enough.

Being involved with the club on that level again was terrific. It wasn't the most thrilling job - but I feel I made the most of it and had a bit of fun doing it. The only down side was I had to change my name to 'Amy'. In the Storm newsletter they put a 'Thank You' note in for us volunteers. Somehow my name became "Amy Lighten". I know that a lot of people have trouble with the name 'K A T Y' but, geesh, how do you get to 'A M Y'? Oh well, it's the thought that counts - and the tee-shirt.

I certainly haven't written much about last week's game. The game itself, against the Knights was great. Storm ended up on the damn good side of the 52-6 scoreline. Mum and Dad came along and it was great to have them there - even if Mum came mainly to see the babies and Dad came mainly because Mum was going. I think they enjoyed the game.

It was all going good until the Storm Boys did their victory lap. The boys walked around the track just like they always do. But it wasn't like it always was. It was extremely embarrassing at the time, and possibly even more so now, but I admit I got a little chocked up over it. And yes, there may have even been inking involved - Man, how embarrassment! What can I say except I'm a dumbass sook. Thanks to Emma for attempting to convince me otherwise. This week I fine so I'll put it down to being emotional and tired last weekend. Yeah, right! I don't believe me either...

Next week we play away against the Rabbits. Lucky for Storm the game is not being played at our bogie ground - Aussie Stadium. It will be held at Telstra Stadium, a ground at which we have enjoyed some success over the years. I don't want to jinx us - so I'll say no more.

We are the Storm from Melbourne town...

2006-04-30T22:39:00.000+10:00

...WE'LL BLOW THE OTHERS OFF THE GROUND,
WE ARE THE STORM,
AND WE'RE NUMBER 1!

For the first time since I don't know when, Storm are actually at the top of the NRL ladder.

Truth be told, we currently have to share the penthouse with North Queensland Cowboys and Brisbane Broncos as we are all equal on 12 points. And 'technically', it can quite rightly be said we are still in second spot due to points difference (difference between total points we have scored this season minus total points our opposition has scored this season). However, I am going to overlook all that.

For the whole of this week, as far as I am concerned...

WE ARE THE STORM FROM MELBOURNE TOWN AND WE ARE NUMBER ONE!!!

Game Day...

2006-04-29T13:52:00.000+10:00

NRL Season 2006, Round 8 is here.
{*Answers updated 30.04.06}

Things we know for sure:

Melbourne Storm play St George Illawarra at Olympic Park tonight.
{Yes, that did}

Storm have won 8 of their last 9 games against the Dragons.
{Make that 9 from 10}

Dragons have not won in Melbourne since the 1st week of Finals in 1999.
{Dragons STILL haven't won since 1999}

Storm are currently sitting 2nd on the ladder.
{Storm are NOW currently sitting equal FIRST on the ladder}

Dragons are currently sitting at 7th place.
{Dragons are sitting at 9th on the ladder}

Storm's biggest win over the Dragons was the 70-10 flogging at the MCG in Round 5, 2000.
{70 - 10 is still the Storm's biggest win over the Dragons}

Things we're a little foggy on:

Will Cooper Cronk overcome his shoulder injury and play or will be without a halfback?
{A: Yes, he will}
Will GI Joe overcome his injury and play?
{A: Yes, he will}

Will Scotty Hill be a 'shock' inclusion in the team after being a 'shock' omission when the team was named earlier this week?
{A:No, he won't}

Will Michael Crocker play at 5/8th?
{A: Yes, he will - At least I thought he did for at least part of the game}
Can Michael Crocker play 5/8th?
{A: Hmm, may have to watch the replay to answer this one}

Did Sally make it to training on time this week?
{A: Who cares?}

All should be answered in a little under 7 hours.
GAME ON!

Easter that was...

2006-04-26T17:36:00.000+10:00

Friday April 14, 2006

Friday morning, Emma and I left Melbourne for the long drive to Adelaide.
First Stop: Nunawading 7/11 - Slurpee stop
Second Stop: Ararat - Character stop
Third Stop: Horsham - Lunch stop
Forth Stop: Bordertown (I think) - Character stop + change o'driver stop
Last Stop: Stamford Hotel, Adelaide - Destination stop
We discovered, before we'd even got through the door, that the Penrith Panthers were staying at the same hotel as us... Oh No. (Turned out later it wasn't such a bad thing ;)
We wandered down Hindley Street to find something for dinner...Oops. We wandered back up Hindley street. We ended up with fresh Noodles for dinner.
Settled in for a night of TV Entertainment including The Biggest Loser, Friday Night Games (Bring back Veronica Mars!!!) and Skating with Celebrities. It appears that I am finally being drawn to the darkside of Reality TV...Oh No.

Saturday April 15, 2006

We Slept in...Oops. The result of too much Reality TV last night perhaps?
We went shopping in Rundle Mall. I bought a new bag to take overseas with me later this year - Backpack style, wheels, and small. I'll have to be packing light that's for sure. Emma bought some new sunglasses.
We met Sam at Central Markets and drove out to Hindmarsh Stadium to figure out where we needed to go for the game. Sam then gave us a mini-tour of Adelaide before dropping us back to the hotel.
Emma and I went to take a look at the 'coloured' blocks behind the Arts Centre or Museum. I remember these from a holiday we had in Adelaide when I was about five. Good fun.
We arrived at the game fairly early as we still had to purchase tickets. We immediately spotted Ray and Damien and a few others. A lot of supporters had made the trek up the highway.
First on the agenda was an investigation into which Storm items were available for purchase at the Penrith merchandise stand. We settled on a mobile phone 'flasher' each. The red and blue lights flash when you make or receive a call/sms on your mobile phone. It took me three attempts but I finally got one that worked.
Our seats were great - Top level, Row E, 30 metre line. It has been such a long time since I've seen a game from so high. Usually we sit down on the fence line. Funny enough, the only stadium we sometimes sit up in the Grandstand is at Penrith Stadium.
As this was a Penrith home game, they had organised the 'entertainment'. Here in Adelaide this included their regular Penrith ground announcer, Scott McRae. He's usually ace at Penrith but he was kind of over-the-top this time. I'll admit it, he was working a tough crowd. He did get me laughing when he was introducing the Penrith team and announced that every single on of them was born somewhere in South Australia!
The game itself was close to one of the most entertaining games I have ever seen. There was certainly a heap of action and plenty of tries scored and when there was a quiet point in the game we amused ourselves by playing "Where's Sally?" It's a fun game and one that always keeps you guessing because Sally is never where he's supposed to be.
After the game we were invited to hang back to meet the Storm boys. About 100 Storm fans turned up and since we were undercover the volume was intense. There was also a 'buzz' in the air which made it feel like we'd just won the Grand Final or something. If I thought the noise level was loud previously, it was nothing compared to the roar that went up when the first players, Michael Crocker and Ryan Hoffman, walked out. It was deafening! The poor boys looked shocked to say the least.
We capped the night off with a few drinks at the Holiday Inn to celebrate the win. The Storm admin and players were all there and they were certainly making the most of the win. I never did figure out that drinking game...

Sunday 16th April 2006

On our way to checkout of the hotel we bumped into Scott McRae, the above mentioned Ground Announcer for Penrith. He came across as such a nice guy who has a lot of respect for our Storm Boys. The majority of the conversation was about how great the Storm boys actually were, how not-so-great some other teams were and how it was no wonder that the Panthers lost because they were all born in SA! ("They don't know anything about footy.") I have a new respect for Penrith now ;)
Having checked out, we headed up through the Adelaide Hills to Gumeracha so we could climb The Big Rocking Horse and, yep, we made it all the way up to his head.
We then drove down to Hahndorf. It was a gorgeous afternoon - very sunny but not too hot - and mooching around the town was charming.
Sunday night we drove as far as Keith. Not much seems to be happen in Keith and the only place open for dinner was the pub. Lucky for us it serves fantastic meals, even if they do run out of vegies.

Monday 17th April 2006

Monday morning we left Keith for Melbourne. We stopped at Maryborough for a quick visit with Andrew, Lisa and Adelaide before finally making it home.

It was a great weekend and it certainly made a difference driving westward for a game rather then east.

Two Sleeps to Go...

2006-04-12T13:36:00.000+10:00

Emma and I are driving to Adelaide for the long weekend. Melbourne Storm is playing the Penrith Panthers on Saturday night. Yep, a Storm game -- as if there could be any other possible reason for dragging ourselves around the countryside.

The Panthers are in a similar situation to Storm in that they are playing their first 6 or 7 games away from home but unlike Storm it has nothing to do with the Commonwealth Games. I believe it’s because they are still in the process of re-developing their home ground and this weekend's game has been designated as a Panther's home game.

It should be quite the relaxing weekend except for the part where I'm going to have to re-visit driving a manual car. Welcome to:

Why I would be hopeless on The Amazing Race
Reason 12 – Manual Cars

How do those kind of cars work again? *gulp*

We’re going to drive all the way to Adelaide on Friday so we'll have all day Saturday to look around. We've arranged to meet up with a friend, Sam, and go to the Torrens River – a trip I'm hoping will include the big Rocking Horse. It's one of the few things I remember about Adelaide from when I went there as a kid.

Sunday morning we'll start driving back to Melbourne but we only have to make it as far as Keith, so effectively we have another full day to take it easy.

Easter Monday we'll drive back to Melbourne for real, stopping in at Maryborough to see Andrew, Lisa and Adelaide.

TV Encyclopedia...

2006-04-09T18:21:00.000+10:00

I saw a link to TeeVeePedia over on Whedonesque the other day. It's just like Wikipedia -- But with 99% more funny! Obviously, not to be taken seriously. Right? Fellas -- tell me this aint serious ;)

Favourite look ups so far:

Whedonites - What a lovely bunch of people they must be.

"Whedonites are the alarming, often fanatical devotees of writer/director Joss Whedon."

X-Files - Harsh comments but most likely fair.

"For most of the show's run, producers managed to effectively play up the romantic triangle between Anderson, Duchovny, and Duchovny's image in the nearest reflective surface or magazine cover. "

Gilmore Girls - Harsh but possibly fair :)

"It is estimated that the cast of Gilmore Girls now represents 20% of U.S. throat lozenge sales. (The cast of The West Wing is good for another 10%.)"

Supernatural - Way harsh! I for one watch it for the storylines. Of course, Dean does add a certain 'something'...

Less then six months to go...

2006-04-09T18:11:00.000+10:00

It's less then six months until I fly out for San Francisco. Sunday 8 October 2006 is still a long way off but I am sure the time will fly by.

I haven't done much research or planning since booking the flight. Anna has organised the accommodation and Park Hopper passes for DisneyWorld but we are yet to reach a decision on where we are staying in New York - Hotel or Hostel? Actually apart from Orlando I don't have any accommodation booked.

I've also got to make a decision on what I'm going to do out of Las Vegas. Grand Canyon is a must and I really would love to go to Roswell but looking at the distances I think I am biting off a bit more then I can chew. I plan on hiring a car and driving there. Normally the distance wouldn't bother me but a number of things are making be question the practicality of it all. We'll see...

The Other Game

2006-04-06T16:31:00.000+10:00

Day 2: Manly Weekend

After having got a bit carried away with the post about last Saturday, I realised that I haven’t actually written anything about the ‘real’ reason we went to the Sydney last weekend. Officially, we’d gone to Sydney to see the Tigers v Storm game on the Sunday afternoon. Yeah right…

Sunday morning we spent hanging around Manly. First stop was North Curl Curl beach to take some photos. We hadn’t actually considered going for a swim which was fortunate because the beach was closed. The surf was quite rough and we almost got caught a few times as a freak wave or two raced higher up the sand then expected.
We then drove the short distance around the coast to Manly for breakfast of pancakes, corn fritters, omelettes and ice creams. After a quick stop at Manly Beach, to take in the view of much calmer waters, we wandered along the Manly Corso to the ferry terminal at Manly Harbour and back. Manly is really nice place and even though I’ve been to Brookvale quite a few times now, it’s been a while since I’ve ventured into Manly itself. Well worth a visit.With no trouble at all and we made it to Leichhardt Oval with a lazy half-hour before the game started. A search for the usual group of local and not-so-local Storm fans proved fruitless and we took up position at the north east corner of the ground on the wall. We were three lone Storm supporters in a sea of yellow and black. Got to hand it to those Tigers supporters - They certainly look the part.

Now, I’m going to skip right on over the game except to say that it was one of the most frustrating games I’ve ever had the displeasure of watching. Seriously, what is it about Melbourne Storm and their record at Leichhardt Oval? This was the third time I’ve seen them play there (1999,2001 & 2006) and sure as heck nothings changed.

After the game Anna wanted photos with some of the Tigers players so we headed around the back to do and who do we find there? - The other Storm supporters we’d been looking for. Heather, Luke, Damien, Rose and Lord Reynoldson. It’s always good to catch up with other supporters at the first games of the season. Usually it’s good to see the players too but this day they were understandably down-in-the-dumps. That didn’t stop Captain Matty Geyer or David Kidwell saying a quick ‘hello’ or Cameron Smith stopping by for a brief chat. (English language, why do you fail me so?).

Anna and Emma wandered off at one stage to find, as it turned out, Scotty Prince. I had a feeling something wasn’t quite right and by the time once they got back I found out I was correct. Emma has been led astray. She’d had her photo taken with Scotty Prince! And she was all so excited about it! Oh, the disappointment… the shame… ;) At least she didn’t get her photo taken with Benji (aka: Lassie, Dodgy Boy).

On the way back to the airport we travelled through the new cross-city tunnel. I don’t know much about it except that a lot of Sydney-siders object to either the tunnel itself or the $3.50 toll to use it. As a result the tolls have been reduced to ½ price. I’m not sure how long for but I’m not convinced even that is enticing people to use it. For about 2-3 minutes ours was the ONLY car in the tunnel. There was no car in front and no car behind. Not a one of them could be seen. It was kind of unnerving. Eventually we caught a glimpse of another car and before we knew it we’d resurfaced having joined the Eastern Distributor.

After filling up with petrol, completing two circuits of the airport perimeter road and a stop at Krispy Kremes to purchase five dozen and two doughnuts, we were on our way back to Melbourne.

Cool weekend… Thanks Emma and Anna.

Silly Billy...

2006-04-04T09:40:00.000+10:00

There were a few brain explosions on the field during Storm's 28-30 loss against Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval on the weekend. Billy Slater has been charged with kicking John Skandalis and is facing up to 7 weeks suspension whilst Scott Hill is facing 4 weeks suspension after being charged for pushing the Ref.

DUMB stuff boys.

Can we have him back now?

2006-04-03T21:56:00.000+10:00

Day 1: Manly Weekend

Things went exactly as planned on Saturday. We caught the 11:15 Virgin Blue flight and arrived in Sydney around 12:30. After picking up our rental car, we found our way to Manly with no problems what-so-ever. Didn't even have to wait for the uppy-downy Spit Bridge to do it's uppy-downy thing. We just drove right on over and kept going until we made it to Warringah Mall. We had some hours to kill and what better place to do that then at a shopping mall.

Holy macaroni! How much Rugby League stuff do the Rebel Sports Stores in NSW have!?!?!? In Victoria we're lucky to see 3 jerseys. Seriously, the place is a NRL supporter's paradise. Some time later we dragged ourselves away from the mall and checked into the hotel before wandering down to Brookvale Oval for the Manly v. Roosters game.

We got there way early so we could get our usual seats: Eastern Side, 10-20 metre line, front row -- Check! We tied the old "Go Well Go Bell" and "Awesome Orford" banners to the fence. Then we waited... and waited... and waited. It seemed like forever before the main game kicked off. I don't think my "25 minutes until the Belly and Matty O show begins"..."24 minutes until the Belly and Matty O show begins"... "23 minutes until..." helped all that much. I was a tad excited.

Finally, 7:30 arrived and it all began. Manly didn't do too well in the first half but came good in the second. Their fullback, Brett Stewart, is a handy little player who never ever looks like dropping the high ball. Matty Orford was on fire and was all over everything, setting up most of the tries and even go for a stroll over the white line himself. And when did he learn to kick from the side line like that? Belly had a great game, making the most of limited access to the footy. The Roosters kept him in check for most of the game but Menzies managed to create a great opportunity for him to score a lovely try midway through the second half. Thats Try #5 from four games for Belly.

Final score: Manly 30 Roosters 22.

Player's start a victory lap.

Matty O spots "Awesome Orford" - Gives us a huge smile and a wave and a thumbs up! Just when did Matty O become so animated? The Northern Beaches air must sure be agreeing with him :) It was great to see him and great to know that he remembered us.

Steve Bell looks everywhere but at the banners. I'm getting ready to scream out his name. No need. Steve spots "Go Well Go Bell" Steve spots us. A huge grin spreads across his face and we get a big wave. He walks towards us. There is advertising signage separating players from crowd. Does he contemplate jumping it? Maybe, just maybe :) He doesn't jump it. He yells a "Good luck to the boys tomorrow" before continuing around the ground with his new team. Yet, he looks back at us, still grinning and waving. Still looking back, waving and grinning. That was so sweet.

Oh my, I can honestly say that both those two boys were so very happy to see us.

We caught up with Belly for a chat before we left the ground. He is very much the proud dad and almost immediately handed me his mobile containing photos of his baby daughter. "Just scroll up, there's heaps," he said, before turning around to sign autographs for his adoring new fans. It sounds as if everything is going really well for him up there with his family and with Manly. We promised we'd be back in Round 11 - Manly v Storm. Although who knows if he will be playing? After all, it is the week before State of Origin.

One of my favourite things about being at a game was hearing shouts of "Give the ball to Belly" from so many of the Manly fans. It's real nice to know he's gone somewhere he's appreciated.

As we walked past one group of Manly Supporters, one said "Go the Storm!" whilst another said, "Yeah, we love Steve Bell!". Yeah, you do? Well, you know what? So do we...

Can we have him back now?

One more sleep...

2006-03-31T17:09:00.000+11:00

...Until we go to Sydney.

Emma, Anna and I are flying up to Sydney tomorrow morning. After a quick stop at Krispy Kremes we'll be driving out to Manly where we will be staying the night. Saturday evening we're off to Brookvale Oval for the Manly Sea Eagles v. Sydney Roosters game and then Sunday afternoon we'll head over at Leichhardt Oval for the Wests Tigers v. Melbourne Storm game. We fly home Sunday night. Just a fleeting visit to Ole' Sydney Town and besides Rugby League grounds I can't say we'll be seeing too much of it.

A Change is as Good as a Holiday...

2006-03-30T23:49:00.000+11:00

As you can see I've done a bit of renovating about the place. The old 'green' was wearing just a little bit too thin on me. I think I'll be tweaking the look for another week or two.

Commonwealth Games - Closing Ceremony

2006-03-29T21:49:00.000+11:00

Sunday night, Emma, Dad, Heather and I went to the Closing Ceremony for the Commonwealth Games. It was brilliant. I loved every moment from the warm-up act, the Scared Weird Little Guys, to the finale with John Farnham.

The 'Scaredies' came on around 20:00 and had the 80,000 strong crowd in stitches from the get-go. One of the many highlights of their set was when they decided to get the crowd to do a Mexican Wave with camera flashes! I honestly didn't think they would be able to pull it off, but somehow they did. It looked fantabulous.

I nearly didn't bother putting the 'Mexican Flash' photos in but hope they give you an idea of how the wave went anti-clockwise around the stadium. These photos are captured from a little video I took which looked simply stunning.

The boys also performed a few songs, including a couple of Stump the Scaredies (Old McDonald had a farm to Nirvana's Smells like teen spirit - hi-larious!). The other job they had was to take us through a few of the 'audience participation' tasks that lay ahead for us throughout the show. The show proper started with a tribute to Aussie Rules Football and the huge part it plays in Melbourne culture. (Notice I didn't say sporting culture). It was very fitting and uniquely Melbourne. I loved the run-through banner - it's just Melbourne.

The cast included Official Supporter Club members from each AFL Team and even a few AFL players.

Next came the icons of Melbourne - Flinders Street Station, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne Cup, Arts Centre Spire, Luna Park, Skipping Girl and Federation Square.

These icons were really lovely and were shown off whilst Paul Kelly performed Leaps and Bounds. Seriously, could there be a more fitting song? - "I'm high on the hill, Looking over the bridge, To the M.C.G. And way up on high, The clock on the silo, Says eleven degrees...". Ben Lee followed with a performance of We're all in this together. Nice sentiment, but repetitive - I'm so not a Ben Lee fan - but the visuals were great. The 'Sweetheart' dancers created a gigantic "I {love heart} M" in the middle of the arena. How could you not love Melbourne?

Next up was a wonderful tribute to all the Volunteers who helped out with the Games. Mum wasn't actually in the Closing Ceremony but she was helping out behind the scenes and since I don't have any great photos of the Volunteers from the closing I thought it was appropriate Mum be posted here.

At this point it started to snow... The tribute was done in the form of a poem with the last line being something like "rain, hail or snow..." Hmm, I think the snow was meant to be a dig at Melbourne's unpredictable weather. Some chick then came out and sang Don't Dream It's Over.

The formalities for the evening came next. There were thank you speeches ("...Melbourne Lord Mayor, John So" Yay!), congratulation speeches ("...Melbourne Lord Mayor, John So" Yay!), more thank you and congratulations speeches ("...Melbourne Lord Mayor, John So" Yay!), handing over of the Commonwealth Games Flag to the next host city (Melbourne Lord Mayor, John So, is given the flag. Yay!). That John So is one popular dude. Every time his name was mentioned the crowd went crazy. It also happened at the Opening but to a much lesser extent. The response for him at the Closing was phenomenal. It seems John So is everyone's bro at the minute. Good for him.

As is tradition the next city to host the games always prepares a little something. A sneak preview of sorts. Delhi did this in style - Bollywood style that is. Most impressive.

Formalities continued on, including the official closing of the Games by Prince Eddie and the official thank you to the athletes, before Michael Klim was 'rudely' interrupted by Dame Edna Everage on the BIG screen. What followed was umm... astonishing?

Dame Edna performed for us a lovely little ditty she/he had written all about our wonderful city and was supported by 1000 Commonwealth Dames. 1000 little Ednas each with their own glowing gladioli. It was quite the sight.

And then - The Finale. Who else but Melbourne boy John Farnham. I think I was the only person in the stadium who had no idea that he was performing... And I call myself a fan! John was great but how he managed to stuff up the words to You're the Voice I will never know. LOL! As John was singing the athletes were 'let lose' to come party on the arena floor surrounding the centre platform where John and his band were. John (first name basis here... It has been almost 20 years) belted out four or five songs, with the most apt being Playing to Win. Such a great song and always one of my favourites live. This last part was a real treat for me.

And then it was all over - After only 12 Days. It's been fun and I am so thankful that I allowed myself to get caught up in the moments that did indeed unite us. Besides both ceremonies being a blast and the competitions being extremely exciting Melbourne somehow seemed brighter. People were out enjoying themselves not just rushing to the office, people were friendlier and happier, you know. More relaxed.

I sure noticed a difference on Monday. Southbank was empty, there were no longer people wearing the bright blue volunteer uniform, there were no tourists and even the fish were being dismantled. Is it too late to extend the Games?

I did get one last Games moment at lunchtime on Monday. There was a 'Thank You' parade through the CBD for the athletes and the volunteers. Of course, I couldn't miss that... Mum was marching.

Well, as they say in the classics: "So long, and thanks for all the fish."

Happy Birthday Andrew

2006-03-29T13:49:00.000+11:00

Hope you had a great day!

Commonwealth Games - Yarra Fish @ Night

2006-03-26T15:21:00.000+11:00

About a month ago I posted about the Big Fish floating on the Yarra River. They are part of the Commonwealth Games festivities and every night since the Opening Ceremony they have been the centerpiece of a spectacular light, sound and water show. Mum, Dad and I went into the city last Monday to take a look.
After having dinner at Southbank our first stop was at the Victorian Art Centre Beach. There is a grassy bit between the Gallery and Concert Hall which is usually used by people for picnics or sometimes outside concerts. For the duration of the Games this grassy patch was covered with sand to transform it into a beach of sorts. There was a stage at one end for 'beach concerts' and there were a number of huts selling fast food and hiring out beach chairs. There was also a 'big screen' so beach goers could catch all the big events. It seemed to be quite popular. We walked along the Yarra on the Alexandra Gardens side as far as Swan Street before crossing over and finding a position on the opposite bank for a good view of the show.
The whole show lasted 10 minutes and lighting and water spouts were choreographed to a selection of music from the Opening Ceremony - including my favourite Under the Milky Way.
Personally, I think they should leave the fish there for always. Of course, regular users of the Yarra waterway may argue differently... Can't waterskiers during Moomba use them as a slalom course?

Commonwealth Games - Weightlifting

2006-03-26T01:34:00.000+11:00

On Day 6 of the Games (Tuesday 21 March) Anna and I went to see the Weightlifting - Women's 75 KG Group A divsion. Weightlifting isn't something I would have ever thought about going to myself. However, Anna's friend, Deborah Lovely, was competing and I said that I would go along with Anna to watch.
To be honest, I thought I might be a bit bored but suprisingly I found I didn't have time to be bored. I couldn't beleive how absorbing it was. There is a lot of strategy involved in this sport, that's for sure. All the girls did incredibly well and the competition came down to Deborah Lovely (Australia) and Sheba Deireragea (Nauru). It was a nailbiting finish but Deborah won by successfully lifting 115 KG in the Clean & Jerk. I was quite chuffed to be present for a medal ceremony and to see an Australian being awarded the Gold.

Final Results:
Gold: Deborah Lovely (Australia)
Silver: Sheba Deireragea (Nauru)
Bronze: Babalwa Ndleleni (Republic of South Africa)

Commonwealth Games - Rugby 7s

2006-03-26T00:17:00.000+11:00

On Day 1 (Thursday 16th March) of the Commonwealth Games Anna and I went to see the Rugby 7s. Rugby 7s is a miniature version of Rugby Union and, from what I can tell with my limited knowledge, both games seem to have very similar rules. The major differences are that in Rugby 7s each game lasts only 14 minutes - two seven minute halves - and each team only has seven players on the field at any given time.
Rugby 7s were held over two days at Telstra Dome, with the preliminary matches played on Thursday and the finals played on Friday. We went to the session on Thursday evening and were treated to 12 matches and over fours hours of running, tackling and try-scoring goodness.
Due to the small number of players on each side having to defend a 70 meter wide field there tends to be a high number of tries scored if the attacking players are fast enough. There were quite a few one sided matches starting with South Africa defeating Uganda 63-7. Uganda came good later in the evening with their 24-14 win over Tonga.
The crowd at Telstra Dome was quite large - close to sell out I guess - and almost every one got caught up in the action. The 'Mexican Wave' was started numerous times and the crowd loved cheering on the underdog - both popular Aussie sporting pastimes really. The largest roars were reserved for the struggling teams. One of the most animated crowd displays started when one of the teams, who were behind on the scoreboard, had the ball on the opposition 22 metre line. They kept passing the ball, trying to avoid being tackled, and with every pass they ended up running backwards. At one point it seemed as if the whole crowd was yelling and pointing "RUN THE OTHER WAY!!!" indicating the direction way they needed to go to score a try. It was a real "Forest 'STOP' Gump" moment. By the time they were tackled they were on their own 22 metre line so it was evident they didn't listen to the crowd at all!

The game which a lot of people were waiting for was the last one scheduled for the evening - Australia v England. It was a much closer game then some of the others and the home crowd was right behind it's team. However, not even Australia's smallest supporter, a soft toy kangaroo placed on the ground in front of the Australian bench, could help the team over the line. The game came down to the last minute with some exciting footy but Australia was beaten 14-12 by England. Oh well, there can only be one winner.

We didn't got to any of the finals sessions on the Friday but the results were as follows:
Gold: New Zealand
Silver: England
Bronze: Fiji

A long time ago in a city not so far away...

2006-03-23T17:54:00.000+11:00

Lets go back in time about a week and catch up on this Blog a little:

Last Wednesday the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games were officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen at, funny enough, the Opening Ceremony. Anna and I had planned on staking a claim to a couple of pieces of turf on the bank of the Yarra River to enjoy the festivities and although we figured we wouldn't see a great deal we knew at least we could soak up the atmosphere -- be a part of it. The first item on our action plan for the day was to head on down to our respective side of the river at lunchtime to scout out potential locations.

At around 9:30am I got a phone call from Mum. She'd just found out she'd had been given two tickets to the actual OPENING CEREMONY! How cool was that! Mum is one of the thousands of people who have volunteered to help out during the Games. Her role as a volunteer has been that of Cast Support for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and for the last couple of months she has been working a 3-4 times a week at the numerous practises and rehearsals.

Having confirmed that Dad could not make the Ceremony I called Anna to tell her not to bother about trying to find a location. She asked if I'd already found one to which I replied: "How's the MCG grab you?" Much excitement followed. Unfortunately, at that point there was still a whole day of work ahead of us. My concentration for the rest of the day left a lot to be desired --- Especially once I realised that I would be at 'The G' with The Queen! OH! MY! GOD! (I hope Scott H. doesn't read this bit!) Not quite sure why that excited me so much. Weird...

The seats we had were terrific and they allowed us an unobstructed view of everything that was going on. Now, I'll be honest in saying that some of what was going on I didn't quite follow -- A duck? A tram with wings? However, I thought everything was fantastic! Being there I was able to appreciate it for what it was -- A spectacular performance by an incredibly hard-working cast which created an atmosphere of wonderment (or was that confusion? ;-), excitement and joy. Mum has been working so hard over the last two months and she hasn't even been involved in performing or organising so I can only imagine what the performers and behind-the-scenes people have gone through.

My absolute most favouriest part was the Ballerinas and Motorbikers, choreographed to Under the Milky Way by The Church. I was initially drawn to this part due to my long-time love of that particular song. However, what totally captivated me was despite the obvious visual contrast between the Ballerinas and Bikers they were both strikingly similar in their movement and grace. Believe me, seeing it live was awesome - Somehow Channel 9 managed to capture nothing of the magic of those few minutes...

... Actually, Channel 9 somehow managed to catch very little anything that evening and Ray 'We've been told this city is apparently called Melbourne' Martin was terrible. Surely there was a Melbournian who would have been more appropriate -- someone who would have shown pride and knowledge of their city. Anyway, moving on...

Another highlight would have to be the deafening roar that filled the MCG when the Australian athletes were finally announced! Chills, I tell you :)

The ceremony concluded with Delta Goodrum singing some song she'd written especially for the Games. Once the firework-y rollerbladers rolled into stadium all thoughts of Delta were forgotten as rollerblader after rollerblader dashed around with what looked like gigantic sparklers and Catherine wheels attached to their backs. This was all topped off with an equally impressive firework display from the Yarra River, the tops of city buildings and around the outside of MCG. Truly spectacular!

We were incredibly lucky Mum got given those tickets and I am so glad I had the opportunity to go. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else on that night. Thanks Mum!

I've had a few more Commonwealth Games experiences -- The Queen's Baton Relay, Rugby 7s, Weightlifting and Big colourful Fish -- but those stories will have to wait for another day.

Storm 22 d Warriors 16

2006-03-13T15:20:00.000+11:00

OK, OK so I may be prematurely optimistic but a gal can dream, can't she?

It wasn't the best game yet it still managed to be somewhat entertaining. At the end of the day though it was very scrappy and I think Matty Geyer summed it up best with his quote in this morning's Herald Sun: "The result was the best thing for us today. We were the least worse team"

Now showing...

2006-03-12T01:31:00.000+11:00

Zathura: A Space Adventure

Mum and I went to see Zathura yesterday. The movie is based on the book of the same name, by Chris Van Allsburg. This is the guy who has also had movies made from his books; Jumanji and The Polar Express.

Zathura is along the same lines as Jumanji. Two kids play a game called Zathura: A Space Adventure. However, Zathura is no ordinary game. Things that happen in the game seem to really happen to them - they 'live' the game.

It was exciting and amusing and scary - even I jumped at one point. The actors all did a fantastic job and made it very believable.

The rest of the patrons in the cinema were a mixed bunch, covering all groups. From the laughter and gasps during the movie I think it's safe to say that everyone enjoyed it.

In another's colours...

2006-03-12T00:01:00.000+11:00

It's all happening in the NRL 2006 Season. So far we've had;

Two sin binnings (one, two), a streaker, a 'pest', a broken cheek, a dislocated shoulder and couple of upset wins...

The highlight of the round for me so far was being able to see Steve Bell play his first game for Manly. It was actually a lot harder to watch then I thought it would be. This sounds really silly right? I know and I can't explain... We'll maybe I can by saying "We know him", you know? He's not just another player. We spoke to him after EVERY home game and EVERY away game we went to. EVERY game since mid-2001. He was ALWAYS there and ALWAYS up for a chat, no matter what. Of course, there was also his performance on the field. He was a star for Storm. and he never got the shout outs he deserved. However, we knew he was a star --- Sheesh, I knew from the first time I saw him play for us (Trial Game - Albury, 2001).

Tuning into the delayed telecast of the Manly v. Raiders game on Foxtel tonight, I got this crushing sense of sorrow the moment I saw him on the field. He was no longer wearing the Storm colours and never would again. Instead, there he was in maroon and white. Manly colours. Another team's colours. It was all wrong. I didn't actually ink but I'll be honest and say that my eyes did well up a little at that point. Hey, no eye rolling - I'm being honest here :)

He had a good game. No. He had a great game. He scored two tries, the second was brilliant and at a time when nothing much was doing for Manly. Defensively, he and his partner on the wing, Chris Hicks, have a bit of work to do but I am sure once they get used to each other's game things will be fine.

Manly lost their game against the Raiders but according to Foxsports: "One of the few positives for Manly was the enterprising form of new recruit Steve Bell, with the centre crossing for two of his side's three tries."

Manly are extremely lucky to have him on their side. I sure wish he was still on mine.

The 'real-life' Simpsons

2006-03-07T23:07:00.000+11:00

So, Is it a case or art imitating life, or life imitating art?

Even if you don't watch The Simpsons you are probably familiar with the opening credits. After 17 odd years it's hard not to have seen it at least once. If you love, loath or show indifference to The Simpsons you might still appreciate this cool little bit of film.

Team Tuesday

2006-03-07T17:00:00.000+11:00

Finally it's back! Boy, what a long summer.

Traditionally, every Tuesday each team in the NRL releases a list of it's players expected to make up the team for the upcoming round. Hence -- 'Team Tuesday'. I can't remember when Emma and I first started calling it that but it was quite some years ago. Today was the first 'Team Tuesday' for the 2006 and I couldn't believe how excited I was. There's something about checking the internet every 5 minutes to see if your team has been announced that I find most agreeable. For me 'Team Tuesday' signifies the start of the new round and the point from which anticipation for the weekend's game genuinely starts to build. Today it also marked the start of the new season! Whoo Hoo... RUGBY LEAGUE is BACK!!!

The Melbourne Storm team to play against the New Zealand Warriors in Round 1 is as follows:

1. Billy Slater
2. Matt Geyer
3. Matt King
4. Greg Inglis
5. Jake Webster
6. Scott Hill
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Garret Crossman
9. Cameron Smith
10. Antonio Kaufusi
11. David Kidwell (c)
12. Michael Crocker
13. Dallas Johnson

Interchange:
14. Brett White
15. Ryan Hoffman
16. Ian Donnelly
17. Steve Turner
18. Jamie Feeney
(one to be omitted)

Nice looking team. It'll be great to see Steve Turner back after that nasty foot injury kept him out for most of last year. I can't wait to see how Cooper goes at halfback. Hopefully, he and Scotty Hill can build up a strong partnership. If those two click, we could be in for a great year. Our forwards seem strong enough and there a few new faces that will need to be at their best week after week to push the line. There's been a bit of talk about Garret Crossman and seeing him in the starting lineup makes me think it's not just 'talk'.

The team kind of reminds me of '98-'99. A few old faces and plenty of young and new ones out to prove they have what it takes to make the grade. There doesn't seem to be a heap of pressure on us either. Very few expect big things from us this year --- No Sydney sports journo has seen fit to predict us finishing in the Top 10 let alone anywhere near the Top 8. We'll show 'em though!

Storm Premiers 2006 - THAT'S MY DREAM!

Besides, with Captain Kiddo leading the team this week -- Round 1 is gonna be great!

Having said all that, I still can't help but think there is something missing or more specifically 'someone' :( ... It's not going to be the same without Belly.
Guess I will just have to make sure I watch the Manly v Raiders game on Saturday night:
(Manly Team: Brett Stewart, Paul Stephenson, Steve Bell, Steve Matai, Chris Hicks, Michael Monaghan, Matt Orford, Jason King, Shayne Dunley, Brent Kite, Steve Menzies, Anthony Watmough, Ben KennedyÂ© Interchange: Travis Burns, Luke Williamson, Kylie Leuluai, Mark Bryant)