Recipe: Tomato and garlic stew with prawns

We're headed into winter down here in the southern hemisphere, and on a cool and rainy night, nothing beats a big pot of soup. I made this really easy and tasty recipe from Donna Hay for Tomato and Garlic Stew with Prawns. Prawns being shrimp, not the aliens from District 9. It came our really well but was a little heavy on the onions- 1 large would probably be sufficient. I only used half the recommended amount of prawns/shrimp, because those little guys are expensive, but it still seemed like plenty.

My June Project: InLeWrMo (note to self: come up with better acronym)

What has turned out to be the most troublesome aspect of living in Australia isn't the distance per se, it's the fourteen hour time difference between Melbourne and Boston that makes it difficult to find a good time to Skype or call- usually at least one party is either sleeping or at work. Sure, there's always email, but I've decided to revert to the old fashioned way of keeping in touch: letter writing. I've always had a penchant for stationery and stamps (and even participated in a stamp collecting club as a kid- nerd alert!), and hey, everyone likes letters. It's nice to find something other than bills and credit card offers in the mail.
Like most people, I have the tendency to procrastinate, and often when I come up with ideas like "hey, I should write more letters!" they don't ever come to fruition. So I'm issuing myself a challenge. If you're a blogger you probably know that November is NaBloPoMo, a.k.a. National Blog Posting Month. I've declared June as InLeWriMo- International Letter Writing Month, in which participants (me) will write a letter every day for the whole month. Feel free to join in, or if you'd like to receive a letter from me, email me your address. I'd also welcome suggestions for a better acronyms and perhaps a slogan. It's better in a letter? Nothing says you're a champ like a stamp.

In the news

Hey hey, I'm in a magazine! A nerd magazine!

Thanks to Molly for taking a professional looking headshot while we were sitting in a train station in Germany.

Movie Reviews

Over the past week, I’ve watched a couple of DVDs.

The first was Let The Right One In, the Swedish vampire movie that’s essentially the antithesis of Twilight- these vampires definitely do not sparkle. The protagonist is Oskar, a 12 year old misfit boy who doesn’t seem to have a single friend until he meets Eli, a strange girl who lives in his apartment complex, who only appears at night, doesn’t seem to feel the cold, and smells funny. Yep, she’s a vampire. The movie proceeds slowly, with lingering shots of the cold winter landscape and limited dialogue, but when the action does occur, it is poignant and brutal. I thought the movie was fascinating, in particular by the relationship between Eli and Oskar, and it is brilliantly filmed, especially the swimming pool scene towards the end (holy crapola!!). It was refreshing to see such an unusual film: the main characters are children, and much of the movie is left up to the viewer’s interpretation- who is the old man that Eli lives with at the beginning? Does she really care for Oskar or is she using him? I couldn’t stop thinking about it afterwards. Be warned, though- it’s not a scary movie per se, but it is a dark one, and definitely not for the squeamish. Here's the New York Times review.

And now for something completely different:

Adventureland, set in Pennsylvania in 1987, is a sort of coming-of-age film about a recent college graduate who ends up back in his hometown working in an amusement park after his more grandiose post-graduation plans fall apart. It turns out to be quite the learning experience as the somewhat naïve James has never held a job before nor has he had any success in romantic relationships, but his Midwestern niceness (along with a big stash of joints) rapidly endears him to his new coworkers. I loved it! It’s sweet, funny, and definitely captures the good and bad parts of working at a shitty part-time job. Adventureland was written and directed by Greg Mottola of Superbad fame, but this film is more substance that slapstick, although there are a few similarities- the main character, portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg, reminds me of an older Michael Cera. Lastly, any movie that prominently features Bill from Freaks and Geeks is a winner in my book.

Things I'm into lately

Beer! I reviewed my first Australian brew over on Beer Crusade.

I generally dislike all things techno, electronica, trance, and the like, but I absolutely cannot get enough of this funky track by Australian DJ duo Yolanda Be Cool: We Speak No Americano. (right click and save as to download) It's a lab favorite! I just love that someone can take a brief clip of an old-timey Italian tune and turn it into a modern dance hit. Damn, that shit is catchy!


Hokkien noodles: Yes, they're cheap, they come in a bag, and you soak them in hot water before eating them, but they taste a zillion times better than ramen. Just throw them in with some stir-fried veggies and meat and YUM. I had them for the first time on Tuesday (thanks, D), and I just made them again for myself tonight.

It's all fun and games until someone loses their knickers

I laughed when I saw this note posted in the women's bathroom at work...until I looked at the underwear and realized they were MINE! No, there aren't any Grey's Anatomy shenanigans are going on at my hospital- they must have fallen out of my gym bag while I was changing. Couldn't I have lost a sock or something? Geez. I don't know if the fact that they were lame cotton workout underwear made it more or less embarrassing, but I didn't want anyone to know they were mine, so I waited to until I was leaving to slyly retrieve them. But hey, I'm okay with telling The Internet, because we don't share an office area.

Concert Review: Vampire Weekend

Last week, I saw Vampire Weekend at Festival Hall in Melbourne. I fully admit that I have completely fallen for their peppy sound and catchy guitar hooks, hipster haters be damned! I even like their oddly compelling cover image of a preppy girl in a Polo shirt, which they used as a backdrop at the concert. I hadn’t seen them play live before, so I had been looking forward to the show, and it did not disappoint. The venue was kind of a dive- it’s a former boxing ring that still feels like an enormous concrete gym, but luckily the entrance we used popped us in right along side of the stage, which was a good thing since there were about 3000 people in the general admission area. Since Vampire Weekend only have two albums out, their set list consisted of about eight songs from each album, including my favorites: A-Punk, Oxford Comma, Campus, and Cousins. Musically, they were spot-on and they seemed at ease on the stage, like they were genuinely having fun performing. The whole show had an energetic, upbeat vibe to it. I always associate VW with the northeast, so it was a funny being in Australia and hearing them sing about Cape Cod, and it even made me feel a little bit superior. Maybe almost everyone in the crowd was a decade younger than me, but I know where Hyannisport is. So there!

In other news, unlike Michael Buble*, Vampire Weekend is not being stalked by a velociraptor. (thanks, CR)

*for a long time, I thought his name was Michael Bubble. Not quite as suave.

Adventures in strange fruit

Last week, my coworkers were talking about fiejoas and how good they are, so when I spotted them at the supermarket I decided to give them a try. From the outside, they resemble small avocados. But when you cut them open, the flesh is fruity deliciousness. They're related to the guava (a highly overrated fruit, in my opinion) but taste more like a mixture between a strawberry and a pear. Yum!

Next up on my fruit adventure list: the infamous durian.

Chewy on your boot!*

My flatmate Belinda’s friend Tony ended up crashing at our place for a few weeks last month while he was waiting for his new lease to begin. How very Three's Company. As a thank you, this past Saturday he invited us to attend an Australian Rules Football game in his company’s corporate box at the MCG, the main sports arena in Melbourne. We're smiling because there's free booze.

People in this part of the country are absolutely mad about AFL, a.k.a. the footy, so I had been meaning to check out a game. The sport is fairly similar to Gaelic football and is something like a cross between soccer and basketball. The field is round (I had no idea!) and enormous, and each team has 15 players on the field at a time. The goal consists of four uprights and you score by dropkicking the ball between them- getting it between the inner two posts earns 6 points and between an outer post is worth 1 point. I had thought the players would be stocky rugby types, but not at all- it’s a fast paced game with a lot of running, jumping, and some mauling, and the players are incredibly fit in addition to being huge. The uniforms are quite snug and have fun stripey socks- I reckon they were designed by a gay man. I mean, look. One thing I really liked about the game is that it’s nearly continuous action- play rarely stops, and if it does, it’s only for a few seconds. Even better, the officials hardly ever call penalties, which means there’s no sense in diving (the worst aspect of professional soccer) or exaggerating to try to draw a foul (one of the most annoying things about the NBA), because unless someone punches you in the face (and maybe not even then), the ref ain’t blowing the whistle. Some more footy notes:

When the ball goes out of bounds, the referee turns his back to the field and hucks it over his shoulder to put it back into play. Crazy!

The other strange thing about the game was the flock of seagulls that were constantly on the field. When play gets close they fly around and move to another part of the field, but I think they live in the stadium, as no one else seemed to find their presence unusual at all.

Tailgating doesn’t exist here, and sounds sort of ridiculous when you explain it to people unfamiliar with the concept: “Well, you get to the game a few hours early and sit around in the parking lot and grill food and drink beers. It sounds lame, but in fact, it is AWESOME.”

Lastly, here’s a picture of D and me in our Essendon Bombers gear. (Note my fancy new haircut.)

*what you yell when you want a player to shank a kick. It’s kind of like the Aussie version of shouting “Wide left!”

Concert Review: Regina Spektor

A few weeks ago, my friend Anna asked me if I wanted to go see Regina Spektor with her. Even though I'm not all that familiar with her music, I do like a couple of her songs, and let's face it, when you move to a new city and don't have many friends, you might as well say yes when someone asks you to do something. The show was at the Palais Theater, which reminded me of The Orpheum in Boston, only it's been renovated and sits right on the beach. And the show was very good! First of all, Regina Spektor is immensely popular in Australia (her music gets a lot of play on Triple J, an excellent radio station that's sort of like an indie rock NPR without the annoying NPR voices) so the crowd was really into it. It turns out I knew a lot of the songs, ones that sounded familiar but I didn't realize they were hers. Most of the songs were backed up by cello, violin, and drums, and of course Regina playing the piano, but I was most impressed by her voice- strong and clear, and she sang for almost two straight hours, even going a capella at one point (ballsy!). She has a nice stage presence- she seems to be enjoying the performance and comes across as both quirky and friendly, although it guess it makes it easier when the audience obviously adores you. Reviews from last night's show aren't out yet, but here's one from her Sydney concert.

Dandenong Ranges

This past weekend lasted an extra day due to ANZAC Day, which is essentially Australia's version of Veterans Day. These Australian state holidays feel like bonus days off to me, kind of like when we used to get the Jewish holidays off from school- not my holiday, but I'll take it! D and I headed up to the Dandenong Ranges for a couple of days of nature and relaxation. Highlights included:

Me driving on the left, yeah yeah!! It wasn't so hard to stay on the left side of the road as it was to get used to things in the car being in the wrong place. I kept turning on the windshield wipers instead of the blinker and looking up and to the right instead of to the left for the rearview mirror. However, aside from one itty bitty incident when I kinda sorta drove off the road, I think I did quite well.

I heard and saw a kookaburra (pictured above). Their call really does sound like crazy laughing. Now all that remains on my wildlife list is the elusive echidna.

Devonshire tea. Popular in that part of Victoria, it's tea served with warm scones, jam, and whipped cream. YES PLEASE.

Creepy statues at the William Ricketts Sanctuary. Eccentric man moves into the woods and creates hundreds of statues that reflect his personal philosophies about nature and religion. Said philosophies involve bearded men and Aboriginal children's heads growing out of rocks. Work of a madman living in the forest or a state park? You decide. (I vote the former.)

More pictures:
Devonshire tea, creepy statues, and me and D (who, contrary to photographic evidence, does not dress like a Sith Lord. A gust of wind provided that special effect.) on top of Mount Dandenong.

Links!

1. Sacrilegious link of the day: I saw a post on Metafilter about a controversial crucifix in a church in Oklahoma City. Then I looked at the painting and laughed out loud. Distended abs? I don't think so.

2. Here's a gallery of photos of Eyjafjallajokul from Boston.com's The Big Picture. The first one is particularly badass. Volcano lightning!

3. And lastly, WebEcoist has posted a collection of interspecies friendship photos. Awwwww. I've seen some of these before, but there are some cute ones and some hard-to-believe ones (a polar bear hugging a wolf?) in there. Thanks, Tom!

Book review: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

I just finished one of the trippiest books I've ever read- The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, by Hakuri Murakami. The protagonist, Toru Okada, is thirty year old Japanese man living a mundane life, until everything normal begins to unravel. A strange woman calls, the cat disappears, his wife runs away, and at the same time, a number of unusual characters start appearing in his life, from a psychic and her sister to lonely teenage girl to a World War II veteran with a tale to tell. I can't really even begin to describe the story- it's so weird (like a Japanese book version of an arty film from France) and oh so very long, clocking it at a dense 607 pages. Although I did like the book, it took me FOREVER to finish- normally, I'm a pretty fast reader but I really struggled with this one. On the plus side, it's definitely interesting and well-written and I liked the main character as well as some of the side ones, like the stylish mother and son duo who run a secret psychic enterprise. On the down side, occasionally the story veers off on metaphysical tangents about the soul, past lives, and whatnot, and I found these stretches tedious and would have enjoyed the book at lot more if it were just a touch more straightforward. It did redeem itself a bit with the ending, which did come up with an explanation for a lot of the trippy spiritual mystery stuff.

And now for something even weirder that The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle:

This music video by a band called Hot Chip. I've never heard of the band before but I saw the video and could not get it out of my head, it's so weird! I can't decide if it's brilliant and hilarious or just fucked up. Watch for yourself and let me know what you think.

Adventures in Australian bathrooms

Those of you who ever visited my old apartment in Southie will likely recall the one tiny and awful bathroom. My current apartment is much newer, and one of the benefits is a nice, big shiny bathroom. It's so clean and big- it has a glass shower with excellent water pressure, and the nozzle is high enough so I don't have to resort to odd yoga poses in order to wash my hair. It even has a separate bathtub, and although I haven't taken a bath in over a decade, I pulled a muscle in my soccer game today so I might go for a soak tonight. But here's the weird part- right next to the bathroom is....a strange little room that I refer to as the Toilet Closet. It is literally a closet with a toilet in it. No sink, no window, no shelves or cabinets. Just a toilet. Apparently in older Australian homes, the toilet was often located in a separate room from the tub/shower, but this is a modern apartment and the normal bathroom already has a toilet. The presence of a second toilet really doesn't make any sense- the apartment is a two bedroom and not very big, and doesn't have any closets outside of the bedrooms or any sort of pantry area at all, so some additional storage space would be a lot more handy than a second toilet. But hey, I guess it could be useful if I ever throw a St. Patrick's Day party and/or accidentally eat a plateful of fettucini alfredo.

In other news, bank card restored, dongle recharged, so I'm back online again.

W X Y Zed

Of all of the differences between life in Australia and life in the United States, nothing has been a startling as learning that the letter Z is pronounced "Zed" not "zee." I mean, I can handle going clockwise through a rotary, but Zed?!! That's messed up.

In somewhat related news, an ATM ate my bank card on Friday night, which I use to pay for my fancy internet dongle, so posting might be a little scarce over the next few days until my new card arrives and I can recharge the dongle (DIRTY!). I guess I've been a bit of a slacker about blogging lately, but no worries, I'll get back on the ole bloghorse soon enough. My bank is ANZ, and until I figured out the whole Z=Zed thing I had no idea what people were saying when they said my bank's name.

Easter in Canberra

Last weekend, I took advantage of two days off from work and headed to Canberra, Australia’s capital, to meet up with Kris and Rodd. The timing worked out quite well, as one of Kristy’s friends who lives in Canberra was going away for Easter and let us stay in our house (thanks, Bells!)- which was both cheaper and far more enjoyable than staying in a hotel. Canberra has a reputation for being really, really boring, and it isn’t exactly unwarranted. It’s a planned city that was designed to be the capital largely to avoid stoking the flames of the Sydney-Melbourne rivalry. The layout is similar to Washington, DC, with museums and government buildings set along a wide, grassy mall..…only there are hardly any people around (especially on a holiday weekend when parliament isn’t in session), so it feels eerily empty. Nevertheless, we found plenty to do. I arrived on Friday night, and since nearly everything was closed for Good Friday, we had dinner at home and proceeded to catch up over copious amounts of alcohol.

On Saturday, we had hot cross buns for breakfast- my only prior knowledge of hot cross buns was a from the song of the same name used when teaching children how to play the recorder, but they actually exist (see Exhibit A) and are baked goods traditionally eaten around Easter. After that, it was Day of Museums. First, the National Portrait Gallery (very cool with lots of photography), then Questacon science museum (nerd alert!), then Parliament itself, the best part of which is the grass on top of the roof that is perfect for lounging, and to be honest, seems like a prime location for smoking a joint. I’m sure thousands of Australian teenagers have had the same thought. Our main reason for the trip to Canberra was to see the special exhibit of impressionism paintings on loan from the Musee d’Orsay in France- several works by Cezanne, Seurat, Monet, and Van Gogh, among others, were on display. Lines were huge all day long so we waited until late afternoon and just waltzed right in.

Sunday morning, I accompanied Kris on a training run for her upcoming half-marathon (luckily for me it was a “taper down” week) and then we headed out to theTidbinbilla Nature Reserve for a lovely day of picnicking, bushwalking (heh), and sightseeing. We spotted heaps of kangaroos, some pretty cool birds, and an emu dad with three little emus. Awwww. On the way back to the city, we stopped by a space tracking center to see the largest satellite dish in the southern hemisphere (nerd alert part II!), a joint venture between Australia and NASA.

On Monday morning we had breakfast at a genuine pancake house, the kind with booths that look straight out of the 1970s. It was divine. The bacon was still weird but they pancakes, eggs, and coffee were all prepared in the classic American style. To kill some time before my flight, we returned to the art museum to see the regular displays- my favorite was a series of paintings by Australian artist Sidney Nolan depicting the story of Ned Kelly, a legendary outlaw along the lines of Jesse James or Billy the Kid. The paintings are colorful and striking in that Ned Kelly is portrayed as a boxy black figure in order to represent the homemade armor he once wore during a famous shootout.

All in all, I had a fantastic weekend, and if you want to read a more detailed account (with more photos!), you can check out Kristy’s version.

On holiday

Easter is a big travel time in Australia as most people have Friday and Monday off, myself included (thank you, Jesus!). So on my first trip since I've been here, I'm headed to Canberra, the capital, which is commonly regarded as the most boring city in Australia. However, I'm sure that Kristy, Rodd, and I will have a blast. We've got tickets to a special art exhibition and then will probably do some other nerd stuff and hopefully hit a nearby national park for a little hiking, or as they call it here, "bushwalking." Hahaha.

On the downside, I was hoping to torment Kris with peeps like in our college days, but alas, I'm now living in a peep-free land. Speaking of peeps, another former roommate and witness/participant to peeps hijinx, Kelly, sent me this link to a collection of fantastic peep dioramas. Who doesn't love a candy themed diorama?

Blue toenails

Those of you who play soccer or do a lot of running likely have experienced a blue toenail or two. You know what I mean- your toenail turns dark blue and thick, and stays like that for months until it eventually falls off, revealing a new, flimsy nail underneath. Back when I was playing on two soccer teams and running marathons (oh, the salad days), I typically had at least two blue toenails at any given time, to the point where I was too ashamed to get a pedicure because I didn't want to expose anyone else to my Halloween feet. I also once dropped a padlock on my toe, and even though it was years ago, the nail has never fully recovered- it's still thicker than normal and light blue at the base. If I'm ever captured by enemy forces and tortured, I hope that they'd rip out my toenails (as opposed to waterboarding or what have you) because, hey, they could use a fresh start.
Little did I know that there was a home remedy to blue toenails, until Eri pointed me to this thread on a triathelete blog. After giving it a read, I think I'm quite happy to leave my remaining blue toenail in peace.

Might as well face it, I'm addicted to crumpets

In the bakery section at the local grocery store, I noticed an unusual item that resembled a cross between a pancake and an English muffin. They came in stacks of six wrapped in plastic and, to be honest, looked kind of disgusting, like spongy round breads. The packaging didn’t help, either, as it gave them a Wonder Bread processed type aura and made me question how long they had been sitting there on the shelf. Nevertheless, I was curious, as these items are found in every grocery store and seem to be quite popular. I asked around and soon learned their identity: crumpets. And then I tried them in the traditional manner: toasted and loaded with butter (or margarine, in my case). Holy crap, these little fuckers are tasty! They’re like pancakes with nooks and crannies. Mmm…their texture is a perfect blend of soft squishiness and when you spread butter on them it melts down into the spongy holes in the best possible manner. Granted, they probably aren’t the healthiest way to start your day, and since my first crumpet, I’ve been on something of a bender. Crumpets may in fact be the best thing since sliced bread. Lesson learned: never judge a bakery item by its packaging.

Links!

Two Australian news articles emailed to me over the past week:

1. I am big in Australia is an entertaining article about how musical stars from decades past continue to perform in Australia. I do object with the insinuation that George Michael is a has-been- c'mon now, his shit is timeless! A lot of modern bands tour here as well, but they charge a lot more for tickets than they do in the states, particularly in Boston where I've been spoiled by the ability to see great bands play at small, inexpensive venues. Wilco and the Pixies were both recently in Melbourne, but I didn't quite get my act together in time to organize tickets (admittedly I wasn't super motivated to shell out $80 to see groups who I've already seen numerous times). I did splurge for Vampire Weekend in a few weeks and I am very very excited for that one.

2. Australian jogger mauled by kangaroo. I haven't come across any roos yet on my runs through the city, so I don't think I have anything to worry about. I did see a rat once, though. Just like home!

And a bonus link:
Here's a fun little picture blog: My Parents Were Awesome. I should dig up some old photos of Mo and Pat, but based upon the pictures I came across while living at my grandmother's old house, Mom-mom sets the family standard for awesomeness.