The Royal Sydney and Flying Away

Two themes over the past couple of days in the lead-up to the weekend - with them being Golf and Travel. It looks like i'm well on my way to getting some of my New Years resolutions ticked off for the year! Things are looking up indeed (although I still haven't done my review on 2006... meh).

So lets talk about Golf. I didn't play golf, but watched golf. Sounds kind of weak, but it was a good day out! So how did this happen? Well Eva and Georgie managed to get some free tickets to the Australian Women's Golf tourney (Day 4) and so they invited me along (plus Matt). Now, i've only really gotten into Golfing recently, so I won't profess to know much about the personalities of Women's Golf. The only person that I knew off the top of my head was Carrie Webb, who won the tourney comprehensively.

It was a great day out, truly was. Out and about on a nice sunny day, not being terribly active, plus hanging out with friends - what more could you ask for on a weekend? The day wasn't without it's interesting moments. First story will have to be the Fisher and Paykel model.

A few minutes after walking into the grounds of the Royal Sydney we walked under the grandstand of the 18th Hole. As we walked past I noticed this extremely attractive young lady, and consequently almost walked straight into a bunch of people. She was holding a bottle of wine, and a white t-shirt with some advertising on it.

After watching Carrie Webb have a few practice putts in front of the big scoreboard we headed over to the company tents. Lo and behold the attractive young lady that I spotted was standing at the Fisher and Paykel company tent. We hovered for a little while and she called out to us "Do you want to win a dishwasher?". I stalled, but Eva and Georgie did not. I was promptly grabbed and Eva called out - "Sure! Mark wants to win one... don't you Mark?". Trapped - although I wasn't complaining.

To win a dishwasher we had to fill out a piece of paper with personal details and 25 words or less on why I think Fisher and Paykel's washing machine is worth having, or something like that. I was stuck, had no idea. Plus I kept being distracted by the model, who was hovering about. After a couple of minutes the 25 words were written for me - here is the extract:

I know nothing about washing machines but the girl at the booth is hot. PS: Call me!

Hillarious! We had to submit the entries into a glass case (one of those revolving things) and even more embarrasing for me is that mine was placed outward so all of the text could be read.
I don't know if the model saw what was written straight away, but unfortunately it's all in the past for me. That was the first adventure - I spent the next few minutes disappointed in not getting a photo with her. Prime opportunity. As we left, she said she'd call me if I won - suffice to say... I haven't been called. Aww...

The next most noteworthy part of the day was following a few golfers around. We really didn't know much about the players themselves so we started to watch some ladies that looked interesting. It didn't take us too long to stop by Sarah Kemp (Australian) and Marta Prieto (Spain - I think). Why was it interesting? Well I guess we were drawn to the fashionable gear that Marta was wearing - yellow hat, yellow top, and knee high yellow socks. Quite the outfit and hard to miss! I must say, it's quite a fashionable place this Women's Golf thing. Didn't realise... Golf has become that much more interesting!

This blog entry is dragging on a bit so i'll quickly mention travel. I'm locked in for a trip overseas and i'm heading up to the Land of the Rising Sun - Japan... for some skiing. Haha! I've got the e-tickets and i'm ready to go! I'll try and keep the blog updated as I hop around Honshu and Hokkaido! Note: i'm proud of myself for getting some yen at 93.17! woohoo!

I'm in a security buggy

Following Kemp and Prieto

I'm in this photo - to the left of the stairs!
(Source: http://www.iseekgolf.com/images/womensaustralianopen_2007/r4/source/webb_adp0219.htm)

I want a Wii

The weekend was a scorcher, plus it was packed. What did I do this weekend? Played sports of course, probably not the best idea in the world... but that's how it is. More importantly, I have succumbed to the allure of the Nintendo Wii - go the Spanish babes! So let's go through the weekend in order.

Saturday - Cricket, Symphony in the Domain, Wii. First up - not the best outcome for us. A good opportunity for us to secure our semi-final berth, being 3rd on the ladder playing the 2nd on the ladder. Fortune was not with us this day, with the opponents scoring 137 and our chase flailing at 6/50-odd. Stupid me threw away my wicket again - scored 5 in quick time before being bowled whilst playing a dumbass shot.

Moving on from the disappointing day at the cricket, Symphony in the domain. I believe that it a was the 25th year of Symphony in the Domain and the 75th year of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. I was quite impressed with the whole show - but I guess I wasn't the biggest fan of Jazz in the Domain, hence my less than glowing expectations. Met a whole bunch of people on the weekend also... but i'll fast forward onto the Wii.

Wii. OMG it's mad. First of all, it's a novel invention. Secondly, it's intuitive. Finally, it's hella fun! I'm going to go look for one now, but i'm betting that i'll be unable to find one given the demand for it. I played the Wii at Smoker's place and I just can't get over how cool the console is! Doing some research on the Wii (although i've already been sold) I was stunned by how serious some Wii-gamers can be. Check out this Philadelphia guy - losing weight thanks to the Wii!

Sunday - Bloody hot. Played basketball at the Cook & Phillip Fitness Centre (Cnr. William and College St.) and nearly killed myself. Running around with the mercury topping 40 degrees is a recipe for disaster. Summary: mixed basketball, was on the losing side, and i'm still terrible at shooting hoops. One positive is that next time we go to the Fitness Centre for basketball I can bring my boardies, as there's a pool in the complex! Mwhah.

Anyway, enough from me - time to search for a Wii.

Corporate Games and First Review

Sunday the 26th, race day. Training up until now had to pay off... or else it would be a short day ineed. The trek over to Penrith (the Olympic Regatta Centre) wasn't so bad - a nice cruise down the M4. Only took about 40 minutes in the end - a fair distance, but less than I expected.

Got there a couple of hours before the first race and found where the rest of the team were sitting. The company took over a whole area (well all of the various companies had their respective areas), so the team was easy to spot.

A nice day out in the end. People everywhere. Quite the event. Not only were there simply races, there were also a couple of announcers - chatting away all day: calling races, delivering results, and having general light hearted chat. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Fast forward to the results then. Came first in the pool stage and therefore qualified for the semi-final (1st, 2nd, then 1st in the three individual heats). We managed to get a fairly competetive time of 52.48 seconds, whereas the leaders of the tourament thus far pushed past the line at just under 51 seconds.

Unfortunately for us, it wasn't to be. We got snapped in the semis. We had a bunch of support from the announcers, yet that wasn't enough to help us over. We were royally screwed. The drummer that we borrowed was hopeless - just kept banging the drums at random intervals. Dumbass.

So anyways, i've had my first review - and i've only been at work for a month. Intense. Kind of scary, really. Didn't know what to expect first up. In the end it was quite fulfilling. Got to have a good chat at where I am and where i'd like to go - and where I was thinking was on par with both of my superiors. Mad. Maybe they were being nice to be, as it was my first review - lol. Time will tell, time will tell.

Anyways, busy week ahead of me. Arg.

Ending 2005-6 with a Victory

Yesterday was a great day. Victory and celebration all around. Also, throughout the day I got to meet up with some old friends, which is great. Today is going to be a tough day to beat. Happiness all day, really.

The morning was spent down at the Vibe Hotel. Meetings, reports - excitement plus. I delivered a report, and it was a good sign that people didn't fall asleep. I was even heckled from some people in the room - plenty of excitement. At least heckling is a sign that people are listening- lol. Got to chat and mingle for a little while after the meeting before heading off to cricket.

Picked up Dini from Strathfield station on the way from the city to our home ground (Harold Park West Reserve). I was running late, and didn't get much of an opportunity to stop anywhere to get some lunch. We got there just on time, and I ducked out to buy something to eat. Bolted off to Carlingford Court to get some KFC, and raced back.

Half-way through eating my Zinger, the Dini-Tom partnership was broken and it was my turn to bat. I packed up the Zinger and headed out towards the pitch... without a bat. Very professional, lol. Turned back to grab a bat, and then I was all set. The bowling was rank, and my batting was worse. Out for 2. Clean bowled. At least I was playing a defensive block... but missed.

The team amassed 155 and declared, to give the opposition a chance to win the game (declaration put us 10 or so in front). As it was the last round of the season, Captain Tony decided to bring in a superior bowling attack, JB and I. We haven't bowled all season, and we definitely can not be classed as bowlers. Little did the team know how successful we would be.

I bowled the second over of the innings and my impact was felt straight away. First ball - dot ball, second ball - wide. Arg. Ball three - pitched short, down the middle of the pitch. The batsman attempts a pull shot, caught mid-on. A wicket! OMG! Who would have thought.

JB and I ripped through the opposition. The opposition declared at 5/39 (as they wanted to go home) leaving us 25 to chase. Final figures: Mark 2/12 off 2.5 overs, JB 2/20 off 3 overs (with one run-out to me). What figures, it certainly was an enjoyable innings.

The match ended with North Parramatta Cricket Club (us) winning Outright by 10 wickets. Go us!

Saturday night was also great. Celebrating 23rd birthdays of two Sydney Uni Engos. The birthday was down at Soup Plus on Margaret Street - an eatery where live Jazz music is played. It was a thorougly enjoyable night as I got to chat with mates that I haven't seen in a long, long time. Chatted away for hours! Anyhoo, there ends a thoroughly enjoyable day.

I'm a busy bee

Busy. So many things going on at the moment. Work, cricket, Libs, dragonboating, grad events. It's really intense. Haven't really been able to update, apologies for that.

Work is great. Well, work plus the functions. Back with all the people I know, plus a few more additions. The team is just as fun as it was before... in fact even more so! I've also gotten to know quite a few people outside of my team - which is great. Work isn't so drole when you have a bunch of mates all around you.

Cricket. Last round we got defeated again. At least it was a defeat, instead of a slaughter. Many thanks must go to Dinesh for scoring a crazy 84. Good job. I was bowled for 3. I was looking good, although I still pick the odd wrong ball to play a shot - it cost me my wicket... again. We only lost by 1st innings points (30 odd runs).

Dragonboating. Let's talk about that. I've signed up for the Dragonboating for the Corporate Games. Training will last for about a month, and it's not too bad. I've dragonboated before and it's all coming back to me. This time it's quite different. I used to be towards the back - now i'm towards the front (2nd row). What's the deal? It's not like I improved. It's good exercise though, although I miss being a sweep - being the sweep is fun. Interestingly enough some of the grads from my year are in as well - some of the accountants.

Anyways, enough from me now. Tired. Need sleep now :). (I should start posting from work... lol).

Socceroos - about bloody time

Well, well, well. What an intense match. I'm sure the SBS would be happy with the ratings they get for tonight's match. Summary: 1 - 0 victory at home for the Aussies and a 4 - 2 penalty shootout to the Aussies to decide who goes into the world cup. Uruguay had their turn last time, now it's ours - w00t!

That was a real top effort by the Aussies. Getting that crucial first goal and holding off Uruguay for the rest of the match - truly a dream run. Makybe Diva, Coalition Senate Control, and World Cup qualification truly makes for a spectacular year. The penalty shootout was the tensest part of the match for me (and probably many others) - Mark Schwarzer and 2 saves, omg! What a hero - he almost saved 3. When he saved that second goal, I was out of my seat in a flash. Stacks of congratulations are in order for coach Guus and the Aussie team. Well done and good luck in Deutschland '06.

I would also like to make a pointer about the telecast. I might have been living under a rock or something like that, but since when has the "virtual spectator" been around? It looks like something out of Fifa 2006, LOL. The virtual spectator is fantastic, i'd even rate it more than any other analysis tool from any other sport. It should definately feature in more games in the future. (PS: Something that shouldn't feature in future telecasts is Ned Zelic, didn't look very professional slumped over the chair).

Anyways... congrats to Australia, bad luck Uruguay, and hello Germany 2006! (Both for me and the Socceroos, lol).

Outrage at the Oval and Koizumi Wins

This weekend has been quite intense - i'm still not really getting anywhere with my thesis (i've tried, trust me), the Aussies have been rorted, and Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has won comfortably in Japan's general election.

Skipping the thesis, i'm going to first talk about what happened last night. Australia screwed up bigtime - giving the game back to England by sheer incompetence. Incompetence in playing swing bowling. Going from 2/270 odd to faling short of England's total is really quite poor. It was time for England to have a bat... and what happens - the umpires decide it's too dark for the Aussie pacemen to bowl. Ok, fine.

So what happens? The master, Shane Warne, is brought into the attack - and dismisses Andrew Strauss, 1/2! Not too long afterwards the umpires have another chat and decide to stop play altogether. What the hell? Australia were going to bowl two spinners (only one of which is a real full-time spinner) ... the light wasn't so bad that you couldnt' see a ball being bowled slowly. The English batsmen seemed to be hitting the ball just fine.

I really don't see how Australia had an unfair advantage given the supposedly-low level of light. Rudi, the South African umpire, said that it was highly possible that the batsmen could lose sight of the ball when the ball was being bowled slowly. Really? I'm sure that if that was the case then it would be a loss of concentration rather than due to the light. Even if it was potentially hard to see the ball when batting... then it would be hard for the fieldsmen to see the ball as well? (Potential for drop catches and boundaries due to poor visibility). PLUS Australia was going to bowl a part time spinner - hardly advantageous to the Aussies. I find the whole situation ridiculous - we want a result here... win or lose. Keeping the fight going between Australia and England would have been the best thing for cricket - unfortunately the umpires didn't agree.

So there's my rant on The Ashes. Another thing i'd like to mention is the amazing victory of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The LDP, along with its coalition party New Komeito Party, has won 327 seats out of the 480-member House of Representatives. That's an amazing victory, approximately a two-thirds majority. This election saw the highest voter turnout in over a decade - 67.52%. A great turnout and a great result.

The early election was called due to the failure of the Japanese Diet (parliament) to pass Koizumi's bills on postal reform - that being the privatisation of Japan Post. Koizumi dissolved the Diet and called for an election (I think it's over a year before the end of term).

Why was/is postal reform such an issue in Japan? Well first of all Japan Post is a big mofo. It's one of the largest financial institutions in the world. Japan Post is not only a post office but it effectively acts as a bank as well. Having this behemoth being owned by the government is asking for trouble. A big cash cow for the government leads to lots of spending on useless projects (sounds alot like student Unions having a cash cow, the students, to waste money on things that people hardly use). Japan Post, as far as I could tell, was somewhat corrupted as it provided funding for politically-aimed projects... effectively "vote buying" in disguise.

Well done Koizumi.

Season 2005-06 Begins

Yesterday marked the first day of the first match of the 2005-06 Cricket season, and boy was it an interesting day. In summary North Parramatta was bowled out for 230 and Kings Langley stood at 3/12 at stumps.

The day was sunny and hot, bloody sunny and bloody hot. In fact it was so damn bright that I regretted not getting a pair of prescription sunnies. I'll need to get some soon if I want to have some eyesight by the end of the season. The field was elliptical with extremely short boundaries on the sides and there was graffiti on the synthetic pitch. The location? Our home ground - Harold Park West Reserve.

The day started off with Tony, the captain, losing the toss (that's coin toss, for you non-cricket people). Interestingly enough the opposition captain chose to field. Personally, I thought his decision was terrible but since the opposition made the terrible decision... there's no need to complain. (Decision was bad because it was very hot and only half of his team were preset at the time of the toss).

North Parra (my team) got off to a sluggish start. The run rate was excruciatingly slow and we lost a couple of quick wickets (Dinesh out for 3). Then came a massive change. In comes Ajay, a big bloke that loves to swing the bat. The first ball delivered to Ajay was unexpectedly left. From then on, the game got very interesting. Ball after ball sailed over the witches hats (the boundary) ensuring that the run rate ticked along nicely. One spinner in particular felt the wrath of Ajay - with no wicket and conceeding 44 runs in just three overs. Slaughterhouse. Unfortunately Ajay's golden run came to an end at 79, a truly amazing effort - facing something in the order of 30 to 35 balls). After Ajay left the run rate really slowed down.

At approximately 3:20 pm I made my debut at number 7. Four minutes later I was back in the pavilion. Fantastic. I made a grand contribution of 1 run. Caught and bowled is how I was dismissed. I played at the ball early and the ball hit the bat, bobbed up and it was a simple catch for the bowler. Obviously my defensive game needs some serious work. Oh well, better luck next time.

One final thing to note however is that the final wicket partnership between Atul and Edmond was pure class. Atul and Edmond put on a 60-odd run partnership to ensure that we had enough runs to work with to secure a win. The team total: 230 runs.

It was then Kings Langley's turn to bat, and it didn't look as though they were enjoying it. Their first wicket fell in the second over when Ajay trapped one of Kings' opening batsmen LBW (leg before wicket). The batsman played a defensive stroke late, allowing the ball to continue on and hit his pads. Gone! 1/0.

The second wicket to fall did not take much longer. Over number three, another Kings Langley batsman heading back to the pavilion. Bowled Atul, Caught Mark Homeming (me). An attempted drive went horribly wrong for the remaining opening batsman. There was a thick outside edge (ball hitting the bat), the ball flew into the air... ready to be caught. I ran to my right, hopped into the air, reached out with my right hand - full stretch, and caught the ball. Go me! Specialist fieldsman all the way.

A couple of overs later the luck of Kings Langley had not changed. Ajay bowled a fantastic ball. The batsman played a shot - I think it was an attempted drive - and missed clearly. The ball clipped the bail above middle and off stump - three wickets down. Not too long after this Kings Langley called for the halt of play due to bad light. As a result of this the days play ended with Kings Langley at 12 runs for the loss of 3 wickets.

An interesting day, hopefully the Aussies will be in a commanding position as well.

Marky the Sportsman

I'm tired. Sports takes it out of you, it really does. Or this could be a sign of my age - I mean I have to stretch before I play sports, otherwise my muscles will clamp up like a sponge under a waterfall. So anyway, what have I done this weekend? Sports, sports, sports.

Saturday, cricket training. Sunday, tennis and soccer. Thesis work = 0. Lets have a breakdown on my performance across the three sports. Time to put my critical assessment hat on.

Cricket - Fielding looks good. No simple catches dropped and i 've managed to snare a couple of the diving catches. Bowling: patchy start, it takes some time for me to get the line and length right and I occasionaly spray the ball all over the shop - needs work, but i'm not a bowler... so it doesn't really matter. Batting: i'm playing alot straighter in the practice sessions and this is an encouraging sign - i should be able to last at least a couple of overs this season. (Note: Season starts in 2 weeks, so watch the stats and analysis come streaming through shortly)

Tennis - oh boy, my skills have regressed a fair bit. I've got no backhand and my forehand is far from flat. High bouncing loopy balls are all that I seem capable of. One consolation, when I go for the slog it occasionally lands in the right spot.

Soccer - fitness is ok. Played for over an hour and I was still making the sprints through the defensive line. Dribbling is ok, defending is solid, and shot accuracy is adequate. I guess soccer is the flagship sport for Mark at present.

Marky The Cancer Champion

That's it, it's official - i'm a Champion. Yes, yes, hold your applause for later. Ok - here's the story.

I'm running the City to Surf, and i'm doing so for two reasons. One, the Engo boys have put up a challenge and I intend to to come out on top. Secondly, it's a good way to fundraise for charity - well in my opinion anyway.

Just so that the boys get their 5 seconds of fame i'll list the Engos competing in this little competition: Jeff,Kieran,Thus,Dinesh, James,Harshu.

As i'm now running to assist in fundraising for the Cancer Council i'd like to ask for sponsors.
You can donate for several reasons, some of which may include:
- Paying to see me attempt to run the 14km
- You're a nice and generous person that wishes to donate to a reputable charity
- I've hassled you too much so you've paid me to get me off your back
One added bonus is that donations to charity are tax-deductible, so for any tight-arses out there, you can actually benefit by donating! Now, whatever the reason, any donations would be greatly appreciated. I promise not to steal any money - you're name goes down on a form so there's no way for me to steal anyway.

The Cancer Council is the leading cancer charity in New South Wales and I believe that they do a very good job - they're the people that organise Daffodil Day, Pink Ribbon Day, and Australia's Biggest Morning Tea. If you want to find more information about the Council with respect to what it does and what it stands for check out the website.

If you wish to donate, please contact me as soon as possible - via email or through the comments. One alternative method of donating is via a secure website: www.cancercouncil.com.au/sponsor - credit card only and use the full name - Mark Homeming. I've already raised $25. $20 dollars from me and $5 courtesy of my lovely sister, Jessica - good on you Jess.

Finally, just as an appreciative gesture i'll post all of the names who have donated in a bog post after the City to Surf. So there's some more incentive for you!