Thanksgiving is perhaps the most American thing in the world. It is even more American than the "World" Series! People here are surprised that it is my first Thanksgiving and it is, again, one of those things that America seems to think is far reaching although it is not.
A massive interest of mine has been what Thanksgiving is all about in reality and what started it. There is a lot of confusion and supposed misconceptions about Thanksgiving and, I will admit, a lot of people i have spoken to are not 100% certain of what it is really about. It has lead to me asking more people and also doing a bit more searching on the internet as to what has caused this from becoming as big as Christmas. It sounds a bit crazy to say it is as big as Christmas but i have had several "new" Americans telling me that this is exactly how it is. And it is amazing. And according to the way the shopping centres have been acting, probably true.
The things i have seen on the internet are very interesting and seemingly subjective depending on what your views are on other things. Some say it began for Religious reasons as the Pilgrims on the Mayflower wrote a pact to allow freedom of religious beliefs (Christians only!) and that the first Thanksgiving was giving thanks to the Lord for producing a good harvest.
Perhaps it signifies the breaking of bread between the pilgrims and the Native Americans at Plymouth Rock (a relationship which seemed to diminish quickly) or, as other have said, to celebrate the colonialisation of the Native Americans.
Now this blog is not being written to stir up debate or solve an answer. In fact i think it is probably always going to be better if the real answer is never too clear.
In typical American, positive manner, they have made it a celebration of family. Perhaps the die-hard Christians think this is not appropriate but any Celebration which makes people sit around and think about how much they love and appreciate the people seated around them is the kind of thing which will lead to wildly positive things in almost every case. And the sort of thing i want to be a part of. I will not be so naive to ignore that this sort of thing can lead to as many family breakdowns as Monopoly has (how do those Hasbro Bros sleep at night?) but in almost every case it is only going to bring people closer together.
People get a week off work (just about), travel great distances to be with people they love, share delicious food, drinks and consider their own happiness and how blessed they are. Happy, good natured people will only find this to be a joyous event. I am very much looking forward to my first Thanksgiving and seeing all of the fuss and eating most of the stuffing (seasoning). Is it over the top and a bit ridiculous? Perhaps. But this sort of happy atmosphere appears intoxicating and i can not deny the fact that i have already given thought to how lucky i am and how wonderful my family have been to me.
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Monday, 25 November 2013
Listen, i don't even like Clarkey but...
It is a troubling situation when i am not a fan of the Australian cricket captain. It is not that i am hard to please or non-compliant but this guy... he is not Allan Border. He does not have that piss against the wind positivity or the Steve Waugh, fuck this huge West Indian guy i am winning the game or even the Ricky Ponting i am the prettiest guy to flick the ball to the leg side so do what i say.
Michael Clarke is a hard man to love but perhaps he has got it. If he wins this series history will be much kinder to him than he probably deserves. The passive aggressive captaincy matched with a fantastic innings. It is what we have missed and something that England may not be able to match us with. Alastair Cook is an accomplished man. From what i have heard he got a scholarship at school for about 16 different reasons. Intelligent, sporty, musically gifted and ferociously good looking (if i do say so myself) he still lacks that killer instinct captaincy which Clarke has. And uses, admirably.
I have no issue with the "you ready for a broken arm?" jibe. The papers have jumped to it... i blame the Abbott government... but in reality this is Clarke talking of what his fast bowler is capable of. And that kind of fear is something we need to instill in England if we expect, or want, to win the series. I was batting once, at Parker Street Oval and the man at point threatened to stab me. This was playing park cricket. In a fairly useless game where we were doing alright. That man was going to stab me. May i say i got 50 and we won it. And yet we are kicking up a fuss about Clarkey saying something along the along the line of .... "hey Anderson mate. Johnno is worked up and is sending down some firebolts. I would be careful, you get your set up wrong and you could hurt yourself."
Why does no one see what Clarkey said as a warning to what was ahead? I do not think he is a great captain but i am stoked to see him (finally) come to the fore and telling England that we are not going to be submissive any longer. Tremlett, Jones, Anderson and Flintoff were great aggressive bowlers but Australia refused to match it. Now we have the bowlers to top that... even our second stringers top that.. so it is no reason to be soft. In fact the opposite.
Clarke is in a position to salvage his reputation. For everyone to forget the mistakes he made (i.e Symonds and the wonderful Simon Katich) and revel in the fact that he won us back the Ashes.
It is not a hard recipe. Runs at the top of the order and support to the lightning flinging, crack hitting bowlers at Clarkey's disposal.. A great batsman and perhaps not a leader of men but, a leader against the motherland. Someone who can win back the Urn built simply and satisfy the fan appeal and the urgency of a million backyard barbecuers and blind (in the drunk sense) cover drivers.
Michael Clarke is a hard man to love but perhaps he has got it. If he wins this series history will be much kinder to him than he probably deserves. The passive aggressive captaincy matched with a fantastic innings. It is what we have missed and something that England may not be able to match us with. Alastair Cook is an accomplished man. From what i have heard he got a scholarship at school for about 16 different reasons. Intelligent, sporty, musically gifted and ferociously good looking (if i do say so myself) he still lacks that killer instinct captaincy which Clarke has. And uses, admirably.
I have no issue with the "you ready for a broken arm?" jibe. The papers have jumped to it... i blame the Abbott government... but in reality this is Clarke talking of what his fast bowler is capable of. And that kind of fear is something we need to instill in England if we expect, or want, to win the series. I was batting once, at Parker Street Oval and the man at point threatened to stab me. This was playing park cricket. In a fairly useless game where we were doing alright. That man was going to stab me. May i say i got 50 and we won it. And yet we are kicking up a fuss about Clarkey saying something along the along the line of .... "hey Anderson mate. Johnno is worked up and is sending down some firebolts. I would be careful, you get your set up wrong and you could hurt yourself."
Why does no one see what Clarkey said as a warning to what was ahead? I do not think he is a great captain but i am stoked to see him (finally) come to the fore and telling England that we are not going to be submissive any longer. Tremlett, Jones, Anderson and Flintoff were great aggressive bowlers but Australia refused to match it. Now we have the bowlers to top that... even our second stringers top that.. so it is no reason to be soft. In fact the opposite.
Clarke is in a position to salvage his reputation. For everyone to forget the mistakes he made (i.e Symonds and the wonderful Simon Katich) and revel in the fact that he won us back the Ashes.
It is not a hard recipe. Runs at the top of the order and support to the lightning flinging, crack hitting bowlers at Clarkey's disposal.. A great batsman and perhaps not a leader of men but, a leader against the motherland. Someone who can win back the Urn built simply and satisfy the fan appeal and the urgency of a million backyard barbecuers and blind (in the drunk sense) cover drivers.
Saturday, 23 November 2013
America and Australia ain't so different after all!
I thought it was about time that i started a series showing how close America and Australia really were. Because the truth is, we are almost the same country. Heck, even inhabitants of America are so similar to those you find in Australia that you may wonder if they are, in fact, that same person.
For the sake of leaving 'em happy, which is what i am all about. I am going to start with the negatives and then finish with the positives. No one likes finishing on a bad note so i think this is the best course of action. My ending note here is an absolute cracker and is quite topical considering it is Summer down under so i hope it makes up for the people i am about to bring up.
Numbers 1 and 2. Rush Limbaugh and Alan Jones
Ughhhhh. If these two repulsive individuals were not so similar i would talk about something more pleasant. Like Japanese whaling or something... but here we are. Although the Pacific Ocean separates them, they are almost the same person. Conservative, aggressive radio-casters who do not give their opposition the opportunity to give their point of view across (especially if they are university accredited).
Both of these peddlers of conservative, political agendas are the beneficiaries of talkback AM radio which has netted them mega salaries whilst, at the same time, sticking up for the little guy who they supposedly represent. Both have run into trouble for inciting hatred towards ethnic minorities and also are quite outspoken on the issue of climate change. This comes as somewhat of a surprise seeing as neither of them have any sort of qualification in climatology and rely on "scientific" evidence which appears to be refuted by every other scientist in the field. The claims by each of these disc jockeys seem to support a certain political agenda while they reject all other evidence and accuse it of being political propaganda.
Both Rush Limbaugh and Alan Jones have made a career out of hatred, fear and paranoia. Relying on racist, aged callers to back up their agendas and boost their ratings to justify their massive pay packets. Perhaps a juke box playing Top 40 Nonsense would draw a similar audience - it would definitely be more eloquent - but the stations appear hesitant to take such a risk.
I promised a more positive ending and by golly do i have it here! but let's take time out of this announcement to talk about Nathan's hotdogs mmmm mmm!! This is the sort of segue American baseball lovers are used to. Especially if they are LA Dodgers fans. The cash for comments may be more reminiscent of the first two people but Vin Scully has been doing it for years and he does it with class and refinement. That old voice (which has always seemed old), knowing aura and dry wit... There is no way anybody could watch an Australian cricket match and a Dodgers baseball broadcast and not see the similarities between Richie Benaud and Vin Scully.
Both are totally synonymous with their sports and both bring a certain wry, humour to their broadcast. They are also always impeccably dressed. Benaud in his bone jacket and Scully in whatever suit he grabs from his rack that day (let's face it, those Dodgers have a big budget!). I could not help but see that people in America feel that Scully is the voice of baseball. Much in the same way that Benaud is the voice of Summer cricket in Australia. If you hear their voices you know exactly what time it is. It is time to see Gonzalez and Puig at the top of the mark... or Clarke and Watson standing at the crease. A sharp wit and an ability to paint a descriptive picture has meant that these commentators are still in the business.. despite them both being over 80 years old.
Long story short these two men are national treasures. There will be no replacements. Ever. And we are lucky to live in an era where we get to hear their mellifluous voices calling the games we love. Hearing either of them call a game is the best way to take part in each sport and, years down the line, when you hear ex players and supposed experts giving their two cents, you will tell your grandchildren of the good old days of Richie Benaud (or Vin Scully). You will realise you have turned into your parents. Realise that you are old now. That tequila don't go down so easy. That you should have gone to Cinque Terra when you had the chance. That you should have invested in a tattoo removal service and that every commentator to ever follow will have the highest of standards to uphold.
For the sake of leaving 'em happy, which is what i am all about. I am going to start with the negatives and then finish with the positives. No one likes finishing on a bad note so i think this is the best course of action. My ending note here is an absolute cracker and is quite topical considering it is Summer down under so i hope it makes up for the people i am about to bring up.
Numbers 1 and 2. Rush Limbaugh and Alan Jones
Ughhhhh. If these two repulsive individuals were not so similar i would talk about something more pleasant. Like Japanese whaling or something... but here we are. Although the Pacific Ocean separates them, they are almost the same person. Conservative, aggressive radio-casters who do not give their opposition the opportunity to give their point of view across (especially if they are university accredited).
Both of these peddlers of conservative, political agendas are the beneficiaries of talkback AM radio which has netted them mega salaries whilst, at the same time, sticking up for the little guy who they supposedly represent. Both have run into trouble for inciting hatred towards ethnic minorities and also are quite outspoken on the issue of climate change. This comes as somewhat of a surprise seeing as neither of them have any sort of qualification in climatology and rely on "scientific" evidence which appears to be refuted by every other scientist in the field. The claims by each of these disc jockeys seem to support a certain political agenda while they reject all other evidence and accuse it of being political propaganda.
Both Rush Limbaugh and Alan Jones have made a career out of hatred, fear and paranoia. Relying on racist, aged callers to back up their agendas and boost their ratings to justify their massive pay packets. Perhaps a juke box playing Top 40 Nonsense would draw a similar audience - it would definitely be more eloquent - but the stations appear hesitant to take such a risk.
I promised a more positive ending and by golly do i have it here! but let's take time out of this announcement to talk about Nathan's hotdogs mmmm mmm!! This is the sort of segue American baseball lovers are used to. Especially if they are LA Dodgers fans. The cash for comments may be more reminiscent of the first two people but Vin Scully has been doing it for years and he does it with class and refinement. That old voice (which has always seemed old), knowing aura and dry wit... There is no way anybody could watch an Australian cricket match and a Dodgers baseball broadcast and not see the similarities between Richie Benaud and Vin Scully.
Both are totally synonymous with their sports and both bring a certain wry, humour to their broadcast. They are also always impeccably dressed. Benaud in his bone jacket and Scully in whatever suit he grabs from his rack that day (let's face it, those Dodgers have a big budget!). I could not help but see that people in America feel that Scully is the voice of baseball. Much in the same way that Benaud is the voice of Summer cricket in Australia. If you hear their voices you know exactly what time it is. It is time to see Gonzalez and Puig at the top of the mark... or Clarke and Watson standing at the crease. A sharp wit and an ability to paint a descriptive picture has meant that these commentators are still in the business.. despite them both being over 80 years old.
Long story short these two men are national treasures. There will be no replacements. Ever. And we are lucky to live in an era where we get to hear their mellifluous voices calling the games we love. Hearing either of them call a game is the best way to take part in each sport and, years down the line, when you hear ex players and supposed experts giving their two cents, you will tell your grandchildren of the good old days of Richie Benaud (or Vin Scully). You will realise you have turned into your parents. Realise that you are old now. That tequila don't go down so easy. That you should have gone to Cinque Terra when you had the chance. That you should have invested in a tattoo removal service and that every commentator to ever follow will have the highest of standards to uphold.
Monday, 18 November 2013
San Francisco's stock continues to rise.
My brother, not unusually, gave me a lot to ponder answering a seemingly simple question. I asked him a couple of years ago his favourite city in the world and he refused to answer it. He said it was a stupid question. Now i am understanding more and more what he meant. It is naive to put one city above the rest. How can you line up Sydney Harbour with the Pyramids? Or the Eiffel Tower with Amazon? Some man-made, some native, some old, some young.
If you think there is one city better than all the rest you probably should travel more. Maybe you got sick in one city and refuse to acknowledge how great it is. Maybe you did not get perfect weather or maybe you thought the queue was too long (my most hated excuse for not liking a city or site!). Due to the above i refuse to call anything my very favourite city in the world. However San Francisco continues to come to the front of mind when i think of the next place i would like to visit.
There is a certain vibe to that city which i have found numerous times in my travels and immediately fallen in love with it. Florence, when i thought it was the history. Madrid, when i thought it was the art. Melbourne, when i thought it was the culture. Lucerne, when i thought it was the cleanliness. Amsterdam, when i thought it was the...well, yeah.
It is more than any of these things though. It has to do with the people, surely. Each person who lives in these cities seems to leave a mark of friendliness, happiness and acceptance on everything they touch. This good vibe resonates in the buildings and explodes with an aura of positivity and fun throughout the city.
I fell in love with San Francisco the first time i drove in. The big, wide streets seemed to speak to me and the cool breeze seemed to blow sweet kisses towards me from the Golden Gate Bridge. Being able to spend more time there was a magical experience. The crowds at the baseball games were good natured and friendly, the vendors in stores were outgoing and proud of their home. People were in parks eating pastries (or drinking rum from coconuts!), doing free outdoor yoga lessons, eating brunch on a patio and wandering their streets. Making the most of their surrounding and not losing sight of the fact that they are lucky to live in such a place! I find myself liking the city more as i am apart from it (everything seems nice when you remember it) and the story to come out of last week only reiterates my thoughts about the people who inhabit it.
Last week, a young boy with cancer had his wish come true thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation in the Bay Area. The cute kid loved Batman and wanted to be a superhero. 12,000 people volunteered to turn his dream into a reality and he did things like rescue a damsel in distress from the tram lines, apprehend the Riddler and put a stop to the Penguin's evil plans. I mean seriously? Where in the world could this happen? I can not imagine Sydney coming together for this... Los Angeles? Forget about it! 12,000 people (who perhaps should have been at work) all worked together to make one small, special, brave stranger-boy be given a memory he will never forget. This is the kind of things the vibe i speak of can conjure up. The positivity and the happiness which runs through these people is embodied in the city itself.
San Francisco's stock rises again. If anyone out there is not touched by this i am prepared to say you are not made of stone. It is something harder than that - there is no hope for you.
If you think there is one city better than all the rest you probably should travel more. Maybe you got sick in one city and refuse to acknowledge how great it is. Maybe you did not get perfect weather or maybe you thought the queue was too long (my most hated excuse for not liking a city or site!). Due to the above i refuse to call anything my very favourite city in the world. However San Francisco continues to come to the front of mind when i think of the next place i would like to visit.
There is a certain vibe to that city which i have found numerous times in my travels and immediately fallen in love with it. Florence, when i thought it was the history. Madrid, when i thought it was the art. Melbourne, when i thought it was the culture. Lucerne, when i thought it was the cleanliness. Amsterdam, when i thought it was the...well, yeah.
It is more than any of these things though. It has to do with the people, surely. Each person who lives in these cities seems to leave a mark of friendliness, happiness and acceptance on everything they touch. This good vibe resonates in the buildings and explodes with an aura of positivity and fun throughout the city.
I fell in love with San Francisco the first time i drove in. The big, wide streets seemed to speak to me and the cool breeze seemed to blow sweet kisses towards me from the Golden Gate Bridge. Being able to spend more time there was a magical experience. The crowds at the baseball games were good natured and friendly, the vendors in stores were outgoing and proud of their home. People were in parks eating pastries (or drinking rum from coconuts!), doing free outdoor yoga lessons, eating brunch on a patio and wandering their streets. Making the most of their surrounding and not losing sight of the fact that they are lucky to live in such a place! I find myself liking the city more as i am apart from it (everything seems nice when you remember it) and the story to come out of last week only reiterates my thoughts about the people who inhabit it.
Last week, a young boy with cancer had his wish come true thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation in the Bay Area. The cute kid loved Batman and wanted to be a superhero. 12,000 people volunteered to turn his dream into a reality and he did things like rescue a damsel in distress from the tram lines, apprehend the Riddler and put a stop to the Penguin's evil plans. I mean seriously? Where in the world could this happen? I can not imagine Sydney coming together for this... Los Angeles? Forget about it! 12,000 people (who perhaps should have been at work) all worked together to make one small, special, brave stranger-boy be given a memory he will never forget. This is the kind of things the vibe i speak of can conjure up. The positivity and the happiness which runs through these people is embodied in the city itself.
San Francisco's stock rises again. If anyone out there is not touched by this i am prepared to say you are not made of stone. It is something harder than that - there is no hope for you.
Wednesday, 6 November 2013
When loneliness is not desired, recommended or healthy.
Well the Melbourne Cup has been run and won but it was a very different race for me to previous years. It was different as i had to spend the day on my own.
Up until that morning i thought it was going to be the second year since 1994 that i did not watch the Cup (knowingly, because from all reports, i watched 1990-1993 as well). In 2007, Earth & Environmental Science had an HSC exam on the first Tuesday in November. I protested, i waved my arms, i asked them if they knew who i was, but all to no avail. The main exam attendant was a woman i have known since birth. Without even asking her to, she walked in at 3:15 and wrote the results on the blackboard. Surely this was against protocol and it may have affected my mark. I had backed Purple Moon... which was second to Efficient.
Yesterday i was in another country and sadly, spent much of the day on my own. Watching the race on a channel i found by chance and betting online through Tom Waterhouse (it is true. He will take bets from anyone! Even when other agencies insist that taking bets from people in America are against protocol!!). I was not too sure how i would react to being alone for it but it was a bit lonely and sad. I skyped Mum on five separate occasions and tried valiantly to imagine i was there sipping champagne and eating sour cream and chives pringles. Alas, it was not reality.
The whole experience reminded me of two things. A book i read called "What makes us tick?" (by Hugh Mackay) and an experience when visiting a church in Florence. The book states that, when we see something or experience something fun, happy or surprising, it is human instinct to want to share this with other people.
In Florence, years before i read the book, i was visiting San Minato el Monte (a short walk out of town), near Piazza le Michelangelo when an older Canadian man came up to me and broke the sombre mood. "Isn't this just incredible?" He said, rather than asked. "The ornate details, the colour, the patterns. Every tile is done so magnificently, so perfectly. Why are there not more people here?" We were both solo travellers and neither of us wanted more people there. His words struck a chord with me though and highlighted an issue about travelling solo, especially if you like art. Who do you talk with about it later? And at the time? It is human nature to want to debrief and analyse things which are spectacular or hard to believe. When you are on your own, some of the gloss can be lost (can, not necessarily will) in these situations.
It just goes to show that we are meant to share our life. Our happiness, our sadness too. I am not talking about marriage or official things like that but relationships and communities and groups. Being apart of these helps to broaden your mind, see the other side of situations, enjoy things more thoroughly and truly appreciate things. I know that man got a kick out of me saying "i have never seen anything like this before." I was still a naive, young, first time traveller, but the justification of his thoughts were all that he wanted.
Getting dinner the other day we had a similar experience. El Amigo, in Glendora, has a drive thru option but the window is on the right hand side of the car. No problem if you are in Australia. But we are not. The restaurant obviously encourages people to go get Mexican food with other people. Perhaps they do not want to be seen as the restaurant which caters to singles but it could certainly be embarrassing having to get out of the car to collect your food in the drive thru. It is almost like it is forcing people to be social and have dinner with friends - which could never be a bad thing.
not everyone wants to do everything with other people and i respect that but, there are very few experiences in life, very few sights to see, which would not be enhanced if you did not see it with some other like minded, open people as well. I suppose the message of my story is, whether you are watching the races, climbing the hill to San Minato el Monte in Florence or you are getting Mexican food from El Amigo, you are going to have a better time if you have someone special there to share it with.
Up until that morning i thought it was going to be the second year since 1994 that i did not watch the Cup (knowingly, because from all reports, i watched 1990-1993 as well). In 2007, Earth & Environmental Science had an HSC exam on the first Tuesday in November. I protested, i waved my arms, i asked them if they knew who i was, but all to no avail. The main exam attendant was a woman i have known since birth. Without even asking her to, she walked in at 3:15 and wrote the results on the blackboard. Surely this was against protocol and it may have affected my mark. I had backed Purple Moon... which was second to Efficient.
Yesterday i was in another country and sadly, spent much of the day on my own. Watching the race on a channel i found by chance and betting online through Tom Waterhouse (it is true. He will take bets from anyone! Even when other agencies insist that taking bets from people in America are against protocol!!). I was not too sure how i would react to being alone for it but it was a bit lonely and sad. I skyped Mum on five separate occasions and tried valiantly to imagine i was there sipping champagne and eating sour cream and chives pringles. Alas, it was not reality.
The whole experience reminded me of two things. A book i read called "What makes us tick?" (by Hugh Mackay) and an experience when visiting a church in Florence. The book states that, when we see something or experience something fun, happy or surprising, it is human instinct to want to share this with other people.
In Florence, years before i read the book, i was visiting San Minato el Monte (a short walk out of town), near Piazza le Michelangelo when an older Canadian man came up to me and broke the sombre mood. "Isn't this just incredible?" He said, rather than asked. "The ornate details, the colour, the patterns. Every tile is done so magnificently, so perfectly. Why are there not more people here?" We were both solo travellers and neither of us wanted more people there. His words struck a chord with me though and highlighted an issue about travelling solo, especially if you like art. Who do you talk with about it later? And at the time? It is human nature to want to debrief and analyse things which are spectacular or hard to believe. When you are on your own, some of the gloss can be lost (can, not necessarily will) in these situations.
It just goes to show that we are meant to share our life. Our happiness, our sadness too. I am not talking about marriage or official things like that but relationships and communities and groups. Being apart of these helps to broaden your mind, see the other side of situations, enjoy things more thoroughly and truly appreciate things. I know that man got a kick out of me saying "i have never seen anything like this before." I was still a naive, young, first time traveller, but the justification of his thoughts were all that he wanted.
Getting dinner the other day we had a similar experience. El Amigo, in Glendora, has a drive thru option but the window is on the right hand side of the car. No problem if you are in Australia. But we are not. The restaurant obviously encourages people to go get Mexican food with other people. Perhaps they do not want to be seen as the restaurant which caters to singles but it could certainly be embarrassing having to get out of the car to collect your food in the drive thru. It is almost like it is forcing people to be social and have dinner with friends - which could never be a bad thing.
not everyone wants to do everything with other people and i respect that but, there are very few experiences in life, very few sights to see, which would not be enhanced if you did not see it with some other like minded, open people as well. I suppose the message of my story is, whether you are watching the races, climbing the hill to San Minato el Monte in Florence or you are getting Mexican food from El Amigo, you are going to have a better time if you have someone special there to share it with.
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