Kleptones - 24 hours

http://www.kleptones.com/pages/downloads_24h.html

Git 'er done.

Any more than the discovery of Radium

Blogger images is giving me the squirts, so I suggest you visit this page which shows some ASCII art of A MAN GETTING INTO A BATH. I hate you all.

Edit: Hang on, here 'tis.

Went to Nelson Bay with the dive club last weekend, had a smashing time. In a rare display of altruism, I dragged the indolent carcasses of three American foreign exchange students with me, and shared many a wry observation about the differences between our two blessed lands. Actually, one of the guys was from Alaska, and Alaska is fricken excellent, so big ups to him and that. Still smarting from the Absinthe encounter, I trodded very gingerly around the booze, thus denying you of your schadenfraude over my bleary antics. In fact, I was such a pussy I decided to sneak out on Saturday evening and sleep in my car so that I could get up early and spearfish. My spine is now not dissimilar in shape to a kids bike that has been hit by a bus carrying a train.

My book chapter draft is done. It was like pulling chook's teeth, to coin a phrase in time to save nine.

FUN FACT: My high school (and hence also Choco, Feebz, and Steve's) is having a 10 year re-union in June at some point.

Also, my flights are booked. I shall be working on the book chapter in Chicago, as well as doing a postdoc interview with Northwestern, then doing postdoc interviews in Trondheim and Nice, and hopefully doing a job (is that spelt right? doesn't it have a double b?) interview in London. This will all be interspersed with random acts of awesomeness.

FLIGHTS
Mon, Apr 3: QANTAS AIRWAYS, QF 0011
From: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (SYD) map Departs: 1:25pm
To: LOS ANGELES, CA (LAX) map Arrives: 9:45am

Mon, Apr 3: AMERICAN AIRLINES, AA 1744
From: LOS ANGELES, CA (LAX) map Departs: 12:50pm
To: CHICAGO OHARE, IL (ORD) map Arrives: 7:02pm

Wed, Apr 19-Thu, Apr 20: BRITISH AIRWAYS, BA 0294
From: CHICAGO OHARE, IL (ORD) map Departs: 9:15pm
To: LONDON HEATHROW, UNITED KINGDOM (LHR) map Arrives: 11:00am

Thu, Apr 20: BRITISH AIRWAYS, BA 0766
From: LONDON HEATHROW, UNITED KINGDOM (LHR) map Departs: 12:45pm
To: OSLO, NORWAY (OSL) map Arrives: 3:55pm

Thu, Apr 20: SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES, SK 0364
From: OSLO, NORWAY (OSL) map Departs: 5:00pm
To: TRONDHEIM, NORWAY (TRD) map Arrives: 5:55pm

Sun, Apr 23: SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES, SK 0357
From: TRONDHEIM, NORWAY (TRD) map Departs: 12:30pm
To: OSLO, NORWAY (OSL) map Arrives: 1:25pm

Mon, Apr 24: BRITISH AIRWAYS, BA 0767
From: OSLO, NORWAY (OSL) map Departs: 5:00pm
To: LONDON HEATHROW, UNITED KINGDOM (LHR) map Arrives: 6:20pm

Mon, Apr 24: BRITISH AIRWAYS, BA 0352
From: LONDON HEATHROW, UNITED KINGDOM (LHR) map Departs: 8:30pm
To: NICE, FRANCE (NCE) map Arrives: 11:25pm

Tue, May 2: BRITISH AIRWAYS, BA 0551
From: ROME FIUMICINO, ITALY (FCO) map Departs: 8:15am
To: LONDON HEATHROW, UNITED KINGDOM (LHR) map Arrives: 10:00am

Mon, May 15-Tue, May 16: QANTAS AIRWAYS, QF 0002
From: LONDON HEATHROW, UNITED KINGDOM (LHR) map Departs: 10:15pm
To: BANGKOK, THAILAND (BKK) map Arrives: 3:35pm

Tue, May 16-Wed, May 17: QANTAS AIRWAYS, QF 0002
From: BANGKOK, THAILAND (BKK) map Departs: 6:10pm
To: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (SYD) map Arrives: 6:05am


BONUS: This.

Soggy robbery

Spearfishing near Maroubra last weekend, got a nice Flathead. On the swim back to the surface, it was taken off the spear by an intrepid Cuttlefish.

I swum down to try and negotiate with the Cuttlefish. The cheeky devil was hovering near the bottom, with each end of the fish hanging out of its maw, and seemed rather smug. The nerve.

Book chapter is going gangbusters.

Meanwhile, I've been carefully studying:


Peace up and out.

These are the good old days.

Update II - with extra herp: Something stung Choco during our spearfishing jaunt, and now he has forehead herp. It may be due to a bluebottle, or some yellowtail.



Update: It looks like we have ourselves an Australian Salmon, which I've been authoratively informed isn't much chop on the dinnerplate. We shall see.



Choco graced us with his looming presence yesterday, so I took the arvo off and we went spearfishing at Maroubra. We were bobbing about aimlessly, when a simply enormous school of the above fish (Kingfish? Not sure) swum past. Choco handed me the gun, for reasons I don't entirely fathom, and I popped down a few metres and snagged the nearest one. Altogether too easy.

Riding on that success, we headed to the gym, where some guy was being hauled off in an ambulance after dropping some weights on his face (I presume). To top off our action-adventure afternoon, we headed down Norton st. I was heading for the cheapest pasta place on the street when Chris announced that his work was going to generously pay for our meal, using his corporate Diner's Card. I promptly made an about turn, and headed for a good restaurant. We had:

• A bottle of Rose wine
  
• Char-grilled octopus salad
  
• A dozen oysters Kilpatrik
  
• Seafood Paella
  
• Chicken and pine nuts Penne
  
• A shot of Grappa each to cleanse the palate
  
• Warm, sticky, date... pudding.
  
• ... and a coffee.
  

The last three items were only ordered after the waiter expressed surprise that we managed to get through the first items, in order to demonstrate our commital to all forms of excess. Afterwards, we were both so full we couldn't even summon the energy to drink the night away, and headed to bed after a few half-hearted games of pool.

Altogether a raging success.

Of mullet and men.

I got both these Mullet with a single shot yesterday, down at St Georges Basin. Some people were fishing off a pier nearby, the kids thought I was ten types of awesome, wide eyed and full of questions, while the adults packed up their gear and left in disgust. Also snagged three good sized bream, which will make for a fishy treat some evening soon...

Last weekend, Wen and I headed up to Avoca beach, near Terrigal, but were not quite so successful. On the Sunday, I got in the water wearing gloves, rashie, wettie, fins, mask, snorkel, (i.e., I was basically covered from head to toe), and was in the water for 10 minutes before the only small bit of exposed flesh, my lips, were set upon by a voracious bluebottle. My upper lip swelled to many times its own size, and burned with the fury of a thousand suns. Needless to say, I had a big sulk and hid in the car for a while. We whiled away the rest of the day fishing at The Entrance, catching a myriad little fish and throwing them to the hungry Pelicans.

All in all, a much better time than getting paraletically drunk and losing posessions. However, my wallet showed up the other day, at the head office of the Mardis Gras, no less! This does take the zing out of my little victory with PADI, but, eh.