Week Ten

You must be really bored. I mean why are you reading my blog when you Americans could be following the online election coverage, you Australians could be getting spastic for Cup Day, or you Europeans could be scarf shopping, cigarette smoking, wine making or listening to O-Zone? Tomorrow is the biggest day in the history of everything. Tomorrow is Election Tuesday, the one day every four years that Americans typically go brain-dead and screw things up for the rest of the world. But that's not going to happen this year.

This year Americans are going to vote and they're going to get it right. While there's bound to be some evidence of the Bradley Effect, the belief that many voters tell pollsters they'll vote for a Black candidate in order to avoid seeming racist (when in fact they end up voting White), a larger turnout of African-Americans and young voters than polls originally accounted for should even things out. It's up to you, young people. And Black people. Make us proud. Everyone else just stay cool.

But a new president isn't the only thing worth voting for. California's Proposition 2, which would prohibit certain farm animals from being confined in cruel ways, and Proposition 8, which would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California, are two issues that are provoking even greater interest. While Proposition 2 is expected to pass in a landslide, Proposition 8 is tightening up. There are 153 proposals on ballots in 36 states, and include measures to ban dog racing, outlaw affirmative action and criminalize most abortions. It's an exciting time for every American, whether in Ohio or 17 time zones away.

But Australia is also making international news! In a move that would make John McCain proud, the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship denied permanent residency to a German doctor and his family because his son has Down syndrome. Snap. The immigration department said 13-year-old Lukas Moeller's condition would cause "significant and ongoing cost to the Australian public". His father, a specialist physician, came to Australia two years ago to fill a doctor shortage in a rural area of Victoria. Why the country's immigration department would refuse an ethical and heroic doctor yet keep me, a public relations practitioner, remains a mystery.

However, I'm still here and I've finished my second month. To celebrate, I have decided to grow a mo!!! Yes, in an effort to either put Gillette out of business or raise money for prostate cancer, or both, Australia is changing November to Movember. Movember is a month-long charity event where males lose the razor and grow moustaches to increase awareness and raise money for men's health issues. To help this cause, I have registered my upper lip in hopes that my three facial hairs can collectively come together to grow something special for this annual event.

Please take my mo survey and give me your feedback on whether or not this is a futile attempt.

Then please sponsor my mo.

So this weekend was Halloween and Derby Day, good fun but nothing compared with the hullabaloo going on in the States. The first week in November of Olympic years is the best week to be in the U.S., with Halloween, the massive elections, earnings season, college football in upset-mode, basketball season beginning and snow just around the corner. I miss all of you terribly and depending on the outcome of the election, will be back home in winter or back home in 2012. Tomorrow, however, I'm being Aussie and watching the Melbourne Cup. The Cup, as they say, is the race that stops a nation. Tomorrow is also the day that re-starts my nation. Let's do it people. Ten weeks down, 42 to go.

Week Ten Summary:
Weather: Hot, cold, rainy, sunny, lame.
New observation: Australians don't celebrate Halloween to the same extent Americans do.
New activity(ies): Federation Square; Australian Halloween
New food: mini meat pies with tomato sauce
New word(s): stubby; Eski; a schooner; a pot; a Blonde; Draught = beer-related terms
New people: I met an Irish potato-loving kleptomaniac with an eye infection, low tolerance and potty mouth.
What I miss: Lee Corso, walking to work, Texas football, San Francisco protesters, cilantro, a delicious Freschetta at 2:01 a.m., my 16-year-old homemade artwork dinner plates