Interesting, sort of.
Didn't get up to much today.
I woke up next to Jess, which was a surprise, considering we're just mates now. Not that I mind. Got my shit together soon after and dropped the lovely girl home before I had to head to work. Was kind of awkward getting the hoodie she'd borrowed off me (as she wore some skimpy-ass 'look at my tits boys' top) as it was so cold but I guess it was only really a walk inside. I'm wearing it now, it smells like woman.
Work = not fuckin bad. I'm liking more and more the new newsagent job, as I keep busy the whole time, there are a metric assload of people to meet and get to know (though I seem to have met a group of recurring people) and the admin have their shit together and dont fuck me around like the old mob did. Did some shoppin after - the obligatory read all the new mags i like but CBF'ed buying, look around JB for cheap dvds to watch and shit. Ended up bargaining a 4gb extreme III CF card for the D200 down to $70-odd which was not bad, plus bought some random game a mate told me to get.
Stopped by Chermside Tattoo on the way home too - the back should cost $200. I put $50 down today so the dude can draw a pretty version which will get transferred onto my back before the ink goes down. It's pretty fuckin cool - a few personal words in flowing cursive text about 2" high in a slight arc across my back, complete with shaded letters and serif's out the ass. Cant wait.
Erm, fed the fish, fucked about, helped matty with his MX-5, thats about it really.
Moved
Hey. Im now posting again @
http://thehardroad.blogspot.com/
The madman and the future before him...
Hey all.
Ive just recently watched two movies i'd reccomend to all.
Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" and "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence"
After watching these, i got to thinking about the message of the films. I've learnt enough from english to know this is what we'll all take from it - a deeper understanding of media and text. Fuck grammar - it's a lesson for anyone wanting to live here (one thing i've always been baffled with by immigrants - if you plan to spend your life in a country, the least you could do is learn the fucking language so we can all understand you, i know if i went somewhere i'd do it too, is it that much of an ask?)
Enough racial bigotry, im here to get my point across. I got to thinking about the future - its a big thing for all of us who are now just a week and four days away from finishing all out secondary studies. We have made our minds up and know where were going, are not sure but have a rough idea, have jobs and are settling down into careers or for a seldom few - happy to drift from place to place with no significant aim. I fit a little in between the first and second types: right now i know what i want to do, it just seems like there's going to be some shit in the way to get where i want and the way isnt clear. In my head, ive sorted out what really matters to me - first and foremost family, then my girlfriend jess, friends + mates and what i want to achieve and what i need to accomplish to get what i want. Beyond that, i dont really care too much...now isnt a time to be fussing over trivialities.
Watching Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" i saw a simple version of this thought. The men all had a goal - Vietnam, and had to go through basic training to get it. The pragmatic young marine who we see through, 'Joker' witnesses some harsh things - a soldier who was pushed to the limit and beaten snap and take with him the company drill sergeant before wrapping his mouth around the barrel and blasting himself to shit. I saw men going off to a war trying to force democracy on a sciety through violence and bloodshed, and the folly of not knowing why they're fighting for. The end of this film stays with me however - 8-ball goes off to check for 'gooks' after the company ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up snipered to shit. Drawn in, one of the men comes to his aid, only to be shot and left for dead himself. Seeing what really matters, the men, abandoned by their support by not being deemed important enough for the aid of a tank, go for the sniper in the building. It was this determination that stuck out to me - they thought decisively about what really mattered and went after their objective without faltering. That it was a Vietnamese girl who was viciously mowing down the troops, probably barely 10, didnt matter. Joker had his qualms about leaving the girl bleeding to death so shot her. This might have appeared cruel, but she recieved a soldiers death. I wouldnt go so far as to compare it to a samurai commiting seppuku and having his kaishaku (retainer) behead him so as to deliver him to the heavens, as it does not have nearly the connotations of honour or pride, but the metaphor is there.
In Innocence, we are led to question the role of technology and human consciousness. We see how people are becoming mechanised to the point of being a human no longer: the line has been blurred too far, and how it's the little things that define us all. Routinely indulging in philosophy, we hear quotes ranging from Browning, Descartes, Darwin and Confucius to references from the bible. The movie itself is beautiful - the cyborgs look like dolls but the backdrops are incredible. There was as much detail in the play of light reflecting off the metallic surface of a slow-moving automatic as in the fantastic parade of Hindu gods and pagodas floating to obscure choral chants amid the concrete passages of a bronzed city. Fantastic
In any case. Watch them, see what you think.
Update: Motorised Skateboard is complete enough, but nothing can hide the fact it needs a larger engine. relegated to the garage for now, you might hear of it later on. I learnt a lot from it.
Anyway, i better be off. - Dave
The fire is almost gone...
Hey again.
Update for the project -
- The bar used to join both ends of the pivot section was welded on tuesday. It had to be lathed down from it's original 12.5mm to aroun 7.75mm to fit with room within the bearing chamber.
- The new engine mount just consisted of some strengthened bolts (M3) and a joining piece of bar between the circular clamp and the tab on the u-frame. easy.
I am currently in the process of welding and lathing to a circle a piece of flat plate attached on to a cylindrical section of around 30mm dia. this will function as my brake disc and be attached directly (via a pin) to the output shaft in the space between the clutch bell cover and the sprocket. after this it's a matter of fixing into place and connecting the brake levers and cable salvaged from a brothers old bike.
It also seems the testing on fri arvo and sat morning has worn down about 15% of the clutch's friction material. I'll need to machine a bushing to fit inside the plastic clutch bell cover to stop it travelling excessively, as i tried to fire the motor up a few times but each time the clutch didnt want to fucking centre itself and drive so the chain fell off. nevertheless, the last week of school looks to be a busy one. Two weeks of exams after that and im done for the year and off to schoolies. Thank fuck.
read sam's blog, he's been updating more often recently and it's quality, much better n my writing will be.
Head turner
Howdeh.
news - finally finished the (prototype) motorised skateboard. it works, but has had a few hiccups leaving me with a pretty clear idea about what i need to fix/modify.
first of all. testing the thing the afternoon i got home, i found to my discomfort that the pivoting section is not exactly the strongest thing around, and when you leant sideways to turn the board, you ended up turning in a VERY tight circle due to the shithouse length of 6mm bar giving up to my bulk and bending. next on the list is a better engine mount to suit the chain given the enormous amount of slack it has, and a tendency to fall off it's runnings. a more important problem could be the lack of power - it accelerates very slowly, although kept up any pace i got from the little brother pushing me along. engine just cant hit the powerband/has a shitful lack of torque hence you dont go anywhere quick.
Saturday (today) i got up and thought fuck why not give it a go. on the whole it was better n yesterday, having packed the pivot joint out with washers. still bent though, and you had to straighten it every second go or so. might have the solution in a rod stolen from maccas which normally holds up a teflon sheet. see how it goes. the biggest slight on an otherwise good test session occured when starting at the top of a very gradual slope (to get it in the power band, etc). in any case, i staged at the top of this thing and started rolling down after starting the engine. enter the speedbump - front wheel went over fine, back got unbalanced, i bail backwards whilst still holding the throttle in full bore, so the engine is revving its little fucking guts out. at this point the chain slips off and the engine slips it up a notch, free of any load. my foot happens to cross the path of this whirring sprocket of death, and it sliced clean through the side of my old runners and sock, not managing to touch my foot. thank fuck!
so mods needed are
- chain guard
- strengthened pivot section
- foot straps
- braking
- new engine mount section after grinding the old one off
pictures may come, depending on the availability of a digital camera etc.
in other news, skeen is having a party tonight. theme is black and white (as she's black and we're all white, bit of a pun there :)
shall tell how it goes.
Sell out/anticipation
fuck it, i thought. why not put them ad things at the top of my blog, so i sold out and did it. interesting to see if i actually get anything from it.
in other news, ive nearly finished my motorised skateboard. i hope (given i work in the lunch hours and in the two spares) i will get it done this week. that would fucking rock.
mind you, it prolly wont have any brakes or anything which might suck (imagine having a 25k/hr head start on a steep hill, standing up and without any protective clothing other than jeans), but i plan to fabricate them after its up and running.
im pretty fucking stoked about how much ive done to this point, so itll rock to finish it.
s all the news i got atm.
later
Break and React
Hey all.
just a quick update as ill miss my new fave tv program if i dont get my ass into gear - ghost in the shell : stand alone complex (thank fuck SBS finally started playing some good shit)
not much news other than progress -
- i submitted my QTAC application (uni preferences for the un-initiiated) and now it's just the few weeks of hard yards left before exams and then graduation.
- the whipper snipper engine works! and so does the clutch! fucking a people, i just need some bearings and two throttle cables about a metre and a half long and then i can get to work fabricating ang welding the last section to go on my motorised skateboard. if im feeling lucky and have a bit of time to spare, i might even make a new can muffler and exhaust piping for it - it sounds beefy as is, might sound even better.
- going to live and local tomorrow night - the living end, spiderbait and dallas crane among the names there - and whats more - the tickets were free! thanks charlie :)
later, gotta go
(Broken) Family on Blast &
hey all.
Back from a family holiday at Noosaville - 6 days. Very good timing, considering the last term was fatigue-ridden at very least.
The resort would be considered excellent in my opinion. It in itself was a concentration of two-storey villas onlooking any one of the three pools/saunas/spas that the paths curved around. everything was in amongst shade and there were bright green palms everywhere.
Slightly irritating bu bearable nonetheless were was my brother (12) and his mate that we'll call "Bogan" for now. (suffice to say the little shit wore nothing but footy jerseys the week and had a giant mullet and sideburns).
It was a wholly relaxing experience, and Jess came us all for the week, giving me something to do all the time. I loved it.
I also managed to grab some slick looking billabong shorts and a pair of havaianas thongs with the brazilian flag all over them. These grabbed my eye as they were colourful and Brazil isnt a bad place at all - such things as dancing, Capoeira, and Sepultura coming from it.
Mum, the champion, has also lent me money to pay off Schoolies- the annual migration of 17 year olds to the coast to get drunk and fuck like rabbits. (relax after the 12 years of schooling) so it appears im pretty much set.
In more personally significant news - my one year anniversary with Jess is tomorrow :)
have fun kids, drink up and say hi to your grandma for me - Dave
Arghhhhhhh
Hey people. writing from home today, on a Friday. shit stinks atm - i am sooo fucking sick. I'd describe it as a potent mix of fever~flu~throat rape (ie how much it hurts)
Things in general arent too bad - although i have two, possibly even as many as 4 exams as soon as i go back to school, and my illness is preventing me from studying there is School holidays soon (1 week worth of school left then two weeks of hols) and for some godunknown reason mum booked a holiday at Noosa (i want to go, but i dont know how mum's gonna afford it).
erm, in other news, there is none. im just sick and cant study :)
well this post turned out to be rather short and shit
Ninja madness!
here's a
game i show you all.
Ben and Dave dancin'
The Table
Jess and Me
A#1 / Pre-formal (part 1)
hey - its everyone at the pre-formal L>R (Jess, Dave, Tara, Eric, Liz, Sam, Greg, Ben, Ang, Matt, Berna)
Check it! Formal!
ill try get this out as quick as i can, im running on coffee and Desert Sessions tunes and am fucking tired..
Righty, where to start...
Well, this is all in my eyes, and ill tell you what i think, as i thought it.
It started off Tuesday morning. Got up, showered, shat, clothed myself and sat about. Decided to amble off to the shops to get myself a silk hanky thingo for my pocket. got one, it wasnt the right colour though, so i went off home. Went down to ye ole flower shoppe (when it occured they'd most probably have something in the order of what i wanted) and got myself two red long-stem roses for the wonderful Jess. On the spur of the moment, also decided to buy a jacket rose thingy (that give me the shits to no end, all night)
Stopped by Night Owl and got myself a V Black. *note to self - very interesting drink, good stuff*
sat down..gave GT4 a bit of a play and decided to amble on over to ben's joint to drop off some clothes to change into after the formal was over, for the post. ended up staying waaaaay longer than expected, missed my bus and decided to fuck it and walk home. did so in the tidy time of 35 mins. go team me! :|
Showered for second time - i was getting rather clean by now.... and took my sweet ass time changing into 'The Suit'
went next door and sorted the lift for the formal - Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II (in British Racing Green) had the neighbour take a few photos and was set to go.
Off to the Pre-formal. What a tool - i forgot my pre-formal ticket *errrrrrrr* anyho, the kind folks at the gate were powerless to my charms (read let me in as they knew me) and admitted me to the gathering. Ahead - the fucking throng. people everywhere. parents, people with cameras...old people left right and centre. not good. first job was find the jess, easier said than done. I waded through the masses, gently removing those in the way. thank fuck! across the mass, i see jess's dad's head. cant miss it - big bald bloke. saweeeet! anyway, i came across Jess - fucking whoa. red dress, and looked the part....fuuuuuuuck i thought - there she is.
cut a long story short, we chatted, ran about to and fro for photos and i perfected the fake smile, perfect for those job interviews. Got some happy snaps with everyone and the family - particularly awkward moment when the photographer attempted to unite the family ~ mum + dad smile awkwardly and soon manage to distance each other...all safe now. had a laugh seeing jess's dad talk with my grandad and uncle. grandad and mr lowe would be best mates if you gave them a beer and a chair, me thinks. anyways, the night went on and it soon got dark-ish. We were told to move to the cars and ambled on down to the oval. Fucked about for a bit, did the red carpet jobbie and waited on the grass for my ride. waved goodbye as everyone entered their limo. waited. waited. waited. everyone cheers - i look over to see a bikie convoy, and.... obscured among the lights, a Rolls. Yesssssss!.
Anyways, we got in and stuffed about for a bit, said hi to the chauffer (neighbour) and did the obligatory smile and wave as we rolled past the masses. from there, the car went along the road marked by bamboo lights and we powered off toward the formal, ford 1966 mach 1 mustang off in front of us, and ricers utd. behind in an integra.
part 2 to follow.
cheers
