"Namaste, Mate!"

I signed up with some friends on a trial membership at one of the yoga studios in Manly. What a great way to find out how inflexible I am! This is my first time doing yoga, so I haven't been able to focus on the breathing part since I'm trying to learn all the different poses. I signed up to take yoga for credit at Elon, but had to drop it as it conflicted with my Corporate Finance class (sweet tradeoff, NOT!).
Maybe I would have been better off taking it to balance out my heavy course load last semester senior year with Golf, Guitar, and Baseball Statistics (only semester where I pulled off a perfect 4.0 GPA!).

I definitely enjoy it, and hope to continue it once I'm back in the US (which isn't very long now). I wouldn't recommend yoga as a hangover cure. Especially when said hangover was caused by quite a few pints the night before at a rugby game.

I went with a couple of co-workers to Allianz Stadium to watch an NRL (National Rugby League) game of the South Sydney Rabbitohs (tied for 1st place) vs the Wests Tigers (2nd to last place).

 VS

This is the same stadium I saw the other rugby game a few months ago (British and Irish Lions vs NSW Warritahs) but a different form of rugby (Rugby League instead of Rugby Union).

The main difference is that in League, each team has 6 tackles before turning the ball over or kicking it away. This is basically their version of the 4 downs in American Football. The other main difference was that the 1st game was a full house and pretty raucous atmosphere. Not so much last night:

One of the guys from work is an avid Rabbitohs supporter so that's who I rooted for. Unfortunately the Tigers started off on fire scoring the first 18 points of the match: 3 tries (touchdowns) worth 4 pts each followed by the 3 field goals (extra points) worth 2 pts each.

Wests Tigers kicking a field goal

Not to worry though as the Rabbitohs coach lit a fire under them for the 2nd half and they ended up scoring 32 unanswered points to win 32-14. You can read the roundup clicking here

I may try to snag some tickets for next week's Rabbitohs vs Roosters match deciding the league's minor premiership (championship), as it should be a more lively crowd. All in all, had a great time and it made me look forward to the start of the NFL next week, which I'll watch Monday morning in the office.

Speaking of the NFL, last weekend I skyped into one of my Fantasy Football drafts on Sunday morning Australia 2am-5am, and afterwards headed out to the Castle Hill Showgrounds for the 2013 New South Whales Homebrew Competition. My mate and I were stewarding (volunteering) to help out the judges and got to taste most of the entries. Unfortunately, the beers I entered did not do so well, but my mate got 6th place in the Australia Pale Ale category. Still had a lot of fun and got to meet fellow homebrewer's and got to learn a lot.

In case you were expecting the competition to be a big festival, it's not. Just a couple of beer nerds tasting over 500 entries:

It's crazy how fast this year has flown by. Before you know it, i'll be back in Boston. For preparation, this week I watched The Departed. Seemed to be good timing with the recent Whitey Bulger verdict

THE DEPAHTED - 2006 (points for Boston accented title)

An undercover state cop who has infiltrated an Irish gang and a mole in the police force working for the same mob race to track down and identify each other before being exposed to the enemy, after both sides realize their outfit has a rat.







Starring Leo (so redeeming to see him in this after the garbage that was The Great Gatsby), Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Jack Donaghy Alec Baldwin, Mark Walhberg, Charlie Sheen's dad, and directed by Martin Scorcese. Oh yea, it also has Vera Farmiga, but I haven't seen her in anything else, and usually refer to her as 'the woman from The Departed'.

I actually find this movie a little overrated with all the hype with the cast when it came out. I thought Nicholson was pretty weak, and Baldwin's accent is horrible (sounds more like Mayor Quimby from the Simpsons). Wahlberg's character is hilarious, but wasn't in enough scenes. Plus some of the 'Boston' scenes were actually shot in Brooklyn. 

Score:

Mote's Reunion countdown: 21 days!