Where's my change?

After a week, which seemed to drag for an eternity (especially the Friday which saw me suffer with a hangover), the weekend seemed to fly by – don’t they always? Saturday was a day of relaxation – Lucy headed into the City, whilst I headed out for breakfast, had a bit of a walk & then chilled at home.

Sunday had more substance, with first a trip to the SCG to watch the Sydney Swans hammer Port Adelaide (AFL for those unfamiliar with the teams) on a day of bright sunshine. I’m not yet 100% familiar with the rules, but it’s an excellent sport to watch – much better live than on TV – and the fans are much more similar to footie fans than they are in other Aussie sports. For a start, a lot more people wear the team colours… then there’s the fat bloke at the front (not me) who leads everyone in the singing…and an old bloke who randomly shouts out “Come on the Swannies”. And just like with the Boro the Swans only have 1-2 different songs…in fact with the red & white scarves, the pies & the singing it could well have been a day at the Riverside (if it wasn’t for the sun!). Of course, there was also the women who appeared to be taking a day off from the cast of “Kath & Kim” - they seemed to say “Swannies” an awful lot & speak with the worst whine.

After the game, Lucy & I headed into the CBD to watch Dame Edna Everage. Stopped on the way for a hot dog at Harry’s Café de Wheels….went for the Hot Dog de Wheels which basically has everything – chilli, onions, cheese and peas! Tasted as good, if not better than the dogs in Copenhagen. Dame Edna was amusing if not spectacularly good, and the 2nd half of the show in which several audience members were dragged on stage was much the better half. In fact, the woman in front of us managed to fall asleep & start snoring during the 1st half! I wouldn’t go out of your way to watch the show, but anyone who is still going after 50 years on the stage has to have some quality.

Most amusing statement of the week came from Lucy. After going for some shopping at Harris Farms (local food place – bigger than a grocers store, smaller than a supermarket) Lucy arrived home in a bit of a fluster…. Having been annoyed with the service received from a member of staff (generally the service here is much, much better than the UK) Lucy got to the till and was charged $32.88 & was even more annoyed upon receiving just 10c change. Turns out, we’ve been here since September & Lucy had failed to realize that they don’t actually have 1c & 2c pieces! In fact, they haven’t had them since 1995! Very observant my wife! And rumour has it the coins were melted down to make the bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Finally, last night (Monday), we watched a TV show called God On My Side. Presented by Andrew Denton, this followed the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Dallas, Texas. It is amazing how blinded people can be by ‘faith’. One bloke tried to convince the presenter that perspiration on his fingers was in fact a message from God! Andrew Denton deserves credit for not bursting into laughter at some of the comments – and at one of the worst efforts of a wig I have ever seen (a brown ‘comb-back’ with brown sides – looked like a dead animal). If the show is on in the UK – or you can find the DVD – then it’s worth a watch, if only to show you that there is some damn crazy people out there, and one of them has got his hand on trigger of the largest atomic arsenal in history.