The Only Way to Travel

Apologies for the long over due blog – much to catch up on... here's an index:

1. Surprise!...Sneaky bastard.
2. Sun, Sea, Sorrento
3. Cycling Etiquette
4. Flags of Our Fathers in style

SURPRISE!... SNEAKY BASTARD

A month or so ago we had some spare time

to kill during which I intended to give my bike a much needed dose of WD40, towelling and chain oil. Gideon insisted that I go for a drive with him – I should have been suspicious then. Getting out of the lift on Basement 3 a strange car was parked in his car spot, I wondered if we had got off at the wrong level, then wondered if he had hired a mini cabrio (the car he had been wanting to buy) for the weekend. In fact, it was his brand new Mini Cooper S Cabrio with THE coolest detailing you will see in Melbourne – I love it! A month before that he had been to the Mini Dealer, but came home telling me that he didn’t buy it, but in fact had purchased it and not told me…. Very very sneaky. But lucky for him, I loooove surprises. It is the most awesome, cutest car! I still get happy vibes every time I see it!

Rene's 30th Birthday

SUN, SEA, SORRENTO

Sunday of Cup weekend – nice time for a drive to the beach… especially in the coolest convertible around! What perfect weather. Here are some happy snaps!

Those Crazy Frisbeers - Tania, Geoff & Paul

Dancing Sophie & Anne

Geordie enjoying some very melted strawberry icecream.

CYCLING ETIQUETTE

(Alternatively you can refer to blog on 1 June 2006 re. morons in the swimming pool – this is somewhat similar, but not in the water.)

These days I am mostly riding the 4km to work in the morning, then the 4km home in the evening. St Kilda Road (Or as the GPS says “S.T. Kilda Road”) has a dedicated bike lane, so it’s relatively smooth and easy riding. Getting out of bed at 8.15 for a 9am start is not out of the question.

It’s on these short sojourns that I often get frustrated by riders who really have no idea or who are just damn inconsiderate. Case in point… a week ago, I was riding home. A gorgeously warm and sunny evening, when riding is almost like gliding and it’s only 15 minutes before I get home and relax for the evening.

Enter the slow rider with no idea. Following someone slow for a bit is tolerable, after all, one can always overtake if you are really in a rush, as was the case for many of the cyclists, including yours truly on the day. The problem was that this guy kept catching up at traffic lights and pushing his way to the front of the line of bikes!?? This happened at every traffic light. At one stage I think he had a queue of at least 10 frustrated cyclists behind him.

Drawing a picture of the whole situation, including spokes and pedalling detail was going to be too difficult! Instead, just for kicks, here’s a picture of my current bike. It looks like it's going really fast!

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MOVIE REVIEW

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FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS IN STYLE

3 course meal in Gold Class… not a bad way to spend a Wednesday evening… the movie was pretty good too.

Flags of our Fathers: 4/5

Cast: Ryan Phillippe (Cruel Intentions), Jesse Bradford (Bring it On), Paul Walker (Fast & the Furious)

In a Nutshell: Well told war story with a good balance of realism and emotion.

Brief Synopsis: Follows three men who were involved in the raising of the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in WWII.

Enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would… war movies are generally not my thing. Clint Eastwood does it again, bringing out the human emotion and experience in any story he chooses. The war scenes are stark and powerful, but all the time supported by the emotion and reminiscence of those who experienced it poignantly edited in. Personally I enjoyed this more than Million Dollar Baby, but I might be in the minority.

I'm having a Short Day

This is a bit out of sequence (Stilllll writing the other promised posting), but I wanted to let it all out while it was still fresh!

Getting general admission tickets to music concerts is about the only time it really sucks to be, as they say, "vertically challenged". Everytime I do it, I say never again, but apparently I'm a very slow learner.

Tonight was the U2 concert. Paul, Tania & I rocked up at an eager 4pm (5hrs before the band hit the stage) only to find we were quite far back in the queue. All considering we managed to get reasonable positions, about 3 deep behind the railing of the second section (somehow Paul's brother got 2 rows from the stage despite showing up 30mins later...go figure). Still, for one of great shortness, even 2 deep is too deep. With two tall guys in front of me, with an extra inch assistance from the raised floor they were standing on, there was not much to see except for a lot of backage.

After about 1.5-2hrs of waiting around in squashy, sweaty confines, I decided to leave Paul & Tania to battle the crowd and went out on my own. I figured, standing out on the side would be a less crowded wait, and I had at the very least a clear view of the screens.

It turns out that having a clear view of the stage was really just not meant to be for me. When the support, Kanye West, came on, I could just see his head if I stood on the tips of my toes. Should have known that when Kanye said that his most favourite cities in the world to visit were 1. Tokyo, 2. Japan, 3. London, 4. somewhere else and 5. Melbourne that it wasn't going to be my night.

Then U2 came on. It was definitely the biggest concert I've ever been too, and the atmosphere was pretty charged, the view of the crowd on the way to the toilet was quite aweinsiring. The set was bright, flashing and damn cool. However, standing out in the smokers corner, by myself, next to the totally pissed guy who kept tripping over my bag, having to deal with really tall people continually standing in the space in front of me without even checking to see whose view they were blocking, took the shine off it a little. Admittedly, U2 are not one of my favourite bands, but I do recognise that what they do is pretty good. There was one moment though, when they sang One, that sent shivers up my spine... or maybe that was the cool night air resulting in me not being ensconced in the warmth of the squashy tall bodies in the middle of the stadium? (just joking) I ended up leaving during the encore to avoid the masses, and actually got my best view of the stage all night behind the lowest section of seating on my way out!

The hot jam donut outside the stadium was definitely a highlight of the night!

Dear Blog,

Apologies for neglecting you. There's a posting coming, it's being written as we speak...

I don't know..... Children of Men

Just a movie review... coverage of this weekend's spectacular events to follow shortly :)

Children of Men: 2.8/5

Cast: Clive Owen (King Arthur), Julianne Moore (Boogie Nights), Michael Caine (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)

In a Nutshell: Good ideas, but doesn't quite follow through. Enjoyable nevertheless.

Brief Synopsis: In the future the women have become infertile, it has been 18 years since the last child was born, and the world has become a war zone. Theo (Owen) gets drawn into the role of escorting a pregnant woman to safety.

It wasn't a bad movie. The pretense is clever, and sometimes it is transformed to screen quite well. There are quite a few funny through away lines too. However, for a story where there is much scope for some amazing drama and suspense, this movie doesn't quite get there. Perhaps it is that the main character Theo is feeling lost and not sure of where to go next and that is what is conveyed to the audience. Without going too much into it, there is one extremely powerful scene towards the end of the movie, but more like we expect from Cuaron, however it is over quickly the movie is resolved, but not completely satisfactorily.