Thursday, September 22, 2005

Take me back to the ballgame

Just like trying to catch a bus in England, I waited for ever to go to a Giants game this season then another free ticket came my way straight afterwards. This time it was for their game against the LA Dodgers.
Gary's manager at work has season tickets and obviously Gazza has been a good boy this month, he managed to get 4 tickets so who else would you invite to watch "America's favo(u)rite pastime" ?
Two English people and an American who lives and breathes football (The one where the ball actually comes into contact with your foot) for those of you who don't know, Gary is English too so that made 3 of us.
Again we had great seats and again I searched for a long time looking for the veggie hot dogs, we're off to a game next month too, we'll let you know how we do then, I know the tension is unbearable but you're going to have to wait I'm afraid.
Anyway, back to the game, the Giants won in extra innings, not quite as exciting as the incredible victory of the England cricket team against Australia in the Ashes series the other week, but enjoyable all the same.




The real fun started after the game though as we all tried to reenact the coke bottle pose from earlier in the blog. Iain balanced the bottle on his head.







Then Gazza heard that the first 20,000 people entering the stadium received Giants hats and although we had arrived too late, decided to use his English accent to our advantage, he headed straight for Guest services and told them we we're visiting from England and taking in our first ever baseball game (Creston was keeping very quiet), 5 minutes later we we're all proud owners of Giants baseball hats, nice one Gazza!




After that we headed off to the Billy Graham convention.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Yer jist not right fir ahr beeand--INXS

I really feel sorry for those of you who missed out on the best reality show of the summer--"Rockstar: INXS"--because it was top quality! In a nutshell, the band INXS was trying out new singers and they aired it on CBS this summer. I know, it sounds lame, but honestly it was really good. Unlike most reality tv, it didn't focus on the drama of the group but more on the rock 'n roll. Every week, INXS would give the "rockstars" a list of songs to choose from and one night a week they'd show a whole hour of people rocking out for the band. The music was fantastic, the band seemed really cool and the program was what American Idol could be if they sang cool music and didn't have half-brained judges.
We've been watching it with Peter and Agna for the past few weeks so went to their house Tuesday for the finale. Rob and I dressed as the two finalists--JD and Marty. If Peter and Agna email me the photo of the two of us, I'll post it. Until then, you can enjoy looking at Rob dressed as the ultimate winner--JD. I think the style is really working for him.

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Sunday, September 18, 2005

Fancy Feet and Parking Sweet

Rob and I gave Tugso a spa pedicure for her birthday so, naturally, I had to go with to make it a complete girly day. It's her first pedicure in America so she was long overdue. I only wish we had gotten our fingernails done as well because the time went by too quickly.
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Any of you who have seen my toes will be pleased to know I branched out in my color choice and went with ORANGE in honor of the first day of Autumn which is this week.
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After the pedicure, Greg met us at the house for tea and bickies and then off to Cactus for a burrito--but not before they had fun posing for the camera.
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Finally, Rob and I had to go to Trader Joe's for cereal, rice milk and laundry quarters. One day, we will learn that by Sunday night, most of the things we want are not in stock any more requiring us to go to Trader Joe's again a couple days later. Tonight, it was the big rice milk and the Airborne. I could have used the Airborne too as I've been fighting off a cold. Have you used that stuff? It's a miracle pill.
At any rate, the trip was well worthwhile in the end, as I got to listen to Rob slag off the driver "who parked the car like an idiot." That driver carelessly parked slightly over the line dividing the spaces making for a tight squeeze in the space next to it. Not wanting to risk scratching our newly cleaned car, Rob chose to park in a different spot. When we came out, I was able to get a quick photo of what a parking job looks like by someone who is highly experienced. You may not even beleive this, but I promise you, this is exactly where he parked the car. Genius.

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Saturday, September 17, 2005

Top of the Table

We've only played two of ten games, so there's a lot left to go, but I thought I would celebrate Mna being top of the table for once! It's due, in large part, to the fact that many of us on my women's soccer team have signed up for the Nike Half Marathon in October and have been running through the summer. It makes a big difference to have the team show up for the season with some fitness and it's proving to be a winning formula for us. Two games and we won both 3-0. The real test is yet to come but there's no harm in acknowledging our success so far.
Here's a group shot of some of us at Fudrucker's following our game--If you go to the Fudrucker's in Daly City, you can view a similar photo posted on the wall. This will serve as proof that
1) Kari DOES hang out with the team (thank you very much, Sylvia) and
2) Sylvia wouldn't realize it because SHE'S NOT THERE (Syl, you really should try and show more commitment to hanging out with the team. We are a social club, after all.)

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Would the sir in the back please move forward?

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Take me out to the ball game

We headed off to SBC park on Friday thanks to a wedding present from Shelly and Aliyar,
the Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1.
We had great seats at the front row on the second level and really enjoyed ourselves, the stadium really is fantastic it's a great place to be on a Friday night, baseball is a strange game and during those no so exciting times, it's nice to look out over the bay and wait for a cheer from the crowd to get your attention again. One disappointment is having to walk around the stadium trying to find the one hot dog stand that sells veggie dogs, they seem to change the location every time we go.
We also forgot to charge our camera batteries so unfortunatly we only have 2 pictures, luckily Shelly and Al bought us tickets for another game in October so we'll make sure we've got plenty of juice for that one.






Kari looking for a foul ball










It's the real thing

Friday, September 09, 2005

Luxury Box

Rob and I have really elevated our status since we got married. We used to sit in the bleachers at football matches but not anymore--now we get the luxury box. Complete with grilled veggie burgers, fresh baked cookies and wine. Shame it's only for the University of San Francisco women's soccer team, isn't it?
Creston and Kristy have recently moved into a house that overlooks the USF soccer field and they had a few of us over to cheer on the team. Creston was decked out in his USF DONS shirt in spite of the freezing temperatures and though we all cheered the team on, Stanford still managed to win 2-0. Our new plan of action is to learn the player names so we can be a better cheering section. Meanwhile, Creston is trying to work out how to hang a hammock overlooking the pitch.

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Here's the view from the back porch. Chad is trying to see if he can hear the ocean in a beer bottle.

Research the squad here

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Mongolian Wannabes

Ah, the things you do for the ones you love~
Rob and I went over to Greg and Tugso's house for dinner but it nearly turned into a midnight snack. Kind of reminded me of when I used to have Andrea and Michael over for dinner and then wouldn't serve the food until well past their bedtime. Luckily I had brought cheese and crackers for myself so I was happy to wait for the meal.
Anyway, the true reason we went over was to look at all their pictures from their recent trip to Mongolia. Although they were officially married nearly two years ago, they've long dreamed of going to Tugso's homeland for a proper wedding ceremony with her family and friends and this summer it finally came to pass. Tugso was able to go home for three weeks this summer with Greg joining her for two of them and they had a beautiful wedding ceremony at the wedding palace in Ulan Bataar.
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Rob and I weren't able to join them for their wedding, with our own following soon after, but when we joined them for dinner Tugso helped us reeanct the moment by dressing us in traditional mongolian dell's. Do we look smashing or what?

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Monday, September 05, 2005

Hey! Ho! lets go!

We headed to the Edinburgh Castle on Saturday night to see the Shakespearos, our friend Mark (Our "MC" at the wedding) fronts the band. They're a post punk cover band and belt out hits from many different groups including Joy Division, The Ramones, The Clash, The Cure, The Smiths, and Echo and the Bunnymen.
After a few superb games of pinball (Road show) it was time to head upstairs to the sweat box where the Shakespearos were playing. They were really on form and I think it showed in the crowd, we were on our feet all night doing the "Pogo".
We bumped into 2 Johns, no not toilets, both of them are partners of Kari's team mates from her womens football team. We ended up hanging out with them the rest of the night.
As for the music, well they did a great "I fought the law" the Stranglers' "Nice n sleazy" was brilliant too, I think their "Blitzkreig bop" was the best of the night though, the crowd went nuts.
The band also picked up a new groupie, a 6 foot 4 "woman" who used to dance on stage for the Stranglers in their heyday.
I've got a feeling that she may have been a man at some point in her life. Anyway she seemed to be enjoying himself and even managed a shoutout from Mark.



Mark wooing the crowd



The Shakespearos and new groupie




Mark, us, and the 2 Johns

Friday, September 02, 2005

Frozen Desserts Tour of Oakland

For the month of August, Rob and I have had the rare pleasure of hosting Peter at our house two nights a week while he and Agna are temporarily living in Sunnyvale. As an added bonus, Agna has been able to join him for two of those nights giving her and I the chance to squeeze in a couple runs, which are well needed since the half marthon we signed up for is less than two months away. In order to show them our appreciation for their freindship, and as a reward for Agna's and my hard work running, we have been visiting frozen dessert establishments around Oakland.
When Peter was craving a vanilla milkshake, there was no question that we'd have to visit Fenton's, who makes the best milkshake this side of the Rockies (or Frappes, as we like to call them in New Hampshire.)

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But here at the Frozen Yogurt shop, you can get your fat-free yogurt with lots of Reece's Peanut Butter cups sprinkled inside.........
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..........and it comes with a free proverb.
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