The 52nd State

Ruminations

2006-04-19T23:04:00.000+08:00

Since I got back I've been taking a good break from blogging of any kind. There are several reasons for this, firstly the need to make up for lost time and get on top of university. But also I think I needed a rest from it. I've become progressively jaded about the concept, and have not been enjoying what has at times seemed like a chore and an exercise in futility. A greay many other bloggers will probably feel the same at some point, I imagine.

Also, this blog no longer feels entirely right. I created it quite some time ago when I was thinking and feeling different things and perhaps the sentiment expressed in its creation, and indeed its name, are no longer accurate or even appropriate. I can't continue to do something that doesn't intrigue and excite me.

So obviously I need a change, and a change is as good as a holiday - maybe like the holiday I've just had.

I think I need to consider just what I want out of this blog and what I am prepared to put into it - and indeed what my readers, if there are any left, are prepared to put into it. A blog with no comments is like a club with one member, John Quiggan once said, and if that one member's heart is not in it then all you have is an empty shell devoid of feeling or purpose.

I cannot let this become a liability to my career, but neither can I completely ignore my need for some kind of outlet from time to time, a means to practice my skills and keep my mind working, and to put any work I do in the course of my studies or my own volition up for feedback.

Perhaps I should start over with something new, fresh and more mixed with something for everyone; so people, and indeed myself, will actually find it interesting and engaging again. Maybe I should get a bit more professional and make a new blog with a proper domain and a better software than Blogger - Wordpress served me well for my travel blog.

So I guess I'm in need of some direction, or even a new one. I'll think some more, and if anyone has any suggestions I invite you to indulge me with them. For the time being I'll post when I feel the urge and about whatever suits me.

The saga is complete

2006-03-15T10:57:00.000+08:00

So, I'm back. Got on my plane at Sydney airport and got back to Perth around 2:20pm. It was a reasonably uneventful flight other than that the entertainment was not comparable to anything in the other flights I've had. I'm obviously too used to international. What was even cooler though is that the entire Warrtahs team (Rugby Union team, presumably here to play against our new and pretty terrible team) was on the plane, as was lead striker for the Perth Glory soccer team, Bobby Despotovski. Obviously there was a media presence and Mum managed to get on TV in the background during one of Bobby's soundbytes on the news last night. I have a couple of blury photos too (I zoomed in a lot and didn't want to use flash, he was getting mobbed enough already).

Come home, unpack the mountain of stuff, go to watch Syriana with Dad, and watch a couple of episodes of Babylon 5. This will be the last entry in this series and regular programming will begin again probably sometime next week.

Now to start saving for the next one...

Fish

2006-03-13T22:56:00.000+08:00

Today I met Dan in Sydney as planned and we had very good, very expensive pancakes, then walked to and over the Harbour Birdge to Kiribilli House, residence of a certain politician, and then went back to the bridge via various slightly illegal means, as well as taking lots of photos. He then went home and I walked to the Opera House and back to the city where I got on a bus and went back here. Sydney has so much better ambience than Perth and just wandering around the central city streets shortly after dark was quite nice in itself.

I'm getting up at 7am and going to the airport several hours early for logistical reasons, then I have to wait ages until my flight leaves and then I'm home, finally. No more suitcases til after Christmas.

Red and White

2006-03-10T21:37:00.000+08:00

I’m now in Sydney, having left Canberra this morning. I got in to Sydney Central at around 3:50pm and had a couple of beers with Shaun Cronin and friend until 6:30 and then figured out how to get to the Kennedy’s place. Since then I have done absolutely nothing, and unless a social engagement presents itself, I will spend tomorrow recovering, starting by sleeping in. Sunday will be consumed by church and Monday I’m meeting Daniel at some point and we’ll spend the day doing something, I don’t know. Then Tuesday I’m outta here back home.

Sydney is just as I remember and envisaged it. I would probably stay longer but I’m already two weeks late for university which is causing enough problems. Same with Canberra, though that’s purely for social reasons, as it’s more boring than an American college town.

Shortest museum visit ever

2006-03-10T21:35:00.000+08:00

8th March 2006

Today I walked to the National Museum. It is so not worth the walk, just don’t bother. Firstly the arhitecture was far too modern and generally strange, then it wasnt even that big, and mostly extremely boring and cringe-worthy. It’s almost like it was made to push a political agenda, as it was amazingly blatant with its editorialising of each exhibit. It was classic left/green stuff and wasn’t really even trying to hide it. It also perpetuates the old, tired, corny, manufactured stereotypes about Australian identity and culture that either no longer apply or are built upon myths or generalisations. It just got worse and worse and more and more blatant. Just, wow. It wasn’t even much good and it didn’t take me long to breeze through it, finding very little of even slight interest.

What is with people living in their own imagined, slanted, bubble world and then making a museum about it that bears the nation’s name?

I know I sound like Andrew Bolt (who greatest hits with commentary from himself has been made into a book, which I had to put down a few minutes after opening it, for fear of throwing it across the Target book section), but honestly, it’s just that bad. The area is pretty though, even if it is a hike.

Bushwhacked

2006-03-10T21:34:00.000+08:00

6th March 2006

I am back on Australian soil. This makes me quite happy as, though America is quite an awesome place, the culture does get a bit soul destroying after a while, and I’m sick of these suitcases. So tomorrow I enter my last week of this saga, somewhat mourfully, and return to Perth next Tuesday and surrender my life to the university work I’m already behind on for a week or so. But first, a stopover in the barbarian lands that are the East of this country.

The Alaskan Airlines flights out of Seattle to LAX was predictably bad, other than the fortune of the mother and daughter next to me vactaing their seats to two empty ones, leaving me with three to myself. The flight from LAX to Sydney was much more enjoyable up to the last hour when we hit what can be guessed as the after-effects of a particularly nasty storm that hit southern Queensland on the weekend, though there were few clouds in the sky. I almost died, the turbulance was so bad - nothing like I’d ever experience before. My stomach has not yet fully recovered.

On the plane I watch HP4, Capote and Good Night and Good Luck. More on those later, suffice to say they made the flight much better. We really do have a good thing going in QANTAS, it is by far the best airline in the world on all fronts - never having had a fatal crash and very few crashes of any description, having a good standard of entertainment, up to date technology, and pretty good customer service.

The Greyhound from Sydney to Canberra was pretty good, there was a movie, which is unheard of on buses in my experience. It was only Catwoman though, not particularly great and the sound wasn’t loud enough. But it did its job and killed a couple of hours. Then what am I assaulted with while waiting at that station for Hannah to finish work? The worst game show of all time, Family Feud, has been revived and hosted by none other than Bert Newton. Australia, can I not leave the country for four months and not have you screw it up? Go to your room and think about what you did.

So now I’m on a farm somewhere south of Canberra and leaving at 7:30am every day this week to go to Canberra and ammuse myself until 5ish. Apparently parliament isn’t sitting, which greatly reduces the number of things to do from one to zero unless Ronnie and Co can conjure something up.

And Crash for best picture? pfffffft...

Sleepless in Seattle

2006-03-10T21:32:00.000+08:00

3rd March 2006

Seattle, a small yet highly important city of less than 1 million nestled in the northwest corner of the United States, yet home to a powerful football team and headquaters of three giant corportations - Starbucks, Boeing and Microsoft. Bit like Galilee really.

It’s a very nice place though. I took the time to do a massive exploration and photo mission of the whole inner city on Friday and see what it has to offer. The answer is quite a lot. It’s very beautiful for a start, with some nice skyscrapers including the world-famous Space Needle, a waterfront ah la Fremantle, and possibly the best markets I have ever seen in my life.

If you ever go there, the two places you want to hit are Pier 66 and the Pike Place Markets. You can die happy once you have been to these markets - some of the best antique, knick-knack, produce and food shopping in such a small area, and with atmosphere to boot. Pier 66 will give you an easy to access skyline view, and behind you the expanse of the sound and the shores beyond it. It won’t cost you the excessive $14 cost of scaling the Space Needle, either.

Then there’s the coffee. If you drink it, there’s plenty of places to try - and I don’t mean the overpriced and overrated Starbucks. Avoid anything that looks like a chain and you’ll be fine. The waterfront also has some fine if odd gift shops and antique stores - the Ye Olde Curiosite Shope is not to be missed.

For the more adventurous, you can always try to rob Bill Gates’ ~~house~~ heavily guarded fortress or steal a Boeing plane for a jaunt down the runway.

Could I live here for any length of time? No, but it’s a nice place to spend a few days. I seriously didn’t sleep very well either, I don’t know why this is so.

Sydney meetup

2006-02-23T15:24:00.000+08:00

So, I'm going to be in Sydney for a few days on my way home, from Friday 10th March til Tuesday 14th March. Seeing as I probably won't be back around those parts for quite some time, I'd like to take the opportunity to say hello to some of the Sydney blog crowd at some low-key meetup.

Anyone from around there have any good ideas?

I tried to ford the river and my oxen died

2006-02-22T16:27:00.000+08:00

The line above is a reference to the Oregon Trail Game, played by a great many American children over many years. Consequently, every university on facebook has a group of nostalgic students using this line as the group name. On my 30+ hour trip from Stockton to Spokane, I passed through Oregon.

Yes, I am serious, it took that long to get here on four seperate Amtrak rides, and is definately on my List of Things I Say I Will Never Do Again But Probably Will. I got several hours to kill in Sacramento AKA ArnoldLand, so I went to the California State Capitol for about half an hour before it closed and got photos of the Governator office door. I also spied a Jonny Rockets in a shopping center, which fixed the problem of finding somewhere to eat for little money. Bottemless lemonades and $1.99 fries later and I can probably survive the ride to some random town just over the border in Oregon. Did I mention how much checked baggage on Amtrak rocks? Yesterday would have been hell (well, moreso) otherwise.

From there it was a long bus ride to Pasco in Washington State, including a stop at a random Oregon town that really isn't a town, more of a pit stop just before a major bridge into Washington with about four stores, a resturant and a couple of petrol stations - and a Maccas. It arrived quite early just after 7pm with my train not arriving til 9pm and then being half an hour late - of course. So I walked around a few dark Pasco streets and found a low-quality but very cheap bakery. Eventually got to Spokane at 12:45, met Joslyn and family, and slept until almost 1pm. It's pretty cold here.

Great balls of fire

2006-02-22T15:47:00.000+08:00

18th February 2006

I was supposed to get on a train to Stockton from San Diego at 10pm Thursday night, but when driving to the station on CA-94 we came face to face with a rather nasty accident that had occured much less than 20 minutes prior. It seems a van or SUV had been involved in a high speed chase with a police car and had crashed into the side of the road, rolled, and caught fire. This is a guess from what I could see at the scene, as there was also a police car with some damage to its front less than 10 meters from the burning veichle and there was a seachlight helicopter hovering overhead.

Soon there were hundreds of cars behind us and at least 50 in front, so we were stuck for over half an hour. Needless to say we were quite late for the train. The reporter in me wanted to jump out of the car and see what was going on as well as take better pictures than the blurry drive-by ones I did get. Smoke and hundreds of car lights do not help the cause of a digital camera. Interestingly enough, there was no press around. They missed a great opportunity with the chaos of the time the westbound traffic was completely blocked. I’d have had a monopoly if I had any way of broadcasting.

It seems like this kind of thing is not unprecedented.

So, eventually got to the station, argued with the desk staff for a while (”Dammit, there was a car ON FIRE in front of us on 94!”) and got on a train at 7:05 Friday morning for an additional $5. Iron Chef, Daily Show, Colbert Report and a Baileys coffee made the annoyance not quite so bad. But really, how many times do you get to see a car ON FIRE less than 30 meters from you? It was cool.

So, had pizza after a three-leg train ride, met up with Bill, and went to some random house parties and room gatherings. There was also a half-hearted poker game in which I came second of six after being short stacked in the sudden death. I though I had him til he pulled a flush on the only had I went all the way with. Not that anyone was playing properly anyway.
Outta here to Spokane tomorrow night at almost midnight for a fun-filled 25 hour train ride. Hopefully my coat will have arrived in the mail by then after I left it in Colorado.

P. S:Bill has just informed me that his team lost their rugby game against San Francisco University 49-8 and only 12 of their players showed up. Lame.

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains, all the cops have wooden legs...

2006-02-22T15:45:00.000+08:00

15th February 2006

I‘m here in San Diego having made a long road trip with Meghan from Colarado on Sunday. It really does feel just like Perth, as I was told it would. This is because it’s around the same lattitude and is protected by hills, just like Perth. This means the climate is rather temperate instead of swinging between extremes. It also has similar humidity and pressure. All this, of course, makes it awesome.

So, on Friday Ben, Ester and I drove down to Colarado Springs to spend time with Ben’s brother Daniel, who is a Lt. Col in the US Air Force and teaches Biology at the Academy there. So we were escorted in to the secure Academy base and spent the night eating the first home cooked meal in quite some time. In the morning we went to the Garden of the Gods which really needs photos to be explained properly, but basically there are many beautiful rock structures. Think of Ayres rock cut up into little pieces and scattered everywhere. There’s also so great mountain views. Then we went back to the Academy and I was persuaded to fly the flight simulator that all cadets learn to fly on. I did fairly well, especially considering the amount Daniel played with my controls remotely to simulate problerms with the aircraft.

Then Sunday was the roadtrip with Meghan to San Diego. We left at around 7am with the back two seats as well as the boot packed solid with her stuff and my bags, as she is moving to San Diego and we conveniently combined the trips. There were also her two cats, which could not be left in their cages because they would freak out more than they already were, and would make noise constantly. So we left them roaming around the car, which was interesting at times as photos will show. I have scratches all over my body :/

It was a reasonably pleasant trip with much cool scenery. Yes, we drove past the Big Rock Candy Mountains and throuhg Las Vegas, though missed the Grand Canyon because the roads were closed. We finally arrived at around 2:30am after Meghan woke me up from a 40-mile nap “Nic, the interstate is gone!” What had happened was that there was some work done on some of the lanes so we got forced into an exit somehow. My awesome map skills got us there without too much trouble once we figured out what had happened.

We’ve basically just been chilling since we got here and dealing with a house that you can tell was populated only by guys Meghan has bought latex gloves and set about fixing this. It’s an awesome house though. And there is like 15lb each of hot dogs and mince in the freezer. What the hell? Now I have to work out how to get to Stockton tomorrow, if Portland is going to work, and how to deal with the fast exploding Seattle issue. Should all be good though, I hope.

Note about Friday night

2006-02-22T15:42:00.000+08:00

8th February 2006

Two things of interest on Friday night I’d like to go into a little bit more detail about. Firstly at the arcade there was a room full of the usual video game shooters such as the ever-present Virtua Cop and Time Crisis and so forth that are a vital part of every arcade in the world. This room was totally seperate from the rest of the arcade and was restricted to those 17 and older.

I take exception to this, mostly on sentimentality. In Australia there is the universally known arcade giant Timezone, which has a wide variety of games including those in the 17+ section of the arcade we visited on Friday. Timezone, whether intentional or not, has always had a somewhat community feel to it on the very few occasions I went there to waste my parents’ money as a kid. Part of this was that when a good player of any of the games in question got a reasonable distance through the notoriously long and difficult levels, a small but gradually increasing crowd would stand around to watch - not which doing something else, but just stand and do nothing but watch this guy play, hoping that just maybe you would finally see someone finish it. By confining these games to a small room that allows only those 17 and over - definately not the majoity attendance of any given arcade - you severely reduce or even destroy this phenomenom, which I think is sad.

Secondly, I’ve always been facinated by the way rock climbers, no matter if it’s their first or 1000th time, always have almost exactly the same instincts. The way they look up a wall to plan their path, the way they test their footing before putting all their weight on it, the way they feel around potential hand holds with their hands and eyes, the way they watch their feet when swapping them, the way they relax their arms before attempting a particularly difficult stretch - if you watch enough climbers, and especially when you climb yourself semi-regularly, you will notice the uncanny similarities. I just find this very interesting, even if it’s something that must be observed and doesn’t translate well to paper.

Mile high

2006-02-19T12:52:00.000+08:00

I apologise profusely for lack of updates, I haven't been at a PC that would let me login and Blogger has been playing up. Dates of these entries are bolded at the top, this one is from Februaruy 8th.

I’m now in Fort Collins, Colarado, just outside of Denver and staying with family friend Ben Atchley and family. We’re right up in the mountains, which I haven’t seen anything like since I was eight and went to the snowy mountains around Canberra, except these are far higher. US Airways/ America West flight here from Houston via Phoenix was only marginally better than the United flight to Austin on the 29th of last month. Im sensing the trend that US domestic flights are supposed to suck. Only two more to go.

On Friday Carolyn and I drove into Austin from College Station, via the mall (guess the results), to meet back up with Mandy, then we went out to eat with Mike and Amy, a couple of other friends of ours, and Amy’s two kids. Mike and I, being the only two guys, ended up spending most of the time discussing 24 and sports, while the five girls talked about whatever it is girls talk about. We took the kids to an arcade afterwards and they and Carolyn also did a bit of rock climbing while the rest of us just watched. Later Mike and Amy dropped the kids off at a relative’s place and we met up and a diner for dessert because the club we wanted into was over 21 (stupid country).

Saturday there was a big birthday dinner for Mandy with her family (it was actually her birthday on Sunday, but that being Superbowl, it had to be on Saturday), including Levi who continued to affirm that he thinks I’m generally awesome for some reason. Carolyn and Levi’s four-year-old brother Micha also spent a large amount of time pulling faces at each other. We were considering going to a party with Mike and Amy after, but got lazy and instead spent the night playing cards until 1am.

The place we went to is called Cheddars. If anyone reading this ever goes to Texas, you will find one of these resturants and you will go eat at it. You will the order the baked potato soup because it is the best food in the world. Seriously. This is probably these best thing I have ever eaten in my entire life. Explaining to you just how good it is would probably tear a whole in the universe. Just buy a plane ticket to Austin now and go, it’s so worth it.

Drove back to A&M at some ungodly hour of the morning and watched several straight episodes of the FBI files, napped, took photos from the top level of the library and, of course, watched the Superbowl which the Steelers won (yay underdogs!). I can’t get over the 75 yard dash for a touchdown by one of the defenders, plus both the quaterbacks getting nailed before they could make a play several times, which is, by the way, hilarious every time.

Monday was another early start for Sociology and Philosophy (Nieche is so much better than Plato), then we made a beeline for Houston airport and got there well before my plane left, so I wrote on no less than ten postcards I’d been procrastinating and read week-old NYTs. Then the flight was delayed so I talked to random people. Met up with Ben without a hitch, which is the second hitchless leg in a row. Something is going to go badly wrong at some point to make up for this.

On Tuesday we drove around the mountains looking and scenery, elk, and random little mountain towns with rock shops that I spent over $50 in. Then we went to one of the biggest resturants in the world for dinner in Denver. It’s a Mexican place called “Big White House” in Spanish - Casa Something, and it has a number of distinctly themed areas to eat in, Mexican bands, divers into a pool in the middle, and all you can eat dishes for a little over $10. The food is great but not amazing, but you can’t put a price on the experience - particularly on a Friday or Saturday night, I’m told. Go there, seriously.

When I was 14 I was stupidly running my hand along a wooden log fence at my high school and managed to wedge a splinter of woon underneath my nail, and it needed microsurgery at the doctors to extract it. I did the same thing at the resturant on the wooden counter when I went to pick up my tray. Fortunately it wasn’t quite as bad as in high school, and I was, with great difficulty, able to remove it myself with a pair of tweesers once we got home. Perhaps I should sue the resturant, that’s the done thing in America, right?

It's different when you see their faces

2006-02-16T04:34:00.000+08:00

While waiting for my flight in Houston after it was delayed I was watching a CNN News story at the gate about Bush’s new budget, including a 7% increase in defence spending and additional money for Iraq and Afghanistan. This was followed up by details of how there is still a long way to go in Iraq. A young man sitting next to me said, “I’ll be there in two months.” He was a US Army soldier returning home to California from holiday. He can’t have been older than 22. In just a couple of weeks he had to report back to his unit and within a couple of months he would be shipped off to Iraq.

He’d been on a long holiday with some friends, doing as much as he could before he left for the Middle East, knowing full well that there is a possibility that he won’t return. What’s a lot of money for a last holiday, and $500 for repairing a car you crashed during it when it’s no good to you if you die? You can’t take it with you. I guess not.

He’d drawn the short straw, with some of his comrades instead being stationed in Hawaii - sun, surf and girls being infinitely more palatable than miles of sand and the possibility of being shot at.

Why do it? Others in his family had joined the Navy and Air Force, so he figured he would join the Army to cover all the bases. He loves it, he says, but like so many other recruits, this isn’t what he signed up for. Towards the end of our conversation he paused to call his brother to let him know the flight was delayed. “I don’t want to go,” he said. “Can I stay with you? I’ll go AWOL.”

We talked about his desire to travel Europe some day. Hopefully he’ll get that opportunity.

Howdy Aggies

2006-02-02T12:59:00.000+08:00

I'm currently in Carolyn's Texas A&M University dorm room. Apparently this university is staunchly conservative, though most of the professors I've seen appear to be reasonably liberal (albeit very few), not that any of this matters, but it's at least slightly interesting. They also have a very healthy ROTC, which, back in the day (read: 1800s) was compulsory and it was an all male university. It's amusing to see all the ROTC boys wearing their uniform around everywhere, especially the seniors with theirs boots, which are apparently huge status symbols.

Yesterday in Austin I went to the Texas Capitol building, which, though quite small and limited from a sighseeing perspective, is very cool architecturaly. And George Bush was governor, so it's just amusing to see where he spent his previous political life. They also have mascots - the grandchildren of members - included in the framed photosets of each year's legislature. This seems odd to me. But it's Texas, so whatever.

Then we went to Mandy's uncle and aunt's place and ate icecream and debated the virtues of pickup trucks. The youngest kid who can't be older than 18 months, seemed to like me a great deal for some unknown reason. He ate most enthusiatically when I fed him icecream, but turned his head away from Carolyn. You had to be there. Then we drove to College Station and got lost and took at least an extra hour to get there.

Today I was smuggled into philosophy, sociology and logic classes. I understood the first two very well but got lost half way through logic because it's basically maths and stuff and I'm not so great at that. Then it rained a LOT and we got rather wet, even though it was sunny for most of the beginning of the day. Better not rain tomorrow, I have photobanditing to do.

It's Superbowl on Sunday, yay!

United Airlines: Uniting to make you airsick until we go bankrupt like everyone else

2006-01-30T16:00:00.000+08:00

I'm in Texas, land of decent weather, big hats and George W. Bush. Flight was terrible and I had a connection in Chicago, so there was a second even more terrible flight. Mercifully they were both short. The housemate of the person I'm staying with, until Wednesday when Carolyn stops studying lots and comes over here to Austin, has the smallest dog I have ever seen in my life, it's cute!

Also, I think the last time I went to bed before 2am was in 2005.

Rhythm and Blues

2006-01-29T16:01:00.000+08:00

Today the caffeteria was awful. Just absolutely terrible. I'm told this is normal for weekends, though I don't see why this should be so. In addition to the normally terrible orange juice there was a distinct lack of pizza, soup that did not deserve the name, and very bland desserts. I felt like I got screwed with my pants on. Also: whats with the vegan cheese?

Tonight Holly and I went to a random birthday party which was Ok but reasonably lame. Following that we went to a frat party down the road. This was mich more my kind of party. It had a large and active dance floor. It could have gone better but I didn't do too badly and there's plenty of things I can take away from it. There's always far too many guys and it's so counter-productive when girls who are definately heterosexual dance with each other. What's with that? I'm very tired and my legs hurt, I'm definately too tall and couching sucks. But, fun, so I can sleep relatively happy.

Curse of the Madden

2006-01-27T17:29:00.000+08:00

Football of any type has it's curses. The Curse of the Madden, the Derby Hangover, The House of Pain to name a few. My trip also has one. A recurring theme is that every travel between locations, no matter what the size, complication or method of transport, will have some kind of hitch or added complication - either due to unforseen circumstances, incomplete planning or my own incompetence (mostly the latter). How I paint myself into these corners and then get out of them is beyond me.

Anyway, Bucknell was rather fun though short lived. Went to a frat part on Wednesday night before Kyle and I drove to Harrisburg to catch my train. The party is what's known as a mixer - the frat hosts members of a sorority in their house, or are hosted in the sorority by the girls. There is much merriment and beer pong playing. It was pretty good, but my record has been reduced to 4-6. This must be fixed before I leave the country. By the time we left it was dying down anyway. Drove to the train in Harrisburg and had a good chat about many things, then got on it and left. So far so good.

Arrive in New York a few minutes ahead, grab and NYT, sit around reading the sports section for a bit over an hour before getting on the train to New Haven. I then have to transfer to Merriden at New Haven. I've had essentially now sleep, have a bad cold and haven't eaten very well, so I mis-hear an announcement and don't get off at New Haven. I have to get off at New London, go back to New Haven and then go to Meriden. This process takes exactly three hours and 20 mobile phone units. Finally I get to Wesleayn University some time after 2pm, talk to Holly and Mitchel for a bit, and crash.

Slept on and off til like 8:30 then went to some wine and cheese thing and then for random midnight food with a bunch of her friends while the dorm room was cleaned (you'd think it wasnt the same room now). Holly's friend Xue has a pet hamster I got to say hi to, and Holly has a hedgehog named Winston who's been asleep the whole day. Wes also has showers that give me nightmares due to lack of privacy. Basically you put your stuff on this window sill, the only dry place in the room, have your shower in a cubicle, then make sure the room is empty, then duck out and get dry and changed, praying that no one comes into the room. Add that it's unisex and, well, AU wins by a lot.

We have a party in this room tomorrow night which should be entertaining.

I'll have another go at sleeping now. Overtiredness is bad.

We love you Mr Roosevelt, we think you're fine

2006-01-23T18:00:00.000+08:00

I'm now at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA. I also have the worst cold I have had in quite some time, it's been getting progressively wrose in the last couple of days to the point where I have no stamina and have to have a constant tissue supply. I also have one hell of a headache now. No wonder I was exhausted after walking around Washington all day Saturday.

Friday I did finally go to Arlington and the Pentagon along with Teddy Roosevelt Island. Arlington Cemetary is quite large with probably hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of headstones. Presidents Taft and of course JFK are also buried there. Some of it's monuments are also stunning, as with much of Washington. I also got to see a funeral processession leaving the cemetary - including fire engines. You can get through the whole thing in probably a few hours. I must also be crazy because I crossed several lanes of major traffic in a couple of shortcuts I made on the way there from Teddy Island and to the Pentagon, along with climbing numerous walls.

Pentagon is actually rather unintersting. You need a lot of elevation to see the shape and grandeur of the thing, from the side it just looks like a massive office building of no particular interest - which, I suppose, is exactly what it is. They don't allow photographs either. Not really worth bothering with other than to say you've seen it.

Friday Cyn had a party in the suite, which is two dorm rooms, one with her and Sarah and the other with Kitty and Loralee, connected by a bathroom. Watched Battlestar there at 1am after all but half a dozen if us were gone, there was at least 20 originally. Saturday I hit as much of the remainder of DC as I could in one day, took over 100 photos which will be avaliable later. Went to dinner and then a couple of other parties, then messed around talking to people until 6am. Today was just the ritual 1pm brunch at TDR, then watching half the Pittsburgh vs Denver game before it was time to leave and catch my bus to Harrisburg. Lipe and I only just made it in time as it took as a bit longer than expected to get organised.

Got to Harrisburg fine a met up with Kyle, then we drived through the rain to Lewisburg, watched some random TV with his girlfriend and her friends, then the last half of The Italian Job and now I'm wasting time online. I'm five floors up without a lift, this is going to be fun...

Mexican mayhem

2006-01-20T13:28:00.000+08:00

Today I didn’t get up until 2pm so I didn’t go into the city like I had planned to, but I will do so tomorrow. I had a stomach ache when I woke up at 9:30 so I went back to sleep. I think I might becoming down with something because my stamina isn’t that good and I keep getting a sore throat.

Mexican making went more or less well. Little Sam, Matt and I went to the grocery store and bought four packs of enchildas and 4lbs of chicken along with some general supplies and ingredients for Matt’s cheesecake, which is currently cooling. We didn’t have a spare baking tray so we were forced to cheat a bit and ended up not using the sauce, just the cheese sauce and flavouring, and didn’t heat the tortias. I think it turned out ok.

Loralee and I walked to the National Cathedral, which is very awesome, stunning on the insisde and out. Also finally booked two out of three of my flights. I should have done this a while ago because i missed a couple of really cheap flights, but I’m only like $20 down or something, but whatever.

I dunno what’s going on tonight, everyone seems to have gone into their rooms. I think a few people aren’t in great moods but I’m totally missing everything, which I think is a good thing. It’s just me, Lipe, Goose and Kitty watching The Office on TV right now.

I love watching TV shows live, too. On the Corbert Report he mentioned locatecell.com and the site was maxed out when I tried to go to it right after he said it - everyone else watching it had the same idea. hah.

Hill resigned? They’re dropping like flies, there will be no one left.

How The Black Dog Kills Aussie Males

2006-01-19T19:22:00.000+08:00

Nic, in his latest missive from the States, mentions the resignation of WA Premier Geoff Gallop.

I don’t know much about WA politics but the cited reason for Gallop’s resignation was depression. Over at LP I blogged about two problems within Rugby League culture. One was related to the death of Steve Rogers who was struggling with depression. Australian males (me included) are reticent lot. We tend to internalize our struggles, not letting onto our mates what problems we have.

Hence it was with anger to note on some discussions regarding Gallops’ resignation the implication that he was too weak to cope with depression. A real man would have soldiered on and dealt with it. I have no idea about Geoff Gallop as a person but such comments are very wrong. This blinkered, macho mindset is what helps prevent Aussie males from being able to discuss such issues. If we are depressed we feel that the only way to cope is to stoically endure the black dog. This is what kills us.

To deal with depression we must face it head on and have the support we need to deal with it. That is to be open, to have someone to talk to and to be able to admit to a problem without fearing that you are less of man by doing so.

Kangaroo sensi checking in

2006-01-19T17:23:00.000+08:00

Hi people, I am alive.

I'm currently in very awesome Washington DC with Amanda and friends, crashing on a couple of her friends, Patrick and Lipe's, floor next door. This room is pretty much the life of Anderson 3 North, as the section we're living in is known, and there are often up to a dozen people in the tiny dorm room playing Halo, watching TV or just sitting around. This is both good and bad in that you get to easily socialise with lots of friendly people, but you often don't get to bed until crazy times like 3:30am as I am posting at now. But, I never go to bed until late anyway so it's all good.

Thursday night back in Morgantown was also rather lame, went to a bar which was crowded, filled with guys and not as interesting as we hoped. We couldn't get into the club we wanted to because the line was massive and freezing to death is so overrated. So we just went hope a little earlier than usual after messing around getting food for a while. Friday night was the house party at Chris' round the corner at which we played yet more beer pong and looked after a couple of girls who were amazingly drunk. That was a very fun night. Then went back to Nick's place and hung out with Nick and his roomates until ridiculously late, as usual.

Saturday was unfortunately time to leave. After a spat of nice days, this one had snow. The plan was for Nick and I to drive to Cumberland, about an hour from Morgantown and then for the esteemed Cam Riley to drive me in his black sports car to DC. This of course did not go according to plan, like every other aspect of this trip so far. Nick's heating decided now would be a great time to break, so we could not see out the windscreen in the snow and cold. We got about 20 miles down the road before giving up and turning back. Fortunately Cam was cool enough to drive the rest of the way to Morgantown and crisis was more or less averted. There was lemon soft drink at the buffet place in DC we had dinner at, much to my surprice and excitement, having been deprived of it for over two months.

Met Amanda in the car park and she insisted on carrying my bag inside, despite its ridiculous weight. Saturday night was spent playing karaoke, much to my embarassment, watching Sernity, playing poker and losing badly to Goose, and playing more karaoke. We were up until 6:30am. This feat was bettered by 7am the next night, which I spent playing werewolf until 2am, talking to Amanda until 4am and then watching the end of Finding Nemo and discussing politics of Lipe.

Other nights have been more of the same, pretty much. We went on a few expeditions to see monuments at night, as they are lit up and look awesome, and watched much Family guy, Simpsons and of course the 24 premiere and Monday's BSG repeat. There's so much to do in Washington that I'm going to find it hard to fit it all in, even having extended my stay until Sunday. Today me and Lipe struggled to get through Museum of American History and Museum of Natural History in one day. There are of course billions of photos and there will be more to come.

So, yes, enjoying my stay in DC possibly more than any of the other legs on this trip so far. Apparently I fit in rather well and everyone wants me to stay and then transfer here next semester. awwww. It's going to suck to leave, I could so live here for a god few months longer. Maybe I'll ship them all to Perth for a while. But seriously, I love everyone and am having a great time.

Tomorrow I shall hit up Arlington and the Pentagon, and then as much of the rest of the city as possible before the sun sets, then do the rest on Friday and so forth. Parties Friday and Saturday nights, excellent. I'm also attempting to cook large amounts of kit mexican food tomorrow night, which will of course be a disaster, but I'll do my best. Plenty of girls around to bail me out anyway. Speaking of which, apparently I'm capable of eating more than anyone else, and I'm not even trying as my stomach is still used to not eating very much at all. I did learn that the TDR cafeteria hot dogs are most definately not edible and the university makes its money by charging $2.75 for washing. Insane.

Lots of others stuff to talk about and in more detail, but this post is long enough already. That'll teach me to update so infrequently.

P. S: Geoff Gallop resigns to battle depression? What the hell?

A Good Old Fashioned Scandal To Start The Year

2006-01-19T16:36:00.000+08:00

I’ve had a bit of a post New Year blogging ennui while Nic is gallivanting around the US. But there is nothing like a good scandal to get things going again.

The Australian Wheat Board (AWB) looks like it paid about $300 million worth of kickbacks to the Saddam’s Iraqi regime. A better scandal to start the year you could not find and Mike Steketee’s column in the The Australian is worth reading.

But let us visit what Howard said last year:

"My dealings with the people in AWB in the past have always been some that I've found have always been a very straight up and down group of people," he told ABC radio.

"And I can't, on my knowledge and understanding of the people involved, imagine for a moment that they would have knowingly be involved in anything improper."

Howard is right about Andrew Lindberg in that he would not have knowingly become involved in a shady deal. I hear that DFAT regulars says that ole Lindy would lose his head if it wasn't screwed on. One of those lovable but forgetful types. I mean he earns $800,000 a year and has pressure. He can't be expected to remember every little thing that happened.

Given his memory lapses I have every confidence that Lindberg had no idea what was going on. Or even what he was doing. Then again his memory miraculously returns and he remembers it was the AWB that was channelling the money and not the UN’s fault as he claimed last year. And oh yeah, we misled investors as well. Loves a bit of a joke old Lindy.

Ghandi points out that while Howard deliberately made sure the terms of the commission could not investigate the government, the AWB seems intent to get the government involved. They are not going down alone.

This may make for interesting times indeed. Unless John Quiggin’s prescience from experience turns out to be correct.

Yellow ribbons

2006-01-10T03:02:00.000+08:00

If I see another "support our troops" ribbon I'm going to snap. They're everywhere.

Word association

2006-01-09T12:07:00.000+08:00

Last night didn't go entirely according to plan, of course. Went to some party and played more pong, Nick and I continued to play well. Hung around there until around 11pm then went downtown to the club. Unfortunately I forgot my passport and they refused to accept my other forms of ID, even though they clearly show my birthdate. Why is this country so anal?

We weren't there long anyway so I just hung around in coffee shops annoyed with myself. Consolation, I "borrowed" a book on taking travel photos from one of them. Went back to Shaun's place and the five of us (I've so given up on names) and played some progressively stupid drinking games such as complete the sentence and word association, which eventually involved playfully insulting each other in extremely unrepeatable ways. And Elton John for some reason. In fact he keeps coming up, as I'll get to later. Didn't get home until after 5am.

Today me, Nick and his sister drove to his parent's place in Cumberland, about an hour away, and got his car fixed properly (i.e. with something other than tape), then drove back via some poking around in Cumberland, napped (running on 4hrs sleep) and watched a new West Wing episode (squee). It sucks than John Spencer is dead, the show really needs him. Nothing is really happening tonight, hence me being on the PC, and tomorrow looks to also be rather quiet, though we may find a house party or get some people up here, or something. These apartments have too many guys.

Not a lot else to report that isn't self incriminating.

Oh yeah. Put glasses on Nick's little brother and he looks like Elton John. There are photos, everyone be patient, I'm dealing with over 500 of them.