Sombre Times

by Allan McKelvie

Jo and I are feeling a bit rough today after celebrating my birthday last night on Brunswick Street here in Melbourne. It was a great night, starting off with a nice meal for the two of us at a greek restaurant where we ate far too much, then Jo arranged a surprise for me as I walked into the pub where some good friends had been hiding.

Today has been slow - Jo has the comfort of watching a Sex and the City marathon on tv, whereas I have the pain of watching a Sex and the City marathon on tv....

It's Valentine's Day today but I think we'll settle for celebrating tomorrow when our lungs are a little more full of air and our minds a little less full of blah.

Its been a sombre week for the people of Victoria, indeed for the whole country. The devastating bushfires have pulled on everyone's heart strings, as can be seen from the sheer tenacity of people's goodwill in donating what they can and raising vast amounts of money for the cause. The fire threat is still very real for people in the east and south east of the state and a forecast of more hot and windy weather is the last thing the firefighters need at this time as their energy must be running so low even if their resolve is strong. We can only hope conditions improve and the fires burnt out soon.

Some of the stories coming out of last weekend are frightening, the speed and ferocity of the huge fires, some of which were several kilometres wide, the temperatures of over 1000 degrees, the vain attempts to protect loved ones and property and the incredible tales of how some survived with the flames passing only inches from them. Its hard to fathom what must have been going through the victims' minds as the blaze approached. What's even more unfathomable is that some of these fires were lit by man. I say man, but quite clearly this is a misleading term, perhaps a more appropriate moniker for those responsible would be coward. An angry society is just hoping the arsonists are caught and spend a long time behind bars.

Moving on from the a sobering tale to one of drunkenness, we went to our friends Andy and Sarah's last week for a fancy dress party. The theme was the letter S in honour of Sarah, who's birthday it was. Jo went as a Scrabble board and I went as Steven Gerrard, a man who I have been likened to many times. Turns out there were two other Stevie G's at the party, which was odd. It was a laugh though, among other costumes of note were 2 Surgeons, Sparta(cus), Spongebob Squarepants, Shirley Temple (Sarah) and 2 Steve Irwins (one of whom was Andy). It was a laugh.



Glorious outfits I think you'll agree :)

In other news, we are happy to announce we are almost the owners of a new Mazda3, which should be in the batcave by Thursday next week. Cannae wait min! I'll be hooning around the streets with my chick pumping the Kylie tunes out like there's no tomorrow, just like back on the Bouley of Aberdeen...

Just before I go I'll wish Melbourne Victory all the best in tonight's minor-semi final or whatever they call it. If they avoid defeat it means they will be in the grand final or whatever they call it and they will host the big game. Cool.

Alright well, my wee darling hen needs another ice-pack so I better run. Hope you are all well.

Hoo roo

Al & Jo

It's gettin' hot in here

by Jo Spong

Its been a blistering hot week in Melbourne and there is at least another week of this hot weather to go. Last week we endured weather in the mid to high 40's. Fortunately the temperature has dropped a little with this week being in the mid 30's. I complain because we do NOT have air conditioning in our apartment. The first couple of days was fine however the apartment eventually warmed up which correlated with an increase of icey poles entering our freezer and a higher speed on the rotating fan :) I seem to be handling the weather better than Al, although conversely, he handles the cold better than me....go figure..hehe

Today I officially became a Post Doctoral Research Fellow (about time I whisper under my breath). My new research project is interesting, more up my alley in regards to brain research, and will be quite challenging. I look forward to it!

Im also happy to announce that two weeks ago Al resurrected his soccer career, however sadly, he went over on his knee in last weeks game and was sidelined with a swollen knee. He did make it worth it though, it occurred as he was jumping over a fallen goal keeper after scoring a magnificent goal. It was the "reconstructed" knee which made it scary, however he reports that it's feeling ok now, a week later, so hopefully he hasn't torn/snapped it again.

On the wedding front, the date is set for 6th March 2010, the reception location booked and celebrant almost hired. This list will be growing with each new blog.

We hope you are all well. If you don't hear from us anytime soon it is likely because we have melted into a puddle on the kitchen floor :p

ciao

x Jo & Al