Glenn and Ash in Chile and Peru

Just a few photos to show what a great trip Ash & I had in Sth America. The trekking was adventurous / the company great / and the Chillien wines surprisingly good.Genuinely great trip which was tax deductable for the Woodlawn teachers but not the Adelaide lawyers!Ash was impressively resilient in the 10 hour a day challenges. Cheers, Glenn.

Round 5 Update

New Leader! R- Dizzle

Big Movers; TLR, Lily, Mr Lolcats

Lowest Score - Gandalf (2)

Dog Day.

Did you know that Will Minson was once described by Rocket, as the dumbest smart footballer in the AFL?

Jake's Birthday

I just checked out my work diary and was upset that I missed Jake's Birthday on the 14th. The King of Cousins birthday unheralded. That is a disgrace. Happy Birthday anyway Jake, I hope you got some good presents. Did you get to the Bluest Fest?

ANZAC day promotion at school assembly

18 years of wedded bliss

Relaxing on the skywalk at Dorrigo National Park OR a family mutiny refusing to do any more bushwalking

Luke buried in sand at Hungry Head - we came back that night just before high tide

Lily fishing at Urunga - we only caught one but it was tiny so let it go after lots of squealing

The Armidale Roffs are just back from a holiday in Urunga caravan park. We had fantastic weather and the beach at Hungry Head was beautiful. The day we arrived was our 18th wedding anniversary, and I did mention to my darling husband that if he had told me 18 years ago at the altar that we'd be celebrating by eating fish and chips in a caravan with four kids I may well have said "No!!!!! I deserve much more than that!!!" Thankfully however, I said yes and it was a perfect holiday until the kids started fighting.
Who remembers that wedding? Wasn't it fun? On the way to Urunga we proudly showed the kids the cabin in the Dorrigo caravan park where we spent our first few nights as a married couple. Amy thought it looked very bogan, and promptly declared that she wouldn't get married on the cheap like her bogan parents. I wonder who will be forking out the thousands she will require - perhaps her kind unbogan godfather Toody Lee Roff???
Other exciting news is that I have applied for a teacher exchange to teach in Calgary in Canada for 2012 and we are in the process of finalising all forms and work/study visas. Fingers crossed it will all go through and if so we hope that lots of you will come and visit. Damian will need some company as he plans to become a housewife baking cupcakes and stay in his dressing gown all day. I have other plans for him as I need him to get casual teaching to pay for all the things we want to do whilst we are there. I will keep you posted with more details.
If Calgary is too far away the come and stay with us in Armidale this year before we go!
Cheers
Jenny

Freemantle Blues and Roots

Julia and myself are just back from three days in Perth/Freemantle where we attended the Blues n' Roots festival. In case you're wondering how we could afford it, think frequent flyer points and my 60th birthday present. We stayed in a hotel in Perth and caught the train down to Freemantle for the music.
We had lunch with Elizabeth on the Saturday and apart from having a throat condition and all her family being overseas, she's in good shape. She was a little annoyed with Andrew who was also in town for the festival but declined to join us.
"What Andrew has to realise is that family comes first. His so-called "friends" who he thinks are important now won't be there to support him when his life is engulfed by the kinds of scandals and corruption that characterised his father's career. How does he want to end up - enveloped in the affection of his extended family or having to do penance walking with Saint Glenn in the god-forsaken mountains of South America? When you think you're too cool for your family, you've got it all wrong!"
I think that's what she said - my memory isn't great and, as you can see from the picture, it was very crowded and noisy in the restaraunt.
My personal view is that Lizzy was a bit harsh. We hooked up with Andrew at the festival and he shared plenty of his time with us. He even bought me a can of cider.
We were there, of course, to see Bob Dylan. Before he came on we saw a really good local band named Breakthrough, Ruthie Foster (excellent blues), Megan Washington, Elvis Costello (great set), Michael Franti and The Cat Empire (best musicians of the night). Bob didn't address the crowd, played for an hour or so and was very "professional". Those who knew what to expect (me) really enjoyed it but others may have been a little surprised. He was criticised in the WA papers today for murdering the lyrics on some of his best songs (Tangled Up in Blue and Like A Rolling Stone) but there's no evidence he didn't do it on purpose.
We missed Mavis Staples and the Blind Boys of Alabama but, overall, we couldn't complain. It was a great weekend.

Round 4

1. Minson (25)
2. R - Fizzle (24)
3. Everyone else

Lolcats is making up some ground.
Lily is slipping, forgetting her tips this week but still got the same score as Gandalf (4).
TLR tipped Gold Coast and still tipped 6. Close but no Whopper.
Alaine, Daniel, Dude, Luke all affected by misplaced faith in the Swans.

MARIANNE and TOODY LEE ROFF IN CAMBODIA

Here we are in Cambodia living a life of four star luxury for just a few dollars. We have decided to stay around Siem Reep (Angkor Wat) for the whole week here rather than trying to see everything zoom zoom. We do day trips to various sites and sights and come back to this luxury hotel for a swim and a free massage. We go into town for our meals because of the outrageous prices they charge here for a meal - $6!! They must be dreaming! I have become addicted to the $1.50 cocktails in town and am wasting away in Margarittaville. I am a tad disappointed that the "fresh beer" is 50 cents a schooner but I am prepared to pay that much to help the economy along. Actually, Cambodia would be a great place for a Christmas......hold that thought. We are changing hotels today because we have found a better one (if you can believe it) for $40 a night plus breakfasts and massages. Marianne is enjoying the pedicures etc and has a great set at the moment (of toenails). Off to the jungles tomorrow to see a temple swallowed up by the jungle and the site of yet another Pol Pot massacre. Looking forward to meeting up with everyone in Taiwan for the next leg of the adventure. I have found NO big pencils in Cambodia - sorry Damian.

Tood

Round 3 Update

1. Will Minson
2. The Dude, Dizzle

2nd Last - TLR
Last - Lolcat

Comment - Crows cost me a whopper. They are such a crap team that even hardcore Radelaide Rapper Supporter, R - Dizzle doesn't tip them.

The Rock paid the price for tipping with his heart.

Go Bombers!

Late Happy Birthday

Last Tuesday was Jan's Birthday. Hopefully John remembered. Happy Birthday Jan!

It’s a great town. It stinks, but it’s a great town!

Zac's recent blog makes the beautiful city of Vienna out to be a lovely place, which it is. But at the risk of coming across a little Daniel-esque, I have a bone to pick with this place.
Sure, you can sip fine coffees in a 600-year-old café, and yes - it’s required by law that the Sacher Torte is delicious, and it’s against human rights for your coffee to be sub-standard. You can wander in the mysterious Vienna woods or attend a glamorous ball at the Hofburg palace, see a Monet exhibition on the weekend, the Opera is world-class and only three euros, the wine is from France, the beer is from Germany, the ice-cream is from Italy, and if your wiener schnitzel is not bigger than your plate you can actually send it back. So yeah, you might say Vienna is a pretty cool city.
But all that means very little WHEN ALL YOU CAN SMELL IS CIGARETTES.

The Viennese smoke. All the time. Everywhere they can get away with it. And I don’t just mean young peer-pressured teens, or an older we-didn’t-know-any-better generation (but let’s be honest, if you survived the Hapsburgs and Hitler you can smoke what and where you want), these are educated masses puffing away. Clubs, pubs, cafes and restaurants all end up in a haze of smoke. Lecturers join students in university hallways for a durrie between classes. Airline pilots and hostesses huddle outside the terminal stinking out their clothes for the upcoming trip. Billboards show fashion models holding a cigarette in their advertisements. Waiters smoke behind the bar when they aren’t serving anyone. Actually, waiters smoke behind the bar when they are serving too. Yesterday I was handed my wiener schnitzel by a chef with a cigarette still in his mouth….mmmm, ash-flavoured schnitzel.
Technically, dining establishments have to provide a “non-smoking” section if they are over a certain size. So the small cafes stay smoking and the big ones put a “no-smoking” sign on their broom closet.
So come to Vienna…it stinks, but it’s a great town.

Having got that off my chest, here are some pics from good times in Austria. Hold your breath.

Ice skating at the Rathaus...(yes, the word for council building is Rat-house)


At the Coffee-House Owners' ball (massive event - lots of fun was had, and no, we didn't see Berlusconi's mistress)


Ok, this isn't Vienna. It's Hallstatt (country Austria). But it was too pretty not to show you.




Happy Birthday Annika, commiserations to Rowan (plenty more wild horses in the sea, mate) and bravo dad on the tipping...

Kate

Tipping Round 2

1. Dizzle, Rock, Lily and Wil Minson - 12 points
2. Loads of people on 11

Last - Dom

Rock would be sole leader but he tipped against his own team (Eagles) and the Swans. Serves him right.

Grant was one off his predicted Whopper. Hot Dogs!

Happy birthday Annika plus Rowan and Anna break-up news

Happy birthday Annika - 25 today (Sunday 3/4). We had a party at Nelson Road tonight (Amanda, Nick, Dom, Milly, Simone (housemate of Annika), Annika, Jules and myself. Annika had a party on Friday night for her 300 closest friends.
You know I'm not one to gossip BUT...
Rowan rang during the evening of Annika's party and talked to Anna. During the conversation, Anna said, "You should go to a bar if you're in the mood". Rowan heard it as, "Brett Marr isn't very good." Brett Marr is a retired Adelaide 36er basketball player. Marr is a nobody but Rowan took offence and paid out on Anna, who spent the rest of the night crying in a bedroom.
My advice is to cancel all tickets you've booked for the wedding...

The Ukeladies album

(I got this via email today, I am sure amanda won't mind me reposting it-AD)

Dear Everyone,

Hello, it's Maylise and Amanda here.

The good news is that The Ukeladies album we have been making for roughly 4 years is finally finished! The best part of the good news is that we actually still like the album, and we really want to release it. The bad news is we are skint, which leads us to our next request…

IF you would like a copy of the album, and remember you are under absolutely no obligation to buy one, or want one, or ever listen to one…however, IF you would like to buy one, we would dearly love you to buy it now, en masse, and enable us to pay for the mixing, mastering and printing of the actual album.

We are not asking for donations here, just that you buy your album in advance, so we have some capital to work with in this crucial time.

We have set up an official money raising website here

http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Ukeladies

If we get your cash within the allotted time we will be able to use it to pay for all the necessary things, and when the album is made, we can either post it to you, or hand it to you personally, whichever is most convenient.

So…whaddaya reckon?

Buy NOW, and support your local pretend Hawaiian Hollywood Cocktail Ensemble! Then we will have a party.

Love

Maylise and Amanda

Vienna Visit

Its rare that I get alliterate with the letter V. Anyway, now that is out of my system, I thought I would update everyone on my visit to Kate and Joe! It was great to see them, here are some pictures of us in front of some old buildings (Kate is front of the TownHouse, but I forget which one I am in front of). We also enjoyed some drinking at various pubs, eating at resturants that allow you to pay "whatever you think its worth", having a large amount of coffee and walking through the woods that surround Vienna. Everyone should go and visit! I also went to Hamburg to visit a mate that lives there now, and watched Jose Gonzalez with the Göteborg String Theory, which was an amazing gig!

Round 1 Footy Tipping

1. Lily (7)
2. Rock (6)
3. R.Dizzle (6)
3rd Last - Grant
2nd Last - Alaine
Last - Dom

Wild Horse

Annika's flatmate Anna. A contender for wildest horse. Megan talked like Anna for about a week after we all went to Golden Plains together but I think it is wearing off. New edition please Rowie.

Thanks for looking after us at the festival and being so attentive Annika. It was ace.

Film Review

Went and saw "True Grit this afternoon. Rooster Cogburn, Dumbledore, Gandalf and Grant are all the same person. Cant any one else see this? Am I taking crazy pills or what? Other than that, it was pretty good.

Happy birthday Julia

One-armed Julia turns 55 tomorrow (Thursday). I know you've seen this picture before but at least she's in it. We're celebrating with a dinner in Little Vietnam with as many family members as we can muster and the daughter we always wanted (Milly). Jules and I were booked into a bicycle ride around the Rutherglen vineyards this weekend but I suppose that will have to wait. A Kombi adventure on the Loddon River in central Victoria will have to do. Happy birthday, Jules.

Aunty Betty update

Brendan should be doing this as he has up-t0-date news but I talked to Uncle Ken last night and he told me that Aunty Betty wasn't well last Tuesday and Wednesday (March 15/16). He called the ambulance the following day and it was initially thought that she'd had a stroke. It's now not clear what what the problem was but it could have been related to shingles (spelling?). The good news is she's getting better and may be back at Lourdes again by the time you read this.
I had a whinge to Uncle Ken about both Julia and myself being in slings and having to take our blind dog for a walk and he revealed that the Seages once had a dog as well. Aunty Betty went to visit the Neil Roffs in Griffith ('52?) and Neil unloaded a dog on her that he and Eileen had picked up that they didn't want to keep. Ken was "unimpressed" when Aunty Betty arrived home with it but the situation was resolved on the day Neil and Betty's father, Jack, died. Aunty Betty was distracted when she reversed out of the garage and ran over it.
Here's the million dollar question for the Seages: what was the dog's name? Uncle Ken can't remember. Get well soon, Aunty Bet.