I have, for those who may be interested (and I have a feeling there won't be a whole lot of you), put up a few of my favourite photos from my trip (seventeen I believe) into my DeviantArt account gallery.

Linkage.

A mere seventeen from the 750+ that I took ...

Thomas.

Ok, gather round fellow readers and I might relate to you yet another narcissistic story, only this time, with a new setting. No, I am not here to critique CityRail (though I could readily do that, trust me), or rip on the hallowed and prestigious University of Sydney (also something I could easily do), I'm writing, rather, about a little trip a trophy took to the other side of the world.

Yes, on my journey, I took with me The 18 Cup, with permission of course, in order to photograph it at all the landmarks/tourist spots/points of interest that I stumbled upon. These ranged across seven different countries, from London to Galipoli, Singapore to Venice and Krakow to Hong Kong. Of course, there was nothing to take pictures of in Hong Kong as, no doubt, Communism has killed off everything except slave labour and their own economy. Singapore too was a bit bare, but I took the obligatory photos there.

So, tracking my progress through my holiday, the first stop was Singapore, followed by England, then Turkey, and Poland, with the last significant photos in Italy. The points of interest for these places are as followed:

• On the tray table on the first leg of my trip.
  

Singapore:

• Hotel window;
  
• Back seat pocket in a taxi;
• Boat Quay;

England:

• In the snow that greeted me upon arrival in shorts and shirt (Come on! I had just come from sweltering Singapore!);
  
• At the ANZAC cemetery in Harefield;
• At a pub (The Swan);
• Stonehenge;
  
• In front of the London Eye with the River Themes towards the foreground;
• Downing Street;
• With The 18 Cup champion, sitting beside a lion at the foot of Nelson's Column;
• At the British Museum.

Turkey;

• ANZAC Cove (and again);
• Lone Pine;
• The Nek;
• In front of John Simpson's gravestone;
• In surviving trenches (and again);
• Chunuk Bair;
• Kalyon Bar;
• Inside the Blue Mosque.

Poland:

• Auschwitz;
• The Salt Mines.
  

Italy (Venice):

• On the Rialto Bridge, overlooking the Grand Canal;
• St. Mark's Square.

Italy (Florence):

• In front of the Duomo di Milano;
  
• With the Pontevecchio Bridge in the background from Piazza Michelangelo;
• With the Duomo di Milano in the background from Piazza Michelangelo;
• Where The Cup should have been (*).

Italy (Naples);

• A view of the Mediterranean;
• With some castle/fort behind;
• With the city behind.
  

Italy (Rome):

• The Colesseum;
• Pompeii (and again)(and again);
• Trevi Fountain (and again);
• Quirinal Palace (residence of the Italian President);
• The Sistine Chapel;
• On one of The Pope's carriages;
• St. Peter's Square;
• St. Peter's Basilica (and again);
• Julius Caeser's something or other (burial place, place of his pyre?);
• Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II;
• A view from the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II;
• In front of Communist posters in Rome;
  
• Hotel Bar after spending my last Euros.

And, if you had the patience and want to click each of those links, you would have found, yes, the photos. Apologies for being in some of them; I know that I make an awful photo, it's nothing new. Anyways, as is evident, The Cup has done quite a tour and, it should be known, went international after an impromptu defense in England against two Pom poker players. Without worry or second thought, the current champion stepped up, won, and became the first international champion to see the record books. Of course, some have raised the question "What if you lost?", which is simply like asking "When will Gilchrist bowl?": it's just not happening.

As a side note, the prize pool for the night was two pounds per player (to keep in line with the Australian rules, standards and regulations for The 18 Cup tournament).

I should also warn any 18 Cup players that should they travel abroad or be approached by tourists who, for some strange reason, think they are nationally and internationally renowned for their elite and masterful poker skills that they go along with the ride, lest I be found out to be lying! So I might have embellished some truths ... well, I certainly wouldn't have been lying about myself when I said some of the things anyway.

Thomas.

Went to post ... jetlag kicked in ... now I'm not posting.

Thomas.

Things I learned from my trip:

- The free Internet-enabled computers at Singapore Airport are no good for posting comments on blogs
- Istanbul sucks
- Don't walk into a British pub and say "Who wants to drink!"

Yes I have returned, triumphant and victorious. Alas, my chariot broke down, so I had to hitch a ride with Qantas, but none the less, I'm here in one piece.

Which is slightly better than The 18 Cup is, let me tell you.

While on my gallivant around the world I thought up quite a few interesting blog posts, then drowned some of them in beer, then started to think of them again, and to make sure I didn't forget them again (because the drinking never really stopped) I wrote them down. The last thing I wrote was on a Qantas napkin, and it's quite full. So rest assured, along with the boring, long and somewhat uninteresting stories that you get with a Jet-setter, you'll get the standard, boring, long and somewhat uninteresting blog posts that you get with this Jet-setter.

However, not tonight. Yesterday's thirty-six hour day has knocked the wind out of me, and it seems that tonight and my return to university tomorrow will be used to catch up on sleep. Damn jet-lag.

Thomas.

In an attempt to perfect the are of "show-offistry", I write this message a mere two and a half hours before check-in.

I leave for a holiday today, gallivanting across Europe for a month. I shall attempt to get in contact somewhere on my extravagant trip as the novelty of posting from abroad is appealing.

If not, see you all come the 3rd of March.

Thomas.

Well well well.

Ok, what is your opinion on the unequal distribution of G.S.T. revenue among the states, and what will be your individual approach (assuming that you won't have a collective approach as neither Labour or the Liberals will touch you with a ten-foot, twenty-foot, thirty-foot poll) to this issue?

Or exactly how are you going to tackle the issue of the problems at Auburn hospital? What sort of fiscal proposal will you submit or suggest to the Premier to alleviate these pressing troubles in your electorate?

And with these national terror laws you're attempting to abolish at the state level, what would you have in their place? Wait, that's right, you would have nothing and wait until we actually have an attack in Australia. Because only after the attack do we have terrorists, right? I mean we of course wouldn't have terrorists in our borders before an attack. It's common sense people!

Oh, and it's nice to see Mr. Habib rewriting the dictionary to include "no school, no study, people are staying in the streets looking for jobs" as a form of torture. I thought the Yanks saying waterboarding wasn't a form or torture was a bit far-fetched, but this is off the scale at the other end.

The end result is this: there's another whack out there thinking that he should go to some level of government so that everyone can hear his voice louder. His story should be listened to. His injustice is noteworthy. But government isn't a place for activism. Otherwise the Greens and the Socialist Alliance would have much more popularity. What people want are level-headed, commonsense, real-shit people. Not this guy.

I refrained from commenting on that idiot Mundine's supposed run for government, and then Sheik Retard's rumoured run, then his blessing or support or what ever of (expectedly) Muslim candidates. But this was too good to leave out. It had best be obvious and crystal clear to the people of Auburn that this guy has no political know-how or idea as to how things are run or what the hell he should do if he gets elected, because it's bloody clear to me!

Thomas.

Next time America decides to invade and take-over another country, they should forget about Iran or Syria and head straight for Britain. Fucking hell! There's got to be more terrorists there than the whole of the Middle East! This is, what?, the sixth terror plot to be "foiled" by the Bobbies in the past few years? And how many terror attacks did Saddam have in the works? Wait, that's right, none!

Wait, I think I'm onto something here. I mean, it's a hotbed for terrorists this Britain, it's been an aggressive international power for many, many years, had an "evil" empire for a while (it still does some would argue), has been responsible for genocide in the past, has been an ally and an enemy of the United States. If you didn't know better, you'd think I'd be talking about Iraq, wouldn't you?

Ok, so after thinking it over, I will submit the following proposal to the United States Embassy as soon as all the fine details are done. But, while in its rough and shell-stage, I'm prepared to let everyone have a little look at the next chapter in the War on Terror.

The War on Terror - Stage Three - Tea Party 2.0

- Using up-to-date satellite imaging, secure mappings of latest topography, landmarks and infrastructure of Britain. Done;
- Co-ordinate with the Chief-of-Staffs to formalize the most effective and least cost-of-life attack plans. Done;
- Secure allies in the attack. Suggestions include: Scotland (history of conflict, recent instability), Ireland (history of conflict, recent hotbed of activity), France (extensive history of conflict, recent international troubles), America (history of conflict), Australia (recent hotbed of activity), Germany (Arch-nemesis);
- Formulate specific and effective fall-out plan. Done;
- Ensure all sources, intelligence and information is accurate and up-to-date, i.e. use reputable sources like this, this, and this;
- Have a high-profile, political figure deliver any presentations so as to persuade all administrations that this is legit. Subsequently, this will be one of the many fall-guys with little blame;
- Kick ass! OOOO-RAAAH!!!

Thomas.

You know 24 is back on when Jack Bauer can be released from a Chinese prison camp, after two year of torture and concentration-camp treatment, step off of a non-stop China to L.A. international flight, bite out a terrorist's jugular, un-cuff both of his hands while cuffed, then jack a car using only a paint can.

And he just managed to neutralise an armed guard with a tree-branch.

Then a pair of choppers blew up a residential home.

This is why we love 24.

Thomas.