tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119120312011-12-15T03:47:33.915+01:00No more Bayreuth... back in SydneyAndrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.comBlogger1031100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-8651748139015225862007-05-04T17:16:00.000+02:002007-05-04T17:18:41.303+02:00

Went and saw Tim Minchin at the Sydney opera house last night. Pretty funny dude. He sang the two songs in the following video at the performanceworth a look

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-22756252639767980522007-03-24T07:24:00.000+01:002007-03-24T08:27:11.403+01:00

Thursday night was my graduation ceremony. Mum and dad came down to see me wear some funny robes and a funny hat. Although my garb was a little more extravegant than the normal undergraduates (lots of red) it was nothing compared to the academic peacocks who adorned the stage. The evening was the usual graduation fare sit down and wait while everybody congratulates each other and give each other

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-787796115443555922007-02-28T11:45:00.000+01:002007-02-28T12:10:37.037+01:00

As was reported all over the Australian news (Andreas' blog being the most reputable) there were two giant ships in Sydney last week. Luckily my new desk has views of the harbour so I had a great view of the Queen Mary 2 docked at Garden Island.And could watch the little sister Queen Elizabeth 2 making its way down the harbourOf course at this distance you can't really get a feel for how big the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-36647361605969606022007-02-28T11:28:00.000+01:002007-02-28T11:31:59.502+01:00

So my dream life in Bayreuth is over. No more Haxe and Beer on a Monday night. No more decent soccer on TV. I'm now working for a company in the city and no more lazy university days...I've been so slack with this blog and people were giving me some shit so I am going to get it back together... hopefully a couple of posts per month! If i can find the time of course :)

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-48832541026287009312006-12-24T13:58:00.000+01:002006-12-24T14:13:55.282+01:00

So it is Christmas! The whole family is here in Germany to celebrate. Unfortunately this year it is so warm in Europe that there is no chance of a white Christmas. So to see some snow we headed south and drove through the Alps. I'll put some photos up after Christmas. I've also finished my job here in Bayreuth. So the party post doc is finished and on the 3rd of January I'm going back to

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-28080673602321634922006-12-01T13:12:00.000+01:002006-12-01T13:15:05.745+01:00

Tania has just started a blog about her travels here in Germany. Its got some photos and things so check it out if you have a few minutes.http://TeaZerz.blogspot.comIf you are typing it into your address bar make sure you get it correct. I'm sure if you mistype it you will end up at a pr0n page :)

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-55977884344965404342006-11-26T00:26:00.000+01:002006-11-28T16:25:19.500+01:00

So unfortunately I didn't win the trip to Paris. Apparently not sexy enough :( But I was able to drown my sorrows with a skiing trip to Austria. Andreas, Darkeyah, Tania and I hired a car and drove the 3.5 hours to the Alps for three days of alpine adventure.The town next to the slopes is called Soelden. In the deep winter (jan-mar) the snowline is all the way down to the valley and so you can

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-29760301971261242542006-11-14T15:34:00.000+01:002006-11-24T13:36:17.580+01:00

Well tried to upload my photo. Its been about two days and still not there. I tried doing some voting but realised it is one of the most annoying things ever. They are ordered by when they were uploaded so even if my photo does appear it will be at the end of about 300 photos... Pretty shit website design. So if you are really really bored then vote. Otherwise even I am thinking I can't be

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-43987285801728202562006-11-13T16:00:00.000+01:002006-11-14T10:32:59.598+01:00

As I said here is a link for the photo competition...So if I can mobilise my loyal readership (of 5 - 10 people) to follow this link:LINKThem vote everybody else as one bunny and mine as three bunnies (naturally!). Unfortunately there are a shitload of photos so might take a while to scroll to my photo. But negative votes help me out as well so if you get bored just stop...Here is a copy of the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1162484904276559292006-11-02T17:01:00.000+01:002006-11-13T15:59:45.528+01:00

I don't usually go to too many halloween parties. It is basically an American thing noone I know in Darwin or Sydney really had enough motivation to organise one. But seeing it is another way to make people spend money on crap (like huge bland pumpkins) the tradition has started to move to Germany. A guy from my work, Felix, moved into a new place earlier this year and seeing the 1st November is

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1162473712961397342006-11-02T14:17:00.000+01:002006-11-13T15:59:45.211+01:00

Quick post just to say (and show) that the first snow of the season is falling in Bayreuth. The photos don't do it any justice but it snowing quite hard and everything is slowly getting covered in white. Although everyone is complaining that is too cold today (max -1) I think it is beautiful so took a video. Then thought I might end up like that dude from American Beauty. "It was one of those

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1161171823414039512006-10-18T13:31:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:44.854+01:00

A couple of weeks ago the labs of MCII (where Jai Yin works) and PCI (where Yan works) got together and organised a wedding reception. Jai Yin and Yan got married (in quasi secret) in Munich a couple of months ago so we decided we needed to celebrate. The idea evolved from a simple German dinner at one of the Franconian restaurants to a full-on traditional German reception. So we told the couple

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1160382215526321582006-10-09T10:17:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:44.564+01:00

Finally I have been recognised...and online hereThe local paper came around looking for a generic "chemist in the lab" photo to accompany a story about Uni Bayreuth so Jai Yin and I obliged. To explain the photo I am stirring a flask of water while Jai Yin puts an empty flask in some liquid nitrogen. The magic of the media :)

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1159882316155811222006-10-03T15:20:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:44.281+01:00

After a few weeks of just hanging around in Bayreuth and visiting the local bars and restaurants the last week has been crazy. Started off with a wedding party for a couple of people from the Uni (which ill talk about next blog entry) then Tania arrived from Townsville and finally pgiddy flew across and a group of us went to Oktoberfest.Unlike last time we hired a 9 seater van and party bussed

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1159096817734886332006-09-24T13:17:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:44.061+01:00

Saw the trailer for a new doco the other day and it is so creepy thought I would post it.It's been ages since I've posted anything because it has been pretty quiet in BT. Just going out to local places and working. No beer festivals for a long time. Tania comes next week and we are going to Oktoberfest will have something to write about then :)

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1156594588411422162006-08-26T14:02:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:43.801+01:00

One of the greatest things about Europe is that all these big cities and interesting histories are all within a couple of hours flight. With the prolifiration of budget airlines it's cheap to fly across the continent. So travelling to London for the weekend of Yvette's 30th bday party was easy. What a great weekend! I was a bit worried about flying to heathrow a week after the security clampdown

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1155716087507294042006-08-16T09:55:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:43.491+01:00

Last night went to the movies to see Fluch der Karibik 2 (Pirates of the Caribbean 2) Now not the most exciting activity but there were a couple of things about the German movie experience that I thought was worthwhile sharing. First of all you can drink beers in the cinema! Now seeing it is Germany (and their beer vending machines) this shouldn't be much of a surprise but coming from license

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1155232747803266262006-08-10T19:40:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:43.214+01:00

Sorry to rant on but am so annoyed at these bastards I need somewhere to vent. Andreas rang the German customer Service yesterday to enquire about how long my computer would be "waiting for parts". We were told I would need to wait another 5 to 15 days before the parts arrived and then a couple of days for the computer to be fixed and then sent to me. Including the time I have already waited, it

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1154428887067313002006-08-01T12:31:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:42.991+01:00

Yesterday afternoon there was an accident in the lab. A fire started in the anionic lab and we had to evacuate the building. Luckily nobody was seriously hurt. The carbon dioxide automatic fire dousing system went off fine and there is hardly any damage. Good to know when you have a lab with giant distillation apparatus full of highly flammable toluene and THF. The local paper got the exclusive.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1154069424557701452006-07-28T08:46:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:42.716+01:00

Got my stitches out this week and thought I'd share it with you all. Nowhere near as disturbing as when they put them in but still pretty gross. She has alot of trouble getting hold of number two. I took two videos but can't edit them together because my useless ASUS computer is broken (see post below). ouchy

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1153922051521053392006-07-26T15:25:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:42.434+01:00

Okay I lied. No post about Paris. Instead I am going to let of some steam about the crappy service I've got from ASUS computer. First some background...In march this year I purchased one of the new shiny ASUS A7Jc computers. Seeing I was moving to Germany I thought it owuld be good to have a computer that could be used as a TV and stereo... and for a blissful 3 months everything seemed to be

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1153730953391284402006-07-24T10:16:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:42.118+01:00

Due to my extreme laziness (and terrible injury ;)) it's been ages since I have posted. So take a little journey back in time with me to the start of July. Hugh, Marion and Martina all visited Bayreuth for a few days. It was also the weekend of the Buergerfest (last years Buergerfest can be seen here and here) so a great weekend to visit. We hung around in the city centre drinking Weissbeir,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1153167184101892202006-07-17T22:02:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:41.877+01:00

Last year I managed to fall off my bike and rip apart my elbow and strain my shoulder (see old posts here and here) . I've cleverly managed to hurt myself again this time with a spanner. While working on a piece of machinery at uni the spanner slipped on the bolt and my hand careened into a metal plate. Long story short I took a piece of flesh about the size of a 1 euro cent out of my middle

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1152609586115874352006-07-11T11:09:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:41.566+01:00

Well it had to come to an end sometime. Although the final was a bit of an anticlimax without Germany (Australia ;) ), the rest of the month has been unbelievable. I was basically able to watch every game live and it is going to be hard to find something so entertaining every night of the week. A positive is that my liver can have a bit of a break. Most nights we went to a pub or live site to

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1151397363630824262006-06-27T10:32:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:41.256+01:00

:(here and hereWell now I have to choose another team to follow...

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1151088854537470692006-06-23T20:53:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:41.014+01:00

After a win against Japan and a tough match against Brazil the final game in Stuttgart was the most important game in Australia Soccer ever. Through unbelievable luck Amy managed to get some tickets to this game so we caught a train from Bayreuth and headed over. We stayed with Uli and Chris' place in the suburbs of Stuttgart (two German friends Ra met in Australia). After breakfast on the big

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1151088485800835202006-06-23T20:37:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:40.732+01:00

World Cup Fever has swept over Germany and, from what I read in the Herald, over Australia as well. Every host city has set up Fan-Fest sites with giant screens, flowing beer, live music, wuerste and pretzels galore. After the wedding (see previous post) I caught a ridiculously early train to Munich and met up with guys from Bayreuth and Patrick and Amy! The fan site was held in a park at the old

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1151085536117573302006-06-23T19:17:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:40.459+01:00

The last week has been an absolute whirlwind, predictably *mostly* revolving around the soccer. The most important distraction from the World Cup was attending Rahel and Achim's wedding in the northern German town of Verden (Aller). It was a great day. I caught a train up on the Friday night and had some northern German sausage (1 and 1/4 Bratwurst) at Rahel's parents house. The morning of the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1150371621531355682006-06-15T13:21:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:40.209+01:00

The start of the summer brings the festival season to Germany. Every year MTV.de holds a couple of campus invasions concerts at University's around Germany. Nobody at Uni Bayreuth entered the competition for the concert(maybe next year??) so we drove to Wuerzburg in unterfranken. Weather was perfect (30C) and the bands were pretty good. One thing that surprises me about MTV is the amount of ads

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1150032709219574872006-06-11T15:23:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:39.917+01:00

Ole ole ole... The world cup has started. Even the small town of Bayreuth is gripped with football fever. Street, shops and houses are decked out in German flags and every second car has a small flag on the aerial. A few of us from work joined a big crowd at a biergarten called herzog kellor to watch the opening game. The whole place was packed with people and the atmosphere was great. Luckily

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1149930829469954152006-06-10T10:22:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:39.614+01:00

As promised another activity involving beer! Last Saturday Anja and I went to Erlangen to meet Joerg for the local beer festival, the Bergkirchweih. This is another festival that has been going on for over 250 years. Like Oktoberfest in Munich it has thousands of people, rides, food and, of course, lots and lots of beer served in the 1L glasses. However unlike Oktoberfest almost all of the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1149525728022307092006-06-05T18:17:00.001+02:002006-11-13T15:59:39.422+01:00

The vast majority of my posts describe beery nights and one of the hundreds of beer festivals in Bayern. So for a change of flavour Evis and I baked some cakes for our birthdays. I am not really a dessert person and so don't think I have actually baked a cake before. We baked 4 cakes (chocolate, carrot, pineapple and cheese) for afternoon tea at MC II. It took six hours but the results were

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1148490097605654162006-05-24T19:01:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:36.765+01:00

Every now and again we have to face difficult decisions. These testing moments require discipline, determination, confidence and willpower otherwise it is easy to end up paralysed in no-mans land flitting back and forth without moving forward. Last Saturday night such a situation reared it's ugly head.... Two choices / one night:Eurovision Song Contest VS. Bonnie Tyler live @ Maisel's

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1148228662430686352006-05-21T18:04:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:36.491+01:00

Friday was a bit of a write off because we had a safety seminar at work. So an afternoon tobogganing (Sommer Rodeln) with the group was organised in a town about 30 mins from Bayreuth. For "extreme" speed we went down in pairs. The video, if I have figured out how to post it correctly, is Karina and I on the older (but better) of the tracks. Rock on :) Toboganning

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1146830652017599442006-05-05T13:10:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:36.269+01:00

It is German (or oberfranken) tradition to go walking in the forest on the 1st of May. People head to the forests dragging a crate of beer with them and commune with nature. So to truly live the deutsche experience a few of us headed 30km away to the luisenberg felsenlabyrinth (stone labyrinth). The name suggested we would be getting lost in a maze of stone trying to find the centre (maybe with a

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1146139969873351512006-04-27T13:33:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:36.052+01:00

So after a couple of weeks here I am basically set up again. Most of the administration has been completed (indicated by a large volume of personally addressed junk mail) although my visa hasn't been approved yet. Still haven't been paid but have been assured it will be this week sometime. My dream of somebody freshly laundering my clothes each week has been shattered. My landlord just got a new

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1144768133756928532006-04-11T16:49:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:35.776+01:00

I had no problems on the trip over here. The Qantas flight was pretty good and this time they didn't lose my bags which was a plus. The last couple of days have been spent wading through the endless German bureaucracy. When I arrived I was given a giant stack of papers which needed signing. Now I have been told on many occasions not to sign anything without reading it first, however with my

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1140497843581659872006-02-21T05:48:00.000+01:002006-11-13T15:59:35.519+01:00

I've signed up for a post doc position back in Bayreuth starting at the start of April. Just need to finish my PhD, pack all my things, organise travel stuff, and drive my car back to Darwin. Shouldn't be too much of a rush :(Expect some more pictures and things when I am on the road again...

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1129220290287554522005-10-13T18:18:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:35.270+01:00

CAMD reunion in Paris 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1129220251743014992005-10-13T18:17:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:34.992+01:00

Bloody Australia bar in Paris 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1129220155150540572005-10-13T18:15:00.001+02:002006-11-13T15:59:34.687+01:00

F1 track in monaco 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1129220124785058052005-10-13T18:15:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:34.454+01:00

50c in orange and the maserati 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1129220029619753642005-10-13T18:13:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:34.167+01:00

paparazzi photo of 50c 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1128929658257728942005-10-10T09:26:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:32.948+01:00

Just a quick note to say I am in Marseille at the moment. Interesting city, very very different from Paris. Quite dirty, dog crap everywhere and an amazingly serious parking and traffic problem. They have some semblance of a public transport system but because of the never ending rolling strikes(whenever it is a sunny day they seem to strike here) everybody owns a car to get to work. But there is

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1128930434879893702005-10-08T09:34:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:33.636+01:00

Went on a little trip around the riveria with arnaud. We stayed in Nice for two days and did little day trips around the region. Nice was great. Good atmosphere, food and weather. although it is not the peak season anymore there were still quite a few tourist around. Although we found a place to park our car on the street and not in one of the huge parking stations so it was not that bad. One day

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1128930683821076202005-10-03T09:47:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:33.922+01:00

The reunion of everyone in Paris was really nice. Arnaud, Achim, Rahel, Julien, Elodie and me. went to a few restuarant and bars (even the bloody australian bar, most expensive tooheys new in the world at about $12 a stubbie). It was fun to see everyone again. Also checked out Juliens new lab which was good fun. Unfortunately I can't connect my computer to the internet so only words no photos...

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1127741282842272972005-09-26T15:20:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:32.723+01:00

I had a perfect finish to my time in Bavaria with a trip to Oktoberfest 2005. Only one word can sum it up and that is ridiculous. We had to leave really early so we could ensure a place in one of the beer tents. So we left Bayreuth at 5:45am and arrived at 9:00. Already the tents were filling up. Our first beer was at 9:30. After 6 hours in Augustiner Brau we walked around the sideshows went on a

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1127740364356902932005-09-26T15:12:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:30.075+01:00

The train to Munich Beer Hall at 9am Beer hall at 10:30am Group photo in Augustiner Brau Singing in Russian Rollercoaster Prost Sunny days Singing and Dancing 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1127378533544428172005-09-22T10:15:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:29.771+01:00

Went to my first soccer game last night. Bundesliga clash between Nuernberg and Schlake 04 at Nuernberg stadium. About an hour away from Bayreuth by car. It was really good. Tickets were pretty cheap at €12 and we were in the standing section behind the goals. 25,000 people in the stadium so not totally full but the standing section was packed. The final score was 1-1 so not a super result but it

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1127376715244354702005-09-22T10:11:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:28.349+01:00

Team Song Before the game The boys Corner 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1127306338489757642005-09-21T14:13:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:28.077+01:00

The final conference dinner was last night. Was pretty good. Held in the mensa and surprisingly it didn't taste too bad. I think they got outside caterers in. After 3.5 months of mensa food I am looking forward to a laksa when I get back. Actually anything that isn't pork in some sort of salty but flavourless sauce will be a nice change :) Anyway free beer and wine okay food made for a good night

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1127304618083710682005-09-21T14:10:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:27.207+01:00

Conference Dinner Franken Wine (tastes terrible) Group photo 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1127204386005705652005-09-20T09:50:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:26.919+01:00

The Bayreuth Polymer Symposium started on Sunday to much fanfare. It is also the Polymer Standards Service 20th birthday so got a free lunch, listened to some talks and then a free dinner... It was also the German election day. So the conference finished before 6pm so everybody could see the results coming in. There is a big difference in politics between Australia and Germany. Firstly everybody

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1127202161776918202005-09-20T09:42:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:25.483+01:00

BPS '05 Election results: waiting with baited breath... Me and my poster Leonie presenting Saxophone Quartet Haxe 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1127201399862554532005-09-18T09:20:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:24.495+01:00

Realised it has been ages since I posted anything. The main reason is I haven't done anything that exciting. Over the last couple of weeks have mainly been finishing experiments and trying to get enough results to cobble together a paper(with a bit more work when I am back in Sydney). But seeing its a bit late to start new experiments now (My last day is on Friday) I went out on the weekend.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1127201736996201662005-09-17T07:02:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:24.668+01:00

Happy B'day Dinner Cheers 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1125857020254003302005-09-04T20:00:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:24.252+01:00

Happy B'day Tania, Patrick and Jo. Happy Fathers day Dad...Only two more weeks working in the lab here. Really not much time left at all. Hence I am here at 8pm on a sunday night trying to dissolve some polymer and start an ATRP. Quite annoying. But in two and a half weeks I have a holiday which should be good.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1125057492465416732005-08-26T13:48:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:23.989+01:00

Last night went to dinner at Andreas' place. His girlfriend, Laurence, is currently in Bayreuth writing her phD and she cooked dinner for us (presumably during a mental health break). Main reason I am posting this is because the entree was escargot. I have tried snails once before at "the little snail" in darling harbour but these were home made. Tasted pretty good, but anything smothered in

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1125056796964654182005-08-26T13:46:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:23.250+01:00

Table Snails Serving up 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1125056710929945572005-08-26T13:39:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:22.985+01:00

I'm sure you have heard in the news that there is flooding in southern Germany, Austria, and Switzeland. Luckily there is no flooding in Bayreuth. However the weather that is causing the flooding blows over Bayreuth first. So it is rainy, grey and cold. The Bavarians are still hoping for summer to come back for a week or two (they call it old woman's summer or something) but they admit its not

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1125056236304764562005-08-26T13:37:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:22.427+01:00

Grey Skies Roter Main 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1124699254559971212005-08-22T10:14:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:22.118+01:00

On Saturday my dorm had a traditional Bayern breakfast. Something like the bacon and eggs in Coogee for the people of Bayern. First boil up some white sausages, arrange some pretzels on a plate and open a jar of super super sweet mustard. The meal is all washed down with a large wheat beer. Quite a hardcore way to start the day, especially if you go out the night before. He explained its

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1124698304586060412005-08-22T10:11:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:21.256+01:00

Good morning!! Wuerste fishing Bayern Breakfast 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1124195071214990632005-08-16T14:21:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:20.939+01:00

Had a great time last night. Went to the Latino bar for a few beers after work to see Oliver play the sax. He is part of a quartet that plays once a month. He told us about it while we were in Berlin. So everyone from the Berlin trip came along plus a few people from MCII and some friends from my apartment complex. Good times...

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1124194622094543042005-08-16T14:17:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:20.057+01:00

Few drinks Few more drinks Oliver cutting loose Group Photo 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1124111121780356292005-08-15T14:40:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:19.789+01:00

Last weekend was spent in Berlin. Pierre was flying back to Australia on Saturday from Berlin and the Venezuelan's also wanted to see the capital so we packed up a car and sped up the Autobahn. It takes about 4 hours from Bayreuth to Berlin. We checked into a hotel on the very outskirts of the city (as to avoid driving into the city and getting lost). Comfortable hotel nothing special but close

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1124106049738990462005-08-15T13:40:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:17.592+01:00

Berliner Dom Brandenburg Gate Louis and Oliver at Brandenburg Gate Reichstag at sunset Dome of the Reichstag Nightscape of Berlin Brandenburg gate at night Nefertiti Victory Tower 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1123851408841213242005-08-12T15:51:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:16.678+01:00

Last night we had a flatmates party in my apartment. Manuel has a raquelette-grill so we used that. Involved melting cheese under the grill then scraping it off onto potatoes, ham, pineapple, salami, gerkins, cucumber, bacon, onion, or mushrooms (surprisingly no sausages...). It was pretty good fun. I was told it is usually a winter food, like fondue. It was tasty although probably not the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1123850594222165492005-08-12T14:48:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:15.763+01:00

Preparation And a pot of potatos Raquelette 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1123851084610972592005-08-12T14:47:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:16.409+01:00

I stacked my bike on the way to German course. Some girl stepped onto the bike path so I went onto the road and then swerved to get back onto the path again. My tire got stuck in the gutter and I slid along the road like one of those racing motorcycle guys. Unfortunately I wasn't wearing any racing leathers so I got a deep cut on my elbow and I can't lift my arm horizontally without a bit of pain

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1123850432616312252005-08-12T14:40:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:15.317+01:00

My poor arm Not happy jan!! 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1123688530144811132005-08-10T17:41:00.001+02:002006-11-13T15:59:15.078+01:00

I got the photos from Greicy's camera so put up a few more.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1123688415184981472005-08-10T17:40:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:14.056+01:00

Alex and Notre Dame Group Photo A cafe at the Bastille Louvre fountain

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1123492640315492562005-08-08T10:44:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:13.828+01:00

We made a last minute decision (Thursday night 10pm) to go to Paris this weekend. It is Alex's home town so he wanted to show us around. Plus the Venezuelan girl from my German class has two relatives in town who wanted to go to Paris. So Pierre, Gracy, Evelyn, Alex and I jumped in Pierre's car on Friday afternoon for the 8 hour drive. We made pretty good time so stopped in Reims to see the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1123488305250330212005-08-08T10:05:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:10.859+01:00

Cathedral in Reims Champagne in Champagne Notre Dame From the Terrase in the Arabic Centre Champs-Elysee from the top of Arc de Triomphe Tower from the Arc Greisy enjoying the view Alex's head and the tower Dinner!! (Cassoulet and Confit) View of Paris at 3am from district 20 The ridiculous line at the Louvre Enjoying the sunshine in Parc Montsouris

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1122648376695112652005-07-29T16:38:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:10.640+01:00

Thought I'd give an update on how my work is going. Well after 6 weeks of useless data and oligomers we decided to let the dead horse that was anionic polymerization alone. It has been really quite annoying because each anionic takes about a week to set up and uses up so much of the hard to synthesize monomer (at least 15g per go, how crappy is that Zac?). Seeing I had 100g to start with I have

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1122277980298957802005-07-25T09:42:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:10.367+01:00

Pretty good weekend. Although I had to go to work on Saturday I made up for it by going to Bamburg with Alex, Pierre and Eric. Bamburg is about 60km away from Bayreuth and with the autobahn (traveling at 190KMH, which was a bit scary) it only takes 35-45 mins. Bamburg is a bit smaller than Bayreuth but it is a bit more of a tourist mecca so their were people everywhere. The guys didn't want to do

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1122276698436794152005-07-25T09:31:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:08.757+01:00

Auto Bahn Bridge over the Canal Rose Garden with palace in the background (looks fake doesn't it) Rooftops of Bamburg Rauchbier, Prost!! Self portrait of Alex...french Alt Rathaus Schloss Seehof outside of Bamburg

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1121866926697120182005-07-20T15:31:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:08.422+01:00

Last night I went to a thing called Fackelzug (or Torchtrain). A professor in physical chemistry received an offer to work at the University of Marburg. In Germany, they have to tell his current workplace so they can give him a counter offer. Then their students , fellow academics and University people try and convince them to stay. The Fackelzug is a way for the Uni to show its support. We met

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1121865831002067182005-07-20T15:23:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:06.537+01:00

Before Lighting Tractor Lit up ready to March Film Crew The march March (again) The professor Chair of Honour Tug of War - Marburg vs Bayreuth (with Prof. Mueller in brown jacket)

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1121603487471121592005-07-17T13:57:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:06.270+01:00

It's been a little while since I posted anything. Main reason is I have been so busy this week with a few people coming to Bayreuth. This post is pretty long. At the start of the week, Chris and Tom arrived to give a series of seminars (and check up on me :) ). For some reason I have no photos of either of them so you will have to take my word for it they were here. Tom only stayed for a couple

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1121600459122974282005-07-17T13:40:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:02.979+01:00

Simon Arrives in Bayreuth Attack of the bees!! Wagner's House Oskar's Restaurant with Super Schnitzel Oskar's again Nuremburg Wishing Fountain Rooftops from the castle 50m Castle well Mutant Rabbit Nuremburg riverscape Kuchen!! City Wall Nuremburger Sausages and Weisse beer... 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1120837122199913492005-07-08T17:24:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:02.750+01:00

I have had a few comments along the lines of "all you seem to do is go out and drink". The reason that is all I write about is because my day to day work would be quite boring. Something like "ran another anionic polymerization in a different solvent system" or "measured a series of NMR and made up some GPC samples" will be either quite tedious or mean absolutely nothing to some people. But I am

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1120394329652762532005-07-03T13:40:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:02.489+01:00

I found out last night that burgerfest means "citizen's festival". It really should have an umlaut over the u but I can't figure out how to do that in this program so you will have to imagine it. Anyway the party was really really fun. As I said before, basically the entire centre of the city is closed off to traffic. Then all the shops set up booths outside on the street selling food and drink.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1120390060690084562005-07-03T13:27:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:00.311+01:00

The Main St First Bar Group photo DJ booth crowd and "drinking island" Another DJ booth 3am 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1120307861987407172005-07-02T14:24:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:59:00.103+01:00

For the last few weeks I have been looking for a German course to do while I am here. I went to this one run by a church. It was free but the group had about 20 people and they were a little to advanced (doing some grammatical form called genatative(??)). So I lasted one lesson there. The University also offers a course but it is for 4 weeks and is all day. I thought work wouldn't be impressed if

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1120306811395769592005-07-02T14:20:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:58:59.024+01:00

Language College Bards Celtic Glow (again!!!) Boy band Boy Band2 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1120225778395351822005-07-01T15:32:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:58:58.872+01:00

My Uncle just won the Territorian of the Year Award. Pretty cool. He lives in a town called Pine Creek, south of Darwin. It is where the Ah Toy family comes from(my Dad's side anyway)...here is a linkABC story

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1119867019925923422005-06-27T12:10:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:58:58.499+01:00

So I thought I would share a couple of strange things. This is the vending machine that is downstairs in our buildings lobby.Vending Machine Beer is one of the options. Yes, for 0.97 Euro you can have a cold beer from a machine. Excellent! This would be a good addition to any workplace. In Australia, I still get ID'd when I go to bars and here they have machines handing out drinks... This

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1119776897033803322005-06-26T11:00:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:58:58.283+01:00

After work on Friday Sergei, Felix, Andreas and I went out for some drinks. We started off at this beer garden in the city centre... Pretty dodgy. Andreas had been a year ago and it was quite happening but this time it was a bit wierd. Both waitresses were a bit pissed and even the Germans had difficulty understanding them. For some reason we decided to get some food there (in hindsight a pretty

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1119776275194872662005-06-26T10:57:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:58:57.383+01:00

Friday night drinks (Sergei, Felix, Andreas) What to do when you don't have a beach Irish Pub Irish Pub 2 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1119618139603184952005-06-24T14:55:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:58:57.178+01:00

Last night was another free dinner. This time in the form of a professorship party. When someone is given a professor chair in Bayreuth they have a introduction lecture and then a party (all out of their own pocket). So its basically a free feed and drink for anybody who knows about it. This explains why Martina also threw one of these partys when she was promoted to senior lecturer in Sydney (

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1119616976920113092005-06-24T14:42:00.002+02:002006-11-13T15:58:55.601+01:00

BBQ Line German Meat Plate Lab Guys (Me, Markus, Sergei)The BBQ area (note generic long tables, they are everywhere) Beer Garden

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1119521012677847422005-06-23T14:18:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:58:53.801+01:00

My BikeThis is my Bike... It gets a post all to itself seeing it is great for transport around the city. Bayreuth is pretty small so having a bike is really good. There is a undersupply of bikes in this town. Students are always looking for them. When they find out I have one after 7 days they cannot believe it. The best thing is I got it from Prof. Muller. He had it stored in the lab storage

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1119521629677862852005-06-23T12:08:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:58:54.929+01:00

As it has been a couple of weeks I thought it is probably a good idea to post some photos of the lab so that Chris thinks that I am actually doing something here not just eating sausages and drinking beer... So there are a few photos below for those who are chemically inclined. The reactor rig is about 500ml. It has a cooling jacket and stirrer as well as injection ports and thermostat. The cool

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1119521047649929572005-06-23T12:04:00.001+02:002006-11-13T15:58:54.739+01:00

Anioinic Reactor setup Reactor Cleaning THF Close up of cleaning THF 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1119348505087078132005-06-21T11:57:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:58:52.623+01:00

Well my first weekend here was pretty good. The weather is fantastic about 27C-30C and nice and sunny. First thing was to get some supplies for my room. The Rotmain centre is the biggest department store. It's got nothing on Westfield Bondi Junction or Eastgardens but it's the best they have. Not surprisingly everything is pretty similar to Australia. Butchers, bakers, clothes shops and the like.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1119344210039279402005-06-21T10:56:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:58:51.963+01:00

Celtic Glow... fantastic Kindergarten Party Uni Open Air Concert 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1119006238564759252005-06-17T12:59:00.000+02:002006-11-13T15:58:51.775+01:00

Last night there was the annual Frankengutstrasse Party. I found out about it by looking out my window and seeing about 500 people in the parkplatz below. Cheap sausages, steak, salad, and beer (1 Euro for each). It started about 7pm and wound up about 4am. As you can see from the night photo my window was just above it. I stayed at the party until about 12:30 then tried to sleep without much

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11912031.post-1119005386211187672005-06-17T12:49:00.001+02:002006-11-13T15:58:51.526+01:00

2am in the morning The beer garden BBQ time... a whole grill of German sausage for 1 Euro per Wurstchen. And my office... Wunderbar 

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12337590051451627412noreply@blogger.com0