Weather’s consistently cooler now and lying in bed is now hazardous as I’d just doze off from feeling too comfortable under the blankets. It’s just so warm and fuzzy to hibernate but I’d rather be spending time doing things during the weekend. Heh, used to take me a while to get into the idea of winter in Melbourne, and I’d be hibernating a number of times until I realise I’ve been sleeping too much. Now I just need to pop myself out of bed, shower quickly and fill my stomach with something warm quickly or I will just feel like napping.

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Was out last night, to go watch the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Tickets and dinner was sponsored by our prime brokerage, including transport. Was picked up at my place and my driver was a Polish guy, who came to the States about 17 years ago. He currently dislikes the US due to the declining value of the dollar, as when he came over, the ratio was 12 to 1, now it’s only 2 to 1.The general impression I got was that life in the US isn’t as rosy as it used to be, even within the last five years.

The venue for the fight was at the Prudential Centre, which I think is normally a ice hockey rink. It was a multistorey stadium, with other facilities in the building. Finally met one of the guys I deal with daily but having not seen his face, you only sort of identify the voice. He looks a little like Hugh Jackman, but slightly less rugged, younger and thinner. Heh.

This is a view of the stadium from the indoor restaurant. Had buffet dinner where some bits were good, some bits were bad. The cake they precut and served had been sitting out a little too long I guess and tasted a bit like cardboard (and no, I have not eaten cardboard before).

The show has its fans, as my colleagues talk about it quite a bit. Personally, I’d prefer to go watch a soccer match anytime. I guess it has more to do with understanding what I’m watching and being excited about it. Here you have two grown men grappling and tackling each other, exchanging blows. There was blood and sweat, but from the distance I was sitting, spent most of my time watching the big screen tvs at the top.

So here we have it midway through the show, a crowded stadium, music blaring, lights shining. There was only one knockout in the 8 or 9 fights being shown tonight. The rest were just grappling and seeing who could stay on top of the other guy longer (or that’s what I thought they were trying to do). There were also some tap outs, where you either tap the ground to show you want to concede, or lose getting your arm broken off. Yes, it’s kind of violent in it’s way, but that’s what people pay money to see and they enjoy it. The audience was also quite funny at times, trading insults at each other depending on who they supported, and were very vocal when the fight was much hyped but proved to be boring instead. You could hear them chanting “Boring!” until they got bored themselves. As with these events, you get bottles and bottles of light beer, which I don’t personally fancy as they are kind of tasteless.

The whole night out lasted until nearly 1am, as they dragged out the fight with lots of waiting in between. Eventful evening, but not necessarily the most interesting. Heh.

I find myself with a very short attention span. I can’t sit still for more than 5 minutes at a time to do anything, so I get distracted very quickly and easily. Heh, other than being annoying, it doesn’t really do very much harm at the moment. Although I’d prefer to be able to just concentrate a full hour or two on doing anything at all without switching between tasks. It’s just, there is so much I want to do, and I don’t know what to prioritise at times.

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The weather has dipped quite a bit. Within a week, I was having low 20 degrees weather to 5 degree weather now. It was from just a t shirt and short pants to an extra sweater, jeans and the heating system on. I like the cold when I go out, just not when I’m sitting down, as you really feel it when you are not moving up and about.

Soon I willl need to add a beanie to my wardrobe to keep my ears warm. The chill here can bite.

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Was looking through my older pictures, and at least some of them had a more descriptive narrative to it, that showed my surroundings. I need to take more photos, but it has to be a conscious effort on my part. I generally only have time to do it during the weekends, so if I don’t do it then, it doesn’t get done.

Here are some shots that gives a better description of New York

The Conservatory Garden at Central Park

This is a generic roadside stall, selling anything from drinks, hot dogs, bagels to shish kebabs.