World record for the most admirable world record attempt?

More than 1,000 women in bikini's last Wednesday on Sydney’s world-famous Bondi Beach to set a world record for the highest number of women attending a swimsuit photo shoot.


Here's the article in the Australian, and a video

Some new reading material...

Time to get a bit informed about where I'm heading... as the working days are over, I'll have some spare time for that... Bought this guide today, and will try to figure out what's worth visiting... I've only got two full days there, so I think I'll have to make sure I plan this at least a little bit to make the stopover worthwile... If anyone has some pointers on what to visit... or any practical advice... just give a shout in the comments... I've found some accommodation in the mean time, not as expensive as I expected... maybe because the AE Dirham's value is still linked to the US Dollar?

Wonderful day for the attention whore in me!

Two weeks before take-off, and exactly 100 unique visitors on this blog... (and I can confirm that you're all unique!)
Yet another reason to celebrate!

Goodbye EY, so long Ernst & Young

Today is my last day at Ernst & Young, and after more than three years, it's time to say goodbye to my dear colleagues... Not indefinitely , cause I'll be back before they know it...
Octobre 2008 that is...

EY people, I wish you all best, and hope to hear from you from time to time! (preferably non-work related ;o))

A drink before I go?

Finally I've managed to get those invitations out... The number one priority from more than a month ago (see first post)... See y'all at Villa Tempo in about three weeks... Feel free to reply in the comments below...

In the mean time... the work countdown clock is on 3 days...

Take-off is coming pretty close now... and to answer the most FAQ of the past months once more: 14 Octobre is when I get on the plane...

... and thanks to Dorien for helping with the graphic design!

Solar Power Mobile Charger

I'm currently checking out if I can find a Solar Power charger for my mobile and ipod. Could be useful when traveling around a lot, and i'm pretty sure there will be a lot of sun around for the next year. That's while this morning i heard the first people complaining about the dark, wet and depressing 7 month period coming up over here again (in fact, it's not that bad, but some people just have a lot of dark thoughts). Anyways... if anyone knows more about these devices, or has some experience with them - tell me, i want to know what's important when purchasing one... like if the flexible ones are as good as the hard ones like on the picture...

Extra Dry

Some ads by an Australian beer brand called Tooheys... Have to try that soon, cause I like their taste in humour... Extra Dry

Here's one, two, three, four, five fragments... It's all good

If you wonder what the song in number 5 is, click here...

From a country that doesn't exist...

When you're abroad, one of the most frequently asked questions usually is "Where are you from". Well from Belgium of course! From time to time it took a little time before people got where that actually was, but it might get even harder... Lately in the international press, there's been some doubt if it even still exists... in this article in the Guardian for instance...

The political situation has been complicated for as long as I've known here, but it appears extremely hard to find an agreement to form a new federal government these days. I'm not going to express my political opinion here, but let's say I hope to return to a stable, united and cooperating country after the summer of 2008.

What time is it over there...?

Yet another feature on this blog... getting quite full on the right side ;o)
As i'll be in different time zones from time to time, I thought it would be a good idea to include local time on this blog, so you know when to plan in that phone call, or when you definitely can't expect me to be online... But for now... still good old Leuven time...
And for the less intelligent: it's not this picture on the left... it's in the bar on the right, I'll try to keep it more or less up to date to where I am... For the slightly more gifted: if anyone knows a way to include something like on the picture that actually works... let me know...

I know where you're watching...

When I started this blog, I integrated Google Analytics into it, just to see if the non-info I'm posting here is actually read by anyone... The feature I like most is definitely the world map where you can see where visitors are accessing your site from. Now I've found another application called ClustrMaps which allows you to publish a likewise map on the blog itself, you can check it out on the bottom right of this page. As I've just installed it, there's definitely no data in there yet... But the Google Analytics picture next to this text shows what happened before (16 countries in less than a month! First place for Belgium by far ;o) ) - click it to enlarge
And how and why someone from India, Russia, NZ, Brazil,... ends up here...? beats me!

Daryl Makk about Down Under

Here's some more comedy... In this video Daryl Makk a Canadian stand-up talks about his time in Australia...
Oh, yeah, and even more slightly related to Australia, here's an song by Arrogant Worms, and they're from Canadaas well... which is bigger than Australia

Kim and Kath

OK, I haven't checked it out myself, actually it was mentioned in my favorite magazine Humo, but this Australian comedy show is supposed to be really funny... have a look, it's on BBC2, mondays at 23hrs (Brussels time that is...). Here's a trailer, and their website... .
I will anyways, it's also available through torrents... :o)

Diving - How not to!

When in Australia, I really hope to do some diving... As we're still not there (in a little less than 5 weeks) I'll keep up the slightly related links... just to keep you (and me) busy... So, here we are, diving, how not to!

Traveler IQ Challenge

This is an excellent passtime, ... pretty addictive too...
This facebook application tells you how well you know your world.
My personal top score is 120 now, so I'm waiting until someone beats me before I'm playing again... click here to play

Bush as he really is... also in Austria... erm... Australia

George W first mixed up OPEC and APEC... and later on thanking John Howard for the Austrian Troops... Good going! Then afterwards..; went off stage the wrong way... Great going!
Here's the video, and the article

They do know their 'soccer'!

Not only there's cricket in Australia, they've got a pretty good national soccer team as well... In qualification games they usually get to play against some major football nations like American Samoa... this 2001 game ended in a 0-31 victory for the socceroos...
Belgians (and especially SK Lierse fans) might remember Archie Thompson... he scored 13 goals in this game... (probably more than he ever made in Belgian competition).

The picture above is from when Australia qualified for the last world cup (video), after beating the slightly stronger Uruguay team (i mean stronger than American Samoa of course ;o)) ... through a penalty shootout... The decisive penalty was shot by John Aloïsi, who used to play for Royal Antwerp Football Club one day...

Where the bloody hell - Cricket

Here's another 'bloody hell' add, parody on the Tourist Board's...
A lot of good reasons to go and see a cricket game while I'm over there ;o)

Oh, and for those who actually clicked through for the cricket, here's what it's all about...

Bums not bombs

Bush is visiting Sydney for APEC, and will be mooned from Hyde Park by 4000 cheeks...
The website also mentions: free cheek texting or do your own - have fun!

The guys from the alternative adds yesterday have managed to get through George W's security lines as well... here's a video on how tolerant the general public is when it comes to the security arrangement surrounding APEC...

Australia.com - So where the bloody hell are you?

Last year, there was this add from the Australian Tourist Board which said: "So where the bloody hell are you?"... Still in (bloody) Belgium that is...
You can see the magazine add in the pic, and here's the video
There were some complaints about the use of language in the campaign. Now these guys have made some alternative slogans, and ask tourists what they think about it... here it is!
It's from a show called "Chaser's War on Everything"
Is it just an impression, or do these Australians tend to curse a lot?

Why you don't want to run out of water in the outback

Thanks to Benj, I've recently discovered this show called Man vs. Wild on Discovery channel. This guy, Bear Grylls is dropped in desolate places, and survives with a knife, a flint and a waterbottle. I'm not really going to look for extreme circumstances like this guy does, but some of the pointers in the program could be useful one day...

This fragment is from the time he got dropped into the Australian outback... and answers the question above...

Wonder what it looks like from the ground...

A nice Google Earth view on Sydney... quite a few landmarks (blue dots) around appareantly... Looking good huh?

The hostel where I'll be staying is pinpointed in yellow... Oh yeah, and thanks everyone for the birthday wishes yesterday! I'll try to make good use of another year on planet earth...

Some comedy while we're waiting...

As I'm still 'waiting'(a month and a half to go that is), there's not so much news... Except that you can stop mailing me for the Volvo... it's found a new owner...

In the mean time... Some time for Australian culture... I mean Culture

As I might miss out on the new show of Hans Teeuwen (just found out there IS going to be a new one...), it was a great relief to find out about this Australian comedian... Tim Minchin

Here's a few fragments...

- inflatable you
- angry poem
- peace anthem for palestine
- hello


PS: For those who haven't found it themselves yet, there's a few youtube links to fragments from the Fast Show's 'That's Amazing, with me, Carl Hooper' on the right. Classic comedy material, and not taking the piss out of Australian accents at all!