Hi Everyone and greetings from Glenn & Sue. Thanks to Ash for posting this on the Blogg...Glenn has forgotten his password (Help Adam!!?!) so I cannot learn the skill of posting at this point in time. As well, he's in Canada so is of very little help. And, yes, I do miss him! We're very much looking forward to seeing you all at Xmas. We will miss those youngsters who are OS.
I don't know how this will translate to the Blogg but the first person mentioned BUYS FOR the second.
Glenn BUYS FOR Zac;
Sue - Lizzie;
Jake - Nick;
Kel - Jenny;
Lachie - Luke;
Naomi - Annika;
Tom - Damian;
Chloe - Amy;
Pat - Cal;
Sally - Lilly;
Joe -Grant;
Sar - Julia;
Grant - Tom;
Julia - Millie;
Adam - Daniel;
Amanda -Alaine;
Annika - Maryanne;
Nick - Stu;
Dom - John;
Stu - Ash;
Maryanne -Cathy;
Daniel - Rowan;
Alaine - Kate;
Harry - Andrew;
Millie - Jan;
John -Adam;
Jan - Amanda;
Kate - Naomi;
Zac - Harry;
Lizzie - Kelly;
Ash - Joe;
Cathy - Sar;
Andrew - Dom;
Rowan - Glenn;
Damian - Jake;
Jenny - Sue;
Cal -Lachie;
Amy - Sally;
Luke - Pat;
Lilly - Chloe.
Re Xmas...
I've hired a commercial double door fridge to make life easier this year. It will be at Neil's Bar.We'll still use the fridge at the back of the kitchen so there should be plenty of scope for food and for keeping those tinnies cold. Some dates and activites....23/12 G & S sponsored BBQ as people arrive. 25/12 Mass at 10.00am at Goolmangar...shared lunch and exchange of gifts in the Memorabilia Room (air conditioned, as per last time)...sleeps...soccer at 5pm. 26/12 tennis comp begins. 27/12 twilight cricket at 5pm. 28/12 concert (pm). 29/12 Ladies afternoon tea at Luv A Coffee in Lismore at 2.30pm (booked). In between there are the usual activities that people indulge in like visits to the beaches/ op shopping/happy hour / sports / rests / possibly a lakeside BBQ and swim in the dam/speed boat rides at our place at Alstonville courtesy of Luke & Debra(neighbours), etc.
Talking to Aunty Bet it seems she and Shauna will be present. Paris is keen and I think Brad & Deb have plans.We assume the Seage contingent will come and hope Louise & Rick will, too. Please, if you are talking to any of the regulars do encourage them.We welcome Cathy Noon and Peter Doohan. Apologies if I've missed anyone.
If it's not a burden the donation to cover gas, electricity, cleaning, bus petrol, fridge hire etc will be $25 per person over primary school age.
"Go well" Rowan & Lizzie as you come to the end of your school days.I'm really looking forward to this Xmas - I intend being a Mary rather than a Martha.Any explanation required will be over a chardy!! Lots of Love, Sue (&Glenn).
PS: For fear of this post looking like someone has actually listened to Stu, it's not.
Tuesday, October 31
Monday, October 30
Multiple choice quiz
What is the real reason Joe went to Oxford
Is it a/ The place - The Radcliffe Camera, part of the Bodleian Library that holds over 7,000,000 published books
b/ The study - Sar and I at Harris Manchester College prior to matriculation, this is the get-up (sub fusc) that I have to sit exams in
or c/ The social - a couple of young lasses at the Captains Cocktails party this week just gone, back to school theme
Is it a/ The place - The Radcliffe Camera, part of the Bodleian Library that holds over 7,000,000 published books
b/ The study - Sar and I at Harris Manchester College prior to matriculation, this is the get-up (sub fusc) that I have to sit exams in
or c/ The social - a couple of young lasses at the Captains Cocktails party this week just gone, back to school theme
Sunday, October 29
It's a small world - part one - plus Sunday gossip
There's a bit of drama going on at Uni at the moment (for a change, it's not my fault)and, growing tired of the time taken by standard procedures, I made an appointment to see the big boss - the pro-vice chancellor of the portfolio I'm in. He has a fearsome reputation and there was certainly a risk of the visit having exactly the opposite effect to the one intended. I was blathering on while he was reading some of the paperwork and then he looked up and said, "You're not related to Glenn Roff, are you?". His name is Alan Cumming and he has nothing but the fondest memories of the Glenn Roffs while he was working at the University of New England. He asked to be remembered to the family and we had a good old gossip about Armidale. I haven't had so much luck since the time I got pulled over by a copper while I was clinically dead from substance abuse (and in an unregistered car) who turned out to be Stuart's best mate from Hay.
Speaking of Glenn, he's in Canada at the moment on, I think, a school trip. It's a tough life at the top. If you need evidence that Joe's still alive and kicking, check comment 26 in the famous Climate Change blog below.
Fingers crossed for Dan tonight (Sunday) in the ARIA awards. They're being televised live on Chanel Nine. Dan't not confident but the exposure won't do him any harm. Amanda has some government funding to do a course on running her own business: in this case a booking/management service for the music industry. She's already started and it's near my office so we're getting to see a bit more of each other. Annika is still toiling away at the video shop but has deferred uni for next year and will take a well-earned break from study. She might be able to make enough to get some form of government financial help for her last couple of years at Melbourne Uni. It could mean a move back home as well. Nicholas' first year of PE is over and we await his results with interest. Here's the exchange I overheard at the breakfast table yesterday between him while he was checking his mail and his mate Kieran who had stayed the night.
Kiren: "What's that?"
Nick: "I think its a library fine"
Kiren: "Did you borrow a book?"
Nick: "Not for me - it was something Annika wanted."
Nick plans a year off as well and will be seeking full-time employment shortly if he can drag himself away from the beach. He lashed out on a new surfboard recently and has been exercising it regularly.
Dom's hand is now out of plaster but he's hobbling at the moment bacause the biggest kid at his school fell on his foot recently, resulting in impressive bruising. He's playing tennis over summer and has taken up skateboarding.
Adam turns 30 tomorrow (Monday). He's hard to buy for as he already has everything but will no doubt appreciate your best wishes. Thirty - who'd have thought it?
Bonnie has taken off a tremendous amount of weight since any of you last saw her and we are considering a new career for her in grayhound racing.
Speaking of Glenn, he's in Canada at the moment on, I think, a school trip. It's a tough life at the top. If you need evidence that Joe's still alive and kicking, check comment 26 in the famous Climate Change blog below.
Fingers crossed for Dan tonight (Sunday) in the ARIA awards. They're being televised live on Chanel Nine. Dan't not confident but the exposure won't do him any harm. Amanda has some government funding to do a course on running her own business: in this case a booking/management service for the music industry. She's already started and it's near my office so we're getting to see a bit more of each other. Annika is still toiling away at the video shop but has deferred uni for next year and will take a well-earned break from study. She might be able to make enough to get some form of government financial help for her last couple of years at Melbourne Uni. It could mean a move back home as well. Nicholas' first year of PE is over and we await his results with interest. Here's the exchange I overheard at the breakfast table yesterday between him while he was checking his mail and his mate Kieran who had stayed the night.
Kiren: "What's that?"
Nick: "I think its a library fine"
Kiren: "Did you borrow a book?"
Nick: "Not for me - it was something Annika wanted."
Nick plans a year off as well and will be seeking full-time employment shortly if he can drag himself away from the beach. He lashed out on a new surfboard recently and has been exercising it regularly.
Dom's hand is now out of plaster but he's hobbling at the moment bacause the biggest kid at his school fell on his foot recently, resulting in impressive bruising. He's playing tennis over summer and has taken up skateboarding.
Adam turns 30 tomorrow (Monday). He's hard to buy for as he already has everything but will no doubt appreciate your best wishes. Thirty - who'd have thought it?
Bonnie has taken off a tremendous amount of weight since any of you last saw her and we are considering a new career for her in grayhound racing.
Tuesday, October 24
Bid to win worst horse tip
Geelong Cup Today
If it gets a run as 1st emergency - Magic Instinct
To quote Grant "dont say I didn't tell you"!
If it gets a run as 1st emergency - Magic Instinct
To quote Grant "dont say I didn't tell you"!
Monday, October 23
Daniel Leaves Home
Mark this day in your diaries and history books - October 24th 2006! This is the day the perennial student, Daniel, actually LEAVES HOME! He is heading for Sydney (Glebe) and starts his JOB with a Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW. It is also the day that his parents might be able to start saving something towards their well deserved retirement; apparantly you can't live on good memories alone. We will miss the on-tap music to accompany any meal or occasion and the wonderful philosophical debates over a bottle of port but there's always Harry and Milly left. On second thoughts maybe Daniel might change his mind.......
1st Birthday for the Roff Report
The Roff Report turned one at the end of September and I forgot to put a picture of a cake and a candle. Great work everyone making it fun to read on a daily basis. Maybe we can have a few awards for the best posts at Roff Christmas: most graceless, funniest, worst horse racing tip etc etc...For those that read the Roff Report but have not contributed, there will be a Roff Report workshop where you can learn how to post a blog entry, how to post pictures to the centre of the page, and how to edit your posts.
Saturday, October 21
Wednesday, October 18
Climate Change
Hi everyone. I meant to have a discussion with Ash about climate change when I was down in Adelaide but we didn't get around to it. Good news for him, bad news for you. Instead, I'm posting a link to a document that summarises some of the scarey stuff we are all facing. Here's where we will stand before 2030:
Ashley Roffs: Water flow in the Murray Darling basin will be reduced by 50%. You think Adelaides quota is bad now, it will barely trickle into SA. Temperatures above 35 degrees for more than half the year. You can forget about working in the wheat industry.
Damien Roffs: Drought will be your biggest concern. You think farmers whinge now. With a 1 degree increase in temperature (we are almost there now) we can expect 70% more droughts.
Glen Roffs: Expect alot more cyclones and flooding in Lismore. The barrier reef will be finished due to bleaching. But that won't matter so much because you'll be delerious with Malaria!
Grant Roffs: Warmer weather. You lucky things! Of course, droughts may have bankrupted Australias economy by then so don't get too chirpy. The Vic ski fields will be gone.
John Roffs: WA forests will disappear, you'll need to pipe water down from the North for Perth, and the ocean currents might go whacky and kill Geraltons fishing industry.
Stuart Roffs: Your dream home in Redhead will be underwater, with no compensation. Camping in the bush will be less fun due to loss of core habitat for most species and mass extinctions.
New research shows plantlife may become net producers of carbon dioxide in the not too distant future, which would be bery, bery bad. Also, there's a 1% chance we'll cause a runaway greenhouse effect (that's where the temperature keeps going up until the oceans evaporate into the atmosphere and all life on the plantet is extinguished). Yikes! Click on the picture below to read a report from some other untrustworthy hippies. You might be pushing up daisies before then but think of the children. THINK OF THE CHILDREN!
Ashley Roffs: Water flow in the Murray Darling basin will be reduced by 50%. You think Adelaides quota is bad now, it will barely trickle into SA. Temperatures above 35 degrees for more than half the year. You can forget about working in the wheat industry.
Damien Roffs: Drought will be your biggest concern. You think farmers whinge now. With a 1 degree increase in temperature (we are almost there now) we can expect 70% more droughts.
Glen Roffs: Expect alot more cyclones and flooding in Lismore. The barrier reef will be finished due to bleaching. But that won't matter so much because you'll be delerious with Malaria!
Grant Roffs: Warmer weather. You lucky things! Of course, droughts may have bankrupted Australias economy by then so don't get too chirpy. The Vic ski fields will be gone.
John Roffs: WA forests will disappear, you'll need to pipe water down from the North for Perth, and the ocean currents might go whacky and kill Geraltons fishing industry.
Stuart Roffs: Your dream home in Redhead will be underwater, with no compensation. Camping in the bush will be less fun due to loss of core habitat for most species and mass extinctions.
New research shows plantlife may become net producers of carbon dioxide in the not too distant future, which would be bery, bery bad. Also, there's a 1% chance we'll cause a runaway greenhouse effect (that's where the temperature keeps going up until the oceans evaporate into the atmosphere and all life on the plantet is extinguished). Yikes! Click on the picture below to read a report from some other untrustworthy hippies. You might be pushing up daisies before then but think of the children. THINK OF THE CHILDREN!
Monday, October 16
High culture
The Melbourne Roffs have just hosted my old school mate from Moree, Ray Firth. Ray was curating an art show named "6 voices" which was three Murri (indigenous) artists and three whities and their paintings of Moree landscapes. We all learned plenty about art in the three days he spent here. Amanda and Dan (fresh after the concert in Adam's blog below)attended the opening, as did Annika and Julia. He (Ray) was very grateful for our assistance and I can select something from the exhibition which is very generous if the ticket prices are anything to go by. Ray and I spent about 36 hours talking about Moree and what it all meant. He and I were in year nine, I think, when the Freedom Riders came to town and let everyone know how bad things were for the local blacks. To his credit, Ray joined the picket line at the municipal baths where, much to our surprise, blacks weren't allowed to swim. The local council had passed a law in 1955 disallowing anyone "with an admixture of Aboriginal blood" from entering. Amazing, when you think about it. I'm actually still mates with someone I went to grade four with (Barry Campbell in Lismore) - It's 46 years - can anyone beat that? I'll attach one of Ray's paintings from the exhibition. He's hot in Sydney and now he's moving south. Ray's dad (Ray) and Poppa owned a race horse together (possibly without either spouse knowing) which I saw come second-last at Moree races once. That was four shillings I was in no position to lose...
It takes two to Tango
A gender confused Roff reunion in the city of the Tango, Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aires is one of the coolest cities i have ever seen, seriously keen to move back here and buy an apartment when I am rich and famous :)
We have also discovered that you can get a bottle of wine here for $1.25 AUS..... this could get messy.....
Love Kate
Sunday, October 15
Another Dan Kelly gig in Sydney
Dan played a great gig last night and i took a bunch of photos. Check them out HERE. I drank the last beer in their rider, which Amanda assures me is bad form, so that might be the last gig I'm invited to. Damn.
Thursday, October 12
Wednesday, October 11
A Cat Amongst the Dogs...?
Since both Milly and the folks have come back from Melbourne expressing similar sentiments recently, I think it is safe to once again (and indeed, finally) propose that Chloe is the cutest dog in the extended family.
'But how, Daniel and Harry', we hear you ask, 'can you so confidently assume that this is the case?'
Well, it's easy.
It can't be Bonnie because nothing that is so obviously obese can ever be regarded as aesthetically pleasing. On any level. Ever. I mean, really, has anyone found themselves seriously stroking their chin while trying to decide who was the most drop-dead gorgeous man on the surface of the earth: George Clooney or that fat bloke in the restaurant scene from The Meaning of Life.
It can't be Fanny because facial hair a cute creature does not make. And if you want to argue I have two words: Grant Roff.
I'd be willing to consider Ki-Ki. The only problem here, however, is no substance. It's like comparing a Scarlett Johannson or Jessica Alba with, oh, I don't know, say Paris Hilton.
So, by the process of elimination, we come to Chloe. Brains, Brawn and Beauty - the holy trinity of cuteness.
In the next installment, I (Daniel) will give you an update of my life.
'But how, Daniel and Harry', we hear you ask, 'can you so confidently assume that this is the case?'
Well, it's easy.
It can't be Bonnie because nothing that is so obviously obese can ever be regarded as aesthetically pleasing. On any level. Ever. I mean, really, has anyone found themselves seriously stroking their chin while trying to decide who was the most drop-dead gorgeous man on the surface of the earth: George Clooney or that fat bloke in the restaurant scene from The Meaning of Life.
It can't be Fanny because facial hair a cute creature does not make. And if you want to argue I have two words: Grant Roff.
I'd be willing to consider Ki-Ki. The only problem here, however, is no substance. It's like comparing a Scarlett Johannson or Jessica Alba with, oh, I don't know, say Paris Hilton.
So, by the process of elimination, we come to Chloe. Brains, Brawn and Beauty - the holy trinity of cuteness.
In the next installment, I (Daniel) will give you an update of my life.
Uhh... here's the pic mentioned below...
I'll try to add the picture here but if it doesn't work, I'll either read the instructions or ask Dom for help...
Millicent does Melbourne
Milly, who was supposed to be in Melbourne to vist her uncle and aunt, managed all of three hours with us. Amanda reports that Milly, her friend and Annika did everything you can possibly do in Melbourne all in one night: The Tote for drinks; out to dinner; a band, back to the Tote for another band and then to a nightclub for a big dance. Milly's friend, of course, missed her flight back to Newcastle the next day but Milly, Annika and Amanda fronted up again for another big night which included a Paul Kelly concert for East Timor. Backstages passes were acquired and, apparently, figuring Milly was too young, Paul asked if she had a mother. Boy, does she have a mother! We finally got to see Milly on Monday night and as you can see by the pic, Dom, Nick, Amanda, Dan, Annika and the olds had a fine old time. Strangely, Milly decided to spend the night back in the city rather than with us. She gets more beautiful everytime we see her. Thanks to Ash, Cathie and Adelaide Roffs for their limitless hospitality for Adam, Monica, Julia and Julia's workmate. Apparently the rear deck and pool now installed in Wilgena Ave is very convivial.
Monday, October 9
Adelaide Winos
Monica and I just got back from an epic South Australian mission and we're straight back at work. She insists we are going to spend the rest of our lives working full time…. Could this be true? Is that really the Roff way?
In any case, the trip turned out great. Egg picked us up from the airport in the middle of the night in his hotted up Magna (suspension lowered/broken, tyres are slicks/buggered, doors sealed for dukes of hazard entry/because they are stuffed). We had a great time catching up but politely refused the offer to stay at his house. Watching his flatmate bring home 20 people from the pub and throw a house music party sounded like an excellent night’s entertainment to me but I was overruled by the fun sheriff.
Ash and Cath and Rowan and Fanny (the dog) had waited up for us and began a week of unconditional support and kindness by plying us with booze, food and clean towels. They’ve just finishing converting their deck into a poolside B.B.Q. area with adjoining ping pong and grass court tennis arena. I predict it will be the most popular room in the house, nay, in
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I had to spend the first night finishing a paper for a conference, so I could enjoy my holiday unmolested. I think Ash and Cath found it strange to get up for breakfast in the morning and find me still typing away. I found it strange that they got up for breakfast and I was still sane. Sleep deprivation is a wicked thing. I finally got the paper in after 18 hours straight in the study after which Egg took us out on the town for a band and a few games of pool. There's a Crown and Anchor in every town, and I love them all!
Next morning we hired a car and drove into the
Monica and I woke up with a start to a blood curdling scream that went for a full minute. We could see a fire spreading from the direction of the screams, even from inside our tent. I tore my way out and bolted up fully expecting to have to put out a fire on four or five people. The damage was limited to Jim, the best man and brother of the groom. His nylon sleeping bag had strayed to close to the fire and had ignited with him in it. The screams were him crawling around trying to put the fire out on his feet. He’d suffered terrible burns to the soles of his feet. I grabbed the hose and put the swag out and then started pouring filtered water from a cask on his feet. Someone had called the ambulance and the paramedics suggested a bucket of water. I couldn’t look at his feet. They were charred.
Instead of coming camping with us after the wedding Jim spent the week in the burns unit listening to other victims whimpers and having the nylon scrubbed out of his blisters. The moral of the story is, DON’T SLEEP TOO CLOSE TO THE FIRE IN FLAMABLE STUFF! He was very lucky in the end and his skin grafts have basically healed already. I should have used the hose on his feet in hindsight, after cutting off the fine spray nozzle. Running water is still the best remedy in the first 20 minutes, it prevents the flesh continuing to cook like a steak.
The rest of our trip was spread between the 
Thursday, October 5
Hola Amigo!
Heya!
Well I have now spent a month in Costa Rica and have had a blast, met some crazy cats and discovered alot. This country is gorgeous, and the people are cool. I have lined up an english teaching job here for november onwards (teaching english to business classes) so it's nice to have something in the line of finances. I have also made some curious observations that I would like to share.....
Adapting:
Directions here aren't straight forward. Everyone goes by landmarks rather than street names. For example, "150m south from the national theatre, then 50m west and 2 blocks to the right"...needless to say a compass is necessary. I however, have taken these landmark directions to the next level, operating only on indefinite landmarks, for example; "left at the large pile of garbage, the second right after you walk past the homeless man sleeping in a doorway and then left at the hooker that looks like a transvestite". So far it's been working out great, no one has ever bothered me for directions a second time....
Complaining:
Everybody smokes. EVERYWHERE. It surprises me how used to non-smoking venues back home I must be, here everyone smokes in restaurants, confined spaces, even in a dodgy movie theatre I went to. I finally spat it though when I was at a backpackers and decided to live luxuriously and spring for a private room, the one I got had a window that backed onto the smoke-friendly kitchen.....don't get me wrong I don’t care if people want to smoke but I draw the line at passive smoking in my sleep!
And a funny, but not-so-funny, story:
Yesterday I was walking along in the morning down a street with not too many people towards the main city of San Jose. Now, San Jose is a big city, very safe in the daytime to walk around, ok in the evenings and not the sort of place I would linger after dark. Being by myself I am just that little bit more aware of any isolation and tend to be, as it turns out, a little more jumpy than normal....So as I am walking these two guys, about my age, decide it would be hilariously funny if they jump out of a doorway and scare the foreign girl walking towards them. Just for kicks. Fortunately my limited Spanish does include cuss words, which i then backed up with english ones to make my message perfectly clear, and unfortunately for one of them it appears that I have quite blindly reactionary reflexes of the swinging arm kind. Even more unlucky for him was the fact that I was carrying a REALLY big book. I think his nose hurt more than his pride at being whacked in the face by a "gringo". It took me about 24hours to see the funny side of the situation.....
Have some fun and I will post again when i finally track down that brother of mine in Argentina somewhere.....last i heard he and his mate had found a $15 all you can drink buffet in Mexico.....
luv Kate
Well I have now spent a month in Costa Rica and have had a blast, met some crazy cats and discovered alot. This country is gorgeous, and the people are cool. I have lined up an english teaching job here for november onwards (teaching english to business classes) so it's nice to have something in the line of finances. I have also made some curious observations that I would like to share.....
Adapting:
Directions here aren't straight forward. Everyone goes by landmarks rather than street names. For example, "150m south from the national theatre, then 50m west and 2 blocks to the right"...needless to say a compass is necessary. I however, have taken these landmark directions to the next level, operating only on indefinite landmarks, for example; "left at the large pile of garbage, the second right after you walk past the homeless man sleeping in a doorway and then left at the hooker that looks like a transvestite". So far it's been working out great, no one has ever bothered me for directions a second time....
Complaining:
Everybody smokes. EVERYWHERE. It surprises me how used to non-smoking venues back home I must be, here everyone smokes in restaurants, confined spaces, even in a dodgy movie theatre I went to. I finally spat it though when I was at a backpackers and decided to live luxuriously and spring for a private room, the one I got had a window that backed onto the smoke-friendly kitchen.....don't get me wrong I don’t care if people want to smoke but I draw the line at passive smoking in my sleep!
And a funny, but not-so-funny, story:
Yesterday I was walking along in the morning down a street with not too many people towards the main city of San Jose. Now, San Jose is a big city, very safe in the daytime to walk around, ok in the evenings and not the sort of place I would linger after dark. Being by myself I am just that little bit more aware of any isolation and tend to be, as it turns out, a little more jumpy than normal....So as I am walking these two guys, about my age, decide it would be hilariously funny if they jump out of a doorway and scare the foreign girl walking towards them. Just for kicks. Fortunately my limited Spanish does include cuss words, which i then backed up with english ones to make my message perfectly clear, and unfortunately for one of them it appears that I have quite blindly reactionary reflexes of the swinging arm kind. Even more unlucky for him was the fact that I was carrying a REALLY big book. I think his nose hurt more than his pride at being whacked in the face by a "gringo". It took me about 24hours to see the funny side of the situation.....
Have some fun and I will post again when i finally track down that brother of mine in Argentina somewhere.....last i heard he and his mate had found a $15 all you can drink buffet in Mexico.....
luv Kate
Monday, October 2
Summer is no more
I would like some advice from my younger more experienced cousins about a thing that they call 'O' week which is starting tomorrow. Not having ever attended one before (well not legitimately as a student anyway) I have a few concerns, most disturbing being that everyone up until about 3 months ago was wearing a high school uniform, whereas this year I was unable to attend my 12 year high school reunion. That the likes of Harry, Nick and Milly are all theoretically more mature than the people I will be studying with makes me somewhat concerned.
I recently purchased my commoners gown and cap, and next week have to attend the Sheldonian theatre to matriculate, which involves, amongst other pomp and ceremony, all new students raising their right hand and vowing not to 'burn the books of the Bodlean Library'... in Latin. A shame, as now that my idea has been thwarted by the powers that be I will have to think of some other practical joke so that I might become a University hero... yes they still talk about Bob Hawkes record for downing a yard glass here, and yes the record still stands, and no I don't think I can beat it, but yes I might try one day, and no Sar does not approve of this, and yes I know she is... I know.
On the rugby front we have had a few tours recently and 4 games into the season I am falling to bits and confirming that the decision to retire was a good one, although the fact that I keep mentioning it must mean I was never quite 100% sure. They have been excellent tours although we have only won 1 from 4, but it is shaping up as a good season. In the footsteps of my father I am getting a run at 10 next week and am looking to have a similar tackle count in the game that he would have once had to do him proud. We played Portugal last weekend and went down by 2 which was frustrating for the lads, it was more like a fight than a match really, you have to love the Latino spirit. To give you an idea of some of the ridiculous overachievers that we have in the team, one of the boys was given the role on tour of 'thought for the day', but he was required to give his quote in Russian and French before he delivered it in English, which he did. Another member broke his nose on day 1 of pre-season and was able to get 3 different opinions from post grad doctors who play in the team. Nerds.
Talking of nerds, I went for a beer last night at the Eagle and Child. It is a pub here in Oxford where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to meet once a week to have a beer and discuss what they were writing. I am not sure if I have mentioned this before but it really amazes me, and I like to imagine what they used to say to each other. "well I'm going to make up a world called middle earth, with orcs and an elven language and a magic ring" - "really, well I'm going to make up a world called Narnia, I might throw in a talking lion, not sure yet, who's shout is it?". Anyway, part of O week is joining up to all the society's that the uni has, and yes they have a Tolkien appreciation society, and yes I am thinking of joining.
But now I am just rambling, so will sign off for now, will try and post a few shots soon,
I recently purchased my commoners gown and cap, and next week have to attend the Sheldonian theatre to matriculate, which involves, amongst other pomp and ceremony, all new students raising their right hand and vowing not to 'burn the books of the Bodlean Library'... in Latin. A shame, as now that my idea has been thwarted by the powers that be I will have to think of some other practical joke so that I might become a University hero... yes they still talk about Bob Hawkes record for downing a yard glass here, and yes the record still stands, and no I don't think I can beat it, but yes I might try one day, and no Sar does not approve of this, and yes I know she is... I know.
On the rugby front we have had a few tours recently and 4 games into the season I am falling to bits and confirming that the decision to retire was a good one, although the fact that I keep mentioning it must mean I was never quite 100% sure. They have been excellent tours although we have only won 1 from 4, but it is shaping up as a good season. In the footsteps of my father I am getting a run at 10 next week and am looking to have a similar tackle count in the game that he would have once had to do him proud. We played Portugal last weekend and went down by 2 which was frustrating for the lads, it was more like a fight than a match really, you have to love the Latino spirit. To give you an idea of some of the ridiculous overachievers that we have in the team, one of the boys was given the role on tour of 'thought for the day', but he was required to give his quote in Russian and French before he delivered it in English, which he did. Another member broke his nose on day 1 of pre-season and was able to get 3 different opinions from post grad doctors who play in the team. Nerds.
Talking of nerds, I went for a beer last night at the Eagle and Child. It is a pub here in Oxford where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to meet once a week to have a beer and discuss what they were writing. I am not sure if I have mentioned this before but it really amazes me, and I like to imagine what they used to say to each other. "well I'm going to make up a world called middle earth, with orcs and an elven language and a magic ring" - "really, well I'm going to make up a world called Narnia, I might throw in a talking lion, not sure yet, who's shout is it?". Anyway, part of O week is joining up to all the society's that the uni has, and yes they have a Tolkien appreciation society, and yes I am thinking of joining.
But now I am just rambling, so will sign off for now, will try and post a few shots soon,
