UNLEASH THE FURY! Saw "Hulk" on Friday at Readings. My first time at Readings Cinema, thought it was a nice complex. Even have Copenhagen ice cream but Wetherill cinemas have NZ natural - nothing beats NZ natural. But thats another story. I quite enjoyed the movie. It started off slowly but I guess the foundations for the story had to be laid. You spend most of the movie anticipating the arrival of the big fella and 40 mins into the film, he arrives with a bang! Some of the scenes where he went beserko in the desert against the US army was awesome! Crash and burn baby, crash and burn. But as usual, it's the love of a good woman that is able to tame the green monster. All in all, 7.5 out of 10.

Minh had his birthday this Saturday and had dinner at Habib's. Ah yes, the now legendary Habib's. My first experience at this eatery was not memorable cause everything was too salty, but this time around it was actually quite nice. MachXimus the bottomless pit was moaning on the way there how he was too full and wouldn't be eating anything but he ended up eating not only his plate but the leftovers from others as well.
We got Minh a 6 month gym membership. The dude is gonna be HUGE at the end of this year.

The night kicked on at Shellbourne Hotel. Retro was the theme of the night and it ABSOLUTELY ROCKED! It was a nice change from the usual R n B jaunts. But they played some great classics including Debbie Harry.
There was Billy Ocean - "Get out of my dreams, get into my car" , another great tune. They were all great.
It was a lot of fun. Finished it off at Pancakes at the Rocks. That place is becoming a traditional late night snacking hole but the toilet there is a piss pot. Absolutely stinks!

Unfortunately the dogs lost to Penrith by 2 points. If they'd a won, woulda capped off a great weekend for me. Ah well , at least the boys put in a great effort.

Wimbledon starts tonight. As a youngster , I dreamt many a times of playing on the hallowed turf of Wimbledon.

I have a special association with tennis. It was the first sport that I truly loved. I first started playing it in yr 5. My best mates at the time Anthony and Gerald and started going to training on Friday arvos and not long after we joined our first competition playing on Saturday mornings. Our team was called CBT & BC - Canterbury Bankstown Tennis and Bowling Club down at Moxon Road in Punchbowl. We use to look forward to Fridays and Saturdays immensely. I will never forget hearing the roar of Anthony's Nissan Patrol coming around the corner on Saturday mornings to pick me up to go to tennis. It took us time but we eventually got to the peak and won the division one comp sometime in 91. It was something I will cherish forever.

Sunday mornings, Gerald would without fail call me and say "Tu, how about a fiver" as in best of 5 sets match. We played and we played and kept records. I was not the biggest guy but was more in the Hewitt mold - fast , determined and cunning. During 7 years of best of five set matches, I only lost once and that use to piss them off big time cause they were twice my size and tried to blast me off the court. I loved it. Count one for the underdog.

I cringe at my so called "Agassi" phase although I thought it was cool at the time. Agassi with the flowing mullet, denim shorts, lava bike pants, lava shirt and neon nike air shoes. When you're young , you're impressionable and I had everything but the mullet. Could never grow a good one. I still have my Agassi shirt and wear it now and then for old times sake. I still like Agassi to this day. He's still at the top of his game after 17 years, thats a great achievement.

Anthony and I grew apart once he went to De La Salle and Gerald moved between his parents and it was never the same. These were my tennis soulmates and not only did we drift apart, we eventually stopped playing tennis together during the mid 90's. I will never forget the great times I had playing tennis. It gave me so much and it built character. It built my competitive edge and it forged great memories I will carry forever. Sometimes I wish I could go back. They were the best times of my life.......

Do dreams tell you something? I've been thinking so much about Wollongong in the last few weeks.

I plan to go down to Wollongong in the next few months and take pictures of my old house and the area where I grew up. My brother was born in Wollongong hospital. I haven't been back there in over 10 years but I still reckon I know the way to my old house.

When we first came to Australia, we stayed in a hostel down in Wollongong. I see old pictures of my parents and me as a toddler and it moves me every time. Sometimes I don't realise how lucky I am cause I will never have to struggle like my parents once did to give me the life I live today. I remember my mum use to take me to the park within the grounds of the hostel and she use to cut me fruit while I climbed on the swings.

I still remember the first place we called home, it was a small townhouse the street was called Renn st in Fairy Meadow. It was close to the beach. It use to have wooden tiles and no carpet. There was a railway track behind us and I remember spending many any hr catching tadpoles in the back pond. I had my old trusty CHIPS style motorcyle which kept me amused as well.

I went to St John Vianney's. I dunno how I got into that school cause I'm not catholic. I think it was the nearest school. I know that I cried like Niagara falls on my first day at school. I remember going to church and singing songs "We belong to Jesus....." - somehow that song stays in my mind. I remember one of my friends dads convincing my father to let me play junior rugby league. I think this was the earliest memory of me being involved in any sport. However, I also remember vomiting in my friends dads car on the way home from a match as a result of the halftime oranges.

My old man use to work for BHP but when he ended up getting a job for Australia Post in Sydney, he use to commute up before it got too much. We must have moved from Wollongong to Bankstown in 84 or 85. Into the big smoke, to start a new life...........

But I'll never forget Wollongong. It will always be a special place for me. It was where we got the chance to start a new life.

I will come back soon.....

My childhood friend Phong got married around a month ago. I hadn't seen Phong since our days at Sydney Uni but we spent a large majority of our childhood together. He was a friend of my cousins and he came to live in Australia from Norway. He ended up renting a house across the street from us and although he was 3 yrs older than me, we did everything together growing up. We went swimming and did karate together. He was a karate freak , could do the splits and when we use to spar at Karate, the teacher use to put 2 guys up against him. We went to gradings together and spent many a late nights playing PGA golf and Wolfenstein on his computer.

Now I see him with a beautiful wife and a good job as an accountant and building his dream home. He's done so well for himself and I'm so happy for him.

See photos on the right.

Had a quiet night at home on Sat. Watched the footy all day. Caught the late night movie, it was Universal Soldier starring none other than Jean Claude Varenberg, better known as Jean Claude Van Damme the former muscles from Brussels. Here is the man who once famously claimed that "you could crack open walnuts with his butt". What the heck happened to him?!?!?!?!? Once one of the most famous action stars in the world and a big favourite of mine, he seems to have disappeared into the doldrums. Last I heard was that he was battling a cocaine addiction. Ahhh cocaine, the scourge of many a Hollywood star. It seems that the only movies he makes these days are b grade straight to video flicks.
Star of the Menaham Globus films from the late 80's, I still believe his best work were his earlier efforts. Bloodsport and Kickboxer. That was Van Damme at his best. His boyish good looks and rock hard physique won him many a fan. My friends and I use to quote these movies no end. They were the best. Even Double Impact wasn't too bad ( the boat scene hahaha ).
Even "No retreat No surrender" is a movie that I remember fondly, it had great fight scenes. They were classic Van Damme.

His later efforts were terrible. All seemed to coincide with his drug abuse. I remember watching Universal Soldier 2 at Bass Hill drive in. It was sh_thouse.

I don't want to remember him like that, I want to remember him being hailed NUT SU CAO - the white warrior in the final battle sequences of Kickboxer.

I got a blinding headache and feel light headed. Just had a lemonade tonight, buggered if I know whats wrong with me. Probably lack of sleep.

The HULK gets released in the US a week from today. I'll be anxiously checking the reviews as they come to hand. This time last yr, Spiderman was the must see movie. But the HULK is my hero. I remember watching bits of the legendary series as a wee toddler more than 15 yrs ago. Back then, there was no cgi but Lou Ferrigno covered in green paint. I thought he was so cool. It was as if he was saying "I'm 6 foot 5, 300 pounds, here's a most muscular, f&*( you!". The cgi hulk is over 10 foot tall and weighs nearly a tonne. How he comes across on the big screen remains to be seen. I'll be definitely seeing it in the week of it's release.

"Even now I can feel it, buried somewhere deep inside.
Watching me, waiting. But you know what scares me the most?
When I can't fight it anymore, when it takes over,
when I totally lose control ... I like it.............."

Origin 1 came and went with a bang. NSW got up 25-12 in an epic battle full of big hits and brutal intensity. Suncorp stadium really was the cauldron, the noise reverberated from the TV, it was a great atmosphere. In the end, QLD suffered some early injuries and ran out of gas. Andrew Johns showed why he is the best player in the world. Man, I am sooooo pumped. It's watching games like this that inspire you.

Farken buggered is how I'm feeling now. Every bone in my body aches. Found out at 5pm that oztag was on and not cancelled as originally thought. Made some frantic phone calls to the boys and we ended up with 10 players. We ended up winning 5-2 and everyone played unbelievably well. It was a good effort full of heart and the opposition players threw absolutely everything at us but we withstood the onslaught and gave some of our own back. My arms still ache from Rock climbing and I think I pulled a back muscle during the game. But I've got a big grin in my face cause it's all been worth it. There's nothing like a good win from the boys. I'm gonna sleep like a baby tonite!

Tried my first mango beer on Friday. Surprisingly I found it pretty easy to drink and I managed to finish a 300ml glass which is a pretty good achievement for me. Still went pretty red as though and as the boys headed off to dinner and then karaoke, I stumbled home to watch the Dogs play the Roosters. The dogs got up 28-18 and it was a great win by the boys and it partially erased memories of the shocking loss to the tigers the week before. Big Willie Mason and the Ogre were on fire for the blue and whites. It was a great way to start the weekend.

Went rock climbing on Saturday. I had never been before and I found it to be a quite challenging and enjoyable new experience. The place we went to was called "The Pitch" at Wetherill Park and was in some sort of hangar. After a quick lesson, we got down to the nitty gritty. There was a wall that had an upside down divot halfway that claimed many a victim initially. Chi conquered it firstly and then I had a go and luckily enough was able to tame the beast! Woot woot!

The last wall I attempted was by far the hardest. It had 4 upside down arches that you had to negotiate. I barely could get past the first one. I'm sure there's some sorta technique involved but that son of a bitch kicked my ass. It kicked it real good! Psyched myself back up for a second attempt but I couldn't improve on my previous attempt. I'm gonna get that sucker one day.

Went to Uber Lounge later that night. The place was tiny and it was chocker block. The crowd looked good though. Plenty of fine looking women! I winged it in the main bar until the crowd dispersed a bit before hitting the dance floor. Some of the girls left early cause it was too packed though.
Finally got to see Mach on the dance floor. Many feeble attempts have been made in the past to get the dude to turn it up on the dance floor but he brutally rejected them all. But he finally succumbed and it was great to see him doing his version of the "Standing still" on the dance floor hahahah.
Jemaine also seemed to do well. Didn't get to see it but from what I heard there were a couple of guys fighting over her. That's like her 5th offer in the last 10 days hahahahha. She is on fire!
Headed off to pancakes after Uber for some late night sustanence and it was again MachXimus who was the star of the show, goin one on one with Lizzyo hahahahha.

Got home at 5am. A good nite in all.

Can't wait til Wed. Bring on Origin, bring it on!

Don't really watch Big Brother but my friends mentioned that one of the housemates was wearing these skimpy PJ's. Saw the clip on the Panel and I must say that the PJ's of the housemate in question, Jo, left very little to the imagination. Not that I'm complaining or anything cause she looked incredible.

I am sooooo in the mood to spend some money. I might go on a bit of a splurge this weekend. T-shirts and DVD's are at the top of my agenda.

Oztag was called off again last night. Major bummer. That's been like 3 weeks in a row that it has been cancelled due to rain. I was really looking forward to playing.

I'm in a real big fitness kick at the moment. There are periods when I get lazy and bum around but at the moment I'm doing a lot of physical stuff and eating really well which I am happy about. Starting to run late at night in this freezing weather. Throw on some trackies, my bulldogs beanie and a sweater and I wing it around the block at a good pace for 15 minutes or so. It feels really good. I think I'm the fittest I've been since my finger injury. Recently added tennis again to my repertoire which is nice. I remember the days I use to live and breathe tennis, playing it like 4 times a week during my peak years. Those days are long gone but I'm surprised at how cleanly I've been hitting the ball. I guess it's like riding a bike, you never forget. I would have been lucky playing tennis once or twice a year for the past few yrs but I'm hoping to play it every few weeks now. I've forgotten how much I loved to play. Sometimes I wonder how far I could have gone if I kept on playing serious tennis.

Looking forward to the Long Weekend. Any sorta holiday is a special occasion if you work full time. A couple of the guys sent around brochures for dance parties over the weekend. Should be a lot of girls there hopefully.

I've been watching Degrassi High religiously on cable for the last few months. I loved this show as a youngster growing up and it still has an impact on me to this very day . This is without doubt the best TV series that dealt with teenage life and it's associated problems . Forget Beverly hills 90210, this show deals with the real issues and although made over 10 years ago, it's issues are still relevant today.

My fave characters are Joey and Wheels. Joey is a real livewire and a bit of a smoothie. His relationship with Caitlain becomes a focal point in the series. Wheels character is currently going through a bad phase. Ever since his parents were killed in a car crash, he's been on the slide. Ditching school , stealing and lying profusively which resulted in his grandma throwing him out. The last few eps have dealt with Wheels and it's starting to get interesting. Funnily enough, I can remember the eps still but am loving watching it again.

I remember checking out a few websites recently that focused on a Degrassi union 10 yrs after the show finished and it was amazing looking at how the gang has changed. Christian said it best when he said Joey looks like Andre Agassi now. The cheesy grin is still there but the hair no longer is.

In ending

"Everybody get ready and get into gear
The Degrassi sensations, the one and only, zit remedy is here!"

I still haven't seen the MATRIX reloaded. After hearing somewhat non flattering reviews from my friends, I might give it a miss. There are only 2 movies that I am REALLY REALLY looking forward to this year, them being "The Hulk" and "Terminator 3". I've been checking the trailers for both these movies religiously. The latest T3 trailer just blew my mind. The T-X is looking very impressive.

The Hulk is out on June 26th. T3 is out on July 17th. I can't wait!

Well, I've finally arrived in Blog land. After reading the many musings of my friends during the past few months, I've decided to join them and send my thoughts into cyberspace. To be more precise, it was after reading Minh's rantings that I decided it would be a good place for me to write down my feelings and thoughts.

This has been a mixed weekend for me. Went to Lafornaia on Friday for the second time in 6 days. Really enjoy going there. Nice atmosphere and love the pizza. Then we went back to my place to watch old video clips. Man that was an absolute blast! Plenty of New Kids on the Block , Kylie and many other classics. Halfway through the tape there was a 2 second snippet of Debbie Harry's "I want that man" - but that was all it was, a snippet =( . I remember that was one of my fave songs and music clips. Still love the song but I've been trying to find the clip on Kazaa and even requested it on Music Max with no luck. I'm hoping that Jemainium has it on her second tape, if so, she is my new bestest friend heheheh.
I hadn't seen the 1927 "If I could" clip for yonks and it brought back great memories. 1927 and Icehouse were my fave bands in the late 80's. 1927's ish was the first music tape I ever bought. Nevertheless, it was great viewing and I enjoyed singing along. It was mainly myself, Minh and Jemaimium who sang. We're like the old skool folk.

A lot of people are amazed about how much I remember stuff from the 80's. It's easy cause I really enjoy nostalgia. Possibly cause I had a really good childhood and I grew up doing nothing but playing sport and watching plenty of tv. It's a time I really cherished and I can remember it well. I love it when the topic turns to nostalgia.

Dogs lost on Saturday to the Tigers. It was a pathetic performance with no heart, no enthusiasm and no committment. I hope they can pick things up in the next few weeks. We're at the halfway mark of the season and it won't get any easier. The loss put somewhat of a dampener on my weekend.

I'm hoping Oztag is on tomorrow. It's been called off for the last 2 weeks cause of bad weather. I've been doing a lot running recently to maintain my fitness. I played for all but 2 minutes in the first round and I pulled up ok. I'm hoping I can play the whole match tomorrow. I've been working hard on my speed and I really want to see how it goes this season. Since my finger injury I've been taping my hand up. It feels ok but injury is always at the back of my mind. I have to try hard not to let it affect my performance.