944

A few observations about technology, travel and Australia:

-When will Apple, HP or any other electronics company make a standard power cord that can work in any country? Like a good journalist, I left my converter in a hotel room and had to go three days without turning on my laptop because not a single hotel or shop in any of the towns we drove through could sell me a replacement. It's a simple solution: just make a power source with prongs that can adjust to any outlet in the world. Come on, help protect me from my own stupidity.

-Getting a cell phone signal, let alone an internet connection, is nearly impossible in the Outback. Satellite phones are a must-have here, especially if you're going to be traveling any distance because it's not uncommon to have to drive 300km between gas stations.

-While driving out in the middle of nowhere here, I was introduced to what the Australians call a Road Train. (Pictured above.) That's where a semi-truck will be pulling at least three separate trailers at one time which means it stretches almost 30 feet in length. Needless to say, passing these things on a two-lane highways isn't exactly the most relaxing experience in my life. I also have no idea how the drivers are able to keep their vehicles under control, it seems as though all the trailers are shifting constantly and with a gust of wind blowing in it's amazing they're able to stay on the road.

-I have absolutely no idea what goes on in a cricket game. I watched the second test of the match between Australia and India on TV, and I tried. I really did. But no clue how the scoring works.

-VB beer seems to be the Bud Light or Coors Light of Australia. I heard a couple outside a bar in Broken Hill argue over what the acronym means. He said, Very Best. She said, Vomit Bottom.

-Sydney lives up to all the hype. One of my travel mates said it best, You know you're in a city that matters when you're here.

-In addition to Sydney, the other major city I visited on this trip was Adelaide in the South Australia. Great city as well, very laid-back. I'll have a post up about this place soon. Written by: D.B. Mitchell

The locals say it's been the wettest winter in 40 years here in the Outback. What's normally a red dirt dust bowl today has a surprising green tint to it this morning. However, the Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Club still lacks a lush fairway or teebox ” in fact, the only grass here is on the small swatches members carry with them as they play the course. That's right, fairways, greens and paths made of the only abundant thing in Coober Pedy besides opal: dirt.

According to Phil Lewis (pictured above, teeing off hole 1 while Jeremy Hart of the Fiesta World Tour records a video package), club treasurer and opal appraiser, that's not the only thing that makes this course unique. We're the only club in the world with reciprocal rights with St. Andrews in Scotland, he says. That means for a yearly fee of $75 a year, members get to play a round at the birthplace of golf, a course that is the sport's hallowed ground.

There's an art to play this course. How to hit a ball of a small bit of grass; how to rake the "greens" just right so people can actually put on it. The most important thing to keep in mind before playing here, though? This place is for devoted golfers only.
Written by: D.B. Mitchell

The only thing I ever knew of the Outback was courtesy of movies or TV shows, all of which showed a desolate place unlike anything else on the planet. So when I was aboard the onde daily flight in or out of the mining town of Coober Pedy, my mind was at a loss of what the next 24 hours here could hold.

With a claim to fame as the Opal capital of the world, Coober Pedy has been drawing a hopeful cast of individuals from both Austrailia and across the world since the early 1900s. One of those was my host Ken Male (pictured above), a jovival opal miner who also run the Underground Bed and Breakfast in town. An on-again, off-again resident for 28 years, Male lives and run his business in what's called a dugout, an underground home carved out of the sandstone mounds common here.

To put it simply: a lot of people here live in caves.

But, it is important to note that these are probably the nicest caves I'll ever visit in my life. These dugouts have all the trappings of a normal home (kitchen, bathrooms, electricity, plumbing, etc.), they just happen to be underground. The reasoning behind dugouts was with the temperatures often reaching well past 100 degrees during the warmer months, residents can live in an environment that remains a constant and comfortable 75 degrees year-round naturally. No heating or cooling bills, no insulation or even framing is needed in these homes, just a Bobcat and a grinder to make a dream home. Written by: D.B. Mitchell

As I was standing on the barge floating through Sydney Harbor, an unseasonably cold wind whipping around, the finish line was right there. While I had only joined the team a week earlier, the three men who were rushing around shooting photos and video were now at the end of a 15,000-mile journey. Starting in LA 60 days ago, the Fiesta World Tour has logged miles in the U.S., the Middle East, southeast Asia and now here, in Australia's world-class city.

The trip was the brainchild of Jeremy Hart, a freelance journalist who has been crafting stories for print broadcast and online outlests the world over since the start of the adventure. Ford, whose Fiesta is their first worldwide car since the Model T, has underwritten the adventure and provided the cars, but the true aim was to find and share some of the amazing stories that can be found in every corner of the globe.

So why am I here? Well, I received a last-minute invitation to tag along with the crew as they completed the final leg. Along the way, though, I managed to craft a few stories of my own and will be sharing them here over the next few days. (So bear with my amateur photography and wide-eyed detailing.)

First up: the Outback. Written by: D.B. Mitchell

Yup, getting excited about the World Cup.


via www.highsnobiety.com Written by: D.B. Mitchell

My brother sent me a recommendation today to add my Mom as a friend on Facebook.

Two things come to mind: 1) My mom is on Facebook? 2) What does it say when she didn't even send me a friend request?

Man, I hate this shit. Written by: D.B. Mitchell

“Independently Editable” is the tagline to one of Phoenix’s newest culinary attractions, the Devoured Phoenix Culinary Classic, which is being held downtown at the Phoenix Art Museum March 13 and 14 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Enjoy two days of food and wine tastings from approximately 60 of the Valley’s best local restaurants and 40 wine vendors, along with live music, chef demonstrations, seminars and art displays.

Since the Phoenix Art Museum serves as one of the hosts of this event, guests who purchase the $90 two-day pass will receive free admission into the museum, which is currently hosting the Ansel Adams: Discoveries exhibition. Also available is a single-day pass for $65 (Note: single-day ticket price bumps up to $75 the day of the event).

Central Phoenix has cultivated a reputation for having a hip, fun nightlife and restaurant scene, which is why Devoured wanted to incorporate arts and culture into the mix. And keeping the focus on local and independently owned companies will also help highlight Phoenix as a prime dining destination, says Tom Jetland, one of the restaurateurs involved with the conception of Devoured.

“Our event became more of a wine, arts, culture and food event,” he says. “And we wanted to target a younger, hipper crowd.”

Kimber Lanning, founder and executive director of Local First Arizona, a non-profit organization aimed to draw support towards locally owned businesses, came up with the idea for Devoured. From there, she and a group of nine enthusiastic restaurateurs turned the idea into a reality in hopes of bringing more of an attraction to local restaurants.

Jetland says this event will help show that there are a variety of independently owned places where people can dine on a regular basis within their neighborhoods, but will also encourage people to venture out to try new restaurants as well. Beyond that, the overall aim of the event is to keep money circulating within local Arizona businesses rather than national chains.

Devoured is excited to welcome favorite local chefs, including Christopher Gross of Christopher’s Crush and Mark Tarbell of the well-established Tarbell’s. F.Y.I. Chef Tarbell won the Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” against Iron Chef Cat Cora in 2007, so attendees should be prepared to taste amazing fare.


944’s Top 5 Must-Haves at Devoured:

1.FnB … because they’ve been the talk around town for months!
2.St. Francis … because their cuisine ingredients are so creatively combined.
3.Tammie Coe Cakes … because everyone has a sweet tooth.
4.Mabel’s on Main … because it might be the coolest place in town.
5.The Parlor Pizzeria… because of the Yukon Gold Potato pizza.

There will be free parking at the Phoenix Art Museum, and for those who do not want to drive, hop on the light rail and get off at the McDowell stop which is right across the street from the Museum, so it will be easy to find.

Phoenix Art Museum
1625 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix 85004
www.phxart.org/devoured
Written by: Sara Fassil

So stupid, but so funny. Thanks to my buddy Austin for turning me onto this ...

Written by: D.B. Mitchell

Why? Because a lot of people can make you look terrible -- and then put you on YouTube some day.

Written by: D.B. Mitchell

The Washington Post's Tracee Hamilton has a piece up today about the joke that is ice dancing. The joke, in this case, is the Olympics' theme of "country/folk" dance. Hamilton's column hits on the controversies sparked by several, um, let's call them ignorant, costumes -- specifically those worn by Russian pair Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin (pictured above).


While the column is worth a slight scanning, the best thing to do is look at the picture gallery that accompanies the article. Pure comedy.


Read the column here, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/21/AR2010022104563.html?hpid=artslot


See the gallery here, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/02/19/GA2010021904492.html?sid=ST2010022200139
Written by: D.B. Mitchell

I'm about to get all 9th-grade biology class on you, but I honestly think this video is very cool.

Check it out ...


Written by: D.B. Mitchell

Cbssports.com football writer Gregg Doyel put up a pretty interesting article today about New Orleans Saints fullback Kyle Eckel, who played college ball at the U.S. Naval Academy.

You're probably thinking, "Wow, that's great. A proud veteran makes it to the big game in the NFL. Dreams do come true." Well, not exactly. The problem is that Eckel graduated in 2005. Since the academy requires all graduates to serve on active duty for at least 5 years, what's he doing playing professional football this season?

Some pretty interesting tidbits here, most notably the fact that no one involved (neither Eckel nor the Naval Academy) would go on record for the piece.

Take a read, and be ready for what will surely be much more coverage down the line.

www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/12874836 Written by: D.B. Mitchell

Suns guard and All-Star starter Steve Nash graces the cover of business magazine Fast Company this month. The feature story provides an in-depth look at the basketball star's off-the-court business interests, including a film production company, endorsements and various non-profits.

Here's a link to a slideshow with the highlights:
http://www.fastcompany.com/pics/steve-nash-nbas-top-entrepreneur

We here at GAME are a fan of Nash's social media videos, including the classic video featuring the Suns on their bus singing "All Night Long."

http://www.944.com/blog/game/the-phoenix-suns-do-it-all-night-long/

Written by: D.B. Mitchell

Jake Rosen of Sherdog.com is reporting that action star Jean-Claude Van Damme (well, he's kind of still a star, right? Maybe? Um ...) has told media that he has signed on to fight a Thai boxer. The catalyst for a man nearly 50 to take to the ring for the first time? A reality show, of course. According to Van Damme, a 36-episode show will be filmed while he trains leading up to the fight.

Read more about the rumor here: http://www.sherdog.com/search.php?SearchTxt=van+damme&SearchCat=all


Or, you can watch this and hope that Van Damme's show would as amazing as Steven Seagal's (you know, in that "Wow, that guy is a cheeseball but he can still kick the living snot out of me.").

Written by: D.B. Mitchell

Nancy Kerrigan, the figure skater who was thrust into the spotlight in the early 1990s as a victim of an assault that involved fellow skater Tonya Harding, now has to deal with the death of her father -- which was allegedly caused by a physical confrontation with his son and Kerrigan's brother, Mark.

Read more here, http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/nancy-kerrigans-father-found-dead-brother-arrested-012510

Expect to hear this story to begin to gain momentum given the tabloid history of Kerrigan and the upcoming Winter Olympics. Written by: D.B. Mitchell