If this is spring. . .

American celebrities are feeling the heat in Melbourne, with persistent abnormally high temperatures baking the city (with more on the way). Tiger Woods has been sweating his way through the Australian Masters and has received a welcome more akin to visiting royalty. Meanwhile, Britney Spears played a show in Melbourne Thursday, causing traffic chaos in my neighborhood just as I was driving home. You owe me 30 minutes of my life back, Britney.

Qantas: "The Spirt of Australia"

from The Age, October 30, 2009:

"Spirits and full strength beer have been banned on intrastate Qantas flights in Western Australia because drunken mine workers have become too unruly."

enough said. . .

Malia's First Halloween

Actually, I don't think it's fair to say it was Malia's first Halloween, given she largely slept through the entire day (heat makes little persons sleepy, I guess) and even she had been awake, I don't think she would have gotten the whole concept.

Brekkie on the Bridge

The Premier of New South Wales launched the first annual Brekkie on the Bridge last week - perhaps an attempt to elevate Sydney's standing on the cultural ladder. 190,000 people allegedly applied for the 6,000 picnic spots on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was covered in genuine grass turf. Rumour has it the event will be repeated next year - assuming the Premier is still in office. . .

Only in Australia. . .

. . . could a group of guys go on television in blackface and subsequently argue that the skit didn't have any racial implications - the logic being that if the perpetrators don't find it offensive, then it's not (and hey - they did it back in '89 and people loved it. . .). Given Australia's own humble origin, I'd think its people would be more sympathetic to culturally sensitive issues. However, it seems that approximately 75% of the population didn't see anything particularly racist about this shtick. Fair enough - it probably wasn't intended to be racist - yet it still managed to offend nonetheless, and anyone with 75% of a brain could have seen that coming. Australia continues to have an image problem in this department. Just when the tourism boards make progress in branding the nation as a friendly, open and diverse environment, some clowns step-up and do something stupid.

Aussie Nobel

Elizabeth Blackburn has won the 2009 Nobel Prize for medicine. Blackburn was born in Tasmania and is a graduate of the University of Melbourne, but currently works at the University of California - San Francisco. She shares the prize with Carol Greider at Johns Hopkins and Jack Szostak of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Busy Weekend

We had a busy weekend with Malia as we tried to introduce her to the neighborhood. Thanks to her baby carrier, she travelled with us to Richmond Market on Saturday morning to buy some veggies and she got to take in the sweet aroma of her first sausage sizzle. She also entertained numerous visitors including the local Maternal and Child Health nurse (who confirmed that Malia is rapidly gaining weight) as well as Emma, Jeremy and Ady. The highlight, however, was Malia's trip to the Royal Children's Hospital, where she was the guest-of-honor in an educational clinic on infant mental health and behavior. She put on quite a show, demonstrating skills even her parents hadn't seen before, such as tracking objects and rolling herself over.