Showy Sunday

Ho hum.

It's only 11:15pm and I'm feeling quite tired. I think it's from a lack of sleep and having to wake early for church this morning but I'm glad I had the willpower to do it in such adverse conditions (late Saturday night and rainy, cold Sunday). I guess a bit of my motivation came from listening to Uncle Isaac at the cell leader's meeting on Wednesday night and a message I got from preparing for my bible study on Friday, Luke 10:2 The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. I guess this helped me realise that my presence at church, especially as a cell leader definitely sets an example for the younger youth.

So, got home from seeing Danny Bhoy not long ago and thought he was pretty good. I really enjoyed how he incorporated a lot of Aussie impersonations coz that really got the crowd on the same level, and he does a pretty good blokey accent too!

I'm looking forward to Jimeoin next Saturday with the Uni peoples coz he's one of my favourites, while reluctantly deciding not to go to Lano and Woodley next week because I'm really busy...yes even if it's their last ever performance!

I've also got the heads up on Arj Barker, Akmal Saleh and co. at La Trobe Uni doing a Comedy Gala on Tuesday night (for only $10!) but also decided against it since I have a graduate interview on Wednesday morning. Booooo!

Anyway, quite chuffed about not having work or uni tomorrow. After the show tonight, standing in the cold Melbourne weather outside the Atheneum, all talk centred around "Oh we've got work tomorrow so we'd better head off" and while disappointed everyone had to go home to sleep instead of doing a night cap, I was thankful I had none of the above reporting to do tomorrow. As a result, I'm downloading the latest OC and Smallville episodes, gonna have a shower, then finish off Breakfast at Tiffany's which has predictably surprised (now there's an contradiction) me in a pleasant way. I had some preconceived notions about how it would look and what type of movie it would be, but also predicted that it would not be what I thought it would be like, and hence, predictably surprise me. I've quite enjoyed the Holly Golightly character, although I must say that I can't be too impressed, as iconic as Audrey Hepburn is, with some of her acting. But I can appreciate how beautiful she is; lithe figure, with those big eyes, apparent cheekbones and thin neck - which can't go wrong in Hollywood.

So as I was saying, I'm off to clean up and finish another week with a classic film. Hope this week is as good to you guys as I hope it is for me!

Sick and Tired

I really shouldn't be blogging.

I have class at 3:15pm and before going in, I have to return a book on Casablanca I used for my assignment to the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) library down on St Kilda Road. And it'll take agesss finding a 4hr or a day park at Melb Uni after that. Hmm...

I wanted to watch one of the DVDs I bought on Monday but I spent the last hour playing with KJ instead and giving him his new toy (a red Kong to replace the black one he lost last year) I bought from Olinda yesterday. I'm torn between Breakfast at Tiffany's or Casablanca. I opted out of Snatch since I saw that recently and the last of the four DVDs I bought, A Life Less Ordinary, I saw on Monday night at Anna's with Vanessa and Vic. Hey they both start with V...haha Channel V Squared!

Anyway, I don't really have much else to say, thought it was about time I posted again, I've been a bit tardy recently. I don't think I've given very much for you guys to feast on. I think that's a result of being super busy with work, Uni, grad applications and being sick! All this is taking a lot of out me, but I guess I'm doing stuff and being productive.

This week's lecture topic is Early Film Movements & Key European Movements and today's screening will be a 1929 movie Un Chien Andalou and Belle de Jour (1967) which should be interesting. I haven't done the readings so I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I think the idea is to introduce topics like experimental/avant-garde roots of cinema and surrealist films which doesn't sound too bad. I guess it depends what they mean by artistic.

I'm now in two minds about going into Uni bummy or "smart-cas" since it's Vic's graduation tonight and I'll be around because of class. I remember for Anna's graduation, I didn't wear a tie and everyone else did...which annoyed the hell out of me! I had the damn tie in the car! Arrrggghhh!!! I also have a cell leader meeting tonight straight after Uni so I guess something comfortable is on the cards. Is it weird I'm thinking about my attire? Isn't it a girly thing to worry about? Or is it normal these days given the changing gender dynamics? Or could it even be reasonable to want to present myself smartly? Eh...I'm still sick so I'll wear something warm, including something collared and the customary jeans. *Sigh* The show must go on...

Rockstars

Okay! So I've managed to find a site where I can upload videos!

A lot of people have been asking me to upload the Easter video I made for Youth Group but at the moment, it's still about 250mb. In the meantime, I've found the first video I did with Dave last year. It's a short 30 second self-made clip of Get Free by The Vines.

Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpHdcHMJZxY

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this temporary clip.

Great Friday

Wow!

What a week it has been. Just like in that Foo Fighters song, "It's times like these, you learn to live again".

Scored a grad job, albeit in another country, but still at a Big 4. But at least I've got something! Right?

And last night the YG Good Friday Singing + Sharing night was awesome! Great to see heaps of people get out there and share, using their talents. Also surprised by the overwhelming reception of the video our cell group made. Cool...cool, cool!

Going to Sorrento this Sunday, I really love getaways! And Sorrento is close to my heart, that unforgettable summer/New Year's with my Xavier buddies. Haha, dodgy and derro yes, but I wasn't involved in any shenanigans...I was just a cheering spectator. The place of my infamous "Beer for Breakfast" stories haha white people are hilarious!

Anyway, I'm off to do what I do. Have a great weekend everyone! I know I will!

Love yousseee!

Happy Birthday Mandy Moore!

Mandy turns 22 today!

Rooted

fully dodge...

sitting here at 10:45am at work blogging, instead of processing some contractor invoices on MYOB.

This morning I woke up so damn bleary eyed and took a really long, hot shower to wake myself up after 4 hours sleep. I went to mel’s bday bash at Red Box karaoke in glenny and that was fun, haven’t karaoked in a while. Although I must say the MHS/Melb Uni karaoke sessions are way more…shall we say, uninhibited. Haha probably due to the copious amounts of alcohol consumed!

My eyes are really dry now as well, since stupid me, I left my glasses in mum’s car from soccer last night and I had to wear contacts today. Couple that with the fact that I’m done over from last night, and the heaters in the office are turned up and well, I’m rooted.

I’m so damn hungry as well. Yesterday I had a really light lunch after work to accommodate for the excessive slushing around in my stomach during soccer matches. This also meant I skipped dinner and decided to grab something on the way to mel’s after soccer but that didn’t eventuate. Furthermore, this morning, since I took a long shower, I sacrificed my breakfast eating time. Which means that in the last 24 hours, I’ve had 1.5 meals. Far out…well I guess it could be a blessing in disguise, since i'm trying to lose my love handles. More so for tomorrow and monday when i'm kitted up in a shirt, tie and suit because i have a wedding and a job interview to attend respectively.

Thought I’d also give a plug (albeit an old, old one – 10 years?) to the Prodigy album, The Fat of The Land. Decided I needed some good music to get me pumped up for last night’s soccer game and boy that CD hit the spot! After soccer while driving to mel’s with vic and peter accompanying me, I decided for a more mellow approach and came up with none other than the BJ, billy joel himself. Such a contrast! Haha…

Oh, and I just got a free Dell bubblejet printer from work. We don’t need one here since we’ve got laser ones, and no one else wanted it. AIGHT...? Haha sweet. That’s a black IBM monitor and now a printer. Hmm can’t wait till they decide we don’t need a whole computer and pass that off to me, it’s only a matter of time now…

The Classic 50s Melodrama

Was watching House on Channel 10 tonight and saw this really clever Honda ad - the one where they're advertising the Jazz and it's all set up like a Thomas the Tank Engine episode. Tried to google it but didn't get any relevant hits. But def check it out if any of youse get the time to.

I think today at Uni, even though I'm pretty attentive usually, I actually thought more in depth about the aspects of cinema than I have any other week. This week's topic was mise en scene and the screening was Imitation of Life (1959) directed by Douglas Sirk. Lana Turner as the lead was wonderful and of course, Juanita Moore as the warm, "coloured" maid Annie was excellent. I wasn't sure exactly when Hollywood became comfortable with African Americans in their movies, so I'm guessing it was before 1959. So I learnt heaps about the classical Hollywood melodrama, including their taste for exaggeration. Some parts were just so over the top people laughed, like a bit where Turner's character, Lora, is talking to her daughter and says "Oh I'll just give him up" with the whole wrist to the forehead, closed eyes and head tilted back look. Haha far out.

During the tute, the presentation was based around Once Were Warriors which has highly stylised mise en scene since heaps of things are red in the movie, symbolic of violence or bloodshed. Didn't really matter too much because only the girl who was presenting and our fill in tutor (who's also the lecturer since our male tutor is away for a few weeks having surgery) had seen the movie. Also realised that I am the only male in the tutorial often since one guy has only shown up for the first tute (he may have transferred into another tute) and the dude who is doing the presentation in the last week on Taxi Driver, same as myself, hardly ever comes to class. It's really weird. Sometimes I'm thinking, am I doing the wrong subject? Am I the wrong sexual orientation? Hehe...yes, cheeky me.

Anyway, picked up a few movies I wanna get my hands on namely - Far From Heaven (2002) with Julianne Moore which is a contemporary remake of another Douglas Sirk 50s classic melodrama (All That Heaven Allows, 1955). Also recommended by our lecturer was Velvet Goldmine (1998). I was thinking, "Yeah, maybe I'll try to see that." Then she said "Ewan McGregor is really good in it," and that was the clincher. My favourite two actors if you guys don't already know, are Ewan McGregor and Harrison Ford. It seems that I love every movie they both star in. And most Samuel L. Jackson flicks as well. He's so damn cool. Jules in Pulp Fiction? Nuff said.

Too Busy To FCUK

Never did buy that t-shirt.

But yes, as the title also alludes to, I am, surprise, surprise pretty busy. So this post is gonna be a short one. Wait why am I even posting then? Aw come on guys, you know the answer to that - coz I love youse all too much!

I'm not sure when I had to fear television, it kinda crept up on me. It's astounding that nowadays there are so many damn shows to watch that you could seriously sit down and watch all of them non-stop! The question I put to you all is, has television show quality gotten better?

I've begun on House when most people have finished the first season and onto the second already, and still keeping up with The OC and Smallville only. I'm not even going to think about beginning other series' strongly recommended by others including 24, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Family Guy, America's Next Top Model and One Tree Hill. Seriously, where do you guys find the time to watch them all?

Aside from the immediate pain of beginning and finishing my essay due on Wednesday, I need to squeeze in heaps of graduate job applications in between work and uni. Hmm also need to figure out what songs I'm going to lead on Good Friday. Yikes!

Anyway, I have to head in to Uni now to do some research at the library. Damn these arts subjects which require hard copy books and not just online "Google" searches.