Ok, well my mind has been milling around a little bit recently (probably as I've had a couple of days off), so I thought I would blog my random recent thoughts... no particular order, and all names & characters are fictious and not based on true persons or events (or so my lawyers told me to say).
So, if you're in another country, far away from home + longing to travel to see the world - why do you spend your whole time getting pissed with other backpackers and not really seeing the country you're in? Working for a minimal paycheck to pay off the backpackers so you can stay for another week, and buy a winebox to get you on your way again...
Hmm... not sure if that's an Oz phenom or true around the world, I guess we weren't well positioned to know in Borneo as we were tee total and hidden in the jungles & kampungs...
Christmas Trees - a pagan tradition I believe, one that was taken on board by the Christians + now such an iconic image of Christmas around the world. They smell the same here in Oz, but have completely different needles - they're long + a bit weird... not like my family's epic 7 foot efforts from Scandinavia! Does anyone know if they're grown here, or imported?
Also, how the hell did we let Coca-Cola control Christmas? Well, at least Santa's costume? Was it the adverts that changed our perception of Santa's clothing, or what?? Wasn't St Nicholas the original figure Santa came from, and if so - wasn't he dressed in Green? Either way, MAJOR marketing coup by the Coke team - I hope whoever came up with that is still getting a royalty cheque!! TAKE IT BACK TO THE OLD SCHOOL I SAY, BRING BACK GREEN! (but then, that just wouldn't be Christmas, would it?!)
Fairy lights... now I know they look pretty, but why are the called fairy lights?
Sushi/Sushi Rolls, how can it be sooooo expensive in England, yet so cheap in Australia (I'm virtually living on it)?? It's great though - fish, rice & vegetables all in a little bite, with a bit of wasabi to spice things up a little. Let me guess it's too good to be true - is Wasabi carcinogenic... isn't everything declared as that these days? I heard recently black pepper is... well that's me screwed.
I have missed places before + wanted to go back - Africa being a prime example - but I've never thought "do you know what, I'd love to live there"... I may just be making a return in 2008 if I can find myself a job. Believe me, it's not just Raleigh blues, but I really miss the culture + people of Asia :o(
Kangaroo's can change their reproductive cycles, slowing things down by up to 18 months, speeding along a pregnancy, or even aborting a birth... how the hell did that come about? And why are they not found in any other continents?!? Surely if they're suited to the plains of Australia, they'd also thrive on some of the plains in Africa?
Apparently as I'm an Aries, I display certain common character traits with other members of my Sign. How? Why? Does this mean that the day + year I was born have determined my character because of the position of the planets? How can that be so?
Blogging in itself seems a weird phenomenon... I have no idea who is reading this, whether they like it, hate it, agree or disagree, yet I believe most of the people who read this are my friends and family! This whole virtual world has so many potentials - keeping in touch with 100's of people, but isn't it just giving us a very basic richness of relationships? Is it better to be "friends" (in facebook terms) with 350 people whom you know on a very limited level... or get to know 20 people through & through and have a highly rich personal relationship? You see, I would be tempted to say the latter... but I hate to lost touch with the other 320 people.... argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also I commented to a friend the other day about how technology was destroying various of our skills, like handwriting. Have you seen people's handwriting recently - people not much younger than myself who have always grown up with computers (not like us BBC computers at the age of 12 hardcore elite!)?? It's horrific, it often looks as if they haven't ever learnt to write properly. And then it occurred to me that they probably hadn't... on setting off on a rant about this, it also then occurred to me ~ 'why does it matter?'. These people and following generations aren't going to need to handwrite anything, as everything will be computerised! Scary thought, but realistic - novel for me!!
Graffiti seems to be everywhere in and around Melbourne - mainly on walls along the railway lines like in and around London. However they seem to have gone much bigger, bolder + more colourful, and it doesn't seem to be frowned upon in the same way as it doesn't enter onto the streets in quite such a base form of the 'tag'... I wonder whether it's more accepted, whether the walls are legalised + thus people can express themselves more freely, or whether it's because the sun is shining and people are more into their colour?
Finally, Fastfood. Why? 'It fulfills a need' I hear you cry... well, come on. If the likes of Nandos can do so well, and Sushi can be 'on tap' like it is over here, how can there ever be a
need for the likes of McDonalds? Oh my god, it's horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why would you do that to your body?! Go watch "Supersize Me" and come back and talk to me. Don't do it. Opt out.
Just Say No.
Right, enough is enough. I bid ye all a merry Tuesday, I am now ticking on into Wednesday and have to go slave away at the bar on the beach tomorrow, where it is supposed to be 31oC and overcast.
Living the dream? Well almost... just need to get me that job with the environmental organisation, and then I'm there.
Sleep well!
What better way to spend Christmas, than wearing a Santa Hat to avoid getting your head burnt, with your friends, drinking bubbles by the beach?! Some people say you can't have a hot Christmas, but I disagree!!!
Our evening then took us over to another friend's house for a bit, before heading down Acland Street) the main street in St Kilda where only 1 bar was open... luckily it is one of my favourites, and they had some Live Music - a funky jazz band who were belting out some tunes... perfect for the evening. We were even greeted warmly by the bar staff who hadn't seen anyone else in Christmassy get-up, and gave us free drinks as we were wearing our Santa hats :o)
All in all, a productive day, which sadly didn't finish till 3am... work on boxing day at noon was a bit of a struggle, and pulling an 11 hour shift wasn't the most welcome of Christmas presents from my bar, but what can you do.
