Merry Christmas 2009

Japan is an amazing country. I was a big fan before even visiting it and I am an even bigger fan after it. It has been just over two weeks since we got back but still the memories of ramen, quiet trains and trendy trendy japanese youngsters remains fresh. However, right now i'm in melbourne and i have no particular desire to write about our Japan travels until a later time...perhaps when i finally upload the rest of those photos. My hesitation in uploading has been due to my thoughts of disconnecting a little, but due to popular demand and my many international connections the online activity continues. For now anyway.

Merry Christmas all. Remember Jesus Christ, the reason for the season.

And happy boxing day. Remember capitalism, the reason for this other season. lol.

I spent the whole day shopping something massive in Melbourne city, but i only spent $2 on a DVD. I just don't need any more clothes or shoes! I do enjoy Melbourne though. From my limited experience of the city, i would say it may even outshine our own premier city Sydney.

Listening to Arcade Fire at 12:56am. I gotta get up in 7 hours for church. Hanging out with great company in Melbourne.

Cheerio!
kevman

http://www.houseofkloo.blogspot.com

Courtesy of timqth, I have made my own little tumblr. Click here for some pretty pictures in aesthetically appealing html presentation for your viewing pleasure!

I owe Tse Lynn a Japan blog perhaps?

Going through 3000 photos takes time unfortunately...bleagh.

http://www.houseofkloo.blogspot.com

Radiohead ftw

So i finished my radiohead binge last week. And it did not leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I learned several things from this little experiment:

1. I did not really tire of it. In fact i was strongly considering continuing on radiohead for the rest OF MY LIFE. but then i realised that i sorely missed my dear hayley. As talented as mr yorke is, sometimes i just a good ol' punk song to kick out the jams. As much as man does not live on bread alone, so too does he not live on one band alone.
   
2. It did not substantially alter my outlook on life. I did feel a little more negative about things, but this can be attributed to the 2 exams i have looking over my head like a cloud of bad dreams. (last exams EVER!). What it did change was my capacity and willingness to think a bit more about the bigger picture of existence and life. It drew out a dormant cynicism i have for much of life in ways i was not expecting, most in particular was the quote from last week i found from Steven Soderbergh about movies and how much i resonated with it. One could say that i was climbing up the walls a bit with it...I've wanted to read more than i ever have before, and i don't know if this is a side effect of radiohead in my head, or just my normal urge being enhanced, but the urge is there!
   
3. If you ever want to engage a bit more with your darker side, listen to radiohead for a week. Not Nine Inch Nails, that's a bit too dark. And not My Chemical Romance, that's a bit too emo. Radiohead is where it's at.
4. Radiohead is a genius name for a band.
   
5. Kid A is excellent and underrated.
   
6. I learned that 2+2=5 and that the ice age is indeed coming sooner than we expected.
7. I learned that 4th year medical and radiation physics is a bit too easy. But actually, I already knew that.
   

In conclusion, the qualitative nature of this experiment meant that any error encountered in data collection is negligible. Radiohead are a band with an extensive and varied back catalogue and can be used as a way to enhance one's mental capacity and ability to engage with intellectual materials (such as the study of physics and/or metaphysics). However, this may be done at the expense of one's ability to engage meaningfully and pleasantly with the outside world. It is recommended based on my findings that while it may be useful to listen to only one artist for a period of time, it is potentially unhealthy to extend this beyond any period outside of a week or a possibly fortnight without lasting side effects.



lol

*******************

This week, i listened to a lot of jeff buckley. Then i watched michael jackson's this is it. Tortured geniuses both too good for this earth. I have this theory (possibly heretical) that maybe every now and then, God sends down a soul too pure just to live out that the old adage the brightest candle burns out the fastest.


it's late and i like blogging when it's late. bahahahahaha.

I don't write songs for Sony.
I write songs for the people screaming
down the road in their car,
crying with the radio on full blast.

Jeff Buckley's diary. During the post-Grace period when he was experiencing pressure from his record company to write a 'couple of hits' for his second album My Sweetheart The Drunk. I watched his Grace Around the World DVD today and was reminded of how amazing and pure the man was as a musician and an artist. It's a real shame, even an injustice that he isn't as big in his own country as he is here in Australia or Europe. The bigger shame is that he died so young and so needlessly.


Do yourself a favour and listen to Jeff Buckley. Like NOW.

We watch all these movies and what do we have to show for it?

I read an interview with director Steven Soderbergh- the director of the Ocean's movies, and sex, lies and videotape (the rare breed to tread safely between commercial success and indie acclaim). And he had something remarkable to say:

...I'm not saying movies aren't influential; I just don't think they're important any more. There was a time when they were important culturally [and] I think they're as influential as ever, if not more, but that's not the same thing.

...It's not specific to films. I feel that way about all art right now. I'm not convinced it does anything any more. I look at what's happening in the world today, and I don't know how many stories about ourselves we need to tell before people stop killing each other. If the works of Shakespeare can't stop the Holocaust, then what is it worth? I'm being serious.

What good has it done us to read all of these great plays about all of these incidents and go, "Oh my God, what a tragedy that this person behaved that way", and there's no translation to what is happening around us. It's just the same thing over and over.

How's that for 21st century cynicism? We pump billions of dollars into the film industry, and spend countless hours being 'entertained'...and what do we really have to show for it? If we don't learn anything from it, whether it be an intellectual lesson, an emotional lesson, a political or social lesson, then there is something seriously wrong with the film culture we live in.

But then again, I LOVE Transformers. So what does that mean?

Just something to think about i guess.


As a post-script....i love Radiohead.

http://www.houseofkloo.blogspot.com

Jigsaw Pieces Falling Into Place

On day 3 of 5 of my Radiohead journey, I have found some interesting results.

The first thing i noticed when limiting myself to one artist for a week is that i listen to a lot of music. Over monday and tuesday alone, I had already listened to Kid A 3 times, The Bends once, OK Computer at least 1.5 times, Hail To The Thief twice and Pablo Honey once. In Rainbows featured twice at least and even now it is pumping through my brain. So I had virtually exhausted my Radiohead collection multiple times over within a period of less than 48 hours. I don't have Amnesiac or other live recordings...but i think I should...

As i looked back on the past two days, i realised the vast amount of time i spend with earbuds playing music directly to my brain. And for that matter, how much time we all spend with our personal music players in some sort of symbiotic relationship that effectively creates the cone of silence between us and the outside world. We sit at our computers and look at windows for hours at a day without so much as a hello or a smile to those sitting less than a metre away.

Never before have we been so connected, and never before have we been so disconnected.

Just an interesting thought i had.


I guess that's what Radiohead does to you. It makes you think a little bit.

Have i noticed any difference in life from listening to nothing but Radiohead? Nothing too noticeably different. Probably just made me think about things i already had going on in my head. The past two days have been wet and dreary, which fit quite nicely actually...but it'll be interesting to see how Radiohead will relate to this incoming hot weather in the next few days.

Fake Plastic Trees

The gimmick of the week is this: I officially declare this week Radiohead Week whereby I will perform a little social experiment and listen to nothing but Radiohead until Friday! The aim is to observe what effect this has on one's outlook on life and whether there is any quantifiable correlation between quality of said life and the amount of Thom Yorke in one's ears/mind/soul. The hypothesis is that it will be something of a challenging emotional journey, with the worst result being that I inexplicably start reading Stephanie Meyer novels.

Stay tuned for the final results, discussion and conclusions! (Scientific credibility of my findings up for debate).


Or maybe it's just because I've finished and handed in my thesis, and i just needed another experiment to fill in the time.

In Exile

I am in exile, a sojourner
A citizen of some other place
All I've seen is just a glimmer in a shadowy mirror
But I know, one day we'll see face to face

I am a nomad, a wanderer
I have nowhere to lay my head down
There's no point in putting roots too deep when I'm moving on
Not settling for this unsettling town

My heart is filled with songs of forever
The city that endures when all is made new
I know I don't belong here, I'll never
Call this place my home, I'm just passing through

I am a pilgrim, a voyager
I wont rest until my lips touch the shore
Of the land that I've been longing for as long as I've lived
Where they'll be no penalties anymore

beautiful words. It's also a beautiful song. So simple and elegant. The whole album is so rich in lyrical depth that I'm surprised they aren't as big as they should be. 10 points to whoever figures it out without googling it.

And for all you facebook kiddies out there, these posts are all found at my blog fyi.
http://www.houseofkloo.blogspot.com

Good night...and good luck.

Last. Lecture. Ever.

As a physicist, it's in my blood to love graphs and data processing/presentation in any form. Today we calculated that we spend on average 13,000 hours in class at school over 13 years, and about 2080 hours in uni class time over 4 years. Total class time was therefore 15,080 hours- approximately 620 days, or 1.5 years straight of education. Not much really, when you think about it...i asked, what have i been doing the rest of my life??

This is not counting time spent in study or lunch breaks or those all-important extra-curricular activities. It also does not account for any time we spent not going to class, or procrastinating on facebook. I think we can safely double the hours if we count study time etc. We did this mainly because we realised that we were about to have our last hour of official class lectures EVER at St George Hospital this evening. It was a moment to remember. A bittersweet moment in life as we passed another milestone along the proverbial road of life. Kind of like turning 20 i guess.

Anyway, i thought of that just then because i made a graph of my music tastes. It's late and i don't know why i'm still online. I ate a LOT of food tonight at Sizzler, and so i just don't feel healthy lying down with such a full stomach...

Enjoy the data!

Fig.1 Pie chart- global distribution of my music listening habits

Fig.2 Data breakdown including 'others' as in Fig.1

Table 1. Evidence that i just have too much time on my hands late at night. This is what happens when you write an honours thesisin physics. you start nerding out on everything in life.

brand new eyes

The new Paramore album is good.



But it needs more breakdowns!



Oi Paramore...DISRESPECT YOUR SURROUNDINGS!!

Life is like a poorly chosen analogy.

At first you think you understand it, but then you just get a little confused. It takes a second before you realise the absurdity behind the analogy. Then you get angry at the guy who told you the analogy in the first place. Then you punch him in the face and leave.

So next time someone pulls out a poor analogy on you, make sure he doesn't do it again.

Call me elitist if you want, but it just kind of annoys me when things i used to like get way too popular. Trends of recent:

Poladroid
Muse
Bubble Tea
Skating
Black and white photo print shirts


Doesn't mean i don't love them still, but it just makes me cringe a little. What trends have you seen become too popular for your own liking? I know you know what i'm talking about.

That is all.

Sometimes I make excel spreadsheets for fun

When did we become so photo-obsessed? The proliferation of digital compact cameras in modern life clogs the information superhighways with debris and throwaway shots of faces and arms extended in an attempt to capture the our faces in the moment [it has become something of a gross information overload]. Dark nightclub, early bushwalk, on the beach, chilling with your girl/boy, travelling the sights of europe, at the cafe with mates, playing wii, sitting at home doing absolutely nothing..........take a photo. Post it. Tag it. Comment it. Forget all about it.

I write this just because i am backing up all the photos on my hard drive so i can delete some and make some space. In the years of 2006 and prior we had 6000 photos on our computer. This past US trip in 5 weeks, we had 7000 photos ALONE. Between the years of 2007 and 2009, we have about 17,000 photos now. You know what? I'm going to make a graph...

*45 minutes later*


According to this trend, I will take approximately 24,276 photos next year. This equates to approximately 1TB of hard disc space. (That's 1000GB). Now this is actually not unreasonable, as there are a large number of important 21sts coming up...in fact, i consider this something of a challenge! 24,000 photos in one year? too easy. But let's look even further in the future!

If i get married by age, let's say 25 (wishful thinking perhaps? hahahahaha), in the year 2014, there should be about 770,219 photos in that year, which equates to 3.08TB of memory............stop and ask yourself, how much computer memory does it take to hold a man's life?

********************

The point of all this, is that i'm just backing up photos from my iphoto library all the way back from 2007...and frankly i am astonished at how many photos there are!!! So i made a spreadsheet to pass the time while burning the DVD backups. (It's gonna take 10 DVDs or so to do it...)...I don't usually make spreadsheets for fun.......unless they're about quantum wave mechanics!!!!!

The real burning question i have is what on earth are we supposed to do with all these photos? It's not like our parents' photos, which they keep in little plastic baggies hidden away behind the towels and linen. One day we are cleaning the house and we stumble upon these precious sepia memories and we laugh at the fashion and the hair. We handle the photos with care, lest the silver halide come off on our fingers or our fingerprints blemish our grandparents' immaculate wedding scene skin. We respect and cherish the past, because it is precious in its scarcity.

Maybe 50 years from now, when our kids are cleaning our houses, they will stumble upon our old facebook pages, or our old hard drives and look back with that fondness of nostalgia we seem to treasure so dearly...they will look at our awkwardly posed faces and camwhoring and be in awe of a world so foreign to their own.



somehow i don't think this is likely.

"death by your faith is the white noise of the world"

- Jeff buckley. Eternal Life.

Videos Of Me Eating Things

We took a camcorder to the US. I took a lot of footage, of which i'm not entirely sure what i am to do with. So why not make some slightly entertaining youtube videos? The song is Stevie by Lisa Mitchell. I like the beat.

I also really like american food. Peanut butter oreos are amazing. and the burgers are actually exciting! we ate a lot of burgers.

back in the gong.

It's been a week since we were in the land of the free/home of the brave and for the most part it's been good. I did miss a lot of uni, so there is some catching up to do there- most of which has already been covered in a few days...does this speak to the quality of the honours year in my particular area of degree?...probably haha.

However, the more important thing has been catching up with friends and the wollongong mode of life.

While it always seems like nothing ever changes when you return from a long holiday, you do return with brand new eyes (paramore @ soundwave!!) and things do take on something of a new light. People's faces look that little bit friendlier, the sky looks a little bluer, and even uni work seems less of a drag with each passing day (well, kind of...). This is simply another example of cliched proverbs finding perfect application in real life- that absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder.

Our final days in the US were spent wandering the streets of New York, missing a connecting flight in LA, and gaining a bonus day in LA which we spent at a beach and an airport. As I have shared with some people already, we spent so long in New York we almost felt like it was our 2nd temporary home, so by the end of it we were sick of tourist things and were basically walking miles and miles between meals.

I wanted to go to a hip hop dance class- drop-in at 10:30 for $18- at a pretty well-known dance centre courtesy recommended by a friend (thanks Laura!) buuuuuuut unfortunately by the time my family got ready and we left the hotel it was too late. We had no plan that day. We decided to walk south a couple of miles towards chinatown for lunch and figure it out from there. I saw some people lining up for MTV show It's On With Alexa Chung. Taking Back Sunday were playing the Monday after we lef the US, but i didn't know that at the time. I asked the girl in line: "what are you lining up for?", "It's On With Alexa Chung" sounded like "Race On With Electrons Song"or something..."Uh, ok".

The day consisted mostly of walking through the heat and doing some last minute lower east side shopping.

Chinatown lunch was awesome- great malaysian place called Nyonya. Funny how we had to travel all the way to New York to find great authentic malaysian food. That night, Sara and i did manage to attend a Blue Man Group performance off-Broadway in an intimate venue called the Astor Theatre- the original home of Blue Man Group. It was beautifully unique, entertaining and even poignant at moments- it blew me away. Definitely something to take the family to. Or judging by the couple making out in front of me, a prospective spouse. We had late night pizza afterwards.

I miss late night pizza.

Heck, i miss late night anything. Wollongong is so dead past 9:30. And no, wollongongnightlife.com.au does NOT count.

*****************

Looking back on our time in the US, i see many things i loved. Enough to make me realise that life in Australia is sorely lacking in many departments. But there's always a flipside to the coin, and there are things lacking in America that only Australia has. Spending a week in LA, DC, and Boston at a time allowed us to really adapt to the local environment and holidaying as the Loos do, we managed to see a lot of things not included on any tour package.

There are many little things i miss in the US already. For example:

1. the vast variety of fast foods and restaurant chains. Its bountiful glory and financial ease is countered by none. Carl's Jr., Sbarro, Panda Express, Wendy's, Jack In A Box, In 'N Out Burger, Denny's, IHOP, Johnny Rocket's...if you know me, you know i like food. Just writing this is making me hungry.
   
2. shopping is so cheap and the shops are great. But little less could be expected from the birthplace of capitalism.
3. Frozen yogurt shops. Yum.
   
4. DISNEYLAND!
   

As well as these, there were many things that impressed me on a deeper level as well.

1. Being azn in America vs being azn in Australia. very very interesting topic. I think i will save this for another post in the future.
   
2. The sense of national identity and patriotism is much more than a 'sense'. It's a way of life. Politics is simply so much more engaging there.
   
3. The Christian experience is also very different and intriguing in the US when compared with here.
   
4. DISNEYLAND!
   

Obviously, the trip has given me a lot to think about. Still mulling them through my head. And will be for a while i think!

In the meantime, i soothe the drudgery of everyday life with quality hang outs with quality people and the smooth smooth taste of bubble tea.


(:

Our US adventure draws to a close. My posts are getting short because...i don't know why. Sometimes these things just happen.

Today we watched Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors in the Boston Commons (a park in the middle of the city). It made me laugh. We ate a lot of dim sum for lunch. A ridiculously pretty girl served me frozen yogurt with strawberries, mochi and Cap'n Crunch (on her recommendation) after dinner.

It is 1:36am and mum is folding the laundry that just came out of the dryer and I am listening to Thrice- Of Dust And Nations. I was such a doon for not realising they weren't playing my Warped date. (-.-"). Mum just hit me telling me to go to sleep.

Tomorrow we catch a bus back to new york for 2 more days, and then we fly back. Awww. Life in the US is tre bien. But it will be good to be back home in my own bed after a month or so of living out of a suitcase.

Cheerio

Fyi, I'm in Boston Massachusetts right now! I spend a lot of time in bookstores and pretending I go to Harvard.

That is all.

Trike in the park

I spied a colourful plastic kid's trike out the back of Michelle's apartment last Wednesday when we arrived in Washington DC (actually Arlington, VA). It was sitting neglected and forlorn on the grass. A week later, it had been inconspicuously moved to the side of the garbage bins. I decided to take it for a ride because the swimming pool was closed. I spun the pedals with some difficulty, and found the smallest of raised concrete an uphill battle. But when i was cycling around the path at a speed able to instill awe into any 3 year old who happened to be watching my comical gangly appearance, i was outside myself for a few minutes. Disembodied in the purity of the moment. 

When i completed my circuit, a van pulled up in the parking lot adjacent. A young lady and two children clambered out. The youngest boy had a balloon pegged to his shirt at the back. I forget what was on the balloon, but it was a foil balloon and had red edges. He saw the trike and stumbled towards us as his older sister and brother went to their apartment. As he came towards us, he displayed a curious habit. He waved hello and stopped. Waved hello and stopped. Waved hello and stopped, until he finally reached his objective. We of course obliged and waved back as often as we were greeted. 

The wonderment of a child's glee was not lost on us. 

He stole the trike away from us and pushed it backwards to hide behind a tree near his house as dad, sara and i walked back to michelle's apartment. As we departed, the young boy waved goodbye to us for a long time. And as i walked away i thought i'd play along...so i waved goodbye and stopped. Waved goodbye and stopped. 

We all waved goodbye...

I'm guessing the trike belonged to the young korean boy who lives across the grass. 

Today we helped bolster the flailing American economy by spending 8 hours in an outlet mall from 2:30 to 9:30. I surprised myself by actually enjoying the experience.

I high-fived a guy working in a shoe shop because I was wearing my Muse shirt. He had studs in his cheeks.


That is all.

Proof that i actually am overseas

I spent the day at Warped Tour. It's quite different to festivals we have in aussie- with heaps of free stuff, cheap merch and opportunities to meet and greet. I met Underoath, Wade from Alexisonfire, almost met meg and dia (but sara opted to go watch underoath instead- i was keen for some hot korean-american indie chick signing action cos i have seen underoath like 4 times before), and Versa Emerge (very cool bunch of people).

But that;s not what this post is about. Here's a photo. One out of about 900 or so photos so far on this trip. Warped was a tiring experience especially considering that we landed in NYC at 5:45 in the am, and accounting for the time difference between east and west coast. sooooooo i put up only one photo.

Have a photo from a day that is definitely going to be difficult to top.

Disneyland baby. I want to go back there. and/or California Adventure Park across the road. (:

I <3 LA

This week has lasted so long! It's been great. I can't believe i still have another 3 and a half weeks here. I'd be happy and satisfied even if i went home after LA, let alone New York, Boston and DC etc.

We spent Wednesday to Thursday in Vegas. A 4.5 hour drive through the desert heat...As an example of how the Loos holiday quite fluidly, we planned to leave at 5 in the morning, but we got home from Disneyland at about 1am the night before (Disneyland btw was friggin' awesome- anthony your photo challenge was met, but only on space mountain. I had way too much fun there). We woke up at like 11:30 and ended up leaving for Vegas at 2:30pm.

Vegas was HOT HOT HOT. In faranheit it was 108, which translates to 42 celsius in the day. The night wasn't much cooler to be honest. We walked around til 3am, then slept til 12. It was interesting visiting Las Vegas straight after Disneyland. Like one theme park to another- of course the former is a theme park for adults. City of sin! Haha. But in the end, once you've seen one casino, you've seen them all.

Anyway, it's good to be back in LA. Rented some bikes on Venice beach and rode for 40 minutes when all of a sudden we realised we were at Santa Monica beach, the same spot from 4 days previous! It was a beautiful cool beach day and the Venice beachside is very hip and happening.

Food in the US is very cheap. And we watched Harry Potter today (which was also friggin' awesome) at the matinee screening for $6. There's very little i'm not liking about it here.

(:

We leave tomorrow night for NY at 9pm. Arrive there at 5:45 am local time (2:45am LA time), then we drive to New Jersey about an hour away for Warped Tour on Sunday. Sara's been sick (we've kind of passed the flu/cough around the house) so hopefully she won't die or anything from a combination of lack of sleep and music and heat on the day.

Day 1 and/or 2

It's 1:18am.

All you need to really know is that i'm in California- a city (town?) called Diamond Bar about 45 minutes to 1 hour from downtown LA. We're staying with old family friends (mum's old college mate) and it's been good. Can't say i feel too jetlagged- although i did wake up at 7:20 this morning.

It's really sunny and hot over here. Hit up the Getty art centre and then Santa Monica beach today. It's been fascinating having a local's side to things. Life here seems similar at first but oh-so different upon closer scrutiny. Mostly in the way that LA fuctions as multiracial city. Quite eye-opening.

Even though this is only our first day, it feels like we've been here for a week, because...i don't know why. The familiarity with our lovely hosts perhaps?

In short, we're here for a week. I think we're planning either a Vegas or a San Fran trip in the middle of the week. We're not too sure yet. Which do you prefer- 4hour or 7hour drive? That's the real dilemma. haha. Keep in mind i'm not 21 yet, and it's a family vacation so Vegas just has some nice buildings and shiny lights as far as we can tell...?

I managed to watch 6 movies on the plane. EPIC! They were all of good quality except Monsters Vs Aliens, which wasn't as funny or clever as i thought it'd be. Then there was Push, American Teen, RocknRolla, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and Burn After Reading. My eyes were quite red afterwards.

It is now 1:24am. As far as you can tell, all you probably care to know is that i'm in LA.

Cheerio
kevman

Yes, it's a post about Michael Jackson

This is a special post because i am writing from downstairs and not the usual office. I'm sitting in front of the TV watching Entertainment Tonight's recap of Michael Jackson's memorial service. I have a confession to make- i just watched 4 hours of Michael Jackson on tv (nearly 5) and I enjoyed every minute of it. 

It may surprise you that Michael Jackson is actually quite a significant  part of my childhood. Locked away in my subconscious are the beats, the moves and the lyrics of many a Jackson song. It was only while watching tonight's memorial service that i remembered the connection i had with him (Moonwalker was a childhood favourite, and we had a lot of music videos and concerts on VHS). I've recently admitted that despite the indie and metalcore tendencies i have today, i confusingly felt that i can be a hip hop kid at heart, and tonight I finally understood where this comes from- it traced back to Michael Jackson! 

Even if you're sick of hearing about it, you can't admit that his memorial service wasn't moving- especially when his daughter took the mic and broke down...that is something i won't be forgetting in a while. There were some great words spoken, both emphatically and softly and i was glad i got to witness it. Last night, i stayed up until 2am waiting for the live online broadcast but i gave up with an hour to go...it was too friggin' cold! But i know that if i had stayed up, i wouldn't've been dissatisfied with it.

After the memorial tonight, there was a concert on TV, which i swear we had on VHS so i watched Michael Jackson Live in Bucharest. It was one of those experiences of finding an old childhood relic that triggers all the memory and cloudiness of nostalgia. It's the little things i recognised- the glass coffin in the Thriller set, the 'super lean' in Smooth Criminal, the shouts of' 'woo' and 'ah hee hee'...things i had long since forgotten. It was nice to say the least. And with my older, wiser eyes and ears, i appreciated it a little bit more. especially the finale, when he randomly puts on a jumpsuit and helmet, gets a jetpack and flies offstage...bizarre! And the crowd loved it!

Entertainment Tonight just finished, and now the television is off. The house is quiet as my whole family is sleeping. I haven't been out much since i have been sick and only now just feeling healthy. Today i ate a lot. Tomorrow is a mystery. The day after tomorrow, we fly off to America and we won't be back until mid-august. i don't really know what to do with myself over there. My mind isn't on that straight these days. 

But it'll be good to get away from it all just for a little bit. 

I will close with the wise and inspiring words of Michael Jackson- "Shamon girl!" 

 

I got da flu

I got da flu.

America should fix that.

That's it.

PHYS452- Medical Imaging

The worst part of only having one exam that is the easiest subject i've ever done is that it is not for another 5 days and I can't shirk it off! It's like a bad dream hanging over me and I know it should be a pretty easy exam, but I can't shake off the feeling i should be studying more in the offchance that it is a difficult exam! I think it's mostly because it was such an easy subject that if i did badly the final i will just drop out of uni in shame. Or as in BM, it will be very malu...

In the meantime, Thrice are really really good. Was watching their House Of Blues dvd last night and i love the depth of their sound even though they are only a 4-piece. Their balance between light and dark, heavy and pretty music is quite exceptional. Super excited for VANS WARPED TOUR ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha (July 19th, New Jersey). Bought tickets the other week and they're so cheap compared to our international line-ups...which makes sense since america is where they're from actually.

Others i'm looking forward to are:

• Alexisonfire
• Underoath
• Chiodos
• A Day To Remember
• The Devil Wears Prada
• A Skylit Drive
• Anti-Flag
• Meg and Dia (chiiiiiiicks!)
• Gallows
• Dance Gavin Dance
• Flogging Molly
• VersaEmerge etc etc (admittedly i've seen most of these before...but not on Warped!)

I'm hoping to flaunt my aussie accent and gain backstage access to the whole show. Should be fairly successful i think! "Hi i've travelled 156 hours from Wollongong to get here. Love me!"

I am currently listening to Taking Back Sunday who are not playing Warped tour, but are also very very good! gotta get the new album sooooooooon. I am also learning to love Dillinger Escape Plan. These get me through the drudgery of exam periods...

hmm...

It's cold when it's dark

It's been a while between posts. Have I been super busy recently? Yes. And it's not like there haven't been many things to write about. In fact, it's probably the opposite. There have been too many things to write about that it's like cramming a storm in a teacup- the storm being life, and the teacup being my propensity to deal with it.  

So we're past the halfway point of 2009, and it's all downhill from here. It's getting colder by the hour, and when it's dark it rains. Every day is a perfect day to spend indoors. Which kind of helps for my study habits (for which I only have one exam...*sigh*) but tends to make one a bit dreary and wistful.  

As 4th year students with annual projects, we don't really get a midyear break as we're expected to finish collecting experimental data before 2nd semester. However, as the Loos are heading to America in July-August, I have a forced holiday and so have to cram 8 weeks of thesis work into 4. 

Autumn is as good a time of year to do it in than any other. 

Piano Girl

Here's a piece of rare inspiration where I knew what i actually wanted to draw before I drew it. A girl with a piano strung to her wrist like a balloon. In my head, the piano is her best friend and they have adventures in the forest.

I like to tell myself it's a work in progress.

********************

I officially declared this week 'no facebook' week, just for fun- so no facebook for me. Just cleaning out my itunes and hard drive at the moment. Hurrah.

Today was defined in the things I didn't do.

I didn't go to morning fitness because she didn't tell me what time it was on. 

I didn't have cereal for breakfast because there were crumpets on the kitchen bench.

I didn't go to uni at 9:30 because I slept in. 

I didn't go to Bible study because I didn't feel like it.

I didn't finish my book because I saw an old friend.

I didn't say hi because I didn't know how she'd react. 

I didn't have tutoring because he was sick.

I didn't watch that movie because he was watching TV.

I didn't have that conversation because she didn't pick up the phone. 

I didn't laugh because it simply wasn't funny. 

Neopolitan Dreams

Here is a slightly dramatised/romanticised recount of last night:

She walked onstage as gentle as a falling autumn leaf- unassuming and gorgeous in her finely honed act of vulnerability. Her little red bow shone with the reflected glory of stage lights. It struck him across the room like an icy dart to each eye. Then she sang some songs and stole his heart. The room was silent, save for the flutter of the hummingbirds that carried his heart away.

If she needed a coin for her laundry, he would buy her a washing machine. If she wanted to change the setlist, he would start her a new band. If she wanted to have a morbidly uplifting conversation with a dead person, he would die for her. No one else in the room existed. She was singing to him. Her awkward dance moves were for him. He wanted to just give her a big hug and take her away from the dark mystery of the world away from the stage.

Later that night, she was at the bar. Their eyes met and they talked. His friends and he took a photo and they awkwardly requested her penmanship. His very soul jolted with each curve of the pen. She only came to his shoulder and was so young it shocked him slightly. He bought her a drink and they got talking about her music. She had just finished school and he was nearing the end of university. She was going to England and he just wanted to get out. She nervously scratched her left wrist as he bought a round of Cokes.

“I remember you from the TV. I didn’t know people still existed after that,”
“Yeah I was supposed to die…”

It was his turn to laugh nervously. The hummingbirds could not carry the weight of his heart as the reality of the chasm between fantasy and reality opened before them. Animals of such small wingspan could simply not traverse such a distance. The hummingbirds faltered in their charming flight path and his heart dropped like a suicidal stockbroker. His friends had left him 24 minutes earlier. He had to salvage the moment…

“Thanks for the Coke,”

She stood up from the bar. As she turned her head, he just caught the scent of her hair. It hit him like seaspray- fleeting but refreshing. And the night carried her away like the autumn leaf she would always be in his dreams. What could have, or should have been, simply did not matter to the world.

He would see her at the next concert.

Elephant Leg Neck Girl

So it's that time of year again where I show up another sketch i drew for no other reason than to be an active part of the wonderful self-indulgent tool we call blogging...so here goes nothing!

The days are slow and grey, like a scratched silent movie no one cares to watch. Only a handful of well-dressed folk would even stop to consider and appreciate the string of events unfolding before them...perhaps they will write essays. They may or may not follow deconstructionist theories on how the author was simply dealing with deep and complex 'daddy issues', or whether it was a Dadaist examination of the absurd and the meaninglessness of art, the universe and everything. They can deconstruct all day long...but before they know it they will go home to listen to their Joy Division records in the dark and drink their red wine. I must admit that I've never listened to Joy Division, but I know they are from Manchester.

Right?

I visited Manchester once. We played football in a park near my cousin's house. On the way to the park, we had to pass through a muddy undergrowth that was no doubt frequented by delinquents and homeless alike. There was a discarded mattress on the wayside. I wondered what memories lay coiled within the springs. If we were to ask those springs of their past, they would most likely jump up and sting us right in the eye.

"Ow my eye! I'm not supposed to get springs in it!"


The days are slow and grey...and yet before you know it, it's autumn. It's winter. It's spring. It's summer. It's autumn. It's winter. It's spring. It's summer. It's autumn again...and you're already a season older than you last remember.

Everything's the same...and then before you know it,
everything changes.

**************************

I wish I could get some rest in the shade of the tree. I would join the little folk and rejoice under their goddess of the elephant leg- with her finely coiffured head of hair. We could all be happy together- singing, dancing, drinking and eating. Perhaps i would meet a girl and we would laugh and discuss quantum mechanics. She would introduce me to her brother and we would start talking about our love for music. Several months later we could start a band and play regular shows in the shade of the magical tree of idolatry (idola-tree?). We would touch eternity and embrace life in the fullest...but then I remember that it's just a crappy little drawing i made when listening to the new Howling Bells album.

They cancelled their aussie tour.

Here's the drawing.


*********************

As a little footnote unrelated to my emo-ing it out with my stream-of-consciousness drivel, I watched Invisible Children last night. It was incredibly moving not just to see the Ugandan kids' resilience in horrendous situations, but to see how three average american dudes made a simple, honest video 6 years ago about their 'African adventures' and how that completely and utterly magnified into a global call for justice and action. Simply amazing. I recommend you watch Invisible Children if you get the chance. There are currently more than 3000 kids under the rule of Mr. Joseph Kony in northern Uganda. He is fighting a pointless war that has lasted more than 20 years and is kidnapping and terrorising without any sign of stopping. Unfortunately i'm not sure if i can join the rally in sydney on saturday, but it has woken me up to the need for change in this world.

And how one voice can make a difference. If you believe in yourself.

You can achieve anything.


(end cliche here)


Kloo

I <3 Physics

Note: i wrote this earlier today. Even earlier today, i also wrote a long-ish blog about hanging out in the lab and how amusing it was to be blogging on a computer located in a hard science lab and then discovered that windows 95 just ain't what it used to be...and then i lost the post. Let me recap as best I can:

I'm sitting in a small room located in a larger room known as the medical and radiation physics (computer) lab. I am surrounded by a mass of wires and miscellaneous science equipment i will probably never use. In the corner is a small safe containing radioactive sources. Next door, my experiment is running and i check on it every 10 minutes to read a simple voltage measurement. There are 2 PhD fellows also present who up until now have been speaking rapid-fire Italian as they continue to play with their electrical signals. They are strangely quiet now.

And here i sit blogging.

Ah the life of an experimental physicist!

Because that's right guys...after 6 weeks of 'lit review' (basically bludging around at home watching Battlestar Galactica) i have FINALLY started work on my honours project! So it is with great irony that i have done more work in the past two days of my easter holidays than i have in the entire semester! So far so good ay.

As you can tell however, it is nothing particularly challenging and i have time to sit here read a book and work on a sudoku (which incidentally is rated 'tough' today NOTE: i never finished it...). I even read an article about the new Wolverine movie and found myself less cynical about it. (which leads me to my next topid: allow me to 'geek out' for a minute).

My original cynicism was based on the Hollywood mass-popularisation of a much-loved and revered character and his history. Wolverine's comic history took many decades to unfold and his mysterious background is very much part of his allure. Now Hollywood is going to present it to a largely undiscerning audience and everyone is just going to take his Origin story for granted on a simplistic basis. Which it very much is not.

But then again i realised how fanboy elitist this was and now my mind is slowly changing.

Wow i had no intention to write about wolverine. it kind of just came out. As you can tell, this experiment is most definitely taking up much of my mind. Haha.

Here's an awesome picture i'll always remember: Magneto removing wolverine's adamantium by force. A very painful process i assume...

Thanks for reading.

***************

Katoomba Easter Convention was amazing and it was such an enriching weekend and met many interesting people. We're all BFFs by now. Go Ecclesiastes (life is meaningless people)! Check out my photos on facebook. I made them look all pretty and nice. Maybe i'll draw a comic about the weekend.

The Weekend I Indulged My Arty Side

Semi-Permanent is a pretty big and highly regarded design conference that draws relatively big names from the graphics industry to talk. For example, there was a speaker from Digital Domain the company who worked on Benjamin Button and Transformers and POTC, a speaker who does chemical brothers albums covers, and the guy who designed the Abraham Obama image...so thanks Chrisy for the free ticket. Or Matt. Or whoever you are. It was a great day, and i just love any exuse to catch a train to Sydney anyway.

I went to a zine fair today. It was part of the weekend i will keep in memory as the 'weekend i indulged my arty side the most i've ever done for a long long time'. A zine is a little self-published magazine you make about any topic and distribute to others. It's like a blog but in paper form. Very quaint and arty.

I did a comic workshop in the morning and the above image was the result. All the attendees' comics were compiled in a zine. I drew that in 20 minutes. It was an OK workshop, but i felt kind of sorry for the conductor who was a quiet-spoken 'zinemaster'. Kind of the typical bookish type, but he's done well for himself.

I was surrounded by impossibly trendy people all weekend.
I enjoyed it somewhat and made me wonder what life would've been like had i followed my childhood dreams of being a cartoonist/animator. Maybe i'll just have to fulfill my childhood dreams of being a scientist musician instead.

A certain Franz Ferdinand lyric comes to mind a lot lately-
'I love your friends, they're all so arty.'
You know who you are.

:)

So basically, I got home from a 3 hour band practice at about 11pm. There is no mamak in aussie, so mcdonald's had to do. It was very intense at the jam studio. I got very sweaty and there were woodchips everywhere. I can feel my hands callousing up gradually. Our music is pretty darn epic these days. We play a show on saturday so that'll be very fun. First time with Beau our new 4th member; bassist. (:

(check out our myspace link on the left of the page)

And also basically, i came on the computer cos i wanted to play Mirror's Edge for a little bit but ended up on the blackholes of facebook and msn.

Guess a bit of socialising never hurt anyone. Even if it is online.

Apparently, I have uni these days too...but it's been preeetty easy so far (week 4). Almost too easy...it makes me feel a bit uneasy...

Kevin. Out

I miss Coldplay/.

Viva La Coldplay or Coldplay And All Their Friends

Sat 14 Mar – Coldplay, Mercury Rev, Decoder Ring
(originally posted on my last.fm as usual!)

In rough chronological order.

* Leave Wollongong at 9:45am. Beef pho noodles lunch at Flemington. Line up at 12:45pm.

*Read Neil Gaiman's Coraline. Meet fellow Coldplay aficionados. Sit for 6 hours.

*Stand for 15 minutes. Sit for another 45.

*See two support bands who are good, but not Coldplay.

*Breakdancing crewman with a broom. Blue Danube Waltz.

* Sparklers behind a black curtain.

* Life in technicolor. Massive singalong [see title].

* Clocks and lasers. Hyperactive frontman with a more-than-infectious energy.

* Giant screen projection balls.

* Confetti-filled yellow balloons. More singalong.

* John Farnham crowd chorus.

* Unexpected dance remix medley side of stage.

* Swinging on strawberries ("such a perfect day" indeed)

* Beautiful rendition of Hardest Part on piano with Postcards From Far Away coda. Hyperactive frontman stuffs up and apologises.

* Hyperactive frontman hits himself in the head with drumstick and cuts his brow (Lost).

* Snatching paper butterflies from the air (Japan).

* Shane Warne. Green Eyes.

* POLITIK.

* Death closer...more massive singalong.

* Scientist encore. Life In Technicolor 2 massive finish.

* Big big smile.


In short, the Coldplay show made me want to actually better myself as a person. 7 hours of waiting was well more than worth our spot up the front. I forgot how much I really can love this band. Recently I have been too caught up in the hardcore dancing of the scene kids, that I forgot that I can just stand and listen to the music- feel and absorb the pure energy of a crowd hooked on every lyric and note.

For that, I thank you Coldplay! Viva La Vida is taking on a life of its own. And rightly so.

It's really hard to do concert photography with a
compact digital camera ok? More photos on fb to come!

Dear Chris

Dear Mr Martin and co.,

I understand you are currently the world's biggest band, and with little competition this isn't too hard tif we're going to be perfectly frank with ourselves here. I understand that what started out as a more appeasing Radiohead-inspired musicality has somehow morphed into a commercial radio juggernaut. I also understand that this is why I forked out $140 for your show tomorrow.

While many deride your skills as songwriters, I applaud you for uniting so many as only music can. While my own tastes have changed since the days of Parachutes, my love has been recently rekindled and I am actually kind of giddy at the thought of tomorrow night.

I missed the X&Y tour, so i'm looking forward to what i assume is going to be an unforgettable night. I've heard good things so far, so please don't screw it up for us. And if it's not too much to ask, make a little eye contact with me. Or something.

Haha.

Sincerely,
Kevin Loo

Tree Head

Although her tree is old, bare and never bears fruit, the birds return each and every spring. In the winter the bark becomes coarser and harder while the large crack down its body grows ever so slightly. Sometimes she worries that as time goes on the crack will eventually break her tree and the birds will no longer have a home for the spring. She worries so much that she forgets to ride a bike, wash the dishes, watch her favourite TV show, go to class, swim at the beach, watch the sunset, read a book, call a boy...........it fills her with a profound melancholy as deep as the roots of the tree reach into the earth for sustenance.

It is winter now and the birds are away, floating on a distant breeze as gentle as the hair of a new born baby. They will not return for a season or so. Until then, the tree dries slowly only to become a fraction of a whisper of its former glory.


She prays for the birds to return, but she can only hear the cool breeze echoing in the hollow of her tree.

Procrastination catches up dangerously fast...

Thanks Cassie and Sloo. Another tag, but i can't resist this one. Haha.
As Josh said, 'you're just pumping the stereotype'

It doesn't get more azn than pokemon cosplay.

If you're Asian you GOTTA take this quiz
If you're not, envy the Asians
So, how 'asian' are you?????

[x] Both of your parents are from Asia
[ ] You were born in Asia
[x] You use the term "Azn"
[x] You think DDR is cool
[x] You've watched lots of anime
[ ] You like Korean drama
[x] You have stuff hanging on your phone
[ ] Your parents want you to marry within your own race
[x] You eat rice almost everyday
[ x] You drink lemon tea

X's so far: 7

[ x] You style your hair
[x] You have a bebo/myspace/friendster
[x] You speak languages other than English
[ ] Your parents are strict compared to other REALLY asian parents
[x] Your parents have high expectations of you
[x] You always get A's/B's on your report
[x] You do Chemistry/Biology/Physics/

Accounting
[x] You know your multiplication table
[ x] You play badminton or table tennis
[ ] You've seen the asian version The ring/The grudge

X's so far: 14

[ x] You go/want to go to a university and would NEVER consider an apprenticeship
[x] You own an asian car (Honda, Toyota, etc)
[x] You're not the only child
[x] You've gotten little red envelopes around February
[x] You know the difference between kung fu, karate and tae kwon do
[ x] (If you're a girl)You prefer white guys over asian guys (If you're a guy) You prefer asian girls
[x ] Your mother tries to bargain even though the product is already discounted
[ x] You can do the rubiks cube
[x] You have a box of noodles somewhere in your house
[x ] You play video games

X's so far: 24 wee perfect round

[x] Every time you're going out your parents ask you where you're going and what time you'll be home
[ ] You have karaoke at home
[x] You know BOA/Gazette/Ayumi Hamasaki/Gackt
[ x] You've been to a LAN more than 3 times.
[ ] You have incense sticks/moth balls in your house
[x ] You own a gaming console
[x] You play a musical instrument
[x] You don't wear shoes in your house
[x] You can use chopsticks
[x] You get nothing if you do well in school

X's so far: 32

[ ] Your parents won't let you go out if you have school the next day
[x] You have asian songs on your computer/iPod
[ ] You don't like football(soccer)
[ ] You have a curfew
[ ] You know what ulzzang/tb means
[ ] You know what purikura is
[x] You like bubble tea
[ xxxxxx] Your parents bought you shoes many sizes too big so you can "grow into it" and wear it for years to come (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!)
[x ] You've played final fantasy
[ ] You believe in fortune cookies

X's so far: 36

[x] You know what bok choy is
[ x ] You've heard the song "Got rice?"
[x ] You have a tutor (I am a tutor. so yes.)
[ x] You've had pockys/yan yan before
[ ] When you seek for your mother's permission she replies "Ask your dad"

X's so far: 40

Your total x 2
Result: 80%

That's a distinction biatches.
Now go and hug a panda or something.

Visits Don't Happen Often Enough

It was a beautiful, action-packed two days that just passed. I skipped things I was supposed to do but we were entertaining international visitors so it was excusable. It should definitely happen more often but alas uni starts in less than 2 days and it turns out that Malaysia is sometimes just too far for a weekend trip to Wollongong. Nonetheless I was very glad that some from my other home got to experience our original home and life, albeit for just a day. It was beyond our normal activity for sure, but just a glimpse of what Wollongong is really all about.

And then the next day (after an impromptu overnight stay) the city of Sydney looked more attractive than ever to me.

Our time together though has made me miss Malaysia that little bit more...but I can still manage a smiley.

(:

Wollongong beaches are the best. Wollongong cannons are also the best.

SOUNDWAVE! SOUNDWAVE! SOUNDWAVE! (this was our mantra in the car on the way up from Wollongong)

SEE LAST.FM JOURNAL HERE

SSSSSSOOOOUUUWNAVAVEVADEAAAAVVVVEEEEEEEEE!!!!@@@!!111

SOUNDFREAKINGWAVE tomorrow!!!!!! Here's my list (in chronological order) if anyone's interested:

1. Riverboat Gamblers
2. Chiodos
3. All That Remains
4. Silverstein
5. Bayside
6. The Subways
7. Forever The Sickest Kids
8. Underoath
9. Hellogoodbye
10. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
11. Minus The Bear
12. Dillinger Escape Plan
13. 36 Crazy Fists
14. Billy Talent
15. New Found Glory
16. Say Anything
17. Emery
18. Nine Inch Nails Green means hellz yeah!! It's going to be a good day and I ain't stopping from 11:40 am until 10:00pm!
    

*************

I'm currently researching on how to install windows on my mac so i can play left 4 dead.
Heh heh. (^-^) But I'm having trouble trying to figure out what to do with a 147Gb imovie file? That's ridiculous if you ask me. There's not much i can do with it really...

*************

It's grey and overcast outside. Don't feel like going out.

(F)untitled

I took pictures down today.
It was fun.

I sang a song today. Really loud.
It was fun.

I played the drums today. Really loud.
It was fun.

I read an article today. I agreed with it.
It was fun.

I wrote some emails today. Shared some stories across the sea.
It was fun.

I covered a cardboard box with pages from an old dictionary. Now it looks pretty.
It was fun.

I thought about the past, the present and the future and the great infinite mystery we call human existence on this ever-shifting template we call life. The sun shone for the first time in 3 weeks and they say it's not going to rain tomorrow.
It wasn't all that fun.

**********


Photo from Laura's 21st. Camwhoring can be arty too.

When It Rains, It Pours...

The week back from Malaysia saw heat on our fair city like we hadn't experienced in a long time. It felt even more intense than the Malaysian heat! This could be because of our lack of air-con, and my house is fairly well insulated as such. Although the rumours of a 47 degree heatwave in the west didn't fully come to fruition, it was hot enough for us to sweat long into the night.

One week exactly after we arrived back home though, the rains came. As I left church on Sunday night i remarked to Tony and newborn daughter that we better get home before it rained. I could smell it on the air. The breeze was picking up, but it didn't actually rain that night. Monday morning however, was grey as winter and we've had wet and dreary ever since. Is it a welcome change? I've always claimed to be more of a winter guy. It allows time for quiet and solitude, while forcing us to stay indoors with friends and family.

I think I'm neither a winter guy nor a summer guy really.
I just try to enjoy whatever
the day has to offer.

[There's that old Carpe Diem Coram Deo thing again!]

So while I've been taking much advantage of the quiet and the solitude since coming back from Malaysia, it finally seems like things are settling down. I even visited ANSTO today for 4 hours to cover some uni stuff, and while it felt a little weird and I'm still a bit confused about it (my brain has atrophied slightly,
but physics is just like riding a bike really...
Just get back on!) it did feel peculiarly nice to be back.

**********

Summer is gone prematurely.
But I do quite enjoy
wearing a jumper.
driving in the rain.
seeing breath on the window.
keeping you close.
for warmth.

**********
Change. The things we want to change always stay the same, and the things we don't want to change always do. Whether it be as meaningful as a long-time friendship or as fickle as a TV show, life always seems to change in places we least expect it...

Here's a change I didn't expect to find. Cleaning through our old computer yielded my braces photo! I remember this day very vividly. It was a sunny day in early 2003 as we drove from the orthodontist back to school, this song was playing on the radio and I'm pretty sure I couldn't stop licking my teeth, eager to debut my new accessories (haha). One can't quite forget the unique, permanent taste of metal in the mouth. Not quite a million dollar smile, but $4500 rounds up to a million doesn't it?...

**********

Please spare a thought and prayer for the Victorian bushfire victims.
The fires are still ongoing, and the damage is tremendous to say the least.
Too many homes lost. Too many lives destroyed.

25 Facts Later

Here's that 25 tagging thing everyone's been doing on facebook but in blog form! Why? Because I can.

[tagged by Zoe, Amy G, Jon, Gadiy]

1. I am slightly annoyed when people don't reply to my sms, even if I assume they don't have any credit left.
   
2. This is my last year of uni, but anything beyond that is a mystery.
   
3. I sometimes wonder what life would be like if i hadn't skipped 2 grades in primary school. But am very glad that i did.
   
4. Australia's lack of political excitement and real cultural heritage is both amusing and worrying to me.
   
5. I have too many msn contacts for my own good but I feel rude if I delete them (hence the appearing offline haha).
   
6. I still wear a retainer at night.
   
7. I am currently learning to Rubik's cube and can solve 2 and a half layers so far. (After 5 days).
8. When alone, I prefer playing piano to drums.
   
9. I feel a book or movie inside me incubating, waiting to be unleashed upon the world. Then I will make my millions and the movie adaptation will have Paramore on the soundtrack... and then I will marry Hayley Williams (maybe).
10. I can't put on weight no matter how much I eat. A friend even asked if i had lost weight yesterday since being in Malaysia. I laughed.
    
11. Sometimes I wish I had become a professional concert pianist.
    
12. Medicine is still an option for me (though unlikely), but my only interest would be in an organisation like Medicins sans Frontiers.
    
13. This 25 fact thing is taking a lot longer and is a lot harder than I expected.
14. I still can't beat Dragonforce (Expert) on Guitar Hero. Partly because my controller doesn't function 100% any more.
15. I like drawing pictures of people's faces.
    
16. I believe in seizing every opportunity and living every day for the Lord. But this is also a lot harder than it seems.
17. Christians who only hang out with other Christians are another worry to me.
    
18. Stray dogs, maimed beggars and shops without any customers make me very sad to see.
    
19. I still enjoy listening to Linkin Park.
    
20. I rode an elephant bareback.
21. I often wonder what life would be like if I wasn't born in Australia. But I'm very glad that I was.
    
22. A surprising percentage of my brain is forever devoted to Dragonball Z and (old school) Pokemon information. Similarly, Backstreet Boys lyrics are locked in there somewhere too.
    
23. I've had the same phone for almost 5-6 years.
    
24. I feel a bit funny when camwhoring myself these days.
    
25. Facebook is slowly losing its allure. Too many friends. Not enough friendships.
    

So there's my 25. A mixture of deep, whimsical, and just things on my mind.

I tag all the people on the left column...if anyone reads this.

Unpacking My Mind Takes Longer Than Unpacking My Junk

Back in the Gong and I've spent the last 3 days unpacking- both literally and figuratively speaking. Mostly just clearing out old junk in my room to make room for the new junk accrued from our adventures abroad.

Clearing through old stuff is always an interesting experience. The memories attached to specific items are what make us who we are really. An old birthday card, a newspaper cutting, a drawing of a pokemon...all are tied to moments in my life that one simply cannot reject. I have this sort of inherited sentimental streak in me, which means i have a lot of such junk from my childhood and onwards simply lying around my room acting as dust-collectors.

I try to disconnect myself from the process and discard objects mercilessly, but funnily enough mum requests a second check before i throw anything out. There's that inherited sentimental streak I mentioned!

So it took me about 3 days to complete it, but here are the before and after shots! All that junk on the floor is simply paper i pulled out from my desk. There was a lot more to come trust me. Also did some reorganising of my corkboard and my walls, which i take some pride in. It's something of a hobby I guess. Phye Beng collects Transformers, I collect random pictures and gifts and post them on my corkboard and walls.

This table did not look like this beforehand. The fan was a nice touch i thought. From a water puppet show in hanoi, vietnam we caught in 2005. I'd like to thank whoever provided me with the Q.Q.Bee Sweet Family photo frame in the secret Santa. It serves well.

My corkboard you may or may not recognise from last year. Now with included SOUNDWAVE timetable! Various Christmas knick knacks and movie tickets also included. Photos haven't been updated in a while though.

And here's my wall of black and white pictures I find in magazines and newspapers. It's almost complete! Spot Thom Yorke. New additions include: Transformers Animated Lockdown, Rubik's cube(s), Dark Knight pin-up, and a Riddler Pez dispenser.
......

The figurative unpacking may take a while longer yet...I'm still adjusting to the abrupt culture shock of life in Wollongong but it will all settle in time. Just happy to spend some quiet time alone, and not alone for now. Hence the unpacking business...

I'm simply very grateful for the time we had in Malaysia. again.

But now we face normal. real. routine. again.

Spare a thought for Sara though who is stuck at school!
I'm also very grateful that i still have
a month off before uni starts proper. :)

Cheerio. Kloo

I'm sure this is the only blog titled 'Gong Xi Fa Cai' online. Ever.

The beginning of the end. I officially have less than 7 days left in this oh-so-beautiful experience we call the Malaysia trip. It is going to be a busy one too due to a little thing we call Chinese New Year. As Keith aptly pointed out, the Sino calendar predates any Anglo or Roman calendar by several millenia (assumedly), so put that in your pipe and smoke it. 

In the week since we've been back from Thailand, people have been busy with work, school and college, so it has been a bit slow in terms of activity and the such. (All except Lauren and Zoe of course, who are hanging around in limbo with us Loos). Unfortunately, while this week is a holiday for most it is still going to be a pain to organise activity due to family commitments as this is the main  point of CNY. 

Likelihoods of movie night, swimming day, badminton, CC outings, ramly burger? Sadly, slim. I'm sure if we put our minds to it, we can achieve something worth remembering. Super Friday perhaps? 

Tomorrow is CNY eve and so the festivities begin! 

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We had steamboat buffet tonight. Holy crap we ate so much they gave us perfume and an umbrella as free gifts for having such a large bill (20 people at 20RM ++ each.) and probably for setting some sort of consumption record. Had conversation with JLim, Keith, PB and adrian (the green tea circle) and I have concluded that I find malaysian politics/sociocultural study very very interesting. I noticed that Jason also has a knack to explain financial matters in an actually interesting manner! Good work Jason!

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I tried uploading photos, but it didn't work, so screw it. Here's my review of the Mogwai gig! Maybe you can see photos another day. Refer to facebook for any info on photos i guess. (:

Will be in Wollongong by Sunday the 1st Feb as far as I can tell.