Ten days until Xmas eve..

I often wonder how this event (one which has happened in many religions before the establishment of christianity) became such a huge commercial phenomena. Every year we all go out in droves looking for that perfect present to give someone.

I remember reading about how, during World War I, the Germans initiated an unofficial cease fire with the British to sing carols, and have a good time.

Imagine how brave, or incredibly stupid, you’d have to be to stick your head out of the trench, and start singing ‘O Tannenbaum’. Insane.

To me, Xmas holds no religious significance. And I really only celebrate it because my friends and family do too. Don’t get me wrong, I generally have a good time. I enjoy spending time with friends and family, giving each other gifts, eating, drinking and just having a good time.

But in the next one hundred, or even one thousand years, how will this event be viewed?

However, I’m going to try and not come across as a grump this Xmas. Xmas and I have a lot of bad blood, and it’s hard to ignore the memories, or rather the rememberance of feelings, that past Xmas’ have brought. Most people say that I live in the past, and maybe I do, but if we don’t correct the errors of days gone by, then how will we stop them from repeating in the future?

If I don’t post again before Xmas, I hope you all have a fun and safe Xmas.

Went around to Anthony and Nicole’s last night for dinner and a catch up, and we got to try out Rock Band for the Wii.

It’s essentially a rythm game with fake instruments. They had the kit consisting of drums, a guitar and microphone - and wow. Lots of fun.

We basically just sat around playing Rock Band until four in the morning, with a movie inbetween.

I gave singing a shot, and man, was I horrible! Seriously, I was terrible. I couldn’t hit the notes that the game wanted, but it was still fun. It’d be interesting to see how I’d go with more familiar songs.

Playing the drums was really draining. Some of the beats are constantly changing pace, and it’s insane.

Good work out for the leg muscles though, haha.

I found myself more at home playing the guitar, but we were all doing the songs on easy, so I shudder to think what we would have been like on the harder difficulties.

Nicole really got into the drums, and Anthony was quite good at hitting those vocal notes.

We also watched ‘Hancock’, which at times was really amusing. All in all, it was a good popcorn movie, and atleast Will Smith didn’t suck in this movie like he did in ‘I Am Legend’.

Right now, Melbourne weather is being a bit bipolar. Cold, then hot, then cold again. Meh.

Enjoy your weekend!

Yesterday I headed off to the Old Colonial Inn to celebrate my friend, Emily’s (Em), 26th birthday.

I originally met Em and Mark through Anthony and Nicole. At the time, Em and Mark were a couple, and I got to know both of them through various outings with Anthony and Nicole. Usually for drinks and time infront of one console or another.

They turned out to be really cool people. But the world, well, it’s a very mysterious place.

You see, I met this girl, Angie, years back through a mutual friend (Jennifer). I must have been 18 at the time. I lost contact with Angie over the years, until recently.

Here’s the strange thing… Angie, Em and Mark, all know each other through Bohemian Soul! Bizarre? I think so. It’s a massive trip out.

So anyway, Em turned 26, and she invited some friends for a gathering at the Inn. We had a few drinks, chatted and listened to, what I thought, was a pretty cool band. They almost had that funk/rock sound, and a bizarre name that I probably couldn’t say if I tried.

Eventually we all moved outside because loud music isn’t conducive of (audible) chatter.

Em has some pretty cool friends, it was nice to mingle with creative types that shared interest in the arts.

Catching up with Em and Mark was awesome, I hadn’t spoken to them properly in a very long time.

So to that, I say, “Happy Birthday, Em!”

On Friday, Anthony and Nicole picked me up for our planned tree top walk. We went back to their place for dinner and a chat. Melissa, one of Nicole’s cousins was also there. We didn’t get up to much though, as we all had to be in bed early enough to get up at 5:30am the following day.

I got up surprisingly easy on Saturday morning; I’m known for being a very heavy sleeper. We had a light breakfast, then piled into the car and headed for the Great Ocean Road.

From Sunbury, the Great Ocean Road is a fair way - we must’ve spent 3 hours in the car before we reached Erskine Falls. Erskine Falls is a small waterfall an hour or so from Apollo Bay, and it’s an awesome sight.

The path to the waterfall was a rather steep descent, my legs were trembling with fatigue and I wondered how I could possibly make it back up to the car. The waterfall was definitely worth it, though. We spent a small amount of time admiring the waterfall and the rock pools before making our way up to the car.

My legs burned with effort, and my heart was pumping like you wouldn’t believe. But I made it back to the car, eventually… As I type this, the muscles in my legs are still sore.

Next stop was Apollo Bay, which would lead us to the Otway Tree Top walk further inland. We stretched our legs in Apollo Bay, had some lunch and ice cream, asked for directions, then it was back into the car for a few more hours.

Once we got to the Otway Forest, after initially missing the turn off, we were in for quite a treat. Like the Erskine Falls, there was a warning about snakes being present. You’ve got to love Australia! Where else can you find such lethal wildlife? Sharks, snakes, jellyfish, spiders and the Blue Ring octopus. I should be in tourism.

Entering the Otway Forest was surreal. There was a path to follow, yet we were surrounded by dense vegetation, it was truly unbelievable. The canopy provided a cool environment and shielded us from Saturday’s harsh sun.

Eventually we got to the metal bridges that would lead 35 metres up into the tree tops (although not above them, the trees were massive!). It was such a humbling experience being among vegetation that was older than I am, and that would easily outlive me.

The highlight of the Tree Top Walk would be the tower near the end, climbing the stairs we were 50 metres above the ground overlooking the forest. I can’t say it enough, it was spectacular.

On our way home, we went past a town called Colac, where we drove past a very distraught woman (and police) in nothing but her underwear. She was clearly hysterical. Something very terrible must have happened to that woman, but I do not know what.

Anthony had clocked up over 500km of driving in the one day. Insane.

Sore, and sleep deprived, we all made our way home. I really needed the company of my friends, and am grateful for it. The Tree Top Walk was just icing on the cake.

I had been frantically painting over the last few weeks so I could have new works to show at the Old Fire Station Cafe Gallery, in Preston. Which was the main reason for not posting.

It went well, and there was a fair amount of people there.

Anthony and Nicole came over before the opening night was to begin, but I wasn’t very talkative as I was stressing out about the Exhibition. Sorry guys! Nicole took some photos of Jazz, and the Exhibition. I’ll post some photos when I get copies.

So yes, I was stressing. I was stressing about the people that would be there, or wouldn’t be there; I was stressing about the speech; and I was just stressing in general! Haha.

Had dinner there, which I highly recommend, as the Old Fire Station’s food is quite palatable - actually, it’s damn nice. Sunk a couple of bourbons, which didn’t help the nerves at all.

Angie and Jennifer showed up not long after the night had started, which was good as I was unsure whether they would attend.

Unfortunately, Lisa and Debbie couldn’t attend. It would’ve been good to see them, as I haven’t done so in some time. But it’s understandable given that they would’ve been up to their arm pits in small children.

Eventually I started calming down, and by the time I had to give a small speech I was eager to get it over and done with.

That was such a huge weight off my shoulders - I felt so much better after the speech was done, then I started enjoying the night for what it was.

Thank you to all who showed up!

I did have some photos of my new works, but it seems that the digital camera has malfunctioned, and I can’t even access it, let alone copy files over. Ugh.

I haven’t posted in a while, so I apologise to anyone who may have missed me… *waves to the single person in the back of the crowd*

It’s been a rough few weeks.

About a month ago, I decided that it would be a good idea to stop taking some of my medication. What followed was a week of boundless energy and enthusiasm. I loved it, I felt alive!

Then I crashed.

To go from a massive peak, and then just plummet down at a near vertical drop, well… It wasn’t fun. I was a real mess, and while I’m still not all that lively, I am slowly getting there. It could’ve been a lot worse, but we all say that in hindsight, right?

So anyway… This weekend was awesome. I finally got to get out of the unit and socialise with friends! I know, it’s scary isn’t it?

I was invited to a psychic night by a friend I had not seen in ages, so I took the opportunity to go. I got to catch up with Angie, whom I last saw 8 years ago - and I got to see a psychic, which is something I have never done.

There were around 10-15 people there, one of which was Mark, a friend of Nicole and Anthony. It tripped me right out, and the night had not even begun!

I’ll spare you all from what my reading was, but it definitely left me feeling a little befuddled. To the point where at the end of the night, Mark asked me if I was okay. Haha.

I was fine, just lost in thought. Wait… Can you do that without a brain? =P

Saturday night was Anthony’s 27th birthday, so Lisa and I made our way over to Sunbury for drinks.

I wanted to get Anthony a copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I had seen Anthony looking over the game a few months back, and he seemed keen. Although my Nintendo experience pretty much ended with the SNES, I never really experienced the Smash Bros. series.

Having seen it in action, and having read reviews - it looked like a fun party game. So why not get it? Lisa and I went halves and got that for him. Hopefully he’ll enjoy it.

All in all, this was a great weekend - I finally got out and had some fun, which was something I desperately needed.

I hope your weekend was an awesome one, too.

Yesterday my mate, Anthony, picked me up to spend time with him and Nicole.

I had burned a (totally legit) copy of GTA and GTA 2 for Anthony. GTA is unplayable with XP Service Pack 3 - until it’s patched by Microsoft… *holds breath*

However, because Anthony doesn’t have SP3, it ran just fine.

We both have fond memories of the original GTA, especially of one LAN session where we spent most of the night playing it as teens, telling Adam off for continuously getting in and out of vehicles (it would cause the game to freeze up temporarily).

Anyway, we had dinner and some drinks, then put on the re-make of Dawn of the Dead.

I had been up since 6am, and after some food and drinks, I was feeling pretty groggy. And boy, is Dawn of the Dead awesome behind closed eye lids! I think I watched 15 minutes of the film before I fell asleep. Not that the movie is bad, I was just fairly out of it with sleepiness.

Now, I respond to people in my sleep, so it proved to be very amusing for everyone there, and Nicole understands why Lisa found waking me up frustrating - I say I’m getting up, but I just continue snoozing. Mind you, I don’t remember any of this.

So there I slept, on their couch until Anthony woke me at 6am so I could stagger into the spare room and sleep in a bed. A bed? What the hell is that?

I spent most of the day at their place afterwards, and apologised profusely for falling asleep like that. It was awesome catching up with them - and like the big kids that we are, we had a few games of Wii Sports and Super Mario Galaxy, which was fun.

But most of the time, we were getting our arses kicked by 11 year old Laurence.

Anthony came around today, Nicole (his wife) was throwing a clothes party, you know, like Tupperware or Avon parties. So we had a boys day, which was really good as I hadn’t seen him in a while.

I booted up Team Fortress 2, and gave Anthony a go at it - he seemed to really like it, and I don’t blame him; TF2 is addictive and fun.

We sat around a chatted, and Anthony helped me set up the gym in the spare room. Once we had disassembled it, moved it into the spare room then we found the redback spider. It’s lucky that they aren’t very aggressive (although very venomous). A blast of Mortein settled that.

I also gave the rest of the gym set a blast of Mortein in case there were more. I don’t want any surprises (aka emergency room visits) when I’m working out.

Unfortunately the day went by rather quickly - but it was still fun.

P.S. I’ve added some new paintings to the gallery, check them out and leave a comment.

I know, I’ve been slack and haven’t been updating or posting as much as I should.

But there’s not all that much to say, although the weekend was pretty awesome.

Went out to dinner at La Fontana, a posh kind of restaurant - the food was nice, especially the chicken stuffed with mozzarella and covered in polenta on risotto. As Lisa put it, we were eating at a “grown up” restaurant.

Other than that, I haven’t been up to much. Currently doing some painting (and finished one), and looking up information on government grants.

I will try and update the gallery in a few days.

P.S. Listen to Serj Tankian’s solo album, “Elect The Dead”. There are some awesome tracks on it.

Yesterday I set off to visit my friends, Bart and Colleen, to see their new born baby, Liam (and to catch up with them, of course).

I took a train into the city, then another to their place… Along the way, a woman and child hop onto the train, and sit beside me - the boy must’ve been around five, and I smiled at their conversation. The boy would ask questions, and his mum would answer in a child safe manner.

The mum was talking about the friends that would meet them at their stop, one of which was pregnant. She told the little boy that her friend had a baby in her tummy, the boy quizzically asked how she got a baby in her stomach. Apparently, they crawl into you.

I almost laughed out loud at the thought of a baby burrowing into ones stomach, like a reverse stomach-popper of the Alien Quadrilogy.

I eventually got to Bart and Colleen’s, later than I wanted to because I take ages to get ready for anything. Well, most of the time. It was really good to see the two of them, but I still can’t believe they are parents - let alone married. It was only 10 years ago when we met. Doesn’t seem like that long ago, nor does it feel like we should have grown up.

As well as meeting little Liam (such a cute baby), I also met another addition to their family, Eddie.

It was an awesome day out, thanks for having me, guys. =)