Juji's Blog

I thought I might fill you in what's goin' on round town. It's a pretty busy time with festivals, outdoor events and a huge build up to the Commonwealth Games. It's going to be mayhem, as well as lots of fun. The official countdown is 22 days to go. There'll be a huge, free festival - including circuses, live music (lots of Latin and African for hot-blooded dancing), yummy food, ridiculous amounts of wine, shows and art exhibitions and the list goes on. Oh yeah. There'll be sport too I reckon. Should be a whole lotta fun. We had the gay and lesbian Midsumma festival last weekend. It, like always, was a blast.

Aussies however seem to be laying low a bit of late. We've all had our summer hols and it seems lots of people are already stuck in a bit of a work grind (I personally prefer a different king of grind, but that's another story). Our summer finished early. It's not officially over, but the days and nights are much cooler. I went down the beach yesterday and even though it was still a gorgeous day, there weren't many people around. We went from 5-day heatwaves of 40 degrees (I think you double it and add 30 for Fahrenheit - or something like that) to going to bed with hot wheat bags and the heater on! Still, most days are sunny and nice - I guess it's more Springish. Must say I'm feelin' a bit cheated though. It usually stays pretty hot till the end of March, so I got no idea what's goin' on. What I do know is my suntan's fading fast and I gotta get out there when I can.

On another note, Xavier Rudd, Aussie, dreadlock boy from surftown, Torquay, was due to do a concert at a wild natural ampitheatre in the middle of nowhere (Wangaratta) - on my birthday. Of course, it was a sign from God! So I got tickets, only to find out later he had to postpone due to a severe throat infection. How rude! No matter, I've got it to look forward to in April. I also scored two free tickets to the Latin Wine Funk Festival coming up at the Rochford Winery in the stunningly beautiful Yarra Valley. Wine, great food, salsa and samba, lots of and boys - it's gonna be wild!

In the meantime, my fridge is too warm so food's going off faster than I can eat it.
My stove's too hot and won't turn down, so everything burns.
My stick blender struck a plum pip and spat the dummy.
So, faced with a burnt, lumpy pumpkin soup, I decide this could be an excellent opportunity for losing weight. Or on second thoughts, this is an excellent opportunity to dine out more!

What's going on in your home town? Yeah, I know you ain't got the Commonwealth Games comin' up, but it's still all interesting. Juji x