Catching up

Yikes. Things really escalated there in a hurry. I was pretty much up to date with the postings, then I predictably took far too long to recap Newcastle and work happened. A lot of work happened. My apologies for the gap in posts and for a few emails that have gone left unanswered. I hope to rectify both situations, starting right... now.

So yeah, there was Anzac Day Weekend three weekends ago. That was fun. Some highlights:

• Hit up the casino on Thursday night. Won $690 at the blackjack tables. It was going to be a good weekend.
• Played some two-up at the pub on Friday. (Basically, a bunch of people -- generally drunk -- gather around this big ring in which a few guys stand and flip three coins. Everyone bets with each other on whether they think heads or tails is going to win. It's that simple. And legal only on Anzac Day.) Won my first four flips at $20 each. Oh yeah. Definitely going to be a good weekend.
• Saw U2 3D at IMAX on Saturday. Awesome. And oddly, halfway through the movie, it struck me that Bono can look an awful lot like Robin Williams. And apparently I'm not the first one to see this.
• Went to a Rugby Union match on Saturday night. Very entertaining.
• Had a massive roast with my housemates and some other friends on Sunday: lamb, beef, potatoes (a few varieties), carrots, onions, Yorkshire Pudding (a British favorite) and more. My God, it was a feast.
• Capped it all off that night by watching Rangers-Celtic in the Scottish Premier League, which is the SPL's version of Yanks-Sox, Duke-UNC, Michigan-OSU, etc. And that's when I was introduced to Jan Johannes Vennegoor of Hesselink. Yes, that's the name of a player on Celtic. Seriously. Here's his Wikipedia page. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, eat your heart out.

And last weekend (two weekends ago?) there was the houseboat on the Hawkesbury River. Which was fantastic. I thought ten of us on a boat for three days would be a bit much, but surprisingly, it wasn't too bad. Although on Friday night, our numbers were nearly reduced to nine because I almost got myself killed as I traversed a waterway in our dingy to pick up some of our group that arrived late. It was pitch black, and I had a few in me. Not a good combination. Anyway, I'm puttering along and can see my destination in the distance, so I turn off my little flashlight. Half a minute later, I'm startled as a boat probably ten times larger than mine flies by about thirty feet behind me. The driver quite rightly took me to task for that, and I thanked my lucky stars for the rest of the weekend.

And we're caught up.