28
Jun

I Do This So You Guys Don’t Have To

By: muttler

Yes, it’s real

Wrong. So very, very, wrong.

But first… today was a big day. Not in that I did anything amazing, but my two presentations were scheduled at my conference. Both went pretty well. Big news was that I got a Outstanding Paper Award for my work with Daniela and Michael which was very nice. And no… it wasn’t like an encouragement award where everyone got one. Only 3 were handed out to the couple hundred papers. So virtual high fives all round.

But that’s not what you come to my blog for. You want to know “so Matt… did you do something stupid today?”. And today, the answer is… yes.

I was planning on going back to the baseball, however the storms that arrived put an end to that. Oh well. A quiet night in wasn’t going to be a bad thing. So I grabbed a bite to eat in the hotel bar. “Boo!” I hear you say. “Boring!”. Kind of. But I did have this for dinner…

Buffalo girls go round the outside

Yes, a burger. But a buffalo burger! Made from 100% authentic bison. Mmmm. It was pretty tasty too. I expected the taste to be stronger (having eaten a moose burger in the past) but really, it was just pretty burgerish. Good though.

So I thought that was going to be the extent of my evening. Maybe watch the ball on TV and try and get some early shut-eye. Then it dawned on me. BACON SUNDAE. Yes. So off I legged it to Burger King.

I gotta admit, I was getting pretty excited as I got there and opened the door. I could see the ice cream machine in action so I wasn’t going to be denied this time. Take two… “One Bacon Sundae please!”. “That will be $2.15 thanks sir”. Over I handed my greenbacks and oh boy… the tension was palpable!

I shall keep this receipt forever

And then it arrived…

Behold! The Glory!

YES. It looked exactly as I expected. Wrong, but oh so right all at once. Bacon bits on top, with a crispy rasher of bacon sticking out the top. What kind of demented genius came up with this?!

So then I got stuck in…

Clearly I took this photo BEFORE I took a bite

First bite was interesting. It is the cold vanilla ice cream and the chocolate and caramel that hits first. I had a pang of disappointment when the bacon flavour didn’t hit. But once the ice cream started to disappear from my mouth then hit the bacon. And it was strange.

And not in a good way.

In fact as I had a few more spoonfuls, it pains me to say it, but this sundae was wrong. So very, very, wrong. You know me and my love of bacon. But this sundae really has no right to exist. It’s not as if it was all some magical combination that someone freakishly discovered and had to share the taste explosion with the world (well the US anyway). It wasn’t like the salty of the bacon was the perfect foil to the sweet. The bacon just tasted, well, fatty. It is like some deranged lunatic (probably not dissimilar to myself) thought “Hey! I wonder if we made a bacon sundae if any crazies would buy it?!”. Well the answer is yes. This one did.

So did I finish it? Of course. Even eating the crispy bacon strip, all covered in melted ice cream, caramel, and chocolate. By that point my tastebuds were all messed up, so eating the strip didn’t seem any worse than the rest.

So there you go folks. I regret nothing of course. I do this so that you guys don’t have to.

Read More I Do This So You Guys Don’t Have To
28
Jun

With Storms and Fires Come Sunsets To Take Your Breath Away

By: muttler

Spectacular views at the ballpark

Well, you know the other day when I said it was 105 degrees the other day? Turns out it was one of the hottest Denver days EVER. Someone said they heard it was THE hottest ever. I thought it was a little odd that it was so hot here. But unfortunately with the hot weather, accompanied by a long dry spell and then lightening storms, comes fires. And unfortunately Colorado is in the thick of it as I type. But I’ll come back to these.

Since my posting yesterday, it has been time for work, with my conference starting yesterday. So far so good, although the vibe is a little lacklustre given the lack of networking opportunities. Not sure if it is usual or cost cutting, but with only slight morning and afternoon tea breaks, and no communal lunch venues, it means that discussions tend to be happening only sporadically. Shame really, as it is the point of a conference. Oh well, tomorrow is my day to present not once, but twice, so hopefully that initiates some good discussions with folks.

But work shmerk. You don’t read my blog to hear about work do you?! No problems, so what have I done that was exciting? Well, I didn’t have much opportunity, but I did have my evening. And of course, knowing me, since I found out there was some sporting action happening in town, that’s where I headed. Take me out to the ball game!

Yep, it was baseball night, with the Colorado Rockies taking on the Washington Nationals at Coors Field, only about 15 minutes walk away. The weather looked pretty precarious, but what was I going to do? Stay in my room and watch TV. Bah to that.

Take me out to the ball game!

So off I wandered to the ballpark. I’ve been to a few baseball grounds now and this one had a great old school feel to it. It’s only 20 years old (I found out later in my chat with a local later on) but it just felt like I reckon a baseball field should feel.

This blog has lacked self-portraits this time round hasn’t it?

In I wandered, getting my coupon for a $1 hot dog. Seemed it was Hot Dog night. OK then. Up a few levels I went to my pretty sweet seat, that was only 20 bucks. Good to see in a time of overpriced sports tickets, that it can still be affordable.

Mmmmm… dodgy hot dogs

On the way to my seat I collected on my 1 buck hot dog. Mmmm… actually, it wasn’t too flash. But I loved being able to splash on the pickle relish and onion. I felt like a real local.

Behind me at my seat was a great older couple who I ended up chatting with all through the game. Both were lovely and we chatted about all kinds of things. Lots of baseball, but also other US sports, Denver, Melbourne, and even AFL. In fact everyone I met at the ballpark, including the staff, were so nice. Certainly helps form a great experience.

Hangin’ out at the ball

Our discussion did turn though to the imposing fires. I say imposing as from my seat I could see straight toward the Rockies and to massive plumes of smoke. Absolutely amazing view, but holy crap they looked so close. Seemed it was freaking a lot of people out, so fingers crossed things can get under control.

Photos will never do it justice

But every cloud has a (sort of) silver lining I guess. And for me it was one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen. From my seat I could see through to the Rockies which were smoke clad and in the throes of an amazing lighting storm. So dark clouds, smoke, and lightning meant a spectacular half an hour as the sun disappeared. Photos could never do it justice, it really did seem special.

The Rockies getting said asses handed to them

Oh, and the game? The Rockies got their asses handed to them. My local friends were just shaking their heads at their teams performance, unfortunately with a slight resignation that their season wasn’t going to be so great. I hope they a proven wrong.

So with the game all over, I wandered back. Given my bad luck with ice cream so far (don’t worry… I will get back to Burger King soon), I tried another mission… to find some Ben & Jerry’s. And not just any. I needed to eat Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream. After years of watching the great man, I had to find his ice cream. So I found a Walgreens on the way back to the hotel that had B&J’s. Would I be in luck?

Thank you Rev. Sir Dr. Stephen T. Mos Def Colbert, D.F.A.

You betcha! Win! So I spent the last hour of my evening watching some ESPN and enjoying my Colbert special blend. And how was it? Pretty good! Vanilla, with caramel all through it as well as chocolate covered waffle cone pieces. Not my favourite flavour, but pretty freakin’ delicious!

Well… it will do until I get ice cream with bacon…

Read More With Storms and Fires Come Sunsets To Take Your Breath Away
27
Jun

Unleashing the Inner Bogan

By: muttler

The Ecstasy of Young Metal Dudes

OK. So I admit it. I listened to the Hysteria album by Def Leppard back in the day. But as lead singer Joe Elliott told us at one point in the evening, it is now 25 years old, so cut me some slack that I was young and didn’t know what I was listening to and hadn’t discovered “good music” yet. But that is doing it a bit of a disservice… go listen to “Pour Some Sugar On Me” and then tell me you didn’t just do a little bit of rockin’ out.

Anyway… when I found out that Def Leppard and Poison were doing a show in Denver, it went from a joking “I should go”, to a “no really, I should go”, to everyone I mentioned it to saying “damn straight you should go!”. It seems that everyone around my age has a sense of nostalgia (or perverse interest) in the 2012 versions of both Def Leppard and Poison. So as those of you who read my blog post yesterday will have seen, my interest resulted in a ticket to said arena spectacular.

I arrived at the Pepsi Centre, rockin one of my black t-shirts I thankfully brought with me (a Boris t-shirt, but black nonetheless). It wasn’t the sea of black I expected, but a strange mix of older metal folk, a little more countrified guys and gals and a healthy mix of “kids”. Not the demographic I would expect back home.

(Oh, throughout this you will have to make do with my crappy iPhone pics too due to the strictly enforced no camera policy too. Boo.)

Heading into the centre I was greeted to Lita Ford, 80’s hard rock “hottie”, just kicking off. Many of the older guys in the crowd clearly still hold a torch for Ms Ford as she belted through half an hour of hits (along with some new material), with quite a few of the gents in raptures. Nice start.

Bret Michaels makes his entrance

But really, most people were here for the other two bands, in seemingly equal doses, as when the lights went down again in preparation for Poison, people started losing their collective shizz. And when they opened with Look What The Cat Dragged In, I figured we were going to be in for a pretty fun ride, especially if they stuck with the hits. And they pretty much did. When you consider the 10 song set included Fallen Angel, Unskinny Bop, Every Rose Has It’s Thorn (in which the older woman next to me teared up bless her), and the great finisher Nothin’ But A Good Time, it was exactly what I wanted really.

Poison got me in a rockin’ mood

It is at this point too I have to acknowledge the dude to my other side. A younger dude with his gal, he lost it multiple times during Poison (a sign of things to come for the whole show) which was quite endearing to be honest. Sporting his Van Halen jersey, he was clearly here for a good time (and is the devil horn sporting chap in the top photo). I really should have got a photo with him.

The Def Leppard show begins!

And so on we go to the main event. Def Leppard arrived to a backdrop of a huge Union Jack and then proceeded to rock out in that 80’s British hard rock / soft metal fashion they’ve pedalled for the last 30 years. Rocket from said Hysteria album got a run second up, so I was thinking oh yeah! this shall be fun.

At least the light show was OK

And you know… it kinda wasn’t unfortunately. As their set progressed through pretty much the whole Hysteria album along with other tracks (including the now-obligatory acoustic rock out section in the middle of the set) I found all the songs blended into a mash of kinda-boring mid-tempo soft rock. Apologies to any Def Leppard fans who find this… I mean no disrespect… but it wasn’t quite the rock show I wanted. I think I got wrapped up in Poison earlier, and even listening to Pour Some Sugar On Me just a few days earlier.

Do I regret going? No way. But the longer it went on, the more kinda bored I got. Sure, Pour Some Sugar On Me was second-to-last which meant I got to get my air guitar out before I left, but the show just wasn’t as rockin’ or actually as bombastic as I would have hoped… Poison were easily the highlight for me.

So kudos to Def Leppard for making 1000’s of Denver-ites either relive the 80’s, or wish they grew up in the era of 80’s metal. They lapped it up, especially the young dude next to me. But me, I just wanted to rock out a little more.

Read More Unleashing the Inner Bogan
26
Jun

Denied!!!

By: muttler

I call bull

Yee haw folks. Another entry from freakin-hot Denver.

Yep. It is currently 106 degrees fahrenheit right now (so 41 degrees in our language). But don’t fret folks. It is happy hour once again and I have a beer in my hand. A local brew that is much like a Newcastle Brown for those playing at home. Mmmm.

Anyway, I thought I’d drop a blog post now as I am off to shenanigans tonight and most likely won’t post again today. So figured I’d share my initial thoughts of Denver now that I have been for a wander.

Started the day with a sleep in. Yep. Not counting my chickens, but no jet-lag last night. Slept straight through from midnight to 9am. Fingers crossed for a repeat performance tonight. Had a hotel brekky with some other conference folks and then went out into the heat to see what Denver had to offer.

It is a fairly nondescript city to be honest. To be fair though I have only seen what is in wandering distance from the main city area, but it has been overwhelmingly places to eat, places to eat, and more places to eat. Wandering the 16th St Mall, it was way more eating than shopping. Which is a bummer. Not that I want to shop really, but more interested in poking around some stores than eating. I did come across some interesting things in my travels.

Playin’ some piano on a glorious day

These folks were singing up a storm down the 16th St Mall. Seems as though there is a bunch of public pianos about which is cool. Not sure what song these guys were jamming, but it was better than the dude massacring Hey Jude I saw later on.

Hello? Anyone home?

Found this big dude just peeking in to the Denver Convention Centre. I had a look inside… couldn’t quite work out what he was looking at.

Seems as though they have a massive litter problem here

Came across the Denver Art Museum by chance. Woo! Closed on Mondays. Boo. Oh well, should find time to get there given it is close. Out front was this massive piece of public art. Pretty cool. What I liked more was the accompanying plaque…

I don’t follow no rules man!

No fondling the broom! What kind of deviant place was I visiting! I did blame the broom though for the degradation of contemporary morals such that I wasn’t allowed to fondle it. Oh well.

I hope there is no precedent for using this place

I also came across my local fallout shelter. Unfortunately capacity is only 20 people, so as soon as I hear any news I best get my ass down there.

OK. All that is well and good, but part of my agenda today was to find a Burger King. Why on earth would I want to go there?!?! I hear you ask. Well, because of… BACON SUNDAES. Yes, you read right. They have a Bacon Chocolate Fudge Sundae on the menu now. Holy yowsers. Of course I had to eat one!

So I found my nearest one, and promisingly was greeted with this…

Oh man… bacon free wi-fi? I like my wi-fi with bacon dammit.

Bacon! Oh yeah, it was going to happen. So in I go and proudly announce my order. “One bacon sundae please!!”. Then it happened. “Sorry sir, the ice cream machine has just broken down. Would you like something else?”. Nooooooooooo! Denied!!! My heart sank. No bacon sundae today. Oh well, I have a few days to get my taste buds on one.

With that disappointment out of the way, I fulfilled my second objective… to get my hands on a ticket for shenanigans tonight. This was a success. A little more than what I wanted to pay, but when in Denver…

Oh yeah, it’s the 80’s here in Denver

Be prepared for (hopefully) a shenanigan filled update tomorrow…

Read More Denied!!!
25
Jun

Sleepy Brew Time in Denver

By: muttler

Here’s hoping this brew puts me to sleep

Howdy from Denver all!

Nothing interesting to report in this first blog post, but thought I would post one anyway. A fairly uneventful trip (which is the best kind), although there was some storm drama coming into Denver. At one point we were about to be rerouted, but then got the green light which was nice.

Anyway, just a quick check in. It is 11pm here and I have slept about 3-4hrs in the past 24 hours. Hopefully the brew at the top of the post puts me to sleep 🙂

Until I do something interesting! Hopefully tomorrow all going to plan…

P.S Edit… Oh, I watched the film Chronicle on the plane on the way over. Holy crap it’s good! Go watch it!

P.P.S Edit again… it’s happy hour! Looks like 3-4 beers will be sending me to sleep 🙂

Read More Sleepy Brew Time in Denver