Hanging up my hat

Posted on November 30, 2009

Stereosonic 2009 was on this weekend and at the last minute a group of us decided to go. Although there was nothing wrong with this year’s event per se; I did ask myself why I gave up a Saturday of sleeping in for a day of dust, warm beer and massive crowds. Everytime some sweaty-bodied macho man (I’m not talking about you Willy) rubbed himself against me, I’d look to the skies and rue my decision. I think I’ll be giving up festivals from now on… unless Daft Punk do a world tour again of course.

Happy bday Hons!

Posted on November 30, 2009

Having been pretty busy over the past week it was good to have a relaxed weekend. Things kicked off on Friday with birthday celebrations for Hons (who claims he’s turning 23) and boy did we eat a lot of food. We started off with an office lunch at yum cha.

Hons has a sweet tooth, with a particular weakness for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. As they aren’t readily available in Australia, we had to pop by an importer to get some for his bday present. This little store in Glebe stocks British and American sweets and soft drinks, including a jumbo 1kg bag of Peanut Butter Cups - perfect!

While browsing in the store I couldn’t resist getting some drinks for myself.

After work we headed over the ‘Bridge to Koh-ya for Japanese BBQ. Sitting outside in the warm weather made it feel like we were eating at a hawker stand in Asia.

Thanks to Willy’s smoke-and-flame style of cooking, everyone at our end of the table suffered teary eyes from the billowing smoke. Around midnight we headed to a quiet bar on Oxford St where a few too many Long Islands and Barcardi 151 shots were consumed; eventually leading to some throwing up in Hyde Park!

In before December

Posted on November 25, 2009

Everyone loves getting their tax return - unless you have to pay the tax office that is - but I promptly blew mine on a chair for home (the other Aeron is at the office). I had promised myself I wouldn’t spend it but I decided to make the most of the government’s tax break incentive before it ends in December.

Crazy day

Posted on November 24, 2009

Headed to Harbourlife on the weekend and I was glad the weather was decent this time around. Last year it was so cold we all left early, but Saturday was perfect with the predicted storm never arriving. I’ve been skipping most festivals this year (old age) but Stanton Warriors was enough to come out of the woodwork. It was a disappointing set, but Papz and I had consumed more than enough alcohol to be happy nonetheless.

And apologies to those who had the misfortune of crossing our drunken paths. Such as the poor girl behind the bar, who copped a noseful of one of Papz’s famous silent stink-bombs. The smell literally left her reeling; her head slamming back like she’d been sniped. Understandably, she refused to serve us until his fart had dispersed. If we end up going to Stereosonic we’ll definitely tame things down. Sorry again.

Where’s Stu?

Posted on November 21, 2009

Last week Stuart - who used to be ASM’s Deputy Editor - told us he’d be back in town for the weekend. Stuart left us a couple years ago to go travelling through Europe, eventually ending up in Tasmania when he returned to Australia. It’d been ages since we last saw Stuart so we were all keen to have a Friday pub lunch with him. Except he never showed up. Turns out he was stuck at an incompetent car rental place for an hour, meaning we had the meet-up later at the office instead. It was awesome to see him again, though he missed out on a killer lunch: perfect weather, cold beers and everyone (except for Garth lol) doubled up on the pokies! My steak sandwich was decent too; usually I’m wary of getting steak sandwiches as you’re usually given some low grade sinewy off-cut. And no one likes beef flavoured chewing gum in their sandwich.

$12 down the drain

Posted on November 19, 2009

Whenever I come across another weird Kit Kat flavour I buy them without a moment’s hesitation. I picked these three up from the same supermarket that sold the Salmon Jerky, but this time my impulsiveness punished me. Having not checked the price, I was rather shocked to see them each clocking $4 through the check-out. Is $4 worth trying a carrot and apple flavour Kit Kat? Hmm…

Salmon jerky?

Posted on November 18, 2009

Never knew there was such a thing as salmon jerky until I spotted this in a Chinatown supermarket. I didn’t dare try it (the smell and colour threw me off straight away), which is probably a good thing judging by the reactions of those in the office who did have a nibble. I don’t even think it was in Kula’s mouth for half a second; as soon as it hit his tongue it went straight in the bin.

Get rich quick schemes

Posted on November 17, 2009

There’s good business and there’s great business. I’ve always been intrigued by the business aspects of the sports I follow (motor racing and football), and in particular the deals that go on in the background. Some of which are pure genius.

Take Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger, who is notorious for his business acumen. Rather than spending beyond his club’s means (there are many famous clubs on the brink of financial ruin) or abuse the cheque-books of their billionaire owners (Chelsea and Manchester City spring to mind), Arsene has instead concentrated on nurturing unknown talent; a decision which has reaped enormous financial windfalls. As an example, signing Nicolas Anelka cost $1 million; and just two years later was sold to Real Madrid for $44.6 million. It’s certainly not a fluke either. Overmars (+$36m), Vieira (+$20m), Pires (+$12m), Henry and Pennant (both +$11m) are proof of that. And Wenger’s cultivating a monster jackpot with today’s crop too. I reckon there are 15 youngsters that could potentially net Arsenal $630 million of clear cut profit (see ‘comments’ section).

It still boggles me that Wenger himself is paid so poorly (comparatively) at ~$10m. If I owned Arsenal, I’d be ramming the millions into Wenger’s briefcase while chaining him to our stadium. The return on investment he’s generated is staggering.

But that’s enough about football, as this post was meant to be about the news of F1’s Ross Brawn, who’s just done an Arsene of his own. After being the puppeteer behind Schumacher success, Brawn bought Honda’s unloved F1 child for the grand sum of one pound (a token transaction done to release liability) just under a year ago. And he’s now sold a majority stake to Mercedes for a reputed $200 million. Factor in the prize-money, broadcast revenue and sponsorship dollars accrued during their maiden year and you have yourself one hell of a financial coup.

Guys like these give true meaning to the old adage of having success both on and off the field. (Or tarmac in Brawn’s case).

The Counter: Round 2

Posted on November 16, 2009

Headed to The Counter in Crows Nest for another go at their custom burgers. However this time around it was rather disappointing. Where’s the cheese?

While the burger suffered from lack of flavour, the chilli fries were the complete opposite. These were too much of a good thing; I could feel my arteries clogging up with each bite!

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2

Posted on November 15, 2009

Having been mesmerised by the first Modern Warfare installment, buying its sequel was a no brainer. It’s been getting plenty of media coverage since its launch a few days ago, and not all of it was on its predicted record breaking sales. Here’s a grab of the airport scene which is receiving plenty of criticism, and I must say the slow pace and the score do make it a little disturbing.

Speaking of Papz

Posted on November 15, 2009

While channel surfing (by the way I’m loving that Foxtel have finally introduced more channels!) I came across this on MTV, which instantly made me crack up. Obviously it’s a show on the paparazzi following Britney Spears, but those who know Papz may interpret it differently!

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