Just Stuff, Weekend Update

This post was written over the course of Sunday, June 7...

It is Sunday morning. Here's what's going on...

I just listened to a couple innings of Swamp Bat baseball as I ate my breakfast. After the Bats went up 6-0, I turned it off and am now watching the Stanley Cup Finals online. 1-0 after the first period.

Don Cherry is nuts. I'm watching a Canadian broadcast of the Stanley Cup Finals. He just did an intermission report called Coach's Corner. The topics were all over the board. He talked about injuries players receive after scoring goals. I guess this has been a problem. At one point he started talking about how Canadian soldiers were the best soldiers of all and that when the British and Americans couldn't get off he beach on D-Day, the Canadians were already 15 miles inland. Wow, as an American I gotta say screw you buddy. He also added that the Canadians volunteered and were there "because they wanted to be." Sheesh. Maybe he was just trying to give Canadian soldiers a little recognition because Canada doesn't get as patriotic about D-Day? I think he could have put it differently while sounding respectful.

My ten year Keene High School reunion is happening right about now. That went fast. I think the last five went much quicker than the first five. The last five consisted of 3 years on cruise ships, a year and change with Up with People, and of course the last 9 at home and Australia. The first five consisted of Up with People student year, a year at home, and three years at college.

I don't regret missing out on the reunion. There's not really that much I miss about high school. It would be nice to see a couple friends, but hey, I'll see em' at the 20 year reunion. The reunion I look forward to is my Up with People 10 year reunion next summer in Tucson. That will be fun.

I watched the movie Gran Torino last night. Clint Eastwood starred in and directed the film. I won't give anything away, but it is a moving story. I recommend you see it. If you've seen Crash, this movie has the same feel, but only has one storyline going on. It was nominated for a couple of Oscars.

A couple weeks ago I wrote the Carolina Hurricanes broadcaster. In the final game of the Canes season Chuck Kaiton used my question during the 2nd intermission. It was kind of fun to hear my name on the radio. He said it twice! And to be listening from all the way down in Australia. My question was about their coach who was hired about 6 months ago. Chuck poked fun at me a bit saying "I'm not sure how fast news travels to Australia, Ryan but that did happen five months ago!" And what is funny that probably nobody I know was listening, so it really just made my day. That's all that mattered.

Did you know they don't have baby carrots at the supermarket? You know those carrots that come pre-cut into little bite size carrots. I have to skin the carrots here before eating them. Again...sheesh.

Wow, 5-0 Detroit is leading now. I think I'll turn this one off.

Two years ago this week, I left Carnival Cruise Lines. I repeat, time flies.

I'm going for a run...

Just returned from a run. My 2.5 mile circle. Curt York left me a message asking me if I want to go to the Cronulla Sharks game today. I guess I better hurry up and get going. The game is in less than 2 hours.

(After the game)

I'm just wrapping up my Sunday, about to watch 24. The Sharks game was a great time. They play in the National Rugby League or NRL. Our team is the worst team in the entire NRL. Lucky for me, today they extended their winning streak to two games! Before that, they had lost nine in a row. The place was packed. 14,000 in attendance. I don't have the energy to explain NRL to you today, but what I did learn is that NRL is different than Rugby Union league. So down here we have the Australian Football League or AFL, the NRL otherwise known as footy and Rugby Union, which is also referred to as gridiron. Three sports that I'm pretty unfamiliar with is too many to explain today. One aspect of Australian sports (and European) is that the uniforms feature sponsors all over them. Each season, the uniforms change. Wouldn't that be frustrating as a fan to continuously have an out of date jersey each new season? Right now all the Sharks jerseys have LG on the front, but their sponsorship ends following this season.

So the game was fun. The sun was shining for most of the game. A ticket was only $20 to stand on a hill, so it was affordable too. It was a great time catching up with Curt. We were standing on the hill in this photo. That is why Curt appears to look so much taller than me. I am standing down the hill a little.

Tomorrow is my next hockey game. I'll post the results near the top right of the page. Let's hope we can win one. Last game was pretty dismal.

The pictures I use at the beginning and end of each blog: I can't explain why I choose the ones I do. Today was especially difficult. I think I spent more time searching for two pictures than I did actually writing this random post. The top photo is from Field of Dreams. I was in a baseball mood with the start of the Swamp Bats season happening. Usually the top and bottom photos tie in together, but today, I got nothing.

Oh I forgot to tell you, this is a holiday weekend. New South Wales is celebrating the Queen's birthday. That's the Queen of England. Yep, and each state celebrates it on a different weekend. What a strange country.

Goodnight