As most people should know, im the first person to lambast American football as a bunch of poncy, low IQ guys running around a field wearing pads. That part of it hasn't changed but in hindsight of watching the University of Arizona Wildcats play last night, i can certainly see the draw of the game. The atmosphere was electric - the players and fans celebrated everything from a decent tackle to someone running 3 yards up the field! (seriously!)
The stadium here at the UofA is impressive for university standards, ive seen nothing like it in the UK. With a capacity of 56000 its bigger than most premiership clubs grounds. The actual stadium though is so crap its awesome. The steps are so steep to get up towards the top, when you get there, theres nothing to stop you falling down the rows infront of you and only a 6ft high bit of concrete to stop you jumping off the back of the stand 120ft to the carpark below! We were seated near the top but could still see everything clearly enough with great views over Tucson aswell.
The game itself is played over 1 hour of "play time" however the actual result is it last much longer than this for breaks, time-outs and other pointless crap. It was actually a full 4 hours after kickoff that we left the stadium following the pitch being rushed by thousands of students! The Wildcats are having something of a weird season, not doing brilliantly but causing a few upsets and last night was no exception. We beat the #2 team in the division with some great plays which subsequently lead to long celebrations with people climbing the goal posts etc despite warnings that if they rushed the pitch, they'd be arrested. The police had other ideas and just said sod it when 10,000 fans ignored the failing voice on the loudspeaker. It had a really university sporting event feel, like nothing ive seen at a UK university. And for $15, it was a steal. I'll load up photos this weekend so check them out as and when.
In the mean time, ive got much work to do so better get on with it but just a quick bite of news from Russia. Some 30 "simple Christians" (let not get into a religious debate!) have barracaded themselves into a cave in fear of the "end-of-the-world". I kid you not! It is reported they have taken food in with them but exactly how long for is unclear. They have warned police not to storm the cave with threats of commiting suicide by blowing up a gas cylinder. The doomsday cult in Russia believes the world is going to end in May of next year. Roughly when im coming home to the UK, wonder if that has anything to do with it? COME ON PEOPLE, GET A GRIP!
Friday, 16 November 2007
Monday, 12 November 2007
Going for a Mongolian
If it swims and isn't a sumarine, if it fly's and isn't a B52 Bomber and if it run's and isn't running after you, the Mongolian's will eat it. It was perhaps therefore with some trepidation which i went to a Mongolian all-you-can-eat buffet with my housemates today. We were originally going to do to a Pizza Hut and gorge on the pasta and ice-cream but they decided not to offer it today so we went for something abit more adventurous. For $9.99 (about £4.90 or 2p at the current exchange rate), we got given a bowl and told to get stuffed. Not quite literally! The buffet available included frozen meats, vegetables, uncooked noodles and a variety of weirder produce. It took me a minute or 2 to realise that they cooked your bowlful after you had selected it.
And thus a mutual eating contest ensued. Abi consented herself with 2 bowlfuls but thats ok cos she's a girl! (its a joke! don't take it seriously!). Russ and i continued through our 4th big bowl full before i won by a noodle. Amongst the weirder things i sampled were "very hot chilli sauce" which was indeed, very hot! "Teriyaki sauce" a weird sort of Japanese import, bamboo shoots - slightly unorthodoxed but nice! No jokes about koala's please! Water coconut - nothing special and "banana peppers" - no idea what they are and i don't reccommend them!
So returning to the apartment suitably over-filled, ive spent the rest of the day watching a film and playing the guitar. Tomorrow uni starts back and the hard work continues until the end of term.
And thus a mutual eating contest ensued. Abi consented herself with 2 bowlfuls but thats ok cos she's a girl! (its a joke! don't take it seriously!). Russ and i continued through our 4th big bowl full before i won by a noodle. Amongst the weirder things i sampled were "very hot chilli sauce" which was indeed, very hot! "Teriyaki sauce" a weird sort of Japanese import, bamboo shoots - slightly unorthodoxed but nice! No jokes about koala's please! Water coconut - nothing special and "banana peppers" - no idea what they are and i don't reccommend them!
So returning to the apartment suitably over-filled, ive spent the rest of the day watching a film and playing the guitar. Tomorrow uni starts back and the hard work continues until the end of term.
Sunday, 11 November 2007
Santa Catalina Explorer
I'm now half way through a 3 day weekend and its going rather well. Yesterday was a kick back, lazy day, this morning i went biking in the Santa Catalina Mountains to the north of Tucson and tomorrow im off out to a Pizza Hut all-you-can-eat lunch with my house mates for just $5! Looking forward to the ice-cream.
The Santa Catalina bike ride was amazing though - it was about a 40mile round trip i did from our apartment travelling North East and onto the Catalina Highway which eventually windes its way up to the top of Mount Lemmon at 9500ft from the Tucson basin floor at 2400ft. I biked to the mountain base and then a couple of miles up. The scenery was amazing although its going to take me a few months to build up the fitness to do the 80 mile round trip to the top! Theres plenty of photos in the album so check them out including my new "friend" warning about the high risk of forest fires (yes, even in November!).
This coming week promises to be pretty good aswell. I need to start on my Geology of the Solar System project involving modelling the Martian North Polar region, im off to a Wildcat (The UofA team) football game on thursday evening - the final home game of the season so it should be a good atmosphere. I'm not a American Football (aka. puffy Rugby) fan but its gotta be done, especially since its the university team (who admittedly arent going particularly well this season).
And finally, the news! Spain's royal family has the right idea when it comes to politics. At a press conference he spoke sternly to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez infront of the camera's saying; "Why don't you shut up!". I guess they dont get along that well! And from western Germany. A man recently had a visit from the Police after his car was found abandoned on a petrol station forecourt. It turned out he had filled up his car with petrol, paid the cashier and proceeded to walk home! How he didn't notice his car was missing from around his body i dont know!
S'all for now folks
The Santa Catalina bike ride was amazing though - it was about a 40mile round trip i did from our apartment travelling North East and onto the Catalina Highway which eventually windes its way up to the top of Mount Lemmon at 9500ft from the Tucson basin floor at 2400ft. I biked to the mountain base and then a couple of miles up. The scenery was amazing although its going to take me a few months to build up the fitness to do the 80 mile round trip to the top! Theres plenty of photos in the album so check them out including my new "friend" warning about the high risk of forest fires (yes, even in November!).
This coming week promises to be pretty good aswell. I need to start on my Geology of the Solar System project involving modelling the Martian North Polar region, im off to a Wildcat (The UofA team) football game on thursday evening - the final home game of the season so it should be a good atmosphere. I'm not a American Football (aka. puffy Rugby) fan but its gotta be done, especially since its the university team (who admittedly arent going particularly well this season).
And finally, the news! Spain's royal family has the right idea when it comes to politics. At a press conference he spoke sternly to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez infront of the camera's saying; "Why don't you shut up!". I guess they dont get along that well! And from western Germany. A man recently had a visit from the Police after his car was found abandoned on a petrol station forecourt. It turned out he had filled up his car with petrol, paid the cashier and proceeded to walk home! How he didn't notice his car was missing from around his body i dont know!
S'all for now folks
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
You've Gotta love it
Every now and then, i see something in America which quite frankly leaves me speechless and wondering if this great continent can get any more bizarre, A few weeks back it was watching the David Letterman show when he had some "invited guests" showing off some stupid stunts. One guy was able to kick himself in the head 30 times in 30 seconds, the next drank a glass of beer through his nose and the final used a blow gun and mousetrap to eat a piece of cheese! (Yeah, dont ask how he did it!). This week, however, America has surpassed herself.
Walking down University Mall, the main boulevard through campus, Axe Shower Gell Company had several lorry loads of paraphenalia set up to promote their new product under the slogan "the dirtier you are, the cleaner you can get!". With that in mind, they made people strip down to their boxers, sit in a bath and be covered in gunk-like-stuff reminiscent of Mr Blobby and Noel's House Party, and then roll down a grassy bank being sprayed with more gunk by a scantly clad blonde chav with a IQ of a goldfish. From this, they are then given a free shower using the new gel in a specially kitted out, glass walled lorry body! It was all very stupid and very pointless. They even had a cop on standby to "supervise" the place - what a day he had!
In good news today, the dollar hit another amazing low against the pound. £1 now buys $2.104 dollars and subsequently my rent and everything else i buy is getting cheaper and cheaper! Its fantastic! If it gets much higher, im gonna have to consider buying another guitar! Wouldnt that be a shame!
Walking down University Mall, the main boulevard through campus, Axe Shower Gell Company had several lorry loads of paraphenalia set up to promote their new product under the slogan "the dirtier you are, the cleaner you can get!". With that in mind, they made people strip down to their boxers, sit in a bath and be covered in gunk-like-stuff reminiscent of Mr Blobby and Noel's House Party, and then roll down a grassy bank being sprayed with more gunk by a scantly clad blonde chav with a IQ of a goldfish. From this, they are then given a free shower using the new gel in a specially kitted out, glass walled lorry body! It was all very stupid and very pointless. They even had a cop on standby to "supervise" the place - what a day he had!
In good news today, the dollar hit another amazing low against the pound. £1 now buys $2.104 dollars and subsequently my rent and everything else i buy is getting cheaper and cheaper! Its fantastic! If it gets much higher, im gonna have to consider buying another guitar! Wouldnt that be a shame!
Saturday, 3 November 2007
Ready to shoot the S.O.B
Wow - an awesome last few days - plenty of photos which ive uploaded into the online album (see top right), more to follow soon.
Friday we went on a night hike in the Tucson Mountains - still able to wear shorts and t-shirts despite it being a november evening! We didn't go all that far tbh, and it wasn't really a night hike - more of a "evening stroll in the mountains". We turned back when some American friends of ours couldn't go any further despite only being a mile or 2 from the summit of Wasson Peak which was slightly disappointing.
Saturday was even better and goes some way to explaining the title of this post. We went up to a state owned test ground between Florence and Phoenix to run a seismic survey in the middle of the desert. The lecturer taking the trip is as cool as lecturers can be - thats to say he turned up before we left Tucson with a BIG box of pastries to entertain us during the journey. The actual survey site was about 2 miles off the road on a pathetic excuse for a dirt track - interesting travelling in a minibus!
So we set up the equipment - 108 geophones, shot cables, computers and everything before starting to have some fun with sledgehammers and nail guns. After a short while, i managed to get a go with the nail gun and it turned out i did most of the shooting for the rest of the day. This is no ordinary nail gun either (you need a license for it to start off with! Whoops!). It uses mini-shotgun pellets which we use to fire a nail into a steel plate and create the source. Lets just say it was awesome fun! We had powerful walkie-talkies to communicate between the recording station and the shot "crew" - we hope to god that the military weren't spying on some of the stuff we were saying:
Friday we went on a night hike in the Tucson Mountains - still able to wear shorts and t-shirts despite it being a november evening! We didn't go all that far tbh, and it wasn't really a night hike - more of a "evening stroll in the mountains". We turned back when some American friends of ours couldn't go any further despite only being a mile or 2 from the summit of Wasson Peak which was slightly disappointing.
Saturday was even better and goes some way to explaining the title of this post. We went up to a state owned test ground between Florence and Phoenix to run a seismic survey in the middle of the desert. The lecturer taking the trip is as cool as lecturers can be - thats to say he turned up before we left Tucson with a BIG box of pastries to entertain us during the journey. The actual survey site was about 2 miles off the road on a pathetic excuse for a dirt track - interesting travelling in a minibus!
So we set up the equipment - 108 geophones, shot cables, computers and everything before starting to have some fun with sledgehammers and nail guns. After a short while, i managed to get a go with the nail gun and it turned out i did most of the shooting for the rest of the day. This is no ordinary nail gun either (you need a license for it to start off with! Whoops!). It uses mini-shotgun pellets which we use to fire a nail into a steel plate and create the source. Lets just say it was awesome fun! We had powerful walkie-talkies to communicate between the recording station and the shot "crew" - we hope to god that the military weren't spying on some of the stuff we were saying:
Shooter: "Are we ready to go?"
Recording Station: "Yep - nail the bastard"
Shooter fires the source: "Target destroyed! Well done boys!"
"Roger it!"
"Stop being a wussy - act like a man, fire it!"
"Try the O-N / O-F-F switch!"
And im sure theres many more i can't remember right not. All in all, a great day! So now its back to "office work". A geochemistry mid-term looms on tuesday and i still haven't got an email back from the lecturer about a question with the homework. Speaking of which ive got another one in on friday for solar system and a seismology poster to polish off.
New weekend is veteren's weekend - essentiall i get a 3 day weekend to do something. I'm thinking about biking up Mount Lemmon but it depends - its about a 75mile round trip and goes up to 9500ft so ive gotta be feeling good!
And to finish off with some news. Milan Baros, the ex-Liverpool now Lyon footballer got caught for speeding last week in the autoroute near Lyon. Police clocked him at 269kph (168mph!) in his Ferrari. Now, i for one know you can get away with speeding on the autoroutes in France so long as your careful but 170 is taking the piss! Singapore Airlines, who recently took delivery of the first Airbus A380 super-jumbo have issued a warning to all passengers who book a "private suite" on one of their flights. The rooms are not completely soundproof, so in the interest of other passengers, couples should not join the mile high club! (I hope no definition is needed!). In Munich, the "world's best bum" championships were won by a 19 yr old form Bulgaria. The competition saw over 100 competitors showoff their "ass-ets" to win some money and a insurance policy for their derrier! How low can you go! And finally, the USA never fails to provide news of the lowest and utter useless quality. In Washington this week, the annual "drag race" took place which basically involved a bunch of drag queens running 100m in high heals to win not very much! Stupid, pointless and embarassing but, at times, thats America for you!
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