Movember

From the people who brought you "bush tucka," "gimme a bell this arvo" and "she'll be right, mate," we now have "Movember".

That's right, what was once left to Roman emperors such as Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, has fallen into the hand of the Australians. They have invented a month. Do not despair! I see that look of panic at the thought of a month of eating roo, grilling prawns on the barbie and stacking pineapple and beetroot on your hamburgers, but this has nothing to do with food. It's about mustaches (moustaches). "Mo" is Aussie for hair grown on the upper lip. "Vember" was an incomplete name of a month.

As the official site explains, the month-long event is meant to raise awareness about men's health, specifically prostate cancer and depression. I can't think of a more noble reason to grow a 'stache... except maybe becoming a cop. Or joining the Village People.

The fund raising event has expanded outside of Australia, but it has not yet taken off here in the US as it has in Oz. Back in Sydney, mos were seen sprouting and growing throughout the month. Several friend of mine are participating, and if you would like to donate, click on the post-pubescent human of choice:
Ben - pictured top left looking like James Hetfield.
Cory - pictured to the right in a tough-guy/nostril-exposing pose.
Ian - not pictured because he needs as much time as possible to grow convincing facial hair.

These famous examples of moustaches are not participating:

Feral Cat Stew & A Giant Fence

I've been back in the States for over a month now, and from time to time I get to wondering what's going on back in Australia. Thankfully, the series of tubes makes it easy for me to find out.

Some Aussies are trying a different way to deal with their feral cat problem, and some Americans are getting outraged by it. Come on, people, can someone tell me why it's OK to eat pig and cattle but not OK to eat cat? Just to stir you up a bit more, one of the things I miss most about Australia is eating kangaroo meat.

Also crossing international boundaries is President Bush. To the disdain of millions of Sydneysiders, the Australian government has built a 3 mile long fence around much of the city to keep demonstrators out while he visits for the APEC summit. The impact on transportation is so great that this coming Friday has been declared a public holiday. Sucks for my friend Ian, whose wife is expecting to deliver a baby that very same day. Ian, Agamemnon is a good name and all, but also consider Apec in honor of the occasion.