Ben's BBQ at Aaron's

Twas a good night tonight in Rozelle. Glenn Mason whacked half a dead lamb on the grill for Sam Wade to cook. Aaron Fuller took care of the lentil salad while Ben Waud cut the bread and Sam Coates wore a colander as a helmet. Yes we all contributed and a good time was had by all.

Tim Coulter's Bucks Night

The good man - Tim Coulter - celebrated his Bucks Night (aka Stags Night, Bachelor Party) - this past Saturday. It was a steamy, sticky, late-summer day. The Lord Nelson provided fine refreshments from 4PM, until we moved on over to the Harbour View just before the rain started. The monsoon kept us inside, drinking, laughing and playing golf. Golf ball into glass = FINISH IT!

Next was dinner and a few dozen litres of beer at Lowenbrau. Tim got slap-happy dancing like a clown, and the rest of us watched on increasingly unsteady feet. Golf ball in 1000mL beer = uh oh. Sorry, let me explain: they had organised dances and contests for people there for special occasions, such as our good man Tim Coulter!

Many continued on from there, on for a much later night than I was destined for. Along with Jimmy Bats and a few Glenns, we were denied re-entry to the over-crowded Bavarian brothel of bliss. I'm sure the photos from 4AM are even more entertaining than these photos, which finish at about midnight. My guess is no other photos will ever be made public. Right Tim?

Digital Neighbours

Yesterday I was walking back to my apartment and passed my neighbour, Gordon, having breakfast with his girlfriend at a local coffee shop, Mecca. I stopped to say g'day, as you do here in Oz, and he asked me is I was still on my own. I paused for a second because I had not seen Gordon since Australia Day, but then I realised that he reads my blog. So Gordon knows that I was on my Pat Malone. Gordon is my neighbour in my apartment building as well in the blogosphere. In 2007 it is more common to bump into each other online than it is in person. Is that a bad thing? I think not. We comment on each other's blogs, which is the modern-day equivalent of chatting over the fence while mowing the lawn or having a BBQ. And I must point out that we met at a real BBQ, not during a match of World of Warcraft.

Puppet Up!

Last night Dana and I went to see Puppet Up!, an improvisational comedy show featuring the Jim Henson Company's puppets and crew. I went in with high expectations and really enjoyed the show. If you're in Sydney this week, try to make it over to the State Theatre on Market Street for a good laugh. Keep in mind, it's improv so the jokes can get a bit crass. This is not a kid's show. That being said, the host did move things along very well and swapped out the scenes when the toilet humour started. I haven't seen much live improv, but I used to perform in come improv shows in college. It's tough work.

Puppet improv? Huh? Yeah it sounds odd but it really added to the comedy. It helps that the puppets themselves are often very funny-looking, such as the pug and the hot dogs, and that the puppeteers have excellent vocal skills. The characters they created could easily have been on the Muppet Show... as long as it aired after 11PM. So this is how it worked: There were two large screens at the back of the stage, and the puppeteers had their guys up above them in front of the camera. So you could watch the TV screens or the stage itself. This unique set-up was highly entertaining.

Puppet Up! had a number of inventive and interesting ways to keep things fresh. The most hilarious one may have been when they asked a volunteer from the audience to come on stage and try to man one of the puppets. That puppet was all over the place - arms shooting up, mouth agape and bobbing in and out of the frame of the video.

Yes I'm a softie when it comes to puppets. I just think their fantastic. Avenue Q is the best show I saw on Broadway. And nothing quite cheers me up as much as Mahna Mahna!

If you saw Puppet Up! here in Sydney, at the Riverside Theatre in Parramatta, in Edinburgh, or in Aspen... or anywhere else, I'd love to know what you thought. Drop a line! Mahna Mahna!

Jimmy Bats in Sydney - The Great Walk

I thought I might elaborate on Jim's introduction to Sydney. It would be useful to others coming to Sydney and looking for a good way to fill their day.

Jim is here for work, and I used to work with him in the New York office before I moved to Sydney. I had a rather late night on Saturday, but I was still chipper when I woke up after four hours sleep to show Jim around. I did a rather good job as tour guide, I must say, and managed to keep Jim awake until it was appropriate for him to fall asleep. I did walk him into the ground though:

1. Met at his hotel, the Amora on Jamison in the CBD
2. Walked to Circular Quay
3. Continued around to the Opera House
4. Through the Botanic Gardens to look at the trees, birds, spiders and bats
5. Past St Mary's Cathedral
6. Into Hyde Park for a break - Jim was lucky enough to hear a kookaburra here
7. Back into CBD for a walk down Pitt Street to check out the Monorail
8. Turned down to George and through the Queen Victoria Building
9. Down King Street for a break in our apartment
10. Over the Pyrmont Bridge for a view of Darling Harbour, King Street Wharf, Cockle Bay, Maritime Museum, Wildlife Park, and Aquarium
11. Into Harbourside for a look at some didgeridoos and other Aboriginal Art, as well as kangaroo pelts, kargaroo claw back-scratchers and kangaroo scrotum change purses & bottle openers
12. Around to Tumbalong Park to get a view of Sydney's interesting water sculptures and Northern Territory Information Centre
13. Back through Cockle Bay to dwarbi's roof
14. Deep into the Rocks for Little Creatures and pizza at The Australian Heritage Hotel

I had no camera last weekend since Dana borrowed it for her return to the United States of America, so I've included a photo of shoes that makes it look like you're a bear to make this post more visually appealing. I hope you enjoy it.

Actually, here's a map that corresponds to the walk above:

And Then There Were None

Pete died. The last of our two lionhead goldfish was found belly-up on the bottom of his fishbowl this morning. Autopsy results indicate that Pete did not take his own life. Jim, another lionhead, died last month. We picked these two guys up last September. We also watched after Survivor, the sole survivor of the Great Queen Victoria Goldfish Massacre of 2006. Survivor wound up dead in the same position as Pete Back in January. Jim was floating at the top of the bowl in February. The third gruesome month this year has delivered us Pete's corpse.

Dana and I miss Jim, Pete and Survivor. We're going to take a break from fish possession for a while. There are two weird notes about Pete's expiration:
- I took two photos of Pete two nights before he expired, but neither have been accessible on the camera.
- Last night I dreamt that Pete's bowl went black. The first thing I did this morning was check on Pete.

True story.

Against the Grain

This past Sunday I met James Malkowski aka Jim Malkowski aka Jimmy Bats in the city after he arrived from New York. Jim is town to assist us with some jobs, you know what I mean. So I was showing Jimmy around town when we happen by Hyde Park. We wander in for a Guinness and realise they're set up for some function. No bother, we head back towards CBD but are overcome with a swarm of humans heading into the park. It turns out that St Patrick's Day in Sydney was a week early this year. Sydney has a past of reinventing holidays: Mardis Gras (which means Fat Tuesday and is meant to be held on the eve of Ash Wednesday) takes place on some convenient weekend in March. I read that Sydney has plans to move Christmas up a week this year so that it does not conflict with boat show to be held on the last weekend of December.