Daniel85

Remember before the Internet, when you had to do your shitty little primary school assignment research with Encarta? And then you’d just end up watching an excerpt from Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, or listening to about 5 seconds of “Take The A-Train”?

Yeah, this entry’s goin’ nowhere.

Anyone read any good books lately? Books? The rectangular things, with printed matter inside? Books?

I highly recommend The Architectural Uncanny: Essays in the Modern Unhomely by Anthony Vidler. If you’re like me, and urban spaces make you feel nervous and ill, this book’s for you. We should all live in caves, I say. Plato’s Caves.

I think I should shut this blog down. Show of hands?

The Gremlins are back in this commercial for British telco BT. 

We may not get a Gremlins 3 (and I’m not sure I’d want one), but it’s nice to see the little buggers running rampant again in some form.

Also interesting is this short behind-the-scenes video on the commercial: http://youtube.com/watch?v=PCTlDj0f6go. That’s some classic movie magic going on right there. Lovely to see. Too bad the advent of CG had to go and fuck up puppeteering in film as well as supplant traditional animation.

I’m forcing myself to blog, even though I really have nothing of interest to write. So I will provide you with an account of two things I like, and two things I don’t like. I hope you enjoy them.

Two things I don’t like:

- Scalpel jockeys/number crunchers/ambulance chasers who decide to take a Cinema class cos they think it’ll be a lark. Although I do like it when they can’t deal with the waves upon waves of obscure theory that comes to bear on Cinema Studies. Kind of a drag that classes get dumbed down because the day trippers know shit all, though.

- Endless rehashes of public domain fantasy properties (Oz, Wonderland, etc). P.S. Look out for my new series, “Moonface Chronicles”, based on the straight-up coolest character from Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree series. Coming Summer ‘09 from Image Comics!*

Two things I like:

- When you try to make conversation with little kids and they just stare at you blankly, offering no response whatsoever.

- I actually can’t think of a second thing I like. I kind of like Lemon Chicken. Anyone had any good Lemon Chicken lately?

* Kidding, obviously. Although I would love to totally be a hypocrite and write a new Faraway Tree series.

DRIFTWOOD SAX!

Sorry I haven’t posted at all since I left. Laura’s mom passed away the day after I got to Seattle, so things have been pretty chaotic and unsettled here for the past few weeks.

I can’t believe the timing… I got into SeaTac airport on the afternoon of the 9th, and went straight to the hospital with Laura and her dad. It was scary and shocking to see Cheryl lying unresponsive on a hospital bed, considering the last time I’d seen her, just two months ago, she was still active.

We spent a few hours at the hospital that night, then went home. Laura’s uncle Mark stayed all night. The next morning Laura and I just stayed at home, spending some time together, but we got a call from Mark saying we should probably get ourselves to the hospital. We went straight away. Things seemed pretty stable when we got there. There was a bunch of people in Cheryl’s room, telling stories and reminiscing. It was very calm and peaceful. A couple of hours later, surrounded by a cluster of friends and family, she passed away with a gasp. It was the first time I’ve ever seen someone die, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

Laura’s coping pretty well. I’m trying to help as much as I can. It’s hard to see someone you love going through something like this and not be able to make everything better. It hurts. I think we’re both doing okay, though. We’re trying to keep things normal, trying to keep busy. We saw Spamalot last week (it’s great, by the way- you guys should see it when it comes to Melbourne), and we’re going to to see Into The Woods on Halloween (my first Sondheim show! Joy!) It’s pretty crazy to see a proper American Halloween. Lots and lots of candy and pumpkins. We’re gonna dress up as a 50s couple. I’ll be sure to post pics. We’re also pretty excited for Jersey Boys, which is coming to Seattle in December.

My flights went fine. I definitely prefer the straight jaunt to LA, followed by a domestic flight to Seattle (which only takes about 2 hours) to the two 10-hour hops that I did last time, lilypadding Tokyo. It was nice to go through Customs and Immigration in LA so that I could step right off the plane and see Laura when I got to Seattle.

Oh, oh, I also ran into a bunch of Cats players at Tullamarine. It was awesome. I was waiting in line at Passport Control, bored and restless, and my wandering eyes alit on the fiery tresses of Cameron Ling. It took me a couple of minutes to work up the courage to say g’day, but I eventually did, telling him how I’ve been a Cats fan since I was a kid, and how much the win meant to me and my family (I could’ve also said that the Cats’ success this year has provided me with more of a relationship with my stepdad than I’ve had in years, but I refrained). Ling was friendly and easy to talk to, despite the fact that I was bugging him on his holiday. He ended up at the Passport Control booth next to mine, and I heard the officer say ‘Oh, athlete? What sport do you play?’ He’s the vice captain of the premiership team, and we’re in Melbourne. Ignorance.

It didn’t occur to me that it was end-of-season trip time until later on, when milling about the gates I saw a cavalcade of Cats. Kelly, Stokesey, Nablett, “Bloody” Byrnes, Mark Blake, Selwood, Tenace, Corey Enright, and Matty Egan (hobbling terribly). I felt like a little kid at VicKick Pie Night.

Well, I’m off to the States again tomorrow. I’ll be gone til February. I’ll try to be less sporadic with blog entries this time.

Also, please watch this.

And you thought it couldn’t get any weirder than David Byrne…

Just thought I’d post something to justify still keeping the blog. (Jules- please don’t hurt me for my injudicious use of the word ‘just’. I know you hate that.)

I’m back at uni now, which is always a joy. I’m only doing two subjects this semester- Scandal, Sex, and Sentiment - A History of the 18th Century English Novel, and Film Noir: Style and History. So far SSS has been heavy on the sentiment and lacking on the scandal and sex, but I think we get to that a bit later. Looking forward to it. Noir is fun and engaging, as usual for a cinema subject. I wish I could major in Cinema, but pragmatically it makes no sense. If I’m going to turn this Arts degree into anything useful, I’m gonna have to major in English and then head into something more vocationally sound postgrad. Either teaching or publishing, I’m thinking.

I turned 22 on Wednesday. That number is a little frightening. At 21 I could still make believe I was a teenager. 18-21, it’s all the same thing, right? 20 and 21 are essentially part of your teen years. (For our generation, anyway.) But 22 is definitely solid Twenties.

I was hit pretty hard by the news of Mrs. Frisch’s death. (For those who didn’t go to school with me, she was an English teacher at Geelong High.) Frischy taught me English in Year 10, and Literature for both years of my VCE.

I always valued my English teachers more than any others, because my interests fell firmly in that sphere even from the start of high school. My three favourite teachers were the enigmatic Mr Merlo, Mr Harris, and Mrs Frisch (Mr Kaberry gets a special mention for being such an endless source of amusement). All English teachers.

One event that comes to mind whenever I think about Mrs Frisch is from Parent-Teacher Night after first term in Year 10. She actually told my mum she thought I was ‘thick as pig shit’ until she read my classwork, because I was so quiet and unresponsive in class. I love how she didn’t mince words. Classic Frischy.

I’m not the kind of person who stays in contact with teachers after high school. Actually, I’m not the kind of person who stays in contact with anyone after anything. I wish I were in this case. Frischy was such a big part of my life for three years, three very important, formative years. And then I never saw her again. I wonder if she’d even have remembered me if we’d met a year or two after high school. I met a teacher who I’d had for two years in primary school once during high school, and she had no recollection of me whatsoever. It was awkward and depressing.

It’s odd how people can be so much a part of your life, influencing it immeasurably, and then just disappear when the circumstances that brought you together change. I’ve never kept in touch with teachers, with bosses, with coworkers… I barely even keep in touch with friends. I think it’s mostly because I’m so reticent and private that even when I am in daily contact with people I don’t really connect with them, so there’s little point keeping such a tenuous relationship going after the exigencies of our acquaintance end. It’s my loss, really, and something I’m going to have to work on if I want to stop feeling so disconnected and alienated all the time.

Wow, I didn’t realise this simple update post was going to turn into such a sullen self-analysis. I feel like I should end on something positive, so here’s a picture of me with my wonderful girlfriend Laura:

That was taken before we went out to karaoke with some of her friends. Something I never imagined I’d do, and definitely something I never thought I’d enjoy. Love does strange things to people… including making them sing and dance Justin Timberlake. I’d write a sonnet about it, but I can’t think of a rhyme for ‘Timberlake’ for the couplet.

Yo.

 I figured I should probably post something seeing as I’ve been gone for a month now.

Things have been going pretty well. It’s been great spending time with Laura, getting to know her family, absorbing the culture (and by that I mean absorbing the fat in all the fast food). I think I’ve eaten more fast food in a month than in my entire 21 years in Australia. When I get back we’re not having a welcome home party; we’re having a weigh-in. Get your bets in to my mum before August 3rd!

Aside from that, I’ve done most of the other quintessential American things. Went to a baseball game, shopped at Walmart, ate some pumpkin pie… even got stared down by some ghetto youth.

Laura and me at Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners.

There’s been a lot of those “You know you’re in America when…” moments. For instance, last week a bank just a block away (visible from the window of Laura’s apartment) was robbed, and the robber was shot dead in a nearby alley.

My first ‘hit’ of Lucky Charms. That shit is like crack, seriously.

I’ve managed to try a whole bunch of junk food that I’ve been waiting my entire life to sample. (I’m a sad, strange little man.) We went on a Safeway run and came back with like $200 worth of cereal, candy, and other random stuff. It was like something from Heavyweights or Richie Rich. Good times.

Oh, and in addition to weight gain, my accent has supposedly changed somewhat, according to three separate members of my family. Mum said it’s especially obvious on words like ‘No’ and ‘Yeah’. I guess they’re more susceptible to changing seeing as they end in vowel sounds. Oh well, you can all give me crap about it when I get back.

Overlooking the Seattle skyline. I’ve still yet to go up the Space Needle, but I’m hoping to get up there soon.

Anyway, just thought I’d post a little update for anyone who might check the blog. I’ll be back in Geelong on August 3rd, just in time for the Cats’ glorious run to the finals (someone seriously needs to make a video montage set to that Gary Glitter song from Happy Gilmore).

See ya.

Trip’s all booked and stuff. I’m leaving on Thursday June 7th, staying one night in Tokyo, and continuing on to arrive in Seattle at 0845 Friday morning. The Tokyo thing was unexpected, but that’s what you get when you leave your travel plans to the last minute. Kinda handy to have a girlfriend who speaks Japanese in these situations.

Here’s some high-quality cartography detailing the journey:

I’m really looking forward to this. I’ll be sure to post tonnes/tons of photos of me and Laura when I get back (August 1st), or maybe even during the trip.

Yay!

This happened a couple of weeks ago, but I just found the picture and wanted to share it.

So yeah, this creepy praying mantis came in through the door to our backyard, and proceeded to attack my mum (who was sitting at the computer) and basically jump around the place.

I managed to snap this picture when the critter was momentarily entranced by the power of Streisand on the bookshelf. Ugh, look at all that chicklit. Makes me sick. It’s not even the good kind of chicklit, you know, like Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff fuckin’ rules.

Unfortunately there were no Pan’s Labyrinth shenanigans. I was kinda hoping the mantis would transform into a fairy and lead me down the garden path into a world of fauns and sprites and shit. But nah, we just killed it.

Anyway, speaking of fairytales, check out this vid of Neil Gaiman doing a reading of his poem, “Instructions”. I had a dream the other night that Neil Gaiman came in for dinner at the club, and I got one of the waitresses to ask if he’d entertain an audience with a humble kitchenboy. He said ‘yeah, send the geezer over’ (or some such), so I went to his table and gushed about how much I love his work, how he’s my hero and a big influence and all that. Yeah, that was gay, sorry. Enjoy the vid.

Note: we didn’t actually kill the bug. Just caught it with a clothespeg and pulled its appendages off, teach the fucker for invading our home.