Assorted Aussie stories

In no particular order....

... It's been rain-free, partly cloudy and in the mid-80s here for a week, but today it rained some. About an hour ago, we had two brief showers. The first one lasted about 15 seconds, and the second lasted 20. Both would have gotten you quite wet. Not at all like Midwest rain, with its big, cold drops. These are finer, warmer tropical raindrops....


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... Trase and I took Joshie to North Stradbroke Island today. I've added a map above. We took the catamaran ferry from Cleveland to Dunwich ("Dunnitch"), and a bus thence to Point Lookout. It rained there, too, while we were on the Gorge Walk at the furthest point from shelter. We all got good and drenched in our clothes, but got to see 3 grey kangaroos about 20 yards away. Then it cleared and we swam in the warm Pacific for more than an hour. (Zoom in on Point Lookout on the map above; we were at the end of Kennedy Dr.) Josh and I worked on our body-surfing skillz...

... Walking back up the hill from the beach, two cars passed us, and we heard something hit the pavement as they rounded a corner. A beach bag had fallen from the roof of the second car, containing keys and a wallet, among other odds and ends. We waited a while for them to return, but in the end, brought the whole kit and caboodle back with us to Brisbane, since the owner's address was also in the city. We called and got his parents. Turns out the guy is staying on "Straddie" all week, but he'll be glad to know his vitals are safe...

... No only are the power plugs here 200 volts, but each outlet has an individual switch on it. Also, Australia has passed a law banning incandescent lights. Easier to do in a country where it rarely freezes. (My experience is that compact florescents don't like Michigan winters out-of-doors.)....

... The last vaunted India vs. Australia cricket test ended on Monday as a draw. If the teams aren't able to complete two innings in five days, it's a draw regardless of the score. When the first innings took nearly four days to complete, it was pretty obvious the whole last day that there was no point for the players to play or the fans to watch. This is my main complaint with an otherwise laudable pastime...

... Two great European beers you never see on tap in the U.S.: Old Speckled Hen and Kilkenny. Both can be found here. Brisbane has an enormous number of "hotels", which are mostly really century-old bars. Lots of them are on corners. But the residential areas have few. Real hotels, like the Marriott, etc. are virtually skyscrapers, and have fancy modern-looking bars....

Australian breezes

Hmmm... long time, no post. The fine Australian weather has a way of seeping down into your limbs. You kick back, open a beerie, turn on the cricket match and get lazy. Things you know you should do -- posting on your blog, for instance -- just don't seem so pressing....

And suddenly it's been four weeks, and you haven't posted a peep about your adventures. Oops. It's a problem, I guess.

We've had several days of beautiful weather, but the first couple weeks here, all the days fell into two categories: occasionally rainy and very rainy. As a semi-tropical climate near Brisbane, monsoonal rains are a possibility, though it hasn't rained much in recent years. Three years of below-average rains meant severe water restrictions, including bans on washing cars or watering gardens. People have installed rain barrels to save what does fall, and the dam levels are reported nightly on the news.

When we arrived, the reservoirs were below 20%, but some of the rain has gotten over the foothills, and the dams are now nearly 27% full -- giving this part of Australia another 7 months of municipal water supply. The drought has been broken with record flooding in some places -- a mixed blessing for many. But everyone's generally happy to have the rain.

Everyone, I think, except my brother-in-law Tony, who had taken several weeks of January off as a summer vacation. Now, it's true that he's gotten a healthy tan, but many days were spent indoors this past month. We've played some Mah-Jong, watched a good deal of cricket, and consumed lots of beer (responsibly).

Instead of trying to tell you about all our Aussie adventures at once, I'll just try to post more regularly and keep you filled in.

We're doing well, actually losing weight (thanks to the beautiful pool) and both thankful we haven't seen snow in a month. Yeah, it's rough.

Brisbane Australia

I'm Proud of You Lloyd Carr

This is to all you fans, (my husband included,) who were critics of Lloyd Carr. Many of you believe that in order to be a good Michigan coach, you need to win. Well yes, of course, else you don't have a job. And yet, Lloyd's critics are happy with Lloyd Carr today because he put one up in the win column. But in ten, twenty, thirty years, this game will be a statistic. You won't care- you'll be off criticizing the next coach. (In fact, you already are and he hasn't stepped on the field with the team yet.) But the players will remember that they played for him- they told him so in the locker room, and that's who really matters. Not me, or you, or the alumni club, or even the university football program.

Here's what should be said about being a Coach (capital C)- whether you're a little league soccer coach in a small town somewhere, or in the major leagues- coaching to millionaires. And since a majority of that team will not be professional football players, perhaps it is the lessons that Carr gave in respect to being humble and disciplined and hard working that should matter more that whether or not Michigan had a winning season this year. Maybe we should be happy that he stuck around long enough to gives us this many winning seasons. Not a lot of other Big 10 programs can say as much.

Carr is a Coach... From Navarre, who needed a swift kick now and then to do anything, to Manningham and Perry who needed to learn some humility to do everything, Carr didn't let the media nor the fans dictate to his program. And honestly- do you really want that? Do you want a coach who is going to come in and change to whims because someone who pays a lot of money isn't happy? Those of us who have no money (and there are more of us that have no money and have) wouldn't be very happy then either.

So let's hear some of the critiques about Carr.
1. Carr isn't a good public speaker. Check. Got ya. He's dull, even tragically boring at times. But there are a lot of dumb sideline and press conference reporters out there who haven't asked a good question in years. Do I want to hear the same statement over and over again like I do from other coaches? "We just need to keep doing what we're doing and play hard." "We need to play good football." "Our defense needs to step up- and our offense needs to move the ball." Well, DER--- I would rather skip all that crap and have him head to the locker room to get ready for the next half/game/whatever... Not give lip service to a bunch of fans that are going to critique him no matter what he's done or said. How many of us have said, "He's doing a great coaching job this game."

2. Carr doesn't run a "this or that" offense and he doesn't win bowl games (neither did Saint Bo.) But more times than naught, we were happy on Saturday evenings in the Fall because Michigan had won. He won Big Ten Championships, year after year after year. He has more players going into the NFL every year than any other Michigan coach-- including Bo. (gasp!)

3. He doesn't show enough emotion. (Cry and/or talk enough trash.) Nope. But if he did- y'all would call him a pansy. FYI- neither does the anti-Christ Jim Tressle, or many other coaches that stick around for very long. What Carr does do is point out the good and bad plays on this ("boring old") television show every week. He praises his players-- or tells them (and us) how they really messed up and what they need to work on.

4. He retired too early in the season- not allowing Michigan to have good leverage on who they really wanted for their next coach. Hmmm... I agree with you here on this one too. He made a mistake with that one to be sure. One question though: Would his critics have shut up long enough for people to enjoy the win yesterday if he didn't state his intentions as early as he did? Who knows.

Instead, Lloyd Carr:
Runs a program that other teams respect, fear, and have to get ready for weeks and weeks in advance. Anti Christ, JTressel even says that OSU's season is spent getting ready for Michigan.

Helps sponsor/run events that earn thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars for charities.

Makes his players show respect to other teams and their coaches (some trash talk excluded, of course) and holds his players accountable when they're making asses of themselves.

Puts in his second, third, and fourth string players when the game is won--- as to give them practice and as to not run up the score on the other team just because Michigan can.

Quietly, yet firmly reprimands other programs when they haven't done the same.

Gives his kids the benefit of the doubt and the support needed to get past their own critics.

Remembers the name of one of my students, (who sees him every year at Carr's Car Wash for Kids,) and his family members, and his teachers (wink-wink,) and his friends, and introduces him to the new players every year.

He gets down from the shoulders of his players as he's being carried off the field and into the locker room on his last game as a coach to shake hands and congratulate the other team on a game well played.

That's the type of man that I'm proud to have running the team of my university.

So- maybe it's because I'm a member of the Pollyanna School of Optimism and Niceness, (which has served me well- ask Bud and Pat about the MSU game,) or maybe I'm just a sucker for sweet endings. But I say, Hail! Hail to Michigan--- Well Done Lloyd Carr- I'm going to miss you heaps and heaps.