Christmas in Sydney - A Reflection!

It's different for me to spend time in Australia or any other country in the southern hemisphere during the Christmas season. Frankly, it's a tad bit odd to walk around during the onset of summer with all of the spark and energy that is characteristic of that warm season and know Christmas is knocking at my door back in the U.S. Somehow, the warm and tropical weather makes me feel like something other than Christmas is going on .... Yeah, I know I'm merely a product of my environment. I'm frequently reminded by friends and family members that Jesus, the religious epicenter of this holiday, was born in Bethlehem, and it seldom snows in that part of the world. That usually brings up the whole St. Nick story and the commercial discussion..... you know the rest of that story.

Never less, having spent most of my life living in cool to colder climates, I suppose I just grew to equate Christmas with snow and colder temperatures. The whole Los Angeles thing hasn't really resonated with me either. It's a bit warm here in the winter time. But at least it cools down at night and we get the occasional rain during the season making it a bit more wintry. (Can I admit that seeing all of the photos at Dickster's and Bowie Mike's blogs has made me a bit homesick?)

I'm sure I've been a victim of all of the commercialization as well. Years of television and media influences have convinced me that -

Christmas = Icicles, snow, and cold!

Not so in Sydney, Australia.

Christmas = shorts, tank tops, sandals, and swimming pools. It's the beginning of summer.

A Christmas tree in Darling Harbor. The center of social activity and a great place to stroll and people watch.

It was 75 degrees F.


But if it's Christmas, there's shopping to be done. And one of the big destinations for shoppers in Sydney is Paddy's Markets.

Lots of retail items for sale by a variety of vendors.


So many T-shirts for sale. I couldn't force myself to buy one. I need another T-shirt like I need another bear market. I'm guessing none of my friends or family members are longing for a shirt that says Sydney either. But I could be wrong.

Another shopping destination is the Queen Victoria Building. AKA, the QVB. The QVB is a late nineteenth century building designed by the architect George McRae and constructed in the central business district of Sydney, Australia.




A photo of the southern side of the QVB which opens to Bicentennial Plaza facing Sydney Town Hall.

The inside of the QVB.
In addition to retail shops, there are eateries and coffee shops.

Note the summer attire.

So the bottom line is this: Many people live in the Southern Hemisphere or in warm and tropical climates. For those that celebrate Christmas, it's quite normal for it to be nice and warm during the Holiday season.

But for me, I'll keep dreaming of a White Christmas and hoping for snow!

Sponge Bob Square Pants! Totally Rocks!

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Sponge Bob Square Pants of course....

Are you hip to Sponge Bob?

Among other things, it is currently Nickelodeon's highest rated show and the most distributed property of MTV Networks.

Frankly, the concept of a sponge hanging out in the underwater fictitious town of Bikini Bottom just totally scrambles my brain. As if I don't have enough animated stuff going on up there - you know what I mean? But the truth is, I like the show. Now don't get me wrong. I've only seen about 10 - 15 episodes and a movie or two so it's not like I sit around and watch episode after episode religiously. I'll confess though - one morning in Sydney Australia, I woke up early and turned on the tube. After catching up on the latest world news, I was looking for something mindless and refreshing. Low and behold, I stumbled upon a channel playing Sponge Bob. I plowed through about an hours worth. And that was before I had a cup of coffee.

After you get past the fact that some of the characters exceed the reasonable and tolerable level of stupidity, it's actually a pleasant and somewhat redeeming show!

So hear me out please; It's difficult for me to walk around being an advocate for a geeky nerdy guy with buck teeth, blue eyes, brown square trousers, and a bow tie. But I like the guy! We've all got our flaws.... He's just got about 9 or 10 really obvious ones. But I think he's cool!

Unfortunatley, the sad thing for me is - People are starting to question my credibility.

So just to be on the safe side, I started asking around to get an idea of what some other well-known and respected people thought of the little spongy guy.

I started by asking the "Black Eye Peas."





Here's what they thought:





Then I thought I'd ask the original "Slim Shady." Mr. Eminem!

Here's what he had to say:

So there you have it:

Sponge Bob Rocks!