Fantasy Island

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Originally uploaded by BLP.

The honeymoon. . .

Our honeymoon started off, strangely, with a basketball theme - on our flight back to Melbourne, we sat next to Megan Moody, a graduating player from Tulsa's women's basketball team (who'd managed to develop an interesting Aussie/Oklahoma hybrid accent). Then, on our flight up to Queensland the following day, Uta was quite excited to find the 2005 first-round NBA draftee, Andrew Bogut, also on the same flight (or at least that's who she said he was, I find all 7-foot white boys look the same to me - but given that Bogut is Aussie and now quite well-paid, it seems plausible).

We arrived at the Hamilton Island airport in the Whitsundays (which immediately went down at the top of my list of tiny airports), and then we took a ferry over to our final destination of Club Med on neighboring Lindeman Island. Although clearly not Club Med's flagship resort, we found Lindeman Island quite enjoyable - small, plenty of activities, decent food, and we really liked the various trails that run throughout the island (allowing us to catch sight of bats, snakes, and other cool wildlife). That said, we did arrive at a slow time of the year, with staff clearly outnumbering guests, and the high winds made it difficult to get out onto the water. Our trip out to the Great Barrier Reef forced us to endure some pretty hairy boat rides, but the experience was well worth the effort.

We also found a number of people to socialise with, including Diane and Brian from Canberra, Danielle and co. from Melbourne, and Uta's tennis buddy, Hendrik showed up half-way through our stay with his mother and siblings. The resort staff we are generally young and friendly, and happy to gossip about the other guests and/or each other, which provided some entertainment as well.

Once again - quite a few pictures of this as well, which (depending on who you are) may or may not be heading your way.

Never Say Never Again or You Only Marry Twice

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Originally uploaded by BLP.

We are obviously once again back "home" in Australia, returning from a three week vacation, which featured an encore production of our wedding (this time with novel appointments such as guests and the presence of a family member or two) followed by a proper honeymoon in Queensland's Whitsunday Islands.

Despite being largely planned from the opposite side of the world, the wedding came off without a hitch - no cold feet, no violence, no family feuds. Everyone showed up, behaved well, and enjoyed themselves. Music, catering, etc. was great We did have one genuine wedding crasher (all of about 16 years of age) who managed to sneak past the highly attentive security guard - I managed to unmask the impostor, but only after he managed to score a couple of free drinks: kudos to him.

Unfortunately, due to the numerous demands on our time during the week, we didn't manage to enjoy too much of Atlanta. We did get to visit the new Georgia Aquarium - now the largest in the world - which was freakin' huge and impressive. We also made a run to the outlet mall to stock up on low-cost, tasteful clothing which is a commodity we find in short supply down here (not that I'm necessarily in a position to judge - but Uta assures me this is the case).

More photos of all the action that you could ever possibly care to see will be making the rounds - if for some reason you miss out, drop us a line and we'll send you a link (unless of course you're a total stranger, in which case we may or may not oblige).

Footy: Pies vs. Doggies

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Originally uploaded by BLP.

The raging consultants of Capgemini came together to catch Friday night's match-up between the Western Bulldogs and the Collingwood Magpies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Despite an early show of strength by the Doggies, the Pies eventually took control, claiming victory by a comfortable 34 point margin.

This being our first live AFL experience, we quite enjoyed the atmosphere. The MCG is an impressive venue, and footy makes it toward the top of my list of gripping spectator sports - fast paced, lots of scoring, a bit of the rought stuff, and plenty of obscenties from the adoring fans.

Girls Dinner at Salt

On Tuesday I had dinner with Lisa, Di, Maeve and Ady at a new restaurant in the Docklands called Salt. We had several reasons to catch up:

*My return from vacation/"belated" wedding festivities
*Di's temporary farewell- She is going on a 7 week vacation (Who isn't jelaous?)
*Lisa's upcoming farewell/extended stay in Melbourne? (We are all hoping for the latter one!)
*To make friends with the restaurant owner of "Salt" as Maeve lives right below the place. BTW-The food was pretty good. Hopefully we will be getting free drinks there soon!
*...and Ady's and Maeve's succussful run last weekend (in Apollo Bay)!!!

Last, thanks girls for sharing some of your weekend stories.

Life or Death

The global warming buffoonery appears to be gaining new heights in the U.S., perhaps fueled by the extra money generated by a surging U.S. stock market. New television ads have hit the internet and airwaves, and depending on which one you see, global warming means either life or death.

The Competitive Enterprises Institute votes for LIFE:


While the Ad Council and Environmental Defense vote for DEATH:


Hopefully someone will save both of these for posterity and in 50 years we can decide which group history should praise, and which should be ridiculed.

SurvivaBalls

For more info, go here.

Hard Rock Hallelujah

Another year, another winner in the annual Eurovision song contest. The Finnish heavy metal act Lordi, managed to beat out its would-be competitors with the anthem "Hard Rock Hallelujah" (for a sound clip, go here). Those in Montenegro were so upset at their failure to win, they voted to secede from Serbia, hoping for greater success on their own.