Racing now!!!!!

Being the other side of the world there are things that you miss: sunshine, competence, tasty food that’s not Indian and the joy of open spaces. But there are others that you don’t miss whatsoever: everywhere being far away, the Australian dollar or the Melbourne Cup.

The Melbourne Cup you say - how Bart? The sun, the races, the totty, the excitement, the day an entire nation downs tools at 12.30 and says let’s have a piss up. Hell, in my state (that’s a county English buddies) we take the day off and do no work. It’s kind of like a normal Wednesday in the UK, except we have a horse race.

But people, who needs the Cup when you have….The Wimbledon Dogs!!!!
BARDA BARDA BUP BA BAAAA!!!!

And we’re off and racing.


In memory of the Melbourne Cup, a chilly Friday night saw Lukey, JB and I shaking like a greyhound in the cold (analogies are low on the ground today) clutching our beers and wondering how much we were going to win. Throwing 20 quid in to a kitty we had the kingly sum of 60 pounds to put a fiver on each little speed machine.

Thanks to Luke and JB we made our money back and left with our heads held high. Thanks to me for giving them something to try to win back too. We all played our part I feel. I don’t know what the other fellas were playing to do with their money, but I was going out to buy myself some bling.

The following night was Bonfire night or Guy Fawkes night. It celebrates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot on the 5th of November, 1605, in which a number of Roman Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Now if you are new to the UK you’re not sure what to expect. There are explosions going off everywhere. When I first got here I thought there were simply many illegal fireworks or a car backfiring. Now I know it’s just gun shots.

Watching Bonfire night from a house party on the top of an apartment complex (well la de dah – it was only four stories) you could see fireworks going off all across the city. You could also hear ambulances every six seconds going off to fix up some intrepid fireworks victim. It was a good night and I left with all fingers intact. Thanks to Bluey for DJing all night before having to head off to do a set in West London at 6am - you poor, poor man. Also, goodbyes to Leah and Nadia - I'd give you a blog update that I give others but you guys will be back at the start of the year so no blog for you. And Leah, hurry back. I can't take care of the kids on my own!

Well, this marks 101 blogs. Didn’t think I’d get this far. After 18 months in the UK I’ve met some amazing people and seen some brilliant things. You can have an amazing time when everything seems transitory. Friends come ago in the space of months, so you have more fun with them – squeezing in everything you possibly can. You won’t say no to an idea lest you never get that chance again. And irony becomes a very close companion. As me and several of my friends will let you know. You bump in to a long lost friend, two days before they are flying home – and they lived around the corner. You meet a Polish girl just as they move back to Poland. You meet a fantatic girl from England, and they move to Australia – what the fuck – now you’re just having a laugh!

But you’ve always got the memories. And with that, isn’t it great that just as I planned this blog my computer crashed and I lost all my photos – 18 months worth. But amazingly enough, I’m calm as a Hindu cow. After losing my photos I came to the realisation that the photos are for other people: for you to show them what you have been doing. The real experiences are in your head and all you actually need is something to spark those memories. And with a dawning realisation, I remembered - I’ve got that thing. And I’ve just finished updating it with its 101st entry.