I'm happy with the life I have thanks

I'm sure I must be missing something, but I just don't understand people's obsession with gaming. That's gaming and not gambling, at least I understand why people would gamble. I know people that spend hours on end playing various computer games and then there are others that have a virtual life. Yes, if you don't like you real life, just go get yourself a virtual one!

I think it's called Second Life or something and then there is also Haribo Hotel. I was not very happy to find out that there was no sweets involved as I like haribo's. Anyway.... the whole gaming, virtual worlds thing got me wondering, do people really have nothing better to do? I mean, do they have any other interests? Go to the pub with REAL friends have any REAL hobbies? And I figured maybe they don't. And then I felt sad for them.

It was interesting as there was a doco on SBS last night about the Yamakasi in Paris who created "the moving-style" where they jump off buildings and sort of bounce around and jump over a flight of stairs to reach the bottom rather than walking. It's incredible to see. I've seen it used in adverts and things like that but I never knew where it came from. It was fascinating to see that it came from a group pf people living in a poor housing estate. It fascinated me because what they were doing was incredible. They could have just hung around the streets terrorising the neighbours, turned into drug addicts or alcoholics but instead they decided to create their own entertainment to escape their everyday lives. They created something beautiful and very artisitic. They were so physically fit that they glided around poles and the moves the made were so elegant, what they do is truly art in a pure form.
I admired them for creating something out of nothing for giving people with no money and possibly no hopes, something to do, something to live for. To do Moving-Style requires great discipline and focus. It was interesting that they didn't lose themself in a game to cope with the real world or to entertain them, they used the real world for their entertainment.

So why do people get sucked in to gaming? Why is having a virtual life so important to them? I have enough trouble with a real life let alone a virtual one. Think I'll stick to having one life thanks!

Woohoo!

Last night my friend and I went to watch the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Initially Mr M and I were going to go but he said he wasn't that fussed on them so my friend came with me instead. I had been looking forward to last night for ages and my friend was also excited about us going concerting. And it was well worth the wait!

After waiting in the queue for merchandise then waiting again for food, we finally made it to our seats to watch the support act.
What we saw was the funniest thing I'd seen in ages, I nearly choked on my burger and was almost put off my food completely. The guy threw his shirt in to the mosh pit only to get it thrown back at him but undeterred he then took of his trousers and continued to perform in his pants and socks. This guy loved himself so much it was hilarious, my friend didn't think a lot of him though and wasn't very impressed. I actually thought he was quite good considering other support acts I have seen, at least the guy could sing. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to think that the only people worth watching are the group you came to see and boo at anything else, regardless of if they are good or not. Kaiser Chiefs is a casing point when they were supporting the Foo's. I adored the Kaisers, as a support act they were wasted and I would love to see them tour in their own right. They have excellent stage presence and boy can they rock! But still they got booed and for no reason whatsoever. I'd like to add that Mr M and I were cheering/screaming and clapping when they finished because they were really good. When they left the stage you could see they were pissed off with the crowd and it was such a shame.
Last night's support act was the same. Okay, so not everyone wants to be subjected to an almost nude, out of shape guy parading on a stage but he was funny for that reason. Due to the bad reaction of the crowd he retorted with vulgar language which I really didn't need or want to hear, but he reacted to the crowd and maybe he shouldn't have. Someone from the crowd threw a water bottle at him and caught him good, must admit to laughing my head of at that, it was a good shot.

Even so, I admire people who are willing to have a go. I wouldn't have the confidence to go on stage, I also don't have talent so I wouldn't even try. As I said, the guy could sing and to put you out of your misery it was Har Mar Superstar!

But onto RHCP.... I've liked them for quite some time now but this was the first time I had seen them live. I was blown away. The way that Flea and John played was just incredible and for the first time ever I actually thought that this group is better live than on studio album. On the albums you just don't get the guitars coming through enough but they make up for it live.
In one part Flea was playing a solo and the lights were dimmed with just a bit of light directed on him, with his bare torso on show and his fingers strumming all I could think at that breathtaking moment was "that would make such a nice black and white shot". This is normal isn't it?

Now don't be disillusioned, I don't fancy Flea it was purely an artistic moment. I regularly see things and think "wow, that would make such a nice picture" and it always happens when I don't have my camera with me. I don't think they would have allowed my camera into the the arena though as I use a DSLR and from the seat I would have had to have used my 70-300mm lens and my point and shoot just wouldn't have cut the mustard on it anyway. Of my lenses my 70-300 is my favourite as it helps when I can't get close and it has a fixed F5.6 aperture which proved fantastic at Taronga Zoo on Sunday afternoon. Which reminds me that I need to pull my finger out and get assignment 3 completed soon...

Bugger!

So I stuffed up before Easter which meant that we were car-less (or rather Ka-less) over the Easter break. We had intended to go driving over the Easter weekend up to Newcastle and the Hunter Valley as we have yet to see these wonderful places. All was good, I bought a new green slip and headed off to the RTA to re-register the car.
Nice chappy at the counter looks at my reg papers and asks "pink slip?" BUGGER! And there it was clear as day at the bottom of the paper work, a pink slip was needed in order to re-register. I still don't know how I missed it apart from it must have been in my blindspot. I looked at the reg paper several times before going to the RTA and I did not see that I needed a pink slip. I had also stuffed up with the due date as I thought I read the 8th April when it was actually the 1st! Must get my eyes checked LOL
The worse thing is, I had to get one last year as well because my car is over 3 years old, but it still didn't cross my mind this year. Lesson learnt!

So this morning she was booked in for the yearly tyre kicking routine that is the pink slip. We dropped her off at 8am and Ford would phone me when she was ready. About half an hour ago I decided to call Ford as I hadn't heard from them. All day I kept my mobile by my side, waiting for the call. Nothing, squat, zip, nada. So I phone Ford only when I tried to call my mobile froze dead, I couldn't do anything, couldn't even switch it off. Only one thing for it, take the battery out. Put it back and my phone jumped to life and I tried to phone Ford again. De, De, De.... De, De, De... you know that sound of the number is disconnected. I checked the time and knew that the garage closed at 5pm, it was a quarter to. Have the unplugged the phone so they can bugger off early I wondered. Next thing I know I get a text message come through saying that I have a new voicemail. Strange, my phone hasn't been switched off for long, talk about timing. Sure enough it was Ford telling me the car was ready but this message was left at 10.57am! I was certain I hadn't missed the call, the phone was always by my side. Still, I checked the missed call list to double check and sure enough there was no call! WTF? Sometimes I really despair of technology.

I have had my Sony Ericsson K300i phone for over two years and this isn't the first time the thing has frozen on me but it is the first time I've 'lost' a call. I previously had a T68i, I like Sony Ericissons and I loved that phone. It was blue and it was curvy, exactly my requirements! I loved the way it sat in my hand, it was small but because of it's shape you never felt like you were going to drop it. I did manage to slip it too quickly out of my bag one day though and broke half of the clip on the back. I could have bought a new back but it wasn't the integrated battery back that broke, it was the clip on the case, a little spring loaded thing. I was gutted! It still worked okay but the back was always a little loose after that where it wasn't clipping in properly. For some reason I could never send picture SMS from that phone even though it had the capability and I never have found out why. So the time had come to look for a new phone and the main requirement (apart from being able to make and recieve calls and SMS) was that it had to be blue! I can tell you that in a world where you can now get everything in pink as standard, trying to find a blue phone was not easy. I liked the K300i because it came in blue all be it a darker blue than I would have preferred and it was a Sony Ericsson. But given the choice, I'd rather have bought a brand new version of my old T68i.

They just don't make them like they used to.

It's officially Autumn in Sydney, in can only mean one thing....

...It's time for Sydney women to bring out their scarfs!

Seriously, today is a lovely sunny 23degreesC and I saw a woman wearing a scarf. Not a silk scarf or anything flashy, just a pink wollen (actually it's probably synthetic) winter scarf. I don't know whether it's a Sydney thing or an Australian thing but as soon as Autumn is officially announced, they are out on the streets wearing their scarfs. It's not cold, in fact today has been quite warm but the scarfs are out. They are worn almost like a normal person would wear a necklace, being tied around the neck as decoration rather than for purpose. But the fact is, scarfs are warm.

There are no coats or jackets worn, just standard casual tops with a scarf around the neck. It's very bizarre and a sight anyone visiting Sydney should look out for.

All this talk of keeping warm is making me feel like a nice cold beer :-)

Music, the answer to all the problems

So climate change is the new topic of conversation from the worlds governments to people waiting for the bus. I'm already bored of it! Yes, we know we've fucked up the Earth but some scientists have also stated that what we are seeing is normal and that we are just going through the Worlds natural cycle. Anyone remember the Ice Age?
But what really annoys me is that everyone wants to be seen as doing the right thing and forcing those views on to us. I have a small 1.3L car which is very economical on petrol but we're constantly told how bad cars are for the environment, well sorry but I'm still going to drive my car. The other alternative is you give me a horse and cart, I don't mind. We're told we HAVE to recycle with councils forcing us to do so and yet cutting the rubbish collection to every other week (in the UK). NO! I want my rubbish picked up EVERY WEEK. As tax payers we have a right to stand up to the people we elected to power and tell them we aren't happy.

I'm sick of being told what to do. I'm old enough and ugly enough to make my own mind up and live with my own choices. If I want to eat meat and wear leather and wool and hell, even fur, then that is my choice and not for someone else and their beliefs to force me not to. PETA don't care about animals they just care about grabbing headlines, I'll stick to supporting charities that DO CARE about the animals, such as the RSPCA.

Back to the issue of Climate Change.... The latest I've read and heard on the news is that there will be concerts held around the world to bring awareness to the issue. Many famous people such as Madonna have signed up to perform, but they would wouldn't they. A chance to be in the public eye again, to show how much they care. And of course, who came up with the idea of these concerts? None other than the Saint himself, Bob Geldof. And how much does he cream from this idea I wonder. Sorry, that's right, he's all for charity and helping the third world. Sick of hearing it Bob. When they held the first Live Aid concerts why didn't the hold back some of the money and put it into high interest accounts to get more money to help the needy? And where does the money go? All the money that people gave for the victims of the Boxing Day Tsunami, where did it go? We see the pictures on our TV sets and, oh look, nothing has changed yet they had millions of dollars in aid. Corupt governments and politicians! Let's help the fat cats get fatter shall we.
But money aside, these new concerts are to raise awarness to Climate Change, to tell us to use less electricity. So why haven't I heard that these concerts will be played accoustically? What does it matter, lets throw a concert so celebs and musicians can be seen to be doing the right thing and boost their popularity, we'll have one big party.

Bring out the party poppers boys, it should be a good one.

Shut up, my head hurts!

We went out last night to a local pub for some drinks and food with friends. It was a good night with much laughter and I must have had a good five glasses of sparkling wine. I was already quite drunk when we got home so why did I open that bottle of red wine? Why?

This morning when the alarm when off it was like someone was hitting my head with a hammer. I fumbled around for the headache tablets and gulped down water to try and get rid of the dryness, it felt like my mouth had been turned into the desert. And every move I made was slow and bending down was a no-no, so the bottle top off the water could just stay on the floor. Of course it was inevitable that I would end being on the porcelain phone to God! And then back to bed to sleep some more.
Even now, after managing some toast and a cup of tea, I still don't feel quite human and tonight we have arranged to go out with some other friends to a Mexican. I really don't feel up to it but this was arranged last week, unlike last night which was arranged yesterday.

Oh, I feel like shit! I'd love to crawl back under the duvet but I have stuff that needs to be done today, such as getting the greenslip for the car and renewing the rego. It's not up until the 8th but that falls over the easter weekend so it's highly unlikely that the RTA will be open, so today it is! I also need to go grocery shopping and I'd ideally like to finish my assignment as I only have a little more to do on it. Of course, if I had the time, energy and didn't feel so rough, I'd also like to install Adobe's Creative Suite which I told myself I couldn't do unless I finished my 2nd assignment. But chances are i won't have the time today.

On a brighter note, I've got the gig RAM module installed and I can't believe the difference in my Mac. The other day I had five apps open which included iTunes and Photoshop Elements. Before the upgrade and I was using both apps, the iTunes would briefly skip while Elements went to work but this time It all worked smoothly. It was great!

Goodbye March, Hello April

The weekend was rather good! Went out with friends on Saturday and yesterday I finally managed to take some more photo's for my assignment. I still feel like a right idiot when out using a tripod but fortunately Mr M kept me company. I got some lovely dusk/night shots of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. That is, they are lovely to me. Other people might not think so which is why they won't be appearing on here. I'm still not comfortable about people, particularly strangers, seeing my photo's yet. I still have a couple more to take for my 2nd assignment and then I need to do some tweaking so that it's all laid out correctly before submitting. At least I feel like I'm getting somewhere now!

The other reason why the weekend was good was beacuse the Rabbitoh's and the Storm won their matches :-)

And today I finally got my RAM module! Hopefully get that fitted this evening, I can't wait to see the difference. Fingers crossed it all goes well!

I read today that blogger Original Mel is jetting off to Europe today. Time flies doesn't it? Hopefully Mel will settle in quickly and get back to her blogging duties. I, like many others, are looking forward to reading about her adventures in Europe.

And that's about it for now as I need to keep it short and sweet and knuckle down to some studying!
Which reminds me "BEKI! GET WRITING THAT NOVEL, 379 WORDS IS NOT ENOUGH" But I hope it's going well ;-)