Notes of Jopalishiousness

Crazy Australian Birds (not women, actual birds)

2009-03-28T07:45:00.001+11:00

This is crazy - this bird can imitate a camera.

ouch

2009-01-14T08:35:00.002+11:00

yikes

Luckiest b-day boy

2009-01-11T22:22:00.004+11:00

Rupal made salmon eggs benedict, parfaits, scones, and casserole for my bday!

so lucky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

20 Questions

2009-01-07T11:32:00.005+11:00

Josh, Sandip, Greg, Julia and I went camping in Killalea State Park last week. There is a river system that flows into the Tasman Sea, and the river is mostly salty.

We were exploring the shores of the river and came upon this:

It was tough but bendable; felt like it was made of very tough sea matter. It was about the size of a medium pine cone. Most importantly, when Greg stepped on it, a thick, viscous, light greenish blue squidge (looked like Pert Plus) squeezed out of it in a trajectory.

Can you guess what it is?

Clearly we are slackers asking for beatdowns

2009-01-05T20:22:00.006+11:00

Some highlights of the last little bit - click here for photos:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=3106866&k=64C3PZ66P53M5CBBSA32VT

1) We went camping and my neck is now completely f'd up
2) we hiked at royal national park, koskiosko national park
3) Rupal pet wild kangaroos (no we don't have pet kangaroos, we pet them)
4) we had a 4 part saga with a huge spider, and I have part 1 on video below

part 1 - video below
part 2 - we found him again in the car door
part 3 - we were driving down the highway and somewhat pulled next to us and starting honking. "I don't mean to frighten you but the biggest spider I've ever seen just crawled into your boot. I'd be really scared if I were you. Merry X-mas!" (boot means trunk)
part 4 - We found him and killed him in the street. It was liberating and sad.

5) We had an awesome nye party at our place, pictures on facebook, some selects included here
6) We went to hunter valley and shared a house, drank lots of good wine, biked around, and I saw a fox/dingo, not sure which.
7) Sandip was in Australia for 6 days and did more than most people do in 6 months
8) I am now bbqing kanga bangas, which (you may have guessed) are kangaroo sausages

Love,
Josh & Rupal

Ante up!

2008-12-14T10:49:00.000+11:00

go Ferg!

2008-12-03T21:15:00.002+11:00

http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/clubs/69144/getting-down-loadable

Things are good... we are considering moving to the beach. I'm watching Steve Zissou.

Reggie Watts

2008-11-20T20:41:00.001+11:00

http://vimeo.com/134034

I really dig this guy - he's coming to sydney pretty soon, similar to Jamie Lidell but less soul and less heavy electronica. Great stuff

Reggie Watts: Out Of Control from Jakob Lodwick on Vimeo.

Am I a hipster?

2008-11-11T17:26:00.000+11:00

I love it.

http://www.antiquiet.com/features/2008/11/how-do-i-know-if-im-a-hipster/

True or False:
“I would pay around 5-7 dollars for a Pabst at a purposefully shitty bar in a trendy neighborhood.”
“I am willing to spend 30-40 dollars for a single V-neck shirt at American Apparel or some more boutiquey (but still identical) shop, especially if it comes in neon.”
If you answered “False” to both of these questions, then congratulations! You are not a hipster. If you answered yes to one or both, I have unfortunate new for you: You might be a hipster.

Nooooooooooooooooooo!

2008-10-30T11:49:00.002+11:00

Great time to visit australia.

I'm probably not the only person who just saw their net worth drop by 40 percent in the last month or two, but that doesn't make it any less ridiculous.

Hand-pressing Flash light

2008-10-26T17:49:00.002+11:00

Rupal bought a flashlight which has a handle you squeeze to recharge, and we spent half an hour trying to read the caption on the back without breaking out in laughter. It's worth sharing. I've typed it exactly as is on the box, including the punctuation.

Product Characteristics:

1. This product is a new science and technology product and made with high and new science and technology. It can illuminate only placing

2. No need any power no environmental pollution. Low noise and health. Comparing with common torch,it can be several times on lift.

3. Con stantly using this health torch, it can benefit to your palm, arm and shouldter stretching and blood circulation,so as to let your hands relax and brain clever,hand and brain coor dinate and promote your brain memory and health composition.

Awesome!

The goings on

2008-10-19T19:41:00.005+11:00

Anna is in town visiting, and luckily the weather is juuuuust right. Got back from Kangaroo valley a few minutes ago for Janet's 30th, 2nd time in 3 weeks we've been there - it's tough to leave. So gorgeous! We saw wombats, as you can see in this:

Here are some wild random pics of the weekend - love you!

camping adventure

2008-10-06T21:14:00.004+11:00

now that we have a video camera I don't even really feel the need to provide commentary - just images... since this is pretty self explanatory.

With the fresh pack of gum

2008-10-03T11:03:00.003+10:00

Click on the photo, event code is "rupal"and your sister. I think her name is Debra.

the debate in one minute, and a rant about vice presidential candidates

2008-10-02T20:21:00.002+10:00

Like every american I'm speaking with are ill about the position we are in with the bailout that is needed to shore up our economy and putting it back on the right track. It's gotta be all about job creation. Health care reform, reducing takes has got to accompany trade as opportunity, not as competitive scary thing. All those things under the umbrella of job creation makes my head explode! This bailout is a part of that.

Oh Shit!

2008-09-30T17:28:00.001+10:00

Back To the Grind

2008-09-28T21:46:00.004+10:00

We're four weeks into Mr. & Mrs. Iselin. Married life so far is pretty great, though I'm not yet comfortable with the 'mrs.' part (nor the 'Iselin' part, while on that subject). Our time home was perfect and because of our wedding gift for the 'rents, we've got it on home video.

Coming back home to Sydney was difficult. The perfect blend of homesickness requires heaps of perfect weather, a dollop of Grand Canyon, two servings of wedding, and a few days at the Four Seasons to taste. The best cure for it is summer's approach in Sydney.

This weekend was fantastic. After weaseling our way into Diplo at the Oxford Arts Factory (which is a block away) on Friday night, I went to to James Squire Brewery in Darling Harbour to watch the first presidential debate with Democrats Abroad. Watching the debate with a room full of Americans was exciting... I get more riled about being an American when I'm abroad. After spending the rest of the day in the Rocks, I met Josh at Coogee beach with a picnic in hand. Josh was a bit pissed after a day at the races (to those Americans reading this... 'pissed' means drunk, and 'races' are the horse races where everyone wears outfits straight from the polo scene in Pretty Woman). Dinner on the beach and a movie. Today was more of the same - barbie with some good folk, beach, and now bed.

Check out facebook for some wedding pics!

The goings on

2008-07-12T17:00:00.002+10:00

Apple store just opened in Sydney to the delight of dorks everywhere. Stupid people flew from the US of A to wait in line to go to a store they could have gone to in the US (where it's cheaper anyways). What in the insane is going on?

Then like 2 weeks later the iphone is released. It's complete mayhem. there is an 8 hr wait at the apple store.

Why can't I have one?

Check us out right here

2008-06-25T18:03:00.001+10:00

http://sydney.citysearch.com.au/sydney-mediasmart-photogallery

"Fore-sta"

2008-06-15T18:56:00.007+10:00

We went to Forester last weekend - it's pronounced "Fore-sta." A good way to remember it is to think of it as four-star with a twist, although I'd give it 3.

at a winery we went to in the middle of nowheres.

Make sure to click on the picture on the right - Rupal is the tiny dot in the corner. We went hiking at some mountain on the way home. Rupal thinks it was called mt. askot. I refuse to look it up.

Make sure to click on the pic on the left, Rupal is in mid air.

Wedding planning is taking over. Beginning to lose touch with reality. Reading a really good book though - it's call ed "The Brief Life of Oscar Wao." Highly recommended.

This weekend we did nothing. I didn't leave my bed except once to make tea - I had food poisoning from some faulty Friday night feast. Pretty sick. I watched Sopranos, and drank gatorade.

OK back to bed. :-( but before I do, here a picture I took 3 weeks ago of one of the best afternoons of my entire life. I'm prone to exaggeration, but damn look at this picture. It looks like a dream sequence from a movie about "HORS D’OEUVRES" which I clearly copied and pasted from the first website I could find that knew how to spell.

We're back at it again

2008-05-28T21:03:00.007+10:00

tunaman, in search of tunaas usual

Ahoy,

Yea yea, this hasn't been updated in a long time. Like close to two months. And we have valid excuses, mostly having to do with Indiana Jones. But I'm going to skip those and get right into it.

The past few months have absolutely flown - most recently my parents came to town for my mom's 20th birthday...

These are happy people

The tunaman came straight from Coachella, which was insulting and awesome at the same time. The crew went straight to the Hunter Valley upon arrival, and then after recovering from jetlag spent a few days in Sydney, and up to Cairns->mission beach -> dunk island.

grizzled as ever, tunaman attempts to be cute and fails

Dunk is a national park island with a resort, so we got to see wicked spiders and snakes but weren't too far away from gluttunous all-you-can-sneak-in-a-ziplock-bag seafood.

I didn't take this picture in a zoo, or at a farm for freaky poisonous creatures. This thing is not made of plastic. The photo is not blown up to 20x. This spider is the size of my torso.

Rupal and I smashed a coconut against the rocks like savages, but then enjoyed the plentiful bounty

After spending a day in the hot sun playing golf, archery, and other unfathomably weird sports we felt refreshed as ever

What else... we had a going away party for our friend Phil, with a costume theme of "p." Rupal was a princess, I was pee-wee herman (and a dead ringer). See facebook for snaps of that.

Much love and hope to update this a bunch more in the upcoming months.

Neglect

2008-05-26T17:58:00.002+10:00

Sorry for being negligent, but traveling for work and parents being in town has been distracting.

Here is a picture of some happy people. I promise to add more in the next day or so.

Love,
Josh

oh bummer

2008-04-08T08:22:00.003+10:00

It's been raining the last two days, we hit daylight savings in the wrong direction, and Radiohead is headlining Lollapalooza. Weak.

This is a picture of some cool dude we met in a pub in Tasmania to make me feel better. The red thing in the foreground is a bottle of champagne we pretended to steal from the guy next to him.

Rupal Rules!

2008-04-02T14:20:00.002+11:00

Go Rups!

Go Rups!!

Does a digestible Sydney music scene exist?

2008-03-28T23:31:00.000+11:00

My fiance and I moved here about 10 months ago from Chicago - we are late 20s working professionals who love to dance and are very into music but don't go to clubby clubs or stay out until 10am. We have friends and they are generally pub-goers, and none of them are in tune with any sort of musical happenings. We have gone out to Melt in Kingsx and Ruby Rabbit (or something like that) on Oxford, and that's as close as we've come to finding our "scene." We also had a fun night at Oxford Arts Factory once... we need more stimulus. Time Out was our go-to in Chicago and we had dj friends to help guide us, but TO hasn't really broken the surface here just yet and the dj friends are now in London/Chi.

Sydney seems somewhat clic oriented, so it's tough to break into social circles - we want to find places to go out are not big pubs with bad music and not untz untz clubs with bad music, but some middle ground with cool djs or bands, and we want to hang out with likeminded folk - I like to refer to us as yupsters (yuppy hipsters) but are totally down to hang with any music lovers, regardless of profession/ambition/sneaker collection. We like indie rock, electronic, and anything inventive. We are avid podcasters, and do maddecent, nyub, fabric, and npr.org on the regular, to name a few. Personally my favorite artists at the mo are Modeselektor, Panda Bear, Jens Lekman, and I just downloaded Devotchka which is excellent and the new Raconteurs album. A wide spectrum if you've heard some of those guys, but the theme is creative new stuff. We blog sometimes too.

Please holler. No we don't want a threesome.
Josh & Rupal

some textual delight

2008-03-13T22:56:00.002+11:00

I'm on the road, so I'm going to regale you with tales of strong coffee and strange architecture instead of my normal photo dump with a title.

I was in London last week, and amidst work and meetings I had a weekend of fun and fancy free. Saturday I got to meet up with Kelly Love and a bunch of her friends in Kendal Green (they all taught English in Japan together, very interesting dynamic) - one couple had just had a baby and I played with their 6 month old and looked out at the cloudy rainy day and thought life was pretty good. We had tea and chatted about life in London, real estate, telecommunications, and babies - then moved on to "The Island," a trendy pub down the street.

I ordered a bloody mary, which was quite good - Kelly and I shared a lasagna made with sweet potato which seems like a bad idea but was executed with skill. Roy stopped by and complained about how all the beautiful women in London are married/committed, and we chatted music and London social life before Roy & I relocated to Shortage for dinner with Kim & a few others. We were 15 minutes late, and this was a huge deal. Dinner was fun if a bit uptight, but I enjoyed it. The food was mediocre, particularly compared to lunch - but this wasn't the main point of contention; I had gotten myself into trouble again by bringing up a controversial topic (Australian racism) which did not go over well. One of the beauties of not seeing people again: the lack of consequence of honesty.

We moved on to Bar Music Hall, which was loud and big - I'm done with loud and big, so after a few cocktails Roy and I ditched the crew and went to a place called "Jaguar Shoes and Handbags," which was exactly as hipster as it sounds. This place was incredibly crowded but small and nooky, which I was impressed with. Somehow we got drinks and a seat very quickly even amidst the mustaches and party dresses. Fantastic.

Kelly and 2 of hers met up, and Roy left, and I found myself dozing off. Was it the tequila, the lack of sleep, or the chair? I have no idea. All I know is I was about to get in a cab when instead I said "Now, we are going dancing." Off to "Plastic People," which is one of my favorite places I've ever been, ever. Half of a sign on the front door and no line/one rough looking East London bouncer leads you to believe you are walking into a sticky situation, but downstairs is nothing but an amazing sound system, a dj playing soul/electro/jazz/booty bass/jamaican dancehall/add other exotic genres here.

Sunday was mostly taken up with Scrabble in the oldest pub in Kensignton or Heathbridge or whatever, and a pie. My team won, which is a shocker since I have nothing to contribute in any scrabble situation. I also walked around Camden markets which I would encourage anyone and everyone to not do. Then I met up with Tania & Alfanso who took me to tea and then a light dinner back in red brick or red brick road. I missed the Spittlefields markets, which despite their name are evidently not to be written off.Good times... now I'm ready to go back home (in Barcelona at the mo, but more travel time ahead - off to Singapore). Adios.

Tuesday Surfing

2008-03-13T20:09:00.002+11:00

On Tuesday, a vendor took me and my team surfing in Bondi. We left work at 4pm and took lessons as we watched the sun set.

Surfing was followed by some primo burgers (and fries and onion rings and wine and beers and dessert). In addition to a lot of other things, Andy ate a one pound burger, no sweat. All in all, a great Tuesday.

Hunter Valley is mountainous

2008-03-02T21:52:00.006+11:00

Mountainous? Hunter Valley? I didn't realise in order to have a valley you must have mountains. I thought wine valleys were flat and boring, but hunter suprised me big time. We were hiking (bushwalking, the aussies call it) in some pretty rugged terrain.

We stayed at Willowgatehall, and it was excellent - the wine was delicious, and the weather was perfect. Another one for the record books.

Bamboo Banger

2008-02-25T12:59:00.006+11:00

I had a work trip to India but had a free day

Sorry for our lack of communication, but things have been pretty nuts lately.

Love, Josh

No More Excuses

2008-02-13T03:39:00.000+11:00

Hi from Bangalore.

OK - no more excuses people:

NEW YORK--FEBRUARY 12, 2008-- For departures in May and
August only, Qantas Airways has just slashed fares to
Australia from New York:

- New York-Sydney ... $1198 roundtrip
- New York-Brisbane ... $1198 roundtrip
- New York-Melbourne ... $1198 roundtrip

The fuel surcharge is already included -- making these sale
fares hundreds OFF what we usually see. You can depart
between May 1-31 or August 1-31. Book by Feb. 28.

These flights on Qantas include complimentary hot meal and
bar service, as well as more than 400 entertainment choices
with audio and video on demand.

For full details and to book directly through Qantas
Airways, click the link below.
http://www.travelzoo.com/Newsflash.asp?368598

2008-02-04T21:34:00.000+11:00

Glub, glub, glub

2008-02-03T19:54:00.000+11:00

Last weekend was Australia Day, the cleverly named national pride day. On Saturday morning, we woke up and decided to celebrate by going camping (nothing is more Aussie). Three hours later, we had set up shop in beautiful Killelea State Park.

We were right on the ocean and next to a river, surrounded by hills and meadows and a quarry.

Look closely- there are thousands and thousands of crabs! They all scuttled away when we approached, their feet making the best noise on the water / sand.

Dead eel

We found blackberries and ate them until we were full. Josh had luckily left his Blackberry at home.

play on

2008-02-03T11:02:00.000+11:00

I believe in miracles - where you from you sexy thing (sexy thing you)

So Rupal had a post about us carrying that wrecked guy out of a parking garage a few weeks ago - on Friday I got pushed to the floor by some guy ranting about how can we call ourselves Asian because we are so westernized and whatnot, and look at what they've done to the aboriginals. It wasn't pretty - stay safe!

Smashing Lights

2008-01-20T08:16:00.000+11:00

Chuck$ has a new mix!

Oxford Street on Sunday is Full of Excitement

2008-01-13T21:23:00.000+11:00

Josh and I drove to the store today and parked in an enclosed parking lot. We were walking to the elevator when I see a man in his late 40s and a woman in her early 30s trying to carry a man that is wasted / passed out / dead. I look at them baffled and yell out 'are you guys ok? do you need our help?" to which the woman desperately cried 'yes'. We run over and she asks us to help drag this passed out man into the elevator as he has 'taken something'. I grab an arm, Josh grabs a leg, and we drag this 200 lb man into the elevator. I asked if she called the ambulance and she says "no- we have to get him upstairs first." Neither Josh nor I have our phones on us, so we have to keep moving. The elevator door closes, but no one knows what button to press, so Josh presses a random button. Josh and I breathe in an overwhelming stench of booze (these people are on drugs and have been up since the night before) and watch this woman on the verge of losing it trying desperately to wake up this passed out man. The elevator door opens to a painted door blocking the exit (what?!). We try another button and the door opens to street level, facing a cafe. Five men at the cafe having lunch look at the five of us and try to come over for help. I tell them to call an ambulance immediately. Josh and I decide that we've done what we can and need to get the hell away from that scene.

Shopping for vegetables was very difficult after that.

NZ Movie Awards

2008-01-09T17:22:00.000+11:00

Some movies from our New Zealand bonanza

N-ZED

2008-01-08T21:34:00.000+11:00

If you are considering a trip to NZ, a few of these might push you over the edge. What an amazing place! The weather changes every 10 minutes, as does the scenery - glaciers, mountains, rain forests, fjords, rivers, lakes, and tropical coasts all in a country the size of Illinois (they are both 58k square miles in total). And we only really conquered half!

Here are some teasers, full link below!

New Zealand Pictures

New New New New Zealand

2007-12-19T19:56:00.000+11:00

Going to New Zealand tomorrow! I thought I would leave with something I just found in my inbox - my friend Craig's brother & friend are making a cartoon and it's pretty funny:

Happy xmas/hanuka/new years, see you in 08!

Red, Blue, Green

2007-12-06T20:34:00.001+11:00

Just in time for Hanuka

Rollin on the river

2007-12-05T17:06:00.000+11:00

I decided facebook is better than blogging pretty much.

Movember

2007-12-03T22:33:00.001+11:00

It happens once a year... you tend to recognize it gradually... they're obtrustive, they're nasty, they're crude... they're mustaches.

The 11th month of the year in Sydney is Movember. Everywhere you look, men from 18 -40 grow thick, filthy moustaches "to raise awareness of prostate cancer." Men in expensive business suits; men in polos; men with attractive girlfriends - they all do it.

I messed up royally this month by failing to photograph the random "mos". This celebration of mos is city-wide. But thankfully, as of 1 December, it's all over.

Hilarious side note: Last November, when Josh and I visited Sydney (land of hipsters, I should add), Josh swore to me that this moustache trend was going to blow up in the States.

Turkey for you, turkey for me

2007-11-21T15:36:00.000+11:00

I just had a Thanksgiving lunch at work, and have 3 thanksgiving dinners in the next 4 days - but nothing beats Thanksgiving at home. Miss you family, friends, WP!

Also two things:

Daft Punk - Alive 2007 Bonus CD

Taser me my friend

2007-11-15T20:54:00.000+11:00

Click on Chuck to download his new mix. I listened to it on my way home, and have been sick with a fever ever since. That's how nasty it is. It's like tasering yourself in the ears repeatedly.

Speaking of repeated tasering, check out this awesome tasering story at a girl talk show at my alma mater. I couldn't be more proud.

we-bee-bloggen (with 2 dots above the e)

2007-11-07T21:43:00.000+11:00

Busy doing what we do best. We are going to New Zealand for 2 weeks over X-mas break. I may be going to Tokyo next week. Our flat is so awesome. We have a bright red wine rack.

We bought a car. Her name is "Starlet," as in her model name. She's a Toyota "Starlet Life," but don't be scared- she's actually quite friendly. Think of her as Scarlet Johanson in automotive form: sexy, elegant, powerful to the point of being somewhat intimidating, yet feminine. And white. And cheap.

Among Miss Starlet's features: 105,000km, 5 speed manual, manual steering, manual locks, manual windows - did I mention she is manual? Parallel parking is a WORKOUT.

FYI - Rupal does not know how to drive stick shift (yet)

This is the beach we went to on Sunday. Kai and I went swimming in our shorts, and got beat up by waves the size of houses.

There was an art exhibit at the beach called "Sculptures by the sea" and this was one of my favorite ones.

This is the poshest club I've ever seen. You can't really see from my camera but there is a glass dj booth hanging from the ceiling. You also can't see the mouthbreathing tossers who hang out here.

Melbourne Cup is an unofficial national holiday which promotes drinking and gambling. Notice the funny hat in the tv below - many people wear funny hats. I won $40.

So I had a very strange cultural experience last week. The fed-ex lady (who is Asian) came in to our office with a package, and she asked me about my watch: it's a red faced wind up watch with Mao on the front, waving. I think it's cute, and Mao is a pretty harmless figure - or so I thought.

"Oh that's so funny, I can see the same thing with Hitler on it," she said. I was so shocked I nearly dropped the package. Totally knocked the wind out of my lungs. I said nothing, and she smiled and walked out.

Was she just making small talk, or is wearing a Mao watch offensive? I haven't worn the watch since, and I'm a bit worried to. Please leave feedback if you can figure out how to add comments on our blogalishious.

-Cheers, Josh

Oi, Oi, Oi... vey

2007-10-21T20:27:00.000+10:00

Rups and I just walked in from a weekend of extreme athletic nature excursions - somehow combined with an overdose of quality food and chocolate - with our friends Ben & Laura, to whom I'll be sending a medical bill shortly.

I feel well fed, and abused. We didn't take any pictures the first day, but see the photo below which captures "abseiling."

Abseiling is basically walking vertically down the face of a cliff. Don't worry, there was a rope involved. The above photo is one I found from the tours website: http://www.high-n-wild.com.au. We did abseil down this particular cliff, which was 30 meters or so high.

After lunch we suited up and started "canyoning" which involves sliding down rocks into rockpools in a wetsuit. It was mental. Our entire group was laughing uncontrollably the entire time, the water was freezing, and it was my favorite part. Imagine treading through rockpools with 30 foot high cliffs on either side of you and a temperate rainforest canopy overhead.

The canyoning ended at a huge rainfall, which we abseiled down. Once you are 5-10 feet from the pool below you jump backwards into the pool. I landed on my head, and I will probably relive this weekend in PT for years to come. The below picture is someone who definitely has more skills than I do.

I'm not sure why they call this abseiling, but my abs do hurt.

Here are some photos from the next day, when we went for a bushwalk and ate "heaps."

This is the reason why my head hurt last Monday:

And this is a photo of Roy's Radiators. Miss you Roy boy.

"In Rainbows" inspired Sydney Photo Journal Entry 1

2007-10-14T13:47:00.001+10:00

I think it's funny how everyone thinks Radiohead's new album is somehow going to change the way the world works, so I decided to name this Photo Journal Entry as being "In Rainbows" inspired. Photos will never be the same, man.

As usual if you click on the photos below a larger version will magically appear on your screen - like a rainbow. The connections are literally staring you in the face! Radiohead is speaking to you! You should probably go postal.

Today we are bbqing and going to see some jazz at the bar downstairs (see third photo above).

Here are some pictures of my yesterday

A cool photo from Wiseman's Ferry

And the gratuitous "Rupal with Goat" photo

Hasta Manana

PS- I thought this "Pitchfork's guide to Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' " was so ridiculous you might want to take a look at it. Also, please visit Radiohead's website to buy their album (you can name your own price, it's going to totally change music forever, dude! From now on bands will release albums without record labels and the people will decide what the product is worth and music will be free for everyone forever, yay!)

2007-10-12T18:10:00.000+10:00

Arcade Fire's abstract interactive music video

Blog blog blog all day long blog blog blog while I sing that song

2007-10-07T18:25:00.001+10:00

Here are some pictures of our Bush walk last weekend in the wilderness. Basically we walked around chanting how much we disapprove of gays, stem cell research, and irony.

Do the D.A.N.C.E.

Contemplative Rupal

Does this look like a tree root to you? To me it looks like carnage - notice that this root has a fleshwound. I know, trees don't bleed. But some do.

This is a lizard generally served on Turkish bread with rocket and balsamic reduction

Oh, the hawkesbury. Ain't she just wonderful.

She's my Coney island baby, my Coney island girl

As usual, living the dream. On our way to brunch yesterday a neighbor was having a tag sale, and we bought an entire garden for our patio - I'm bringing the jungle room back (yea). We've got several fairly large trees, a huge rosemary bush, lavender, and a really zen 2 foot tall tree which I've planted on our kitchen table, which I like to look at while doing dishes.

Looks like later this month we are going canyoning... not sure exactly what that is, but it sounds pretty fun:

The beautiful 30 minute rainforest walk leads you to Twister Canyon. After wetsuits are fitted the fun begins. There are 8 jumps and slides before you reach Rocky Creek. From here the canyon is magnificent and deep. It includes much swimming and a great water-slide into a deep pool.In some parts the canyon is very narrow with high rock walls towering above. At the end of the canyon is a trip back up through the magnificent gorge of Rocky Creek.

Coming soon - a photo journal of our neighborhood courtesy my little camera phone. I've got some pretty slick shots of the art galleries and the cafes - I'm still trying to get some of the crackheads, but it's tough to capture that kind of desperation without putting yourself in danger.

Cockawhat?

2007-10-03T22:28:00.001+10:00

These are the types of birds you see on a walk here.

Weekend de Divertido

2007-10-03T21:50:00.001+10:00

Josh and I had a totally boring weekend AGAIN.

Adventure I: We decided to buy a tent second hand, rent a car, and go camping for Friday and Saturday night.

And on the second day, Josh commanded "Let there Be River"

But then wished it was heated.

Adventure II: Sunday morning, we woke up early, had brunch at a quaint local brunch joint (that was 'out of pancakes'!?!) and headed back to the city on a 83 degree day. We showered, took a nap, got our drink on, and headed to Park Life, a dance music fest full to the brim with naked 17 year old girls and super-confident drugged up boys to match.

Kelly calls them fluoro kids:

And my best friend, hero, and dance partner MIA:

Adventure III: Drove down to Maroubra Beach (The Boys of Bra is a movie about surfing that beach) and got our asses kicked by some ridic waves. Josh has pics from there, I believe.

Another amazing weekend.

Table with a View

2007-10-03T21:46:00.000+10:00

This was my view on a 'business' lunch recently. By 'business', I mean talking about boyfriends.

Don't Tase Me Bro

2007-09-23T17:54:00.000+10:00

I didn't do anything! Don't tase me bro! Great stuff.

Sorry for the lack in blogging, but after checking these photos you'll understand why.

Last weekend we went to this free outdoor electronic music festival - as you can see tin man was in attendance. Also in attendance - Rupal's pearly whites. Jody from work is behind her to the left, her boyfriend Kai is behind me to the right with Ben, I think.

Then on Wednesday I went up to the northern beaches near Palm Beach on a management offsite - most of the three days was spent in meetings, but the other part is summed up with the photos below.

Today we went to Bronte beach - there were HUGE waves. We are pretty much on vacation, but with jobs. Fun fact - I may be going to Tokyo on Monday. These photos were all taken with my phone, which is excellent.

Now we are going to meet some people for Pizza, which I will inevitably hate on because I'm such a pizza snob. The place we are going is called "Love Supreme" and is highly recommended - we called to make reservations and they said "We don't take reservations, but there is a pub across the street." I love this place.

2007-09-20T23:03:00.000+10:00

Foreshadowing our ethnically fused reception

Prefunk

2007-09-10T20:53:00.001+10:00

I was going to wait a while to put this up, but Molly's car got broken into and now I feel bad.

Not sure why this post keeps getting f'd up, but I'll keep trying

2007-09-10T19:45:00.000+10:00

Jazz + Sushi = Jazushi.

All Politicians Endorse Corruption

2007-09-09T21:47:00.000+10:00

If you can turn a corner in Sydney without hearing the the acronym APEC, I'll give you a dollar.

$331 million dollars of tax payer's money + 21 heads of state + three days + one city = John Howard losing Sydneysiders' vote.

APEC is "an inter-governmental forum facilitating economic growth and investment in the Asia-Pacific region, and operates on the basis of non-binding commitments, open dialogue and equal respect for the views of all participants regardless of the size of their economy." To Sydney, it means a city-wide day off, make-shift fences, the most hated person in the world getting the most ludicrously extravagant welcome, and snipers.

Josh and I have grown accustomed to helicopters flying over head (with the occasional search shining their blinding light on our patio), missels ready for action on darting fighter planes, nonstop melodramatic 'news' recounts of violent protesters, and the always optimistic APEC symbol on the Coat Hanger bridge.

On a positive note, Sydney's businesses were closed on Friday.

Sailing, arrrr

2007-09-09T21:20:00.000+10:00

2nd day back in Sydney, already rocking it like we live here

Somehow we saw rainbows, kites, fireworks, helicopters, riot police, and sunshine in one weekend.

Water, Water Everywhere

2007-09-09T21:08:00.000+10:00

The beautiful part about Sydney is there is waterfront wherever you turn. East: Bondi Beach, the most superlative city beach in the world; North: an unmatched harbor in regards to color, activity, and, of course, man-made structures; West: a well-worth-the-visit tourist trap of Darling Harbor, with interesting waterways and sun even in the cloudiest of days; and South: I haven't been south enought to visit the water, though I hear it' great.

I have had two weekends filled with the idyllic "how to" explore Sydney's waterfronts. Last weekend, Kelly, an Aussie friend of mine (oddly enough, friends of mine that are Aussies are few and far between), along with two friends of hers Chris and Kelly, took a short drive up to Manly Beach to kayak to a local beach. This Friday, our neighbor Carter and a few of his friends, took Andrew's tiny 'quick! get to the other side before the boat tips over' sailboat across the harbor for a fresh fish picnic. Saturday, Josh and I went to Festival of the Winds, a kite festival on the beach, preceding a two hour long hike along the coast.

Some pics from the weekend.

Neon Churches, Weddings, and Airplanes

2007-09-06T17:42:00.001+10:00

After another unthinkable weekend I'm back in SYD with Rups - oh happy happy days. I would post pictures of the insane weddings I've just endured, but since Molly Stehr reads Jopalishiousness I am unable to do so. Actually, *psych! - here are some of the more PG snaps from the first wedding (Tracy & Ken's, not at the church above).

*who was I talking about "psych" and "facial" with recently? I think I'm losing my mind.

Some family shots from the 2nd wedding (my cuz Jason & Jackie):

Stuff:
1) I got to see a Seahawks game before leaving Seattle, and the field was deafening even when it was empty before the game
2) I walked out of Starbucks in LAX last night and almost spilled coffee on rapper 50 Cent - the last time I was on my way to Sydney I saw Matthew McConaughey walking through the concourse without any shoes
3) Tonight will be the 7th different place I will have slept in the past 7 nights (if you include the plane)
4) Overall I've slept in15 different places since I left Sydney for Seattle. If you don't believe me, here is the list (a list within a list!):

Fiji (Nandi)
Fiji Taveuni
Plane Fiji -> LAX
Hotel 1000
Site 17 Bed
Site 17 Couch when Savita visited
Portland
Vancouver
Snowmass (Alex's floor)
Crested Butte camping (No sleeping bags)
Berkshires
CT
NYC
WP
Plane (NYC -> SYD)
SYD (tonight, probably in like 2 minutes)

Before I go, some Southwood love

Boys, it's been real. See you in a year.

Some handsome cats

2007-08-28T15:02:00.000+10:00

I think I'll let the photos of my trip to Colorado do the talking - visited Alex this past weekend (after a ridiculous adventure in the airport and Alex driving for over 7 hours to get me), went camping at Crested Butte - swimming, hiking, and living it up.

Some of the most spectacular scenery I've ever seen - no joke. Click on these!

WOW

The Jacket Formerly Worn By Prince

2007-08-22T14:14:00.001+10:00

Do I keep it?

PS- This is how I make clothing purchase decisions sans Rupalicious

Portland, Costumes, Band Names

2007-08-21T10:04:00.001+10:00

Great Band Names

Where's Your Costume?
Alfalfa
Quick Sandwich
Musician Poet Dreamer Begger
Post Op Tranny
The Bike Dorks

Portland is such an amazing place. In North Portland everyone wears costumes, rides bikes, and has a garden. They paint their houses purple, orange, green, blue... basically it's pretty difficult to stand out since everyone stands out. It's somewhat competitive, in how alternative it actually is - yet the people are really super nice.

I found a new favorite drink - it's called a Maggie something.

Pour Makers Mark over ice
Add lime juice, fresh grated ginger, and sugar
Top off with soda
Drink it

Also they have nice flowers - roses in particular are very fashionable.

Raw Milk

2007-08-11T09:27:00.000+10:00

My old friend Yaron is in the New York Times - an article on Raw Milk. Very interesting (and very Yaron).

Mouvin to the couvin

2007-08-08T10:29:00.000+10:00

A few Vancouver photos

Most random thing ever

2007-08-08T10:25:00.001+10:00

What is this?

Exchizange Rizates

2007-08-07T04:19:00.001+10:00

Whoa, glad to be getting paid in AUS dollars these days

Fun Facts: Rupal

2007-08-02T13:06:00.000+10:00

I agree... lists are fun. To keep in the same vein, here's some fun facts about my week:

5. The Subaru Impreza campaign launches on Monday in Australia (trust me, that's fun).
4. Vindaloo Matzo Ball Soup... it's for real. I feel that dish really encapsulates our relationship.
3. I've decided to go home for a week in October or November.
2. I recently ordered "Camel Snake Pie" for dinner. It wasn't a misnomer.
1. Chicago just can't let go: Josh, Megha, Adam and I, are in this week's Time Out Chicago, dancing our asses off to Uffie at Sonotheque.

Fun Facts

2007-08-02T10:36:00.000+10:00

I had lunch with Evil Knievel's nephew today
I'm leaving to go to a dinner cruise in 10 minutes
Chuck and I attempted to see Girl Talk on Friday, and failed
We did manage to bike the entirety of Seattle, go to a Peruvian independence day party, and see Daft Punk and The Rapture - we also ate Mexican multiple times
I'm 99% going to Vancouver this weekend
I love making lists because it's so easy to throw something random in that makes them funny
Crab cakes and football, that's what Maryland does

2007-07-24T12:55:00.001+10:00

Picture Links:

Housewarming & Photos of the Flat
Bula Bula Fiji Rupal

Some text, if you are into that stuff:

As you can clearly see, Rupal and I have been apart all of 2 days and we have decided to spend the hours until we reunite uploading evidence that we have spent any time together in 2007. My last post includes two really fun videos - the first is our Bula Bula kayak trip. The 2nd is the flight from Taveuni to Nadi.

Where am I? I am in Seattle. I arrived last night after traveling for 30 hours, which was actually not as bad as it sounds. I ate terrible food though - somehow I ate 7 meals on the trip (I just counted) excluding the ice cream, the cucumber and cheese sandwiches, the numerous bags of pretzels and nuts, the coffee(s), the beers. I ate tacos, curries (2), peanut butter & jelly, lentil soup, pepper & cucumber salad, lasagna, eggs, sausages, sandwiches... Someone asked me today (my first day of work) how I felt - I said "It feels like my body is fighting a civil war" which makes sense the more I think about it.

A testament to how bad the music scene in Sydney is, or how good it is during the US summer- I am seeing Girl Talk, Sebastian, and Daft Punk this weekend, among others. For a middle size city Seattle either has the most ridiculous scene ever, or I landed on the electronica equivalent of Christmas.

I just came from going on a toiletry binge. I miss CVS, RiteAid, Walgreens, whatever. I spent like $50 (which seems like alot, but so worth it). Then I got a sandwich - there are sandwiches all over this city, and quality ones too. All I've had since I've landed is sandwiches (and sushi for our team lunch). Now I'm icing my leg and forcing myself to drink beers so I can sleep tonight :-)

Why are there sculptures of pigs everywhere in Seattle?

Why is this new Interpol album so bad?

-J

The Real Bula

2007-07-24T12:37:00.000+10:00

Blackle: Google Thinking (Dark) Green

2007-07-24T11:55:00.000+10:00

Whenever your PC/Mac screen is all white (as in a Word page for instance) the computer will consume about 74 watts. When black it uses an average of 59 watts.

Using this knowledge, some months ago, Mark Ontkush wrote an article about how much could be economized if a Google page used a black background instead of white.

Taking into account the enormous popularity of the site, according to Mark's calculations, about 750 megawatts/hour would be economized each year.

Using this data Google created an all dark version of his search engine calling it Blackle that works exactly as the original version but consumes less power.

http://www.blackle.com

Bula, Bula Fiji Rupal

2007-07-23T22:22:00.000+10:00

This blog's namesake is the title and lyrics in full to a song written and composed by Josh Iselin. And the song has been in my head for four days now.

"Bula" comprises one fourth of everything that comes out of a Fijian's mouth. Fijians, specifically Taveunians, are pure honey.

On Tuesday night, we landed in Nadi and stayed at the Worst Hotel in Scotland. We immediately took a cab to town to get out of that shithole and got taken to an Indian restaurant, where we were only ones who were (ever) there but paid twice as much as our shithotel costed. We awoke at 5:30am to take a cold shower before taking our propeller plane to our actual destination: paradise.

The views on this hour long flight was in itself worth the cost of the flight. We traversed the length of Fiji's biggest island and passed a few more to an island called Taveuni, on of Fiji's 300+ islands.

Josh and I stayed at Makaira, a commune-like 'resort' (we were the only ones there until the last day), where our bure (bungalow) had a 20 yard backyard, with coconut trees, a hammock shack, flowers, an outdoor shower, chickens (and cockamamie roosters who cockadoodle-dooed starting at 2am), and dozens of frogs (that only came out after dusk). After this 20 backyard was a 25' cliff, a 2-lane road beneath, and then ocean and some ocean.

We filled our days with snorekling, beach-hopping (all of which we had to ourselves), kayaking, bike riding, reading, and trying desperately to get drunk (the latest we went to be was 11- the generator shut off at 10).

On Friday, one of the six or so Fijians that lived / worked at Makaira's son turned one and they invited us to the party, which was in the Bula Hula Hut in the back of Makaira. Excluding the Hawaiian couple that owned the place, we were the only non-Fijian there. Josh and I took one of the first seats for the Kava ceremony that lasted the entire party, only to get up to eat the best damn Fijian cooking on the island. Everyone mustered up the best english they could to make us feel truly welcomed. I, in turned, uttered 'naka' or 'bula' about 8,000 times.

Josh and I parted ways on Sunday- he to Seattle (and Portland, British Columbian outback, and NYC) and I back to Sydney. Please send comments so I don't get too lonely.

Bula!
Fiji Rupal

Is this thing on?

2007-07-11T21:12:00.000+10:00

There is an ancient Confucian proverb: With Internet Comes Good Fortune.

Since we were reconnected with the wonderful inter web, marvelous things have been in the making.

Somehow in the last 24 hours an exotic trip to Fiji has materialized, as has a venue for our wedding.

Some other big updates:

I'm employed by Atlas
From Fiji, I am going directly to Seattle for 6 weeks of training
Working on quick trips up to BC, down to Portland, and over to NY
I return to SYD, and 2 weeks later leave for Japan, China, India, and Singapore
Our flat has been fixed, painted, and fully decorated
We are having a housewarming party 2 days before I leave :-(
Rupal and I are going to have to be apart again :-( :-(

I will take photos of our apartment, in all of it's glory, in the next several days. Promise.

Some small updates:

Sydney has ridiculous seafood which we eat every day
A case of beer is $50 but custom framing is ridiculously cheap
We just carried a huge TV down the block and up the stairs, and it doesn't work
We have purple and blue furniture in our living room
2 cats visit our flat when we leave the balcony open, and we feed them milk
When I put Turkish bread in our sandwich press I remember why Turkey is so important and great

-DRJ

I love you internet

2007-07-05T12:20:00.000+10:00

Dear Internet,

I love you so much! The bad people at Optus didn't want us to be together, but I knew that ultimately we would share this moment of wireless ecstasy.

For over a month we have been separated, secretly meeting in hushed cafes and back alleys for brief exchanges, unable to express ourselves due the poor connection and/or lack of credit.

However, it's so nice outside! You are just going to have to wait to have my full attention until the day is through. Isn't that our luck, that now we have been reunited when the weather has become clear, and I have no use for you?

I still love you though, internet. I'll be back.

*This post is dedicated to Trevor and Jay (they know why) and Al Gore for inventing the Internet

Library Lounging

2007-06-26T15:23:00.000+10:00

I'm in what was previously the "Sydney Customs House," what I'm guessing is the Australian equivalent to Ellis Island, where they have established a very fancy library with art exhibitions and all. Feels more like MOMA than WPPL, aside from the general slowness of the computers - I type and then the words appear several seconds later.

The libraries here have been remarkably open to having me as a part time resident - I've been to three. The first has a waiting list for Michael Chabon's new book "Yiddish Policeman's Union" which is probably longer than the book itself. The second doesn't lend books (but remarkably has somewhat fast wireless Internet for free). This third one doesn't have YPL, and it's been on order for about 50 days. "We don't have a very good system" the librarian admitted.

On the brighter side, the weather has improved - nope, wait, it hasn't. It's actually still raining, but this didn't stop Rupal and I from stripping the paint off some furniture we found, sanding it down, and painting it purple. That was not a typo, but it did appear to take longer to display on the screen, as if the computer actually hesitated to document the fact that we chose purple as the color we wanted to paint a piece of furniture which looked like the remains of a shipwreck to begin with. But alas, we needed something to match our bright blue couch. We are trying to give our flat a "Clockwork Orange" meets "2001 Space Odyssey" meets "The Pursuit of Happiness" motif.

The pictures I upload at some point will give this previous sentence some meaning, someday, when we actually move in fully - which is dependant on the painter coming, which is dependant on Aussies not working 4 day weeks from now until this completely fictional "drought" forces Sydneysiders to abandon the city (evidently this is eminent by 2009, so I was told). Here is the progression of my discussion with our painting professional, the lovable old James:

Tuesday: Landlord sends James email requesting work, formally known as a Job Request
Wednesday: James reads "Calvin and Hobbes" and eats Twinkies all day
Thursday: Landlord calls James to follow up on email*
Friday: Josh calls James to schedule a time for James to paint
James is at a pub, but will sort out his schedule and call Josh back - but before saying anything he needs Job Request email from Landlord (see #1)
Monday: Josh calls James to follow up
James is at a job/pub, but will sort out his schedule and call Josh back. "Look mate, I need a job request before anything - but my email is broken. Plus I'm working a 4 day week."
Josh's head explodes, painting the walls in a vivid red spat

*This could be fictional

Ta for now!

Public Service Announcement

2007-06-20T13:56:00.000+10:00

Please watch this.

2007-06-19T11:18:00.001+10:00

Curious about the weather in Sydney?

Click here, and bring a raincoat.

Brief apartment update, and some more visuals

2007-06-19T10:48:00.000+10:00

Things are steadily moving along - our apartment is feeling like home little by little - baby steps. For example, on Monday I go to our leasing agent and ask him to have our blinds fixed. The next Monday two lads come by to take measurements. The following Monday our landlord receives an estimate. The next Monday, the blinds get fixed. And so on.

By the time we move out, I assume that all of my initial requests (ie new paint job) will be considered. Life has at least a 2 week lag here. Getting broadband internet in Sydney is a nightmare.

In accordance with the general mandate that everything in Australia be difficult, I had to carry all of these packages across the street and up the stairs with zero help from UPS guy

Our first homecooked meal!

I wanted to do an entire blog entry on why Ikea is the best store on the planet, until I realized that we actually bought these things to store ice.

Storm photo of the day

Laksa soup photo of the day

Rupal crossing ahead

You know repeating paterns sweatshirts are done when knockoffs appear at Paddy markets

2007-06-19T10:36:00.000+10:00

In case anyone is interested, it is still raining. It's been raining for almost two weeks. "Most rain in 45 years."

Birthday Ambivalence

2007-06-18T10:33:00.000+10:00

It's my birthday today and it is odd celebrating so far from home. I should preface this by noting that I think I have had some kind of party / get together every single year of my life. I didn't want to make a production out of it, forcing people who just met me to feel obligated to celebrate me, and I don't to reveal my age at work, so it was an intimate dinner with Jodi and Kai in Surry Hills with a 'surprise outing' to come (Josh makes everything a 'surprise', even the Sunday paper).

I think this weekend was the first weekend that Josh and I felt a bit homesick. More accurately, 'friends and family'-sick. We don't miss the United States (except for the luxurious customer service that every business offers), we miss people. It's sad to not talk to my parents on my birthday. It's hard keeping in touch with all the friends that you love. I predict that it's going to be very difficult to leave Sydney in a couple years, but we're going to be ready to.

It is nice to have a birthday on the first weekend in Sydney that we're relatively settled in as an engaged couple. This birthday came at the perfect time for me to reflect at how exciting and positive the last year has been.

Happy birthday, Paul McCartney.

Chuck Dollarsign

2007-06-11T11:43:00.000+10:00

Chuck$ is getting serious

Buy U A Drank (Chuck Dollarsign Edit).mp3

2007-06-11T10:52:00.000+10:00

I'm reading Bill Bryson's Under a Sunburned Country and he repeatedly writes about how Australians are truly at the mercy of the climate. The last five days were an almost comical example of that. It hasn't rained at all since I've been here (nor had it in months), and then it came. Starting Thursday, the Great Flood part deux arrived. It rained. At some points, we though our apartment would collapse. It was raining from the floor.

The Aussies love to complain about the weather should it hit anywhere below 75 degrees or if there are more than two clouds in the sky. I think they like to complain just for the sake of complaining, because as they're bitching about the weather, they embrace it. No matter what the weather, there are always people drinking their long blacks and eating their chocolate cake outside (and blowing smoke in our face). It's pretty great.
It's beautiful here. Unbelievably, unconditionally beautiful. The weather, the flowers, the trees (little known fact: the trees here were imported from Jurassic Park), the birds, the shop(pes).

Ta

The Up Side of Down Under

2007-06-11T10:21:00.000+10:00

While Josh has only covered about half of the hell we went through over the last 8 weeks, I want to fill the glass at least half way up. A few random bits of happiness that Sydney has already offered:

-Sushi costs A$3.00 for the freshest salmon you've ever tasted. And the soy sauce comes in little squeezable plastic containers shaped like fish with red screw on tops.
-The dogs here are extra hilarious. See pics for examples.
-"Winter" here gets down to a bone-chilling 50 degrees.
-Starcom Sydney has a high end espresso / cappuccino machine
-Cockatoos are very common
-We live about 3.5 miles from a surfable beach
-The most amazing harbor in the world
-It rained on Thursday and some people here don't own umbrellas (I dont know if it's stupidity)
-It's strange if you don't drink at business lunches

Minor Update

2007-06-08T13:53:00.000+10:00

I'm going to teach Rupal how to update this over the weekend, so expect some fun stuff from her in the next few days.

I'm sitting in the Hotel Altamont borrowing some internet until we get set up with ours. The people here are AWESOME. I just wrote a great review on TripAdvisor, and if you are in town I highly recommend it here. Keep in mind we checked out like 5 days ago, and they chat me up every time I walk in. Great people.

No photos to document our new flat yet, but I'll get on that once we are completely set up. For now, just a list of things we have acquired (from 6 independent sellers, who were extremely nice to us):

washing machine
refrigerator
couch
patio glass table and chairs
bed
2 bedside tables
2 large dressers
4 large plants (I should say trees)
a desk (which we probably will get rid of)
solid oak shelf unit
a tiny tv and a tiny table
a rug
2 lamps
glasses and bowls
road bike
bad backs

I just sealed the deal on our round kitchen table and chairs - will be delivered in the next few days - which means all we are really missing is a coffee table. If you know anyone... Also the 13 UPS packages I sent, whch are over a week late. They are held up in customs (obviously).

Note - the exchange rate has worsened, which makes spending Rupal's money even easier.

Coachella Propels Us Forward

2007-06-05T11:30:00.000+10:00

Here are two sad testaments to abruptly leaving a country - the chair had a "FREE" sign on it.

Rupal and I are in Sydney, Australia. Describing the events leading up to this would be incredibly boring due to the administrative nature of packing, selling, shipping, and moving; we will try our very best to keep this from being a laundry list of things that have happened, and rather paint an engaging (get it, engaging) story of how drasticly our lives have been altered, and hopefully shed some light on the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa, Osama Bin Laden, and perhaps Waldo.

Here is the first rule of moving internationally - I think it was invented by a physicist. It's called Murphy's Law. Basically whatever could possibly go wrong in any given situation will go wrong. I think Murphy's law is dependant upon making assumptions, because he was a physicist. And a complete jerk.

Assuming these are good ideas would lead any mathmatical formula to blow up:

Rupal moving to Sydney without Josh
Rupal moving to Sydney without a visa
Rupal moving to Sydney without a return ticket
Josh moving to Sydney without a job
Josh selling all of the crap he has accumulated from being a packrat for 26 years
Josh spending his last 2 weeks in the US traveling MDW->LGA->MDW->ORD->ALB->LGA->ORD->MDW->STL->CHI (via train)->MDW->LAX->NAN (FIJI)->SYD
Just to clarify, that is 13 airports in about 16 days
Shipping over 500lbs of womens shoes and pashminas
Dr. Veramendi getting a doctorate
Dr. Veramendi sending chest x-ray's the the Australian government when this is his sole responsibility
Dr. Veramendi being one of two doctors in Chicago who are certified to do this task
Dr. Veramendi not being the most incompetent doctor on planet earth
Giving Josh enough free time to have any creative expression whatsoever
Proposing to the woman you love 3 days before she flys to another country, continent, time zone, date, and season

Things we've told ourselves:

"Making false assumptions is a part of living, right?"
"Some day we'll look back on all this and laugh laugh laugh" (What Rupal said at 9pm when I was on the floor pinned between the two wheels of my new bike while trying to move it down stairs with a heavy spider plant).
"Why is everything so difficult in this country?"

Why do all apartments come with dryers, but not washers? Actually this is a government mandate. Any flat's which have a washer connection must have a dryer in the apartment.
Why do no apartments come with fridges? No reason. Just to make things difficult.

Best Idea I ever had:

Starting a joint bank account the minute I'm unemployed

Just so you don't stop reading now, here is our photoblog. fotblog. Picturlog. Pictures:

Why my last day of packing was so difficult

Welcome to Fiji

Welcome to the Blue Mountains

Welcome to Asian food paradise

Cut Copy - Bring Like Neon Love Is Right

We live THATAWAY about 4 blocks East of Hyde Park

Randoms of Sydney - Paddy Markets, crazy tree sculpture, and MC DONALDS?????

If you were wondering why our visas were held up:
Rupal killed this poor baby kangaroo. The Aussies weren't too happy about that.

So now we are busy with setting up our new flat. Last night the "relocaters" made 4 stops! We now own a fridge, a washing machine, a bed, a patio table and chairs, and a tv that is basically hand held. Send some love!