Movie: Star Trek

At last a Hollywood film I can like. This film came across as a real winner. Andrew & I went off to see it at the IMAX in Carlton. The new Star Trek movie has no big stars more like charater actors with Zachary Quinto (see above and below) who is much feared and hated from the TV show "Heroes" plays Spock. Well lets say he plays young Spock, as not to give too much away the original Spock from the TV/Movies makes an appearance. But what really makes the film, is the humour that lies beneath with actors like Simon Pegg who plays "Scottie." and Anton Yelchin paying "Chekov" don't you love him.

Also in the film Chris Pine (seen above along side William Shater) plays a young James Kirk. Ever since the announcement that the young and virtually unknown pretty boy / thespian Chris Pine would take over the role of James T. Kirk in the new Star Trek movies, Internet fans have been asking whether or not he's got the chutzpah to take over for William Shatner. If you don't know who he is and you have landed from outer of space. Shater played "Kirk" in the original TV show and movies. The answer to that question is "No. Absolutely not." but no matter how you feel about Pine, you've got to have some modicum of sympathy for him: this is going to be a hard sell for Trekkies. To his credit, Pine isn't letting the pressure get to him, and he's being smart, approaching Kirk as a fresh character instead of as a Shatner-esque vehicle of over-the-top eyebrow archings and wild gesticulations.

As for Zachary Quinto he has big shoes to fill playing Spock but (without giving too much away making his charater sexy can make a sequel so easy to do. This is the first of the big summer Hollywood films but something tells me it maybe the best for 2009. Score 10 out 10.

Bendigo weekend

On my 2nd weekend living down in Melbourne I went to Bendigo a big city north of Melbourne just over an hour away by train. Much the same distance as Newcastle is to Sydney. Why, I was hooking up Michael & Raul, who had flew down for the week-end.

They were both down because of the "Bendigo queer film festival" and to make things fun Raul is a board memeber of the festival so we got to meet plenty of people.

Raul has been coming down to Bendigo for about five years now and has a close connection with the gay community of Bendigo.

We managed to see many film in the two days we were there. The day before Melbourne was having a heatwave but the weather conditions so changed that weekend, so it was a good excuse to snuggle up and watch movies, instead of being out in the cold.

Apart from movies we went out to bars and checked out the night life though that Saturday night I did come down with a cold and stayed in. I had been running myself down all March and just needed some sleep. Michael and Raul went to the after party for film festival, it seems every year the crowd gets younger and youger at this party. Is it more of a cause we are getting older and wanting to be 21 again.

Above is a great picture of the boys (Raul and Michael) we were at the gardens on a lazy Saturday afternoon. On the way home we stopped into the small country town Kyneton. There is some great place to eat here. Made it back to Melbourne mid afternoon so we walked around St Kilda for a while then drove into the city for a bit to eat in Carlton. Then giving the boys are big hug and sending them on there way home again.

Movie: Wolverine

Am I the only person in the world who thinks Hugh Jackman can't act or to put it in another way on the silver screen. Put him in a broadway musical and you'll be singing and smiling like any dumb sucker who pays for that crap. Yes he's alright to look at and I wouldn't kick him out of bed but put him in a movie and there's something about him, that comes across so wooden in the performance. In his lastest movie "Wolverine" Jackman plays logan (aka Wolverine) a tortured soul who travels through time with his brother played by Liev Schreiber (Sabretooth) in search of happeness. The opening credits have the two men in battle together throughout every major war in the last few hundred years. It's not explained very well at the start and why they can live forever or why they stop looking older after the age of thirty is not told either. We just have to except the fact or read more comics. This is where the film's idea comes from, the Xmen comics. When I was little I read comic and now an adult I read books, though I must say comic have changed since I was a boy but back to the movie review.

So if you have seen the last 3 Xmen movies you will know of Wolverine and the other mutations. They are like Supe Heros but bad, ugly and feared, becoming rejects of society. The story line steals a lot from other movies, like "The magnificent seven." The love interest for Wolverine dieds half way through the film transforming him into a killing machine. Boring wake me up when you can think of something new. Hey Hollywood, the movie should of ended when the girlfriend died anyway. Here's a twist, Logan/Wolverine discovers the love of his life is dead.(killed by his brother) He can no longer go on living so with all the power of he's long claws he rips into Hugh Jackman's naked body (we have to have one more chance of eye candy before the film ends) tearing out he's broken heart. At the very end the girlfriend awakes to see her dead lover beside her. Reminds you of other famous tragic love story I hear you say. My verdit is wait till DVD so you can fast forward over the boring bits. 3 of 10.

Top 100 songs of all time: "The Message"

Another great song from the past that would be in my top 100 songs of all time is "the Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. It was release in May 1982 and so famous now, when release in the US in didn't even make it into the Top 40. It was the UK that maade it a hit crashing into the Top 10.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4o8TeqKhgY

Panel shows are they bad for you

You can either love daytime televison or really hate it but generally you will find it concerning what women want, while still imprisoning them in the house. House proud wifes make happy husbands.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHdTSD3Pheg&feature=player_embedded
What concerns me is why is same sex marriage such a hot topic at the moment on daytime TV.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDQZUoYajy8
As well these panel shows are like watching talk back radio. If John Laws was a woman he might of had a great TV show.

Done well

My sister Jo and her family came to Melbourne over the week end. A Mad bunch of people but love them to bits. Jo and her husband had a wedding to go to on Saturday night so before that we went across to the South Melbourne Markets for breakfast. Nothing to rushed for them as they had a long drive down on the Friday from Sydney by the time we hooked up that night it was close to 9pm. I really love South Melbourne Market it has the best food with some great cafes close by.Saturday afternoon came and Jo and Chris went off to the wedding so Hannah and I went up Chapel St to the movies and window shopping. We both found scarfs we liked, Hannah's one was for my sister Debbie who has a birthday tomorrow. Mine was for me, colour brown. Later on we found some food to take home (as I never have anything to eat in the house) and sat around the TV with the heater on watching "Spy kids." Yesterday was brunch in a cafe in St Kilda with Jo Chris and Hannah before they drove back to Sydney. It was a shame that we didn't have that much time together but at least they know where I am now.

Top 100 songs of all time: "Show of Strength"

"Show of Strength" by Echo & the Bunnymen would have to be in my top 100 songs of all time. This song is found on there debut album "Crocodiles."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_1nnGjCXyo

One of my all time favourite band is Echo and the Bunnymen, managed and produced, from Liverpool, northern England. Trust the fad-happy Brit's to come up with some musical pot, spiked with the bold if somewhat naive acid-age expansion of the Doors, the 13th Floor Elevators and Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd. But instead of coming up with a mere handful of Nuggets, Echo and the Bunnymen strike solid rock by applying recent history–hard-core punk bash, the harmonic tangents of Public Image Ltd. and Joy Division, electronic pop à la Ultravox–to the sounds of yesteryear.

Echo and the Bunnymen dived straight into the mystic on their debut album, Crocodiles. Singer-guitarist Ian McCulloch specializes in a sort of apocalyptic brooding, combining Jim Morrison-style psychosexual yells, a flair for David Bowie-like vocal inflections and the nihilistic bark of his punk peers into a disturbing portrait of the singer as a young neurotic. Drugs are actually a sorry end, not a means, in "Villiers Terrace," a stroll through a gallery of acid casualties. Instead of dope, McCulloch trips out on his worst fears: isolation, death, sexual and emotional bankruptcy. Behind him, gripping music swells into Doors-style dirges ("Pictures on My Wall"), PiL-like guitar dynamics ("Monkeys"), spookily evocative pop ("Rescue") and Yardbirds-cum-Elevators ravers jacked up in the New Wave manner ("Do It Clean," "Crocodiles"). The chilling acoustic fragility of the band's original versions of "Pictures on My Wall" and "Read It in Books" (both released on a 1979 English single) has been jolted by the nervous, Byrds/Talking Heads-style jangle of Ian McCulloch's and Will Sergeant's electric guitars and the brittle snap of Pete De Freitas' drumming (Echo was the name of the group's first "drummer," a rhythm machine). Best song on the album is("Show of strength")which combines all the above and it's exactly this unnerving contrast between the colliding guitars and McCulloch's tortured yelp that gives Crocodiles its dramatic impetus.

Do you really want to hurt me?

This is a funny story I found somewhere from the "Sun" newspaper.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2403844.ece

Apparently the story goes why Jack Tweed ended up in jail are as followed: Jack Tweed attacked a taxi driver in Epping London. Jack and three of his friends (one male and two female) caught the cab after a night clubbing in Epping last May 2008. Taxi driver started raising his concern that the four, all seated in the back seat, were in breach of taxi regulations, the 51 year old driver, Stephen Wilkins, was told to “just drive”. Jack became very aggressive when, in accordance with his firm’s policy, Mr. Wilkins asked for the fare upfront. “I explained to the two guys, ‘If you don’t pay me now I am going to go back’,” said Mr Wilkins. “The one sitting directly behind, he said ‘just f****** drive you ****’.” At this point Mr. Wilkins decided to turn around and return to Epping and then came under attack. “He said ‘turn the f****** car around’ and grabbed me from behind. He got hold of me with his arm. Pulled his arm around my neck and pulled it against the head rest. “He was leaning over me, over the back of my seat, with his face alongside my face, screaming ‘I will stab you, you f****** ****.’ “He leaned forward and yanked the hand brake up. He was screaming in my face. He was very, very aggressive.” Mr Wilkins said he tussled for control of the handbrake and the car went into a “half-spin” in the middle of the road. “We were very lucky we were not killed. He should be up here on attempted murder,” he added. “The second male passenger clearly found it amuzing,” continued Mr.Wilkins,”he kept shouting - ‘News Of The World Jack Tweed’.” Mr Wilkin’s managed to stop the car and shortly afterwards was joined by another taxi driver from his firm. The second taxi driver, Mr.Russel Burns, remembers seeing the passenger behin Mr.Wilkins “punching and pulling on the back of the seat”. Jack walked away when the police arrived. Jack has denied assaulting the taxi driver Mr. Wilkins.

Man of the Month

What can I say here.

Every blog needs one.

Give me a break.

The biggest loser

On TV this week the fat people show ended most people may know it as "The biggest loser" It leaves me with the burning question what really drives people to lose weight. Is it to look good or to be healthy. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/index.html

But we could all try to fit into a pair of AUSSIE BUMS once in a while. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuLO5ZI5uJk

Swans bad start to 2009 season

Has the Syney Swans lost there fighting edge as there 2009 season turns out to-be a rollacoster ride. It seems that the away games for them this year are ending up winner for the home team. St Kilda in Melbourne, Brisbane at the Gabba and last week with there third loss of the year Freemantle in Perth. Thank God all there home games this year have been winners for them but for home much longer?

Melbourne fashion, look sharp

Since living down here in Melbourne I've found there is dress code. From what I might of found myself wearing in Sydney when leaving the house back in Chippendale will not cut it. Now that the mornings are getting colder I can get away with wearing a jacket to work without sweating to death before I reach the office.

I can't wait to loose some more weight so I can step out in a Hugo Boss Suit (that's if I get that pay rise one day) or even try and fit into the two suit that hang in the wardrobe at the moment. I must admit that I have become kind of a slob when it comes to dressing for work. Hopefully with the influence of the people of Melbourne I maybe able to look sharp again.

Yes in my youth (my late teens) I used to dress in suites & ties listening to the Who or the Jam. We called ourselves MODS but even then I was a fairly untidy MOD. I preferd being a punk wearing a leather jacket and big heavy boots with buzz-cut haircut. Much like the haircut I have now as I'm going bald these days. That seems so long ago now, I miss it sometimes but happy with what life has given me.

Anzac Day 2009

Picture 1- Men march outside Flinders Street Station

Picture 2- more men marching

Picture 3 - Youth March across the bridge near Flinder St Station.

Picture 4 -Old men in Old cars

Picture 5 - Love this, Crowd, man with dog.

Picture 6 - More men marching

Picture 7 - More men marching

Picture 8- It's almost like Mardi Gras.

Picture 9 - Now that a real Mardi Gras shot.

Picture 10 - Army drummer boys

Everyone loves a man in uniform and I really can't recall if I have being in Melbourne before on Anzac day. Some may say it should replace Australia day as our National day but I disagree. Both days hold such meaning, though Anzac day seems to be more melancholy where as Australia day is more like a Kylie song where you feel like singing and dancing the whole day through.

The honeymoon is over

At last it's raining in Melbourne, just what I wanted to see, not! Since moving down everyone has been going on about the lack of rain this city has had. Coming from Sydney where our drought broke sometime ago, I'm well over the rain and don't want to see anymore. I believe Melbourne's drought has not broken but the weekend ahead is going to be windy, wet and much much colder than the beautiful warm sunny days I've been enjoying while in Melbourne. Maybe the honeymoon is over hello typical Melbourne weather again.

You have to love this city.

Melbourne is like an old duchess very noble lady high in grandeur showing no flawes.

Same thing different city.

It's almost time to start work again and I came in an hour early today to complete some work for AJ. Come 9 o'clock and the work hasn't even been looked at and ahead of me is another busy day in Records. What I need to be doing is adding TIME back into my days. Creating a time capsules so I know when to stop doing one thing and move on to the next big ticket item. I'm so disappointed in myself, that I can let myself slip back into these old silly habbits.

Cassini's continued mission

NASA's Cassini spacecraft is now a nearly a year into its extended mission, called Cassini Equinox (after its initial 4-year mission ended in June, 2008).

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/04/cassinis_continued_mission.html

I've always been fascinated by space and what's out there. Maybe it's the fact when I was growing up there was the race to the moon and before that was the race to put a man into space. Now days of "users pays" if you have the cash you can go into space and hang out in all that Cosmic dust. Just don't tell mom, as Omo may not be able to get the dirt out.

SSM

I don't understand why same sex marriage is such a problem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDbTPBIYiig
Or is it the fact that Americans are so controlling and want to speak ther mind on everything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYV1aBDH7cA&feature=player_embedded
Or is the fact Ameicans are stupid people and don't when to shut up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtcvhqg-sOM&feature=player_embedded
You got to love how people can't leave it alone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw7YoXXxRj4&feature=player_embedded
The guys point of view

People I like to meet: Facebook friend

Man of my dreams is one of those Facebook friends you hook up with but you don't really know.

Fadi Fawaz has been a Facebook friend for 2 years now and I remember seeing him at Toybox one year with many followers recovering in the Muscle Mary pit. One day we will meet again.

Mike comes to town

My buddy Mike came down on business yesterday so we caught up after work for a pub crawl and bite to eat. Over past few years he has been busy with work and Raul . It was good to have the one on one with him last night. He is more like a brother to me and we can talk about almost anything when we get together but mainly bull-shit. Maybe now, being in a different cities I might see more of him, because knowing Mike he is a hard man to pin-down.

Travel card

Love being new to a city and not knowing how anything works. Since being in Melbourne I was having troubles with my Travel-Card and instead of going out and buying another one I just kept on using it till it was all expired. Here I was was using the wrong ticket all the time to travel in & out of work. Back at the end of March I had purchased a Travel Card that only operates around the CBD of Melbourne and not to areas like St Kilda, where I call home. No wonder it was not validating for me on the Tram. My friend Andrew thought I was sticking it in the machine incorrectly but as you can see in the above picture, you just follow the arrow.

People are so!!!!!!!

OMG what a busy day today I had three meetings in one day. One meeting was so dull if I had a gun I'd spray the room with bullets just to wake some people up. Don't wanted kill people. Topic was all about knowing our Performance Enhanement Program. PEP for short. Yes I know the drill for many years now, so hurry it along so we can go but no,not hour & half, whatz new to know apart from we are not getting pay rise this year.

I'm not sure about these Melbourne people yet, they seem too nice. They seem like country foke, big wide smiles and always willing to lend a hand. There was one person who saw right through me today and that was Desi. She is a Greek woman who comes in twice a week to help out and she could tell I had enough of the bullshit factor, (to use her words) as the day was extra bad.

There are parts of the working day I just want to be left alone and to be in my own space for what ever reason that maybe. The nature of the job is alway being on call so that's why I love the time when you clock off and everyone has gone home. It's my time (get the fuck out of my face) to regroup before hopping on the Tram and find a nice cold beer at home. Something extra nice would be to finds sexy hunk waiting for me in bed when the lights go out. Oh such is life.

I'll never need to worry about wetting myself again.

Funny what things you can find on the web.

Searching for information regarding a park discovered while riding along the bay on the long weekend, I can across this web site.

http://www.toiletmap.gov.au/toilet.aspx?type=toilet&id=d62de8b7-ae1a-4009-b3a1-414ab1add6f3

When I visted Westgate Park, found down on the river out near Port Melbourne. As you can work out a huge whopping bridge over-shadows this park.

I didn't get payed today

Dear Pedro

As you probably know it was the Firm request that everyone be paid monthly. Unfortunately NSW legislation provides for employees to be paid fortnightly upon request. There is no legal requirement for employees in states other than NSW to be on a frequency other than what is determined by the employer. Therefore we do not have a fortnightly payroll in any other states and I am sorry to advise that we cannot accommodate your desire to remain a fortnightly paid employee. We could offer to grant you an advance today, if authorised by HR representative, which can float you until Wednesday. You should discuss this with your manager and HR. The expectation is that this advance of salary will be recouped from your next monthly pay.

Payroll.

Not happy at all to discovering that moving to Melbourne ment moving to monthly pay system.

Newtown by the beach

It's been such a eventful month for me with a few times in the weeks gone by that I felt like throwing it all in and staying in the city I was born in. I do miss my city of Sydney but I am happy within myself to say I've made the move for all the right reasons. What are thoses reasons, I hear you say?

Well I was experiencing a extreme dislike to where I was living in Sydney and needed to move. I must admit moving interstate sounds a bit severe.

There was also the fact that I was bored at work. So I was really lucky to find a job in Melbourne within the same company. Well good and bad as being the same job just different city, at least I know what to do and have hit the ground running.

I've found a great place to live at St Kilda Beach, a cute Art Deco apartment facing the water. Out of all the suburbs in Melbourne, St Kilda was on the top of my list. I describe St Kilda as Newtown by the beach. You have the homeless and druggies, as well as the fit son of bitches who look so good running along the beach. I'm just jealous and sound it too. This coming week-end, I will test my feet and go for a long run. I must admit I have turn into a fat bastard over the past year but being so close to the beach now I have to stop fooling myself and get back to the TRIM THING again. Oh the pain I can feel it already but I love pain that's why I work in RECORDS.

The new office has been a interesting and I knew things would be different. Hey at least it stops the boredom. The travelling to work is slightly the same time when living in Sydney but I'm using the Tram to get to the city, instead of my feet. I must say me and the public transport are not friends. I'm using a ticket that never seems to work for me. Hopefully the Transit Police don't fine me because each time I board the Tram I need to validate the ticket but it cancels out on me. It doesn't happen all the time but enough to annoy. I might start riding my bike in next week as it's a short week but well see how I go. I might do a demo on the week-end so I don't get lost. If I do get lost, it's Easter I have 4 days to find my way home. Ha I just called Melbourne home.

The Kiwi and the Lion

Before I do start on the catch up blog and why it has taken me so long to write, let me just say I have some great friends and some friends who seem not to function without me. Let's call them the Kiwi & the Lion and some unknow reason they are stuck in there silly ways. Always upsetting each other because neither one wants to change. I believe I maybe the cause of this relationship breakdown, as they were great mates. If they were such great friends, what went wrong, to make them argue all the time. I do admit to speaking my mind but I give people a chance and listen to what they have to say. I think the Kiwi and Lion should not be so picky as the jungle is filled with far worst dangerous creatures.