Live X after Y

Coldplay was spine-tinglingly interesting. It was spectacular, it wasn't faaannnnntastic, it wasn't stupendous, it was intimate, touching, thoughtful and inspiring. Kinda odd for a rock concert. It made me think, remember and feel. Funny how different things affect different people... I've never been much of one for jumping up and down or carrying on all around, and I'm glad some people appreciate those who express themselves modestly. I wonder if the worlds problems would be solved if nobody paid any attention to all the people who do anything for it.

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Beautiful people live beautiful lies,

Simple people live a simple life.

Live lies after life.

Live simple.

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Politics

Wow - this blog is almost at teh stage where it drives itself! Cool! i admit not to adding much recently, but hey, otehrs lives are more interesting anyway! Thanks for the post from South America Ange!

Politics seems to be generating a little bit of heated debate, although i know mick is a passionate person sometimes I think he just loves to throw his vocab around! Quite impressive.

i think Australian Politics is very interesting at the moment, and has been for some time. being a business person I do appreciate that Costello is possibly one of the best treasureres we have had and that under the Howard regime the economy has done very well. However, Allan Greenspan was claimed to also be one of the US reserve banks best chairman and he still managed to fall from graces with some terrible choices, particularly throwing his weight behind George Bush endorsed tax cuts to the wealthy. It cost him his job.

Similarly, Costello and Howard have made some choices which I believe go against the best interests of the majority of Australians, especially in regards to tax cuts which favour the upper middle class, and especially in the last year. Also of concern are the AWA's and the anti-terrorism laws which infringe on citizens privacy. International disasters and threats should not be used for political leverage and as such, should create common ground between political parties - we have not seen that in Australia.

I jsut wanted to touch on these topics and invite people to express their opinion of what they think Howard has done well and waht Howard has done bad. Personally I think his worst mistakes have been made in regard to immigration and environmental policy - and it extends beyond refugees to things like security, but most importantly our sense of national identity. Whilst I do agree with restricting immigration to 'acceptable' applicants, the definition of acceptable is definately debatable not to mention the process.

As an aside, I'm going to go see Coldplay tonight! Thanks to Mick and his great forward thinking!

Vegemite and Caramello Koalas..

I haven't had a whiff of Vegemite since January. Today, I think I may have burnt some of my nasal hairs it was that goooood. But not that good that I wanted to roll around in it. Close. It was more like the reassuring smell of home. And all I could think about was finding a crusty white bread roll that had NO sugar and topping it with mantequlla (butter) and that perfect layer of Vegemite on top. Wow, the thought blew my mind.

The next thing I thought was giving my Peruvian family and friends a taste and having to explain to them why I like something that's so fuerte y negro! Que extrano! And then I wondered myself why I liked it. I have no idea. My Canadian friend Shaye seemed to think it was only because i was brought up with it. Maybe. But he said his Mum liked it. She wasn't Australian. I'm sure he said she was a hippy. Mmmm.. But I'm certain that I will not have to explain why I like Caramello Koalas so much. I think I will just have to hide them from Maria Paula, five years old and very crafty.

It took 17 days for my parcel to reach Peru. A big thanks goes out to my wonderful mother Gail in Geelong. Mi Mamita es el mejor!

George W Bush. Who voted for him anyway?

Some classic examples where a picture says a thousand words (or two: Plain stupid) about the US president. Thanks to Alan for forwarding them over.






I wouldn't be such a Bush basher if he had done ANYTHING good for the U.S., or the world! Arogant people are one thing, stupid arogant people who are failures are another. But then, someone had to vote for him even if a majority of Florida didn't. The world just makes you want to throw your hands in the air, look at the sky and ask out loud, is this really immaculate conception? Is this what you call perfectly designed?

Bryan is home already...

As I walked in the door at work, my phone rang. What a pleasent surprise, a call from South America! What clear reception they have! Bryan asks "What you doing?" to which I reply, "I'm at work. Why? Where are you?" "I'm back!"

So yeah, Bryan is in Sydney, I don't know why. He can't get into his car because I lost his keys in the move, and yes you can call us Abbot and Costello. At least I didn't forget the tent poles. No the keys are not in the car! Yes I've already looked there!

Something to think about?

I think the blog is becoming a little to much I this, I that... And besides, Nick has been complaining he isn't getting enough stimulating conversation these days. Apparently thats why he's heading to Europe where we know all they do is play soccer, eat good food, drink expensive grog and have kinky sex. I guess he is banking on the pillow talk stimulating something!
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Have you ever considered what makes you change your mind? Are there patterns to it? Does the same thing make you change your mind all the time? I'm not talking black cats and ladders, but what about price, quality, appearance, how much you had had to drink, mood, presentation, the list goes on and on, but I wonder what is the most predominant. Lets call these things 'Alpha Characteristics'.

It depends. It depends on a lot of things like; what your buying, how much you need it, how much time you have, Whether its a luxury or necessity, if its high value or low value, and on and on. Lets call these things 'Beta Characteristics'.

There are millions of factors of many different things that our mind takes into account before we even realize. Namely Alpha Characteristics and Beta Characteristics. These characteristics are conditional upon each other and they grow together - the more Alpha charachterisitics, the more Beta Characteristics.

Where am I going with this? I don't know. But, does everyone appreciate this would not be a linear equation? Its exponential (I think), as the independent variables (Alpha & Beta Char.) get bigger, the dependent variable (Total) increases by an increasing rate.

Sooooo, if your making a decision anytime soon, just give up trying to analyse all those factors and accept the idea that your brain has already done it for you. But because you never listen to it (your brain) anyway, it has to tell your gut, to tell your brain, that your gut feel is Cola flavoured toothpaste is wrong, even if you do get a free stomach pump with it.

World Cup, Canada & Europe

Well, I'm sitting an exam right now. A take-home exam. So of course I decided today would be a good day to sort through all my old emails and find some people from the apst to email. Following on from the whole flashback thing.

Anyway, I emailed a whole bunch of people from Canada to say hi and see if they where still alive, plus a group email to everyone I had the email address of from my trip around the wolrd! (So if i met you on that trip and you didn't get an email, please post a comment!).

Stayed up to watch the Soccer Roos play Japan last night. It was an ok game, but if Australia plays liek that against Brazil i'm sure they'll get a whooped. Why? Because every time the ball was rebounded from the Japanese defence, they practically had an oportunity to score. Albeit, it didn't rebound beyond halfway a lot of the time.

Australia played hard tough Soccer, surprise surprise! But it just looked a little too crowded up the front and a little vulnerable at the back to a punter like me! Please correct me otehrwise.

While we ar eon the subject of Soccer, watching the game alst night reminded me why I hate watching soccer. Players taking dives ruins the sport. Soccer players should take a look at their global image. They are the biggest bunch of overpaid pansies I've ever seen.

I can understand what they are worried about though, their feet and legs, they are each worth a couple of Million a year. FIFA should seriosuly consider how much better the game would be without the dives and theatrics. It ruins the sport and leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

I guess what it comes down to is honesty. Soccer is a sport, a game. Sports and games are supposed to be about fun. Good, clean honest fun. If you need to take dives to have fun, then go play gymnastics. If you need to beat people up to have fun, then go be a boxer. It goes both ways, but if the old fashioned values of honesty and sportsmanship hadn't been thrown out the window with the sponsorship deals and multimillion dollar desperate footballers housewifes, I bet you'd see more football and less referee. That applies to life as well!

Clan time is over.

I'm moving out of the Clan.

Its been nearly 3 years since I moved in. I know some of my friends look down on that place, but to be short - they are not all qualified to judge since they still live at home. Lets not go thee though, cause thats another issue. Slack bludgers who live at home till they turn 30. Disgusting.

The Clan for a long time was a great place to come home too, and it still is. Way to much port and chocolate these days for a 22.75 yr old! Maybe there is something in the port that has been creating all these flashbacks... some kind of "back when I was a youngester" drug.

Unfortunately after me and Heath announced we were moving out, the whole house suddenly wanted to move out! I can understand it though, Heath and I are the major drawcards after all! HAHA.

The new place is Artarmon, I'm going to share with Heath and we have a pool! Wicked! The major problem is we have nothing! A few pots and pans etc, but no fridge and no washing machine! So if your turfing working white goods (in Sydney) let me know!

Flashback to the glory days!

Its not a Candian flashback this time though!

I was going for my usual stroll down to Darling Harbour on Monday evening about 6pm for a break between auditing and study. I had my big ski jacket on cause it was a horrrible wet and windy day and I was eating a pie! Haha, details!

No mum, thats not dinner - its arvo tea.

Anyway, I got to Jumbalong park and began to walk on the steps around the edge of it. I was soon daydreaming how the steps were like running lanes on an oval. That took me back to summer athletics carnival at highschool and how much fun it used to be! I would generally run the 400, 800, and 1500m. On this particular year I had tried running the 200m as well and it was hilarious to see that no matter how hard I tried to run I couldn't keep up with Roy Diarco!

Dave and me always had a bit of friendly rivalry going when it came to the 1500m. I even like to think he quit smoking so he could beat me! Haha. As I was walking along the steps I was struggling to keep balance, to keep in my lane so to speak. That reminded me of that particular year when he did beat me. He had led about 4 meters in front for the whole race and I made my move on the last corner with about 200m to go. With 100m to go I was sitting just behind off his right shoulder trying to overtake on the outside and we were both going flat chat. We may have been the only two in the race! As we approached the finish line along the home straight we pushed wider and wider and harder and harder but I couldn't budge him. We raced that last 100 meters locked in that position and only just passed inside the marshals table at the finish line. It was the best race I've ever been in, thanks Dave.

I don't know who it was, but one of the teachers suggested at the time it was like a replay of the Simon and Ashley 800m race that set the school record a couple of years prior. I think Demelza has easily the most school records out of any of us? How many Demelza, I know you can remember!

Ah the days when we were free to run and play!

Random Canadian Flashback # 2

Was walking to uni from work (Where everyone is sick) in the rain tonight. I was wearing shorts and did not feel the least bit cold. Reminded me I'm actually a Victorian, and I don't feel the cold in my legs.

But the Candian flashback came when I was going down a flight of stairs at uni. They where exactly the same as the stairs that led down from College West. Marble, with big wooden banisters, about the same width and gradient. But even more alarming, at the base of the stairs there was a window, and there was a gap between the window and the stairs - just like at College West, where I always tried to drop things on Reid!

I know some people from Regina checkthis blog out - I can see you on my stats - and others! (Yes I Can tell what city your ISP is from, and really - why else would I have recurring visitors from Zurich and Sweden?) Anyway - back to the point - who remembers setting sparklers in a poor army guy, giving him a parachute and tossing him from the top of college west?

Still doesn't beat the chicken in the oven for a week trick though.

Latin Inspirations..

Saludos de Peru! Hola amigos! Que tal? Awesome i hope..i won't spend too much time writing en Espanol because it would come across like I was rubbing it in or something.. and I would hate that.. And since it's my first contribution to Damo's wonderful blog I thought I'd better lay a little background down first (I'll make it quick i promise)before I go blabbing on about how wonderful it is over here..haha

So I left Australia on November 25th with a three week stint in Ecuador volunteering in a small coastal village called Oln and was going to travel for 4 months after that and return home in April.. that was non-existent plan one! Yeah I did the volunteer work.. teaching English to children who had never seen a 'gringo' in their lives (my posts will include a bit of a vocab..gringo/a is the term used to describe any foreigner. It originated in Panama sometimes - history is not really a strong point of mine- to describe the American troops in their army green clad bodies.. obviously a dislike for the Americans presence 'Green-go!' and thats how the term originated.. apparently.. who knows..

I quickly realised that 'todo es possible en Ecuador.' All is possible in Ecuador.. and it's true. The people in these countries live with such a freedom. Maybe not voting freedom.. or a freedom from poverty.. but I've come to realise you can do what-the-f%@k-you-want.. stick 50 people in a mini-bus.. ride in the back of anything that moves.. a moto-taxi, truck, donkey driven cart, whatever.. drink in the streets at whatever hour.. yell at people when you think you are getting ripped off.. or tell someone what price you want to pay and they can take it or leave it.. kick a mototaxi driver in the head and it not assault.. bribe officials.. walk around with chickens in plastic bags.. sexually harrass women all the time.. and much much much more!

After I volunteered I travelled around Ecuador. I met some really awesome people from all sorts of places all walks of life.. but we all had something in common, we didn't want to go home. Every backpacker I have met is searching, for what is different for everyone, themselves usually.. and as always, the people you meet really do make the experience..And now I am here living in Peru.. a dusty and buzzing city called Piura, located north about an hour from the beach.. teaching English at another small village about half hour away for a organisation called Ayni. A friend I made in Cuenca, Ecuador on New Years Eve is the co-ordinator. After keeping in touch for four months I decided to join Ayni, settle down in Piura and work. So really I haven't backpacked for a while.. and frankly sometimes it's a bit much, every day being a weekend.. always eating out.. living in hotel rooms.. I wanted a life again. Living costs are really so cheap,rent being 150s/ a month (around $60) to live in a double storey home with a HUGE room, cable TV (in my room of course) lunch cooked for me if i hang around.. I mean who could say no?

Living standards in Peru really do vary.. where I teach and the surrounding areas are like desert.. and people are living in shacks with a dirt floor.. And weekends.. which consist of three days sometimes more.. they love having transport strikes here. So life is kinda easy.. relaxed.. and I am so happy here.. and I think about everyone at home doing the university thing and the working thing.. and I can't say I am at all envious.. but oneday I will have to return home. I just don't know when! So that's just the beginning of my story.. or maybe by now it's the middle

Saludos a todo!

Ange