Feeling a little under the weather

Honestly i'm feeling seedy this morning.

Right now my stomach feels like a volcano about to erupt and my eyes are hanging out of their sockets due to lack of sleep.

Last night i started out in Causeway Bay catching up with Gary and Candace at quiz night. I hadn't been for a couple of months and it was nice to be back eating proper pub food and enjoying the surrounds. The quiz finished up at about 11 and then i was off to Wan Chai to catch up with the two new Irish girls who are working here, Fiona and Nicola.

Needless to say the night just flew by and before i knew it it was 5am.

I got up at 7.30 this morning and i am not one of those people who can survive on less than 7 hours sleep.

I'm just waiting for lunch to get a Filet O' Fish and a coffee.

Tick tock..tick...tock

Peps Place Movie Review: 'V for Vendetta'

Not since a punchup during the screening of "Kindergarten Cop" has the cinema experience equalled the action on screen.

Last Saturday, Sab and I ventured 2 hours to Festival Walk to catch up with Kate to see the new Wachowsk Brothers film. You know the Wachowsk's, those crazy brothers who stayed inside watching cartoons and grew up to make the groundbreaking "Matrix' films. Who says watching TV is bad for you huh?

So Sab and I made it to Festival Walk where the film was being played. After meeting up with Kate and a couple of her freinds from her workplace, the group of us settled into the theatre. In short 'V for Vendetta' is an enjoyable action-adventure movie starring Hugo Weaving as the mysterious 'V' and Natalie Portman who plays the damsal in distress 'Evey'. By the way her English accent is pretty darn good. The movie is set in the near future in England where a 'Big Brother' style of government has made jolly old England a pretty stale place to live.

Enter 'V' who is so bitter about the way England is that he decides to blow up Parliament House. Crazy idea? Not really as it was attempted by Guy Fawkes in 1605. What made 'V for Vendetta' enjoyable is the first hour whereby you are trying to figure out what this film is all about. Then the off screen drama started...

Around this time Kate decided that she had to go to the toilet. So she made her way to the end of the aisle and towards the front exits of the cinema which by design are usually used in emergencies. A few minutes later there was a knocking coming from the door somewhere. It was figured that the knocking was coming from the emergency exit and Kate couldn't get back into the cinema. The knocking continued which started to drown out the picture and was heard all around the cinema. Sab and I were embarrased so much we sunk in our seats and thanks to another member of the audience Kate was let back into the cinema.

Towards the end of the movie which was turning out to be a pretty run of the mill flick for me. There was a banging sound from the side of the cinema. The cleaner was starting his working during the end of the film and the bloody nerve too. Sab got a bit concerned. I knew she felt that way after she said "Is there a bomb in there?" There being a big green garbage bin at the front left of the cinema. To top it off as soon as the movie finished and the credits rolled, the cinema lights went up and the cleaner was barking at the crowd to get out!

After another 2 hours to get back home Sab and I were stuffed and in shock. For one the action off screen action matched the on screen action. The movie was pretty good even though we missed the major plot point as Kate was banging on the emergency doors at the time. So all in Hugo Weaving played a great leading character and the movie had an edge to it little seen in cinema these days. even though it was fictional it could easily be mistaken for the real world.

So 'V for Vendetta' gets 3 out of 5.

AMC cinemas gets 0 out of 5 for a poor cinema experience.

I'm still standing! Yeah yeah Yeah!

Don't worry everyone... i'm back!

My Apple died again. The logic board packed up again and thanks to Apple, there is only one repair shop in town and i've pretty much got my own seat waiting for me...well i should have one for me considering the amount of time i have spent there.

Rather than going through everything that i have been up to the past three weeks here is a point by point rundown.

- Works the same. The kids are still alright
- I have no respect for the administraion of the school anymore due to a very disgraceful piece of firing by the school
- Saw Brokeback Mountain with Sab and liked it 4.5 out of 5.
- Saw Capote with Sab and Kate 3.5 out of 5.
- Back on a health kick and back at the gym.
- Celebrated Candace's birthday with a tram ride around Hong Kong which was very cool.
- Two new Irish girls, Nicola and Fiona started at the school. They are both quite lovely.
- Followed the Demons progress in the Football up until we got creamed by the Crows.
-Collected my video award i won a few weeks ago
- Sabs class won best drama in their year level so the school won $1500 worth of books which are sorely needed.
- Watched a lot of 'Frasier' episodes with Sab.
- Installed FIFA 2004 on the schools computers so i can play it at lunchtime.


That's about it really.

Well now that i'm back with a new logic board and wireless card, i'll be back to update you all more often. I'm just waiting for the logic board to pack up again. By all estimates it should be late May or early June.

56 Minutes of Fun!

Last night we were in bed by 10.15.

Last night we stayed at the Outback Grill for 56 minutes.

Last night we were completely stuffed.

Talk about celebrating in style. Last night Sabrina and i dressed up to celebrate our 2nd anniversary of being away from Australia. Last year we celebrated by going to the Outback Steakhouse so this year we decided to visit its little cousin in Wan Chai. Earlier in the day we both ventured into Shenzhen for another DVD Run.

These flying visits to China remind us all that is horrible about the world's largest nation. It's ugly, smelly and dirty and thats just the people! Seriously these DVD runs are an adventure in themselves. We usually end up going through a restaurant following a shady character whereby we are led into a small room accessed only by a steel garage door. This is the 5th time i have been to shenzhen and everytime i come back to Tin Shui Wai i appreciate what the Brits did in HongKong.

After the door is slammed shut, the dodgy characters give us old tatty folders full of the latest realeases. This time around i packed a book called "1001 Films you must see before you die" which as it turned out to be a waste of time as the older movies that i wanted to get weren't there. So after picking up new movies such as "Munich" "Syriana" and "Brokeback Mountain" and the 8th season of Frasier we made our way back home to a Special Administrative Reigion .

Later in the day we made our way into town where our planned evening of a nice dinner and a few laughs was acutally compacted into less that an hour. The bus ride into town was the coldest i've ever been on and for anyone who has been on buses in Hong Kong, it was bloody freezing. By the time we arrived at 7.55 pm we had arrived in just enough time to order a couple of drinks at happy hour. We sat down on the table and we both felt stuffed. We didn't want to be there as we had both started to fall ill during the day.

The night sunk faster than the Titanic due to the fact that all we wanted to do was get into bed and try and shake off this little flu that started to go around the school. So here i am, on the couch watching "Frasier" and its where i want to be.

Needless to say, it was a great night out, all 56 minutes of it.

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

How time flies. Have a look at these two crazy kids!

It was 2 years ago today that Sab and I boarded Flight OF179 to Tokyo on our way to teach in a city we had never heard of in a country we knew only little bits about. Just after this photo was taken we were off on an adventure that so far has been abolutely amazing and eye opening.

So we are going to celebrate by going to the Outback Steakhouse on Saturday night and have a few laughs and reflect on the great times we've had.

You like me! You really really like me!!

I won an award!

I won an award for a video i made with my Upper Kindergarten Class which in all honesty was pathetic to say the least.

How this all came about was just before Chirstmas our supervisior Anna told Sab and I that our classes were entered into another competition. This time around the competition was based on a book that the class had to dramatise. The book was called "Oink Oink" and the story was based on a dirty pig who ran around the farm being chased by the frustrated famer and other animals. I had 9 boys to work with and these boys i can tell you aren't the best behaved bunch.

After practising for a few weeks we came to the day of the shoot. Well the day of the shoot was actually just under an hour and Anna in all honesty had no idea how to shoot. There was a little bit of dialouge (as i found out later, too little compared to Sab's Middle Level kids) I wanted to have the camera closer to the kids as you could hear them better but she filmed them from the other side of the room so two weekeds ago, Sab and I had to edit our films and hand them in Monday.

I thought great, i can jump on iMovie and get some special effects, subtitles and music together and make a fun little film. That didn't work out as it took 6 hours to move about 30 minutes of film from the camera to the computer so i bit the bullet and jumped on Sabs laptop. Her program is totally different to mine so it took a while to get the feel right which caused Sab to huff and puff a little watching me take my time.

So eventually i did a piss take on Star Wars called "Farm Wars" and it turned out as best as i could get it. The footage of the kids was terrible. They were too quiet, too loud, laughing too much or talking in the background. So i cobbled together a film and was happy to see the back of it.

Late last week Anna told Sab and I that Sabrinas Class had won through to the Final Four and they will have to perform on stage in mid March and i have to go and pick up an award for my crappy film as well.

What dissapointed me the most was that the best movie of the three from my Lower Kindergarten Class didn't get an award. I'll upload that film here in the next couple of days as it was far more deserving of an award.

Keep you all posted on the awards celebration.

What's the Story?

How did i end up at an Oasis concert in Hong Kong?

Whilst celebrating my birthday at a lovely Chicago-esque Bar and Grille the topic of the upcoming Oasis concert was mentioned. Gary, Candace's boyfriend mentioned that he wanted to go and i thought i might as well tag along.

Now anyone who knows me knows that Oasis isn't exactly being repeated on my iPod. In fact up until the time i got home last night, i had no Oasis songs on my iPod. They are a band whose music i have only sung on occasions where alcohol has lowered my inhibitions and find myself mumbling my way through the verses of "Wonderwall" or "Champagne Supernova" but i know most of the chorus.

After an hour and a half travelling on the ultra efficient trnasport system, i met up with Gary and his dad Lee who was in town on business. We met up just outside the arena whereby i ate the worst hamburger i have ever tasted. The meat was this light grey colour and it wasnt even cooked. Whoever cooked the burger somehow forgot to cook the main ingredient but that was ok as the burger, cheese and bread were fused together in a way that it looked like it just survived a nuclear blast.

As the countdown to the concert was heating up the brand spanking new arena was half empty. Our seats were on the lower deck facing the stage but just before the start of the concert there was a mass rush to the vacant seats that were stage left and right. So all the people that paid 750 HK found themselves sitting next to people that paid 400 bucks whose seats were next to ours. The three of us decided to move to the walkway which allowed us to stand about 20 meters from the side of the stage.

I didn't know what to make of it and i was very very surprised that the 13000 arena wasn't packed to the rafters with Brits deperate to hear the world's biggest pub rock band. Was it a case of bad promoting or the downhill slide of a once graet Brit rock band? Regardless the concert started and i had no idea of any of the songs though the rest of the crowd did. The band were playing very very tight and the Gallagher brothers were on song with their behaviour in terms of the crowd especially when lead singer Liam asked the crowd "Is there anyone from England here?" Pockets of the crowd scream..."Why are you still here?"

The band soon enough let loose "Wonderwall" , "What's the story morning glory" and "Don't Look Back in Anger" and i found myself singing to these songs as well as i could possibly remember them. The crowd was fantastic especially the Pommy guy who screamed "sing Champagne Supernova you Manc bastard!"

And soon enough they did.

Just under two hours later and with a brilliant cover of The Who's "My Generation" to send the crowd on its way home, i came home with the mission of downloading as many Oasis songs as possible. I may be 10 years late to the party but i'm looking forward to listening to what they have to offer.

Peps Place Movie Review: 'Gone with the Wind

Finally i now know why Scarlett O'Hara is such a bitch and why a womans scorn is compared to hers.

Last night from 6.30pm to 10.30pm Sabrina and I parked our asses on the couch and finally sat down to watch what has been described as one of the greatest motion pictures ever made.

No it wasn't Weekend at Bernies but the classic ...Gone with the Wind.

It was the first time that either of us had seen it and boy what an experience we had. First if all the pirated DVD we paid a dollar for kept stuffing up every 15 minutes so Sab and i in turns had to crouch down to the DVD player, eject the disc and just blow inside the player to get the disc working again.

Boy this film was fantastic! The time actually flew and with the numerous amounts of chocolate and biscuits to keep our stomachs happy we were on the edge of our seats especially in the final minutes of the film where Scarlett realises her feelings for Rhett after screwing him around for years. She is so mean and horrible and will do anything to get her way. She's amazing!

The basic story revolves around Scarlett O'Hara (played to perfection by Viven Leigh) who loves the dapper but quite frankly wanky Ashley. Scarlett though has captured the attention of the devislish Rhett (Clarke Gable) even though Scarlett just wants to be with the wanky softy Ash. With the American Civil War heating up and the old ways of the South coming to an end there is all sorts of confusio goin' on in lil' ol' Gerorgia.

This movie was the original soap opera. Fires, Births and even a dodgy horseriding accident couldn't stop this juggernaut from taking its place amoung the best films i've ever seen. The sweeping vistas of the Ol' South and the accompaning music were just perfect. It was so good that we sat though the film freezing up about 12 times. Is it too much to ask these days that your pirated DVD's have optimum audio and video? I think not.

This film gets my first 5 out of 5 even though Sab and I were screaming "Nooooo" at the TV when it froze just before the immortal line "Frankly my dear, i don't give a damn"

Ouite frankly, i'm glad i sat through it even if my ass was going into a coma.

I

Shoot Him! Shoot Him Now!!

If there is one thing in life that i believe in its this.

It doesn't matter where you come from, how old you are or what you do nothing is as funny as Daffy Duck getting his blown off by Elmer Fudd.

So tonight Sab and I decided to suscribe to the aptly named "Boomerang Channel" which has all the classic Looney Tunes, Jetsons, Flinstones and Wacky Races you can muster.

So with that i'd better get back to Pepe Le Pew acting like the stud that he is. He is the real Love Machine.

Peps Place Movie Review: 'Munich'

This is my first movie review for the blog so i hope you like it. To kick off preceedings its time to review 'Munich'

Steven Spielberg has been slowly making the transition from blockbusters to brainbuster films over the past 10 years. Sure his early work tinkered at the subject of human emotions but up until "The Colour Purple" all we saw from Steve was sharks, aliens and a sober Drew Barrymore (granted she was 5 years old at the time).

So earlier this afternoon Sabrina and i decided to head into town to watch Steve's latest film. Now from what i have read of the reviews so far there has been a lot of emphasis on the politics of the film rather than judging the film on its merits. It has been a sensitive topic for over 30 years (so sensitive that the International Olympic Committee has made no official memorial or statement about the matter) so with all the history behind this film has Steve finally made the transition from shorts to the big boys pants for good?

He certainly has.

'Munich' succeeds because not only of the usual Speilberg magic but of one element rarely seen in movies today...emotion.

For the three hours you are watching this film the screen pulls you into a world where a terrorists cause and a nations suffering are intersected by a group of five men determined to extract revenge. The leader of the group Avner (played brillantly by Melbourne boy Eric Bana) slowly self destructs when the machine of revenge starts to take over his thinking. It is a classic interpretation of a man thrust into a position out of loyalty to his country yet at odds with the loyalty to his young family. His 4 other team members each bring strength and strong character to the screen.

The look of the film is beautiful as there is a slight grainly 1970's feel to most of the picture which allows the audience to step back in time and be surrounded by the plight that stopped the world one september day in 1972. Before seeing this film i had purchased a copy of the Academy Award winning documentary 'One Day in September' to get myself pumped up to see this film. After watching the documentary, seeing the film and reading about the Munich massacre at various times during my life i can honestly say that i appreciate a hell of a lot more that im Australian. That may sound slighty selfish but in all honesty 'Munich' made me realise that here are no winners when it comes to ideology, religion or revenge.

During the film there are flashbacks to the actual kidnapping and holding of the hostages which Spielberg has tweaked to get your emotional pulses racing. I'm not a big fan of the words "Based on a True Story" or "Based on Real Events" as it gives directors the chance to flex too much artistic creativity rather than stick to the boundaries of the story but in 'Munich' Spielberg has delicately thread the needle of story telling again and ended up with a film though slighty drawn out makes you walk out of the theatre thinking about the world you live in.

That's a feeling that is rare in movies these days.

So on my scale i give 'Munich' 4 out of 5

Celebrate good times C'Mon!

Yeah i'm 27 now and i with this i have gained a new found sense of maturity...not.

My 27th birthday was a celebatory weekend filled with quiet moments and also crazy dares. Well considering i have never had dares to accomplish on my birthday i thought it was a crazy thing to do. The above picture was part of a series of dares that i had to accomplish but more on that later.

My birthday (which was last Friday) started out with a call from my Aunty Rhonda at 6.15am. Now my family is known for their early early morning phone calls so i was quite lucky that i got to sleep in till 6.15!

After a morning of phone calls which included mum and dad, i made my way to school where my morning kids wished me a happy birthday. Well it wasn't much a of a surprise as i reminded them all week that my birthday was on Friday. Anyways in the afternoon Sabrina and th afternoon kids surprised me with a birthday card and a cake which was really sweet. It was the best birthday i have celebrated ever!* (* = in a workplace situation)

Friday night Sab and i sat on the couch and destroyed all the chocolates sent to me as a present by Aunty Rhonda. I would also like to say a big thank you to Gran, Aunty Di & Aunty Loz for their presents (and they all fit thank you very much!) Also i would like to thank Louise for your lovely birthday card.

So Saturday rolls around and after a lovely lunch with some of my Chinese teachers it was out to dinner in the city with Sab and a few friends. After a lovely meal it was time to go out for a few drinks and also it was time to complete my birthday dares. Its a tradition in Hong Kong in our little group of friends to do some dares on your birthday. The dares that i had to accomplish were:

1. Get a condom off a woman - This took half an hour as it seemed that all the woman in Lan Kwai Fong suddenly became quiet. I finally got one off a drunk English girl.

2. Get three telephone numbers off women - Luckily the three Philipino ladies near the bar were nice enough to give me theirs.

3. Expose my chest (boobs and all) on the dancefloor. The above photo says it all

4. Walk out of the toilet with 2ft of toilet paper out of my jeans and go up to a woman and say "I had a good sh*t"

5. Go up to the largest guy i the room and ask him "Where can i meet men around here?" The guy was nice enough to tell me to "Propaganda. Up the hill and on the left" I was lucky to come out of that with my teeth and testicles.

6. Get to a bar and say "Who is the birthday Ho? I am! I am the birthday Ho!"

7. Go up to an attractive woman (yeah i know) and say "Whats up Doc? Hows your cock? Nothing wrong. Long and strong."

Needless to say i completed all these tasks and the night ended up at a Karaoke bar singing away till about 4am.

It was a lovely birthday and i'm thinking that next year i'd like to keep my shirt on.

And yes Dad, i remember what happened otherwise this blog wouldn't have been possible. I appreciate the sentiment though.

Have a great Valentines Day everyone or as it is known here at school "Friendship Day"

I'm going to Disneyland!!!

There are certain days during the year that have a special signifigance. For me they range from the solemn ANZAC Day to the silliness of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Today was Superbowl Sunday..well actually due to the time difference it was Mark Misses the Superbowl Monday. It still gets me every year and it's one event that i would love to experience live.

Now i'm not a huge fan of American Football but i have to tune into the telecast of the event that sums up all that is the good ol' USA. I love playing gridiron on the PlayStation back in Australia and i really enjoy watching the old NFL Films due to the slow motion footage and the voice of the guy who narrates them. He sounds like a slow motion car accident.

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers who i have a close connection to. Well i play them on the PlayStation so in reality its not that special.

As i'm writing this the last minute of the game is being replayed on ESPN. The usual celebrations have started and i'm waiting for the Gatorade dunk on the coach. Now as huge as an even the Superbowl is, i do have five issues with the event.

1. The game goes on for too long. With 15 minute quarters how does a game go for nearly 4 hours?
2. Coming from a country whose national code of football has tackles all the time, why do i have to see (Ok the coach has been dunked) big guys in pads almost Riverdance after smacking into an opposition player.
3. I believe God does not take sides on Gamedays. I don't think God woke up this morning and thought 'I'd have twenty on the Steelers.'
4. Why do famous overseas acts play the halftime show? If it is Americas premier sports event then i wouldn't allow bands like U2 and the Rolling Stones play and i would have chosen good home grown bands like Poison or even New Kids on the Block.

And why do all the players want to go to Disneyland? Go to a strip place or an all you can eat salad bar.

I come from a country where we don't have Disneyland so if i ever won a SuperBowl and the ESPN Commentator asked me where i was going to go after winning the SuperBowl i would pause for a second..clear my throat and say ......
"I'm gonna go the pub and destroy a Chicken Parma!"





Now

Thomas gets Tanked

Hi everyone

I did this one night when i was fiddling around with Apples iMovie program last year. I forgot all about it until i found it on my hard drive.

I think i've been working at a kindergarten too long.

What might have been...

Kong Hei Fat Choi!

No thats not the name of a new Asian action star but it literally means "have a successful year" in Cantonese. A couple nights ago Sab and I decided to go down to the harbourfront to watch the fireworks. I have always enjoyed a good fireworks show. Growing up i would always look forward to the fireworks show at the end of the night. When i was younger i used to go to see the Triple M Skyshow over Albert Park Lake. I loved walking to the lake, sitting down on the blanket and watching a fireworks display that was usually sychronised with the music of the day.

Then again saying that you loved watching a fireworks display with Def Leppard's "Rocket" playing in the background not only show my age but it could also be seen as a sign of sadness.

But i'm the bigger man here and as i found out, the only one who likes fireworks. Sabrina hates them. She can't see what all the fuss is about seeing coloured explosions in the air. I was surprised a little in the passion she had for not wanting to be there.

Anyways we were going to meet Candace and her boyfriend Gary and watch the fireworks together. Roads were blocked off and there were thousands of people everywhere so we had no chance to find them. The police would not allow us to get closer to the harbourfront which made us a little bit frustrated. Sab and I found ourselves stuck behind a subway entrance about 300 meters up the road. We found ourselves no where near the water and surrounded by thousands of people. This really made the experience of watching fireworks over the harbour really really shite.

The fireworks started and we could see bugger all. About 10 minutes in even i had to fly the white flag and so we decided to go to the Hard Rock Cafe and watch the fireworks whilst downing very very yummy food. A few minutes later Candace called as we were going ot meet them at the Hard Rock. Sabrina took the call and Candace was saying "we are here" we could not find them but they were there..sitting at the table next to us for the past 15 minutes and we didn't see them..they didn't see us.

So all in all it wasn't the best experience but luckily the new English teacher Fuji was also at the fireworks and got some great video and pictures. I'll upload the video when i get it next week off her.

Peps Place goes Multimedia

Hi everyone

On Australia Day i decided to make a little video for all you Aussies out there.

Enjoy.

Freddie versus "Freddie"

In one corner we have one of the greatest performers in music history - Freddie Mercury

In the other corner we have the greatest recreator of the Freddie Mercury experience - Craig Pesco

From now on the real Freddie Mercury will be known as Freddie

The guy who played Freddie Mercury in the show last night will be referred to as "Freddie"

Spot the difference between the two pictures?

The music of Queen has always been a part of my life. Ever since finding a well worn tape of their third album "A Night at the Opera" in the glove box of our brown 1986 Mitsubishi Magna, i have always loved hearing the music of this truely magical rock band. Throughout the years i've purchased a few albums, seen their musical 'We Will Rock You' and loved watching their 'Live From Wembley' concert on regular occasions. Any yes i still bang my head at the same part of "Bohemian Rapshody" as seen in 'Waynes World."

So when last december i was flicking through the South China Morning Post and saw an ad for "Queen - A Kind of Magic" tribut show, i immediatley had to tell Sab that we were going to see this show. She loves Queen as well and it was a chance to see what it would be like if we actually saw Queen live even though it was 'Queen Lite.' We made our way into the city after school for dinner and slowly made our way down to the Hong Kong Performing Arts Centre.

At the centre Sab and i were sitting on the stairs waiting to enter the theatre when she said to me in a rather hurried way "Is that Cathy Freeman?" Now the only thing i saw was the back of a full length woolen pink coat but a quick trip by both of us towards the exit doors confirmed that indeed it was Cathy herself. What she was doing in Hong Kong is beyond me and she was in the company of a very handsome male...what is it with her? I mean lets be honest she doesn't exactly get many pulses racing in the pants department but somehow she was with the guy from "Secret Life of Us" and now with this mystery man.

Sabrina wasn't this excited at seeing a celebrity since she saw former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes at the Australian Open.

For me it was getting the autograph of Condor the Gladiator at the grand opening of the Rebel Sport store at Highpoint Shopping Centre.

With that little adventure completed we made our way up the stairs to our seats and we had a pretty good view as there wasn't many people in front of us on the second level. After about 10 minutes started the show got underway with a ball busting cover of "One Vision." That was it, i was going to rock my ass off and sing off key for two hours and thats what we did. The theatre was about half full as it was the late show but the crowd was really getting into it. People were dancing in the aisles and singing away with the band. Queen hit after hit was pumped out including my personal favourites "A Kind of Magic" "Radio Ga Ga" (clap clap) and "Fat Bottomed Girls." There was one moment in the show where they played "Somebody to Love" which is my dad's favourite Queen song of all time. I remember growing up whenever that song came on the radio or on the CD player in the garage dad would always say "this is my favourite Queen song."

I wanted to call home during the song and hear dads reaction at listening to this song live at a concert but it was 3am in Australia and my battery was getting flat. The hits kept on coming and "Freddie" even put on the leather pants, fake boobs and wig for the performance of "I want to break free" which brought the house down. During "Bicycle Race" there was vision of nude women riding bikes which could be justified by "Freddie" when he said "every Queen show needs a bit of Vaudeville right?" I wasn't exactly going to interject any time soon.

The band were amazing and delivered perfect cover versions of their songs. Even though the bass player looked more like a Greek fish and chip shop owner than John Deacon, even though the guy playing lead guitarist Brian May had a black permed wig on him that looked like it was just stolen from the set of a porno, even though drummer Roger Taylor looked like a crazed madman in an ill fitting blonde wig... it didn't matter.

What about "Freddie" you ask?

He had the moves down pat, the swagger, the arrogance, the sexual energy, the guitar and piano playing as well. OK so as we found out later "Freddie" was actually from Surfers Paradise but he channel the spirit of Freddie and his performance was sensational. It made you change your thinking from 'here is a guy trying to be Freddie' to 'this guy reminds you all that was great about Freddie and Queen.'

After the show Sab and i both purchased a copy of a Freddie Mercury Biography written by his personal assistant of 12 years. His name was Peter Freestone and he was in the audience for the show. During the tribute to Freddie at the end of the show, "Freddie" told the crowd of his presence which brought to the show a little more sentimentality. The whole band came out and signed the book as well. They were all very freindly and invited the crowd to their after party at a local club in Lan Kwai Fong (a bar district on the island) which we didn't go too as we were pretty stuffed. Peter also signed his book and after a brief chat with Sab and I we were off home after a night of not only singing and dancing but of remebering why songs from Queen always make the two of us and any fans out there crying for more.

The biggest tragedy for Sab and I out of the night will be we never saw Freddie Mercury live.

In life sometimes close enough is good enough.

It really was a kinda magic.

My Top 10 Fair Dinkum Legends

It's that time of year again. That's right, the ol' gal is another year older.

And i'm not talking about the lady in the photo who by the way isn't a member of my family.

Any resemblance to a distant second cousin is purely coincidental.

So fire up the Webber, crack open the West Coast Cooler, fill up the Esky, burn some Safeway snags and go the tonk with your Grey Nichols Twin Scoop in a game of backyard cricket.

It's Australias Day to celebrate all that is being Australian. No-one exactly knows what it means to be Australian but as it changes every day but it doesn't matter. As long as you live in the big brown land, can appreciate the delight that is a Chicken Parma and say to your mate "yeah mate if she asked me..i'd have a crack" then your Aussie enough for me.

So to celebrate our day. i was bored last night and came up with my top 10 Fair Dinkum Australian Legends. Now i was bored and with that fatigue sets in so the choices may not agree with everyone. If you don't agree then make up your own top 10 list and send it to me. I'll post them.

So here are my Top 10. Enjoy

10. Steve Bradbury - At the 2002 Winter Olympic Games he won the gold medal in short track speed skating after deciding pre-race to stay at the back of the pack and watch the action unfold in front of him. At the final corner he was last before the other three competitors crashed into each other allowing steve to pass them and win the Gold.

9. Tony Barber - From his rythmic gymnastics displays of side stepping and fist pumping at the start of every episode of "Sale of the Century" to the disaster that was "Jeopardy" and the quiet torture that was "Wheel of Fortune" Tony has been giving away BMW's and AAT Tours to Alice Springs for over 30 years. He's released some forgerful albums as well and played at numerous Tatts Pokies venues around the country.

8. The D Generation - Where do you start with these guys. They came together at Melbourne University only to become the most successful comedy troupe in this nations history. Our funny bones have be smashed from pillar to post for over 20 years thanks to the genuis of these guys. From "Fast Forward" to "The Late Show" and yes "The Panel" to movies such as "The Dish" and "Crackerjack" no -one will ever come close to the impact the D Generation has had on Australian Comedy

7. Kerry Packer - A giant not only physically but in business but in real life. We loved hearing about how he bought Channel 9 for a third of the price of what he sold it for three years earlier. We loved it when he was breaking the house at the Vegas Casinos and we loved his no nonsence way of life. He gave us World Series Cricket which in turn gave us Australian Idol runner up Shannon Noll singing "Cmon Aussie Cmon" it's ok Kerry, we'll forgive you for that last one.

6. Professor Graeme Clark - A scientist? You betchya! His life long dedication to creating the cochlear implant (otherwise known as the Bionic Ear) allowed profoundly deaf people around the world to benefit from his 10 years of research and dedication. Now a global company, Dr Clarke still plays an active part in his quest for better techniques to help seriously deaf people hear the magic of the world around them, with the exception of when Australian Idol is playing on TV.

5. Cliff Young - When a 61 year old farmer from rural Victoria wearing tracksuit pants with holes cut into them for ventilation wins the first Westfield Sydney to Melbourne Ultra Marathon the whole nation was saluting this unsung hero. he was a quietly spoken man who loved the country life. The media couldn't get enough of him and well the ultra marathon slowly faded away a few years later. Still the sight of an old man shuffling down the street with thousands of people cheering him is reason enough to be here.

4. Jimmy Barnes - No one has made as much of an impact at Aussie 21st birthdays like Jimmy. How many times towards the end of a 21st has a crowd formed a circle , arms draped over each others shoulders and in a drunked stupor belted out the lyrics to "Khe Sahn" What would an Aussie 21st be without it? Kudos to his work in Cold Chisel and his two best solo albums "Working Class Man" and "Freight Train Heart"

3. Paul Hogan - The qunitessntial Aussie guy. A former painter on the Sydney Harbour Bridge who turned his hand to comedy. His work on "The Paul Hogan Show" rates as one of the most consistently funny shows to be shown on TV. I loved it as a kid and i still love it now. For me, my favorite comedy sketch of all time was his "World Series War" skit. Add to the fact he made two Crocodile Dundee films too many and told Americans we love shrimp on a barbie, it still doesn't compare to seeing him as Leo Wanker.

2. Bruce Samazan - He became a staple on Australian televisions in the early 1990's with his work in "Neighbours" and "EStreet". His general poor acting and floopy haired image made hime the perfect recipient of the 1992 Most Popular Male Peronality at the TV Week Logie Awards. Since then his work on the small screem has decresed to random episodes of "Beauty and the Beast" and the occasional "Where are they now" type show. With his real passion being real estate, Bruce still makes the list as he lived the Australian dream and is now getting bagged for it every single day since he was 23. Good onya Samaz, you're a legend if you still get your name in the papers more than the hot blonde from "Paradise Beach"

1. All of Us - Sure it may be the soft option but if you don't like it you can go and get stuffed! From the local butcher to the shady bloke at the footy club who can get stuff "hot from the docks" we are all fair dinkum legends in my book. Every Australian, wether born here or overseas has added a small dimension to this great story that is our country. We love to have a good laugh and we are always helping each other out when its really needed. We may not agree with each other all the time but at the end of the day it doesn't rally matter. As long as we can have a drink and a chinwag afterwards then all is forgotten.

Happy Birthday Australia.

Sab and i made lamingtons for our kids. We'll keep you updated on the verdict. By the way they look like shite. Literally.

Shock! Horror! The letter 'M' strkies again!

Whoever thought the letter 'M' could cause such trouble?

No i'm not talking about MC Hammer, Macaulay Culkin or Marky Mark

You're probably wondering why i have posted that question to you all. Well here is the answer.

Last Monday my crazy Lower Kindergarten Class had to practise writing the letter M. Well i forgot to write the letter M in three of the kids books before they started the exercise. So i quickly wrote the letter M and before i knew it, my co-teacher Miss Tsang was getting blasted in Chinese by our supervisor Anna because my 'M' wasn't perfectly written.

Now Anna told me afterwards that her reaction to the flawed 'M' s was in response to parents concerns that some students were not being taught the "proper" way. Now if anyone has seen my handwriting then i really should have been a doctor as we all know their handwriting sucks. To any doctors who are reading this..seriously your writing sucks.

Anyways i felt like shite because i wasn't being told off in the manner that Miss Tsang was and i felt really sorry for her. She was busy preparing the kids cooking program for this month (which was a 'traditional' Chinese New Year sesame ball) which leads me to this conclusion...

Hong Kong parents are the most anal retentive i have ever some across.

If a parent is concerned that an 'M' isn't written the 'proper' way, if a parent says that another student teased them and the other child should be punished (even though the remark was in Cantonese and even though i have been here over a year, i don't understand the language) even though a parent thinks their child is so smart that when i asked some of them the simplest questions (how old are you?) they have no idea how to answer..then i'm sorry Hong Kong Parents in general are anal retentive.

Here are some things i have picked up about the Hong Kong parental Lifestyle:

- Some of the parents are actually quite nice. They do take a dedicated interest in not only their educational but social needs as well. These parents usually understand that coming from a different backgound, western teachers do things differently and as long as their kids have all ten fingers at the end of a day, a smile on their face and some stickers in their workbook for an excellent job well done, then they are happy with the status quo.

- Remember..i just said some

- Most parents here are too dedicated to their childs development at school not only because of their academic acheivments but because good grades get you into that exclusive primary school and boy ...do parents here love to brag about that. "My sone is going to ......school." I'll get some names of primary schools around here and you can compare the school names here to where you went to school.

- Parents will ring up the school and blast the Chinese teachers if their son or daughter comes home with either a wrong letter in a word or a date was stamped not at a perfect 90 degrees on a worksheet.

- One parent in particular in my class is well known for causing trouble. I remember her getting angry over the way the buses were coming into the school carpark after a field trip because they were taking a long time to actually get into the car park. I watched her from inside the bus. She was waving her arms about and had a very angry ' i could do it this way' look on her face. Remember big bus, little roads....these things take time. She complains about everything. This same parent said i was a bad influence on her son becasue he was fighting with his older brother at home. My god i have an older brother, brothers fight! It's tradition! Can't pin that on me babe!

- One parent asked about the 'leadership qualities' of their 4 year old child. Enough said.

- Some parents let kids sit in the front seat of the car whilst their adult helpers sit in the back. Arrogance being taught at an early age

- Parents here don't know how to control thier children.

- Some actually try with candy but not only do the kids teeth go rotten but when there is no candy and the children want something..the kids go ballistic!

- The parents here spoil their kids far too much. It's disgusting.

- Rather than saying that moneys a bit tight this month, the parents usually pull the kids out if they know they are not going to get a full months education then stick them back in if they know they will.

- Some parents just shop all day and leave the raising of their children to the helpers.

- According to Miss Tsang, last week i said something to a kid which made him not want to come to school anymore. I found out later that it wasn't me but one of the helpers who change pants due to pee/poo spilled liquid who said it.

Well thats just the parents and as for the kids...soft. SOFT I TELL YOU

"Mr Mark..Jerry pushed me" - A push in Australian Primary Schools usually meand Dettol and 3 band-aids afterwards
"Mr Mark I don't want to play" - 5 year old boy not wanting to play with building blocks. Too scared
"Mr Mark Isabelle took my rubber and she won't give it back" - Well just ask her nicely

As i have tried to put into words how things work over here, there is so much more to say that can be better explained in a real conversation. So to all you people intrigued by teaching in Asia...listen to Markey when he says " Make sure your M's are Marvellous"



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Hit the road Mac!

Steve Jobs
Chief Executive Officer
Apple Computer

He co-founded Apple
He gave the world the Graphical User Interface
He gave the world the Apple Macintosh
He gave us the Apple iPod

He produced a computer the equivalent of a Holden Camira

I was lucky enough to purchase that model.

Now Steve Jobs has been someone that i have been intrigued by since i was about 18. Honestly part of the reason i switched to the iBook was because of what he was able to do with the Apple brand. I got suckered in by the iBooks looks, software and also the belief that i was somewhat 'different' by switching my computers allegiances to a company with a world wide computer share of 5%

With this weeks Macworld Expo confirming the switch of Apple from IBM Power PC's to Intel's Dual Core processors, the question "Will i buy another Mac now that the company has switched to Intel?"

Answer - HELL NO

You see Steve, while you tout the new iMacs and laptops i have been burned by the lack of reliability of your G3 ibook. So for the laptop i purchased has:

- Broken down 7 times since July 2003
- Each time has been a faulty logic board
- One time my wireless card was faulty which was draining power from my display which caused in to be literally dark.
- I live over an hour away from the service centre by the way

Also my 20GB iPod was replaced 4 times because it kept freezing up. When it went missing after a guy in Vietnam decided not to give it back to me after i left it with him to upload songs to it over night, i purchased an iPod mini in Singapore and that has actually surprised me and up until Christmas hadn't caused me any troubles until Thailand.

So Steve i would like to say. Your Apple Computer Company can go and get stuffed. I will not be purchasing another mac product and my next laptop will be a PC. But ill try to run your software on it though, that i admit kills Microsoft.

Next time i won't be "thinking different"

I'll be "just thinking"