Happy Royal Wedding Day!

Does it seem to anyone besides me that this event is getting to be as commercialized as Christmas? Crappy royal wedding inspired Lifetime movies (that I watched, shame on me!), flags, plates, coins, stamps, doccos on the royal family, and now commemorative TEA BAGS!


How British does it get?




My personal favorite part of this whole Whimsical Windsor Fest is the girl who found a jelly bean with Kate's face on it... and expects to receive nearly $1000 USD for a jelly bean! Now that, my friends, signals madness!!!!



Anywho, happy viewing :)

Spontaneous Hike

So we set out with a packed car on Friday for our Riverland Camping Adventure, only for the car to severely overheat when we attempted to climb any semblance of an incline. So camping got postponed until we called up every car rental place in town to find whatever vehicle they had left. We ended up scoring a Toyota Yaris, but had to wait until midday Sunday to take off in it. I was saddened by the lack of outdoor activity until my boyfriend suggested biking to the hills for a hike. This three hour trek (about 40 min biking uphill, an hour + up, an hour down and biking back) was really fun and scenic. We took a new hiking route which put us in the center of a prescribed burn area with lots of roos! See pics below. Actual camping photos to follow.

Easter Weekend Is Now Over

Mom's Easter package joins the mix. This still isn't all the chocolate in the house!

Commonwealth Confusion

Australians get the second Monday of June off every year to celebrate the Queen's birthday. Pretty cool to have the day off, but pretty confusing considering her birthday is TODAY, April 22! What?!

Happy Easter!

Looks like camping is a go. Today was the last day before the weekend, and everyone failed to mention that Easter is a gift giving holiday.. I was the only a-hole who showed up the work without chocolates to hand out! Here is a pic of the choco-Aussie-family that I've distributed among the household:




L-R
Bilby, bunny, wombat, bilby, bunny, bilby, bilby, bunny

Speaking of Gaddafi..

His daughter must have realized that I posted about him yesterday because she sent me a "personal" email (my work spam has reached a new height of ridiculousness). See below:

Let me crave your indulgence to introduce myself to you. My name is Ayesha al-Gaddafi (34), the only daughter of

Muammar Al-Gaddafi. Please take this seriously as I am taking this liberty anchored on strong desire and trust to

ask for your assistance for the transfer of ($6.2mil. usd) 6.2 million united states dollars. Your consent and

urgent attention is greatly needed. I have been able to move the funds from my country to the London for easy

transfer into your personal bank account. You will have 25% of this money for your time and effort, and keep the

balance for me. Please, kindly contact me and fill in the following information for proper documentation.

Your names in full..........

Your country name...........

Your gender/age.............

Your marital status.........

Your occupation.............

Your Phone/fax..............

The name of your company(if any)...

I hope to kindly hear from you as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely.

Ayesha Al-Gaddafi







If she looks anything like this, the deal is OFF.

Spotted:

Sale sign in a store called Mambo in Sydney. Is it selfish to use the plight of Libya to sell a few extra flannels? It is rumored that they put Gaddafi's head on Elvis' body... Jess, can you verify this?

Royal Wedding Spoof

The fanfare over the Royal Wedding here is nuts! For $99, you can buy a replica of Kate's engagement ring. I found this little diddy on "katemiddletonring.net" (in case you too want to get in on the titanic action).

Over 1/3 of the world is expected to watch the wedding next Friday. I was like, "holy shit that can't be true because China doesn't give a crap..." then I thought "oh wait, India probably does." Cashing in on the hype (in a genius way) is T-mobile. They've created this viral internet video sensation of Royal Impostors dancing down the aisle. I think the dancing could have been a lot more creative, but Harry rocks it and my favorite part is the bishop who does not cease doing the same white boy move throughout:

Easter Week is Upon Us

5-day weekend for Easter is right around the corner! The church still has a heavy hand around here when it comes to Easter holidays. Basically everything in town is shut for Good Friday. Most things are shut on Easter Monday as well. I'm taking advantage of the time off from work to go camping in the riverland - which should be a riot/clusterf*ck because my boyfriend always shrugs and smiles when I start listing all the camping materials that we will need to bring. Plus shopping days before the whole country shuts down for Easter are dwindling.

Here is a photo of hot cross buns. They are a traditional Easter food in Australia, and they have been available to buy since Christmas. My favorite kind so far are the mocha flavored ones my roommate brought home last week. I've never heard of these things outside of Australia, have you?

PS it is now an appropriate time to look at one of my favorite photo websites, Sketchy Easter Bunnies, without being extra weird

T-rex Attack!

Global Creatures life like T-rex costume scares a bunch of Sydney schoolchildren. This is just one of their twenty dino-bots built for an award winning BBC documentary series that now tour with the live show "Walking with Dinosaurs." Hilarious, but c'mon kids, look at the legs!

Your Zoology Lesson for the Day

I always thought one of the things that made human superior from all other other creatures (besides primates) is the fact that we have opposable thumbs (I mean which other finger would we hit the space bar with?). Well, that is WRONG. Several animals have opposable thumbs - including koalas. But guess what... they get TWO ON EACH HAND! Luckies.. they get to do double thumbs up and they probably rock it in a thumb war.









































Other animals with opposable thumbs, in case you are curious:
-Giant Pandas
-Some species of African rodent
-Some possum species
-A few dinos
-A frog native to South America









Doh!

Day On The Job

I deal in cheese. Today was Wood-Fired Oven 101. Have a look:

Would you eat it?

Pork Pie Wedding Cake

Friday Night Footy in my Hoodie Lookin' Hard

Heading to the "footy" tonight, which is Australian Rules Football. The shorts they wear are shockingly short. Ok... or not ok.. you be the judge:

Smooth Criminals

Kevin, Foley, South Australia's State Police Minister, was attacked in a wine bar by disgruntled constituents this week - and it wasn't the first time. However, I think these attackers were of a different caliber than his November assailants. These guys were pure class and they brought him publicly to tears.

Mr Foley insists he was doing nothing wrong when he was verbally abused by three men and then attacked by a "very strong, very tall, very mean-looking guy" in the toilet.

"I was very scared Saturday night, I was thumped ... months ago within an inch of my life (and) all you guys can be worried about is all the salacious gossip and all the reasons that might have been behind me getting hit which were all complete bullshit.

"I am the victim here." and "I cry from time to time, that's the emotional side of Kevin Foley. It doesn't mean I am a bad or weak person. It doesn't mean I am incapable of doing my job," were his responses.

Well the best part of this story is that this line continues to be repeated in the headlines: The attackers did not run from the scene but stayed and finished Louis XIII de Remy Martin cognac at $170 a glass.

Haha! They even had the audacity to pay with a credit card, leaving proof of their identity behind. Bullies, but legends.

Mom Don't Hate Me

Here is a snipped of a conversation that I had with my friend Jon, who lives in Shanghai, about our moms' reactions to the Japan earthquake. And the geographical confusion that ensued.

Jon: whatever helps man-

my mom called me at like 7 am on sunday

was upset - cause i hadnt replied to her email yet

apparently ppl were asking if i was okay

me: my mom texted me "are you alive?"

"yes. why?"

"earthquake. love you"

"mom, you do realize i live in australia correct?"

"be nice"

keep in mind this was 2 days after the earthquake

Jon: haha

2 days after hmm

yea, so i was a little irritated/stumped

but wasn't sure what the reaction was in the states - so i def didn't say anything, i just said - yes i am okay

btw - this is the first time my mom has ever called my phone
'don't know how to use calling cards'

mmhmm

me: yeah mom hasnt called mine ever

Jon: mom, your technology skills are suddenly off the hook

what up

me: her panic and adrenaline pushed her fingers to learn how to dial

Jon: yea

amazing

so i was wondering if ppl really thought that japan = asia = shanghai = nuclear meltdown = fear ...

and asked - 'who did you say was asking me?' - and it turns out it was 'ppl at church and her cousins' (in e. texas)

so i felt a little better

The Easter Bilby

Some Australians say that it is the Easter bilby, (a native marsupial, see below) not the Easter Bunny, that brings eggs on Easter morning. Between this new "truth" and Santa in boardies and thongs I think I am losing my mind.

Home and Mexico were cool

Here are some food pics












My favorite breakfast


















Bananas are 25x as expensive in Australia due to the floods








Mexico food

















Mexican wedding cake
















Chicago hot dog