Hunter Valley

Hunter Valley with uni mates.

27th to 29th June 2011

The arrival of Holidays

These few days have been quite fun. It's the end of semester and the beginning of a month long holiday which is always the best. I finished my exams on Thursday at the ungodly hour of 6:00pm. I had two that day, one from 9:00 - 11:00am and the other 4:30pm to 6:00pm. Some friends of mine finished earlier since they were allocated times that were way earlier for the practical spot test. After exams, we went out as a uni group to Newtown to have Thai food. It was pleasant and my friend Cecilia tagged along. And after that, Cecilia and I went to see The Middle East at the Factory Theatre.

The Middle East were absolutely amazing live. The set was at its absolute minimum with barely any light or theatrics for the show but simply a few differently coloured lights and the band themselves. It was incredibly understated and there was nothing to focus on but the music itself. It was an intimate show, since it was at The Factory Theatre and the band sounded incredible live. They have such glorious vocal harmonies and are so talented at what they do. I've never actually been to an acoustically oriented concert and I thoroughly enjoyed the lack of moshing - pleasant. You know the band is exceptional when at the quietest and softest does no-one ever enunciate a word. That was with all the songs, nobody said a word. For a band to come out of Australia and in particular Townsville, The Middle East has a sound that is nothing short of worldly, ambitious and melodic. I have nothing but praise for such a young band and I sincerely hope they sell out shows at bigger venues like the Hordern in the very near future. And hearing the song 'Blood' live was one of the more memorable experiences. Will never forget that.

I went to my friend's 18th last night. I've never been to a house party in the garden so this was an interesting experience. I wasn't planning on drinking but the partying atmosphere was hard to resist and so I succumbed to having a few drinks. Ah, also had my first Smirnoff shot and that was quite horrible...Though I also had a shot of Malibu and another that was blue and very delicious. I topped that up with two beers. Being an inexperienced drinker, having so much alcohol for the very first time was rather confronting but luckily, I knew my limits and did not have another shot despite being coerced by friends who love shots... Haha, I was on the edge of tipsy/drunk-ish and to me, that was the most fun of all. I now understand why my dear friend Vivien has a long lasting love affair with alcohol... everything seems way funnier and you lose all your inhibitions and do whatever the fuck you want. And I'll be 18 soon anyway and I had achieved a rather shame aim of mine in my 'things to do in life' list....and that was to get tipsy/drunk when underage. One to cross out on the list. I'm really sober now though.

And at once I knew, I was not magnificent.

My exams are over.

I went to see The Middle East at the Factory Theatre. Shit venue but amazing music. More on that later. But for the time being I am incredibly obsessed with such bands:

• Bon Iver
• The National
• Wu Lyf

Afraid of Everyone

So, due to my procrastination, I've been looking at people's facebooks. I refresh my feed and see one of my friends, whom I met with 2006, having been separated from her boyfriend... And I looked over to her page and could not believe that it's been 5 years since I first met her. It's funny what time does to your friendships with people.

I met this girl at cadets and I used to be close to her, she being two grades above me. I can still recall when I first got MySpace, it was all new and she was the first ones whom I added and talked to. We had many conversations on the site and I always had looked forward to chatting with her and very quickly, we became really good friends. Sometimes I do regret deleting my myspace, only because there were so many memories which I have there and now I can never go back to retrieve as they have become virtual junk. But nevertheless, time acted, she discovered drugs and partying and we lost touch, her being the first one to leave cadets...

It's rather frightening to look back now and see how fast she has become a stranger to me now. I miss her friendship dearly but I do believe that our friendship cannot go anywhere beyond facebook. I did try to 'catch up' with her once but that never occurred for I think she is one who moves on with friendships. I feel like I am talking about a relationship here but fear not...

I wonder what friendships I will still have in five years time. Will those close to me now drift away from me and will I have a new set of friends? I certainly hope the ones I have close to me remain here for I cannot bear the thought of seeing any of them as strangers down the track.

I guess its the nature of some people though. If you try to maintain a friendship, it will work. But some people, when they meet new people and discover more, they just...forget... So, how many friends have I lost over time? Many. And here arises another trouble. I do miss some of my friends....yet I am always so afraid of seeming annoying to them...for they appear to have a much 'larger' life of their own, or it seems as though they just inhabit a different world. It's late and I am not making much sense. Ugh.

Go Tell Fire To The Mountain

Best release of 2011 so far.
Solid songs, amazing guitars.
Strange voice which makes for an incredibly unique listening experience.
Lovin' Wu Lyf.

Gen Y Australians.

So I was just browsing on facebook and my friend liked a page, 'God made us all different. But when he got to China he thought 'Fuck it'' which I thought was pretty funny initially cause yeah, perhaps a lot of Chinese people do look the same. I was curious and thereby proceeded to have a look at the comments on the page. To my absolute disgust and horror, I see posts accusing Chinese people of supposedly taking away Australian's jobs and how they should 'get out of the country'. I tend to take a light hearted approach on these facebook pages but the page reveals so much of Australia's current mentality.

Racism is still big and there seems to be no turning back on it. What is more worrying is that the majority liking the page are Gen Y, my generation. I had thought that racism was closing in on my generation but clearly I have thought wrong. I am absolutely disgusted and angered by much of the posts on there. Is it necessary to accuse a race of something that is completely out of control? That we're taking your jobs, that we're flooding your cities. Australia is a multicultural society, CLICHE BUT THAT'S WHAT OUR SOCIETY IS. DO YOU THINK THAT WITHOUT IMMIGRANTS THE WORKFORCE WILL BE AS OKAY AS IT IS NOW? DO YOU THINK THAT WITHOUT IMMIGRANTS THAT YOU CAN EAT ALL THAT FOOD THAT YOU LOVE? ALL THE INDIAN CUISINE, ALL THAT HONEY CHICKEN?

I will copy and paste some of the most hateful comments here because they are disgusting:

Alan: fucking slant eyed wide screen seeing mothafuckas

Aaron: fuck the gooks

Brodie: The MotherFukerz Are Taking Over The World, Asian Invasion

And there is one dude who posted an argument on how Asians were taking Aussie jobs...but I think he deleted it because he realised how disgusting his argument was.

It's disappointing and saddening to see that the bigotry stemming from previous generations are still carried on. And that's why last year's study of belonging was actually highly relevant to me. How can you expect a girl of evident Asian heritage to embrace being 'Australian'? Despite being an Australian citizen, I've always had conflicts whether I am truly an Australian or just Chinese. I'm too afraid to spot an Australian flag because my skin colour isn't of a white colour. Even on Australia Day, I do nothing. I sit at home like its another public holiday though I do wish it was possible to chill like everyone else. I don't know, I must be sounding quite weird here... But sometimes, I do believe that Australia Day creates boundaries amongst races. Would an Asian person spotting temporary Australian flag tattoos not get yelled at?

Despite that, some do have consciences. I hope that people who are posting racist comments are only part of the minority.

Harry: Reported this page for racism, encouraging other people with a conscience to do the same.

Gypsy and the Cat

Running Romeo - Gypsy and the Cat at Apple Store Bondi

Time to Wander - Gypsy and the Cat

I saw Gypsy and the Cat yesterday at the Apple Store...I was initially reluctant in going since it is before exams. But heck, I realised that it would be quite an intimate gig and probably be the last chance seeing them before they jet off to the rest of the world. I wasn't wrong with it being a really intimate gig...there was probably no more than 100 people in the store...perhaps even less - it felt that way anyway. I was really close to the lead singer, Xavier Bacash and right next to the speakers. Despite having the music thump into my ears repetitively for around an hour or so, it was so worth it. I could feel the amazing bass pulsate through my veins (or arteries)

Gypsy and the Cat is a really good live band, they sound even better live actually. The gig was by far the most harmonious ones I've ever been to, perhaps due to there being only 100 people or less. No pushing, no hot hot sweat nor were there any assholes around me. It was a short set though...around 45 minutes long, but what more can you ask for when it's a free gig? Uhuh. I'm very pleased that I went. So worth missing an evening's worth of study time for! What's more was that I even got to say hi to the band and get their signatures. Aw yeah.

Hungry

I've not heard about this computer virus until today: Stuxnet.

Incredible isn't it? It is a weapon of mass destruction. It can take out a whole factory, a whole nuclear reactor.

Any one can use it and its pretty much an open source weapon written entirely in code.

Watching 'Hungry Beast' has really taught me a lot about the world which I don't know about. And every week, there is something to do with current communication technologies and how fast computers are advancing and how close we are to reaching 'The Singularity'. I never really thought too much of technology until their presentation...computers have essentially incorporated most of mankind's knowledge in their short existence. It is only a matter of time when they start mimicking us, evolving till one day, computer intelligence superseeds ours. Apparently, we cannot foresee what will happen when computers become smarter since...we cannot be smarter than them. It's just impossible. Ugh, this may all sound like science fiction but the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. Or perhaps we can call it the eventual truth.

The future is just so exciting but incredibly frightening. Mankind would be devastated if we were to become slaves of the computer. It's like we created a new race (and thus, stems into the Frankenstein/Blade Runner Module). But yes...just a thought at how the 21st Century is unfolding. The universe is simply amazing and getting more and more complicated. Everything about it, from the big bang to our eventual creation, to how gravity assembled us and how we are only made of stardust. Doesn't that just blow your mind? It all sounds too surreal and too strange. I thought I had my queries answered from year 10 science class where I mindnumbingly watched documentaries showing the creation of the universe. But what is space? What the hell is time? Where did all this come from? HOW IS THERE SPACE. WHERE DID THIS COME FROM? I DON'T KNOW THIS IS TOO MUCH FOR MY BRAIN BUT I WANT TO KNOW ANSWERS. TOO MANY QUESTIONS, NOT ENOUGH KNOWLEDGE. SCIENCE IS BLOWING MY MIND. SCIENCE IS STRANGE. THE TRUTH DOESN'T SEEM REAL. THIS IS ALL TOO WEIRD.

(but I love science)

L’esprit d’escalier

the spirit of the staircase.

if only our winters were like this.