Depression...

Learning about it (and the drugs that smack its bitch ass around)...

Freaky stuff when you think about it...

Have gone thru, perhaps still going thru, a semi-scientific crisis though...

Depression is a chemical imbalance which is a physical thing...

And yet non-physical things can have HUGE effects on depression...

Then the healing can be physical (drug) or non-physical (therapy, good deeds etc)...

WTF...?

Will delve more deeply at a later date...

Currently bordering midnight...

I can semi grasp the answer, but yet it still evades me...

I'm too sexy for my shirt...




Slater AND a Baldwin... wow...
What no Morgan Spurlock?
And who the heck is Summer Altice?
Not that I'm complaining...

Ch...Ch...Ch...Changes!!

Wow! Since the last post (way too long ago) so much has gone on!
Hence the reason I haven't been able to post... or I was too damn lazy! ;-)

Quick rundown...

Purchased Xbox360... I have truly found the altar of my new religion...
Purchased Gears of War for Xbox360... it's like sex on a DVD... by that I don't mean porn... most porn tends to be crap... not that I've ever watched it... a friend of a friend once told me that most porn was crap... maybe they should make a porn using the Gears Unreal Engine... hmmm....

where were we...?
oh yes... porn... i mean the new things and stuff like GEEEEEARS!!!
Sorry... due to some bastard game designers, myself and many friends have become addicted to Gears of War... it is like gamer's heroin... shit yeah! Got some on me!!

Then came me graduating... FINALLY!! A decade in the making baby!!
Then the shop move...
Then I moved on from the shop!
Yes Cookaholics is a thing of the past now for EVcentric... well except when I want some quality cookware at rock bottom prices... HA! that's what the internet is for! ;-)

And I've finally broken into my chosen profession... legal drug dealer! yay!
Company car, phone, laptop, the whole shebang!!
Lovin' every minute!

But more on that later (maybe 5 months later, but there will be a later... i promise).
Got a call from the Adelaide Comics Centre today too.... new series of dragons in!! check spawn.com for latest details!

Gotta sleep...
More cafe schmoozing and getting paid for it tomorrow morn...

I suck...
I'm slack...
Sue me..
There shall be photos from "the most memorable birthday/buck's EVER" soon!

but for now...
i give you...
the iBuzz Two...

Ooo Ooo Ooo!!
Really quick one...
Ye olde Nokia 6680 (ie drowned in Thai Tomato and Lemongrass Soup mobile phone... see HERE-01 and HERE-02 for history!!) may be being resurrected by Digimob!!
Blessed are they!
Will keep ye informed...

Small changes have been made...
Updated to Blogger beta the other night and made a few aesthetic twinges...
Been in the mood for writing recently (fiction that is)...
But those EuroBlog posts are still gnawing at my conscience...
Comp's been out of action so haven't been able to grab photos from iPod to put up either...
Bugger...
May bow to pressure and get a professional to fix comp...

On a lighter note, received as an early birthday prezzie (and i chipped in a bit too) from younger bro, FIVE of the Series four McFarlane's Dragons!! YAY!!!
Wifey wasn't so thrilled with the purchase... but they're still a heck of a lot cheaper than a Gucci bag!! :-) She'll hate me for saying that, but she never reads my blog!! ... i think...

I picked up all except for the water dragon... check them out here if you're interested... oh i know YOU are interested Jo!!
And they already have pics up for the Series five Dragons that'll be burning a hole in my wallet early next year!! Check em here!!

Out of the six races of Dragon, there is always a LARGE one in a special box set. They're doing something a bit diff for series 5 with the Fire Dragon, more of a bust than the whole figure... bit disappointed... GIVE ME WINGS!! love wings... can't get enough...
The figures with outstretched wings are the best in my opinion... maybe one reason why i haven't bought any of the Water Dragons yet... lacking wings... wings don't work under water so well... pity...

nuff babble...
early-ish night... no i doubt it...
will probably continue playing Marvel: Ultimate Alliance on the blessed box...
work tomorrow and maybe poker in the evening... yaya!!!

Damn it's good to be back...
Even being back at work seems to be a good thing!! :)
Basically just wanted to do a "before and after" shot ("euro evBSc" VS "oz evBSc") and make some hollow promise that I'll get around to typing the rest of our "thrilling" holiday adventures soon... not that anyone reads them... sniff... ;)





Spent the arvo at the Glenelg Food, Wine and Music Festival yesterday with Jee and Dr Dat(vid).

Good times were had by all... nice and relaxing day... plenty of eye candy... gold coin donation to the Variety Club for entry is a great idea... my one small criticism of the Festival is that the wine prices are a touch on the steep side... $6 - $8 per glass of wine seems pretty hefty... aren't the wineries trying to advertise themselves? shouldn't they have it a touch cheaper for better business? maybe I'm just outta touch economically... there's no access to a cash machine once you're inside and the stalls don't accept cards, so one runs outta moula pretty soon!

Back in the motherland!!
Yay!!
So relaxing!

Told mum we were arriving on the 25th but rocked up on the 23rd as a bit of a surprise!!
:-)
Catching up with Chrissy D and Naoko in Sydney for a couple of hours was great too!
Return to Adelaide soon guys!!
Got home in time to watch the Crows go down to West Coast in a most appalling fashion... dammit!!

Coming back was a bit of a bitch...
long flights... little sleep...
worrying about customs busting our butts about weapons or alcohol or excessive boutique goods...
but all was peachy!!
soon (maybe) shall come the SUPER MEGA BIBLICAL PROPORTION entries regarding the remainder of our trip... soon...
should be easier than typing it all on my mobile so might be able to get them done relatively quickly!

good to be back on home soil...
god i need a shave and a haircut!!
evBSc

SWEET MERCIFUL CRAP!

;-)

AUGUST 12th

So we arrived in Milan (The Last Supper baby!) after yet another sleepless-ish night and soon were on the connecting train to Bern.
Really weren't prepared for what a difference there was going to be between Italy (or Southern Europe in general) and Switzerland. But i guess something mystical happens as you cross those mountains cos it was flipping gorgeous!

The green fields. The milky green rivers. The brown cows. The wooden houses. The forests. And the mountains... it's difficult to not be enchanted by such towering giants.

SWISS (C)RAVINGS...
We fell in love with Switzerland from the beginning and it just got better and better the more we experienced.
The natural beauty is wonderful. The people are some of the nicest we've come across. It's so clean! Such a peaceful and calm place too.
We never wanted to leave...
But seeing as i'm writing this from my hostel bed in Prague, i guess we eventually did and i must continue my story...

Arrived in Bern and checked into Pension (or Hotel or Garni depending which sign you were looking at) Martahaus which was superb. good location and really nice and clean. headed out for lunch and started our roamings in beautiful Bern.

To compare Bern and Naples would be the difference between Heaven and Hell.

Bern... so clean, so peaceful.
Naples... so filthy, so hectic.

I'm sure there are people out there who love Naples for its energy or some other fantastical reason. They can have it. Naples' one saving grace is its pizza.
Bern is Gabriel. Forever beautiful and angelic.
Naples is Lucifer. Now cast down into the pit and never to be redeemed.

Enough ranting...

We walked around blissful Bern to Munster Cathedral which has some rather impressive 12m high stained glass windows. The old town is UNESCO protected and really beautiful. On to the bear pits (the bear is the symbol of Bern) where they've kept bears since the late 1800s.
Unfortunately the bears were sleeping when we checked it out, so no ursine action for us.
we cruised along one main street which has a fountain about every 100m. Each fountain consists of a bowl with four spouts and then a central column upon which sits some sort of statue. There was Lady Justice, Samson, a bear in armour and lots more, but the best was the baby eating ogre fountain! I was a tad disappointed though. I'd read both in the LP and a few comments on the net that "you've gotta see the baby eating ogre fountain", so i thought that it was gonna be like Roman scale fountains (ie big). But no. Same size as the others, just quirky! :-) Still worth a look though!

Before dinner, the weather drove us home to secure warmer clothing and umbrellas. Wanted to catch a tram to the restaurant but weren't sure which one. As we were pondering over a map, a very kind (and hot!) Swiss woman asked us if we needed some help. She was getting on the same tram and also suggested instead of changing trams to get to our destination, that we walk along a particular street which would take us straight there and was covered so we didn't have to worry about the rain.
Love the Swiss! :-)

The restaurant had been converted from an old tram depot (and retained the name) and is still running Bern's first micro-brewery. They make three different types of beer, my favourite being Weizen (which i've recently discovered means wheat).
Not sure, but think (for those in the know) that Schoffer Hoffer might be a weizen beer. Mmmm tasty!
Food was great too. I had a veal and mushroom dish with rosti (hashed potatoes) and Jee had a couple of boiled Bavarian sausages (they came out in a bowl of hot water too) accompanied by a giant pretzel and sweet dipping mustard. Superb!
Had to sample all three varieties of beer, so ended up pretty tipsy by the time we got home!

AUGUST 13th

The hotel has a great breakfast included in it's price so after we broke our fast, we headed to Gruyeres, about 2 hours from Bern. The country side on the way and surrounding Gruyeres was some of the most beautiful we'd seen (up until that time anyway!). Most people head there to visit the famous cheese factory, but I really wanted to check out the H.R. Giger Museum. Giger is the twisted little puppy who designed THE Alien for Alien (and Aliens, Alien3 and Alien Resurrection) (mind you Giger should have shot them for the fourth installment!) (maybe Sigourney Weaver should request to do a fifth to redeem herself!).

But Giger is definitely much more than jus Alien. He's got some amazing stuff, both pictures and sculptures. He does a lot based on biomechanical (as in humans or nature blended with machine), he's almost like a perverted Antonio Gaudi!

Grabbed a snack after the museum and then went to the Giger Bar for a coffee and to warm up. Basically rained all day long. :-(
Giger Bar has some funky seats and the ceiling is like a giant spine with ribs extending out.

Headed back to Bern to grab our gear before jumping on the train to Interlaken. Switzerland is small and the trains are fast, but due to the mountains the travel time can be a bit longer than you'd think by looking at the distance on the map.

Interlaken is another gem in the Swiss crown. Surrounded by massive mountains (the taller ones are snow capped even in summer), it's just peaceful and the air is alpine fresh.The walk to the Funny Farm Hostel was through quiet suburban streets and our souls were at ease. Ahh the calm before the storm... what a wonderful feeling...

We were booked in at the Funny Farm Hostel but it shares its reception with the Hotel Matterhof. When we were checking in with the lady (quarter Korean plus quarter Japanese plus half German equals Hot Stuff! Even the missus agrees!) at reception, she took our name and she said "oh" in a rather dismal fashion. I asked her if our booking had been filled or something but she just said the walk out the back might be a bit cold. Meh i think, no biggy.

But there was a biggy waiting for us. Drafty rooms with no locks (or even lockers for safe storage) in a building which probably used to be a barn! The communal showers were in a large open room which looked cold enough as it was but probably freezing in winter! There was a pretty healthy looking dope plant growing out the back too! It truly was a "backpackers" and not really a hostel.Jee just sat on the bed looking depressed and said she wanted to get out of Interlaken as soon as possible. This was a different Jee who got off the train staring at the mountains, deeply inhaling the fresh air and stating with glee "it's so beautiful".

After much discussion I went to the reception to see if we could upgrade to the hotel. In the LP, a double in the Matterhof seemed darn expensive but we were desperate.
The lady knew as soon as i returned what i was going to request. I said that I thought we were a bit old for that level of accommodation. She said that she was too old for it a couple of years ago when she went to South Africa with a friend and thought they'd try to rough it but changed their minds after the first night!
For only ten Swiss Franks more per night, we stayed in the hotel in a room which had a double bed and a bunk bed and a private bathroom. There was the potential that two other people might join us, but we didn't care and it never happened, so that was sweet!
What an emotional rollercoaster! Love it!

The Matterhof i think has been around since the end of the 19th century. Interior needs a bit of modernizing perhaps but it's clean and comfy and that's what's important!