Mad As A Magpie

Alfred Hitchcock must have spent time in Australia in the Spring, October - November in the Southern Hemisphere, prior to creating his now classic movie 'The Birds'. There is a handsome bird in Australia called the Magpie. The name is not a fitting tribute to how handsome this bird is. I say handsome because pretty isn't the right adjective. This bird is fairly large as compared to Boston indigenous birds. It is the size of a large crow back in Boston. Some get even larger. They have a sleek body similar to the crow but their coloring is a bright white and black. They also have a nice flute like sound that they emit. Now this all sounds like a nice bird right? It is.... unless its Spring time! This is when the Magpies mate, lay their eggs, and care for their chicks. There is nothing like a Magpie guarding its nest and chicks.

I was forewarned by my co-workers and friends I have met not to get too attached to this bird because come Spring time they will attack you if you come within a distance they deem is too close for comfort. I think that I have been crapped on by a bird no more than once in my life and that is one time too many. But that is just bad luck, good luck for the person beside you, but bad luck for you. Since I have been down here I have been swept at by a bird three times. Same location, same bird, same time of day. After the first time I was determined not to change the course I walked to get to the train in the morning. After all, I am a human, the creme de la creme of the animal world. I am smarter, stronger, and more savvy than a mere bird... or so I thought.

The following morning after my first attack I got ready for work, put on my MP3 player, set on some music to get me going and headed off. At about minute 3 of my walk, out of no where, with my music on low came a swishing sound off my left ear, a brush of air from a flying object coming within an inch of my head, and a shadow flying by me faster than a blink of an eye. By the time I gathered my thoughts I saw the culprit. It was a Magpie gliding up to a branch in a graceful swoop as though just dropping off a laser guided bomb and after finishing its sortie was heading back to home base. After checking for any bird waste on me, which is not the Magpies intent, I could only look at this bird now perched on a branch staring me down and say to myself 'Magpie 2; Ernie 0'. I realized that although I was the bigger and I thought the smarter of the two this Magpie has something humans can only dream of: the gift of flight. Being able to fly up on someone from any angle, at alarming speeds in full control, silent, and then at the very last second change your direction to fly within an inch of your target is amazing! Now as I mentioned I only thought I was the smarter of the two.... this same scenario acted itself out one more time me being totally oblivious to the two previous days events. After the 3rd time I had determined that it was easier for me to change my route and let others feel the wrath of this Magpie than it was to deal with it head on.

I was told by coworkers that this Magpie is nice. Some of them don't change direction and fly full speed into your head beak first or claws first. Most people get wounds after a magpie attack! Sometimes I can only shake my head at this country. Here I am in a major city walking down a busy street and I am getting attacked by birds!

After doing some research I found some interesting facts. Here is the link to the page about magpie attacks.... Magpie facts

Thank You ESPN & the New England Patriots

There is a saying that goes something like 'you don't know how much you care for something until its taken away'. That has been my feelings for many things over the past few months. Not only do I miss family and friends I also realized how much I miss the Fall in New England and the fire that is sparked when the Red Sox begin a march to the World Series and the Patriots start their run dominating the NFL. I have been subject to keeping up with all of the sports in Boston via Boston.com. This hasn't been too bad since both the Boston Globe and Boston Herald have great on-line sports articles. But, no matter how much you read and imagine how the games go and see the pictures there is nothing like experiencing the feeling of being in Boston at this time of year. In the movie 'Good Will Hunting' Robin Williams character criticized Matt Damon's character for being able to tell him everything about the Sistine Chapel from what he read in books but you really don't know what its like until you see it with your own eyes and smell what it is like, and experience it in person. It was one of the most powerful scenes of the movie and that is how I feel when I explain the Sox, the Patriots, and Fall in New England to my Aussie friends.

Last Sunday I was flipping through a cable magazine that was sent to me out of boredom due to going to bed too early on Saturday night and waking up too early on Sunday. I came across the ESPN page with Payton Manning on it. Below the picture was a schedule of the upcoming month. I was elated to see the New England Patriots vs Cincinnati Bengals Monday Night Football game was going to be shown live on Tuesday at 10:00 am. Unfortunately due to a four letter word named 'work' I couldn't watch it live, but I did run out to buy a DVD recorder and was determined to see the game.

After setting up the DVD recorder and obsessing over how to time record to a point where I was going through blank DVD's like the Dead Cats go through Planters Punch drinks at the Boat Slip on a hot Summer Afternoon! With confidence that I was all set to go with the recording I checked it one more time then headed out to work.

I normally check Boston.com during the day at work to keep up on events and scores but today I wanted the Pats game to be a total surprise. When I got home I threw down my bag, grabbed my DVD remote and hit the play button.......... and 'YES' success!! I had the whole game recorded and waiting for me to enjoy!

For the next few hours I was transported back to Boston. I wish it was a home game in Foxboro but just seeing familiar sports faces live (well almost) was good enough for me. I had two Cascade Premium Lagers, cooked up some chicken on my Weber Q grill, and had a smile on my face the entire time. Of course the smile was due to the 3-0 Patriots man handling the Bengals with ease. Randy Moss and Brady are lethal! The running game even with reserves was great and the defense is playing solid. This is going to be a fun season and my DVD player will record every second that it can when ESPN shows the Patriots.

Another good note is that ESPN in Australia is showing almost all of the MLB playoffs. If the Sox get past the 1st round against the Los Angeles Angels I will be able to enjoy the Red Sox as well via DVD recordings. If the Sox make it to the World Series and have a chance to clinch then a DVD recording will not do and I will travel far and wide to watch the game live. Fingers crossed!

Are You Ready For Some Football?

This weekend the Manly Sea Eagles take on the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League Championship Game! This is the Australian version Superbowl back in the States. For the past several weeks teams from all over Australia have headlined the sports news as they played each other in the playoffs to get to the 'big game' on Sunday night.
Why a 3/4 naked man on the blog? He is none other than Michael Witt one of the star players for the Manly Sea Eagles. The blokes in the league being good old chaps put together a calendar -Naked Rugby League- to raise money for breast cancer awareness. October is the Australian National Breast Caner Awareness month.

The game will be played in Sydney on Sunday night very similar to how the NFL has the Superbowl on Sunday night. This sport has captured my attention.... no comments necessary! When I go out to a local pub and there is a game on and someone notices my American accent I know that a discussion about Rugby vs. American Gridiron is about to begin. The Aussies have the upper hand in not only numbers but the fact that they are mad about Rugby. The same way that most of the world is crazy about soccer the Aussies are crazy about rugby. Getting League vs Union mixed up is one of the worst things that an American could do. Union is currently being played on the world stage in France in the 2007 Rugby Union World Cup. League is another form of rugby that is played within the boundaries of Australia. The 'discussion' starts the same way every time: "You like rugby?" an Aussie will say (always with a pint of XXXX, VB, or Teweys in hand). I reply "Yea, I think its a great sport". In which they reply "Who do you think is tougher our rugby players or your American Gridiron players who wear helmets and pads and can only play either offense or defense and need to rest every other play?" Right away I am at a disadvantage and I used to defend American Gridiron to the bitter end until we would both agree to disagree. After one night talking to some blokes at the Casino and getting my good friend Jeff on the phone to help out in the discussion Jeff said it best. When asked by the Aussie, 9,000 miles away and 14 hours ahead on the clock, why the Americans had to wear pads Jeff, without missing a beat replied 'because they are pussies'. That is exactly what the Aussie and his buddies wanted to hear and it was as though Jeff had just told them they had free beer for life! I learned a valuable lesson from Jeff that night. When in Rome do as the Romans do. So even though Jeff and I don't believe that American Football players are pussies in any form it is the easiest way to end a discussion that I could never win down here anyway.

This Sunday I will be watching the Championship Game from a local pub and will soak in all of the Australian pride being displayed by the locals in both their national sport and their country in general!
*Follow up - ESPN Australia is showing the New England Patriots vs Bengals Monday night game live here on Tuesday 2 October at 10:00 AM!!!!! Now trying to decide if I tape it, which will require me buying a DVD recorder, or if I 'chuck a sickie' (Australian slang to call into work sick when you are perfectly healthy) to stay home to watch it......

Sick As A Horse?

When I first got down to Australia I was in fear of my health due to the flu outbreak that headlined the news day in and day out. Several adults and children had succumbed to the illness and the news was casting a pall over the country as though the plague was back and strong as ever...... that is until the Australian beloved horses began to come down with a version of the flu. The front pages and top stories no longer were talking about the human factor and was now all about how devastating the horse flu would be to the entire economy of Australia and perhaps the future of this country! Of course I am exaggerating but not too much. The top stories have followed the outbreak from Melbourne to Sydney and now as of yesterday Brisbane. I can fully appreciate that horse racing is a very big business in Australia but the level of news and drama that follows this story is almost funny. That is to anyone but an Aussie. When the news first broke out about the horse flu several weeks ago in Melbourne I asked my co-workers about it and got a first hand account on how important this industry is to Australia and the Australian psyche. As you walk around this country you can bet that on every other corner instead of a Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks you will find a TAB. Not exactly sure what TAB stands for but its the Australian off track betting locations. They are everywhere. In malls, on random corners, attached to pubs, attached to police stations.... now with horse racing on hold I guess the money that comes in from these TAB locations will be trickling in instead of flowing freely. Personally I think the main story should be the upcoming federal election in which a new prime minister most likely will be elected but hey, I am just a Yank!

Surfers Paradise and Byron Bay

Although I haven't traveled to many tropical destinations in my life, I couldn't have imagined that there are many places that are more amazing than Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast in Queensland. That was until we took a day trip South to Byron Bay in New South Wales. The picture to the left is an unedited photo of one of the beaches in Byron Bay. The water is as blue as any I have seen. The day itself couldn't have been better. We (Caryl, Loc-Uyen, and myself) decided that while we were already in Surfers Paradise for a long weekend we should take a ride one day to visit Byron Bay which is another 90 minutes South heading towards Sydney. Byron Bay is to Surfers Paradise what Provincetown is to Hyannis. Although both places are tourist destinations and beautiful in their own right, Byron Bay is relaxed, laid back and almost untouched. What other town do you know of that people tell you to 'follow your nose to find Byron Bay' referring to the overwhelming smell one would find of marijuana being smoked by the locals who live life by surfing, relaxing, and taking part in some of natures natural stimulants! Although there was no smell of pot in or around Byron Bay the overwhelming sense that we had ventured into a Greatful Dead community was all around us. In every shop you went you could buy something with a VW Bug or Van on it. Each shop was run by laid back shop owners who you felt you may be bothering by asking for their assistance. There was a sign on the walkway up to this lighthouse that said Byron Bay is one of the few places in the world where you can sit in a rain forest and look out over the Pacific Ocean (or any ocean) and listen to the breaths of humpback whales. We didn't go to the rain forest but we did see a humpback whale in the distance breaching from the lookout point at this lighthouse.

Prior to heading down to Byron Bay we spent a day and a half at 'Dorchester on the Beach' which is a 19 story apartment building directly on the ocean. After driving for 1.5 hours and then getting lost for 20 minutes within a half mile of our destination we were blown away by the condo we had lucked out in renting. The condo was one of those places where you could only smile from ear to ear upon entering. It was at least 2000 sq feet, had all white marble tile floors, sliding glass doors from wall to wall, 3 big bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a balcony that overlooked another turquoise blue ocean that went on for what seemed miles! When looking at my pictures I realized that I was so impressed with the view from our condo I never took any pictures of it! I did take plenty of pictures from our balcony.

Surfers Paradise and the Gold Coast in general is similar to Miami Beach. There are dozens and dozens of high rise apartment buildings as far as the eye can see. One of the buildings is billed as the tallest all residential building in the world! The nightlife is second to none and every day and night of the year is a celebration in beach living! We ate at some good restaurants and enjoyed the nightlife also. At one of the restaurants we ate at the waiter recognized our accent only to find out that his wife, who was also working there, is from Dorchester originally! They had been married recently and were traveling the world working until they saved up enough money to take 3 months off to travel the country they were in. Nice way to live!

On my last day at Surfers Paradise I got up at 5:00 am to board a BK Fishing charter at 6:00. Although I gave it my best shot the only thing I caught was a red snapper that came in about 2 inches short of a legal keeper. It was a great half day of fishing even with out much action. The other people in the boat had better luck but overall it was quite. One thing that I was excited about that Australian locals are used to was a bottle nose dolphin that hung out about 10 -20 feet from the boat all morning waiting for us to throw over our half eaten bait fish. I was afraid the dolphin would go after the fish with the hooks in it but I was assured by the Captain that dolphins are much too smart to go after a fish with four hooks and a weight tied to it! And he was right. The dolphin at one point met up with another dolphin and they put on an acrobatic aeriel show for us for a few seconds. Of course it was just short enough of a show for me not to be able to capture it on film! In the slide show you can see the fin of the dolphin though....

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Two of the first people I met upon joining the CitiStreet Australia team were a set of twin brothers named Peter and David Bissell. These two guys were the first ones to get up out of their seat, extend their hand, give me a pat on the back and say 'welcome mate'.... I kept thinking to myself what nice guys they are. I soon realized that these two brothers were special but they also looked as though something could be wrong too. I had no idea what it could be or put my finger on it but something was different. Boy was I right. After talking to Peter, or maybe it was David, I still can't tell them apart, I learned that both of them have had Cystic Fibrosis since birth and several years ago both of them underwent a double lung transplant. I was blown away by this news but at the same time had such an admiration at how they handled life. I also realized at this time that for them working at CitiStreet was purely to pay the bills. Their true passion over the last 7 years has been to spread joy and laughter as Peebo and Dagwood....clowns! Now I know that some people have a fear of clowns or just generally don't care for them but these two are different. They are two of the funniest guys I have met either as clowns or not. The way they feed off of each others humor and their timing can only be attributed to them being identical twins. It's as though each of them know what the other is going to say before they say it. They are like George Burns and Gracie but with better timing. When talking to Peter about his transplant it was then that he said he and his brother love being clowns because they feel that 'laughter is the best medicine' and I couldn't have agreed more.....

Several weeks ago a project manager was leaving CitiStreet so we had a nice morning tea for her with a mini show by whoelse...... Peebo and Dagwood! Being a new guy in the office I was a prime target for both their jokes and a magic trick they do. Hope you enjoy the pics!

The Hub Apartment.... my home away from home

I moved into my one bedroom apartment in Brisbane several weeks ago. It was one of ony two apartments that I looked at before making my decision. I knew that although I could get a bigger place I couldn't get a place that is in the middle of everything and a view of the river and the Story Bridge. The apartment building is across the street from the Brisbane Marriott, a five minute walk to two train stations, and a 5 minute walk to two major shopping, restaurant, and nightlift districts. Here is a slide show of what it looks like:



Let me know if you are having trouble with the slideshow feature and I will upload the pics the previous way I was!