You're in Clare Country!

11 Fights & We Were Outta There!

  So Ravi & I went to the Mundine fight.  I was attracted by the fact that I had never witnessed a live boxing match before & it was to be Mundine's first fight since the unfortunate encounter between his contact lens & his tongue (resulting in near-blindness & the prospect of never fighting again).  But no-one told me that I had to sit through 10 fights before his match!

It wasn't so bad.  My goal was to see at least 1 knockout & some blood.  The 1st 6 fights were dull.  I never realised Thailand was breeding so many would-be boxers!  The ones I saw were lousy.  Especially one who tripped over the rope when he tried to jump into the ring (falling flat on his face) & then having the biggest wind-up ever whenever he was about to land a punch.  Talk about signalling intent!

The 2nd-last fight was the best.  Solomon Haumono (ex-NRL player) was poetry in motion, coming into the match with 12 fights - all won by him by knockout!  He didn't disappoint.  He gave me the first knockout of the night & gave a very humble victory speech afterwards.  Tall poppy syndrome is still far in his future.

Finally Mundine came on - at 11:20pm!  Thankfully his fight lasted only 4 rounds when he won by knockout.  As soon as the bell sounded everyone in the arena high-tailed it outta there, not even waiting to hear his victory speech (which was repeated ad nauseum in the news - oh, how the media love overt arrogance!).  Overall, I was satisfied with the night.  I got what I came to see & I'd probably watch another fight if the boxers were well-known & reputed to be good.  I can certainly see the appeal of watching 1 man knock another man to the ground in a controlled environment where both parties are prepared for the pummelling they may encounter.

WWE Fans: a different class of human

                                                                               Ravi & I took one of his work colleagues to a World Wrestling Entertainment event at Acer Arena.  I got the tickets through work & had always wanted to see what the big deal was.  I know that the whole thing is bogus but when I saw the real thing for the first time I was puzzled as to why most fans believe the fights are real.  Didn't the exaggerated punches that stop short of contact give it away?  Or are they fooled by the imperfectly synchronised foot-stomping after the huge wind-up before the punch to air?

The biggest thing that shocked me came in the form of an angelic girl of 6 sitting with her normal-looking (that is, no piercings in areas outside of earlobes, no brandings on the face, etc.) parents & 2 brothers sitting in the row before us.  She had golden hair & a sweet voice as she raised her hands in the devil's sign & shouted, "You're a wanker!  You're a wanker!" to a wrestler in the ring who was spraying the crowd with water from his mouth!  (I thinking th term for that is spitting!)  Her parents cheered her on!  I cringed thinking about what kind of person that sweet-looking girl would become....all class, I bet.  Or better yet, Captain Booger Features' Friday night date 7 years from now!

Praying for a win....

Boy:  As I lay me down to sleep, please let Jagger win by a lip at the pre-school sweep.

Dog:  Don't listen to the boy!  My money's on Yeats!  My money's on Yeats!  The poodle across the street is gonna leave me if I don't take her to Tetsuya's.....

Poker - Newbie Wins Again

                                                                         Let's get the admin stuff out of the way.  The usual suspects:  Michelle, Female Jo, Matt, Male Jo, Simon, Ravi & Clare.  Dinner was Filipino noodles with chinese sausage, vegetables & sliced boiled egg.  Dessert was a home-baked chocolate chip cookie (one massive one which we divided amongst the 7 of us), chocolate chip ice cream & butterscotch ice cream (thanks, Simon).

I'm not going to pretend that I have Tung's capacity to remember every single hand.  The fact is, I don't.  But I do remember Matt becoming the resident Simon, being the first to lose all his chips (although it was fairly late into the night when that happened - everyone was still playing well after 9:30pm).  Then Female Jo followed suit, proving she had lost her mojo from kicking our butts the last time she played poker with us.  Then Simon bowed out (thereby restoring the balance in the universe).  Ravi was next, going all-in one too many times.  By this stage Male Jo (newbie) had amassed a fortune in chips, built on a strategy of (seemingly) bluffing to the max (not realising that someone would usually call it).  By the end of the night I came 3rd, Michelle came 2nd & Male Jo bested us all.

Most memorable verbal exchange of the night . . .

Male Jo: The question is, should I milk or be milked?

Matt: What are you - bitch or butch?

Spill on the Ice Floor

                                                                                Last Saturday afternoon, Ravi, Captain Booger Features & I met up with Thuy, her sister, nephews & niece at Cantebury ice rink.  It was the captain's first time on ice skates & Ravi & I hadn't ice skated in years, so it was all very exciting!  For me, it was just like riding a bike.  I remembered how to lean forward, push from the outside & glide.  Captain Booger Features was fearless, opting not to hang on to the side rail, but rather skate in the centre.  He had a couple of hard falls (I could tell by the look of acute pain on his face & his instinctive movement of rubbing his botty) but he always got back on the blades straightaway.  By the end of the session he was skating with confidence (allowing his pants time to dry).  Ravi (like the captain) had a couple of spills but again got back on his blades.  The 3 of us went round the rink together - fortunate for me being in the middle that whenever one of them lost their balance the other was okay (or else all of us would have taken a dive).  But being the anchor in this threesome sure made the inner part of my feet sore afterwards! 

But all did not end well.  After an hour or so, Ravi took a pretty bad dive, falling on right foot.  He had to be helped off the ice & in the first-aid room where he took his skates off.  His right foot was swollen to the point where he couldn't put on his sneakers.  When we went to the medical centre, the doctor diagnosed a strained ligament & prescribed plenty of rest.   Since then Ravi has been hobbling around like an old man, & I, I have been running around getting things for him while he's been laid up.  Quote of the moment . . . .

Captain Booger Features:  (Upon hearing of Ravi's injured foot)  So I can't step on his right foot?
Clare:  No, you can't.
Captain Booger Features:  Can I step on his other foot?

Pictures uploaded to the photo album on the right called "Spill on the Ice Floor - 16Jul06"

Everything's Soccer!

I watched the second half of the game between the Socceroos & Croatia, & cheered with the rest of Australia when we drew - announcing our birth into the second round of the World Cup for the first time ever!  Smiles could be seen all around, it was infectious.  I couldn't help but feel buoyed by the Socceroos win as I went into my Friday meetings. 

The win also buoyed Captain Booger Features who had a ripper of a game yesterday morning.  Despite being a man down, his team played valiantly.  The captain had the golden boot that day as he cleared the ball numerous times out of the danger zone, and provided cover defence, at times  midfield, at times defence, sometimes the coach dirceting teh captain to shoot for goal.  It was an awesome display!  We lost 2-1 but it was the best performance of the team as a team (even though we had won previous games).  Everyone out there was supporting everyone, & all the kids had smiles on their faces when the game finished.  After the game, one of Captain Booger Features' teammates, Nathan, invited the captain to his place to play Nintendo so the captain spent the afternoon playing with his buddy while Ravi & I did some shopping.  It is great knowing the captain has a buddy who lives in walking distance from home, who he can visit during the weekend anytime or can invite to the house anytime at a moment's notice.

Picture originally uploaded by ssfoodie.

Battle at the Bowling Alley

Ravi, Captain Booger Features & I joined Rob & Toni for a few games of tenpin bowling last Sunday.  It was a great way to wind down after the weekend before the start of the working week.  After not having bowled in years, I was a little surprised that I only managed a couple of gutter balls (I must remember to wipe the grease from the potato wedges off my fingers before putting them in the bowling ball holes!  The ball slides right off!).  Rob & Toni were in a league of their own - they even brought their own balls!  Rob's ball is called Voodoo.  All Ravi, Captain Booger Features & I could do was eat the dust of Team Sanders.  I tied with Ravi in the first game (although I'd like to think I beat him since I got to 100 first).  Captain Booger Features scored 20 points in his first game but improved immensely in his second game, scoring 48!  Every time he downed some pins, he did his customary victory dance (without music).  My second game was so bad there was even a chance that Captain Booger Features might beat me.  I wouldn't be able to live the embarrassment down if a 7-year-old creamed me!  It's bad enough that Captain Booger Features & I seem to have the same size bowling shoes!  Ravi beat me by miles in the second game (but it will never be mentioned again).