Tag Archives: Barramundi

The A to Z of HBF!

And now for something completely different. Half Back Flanker rarely divulges in personal stuff as this blog is kinda solely focused on poking fun at footy-related things. But when we were tagged with this meme a while back (thanks Luli), we thought that it might be a great opportunity to give rare insight into a mid-thirties IT G.I.T. (Geek In Training) that spends waaaaay too much time taking the piss out of talented, hard-working sportspeople.

Anyway, here goes…

Attached or single? Well and truly attached (as you will soon discover)…

Best friend? An old high school buddy and rugby team mate who is at least six foot five inches tall…so don’t mess with me! Actually, he is completely non-aggro; a real gentle giant.

Cake or Pie? Both, especially in winter! I’m a sucker for coffee and cake when it gets cold and a meat pie at the footy is almost an essential item!

Mmmm…delicious!

Day of Choice? Apart from any non-work day…Thursdays are probably my fave. It’s the first day when you get a little excited that the weekend is fast approaching but there still a tiny spark of motivation to be productive (tend to completely shut down on Fridays). So planning for the weekend, playing over 30’s basketball with the Skinny Dogs, the Green Guide…and lots of thinking about dumb jokes to make about the weekend’s footy games to put on the blog!

Essential Item? (Apart from the meat pie) Headphones – I take them absolutely everywhere! Along with either the MP3 player, the Ipod Shuffle or the AM/FM radio…listening to stuff all the time.

Favourite Colour? Red…preferably on a sash against a black background. It was really fashionable at the turn of the century and now just waiting for it to come back into vogue again. That, however, could be a few years away yet…

Gummy Bears or Worms? I’d probably go the worms…but would actually prefer Gummy Juice! That was the nickname my six foot five best friend used for Cointreau when we were young and foolish. Crazy things usually happened when the Gummy Juice came out…

Gummy Juice!

Hometown? Even though I have spent the last twelve years in Victoria, I still think of Ulladulla as home…it’s where I grew up, went to school, represented in rugby and, during the worst of every Melbourne winter, kinda wished I was back there again.

Favourite Indulgence? Going out for breakfast on the weekend!

January or July? January – easily! Hot weather, long days, operating in holiday mode, cycling everywhere, Aus Open tennis, Australia Day bbqs, Triple J Hottest 100, music festivals…only another four and a half months away!

Kids? None of my own but two young nephews (two year old Jay and two month old Cooper) and one cat – a moody tortoise shell called Max(ine) who just spent over a week at the cattery and now hates me.

Life Isn’t Complete Without? Family, friends and a good Collingwood joke!

Marriage Date? August 8th, 2008. Hang on…isn’t that, like, only two weeks ago? Why, yes it is! Rather than taking an ill-advised trip to China for the Olympics, actually flew up to Palm Cove, north of Cairns and got hitched on the beach. And the 08.08.08 was deliberate…and, fingers crossed, impossible to forget come anniversary time!

Number of Siblings? One younger sister Emma; the more sensible child and mother of the aforementioned nephews (naturally!).

Oranges or Apples? Both have their place…probably eat more apples as they tend to be less messy.

Phobias? Quite a few food phobias…the worst being whole tomatoes. That’s what happens when you are forced to eat them as a kid, only to throw them back up onto the dinner table!

Quote? I love anything GOB Bluth (Will Arnett) says on Arrested Development…but I’ll settle for this nice little pick-up line: “If you didn’t have adult onset diabetes, I wouldn’t mind giving you a little sugar!”

“Illusion, Michael. A trick is something a whore does for money…Or candy!

Reason To Smile? The State Library of Victoria (in partnership with the National Library of Australia) have sought our permission to include this blog in the PANDORA web archive. For some reason, (well, I assume they don’t like Stephen Milne either) they have identified Half Back Flanker as an electronic publication that has ‘national significance’ and ‘lasting cultural value’! Gotta smile at that…

Season of Choice? You can’t really go past summer, no matter where you live. But Autumn in Melbourne is pretty cool too – new footy season starts, Comedy Festival in April, Easter holidays…

Tag Five People: A few on the blogroll have already completed this meme (Nothing You Confess Could Make Me Love You Less, This Devil’s Workday) but those footy related guys (Best Off Ground, Die Hard Footy, Kick 2 Kick, Mollyzine) are welcome to give it a shot…

Unknown Fact About Me: Played the role of King Arnulf in the world premiere theatre production of Erik The Viking…and Terry Jones, member of Monty Python and comedy genius who wrote and played the role of King Arnulf in the movie, has a copy of my sparkling performance on video at his home. If he ever bothered to watch it, which I highly doubt, I’m sure he would be mortified!

Vegetable? Provided it’s not a pumpkin…absolutely!

Worst Habit? The verbal faux pas…I’m a dead-set certainty to either say the wrong thing or not explain myself correctly, resulting in many an awkward, stilted conversation. This is probably why a) I much prefer writing as a means to communicate; and b) I’m always listening to stuff.

X-Ray or Ultrasound? Last x-ray was six months ago after screwing my ankle playing basketball. No breaks this time, which was nice, but it did show damage from a similar injury I suffered 16 years earlier…which I might have liked to know about at the time!

Your Favourite Food? So many to choose from…every night could be pasta night for me. But right now I would say Barramundi – I had the best Barra on my wedding night!

Zodiac Sign? Taurus – the only one in a family full of fish (Pisces)…which probably explains why I’m a little different to them.