Good Afternoon 2010!

Happy New Year!!

The year kicked off to a fantastic start! I was in touch with my best friends, who I tend to see off and on all year and last night I saw them all. I managed to sleep in to 11am this morning waking up to an awesome view of the beach from my best friends place. We then watched the Ellen Degenres show plus other quality mid day tv shows while reading the biography of Mick Fanning (which was actually quite interesting), playing Nintendo DS, and eating Cheese toasties with chips.

Yes... this year has got off to a rocking start. =]

Love It!

Did you happen to miss some of the most over played songs of 2009?

Well never fear because DJ Earworm has done another United Song of Pop remix, and it is totally awesome!

Highly recommend you listen to it =]

I won! and I'm speechless - which is rare.

Well today along with discovering Blogger's new edit set-up I was also let in on some very very good news. Turns out that the hard work I've put into a certain competition over the past couple of months has paid off!!

I was a competitor amongst an assortment of other talented bloggers in a competition presented by Murdoch to find their official blogger of 2010. The winner would also take home an internship with Sunset Events. It was the internship I had my eyes on, though I will admit the official title of "Murdoch Blogger 2010" was quite enticing. I was with my friend Steff at the time I spotted the Murdoch flyer recruiting bloggers to participate in the competition. We were attracted by the colours and the pictures on the flyer, and despite the prize I just thought it would be an awesome competition to enter judging by the awesomeness of said flyer. "Omg Jess! This is like awesome for you! Win an internship with Sunset Events... That's like you're dream job!!!"

Steff was right... and I basically couldn't refuse an opportunity that may lead to my dream career. I first thought that about 100 students would enter. I didn't understand why someone wouldn't want to enter! So there I am thinking about 100 students have entered this competition and it's going to be a low brow thing and no one will read my blog anyway. Boy was I wrong... Next thing I know there's a web page. And on the web page is photos, including my photo along with about 15 others. It was then I realised that people vote for you to help you win the competition, my heart sunk... How was I going to rally peoples support to vote for me? Firstly, that means finding people and not just people, people that care! Secondly, this website is getting me attention, and I may be a little happy and loud at times but as soon as I realise people are noticing I tend to quieten the hell down. So at this stage I was feeling a little uneasy about the road ahead.

I've never considered myself a particularly creative person, so entering a competition that required me to write blogs was pushing my limits a little too far... or so I thought anyway. Turns out I really enjoyed writing, making videos and taking photos. I placed second in one of the assignments which pushed my confidence up a little after watching the other bloggers do really well. I didn't think I had a chance at winning the competition after reading the blogs of other competitors. The other bloggers were so creative, and their writing was really interesting. I felt like I had to go above and beyond if I was going to have a chance at winning. So in the final assignment I gave it my all. I had no excuse, I had finished uni and I had no exams.

Steff and I went to Murdoch on one of the few hot days, stood in the sun and drew line by line the word practical. "This better be worth it!" We both gasped as we wiped the sweat from our faces. Well turns out... it was. I sit here with a huge smile across my face struggling to find words that explain how happy, excited, and appreciative I am.

It has just been announced that I am Murdoch University's Official Blogger for 2010. I've also one my "dream job" which is an internship at Sunset Events. I know it took a little while to get here, considering the heading states that I'm speechless, but I just needed to describe how I felt three months ago compared to what I feel right now. I am much more confident with my writing and I expect to write some killer essays next year. I'm also in a position where I can no longer say "I can't". Because I did.

So finally, I would like to say thank you to everyone that voted. Thank you to everyone that voted twice. Thank you to everyone that asked their friends and family to vote. Thank you to Stephanie Chong for helping me out with the practical side of blogging. A big thank you to the organisers who gave me the opportunity to win such an amazing prize. And lastly thank you to the other bloggers for being such tough competitors and making this competition a real challenge.

Jess xx

I am a practical thinker.

The Murdoch free thinkers quiz is designed to help prospective students decide what they want to study. So as a second year student taking the test I was a little worried. The result may be completely different to my choice of study; it may even make me rethink my original study choice. There are four possible results you can end up with; practical, compassionate, visionary or creative. When you have completed the test a percentage is given per possible result. This is what my result looked like:

Practical - 38%
Compassionate - 28%
Visionary - 25%
Creative - 9%

I was happy with the above results, apart from the fact that practical people can be a little boring... and considering I'm only 9% creative that's a little worrying. I'm glad I'm a little bit compassionate as well. It may not dominate my life but putting others first is a natural part of how I think. I think it's also pretty funny that only 13% separates my dreamer side from my practical side. So maybe I'm well balanced? Either way I'm happy with these results and I feel like I'm on the right track with my studies.

After you've received your results Murdoch will suggest courses which coincide with your personality traits. For my results Murdoch listed:
Organising or Clerical
Helping or Advising
Practical or Mechanical
Before I discuss why my course fits into these categories and how Murdoch has summed me up perfectly I want to talk a little bit about what the word practical means to me.

One of the reasons I love studying at Murdoch is because our courses are quite hands on. I'm not one of those people that can read a book and then learn something. I don't learn through theory, I need to be shown things. I remember when I was first learning how to drive and my mum was trying to teach me the basics to driving a car. She would say don't do this, don't do that, and all I would say is "Why not?" and she would just reply with "I don't know, just because!" It wasn't until my dad showed me the mechanics of the car and how it worked that I actually grasped the concept of driving. These situations tend to happen to me a lot. I can't just be told what to do, I need to know why. There has to be a reason otherwise why would I do it? My results at uni prove that I am indeed a practical thinker. I tend to excel in courses where I can show what I can do rather than just write about it.

This is one of the reasons why I'm studying media. In media I get to experience the world from a practical perspective as opposed to learning about everything through theory. There is a balance between theory and practice, and I really love that. I also believe that my bachelor of media can be classified as an organisational and clerical course.

At first glance it doesn't seem like a course that will teach you organisation, but it has definitely taught me how to be organised. If the unit is practical, then deadlines become more important. There are no extension dates on practical work; it needs to be done on time. So in terms of being organised, I have definitely learnt how to manage my time. I also chose this course because I want to be an events coordinator, which I would say is a very organisational and clerical career. You need to be organised when organising events otherwise things get out of control. I'm also a little bit obsessed with stationery and have dreamed of having an office job. I wouldn't want to be stuck in an office all day, but to have my own office and a home for all my stationery would make me a very happy person.

P.S
Seeing as this is the last blog assignment and that we are indeed in a competition I would like to wish everyone the best of luck!

A taste of things to come.

The final product will be posted tomorrow!! Stay tuned =D

The festivals of 2010.

West Coast Blues 'n' Roots Festival 2010 here I come!

Next years festivals are sending me broke. I have my Southbound ticket. This year was my first Southbound experience and I would have done ANYTHING and I mean anything to see The Kooks live. I ended up at the front of the crowd right in front of Luke Pritchard, it could not have been a better experience. Despite not having a favourite band on the line-up this year (excpet for Jamie T playing on the Friday night for campers only, and i'm not camping =[ ) I still bought my ticket the day they went on sale. Southbound is just one experience you can not deny yourself. If you have not been to Southbound, you're seriously missing out. It's the closest thing WA has to Glastonbury, and we all know how good that festival is!

I also have my Big Day Out ticket. There are three big reasons as to why I'm heading to the BDO next year for the first time. 1. Muse 2. Lily Allen and 3. Powderfinger. Three of my top bands on one line-up, I could not go past it! Although I've been told the crowd is kind of rough I'm willing to endure bruises and sore muscles, after all injury's do become a part of the festival experience.

Last on my current festival line-up is the West Coast Blues and Roots festival. Two words - Crowded House. I love them! It may have something to do with me being part Australian and part New Zealander, but I just think their music is magical. Not to mention the way a crowd lights up when they hear their classic songs. After I hear "Better Be Home Soon" live I will be able to die happily. Other awesome bands joining Crowded House are The John Butler Trio, Jimmy Barnes, Newton Faulkner, Angus & Julia Stone, and Lisa Mitchell.

Hopefully I'll somehow end up with a ticket to Laneway Festival as well. Florence and the Machine, The Middle East and Mumford & Sons, you can't go wrong!

Paul Cashmere burns Rebekah Devlin

If you've been living under a rock you may not have heard the media lashing out at Britney Spears and her latest world tour. Last Friday night Britney Spears' Circus Tour kicked off its Australian leg in Perth. After one show the media had attatched it's self to the fact the Britney Spears was lip synching. Politicians even came out demanding that all performers should claim that they are going to be lip synching in their shows. But was Britney Spears lyp synching really that much of a shock? If you asked Perez Hilton he would say what else were you expecting and why do you care?, its BRITNEY SPEARS! John Mayer also defended the singer through twitter (http://twitter.com/johncmayer) claiming "If you're shocked that Britney was lip-syncing at her concert and want your money back, life may continue to be hard for you."

John Mayer was responding to the media 'circus' created by Rebekah Devlin's claims that fans had stormed out on Britneys concert. Here are a couple of the stories for you to ponder over if you haven't already seen them.
Article 1
Article 2
They seem completely based on fact. She has asked several punters for the points of views and clearly has severl quotes. The point is, however, that there is no mention of any part of the show going well. What kind of fair account of events is this? All we are reading is how bad the show was, how horrible it was that Britney mimed, and oh my god help us she didn't talk after two songs!! Lets all go home and slit our wrists shall we?

I saw Britney's show on Saturday, and it was fantastic! And that is a completely non-bias point of view. I'm no die hard Britney fan, I only own her first album and her first greatest hits release. After I turned 15 I stopped listening to pop music and only attended concerts with bands performing live. So for me this was a whole new experience and boy did Britney deliver. The show was literally a cricus. Britney would undergo costume changes, and the set would change regularly throughout the show. Every time this happened circus perfromers would come out and put on show. The concert was non-stop entertainment from start to finish.

Paul Cashmere highlights the flaws in Rebekah Devlin's cheap stabs at Britney's concert in Perth. Everything he says I could not agree with more. You must must MUST read this article. He makes it clear that he isn't a Britney fan but still enjoyed the show. He also suggests other news headlines that Devlin may have picked up if she wasn't so fixated on creating a storm of negative media.
Check it out here:
Paul Cashmere review

Assignment #4 - My Passion.

This latest blog assignment is asking us to define what we're passionate about and how it fits into our dream job.
So, talking about your passion should be easy right? Well no, first you need to know what you're passionate about and I have so much going on in my little head that I can't figure out what I love most. So I've sat here for about two hours now umming and arring over what I'm passionate about. I started asking myself, what is it that I can't go a day without? This bought me to the events of this weekend in which I felt very passionate about a certain subject expressing both passionate anger and passionate love. Yes, it was Britney Spears.
Oh I know it sounds really lame when I put it like that but I do admire Britney. She holds a place in my childhood that will exists forever, so yes I think Britney Spears is the shit. Any who, the bigger picture to this story is my true passion. Music!
As I've experienced over the weekend I can become quite passionate about the subject. I was very angry when people we dissing Ms. Spears because she was lip synching. Well haters, on Saturday night she did sing and she sounded brilliant so screw you! I think I should push on now... see told you I was passionate!
Anyway, it made me realise that I care about music, and I care when people don't understand music. When I hear a brilliant band and go "Omg this band is sooo good, like seriously the bass is off the hook!" and my friends don't understand I spend the next hour or so trying to demonstrate why the song is epic.
So in the past couple of weeks I've kind of set an example for myself when it comes to making videos or taking photos... but this week I was just toooooooo busy. Instead I've created a little montage demonstrating my passion

So there you have it! That’s my passion. Now to turn it into a job... Well... that task is actually going to be easier than I thought. I went to university to study a degree that would help me on my path to becoming an events manager. But the thing is I don't just want to be any events manager, sure I've taken up a double major in public relations so I can organise events for company's... but seriously I don't want to be stuck organising staff Christmas parties for the rest of my life. No no no I want to organise music events.
I've been doing it on a local level for a couple of years now and in that time I have met the man who actually has my dream job. You may or may not have heard of Paul Sloan, he is the creator of Rock-It and has achieved many things that I am envious of. I will never forget the time we put together a show in Mandurah for his band The Sunshine Brothers to rehearse for their upcoming tour because Paul was going to be going on tour with Death Cab for Cutie so was unable to rehearse for a few weeks. Honestly, isn't that the coolest excuse in the world to miss out on band practice! "Oh you know... I'm touring with Death Cab" Holy Crap! Ever since that day I've wanted his job.

So in summary....
Passion: Music
Job: Events coordinator, tour manager, promoter, oh and while we're still dreaming how about my own record label? Cool? K Thanks. =]

P.S
Voting lines are still open! And there isn't even a number to call, just a picture to click. Isn't that great?!

Freedom!

What a year... I will not deny that University was hard this year. I actually did better this year than i did last year though, maybe I like the hard work? Who knows, all I can say is that right now I am so releived that I have no assignments left.
This last week has been so full on, I have never been so stressed in my life. One unit, for unknown reasons other than I think its a really crappy idea, had me hand in 50% of the unit on Friday. 50%!!!! On top of that pressure, I had 3 tests spread over Monday and Tuesday. One of these tests was for a unit that I won't name here because I probably couldn't contain my dislike for it. In this unit over a 14 week semester I learnt nothing. Nothing!! I put it down to a terrible text book and a hard to understand tutor. Anyway I spent 4 days learning 14 weeks of concepts, if i fail that test I just might cry.
If you've read my previous blogs you might know that I am quite the procrastinator and a majority of lasts weeks stress was my own fault. My public relations unit required me to keep a journal throughout the semester documenting lectures, tutorials, sample materials, readings, writing exercises, reflections, and a conclusion per week. Yeah... and guess what? I didn't do it! So by the time I reached week 13 I had only completed 6 weeks. Completely my fault and I deeply regretted it on Friday.
So I get home Friday afternoon and I sigh releif. But alas! I'm not finished JUST yet. No no, and its not exams that I have to do! I'm one of the lucky ones, and its not because I study media!! Which is actually hard at times, as I have experienced this year. No no... I have two assignments left to write for this blog. And no I'm not complaining about it, I want to do it. But I must agree with another blogger on this one (who you can check out here: http://disgracefullytara.blogspot.com/2009/11/its-easy-to-lose-ability-to-dream-while.html) that by the end of 14 weeks of writing within strict guidelines and about theories I'm only going to forget after uni anyway, we lose sight of why we are actually studying. So by tomorrow I need to remember why I went to uni, what I'm passionate about, and how that fits my dream job. Awesome! An assignment that requires me to day dream, I think I might actually enjoy this. =]

Britney!

So Britney Spears is coming to Perth next week, and I wasn't going. The newspaper is telling me how Perth is heating up because Britney lands next week. My facebook was going nuts with my friends posting status updates about going to see her next weekend. And theres me... heartbroken because I was broke when her tickets were released and sold out. But today, that changed.

I got an e-mail from Ticketek around about 2:00 today saying I could get Britney tickets for $50. FIFTY DOLLARS!!!! Yesterday I worked 14 hours so I'm confident that I can now afford to see Britney Spears. I ran around the house screaming "Oh My God! Oh My God! MUM!!!!". I rang my cousin asking if she wanted to come and soon after I had a confirmation e-mail from Ticketek congratulating me on my latest purchase. My eyes had tears welling.

My mum asked "Why are you so excited?!" after I had just spent 10 minutes jumping up and down talking veryveryvery fast. I was like "What?!". Britney Spear's firt release was the first album I ever owned. She was my first favourite artist EVER! So many childhood memories feature Britney Spears in the background, and I bet this is the same for many girls born in the 90s.

So Folks, I'm going to Britney next Saturday the 7th of november. Thanks for letting me share the excitement. =D

Murdoch through my eyes. (10 things I've found and Love!)

Oh Assignment three, you couldn't have come at a better time. Actually I lie, you've come at the worst time I could possibly think of! Its week 12 and you want to know 10 things I love about the institution I study at that has imposed several assignments on me and expects me to complete them in two weeks!?! (I assure you if you read that sentence several times it will soon make a lot of sense) Well assignment three, despite the misery associated with Murdoch at this time of the year (last minute assignments and exams etc.) I have managed to come up with a list of ten things I like about my university. But I think it’s a little unfair to just give you my opinion so here’s a little video of what other students like about Murdoch:

So what do I love? Before I stated that this was going to be hard... but I lied. Every day I go to uni with a smile on my face and if I come home upset it’s usually due to motion sickness from the train ride home. Here are the ten things that make my day three days a week (I go to uni Monday through to Wednesday, best semester ever!).

1. Farm Animals – Students who were at uni on Thursday would have noticed baby farm animals in bush court for Stamp Out Stress Week. But these are not the animals I am talking about. I am referring to the horses and sheep once hidden away from us only to be discovered when the bus route was moved. I bet vet students knew that there were animals at Murdoch but if you’re a media student like me then you were none the wiser. Now every morning on my way to uni I get see sheep and horses. It really does make my day. Animals are just so content with life, you know lying around and eating grass all day... they help make Murdoch a stress free environment.
   
   
2. The Bookshop – Those who know me would understand that I am a stationary-a-holic. I love pens, pencils, highlighters with post it notes attached, fancy paper, awesome note books and basically anything you will find in a stationary store. To accentuate my point I spent $120 at office works the year I started uni (I just couldn’t walk past that $10 highlighter with post it notes... absolute genius!). So you could imagine my excitement when I found an actual book store with actual stationary at university. When I get bored on my breaks, sometimes I like to go to the bookstore and browse... it has become a favourite past time of mine.
   
   
3. Exercise – When I get home from uni my mum will usually be like what are you eating? You should go for a walk tomorrow! You don’t do enough exercise! Oh but mother... I’ve just climbed over 4 flights of stairs today, and my classes are on opposite sides of the campus. Therefore mum I actually do a lot of exercise. To demonstrate the walk from the bus stop to bush court, which I walk every day I attend uni, here is a quick video:
   
   
   
   I would also like to add that the route from the bus stop to uni used to be a lot easier. It was moved this year to be behind the university creating a longer walk route.
   
   
4. The Guild Shop – There are several reasons why you will fall in love the guild shop. Firstly, it stocks a wide range of chocolate, lollies, and assorted drinks. Secondly, it sells Murdoch University merchandise such as jumpers and mugs. Thirdly and most importantly it has second hand books. The second hand books sold here are priced according to how well kept they are. If you don’t mind a bit of wear and tear then you will pick up a bargain, these ones are usually the first to go as their the cheapest. Take it from me, before you head off to buy a brand new book check out the guild shop first. I have found a ton of cheap second hand books and saved a lot of money in the past two years, it’s totally worth it.
   
   Oh and I should add you can buy phone credit, remedies (for headaches etc), non overpriced chewing gum, use your ATM card, apply for a smart rider, and many more student essentials.
   
   
5. The Asian Food Van – Oh man this one is obvious. Trust me, as soon as you get to Murdoch all you will hear is how awesome the Asian food van is. I had heard so much about the Asian food van but I had never been before. I tried it for the first time last week and you can see a slide show of the experience below. I’m not much of an Asian food fan but I do like honey chicken and know how to appreciated nice honey chicken, and oh boy was the honey chicken at the Asian food van good! It was so totally awesome that as soon as I left the place I was asking anyone I talked to “have you been to the Asian food van? Isn’t the Asian food van awesome?” I now have plans to take a group of three of my friends there next week.
   
   This is a slide show of my first visit to the Asian Food Van.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Hands On – I love that at Murdoch we can get hands on with our degrees. Last semester I did a radio unit where we were placed into groups of three and required to put on a live radio show once a week. This unit was so challenging and presented problems we would encounter in real life. For those studying Journalism there is a unit which requires you to put together news stories as if you were in a real life newsroom. There are also several degrees that offer work placement units. I do okay at theory work but I feel more confident when I’m able to practice something as opposed to talking about it, and Murdoch allows me to do this.
   
   
7. Library Cafes – The cafes in the library are the best meeting places and I guarantee you will spend a majority of your free time here. Sometimes I will go to the cafes by myself and study, and I actually get stuff done! There are other times when I will meet with a study group I have an assignment with, and then there are times (usually the best) when I will meet some friends and talk. Sir Walters is my favourite as you can always find a table to sit at, unless its winter and then it’s pretty busy. It also has a TV and I’m usually in the cafe when Ellen DeGeneres is on, who I love. The other cafe is on the first level as you walk in and is called Kadjininy Cafe, otherwise known as the one you can’t pronounce. In both cafes there are outlets for your laptop and you can get a $2 small coffee if you have guild discount, both of which are very handy.
   
   
8. The students – Living so far from Perth I was a little unsure how I would go with making friends so far away, but I did just fine. I made friends in my first week that I still see in my classes today. I’ve also met a ton of students studying different degrees through the friends I took to uni with me. Another thing about Murdoch students is that a lot of them are from around the world. We have a high number of international students, and these are the most interesting people you will meet. They give you insights into the world that you don’t see on the news or read about in the papers.
   
   
9. Easy access – I live in Mandurah and every time anyone from Murdoch hears that I get the whole “OMG! How do you get here every day?!” spiel. And I always reply with, “well... it’s not that hard really”. Thanks to the train line I have a 5 minute car ride to Mandurah station, a 40min train ride to Murdoch station and then a 15 min walk or 5 min bus ride to Murdoch University. In fact, I bet I have an easier time getting to Murdoch than some of the students that live in Perth!
   
   
10. The Secret Garden (or Peace Garden) – There is a neat little Chinese style garden basically in the middle of nowhere, well maybe not the middle of nowhere... but it is right next to classrooms and it’s kind of secretive. You can’t really see it from the walk way and have to go down some stairs to get a clear view. In fact it’s so secretive that the other day my friend said to me “Murdoch has a waterfall!” I was like err? Really? Where? And then we went to the secret garden, and I was like oh yeah I know this place!! My favourite part about this place is the waterfall. It’s so pretty and magical... I could just watch the water flow all day. I have plans to grab lunch from the Asian food van and go sit by the waterfall... that day is going to be awesome.
    
    
    

P.S.

While I was uploading my video on youtube I came across this one filmed at Murdoch. It made me laugh so I thought I’d share it with you.

We danced till the sun went down. Part 2.

I would officially like to give myself the title "Worlds Greatest Procrastinator". I have an assignment due this Sunday, an assignment due next Monday, two shifts in my brand new job next week and two assignments due Friday two weeks from now. Despite all of these commitments piling up, what do i decide to do on one of my last free days for the next two weeks? Nothing. Well not exactly nothing, I'm actually addicted to this game site that lets you play strategy games for free. It's running in the background as i type this actually... (check it out here: http://www.twomoregames.com/strategygames.html, BEWARE however as it is highly addictive) I figured that instead of just playing a game I could update part 2 of my epic weekend which concluded 4 days ago, I really am slack aren't i?

Anyway, Sunday was the best day of One Movement. Probably the most fun I had on Saturday was dancing away in the silent disco and discovering Melbourne band Wagons. Sunday, however, was epic fun all day long. There were several awesome bands playing on day number 2, and the crowd numbers proved just how popular they were. The crowd was noticeably bigger on Sunday it might be due to the day being a bit cooler than Saturday, but i also think more people were attracted to the bands playing that day. Here's a quick run down of the bands I watched that day.

I Heart Hiroshima - If you haven't heard of them their a three piece from Brisbane and totally rock. I had heard their music before, but their energy live brings a whole new experience to the ears.

The Queen of the Kimberly Mary G - This was the first time I had heard of Mary G, and she (he?) was brilliant! If you've ever heard of the laughing Samoans then you may be familiar with Mary G's style of comedy. Shes a dame Edna type of performer and knows how to make you laugh. I would pay to see her again, she was great.

Meiko - Her voice is so unique, she could sing absolutely anything and it would sound good. She was also pretty funny as well, pulling out some awesome one liners.

Art vs Science and Tigarah - the two joined forces for an unforgettable set. They combined perfectly together to make an awesome one time duo.

Little Red - when they hit the stage, I swear I fell in love. I already knew I liked their music but their live set was amazing. Dominic Byrne of Little Red is my new found musical crush, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm actually counting down the days till I see them again.

Dappled Cities - I will admit that I only wanted to hear "The Price" but they're whole set was actually brilliant.

Wolf & Cub - We were up the front for these guys as we were waiting for Kate Miller Heidke to play on the same stage. There were two drummers, an energetic lead, and a bassist with epic headbanging skills. Definitely not you're average rock band.

Art Vs Science - We only saw them on the big screen as we were waiting for Kate Miller Heidke, but I think if I had been in a crowd for Flippers I would have gone crazy. Its safe to say I was a little too excited when I heard flippers live. Maybe it was because I was the only one dancing in the Kate miller Heidke crowd, either way I attracted a fair bit of attention and I'm not proud of it.

Kate Miller-Heidke - She was as magical as always. Her songs sound just like they do on record and she even threw in her fabulous song about facebook friend requests. If you haven't heard it check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7MuwPlOiNQ

Hilltop Hoods - We watched about two songs before we decided we had to leave if we wanted to be back in Mandurah at a reasonable time, but that was enough to pick up an awesome vibe from the crowd and leave with smiles on our faces.

After we decided we were going to leave, as designated driver i thought i should have a V energy drink to keep myself awake. My friend Emma and I headed to the V bar while our other friends Missy and Brodie went for a bathroom stop before the trip home. When we got our V I heard Miami Horror start to play "Make you mine" and I couldn't help but move my feet. "Baby, you got me feeling it in my feet you got me dancing" man I took that lyric literally. I then initiated a dance party with Emma in between the silent disco and the tent Miami Horror were playing in, or in other words the most unlikely place to dance to the band currently on stage. We continued to dance together along with a few passer byers until the other half of our pose came back from the bathroom and joined in with us. I took a break from the dancing and went to the bin to throw out my empty V can. When I came back I noticed someone taking photos and that some of the punters watching Miami Horror had turned around to watch us dance. We then danced our way to the front gates and to the train station.

When on the train we heard a man behind us break up with his girlfriend on the phone. It was a little intense... he started yelling at his girlfriend and told her he didn't want to use anymore. I should point out the train was very full as well, I don't think he noticed though. After he hung up on her he started to cry... then he rang her back and laid out all their dirty laundry for the train to hear. Safe to say it was pretty awkward...

After that it was a safe trip home and straight to bed to rest for uni the next day =]



(Don’t forget to vote!)

We danced till the sun went down. Part 1.

So I'm meant to be completing an assignment due tomorrow... but I feel a great need to discuss the past weekends events. It was indeed the weekend of the One Movement Festival. Oh how glad I am to have attended this little beauty.

I must begin with one topic EVERYONE was discussing over the weekend, and that is Murdoch University. We all just guessed that Murdoch's partnership with Sunset Events was the reason we received free tickets to the festival, but we are yet to be given a formal explanation (as far as I am aware anyway). Due to being unemployed for the past 4 months I couldn't even fork out $99 to buy a ticket to One Movement, so I was understandably quite excited when I found out we had access to free tickets. I was even more pleased when I rocked up on Saturday and discovered the venue was half empty.

I've only attended a few festivals and concerts before, and none of them have ever been less than half full on arrival. Another thing I noticed was how chilled everyone was. There was no pushing or shoving, and I could comfortably be at the front of the action and dance till my hearts content. Unlike Southbound this year when I received bruised ribs from being at the front of the crowd during The Kooks set, worth it though... oh so totally worth it.

Saturday at One Movement was okay... I wish I could say it was great, but I can't... and here are several reasons why.

1. Its hay fever season - Anyone slightly close to me knows I am a hay fever sufferer. Mostly because since the first hot day in October I can't go 2 minutes without sneezing. Saturday was especially bad due to the heat, flies, and a blood nose with terrible timing.

2. It was hot! - Almost everyone that walked on stage on Saturday payed note to the heat. When I read the Sunday Times on Sunday morning I discovered it had been 36.9 degrees, which the paper described as a 'heat wave'. Yeah... not exactly ideal festival weather.

3. Sweat - This kind of tees with the fact it was hot, but sweat needs its on sub category. Sweat + sunblock + dirt = sticky dirty sweat. All I could think about at the end of the day was how good a shower would be right now.

4. The music - Now there will always be highs and lows to the musical selection at festivals, and if you don't like one band its more than likely someone else will. However, Sundays line-up was noticeably more impressive than Saturdays, just saying...

Thankfully I can stop there. 4 reasons why Saturday wasn't great, that's enough. Here are some reasons Saturday was great:

• The Silent Disco - which I spent an hour in
• The People
• Dippin' Dots - the worlds coldest and yummiest ice cream
• Sarah Blasko
• Wagons (if you missed them please check them out here: http://www.myspace.com/wagonsmusic)
• Free Murdoch T-Shirts

A few of these things were happening all weekend, but I chose to experience them on Saturday =]

This little post is long enough so I shall return later with a Part 2 featuring Sunday. I must finish my report due tomorrow like a good Uni student =]

Peace and love y'all!



(Don’t forget to vote!)

Hired!

No more scouring the papers, no more agonising over lack of funds, no more staying up late applying for billions of jobs that all turn me down. Yes, that's right I GOT HIRED!!

Today I decided enough is enough, I am going to get a job. So I printed out a bunch of resumes, placed them in a plastic sleeve and went to the Mandurah Forum. I gave one to Telstra, which is where a friend of mine works. The same friend also used to work at the jewellery store 'Michael Hill', which she said had a sign out the front saying they were hiring casuals. I walked over to 'Michael Hill' and sure enough there was a sign!

I walked in and waited around for a while for some people to be served. After about 5 minutes the manager came out and greeted me. She looked at my resume and said, tell me about yourself. So I told her about myself, I said I was keen to get back into work and in three weeks I'm available full time. She seemed impressed, I was confused as to why because I had no retail experience what so ever. Maybe it was because I smiled heaps. When i went for my first job at 15 all my dad said was "remember to smile". I guess he was right. I was introduced to the staff working at the time, and they all seemed really nice. After shaking the managers hand and walking away with papers concerning tax and Superfund along with a roster, it was clear... i was no longer unemployed.

I felt like jumping in the air and clicking me heels together. I wanted to tell the whole entire world I had a job again! For 5 months I've been unemployed, and it has been the most challenging time for me. I hadn't been unemployed for three years before June, and well... to be honest it felt great at first. But then... I just got bored... even with uni I missed having the extra challenge of fitting in a work shift in between study. And although its been easier for me to achieve at Uni when I would look around and see my friends talking about work on top of their study, I felt kind of lazy. Not to mention not having any money! That's probably the hardest thing. I was living off my parents for a while until I got a measly $140 back from the tax department (i say measly because the year before i received $1100), so being back on the pay roll is such a good feeling.

I'm glad I have a blog to tell this good news too, otherwise I'd be calling everyone in my phone book and explaining how happy I am. That is how good this news is. =D

The fun Theory

A friend just posted this video on Facebook...



Usually I don't watch many videos that people post, unless i am extremely bored, but this link caught my eye. The description read "We believe that the easiest way to change people's behaviour for the better is by making it fun to do. We call it The fun theory." I thought it was a brilliant idea! And calling it "The fun theory"!? Ingenious!

The video shows how they use the "fun theory" to change peoples minds about taking the escalator, otherwise known as moving stairs. They turn it into a piano so people want to walk up the stairs instead of standing on the moving stairs. Really its doing two things now. Firstly everyone is getting fitter, secondly everyone is getting happier! No more sad faces in class or grumpy old people complaining about the way you dress, because the "fun theory" has changed their behaviour by making life fun again. And everyday while passing through the subway people are going to actually look forward to walking up the stairs! They're not even thinking of the fact that its actually exercise. Its like when you try to get a baby to eat their vegetables and you say "here comes the aeroplane! nomnomnom" and the baby either eats it or looks at you like you're the two year old, not them.

I think the whole idea of having fun can make anything seem well... funner? For example, your task is to write a journal every single week for the rest of the 14 week semester. In your journal you include lecture summaries, class summaries, sample materials, writing exercises and a weekly reflection. This is the unfortunate task that I find myself doing once a week. Actually I lie, I don't do it once a week. But I should and this is how I know I am going to have a sleepless week 14 while trying to catch up on it all. Note to self: STAY ON TOP OF JOURNALS! Anyhow back to the point. You must keep a weekly journal. Now, as i have discovered, it is a pretty boring and daunting task. But! we can liven it up a little by using colour, cool paper, awesome font, or writing as if it were a blog! All these things would make the task a little more inviting, because.. yerp you guessed it, we're having fun!!

The message here people is, have fun! Its like when you were 5 years old and everything was a game. Institutions like school, university, and work places can take the fun out of life. It can steal our imagination. We need to fight back I say! Let you're creative juices flow. If you want to learn a musical instrument, learn it! If you work 9-5 in a dead end job and want something more, go find it! The fun is there, it just needs to be rediscovered.

What is truth?

Today was an eventful day. I feel back in primary school writing a journal with a statement like that, but I really can't put it any other way.

Firstly my friend messages me this morning asking if I want a lift to uni. I gladly accept as I haven't had a good run with public transport this week. Monday, a woman vomited and I was given the utmost attention by a four year old who found it fun to annoy me. Tuesday, a man in desperate need of deodorant shared the same cabin as me. Safe to say I didn't really want to catch the train by Wednesday.
Thanks to the new highway it only took 40 minutes to get to Murdoch from Mandurah - the first noteworthy event. I also made it to class early, and making it to class early when you think you're going to be late is always a good feeling.

My first tutorial was okay. The beginning of spring is always a difficult time for my sinuses and I. We're coping okay but thinking too much can give me a headache, not to mention the constant sneezing. Actually, I think trying to suppress sneezes during class time is giving me headaches, oh well. Anyway, today in class our tutor says "alright class, what is truth?” What? Are you serious? That’s like asking where the universe ends! What is truth? We decided that what is true and what is real differs from person to person. While that wasn't the easiest question to answer I was glad to not be discussing the elaborate theories of Sigmund Freud.

After class I met up with a friend for lunch. Both of us didn't have urgent assignments so we decided to just get lunch and sit down. I went to get money out of the ANZ ATM and lo and behold! There are no 20 dollar notes. Big surprise there! So seeing as I’m broke I decided not to get money out. We then sat in Sir Walters’s cafe for an hour discussing random things. This brings me to noteworthy event number three. My friend asks "where is the esplanade in Perth". I just kind of looked at her blankly until I realised she wasn’t joking. I couldn’t believe that of all people to ask me this it would be her asking me. We have been catching the bus to esplanade station for years, as it was the only way to get to Perth without a car before the train line was built. I then explained that it was where esplanade station was, she understood.

After this we went to class. I decided to leave my class early my ride home was also leaving at 3:30. The ride home featured many interesting things including, me singing very loudly to Powderfingers new single, 2/3 of us having a sing along to Taylor Swift, an argument of why Farmville is fantastic and why my friend should hurry up and get facebook, and people flashing their headlights at us. The flashing headlights part is event number four.

We were driving down lakes rd and several people flicked their lights at us. I was like, what is happening? My friends both go maybe there is a speed camera up ahead. And sure enough the Ute in front of us got caught. I say it was their own fault for not listening to the people. I was so happy that people flashed us. It reinstated my faith in humanity. You could argue that they are condoning speeding, but I think the fact that they are looking out for others is a greater good that overweighs condoning speeding. (That actually makes sense but you may have to read it several times)
When I get home I realise that my brother has invited his friends around for a LAN. If you’re unaware of a LAN’s it’s when a bunch of people join together in one place, connect their computers together and play games. There is probably a lot more to it than that, but that’s a simple way to describe it. So currently my internet is being chewed up by the boys outside who are using it to fuel their counter strike addiction.

I now sit at home not wanting to eat dinner thanks to the apple muffin I bought at 3:30 this afternoon from aroma cafe, thinking about what to watch on TV, and pondering over whether or not I should attempt to do some study.

Need some encouragement?

When it came to deciding what to study at UNI I was fairly lucky in that I had a good idea of what I wanted to do. At the time I had been involved with the local music organisation for about 10 months and when it came to choosing a career I decided that events management was the right one for me. I liked being busy and organising an event can be pretty full on. And while stress levels got pretty high, the end result was totally worth it. At the time, however, there were some fairly negative views towards my choice.

Probably the most negative was my dad and while now he supports my decision; at the time he wanted me to do more. I picked up a double major in Public Relations, reassuring him that if my plans for a media career fell through than PR would be a back up. Little did he know, however, that the PR degree was getting me even more experience and knowledge about the events industry. He was happy with the fact that maybe one day I might be the PR consultant for a politician.

Before choosing Public Relations as a double major, however, I had considered both journalism and radio. After writing a couple of freelance articles for a Perth website I decided journalism would be a fun hobby rather than a career. And after watching "state of play" last night, I’m glad I changed my mind. After doing an intro to radio unit in first year I fell in love with radio. I took up a radio production unit last semester and although I loved it I didn't change my mind and stuck with my media & public relations degree. This was mainly because my dad put down the idea of being a radio journalist until one day he changed his mind. Now every day I hear him telling me about all the radio presenters on the ABC and how I should get a job like that. Yeah dad, not gonna happen anymore!

Sometimes I wish I didn't listen to him. But in a way I'm kind of glad I did. I still have a clear direction of where I’m going in terms of uni and I do still love what I'm studying, although sometimes over analysing films can get the better of me. Looking back, however, at my first year of uni when I was at a cross roads in a study path to follow I wish someone said "go for it". Which brings me to the banner of encouragement which is pictured below.



It's probably the simplest piece of advice out there but it really gets the message across. To give it a bit of relevance I have applied it to my younger brother who is currently finishing year 12. The banner is across his most prized possession in the world (maybe second to his computer), his music equipment. He's in a band, he tears up the guitar on a daily basis (driving me, my family, and the neighbours insane), and his favourite movie is a Parkway Drive DVD. Basically when he leaves school he wants to get a record deal, tour Europe, and become the next big thing in Australia. Now that’s all good and I think why the hell not, but our parents don't agree.

They want him to have a backup in case his music dream takes a massive dive and he ends up belly flopping on home where he will live until his late 30s. Yes I agree with them, he must have a backup plan because the career he’s chosen is a little risky. But in a way I think he’s too stubborn to listen to anyone and maybe he needs to make his mistakes to realise he needs to rethink his plan. Yet then again everything may go well and his musical talents will get him somewhere. The point is he needs to try and see. It’s like the old saying "you never ever know if you never ever go!" At least that’s what I recall it being...

Either way, if you have a passion follow it. You don't need to map out your life, just follow what you love or what you're good at. In the end everything (we hope!) will fall into place.

Jess

(Don’t forget to vote!)

Oh study break, how i love you.

It’s that time of the semester again and with yesterday being a public holiday I've decided to announce today as my first official day of the study.
As the day comes to an end I’m feeling quite accomplished. I stayed in my pyjamas until 4pm (only changing when my brother announced company would be arriving) and read about masculinity in film during the 1980s to early 1990s. This is the topic of my 3000 word essay due next Monday which I will no doubt spend the next 5 days writing.

I'm a little horrified by the word limit, the last time I wrote an essay 3000 words long was in year 12. (I wrote 5000 words while competing with my friend, good times...) I just wonder why a unit coordinator in their right mind would want to read and mark 40 3000 word long essays. I'm not going to stress over that though, it'll do my head in. Like trying to figure out where the universe begins and ends, or what’s beyond space, is it white, is it black, or is it just some kind of empty mass? One day I’m going to have an aneurysm thinking about it.

Aside from the essay I have a research evaluation and a few weeks of journal entries to catch up on. If its one piece of advice I can give anyone, its stay on top of your journals! I had to keep a journal last year as well, so i should have learnt my lesson by now... but no. I'm about 6 weeks behind now and hoping to catch up in the next five days, otherwise I'll get a shock when I reach week 14.

In short, i heart study breaks. They are the best time of the semester to catch up on work, and they make everyone at UWA jealous. They argue that they get a longer Christmas break, but deep down.... they know Murdoch is better.

The unwritten rules of public transport. The loud music edition.

I have used public transport more in the last year and a half than I have ever before in my life thanks to university. And, naturally, along the way I have come across some peculiar people and situations.

Yesterday got me thinking about public transport etiquette. You know when you’re on the train or bus and there’s that guy (or girl, tweens are the worst) who's playing their music really really loudly. Honestly I’m surprised their not deaf, or they are and that’s why they have it that loud, either way it gets a bit annoying if you forgot your own iPod that day. Anyway, the other day a lady asked a man to turn his iPod down.

Yes, she asked him to turn it down. Usually I'd be like "yeah you go lady" but not that day... no. I honestly didn't think it was that loud, and it truly wasn't!! I have pretty good hearing (I would like to think, being 18 and all) and I could hardly hear his music blearing. When I listened closely I could faintly here some sort of music in the distance, and he wasn't standing far from where I was sitting. The thing about this situation was that it was two older ladies involved. I guess they were both in their early to late 50's but they were doing some kind of eye contact exchange. I couldn't see the other lady, only the one in front of me and she was kind of using her eyes to point to the guy. THEN the other lady got up and was all "excuse me that’s very loud could you turn it down" she was a little rude actually... And props to him he goes "it’s not loud, I’ll turn it up!" cheeky, but brilliant. Then she left shaking her head, as they always do. But considering my past experiences this guy was lucky!

One time I was catching a night bus from Fremantle to Murdoch. It was after my friend and I had seen Death Cab for Cutie in concert, so our night was going well. When we got on the bus heading back to Murdoch (so we could catch a train to Mandurah) there was a group of three on the back of the bus listening to loud rap. Not to be judgemental, but I must be to give you a perspective of the situation, they were dressed in baggy rap clothes and well... were a little intimidating for a couple of good girls from the south. We then reached the middle of Freo, and a bunch of people got on, naively we sighed relief. That was until two new bus passengers were clearly drunk (one was carrying her flask of wine) and looking for trouble (the other was already bleeding from the nose and had a ripped shirt). It wasn't long until the three at the back disrupted our new passengers with their loud rap music.

The guy, who had clearly been in a fight already that night, made his way to the back of the bus to make some trouble. We weren't looking so we didn't draw attention to ourselves, but a lady at the front screamed a little at the bus driver saying the guy in the ripped shirt had head butted the guy with the music. He (scary guy) then made his way back to the front of the bus. There was an older man in front of us, probably in his 50s, and he started to try and talk to the guy. All the while I’m thinking oh no... Don’t try and be a hero... but he did. He got up and tried to push the guy off the next stop. BIG mistake. The guy retaliated pushing the older guy off the bus and into the bus stop. We never saw anything, but the sound of his body against the bus stop was enough to frighten us all. (And I don’t mean just once, I mean several times over and over)A couple of girls (tipsy I might add) ran off the bus, so a few of us followed. The three at the back remained, along with the woman at the front (who turned out to be a nurse), and the scary guys friend (he was making zombie noises, so yes he was scary).

We wondered down the dark street not knowing where we were, we tried flagging down a couple of buses that passed but no one stopped. We kept walking until we found a small shopping centre which had a bus stop on the side. We waited at the bus stop discussing what had just happened. When a bus came to the stop, we realised it was the one we just ran from. We got on and it was clear the scary guy had got back on, because there was a trail of blood leading to the back. When I looked up one of the guys from the group of three was missing. The scary guy's friend was at the back comforting the two left behind. Apparently the guy was looking for a fight and went to the back of the bus to find one. The older guy was apparently fine. A little concussed the nurse said, but he insisted on walking home.

No security came, and I never read about it in the papers.

But something good came from this night. One of the girls on the bus was an international student from America. Her name escapes me now, but she was from New York. She told us that she had never seen anything like that in New York, which came as a surprise for us. When we reached Murdoch it was almost 11:00pm. We advised her to wait for a security escort instead of wondering through uni alone. She asked us how to do that. We were a little surprised but explained. Then we began to discuss the need for a manual for international students at Murdoch University. I'm not sure if there is one... maybe she just didn't read it...

Anyway, there’s a long winded explanation as to why listening to loud music can be a bad thing, maybe one of the reasons you can now be hit with a $100 fine for. It annoys people, and could in some instances get you hurt. So be careful my loud music loving friends.

Till next time!
Jess

UPDATE:
Incase any International students have missed or lost security info check out this webpage.
http://www.murdoch.edu.au/ofm/services/security.html#security_escort

My portrait with a difference.

Okay, so I guess it’s time to stop procrastinating and get to assignment number 1. For some reason I felt a little under pressure, despite the fact that this is kind of fun. The reason I decided to start a blog was so that I could write about things that I wanted to write about, other than what was prescribed by unit coordinators. So I’m not too sure why I was dreading attempting this first task so much. Maybe it’s because I’m not a very good drawer... or my imagination at times is a little dull. So to take the pressure of a little I decided not to be ultra creative and just express things that I like through an image. I hope it worked, but looking at it right now... it does look a little distorted... I kind of look like Lady Gaga from her paparazzi video. (Figure 1) I guess I have some explaining to do then, which is a good thing, because that’s the point of the blog... .... *awkward silence*... anyway, we’ll start from top to bottom shall we?

< Figure 1

My hair is plainly and simple my four favourite colours. Ever since I was young I’ve had a pink room. It has since been painted to represent an older me... but it is still pink (well one wall is, the other three are white). Green is the colour of my carpet. It was also the first colour I started to like while I was in primary school growing away from pink. When I was 10, however, my brother rented the hulk movie from the video store. I didn’t like the hulks colour and I found him a little frightening. I was then traumatised by the colour of the hulk and went off green for several years. It wasn’t until I reached year 11 that I rediscovered how awesome green really is. As for purple and blue, well... aren’t they just generically great colours? I’m sure blue tops the most favourite colour in the world list and purple is a favourite for those that don’t want to admit that they like pink.

My skin is a collage of my favourite bands. These include; Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, Franz Ferdinand, Kate Miller-Heidke, Kings of Leon, Muse, Powderfinger, The Killers, The Kooks, The Strokes and The Do. There’s a ton more but I won’t bore with my musical tastes. The variety of music doesn’t only show my love of music but the career I want to enter I guess. The reason I went to uni was to learn about events management. I wrote a letter to the Murdoch uni explaining what I wanted to do, and they placed me in the Bachelor for Media course. So my skin represents the direction I’m heading with my life, as opposed to the things I enjoy.

My eyes are vinyl records. This is where my hobby for music comes into the picture.
I play the guitar and keyboard pretty much every day; it’s a really good way to forget about uni for a little bit. When I was in high school I was in the local schools band playing the trumpet. My trumpet days have long gone, however, I haven’t practiced in several years ha-ha. It was fun while it lasted though. And just like everybody else, I love music. I will tell you it’s my life, because it basically is. No matter degree I end up with I want to work in the music industry, so we’ll see how I go =] I tried to find a movie reel for my other eye, but Google just gave me some really odd choices. So I’ll just explain that I like movies, much easier. I think movies are generally a part of people’s lives, whether you like documentaries, comedies, action or romance. I personally have a soft spot for romantic comedies especially the English ones like Bridget Jones, love actually and the boat that rocked. I’m also a major fan of comedy and will watch anything as long as I’m told it’s funny. I will watch a horror (which I hate) if it’s funny. Like House of Wax, Paris Hilton trying to act was hilarious let alone her death scene.

I just skipped my eyebrows... ha-ha here we go then. My eyebrows are pens and represent two things. The first is my love for stationary. The pens are from Kikki.K who is my favourite stationary designer. The second thing is my love for writing. I try to write as much as possible whether it’s a song, review, twitter update or blog entry. It keeps me going and gives a place to express myself outside the guidelines of university assignments. I also write for fasterlouder.com which has kind of taken a backseat while I’m at uni. Hopefully I’ll get back into my reviews when the holidays hit (6 more weeks! For the lucky ones without exams anyway... which would include me, yesssss!).

My nose shows my love for sport. It's a netball hoop. I’ve played netball since I was 8 years old, and although I had a couple of years off after high school I picked it up this year. That was until fractured my finger and couldn’t play for the rest of the season. It was actually a good thing though because I couldn’t afford to pay my fees and not long after I injured myself they asked us to front up. I would also like to stress that it was a pretty serious injury. Yes I agree, it’s just a finger BUT I had to go to hospital every second week for 6 weeks until the bone had reattached itself. And when you live in Mandurah and have to go to Fremantle hospital it’s a big deal. I even had to wear a splint like the one they give kids when they break their wrists. Mine was hot pink =] It also had Velcro... and was very cool. Sometimes I wish I could wear it as a fashion statement with a pink dress, teamed with a pair of pink heels and bracelets.

Hmm... I kind of went off track there, but it does lead nicely into what has replaced my mouth. That there is a coat hanger, which I have coloured in pink to represent my lips. (Microsoft is telling me that that is a grammatically incorrect sentence, I think it sounds good though so I refuse to listen) The coat hanger represents my love for fashion. When I was on the pay roll I would buy at least one new piece of clothing each pay week. Even with my small pay package I could afford to buy something small, even if it was an accessory. Nowadays, I’m waiting for my work to reopen and I’m broke. I received a bank statement the other which showed that the last time I had money in the bank was April. So to fill the void of non-existent new clothes I read fashion blogs and magazines, which is much more fulfilling than just buying things actually, because it’s free!

So there we have it 1,200 words about me. Wow, that was incredibly painless. If this were an essay for a unit it would have taken several days to construct. Amazing...

Well thanks for your time, I hope you like the picture and it’s clearer now that I explained it =]

Jessiqwa
xoxo

P.S. The xoxo is because I watch too much gossip girl, k thanks.

I had to share this...

This was to good to let go. Sad yes, all due respects to Mr. Swayze he put up a great fight and i was very sad to see him go. R.I.P Patrick Swayze.
But this is a little humorous, in a chaser's kind of way...



Let me know what you think. A little bit funny or Entirely inappropriate?

While you're at it check this: http://kanyegate.tumblr.com/

Wait... you volunteered for MORE work?!

Yes it is true, i put up my hand and volunteered to become a Murdoch blogger. But its only because of the fantastic prizes! (I swear... I'm not some insane person that is driven by an overload of work... i promise) Honestly, who would just walk by the chance at winning an internship at sunset events, that's basically my dream job.

So here I am, extending my writing skills to the world of blogging. My last two posts on this site were faster louder features, so i haven't really blogged since i was in year 11 which is going to make this interesting. To start off I'm aware that people may actually read this site now so i would like to clarify a few things.

Firstly, lets start of with me. I'm 18 (almost 19 he he) and I'm in my second year at Murdoch University. I never did TEE and submitted a portfolio through my school to gain a Murdoch entry scholarship, so that should give those who aren't studying TEE some hope. After all, i was told if i don't do TEE then i won't get to uni. But Murdoch is awesome so here i am =] I am music fan and try to get involved with events as much as i possibly can. I think if i had the same approach to my studies as i do with my passion to music i would definitely be an honours student.

Secondly, Yes that is a line from a Miley Cyrus song in my headline for this blog. I don't care what y'all say, its catchy.

Thirdly, The first two posts on this site are a sign of both my procrastination and short attention span. I was supposed to start blogging thoughts as an outlet from uni assignments a long time ago, but i just kind of... forgot... Hmm lets hope i can stick with this.

Fourthly, I assure you i will be a little bit more interesting in the future. I thought i should give a run down of who i am before i just throw some of my experiences at you.

I hope you like whats left to come, although i think i might fall flat on my face with these 'assignments' we're given. I always get freaked out when something is due and it never really seems to be good quality... i think its just a mind thing, my brain knows homework is no good! For now i will leave you with some good for nothing sites that will keep procrastinators happy:

- mylifeisaverage.com
- www.apple.com/trailers/
- www.perezhilton.com
- http://en.akinator.com/

Till next time!
Jessiqwa

My latest musical encounter..

I spoke to Tomas Ford a while ago now (in May), and he was an absolute delight to speak with. I interviewed him foremostly for my uni radio show, but part of the deal was to do a music feature for fasterlouder.com. Here is the outcome:



He’s different, he’s unusual and he’s been pushing the edge of the Perth music scene for several years; he is Tomas Ford. Recently beating Pendulum for the best electric producer award at this year’s WAMI’s, Ford is setting himself up for great success. He spoke to FL about the music, the audience, and the confronting pleasure that is his onstage antics.

At last week’s WAMI festival, Ford was nominated for two awards. It was the first time he had received a nomination so he was understandably a little shocked. “I had absolutely no idea I was going to win, so I’d actually got drunk enough that I’d be able to deal with the fact that I lost.” He describes attending the event, purely to remind people of who he was, “I went down to the kind of the… announcements thinking that I would just go down and show my face and remind everybody that I exist.” Reminding people of his existence is no longer going to be a problem for the electronic artist, who beat Pendulum to the Best Electronic Producer award, one he was sure he wouldn’t win.

On the subject of why he decided to make music electronically, Ford explains it was because he couldn’t really play an instrument. “I just kind of grew into doing it because I can’t really play any other instrument… I guess I started playing around with electronic music years and years ago because I didn’t have any skills in any other areas but I wanted to make something.” Now that he’s proven that he has a knack for the electronic genre, Ford explains how the process has become somewhat obsessive for him. “I really enjoy the process of doing electronic music it’s something that you just kind of sit there, you get really obsessive you can… tweak fine details and make something as perfect as you want it to be… now it’s become an obsession”

Ford explains that he grew into the electronic genre as opposed to falling in love with it straight away. “It’s… more something that I’ve grown into, than something I’ve always wanted to do.” Despite that, he has completed four records since 2006, toured nationally a few times and embarking on another tour too be announced soon. “I’ve toured quite a lot… this is actually my 13th or 14th tour… around the country or at least over east.” Most recently he toured nationally with Birds of Tokyo, so exactly how did the audience react to Ford’s music?

Both artists have a different style of music and it’s reasonable to think that the audience were not expecting an artist such as Tomas Ford to open the show. Explaining, “that was kind of the point I think… to kick everybody awake a bit” he describes that “the audience were generally fairly positive.” That is, besides Newcastle. “I did a show in Newcastle that was kind of hilarious… I had played in Newcastle before, and it’s the place in Australia that you’re most likely to get abused on the streets… I kind of knew that was going to be a bad show, and it was -it was absolutely horrendous.” Joking that he was just happy to have lived through the show in Newcastle, Ford adds that “generally it was really positive and I got some great reviews, I got some bad ones, but that was great as well.”

“It’s kind of me running around a room…” is how Ford sums up one of his performances, “the majority of my live show is me interacting with the audience.” Seeing Tomas Ford live is quite confrontational, and possibly why he had such a bad reaction in Newcastle. It is, however, what sets him apart and Ford puts it as “trying to get little bits of humour out of confrontation basically.” Trying to put what he does into words, Ford explains “the problem is that whenever I describe my show the people get really scared.”

Ford’s latest EP Bash Myself is available at most good records stores in WA and will be on iTunes’s in time for his National tour. Dates for his national tour will be available soon, so keep an eye out.

When im free...

Here is an example of what I do in my spare time. It was written for fasterlouder.com.au which is a website devoted to music in Australia. I’ve done a couple of reviews for them but this was my first feature story, which I was quite proud of... =]


Yves Klein Blue has come a long way since first forming in 2006; they have won MTV’s kickstart competition, toured internationally and built a ‘bad-ass’ reputation for themselves. 

Taking their name from the artist Yves Klein, and his theory that a blue paint does not lose its brilliance over time, the band hopes their music, like the endless blue, will be timeless. “I hope that in 20 years time a fan will dust of our record (CD or mp3 file) and still enjoy listening,” says drummer Chris Banham, “I think every band hopes to have some kind of timeless quality to their music.”

Describing the early days as a band “in the words of the mighty boosh” as “classic times, crazy days” Banham reflects on the difficulties in building a reputation. “It’s always difficult to build a good reputation; we jumped at every opportunity and practiced a lot in the early days.” Though for some it is all about building a ‘good’ reputation in terms of music, for Yves Klein Blue it was also about earning a bad-ass name. As “four scrawny white boys from private schools” it was difficult for the band to build up their bad-ass reputation, but Chris is still working hard. “I never return the shopping trolley to the appropriate bays and I never indicate when leaving a round-about, so I guess that makes me pretty bad (ass).” 

Looking at the band’s success to date it’s hard to imagine that Yves Klein Blue have only been together for two years. They recently performed at the ‘South by South West’ music festival in Austin, which Chris named, a “once in a lifetime experience… Mundane tasks like carrying gear around actually become fun when you’re doing it in Austin.”

Their victory on MTV’s Kickstart helped fund their current EP with $20,000 of prize money. “The competition gave us some good exposure and also enough money to record our current EP” and if they hadn’t won… “If we lost I could have become depressed, walked into a casino to gamble away my money and then hit the jackpot on the pokies with my very last dollar. Alternatively, I could have become a Himalayan Sherpa, helping mountaineers carry gear up Everest.”

Thankfully they received their kick-start and used the prize money to make a killer first EP. Their current and first release Yves Klein Blue Draw Attention to Themselves has brought a new variety of music to the Australian music scene and with plans to record in November, their first full length album might have a few expectations to meet.

The band is “giddy with excitement,” Hoping to release an album in the first half of next year. But for now, you can check out the Immaculate Confection Tour which Chris promises to be “more fun than you could have watching a TV marathon of ‘Happy Days’.”