Extreme makeover

I cringe every time i see this show - and not just due to the abundance of bad teeth, disjointed noses and ugly melons. Even though I have to agree with the Mushie sometimes that "it really makes a difference in their lives" and sometimes their surgeries are really required, there's something about the whole premise of the show that just makes me a bit uneasy.

I can see how easy it would be to just go get surgery - why not? we all have parts of our bodies that we don't like or think that we could improve. Is it just like wanting to splurge some money on yourself and going to buy an accessory like a rolex? It's quite amusing cause these people that get on these shows sometimes just look normal - not anything that wrong with them, but they get this license to shop for new body parts - they're like "i'll got my nose done, my eye lids lifted, tummy tuck, and yeh some new breasts, i'd like some bigger ones thanks".

The thing that is shocking about these tv shows is more the underlying mental thoughts of the people that "win" by being selected unto the show. They cry with joy when they are selected to have surgery, they weep when they see their new breasts. They talk of how their slightly mis-shaped nose has held them back from potential jobs and dates. They put so much faith in the fact that being prettier will change their lives. Time magazine suggests that the tv series "Extreme Makeover" suggests that "The absence of beauty precludes a normal existence."

Do we really live in a society that thinks that?

1yr in London

In the last 2 weeks we've celebrated my birthday (all of 27 years now - and feeling old too!) , Trish's b'day and hit our one year anniversary of being in London. It was a time for celebration and reflection - a year filled with European travelling highlights (that I can now list off like a seasoned traveller) - Greece, Italy, Dublin, Paris, Barcelona, Sydney, Southern Spain, Poland, Vienna, NYC, Amsterdam and little trips around England. A very quick 12 months of frantic travelling, early saturday morning starts, late sunday night returns and very tired monday's at work.

It's been an amazing time. And through all of our first year we've been lucky enough to have good friends to travel with and share experiences. Unfortuanately 1 year has come and gone and G/A have have embarked on a 2 month long trip before arriving back to Oz early in Aug.

Early on, most weekends in London (if not weeknights also) involved spending time at their place, eating mushroom risotto or spaghetti bolognese from their industrial size pots, drinking cordial (called squash in London and served at a 'G/A special' 16:1 water to cordial ratio) and playing monopoly. Other times it was eating out at the local Malaysian place or KFC, or them throwing our garbage out for us and G catching a glimpse of someone taking a dump next to the bin. And always there was eggplant/aubergine for A! ALWAYS!

We'll miss you guys! One year down - maybe 2 to go? Get your butts to london, before we finish up here. It really is the time to travel. Lots more places in Europe to see - then there's South Africa, Africa safari, Turkey, Morocco, Egypt, Russia, South America ...