One of my co-workers, Nonglak, was today translating a very dry legal document from Thai to English to be eventually developed into English language web and brochure copy. So I sent her this to cheer her up…
Classic 80's styles!!
As many of you know, I’m a massive rugby union fan. However, rugby league was my first love, born from it many of my first, best and formative childhood memories.
Like Benny Elias with mud and blood pouring from his face onto his NSW Blues jersey, while Paul Sironen and Paul Harragon (NSW) belted, and got belted by, Marty Bella and Trevor Gillmeister (QLD). Definitely formative.
Or the 8am Queanbeyan Sunday morning winter kick-offs as an U/8 North Canberra Bear - ground frozen, hands numb and a confusion as to how to best avoid juvenile hypothermia.
Or big Mal Meninga – arm bandaged up, screaming down the middle of Canberra’s Bruce Stadium like a turbo-charged tank, with blokes like Laurie Daley, Gary Belcher, Ken Nagas and other Raiders stars in tow…all the while sucking down hot dogs with Dad on the hill.
With Game 1 of the 2010 State of Origin coming up this Wednesday, I was reminded this morning of how 20 years ago Mum used to only let me watch the first half, as it finished well past my bedtime. With Mum a 9hr flight away, and a time difference now favourable to my Bangkok bedtime, I can’t wait to watch the whole game after work with my mates here in Bangers.
Here’s a little taste of the previous 25 years of State of Origin hits…(Ray ‘Rabs’ Warren’s commentary has to be as good as the hits!).
Whilst I didn't work on this award-winning campaign, this is a really great example of the kinds of ideas that my compatriots in the industry dream up whilst reclining in a fluro bean bag and tucking into their 4th coffee of the day.
I’ve just started boxing training once a week as part of the lead-up to the adventure race, with a good mate of mine training myself and a bunch of other mates at a little Muay Thai boxing gym, roughly 20 minutes from where Clare and I live.
I’ve really enjoyed learning the basic technique, not so much the 5:20am starts, and have been feeling good after some pretty tough sessions. This week I jumped into the ring for my first ever (thankfully short!) sparring session, up against a mate who used to be a British Navy Champion boxer. Needless to say, my mate Steely can hit.
I don’t plan on becoming a professional boxer. Why? Check out the clip below featuring ex-NZ champion David Tua, who became a NZ national heavyweight champion at age 15 and a bronze medalist at the Barcelona Olympics.
Oresome.
I was too busy getting bollocked by a voracious client last night to be able to watch Game 3 of the State of Origin.
From all accounts, it sounded like a little pearler of a match, fit with freakish athleticism, hard hits and the odd spot of biff. Saw the fight on YouTube when I was finishing up last night.
“Well, they’ve come from everywhere…almost like it was a rehearsal”
“Well! We’ve seen plenty of this in Origin – this is one of the best!”
“Av a look at them throw them!”
Is this the most random video clip you’ve ever seen? Awesome song, classic clip.
| Thun-dercats! "Thunder, thunder, thunder, Thundercats...HO!" Thun-der-cats are, on the move Thun-der-cats are loose! Feel the magic, hear the roar, Thun-der-cats are loose! Thunder, thunder, thunder, thun-der-catsssss! Thunder, thunder, thunder, thun-der-catsssss! *Queue guitar riff* Thunder, thunder, thunder, thun-der-catsssss! Thunder, thunder, thunder, thun-der-catsssss! "RRRrraaaaaaaaa" *Whispered* Thundercats! |
Seeing as the US-AUD currency exchange rate is so favourable at the moment, I've been thinking about buying some boots online.
I came across this - would you trust a clown's advice?
I had to leave Thailand to get another 30-day visa, so I decided to take the opportunity to spend about 5 days checking out neighbouring Cambodia.
The tour started off well. I was moderately hungover after a night out with some rugby mates, which saw me jump off a mechanical bull in a disco at 3am, sleep for an hour, then leave home for the airport at 4.30am.
Despite the lack of sleep, I managed to have a look around a bit and met a couple of fellow travelers on my first day in Phnom Penh. Over a couple of beers that night, they mentioned they had gone out and eaten tarantulas at a restaurant the night before.
I couldn't imagine a more ridiculous exercise.
Now, for those that know me, I absolutely hate spiders. Maybe it stemmed from the multitude of redbacks in my family's back shed during our days in Canberra. Or maybe it results from some suppressed memory of me being molested by a man wearing a spiderman outfit...I don't know - either way, they scare the absolute crap out of me.
But I though to myself - I'm young, traveling and a mate of mine back in Oz needed some help with a work project. Mon works for a production company in Sydney and needed some video blogs developed and posted on one of her client's website.
So off I went to this restaurant with these two crazy-ass travelers and an American woman who personified nails down a chalkboard. You can see/hear them in the clip.
Check out the action here:
www.natgeoadventuretv.com.au/blog
Go to 'Recent Posts' on the lefthand side nav-bar, then click on the video 'Munching Spiders'.
Thanks to Mon for cutting up and posting the footage for me. She had the laborious task of cutting out most of the painful comments from the yank bird, so I am forever indebted. Apologies as well for the odd expletive, but I really was packing it.
If anyone has some recent footage of them doing anything adventurous in Australia or across the world, jump onto the website, sign up, and post it! It's a really cool initiative and something I think has the potential to collate some excellent experiences! I think there's some prizes up for grabs or something as well.
Enjoy!
So the season ends for one of the season's best performers - here's a mini-movie I made to mark the occasion...
Mike Bailey and Senator John Faulkner give me the inside word on the best strip clubs to visit whilst in the US.
Willis and I went down to our local to take part in our first ever political party fundraiser. Mike Bailey - former ABC TV weather man, full-time amateur comedian, and now Labor candidate for the Federal seat of North Sydney - was having a bit of a trivia night.
I've blogged about Mike's race to Canberra before and with an election likely for late November, Mike needs all the support he can get (we're on a first name basis now by the way). There were a heap of people there - 38 tables in fact - a mixture of old stodgy Labor hardcores, and new-wave filthy socialist university arts students. And Willis & I. He's stodgy and I'm in the filthy socialist camp.
Willis and I settled into a few schooners, introducing ourselves to our table - a trivia master, a chemist, a man with anger-management problems, his wife, a super-intelligent woman who thought she was playing 'Fast Money' all night and her unassuming husband who secretly wanted to pants Ricky Ponting.
Highlights include:
Our table was extremely competitive, leading for most of the night, only to come second to Table 27 in the final round. At the height of the frustration, two members from my table staged a protest with Senator Faulkner over when the most recent King of England was crowned. Apparently he was announced King in 1936, but was crowned the following year...contentious stuff. Here's a video of the incident:
I've just sent off a friend request to Joe Hockey on Facebook, asking whether he'll be holding any fundraising evenings as part of his campaign. Willis and I will also be looking to attend an event from each of the different candidates for our electorate in the lead-up to the election.
The wonders of capitalist democracy!
