I got freaked out today

Whilst on holidays in Cambodia in the pretty nice beachside town of Sihanoukville, Sab and I found our way into another quiz night. During my time at quiz nights over Asia i have pulled out some bullshit answers to questions such as to the question "How old was William Shakespeare when he died?" I had no idea and the first number that came into my head was 52 which was the correct answer or when i answered "What was the name of the city that Wyatt Earp made well known?" For some reason i could only think of Dodge City. So when a question along the lines of "Which Ronnie dominated the sport of snooker in the 1990's" i pulled a name out of the air. The correct answer was Ronnie O'Sullivan.

The name i came up with was "Rocket" Ronnie Stevens.

Sab and I had a huge laugh and the name has stuck with me ever since. This was back in September and whenever i think of the fake name of "Rocket" Ronnie Stevens it reminded me of not only my ability to pull a truckload of shizzit from the back passage but my enjoyment of quiz nights.

Until today.

I was reading the paper at morning break when i was making my way from the sports section at the back to the comics and daily quiz in the middle when one of the obituaries stopped me in my tracks.


There was an actual Ronnie Stevens. Sure you might be thinking that his first and last name are pretty common and there would have to be a few Ronnnie Stevens on this planet but i was in shock. My fake Ronnie Stevens was a famous British pool player yet the real Ronnie Stevens was an actual film star who according to the obituary in todays Herald Sun - starred in 70 films!
Am i channeling the spirit world or do i just have a sixth sence or quite possibly an abilty to make unreal lives and events become real? When i was in high school i wrote a story about a chemical fire in India. It happened not too long later. I kept both the story and the article.

So rest in peace real Ronnie Stevens. Even though i pulled your name out of a back passage one night at a dinky dodgy faux British pub on the Cambodian Coast for a laugh, you freaked me out at work today!!

Scavenger of the Century!

The cover of the book i "liberated" from the front of the Salvation Army Shop.

I'm re-writing this entry as i wanted to get into more detail.

Yesterday afternoon my help was summoned to my brothers fiance's sisters house. She had an old couch that was going to be donated to the salvation Army. So dad, Chris and I made tracks to Keilor Park and loaded up this 1980's couch that looked straight out of the pages of the Fussy Furniture Fellow catalouge and made our way down to the Salvo shop.

After swerving at about 60kmh to miss an oncoming cushion that fell off the trailer i was following we finally made it to the front of the Salvo shop. Now i'm a cheap bastard and always on the lookout for something that entertains me at low low prices. An example of that would be some miscellanious shoe throwing by persons under the influence (hehe..you know who you are) or an under the radar remark in the style of "Are you being served." Whislt at the store i came across a book sitting on top of a crappy old desk was the autobiography of Australias favourite quiz master Tony Barber.

Australia's favourite Quiz Master

So i decided to pick the book up and keep it for future reading. I grew up with the work of Tony and loved watching "Sale of the Century" each night. I actually saw the show taped live once on a grade six excursion to Channel Nine in Bendigo Street. Seeing the show taped live was great fun even though the set looked a lot smaller live then on TV plus the lovely models that would always show the latest wears from Commodore Computer were so far away i couldn't get a glimpse at them. What i also liked was that before most episodes before he was announced he would do this jig / jog to his little lecturn on the set which many comedy shows have taken the piss out of.

After a long run on "Sale" Tony found himself hosting another popular quiz show "Wheel of Fortune" which caused a sensation as he took over from a very popular host and the management tinkered with the show my actually tilting the wheel on an angle rather than having it flat. It wasn't all smooth sailing for Tony as the public went off the new format and numbers for the show went downward very very quickly.

Tony was given the butt for the shows failure and then managed to find himself hosting a short lived Australian production of "Jeopardy." I mean i've always wanted to see a game show of two families playing tenpin bowling for cash or just people playing paper, rock, scissors for prizes and if i can get Tony away from local club venues where he belts out another classic from his albums them i'm sure he would be interested.

Election Day but not Groundhog Day

So many choices. Hmm does my vote really count?

Today was state election day in Victoria and like every other election day in Victoria the Pepper home was divided on who to vote for. Now our family isn't overtly political. I have grown up in a family that taught me to value the freedoms of our great nation but not one of us has a desire to participate in the operations that keep those freedoms from extinguishing. I have always liked election days whether it be state or national because it always meant three things:

1. Dad gets the chance to ride his political high horse and proudly tell us he will not tell us who he voted for. In all the time i can remember my dad has been very protective on who he has voted for and if i even try and get an answer out of him, i'm greeted with a swift "that's none of your business." I have never ever found out who he has voted for in any election.

2. My local election day booth is my old primary school so a feeling of nostalgia kicks in everytime i have to vote and i usually run into someone i used to go to primary school with and chat to them for 20 minutes. Plus i run into a few locals and chat to them as well.

3. There has always been a sausage sizzle and cake stall at the primary school as well.

These three things have become election day necessities for me yet being away from home since March 2004 has seen some changes in election day mentality. Dad once again told me "its none of your business" when i asked him who i voted for. Mum was more open when she told me she voted Liberal. I voted Liberal too though i didn't really feel my voice was being heard in this election as i didn't feel strongly about any of the candidates. How could !? I wasn't here!

The feeling of community that i used to get whilst at the primary school was gone this year. I didn't have to wait to vote and there was so cake stall or sausage sizzle. This was sacrelidge in my book as election day turned into one of the few chances to experience what life was like growing up here. People knew each other and stopped to say hi. The mothers committee ran the sausage sizzle and the cake stall to raise funds for the school. There's a buzz of anticipation walking up to the volunteers from the various parties and trying to avoid them ramming "how to vote" cards down your throat. The silence before voting still remains but that seems to be the only correlation i have between all the election days i've been to.

I felt like i had lost something today.

What a week its been!!

This week at work has been pretty busy, actually its been crazy and i cannot believe that its friday already. As most people know when it comes to updates on pepspalce i like to try and make them as entertainnig as i can so i need time to think about what i want to write but seriously this past week has flown so i'm at work going to write about my week. I like my blog and want to continue updating it as much as i can, this week though i have been sadly lacking. So here's my week starting from last Friday.

Friday night after work. I stayed back for a few beverages and was having a pretty good chinwag with the guys. One of the guys who was knocking back some i used to work with at Salesforce four years ago. So we started a'talkin bout the old days and a name came up the i haven't heard in a long time, Clifford Barnes. Now seen that its been 4 years since i left i think enough time has gone by to open up the wider world the myth that is Cliffy. Now Cliff had only three loves in his life..his muscles...his car and his fascinastion for Asian women. Cliffy was a happy go luck sort of guy who from memory would only talk about his body..his car or his fascination for Asian women.

Cliffy earlier this year

Now being a St. Albans boy (i'm not taking the pisstake` of out St. Albanites) Cliff's intelligence was channeled into the three areas above at an expense to other areas. For example..one day after getting back his prized VL Commodore with added extras he decided to show it off to the rest of the gang so we all logged off the phones and went outside the front of work. Cliff revs the engine and manages to fishy the back end out of the VL and basically missing everyone on the kerb by half a metre. People were diving everywhere to avoid Cliffy who by the time most of us looked around was already half way up the street turbo roaring away. Cliffy also misunderstood the concept of "single use only" condoms while on holiday in Thailand a few years ago. He thought single use meant you use it one one chick as many times as you want. So when the condom broke after the third time and came running out of the hotel bathroom pants around his ankles after picking up a Thai hooker earlier that night, the sheer fright on his face masked the fact he had no idea what "single use only" really meant. Well that's enough about Cliffy. Nice bloke though, a genuine laugh.

Later that night i was out to a local club called "The Cubby House" which used to be "The Baby Grand" which used to be the local over 28's venue. It still is but i was told that the band there on friday nights plays the best 80's music ever. Now as you all know, i love 80's music and in the two months i have been home the mentionings of "you should go to Cubby" have been numerous so i decided to find out for myself. i ventured down with Adam (who i used to work with at Safeway), Michael and his new squeeze Beth. So as usual i introduced myself to Beth in a subtle way by carrying 4 Pure Blonde Beers and 2 Cougar Bourbon and Colas in a little bucket and being sidetracked by Michaels DVD rental of Sylvester Stallones "Over the Top" playing on his TV.

We ventured down to "da Cubby" to be met by a wall of over 28's sprinkled with a few under 28's whose appreciation for classics such as "Hungry like the Wolf" or "Don't you want me Baby" would be rewarded during the night. Quite honestly it was the greatest live set of 80's music since Sab and i ventured to Rod Laver Arena a few years ago to see Kim Wilde, Mondo Rock, 1927, Human League and Belinda Carlisle play live. I was going off and just stoked at the classics the band was belting out after each other. I was working beautifully on the dance floor (well i was just trying not to get my drink knocked over or spiked so i was doing a sort of stationary Tony Barber at the start of Sale of the Century dance) and we all had a great night. Before i knew it it was 2am and time to go home. I think i'm back there tonight and i'm taking Sab there next week. She'll love it.

Saturday was pretty mundane. i was going to wash the car but everytime i went past the car wash it was busy. I decided to go to JB Hi-Fi and do some browsing and came across a Steve McQueen movie for $12 so i bought it and watched it. Saturday night was my cousin Leah\'s engagment party which was held on the other side of town. For those of you who dont live in Melbourne that means travelling from one end point of the Milky Way to the other. It was a lovely night and i caught up with some of the extended family who i hadn't seen since i got back. My little second cousins Robbie and Mikhala have grown up sooo much as have my first cousins Stephanie and Courtney. I\'m very very lucky to have such a fantastic family and we all get along so well. Later in the night i got a msg from Sab from the U2 concert but all i could hear was noise still i was curious about U2 from that moment.

My Melbourne Print i picked up at a City Market

Sunday morning i was in bed when dad came into my room saying "C'mon get out of bed it's a beautiful day out there!" i felt like saying something along the lines of "F*ck Off" and quickly thought back to similar yet rare days in Hong Kong where if i wanted to get out of bed at 1 in the afternoon i would. Ahh the joys of being at home. I was meeting Sab in the city for lunch and a stroll around town for another chance to bitch about being in Melbourne but it really was a pleasant day. We had lunch on the river and the city was looking fantastic. The Arts Centre has a Sunday market and i purchased a lovely print of Melbourne to go with the other things i've picked up around the world. I needed something to remind me of how nice Melbourne is and this print was just the ticket. Later on we ventured down to the Exhibition Centre to see the "Melbourne 50 Years On" exhibition. It was celebrating 50 years since the Melbourne Olympics and what i thought would be a chance to really see how our city has changed was just a flimsy excuse for companies to flog their goods under the banner of "we are part of Melbourne." What i thought would be filled with photos, clothes and a real sence of nostalgia was in fact a chance for Jayco caravans to advertise their newest creation. We were very dissapointed.

Sab told me that the U2 concert was mind-blowing and she had to go past the Telstra Dome to say hi to the people she went to the concert with. She went with two guys who she met through our friend Kate on a music website called lastfm. It's a long story but she promised she would see them so i thought "fine i need the walk." As we got to the Dome i was curious to see if there were tickets left. I had heard both shows were sold out but you never know and i have always wanted to see U2 and i thought "this is my best chance" so i said to Sab "do you wanna go to U2 tonight?" After a little time we decieded to go and boy was it worth it. It was the greatest live experience i have ever seen. The band was just awesome and the light show was mind-blowing. Sure i didn't know all their songs but i didn't care as man..they were just sooo good. Bono weaved his way through songs, statements and monolouges and even though we were 200 meters away, the concert had the intimacy of a pub gig..well with 60,000 people at the pub. Telstra Dome was shaking and the crowd was deafning i'm gettnig chills as i'm writing this. it certainly was one of the best snap decisions in my life ever.

Bono just being Bono

Monday morning i was feeling well below my best. I had picked up a cold as it was an open air gig at the Dome and i didn't take a top and my voice was very rusty from belting out 'Vertigo" "Angel of Harlem" and various other U2 hits. In fact Monday to Wednesday was the same; still recovering from the weekend. i was infomed Wednesday that my James Bond pack that i had won off the radio had arrived. So on morning break i powered walked two streets down Kings Way to 3AW and picked up my movies. They weren't in any special box but i do have an old sort of cool 20 disc DVD holder which are now my new home of James Bond films. Wednesday night and last night i watched the first movie "Dr. No" and the difference is amazing. It looks like a movie that was filmed today but set over 40 years ago. On the DVD they talked abuot how the process take 100 hours to scan one hour of film. Multiply that by 20 films that run on average just over two hours and it really was a massive restoration effort.

So that's been my week. Work has been pretty busy and i've had some ripper curly wurly situations come up and had no idea what to do. Lucky for me everyone is very helpful here and paitient with all my questions. On wednesday i found out that someone else i used to work with at Salesforce's (hi Katie by the way!) ex colleague started here last week. It's a very small world.

Last night i had the strangest dream. Sab and I were in a cab in Taipei (yeah i know) and we were driving past Taipei 101. I looked out the window and there was a small fire coming from the observation deck. I thought "holy shiite! we were there two months ago" as we drove away the fire got bigger and bigger, more parts of the building started to burn as we saw people falling to their deaths sept-11 esque. We stopped about 20 kms away where we got a view of the full building and the whole tower was on fire, i've never seen a fire like it in my life. 500 meters of vertical fire and sirens and screaming going off everywhere.