A Card from Work!

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Do Not Speed in Melbourne

Last month, I got my first ever speeding ticket.

I was going 70km in a 60km zone. I got a ticket for over $300. Over $300! I got caught by a traffic camera.

They are super strict about speeding here in Melbourne. There are advertisements on TV and on billboards describing the dangers of speeding. Because of the strict policing of posted speed limits, the vast majority of drivers here drive at or slightly below the speed limit. I don't want to speak for all Canadians, but it certainly feels slow to me.

Anyways, I wrote them a letter explaining that I was new to the city and prone to getting lost and I got pardoned! Hooray! I also drive slower. C'est la vie.

Every Shirt I Own

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Summer is finally coming to Melbourne!

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Why a Genie Won't Make you Happy

It's so true that you value things that you had to fight for. That it's important that you had to work and to strive to achieve or gain it.

Our brains are funny like that.

Also, you really DO want what you can't have. ESPECIALLY if you did have it at some point.

Oh brains. Why are you so crazy?

Designed with Purpose

I read something awhile ago about the creators of Toy Story. In developing the characters, they were faced with the dilemma of trying to give inanimate objects believable wants and desires.

If you think back to the films, the driving force behind all the action is the goal of Woody and his friends to be played with. This makes wonderful sense. A toy exists to be played with. If a toy could be sentient, it would find its greatest fulfilment in this. A raison d'être if you will.

I think having a purpose is important in a very fundamental way. I think we appreciate this when we handle objects that are designed with care; tools that are designed to do a specific task, and to do it well. Is there an adjective in the English language that describes how such objects are uniquely pleasing to us? I think we say things like "beautifully designed", but there must be a better descriptor, no?

The beauty of having a purpose seems to extend to living things as well. I'm thinking about this.

Humans would seem to be too complicated to be reduced to such simplifications. Do you or anyone you know really have a singular purpose? Or maybe purpose can be something broader, with multiple offshoots? Does something like "helping people", or "being happy" count as a purpose?

I've been fortunate/unfortunate for much of my life in that my purpose or goal at any one time was usually very clear, and usually externally generated. Do well on this test. Pass this exam. Do this presentation. etc...

I'm teetering now though, through a new window, off a new precipice. What happens after Melbourne?

Anything. Literally anything.

The only thing directing me is whatever purpose I find inside.

Melbourne Tram

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Habanero Plant Outside My House

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Art by Cousin Olive

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Happy Halloween!!!

So Australians don't do Halloween. I mean not really. It seems like little kids might do a bit of it. But no one else really.

This is a shame, since all Canadians know that Halloween is perhaps the greatest holiday of the year. There is nothing like walking into a party and seeing Batman talk to a princess. It's such fun to board a bus and be greeted by Mario, Luigi and another princess. It's really the best.

In any case, not to be dissuaded, I tried my best to find a way to celebrate Halloween here in Melbourne. I found a party that was being advertised as "Day of the Dead". Close enough? I sent an invite out to the people I know here, but the Australians just wouldn't have any of it. In the end, it was the North Americans I knew who banded together for a night out.

Finding a costume was particularly challenging. It's a shock to walk into a K-mart at the end of October and find nothing in the way of costumes. I sifted through and entire mall, and all I found were Santa outfits and prisoner outfits. Santa is not a Halloween appropriate costume.

So it was that myself, and two other fellows (AJ from New York and Rich from Toronto) went out for Halloween. Rich dressed up as Run DMC. AJ and I wore the prisoner costumes.

And it was awesome. Turns out "Day of the Dead" isn't a Halloween party really. It's some sort of Mexican festival. So our costumes were really didn't fit in. And there were frequent odd burlesque acts that I can only atribute to some thing in Australian culture I really don't understand. But it was rowdy, and we met lots of fun people and had good times.

In other news, I think I'm becoming a better dancer! After the Halloween party, I went to a club down the road. The music was good, so I was cutting the proverbial rug. A cool looking hip hop dancer came up to challenge me to a dance off! That must mean something right?

Robyn at Parklife!

I went to the Parklife music festival a few weeks back.

It was a rainy affair, but the music was fun and I also got a free burger with my ticket of admission, so it was all in all an awesome time.

The first act I saw was Plan B. He's an angry sounding rapper from the UK. I thought he was really good. Not cheerful sounding, but a good beat. His opening act did a beatbox version of Ni**as in Paris, which was great.

Some less memorable acts followed before I found myself at a set put on by Labrinth on one of the side stages. I've become a big fan of his since catching his show. It's a synthier, kinder version of rap. Highly recommended.

From there, I made my way to a set by Passion Pit. This is hipster music, made by hipsters for hipsters. This is not meant as a criticism. They're songs have great, singable choruses, and the audience (and I!) got totally into the singing and jumping around. They also made great use of confetti. I thought they were great, ironic old cardigans and all.

This brings us to the final act of the night, and the real reason I came to see Parklife 2012:

Robyn!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've become a devotee of Robyn's music for the past six months or so? Or rather, I listen to three of her songs. Most of you may have vague remembrances of her from some songs that were popular in the 90's. She has since had a resurgence in her popularity. Her oeuvre is kind of puzzling. I really, really like the three songs that I essentially listen to on repeat; I don't really care for the rest of her recent stuff.

In any case, I was particularly fortunate since Robyn's set at Parklife ran at the exact same time as some popular Aussie band. This meant that Robyn played a more intimate venue with only her devoted fans in attendance. Of which I am unashamedly one.

When I tell people about Robyn, the Swedish popstar, the pictures they imagine never match the reality. I suppose Swedish popstar does seem to paint a certain picture. If you ever get a chance to see Robyn though, you won't be disappointed. She danced in that very particular Robyn-type way. She sang with her Robyn-type conviction. She really connected with her audience, who responded in their delirious delight. It was awesome.

Dressing it Up

I've made the resolution to try and dress better many times.

I think there are arguments for and against.

Beauty is only skin deep.

vs

The clothes make the man.

Any reservations I may harbour regarding this is easily outweighed by the enthusiastic support I receive from the women in my family. I never thought myself badly dressed, but my mother and sisters certainly do feel there is room for improvement.

I moved to Australia with a suitcase and a large backpack. This barebones packing forced me to leave most of my clothes back in Canada. As a result, I feel I already dress better on this continent since I don't actually even have access to all the grubby clothes I used to lounge around in.

This past week, I've taken on another clothing initiative, which seems to be providing dividends. I've decided to wear more sport coats. My default when I needed a warm long sleeved garment used to be a hoody. It is now a sport coat.

It's a surprisingly versatile thing, and I must say I feel a bit classier. Much classier even.

“We are not held back by the love we did not receive in the past; but by the love we do not extend in the present.”

- Marianne Williamson

I Have Great Taste

Music I listen to on a regular basis must fulfill one of two criteria:

I must be able to dance to it.

OR

I must be able to sing to it.

I feel good to report that my playlist is far and away the most popular one at work. I have a different scrub nurse working with me on any given day of the week, and she/he always ends up singing along.

I think this is a notable achievement.

The current state of 'classical' music is often lamented. I mean, I go to maybe one classical concert a year? On average? And I literally swum around in the stuff for many of the formative years of my life. I don't know why, but as beautiful as it is, classical music just doesn't isn't as compulsively listenable as some of today's pop. It's harder to dance or sing to. At least the way I do it. Maybe it's a question of attention span?

And so...

A blog? Again?

How did we get here?

It's hard to believe, but the blogging all began about a decade ago. Before the era of Facebook, Twitter and the like.

A bunch of us all started blogging, and it became a wonderful way of staying in touch.

The unspoken conceit behind it all, was the thought that the pixels one threw into cyberspace might land on receptive retinas, might be read by minds that cared.

Ultimately, I suppose there are many reasons to blog. I know my family found it a useful way to keep in touch with a son always on the go.

I think it forces a degree of self reflection, which is hard to find time for in our modern day lives.
I value that it captures my state of mind at a point in time. It's precious to be able to look back, and see from whence I came. Finally, it is a connection. A link to those who know me, who may be near or far away, but all who lie a pixelated screen away.