Ireland, Ireland in excelcius deo

Last weekend we headed to the MCG to see the second test of the International Rules series. We watched the the first test in perth on the telly the week before. it was a really close game that Ireland managed to win by one point. The series would be won by an overall aggregate score from the two games. The game was on halloween which isn't a big deal over here. I don't think one silo got raided for tyres but a few people did dress up. We headed up to the G after work and got given 2 free tickets as we were going in through the gates which saved us $50. It was looking like rain so we took shelter in the 4th level behind the goals were most of the 42,000 crowd were. We managed to stay dry but the wind cut right through us. The gane itself was very exciting and I missed the first quarter along queueing for beer for Emma. I think Australia were in the lead but Ireland took control in the next two quarters and led by about 20 points. Benny Coulter was unbelievable and we were going daft shouting his name from the stands. There was this aussie guy in front of us on his own who found himself surrounded by Irish when the game started. Along with us were Donal and his girlfriend Karen, his cousin Mary and her husband Sean and some of their friends and Ronan Galloghly, Ferg Wright and his Meath mate from the hostel. This poor old aussie guy didn't know what hit him when Ireland scored. I had no doubt the aussies would come back in the fourth quarter and they did. They got within a few points but then Benny battered one into their net with his fist and that knocked the stuffing out of them. Great nights craic and thsoe two games were better than any of the aussie rules games I've watched this season. Although I wouldn't say that to any aussies over here as they would take great offence.

We had the day off on Tuesday for the Melbourne Cup which wasn't great for us as we don't get paid for holidays but it was nice to get a lie in in the middle of the week. we met Donal and his crew down on Greville St in a bar called College Lawn. All the talk before hand was of an international raider winning and Aidan o Brien and Dermot Weld from Ireland had two of the favourites in Septimus and Profound Beauty. I backed the latter. The other favourite was an english horse called Mad Rush and a couple of New Zealand horses were fancied as well. The race was a classic. Aidan O Briens 3 horses went ahead together and were 6 lengths clear of the field for the majority of the race then when they came round the final bend the field swallowed them up. As so often in big races a horse nobody fancied came from nowhere and one by a nostril from a late challenge. The whole bar went quiet because nobody knew who won it turned out to be Viewed a 40/1 odd shot and he beat Bauer both aussie horses and the 3 O brien horses who took off and tried to dominate the field finished last. The winner was trained by Bart Cummings who is a well known Aussie trainer and that was his twelfth victory, not bad for a man of 81. Afterwards he lit on the hype surrounding the international horses and how they would be too good for the aussies. the next morning on breakfast news the host of it lit on O Brien and his total disrespect for how races are run over here. Apparently O Brien left a very angry man burt he'll be back. My horse came 5th and Emma had Cest La Guerre who came in 3rd. That won her $20 in a sweep.

The Rugby League world cup is on as well. Australia thrashed England last weekend at Telstra Dome. The week before I went to watch the soccer there. Melbourne Victory were playing Sydney. There's a big rivalry between the two cities going back to when Melbourne was capital of Australia and Sydney complained so much that they had to give it to Canberra which is situated between the two cities. Telstra Dome is a great venue. State of the art. It holds 55,000, has a retractable roof for when it rains (and it does rain here), shops, bars and restaurants and a great view from every seat. There was about 32,000 at the game and the atmosphere was good. The Melbourne vans gather behind each goal and sing to each other while a little pocket of sydney fans made noise in one of the corners. It reminded me of watching crowds at european football on telly as there was one guy with a megaphone starting all the songs and then the others join in. The standard of football wasn't great. it's be no better than Irish league but there were a few names i recognised from English football - Aloisi, Muscat, Bobby Petta. I'm gonna go to another game in a couple of weeks.

Went to Stevie Wonder a couple of weeks back. Phenomenal show. He played for 2 and a half hours non stop with a great band behind him, drummer, 2 percussionists, 2 guitarists, bass player, keyboards, saxomophone, trumpet and 4 backing singers. He played a few hits in the first half and a four tops number in memory of their lead singer who died recently, there was a lot of jamming and songs I didn't know, a lot of jazz, blues and latin stuff but he through in the likes of master blaster, higher ground and lately which was particularly poignant. The last hour he just played hit after hit after hit after hit without stopping. Sir duke, I wish, for once in my life, isn't she lovely, I just called to say I love you, you are the sunshine of my life, signed sealed delivered, yester me yester you, part time lover, my cherie amour, superstition, as. He did bang on about obama a bit but musicians and politics seem to go hand in hand these days. Still he's a legend and he can do what he wants.

The weather has been all over the place of late. Usually it builds up during the week monday 23, Tuesday 25, wednesday 26 and by the weekend its about 30 then it can drop back to 20 but the last 2 weekends it has been cold and raining. Rain as bad as at home, i'm not joking. The only thing is it might be like that for a day or two and then it's fine again. They are actually depserate for rain here as the Murray River is running dry but it only seems to rain in certain areas, the city and St.Kilda it seems to me. Emma was down in Ballarat for a conference on Friday and she said it was terribly cold down there. It's about an hour out of the city. We shouldn't really complain but were spoilt in Darwin and Perth. you wouldn't come to Melbourne in winter or sprng for the weather. Still having a great time though.