Jeff Salchow Down Under

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APEC Preparations
2007-08-27 14:20:00
The past 3-4 weeks have been very quiet for me. Other than the Cure shows and a few nights out with friends, I haven't done much more than work. We are short staffed at LB so I am wearing several hats which is getting pretty old. There are lots of interesting career opportunities here in Sydney that wouldn't require me to work this many hours or be pulled this thin, hmmmm. I have a new project manager starting in a few weeks. Once he is up to speed, things should get better for me. If they don't, there may be some postings soon about a new job. Stay tuned.The big news in Sydney lately has been around all the preparations for the upcoming APEC meeting. With the leaders of the US (yes, George W is coming), Russia, Japan, China, etc. coming to town, the entire city will be basically shut down for several days. The city has officially declared Friday, Sept 7 as a public holiday so anyone that works in or near the CBD (downtown) has the day off from work including me. The train lines ...
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Double Dose of the Cure
2007-08-12 14:27:00
After all my waiting and anticipation, I was very handsomly rewarded this weekend by two fantastic Cure shows. The concerts were at the Sydney Entertainment Centre which is the worst place to see a show. I saw Kylie and the Scissor Sisters at this venue and was amazed at how unenthused and bored the crowds seemed to be. Lucky for me, the Cure had general admission floor seats and I was smart enough to get these tickets for both nights.Here is a video of Love Song. This was pretty much my vantage point for both shows, maybe 10 meters from the stage.Thursday night, I was on my own. I showed up at the venue early to make sure I got a good spot up front. The band came on around 8 and played a 3+ hour set with 39 songs. Wow! On Friday, I went with my good friend Ryan. We enjoyed a few beers before the show but still got there early enough to get pretty close to the stage. The second show was much darker (which means much better by my standards) and another 3+ hours but this time, althoug...
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The Editors
2007-08-05 14:13:00
It is Sunday night after another pretty typical weekend here in Sydney. On Saturday, I made the long journey (traffic was terrible) to Ikea with Kieran (who is the Digital Creative Director at LB) and his Canadian girlfriend Kate. They just moved into a new place and needed lots of stuff, I was itching to spend some money on a bunch of cheap crap so we all got what we were looking for.Last week, I went to see the Editors with Ryan and Kieran at a little downtown club called the Metro. I think every city in the world has a club called the Metro. The club here is very similar to the one in Chicago, small venue that up-and-coming bands play. It was a great place to see a show. The band was OK, they are sort of a rip off of a rip off as they sound just like Interpol who borrows their sound from a few of the big 80s alternative bands. The lead singer appeared to have a mental defect or maybe just needed a little ritalin. Or maybe I am just getting too old for these things. hehe After the...
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New Mexican
2007-07-28 17:03:00
I am so excited about a new Mexican take away restaurant that just opened in the Cross. I have eaten there a few times now, it would be incredibly average Mexican food in the States but for Australia, this shit is good!! I must have eaten Mexican 4 or 5 times on my trip home. I had it for my first real dinner in Chicago and for my last meal in LA before I headed to the airport on my way home. Just trying to highlight my love of the fajita burrito.One thing I couldn't help but notice about this place, it is a complete copy of the American restaurant Chipotle. It is an interesting thing about Australia, there are several stores that are exact replicas of ones I know back home. There is a store called Bunnings Warehouse which is total copy of HomeDepot down to the hand written price signs and TV commercials. I did a little reseatch and learned that Bunnings has no affiliation with HomeDepot. I guess some entrepreneurial Aussie went over and studied the business and came back here to ...

Nada Down Under
2007-07-28 16:37:00
So I have been pretty lax about posting here lately. No real reason, just haven't had much to write about since I got back from the States. Work is busy busy busy which has kept me really busy. Ugh. I also started working out with a trainer 3x a week so I can be beach-ready when summer rolls back around in Nov (that still sounds strange). The past few weekends, I have been out alot with my friend Scott who is nothing but trouble. Scott is an alcohol fueled Energizer bunny. When it comes to the boys and the booze, he just keeps going and going and he manages to drag me along with him (which isn't really that hard to do). While I was back in America, I had several friends ask why my blog was so PG rated and "boring" (fuck all of you). Well, when Scott and I run around, lots of things happen which won't get posted here. Tonight I went to see the movie Knocked Up with Michael. No Joe tonight because he just left for a three week trip to Chicago. The movie was absolutely terrible! Ugh...
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Return to Winter
2007-07-19 13:55:00
I am back in Australia after nearly three weeks of fun and frolic in the US. I spent a couple weeks running with friends in LA and Chicago as well as several days with my sister and her family in Cleveland. It was an incredibly fun but exhausting trip which I will post about very soon.I have been back now for about a week and lucky me, it has been coldest weather Sydney has seen since the 1980s (highs in the 50s and lows around 40). I am slowly settling back into life down under. Work is insane as always. My little pug was well looked after by my friends Ryan and Tam. When I got him back, he walked inside my house and passed out on his bed within a few minutes. They wore him out!I was jet lagged for a few days, not bad at all compared to other trips. I lucked out on my flight from LA when the guy next to me decided to move to Economy (I had upgraded to Economy Plus - la de da) to sit with friends so I was able to spread out. I passed out without taking my sleeping pill and slept for...
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Control
2007-06-17 13:00:00
I just went to see the film Control which was playing here as part of the Sydney Film Festival. Control is the biopic about Ian Curtis and the band Joy Division directed by Anton Corbijn. I went with my friend Ryan who is also a big JD fan. The film only showed twice during the festival and sold out very quickly, probably because of all the awards and good reviews. As we walked in, I couldn't help wonder if most of these people (lots of old ladies) actually knew what they were seeing or cared as much as I do about this story and band.The film was absolutely fantastic but very dark and sad as you would expect (if you know the story). I was amazed as I watched it because it felt so real, as though you were watching a documentary. The actors were cast really well and were spot on to the real guys from the band. I had to keep reminding myself that the lead in the movie was an actor and not Ian Curtis himself.There was a great scene at the end of the film when the three remaining member...

Good Stuff and Bad Stuff
2007-06-16 04:29:00
Here is a quick update from Sydney. I am busy as a bee getting ready for my trip home. There are lots of things going, some good and some bad. Let me start with the bad so we can end this post on a positive note.THE BAD:-My Cleveland Cavaliers got swept yesterday in the NBA Finals. Even though they got stomped, I am still very proud of the team. Last year they nearly made the finals, this year they made it and lost, so next year........-Work is insane right now. My good friend Andrew is leaving in two weeks for a new job and we were understaffed with him so now I am interviewing people while trying to keep it all together. Being the boss it not easy. Add in the fact that I am going away for three week and it is complete insanity.-The weather here is officially total crap. It has gotten quite cold (low 50s) and has been pouring down rain on and off for a couple weeks. I actually turned on my heat twice this week which I didn?t expect I would ever do. As I write this, huge clouds are ...
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Go Cavs Go!
2007-06-06 13:50:00
This week, my hometown pro basketball team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, beat the thugs of Detroit to advance to their first ever NBA Championships. This is such a big deal to me and to everyone who grew up in northeastern Ohio. Cleveland has suffered more than any major US city, waiting for one of our professional sports team to win a championships. In the 80s, I endured the heartbreak of the Cleveland Browns losses to Denver in the NFL playoffs. In the early 90s, I watched my Cavs lose year after year by Michael Jordan and the Bulls. In the late 90s, the Cleveland Indians made a couple of World Series only to lose to the likes of Atlanta and Florida (I had the added misfortune of living in Atlanta the year they beat us). Ugh.I have an American friend at work named Karen. Karen is in Sydney as part of a program where Leo Burnett swaps employees from offices so people can experience what is it like to work around the world. Karen swapped places with my friend Tam who is in Chicago now. ...

Hiking at the Royal National Park
2007-06-04 15:00:00
Last Saturday, I got up at the crack of dawn (7am) and headed back to the Royal National Park . My friends Ryan and Tam invited me to join them for a 10k along one of the many trails in the park.Last time I went to the RNP, I spent most of the time lounging at Watamala Beach so I was very keen to go back and do a little hiking.We met up at a nearby coffee shop to get a little morning pick me up before driving to the park. It was a perfect morning, sunny and about 65 degrees. We hiked along our trail which cut through some forest and bush before leading us to the cliffs which overlook the sea. It is just an amazing view. We explored an area where a waterfall has carved some deep trenches into the cliffs. It was a really cool site. Here are a few shots from our lovely hike:Here is a shot of the cliffs facing south. That is Tam in the distance. You can see my shadow on the rocks below waving.Here is the view looking north. You can see the mist that is rising up from the surf crashing be...
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Still Ill - Part 4 Post Op
2007-05-25 14:42:00
Last Tuesday, I had my surgery and all went really well. The entire experience was pretty uneventful. I was a little stressed leading into it (general anesthesia worries me a bit) but it all went really smoothly.The operation was at St. Luke Hospital which is about a five minute walk from my apartment. I checked in and got taken to my room which was very nice and modern. The hospital is old but is undergoing a complete rennovation so I was on a new floor. I did notice how quiet it was, there were very few patients or hospital staff around. If it has been America, there would have been alot more people buzzing about.It was around 7pm when I finally got back to my room (surgery started around 2:30pm). I was still pretty groggy and in a little pain so I decided to stay the night. My doctor wanted me to stay but said it was up to me. I spent the night watching about 6 episodes of Survivor Fiji that my friend Andrew downloaded for me. I checked out in the morning and headed home. I was f...
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Still Ill Part 3 - Surgery
2007-05-21 12:46:00
So I went to the Ear Nose and Throat doctor with my catscan. He looked at my x-rays, stuck a camera up my nose (I did get to look inside, nothing too exciting), and came to the consulsion that I will require surgery. Turns out I have a deviated septum as a result of a broken nose I suffered 10+ years ago in a car accident when I lived in Atlanta. My left nostral is obstructured and cannot drain properly. My recent cold and sinus infection and some pretty intense allergies have led me to my current situation. Tomorrow I am checking myself into the hospital so I can have a functional endoscopic sinus surgery. I have been asking around and it seems this is a pretty common procedure albeit an unpleasant one. I am getting a general so will be knocked out when they go in and open up my airways with a little knife and then start draining my stuffed up sinuses. In American, this is an outpatient procedure but I will probably spend the night in the hospital.Oliver is going to Ryan and Tam's...
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More From Binalong - Pug on the Farm
2007-05-15 13:48:00
So I posted my ballooning stories, now here is a little summary of the rest of our fun weekend in Binalong. We drove down to the farm after work on Friday. Scott, Andrew, Oliver and I were in one car but eventually met up with Cath and James so Andrew could switch cars. As we drove, it was amazing to me how dark it is, there is nothing out there.When we arrived at the farm, Oliver ran around and checked out the yard. As he relieved himself on the fence that divided the yard from the pasture, a horse appeared out of nowhere, popping his head over to investigate this strange little flat faced creature. Oliver went nuts, barking and spinning around. After a few minutes, the horse lost interest and walked off into the darkness.We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the house with the whole group including Sean, Yoshi and Myumi. They had just arrived at the farm as we pulled up.We got up very early on Saturday and went up in the balloon. After flying, we headed into town for brunch...
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Ballooning in Binalong
2007-05-09 15:12:00
I just had one of the best weekends since I arrived in Australia. I got the chance to get out of Sydney to go hot air ballooning. It was an absolute blast!My coworker and friend Andrew is a competitive balloon pilot and invited me to join him and a few others down at his family farm in a town called Binalong. Binalong is about three hours southwest of Sydney out in the middle of nowhere.I was thrilled to get out of town for a weekend and really excited about flying in a balloon. Last July, I was involved in a video shoot for work. We shot footage of the ALPO hot air balloon (for my client Purina) at a festival outside Chicago. But the weather wouldn?t cooperate and we never got to fly the balloon.I invited my friend Scott to come along. Scott is an American that I have been running around with lately, causing trouble. Andrew?s wife Cath and little boy James came down as did one of his good friends, Sean, who is a fellow balloon pilot. Rounding out the group was a Japanese couple tha...
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Still Ill Part 2
2007-05-07 14:34:00
It has now been seven weeks since I caught the cold which led to my lovely sinus infection that I am still battling. I have seen two doctors (the first guy sucked so I found a better one), taken three different types of antibiotics, and sprayed all kinds of solutions and stuff up my nose, trying to knock this thing out. No luck.This week I am going to get a cat scan to see what is blocking my sinuses and then going in to see an Ear Nose and Throat specialist. Apparently, he will be taking a camera which is on the end of a fiber optic cable and sticking it up my nose. If there is any serious blockage, I will likely need to have surgery. How does a simple cold (I wasn't really ever that sick) turn into me having surgery? I am trying to focus on the positives (my extra sexy voice, new insights into the Australian medical system) but this experience has cost me lots of money and is killing my social life. If I end up having surgery, maybe I will ask for a new nose. Keep an eye out for ...
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League Comps Wraps Up
2007-05-06 11:05:00
Bad news to report from the tennis courts. After an excellent season and a first place finish heading into the playoffs, Glenn and I bit the dust in the semifinals. We played the team that we beat in the Mardi Gras tourament semis so I guess fair is fair.It was great to play with Glenn. He and I got on perfectly as a team and as friends. I really struggled with the slippery surface, the lights on the courts, my insane sinus infection, and the return of some of my wrist problems, but Glenn was always really supportive and did a nice job of carrying the load when needed. Hopefully, he and I will get to play again soon, with a better result.The next couple of comps don't sound too interesting (they rotate league formats to keep it interesting) so I will probably take a little time off from tennis and rest my wrist. I am going to an orthopedic doctor, a physical therapist, a chiropractor, and even considering acupuncture, all in an effort to find a little relief. If that doesn't work,...
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ANZAC Day
2007-04-26 14:43:00
This past Wednesday was ANZAC day in Australia. ANZAC stands for Australia New Zealand Armed Forces and the day itself is basically the same as Memorial Day in the States. It is always on April 25, whatever day that may be and unfortunately this year, that was a Wednesday so everyone had a day off in the middle of the week.The Tuesday night before, I went to dinner with my friend Dave. Dave is an irish guy I have been hanging out with a bit. We went for Thai and ordered some yummy spicy food. Problem is, the steroid inhaler I am using for my sinus infection has completely killed my sense of smell and taste. We ate the food, I could feel the heat of the spices but tasted nothing. Ugh.We went out for a few drinks after, running between the rain showers to a few pubs in the neighborood. It has poured for four straight days, winter is here and so is the rain. Everyone talks about this terrible draught here, I am not seeing it.I didn't do too much on the actual day, chilled out at home ...

Wilco
2007-04-24 04:15:00
I am still battling my never ending cold. Believe it or not but I am now entering week 5 of this nasty cough and incredible sinus infection. Am I dying? I think so. Going to see doctor # 2 this week (doctor #1 was pretty lame and very unconcerned about my terminal flu).In between coughing fits, I am still trying to have a life. Last weekend, I went to see the Chicago band Wilco perform at a great little club in Newtown called the Enmore Theatre. I have done a piss poor job of keeping informed on concerts here but did managed to sign up for a few online newsletters that keep me (somewhat) in the loop. A few weeks back, I got an email for the Wilco show. I am not a huge fan but have always enjoyed them and was very interested to see how the fans would receive the band. On a whim, I forwarded the email to my friend Scott (aka Scubs or Scubby or the Scrubs) back home. Scott?s best friend Jaimii?s sister is married to Glenn, the drummer of the band (is that confusing?). I wasn?t really e...

Still Ill
2007-04-16 14:10:00
Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Truth is, not too much has been going on around here. The main reason for the lack of posts has been because I have been battling the most unpleasant sinus infection and case of bronchitis that I have ever had in my life. I have had a pounding, pressure-filled sinus headache for about 2 solid weeks and a grinding cough for even longer. Last week, I finally gave in and went to the doctor to get some antibiotics. I am at day 6 of these horse pills and not seeing much of a change. Ugh.Since my Earth Hour post, I had a nice long Easter weekend. In Australia, Easter is a huge travel weekend. Nearly everyone has the Friday and Monday around Easter off so people tend to travel to enjoy the last few weeks of summer weather.I originally planned a trip to Byron Bay with my friend Marie but she had to cancel because her flatmate moved out with all the furniture. Byron Bay is about 4 hours drive north of Sydney and supposed to be really tropical and beautif...
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Earth Hour
2007-04-02 14:58:00
On Saturday night, March 31, an estimated 2.2 million Sydney-siders participated in Earth Hour , an event created to raise awareness around the issue of global warming. Earth Hour started out a simple idea between my agency (Leo Burnett) and one of our clients, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The idea grew and grew and eventually became a huge event that got a good deal of press all around the world.The concept was very simple, the people of Sydney were asked to turn off all lights for one hour on a Saturday night. This effort was the first of many in a campaign by WWF that aims to reduce Sydney's greenhouse emissions by 5% in 2007 and a resounding success. On the Friday before (March 30), there were 60,000 people signed up to shut off their lights but when it was all said and done, over 2 million actually did it. That is amazing!Pretty much everyone in my office was involved with this, one way or another. We did TV and radio commerercials, lots of print and digital work, tons of PR ...

A Change is Coming
2007-03-27 13:41:00
Over the past few weeks, I have noticed a little change in our weather here in Sydney. It has been fun to have summer in January and February but after about 11 straight months of warm weather (I left Chicago in Sept when it was still warm), I am actually ready for autumn. The seasons here are pretty much the exact reverse of Chicago. You can flip-flop the calendar by six months if you want to know what we have weather-wise. March in Sydney is like September in Chicago, beautiful sunny days and cooler nights. I noticed the first hints of a change a few weeks back after we had a couple cooler days. But each time we had one, it was followed by a stretch of warm and really humid weather. This past weekend, it became a little more obvious that summer is coming to an end. I spent a good part of Saturday afternoon at Bondi with my friend Joe. It was a lovely day, I even got a little sunburnt after just an hour or so at beach. But we had to cut our afternoon short when a big storm suddenly...
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Harbour Bridge Turns 75
2007-03-19 13:43:00
This weekend was the Harbour Bridge 's 75th birthday celebration which was a pretty big deal here in Sydney. There were lots of articles in the papers and news stories on TV leading up to the celebration, all about the history of the bridge and some of the political circumstances that surrounded its construction. I love that kind of stuff, it really reminded me of Chicago and all of its history.The celebration included a few big parties, a ribbon cutting ceremony, and an all day walk across. I had reluctantly agreed to do the walk with my friend Marie. I really don?t like huge crowds but I had never done the walk across before (even though I take the train across it every day) so I said OK. That is when fate stepped in. A few days before the big birthday celebration, a train full of passengers broke down just south of the bridge which brought the entire transit system to a halt. In the end, 30,000 commuters were stranded and forced to find alternative transport home. There is a big...
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Mary and Elizabeth
2007-03-19 12:54:00
A couple weeks ago, two of the largest ships in the world arrived in Sydney for a little rendez-vous in the harbour. The Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth 2 met here as part of the celebration for the QM2's maiden voyage around the world. Since Australia is still part of the commonwealth, they still really like this kind of stuff. The QE2 docked at the cruise ship warf at Circular Quay but the QM2 had to dock at the navy base in Woolloomooloo (just down the hill from me) because it was so big, it wouldn't fit anywhere else. Both ships are too tall to fit under the Harbour Bridge. To celebrate their arrival, the city planned a big fireworks display in the harbour.When I came up from the train in Kings Cross, I saw tons of people walking towards the water and a huge traffic jam. Everyone wanted to check out the ships. I went to softball but got home in time to grab Oliver and head down to watch the fireworks.A quick local geography recap, Elizabeth Bay/Potts Point (my hood) is si...
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The Cure Down Under
2007-03-17 05:39:00
Anyone that knows me knows that I am painfully obsessed with the Cure . My love for this band has lasted over two decades and doesn't seem to be diminishing at all, even with some of their questionable choices recently (Robert Smith singing with Korn???? ugh). They have a new album coming out in a few months and will be touring to support it. I have a trip to the States planned for June/July and have been keeping my eye out for concert dates, just hoping I would get lucky and be in the US when they are playing. Today, I went to the Cure's website and learned that I will indeed be seeing them this year, in Australia!!!!! They are coming here in August. This is big news which has me feeling pretty lucky because they have only played here a few times in their 30 years as a band. Here is a photo from when I met Robert in 2000. Anyone want to go to a concert?
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Second Place Softball
2007-03-12 13:34:00
After a nearly flawless season, my teammates and I came up a little short in our softball tournament. We lost one game all year and killed the first two teams that we played in the round-robin tournament. The final game pitted us against the other 2-0 team from the group in a winner-take-all battle. All season, I have struggle with our team's coach. He has little to no understanding of how to play softball, let alone how to coach it. He asked for suggestions and then would completely ignore them. He routinely chose to bench me and a few of the stronger players so other people could get more time to learn how to play. I didn't have a problem with this during the regular season but was kind of pissed when he decided to sit me in the last inning of our final game. The other team scored a ton of runs against our error-proned defense and we never recovered. It was pretty frustrating.All in all, the season was pretty fun and I really liked most everyone on our team (excluding our coach...
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Another Year...
2007-03-05 15:43:02
I celebrated my bday today here in Sydney. I am not exactly a fan of this aging stuff but I guess it is going to happen no matter how much I resist.It was a crappy, rainy day in Sydney today, perfect for a Monday back at work but not quite what you want for your birthday. It seems my company gives employees a day off on your birthday. Since no one told me, in I went. Considering the crap weather, would have sucked to take the day off anyway.I managed to make it through the day without much fuss made (most people didn't believe it was my bday anyway cos I was in the office when we have the day off). After work, I ran through the rain to meet up with Joe and Michael. They took me out to a great Italian restaurant in Potts Point (just up the hill from my apt). We had a great time chatting and enjoying some good food and vino. It was raining most of the night but we were covered by the awning so it was actually really perfect. This Friday, I am going out with a group of folks for a mor...
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Mardi Gras Tennis Tourney
2007-03-05 15:43:02
In January, I signed up to play in the Tennis Sydney summer comp (gay tennis group's summer league). They hold a couple comps per year and each time, they mix up the format. For this comp, it is a team format playing a blend of singles and doubles. Teams consist of 2 or 3 players who play 5 sets against another team each week. For every set won, each team earns a point and at the end of the 10 weeks, the four teams with the most points will qualify for the playoffs.Generally, here is how the matches go:Set 1 - doublesSet 2 - #1 singlesSet 3 - doublesSet 4 - #2 singlesSet 5 - doublesI didn't really know enough people to find a partner on my own so I had asked one of the league directors to help match me up. Eventually, I got paired with a guy named Glenn. Gleen and I talked a few times but never managed to get together before the league started. On the night of our first match, we went to warm up an hour before so we could at least get a little familiar with each other's game.Glen...
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Return to Melbourne
2007-03-02 03:41:02
Just over a year ago, my friend Scott and I arrived in Melbourne as tennis tourists to see some Aussie Open matches and then travel around Australia. The trip was fantastic and obviously set some things in motion that ultimately resulted in me being here and writing this blog. One year later, I went back to the scene of the crime. I had planned to go to Melbourne with my friend Paul for the middle weekend of the Australian Open for a few months. We had bought tickets and made our hotel and flight arrangements. Just before we left, my friend John decided to join us for a few of the days. I dragged John to the Sydney Medibank tournament which really seemed to reignit his interest in tennis. Since he is in Australia to hang out (jerk dones't work) for a few weeks, he had some extra time on his hands for the Open.We arrived separately in Melbourne on Wed night. Paul had screwed up his flight arrangements and at the last minute, was forced to buy new tickets which got him in much later....
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Melbourne's Midsumma Festival
2007-03-02 03:41:02
On Friday, we all headed to the tennis center for an amazing line up. Paul and I had seats in Rod Laver Arena and John had a grounds pass which meant we had to be a little slick about getting him in and juggling seats. It was another cloudy, rainy day so the roof was closed for our matches. The tennis on the outside courts was also a little delayed.First up was Serena Williams vs Nadia Petrova which was a blast. On Thursday, I saw Serena practicing on an outside court and got to see firsthand how big she really is. On the court, she is a little slower and takes some extra time between points but has the same deadly power as always. I don't think these two ladies like each other much. There were a few articles with Petrova talking about how nobody fears the Williams sisters any more. Petrova was winning the match and should have closed it out in straight sets. All of the sudden, she got nervous and Serena got pissed. Next thing we knew, Serena won six straight games and eventually t...
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A Day With The Tom Club
2007-03-02 03:41:02
Saturday morning was a little slow for Paul and I since we both had big nights. We had to be up reasonably early to coordinate our tennis tickets and getting over to Vodaphone in time for the matches.It was the third straight day of crappy weather. If I hadn't seen the dirt brown landscape, I would never have believed this place was experiencing such a terrible draught. We had tickets to spend the day in a corporate box that Jo and Lore use every year for their company. I met these two fine ladies last year when Scott and I were in Melbourne. My old friend David connected us last year and Jo and Lore could not have been any nicer or more hospitable. It may seem strange or somewhat out of character for me to say this but it was their amazing kindness and generosity that made me think I wanted to live in Australia. They did so much more for Scott and I than anyone would normally do for a stranger, even ones with a mutual friend. It was Jo and Lore that explained Midsumma to Scott and...
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