the passenger seat

This will be a fairly short blog, since it’s late (actually it’s a lot earlier compared to when I usually blog) and I have some things to do (Edit: crap, I knew it wouldn’t be short). I need to blog because it just kind of takes my mind off other things during the time I write it, and it’s a nice break at the end of a day. Also, I love the feedback that all of you give me in the comments after I blog; it makes it feel that much more satisfying. However, I’ll probably end up writing heaps because I kind of get into a flow once I start writing.

Firstly, there are a few things that need to be mentioned.

The first: UAI –> ATAR. I don’t really want to say anymore because it’s been well-discussed already, and after hearing all the information it doesn’t bother me at all.

The second: ANBERLIN! Thanks to Joseph, I found out that Anberlin are playing in Sydney on August 28 this year, at the UNSW Roundhouse. Conveniently, this is a week after our Trials end. I bought tickets last night, so I’m very excited about it! I love how it’s going to be in a small venue, since the atmosphere is better. I’ll even be able to drive myself to the venue by then. Actually, I’ve never been to a concert in a small venue, but that’s what I hear. I’ve been to Red Hot Chili Peppers, which was at Acer Arena, and that was cool since we were relatively close but with seats. And of course there was Jack Johnson at Centennial Park. That one tops any other performance I’ve ever been to by far. We (Harry, Laura and I) sat outside the gates for about six hours so that we would be first in line when they opened, and it paid off, since we were directly in front of the stage, literally as close as you can get (we were leaning on the front barrier), with tens of thousands of people behind us, the furthest ones more than one hundred metres back. Ah, that was an awesome day. Here are some photos from that day (15 March 2008):

While writing this, Kanye West’s “RoboCop” is playing. Right now Kanye is one of my favourite artists- I was introduced to him by James a while back when his newest album 808s & Heartbreak was released. His music is very different to what I normally listen to, which is a mixture of alternative rock, indie-style bands and acoustic guitar stuff. Although, I’ve noticed recently that my music taste has really been widening. Some of the albums that I’ve downloaded recently are: Jamiroquai’s A Funk Odyssey (jazz/funk/disco), LP3’s Ratatat (electronica) and Empire Of The Sun’s Walking On A Dream (electronica). These three are all a big change from my regular listening, and it seems that I’ve taken a liking to electronic music lately. Yesterday I also downloaded Bright Eyes’ Cassadaga and Digital Ash In A Digital Urn, of whom I’ve been a long-time fan. His style is folk; it’s usually just him with an acoustic guitar, but the latter album is actually electronic-based.

Another thing that has happened to my music taste is that I’ve been listening to movie soundtracks. Two weeks back or so I obtained the soundtrack for The Lion King. Yesterday I downloaded the soundtracks for Gladiator and The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King. I love the epic-ness of all the songs.

Anyway, a few blogs back I mentioned the movie Up, a movie that I really want to see. Well, tonight I found and watched the short film Partly Cloudy, which will be shown before Up in cinemas. For want of a better, less gay word, it’s cute. It’s only just over 5 minutes long, so I really recommend that you watch it below. I hope the video doesn’t get taken off YouTube because of copyright, as all the others have, so if you notice it doesn’t work, please let me know (Edit: Damn, YouTube blocked my re-uploaded version too. I’m afraid you’re going to have to find it on your own. Trust me, it’s worth it).

Did you know that Baby Mario and Luigi were delivered by crane also? Yeah, I learnt it from playing the Yoshi’s Island series of games on Gameboy Advance. Well, here’s a really nice rendition of the Super Mario Land theme, by David Choi (whom I’ve mentioned before) on guitar and his friend Paul Dateh on violin. I love it.

Another great YouTube artist is AJ Rafael. I’m sure I’ve mentioned him before. Well, at the moment he has a Disney series going, and the second song of this twelve song series is the introduction and the theme song for Beauty And The Beast. I don’t know why, but I’m a sucker for Disney songs. Love the Mulan soundtrack, and of course The Lion King mentioned earlier. Don’t judge me. But watch the video below.

Lastly, here are some photographs (well, each image is a bunch of photographs put together) by a photographer named Martin Wilson. They speak for themselves. More images are at his website linked above. The small versions don’t do them justice at all, so click on the images for a larger view.

Anyone recognise the “Big Yellow Taxi” lyrics, by Joni Mitchell/Counting Crows? That was a great song back in the day. Still is.

Anyway, I think that’s all for today’s massive blog. Come to think of it, I think I will go on that hiatus I mentioned in the previous blog. I realised that however I try to blog quickly, I always end up going for ages, and I can’t really afford to spend that much time on this coming up to exams. It’s been forty minutes since I began this blog, and that’s a short time for me. The next time I blog will probably be after exams, unless something really compels me to blog before then. I doubt it, though.

So, until then, good luck to everyone for their exams and don’t stress too much.

“The Feel Good Drag” is by Anberlin, from Never Take Friendship Personal.