A Hard-Earned Thirst...

I read this week that alcohol consumption in Australia will reach its lowest point in 10 years this year.

I know. I couldn't believe it either.

Yet the Age newspaper has reported that a 2.4% drop means that Aussies will down just 9.8L per capita in 2012. This is ahead of our US compatriots (8.61L) but well-behind the Brits at 11.75L.

So what's the deal?

Well I'd first like to say that the badge of hard-drinking Aussie is pinned to the proud chest of the nation that gave the world Foster's...and kept the best beer (and wine for that matter) for itself.

 

Yes, Australia was not built on hard graft alone. Good call....

The second point I'd like to make is that this dubious honour is bestowed rapidly upon any colonial and then put to the test with considerable alacrity...and mixed results. At one after-work drinks sesh shortly after I landed on England's green shores (actually I fell in the snow and broke my elbow but that's another story), I found myself hard-pressed to keep pace with pint after pint downed by my workmates in the space of an hour. Brits can drink!

Interesting to note though that this decline Down Under has occurred in the time since I departed. So it appears to me that whoever my 'replacement' is (the population has grown to over 21 million since 2004 so someone is standing in my thongs flip flops shoes) is not pulling their weight. So there's nothing for it but for me to get down to Melbourne town and support my countrymen and women in their endeavours to regain their crown.

The Big Wine Cask is at Buronga, NSW just over the border from Mildura in country Victoria.

So to all you Aussie blokes and sheilas down under, don't despair - I'll be there in just 43 sleeps, drinking boots at the ready.

And I could really do with a nice Shiraz or two...

The Race That Stops A Nation...

It's a horse race deemed the richest 'two mile' handicap in the world for two dozen 3-year-old thoroughbreds over 3.2km. A race that literally stops a nation.  The Melbourne Cup.

The Melbourne Cup Carnival runs over a week in November each year and comprises 4 race days - Derby Day (Sat), Melbourne Cup Day (Tue), Oaks Day (Thu) and Stakes Day (Sat) - at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne's northern suburbs. It forms the centrepiece of the Spring Racing Carnival, filling the state of Victoria with prime equine specimens and department stores with hats and headpieces as far as the eye can see.

The first Tuesday in November (this year falling on November 6th) holds a special place in Aussie hearts. Melburnians get a day off and the entire nation - well the majority who are not at the course itself - manages its day around being in front of a telly at 3pm. There are BBQs, office 'sweeps' and much discussion around water coolers, coffee machines or over the bar about the chances of the 24 runners - yes, everyone's a tipster on Melbourne Cup Day. And there are a myriad of opportunities to 'put your money where your mouth is'.

Being at the race itself is an extraordinary experience (I've been 3 times, twice in the posh corporate bit). Melbourne Cup Day often begins with a champagne breakfast in your Cup Day finery in the Racecourse Car Park. For some it's an opportunity to dust off your headwear, don your gladrags and totter down to the mounting yard. For others, it's an opportunity to dress down and enjoy the atmosphere. Picnics abound and the bookies are kept busy particularly leading up to the big race.

Melbourne Cup punters - celebrating a win perhaps?

As the horses and their riders make their way around the mounting yard, down the track and into the starting gate, the excitement is palpable and experts and amateur punters alike jockey for position along the final straight and at the finish line. And as the starter's orders sound out across the course and the gates snap open, the thundering hooves of 24 of the world's best are overshadowed by the roar of the crowd.

Just over 3 minutes later, the winner crosses the finish line in front of more than 100,000 screaming punters.

It is, quite simply, electric.

This year's field, confirmed after today's Victoria Derby, features both the home-grown and the foreign and with a purse of $6.2million up for grabs, only time will tell whether current favourites and past winners Americain (2010) or Dunaden (2011) can join the exalted ranks of multiple winners. Winners like the prolific Makybe Diva, whose dominance in 2003, 2004 and 2005 remains unmatched, and Archer who won the inaugural race in 1861 then followed it up with another win the following year.

3 time winner Makybe Diva

And who's my money on? Well that'd be telling and to be honest, I haven't really checked out the runners. Suffice to say I'm off to read the form guide. After all, you can take the girl out of Melbourne but you can't take Melbourne out of the girl.

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This post also forms part of the November edition of Post Of The Month Club.

Friday Funny...Bed Pan

Nothing much to say other than this made me laugh out loud when it got circulated at work today...

Haven't we all been here?

I do love a Friday giggle!


ps...there are only 53 sleeps to go til, well you know...

Your 2012 Five A Day - November

Well October, Halloween and British Summer Time are behind us and chilly mornings, darker evenings and cosy nights in are here for the foreseeable future. And both November and this month's Violent Veg pay tribute to a great British tradition.

Bonfire night on the 5th November celebrates the capture of Guy Fawkes, he of the infamous Gunpowder Plot. In 1605, 13 royally disenchanted men planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I. Fawkes was caught below the House of Lords with his fingers in the barrel, so to speak and was taken captive, tortured and executed. To celebrate the safety of their King, the people lit bonfires and burned effigies of Guy Fawkes and in doing so, guaranteed every British kid's expectation of November 5th celebrations - fireworks.

Unfortunately it seems that Eddie's enthusiasm for tradition has been a little misplaced...

This time last year, I was unpacking boxes here at Gidday HQ, hoping to get my new pad sorted before returning to work. I heard the crackle and hiss of local fireworks nearby and upon standing at the back door to check things out, was delighted to find I could watch the lot from the warmth of my new kitchen. Just another Fab Finchley bonus.

Hope you find something that lights your fire this November.

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