On the first Friday of every month, The Nag's Head in Glebe offers three casks of real ale, brewed by Matt Donelan. of St Peter's Brewery. I make it there nearly every month. Real ale comes from a hand pump or gravity pour, is not carbonated and is ideally served at cellar temperature. It's hard to find real ale in Sydney, but this is one place you can't miss. The beer is craft brewed by a local and tasty, though the serving temperature is a bit low... presumably to compensate for Sydney heat. But when all three casks are emptied in one night, temperature shouldn't be a huge problem. Whatever, you should go if you can. It helps if you live in the Southern Hemisphere. A group of us headed over after work - that's Tim, Glenn and David in the tunnel photo - and met up with other good mates, some of whom are from Aussiehomebrewer.com, like Paul, Lindsay and Melanie. That's me in the BeerAdvocate shirt, proving that supporters of two different beer websites can coexist in the same space at the same time.
Surfing around tonight I found the blog of a fellow resident of my building who was also on the roof waiting for The Australia Day Google plane flyover. Gordon was up there with an Irish flag and his girlfriend, hoping the three of them would be picked up by the Great Google Eye. We both missed out. Booooo!
Our friends Jen and Ben (Bennifer) asked us to look after their fish while they were away for the holidays this past December. We would oversee the fish for a few days before heading off on our own holiday before our house-sitting friends Todd & Candice would take over. A few months ago Dana and I picked up Pete & Jim the same day that Bennifer picked up Albert & Victoria. When Ben was scooping Albert and Victoria out (forgive the names, Bennifer is a pom) they accidentally picked out four much smaller fish. They bought the bundle, and we headed out.
Somewhere on the way home, one of the small fish "disappeared". Once home Albert & Victoria's alien freaking heads were poured into a bowl with the remaining three small fish. Shortly after Albert was swimming a bit funny. Bennifer noted that Victoria seemed to be "picking on" Albert. I take this literally given later events. Albert died. Bennifer picked up another bug-eyed fish who was also killed died. I'm not sure what the name of the other unfortunate fish was. George or William or Harry or something. When the fish landed on our table next to the peaceful Pete and Jim, there was billowing Victoria and three small unnamed fellas.
The first night they were here I was typing into my blog and periodically glancing over at them. Victoria seemed to be chasing around the smaller fish. Then I looked over and saw a small guy floating belly-up. When cold water didn't wake him up I flushed him. I didn't think he's wake up since his belly was open.
"Shit," I thought. "First night watching these fish and one dies."
After coming back from the dunny I leaned over the bowl to watch Victoria and the other two. On cue Victoria sucked one of the little guys into her mouth head first. Of course the first thing I did was grab my camera.
If you watch the clip you can see her chewing on the fish that is way to big for her to swallow. At first she seems to hide it, but she's a fish, so she quickly realises she has no consciousness and there is nothing to gain in hiding it, so she flaunts it. She flaunts it so much. The next morning the little fish was at the bottom of the bowl, headless.
I can hear her. "Look at me. I am a goldfish sucking on the head of a fish I perceive to be lower on the food chain. Yes I know I'm supposed to eat those flakes, but this head is so goddamn tasty. Guilt? I'm a goldfish. I already forget what this thing in my mouth is." [suck] "But it's tasty. Who are you?"
Epilogue I saved the last little guy and put him in our bowl. He is named Survivor. Pete and Jim were ambivalent towards him, and he's still doing well. Sadly, Jim died last week. I know he's just a fish but it still upsets me. I can't figure out what could have caused it except that he had been tipping to one side for a few days. I assumed he had gas like Pete used to. Victoria returned to her apartment at Bennifer's on the 46th floor of Century Tower where she lives out a lonely existence, cut off from all other fish. Pete and Survivor are doing well.
A few weeks ago Dana and I had the privilege of house sitting Dana's boss's house in Cammeray. Anna (Dana's boss) and Andrew, her husband, are really great people. We enjoy their company and enjoyed their home without them nearly as much as we enjoy their company. Wink-wink. I'm sure one of their two sharp teenager daughters, Iona and Laura, will find this post, so Anna/Andrew, please tell me who found it first. Their house is build at the edge of a reserve and has a pool and a trampoline. Jump and swim. The house is only a short bus ride from the city center but it feels like the middle of the bush. Water dragon and dragonflies frequent the grounds. Cockatoos wake you up the morning, and kookaburras laugh at you when you're getting ready for bed. Much more pleasant than hearing drunks screaming at midnight and recycling trucks crushing glass at 6AM. Anna and Andrew have graciously agreed to swap abodes with us. Thanks!
A couple of weeks ago we settled into the Domain, a public park here in Sydney, for a day of hanging with friends, eating, drinking and listening to some fantastic jazz. "Jazz" is a loose term here. The music was great but I'm not sure if the didgeridoo backing up a Brazilian whistle and drum band is jazz to many people. It sure was exciting music though. Glenn, Chris, Fiona and I got there at about 1PM to claim a good spot. A large good spot. Dana and lots of friends filtered in through the afternoon and into the evening, filling our space appropriately. Some buggers did show up at the park at 7 and later expecting to sit right up front. I was very territorial and told them to get lost before they got too settled. Seriously though we put in a good effort holding down the fort for many hours. These peabrains can't show up just before the music starts and expect to sit anywhere besides the back. We had laid out our space well and peed out a perimeter, so I was confused how any other human could think it was unclaimed land. Once the undesirables were scattered we continued to have a grand ole time. If you live in Sydney and have not been, go. And go early or sit in the back.Check out the amusing photos here, and hear Stiffy describe the legends here:
A couple of weeks ago, our good friend Ben Waud had some of us over his (parents') place for a BBQ. It was a solid night of grilling, eating, drinking and wrestling. We started off at the beach and moved back to the Gosford house from there. Ben had an excellent spread for us, and we all enjoyed a fantastic night... especially after the crazy eights and Jaggard that went along with it. Midnight bocce became midnight wrestling, with me, Glenn and Brett beating each other on an absurdly small sheet that Ben laid out for his officiation. My shoulder still hurts. Bowie the dog made a good showing. And thanks to Sam and Lana for lift up and Heat Miser (pictured right) for the lift down.
On the first Friday of every month, The Nag's Head in Glebe offers three casks of real ale, brewed by Matt Donelan. of St Peter's Brewery. I make it there nearly every month. Real ale comes from a hand pump or gravity pour, is not carbonated and is ideally served at cellar temperature. It's hard to find real ale in Sydney, but this is one place you can't miss. The beer is craft brewed by a local and tasty, though the serving temperature is a bit low... presumably to compensate for Sydney heat. But when all three casks are emptied in one night, temperature shouldn't be a huge problem. Whatever, you should go if you can. It helps if you live in the Southern Hemisphere. A group of us headed over after work - that's Tim, Glenn and David in the tunnel photo - and met up with other good mates, some of whom are from Aussiehomebrewer.com, like Paul, Lindsay and Melanie. That's me in the BeerAdvocate shirt, proving that supporters of two different beer websites can coexist in the same space at the same time.
