Burblings Of A She-Geek-in-Training

Condensed

2005-11-03T15:53:00.000+11:00

The past...however many days, in short:

My box of stuff came from Khepri, I was excited. It took ages (by boat) but it was worth the wait. In addition to the comics from them, I also recently picked up Fell #1, which was jolly good. I think I said already that I bought vol. 4 of Y: The Last Man.
Also got a small box of things from mother, which included embarrassingly revealing undergarments and a diamond ring.

It has been awfully hot this week, and I don't like it at all. I need more socks. It is the season of socks, and I can't find most of mine. My legs would rather be amputated than bared in public. It is also fat old shirtless guy weather, which is just horrible and would make anyone with the slightest sense of decency want to stab themselves in the eyes. How are those jiggling, drooping, hirsute manboobs not considered offensive? I beg of you, if you are blessed with a rack, give it the support it needs! At least wear a bikini or a sports bra or coconut shells or something. Pasties, even. Not Cornish pasties. Anyway.

Saturday was warm. I was out and about, buying paint and shirts. Wandered into Chapel Tattoo to drop in a rough sketch for Jakob to work on. I should be spending money on food, not a new tattoo. I care not. It will be fine.

Monday, I went to Laundry in Fitzroy to see the hip-hop lads that came to record a few weeks back. Brutalikah played two sets, and I was extremely impressed by the set they did with the backing band. And I got a good response to this:

What is my Hunter S. Thompson shirt that I made. I am still cutting out my Tom Waits thing, but I will whack that up when it is done. It should be well cool. Stencil Magic lives on!

By the way, there is some place on Brunswick Street (Esco?) that does small (and rather good) pizza and a glass of house wine for $4 until 6pm. I don't know if the wine is any good, because I don't drink wine enough to know. It wasn't unpleasant as far as I could tell. I got the Ricotta & Sun-dried pizza, which was jolly. And certainly you could do a lot worse for $4.

Oh, and everyone in town should go to The Tote tonight to see my favourite pirate band, Sforzando. Everyone except me, that is. Because it is $6 to get in, and I don't have $6. Bloody mongrel bastard pirates.

Firing Blind

2005-10-20T14:15:00.000+10:00

How is everything out in the big scary world? Sometimes, one feels like a white mouse in an endless lab maze, trying to find the way to the cheese with the lights turned off. Occasionally, one starts wondering if there is any cheese. You can either keep blundering about, starving and banging into things, or you can curl up in a ball and wither away (missing out on potential cheese).
Me, I'm pretty sure there's cheese. A nice big round of camembert to snout into. I hope. And so I blunder. Hell, for all I know, there could be crackers as well. You never know unless you try.

Anyway. Enough of this talk about cheese. You can tell I've had a slightly stressful time when I start going on about dairy products.

Recording went well. It needs mixing, still, but that's all right. It won't need anything too flashy, I think. One of the vocal tracks is too squashed, that one wants fixing in a big way.

Oh, also...here is another one of my Stencil Magic pieces. No, I do not know what Stencil Magic is. It just popped out. Shut up.
Anyway. I took the image from Un Chien Andalou, for those that don't recognise it. I finished this one a day after I finished the Serge one. I quite like it!

Remember The Maxx? That was a good comic. And a pretty good TV show, too. I should get around to buying the TPBs, seeing as I have no idea what has happened to my patchy collection of single issues. Ah, the Liquid Television days...

Nothing else of note, or at least, nothing I wish to expose. Blah. Cheerio!

Down With The Sickness

2005-10-13T09:25:00.000+10:00

I'm ill again! Brilliant timing, too, as I'm supposed to clock in for a 12-hour recording session tomorrow night and can already feel fevers coming on. Great. Apparently I am in dire need of nutrients. Which I could very well buy, if I never went to gigs. Frankly, I'd rather have the gin and cigarettes. Here's to short-term thinking!

MIDI assignments were cancelled this week, which I was relieved about. I did not particularly want to do another overnighter with that horrible Nord Lead. At least I know that it wasn't just me having problems with it, and feel slightly less of an idiot.

Oh, yes...I made a Serge Gainsbourg shirt. It came out really well, better than I thought it would. Which is good. Plaz knows how much of a grump I was when I was making this. Here:

Everybody loves Serge. I've got another one in the works, too.

As always, I am last to know about nifty little internet games, and only recently discovered NationStates.

NationStates is a free nation simulation game. Build a nation and run it according to your own warped political ideals. Create a Utopian paradise for society's less fortunate or a totalitarian corporate police state. Care for your people or deliberately oppress them. Join the United Nations or remain a rogue state. It's really up to you.

It's not the most perfect game in the world, but it's a bit of fun. Plaz and I created a nation a few days ago. There seems to be an awful lot of rutting going on...
Anyway.
I go now, to do stuff.

How About...Totally Frickin' Great!

2005-10-09T03:42:00.000+10:00

The launch for The Suns' new EP was much awesomeness indeed! I got a lot of drinks for free, which was fortunate, as I was running out of cash. Silver confetti shit fell into my bra. A few photos (no, not of my bra) are at Flickr. In true me form, I didn't take any photos of The Suns, which was a shame. There was some mad Hendrix-style guitar action happening! Here's a Mach Pelican photo, though:

...I am eating Pizza Pockets. Does anyone remember those Rock 'n' Rolls? "You can poke and poke...and there's nobody home!" Yeah, they were better.

Acetate Zombies

2005-10-07T14:15:00.000+10:00

Again, I have been neglecting the blog. Again, not much to report. We're starting surround sound at Uni, I got my certificates from ex-Uni (nine High Dist's out of a possible fourteen) so that's over and done with for good.
Have been keeping myself busy with making some stencils.

Tonight, I'm bopping on over to The Astor for zombies. I haven't seen either Land Of The Dead or the Dawn Of The Dead re-working, so it's an adventure. And The Astor is the best cinema in Batman, so I don't really mind if the movies aren't all that and a bag of crisps. But here's hoping!

Oh, and The Suns are playing the Espy tomorrow night. Rock.

Serenity

2005-10-01T00:48:00.000+10:00

I just saw it! I liked it! Me being a bit of a Firefly fruitcake and a Browncoat, I may be a little biased, but it was totally great. The River fights were the best. The best! Ahem. And it was very pleasing to see the boat on a big screen. So my verdict is: Shiny!
A crap review, I know. But I can't give too much away. Go see Serenity! And totally invest in Firefly, it's highly enjoyable.

Also saw a preview for this Night Watch thing, which at the very least looks like eye-candy, some very stylin' visuals. We could do with some good new horror. And the start of the preview freaked the craps out of near everyone in the room! Everyone did that little jump, and got embarrassed and laughed. It's from last year, but us English types are getting it now.

No other news to report. I cut a lump of skin off my finger, because it looked weird and was annoying me. That's about the most exciting thing.

I crave fruit juice. Now I go drink some.

My Baby Arrived!

2005-09-24T02:14:00.000+10:00

Yes, it is lovely, a spanky new iMac G5! For me! I am impressed. It's just so pretty. The only downside of having a new computer is having to transfer crap from The Beast across, which I have yet to do. It's going to be a pain in the backside, but it must be done.
And stop your little "just burn it to CD" suggestions, because The Beast has no burner. That's how ancient it is. It has a floppy drive (do you need me to link to a Wiki article to remind you what that is?), and we all know how disappointing those are. Right, people?
I fear this new machine will turn me into a recluse. I care not.

Not much else to report. Went to the Espy tonight, and visited the New Unimproved Public Bar. It is rather horrible. Yes, I know it always was rather horrible, but it's possibly worse. They have a lot of condensation happening in there, and everyone wearing spectacles had to de-fog as soon as entering. Very hot, and apparently one is not permitted to open the windows. This is probably why I almost fainted. Hooray for being a delicate lady. I swoon! Bring on the smelling salts!

Oh, and here is A Thing I did using ArtRage, which is a very nice painting program that Plaz found:

Wouldn't that look great on a shirt? No, it wouldn't!

Lone Operator

2005-09-20T09:29:00.000+10:00

This is me at Uni! I had an overnighter last night to properly start some assignments, and I was the only one in the entire building. Lucky that I am a Responsible Young Adult and nothing went wrong. However, I officially hate the Nord Lead, and am convinced that it has some sort of vendetta against me. I know that's it's probably because I don't know how to use it properly, but DANG! I managed to actually generate sound from it this time, but I couldn't get it into hateful ballsucking Cubase. This is the opposite problem that I had to the last time I was in there. For some incredibly dull reason, Pro Tools is refusing to run in that room.

Anyway. My brain went to mush at around 6:30 in the morning and I ended up watching Labyrinth in the plasma room. It rocked. Brain is still mush, though.

Fantômas

2005-09-15T10:16:00.000+10:00

Fantomas - Cruddy Picture
Originally uploaded by Char.

So, the Fantômas gig was pretty darn good! Pity I didn't get any nice photos out of it. I was quite a ways from the front, stuck behind the mixing console. I put two photos up on Flickr anyway, but they are rather shite. A lot shite, really. Sorry! Last time I went to see them I didn't have a camera and I was right up front, so I am a little bitter.
I did get a shirt, though. It rocks.

Oh, yeah! My iMac is now being constructed, and I will have it soon! I probably won't throw away this old bastard of a thing just yet, as I may still want to use Photoshop.

I bought things at the supermarket yesterday. Yes, things. You'll see. Or you won't. Ha-ha.

Tuesday Giggage

2005-09-13T15:41:00.000+10:00

I'm totally going to see Fantômas tonight at The Palace, yeah! I will try to get some nice photos of them doing stuff. I hope I can! Then I will post them here and on Flickr for folk to see. No promises, though!
Not completely unrelated: Have a squizz here for amusing reviews and interviews. I am the last to know about things like this, so if you are already familiar, shut up. The Secret Chiefs 3 reviews caused a chain reaction today which resulted in me being sick on my computer keyboard. It was disgusting yet hilarious.

Free Coats Are Great Coats

2005-09-10T02:09:00.000+10:00

Went out tonight to the Windsor Castle Hotel for Haglet's birthday, I was very cranky and sat in the corner cradling gin for most of the night. I did let a few people talk to me at various points. Here is a summary:

Mark: Pixie-faced little freelance DOP. We talked about bad sleep cycles and some other stuff. I warned him about an extremely irritating individual as she was approaching the table. She proceeded to tell him DOP work is not creative in the least, and he didn't look impressed.

Dave: Clearly thinks he can get into my knickers again. I was stand-offish yet civil to him. He apologised for not calling me, and I said "I wouldn't expect you to," and he told me I was a very cold woman. Balls to that. He invited me to come to the Espy (I knew what that would lead to) and also to a gig he was playing Sunday "if you're interested". No.

A Guy I Know: Was a decent chap to me and we had a marginally good conversation. Then the idiot started closing in for a kiss, and I said: "Hup! What on earth do you think you're doing?"
Bleah. He also kept trying to convince me to let him look at my notebook. It pissed me off.

That's about it. I did, however, manage to score a black coat (which appears to be leather but sadly isn't at all) and it happens to fit me perfectly! So that's a bit good. I look rather hip in it. Free coat, can't complain. I walked halfway home watching the lightning shoot across the sky. It was nice to walk in the rain.

Post-post post: Heh, a few seem to want me in their bed tonight. A lad just called up wanting to know if I was in the city and up for it. No way, he holds his shower together with gaffa. I was worried it would collapse.

Cupboard Up

2005-09-08T14:24:00.000+10:00

Cupboard Up
Originally uploaded by Char.

Turbulent times call for lame and pretentious black-and-white photos. There's a bunch of new ones at me Flickr page. I'm in a cupboard!

Stuff! For Me!

2005-09-06T14:57:00.000+10:00

Mail from humans always brightens my day. So I raise a gin-filled glass to Ive for mailing me not only the adorable Sidekick on a String comic, but a bunch of other neat things, including some "just creepy enough" stencilled stuff of yours truly. Full of awesome!

Return of the Phantom Clock

2005-09-05T13:37:00.000+10:00

So, I knuckled down and went to class this morning, despite being very drained. My course fees were due, and I can't really miss many more classes without risking a Fail. Mentally, I was absent and a few times nearly passed out on my book. Walked around the supermarket in a daze afterwards with New Order in my cans, feeling lost among the shelves.

Recently, in the past couple of weeks, I've noticed my Phantom Clock is back. I don't think it's been mentioned here before, and the reason for that is it's been almost two years since it was last around. Phantom Clock is a beastly thing, like one of those big cavernous antique grandfather clocks with the curly hands, only mine has no hands and never strikes. It just ticks and tocks, and keeps me awake in the dark. This does not bode well for my health, and I may actually have to go to a doctor if it doesn't go away soon. Which is rather bad news for my wallet and I. We shall have to play the waiting game for a little while.

Nicholas has promised me a trip to the cinema this week to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which will hopefully cheer me up a little. A dose of Depp is good for what ails you.
I had better eat something, or I will get another stern telling-off from Plaz. The ire of a Squid-Man is a terrible thing to bring upon oneself.

Oh, and I just implemented the word verification feature on Blogger in an attempt to cut down the spamming that's been going on in the comments. It's a pain in the backside, yes, but it's better than having to wade through "You have an excellent blog! Here is a subject that interests many ##elephantine genitalia## Please check my website of ##elephantine genitalia##"

Currently reading:
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Idlewild by Nick Sagan
Cocksure by Mordecai Richler

Mick

2005-09-04T00:18:00.000+10:00

So, within the space of a month and a bit, I've lost two friends to death by their own hands. What garbage. So, Micky, dear old chap, I wish you well and hope you're sleeping easy now. You broke your promise to me, but that's all right, because I am a forgiving sort and I already knew it was a promise that couldn't be kept. I'll miss your magic tricks, your hats, and your genuine nature.
Shut up, I know dead people don't use the internet. This is solely for my benefit.
Anyway, Mick, you'd be happy to know (if you could) that we all banded together tonight and got very drunk, and various people cried at various points, and we played Dark Side of the Moon for y'all. I suppose I'll see you (or at least, your coffin) on Wednesday, to say goodbye.

Big sigh, reeking of gin.

Devils, Masks, Funk...

2005-08-31T17:08:00.000+10:00

I do love letters to the editor. There was a most amusing example today in the local rag (Emerald Hill Weekly) in response to last week's edition, which featured Melbourne's favourite cantankerous priest - Father Bob Maguire - on the cover, sporting an AC/DC Highway To Hell shirt. I sincerely hope that the letter was meant as a joke, as religious fruitcakes give me the irrits, but even if it wasn't it gave me a chuckle. And I quote:

As a devout Catholic, I was mortified to see Father Bob Maguire wearing a Satanic T-Shirt on the cover of your magazine. To behold a man of the cloth - and such an elderly one, at that - done up like some plaything of the Devil himself positively turned my stomach.
It caused me as much offence as I imagine I'd feel if Jesus Christ, the Lord of Hosts, were depicted in fishnet stockings, a nappy and a shower cap.
Shame on your magazine! How dare you convince (however the Devil you did it) a messenger of the Lord to demean himself so appalingly!
May the Lord God Almighty rain pestilence and plague upon EHW.
-William Hill, Port Melbourne

Clearly this person is not familiar with Father Bob, a man very much having a mind of his own. Nor would they have read the interview with him, in which it is perfectly obvious that many of Father Bob's views are in conflict with those of the Catholic Church. I do like William's idea of a nappy fetish/Rocky Horror Jesus, though...

I have been writing a story. No, I will not post it when it is finished. It's not even on the computer yet. Yeah, how old-skool is that? It's tucked away in one of my Moleskine pocketbooks. Yes, I am a wanker. Seeing as I am recovered, I may hit the town tomorrow night to see the Sons of Lee Marvin. If not, I will still be out on the weekend, being productive for a change.
At least, I think it's this weekend...Scary Mask Saturday! Haglet and I are going to get stonkers and make scary masks during the day. Later that night we will be off to see Pablo Discobar doing their funky launch thing. Or "thang".

Also, I found this post-apoc comic via this post-apoc comic. The art is pretty in both. I really am a sucker for all things post-apocalypse.

Also, I am reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. Which I will get back to now.

Statcounter camefrom:
yahoo.com/search?p=video girl take ipecac and vomit porn

Sick and Saw

2005-08-28T15:57:00.000+10:00

Been cooped up for almost a week at home, due to illness. Throat infection, which has turned into a head cold. Very pleasant, lots of fevers and phlegm, and nosebleeds. I made it to the SuicideGirls DVD launch on Thursday night, but left after the burlesque acts had done their thing. Mans Ruin were great, their CD skipped a couple of times, but they recovered in a manner most professional and their routines were very cute. As a result of being in a smoky packed bar all night, I managed to make my sickness twice as bad the next day.

So, not much news. I rented vids yesterday, and have been watching Saw today. It is rather bad, and I expected it to be. I described it to Plaz as having the film equivalent of erectile dysfunction, in response to his comment (without seeing film in question) that it seems to get good, but cannot maintain. It sure wanders a lot. I'm glad I didn't spend any more than $2.50 to watch it, let's just say that. The ending wasn't as cruddy as I had suspected it might be, but overall it was meh. I think I shall be giving the sequel (feat. Donnie Wahlberg!) a miss.
Oh, Leigh Whannell, whatever happened to that fresh-faced young movie reviewer with the bad ponytail I remember from Recovery on the ABC? Have you disappeared forever, a hammy actor in your place? Or did you just get too big for your clever little clogs? Or did you catch the syph from a groupie and go mad? Tsk, tsk.

I will be getting my Mac very soon! I rub my hands together gleefully and mop anticipatory saliva from my chin!

Zombie Ghost Train

2005-08-22T00:09:00.000+10:00

Zombie Ghost Train - Drummer
Originally uploaded by Char.

Because all of the best bands are zombie bands. Frankly, I'm amazed any of my photos turned out. I was mashed, and the crowd were jostling rather a lot.

The Classic Hits of Nine Inch Nails

2005-08-17T23:53:00.000+10:00

Yes: All your old favourites and more! What a great set they played! Opening with Wish was just about the best thing ever. They played much of their old stuff, which was great, and also (unexpectedly) their cover of Dead Souls. It was super-duper, and I got a T-shirt (it's pretty damn cool). Props to Z, he told me not to worry about paying him for my ticket. And I really did try to give him money several times, because I don't like to owe. But what can you do? I am extremely grateful. Extremely!

There was a lot of bitching about the fact that the GA section was partitioned - only 1200 people were allowed into the front section, which was rather shite, as there was plenty of space over there for more people, and as a result, the entire back section was jamming hard up against the barriers to get as close as possible. If they hadn't had the barriers, the GA crowd, per person, would have had more room to move about, and more air (air is useful for respiration). Yes, I was in the back section. The main gripe concerning the partition was to do with the fact that people had not been notified of it when they were purchasing their tickets. You'd think General Admission meant you could go anywhere you bloody liked on the floor. They didn't do it for Tool.

A shame they didn't do an encore, but something (an amp, possibly) blew up during the last song (was it Head Like A Hole? I can't remember right now) and the sound was suffering as a result. And respect to them, they played for about two hours, which I was very happy with indeed. Trent Reznor is looking pretty fit for a geezer, and watching him flick sweat from his face was rather sexy. Yes, indeed!

Soak

2005-08-14T16:47:00.000+10:00

Some of the kiddies at Soak: Randa, Tock, and Timmy.

Decided to actually leave the house and be social last night, a few of my chums were playing a gig at The Tote, and I bit the bullet and decided to go along, which turned out to be a good decision. Spoke to Terry about getting him into school to record stuff, spoke to Gary about the same thing, and to the Goon about the same. Yay for recording stuff.

It also turned out to be Jim's birthday (I suck at remembering these things) so after the gig, we trotted down to Soak, which was completely empty when we got there. It's a nice place, and they make a lot of highly lethal cocktails, as Jim found out. I had unwittingly eaten a "special" brownie on the way there, which probably accounted for some of my wastedness, the rest, however was G&T and some sickly Long Island Iced Tea. We also went for kebabs. And Jim shouted abuse at cars, which is not the most helpful thing a person can do when their friends are trying to flag down taxis, but was very entertaining.

Bed was good too. Ahem. Yet again with the morning sex. Why?! I must look very appealing at 7am, or something. Go figure.

Today, I went to Minotaur and picked up Y: The Last Man - Cycles. It'll be tops, I like that story.

That is all, I think. I probably really need a shower.

The Stench of Tension

2005-08-13T00:58:00.000+10:00

Yes, there is something brewing at home, and it's not a nice hot cup of tea. I have no other news, and I actually do not have a gammy leg.
Yes, I'm at home on a Friday night, sad bastard that I am. I just realised that Nine Inch Nails is this coming week, and I still have about 87% chance of going, and need to save up some funds. Sweaty General Admission area with lots of stinky people wearing PVC pants, here I come! I will take a fork to the concert and jab them in the eyes if they annoy me.

Apparently this is a symbol for genievre - the French name for juniper, and also a form of gin.

Sorry. I thought it was neat.

That's MY Air You're Breathing

2005-08-10T13:41:00.000+10:00

I really really really (feel free to insert "really" several more times) dislike it when somebody stands too close to me in a queue. It's disgusting, and should be made an offence punishable by a brick to the face. Supermarkets are particularly bad, as you can tell that the person behind you is ogling your shopping basket and making a face of disapproval at your bulk pack of prophylactics.
What? Safety and thriftiness are not meant to go together?

Why must they stand so close that I can see the gaping pores and the burst capillaries? Why must they steal my precious space?

Clearly I need to cover myself with telescopic steel spikes that shoot out when someone gets too near.

Colorado Is Go - Confirmed!

2005-08-10T00:42:00.000+10:00

Mother's been booking my flights. I'll be flying out of Melbourne on December 15th, and flying back out of the USA on January 3rd. I know it's still a while away, but...I dance multiple jigs of joy!
There's always a catch - she wants me to help her out with baking things. Which is fine, because I love baking anyway. Haha! All I will do is bake and drink vast amounts of gin! Yes, that's my kind of holiday.

My prints came in the mail today, so I can send some off to mother and grandma tomorrow. They turned out pretty good, actually. Better than expected. I wanted to take some more photos tonight, but it's cold, horrible and wet out. So that won't be happening because I'm a sissy-girl. Instead, I am going to make cheese sandwiches.

Faker

2005-08-08T16:36:00.000+10:00

Faker
Originally uploaded by Char.

After this morning's pathetic outburst, I thought I had better make it up to everyone by actually doing something productive. As I was walking home from school I felt like I might like to take some photos today, and I did! This is one, the rest are at my Flickr page.

Another Nothing Weekend

2005-08-08T06:26:00.000+10:00

After Friday's wretched display of alcohol abuse, the rest of the weekend has been frittered away on idleness.
At some point last night, I got a phone call from Haglet, informing me that she can't stop the bleeding from Friday. Silly girl. I will go to the cinema with her this week, as she is depressed from putting herself into various Bad Situations.

Also last night, Nicholas sent me a text message: "Emailed ya". Which turned out to be sad indeed:

...It has become disturbingly apparent to me that every email that I write is filled with small paragraph that describe on piece of my current life and then make some humorous observation about it. See I am doing it now. It scares me to think that as a letter writer I am about as original as a guy who spends his day quoting Seinfeld.

Bleer.

Please call

I miss you
Ha. I just read that “I miss you” in a tone that I didn’t write it in, and it sounds pathetic.

He worries from time to time that he's been replaced by a boyfriend. He should know better, really, because if I had one I'd spend a great deal of time calling him to fill him in on the gory details. I will try to have a drink with him this week.

Everyone seems to need me to hold their hand right now, and it sucks. I'm running out of hands, I'm running out of patience, and I'm running out of advice to give. Especially to that H-Girl, because she doesn't listen, and then later complains about not being warned.

Bad habits are beginning again. This constant nocturnal existence is having an impact. I'll have one normal day of waking up at a reasonable time, and going to bed at night, and then somehow it'll all go to hell and I'll be wide awake at the wrong time and sleeping in the afternoon. I feel terrible, and I have to push that back down. Time is not something that I want to waste any more of. Now is not the best time to feel terrible, especially when I can't find the root of the problem easily.

I'm going to go now, and cry at a stupid hour of the morning for no apparent reason.