Spring-time

It's weird - now that we've been here over a year, we can start to recognize some of the signs of changing seasons. And spring is definitely on its way in:
- baby birds are everywhere
- plants are covered in flowers

- baby skinks are scootin' around
- gum trees are getting ready to shed their bark

- the first St. Andrew's cross spiders are starting to spin their zig-zags

- the common koel has started its mournful mating call outside our window
- we even had a thunderstorm the other day

And since I mentioned the baby birds, I'll give you an update:
Molly Magpie has lost one of her kids, but the other two made it through the brutal winds of the dust storm and are as sassy as ever. Really - magpie kids are obnoxious. I thought they were going to fledge a week ago, but they're still hanging out in the nest - almost as big as the parents - making mom and dad bring food to them. Even after they fledge, the go around harassing adults for food. (Hmmm - maybe they're not the only species with obnoxious kids?)
both kids


Lily Lapwing lost two of her kids, but the other two are still doing fine (we'll pretend Pokey is one of the ones who made it). Both parents are extra protective, and they've moved away from the office window so I can't get good pics anymore. But they're getting quite big.

Wilma Wood-duck has 15 kids!! So I was walking by the campus lake the other day and saw a pair of wood ducks with 15 ducklings! But I think they're cheating - I think they just rounded up everyone else's kids.


I got charged by the one with its head up just after taking this pic!

My life would be better if I had that house... or would it?

So the other day we woke up early and headed to Manly Beach for a nice morning walk. Manly Beach is probably the second-most famous beach in Sydney (the first being Bondi). There's a beautiful long beach with two craggy/cliffy/great-splash-producing outcroppings on either side. So as Ben and Ani and I are wandering among beautiful new houses with ocean-view balconies,

and watching the morning sun dancing on the water, and checking out a few ambitious surfers and this awesome elderly (70ish) lady walking back from her morning swim, and being envious of the people who have a walk on the beach as their morning commute

- we start thinking "this is the life!" And if we both got "normal" jobs, we too could wake up with a nice run on the beach and then enjoy a cup of coffee together on our balcony watching the waves.

And it's a happy thought. And it reminded me of this book title that I heard the other day but now I can't find it anywhere so I'm not sure I got it right: "My Life Would Be Better If I Just Had That House." But the problem is that it's just not us. We're too trendy for Manly. (Or maybe it's the other way around - I can never keep it straight.) Manly is pretty much DINK-ville, and by no stretch of the imagination do we classify as yuppies or DINKs (double income, no kids). Plus, Ani wouldn't be allowed to run on the beach with us - I guess with riches comes species-ism. So for now we'll keep our life in our house, but sometimes it's just fun to imagine.

Vegemite

Ah, Vegemite – the food icon of Australia. I don’t know if any other country has the equivalent: one single brand of food that is such a colossal part of the cultural identity. And when you try to mess with such an icon, it doesn’t always go smoothly – a lesson Kraft is slowly learning.

So Vegemite, for those of you who don’t know, is this substance that kinda looks like hot fudge or Nutella, but tastes like a cross between salt, brewer’s malt, and salt (really, it’s so salty you probably get a week’s allowance in 1 teaspoon). The key to Vegemite is to use it sparingly, but it is still an acquired taste. And I’m determined to acquire it! I don’t know – maybe it will give me a cool accent? Maybe it will turn me into a sun-bleached surfer-babe? Maybe it’s just my effort to embrace local culture?

Anyway, Vegemite was invented in 1922, and has been doing just fine. But Kraft decided they needed to mix things up a bit, and thus begins the endless Vegemite media saga. Here’s a recap:
- In June, Kraft releases a new product that is basically Vegemite mixed with cream cheese
- They decide to open up a 3-month national contest to name this new product, and they receive 40,000 entries
- Kraft chooses the name “iSnack 2.0” (in an effort to make Vegemite cool to younger people. Yeah.)
- The Aussie public rebel – seriously, if they weren’t so laid-back, there might have been street-riots – and this fury is broadcast from every possible media outlet
- Kraft revokes the name and opens up a national vote to chose between Cheesybite, Creamymate, Smooth, Snackmate, Vegemate and Vegemild
- After nearly 5 months of seemingly endless Vegemite media coverage, they have chosen the name “Cheesybite.” So far, there’s been no public outcry at that name

So I can’t even begin to sum up all the criticism the name received, but one of my favourite critiques was “Do you really want to use the #2 to describe a thick brown substance?” Which also leads to my favourite name suggestion: iSh*te. (Yes, I may be a doctor, now, but I still appreciate a good poo joke.)

AU vs. US (the environment series): Green bags

Australia seems to have a bit of a split personality in regards to the environment. With some things they are pretty progressive, while with others they are a bit behind the times. And sometimes they are WAY behind the times, but we’ll save that for another day.

So “Eco-friendly AU” has made it a mission to eliminate plastic shopping bags. Instead there are reusable cloth “green bags” (which are sometimes green, but can also be red or blue or pink…). They even have insulated green bags to keep things cool. Everyone has them, and most people are pretty good about using them. Grocery stores almost expect you to have green bags (instead of in the US where you feel like a nuisance if you bring your own bags). Target Australia has even joined the cause, and is no longer providing free plastic check-out bags. If you want a bag you need to buy a compostable bag or a reusable cloth bag. South Australia has outlawed free plastic shopping bags altogether.

Although this idea is certainly around in the US, Australia seems to have actually acted on it a lot more. So, in the effort to reduce the emissions and harmful waste associated with plastic bags, AU wins.

Bangarra Dance Co

Last night we went down to the Opera House to see "Fire: a retrospective" performed by the Bangarra Dance Co - an indigenous Australian dance group.

The performance was great. I won't say too much about it because I don't do that "theatre critic" thing very well. But I'll say this: they kicked ass with props! They had one dance where they did all this crazy stuff with blankets, another with sticks, a car, and one number with a slip and slide. Yes, you read that correctly, and it was just as awesome as you might imagine. Who needs Ice-capades when you have a slip and slide!

On a separate note, it was a very wet, stormy night - would never have guessed that a crazy dust storm was on its way in.

Under a blood red sky

We woke up this morning to an eerie orange glow in the bedroom. Looked out the window, and this crazy orange haze was everywhere. My first reaction was "So this is what you get when you mix sunrise, wind, and fire." (They've been doing some preventative burning in the nearby NP, which has made things fairly hazy at times.) But the thing was, the air smelled like dirt, not smoke. Turned out - it was dirt. The largest dust storm Sydney has ever seen, to be specific.

The orange glow kept getting more intense and surreal as the sun got higher in the sky, and coupled with the intense gusts of wind, the morning had a very creepy feel. Well, "creepy" is how I'd describe it, but some other people prefer "apocolyptic" - literally. Whatever you like - I'm stickin' with "creepy" until proven otherwise. When the sun was able to peek through a bit, things had a bit of a metallic glow to to them - especially car windows. Very funky.

The best color was fairly early, and I was too lazy to get dressed and go outside to take good pics. I blame it on lingering jet-lag and the fact that we were out late last night. So excuse the window screen in all the pics, but you can see some really good pics here.



PS - now we have orange boogers.

Fruit of the day: Feijoa

These are great little fruits, and I swear they taste like SweetTarts. The consistency is a bit like a pear (a little gritty), but they are really sweet and have a nice little zing to them. They're originally from South America, but has apparently gotten big in New Zealand and Australia.