Blog Archive
Monday 14th January - Cookie Club started this evening and we rocked! 40 minutes of interval cardio on the KP stairs, 4-8 laps by the crew no mean feat first night back... well done guys :)
Thursday 10th January - Russell Worthington, skater and adventure athlete has just completed a west-east traverse of Australia from Perth to the Gold Coast to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. You can read about it here.
Tuesday 18th December - Officially a week to Xmas now, the last Tuesday night CatchUp class for 2007 has been and gone. Its time for the last WNS tomorrow and thelast weekend classes on Saturday, nothign on Sunday and Xmas Eve on Monday.... Hope you've done your shopping...
Monday 17th December - Great skate yesterday on the last Sunday Session of 2007, Love to be Beside the Seaside. Wonderful weather, great little skate park in the middle, tad annoying head-wind on the way home. Great skating by the Bakker girls and good to see a nice turnout to round out 2007.
Sunday 16th December - Heading up to Scarborough today for Love to be Beside the Seaside, an interemediate/beginner session that is very very flat, maybe two slight rises on the whole track. WE will be skating almost 20kms. Weather looks outstanding.
Saturday 15th December - Second last group lesson for 2007 today...
Friday 14th December - I really hope the weather holds true to the forecast and stays dry all weekend...fingers crossed...
Thursday 13th December - Seb and I kicked butt at DDR last night , well, more acurately Seb kicked butt and I tried to keep up... there's a few funny clips on the forum that you can see here. Oh, its not us...it just showcases a few extremes of DDR.
Wednesday 12th December - Yet again we are rained out on the WNS, next week being the last WNS for 2007 we will have a backup night on Thursday, "IF" we get rained out on Wednesday night.
Tuesday 11th December - Looks ok for CatchUp tonight, see you there if you're coming :)
Check out this link to Ciclovia, an open streets program held every Sunday and on holidays in progressive cities around the world.
Monday 10th December - Happy Birthday Pepsi! My accurate sources tell me that Pepsi hs turned 21 again and is enjoying the perks of all that extra responsibility as well as attending the filming of Spicks and Specks.
In other news I had a hello how are you and what do you do meeting with Ben Wilson from Bicycle QLD. It was good to touch base with another group of outdoor enthusiasts who have very simlar goals to us, albeit on two wheels instead of eight, but nevertheless he was a genuine guy with a nice team and it will be good to work together somewhere down the track.
Sunday 9th December - Whilst we were small in number we were great in quality as the best weather of the week was turned on just for us on the Gold Coast North run.
The new bikepath was a dream run and the standard of skating from all involved was excellent, completing the entire track plus extension in easy, cruising time.
Dinner @ Aruba with a 20% off the bill negotiatied deal topped the night off well...oh that and the Baskins & Robbins for dessert mmmm...
n.b. Les: I just plotted our track using the measuring tool on the USB on disk... 20.037km give or take a few 100 metres.
Saturday 8th December - Yay its raining again ....
Friday 7th December - Class allocations open today at 9am, so you can guess what I will be doing this morning... class allocations for uni determine which days I will have to attend class, they end up being a massive frenzy of virtual grabbiness as 400+ students all vie for the best schedule. Should be fun.
This Sunday is shaping up to be a fine one for the Gold Coast North Skate Day, remember to bring a shovel or spade as we will aim to build a mega sand castle to defy the incoming tide....then we'll have some dinner :)
Thursday 6th December - Well... everything looked fine last night, until it started to sprinkle right on 7:17pm, then the heavens opened and our hopes for a dry WNS were dashed for the second week running. The Newbie Night will be carried on to next week, which will be the second last WNS for the year.
Wednesday 5th December - Outstanding performance by Les last night, totally nailing those voltes and special mention to Mr. Hunt for persevering with Aggressive Skates on ;)
Weather looks a bit dodgy for the WNS tonight, but the radar seems to indicate that the worst of it is gone and we'll get a skate in tonight, as always check the website at 6:30pm or call me for a weather check.
Tuesday 4th December - I got my uni results yesterday; 6,6,7 & 7. That brings my GPA for 1st year to 6.375 , I still feel that I got rolled on one of those subjects. I can feel an arbitration coming on ;)
Hope to see a few more of you at Tuesday night CatchUp tonight, 6:30pm @ the Domain, the crew is building again and you never know what you might learn at CatchUp!
Monday 3rd December - I forgot to mention this sweet shirt I picked up at SkateBiz a couple of weeks ago:
Anyway they have some dope threads that you won't find anywhere else, shirts, shoes you name it. Skating gear is there.
Sunday 2nd December - Whilst plans for a Planet Inline Xmas Party have been shelved for this year in lieu of a 2007 wrap-up in early 2008, there was still time for the Planet Inline Staff Xmas Party at Strike Bowling Bar. The only rules were that if you bowled under 200, then it was your shout... hang on better make that 150, no 120... ok 100 then...
Saturday 1st December - Today is my birthday :) and I will be celebrating an age somewhere after 30 but not quite near 40...
Tuesday 20th November - The Japanese whaling season opened yesterday :( we've set up a fundraising drive to support Greenpeace's efforts to end whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. You can donate here.
It has been 50 years since humpback whales have been hunted...
Monday 12th November - This year we will be skipping the customary end of year Xmas Party in favour of a January Wrap Party instead.
Three Reasons:
i) Its a busy time of the year, with work, family and friends all competing for xmas party dates.
ii) Venues are more expensive in December and have big gaps in January.
iii) If I have to dress as Santa one more time to be in the spirit of xmas I will be most unimpressed.
Tuesday 30th October - Maria and i have just celebrated our two-year wedding anniversary, 'Cotton' and bought each other some clothes to celebrate, as well as having a nice night away down the coast.
One exam to go for uni and then a nice long break.
Wednesday 24th October - Last week of the semester, this week...approximately 1900 words to go, spread over two assignments and then one exam. Its the assignments that I will be more than pleased to see the back of.
Then it will be full steam ahead to release the full Skate Melbourne 2008 package. Stay tuned
Monday 8th October - Three more weeks and I finish my 2nd semester of study, must say I will be glad to see the back of it, with all the rubbish assignments and essays we've had to churn out it has been rather busy.
Halloween WNS is coming up, finally it lands on a Wednesday again after the last few years of rolling around Brisbane in costumes and being subjected to cries of, "Halloween is in two days time idiots!" and the like. It will be nice to be current and creative.
Costume selection is something that is worth a bit of thought. There are three main costume groups to avoid.
The Hot - Gorilla Suit, Bear Suit, Animal Suit etc..
The Unwieldy - Pantomime Horse, The Shower from Karate Kid, Xmas Tree, Sheeted Ghost etc...
The Delicate - Anything that will be wrecked by a good soaking of sweat or moving at velocity is probably not a good choice.
Surprisingly good choices include; Uniforms, Zombies and anything that includes lycra.
Friday 28th September - OMG its almost October and I haven't updated my blog in over three weeks...Well that's mid-semester assignment based assessment for you..pfft. I much prefer exams at the end of semester. Basically I can memorise stuff much more effectively and write essays on the spot no worries, its the contiunual grinding out of asinine productions that bore me to tears and frankly are a waste of time.
I have also been dedicating a lot of time to the forum updating code and options..not that many of you are using it as a resource at all :(
Found a cool link for the IT geeks amongst you who may be interested in web spiders...
Last night we started our Thursday hill training (free) in preparation for the King of the Mountain test run. Everyone's welcome; 7:30pm Thursdays @ LRT, in shoes and we'll drive to our training point. See you there.
Tuesday 4th September - There is a brand new forum opening for Planet Inline...it officially opens tomorrow, but you can get in early by clicking here. It will be in beta test mode for another 7 days, so send any feedback or suggestion asap.
Tuesday 28th August - erm.... some sort of email problem means some of you may have not got a copy of the latest newsletter and some of you may have got more than one copy...could those of you who got more than one copy please share with those who did not receive one at all...ta. For everyone else you can read it here.
Sunday 26th August - Man what a nice day for skating and a great night for updating the website in particular the calendar of events... had a great skate today on Mini-Melbourne, even got some cool photos. Most of them are on Tania's camera so you'll have to wait a week or so. I'll put some of mine up over the next couple of days. Member cards have been printed and should be being posted tomorrow also, so keep an eye on your post boxes :).
Saturday 25th August - Well it did rain today and whilst some classes went ahead, most were rained out... but the good news of the day is that after weeks, nay months of waiting, SkateBiz have a new gizmo in stock that is long overdue in its presence. No, Jen sorry its not your 4.5 ladies skates...it's a new skatetool!
Why is this so mega in its arrival? Well because it has a doohickey on the side that helps you get your bearings out of the wheels...that's why. Plus it has a hole punched through it so you could put it on a keychain. Don't know how or why or what about those bearing things? Well clearly a session of the Planet Inline All About Skates Course will be a fate that awaits you shortly.
Thursday 23rd August - I have an assignment due in tomorrow and I'm procraaaastinaaating....its always a trade-off between how much dedication I apply to my study or my business. So far the balance is allowing both to progress well, my priorities are still Family, Business, Study. Although the assignments do take a short drain on my immediate time periodically.
2:05am...finished it...hehehe
Tuesday 21st August - Love this rain! I know I can't work when its wet outside, but its worth it for the gardens and hopefully for the catchment areas :)
Monday 12th August - Roughly updating once a week now, two new links up, one about why concert tickets are so expensive and the other showcasing some very fine aggressive skating.
Monday 6th August - Check out the new links, James Brown's fall from 40ft and the serious epidemic sweeping young children in Australia.
Wednesday 1st August - Pinch and a Punch first day of the month! Welcome to August, the laaaast month of Winter. Can you believe we are here already?Newbie WNS skate tonight, route map is up.
My good wife found a new energy saving search engine Blackle it uses less energy because black screens take less to run than white screens. So do the planet a favour and use Blackle, or browse Planet Inline, we've been charcoal-powered ;) for the last 5 years.
To install the Firefox plugin to add Blackle to your browser ( I got nothing for IE users) use the following link, or try here and click on the Blackle link.
Sunday 29th July - Great skate today from Lota to Wellington Point, small crew but good pace and a lovely day. Very flat track too, big burgers at the end..Yummy yummy.
Tuesday 24th July - Back at uni and its going to be a 50/50 semester. I have four units per semester and two of them look like being great whereas the other two I will have to smile, nod, grit my teeth and just produce work that is likely to give me high marks at the expense of my pride... staty tuned for any developments on my disappointment ;)
Monday 16th July - I would like to formally announce the creation of ICP Australia's newest Level One Instructor....Mr.Hunt! Yay!
If you are a regular WNS skater or are a fan of the Sunday Sessions, then I invite you to create a course for the Planet Inline Team to run for you. Preferred format is a GoogleEarth map using the measure path feature to indicate the track.
Sunday 6th July - Another great Sunday Session; the Burnt Orange Skate was a pearler, welcome to Liz and Karan, two newbies to our community. Well done to all who completed the trek, sorry about the dodgy hill at the start...its GoogleEarth's fault I tell you! You just can't tell what the surface, (or gradient) is like from that high up...
I just got my first semester marks, 6, 6, 6 & a shiny 7!
Whilst I would have liked straight 7s, I would have left myself no room for improvement
, so I will grudgingly be mildy happy ;) That gives me a current GPA of 6.25.
Sunday 17th June - That had to be the best day of paintball in a long time!! Our mighty 11 played well against 11 25 year olds who were a little timid and most of the time, easily dispatched by our accurate marksmen and markswomen and by the wave of paint laid down by yours truly :)
Special mention to Anne for being our top runner, not too keen on shooting people, she made a name for herself as a tactical flag and ball stealer.
A tied game for our two most-bruised; Paulie and Peter, who succumbed to friendly fire. One for grabbing the Blue Team's Flag, (we were Red) and the other during the final free-for-all.
The rest of the team faired extremely well with a dozen bruises in total spread amongst the other seven players. . The final scoreline was 45-5. We couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the other team...
If you missed out and are keen to play the next time we go, we would like to put together a team of 20+ so we can have the field to ourselves. Next outing will be in August or September some time.
Final exam for first semester is on tomorrow arvo, then its back to full-on skating work. Setting the dates for Skate Melbourne 2008, finalising the details for the King&Queen of the Mountain in October and catching up on Member Cards that sorely need to be created and mailed, thankyou for your patience :)
Sunday 10th June - Its Paintball Time again! The weather is just right for running around and shooting your friends with balls of paint. I have a maths exam the next day so unless you have a booking for a prior engagement on at the same time, there should be no excuses for missing this exciting day :)
It will also be a farewell party for Brucey baby who is off to the UK for a few weeks, so come along and pepper him with paintballs!
Saturday 2nd June - Lectures and classes finished this week so now its SWOT vac, time to update the website, write a newsletter for June and finalise the events calendar for the remainder of the year.
Some uni scores for you, not that the news is that good, three assessment tasks back and there were two 6s and one 7. For those of you who are new to this scoring system it goes 1-3 Fail, 4 Pass, 5 Credit, 6 Distinction & 7 High-Distinction.
I will have to work harder if I want more of those 7s... Its a different experience than when I first attended a tertiary institution, nigh on 15 years ago. I would have been rapt with a 5 or even a 4, now if i don't get a 7 I feel like I have made a critical error somewhere... :(
Skating news is that there is another skater wedding in the pipeline, the fifth skater wedding that PI can take credit for in some way shape or form :). There are some new Freestyle skates in at SkateBiz, so check them out before they sell out. Mega-classes on Saturdays are taking off so join in on a session for one week or four or more, its up to you!
Monday 30th April - I came across this article the other day and thought it was a bl**dy good read.In other news, I would gladly go without a fortnight of skating just to have it rain solid for that whole two weeks . Our vegie patch is growing dried vegies... :(
Thursday 26th April - How remiss of me to be so slack with my blog... This studying full-time, working full-time, parenting full-time gig is a balance-fest of epic proportions. Having the world's best wife helps of course, I'm a very lucky man.
I guess this is my way of warming up to saying sorry if emails have been languishing before reply, or there has been a few breaks in regular programming.
In other news there are a few skaters who will be distinguishing themselves by attaining their Level One or Two International Inline Certification Program.
Wednesday 14th March - 530am, Dawn Skate. Beautiful morning albeit a few tired eyes andtired legs, but the city was ours. Literally.
No cars, maybe a cab or two, but for the first 45 minutes we had the smooth smooth roads to ourselves. Magic.
Did you miss out by not being there?
Yes.
Definitely.
Tuesday 13th March - Today was the day of our penultimate skate and by now we had some casualties in the foot and leg department. Pepsi & Rebecca's feet were shredded, (those Rollerblade Twisters don't seem to be too forgiving) Seloane had reached her kilometre limit, Mia had a toothache and Lotus & Maria were getting things ready for our party.
This skate is the pick of the bunch, variety of gradient, one little hill and wide smooth paths that feel like skating on velvet. We covered the 17.5kms from Adelaide to TeaTree Plaza in around 2 and a half hours and that was at cruising pace.
After lunch and a few games of DDR and House of the Dead we made the return journey in one hour and 15 minutes. you could say it was easier on the way back and it was. Although the group that caught the bus along the O'Bahn were probably a little faster.
That night was party night with a rooftop bbq and a byo drinkies evening of awards and story telling. Tall stories and adventures as opposed to nursery rhymes. Full List of Awards to come.
Monday 12th March - We all rested and as it was Adelaide Cup Day, (the day everyone keeps doing what they normally do) it was time to hit the Fringe or as most people did; participate in a wine tour.
All accounts report great gusto in the initial few samplings, followed by a resigned sip and spit towards the end and less exuberance in trying ALL the wines on offer.
Sunday 11th March - up early and off to Outer Harbor, for a super-flat skate along the coast to Henley Beach. We knew we were going the right way because there was a head-wind :)
The Scenic Leisure on Wheels group beat The Rest into Henley Beach, skating in fine form along the 22km bike track and road course.
Alio joined us for a skate, after Mike carried him for the whole first leg and we discovered that Seagulls can tell the difference between chips and calamari rings.
After lunch, some caught the bus home and the rest of us headed south to the mighty River Torrens and the linear park pathway that runs along-side it all the way back to Adelaide.
Saturday 10th March - Andre arrived! The Adelaide Central Market, like many others, is the largest fresh produce market in Australia and as such was the feature of our Saturday morning. Here you can buy a wheel of Brie for $14, dolmades @ 4 for $1.40 and a brand new fruit called a Peacharine. Its just a yellow nectarine people....
In the afternoon we toured the Haigh's Chocolate Factory, escorted by Atilla the Beverley, who was in possession of a husband, but definitely not a Mrs..
The chocolate was...ok, the tour was good, but the Oompa-Loompas were nowhere to be seen :(
The evening skate was the highlight of the day, beautiful weather for skating, light breeze, dry, cool but not too cold...perfect.
We were welcomed into IGA, the staff were happy to see us and all around town we were cheered and hurrah'd. A nice change from the local Brisbane establishment.
Friday 9th March - Today we skated to Glenelg, seaside city and birthplace of the SA Government. 14km of steady skating was the order of the morning, through the pavements of the city, the urban bikepaths and then along the quiet seaside roads.
After our long lunch break, most of us joined Dave in the southern skatepark, featuring a 16 foot vert ramp and a very deep concrete bowl. Previous attendees of the Planet Inline Skate Park Program, Mike, Liz and Charles all showed a few of their moves and a few debutantes had a go on the big ramp.
Congratulations to Anne, Ingrid, Peter, Sharyn and Glen for taking on the bottom third of the big one!
A hearty well done to everyone else who skated up the 6 foot flat bank and down the other side :)
Skatepark hijinks behind us we continued on to the Torrens Outlet and home along the Linear Park.
Between trees and beside the river rushes the dappled sunlight created a magical atmosphere counterbalanced by our tired feet, sweaty brows and aching legs.
We did make it home and once we'd showered and dressed up for dinner it was time for "Gaucho's" , the most expensive steak restaurant in Adelaide. Here you can buy a 300 gram chunk of Wagyu, cooked anyway you like it for $75, a 1kg T-Bone for $58 and the wine list starts at $8.50 a glass, may I remind you that your sauces will cost you $5...
Out of 18 meals, two were sent back.
Sharyn's "blue", was medium well.
Ingrid's "medium-rare", was very well done.
As our research has shown, most restaurants will get 90% of a large order correct.
Thursday 8th March - All aboard for the Cooper's Brewery Tour. The last family-owned brewery in Australia maintains an impressive range of beers and ecologically sound business practice. We were able to sample all their 8 beers :)
The afternoon City Loop Skate was our first opportunity to meet Kate, our local Adelaidian skater. The word flat, describing Adelaide, is something you will hear quite regularly for the next week or so. This tour was flat, cruisy and gave a brief overview of they city environs, surrounded by a ring of bush park, playing fields and many towering trees.
Wednesday 7th March - Skate Marshalls all arrived today and were pleasantly surprised by the excellent cool skating weather without a drop of humidity. Chapsticks are a necessity :()
Looking forward to seeing the rest of the skaters arriving tomorrow morning!
Oooh we skate a long way today, checking all the paths for the skaters... More than one skate marshall has sore feet and will be tired when they get up for a 6:30am pre-skate session tomorrow morning.
UV is quite high too...pinkies
Tuesday 6th March - Its quite cool this morning, make sure if you're planning on heading down this way that you bring some warm clothes, brrrr.
Monday 5th March - Here we are, the Walker Family has made it safe and sound to Adelaide, albeit via the bumpiest descent either of us well-travelled jet-setters has ever experienced. Kinda like a rollercoaster in the air...wheeee!
Quest Mansions is quaint, friendly, central and the rooms are very spacious.
13/01/07 - How muggy was it out today? At least the sun wasn't burning us up out there, skating around, improving our skills. Today's beginners class was awesome! Big improvements all round :)
Mystery SKate tomorrow, guest Tour Guide Tony/Tom will be on hand to show us the way...
12/01/07 - Once again Australia vanquishes the old enemy...Poor KP, I know how he feels. Literally.
11/01/07 - Cookies got dunked tonight and dunked in a good way. Most have been worth at least a double serve of Xmas Pud :)
10/01/07 - No WNS tonight, just reminding you all...
09/01/07 - no Catch-Up tonight, so you don't forget.
08/01/07 - Great Tour last night, great meal, Valley-Yum rocks! Green Beans and Garlic, mmmmm...
07/01/07 - first Beginners of 2007 kicked off yesterday, another fine crop of skaters are coming your way soon :)
06/01/07 - Saturday its Saturday, Saturday hooray!
05/01/07 - First Brekkie Club of the year tomorrow, early to bed tonight boys and girls, Saturday its back to early morning skating!
04/01/07 - Well finally its all done, Windows is reinstalled, hard-drives are functioning the way they should and all the files are working smoothly. Maybe if I owned a mac I would have nothing to do in my spare time...
03/01/07 - see yesterday :(
02/01/07 - Today was all spent on reinstalling Wind0ws and recreating my RAID 1 array, which was supposed to go smoothly...but as these things have a habit of going all Pyrus it was a long long day.
01/01/07 - Happy New Year Everybody! at
15-22 December 2006
22/12/06 - What day is it today? Friday? No..it can't be. Yes, yes it is. So it must be Xmas Eve Eve Eve.
Late night shopping in the city...
21/12/06 - Ok, ribs are bad this morning, must have been that skate up the Goodwill Brdge and back last night to wish all the WNSers a Merry Xmas... Not sure how we'll go for Cookie Club tonight but I'll make a decision by lunchtime :(
Cookie Club is on!!!! See you there. :) ow
20/12/06 - Happy Birthday Cameron! 28 today.
19/12/06 - The Ashes are back! Well Done Australia, let's go on to 5-0. Its been such a hugely hyped up Ashes Series that the last two matches are still going to be amazing even though they are dead rubbers.
i hope I'm watching when Warney gets his 700th Test wicket :)
18/12/06 - So far my rib recovery is going well as long as I'm not lying down, sitting or breathing much its ok. Can we win the Ashes today?
17/12/06 - Green Bridge opened today, if you're on the WNS we'll no doubt be testing it out with our skates. Remember to bring your super soakers!
16/12/06 - the word for the day today is CRUNCH! that's the sound my ribs made when they collided with the railing during a session on backwards stairs. Actually it was more of a pop or a deep click...clunk maybe.
15/12/06 - just ten days until Xmas Day...
1-8 December
8/12/06 - My Cookie Clubbers Rock! Thankyou guys for a great night of skating :)
5/12/06 - Well Tuesday Night Catchup class has wrapped up for the year, starting again in January on the 9th.
Two days until Cookie Club "The Warm-Up" begins... :)
4/12/06- Last night was the third part of my birthday present, a night out at a 5-star hotel with my wife and no Lotus. Poor little miss is still sick, so it was the three of us and it was nice to be a family. The Carlton Crest although advertised as a 5 star hotel clearly did not put us in one of their 5 star rooms. We haven't slept in a more uncomfortable bed since goodness knows when.
The bed I slept in at a cheap motel in Mexico was better than what they provided.
3/12/06 - Speed Skating and Skate QLD AGM all day today...yay!
2/12/06 - One of the coolest presents that I received was a game of Cathedral, anyone who wants a game, let me know :)
1/12/06 - Well the day has finally arrived and yes I am now one year older, so you can expect to see a more mature, responsible Monte now. Perhaps a little greyer, a little slower, wiser etc etc.
20-27 November
27/11/06 - WARNING! The next link will seriously waste your time Link , it contains the best of, worst of for 2006 and each url on the site will send you to yet another fascinating read...
26/11/06 - Nice skate today on the Goldy, very nice, even found a new path that fills in one of the gaps in the tour :) AND we found a new restaurant that does the best lamb shanks...mmmm...shanks...
25/11/06 - If there is one thing that makes the long hours of self-employment worthwhile its seeing a skater over-joyed to have learnt something new that they have always wanted to do. Being a part of that satisfaction and sense of accomplishment is my sense of contentment.
24/11/06 - Newsletter is out today ... couple of typos :(
23/11/06 -How huge was the Ashes coverage today, so many people getting peeved because they couldn't take backpacks into the Gabba without getting them searched. Media covered it to make it look like a huge issue. If people had left earlier there wouldn't have been a problem, instead they had to complain that the 38,000 odd crowd was something that hadn't taken into account in their travel arrangements...
Go Australia!
22/11/06 - Read a great article today about a coder who changed jobs to become a bike courier. Reminds me of the decision I made seven years ago... Ourdoors, sunshine, fresh air and my own hours versus indoors, air-con, 8-6 and a regular finite paycheck.
Nowhere to mention making a positive difference to people's lives and the satisfaction it brings :)
21/11/06 - By the by, I found out which demographic voted for bobby Flynn to leave Idol...
20/11/06 - Went to the inlaws today down Ipswich way and caught up with both sets of grandparents . It was interesting to notice the difference in the aging process and the way the mind develops as it gets older. How character can soften, mellow and things that were important can become less so and others beome staunchly delineated.
9-14 November 2006
14/11/06 - CAN'T = Could And Not Trying
12/11/06 - Was it the best day at Mooloolaba today? I say yes.
Yes it was :)
Did we have the best thai food ever?
Yes. Yes we did.
How wet did we get in the paddle-boats?
Wet. Very wet.
Next Sunday Session is Forest Lake...
10/11/06 - Cookie Club info is coming out next week, stay tuned...
9/11/06 - Got back from Melbourne last night quite late, the family and I had been visiting my mother for her birthday. Surprise Visit.
She was stoked and it was a good opportunity to
catch up with family and friends :) Also caught up with the good folk at Bayside Blades and checked out their new shop, all is looking ready for Naomi's Melbourne debut.
16-25 October 2006
25/10/06 - There is a challenge being mounted for the introduction of daylight savings in South QLD. Please sign the electronic petition if you are keen http://www.petitionsqld.com.au/campaigns/10/ Peter Beattie says he needs to see 300,000 signatures to represent a significant view, so spread the word. Note too that there is an option to vote against Daylight Savings should you so desire.
Dang...no jazz club this Sunday as planned because they have an early arfternoon gig on and it doesn't match with the weekend's skate. Speaking about this weekend...one of my favourite rolls around -the best downhill run EVER- is on this skate and what's more is that its optional.
A great Sunday afternoon of skating with Black & Blue this weekend!
24/10/06 - So sleepy today...do you ever have those days were all you feel like doing is resting your head on your desk, wrapping a doona around you and nodding off?
Yeah? Well I did today and the best thing about that was that all I needed to do was walk into the next room and have a nap, because I'm my own boss ;)
23/10/06 - My new Rollerblade Twisters are starting to settle in and I can definitely say that they perform a lot more precisely than the FSKs due to the stiffness of the boot. The downside is that they are taking time to wear in...
I am also going for a pair of the new FILA NightHawks as my touring skates ;)
22/10/06 - Bribie Island was beautiful :) The new paths are almost complete, but what is there is outstanding. Well done to the Smith/Stevenson family on completing their first Sunday Session, (still in the Beginner Program mind you) and great to see Christina from Munich out on the skate today too.
It was also Lotus' first Sunday Session :)
17/10/06 - All I can say is that if you don't vote...you might get disappointed. Tonight will be the last night that our family will be watching Australian Idol as its Bobby Flynn's last night :(
16/10/06 - Well if you weren't there on Sunday, you would have missed an awesome "Return to Darra" skate, tracking over brand new bikepath and hitherto unskated estate grounds. A most surprising day all round.
Combined with fine Vietnamese food that didn't break the budget, a class act indeed.
We even posted the photos :o
1-14 October
14/10/06 - Warm, very warm today. All my students rocked today! They were all so good I'm going to award them all a big shiny gold star...each.
My Open class especially made me proud today :)
13/10/06 - Black Friday or just another day :) Poor Lotus still has a tummy bug cold kinda thing. Cough cough splutter grizzle grizzle. She doesn't know what's wrong but she knows its not right :(
12/10/06 - Another beautiful day this morning , although it is unseasonally cold, or... it was just really hot this time last year and the memory is still burned in there.
WNS was very cool last night, two new international skaters and one from interstate. Indiana, Munich and Narrabri to be specific. The girl from Narrabri outskated them all ;)
By now I'm sure everyone has forgiven me for imposing a hilly workout last night and is enjoying a few less calories today!
11/10/06 - For the last three days its been TRYING to rain, but can't quite manage it for very long. A bit like me with "The Crab". So fingers crossed that we get the WNS all done tonight :)
A Naomi email will be coming out today...
06/10/06 -Fffffffriday.... 6:30am start tomorrow for Brekkie Club, don't come at 7:30am because we'll already be gone. Expecting a few extra this month with the $88 special giving people the opportunity to come to as many classes & tours as they want.
Wrapped up the kids program for these holidays today and I'm going to miss them, such cool kids :)
04/10/06 - hey...got $88?
then you can come to any or all Sunday Sessions and SkateSchool Group Classes you like for all of October...some conditions apply
The October newsletter should have found its way to you email inbox by now.
If not click here for a copy.
03/10/06 - tours are sorted until June! Newsletter will be sorted and in your email box as soon as I find out what special sale item we can get from SkateBiz for October :)
Catch-Up was heaps of fun tonight, we had the kicker out (jump-ramp) and there was lots of air and a few spills, Dennis even managed to shed some sparks ****
02/10/06 - beautiful morning, tour calendar should be updated today, lots of kids skating tomorrow, met with my accountant and he suggested that an office manager or someone who can handle the back end of the business would be a great idea.
Part time 15 hours, that kind of thing.
01/10/06 - ah... well where have I been?
Skating-wise I've been feeling great!
Officework-wise I've been really flat. There's been heaps to do, newsletter, Naomi Grigg World Tour Promo, Adelaide 2007 Promo stuff, Tour Calendar to update, new business cards to design and print...etc etc....
Blog to update as well and I have not been able to start any of it... when you are your own boss self-motivation is key and for me its a real drag when the wheels grind to a halt and its hard to get the paperwork done.
Anyway. Here's hoping I can knock a few of these projects off and get the paper-machine rolling again.
Oh...and another thing... Planet Inline turned 5 years old today. We made it...5 years old :)
15-22 September
22/09/06 - Today I ate the best stir-fry for lunch...I made it so I knew it was going to be quite good. :)
21/09/06 - sniff...the Steve Irwin memorial thing on tv yesterday morning was a real tear-jerker. :(
Collective greaving by the nation for one of our heroes and someone who did a lot for the environment, wildlife and people's perceptions.
He achieved a lot and has inspired many people to be more and do more for the benefit of others.
For me its definitive of how much we miss someone once they are gone.
19/09/06 - Have you seen the weather forecast for the weekend? Looks like it will hit the 30s...nice and warm skating weather, perfect for Wynnumon Sunday ;)
18/09/06 - I can heartily recommend "Nacho Libre" for a good laugh and a simple story about a man of the cloth who wants to be a man of the spandex. Thanks also to the skaters who hadn't made other plans on Saturday thinking that Sunday would be rained out, a great little skate and a chance to talk about how awesome the ski trip was :)
15/09/06 - Happy Birthday Debs for the 13th! She's 30 now...
After a fairly ordinary week weather wise, the weekend is shaping up to be quite nice indeed. All the best to the Volunteer Marshall Tryout-ees.
The All About Skates Session has a couple of spots free if you had been thinking about it but had not yet booked a place. Highly recommended for getting the best $$$ value out of your equipment.
I'm looking forwards to a decent sized crew for our ever-popular Movie Day on Sunday, we'll be seeing "Nacho Libre", the latest Jack Black offering. I am a big Jack Black fan...
1-12 September
12/09/06 - I hope any of you budding marshalls out there have the tryouts in mind for this weekend, should be a bit of fun :)
We definitely need more marshalls for Skate Adelaide next year and for the WNS now that the nights are getting warmer. So if you want to put something back into the skating community, roll up and give it a go.
11/09/06 - Another week of life-giving rain will give me the time I need to catch up on all my office work.
09/09/06 - Yawn... So tired today... That's the last time I plan on "book-end working" when I'm ski-ing in between. I really could use a holiday after my holiday, or maybe even a long sleep-in followed by a massage.
The 2006 Snow Trip was an unmitigated success, plans are afoot to have a return trip in 2007 and an overseas jaunt to Japan in February 2008.
Thankyou to Bruce, Pepsi and Dave for helping to run the best Planet Inline Snow Trip Ever. PISTE ;)
07/09/06 - Well the snow has been coming down and we've all been having a phat time here in Mt. Buller. Our first-time snow bunnies have become seasoned snow rabbits and many adventures have been had.
Tonight is Awards Night and our final glamour dinner at Pension Grimus, arguably the finest restaurant on the mountain.
Next snow-trip on the agenda is Japan in February 2008, so stay tuned for more info.
02/08/06 - Got my hair cut today! Something a bit different ;) If you're coming to Mt. Buller then you'll see it in the morning, otherwise it will have to wait until next week.
May be a bit quiet online due to being out of town for a while, but will do my best to update and return emails. Tuesday CatchUp Class will not be run this week, but everything else is business as usual.
01/09/06 - Skate Adelaide 2007 Itinerary is 98% complete. Accomodation has been booked and we have taken 7 bookings so far from skaters. Who thinks the rain will last for the weekend?
There are some VERY cheap airfares around at the moment, so grab them while you can, recommended flights are in the Itinerary, so check it out.
25th-31st August
31/08/06 - Just posted a draft itinerary of Skate Adelaide 2007. Check it out, flights are DIRT cheap right now so jump on them. Womadelaide will be on at the same time we are there so they will go fast.
Talking about going fast, the Clipsal 500 will be on a few days before we are there so the town will definitely be buzzing :)
I'm very excited about this upcoming trip, its going to be bigger than Ben Hur.
30/08/06 - Rain Beautiful Rain! Who cares about the skating, bring on that wonderful, life-giving rain :) There is a cold front forecast for the Victorian Alpine Region coming through on Friday.
There's another reason to smile :)
I have a Mambo Snow Jacket for sale, its seen two seasons and is in mint condition. Red with some fine white piping. It would fit someone my size up to a bit larger as I bought it to be on the big side.
$250 if you're interested, I think I paid $650.
Couple of pics below of the jacket on e asunny day and a cloudy day.
29/08/06 - Snow Itinerary is available online, here.
28/08/06 - Happy demi-Birthday Lotus!
6 months old today and she just wants to walk everywhere. Happy to sit up and sing to herself or play with her toys, loves her cuddles and games, she is definitely the joy of her Mummy & Daddy.
27/08/06 - If you weren't at the GoldCoast South Tour today, you would have missed our 2nd biggest Sunday Session with 28 skaters turning up to roll along the Surf & Sand. After a bit of mayhem on the starting line, we were underway and the old classics were as good as ever; the long flat pathways, the adrenalin rush from grass-skating "Nobby's Hill", refreshing ColdRock Icecream and the great value for money and huge servings of food at the Kurrawa SLSC.
War stories and laughs aplenty from the days skating come standard ;)
26/08/06 - Welcome back to Kym this morning, great to see you after a long hiatus :)
Got the ski poles out this morning and my "Skate-to-Ski" class practiced pole plant turns and a bit of uphill ski/skating. Fun, although it was warmer than the snow and the bitumen was definitely the wrong shade of white (black) but all in all, decent downhill fun.
It was mild mayhem with the advanced group as we tackled backwards stair-riding, backwards jumps and 180 curbs. Stack of the day goes to Scott, who got upgraded from Intermediate to Advanced for the day. Stacks (plural) of the day goes to poor Pepsi who racked up an impressive "8" pileups, stumbles and crashes. Her most spectacular being her first, paling the rest into insignificance. Just as well she knows exactly what she is doing on the way down ;)
Finally the snow trip dinner was on tonight and the 23 who booked became 27 at the last minute and the good staff at SuperBowl made extra room to fit us all in. The food? Delicious and heaps left over, at $21 a head it was mighty good eating. Here's a group shot with hosts; Monte, Bruce & Dave monkeying around....:)
25/08/06 - As a work from home Dad I get to see my beautiful daughter growing up. Its a role and a privilege that most fathers today miss out on. (split infinitive) Friday is special, Maria works a long day massaging at a large corporate firm and Lotus and I get to have our big "Daddy Daughter Day".
I used to try and work at the same time as play with her, but quickly discovered that Lotus was not happy with that arrangement.
Today we danced, walked around the house (assisted) had two little sleeps and many giggles. We looked at the people walking by and watched ants walking across the balcony. Many things went into Lotus' mouth as she explored the world by taste.
Speed Training at Stafford was good fun as always, still wearing my skates in. I have decided that I am definitely a short track skater. Get on the track, go real fast, all done.
Lastly a little note about those carpooling to the Gold Coast on Sunday. There are enough seats for everyone who has requested a ride down. Please contact me for the details of your driver and remember to give them a minimum $5 petrol money. Unless your driver owns a hydrogen fuel cell car, in which case give them $50 for looking after the environment ;)
Here's a pic of Lotus, Carl and me in Adelaide taking a break from our pre-skating schedule. Picture taken by my beautiful wife Maria.
18-24 August 2006
24/08/06 - Clock just ticked over to midnight, working late here again, answering some emails that I really ought to have gotten back to weeks ago. Its amazing how all-consuming web design can be when you know it has to be done or you won't be happy with it.
Awesome WNS last night! Great team, smooth downhills. I did hit something on the road that "exploded" and a bit flew up and hit Dennis who was zooming along behind me. Sounded like I ran over a beer bottle, but it was probably a rock or a large stick. I'm glad I was going so fast that my wheels pulverised it, rather than catapulting me through the air to land inevitably hard on the bitumen.
I've always said you are better off going fast when you can't see the ground ;)
23/08/06 - Its Wednesday...time for the WNS and I have a feeling that we are Milton bound, via the low track tonight, with optional hills on offer.
Hope you got your copy of the newsletter safe and sound, I'm experimenting with a new format, so let me know what you think. See you tonight!
20/08/06 - Easy Peasy was a team effort today, Pepsi took the first half and then I skated with those that wanted a little more meat with their potatoes. I hope I never get sick of steep hills with great runoff :)
19/08/06 - Beautiful skating weather today, just perfect, not too hot, light breeze :) if you were in the advanced class today you would have seen a rare occurrence as I took a little spill on a slightly over-amped two foot slide.
Nothing broken, no bruises, its cool ;)
18/08/06 - I tell ya..take a couple days off, or even skate like crazy over 4 days away in Adelaide and it just seems wrong to jump straight back into full-on work mode. Ah well, I'm a slave to the business so for the meantime its just chug along :)
It's Saturday tomorrow, so I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you at skating, weather looks tip-top and I'm in a great skating mood!
11-17 August 2006
17/08/06 - Back in Bris-Vegas... I must say Adelaide was beautiful, quiet, clean and most of all green. It rained three times while we were there, not a lot, but enough that we remarked on how nice it sounded and how much we need it in Brisbane.
Carl and I did a lot of skating and found some of the smoothest, flattest pathway you are ever likely to see, a true joy to skate and definitely worth travelling 3000km or so.
We ate at restaurants and cafes all in the name of presenting a great skating adventure for you all in 2007. Details will be released in following days.
15/08/06 - The skating paths here in Adelaide are AWESOME...will write more when we return, but suffice to say its going to be a great Easter next year :)
13/08/06 - Take the good with the bad, every cloud has a silver lining.. there's heaps of those sayings. Whilst there were so many last minute cancellations that we didn't get to play paintball :(, I did get a Sunday afternoon to myself, something that hasn't happened for quite a while :).
In other news, the family plus Carl are off to Adelaide for a few days to reconnoitre the surrounds and facilities. All in aid of next year's "SkateAdelaide" trip. Bruce will be takign Catch Up Class on Tuesday night and Dave will run the Ekka Night WNS. Stay tuned for more details.
12/08/06 - You may have heard about our fantastic Senior Instructor Bruce having a less than fantastic wipe out on his trip to NZ last week. He did make it out on foot today, (or rather shoes) and took some great shots of the Urban Class in action and a few head shots of the Planet Inline Team, so look out for those on the web site in the next few weeks.
We all wish Bruce and his sore hip a speedy recovery :(
11/08/06 - Well the new site is up, I hope you like it. Its been a work in progress for 4 months with a real peak in production over the last 4 weeks. I got frustrated with the css a couple of months ago and just left it in a heap. :)
Should be easiser to navigate with lots more pics, if you notice any bugs please let me know, all feedback is welcome.