pre-Kjingo

....line and sinker my friend, line and sinker

2007-08-21T22:52:00.000+10:00

I'm thinking I need a hook. Not in the 'shiver me timbers' kind of way, although that would be an interesting thing to have in the office and would be a good explanation on why a parrot has been sitting on my shoulder that last few days.

No, I'm thinking I need a hook for this shindig of a blog.

See before, way back when Pluto was still a planet, my blog consisted of interesting observations and anecdotes about my carefree university existence. Then I shamelessly ripped of a Nick Hornby idea and toyed with the '83 songs' concept (see below) which eventually turned out to interesting observations and anecdotes about my carefree university existence but with a song as its heading. Then I got a girl and pretty much slowed down my blogging to a halt on number 48. Come summer of 2006/07 I went to Japan and me being both the lazy and arrogant individual I was, believed that a post on a blog equated to a group email to my friends.

So then where did it leave me? I came back from good olde Nippon (dear god I wanna go back) and found myself moved out of my family house and the very room I spent my entire 23ish years sleeping in, to a little two bedroom apartment in South Yarra that is currently very cold. So now I can't throw it down with the ehills krew, but instead I spend my time doing chap laps in a push bike making doof doof noises under my breath.

Oh yeh, I also woke up one morning and discovered that I'd joined the ranks of the corporate suits although to be fair, I don't wear a tie that often. Its a distinction that probably doesn't mean much until you have to wear a tie everyday I suppose. So I'm making some money, not enough of course, but enough to justify some sought of dependency on illicit material of some kind...like really soft 4-ply toilet paper.

Fast forward a few months and I'm single again and there's this thing called facebook that smells like friendster, tastes like myspace but is so "new and innovative" that its worth $5 billion in loss productivity in Australia alone.

And I'm back here again.

So whats my hook? I really don't want to start raging against the corporate machine or bitching about how manager so-and-so said something to mr 'no-one cares about' that ultimately resulted in a dead prostitute and a very confused elephant.

Nor do I want to start getting all emo and writing poems and random outbursts about my relationship woes. I really can't afford to start painting my fingernails black, they're already a lovely shade of crimson as is.

So where does that leave me? I'll tell ya, it leaves me sitting in front of a computer with a damn parrot on my shoulder.

And it really loves nibbing at my ear. But I think all the blood may not be good for my jumper.

Its all swings and roundabouts

2007-08-12T23:44:00.000+10:00

I'm not saying that I'm back, be I could be.

Lets just view this as a little dip of my toes in the pond, and to stretch the metaphor a bit longer, lets just say that while I haven't rolled my pants up yet, I've at least taken off my socks.

So this is where I am at the current time, as you may have realised I've done a little change up of the layout. But considering that the last few people who have commented on this blog were all about the free penis enlargement and related products, I don't think there will be a massive up-swell of emotion on this regard.

So thats it for now; I can't be too hasty I guess. It'll be a gradual process to return to my former glories, but considering the extent of my former glories, well let's just say that I'll try to aim a little higher this time around.

I didn't find a transformer but...

2007-02-07T09:52:00.000+11:00

I probably dont need to spend a blog post talking about the greatness of the japanese can vending machines.

But I will nonetheless.

Firstly, no; I did not manage to find a dirty panties vending machine. Believe me, I tried. I really really did. I was going to ask someone but my vocabulary in that respect is a bit lacking...

(sumimasen, [dirty panties] no [vending machine] wa doko desu ka)??

I'm sure someone out there can fill in the gaps. What I normally did was try to perform some leet gaijin katakana work on it.

I did, however, find the wonders of the hot can vending machines from which you can get a nice hot can of japanese green tea, or something that proclaims to be a cafe latte (but is hot and full of caffeine so who am I to argue). But more importantly, you can get a nice hot can of corn soup.

I love canned corn soup from a vending machine.

Oops anyway, while I'd love to continue me wonderful conversation about the vending machines, I need to leave for the airport so I can fly all the way home. But I'll leave you with this,

Beer vending machines

= gold.

tokyo apple

2007-02-02T14:19:00.000+11:00

So we are in Tokyo, Godzilla's favourite town. Haven't managed to get a meeting with the beast just yet but I'm staying positive.

The free internet at the Apple Centre in Ginza is quite something. Saves me that ¥100 per 15 minutes at my hostel...because ¥100 can get you so far in this country. Well actually it can if you choose to shop at the ¥100 stores; I managed to get a pair of boxers that while saying "L" on them are more like a "S". Needless to say, not very comfortable undies.

We managed to get tickets to the 31st Grand Sumo Tourney on Sunday so I'm looking forward to seeing large overweight men run into each other. It should turn out to be very interesting but I've got a suspicion that it won't be anything like a WWE match.

Food in Japan is still good but I've noticed a love of deep-fried crumbled meat. But we did go to a revolving sushi place last night and each ourselves stupid. Drinking 1 Litre of beer afterwards is not recommended.

Beer is cheap, 500ml of good beer for only ¥190 cheap.

Anyway, I'm about done, going to try and find a way to take some pictures so it looks like I'm crushing buildings in downtown Tokyo. On that, a fair warning to all travellers; do not make jokes about wanting to pretend to be Godzilla to the customs/immigration people as the reason why you are travelling to Japan. They give you strange looks. I mean really strange looks. And even some dirty looks from the supervisors.

Oh I might be screwed when I try to return to Australia.

malaysia-sapporo-kyoto

2007-01-24T23:36:00.000+11:00

I'll break it down for you real easy.

Malaysia is malaysia, still waiting for that 2020 boleh to kick in. Food is good and cheap though, unless you undercook your food at the roadside hotpot place and you end up wasting a day sick in bed. That didn't happen to me, but my buddies weren't that lucky.

I did however, get my customary Jay Chou cd, something I've done the last 3 or 4 times I've dropped by malaysia or its cleaner but not better rival singapore.

Malaysia is also stupidly hot.

Sapporo on the other hand is cold.

Very very cold in fact.

But oh so good.

To explain why sapporo is good is quite simple. Its one word (and its not '10'...unfortunately)

The word is 'snow'

Lets just say that I didn't get to snowboard but the snow I saw on the SIDE of the street in downtown Sapporo is far greater than any snow I've seen on any ski resort in Australia. And don't even get my started on the powder...its fricking awesome.

So yeah, I'm coming back.

Right now I'm sitting in the lobby of Budget Inn Hostel in Kyoto using the 'net. Its costing me 100yen per 15minutes, just over a buck really. On that front, my 9 times tables are getting better :) I'll be hanging out in Kyoto for the next 7 or so days before heading up to Tokyo and my Optimus Prime robot.

Beer is cheap. Shoes are cheap.

No godzilla sightings just yet. No dirty pantry vending machines as well. But I've fallen in love with the hot green tea from the vending machines.

It begins...

2007-01-15T18:33:00.000+11:00

Yup, its holiday time.

In 5 hours time I'll be on a plane flying off to "Malaysia - truly asia!"(tm) for a short kicked-back, do nothing, eat heaps few days before we embark on the excitement of Japan for a 18ish days.

I do believe a 'woot' is in order, even a 'W00t'.

Co-starring in this adventure will be Melanie (aka B1), Euge, Dan and Melissa (aka B2). A five man team that would rival even the best amazing race team from season 2.

Go team go!

Cyas all in a bit.

48. Das Glockenspiel - Schiller

2006-12-04T01:22:00.000+11:00

So its come to this.

I just applied for a contract/summer/christmas job via seek.com

Dear god what happened to my summer of nothingness? Haha well the obvious answer is that I've woken up and realised that I have a) no money and b) I'm going to Japan next month and it just might be better if I could afford things more than instant ramen from the local 7-11 or its Japanese equivalent (nana-juuichi?).

Well the good news is that the job, provided I get it, starts this wednesday (!) and it would mean that I will be working during all the December public holidays (better be good penalty rates).

Well thats not really good news.

Umm how about the fact that its "inbound telecommunications" providing "customer telecommunications services"?

Jeez thats not good at all.

Ahh interviews are going to be held tomorrow or tuesday? Haha well considering I'm down to play 18 holes of golf in 9 hours time I guess it'll be on tuesday then :)

Good news....ahh I'll probably end up working on my birthday?

That's a no

How about the fact that it'll mean that I'll have to wake up at a reasonablely early time, as opposed to the unreasonably late times of 'whenever I get up' (last week's record was 12.30). In fact the only why I get up before 9am these days is to play golf :)

Hmm no sunny side yet...

Oh thats right.

Money

So I'll make some money. Quite a bit of money (hopefully) and I'll be able to do what I want to do in good olde Nippon, namely eat fugu and get a photo with at least one of the iron chefs. So wish me luck in this employment endeavour, and no matter the outcome, I promise to you that I'll continue to pay little regard to this blog in the coming weeks and really put to shame that originally great but now so unrealistic idea of mine to get to 83 songs by the end of 2006.

I haven't broken 50 yet? Damn.

47. Swimming in the Darkness - Custom Kings

2006-11-12T02:17:00.000+11:00

So I've done it, I've just sent $45 and my online registration form for the 2007 Lorne Pier to Pub swim.

I guess I'm committed now...hmm might be good if I head to a swimming pool soon...

46. Sunshine Eyes - Paul Mac feat Peta Morris

2006-11-10T15:26:00.000+11:00

Like an asian gambler with their child in the backseat of a car in the Crown car park, I've neglected this little old place. One thousand and one apologies followed by some nice prawns with one thousand island dressing.

Last week I completed my final university exam ever, five years of biff, bang and kazzow. It was quite fitting really, for my last exam I decided to get caught in traffic and end up being 9 minutes late, having 1 minute of reading time and then 3 hours of writing for Advanced Taxation Law, well 2 hours and 40 minutes of writing because I managed to finish it early. What that means in terms of how I went in the exam is unknown, either I understood everything or I missed an entire question worth 60% and now have to go to summer uni in order to graduate.

So what happens now? Well after surviving five years of university I will have a nice double degree in Business Systems and Law. But more importantly I get the letters; 'BBSys, LLB' after my name. Because that's what more important, getting as many letters after your name as possible. Next will probably be a 'CA' but I'm also keeping my options open towards a 'MBA', 'PHD', 'OA' or 'B/AR/CR'. But I have some graduate big boy work coming up in 2007 but in the meantime, I still have kiddie time to mess around in, 4 months of it in fact.

With 4 months of summer holidays, I really should do something productive with my time. A list would be appropriate at this time. Indeed.

Summer To Do List
- Spend an entire day watching disney cartoons (blame this one on playing Kingdom Hearts 2)
- Finish Kingdom Hearts 2
- Spend at least a month agonising whether to get the nintendo wii, and then not get it
- Spend the summer looking at 24" iMacs and then maybe getting one
- Learn how to drive a manual car (I kick arse driving manual in my dreams)
- Swim the Lorne Pier to Pub in January (no really, this time i will)
- Get into shape so I can swim the Pier to Pub
- Play more squash
- Play even more golf
- Play good golf and not just hitting the ball into the water all the time
- Learn how to play something decent on the piano (can't even play chopsticks properly...)
- Go to Japan and learn what it feels like to be tall for once
- Go to Malaysia for a few days and eat, shop and play ten-pin bowling
- Learn how to cook something edible to people other than myself
- Move out
- Hang out with friends
- Get drunk
- Get drunk while hanging out with friends
- Get drunk while playing golf with friends
- Spend time with my girl

So that’s my to do list. Reality dictates that I'll probably won't get around to doing everything, but I'll be trying my bestest. True the past week has been three things; work, kingdom hearts 2 and tv, but once Lano & Woodley finishes on Saturday, I'll be free to play even more ps2.

Anyway, I'll be back soonish

45. There's A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet - Panic! At The Disco

2006-10-13T15:59:00.000+10:00

No reason, just like the stupidly non sequitur song title. And the use of an exclamation mark in the band name.

Received my International Organisations take home exam yesterday, 4000 words, 2 weeks and I'm still trying to figure out what I'm supposed to write about.

Fun times.

44. This Is The Life For Me - Something For Kate

2006-10-12T10:46:00.000+10:00

Its hot today.

Quite an astute observation I'm sure, it being 33 degrees with a warm north wind. There really isn't any other observation of the weather that would be meteorologically correct.

I guess in the course of artistic and creative license, one could say something along the lines of..

The oppressive dry heat has sucked all the coolness out of the air creating a vacuum of blistering nothingness.

But that would sound like the writing of some sleep deprived VCE English kid.

Good luck to all those fighting the monster that is VCE by the way. I'll let you know that its actually better on the other side. No really.

But back to the heat; in response I've done what all respectable and responsible people do, I've decided to stay at home as long as possible, I've put on a Japanese j-pop music dvd (Shena Ringo), moved to the coolest room of the house (living room), fired up my laptop to do a relaxing international organisations assignment and I've stripped down to just my jocks.

Yes, but for a strip of fabric, I'll be absolutely naked.

Anyway, Shena Ringo; I just can't get into it for some reason. Its playing from the other room so all I'm hearing is the music and not seeing the performance. But I’m just not getting it. It might be because of the heat, this frantic punk’ish music with its high tempo isn't very conductive to what I'm trying to achieve; staying cool and relaxed. Maybe its just the vocals are too high pitched Japanese woman for me on a Thursday morning.

Oh well.

But I owe it to Squidge to give it another shot. He's been raving about this group for a while, so I'll try it again tomorrow, maybe another disc will be better.

CDs I am listening to at the moment are;
- Something for Kate: Desert Lights (very good),
- Miles Davis: Kind of Blue (also good),
- Belle & Sebastian: The Life Pursuit (also good),
- Jamie Cullum: Twentysomething (good)
- Panic! at the Disco: A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (strange but good)
- Jack Johnson: In Between Dreams (just because its getting summer'y and this is my summer music)

Song that I dislike immensely because it has been overplayed on the radio;
- The Fray: that annoying one with the line "I never knew..." grr

Australian Idol betting
- Bobby
- Thankfully not Lavina

43. Since You've Been Gone - Powderfinger

2006-10-11T13:01:00.000+10:00

Hey buddy.

How its goin? Keeping it real and all that shidizzle that I pretend to know? Haha yeh I'm still talking crap as usual, nothing has changed in that regard.

So I'm sitting in the law library at Monash and I noticed the date, 11 October. So I guess its been a year huh? Fuck. You'll be happy to know that I'm still doing the uni thing, well for 24 more days anyway. Gonna end up with a little law degree to prop up my business systems brilliance. I heard you finally graduated bsys, congrats; ha trust you to find the loopholes to get the degree with minimal effort :) I told ya you'd get that degree, even if you had no idea what was going on in bus3112 (between you and me, so didn't I but my ability to bullshit got me through)

I've stopped clubbing but I don't think I ever officially started so that wouldn't be any surprise.

Still haven't gone to that asian night club on friday night...dear god I think I've forgotten the name...you know that one I'm talking about right? Amber! Haha yeh thats the one, I'm still an amber virgin and there's a high likelihood that I'll remain one forever. But don't worry, I'm not losing too much sleep over it.

ASEAN cocktail night was a few weeks back, I only mention it because I saw you at last years one. You didn't miss much, some generic bar/club in the city, full of generic asians with a bar that couldn't cope with the demand for alcohol. And if they can't cope with a bunch of asian drinkers, you know they're crap.

Oh yeah, I still get bright red when I drink too much. But I'm doing that a lot less these days.

Ange got pregnant, had a kid and got married; not necessarily that order. Though I have it on reliable sources that she did get pregnant before she gave birth. Little boy named Lucas James Javier Huong. I told Ange to bite the bullet and just name him David Tran Ngyuen Huong but I think she didn't want to conform with too many viet stereotypes. Actually it should be Doctor David Tran Ngyuen Huong.

Yeah I found me a girlfriend a few months back, haha you know how much I like talking about my personal life over this impersonal device so I'll just leave it by saying she's great.

What? You want more info?

Haha fine.

Yes, yes, no, yes, maybe, yes, definitely.

You can fill in the gaps.

Anyway mate, I better jump back into this shit that is my international organisations individual assignment on the legality of using self-defence against non-state actors (i.e. terrorists). Its quite fascinating I'm sure you'll agree.

Oh yeah, North Korea has the nuke. Once New Zealand gets it, we're all screwed.

So I'll sign off for now, I don't think I need to say that we all miss ya buddy. But we do.

Catch ya on the upside.

K.

42. Land of 1000 Dances - Wilson Pickett

2006-09-01T17:34:00.000+10:00

To say that I've been missing for a while is like saying that the Titanic was a little boating incident. Or that World War 2 was a little dust up between mates.

I'm reporting out in the Melbourne Uni computer labs at the moment, engaging in some light fraud (I'm logged in under a buddy's id), a dash of study (truth be told I stopped doing productive study a few hours back; or it could be argued that that stopped November 2001) and what can be best described as a slight form of mindless vegetation (i.e. surfing the net).

A minute ago there was an announcement that the back computer laboratory was to be closed soon. It was quite a pleasant message, very proper and very Melbourne Uni.

Just in case you missed the first act, I'm a Monash Uni student. Now being a Monash Uni student presents itself as an interesting dichotomy, while it can be a great source of pride (we have a building with asbestos; now that’s old school!) it can also be a point of ridicule (mostly when talking to Melbourne Uni students). But it’s not a real problem for me, I’m self absorbed enough in my belief of my own personal greatness and superiority of the common man.

But regardless of my near-superman like ability to fly and wear red underpants without being embarrassed; I’d just like to make a few observations of Melbourne Uni, and by ‘few’ I obviously mean ‘one, quite possibly two, but not three’.

1. Melbourne Uni has more money than Monash Uni in that their computer labs have working air-conditioners. And most of the computers actually work.
2. Melbourne Uni does not encourage its students from drinking water; namely drink bottles are forbidden in the computer labs. Obviously being a student in such a prestigious academic establishment means that one no longer require water to survive.

I can still remember my decadent business systems days (circa 2002-2004) where 24 computer labs were a bastion of junk food wrappers and chicken nuggets. And water was available for all, although caffeinated beverages were the drink of choice.

Anyhows is not a word

Anyway, it seems that I’ve managed to write up something that hopefully fulfils my strict blogging criteria; it consists of random words combined together in a haphazard way with some loose punctuating and at least one use of the exclamation mark.

!

41. Already Dead - Beck

2006-08-13T13:08:00.000+10:00

I'm still here.

No really...

40. Make Luv (featuring Oliver Cheatham) - Room 5 Ft Oliver Cheatham

2006-07-13T17:53:00.000+10:00

Dearest L0nelyWif3,

How are you? How's the children? The weather treating you fine? It's cold over here, probably something to do with the fact that it's the middle of winter.

Just wanted to write you a short letter in reply to your recent proposition. I must say that I'm very flattered that you want to "ho0k up" and I appreciate that you really do "Need2GetLaid", but I must sadly decline your offer as I'm going to be busy this weekend. You see, Miss L0nelyWif3, I don't really know you, and lets face it, I'm not too sure how you got my email address in the first place. And while I'm sure that you're quite the hottie and all that, I really can't see any long term or even short term relationship blooming between myself, a real human being, and you, who quite possibility is a randomly generated name from a computer in Brazil.

It's me, not you. No really. I'm just an idiot that way.

Sorry,

kjingo.

PS: if you can, get in touch with WOrldMeds ("Provider ofHighDeman Pharmacuetical") and let them know that I'm quite fine with my drug suppliers. Thanks.

39. The Way We Get By - Spoon

2006-07-12T00:48:00.000+10:00

Exam results via SMS?

What's next, tutorials via MSN group chat? Or lectures via youtube?

Haha I love unnecessary technological advancement.

And as much as I like to poke fun at the idea with my poke fun stick made entirely out of red pens, I must admit that i took the time to register my details to get my semester one results by sms. So come...well anytime today actually...I'll get an sms, forget that my results are via sms, think it was from a friend. and then be unprepared for the results that may or may not be decidedly average. Fun times ahead.

I was thinking of a few things that I could have done, maybe send my results to a completely random phone number, or just sms a friend sometime today with a message that just contains F's. The only problem with that idea is that it will either be really really funny or in very very bad taste if they actually happened to get F's.

So lets not do that then.

In other news, I see that there is a total 25 cm of snow at Mt Hotham. And in comparison with Mt Buller (8 cm), that looks totally awesome.

But like many things in life, and some things on the lifestyle channel, its not.

I'm a simple man (contrary to some suggestions...yeh you know who I'm talking about), and I have simple needs when it comes to snow levels during the middle of the snow season; I like there to be snow. I'm no specialist but I know that 25 cm is 5 cm less than 30 cm and a total of 75 cm less than 1 metre. I pay my taxes, I obey most road signs, I never drop cigarette butts on the ground (a simple task considering I don't smoke) and I always remember to wash my hands after using the toilet. So is it too much to ask for some snow? It's not like its not cold enough...

Get back to me with an answer tomorrow morning.

38. Ironic - Alanis Morissette

2006-07-08T14:58:00.000+10:00

The nights have gotten longer, its a hell of lot colder, and like Eddie McGuire on the Footy Show, the sun has been relegated to guest appearances.

So it must be Gold Coin time yet again.

Yup so that may require some type of explanation...

Way way back in 1999, I was just a wee tacker. Well not really, I was a naive and sensible teenager of indiscriminate age (probably 16ish?) on the constant search of whatever kids that age sought. And I found myself in the year 10 commerce class held by the venerable Mr. Graham. Hmm now that I think about it, it may have been Mr. Truman or Mr. Smith, but I digress; the actual name of the teacher really isn't the focal point of this tale of my halcyon youth.

Anyway, way back in year 10 I was studying commerce as an optional subject. I was always interested how commerce as a high school subject was only offered in the last few years while subjects such as geography was pretty much forced down our throats since year 7. That's not to say that geography was a wasted exercise, I know my life is that much more complete now that I can identify a cumulus cloud from a stratus cloud. And I still giggle like a schoolgirl when I talk about grassy knolls.

At some stage in that year, our teacher decided that he would give us a little class test. One of those last minute, 'I'd forgotten that I needed some form of assessment before parent-teacher night' tests. And in a form of academic stupidity that sadly does not disperse at university, a large part of the test consisted of a 'identify the abbreviations' section. Terms such as PAYG, or GST (which may not have been around considering it was 1999) were used, as well as 'GC'.

What the hell was 'GC'?

Well to cut a long story shorter by an inch, GC stands for 'Group Certificate', and is actually a term being phased out and changed with 'PAYG payment summary' this year. But back then, when my knowledge of commerce was surely lacking (as opposed to today *cough*), GC had my stumped, I had no idea.

But not my friend Jazz; in a flash of brilliance, he came up with Gold Coin. When asked about its relevance to commerce, I'm pretty sure Super Mario Brothers was mentioned...

So Gold Coin time is Group Certificate time, a time when I roll up my sleeves (not too far though, coz it is cold) and help my dad write up group certificates. Its a hard task (not really) but I'm pretty sure that I'm getting paid for it, so who is to argue.

In an interesting postscript, last year Jazz finished a commerce/bsys double degree and is currently working in accounting. And 1999 was my last year of studying commerce, having decided not to take it up in VCE, preferring the Asian 5 (English, Math Methods, Specialist Math, Chemistry and Physics) and Japanese. And while I've spent the last five years floating in the worlds of law and business systems, in a nice little bit of irony, I'm going to find myself working in tax next year. Yup tax, where GC is everywhere.

Now that beats a black fly in your chardonnay.

In other music/'83 songs' news; the new evermore cd has come out, and I have no money. Last week I was in JB-Hifi and actually did not buy anything, a great feat in my own little existence. But I'll admit I was holding the new Snow Patrol cd for a good few minutes. And there is a song from Dashboard Confessional called 'Don't Wait' that has a pretty cool music video, although I'm not too sure if Dashboard is the band name or the name of the singer... Cos that would be a bit weird, Mr. Dashboard Confessional. I mean, seriously.

Oh, and if you search for 'clouds' in google, you get a pic of Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, further proof that nerds rule the internet.

37. Let's Do It Again - TLC

2006-07-05T00:20:00.000+10:00

There's a wise old saying that is not often heard, and by the oft chance that it is, its never translated properly for it to make sense. One time someone tried to write it down for the future generations but he couldn't find a pen that worked properly. Another time it was sent via email but it was attacked by a worm. A big worm wearing a bow tie so it wouldn't be stopped at the door. How a worm puts on a bow tie is another question altogether.

Yup. I know what your thinking, what the hell is going on?

Well its quite simple really, I feel like I've lost my ability (however little there was) to write in this blog. And while I could just sit around and wait for it to come back, I've decided to force myself to write some random crap and post it, just to get over that proverbial hurdle.

So I'm just gonna end it here and hopefully come back soon with something better.

Oh it can only get better from here.

36. New Slang - The Shins

2006-06-13T22:35:00.000+10:00

Monash University/Tafe employs the simple and standard grading system of;

Pass, Credit, Distinction, High Distinction

None of that H2A rubbish from other higher education institutions like McDonald's Training School (Diploma while you wait!). No, we're nice and simple; we like letters and fear numbers. We fear them like the plague. A plague of dentists.

But little did I know that this grading system has some meaning beyond simple descriptions, well according to my International Law lecturer anyway. Her marking system runs;

P: Possibly knows something,
C: Could know something,
D: Does know something,
HD: How Did he/she pull that answer.

And I think she might be right.

Got an exam tomorrow morning. Currently I'm deluding myself into thinking that I'll be okay. It’s going to be a fun 2 hours of frantic writing with a pen. A pen that I just bought today because I didn't have a need for one during the whole of the semester. So best of luck to whoever gets the get privilege of trying to decipher my handwriting, just remember, if you can't understand it, assume that it’s the correct answer.

35. Holy Grail - Hunters and Collectors

2006-06-13T01:13:00.000+10:00

We needed 2.

We got 3.

I love Timmy Cahill.

Hahaha wooohooo!!!!

Japan 1 : Australia 3

34. Stay Positive - The Streets

2006-06-13T00:00:00.000+10:00

Worst. Referee. Ever.

It's halftime.

Japan 1 : Australia 0

We need to score 2 goals.

33. Where Do We Go - Merle Morris

2006-06-11T14:06:00.000+10:00

At this stage of the university semester, one moves quickly away from the 'need to understand the concept' idealism towards a more realistic, 'what do I have to write in the exam that would suggest I understand the concept'. With my many years experience of leaving study until the last possible minute, I've reached a level of comprehension that goes even beyond that; I'm into what I like to call the 'big brother law understanding'. Simply put, I've managed to condense each topic, containing 25+ lecture slides, 10+ cases and 30+ pages of text into a simple one liner that would understood by the average joe who watches Big Brother and actually thinks that it is engaging television.

Here's an example.

International law; topic 2: The United Nations & Other International Organisations
"The UN is a bunch of guys from every country who sit around and argue alot about how the world is going"

(Just as a side note, it’s a quite sad realisation when you realise that your entire knowledge of international law is based on episodes of West Wing. And your understanding of diplomatic immunity comes from Lethal Weapon 2. Trust me, that happened to me during my introductory lecture for this subject.)

Another method that surprisingly works is the application of my IT'ish skills to law. Here, I employ a simple IF statement to try to understand jurisdictional error and error of law on face of the record in regards to Administrative law;

DM = Decision Maker
UV = Ultra Vires
NJ = Natural Justice
JE = Jurisdictional Error

IF DM = Administrative THEN broad/narrow UV AND NJ = true
ELSEIF DM = Tribunal THEN broad/narrow UV = JE AND NJ = true
ELSEIF DM = Inferior Court THEN narrow UV = JE AND broad UV = Non-JE AND NJ = true
IF broad UV = Non-JE THEN IF on face of record THEN reviewable ELSE not reviewable
END IF

Obviously there is something to be said about actually understanding the whole concepts when studying law, but at this point of time, I'll go with whatever works.

32. Running - Evermore

2006-06-09T01:23:00.000+10:00

I'm searching for the superfluous, but all that I could find is a green exercise ball.

Superfluous is one my favourite words. What that says about me and my thought-processes is something that I don't wish to dwell on. I actually had the word put on the back of my end-of-high school jumper. So thats a quick QED monash uni people, if you see some wanker walking around monash clayton with a 2001 haileybury rugby jumper with 'Superfluous' on the back, well can you stop him and tell him to give me back my top. Cheers.

Onto better things, I like this 'Running' song by Evermore. You know when you hear parts of a song on the radio, you just catch the last 30 seconds before a stupid ad about advertising on the radio comes on, or when you flick the channel to channel v and see a bit of a song clip but not the bit where the song title is on the screen? Yeah, that's me with this song. And I gotta tell ya, for a moment I had the belief that this was a new Eskimo Joe song. But at the end of the day, I'm kinda digging this song, its familiar without sounding rehashed. Its so good that I'm going to ignore the fact that there from New Zealand :)

So it looks like I'll be added another cd to the list. The ever growing list of cds that I can't afford.

Studying today? That'll be a nay. I'll try again tomorrow.

No really, I will. Trust me.

31. Endless Night - The Lion King Broadway Cast Recording

2006-06-06T23:56:00.000+10:00

I could sit here and do the pre-exam/cramming blog but I've decided to stay clear of that topic entirely.

I could write about my complete lack of motivation to shift through my lecture slides, textbooks, hastily typed lecture notes and handouts, but lets not.

I could mention that this is my 10th consecutive year of exams; the price one pays for going to a private boy’s school I guess. But then again, I'm not suggesting that a year 7 exam is on the same level as a university administrative law exam anyway (admin law is a tad more difficult).

I could make a note about how unfair and unjust it is to schedule an exam period at the same time as the world cup. Especially since Australia is playing this time around.

I could talk about how I can't seem to get any productive study done at home, and how I need to be in the law library to get any work done. Something to do with learning the law through osmosis of legal journals and case books.

I could discuss how difficult it is to get yourself fired up for exams when all you really need is a P in the subjects anyway.

I could stop typing this and actually work on my taxation law notes.

I could do a lot of things.

So what is news in my neck of the woods? Barring that whole exam thing that has taken over my life, not much else at this current time. My previous list of cds that I want has been shortened with my purchase of Kanye West's 'Late Registration' last week. And without carrying on too much, it is the best rap album that I have in my collection since Will Smith's 'Big Willie Style'. Obviously I have a fair way to go in the genre of rap music.

My msn doesn't seem to working tonight, and while for some that amounts to a loss of a limb, for me, it amounts to a loss of a more vital body organ, such as the tonsils. Not that I actually wanted to talk to anyway, but I fear that my absence will suggest to some that I actually don't want to be disturbed, and god forbid, that I'm taking this whole exam study thing seriously.

Lion King had its last performance on Sunday night, hence this song title. Throughout my employment, I've seen my fair share of musical theatre; from 'Mamma Mia!' to 'The Producers' to 'Singing in the Rain' to 'We Will Rock You' to 'Dirty Dancing' to 'Oliver' to 'Wizard of Oz' to 'Witches of Eastwick' to 'Man of La Mancha' to pretty much everything else. And I must say, the Lion King was the worst musical that I've had the distinct pleasure to work on. And that's not just because the singing, dancing and plot sucked, but more so that it was a Disney production. The one thing that I've come to understand is that while Disney makes children's movies, they view children as their target market, nothing more. Its not a family-friendly company, but a cold corporation that aims to milk the last dollar out of their audience. But that's how this world works I guess.

As a by-product of the Lion King's departure, I am without work until the end of the month when 'Swan Lake on Ice' graces the Princess' Theatre for a few weeks. And while the few week break actually sits nicely with my exam timetable, I'm more concerned with what will happen after mid-July, where the term 'unemployment' will become a stark reality. At which time you may find the words 'begging', 'starvation' and 'dole' used more frequently.

Oh well, at least I have my health.

No wait, I injured my thumb last night playing basketball. Nothing really to report, probably tore a few ligaments but it'll heal soon enough.

Have I mentioned how much I rather not be studying right now?

30. All I Want Is More - Reel Big Fish

2006-05-25T13:42:00.000+10:00

CDs that I want to get:

- 'Black Fingernails Red Wine': Eskimo Joe

- 'Eyes Open': Snow Patrol

- 'Autumn Flow': Lior

- 'Late Registration': Kanye West

- 'Wolfmother': Wolfmother

- 'The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living': The Streets

- 'Triple J Hottest 100 (Vol 13)': Various Artists (Seriously thinking about getting this one just for Sarah Blasko's cover of Flame Trees)

29. In The Cold Cold Night - The White Stripes

2006-05-22T00:03:00.000+10:00

Think its been a week since my last foray into this weird and wonderful world of blogs. It really is an amazing network of interconnected computers and people that make up the Internet. And when you think about the Internet's ability to allow a guy from Melbourne to write something that could be read by a complete stranger across the oceans in Brazil (for example), its quite amazing indeed. Equally amazing is when you bump into someone from the Internet realm in the real world. Haha shout out to Leanne.

But that's all besides the point that I want to make.

The last few days have been cold.

Now the overall concept of winter as a season is nothing new to me, but I thought I had a general understanding with it that it would give me some fair warning before it came into force. Kinda like a guest who knocks on the door, rings the doorbell and then asks politely if she can come in. But it just seems that this year, I've looked up from my International Law textbook (fun fun) and I've found Winter drunk, half-naked and lying on my bed shouting at me to bring her another daiquiri.

Why Winter likes to drink daiquiris is quite interesting and might be best saved for a more appropriate juncture of time.

Anyway, its cold and I've yet to come to grips with it. While I am well aware that my preference on this matter it isn't really going to change anything, I'd just thought that all you out there would like to know.

Or not.

Onto something completely different, I've managed to get through 27.5 hours of work this week, get a crappy assignment submitted, attended all my exciting lectures, did some productive study, watched the pies absolutely destroy the cats at the 'G and get a Section snow jacket at 50% off; $250 down from $500 (just in case you couldn't figure out 50% of $500...)

Onwards to sleep.

28. Private Road - Bent

2006-05-12T14:20:00.000+10:00

Its a lovely Friday afternoon for sitting in the first floor Monash law library doing an assignment.

No seriously, its not that bad.

I've got a nice window seat overlooking the ring road, so I have a steady stream of automobiles and people moving in front of me. I've got Chillout Sessions Volume 2 on my iTunes, I have my sennheiser px-100's pumping out the smooth bass and I've got an assignment where I only need 2 out of 40 to pass the subject. That's right, I need a mark of 2/40 to get an overall score of 51%.

Don't ask me how, but I managed to pull 2 HD's for the past two assessments, giving me a current mark of 49/60. So its all a bit easy now. Unless this assignment is a hurdle... either way, I'll get a pass and end up with a D. Not too bad for a subject that I don't care for.

27 hours of work next week, just in time to make some money before the snow falls.

A make-up international law lecture in the morning was too bad, especially the part when my lecturer brought in donuts for everyone for morning tea. And I tell you what, that should be compulsory for all morning classes, and afternoon ones should have free bottles of beer.

Anyway, library closes at 6 so I should get back into it...

27. Sunburn - Muse

2006-05-11T16:07:00.000+10:00

An entry in the afternoon?

Must be assignment season.

So last night I was talking to a friend of mine when she mentioned that the latest SER D assignment was taking up too much of her time.

"No problems," I said, "we still have plenty of time before it’s due, haha I haven't even touched it yet."

Silence.

"You do realise its due on Monday right?"

"What? Isn't it due on the 25th?"

"Nope. Monday."

So what have we learnt? Well there's something to be said about forward planning and organising one's time. Also something about knowing when assessments are due. But more importantly, I've learnt that there is a big difference between the number 2 and the number 1. 25 does not equal 15. And that space of 10 days can mean a lot.

See, that’s not cool. It’s not even remotely cool. In fact is warm. Needless to say, I've done a bit, but not a lot, of this stupid assignment. And while assignments are generally stupid, the level of stupidity and overall sense of waste that this assignment emits is enough to make your standard assignment seem entertaining and heaven forbid, educational in comparison.

Oh well. Got work later, and a replacement 3 hour lecture tomorrow morning. Work on Saturday, pictionary at a Fi's place followed by a possible guest appearance at Boulevard on Saturday night (Friday has become the new Saturday, so I've been told), and work again on Sunday means that my Friday night will yet again morph into a night of homebound assignment hi-jinks.

But on a brighter note, my iPod has yet to arrive.

I really should get off this thing and get into my research. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. But an even better plan would be to watch an episode of Firefly on DVD. Yes, that sounds even better.

26. One Of These Days - Michelle Branch

2006-05-08T22:51:00.000+10:00

In lieu of studying international law, I've made the sensible decision to do one of these question-answer Internet blog things. For the first time in my blogging history mind you, a history stretching back to the halcyon days of early 2004, moving onto the seedy mindsay times of 2005 and here, on my 26th and most insightful post ever. Ever. Until my 27th that is.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get my hands onto a suitable set of questions. But being the MacGyver of the Internets that I am, I've soldiered on and made up my own. So in essence, I'm having a little Q&A with myself; the less we consider the psychological implications of this the better methinks.

Anyway, time for me to sit in the hot seat...

Hello
Umm hi

What are you doing now?
I'm answering a question about what I'm doing now, more precisely, I'm hitting keys on my keyboard.

Favourite colour?
Blue

Favourite colour M&M?
Red

What are you drinking?
A nice glass of Brown Brothers Mascato. A white wine of great varietal character

And that means what exactly?
Its wine, I drink it.

What are you listening to now?
One of These Days by Michelle Branch

Why?
I heard that latest song by the Veronicas in the car before, and I realised that that’s what you get if you got Michelle Branch and split her in half. And then I had an urge to listen to Michelle Branch. It all makes sense in my head.

What are you reading?
'Kafka on the Shore' by Haruki Murakami and 'Strychnine Lives', the latest 100 Bullets trade

What are you watching?
New season of Arrested Development in 45 minutes, too much West Wing, a bit of Black Books and I've actually just got the first season of Little Britain from a friend. A bit uncertain about it, but I've been assured that its comedy gold.

When have you had to lead a team, and how did you do it?
Hmm this requires some S.T.A.R. analysis huh? Let me see..
One time I was recruited into a rag-tag team of ruffians and given the task to lead the group to rob a casino. As I've never met these people before, and I was quite certain that some of them were convicted felons with a dangerous disregard of authority, I knew that I had to adapt my leadership style to suit the circumstances. First thing i did was get a slab of beer and get the guys reasonably drunk. Then I got some hobo off the street and broke his arm with a crowbar to demonstrate that I wasn't to be messed with. Luckily, I only had to kill one of them before they all got into line. Long story short, we managed to pull off on of the biggest diamond heists in the history of the world, made a major motion picture out of it, and I made a reasonable amount of cash as a result. And me and the boys are best of buddies.

When was the last time you wore women’s clothing in order to infiltrate a girls-only dorm?
Umm haven't done that before...should I have by now?

Why do you pretend to be someone you're not?
I'm not pretending. I'm not like that guy on that show about pretenders, I forgot what it was called…

Last time you got drunk?
Phillip Island last month. I was travelling fine with the beers, but then a detour into wine territory followed by random shots of liquor took its toll.

Last time you woke up and found yourself on an alien spacecraft?
Last Friday. It isn’t as exciting as it sounds, just a lot of random noises and the less we say about the probes, the better.

Last time you woke up before 8am?
December last year…and all the working stiffs out there get annoyed J

Anyway, I could go on, heaven knows I have…but I made a silly promise a few minutes ago to meet up with a friend at uni at 9am tomorrow. Oh well, guess I should try this ‘sleeping at a reasonable time’ thing, see if it fits.

25. Down At The 303 - The Cat Empire Project

2006-05-05T23:13:00.000+10:00

Let me tell you a story.

It’s a nice story about love, regret, identity, loneliness, robots, pirates, ninjas and hope.

You always need hope.

Hope is what drives a man when all seems lost. And while an automobile can also perform this task, it’s hope that makes that automobile run. Well technically its petroleum that makes an automobile run, but wouldn’t it be great if hope was enough? I mean look at the price of petroleum these days.

But I digress.

Actually let me follow this train of thought here. What we need in the world is an automobile that is powered by human thoughts. That’s not to say that if I had one wish for what we need in this world I’d immediately go for the thought-powered automobile.

I’d probably wish for a nice chicken sandwich.

I’ve spent a fair bit of the last few days thinking about writing a novel. And while the overall outcome of a paperback written by myself is something that would give me a great deal of pleasure, it’s the actual physical writing part that is the source of my reluctance. And the fact that I need something to write about first.

That being said, it’s not like I don’t have the time these days.

But I might need to acquire a typewriter and to develop a dangerous cigarette habit.

Or is that the stereotype for print journalist circa 1970s?

Regardless of the necessary addictions that would result, I’ve decided to take a tiny step in this direction. Who knows what will come of it, whether it be a longer blog entry than usual, a short story, a longer short story or something that I’d actually be proud of.

The question still remains, what to write about?

There’s that phrase, ‘write what you know’. So what do I know? And where will this limited knowledge take me? And how many questions can one ask in a paragraph? Four? Surely not five? Dare I suggest six?

So the next few days/weeks will be centred on getting that idea, that vibe for my story. Rest assured, something will come from it.

In other news, I put in my order today for my 30Gb Video iPod. I got it online due to the simple fact that it was the only place where I could get my student discount price of $403.70. So all that remains is the wait, probably mid to late next week I presume.

Last Monday saw my 3000-word administrative law research essay completed and handed in, just a little something to reassure all those out there that I’m still doing some law degree-related work.

That being said, exams are coming in a few weeks.

No doubt in the next few weeks I’ll be waxing lyrical about the evils that my upcoming exams will bring into my life. But right now, with the benefit of a five or six week buffer, I’m quite unfussed about it all, perhaps best shown with the fact I don’t know if I have five or six weeks to go.

This will change soon enough.

I purchased two cds last week (has it been that long since my last post? A thousand apologies); Cities by the Cat Empire Project and Both Sides of the Gun by Ben Harper. Both purchases were on a whim and based solely on the artists’ names rather than any particular song. It’s a gamble that I’ve taken a few times, (see In Case We Die by Architecture in Helsinki) and I’m happy to report that the gamble paid of handsomely. So if you’re any way inclined, I recommend both.

To go back to the notion of gambling with cds, its something that I don’t believe enough people do these days. With the advent of the Internet and illegal mp3 downloading (not that there is a causal relationship between the two), it just seems that people have become happy with their musical range. They pick a genre and remain closely within those limitations. They only get songs that they are comfortable with and there is a reluctance to try something different. I’d be the first to admit that I’m like that, and it’s a trait that I’m trying to break.

So please, if you have any artist that you believe is the proverbial bee’s knees, give me a shout. I’ll give it a go, and while I’m promising nothing in terms if I like them or not, at least I’ll give them a go.

And while you’re at it, a well thought-out structure to a novel would be handy.

And a nice chicken sandwich.

24. Hurts So Good - John Mellencamp

2006-04-26T21:44:00.000+10:00

My neck hurts.

And it isn't so good.

Woke up this morning with a sharp pain in my neck and the overwhelming feeling that I could just not move my head. It was a pain on the left side of my neck that was as fun or as exciting as I ever imagined it to be (i.e. it was not). It’s a frightening feeling when you wake up and can't move, and my thought-process ran something like this:

(Ouch, ouch, ouch, what the hell is this? I can't move my head, this is not good, ouch, ouch, I'm still tired, maybe I should just ignore it and go back to sleep, ouch, ouch, ouch) x repeat.

Missed a few lectures (which are taped thankfully), a very important yaa mentoring meeting (which was not taped thankfully) and a whole day's worth of productive assignment doing. On the flip side, I managed to watch 2 episodes of west wing, catch up on sleep and I was introduced to 'Ammeltz Yoko Yoko'.

Ammeltz Yoko Yoko, or 'Yoko Ono' as my mother has decided to call it, is a type of cream/lotion that is applied via a roll-on device similar to roll-on deodorant for stiff shoulders and muscular aches. Its effect is a lot like Deep Heart but this has the added benefit of being an Asian medicinal remedy, and we all know that Asian remedies are just better. Not to mention that my mother gave it to me to use. So it’s got the whole mother-knows-best thing going for it too.

Well isn't this an exciting topic of discussion.

I'm sorry, must be all methyl salicylate that has been absorbed through the skin into my blood. I'm hoping that this is a good thing.

23. Hang - Matchbox Twenty

2006-04-23T00:26:00.000+10:00

Random song, doesn't mean anything, but it allows me to...

Went to see Demitri Martin today at the Town Hall. Very funny stuff.

And now that I mention that, it reminds me of a one of his jokes that may or may not tie in with the song title. And while I'm reluctant to simply recycle other people's jokes and claim all the credit, I might just do that now in order to maintain some logical nexus for this entry.

"If I ever saw an amputee getting hanged, I think all that I would be able to do is to shout out letters."

22. Pennyroyal Tea - Nirvana

2006-04-19T00:56:00.000+10:00

I'll do anything to avoid assignments/study.

Even bringing back something that should be left alone.

I used too many tea leaves with this one, it really was very strong. But mistakes do happen, and its just one of those ones that I'll have to learn to deal with.

21. Clocks In Sync With Mine - Speech

2006-04-17T20:04:00.000+10:00

I'm in a good mood.

Why?

Because Collingwood won.

I've found that my general attitude and pleasantness for any given week is directly related to the success and failures of two sporting teams, one being Collingwood, the other my weekly basketball team. If we win, I'm in a good mood, if we lose, well let's just say that it takes more effort to get me in a good mood.

But you can all rest easy folks, because the pies ran all over North Melbourne today. And more importantly, next Tuesday is the ANZAC day clash against the dons on the hallowed turf of the MCG. I got my tickets, and I can't wait.

20. Daniel - Lior

2006-04-17T00:12:00.000+10:00

And I'm still stuck on this chillout sessions 8, this song found on the first disc. More guitar chillout rather than electronic/dancey...as you can see I'm still completely misusing and abusing the music genre labels.

But on a more important matter, I'm afraid to report that my iPod mini is dying a slow death. Well I'm pretty sure it is, considering it takes approximately 3.5 days to charge the battery long enough to last a total of 1 hour. And that kind of ratio just does not work for me.

So what to do?

This?

With my current status as a university bum/student, I believe I can get a nice 30Gb video iPod for $400. And to be honest with ya, its mighty tempting. Damn its gonna happen I think, and while my bank account says no, everything else says yes.

Let's see if I can justify this;
1) I use an iPod very regularly (this is probably why my mini broken down in the first place)
2) I like to listen to music
3) 4 Gb is just not cutting it for me
4) My current itunes has just over 10 Gb of music, so I'd have to triple that content in order to max out 30 gigs.
5) I like shiny toys
6) umm I need one or else the world as we know it will end
7) The Arcturians told me to.

Why not?
1) Money
2) Money
3) Money
4) Money
5) Money.

In other, possibly more interesting, news, I'm in my ‘one week mid-semester Easter break’. But I've taken to calling it the ‘one week, one exam, two assignments and meeting up with friends’ week. Or that could be shortened down to just 'the busy week'.

A thought just occurred to me, this week would be better with a new 30 Gb iPod.

Now that's got to be a sign.

Well its good enough for me.

19. The Funk Is Still Alive (Ryralio DJs Mix) - Rithma feat. Ryralio DJs

2006-04-13T00:42:00.000+10:00

Well then, hopefully that won't be the most convoluted song title I'll get to use.

Thanks goes to my mother who decided to clean up my bro's room in preparation for his return. And through that process, she uncovered my chillout sessions 8 cd that I'd purchased and subsequently lost, almost to the point where I was actually questioning myself if I didn't just think that I got this cd.

I love putting a cd into my player/ibook and listening to music for the first time, hearing songs that I've never heard before. Its like I'm discovering a new world, new sensations. I'm about 5 tracks into this second disc (I've started at disc 2 for no apparent reason except that disc 2 was the first one I saw when I opened the case) and this chillout session is indeed a session and is quite chilled out. So top marks to you guys and gals at the ministry of sound.

Umm have you ever noticed how the price of petrol is linked to the number of birds that sit on the branches of the tree outside my house? No? Well that's good then, I was worried that I was onto something there.

And I didn't know that the funk had died, maybe just it was just resting up for a big easter weekend.

18. No-one But You - Queen

2006-04-12T01:26:00.000+10:00

I’ve been working in the theatre/musical business for a number of years now, and as a result I’ve seen a fare share of productions throughout my tenure of sitting around doing nothing while getting paid. And one of these productions that, while at the time bore me a great deal of annoyance, I can now look back quite fondly is ‘We Will Rock You’.

When you have to re-watch the same show 3 or 4 times a week for say, 6 months in a row, it’s the little things that get you through it. Its that one song that even though you’ve sat through it before countless times, you can sit through it again. Or that one sequence, that still has the capacity to draw you into their world, or break into a smile, or tug at those proverbial heartstrings.

And with ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘No-one But You’ was that song.

This is a song about loss, it’s about friendship, about love. Originally it was about the death of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, and how, simply put, death came too early. I can remember standing at the back of stalls listening to this piece and feeling the pain, the emotion coming from that song. For the life of me I can’t remember the chick who performed it, but she was good, and for the most part, the audience felt it too. And the fact that the chick was admittedly hot helped as well.

But I never thought that it would mean so much to me so soon.

It has been six months since Gene passed away.

I’d like to say that I’ve been thinking about him every single day, but the truth is I haven’t. But that’s not to say that he’s not there in my heart, coz I’m damn sure he is. It’s just that life and all the petty things that come with it, has to go on.

I had this thing in the head way back then, a vow of sorts, where I refused to write any blog entry about Gene. And when I think about it now, it wasn’t because I was hiding from my emotions but because I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to do him justice. How do you put into writing the essence of a man, a friend? It’s just something that I can’t do.

But I hope one day I’ll be able to.

“one by one, only the good die young, they’re only flying too close to the sun, and life goes on…without you”

We miss ya mate.

17. Jumper - Third Eye Blind

2006-04-07T01:00:00.000+10:00

A few minutes ago a friend told me she was feeling 'happy happy'.

And then asked me if I was.

I said I was okay.

For me, okay is a good place to be. But maybe that's because what I classify as 'okay' is a bit higher than the average mean.

So what makes me happy?

Raindrops on roses, snowflakes and kittens.

The Arcturians doesn't me happy. The Arcturians make me laugh, and then worry about the stupidity of people.

Got a 21st birthday tonight, with a 'senior high school' theme/dress code. So being the type of guy who gets into these things, I went hunting for my high school blazer.

It's still too big.

Yeah 5 years on, and my blazer is still too big. Not just a bit big, but at least 3 sizes up from what I am. But that's gotta make you smile, it’s just another example of the eternal optimism of the mother.

16. It Ends Tonight - All American Rejects

2006-04-04T20:53:00.000+10:00

*NOTE: I've got into the habit of partially writing blogs and not posting them for one stupid reason or another. But that all ends tonight, please enjoy a partially completed entry circa 2pm yesterday at uni:

So I'm just wasting my time.

Its a strange feeling, something akin to being stuck in a continuous commercial break with no avenues of escape. Not that has actually happened to me, thus destroying the real use of the example.

Maybe I should begin doing entries via sign language or simple grunts.

I'm stuck in the matherson library west reading room under the pretence of study/preparing for my 30% negotiation assessment tomorrow. Obviously that's not the case. In reality I've found myself spending a fair amount of time looking out of the windows at what is really really shitty weather. Its rain, its wind, its overcast, its Melbourne in April.

So I guess winter is coming.

I have no umbrella.

And that in itself lends to more ambiguous statements of fact or half-truths;

- I've become something of a nothing, and a nothing of a something.
- Such statements as above bear no resemblance to what my left foot is saying to me.
- Inherent truths about a man's life pale in significance when compared to the weight of a house's soul.

All in all, I really don't want to do anymore study right now.

I've been sick for the past few days, and I let it define my behaviour. And while it worked to some small extent, on a much larger scale, it has achieved nothing but allowed me to watch superfluous amounts of television without remorse. But I've reached a crux, and all of it ends today.

So be warned. Or more specifically, be alert but not alarmed.

I found myself visiting the graduates careers fair at university today. To be honest I had two clear objectives in mind, and neither of them were to gain information about the companies' career options, no, my objectives were;

1) get as many freebies as I could
2) to feed my internal sense of well-being by reminding myself that I already have meaningful employment next year.

Well that was the intention, but then I realised; I just could not be bothered.

14. Fast Cars - Craig David

2006-04-01T20:12:00.000+11:00

This was purely a test exercise.

It was supposed to be deleted soon enough.

But it looks good, so it'll stay.

13. All These Things That I've Done - The Killers

2006-03-30T00:33:00.000+11:00

The average day for the average person is inherently boring and non-eventful. Put a few of them together and you end up with a boring week, and sometimes you can just wake up and realised that you've wasted a month, a year, a life.

And when this is the case, it’s the small things that make the difference. The small sparks of life that make you realise that things are going to be alright. Or at the very least, it’s the small things that provide me with things to actually write about.

Take today for instance.

If I were to big picture it for you, it'll be something like this; wake up, uni, work, home, sleep. Now unless you live in a small white room without any visual or audio stimuli and had no sense of time, my day isn't that exciting. But then I think about the small stuff.

Now I woke up this morning feeling not nearly as refreshed as I'd like, but as the good soldier that I am (or at least inspire to be) I managed to get out of bed and into university on time. Its strange but I think that I can get up easier before 9am then after it, regardless of what time I went to bed; it must be because I'm one fifth canadian or something. But anyway, got to university on time, managed to find me a park.

At this juncture, I could do a spiel about the sheer greed and stupidity of the Monash Uni council vis a vis carparks on the Clayton campus. I could, for instance, point to the fact that just this week they released more parking permits, while at the same time reducing the parking areas for parking permits. While I admit I somewhat respect their all-consuming greed and ability to put the almighty dollar before of you know, the students at their essentially education (i.e. student-first) centre, when I have to park on gravel instead of a paved car spot, I'm not happy.

But I digress.

At the best of times, a two hour lecture on taxation law is not fun, you don't have to be a law student to appreciate that. But when its a continuous two hour lecture without a short break after the first hour, well it hurts more than being kicked in the balls by a tall chick with pointy leather boots. At least in my three hour international law lecture we have a break every hour, but that still doesn't help the fact that it’s a THREE HOUR lecture.

Found some time today to head up to the John Medley library in the campus centre. I'd heard from a source that they had comics in this library, and me being the quasi-geek that I am, had to see it for myself. Originally the plan was to have a quick peek, then find a nice sofa and grab a quick nap before my int. law lecture. Obviously this plan went out the window when I realised that they had entire Batman: Hush series by Jeph Loeb. Comics yes, sleep no.

Loeb is one of my favourite comic book writers, he can write a good batman tale, from 'The Long Halloween, 'Dark Victory' or even the 'Superman/Batman' series. Daredevil: Yellow and Spiderman: Blue both by Loeb and Tim Sale are great pieces as well. And while I'm on the topic, who else do I like? Mark Millar (Ultimates etc), Bendis (Ult Spiderman), Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets), Frank Miller (DKR, Sin City), Dan Slott (She-Hulk), Brian K. Vaughan (Runaways)...

Yes, I know I sound like a geek, I'm well aware of that.

Anyway, here I was about to embark on the excitement that is a three hour lecture on the sources of international law (which is basically; treaties and conventions, customary law, general principles of law and judicial decisions and legal writings...haha so I did learn something in class) and I was about to fall asleep before it begun, it didn't bode well. Enter a can of V.

V is a flip of a coin for me, sometimes it works, other times it does nothing. I prefer to think of it as placebo caffeine; as long as I start thinking that it'll keep me awake, its done its job. However, I've found that it does actually work when I have 2 in the space of 5 hours.

Oh yeah, before work I had another can of V (2 in the space of 5 hours).

Needless to say, even though my body is bloody tired and needs sleep, I'm awake writing a blog of all things.

Yeah I need sleep.

Work was as uneventful as work gets, a bit of this, a bit of that and then I go home. At least I've got some cool friends at work; sometimes it feels like they're the only reason I'm still at that place. But then I remember that I'm doing a 10 hour shift on Sunday at double pay rates...so that’s 340 + 1 reasons why I'm still at that place.

As you've probably figured out, I'm not even going to try to link this one to the song. But I will say that I heard it on the radio on the long drive home and, possibly due to the stupid levels of caffeine in me, sung along at full pelt. And I have been listening to their 'Hot Fuss' album while typing this baby out. The Killers, they're good, trust me. Or not. Trust in the powers of the Arturians.

Haha the Arturians...stick around folks, I promise that I'll have a very interesting entry this time next week...

Sadly I don't think the V's are wearing off at all. Oh well.

12. Always Be My Baby - Mariah Carey

2006-03-20T12:51:00.000+11:00

There is a simple reason for choosing this song today;

Doot doot doot dum,
doot doot doot doot doot doot da dum.

And that's why I love this song.

My song selections for this blog/place/thing is never as structured as I would like. I view it as a very organic process, either I actually have a song in my head that won't leave (see 10. Caught Up - Usher), or I write an entry and then try to find a song that kinda links to it; be it a line from the song, the song title itself, or just random tiny thing that, in my mind, forms a nexus of connectivity to the entry (see 8. Honey And The Moon - Joseph Arthur and my discussion of the O.C.). In essence, I like to think that I'm a lot smarter and wittier than I actually am.

But sometimes it all falls into place.

Like this one. Now this song is relatively old, sometime during my primary school/early high school years (which is relatively old for me). And as luck or fate or whatever would have it, I found myself singing along to it in my friend's car on the way back from our weekend excursion to Philip Island (thanks for the lift El).

Frightening to say, I remembered most of words. What makes it even stranger is that I'm sure i didn't know the words to this song even way back then. Its amazing what you can remember about songs. I can remember the "doot doot doot dum" bit, but I'm pretty sure that everyone can. I also remember that my favourite part was the bridge right in the middle.

The thing about Mariah and me is that, to paraphrase the Regurgitators, I like her old stuff better than her new stuff. But when I think about it, its not the songs themselves that I'm fond of, its the memories that have woven themselves around it. For instance, when I hear 'Hero", it reminds me of my final day at primary school in year 6 when as a year level we performed the song to our parents. I guess its those things that brings songs close to our hearts, well that and any song that has "doot doot doot dum" in it.

11. Winding Road - Bonnie Somerville

2006-03-14T22:51:00.000+11:00

Sometimes I find it hard to explain why I like things. Or dislike things for that matter.

But at the end of the day, I guess it can all come down to the 'vibe'. I have a lot of faith in the inherently indescribable 'vibe' of things. And while the results have been questionable at times, I'm going to stick by it for as long as it works.

Which brings me to 'Winding Road' by Bonnie Somerville. Now this song is tucked away as the last song in the Garden State OST. And for the life of me, I can't really give you a clear answer on why I like this one. Its nothing special, just a simple female vocal and guitar, and the lyrics are sweet and sappy, but it works for me. Lets just say that according to my itunes, its play count is at 53, ranking it as 14th on my all time played list. So its got something working for it that makes me go back to it.

Another strange thing is that while I love the Garden State OST, I've actually never seen the movie. I've actually got the dvd sitting on top of the pile but its never been played. From what I've heard, it’s a very good movie. So why haven't I seen it yet? There are three reasons that I can think of;

1) I just haven't had the time between uni/work/study and watching all the television series dvd box sets
2) I just haven't been in the mood to watch it
3) I'm subconsciously worried that the movie will not be as good as the soundtrack

I'm leaning towards a mixture of 2) and 3).

In other news, administration law is still as confusing as it was three weeks ago. And thankfully the Commonwealth Games are starting tomorrow, meaning that I now have to take public transport into the city for work. Thanks a bunch guys.

10. Caught Up - Usher

2006-03-13T22:03:00.000+11:00

Currently I'm having some problems coming up with a good opening sentence for this entry.

As a temporary stop-gap measure I will now continue the entry at approximately 1/3rd of the way in and hopefully address the opening line problem at a later date.

And then I said to her, 'You think thats a problem? I lost $20 and my towel got wet"

Managed to pull the usual 12 hours of work this weekend, 8 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday. Now that itself is nothing special, but what made it even better was the fact that I got the chorus from 'Caught Up' stuck in my head right at the start of my shift.

Now my love for Usher is well-founded. Truth be told I had a lot more respect for the man before I found out that he uses 'wheelies' in his shoes. It was like when I was told Santa wasn't real (circa Dec 2001), or when I learnt that KIT from Knight Rider was just a prop. In short, I'm not personally affronted by Usher. Unless he starts bad-mouthing my bitches again.

So initially it was all cool, but after that 10 seconds passed, it got a little annoying, then a lot annoying. On later analysis it might have to do with the fact that I really don't know the words to the song. So for about 4 hours, I had this going in my head;

"I'm so caught up, and I don't know what it is but *something something* got me twisted" * repeat

Also note that as per the song, the 'caught up' bit is pitching in a bit higher. So its really running something like this;

"I'm so CAUGHT UP, and I don't know what it is but *something something* got me twisted" * repeat and rinse.

And then as I don't know the rest of the words, I get this playing;

"I'm so CAUGHT UP, *mumble mumble* CAUGHT UP, *mumble mumble* CAUGHT UP, and I don't know what it is but *something something* got me twisted" * shuffle and repeat

Obviously a lot of fun. But it got worse; the show started. Now just in case you didn't know, I work as an usher/merch guy at the Regent Theatre. And right now the 'Reg' (that's some sophisticated theatre-talk there) is showing Disney's The Lion King; the musical.

So anyway I'm standing at the back of the stalls with 'Caught Up' in my head, and then it starts, the beginning of 'The Circle of Life'.

At about this stage, I would have been willing to remove each of my fingernails with my teeth. Unfortunately it got worse.

The building next door decided to add to my woes and turn its alarm on. Well that or the building next door was broken into by a bunch of professional criminals. Actually if they were professional criminals, the alarm would not have gone off, so maybe it was just amateur criminals.

So here I am, 'Caught Up' plus the score from the Lion King plus an alarm.

Headache.

Now this is interesting, I'm having a problem closing this entry. These bookends aren't working.

Oh well, I'll just stop typing. Right about...now.

9. Frenchy, I'm Faking - Architecture In Helsinki

2006-03-08T22:56:00.000+11:00

Architecture In Helsinki: cool band name, weird music.

From what I gather, Architecture In Helsinki is a Melbourne-based band, so big kudos for that. I love Melbourne so much that sometimes I wonder if I'm Mayor John So and Lavinia Nixon's illegitimate love-child.

And what special special event is happening in just a few days right here in my hometown? You guessed it, the XXVIXIVI Commonwealth Games. Ohh yeah, we get to watch Australia compete against the world giants of..umm Canada and Singapore and some random little African country.

So I read in the paper that Nikki Webster, the self-proclaimed 'star' of the 2000 Olympic Games (disregarding all those, you know, athletes) is a tad upset that she didn't get an invite to the Commonwealth Games. Additionally she warned the children who are taking part in the opening ceremony to be wary of Australia's addiction to the tall poppy syndrome...awww

.....

Sorry. Had to take a moment, its really hard to type with all these tears falling on the keyboard.

Now my darling Nikki, I love ya, especially your work in 'The Wizard of Oz' and your inability to even remotely have a plausible American accent, but please, can you shut the hell up?

In fact it was at work where I first heard of Architecture In Helsinki, I think they were an opening act for some one-off show or something. I didn't hear any of their stuff but I distinctly remember how much I loved the band name. Fast forward a few years, I was stuck in JB in one of my 'need to spend money' moods and I happened upon their latest (or it could be their first for all I know) offering 'In Case We Die'.

Its strange, nothing like I every imagined. But like that growth on my left arm, its growing on me.

8. Honey And The Moon - Joseph Arthur

2006-03-07T22:30:00.000+11:00

And another thing, what the hell is happening with the o.c?

I managed to catch the last 20 minutes of tonights episode and I seriously have no idea whats going on anymore.

I'll admit that may be due to the fact that the last time I saw some of the o.c was last season. Maybe I should get back into it, coz the last thing I need right now is more television seasons to watch.

Which brings me to...

So what did I watch during the summer in terms of television series?

West Wing Seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4
Arrested Development Seasons 1 and 2
Scrubs Seasons 1 and 2
Las Vegas Season 1
Firefly Season 1
Black Books Season 1

And who says summer holidays aren't productive?

7. My Humps - Black Eyed Peas

2006-02-06T22:59:00.000+11:00

So against my better judgement let me do a little blog entry from Thailand.

Thailand is a great place to holiday. The greatest example of this fact can be seen by simply looking at the australian-thailand exchange rate; there's something special in dividing every price by 29. Especially when a 750ml bottle of beer costs approx 70 baht.

By the by, if you're looking for the generic overseas blog, please look elsewhere, just for the simple truth that I'm quite hungry and I'm liable to go and eat some cheap cheap dinner at any point in time.

'My Humps' can refer to a few things in this entry; and I'll begin with the most obvious.

1) In Thailand, I heard 'My Humps' on a number of occasions; namely on the taxi radio as the driver drove 140+ while darting through the peak hour traffic to the airport. Also, I heard it playing at a stall at the local night market, along with pretty much every other Black Eyed Peas song that I know, and all the Black Eyed Peas songs that I wish to know. Actually, on the night-market note, I've found some stalls selling tees with designs very very very similar to those on threadless.com and busted-tees. Needless to say, I've stocked up :)

2) There are indeed a number of 'lady-boys' in Thailand. They have humps in the back and in the front and in the lower front. But I must state that the adage, 'What happens in Thailand stays in Thailand' is currently in effect. But just in case your wondering, NO.

I'm about done here, and I promise that this will never happen again. Unless of course, I get bored when I'm in Singapore; something that is very very very likely to happen.

But I'll end it with my favourite saying that I've picked up on this trip;

Thailand; its Same Same, But Different.

6. When I See You Smile - Bic Runga

2006-01-25T02:07:00.000+11:00

So I broke my glasses today.

At this point I should point out that I:
a) wear glasses; a fact that is not so obvious through this medium
and
b) while we're on the topic, I am not a 12 year old kid from Brazil.

Luckily I have enough contact lenses to keep me from colliding into the walls.

Bic Runga is from New Zealand and in famous for inventing the Bic pen. Well that and writing/performing the song 'Sway' a few years back. I liked 'Sway' even though I still can't catch and understand a few of the lines in the song. It was the bit about "tell you why, I say its in from your ???room". Is it "klichroom", "kitroom"? Are those two suggestions even words? I'm guessing no, and I did get a study score of 46 for VCE English so I should know.

However, this song "When I See You Smile" is the first track from her second album, "Beautiful Collision"; the album with incidentally does not include the song "Sway". It happens to me quite often actually, I buy a CD based on a single song by the artist, even though that one song that I actually know and enjoy isn't on the CD. It happened with Bic, and it happened with Natalie Imbruglia with "Torn"/"White Lilies Island CD".

Elseways, I leave for Thailand/Singapore in just a few days. Just a little trip for some R&R from, well doing nothing over here. That's right folks, I'm taking a holiday from taking a holiday. Don't you love the long uni breaks? Gives you enough time to get tired of doing nothing.

But the trip is looking good, I just got to get bag for my body-board, but I met some guys last night who said they can hook me up when I get to Singapore. Aren't they the nicest folks?

5. How To Be Dead - Snow Patrol

2006-01-19T21:36:00.000+11:00

Had my first snowboarding dream of 2006 last night.

Just a few days into the new year, its bloody hot outside and here I am dreaming about the snow. Can't really remember much of it, but I was definitely boarding at a higher degree of ability that what I possess. That and my board was really really scratched up.

Strange days huh?

So this week is pretty much like last week in that I'll be working every night. Pulling in a total of 32 hours, which equates to enough money for my accommodation fees for my upcoming trip. Well that's the plan anyway.

Had one of those conversations yesterday where I was asked, "What's wrong, you sound sad..." Now these conversations aren't good at the best of times, but they take another turn when you're actually not sad or depressed. But it got me thinking about stuff.

Stuff.

I like stuff, Now I really can't see what stuff could be annoying me at this moment. I've got a holiday coming up in a two weeks, and more importantly, I have some graduate employment already lined up for the start of 2007, meaning that I won't have to jump through all those grad app hoops and trials and fights to the death in the coming months. So what's bothering me?

Umm nothing.

Well I still have Jo's cds. That's not good karma.

You see, a few months ago my friend Jo decided to travel the world for a while, and me being the good friend that I am, decided to go over and pretty much steal her entire cd collection. My justification was that the cds wouldn't be used anyway, so if anything I was providing a valuable service in ensuring the cds were in working order when she came back.

To cut a long story short, Jo came back sometime in November 2005. Needless to say, I've still got her cds.

And just if you wanted to know, this falls under the category of conversion of a chattel in tort law. (Who in god's name would want to know that?)

So yeah, maybe I have this enormous guilt thing working against me right now. I really really should do something about it. Maybe something along the lines of returning her cds.

And Snow Patrol? Yup you guessed it, its hers as well.

4. #3 - Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals

2006-01-10T18:40:00.000+11:00

I'm currently formatting my computer.

And its taking forever.

So to past the time, I'll just type away on my ibook while listening to Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals; Live from Mars.

Its amazing that with all the money and resources at NASA's disposal, a bunch of musicians were about to get to Mars first, and record a cd there.

Or maybe there is just a theatre somewhere on Earth called 'Mars'.

Yeah that would make more sense.

Its only the start of the second week of the new year and I'm already getting bored. I think I just need more structure in my life.

In other words, waking up at midday is begining to lose its charm.

You know what I need? I need to get back to swimming on a regular basis.

That and I need to put a tee-shirt on. Its still quite warm in my home, and I'm sitting in a leather chair without a shirt.

Most uncomfortable when I move.

Re-installing windows isn't as fun as I thought it would be.

So I'm working a total of 34 hours this week, which equates to a shift a night from tomorrow until Sunday. And when I say working 34 hours, I mean I'm getting paid for 34 hours of work this week.

But in reality;

I can leave after 3.15 hours into a 4 hour shift, meaning that I'm still getting paid while I drive home.

And of that 3.15 hours, I'm only really working working for 1.5 hours, the rest consists of either reading a book/newspaper or just chatting to people.

And then theres the sheer beauty which is double pay Sunday.

So in essence, I'm only really working for 10-15 hours this week.

Have I mentioned that I have what could posssibly be the easiest job in the world?

3. Let's Fall In Love - Diana Krall

2006-01-10T18:01:00.000+11:00

If only I could play a piano.

Then I'd use my piano playing abilities to make you love me.

Well that and learn how to play jazz like Diana Krall. I like Diana Krall's music, its very relaxing in a relaxing type of way. 'Let's Fall In Love' is a romantic song, not hopelessly sappy romantic, but happy romantic. It reminds me of the days just after meeting a girl, when you have that stupid grin stuck on your face and all you can think of is what could happen.

I'm currently in the middle of reading two books, and it must be noted that I wrote that not to show off my sheer intellectual brilliance but rather as an introduction to a discussion on two separate topics. So two books, 'Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury and 'A Wild Sheep Chase' by Haruki Murakami. And both were written before my birth, 'Fahrenheit 451' coming in in 1954 and 'A Wild Sheep Chase' in 1982. But thats where all the similarities (if that could be classified as a similarity) end.

'Fahrenheit 451' is a modern day classic, a tale of a world where books are banned and the free will of the people is virtually non-existent. Its said to be up there with Orwell's '1984' and Huxley's 'Brave New World', two books that I have read previously. An interesting premise yes, but I must say, its not the easiest read.

'A Wild Sheep Chase' however, is easy to read, but completely confusing in terms of its story. Translated into english, its a tale about a japanese man, a sheep with a black star and really have no idea what else. But one thing that really intrigued me was the 3 chapters dedicated to the beauty of a girl's ears. Now I love the female form as much as the next man, but I must admit that the female ear is not a part of the body that has previously captured my attention. But after reading this book, I've found noticing the ear. Its strange and a bit worrying.

2. Lullaby - The Cat Empire

2006-01-06T11:34:00.000+11:00

Last weekend was a weekend, and it was more than quite sunny in the park.

It was hot, but not as hot as the night Johnny Viti got married.

And that, my friends, is the first of many obscure comic book references (Batman: The Long Halloween).

One thing about this whole '83 Songs.' idea is that it puts my musical taste (or lack thereof) right in the front and centre. Just by looking at the song titles I've choosen, I guess you'll all pretty quickly get an understanding of what generally plays in my ipod. But don't worry, I'll do my best to throw some things from the left field, or even in some cases, from the right field.

Catch; The Cat Empire.

I'd admit that when the Cat Empire came onto the Australian music scene, I wasn't too impressed. From my limited knowledge, and please be aware that this knowledge is not founded from any research or evidence, the first song released was 'Hello'. I can kinda remember hearing it on the radio, and I can somewhat remember that I thought it was just a gimmicky song. Fast forward to a few months/possible years, I on a whim, I bought their first cd at a cd selling establishment.

Naturally, I loved it.

There is a few things you got to learn about me and my music. As much as a I appreciate the cut-n-paste brilliance of today's rnb, I'm just a sucker for a good brass section. Give me something with a good trumpet, a horn of any description, a sax, and I'll love you with 4/9ths of my heart. Just give me some music that makes me feel happy, give me music that will put a smile of my face and a bounce in my step.

And that's why I like the Cat Empire. Their music is about love of well girls and booze, but also a love for the music itself. You can feel it in the songs, you can tell that they just like playing. 'Lullaby' is from their second album, 'Two Shoes', and I'll admit that I like the fact that the starting piano part reminds me a lot of the music from an Amiga game I played when I was a kid. The name of the game now alludes me but it was very pac-man like but with fruit and I'm certain there was a Mr or Doc Pineapple involved.

Nonetheless, 'Lullaby' is what the Cat Empire is about, a song about a sexy babe, movie-marathons, triple-expressos and alot of rambling that I still can't quite get. Not to mention a horn solo right bang in the middle of the song.

Anyway, I need to start heading off to work, so I'll end it here.

1. I'm Willing - Ben Lee

2005-12-31T20:05:00.000+11:00

Its an amazingly simple concept.

Its so simple that I'm postive that its been done before.

Nonetheless, lets just imagine that the concept is my own.

83 Songs. 83 Entries.

Each song will have a meaning to me, good or bad, deep or superficial, relevant or irrelevant. And I'll try to share it with you in passable and complete English sentences. Failing that, I'll find some way to link my non sequitur randomness to the song in the title. And trust me, thats gonna happen quite a bit. Some posts will be long and interesting, others short and confusing, but I'll make one iron-clad guarantee to you now; I will never simply post the lyrics of a song up just because I think they accurately reflect my mood and/or situtation at the current time.

Well that's the plan anyway. And you all know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men...what kind of mice make plans?

Anyway, so I've chosen to begin with a very simple tune by Ben Lee, 'I'm Willing'.

Unless you have Ben Lee's latest album, 'Awake is the New Sleep', you probably haven't heard this song before. Its the last track of the set, track 14 to be precise, and is very simple in its arrangement; a single acoustic guitar, a repeating finger-plucked melody and Ben's unique voice. The lyrics deal with something that I can't really be bothered explaining suffice to say that the line, "I'm willing" is used in the chorus.

Its hard to explain why I love this song so much, its could just be the soothing melody, or the fact that I can somewhat play it on my own guitar (for future reference, I have a guitar but can't play it very well). Its just a very good song. Granted its not the type to be played on the radio, but its the type of song that I've listened to just before I go to sleep at night.

A song like this makes me happy about life. That's not to say that I'm unhappy with the general state of my existence, far from it, but there's always songs that you can listen to that makes everything make sense or at least more sense just for those 4 minutes and 1 second. And this is one of them.

I could go on (and by that I mean there's not much else that I could write so I'll just pretend that I've chosen to cut myself off), but I won't.

This should get easier in time, and hopefully more entertaining. But at the very least, I wish you all a happy entry into 2006, the year of the disabled chicken.

See, non sequitur.