Sun-Kissed Tattoos

End of the naughties, start of 'the Tens'. If it were a numbers game, this should be an excellent decade for yours truly given No.10 is my number of choice. That gives me 10 years to get it vaguely right.

Our farewell to the naughties was ceremoniously bizarre and quirky. We wound up at Mingara Recreational Club in Tumbi Umbi on the (false) information that we could oooh and aaah at the Central Coast version of midnight fireworks from the club. Wrong. and Fail. But there was a fake Elvis shaking things up.

The only semblance of fireworks I saw was the 15 free spins from my lucky pyramid pokie machine. While I won enough to pay a small cheese burger meal, others were not so lucky. Mingara is now entrenched in KS vernacular, and can be used to replace terms such as 'ripped off', 'dodgy', or can be simply be used as exclamations e.g. you Mingara!

Aside from Mingara and sleep, the rest of our waking hours were spent playing golf - now that's Mingara'd! We played 3 rounds of golf in 3 days. I ended 2009 with a crap golf game, and I started 2010 in the same fashion with the added eyesore of hideous tan lines. I officially have a natural Michael Jackson white glove on my left hand.

Nice.

* Asterisked Disclaimer

It is time pare back the Anpanman references and restore whatever minuscule credibility this blog has left. The Anpanman addiction reared its ugly head and started taking casualties when I blurted nonchalantly at YDG's bday lunch "winning Anpanman was the best thing that has happened to me this year". By the reaction on the faces of a few of the people sitting around the table, this evidently came as some sort of anthrax-laced bombshell.

This entry will therefore serve as the belated asterisked disclaimer to that flippant statement, and a timely occasion to lament on the nostalgia of the Middle East /African Trip (The MEAT). Interestingly, The MEAT conveniently became The MET on the way back into Australia - customs seem to be far more obtrusive when African countries are involved.

More than 2 months have passed since The MEAT - and yes I acknowledge respectfully that Dubai, Egypt and Jordan are Muslim countries and so the acronym may be slightly 'cute'. My very cool, very dear friends (and one in particular) had organised The MEAT as a surprise for my age-that-shall-not-be-mentioned birthday. They even went to the trouble of masking it as The Indian Trip (TIT); a fake itinerary was produced and award winning faux enthusiasm for 24/7 curry was on display. Suffice to say that the surprise came undone quite early on in the piece - it's okay Shar, my supreme detective skills would have achieved the same end result.

The MEAT née TIT (okay that's the last of the acronyms I promise) was (and I don't use the next word lightly) perfect. It had a little bit of everything: reverence, relevance, grandeur, gaudiness, history, culture, shopping, cruisy days, hectic days, thought provoking moments, superficial entertainment, new found friends, lasting friends. The experience is nicely captured in Paul Theroux's “Dark Star Safari”:

“The pleasantest aspect of the river cruise was the combination of gourmandizing and sightseeing, gliding with the current and stopping every now and then at a resurrected ruin.”

A couple of things held true throughout the two and a bits weeks of travelling: 1) constant gorging of food; and 2) the realisation that it is quite a blessing to have a mix of good natured buddies with complementary dispositions to travel the globe with.

Yes, the MEAT surpassed all expectations. KS - you guys rock - thanks for giving me the best entry ticket to your old fogey party. Oh, and the other weedy surprise party wasn't bad either. I really shouldn't be allowed to complain for the rest of this year.

I'm not sure whether it is a bad omen that my actual birth day was:
- the longest day ever;
- in Dubai, which now has total debts worth approximately $59 billion USD; and
- I had blisters on my feet.

A mention of our 3rd time unlucky basketball finals. Mindy took some good shots. A sample shown below. Her other sets can be found here. Thanks to the usual crew for the support.

KS - Labour Day Long Weekend

We are in the Blue Mountains, staying in a house that has shelves of books in every corner of the house. The owner has a super impressive collection - very impressed.

A trip to the Jenolan Caves yesterday gave us an insight into: CaCO3, crystals, stalagmites, stalactites and the beauty of time and nature (cue in Sir David Attenborough). We booked ourselves into the Orient Tour which led us (via dynamite blasted tunnels) 100 metres below ground. The view was spectacular.
YDG created her own spit crystals during her 15 minutes whooping cough fit. I was kinda fearful that her coughing fit was going to induce a stalagmite/stalactite earthquake.

We played golf today - not much to say about the day except for the fact that we didn't win the damn meat tray.

The Zero-Sum Game of KS Golf

It's been a hectic, tiresome couple of week, JAM-packed (only one man would dare give me the rasberry, LONE STARR) with bday celebrations galore (spring fever babies), sojourning friends, golfing trips, touch football mayhem, and copious amounts of food and alcohol.
End result?
A significant impost on minimum sleeping requirements. But of course, all worth the sleep deprivation because it's been lots of fun in the sun ... but now I weigh a tonne.

The return of YDG (now full time magician) coincided with Sharlene's bday milestone, and Wayne's bday milestone (plus one). Such an auspicious occasion naturally warranted the revival of the KS GOLF CUP CHALLENGE @ The Vintage - Hunter Valley.



Foregoing previous team pairings of Pandemonium (YDG & I) and Perfect Pairs (Shar & Wayne), instead opting for new teams consisting of Sic Bo (Shar & YDG) and Caribbean Stud (Wayne & I - me being the stud of course ;p)
The prize?
Bottles of wine (of winner's choice) and the usual bragging rights.

We all started on par (oh the pun!)



... until Sic Bo found the rough





... and the double whammy sand bunkers. Poor SicBo, the bunkers were big enough to consume their self confidence.




... meanwhile Caribbean Stud was cruising along, casually wondering which semillion would go best with beef casserole dinner.




Caribbean Stud - winners! And unfortunately, the zero sum game of KS golf dictates, what was a fairly predictable outcome: SicBo - losers! Perhaps next time you should go with the name 'Two Up'. The added advantage may give you a fighting chance in KS GOLF CHALLENGE Mark II.


Before I sign-off, happy birthday all those Jun/Jul babies. I offer these pictures as proxy for your bday celebrations.

Under the Pump

Ack! On the brink of a nervous -too much work- breakdown. I have decided, as of this morning, that my task for this month is to ring up AM talk back radio and contribute. All that needs to be determined is 2UE or 2GB; oh and subject matter. Suggestions welcomed.

So what brought this about? YDG thoughtfully gave me a pressie all the way from the UK: 'this diary will change your life 2006'. It is the funniest book with self-improvement tasks including "volunteer for a medical experiment" and "stalk a well-known writer so as to become their muse". This week is pathological liar week, so everything I've written could have been one big fat lie. I am 5 feet 11 - perfect bball height.