TV is gone...

So most people are aware of my current dilemma where my (roommate's) 60" TV is gone. I woke up Saturday morning elated to watch the beginning of college football to find the TV gone. My roommate had sold it. Great timing. First weekend of college and NFL football, the start of Entourage, and also the MTV Awards show. He had no clue. The new TV (a 72") isn't arriving for a week. I was like "Dude, you couldn't sell it on Tuesday?"

This has been a building issue...for the Men's Olympics Basketball Semi-finals game, I woke up at 8AM to watch the game and the Comcast box was missing. He had taken it to get a new one even though the day before I had asked him to wait until AFTER the Olympics bball game...it was a Saturday after all. I watched the first half at Clyde's and returned home for the second half hoping he'd be back...and sure enough, he was and TV was already on the game. Great. As I threw myself on the couch..before my feet even hit the ottoman, there was a knock at the door. 2nd half tip just went off. It was an Iranian woman looking to "see" the TV. Now, I was watching the show in HD...so of course what's her first question? "Can I see the old movie channel?" She had no idea which channel she needed. My roommate start scrolling through the channels (not menu...actual channels). Game off...that took 5 seconds. After 60 seconds of pinching my leg, she pulls out some DVDs she wants to try. I immediately grab my keys and head to the Green Turtle. I watched the 2nd half with some great people...immediately after the game I go home and she had JUST left. She was there over an hour and half...and of course she didn't buy the TV....ha. What a mess.

So life without TV has been good I guess. I ran into an old friend catching the Sunday night game at Rocket bar, and I've begun trying to learn the guitar again. I still stink miserably so I got that going for me, which is nice.

Memphis/Nashville Flights

So the flight out was primed to be a rough one. The pre-boarding cast included the normal group of kids and elderly, but also a handicapped person that had the special wheelchair with the tray and neck piece and 2 blind women (where one had their seeing dog). Pre-boarding alone took 20 minutes. I am usually beyond impatient when it comes to Airline staff efficiency in these situations, but since we were due to arrive before my sis, no big deal. When I got to my seat, I got hit again...mother and baby in the middle seat next to me.

I really can't complain. I've had a Cal Ripken-esque streak going without a kid in any row near me for over 6 years now. The last time was when I was flying back from Mardi Gras on Southwest with my friend and there was no joke FIVE babies within the immediate 4 rows around me. The baby in the row directly in front of me was screaming so violently...it would stop crying to catch its' breath and we all knew the next round was about to start. As soon as one baby stopped crying, another one would start. I guess its better that a bunch weren't going off at once, but after a 5-day bender in New Orleans, 2 hours of a screaming baby was pretty rough. I just remember being shocked that the mother was not doing ANYTHING to comfort this baby. We constantly checked to make sure it was not being injured because it was screaming that bad.

The flight home from Memphis...my great luck struck again. Except this time I was the middle seat and the mother/baby was against the window. It's almost too perfect, but right as the captain announced "we have made our ascent to 30,000 feet"...the baby made a descent into her diaper. The REALLY foul smell lasted only for 5 minutes or so then it waned. OK, enough of this potty talk for tonight.

Welcome to my Inferno

So I have been quite busy and this is a story I've meant to post for some time. When my roommate cooks chicken, he puts the stove on HIGH and just throws the chicken on the frying pan (no SPAM or nothing). You know what you get? A LOT of smoke. Our apartment completely fills with smoke where I either go for a walk or I go in my bedroom, shut the door, and start playing curse songs on my guitar.

Living in a high rise, we don't have windows you can open...so whats the solution? Open the front door of course and let the smoke pour into the hallway! He cooks this usually 2x a week. I told him "You know, if you oil the pan and cook it on Medium...you can avoid all this smoke and your chicken won't be black on the outside." His response, "Thats how I like it." Wonderful. Of course he doesn't believe in using the dishwasher for pans so all the pans are charcoal black. Whenever I fry eggs, they come out black. Lovely.

The video I captured here is the chicken being on the pan for the first 30 seconds...multiply the smoke x8 because he leaves the chicken on there for 4 minutes. It seems kind of weak, but the smoke is much thicker on the real video.


The obvious question is: Don't you own smoke detectors?
The obvious answer is: Umm...I think so? They went off once actually, but yeah, I bet he pulled the batteries out.

Roger Mason Jr, Fundraiser Party

You can view my write-up and some videos of the event here...
http://aherninquirer.blogspot.com/2008/07/andray-blatche-has-nice-formthrows.html

Private Tour of Nationals Park

So my friends and I got a private tour of the new Nationals Park. Highlights were the $400K/per year suite, the locker room and the dugout. The 'President's Club' seating (which are the seats pictured behind me) have access to a private bar which has windows that allow you to see batters take batting practice during the game. The batting cage is just inside the dugout steps and players use it quite often during the game .

I also got to throw a pitch in the Nats bullpen which was entertaining. They had a fake batter setup where people are suppose to throw strikes but of course I went for the plastic batter. I just missed but gave it some good chin music (video in link).

http://picasaweb.google.com/ewoldt/NatsParkTour/photo#s5227452129608371394

Cruefest

So after a nice weekend with the family in PA...I drove back to DC since my friend scored 2 free tix to Cruefest (Motley Crue, Buckcherry, Sixx AM, Trapt, and Papa Roach). It was absolutely monsooning most of the show but it cleared up by the time the Crue came on stage. It was a great set as always...here's the opening.


The scene in the parking lot was white-trashy as could be. There were a lot of really young kids there dressed so inappropriately I cannot even begin to explain. There were mullets everywhere and I was in the minority of people wearing a t-shirt. Either way, the Crue put on an amazing show, and I was extremely surprised at how good Buckcherry was. I downloaded their 3 albums this morning and all 3 are quality. I look forward to seeing them again.

Shark Attack

So here are the pictures from the last wedding I was at where my friends ran into the Aquarium mascot in the hotel and had it wake me up. Full story is here.

Party @ the Iceland Embassy

So my friend Joe and I hit a party last night at the Iceland Embassy. When we first walked in, my first reaction was 'this is going to suck.' But things changed pretty quick. The party was at the Ambassador's gorgeous house in NW DC off Mass Ave.

Now, as a habit, I usually bring back a bottle of liquor from whatever country I visit. Two years ago, I was sitting in the Reykjavik airport on the way home upset I failed in my task. Since the airport was busy, an old lady asked to share my table. She immediately started talking about "Black Death"...an Icelandic icon and that it was available at duty free. I picked up a bottle and brought it back to the States. My friends absolutely HATED this liquor. It's good for getting you bombed and sparking dry heaves on the way down. It took a year to finish which says everything about its flavor. I actually don't mind it that much. To describe it, I'd say it's a clear liquor with a faint licorice kick at the end.

When I was talking with the Ambassador, I asked him "What? No Black Death at this party?" He looked at me sternly but grinning and replied "You want some?" I replied "Absolutely." He walked into the back and emerged with a frozen bottle of Black Death (real name Brennivin). He plopped it on the bar and we got after it. Not sure where or how but a 2nd bottle emerged that I wanted no part of. All in all and we met some great people, and I definitely look forward to the next one.


Freezing the bottle and shot glasses was huge. The bottle that we drank in the States was room temperature for the first half of the bottle. He said it is also custom to chase it with Viking beer, another key step we didn't know.

Nigerian Scam Letters (Part I)

So my cousin has been forwarding me some of those email scam letters he gets from Africa. Some of them are too funny not to post, here's a recent one:

Subject: A little token for a email that i hope finds you well...

my name is mongo bongo and i am the prince of a little known island in the strait of Magellan. i lost 50 "fifty" million dollars and need your bank account information to find it. once you give me the information i will deposit 1 "one" million dollars into your account you greedy little bored email reader. please respond immediately or my hands will be cut off.

yours in peace, war and prosperity,

mongo bongo

Wedding Time

So I had back to back weddings the last 2 weekends. Both great times, but the one this past weekend took the cake with shenanigans. I stayed in the Brookshire Suites in Baltimore Friday night. The father of the groom covered a 4 hour open bar at this Irish pub which pretty much did everyone in. We all went out afterwards...I woke up to what I felt was obviously someone jumping on me in the bed. I turn over and see this 7-foot, furry shark on top of me.

The shark mascot for the National Aquarium, Mr. Bite, always joins the guests for the free, continental breakfast at 8:00AM. My friends (correctly) thought it would be hilarious to have Mr. Bite personally wake me up. He agreed and they took the elevator down with him to our room. I had no idea what was going on when I turned over and saw this thing lying in bed next to me. I will upload the pictures of that once I get them from my friend.

As for the wedding: Being the slackers the 3 of us were, we decided to skip the free shuttle to the wedding and relax for an extra half hour and instead take a cab. Good thing we did, the bus broke down on I-83 with no A/C and the windows don't roll down. All the older women had their make-up running and everyone was SOAKING wet with sweat. Luckily, they get the bus fixed to make the show on time.

The groom's parents flew up their priest from their local church in Jacksonville, FL. He was a good man, but didn't seem to be all there at times. During the ceremony he referred to the bride and groom as "Sean and Eric" instead of "Sean and Erin". And during his prayer at the reception, he asked that God bless this fine day of "June 22nd" even though it was "June 28th". All good though.

As for the reception...oh lord. There was a 2-hour cocktail hour. The dance floor and bar was outside and the tables for eating where inside. So everyone was outside in the hot, summer heat for 2 hours. A lot of sweating. The bride's step dad, who rarely drinks, reportedly had 8 shots of bourbon upon arrival. All I know is he was helped down to the main sidewalk, which all the tourists were using and our party is right off of, where he began puking everywhere. He was plopped in a chair and just yacking away. This yacht pulled up right next to him/us where there was a reception going on and we could all see them laughing/horrified by the scene. Classic!

I remember talking to one of my friends when behind me I heard a distinct "splat" noise without any other accompanying noise (such as a bottle breaking or cup hitting the ground). I turned around and of course my friend had just puked. The heat and open bar was taking a toll. After dinner the bride's step mom had not improved. He was walked into the lobby area where they plopped him on one of the hotel bell carts and tried moving him around that way.

He was grey as could be and not able to keep his eyes open. At that point they called an ambulance where he was gurney'd away. Thankfully he is OK, but not a fun moment for the bride. The party never lost a beat though and most people were oblivious to it. My one friend, who was well beyond 'feeling good' saw the bouquet and launched it across the room. Well, it happened to strike one of the bridesmaids in the face which triggered an avalanche of tears. Some apologies from all parties and the party continues. Another friend was walking with her phone in her hand and it popped out and right into the bay. Gone. Haha. My favorite part of the night was when the groom and groom's dad were jumping in the air for House of Pain's "Jump Around." They slightly bumped each other and that sent the groom's dad flying. He did the long, out-of-control staggering nad took out several people including this girl in a red dress. What a show. Here are some pics and video of the night...unfortunately none of the great stuff was caught on video.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ewoldt/WhiteWedding/photo#s5217754043629201106

Obesity

So an article just came out in the Sydney Herald stating that Australia just beat out the U.S. as the fattest nation in the world. I don't know who or by what methods they came by this result, but whoever wrote this article has obviously never been to the US. Let me describe my day to you YESTERDAY, and this is just ONE DAY.

8:15 AM - Walking up the Metro escalator at my stop for work. There is a person so obese that I cannot pass. And I'm not talking about it being a close squeeze to get by...I mean a walking toothpick could not have made it by either (yes, I know I am walking tooth pick too, so save that joke Pete).

5:27PM - On the jammed Metro home. Someone farted really bad, and I'm talking about one of those hanging wet ones that just will not die. Cannot move. Everyone is looking around. This has nothing to do with obesity...just miserable.

5:34PM - Order my burrito at Chipotle. The guy asks the person behind me for her order. I move over as much as I can, but I don't realize my backpack is still blocking her. Lady bumps me..."EXCUSE ME!!" (in a mean voice). I look back...lady is probably 240 pounds. An array of insults pop into my head to fire back with. My Catholic upbringing throws up the filters and none of them make it through. I roll my eyes and ignore her.

8:25PM - I am sitting upright in my seat at the Nationals game (not leaning back or anything). I get hit in the back of the head. I look back and a person continues walking down the row...their fat hanging off their sides is what hit me in the head. Roll my eyes again.

Now, even though yesterday was an above average day, it was still rather a common thing. Having lived in Sydney, that never happened once that I can recall. Although obesity is a sad thing, people need to help themselves first. I had said at one point that the government should force all fast-food restaurants to make their doors 16 inches wide, and only those people that fit through can eat there. That would solve 2 problems:

1.) It would prevent obese people from the temptations of poor food.
2.) It would help lower the sky-rocketing health care costs of obesity.
(Not to mention it would be comical to see the borderline people get wedged)

The New York Times reported how EMS and hospitals have been complaining that today's ambulances are no longer strong enough to transport the weight of some people. THAT IS RIDICULOUS.

My AC is fixed...life is good!!!

Hallelujah. Finally, we have it working. So what does my roommate do?! Set the thermostat to 82. 82! Are you kidding me?! My roommate's girlfriend is in town and laid down the law before I got home that it's staying at 72. So now the only problem is the AC door is in our living room and it is loud as SHIT! You know when you deboard a plane on the runway and the engines are still going....that's exactly what my AC sounds like. Can a brotha get a break here? Jesus! The current temperature in my apartment as I type this is I can see my breath...perfect. My street is VERY noisy as it is so the AC won't phase me for a second. I can't wait to blog about the religious protesters that are DAILY outside my building. Get your popcorn ready for this one..ridiculous. And I'll have video. I have a wedding today/Saturday. Glorious pictures to come from that for sure. Nats won in the 14th inning tonight. Screech (pictured above) did NOT want to take a pic with me. I demanded and he refuted..hence the pose.

Guess who's back

So I've decided to kick up my blog again...there's too much stuff going on not to make it known. The latest is my drama going on with my Air Conditioning. Now, for those don't know...I live in a very nice (ok, luxury) building attached to the Verizon Center. I recently was in London and when I got back is when the 100 degree heat wave hit DC. Stepping off the plane hungover from 5 glorious days with the limeys, the heat punched me square in the face. You know that moment when you first exit the plane door and you get the first taste of the weather? The date was June 9th.

The first text message I received when turning my phone back on was from my roommate, "Sorry, the AC is out...working on it." WHAT?!?! I get back home to find the a/c unit completely off the wall and wires everywhere. He's trying to fix it himself (and no, he does not know anything about electronics). He owns the apartment and hates having to pay for professionals to fix things. Our dryer broke and he tried to fix that himself, which was a disaster. It took him 20 minutes to unscrew the top and all he did was spin the drum. I digress.

me: "you need to call a repair guy immediately."
him: "i've been on the phone with the manufacturer...they're faxing me over the instructions tomorrow."
3 days go by with more excuses. This is about the time I find out the a/c has been out for months and he is just now getting around to fixing it. He promised he'd have it fixed by the weekend (I was going to NYC that following weekend for a friend's bachelor party). I text messaged my roommate on Sunday before leaving NYC:

me: "is it fixed?"
him: "I don't know what's up with these guys, they won't respond."
me: "Nice. Well, for every day the a/c is not fixed, I'm deducting a day's rent."
him: "I'll buy you a fan."
me: "You can buy a new roommate then too."

So more time goes by (it has been cool in DC the last week)...he told me the a/c guy is coming on Wednesday (June 18). I get home yesterday from work and he is messing with the wires.
me: "did the repair guy come?"
him: "yeah, he took a look at it and said he didn't know how to fix it. He has to call in his boss, but he still charged me $167 ".
me: "WHEN IS THE GUY COMING TO FIX THIS?!"
him: "friday"
me: "riiight"

I'll keep you posted. Here are some pics of how it looks now...and what the repair guy came into deal with. My roommate royally F'd this up. You think that's not enough? He decided to paint the living room and his bedroom while we still have no AC. I don't even remember those days now that I think about it.


Can you imagine being a repair guy and coming into this?! I'd walk out too.

Party's Over...Back in D.C.

So I arrived back in D.C. late Tuesday night. My Mom's 60th birthday dinner was last night (her 2 sisters and husbands took her to a nice restaurant in D.C.). I had it all planned with them to have an extra seat at the table and surprise her. When I tapped her on the shoulder and said "Hi Mom" it was quite comical. She was in shock where she was looking at me and her brain wasn't registering it was me (she still thought I was coming back in March). After a second or two everything caught up and she was elated. My sister and I bought her a family vacation anywhere she wants to go...the 3 of us...so we're going to start planning that. I'll update this blog posting with pictures from the dinner at DC Coast tomorrow...I forgot my USB chord to my camera today.

Life is Good...

So I'm really hitting my stride here as it's getting closer to my departure date. I've met some amazing people and loads of new friends. In the perfect world, I'd live here for 6 months and in the states for 6 months every year the rest of my life. It's a great time to buy real estate here as well....so it's definitely something to shoot for. I've met a ton of UK people and they are by far my favorite people. Just not a care in the world except having a laugh and anything goes. I definitely look forward to getting over to London for a long weekend because I'd have the full hookup of places to stay and go which I haven't had there before. Pictured above is my roommate Elliot and his UK "friend". haha.

Bondi Beach Sunrises (Part II)

It rained today so no pics, but the ones from yesterday were slightly better than the day before. It's pretty clear though my camera just isn't up for the challenge. Still pretty nice though....these sunrises remind me a lot of the sunrises on York Rd in Baltimore with the homeless peeing in the streets and shouting jibberish.

Bondi Beach Sunrises...

So I am in the habit now of waking up at 6:00AM for the sunrise and running back and forth along the 3/4 mile promenade. The beach is super-packed at this hour with all these workout clubs. There is an amazing sunrise picture I want to buy (from the same professional that took the one above)...the problem is it costs a $1K, so I'm trying to catch my own. My camera is good enough for it and has the mega-pixel size needed, but the weather is not cooperating. It's been overcast here 2 straight weeks and the morning sun has not been able to break the clouds...but I have gotten some decent snaps. Here are the pictures from yesterday.

Here are some more from the professional photographer I'm trying to get.



Although now that I think about it, my camera probably will never compare to his Canon 1d MkII ($7500). oh well.

Hunter Valley Winery Tour

So I did an all day trip today to the Hunter Valley wineries, which is about 2 hours north of Sydney. We stopped at 5 different wineries. I skipped most of the white wines b/c I just really don't like white wine. I tasted some pretty nice Shiraz's, Cabs, and several other types I had never heard of. Here are some photos of the winery trip. One of our stops was at Drayton, which a few weeks ago tragically had a large explosion where their they lost 2 people, including the wine maker who was a Drayton. They had just re-opened after making a make-shift new cellar door (room for tasting wines). We could still see the shredded building and busted vats. Sad story.

Anyone that has visited me in DC surely knows about the bottle of 'Brennivin' (which translates to 'Black Death') I brought back from Iceland.


Well, it took us a year but we finally finished the bottle. It was pretty brutal. So since that challenge is over, it's time for a new one. On the wine tour today this one brewery had some funky different schnapps, and OF COURSE...I bought a bottle for us all back in the States. It's called 'Dragons Breath' and is a Chili schanpps. I had some and it's not that bad...it was actually this winery's best selling bottle, but it definitely packs a punch. Bottoms up! (and yes, that is a chili pepper floating in the bottle).

Ewok Book Club

So Oprah's book club is crap, not that I have ever seen it once, but I'm sure mine is better. I've read quite a few books since I've been out here and I'll give you the quick reviews. I'm a non-fiction guy...I personally find stories much more interesting when they are true. Anyway, below are my comments and my lame 1-5 star rating. 5 being the best and which I rarely will ever rate a book. (scroll down...)

Running with Scissors: A Memoir (Augusten Burroughs)	Absolutely hysterical book. Very quick read. Two scenes were a little too explicit for my 'conservative' taste, but that does not take away from the creative writing and amazing story of this childhood and how Augusten ended up to where he is today as a writer. 4 stars.
The Young Che: Memories of Che Guevara (Ernesto Guevara Lynch)	I knew very little about Che Guevara and was intrigued to know more. This book was written by his Dad and explained his childhood and documented all the letters Che wrote to his family (which is the majority of the book) as he traveled up South America and eventually into Central America and Cuba. It was a very good read and quite interesting to see 1.) his progression toward Socialism and 2.) "the other side of the story" to the effects American imperialism had on the everyday people. In short, their life was not good. It documents how he met Fidel Castro and their relationship before and after the invasion of Cuba. Very good book. 4 stars.
Eight Lives Down Chris Hunter	This is probably one of the best books I have ever read. Everyone and anyone should buy this and read it. It's written by a UK bomb expert (IED - the roadside bombs) who is based in Basra and is the only man that knows how to diffuse them. He is so good at what he does the insurgents put a bounty on his head. The stories of him traveling through the villages are astounding. You'll also learn a great amount about Iraqi culture, Iran's involvement, and how incredible the sacrifices these troops make are...all while trying to hold on to a marriage and family. 5 stars.
Fear and Loathing Las Vegas Hunter S. Thompson	I'm probably the last person on Earth to read this but what a phenomenal book. Truly a one-of-a-kind writer. 4 stars.
The Beat: Go-Go's Fusion of Funk and Hip-Hop Kip Lornell	So I finished the Eight Lives Down book faster than anticipated and had to hit a small bookstore in Queensland. The only book I saw that interested me was about the start of go-go music in D.C...following the story of Chuck Brown, EU, and the Junkyard band. Sounded cool. Wow, was I wrong. The author (white guy) spoke on HUGE lengths how about black music originated in tribal Africa and never got to the heart of the story. He repeated himself so much I could not take it anymore after 3 chapters. 0 stars.
Losing My Virginity Richard Branson	Anyone that wants to start a business, but doesn't have the nads to do it (me) should read this book. A lot of good lessons here and just a cool story to see how one person can start from nothing and build an amazing empire. He would have not made it ANYWHERE without the help of his one friend who was in charge of discovering and signing new bands. Branson comes off as a very reasonable person who rarely raises his temper and always tries to compromise. There are a few biographies out there that paint a VASTLY different picture so I'll be curious to read those. Anyway, the major point is that Branson failed in a LOT if not most of his attempts, but the ones he hit, he hit big. 4 stars.

OZ Super Bowl Coverage

So the Super Bowl was televised on local (free) TV here. The game was broadcast by Dick Stockton and Sterling Sharpe which was extremely painful, though I would rather deal with Sterling Sharpe than Joe Buck. I have never in my life have seen one announcer SO TIED and pulling for one team more than Sterling Sharpe for the Giants. I wish I had wrote down all of the idiotic things he said. Some that stood out were:
- "Wes Welker is more valuable than Randy Moss." Um, if Moss is not on the field, than Welker would not be in single coverage with the safety tied to Moss.
- The other annoying thing is that with any questionable call, Sterling ALWAYS took the Giants side emphatically.
- Anytime there was a big play, Sterling would prefix his sentence with, "Like I said...". I mean, everyone loves to hear someone say how right they were even though their previous statements were very general.

In regards to the game, there were no commercials. Instead, they would kick it back to these 3 Aussie guys who would comment on the progress of the game, one of them a former NFL player. As bad as they were, it was nothing as close to as bad as Steve Salisbury so I could put up with it OK.

One of the 3 commenters was Sav Rocca, who used to play for the Australian Football League, is the punter for the Eagles, and probably took the biggest lick of the year. Rocca was asked how he got along with the marquis players like McNabb, Westbrook, and Dawkins. Unsurprisingly, he said they ignored him and that NFL players don't have the comradery that the Aussie sports have. Haha. Like if I was a punter for the Skins I would really want to hang out with Fred Smoot and Clinton Portis.

Queensland Trip Pictures

Fraser Island
http://picasaweb.google.com/ewoldt/Fraser/photo#s5159335905705892866

Whitsundays
http://picasaweb.google.com/ewoldt/Queensland/photo#s5161789891105038194

Back in Sydney

So all in all the trip was fantastic. Because my skydive got rained out, that meant my last day in Cairns I had to choose between the skydive and scuba diving out on the barrier reef. I went with the skydive. Man, what an adrenaline rush that was. Sitting on the edge of the airplane looking down then all of a sudden your tandem instructor just pushes you out. The first 5 seconds is like "Holy shit" but then once you stabilize, it is awesome. I did the 14,000 foot jump which equates to 60 seconds of free fall then 4 minutes of falling after the shoot opens. That is the actual view pictured above I had. I got to control the parachute handles once we were floating for a minute or so which puts you into some major spins. I didn't pay to have the DVD video which is what the extra guy above is doing...that was like $200 extra. Anyway, back in Sydney and back in the grind. Still working on getting all my pics and videos up...that should be another day or so.

I am totally getting screwed in regards to my old apartment. They are having trouble finding someone to take it which means I still have to pay rent on it...so I am paying for 2 apartments in Bondi Beach at peak season...sweet. What a waste of money...$300 USD week for that old one.

Cairns - End of the line

So I just arrived into Cairns. I was suppose to stop in Mission Beach for the sky dive but it was raining so they canceled it. Of course it is beautiful and sunny right now. So it goes with tropic weather. I rescheduled for tomorrow so hopefully that works out. This is really the first time in my trip I have been able to sit down at a PC...the bus schedule and all my planned trips have been down to the minute. Hopefully before I fly back to Sydney tomorrow I can get a scuba and sky dive in. As for my details on my trip, the 2 days at Fraser Island was really cool. Fraser Island is the largest all sand island in the world, which is interesting in a lot of ways because there are loads of trees, which you wouldn't think could grow out of sand but the sand has lots of minerals. Both days we took a 4X4 throughout the island to swim in natural lakes (pure white sand). We also walked through sand drifts, drove along the ocean, and my favorite part was swimming in the 'Champagne pools'. The pool there on the right is the one I was swimming in. What happens is the waves crash right before the rocks, then splash over causing LOTS of bubbles. The water is fizzing like champagne. It's quite a workout because some waves come over pretty strong and you have to swim at full speed just to stay in the same place you are.


From Fraser Island I headed up to Airlie Beach where the Whitsunday Islands are. Airlie Beach doesn' thave an actual beach because of all the rocks, so there is a huge man-made lagoon in the middle of town that reminded me a lot of the Hard Rock pool in Vegas (minus the tables, blackjack tables, and bar).

This UK couple in their mid-twenties happened to be on the same trips and buses as me for 6 of my 8 days so I became quite good friends with them. From Airlie Beach I hopped on the Clipper for a 2 night sail of the Whitsundays.

There was 49 people on the boat. We sailed all through the Islands snorkling both days. I went scuba diving the last day but it did not come close to the diving in Belize. I hope to do 1 scuba trip here in Cairns which is where all the real Reef action is. On one snorkel trip I came up on a sea turtle and swam along with it. I don't have time to upload my pics to the blog so I'll do that when I'm back in Sydney this weekend. I met this Danish bloke on the boat who's a riot and he happens to be in Cairns right now as well so that will be fun. Cheers mates. Later.

Fraser Island and the Whitsundays

So I am in Airlie Beach right now. The 2-day boat trip through the Whitsunday islands (pictured above) was awesome. My boat had 49 people on it...people from all over the world that loved partying. I would need a 6-pack and an hour and half to fill you in on all the stories. Staying up til 4am and singing songs with the Irish was one highlight. Tons of drinking games but met some really amazing people. As always I'm the only American in the group, but had to dust off my French and Dutch and after 3 days of hanging with these people, I now have best friends in Switzerland, Denmark, UK, Brazil, German, Holland, Sweden, and Canada eh! It certainly will make traveling better. It's quite funny, an Irish accent after 7+ drinks is 10x more tough to understand than any German accent. Anyway, did some quite amazing snorkeling and scuba in the barrier reef. I'm here in Airlie another night then heading to Mission Beach for the skydive, then tomorrow night to Cairns which is the town closest to the best of the best of the Great Barrier Reef. I'll probably do another scuba dive there. Alright, I'm off for now. I have tons of great pics and will do a proper posting then.

Byron Bay

So first stop was Byron Bay. Chill beach. Met some awesome people at my hostel and partied late into the night in one of the chessiest bars of all time, Cheeky Monkeys. It made 'Gators' look like the 40-40 club. The dancefloor is all steel tables so everyone has to dance on the tables. I have pics I'll get up when I can. I'm departing now for my 4x4 trip around Fraser Island. Later chumps.

Corey the Legend...

So I happened to catch this live on the news the other night, and holy shit it is amazing. It's already going around the internet, so if you've already seen it, then nevermind. But anyway, this 16-year old kid's parents were out of town and he threw a party that got up to 500 kids. Multiple police forces had to come, the chopper, the dogs. The kids resisted against the police and neighbors cars/lawns were trashed. The kid decided to do an interview with the News (parents still out of town)...you think he'd be remorseful right? Nope. Not even close. It gets really good towards the end so hang on. His parents still are not back yet and he is not answering their calls and still partying. He was on Opie and Anthony yesterday and is now getting offers to throw parties around here. Jebus.

Itinerary for Jan 22-31 Queensland Vacation

View Larger Map
So I'm getting to my back-packer roots and heading out on a 8-day tour of the Queensland coast from Jan 22-31, hitting all the awesome beach towns along the Great Barrier Reef coastline. If you open up the map above, you can see my exact itinerary. People usually take 2-3 weeks to do this trip, but I'm cutting it to 8-days, which as the booking agent said, "I've been booking these trips for over 3 years and never heard of anyone try to do this in such little time." Now that everything is booked and paid for, I'm starting to realize what she means. I'm basically doing 2000 miles on a bus with most of the days on boats. That means my skinny, little ass is going to be in a bus seat A LOT for this trip, which is why people take the 2 weeks to break it up. In fact, counting up the total hours I'm on a bus, it's 36.5 hours if all goes well and 5.5 on a plane. And 2 of my "nights" are actually overnight bus trips. Lord help me. One of my bus legs is 12 hours and literally right as I get off the bus, I have to hop on a boat, which is a 2-day/2-night trip. You can be sure I'm bringing the Immodium AD.

Highlights of the trip, since I know you're all too lazy to click the map:
- Lots of scuba/snorkel
- Swimming in natural hot springs, waterfalls, and lagoons with turtles
- Skydiving over the great barrier reef
- 4WD tours through the island wild life, rain-forest
- Completely isolated white sand beaches
- 2 night boat trip through the Whitland Islands on 100-foot party yacht (boat has a disco on it) - scuba/snorkel/beach swims
- Hands On: Impregnate a kangaroo session. (kidding). Although the brochure claims we'll see dingos mating. YouTube definitely needs that video.
- Byron Beach/Airlie Beach - 2 massively famous party towns

I haven't been in a hostel since my last trip to Amsterdam 9 years ago and I'll be in them all week. I wonder what I'm going to get stuck with:
- the 300lb snorer
- the guy on his cell phone all night
- the guy that smells like he crapped himself
- the guy that sleeps on his back spread-eagle in his boxers with the lights fully on picking his nose and eating it.

Probably all the above with one person. I was reading one guy's blog about the 2-night boat tour I'm taking. He, like me, was traveling solo and as the pairings worked out, he got matched up with 2 Swedish girls in his cabin. No way I'm so lucky. My bag will be super small and light since I am starting and ending my trip from Sydney...so I got that going for me....which is nice. Later playas.

New Address (again) & My Office

I have moved back into my original apartment, which is fantastic b/c I have 24-hour wireless internet, no roaches, and an ocean view again. I've decided to cut my trip short and am coming back most likely in late February. I'm planning a 7-day trip to fly up to Cairns next week and drive down the coast hitting all the beaches (and bars) along the great barrier reef. It should be splendid. I also am hoping to drive the New Zealand coast with my NZ friends here. We'll see if that happens or not. If that doesn't, then I'll probably either just go myself or plan a short trip to Fiji or the Outback.

So here are some pics of my office in North Sydney. A friend of mine who lives/works in DC used to work in Melbourne for WebMethods, and one of his co-workers (whom he is friends with today) started her own company, which is very successful here (it's an IT company with 60+ employees, about 25 or so in my office). After putting the two of us in touch, she was very gracious in giving me some cube space. It is definitely nice having a place to work b/c working from home is not really my style. I take the train over the Harbour Bridge everyday...so not a bad commute.

This is the view from my cube (13th floor).


My desk....


Office view behind me...

Obama vs. Hillary

So being the only American in Sydney, the new question I get asked all the time is who is going to win the election. And since I am American, I am therefore Miss Cleo and can predict the future. Almost all the Australians I've met seem to want Hillary to win, but don't worry everyone, I am single-handedly turning them all against her. Haha. It's true, my biggest problem with her, besides having to look at this mug everyday for 4 years, is that I really have no idea what her stance is on anything. I do foresee 50% taxes when she gets into office and lots of behind-closed-doors lesbian parties (the butch kind, not the hot ones).
Anyway, the Republican party has no chance given how bad Bush screwed up so I have little faith there, and none of the Republic candidates seem to jump out as being honest people that would make me care. I've been telling the Aussies just to relax because these current polls mean absolute jack squat. Remember how well Kerry was doing and then that picture of him in the bunny suit got released? Bango...his numbers dropped. And they slammed his wife. The mudslinging won't kick into full gear until June and that's when the polls really matter.

As for you today's "Did you know"... it is actually mandatory that every Australian votes in the prime minister election. If you do not, you get fined and have to appear at a court. Their elections are on a Saturday which makes things easier. As I thought initially this was a good idea, it would no way work in the US. The lady I work with who I was talking to this about, I told her, "If you saw some of the people in DC, you would not want them voting." I will never forget the cab I took to Adams Morgan one night where I asked the cab driver who he was voting for in the 2004 election (I did this to all the cabbies for a solid month). His response, which I will paraphrase for you since I am the only fluent Ebonics-ian in this blog group, was:

"Well, all I know is I want to vote for the winner. And I seen that George Bush is winning so far...so I'm going to vote for him".

Lord help us. U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!!

Small World & Best Game Ever

So I'm walking home from dinner and I see a lot of people in front of the restaurant that I live above. I see one girl that looks A LOT like this girl I went to Loyola with, Deirdre (who one of my good friends dated). I gave a hard look and was like 'Nah, no way.' I heard one person in the group with an American accent, which is actually very rare in Sydney, but I still just walked on. I emailed one of her friends for the hell of it who replied that Deirdre is in fact in Sydney. So I emailed her and met up with her and her boyfriend for drinks. What a small world. It was great seeing someone from Loyola since none of my friends will pony up and come out here! wusses.

As for this telepathic game, its quite amazing. It takes 2 people to do it, so I will need to teach someone back over there the trick to make it work, but the way it works is basically I have someone at the bar (this is a great intro by the way) whisper any celebrity into my ear (you don't hear it). By snapping my fingers anywhere from 1-5 times you say the name of the celebrity. I don't mouth anything to you, it's just really clever. Any of the people who are not in on the joke are literally flabbergasted. I was for sure trying to figure it out and of course they never want to give up the secret, but I figured out half of it overhearing a conversation when they screwed it up once. Either way, we're gonna have a lot of fun with this one back in the States. I'm only going to tell one of you the trick so all you f'ers don't steal it and spread it around like a Paris Hilton STD. I am accepting applications now via Comments.