Spring Break

Hey just about to head to the airport for our spring break trip. Got my bags packed, suntan lotion ready and my bucket hat on my head. I'm ready to go. We are going to the Gold Coast for 10 days. Theres almost too much to even explain but some highlights include bungee jumping, optional skydiving, scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef, a booze cruise, and basically bumming around on the beach for 10 days. I get back October 4th and then head to Sydney for a week on the 7th. It's gonna be a pretty crazy couple weeks. I can't wait!! Well I better get going but hopefully I come back in one piece and I'm sure I'll have a blast!

Wine Tour

Beautiful day in Australia today. It was about 70 and sunny all day and I loved every second of it. Got up around 430am to watch the Jets/Patriots game (they had it on tv here that you can stream through your computer). Then my parents skyped me the Bills game which was great. Good win for them, they needed it. Had class for a half hour today and that was it. Came back around 1130am and took a nap for a few hours and tried to do some work until dinner. For dinner we went and got BBQ Chicken pizza from this new pizza place we found. So much for my Spring Break 09 Diet. That one went down the crapper a few weeks ago! The pizza was real good though, not the same as home, but pretty close. Now tonight I have to proofread a paper due tomorrow and finish another due Wednesday. Probably will go out and shoot around with this girl Maddy and this kid Josh later tonight to blow off some steam. 3 more days until spring break!

The wine tour was great! Not a big connoisseur of wine, but I enjoyed it. We went to 4 wineries in the Yarra Valley and got a nice chicken parm lunch at a pub in the tiny town of Healesville. I decided I'm not a big red wine fan, but it was starting to grow on me a bit. I may have offended the lady at the first winery when I said her Cabernet Sauvignon tasted like ham. It really did though! After I said it, everyone agreed with me (I think it was the oak flavor that made me think of smoked ham, but she still looked at me like I was CRAZY!). I was a big fan of the Viognier (subtle hints of apricot, and it was delicious) and Sauvignon Blanc. Those were my 2 favorites and ones I went back for more of. All the wineries were big on their own type of champagne. The first place was really good, and they had an apple cider wine that was AMAZING. Almost bought a bottle. The last place we went to had great champagne too. We got full glasses at that place. They had one that was a red wine champagne which was real different and I thought I'd hate but it was actually really good. We had an awesome bus driver named Brad who was like 25 and great to talk to. He just made fun of all the girls the whole time for being "half-pissed" off a glass of wine. A good guy in my book.

Got some work to do now and then early to bed because even MORE work tomorrow. Hopefully I can get through this week and have a great time! Cheers.

Wining About Work

This week has been pretty terrible. I have mountains of work due next week before we leave for spring break, and the weather has been so nice that I've had no desire to want to do any of it. Tomorrow we are going on a wine tour all day through Yarra Valley. I'll be honest, I'm not a big wine drinker, but I'll take one for the team. Maybe I'll come to like it a lot more, we'll see. We are going to 4 different places, plus lunch at a pub. It's through our school and they drive us to and from on a bus so it should be a lot of fun. I have 5000 more words to write for 2 of my papers and then Spring Break. I can't wait. I just got to get through these papers which seem never-ending. Hopefully I can buckle down and just do it, even though I've been saying that since Monday. Oh well, you're only in Australia once!

Oh, and clever title right?!?!

Broken Hearts...and Chairs.

When you picture a Sports God, what do you see? That's a rhetorical question because I'm going to answer it for you. I'm looking up and you know what I see? An old guy, peppered to very gray hair, depending on the stress level. A man who apparently once got food poisoning from the Anchor Bar and decided "ya know what, I'm gonna screw over the city of Buffalo - Hell, all of Western New York - along with every sports team that resides there, for awhile. Actually no, that's a waste...FOREVER." No other words are needed to describe this man. He could have 3 eyes, 7 noses and 1 toe, I could care less. He could be a genie or be able to grant me millions of dollars or be a beautiful single mid 20s blonde chick. I DON'T CARE ANYMORE.

I haven't written about the Bills game, or anything for that matter, for a few days now. I'll give you 3 options for why this might be... 1. He had so much work there was just never enough time to write a silly little blog because he would NEVER want a reason to procrastinate. Or 2. He was teaching the elderly to learn how to scuba dive. Or 3. He had collect pieces of his laptop, and his shattered hopes and dreams, from the street, conveniently located 2 floors down right outside his room (the one with the hole in the screen) after Monday Night.
Given those options it seems tough to chose a winner, but I think we all know which one it was. Yes, great choice, I do love the elderly.

Where to begin? Lets talk about the positives of the Bills 25-24 loss to the Patriots in front of a national audience on MNF in what would have been one of the biggest wins for the franchise in a decade .... ok now that the positives are out the way lets talk about the negatives. WHAT HAPPENED!! I was halfway through the email to my old roommate from Boston telling him "hahah did ya catch the game there buddy? You know, the game you were supposed to win by 30 but ended up losing by 11? Yeah that one. Tom - I am playing Like Carol - Brady looks TERRIBLE, and so do your chances of winning the AFC east this year." How STUPID can I be?!?! I should of known. Oh, wait I DID KNOW. Because as I sat there watching the Bills crumble like a dried out birthday cake, I wrote down on my pad, "How will they lose it this time?" Even I couldn't of guessed this one.

Bad things happen to good people. But hell, when does it stop?! It almost doesn't even affect me anymore! I skyped with my dad right after the game and we both had nothing to say. We couldn't even be mad. It's like we knew this would happen, we just didn't know how. I think we both actually laughed. Luckily I'm 26000 miles away or else we probably wouldn't be talking for a week. He just hates fixing holes in the wall, I don't get it.

As New England was thinking of ways to win the game, we were thinking of ways to lose it. And that's what it comes down to. Bad teams lose games they should win. Good teams win games they should lose. Bad teams know how to lose. Good teams know how to win. And as much as I would love to think of the Bills as a good team, you can't keep dropping these CLOSE games and consider yourself good. However, once they get over that hump, that's when things will change (I've been saying that for 3 years now). I'm not a big fan of moral victories, but the Bills did show a lot of positive things. Alex Van Pelt called a game good enough to win. Trent played good enough to win as well too. And Fred Jackson is a beast. Him and Marshawn? Scary. The Bills outplayed NE for 55 minutes. Embarrassed them actually. NE should have been up 20 and been already game planning for their Week 2 game against NYJ. And then reality came crashing down on everyone. I've read thousands of descriptions of the game from experts and fans alike, and it still makes me mad. JUST GO DOWN LEODIS.

No need to dwell on the past though. It was one game, and it's over with. If they come out firing against Tampa (which they should because it's at home and Tampa isn't quite NE), then they will be fine. It was a monumental loss, but it still only counts as one loss. It's one game.

Which means I'm fine with 15-1.

Bills

Patiently awaiting the Bills season opener. I downloaded a TV tuner on my computer through my school's network, and they show Monday Night games, Sunday Night games, and the occasional game at 1 or 4. Not only is it on my computer, but it's in HD too! Even better than at home! I'm working on the rest of my paper tonight, about to finish my first of 3, and then going to bed for an early day tomorrow. I'm waking up at 730 so I can listen to the pre-game online and then get ready for the game. I'm hoping it's a good game because I'm skipping a few classes for it! We'll see...

Saturday and Sunday

Pictures: 1. Ice cream and Mike Wask 2. Penguins 3. Shark 4. Building from the city 5. America in a pot

(More pictures from the aquarium and the city at www.australianadventure2.shutterfly.com)

I've been doing anything and everything to keep myself from doing work this weekend. Grocery shopping? Check. Gym? Check. Clean my room? Check. Reading every article ever written by Bill Simmons and then contemplating my life? Check. Next thing in line - a blog update.

On Saturday I woke up pretty early and hit up the aquarium in the city with a couple kids from Loyola and one of our Australian friends Lockie. On the train ride in something fell into my shoe, and I went to pull it out, only to find that it was a big, SHARP piece of glass and it sliced open my finger. Great way to start the day. But the aquarium still turned out to be great! $20 to get in and there was tons of stuff to do there. We saw penguins, sharks, sting rays, tons of crazy looking fish, jelly fish and weird creatures that live in the reef. We then walked across the street to the casino which is along the water and has tons of amazing restaurants in it. We got chicken parm to go and ate it outside near the water. I forgot to mention it was about 75 and GORGEOUS out. We then got ice cream and walked along the water back to the train. Overall it was a pretty solid day.

Today was pretty laid back. Everyone has tons of work to do before we go away for spring break so the stress level is pretty high right now. I went food shopping today and got some good deals. I definitely shop by whats on sale, not by what I need. I definitely didn't need 4 things of peanut butter, but they were $1 each so I bought them. I REALLY didn't need 12 cinnamon donuts, but for 94 cents how could you say no?! I went to the gym when I got home and now have to TRY and do work for the rest of the night. I don't know how well this is going to go.

I also broke my phone AND my iPod over the weekend. My water bottle must have opened up in my backpack, and when I went to grab my keys they were both floating. I don't think I'll be able to dry them out but maybe. It sucks not having a phone, but not having an iPod when I go to the gym is even worse!

Someone just told me that you supposedly can get Monday Night Football games here on your computer. So I'm HOPING that I'll be able to figure it out and be able to watch the Bills on Monday. It seems the consensus is the Bills are going to get blown out AND be terrible all season. Usually going into the first game of the season I'm bursting with confidence and excitement. But to be honest, I have little to none of either right now. I feel like we are already 0-6. I'm trying to be optimistic, but they had SUCH a bad preseason that it's tough for me to think they will make the playoffs, or even break .500. Firing their offensive coordinator 10 days before the season starts? Definitely crazy, but I'm going to hope they made the right choice. I love Alex Van Pelt, and I think playing behind Kelly all those years when they were running the K-Gun will allow him to hopefully help this unproductive no-huddle they are running right now. I hope their offensive line can gel and buy Trent time while also opening holes for Fred Jackson and Marshawn. Also, I love Aaron Maybin. I think he has a huge upside (1 sack in each of his 2 preseason games), but it will take awhile for him to get used to the speed of the game. He's still so young and has so much to learn. I guess only time will tell.

This is going to be a make or break season for almost everybody on the squad, so here's to them making the playoffs. Or at least keeping me from throwing my chair out the window.

Broken Hill

I apologize in advance. This is a long post because so much happened. It makes sense to me, but maybe it wont to you. Probably because you weren't there. But my friend always said "do what makes you feel good," and writing down nonsense makes me feel good.

Almost don't even know where to begin. So much going on right now, it's crazy! I guess I'll start in the most logical place - what I had for dinner last night. Had me some Velveeta Shells and Cheese that my parents mailed me from home. You know what they tasted like? Freedom. Democracy. Oil. Liberty. You know, AMERICA.

Also just read Bill Simmon's new mailbag. An idol of mine. A true American hero. What a night.

So more about the middle of nowhere - I mean Broken Hill. Literally it was in the middle of nowhere, 13 hours north of Melbourne. On our way there we went 3 hours without seeing lights, other cars, and humans. Nothing. No cell phone service just wide open space. And I loved it. It was amazing.

On the way there the bus in front of us hit a kangaroo, narrowly missed a cow and almost took out 3 sheep. We stopped for dinner at this nice Veterans Club. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet. I took full advantage of that offer and had inappropriate amounts of ham, roast beef, and potatoes. Then God looked down on me and said "You my son have not eaten enough. The soup is Baked Potato soup. Go forth and make me proud." 5 bowls later I felt I had.

The first 3 nights there we stayed at The West Darling Hotel. It was a mix between The Ghost of Mr. Chicken and The Shining. Scariest "hotel" I've ever stayed in. I took pictures, but they don't even begin to do it justice. We stayed above an old bar, so the first night we went out and hard drinks with are teachers and everyone on the trip and then TRIED to fall asleep with the lights off, but no one could.

Saturday we went to an underground mine about an hour from Broken Hill. Broken Hill was, and still is, based upon mining. It wouldn't exist without it and it is a huge part of the town's culture and personality. We suited up with hardhats and lights and headed down into the mine. I thought I was going to be more scared because it was so small and tight and real steep going down, but I wasn't. I figured if something were to happen, everyone is gonna die so no big deal. I don't know how that made me feel better, but it did. It was awesome down there and we got demonstrations of how they mined in the olden days. Later in the day we went to a mountain to watch the sunset which was beautiful.

Saturday night we went to The Musician's Club which was a bar/casino/concert hall. Everything was extremely cheap there and they had karaoke. Unfortunately I did not get up and sing because we left before I was due up, but that might have actually been for the betterment of everyone there. Our teachers were there and for this class mine is a 23 year old blonde Australian who is extremely smart. And good looking. With much prodding (and a LITTLE liquid courage) I decided to drop some pick-up lines on my teacher. Me: Are you okay? Her: Yeah, Why? Me: Because you just fell from heaven! I wish it stopped there. Me: You just dropped something. Her: What? Me: My jaw. Again, I wish it stopped there. But it didn't. All in all I dropped twenty, yes that's 2-0 lines on my teacher. My TEACHER. She laughed them off though and thought most of them were good. I guess I'll find out how good they were when I get my grades back.

On Sunday we went got a tour of Broken Hill and went to the Miners Memorial that overlooks the town. It was interesting and the guy that gave the tour was an older fellow who had lived there his whole life and had worked in the mines. What a character he was. We then headed to a sheep farm deep in the Outback, but on the way we stopped for some camel rides. Camel's have to be the coolest, but ugliest and meanest animals out there. They look so cute/cool from far away, but when you get up close you're like WOW these things are ugly AND they seem so upset. I guess if I had to have kids jump on my back all day I'd be mad too. The sheep farm was awesome. We saw a sheep shearing demonstration which was real cool and found out how the wool is used and how it is processed. Then we took a hike a few miles into the mountains to watch the sunset. It was beautiful, and we saw a few wild kangaroos. We had a fabulous dinner of takes and sausages, along with some apple crisp, chocolate cake and ice cream as dessert. Then everyone gathered around the fire and roasted marshmallows for the rest of the night.

On Monday we drove to Mildura, a small town about 5 from Broken Hill. We went on a tour of a few dried up lakes that the aboriginals used to use and had a guided tour by 2 aboriginals. It was interesting to view the land from their perspective. It wasn't just vast nothingness, but rather the land is what sustained them and it had immeasurable value. That night we went to The Pizza Cafe which was all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta. You ordered what you wanted and they just kept bringing it to you. It was unbelievable and so delicious. Right next to the cafe was the Mildura Brewery. We went there for a few hours and it was awesome. They had leather couches, really nice tables and chairs and tons of beer. My father would have been in heaven. I got a sampler platter for $6 and it came with 8 samples. I was a big fan of the Storm which is, to quote their website, "Based on the popular US Pale Ale style this is a hop-driven beer, characterized by citrus bitterness and aroma." We stayed there for awhile then finally walked down the street back home. It was a great ending to the week.

On Tuesday we started the long drive home, but before we got too far we stopped at winery. We got a quick tour, and then sampled wine for what seemed like hours! I liked the sauvignon blanc, but I'm not a huge wine drinker to begin with. All the girls loved the wooded chardonnays, but they didn't do it for me. No thanks on the wine, just take me back to the brewery.

So that's Broken Hill in a nutshell. A long, at times hastily written nutshell. I will post some more thoughts from this past week soon, most notably about the Buffalo Bills and their poor/terrible preseason.

I've posted picutures at www.australianadventure2.shutterfly.com There are about 200, and most of them seem like nothing because well, there was nothing. I feel like I keep saying that, but I take a million pictures hoping I'll get lucky and one will be good. Then I get too lazy to delete the bad ones. Hopefully you enjoy. Cheers!

Broken Hill

Just got back from Broken Hill a few hours ago. Great time, had a blast. It's weird being back to school because it's the longest I've been gone since I've been here. I have 4 classes tomorrow and a marketing midterm worth half my grade! I've got to stop procrastinating and go study for that, but I'll make sure to update tomorrow or the next day about Broken Hill!

Broken HIll

Penguin Island and Such

So I had a great weekend at Penguin Island. I put some pictures up at www.australianadventure2.shutterfly.com. The house we stayed in was awesome. Had 10 beds, a nice kitchen, couches, a grill and a 2nd floor patio overlooking the water in the distance. We got there Friday afternoon and went shopping at one of the local stores. We packed the fridge with just hot dogs, hamburgers, cheese, and beer (sorry mom!). If that's not heaven, I don't know what is. I suggested we go to see the penguins Friday when it was nice, but no one listened to me. They are like an airplane and have an arrival time, and they usually come in around 6:00 pm. Friday would have been a PERFECT day because it was 70, sunny, and flat as glass. But we didn't go. We opted instead to go on Saturday when it was 50, pouring rain, and so windy you could barely hold onto the umbrella. Because so many penguins came in on Friday (1200) only about 600 came in Saturday. You couldn't take pictures because it's their "natural habitat," but I got a few postcards and could reach out and practically touch the penguins which was awesome. Earlier on Saturday we went to a wildlife park where we feed kangaroos, wombats, emus, and anything else they had. It was basically a fenced in field and animals ran at you to feed them. It was fantastic, and we all got some really cool pictures. I got attacked my emu's and also saw a kangaroo boxing match which was sick. Basically we just relaxed, hung out, cooked, talked, and drank the entire weekend. It was a great experience and everyone had an amazing time!

Just came inside from a little grilling action actually. We had lots of leftovers from this weekend that we needed to get rid of so I ate A LOT of hot dogs and burgers just now. I was manning the grill alone tonight, and I don't want to say I did a phenomenal job - but I did. I had a lot of pressure on me tonight. The lights were on, I was sweating. Had a big crowd out there watching my every move, judging my every flip. Sure, I fumbled a dog or two, but with mistakes come success. I was able to pull through in the clutch, running a great 2-minute drill towards the end in order to feed everyone one last time.

A few things about grilling here and in general: 1. I love it. All men love it. It's a rite of passage, something that goes back to thousands of years ago to the time of the caveman 2. The grills here are electric, so it's like cooking on a hotplate; kind of weird and a little difficult. 3. I love women (and hopefully they love me), but the girls here for some reason think they know how to grill. If you can't turn it on (which they couldn't - it was a BUTTON you pressed), then you can't use it. Ok, so maybe you read The Idiot's Guide to Grilling, but that still doesn't give you the right to tell me when the burgers and dogs are done! Example: Tonight, deep into my 2nd pack of burgs, all the girls start telling me "oh trust us those burgers are done, we can tell." FALSE. They are NOT done and you CANNOT tell because I put those on 3 minutes ago. You would think, after cooking 20 burgs, and after everyone saying they were great, that I would KNOW what I was doing. Apparently not. All the girls huddled around the grill, assessing how I was doing, giving me their opinion on when to flip things and when to add cheese. I wanted to stick the tongs in my eyes.

So please, for the love of God, all I ask is that you step away from my grill. Girls, if the food isn't done up to your standards, drink more. There's nothing a little beer can't fix.

Pictures: Me + Kangaroo; 'Roo; Wombat; Part of the house; View from the beach; View from the balcony