The Nooks and Crannies

Yes, I realise it has been quite a while since I blogged my thoughts on the little nooks and crannies of everyday living but what can I say? I have had prior engagements with University and Work. So let's get right into it?

The past few weeks I have been experiencing small discoveries along my journeys to the city. These thoughts and theories are just a few things that I felt stood out from the usual grind of 'the boring' or 'the mandatory'; which could be uni work or work-work. The first nook I guess would take place when I walk to the train station. Usually it wouldn't be rushed, I wouldn't take into consideration much more than music and obviously what's going on around me, being the cars going at a million miles an hour and Tame Impala. Blissfully blowing melodies of psychedelic riffs and lyrics that sprout intertwined messages of past-loves and 'being yourself'. It's great. While this was going on, a butterfly flew across my path and fluttered its wings to say hello. While this was happening, I thought about how rare and unique it is to see a butterfly. Common butterflies only live for a few days and their main purpose is of course to find a partner. So when you think about it, if you take into consideration how many butterflies you see in a year and think about how many you think others would see, there must be so many of them! It really puts things into perspective when things like this catch your eye. 

Another experience of travelling to the train was a rainy, puddle-splashing day that we've seen too many of this Spring/Summer. It was one of those mornings where you have to get up, regardless of what the body and of course what you want to do. In the fluster to get up and get dressed, I didn't take notice of the time and had to rush for the train, in order to be on time. One of the things I was thinking about was umbrellas. It's a rainy day, its necessary to have one, if you don't then well, you'd look just as good as the drowned, decayed rat that floats in the gutter, near the path to Cannon Hill train station. I was desperately trying to open it and take advantage of its one purpose in life, which is to make me dry. After the tug-o-war battle I had, it finally saw it my way and worked to the full extent. After a few golden steps of victory, the wind flew my way and performed one of those unforgivable gusts that inverted my umbrella from right-side-up to...broken as fuck I think the expression is. The umbrella has to be one of those inventions that have just lost their cool along the way. Their flimsy design and ability to keep us dry have always been the same, for so long. Despite using the $2 umbrella from Crazy-Clarks or the $100 Myer one my dad allows me to use on those odd-occasions where I won't need it, I'm quite sure that it isn't a money thing. Their one of those inventions that have been lost or not updated to what I would categorize as an invention of today. This list would go on to include others like vending machines, the design of chairs and I dunno maybe the updating of surf boards?

To be honest with you, a jet-powered surfboard isn't really that pointless. Don't get me wrong, it does sound ridiculous, but if you think about it, ridiculous is the new black in regards to things that are cool. Ridiculous has to be the new facebook. But yeah, say you're out in the Pacific carving this sick, superfly, dope pipeline and a shark creeps up on you and is going to devour you like the Robert Shaw wannabe, that you are. On a normal board, you'd be like "Bummer, I'm dead," but on a jet powered board, it would be like, "laters sharky!" If your not so keen on the board, think of the cinematic possibilities that the jet-powered surfboard would come up with. Can you imagine the cool ads and promotions for this fantastic adventure? They'd make the best chase scenes, they'd make the hoverboard sequence from Back To The Future II look like a big pile of shit. So yeah, it would be great if they were commercially available. But, they would probably almost certainly kill hundreds if not thousands of people a year. It's a risky invention but I think one that is definitely sound in what it wants to achieve. Of course, these people who enter the afterlife after dying from the jet-powered surfboard, would die knowing, they had the most awesome death possible.

So in summary, I think too much. But funnily enough it drives me to write these blogs that hopefully entertain you for a few moments. If you don't know where the banner image is from, I suggest you see the movie The Breakfast Club and educate up. You may be more familiar with Not Another Teen Movie, if so then you may enjoy that much more. 




Nick-Face

Make friends with ugly people, so you stand out in a crowd!

Teleprompter!!!!!111


Saturday night I had the pleasure of attending a live music concert that had two bands that I've liked for sometime. The sound, the image and the overall atmosphere of the event has changed my perception of live music for the most part. Upon attending only a small selection of live music events in my time, I can safely say with the combination of urban scenery and crowd pleasing effects, (as Joe was admiring in the photo above), the night was a success. Cheap drinks and a gorgeous-looking groove partner, I can safely say I was a happy, drunken sod by the end of it.  From this wonderful event it made me wonder as to how much we rely on "liveness" or the "instant." 


As a supporter of music I can imagine that everyone is striving to hear what's new and what's hot. This sort of phenomena spans to all sorts of outlets like fashion, technology and assorted consumer products. This consumer driven life and expectancy we have on the world, was brought to my attention when I thought of how much we as a society has accomplished. We can listen to music almost instantly once it's uploaded to iTunes. We have this passion to "listen to bands that don't even exist yet." We can sit on a plane, watch a movie and go to the bathroom and in that time, we would have arrived in a total new location. And yet, it's not enough?

My parents and my two siblings, flew down to Sydney to accompany and support my brother in his texting competition that was held a week ago. He reluctantly achieved runner up by 0.4 seconds against some guy, I don't know his name. But after it all my brother still kept the title of "Fastest Texter in Queensland," which is fantastic. When they all arrived back in Brisbane, my parents we're telling me their time on the plane down to Sydney. A fantastic story about how the planes were installed with the "latest, fastest, bestest internet, free for passengers to enjoy." As they were telling me this I thought, wow, thats great, we can now tell people instantly on facebook, that we're flying across the tip of Australia.

Being an inexperienced plane-flyer I didn't know this sort of technology was around, nor did my parents or siblings. As they were telling me this, my brother exclaimed that "Oh, but it was total bullshit, because it wasn't working and it was crap rah rah..." I thought, before you got on the plane, you didn't even know this quick Internet existed? Yet, you exclaim that its bullshit like the world owed you something. Its hilarious how much we take for granted. I'd see my brother on his phone going, "Oh man, its not working, stupid net!" Give it a second man! It's going to space! It's a big process. 

But as I write this, I am a victim of being the ignorant little brat that abuses the amazing technologically advanced world. 

Nick-Face

So....how about that weather?

“

Don't you hate that? Hate what? Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it's necessary to yak about bullshit? In order to be comfortable? I don't know. That's a good question. That's when you know you found somebody really special, when you can just shut the fuck up for a minute. Comfortably share silence.

”

Awkward Silences.


I'm pretty sure, we've all experienced this, one way or another. After watching Pulp Fiction, that line particularly made me realise the phantom we put on when nervously talking to someone. We separate ourselves from conversation and think it would be best, to fill the air with how much we know about a particular subject. It's great that you can name over 200 different species of fish in Oahu, after moving there from South Central. But really? We didn't need to know that, its good we know it now, but did u have to say it just to break up the silence?

"Hey......would you like a pineapple?"


Dylan Moran is a prime example of someone, who supports my outburst on the manner. If you've never seen this man, I suggest you get educated, pronto! He speaks about how difficult it is for a young man in the social scene and talking to the opposite sex. How hard is it to say something witty and fun, in order to get the girl's attention? After the initial "hello, how are you," it really doesn't leave room for the conversation to go anywhere successful. "Nice shoes, and stuff...want some gravy?" Something's wrong there! Which is why Dylan and I on some occasions, skip the whole "hello" charade because in doing so, it leaves no room for an awkward and uninteresting manner, which demonstrates an unwitty, unfunny individual. 


You have a very important decision to make in your life:
 "Are you going to be alone, or are you going to be with someone?"
 "Are you going to be sane, or not lonely?"
The true questions, that Dylan Moran asks you. 


Nick-Face.

First in, best dressed.

Test.

As far as pretentious, crowd accepting trends go, I have to say, making a blog takes the cake. But I have found that when following the cake trends, you should always try whatever is on the menu. It's actually difficult not to sound like JD on scrubs, when writing this.

I mean, how hard is it to speak about yourself without sounding like the pretentious prick of the pack?

I would think it would be great to speak about the whole "hipster" crowd and how it works in a sense. But, wouldn't that be hipster of me to do so? It's this endless paradox of following the trend but being misled into being the "bad guy"  whenever you promote having "hipster" tendencies. 

So what is one to do? Levitate between being "yourself" and following the trend of the time, so you can have those witty conversations with every person who is "in love" with the trend but secretly despises it. Ha! Its great. Like ticking time-bombs, waiting to explode in the social realm. 

In my head I'm trying to relate to any other social disturbance in history like this. I can only think of the "emo" outburst in high school. Endless pools of young, black and red; splashing colours and "emotions" into the city. Covering exits, leisurely blending in with the many sculptures and outside paraphernalia. It was an endless, flood of screams and shouts that not even the police could stop. At the time, being the awkward teenager and not knowing of trends at that age, like some sort of Michael Cera appropriation, I would ask them why they do it? And whether it's "cool" to be emo or if they are emo themselves. Which led to some very short, but sweet answers. 

"I'm not emo! I'm hardcore!"  

"No I'm not emo! I'm Scene, totally different" 

"NO, I'm not emo. I'm goth, I just wear colours and make out with guys, well a few guys. I'm not gay" 

Yeah buddy, only real men wear pink nail polish.

But, from this, I'm sure you can relate. This "emo" trend turned out to be nothing more than a facade. 

Nick-Face