Jim Travels The World

the day i made the conscious decision to stop saying "y'all" was a big step in my evolution as a human being. 3 days ago (or 4? i can't even tell anymore) i boarded a Qantas jet bound for los angeles. i had row to myself, which was pretty sweet. these new qantas planes have individual tv screens with a huge selection of movies. which was also pretty sweet. hurt locker is a good movie. anyway, got the pat-down in melourne before leaving. titilating. when i arrived at LAX, walked down the stairs to the customs lines. there were 50 lines, and the first dozen were full, so a customs guy was standing in front, telling people to move on down the line. some little asian guy, who just got off a 13-hour flight, prolly didn't speak english, was trying to enter one of the full lines. the customs guy yelled at him "hey buddy! what part of keep walking don't you understand?". yep, i'm back in america. two days with the fam in Texas, now i'm in boulder, ba...

. These dolls are Golliwogs , toys popular in Oz and Europe in the last century. While they don't sell them much anymore , I've spoken to some Aussies who hold them in high regard. As an American, my first thought at looking at that doll is that it's racist and promotes an incorrect stereotype of people of African descent. However, to many Aussies, it's completely harmless, which brings me to Harry Connick jr. A few months ago, Harry was a guest judge on the Aussie show Hey Hey It's Saturday . The show had an act called the Jackson Jive, which was 5 guys in blackface another in "whiteface" as Michael Jackson. Seems a bit racist too, doesn't it? Apparently, not to Aussies. But Harry Connick Jr thought so, and demanded an apology from the show's host, causing a bit of a stir in the country. Some Aussies came out in support of Harry, saying that  the skit is dated. But others (including people I talked to), call Harry a presumptuous, overly-PC whiner ...

not really, but i spent some time watching it with some people who were capable of explaining it to me well, and so i have a better idea: one teams serves as the other teams hits (but they don't call it hitting or serving, it's...maybe batting and bowling? i can't remember). Anyway, the guy who is bowling/serving tries to toss at it the feet of the guy hitting. Not to his his feet, but to hit those 3 sticks behind him. if he hits one, he knocks off the little ball sitting on top of the stick ("wicket"). if he does, dude's out. the guy batting tries to hit the ball when it's served, but more important is to protect the wickets. when he hits a ball, he runs to where the server guy is. the next batter does the same thing, and the players cross each other, that's a run. the server throws 6 balls to get an out. there's 10 outs in an over. got it so far?* so, in a 5-day test match, which the aussies love to play because no one in the world can beat them,...

it's hot. the kind of hot that when you walk outside after being in AC, it's like being smacked in the face. So hot that when the wind blows, it's like a swirl of more hotness around you. The kind of hot that makes you pray for a dreary, cloudy, rainy day to come. they told me the sun was stronger in the southern hemisphere, and i didn't believe them. but the evidence is indisputable: every time i've spent considerable time at the beach on sunny days, i come away with a wicked sunburn. I'm against sunscreen in principle, but i suppose i'll have to start wearing it.

so last year, apparently was one of the rainiest they'd had in Melbun. it rained on new year's eve. But, rest assured - everyone keeps telling me - the deathly hot days are right around the corner. until then. could somebody fact-check this one for me? near the auburn train station. out with the old, in with something else i can't really say what's going on here, i just liked this particular fish n chips sign. time to start training for our NZ trip in March. we went hiking last week, and one day hiking about 12k nearly killed me. gonna have to step it up, in NZ we'll be pulling 20k days with packs on our backs. time to get my arse into shape.