Endurance

While we were in The Netherlands, a friend of ours kept sneaking away to his tent to read Endurance by Alfred Lansing. It tells the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton's team's expedition to Antarctica in the early 1900's. After our friend finished the book in just a few days, it passed on to his wife, to Michael, and now to me. I haven't gotten through it as quickly as the others, but I'm making good progress. Anyway, it is a book that puts lots of things into perspective. These men people who killed seals with their bare hands to survive and had to survive the long, dark polar winter out in the elements. It's pretty insane. And here I was, reading it on a warm hotel balcony overlooking the beach along the coast of France, or now back in the mild Sydney winter, from my bed with heated sheets. 

Europe 2017

Where to even begin.. 

We have just gotten back from our three week Europe trip and I woke up at 4AM, unable to sleep anymore. The cats are wanting all kinds of attention, particularly Eve, who won't even leave me along when I'm trying to sleep. All night. They are obviously happy we're back.

The Netherlands
Amsterdam is still as lovely a city as I remember it being 12 years ago. Biking along the canals and beautiful old buildings was enjoyable, as were the cafes. The Windmill Windup tournament was amazing. It was incredibly well-organized. They had a giant central circus tent set-up, which served as a main location for info, food, music performances, and chill-out time; then everyone else camps in their smaller tents. There were lots of "extras" too, that you wouldn't see at a normal tournament. There were three big trampolines, a bouldering twister shipping crate, a karaoke shipping crate, swings accompanied with silent disco headphones, and a bonfire every night. It didn't get dark until 11pm. We played against teams from North America, Europe, and Eurasia. We didn't place particularly high in our division, but had a great time playing and enjoying all the festivities.

Ireland
Dublin was similar to how I remembered it. We took the train, touble-decker bus, and bike-shared around the city, learning about the history. We were lucky to stay with a friend's family, and had the lovely Leo the dog who loves to cuddle and maintains no loyalties (or rather, all loyalties). One of the highlights was hiking in Wicklow Mountains National Park, and running into some feral goats along the mountain stream. 

France
Bordeaux has some beautiful old architecture, and we also enjoyed bike-sharing there in order to explore some of the city in the short time we had. From there, we took the train to Royan, which typically seems like a place where retired people go to have a quiet holiday, when it's not being taken over by over a thousand ultimate players from around the world. Just being there for WCBU, the world tournament, was a great experience. All around town we'd run into familiar faces - some from recently in our frisbee careers, and some we hadn't seen in years. I was the cheer squad for Australia, which I was happy to be, considering it was uncomfortably hot for the first two days. Michael's team (mens masters) came in 5th, and the womens masters team came in 3rd, and they won spirit for their pool, which is no small task and also earns a medal. The USA won every pool except the womens team (younger than the masters) lost to Russia in the finals in an epic universe point. Jersey-trading is a tradition, and Mike and I both came home with some trades we are proud of: Mike got apparel from the Phlippines and USA teams, while I got jerseys from Japan, The Netherlands, and Currier Island. The tournament party was one of the best I have been to, despite it being so hot inside that people were literally pressing their faces up against the condensation on the windows. They just had a very energetic band and DJ, and our team knew how to tear up the dance floor.

Overall, it was a great trip. We were able to meet up with friends in every city, and get to know some acquaintances better. It was refreshing to be out of the nanny state that is Australia, just for a little while, and be somewhere that people are still trusted to do the right thing when they are out having fun. Go ahead, just don't hurt anybody else. That being said, I am happy to be back. I will post some pics at some point. 

See you soon, Northern Hemisphere

Michael's team for WCBU is having their final training weekend and they've received all their jerseys and gear. I got my "fan jerseys" too, and we're getting kind of pumped up. We found out their first game of the tournament will be against the USA, which I just think is so fitting and will be so fun. There will be at least one familiar face on that team, a friend of ours from DC and a fellow Haunted Forest aficionado. 

...But that's still a few weeks away. The day after tomorrow we hop on a plane and start our big Euro trip in Amsterdam, where we will both be playing at Windmill Windup. The blog will likely be on hiatus for a few weeks. It's quite an honor to be representing Australia in two international tournaments. Wish us luck! 

Polyphony and Co.

Last night I went to go see the Polyphony Choir perform. I have a friend who sings in the group, and she invited me. I loved the songs they did - they did some by Bjork and Tori Amos - not your typical choir arrangements. 

There was an experimental act before before them, and another experimental one after them with whom they performed. When I say experimental, I mean bizarre and almost not music. Literally, the opening act was a 20-minute-straight, ambient cacophony, and then some people hiding under black sheets who were banging pieces of wood and metal. The latter act was also not really a melodious, the choir was doing these kind of background tones to accompany someone who was singing notes, and words that didn't really make sense. There was no discernible chorus or anything like that. They would also bend their notes, so it sounded like they were going off-key, but it was on purpose? It was strange, to say the least. There were also lots of false ends to the "songs", so nobody knew when to actually applaud. 

I looked at my friend, Louise, whose reactions were priceless. We felt like we were in some kind of bizarre social experiment, where we were watching something very strange, but everyone around us was acting like it was a totally normal thing. We were the only ones who reacted with surprise and confusion, which only made me want to laugh more. I had to really control myself because I didn't want to be rude to the musicians or the people in the audience, but the whole thing just made no sense to me.

I'd definitely go see Polyphony again, but hopefully next time they'll have more mainstream accompanying acts. 

Planet Earth 2 (If only there were one)

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the majority of the world and seemingly the majority of Americans and big companies don't think that the US should leave the Paris Accord. Doing so is damaging to Earth, it's damaging to our international relations with EVERY country, and it doesn't make good business sense for the US economy. The positive that seems to be coming out of this is that everyone who is deciding to innovate will leave the old ways of thinking behind, and those are the people who reap future benefits. People who care about the future and who have good business sense will do the right thing regardless of this terrible decision, and history will look favorably on them. The rest of the world is saying, "We will do this with or without you". How sad that the US will be left behind, and that countries that were once our allies will be less likely to bail us out in the future because of a unilateral decision one buffoon made, for literally no good reason. 

Mike and I have been watching Planet Earth 2 lately, and it's incredible. Several times each episode I am blown away with the footage they've captured, and how they manage to tell poignant narratives about each different species and habitat. Maybe all the dummies in charge should watch it so they can realize all of the beauty that they are callously destroying.

Anyway, when I was grabbing a chai at my favorite local cafe, they were playing Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You", and it made me feel better. Thanks, Mr. Wonder. I love you, too.

In other news...

1. I was reunited with a friend last night that I hadn't seen in 15 years, just because he happened to be passing through Sydney. We had a common friend who had passed away several years ago, and it was very nice to talk to someone who knew and remembered her, even if only briefly. 

2. Michael and I are celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary this weekend. It's our "iron" anniversary so I think we have to eat a lot of meat :)

3. It's the weekend I'm ready to chilllllllllllllllllllll.