wafblog v3.0

So The Killers’ new album has grown on me. I’ve been listening to it the last few days on the way to work. The songs aren’t as catchy as the last album, but there are some nice melodies in there if you listen hard enough. Some of the lyrics are kind of interesting as well. I think this one, I just like the whole “he doesn’t look a thing like Jesus” line.

You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now … here he comes!

He doesn’t look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined when you were young

Can we climb this mountain
I don’t know
Higher now than ever before
I know we can make it if we take it slow
Let’s take it easy
Easy now, watch it go

We’re burning down the highway skyline
On the back of a hurricane that started turning
When you were young
When you were young

And sometimes you close your eyes
and see the place where you used to live
When you were young

They say the devil’s water, it ain’t so sweet
You don’t have to drink right now
But you can dip your feet
Every once in a little while

You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now here he comes

He doesn’t look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined when you were young
(He talks like a gentlemen, like you imagined when)
When you were young

I said he doesn’t look a thing like Jesus
He doesn’t look a thing like Jesus
But more than you’ll ever know
The Killers – When You Were Young

I haven’t blogged in a few days, been a little busy but also just haven’t felt like it. I’ve been quite up and down lately and I’m not sure what the cause of that is. Thinking logically, I haven’t anything to complain about. Emotionally, I feel like a complete wreck. I haven’t found any explanation for it beyond that I’m stupid and girly. But that’s not really a good reason is it? I am hoping that it will pass soon and considering I’ll be quite busy for the next few weeks it should work itself out.

So, the Democrats now have the majority in both the Senate and the House of Reps in the US of A. This should be an interesting two years to the next Presidential Election. Maybe we can finally be rid of that monkey. Admittedly, I don’t know enough about the American political system to be able to understand the full implications of this, but I sense the winds of change and I’m hoping they blow this way as well. Whether or not it means a change in foreign policy as well as world politics remains to be seen.

Went out on Saturday with Mike, Manda and Travis. We saw ‘Macbeth’ at the Figtree Theatre at UNSW. It’s been ages since I’ve seen any Shakespeare and I studied ‘Macbeth’ as one of my HSC texts so I already knew the story. In the end, this was rather lucky as the style in which the play was presented made for a rather confusing time. Some of the actors played 3-5 different characters, and it was hard to determine who was who as a result. In addition, the whole ‘minimalistic’ approach was difficult for me to follow because the lack of props and scenery leaves a lot to the imagination. I think next time I see Shakespeare I’ll pick one that has the full costume and all that.

Crossword clues for today:

• Percentage (5) _ A _ I _
• Expression (5) _ _ _ _ M

I’ve now changed the settings so that you don’t need to be logged in to post comments cos someone complained :P As long as I don’t get flooded with spam comments again it should stay that way.

I’ve noticed that if I blog on a regular basis (say once every 2-3 days) my posts tend to come out with more in-depth ramblings on general crap that people probably don’t care too much about. But, if I blog once a week I end up with like this “so I did this, and this, and this” type of entry which is fine but doesn’t really say too much beyond “that was fun”. I’m wary of writing too much on politics or religion or economics. My views on some things are fairly rigid and I don’t bend too easily when discussing those subjects. Then when it comes to say, things like the drought and the current water shortage in Australia well, I daresay there’s not a jot I can do about it. I know that’s a defeatist attitude, but I’m just geared that way.

I have realised though, that I haven’t really been doing much to expand my horizons lately. With uni at least, I was ‘learning’ stuff every week and doing things to keep me busy. Now, I go to work, I go to the gym, I go online occasionally, I watch a few TV shows and that’s kind of it. I try to meet up with friends when I can and keep up with all that they’ve been up to. I think maybe after years (literally) of always having to do something when I got home that I’m just not used to not having anything of substance to do. However, it doesn’t meant that I’m doing things I should be doing like practising violin, practising my driving or doing something constructive like building a website. I’m not really sure why that is. Even worse, I’m not getting to bed any earlier than when I was at uni. So I go to bed at 1am, get up at 7am and I go to work half-dead everyday. I’m fairly sure that if I keep it I’m just not going to make it through next year.

Then there’s things I’ve been thinking that I maybe should look into. Like, improving my cantonese or learning a new language or teaching myself php. I am very lazy and in some ways becoming used to having ‘little’ to worry about. A lot of people say that November is when the year feels slow. I certainly feel that way right now. I’ve got a few things planned during the end of November, but once December starts we’ll be into the silly season and that means next year will be right around the corner. Maybe it’s good to have some calm and less stress before the new year brings new adventures.

So, of course, as soon as I say that I doubt there’ll ever be a chess game for the PSP, I’m digging around on GameSpot and find out that Konami are releasing “Chess Battle”. From what I can see, it literally is “Battle Chess” for the PSP, but all trumped up and 3D looking! So I’m definitely going to get it when it comes out (this month IIRC). I also saw that they’re releasing Lumines II sometime this month I think. So two new games for me to look out for and hopefully will be able to play soon. This causes a little bit of a conundrum as I counted yesterday and I’ve got 15 games. I think there’s about 5 I haven’t played (GTA: LCS, Lemmings, Tokobot, Gottlieb Pinball and Lego Star Wars II) And another 5 that I haven’t played properly at all (Frantix, Mercury, Loco Roco, Koolumn and Gripshift). I’ve played Lumines, Burnout Legends, SSX, DJ Max Portable and Tekken: Dark Resurrection like crazy at some stage though. But I haven’t finished any games yet. So I probably should not buy any more games until I’ve finished the ones I’ve got. Which could easily take me a year or something. I think my main problem is that I’ll play and play and then I’ll reach a stage where I’m not actually getting any better. Happens with me for most games really. Or I start to lose interest because the games become repetitive. So I’ll pull out something else and be content with that for a while. Maybe I’ll finish Tekken though, there’s so much replayability there. But, argh… Lumines II!!!! Apparently they’ve released Lumines for XBox 360. Although I’m more interested in the old XBox… but I don’t have a TV in my room so there’s no point thinking about that yet.

Anyways. I have new music! I got Badly Drawn Boy’s “Born In The U.K.” which I hope will be as good as the soundtrack to About A Boy. Also picked up The Scissor Sisters’ “Ta-Dah” which is an awesome name, plus the ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ song is rather addictive in that can’t-get-it-out-of-my-head kind of way. I’m hoping Evanescence’s “The Open Door” will be good because as much as I like them, their songs all sound the same after a while and that becomes rather boring. Lastly I got The Killers’ new album “Sam’s Town” which I listened to on the way to work this morning. It sounds rather disappointing on first listen, but sometimes you need to give it a few goes before it grows on you. I’m hoping that will happen with this album, I’m just finding that none of the songs have grabbed me yet. Like, I remember when I first heard ‘Mr. Brightside’ I just instantly went “that’s awesome!!” and listened to it over and over. They sound different on this album - a little more mellow, a little less energy. If I don’t end up liking the album so much I guess I won’t be so disappointed I didn’t get tix to their concert or the BDO. Which reminds me, tickets for Homebake arrived yesterday! W00t. So excited!!!

I went for a driving lesson yesterday. I was hoping to book to do the test in a couple of weeks, so I wanted to brush up on my skills before then. Unfortunately it seems like my local RTA is really popular or something because they don’t seem to have any free slots for the next 4 weeks. I’m going to have to have a look again when I get home but I don’t think any of the other ones close to me are free on Saturdays either. Otherwise I might have to take time off work to do it.

Didn’t do much else on the weekend besides some housework and uploading more photos from my trip. Hosuework is so boring, but at least I’ve got most of it out of the way. Should stop my mum from nagging me for a few weeks.

Oh yeah, I watched the first Indiana Jones movie as well. I remember when I was younger and I used to watch Indy on the TV I thought he was so cool. But watching it now, I don’t know. It wasn’t as good as I remembered it to be. And the sound quality in certain parts of the movie weren’t very good. Like, the music was really loud but the dialogue was too soft. So it was either go deaf or miss what was going on. This is somewhat annoying and rather like watching shows on TV, where the ads are twice as loud as the actual program. I really don’t understand why they do it either. Music is generally there to set an ‘atmosphere’ in a movie, or to enhance whatever’s going on onscreen. When it stands out in such a way that it detracts from that then I think it’s being used in a way that it shouldn’t be. I don’t think that this is the reason I was disappointed with Indy though. I think I just found some of the parts too ‘convenient’. Like, of course he was going to find this and of course said prop would be in just the right position for that to happen. Maybe I expect more out of my movies these days? Although, I highly doubt that. I tend to be one of those people that will like watching just about any movie. Except horror.

I keep on thinking of things to write about and then forgetting about them when I get to a computer to blog. Annoying.

First things, got a package in the mail from uni. I will be graduating on November 24th, 2:00pm ceremony. W00t. So 5.5 years of study, procrastination, stress, not going to class and late night assignment work have paid off. I think I’m just glad that it’s over. It seems like uni’s been over for a long time, considering I was only in one day a week last semester and had my final exam back in June. Still, I do miss it and maybe when I look back in 20 years time they will be the best years of my life. Who knows?

I got a call on my mobile from a telemarketer yesterday. Totally screwed my chi for the day. I was like “No thanks, I’m not interested”, and she was like “What if I said we’ll give you a Telstra 850 3G phone for free?”, “I’m still not interested.”, “But you won’t have to pay anymore than you currently are?”, “Look, nothing you say is going to change my mind”. To which she said, “I hear what you’re saying, but we’ll give you a free phone”. By this time I was really really pissed, because I was at work and I had been nice and polite in trying to get her off the phone. I just got so fed up, I told her if she kept talking I was going to hang up. So of course, she said (again), “I hear what you’re saying..” so I said goodbye and promptly hung up. Hearing is not the same as listening, idiot. At least it seems to answer the question of who all those bloody “Withheld” calls I was getting were from.

So I’ve been listening to the Angels and Airwaves album recently. I guess it is punk, although not the sort of punk that I normally like (The Offspring, Blink 182, early Green Day, some other band I’ve forgotten – maybe it was Unwritten Law but I think they were ska). It’s more… melodic and less chugging. There’s also some actual singing. It feels a bit pop, but the tunes are catchy and the lyrics have much more substance. Let’s face it, some of the Blink 182 lyrics were really stupid. I’ve kind of realised that posting up lyrics is in no way a reflection of how good a song is, but it’s not like I can post up an mp3. So how to convey what I really like about a song?

When all is said and done
Will we still feel pain inside?
Will the scars go away with night?
Try to smile for the morning light
It’s like the best dream to have
Where every thing is not so bad
Every tear is so alone
Like God himself is coming home to say

I, I can do anything
If you want me here
And I can fix any thing
If you let me near
Where are those secrets now
That you’re too scared to tell
I’d whisper them all aloud
So you can hear yourself

Green trees were the first sign
The deepest blue, the clearest sky
The silence came with the brightest eyes
And turned water into wine
The children ran to see
The parents stood in disbelief
And those who knew braced for the ride
The earth itself then came alive to say

I, I can do anything
If you want me here
And I can fix anything
If you let me near
Where are those secrets now
That you’re too scared to tell
I whisper them all aloud
So you can hear yourself

I’m sorry I have to say it but you look like you’re sad Your smile is gone; I’ve noticed it bad
The cure is if you let in just a little more love
I promise you this, a little’s enough

(Just a little…)
Angels and Airwaves – A Little’s Enough