Well, it's yet again Sunday night. All one can do is "look forward" to another week of school/work/the longest possible amount of time before the next weekend. It seems like it's always Sunday evening here. But this Sunday is different! Ruth Ann is making(as I type) rice bubble treats(rice krispie treats with peanut butter, honey, coconut, and raisins instead of marshmallows)!!! We just got done cleaning the dust off of the floor and under the furniture. Our apartment produces a ridiculous amount of dust. We have no idea where it comes from but there are always huge dust bunnies(or jack rabbits) under our bed. So because of our hard work, we get a treat!!

We had our first orchestra concerts this weekend. There was a concert Friday night that celebrated all the scholarship winners at the Con. Apparently both of us won scholarships, some of which we didn't even know! We knew about Ruth Ann's but had no clue I was getting anything. We're not counting our chickens before they hatch, though, because we have lived here too long. We're going into the scholarship lady at the Con and seeing what exactly is going on-it's possible it was a typo or some other mishap. Later that night we went to here the Sydney Symphony(we can get some free tickets through the Con) and heard an amazing oboe concerto amongst other things. We decided that should they even need an extra flutist or bassoonist, we'd be more than happy to play with them.

Our concert Saturday afternoon was not quite as good and Fridays, but we decided to be social and went out afterwards with a number of the wind section. We had multiple odd and amusing conversations such as "the evils of American cheese vs. The other better kinds of cheeses out there(we agreed)," "Denver and tuba players," and we tried in vain to explain right wing militias-apparently they don't really have them here.

We've used our Sunday to the best of our abilities: slept late, went running, had pancakes!, talked to various family members, had a nap, and now we get dessert! Have a good Sunday night!
~Mike

I feel like expounding on our discussion on right wing militias. :-) I'm not sure why Mike decided to ask the Australians if they had any, but they were extremely confused. The discussion got passed around the table a bit, and Mike tried to explain about people hiding out in compounds deep in Montana. One girl protested that there hadn't been guerilla warfare since Vietnam, and another guy said that there were no people to shoot in the bush. We tried to explain further, about right-wing extremists, just hanging onto their guns for dear life. "Some people go hunting for fun," another guy offered. We continued to try and explain Montana (who can?!) and I guess it didn't work. When one girl finally said "I think the closest thing we have is paintball," we gave up. !!!! I guess you just have to experience it for it to make sense :-)
Back to my Rice Bubbles!
~Ruth Ann

Things that go swish, honk, and toot in the night

We've had several odd incidents during the last two nights. The first one began two nights ago around 10:00. We were both busy reading our books when we noticed a strange sound that kept reoccuring. It sounded like a cross between an animal snuffling and a strange clicking. There are several dogs and cats that seem to roam the neighborhood with their owner's permission so we thought nothing of it. The sound kept going and seemed to move to right outside our window. Around 10:15, curiosity got the best of me so we turned out the lights to see in the dark and I went to the window to see what it was. THERE WAS NOTHING THERE!!! We went back to our books and the sound continued again only it moved a bit further off. Around 10:30 the sound was starting to irritate me again so I turned the lights off and looked outside again. THERE WAS STILL NOTHING THERE!!! I could here the sounds clearer now and it sounded like someone jiggling keys or scraping something. There are a number of cars parked outside so this seemed logical. I kept looking until I found out what it was exactly. Our batty old neighbor upstairs was pruning the hedges in the front yard!! At 10:30 at night!! She was bent over so her face was nearing to the ground and she had a little pair of handshears and she was clipping away. We've had several conversations with this woman and knew she was a little nuts, but yard work in the middle of the night puts her squarely in the nut house.

The second incident happened the next morning. The ferries start running around 5:30am. Sometimes the harbour gets crowded with little boats(yachts and motor boats) so the ferries have to honk their horns so they'll clear the way. This is very common and it doesn't even register with us anymore. So around 5:30 one started to honk....and it didn't stop. Our apartment is around 200yrds from the water(as the crow flies only) so it was very loud. We were firmly awake with no hope of going back to sleep and it still kept honking. It kept going for around 10 minutes until it shut off. The sound continued though, as it echoed back and forth across the harbour for 15 more seconds. We asked the security guards at the Admiralty House what happened and they said "Ahhh, we don't know. It was probably the fog horn that got stuck. We started worrying about it, but then it stopped." This is how our day began yesterday.

Today started a little stranger but thankfully a little later. Today was the ANZAC memorial day(Australian/New Zealand Army Corps). All the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fought in WWI and WWII were out in force today in their uniforms with all their medals and green jackets. This morning at 6:09am, a bugler began to play some reveille. We woke up and hoped it was just some solemn ceremony and the Governor General's house down the street with some war veterans. The bugler kept playing and repeating the little jingle over and over until he began to get tired. He finally took a break and we got up and looked outside. There was a very young guy playing the bugle wearing and ANZAC WWI uniform. Another young looking guy was in a suit nearby looking very cold. There were two other men, one with a light and the other a video camera filming the cold looking guy in the suit. We have no idea what this was for or why the guy NOT in uniform was so important. Anyway, the bugler started playing a again but his lips were getting tired so a bunch of the notes started to sag. He kept at it with fervor dispite his embouchure being entirly shot. He tried to salvage his playing by doing a few embouchure excercises but it did not work. By the last time he played the reveille at 6:30, almost 2/3 of the notes were painfully flat. We had started to put some warm clothes on and go out to take a picture of him, but by the time my shoes were on he had finished so, you'll have to take our word for it.

Tonight, we are hoping for a quiet night's sleep!

~Mike

On a sort-of related side note, today we had to go buy another blanket. We bought one a few weeks ago, a lovely blue knitted one that was cozy at the time. But alas, our apartment is not heated, and 55 degrees at night in a poorly insulated 70 year old apartment building with hardwood floors with the bed by the window can be a bit chilly! We trooped up to our favorite Tar-jay, since that was where we found Blanket no. 1. We had seen several quilts for about $50 and hoped to give one a good home. Alas again, Tar-jay was participating in seasonal price gouging, with said quilts now going for $140. Electric blankets were no better. Mike managed to find a plain white, institutional-like quilt for about $55. Aparently, when you buy a plain white quilt here, you're also supposed to buy something called a "quilt cover." In other words, buy the quilt, but then spend another $50 or more on another SHEET to spread over the top of the quilt. ??? White works just fine for us!

We have, however, managed to find a happy place to buy Cheap Stuff. It's called "The Reject Store" and carries everything from mixing bowls to Easter candy. Today I managed to find a "clothes airer" (read: clothes drying rack) for only $10, which is amazing in Australian terms. And now, while I'm writing a roundabout email, let me just expound a bit on Australian laundry. Clothes dryers hardly exist here. There's no room for one in our apartment, nor has there been in any others we've looked into (although corners for washing machines are very common). The towels and sheets (and now the quilt) we've purchased here actually tell us NOT to tumble dry, but to line dry in a semi-shaded area. My parents sent me clothes-pins (and a clothes-pin bag...what a surprise, Dad!) and I have to say I actually enjoy hanging laundry up outside. The clothes airer was purchased to we don't have to hang our underwear up for the batty neighbors to inspect or make off with, but everything else can go down on the community clothes line downstairs. It's in a semi-shaded area but you get a clear view of the harbour as you hang away. And it's been dry enough that if something is hung up first thing in the morning, by the time we return home it's nicely dry. Fabulous!

And now, having written a completely pointless blog, I'm going to go try out that new quilt. Ta!
~Ruth Ann

Back from the Mountains!

We're back! Just a few hours ago we returned from the Blue Mountains. We'd like to head straight back; we're not made for city life!!
We stayed at the Jemby-Rinjah Eco lodge, outside of Blackheath. Blackheath is a little blip on the radar screen about two hours outside of Sydney by train. The JRL is designed to carefully fit into the natural environment, which is the middle of the Australian bush!
Our cabin looked a bit sketchy from the outside, but inside it was pure luxury! It was all wood, but still with large windows. We had a little kichenette and living area and the world's coziest bed. ZZZZZZZ!!
One of the best parts of the trip was the Jemby-Rinjahs! That's the local Aboriginal word for the kind of parrot that lives in the local bush. Apparently, in 1987, the owner of the lodge decided to try feeding the birds; the idea eventurally caught on and the birds will now appear on cue at 8:30 every morning.
This morning we went to the clearing where the birds appear. We were greeted by an absolutely adorable 6 year old British boy who asked if we were waiting for the birds. We said we were and a little conversation sprung up. We asked if he'd ever been to Australia before, and if he had seen any kangaroos. When he said he had, Mike asked if he'd seen any joeys in the mamas' pouches.
"No," Mr. Precocious said. "It's the wrong season. They'll be born in spring."
!!!!!!!! (He made Mike feel stupid...)
Anyway, if the visitors show up at 8:30 with the birds, you'll be given the chance to feed them, too. You take a handful of sunflower seeds and hold still, and look what happens:









They tickle :-)

Yesterday we went for a hike in Australia's Grand Canyon. It's not nearly as big a hole in the ground as the US's, but still picturesque nonetheless. You can easily climb all the way to the canyon floor and hop around amongst the muddy stones. It's actually very bizarre--going down, you're clearly in a rainforest-bushy sort of place. Rocks are covered in slimy moss, the trees drip on you and you slide through mud everywhere. But then you cross the river and start climbing up the other side and are transported into desert--the plants change and everything is covered in a thin film of dust. I enjoyed the dusty part better--probably because it reminded me more of home!

Proof that it was gorgeous:




These pictures to me clearly Look Like Australia. I am slowly becoming to realize that yes, I really am in another country, not to mention continent! Even the wind sounds different out here, because none of the trees are the same.

At night it was completely dark and completely silent. We had to use a flashlight to get back from dinner, but we saw more stars than I've ever seen anywhere (even Virginia Dale, Kacky!!). Even if I had known what southern constellations to look for, I'd have never known where to start with these. The Milky Way was RIGHT THERE but even when you turned around, the stars would be shining all around through the trees. It was quite amazing.

Needless to say, we want to go back SOON! Other upcoming adventures, though, include a trip to Tasmania with Mike's parents and, with any luck, a trip to Uluru and the Olgas over our winter break (that's 6 weeks long!!!) Stay tuned!!!!! More thrilling adventures to come!!

~Ruth Ann

TV is bad!

So last night we had nothing to do and sort of wished we had a TV to while away the evening hours. Since we left the hotel 2 months ago we haven't watched a stitch of the idiot box and we haven't rented movies for well over 1 1/2 months. Thanks to iTunes one can now get selected television shows for their computer or iPod. We decided to get 2 episodes of the Office and one of Lost. After the shows were over we had a manic feeling and couldn't get our minds to calm down enough to go to sleep. We felt like the shows had assaulted our senses and minds. What we have learned is that TV is bad for our health and the calm of our minds. Books are so much more interesting!

In an hour or two we're set to go off to the Blue Mountains for a few days. We're staying in a lodge out away from towns and cities so the din of civilization won't mess up our time. And there'll be no TV's!!!! This is the first time we will have gotten away from Sydney and it's sprawling metropolis. We'll get to feed the parrots in the morning, hike, not hike, and relax in the spa that will supposedly be in our room. There are several spectacular views a short distance from the lodge(so we're told). Hopefully it's just what we'll need to make to the next break and stay sane.

~Mike

The answers!!!

We are both ecstatic with how many responses we received for our quiz :-) Thanks to everyone for their serious and not so serious answers. Mike will reveal the winner of the creative answer award in just a few minutes. The person with the most correct answers, I am pleased to announce is MY MOTHER!!! 14 correct answers, not bad at all! You're becoming more used to the idea of your daughter living in Australia every day :-)
So:
Carolyn 14
Nicole 11
Laura and Connie 9
Louisa, Jan and Emily 8
Chuck 5 (statistics working for the math teacher there!)
Bob and Kacky 4
Andrea 0

And on the correct answers!!
1.) Australians drive on the left side of the road. Amusingly enough, you're also supposed to WALK on the left side of the sidewalk. In a shopping mall, have you ever noticed the escalators? The one going up will be on the right, the one coming down will be on your left. Here it's the exact opposite. That's taken some getting used to, although if you walk into enough people you learn a little quicker....

2.) Michael Jeffery is the Governor-General of Australia AND our next door neighbor. John Howard is the prime minister and Morris Iemma is the premier of NSW.

3.) Australia has 6 states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, West Australia and Tasmania). There are also two territories, Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory.

4.) Canberra is the capital of Australia, being conveniently located in the Australian Capital Territory :-)

5.) Definitely all beaches. They are also funny names, but no so funny as compared with some other names here in Oz: Humpty Doo, Turramurrah, Warrawee, Wooloomooloo.......

6.) Rice Krispies! Although they still have the adorable elves on the front of the box :-)

7.) Raisins. Raisin bran is sold here in Australia as Sultana Bran!

8.) A carrawong is a fabulous bird with amazing vocal abilities. He looks not unlike a crow, but can whistle, bwak like a chicken, and (my favorite) let out a resounding "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"

9.) They do, in fact, say "G'day" and call us "mate." However, we're trying to figure out the linguistic patterns---not everyone does, and we think it may be a variation on "y'all." (By the way--I have frequently been mistaken for being Canadian--my southern inflection confuses them to no end--and I've lost most of my twang!)

10.) Full up=very busy, although I was convinced he thought my shift was over and was going to let me out a bit early :)

11.) Chockers is very full. We're guessing it has something to do with "being chock full of CDs?" ????

12.) I'll be back in a tick. I love that one!!

13.) It's some form of soybean oil that they think works just as well for cookies as Crisco. They're wrong--nothing can replace Crisco in Mike's Famous Cookies!!!

14.) Nurofen is our new form of Advil. We've discovered the joys of Australian pharmacies--a lot of things that you can't get over the counter back home you can here--hurrah for OTC Telfast (Australian Allegra!)

15.) This was the question that no one (except Chuck, by default) got right. "Digeridoo" actually came from Irish settlers, and it comes from "dúdaire or dúidire" (meaning either a long necked person or a crooner) and "dubh" (meaning black or native). The digeridoo has been around for over 1500 years but has only been called that since the 1800s. !!!!!

Thanks for playing--we had such a good response we may just have to have another one soon!!

~Ruth Ann

Excellent work everyone! I am most impressed with the creativity of answers: both within the confines of the 'rules' of multiple choice (Chuck and Kacky) and the complete disregard to the 'rules' (Bob and Andrea). There were also those who did a bit of both (Emily and Louisa). All of you were very creative and so all of you earned participation points. If I had little white ribbons, you all would get one!

Now to the nitty gritty. Louisa, you had some good ideas/alterations but it wasn't enough to win. Ruth Ann isn't marrying MichaeJefferyes, she's marrying me! Emily, you ventured further from the box and earned a few more points. I can almost hear the future pitter patter of little Curl Curl Jones running down the hall..... But alas, it was not enough.

Chuck and Kacky, you played by the rules but within that you thumbed your nose at 'the man.' I'm afraid Kacky that Chuck barely edged you out with his answer of 'A' to a true or false question!

And now on to Bob and Andrea. Your trail blazing, maveric attitude to the multiple choice has racked up a number of points in your favor! Bob: nice work on the solfeggio and neuro-fen answers. Your skillful punning hard at work! But the Winner goes to.......
ANDREA!!! With one broad sweep you've negated the entire quiz process and brought a shread of dignity to the over worked student. Bravo! As you taksolacece in the fact that you DID have enough participation points to pass, know that you worked the system to your best advantage! May you be a beacon to all of us in the quagmire of busywork and academic indifference!

Nice work everyone. It is now the holiday break for us here in OZ and we're celebrating it by going to sleep early! We're both tickled at thresponseses we got on the quiz! Good Night!

~Mike

24 hours remaining!

Thanks to everybody who has posted answers to our quiz. We have exceeded our previous comment level of 5, with an all time high of 7! But this doesn't mean you slackers out there shouldn't try your own answers. 24 hours remaining to get your answers in!
(I feel like I'm on pledge week for PBS.......)
~Ruth Ann

There will be creative awards for answers as well. Right now, Bob taking the cake. Will he be allowed?!?!?!?! It's up to YOU!
~Mike

An interactive blog

Since we're very greedy and LOVE comments to our posts (I'm not kidding--every morning after we've posted the first thing we check is if we have any comments!) I'm posting a blog filled with trivia for interactive fun. The most comments we've ever had on one post was 5, so let's push for 6, people! If you haven't posted in a while, or have never posted, here's your chance! Even if you're one of our most faithfuls (Louisa), respond anyway! The more the merrier! The winner with the most correct questions may or may not win an all-expense paid trip to Oz. (Exclusions apply.) And no fair Googling any answers!!

Oh--and if you haven't figured out how to post a comment, from the blog entry, click on "comments." When it takes you to the comment page, all you have to do is click "anonymous" and then "login and publish entry." That publishes the comment right away.

Ok, on to the fun!

1.) Which side of the road do we drive on in Australia?
a.) right
b.) left
c.) Australians hop--it's the kangaroo in them

2.) Michael Jeffery is
a.) the premier of New South Wales
b.) the Prime Minister of Australia
c.) the Governor-General of Australia

3.) How many states are in Australia?
a.) four
b.) six
c.) eight

4.) What is the capital of Australia?
a.) Canberra
b.) Sydney
c.) Victoria

5.) What do Curl Curl, Dee Why and Coogee all have in common?
a.) They're all beaches in New South Wales
b.) They're all towns in Queensland
c.) They're all funny names

6.) What are Rice Bubbles?
a.) The Aussie name for bubble tea
b.) The Aussie name for rice cakes
c.) The Aussie name for Kellogg's Rice Krispies

7.) What are sultanas?
a.) Little baby sultans
b.) Raisins
c.) a kind of banana

8.) What's a carrawong?
a.) a bird
b.) a plane
c.) Superman

9.) True or false: Australians do, in fact, use the words "mate" and "G'day."

10.) The other day my boss asked me if my shift was "full up." What did he mean?
a.) My shift was over
b.) My shift was very busy
c.) I'd had loads of crazy patrons and I'd had it UP TO HERE!

11.) One of our coworkers commented to Mike that a bookshelf was "chockers." What did she mean?
a.) It was stuffed full
b.) It was leaning to the side
c.) It was dirty

12.) If an Australian is going away for a second, what do they say?
a.) I'll be right back
b.) I'm coming back, mate
c.) I'll be back in a tick

13.) What is "cofa?"
a.) an Australian sofa
b.) the Australian version of Crisco
c.) an electronic funds transfer

14.) What is Nurofen?
a.) a kind of Australian tea
b.) an Australian gas station
c.) Australian ibuprophen

15.) From what language did the word "digeridoo" originate?
a.) Celtic
b.) a native Aboriginal dialect
c.) Dutch


Have fun! I'll give you three days to post answers, then I'll write response. :o)

~Ruth Ann

Manly AGAIN!

Hello faithful readers!
We went to the Manly area again today to do some hiking. Ruth Ann and I donned our hikin' clothes and adventurin' hats. Due to a low pressure system over the Tasman Sea, the surf at the Sydney beaches were supposed to be between 4 and 7 meters high! Before our hike, we went to the beach to see what was going on. To our disappointment the waves didn't seem that high but they were very violent and we saw numerous surfers wipe out. Everybody else had the bright idea to go see how high the waves were so when we left the beach to go on the bush walk, we were away from the crowds. The trail we went on started out being paved but then moved into the Sydney Harbour National Park-a bushy area with several fantastic views of the Pacific:





We hiked about 8 miles total and treated ourselves to gelatto. When we were trying to leave, the waves stymied us. The ferries could sail just fine, but they couldn't dock at the wharf securely enough to let passengers on! So, they had a few buses to crowd the people on and drive them back to Circular Quay.

Our lovely neighborhood ant colony decided to pay us a friendly visit this morning. Last night I had a mug of juice and left it by the sink. There were a few drops left in it and the ants took that as the go ahead to swarm all over our counters. Luckily we had a bottle of windex near by and I had fun spraying them. We also bought some sweet gooey jell that ants can't resist and poisons them a few days later after they have spread it around to other ants. Here is a picture of them not resisting the jell and drowning in it!



Both Ruth Ann and I have started a new job(in addition to the library): working box office and back stage for the concerts at the Con. Ruth Ann is now a backstage manager and gets to yell at students who are slow to get on the stage. In the box office, I get to smile at people, tell them where the bathrooms, are and sell them tickets. We were both trained Friday night and then Saturday afternoon, we were there with nobody else! BUT, we pulled through ok! Tomorrow, we have interviews for the jobs we already have been given.

~Mike

flowers and charangos and frogs, oh my!

Today has been a very pleasant day in Sydney. Our cool weather continues, but the sun shines all day. Our little fan, Hoppy, has been retired for the season and we actually need jackets in the morning when catching the ferries.

This week is 'special projects week' at the Con. Theoretically, this week is devoted entirely to chamber music. All classes are cancelled except for orchestra rehearsals and chamber coachings. We are all to apply ourselves diligently to our chamber groups. Yeah, right! Mike and I, not knowing anyone at the Con yet, were assigned to play a Beethoven Trio Concertante with a very crazy, although amusing, pianist. (The piece is pretty bad--he wrote it when he was about 16. You know all those szfortandi he liked to throw in in his later years? The trio is peppered with them, often with more than one per measure!!) Anyway, our crazy pianist, Alexey, summed up special projects week very well. "Every day, the students go to the Con and then to the pub, to the Con and to the pub. By the end of the week, they're just at the pub!" Apparently the end of the week came early this year, because the school is a ghost town. Fall break is in two weeks, so I think this is just a break to get ready for break!

Here's a picture of my new favorite flowers, frangipani:



(See La, they're white and yellow!! They also come in pink, but I don't like those as much.) The streets back to the ferry wharf are lined with them, so whenever we see perfect specimens we bring them home.

On another natural side note, I have discovered that we have frogs everywhere here! When we first got here I saw a TV special about the native frogs of Oz, and how in the male mating croak, only the second part is what the female pays attention to. So all the males try to croak OVER the second half of all the other males. The resulting sound is very similar to crickets until you listen very carefully. They're very soothing :-)

Mike is sitting behind me dinking on his charango. (A small Bolivian instrument related to the guitar...I surprised him with one for Christmas.) His dinking improves every day, but apparently E Major is very difficult. (Says he!) It appears to be a bit like the piccolo of the guitar world--just WHERE do your fingers go?!



~Ruth Ann

Manly

Hello all!
We just got back from an exciting day at the beach! We went to Manly again and remembered to bring our cameras. The following pictures are from this trip. The beaches as you can see were very crowded despite chilly temps. We had sweatshirts while the sunbathers had to be freezing as they were wearing quite a bit less. There were skads of surfers out in the water all waiting for the few paltry waves coming in today. We saw several good runs and many more wipe outs! There is a trail we discovered following the harbour side waterline that goes for 12km each way. We only did about three and a half down and are saving the rest for next weekend. The trail goes through some protected bushland so we'll be away from civilization.





The day's excitement didn't start there either: for breakfast we had coconut milk pancakes! It all began yesterday morning....I was making pancakes and had everything mixed up except the milk which had gone bad. Not wanting to have flour/water paste for breakfast I turned to the open cabinet and saw the cans of coconut milk and thought "Why not?". Anyway, it works very well if you should want to try it. The pancakes don't come out too coconutty either-more of a hint of the flavor.

Also, we found crisco today! While this may not excite you, it excites us a great deal. We can now make the infamous Lucille's chocolate chip cookie recipe and bribe the secretaries at the Con into giving us more work. Also, we like to eat these cookies. We bought all the ingredients at the store one time only to find that they didn't have crisco(nothing else really works very well in the recipe). We found said crisco in a tiny little shop in Manly called 'Hello Sweetie.' They import a lot of foods from North America. We extolled the virtues of Cheezits and Goldfish crackers so hopefully next time we go, we can have those too!

BUT today's culinary excitement didn't stop there either!! When we first got to Australia, Kim Walker gave us a bottle of wine. It looked like something she had been given as a gift and she didn't want it. Anyway, I opened it and tasted it and it was pretty bad. Very dry and unpleasant-the tannins were too strong and the after-taste was a might peppery (I haven't lost my touch have I, Carolyn?) Since Ruth Ann and I don't really drink wine I started cooking with it. Everything it touches turns to gold! We've braised with it, marinated with it, used it in countless sauces....and now it's sadly gone. But before it left us, it caused a very good lamb roast to be braised. We googled the wine after dinner and found that it was preeettty expensive. We think it went to a much better use!

BUT THE DAY'S EXCITEMENT CONTINUES!!! For no apparent reason, fireworks were being shot off in the direction of the Harbour. We had just finished dinner when the first barrage went off. We threw our shoes on and ran down the street until we could see. The display was impressive and well coordinated. We have no idea why the fireworks were shot off. These impromptu displays have occurred several times before. We've asked several people while watching them and they have no idea either.

The day's excitement has run out now so we're going to sleep. May your Sundays be as eventful as ours!
~Mike