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Hello everyone, on Wednesday morning I arrived back in Australia. Firstly, my apologies to anyone who rang or sms'ed me while I was away, my phone wasn't connected while overseas and Virgin have deleted all sms's (I guess I didn't log in for too long). Uploading trip materials will have to wait as I'm currently recovering from a serious computer crash. 

I've added a few more entries to my Scandinavian travel blog, along with photos for each entry. I've also added a direct link to the blog over on the navigation menu.

My apologies on the downtime over the last few days, one of Alpha Dimension's servers experienced a hard drive crash, which then caused a series of Drupal configuration issues when brought back online. Thanks to Kon for the quick repair work.

I've posted another entry to the travel blog. Time has been short here, so not much time for posting. There should be another entry up in a few days, I've got a backlog now in my paper journal. Things are going great right now, just so you know.

For the next 7 weeks I'll be travelling around Scandinavia. I've started a travel diary for myself, entitled My Scandinavian Adventure. Entries are not posted to the front page (unless I forget the switch), as the content is more of a personal journal than general web content. I've already posted two entries, so check it out.

Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you all have a fun and lovely day. I have just knocked off work for the evening and now I'm off to relax.

A few minutes ago I initiated my first international phone call. At first I had quite a bit of trouble working out all the prefix numbers, but countrycodes.com helped sort me out.

This shirt is so cute, shame I've already got a plentiful supply of threadless shirts.

I have returned from my 3 day stint in Sydney. I had wonderful time, socially and academically. Briefly, my talk was well received with a lot of positive comments. The trip started early on Sunday morning when I flew into Sydney around 8:30am, a day before the conference began. I was feeling pretty tired, as I had only gotten around 3 hours sleep the night before. I spent the afternoon jogging around Bankstown, checking out the local scene before getting into some parkour. I returned to the hotel and made use of their gym for an hour, before cooling off with a swim in the heated pool, and a luxurious session in the spa.

As the hotel dining area was closed for the evening I decided to head down the road to a local Lebanese restaurant, Summerland. Ordering a mixed platter on the advice of the manager, I found the food to be excellent. As the night progressed I made my way over to bar to settle down with a glass of red wine. I ended up spending the next 3 hours chatting and drinking with the manager, Jean-Pierre, and one of the other workers, Henry. Half French, half Lebanese, Jean-Pierre’s hedonist pursuits of drink, food, cigars and women found an ample accompaniment in our worldly conversations that evening.

I bought a new shirt, it made me laugh.

F@ck* you Guy L. Steele and Gerald Jay Sussman, f@ck* you right in the ear.

* interchangable term dependant on mood

You have to admit, it looks pretty darned cool. The double bladed version is selling for $199 US, while the regular single blade varities (Anakin-blue and Vader-red) are currently discounted at $79 US.

Question: How many children has my mother taught to play John William's Star Wars theme on the piano?

Answer: Too many. 

I decided to have a jacketed potato for a snack today. After giving it a wash and popping it in the microwave I suddenly felt the urge for something sweet. Like any normal person, I then proceeded to microwave a few squares of chocolate before pouring it over the potato. The result, not so great.

Today is the 6th day, of the 6th month, of the year 2006 [2]. In the likely event of nocturnal enuresis, I had my mattress fitted with specially designed rubber sheets. Do you suffer from hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia?

To a new beginning did yesterday bring. It is perhaps then with fated irony that the sun shone brightly this morning.