Peel Street lads rock Canberra.

Marko cranked out some Nirvana late on Thursday evening after Thai food at the Asian Noodle House and half-price pints at O'Neil's.


Turn up the volume and take it in!


A late Thursday could have slowed down daintier chaps, but not these guys. Free drinks in the city - can you believe it?


People give me so many compliments for wearing this shirt, then look at how well it teams up with the station-master's hat.


Photogenic... though is there a need for more station-master's hats?


Ah - there we go!

Cold weather ahead

The forecast from today predicts snow for Canberra on Wednesday! Saturday was cold. (It was less than one degree until eleven in the morning). So cold that on my way to Queanbeyan for rugby, I had to dismount from the moto', after making it as far as the airport, and warm my hands at the exhaust for ten minutes. Motorcyclists look after each other. The next rider after me, thinking that I was in distress, stopped to offer his assistance. That kind consideration made my day. (So did putting it over Queanbeyan 8-0 with the Owls third-grade side a little later in the day).


Stepping back one day takes us to the "Friday the 13th" Singstar evening at the Fox. Jen and I carved a jack'o'lantern and posted it outside with regard to the eerie theme of the evening. Mix' supplied the blood curdling wails, but it was just another Singstar attempt.


Stepping back a further week lands us in Cowra for the picnic races of 2007. Gun-skulling, as imported from the Peel Street boys caught on.


We were checked for ID, recommended for our dress, backing winners, backing losers, drinking longies, getting messy - well, it's the races.


I was going to end the post here but then recalled a funny little vid' from the other night... Enjoy!

Happy 24th Birthday, Jenny

Jen starts her birthday morning posing with her new transformer (autobot Jazz), listening to her "So Fresh" CD and sipping tea from an exquisite mug.

Many birthdays

Happy 24th birthday Amy!


Happy unknown birthday Chris!


Happy 30th birthday Steve!


Happy 21st birthday Rini!

North Bar!

It's just too good to resist. Sorry to out-of-town people, but free drinks on a Friday after uni? (It cannot be beat!)

Spin that wheel

I am twirling my pizza base. I only had grainy bread-making flour, so these pizzas are crunchy. They are still very tasty though!

Cool weather

It's so cold in Canberra that it surprises me every winter. It's often very sunny though, and if the wind is absent, then you can make yourself rather comfortable in the right spot.

Bubbly @ North

FREE TAPAS AND CHAMPAGNE FRIDAY! Relax after work with delicious free tapas and glasses of champagne, It's the perfect way to wind down a long week and it won't cost you a thing Friday 5 - 7pm.



Hi Glynn and Jen.


Hi Kara and Alex! See you guys again this Friday.


Nice tip on the venue, but how could you do it to me with rugby the next day!?

Madness @ Moose

Phil is on the surveillance camera at the Moose. I hope they blanked the tape after Friday night! (My tape was mostly blank by the end of our night, too). What - starting with bubbly!


Then it was cheap pints with the lads.


And two dollar schooners with Goose, Charlie and Jester.


Hi Jess!

Rugby: Victory over Queanbeyan, 5-0

A sweet day (still, sunny, 17°C) was made even sweeter when my rugby team, the Owls, put Queanbeyan away 5-0 at our home ground today. Hat tip to the blokes (Options, Hollywood, and Will) who helped line me up to cross the line just prior to half time.


It was a three-yellow-card-match but none came my way. (Can you see that I am half-a-foot off the ground here?) Action photography: Jen

Pizza from scratch

I applied my recently acquired bread-making skill to the formulation of pizza bases. Jenny starts by adding mushrooms.


And I conclude with a thick layer of mozarella cheese.


20 minutes at 200ºC and there you have it.

Back from Peel Street again

Really, I ought to have taken more photographs during my trip this weekend to Bathurst to visit Leigh and Marko. The ride over the Bathurst via Crookwell was exceedingly cold, interspersed with sections of sticky, slippery clay that has been churned up during the week.

The weather in Bathurst however, was bright and sunny. It was perfect to have a kick around and we baked some bread then Marko had worked up a thirst. We caught the tail-end of an all-day (from 6am) pub crawl that the college kids had been on and finished the night perched at the end of the bar at the Kings hotel. I imagine that we were good entertainment for the other patrons..

Sunday being a wipe-out, I rode back from Bathurst early this morning, via Cowra. While lamenting my lack of photographs at around 6.30 am, I took the chance to capture something on film that I have meant to for some time. Do Cowra people remember this Dunlop sign on the left hand side of the road, going towards Cowra? From my childhood, I can picture this sign when it was complete and fairly new. It has been a bit of a chronograph over the years. I would pass it on my way to and from football games as a kid and teenager. Then my excursions to Cowra from Sydney would take me past it - all the while the roof of this sign was shrinking... shrinking... There's still a skerrick left, if you look closely, and I wanted to take a snap before it's gone for good.

Yeah Egg!

Hodgo' has caught the biking bug as well and was trying out the attire.


My head's even bigger than this helmet!


I will continue the Jen theme here seeing as she has been so much in the lime-light... ANU Sixth grade lords it here and gets a 3-nil win.


I have been reading a few chemistry blogs recently. Could my blog be improved by showing exhibiting more chemistry?

Paintball 2007

Head shots were very common in the first few games on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, groin shots were also fairly common...


We made up the deadliest trio in Canberra on Saturday.


This is the whole group that we played paintball with, on the weekend. There are mostly chemists pictured and some of my non-chemistry mates too.


Later that evening, JB showed off his new pet mouse. (Very cute!)

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, friend

Again harnessing the awesome power of yeast, I have produced... Bread! Mmm... Freshly baked bread...


This third loaf, like its predecessors was kneaded by hand and baked in a conventional oven.

Easter @ Tathra

Fish weren't biting on the lines around Tathra wharf, but Marko and I were able to take a couple of leatherjackets on the spear. (~35 cm)


Homies all round.


Take the tip: Hobart Beach campground at Bournda National Park


Hobart Beach played host to bocci, cricket, rugby and body surfing. The water at this time of the year is at a great temperature.


I'm sure you all had a blast - see you at the coast again soon if we can get another trip in before the cool weather arrives!