The Door to the Beginning and the End

So last night was the formal. It was a great night and after that I didn't regret going to it. I was a bit skeptical as to if it was actually worth it, but it was. Right now, I'm guessing most people are sleeping in after that party.

I took the train to Wynard and happened to run into Charles in the carriage. At Wynard, we had a quick toilet stop and I met Yang, dressed...very informally. He had his formal clothes in his bag and was going to change, because he didn't want his formal clothes to get dirty. Fair enough. When he did change, his shirt was extremely wrinkled. Apparently, he didn't iron it. We met up with other friends and all of them wondered if Yang was going to be let in at all, since his clothes was kind of sloppy.

A group of us took the lift to the second floor, when we were supposed to take the stairs. Not our fault. No one told us to take the stairs. For a while it was talking, drinking and photos. When they let us in, and all the talking was done, the food was delivered and it wasn't bad. It was actually pretty good. With the main course, Alex didn't like the pickles or whatever and passed it on to Jack, who in turn passed it on Charles. So the guys at our table number 13:

• Me
• Alex
• Jack
• Charles
• Paul T
• Gough
• Ru Yang
• Lesley
• Tan
• Albert

Then the night followed its predictable pattern of dancing, talking, drinking, repeat. The dancefloor was a tad small though. Everytime you tried to dance, you ended up elbowing someone in the back or someone does that to you.

Eventually, like all good things, the night came to an end. It was fun while it lasted. Kathy's dad was nice enough to give me a lift home. A shower later and near 1am, I went to sleep but it was difficult. The caffeine from the Coke and coffee kept me awake and the fun times kept my mind awake. It was fun Sefton High. It was definately fun.

Diversion Inversion V

Tomorrow is Another Day

So it was thanks to other people's blogs that I realised that the formal was next Monday. And now I'm looking towards that day (or should I say night?) with a mixture of anticipation, dread and sorrow. Anticipation because I have a chance to meet my friends one last time, in case I never see them again. Dread because it means I have to actually dress up and get there and back. Sorrow, because after that night, some people I will probably never see again.

Seriously though, guys have it easier at the formal. I mean, we were a suit, maybe gel our hair, spray a little deo and that's it. But the girls have it tougher with the makeup, dresses and whatnot. I don't envy them. Transportation is a minor obstacle. I'll probably take a train to Wynard, that's easy. It's the going home part that's more difficult. Some girls solved it by staying the night in a hotel, others are going to drive and some will stay at friend's place. Seeing that the formal ends at midnight and I don't have any intention of leaving early (I mean, come on, it is the formal here!) I'll probably take a taxi, share the bill with a few others. Get back at like 1am? Damn. I bet the guys playing World of Warcraft will probably decided to jump on and play until the next morning.

A couple of movies caught my eye today. The Prestige looks really cool. Well, most things involving magic is pretty cool. But a tale of magician friends outdoing each other in tricks, with plenty of betrayl and hate? Now that's cool. Also saw the trailer for the new James Bond movie Casino Royale. While the last Bond film, Die Another Day, was meh, this one looks cool. Apparently, it's a reboot of the francise, similar to Batman Begins. But there's no Q and M is still played by Judi Dench. Hmmm. My theory is that James Bond is just an alias given to all 007s. So this guy is a new 007 and it's his first time as "James Bond".

And have so seen the opening? No naked ladies and it still looks fucking amazing!

Under A Sky So Blue...

Just got back from hiking. It was only a one-nighter, but it showed that everyone, except maybe Jack, was a little bit out of shape. It was hella fun though.

We meet at Lidcombe Station at 8am, only to find that a whole bunch of people had decided not to go at the last minute. So our group consists of:

• Me
• Alex H
• Jack
• Charles
• Raymond L
• Harry
• Lesley

We hop on the train to Central, then change lines and head to Heathcote. Once there, Jack tells us that there are no fires allowed and Ray starts getting anxious about lighting, since he didn't bring his torch. So before Charles and Jack walk into town to buy food, he tells Charles to buy a torch. Charles bought a $22 torch using most of his money and Raymond's. Complaining ensures, and so by the time we actually head to the campsite, it's 10:30am.

It was 4.5km to camp over rough hilly terrain. And this is where pretty much everyone struggles. Walking 5kms is nothing. Walking 5kms over rough terrain and a 15kg pack is a whole different story. We take breaks every 15 mins, and by the time we reach the campsite, it's 1pm. It took us 2.5hrs to get there which is pretty crap by Duke of Ed standards. But the fun starts at the campsite.

After taking a quick break, we start setting up our tents. I'm on my own, Charles and Lesley are a tent, Raymond and Harry are in another and Jack and Alex make up the final group. But when Alex pulls out the tent, he only find the outer layer, it's missing the inner layer, the pole and the pegs. Apparently, Alex had lent the tent to Helen and when she returned it, she probably forgot to check that all the stuff was there. So there was this "Oh, shit" moment with Jack and Alex. It was settled that Jack would bunk with Charles and Lesley, and Alex would bunk with Harry and Raymond, because they have 3-man tents.

Mobile phone reception was bad, but Alex managed to call Helen to ask where the heck the ret of his tent was. The missing tent was fustrating, but Alex and Jack were pretty cool with it, so there was no real yelling involved, just a "I'm missing half my tent, yeah". The rest of the day was spent milling around, resting and eating dinner. By nightfall we had retreat to our tents to talk. Harry and Alex were playing Uno, and other stuff, while the rest of us crammed into Charles/Lesley/Jack's tent to talk. We talked about a diverse range of topics, qith some honesty. The policy is similar to drama room policy. What is said in the tent, stays in the tent. So it was nice to be somewhat frank and not worry about what your said being spread around the world.

The final day, today, was much better, because we were travelling on a fire trail, where fire trucks would use in a bushfire. So the road was wide and flat with a sprinkling of gentle uphill sections. It was 6kms to Waterfall and we did it in under two hours. We ducked in a shop for fish and chips before heading home.

The walking part of the hike was difficult as always, and the lack of the usual luxuries made life a little more harder than usual. Right now, my legs have just stopped aching, but my shoulders are burning with a dull pain. However, it is after these hikes, that I really appreciate the luxuries that civilisation provides. Clean running water, a soft, warm bed and electricity. All of them are more appreciated. I don't know if there will ever be another hike, but if there is, everyone is warmly invited.

Jack took several photos on this trip. Once he has rested up, he'll probably post them on his blog.

To sleep! And perchance to dream.

Death's the final word

I managed to get all the clearance things done on Thursday. I did forget my BOS Stimulus Booklet, but instead of returning later, I just paid 5 bucks. It wasn't worth the hassle of going back and then returning tomorrow.

I had planned to spend the next few months taking it easy, and grab my P's before Christmas. Besides the planned hike, I don't have anything else to do. Or so I thought. Now that I have had a couple of days to relax, I realise that something to keep me busy would be nice. That was when, after the HSC, I bought a PS2 and a few games. But you can only play for so long, and the fact that my parents don't know about it, ruins the playing experience. But that endeavour has pulled me flat broke, and like many other post-HSCer, I'm thinking of finding a temp job. Something for a month or two, so I can have some cash to use.

And the fact that eventually we'll all be going to Uni and paying the fees means I'll have to get a tax file number. And I now regret not getting one earlier. My dad said don't worry about so early, but now seeing that it requires original documents and takes up to 28 days to clear, I regret my earlier decision. Hmmm...this is going to take some thought.

As for the job, I have a couple in mind. The best one seems to be a 3 day temp doing stocktakes. They didn't list the pay, but I'm thinking it's not going to be that high. At best, I'll probably get a couple of hundred. The other is a more long term temp, going into Christmas and may even offer permanent casual jobs. More money in the long term, but more work. Decisions, decisions.

Yearbook is cool. I mean, I knew it was going to be cool, but this was way cool. I had a lot of fun reading articles and other people's thoughts. Someone put the poem Jack and I wrote for English. It's nice, although I didn't expect that. I didn't think it was that good or anything.

I have finally finished watching all of Trigun. Usually I'd take the Japanese audio with English subs, but it had the English dub which was fair enough. Its mix of comedy and seriousness was perfect. The ending is a little open-ended, but I hear the manga is still going. That's like definately at least 10 years.

Besides House, I'm also watching Heroes and Torchwood. They're suffering a bit, since I have Final Fantasy X to play on my PS2 and Sudeki on my PC. I'll probably just keep updating House.

Damn it, I'm going to have to vote in the upcoming state election. That's one part I hate about being 18. The responsibility that comes with the age.

The Big Schwarz

I remember having a Chemistry substitute teacher who would say that Google is crap because it is not a "meta-search engine" and that it could not find some tiny obscure Vietnamese town. Instead he recommend the use of meta-search engines such as Dogpile and Mamma and a whole bunch of other obscure engines.

However, there is a reason we should use Google and that is because it's very powerful. Very powerful. So powerful, that it can give the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything. Don't believe me? Take a look down.
On another note, I'm not selling any textbooks or notes because they are all going to my brother to use. And Final Fantasy X has too many cutscenes for my liking.

HSCompleted

That's all I have to say.

Distracted Reactions

For some reason, I don't really want to study for Chemistry anymore. Now I have this strange urge to go and do some ironing.

For the seventh time

I must confess some love for SBS. When all the other channels are showing some crap shows, you can switch to SBS and watch something interesting or mindblowing or a combination of both. But I'm not talking about those really weird foreign films that throw borderline porn when you parents enter the room. Everyone knows about those films, but your parents walking and seeing that questionable scene can be hard to explain (as someone else knows so well, P.)

I'm talking about a series that is up there with the best. I mean there's Chaser's War on Everything, Glasshouse, House, Doctor Who and Thank God You're Here. I'm talking Mythbusters. No other show on Earth makes science so fun. It answers the questions that we really need to know, like can paint your house using dynamite and how much blasting agent you need to completely demolish a cement truck or using salsa sauce to escape from jail.

In doing Physics, Chemistry and Biology, there are definately fun and interesting bits. Mythbusters takes these three sciences and puts them in a blender. A myth pops up, they test the myth, replicate the effect usually with explosions and then you learn something new. I think there was another similar kind of show called Brainaic. However, they only focused on big booms and hot chicks with a tiny bit of science sprinkled around. I mean it couldn't compete with Mythbusters and now I don't see it anymore.

In other news, Glasshouse is being axed! Shock! I really wish I discovered this series earlier because it's so funny and informative. It's days were probably numbered when the ABC decided to go unbiased in all its programs. Comedy is so hard to come by. Skithouse was funny for a while, but as the program went on, it didn't really get any funnier. It was like there was a asymptotic line in which no comedy program could break free. But. There was a program that was funny and got better with each episode. I'm talking "The Sketch Show". Now that was some British comedy that didn't really on stupid people doing stupid things, but focused more on wordplay and absurdism. Unfortunately, the internet is showing a distinct lack of files relating to this program. I just hope there is a DVD series somewhere.

Only Chemistry left to go. Then 3 months will nothing to do. Nah, I guess I'll find something to keep my mind busy. I mean, Doctor Who will be coming back and I've discovered a new series that I like. It's called Heroes. Search the net. Find it. Watch it.

Hook, Line and Sinker

Amusing Star Wars quote I found:

Wedge: "Sithspit! What's that?"

Wes: "That's the sun, Wedge. It's after dawn."

Wedge: "Well, it offends me. Turn it off."

Obviously, it's part of the novel range (or Expanded Universe) of Star Wars, but it made me smile.

I had to go shopping today with my mum. I needed a new cap, because my old one is tattered and faded due to constant and repeated exposure to extreme weather and sea water. I also needed new shorts for the beach. It would have been a quick "in-and-out" exercise, but my mum got distracted and ended up buying a whole bunch of other clothes for my dad and brother, a new bag for her, some makeup things..zzzz....zzzz....and a whole bunch more. But as we left, my mum went to buy some chicken for lunch, it was $8 for one and $14 for two. We talking about buying the BBQ chicken and some Asian guy next to us asked if we would mind buying two chickens and split the cost 50-50, because he wanted some chicken as well. End result? We saved $1 on the BBQ chicken. Must be an Asian thing.

Why is it that the really good books are in a series? I popped into Dymocks to check out the sci-fi and fantasy section, and there were plenty of books, but they were always part of a trilogy of some sort. Now I saw this book, can't remember the details, but it was massive. It made Wild Swans look small. Or better yet, it made Le Morte D'Arthur look like a brochure. It was big and it was part of a trilogy with two books that were equally as big! I mean, come on, chuck us a decent one-shot, something we can finish in a week or two.

So I have only two exams left, Bio and Chem, and what decides to pop up, but House Season 3. God, I love this show, and I'm constantly on edge waiting for the next episode to make it out onto the internet. Heroes is another great show. It's about a few people developing super powers and has the shady, mysterious, morally ambigious guy who seems to know more than everyone else. Check that out. I've been watching Avatar: The Last Airbender on Youtube, but no new episodes have appeared in a month. Dammit, release that next ep! The fact that they model the bending on real Chinese martial arts is so cool. Naruto is still on crappy filler arc, and so it Bleach, but its fillers are less crap, so I'm still watching it.

My collection of comics are slowed to a mere trickle as all the comic artists are way past their deadlines. It is supposed to be an issue a month! Not 6 months late! Just for the heck on it, here's a list:

• Alan Moore's Top Ten
• Codename Knockout
• Danger Girl
• Gen13
• Hunter-Killer
• Metal Gear Solid
• Neil Gaiman's 1602
• New Avengers (ongoing)
  
• Shanna the She-Devil
• Superman and Batman (ongoing)
  
• X-Factor v3 (ongoing)
  
• Ultimate Universe
• Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra
• Ultimate Elektra
• Ultimate Fantastic Four (ongoing)
  
• Ultimate Galactus Saga
• Ultimate Spiderman (ongoing)
  
• Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk (ongoing)
• Ultimate X-Men (ongoing)
  
• The Ultimates v1 and v2 (ongoing)

Also, I'm trying to get all 26 episodes of Trigun. It's around 5gigs and I'll probably start getting it after the Chem exam. And John Legend's new album Once Again is mega hella awesome. Get it and listen to it, especially the first single Save Room.

JUST TWO MORE EXAMS TO GO!