An eventful weekend...

(1) Sister got engaged
(2) Went to the Brack retrospective
(3) Dug up friend's front yard

Lost in translation

One of my sisters and her boyfriend just got back from a month-long holiday in Asia. They bought me this book from the airport:



I was reading the book on the train this morning but had to put it down because it was making me laugh so much.

Humour aside, the author of the book raises some very interesting cultural and linguistics issues, both in the preface of the book itself and also on his popular blog.

Today I turn...

Checking the bathroom cupboard

My dad and one of my sisters are in town this weekend. Nathan volunteered to stay at his mum's place over the next couple of nights to give us more room around the apartment.

I spent the day taking dad and sis around Melbourne and made good use of our sunday saver tickets, first with a visit to the Queen Vic markets, then for pho at Springvale before making our way to Box Hill and then back to the city, dinner and an hour at Crown (dad's idea).

Nate rang in the early evening from his mum's place and asked me to check the bathroom cupboard when I got back home for shampoo. I reminded him that he had just bought two bottles but he insisted that I check again. I thought it a rather odd request but agreed to do so when I got home.

Anyhow, after dinner, I returned back to the apartment and went upstairs to check the cupboard. There were 4 bottles in the cupboard (not two). In addition, I found a bag with one of these...


...a couple of tickets to this...


...and a gift voucher to spend here...

A note to self

I'm lucky enough to be working in my dream job. Yet, in the last few weeks, I've become a little disillusioned about what it takes to succeed in academia. Like any other profession, it helps to be strategic, to network, and to schmooze with the right people. A friend/colleague of mine is great at playing the game. I think he will go far. By contrast, I am not at all interested in getting caught up in the political wrangles. I want to be able to do my job and do it well, and I want to be able to maintain a healthy work/life balance. I want to develop and maintain genuine relationships with colleagues that are based on mutual respect. I dont ever want to make my way to the top by clambering on others. At the end of the day, I hope I can look back with my integrity intact. I can't imagine anyone aspiring to be an arsehole but boy, am I starting to see a lot of them about.

Desert photos

I'm back...

...and a little more tanned than usual after a week driving around in the desert. Photos shortly.

Miscellaneous ramblings

1. Went to work today to pack the 4WD for the trip out to the desert. I haven't really had much of a chance to think about the fielwork I'll be doing once I get out to the middle of nowhere but I'm finally starting to get excited. It'll be a nice break from the regular work routine and it's nice that I'm going with work colleagues that I get along well with. I reckon I'm going to have a very productive time.

2. I have worn a hole through the crotch of my newish g-star jeans. Bloody hell. This time, the jeans lasted less than 6 months. At $250 a pop, I'm kinda pissed. True...I have been wearing these jeans almost every single day since I bought them. I blame the wallet in the back right pocket for somehow causing excessive wear and tear to the inner right leg of the jeans by causing undue drag (rather than sucumb to the possibility that it may be caused by excessive fat of the inner thigh).

3. Roasting a rack of pork tonight...mmmm. No doubt this will only contribute to my jeansd woes but I reckon I'll be losing weight out in the desert. I always lose weight on field trips....it's great to be a roving biologist.

Two year anniversary

Nate and I celebrated our two year anniversary yesterday. Yep...it's been two years since we went on our first date (which ended up lasting almost three days). We had a fairly low key celebration last night (we were both exhausted)...a simple home-cooked pasta dinner, a bit of TV and then off to bed (to sleep). I cannot think of a better person with whom to share my life...he is an eternal optimist, always thinks good things about other people, is constantly happy, makes me laugh incessantly, and lays out my PJs on the bed for me when I come home from work. Now if only I can get him to eat his vegetables and he'd just be about perfect.

My little arid adventure

Just a little over a week to go before I head off on a field trip to Central Australia for work. The plan is to take one of the work vehicles and head to South Australia with some colleagues. I just hope the weather is good so I don't get stranded out in the desert. I guess it's hard to lose yourself nowadays...We'll be bringing along a satellite phone and an epirb in case we run into difficulty.

another stinker on the train

I knew there could be a problem even before I got on the train. The guy with the over-sized suitcase had very strong BO that was perceptible even when we were standing outside on the railway platform. You can imagine the strength of the stench within the confines of a train carriage. Unfortunately for me, he sat nearby. Another man got up and moved. I tried to ignore the odour but decided to switch carriages before we reached the next station.

A day at the beach

Nate and I met up with some friends today at the beach. We had scheduled to meet them in the morning. This was a mistake given our late night out the previous evening. We had to take a detour when the friend we were meeting left his wallet at work. We ended up meeting him near his place so that I could give him some money to get the train out to Mentone.

By the time we reached Mentone, Nate and I were like walking zombies. A greazy breakfast at the 'Charisma cafe' near the train station provided a temporary respite before we made our way by footfrom the train station, along Beach Road, and then (finally) to flat rock point. It took a while to hook up with our other friends. They were lying on some other beach a few kilometers up from where we were but it took us a good 10 minutes to realise that we were not at the same location.

Me: Where near the surf club now. Where are you guys?
Andreas: We are near the surf club.
Me: But I can't see you guys. Wait. What colour is your surf club?
Andreas: Red and blue.
Me: Shit. Ours is blue and yellow.

Greyhound

Went to The Greyhound Hotel last night. It was my first time. I'd been past many times before. Nate was hit by a car on the intersection when he was 14 (which he keeps reminding me). As for the venue, I'd heard lots of negative comments about the place but I had a really good time. The drag shows, in particular, were a hoot.

The city is a shambles

Trams are delayed. People everywhere. And that God-awful sound of racing cars buzzing in the distance.

The not so generous eel meal

Last night I went out for Japanese food with a friend from work. As I perused the dinner menu, I saw one of my favourite dishes...unagi (grilled eel). I chose the version described as "a generous portion of eel on rice" which was substantially more than the regular 'eel on rice'. When the dish arrived, I was very disappointed. I think the chef must have a very warped understanding of what 'generous' means because, although tasty, generous it most definitely wasn't. I ended up ordering a salmon and advocado salad on the side.

Nevertheless, inspired by unagi, my friend and I decided to buy some already-grilled-frozen-eel from an asian grocery store near the restaurant. We got so far as the counter when we realized our so-called japanese unagi was made in China. We tossed it back in the freezer and left.

It was all worthwhile...

I stepped in to deliver four lectures this semester in a course that I have never taught before. I was quite daunted by the prospects because I had very little time to prepare the lecture material (our head of department made a last minute request for someone to step in because the department had stalled in the interview process for new academics who were suppose to teach in that course). Today I delivered the first of the lectures. It ended with spontaneous applause from the students. I guess it went well.

Korean

Went out for korean food last night. We decided to be adventurous and ordered an anglerfish (monkfish) stew. This is what the fish looks like:

This is what it looks like after it has been transformed into the stew:


The stew was slimy, gelatinous and most definitely an acquired taste.

Car park dilemma

I own a car space in the apartment where I live. In the last couple of weeks, an inconsiderate pleb has been repeatedly parking his/her car in my spot. At first, I thought it was legitimate mistake and left a polite note asking the owner to remove their vehicle. A few days later, they did it again. Once more, I left them a polite note (discretely replacing mine with the more terse one that Nathan had earlier left on their windshield). Late last week I discovered the same car parked in my space for the third time. This made me angry (very, very angry). Hypothetically speaking, if one should find themselves in such a predicament, is it excusable to do one (or more) of the following?

(A) scratch the car up (just a little)
(B) let out some air from the back tyres
(C) stick a potato in the exhaust pipe
(D) pour fish sauce in the air intake

How I almost missed my flight

I'm in Canberra this weekend visiting family but I almost didn't make it to the airport in time to catch my flight yesterday afternoon. I completely mis-timed how long it would take to get back from work, pack my bag, and go to Southern Cross to catch the bus to the airport. In the end, I decided to head straight to the airport from work. Looks like I may have to wear the same shirt for the next two days. Fortunately dad has a couple of new, clean underwear I can borrow!

The great train debacle

There were train issues heading home from work yesterday. Due to an 'incident' at the previous station, city bound trains were cancelled. In hindsight, I would have been better off waiting at the station until services resumed. Instead, I decided to take the bus to a different station and to try and intercept a train from there. Well...what an adventure. I ended up taking four buses and three trams to get back to the city. The travel time? 2.5 hours.

The scrawny woman with the satanic scowl

Maybe it's public transport angst that I am projecting but I've taken a real disliking to a fellow commuter. Of course, I know absolutely nothing about this woman and am judging her solely on her physical appearance and behaviour which, I guess, makes me an extremely superficial person. But seriously...There is absolutely nothing (nothing!) endearing about this woman. If Amy Winehouse had intimate relations with Noah Taylor, and if the tryst resulted in a daughter, she would probably grow up resembling the woman I am describing. Her rake-thin body is accentuated by a hideous long black leather trench coat. She has a permanent scowl on her fish-like face and seems to be forever holding a rolled cigarette between her lanky, scarlet-painted finger tips. Apart from her haggard bad looks, she is also a most inconsiderate commuter. Forget queue etiquette here...this woman uses her pencil thin physique to good use, darting and weaving between others to get to the front of the bus line. And once she's embedded herself in the line, she will sneakily move closer and closer to the front of the queue by strategically blowing her acrid cigarette smoke onto others.

Sigh...

Holiday over. Back at work. No public holiday Monday for me.

Sydney - Day 5

My cousins took us through the back streets of Sydney to Cabramatta for lunch. We went to a restaurant that specialises in sugar cane prawn wraps. I've never had this dish before but boy was it good. Minced up prawns are coated around sticks of sugar cane then grilled to perfection. These arrive at the table with squares of rice vermicelli, a basket of herbs, a small container of fish sauce (for dipping), dried rice paper sheets and a bowl of boiling hot water. Then it was a (simple?) case of assembling the meal at the table. This procedure first involves softening the rice paper in the boiling water. Once softened, the rice paper was used to wrap a sliver of the grilled prawn, vermicelli and herbs. After wrapping, the whole thing is dipped in the pungent fish sauce before consumption. Delectable.

In the evening, Nate and I met up with some friends and headed off early to Oxford Street to stake out a spot for the mardi gras. We managed to get a prime position right at the start of the parade route then waited (and waited). Eventually the dykes zoomed past and the parade began.

The atmosphere was fantastic. I even managed to see someone I knew marching along in one of the floats. He was clantily dressed in a leather outfit with the bears, which was quite a contrast to the softly spoken, conservatively dressed person I knew him to be (the sort of guy who always wore his polo shirts with the top button done up). We left just before the parade ended, weaving our way through the crowd, the rubbish and the streams of urine trailing down the side walk near Elizabeth Street.

Sydney - Day 4

Headed off to Bondi beach in the morning. Neither Nate nor I had ever been to Bondi before so we decided to go there for breakfast and a stroll. Saw lots of tourists, surfers and swimmers but nothing like what was photographed the day before...

Went to Oxford street next for a bit of shopping and then back to Newtown for a siesta before meeting up with friends at a local pub. The pub was chosen by virtue of the fact that there were $3 Calsbergs to be had. Being a non-drinker, I settled for a soda water which cost $3.20. How wrong is that? Attempted to have an early night. Failed miserably.

Dragon fruit...

...is overrated. I think I had high expectations given the brilliant appearance of the fruit. The two I bought yesterday were a variety that had magenta-coloured flesh (instead of the usual white with black seeds pictured above). I decided to cut one open last night. Juicy but tasteless.

Sydney - Day 3

While Nathan was busy climbing the Sydney Harbour bridge today, I strolled from Circular Quay back up to Paddington to check out an aboriginal art gallery that I had difficulties finding a couple of days ago. This time I wrote down the address on a scrappy piece of paper and managed to find the gallery hidden behind a laneway. I spent the next hour with the gallery staff rummaging through their collection of bark paintings. I was particularly interested in works by a senior Kuninjku artist from Western Arhem land by the name of Mick Kubarkku who passed away recently. Kubarkku painted rather whimsical-looking spirit figures and totemic animals. His paintings are held in all of the major public galleries in Australia (the National Gallery of Australia recently bought a number of his works for their collection) and are quite pricey and hard to find (Kubarkku stopped producing works a few years ago due to ill health). To my absolute surprise, the gallery had two of his paintings for sale and, even more surprising, they were actually affordable. I bought the echidna pictured below.


I met Nate afterwards back at Circular Quay at the Museum of Contemporary Art where we shared the world's most expensive salt and pepper squid. We then made our way to Paddy's market where Nate decided to indulge in a massage. I left him in the capable hands of the chinese masseuse and headed over to the fruit section where I bought two of these.

They are called dragonfruit and belong to a species of epiphytic cactus native to Mexico. It has the most amazing magenta-coloured flesh.

Caught up with my cousins for dinner. We had planned to try a Malaysian roti place but it was packed and the queue outside wasn't really moving so we went to Menya, a japanese ramen place.

I was extremely tempted in taking up their Godzilla ramen challenge. The rules were simple. Cosume a bowl of their Godzilla-sized ramen in 30 minutes and it's free. Sounds easy? Well, it's not. The Godzilla ramen is 4 times the size of a normal serve of ramen and weighs in at an impressive 2kg. I was tempted but chickened out at the last minute and opted for a 'mega' ramen instead (which was merely 2 times the size of a regular serve).

Sydney - Day 2

Caught the ferry to Manly today for brekky. Nate and I strolled around for a bit before settling on a cafe that seemed to be the most popular on the street. We were not disappointed. I managed not to order the big brekky. Instead, I was drawn to the fried calves liver. Mmmm...offal.

Afterwards, we headed back to Circular Quay and were planning to take the ferry to Darling Harbour but made the decision to walk there instead. This was probably unwise in the light of all the walking we had done yesterday (both of our legs were still sore). Nonetheless, it was a nice stroll along the Rocks, piers and city. We caught up with a friend for lunch who is Sydney for his job (he is a member of an orchestra) before heading back to Circular Quay (this time by ferry) to catch a bus over to Dank Street in Waterloo.

Dank Street made me feel as though I had died and gone to heaven. Nestled amongst a bunch of commission flats was the most amazing street full of funky art galleries and furniture shops. The icing on the cake was realizing that we could catch the bus back to Newtown afterwards. Am having dinner 'in-house' tonight with friends. Nate needs to rest up for his harbour bridge climb tomorrow.

Sydney - Day 1

Nate and I did a shit load of walking today. We left Newtown in the morning and walked over to Chinatown where we had a chinese brekky before going to Darling Harbour to visit the Sydney Aquarium and the (newer) Wildlife Park next door.

Afterwards, we made our way to the Fish Markets via Star City (I swear that the sight of fish was not the motivation for feasting on them afterwards). I ordered 200grams each of sashimi-grade tuna, kingfish and salmon and had an amazing lunch.

Caught the light rail back to the city and had intended to visit an aboriginal art gallery but I got completely confused and ended up near the wrong Phillip Street off the wrong stretch of Elizabeth Street (I hate it when different streets are given the same names!). Fortunately we were close to the Art Gallery of NSW so we walked over to there instead for a drink. Art Express was on. This showcase of the top works by HSC students was a sight to behold. There are some truly talented young artists out there. Unfortunately the Archibald doesn't open until the weekend so will have to go back to the Gallery later.

After the Art Gallery, Nate and I decided to walk over to Kings Cross and then to Paddington to look for a few more galleries (with varying degrees of success) before making our way back to Chinatown where we caught up with a friend for a quick bite.

Am now back in Newtown, sprawled on a couch. My feet are sore!

Planning to go to Manly tomorrow.

Inverloch

Made a spontaneous trip to Inverloch on Thursday evening with Nate to visit his grandmother. We headed there with his mum after work and were stuck in peak hour traffic heading out of the city. Eventually, after what seemed like forever, we made it to Inverloch. It was the first time I had met Nate's grandmother but I've heard a lot about her. She's a fiery one. I'd pity anybody brave enough to take her on. Fortunately, we got a long very well. Granny (and she's kill me if I called her that to her face) is a brilliant cook and kept us well fed. Her cheese scones are to absolutely die. It was sad to leave her (and her cooking) to get back to Melbourne this arvo.

One thing that really struck me about Nate's grandmother was just how deeply she was still morning the loss of her husband in September last year. The slightest memory would trigger her off. I guess she is still very much grieving for the love of her life. It's beautiful but very touching at the same time.

Off to Sydney next Monday for a week of rest, socialising, and mardi gras. Can't wait!

The human mating system

Nate and I had brunch with one of my (straight) work mates on Saturday. He had gone out the night before with two of his other gay friends (a married couple) and was slightly disillusioned when he found out that this couple had an open relationship. I must admit that I was a little surprised also; Nate, less so. This got me thinking...why are humans monogamous and is there a difference between straight and gay couples?

Monogamy is quite rare in nature. In fact, thanks to DNA finger printing, we are beginning to realise that many so called 'monogamous' species partake in sneaking extra pair copulations on the side.

In some animals, like seahorses, pairs remain monogamous because the cost of partner switching is quite high.

Some evolutionary psychologists suggest that our monogamous mating system is quite recent and that our evolutionary ancestors were promiscuous. Compared to other great apes, the size of our testes and penises are large for a species with a monogamous mating system.

Sexual conflict is rife throughout the animal kingdom as each sex tries to maximise it's own reproductive success. Here, it is not uncommon for each sex to wish monogamy on its mating partner whilst engaging in promiscuity for themselves.

So...I wonder if open relationships are more common in same-sex relationships because there is less of a sexual conflict.

Airport Angst

I travel quite a bit with my job and I've missed my fair share of flights but I've never reacted like this woman...


My top 3 list of bad airport/airline experiences:

1. Sao Paulo to New York (American Airlines). Missed my connection due to delays flying from a conference in another Brazilian city. Rushing between gates was not helped by the fact that I was carting a 1m long fiberglass fish that I had bought at a flea market. Was eventually placed on the next flight to New York and was fortunate enough to score two seats...one for me and one for the fish.

2. Singapore to Sydney (Qantas). This was caused by a delay in Finland, resulting in a missed connection. The flight from Helsinki was the scariest flying experience I've ever had....the plane accelerated on the runway then braked suddenly. My immediate thought was that we were going to hit another plane but apparently it was due to a warning light in the cockpit. The plane was fine but we had to wait two hours for the engineers which meant I missed my flight from Singapore to Sydney.

3. LA to Sydney (Qantas). The flight crew were involved in a car accident on the way to the airport. They weren't allowed to fly and so we had to wait for replacement crew.

Welcome to Oz!

I was expecting to see my new PhD student yesterday who was flying in from overseas. I get a message from him in the afternoon apologising that he won't be able to meet me. I give him a call on his mobile. He tells me that he was on his way to Gippsland. GIPPSLAND. WTF? Either he made a huge mistake in arranging his temporary accommodation or the University screwed it up. Apart from the obvious distance between where he is living and where he is meant to be working, there is also the not so trivial issue of bushfires in the area. First day in Oz and he has gone out to the site of Australia's worst natural disaster. What a welcome.

Darwin's dinner and a conversation about death

Yesterday was the 200 anniversary commemorating the birth of Charles Darwin. The museum here in Melbourne put on a very nice cocktail dinner and I was lucky enough to secure a free ticket to the event. The dinner reflected the theme of evolution and we grazed our way through the evolutionary tree with such delights as primordial soup (which tasted a lot like seafood bisque), crocodile skewers, and 'dinosaur' drumettes. The dinner culminated in a huge chocolate fountain (which was meant to resemble the lava flow following the meteor impact that killed off the dinosaurs). It was hugely entertaining. Apart from the food, we also got to go to the imax theatre and watch a documentary on the dinosaurs of Patagonia. The doco was in 3D and, although memerizing, left me feeling a bit queezy. There was even a circus performance aimed at teaching evolution to 3 year olds. With a great deal of artistic licence (and a whole heap of acrobatics, dancing and singing), the audience learnt how fish evolved into lizards and then into birds.

The razzle and dazzle aside, I had the opportunity to speak to a colleague whom I deeply admire and respect. He was down in Melbourne to attend an associated conference. The colleague lost his son less than two years ago and we spent an hour talking about all the motions that follow on from the tragedy. The nice thing about the scientific community in which I work is that it's a relatively close knit group and the impact of the death resonated across the country. But suicide is a difficult issue to grapple with and more so when the reasons are not clear. The manner in which outsiders deal with the situation can also be varied and, at times, frustrating for the family and friends that are left behind. It was nice to know that the colleague had received my card and it was even nicer to know that the message meant something to him and his family. What do you write on a condolence card under such circumstances? I remembered going to the newsagent, picking out the card, and turning to google for advice. After mulling over the message for a long time, I wrote it. Minutes later I tore it up and went back to the newsagent and bought another blank card. The second time round, I wrote the message I wanted to write. I cant remember exactly what I wrote now but my colleague said that it was one of a handful that really spoke to the family. These were cards, according to him, written by people who had either gone through similar loss or otherwise showed evidence of having gone through some kind of struggle. It was not conscious at the time, but I guess my struggle was my sexuality. Mind you, when I was still trying to grapple with it, I never thought of suicide (though, at times, I was incredibly sad). What I did come to realise though (and I think this was what may have come through in my message) was that, for a long time, I had hoped my parents had understood me enough to simply know that aspect about me without having to deal with the task of actually sitting them down and telling them. But gradually, I began to realise that perhaps kids misunderstand their parents too and the failure to open up to them for fear of how they might react is a barrier that is formidable but not necessarily real. I shared this thought with my colleague. His eyes welled up and we gave each other a hug.

Sam vs Milk

Went and saw "Milk" the other night. I thought it was a really good movie but I have a quibble...Sean Penn's portrayal of Harvey Milk. For the most part, I thought it was great but there were moments in the film when I swear Penn was channeling the character he played in "I am Sam". On the one hand we have a gay activist and on the other, a retarded man fighting for custody of his child. You couldn't ask for more different characters but still, during some of the early parts of the film, Sam and Harvey merged into one.

The fires

The Victorian bushfires are dominating the news coverage at the moment. Living in metropolitan Melbourne, it's hard to imagine the carnage taking place elsewhere since there were no signs of smoke in the actual city itself. Only heat and wind. Incredible wind.

The feeling of disconnection is such a contrast to my experience of the Canberra fires a few years ago. I still remember driving home in the afternoon after spending the morning with a couple of Belgian friends. The sky grew darker and darker as I headed south. There was a red glow in the horizon and ash was raining down everywhere. We were several kilometers away from the fire front but it was still scary. With the Victorian fires, I see the footage and I hear the stories but it still seems a million miles away.

Riding the sushi train

I got back into the city quite late last night and wasn't really in the mood for cooking so I made Nathan meet me at Flinder's Street Station and we headed off to a sushi place on Swanston street. the place we went is one of those sushi train restaurants where you sit at a big communal table and pick out the plates of sushi moving past you along a conveyor belt system.

There are two things that one needs to be careful about at these kinds of sushi establishments. First, one should mindful of the possible risk of food poisoning, as you never really can tell just how long a bit of raw fish might have been circulating on the conveyor belt. Second, there is the danger of overeating. Fortunately, I can say that neither Nathan nor I got sick from last night's meal. However, we did end up paying an arm and a leg because we (well, mostly me) got greedy and just kept eating and eating and eating. You know you've eaten an impressive amount when the chef decides to offer you complimentary dessert. If I'm going to fork out $82 for sushi next time, I think I'd rather fork it out at a more fancy Japanese restaurant.

Happy retirement Michael Kirby

Pride 2009

Went to the pride march yesterday afternoon. It seemed a lot better than the previous couple I've been to. There were people everywhere and the atmosphere was great. Was having an interesting conversation with a guy who reckons that the Melbourne gay community can be a bit superficial. I don't really have much of a point of reference but can certainly see how he may have developed such an opinion. I didn't really see it yesterday though...all I saw was joy.

Gursky, sushi and the brain scooper

To try and escape the heat yesterday, Nathan and I visited the National Gellery of Victoria to check out the photographic exhibition of Andreas Gursky. Wow! His giant photos are absolutely mind blowing. Gursky, a German photographer, holds the record for the highest price paid for a photographic work by a living artist. It's easy to see why. I must admit I haven't really been into photography all that much but this exhibition gave me a whole new appreciation of the artform.

Afterwards, we wandered back to Flinder's Street and caught a tram to a second hand furniture shop on Swan Street where I picked up this nice little marble-topped side table for the balcony. It's called the 'trace' and is manufactured by Naughtone... A cute litle piece of British design for outside. Can't wait for Melbourne to get cool enough (but not so cool) so we can sit outside and sip cold drinks in the evenings.


The table wasn't the only thing I bought. The last time I was at the shop, I saw an unusual long wooden implement from PNG with the image of a man carved on top and four sharp prongs on the bottom. This time, I saw it again and asked the shop manager what it was. Evidently, it's a tool used by headhunters for scooping out brains. It now sits on top of my fridge (Might come in handy one day).

Caught up with some friends for dinner. Finally was introduced to a really nice Japanese restaurant in Melbourne actually owned and operated by Japanese people. The sushi was fantastic and so was the conversations at the table. I spent most of the evening talking to a pair of criminologists (I had a niggling feeling that the guy was profiling me the whole time).

Dicing with death

I read on The Age website last night about a recent spike in people getting poisoned after eating fugu (japanese puffer fish). Apparently a dodgy restaurant was serving up the delicacy without preparing it properly. Made me think back to the time our family went to visit my sister in Japan who was working there at the time. We went to a market place and ordered fugu sashimi from a street vendor. Everyone was a bit reticent to try it but we survived the experience (frankly, I thought it was a little overrated...quite tasteless). We subsequently got to sample it a second time in a restaurant (deep fried). Nothing. No tingling of the lips. No heart palpatations. No seizures. I though the whole 'toxic thing' was blown out of proportion; an exaggeration. We even saw fugu for sale in a supermarket in Japan. Now surely, if it takes years of training to prepare, they couldn't possibly be offering it as standard supermarket fare (I imagined meek japanese housewives expertly carving away the poisonous organs before serving fugu to their families). But last night, I read a somewhat unsettling statistic ... every year, 3 people, on average, still die from eating fugu. Sure, it's not a huge number (more people die from alcohol-related incidents) but it does make you wonder.

In case anyone is curious, this is the proper way to prepare it...

Australia Day/Chinese New Year

It was not the most spectacular Australia Day/Chinese New Year for me but it did end reasonably well. I spent most of yesterday morning working away on my grant proposal. By the afternoon, I had had enough and caught the tram out to meet Nate. We ended up going to one of his former work colleague's place for dinner. The colleague is originally from the Phillipines. The husband was hit by a car many years ago and suffered a stroke. Wife managed to bring up the kids who were all fantastically warm and chatty. I ended up eating way too much and got given a bunch more food to take home. Will be browsing on leftovers tonight!

Saving up for a play station

Last night, Nate and I took his sister and his niece to Crown. Niece wanted to go to the Galactic Circus which is basically a giant amusement park with games for kids to play. Prizes depend on the accumulation of tokens won whilst playing. Niece wants a play station. After winning 1000 tokens she still has about 59000 to go.

We went to see the movies afterwards. Saw "Bride Wars". Two words: chick flick. Still, it was quite entertaining and I managed to enjoy my evening despite work craziness niggling on my mind.

The great cake debacle (update)

The cake was 'patched up' with white icing and a liberal sprinkling of shredded coconut. A strategically placed strawberry completed the transformation. Unfortunately the cake broke into two pieces but parents of the baby seem pleased by the gesture and it looks nowhere near as bad as when Nate took delivery of it on Friday morning. Disaster averted.

I attended the christening this morning. I was expecting the baby to scream her head off when splashed with holy water but this was not to be. She was remarkably well behaved.

The great cake debacle

Nate ordered a christening cake for his cousin's baby from the people that supply cakes for the bistro where he works. I came home yesterday and saw it sitting in the fridge. I burst into laughter. Nate almost bursts into tears.

The cake looked awful. Cut into the shape of a cruxifix, it was pasted with butter icing so thin you could actually see the parts where the cake had been joined together. On top of the cruxifix, scribbled with a line of chocolate, was the word 'baptism'. Nate evidently rang up the cake shop and swore at the owner and accused oompa-loompas of having made the cake.

We are going to try and 'salvage' the cake before sunday's christening. Could turn into an even bigger disaster. Stay tuned....

The trading up hypothesis

My friend is going through relationship uncertainty at the moment. Actually, it's not her. It's her boyfriend. He doesn't seem to know what he wants and is questioning the relationship. Sadly for my friend, this is the second time it's happened (the last one brought an 8 year relationship to an end). I don't quite understand it. She is one of the nicest people you can possibly meet. Even her ex says so (the one who ended the 8 year relationship). He said to me recently "You are nice but T is REALLY nice". Yeah? Then why did you dump her you idiot? Perhaps she is too nice. Can someone be too nice?

The whole thing about questioning the relationship seems to stem from an unrealistic obsession with finding THE ONE. Some people, of course, convince themselves that they have found such a person...and then start to question it when someone BETTER comes along. People study this phenomenon in animals. It's true. They've even given it a name. It's called the trading up hypothesis. I'd like to think that we are smarter in the way we view potential mating partners compared to, say, a guppy or a cricket but maybe, at the end of the day, we are all the same.

Raw comedy

Raw comedy was actually very good. Nate's cousin wasn't too bad (but that didn't stop me from feeling nervous for him the entire routine). Some of the other people were truly exceptional. I laughed so hard that my eyes started to water (that almost never happens to me). I was, however, a bit disappointed by a couple of hecklers who were knocking one of the guys for telling a gay joke. One girl shouted out "gay jokes aren't funny". She most certainly wasn't speaking for me.

The Local

Been flat out all week again. Apart from having to work on my stupid grant, I've also been running activities with a bunch of high school students at our uni. Am glad it's the weekend.

Last night, Nate and I headed off to a pub called The Local. We were meeting some friends there for drinks, one of whom was celebrating his birthday. We walked into the pub and noticed that none of our friends were there. The immediate thought was panic. Hmmm...maybe his email said 'HIS' local rather than 'The Local'. A quick call and the realisation that the pub had an upstairs section quickly took care of the initial self-doubt. Had a really good time. Met a girl from Canberra who is friends with somebody that I know etc etc (same old story...such a Canberra thing).

Afterwards, Nate, his cousin and I headed off to another birthday thing at PJ Obrien's on Southbank. The music was shit so I stayed for only a few minutes before coming home to bed. Anyhow...Nate returns home sometime later, stumbles into bed and apologises profusely for having met a couple of Australian idol contestants. His speech was a little slurred but evidently he was on the stage, conversations were had, 'love yous' were exchanged, and pictures were taken. I will interogate Nathan later when he wakes up and ask for evidence.

Heading off to see Nate's other cousin do stand up comedy later. I do hope he is funny.

Australia

Finally went and saw Australia last night. I enjoyed it immensely for the entertainment value but I have a complaint. I always feel a bit uneasy about the way non-indigenous Australia tries to portray indigenous issues on the public stage. There is a tendency, I think, to overplay stereotypes (e.g. bearded aboriginal standing on one leg with spear in hand) and/or to depict injustices of the past in a way that is over-the-top (over-compensation?), condescending and superficial all at the same time. The stolen generations is a theme that runs deep in this movie. It's a pity that the treatment of it only scratches at the surface.

Nate's medical dictionary

Nathan borrowed his mum's dictionary of medical terminology. He works in a hospital bistro but is thinking of moving into medical records. I come home yesterday afternoon to find Nathan lying on the bed flipping through the dictionary. We look up 'smegma' and 'perenium', giggled, and then got ourselves ready for the dinner party.

Thank God it's Friday

What a week! It's been incredibly hectic and stressful at work (with no signs of letting up for at least a month). I'm soooo glad it's Friday. Tonight, Nate and I are heading off for dinner at a friend's house. I'm not much of a sweet tooth, but to counter the sourness of the last few days, I reckon I'm well justified picking up some of these along the way to bring to the dinner party...

I survived Ikea

In a momentary lapse of stupidity, I was quickly reminded that Ikea on a Sunday afternoon is not for the faint-hearted. The escalator up to the entrance was crammed with eager shoppers (mostly in the form of young families with cumbersome prams and/or screaming kids). I should have turned around. I didn't. Instead, I join the other foolish idiots and head upstairs. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. I entertain the idea of ordering swedish meatballs at the restautrant even though I had already had lunch (I blame Muzbot). I resist temptation and mozie downstairs. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. I find my tealights and head to the check out.

Itenerary

Hmmm...how should I spend the last day of my holidays?

Well...maybe I shouldn't have begun by checking my email and clicking open mail that is obviously work-related. Following that, I should certainly not have spent the next three hours working.

Plans for rest of the day...

1. Shut off computer
2. Brush teeth and take shower
3. Have some lunch
4. Get out of apartment. Take first tram that comes along the corner of Spencer and Collins. If it is the 112 tram, I shall go to Brunswick Street and do some window-shopping and people-gazing. If it's the 109 tram, I will go to Ikea and buy tea lights.
5. Heck...scratch option 4. Walk to Brunswick Street to work off Christmas fat, go window-shopping and people-gazing, AND then catch a tram to Ikea to buy tealights.

Yarragon

Just got back from visiting Nate's dad and sister in the country. We caught the train out to Yarragon, a quaint little village situated along the Princes Highway. We had lunch at Nate's dad's place before heading out to the family farm where Nate's sister lives. I played singstar with Nate's 11 year old niece for 3 hours (I kicked her ass).

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everybody. Hope 2009 bring lots of blog-worthy adventures to fellow bloggers and tantalising reading for the rest.

Off to a party hosted by a couple of friends I haven't seen in quite a while. Should get quite a nice view of the fireworks from their city apartment. I'm glad it's not going to be as hot as last year.

A lazy morning

I love having time off from work. Today, I spent my entire morning in my "Mr. Grumpy" pyjamas (a christmas gift) reading old postings from fellow bloggers. I am feeling completely relaxed.

I think I'll head into the CBD for a wander in the afternoon. Might mozy over to Melb Central and relax in a comfy chair at Borders and read a few mags, then head over to DJs for a bit of a browse...I love going downstairs and smelling the freshly baked cookies.

Unrequited love

Went out for dinner last night with a friend. L wanted advice following her recent trip overseas where she caught up with a girl that she loved. Unfortunately, it's a case of unrequited love for the girl in question has a boyfriend.

It is hard to offer advice when the advice is painful and not what the person wishes to hear. Nate and I tell L that she deserves a better love, one that is less complicated and, more importantly, a love that is reciprocated. We can offer all the advice we want but I guess, at the end of the day, people feel the way they feel and no matter how irrational to an outsider, the feelings and emotions are real to the person who is feeling them. There shall be no judgement, only support.

Footbridge

This new footbridge just opened near my apartment. It looks very "Sydney Opera House".

Barbie, alternative rock music and the sexual harasser

On Saturday night, Nate and I were invited along for dinner with some friends who were visiting from Sydney. One of the people at the dinner was on vacation from the US. As the evening progressed, she mentioned that she was a freelance writer and had recently been working for Mattel, the toy company responsible for making barbie. Apparently her job was to write the toy descriptors on the sides of the boxes and to come up with names for the toys. How cool is that? What struck me, however, was that Laura actually looked a bit like Barbie with her beautiful long blonde hair, nice tan, and make up (no, there was no Ken in sight).


After dinner, we parted ways with Barbie and headed off with our Sydney friends to the Ding Dong bar near Chinatown. There, we spent an hour or so listening to alternative rock music. I must admit it's not really my kind of music but I did enjoy gawping at the drummer.

Next, we caught a taxi to The Peel. I hadn't been to the Peel for ages and it seems that they have done a complete renovation. The clientele still seemed the same though. We headed to the dance floor and were all happily dancing away when our female friend jumped forward and let out a little yelp. Some effeminate blonde guy had deliberately brushed his hand up between her legs. This was unwise since our friend's boyfriend and brother were both on the dancefloor and were (quite understandably) unimpressed. A few words were exchanged and the sexual harasser retreated with his lips pouted in feeble defiance. It killed the mood for us and we decided to leave. Fifteen minutes later we were seated at a table at Crown Casino sipping away on a giant toblerone cocktail.

The anniversary...

This is my coming out story so readers be warned, this is going to be a long one...

It's 4 years to the day that I came out to one of my parents (it took a further two weeks before I came out to the other).

I had arrived back from the US where I had spent almost a year working in a tiny sea-side town on Cape Cod. There, I had met the most amazing people, including the landlady of the house where I was staying. Ginny, who had just retired as principal from a school for troubled teenage boys, rented me a room in her grand old New England home. She had been sharing this home with boarders since the mid 1970s, mostly visiting scientists drawn to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the Marine Biology Laboratory.

Apart from me and Ginny, the house was occupied by four others at the time. Dan, the perpetual boarder, was a strange but endearing gentleman who looked like Jesus, played the french horn, hoarded other people's rubbish, and kept piles of newspapers in his room. Luke was a middle-aged guy with the quintessential Bostonian accent who spent his time living and commuting between the Cape (his work) and Boston (his family). Tyler, my best friend in the house, was a newbie who had arrived in the Cape only a couple of months before I did, so naturally, we spent quite a bit of time together hanging out and exploring the Cape on weekends. Finally, there was Brian who worked in a local cafe called The Pie in the Sky, spent his free time going to some liberal christian church and attended the local gay choir (along with Tyler who is not gay but enjoys singing). Brian, a gentle soul was dealing with mental demons in the form of severe anxiety. He was also the first person I came out to.

Coming out to Brian was not something I had planned and happened only weeks before I was due to return to Australia. I had left work early one day and came back to the house to find Brian sobbing away at the kitchen table. He had been sent home from work because he was feeling extremely anxious and had started crying uncontrollably in front of the customers. As I tried to comfort him, Brian started telling me about the trigger for his most recent episodes of anxiety. Apparently he had a minor falling out with his boyfriend a few weeks earlier (Mario wanted to engage in a deep and meaningful conversation about God. Brian didn't. Mario got upset. Brian was sent into a deep depression). The trigger seemed so trivial to me (such was my ignorance of mental health issues at the time). In my lame attempts at a consolation (and perhaps reflecting where I was in my own mind), I said to him that surely coming out to your parents would have been a more traumatic situation. Then, to my surprise, I just started off loading everything on this poor guy who, by now had stopped crying, and just sat there and listened in stunned silence. After I was done (and feeling that I had selfishly hijacked his moment), Brian bursts into tears, so touched was he that I had decided to come out to him first. I almost burst into laughter.

In the weeks ahead, I spoke to a few other people but was conscious of the fact that I needed to come out to my family and close friends back home. Everyone I came out to in the US was fantastically supportive but perhaps the most touching response was from Ginny who told me that I was a wonsderful person who deserved to find someone wonderful to be with. I will never forget those amazingly generous and kind words.

So...back to Australia. I tell my sisters first. They cried. I cried. And then we laughed. I come out to my closest friends and was, once again, met with incredible support. So far, so good. But what about my parents? I had no idea who I should speak with first. I feel that I am closest with my mother but, for some reason, I decide to tell dad first.

My father would go for a walk every morning to the supermarket. I decide to go with him one morning and tell him along the way. I chicken out. Instead, I tell myself that I would tell him on the way back. But I don't. I chicken out once again. And so it went on like this for a couple of weeks...I would walk out of the house with my father. I'd be full of hope going to the supermarket but kept returning home disappointed in myself. At night, in the comfort of seclusion, I would cry in bed. Why was it so hard? Going through my head were the lyrics of a song I heard on the flight back to Australia. The chorus of Gavin DeGraw's song "I don't want to be" spoke to me in a way that no lyrics had ever spoken to me before...

I don't want to be anything other than what I've been tryin to be lately
All I have to do is think of me and have peace of mind
I'm tired of looking 'round rooms wondering what I gotta do
Or who I'm supposed to be
I don't want to be anything other than me

I decided that if I didn't do it soon, I'd never do it. I was also running out of time since I was due to head off for work overseas again in a few weeks time (to Europe). I decided I would tell my dad after Christmas.

But then, on boxing day, disaster struck...tectonic activities off the coast of Indonesia caused an undersea earthquake, sending a catastrophic tsunami across the Indian Ocean, killing hundreds of thousands of people. The entire family (like everyone else around the globe) was glued to the television. Suddenly, my issues didn't seem all that insurmountable.

The following day, I sat in the kitchen watching the news. It's early afternoon. Dad is there also, already preparing dinner (that's a chef for you). I switch off the television. I tell dad that I need to speak with him about something. I ask him to come with me for a walk. He puts everything down. We step out the house, and I tell him everything.

Crazy

SBS has to be one of the best things about free to air television in Australia. As stipulated in its charter "[t]he principal function of SBS is to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect Australia's multicultural society."

On Christmas eve, SBS aired an excellent french canadian movie called Crazy. The movie revolves around the lives of a family, focusing on a central character by the name of Zac who is one of five sons (in birth order, Zac is fourth). The movie begins at Zac's birth and follows the character until early adulthood. It is a story about personal and family struggles and the coming to grips (and acceptance) of identity (including Zac's sexuality). One early childhood scene in the movie was most poignant. Zac, who was born on Christmas Day, opens his present and is bitterly disappointed by the gift his dad had chosen for him, a hockey set. What Zac really covets was a toy pram which the father had refused the mother from buying. The scene was an especially significant one as it provides the first glimpse of the inevitable identity struggles and father-son conflicts that later ensues. I think it also reflects, very nicely, the complexity of human sexuality and the ways in which it can begin to mannifest.

When I was in the fifth grade, I coveted a doll. Yes, sure, I played with toy cars and planes (especially planes) but for Christmas that year, I wanted a porcelain doll I had seen at a shop called The Australian East India Company at the Woden Shopping Centre in Canberra. It was love at first sight. My first materialistic obsession. I just had to have it. I remember we were studying colonial Australian history at school. As the teacher ranted on about bushrangers and the goldrush, all I could think about was the doll. So much so that I started to draw a picture in the back of my book. The teacher strolls past my desk, notices the picture, stops the lesson and asks (in a loud enough voice so that the entire class could hear), "Is this your girlfriend?" She then picks up the picture and shows it to the rest of the class. Everyone bursts out in laughter. I was mortified.

The classroom experience did not dampen my obsession. That year, as Christmas approached, I remember my dad and I going to the woden shopping centre one Saturday morning. As we went past the Australian East India Company, I insisted that he come into the shop so that I could show him the doll. He wasn't as hostile as the dad in the movie but he didn't seem entirely enthusiastic either. Later, he went to work and I went to the public library. In the afternoon, I returned to the shop to have (yet) another glimpse and, to my absolute shock and horror, she was gone. Gone!

A few weeks later I happen to be rummaging around the garage at home and, hidden amongst the boxes, I found her. Dad must have snuck back and actually bought it for me. On Christmas day, I opened the present with my sisters and cousins and was overjoyed by what I had received (even though I already knew what it was, as most kids probably do). Looking back, I wonder whether my parents were embarrassed by their son wanting a doll for Christmas. If they were, they never showed it. In any case, in my innocent 10 year old mind, I was blissfully unaware as to what all of this would mean.

Christmas Greetings

Wishing everybody a joyful Christmas.

The early Christmas feast

Nathan has to work on Christmas day and is heading back tonight. One of my sisters is also leaving for Melbourne (on Christmas day) to spend time with her boyfriend and his family. As a result, mum decided we should have the big family Christmas feast early this year. So last night, our immediate and extend family gathered at my parents place to wallow in excessive feast.

The preparation was a formidable affair. Dad had spent two days roasting a leg of pork and a huge turkey (apparently mum insisted on getting the biggest one at the supermarket).

It's always a pig out when I come back to Canberra but especially so when it comes to Christmas so I had to pace myself. I had a problem though...brunch with friends, followed by lunch with other friends. At brunch, Dan and Amy hassled me out for being lame and only ordering toast. Admittedly, I think this was one of only a handful of times when I've gone out for brekky and didn't order the biggest breakfast item listed on the menu (if I go out for breakfast, I usually feel a compulsion to be as unhealthy as possible and have the lot... eggs, sausages, bacon, mushrooms and other greasy stuff depending on venue). Two hours later, I was sitting in a cafe with other friends eating arancini. Nathan had a salad.

After lunch, we headed back home and waited in anticipation. It was a much smaller event than last year because some of my relatives were overseas on holiday. I think I refilled my plate at least three times and afterwards had to waddle around the lounge room to help kickstart the digestion process.

Not surprisingly, I decided to skip breakfast this morning. Evidently we are going out for lunch today at a chinese restaurant. No doubt another feast awaits.

Someday soon

Heard a nice song on the radio today on our way to the Royal Australian Mint. With some detective work (and random guessing), managed to track it down to this...

Natasha Bassingthwaighte with Someday Soon.

Back in Canberra

Nathan and I have gone to Canberra to visit my family. We are only here for a few days so I've only told a few friends I'd be in town. Already, however, I've been spotted by a friend who didn't know I would be back for Christmas. Such run-ins reminds me just how small Canberra actually is.

Took Nate to old Parliament House. One of the rooms had an interesting exhibit about Australia's former prime ministers. Nate reckoned that our first PM, Edmund Barton, looked like Peter Phelps. I thought Watson was quite handsome.


Afterwards, we headed off to the National Gallery of Australia to check out an exhibition of Pacific island art. Some of the pieces had an amazing spiritual presence. One especially intriguing piece even contained human teeth.

The morning after

Kylie concert last night was fantastic.

Work Christmas Party (Part 2)

The departmental Christmas party took place yesterday arvo. It was a relaxed outdoor bbq. Thankfully, despite the morning drizzle, the sun managed to show itself by the time the party started. Nate came in after work and we headed over together. Everybody was suppose to bring a plate to share. I made a pumpkin and green bean salad with cashews (liberally sprinkled with the last of the fetta from my pizza party from last week).

When I arrived, my colleague Elissa introduced me to her boyfriend who looked strangely familiar. Strange, because he is not a local and had flown in from America to spend three weeks in Oz with Elissa. Without wanting to look rude, I said that it was great to see him AGAIN and simply assumed that I must have met him on a previous visit to Australia. Later in the afternoon, the guy walks up to me and says that we must have met previously at a conference somewhere. He started rattling off a few possibilities. And then it dawned on us simultaneously...we had, indeed, met once before...in Oaxaca, Mexico! In fact, he was a good friend on my boss when I was working in the States and so we had hung out at the conference in Mexico. I love my job...its a small enough community that you can meet up with people from overseas and then meet them again in some completely different part of the world years later.

Nate and I left when the dark clouds started looming overhead and we decided to catch the train back to the city. We got off at South Yarra with plans to go for a drink. We had a nice chat walking along Chapel Street, which continued at the Tusk cafe. Nate is thinking about doing some sort of course next year to expand his skills and we chatting about that. We also talked about the future and what Nate might want to do down the track. The conversation was a bit full on at times but it is good to talk openly about these things. Afterwards, we continued our stroll along Chapel, hopped on a tram, and made our way back home to bed.

Kylie concert tonight! Yay!

Another food safety violation...

Oh dear...another food safety violation by a Melbourne-based restaurant (with nauseatingly graphic photo gallery on The Age news website). The Meekong Vietnamese Restaurant in Swanston Street is (was?) one of my favourite places for pho, that delectable vietnamese noodle soup of rare beef (and other body parts) bathed in a tasty broth with rice noodles, fresh basil and bean shoots. This is what pho looks like when it is brought out to your table (mmmm)...

The restaurant is a favourite, not only among us regular folk but also celebrities like Jacky Chan (as evidenced by the worn photos plastered around the walls). The sign on the shop front even puts out a most intriguing challenge to p otential customers: "Bill Clinton ate two bowls. How many can you eat?" Now...if this is how the beef looks before it is prepared, I'm afraid I wont be stopping by for pho anytime soon...

Another brush with 'celebrity'

Since I've been in Melbourne I seem to be spotting a fair few 'celebrities' from reality TV in my day-to-day activities. A few months ago, there was the apparent sighting of a former Australian Idol contestant. This week, I spotted an aspiring model. I was on a train into the city and an exceptionally well-dressed and handsome man gets on and sits opposite me. He sported one of those dirty bleached hairdos that matched his complexion so that it was hard to tell where hair ended and face began. I quickly realised that this was no ordinary, everyday Melbourne metrosexual but a contestant from....Make me a Supermodel (I hope this doesn't give away my cringe-worthy viewing practices).

Work Christmas Party (Part 1)

Went to the Faculty Christmas party today (we have a "smaller", more intimate departmental party tomorrow). Wandered over to the marquis that had been set up for the event and quickly noticed most of the people were wearing masks. Crap. I didn't realize there was a theme. Gravitated towards the drinks cart. Found myself a coke, then walked over to the cheese plate and sliced off a generous portion of brie and smeared it onto an under-sized cracker. Cheese was followed by a slice of pizza. Next, I decided to be brave and tackle a hot dog...big mistake. The "sausage" was the consistency of mush encased in what appears to be the same stretchy material used for making the skin ofballoons. Participated in some idle chit chat (mostly about the suspicious content of the hot dog) then decided I had enough and left.

The serenity...

The tram works are over. Yay! No more jack hammers. No more heavy machinery. No more shouting workers. I must admit I'm peversely impressed that the construction workers managed to plough through gail forced winds and torrential rain to complete the platforms over the weekend. And they look reasonably good (i.e. the platforms; not the workers).

Tram works

Ah, the joys of urban living. There is some seriously heavy construction work going on outside my apartment today. It started last night and is scheduled to continue non-stop until Monday morning. There are jack-hammers out in full force, the noise of heavy machinery moving back and forth, and workmen dressed in fluoro-coloured jackets talking loudly. The tram stops are being upgraded to comply with disability requirements. It seems like a total waste of money. My tram stops are relatively new and were only put in a couple of years ago. Why didn't they have the foresight to install disabled-friendly platforms back then? Idiots.

The stupid old mole on the train

An old woman got on the train at Flinders Street this afternoon. I hear her shoo aside other commuters so she could get to her seat. Her face is wrinkled like a dried up prune. She turns to her male companion and starts talking about the chinese and indians sitting around her. First they mimic the chinese people sitting in front of her. She then complains loudly about people coming to this country and not being able to speak in english. The indians behind her roll their eyes in disgust.

A fridge full of cheese

Hosted the lab Christmas party at my place yesterday. Decided it would be a good idea to have 14 people crammed into my tiny loft apartment and make pizzas. I asked everyone to bring pizza topping. The concept worked well but for the fact that every second person bought either mushrooms or fetta and then left all the left over ingredients in my fridge. Hmmm...must now trawl the net for imaginative mushroom and fetta receipes.

Homeless world cup

The homeless world cup just finished here in Melbourne. I seem to be in the minority here but it seems a bit wrong to fly a bunch of homeless people to a city, give them lots of cool corporate-sponsored merchandise, make a spectacle out of them, and then send them home again back to their former lives.

Picnic, brunch and barbeque (update)

Did the picnic yesterday. It was tough but I eventually managed to find the giraffe swing (which looked more like a weird stick insect than a giraffe). I realised that I get quite anxious meeting up with people for picnics in popular public places. The problem is that I hate walking up to groups of people for fear that I have to make a 'subtle' retreat if they turn out not to be the people I'm suppose to be hanging out with. Worse still, is the possibility that I may join a group, start to pig out and then realise I'm hanging out with the wrong crowd. Not really a problem on this ocassion. Apart from our group, there was only two other groups near the swings...one was a big wedding party and the other was a bunch of school kids dressed in their bright red uniforms.

Went to brunch this morning. Of course, I didn't think to factor in possible construction work in the CBD disrupting the tram but, as usual, I'm still the first one at the restaurant (even though I was late). Ended up walking to the cafe from St Vincent's plaza. It was a pleasant stroll. Brunswick Street is so empty at 10ish on a Sunday. Even the beggars were asleep. Decided to be a bit 'out there' and refrained from ordering the biggest brekky on the menu. Went for the 'walnut and apricot toast' instead with the 'maple hazlenut butter' option. It was delicious but not quite sure if it was worth paying seven bucks for two pieces of toast. Thought about pinching the beautiful piece of wood that the toast was served on but, alas, i left my bag at home. Didn't really get a chance to ask Dave about the new girl he was allegedly seeing nor did it feel entirely appropriate to ask if the girl that came along was actually her or not. Instead, Louise and I spent the 40 min walk back to the city trying to speculate. On our way, I saw two things that seemed noteworthy. First, was a gay couple dressed in their polo shirts, walking along Swanston Street holding hands. Very sweet (the holding hands part; not the matching polos). Second was the elderly tranny who crossed the road with us near Collins Street. She was dressed in a conservative cardigan and matching scarf with black high heels. Why is it that some men walk more gracefully in high heels than some women?

OK...off to the BBQ in Aspendale now. Hope the weather holds up.

Picnic, brunch and barbeque

It's all happening this weekend, two fun-filled days of wallowing in excessive feast with friends I simply don't get to see quite often enough. It begins with a picnic in Fitzroy Gardens later today by the giraffe swings (wherever the hell that it...will google later). Then tomorrow, I'm meeting up with Dancing Dave and Louise for breakfast in Fitzroy. Dave, Louise and I all went to uni at the same time but Louise was the only one to have had the foresight to get a real job after she finished and is now earning squillions. Dave is an enigma. Extraordinarily handsome, uber-cool, and very smart. Over the years, he has had some super nice girlfriends. The problem is that he seems to find relationships challenging and he's not sure why. Perhaps he hasn't found the right one, or maybe some people value their independence too much. Either way, I heard a few months ago that he had started seeing someone so I'm looking forward to the goss. Sunday afternoon promises to be a relaxing affair. Off to Aspendale for a farewell BBQ for a student who is soon to finish his studies and is heading back to Europe. We've had a few people finish up at work. It reminds me how transient the 'life' of my department can be. It really only is as good as the people that are here at the time. it'll be sad to see L go. Hmmm...giraffe swing...

What the?

Number 6 (below) is a bit surprising.

Google's Top 10 Australian searches of 2008:

1. Games
2. Sydney
3. YouTube
4. MySpace
5. Facebook
6. Google
7. eBay
8. My
9. Weather
10. Hotmail

All look same?

Check out 'all look same' and have a go at some of the tests to see how good you are at distinguishing between chinese, japanese and korean culture.

My scores...

I was OK with identifying faces (10 out of 18).


Appeared to be OK with placing modern art into the right culture too (10 out of 18).


Was a shocker with traditional architecture (8 out of 18).


And did my best with identifying food to culture (12 out of 18). No surprises there.