Thought-Theatre: Pure West

So here's a bunch of words that go together to make a vague paragraph.

Me and my family were at the house of another family for possibly some kind of dinner/BBQ. It was dusk, a tad chilly, and there were a few clouds in the sky. I have no idea who these people were, and I never saw them again after this. Being the awesome 5 year old I was, I wore my Batman costume there (which was really just a crappy felt thing with floppy bat-horns and a cool cape). One of the boys there (I believe there were 3, excluding me and Matt) wanted me to play army men with him, and he had a toy gun and I think I had nothing, but he put a jumper around his neck to be like a cape to match mine. Mine was of course better, but he was awesome for doing it!

And that's everything I remember about that.

Thought-Theatre: The Ghost

This is sort of not an IRL memory, but a dream/nightmare I had that I remember rather clearly (well, kind of).

So my mum, my dad, my brother, and I were at a beach that I'm sure doesn't exist. And it was night time - leading more towards midnight or something. A lot of people were also at the beach. We were all just there for fun, and my family was building a sandcastle. The whole location was pretty illuminated by the moonlight, but as we were building the sandcastle other people started screaming in fear. I looked up to the sky and where the moon should have been was the image of a swirling ghost. It wasn't moving, just sitting there looking freaky with an evil smile. I remember mum getting up and telling us that we needed to go quickly, and everyone was running towards the carpark to leave. Oh, there was also a lot of stars in the sky.

I have never forgotten that.

Thought-Theatre: Once a Champion, Always a Champion

Back in the day I used to go to Primary School. The first primary school I went to in fact was Illawarra Primary School in Blackmans Bay when I was 5. To get to that school I had to catch a bus, and as I mentioned in my last post on here our bus stop was under a pine-needle tree where we would line up our bags and play handball on the footpath.

I don't remember playing handball a lot, though, as I always felt intimidated by the bigger kids, and every time I did play I lost. However, there was this one time where I was in kings (second from ace) - by default of course - and I was versing my brother's friend Isaac (who went to a different school). We were having a rally, and I bet if I saw the game now it would have been a pretty pathetic rally, but it was intense for me. I think you can already guess what went down, but in the end the ball started getting lower and I scundered him somehow, and moved up to ace! When it happened, the people watching did their "oooooh!" of disgression and semi-cheered for me. Made me feel pretty damn good about myself.

And that skill has transferred to the current day, as you all know that I own everyone in handball. :-D

Thought-Theatre: School Bus Ride

So it was sometime during either 2000 or 2001 - I don’t remember exactly. It was another school day, and a bunch of kids around my brother’s age (at the time, which was about 11 or 12), my brother, and I were gathered around the tree where we would line up our bags and wait for the bus. The line of bags was one of those ‘food chain’ things, where the closer you were to the front of the line the better you were; despite the fact we would all get on the bus with plenty of room to spare (we were the first stop). While we waited, we would usually play handball on the footpath. But this time when the bus turned up, we had a different bus driver. I don’t remember what he looked like, but I do think he had a grey beard/hair and possibly glasses. Much like the kids we were, this was an exciting new experience! So, we got on the bus with joy that day.

Now, like all new bus drivers, they have no idea where they are going. So, it was one of those things where the bus driver would ask the kids for directions to the other stops before school. There was this one kid who was on the bus who I knew fairly well - and by that I mean I had seen him on the bus for pretty much my whole school bus career. Anyway, I can’t remember his name or his appearance, but I think he was fairly olive-skinned and his hair was short and dark. He was one of the ‘clowns’ of the bus. I remember when we came to an intersection he said “You just keep going through here.”, then a car came and of course we had to give-way, but then he made the whole bus laugh by saying “Don’t worry about that car, just go straight through.”

Up ahead of that intersection was the stop of some weird anti-social kid who looked like he didn’t have any friends except for the members of the AV club. It’s pretty mean, but he didn’t reply to us when we tried to talk to him.

The only thing I remember of the rest of that bus trip was when that olive-skinned kid gave up and so I got to get int he front seat (another simple joy!) and tell him where to go. The rest is a bit of a blur.

I wonder if my brother remembers this as good as I do..?

Thought-Theatre: Little Athletics

This one (and the very next one) are entries I had on my Tumblr page originally, that I thought I'd bring over here.

Thought I’d do something a little different this time. I’m going to start something called ‘thought-theatre’, which is where I’ll recount a memory of my childhood. I figured it was a little more interesting than what I didn’t learn in history class.

So, back when I was about 5 or 6 I used to do little athletics. I think I only did it because my brother did. Oddly enough, the only thing I remember doing was races - and sometimes races with those tiny little hurdles anyone could easily step over. Probably the best memory I have of little athletics was when I would always finish last out of 5 people. I didn’t care though, because I was having fun (well, at least I think I was). However, there was one day where we all lined up for the beginning of the race, and when the gun went off I ran as fast as I could. I finished 4th instead of 5th for once! I don’t remember who I beat, but all I know is I was super excited to show mum the little metal plate that said ‘4’ on it.

One last thing I remember of it was there was this red-headed kid (and I think he had curls) and he would always get those 5-coloured python lollies from the canteen. I remember one night we did it, I wanted one too, so I got one! I think that day we did discus.

That’s pretty much all I remember about my little athletics career.

Thought-Theatre: Sky Alight

I thought I already wrote about this one, but apparently not.

There used to be (well, I guess it still exists) a street behind our house, which I believe was the main road of Huntingfield, the suburb-place I used to live. One afternoon, mum and I were walking down that street. Not sure why. We were about 50m past the giant Vodafone call centre, just about to turn into the housing area where Liam lived, when I looked up to the sky and saw that it was an orange tinge and the clouds were pink - if you don't think this is possible, bam. I remember asking mum what that meant, and she said "It means it's going to be a good day tomorrow." And to this day I still think that every time I see the sky like that.

This is probably one of my favourite memories evar.

Thought-Theatre: Liam

So, I used to have this friend called Liam. He was a blonde, chubby kid with glasses that everyone picked on and called "Four-Eyes". I must have been one of his only friends. I'm now going to type words about everything I remember about this kid. These are in no order, by the way.

He used to live a couple of blocks away from me with his mum and little brother (about 3 years younger than him) down near an area where they were building new houses.

I used to go over to his house uninvited sometimes to hang out with him on weekends, and his mum would always make us ham and cheese toasted sandwiches. One time Liam's little brother didn't want to eat his crusts, and it was either me or his mum that told him they will make your hair curly - I then felt the back of my hair and it was starting to curl over the little velcro part of my Pokemon cap.

One time I went over to his house and no one answered the door. I then saw his mum coming back home with the little brother in a pram, and I asked where Liam was. She told me he should be inside, but when no one was there we got worried and went looking for him in the bushland behind a huge Vodafone call centre. He wasn't there, but when we went back to the house we was standing at the front door in his gumboots, soaking wet from the waist down and crying. He told us that the big kids told him to jump into the pond (most likely so he could get on their good side).

He was on my school bus one morning and I was sitting next to him. Near the end of the bus trip (literally about 30 seconds from the school), my brother and his friends started teasing him and calling him names. Being the huge prick that I am, I joined in and I remember saying "Yeah, four-eyes!" - *feels bad*

One afternoon I was at his house under a tarp which also had a kiddie pool under it. We were looking at all of the Pokemon things that his grandparents got for him while they were somewhere. I don't remember what I traded with him, but I got his Pokemon textas and a Staryu figure (one I always wanted), and I remember trying to rip the little blue stand it was on because it looked stupid, but then Liam took it off me and said "No, don't do that, it's a surfboard!" and gave it back to me. When I got home I asked dad to cut it off. Mission: accomplished.

One night I got out of the shower (nothing sexy coming up) and mum called me into the lounge room. I told her I'd be right there. As I walked out of the bathroom across to mum's room with a towel around my dangley bits (no idea why I went to mum's room) the corner of my eye caught Liam and his mum and little brother there waiting for me. Shocked and confused, I walked out (dressed) and they confronted me about making fun of him. I denied everything, despite being guilty of being an utter prick to him and I think he started crying.

There used to be a fruit and vege shop connected to a small deli (which has now probably been demolished for that new shopping mall they built a couple of years ago) and I saw him in there once. I don't remember who was hanging off one of those rides you put $1 in and they start rocking back and forth (I think it was him), and he said hey to me while I was chewing strawberry Hubba Bubba. It was pretty awkward.

I have no idea what these figures were called, but they might have been by Fisher Price or Playskool. Either way, we were playing with his fireman and policeman (maybe) figures of that line, and I asked to borrow them, which was successful, because they reminded me of Mario and Luigi and I wanted to pretend they were while playing with them at home - shut up. And yes, I gave them back (you presumptuous bastards).

I once brought over my (well, Matt's) VHS of The Little Engine That Could and we watched it. I then think I left it at his house. I never saw it again.

I once watched the start of the real life Mario and Luigi movie at his house. It was so boring I had to pretend I had to be back at a certain time (coincidentally the current time). He also tried to feed me the lie that the Mario Bros.' last name was "Mario", making their names Mario Mario and Luigi Mario. A very small part of me believed it. Sadly.

Recently (and by recently I mean back then) I was playing one of the Donkey Kong games for the SNES we borrowed from my brother's friend Andrew an awful lot, and I remember wanting to go outside in my cheap Batman costume and pretend to swim through green water/acid. He showed up, and I made him play with me.

And that's pretty much everything I can remember about him. If I think of more, I shall add them. kthxbai.

Thought-Theatre: Thug Lovin'

Very short one here. I was 6 or 7 (leaning more towards 7) and a few of my friends at school were collecting AFL trading cards, so naturally I wanted to start collecting some too, and I actually rather enjoyed them. I remember the first pack I ever bought was from Chickenfeed (a Tasmanian Go-Lo type shop) and I think I got average pulls. I was standing out the front of the shop looking at them when one of the big high school boys on my bus came up to me and asked if I pulled a gold one. Proudly, I showed him a silver foil one (you know, the ones you get in every pack) and he just said "Oh" and walked off. I was pretty flattered that he talked to me (in a completely heterosexual way).

Later that year I also remember stealing a gold foil one from one of the twins in my class. It was my first ever gold foil card. And I promise I didn't steal anything else ever. Don't judge me.

Thought-Theatre: Elite Encounter

This is one of my favourites actually, mainly because it's one of the only times I clearly remember me and my brother bonding by will. Gather 'round my friends, and I shall tell you a tale.

Fairly sure it was early 2001, which would make me 7 (6 if it was before my birthday), and mum and I were grocery shopping at Purity (now Woolworths), like we did every Saturday. We were just about at the end of journey, when as we were walking down the first aisle of the refrigerated goods (I remember the frozen yoghurt was in a freezer to my right as we were heading towards the registers) mum got a phone call from Matt. Like any mum, she sounded worried and had that "what's wrong" tone to her voice. Seconds after answering, she let out a surprised "Oh, okay." and handed me the mobile. He had called to tell me that he had beaten Giovani on Pokemon Stadium and that a new castle appeared (Elite Four). I was extremely excited! Mainly because we had spent eons of time trying to beat Giovani, and we had no idea what that castle could have been (at this stage I didn't have the Gameboy games so I couldn't guess that it was the Elite Four).

I gave the phone back to mum and told her all about it, even though I knew she had no idea what the hell I was on about. I ordered her to speed up this shopping abomination and speed home so I could see what Matt was telling me about. And then the memory goes blank there.

It's weird, I remember where we were in the aisle so clearly.

Re: Wheel of Fortune Board Game

So in my last post about Gran and Grandad I mentioned that mum once picked me up with a Wheel of Fortune board game in the car and I didn't know why. The night I posted that I asked her and I never was bothered to update it. She told me that they were giving away the board game for free to the player who came last (on the TV show) and my brother said he wanted it. Mum wrote a letter to the company saying that she loved the show and that she wanted the board game but couldn't find it anywhere in the shops, and asked where she could get it from. About a week later it turned up in the mail. How about that, eh?

Thought-Theatre: Gran and Grandad

I don't exactly know why, but I used to have to spend the day at my Gran and Grandad's place when I was about 4 or so. What was weird is that instead of screaming and wishing I didn't have to, I always really liked going there. I have a few memories of being there, but they were over a long time so I'll just mention certain times without making it into much of a story.

My main memory was the actual place itself. It was a flat, and just like most flats every other one was identical and it certain sections. From memory, theirs was the 4th one along when you went into their section. They had no car, so the car port was always empty. We always used to have to enter in through the back door which was just a small alley way connected to the back of the flat with a sliding glass door. There was a gate so the 3 dogs wouldn't get out. I think I only ever went in and out of the front door twice. Along the back of the flat was a garden that I used to play in (keeping in mind that it was about half a metre wide). I have a photo of me in it, and if I ever find it I'll upload it and attach it to this post.

For some reason I had an obsession with watching Beethoven 1 & 2 as a kid, and every time I went over there I would watch, even if I had just watched it the day before. I remember seeing the Honey, I Blew Up the Kid trailer and always sort of wanting to watch it.

I would always have breakfast there because mum didn't have time to make me some before she went off to work and dropped me off. So, every time I was there I had peanut butter on toast - the food of gods. I remember one time I asked if I could have toast, and Grandad asked what I wanted on it, and before I could answer he cut me off and said "PEANUT BUTTER!" with a sly smile and it made me giggle. And bloody oath, it was good toast.

They used to have a vacuum cleaner with a button that sucked the cord back up, and it always amused me because ours didn't do that. I remember going into the spare room (where it was) and pulling out the cord and sucking it back up, pretending it was that big plant from Jumanji (don't ask me why, just go with it). Gran asked what I was doing, and I told her nothing, but I don't think she believed me.

Gran and I were alone (I don't know where Grandad was) and she cut me up some oranges. It must have been one of the first times I had real orange, and I remember that all I did with them was suck out the juice and leave the actual fruit alone. I felt a little guilty handing back a bowl with four orange quarters that looked slightly deflated and less orange.

Gran and I used to play board games a lot because there was nothing else to do. I remember playing Trouble with her once and we dropped one of the red pieces, and one of the dogs chewed it up. We still have it. It works fine.

Gran and Grandad had a small little garage sale once and I gave her my Blinky Bill books to sell because I never read them anyway, and someone bought them for 50 cents, and I got to keep the money. I was in awe when I held that much money in my hands. I was so happy that day!

Gran and I were going for a walk one day and she started setting up the stroller. Instead of telling her that I could walk, I decided to be a lazy bastard and got in it anyway. I only remember walking a couple of metres to the start of the section - maybe I fell asleep.

My Greatgran was there one afternoon and I had a Batman figure that shot orange discs off it. I remember showing it to her, and was less than amused, but did that nice thing old people do where they pretend to care when they could give a rat's ass about what you're talking about.

One time mum came to pick me up once and she had bought the Wheel of Fortune board game. I have no idea why.

Once Gran took me into Hobart and we went shopping and she bought me a fishing toy that has the magnet on the end of the rod and on the end of each fish and you can go fishing in the bath (well, kind of). I still have no idea how we got there and back, though.

Once Gran washed my mouth out with soap (yes, they mean it when they say they will) and it was horrible.

They used to have pink toilet paper and I was amazed because it was different to ours.

One night we (my mum's close side of the family) went over to their flat for dinner. I remember it was raining and before we went over there I was sitting on the couch playing some crappy soccer game on Matt's Gameboy Pocket. When we got there we played I Spy, and someone said something beginning with B, and I said "Bob" and everyone started laughing. That made me feel good.

I once watched a Batman video with Two-Face over there. That was pretty badass.

And, well, that's pretty much it really.

Thought-Theatre: Say What?

Just a short one here. I was about 6 or 7 at the time, and the holiday care I went to (that mum still believes never existed because she's forgetful like that) took us to the movies. I don't know what we were going to see, but that's irrelevant. I was waiting in the lobby or whatever you want to call it sitting next to a girl that I loathed because she just looked stupid, and I was eating the lollies that mum bought for me the day before to take, and I said I really liked them. She replied, very defensively may I add, with a "Cake is better." I was shocked to hear that. In no universe is cake better than lollies. I never spoke to that girl again (not that I really did anyway).

Thought-Theatre: Simple Stealings

I was discussing this today in maths class with my friend Aiden, so I thought I would write the whole story.

About 5 minutes from my house in Huntingfield was a rather large shopping mall type thing which had a few little shops and I can name most of them (skip to the end of this paragraph if you don't care): a florist; an optometry; Wendy's ice-cream thing; a butcher; a shoe shop; a pharmacy; a bakery; a newsangency; Chickenfeed (which is essentially the Tasmanian Go-Lo); a key crafter place; and some other things, but most importantly to this story a Purity (which is now called Woolworths).

The reason I told you that, is because to understand the end of this story you need to know that only the doors of the actual mall building had those scanners that detected stolen goods - not the individual shops. Anyway, on to the actual story...

I must have been about 4 or 5. Maybe 6. Mum, dad, and I went to go to Purity to buy a few things, and being the awesome kid I was I headed straight for the toy aisle. They used to sell these little packets of 4 small Pokemon figures, and I wanted one (duh). I knew my parents wouldn't get it for me, so I looked around to see if anyone was looking and when the coast was clear I shoved the packet down my pants so it was held to my body by the elastic in my trackies.

I found mum and told her I was going to go to the toilet, which was right next to Purity. So, I stealthily snuck under the register lines and walked straight past the non-existant security into the toilets where I opened the pack of figures and threw away the packaging so the scanners wouldn't get me on the way out. But of course karma hit me and they were 4 figures I already had (it was one of those sets that had the same 4 per pack). Nonetheless, I got 4 free Pokemon figures!

When it was time to go, we got in the car outside (it was dusky and just going into twilight - the sky was a vague orange) and I held up an Igglybuff figure to mum who was in the driver's seat and told her I found it under the shelves in Purity, not showing her the others - also, it was slightly dirty for reasons unknown which made my story even more believable. She said "I hope you didn't steal it." and I casually replied "No, I didn't."

I bet now all of you think I'm some kind of theify kid because of this and my other post. I promise that's all the stealing I ever did as kid! I'm just amazed at how easy it is to steal...

Bitch and Moan

Today I feel like bitching about shit that shouldn't really make me angry.

As of lately all I can really say is fuck the world. The main thing being with small things like homework. I hardly get it anyway, but when I do it's always some bullshit essay that means absolutely nothing for my future and I'm pretty sure the person marking it couldn't care less about the bloody Bush Tucker Man as much as the next person. Had a maths test, studied for it, went shit. Others didn't study and went well. How does that work? Whatever.

I'm pretty sure that when I get home from 6 hours of school that the last thing I want to do is more work. All I really want to do is go downstairs, sit on Facebook for the next 7 hours and forget the world. I'm sick of having 5 days worth of school, work on Saturday, and right now some bullshit play we're putting on that takes up my Sundays as well.

I know I can't complain rightfully because I'm really lucky in life, but fuck all of this stuff I don't want to do. Is it such a crime to want to hide away and live on the internet for the rest of my life? Fresh air and sunlight is overrated.

And what's this bullshit about adults always trying to control kids (or a teenager or whatever I'm classified as). Pretty sure I can dress myself and wipe my own ass so I don't need to be told what to do with my life. I'm spending my entire youth, supposedly the most sacred parts of life, being told what to fucking do and having no real say in what goes on. If I want a job when I'm older I need skills, not the ability to write a fucking essay. I think my future boss could give a rat's ass about that.

And that's me bitching for the night. See you next year (because that's how often I blog here). And yes, all swearing in this was necessary.

Motel Madness (But Not Really)

I'm in a motel - yay. Though I have to admit that for a motel, it isn't that bad. I'm in my own room with a queen sized bed and my own bathroom; both of which are actually really nice. So no complaints. Except for this god-forsaken internet which cost be 12 bucks to pay for, and it's slower than a fat kid running. It took me 3 or 4 tries to just to post a tweet, I'm not even going to bother trying to upload any photos. Starting to wish I only bought an hour's worth instead of 5.

Anywhores, mum's off to her high school reunion which is the whole reason I'm up here in Engadine (where she grew up). I'm leaving tomorrow, so just one more night here. I have my laptop which is good for watching DVDs which I did bring along. Mum tells me that, because I'm alone tonight, she doesn't want me to walk down town in the dark to get dinner, so I have to go to the Maccas across the road. The busy, possibly no crossing, 6 lane road. I'm sick of eating greasy stuff too, seeing as how my dinner last night was pizza and my breakfast was a piece of banana bread. I wish I had an apple or something.

Last night I spent about 2 hours watching Big Bang Theory which was nice I guess. In the morning (today) we went into some shopping centre that was HUGE, and apparently had another section the size of a football oval. We would have gone if dad and mum weren't exhausted. Oh well. Got myself a new t-shirt, an antenna extender cable, and a few drawing tools. About an hour ago mum and I went for a drive around her old neighbourhood and took photos. Oh, and speaking of photos, my brother came down to Engadine yesterday (which was incidentally mum's birthday that I forgot about - woops!) and we took a bunch of photos with him after having lunch at the same bowling club mum and dad are going to tonight for the reunion.

And that's pretty much my "long weekend" in a nutshell. Thanks for reading or whatever.

My Perfect Life

When I started this thing I said I was going to post on it every day, and the reason I stopped was because I usually did nothing with my day to blog about. It wasn't until today when I realised that blogging isn't about simply recounting your day, but more a reflection on it. I want to try blogging a bit more than I have been, starting now.

So while I woke up earlier than my eyes would have liked to wait in the cold to practice a play we never got around to rehearsing, I have furthered my understanding that school is wasting my life. Understandable that without it I probably won't get any worthy jobs, but I find that I could be doing a lot more if I had more time. For instance, today I wanted to try and write (yet again) another story/novel type thing. But I think the reason I never finish those is because I'm always too tied down with homework and other obligations.

My perfect life would be this: being a successful YouTuber making videos every 3 days or so about things that matter to me while keeping an updated blog (on my own website) and keeping busy by writing short stories or music. Even though that seems like such a nothing job that pays literally mere dollars, I don't want a hustle and bustle of a life. I want to live life the way I want: relaxed and enjoyable. I know everyone wants that and it's near impossible to survive like that, but I can dream can't I?

If you're reading this and you wonder why being a movie star actor thing isn't in my perfect life vision, it's because I don't think it's acting that I enjoy, it's having an attentive audience that wants to watch or listen to me. That's what I want. I really need to start a YouTube channel, hey?

I think once I leave school I'm not going to rush into anything, I want to take things slow and just enjoy life while I can. I'll still aim for NIDA because it gives me something to shoot for, even if it's not truly what I want to do.

That Heartwarming Sound

While I was sitting in the car today playing with mum's keys like a three year old would, it reminded me of how hearing the sound of mum's car keys jingling would just instantly make me happy. Okay, fine, I'll explain before you all think I'm a freak.

When I was a kid, I could always tell my mum was coming (usually to pick me up from day care or something like that), and it always comforted me because I love being with my mum. Hearing that sound of her keys was just like "Oh, she's here now! I don't have to be here anymore!" so it has always given a sense of comfort and safety I guess (wow, I sound so lame right now).

I could write a bit more, but I feel like I'm digging myself some kind of hole here. So this post ends when I finish this sentence.

Thought-Theatre: Gods of War

I finally remembered another thing that happened with that kid who called me the "C" word (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, read this).

I was outside once again (not sure where - could have been my front yard or the park 10 seconds away). I was playing peacefully, which was most likely some kind of Pokemon or Mario game I played by myself, when him and a bunch of his friends (there was at least 3 others, and I think it was 2 guys and one girl), all on bikes, came up to me and started talking to me; but it was that "we just want to pick on you" talk. I'm almost certain I threatened to get my brother onto them, because I thought my brother was really strong just because he was older. I think they laughed at me.

I went inside to get my brother and his friend Andrew (who is one of the nicest guys in the world) who were watching TV at the time. I remember Andrew pouncing out of the chair and was on strict alert, and my brother unenthusiastically followed. I remember going around to the side of the house to fill up water bombs to chuck at them.

When we were walking up towards them, I had that huge rush of adrenaline you get when you're about to kick some serious ass or save the day. Matt, Andrew, and I each had about 3 to 5 water bombs, and Andrew started that whole 'defensive' talk back to the them, and I remember throwing a water bomb at one of the kid's tyres (I think he was about my age and had long blonde hair), and knowing my luck, the water bomb didn't pop but just rolled around on the road. They all laughed at me.

Sadly, that's where my heroic thought ends: knowing that I failed. But I'm pretty sure we won the war.

Deep Yearning

We'll miss her smile.
We'll miss her laugh.
We'll miss her strength.
We'll miss her craft.
We'll miss her energy.
We'll miss her care.
We'll miss her voice.
We'll miss her hair.
We'll miss her accent.
We'll miss her words.
We'll miss her flaws.
We'll miss her 'till it hurts.
We'll miss her clothes.
We'll miss her smell.
We'll miss her singing.
We'll miss her belle.
We'll miss her tears.
We'll miss her entrance.
We'll miss her jokes.
But most of all, we'll miss her presence.

Dedicated to the world's best German-turned-Australian exchange student, Lou.

With love from everyone at Moruya High School.

Thought-Theatre: The Boy Who Steals Stuff

I once had this friend (let's call him Hayden, because that was his name) and he was pretty well-off. He had pretty much everything a 7 year old boy could want: every toy known to man, a huge house with a pool and spa,  rich parents, and a grandma who cooked the most delicious things.

I remember one time I went to his house and I told him of a "boy who came around to people's houses and stole your stuff". He of course believed me, and I convinced him to put the things I wanted in my bag, then by the next morning I would pretend I forgot about them. One clear item I remember was a stuffed Charizard toy. One time, I managed to get a hold of his Pokedex (the real toy that worked and everything) and take it home. His dad took me home and I brought it out and showed mum and said "Mum, look what Hayden gave me!" knowing it was an outright lie because I knew I stole it. She said "Are you sure he gave it to you and not just lent it to you?" I replied with a greedy "Yep!", and she then said "I think we should give it back to him". I then had to give it back to his dad who took it home. I was Pokedex-less.

But it's not the first time (well, actually it might have been, but many other times followed). I remember going downstairs to his room once because I "needed to check my bag", but actually just stuffed a bunch of his Pokemon cards in my bag. I also took some of those 3D Pokemon Stadium cards you used to get in chip packets; it was the yellow-rimmed Meowth card (the rarest of them all). I don't know what happened to it though, but I know I successfully got it home.

And that's the story of me stealing my friend's stuff. Don't worry current friends, I never stole anything else from any of my friends.

Thought-Theatre: Christmas Day

I don't remember what year it was exactly, but it could have been around 1998. It was Christmas day and I remember wearing my pale blue/violet Mango t-shirt, and opening up a present which turned out to be a Batman Forever (or Batman & Robin) Robin on a motorbike of some kind - in fact there is a picture with all of that in it.

The next thing I remember, me, Matt, mum, dad, Mark (my uncle), and gran and grandad were all at my house and it was a bright, sunny day. We were all in the dining room and then ended up on the veranda, then we decided to get to Kingston Beach for the day (which was down Beach Rd). However, on the way we went past beach road and down Darcy's restaurant and up a little rural road (to this day I still have no idea what we were doing there). Then we went to the beach and from memory it seemed like we were only there for about 10 minutes, but in reality it was probably about an hour or two.

I then recall us going to a fish and chip shop and I would always get nothing but a potato scallop. And that's really all I remember of that day.

Those Days

I miss the days where nothing mattered. I miss the days where you could eat anything you want and not have anyone tell you that it will kill you. I miss the days where you could say "hello" to anyone, you you would get a friendly hello back. I miss the days where it seemed that no matter what, the sun would always shine in a clear blue sky, and if rain were to fall it would only be to make us happy.

I miss the days where selling out wasn't nearly as important as following your dreams. I miss the days when dad didn't have to slave his ass for hours on end just to put petrol in the car. I miss the days when youth didn't run riot and destroy the world. I miss the days when the simple life was the best life.

I miss the days when what we saw didn't mean as much as what we experienced. I miss the days when no one gave anyone hell for the way they looked or how they acted. I miss the days when it didn't cost us two limbs for sustenance. I miss the days when you were surrounded with a thick, yellow line. I miss the days when we weren't trying to make everything better. I miss the days when the world was something to explore and not something to fear.

I miss the days when my senses were nurtured with pleasantries and not profanity. I miss the days when teenagers weren't obsessed with the online world. I miss the days when we got along like peas and carrots. I miss the days where my mind magnified imagination, and didn't give a hoot about anything real.

But most of all, I miss the days when I was happy. When we were happy. We were all happy... And now I will never experience those days again, because what I have now has taken away and crushed what I used to take for granted. It will never be the same, but no one understands that...

Thought-Theatre: Jason

Ages ago (we're talking back when I only went to Lipscum day-care) I had this friend called Jason (at least I think that was his name; for the purposes of this blog, it is). Jason was a little boy like me, and I think he was a little younger than me. He had straight blonde hair and always seemed to smile and he used to wear knitted jumpers.

My only real memory of Jason is what he looked like and this one time at day-care it was a grey, dull day, and we were all outside playing and for some reason we were playing "family" (where each person pretends to be a member of the family); and no matter what, I always wanted to be the baby for some reason. And yeah, that's pretty much all I remember of him.

However, I have memories of the same (or a similar) day, where it was the first ever day I got to ride in one of those yellow karts they have at day-care centres (the ones shaped like eggs). Then mum picked me up and we drove through the outskirts of the city passed that pizza place I vaguely remember, and for the first time I saw the flashing yellow arrow on the traffic lights. I asked mum what it meant, and she told me that it means you can turn the way the arrow is pointing, slowly and with caution. And ever since, I remember that moment so clearly.

Thought-Theatre: Key Discoveries

It was a sunny Saturday or Sunday, and me and my brother went to the turn-off of Huntingfield to I believe sell either apples or oranges to by passers. From what I remember, it was mum's idea for us to go to the turn-off. We only sold to one person that I remember, and I'm almost certain she was female, in her 30s/40s, and was driving a silver car.

While my brother stood there with the fruit in the bag and a terribly made sign, I was fumbling around in long grass, because I'm adventurous like that. I remember, in the long grass, finding about seven or eight different coloured keys. There was metallic blue, yellow, green, red, purple, and some others I think. I think they were all the same cut, but I had no idea what they unlocked.

I decided to take them home and keep them in an old ground coffee jar. I'm not sure if I still have them, but I can't remember ever getting rid of them.

Best attempt to sell fruit and failed but ended up finding someone else's keys ever!

Thought-Theatre: Ethnic Endangerment

Back in year one me and my brother had to catch the bus to and from school. There was this kid on the bus who was some sort of ethnicity (I think - well, he had olive coloured skin and black hair, so he could be anything), and he was my brother's age, but he went to a different school.

One day on the bus ride home, that kid and my brother were arguing for some reason, or he was just teasing my brother and whatnot. The details are unimportant. When we got off the bus, they continued to yell at each other, and then that kid through something at my brother - it was either a rock or something wrapped in foil, because I remember it being slightly shiny. It hit him in the head (the eye, as I recall), and he fell to the ground. Everyone then swarmed him, and then I remember yelling "You fucking idiot!".

I then went home; and either I ran home to tell mum or I just walked home in the hope that he would be okay and disregarded it. In the end, I remember it being about 15 minutes later when I saw Matt walking home safe.

Ready, Aim, Fire

I hate not knowing what to do when all you have is hope. The hardest obstacle to overcome is friendship. I understand that song now - that "Love is a Battlefield" one - because one wrong step and you have limbs flying everywhere.

Thought-Theatre: Professor Pepper

Haven't done one of these in a while, but just listening to Lugia's Song made me think of one, so I thought I'd do it while it was fresh in my memory.

I remember mum and I were walking in Hobart one time (for my personal documentation, it was near the entrance to the carpark for the Cat and Fiddle Arcade), and there was a shop entirely dedicated (I think) to Dr Pepper. I remember asking mum what it was and she told me it was a disgusting drink and that I should never buy it - well, she didn't actually tell me to never buy it but I could tell that's what she was implying.

Also, I'm not sure it was the same day, but we went inside the Cat and Fiddle Arcade and she bought me a pack of Pokemon Team Rocket cards (my first one ever, actually), and I remember walking past a little shop called "The Nut King" or something like that, and the only card I remember getting from the pack of 11 was Imposter Professor Oak.

I actually ended up trying Dr Pepper while I was in Japan and it wasn't that bad. It wasn't fantastic, but it was drinkable. Just tastes like coke and pepper put together.

P.S. Happy 17th birthday, Jake!!! :D

Thought-Theatre: What Big Yellow Ones?

For some reason I just started opening up my blog and the New Post page without anything in mind, so I'll just reminisce about this tiny, unimportant memory.

Jumanji used to be one of my favourite movies as a kid, and I remember one time I went outside into my front garden on a grey, cold day and started squeezing those little pink flowers that open up (ages ago I was told they were "snap dragons" - whether or not that's what they are actually called I don't know), pretending they were small versions of that big yellow pod-flower-thingy on Jumanji.

Speaking of Jumanji, there was this one time where I was in the middle of watching Jumanji, I got up and went outside wearing either my Batman cape or a bandanna safety pinned to my shirt; my Thomas the Tank Engine gumboots; and a cap (maybe my Pokemon one) backwards, while holding a toy machine gun, pretending to be Van Pelt (the hunter) from Jumanji. I walked until the turnoff into the section of Huntingfield we lived in until a woman (who I remember having short, dark hair, probably in her 30s or 40s) picked me up and took me home because she thought I would get lost or because I was running away or something.

Oh, how awesome I was.

Thought-Theatre: Bye-Bye, Raichu

Another story about having a Raichu taken away from me, yet again at vacation care. Only this time it was a plush toy. It must have been a year after my figurine was taken, and as you guessed I didn't learn my lesson.

There used to be these twins that went to vacation care, and they were actually really awesome guys to hang around with. I remember that I thought one of them looked like that guy from the band Five. I only actually remember one time I hang out with of them, and that was the nice one, and we were playing Foosball in the games room.

Anyway, one of them (who I now refer to as the mean one), asked me if he could borrow my Raichu plush overnight. Like with the last guy, I hesitated before agreeing. He took it home that night, and came back the next day and I asked for it, and he said he left it at home. He did this about three times, and I think eventually those twins stopped going to vacation care (school may have started again or something).

A few months passed, and then vacation care went on a picnic in the park I remember clearly, yet don't remember where it was. I found him, and I started talking to him. I eventually asked "So, how's my Raichu going?" (because I used to believe stuffed toys had feelings), and he said "I traded it for a bunch of Pokemon cards." - my heart shattered into pieces at that moment.

To this day, I have never actually owned another Raichu toy.

Thought-Theatre: Rai Would You Do That?

Usually when I went to vacation care I would take a little Pokemon zip-up pouch full of Pokemon figurines. I remember once for a late Christmas present I got a 3-pack of Pokemon figures, and one of them was a Raichu. I took that to vacation care one time, and a red-headed kid (forget his name) asked if he could borrow it. Being the nice kid I was, I said yes; although I think I did hesitate a bit before agreeing.

It was about half an hour before I saw him again, and when I asked him for my Raichu back, he said he didn't have it. I'm not sure what my exact response was, but I'm pretty sure I just asked him why he didn't have it. He responded by saying "Oh, well, I was finished with it so I threw it in the bin..." - I think I almost cried.

I got my brother, who got the teacher-thingy (they didn't teach us anything, so I don't know what to call them), who then got me, my brother, and that red-headed kid together. I explained what happened and the only thing the teacher said was "Okay, well, next time, don't throw things that aren't yours in the bin [to him], and next time don't lend him anything [to me]", and that's it. To this day I have no idea why I didn't just go out to the bin and get it out.

But don't worry - that's not the only time a Raichu was taken away from me.

Thought-Theatre: El Matto

This one's actually about my brother. He was about 10 or 11 at the time, making me 5 or 6. Maybe we were even younger.

There was a small pathway near the entrance of the road leading to the part of Huntingfield where we lived. There was (probably not anymore) a wooden fence which divided the property next to it. All of a sudden, I started seeing "El Matto" spraypainted on it. I knew it was my brother.

I think I asked him about it, and he said it wasn't him. He even insisted that we sneak out one night to try and catch the culprit. That never came to pass - sadly, because I wanted to sneak out!

Eventually, he got caught. I'm not sure how; but maybe I ratted him out and mum knew it was obviously him. Mum and dad were furious at him. I remember to apologise he had a long strip on paper (at least 2 metres long), and he wrote "XOXO" all the way down it and handed it to mum in the section of our house separating the kitchen and lounge room.

The question arose of how he actually got the spraypaint and why he did it. I actually asked mum about this a few days ago, and she said it wasn't actually illegal to sell spraypaint to minors back then. He bought it from Mitre 10 (which was about a 5 minute walk from our house - it was, and still is known as "The Fork in the Road" because of the huge fork out the front). He told the saleman/lady it "was a present for Grandad". He said he did it to be like Bart Simpsons, because his trademark was "El Barto". Television is way to impressionable on kids, these days.

Thought-Theatre: Mario Party

It was my birthday and I was turning either 5, 6, or 7. I was having a costume party, and of course, I wanted to go as Mario. So, I wore my red shirt, my overalls with heart buttons, and my blue Pokemon hat (for some reason I used to think I looked like Mario in it). For the moustache, I drew it on with a face crayon, or whatever they are called.

I remember mum wondering how we would actually get the moustache on me. She then said that the little after-school care (held in the school hall at Illawarra Primary) had face crayons. I remember going there one afternoon with mum and Matt.

It was about 15 minutes before my friends were arriving at my house. My mum decided to start drawing on the moustache (we were in the living room, when the couch was facing the wall). She drew it on just like Mario's, but instead it didn't curve upwards like his did. I made a fuss about that, and she fixed it.

The next I remember of that day is that all of my friends were at my house and we went outside to pile into dad's work bus (a Metro bus - the best in the business) that he borrowed just for me. I have no idea where we went (I'm thinking either minigolf, Maccas, or Pizza Hut).

The last part I remember of that day is riding home down the street/highway near that drive-in bottleshop and where I used to do swimming lessons - around the corner from a hospital and car sales place. I remember every one of my friends were jumping around the bus, and I was hanging from the bar you hold on to if you're standing up.

They never do birthdays like that anymore...

Thought-Theatre: Nintendo Nostalgia

Speaking of vacation care, one day we were there and there was this kid playing Super Mario 64. He was up to the boss of the first ever level. He had troble beating it. I told him that I could do it. He seemed to be pissed off at the idea that a six year old would even suggest such a ridiculous thing. I then tried to seek out my brother so he could back up my story that I could, and had, beaten it with ease.

Thought-Theatre: Wild Graveler Appeared!

It was a regular school day when we were riding the bus home. There was this kid called Isaac who had heaps of Pokemon cards and I was always jealous because I didn't have that many. That day on the bus, he dropped all of his cards, and we helped him pick them up. But, I saw a card I had never seen before (a Graveler), and I decided to sneakily put it in my bag/pocket (I forget which one).

When I got home, I took it out to add it to my collection. But then karma hit me, and I couldn't find my cards. But then I found them, like, the next day or something.

The moral of the story is: don't steal. Unless you can do it sneakily and get away with it - like I did!

Thought-Theatre: The "C" Word

So, when I was a little tacker, I used to go to the little park thing was just about a 10 second walk from my house (over the hedge that they cut down) - whether I had had a shower or not.

I remember there used to be a kid that lived down the street from me who used to give me shit. One fond memory I have of this kid was when I was playing in the park in my pyjamas (wearing my fluffy blue dressing gown), and I got embarrassed/shy whenever people walked near me. The kid walked up to me, and in order to hide the fact I was playing Mario Kart by myself, I started picking leaves off a tree. He was with an older boy and I think a younger person (a girl, I believe). He started talking to me; and he said about 2 things - I think it was "How ya going?" and "What are ya doing?". Then out of nowhere he just asks me "...picking leaves to wipe your ass, hey, ya c*nt?". Before I could reply, his older person (whoever it was) said "Come on [insert kid's name here] [insert whatever he said next here]". They then left, and I think I went home.

I encountered this bastard other times, but I forget them. Kids can be so cruel.

Thought-Theatre: Sophie

I was 7 once. There was a blonde girl that caught my bus sometimes; and I guess you could say I had a bit of a crush on her. I think her name was Sophie, but it could have been Sarah or something completely different. But as far as this blog post goes, she'll be known as Sophie. She was about my age, or maybe a year or so older.

I don't know exactly what attracted me to her - probably just the random infactuation any seven year old gets. One day, and I don't even know how it happened, she started talking to me. It ended up leading to her inviting me over to her house. I was there for about 5 or 10 minutes, before I bailed because she was getting yelled at for making herself tomato sauce sandwiches so close to dinner time.

It might not have been the same day, but we were out on the road near the ol' park shooting foam bullets (similar to Nerf bullets) at a tree for some reason. I think I had that gun and she had my weird, cheapo laser-sound gun.

And they are my only memories of her, asside from her bleach-blonde hair.

Thought-Theatre: Vacation Care

Back when I used to go to "vacation care", which my mum now tells me was actually on the grounds of a real school, I was 6 or 7, and my brother must have been about 11 or 12. We used to go there in the school holidays because mum and dad both had to work. It was sort of like day care, but for "older" kids. I want to try and explain everything that was there, but I don't know where to begin.

I'll start by describing a day I remember very clearly...

The first bit I can remember of that day, is that we were driving in our old dark blue Toyota, just turned left at the round-about near a church (if you turned right you would see a Shell petrol station and eventually come to Illawarra Primary School). I was wearing my blue flanny shirt, because Alan from Jumanji wore them, I also felt like him wearing it. When you came close to the entrance, there was a much smaller day-care centre for smaller kids (like, 3 and 5 years old or something), and a playground that we used to play on sometimes.

I don't remember actually driving in the entrance. The next bit I remember is that we got out of the car, and we were talking about something that I don't remember. We were walking down the pine-bark path. When I was that young it seemed like a really long walk, but in reality it was probably only about 10m long.

Actually, as I type this I start to think that I used to go here before I started school - because I have memories there when my brother didn't even go there.


When you got to the door, I can't remember exactly if there were stairs to the door, a sideways ramp, or both. I think it was both. Anyway, inside I can vaguely remember how it was set out:

^ You stand at the door. To the left, there were hooks for your bags, and next to those hooks was a doorway leading into the kitchen area. Straight ahead you could see the TV for the Nintendo 64 in the corner (but when I first went there with my brother, the N64 was in the kitchen, and I had a Pokeball in my hand - as you do - and one of the kids said to me "Hey, you like Pokemon? C'mon, they're playing Pokemon in here", and he lead me to the kitchen area where 2 kids were playing Free Battle on Pokemon Stadium. I remember clearly that the only Pokemon I remember being used was a Zapdos). I'm not sure if there was a couch area straight ahead, THEN the N64/games corner, or not. If you walked straight ahead, then turned right, there was a room with a TV, VHS player, and a couch or 2. Then, there was a room linking the kitchen area and that TV room with games and sport equipment in there, but for some reason none of that was ever used. There was a Foosball table in there.

^^ The rectangle with nothing in it on the right was the games room no one ever used, and the red thing in it is the possible door that was there. All of the red rectangles are where doorways were. The blue thing is there the bag hooks were.

I remember that everything used to me moved around a lot, because I have memories of the N64 being in 3 different places, and for some reason in the TV room there was a SNES with a strange controller where the big couch was - but facing the wall.

Outside there was a sandpit, 2 playgrounds, an alley way leading to a road, a walkway to the carpark/entrance, and stairs leading to a basketball court.

The stuff inside the red line means all of that was raised (above ground).

Where those random buildings were, I'm not sure exactly what they were. I'm sure they were a part of the school we were on, but I don't actually remember what they look like or how you could even go inside them. But I do remember that for some reason we were all there and some bigger girls gave us minties and tried to teach us how to make mintie chains or whatever you call them - you know, there you rip up the mintie wrapper into a long line.

Then, we reach the carpark (though, ironically we should have been starting with this). I don't remember too much of it. But actually, as I typed that I just remember that there were 3 playgrounds, but I don't remember how to access the one I'm thinking of.

And that's pretty much the basics of it. I plan to write as much as I can about my childhood. So stay tuned! Or, whatever you do on blogs....

Pokemon Skit Idea

Last blog post was January 25? LOL @ the fact you can't stick to anything you say you will, Jake.

So, I've had a YouTube account for almost a year and I haven't really done anything with it. For ages I've been thinking about doing a skit where I parody the Pokemon games and anime (for those who are familiar with it, you will know what I mean by what I say below). I borrowed his Ash Ketchum costume ages ago when I was going to do it, but never got around to it (obviously).

I am making a pact now - I will do it as soon as I have the time after my birthday. Why my birthday? Because that's when I get a tripod for my camcorder, which was one of the reasons I didn't do it earlier.

Right now I'm just going to jot down the ideas I have for it. This isn't really a blog post for anyone except myself for self-documentation. Feel free to leave your own suggestions if you have any. If not, ignore the rest of the stuff on the page.

(BY THE WAY, NOT EVERY IDEA WILL BE PUT INTO THE FINAL VIDEO)

- walk around with no curved turns
- start walking up stairs, automatically appear at the top
- continue to walk into a wall normally
- put loads of effort into throwing the Pokeball having it go almost nowhere
- converse with someone, however you say no words, and they still understand you
- tie shoelaces, but curse because you can't do it
- tell your mum you're leaving, but it turns out she's a dropkick and tells you to walk out just like your father
- Professor Oak is a pedophile (c'mon, he would be)
- find big ball, pick up big ball, shows you picked up a small Pokeball
- walk around - have people laugh at you for how stupid your clothes look
- drop Pokemon egg, run away
- robber comes out of window, accuses of being Team Rocket, shoots and runs off
- try and use bike, then Oak's words echoed - freak out
- confront rival, discuss that your Pokemon will take turns in attacking
- reference the 30 Tauros you were never seen catching outside of Japan
- reference the constant phone calls from [girl] saying her Maril evolved
- deny access to Game Corner because you're a minor, yet you are let in because you have a coin case
- cat talks like Meowth

Antenna Man Ideas #1

BACKSTORY: [name] is a fat, lazy American who has his own business fixing people's TVs when they don't work. His business is slow and hardly anyone ever wants him, as he has to compete with other electronic repair companies. He has a run-down van with his logo on it (a buff man in the Antenna Man costume with a big smile, which has the slogan “Bad credit history? No problem!”). He is balding with dark hair and stubble.

PLOT: He is called on to help a clueless lady in her apartment when her TV starts to pick up no signal. She has a bad credit history so she is rejected by every other company. While there, he hears a teenage girl screaming on the very top. He proceeds up the stairs to the top, to find the door to the outside jammed shut. He rams down the door only to accidently knock the villain off the building and save the girl’s life. She claims he is heroic while he is confused and shocked by the situation. The mayor (or head of city) offers him the key to the city and claims he is a hero.

About a week later, he is at a petrol station and is just about to go in to pay for his fuel, when a robber rushes out and accidently runs into him and they both fall over, breaking the robber’s leg so he can’t get away. The owner of the petrol station then thanks him for saving his store. Eveyone then looks up to him and claim he is a true hero. (not sure about this part)

Side note about the credit history part, I had no idea what TV repairers look for (they probably don't look for anything), but this was just a filler. I need a reason as to why he must be called upon. Ignore the credit history parts if it makes it easier to understand.

INFO:

Name: [unknown] Farnsworth (last name is name of guy who invented the TV)
Age: 42

DOB: February 4 (first broadcast of colour TV), 1968

Location: New York City, USA
Occupation: self-employed, Antenna Man (TV repairman)
Family: N/A

My Comic Book Idea: "Antenna Man"

Hello world,

A couple of months ago I was on Wikipedia, "researching" all of the villains in Spider-Man. I must have gone through over 30 of them. It got me thinking of my own ideas, and one idea stood out the most. I wanted to design serious villains; their backstories, powers, and all. However, I also wanted to design a not-so-serious comic book superhero that I could joke around with. I realised that I could combine the two and make a serious comic book, but still have the basis of a fun, muck-around type of thing.

I came up with the concept of a fat guy dressed up in a ridiculous orange and teal silk suit with a TV arial on his head. With this idea I could still make the comic series as serious I wanted, but still hold on to the fact that it's all a bit of a joke.

I'm in the middle of creating the whole concept of the story, as well as character designs and such. I have about 5 villains in mind that I'd like to put to paper and such. The best part about it is that it's something you can be creative about but at the same time really enjoy it. I think the only issues I will face is the character design - I can picture them almost perfectly in my head, but when it comes to drawing them they never turn out the same. That will hold me back a lot.

I plan to post a lot of information for this idea on my blog. That way, all of you guys can see it and I'll know where it is each time I go looking for what I've already done. I can post pictures on here too, so each time I finish designing a character I can post it on here and hopefully you guys can tell me what you think, and what I should change/add.

I think I'll get to work on posting the key ideas I already have written down right after I post this, so stay tuned for that, folks.

Somewhere in the World

Hello world,

I haven't been blogging in a while so I thought that while something significant happened in my life I may as well blog about it before I forget it.

Last night (Friday, 21st Jan, 2011) I went to my first official concert (my auntie tells me a Wiggles concert when I was a tot doesn't count) - Altiyan Childs. Normally I don't like those "stars" that win reality TV shows, but I've taken a shine to Altiyan. Anyway, it was at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre in Nowra (about an hour and a half drive from Moruya). Anyway, we got there (and by "we", I mean me, mum, and my auntie Carol), and we were all really excited - but I think mum and Carol were more excited. I didn't know what to expect.

While we were waiting in the lobby, mum persuaded me to buy a t-shirt for $20. It was a red one with his picture on it - one of the best concert t-shirts I've seen. Because Luke & Joel (X-Factor contestants like Altiyan that were knocked out) were the opening act, there was a stand for their t-shirts and CD that had 3 songs, and Carol felt sorry for the guy standing there because no one was buying anything.

There were stairs leading up to our door, and mum or Carol weren't too confident in climbing them. So, we decided to take the elevator on the opposite side of the building, only to find it led to the wrong door (surprise, surprise). Then as we were going back down these two girls said "How embarrassing" - that's MY line! So once we finally got to right elevator, we were waiting for about 15-20 minutes for the doors to open, and there was a woman with one of the promotional posters from the window. Carol wanted one, so she went downstairs to ask for one, and she had to persuade the clerk-guy to get her one. While she was gone, mum made a comment about how many old people there were there (we're talking almost every person there was over 50), then Carol made the same comment when she came back.

8:00 - the doors finally opened! I was awaiting to see how terrible our view would be - seeing how we were literally in the back row - and I was shocked; they were actually really good. We were in the centre of the row so we had a clear view of the stage, and surprisingly we weren't that far away from the stage. I could clearly see who was who. Carol insisted I brought the binoculars I won from year nine's Japanese raffle (thanks Cusack!), which helped.

So, Luke & Joel were on first, and they sung about 6 songs, and they were a lot better than I expected. There was then an intermission, where Luke & Joel went down to the lobby to sign autographs and get pictures taken and such. Carol and I waited in line - which took us about 10 minutes to realise the second line was for the canteen), and in front of us were these two kids - I assume they were brother and sister. According to Carol, the girl was 7 (she looked at least 13) and the guy was 13. The guy stank like B.O. and was obsessed with cricket. The girl was pretty cool. She was disappointed that her phone wasn't working, so she couldn't get a photo of her and L&J on Facebook (keep in mind she is supposed to be 7 and that she has a phone and Facebook). So, heroically, I ran to the stage-place-thingy to get mum's keys so I could get my iPod Touch so she could take a photo with it and I'd send it to her. Sadly, there was no time and I ran back to see Altiyan come on stage (Carol stayed and met them and got a signed CD which I now have).

Not much to say here - Altiyan came on stage introducing himself with U2's "Beautiful Day". He then played a load of songs. In one of them he asked four people to come on stage with him (all women of course) - one was a cute girl I saw before the show; one was a shy, semi-overweight woman (who ended up going back off-stage anyway); one was a woman we were sure was a part of the production who had the same shirt as me (and the whole time she was trying to hug, kiss, and seduce Altiyan); and another one who had nothing special about her. After that, someone threw underwear on the stage. It took a few minutes for Altiyan to realise they were there - then he picked them up with a semi-confused/disgusted look and hung them on one of the guitars.

In between songs, he would often say things like "I love you, thank you.", "Can I sing a song? Is that alright with you?", and "People don't like me talking, so I'll just sing." - and he would introduce songs with the title - for example, before he sung Bon Jovi's "Blaze of Glory", he said "It'll take a blaze of glory to bring me down...".

*takes a breath*

He was up to his, about, 13th song I think it was, and he said it was his last song. I was disappointed at that point because he hadn't sung Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer", and when that was over he left the stage, but some lights were still on. At that point, everyone started chanting his name and stomping on the ground (so much that my chair felt like it was about to fall off the wall), and then the keyboardist came on and everyone cheered, then stopped because they realised it wasn't Altiyan. THEN Altiyan came back on stage and sung "Lady in Red". THEN the whole band came back on and performed Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" - WHAT A FINISH!!

Just like L&J, he came to the lobby to sign stuff and such (after about 20 minutes of making us wait). I tried getting photos of him on both my iPod and mum's camera, but failed. Mum and Carol cut in line, but mum bailed, so it was just Carol left. She got a signed CD for mum, even though she said she paid for two. So, Carol met both Altiyan and L&J.

We then dropped Carol home and we went back to Nana's to sleep, and left at 7:15 the next morning. Got home at around 10:30-11:00.

So, as far as my first concert goes, it was AWESOME!! I've now uploaded his album to my laptop and haven't looked back since.

Drama + Party + Trading Cards = My Life

Don't really feel like blogging today, so I'll keep this one short and simple.

Yesterday/today I was at my friend Bridgette's house for a random party. We ended up staying up until early hours of the morning, until I got sick of the shrill squeals of giddy females, so I went to sleep on the couch upstairs. It was a really good party. A lot of interesting things happened and certain, ahem, things were exposed.

Then at 10:30, Jed and I went over to Simon Arthur's house to go over your term one drama-by-correspondence work. I have to say it looks interesting. We were there until about 1:30-ish.

And best of all, I got more trading cards in the mail today! Ahhh, life....

Post Time Fail

I noticed a couple of days ago that the time of my blog posts are wrong - it seems to be set in American time (no idea what timezone that is) - so if you're reading my blog then just be aware that the post time is usually a day behind (e.g. this will be posted on Jan 18, 2011, but it will say it was posted on Jan 17).

If I figure out how to change the timezone I'll let you know.

Matilda Loves Me

Hello word,

Not much to report today. I just finished watching Matilda that I watched the first half of yesterday. I was eager to finish it after I looked up some mistakes in the movie, so I wanted to pick them out for myself. Nonetheless, it's a great movie (especially because I used to watch it as a kid).

I'm heading off to a party-thing at Bridgette Ferrier's house tonight; that should be good :-)

And that is all.

Bright Lights

Hello world,

Another update on life from me. Last night I went to Bell's Carnival in Bateman's Bay with two awesome guys - Jed Reed and Brad Timms. Were there from 7 'till 9:30 I think it was. We've been doing it for about 4 or 5 years now (maybe more?) every year - except when it was raining in 2009 so we had pizza and saw Yes Man instead. Every year there we always buy a bag of fairy floss, so when I went to get mine I was given a free additional bag because it was a real stingy piece inside the bag. I also got what they laughably call waffles and cream, which was nothing but a rolled up waffle cone with sour cream (Jed and Brad said it was normal cream, but there was nothing normal about it). Then, just before we went home, a drunk girl came up to us and asked if we had seem someone called Cody Hawkins - so on the way home Brad tried to Facebook her, but had no luck.

While we were at Brad's we always saw a bit of Family Guy season nine - arguably the funniest Family Guy has been since season six. We also say Family Guy's "It's a Trap!", which is their 3rd installment in their Star Wars spin-offs. It was pretty good; better than Blue Harvest anyways *shudders*. I also saw some of "The Ringer", until I fell asleep after feeling sick due to too much fairy floss consumption.

Anyway, that was all yesterday. Today I got a haircut that makes me look like [insert washed up celebrity with short hair here], and I'm about to have homemade pizza for dinner - yummo!

That's just about it for me today.

Google Maps Has Failed Me

Hello world,

So, the other day I was on Google Maps looking around Tasmania to see how it's changed (as I normally do), and I tried to visit my old school. I was on the bird's eye-view on the map, and it wouldn't let me scroll down onto the area where it was. "Fair enough", I though, so I went to the nearest street, zoomed in, and tried to "drive" there. But, it wouldn't let me go any further. So I tried the other side - and it still wouldn't let me. I wondered why, but then after a few seconds I decided to give up (give up, not quit - only quitters quit).

I was watching TV with mum that same day and I told her about it - she mentioned that it might be to prevent pedophiles finding where the school is (this makes sense, because it wasn't even listed on the map), and I told her I also couldn't find my old vacation care centre on there either - so I told her she was right. She advised I searched for another school to see if I could access it.

The next day, I took a trip up the hill in Murray Street towards Moruya Public School. I had full access to it. I could see classrooms and the blacktop and all. So, I have come to 3 conclusions: Moruya isn't important enough to secure the safety of the school kids here; my old school was demolished/exploded; or Google Maps fails. I'll leave it up to you, kind reader, to decide.

Explaining the Background

Oh, by the way, you will notice the background for this blog is a blue sky with clouds. Most of you already know that my favourite weather is a clear blue sky - but the clouds are just there so it actually looks like a sky and not just a blue background - also makes it look like I've gone to more effort!

You can read about all of my blue sky bantering on Tumblr (link below in the other post).

Welcome to the World of Jake

Hello world,

I now have a blog! ...What? Oh yes, I already know I have a Tumblr account, 2 other Blogger accounts, a Formspring account, 2 Wordpress accounts, and a Thoughts account - but this one is different. On this one I'm going to write whatever I like - not just emotions or anything strictly related to sites I'm hooked up with - I'll post the events of my day, if I feel like posting a story I'll do that here, maybe on the off chance I'll do a video game review, perhaps even post some of my artwork - who knows!

So basically, that's what you can expect to see here. Not very interesting, I know. But for any of those who want to know more about me or just want another way to stalk me, here I am.

You can also follow me on Facebook:
http://facebook.com/jakeactraynor

On Twitter:
http://twitter.com/jakeactraynor

On Tumblr:
http://arcandum.tumblr.com

And if I ever get around do using it, on YouTube:
http://youtube.com/user/jakesonlineworld

So, let the online escapades begin!