The Matrix, In Sydney?!

Well, even though I am sure that most of the living world has seen a little movie called "The Matrix," until the other night I had not. It was partially an academic endeavour due to the fact that in nearly everyone of my classes we talk about this movie, so now I am educated, but I found out something much more interesting...the Matrix was filmed in Sydney.

I did not tell initially from the sights of the city, instead I was tipped off by the walk signal. I will have to show you pictures, I have taken a few, but the green and red men who tell you when to walk across the street are no normal stick figures. These men have a t-shaped body, muscles, and even feet. The sign artists in Australia are much more detail oriented than in the states.

If you watch the movie the matrix a few other things to look for to tell you it is Sydney, the scene with the woman in red, the fountain is right between George Street and Castlereaugh. They walk past a window and you can see the bottom of the Common Wealth Bank logo (my bank.) Well I thought that was pretty cool....maybe the matrix wasn't filmed in Sydney....maybe I am in the matrix....

DUN DUN DUN

Great Barrier Reef, About Time

I realize that it has been some time from my trip to the Great Barrier Reef, but I only now realized that I had not yet shared this experience with you.

While Blaise was here we went to Cairns a city in northeast Australia, that has great access to the reef. We left bright and early, our tour came to pick us up and we were very thankful for that, because we were about all walked out. We then took a nice hour boat ride out to Green Island, on the way we took lots of silly pictures, oh yeah and we enjoyed the view too:

When we got there we collected our snorkel gear and tried to snorkel. Well, they had warned us of jellyfish, and after seeing about 20 jellyfish stuck the the shallow bottom, we chickened out (well maybe more specifically I chickened out,) but the water just did not seem to be getting deep enough for much coral or getting away from the jelly fish. But we did see some neat things along the way. So we went on a glass bottom boat ride. I wish we had kept going out a bit more and splurged and rented the Lycra full body suit to protect against jelly fish but we did not. Because just a little further than were we ventured the really cool stuff started! On the boat ride we saw a ton of beautiful coral, and fish, they even fed them at one point and they went nuts, jumping racing and fighting to the surface!

Then we saw a turtle, and thankfully our boat driver told a Finding Nemo joke, which Blaise and I appreciated, but I am not sure if anyone else got because we were the only ones who laughed and the boat driver said, "well I am glad that at least a few of us are awake.

It was a great experience, but I have learned my lesson. Like the cowardly lion, I need to get some courage. The next time I go, because there sure will be a next time, I am going to get a full body jelly fish shield (aka a Lycra suit, it even covers your hands) I don't care how ridiculous I look, I will need it, and I am just going to keep swimming out until I see something and it will be great!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I am Sure You are Sick of Hearing About Christmas Carols...

....but that is just too darn bad. This one is for good cause. I went to an event called "Carols in the Domain" last night. It was a beautiful free outdoor concert, near the Royal Botanic Gardens. They have an outside stage, and everyone brings blankets, picnic foods, and sits around holding candles and sing along with the carols.

They had an array of amazing performers including:

-The Wiggles

-The cast of Wicked

-One of their Australian Idols

-The McClymonts

-Ronan Keating

-Many different beautiful choirs

It was a great way to get into the Christmas spirit.

There were so many people there, that I was nearly claustrophobic, I don't think I have ever seen that many people gathered at one event. But when you looked out into the sea of flickering red candles, and joyful people singing carols you couldn't help but smile. I tried to take a picture of the sea of people, this only shows about a fifth of the entirety but it might give you an idea:

Well I must get back to doing laundry and singing, "walking in a beachy sandy land."

Well How About That, They Have Camels In Australia

You know how they say you learn something new every day? Well I learned something new about Australia today, drum roll please.............they have camels. My roommate Cassi said to me the other day, "do they have camels in Australia?" I proceeded to laugh, and she continued to explain that she was watching a travel commercial for Australian travel and she could have sworn in shot of the outback that there was a road sign of camels. I continued to laugh at her and assure her that her eyes must have deceived her, it surely was just a kangaroo sign. So I had this conversation with James today:

Me-"Honey, the next time we see Cassi, you must assure her that there are not camels in Australia."

James-"Yeah, there are camels in Australia."

Me-"No, no there are not"

James-"Yeah, it's a desert not much else can survive there, they are perfect for it."

Me-"No, there can't be camels in Australia...are there really? This is not like you trying to convince me that the possums outside your house was a haunted ghost of a man?"

James-"There are, they are not native, but there are tons."

Well, since James is renowned for constantly pulling my leg, I needed a second opinion....and yes apparently there are camels. If you want to read about it you can see it here:

http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/camels-australia.html

So there you go, your new and relatively useless fact of the day. They have brought camels to Australia, because they are better suited for the dry climate of the deserts than horses....I hope you find this as mind boggling yesterday as I did today.

Christmas Carols in the Southern Hemisphere

Well, as most of you reading this are probably sipping hot chocolate wanting a blanket wrapped around you, and possibly looking outside with the real lyrics to, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...." running through your head. Things in this hemisphere are a little different. My Dad wrote me the other day and said it had warmed up that it actually got to 30 degrees..well it is 30 degrees here but Celsius not Fahrenheit, which is roughly 80 degrees Fahrenheit (give or take, I am just going by the times two add twenty simplified rule, too lazy to actually look up a conversion, even though I am on a computer with access to the internet and by the time I finish writing this aside I could have had the correct number, but I digress.) The moral of the story is that Christmas carols and, songs, and sayings don't have the same affect, if it is not indeed a cold and/or snowy Christmas. Therefore, I am going to ban myself from singing any Christmas carols that have snow or cold related lyrics, so that eliminates:

-Frosty The Snowman
-Walking in a Winter Wonderland (unless of course substituted for my version)
-Jingle Bells
-I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas
-Chestnuts Roasting
-O' Christmas Tree
-Jingle Bell Rock
-I'll Be Home for Christmas
(That is what I could come up with off the top of my head)





Thankfully, that does not eliminate all carols, I can still sing:


-Rudolph (the only weather mentioned in this song is fog, and it can get foggy here, so that is safe)
-Silent Night
-Little Drummer Boy
-Mele Kalikimaka (thank you Elvis and Hawaii)


But don't worry that does not mean that I have not been trying to get into the Christmas spirit. First James and I put up the tree, that helped a bit. Then in true Lacey fashion I came up with a wacky idea that I am sure James was less than excited about, but was a good enough sport to go along with. Here is the result before I tell you the funny story first:

So, yes, I thought it would be cute to take photos on the beach with these stupid hats. In defense of James' silly elf hat, his head was too big to fit the Santa hats, so he got the elf one. Anyways,I think the picture turned out nice, and for the purpose. However, I knew I was pushing my luck with this idea. I had said, "let's get dressed nice and go down to the beach and take photos with our hats." Then I proceeded to get ready and put on a nice dress. James threw on his board shorts and t-shirt. But I knew I was already pressing my luck.....plus it does look beachy so I did not request for him to change.

I hope everyone is having a nice chilly yesterday. If you get some snow, look at it and sing a snow related carol for me :)

Bug Bothers of the Non-Spider Assortment

OK folks, well it turns out that it is not just spiders that like me. It is mosquitoes (at one point I had about 10 bites), moths, and grasshoppers. Cassi and I got so fed up with the insect problem that we even assembled our own screens see:

As you can see, the screens are not of professional quality, but all the edges are sealed. Before the screens the downstairs bathroom would by morning be filled with about 30 mosquitoes. Cassi's solution to killing them was to spray roach spray in the bathroom and then shut the door until they all dropped dead on the floor. Since the installation of screens we have significantly improved our mosquito problem and only encounter the occaisional mosquito. So you would assume that if our screens could keep out mosquitoes that they would be able to keep out grasshoppers that are about as long as the average cell phone. Well, apparently they cannot. When I got home from James' house last night there was a huge grasshopper in the upstairs hallway (the size similar to length of cell phone as previously mentioned, on a side note Cassi and I named him Gary the Grasshopper.) Anywhoo I decided I was too tired to care, and since it was not in my room,, and not a spider, it was not a pressing issue. I went to bed and laying there, of course Gary started chirping. Not like a cricket, but just a random clicking noise. I went to go find Gary, but could not, and I was so tired it didn't matter, he clicked/chirped me to sleep. Well this morning still no sign of Gary....well that is until I got in the shower and had my hair all nice and soapy. As I glanced at the shower caddy, there was good ol' Gary sitting on my roommates sponge. So mid-shower I had to detain Gary and let him out of my window.

May I remind you that earlier this year a spider saw it fit to take a shower with me as well. The moral of the story is that insects be it arachnids or not simply love me, and feel it necessary to visit me in the shower.

I hope you are having a pleasant and less insect filled yesterday.