Didn't really plan any projects to do over this weekend. I'm supposed to be planning my trip over to Philip's Penis, so I thought I'd just take my camera out wherever I went on the weekend. My mate, Alex, called me up and asked if I could take some quick snaps of his brother, Anthony, who was graduating with a degree of psychology. It was only at the convention centre so I only had to hop on my bike and go for an odd 5 minute bike ride to get there. Straight after taking some snaps, Mal and friends from Briz came down and we planned to go to this Ethiopian community function thingo. Didn't really know what to expect, the guys were joking around, saying there'd be UN trucks passing out food packs in a field of refugee tents... Hey, I didn't say it, the guys did!
Anyway, we got there and it was pretty much just a little showcase of Ethiopian culture. They had dancing (mostly Latin for some reason), food, and you could even buy Ethiopian beer! I didn't have any of it, though; I was smart enough to bring my trusty flask of whisky and mixed it with the two-dollar Coke cans they were selling.
I continued drinking through the night, and continued again the next day with a BBQ and booze shindig at the house with mates.
Well, I'm up-to-date with all my photo posts. As mentioned, all of the previous posts were shot in the past 6 months, so all my future posts will be new material. Now, I'd like to let you know that my coming adventures are going be interesting. About two weeks ago, I finally put in my overdue resignation at work - I'm a graphic designer for a digital advertising company. I've been with them for the past three and half years and just thought it's time for a change and to get another design job! The plan was, when I finish up in two weeks, I'd receive an odd five weeks of holiday pay that I didn't use during my time there. I'd use that money as if I were still employed; for 4 weeks, I'd work my ass off Monday to Friday, nine to five, like a normal job, and design my new graphics/motion portfolio. Those plans have changed slightly…
Soon after I gave my notice, my auntie passed away from a cerebral aneurysm. A family member had given me the task to produce a slideshow of my auntie's life to play during the funeral. Now, my family and I are Filipino. I was born in the Philippines but moved to Australia when i was three. When I received all these images of my auntie, when she was young and living in the Philippines, it sparked the idea of traveling back there, and I guess you can say "find my roots." I really don't know that much about my birthplace; I cant speak the language and I don't hang around any other Filipinos - which I've noticed is what they do here in Australia. I guess the closest thing I experience to being Filo is the food my mum gives me. Other than that, I'm all Aussie, and hey, proud of it!
So anyway, I said "fuck it!" I told myself I will not have a job to tie me down. Why not live in the Philippines for a couple of months and design my folio there? All I need is my Macbook and my Wacom tablet and I'd be set for my photography work. There was only one thing that would stop me from leaving. I wouldn't be able to go unless I had someone to rent out my room, 'cause hells no was I going to pay rent while I was gone. I plan on going away for only 2 months and I'll be wanting to come back to my awesome crib here in Mermaid Beach. Luckily, one of my roommates managed to find a work buddy who was keen for the room, so I locked that in and booked my flights the following day. Within five days of the thought, I had booked my ticket outta here!
I've got two weeks left in Australia before I head on to my new adventure. During this time, I'll be researching places to visit around the country, contacting relatives for accommodation, nagging my mum for the friends she's got whose houses I can crash at, and writing up an outline on what to design in my portfolio. It won't be all adventure time, I'll need to come back home with a fully kick-ass portfolio 'cause I'll need a job ASAP, knowing how low on the moolah I'll be.
Now, bookmark my blog! I'll be posting up my rad adventures over there and also start including all my designs and animations!
I had a projector lying around the house that a friend had left. I thought I'd have some fun and project images on my roommates and myself. Yeah, it's been done before, and in a much more complex way, but hey, it's just for fun and it looks cool!
My good mate, Alex, and I went out one Wednesday night to do some star gazing using the telescope his awesome girlfriend got him. I'm fascinated with the whole science space thing - hence why my logo contains the texture of a nebula, the Carina Nebula. I was pretty excited to see some stars! We drove out near the back of Ormeau, somewhere far enough to get away from the light pollution, but not too far of a drive 'cause Alex had to get up at 5:00am the next morning for work. We managed to find a nice quiet spot on the side of the road, with only one passing car for the whole time we were there. It's amazing how many stars you can see without all the light pollution and being able to see the amazing arms of the Milky Way!
Back in my school days, I grew up living around a suburb called Coombabah on the Gold Coast. I really enjoyed living in that 'hood; I had mostly all of my schoolmates living close by, so there was always something to do when I wasn't at school. One of the things we used to get up to was hopping on our bikes and riding around the Coombabah Reserve. It was, and still is, a beautiful nature reserve untouched by all the Lego-Land construction that was being built all over the coast at the time. We'd chase the kangaroos in the reserve, go camping on the weekends, and occasionally build bike jump circuits. My mates even tried growing their own hidden stash of weed which mysteriously disappeared. Ah, the follies of youth!
With the years gone by, I grew up, got a car, realised beer didnt taste that bad, and moved away from the suburb of my childhood. Now, living on the other side of the coast, I thought It'd be a good idea to revisit the reserve and take some pics. One freezing Saturday morning, at about 5:00am, I left the house, hopped in the car, and headed to the reserve. When I eventually got there, I unloaded my twenty-six dollar Apollo bicycle, which I placed in the back of the car the night before. I turned on the little LED spotlight I sticky taped to the handle bar and rode into the dark, freezing reserve. I had an ideal spot where I wanted to take some photos, so even though I was riding in the pitch black, I still remembered the paths to take to get to my destination. I ended up having to use my phone light, 'cause the LED spotlight sucked and I was kinda freaked out by all the kangaroos on the side of the path, waiting to come up and give me a good stomp - luckily, I warded them off with my singing.
I got to my destination but was surprised because looked different from how I'd remembered it. I remembered a swampish area, but it seemed nature thought it needed some greening up. There were all these mangrove tree thingos spread everywhere. Anyway, I had to work with it. I set up my camera gear, did a few shots here and there, attempted doing some HDR shots, and watched the sunrise change the colour of sky.
I've got this thing with collecting old bikes. I've got four bikes in total, and three of them are in pieces awaiting their complete restoration. I'll post up restoration stories on them, once I get the time to actually restore them. Anyway, I saw this Apollo on eBay going for $23. On the last minute of the auction, I placed $26 and won the beauty! The bike was located East of Brisbane, so the following weekend I drove up and collected it from the elderly lady who was selling it. She informed me that it was her late husband's bike. Since his passing, the bike had just been sitting in the garage for the past seven years collecting dust. I told the kind lady that I would give the Apollo the much needed attention and use!
The bike was in really good condition; all the parts were intact and running, both the tyres were flat, but with a little pump of air it ran like a beaut! I started disassembling the bike over the next few nights and polishing all the bits and pieces 'til it looked shining new! After countless hours polishing it, I got it back to its former glory. In the meantime, I'll leave it as it is, but when I've got some spare cash I'll replace the mudguards with some new chrome ones, get a nice new brooks saddle, and a dyno bullet-light for the front.
Well, once again, the Gold Coast Marathon was held. I was going to contend, but my fitness level wasn't up to my "standards". I'm sure if I'm still living on the coast next year I'll attempt to run my ass off - and this time not hungover! The 42km route runs through Hedges, which my street connects with, so I got up early and watched those Kenyan's kick some butt!
Ash is an old high school friend who I've managed to stay in touch with all these years. I don't know whyyyyy, 'cause she's so annoying and loves to whinge about nothing! Anywho, she needed some photos for a portfolio of hers; no payment or sexual favours, just a slab of beer. I took her to my sister's modelling agency and used their studio. The shoot was nothing special, just some quick snaps and a lot of hours in post production cleaning up her horrible skin.
My mate, Mal, and I got tickets to see OFWGKTA. The whole G-Unit thing ain't my scene, though Tyler and the fellas did a good job entertaining all the Brisbo whities with their crude lyrics and sense of humour. During the day, before the gig, we thought we would go check out the annual Brisbane Cheese Festival in Hamilton. There was a wide variety of cheese from all around Australia, and we even had a taste of buffalo brie!
There'll be a few of these episodes throughout my blog in the future. It's basically me out on the booze, bringing along my camera, and snapping up friends and piss-heads...
