No Need for a Shiny, New Australia

The semester is off to a spectacular explosion of educational awesome-ness. Over the summer I was involved in an institute for problem-based learning (you're jealous, I understand) where I've changed my curriculum (fancy word for: "stuff students won't get") for the 3rd straight semester...yay! The result is that I'm running a study tracking student learning, blah, blah, blah, no one cares. On to things that rock about Australia.

Over the last few weeks I've become increasingly enchanted by Australia. It is no secret that the Uber Geek has visions of going to (and possibly never returning from) the land of kangaroos, sunshine and surly drunkards. In fact, I once petitioned the NSF for funding to work there for a summer. They denied it saying something about not accepting proposals written in crayon on whiskey soaked napkins...psssh, unprofessional my ass. Lately, however, it's dawned on me that Australia is the reason for more things than I thought. In no particular order (that I'll reveal) the awesome-ness is below:

• The best line in a Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog song: "And she may cry but her tears will dry/When I hand her the keys to a shiny new Australia"
• JET...how I forget this all the time I do not know
• Today I have had an unhealthy obsession with Silverchair
• Missy Higgins is my new favorite female vocalists (fact: she's 1/8th kangaroo)
• The movie Eastern Promises stars Naomi Watts...it counts!
• Wolfmother is the best new badass band since Velvet Revolver
• Wolfmother broke up, split into two bands...now they are both the best new badass bands since Wolfmother
• Champions in men's wheelchair basketball
• Distribute only mysterious, caffeine-free Mountain Dew (fact: Mountain Dew without caffeine is the fountain of youth)

There's a lot to digest there so I'm heading to PVD and I'll meet you in Sydney by the end of the week. Me and my new kangaroo buddy Pongo will be stumbling around taunting killer sharks for not having legs.

Stupid fish.

Tournament of Indecision

Listen to Wolfmother (the most badass bandname of the 21st century) or Silverchair? Hmmm, ummm...I can't decide. Eat lunch or snack on blueberries? Well, blueberries are awesome buuuuuut lunch is my favorite meal. Watch a movie or indulge in my latest Wii obsession (living my life vicariously through an italian plummer in a quest to save a princess from a fire-breathing dragon...happens everyday, no?)? Wake up or sleep? Send email or txt? No Problemo or well, that's never a question...it's always No Problemo.

Get to the point you say? Fine (but I'm gonna silently make faces at you). All those questions have rattled around my brain at some point today and none were answered by me because I have a problem...I can't decide! So, being the uber geek I am, I let the interweb do it for me! Last week I discovered a site called (fittingly) I Can't Decide which allows you to post questions and, while waiting for answers, help out all those other indecisive fools in the ether who are running your life (ah, the circle of life). Of course, my indecision problem has led to another problem...my addiction to the site. The last two weeks of my life have been predominantly dictated by internet minions (free will's stupid).

Today, however, I had a quandary which my beloved site could not handle...multiple choices!!! Ugh, now what do I do? Luckily, I'm a huge sports fan (have YOU ever thought the outcome of a grand slam tennis final would be determined by your watching said event? Didn't think so) and love the idea of a well made bracket. So, on some scrap paper I made a bracket to decide which hard rock band I would be listening to while at work (read: playing on I Can't Decide). No worries, I didn't come up with the type of band...the internet told me I wanted to "rock my ass off" instead of "lay back and relax". Amazingly, and randomly, I chose all Australian bands (they rock my ass off the most).

Here's the 1st round matchups, seedings in ( ):
AC/DC (1) vs. Wolfmother (4)
JET (2) vs. Silverchair (3)

Surprisingly, Wolfmother pulled the big upset and battled it out with JET in the finals. In a rout Wolfmother took the title of "Band the Uber Geek will listen to for the next 35 min before lunch when he goes and listens to something else" from JET with a whopping 9-3 final tally.

Hmm, I might have more problems than I thought.