And... we're back at it

Another weekend has come and gone. And although it's not like I went back to work on Monday, I'm still lamenting its passing. For it was a good one.

As prefaced here last week, Friday was our friend Jez's buck's night up in Newcastle. With the theme being red, Short, Maz, Yogi and I procured some hideous, bright red wigs to go along with our red shirts. Really, they couldn't have been more awful/perfect. Here are a few shots to illustrate:




Anyway, as I said in my last post, while I didn't know what we'd be up to at the party, I was positive that we'd (a) stop at Harry's and (b) get up to some shenanigans. Well... hmmmm. The first one very unfortunately didn't happen. And the second one? Well, I'm still not sure. It was very fun -- don't get me wrong -- but many of Jez's friends up in Newcastle are very religious. A ridiculous bachelor party* full of tomfoolery this does not allow for. But still. It was good.

*I did a very quick search on why it's called a bachelor party in the US and buck's night in Australia, and this is the best I could come up with... at least without consuming too much of my precious time. Other names around the world apparently include stag party, stag night, stag do and bull's party. Whatever.

HOWEVER, I found the Wikipedia entry on bachelor party/buck's night to be quite amusing. Especially the section on Australia. Consider: "The groom's mates often, after heavy drinking, subject the groom to various humiliations, sometimes in public. These often include leaving him tied naked to a pole or placing him on an airplane to a remote location. It has also been quite common to start the humiliation at the beginning of the night by dressing the buck up as a female or making him wear a 'mankini'."

Tying the groom naked to a pole? Placing him on a plane to a remote location??!? Making him wear a mankini???!??!?! HILARIOUS!! Clearly I did not experience your "typical" Australian buck's night. That is, of course, assuming the description on Wikipedia is accurate. Which it always is.

Saturday was a wash. Big time. Quite hung over, we drove back to Sydney and then did nothing. It was fantastic.

Sunday was Tropfest, the largest short film festival in the world. Broadcast simultaneously in open-air settings in each of the capital cities, it features 16 short films. The movies started at 7:30pm, but a few of us got down to the Domain (located next to the Botanical Gardens) by 3pm to get a good spot, soak up the sun and get our picnic on. It was good.

And now it's the week. Back to the job hunt.

I had plans this weekend

And the only thing that really came to fruition wasn't planned.

(And when I figure out how something that wasn't planned can come to fruition, I'll let you know.)

The planned: Alternate between two birthday parties on Friday night. Go for a run on Saturday morning. Use the rest of the day to go into the city and buy a suit and bed stand.* Get a haircut. Get up early Sunday to watch UCLA-Memphis and Kansas-UNC. Go to the first ever Australian Red Bull Flugtag in the afternoon. Get some Mexican food for dinner.**

*Yeah, that's right. Over one month in my new place, and save for my bed, I still don't have any furniture in it. Walking into my bedroom after being through the rest of the house is like walking through the "extra" door at Mikitas Donuts in Wayne's World 2,*** only to reveal a violent battle of epic proportions. (Hmmm, will anyone remember this scene? Has this analogy been completely wasted? It's a good analogy, I swear! wish I could find a video of the scene because that might actually do it some justice. But, alas. I probably should have just come up with something better. Whatever.)

**In the last few weeks, I've had a massive craving for Mexican food. Now, Mexican food here is shit. I know this all too well from personal experience. When I was first here in 2002, I had some guacamole with the consistency of toothpaste. Gawd awful, I'm telling you. But I'm desperate. And I've found an establishment that's apparently run by a bona fide Mexican. So this has to be good... right? Well, no. Not necessarily. We'll see.

***By the way, loved him or hated him (I often fell at different ends of the spectrum), rest in peace. (He comes in at the one minute mark of this video.)

The reality? Started Friday night way too hard and made it until about 10pm. Went for a run on Saturday morning, which hurt much more than it helped, as all the crap that I put into my stomach the night before went on a nice spin cycle. Spent the rest of the day feeling bad for myself. Went out to a going away party (not planned until a few hours beforehand) and had a great time. Woke up to a beautiful day three hours later, only to stay inside for UCLA-Memphis. Became horribly depressed when the Bruins lost. Went over to some friends' place, moped and watched the last half of Babel* and (unfortunately) all of Disturbia.** Went home. Went to bed.

*I may have liked this if I had watched the whole thing. Instead... eh.

**Crap.

I had plans. Maybe next weekend.