Cheryl 的个人资料I'm learning. Walk with ...照片日志列表 工具 帮助
5月20日

Louis Theroux's african hunting holiday

Here's a short intro clip from YouTube, of the 7-year-old child of the game farm proprietor shooting a warthog. Is there something obviously wrong with this clip?

A very interesting but painful documentary to watch. To see those American "hunters" talk about what a rush it was to "overcome" and "outsmart" those creatures was just sickening. Yeah..dude, we're on top of the food chain, were friggin' awesome. Right. You just paid tens of thousands of pounds so that the game farm proprietors could facilitate you putting a bullet through the animal. Little skill involved, no hunt. Exactly like how Louis described it: no more a game than is tennis without a net.

It was so disheartening, to see them posing with their "trophies", taking photos, the heads being cut off to be hung on walls. So sick. I cannot comprehend how a bloody dead carcass of an Impala can be "beautiful". No I don't see Bambi when I see these animals, but just because they do not have "human" feelings does not mean they have none at all. Humans are so self-righteous!

And yet it is paradoxical how the industry of killing these exotic animals actually keeps them from extinction and poaching. So who's to say what is right and what is wrong? Is the right end enough to justify the such means? All I know is it doesn't feel any where near right to me.

5月12日

Funniest piece of news I've read in awhile

funny not as in haha funny, but as in shake your head and ask "what's wrong with these people?".

Read about Starbucks' Slutty Mermaid Making Waves on MotherJones.com.

Hello...your mind must be really inclined toward sluttiness to find it in such an obscure place. People...stop reading too much into things. It's just a friggin' mermaid...jeez...

It is these people that give Christians a bad name.
5月10日

Responsibility

I hate responsibility. Sometimes you have to be responsible for other people, responsible for your own studies/assessments, responsible for taking care of yourself, responsible for making a future, responsible for making other people feel better, responsible for being responsible, responsible for others' irresponsibilities, responsible for whatever the hell the world wants you to be responsible for. And then sometimes you forget why you should be responsible for all these things.

It's certainly not a virtue, but it would be friggin' awesome if I didn't care about anything.

p.s. sounds depressing? Don't worry I'm responsible enough not to do stupid things. and don't ask.


omfg...I don't give a shit...I have to go to Sydney.

3月21日

Random updates

Wouldn't really call these updates in the sense that they are new, cuz they're not that new. It's just nice to type something up 'just cuz' (and not because I'm going to be marked on it) before bed.

#1 - most recent vector
Yay...finally did a vector of myself. I'm getting pretty lazy at this point. That's my learning pattern I guess. Pick up something new, get really excited and spend hours on it...then the excitement wanes and I pick something else up.

    
me in cairns 2 by ~jo666666 on deviantART

#2 - Good news - Kaki's latest album: Dreaming of Revenge
Woot! Now this is cause for celebration. I love the intricate layers of her music. This woman is a genius. GENIUS! nuff said.
    
    

#3 - Bad news - the murder of 15-year-old Lawrence King by his classmate
Actually, terrible news. This is huge. And there was no hint of it circulating anywhere in the newspapers/mags/TV, until I stumbled upon the facebook group. Awareness comes before any sort of change, so here it is on my page.
    

This video captures what hate has done to our world so far...

3月5日

1st Semester of 2008

Whoa....it's week 2 already? Unfortunately, my life does revolve around uni.
Of course I'd rather be doing something else instead of studying and working. Wish I could sit down and do vectors for hours, maybe watch a movie, read for leisure, or even travel...but time's a-wasting, have to get to work. My consolation? Deep down I'd rather be doing this than bumming around, because I'm lucky I am in uni and getting formal education. So I guess working hard and studying is not so bad at all.

This semester seems kind of full-on. Internet law seems slightly beyond my league. Real estate transactions? Boring. Theories of Law is surprisingly interesting. And Commercial law is just Commercial law. Enough bout boring uni.

Moving has been a big hassle. Especially with rental agents up your ass trying to squeeze every cent from you. Not pretty. They tried taking 1 extra day of rent from us and money for lightbulbs out of our bond! The nerve - saying we hadn't given them notice when they had already given us notice to leave. Thank God for the Residential Tenancies Association, otherwise we'd be royally screwed over. I can't imagine renting in Malaysia now that I've rented in Queensland. I wonder how real estate transactions are carried out? Apparently we never signed anything when renting back home. Like...what?? How? I wouldn't be able to comprehend it. I don't think I want to know.

And that's why Real Estate transactions is so boring. It is so detailed. The agent must do this, must attach this warning on the top of the contract...blah blah blah. I'm glad to know that if I were a purchaser of property, I'd be protected.

That's my life so far...too busy to be blogging, just studying, working, and wishing I was still on holiday scuba diving.
Hope everyone else is having a good start at uni.

1月29日

I dived the Great Barrier Reef!!!

17 - 23 January 2008
I spent 5 days and 4 nights on a swaying boat in the sea, and it was awesome! Not so much the swaying, but more the scuba diving. I've really missed the sea a lot. The diving may not have been extraordinary, but I would still rate the trip as one my most memorable experiences. We were aboard the M.V. Taka, a liveaboard able to carry 30 passengers and 12 crew members. The crew was amazingly tough and hardworking. I'd recommend this dive tour to anyone who would like a taste of the Great Barrier Reef or Coral Sea.


Besides the Great Barrier Reef, we also went further up north and out
to Osprey Reef (apparently halfway to PNG!)…very exciting. Here's a map of the journey we took (marked by white ant line). Most of the way, we were surrounded by the open sea, with no land in sight.

And of course we did spend some time in Cairns. One word: HOT. Hotter than Brisbane, hotter than Malaysia. But still, it was very pretty.

No way of covering all that happened during the trip, but here are some highlights:


Out of this world experience - Shark feed @ North Horn, Osprey Reef

This was the highlight of the trip. Simply amazing. An eye-opening experience, which gave me a newfound sense of respect for these creatures.

In hindsight, a description of the shark feed would have given me the heebie-jeebies. The sharks had not been fed for weeks (weather had not permitted the feed so far, so lucky us, the weather was good), we had to swim to the reef and hang on to a rope (before descending simultaneously while more than 40 hungry sharks circled below...talk about shark bait. Nice.

Trent (trip director) setting up the shark feed while we watch in anticipation:
 
         

The feed begins!!!
         

Scary experience - Getting up the boat after a returning from Half Way Wall, Osprey Reef

The duckboard was rising and falling with the surge about 3 feet. My mask was almost knocked off with my 1st attempt of getting on it. Very scary indeed. Finally Col (the skipper) managed to pull me (or the tank which was connected to me) on to it. Phew…

(mum actually caught some of it on video…but somehow can’t upload it)

Crazy – getting back from the reef (North Horn & Half Way Wall dives) to the boat

I thought of a name for it: “Underwater skiing”. Due to the boat being moored a fair way away from the reef, and rough weather conditions, we had to be towed to the liveboard with a speedboat. I never imagined it would feel the way it did. It was what I’d imagine being put in a washing machine to be like. Clutching onto the rope, the tiny bubbles from the outboard motor fizzing past…nuts. And we had to do it twice!

 Fun – Cod Feed @ the Cod Hole, Great Barrier Reef

To be honest, I was slightly disappointed. They looked much bigger in those Scuba mags. Maybe it’s the fisheye lenses. Nevertheless, bigger than any cod I have ever seen. Anyway, now I can say I’ve seen Potato Cod. I’ve always wanted to see them, so mission accomplished.  Like the sharks, they had not been fed in awhile. We were really lucky that weather permitted these 2 feeds, otherwise the trip would have been disappointing.

 Cod feed (Trent was feeding again):        

Cod coming in to check us out after the feed:
       

This was also my 1st time using a digital camera underwater (used to have my old film Nikonos V). It was pretty fun. I like the option of switching from pics to videos occasionally. Anyway here are a couple of vids & pics I like.

Some Barracuda and a school of Trevally circling us:
    

An inquisitive Batfish circling sis & I:
       

Cute turtle munching on soft coral:
    
Sharryn (Instructor) & Justin (videographer):
      
Underwater communication by ~jo666666 on deviantART
      
Dusky Nembrotha by ~jo666666 on deviantART
      
Sweetlips,Great Barrier Reef 2 by ~jo666666 on deviantART

Man…I miss diving already. To think I won’t be diving for at least a few more months (uni’s starting soon…*sigh). Now that my dive gear is here with me (thanks to dad for bringing it over), I might be able to squeeze in a dive trip sometime. Hopefully.





1月5日

:)

I'm in such a good mood today. Not even a psychotic neighbour shouting profanities at the top of his lungs can bring me down (seriously...he swears and yells at someone who never answers at times. Freaky...)

Anyway, it's such a jolly good day. I have a good job, it's my summer holiday (no uni for 2 months), and I'm going to pick my dad up tomorrow. Yay!

In the mean time, I've been busy.
     
Playing with pink noise by ~jo666666 on deviantART
     
Who killed Watermelon? by ~jo666666 on deviantART

Good day calls for a good song. My favourite oldies song in the world = Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch. So good. You can't not sing along with this playing.

Speaking of oldies...
I used to love watching the Archies TV show. Their 69' intro...Sugar, Sugar. Omg...flashback! I used to buy their comics too! And now I feel like making a T-shirt of them (even though I seem bent on making my own designs so far).
Haha...just found the 68' intro..."we ain't the Archies without the Jughead beat!" HAHA! Thank God for YouTube!



Random discovery #1 - I Heart Guts. You can buy a purple plush kidney. Because kidneys make you feel warm and fuzzy just like teddy bears, naturally.

Random discovery #2 - FunkRush. Another T-shirt website. The designs seem simpler as compared to DesignByHumans. I'm no expert, but t-shirts seem to work better when their prints are simple. Nonetheless, both good sites.



It's already the 5th, but I'm still gonna post this song. It's perfect to start the year.

   

"The New Year"

So this is the new year.

And i don't feel any different.

The clanking of crystal

Explosions off in the distance (in the distance).

So this is the new year

And I have no resolutions

For self assigned penance

For problems with easy solutions

So everybody put your best suit or dress on

Let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once

Lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn

As thirty dialogs bleed into one

I wish the world was flat like the old days

Then i could travel just by folding a map

No more airplanes, or speed trains, or freeways

There'd be no distance that could hold us back.

There'd be no distance that could hold us back [x2]

So this is the new year [x4]

Speaking of Death Cab, I've liked their stuff for awhile but never checked out their videos. Good but slightly disturbing video (a heart gets smashed and mutilated repeatedly). Song is called Someday you will be loved. This video has given me an idea for a T-shirt. Hope the t-shirt won't turn out to be disturbing.
   



1月1日

2008

So...2008 is here. I've always thought it was a bit silly, the excitement over the coming of a new year. It's just a date...you just change your calendar, start having to correct yourself when you keep writing 07 in all your dates for the 1st week or so...

That's just cynical. Anything new is exciting I suppose. But people tend to get all excited about the new year and what's in store, thinking up new years resolutions, and forget about what's been going on in their lives the past year. I think it's a good time to reflect. Has it been a good year for you?

Me. Some little things I can say I have experienced this year (what can I say? Every little thing counts).
  • Started playing basketball again after a half year hiatus
  • Bought a car
  • Adopted 2 very adorable rats
  • Experienced 3 different jobs (japanese curry...old files...sandwiches...)
  • Visited an exciting place - Melbourne
  • Bought paints, did some painting again
  • Learned a bit of vector art
  • Saw Tegan, Sara and Kaki King perform in the flesh (Woohoo!)
New Year's resolution - do more new stuff (whatever they may be). Not that I need a resolution to do that.


 
The quote goes "a picture speaks a thousand words" (more in my opinion), so here are Jessica's pics:

Steamboat at Rachel's, and we later braved the wind and rain to see the fireworks!

          
Windows Live Spaces
Jess took great pics. As for mine...I'm still not used to the array of controls on my camera. Take a pic, find something's dodgy, then change one setting. There are so many settings/factors that I can change, it's really hard to keep them all in mind. The solution - I have to practice more and take more pictures.

Here are a couple of personal faves of mine.
  
NYE 2008, Brisbane 4 by ~jo666666 on deviantART
  
NYE 2008, Brisbane 2 by ~jo666666 on deviantART

Pre-NYE dinner at Cafe21, pancakes at the Pancake House.

          
Windows Live Spaces

Thanks guys, had heaps of fun. Now I know where to find great pancakes at 3am :)



Kaki T-shirt's been printed. Yay!
       
Blown Away printed T-shirt by ~jo666666 on deviantART

Cutting the stencil and actually stenciling it on the shirt took ages! All worth it. It's weird how good a little T-shirt can make me feel :)




12月30日

New T-shirt design

I'm loving this. It's taking me ages and ages (so long I have lost count), but the vectors done, the stencils is done, and I hope the t-shirt is gonna be great. And now I've got my rollers, paints, fabric additive, t-shirt, newspapers spread on the floor...all I have to do is roll away and wait for the paint to dry. For a person who doesn't have much patience, waiting for paint to dry is torture. But it'll be great Open-mouthed

 
Blow me away by ~jo666666 on deviantART
12月26日

and that's a wrap

Christmas and Boxing day are over. I can now post mum's shoes online now that she's opened them.

     
Footprint shoes 1 by ~jo666666 on deviantART

Alright...now...  - my latest vectoring obsession.

Tegan of Tegan and Sara of course.
     
Tegan R. Quin by ~jo666666 on deviantART
source photo

A scene from Hard Candy.
     
Don't make Hayley mad by ~jo666666 on deviantART

Ok, so I wouldn't really consider these art, more like a grown-up digital version of tracing and colouring with Photoshop. I'll try to come up with something more original next time. Maybe a T-shirt graphic design.

Newest short-term goal in life - make a stencil and print it on T-shirts. Which brings me back to Boxing day, or more accurately Boxing day shopping. Instead of hunting for sale items, I braced the scary bargain-hungry crowds to buy foam card thingys, foam rollers and more plain tops in preparation for my impending stenciling obsession. Genius. Seriously, it's just weird. I have no buy-able needs/wants at the moment.
Wait...maybe a graphics tablet...

Here's a cool stencil design (note: which I did not do).
    
ipods killed cover art... by ~syke23 on deviantART

I'm so glad there's no uni now. It seems like during semester, I'd just be confined to my books, laptop, lecture notes, study guides...ugh... Better enjoy it while I can. Make as much stuff as possible!

And......some dude from the US wants to buy my Hands T-shirt! How exciting...

Ooo...look! Cute sleeping rat. Look at his itsy bitsy hands/paws! They look more like hands if you asked me. They're more like little people than rats :)

     
Sleeping cutie by ~jo666666 on deviantART

...which now reminds me of the little mice we saw at PetsParadise. So cute, running and climbing around. Mice are a lot more active than rats. You can tell from the amount of sleeping rat pics I have.


12月24日

It's Christmas eve!

Yeap, it's that time of the year again. We've got our Christmas tree, roast, salad, potatoes, presents...now all that's missing are 2 family members and a dog.

I'm so excited...not just because it's Christmas, but because I've finally tried my hand at vector art. Yay...! It's not great like some of the stuff you can find on DeviantART, but it's my first try and I'm proud of it. And I did it without a tablet too.

    
Guitar God by ~jo666666 on deviantART
Source photo of Kaki King

I think I spent 8 hours doing this. Approximately. 8 hours! Sounds a bit nuts when you think about it. Not 8 hours straight but still...
Nevermind...I had fun, that's all that matters.


p/s MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I hope you get the presents you wished for and not crap you'd never use/wear...haha...all in the spirit of Christmas!



12月22日

My late mouse and some Art

YouTube Videos

Gotten round to making a YouTube profile to upload those Tegan and Sara concert videos. What else better to do with it than upload some of my precious old videos as well. Just makes them more accessible to myself as well. As if I'm going to randomly dig into my old "pets" folder.  Kind of like a trip down memory lane. Haven't had a look at some of those videos in ages. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :)


my mouse 2my mouse 3

Mostly videos of my lil' ole mouse. Look at those cute little beady eyes. She was such a gem. So tiny, yet so full of life. Sad, but she died when I was in Oz and she was still back home. I feel like I missed out on half her life. I left home even before she was one year old. Actually...might be the same case with my dog. I wish she was here in Oz too :(

my dog

I'll just link the vids here from the beginning. This is the video of when she'd just been born probably 1 or 2 weeks. Very pink and very tiny. She's the one with all the spots. It was so hard to pick which ones to keep, they were all so adorable. In the end I picked her and I'm so glad I did. We had 7 babies but sold 5 to the pet shop. Sounds a bit awful but we couldn't keep them all. For the record - not for snake food. Still was a very hard thing to do.

This is just a video of what she's best at - being a silly little mouse. And this video of her getting all pissed at this ugly toy tiger trying to invade her space is my favourite of all time. She's so darn cute when she's angry. She'd probably have ripped that poor tiger to shreds if I had put it in the cage.

Also uploaded some of my ratties and one diving vid. Uhmm...reminds me of another thing I miss dreadfully - diving!


Artsy Discoveries

Discovery #1 - I found this very cool T-shirt website - www.designbyhumans.com. For all you aspiring T-shirt graphic designers out there, this is the perfect place to shine. Enter your design, and if you get enough votes from fellow T-shirt enthusiasts like yourself, you could get printed and actually pay some bills! Wow...I really should learn how to do Vector Art.

Discovery #2 - Someone recommended and lent me a copy of Frankie magazine. I'm so cheap, I'm not a magazine-buyer. That's why I get people to lend good ones to me. lol. But seriously, I think this is the 1st mag (besides National Geographic, Australasia ScubaDiver and Readers' Digest) that I think is worth buying. It's full of art, music and fashion. What could make a better mag hey?

Discovery #3 - Kaki King. OMG...I am amazed by this woman. How does she do all that? Her latest album Until We Felt Red is genius. Guitar God. Period.



New T-shirt

Ok, so I learned my lesson from trying to paint words and small figures on a ribbed shirt with acrylic. So I've got myself into this mindset - the simpler the better. So here it is. I outlined my arms on cardboard, made cut-outs, then painted over them.
       
Hands T-shirt front by ~jo666666 on deviantART
       
Hands T-shirt side by ~jo666666 on deviantART





12月21日

Great Expectations

I just read this article in Frankie magazine (issue #20 nov/dec07) called Great Expectations written by Josh Phillips. Did you know that there's less depression in war than in peacetime because in war, everyone just wants to survive? That makes perfect sense, yet it's so nonsensical. Maybe our generation is having things too good, so that more things get overlooked and under-appreciated. Who am I to say? I guess I do it all the time. We whine all the time...like "this broadband connection is fucking slow!". Yeah...like that would come out of a kids mouth ten years ago? Actually, that wasn't the point of the article.

The point of the article - our generation lives in fear of mediocrity (not economic recession or authority). Is that true? I don't know. But I think it's true in my case. Call me confident, call me presumptuous or call me an idiot in a dreamworld, but I've always believed I'd be destined for great things (cheesy as it may sound). Not great as in winning a Nobel Prize for doing whatever "great thing" that was, but just that I'd be good at something I loved and that it would be something others could appreciate. Have I found it? Nope. My confidence is waning a little. What if in the end it's all about the money? I know earning heaps of money is not going to make me happy, but I sure as hell know not having enough is going to make me unhappy. Then there's another question. How much is enough? You get more money, you buy a bigger car, then there's less of that "more money". If you had less money you'd just buy a smaller car and be reasonably satisfied with it. Does that make sense? I'm just spewing rubbish today.    

12月16日

Tegan and Sara with Kaki King @ the Tivoli

Is it possible to have the most exciting day of the year and the most disappointing day of the year be the same one? Hell yeah...the 15th of December. My emotions could be drawn in a curve that goes really high and peaks at around 8-ish to 10-ish and totally spirals a little before 12. Like wtf?? Ok...I'll just explain from the beginning.

Kaki King - opening
Apparently Tegan and Sara with "special guest" meant Tegan and Sara with Kaki King. OMG...freakin' awesome opening (also played on Knife Going In, Floorplan and Monday Monday Monday). She was so good. She totally won herself a new fan. And I loved her comment that there should be an aisle in the front for small people. Yeah...only small people get small people. She's tiny! Anything smaller than me would be tiny, and she is. How cute was the way she said "Aus-see"?

Kaki doing her one-woman-show. Covering Lovestoned. Brilliant. But kids...time to tilt your heads to the left.
    

Tegan and Sara
If I could think of all the synonyms for great, awesome, fantastic they would all fit here. I loved every moment of the show. Even neck-craning and tip-toeing fatigue couldn't bring me down. I would have killed to be a foot taller then. But I still got a pretty good view, after all we were in the 3rd or 4th row. Through out the show, their banter fodder was some ice bar called -5 or -5 degrees or something in Sydney the day before. Apparently Sara and co paid A$40 each to spend 35 mins in there, whereas Tegan thought they were all idiots. Tegan is such a cynic. -5 degrees was what they could get for free in Canada.

 

More banter - fighting over Kaki...
         
 
Playing The Con
       

Part of Back in Your Head
    

After the show
So...there are these myspace pics of fans meeting them. A fan would be completely jealous and want that too right? Naturally. Anyway, me and like 20 other fans hang around, wait for almost 2 hours for a no-show! All we got was a van driving past, with Kaki Kind taking a snap of us from inside. Oh..the irony. It's supposed to be us taking the pictures? And I don't know, they may have left immediately after the show. Aaargh...kill me now. No, actually don't, I would never ask for that. But disappointed? Totally.

Kaki was so nice she hung around the merch table for quite awhile signing CDs after the show. Such a cool Guitar God (quote Rolling Stone mag). I particularly loved her rendition of Justin Timberlake's Lovestoned. She should rub off more fan-friendliness on Tegan and Sara.

Anyway...bygones. I'll get over it.

Thanks Jess for being such a great "cameraman"! lol

      
Windows Live Spaces
But really, should have done my homework. Tegan stands on the left-hand side of the stage...duh. Anyways, that just means lots of Sara pics.







12月15日

Boys Don't Cry

Remind me not to watch another movie based on a true story. Well, not within a month at least. Not that I regret watching the movie, I'm just made very sad by it. I cannot describe the dreading feeling I get when I'm watching/reading something that I know does not have a happy ending. Sad. So sad.

Boys Don't Cry
Well yeah, it won an Academy Award in 1999. And everyone knows what happens to Brandon Teena, who gets raped and murdered. Still...the movie is about how that came about. How he lived, how he died. It's all here on Wikipedia. Hilary Swank is amazing. As she was in Million Dollar Baby. Another movie where you have to savour the blissful moments while you can, and wring your hands as you experience the harsh realities towards the end. These are movies you watch, not to have fun watching them, but to try and understand them; the lives these people had. We will never know what it was like to be 21-year-old Brandon Teena in 1993, living in  Falls City, Nebraska, but we can try.
boysdontcry
It's devastating how the intolerance of some towards others is like a disease infecting this world. If I had a machine which could brain wash people into being accepting, I would be tempted to use it. But I wouldn't, because acceptance and the evolution of societal attitudes has to come gradually. I believe people are entitled to their opinions, and it is not right to say everyone else is wrong and I am right. However one thing I can never understand is people imposing their opinions on others. As long as whoever we are and what we stand for does not impact others, does it really matter? Should other people's lives be interfered with?






12月13日

Hard Candy

WARNING - potential movie spoilers.

I just watched Hard Candy. Yeah, like I'm catching up on the movies I'd missed over time. Also, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has been lying around for ages and I haven't gotten round to seeing it. I will soon.

Anyway, Hard Candy. Not the normal movie you'd watch over a relaxing day-off. Not the easiest movie to watch (especially that particular scene).  Don't get me wrong, I meant it in a good way. Very intense movie to be exact. The pace and the mood of every scene seemed perfect. There comes a bit of moral turmoil when you are watching it. Who's the villain? Who's the good guy? (hmm...ties in with my previous post actually) But that's the beauty of it hey? That's what made this movie so insane yet so real at the same time. In any case, I found myself rooting for Hayley more often. How could this 14 year-old girl control this pedophile? Hayley seemed like such a scary psychopath, yet the character demanded respect. A mysterious character, leaving one wondering where she had come from, and what was the source of her thoughts and actions. I was so glad with the ending, finding out that she knew she had the right guy all along. Getting the wrong guy would have been a guilt nightmare.

100% - awesome movie. Almost every moment was attention-grabbing, without relying on gore or blood (which I hate). Scary, confusing, yet thought-provoking. Pedophilia - not the most popular subject matter. Banned in Malaysia...interesting. And guess what? The credits only list 5 people as the cast. Almost the whole film is Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson anyway.

216961590_d42997db86candy460



Working quite a bit the past few weeks, but I'm really glad to get my random days off. Today, instead of working, I'm just home chilling (yeah, and watching a bone-chilling movie), and painted a singlet. Just for the hell of it. Not very pretty to look at, but it's still something I guess.
      
Model singlet front by ~jo666666 on deviantART      
Model singlet rear by ~jo666666 on deviantART





12月11日

Ma vie en rose - tagline: "Sometimes you just have to be yourself"

I watched a very interesting movie yesterday - Ma Vie En Rose. I don't often watch foreign movies, and when I do it's only when 'word on the street' is that it's good (meaning internet reviews). And this was good. The idea of seeing the world through the child's (Ludovich's) eyes was so simple yet so compelling. Couldn't help myself from crying at the sad bits. How the harshness of the world's eyes can quickly make such innocence dissipate.
DVD-Cover_ma-vie-en-roserose4rose3

Are you open to new perspectives on life? I'd recommend it to anyone, just leave your judgment of 'righteousness' at the door. After all, it is a tale of a 7-year-old boy who may be a tranny. Unfortunately the real world deems this movie to be too radical - rated M in Australia and R in the US. Surprising, in the face of the innocence portrayed. Wow to the power of the herd.
 
Instead of finger pointing and telling people what is right and wrong, we should look into ourselves first. There is no straight line that divides right from wrong - life is not that simple. We just live and learn. 


Yep, am broadening my horizons. I'm normally more of a sci-fi/fantasy person, but I'm finding this 'life experiences' genre pretty good too. The last one I remember watching was Riding in Cars with Boys.  Next one I want to watch - Juno. Ellen Page, should be good.

12月5日

Honorable man in a regretable legal system

Read the news story here - CNN News - Saudi rape lawyer faces disciplinary hearing

It's a fact - our world is unfair. Oftentimes doing the right thing and taking a stand means offending others. What Abdul Rahman al-Lahem is doing now is very honorable. He shows that a person does not have to have special powers, look special or wear a special suit to be a hero. All that matters is what's on the inside; the choices we make. Whilst this highlights that there are good people in this world, I really do not know what to say about the calls for al-Lahem's beheading. When things like this occur (sadly, not infrequent enough), I feel ashamed to be called a human being. 
12月2日

Dabbling away

Here I am trying my hand at acrylic paints again. I'm not using canvas because it costs much more than paper, and so it's ok if I wreck the paper. But the paper tends to lose shape and curl up in places because of the water. Maybe I'm using too much water. Anyway here's what roughly 2.5 hours of my afternoon got me:
  
walk with me by ~jo666666 on deviantART

It's very clear that I lack technique doing this. I also don't plan ahead very well and the painting just turns out. Points to ponder before I start another painting. There are so many good artists on DeviantArt that I can only dream of becoming as good. One I particularly like is Backyard by Laurazee. It's perfect.

Can't really explain this painting. Only after finishing my painting did it remind me of Death Cab for Cutie's I Will Follow You into the Dark:

Love of mine some day you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark

No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of a spark
If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark


12月1日

West End flea market

I've always liked going to craft markets. Went with Jess to the West End Green Flea market that Nic recommended this morning. Quite interesting, as it's possible to find all sorts of stuff there. Wasn't big on buying vegetables today though. Just taking in the sights and checking out whatever things were up for sale. Also a good chance for me  to try out my new camera outdoors. Also went to the Vintage Fashion Fair which was just next door. Wouldn't really call it a fair but a bunch of stuff on display for sale in a small room! And ripping us off 5 bucks for entry. Just expected it to have more stuff. Anyway...

Oddly enough, I got the feeling that people would make the most interesting subjects for me. And I say oddly because I'm pretty much the last person you would hear say "I like people". I guess photographing people and liking people in general are 2 different things.

Here's a couple of photos I took. Edited them and posted in my DeviantArt gallery. The rest I'll just put in the album above. I'm as amateur as amateur gets...so I hope I can get better with practice.
    
just shoot me by ~jo666666 on deviantART    
Skirt, anyone? by ~jo666666 on deviantART    
into the mirror by ~jo666666 on deviantART

And here's Jess's pics:

 
Windows Live Spaces 

My free day of the week has just went by with the blink of an eye. sigh*

Oh yeah...and results just came out like 2 hours ago?! damn...a little disappointed with a shitty unit. But...bygones. I'm just glad I don't have to go through it again. Goodbye and good riddance, Australian Federal Constitutional Law!

Also...I seem to have acquired myself another job. Did I mention? I absolutely hate data entry because it seems like the most boring job in the world. It probably isn't but it sure as hell feels like it. And that was only casual. Hating your full time job must suck. I hope that never happens to me. And new job? Pretty good I think. Not as bloody busy like Hanaichi, and it's way closer to home. Gotta love that. Public transport's a bitch.