Historic Day

It was just a normal Friday morning when the rumors started swirling in the office that Steve Bracks was about to resign as Premier of Victoria. We gathered around the tv during our end of month morning tea to watch the shock announcement. There were no real signs that this would happen, although his son's DUI a few weeks ago helped him to solidify his decision to leave office. It will be sad to see him go as he has been a good Premier over the past 8 years. Just as we were getting over Bracks' announcement word started to spread that Deputy Premier John Thwaites would be next. Sure enough at 2:00 pm he announced that he too would be resigning from office. It was weird to have this go down in the building next to us and you could sense that history was being made. On Monday the Labor Caucus will choose a new Premier, which means there will be new members of cabinet as well. We'll just have to wait and see if we get a new Minister for Education.

Winter in Victoria

Kangaroos in Springhill, Victoria. Yes, it's a bit cold today (no snow in Melbourne though).

Knocked Up

Tonight Tash and I met up at Melbourne Central to see the movie Knocked Up. This is the latest film from Judd Apatow, who directed The 40-Year-Old Virgin. There were quite a few members of the cast who previously appeared in his brilliant tv show Freaks and Geeks. The basic plot of the film is that Alison (Katherine Heigel) meets Ben (Seth Rogan) in a club, has a one night stand, and then discovers that she is pregnant. The movie shows how these two people from very different circumstances come to terms with this life changing event. The movie is absolutely hilarious but also sweet and sincere at the same time. I was crying with laughter at the birthing scene- one of the funniest things I have seen in ages. I highly recommend checking this film out if you haven't seen it already.

Crowded House

Crowded House finally arrived in Australia and have been all over the media these past few days. On Friday morning they appeared on Sunrise, playing four songs total. Saturday they headlined the Sydney Live Earth concert, which was absolutely fantastic to watch. Sunday night it was off to Melbourne to appear on Rove. But the highlight for me was Monday night because they played a secret show at the Corner Hotel.

Natasha joined me in line and we secured a great spot about 3 rows back from the center of the stage. The opening act was one Liam Finn. Once again he did a great set like the last time I saw him play in May. When Crowded House hit the stage it was hard to believe I was seeing them again live after all these years. The guys looked great in their suits- thank God Nick is styling them all. They played a lot of songs off the new album, along with some old favorites. The setlist (not necessarily completely in order):
Recurring Dream
Mean To Me
Heaven That I'm Making
Nobody Wants To
When You Come
Pineapple Head
Silent House
Nails In My Feet
World Where You Live
You're The One To Make Me Cry
Walked Her Way Down
People Are Like Suns
Locked Out
Something So Strong
Don't Dream It's Over

Encore 1
Don't Stop Now
Fall At Your Feet
Distant Sun

Encore 2
Pour Le Monde
Walking On The Spot
Love You Till The Day I Die
She Called Up
Four Seasons In One Day
Sister Madly

They played for nearly 2 1/2 hours. It was great to hear the new songs live and I thought "You're The One To Make Me Cry" was particularly moving. They did a brilliant and thankfully different version of "Don't Dream It's Over" after Neil decided to "murder it." The first verse was all shimmery guitar, the second verse reggae, and the rest of the song in depressing Cowboy Junkies style. There was the usual banter between songs and little musical interludes that took the show in new directions. Matt Sherrod, the new drummer, was fantastic and he really hits hard and drives the songs forward. Even though the guys were tired they still put on a wonderful show. I'm just so happy to have my favorite band back together.

Afterwards I stuck around to have a brief chat with Matt since he is a fellow California native. He was very nice and we talked about where we were from and how Sydney is like LA and Melbourne like San Francisco. He also asked what I was doing in Melbourne and how long I've been a fan. I saw Mark and Nick wandering around but didn't bother them (Neil disappeared pretty soon after the show finished). I will now have to wait until November to see them again- this time at the very large Rod Laver Arena. If you have the chance go see them in concert- you won't be disappointed.

Essendon v. Geelong

It was back to the Telstra Dome tonight to see Essendon play Geelong. We knew it would be a tough game because Geelong are currently at the top of the ladder and have won their last 8 games and we were without captain Matthew Lloyd, who was suspended this week for striking. However, there were a couple big events to motivate the Bombers: James Hird's 250th game and the return of Adam Ramanauskas to senior level footy after battling cancer.

The game remained close through the first three quarters, but in the end Geelong triumped by 50 points. Things started going downhill for Essendon in the second quarter as Alwyn Davey broke his arm and James Hird hurt his calf. In the last quarter we had no interchange bench left as Paddy Ryder (strained Achilles tendon) and Tom Hislop (corked thigh) got injured. It was just too much for the Bombers to overcome.

Final Score
Esssendon:12.11 (83)
Geelong: 19.19 (133)