I Confess!

Okay, okay, it's all my fault.

I am, of course, referring to the fact that, hours after I trimmed the playoff beard, just a little bit, just on my neck, the Wild started their downhill slide. Who knew about the power of the playoff beard? Just in case it affected any other part of my life, I haven't shaved it again. Who knows, maybe we'll start a tradition of the promotion beard, or the personal-best-in-the-marathon beard.

Either way, we thought that we could turn our attention back to our favorite part of the blog. You guessed it, it's time for another installment from (dum dum duuuuuuummmmmm...)

Mystery Fruits!

The fruit this time is called a Dragon Fruit, and it is like a small pink pineapple, or a large pink pine cone -- I guess the key words are pink, and piney. A little bit too flash on the outside, though, since it raised expectations for inside. It was kind of like...a bland kiwifruit. A pink, piney, bland kiwi.

But it's very photogenic. Which is more than I can say for the beard.

(I was sure that i'd be able to edit this photo once in the blog, but it's just not happening. And it's way too late, and i'm far too lazy, to delete it and add another. Sorry if this causes any neck pain. - nm-)

The Playoff Beard

Today we'll take a question from the mailbag...

Chad Jones from the USA asked an excellent question. He was curious whether the playoff beard popular with players in, and fans of the NHL should start from bare skin, or whether we just keep the old whiskers and stop trimming.

I must confess that, while I am a long-time hockey fan, I have only recently been able to grow a beard (and even that is debatable), so some of the nuances are a little sketchy. I think that the important thing is that you put away the razor for the duration of your team's run in the playoffs, not whether you use it first.

I've made the choice to show my face on this continent for the first time, and shave (or at least cut back to two games' worth) first.

We'll keep a playoff beard update until the Wild are out...or win the cup. Which, after this last game, I was worried that I would be shaving again far too soon, but they pulled it out. I think they were actually trying to give me palpitations.

By the way, for a good laugh, check out the songs on the sites below.
The Teenage Song is a good cultural reference about contemporary adolescence in Australia -- don't miss the vegemite jar on the table (yes, they really eat that stuff).
The other is just fun.

As I was saying, Diving...

ahem, before we were so RUDELY interrupted by all this focus on hockey (and potatoes), last weekend we were incredibly lucky to be asked by Gaylene and Colin to join some local divers for a night dive, and then head out to nearby island for a reef dive the next morning. With the help of Gaylene's underwater camera we can finally show you some of the cool stuff we saw!

The night dive was freaky at first, but fine once we were underwater. It really was pitch black (as you can see from the photo), so we really don't have any pictures of that. The next day, however, was beautiful weather, sunny, cool (wetsuits are incredibly hot when you are out of the water), and not very much swell (some of us get seasick easy).

The colors of the coral and sea grass were amazing. There were angel fish, large schools of bream (or something else silver and shiny), crayfish, cone shells (ooh, deadly).

But near the end of our dive, we saw something truly rare, a dolphin came down and swam a circle or two around us before it went off to play with others. Nathan said he about had to change his wetsuit when he saw this large, fast, grey object swimming at him (not a shark, not a shark, please not a shark). While I would willingly pay money for to swim with the dolphins, a close encounter with a wild one was spectacular! i knew there was a reason we finally got our dive tickets.

U.N. International Year of the Potato

I heard something interesting on the radio on the way into work today. 2008 is the U.N. International Year of the Potato. Working for the Diversity Council, I have been aware of other UN initiatives such as International Year of the Woman, Year of Struggle Against Racism etc. So, I have been blissful unaware of the other important U.N. International years.

2002 - International Year of Mountains 2003 - International Year of Freshwater 2004 - International Year of Rice 2005 - International Year for Sport and Physical Education 2009 International Year of the Nudibranch

U.N. International Year of the Potato. Why not? The potato has half the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C, has no fat or cholesterol, has less calories and greater satiety than other foods, and takes less water than rice and wheat to grow. There are more than 2000 varieties of potato grown in South America that can grow in almost any conditions (while the U.S. and Europe settles for about 15 varieties that grow in pretty narrow conditions). So I supposed taking all that in to work,U.N. International Year of the Potato could have a big influence on hunger and poverty.

Isn't public radio great?

Nudibranchs vs. NHL

Well--I just have to say I think Nathan's blog demonstrates something clearly about our friends. Despite the provocative scuba pictures, and the titulating use of the word Nudibranchs, our friends really care much more about the status of the hockey playoffs than just about anything else.

While there is a surprising amount of local recreational hockey in Perth. Nathan can play Sunday, Monday, and Thursday nights easy.( of course you are always popular if you are a goalie), we have had an amazing deficit of NHL.

Nathan has to satisfy himself with the checking stats and game synopses nightly, and then trying to draw a hockey conversation out of me by quoting various numbers and rankings. Unfortunately, I tend to be more interested in watching the game than comparing save percentages and line ups. (oh, really...uh huh, 37%, wow, you don't say...)

We are contemplating the devilishly expensive cable options (which still only show one or two games a week) but so far have delayed because of the endless contracts and cancellation clauses. In the meantime, its clear you hockey friends are the folks who will respond to Nathan's dire need: swapping endless statistics, creating a virtual hockey bar (the replacement Buffalo Wild Wings where we spent every play off game while living in Rochester), and the trash-talking/side-betting hockey mates who are his link to play-off excitement.

Thanks for being there on the important issues. Kristin

p.s. Nikki--while I'll never give up hope on the Devils, I'm letting the Wild be my long-shot hope!