Jon and I went to our first Australian Rules Football (aka AFL aka footy) game this weekend. The Collingwood Magpies faced off against the Adelaide Crows at Etihad Stadium. We bought general admission tickets and found seats behind a pastor and a midwife and in front of a bunch of hilariously sarcastic drunk Collingwood fans. Many things were similar to attending a sporting event in the US, but as with all things Australian there were some amusing differences. It seems like Aussies use the same four letter words we do including many complaints about “sh*t kicks” (typically kicks that went right to the other team). BUT they also use words like “putrid” and “filthy” with great fervor and those seem to be as offensive to some as actual swear words.

The first half of the game befuddled us for the most part, though I like to think we got the gist of things. Lucky for us, at the half the pastor and midwife befriended us and explained so many things including
– the guys wearing all pink are “runners” who bring in messages to the players from the coaches, who sit up above the field
and
– the clock does stop for certain things, but they don’t show the game clock in the stadium so that players don’t know how much time is left

Then again, I’m not sure that last one explained anything. I did feel like I was able to follow the second half much better. I’ll get the hang of this eventually. It’s a really fast paced game with tons of action which makes it fun to watch even if you don’t know what is going on or why people keep yelling “ball”. And if that isn’t enough to keep you entertained you may get a chuckle each time the ball goes out of bounds and the umpire turns his back to the game and tosses it over his head back into play.

I’m hoping that following footy will help me understand some of the headlines around here. Or at least be able to make a high percentage guess on which ones are referring to the AFL and which are either rugby or soccer.

Here’s a quick test I gave myself… AFL, Rugby or Soccer? (hover over to see the answers)

Dons pip Hawks by two points

FFA, Glory set for drawn-out stoush

Thurston masterclass inspires Cowboys

Now since I don’t care about soccer or rugby, I can mostly avoid stories about them. Progress!

Now that Sara is down under with me, I figured I should take her out on a proper date! Imagine my surprise when I saw that the Palais Theatre in St Kilda was bringing none other than the Counting Crows to town on her third night here.  Shockingly it wasn’t sold out, so I scooped up some tickets a few days before the show and started listening to all the Counting Crows albums I have so I could be ready.  August and Everything After really brings back those Acalanes high school memories, while Recovering the Satellites came out during my UVA years.

After tailgating a bit at home, we got all dolled up and headed out to dinner.  Sadly, I did not bring a (LEGAL) “to-go” beer with me for the short walk, as I was trying to keep it classy for once.  After walking into the wrong restaurant first, we went to a small middle-eastern restaurant called 40 Thieves & Co – and it was quite good.  We split a few plates and a bottle of Australian wine.  Not only are we getting a solid discount on our spending with the *very* favorable USD/AUD exchange rate right now, it is always a nice surprise to get a restaurant bill and realize that’s the total – no adding sales tax and tip.  Apparently people here only tip for super exceptional service – and then only about 10% or so.  I believe minimum wage here is about $22/hour.

So we head over to the theatre and Sara is quite excited to see that Bobby Brown and Naughty by Nature will be there in late May.   We are then alarmed to see a long line of people waiting to buy concert souvenirs.  We bought some beers and proceeded to people watch until the concert started.  We spotted a nice mullet (sorry no photo) and quite a bit of folks wearing Counting Crows t-shirts from previous Australia tours.

The concert was entertaining, though sadly they did not play Mr. Jones.  The Australian crowd was pretty tame and remained seated the entire time.

Afterwards we headed out into the St Kilda night to see the “Blood Moon” – a total lunar eclipse that turned the moon red.  Quite a sight.  After treating my beautiful date to her favorite dessert of a McDonald’s ice cream cone, we headed home before we turned into pumpkins.