attempting to make contact

A Land Down Under Part 1

2007-05-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

The beginning of March saw Ric and I travel to Australia for Sandi's wedding. Ric flew out first as he had to go to Sydney for work and in doing so managed to blag a free flight (though horror of horrors had to go 'economy' to fly back with me). So on a sunny Brisbane morning he was met by a sweaty, smelly, hungry and jetlagged version of myself in quite the foul mood. So it was the perfect time for him to catch up with some old school friends whilst I slept off the jetlag...

Myself, Ric and Jess outside the Wickham on Big Gay Day

The next day there was no rest for the wicked as we headed off to the Wickham Pub for Brisbane's annual Big Gay Day. It is basically a street party with bad food, lots of drinking and some awful D List acts (Leo Sayer was performing!!!!). Being 37 degrees celsius certainly forced to aclimatise from the English winter. We met up with Columb, Damien, Jess, Graham and Sammy and drunk from around 1pm until around midnight. I introduced Ric to bundy rum and got appropriately feral and even managed to tuck into a proper Australian Kebab.
We spent the next couple of days crusing along the river, shopping, getting in some more drinks, food and plenty of sunshine. I met up with Vicki who had just finished 2nd in National Athletics Championships (High Jump) as well as Charlene who was as adorable as ever.

We then headed down through the Gold Coast hinterland to Murwillimbah (narrowly avoiding a Texas Chainsaw Massacre style hitchhiker) to see my dog Jorgi who is now staying with an amazing older lady called Sybil Primrose (she has no surname). Sybil's a bit of a meditation guru and self helper, a very interesting character who was taking care of a very relaxed and healthy looking Jorgi.

Jorgi

After a quick stop over in Byron Bay it was up the coast to Coolongatta to stay at the beautiful Blue C apartments. The complex is managed by Rene's parents and the rooms are just divine! Rene's parents were incredibly hospitable and really lovely people. We spent a very chilled out two days there by the beach (I even managed to get Ric into the water) and topped up our suntans for the wedding. Then it was back up the coast via a small traffic jam and onto a Jetstar plane up to Airlie Beach...

The view from our apartment

The Queens' Birthday

2007-05-23T04:01:00.000-07:00

No I'm not making mention of her Royal Highness, but of the lovely Mike and Simon who both celebrated their birthdays in January.

Simon (who is better known for playing Blanche in The Golden Girls) had a civil gathering (obviously befitting his age) at the Freedom Bar in Soho. Though it was a rare opportunity to take a snanp of both he and ric in a non pouting pose...

Mike's bash took place on a Tuesday evening at G-A-Y bar. Getting their early armed with many gold coloured coins, it was not long before we had taken over the juke box for the evening. Around 30 songs later the night culminated with Mike and Dale's Top 10 cheese anthems. From memory it included: Chocolate and Better The Devil You Know by Kylie, Waterloo by Abba, Disrememberence by Dannii, Like A Prayer by Madonna, Crucified by Army of Lovers, Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler, Wake Me Up by Girls Aloud, The Reflex by Duran Duran and You Spin Me Round by Dead or Alive (including our choreographed dance performance). Only the strongest could continue onto G-A-Y late. This did not include Natalie who hugged a homeless man on the way and was refused entry. I being the chivalrous gentleman that I am made sure she got home ok by pointing out where the tube was in a round about fashion before heading inside.

Rachel, Me, Julia, Paul and Mike

Don't they make a nice couple eh?

Mike, Me, Paul, Julia and Sarah in background

Belated Holiday Posting

2007-05-23T02:47:00.000-07:00

Yes I'm completely uselss and have not updated this for nearly 6 months... So I'll post some photos and give you a quick recap of the holiday period (which basically consisted of getting quite drunk for 2 months)

Nicole and I hosted Christmas at our place for Ric, Mike, Renee, Zoe and Real Estate Bree. Football Bree and her friend came later on. Without tooting my own horn the food prepared by Ric and myself was bloody lovely! Presents were shared, drinks were consumed and we all watched the Queen's Speech and Eastenders. Drinking, music and dancing continued into the wee hours before we all passed out ready for the clean up the next day...

Some post eating Xmas madness: Mike, Zoe (with hat on), Me, Ric, Bree and Renee

New Years began as a more sedate affair as Ric and Katy had a few friends over at their place for nibbles and champagne. However before the stroke of midnight we were in the The Two Brewers watching drag queens count in 2007. We stayed with Simon and Michael till the wee hours singing, dancing and making fun of the freaks who'd ventured out (70 years old is not a good age to start becoming an amateur transvestite). Late into the night we were joined by Ric's school mates which was a bloody nice touch and a great end to the evening. It was then all back to Ric and Katy's again where we were joined by a random neighbour before eventually crashing when the sun came up.

Ric, Michael and Katy

Next drunken event was Australia Day. Nicole, Renee, Zoe, Kate (+friend), Bree, Adele, John and myself all headed off to The Swan in Stockwell for another night of debauchery. After a fair few snakebites we all took over the stage and (attempted to) dance the night away as well as sing into parents' phones back in Oz to 'I Still Call Australia Home'. I got a little carried away and jumped onto a spilt drink, slipped over and bashed my head on the edge of the stage. Zoe then dragged me (kicking and screaming obviously) to the bar for the first of many many Jager Bombs of the evening. I eventually stumbled into Ric's house around 3am wearing a cork hat and I was soon joined by his equally inebriated housemate Aleks. There may have then been a drunken rendition of the national anthem performed... but errr... I don't remember

At The Swan: Nic, Me, Kate, Zoe and Renee

Aleks and I wearing v silly hats

the wheels on the bus go round and round....

2007-01-05T09:24:00.000-08:00

Office Xmas Bash

2006-12-22T02:38:00.000-08:00

Maggie, Chantel, Mary Cate, Myself, Laxmi and Mary (aka me and my b*tches)

Last Friday we had our annual office christmas party and by office I really mean office! Unlike previous years where we go out and eat a meal and then get p*ssed (or vice verca) it was arranged to have the party in our new offices (and just get p*ssed there). Unfortunatley the nurse organising the party suffered a terrible family tragedy and so Chantel and myself attempted to throw it together in last minute style (what other style do I do!?)

With SS gift

In the end it turned out to be a good night although in the first few hours I felt more like a caterer than a person at my xmas party. However after the hot food (we had take away - Indian, Thai and Ethiopian - very classy!) I relaxed and had a good time. The secret santa was quite amusing as always - I received a talking beer mug that tells me when my drink is running out or if I'm sobering up... There was no goss to speak of exactly... however like most xmas parties there have been a few 'theories' thrown about of some interesting behaviour...

Rachel in her usual picture pose!

A Sunday Shopping Story

2006-12-22T02:23:00.000-08:00

Ric and I went on an innocent shopping trip a few sundays back. I would explain it to you what eventually happened but he did send an email to his housemates which summed it up quite nicely!

"So Dale and I go shopping.

We buy some fab things

We find a bargain restaurant with bargain priced fab house wine

We have a bottle

We end up (of course) in the pub

We find the cheap bars. . . . .. . the offers on pints, and shots of liquor

We spend all cash on us so have to resort to using cards

We have to buy doubles so our cards can be used in the bars (minimum payment)

We miss the last tube

We have to get take away. . . .. ..

We eat raw chicken

I leave my shopping bag on the street (with my wallet in it)

We find a builders hat

We spend half an hour larking around with the hat looking like something out of the YMCA

We realise.. . . . .I've not got my shopping bag

Dale runs off to find it

Dale finds it - attached to a homeless persons trolley

Dale removes it from homeless man (whilst wearing hat)

We get shouted at by homeless man

We are annoyed that he dared to call us "stupid" for leaving our shopping on the street

We get home via Tescos (don't ask)

We take more pictures sat on post boxes (see above and below)

We sleep

Dale takes the rip out of me for nearly losing my wallet

Dale realises he left his wallet on the bus

Dale finds out wallet handed in to Barcllays bank in Mayfair.

The end.

NO MORE SUNDAY DRINKING"

Fulham 2 Arsenal 1, Australia 1 Ghana 1

2006-12-15T05:54:00.000-08:00

On a chilly Wednesday night at the end of November Nicole, Ric and myself went along to the finest live sporting contest I have ever witnessed. We had managed to secure tickets for Fulham v Arsenal (at £40 a piece I might add!) and although I was quite excited to see Fulham take on one of the big teams (I had only seen them defeat Bolton and Middlesbrough) I was not going to the match brimming with confidence. We had lost 4-1 and 4-0 in the 05/06 season and had not beaten them since 1966.

Our view from behind the goals

We had fantastic seats right behind the goal in the 2nd row. Although you lost some depth and comprehension of what was going down the other end of the pitch it was made up with a spectacular view and atmosphere when the play was up our end. Somehow after 20 minutes we were up 2-0, the lead was cut to 1 goal after Van Persie's brilliant free kick. Although the second half was goaless it was thorougly entertaining, 2 disallowed goals, 1 sending off (all up there were 10 yellow cards) and the chance to abuse the eejit that is Jens Lehman. With Arsenal's last attacking chance of the game Jens ran out from the goals to join them up front however it was to no avail and we nearly turned it around and scored whilst Jens was still running back to goals. In the end it was a famous vicotry for Fulham 40 years in the making! Brilliant!

Socceroos v Ghana during National Anthems

All the girls and myself also attending the international friendly between Australia and Ghana. The game was held at Loftus Road, home of Queen's Park Rangers, and we had seats on the side so we had an excellent view of all the action. We performed brilliantly despite not having Cahill, Viduka, Neil or Kewell and although we drew 1-1 we were the better team and really deserved to win. Towards the end we had wave after wave of attack and when the announcement came that we had 2 mins of injury time a last minute winner seemed likely. Unfortunately the ref blew the whistle for full time approximatley 20 seconds into the 2 minutes!

The only other event in November was when I went along with Mike, Paul, Brad, Ric and Katie to see Sugababes at G-A-Y. Well I think i did, unfortunately I got ridiculously drunk (see below) and made quite a scene much to the embarassment of everyone around me. I think i was last seen shouting demands that 'Push the Button' be played. Luckily Ric and Katie ushered me home and off to bed... Apparently they were very good though!

Mike and I

Some drunken eejit, wind blown Katie and Ric

The Sewers and a Bucket of Punch

2006-12-11T07:57:00.000-08:00

Below are photos from one particular raucous evening in November.

Kate, Nic, Bree, Zoe and Me

Zoe drinking out of the bucket at 'gunpoint'

The night (5pm) started at our place where Bree brewed up her special punch read to scoop (or drink - see above) from the freshly bought black bucket. All the girls came round and of course it wasn't too long before the state of affairs dropped ever so slightly. The big mistake of the evening was telling the girls about the halloween party I had been to - before long Bree was in full army gear and generally running amok in true commando style. Music was played, more punch was drunk and photos were taken as you can see below.

Bree, Zoe, Chloe, Renee, Nic and Kate

Bree 'shooting' Zoe

Alas I had to leave to meet Ric and his housemates for a night out in Clapham. My journey was interupted by my good friend and ex work colleague Laxmi who texted to say she was in a restaurant in Battersea. My work colleagues never venture south of the river so this was exciting and my bus was going right past her restaurant. So naturally I waltzed in to the packed restuarant quite merry from the punch and pulled up besides Laxmi. I may have been a little loud but Laxmi didn't seem to be embarassed and I finally got to meet her boyfriend of 12 months or so.

Aleks and Ric

Eventually I made it out of there and met up with Ric and co for our night out at The Two Brewers (or the two sewers at it's mainly known). We also ran into Emmet and had a brilliant night - for reasons I won't go into here the night buzzed by in a haze but unfortunatley photos were taken again (by me so I can't complain!). Unfortunately we thought it would be a good idea to continue at home and didn't end up getting to sleep until 8am... urrrghhhh....

The lovely Katie and Aleks (and Ric)

Continuing on at home...

It's not too grim up north!

2006-12-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

My parents recently returned after spending two months travelling around Ireland, Wales, the continent whilst also spending a few weeks staying with Nicole and I cooking and cleaning to keep up their board!

However before they left we all spent a few days driving up into the frontier that is northern England. We decided to hire a small car but were upgraded to something that resembled a tank at the last minute. Nicole had not time to get used to the size of the vehicle as we needed to navigate through central London, however this (despite my protests) was not a problem and we were soon on our way up the uninspiring M1.

Peak Distric

We decided to try and find our way to Nottingham Forest ala Robin Hood however the plan was abandoned when we got caught up in the scary outers suburbs of Nottingham itself (gun crime capital of the UK). We evacuated to the ever so quaint town of Bakewell (home of the Bakewell Tart) in the Peak District for a spot of afternoon tea. A bit of shopping later (that saw dad and I buy one of the old style country hats) and we were on our way to Buxton to spend the night. Unfortunately Buxton proved to be a little busy traffic wise so we opted for a place called 'Chapel - capital of the Peak District'. What a f*cking dive it was - after 5 minutes deciding whether we should stay in the sh*thole we decided to leg it out into the wilderness.

Dad and I in Hayfield

Upon looking at the map I realised we were very close to where Ric grew up - a quick text to Rio de Janeiro (as the lucky b*stard was off on holiday) later and we were kindly directed to the small village of Hayfield and to the 'George Hotel' (thanks ric!). We spent the evening have one too many drinks in front of the fire and a very decent dinner. Then Nicole and I decided to do a 'pub crawl' (nicole had had a few...) we had walked about 20 metres when an intoxicated local lass told us to follow her to a decent pub as long as we didn't mind climbing a few fences... we followed and ended up in 'the lodge' which was filled with people who had came from a very limited gene pool...

Nicole and I in Whitby

After a decent night sleep we were on our way north to Bronte country. We spent the morning looking around the Bronte's home and village of Haworth and then legged it north to the seaside town of Whitby (the place where Dracula landed in the UK - fictionally of course). Whitby was a really nice place that I would fully recommend however we had to leave early in the evening to get to our booked hotel in York.

Dad, myself and Mum on York's walls

York was really quite impressive. The size of Yorkminster was incredible and the walking around the town walls is a must. The old town area of the shambles was really amazing - the building overhung the streets almost touching each other. However the city wasn't as olde worldy as I thought (I had a northern Bath in my mind) but still very much worth a visit.

So off on a 1st class ticket home (it was cheaper than 2nd class - crazy rail system over here) and then the next day mum and dad flew back to Australia via Singapore (and via a flood of tears dad tells me). It was sad to see them go but glorious to have my bed back!

Horrors of Halloween

2006-12-06T09:17:00.000-08:00

This is Rachel who failed to turn up in halloween costume but still managed to steal someone's wig.

Ok I know Halloween was over a month ago but I've been a little delayed in getting my posts up...

My good friend Mike and his lovely housemates Aaron, Amber and Shannon hosted a bloody fantastic Halloween party in their fabulously decorated flat. After being caught on the fake cobwebs and navigating past a mummy, dead cheerleader and a hysterical leprechaun (yes that's Paul) I was able to do a superman style change into my soldier's uniform (picked earlier in the morning whilst in a drunken state with mike at the local fancy dress shop). I was complete with fake M16 and bullet belt and was luckily enough to borrow a stray army helmet. Unfortunately for Mike, Hone turned up (there's more...) wearing the exact same roman soldier's uniform! Oh the humanity!

Mike, Aaron, ?, Myself and Rachel

As always the night was a complete hoot with many a drink consumed and a song danced to. I caught a bus at 3am without a care in the world despite the fact my trousers had ripped all the way up the crotch exposing my underwear to all and sundry. I blame Rachel queen of the geordies who could no longer hide her hidden desire for me and ripped open my trousers and some stage in the evening.

I don't feel like dancing...

2006-11-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

The combined Nicole's birthday/housewarming party turned out to be quite an evening. After a quiet start the numbers quickly picked up and the alcohol induced behaviour flourished. At one point late during the night I looked at our very full bath of booze and really believed there was no way it could be finished. By 3am it had virtually emptied. Many of the aussies that turned up had been drinking since 5am thanks to the AFL grand final being on the same day, but the true champion was bree who was still there drinking along nearly 24 hours after her first drink of the evening. The blog title? Well well well... it was the no.1 song at the time of the party and I think we may have played it somewhere between 10-20 times in the space of a few hours.... Bloody brilliant night and just another chance to thank everyone who came along (except for the homophobic lady, and i use the term loosely,- at the end of the evening) I've only attached only a small number of pix as there were far too many to put them all on:

The ol' camera on the floor timer picture trick - Clockwise from me - John, Emmet, Kate, Chloe, Ric

Nicole, Renee (before ric made her swig a shot and forced her to leave early) and Zoe

The lovely chloe and ric

Emmet and myself (with random neighbour in the background)

Stu doing unspeakable things to Nicole

Oops one more...

2006-11-21T05:46:00.000-08:00

I completely forgot to mention the fact that one PCHP's (work) best loved employees Kelly (above with her less glamorous colleague Richard) left for the greener pasture of Kingston at the end of September. So there was yet another little shindig, this time at The Big Chill House right next door to work (worth a visit, Time Out said it was one of the best DJ bars in London
http://www.timeout.com/london/bars/reviews/9229.html) Of course the night ended in the far less opulent setting of the local curry house. But the big achievement of the evening, which makes solving the problems of the middle east seem like a piece of piss, was getting Chantel out for a social gathering AND to get a picture of her! Ok it's predominantly of her hand but that's actually quite appropriate....

Party, Party, Party

2006-10-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

Late September was the time for drinking, dancing and general merryment as 3 parties took place in the space of 7 days. But before I tell tales of drunken revelry I'll start this post on a more 'cultural' theme.

The Barbican held a John Pilger film festival showcasing the fine documentaries this brilliant Australian investigative journalist has made. Laxmi, Chantel and I decided to attend the documentary about the Chagos Islanders. The Chagos Islands were sold by the British to the Americans so they could establish a military base in the Indian Ocean (Diego Garcia). However the pesky problem of the Chagossian locals was solved by simply herded them on to ships bound for Mauritius where they were left at the dock without any support. This documentary went on to investigate the terrible social problems these people have endured since and the ongoing legal fight to retain the homeland. That is such a simple explanation but I urge you to look at http://www.chagossupport.org.uk/ for more information.

My other more theatrical cultural experience was to see the production of 'Bent' (about gay men in Nazi Germany featuring Alan Cumming) thanks to a free ticket from Mike. Though it has received mixed reviews I thought it was absolutely fantastic - I don't get emotional quite easily (well when watching films etc) but at the end I must say I was really holding back the tears!

(Clockwise from left Renee, Chloe, Nicole, Rick, Steven, myself and Ajaye)

So on to the parties! First up was gorgeous Chloe's 23rd birthday (photo above). Nicole, myself and Renee attended the bash at Dovedale pub in Battersea. All was going well until Chloe's workmate Rick bought a bottle of champers which turns me into a raving loon. Soon I was having a loud and long debate with Rick about Australia's superiority in the sporting arena. After a few more drinks and photos we decided to make our exit - though Nicole went home I dragged poor Renee to attend Mike and Co's 'toga' party.

Though we were not dressed in togas (not many were) I did manage to take posession of Aaron's army helmet for the rest of the night. My memory seems to escape me of certain events but it was a fantastic evening and I do remember sending Renee home at 2am and being one of only 4 people left at the end listening to Chet Baker, Edit Piaf and Frank Sinatra at the end of the evening (still with the helmet).

Unfortunately the night's activities caused me to oversleep and miss my scheduled appointment of meeting Nicole and Renee at the tube station to watch her Gaelic Final. By some form of miracle I managed to get home, shower, dress, eat, catch 3 tubes and then run in very noisy flip flops to the grounds and arrive just in time for kick off. Unfortunately Tara Ladies lost by 2 points in a very close game that devastated poor Nicole. They did have some delicious burgers there though so all in all it wasn't too bad.

So where's the 3rd celebration Well that was our housewarming and it does warrant a post of it's own especially as this one is far longer than I intended!

A remarkable month

2006-09-20T05:41:00.000-07:00

Well it has been quite the busy [and incredible :) ]month since I've returned back from Australia. Two weeks after I returned Nicole and I moved out of our flat - luckily it was less than 1km down the road but unluckily we were moving from a top floor flat to a... top floor flat! So the whole moving process involved moving many heavy items up and down stairs - nicole also managed to con her handyman from work to help us so that made the day go relatively quicker. To celebrate our new move we had a few friends (pic below) over for drinks which eventually turned into a drunken stumble to the Two Brewers down the road (where nicole proceeded to fall over and then dance on stage with a bunch of lesbians).

(Nic, Chloe, Ric, Mike & me)

The very next day with my head still pounding I ventured off to Heathrow to pick up my parents who are over visiting for a couple of months (mainly travelling around Ireland, wales and europe). Nicole's friend Renee who had just moved to London was also staying with us so we had 5 of us all in a 2 bedroom flat - but somehow we managed to make it work and on the plus side we had my father cooking dinner for us every evening after we got home from a hard day's work. They also managed to bring Australia's good weather with them and provide us with some unusual lengthy bouts of sunshine.

I recently saw the brilliant play Beautiful Thing ( http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/11255/ ) with Mike, Paul and Racheal (and so brilliant I went and saw it the very next week with Ric). It features music by Mama Cass and I've now gone a little crazy for her song 'Dream a Little Dream'. Its run has ended now but you can always catch the film version of 1996 (though it's a little difficult to come by).

On Saturday I was lucky enough to see Lily Allen at G-A-Y. By the time I got there I was very very merry thanks to a few bottles of wine at Mike's beforehand and I somehow managed to blag myself down to the front... but I was still conscious enough to tell that Lily was absolutely plastered! She was still however fantastic and sang: LDN, Nan You're a Window Shopper, Shame for You, Knock em out, Smile and Alfie! At the end Jeremy Joseph (g-a-y man) for some reason got her to dress up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, hold his manky little
dog, and sing a few lines from somwhere over the rainbow and she somehow pulled it off (below).

Oh and I nearly forgot - back at the end of August I went and saw Reel Big Fish for only the second time. As I couldn't convince anyone to come along I got well and truly trashed before getting there, but I still remember they were bloody good and they played Take on Me and Beer as a finale! In my drunken haze I purchased two tops (one for me and one for nic as she always pinches my other one) but I discovered the next day I had actually had in my possession two ladies tops... oops!

Just as a musical footnote how good are the songs (and videos) 'I don't Feel Like Dancing' by the Scissor Sisters and 'When You Were Young' by The Killers? Two of the best tracks this year!

So overall a brilliant month since I've returned - one that has left me a very f*cking happy chappy :)

(Let's hope it stays that way until my next post!)

P.S. Oh and it's Nicole's birthday next Wednesday so if you have any ideas on what to get her let me know!

I still call Australia home...

2006-08-22T05:27:00.000-07:00

Well finally I have got around to writing about my fantastic trip back home...

I arrived in Brisbane after a very long flight from LA where I subsequently crossed the international date line and lost 1st August 2006 from my life forever. I was lucky enough to have Seamus (nicole's football coach from back in oz) to pick me up from the airport and he was kind enough to let me stay at his place. It was a perfect location as I was a 15 minute walk away from Jorgi (my pup) and about 10 mins from public transport (it is such a pain not having a licence in australia).

I spent the majority of my time in Brisbane drinking and catching up with friends and family including Nik, Fi, Vix (above), Jess (who had only just arrived back in oz and pic below) and my brother Richard and his family. Apart from drinking I spent the rest of my time eating chicken kebabs and putting back on all the weight I had lost walking around San Fran.

I was however very impressed with the amount of development that Brisbane had undergone - it seems to becoming more of a 'city' without losing it's laid back and relaxed feel. I have always wanted to settle back in Brisbane when I return from the UK but I've had concerns that I would find the city (not i hope this doesn't make me sound like a twat) incredibly boring! However I think those worries have diminished slightly - I mean the scene is still rubbish but one thing at a time I guess...

However the development of Brisbane paled in comparison to the goings on in Airlie Beach. On the car trip home from the airport I was shocked to discover a) a new shopping centre complete with Woolworths and Big W and b) Traffic Lights! Traffic lights in airlie beach? Now I've seen everything! However they weren't without controversy - many residents weren't happy and the whole issue made the front page of the Whitsunday Times that week... I'm lost for words...

I spent the first few days catching up with my folks, sister and nephew David (who is still such a little terror but he's a fantastic little story teller!). Like any other trip home - mum cleaned up after me, dad cooked and Sandi and I went out and got drunk! On such a night her friend (who shall remain nameless) attempted to lure me back to the straight side by flashing her assets at me (mind you she was quite intoxicated) and we ended it all by having a Clancy's pie which is a local institution - i had a bacon and egg pie (my mouth is watering thinking of it now).

A few days later Cookie arrived and we had a few hits of tennis using what ever equipment and clothing we could (i think we nearly broke our ankles). Then Jason arrived and I think I was drunk for the rest of the week with the highlight being the bucks day/night. We began drinking sometime mid morning and made our way into Proserpine to play a round of golf. Considering there was a bunch of guys, golf buggies and lots of drinks we were relatively well behaved (only one complaint) and my game improved considerably from the start of the day when i drove my first ball of the day into the club house (alcohol can have a good affect sometimes!). Poker was then played (with the loss of all my money) and then out to Airlie and to the clubs and a very late night...

(groomsmen - cookie, dan, jason and myself)

The actual wedding day was absolutely fantastic ( I have already posted a short blog about it previously with a couple of pix - no news ones yet). It took place in an amazing location at Coral Sea Resort right by the water and the actual ceremony was a good (short) length of time. Poor Jason looked as though he was going to faint in the lead up to it but once he saw Caressa and the ceremony was over he relaxed considerably. The canopes between the ceremony and dinner were fantastic - they even had big cutlets of lamb on the bone - fantastic! They also had the free champers... so by the time the lengthy photos were over and dinner began i was feeling more than a little merry. The reception took place on the jetty restaurant (a restaurant on a jetty over the water) and it was a really special night and a good time was had by all.

My trip back to London ran a little less smoothly. The security for the flight into LA was very throrough - were delayed nearly 2 hours as they individualy searched each and every person very intimately and of course no liquids could be taken on (no toothpaste, deodorant and worst yet... hair gel!) so by the time I arrived in london nearly 30 hours later (thanks to my lovely 7 hour transit in the luxurious - yes that is sarcasm - LAX Airport) I was a disgusting mess but in a strange way very happy to be back 'home' in London.

If you're going to San Francisco...

2006-08-22T05:16:00.000-07:00

Make sure you wear a decent pair of shoes! I managed to injure my foot after my first adventurous day of walking around the city and up and down those incredibly steep hills. But despite my disability I still managed to have a fantastic time.

The first thing that struck me was the amount of homeless people – and not only were there numbers incredibly high they were everywhere and not just confined to a few different areas (Except up those hills where I imagine it’s quite hard to push a shopping trolley). It was really quite saddening – apparently it has the same homeless population of New York despite being one tenth it’s size. While we’re on statistics apparently 1 in every 5 men over the age of 15 is gay – hmmm I guess that is less of a surprise…

On that subject the scene there for the size of the city was immense. I found the gay community was so ingrained in the population that you would see openly gay couples everywhere with not even a batter of an eyelid. I also had some very enjoyable nights out thanks mainly to the incredibly large measure of spirits they do there – twas like a jack daniels with a splash of coke.

Other than looking in loads of fantastic book shops and drinking excellent coffee I also saw the sites – the painted ladies of Alamo Square (Victorian house and for all you TV junkies – where the family of ‘Full House’ lived – see pic above), Alcatraz (from the shore as all the tours were booked up days in advance), a few sites from ‘Tales of the City’, Golden Gate Park and of course the bridge. I had to wait until the last day to see the bridge as San Francisco’s infamous fog was covering it for the first 4 days. I originally intended to walk across the bridge however with my foot injury it was going to be too difficult… Ok that’s a lie – I walked a few hundred metres and freaked out because of how high up I was AND the fact I was only being protected from the drop by a waist high railing.

Oh and the Titanic exhibition had also rolled into town so checked that out. It was a good exhibition but I was blown away with the giant piece of the Titanic’s hull they had on show. It was massive and it was actually from the hull – you could see the cabin windows and everything. I was slightly obsessed with the Titanic as a boy so this was all very exciting :)

So all in all a great stop over for my impending return to Australia

I do, I do, I do, I do, I do....

2006-08-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

Just a very quick post to show you a quick snap from Jason and Caressa's big day. It was a fantastic wedding in a wonderful location - unfortunately I didn't take any photos but this is one hot off the press I managed to get because my mum and sister 'gate crashed' the wedding (it was at a local resort so everyone by the bar and pool can watch!) So yes I'm the groomsman at the end (cookie is hidden) looking a little like a security guard... Closer pix will follow later...

I'm flying out of Airlie Beach tomorrow and Brisbane on wednesday. I will be stuck with the hand luggage restrictions which will be a disaster for my 7 hour wait for the connection to London in LA. It is the worst airport ever - and I will be without my mp3 player and reading material. Though on a plus side there is a bar....

Some Technical Difficulties...

2006-08-08T00:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks I intended to have a few posts up here about San Francisco and Brisbane however I have run into some difficulties. These being that I left the cord for my digital camera back in London - so without the pix I thought I would leave it. I will buy a cord as soon as I find a shop that sells one here! To keep you occupied (as I know you're all just sitting by the computer in anticipation to my next post) here is a pic of my sister and I on a night out in Airlie Beach (you will notice the suburn I received in San Fran)

World Cup Finale

2006-07-11T05:16:00.000-07:00

So after a month of drinking, tipping competitions, English flags adorning every council estate and car in the land, snakebites at Australian pubs and diving Italians and Portuguese - the world cup has finally come to an end. The tournament was fantastic, dull, enthralling and heart-breaking. We celebrated the final by watching the game and having a BBQ on our condemned roof terrace (it's currently on death row with no final date for execution). Nicole and I were joined by Jess, Mike, Emmet and more than a few bottles of wine (photos above and below). We were all hoping for a French victory however Nicole's genes kicked in before the penalties and she switched back to supporting the Italians. After the game when we were all a bit merry so we decided to head to The Two Brewers to continue the 'celebrations'.

The anniversary of the July 7 bombings on Friday was an odd day. I got the tube to King's Cross and as I missed breakfast I quickly ran to grab a McMuffin. Once I walked out of the station I was met by a gazillion cameras and the whole media circus. There had just been a memorial service and people were still laying flowers - I think however there were more media personnel than there were members of the public. As it happened I had to go through the station numerous times that day because of our clinic down there. The police presence was a little over the top - I know people need to be reassured but I counted 16 police (in groups of 2 or 3) walk past us in a 5 min journey - with sniffer dogs etc. We had a 2 minute silence at midday and other than that the day went along quite normally. It think the organisation of small services was a quiet dignified recognition of what happened.

That other sporting competition (Wimbledon) ended on Sunday. I was most pleased to see Amelie Mauresmo shake off the reputation of a choker and claim the title - unfortunately it seems she received little recognition of her grand feat in France - too preoccupied by the world cup it seems. Something I must admit I've been a little guilty of as well. So it's back to normality!

Crazy Week

2006-07-03T05:08:00.000-07:00

The last week has been a pretty manic and depressing one. On the down side I got in trouble for offending the financial director at work (i was so in the right but directors are god apparently), the socceroos lost because of some dodgy diving by the Italians, I found out my good friends Jess and Charlene are going back to Australia, our landlord didn't get planning permission for our roof terrace/balcony so they are getting rid of it, one of our patients that I know really well was murdered and then on saturday England lost out as well.

Though it wasn't all doom and gloom - I went to Wimbledon on Friday and it was fantastic. I went by myself this year as Nicole somehow scored ground passes from a friend already. The queue was only 2.5 hours this years (the shortest one yet) - once in I got to see a number of top players on the outside court. I saw Federer practicing, Venus Williams, Amelie Mauresmo and Andy Murray play in doubles - I also caught Jonas Bjorkman's singles win and an excellent performance by Chinese player Na Li beating Svetlana Kuznetsova (pic attached). I've been banging on about the Chinese for years - so it was nice to see one of them get a great win in a grand slam. Caught Arthurs and Pratt play in doubles as well. I also got burnt to a crisp as it was really bloody hot - there's a heat wave going on at the moment it's even getting into the 30s!

Euro Pride was on saturday. I didn't catch the parade or the rally or the entertainment - I basically met up with Mike and Phil (over from oz) and the canadians (out for canada day) had a few drinks in the sun at soho square then went and watched the football. Poor england - penalties just don't agree with them. Then met up briefly with Jess (see pic below) for a quick hello, headed home and then went back out again later with Mike to Heaven which was surprisingly quiet for such a big night. On the way home I fell asleep on public transport again! This time i visited leafy Twickenham - I'm beginning to see loads more of south london!

Have I told you about Lily Allen? I've been a fan of hers for a good few months. She's finally releasing a proper single this week - 'Smile' and it should get near enough to number one. Check out her myspace page: www.myspace.com/lilymusic or www.lilyallenmusic.com Her best track is definitely LDN (london) and her album's out July 17. I'm counting down the days...

John Howard is making news over here for saying Big Brother should be axed. Err... why is the Prime Minister even commenting on this? RIDICULOUS and EMBARASSING. You may also note that the Australian Democrats have told him to but out - if that's not a a reason to get them back the balance of power in the senate then I don't know what is!

Calling Dr Roberts

2006-06-25T05:38:00.000-07:00

I went to attend a training session on chaperoning last wednesday. For those who aren't familiar with a medical chaperone it is someone who is present whilst a doctor/nurse does an intimate examination (smear, breast screening, rectal examination etc) to protect the patient from being abused or the doctor from being accused of such abuse. So why am I mentioning this? Well because when I was presented with my pack and name badge I discovered that I had become Dr Dale Roberts! (see below four lines down) I was thinking of keeping the name badge on and going into town to see what attention I could get from being a doctor!

So I imagine you all watched the fantastic and dramatic match between Australia and Croatia. Nicole, Bree, Selena and I watched it in the Walkabout again and after a beer drenched, sweaty, frustrating and nerve racking 90mins we were through to the next round and celebrated accordingly (a few of you received the drunken phone messages). The whole match got too much for poor Nic though and she burst into tears at the end! Randomly we also ran into my old next door neigbour Michael Bairdfrom back in Brisbane. He's also a pro footballer and played as a striker for Queensland Roar last year and is now based in Romania.

It may seem all I talk about is football at the moment but you just can not escape it! I'm off in an hour to watch the England v Ecuador game so hopefully they get through to keep the world cup buzz alive here. On a non football related theme - Wimbledon starts tomorrow and I can't wait to get down there for some pimms and strawberries and cream! It shall be my 3rd year of going and hopefully this year I get on centre court. Till next time...

The World Cup Effect

2006-06-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

As much as I'm loving the world cup (see above) it is causing me a great deal of distress - financially. Each England and Australia game has involved copious amounts of alcohol and therefore quite a deal of money being spent. I wouldn't normally mind but I'm due to make a long and expensive trip back to Australia via San Francisco for my old friend Jason's wedding. It's not a disaster but I may just have slightly less spending money than first thought! Speaking of the world cup, did you all catch the Socceroos match on Sunday? I went to watch it with Nicole, Bree, Nicole's Chloe, Nicole's old work boss Ajaye and a couple of her gaelic friends - as well as Mike, Aaron and Damien. We watched it in a very packed Walkabout pub where we drank snakebites, crownies and tooheys and listened to some barnsey, farnsey and ol' Slim Dusty (very exciting when over here trust me! I even wore my novelty crocodile dundee hat!) I thought we put up a fantastic performance and really deserved a draw. I also think that most people respect our side a great deal more now - every non-Australian person I've spoken to said they were amazed how well we played. The Times newspaper here even voted Australia the biggest surprise of the tournament so far (that's the one and only time I'll ever say a positive about the The Times - conservative right wing paper that it is...).

The day before I also went to a street party in Clapham that was set up by a bar I go to. So to save a bit of dosh I had my first BBQ of the summer on the roof terrace at home with Mike and Aaron before heading out for it. The street party was really good without being fantastic but Kazbar and Two Brewers (bars I frequent) were heaving for a change so twas a really good day/night indeed. I've attached a picture of us at the beginning of the evening (I don't think we looked as fresh at 2am)

So now I'm off to yet another match - England v Sweden. Luckily for my finances drinks are only £1.50 so can have a decent night for under a fiver. Let's hope England win because if they lose they face the Germans in the 2nd round. I'm not sure I can handle a saturation of WWII references for the next few days! I must admit I am supporting England behind the socceroos so I do hope they put in a good performance.

Touching Base

2006-06-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely useless in keeping touch with everybody back in Australia and even those in London. So because of this I’ve set up this blog to keep in touch – ok I know it’s a cop out but least I’m using some form of communication! I won’t go on about what I’ve been doing since I spoke to you all last so I’ll just start from today and move forward.

I’m typing this up on a very hung over Friday afternoon. Tis the after affects of watching the England v Trinidad and Tobago game with Mike in Soho – the game finished around 7pm but we decided to carry on. Something that also happened last Saturday for England’s first game. The game was on around 2pm and I don’t think I stopped drinking until 2am the next morning. In that time we had a spontaneous 90s dance party in Mike’s living room, lost a Styrofoam plane that was later used by a hobo and attended G-A-Y club to see Danni Minogue perform her greatest ‘hits’. I’m sure you’ve seen the reports but right at the end Kylie made an appearance so the place went mad. Imagine 2000 mostly gay men seeing a surprise first public appearance by Kylie – need I say more.

It’s been incredibly hot here – we hit 32 degrees at one point. On Sunday a few of us drank wine in Soho Square (you can drink outside here) and then continued on for a few more. Had an unusual experience though – the first pint I bought literally exploded in my hand. Very odd – apparently it’s not too uncommon (warm glass/cold drink). Was quite a shock though. So the heat has been fantastic in many ways but travelling on the tube and working has been a nightmare (our office bakes in the heat).

So for the weekend I'm planning to go to a street party in Clapham tomorrow and then watch the Socceroos on Sunday night against Brazil. Was a fantastic win against Japan – I did have my doubts, I thought we could equalise but never did I think we could come up with 3 goals in 8 minutes!

Anyway have a fantastic weekend and fingers crossed for the game on Sunday