Today England defeated Denmark 3-0 at the World Cup. My maternal grandmother is from England, born in a town called Bury St. Edmonds. Bury is located in Suffolk, not far north of London in a flattish farming area. The town is noted for its well-preserved abbey and for the Greene King Brewery, founded by the family of 20th century writer Graham Greene (the brewery itself dates back to 1799).

You used to be able to get some Greene King brews in BC liquour stores, but for some reason they're not stocking them anymore (at least nowhere I can find). My favorites were Abbott Ale and Suffolk Strong. Greene King has has expanded to own a number of breweries, and notable brands like Morland Old Speckled Hen and Ruddles County (which you can get here) are now part of the GK empire.

"In the beginning, there was volume, and the Lord, he said, 'Go bang thy head!'"

Australian rock band Heaven

"Give me the sound of rolling dice
Pour me a whiskey, don't think twice
Deal me the card that'll take my blues away..."

Australian rock band Angel City

"Now Butcher, he was the leader of the gang;
he had a reputation for being tough but fair."

Australian rock band Rose Tattoo


Let's talk about Australia for a bit. Any nation that can make a sea-shell shaped opera house the centrepiece of its largest city whilst producing bands like AC/DC has to be a great country. Here are some Aussie tidbits:

-Tasmania's capital ciy, Hobart, is reminiscent of Victoria, British Columbia.

-The Great Barrier Reef is truy great. Jump in the water and look at the fishes. Learning to scuba dive is easy and rewarding. But don't learn to scuba dive in a class full of Europeans, as they will humiliate you by being able to lap you during the swimming tests. You'll know how Team Canada felt in the opening games of the 1972 series. However, you'll have the last laugh by persevering, by having better lung capacity, and by not being laughed at by Australian diving pros because of your shitty taste in music.

The coral reefs are like mountains, and you feel like you're flying as you glide over and amongst them. The fishes are vivid underwater, almost like they are neon and the ocean is supplying them with electric current.

-The 'Red Centre', as they call the land around Ayers Rock and Alice Springs, is utterly enchanting. It's not just a 'fuckin' piece of flat land.' The landscape is full of rocky formations of the kind you'll find on the sandstone beaches of Gabriola Island, except each formation is to you what a Gabriola beach outcrop is to a 1:32 scale plastic army man. It's easy to see why Ayers Rock has such huge significance to Aboriginal Australians, as it seems to change colour with the weather and time of day, and has a 2001 monolith-like presence on the landscape.

-Sydney is maybe the sexiest city in the world.

-Australia is not as advanced a beer nation as Canada. Too much mass-produced stuff and not enough independent breweries. Perhaps things have changed over the past few years. (One thing about Super Robertson is that I question his beer sophistication; he'd actually make a good Australian.) Nonetheless, a lot of guys in Australia seem pissed half the time.

I begin this site essentially to counter certain character-assasinating discourse laid down by Super Robertson (roadbedonline.com). However, since Mr. Robertson updates his 'Robertson Chronicles' only about once every two months, there should be plenty of time to discuss other pressing issues of the day.

Stay tuned...