Friday, October 28, 2005

Braves on the Warpath

Well, we're getting married. But you don't read my blog to find that out. Kirsten keeps all you guys informed very well, and there's no need for me to double-up (unless I have a particular point-of-view or something to present). You read my blog to be entertained. OK, stop laughing now. At the least, you read it to feel good that you aren't geeky like my good self. So, I had a point for writing this post. Ah, yes that's right. American football.

For those that don't know (I should do one of those '100 Things About Me' things too...) I like watching (when I can, which is hard unless you have Pay TV - otherwise I rely on the Internet to keep informed) Gridiron. Don't ask me why, I don't know. What I do know is that I first got into it back in Grade 8, when I started watching the NFL on ABC TV at 11:30 at night. And hosted by Don Lane no less. And I've been into it ever since. I'm not going to talk about the game, it will take too long (maybe I'll write another post on that one day). But I am going to chat a little bit about my favourite team, the Washington Redskins.

Picking a team to follow in an American football league when you live in Australia is usually based on who is cool or who is doing well at the time you decide. I picked neither. The Redskins were performing averagely and they aren't a hugely high-profile team. No, I picked the 'Skins because of their team colours and logo. What a way to pick, eh? (Same way I picked the West Coast Eagles in AFL until I moved to Brisbane and began following the Lions) I have been meaning to write a little post about them for a few weeks, but for one reason or another it got put off. This week was a particularly good week to do it though: the Redskins crushed the San Francisco 49'ers 52-17. This is a pretty good year for the 'Skins so far (they've had a bit of a slump in the last 5 or so years) - they have won 4 out of the 6 games they have played this season, which ties them for first place in their division. In fact this week, they play the New York Giants, the winner of which could become outright divisional leader (the other team tied for first place, the Philadelphia Eagles, is also playing this week). So all in all, I'm a happy Redskins fan this year so far. Sorry to have bored some of you (I know I have) but it's my blog, and I'll blog what I want to :) (sounds like a song...). I know you're all waiting for another Geek Rant anyway.

Fight for old D.C.!

Sunday, October 23, 2005

The End of an Era (almost)

Maybe (just maybe) you might see me being more regular. What? No, I haven't switched to an all-natural high-fibre diet, I'm talking about writing blog posts on a more frequent basis. Why though? Well, on Friday I attended the last uni tutorial and lecture. Ever. Unless I go and do something stupid like post-grad study. Uni isn't quite over through - I have a fortnight until my final exam and I'll be doing study during that time, but for all intents and purposes, the real work is finished. When I woke up on Saturday I felt like a big weight had been lifted (or some other comparable cliche) and it felt good to not have to worry about any assignments that I had to do (and be up until 4:00 multiple nights in a row to do them). Now, Kirsten will probably say that I never seemed to worry much about doing them anyway. Yes I was/am the King of Procrastination. But that didn't mean I didn't feel guilty while I was procrastinating (surfing the net, playing games, watching DVDs). I just needed to do it. Ahem. And besides, I never failed an assignment or exam, and I've get credits or better in over half of my subjects. So there.

So how did I celebrate? Well, in my two years at uni (it's a three-year degree, but I got a year's worth of credit) I had never been to the Pancake Manor, salvation of QUT uni students doing all-nighters at the Gardens Point campus. I felt I was missing out on this proud tradition, so after our lecture Daniel and I went to grab some pancakes. I doubt I will go back again. Well that's not true, I probably will go back again. Why this reaction? It's not because the food was bad (it was great). It's not because the service was bad (they got our food to us fast even though they had just had a group of 40 people come in and they expected delays). It's not even because the location was bad (it's an old converted church, it's cool!). It's because the pancakes are SO DAMN FILLING. I ordered 'Blueberry Heaven' - two pancakes, blueberries in sauce, cream and ice cream - plus an iced chocolate (we decided beer was perhaps not the best match beverage-wise for a stack of sweet pancakes). Now these aren't your average pancakes. They are big, fluffy and thick. I managed to get through one-and-a-third, plus the blueberries and maybe half my scoop of ice cream. I know something is filling if I can't finish off ice cream. But overall I enjoyed, and next time I'll share a plate with whoever I am there with.

As I mentioned before, it's two weeks until my last exam and then uni is really over. Expecting a slightly more intense celebration that night...

So uni is effectively over and I have more free time. Now I can watch motor sport on TV on Sundays and not feel guilty :)