So it goes...

Tomorrow comes today

2007-03-03T10:10:00.001+11:00

Well, finally, i hear you say! Yes i know, a good month ago i said i'd fill all and sundry in on the happenings of the last hectic few months, and then proceeded to write nothing - but anyone who reads this blog (all five of you, barring the tri-annual appearance of my WinColl buddies - thanks Tom, btw) will be used to that by now!

So to the point, or more particularly: my life to this point. Since my last update, having recovered from my stolen Myspace identity, (incidently i have discovered i'm not alone in this, have a look at this video by comedian David Spade to see what strife i could've been in... - if i'd actually been interesting...) i've made it a bit further afield than Sydney!

First stop was infact to the Murray river in Victoria's north west where a group of us vetties spent a fantastic week houseboating. Think sunny days, beautiful scenery, a wee bit of beer, spas and campfires. And above all else, no study!

It all ended too soon but then it was back to Melbourne for the big day of Graduation and the subsequent party, as us vets are wont to have. Twas very very good to be finally done, especially officially. No going back at this point. And indeed i havn't. Instead once again, it was off for some more travelling!

So in the company of Phil, his family, Cat, Louie, we ventured boldly to the Red Centre to go where thousands of others had been before us. Though thankfully, the aforementioned thousands were conspicuously absent as we'd cunningly chosen the off-season to make our trip. Despite being only three days we packed in a visit to Alice Springs, Kings Canyon, Ulara, The Olgas and of course Uluru, stopped (unexpectedly) in the desert, bought some aboriginal artwork and cooked under the stars by camp fire. It was fantastic and i'd love to go back. Maybe when its a bit cooler though, as 40 degree walks round Kings Canyon were getting a little uncomfortable. Phil also took bringing a 'wide-brim' hat a little to extremes.

The trip to the red centre brought us up to December and the travels didn't stop there. It was now off to Singapore and swiftly on to Indonesia for a 14 day dive trip around the last remaining Island of Dragons, Komodo.

Admittedly the important part of that last statement was 'dive trip' and i suppose it takes a certain type of person (ie one obsessed with diving) to schedule a dive trip with complete strangers over Christmas and as a result, yes, there was alot of diving. But we did see dragons. And they were really quite uninspiring. The diving however, was not. Photos have yet to be posted (it's on my to-do list, so check back in six months...) but we managed to tick off another of the big five by diving at long last with Manta Ray. And for all you divers out there that havn't - do it! Even if it takes you as long as it took us, it is so worth it. If you do go to Komodo though, don't be fooled by 'the tropics', the water is bloody cold!

This takes us to new year and i think that's grounds for another post, as i'll be impressed if anyone has made it this far (aside from those who like me simply scan the pics and read this last paragraph). Stay tuned for the next update on life as a vet in the country...

My holidaying is over

Let this be a lesson

2007-01-18T23:04:00.000+11:00

I've never thought i was particualy special. True, i have a vet degree now, which i think simply highlights my stubborness over any other feature, and, i guess the travel i've been lucky enough to enjoy by this point in my life is fairly rare. I'm a passable swimmer, can juggle, i can make a dragon out of a sheet of paper (i'm proud of that one), tried my hand, with varying degrees of success, at painting, pottery and sculpture. Stuff that everyone could do really (with enough stubborness... or a CoE upbringing...)

So it came as a great and slightly disturbing suprise to me to find that someone liked my life enough (or at least one of my friends, in particular...) to create their own online version of me, using information easily accessible from this blog and it's links. I guess that's what comes from putting your life online for all and sundry.

Still, seems no harm is done, and i think things are sorted now... Hopefully. And if you're reading this 'Travesty' , no hard feelings mate. You live and learn.

If anything i suppose i should be offended that i could be copied easily enough to fool my friends... ;-)

Incidently, my apologies for the slackness of my posting in recent weeks. I have been busy. Honest. And my computer screwed up too. So i have excuses. The first update tonight was going to cover all that... guess after 6 weeks it can wait to tomorrow!

By popular request...

2006-11-19T17:17:00.000+11:00

Showing once again that i do take the considerations of my readers to heart, i provide another slide show for your perusal.

This one follows me from the end of exams on Thusday afternoon two weeks ago, though the end of exams party and then northwards to Sydney for a well deserved rest at Kirsten's. With fantastic timing, while Melbourne languished in rain and snow, we spent every other day at the beach, when of course we weren't eating, drinking or playing tennis.

Freedom is fun.

So is Frisbee.

The full set of photos will be appearing as usual on Smugmug if you want to see more of what we got up to...

"All of life is an experiment"

2006-11-09T12:25:00.000+11:00

I'm Finished!!!

It's an odd feeling. I feel like i should be euphoric - after all, this day is effectively the culmination of something i've now been working towards for over a 1/3 of my life - yet instead i feel...
something else...

Maybe it's the long cycle of study - exam - study - exam that has been most of the last five years and it probably hasn't really sunk in yet. And then there was Friday, just sowing those little pessimistic seeds of doubt in my mind. Still if i havn't heard anything by 5pm tomorrow, i'm away - home and dry. My fingers are crossed.

Melbourne has really pulled out the stops today, the sky is a brilliant, crisp blue, the breeze is balmy and the birds are singing. Waiting for Phil to get back so we can pull out the beers and toast, well, just about everything!

You know what?
I'm feeling good now.

Why O Why?

2006-11-03T15:47:00.000+11:00

When i have days like Friday and exams like that, this appeals to me more and more.
Apologies for the swearing, i was in a foul mood.
Two more to go...

See i have been doing stuff....

2006-10-23T23:43:00.000+10:00

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

And so that's what i'v been up to for the last three weeks. From the top:

The Victorian Dancesport Championships, scarily like 'Strictly Ballroom'
Getting creative for Mitzi's B'day - amazing what you can do when you're trying to avoid study and have a bit of wood...
Having a drink at the Mountian Goat Brewery, Richmond, and enjoying the best table football table ever... bar that one David and i found in the Galapagos... but that's another story
Onwards to life as a graduate with both Louie's and my valedictory dinners. The law one was classier but the vet one had me as a guest speaker. People even laughed at my jokes :-)
And finally the silly season has arrived with the onset of SWOTvac. Study is going well...

If that piqued your curiosity, more photos will be appearing on Smugmug, so keep a look out
And if you liked the slide show, visit Slide to make your own. It's cool :-)

Procrastination is Upon us!

2006-10-18T21:28:00.000+10:00

Another truly informative posting for you all.

Just in case you get bored of popping bubbles...

Phil tells me you can waste about an hour on this one....

This is soo not what i wanted to blog about.

2006-10-17T00:39:00.000+10:00

This is for all those people who, like me, have too much to do, not enough time and yet still manage to procrastinate.

Have fun.

PS. I have been doing lots of stuff, really i have... Might even write about it soon...

I'm very over living out of a suitcase.

2006-08-26T11:34:00.000+10:00

My apologies to any (if any) loyal readers out there for the long absence of postings. Since my last post i have been (in chronological order) back to Singapore, back to Melbourne, off to Maffra in Gippsland, back to Melbourne (several times - damn the price of petrol!), up (vertically) to Mt Hotham, back to Melbourne, up (latitudinaly...) to Shepparton, back to Melbourne (are you seeing a pattern here?) and now have banished myself to Mt Gambier in SA. And in two weeks i'll be back to Melbourne again. And maybe for more than a weekend this time! It'll be nice to actually spend some time in my home! Though that said, Louie and i are actually going to try co-habiting for three weeks once i get back (as my next placement lies somewhat closer to her than my pad in Williamstown) and we may be off to Sydney but aside from that...

...i'm staying put.

Forgive my brevity, i'd love to go into more details about parties and painting in Singapore, pizza and presentations in Maffra, pain and poker on Mt Hotham, pulling calves and pub trivia in Shepparton... and Mt Gambier, but it would take a long time and no-one reads this bloody thing anyway. So you'll all just have to check out the photos here (or via the links above) and work out for yourself what been going on!

I may or may not decide to elaborate further. You have been warned.

Oh, and i've converted Phil to the way of the blog. He's still keen and updates regularly. Check out his 'Pommy Rantings' here...

Travesty!

2006-07-05T11:39:00.000+10:00

Dammit! Now the Germans are out too. I should start supporting the French, that at least, might stop them winning.

To cheer yourself up, this is another cool site, worth checking out if you've got a few minutes free. I wish i'd had the idea first. Though that said he dances much better than me! The orignal video can be found here. Though where is the footage from Orchard Road! Or Melbourne! Is there no justice in the world....?

I'm back...and, damnit, it's bloody cold.

2006-07-02T22:02:00.000+10:00

Blah blah blah, yes i know, "whinging Pom" etc but, quite frankly, after two weeks in tropical Singapore (attempting not to drip sweat on anyone and everything) coming back to a raining and miserable Melbourne morning after an attack of the annoying kid on the plane, i feel fully entitled to have a whinge. Many thanks, however, to my esteemed flatmate for dragging himself out of bed at a sutiably anti-social hour of the morning to come get me, and this after having stayed up to watch England bow ungracefully out of the World Cup. A match i also missed as a result of aforementioned flight. Though it sounds like i didn't miss much. Anyway, the papers will cover England's performance in far more detail than i could ever be bothered too (one word - boring), so back to the point which is SINGAPORE!

I've always liked the saying "home is where they feed you"

and, with that in mind, mum and dad definately made Singapore home for the last two weeks! With Spanish wine tastings, Chicago steak, East Coast pepper crab, English roast beef, Japanese teppanyaki, Haiwannese chicken rice, Cha sui pork, Dim sum, (Singapore's Best) Kway teow, and host of other dishes whose names i cant remember (and if i could, probably couldn't spell), i think i ate my way round part of the globe! Which makes the prospect of returning to my admittedly slightly boring home cooking even less appealing. Guess i'll ease myself into it gently... *sigh*

But Singapore is not all about the food. After all Singapore is almost synomenous with Shopping, and it was high time for some retail therapy. Mum has worked her usual magic and our new appartment rocks. Just off Orchard road, 10 mins walk from Wisma Atria and Takashimaya (see left for those that don't know the area) and an awesome view of the city. So wandering down to the shops after a leisurally morning by the pool wasn't too tough. Much fun, but damn i'd forgotten how tiring shopping in the Great Singapore Sale can be. I know, It's a hard life... And to think that in two weeks i'll be covered once again in cow shit standing in a field in the rain. And at times like this you just have to wonder why...

Of course getting out of Oz means catching up with the parentals (read: getting fed and nagged, in a nice way, by mum; playing squash and watching the world cup with dad), with my gran and the extended family, and also with old friends. Went to my first fashion show at Zouk, starring not only a certain Singaporean girl (who stole the show) but also my girlfriend's brother! Singapore is small place. You can check out photos here. Sadly the free-flow whiskey-green tea and two for one jugs of house mixers contributed to a very miserable Saturday but i havn't had a killer hangover for a while now. Made me remember why i tend to drink in moderation!

We also celebrated Mum's birthday a month early... I'm still not entirely sure why but, hey, good excuse for a party and also happened to fall on my uncles's actual birthday so lots of cake all round :-) And that was just the first week.

Second week, however, saw the beginning of the Alexander Mural Project. Which then proceeded to become something very similar to work... Hmmm. Still, having not painted since i left school it was nice to see i've still retained my limited abilities! The AMP is an attempt to brighten the room of the six year old son of a friend of mums. And of course me being me has decided that the ideal design will be of a coral reef, or at least coral reef fishies. And so it began. And unfortuantly despite my efforts, it didn't finish. Which is a little annoying but i have every faith dad (and my brother) will be able to polish it off... Soon... Cos otherwise the wall is going to look a bit odd...
Despite the AMP, still managed to make it out to the new MOS on Clarke Quay, caught up with some old friends and made some new ones; a fun night and i got some much needed dancing out of my system. Realised that till this trip back i've not been a a club for over a year and a half! Somehow in Australia i never find the time...

But i'm back now, and after all that i think it's time for bed. Places to go, people to see and things to do tomorrow. The holiday is offically over. We'll see if i can convince myself of that in the next couple of weeks!

Oh, and did i mention: EXAMS ARE OVER!!! (hopefully...)

Hooray for the Queen's (2nd) B'day!

2006-06-09T20:13:00.000+10:00

I like this site.
It appeals to my exam period mentality.
Hulk should smash exams.

HULK'S DIARY THAT IS ON THE INTERNET

In other news, i bought wine today. Who-hoo! My reward for a hard week of (attempted) study and (attempted) exams. Big wine sale in the city with a good 30 big brands open for tasting and over half price off. Got a mixed 12 bottles for $75: 6 De Bortoli Shiraz (Yarra Valley) and 6 of very nice Tisdall Cabernet/Merlot from the Goulburn Valley So they're not the greatest wines in the world but they're easy drinking and at that price, a bargin! Already got some good stuff cellaring nicely :-)

Lunch with Xian, post wine buying, was a good catch-up too. Don't see enough of my friends in the city, and, sadly next semester i'm not going to see much of anyone! Ahh the joy of the vet student life.

Still the wonder of the Queens 2nd Australian B'day celebration means i got an extra day to study for horses. Lucky me.

Five days down, seven to go

Pygmaeus' Poetry Place

2006-06-07T18:56:00.000+10:00

This is Marilyn.
She is a cat.
As a vet student,
I'm just about qualifed to say that.

Marilyn hates birds.
I also hate birds.
Marilyn is my friend.
I also hate exams

The End.

I'm still putting off study...

2006-06-05T21:04:00.000+10:00

Ta-DAH!
My oft-mentioned Cambodia print for those who still care (namely the parentals!) The wood for the frame was located at a demolitions yard and is a solid piece of jarrah. It weighs a tonne. Sadly it's too damn heavy to hang on my rental plasterboard wall. But cost me much, much less than a similar mass-produced pine frame with less character. There's something wrong about that.
Maybe i should have a rant...

One down... still too many to go

2006-06-05T18:32:00.000+10:00

The Herald Sun (read: Melbourne's trashy tabloid newspaper) had a slow news moment and published a picture of a lovable baby llama. Sadly his less lovable sibling happens to live with me.

And as you can see, despite the exams, am still finding time to do bugger all. But at least it's keeping me smiling.

That said with our first and biggest exam out the way, the light at the end of the tunnel seems that much closer. Thank god.

Moving swiftly away from the subject of exams,

i was thinking

A rarity i know, and even more unusual that i would take the time to write about it too, but that's kinda my point. Looking around, browsing other blogs, it seems everyone has something to say. And a lot of it's fairly intelligent. Then there's me. And i write crap (the opposite of writing good) and it's not even very interesting or up-to-date crap. I mean, i didn't even tell the story of my run in with the law after vet ball and the loss of my prize winning wig. No rant from me about the stupidity of drunk bored youth or ineffective paper-pushing police. No epic account of the loss of the aformentioned wig. Nor did the story of my trip to see Xmen 3 at Gold Class cinema grace these hallowed pixels. Mind you, that really wasn't that exciting. Gold Class at Victoria Gardens has definately stepped down a notch since Hoyts took over. And the movie wasn't all that much to speak of either, which was a shame. Bad way to end the franchise (but is it really the end...?)

However i digress. Thing is, i'm not sure i can rant. Well, not in text anyway; too much swearing goes on in my verbal rants to bear repeating. And that would probably be quite boring to read. Maybe i need to find something i can really rant about. You'd think in this world there would be all manner of things to express my (obviously) important opinion on. After all, my public school upbringing surely has provided me with all the tools to express clearly in a non-inflammatory and logical manner, both accurately and concisely, nay succinctly, whatever message i should so choose to force on my limited number of readers. Then again i suppose i actually want to keep the few readers i have.

Hmm.. i bet no-one can guess that the alternative to blogging at the moment would be studying...

Goodbye to all that... and happy birthday to me!

2006-05-27T01:21:00.000+10:00

Quick post, if for no other reason than to let people know, i've got a few new photos up on Smugmug from our final week at Uni. Bit scary, in three weeks i'll have finished my final written exams.

Oh shit. Exams.

Gotta go study!

I also turned 24. Very exciting.

Communication...

2006-04-26T09:21:00.000+10:00

Guess what?

This time we got here at nine, only in fact class starts at 10 today. Apparently we were told this.

I love the ability we humans have to communicate simple ideas with no ambiguity. It's what raises us above animals

However, never one to miss an opportunity, i'm going to take this chance to update my blog once more.

'Big' news of the moment is that it looks like i'm saying goodbye to Multiply, and am investing in a faster, more user friendly photo hosting site. But then i suppose you get what you pay for! From now onwards my photos can be found at Smugmug. Hope people find the new format
a bit easier (and faster) to navigate :-) Nice quirk about Smugmug too is that you can vote for your favorite photos so feel free to let me know if you like my pics! Though given the mass of contributions i've noted to my blog i'm not going to be holding my breath.

We've just come back from our two week Easter break so apparently we're refreshed, and rejuvinated and ready for the final push; five weeks to go and far too much work to do. As you can see i'm using my time constructively.

Easter was nice though and tied up some loose ends. Got my final week of work placement out of the way at a clinic in Melbourne. It's a good thing to go somewhere where your confidence gets boosted for a change and i came away from that week feeling like i might actually know something. Having a third year student on rotation with me was big part of that; made me realise that i have actually progressed since this time last year! Sometimes i wonder though...

After the weeks hard work (watching other people earn money and save lives) we took the Easter weekend easy (and avoided the crowds) then headed off to Wilson's Prom for our dose of serenity (laughing at the chain of cars driving back to the city). The Prom was lovely, and a welcome change from the city, though since the burn off last February it is somewhat changed!

Still a day in the sun at Squeaky Beach, Frisbee, a sunset from Mount Oberon, a climb to the top of Mount Bishop and the excellent company of my flatmate Phil, his girlfriend Cat and of course Louie made for a fun trip.

We also had the added bonus of Anna's Toyota Kluger, an AWD thingy that eats petrol but had cruise control and a hell of a lot more space than my hatchback! Camping in true yuppie style. Check out the photos here

Then it was back to Melbourne, for a few days of study with ' brief' interludes of procrastination... On the plus side though i finally finished my picture frame for the cambodia print i got last year and so at last i may be able to actually display the thing!

In addition to the Wilson's Prom stuff, i'm slowly uploading more of the photos taken earlier this year before my camera packed up so keep checking in. With exams looming, procrastination levels will also be rising so expect regular updates! At present you can check out the Vet Ball 2006, the B&S Ball, the Queen's Batton visit to Williamstown, Anna's Birthday dinner at Crown and another of 383's housewarming parties!

P.S. Word up to my main man Brodie - tagger extraordinaire! Your hand signals are fully sick.

Lazy Lazy LAZY!

2006-04-03T08:13:00.000+10:00

sigh

i had all these grand plans about what i wanted to blog about. As with many of my grand plans, they never made it past the planning stage. However, on this bright monday morning, having woken up for prac at 8am (chopping up dead chickens - the best way to spend Monday morning) only to find it's scheduled for nine, i thought, what can i do that needs doing.... So here we are.

So what's changed since Egypt?

Good things:

We've moved again. Though when i say "we", i mean my family.
Adios Kuala Lumpur and Helllllloo Singapore.
Another job for dad and a return to the land of my birth. Bit sad really. I like KL, but hey i like Singapore too so not so bad :-) And after all we wouldn't want to stay in any one place longer than five years!
"My" shipment of furniture, as a result of aforementioned move, has arrived! House looks much more lived in now and i got all my books! And my comfy chair! and Dad's home gym/coat rack.
A new fitter Andrew (hopefully) - as a result of aforementioned gym (dya like the way i'm linking this up?), i'm getting up earlier and working out in the morning. Getting that blood flowing and all.
Vet parties! First half of semester is always good for that, though somewhat expensive. got a whole bunch of pics i've been intending to post for, ooh, as long as i've been planning to update this, but Multiply is giving me the shits. So far we've had: Toga Party (9/10, nudity), Barn Dance (8/10, more fun than it sounds), B&S Ball (8/10, feral), Scav Hunt (Didn't go, was being cultured) and there's Talent Night and the Veterinary Students Ball this week to come.
More on those later when i post some pics.... Hah.
Kittens. Kittens are cool. And cute. Our new flatmate Yaz was fostering five (now three) little monsters from 3 weeks of age. They're 6 weeks now and, well, ahhhhh :-) With five they were named in honour of our house: Andrew (now Runty), Phil (still Phil - he's boring), Yaz (now Riddick - she was ugly, therefore looked like an alien, Riddick [as in chronicles of] is an alien, therefore she is now Riddick. For all that riddick is a boy... Don't ask me - Louie came up with that), Louie (still Louie) and Cat (now Tiger - cos he's stripy)
Only 7 weeks to go till i get to be a Trainee vet.... Freeeeeeeeeeeeeedoooom!!

Bad things:

My digital camera broke. Grr. Three frikking months old and on the way to B&S ball the bloody thing just stopped focusing. No banging, no dropping, no kicking (though i was tempted post-malfunction) just sitting in my pocket as it hasd done many many times since i've had it. Makes you realise the benefits of 'old' technology for all that it makes me sound like a croctchey old man.
My warranty card has buggered off. Or that's what i'm saying cos i patently didn't lose it. grr.
Too much work. Bloody vet course.
Not enough focus. Bloody vet student.
Only 7 weeks to go till i get to be a trainee vet.... Arrrrggggh!!!

Alright, that killed some time and i've run out of stuff to say. I think.

Big shout out to my only tagger for the last two months - my esteemed younger brother, the Yo Fo bro and the Oxford massive! Peace out.

(someone shoot me.)

Egypt succinctly...

2006-01-31T22:19:00.000+11:00

What to say about Egypt.

On land: it's hot, dry and sandy. Mind you we only spent 24 hours on Egyptian soil as such (and a significant portion of that at Hurgada Airport - nominated for "the world's least efficient" and "most effective passenger delay system" at the Crap Airport awards 2006) so i'm sure there's more to it than that... i think someone mentioned pyramids or something...

Anyways, it was the underwater world that concerned us this trip. And what a trip. Easily some of the best diving i've ever done and in serious style. Check out the M/Y Amelia here... Photos are now posted on my photo site (follow the link to the right) to give you an idea what it was like underwater. Simply beautiful.

Coral ampitheatres, mountains and caves; oceanic white tips (see above...), giant morays and giant sea turtles; prides of lionfish, blizzards of anthias, even a couple of octopus.

And some of the best vis i've ever dived in. The photos tell it better than i ever could though. There are 16 up now and i'll be uploading more as the days go by - theres 117 to go up and that's just the highlights! Enjoy.

**A small disclaimer - the photos uploaded have been re-formatted to allow me to upload them in less than a geological timeframe but they are still fairly big files and take some time to load. I think the quality still remains pretty good but if not, (Dan, Alex or Maddy!) let me know and i'll see what i can sort out...

Is this really interesting?

2006-01-12T23:07:00.000+11:00

So on with the story, for those of you who have actually stayed with me.

After a rather stressful departure from Melbourne (courtesy of a flight time miscommunication on my part) i got out of Oz and got to relax... Sortof. Got the news while on my final placement that the aforementioned skiing brother had a bit of an accident and was in a hospital in France. Not fun for anyone really though i imagine even less so for him. With true style though he managed to fall down on his first day skiing and didn't even have the sense to do something simple like break his leg. Instead he fell on his skis and sliced through his knee. Ouch. And to make matters worse he failed to notice the hole in his leg and went skiing for a bit more then up another ski lift before he sensed something was wrong. Suffice to say he now has a bit of reputation with the Oxford varsity ski group as a bit of a 'ard man. However he (and his marginally concerned family) didn't actually really find out what was wrong till he finally got back to the UK due to distinct communication issues at the french hospital - namely, he speaks no french and doctors spoke very little 'anglais'! *sigh*

Once 'home' in the mother country, we met up with a slightly stir crazy David, and after the requisite doctors appointments, some fun with wheelchairs, Davids 'party tricks' and (thankfully) a few beers with friends the now reunited family headed up north to spend the 12 days of Xmas with my grandparents. Was good to get back to Derbyshire but at the same time had the odd feeling that i no longer belonged here. Really felt like a tourist for the first time - obviously Australia is getting under my skin!

Xmas was quiet. With my invalid brother (despite his best efforts to get EVERYWHERE), and our now frailer grandparents in a quiet country town it wasn't the biggest party i've ever had. But good to see G&G again and to have the family together once more. And it snowed. Thought not very much It was bloody cold, though you wouldn't guess it from David's permenant 'Flip-flop, shorts, T-shirt and knee brace attire' (all the rage this year in Milan, Darrrling).

After Xmas, with Davie bearly able to flex his leg that knocked his Eygpt trip out of the picture and mum elected to stay with him back in Oxford so the family hols kinda degenerated. Sadly. Still Dad and i grit our teeth and dragged ourselves off to egypt for six days diving. It was tough. Honest.

Next post... Eygpt and the Red Sea (succinctly)

Incidently... Does anyone actually read this stuff? I have to wonder sometimes whether or not this blog thing is just an egocentric waste of time.

Where to start....

2006-01-10T22:46:00.000+11:00

From the beginning? But where to begin... Enough procrastination - that's exactly why this page hasn't been updated for the last month. So here i am: back from my holidays and there is much to tell, not to mention the photo updates to come :-)

Last month i passed my exams. Yay. I also happened to be in Mt Gambier for the second time and surprisingly all my plans for the trip actually made it to fruition. A rare event for me.

I went wine tasting (again). Wines were good.

Spent too much money. (Try: Majella's "The Musician" Cabernet Shiraz 2004 [$17] - bargain in my humble opinion). Louie joined me for my last week and we sampled some of the best pizza in Australia, saw the 'new' Harry Potter (yes i know old news but i have a lot of catching up to do) and made it to Ewens Ponds, which was even better than expected. Crystal clear water, bubbling natural springs, reed gardens, curious fish and huge yabbies. It was bloody cold though. Sadly we also discovered that a trip to Piccannine Ponds requires a permit and that permits don't get issued on the weekend so we looked at the pond from the surface, which kinda misses the point. But i guess that means i'll just have to come back! As for the clinic, placement was brilliant. The first practice that i've been too where i really felt comfortable. And it makes life so much more fun. Hoping to go back this year (with dive gear in tow :-)

So that takes to me to mid December. Back in Melbourne, the blues came back. Amazing how a week at the distinctly less helpful University clinic can undo all the revitalised spirits in the world *sigh* We were on surgery and the highlight of the week was probably the end. Stupidly quiet in the clinic (a situation not made any easier by the fact that we ended up with 3 more students on rotation than expected) but i guess in the run-up to Xmas day people have more to spend their money on than animals... Interestingly though, i got to follow a surgical case referrred from the clinic in Mt Gambier - good to follow a case though to completion for once as it can get a bit frustrating only getting very brief snippets of a case due to the our short(ish) placements.

And that takes us to the beginning of my actual holiday...
Don't touch that dial.

A weight is lifted.

2005-12-08T18:19:00.000+11:00

I PASSED!

Dead sheep smell.

2005-11-30T15:24:00.000+11:00

Some might even go as far to say they remind me of my dear brother. And as his lazy arse never bothers to read my blog i can be as rude as i like. Anyway, moving on from sibling rivalry (him being skiing while i'm post mortem-ing bloated sheep) i have made it to Mt Gambier for the second time this year. And it's been great. Apart from the sheep.

The placement in Warrnambool was disappointing to say the least. Quieter than a nunnery - not what you really want from your learning experience. And, honestly, for a 'student-friendly' practice they really weren't very friendly. Not unfriendly but i really had to work to get any conversation and normally i don't have that problem! Maybe they just didn't like me. Who knows. On the plus side when they did get chatty i think i learnt a fair bit and more importantly got more of the hands on experience: more pregnancy testing practice, tackled some lame cows and did a bit of cow wrangling on a temperamental Jersey with milk fever. Surprisingly doing it yourself is a bit more tricky than watching a practiced professional :-)

Warrnambool is a lovely town though - definately worth a visit. Great beach, nice climate, good vibe. Susie and Lana (two of my fellow students from Melbourne) were also in town on placement at the other clinic so we caught up a bit to sample the some of night life in the area... That said for the two weeks we were there we didn't exactly paint the town red. We're tight students now, godammit. So: The Warrnambool hotel is good if you like couches and 40 -50 year old men, but Guinness is always good after a hard day on the beach; Port Fairy is very quiet in the evenings but we had a drink at the oldest pub in Victoria anyway - reminds me of pubs in the UK right down to the dingy toilets... We drew the line at checking out Warrnambools premier nightclub 'The Gallery' but i've heard it's good...

I'm on my own here in Mt Gambier so, as yet, no big nights to check out the local scene - not that i do that much of that anyway growing prematurely old as i am - but the weathers been good and the clinic has been a lot of fun so far. Did 2 cat spays today, dealt with the aformentioned sheep, been synchronising non-cycling cows, more lame ones, seen some horse and even a seal pup. So i 've been keeping pretty busy. Louies coming up next week so we're off to the Wineries and, hopefully, Piccanie and Ewens Ponds - SA's premier cave dives [Picture courtesy of Matt Willis, www. underwater.com.au, Jan 2005].

Looking forward to it!

To the End of Exams

2005-11-11T12:32:00.000+11:00

Think no more, lad; laugh, be jolly:
Why should men make haste to die?
Empty heads and tongues a-talking
Make the rough road easy walking,
And the feather pate of folly
Bears the falling sky.

Oh, 'tis jesting, dancing, drinking
Spins the heavy world around.
If young hearts were not so clever,
Oh, they would be young for ever:
Think no more; 'tis only thinking
Lays lads underground.

-A. E. Housman
A Shropshire Lad; XLIX
1896

Ahh Exams...

2005-11-10T22:40:00.000+11:00

The less said about these the better.

Particularly as the words used are unlikely to make a description pleasant reading. It's been a fairly stressful period made that little bit more special with Louie getting herself admitted to hospital a week ago with a kidney infection. Fun for everyone. She's good now though, and managed to get herself discharged in time for her b'day (And speaking of which, for all those looking for jewellery, i highly recommend checking out Shi Studios... )

As for me, it's the last exam tomorrow, finally, and then i'm free.... For all of two days before i start my next work placement. Humph. Should be good though, despite the huge blow the exams have inflicted on my self-confidence, and with any luck i can re-kindle my enthusiasm for this course. I'm off to to the western district again with a stay in Warrnambool for a couple of weeks for some cattle work, then on to Mt Gambier (South Australia) for a bit of mixed practice before returning to Melbourne for a week of small animal surgery at the vet school. Only five more weeks of placement, then Xmas, then EYPGT! So i can't really complain!

My esteemed mother sent me this link. It made me smile during exams... Smiling is good. Enjoy :-)

Icon Story

Damn the Internet

2005-10-27T16:00:00.000+10:00

I should be studying. However, there are some new photos up on my Multiply site, courtesy of Brodie. Enjoy.

Oh, and it's my flatmates birthday today. Happy B'day Phil, awesome timing :-)

Sheep Scab and other miscellaneous diseases

2005-10-20T00:25:00.000+10:00

Oh how i love this time of year. The cold receeds, the rain dies down (and our roof still leaks), the layers of clothes peel off and the sun comes out. Perfect for sitting in a hammock in the garden with a beer... So of course uni has to spoil it all by slapping end of year exams right now. Been a while since my last post but that whole exam thing has had a bit to do with that; two weeks to go and there really doesn't seem to be the time to fit everything in. Still, semester ends on Friday so at least the addition of more information will finally stop! Now i just have to solve the problem of procrastination. Since i've had to buckle down and 'study' i've discovered Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, a Singlish dictionary (and Singaporeans with a sense of humour!), and PostSecret. I've performed in a production of "Il Maille per il Gruppo L" (an abbreviated opera in 6 scenes), cooked and eaten my first roast, wished my brother Happy Birthday in England 15 minutes too late, cleaned my room, cleaned my room again, and discovered the joys of Simpsons DVD's and reading junk mail. I've repotted plants, chased snails from our flower beds and actually read the Economist cover to cover. As for anything else in my life.... yep that's about it for the mo.

I need to study more. Wish me luck.

To Cape Otway and back again

2005-09-22T18:56:00.000+10:00

Home sweet home! Back to our surprisingly warm and welcoming abode. Amazing what a few days of camping will do to your feelings about solid walls and warm showers! Holidays started on Friday after 9 long weeks of semester so thought i'd take a a break and get out of the city to recharge... This time after the bushfires in our usual choice of Wilson's Prom, we headed westwards to Cape Otway, via the Royal Melbourne Show. The Show was good, though despite it's moniker as the 'Greatest Show Ever', i was rather disappointed! For those not from Melbourne, the Royal Show is a sort-of carnival cross rural expo. There's dog shows, livestock displays, rural produce sales, fairground rides, games, motorcross displays, woodchopping competions (much cooler than it sounds) and showbags. Thing is this year they seem to have fallen more on the side of carnival then rural expo. Tons of fairground rides and games (at extortionate prices) and showbag sales at every corner. Still weather was good and got to indulge in my vet stuff at the cattle ring and dog shows. Apparently there was also a 'Rocketman' but i missed him. Bugger.

Anyways left the show early and headed to Apollo Bay to meet with Lisa and Stribley who were having their own more civilised getaway in a apartment in Apollo Bay. Dinner was great and it was a struggle to drag ourselves away from good company, wine and a logfire to go and set up camp in the rain! And what a drama that was. Yours truly showing phenomenal map reading skills had set the aptly named 'Shelly Beach' as our first campsite. Except that there's no camping at Shelly beach... Bear in mind that it's currently 10pm and raining. So we headed for the nearest actual campsite only to find we'd be charged $22 dollars for one night at an unpowered site! Not a chance. So shh... don't tell anyone... back to Shelly Beach for a slightly illegal camp! New tent (thanks parents!) coped very well with the quick set-up in the rain though!

The plan (despite the initial set-back, which will no longer be spoken of) was to do a section of the newly updated Great Ocean Walk which runs for 90 kms (or will run) from Apollo bay to the 12 Apostles (a highly over-rated Victorian tourist attraction). We were due to cover about 20km of it over a couple of days. So day one of the Great Ocean Walk: Shelly Beach to Blanket Bay, 14kms away. Except, after our breakfast on the beach, we didn't see the ocean till we reached Blanket bay five hours later. Yup, the first leg of the Great Ocean walk not only didn't involve ocean but was tedious beyond belief. Picture the scene: Take one towering eucalypt forest. Cut a a bloody great swathe of forest down to create a 10 m wide corridor. Add vehicle tracks. Allow grass and weeds to grow in space. Liberally sprinkle deep patches of mud. Provide the occasional gentle incline upward and downward. Repeat for three hours worth of walking. Admittedly the solitude meant plenty of time for philosphical thought (How long have we been walking? If a tree falls in this forest will this walk become more interesting?) and hell, it was better than the city, but give me Wilson's Prom anyday! To cut this short, we got to Blanket Bay and met with Kirsten and Dru who had trekked from the opposite direction, set up camp and spent a nice evening on the beach, playing cards, and stargazing.

Hot chocolate by starlight out in the bush is an experience i highly recommend

Lazy start on day 2 and a short 1 hour walk to Parker Estuary [above: © copyright 2003 slugu@yahoo.com] for lunch (i said lazy start!) with an interesting river crossing at high tide and then back to K&D's car for a lift back to ours still parked at Shelly Beach. Finally a bit of beach combing and rock pooling as the tide receeded making a nice finale to a relaxing few days away. And Louie didn't complain once! Even if she did steal my sleeping bag.

Now back in Melbourne, i really should get on with some work!

"Enjoy exploring the infinite abyss"

2005-09-12T22:29:00.000+10:00

Finally sat down and watched 'Garden State'. Good movie. One of those thinkers, but it's obvious that that's very much what the director intended.

It's funny how the lives of people you know dont exist can make you look and think about your own life. But i guess that's kinda what imagination is.

The week lasts forever and is gone in the blink of an eye

2005-09-11T22:39:00.000+10:00

Though i may be jinxing myself here, i am so nearly free. In 10 hours and 21 minutes i will be free of Equine rotation, otherwise known affectionately as 'Hell Week' (as well as other mildly less polite terms). As we're on call 24hrs for seven days, I currently live in fear of the sound of my phone ringing. A life ouside of vet has ceased to exist. And six hours of uninterrupted sleep is an luxury. And to cap it all off, horses havn't been doing too well in the Equine centre this week though not through any fault of the centre. We just seem to have caught an unlucky week for horses in Melbourne. Last night ended with a post-mortem of a poor filly that despite our best efforts just couldn't pull through. 6 days of suffering for naught. Current tally now stands at 6 in six days, including a three week premature, emergency c-section foal, which really didn't have a chance though we kept it going for seven long hours. It's been a sad, tiring week. And now i've got two case reports to write for Friday, on top of all the stuff i havn't done cos i havn't left the equine centre.

And as Kirsten so helpfully pointed out the other day we only have 4 more weeks of semester. Which means exams are far too close for comfort!

On the plus side i think i've realised that life as an equine vet is not for me.

Real Estate and Rain: Take two

2005-09-11T22:37:00.000+10:00

After my plug for Google Earth in the last post i actually decided to get my own copy rather than relying on my esteemed housemate's version. And lo and behold - high res pictures of our house! Obviously using the word "terrorist" has focused the beam on us. Uh-oh. Still now you can even see my car :-) And the roof still leaks.

Real Estate and Rain

2005-08-31T17:31:00.000+10:00

Here's a remarkably bad picture of the location of our house from Google Earth (lots of fun if you don't already have it!) but evidently we're not high on the priority list of high resolution satallite imaging. Not enough (suspected) terrorists living here obviously. I feel the need to share this with my readers (ha ha) as we're a bit pissed with our real estate agents at the moment as a result of our housing inspection, scheduled today at 515 despite our efforts to get it moved to a more convenient time - ie when we would be there. So we rush home to get here in time only to find they've come and gone, early. Nice. And our roof leaked last night in the massive rainstorm that hit Melbourne.
So we called them:

"Are you aware of our leaking roof, as a result of said inspection?"
"Oh no, but thank you we are now. Have a nice day."

End of conversation. So the soaking couch, and bucket of water were therefore missed on said inspection. Or maybe that's considered normal.

As indicated earlier weather has somewhat deteriorated since last post. Typical Melbourne. Still we're having people over for a few rounds of poker, and probably a bit of beer so that should keep the returned chill off!

Back to the Future Ball

2005-08-27T14:34:00.000+10:00

I just wrote a fairly long piece on Arts Ball from wednesday night. And i lost the bloody thing. Stuff it. I suppose this blog thing is better suited to brief notes than epic prose. Anyway, Arts Ball was a great night. Trust me. You can check out pics at http://brods.multiply.com

The photos tell it pretty well - only you can't tell what great costumes everyone else had!

The hangover the next day, combined with an abattoir tutorial was not pleasant.

In other news, finally got myself fit enough to do 2km in my swimming sessions. Working my way upto 3km and then we'll see.

Think calming thoughts.

2005-08-22T15:41:00.000+10:00

I have a print from Cambodia. A delicate intricate design encorporating 60's psychadelic art, cambodian cultural patterns, elephants and the temples of ankor wat, (it is actually quite tasteful, despite what that might sound like) composed and created by a american-australian living in Siam Reap over a period of several months. It cost $75.

It's going to cost me over $400 dollars to get a piece of factory milled, phoney agéd timber to frame this print. Worth $75. Fucking ridiculous. That's four pieces of wood. Joined together.

The alternative is to pay $120 for a custom frame job with wood, of my choice (whoo-hoo), on the condition that i supply it ready to be framed. So, $40 for a bit of timber and then another $60 to process it ("That's a good one hours work, mate, and jarrahs a bloody tough timber".... etc) and then the $120 to put the bloody thing behind glass. $220 just to hang something i already own on my wall.

Am i irritated because of this? Yep. Should i be? Hmmm.

Otherwise very much enjoying my first afternoon off from vet in about 7 weeks. The vice-chancellor of the university is in to visit the vet campus today - actually he may well just have left - and as a result, us students get to make ourselves scarce, except for the select 'lucky' few who get to meet the great man. Suffice to say i failed to receive this honor. Damn. Beautiful (if typically Melbournian) spring day here. I think i may go sit in the sun, relax, and think calming thoughts. Much like the bloke above in orange.

We Can be Heroes

2005-08-18T19:00:00.000+10:00

For those of you who don't listen to triple J (there's a link on the left) the Australian youth radio station, you've got to check this out! Yesterday on their (note) POLITICAL SATIRE show Today Today, Chris and Craig ran a interview with Ms Ja'mie King, a nominee for 'Australian of the Year' in a currrently screening ABC show called 'We can be Heroes'.

To say that Ja'mie is the most vapid, vacuous, shallow and incredible character i've encountered for a long time would be putting it mildly! My flatmate and i sat in the car with our mouths open, listening to the drivel spilling from this 'girl's' mouth. And when she requested Anthony Callera (the recent Aussie Idol winner - and trust me Triple J does not play Aussie Idol) we realised this has got to be a spoof. And thank god it was. But the funniest thing is the number of people that have been taking her seriously. I won't spoil it for you any more so you can dowload a copy of the interview at Triple J and hear Ja'mie in all her glory; then check out the guestbook, it's priceless. With any luck too they'll be putting up her 'right to reply' interview from this evening - another classic in radio.

I'm not sure which is scarier - that someone this provocative can be assumed to be real by so many, or that fact that i know people like that.

In any event, i for one will be tuning in next week! (Wednesdays 9pm!)

Oh and VOTE Ja'ime!

Machinima!

2005-08-17T20:09:00.000+10:00

Heard of 'machinima'? Picked up an article on it last year some time bout a site out of the US making a online series called Red Vs Blue. Basic principle is they use screenshots from current computer games to make their own movies. Boba (to the left) stars in a awesome music video by Windspire Entertainment. Hours (well about five minutes) of entertainment and well worth checking out!

The Windspire site is not bad for a few minutes procrastination either :-)

And for those that as as bored as me (not that this is boring - though i suppose that's a matter of opinion) you might like to check out Red vs Blue

Is this site evolving in to a homepage for procrastination... hmm i wonder...

Day One of the Blog

2005-08-17T13:06:00.000+10:00

Looking around at other blogs it occurs to me that there should perhaps be more of a point to this. As if spewing out my thoughts online for the few (though even that may be optimistic...) to read isn't enough. But i guess that will come with time.

Finished tutorial early today. parasitology for 3 hrs. It's amzing how much you can forget over the course of a year, especially when it relates to parasitology. And we only covered horses! We were briefly interupted by the arrival of my flatmates girlfriends new puppy (don't ask), a chichuawa, or however you spell it. Despite everything (i.e. breed) was actually quite cute but hasn't had time to get evil yet. Lunchtime.

Wow my life is exciting.

Phase one is complete

2005-08-16T18:53:00.000+10:00

Okay so finally got this blog thing up and running. i think. Hmm welcome to the big wide world of Blogging . Armed with html formatting for dummies. Think i might be drowning. So now that i exist online what to do.......?

It's amazing how far procastination will take you.

Btw anyone know how i can change the formatting of the 'about me' section to the right? It bugs me.

And so it begins

2005-08-16T18:22:00.000+10:00

It's me - only i have less hair now.

I need a digital camera. No more of this borrowing shit.