The Eight Ball [8Ball]

About 6 weeks back in the height of summer having already laid down a brew of beer with Nez that it was time to see just how easy it was to do the same with Cider. Conversations with various people led me to the simplest recipe imaginable:

• 1.5kgs Apples
• 5.7L Purified or Boiled Water
• 1kg White Sugar
• 3 Lemons
• (I added a fresh Nectarine off the tree outside)

Tools:

• Couple of Buckets
• Muslin Cloth (had to substitute a tea towel)
• Plastic Bottles
• Time

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Not long ago young fyx returned from his overseas adventure and started looking for work back in NZ. On finding work his workplace laid down a challenge. The Big Mac Challenge.

On large Big Mac Combo blended into a lumpy, fatty, meaty thick shake. He completed this task in approximately 8 minutes.

Upon hearing about his effort I and other decided we wanted to better that time because ‘that sounded easy’. So the day after the Big Day Out Nez and I grew some grapefruits and did it. Here is the documentary  hacked together by me for all those who didnt witness this event:

The Big Mac Challenge from Aaron Armstrong on Vimeo.

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Drinking games begin with a tower that we are all use too, jenga + each brick is an action — let’s say a brick is drink once or nominate two, plenty of random ones as well like name genie or chin master. There is enough various bricks to bring hours of enjoyment for many.

Baron, Nez, and xyf are cranking it thanks to custom creation skills of baron.

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See live on C4 starting round 11am. Will try a spot of live blogging for a laugh

12:08 – J – Leaving the mighty tron

13:51 – AA – just smashed back Wendys, time to hit the party!

15:11 – AA – So ends up I know to bring the weather to events… pearler! Midnight Yourh on stage… four summits in hand.

15:46 – J – Beers are following in only what can be called the biggest fcuk up of weather reporting ever seen in NZ

16:15 – J – Kora up, New Zealand rep. Place is really packing out and we have a shortland street person rocking our 3 seats away.

16:36 – AA – Kora is going off! Mean Maori mean! But this sunshine is even better… plus a lazy convo about jizz as sunblock with Sophie from Shortland Streets mate… classic!

16:44 – J – When is speight’s summit become 4%?

17:01 – AA – aparently you’re allowed to smoke illegal drugs, but your not allowed to annoy people with a water pistol… dude got ejected! Arse!

17:49 – AA – Powderfinger have been as good as they could be… average… Dizzee bout to kick in, but J and I both agree… womans fashion ia the winner. See through bras and singlets that reach the hips… WHAMMY!!!

18:45 – AA – Just discovered the best portaloo ever.. well used by the team:

19:00 – AA – yup:

19:05 – AA – Its like Hati but at the BDO! Too soon?

19:10 – AA – Beer rubish angel?

20:13 – J – at some point the random chatter begins withs complete strangers, music is still loud but rocking, beers are being limited, night is coming.

20:17 – J – Gin rocking the stage

20:48 – J – Ok it is getting dark and Gin is cranking it. Acts to follow are Muse and Fear Factory!

21:12 – J – 80’s party!!!

21:15 – J – foregoing Muse for some HLAH action!

21:30 – J – Drunking or druged crazy chick next to us. Serioulsy have a friend so you are not some mental loner! Jepers!

21:50 – J – HLAH

22:10 – J – HLAH know how to represent NZ rock, raggge.

22:33 – J – Fear… What?… fear who…. Fear Fac…. Tor…. Y.

22:38 – J – Isnt it funny how all photos of band look the same! Here is another, Fear Factory styles.

23:32 – J – omg it’s all over! No voice, walking in a sea of other cattle to escape to our automobile. Perhaps some wendys for the long ride home?

00:03 – J – As per usual traffic is one word — Nitemare. Without a doubt the guy who let us park in his area is the man spending the entire time at his post till we returned… 11hrs later.

00:50 – J – Mc Donalds at 1am, not exactly the perfect eatting plan, on route to the tron, yus!

02:00 – J – Home with 3% iPhone battery to spare

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Yes, don’t we all just love Public Holidays.  Here in NZ we certainly need them, we don’t have 25 of them like Brazil do so the few we do have we really like to make the most of and get out there and do what we love doing best, binge drinking that is (for the majority anyway).  Sometimes these inebriated souls take a moment to remember why they’re getting an extra day off to get tanked but let’s me honest, most of them are just stoked they have a free paid day off to get absolutely trolleyed Friday, Saturday AND Sunday night and feel sorry for themselves on Monday while they look forward to a shortened four day working week.

Usually on the NZ calendar we have ten public holidays, ten holy days for us to look forward to shorter weeks and more time to spend with our friends, mammals, families and philanthropods.  This year however, there is a slight change.  As some of our public holidays aren’t fixed on certain days of the week ANZAC Day and Waitangi day land on a weekend and we do not get a day off for them at all!  I for one will NOT be celebrating their causes this year.

In fact, poor old Waitangi day, that sacred day of the year when every NZ’er gets to dress up like what every other country in the world thinks we look like every day, in grass skirts and crazy face paint (like a cat maybe???) along with pointy weapons, will not be celebrated by giving us a day off until 2012!!  So all of you that were hoping to get your freak on this Waitangi day, prancing around the street like some native warrior on the Monday you’ll be very upset to know that you’ll have to do this on your own time during that weekend or just sod it all like I probably will. 

So before you yet again go into your, “Well at least it’s not so bad at the start of the year cos you get a few four day weeks to ease you back in…” speech, be suitably depressed and think again.  From our last official Public Holiday on 4 January we have 63 continuous business days with weekends before we get our next national day off!

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We have a clean stirring sticks cup and a used stirring sticks cup.  It would make more sense if they were in different vessels but they are not.  Occasionally you pick up a used one to make your coffee and then curse your bad luck afterwards.  I just realised this morning that really, there is nothing gross about a used one at all, it’s not like anyone licks the stick after they stir their coffee right?….. RIGHT?!

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Point, chuckle, and then donate. (Hey, I’ve got 11 days to go.)

This is my every-three-yearly charity drive. Last time I tried it, my boss made a sizeable donation on the condition I never do it again. (Sorry, Andrew.) Two countries and three years later, I’m at it again – and you should make a donation to prostate cancer research in my honour, because otherwise we just go on not talking about it until Rubber Glove time.

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We don’t have internet at our new flat yet, but there’s a neighbour who does, and has (in my mind) actively chosen to share it. Trouble is, there are much stronger signals between me and said neighbour. (I have a 3G data stick, but it’s pre-dialup speed, and doesn’t really work any more consistently.)  I’ve found that I get signal on-and-off at the highly scientific measure of “1-2 bars out of 5″.

I currently have my laptop sitting on a little folding chair in front of the couch, and it seems I get a pretty consistent wireless signal there. Hooray! However, it’s not the most comfortable way to work, so I picked it up and moved it onto my lap – and the signal went away. Now, I had been reading things offline for the last few minutes, so it’s more likely the signal went away during that period, and it just so happened to be that when I picked it up, it was in a downtime. Alternatively, it could be that one foot forward – or backward – is right out, and I have to have it exactly where it was.

(The laptop, back on its stand, is now getting internet again).

It’s all in how you hold your tongue. First time you made that great shot (and sunk the 8-Ball on the break, which, in Canada at least, isn’t an instant win), you had your tongue out, or in your left cheek, so you superstitiously believe that a factor directly under your control was the influential part, when you know that it was probably a combination of external factors (friction, dust on the table, “cleanliness of the balls”, butterfly-flapping-its-wings-in-China, etc).

I could go looking for other parts of the room where I might get more reliable signal, or I could just stay on my little chair and hope.

I walked from the train station to my work with my boss on the first day, and that is now the way I walk every day. Similarly, I walk home from the train station the way Fern showed me. There may be a quicker or more enjoyable route, or a different approach, but many people get stuck in what works for them and either blind to, or unwilling to invest in, alternatives. This generally makes sense, as you can assume that a better alternative would be reasonably obvious: if there was a short-cut to the station, I would see dozens of people veering off the path I share with them each morning, and probably poke my nose around to see what was going on.

I always try and park as close to my destination as possible in a car park. If, after a couple of orbits, there’s nothing obvious, then I’ll radiate further outward. Two observations arise from this: on the walk in, there are almost always half a dozen people leaving from closer spots (if only I’d arrived two minutes later!), and if I’d just parked in the first spot I saw on the way in, I’d probably have got in faster.

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