Root, shoot or marry...

One of my fave bloggers has taken a break from blogging. Part of her blog that I miss is RSM. So, I'm going to pick up where she left off and revive it here on my blog. This may become a regular feature if you all enjoy it. The rules are very simple. In the comment section tell me who you'd root, who you'd shoot or who you'd marry. Whether you choose the opposite or same sex is your choice.
(For example, from Tony's explanation, if I was to give you: Russell Crowe, John Howard and, say, your boss, you then have to tell the group which one of the three you would root (for non-Australians: have intimate relations with); who you would shoot; and who you would marry. Only one go at each of them, so don't choose all three to root.
By the way, the rooting is a one-off and one night stand only, so don't go thinking you could marry Russell Crowe and have a long-term affair with the PM - not fair.)
It's not always going to be an easy choice, but after a few wines or beers you'll get the hang of it, and maybe even come out with some truthful responses.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

So, since I have updated my blog for April with a comic theme, I thought I'd choose villains. This may be tricky for some of you as sleeping with evil is not something you would normally choose, I hope. So here's your chance to cross over to the dark side and partner with, play with or just be evil yourself and rid the world of an evil force:

The Men


Dr Evil :: Darth Vader :: The Riddler

The Ladies


May Day :: Cruella De Ville :: Wicked Witch of The West

Have I made it too hard for you for #1 RSM? No, I don't think so. So, tell me, who are you going to Root, shoot or marry and why?

bland - blănd:

lacking either stimulating or irritating characteristics.

There is something very average about the colours here. Take a closer look. Where is the contrast between hair, face and shirt?

As a designer, I'm very interested in colour. Hue and tone can portray your taste and personality. It was pointed out to me last week that Andrew G, from The Contest, was very achromatic. I checked this out last night and guess what?... These 3 colours below are the average colour samples from Andrew G. These three colours represent: comfortable, homey, warm, gentle and elegant. BORING.

"Did you know"
These three colours also can be represented by food. These foods are matsutake mushroom, clear soup and dried cuttle fish and these colours were fashionable between 1100AD and 1400AD with Chinese ceramic designers.

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Groovy :: yeah yeah
   
2. Jealousy :: green eye monster
   
3. Watching :: and waiting
   
4. Kenny :: Rogers
   
5. Games :: without frontiers
   
6. Bread :: and butter
   
7. City :: of dreams
   
8. Stems :: and thorns
   
9. Birds :: of a feather
   
10. Listener :: and speaker

2nd night in...

and it feels great to have had a meal in my new place and sit back and relax after a day of IKEA madness. I'm not a fan of shopping centres at the best of times, but today I braved the largest IKEA in the southern hemisphere. I nearly didn't make it into the store after having to go to level 9 of the carpark to find a spot. LEVEL 9! I panic when I'm around so many people in one place frantically shopping. I just don't like it. But I did get a tasty $1 hotdog, so that made up for it.

Then, this evening I realised my bike has a better view of the city than me! Yes, this is the view from my carpark, NOT from my unit.

First night in...

and I'm loving it. This is the view from my new digs. It's raining outside so the light from the buildings is being amplified by little drops of water on my new windows. I'm feeling pretty good about things right now.

I still have a bit more to move in and a bit of house keeping left to do at my old place but this place I'm in is just what I need right now. And I don't just mean the unit. Emotionally this is just where I want to be as well. I'm going to bed tonight with a smile on my face.

Moving on...

Things I won't miss:

• Transport trucks heading past my bedroom from Port Botany, starting at 5am every morning
• The two women in pyjamas at 5pm in the local IGA arguing over who will get the larger maintenance payment from the same man.
• The constant rain of leaf litter and bird poo dropping from the tree in the backyard
• The heat from the afternoon summer sun in my bedroom
• The overcrowded train platforms
• The large unavoidable potholes in the street that scare the crap out of me when I'm on my bike.
• The poor variety of breakfast options on weekends
• The bakeries with pigeons nesting in them (on the ovens!)
• The toilets in the local chicken bar that double as a cheap crack house
• The re-enactment of scenes from Jerry Springer being played out on the streets
  

Things I will really miss:

• The local pubs
• My huge living space
• The cheap eats
• The big nearby parks and tree lined streets
• The Greek barber who I never understood a word he said
• The ease of riding to so many good places close by
• Newtown and Erko
• Trivia nights
• Those tasty fresh Vietnamese rice paper rolls from the dodgy restaurant.
• My friends being so close

TEF mentoring the young 'ens...

I rode my bike to work this morning and look at how the kids gather around to learn.

Sometimes I'm glad I don't have kids...

because I really would not set the best example to follow.

That freshly cooked sweet smell filled my helmet as I rode past and before I knew it I was sitting at the edge of the airport, next to a runway with a bag of goodies watching planes take off as lightning and thunder filled the humid Sydney sky.

This lad here is so bumped up on sugar tonight that I'm sure that I'll be awake for hours to come. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Unconscious Mutterings

Sorry I haven't done this for a couple of weeks.

1. San Francisco :: I like to disco
   
2. Sadness :: and wine are friends of mine
   
3. Spirits :: from beyond
   
4. Harriet :: and Henry
   
5. State :: of affairs
   
6. John :: Boy
   
7. Offense :: committed by me
   
8. Timeless :: like a tailored suit
   
9. Account :: to be payed
   
10. Refuse :: entry because I'm wearing shorts!

Web 2.0 is interesting...

You are part of it.

Another great weekend...

This weekend I managed to get up to the mountains for a bit of exploration. I went for a very damp walk to see Wentworth Falls. It was beautiful. I love the mountains when they are shrouded in cloud and mist. The temperature had dropped considerably making it cool as well. It was great sitting at Wentworth Falls watching the clouds form as the wind seemed to race across the valley and up the escarpment. Very beautiful. Unfortunately our plans to go right to the base of the falls to find a goecache were foiled by these conditions and the fact that National Parks had closed a few of the tracks. So, instead, we decided to head to Katoomba to do some more bush walking. I'd never actually had a go on the mountain railway or the Scenic Cableway so this was a good day to do it. Well, actually, it probably wasn't the best day considering that every thing was hidden by mist. However, the walks around this part of the world were enjoyable and I got to see my first Lyrebird in the wild. This little critter seemed to have no fear of humans and went about his scratching search for worms without paying any attention to me. The heavy rain continued and it made the forest come alive with some beautiful sounds. I will return here on a fine day sometime. Sunday was another good day. I started the day with a run around the National Park adjacent to the harbour and Balgowlah. (Need to get serious if I plan to compete in another race in 5 weeks time!) I'm so unfit. But, it was a great place to run with some amazing views. Then came back to The Alex and picked up my bike for a ride up to Wiseman's Ferry. Was a great ride. Even getting lost provided a good opportunity to discover even more of this city that I had no idea existed. However, I was tired, losing concentration and the rain was coming back, so we cut the journey short and headed back home.

Note to self...

- Traffic calming bollards are actually very soft
- Don’t try and tackle one
- Bitumen is worse than grass

Today is the day...

that I begin to write the final chapter in a book that was started 10 years ago.
I'm currently full of some very conflicting feelings.

I signed a lease today on a neat little bachelor pad. It's on the 7th floor of an older building and it overlooks the CBD of North Sydney. It's quiet, leafy and soon it will be my own space. I should be happy about this, but I'm not. Somehow, here in this last chapter, there are two broken dreams and two broken hearts.

--==--

Cheers then, here's to two old friends
We thought we'd never say goodbye
But those good times came to an end
And its not worth another try

Familiar place familiar face
But feeling's not the same
Try to relive what we once did
It's just a silly game

Cheers then, here's to two old friends
We thought we'd never say goodbye
But those good times came to an end
And its not worth another try

One of the crowd
It felt so safe
I never felt alone
Together everyday and night
When you and me were young

Time that lapsed a bond collapsed
We never planned for that
I felt betrayed, I let you down
We're better on our own

Cheers then, we're saying goodbye
Cheers then...

Not again with the bike?...

Yes, and what a great day for a ride. Took the bike for a bit of a spin to help run in the engine this weekend. Did a round loop up to the mountains, down to the Megalong Valley, back up the mountains, along Bells Line of Road along the M2 back across the bridge and home. There were some great roads and coming up the Megalong Valley was a bit of a highlight. It's a short curvy side-track. Coming back up I could test the bike's handling on corners. Speed is a good thing. Bells Line is another brilliant stretch of road. The legal speed limit on most of it is 100. This gives you a chance to open the bike up and test the sweeping bends at some decent speed. The bike swings from corner to corner. I took it easy on most of the ride but occasionally it was nice to test myself. Stopped off at the Kurrajong Heights pub for a drink on the way down the range. Great view from up there.

And for those who are interested...

here are some details about my new bike. Yes, I'm in love!

It has twin fuel injection and is 6 speed. The clutch is a slipper clutch. The bike is slightly biased towards the front wheel for improved handling. It's a reasonably light bike weighing only about 162kg. It has dual disc brakes on the front and single on the rear. It has a titanium muffler which is short and light, this contributes to the balance of the bike. The frame is aluminum. The throttle is microchip controlled where sensors monitor it to within 1000th of a second and maintain a smooth response. It's power curve really kicks in at the 4000-6000 revs. I've tested this and, when you moving and twist your wrist on the throttle, you have to hold on tight or it will take off and leave you behind.

I went shopping today and bought this...

Here's another pic.

I'm such a sucker for...

a steak house. Hog's Breath, Hooters, Lone Star... I like 'em all. Tonight included a trip to Bondi to sample it's steak house, Hog's Breath. I was hoping to top the steak with some prawns, but it seems that HB don't do that, so calamari was the go.

I'm lovin' this right now...

love I get so lost, sometimes
days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
when I want to run away
I drive off in my car
but whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are

all my instincts, they return
and the grand facade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside

in your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
the heat I see in your eyes

love, I don't like to see so much pain
so much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive

and all my instincts, they return
and the grand facade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside

in your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light,
the heat I see in your eyes.

Peter Gabriel
"In Your Eyes"

I took THIS for a spin tonight...

and man was it fun! Thanks Judo for letting me take your bike out. This time I ended up going a little further than around the block a couple of times. 80kms later and I'm home safe with a grin on my face that goes from one side to the other.

and so today...

I delt with the biggest f-off spiders I have dealt with for ages! Man these things were big. Serves me right for going first on a path that obviously was not well defined ... or even a path. But, by going off the track the view was pretty spectacular. I ended up on the central coast today clambering across stuff that was probably not meant for people to cross. I went on some bush tracks and I even gave my climbing skills a bit of a work out. The image to the left is of the boulders that I went a "bouldering" on. It was amazing. It seemed like we had stumbled across a section of the hill where it had tumbled down upon itself in big chunks. The way the rocks had landed on each other had created some small caves. I tried to squeeze through some of these. I actually had some very cool adrenalin pumping at one point when I discovered the boulder I had just climbed on to revealed another large solid boulder that went straight up like a wall and to climb further over it I would have had to have had some mighty good climbing equipment or if I tried really hard I may be able to squeeze under it. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I had a nagging thought of being squashed under 350 tons of solid rock so I had nowhere to go other than re-trace my steps back down and follow a path up the other side of the rockfall. "BIG GIRLS SKIRT" I hear you say.. but I was wearing my "good" t-shirt and didn't want to dirty it. :) It was hot, sweaty and I was not too happy with the humidity (the second last pic). After trying to climb some more of this rock fall, I now understand how it may be easy for climbers to be trapped beneath boulders. You can see from the third pic to the left how big some of these boulders were (Judo is in the left of the pic. This incline of boulders was greater than 65 degrees). Now, I know this is a stretch but, do you know of Aron Ralston? He's the dude who cut his own arm off when he was trapped by a boulder that moved and pinned him with no escape. It was playing on my mind, knowing that these rocks were here because they "fell" here and I was putting my weight on them as I pulled myself up higher and higher. I could never understand how he did what he did, but I can understand how you would assume these boulders were not going to move. It was just a very freaky accident.

I was having fun. We never found what we were looking for, but, we both had a good time exploring a place that we had never been before.

Speaking of weird...

My weekend so far has involved large crowds. Last night I headed to the rugby at Aussie Stadium. The season wasn't off to the best start for the Waratahs. The game was nothing more than sloppy. The final score was 16 all. The Western Force should not have got close, but we fumbled, lost possession, kicked too much, collapsed scrums and had too many bad reffing decisions go against us. Grrrr. But I love going to the rugby so it was a fun night. Today I bought myself a new bike helmet. It's actually one of the really good ones. I decided I needed something a bit more robust now that I'm becoming a fully licensed rider this coming week. There's another reason too, but more on that later in the week. While I was in the bike shop I got a call from a mate of mine who asked me what I was up to and if I was free if I could help him out. "Sure. How?" Well, I didn't see this coming, but within the hour I was heading to volunteer and help support an entry in the Mardi Gras parade. We had a huge hire van we were to drive behind the boys on bikes in case one of them broke down and needed to be carted away. What an eye opener. I felt a little uncomfortable but I was there in the thick of this amazing uniquely Sydney event. I got to see how well things were run behind the scene and got to see a parade from the "inside" of the fences.

There were thousands upon thousands of people. All cheering and laughing (mostly laughing I think) at the guys and girls in the parade. As the lads pulled into the centre of Taylor Square, in front of the very large screen, I sprung into action. We had one down. So while thousands cheers us on, we pulled the plank out of the van and pushed the bike up into the back and were off to catch up with the rest of the bikers.

The whole parade was over for me within less than half an hour from starting and I was probably home before the last float had even crossed the finish line. I'm starting to enjoy this volunteering caper. I'm now realising how import a good support crew is to the success of events.

This is just too weird, even for me...

How often has a bird fallen from the sky and missed hitting you by 2-3 feet? I'd say not many. Well, in the last 6 weeks it has happened to me 3 times. And every time it has been a pigeon that has landed with the most horrible of sound. It's freaky. Not in living memory can I ever think of birds just falling dead, or almost dead, from the sky.
The first time it happened to me I was walking down the Brisbane mall. It landed with a sort of muffled crunch/plop. Scared the crap out of me. I'd say it missed me by less than a foot. It flapped it wings twice and I quickly jumped away from it. Then, as it struggled to lift itself up, a crow swooped in and attacked it... rather brutally.
The second time I was with a mate sitting outside a cafe in Glebe and that same crunch/plop sound happened in between my seat and the people sitting behind me. It flapped once then moved no more. Dead as.
The third time was this arvo on my walk home from work. Plop. Within a few steps of me stepping on it. It didn't move at all after it hit the footpath.
Why are birds falling from the sky near me every couple of weeks? Huh?! WHY?...
I'm currently working on a weird nuclear energy emanating from my body theory.
Any other suggestions?

It's not easy being green...

Having to spend each day the colour of the leaves
When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold
Or something much more colourful like that

It's not easy being green
It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things
And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're
Not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water
Or stars in the sky

But green's the colour of Spring
And green can be cool and friendly-like
And green can be big like an ocean, or important
Like a mountain, or tall like a tree

When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why
Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful
And I think it's what I want to be

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

March heralds the onset of Autumn. Although, you won't feel Autumn this month here. It'll still be hot and humid. With the amount of rain we've been having recently I've noticed that there actually is a lot of green around at the moment.

It's a colour that I don't often get the opportunity to use, but it's a colour I love.