Have a good one around the world!

Afrikaans Gesëende Kersfees Czech Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok Danish Glædelig Jul English Merry Christmas Esperanto Gajan Kristnaskon Finnish Hyvää Joulua French Joyeux Noël German Froehliche Weihnachten Greek Kala Christouyenna Hawaiian Mele Kalikimaka Irish Nollaig Shona Dhuit Italian Buon Natale or Buone Feste Natalizie Japanese Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto Korean Sung Tan Chuk Ha Latin Natale hilare Lithuanian Linksmu Kaledu Norwegian God Jul Polish Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia Portuguese Feliz Natal Russian Srozhdestovm Kristovim Spanish Feliz Navidad Swahili Kuwa na Krismasi njema Tagalog Maligayang Pasko Thai Suksun Wan Christmas Vietnamese Chuc Mung Giang Sinh Welsh Nadolig Llawen

Adventure in Kooti

2005_1210
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Well, where to start? (those who know me well will know this is true) Here I am sitting in the Kootingal Hotel (just oustide Tamworth) in the "restaurant" updating my blog. Ive got no mobile signal so Im on the laptop. With all the shiny wizzbangery I have with me I could fully tell these people that I am "The Overlord Zog" from planet "Gangbang" and that the pub is now mine... ha ha haaaahaaaa aaaaaalllll miiiiiine!... OK... so Ive decided not to do that. Yet.



What a day. Drove up to Tamworth this morning to see the Boy. Cant get a freaking park in that town! Christmas shoppers and holiday makers... what a frightful combination! The time with Felix was great but gee it seems to go so fast now! We played in the turtle pool, made Mr Potato head and went for a ride on Daddys bike. Feeding the ducks was cool too. Since my (second) secret campsite has how become private land, I decided to be adventurous and find a new one. I fancied a river side lot this time so I headed north-west out past Kootingal. After a bit of exploring I found and excellent contender plus one backup. Both require a reasonable amount of off-road action so I didnt push it with the hire car (was on mountain bike).



On the way back through Kootingal, I was trying to figure out how I could avoid staying in the $49 per night Tamworth CrapTel. I drove past the Kootingal Hotel and though "Bugger it, Im up for adventure!". I enquired as to the rooms and didnt expect much for the $25 double. Its really cool though! The rooms are nice and clean and have all that old pub furniture, you know, the good sturdy stuff. The people are really friendly too... Ive walked into some country/outback pubs and heard that pin drop and thought "fuck, these people are gunna kill me". But the people a Kootingal are cool. Blokes even give you the two finger wave (not the Sydney two finger salute) and every one says G'day. This place is a definetly number one on the "shit, its raining and cold and I'm just not into pitching a tent in the dark" list.



Barnsey is on the jukebox now. Im doing Karaoke in my head. Just trying to keep it in the head... dont grab the pool cue and use it as a microphone... doooont.



I only got to go to Mexico for 6 days, and maybe Ill never get to go overseas again but fuck man, Ive had more adventures in my "backyard" than many people would ever dream of. I know Helensburgh better than the people that freaking *live* there (Steve, Hailey, Im talking about you!). You dont need to have expensive gear to be an adventurer. You dont need to go to exotic places to be an adventurer. To be an adventurer you just have to be adventurous... open to whatever... open to shit happening, and you should let shit happen good *and* bad because more often than not you look back and think "fuck that rocked". The best times in my life have been had either when I am stone flat broke or Ive got a backpack on my back. Or both.



Life is sweet, but not rich.



Have fun, happy trails, rock on...



BTW... (Christophe, Rob) Ive had two beers and someone just put "Thunderstruck" on the jukebox... somebody save this place from me...

/
AC - DC
/

The Brindabella Challenge 2005

    Did the Brindabella Challenge on the weekend. Took Friday off and headed down to Canberra for the Night AROC adventure race (stage 1). At about 5pm a *massive* cold from came over and wreaked havoc on Canberra. Trees were uprooted, there was traffic carnage and the Canberra hospital had many windows blown out. The Race was postponed to Saturday night. That meant that my team mates had to drive 3 hours to attend to family commitments and then drive back the next day. Lucky them! I just had to ride a 55km MTB race! The postponement meant that I would have to race the 55km Brindabella classic in the morning then drive straight to the AROC adventure race, get a few hours kip and then get up and do a 7 hour urban polaris. It was going to be an epic weekend!

The rain continued to fall heavily making the mostly fire road 55km classic somewhat more technical than expected. We climbed from 450m up to Mt Blundell at 1225m and then decended *rapidly* back to the start/finish area. I was reaching speeds in excess of 55km/hr on the descents and getting plenty of drift around the corners. A hesitation around one corner saw me hit the deck badly at about 40km/hr. Its the first time I had ever hit my head cycling. Luckily there were others around and I got them to check me out before I continued. I was *absolutely* blanketed in mud. The crash busted my shocks up pretty bad so I was going to have to ride a rigid all weekend. Bummer.

I finished the 55k at around 2 and headed straight back into the event center for the AROC briefing at 4. I had to configure (and clean!) my bike before the race as well. As usual we got to the start with only minutes to spare. My team mates and I worked quite well together and we kept up a cracking pace. Transitions were smooth and roles allocated effectively. We were told at the start that, to make it more interesting, the top teams would be sent out for another loop if they finished in the daylight. I didnt think we would be up there but I spoke a little too soon. We placed in the top 10 and were sent out for another loop consisting of 2 run legs, 2 bike legs and a long kayak section. I hit the wall pretty bad in this section but we all kept together ok. My weakest leg (no pun intended) was running, my legs just wouldnt go because they were so full of lactic acid. Melissas lights malfunctioned on the bike and we made a crucial route error costing us 20 minutes, 3 places and another long run up a big friggin' hill. I nearly threw up near the top as all I had eaten since 9am was powerbars and goo... it was now 10pm. We finished in about 4.5 hours and came 13th (I think) overall. not sure about our category place. I got a pizza with Graeme, Melissa drove home and I was in bed by 1am.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzt. 4:30am. Rise and shine. Time for 7 hours on the bike! Simon and I were off for the urban polaris. We got to rego just before 6 and were (luckily) assigned a start time of 9:30. This gave me time to tweak the bike and dry out some clothes. The urban polaris is a unique event as you are rinding around the city (and surrounding bushland). Canberra is undoubtedly the most beautiful city in Australia. There are so many little nooks and crannies. The controls were interesting too: one was placed in the tigers enclosure at the zoo, another on an island I had to swim to. One control was at a bowling alley where we bowled two balls and this score was added to our tally. We went up black mountain tower, fully kitted in adventure racing attire... One control we didnt get to was up a wall at a climbing gym! It was a top day but it tooks its toll on me and for the last hour or so I was just cooked. We covered 95km in our 7 hour stint. We finished mid pack but that was great considering my state. Blurred vision, slurred speech, sleep deprived, dehydrated, sunburnt... what a top weekend! :)

All up I covered just shy of 200km of mountain biking, I have ho idea how far we ran and paddled. I got a prize for being the only person at the presentation that did all 3 events (there were only a few of us crazy enough to do that). In two weeks the AROC comes to Narrabeen in Sydney. Im teaming up with Simon and Jiri. We should rock...

Massive New Data Update for Google Earth!

Google Earth Blog: "Google released a major update to their Google Earth database last night. The biggest update is to the UK which includes a large number of cities of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales all at 6-inch resolution. In addition, .7 meter resolution data was added for a number of cities around the world including Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt; several cities in India; Mexico City; Sydney, Australia; and several others. The Galapogos Islands had a mask fix, and even a few cities in the US were updated. In particular, check out the USGS data for Las Vegas. Here's the post at the Google Earth Community with all the details. Get out there and explore! And those of you who like adding placemarks for interesting things to look at will have a field day for a few weeks to come at least."

White Rose Movement

The other day I discovered a band via the DailySonic podcast. They are called "White Rose Movement" and they do rock in that 80's kinda way... Lots of synthpop and foot tapping beats... Heres a link to the "Dance Like Nobodys Watching" blog where you can find further reviews and links to download free and legal WRM MP3's. :)

Happy 2nd Blog-aversary!

Well you have been listening to me ramble on for two years now... whats *wrong* with you!?

Two years is a long time... Its funny really how life sometimes goes slow and sometimes goes fast... sometimes both at once!

When a major event occurs in your life, it can become a benchmark... a defined "timestamp" in your life where you measure all things in relation to it. Its actually quite fantastic for me to think of all the things (good and bad) that have happened to me in the last two years. For most people (well, men anyway) when a marriage ends unexpectedly they turn to the bottle or drugs or just curl up and die slowly... Me, well I just climbed up onto my mountain, got on my bike, took up new sports and became an Australian Champion!

I have done sooo many things that I never would have attempted before. Ive kayaked down rapids in the shoalhaven river, done 2 24 hours adventure races, seen the sun rise on new-years day from the point where it first hits Australian soil. Ive been a hippy-hobo travelling up the far south coast, not wearing shoes (and not washing) for two weeks. Ahhhhh the serenity. Ive had some excellent time with Felix despite the conditions. I just love him to bits. We have had so much fun and learnt so much from each other...

Some bad stuff has happened too... I cant forget the crazy family court process that is still plodding on, then theres the *other* court case regarding the crazy driver that tried to run me down. Ive nearly been evicted, almost had my car reposessed and had many other financial institutions after me.

But most of all, I havent given up. Ever. Sure, Ive been to some bad places in my head where I thought about ending it all. Ive been crushed to the point where I just would have rather been dead than experience that breath taking pain. But Im not dead. Im here, here to stay and I sure as hell aint giving up on my boy.

"So don't be scared of all the hurtful words, 'cause in the end they'll hurt themselves much more." - The Reindeer Section.

Ive made some excellent new friends and grown with many existing ones... I made some mistakes and let a few friends go for one reason or another, some of those friends were still there for me when I needed them and they will be my friends for life... yep, too bad for them I guess! ;-)

Im typing this in the NRMA customer care center because my car was broken into last night. Yet another of lifes little adventures. Im just watching Oprah here (yeah I know, I know) its about a Dad and his disabled Son. His Dad didnt want to exclude him from anything so he started running with him. His Dad never gave up and now they have competed in over 300 triathlons and have run 64 marathons.

Theres no point in worrrying about anything. If you want to do something (and you can) then just do it! If you cant change it then dont bother with it and move on.

Ive learnt that having "stuff" isnt important (the hard way) and to quote Fight Club, "the things you own will end up owning you." My video camera was taken when the car was broken into... does it matter? Nup. Am I any different because I dont have a camera? Nup.

Anyway, Its been a fantastic two years of blogging. Heres looking forward to the next two years... and the next... and the next...

:) c.

Storm Boy

 This is a retro-post due to the fact that some a$$hole broke into my car and stole lost of stuff including my (non-industry-standard camera USB cable)... Saw Felix in Tamworth. Had heaps heaps of fun painting and he just loves squirting the water at himself. I feel a bit cruel because we had water flowing through a small funnel and he loved watching it go through... I blocked it and tricked hom into "checking" to see what was wrong... He then copped a faceful of water thanks to his bad Dad. He actually looked pissed off. He had better get used to his Dad I guess! Sundays weather was terrible but we sat it out (for a while) under shelter in the park. The wind turned so we went up to the play center. Noise. He is really talking well now and we can actually have a conversation. He tells me about the horsies and his friends; apparently he has even been on a rocket! Good to see bullshit runs in the family! :)  

U2 Down Under

U2 Down Under | Music | Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au (20-11-2005): "THE world's biggest band, U2, is heading to Australia for its first tour in eight years. The hugely successful Irish quartet will bring its Vertigo stadium show, which has been playing to packed houses and received glowing reviews around the world since March this year, to Telstra Stadium in Sydney on March 31 and other capital cities."

Google Moon! - This time its serious

This is what Google and NASA have been up to...

Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | NASA software zooms to nearly anywhere on moon

61419625193.mms.1
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

The return of geekboy... Ive jimmied up my bros lipstick camera and im off to the burgh to capture some mountain bike footage. Coming soon to a cinema near you!

Welcome to The World

Crikey!

Those craaaazy people from Dubai are at it again! The Crown Prince of Dubai is building a replica of the world. No joke. You can buy small man-made islands all of which, when viewed from above, look like a map of the world.

Stop the world, I want to get off!

Welcome to The World

Thursday Night Rides In Sydney

Thursday Night Rides In Sydney
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Simon and I have started up a Thursday night group ride in the city. The first ride was at Lane Cove NP. A good turn out was achieved and the trails in the park were not too bad. Other planned rides include Manly Dam, Bantry Bay and possibly Helensburgh.

My Dad made Column 8 today!

Column 8 - Column 8 - National - smh.com.au: "'No wonder Australia has an obesity problem,' writes Chris Muir, of Dubbo, who overheard in a food court: 'No, you're not having a doughnut until you've finished your chips and gravy.'"

Google Earth Blog

This is a nice blob for all things Google Earth. The "Weather" section contains KMZ's for storm tracking and amazingly, cloud cover for the entire earth updated every 3 hours!

There is also a KMZ for tracking over 800 satellites! Yummy. :)

Google Earth Blog

Felix In Sydney

Felix In Sydney 29/10/2005
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Saw the boy in Sydney this weekend. Saturday was hot and sunny so we went to the park with a biiiiig hill to ride the bike down. Felix went waaaay to fast. The video is funny because it goes from normal film mode to "hot pursuit" mode as Felix was about to career into a construction zone! Later we watched the boats, went for a ride on Daddys bike, played a little soccer and went swimming.

Sunday was raining so we went for a walk in the rain and saw beetles, bugs and spiders. We climbed up some rocks and found some dogs. We went back for a big swim. Felix is very confident in the water and he wasnt even worried too much when he slipped over a few times an went right under the water. Daddy was more worried than him! When I scooped him up I just reassured him that he was OK and he was straight back in the water. We were both exhausted by the end of the day and Im sure he slept as well as I did! :)

Google Base: All your base are, in fact, belong to us

Look, Ive said it over and over again... *I* invented the World Wide Database of the World. This is clearly a violation of my IP. I am going to sue Google. I checked out http://legal.google.com/ and they appear to not have bought all the lawyers yet. Maybe I have a chance...maybe...

Google Base: All your base are, in fact, belong to us

NSW MTBO Champs 2005

NSW MTBO Champs 2005
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

The 2005 NSW MTBO Championships were held on the weekend at Newcastle. We rode on a new map for this area just 15 km north of Raymond Terrace. The map was excellent. A nice fast course with an excellent amount of route choice. My fitness was not a problem in this race... well... maybe it was; I was riding faster than my brain. I missed one intersection as I was trying to overtake a slow rider and ended up losing about 4 minutes. I also punched the wrong control once because I failed to read the control number (two controls were close together). That cost me another minute. If I didnt make those mistakes I would have placed 5th. A lot of time was wasted standing still trying to figure out the best route. I should have just picked one and started riding. The rule is that if you are spending a long time comparing routes then they are pretty much the same therefore you shouldnt be wasting time comparing them... Oh well. It was a fun day and my mate Graeme went home state champ in the 40-45yr division. Congrats. :)

Eels With Strings

057lg
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Saw the Eels last night at the Big Top (Luna Park) with may mate Al. The Eels rock...well...actually they dont rock... but you know what I mean. What a show! They had a string section and the stage was very intimate. It didnt look like a band setup at all. In fact it looked a bit like ehat an "entertaining room" might have looked like in the 1800's; a couple of old (and I mean old) pianos, double bass, a saw, a drum set that was completly concealed and looked like occasional furniture, oh, and a big, pink, dildo. Yup. Dildo. One of the girls in the string section used it to vibrate on the mic to give a wierd but awesome sound! Mr E came out sporting a lovelly suit (pictured), a cigar and a cane that matched the atmosphere perfectly.
Mr E is an incredibly intelligent, tragic and funny person. At one point some half drunk woman let out a resounding "woooo" as he was chatting to the crowd. She was quickly cut of with "Uh...scuse me...*talking*". She returned a higher pitched garble to which he replied "Sorry, I dont understand Cat Talk... Where the hell are we anyway? *CatBurgh*?" ROFL. He had us in stitches a few times during the night.
"The Chet" on drums (and saw) was awesome... the sound he got out of those puppies was aaamaaazing. The Bass player was the standard "I am sooo much cooler than regular people" type of bass player but he did rock.
The girls string section were dressed for the opera (for a while - see below) and were very, very cute indeed and worked wonders with their contribution to the night.
The Eels are known for their encore shenanigans and we werent to be dissapointed this show. I lost count at 5 encores, each one rocked more than the next. Most people had left by the last encore (fools!) when we were treated to a lights-on intimate semi-concert with the Eels in their pyjamas! Brilliant night! :)

Looking for Mars?

Looking for Mars? Tonight you can find it using the Moon as a "landmark." Go outside between 9 and 10 p.m. local time and look east. (You can do this even earlier if you have a clear view of the eastern horizon.) You'll see the Moon and Mars rising together in the eastern sky. Both are bright: The Moon is almost full and Mars looks like a brilliant orange star. If you're impressed by Mars tonight, you'll be even more impressed two weeks from now when Mars makes its closest approach to Earth for the next 13 years. Get the full story and a sky map at http://spaceweather.com.

undefined isnt

undefined
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Microsoft invents recursive errors... except that they arent defined yet... When I first read that message I nearly went back in time... kinda freaky. :)

Signs of Danger

More stick figures in peril...

Signs of Danger: the Internet archive of funny danger signs danger signs

Felix 15/10/2005

Felix 15/10/2005
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Saw the boy this weekend. It has been a while since I saw him last and I noticed how much better he is talking. He hadnt been interested in bike rides lately but this weekend he actually asked me for a ride (first time he did that): "Bike wide My Daddy?", "Sure, we'll go for a little ride...", "No, BIIIG wide Daddy!!", "OK then BIIIG ride it is!". I think ive taught him to say "Cool" as well.

It rained on saturday so we went to KidZone for a while and I showed him how to climb the big rope net ladder thing. Made me nervous as he climbed over the ledge at the top but he had no trouble at all! We went for a walk in the rain and found caterpillars and crickets. I slid him down a wet skate ramp bowl thing on his rain jacket... he went so fast that he actually started to slide up the other side! He loved it! ROFL. We searched for "tigers" in the bushes but didnt find any so maybe next time a visit to the zoo is in order... :)

But its "wafffer" thin! Python Bursts After Trying to Eat Gator

Python Bursts After Trying to Eat Gator - Yahoo! News

For whom the bell tolls...

St Johns Tower
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Yeah, so I thought I was going to have a boring weekend... Wrong!








I was planning a quite day when Conrad called and left a garbled message... something about 9am, St Johns Tower, climbing gear, rope, kites... So obviously I said "sure, why not"! Next this I knew I was inside a dark and mysterious bell tower covered in pidgeon crap (and various other unknown substances). Conrad is friends with the local minister and he was too scared to ascent the 3 rickety (and I mean rickety) ladders up to the bell tower. There is a festival in and around Glebe and we were helping out by hanging a giant banner on the side of the tower for a kite exhibition.

When we asked about the bells, the minister mentioned that one was broken and that the only person who could fix them in australia was in Adelaide! When we actually got up there we found that the problem was just that a spring had rusted through... So I wound it on ab little to avoid the rust and it worked like a charm... even got to ring the bells! I love lifes little adventures!

61419625193.mms.1
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

What an epic day! Simon, Rowan, Adam and myself headed up to wise-os for some biking. 1 hour into the ride and halfway up a climb a pin in my rear derailleur dislodged and sent the chain into the spokes. This caused one of the sprockets to snap in half... I wasnt going anywhere... We managed to get the chain spinning again using pliers, wire and a saw... It lasted about 10 km and then the derailleur was back in the spokes again. This time i did a good job of it and after 30 mins of engineering i had a single speed. Unfortuneately the chain still jumped so i ran a large part of the 15 km home... The most appalling events of the ride were to happen on the 3km flat tar section of road leading back to the ferry... Rowan and i were riding together when he called "car". I was moving over when the black BMW swerved at us and sped off. What a prick. What was worse was that he found simon about 1km up the road and collected him with the side mirror! Simon is fine and unhurt. The mirror came completely off but somehow Simon managed to stay upright... Epic epic day!

Don't Eat an Entire Fish at Once

Don't Eat an Entire Fish at Once
Originally uploaded by mrjoro.

Man! Do a flickr search for "stickfiguresinperil".

My brother Nathan and I are just about unconscious from laughter... and confusion... ROFL

The Dulwich Hill Shop Series Continues...

Image015
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Free water uptairs??!! Would you go up? Not bloody likely! 8-O

Forgiveness

These lyrics hit me like a ton of bricks...

In my silence I would love to forget
But restitution hasn’t come quite yet
And with one accord I keep moving forth
I stretch my heart to heal some more
It used to be all I want to learn
Was wisdom trust and truth
By now all I really want to learn
Is forgiveness for you
As my seasons change I’ve now grown to know
When one’s heart creates, one’s soul doesn’t owe
So I wash away stains of yesterday
Then tempt my heart with loves display

Forgiveness - Collective Soul

Maximum Adventure 24hr

max24_02
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Well, Team Goanna finished the Maximum Adventure 24hr race on 24/25 September 2005. What an epic adventure! The race had us up at 4am to drop off bikes and boxes for the 6am start. At the "start" we were told that the "real" start was at 7am and that we had busses waiting for us outside... We marked our maps up on the bus as we made our way to the Rangers office near Bungonia Caves.

We had a short-ish trek to the first TA where we were issued kayaks. After we inflated them we had to trek 1km down (and I mean down!) to the Shoalhaven River. The next leg was a kayak of about 5km, including an awesome rapid section (well, it was fun for a kayak novice!). We suffered a slow leak in the left side and had to stop to re-inflate about half way. It was smooth sailing after that into TA2. Then began the next trek... up Bungonia Creek and into Bungonia Gorge. I had only ever seen this gorge from the lookout at the top. I had also read the many warnings at the top about the nature of trekking through the gorge. The best part was the boulder field where we ended up in a sort of 3D maze. After the checkpoint was obtained, the trek back was OK as we found the trail we should have followed in the first place! The climb up to TA3 was very hard but in hindsight it was a breeze compared to what was to come...

We reached TA3 at around the 5 hour mark where we filled our packs and had a quick feed before the descent back to the kayacks at TA4 (same as TA2). The downhill was tough on the knees and I was concerned at this point about continuing. My teammate was a considerable distance ahead of me and it was after this realisation that I had the first though about killing him (only joking Graeme...) . I tried to think only happy thoughts as I checked the map again and noted that there wasnt much more downhill and ascending presented me with no "bad" pain.

I was nervous about the next kayak leg as this by far my weakest discipline. This was going to be a long leg (10km or so) and I wasnt sure how Id hold up. I had done a little gym work after the last 24hr at Myall Lakes where my effort could be described as pitiful... I certainly didnt get as much pain this time but the shallow sections saw us out of the boat and walking (falling!) quite often which was a welcome break from paddling. We both opted to wear gaiters and after looking like idiots at the start, we felt much better after seeing some other beaten shins at the finish. This leg is where I discovered that Glad Snap-Lock bags are NOT waterproof! My mobile phone completely filled with water and hence I can not supply any in-race photos :( Graeme discovered that the easiest way to get over some of the rockier sections was for me to stay in and steer while he dragged himself along on the very back of the kayak. Im sure we need work on our style but it got us through unscathed. After fixing the left-hand valve at TA2, we now had a slow(er) leak on the right hand side! We ignored it and paddled on knowing that the checkpoint wasnt too far away.

Words simply cannot describe the agony associated with this next section. We had to portage the kayak up a 450m climb which was only 1.7km long! About 1/3 of the way up my brain snapped. Something had to change... This could not be real... Someone get me out of here! NOW! Graeme did his best to get some food and drink into me and we switched positions. I found that, despite our height differnce, carrying the back of the boat was easier than being at the front. I owe Graeme a lot for his efforts on that section. Im not sure when we got into the bike TA as my BP-service-station-$30-special-waterproof watch was filled with water as well.

I luckily saw the comment on the map control reference sheet about doing the points in any order and having at least 6 before doing the abseil. Missing that could have meant a nasty disqualification. We left the TA just before 6 and rode the tar sections without needing lights. We put our lights on as we hit the gravel. I am still confused as to where the hell we went on our way to CP5. We figured we overshot the entrance to a trail and verified that by matching the next one (or so we thought). We went back 200m and took the "trail" which was just a tree-felling path. Still, it was heading in the right direction... until it wasnt... bugger... We decided to break the first rule of orienteering and press on regardless. Luckily that paid off and we successfully relocated ourselves (30 min lost!). I found the controls challenging given the map scale and the riding was slow due to the thick fog that rolled in. We made a few mistakes on this leg but nothing noteable.

We rolled into the abseil at about 9pm. This was only my second abseil (the first being the 24hr in Jan) but I found it quite easy this time. In fact, at only 20m, it was a little dissapointing but logistically I think it was the best the organisers could do given the restricted access to cliffs. The ascent via the wire ladder was fun... I was put off by the lad in front of me who had great difficulty but I found it not too difficult at all. I though I was going to freak out when the ladder started to turn around but my teammate sorted it out for me. We were out of there pretty quickly, maybe too quickly because we both hit the wall within minutes of each other. I saw Graemes head hit the map board, eyes tightly closed, gasping for air. I just needed snakes, lots of snakes. I ate 5 in one go and nearly vomited. Our goo was causing gag refexes in us both. We needed to finish. Soon. The last 3 CP's were OK, we took them slowly and tried not to make any mistakes. I got excited and shot off to one but the realised I had ridden straight past it (I was one trail behind where we actually were). I could see Graeme was very tired he calmly got us back to the control and I am still alive to tell this tale! :)

The down hill ride back into town was a very welcome relief. Almost as nice as the pie and saussage roll at Marulan truck stop at 12:30am. Mmmmmmm truck stop...

We finished in about 17h and 40min (including the bus ride) and I was happy with that. These long events are hard, sometimes you finish and you think you could have gone faster here or there but you never really know whats around the corner...

Sleepmonsters has a race report here: http://www.sleepmonsters.com.au/racereport.php?race_id=1443 They have a galley link on that page too.

Id like to thank Gary and the Maximum Adventure team for an excellently planned and executed event, the volunteers were awesome. I especially owe great thanks to my teammate, Graeme for his perseverance and skill. Cheers. See you at the AROC :)

[PXT from +61419625193]

PXT Message: Ok... Its lights out the night before the 24 hour race. We have marked up and laminated our map, packed our two transition boxes and done a kit check... Or two... Or three... Next its up at 0400 to have breakfast and drop the bike and box two at the transition area. Other box is loaded at 0500 and the course briefing is at 0530 for the start at 0600... Tired yet? We have not even started yet! The course is issued at the start. I like that. Course planning can be stressful! Anyway... Im sleepy... Might take some pictures out there...

Hi, you have been sent a PXT message. Did you know you could send a one time FREE reply back ??

Click here to REPLY http://pxt.vodafone.com.au/live/reply?key=e9fa1744bbaa9f8e44ccc82464b527ea&mode=reply (Please note you can reply only once, and have 14 days to reply before this message expires).

For more info, see www.vodafone.com.au/pxtworld.

Baa Baa Black Sheep...

Saw Felix this weekend. He is really into the "NO!" phase... We sand Baa Baa Black Sheep together and Felix corrected me on some of the lyrics. He rode his bike down the path so fast that I freaked out and made him wear his helmet! The guy is going to be a downhiller for sure! :)

Yarrr! It be "Talk Like A Pirate Day" once again!

Yarr!

It be Talk Like A Pirate Day once more!

THE BEST O' YER PIRATE JOKES

By far the most popular joke be: "Why be pirates called pirates?" "They just arrrrrrrr!". Twenty pirates be sendin' me some variation o' such! Here be the best o' the rest:

Q: Where does a pirate keep his software? A: On his Arrr drive!

"Them's luvverly earrings you be wearin', me hearty. How much did ye pay for 'em?" "They be costin' me 2 Dollars for the pair." "Arr, that's not bad for a Buck-an-ear!"

A pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel in his pants. The bartender comments to the pirate, "Y'know, you have a steering wheel in your pants..." The pirate says to the bartender, "Yarr, 'tis drivin' me nuts!"

Dailysonic

Robot: "Dailysonic podcast is good. I like music. I like stories."
Human: "Fuck you, Robot."

YouSendIt: Email large files quickly, securely, and easily!

Cool Service!

YouSendIt | Email large files quickly, securely, and easily!

Image001
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Dulwich hill rocks... Its the only suburb in sydney where you can learn to speak chimpanzee!

NZO 12 hour 2005

Did the NZO 12 hour MTB race on the weekend. Team Goanna came in 20th in the Mens 4's. The night riding absolutely rocked. I have ridden at night before and did that 24 hour adventure races as well, but never before have I raced at near maximum speed on a specially designed MTB race track!! The sigle track was sweet and twisty but also contained some fast stretches where I topped around 45 km/hr. This totally rocks when all you have is a 10w halogen on your bike and one (gaffer taped) on your head. My night lap was interesting as a thunderstorm was looming and some scattered rain was about. Surreal stuff. It cleared up straight after my lap (typical!).



Congrats to my team mates Rowan, Simon and Graeme! Ill be doing my second 24hr adventure race with Graeme in two weeks. Cant wait. :)

Where is Chris? MoGeoBlog (Ive done it Francis!)

The MoGeoBlog is complete! I had to work through a WorldKit bug and hack Geocities Ad-Bar (please let me know if you get those annoying ads on my map site...)

The bad news is the the blog will have to move over to geocities :( because blogger doesnt support FTP uploads.

The new url is http://au.geocities.com/cnschulz/blog but Im not updating to that just yet... Still ironing out a few hiccups and getting some better maps (hopefully with zoom).

WWDBotW is here! ;-)

Where is Chris? MoGeoBlog

BlogShares - Blog Off

WTF??... What the hell is this... My blog is out of control! It says there are shares in my blog! What is even more crazy is that tey are worth something! Ok, Im selling... give me money... Im confused... SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!

BlogShares - Blog Off

Saw the boy again this weekend. Had heaps of fun. Saturday was clear so we went over the other side of the river where there are many more things for boys to hav fun with like rocks and sticks and mud. Well, thats about *all* there is really but it made for an excellent day. Sunday was rainy and I didnt have enough money to go to KidZone so we spent the morning jumping in puddles, watching Bob The Builder and reading books. Felix made up this crazy game where we had to put our hands in the puddle then wait for a period of time (specified by Felix) and then jump up, squeal and laugh our heads off. Seems like a good game to me. I still have no idea what the point was but Ive not laughed so much in ages! Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads... especially the new dads like my bro Nathan. :) 

Cabbages and Condoms

Ummm... so I googled my blog and this came up as a match... I also got on some lists about David Bowie and John Peel. I might just throw a few random words into my posts to se how far I can go with this! ;-) aardvark sex trousers ;-)

Cabbages and Condoms Pictures, Pictures of Cabbages and Condoms, Bangkok, Thailand - Yahoo! Travel

Image008
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Hello from tamworth geo:lat=-33.068283 geo:long=150.939422 its raining up here and i forgot how cold it can get here... Quite a change from the lovelly warm spell we had in sydney. Felix is really great. His speech is superb. Today as we walked under a bridge he said "underneef bitch". Funny... I didnt see her up there... ;-) will post a pic of him tomorrow for fathers day. Have fun.

[PXT from +61419625193]

PXT Message: My brother nathan and his partner lisa are the proud parents of a lovely bouncing baby girl Jade Evelyn. More details as they come to hand. Congratulations to all 3 of them!

Hi, you have been sent a PXT message. Did you know you could send a one time FREE reply back ??

Click here to REPLY http://pxt.vodafone.com.au/live/reply?key=60851c1632964e371cf331121864462a&mode=reply (Please note you can reply only once, and have 14 days to reply before this message expires).

For more info, see www.vodafone.com.au/pxtworld.

61419625193.mms.2
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

My Dad (and Felix apparently) got me a tv for fathers day! I caused a bit of a commotion in the office when a huge box arrived for me. Its really great to know that he is thinking of me... Heres wishing all dads a great day on sunday!

Nomad Zen Xtra Headphone Jack Fix

This is for the extra (30GB) but Im hoping it will help me out... and maybe you too... :)

Nomad Zen Xtra Headphone Jack Fix

P R I M E R

Go and see "Primer" at the movies. Thats all I am going to say... Go! Go NOW! 8-O P R I M E R M O V I E

61419625193.mms.2
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Bush fires blanket sydney in smoke, blocks out sun.

worldKit Documentation

This is an example post. geo:lat=19.08 geo:long=74.73

geo test 4

geo:lat=-33.95 geo:long=151.02 Blog Off

High Earth Orbit

Good stuff. Smart lad.

High Earth Orbit

GreaseMap - Firefox GeoMapping

vinq

Google Maps Australia Locations

Thanks Francis! ( http://members.optushome.com.au/wlogger/blog/) Google Maps Australia Locations - OCAU.Wiki

Felix came to Sydney this weekend. He caught up with Laurent on saturday and The whole family on sunday. Sonia and Sue (with Sunny) made an appearance as well. We had heaps of fun and luckily the rain stayed away. We played with the bubbler, rode horsies, went on swings till I got sick and watched bob many times over. Felix got his first driving lesson... he knows what the indicators do and how to clean the windscreen and open the windows. He is soooo cute. Love him. 

61419625193.mms.2
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

What could possibly go wrong? ...Does anyone know how to fix a "wobbly" headphone jack?

61419625193.mms.2
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Stupid error messages... If i dont have a flipping key board how the hell am i supposed to press f1...

Google “fhfhf”

Man! I did a google toolbar search for “fhfhf” to test if I had connectivity…
The site I saw was this: http://smstone1989.tripod.com
The google sample text from the site read: “The dangerous you want!! The danegous weapon we have for you!!!”

So now I'm interested… I open the link... I click “second page”
It says: “We will making Atomic bomb, grenade, AK47, shoutgum.”

Shoutgum… excellent.

Ill take two… and one of those atomic thingies…

First there was a restaurant at the end of the universe...

... now theres a bar at the centre of the Milky Way!

Study Describes Bar at Center of Milky Way - Yahoo! News

I swear to *GOD* I invented this!!!

This is stage 2 of my World-Wide Database of the World (WWDBotW). Next comes time-based seraches: "What did it look like in Pitt St Mall, facing south, at 3:30pm yesterday?". I invented this. You all know I did. Im suing Amazon... and Google, just to be on the safe side. :-)

Amazon unveils photo-mapping service - Breaking - Technology - theage.com.au

12 Foot Track

I rode the 12 Foot Track on Saturday. This is the 6 Foot track out and back. 90km, 3.2km ascent, all off-road. We rode through snow and ice, fought off wild beasts (cows blocking the track) and climbed out of the Megalong in darkness. What an epic. The ride took us 11 hours and goes from the Explorers Tree at Katoomba to the Jenolan Caves and back. Funniest moment was when Jiri called out "snake" and I took off like a madman. He was, of course, offering me some "Allens Snakes". Crap.

Image010
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

I love dulwich hill shop signs... There are absolutely no brands. There is a shop called "hot bread" and another called "mix business". My favourites are "lucky butcher" and the appropriately named "excellent price" :-)

Image003
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Take me to the river... Well i didnt quite drop him in the water but he dropped himself invid mud. I tought felix how to ride his bike down hills. Next time we will be focussing on the steering component :-) We had fun riding dads bike too and we played lions and tigers for ages... Well felix is the lion or tiger and i get to be the wounded gazelle... He is talking really well now and i was amazed when he came out with "my daddy... Jump mud my shoes". I kills me that he calls me "my daddy". He rocks.

Image002
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Yar har!

Big Brother

I just agreed to a usage policy for some US satellite data that contained (amongst many other things) the following statement:

"WARNING! This web site contains data and information provided by the U.S. Government. If you are not authorized to access this system, disconnect now. You should have no expectation of privacy. By continuing, you consent to your keystrokes and data content being monitored."

hmmm...that blackhawk helicopter seems to be coming this way... i wonder if it will be friends...

Simply Fired...

...anyone got anything to add to this? :)

Simply Fired | If You Don't Laugh, You'll Cry

Whatever she's sellin'... I'm buyin'...

Im not even going to suggest that she is finger licking good, that would be too obvious... ;-)
This picture released by PETA shows their latest ad calling to boycott American fast-food giant KFC over what they allege is the mistreatment of chickens. The ad features Australian glamour model Sarah Jane posing nude while holding a newborn chick, alongside the tagline 'Chicks Agree: Please Boycott KFC'(AFP/PETA-HO)

Google know Paris Hilton very well...

...its been fixed on google now. This site has an image of the original search results. Paris Hilton isnt a whore

Free Gym!!

Well I'm back at "that client" at Rhodes. Started out being a 1 month contract and after 2 days it has turned into a 6 month contract... typical. BUT I'm pretty happy to be here actually. The CBD is nice but expensive. Out here we have a mall and I've just found out about the free gym!!! The staff are from UTS and are very enthusiastic, not like the Fitness First drones. Ill be riding to work from next week. Lovelly.

UK Police Targetting Tupperware

UK Police are now stating that all the London bombers used plastic storage containers to house the bombs... They will now be executing a "shoot-to-kill" policy for all hosts of tupperware parties. I think this policy is fair and just. A tupperware spokesman was quoted as saying "Well we knew what was going on, we knew how these parties were ruining society and propogating household conflicts worldwide... and we did nothing...".
;-)

Image013
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Oh no... I wont need tools... Its just a short ride... Aint it funny how quickly a short ride can turn into a long walk... Bugger.

61419625193.mms.2
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Felix helped daddy fix his bike then we enjoyed the fruits of our labour... Man! The boy loves to go faaast! :-)

61419625193.mms.2
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Its a pea soup-er on the f3

Come on Google... stop it already!

The world is not enough... http://moon.google.com/ c.

---->> Sydney Critical Mass turns 10! <<----

Yes, 10 years since the first bunch of cyclists took to reclaim the streets of Sydney during Friday peak-hour traffic. Come and celebrate with us this month as we recreate the original ride in full dress-up gear! [when] 5:30pm Friday 29 July [where] Hyde Pk Fountain [contact] Email list: Cmass-sydney@bikesarefun.org Info line: 9990-2911 http://www.bikesarefun.org

I heart The Burgh...

61419625193.mms.2
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

What a top day! I was to pick up my friend laurent at 8:30 to go Orienteering at hornsby... He called me right on 8:30 and told me in a rather garbled voice that he had been out late and didnt want to come. No problem. He called back 15 mins later and changed his mind but asked that i pick him up from glebe. No problem. I saw conrad and his crew wandering around the streets of glebe when i took a wrong turn. When i arrived Laurent staggered from some girls house with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He was still drunk. Problem. Orienteering was ok for me. A difficult course saw me lose 10 minutes to error and poor route choice. Laurent on the other hand came in 1 hour later and was visibly distressed. He had stopped at a house out on the course and asked them for some sugary food! He passed out on the way home and we had burgers for lunch before parting ways. I did some bike maintenance (not quite enough as it turns out) and headed for some mtb at the burgh. Hit the trail late but prepared for the worst. The ride completely rocked as i had my new mp3 player (thanks nathan!). My new playlist kicks ass and 1200 techniques are brilliant to ride to. Unfortunately I ran into some bike troubles but after 45 minutes of invention using gaffer tape, zip ties and a stick, i was back on the trails. I could only use the large chain ring so i had to ride the trails faster and in the dark that saw me in the bushes a few times. The late start and the 45 minute delay took away my visibilty pretty fast. It was nmot 5:30pm. I switched to the headlamp when i got into the valley, where even at midday it is dark under all the foliage. This is leech country. I had to walk up one nasty ascent so i stopped the music for a while; rocking beats seem in appropriate when you are pushing your bike like a nancy. I shouldnt have turned the music off as i then heard noises in the bush that sounded *exactly* like a wild pig preparing for attack. I convinced myself that it was just a deer and put the phones back in (if i cant see or hear it, it doesnt exist). I made it out successfully (and with no leeches) and because I am windswept and interesting I decided not to end the adventure there. I drove south in search of a fish and chip bounty. My want was satisfied at Stanwell Park and I drove back up to the bald hill lookout and ate dinner overlooking wollongong. The wind was absolutely rocketing over the escarpment and I think it was coming straight from the snow. Drove home with a full stomach and was asleep before my head hit the pillow. Cant ask for more than that. :)

Who needs to go on holidays?!

...as long as you are happy with a top-down view of the world... http://www.googlesightseeing.com/

...and a big welcome to my mum!

...who has recently got broadband and has found the comment button on my blog. Given she is one who loves to have the last word, I bet you a million bucks Mum can not resist the temptation to comment on this post... :) Gotta love ya Mum!

Takks for the music

from the "eighteen seconds before sunrise" site:

t a k k . . .- 10th july 2005 we can now announce that the title of the new sigur rós album is takk..., which is icelandic for "thanks". it will be released september 12th on EMI records. we at sigur-ros.co.uk got a chance to listen to the album recently and for our money it's the best thing the band has ever released. we can't wait for the world to hear it. the tracklist on takk... is as follows:

1. takk...
2. glósóli
3. hoppípolla
4. með blóðnasir
5. sé lest
6. sæglópur
7. mílanó
8. gong
9. andvari
10. svo hljótt
11. heysátan

Image008
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

I am on a mission to save an echidna in cessnock. Donations to the "save doug" campaign are being taken now. www.SaveDoug.com

Image006
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

F..F..Faaarken c..C..Cold... I dont care what the news says... Its freaken minus 2 in tamworth.

Visible Human Project

Visible Human Project

61419625193.mms.2
Originally uploaded by cnschulz.

Im now officially lame. I was one of many lame people crowded around the sunrise morning show team in martin place this morning. Gotta love coshie and mel!

It was 20 years ago today...

Thousands of people dressed in white in the Meadow Park area of Edinburgh, Scotland as around 200,000 people gathered to 'make poverty history'. Photo: PA

I expect an update from our reporter on the scene... Christophe...with the names he has been dropping lately we expext no less that backstage footage!
 

Went camping on the weekend with Brett and his Son Jordan. We camped near Lockeys Pylon (where this photo was taken) which is 20km north of Leura in the Blue Mountains. We set up shop and hiked down into the Bluegum Forest. We were running behind schedule so the hardest part of the 400m climb out of the valley was done at night with only one headlamp between us. We (I) lost the tent as well but after a tense 30 minute search we saw a fleck of orange through the trees and made it safely home! Did some orienteering on Sunday morning at Glenbrook. Our team lost the round but so did our main rivals so the next round will secure either of us a place in the finals. Im going to be in Tamworth so I cant go to this event but maybe thats good for the team! ;-)