Oh man. After typing a full on post I somehow lost it all. No Idea how either. ITs just a little frustrating trying to recreate everything that you've already done, kinda like buying a cd that you had but got it ripped off at a party. Spelling errors be damned.

There was something about being overworked. We had a 4 day week (Queens Birthday, thank you) and I was in training for 2 of those days. Battled a cold and sat through training I did not need. Put me further behind the 8ball, and since I'm leaving weds for darwiin, I've got that many more loose ends to wrap up.

Now that I have DSL at home, I've got 30 megs of webspace at my disposal. Once I get back from Darwin I'll set that up as my photo album site. (Am I sounding like that bloke who cried wolf yet?!?)

I'm still pissed that I lost a huge post and I have to write it over. Its not flowing like the old post. I coulda won a pulitzer for that post.

Take a minute to vote for your least favorite band & song. For my money, Bread take the cake and Baby I'm-A Want You makes Doug Christie look like Heffner.

On the music front, Yo La Tengo are playing in early August, followed by Interpol one week later. And the Sebadoh show has changed dates and venues - I will be back from Darwin by then, so its all good. In other music news, the new spiritualized is on the web, but I'm still listening to more "lonesome cowboy" music. Its good mojo - the rural jazz.

This is like a week overdue, but here goes:
Weekend #10
Feeling the two pressing needs to get a serious workout (or 2) and get out the city, I spend last weekend on a bike ride from Sydney to Newcastle. Newcastle is the sixth largest city in Australia, about 80 or so miles north of Sydney, along the coast. Driving there would take nearly two hours, as the highway circumvents a series of inlets and coastal lakes, but the roads nearer the coast are for the most part a straight shot. Having recently purchased a small lightweight tent and sleeping bag, I was carrying more than I care to on a bike, but enough to ride and stay just about anywhere I chose. Getting a late start on Saturday, I only managed to travel little over 30 miles, to a weekend getaway town. Stayed at the local hostel in Terrigal; tossing and turning as one of the other hostellers ran a humidifier in the room. The room was hot, and this added humidity wasn’t appreciated. Everyone else but that guy (myself included) left the room before 630 the next morning. Not a good nights sleep in preparation for a 50+ miler I thought. The flip side of this was that I was on the road early. So early in fact that I was able to catch the sun as she rose over the tasman sea. The early start also meant I didn’t have any automobile traffic for the first part of the ride, including the otherwise busy spot called The Entrance. The Entrance, about 10 miles to the north, was where I had originally hoped to stay. It’s more built up and more touristy than Terrigal, but for good reason. The place gets its name because its where you have the ocean meeting a big lake. Lots of pelicans too. For some reason, the lack of sleep had minimal effect, as I rode stronger than the first day. Made it to Newcastle in the early afternoon, and promptly refueled up with sandwiches and caffeine. Being a Sunday afternoon on a long weekend, the city was actually kinda dead, except along the harbour. Newcastle used to be home to a steel plant of over 2500 workers, and the smokestacks darkened the skyline. A lot of Australians I speak to don’t regard it all that highly, at best they tell me I should find a few mullets there. I was fairly impressed with it myself. Its old enough to have some historic buildings, its got a university there and attracts most acts after they play Sydney, the working class background makes it more affordable to get around, its large enough to have its own thing going on yet small enough to be manageable (see Providence), and its got some great coastline. Its basically what New Bedford dreams it will someday become.
My original plan was to stay the night there, camping offshore. Frankly I was too tired by 3PM for any of that. Took a bus (the train service was stopped for track repair) and slept. Back in Sydney again, a couple of co-co’s and I was out like a light.

Reading: Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
“For more than three decades the fast food industry has used the Small Business Adminstration (SBA) to finance new restaurants – thereby turning a federal agency that was created to help independent, small businesses into one that eliminates them.”