[10.17.2009] Forget PLACES...PEOPLE are far more interesting

Now tired of my "Places of Note" section (a touristy endeavor anyways) I have decided to create a one time list of "People of Note". The following are all real people, real sightings and humorous but hardly hyperbolic descriptions. Some may be uniquely australian, some may not. They are all awesome. Shall we?

1) Gandalf from Lord of the Rings: He had the eyebrows, the long white hair and beard and generally Ian McClellan features. I saw this man sitting in a Mcdonalds at 4 am, sporting semi Wizardly attire with a decidedly hobo-esque tinge actually stealing fries from the tray of a very irate 20 something. Accio fry.

2) Sudoku Bum: This homeless guy was making some serious headway on a Sudoku at 10pm on a Friday night. Impressive.

3) Rugby Bankers: I was walking downtown last week around 5 pm and passed a group of about 10 tall investment banker types in suites, ages from maybe 29-55. Typical scene. Except they were throwing punting and chasing a rugby ball like 9 year olds. Did Obama ever consider that rugby may have been the source of the financial crisis?

4) Liev Schrieber from "Taking Woodstock": This guy/gal was wearing the same pink dress, had the same long blondish hair and the same 265 pound frame. His/her calves belonged on Brock Lesnar, not tapering into high heels. If you don't get the references a quick google search should tell you more than you need to know.

5) Brandon Murry: I swear to god he's here. I saw him, I know it.

6) Disco Drunk Irishmen: Holding a box, yes box, of wine above one's head with one hand while adopting this pose...

...and dancing is the best way to drink anything, period.

As you can see, the neighborhood I have been staying in the last week (Kings Cross) has some very interesting characters. Don't worry, I know how to handle myself; I lived in Compton for four years.

Newsflash for the last week: I've spent too much money and earned a surprising amount of money. I discussed the global appeal of American pop culture while drinking wine with a Dane and a Frenchman. I got my first French lesson from a Belgian. I "rendered" (plastered) a house with one "builder" (construction foreman), cut gyprock (dry wall) with another, interviewed at the Amora Hotel in downtown for porter position (hey, I currently wash dishes. No position is too menial) and discovered that Australian contemporary art can be just as silly as its American equivalent. I've walked more this week than any other week in my life, including the week I walked the Revlon Run/Walk with Orly, unearthed a dormant childhood passion for trains and managed to irrevocably stain all but one of my white items of clothing. This is Vince's fault because he dropped a glass of red wine inside my suitcase. I suppose this is better than the girl next door who woke up at 6 am to find her Norwegian roomate (a guy) peeing in hers. Suitcase, that is. A song comes to mind here...

"I love you more

than I did the week before

I discovered alcohol

Would you please ignore

that you found me on the floor

Trying on your camisole?

O alcohol, would you please forgive me?

For while I cannot love myself

I'll use something else"

Have I mentioned that beer here is almost twice as expensive here, purchasing power parity taken into account? In a reaction to this sad sad fact, Vince and I have taken to buying only boxed wine and "Coles" brand "$mart buy" food products to conserve money. They are dirt cheap. I think Coles cut most of their costs by creating the simplest product packaging theme known to man..

...vibrant stuff right?

I have also discovered that frattiness exists worldwide. Here is the proof...

And finally, a whole bunch of pictures: