Farewell One Tree Hill

It's the show I named the blog after so I had better offer comment on the series' final season, which I finished watching back in April.
One Tree Hill isn't a show that was given much air time here in Australia and I wound up watching it on the net over the final three seasons. If the many TV channels here can't find a spot for it I was always going to watch it however I could.
Now the show could have wrapped up happily after the sixth season when Lucas and Peyton, OTH's two central characters by this stage, drove off into the sunset.
But it pressed on and evolved and managed to remain fresh. Though it took a little while.
I was pleased when they finished up season 8 and announced it would return for a final season - not a lot of shows are given the chance to finish on their own terms.
We saw a few characters return during the course of season 9 - Chris Keller, who I always hated because he spoke in the third person far too much, Dan Scott had a much larger role, Deb also bobbed up and even Lucas made what I viewed as a wasted cameo for an episode.
The central plot of Nathan's kidnapping was far fetched but, then again, it is a soap and if I had a problem with that then why didn't I give up around the time of Peyton's crazy stalker who pretended to be her brother?
In a way I think the final time jump was unnecessary - I didn't need to know that Jamie would become a champion basketballer (he certainly grew a couple of feet as a teenager!) but going back to the start (with basketball the central focus) worked well all season so why not finish off the same way.
Music has always been central to the show and it was a nice touch that Gavin Degraw came back to sing I Don't Want To Be (the show's theme) in the final episode - repeating his appearance in the very first where he also performed the song.
Few shows can last nine seasons, especially the teen-type series. Look at similar shows - The OC (4 seasons), Dawson's Creek (6 seasons) - they haven't made it nearly as far and that is a credit to Mark Schwahn and how he has continually reinvented it. Sure, it did miss Lucas and Peyton in the last couple of seasons and I would have liked to have seen Rachel return one more time but I'm very glad I came across One Tree Hill.
It was time well spent.

My '16 Candles' moment

If you've ever seen the classic 80s film 16 Candles, you'll recall that Molly Ringwald's character Sam's 16th birthday is overlooked by her family.
This leads her to exclaim - 'I don't believe it, they f***ing forgot my birthday!'.
Well it was my birthday earlier this week and my housemate forgot. He was tipped off around the 8.30pm mark by another friend but I couldn't help but recall the 16 Candles moment.
Granted, my milestone was far less significant than a teenage girl's 16th. Still, it was a shade on the disappointing side that someone you've lived with for more than half a decade could be unaware of your birthday.
On one hand, though, it wasn't surprising and a shade amusing in a way.

Happy 2010

Happy New Year and I hope 2010 is a good one!

Baby news

Congratulations to my friends Johan and Lena in Sweden on the birth of their second child.
And thanks for the photo! (I know you check this blog now and then).
No news from me on that front (or the girlfriend front for that matter) but you never know what the future holds.

My own `Sixteen Candles' moment

Anyone who grew up in the 80s would be familiar with the movie Sixteen Candles.
Well, today I had my very own Sixteen Candles moment - my housemate forgot my birthday.
Initially it was disappointing that someone I have shared a house with for as long as we have been could not remember a birthday.
Then when he realised I actually felt a bit bad for him because he was feeling pretty guilty. So much so he pestered me for a while to allow him to take me out for a drink tonight. If nothing else his reaction shows that he cares.
In the movie Molly Ringwald's character turns 16 but her parents forgot because of everything else that was going on. It has that classic line - `I don't believe it. They f***ing forgot my birthday'.
I never thought that would actually happen. For the record I turned 34 today.
Yesterday I spent most of the day out and about so today I chilled out for the most part.
I spent the day at the races then went to a mate's house party on the other side of Sydney. I met a bunch of interesting people and had quite a nice time. So it was a good way to spend a `birthday weekend'.
By the way, happy birthday to Brant whose birthday is the 21st but thanks to being on the other side of the world we share, technically, the same day.

Construction

I had a call this morning from my rather excited mum to tell me work has commenced on building a new house.
Given the old one was only demolished a couple of weeks back this movement is encouraging and perhaps they will be able to move back in around July. Given holds up that can happen with weather and such perhaps August might be more realistic.
On another topic, I had a visit to a chiropractor today for the first time and it seems, no surprise to me mind you, that there are some posture created issues that are causing discomfort. So I was sent off for some X-rays which were done straight away (one of the great things about a metro city) and hopefully there will be progress next week.

I love Melbourne

Despite looking like a stunned mullet in this picture, I had an awesome time in Melbourne this weekend.
The trip was the one I mentioned a week or so back about being the challenge I set myself, to do something out of the comfort zone.
So it was a trip to Melbourne, where I knew nobody and very little about getting around even though I had been there once before, about nine years ago. My situation then was much different to now, though.
I flew down on Friday lunch time and arrived in Melbourne to temperatures of about 45 degrees (Celsius), the city having been in the middle of a heatwave. It was hot, no doubt, but fortunately it was a dry heat with very little humidity and that is a lot easier to handle.
I arrived at my hotel in Carlton and changed my shirt, then headed off into the city to explore.
I remember just as I was walking there how awesome it felt to be doing it. I made it to the city in about 10 minutes and took a tram ride around the city until I arrived at Federation Square.
The first thing I wanted to do was check out the Australian Racing Museum and it was good, as far as museums go. I then walked along the river to Rod Laver Arena where the Australian Open tennis was being played and caught another tram back to the city.
I met a guy on the tram who was from, well I'm not sure where exactly, Canada or the US I think and he was telling me how he was going to St Kilda. After a bit more walking around I decided to head that way myself and caught another tram down there.
I walked along St Kilda beach, which was packed as you'd expect with the weather, and had dinner there as well.
After that I caught another tram back but caught the wrong one and almost ended up getting lost until I realised I needed to get off. I walked a few blocks back towards the city and eventually got onto the right tram. By this time it was much more comfortable and I found people to be generally pretty nice. There was one idiot who tried to pick a fight with a tram driver and another guy on a bike that almost collided with a tram I was on.
I walked back towards my hotel, it was 9pm by now, and missed the street I needed to turn down and got a bit lost but I didn't really mind because I was enjoying the walk despite being a bit tired.
I hung out in my room for a while and went to bed a bit late, then got up Saturday morning to prepare for my trip to the races (of course). More on that shortly.

In with the new

This is a very trivial yet significant moment - today I bought a new wallet!
I don't know how other guys see their wallets, and I didn't think I had any particular attachment to mine, but it was a big deal cleaning out the old one and filling up the new.
I reckon I bought the old wallet, a surf-style Ripcurl wallet, at least 10 years ago and maybe more. I'd hung onto it while it deteriorated to the point where there were holes in it but today I jut felt it was time.
I was amazed at how much crap I had jammed into that thing. Now I have a slightly more stylish wallet, a shade less juvenile but only a shade.

The pool guy

For the first time in at least half my life I went `lap' swimming tonight.
It was actually a very good time though I only did six laps (hey, when you haven't done something like that in years and years you don't do 50 straight up!) it was a good experience.
I swum in an outdoor heated pool and it was a very pleasant experience. After being pestered for weeks to try it I am glad I did, and since I bought a pair of goggles I'd say I will be going back.

In other news, it appears there won't be a lot left from inside the house though my family isn't yet allowed to enter the shell yet as it is considered dangerous. Apparently there was an appeal on the radio at home today and people came from everywhere to help out which is great and I think a little overwhelming for mum and dad.
Someone even offered to let them stay in an empty house they own. Not sure what the long term situation is other than they intend to rebuild but those decisions won't be made until next week. Personally I have been a little shaken today but in a weird way, I still don't know how I feel about it all just yet. Maybe that will come when I see it.

500 and counting...

I was hoping I'd have something awesome to post for my 500th post on this blog but you'll have to settle for a picture of the great Homer Simpson.
Woo-hoo, 500 posts - I didn't think I'd make it that far.

A classic Homer quote or two to celebrate:

- ``When will I learn? The answer to life's problems aren't at the bottom of a bottle, they're on TV!''
- ``Stealing! How could you?! Haven't you learned anything from that guy who gives those sermons at church? Captain What's-his-name?''
- ``No, no, no, Lisa. If adults don't like their jobs, they don't go on strike. They just go in every day and do it really half-assed. ''
- ``Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand!''
- ``And how is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?''

I could go on and on and on....