A wonderful week

Has it been a wonderful week for you? And, by wonderful, I mean full of wonder. I’ve spent a good part of the week wondering about things. Some things have been good and some things have just been odd.

 

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There are some deeply unhappy people in the world who can’t help themselves but try to impose their unhappiness on others. I don’t get it. I really don’t. It reflects more on them than on the people they dump on.

Criticism is different, but criticism should be constructive rather than destructive.

If you don’t like something that someone does, reach out to the person and strive for some sort of agreement. If you can’t, then let it go. Trying to humiliate the person by round about ways says more about the intrinsic evil in the person complaining.

I really do wonder why such unhappy people persist in trying to contaminate the happy with negativity.

Other forms of wonder

I dreamt I caught a whale

On Tuesday night, I had this vivid dream. I was on a beach. There was rolling surf. I had a surf rod and an old fashioned Alvey^® fishing reel. I can’t remember the bait I used but I cast out long and low. I felt a bite and ‘set’ the hook. I slowly reeled in something which didn’t give much of a fight, although, it had weight to it. As it came closer in the shallows of the surf I could see it was a small juvenile whale.

I wonder what this means. I hope it means I’m going to be finding myself on a beach soon and fishing. I’ve never gone whale watching, but I’ve been on boats when dolphins and whales have breached. It would be cool to go and see some whales and dolphins.

I read later in the week that an Icelandic whaling company had caught a Blue whale. I wonder if my dreamt meant I need to visit Iceland to go on a photography tour. That would be very cool. If it wasn’t for the low humidity, I’d love to do a photography tour of Antarctica. I’d love to see and photograph Orca and penguins and big southern elephant seals.

If anyone reading this has a knack at interpreting dreams please let me know what you think.

State of Origin

One of the most wonderful things to happen this week was game three of the Men’s State of Origin played at Lang Park. The spiritual home of Origin and the home of rugby league in Queensland.

It was the final representative game for Queensland fullback, Billy Slater. He’s regarded by many experts as one of the finest fullbacks to have ever played representative football. With the injury to Queensland Captain, Greg Inglis, the honour of leading the Mighty XXXX Maroons onto the hallowed grass of Lang Park was given to Billy.

The lead up to the game had all the usual hype from sports journalists some of whom, have no idea about rugby league. NSW had won the first two games of the series and therefore had won this year’s Origin series. NSW was keen for a clean sweep, a 3-0 whitewash. It’s happened a few times before and both Queensland and NSW have enjoyed the glory from such season clean sweeps. The media hype went into overdrive and the cockroach lovers were dumping on cane toad supporters like there was no tomorrow. It was hilarious reading and listening to Blues supporters talking of a new era of Blues dominance. Sure, NSW may win next year’s series and the next after that, but given Queensland’s history over the last decade, it’s a bit soon to be talking of Blues dominance 😂

Game three was one of the best games of rugby league ever. NSW played very well with solid defence in the face of a lopsided penalty count and lack of possession. Towards the end of the first half, a NSW professional foul saw James Maloney sent off leaving NSW with 12 players. As in game 2, Queensland failed to capitalise and NSW exploited some fatigue in the Queenslanders and scored two tries in quick succession.

The never say die Maroons came back and led 18-12 up to the end. The last ten minutes were some of the best and most tense moments of an Origin game ever.

In the end, the Mighty Queensland XXXX Maroons defeated the NSW Victoria Bitter Blues (it’s odd that NSW has this long relationship with a beer company named after a state that doesn’t embrace rugby league as much as Queensland and NSW). It was a great win and a great way for fullback Billy Slater to finish his Origin career.

I really hope next year, the National Rugby League (NRL) schedules a Women’s State of Origin game with a Men’s State of Origin game. Preferably on a Sunday afternoon and preferably starting at 3 pm for the women and a kick off for the men at 6 pm. The only entertainment we need is a school choir to sing the National Anthem and the rugby league itself. We don’t need some expensive musical squawking and we don’t need some expensive fancy singer to butcher our National Anthem. Give the school choir free entry and for their singing let them stay on to watch both games.

Paul Cox

One of the sad things I read in the wake of Wednesday’s game was a tweet from Paul Cox. I don’t know how long we’ve followed each other on Twitter. Paul is a Vietnam War veteran. He fought for and served our country. He has been active on Twitter for a long time and I enjoy reading his tweets. Paul was recently diagnosed with terminal lung carcinoma and he knows his fate.

This tweet brought tears to my eyes 😢

My last ever Origin all things being equal. It has given me enormous joy over the decades to see the dominance Queensland has and always will have in this arena. If it should last 1000 years, Queensland’s run will be its finest hour.

— Paul Cox (@cynicq) July 11, 2018

In other news

There is a soccer tournament in Russia, a bicycle race in France plus some tennis in England.

What I’ve eaten this week

Hmmm… the weight situation isn’t too flash. I’ve been sitting between 81.5 and 82 kilograms this week. I really want to get to 77 kilograms.

This week has seen some enjoyment of pickles. No, not gherkins, but soaking some cut vegetables in acid and salt for a bit of extra taste. I’ve been slicing fennel, red onion and spring onions and soaking them in vinegar and lime juice. It’s been a refreshing side to the meats I’ve been cooking.

Thursday was pay day and I was feeling dog tired. Wednesday night was a late one because of the Origin game and all I could think of was having a piece of cake for morning tea. At about 10.30 I went for a wander down to Urban Bean Espresso Bar and discovered no tarts or cakes or slices to my liking and nothing within my budget 😩😢

I waited until lunch time and walked to Mavi and bought a lamb lunch box which contained shaved lamb, tabouli, crispy hot chips and lashings of garlic aioli. It was really good and really filling.

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Final thoughts

Did you have a wonder filled week?
What has made you sit down and wonder about lately?
Do you have vivid dreams?

Footy food round up for the 2017 State of Origin series