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[MUFKilda]

From. To Melbourne.

I had no idea you're South African. How did you become such an Aussie Rules fan?

 

[gringo2011]

I had no idea you're South African. How did you become such an Aussie Rules fan?

There seems like a few SA folks on here. Australia has quite a big population of ex SA residents, they are pretty similar.

 

[Diehard Saint]

I had no idea you're South African. How did you become such an Aussie Rules fan?

I’ve always loved sport, particularly cricket (of the test variety). Nothing like sitting on the grass at Newlands on a sunny, summer’s day.

Was a fairly interested follower of rugby back in SA, but for me, Aussie Rules is the game. It just has everything - athleticism, skill ( sometimes) extreme fitness, fast paced etc.

I confess I thought it was a little weird in my few visits here before immigration, especially the sleeveless guernseys, super tight shorts and the physicality, but fell in love with it quite quickly when we came to live. After just having one rugby team per province in SA it still fascinates me that a place like Melbourne can have so many teams. I love the tribalism. Just think the All Australian team is a bit odd considering they don’t actually play anyone - but that’s a discussion for another time.

My kids were very young when we came, so they just had to have a team when they started school, and when the prep teacher of one of my sons threatened to eat him, or so he remembers (she was fairly large) unless he went for the Saints...well that was it.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have changed schools and picked another team but that, as they say, is history! I’m a member with reserved seats and go to the games with a fairly large group of other diehards .

South Africans as a rule are pretty sports mad which certainly made this an easy place to move to.

 

[MUFKilda]

I’ve always loved sport, particularly cricket (of the test variety). Nothing like sitting on the grass at Newlands on a sunny, summer’s day.

Was a fairly interested follower of rugby back in SA, but for me, Aussie Rules is the game. It just has everything - athleticism, skill ( sometimes) extreme fitness, fast paced etc.

I confess I thought it was a little weird in my few visits here before immigration, but fell in love with it quite quickly when we came to live. After just having one rugby team per province in SA it still fascinates me that a place like Melbourne can have so many teams. I love the tribalism.

My kids were very young when we came, so they just had to have a team when they started school, and when the prep teacher of one of my sons threatened to eat him (she was fairly large) unless he went for the Saints...well that was it. If I knew then what I know now, I would have changed schools and picked another team but that, as they say, is history!

South Africans as a rule are pretty sports mad which certainly made this an easy place to move to.

I share your initial view of Aussie Rules, as I had no idea what was going on but enjoyed the fast pace and the punch ups . When I was a kid a highlights show was shown on terrestrial TV, but it went off air and I forget about the sport for years. Then it came back to the UK via Sky and then BT sports, with live matches, and I just started watching and picked up the rules as I went along. My only complaint is there aren't enough punch ups these days, as opposed to my childhood of Aussie blokes with huge mullets treating it as a bar room brawl.

 

[MUFKilda]

I've lost sixteen pounds in two months since going vegetarian. Must admit I'm astonished by this, and it just shows you what crap is in fast food and processed meats like bacon. Yesterday my brother asked if I'm ill, as I've lost so much weight quickly! I'm down from 13 st 8 to 12 st 6.

 

[gringo2011]

I've lost sixteen pounds in two months since going vegetarian. Must admit I'm astonished by this, and it just shows you what crap is in fast food and processed meats like bacon. Yesterday my brother asked if I'm ill, as I've lost so much weight quickly! I'm down from 13 st 8 to 12 st 6.

If you get to London try Mildred's, we went to the one in Soho, my daughter is vegan so found it that way and it was some of the best food I had in the UK. Get your brother along and he might convert. It's good enough that you might put the weight back on though.

 

[MUFKilda]

If you get to London try Mildred's, we went to the one in Soho, my daughter is vegan so found it that way and it was some of the best food I had in the UK. Get your brother along and he might convert. It's good enough that you might put the weight back on though.

I never thought I would go veggie, after talking about it doing it for so long. I haven't missed meat at all so far and I'm enjoying cooking.

 

[MUFKilda]

Another thing is I eat far fewer chips. Do you call them chips or French fries? Only eaten them twice since I gave up meat.

 

[StFly]

Another thing is I eat far fewer chips. Do you call them chips or French fries? Only eaten them twice since I gave up meat.

Both, chips is chips unless it's faux chips in which case it's shit or you walk into a pub which has like an ex pat who demands proper Englishisms.

Very lax on things.

Also, gotta say, yay for taking 2 days off, I can nap when I want to, woo!

 

[MUFKilda]

Both, chips is chips unless it's faux chips in which case it's shit or you walk into a pub which has like an ex pat who demands proper Englishisms.

Very lax on things.

Also, gotta say, yay for taking 2 days off, I can nap when I want to, woo!

You have a mix of Englishisms and Americanisms out there, right? At least you drive on the left - very important! Do you use the metric of kilometres per hour or the correct way of miles per hour? I fear our cousins down there have been brainwashed by American propaganda.

The Aussie barbie would be a huge no no for me now, sadly.

 

[gringo2011]

You have a mix of Englishisms and Americanisms out there, right? At least you drive on the left - very important! Do you use the metric of kilometres per hour or the correct way of miles per hour? I fear our cousins down there have been brainwashed by American propaganda.

The Aussie barbie would be a huge no no for me now, sadly.

We are kilometres. The US uses miles still. We are more like the pretentious Europeans with their logical decimal metric system. England uses miles to be quaint and the US to be obstinate. Imperial measurements are insanely illogical.

 

[StFly]

We are kilometres. The US uses miles still. We are more like the pretentious Europeans with their logical decimal metric system. England uses miles to be quaint and the US to be obstinate. Imperial measurements are insanely illogical.

Yes and no, AF for example is much better than BSW which we often coined as British Solution Wanking, where they just summed up the measuement of something, decided to be different of the sake of it, took their pants off and just swung freely over everything that can be measured anointing it.

In this case AF is good since it standardises BSW, but there's no real reason you need .35 of a mm outside of something from 1840 deciding to exist in todays age.

 

[gringo2011]

Yes and no, AF for example is much better than BSW which we often coined as British Solution Wanking, where they just summed up the measuement of something, decided to be different of the sake of it, took their pants off and just swung freely over everything that can be measured anointing it.

In this case AF is good since it standardises BSW, but there's no real reason you need .35 of a mm outside of something from 1840 deciding to exist in todays age.

I agree in spanners it's just annoying. I hate when you can't get a spanner or Allen key to fit because they are millimetres out due to two standards. Now Euro cars have those star drives that only fit their brand so that you can't self service them. I tried to help my brother in law to replace a plastic engine cover that was just a shield. Of course the part couldn't be removed with a normal tool. You actually had to order it in from Germany....or go to a dealer and buy a new part that was about 300 times over a reasonable cost and get them to install it for even more.

 

[Mowman]

Oh FFS p1ss off rain

 

[gringo2011]

Interesting podcast on the British East India company and the original corporate bastard. Dalrymple is a great writer as well.

William Dalrymple on the ruthless rise of the British East India Company - ABC listen

The outrageous story of a group of financiers from a poor and damp island on the outer rim of Europe, who created a private company that became the biggest military and political power in all of India

www.abc.net.au

 

[gringo2011]

 

[CursingFijian]

I share your initial view of Aussie Rules, as I had no idea what was going on but enjoyed the fast pace and the punch ups . When I was a kid a highlights show was shown on terrestrial TV, but it went off air and I forget about the sport for years. Then it came back to the UK via Sky and then BT sports, with live matches, and I just started watching and picked up the rules as I went along. My only complaint is there aren't enough punch ups these days, as opposed to my childhood of Aussie blokes with huge mullets treating it as a bar room brawl.

Is this you MUFKilda?

 

[MUFKilda]

Is this you MUFKilda?

Definitely not, he's a southerner and he's wearing a baseball cap. Grown men in baseball caps!

 

[pebblesofsand]

We are kilometres. The US uses miles still. We are more like the pretentious Europeans with their logical decimal metric system. England uses miles to be quaint and the US to be obstinate. Imperial measurements are insanely illogical.

Speaking of miles/kilometres - still can't get my head around the logistics of the Voyager mission.

"Twelve billion miles from Earth, there is an elusive boundary that marks the edge of the sun’s realm and the start of interstellar space. When Voyager 2, the longest-running space mission, crossed that frontier more than 40 years after its launch it sent a faint signal from the other side that scientists have now decoded."

"From beyond the heliosphere, the signal from Voyager 2 is still beaming back, taking more than 16 hours to reach Earth. Its 22.4-watt transmitter has a power equivalent to a fridge light, which is more than a billion billion times dimmer by the time it reaches Earth and is picked up by Nasa’s largest antenna"

Nasa's Voyager 2 sends back its first message from interstellar space

Nasa craft is second to travel beyond heliosphere but gives most detailed data yet

www.theguardian.com

 

[Drake Huggins]

From. To Melbourne.

As if I wasn't in love with you already. Now this. Capetown. God's own country and a favourite destination. Do you still have your accent? Don't answer immediately because you're in serious danger right now and don't know it.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

So apparently when the oldies ( or others without a license, because the experience is so crap no-one would do it voluntarily ) catch the V-Line from Gippsland to Melbourne, the train fills up with nuffy commuters at Packenham and Dandenong, using it as and express service to the city.
Worse on the way back ,they say there is no disembarking at Packenham but a flood of people still get off there, without repercussion.
Of course these fine upstanding folk always stand up to allow the 75 year old to get a seat. ( nope ).
The nature of Myki is that they pay the same as they would for a regular suburban service.

God we are crap at doing ordinary mundane things that every other country in the world seems to just do without thinking.
You go to Britain the distance trains aren't even in the same stations as the tube, and you sure as hell can't get on them with a tube ticket.

 

[BigPowerForward]

This is a long video but really worthwhile. I watched one of Bruckner's videos over 5 years ago and it was life changing for me. I love the quote "pay the farmer now or pay pharma later"

 

[Diehard Saint]

As if I wasn't in love with you already. Now this. Capetown. God's own country and a favourite destination. Do you still have your accent? Don't answer immediately because you're in serious danger right now and don't know it.

Well.
I’m not quite sure how to respond to this - might quite possibly be speechless for the first time in my life - but rest assured, if I did know what to say, it would be delivered with a Capetonian accent!

 

[Drake Huggins]

Well.
I’m not quite sure how to respond to this - might quite possibly be speechless for the first time in my life - but rest assured, if I did know what to say, it would be delivered with a Capetonian accent!

Sshhhh! Don't say anything. Let me imagine that saffer accent in my head. Sorry if it was a bit over the top, but I was in a four year relationship with a woman who was from Capetown. She was an IP lawyer, smart as a whip, funny, and of course, a saints supporter. Couldn't have been more perfect. Went back home. Left my heart in pieces on the floor. Still converse with her. Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Too much hyperbole?

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

So apparently when the oldies ( or others without a license, because the experience is so crap no-one would do it voluntarily ) catch the V-Line from Gippsland to Melbourne, the train fills up with nuffy commuters at Packenham and Dandenong, using it as and express service to the city.
Worse on the way back ,they say there is no disembarking at Packenham but a flood of people still get off there, without repercussion.
Of course these fine upstanding folk always stand up to allow the 75 year old to get a seat. ( nope ).
The nature of Myki is that they pay the same as they would for a regular suburban service.

God we are crap at doing ordinary mundane things that every other country in the world seems to just do without thinking.
You go to Britain the distance trains aren't even in the same stations as the tube, and you sure as hell can't get on them with a tube ticket.

Pakenham youre allowed to board a Vline train heading into the city. Its about the only place that its allowed.
Dandenong youre not.

Not that getting a vline train makes a difference. It gets stuck behind a spark.